Inhoudsopgave van December 2024 - PCWorld

As you may know, support for Windows 10 expires in just under a year’s time. But if you’re reluctant to upgrade to Windows 11, there’s a new alternative: You can pay a little extra to keep receiving security patches with a new extended consumer support option. Microsoft has confirmed a consumer version of its Extended Security Updates plan. For $30, you’ll receive “critical” and “important” security updates—basically security patches that will continue to protect your Windows 10 PC from any vulnerabilities. That $30 is for one year’s worth of updates, and that’s the only option at this time. (You won’t be able to resubscribe at the end, thus ending Windows 10 support.) Microsoft has been warning users for years that Windows 10 support will expire in 2025, specifically October 14,…

How long will it take to update your PC to the Windows 11 2024 Update? If my tests are any indicator, you’ll be twiddling your thumbs for a lot longer than usual. Microsoft characterizes Windows 11 24H2, formally known as the Windows 11 2024 Update, as a “full OS swap.” Until now, Microsoft pushed incremental updates to your PC, with only the code needed to perform security or feature updates. The language that Microsoft is using now implies that this is a much more involved process, and that seems to be true. I tested downloading and installing Windows 11 24H2 on four separate laptops. Each took at least an hour to install and some much more. Put another way, this isn’t something you can take care of quickly—quite a change…

Microsoft just released a new version of PC Manager, the free tuning tool for optimizing Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems that competes with CCleaner. PC Manager 3.14 now lets you view your internet speed on the desktop directly in the Windows taskbar. This means you can see how fast you’re surfing in real time, as reported by Window Latest, and you’re able to see both downstream and upstream speeds. Microsoft has also added a new algorithm for freeing up storage space occupied by files that are no longer required. This improvement makes PC Manager better able to recognize and remove both temporary files and otherwise unneeded files more quickly. Also new with this update is the ability to integrate PC Manager into Windows 11 Widgets. (If you aren’t using…

Intel’s new desktop CPUs are radically different than the Intel CPUs you’re used to. Today marks the launch of Arrow Lake, the company’s latest architecture for desktop processors, formally sold as the Core Ultra 200S Series. According to Intel’s claims, this batch of Core chips is faster and far more power efficient than last-generation Raptor Lake CPUs, while still beating out the competition. However, Arrow Lake isn’t notable just for what it does, but also for what it is. As the first set of desktop x86 processors shipped but not fabricated by Intel, TSMC’s involvement in their production is but one new standout aspect. Intel has reworked its chip design, too—and the overhaul comes with some quirks, as we discovered during our testing. For a deeper dive into productivity benchmarks,…

When it comes to premium laptops, the new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus ticks a lot of boxes. It’s thin and light, day-to-day performance is snappy and efficient, and the OLED display is both beautiful and big. It’s one of the Chromebook Plus models, which feature faster processors along with more RAM and storage. Although Samsung makes quite the impression with this Chromebook, there are still a few flaws to be found. For one, it’s pretty expensive for a Chromebook, especially for one without a touchscreen. The other is the offset keyboard, which I struggled with. Nitpicks aside, I have to hand it to Samsung for creating one of the thinnest Chromebooks I’ve ever worked with. That’s no small feat! SPECS AND FEATURES The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus comes in just one…

I always thought that buying a 4K webcam was only something streamers and influencers should care about. I mean, how much better am I really going to look when I’m on a Teams call with my editors, or on a Skype call with my mom? It seemed quite silly to think about. But I’ve been playing around with several webcam options to see what difference they actually make to everyday video calls and meetings—and as it turns out, there are some real positives with 4K webcams. There are some negatives, too. (And I don’t just mean that suddenly everyone can see that pimple you didn’t bother to cover up.) Here’s what I’ve learned about why 4K webcams can be worth buying (and why they might not be), depending on your…

USB flash drives are pretty self-explanatory, aren’t they? All you have to do is plug it into your PC and it’s ready to go, whether you’re using it to transfer files, play media, or launch an app. But mistakes can happen, and these mistakes can go further than the familiar meme of always needing at least three attempts to finally get that USB connection plugged in. (That’s less of an issue with USB-C, but I digress.) Here are the various ways you might be using your USB flash drive incorrectly and the kinds of issues that can crop up. YOU’RE USING THE WRONG USB PORT Many PCs and laptops have multiple USB ports, and many people simply assume that all USB ports are basically equal. When you need to plug…

