Remember when you could use a Local account on Windows without a problem? Microsoft added a way to sign into your PC with a Microsoft account, which began the company's crusade to get people off of using Local accounts. Now, the company has doubled down on its stance by removing a guide informing users on how to convert a Microsoft account into a Local one.

2024 is shaping up to be an excellent year if you're on the hunt for the best new CPU. We're expecting Intel to release their 15th-gen Arrow Lake CPUs later this year, but AMD looks like they're already prepared for that move. At Computex 2024, Team Red unveiled the all-new "Zen 5" Ryzen 9000 series. The new desktop CPUs will feature a 16% boost in IPC, a potentially cheaper price, and the same core count as the Ryzen 7000 series.

People really, really want Wordpad back. When Microsoft released Windows 11 24H2, it added a few new features and removed some old ones, including getting rid of the free word processor that has been around for years. Notepad has already superseded Wordpad, and there are plenty of other free word processors out there you can use instead, but people aren't happy with letting Wordpad go just yet. Someone has found a way to bring Wordpad back onto Windows 11 24H2, and you can do the same if you want this member of the Windows old guard back.

Although Microsoft offers some of the best productivity and communication apps, they are not for everyone. Besides, these apps require a Microsoft 365 subscription to unlock more features. Fortunately, there is no shortage of alternatives to popular Microsoft apps. You can explore some of the robust tools from Google and other companies to easily replace most built-in Microsoft apps on your laptop.

After months of hype, the Snapdragon X Series and Copilot+ laptops are finally here. We're entering a new era of AI PCs, as is evident with the highly impressive Surface Pro 11. However, the journey we've taken to get here has been anything but smooth. Microsoft had quite a PR catastrophe with Recall, their biggest Copilot+ feature. On top of that, Copilot+ features are only limited to certain laptops with a Snapdragon X Series chip for now.

The PC industry is no stranger to shooting itself in the foot, especially when it comes to launching inconsequential or downright terrible products. But, some scandals go beyond disappointing products into the realm of unbelievably bad decisions, drawing universal ire from the community and industry, entering the record books in the most infamous of ways.

Less than a year after its iPhone debut, Blackmagic’s robust camera app is now available for select Android devices. | Image: Blackmagic Design After launching on the iPhone last September, the robust Blackmagic Camera app is available on Android devices today, with the same professional-grade shooting features and compatibility with Blackmagic Design’s other video production pipeline tools.“The Blackmagic Camera app for iPhone has been incredibly popular since it was launched last year,” says Grant Petty, the company’s CEO. “We are excited to be able to give customers with Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phones the same controls for shooting digital film as our professional cameras.”A Blackmagic Design spokesperson, Terry Frechette, confirmed to The Verge that there is one unfortunate limitation to the Blackmagic Camera app on Android. The app “can be used on phones running... Continue reading…

Apple is once again the focus of the EU’s competition policy. | Cath Virginia / The Verge Apple’s App Store “steering” policies violate the EU’s Digital Markets Act meant to encourage competition, said regulators in their preliminary ruling Monday. The European Commission has also opened a new investigation into Apple’s support for alternative iOS marketplaces in Europe, including the core technology fee it charges developers.“Our preliminary position is that Apple does not fully allow steering,” said Margrethe Vestager who heads up competition policy in Europe. “Steering is key to ensure that app developers are less dependent on gatekeepers’ app stores and for consumers to be aware of better offers.”Under the DMA, Apple and other so-called gatekeepers must allow app developers to steer consumers to offers outside their app... Continue reading…

Although Samsung has released the new Galaxy S24 series, there are still plenty of reasons you still might want to pick up a Galaxy S23. For one, it's going to get the same new Galaxy AI features coming to the newer phones.

Image: Apple Apple released new developer betas for iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia on Monday, and spokesperson Fred Sainz confirmed on Friday that the company planned to introduce the ability for users to mirror their iPhone on their Mac. Sainz also said the iOS 18 beta would include new SharePlay screen sharing capabilities. The new feature, which Apple first announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, lets you interact with your iPhone right from your Mac, meaning you can browse apps and even drag and drop files from your Mac to your phone. Your Mac will even show notifications from your iPhone, and when you click on them, your Mac can open them in the mirrored iPhone interface. Image: Apple While mirroring... Continue reading…

If you just purchased a new printer or want to hook up an old one to your new laptop, then you're in luck. Windows 11 makes the setup process really easy. Most printers are plug-and-play, so once you connect it to your USB port (or USB dock) on your laptop, you'll be good to go. But just in case that doesn't go as planned, or you run into issues, we have a look at how you can add a printer on Windows 11.

A Network-Attached Storage (NAS) system is one of the best means to back up data. Sadly, even the best NAS setups are susceptible to unforeseen errors like running out of space mid-operation or sudden drive failures. In such events, your best bet is to manually remove the old HDD and slot in a brand-new one.