You know when something goes wrong on Windows and the operating system fires up a troubleshooter to fix it? How many times have those things actually managed to shoot the trouble? For me, I remember exactly one time it fixed something wrong with my Wi-Fi adapter, and every time after that, it has just shrugged and said it was unfixable. I say this because the Windows 11 Beta is getting a new recovery tool, and I'm hesitantly optimistic that it'll actually do what it says it does.

Microsoft is starting to test Quick Machine Recovery, a feature designed to prevent incidents like last year’s Crowdstrike catastrophe. It’s rolling out in its latest Windows Insider Preview build (6120.3653) and allows IT professionals to remotely recover Windows 11 devices even if they won’t boot.Microsoft first announced Quick Machine Recovery last year as part of its Windows Resiliency Initiative, which came in direct response to the Crowdstrike outage. Last July, Crowdstrike rolled out a faulty kernel-level update that caused the Blue Screen of Death to appear across millions of Windows devices, impacting banks, airlines, TV broadcasters, and more. IT admins struggled to quickly get them back online because many needed physical access to the machines to issue a fix.But Quick Machine Recovery should at least help prevent similar outages. It prompts a device to enter the Windows Recovery Environment, where the machine can access the network and provide Microsoft with diagnostic information. Microsoft can then remotely deploy fixes via the Windows Update system.The feature is enabled by default for home users, and Windows Insiders can try it out now using a simulated environment.

Gerard Barron, Chairman and CEO of The Metals Company in San Diego, California on June 8, 2021. | Photo: Getty ImagesThe company that has pushed to open up the deep sea for mining is cozying up to the Trump administration after years of hitting roadblocks in international negotiations. The island nation of Nauru initially sponsored The Metals Company (TMC) and its deep-sea mining effort. In 2021, that triggered a race to develop regulations before TMC or any other company could begin harvesting minerals in international waters to be used in rechargeable batteries.Panic quickly set in among many scientists, environmental groups, and policymakers worried about the consequences of mining the ocean’s abyss. The surface of the Moon is better mapped than the world’s seafloor, and researchers are still making stunning discoveries there that raise questions about the ripple effects mining could have on ocean ecosystems and the coastal communities that rely on them.With President Donald Trump on a crusade to roll back environmental protections and “drill, baby, drill,” the US could prove to be a more powerful ally for TMCTalks to develop rules for deep-sea mining are still underway at the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which was established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Nauru and more than 160 other nations have ratified the convention, but the United States has not. And with President Donald Trump on a crusade to roll back environmental protections and “drill, baby, drill,” the US could prove to be a more powerful ally for TMC.TMC announced yesterday that the company had “met with officials in the White House” and now plans to apply for permits under existing US mining code to begin extracting minerals from the high seas. “After extensive legal review and constructive engagement with [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)] and other officials across the U.S. government, we believe the United States offers a stable, transparent, and enforceable regulatory path,” TMC CEO Gerard Barron said in a press release yesterday.The news sent shockwaves through ISA meetings taking place in Kingston, Jamaica, this month. It quickly elicited criticism from groups opposed to deep-sea mining that say TMC is attempting to circumvent a multilateral process.“The Metals Company is crossing a dangerous line by flirting with a breach of international law and a disruption of multilateralism,” Emma Wilson, a policy officer at the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, said in a press statement. The coalition, along with more than 30 countries, is pushing for a ban or moratorium on deep-sea mining until rules are in place to minimize the potential damage. Crafting those rules has been slow-going, in part because researchers say they need more time to study the deep sea to understand the risks. Just last year, for instance, scientists published controversial evidence of “dark oxygen” rising from the abyssal seafloor. They still don’t know for sure how the oxygen is produced since oxygen is a product of photosynthesis, a process requiring sunlight. The paper, which was published in the journal Nature Geoscience, suggests that there’s a completely different and previously unknown process for producing oxygen, raising questions about how much life on Earth depends on that process and whether deep-sea mining might interfere with it. That research was initially funded in part by The Metals Company, which later repudiated the findings, claiming the scientists’ methods were “flawed.” Other mining companies and independent researchers have also cast doubt on the study.Its authors hypothesized that polymetallic nodules rich in nickel, copper, cobalt, iron, and manganese that are strewn across the seafloor might be able to produce enough of an electrical charge to split seawater, releasing oxygen through electrolysis. Those nodules are exactly what TMC and other mining companies are eager to harvest to feed growing demand for the battery materials used in electric vehicles and rechargeable devices. Other recent studies have found that deep-sea mining could lead to “irreversible” damage and noise loud enough to make it difficult for whales and other sea creatures to communicate.TMC says its own data shows that deep-sea mining would be less damaging than mining on land. In an email to The Verge, its CEO also says, “TMC remains fully compliant with international law.” According to The New York Times, “drafts are now circulating of an executive order President Trump will be asked to sign” that would support mining in international waters on the basis that the US hasn’t ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Trump administration didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from The Verge.“States, civil society, scientists, companies, and Indigenous communities continue to resist these efforts,” Louisa Casson, senior campaigner for Greenpeace International, said in a press statement. “Having tried and failed to pressure the international community to meet their demands, this reckless announcement is a slap in the face to international cooperation.”

