PC Magazine November 2021

It’s finally here: Microsoft’s newest iteration of its ubiquitous operating system. Needless to say, this is a big deal for PCMag and our readers (well, most of them!). So we’ve been speculating, trying betas, compiling tips, investigating the TPM requirement, and breaking all the news for months while we waited for launch day. Our November issue is dedicated to Windows 11 (and we hope you enjoy our Spinal Tap–reference cover art). You’ll find our exhaustive review of the new OS along with lots of advice on installing and using it. We’ve also reviewed a couple of new Microsoft devices that run Windows 11 out of the box—the Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Go 3 tablet. Note that our website, PCMag.com, has the latest news and analysis on everything tech, including the new…

IS NORTON PLANNING TO KILL FREE ANTIVIRUS? I am concerned that the Avast products will disappear into the nebulous Norton products regardless of their assurances. If this happens, I will have to find another AV product, as I have had bad experiences with Norton AV products and will not return to them.—Michael Walker Reducing the number of good guys and gals who are chasing the bad guys and gals’ worst efforts is not a good thing. That might be the real downside to this merger and subsequent layoffs.—MHCLV It should be noted that Avira completed its acquisition of UK-headquartered BullGuard in February of 2021, giving NortonLifeLock a fifth brand to use in their portfolio.—Aryeh Goretsky There is also a Sophos Home. It also has Clam AV. With the transition to Linux, these antiviruses offer…

For months, Microsoft has been telling customers that Windows 11 requires your PC to have a special security chip called TPM 2.0—but you can actually skirt the restriction. Ironically, the company itself posted official guidance on its website detailing how to circumvent the TPM 2.0 requirement. The process involves taking your Windows 10 machine and changing the registry key values in the OS to ignore the check for TPM 2.0. But the bypass applies only to PCs that have at least TPM 1.2, which has to be enabled. This can usually be done by going into the machine’s BIOS settings on startup. The Microsoft-provided bypass should also enable a Windows 11 installation on PCs that have a CPU older than the official system requirements; for example, an AMD Ryzen 1000 processor or…

In front of me is a wristwatch. Somehow, it’s floating in the air. It’s shiny, spotless, and seemingly solid. Light reflects across the metal timepiece like it’s on display at a jewelry store, ready to be handled and bought. But then I get closer and try to touch the floating watch. My hand passes through it and feels only air. In reality, I’m staring at a wave of light that’s converging and scattering in mid-air. A display behind the watch is simply beaming the light in a way my eyes can’t help but interpret as real. I’m staring at a hologram, the first of its kind, according to San Jose-based Light Field Lab. The watch is actually an image made up of 2.5 billion pixels. All those pixels are now in…

The iPhone 13 reviews fried my brain. I’ve reviewed more than 1,000 cell phones, and I’ve been reviewing iPhones since the very first one, but they always stress me out. Apple’s iPhones are the most popular and the most scrutinized phones in the US, and there are dozens of bloggers, vloggers, and reviewers who have a more passionate connection to the line than I do. It was especially tough for me to review the iPhones this year because I couldn’t find differences in network performance. That led, though, to my realizing there’s a gap right now between what 5G phones can do and what US 5G networks can do. 5G has been around for more than two years now, and we’re going to see the first fourth-generation Qualcomm X65-based 5G phones…

Windows 11 is here. As with every previous mega-update to the desktop operating system of record over the years, the new interface has been met with dissent. It’s no surprise that Twitter is full of outrage over the redesign—and, it must be admitted, some praise, too. The record will show that I’ve never been a hater of new Windows features. I even found things to like in the disastrous Windows 8 release. I was an avid Cortana user, at least while she could still do useful things, such as shut down the PC or control music. But a significant difference is that, at least with Windows 8, Microsoft was creating something original and new. I know that software and all other forms of art borrow from others’ recent work, but the…