Most people in the US who have flagship phones with mainstream carriers are on 5G networks. And while 5G tech is noticeably faster than its predecessors, it’s still weak compared to Wi-Fi and fiber internet. That’s why we’re already looking forward to 6G, the next-gen wireless data standard that just set an incredible speed record. According to NewScientist, a recent test conducted by researchers at University College London showed that 6G wireless can transmit data at speeds up to 938 gigabits per second (Gbps). 6G SPEEDS COMPARED TO 5G SPEEDS The theoretical max download speed of 5G wireless is 20 Gbps. That means 6G is theoretically faster by more than 45 times. But the median 5G download speed across all mobile carriers around the world is around 70 megabits per…

At the end of October, Google released its major ChromeOS M130 update to everyone on the operating system’s stable channel. This version of the Chromebook OS includes a variety of improvements, including Quick Insert, Focus, and Welcome Recap features, among others. Quick Insert is a new menu that allows you to quickly input emojis, symbols, GIFs, links, calculations, and even access AI features. Depending on the type of Chromebook you have, Quick Inserts can be activated with a special keyboard key. However, all ChromeOS devices can also do it using the Launcher key + F keyboard shortcut. Focus is a new feature that makes it easy for you to toggle ChromeOS’s Do Not Disturb (DND) mode, set and adjust your focus times, select or create new Google Tasks, and play curated…

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is swinging its big, regulatory stick at fake online reviews. Rules announced earlier this year are now in effect, banning reviews by fake people, AI-generated text, and those who don’t disclose their status as company insiders or affiliates. If you spot violations of the new policy, you can report them directly to the FTC, for a maximum fine of $51,744. The FTC’s updated guidelines for online reviews outlaw six specific types of fakery: reviews from people who aren’t real or who use AI-generated text or images, no paid reviews (or other forms of compensation, like those sneaky $10 coupons thrown in with an Amazon shipment), no reviews from employees of the company offering the product or others with a financial relationship, no fake review sites…

TunnelBear is a good-humored VPN service owned by McAfee security company and based in Toronto, Canada. It’s been around for a while now and has always stood out due to its unique and endearing bear-themed interface. The service has tried hard in recent years to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive VPN market by adding more features and maintaining a strong privacy record. Certainly there are ursine puns aplenty to be enjoyed here, but is the VPN service just right for you? I took it for a walk in the woods to find out. TunnelBear in brief: P2P allowed: Yes Unlimited device connections: Yes Business location: Canada Number of servers: 8,000-plus Number of country locations: 47-plus Cost: $9.99 per month, $39.99 for 1 year, or $120 for 3 years FEATURES AND…

The differences between monitors and televisions seem to become slimmer every year. Some people now use a television as their monitor, and others use monitors like televisions. The LG MyView 32SR85U is an example of the latter. It’s a 32-inch 4K monitor that uses LG’s webOS to provide access to streaming apps and control smart home devices. It even has a bundled webcam. SPECS AND FEATURES The LG MyView 32SR85U’s basic specifications are typical for a 32-inch 4K monitor that is priced around $500. It has a resolution of 3840×2160 across an IPS panel, with a refresh rate of 60Hz. Display size: 32-inch 16:9 widescreen Native resolution: 3840×2160 Panel type: IPS Refresh rate: 60Hz Adaptive sync: None HDR: HDR10 Ports: 2× HDMI 2.0, 1× USB-C upstream with DisplayPort and 90-watts…

Nowadays, it’s easy to get fooled by AI content on the web. Whether it’s a picture of the Pope sporting a puffy Balenciaga jacket or Trump getting tackled and arrested, these AI-generated images appear super realistic (as long as you’re not looking too close), so it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. This is because AI doesn’t really understand context in the cultural or historical sense. While some AI-generated images are harmless and do not spread misinformation, others, especially ones involving celebrities or politicians, can cause a great deal of damage and brain rot. Heck, I consider myself to be a relatively tech-savvy person and even I’ve been fooled once or twice. We’re already in an era where even political leaders use AI images in misleading or emotion-provoking…