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is happening now through Monday, March 31st, with several dozen good-to-great deals available that don’t require an Amazon Prime membership. Our main roundup has you covered with more than 100 deals on Verge-favorite gear with quite a high price ceiling. But, for this post, we wanted to provide some low-cost alternatives that, to us, are just as appealing as the pricey ones.All of these deals come from Amazon, with the exception of one that’s on Woot (which is owned by Amazon). We’ll keep our eyes out for more $30 and under candidates as we cruise through the weekend, just in case you’d rather pick up an inexpensive pair of earbuds, a security cam, or a retractable charger instead of a $1,500 robot vacuum.Update, March 28th: Verified that deals are still in effect, and added new discounts, including the JLab Go Air Pop earbuds, the Anker 525 7-in-1 charging station, and the 4K Blu-ray editions of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and Everything Everywhere All At Once.

3D printing is not only a fun hobby but also an excellent way to produce a ton of functional tools and accessories that can be used around the house. Apart from printing new objects and items, though, 3D printing can also be used to fix broken items, add additional features to existing objects, and make the most out of what you already have lying around at home. Not only is this a great way to save some money, but also a good way to contribute to saving the environment.

My primary gaming PC runs Linux. The operating system has become an excellent choice for PC gamers, largely thanks to continued developments and the introduction of Proton from Valve. Gone are the days when Linux was an emulated and translated mess when it came to gaming. Although many games are still natively developed for Windows alone, Proton and other improvements on Linux have made gaming almost seamless. Here's what you'll need to create the ultimate Linux-powered gaming PC.

Helldivers 2 remains wildly popular, commonly sitting among the most-played games on Steam. A recent update to the game is apparently causing issues for players with older CPUs, however, as reported by Eurogamer. Developer Arrowhead Studios has acknowledged the issue and says it's working on a fix, but CPUs that worked previously with the game have suddenly started crashing whenever players start a mission.

By offering a neat interface to help you access your self-hosted apps, services, and platforms, dashboards are perfect for bringing order to chaotic home lab setups. But with a myriad of dashboard tools floating around, you might have a hard time choosing the ideal utility for your home server.

When building a small form factor (SFF) PC or using a device with integrated graphics, you're likely working with weaker GPU performance than what's available in more advanced discrete graphics cards. It's probably that the RTX 5090 won't fit inside your SFF case, nor would it make much sense, which is why technologies such as DLSS, FSR, and XeSS are so crucial for getting the most out of the available hardware. SFF cases have some limitations compared to other form factors, but here are a few reasons why these upscaling technologies are vital for gaming.

