Windows Central Insider
Oh boy, Xbox's chief strategist is floating the idea of in-game ads
Xbox Xbox's chief strategist is considering in-game ads that might help "keep our products affordable" and "fund outstanding work from our development teams."
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Features
Why I'm getting a flight stick for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 even as a beginner
Gaming I've just got into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and it's already clear how much value even a budget flight stick is to the experience. Here's what I'm getting and why.
Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader's 3rd DLC makes Heretics even more fun
Review Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader's Infinite Museion DLC is here, and it's yet another fantastic adventure with awesome cybernetic augmentation mechanics that make playing a Heretic more fun.
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.
Hands-on with the new Intel Arc G3 Extreme gaming handhelds
PC Gaming I had a chance to test out new gaming handhelds featuring Intel's latest Arc G3 Extreme chips. Here's what I learned (and why these chips are the new standard for mobile gaming).
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.
The 2016 Android‑apps warning that now echoes Googlebooks
Flashback A 2016 warning about Android apps on Chrome feels newly relevant as Googlebooks pushes Android PCs into the agentic era and challenges Microsoft again.
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Microsoft launched a Bing “concierge bot” 10 years ago — the same idea Google is now pushing
Flashback From our archives: A decade ago Microsoft was already testing a Bing “concierge bot,” an early take on the AI agents Google is only now announcing.
Windows & Software
Microsoft fixed the biggest causes of slowdowns and freezes in Teams this year
Apps Teams now loads chats faster, hangs less often, and returns people search results more quickly thanks to fixes Microsoft shipped this year.
PowerToys makes Command Palette extensions easier to install
Apps A new Extension Gallery in PowerToys streamlines how you find, install, and update Command Palette extensions.
Dell and HP users battle reboot loops, and Windows is innocent
WINDOWS 11 Dell and HP PCs were stuck in reboot purgatory after faulty updates. Here's what caused the issue and what the companies are doing to get around it.
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PC Hardware
What would a price hike at TSMC look like for the rest of tech?
Hardware TSMC makes 70% to 90% of the world's chips. You do the math.
The Surface Laptop needs to adopt these 3 Surface Laptop Ultra features
Surface The Surface Laptop Ultra shows what Microsoft can achieve at the high end, and several of its features could make the standard Surface Laptop a stronger option for everyday users.
Hands-on with the new Intel Arc G3 Extreme gaming handhelds
PC Gaming I had a chance to test out new gaming handhelds featuring Intel's latest Arc G3 Extreme chips. Here's what I learned (and why these chips are the new standard for mobile gaming).
Acer Swift Air 14 is another genuinely good alternative to the MacBook Neo
Acer Acer’s new affordable clamshell laptop is beautiful and high-quality in most of the areas that count, all for $699.
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Deals
Dell's brilliant XPS 14 laptop with 16GB of RAM drops by $800
Deals This deal drops the Dell XPS 14 to $1,749.99 and gets you a 3.2K OLED touch display, an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.
This bargain NAS is perfect for backups and home media servers
Deals UGREEN hosts a 15% discount on its NASync DH2300, a NAS enclosure that's easy to use for beginners while boasting up to 64TB of compatible storage, 4GB of RAM, and 125MB/s transfer speeds.
One of the best mini PCs we tested drops its price before Amazon Prime Day
Deals Geekom's A6 is a near-perfect, mid-range mini PC with an early price drop, thanks to a 20% promo code.
Handheld Gaming PCs
AI costs are killing the Lenovo Legion Go 2 and portable gaming at large
Handhelds Lenovo's Legion Go 2 handheld exceeds $2,000 at some retailers, and remains far above its MSRP at others. The once-lauded device is becoming unattainable.
Gaming
Why I'm getting a flight stick for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 even as a beginner
Gaming I've just got into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and it's already clear how much value even a budget flight stick is to the experience. Here's what I'm getting and why.
Xbox CSO says memory shortages will impact Project Helix, but Microsoft will adapt
Xbox Microsoft's Xbox CSO Matthew Ball says it's doing everything it can to adapt to the impact of the RAM crisis as it develops the Project Helix console.
Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader's 3rd DLC makes Heretics even more fun
Review Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader's Infinite Museion DLC is here, and it's yet another fantastic adventure with awesome cybernetic augmentation mechanics that make playing a Heretic more fun.
Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft exec clarifies that AI won't replace your job, just automate it
AI Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman's statement about AI's impact on white-collar jobs was misconstrued. He said the technology will automate mundane tasks, not wipe out the jobs entirely.
Satya Nadella says AI agents should be treated like human employees
AI Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wants AI agents to be treated like staff, raising questions about the future of work.
Satya Nadella isn’t having the ‘AI addiction’ accusations
AI Satya Nadella denies claims Microsoft wants to make people addicted to AI as the company pivots from traditional software to AI agents.
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Mystery firm mistakenly blew $500 million on Claude AI in a month
AI Microsoft data shows AI costs surpass payroll, with a $500 million Claude fiasco proving how expensive automation can get.
Microsoft
Windows 11’s June update closes an intentional BitLocker backdoor with full file access
MICROSOFT Windows 11’s BitLocker flaw, described as an intentional backdoor, has been patched by Microsoft in the June update.
LibreOffice accuses Euro-Office of being a freeware Microsoft Office clone
Office LibreOffice calls Euro-Office a freeware clone of Microsoft Office, questioning its open-source claims and sovereignty credentials.
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Microsoft might have solved AI's water problem
MICROSOFT Satya Nadella claims Microsoft’s AI centers now consume as little water as a restaurant thanks to new cooling technology.
Office 2019 for Mac hits July 13 cutoff and users are not happy
OFFICE Office 2019 for Mac will stop editing documents after July 13, as Microsoft blames certificate expiry.
Project Solara is Microsoft's latest attempt at setting the narrative for the next era of computing
Artificial Intelligence After Windows Phone, Microsoft is eager to get ahead of the next paradigm shift in computing, and it's betting big on an agentic hardware and software future.
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Peripherals & Accessories
Best gaming keyboards 2026
Keyboards Windows Central tests and reviews the latest and greatest gaming keyboards to help you make the best possible decision for your gaming setup.
