Gamers who find themselves “limited” by SteamOS capabilities can now more confidently install Windows on their Steam hardware. Valve just released the Steam Hardware - Windows Resources page on Steam, which contains Windows drivers for the Steam Deck LCD, Steam Deck OLED, and Steam Machine. This means that those who want to replace the stock SteamOS with Windows 11 on their devices can now do so more easily, and they don’t have to hunt around the internet for drivers just to ensure that all the parts and components on their console will play nicely with Windows.

The drivers on the page include those for the APU, graphics, SD Card reader, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Audio, depending on which Steam hardware you’re driving. However, Valve said, “We are providing these resources as is and are unfortunately unable to offer 'Windows on Steam Hardware' support. If you get stuck and need a way back to the default SteamOS, please follow these recovery instructions.”

This is the main reason why Valve refuses to subsidize the Steam Machine — since owners can essentially do whatever they want to the living room PC console, selling one does not automatically guarantee that the company will make back any discounts it offers through game sales. This is why even though the Steam Machine is highly rated for Steam Deck users who want to upgrade to a more powerful device, its relatively high price puts it at a disadvantage compared to competitors like the PS5 or Xbox.

Many gamers would likely prefer SteamOS over Windows, especially as it offers far less bloat than Microsoft’s operating system. Valve is in fact working on SteamOS to make it more compatible with a general release and allow it to be installed on hardware that features Intel CPUs/GPUs and Nvidia GPUs. But because many anti-cheat apps still aren’t compatible with Linux (hence, SteamOS), installing Windows on Steam hardware is currently the only way that gamers can enjoy titles that require them.

It’s unfortunate that SteamOS doesn’t have any dual-boot capabilities at the moment, as that would give gamers the best of both worlds — use Windows and accept the performance hit if they want to play games that require specialized anti-cheat apps and then switch to SteamOS for all the other titles they enjoy. Valve said that it’s already working on this capability, but hasn’t given a fixed timeline for when it will arrive.

The RAMpocalypse is hitting enthusiasts hard. We recently reported on the crisis seeping down to affect supplies of the decades-old DDR2 gen RAM. So it comes as no huge surprise that a well-known tech tinkerer has been inspired to look at the viability of Windows 11 on an even more ancient DDR1 platform. Step forward Omores, who demonstrates Microsoft’s newest OS running on a Core 2 Quad Q6600, using a DDR1 motherboard, supported by an ATI Radeon HD 4650 AGP graphics card. “The best part,” says our hacky hero. “It’s completely stable.”

Windows 11 on a DDR1 motherboard, with AGP support enabled from r/windows

DDR1 first became available to PC builders and DIYers at the turn of the century, replacing the aging SDR SDRAM. The DDR1 rollout began with data rates like DDR-200 and DDR-266, being the preferred choice over older platforms featuring PC100 or PC133 SDRAM. We don’t know the rated speed of the DDR1 sticks Omores used, as it isn’t shown, but DDR-400 was the best official non-overclocked standard (a couple of years later). It would make sense to use the best memory on a cherry-picked older system like this.

Other key components of this age-defying Windows 11 PC build include an ASRock ConRoe 865PE motherboard. This is regarded as something of a legendary board as it bridged generations and allowed folks to use the latest Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad chips from Intel while keeping their DDR1 RAM and AGP graphics cards. It isn’t only today that PC DIYers have cared deeply about component longevity.

The last significant component in this DDR1 system that we were told about was the ATI Radeon HD 4650 AGP graphics card. This seems to have required the most wrangling to make it work with Windows 11 / modern software. However, Omores reveals that “With some 'hacking' ... AGP 8X is fully functional and H.264 hardware decoding is active.” The key was finding, then crowbarring, ATI’s Windows 7 64-bit drivers from 2012 onto the system.

Once some details of the setup were confirmed in the video using tools like CPU-Z and GPU-Z, Omores showed the ‘fresh’ Windows 11 DDR1 system running modern browsers, with embedded video and hardware decoding. A handful of games and 3D benchmarks were also shown running without glitches. Last but not least, the system did indeed run Crysis.

In a later comment on the Reddit post, Omores elaborates on how to install the ATi driver on Windows 11 and shares a more detailed video link. “I like that Windows 11 is rock stable on these older systems with no UEFI whatsoever and only ACPI 1.1,” adds the adventurer in older PC tech. “A lesser-known fact is that Windows 11 actually officially supports BIOS systems via Windows 11 IoT, so it's kind of expected to run smoothly.”

Microsoft has extended its free consumer Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) program by a year, pushing the cutoff for critical security patches to October 14th, 2027. The change came without any actual announcement, appearing instead in an edit to Microsoft's Windows 10 ESU support page. Devices already enrolled roll over to the new date automatically, with no action required from users. The program was originally set to expire on October 12th, 2026, one year after Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14th, 2025. With the extension, however, users who can’t or won’t move to Windows 11 now have a second free year of patches.

Speaking to BleepingComputer, Microsoft said that the change reflects “our ongoing commitment to helping customers stay secure during the transition,” adding that the extra year gives users “more time and flexibility to find the best PC for their needs while keeping them protected.”

In terms of enrollment, nothing has changed: users can enroll for free by syncing their PC settings to a Microsoft account through Windows Backup, by redeeming 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, or with a one-time payment of $30. Users in Europe can enroll at no cost simply by signing in with a Microsoft account, a concession Microsoft made after pushback from consumer advocacy groups over its original requirements. A single ESU license covers up to 10 devices tied to the same account.

Microsoft's consumer program is limited to personal devices, however. Systems joined to an Active Directory domain or to Microsoft Entra, or managed through Mobile Device Management, are corporate-controlled and therefore not eligible. Personally owned machines that are only Entra-registered — e.g., a work account added to a personal device, rather than the device itself being organization-owned — still qualify.

Windows 11 has surged to roughly 73% of desktop share against Windows 10’s 26%, so it’s clear that the broader migration is working. Those users still on Windows 10 are increasingly the difficult edge cases, with around 400 million active PCs unable to officially upgrade to Windows 11 because their hardware fails its TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, or supported-processor requirements.

Users of those machines face a choice of remaining on unsupported Windows 10 or upgrading their hardware outright. But thanks to the AI-driven memory shortage, doing so has never been more expensive: DRAM contract prices have roughly doubled since early last year (and are expected to double again) as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron divert wafer capacity toward high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators.

IDC expects PCs, tablets, and smartphone prices to rise 10% to 20% through the end of 2026, with memory now accounting for a far larger share of a system's bill of materials than it did two years ago.

For users unwilling to buy new hardware at current prices, some third-party options remain. The security firm 0patch has pledged to provide unofficial Windows 10 micropatches through 2030, and Linux migration efforts such as the End of 10 initiative continue to court holdouts whose machines can’t run Windows 11.

Copilot PCs have been around for a couple of years since Microsoft launched them in 2024, and while the company tried to push NPU-equipped laptops towards users to take advantage of these new features, it seems that it’s planning to reverse course. According to Windows Latest, an experimental Windows App SDK available on GitHub now lets you run Language Model APIs on supported GPUs, starting with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series cards with at least 6GB of VRAM. However, it also requires a Windows Insider Experimental Channel and Developer Mode switched on. Hence, you need to go through some hoops to turn on local AI inferencing on Windows, even if you don’t have an NPU-equipped device.

You still won’t get all the features found in a Copilot+ PC even if you went through all the hoops to activate this feature, but it’s a sign of things to come for local AI on Windows PCs, in general. It’s still not clear why Microsoft is seemingly abandoning the Copilot+ PC advantage it has heavily marketed in recent years, though RAM pricing might play a role, but this is good news for the millions of users who were locked out of Copilot features simply because their processors don’t have a built-in NPU (neural processing unit). This also opens Windows’ AI features to desktop users, who typically don’t have processors that support NPUs.

What’s interesting is that NPUs aren’t necessarily more powerful than GPUs for AI processing — it’s just that they’re more efficient, making them crucial for laptops with limited battery life. And because not all laptops come with a discrete GPU (which are mostly found on gaming and high-end laptops), it also allowed Microsoft to include AI features on more affordable Windows 11 PCs. Another reason Microsoft could be looking to expand Copilot+ features to non-NPU-powered devices is that AI didn’t actually take off the way it had hoped. A research firm in 2024 said that people didn’t purchase AI PCs because of their features — instead, they bought them because they’re what’s available if they need to upgrade.

The situation is worsening in 2026, as the AI data center-driven shortage of memory and storage chips is pushing computer prices to unprecedented highs. This has resulted in a collapse in sales for PCs and their components, with entry-level laptops expected to disappear by 2028. People not buying new NPU-equipped PCs would limit the adoption of Copilot+ PCs and the AI features they offer. By expanding the availability of AI features to non-Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft will increase its user base and help differentiate Windows 11 from the competition, especially as Windows is slowly bleeding users to macOS and Linux.

Microsoft has outlined a new feature of Windows called Cloud-Initiated Driver Recovery (CIDR). This newly introduced capability lets Microsoft remotely roll back a bad driver to a previously known good version on affected PCs. Moreover, it can work without user action or OEM intervention. It sounds like a magic bullet for a long history of Windows Update woes, but we’ll have to see if it works when the rubber hits the road. CIDR will only work with drivers distributed via Windows Update.

Windows Update can cause plenty of problems when a bad driver gets through testing and gets pushed to users. Indeed, buggy drivers have caused many a lost hour, gray hair, wrinkle, high blood pressure, and so on, among Windows veterans. Microsoft also notes that a bad driver often means a user has to manually intervene and roll back to “a low-quality driver for an extended period.” So, the new CIDR is cautiously welcomed.

Microsoft spells out the CIDR process in its Tech Community blog, and there we learn that recovery starts by the Windows developer triggering "a recovery action directly from the Hardware Dev Center (HDC) Driver Shiproom." Once a problematic driver is flagged, the system recovers the previously known-good version of a driver via the Windows Update pipeline. “This is handled through coordinated updates to the PnP driver stack and the driver flighting and publishing services,” says Microsoft.

Importantly, Microsoft notes that “recovery is delivered through the existing Windows Update infrastructure — no new client agent or partner tooling is required.” That should help CIDR work well with what we’ve already got and for it to become an established standard. Likewise, partners don’t need to get involved in CIDR, Microsoft will manage it. However, Microsoft asks that these partners “continue monitoring their driver quality metrics in the Hardware Dev Center dashboard and to respond promptly to any shiproom feedback on rejected submissions.”

CIDR is rolling out now for validation and testing, and it is expected to automatically support the Hardware Dev Center publishing process from September onwards.

Last week, news of Microsoft working on a new "Low Latency Profile" for Windows 11 was leaked by Windows Central. When enabled, it would increase CPU clock speeds momentarily to improve app opening times. This was met with widespread backlash, with the community thrashing Microsoft for essentially putting on a Band-Aid instead of addressing underlying Windows performance issues. Since then, the company has stood firmly by the decision on social media, reminding users that it's simply catching up to industry practice.

Senior developer and VP Scott Hanselman replied to a lot of concerned users on X and compared other operating systems to Windows 11, highlighting that this boosting functionality isn't anything new. That's true; every modern OS, including the bastion of efficiency, Linux, and even smartphones, already have this implemented. He went on to claim that "this isn't cheating" and implies that such a solution works in tandem with optimizing apps and code in further replies.

The Low Latency Profile (LLP) is part of Microsoft's broader "Windows K2" efforts to make Windows 11 smoother, more stable, and more efficient after years of sluggishness. As such, LLP works by boosting CPU frequencies for a quick assist in things like flyout delays for the Start Menu. Your CPU usage and clocks will spike for a fraction of a second to ensure the OS feels fast and responsive during those moments.

For all this to work on a technical level, though, you do require pretty aggressive clock parking so the CPU's prepared to shift into gear the moment it's needed to speed up an OS interaction. This is also important for mobile devices with batteries, such as laptops or handhelds that might consume more power when their cores are being utilized at a minimum for longer, compared to just idling in C-state after a quick burst at max speeds.

People across social media continue to dunk on Scott's replies, asking why Microsoft needed to wait until Windows 11 was in an intolerable state to think of this solution. That's entirely fair, too, considering just how long users have been complaining about the general reliability of the OS. Even devs who formerly worked on Windows have called out Windows 11 for its underwhelming navigation performance.

There's also the argument that perhaps Microsoft needs to optimize the operating system on a much deeper level before applying superficial patches like this, given complaints about the amount of bloatware a stock copy of Windows 11 comes with. Microsoft has even resorted to making an Xbox Mode just so games can bypass the bloat and run better.

It seems like the company is slowly realizing that the AI push it's been hiding behind for a few years at this point just isn't working out the way it was expected. Just look at Xbox — even with a new CEO that literally comes from Microsoft's AI department, it's making community-first changes like never before.

A top Microsoft exec has admitted that Windows 11 still relies on a bunch of old code from the 1990s. It is refreshing for Microsoft Azure Chief Technical Officer Mark Russinovich to highlight this fact on social media, but it might not surprise as many folks as he thinks.

As Russinovich eloquently puts it, those of us invested in the computer scene in the 90s “were thinking flying cars and moon stations by the year 2026, not Win32.” The admission that such old software tech is still the "bedrock" of Windows today may be the CTO strategically sharing a cold, hard truth, providing a 'let's be real' moment as part of Microsoft’s latest charm offensive. Sharing a candid confession indicates that the corporation is actually aware of the issues in its OS.

Remember, the firm is currently in the midst of a major transformation, targeting enthusiast hot button areas like Windows performance, overhead, and reliability. This drastic pivot was cautiously welcomed in contrast to Microsoft being widely slammed for boasting about Windows “evolving into an agentic OS” last November. Currently, Microsoft seems to be flailing around, trying to stop folks straying to pastures greener like Mac and Linux.

However, Win32 isn’t inherently labeled as ‘bad’ by the Microsoft CTO. Though it is ancient, it has probably stuck around for good reason. “I think one of the reasons it’s got this staying power is just a fundamental layer inside of Windows that so many apps have built on,” notes Russinovich. “So many technologies and ecosystems have been built on top of it that it’s kind of a bedrock.”

The CTO explains that Win32 has persisted even when facing targeted existential threats from within Microsoft, particularly in the Windows 8 era. “There’s been various times in Microsoft’s history where we thought we’d reboot the Windows API surface, like WinRT, that actually didn’t play out the way a lot of people expected it to.”

In closing, Russinovich highlights that Win32 was also the bedrock for tools like Sysmon and ZoomIt, which he actually wrote back in 1996. These tools are now “more relevant than ever in 2026,” as parts of Windows 11 and PowerToys, respectively, reckons the CTO.