After Google completed its acquisition of Fitbit in early 2021, the company integrated Fitbit’s services with its own and required users to migrate existing Fitbit accounts to a Google account by 2025. But in an email sent to Fitbit users today, Google now says that deadline has been extended until next year. “As we have previously shared, Fitbit is now a part of Google, and Fitbit Account holders will need to transition to Google Accounts to continue using Fitbit,” the email says. “If you want to keep using Fitbit, you must move to a Google Account by February 2, 2026.”In addition to not being able to continue to use the Fitbit service after the new deadline, the email also warns users that “your historical data will not be retained beyond February 2, 2026 (except as needed to comply with laws), and your account and data will be deleted.” Those not wanting to migrate have the option to “download or delete your data anytime on or before” the new deadline.Following the acquisition, Google had also announced that activating new Fitbit hardware (including the Pixel Watch 2 and Fitbit Charge 6), accessing new health features, or creating a new Fitbit account would require a Google account starting in 2023. The company positioned the requirements as being a more convenient unified login solution for Fitbit users who would also be able to manage their Fitbit health data through the Google Privacy Center.

This medium of gaming, which we all love and respect, has never stood still. Every few years, there comes a game that doesn’t just sell well — it reshapes the entire industry. Whether such games do so by introducing revolutionary mechanics, pushing hardware to its limits, or creating a new genre entirely, these games leave an undeniable mark.

A few years after buying Twitter for $44 billion, Elon Musk announced that his AI business xAI has acquired the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. In a tweet, he described it as an all-stock transaction, valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, including $12 billion in debt it had as part of his takeover. “This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach,” writes Musk.In response to a deal cementing about $11 billion in lost value since the 2022 sale, X CEO Linda Yaccarino posted, “The future could not be brighter.”Despite failing so far to make X an “everything app,” Musk has tied these two ventures together closely since launching xAI in the summer of 2023, saying that access to the vast trove of data from Twitter / X would give it a major advantage, and prominently placing xAI’s Grok tool within the social app. This week, Grok launched an integration beyond X, joining Telegram.The arrangement is also a reminder of a previous Musk deal combining two companies he controlled. Tesla Motors acquired SolarCity, a company with Musk as its largest individual shareholder and his cousin Lyndon Rive as CEO, for $2.6 billion in 2016 and dropped “Motors” from its name. Musk didn’t mention Tesla in the announcement, after already proclaiming “I have, like, 17 jobs” at a hastily-announced all-hands meeting for the car company last week — it’s unclear if this deal adds to or subtracts from the number.Today’s tweet also didn’t mention his ambition for the service to handle “someone’s entire financial life,” but it does repeat his claim of X as “the digital town square.”As we noted in January, xAI staffers were also X employees, with company laptops and access to its code base. Musk had also previously claimed X investors would own 25 percent of XAI, but as of January, that had not materialized for X employees with shares in the company.While X’s valuation had reportedly dropped since the 2022 takeover before recently rebounding, the value of xAI has risen along with other companies in the space like Nvidia and OpenAI, where Musk has gone from co-founder and early investor to rival and legal antagonist since walking away in 2018. The Wall Street Journal reported xAI had been valued at $50 billion in an investment round last November, more than double its $24 billion valuation during another funding round in the spring of 2024.Elon Musk:@xAI has acquired @X in an all-stock transaction. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt).Since its founding two years ago, xAI has rapidly become one of the leading AI labs in the world, building models and data centers at unprecedented speed and scale.X is the digital town square where more than 600M active users go to find the real-time source of ground truth and, in the last two years, has been transformed into one of the most efficient companies in the world, positioning it to deliver scalable future growth.xAI and X’s futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach. The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge. This will allow us to build a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress.I would like to recognize the hardcore dedication of everyone at xAI and X that has brought us to this point. This is just the beginning.Thank you for your continued partnership and support.