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Well. I checked outside my window when news broke of a Steam Machine 2.0—no pigs. So with a bit of circular logic, I’ll say that Will shouldn’t have doubted the return of Valve’s living room gaming console. It is true that the first Steam Machine didn’t take. The world largely regarded it as a curiosity. Valve’s hardware partners and their subdued marketing didn’t do much to help that perception. No one knew what to make of a thing that was not quite a PC or console, with less ability to play games. I’ve seen this initial attempt called a failure, most recently by IGN in its news writeup of this reborn Steam Machine. But Valve held on for a long while—it gave the attempt several years. To me, its eventual…

Google is in a very favorable position with its Android operating system, which comes installed on smartphones from numerous manufacturers and only has a few real non-Apple alternatives, like GrapheneOS and LineageOS. But Google isn’t content with just Android. For some time, Google has wanted to establish itself to a greater degree on PCs and complete more directly with Windows. ChromeOS was a step in that direction but far from the end goal—and now we’re seeing Google move more in that direction as concrete information about its new operating system emerges. According to Android Authority, Google’s newest OS is being developed under the name “Aluminium OS” (whether that’ll be the final name is unclear) and will be a merger of Android and ChromeOS. As such, it’ll be used on smartphones…

YouTube TV is back to normal after a two-week carriage dispute with Disney, but the fighting that led to blackouts for ABC, ESPN, and other Disney-owned channels could reshape the service as we know it. It will likely get more expensive, because programmers like Disney always want higher carriage fees for their channels, but you’ll get more for your money through bundled streaming services. YouTube might also offer cheaper packages with fewer channels, reflecting the greater flexibility we’ve seen from other providers. You don’t have to do anything about this right now, but you should know what your options are when things inevitably change down the road. PREPARE FOR A PRICE HIKE Just as on the cable side, annual price hikes have become common for live TV streaming services. These services…

The two new handheld gaming computers from Asus, the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X, have been the focus of a lot of controversy. Most of it has to do with the name. They are called Xbox, and Microsoft promotes them as an Xbox. But they cost much more than the desktop consoles do. “It’s too expensive!” Xbox fans shout, complaining about Microsoft, which shrugs it off by saying Asus sets the prices. As a PC-based gamer, I look at the fuss and don’t get it. Is this expensive? The top-of-the-range ROG Xbox Ally X that I tested here is not expensive compared to other handheld gaming PCs. It’s almost double the price of its predecessor, but there are clearly more expensive alternatives, and the new model…

If it seems as if we’ve reviewed quite a few MP700s from Corsair, it’s because we have (MP700 Elite, MP700 Pro, MP700 Pro SE). The company keeps upping the ante with performance or other features, so we’re back with yet another—the MP700 Pro XT. Is it better than its predecessors? Yup. Not by a ton, but hey! Every little bit counts. All that aside, the MP700 Pro XT is a top-notch PCIe 5.0 SSD. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best SSDs for comparison. FEATURES An M.2 2280 (22mm wide, 80mm long) SSD, the MP700 Pro XT features PCIe 5.0, a Phison E28 controller, and 218-layer TLC NAND. The drive is a DRAM design for faster random ops, with 1GB of cache per terabyte of capacity.…

A new laptop feels like a fresh digital start: fast, clean, and ready for anything. But before you dive in, it’s wise to perform a quick system check, because many devices come with unnecessary software, suboptimal settings, and disabled security features. We’ll show you the 10 most important steps you should take immediately after switching on for the first time, so that your Windows 11 laptop runs at full performance and with the best possible protection right from the start. 1. SETTING UP WINDOWS AND INSTALLING UPDATES The first step is the most important: Setting up Windows carefully can save you a lot of trouble later. After logging in (whether with a Microsoft or local account), you should check for updates immediately: 1. Open Settings > Windows Update. 2. Click…

If you want to keep your work free from the games you play after hours or just keep what you’re doing on Windows compartmentalized, one of the things you can do is create new virtual desktops. Virtual desktops seal off groups of apps, making them easier to manage. Here’s how to create a new virtual desktop. What to do: • To create a new virtual desktop, click on the two overlapping gray boxes on the Taskbar and click on “New desktop.” Or use the keyboard shortcut Win + Ctrl + D. The new desktop will be empty, but the programs and windows you had open will still be open in your previous desktop. • You can rename your desktops by clicking on the desktop name in the top of the…