Microsoft recently published a new support document for gaming on Windows, serving as a guide for what hardware people should choose in 2026. Just a day later, that post has already been deleted because it recommended 16GB of RAM as the "practical starting point," while suggesting users go for 32GB if they want to future-proof their system. That means 32GB is no longer overkill according to the Windows maker.

Despite the grim outlook of the market, if you follow recent hardware trends, the data actually backs up this argument. Last year, before the RAMpocalypse ushered in, we covered September 2025's Steam Survey that showed 16GB configs falling behind in popularity while 32 GB systems were gaining notoriety. The lines still haven't overlapped, though, and 16 GB remains more common than 32GB, especially with the current situation in mind.

RAM has gotten significantly more expensive in the past few months, thanks to the AI boom snatching production lines. Manufactures are trying to come up with solutions to alleviate the crisis, such as the HUDIMMs proposed by ASRock, Intel, and TeamGroup. Despite prices flatlining as of late, DDR5 in particular is still out of reach for most DIY builders.

The company does lay out its reasoning for this — it says that more RAM will help in running apps like Discord alongside your game, while AAA blockbuster titles also benefit from the extra breathing room. That's true in essence because, of course, having more RAM will always be nice; it'll allow the system to rely less on the page file, which is much slower, while keeping more things in memory.

GPUs with limited VRAM, such as those with only an 8GB pool, will also appreciate the higher system RAM capacity as assets spill over during intense workloads. If you're using an APU like the new Ryzen AI 400 series, a high-speed, high-capacity memory config is pretty much essential to squeezing out as much performance as possible from the integrated graphics.

All that being said, Microsoft is not "recommending" 32GB for gaming since most developers still outline 16GB as the actual baseline; it's just claiming that 32GB is the new norm we're working toward. Now, some titles actually do require 32GB of RAM, but many are edge-case scenarios tied to very high-fidelity presets (such as 4K Ultra in Stalker 2). Microsoft's own Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 lists 64GB as the ideal RAM config, so the Redmont giant is definitely an exception to the rule.

Alongside memory, the company also recommends a much more reasonable upgrade: an SSD. It outright shuts down using any hard drive for either gaming or running Windows in 2026, saying that "active games and the OS should live on an SSD for the best experience." Moreover, the guideline states that "HDDs are best reserved for bulk storage." That much has been universally true for about a decade.

The SSD advice goes hand in hand with the memory advice, since your CPU will swap to system storage once the RAM fills up, so it's good to have a fast drive. Also, with features like DirectStorage poised to become the standard going forward, SSDs truly are a zero-compromise component. Unfortunately, we're in the middle of a global shortage right now, so even though the 32GB RAM recommendation is technically valid, it still comes off as tone-deaf for a company that's reportedly spending $190 billion on AI this year, which is the reason the shortages and high pricing exist.

Whether you're a student submitting homework, at work typing away at documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, or you're just someone who wants to access resources online and connect with family and friends, you want a laptop with the components and features you'll need to get the job done. That means a great screen, a comfortable keyboard, and long battery life (and nice design doesn't hurt, either!).

The laptop space is more competitive than ever. Windows machines come from many companies using silicon from three major CPU vendors: Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. Apple, meanwhile, has a range of powerful and portable systems based on its own Apple Silicon.

In 2026, Intel's most recent chips are its Intel Core Ultra (Series 3) chips, code-named Panther Lake, while AMD launched its "Gorgon Point" Ryzen AI processors at CES. At Computex, Nvidia announced that its RTX Spark chips will launch in laptops from Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and more starting in the fall, taking on Qualcomm in the Windows on Arm space. Earlier this year, Qualcomm released its Snapdragon X2 Elite Xtreme, Elite, and Plus chips.

On Macs, Apple's top chips are the M5 series, including the M5 Pro and M5 Max, which can be found in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineup.

Best Laptops You Can Buy Today

The Best Laptop (and Mac) overall

The MacBook Air has been a go-to laptop recommendation for quite some time, thanks to strong performance, a fanless design, excellent built quality, and long-lasting battery life. With the version of the chip with M5, you get the benefits of years of hardware revisions since the Air's last redesign with M2, including a minimum 16GB of RAM and a 12-megapixel webcam.

The M5 chip in the MacBook Air showed off excellent single and multi-core performance. In fact, it;s closest rival was the same chip in the MacBook Pro, which gets a boost because of an active fan.

That being said, the system can throttle under heavy workloads like rendering. But for most people's typical tasks, including writing, editing, making spreadsheets, editing photos, listening to music, programming, and general multitasking, you'll have a very powerful machine.

Apple has boosted the base MacBook Air's price to $1,099, but it now starts with 512GB of memory. Given the price of components these days, the laptop is still a great value. If you want a Mac but don't want to spend that much for it, you could take a step down to the entry-level MacBook Neo, starting at $599, as long as you're willing to sacrifice on power, memory, ports, and a backlit keyboard.

Read: MacBook Air (M5) review

Best Windows laptop

The Dell XPS 14 is back, and while you might expect its performance or design to be the headlining feature, it's the battery life that wows. With its base 1920 x 1200 LCD display, which has a variable refresh rate that goes all the way down to 1 Hz, it lasted 20 hours and 41 minutes on our battery test.

That's not to say the battery life is all there is to like about this laptop. The 3-pound chassis is sleek, and Dell added a function row back to the keyboard, making it way easier to use over the touch bar of yesteryear.

If you're OK with 12 hours of charge, more expensive models with a tandem OLED display have way better colors and more powerful Arc B390 integrated graphics.

That being said, both of them have a low-travel keyboard without space between the keys, which definitely tripped up my fingers, so you'll need time to get your muscle memory going. And the starting price, at $1,600, is a lot to ask but is unfortunately common as the memory crisis rages on.

Read: Dell XPS 14 (2026) review

Best ultralight laptop

Some of the best laptops are barely noticeable in your bag. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition, at 2.15 pounds is extremely light.

Still, despite the weight, you get plenty of other benefits. The speakers are surprisingly good for a laptop of this size. Perhaps most impressively, the system ran for 16 hours and 38 minutes on our battery test, outlasting many of the laptops we bit against it by multiple hours.

The system also offers a lovely display. The POLED touchscreen measured 476 nits of brightness while falling in similar gamut ranges as other OLED notebooks that weren't as luminous.

There are some downsides. There are limited ports outside of Thunderbolt 4/USB-C, including a lack of a headphone jack. And CPU performance fell behind some competitors, like Apple's M5 MacBook Air and a thicker AMD-based 2-in-1 from HP.Still, the laptop impressed for its airiness and multimedia strengths. And as tested with 32GB at $1,519, it's not a crazy price as the costs of many laptops skyrocket during an ongoing component shortage.

Read: Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition review

Another great Windows clamshell

We can argue about how much the AI PC is really any sort of revolution, but there are still some strong ultraportables coming out. The HP OmniBook Ultra puts the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 in a sleek chassis with strong productivity performance.

HP is offering up decent battery life here, running for 12 hours and 52 minutes on our battery test. That's not the best, but all things considered including the high-resolution display, it's not bad. It's also nice to see Thunderbolt 4 ports on an AMD system, which is exceedingly rare.

The experience is knocked down a bit by a significant amount of bloatware, but if you're looking for a strong AMD laptop, the HP OmniBook Ultra is a strong competitor if you don't mind doing some uninstalling.

Read: HP OmniBook Ultra review

The best budget laptop

If you're looking for an affordable laptop, Apple does it best these days. The MacBook Neo starts at $599 ($499 with an education discount), but you rarely feel like you're not getting enough – unlike most Windows laptops in this price range. The Neo has a premium, all-metal chassis, a bright, vivid screen, and a custom mechanical trackpad that lets you click anywhere. And yes, you get all of macOS running on what was formerly an iPhone chip.

The quality of the 13-inch chassis and screen are key here. You're not getting something plastic. You're not getting something low-resolution, and you're not getting something dim. You also get a great webcam for this price range, and the system stays remarkably cool. There are some niceties you sacrifice, however. Apple has gone without a backlit keyboard. And the two USB ports aren't labeled, so you'll have to remember which is the faster 10 Gbps USB 3 port (the back one) for backup drives and monitors, lest you end up with an error message.

I suspect that most people with light workloads — especially students and people using home computers doing a lot of work in the browser — won't have too much trouble with the 8GB of RAM. That being said, 16GB systems can be found in the Windows world for a bit more money, though you'll need to hunt for sales.

But if a premium laptop experience (including great build quality and a high-res screen) are important to you, Apple delivers that better than any Windows machine priced close to the Neo’s $599 starting price.

Read: MacBook Neo review

The Best Laptop for work

There are plenty of reasons why the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a classic. It's thin design and strong build quality are beloved by ThinkPad diehards. The latest model, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11), offers long battery life and great speakers.

Perhaps most critically, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon offers an excellent keyboard. Lenovo's reputation was built on great typing experiences, so this is crucial. For those who love Lenovo's TrackPoint, it's still here, allowing you to move the mouse without ever taking your fingers away from the home row on the keyboard.

The latest version comes with Intel's 13th Gen Core processors. We reviewed it with a Core i7-1355U, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD.

The one real issue we had is that the base screen could benefit from being a bit brighter. Those who want the most vivid experience can opt for an OLED panel, but at a higher price.

When shopping for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11), keep an eye out for Lenovo's frequent sales, as there's often a deal available.

Read: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11) Review

The Best Windows Tablet

Microsoft may push the Surface Pro as a do-it-all AI machine, but the truth is it's just a really nice, portable, slim PC that lasts a long time on a battery and includes a beautiful OLED display. It's definitively one of the best Surfaces to date.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors offer enough performance to keep up with x86 competitors, making this one of the first Arm-based Surfaces that doesn't feel like it's lacking. Add on more Arm-compatible apps than ever, including the Chrome browser, and there's far less to miss from previous Intel models. That's not to say it's perfect — there are still some gaming issues, as well as drivers for specialized peripherals that may need to be rebuilt for the new platform.

The 45 TOPS NPU powers some of Windows 11's Copilot+ features, like Cocreator, Live Captions, and Windows Studio effects. None of these are showstoppers, but they're cool tricks.'

If you want a premium tablet running Windows 11, the Surface Pro is one of the only premium games in town. And that means paying a premium for a separate keyboard. But for those who love this form factor, the Surface Pro remains the best option out there.

Read: Microsoft Surface Pro review

A more powerful Mac laptop

The MacBook Air is a great starting point, but if you want an air-cooled processor and a few more features, the base MacBook Pro adds a few niceties. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts with an M5 processor, has three Thunderbolt ports (including one on the right side), and a beautiful micro LED display.

For those willing to spend an extra $150, there's a nano-texture display option that is completely worth it if you ever use your laptop outside. The matte display looks excellent, and was great on desks near windows.

If you need the most power possible, we also reviewed the MacBook Pro with an M5 Max, including a 40-core GPU, a mix of Apple's latest performance and super cores, and a blazing fast SSD.

Both the 14-inch and 16-inch laptops offer great speakers and beautiful displays, but you will have to pay quite a bit for any storage or memory upgrades you want, and you won't be able to make changes later.

Read: MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) review
Read: MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Max) review

The Best Gaming laptop

Razer Blade 18 offers some of the strongest gaming performance we've seen in a laptop, but also features excellent design, comfortable features, and the latest connection standards. At $5,199.99 as tested, it sure should be good. It tops our list of the best gaming laptops.

The major highlight is the dual-mode display, which has two options: 3840 x 2400 at 240 Hz or 1920 x 1200 at 440 Hz. Those two choices (which you can switch between in Razer Synapse) is enough to showcase both intensive, graphics-driven games at high settings and esports where frames are more important than resolution and detail.

The laptop, packed with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU in our review configuration, outperformed the field in our gaming tests, especially at the lower resolution.Razer is one of the few laptop makers using Thunderbolt 5 ports (we've also seen them from MSI and Apple), so this system is ready to go if you're using advanced peripherals or the fastest external storage drives.

Perhaps the biggest downside is that the Blade's dual 2TB storage drives use PCIe 4.0 rather than 5.0. You won’t notice this in games or mainstream productivity, but if you want PCIe 5.0 speed for future proofing or 8K video editing, the Titan may still be the way to go. The Blade 18 does support PCIe 5.0 drives, if you want to upgrade to speedier storage in the future.

Read: Razer Blade 18 review

Other Laptops We Tested

💻 Asus Zenbook A16

The Zenbook A16 has Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, including 48GB of RAM on the package. While the chip is fast, the laptop, while lightweight, didn't meet our expectations. While light, it flexed and didn't feel premium; battery life was lesser than competitors; and while emulation is better than it used to be, there are still some compatibility issues with Windows on Arm for power users.

Read: Asus Zenbook A16 review

💻 Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Samsung's Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a powerful system for creatives, thanks in part to the RTX 5070 GPU in the version we tested. The OLED screen is beautiful and you get an nice design (albeit one that is quite similar to Macs), but this laptop is pricey, and you get a shallow keyboard.

Read: Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra review

Quick Laptop Shopping Tips 

Finding Discounts on the Best Laptops

Whether you're shopping for one of the best laptops, or just something that is good enough for your needs, you may find savings by checking out our lists of the latest Dell coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes, Best Buy promo codes or Newegg promo codes.

After rolling out an optional non-security update for Windows 11 last week, Microsoft was forced to pull it due to widespread installation issues. The cumulative update KB5079391 included several quality improvements; however, users reported that it failed to install, showing error code 0x80073712. To replace the faulty preview update, the company has now issued an out-of-band KB5086672 emergency update for affected Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 systems.

According to Microsoft, the latest update (KB5086672) for Windows 11 “supersedes all previous updates and includes all protections and improvements from the March 2026 Windows security and non-security preview updates, as well as this installation fix.” It is available for devices running Windows 11, including those that have already installed KB5079473 or a later update. Users can also manually download the new update from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Some key features of the optional KB5079391 update (which should now be available with the latest KB5086672 fix) include enhanced Narrator capabilities with improved image descriptions and Copilot integration. It also brings a refreshed design for account-related dialog boxes that align with Windows 11’s modern look and dark mode, as well as enhancements to File Explorer with reliable file unblocking and support for voice typing during file renaming. There are several display-related updates too, such as support for monitors with refresh rates going beyond 1000 Hz, improved auto-rotation and HDR reliability, and improved power efficiency for USB 4-connected monitors during sleep.

Microsoft has faced repeated criticism over problematic Windows 11 updates in the past, with the company promising to make changes and improve the OS. Earlier this year, the January security update KB5074109 caused widespread issues for gamers, particularly those using Nvidia GPUs. With reports of frame rate drops, visual artifacts, and instability, Nvidia itself advised users to uninstall the update as a temporary fix.

