Is Microsoft's AI push driving users away? Linux can handle gaming and daily work, but the deep-rooted familiarity of Windows still prevents any permanent switch.

UGREEN's NASync DH2300 proved to be a perfect entry point for me, a complete NAS novice, to set up a home media server and breathe new life into old HDDs.

NVIDIA’s 100-hour GeForce Now cap isn’t new — but as PC upgrades become harder to afford, the idea of time-limited cloud gaming is hitting a nerve with players.

It seems like people aren't as devoted to their tech as much as they were a few years ago. But it's hard to love a device when it keeps changing and treating you like a consumer.

We want to hear from you! Did you get any cool tech for Christmas? Did you buy any loved ones cool tech? Let's talk about ... cool tech! Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.

HP has a new mini PC packed with AI smarts and additional security for pros. I've been using it for a couple of weeks to see what it's all about, and I can say I'm impressed with how it performs and handles cooling.

This year, I discovered how an impressive mini PC delivered the performance, efficiency, and surprising gaming power I needed, and I'm sold.

Did you get a shiny new Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X recently? If so, consider following these steps to improve your experience before diving into those similarly shiny games.

To get the best experience on your Steam Deck, you're going to want to make some settings changes before playing any games. Here are the things you should do first after getting your Steam Deck.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that police can access Google search results without a warrant, saying users consented by accepting Google’s privacy policy, thereby waiving Fourth Amendment protections and privacy rights.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says we might have already achieved AGI, whooshing by with no significant change in the world as expected.

Has a Change.org petition ever resulted in any meaningful, actual change? I have no idea, but here's one new petition that I thoroughly expect to deliver maximum results.

Right now, you can get every Fallout game for a rock-bottom price thanks to a new sale that's gone live after the premiere of Season 2 of the TV show.

Mojang Studios is discounting Minecraft for the remainder of the holidays, giving everyone a rare chance to save on the world's best-selling video game.

007 First Light is delayed to May 2026, IO Interactive shared, adding that the game will now benefit from extra polish.

If you're gifting your kid a laptop this Christmas, do the heavy work beforehand and get it all set up. Here are seven things you should do!

Microsoft is betting on AI and Rust to eliminate legacy C++ code by 2030. It’s an ambitious engineering pivot that could finally secure the Windows kernel.

A former Bungie director has revealed that the original inspiration for Marathon wasn't Tarkov or extraction shooters, but rather the Dark Age of Camelot MMO.

Walmart has procured a special 19% Christmas discount for the GameSir G7 SE Wired Controller, one of the best budget Xbox controllers we'll always recommend event at full price.

Walmart is offering exclusive Christmas discounts on powerful gaming laptops and lucrative gaming accessories. So, we've rounded up the best deals from this sale for new players to start their PC gaming career.

OneDrive can’t transfer ownership, but you can still move files to another account using a workaround. Here’s how to do it.

OpenAI has rolled out an annual review feature, "Your Year with ChatGPT," to users in select markets, including the United States, Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.

On Windows 11, you can now use Virtual Workspaces to enable or disable Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and other virtualization features from Settings, and in this guide, I'll show you how.

Call of Duty's Team RICOCHET continues to celebrate victories against cheaters with new report highlighting 800,000 permanent bans of disruptive players over the last year, spanning the post-launch seasons for Black Ops 6 and the launch of Black Ops 7.

With just a few days til Christmas, we've managed to find a charitable discount sale for the ASUS Zenbook A14, one of the finest laptops for AI-empowered tasks, complex work productivity, or casual internet that we recommend to any laptop user.

Battlefield 6 launched strong, but Call of Duty’s combined ecosystem continues to dominate US player charts.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall is looking ahead to future projects, but doesn't intend to "scale up" for them despite their huge success.

The former Respawn Entertainment head and former Infinity Ward CEO is reported to have died following a single car crash in Los Angeles, according to early reports.

Arkane Austin director Harvey Smith reflects on Microsoft and Xbox's closure of the studio after Redfall's failure at launch.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently indicated that he isn't excited about becoming CEO of a public company amid reports suggesting that the company.

Amazon is offering several exclusive discounts for various models of the JSAUX FlipGo Portable dual-screen monitor, giving dedicated laptop users a chance to add more digital real estate space for their workplace apps and internet browser tabs for less.

Clair Obscur’s disqualification raises uncomfortable questions about transparency, economic pressure, and whether zero-tolerance AI rules can realistically scale.

