If you were an avid Windows fan around the Vista era, you'll know of Cortana, the doomed digital assistant that claimed to make your life easier by listening to voice commands. Well, people didn't really gel with her as much as Microsoft wanted, and the company eventually canned the project. Now, it seems that Cortana has come back in a new form, and if you're wondering "Is it Copilot?" then you're absolutely right.

Whether it’s your home lab, a normal PC, or even your living space, there’s no shortage of boring maintenance tasks you’ll need to perform to keep everything in tip-top form. Automation apps capable of performing bogus management and maintenance tasks can come in a clutch when you’re tired of repetitive work taking up most of your free time. So, here’s a list of cool apps you can self-host on your local hardware.

When it comes to image editing, Photoshop dominates the industry, but not everyone needs or wants to deal with its complexity or cost. There are plenty of alternatives out there, and while some get a fair share of the spotlight, others remain underrated — one such gem in Paint.NET. It's often dismissed as just a step above Microsoft Paint, but it actually offers a surprisingly robust range of features that make it a solid alternative to Photoshop.

If you have been a PC user for a while, you already know the state of PC games we've been dealing with of late. It's a rare occurrence when a AAA title doesn't launch in a buggy, unfinished condition that needs weeks or months of patches to get fixed. Developers are relying on crutches like DLSS instead of focusing on optimizing games to run on a variety of hardware. More troubling, though, is the fact that PC hardware is now going down the same path.

Your home lab, that powerful engine of innovation, might be silently leaking productivity. After all, even the most dedicated enthusiasts can overlook obvious signs of inefficiency. If you often run into performance dips and find yourself spending more time troubleshooting than creating, it’s time to check these silent killers in your home lab. Here are the hidden factors that might be sabotaging your home lab's productivity and how to bring it back to life.

When I first came across Microsoft PC Manager, I was really excited by the idea that I could optimize my system without downloading third-party apps. While there are plenty of free Windows apps to optimize your PC's performance, I'm also hesitant to try some of them in case I'm introducing bloatware into my system.

3D printing is an exciting way to bring your ideas to life, and it becomes even more enjoyable when you can consistently create great-looking parts. Simple improvements and add-ons can go a long way toward making each print come out just the way you want. Whether you are focused on better quality or more convenience, the right upgrades can make your printer more reliable. With some thoughtful changes, you can say goodbye to frustrating hiccups and look forward to a smoother process.

When you're planning out the network for your home lab, a customizable firewall is key to keeping your home lab (and your home network) safe and secure. Once you've decided if you're going to make your own firewall or go with a prebuilt hardware firewall, and before you get to more advanced rules, there are a few essential firewall rules to set up. These are core to your home lab network, and make it so that you can always reach your firewall appliance to change rules should something go wrong. And let's face it, this is a home lab, and everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

We've talked a lot about the RTX 50 series here at XDA, but most of the cards we've seen are on the high end of the power spectrum. There have been rumors that Nvidia plans to release an RTX 5050 card, which aims to be a more budget-friendly option for gamers who don't need the most powerful cards on the market. Now, said rumors have seemingly come true, as details of an RTX 5050 have popped up online.

Microsoft announced last year that it will be discontinuing support for Publisher on October 13, 2026, meaning it will no longer be included in Microsoft 365 after that date. Ultimately, that means users will no longer be able to open or edit their Publisher files once that time arrives. Thankfully, there's a quick workaround—but you'll need to take action before support ends.

We've covered a few projects that use eyeballs for creepy effects. For instance, we saw this large eyeball that can speak to you and this portrait that watches you wherever you walk. While these projects are a ton of fun, they may be a little difficult to apply to a bespoke project that you're working on.

The search feature on Windows 11 has been improved; however, it can still be slow, not find what you are looking for, or not work correctly. Luckily, there is a free third-party utility you can use instead that does a much better job. As its name implies, Everything (by Voidtools) finds everything on your PC.