Dave Plummer was once a programmer for Microsoft, where he played a key role in the development of the Windows Task Manager as well as the ZIP archive import for the operating system. The man has definitely earned his spot as an essential part of Windows history. So you know there’s weight when he begins his latest YouTube video with the words “Windows sucks.” But Plummer doesn’t call names and leave it at that. He also explains why he thinks Windows is bad and how Microsoft could change things for the better. Plummer believes that Windows didn’t suddenly become bad in one fell swoop. Instead, it has slowly moved away from the people who use it and rely on it the most. He accuses Microsoft of turning Windows into a sales channel…

Generative AI data centers are gobbling up trillions of dollars in capital, not to mention heating up the planet like a microwave. As a result, there’s a capacity crunch on memory production, shooting the prices for RAM sky high, over 100 percent in the last few months alone. Multiple stores are tired of adjusting the prices day to day and won’t even display them. You find out how much it costs at checkout. That’s according to BlueSky user Steve Lin (spotted by PCWorld’s own Mark Hachman), who snapped a photo at Central Computers, a retail chain in central California. The store cites a global shortage in memory chips that is causing prices to change drastically every day. “Because of this, we can’t display fixed prices on certain products at this…

Logitech is probably the best known PC accessory manufacturer apart from Microsoft and Apple. And since the company has spent the last few years trying to expand its software offerings, it’s a little concerning that it was recently hit with a massive data leak. Logitech confirmed that it had been compromised late last week. The “cybersecurity incident relating to the exfiltration of data” probably includes consumer, business, and employee data, according to an official statement. Logitech claims that it believes consumer identity and payment information was not leaked, as it wasn’t on the affected systems. The company says it was compromised through a zero-day exploit on a third-party system that’s been patched. Other details are scarce. BleepingComputer points the finger at the Clop (“cl0p”) extortion gang. This group recently claimed…

Most people are unaware of just how much of their data is out on the web available for anyone to buy and sell. Most of this is done by data-aggregator and data-broker websites that hoover up as much information as possible about as many people as possible. They then match this data to each individual to create personal profiles that they package and sell online. There are so many of these data-broker sites now that it’s nearly impossible to remove your data from each on your own. As a result, a number of personal data-removal services have cropped up to help customers with this process. Incogni, from the famous VPN Surfshark, is probably the most famous and popular data-removal service—at the time of this writing it has processed over 245…

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i is a budget 16-inch laptop you might find for under $500. With a decent CPU, an aluminum chassis, a 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM, it’s an excellent value at that price. However, the full MSRP is supposedly $829. If you see this laptop at its full retail price, it doesn’t make as much sense. As I’m wrapping this review up, you can get it for $429. SPECS The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i has an Intel Core 5 210H CPU. I’m not a huge fan of these chips, which I see popping up on lots of laptops lately. They are based on Intel’s older Raptor Lake architecture and they use more power and run hotter. They lack the neural processing unit found in newer Intel, AMD,…

Phishing attacks are popular because they work. A bad actor sends you a phony link through a realistic text message or email, and you click it thinking you’re going to the official site. The fake URL then captures your login info (or other sensitive info). Browsers and antivirus software try to block these sites, but they’re not foolproof. So, how do you learn how to spot phishing links? Look for the clues. CHECK THE URL Phishing scams work because of two reasons. 1. People don’t look at links they click on. 2. The text in the message or email looks legitimate, but the link is actually coded to send you to a fake site. Obviously, the second scenario is way sneakier and harder to catch immediately. But you can figure this…

You tap the alert on your phone just as someone steps onto your porch, then the screen locks up. The figure freezes midstride, the image pixelates, and before you can make out a face, the camera goes dark. A few seconds later, the app tells you what you already know: camera offline. But is the problem your camera, your Wi-Fi, or both? Chances are it’s not the camera. It’s your Wi-Fi. Outdoor security cameras push the limits of your home network more than any other device. Their signals must punch through walls, windows, and sometimes half the expanse of your yard just to stay connected. Add interference from neighboring routers or even a nearby microwave (yours or your neighbors’), and that live view can turn into a slideshow. The good…

