It hasn't been long since I finally switched to Windows 11, but I've already got a taste of the questionable choices Microsoft has made with the OS. The relentless ads, Copilot bloat, and preloaded services are not what I'm referring to. It's the overall experience I get when using the OS every day. Many of the built-in Windows apps are nothing but wrappers for web apps. These Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) might seem like desktop applications, but they suffer from performance and usability downsides that native Windows apps don't. Microsoft has been leaning toward web apps for several years now, with internal development leaning on WebView2 and Electron despite the availability of the modern WinUI 3 framework. The apps on this list are just a few examples, but Windows 11 has a much deeper lack of truly-native applications, something Microsoft is trying to remedy. At a time when Apple has a well-stocked native app ecosystem, and you can recreate the Windows experience on Linux or even macOS, Windows needs to invest in native apps or risk losing its identity.

Computex 2026 delivered its annual reminder that Nvidia intends to have its fingerprints on every development in AI, and this year was no exception to the rule. Between new superchip announcements and the now-familiar parade of AI-adjacent everything, the headline that's been generating the most conversation is the RTX Spark, which is a Windows-on-ARM SoC built in collaboration with Microsoft that's designed to bring what Nvidia is calling personal AI agents to consumer PCs.

On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council will vote on whether to enact a one-year moratorium on new data centers - just two months after several companies proposed building five large-scale centers in the city. Among the moratorium's fiercest supporters are current employees from the city's biggest tech giant, Amazon, who joined others to testify in support of the policy last week.Data centers have sparked protests across the country over concerns about water consumption, local electricity prices, and noise. In Seattle and the surrounding King County, the issue is coming to a head. If the city council votes in favor of a moratorium on June 9th …Read the full story at The Verge.

It took a few years, but Apple finally made its AI look useful. Now millions of iPhone users in Europe are being told they won't be getting Siri AI anytime soon, if ever - and Apple wants them to blame the EU.Apple says its new AI-powered Siri will not launch on iPhones and iPads in the European Union because of the Digital Markets Act, the bloc's competition law designed to stop powerful tech companies from acting as gatekeepers over their platforms to shut out rivals. In practice, the DMA requires platforms to give competitors the same kinds of data access as they themselves enjoy, with a few exceptions for things like ensuring their sys …Read the full story at The Verge.

Whenever I'm on a Windows PC and I need to do some image editing, I reach for Paint.NET. It's a third-party app that's more advanced than the regular Paint app that comes with Windows, but is far more lightweight and easier to use than something like Photoshop or GIMP. If I need to do some simple edits that don't require the full suite of image editing tools, Paint.NET is usually a perfect fit for me.

Fitbit’s Charge 6 offers more features than the Air and is currently the same price. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Whether you’re shopping for Father’s Day or trying to keep your kids entertained over summer break, you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a great Fitbit right now. You can currently pick up the Fitbit Charge 6 for $50 off at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, the Fitbit Ace LTE for $80 off (Amazon, Best Buy, Target), and the new Fitbit Air (Amazon, Best Buy, Target), and all come in around $100.Fitbit AirWhere to Buy: $99.99 at Amazon $99.99 at Best Buy $99.99 at TargetWhile all three cost about the same, they’re designed for very different users. The Fitbit Air is geared toward anybody who wants a simple wearable focused mainly on health and fitness tracking, without the distractions of a screen or smartwatch features. It’s lightweight with no buttons, and tracks activity, steps, sleep, as well as core health metrics like heart rate and nightly blood oxygen levels. It also supports Bluetooth connectivity with certain gym equipment, allowing you to broadcast your heart rate to compatible machines during workouts. If you pay for a $9.99 monthly (or $99.99 annual) subscription, you’ll also gain access to Google’s surprisingly useful AI-powered Health Coach, which can create personalized fitness plans and offer recommendations based on your activity, sleep, and overall health data.Fitbit Charge 6Where to Buy: $159.95 $99.95 at Amazon $159.95 $99.95 at Best Buy $159.95 $99.95 at TargetThe Charge 6, in contrast, looks more like a traditional Fitbit fitness tracker and offers a few extra perks. In addition to a bright OLED touchscreen, it boasts an FDA-cleared EKG reader and notably offers smartwatch-like functionality such as built-in GPS, turn-by-turn navigation via Google Maps, support for Google Wallet, and the ability to display call, text, and app notifications. As a result, it’s a better fit for people who want a wearable that can do more than simply track their health and workouts.Fitbit Ace LTEWhere to Buy: $179.99 $99.95 at Amazon $179.99 $99.99 at Google $179.99 $99.99 at Best BuyThe Fitbit Ace LTE, meanwhile, is geared toward kids, offering fun movement-based games and rewards while tracking activity, sleep, and other basic health metrics. With the $9.99 monthly Ace Pass subscription, kids can call or text preapproved contacts, share their location through Google Maps, and even make purchases using Google Pay, making it a handy smartphone replacement with parental controls. Read our review of the Fitbit Charge 6 and our hands-on impressions of the Fitbit Ace LTE and Fitbit Air.

Some gamers believe that a game backlog is eternal, never to be cleared in its entirety. It's a massive collection of games amassed over a lifetime, reflecting countless impulse purchases over years and years of Steam and Epic Games sales. In my case, the problem wasn't so much the size of the backlog (it was just 45 games) as the lack of drive to pick up a new title. Over the last five years, I have seen my motivation steadily decline to the point where I preferred watching a YouTube video over playing a game. It's not that I didn't try playing new games, but I could never get past the first few hours. So, it was time to get some help from AI. I decided to feed my game backlog into Claude, so it could do what I couldn't: devise a step-by-step plan that I could actually execute to reduce my backlog. I didn't just want generic recommendations; I needed a customized plan that took into account my likes, dislikes, and gaming behavior. Claude created a phase-wise strategy to address my lack of motivation, and told me the real reason behind my long-pending backlog.

