Macs have a reputation for being pricey, especially compared to many Windows laptops with similar hardware. That initial sticker shock can make some buyers second-guess the value they're getting. But part of what sets macOS apart is the ecosystem of thoughtfully designed, high-performance software that runs on it. Some of the most powerful Mac apps are entirely free, helping to close the value gap right away. With these tools installed, you can do more from day one without paying extra for third-party software or subscriptions.

Notion is an incredibly versatile and powerful workspace that helps you organize virtually anything, from personal notes and complex research projects to personal goals and daily to-do lists. Its flexible, block-based editor and interconnected pages make it a favorite for students looking to centralize their entire academic lives. However, building the perfect system from scratch consumes valuable time that simply no one has. While numerous productive Notion templates exist, here are the best ones that I can rely on to manage my studies, organize assignments, and truly dominate the academics.

I think one of my biggest pet peeves when getting into Windows 10 and 11 is how it always uses Edge, even when you have another browser set up as the default. These days, it's a lot easier to change that, but in the early days, it was a huge problem for me.

pfSense and OPNsense are open-source firewall and router operating systems that share a common lineage but have diverged in philosophy and development over the years. pfSense originated as a fork of the m0n0wall project in 2004 (first release in 2006), and gained popularity as a powerful FreeBSD-based firewall platform with a web interface that allowed anyone to essentially build their own router with an advanced firewall if they wanted. OPNsense, on the other hand, was created as a fork of pfSense in January 2015 by Dutch company Deciso, and this fork coincided with the end-of-life of m0n0wall, whose creator, Manuel Kasper, actually recommended users migrate to OPNsense rather than pfSense. Both projects provide similar core features, yet their communities and trajectories have diverged to become significantly more distinct over the years.

Heads up, RTX 40-series owners: Your warranty is about to expire. Or, at least, warranties for RTX 40-series GPUs will start expiring in a few months. Most major GPU brands offer a three-year warranty on their GPUs, and we're quickly coming up on the third anniversary of the RTX 4090 — a GPU notorious for its 12VHPWR connector abruptly melting and going up in a puff of smoke.

As gamers, we love trying out new games and discovering new genres. A sale rolls around, and we go shopping through our wishlists of games we have never heard of but are willing to try. However, in the midst of it all, in an age where we have more games than ever before, there's still something comforting about certain studios. You see their name on a trailer and immediately exhale, because chances are you're in for something truly special.

Have you managed to secure a case for your precious Nintendo Switch 2 yet? It's no shocker if you haven't; after all, reports are coming in that the official Switch 2 case is harder to find than the console itself. Fortunately, people are chiming in with their favorite third-party cases, which are sometimes cheaper and have better functionality than Nintendo's offerings.

M.2 SSDs are the only way to go if you're looking for storage with great performance. Unfortunately, you can't just stick any M.2 SSD into a PC gaming handheld, and will instead need to rely on a specific model to make it work. Luckily, M.2 2230 SSDs have been coming down in price over the past year or so, and we're now seeing a good deal on this 2TB chip that's just $141.

The Asus ROG Ally and ROG Ally X are both fantastic gaming handhelds and managed to hold their own in the industry against giants like the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch. Now it's Xbox’s turn to enter the market.

Microsoft Excel might be the accountant's right hand that lives in the shadows, but it is incredibly useful for a lot more than number-crunching. I prefer using visual data management tools, such as Kanban tables on Trello, for my personal projects and hobbies. However, the sheer volume of my latest obsession has made me reconsider my aversion to Excel.

The struggle is always real when you manage a growing number of self-hosted services. After all, keeping track of every IP address, subnet, VLAN, and piece of hardware can quickly become a mess. Besides, creating a spreadsheet for it is not a viable solution in the long run. But what if there was a better way? That’s where phpIPAM comes into play. This isn’t just another IP address management tool; it’s a robust and intuitive way to bring order to my self-hosted chaos.

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against its subsidiary CBS, clearing a path for the administration to approve the media giant’s multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.In a statement seen by CNN on Tuesday night, Paramount said the settlement payment is inclusive of Trump’s legal fees and costs, and that the money will be allocated to his future presidential library instead of being paid to Trump directly. The sum is below the $10 billion (later increased to $20 billion) in damages sought by Trump when he filed the lawsuit in October, alleging that CBS News had deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris to mislead voters during the presidential elections.The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Trump was willing to drop the complaint in exchange for upwards of $25 million and a public apology. As part of the agreement, Paramount said that it would release transcripts of future 60 Minutes interviews with eligible US presidential candidates, but specified that the settlement “does not include a statement of apology or regret.”In a statement to The New York Times, a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said the settlement was “another win for the American people” delivered by the president, who was holding “the fake news media accountable. CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.”While legal experts said the suit was baseless, it placed Paramount under pressure to appease the President as its long-drawn out merger plans with Skydance require approval from the Trump administration. In a statement seen by CNN, Paramount said that “this lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process,” and that it will “abide by the legal process to defend our case.”The settlement is the latest of several legal agreements made by media and tech companies, law firms, and universities to appease the transactional President and the influence Trump now holds over American institutions.