Today, the internet has become like water and electricity, a necessity for everyday life and something we take for granted. Most people never think about routers, network cables, frequency bands, and more as long as everything works. But wireless networks—Wi-Fi—are not flawless and few users have never had problems. Common problems include weak coverage in parts of the home, devices being disconnected and having to be reconnected manually, choppy music and video playback on connected devices, and slower-than-promised speeds on large downloads. By optimizing your router’s settings and placement in your home, you can achieve a more stable and faster Wi-Fi network. Often this is enough, but otherwise there is help from different types of networking equipment. OPTIMAL ROUTER SETTINGS Different routers offer different levels of customization for Wi-Fi settings,…

For years, both AMD and Intel have energetically competed against one another in the PC processor market. But there’s a new force to be reckoned with—Arm—and both AMD and Intel are circling the wagons. On Tuesday, both AMD and Intel, along with Linux creator Linus Torvalds, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, Microsoft, and a number of other companies, announced the X86 Ecosystem Advisory Group. The goal is to allow AMD and Intel to keep competing, while unifying certain aspects of the X86 architecture where customers are demanding a simplified approach. Part of competition involves different approaches to a specific problem, such as creating a processor using tiled chiplets or a monolithic design. In general, a software developer can code for the X86 instruction set that both AMD and Intel share and…

If you’re worried about artificial intelligence taking your job, you might want to sit down for this one. AI startup Anthropic has demonstrated a new Claude model that can look at a computer screen and operate a virtual mouse and keyboard “the way people do,” according to promotional material. In the video demo, researcher Sam Ringer shows Claude performing a bit of data entry “drudge work,” with the AI model using screenshots of a Mac desktop to find relevant information and submit a form. It is indeed the kind of thing that employees all over the world do every day, though Ringer notes that this is just a “representative example.” Exactly how much of the video has been edited isn’t known. But you don’t need to take Anthropic’s word for…

AMD’s vaunted “X3D” V-Cache technology vaulted Ryzen processors to the pinnacle of gaming supremacy when it debuted in the legendary Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Now it arrives with extra pressure on its proverbial shoulders: Can that X3D magic help resuscitate a Ryzen 9000 lineup that’s struggled with ho-hum reviews out of the gate and dramatic performance-altering Windows updates? Spoiler alert: Absolutely. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D rocks, obliterating Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 285K in games—but that’s not all. Previous X3D generations always popped in games, but proved lackluster against its non-X3D siblings in creation workloads. Thanks to some smart tweaks to the second-gen V-Cache design, the $479, 8-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D actually gets an even bigger bump in select creator workloads than gaming, compared to its predecessor, and now sits comfortably above the 8-core…

You might approach buying the Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) for a variety of reasons such as its status as an AI-infused Copilot+ PC and its lovely OLED screen, but it’s the long-lasting battery—21 hours in our tests!—that will change your life. I don’t mean this lightly. I’m used to packing a charger in my bag because I know that the laptop will run out of battery. This, the launch platform for Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 (Lunar Lake) mobile chip, simply does not. It makes battery anxiety a thing of the past. “Tight” is a word that has come to connote an efficiency of space and effort. This laptop feels tight in that very little is without purpose, from the gorgeous edge-to-edge OLED display to a design that keeps…

I’m not saying Windows is a terrible operating system, but it’s definitely no longer the one I choose to use on a day-to-day basis. After 30-plus years of using Windows in its various forms (starting with Windows 95), I have moved on—but not to macOS! In fact, I’ve switched from Windows to ChromeOS, and I’m loving every minute of it. I want to be fully transparent: I admit that I still own an all-in-one Windows PC (currently running Windows 10 because Microsoft doesn’t think it’s capable of Windows 11), and I’m also likely to buy a new Windows PC before support for Windows 10 officially ends. However, my Windows PC only exists as a backup for those increasingly rare times when my Chromebook isn’t right for the task. Most days,…

The Windows search function is very practical because it usually finds installed programs faster than using the program menu. However, you can also use the input field to search the internet. By default, Windows uses the Microsoft search engine Bing for this. Unfortunately, the results often cannot keep up with those of Google. With the MS Edge Redirect tool, you can redirect the search from Bing to Google. We’ll show you how to do it. The first step is to install the tool. In the installation wizard, select the third option from the top: Active Mode – Recommended. The tool’s configuration page will then start automatically. Now tick Bing Search, for which Google is preset as a replacement. There are ten other search engines to choose from as well as the option…