The same update also introduced a more serious issue for some users, with reports of systems failing to boot altogether. According to an AskWoody forum post, some devices encountered an “UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME” error after installing the security update. The affected devices ended up with a message that said “Your device ran into a problem and needs a restart. You can restart.” Additionally, some PCs refused to shut down or hibernate, and another bug resulted in Cloud-based apps, like Outlook, OneDrive, and Dropbox, not working.

Microsoft's tenacity in imposing AI across its product stack has cornered Windows into a tough spot. Mac and Linux are catching up in terms of software compatibility, and Windows' longstanding flaws have begun to outweigh its universality. Even though the company has promised to fix the OS and has initiated a course correction, the mistakes just keep slipping through the cracks. The latest in the line of discrepancies is a new Windows update that, funnily enough, won't install for a lot of users.

Microsoft pushed the KB5079391 non-security update on March 26, 2026, featuring "production-quality" improvements, which means it's part of the efforts to make the OS more stable/reliable. It's ironic then that the update refuses to install, throwing up the 0x80073712 error code in a loop. This code means something is broken or missing in the update files, which is preventing Windows from piecing together the update.

The only fix to this is rerolling the update with fixed components, so Microsoft has pulled it from the release channel for now. If someone got the update installed anyway, no reports have shown it actually breaking anything — it's just the installation process itself that's broken. No harm, no foul; but it's still a waste of time and, more importantly, the optics of another broken Windows update are inopportune. "Rollout of this update is temporarily paused due to installation error 0x80073712," Microsoft's website now reads. "To prevent additional impact while the issue is investigated, Microsoft has temporarily limited the availability of this update. As a result, the update temporarily might not be offered through Windows Update."

KB5079391 is not just a minor update, either, as it brings a lot of new features like support for monitors beyond 1,000 Hz. There's a new About page in Settings, and a brand-new Narrator built around Copilot, among other refinements such as a better File Explorer experience. It's an optional update, and it was released in preview, so maybe some of the blame can be absolved, but there's still no workaround for installing it thus far.

In early February, reports of Samsung laptops, Galaxy Book4 devices in particular, affected by a weird storage issue started to pop up. Users were seeing error messages on their laptops saying "C:\ is not accessible," locking them out of their system's main drive. At first, this felt like a Windows Update problem since the timing coincidentally aligned with one, but deeper investigation revealed otherwise.

Microsoft and Samsung both came to the conclusion that the Galaxy Connect app that comes preinstalled in these devices was the culprit. The app is used to share or mirror your display to Samsung Galaxy phones, but apparently it interacted with Windows in a way that forced the OS to revoke permissions in the background. The exact details of what went wrong weren't disclosed.

But we do know that it would become impossible to access the drive once you faced the issue. You'd also be prevented from opening Office apps, system tools, web browsers, Quick Assist, and more that was stored on the C: drive. Administrative tasks or any other specific user operations might be affected, too, and users weren't able to uninstall updates or collect logs due to permission failures.

Around the same time, the February 2026 security update for Windows 11 had come out, leading some to believe it must've broken something, but that's not the case. Reports of this issue actually began emerging before the patch rolled out. Since the problem was discovered, Microsoft already logged it as a known issue on its website around ten days ago, and by March 16, it was marked as "externally resolved."

Microsoft has published a full recovery article for affected users that includes detailed steps to gain back control of your C: drive. To ensure something like this doesn't happen again, the company also pulled the Galaxy Connect app off the Microsoft Store and Samsung, and in the meantime, replaced it with an older version that's not broken. So, at the moment, only those already affected need to take action.

Microsoft has blocked the registry trick that allowed Windows 11 users to enable native NVMe support on their PCs, according to members of the My Digital Life forum, who first noticed the change in recent Windows 11 Insider builds.

The trick, which ported a Windows Server 2025 feature to consumer PCs running Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, had delivered up to 85% higher random write performance in earlier benchmarks. Unfortunately, the four FeatureManagement registry overrides that previously activated the native NVMe stack no longer function.

The native NVMe driver (nvmedisk.sys) replaces the legacy storage path that has routed NVMe commands through a SCSI translation layer since before NVMe SSDs existed. Microsoft originally shipped the driver in Windows Server 2025 last December, claiming up to 80% higher IOPS and 45% lower CPU utilization under high I/O loads. The driver binary was already present in Windows 11 but disabled by default.

Within days of the Server 2025 announcement, enthusiasts discovered that toggling specific registry keys forced Windows 11 to load the native driver. Benchmarks varied by drive and CPU, but gains in random I/O were consistent. AS SSD testing by Neowin also showed substantial write speed improvements, and StorageReview's server-side FIO benchmarks measured up to 64.89% faster 4K random reads.

The registry trick came with caveats, though. Third-party SSD management tools like Samsung Magician and Western Digital Dashboard were not compatible with the new driver, and BitLocker could trigger recovery prompts after the driver swap.

While the registry method is dead, users can still enable native NVMe through ViVeTool, according to Deskmodder, a third-party utility that toggles hidden Windows features. The relevant feature IDs are 60786016 and 48433719. This does require an elevated command prompt, and a reboot is still necessary for the change to take effect. The same compatibility risks naturally apply, and users running BitLocker should suspend protection before attempting the change.

It’s not yet known when native NVMe support will be rolled out to Windows 11 25H2 and 26H2 users.

An unusual new bug that prevents Windows 11 users from accessing their main C: drive on Samsung devices has been identified following a recent system update. A preliminary investigation by Microsoft and Samsung has placed the blame on a Samsung-specific app, rather than an issue with the Windows 11 update itself.

The message “C:\ is not accessible – Access denied” became visible when trying to launch apps or access files on affected devices after installing February 2026 security updates (KB5077181) on certain Samsung devices, including some Galaxy Book 4 laptops and Samsung Desktop models, according to Microsoft in a notice posted online.

The notice confirms that the issue prevents users from launching certain apps, “including Outlook, Office apps, web browsers, system utilities, and Quick Assist.” The report also notes that affected users are unable to access files on the C: drive or perform some administrative tasks. It also prevents users, in some cases, from removing updates, accessing certain system logs, or elevating their user access privileges.

Microsoft confirms that an investigation of the reports, alongside Samsung, identified an issue with the Samsung Galaxy Connect app. The app itself has been removed temporarily from the Microsoft Store, while Samsung has rolled back to a previous version of the app to stop it from appearing on other devices.

Unfortunately, Microsoft also confirms that “recovery for devices already impacted remains limited,” but the company is working with Samsung to “develop and validate solutions” for those who face problems.

No further information is available at the moment, although reports on Reddit suggest the problem relates to broken Access Control Lists in Samsung’s factory image for Windows that trigger when the Samsung Galaxy Connect and Galaxy Share Folder apps are updated. The same Reddit post in the r/sysadmin subreddit also suggests some potential workarounds, although these haven’t been tested or verified by Microsoft, and require some extensive changes to your drive permissions that change the ownership of your entire drive, which isn’t recommended in the long term.

If you’re running one of these devices, including models NP750XGJ, NP750XGL, NP754XGJ, NP754XFG, NP754XGK, DM500SGA, DM500TDA, DM500TGA, and DM501SGA, you may want to remove the affected app from your device or roll back to the currently recommended version as soon as possible. Should your device be affected by a loss of access to your files, however, you’ll have to hold tight for an official solution.

As monitor tech advances, the software side of things needs to keep up with the hardware. One of the most exciting recent developments in this space is the advent of 1,000 Hz gaming monitors, and now Microsoft is taking the step to future-proof Windows for them. As such, new Insider builds for Windows 11 not only support refresh rates higher than 1,000 Hz, but they can reportedly go up to 5,000 Hz.

Builds 26100.8106 and 26200.8106 pushed to the Release Preview Channel include a patch note saying, "monitors can now report refresh rates higher than 1000 Hz." Release Preview is Microsoft's closest-to-retail Insider channel, shipping OS builds that are almost ready to debut to the public. So, this change is apparently permanent and not in an experimental phase, but it's still a gradual rollout.

The new refresh rate limits were first spotted by Blur Busters, who also happened to play a part in the feature's implementation. One of their previous articles mentioned how the human eye can technically see up to 20,000 Hz and that might've convinced Microsoft to raise the ceiling. A contact from the company reached out to Blur Busters and even said the maximum limit is now up to 5,000 Hz in newer Windows builds.

We don't have monitors that can test that yet — Blur Busters says manufacturers are working on 2,000 Hz displays for 2030 — but big companies like Samsung are launching their 1,000 Hz-capable displays this year.

Moreover, achieving 1,000 frames per second in any game is a completely different challenge, one that AMD seems to have solved with its X3D chips. With time, we'll only see higher frame rates thanks to neural rendering improvements and AI becoming an aide in multiplying FPS. q

At the same as this development, Nvidia has also released its first update for G-Sync Pulsar — the company's advanced backlight strobing tech that syncs with a monitor's variable refresh rate (VRR). This update eliminates sharp double images when a game is running under 90 FPS and adds a fixed 60 Hz strobing mode for games capped at that frame rate.

The in-monitor FPS indicator has also been fixed for when games are below 90 FPS. That level of software-hardware integration is only possible on monitors that are vetted by Nvidia. The update is available on just four displays that all launched at CES 2026 earlier this year. This, along with Microsoft's broader refresh rate update, signals that a future with absolute motion clarity is not far off.

Windows 11 continues to accrue more users, with Microsoft’s latest operating system now installed on nearly 3 out of 4 desktop PCs across the world. StatCounter currently reports that Windows 11 has a market share of 72.78%, jumping from just over 50% from late 2025. In line with this, we also saw a drop in active Windows 10 installs, with the older operating system now only at 26.27% — down from around 45% in the same period and a far cry from the more than 80% it commanded during its heyday.

Microsoft launched Windows 11 in October 2021, but it took several years for it to overtake Windows 10 in popularity. In fact, it wasn’t until several months after the company announced that it was ending support for the older operating system that it finally gained the majority from its predecessor. The biggest issue that stopped many users from upgrading was its stringent hardware requirements, which stopped millions of still working PCs from upgrading. Another issue is Windows 11’s insistence on using a Microsoft account for setting up your computer, with many users balking at giving the company their information.

Many users are exploring workarounds for these hardware and account limitations, but Microsoft is actively making it much more difficult to do so. Because of this, some feel that they’re losing control over their own machines as big tech continues to erode ownership. It could be that this jump in Windows 11 use is more from people upgrading their computers rather than a conscious decision to upgrade their operating system. We’ve even seen a phenomenon where former Windows 10 users are moving towards macOS, or to Linux, instead of buying the Copilot+ PCs that Microsoft and Qualcomm have been pushing hard since it launched in the summer of 2024.

Another thing Windows 11 users have to deal with is the various buggy updates that Redmond has been releasing with frustrating frequency. This ranges from annoying but harmless issues, like a missing sign-in password icon or reduced gaming performance on some Nvidia discrete GPUs, to potentially losing data due to unintended BitLocker recovery, the inability to control your PC in Windows Recovery Environment, and your PC outright refusing to boot after a security update. Things have gotten so bad that Microsoft promised that it would fix Windows 11’s most annoying flaws earlier this year, but we’ll have to wait and see how this will turn out in the coming weeks.

Microsoft confirmed today that Windows 11 is not ending support for legacy V3 and V4 printer drivers despite previous reports, walking back a Windows Roadmap entry from earlier this month that implied those drivers were being cut from the OS entirely.

In a statement to Windows Central, a Microsoft spokesperson said, "Windows has not ended support for legacy printer drivers. If your printer works with Windows today, it will continue to work, and no action is required." The company acknowledged that a Roadmap update stating Windows would "no longer support V3 and V4 printer drivers" was inaccurate and has since been removed from the page.

The confusion stems from what Microsoft did change on January 15, 2026: new V3 and V4 printer driver submissions to Windows Update were blocked by default and now require case-by-case approval for Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 and later. That isn’t the same as removing support for those drivers altogether. Existing drivers already available through Windows Update remain accessible, printers already installed and working will continue to function, and vendors can still distribute drivers directly via their own installer packages.

V3 and V4 are older Windows printer driver models that have been around for well over a decade. Microsoft first announced plans to phase out servicing for these legacy driver models back in September 2023, giving hardware partners more than two years to prepare. The push to modernize the Windows print stack is largely in part due to security concerns. Legacy printer drivers, which can run in kernel mode, have historically been a source of serious vulnerabilities, including the class of exploits known as PrintNightmare.

Although Windows has not ended support for legacy drivers, Microsoft’s broader deprecation timeline is still in effect. From July 1 this year, Windows will adjust its internal driver ranking to “prefer” Microsoft’s built-in Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) driver over third-party legacy alternatives when both are available. Then, from July 1, 2027, third-party printer driver updates distributed via Windows Update will be limited to security-related fixes only.

Microsoft also introduced Windows Protected Print Mode with Windows 11 24H2, an optional feature that removes third-party drivers entirely and restricts printing to Microsoft's own class drivers — a hint that Microsoft intends to wean Windows 11 off legacy driver models in the long term. For now, though, your old printer lives to print another day.

Dave Plummer, the creator of the original Task Manager, has created a dashboard for his personal AI project designed to beat the old Atari classic game Tempest. He shared a picture of it on X, saying that this is what the Windows utility would look like now if he were still at Microsoft. You can see it on Tempest AI's dashboard for yourself live, alongside the code for Tempest AI, on Plummer’s GitHub.

The reimagined Task Manager comes with a retro-futuristic aesthetic, complete with RGB flairs, a couple of speedometer-style dial gauges, and a banger soundtrack running in the background. This looks far different from the Task Manager we see on Windows 11 and definitely caters to niche tastes, so we're not sure Microsoft would allow this design aesthetic even if Plummer were still at the company.

Nevertheless, this small exercise is a fun “what-if” for many Windows enthusiasts, which is a nice reprieve amidst all the bugs that have recently been appearing in updates. Users have recently encountered several major issues, including a broken Windows Recovery Environment, unintentional BitLocker activation, and even one that made affected PCs unable to boot.

But despite the cool aesthetics, this isn’t designed to run in the background to display how your Windows PC is performing. When asked about the dashboard’s impact on the processor and memory while it's running, Plummer said that it “burns about 75% of the GPU at 30 fps on my M2 Mac Pro, so it’s ‘not insubstantial’ with its GPU demands!”

Plummer originally built the Windows Task Manager during his free time, but it was so good that it eventually became a part of the of Windows NT. Many of the components of the Task Manager app we’re familiar with today appeared in Windows 2000, and Microsoft has continued to update the program across multiple versions of Windows.

A recent-ish update to the Task Manager was when the company switched RAM speed units from MHz to MT/s in May 2024. Microsoft also revamped the app's design in 2022, which gave it a new look for Windows 11.

