Most of us treat and use Windows like any other computer. Most of your everyday use would require you to click things, maybe open folders, and repeat a few folder organization steps on the daily. Most of these steps are humdrum enough that you don't think too much about it, but if you have a folder full of files to sort out, that tedium starts getting to you. It could be a simple task like cleaning folders, or running updates, or just setting things back up after a fresh installation. That's when I started exploring automation tools to speed up these everyday tasks. It's also how I came across PowerShell.

You can run local AI inference on, more or less, any machine that you have access to. From a modestly-specced laptop to a high-end gaming rig, both are capable of running AI in some way, shape, or form. In fact, you can even run AI models on something as simple as your smartphone. But what about purpose-built machines for local artificial intelligence, instead? That's where the Lenovo Thinkstation PGX comes in, packing the Nvidia GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip and 128GB of unified memory.

The only Chrome OS devices I've seen for a while now are the Chromebooks that my kids' school sends home when it's virtual learning after heavy snowfalls. I don't remember the last time I saw a Chromebox, so I jumped at the chance when Acer offered its latest Chromebox Mini to check out.

Buying a brand new DDR5-8000 kit could set you back hundreds of dollars thanks to the recent RAM crisis. Let's say you purchase and install one of these, and then enable the profile in the BIOS, save, and then suddenly your PC won't post or, worse, it boots but crashes the moment you open a Chrome tab.

Today, monitoring a server is a task that sometimes feels like flying an Airbus just to check the weather — far more complexity and resources than the actual task. When I started looking for a server monitoring tool, I found myself stuck in between a tool that had no visibility at all or a full-blown stack that consumed unnecessary resources for my use case.

Apple is upgrading its Podcasts app to let users "seamlessly" swap between audio and video podcasts using its HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology. While listening to a show, users will be able to switch to a horizontal video version of the podcast and download the video versions of a podcast for offline viewing.By giving users the option to quickly change between audio and video, Apple might be able to keep users from jumping to other platforms to watch episodes of their favorite shows. Video is becoming an increasingly popular way to consume podcasts, with YouTube saying last February that more than 1 billion people watch podcasts on the …Read the full story at The Verge.

SSDs are fast, but not always. If you've ever run into performance issues with your drive, you've probably considered solutions like freeing up space, ensuring it's not overheating, or even just replacing it if you thought it was at the point of no return. But there's one fix for SSD performance issues that deserves more attention: the humble SSD firmware.

There are gaming monitors, then there's the Alienware AW2524HF, which delivers an eye-watering refresh rate of 500Hz. That's right, 500Hz and a 0.5ms response time. If you're someone that needs all that performance, then you already know that this monitor is going to be a great pick. The best part is that this monitor is now on sale, coming in well below its usual retail price of $550. If you're quick, you can grab it from Amazon and Dell for $150 less for a limited time.

It looks like Nintendo's Switch 2 might soon cost more.

Valve has updated the Steam Deck website to say that the Steam Deck OLED may be out of stock "intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages." The PC gaming handheld has been out of stock in the US and other parts of the world for a few days, and thanks to this update, we now know why.The update comes shortly after Valve delayed the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller from a planned shipping window of early 2026 because of the memory and storage crunch. "We have work to do to land on concrete pricing and launch dates that we can confidently announce, being mindful of how quickly the circumstances around bot …Read the full story at The Verge.

iPhone 17 Pro Apple is starting to test end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) RCS messages with the developer beta of iOS 26.4 released Monday. Apple announced plans last year to support the feature, and once fully available, it will let iPhone and Android users send encrypted RCS messages to each other across platforms.However, with this initial implementation, Apple is only testing RCS encryption between Apple devices. It's "not yet testable with other platforms," Apple says. The company also doesn't plan to ship E2EE RCS messages with iOS 26.4; the feature will actually ship publicly in a "future update," Apple says.RCS messages significantly improve the exp …Read the full story at The Verge.

Much has been said about HexOS, the up-and-coming operating system for NAS devices that aims to provide a more friendly user experience. When it's built on a foundation as strong as TrueNAS, which nis available for free for consumers, yet it asks for $199 for the privilege of using it (for now), it's fair to be skeptical.