Microsoft formalizes "Xbox Labs" team, focused on compatibility and emerging tech
Xbox As AI mods and reverse-engineered games take over the internet, Microsoft is founding a team to explore potential applications for Xbox and gaming in general.
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Features
I tested ASUS' Googlebook 14: So, how does it feel to a lifelong Windows user?
Hands-on Windows Central's Senior Editor Ben Wilson goes hands-on with the ASUS Googlebook 14 and shares his first 24 hours with Google's own operating system.
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Microsoft’s week in review: Surface Laptop Ultra arrives, RTX Spark laptops go live, and Windows 11 gets buried under AI jargon
Surface Microsoft showed off compelling Windows 11 features and hardware, but much of the event was weighed down by developer-focused AI discussions.
Blizzard World should be a real park and here's why
GAMING We may have been 100,000,000 steps away, but now it's 99,999,999
Join Daniel and Zac on October 2 at 2PM ET for the LIVE Windows Central Podcast
LIVE Join Daniel and Zac on October 7 for the LIVE Windows Central Podcast.
Ex-Microsoft Panos Panay: 'To make a great product, you can't have great software without the hardware'
QOTD Panos Panay's quote about Surface still makes a lot of sense today, but has Microsoft lost the plot since he left? The October 7 Surface event should answer some important questions.
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On This Day: Xbox’s 2015 “games everywhere” strategy revisited
On this Day A look back at Xbox’s 2015 “games everywhere” vision — the moment Phil Spencer sketched out a future that Asha Sharma is now fully realizing 11 years later.
Moonraker turns 10 and still looks ahead of its time
Flashback A decade later, Microsoft’s unreleased Moonraker smartwatch still feels like a glimpse into an alternate timeline.
Looking back at 2016’s “I love you, Xbox” — and how much (and little) has changed
Flashback Looking back at the 2016 editorial that captured Xbox’s growing pains and predicted the decade ahead.
Revisiting the LG Lancet, 11 years later
Flashback A look back at the LG Lancet and the era when Windows Phone 8.1 defined Microsoft’s mobile peak.
Windows & Software
Microsoft’s week in review: Surface Laptop Ultra arrives, RTX Spark laptops go live, and Windows 11 gets buried under AI jargon
Surface Microsoft showed off compelling Windows 11 features and hardware, but much of the event was weighed down by developer-focused AI discussions.
I almost want this new Windows wallpaper more than any of the RTX Spark laptops
Windows 11 A new Windows 11 wallpaper appeared on RTX Spark laptops, but Microsoft hasn't shared it, leaving fans to recreate it with AI.
You can now test Microsoft's new Windows Search experience
Windows 11 Microsoft is rolling out its redesigned Windows Search experience to Insiders, complete with faster performance and early support for inline actions.
PC Hardware
I tested ASUS' Googlebook 14: So, how does it feel to a lifelong Windows user?
Hands-on Windows Central's Senior Editor Ben Wilson goes hands-on with the ASUS Googlebook 14 and shares his first 24 hours with Google's own operating system.
7 Comments
Global PC shipments fell by about 20% in Q3 2026
Laptops HP alone dropped 31% in Q3 2026, and other brands aren't looking much better. Here's why.
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Microsoft offers MacBook owners up to $1,000 to ditch Apple for a Surface Laptop Ultra
Surface Microsoft is offering up to $1,000 cash back to MacBook Pro owners who switch to the new Surface Laptop Ultra, and that's on top of trade-in value.
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AMD says it's bringing FSR 4 to gaming handhelds before 2027
PC gaming Promises do come true as AMD reveals a new lightweight version of FSR 4 for more devices.
Deals
Walmart's event still has 2TB SSDs, OLED monitors, and RTX 5070 gaming laptops
Deals Walmart's 'Deals & More' is still live until October 11, and it includes discounts on gaming laptops, PC storage, and much more. These are the deals I'd grab.
Grab an XPS 13 for under $800 — the best laptop deal of the month is still going strong
Deal Prime Day hasn't started yet, but Dell's XPS 13 is already down to $799 with a $200 discount. There's even a model for just $599 if you can live with 8GB of RAM.
Samsung's fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD dropped below $199 for 1TB, with more sizes on sale
Deal Amazon Big Deal Days slashed Samsung's fastest 9100 PRO PCIe 5.0 SSD to under $199 for 1TB, with more discounts across 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB models.
These Bose headphones changed how I shop forever
Deal Buying these Bose headphones convinced me that sometimes paying more is worth it in the long run.
Handheld Gaming PCs
HelixSR mod brings NVIDIA's DLSS 3.7 to AMD-based gaming handhelds
GAMING HelixSR brings Nvidia DLSS 3.7 to AMD hardware, with early ROG Ally X testing showing promising performance.
Gaming
Xbox developers just gained support for another free game engine with 'Defold'
Xbox Defold 1.14.0 officially adds Xbox support, giving approved developers another free engine option.
Gears of War: E-Day is playable on PS5, thanks to a homebrew xCloud app
Gaming A new PS5 jailbreak app brings Xbox Cloud Gaming to Sony’s console, opening a side door to exclusives like Gears of War: E-Day.
WH40K: Dawn of War 4 releases new Space Marine gameplay trailer
Gaming Deep Silver has released a new faction gameplay trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, this time showcasing the Space Marines' jack-of-all-trades playstyle and weapons of mass destruction.
Artificial Intelligence
Forget the flashy AI features, this is the Copilot update that matters
AI Microsoft's latest Copilot update for Word adds source citations, making it easier to check whether AI-generated responses are actually correct.
Copilot reviewers speak out on grading AI-generated explicit content
AI Contractors reviewing Microsoft Copilot prompts report being flooded with sexually explicit images and potentially illegal user requests.
The Copilot+ PC brand is dead: How to remap your Copilot key
Laptops Microsoft is stepping back from the Copilot+ PC name, leaving many with an unused key that you can easily remap.
Microsoft Teams is losing its Copilot chat list shortcut next month
Apps Microsoft Teams will remove the Copilot shortcut from its chat list next month to steer users toward the full-featured app bar.
Microsoft
Microsoft cuts 4TB from Microsoft 365 Family, sparking backlash and cancelled subscriptions
Apps Microsoft 365 Family now includes 4TB less OneDrive storage, leaving subscribers with less value despite paying the same price.
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Join Daniel and Zac on October 2 at 2PM ET for the LIVE Windows Central Podcast
LIVE Join Daniel and Zac on October 7 for the LIVE Windows Central Podcast.
Microsoft got hacked, and somehow Clippy ended up in a crypto scheme
Microsoft A Clippy-themed cryptocurrency briefly gained visibility through Microsoft's own X account after it was compromised.
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Microsoft Teams can now automatically block unwanted bots from meetings
Apps Microsoft has rolled out a Teams feature that automatically blocks identified external bots before they can enter meetings.
Peripherals & Accessories
The Razer Basilisk V4 Pro may have AI, but it's still the best gaming mouse out there
Review Razer's new Basilisk V4 Pro maintains the lines position at the top of the gaming mouse tree, but why did they have to squeeze an AI feature in there nobody asked for?