Last year, we reported on a speed test feature coming to Windows, built right into the taskbar, where you could gauge your internet connection without venturing out to a browser. In reality, it was more like a shortcut that would still open Bing and take you to a miniaturized version of Ookla's Speedtest. Today, that feature is finally here in the Insider program, as part of Build 26100.7918 and 26200.7918.

In these updates pushed to the Release Preview channel, you'll now see an option to "Perform speed test" when you right-click on the network icon or open the Wi-Fi/cellular quick settings. Upon clicking, your default browser will open up Bing, where you'll see a simplified Ookla interface with a meter in the middle, and three stats below: Latency, Download, and Upload.

That means this is technically not a "native" feature, rather just a website link in your taskbar. Still, for the uninitiated, it can be a convenient way to check their internet speed. Let's say you're in a game and suddenly start experiencing packet loss; instead of Alt-tabbing into a browser for a speed test, you can just right-click on your Ethernet icon and go there directly.

This feature will save you a click or two; however, some users may be disappointed by yet another web wrapper implemented inside Windows. Windows has enjoyed a poor run of stability recently, with even Microsoft recognizing its slack, so a built-in taskbar speedtest is probably not high on most users' list of priorities.

The new Insider builds also come with a host of other improvements, such as new emojis, new backup & restore capabilities, enhanced camera controls for supported devices, and more. System Monitor (Sysmon) is also now natively implemented within Windows for greater threat detection and monitoring. Make sure to check out the release notes for the full list of changes.

A recent change to Microsoft's Windows 11 downloads is reportedly stopping some users and third-party sources from downloading Windows 11 ISOs from its servers. Originally reported by Neowin, multiple Windows Insider users report they are unable to download Microsoft's latest Insider ISOs. The team behind Rufus also chimed in, saying it is having the same issue and Rufus is unable to install the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview ISOs.

These download issues don't appear to be bugs or glitches. All of the Windows Insiders who have complained about this issue say they can't download the latest Insider ISOs because Microsoft is blocking their IP addresses. It's also happening with users on multiple ISPs and through VPNs, confirming that this isn't an ISP problem.

One of Rufus' developers backed up these users' reports, claiming that Microsoft is intentionally breaking the application's Fideo scripts, preventing Rufus from downloading the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview builds through the app directly. Apparently, there is no direct evidence that Microsoft is the culprit, but the developer, Pete Batard, noted that breaking the script requires active involvement. If you are unaware, Fido scripts are part of PowerShell and are used to automate Windows ISO downloads.

There's still no confirmation from Microsoft that it has implemented some type of blocker to prevent users and third-party applications from downloading its latest Insider previews. It is also reportedly affecting at least some Windows Server Insider preview builds as well.

If this isn't a bug, but a purposeful block, Microsoft might be attempting to steer users clear of third-party applications such as Rufus. Neowin theorizes that Microsoft might be trying to steer users towards using its Media Creation Tool, a tool that Microsoft is now updating on a monthly basis to provide users with the latest Windows 11 builds. This theory makes sense in light of what Rufus is dealing with, but it doesn't really explain why Windows Insiders are having this problem, who are downloading the latest Insider Preview ISOs through Microsoft directly and not through a third party.

There's also nothing ruling out the chance that Microsoft could be blocking the entire Insider Preview platform for legitimate reasons. There could be a major bug affecting its servers or the builds themselves. Either way, thankfully, for now this issue is only seemingly affecting the Windows Insider program, and not the official versions of Windows 11. You can still download those ISOs without any problems.

Microsoft is switching gears with its update model for 2026 and is offering a first-half-of-the-year update for Windows 11 for the first time since 2021. The trillion-dollar software giant confirmed in a Windows IT Pro blog post that the newly-released Windows 11 26H1 update is designed to only support devices featuring "new silicon". Devices running Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 ARM SoCs are the only devices that support 26H1 for the time being.

Windows 11 26H1 isn't any ordinary update; Microsoft also revealed that 26H1 runs on a different (newer) codebase than Windows 11 25H2, codenamed Bromine. Because of this code disparity, devices running 26H1 will be stuck on that version for the foreseeable future and won't be able to upgrade to Windows 11 26H2 when it debuts later this year. However, Microsoft did confirm that 26H1 devices will have "a path to update in a future Windows release," confirming that the existing germanium builds of Windows (24H2/25H2) will likely be updated to Bromine, probably next year. Microsoft already ruled out swapping to Bromine for 26H2.

26H1's release is very similar to Windows 11 24H2, as both were and are launched to support bleeding-edge ARM devices before the mainstream Windows codebase could catch up. Windows 11 24H2 was launched in June of 2024 and strictly only worked on ARM-exclusive Copilot+ PCs until October, when Microsoft finally released the update to all systems. 26H1 is different, however, in that it appears to be strictly aimed at supporting next-generation hardware and doesn't have any noteworthy features (if any features) over 25H2.

This is also the first time Microsoft has released a "major" Windows update since Windows 10 21H1 in 2021. 26H1 and 21H1 have their own similarities in that 21H1 was also a minor update that only brought a handful of updates to Windows 10.

It will be interesting to see if Microsoft will continue to split its development branches in the future strictly to stay on top of future hardware support. This is the second time Microsoft has been apparently forced to provide dedicated Windows 11 builds for specific hardware. For now, Snapdragon X2 is the only SoC that supports (and requires) 26H1, but Microsoft's wording suggests there will be more hardware soon that will need 26H1's codebase to run. Leaks, rumors, and educated guesses claim that Nvidia's upcoming N1X chip will also be strictly supported through 26H1.

For now, though, what is important to know is that Windows 11 26H1 is a device-specific update, so you won't have to worry about upgrading to it. If you already have a device that needs 26H1, it will have 26H1 out of the box. If you're on Windows 11 25H2, 24H2, or any older update, you can skip 26H1 and focus on 26H2, which will be Microsoft's "actual" feature update geared towards all mainstream Windows devices coming out in the second half of this year.

If you've recently updated your Windows and are experiencing gaming instability despite owning one of the best graphics cards, the Windows 11 KB5074109 January update may be to blame. Amid reports of framerate drops, gaming artifacts, and black screens, Nvidia has recommended uninstalling the update as a temporary workaround while the chipmaker investigates the issues.

"Even though it started after a Windows 11 update, we are looking into it. As far as I know, the only way to resolve it appears to be uninstalling KB5074109," wrote Manuel, a Nvidia representative, on the official GeForce forums.

The January 2026 security update is a mandatory one because it addresses 114 security vulnerabilities and resolves multiple issues, including battery drain on systems with NPUs. However, the major update has done more harm than good, particularly leaving owners of GeForce graphics cards on the short end of the stick. There don't appear to be any reports of AMD Radeon users struggling in the meantime.

The first user feedback focused on performance issues, with multiple GeForce gamers reporting framerate drops of 15 to 20 FPS. The performance hit was only the tip of the iceberg. As the month progressed, reports of instability began to build in the GeForce forums, with users expressing frustration with gaming artifacts and random black screens. Initially, many believed Nvidia's GeForce driver was the culprit, as the chipmaker released two driver updates (582.28 and 591.86) in the same month as the problematic KB5074109 security update.

However, many affected users reported that uninstalling the KB5074109 update restored their gaming systems to top condition. Nvidia appears to back the finding, as Manuel has recommended the same workaround while the company continues its investigation.

The KB5074109 update was problematic all around. Microsoft acknowledged that the update impeded some systems from booting correctly, and consequently, affected users had to resort to Windows Recovery to restore regular operation. Since then, Microsoft has released a couple of updates, one of which (KB5074105) fixes the black-screen issue. However, it's optional, so you may have to install it manually if you want to try that fix.

KB5074109 is a critical security update and mandatory; your system likely already has it installed unless you've disabled Windows updates. If you're not sure, you can check by navigating to Settings > Windows Update > Update history. You can also find the option to remove the irritating update in the same section. The performance hit and instability issues don't affect every single GeForce-powered gaming system. If you're in the clear, you should leave the update alone since it makes your system more secure.

Lapdock accessories maker Nex Computer has come up with a smartphone that can boot into three operating systems: Android, Linux, and Windows. The new NexPhone is an attempt to offer a single device for all your computing needs. Powered by the company’s NexOS, the device can be used as an everyday smartphone with Android 16 and can launch Linux (Debian) as an app within the Android interface. The phone can also boot into Windows 11, complete with a custom tile-based UI and progressive web app support reminiscent of the now-retired Windows Phone OS.

To expand productivity, the NexPhone can be hooked to a monitor with some peripherals for a full desktop experience using Android, Linux, or Windows 11, depending on the user’s preference. In terms of design, the smartphone doesn’t really stand out as it looks similar to most entry-level smartphones from a few years ago. However, the company has focused on making the NexPhone quite rugged as it meets the MIL-STD-810H military standards with IP68 and IP69K protection. This means that it can be used in harsh environments and can withstand drops, shocks, dust, water immersion, salt spray, vibration, and extreme temperatures.

The smartphone features a 6.58-inch LCD display with a 2403x1080p resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is powered by the Qualcomm QCM6490 chipset, which is a Windows compatible Arm chipset with long-term support through 2036. It includes a 64-bit octa-core CPU with boost clock speeds of up to 2.7 GHz, 12GB of RAM, and a Qualcomm Adreno 643 GPU. There’s 256GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded further using a microSD card up to 512GB.

Connectivity features include Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and USB Type-C 3.1. The USB Type-C port offers video-out support, so it can be used to connect directly to a monitor or be used with the company’s own USB Type-C hub, which includes two USB Type-C ports (one of which supports PD charging), two USB Type-A ports, and HDMI. Other features include a 5,000 mAh battery, 18W wired fast charging, wireless charging, and a dual-camera setup at the back with a 64-megapixel primary camera and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor. At the front, there is a 10-megapixel camera for taking selfies and video calls.

It’s worth noting that users with a flagship smartphone may find the NexPhone less appealing as a replacement. Rather, the company says, it can serve as a rugged secondary device that can double as a capable PC for many Linux or Windows-based tasks when needed. The NexPhone is priced at $549 and can be pre-reserved by heading to the company's website and paying a $199 deposit. The rest of the amount can be paid once the device starts shipping in Q3 2026.

Microsoft just released a new feature to Windows Insiders that some people are going to love. According to the Windows Insider Blog, administrators who install Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.7535 (KB5072046) from the Dev & Beta Channels can now uninstall the Microsoft Copilot App on managed devices. This policy, called RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp, would uninstall the Microsoft Copilot app for users.

However, the device to which this is applied must meet the following criteria: it must have both Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot installed on the system; the Microsoft Copilot app wasn’t installed by the user; and the Microsoft Copilot app wasn’t launched in the past 28 days. This means that even though admins can now remove the Microsoft Copilot app, users would still have the Microsoft 365 Copilot app installed on their system. The former is the free app preinstalled on Windows 11, while the latter is a paid service included with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Aside from that, the last condition — not having launched the Microsoft Copilot app in the past 28 days — might be a bit difficult for the average user to meet. That’s because the Microsoft Copilot app has “Auto start on log in” turned on by default. And even if you were able to turn that off and disable the app on Task Manager’s list of Startup Apps, it’s easy to accidentally launch the app with its Windows + C, Alt + Space, or the Copilot shortcut keys.

Nevertheless, administrators can still try removing the Microsoft Copilot app in the Group Policy Editor. To do so, you need to go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows AI > Remove Microsoft Copilot App. But if you want to explore Microsoft Copilot and its AI capabilities, and your administrator uninstalled it on your PC, you can easily reinstall it — no need to ask your administrator to reverse what they did.

Nevertheless, this might be a welcome change for those who do not use AI tools, and even those who prefer using competing AI models. After all, even though AI is a great tool when used with intention, we really don’t need it everywhere — and Intel has shown this in its keynote at CES 2026. Even Dell has admitted that consumers don’t really care about AI PCs, which is something that Microsoft pushed with the launch of Copilot+ PCs in 2024.

Windows 11 gets a bad rep in the community because of its higher baseline overhead, stringent hardware requirements, UI regressions, and more - not to mention the forced Microsoft hooks that keep getting worse by the day. Moreover, when placed in a rather unscientific test by TrigrZolt, comparing six different generations of Windows with each other, it placed dead last in pretty much every individual test, though the situation is a bit more nuanced.

Six Lenovo ThinkPad X220 laptops were used in the test, featuring a Core i5-2520M CPU and 8GB of RAM, with a 256GB hard drive — running the latest versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11. That setup alone should tell you how the methodology employed here is skewed toward favoring older software. Windows 11 isn't even officially supported on these components.

Regardless, the experiment begins with a startup test, where Windows 8.1 booted up the quickest, while Windows 11 was the slowest. Both of these versions (and Windows 10) have Fast Boot capability that older Windows editions lack. In the video, we also see that Windows 11 struggles to load the taskbar for a bit, an infamous quirk of the OS that's been heavily scrutinized ever since launch.

Then comes the storage test, where it's Windows XP that takes the cake, with only 18.9GB of space taken up for all the apps installed. The same number of programs, along with Windows itself, took 37.3GB of hard drive real estate on Windows 11, so there's definitely a lot of extras there. But Windows 11 actually came third here, behind Windows Vista, at 37.8GB, and the revered Windows 7, at a whopping 44.6GB.

Next up is RAM management where Windows XP is the winner once again, consuming only 0.8GB of system memory at idle, while Windows 11's appetite grew to 3.3GB on average; it jumped to 3.7GB at one point. This is because of the added resources the OS loads in the background, including persistent telemetry.

Older hardware with less RAM, therefore, will be more susceptible to sluggishness on Windows 11. Keep in mind, TrigrZolt is also running a system with a hard drive, which are outdated at this point regardless of your operating system loyalties. Any modern system with a decent CPU and NVMe SSD will likely mask over the general inefficiency Windows 11 shows, plus options like debloat tools and Xbox FSE can further help here.

Now we move on to the second part of the RAM management test, where the YouTuber loaded as many browser tabs as possible before the memory hits 5GB of utilization. Since Firefox and Chrome don't load webpages properly anymore on archaic Windows versions, a more widely-compatible browser called Supermium was used across all devices.

Once again, Windows 11 places dead last here, only being able to load a measly 49 tabs. Compare that to the insane 252 tabs Windows 8.1 was able to load. Even the older Windows XP managed 50 tabs, and that's because it kept crashing past that number because of its paging file failing to keep up, not because it had hit the 5GB memory ceiling.

Our fourth test is for battery life and, of course, Windows 11 died first here, while Windows XP walked away with the best endurance. Though, the delta between all the devices was only about two minutes so it won't make a difference in real-world usage. All the laptops had 100% battery health, too, and the same program was run to drain them as quickly as possible.

