During my stint with Arch Linux, I learned that the Arch User Repository (AUR) was a lifesaver when it came to finding and downloading apps. Unfortunately, as useful as it may be, it's not perfect. It has its fair share of problems, such as malware in the packages and occasional outages, and it's something that has caused KDE Linux's developers to cut out AUR from its build pipeline.

I steered clear of Photoshop for years, thinking that even the simplest tasks would be a little difficult. Last week, I finally decided to give the Adobe AI tools in the Firefly workspace a try, and it turned a simple picture of my desk into a beach scene after one sitting. I had to use a few features, which only took a few prompts, and the tools finished editing the image. I was surprised to see how easy and fun it was to make the edits I needed in half the time it would have taken me to do them myself.

AMD rolls out exclusive discrete graphics cards for the Chinese market with the Great Radeon Edition (GRE) moniker, before launching them globally. We saw this with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, which launched in 2023 for China and early 2024 for the rest of the world. It was a decent enough GPU, sitting below the RX 7900 XT with a slightly more affordable price for those on tighter budgets. AMD is back at it once again at Computex with the RX 9070 series and a new GRE card, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE.

AMD CEO Lisa Su holds a Ryzen chip. | Image: AMD Computex 2026 is underway in Taiwan, and we're expecting all manner of flashy computers with jaw-dropping pricetags (or no pricetags at all) as the entire industry navigates RAMageddon. But for desktop PC gamers, AMD has a different pitch. It's relaunching three old components alongside a big new promise: you won't need to buy a new motherboard until 2030. Today, AMD is promising it will keep supporting its AM5 desktop motherboard socket with new Ryzen processors through 2029, which likely means you can keep upgrading to newer CPUs till the end of the decade without changing your board.Even if you're still on the older AM4 socket, you …Read the full story at The Verge.

At Computex, Dell is refreshing its flagship 13-inch laptop, the XPS 13. The product was first showcased at CES, and when I first saw it, I wasn't even allowed to take pictures of it. All the company confirmed at the time was that it was going to have the most accessible price point by any XPS product ever.

Dell is aiming for students like Apple did with the MacBook Neo. | Image: Dell Dell is making good on its tease from CES and finally announcing a new XPS 13. The XPS 13 returns as a budget-friendly option, launching in July at a promotional student price of $599 - though that introductory deal only runs until September for back-to-school shopping; it'll start at $699 for everyone else. The $599 promo exactly matches up with the MacBook Neo's starting price, but students can actually get Apple's budget laptop for $100 less. That means Dell has its work cut out proving that the XPS 13 is worth the extra money.This will be Dell's thinnest and lightest XPS to date, measuring 0.5 inches / 12.7mm thick and weighing just 2. …Read the full story at The Verge.

The AW3426DW familiar specs, updated design language, and a bunch of QD-OLED enhancements. | Image: Alienware Alienware is taking to this year's Computex 2026 in Taipei to announce some cool gaming monitors, most notably two exciting OLED options that are coming at different points this year. First off, the company is debuting the successor to its very first QD-OLED gaming monitor from 2022 with a refreshed design and high-end specs that's coming in July (price hasn't yet been shared).The AW3426DW is a 34-inch curved 3,440 x 1,440 resolution with an 1800R curve, just like its predecessor. But the new model has the latest QD-OLED Penta Tandem screen tech that boosts the peak brightness to 1,300 nits from 1,000 nit in the previous version. Its refre …Read the full story at The Verge.

AMD announced during Computex that the AM5 platform will be supported through 2029. The company announced the introduction of the Ryzen 7 7700X3D, Ryzen 7 5800X3D 10th Anniversary Edition, and Radeon RX 9070 GRE. The 5800 X3D relaunch and pledge to support the newer AM5 platform for longer shows just how serious AMD is about motherboard chipset longevity. Previously, AM5 was good for 2027, though we expected it would be supported for longer, with AM4 still chugging along.

AMD just announced a new partnership between itself, Noctua, and Carbice to bring a new option for high-performance cooling to the Ryzen platform. What's interesting is that this advanced next-gen carbon nanotube thermal interface material (TIM) isn't being tied to a flagship processor on AM5, but AM4 with the relaunched special 10th anniversary edition AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. The Carbice Ice Pad was previously only available through CyberPower PC systems with both Intel and AMD processors, but there are also Thermal Grizzly and other compounds that offer similar benefits.

With June just around the corner, it's once again that time of the year. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, the entire tech industry is descending upon Taipei as it gets ready to show off its new developments during Computex 2026. Fortunately, for those of us stuck at home, tech companies have been sharing information as to what we can expect from them this year. For instance, Alienware gave us a peek into what it's showing off this year, and it's good news for people in the market for a new gaming monitor.

Ahh, the memories. The smoky arcade next to the biker bar where I got my first taste of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. And my second taste, and the third, and well... ...you get the picture until there was a version for the Super Nintendo that I could play without being in a place I wasn't supposed to be.

Apple isn't just looking to take on Meta in the smart glasses market; it's looking to upend eyewear as a whole, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. When the Apple Watch launched, it wasn't simply competing against the Pebbles and the Motorolas of the world. The company also had Swatch, Fossil, and Seiko in its crosshairs. Similarly, Apple's smart glasses will be positioned not just against Meta and Samsung, but against Oakley, Ray-Ban, and Warby Parker in the $200-$500 range.Apple Watch generates an estimated $17 billion annually, but eyewear is a potentially even bigger prize. Where the watch market is worth an estimated $132 billion, a …Read the full story at The Verge.