Earlier this month, security guru Troy Hunt added a staggering 2 billion unique email addresses and 1.3 billion unique passwords to his Have I Been Pwned and Pwned Passwords databases. Aggregated by Synthient, the data comes from multiple credential stuffing sources shared by threat actors, as well as data stolen directly from individuals through info-stealer malware. The number of people affected is so massive that the rollout of notifications went out in waves to Have I Been Pwned subscribers. (This service is free—enter your email address into the HIBP search field, and then click on the Notify Me button that appears before any results.) The data also has particular characteristics that stood out to me. (You can read more about them in Hunt’s blog post here.) Between these details and…

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced that the rising prices of RAM have now forced them to bump up the prices of various Raspberry Pi devices and models. A Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB of memory will now be $5 more expensive, while the price of a Raspberry Pi 5 with 16GB of memory will be increased by $25. To counteract these rising prices, Raspberry Pi has smartly chosen to launch a new budget-friendly model: the Raspberry Pi 5 with just 1GB of memory. This new 1GB version of the Raspberry Pi 5 costs $45 and is available via CanaKit. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that these price increases are temporary. The Raspberry Pi Foundation writes that they plan to lower them again when the AI boom calms down.…

Microsoft Windows XP launched in the fall of 2001. Crocs followed in 2002. There may be some history I’m missing here, but I didn’t anticipate an intersection of the two. And yet here I am writing this review, having impulsively purchased a pair of Microsoft’s limited-edition Window XP “Bliss” Crocs, a special collaboration for Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebration. (I was encouraged to do this by my PCWorld colleagues. Apparently I’m not immune to peer pressure, even at my increasingly creaky age.) I’ve never been a Crocs person. I’ve never owned a pair. People have raved about their comfort, but I walk through city streets and prefer full-coverage shoes. Obviously, you can get much better value from buying a standard pair of Crocs, if you only want them for normal wearing…

Walmart has another winner on its hands with the Onn 4K Plus Streaming Device. For $30, you get a compact streaming box with 4K HDR, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos support. It’s a surprisingly speedy streaming player for the money, with a generous 16GB of storage for apps, and its Google TV software is generally useful (at least when it’s not shoving banner ads in your face). Roku’s budget streamers (such as the $40 Streaming Stick Plus) have a slight edge in terms of ease of use, and Walmart’s own Onn 4K Pro has some additional features and is also worth considering. But if you want a sub-$50 streaming device that does pretty much everything well, the Onn 4K Plus is tough to beat. AN UNEXPECTEDLY SPEEDY STREAMER The Onn 4K Plus…

When historians look back at the PC industry in 2025, they’ll probably remember a time of intense turmoil. Between wildly unpredictable tariffs, geopolitical strife, the AI boom, hardware shortages caused by the AI boom (and tariffs), and hundreds of thousands of industry layoffs, it was an eventful—and stressful—year for the PC. Nonetheless, great things happened. We’ve seen the launch of entire new graphics card generations from Nvidia and AMD. The laptops of today are the laptops of tomorrow we’ve always dreamed of. Handheld gaming is exploding in popularity, leaving Microsoft scrambling to make Windows a viable alternative to Valve’s SteamOS on those devices. Security is evolving daily to protect a new breed of AI-powered attacks. Today is a day to celebrate the best of times. This is the best PC hardware…

Hardly anyone can have missed the AI phenomenon that has taken the world by storm. Almost every major company has some kind of AI initiative now. Politicians talk about how important it is not to “fall behind in the AI race,” and hundreds of millions have started using AI chatbots. The AI wave took off when OpenAI released its chatbot ChatGPT, which gives large language models a conversational interface. Many competitors have emerged since then from companies large and small, but ChatGPT remains the most popular. ChatGPT isn’t necessarily the “best” AI service out there (recent tests show other tools can outperform it in certain areas), but it’s the most widely known and the benchmark that all other services are compared to. It’s the standard, plain and simple. If you’ve…