Moving on, exporting an audio file in Audacity once again put Windows 11 at fifth place, only ahead of Windows Vista which was experiencing an unusual delay, otherwise all laptops finished around the same time. The same fate follows Windows 11 when it came to rendering a video, finishing in last, with Windows 10 taking first place. Here, Windows XP and Vista couldn't load the OpenShot Video Editor that was used, so they were disqualified.

In application opening times, Windows 11 got last place across all five programs that were tested: File Explorer, MS Paint, Calculator, Adobe Reader, and VLC Media Player. Older versions of Adobe Reader and VLC were used to ensure compatibility with all six operating systems, so there's a bit of performance left on the table, but still the native apps didn't win any awards either.

After so many consecutive losses, Windows 11 actually secured third place in one half of the web browsing test where it had to load an image, but fell to last place again when visiting the Google Images and Microsoft Account login websites. When transferring files, though, Windows 11 snatched second place, only behind Windows 10, while placing fourth in the malware scan test using MalwareBytes — Windows 7 won this one.

Finally, we arrive at our last test, which are benchmarks. Windows XP took the crown in CPU-Z's single threaded load while Windows 7 topped the multithreaded charts, and Windows 11 was fourth in both. Geekbench was also tested, but the versions are different for Windows 10/11 and the rest. Between those two, Windows 11 scored higher in single-core but lower in multicore. Among the older operating systems, Windows Vista walked away with the highest score.

TrigrZolt also tested CrystalDiskMark and Windows 11 netted a decent third place here, tied with Windows 10, while Windows XP won. In Cinebench R10 single-core, Windows 8.1 got its second victory of the day, pushing Windows 11 down to fourth place. Multicore was even worse for Windows 11 because it only beat Windows 10 by a few points to save itself from scoring last; Windows Vista walked away as the fastest.

All in all, this was a pretty devastating showing for Windows 11 where it couldn't even win a single test. However, the hardware is just so outdated at this point that it doesn't represent the Windows 11 experience faithfully. The laptops were never designed to run a modern operating system, neither does Microsoft's latest OS support this hardware.

If you were to use modern laptops that came out in the Windows 10/11 era, the results would likely be skewed the other way. The omission of an SSD, especially, is strange since that's a component every edition of Windows will benefit from, and something that truly does hold back Windows 11 here. Though, it's still a little embarrassing, considering Windows 10 didn't suffer nearly as much without it.

The YouTuber himself mentions that this test represents historic value more than practicality. He ended up giving the overall win to Windows 8.1, saying how fluid and fast it felt, despite being ridiculed at the time of its release. It's also more visually consistent with Windows 10/11 than it is with Windows 7/Vista, so it doesn't look outdated.

A better methodology would've been to use flagship — or even midrange, for that matter — laptops from every generation: custodians of that era of Windows, so that each version had the best shot at performing at its full potential. As it stands right now, while it's quite funny to see Microsoft's increasingly AI-riddled OS loose against legacy offerings, the test just wasn't set up fairly to begin with.

Microsoft has introduced a new form of hardware-accelerated BitLocker encryption in Windows 11, offloading encryption and decryption to a purpose-built cryptography accelerator baked into future CPUs to improve performance and efficiency. First announced at Ignite 2025 in November, the feature has been added to the latest versions of Windows 11 (25H2) and Windows Server (2025 with the September Update), along with UFS (Universal Flash Storage) Inline Crypto Engine technology. This new tech will undo the performance penalties that Microsoft imposed on its users by forcing them to use software-based encryption by default, offering twice the storage performance in some types of workloads.

According to our testing and support documentation, software-based BitLocker encryption is enabled by default on new installs of Windows 11 Pro. It reduces SSD performance by up to 45%, as encryption and decryption are handled by software running on the CPU. Hardware-accelerated BitLocker is already available for storage devices, with the encryption offload being handled on the storage device itself, be it an SSD or HDD, as long as it is TCG Opal-compliant. Most modern SSDs include hardware-based encryption, in which all encryption/decryption processing occurs directly on the drive with no performance impact.

However, Microsoft, being Microsoft, opted to force-enable the software version of BitLocker for new Windows Pro installs, hurting performance and battery life — you can only use hardware-based SSD encryption if you jump through a complicated series of largely undocumented hoops.

The company now plans to use a new hardware-accelerated BitLocker CPU implementation to address the issue it created, but it will take time to even become available.

Hardware-accelerated BitLocker will initially be available on Windows 11 devices with Intel vPro platforms based on upcoming Intel Core Ultra series 3 “Panther Lake” CPUs, with broader support planned. The latest version of BitLocker is expected to leverage new capabilities on upcoming chips, including crypto offloading, where the bulk of cryptographic operations will be moved from software running on the CPU to a dedicated fixed-function crypto engine. Additionally, BitLocker bulk encryption keys will be hardware-wrapped on select SoCs to improve security by reducing exposure to CPU and memory vulnerabilities.

Microsoft’s Rafal Sosnowski stated in a blog post, “When enabling BitLocker, supported devices with NVMe drives along with one of the new crypto offload capable SoCs will use hardware-accelerated BitLocker with the XTS-AES-256 algorithm by default. This includes automatic device encryption, manual BitLocker enablement, policy driven enablement, or script-based enablement with some exceptions.”

Microsoft claims that hardware-accelerated BitLocker can deliver performance improvements in storage and I/O metrics, such as sequential and random reads and writes, when compared with software BitLocker. Additionally, users can expect up to 70% reduction in CPU cycles required to process BitLocker workloads, thereby resulting in improved battery life.​

The company has also shared CrystalDiskMark performance test results in a video, showing that a drive with software-based BitLocker encryption achieved read speeds of 1632 MB/s on single-thread sequential workloads, compared with 3746 MB/s on a drive with hardware-based BitLocker enabled. Similarly, write speeds improved to 3530 MB/s from 1510 MB/s.

For now, hardware-accelerated BitLocker will be reserved for future Windows PCs, so widespread adoption will take time. That said, the feature's introduction indicates that Microsoft is finally rethinking how encryption should work on modern hardware.

Microsoft has just announced that Windows Server 2025 will natively support NVMe drives, some 14 years after the technology launched. Given that Windows 11 shares the same architecture as Windows 10, it stands to reason that enterprising users can also enable native NVMe support using the same procedure. Computer Base [machine translated] reports that some users who enabled the feature experienced lower latencies and higher transfer speeds, resulting in an improvement of about 10% to 15%.

This feature will allow users to maximize read and write speeds on their NVMe drives while reducing processor load. It will also limit instances in which one or more applications performing many storage-intensive tasks would cause the entire system to freeze. Despite this, a few users said they didn’t see any change in performance after tweaking their registry.

However, this feature is not without its drawbacks. Given that Windows treats all storage devices as SCSI, most drives and software are tuned for this operation, where NVMe commands are translated into SCSI commands that it can recognize. Because of this, some storage management tools either no longer recognize NVMe drives or detect them twice as two different drives. The registry tweak can also change the disk ID, making it difficult for some apps, such as backup tools, to detect the drive.

Despite that, native NVMe support is still a game-changer for Windows systems. This feature allows the operating system to maximize the performance of SSDs, especially since Microsoft says it supports 64,000 queues, each handling 64,000 commands simultaneously — meaning it can hold over 4 billion operations. On the other hand, the supported SCSI protocols limit each queue to 32 commands.

We expect this technology to be slowly standardized over the years, especially as developers take advantage of native NVMe support. But if you’re one to push your hardware to its limits, you can force the change now by following the instructions from Microsoft. Nevertheless, it’s recommended that you back up your system or test the changes in a virtual environment before making them, as doing so could lead to system instability.

Microsoft has announced that it will continue to deliver significant updates for Windows 11 in the coming year, in an effort to make the platform more optimized for gaming. “We’re committed to making Windows the best place to play, and we will continue refining system behaviors that matter most to gaming: background workload management, power and scheduling improvements, graphics stack optimizations, and updated drivers,” said the company in a Windows blog post.

Throughout this year, we saw Microsoft being more committed towards gamers with the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, their first handheld consoles made in collaboration with Asus. These consoles came with exclusive features, including the Xbox full screen experience (FSE) and Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD). Microsoft also improved the Windows gaming experience on Arm devices by enabling local game installs through the Xbox app, expanding compatibility and performance in the Prism emulator, and providing native anti-cheat solutions.

With 2026 fast approaching, Microsoft has announced that it will be expanding Xbox FSE to Windows PCs, including desktops, laptops, and 2-in-1s, next year. The feature is currently being tested in a preview and can be accessed by updating to the latest Windows 11 build and signing up for the Windows and Xbox Insider programmes.

Xbox FSE is a controller-first interface that essentially allows you to launch games faster, with minimal distractions. It can also consolidate all of your game libraries from various online stores, including Microsoft Store, Steam, Epic Games, and Battle.net, into one place. Additionally, one can expect a boost in gaming performance as booting into FSE instead of Windows Explorer results in less RAM usage.

Microsoft also plans to expand Auto Super Resolution to handheld gaming devices next year, starting with a preview for the ROG Xbox Ally X. Auto SR was first introduced on Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X processors, with an aim to deliver sharper visuals and smoother framerates in DirectX games running at lower resolution.

Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) is also set for an expansion to more Windows 11 devices that allows the system to preload game shaders during download, thus allowing supported games to launch faster, run smoother, and consume less battery when you first launch the game. Lastly, Microsoft says that it is working on improving system behaviors that matter most when you are gaming, including background workload management, power and scheduling improvements, graphics stack optimizations, and updated drivers. The company will be sharing more information during the upcoming Game Developers Conference (GDC) scheduled in March 2026.

Windows is becoming more AI-focused with every passing update, and the latest major revision — 25H2 — added so many AI features that some might genuinely be opposed to upgrading. Most of the additions are opt-in, while others work automatically in the background, and Microsoft has already said how it wants Windows to become an agentic OS one day. But what if you don't?

That's where this new script comes in, claiming it can rid your operating system of all the AI shenanigans Microsoft has piled on.

"RemoveWindowsAI" is a script created by zoicware, available on GitHub, that does exactly what it says: remove every AI feature in Windows 11, while guiding users to disable others that require manual intervention. It runs from a PowerShell console where you have to type out a simple command. There's a list of all the options, like Copilot and Recall, that can be disabled with the Registry Keys command, or by hiding AI components in the Settings app.

All the details for getting the script up and running are on the GitHub page, along with a YouTube tutorial you can follow. The creator says any new AI features added in preview builds won't be targeted with this script until they become a part of the stable release channel that sends out updates to everyone. This makes sense because, otherwise, there'd be simply too much to deal with since Insider builds are Microsoft's testing playground for AI.

There's also a separate guide for manually disabling AI features that the script can't handle, including Gaming Copilot, OneDrive AI, and Windows Studio Effects — all pretty simple toggles. As mentioned before, any new features that do become part of mainline Windows will be added to the script or at least the GitHub page if they require conscious action.

We tested it ourselves, and it works just as intended; the GUI command is easier to use if you're not comfortable playing around with admin settings. There's a "?" icon next to every toggle that explains what that feature does, too. There's even a "Revert Mode" toggle to restore all the AI functionality you've disabled, so you're not losing these features forever. The goal is to put the choice in the user's hands, as always.

Despite record-breaking quarterly income reports, Microsoft hasn't exactly had a good track record with end users lately, particularly around Windows 11 and/or its 25H2 update. There's no shortage of bugs with every point release, and the latest one can be described as annoying and amusing in equal parts. In the latest preview release (KB5070311), when Windows is set to dark mode, several parts of Explorer will flash bright white before displaying their contents, Bleeping Computer reports.

The bug can be triggered in multiple ways: simply navigating to or from Home or Gallery (including an initial launch to Home), creating a new tab, enabling or disabling the Details pane, or selecting More Details when copying files. The only workaround is to disable dark mode entirely. It's worth noting that the preview build specifically says Explorer "now offers a more consistent dark mode experience". The irony here is palpable.

The Microsoft post about the update specifically calls out the purported improvements made by Windows' coders in this release. Dark mode consistency in Explorer should apply to: copy/move/delete dialogs, progress bars, chart views, and confirmation dialogs. Microsoft is also testing a change to its controversial context menu, unifying Share, Copy, and Move actions in a single menu in a bid for discoverability. Explorer has been the target of many improvements lately, including preloading its contents.

The preview build does bring in a lot of goodies, though. Handheld owners will be happy to know that the Full-Screen Experience is now generally available, haptic-enabled pens now respond to Windows UI actions, compatible backlit keyboards are more configurable, and there's a new Mobile Devices setting for managing Bluetooth devices.

Over on the more techie side, the new Quick Machine Recovery feature can now run a one-time scan and try and fix basic issues with an install, or direct users to recovery options. Detailed keyboard character repeat and delay rate, as well as cursor blink rate, were moved to Settings. Windows Share now supports multi-file sharing, as well. Gamers will be happy to know that the bug causing some titles to error out with "unsupported graphics card detected" should now work.

If you enjoy living on the edge and want to get a hold of the latest improvements, the KB5070311 preview update should be right up your alley.

It is great to see legendary old hardware that is still able to work in the latest PC builds. A prime example of old mingling with new in a magical way was provided by Omores on YouTube a few days ago. The TechTuber managed to coax their ancient Creative 3dfx Voodoo2 12MB graphics card to work in their cutting-edge AMD Ryzen 9 9900X-powered Windows 11 PC.

This is no simple feat. Nevertheless, you can see that Omores got a 1998 vintage 3D accelerator, using services written for a 1996 OS, with an experimental 64-bit driver from 2006, to run on a PC using an OS from 2011, powered by a processor from 2024.

To kick off the above video, Omores pitched a simple question. Could a classic Voodoo2 graphics card work with modern hardware, and on Windows 11? “Sounds impossible,” because of the 64-bit driver necessity of Microsoft’s newest OS, the TechTuber openly pondered.

Omores then explained that he would be looking specifically at the Voodoo2, as the original Voodoo trips up with processors faster than 1.0 GHz, while the Voodoo2 doesn’t suffer any such limitations. Thus, mused the intrepid old-meets-new experimenter, a combination of the right drivers and a working PCI to PCIe connection should get the iconic 3dfx card and one of AMD’s latest and greatest platforms playing nicely together.

Instead of jumping in the deep end, Omores took viewers on a journey with this tech tale of May to September. After introducing the hardware solution that could physically get a 1998 3D accelerator hooked up to a modern AM5 motherboard system (a StarTech PCI-E to PCI enclosure), it was time to check OS/software compatibility.