Players are questioning Battlefield 6 cosmetics after odd visuals and descriptions appear in a paid bundle, conflicting with earlier statements from DICE leadership.

From ODST to Halo Infinite, the series has repeatedly pushed major story moments outside the games, leaving many players behind in the process.

Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Amazon enter 2026 with fading hype and shrinking fanbases as frustration replaces enthusiasm.

A month on from launch and a significant amount of hours played, how has Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 been? You shouldn't read everything you see on social media.

Steam’s December update brings long overdue 64 bit support to Windows, alongside controller improvements, chat moderation tools, and quality of life fixes across the platform.

Bazzite’s recent growth highlights how far Linux gaming is coming, even as anti-cheat limitations continue to hold it back.

Steam Replay 2025 data shows most players continue to spend their time on older games, even as major new releases arrive throughout the year.

2025 saw RAM prices climb to obscene levels, with storage not far behind. It's only going to get worse, and there's not really an end in sight. Is there something going on besides a global AI buildout?

Most of 2026's line-up of new games is looking too rich for my blood, so I'm dedicating the next year to tackling some of the biggest or nostalgic Xbox and PC games in my backlog that I never got around to playing at their launches.

Many variants of the standard Xbox Wireless Controller are enjoying some well-earned Christmas bargain deals, including this 39% discount for one of its more expensive color variants, the Heart Breaker.

Mozilla is pushing Firefox toward AI, but long-time users will still be able to disable every AI feature completely.

Windows news hasn't quite stopped for the holidays as RAM prices climb, Insiders get new features, and Microsoft expands Android PC locking support.

In December 2025, Microsoft rolled out at least four preview builds for Windows 11, rolling out a bunch of new features and changes, including Model Context Protocol (MCP), Update Orchestration Platform (UOP), Xbox Full Screen Experience for PCs, Ask Copilot, AI agents for Taskbar, Agent Launchers, and a lot more, and here's all you need to know.

CPU Boost is useful for short tasks, but during gaming it can limit GPU power. Here is a guide on how to disable it and when it makes sense to do so.

The Xbox Ally, the Xbox spinoff of the critically-acclaimed ASUS ROG Ally gaming handheld, has received a 30% discount sale as part of Amazon's Super Saturday event.

Amazon's Super Saturday Deals sale has acquired a lucrative 30% discount on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (15-inch), which we regard as one of the best Copilot+ laptops ever made for its excellent design, performance, and battery life.

Nex Playground has outsold Xbox hardware in the U.S., with its CEO pointing to Nintendo Wii lessons and a subscription model inspired by long-term sustainability.

Blizzard Entertainment president Johanna Faries says she wants the company to have one or two big launches a year, focusing on established games instead of new IP.

The Surface Laptop 7 just dropped to $699.99. It’s a major discount on the Snapdragon X Elite model that can still arrive before the holidays.

Erosion, the time twisting voxel sandbox from Plot Twist and Lyrical Games, is one to watch. The game challenges players to master the manipulation of time in order to save the protagonist’s daughter from an evil warlord.

The Steam Deck LCD helped define modern PC handhelds, but its quiet exit may signal a shift toward higher-priced hardware across Valve’s lineup.

As the Battlefield 6 team goes on holiday break, its devs have teased some of the content players can look forward to in Season 2 and 2026.

Amazon has a massive discount for the beloved and sound-rich Razer Blackshark V2 Pro for Xbox as part of its holiday deals.

The LucidSound LS15X is a great wireless gaming headset for Xbox and PC that offers crisp sound, an attractive design, and long battery life for a budget-friendly price, now even cheaper at Amazon.

Actress Alix Wilton-Regan was starring in Xbox's now-canceled Perfect Dark reboot, and has now told her story about how "devastating" it was when the axe came down on the project.

I played dozens of games on my handheld gaming PCs this year, but 14 of them stood out from the crowd. Here are my favorite games I played on handhelds this year.

Windows Central readers, I'm curious if you're actively using Microsoft Copilot. If so, what are you using it for? If not, why not? Are you using an alternative AI? Let us know.

Could we see Fallout's beloved narrator Ron Perlman get a role in the TV show? New comments from Todd Howard suggest it's a very real possibility.

DDR5 RAM prices have reached a level where they're unaffordable for most sane buyers. There's still a small loophole that can help you pay last year's DDR5 prices, but it's closing fast. Here's what you need to know.

