The era of ultralight laptops is great for those who only need basic computing tasks, but for anything more strenuous, they fall flat. And that's where workstation laptops come in. These powerful machines are designed to be desktop replacements but portable, so that scientists, engineers, developers, and anyone with the need for speed can get their work done in the field, whenever needed.

Microsoft AI just announced its first text-to-image generator, MAI-Image-1, designed and developed in-house. The tech giant, which recently announced its first in-house Microsoft AI models, called the new image generator “the next step on our journey.”Microsoft says it sought feedback from creative professionals in order to avoid “repetitive or generically-stylized outputs.” MAI-Image-1 “excels” at photorealistic imagery like lightning, landscapes, and more, the company claims. And it can process requests and produce images faster than “larger, slower models.” The model has already secured a spot in the top 10 of LMArena, the AI benchmark site where humans compare outputs from different systems and vote on the best one.  MAI-Image-1 joins Microsoft’s other AI products, voice generator MAI-Voice-1 AI and chatbot MAI-1-preview. The company was an early funder of OpenAI, but the two companies’ relationship has grown increasingly complicated. Microsoft has also started to use Anthropic’s AI models for some features in Microsoft 365 recently, and is making “significant investments” in training its own AI models like MAI-Image-1.We haven’t had a chance to test Microsoft’s new image generator, but once we have we’ll report back on its safety guardrails. The company says it’s committed to “ensuring safe and responsible outcomes.”

If you're looking to capture your gameplay using hardware, Elgato offers a wide variety of solutions. While some can be pricey, we love seeing special discounts that can bring them down to more affordable levels. We think the HD60 X is a pretty good solution, allowing you to record up to 4K at up to 30 frames per second.

Nvidia’s DGX Spark computer. Nvidia will start selling its DGX Spark “personal AI supercomputer” this week. The machine is powerful enough to let users work on sophisticated AI models but small enough to fit on a desktop.  Nvidia said Spark can be ordered online at nvidia.com starting Wednesday, October 15th, as well as from select partners and stores in the US. It said units would cost $3,000 when it revealed Spark earlier this year, but it appears the DGX Spark will now cost $3,999, according to an infographic embedded in Nvidia’s press release. Most PC makers have their own customized version, with the Acer Veriton GN100, as one example, also costing $3,999.Spark boasts the kind of performance that once required access to pricey, energy-hungry data centers. It could help democratize AI and would be particularly useful for researchers. When first announcing Spark earlier this year (then called Digits), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said “placing an AI supercomputer on the desks of every data scientist, AI researcher and student empowers them to engage and shape the age of AI.” Buyers can expect to see a variety of similar models on the market as Nvidia has said third-party manufacturers are welcome to make their own versions. Acer, Asus, Dell, Gigabyte, HP, Lenovo, and MSI are all debuting their own customized versions of Spark, Nvidia confirmed today.Spark comes with Nvidia’s GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, 128GB of unified memory, and up to 4TB of NVMe SSD storage. Nvidia says it can deliver a petaflop of AI performance — meaning it can do a million billion calculations each second — and is capable of handling AI models with up to 200 billion parameters. It’s also small, comfortably fitting on a desk and running from a standard power outlet. Nvidia calls it “the world’s smallest AI supercomputer.” We agree: it really is quite tiny. Spark also has a bigger brother, Station, though there’s no word on when or if that might hit the general market.  Correction, October 13th: An earlier version of this story misstated that the DGX Spark was “now available to buy.” It will actually go on sale October 15th.

If you're looking to build a budget PC, there's nothing wrong with opting for older tech that’s still reliable. While many have already moved on to AMD's AM5 platform, some are still sticking with the older AM4. Despite being older technology, the AM4 platform still offers plenty of power and can be purchased at a relatively affordable price.

There's nothing quite like a good medieval fantasy game, is there? The clash of steel, the whisper of magic, and the thrill of forging your destiny in lands untouched by modernity. That's where the charm of medieval fantasy games lies, and it never fades, either.

I’ve always been a tad bit embarrassed admitting this, especially as someone who writes about tech for a living and is also majoring in computer science, but I have absolutely no idea how self-hosting works. Sure, I know what it means, but I've never really properly self-hosted anything before. Even when I have, I’ve just blindly followed a YouTube tutorial step by step, copying commands without really understanding what any of them did.

Meta wants you to find your next gig on Facebook. Meta, a company that is not shy about bolting new features onto its platforms, is bolting another new feature onto Facebook: jobs. This one is actually a throwback — Facebook initially introduced job postings in 2017, only to retire it less than five years later. But jobs are back now, with an emphasis toward local entry-level, service, and trade work.Job listings are featured in a tab in the Marketplace section of Facebook, but Meta says they may also be surfaced in relevant groups. Business pages can also post their own listings. Jobs are available only to those 18 and older, and must meet Facebook’s guidelines. There are a few obvious exclusions — no adult services or drugs — but in-person childcare is also off limits. That’s funny, because there’s at least one Facebook group in my neighborhood dedicated entirely to finding and hiring nannies.Scrolling through some of the job listings in Seattle, it looks like it’s being adopted so far as a digital version of hanging up a “Help Wanted” sign on the door of your restaurant or business. And it makes sense, because outside of Nextdoor, a lot of local connection happens through Facebook groups. It’s certainly my preferred platform when I want to find out why the county sheriff’s helicopter is circling the neighborhood on a Tuesday afternoon.This update actually marks a return for jobs on Facebook. The company first introduced job listings in 2017 in the US and Canada, expanding to more than 40 countries in 2018. In 2022, Facebook reverted to supporting only the US and Canada, and finally shut down the program in 2023. The platform still allowed people to post listings in the form of ads — which didn’t go great for Facebook when organizations advertising jobs used targeting to exclude groups based on gender and religious background from seeing them. This conduct is prohibited by the discrimination policy that applies to anyone using the new job posting tool, thankfully. Facebook’s re-launched jobs feature is available starting today, and only in the US.

There are only a few games out there that claim to have a "choices matter" story where the choices really, truly matter. There are some games where it feels like, no matter what you pick, you're basically led into the exact same plot with some minor changes.

I've talked to no end about how PowerToys is an essential tool if you use a Windows PC. It adds so much to your arsenal of tools and improves Windows 11 in some major ways, to the point where I believe some of these tools should just be built into Windows 11 at this point. For some of those tools, I wish they were built-in because I love them, but others just make sense, even if they're not personally my thing.

When it comes to PC hardware, my wishlist is overflowing with components I'd love to have in my PC setup. From visually stunning cases and RAM kits and overkill coolers and SSDs to the fastest CPUs and GPUs, there's probably no gamer who'd refuse a chance to own these fantastic PC parts. That said, I'd advise most gamers against buying these particular models. Despite how great they are, they aren't the best choice when it comes to maximizing FPS per dollar — you have numerous better options on the market.

When you are trying to keep a modern PC zippy on a relatively small drive, like my 256GB SSD on an HP Spectre or 512GB SSD on an AMD build, that terrifying ‘Low Disk Space’ notification is a constant threat to your PC’s performance.