First off, the unmatched hardware combo was shown working with Windows 98 installed on the system. This confirmed, with reference drivers, that the hardware side of the equation was fine. Further confirmation that this disparate hardware concoction posed no issues came from benchmarking in games/apps like Quake 2 and 3D Mark 2001 SE.

Next, Omores moved to Win 10 32-bit, the last 32-bit OS release from Microsoft. An enthusiast community developed 32-bit driver for the 3dfx was used here, and it worked well.

Moving to Windows 10 64-bit would be more complicated. However, Omores explained that in 2006 a dev called Ryan Nun (AKA Colourless) published an experimental 3dfx Glide Project for x64 – based on research into original Win NT (1996) drivers. These new kernel drivers worked for Omores on a Win10 64-bit install, with a fix that was made for XP systems.

The TechTuber saw no real reason why Windows 11 shouldn’t work the same way after driver signature enforcement was removed. But, of course, things weren’t so simple. Surprisingly, a change of PCI slot cleared an early hiccup, getting the system to the same easily fixed error point where the Win 10 64-bit stalled (the Mapmem error).

“We now have a 3D accelerator from 1998, using a driver that relies on services written for Windows NT from 1996, successfully running in Windows 11 23H2,” wryly observed Omores. We’d add that the CPU was a powerful, ultra-modern one, from 2024.

Perhaps the TechTuber was pushing his luck by trying to run two Voodoo2s in SLI on the same system, next. Indeed, using his second Voodoo2, a Joytech Apollo 3D Fast II 12MB, which isn’t a perfect glitch-free runner, caused this delicately teetering concoction of hardware to topple in Windows 11.

Microsoft has admitted that the non-security preview update KB5064081 has an issue that will make it a bit harder to log into your computer using your password. According to Microsoft Support, one of the known issues in this update is that the “Password icon might be missing or invisible in the lock screen sign-in options.” While the button might have disappeared, you can still sign in with a password by clicking on the empty space where the button should be, and the password field will appear.

Insider channel users caught this bug before it went mainstream

This isn’t a critical security or performance issue, especially as it only impacts the Windows user interface. Furthermore, it’s part of a preview update, meaning users in the preview channel should be the only ones affected. It’s nonetheless annoying to those users, especially if you forgot your PIN for Windows Hello and you now can’t quite figure out how to type in your password. Microsoft said that it’s already “working to resolve this issue and will provide information when it’s available.”

Windows Updates are meant to fix security issues, bugs, and release new features, but if you’re tinkering with a complicated operating system such as Windows 11, you’re bound to break something else if you aren’t careful. In fact, Microsoft released an emergency patch last month after an update prevented users from using the keyboard and mouse when in the Windows Recovery Environment.

In the same month, the company also broke the Media Creation Tool just a day before Windows 10 end-of-life, which might prevent some users from updating their system to Windows 11. Even other companies need to deal with Windows Updates shenanigans. For example, Nvidia released an emergency driver update in the latter part of November after a Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 update significantly reduced performance in some games. This hotfix resulted in 50% performance increase for affected titles, giving many frustrated gamers a reason to rejoice.

Thankfully, Microsoft has several Windows Insider channels where most bugs are caught before they’re rolled out to the average user. These should catch most of the biggest bugs that Microsoft’s engineering and programming teams might have missed, but even then, a few issues sometimes slip through the cracks and get a wider release.

Earlier in the week, we reported on the barnstorming success Linux distro Zorin OS has had since the official end of support for Windows 10 date passed, notching 780,000 installs from Windows 10 users in a mere five weeks. Now it turns out that other Linux distros are also making hay while Microsoft Windows 10’s sun sets: The developers of Bazzite have taken to social media to trumpet that it has “delivered over 1 petabyte of Bazzite ISOs in just the last 30 days.”

From October 29 to November 28, team Bazzite is happy to share that the site had 730,000 unique visitors, and it served 1PB of data during a month, for the first time. How many Bazzite OS downloads does this imply? We looked at the various ISO installers on offer and noted that an Nvidia GPU friendly ISO was 7.5GB, and an AMD GPU-ready ISO 6.6GB. So, if we assume an average of 7.0GB per ISO, that would be about 143,000 Bazzite downloads – getting close to 150,000 new users, as a best-case scenario.

Why Bazzite?

For those unfamiliar with Bazzite, it first blipped on our radar back in 2023, when it made waves as a gaming-centric SteamOS clone for those without a Steam Deck, but who were looking for a similar experience.

Bazzite progress has continued, but one has to admit its future looks less certain now that SteamOS is officially available for desktops. Nevertheless, Bazzite has been developed long and lovingly enough to make a fight of it. It currently offers broader system support, with the latest Linux drivers for broad compatibility with lots of desktops, laptops, and handhelds. You get a choice of downloading an ISO with Nvidia drivers already in place, and a choice of multiple desktop environments, too. Another important thing for gamers is the ready support for non-Steam launchers (for your Epic, GOG, Ubisoft and other PC games libraries).

The latest figures suggest that nearly 90% of Windows games run on Linux. The improvement of games compatibility has reduced the potential friction of migrating away from Microsoft’s OS. Moreover, things only seem to be getting better for Linux switchers (check that link for some hands-on Bazzite action).

Why Zorin?

Coincidentally, the even more successful (if the shared figures are accurate) Zorin OS has the key ‘selling point’ that it will usurp your Windows OS without breaking a sweat. This distro comes with a familiar-looking ‘Start menu’ UI, and the WINE compatibility layer setup is box-fresh, so you can root out your Windows application installer archives, DVDs, ISO, or whatever and install them and access your tried and trusted apps in this non-Windows OS.

I’ve tried Zorin, and it works well with old, abandoned software I like to use, even though it can have compatibility issues on Windows 11. That was an unexpected bonus.

Are Bazzite and Zorin small potatoes?

So, Zorin OS reportedly achieved 1 million downloads in 5 weeks. And now we hear Bazzite served almost 150,000 Linux ISOs in a single calendar month. That’s great, but these OSes are quite small players in the Linux world.

There aren’t definitive comparison figures, but searching around indicates that the most popular distros are Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Debian, and Arch Linux. The top two mentioned might dish out multiple times the volume of ISOs served by small/new challengers like Zorin or Bazzite. However, with both those highlighted distros having special appeal to ex-Windows productivity and gaming users, perhaps the sands have shifted in their favor, to some degree.

Nvidia released a hotfix driver recently that fixes performance issues in games, as a result of a buggy cumulative update Microsoft released for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. A few X posters, including Sebastian Castellanos, have published benchmark results showing almost a 50% performance boost in games from the new Nvidia hotfix driver in some titles.

The performance issues from Microsoft's latest update are likely far more egregious than most people were expecting. Sabastian saw a whopping 47% improvement in average FPS in Assassin's Creed Shadows from Nvidia's last outgoing stable driver 581.80 compared to its latest 581.94 hotfix driver. Similarly, 1% lows were 46% better on the hotfix driver as well.

Another X poster, Daniel Nowak, also shared similar performance behavior in the same game, but his comparison was made with a slightly older driver. Daniel saw a 65% performance improvement going from driver 581.57 to Nvidia's new hotfix driver. These performance regressions are massive, but only affect certain games according to Nvidia, so it might not be worth upgrading to 581.94 if you are not experiencing any noticeable performance drops. The 581.94 hotfix driver is considered a "beta" driver, so there may be additional bugs introduced by installing it.

Performance issues started cropping up with Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 October 2025 update KB5066835, which introduced a bug that could reduce FPS in certain circumstances. This bug has yet to be fixed by Microsoft and is the reason why Nvidia is now stepping in to fix the issue for themselves, at least for Nvidia GPU owners. Sadly, AMD and Intel GPUs are also affected by this bug, but no new drivers have come out yet from either vendor to fix the issue.

This latest hotfix update is quite different from what we are accustomed to seeing Nvidia fixing with these drivers. Earlier this year, most (if not all) of Nvidia's hotfix drivers were dedicated to fixing issues surrounding RTX 50 series GPUs, including crashes, clock speed issues, and display-related problems. With driver 581.94, Nvidia is fixing an issue that was caused by Microsoft, not itself.

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, despite its odd name, is the first contemporary Microsoft-sanctioned handheld gaming device. The power-packed portable play powerhouse is a pretty performant bit of kit, as we found out in our review. One of the most interesting aspects is the alternative to the stock Windows interface that Microsoft calls the Full Screen Experience (FSE) for short. This was a feature exclusive to the ROG unit, but as of today, Microsoft will make it available to "all gaming handhelds currently in the market".

Additionally, the blog post on the Xbox site says that FSE ought to become available for testing in "more PC form factors," probably meaning home-theater and console-like PCs. Interested testers can enroll their Windows computers in the Xbox/Windows Insider program to give FSE a spin soon.

As we remarked on the review, FSE makes the experience of using Windows for gaming much more streamlined and intuitive than the stock UI. This new development should brighten the day of owners of other Windows handhelds, such as the Lenovo Legion Go, MSI Claw 8 AI+, and AYANEO 2/Next machines. They should very soon be able to boot straight into FSE and not have to fuss and fumble with the Start menu.

Particularly proficient power users could already force-enable FSE with a handful of registry hacks, provided they're running Windows 11 version 25H2. If you've never tried it, FSE consolidates all your games from multiple online storefronts, like Windows Store, Steam, Epic Games, and Battle.net, into one place.

On the performance side, it's also a small step beyond simply activating Game Mode in Windows, as booting into FSE instead of Explorer should skip at least some RAM-hogging components. If you're really hardcore about performance optimization, as an alternative, you can try installing Bazzite Linux or a variant thereof and reportedly enjoy even higher, more stable FPS in many titles.

Steam has had its Big Picture Mode for ages now, and it was an easy argument to make that such an interface should be a baseline feature of any gaming PC, handheld or otherwise. Better late than never, as they say.

Microsoft just released a new agentic AI to Windows 11 Insiders, allowing users to take advantage of artificial intelligence to execute tasks like file organization and sending emails. However, the company has confirmed the potential security risks brought about by giving artificial intelligence access to your files in a new support document. Because of this, it created an experimental feature called agent workspace, which gives the AI its own limited profile on your Windows PC.

Agent workspace is similar to a limited user profile on Windows 11, allowing the AI agent to use common apps and files on your system, but preventing it from using software installed only for specific users and from accessing data locked behind the user profile directory (C:\Users\) unless given specific access. Microsoft says that “this setup is more efficient than a full virtual machine such as Windows Sandbox, while still providing security isolation, support for parallel execution, and keeping the user in control.” It has also ensured that AI agents produce logs of everything that they do, must have limited privileges, and can only be accessed by their original creator.

Despite those measures, the company recognizes the inherent risks by giving an AI agent unprecedented access to your machine. “Agentic AI applications introduce novel security risks, such as cross-prompt injection (XPIA), where malicious content embedded in UI elements or documents can override agent instructions, leading to unintended actions like data exfiltration or malware installation.”

Thankfully, Microsoft isn’t forcing this feature on its users (yet). The company says that it’s turned off by default and that you need to specifically turn on the setting in System > AI Components > Experimental agentic features. Aside from that, it also warns that you should understand the security implications of using a system such as this before turning it on, especially as activating it turns it on for all users on your system.

Microsoft has been pushing hard for the adoption of AI, especially with the arrival of its Copilot+ PCs. However, it seems that most buyers do not care about their capabilities and only buy them because they’re what’s available (with some even jumping to macOS because of their frustration with Windows). Aside from this, most of the exclusive features found on these AI devices aren’t that useful for most consumers, and even ones that have potential, like Microsoft Recall, are security nightmares. While this agentic AI might be useful for the average user on the surface, it also has several red flags, even with all the limitations that the company has put on it.

A few days ago, a high-ranking Microsoft executive characteristically gushed about how Windows is becoming an agentic OS with a focus on AI features, a sentiment that was met with intense scrutiny on social media. Today, we have our first look at what that eventuality could look like, with AI agents working by your side in the background in Windows 11 Insider Build 26220.7262, as detailed by the Windows Insider Blog.

This latest update adds a new "Experimental agentic features" toggle in settings, which creates a separate desktop environment called the "Agent Workspace." Think of it like Windows Sandbox; still isolated from the rest of the system, but Microsoft says it's supposed to be more efficient than virtualization. Unfortunately, Agent Workspaces are not functional right now beyond a simple toggle.

The idea behind this concept stems from agents in ChatGPT or Copilot Actions. They're little digital assistants carrying out mundane tasks on your behalf, such as scrolling through documents, pointing and clicking at various things, and maybe even booking a flight for you. Previously, features like these operated in the cloud in a virtualized window, but now Microsoft wants them to run locally on your computer.

Each time an AI workspace is created, a different AI agent is in charge of that, with its own customized access to "known folders" like Downloads and Desktop. Because the Agent Workspace is its own separate entity, everything is logged with a clearly traceable path of everything the agent saw or performed. You can set up rules for all the agents and allow access to connect to apps (like Copilot) which have agentic feature support.

It all sounds like a privacy nightmare, but Microsoft says "security in this context is not a one-time feature — it’s a continuous commitment." AI agents are turned off by default, so creating Agent Workspaces is a deliberate choice that even Microsoft acknowledges has some tradeoffs, advising users to only opt in if they're comfortable with letting agents poke around within the PC's data.

"We recommend that you only enable this feature if you understand the security implications outlined on this page. This setting can only be enabled by an administrator user of the device and once enabled, it’s enabled for all users on the device including other administrators and standard users."

Once the setting is enabled, AI agents can gain read/write access to certain aforementioned folders if you grant them the necessary permissions. Therefore, these agents can access files in those places, which is needed in order for them to work for you. Microsoft claims that this is safe because each Agent Workspace has its own isolated runtime and "scoped authorization". But, in practice, it remains to be seen whether these claims hold water.

In simple words, essentially a new user account is created, seperate from your personal account, tied specifically to an AI agent. This ensures permissions don't overlap and that the admin account always remains in control, with the AI account only having limited access, operating within set boundaries. It's similar to how user accounts in general work in Windows — now, it's just an AI, instead of a real human.

The benefit of such deep AI integration is... scarce, at the moment, especially when you remember that Agent Workspaces literally don't work right now. Many users are also rightfully furious over how Microsoft is steering Windows into this instead of addressing long-permeating issues within the OS.

Microsoft’s President of Windows & Devices, Pavan Davuluri, has taken to social media to share his enthusiasm about the evolution of Windows. The Microsoft exec wanted to share his excitement about how Windows is "evolving into an agentic OS." But we didn’t see anyone celebrating alongside Davuluri. Rather, the comments section was quickly overrun with sharp criticism, reflecting widespread unease about the direction Microsoft seems to be taking Windows.