Adding the new Bridge Pro breathed new life into my Hue setup. | Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge I've been a fan of Philips Hue smart lights since the early days. It's one of the few staples in my ever-changing smart home. However, when the Bridge Pro launched late last year, it wasn't immediately obvious why I should upgrade. The signature feature, MotionAware - which turns your lights into motion sensors - is neat, but I already have motion sensors. While I run two of Hue's standard bridges to accommodate all my lights and accessories, I'm not at a point where I need the Pro's higher device capacity. I like the idea of faster response times thanks to the advanced processing power, but that wasn't quite enough.Then in April, SpatialA …Read the full story at The Verge.

Anthropic just announced Claude Fable 5, a new AI model it said is the most powerful model it has ever made widely available. According to the company, Fable 5 "shows exceptional performance in software engineering, knowledge work, and vision," with its lead over other models growing as tasks become longer and more complex.Fable 5 marks the first broad release from Anthropic's Mythos class of AI models, after the company said the family was so capable at cybersecurity tasks that it was too dangerous to release publicly. Anthropic said the release was "made possible by new safeguards that block responses in specific high-risk areas," with …Read the full story at The Verge.

We’re only a few days since the SwitchBot Smart E Ink Weather Station launched, and you can already save $25 on the smart home gadget. Visit Amazon and clip the on-page coupon to bring the price down to $85 at checkout, or use coupon code APAP23 on the SwitchBot site. The 7.5-inch framed panel shows information like current date and time, sunrise and sunset, and current weather, as well as the forecast for up to six days — all on a contrasty E Ink screen. SwitchBot Weather StationWhere to Buy: $109.99 $84.99 at Amazon $109.99 $84.69 at SwitchBotThe Weather Station has a built-in AI assistant that provides practical insights and inspirational quotes based on the weather. However, the display is good for more than just showing weather-based information. It can sync up with iCal, Google, and Outlook to display calendar information for up to five people. It also integrates with the SwitchBot Hub to control compatible smart devices using the configurable buttons embedded in the frame. window.HYPE_DESK_CONFIG = { productImageUrl: "https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/bambuhypedesk.jpg", productImageAlt: "Bambu Lab A2L", productTitle: "Bambu Lab A2L", shortDescription: "A large-format 3D printer built for your biggest ideas.", longDescription: "If you have been waiting for a 3D printer that can match your ambition, the A2L is it. The extra-large build volume handles projects most machines cannot touch, and a modular ecosystem lets you add blade cutting and pen plotting alongside multi-color printing. Full-auto calibration means you are up and running straight out of the box, and adaptive vibration compensation keeps tall and heavy models printing with precision. Starts at $469.", purchaseUrl: "https://go.skimresources.com?id=1025X1701640&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fus.store.bambulab.com%2Fproducts%2Fa2l&xcust=BambuLabHypedeskArticle4", purchaseLinkText: "Buy at Bambu Lab" };Other deals to considerThe 80,000mAh / 256Wh Jackery Explorer 240D battery pack is marked down to $129 at Amazon ($80 off). The five-pound portable power bank has one 15W USB-A port, and three USB-C ports that range from 15W to up to 140W, more than enough juice to keep multiple devices charged up. A practical use case would be to power a Starlink Mini for Wi-Fi, and it can keep one running for up to 10 hours.The unique Turtle Beach Stealth Pivot gamepad is on sale at Amazon for $90 ($50 off). You can customize this controller on-the-fly by flipping the front facing modules for different combinations of buttons, directional pads, and joysticks. It seems great for gamers who want to move between playing classic and modern games without swapping controllers. With support for PC via the included 2.4GHz USB adapter, Android and iOS via Bluetooth, and Xbox consoles with a wired connection, you could go from using this controller for emulators on your phone to playing Vampire Survivors on your PC.There’s still one day left in Sony’s Days of Play sale, with discounts on games and accessories like controllers and headsets for the PlayStation 5 running through June 10th across retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and on Sony’s online store. Some of the most notable deals include Ghosts of Yōtei for $49 ($21 off) at Amazon, DualSense wireless controllers for $54 ($21 off) at Amazon, and a rare discount on the Pulse Elite Wireless Headset that brings the price down to $109 ($41 off), also at Amazon.

Up until a decade ago, SSDs were not mainstream. Then, as prices dropped, adoption increased, and laptops, not just gaming laptops but even budget ones, shipped with SSDs. That's probably when we, as users, stopped caring. I agree that, in most cases, the SSD outlives the laptop. Everyday tasks like browsing the web, running a handful of apps, or letting Windows continue its background activity are unlikely to have a noticeable impact on your SSD. But there are still aspects you shouldn't ignore.

I recently bought a 250-foot bulk box of Cat6 to do some custom-length Ethernet runs through my house, and I did what a lot of people do: go to Amazon, search for the product, buy the one at a decent price and a plethora of reviews. When I stripped a conductor and dragged a knife blade across it, the copper peeled away to reveal that the cable was actually copper-clad aluminum instead of solid copper, which wasn't immediately alarming, because the cable and listing were marked as such with "CCA."