For most people, a laptop is a long-term investment, something they buy only once every few years. If your current device is nearing the end of its life, and you've been holding off for the perfect chance to upgrade, Amazon’s Big Spring Sale might just be your moment to snag a premium one at a solid discount.

They say that change is the only constant. However, the more things change, the more they remain the same. So, what's the point of changing my PC habits if the status quo remains unchanged? Jokes aside, I've been using the same handful of programs on PC for years, and despite seeing recommendations for better alternatives on a daily basis, I don't see myself moving away from my favorites.

If you’re looking for some solid evidence that Microsoft’s strategy to bring Xbox games to PS5 is seeing some early success, look no further than Sony’s own PlayStation Store today. The top preordered games in the US PlayStation Store are Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5, with the $99.99 premium versions of both games proving the most popular.Resetera posters have noticed it’s the same story in the Canadian PlayStation Store and across a variety of European stores, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Microsoft-owned Bethesda announced earlier this week that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will debut on PS5 on April 17th, with the premium version providing two days of early access starting April 15th. Forza Horizon 5 is also coming to Sony’s rival console on April 29th.Microsoft may have timed these two games perfectly for the PS5, amid a slow point for Sony’s own game studios, but the software maker has seen success with its earlier Xbox titles on PS5, too. Sea of Thieves debuted on PS5 in April last year and Sony revealed it was the top seller across the US, Canada, and EU markets a month later. It remained in Sony’s top downloads list for nearly six months.Microsoft’s Xbox everywhere strategy — which I’ve been covering closely in my Notepad newsletter over the past year — is clearly doing well on PS5, and I’d expect to see more titles land on Sony’s console throughout 2025 and beyond. Microsoft is also preparing a similar list of Xbox games for Nintendo’s Switch 2, with reports suggesting the next-gen console will launch in June with third-party games to follow later this year.

There's a lot you can do when it comes to smart home automation, particularly with a Raspberry Pi. However, if you're like many home automation enthusiasts, you probably already have a few of those lying around, and you're looking for your next project that's actually new to you. That's where an ESP8266 comes in. It's basically a Wi-Fi microcontroller that you can hook up to more or less anything, and there are a few reasons why you should consider it as the centerpiece of your next home automation project.

Windows is constantly evolving, adding new features and removing others. Many times, changes are for the best, adding needed functionality or removing things that just drag down the experience, but other times, features that are removed can be sorely missed.

What's better than getting a new phone? Scoring some sweet accessories at a discount to accompany your new purchase. If you're in the mood for something new, Samsung is currently doing a deal where if you purchase a new Samsung Galaxy A26 or A36, you can score 50% off the Galaxy Buds FE and Galaxy Fit3. However, you have to act quickly, as the deal won't be around for very long.

GeoGuessr on Steam looks an awful lot like GeoGuessr in a browser.12-year-old browser game GeoGuessr is getting a belated port to PC, with a new listing for the game now in the Steam Store. Despite its age, GeoGuessr will launch in Early Access when it goes on sale some time in April 2025.GeoGuessr first launched in 2013, and tasks players with figuring out their coordinates after being dropped into a random Google Street View location. Over the years it’s developed an unlikely competitive esports scene, which the Steam edition looks to capitalize on, with a focus on competitive modes and ranked play.The Steam listing explains that the game will remain in Early Access “for at least six months,” while the developers add “new game modes, maps, and competitive features.” At launch it will support ranked Solo Duels and unranked Team Duels, including cross-play with the browser version.What we don’t know is exactly when in April GeoGuessr will launch on Steam, or how much it will cost. While the game’s browser version was initially free, it now only allows you to make three guesses per day before requiring a paid subscription, starting from $2.49 per month. GeoGuessr’s iOS and Android apps are locked behind the $2.99 Pro Unlimited plan, but the Steam app will require a new account that will not be synced with existing Geoguessr accounts, so may have its own pricing structure.

The world of tech often follows trends, even if those trends aren't terribly useful. Currently, most of those trends in the PC hardware sector are focused on the use of AI, whether that's AI PCs or learning models that run on the best GPUs, although there are some other trends for those who are terminally bored with AI everything. The thing with tech trends is that they're often far-future-focused, and that means they need more powerful hardware to run.

Despite virtualization becoming more relevant and multiple drives (including external) installed on your PC, there are still good reasons to use multiple partitions on Windows PCs. Regarding Windows, you can partition your drives using the built-in Disk Management utility. However, other free tools offer additional features and can be easier to use. You may want to create a data partition, an encrypted partition, a smaller OS-only partition, or, one of the more common reasons, to install multiple operating systems for a dual-boot system. Whatever the reason you want to partition your drives, some free partitioning software solutions are easy to use and offer additional features.

When you're in the research and planning stage of a new PC build, your primary focus is on finalizing the configuration. Picking the best-looking components depending on your esthetic preferences usually comes second. And the overall budget restrictions hang like a sword over the entire exercise. Many PC builders end up going too much in one direction — sacrificing looks by picking the most powerful components or messing up the configuration by prioritizing esthetics.

I don't know about you, but if I were to spend $69 billion on something, I'd want to get the most out of that purchase. Especially if I wanted to have any hope of making that money back in some way.

I've enjoyed using a super ultrawide monitor for a few years now, and while I recently switched to a 4K panel, I only lasted a couple of weeks before needing to switch back to the beast. If you've been considering a new monitor for work, play, or both, I've got a few reasons why you should shortlist some ultrawide screens. With a super ultrawide, you'll become more productive, enjoy an immersive gaming experience, and save money (and space) compared to a dual-screen setup.