Davuluri used his X profile to share information about a breakout session at Microsoft Ignite. The developer-focused event will take place at large, prestigious venues such as the Chase Center and the Moscone Center in San Francisco next week.

“Windows is evolving into an agentic OS, connecting devices, cloud, and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere,” Davuluri wrote on his public profile page. “Join us at #MSIgnite to see how frontier firms are transforming with Windows and what’s next for the platform. We can’t wait to show you!”

Davuluri’s enthusiasm regarding the evolution of Windows faced overwhelmingly negative criticism. If we had to condense the replies into a single, representative, super-reply, it would probably read something like this: ‘No one wants this; we are fed up with AI everything; Windows needs tuning for performance; and Linux is looking good.’

In some ways, we agree with the Windows and PC enthusiast old-guard. The execs that steer Windows might be advised to remember that, first and foremost, it is an operating system and should be honed to facilitate the operations its users wish to complete. Whatever frills it adds — whatever side dishes it offers — the OS definitely should not get in the way of users, and interruptions of computer workflows, entertainment, and gaming fun should be red-flagged as being contrary to the prime directive.

Having said that, some of the negativity from social media commenters went a little off the rails. Davuluri’s highlighted Ignite session seems to be targeted at ‘frontier firms,’ and if they want the Windows features described, laced with artificial intelligence and connected cloud trimmings, it seems fair that Microsoft should address them. As long as these features aren’t foisted on users who want to ignore the OS and focus on their apps, content, and games, we don't think there will be an uprising or a mass exodus in the immediate future.

Windows 11 25H2, the operating system's latest major feature update, rolled out just last month. Just a few weeks ago, rumors of a "26H1" release started circulating, and now we have confirmation of its existence: Microsoft has just released the first build of Windows 11 26H1 — Preview Build 28000 — in the Canary channel of the Insider Preview program.

26H1 is in testing phases right now, and it will officially release early next year. This update is intended for a specific subset of users, with various reports suggesting that it is ARM. There are unsubstantiated rumors floating around, pointing to the upcoming Snapdragon X2 Elite and Nvidia N1X systems as candidates — since Qualcomm has scheduled the launch of its upcoming chips for early 2026, lining up with the 26H1 release.

Despite the implication, Microsoft doesn't explicitly mention any names in its announcement, so this is all speculation. "26H1 is not a feature update for version 25H2 and only includes platform changes to support specific silicon. There is no action required from customers," says the Redmont giant. That "specific silicon" phrasing is what has led many to believe it's referring to Snapdragon and Nvidia's upcoming chips.

So far, Windows 11 has maintained an yearly release cadence; Microsoft pushes a single feature update in the second half of each year, adding new functionality and improvements to the OS. Therefore, the releases are named "22H2," "23H2," "24H2," and so on. As such, 26H1 marks the first time the company has scheduled a major update for the start of the year, even if it's just to add support for specific ARM silicon.

"25H2 remains the primary place for new features. Windows 11 continues to have an annual feature update cadence, with releases in the second half of the calendar year."

Despite Microsoft confirming that 26H1 brings no new features, it's built on the new Bromine core — upgrading from the Germanium platform that powered Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 — suggesting that once 26H1 is rolled into the eventual 26H2, it will be a substantial upgrade. Windows Insider also says that this Preview Build 28000 is the base RTM build for Windows 11 26H1, meaning Microsoft will lock this down and send it to OEMs (perhaps, Qualcomm and Nvidia) so they can start loading it onto their systems.

Microsoft just released a service alert informing users that the October 2025 Windows security update might trigger BitLocker recovery for some Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, as well as Windows 10 22H2 systems. According to BleepingComputer, this isn’t the first time that Windows has experienced this issue, with similar incidents in May of this year, as well as in 2024 and 2022.

“After installing Windows Updates released on or after October 14, 2025, some devices might encounter issues during restart or startup,” Microsoft said in its announcement. “Affected devices might boot into the BitLocker recovery screen, requiring users to enter the recovery key once. After the key is entered and the device restarts, it will boot normally without any further BitLocker prompts.”

This won’t be an issue if your device does not have BitLocker activated — however, Windows 11 24H2 and onwards (even the Home version) have the feature turned on by default if it’s a clean install on supported hardware and you logged in with a Microsoft account. This means you likely have BitLocker activated if you have a new laptop, especially as Microsoft is taking steps to make it impossible to log into your Windows 11 PC using a local account.

If you’re using a corporate device, your IT administrator can prevent the bug from affecting your device via a Known Issue Rollback group policy. But if you’re a consumer user, you’d better know your BitLocker password, or else you risk losing access to your files for good if it locks you out and you don’t know the correct credentials. Thankfully, you can easily check if BitLocker encryption is enabled or disabled on your device, and you can also retrieve your BitLocker key from your Microsoft account if it has already locked you out.

BitLocker is a nifty tool for protecting your data, as it won’t let anyone access your hard drive if your computer is stolen, even if they move it to another device. However, it can also be a pain for the average user, especially if they did not know that it’s automatically activated on their Windows 11 PC, and how to recover the key should it activate. This is especially true if the bug activates after a software update — after all, most users do not expect that their system would flag an update from Microsoft as a security threat.

With Windows 10 reaching its end of life (EOL) last month, a free third-party tool called Flyoobe (which we have covered here) has been gaining popularity for enabling safe upgrades to Windows 11 on unsupported systems by bypassing the system requirements. Additionally, it includes various options to customize the OS further, such as removing AI features and unwanted apps. However, there is a suspected bogus build of this tool downloadable via an official-looking domain, which is causing concern.

The developer of Flyoobe recently issued a warning about a potentially malicious copy of the tool being distributed through a website that is not directly affiliated with the project. According to a notice marked "SECURITY ALERT" on the official Github page, an unofficial mirror is being hosted at https://flyoobe.net/ (do not visit), which may contain malware or a tampered build of Flyoobe. The developer also urges users to download only from the official GitHub releases, emphasizing that the mentioned website has no connection with the developer or the project’s official pages.

Originally known as Flyby11, Flyoobe describes itself as “a better way to set up Windows,” and aims to make Windows 11 more accessible and customizable, especially on older or less powerful hardware. The tool lets you upgrade directly from Windows 10 to Windows 11, bypassing compatibility checks that normally block unsupported systems. So it will bypass TPM module checks, etc. With that, Flyoobe also gives users the flexibility to remove AI-based components and trim unnecessary features to create a lighter installation. It can even enhance the overall Windows experience with additional customization options and the ability to install some of the most commonly used applications.

Downloading tools with system-level access, like Flyoobe, from an unverified source comes with huge risks. Malicious versions of software potentially include hidden keyloggers, Trojans, ransomware, spyware, or scripts that compromise sensitive data during the Windows installation process. Even if the installer may appear to work as intended, tampered builds can introduce backdoors or stability issues that are difficult to trace and fix. That the reputable sounding imposter website URL exists is worrying, so please avoid it. Hopefully, the fake Flyoobe hosting will be shut down shortly.

A YouTube creator’s videos, posted just days apart and demonstrating how to bypass Microsoft’s Windows 11 limitations, were removed for allegedly violating the platform’s community guidelines. Rich, the creator behind the channel CyberCPU Tech, suspected that the takedown of the first YouTube video, a guide on how to log in to Windows 11 using only a local account, was due to YouTube’s AI algorithm flagging it as a false positive. However, he also said that he hoped his next video, which showed how to bypass Windows 11’s hardware requirements, wouldn’t get flagged. Sure enough, Rich posted another YouTube video complaining exactly about this. He changed his tune this time, though, alleging Microsoft is likely behind the action.

Unfortunately, the creator said YouTube didn't give him a clear reason for the takedowns, so his direct allegations are guesswork. “Ultimately, like I stated before, I understand that this is YouTube’s playground. If they don’t want these types of videos on their platform, then we won’t make those types of videos on their platform,” said Rich. He also added, “So, yes, I’m irritated that I have to self-censor myself on YouTube…But I’m going to swallow my pride, and I’m going to do what YouTube wants. It would just be nice to know if this is actually what YouTube wants, because again, they’re unwilling to tell me what I did wrong. I have to make assumptions and guess.”

Rich claims that YouTube did not tell him the exact reason for the take-down. When he appealed the decision, the response was “Again, the warning strike you received was issued based on a violation of Harmful or Dangerous Content which prohibits content that encourages or promotes behavior that encourages dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death.” This reason does not make sense — after all, bypassing Microsoft’s account requirement for Windows 11 and installing the operating system on a computer that does not have TPM 2.0 definitely doesn't risk physical harm or death, although the exact legality of it does vary by local law.

We’re still unsure who’s behind the take-down. After all, this isn’t like the multiple instances where Nintendo requested emulation videos to be taken down, which are on the murkier side of copyright law. It could either be an overzealous AI working behind the scenes at YouTube or Microsoft quietly asking YouTube to remove videos that would bypass its Windows 11 requirements. But without confirmation from either company, we can only guess the real reason why they were removed.

It's unfortunate timing for Microsoft, which has been encouraging its customers to upgrade from Windows 10 as the operating system's support ends. Windows 11 requirements, both hardware- and account-wise, are turning off a lot of people, with some who can afford new hardware to upgrade opting for Macs and MacBooks instead of the Copilot+ PCs that Redmond has been pushing since last year.

Windows Recovery Environment (RE), as the name suggests, is a built-in set of tools inside Windows that allow you to troubleshoot your computer, including booting into the BIOS, or starting the computer in safe mode. It's a crucial piece of software that has now, unfortunately, been rendered useless (for many) as part of the latest Windows update. A new bug discovered in Windows 11's October build, KB5066835, makes it so that your USB keyboard and mouse stop working entirely, so you cannot interact with the recovery UI at all.

This problem has already been recognized and highlighted by Microsoft, who clarified that a fix is on its way to address this issue. Any plugged-in peripherals will continue to work just fine inside the actual operating system, but as soon as you go into Windows RE, your USB keyboard and mouse will become unresponsive. It's important to note that if your PC fails to start-up for any reason, it defaults to the recovery environment to, you know, recover and diagnose any issues that might've been preventing it from booting normally.

Note that those hanging onto old PS/2-connector equipped keyboards and mice seem to be unaffected by this latest Windows software gaffe.

Therefore, it's not just as simple as avoiding Windows RE, especially for the less tech-savvy of us who wouldn't have control (or knowledge) over what to do. Thankfully, though, as mentioned earlier, Microsoft has said it is "working to release a solution to resolve this issue in the coming days" and that "more information will be shared when it's available." So, not exactly a sense of urgency floating in the air, but we hope this gets resolved soon and not sidelined like the recent SSD fiasco which killed many drives and was never really properly addressed by any sides.

This is also just the latest in the line of ever-present bugs that break the OS with recurring Windows updates. With the same KB5066835 update, Microsoft was forced to release an emergency fix for localhost connections, where you couldn't access your own computer, which is crucial for many devs. Speaking of, IT personnel will also be particularly affected by the Windows RE bug since a lot of sensitive system repairs are tied to that toolkit, and they'd need to be put on hold for now. This issue is currently present in Windows 11 25H2, 24H2 and even Windows Server.

Microsoft is pushing to make every Windows 11 PC an AI PC. In new updates, the company is focusing on further integrating AI into Windows 11 apps and experiences (not just chatbots), and making voice as much of an input option as the keyboard and mouse.

The idea, Microsoft says, is that AI on a PC should be easy and natural to interact with in either text or voice; that it should be able to see your screen and information and help; and that it should be able, with your permission, to "take action on your behalf."

"Voice will become the third input mechanism to using your PC," Microsoft executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer Yusf Mehdi said on a call with reporters ahead of the announcement. He mentioned that the idea is for talking to be additive, not replacing keyboards and mice altogether. Mehdi authored a blog post on the new features.

You will be able to talk to Microsoft's Copilot AI by invoking a "Hey, Copilot" wake word, or use the established Win+C shortcut or Copilot button. With your permission, Copilot will be able to see your screen and make suggestions or provide help. (To enable the feature, you'll have to opt in in settings.)

In example videos, we saw someone talk to Copilot in a music player app, and the AI walked the user through steps to get the best sound quality. In another, someone watched a YouTube video and asked Copilot to identify the microphone the host was using, and then the AI pointed out that Best Buy had it available.

This feature, among others that Microsoft is announcing today, won't require a Copilot+ PC (with one exception), but will instead work on any system running Windows 11.

When asked whether people will want to speak to their computers, particularly in offices with other people, Mehdi said that people already have all sorts of talk in these spaces, and that, between office chit chat and using headphones, workers will find ways to learn how to deal with it.

Microsoft is also making Copilot Vision available anywhere in the world where Copilot is offered. Windows Insiders will soon be able to interact with Copilot Vision using text (previously, you could only talk to it).

Windows Insider Experiences

Microsoft is bringing a handful of new Copilot features to Windows Insider before they go wide, with plenty of opt-in security controls..These include a new feature to build Copilot into the taskbar, called "Ask Copilot," that takes the place of the traditional search bar. Microsoft says this will let you use just one click to jump into chat, search for files, or use Copilot Voice or Vision. This, like many of Microsoft's Copilot features, is opt-in.There's also a new mode called Copilot Actions, which will let Copilot take action on your behalf. An experimental feature will go beyond the web and even let the AI use your local files, including sorting photos and finding information in documents.

Copilot Actions will let you observe every step it takes, and you can take over at any point. It will launch in Copilot Labs with a narrow set of use cases, and Navjot Virk, corporate vice president of Windows Experiences, said that these will include more complicated tasks as the model is trained. Actions will be turned off by default, and may request additional consent before doing anything deemed important.

Windows users will also be able to connect Copilot to services, including OneDrive and Outlook, as well as Google services like Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar. From here, Copilot will be able to see your calendar and other personal data to help you find personalized information like appointments, contact details, and documents.The Copilot Connections will also let you export text from Copilot to Microsoft 365, letting you put results into homework or presentations.

Lastly, Microsoft is integrating Manus, a general AI agent, into File Explorer. This AI, which is also available through a native app on Windows 11, can use your documents to complete tasks like creating a website, without you needing to code.

Copilot Plus update

There's only one AI announcement for Copilot+ computers. The Click-to-Do feature will now be able to add actions from Zoom. For example, if you hover over an email address, there will be an option to invite that person to a Zoom meeting.

In other Windows news, earlier this week, Microsoft dropped support for Windows 10 and is encouraging customers to update to Windows 11 with new and improved devices. Extended support for Windows 10 is available to some customers as well as businesses.

A lot of column inches were spent saying goodbye to Windows 10 yesterday. Recently, we have also shared quite a few articles which may help you decide where next on your computing journey – whether that be Windows 11, or an alternative like Ubuntu Linux. Now, the reinvented digital detox tech brand, Commodore, has thrown its hat in the ring, proposing you “Save your PC. Save your sanity” by transitioning to the totally free (Linux-based) Commodore OS Vision 3.0.