Amazon is offering a 19% discount on the Xbox Edition of the Backbone Pro, giving Xbox fans who love gaming on the go with Xbox Cloud Gaming a chance to enjoy this premium mobile controller for a somewhat more affordable price.

Microsoft published a positive year-in-review for its Store, but it leaves out shutdowns, missing features, and criticism that shaped 2025.

Microsoft has quietly removed a Halo game from its digital storefront, and the move has gone almost entirely unnoticed until now.

DOS Zone has brought GTA Vice City to the browser, offering a surprisingly smooth demo that works across platforms without requiring a traditional download.

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman indicated that it will cost "hundreds of billions of dollars" to keep up with frontier AI development over the next 5-10 years.

On Windows 11, you can reduce RAM usage by limiting startup apps, background services, browser load, and system overhead, and in this guide, I'll show you how.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed that the company has declared "code red" multiple times as a response to competitive threats in the ever-evolving AI industry.

The SteelSeries Arctis Gamebuds, some of the best earbuds designed for Xbox and PC gaming, are now on sale at Amazon with a 26% discount for Christmas.

Photoshop inside ChatGPT lowers the barrier to image editing, making advanced effects and adjustments accessible without subscriptions, tutorials, or prior experience with Adobe software.

Don't be misled by "record low" labels. We found the Surface Pro 11 for significantly less than the prices being touted as all-time lows elsewhere.

From Avowed’s Anniversary Update to Grounded 2’s evolving roadmap and The Outer Worlds 2 DLC, Obsidian has plenty planned for fans heading into 2026.

After being slightly delayed, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy's Alpha Test is now available for players who pre-ordered the Developer's Digital Pack or Collector's Edition, and Owlcat Games has released a new gameplay trailer to celebrate.

Ten years after release, Just Cause 3 has made a quiet but significant change on PC that could improve performance while disrupting parts of its modding scene.

From Fallout 1 to Fallout 76, this guide breaks down the exact steps, fixes, and settings needed to get every Fallout game running smoothly on Windows handhelds.

Link to Windows now lets Android users lock their Windows 11 PC remotely, track recent activity, and share files both ways.

The Coalition studio head Mike Crump says Gears of War: E-Day is the team's "most ambitious" game yet, and it's launching in 2026.

Following the release of Patch 7.4 for FFXIV, players have encountered — and are now worshipping — bizarre "nothing" versions of level 1 antelope mobs that don't have names.

The CEO of Baldur's Gate 3 dev Larian has responded to blowback against the studio for using AI while making its new Divinity RPG.

Following the recent premiere of Fallout Season 2, the show has broken Rotten Tomatoes records, and could set more soon, too.

Some of you have been asking if Xbox is doing its own "Wrapped" this year, akin to Spotify. The answer is no, but there is good stuff on the horizon.

Apple is once again arbitrarily blocking Fortnite with a wave of new "junk fees" in iOS, and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney raised a good point ... imagine the uproar if Microsoft tried to do this with Windows.

Consumer RAM prices have reached orbit of late due to rising DRAM costs, and G.Skill has addressed its community with an update as to exactly why its products are now so expensive.

The Lenovo Legion Go S (Z1 Extreme) is $150 off for the holidays. If you missed Black Friday, this is your best chance to grab the 32GB SteamOS handheld.

OpenAI is reportedly in initial talks with investors to raise funds, which could push its market valuation to approximately $750 billion.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pushes leaders into the AI grind, demanding focus, speed, and innovation across the company.

I reviewed dozens of tech this year, but there were a few devices that stood out from the others. Here are my favorite tech things from 2025.

With Season 2 of the Fallout TV series here, Bethesda's Todd Howard confirms that it will affect Fallout 5 in some capacity.

Next year, Starfield is going to get a big upgrade. What exactly will be in this update? Here's what we know so far.

Following the premiere of Season 2 of the Fallout TV show, a special crossover between Call of Duty and Fallout has been announced for BO7 and Warzone.

Take a look at all of the games you played on Steam by checking out your Steam Replay 2025.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the best-selling game of November 2025 in the U.S, per Circana, but is down compared to 2024's Black Ops 6.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 director Daniel Vávra has weighed in with his views on AI as Larian faces scrutiny for its use of the technology while making its new RPG Divinity.

Another day, another blow dealt by AI. This time, it's a report out of China that NVIDIA plans to cut GeForce RTX GPU production by up to 40% in the first half of 2026.