Many argue that Windows 11 doesn't offer the same level of customization as the previous versions, but you can still make the OS your own with various hacks. While not everything works for everyone, there are a number of third-party apps that offer much more than Windows 11's built-in customization options, including allowing you to introduce subtle yet important changes to how the apps on your PC look.

The Windows Forecast is a look at the future of Windows that comments on the latest news for Windows Insiders, as well as other major announcements in the Windows space each and every week. My name is Joo Carrasqueira, and I've been covering the world of Windows professionally since 2018. If there's something you'd like to see covered, you can reach me at [email protected].

While Google Chrome is the undisputed king of the browser world, the company seems to have slowed down in terms of innovation. Chrome sure is a reliable workhorse, but it feels dated in terms of features, customization, and overall user experience. Enter Arc, a modern browser that has captured the attention of users with its fresh approach to browsing. Its innovative features and user-focused design make it a strong alternative that Chrome could learn from.

Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge You know that thing where, just after you’ve opened Instagram and become invested in whatever video was already loaded, a new video pops in and seemingly yeets the old video into the void, never to be seen again? That’s a thing of the past, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, who says in an AMA from his Instagram Story yesterday that the app now waits for you to scroll to show you the new stuff. That behavior — which Instagram apparently called “rug pull” internally — wasn’t just some weird bug. Mosseri says the app did it “because we were trying to load new content, and it was taking a while, so we showed you something that was already downloaded in the meantime, and it is generally good for engagement.” But that’s “really... Continue reading…

Its no secret that Adobe InDesign has long been the industry standard for creating eye-catching layouts for magazines, brochures, ebooks, and presentations. But lets face it, that monthly subscription fee can really put a dent in your budget. The good news is you dont have to break the bank to achieve professional-looking designs. In this post, I will share my favorite free and affordable InDesign alternatives to craft high-quality layouts without Adobe tax.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reviews of Intel’s new Arrow Lake-based Core Ultra 9 200S-series processor have been lackluster, specifically when it comes to gaming performance, but Intel says that’s not the end of the story. Its new chips should be performing better, and the company will have an ETA on getting them there soon, according to Robert Hallock, Intel’s VP and GM of client AI and technical marketing, in a new interview with HotHardware’s Dave Altavilla and Marco Chiappetta.Intel was up-front in saying these new chips wouldn’t beat AMD’s chips for gaming. But reviewers’ findings have been unexpectedly poor. Despite some efficiency gains like those noted in Tom Warren’s Verge review of the Core Ultra 9 285K, the new chip seems to lag behind even Intel’s... Continue reading…

When you embark on your self-hosting journey, youll come across myriads of apps that can boost your productivity, simplify media management, or improve the security of your home network. But theres a lot more you can do with self-hosted services besides enhancing your quality of life.

If you've been a PC user for a while, you might remember the days when a sound card was an essential part of building a gaming PC. It was the only way to ensure quality audio output, but things have changed, and now the best motherboards have onboard audio chips that rival those discrete sound cards. That's just as well, as with larger graphics cards and fewer usable PCIe slots, using a sound card is harder to do. But what if I told you that I don't use either because I've found that using an external audio source is superior, whether I'm using wired or wireless headphones? It's also not just because, by using the same external hardware, I can use it across multiple builds and even on laptops while enjoying the same audio quality that I'm used to. There are many other good reasons that using onboard audio will hurt your experience.

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Google Photos continues to get new and improved features on a regular basis, and one of the most recent Android updates has focused on video editing. Even if you don’t have the latest Pixel 9 phone (which is required if you want to try out the weird new Reimagine tool), you can now speed up, slow down, and enhance your clips with a few taps as well as trim them down more easily.You can also expect what Google calls “AI-powered video presets” on both the Android and iOS versions of Google Photos. After the app algorithm analyzes your clips, you get a choice of effects — trims, zooms, slow-mos — you can apply with a tap. The app takes the role of director and chooses where and how these tweaks should be applied.When the changes arrive on... Continue reading…

Seagate’s proprietary storage solution ain’t cheap, but it remains the easiest way to outfit your Series / X with additional space. | Image: Seagate Black Friday won’t be here for several more weeks, but the holiday promos are beginning to take shape at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers. We expect to see steep discounts on a number of gaming goods when many of the early sales kick off next week, but if you want to shop ahead of time, Seagate’s 2TB Storage Expansion Card for the Xbox Series X / S is already matching its all-time low of $199.99 ($160 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Seagate’s online storefront.While pricey, Seagate’s proprietary expansion cards are a great way to expand the storage capacity of your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S. The NVMe-based, Microsoft-licensed cards — of which there are currently two — are incredibly easy to install, fast, and allow you to run... Continue reading…

Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World. | Screenshot: YouTube General — er, President — Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) gets a lot bigger and redder in the new Captain America: Brave New World trailer that Marvel debuted at Disney’s D23 Brazil event. The company also released a second trailer for Thunderbolts, the new superhero team movie that will end the MCU’s phase 5.The Brave New World preview opens on Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) visiting one of the first supersoldiers, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), in prison after his attack on the president. Isaiah, who doesn’t seem to remember the attack, warns Sam to “be careful.” The trailer then sets up some heavy tension and intrigue, using a fun splitscreen theme to build to a much more thorough reveal of Ross’ Red Hulk than Marvel did in July. Although... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images There is an apparently new iOS 18 security feature that reboots iPhones that haven’t been unlocked in a few days, frustrating police by making it harder to break into suspects’ iPhones, according to 404 Media. 404 Media, which first reported police warnings about the reboots on Thursday, writes that restarted iPhones enter a more secure “Before First Unlock,” or BFU state. Now, it seems Apple added “inactivity reboot” code in iOS 18.1 that triggers iPhones to restart after they’ve been locked for four days, Chris Wade, who founded mobile analysis company Corellium, told the outlet.The code appears below in screenshots posted by Dr. -Ing. Jiska Classen, a Hasso Plattner Institute research group leader.Apple indeed added a feature... Continue reading…