Commodore has set up a microsite to help steer you towards its unique vision of a modern operating system. If you head over to commodore.net/closewindows, you will first see a banner image of the Commodore 64X PC with OS Vision. But that is essentially an x86 PC in a C64-style ‘bread bin’ chassis, so don’t worry about the hardware.

As per the official Commodore post above, this OS is being pitched as a fresh start, as Windows 10 rides off into the sunset. Those frustrated with Microsoft’s OS, and its assumed direction of travel given what we’ve seen of Windows 11 so far, are promised “a reset” rather than an upgrade.

Key touted attractions of Commodore OS Vision 3.0 are that it is “a totally FREE, modern, Linux-based sanctuary from tech gone too far. Calm. Creative. Privacy-first. Retro-futuristic. No nags. No noise. No tracking. No toxic social media,” says Commodore. Those sound very much like the words and philosophies of its new CEO, Christian ‘Perifractic’ Simpson.

To be clear, Commodore OS Vision 3.0 hasn’t just been released to take advantage of Windows users in flux, though. This version of the OS was released back in April.

What is special about this 35GB distro?

There is a lot going on in this Linux (Debian)-based OS, which partly explains the humongous download. One of the most striking elements of the Commodore OS Vision 3.0 is its uniquely crafted interface, a love letter to the Commodore legacy, which is a retro-futuristic take on UI design.

Once in the OS, there are lashings of extras. Most notably, the games and demos. This distro includes over 200 free Linux-compatible games, along with a selection of classic Commodore games and demos – thus providing a mix of nostalgia and modernity.

Another key attraction of this OS is its inclusion of Commodore OS BASIC V1. This included BASIC interpreter has been bolstered to support 3D graphics, physics, and more. The original Commodore machines sparked a flood of creativity from bedroom coders, and being able to write computer programs without additional software is very much in the DNA of these influential machines.

Last but not least, as far as highlights go, we must mention the Commodore OS Central. This is a hub for retro-oriented resources and manuals. It is also earmarked for development into a game store, installer, and launcher – with community interaction.

If the idea of moving to the Commodore OS Vision 3.0 intrigues you, we recommend watching the video overview, published by Explaining Computers, below.

Those eager to get stuck in with Commodore OS Vision 3.0 on one of their PCs can find lots of discussion about the operating system on the busy official forums. There, you can also find an extensive installation guide, with walk-throughs for testing (in a VM) or even fully adopting this OS.

As of October 14, Windows 10 is no longer supported by Microsoft. That means no more feature updates, no more official troubleshooting support, and most importantly, no more security updates. Any zero-day exploits hackers have been sitting on are almost certainly now out in the wild, and there's not much Microsoft is going to do to stop them.

If you're still running Windows 10, it's really important you take steps to protect yourself as soon as possible. Your operating system is almost certainly far less secure than it was at the start of October 2025.

Windows 10 support is ending: Who is affected?

If you're running Windows 10, you're affected. Windows 10 has officially reached End of Life (EOL) status, so it is no longer supported in almost any way (see below). Whether you have Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, a commercial or educational license, run a business, or anything else besides. If it's Windows 10, it's done; Your system is not secure.

This doesn't mean Windows 10 will stop working, but without the necessary updates to prevent hackers and bugs from breaking things, the operating system will be exceedingly vulnerable. Hackers and malware authors often sit on potential bugs and hacks so that they can be utilized at the most opportune time. The end of support for a piece of an operating system is a perfect opportunity.

The real kicker? If something goes wrong (or you suffer a malware attack), there's no one at the end of an official support line who can help you, as Microsoft is canning Windows 10 troubleshooting support too.

Windows 10 support is ending: Why is Windows 10 losing support?

This happens to every version of Windows eventually, and it's just Windows 10's time. It was released in 2015, so it has had a 10-year run, which is roughly comparable to other standout Microsoft operating systems like Windows 7. There are only so many years Microsoft is willing to provide support for older systems, and it has commercial reasons to encourage users to move to newer platforms, too.

Microsoft announced the impending end of Windows 10's support in October 2024, giving everyone a year's head start on their update or upgrade. If you haven't managed it yet, it really is something you want to consider doing as soon as possible.

How to secure Windows 10: Buy a new system

If you aren't looking to spend anything, we totally understand: skip to the sections below. But if you want the quickest and easiest way to stay safe, upgrade to new hardware with Windows 11 by buying one of the best laptops or best gaming PCs out there. What you do with the Windows 10 system after that is up to you, but it's easy enough to transfer all your important data over to the new system if you wish. Otherwise, all the alternative ways to secure it below are equally relevant.

It's a trite statement, but if you've been waiting for a good reason to upgrade, now really isn't a bad time. The latest CPUs and GPUs have matured, and we're still a long way off from next-generation releases like Zen 6 or Nova Lake.

Update your Windows 10 PC

If your PC or laptop is perfectly good and meets the system requirements for Windows 11, then you can simply update it to the newer operating system and save yourself from any security woes.

You can update to Windows 11 from within Windows 10 using the update tool. Here's how.

Alternatively, you can download the installation files and install them over your existing operating system, or on a brand new drive partition if you want to start from scratch.

Note: You can also update to Windows 11 even if you don't meet the hardware requirements. Microsoft doesn't guarantee compatibility, updates, or support in the same manner as Windows 11 on compatible PCs, as there may be some that require certain hardware themselves. It does remain an option, though, and one that's likely preferable to remaining on Windows 10.

Get Extended Security Updates

For those unable to upgrade or update but who want to continue using Windows 10, Microsoft does have its Consumer Extended Security Update (ESU) programme. This is a scheme that will give up to a year of additional security updates (though not feature updates or official troubleshooting support), culminating on October 13, 2026, no matter when you take it out. (So the sooner the better)

To take advantage of the ESU scheme, you'll need a Windows 10 system running version 22H2, Home, Professional, Pro Education, or Workstations edition. Commercial Windows 10 installations are subject to a different ESU programme. You'll also need to have all the latest Windows updates installed and use an adult Microsoft account to sign in as an administrator.

There are three ways to join the ESU programme:

• Pay a one-time $30 purchase fee.
• Redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points.
• For free, if:
  • You are located in the European Economic Area and log in to a Microsoft account.
  • Log in to a Microsoft account and use Windows Backup to sync your files.

You can enroll in the ESU at any time throughout the next year, but it will still end for consumers on October 13, 2026. Also, you will remain vulnerable when running Windows 10 anytime before you join the ESU.

To join the ESU, on your Windows 10 system, navigate to Settings > Update and Security > Windows Update. As long as your device meets the prerequisites for the scheme, you'll see a link there to enroll. Select it.

You'll be prompted on how you want to enroll, whether that's paying the fee, backing up, or signing into a Microsoft account. Select your preferred option and follow the on-screen instructions.

The ESU can be used across 10 devices once you've joined it. On any additional devices you want to use it on, navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and select Enroll Now on those additional devices.

Air gap your system

The final option to secure your Windows 10 system is just to make it so that it can't be attacked or infected. That means air gapping it, or creating a physical barrier between it and any wider networks. You take it off your local network, take it off the internet, and never reconnect it without upgrading it first.

As long as you keep a system air gapped, it doesn't really matter how old or out of date it is. It's (almost) physically impossible to affect any system protected this way. Just remember that it will also severely reduce the capabilities of that system outside its own immediate local processing and rendering.

Support for Windows 10 has not officially ended (here's what to do next). Here’s an example of the most unfortunate timing for Microsoft and its OS users. The latest version of the Windows Media Creation Tool (MCT), released just a fortnight ago, “might close unexpectedly, displaying no error message,” admits Microsoft in a status update (h/t Windows Latest). Of course, Windows 10 goes EOL on October 14, and MCT was one of the most popular methods of preparing update media for Windows 11.

If you head on over to the linked Microsoft status page, you will see Microsoft has a prominent blue box advising users about the upcoming Windows EOL. In brief, it means “devices running Windows 10 will no longer receive fixes for known issues, time zone updates, technical support, or monthly security and preview updates containing protection from the latest security threats,” in Microsoft’s words.

Scroll a little further down, though, and a wrinkle that could stall some upgraders is listed as ‘Confirmed’ on October 10. Specifically, the Windows 11 MCT “might not work as expected on Windows 10.” A typical symptom will be that the tool closes unexpectedly, with no error message. Windows Latest was able to replicate this issue. Is ‘oof’ the correct word?

Workarounds: Use Windows Update or download a bootable ISO directly

Microsoft’s terrible timing is quite comical, but thankfully, users still have at least a couple of pretty simple ways to migrate to the latest version of Windows, if that is what they have decided to do. The tech giant is working to fix the MCT issue, but in the meantime, willing Windows 11 migrants can try the following:

1. Windows Update. Head on over to the Windows Update settings in Windows 10. If you aren’t already being offered a ‘Download and Install’ option there, manually check for updates by clicking the button. However, this option might not be available to you, depending on your system specs.
2. Download Windows 11 bootable media directly from Microsoft. The OS vendor advises visiting https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11 and looking for the section titled ‘Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices.’

Remember, if your system isn’t passing the Windows 11 upgrade minimum spec tests in Windows 10, the downloaded bootable ISO may need to be modified using a tool like Rufus – at your own risk. While you’re at it, don’t forget to enable local account setup if that is important for you.

We have a full and recently updated guide to bypassing Windows 11's TPM, CPU, and RAM requirements, which you may find useful. A number of Windows 10 stalwarts who wish to upgrade to something newer may instead be interested in testing one of the latest versions of Linux, like this one for older PCs, and one of these three for mainstream users.

• Upgrading to Windows 11 is easier than you think.
• Windows 10 has a built-in tool to migrate users to Windows 11.
• A fresh install takes more time, but it provides a clean-slate for your rig.

The big day has arrived, and whether you like it or not, you need to take action! What am I talking about? Windows 11, of course. October 14, 2025, is when support for Windows 10 will end, unless you purchase an Extended Security Update (ESU), of course.

Windows 11 is where Microsoft wants users to go, and it is where I have been forced to go! Windows 10 has been nagging me for months, but today is the day that I have to take action. So let's go through the steps you need to take to upgrade your copy of Windows 10 to the latest version of Windows 11.

Before taking any action, ensure that you have backups for all of your important software, files, images, and other data. As with any major upgrade, moving from Windows 10 to 11 carries at least a small risk of data loss.

For those eager to tweak their Windows 11 install, for privacy, AI or system performance requirements, we've got a guide covering how to set Windows 11 to your exact requirements. This guide will work on upgraded and fresh installs of Windows 11.

Below, we outline how to update from Windows 10 to Windows 11 by either using the built-in updating utility, or just starting from scratch with a completely new installation.

How to Upgrade From Windows 10 to Windows 11

• Upgrading to Windows 11 took only 75 minutes.
• The process is entirely inside of Windows 10.
• There was no data loss.

1. From the start menu, click on Settings.

2. Select Update and Security

3. Click on the Windows 11 “Download and Install” button. This is the banner that has been nagging me for many months.

4. Accept and Install the software license terms.

5. Sit back with a beverage and wait for the download and install to complete. This took around 1 hour 15 minutes for me and there were multiple restarts.

How to do a fresh install of Windows 11

• Fresh installs provide a blank canvas to build your system.
• You will need to reinstall any applications and drivers.
• A fresh install takes longer than upgrading.

You may wish to perform a fresh install of Windows 11. For this, you will need a copy of the Windows 11 ISO image and a spare 8GB USB flash drive.

If you wish, you can use the Windows 11 Installation Assistant to check that your PC meets the requirements for Windows 11. If not, you can easily bypass them. My preferred means is to download a fresh Windows 11 ISO and boot directly from that.

Ensure that you have backed up before moving forward. This will completely erase the data on your SSD / HDD.

1. Download and install a copy of Rufus, a tool to write bootable USB sticks.

2. Go to the official Windows 11 page and in the Download Windows 11 Disk Image section, select Windows 11 (multi-edition for x64 device) from the dropdown menu.

3. Select your preferred language.

4. Click on Download and wait for the process to finish. The disk image is around 7.2GB in size.

5. Insert the USB flashdrive and then open Rufus.

6. Select the USB flash drive.

7. Select the Windows 11 ISO image.

8. Click on Start to write the image.

9. If prompted to tweak the install (no TPM, RAM requirement check, local account) decide on what you would like to tweak and then click OK.

10. Wait for Rufus to write the image to the USB flash drive.

11. Click Close and then eject the flash drive.

12. Reboot your PC and select the USB flash drive as the boot device. The process to do this will be different for every user.

13. Follow the Windows 11 install process and in a short while you will have Windows 11 on your PC.

The Out of Box Experience (OOBE), what Microsoft refers to as the setup process for a new Windows install, just received a significant update — it's now even more difficult to bypass restrictions in order to use a local account. For ages, people have employed creative tricks to circumvent signing into a Microsoft account before getting into Windows, but the company is making it increasingly clear that it's not an option to skip this part.

In the patch notes for Insider Preview Build 26220.6772, Microsoft explicitly mentions the removal of "local-only commands" and says these "known mechanisms" for bypassing online sign-ins are being addressed. It requires every user to log into their Microsoft account, or they'll end up skipping "critical setup screens" that will eventually crash the OOBE, forcing the user to start over. You must be connected to the internet throughout to "ensure device is setup correctly." This also only affects direct installs, not managed devices.

One of the most popular ways to skip a Microsoft account sign-in was to use the start ms cxh:local only command, which is now removed. The Redmont giant already disabled the "bypassnro" method a few months ago, but there are still ways to get around this new barrier. The easiest route you can take is to run a script-based unattended installation, but not everyone will be aware (or comfortable) doing that, not to mention the sheer privacy concerns. Check out our guide for more info.

Personalizing the computers we own — whether it's a phone or a proper desktop — is one of life's few simple comforts. It can bring you joy knowing that your favorite picture will greet you every morning when you start your day. Now, movements behind the Windows 11 development scene indicate that pictures could soon be exchanged for videos. Microsoft has finally added the option to use video files as desktop backgrounds in the latest Windows 11 Insider build, and it works seamlessly, as spotted by @phantomofearth on X.

As the tweet says, some of you may remember Windows DreamScene from back in the day. It was a built-in utility that allowed users to put videos as their wallpaper... up until Vista. Unfortunately, DreamScene was pulled from Windows 7 and never made a comeback officially. In the meantime, alternatives like the ever-so-popular Wallpaper Engine rose to fame and replaced DreamScene in the zeitgeist. Many modern gamers today may not even remember that dynamic desktop backgrounds used to be a native feature of the OS.