Our operating system of choice has a huge impact on how we interface with our computers. Some users prefer a no-compromises approach, with every aspect of the experience being customizable. Others will want an experience where they don’t have to think about things like dependencies, or heaven forbid, open a command line. There’s nothing wrong with either approach: You do whatever works best for you.

Fortnite continues to be extremely weird in its new season. The battle royale game is returning to a heist theme for Chapter 6: Season 2, which has been dubbed “Lawless.” Players will be able to break into bank vaults, rob armored cars, and even perform robberies on the train that services the island. Also, there’s a giant pickle that raps.After a Japanese-inspired season, Lawless looks like it’s taking cues from games like Grand Theft Auto. In addition to all of the robbery, there are also a handful of new locations, including an urban locale simply called Crime City. Other new features include: gold water that gives you powers when you swim in it; a fictional crypto currency that you can buy gear with but resets after each match; black markets for buying high-end weapons; a scanner for detecting where enemies are; and a mob boss who apparently likes to show up in the middle of a heist. Also new is the ability to have a specific song playing when you drop onto the map and win a match, as if you were a professional wrestler.Here’s how the new season’s map plays out:For those who pick up this season’s battle pass, there’s a crew of thematically appropriate criminals, as well as the aforementioned pickle — known as Big Dill — and, for some reason, Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat. A series of Cowboy Bebop quests will also appear in-game starting March 1st, while outfits of the characters Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine will appear in the item shop on February 28th.Lawless runs from today until May 2nd. And while the battle royale updates are always Fortnite’s biggest draw, the game has also been expanding quite a bit in other ways over the last few months. That includes adding local multiplayer to its music mode, a new Counter-Strike-style shooter mode, and a Lego social game inspired by GTA roleplaying.

We rely on our Windows PCs for everything from work and communication to entertainment and creativity. However, a sluggish and glitchy PC can be frustrating to deal with. At times, you might be unknowingly sabotaging your own experience. Many common habits and overlooked settings can significantly impact performance, security, and overall usability.

Most of us have busy days and must work efficiently on our Windows 11 laptops to finish things on time. Automating Windows tasks like file organization can help streamline your workload and save you from performing repetitive copying and pasting or finding the right folder to put certain content.

There are multiple ways in which you can launch an app on Windows. You can use desktop shortcuts, the Start menu, or even navigate to where the app is installed using File Explorer. However, none of these are as effective as using an app launcher that can quickly fire up any app from just about any screen. With desktop shortcuts, you'll have to first navigate to the desktop before double-clicking on an app. Moreover, you can't flood your desktop with too many apps since it would ruin the aesthetic. Indexing is slow on the Start menu, so that's ruled out too. Due to these issues, I've observed that launching apps on my Windows PC takes more time than it does on my Mac.

If you're looking for fast external storage that's compact and also durable, then portable SSDs are the way to go. Not only are there plenty of different models and brands to choose from, but they can also be had cheap if you know when and where to look. Luckily, you won't need to do any digging to find a good deal, as we've already done all the hard work for you.

Deciding between an AMD and an NVIDIA GPU comes down to a whole host of factors. While budget and features are certainly among the most important considerations, you might not have considered the software ecosystem that each brings to the table. AMD's Adrenalin software and the new consolidated NVIDIA app both offer detailed graphics customization, overclocking controls, and a slew of other features integrated with their respective GPUs.

Microsoft rolled out a pair of new builds today: KB5052078 to the Beta Channel and KB5052080 to both the Beta and Dev channels. Alongside various bug fixes addressing issues with File Explorer, Power & Battery, and more, the builds finally introduce some long-awaited changes that Windows users have been anticipating for what feels like forever.

As much as we all use Windows, there are many parts of it that remain unknown to most people, and sometimes, these "secrets" can be very useful for different things. One of these secrets is the advanced startup options screen, which is often used for performing clean installations of Windows 11.

Microsoft Word has been the default word processor on PC for a long time, and though the program is tremendously powerful, it's the source of more than its fair share of irritation. It's bad enough that Word tries to autocorrect normal, everyday phrases, but if you try to adjust a table or an image? It's better just to go ahead and call the fire department because you'll be tempted to set your machine ablaze by the end of the process.

People in the Apple ecosystem swear by how seamlessly all their devices work with each other. Whether it's an iPhone and a Mac or an Apple Watch and an iPhone, all the devices that are a part of the ecosystem effortlessly communicate with each other, resulting in some awesome features like AirDrop, Handoff, etc. While it's definitely a huge selling point for Apple devices, what if I told you that you could replicate similar functionality to a large extent using an Android phone and a Windows PC? That too, without using any third-party apps?

Windows 11 has a lot of great aspects that make it the go-to desktop operating system for many users. But there are times I wish I hadn't upgraded my PC due to certain features and quirks. While I've taken steps to make Windows 11 less annoying, it feels like I'm constantly playing whack-a-mole with nuisances and changes.