Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central and has been with the site since 2016. His expertise is in exclusive coverage about Windows, Surface, and hardware. He's also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices, and was fortunate enough to daily drive both the fabled Lumia McLaren and Microsoft Band 3, along the Surface Mini and even Surface Neo. Keep in touch with him on Twitter and Threads!
Latest articles by Zac Bowden

Neo and now iPhone Duo — Apple keeps dipping into Microsoft’s naming bucket
By Zac Bowden Published
Apple As a Surface Duo fan, I can't believe Apple has just announced a folding phone called iPhone Duo. Are we really doing this?

Windows 11 to gain new sound settings and cross device improvements soon
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 The latest Windows 11 preview builds are now rolling out to Insiders in the Experimental and Beta channels.

Microsoft's Project Zenith aims to set a baseline for high-end developer experiences on Windows 11
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Microsoft has established a baseline for high-end developer hardware with Project Zenith, complete with a specially configured version of Windows 11 that's ready to code.

Windows 11 is getting its very own battery status widget
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 You'll soon be able to see the battery status of all your connected devices on the lock screen and Widgets Board.

NVIDIA confirms October 2026 launch window for first RTX Spark devices, coming in two configurations
By Zac Bowden Published
NVIDIA The first RTX Spark powered devices will come in two flavors, and will begin shipping in October 2026 from certain OEMs.

Microsoft to enable memory integrity protection by default on more Windows 11 devices next month
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Microsoft's kernel level security feature will be automatically enabled on eligible PCs starting next month.

Windows 11 26H2 update is now in Release Preview, and general rollout is right around the corner
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 version 26H2 is now available to test in the Windows Insider Release Preview Channel, which means general availability is imminent.

Microsoft says Windows 11 on Arm PCs is now a first-class platform for any workload
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Windows on Arm is gaining in popularity as more OEMs and silicon partners jump in to support it. Developers are also paying more attention, with over 7,000 apps now supported on Arm.

Windows 11 version 26H2: Everything you need to know
By Zac Bowden Last updated
Windows 11 Microsoft is gearing up to ship the next version of Windows 11 this fall. Here's everything you need to know about this next release.

Podcast: Windows 11 just keeps getting better
By Zac Bowden Published
Podcast On this week's episode: Daniel and Zac break down the new Windows 11 context menu upgrades, as well as recap all the improvements that have been confirmed to be coming to the OS this year.

Windows 11 just keeps getting better — Windows Central Podcast LIVE
By Zac Bowden Last updated
LIVE Join Daniel, Jez, and Zac on August 21 at 1PM ET for the LIVE Windows Central Podcast.

Windows 11 will soon let you force your apps to open in full screen
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 If you've ever hated how Windows defaults to opening app windows in windowed mode, Microsoft is working on a toggle that will allow you to change that.

Windows 11's Ask Copilot Taskbar feature is going away, for now
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Copilot's own search and chat experience for Windows 11 is being temporarily removed as the company responds to feedback and prioritizes new Copilot superapp.

Microsoft admits Windows 11's context menus are sluggish, unveils major upgrades coming soon
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Windows 11's context menus are being overhauled with more customizability and a new decluttered layout that's faster to open.

Microsoft pulls Windows 11 'Drag Tray' feature for sharing files after user feedback
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 The Drag Tray, which appeared at the top of your screen whenever you grabbed a file in File Explorer, is being removed from the latest preview builds of Windows 11.

Windows 11's context menus are getting a major glow up: Hands on!
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 We go hands-on with the new customizable context menu options coming soon to Windows 11 that make them faster and easier to use!

Windows 11's new movable Taskbar and customizable Start menu are just a few weeks away
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 The ability to move and resize the Taskbar, as well as customize the size and layout of the Start menu should begin rolling out imminently, if the latest Windows 11 preview builds are anything to go by.

Podcast: Everything we know about the leaked "Surface" phone
By Zac Bowden Published
Podcast On this week's episode: Zac and Jez sit down to discuss the newly leaked images of a mysterious Windows Phone prototype from 2013, plus the latest from Windows and Xbox.

Microsoft confirms unified Copilot app rollout has begun
By Zac Bowden Published
Copilot We knew it was coming, and now it's official: Microsoft is beginning to rollout a new Copilot app that merges Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot under one experience.

Windows 11 KB5101684 makes PCs with low RAM faster and more reliable
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Windows 11 is getting more reliability and performance upgrades with its latest update, which will benefit PCs with low amounts of system memory.

Leaked images may have finally revealed Microsoft's canceled Surface Phone from 2014
By Zac Bowden Published
Surface Images floating around online have revealed a Windows Phone prototype from late 2013 that looks awfully like a pocketable Surface of some kind.

Windows 11 license fee hikes contributing to higher laptop prices, says report
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 A new report claims Microsoft has raised the cost of the Windows license by up to 10% for certain OEMs, which is much higher than usual.

Windows 11 OneDrive Photos app was an incubation project rolled out by mistake
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 Microsoft has confirmed that it accidentally rolled out a new OneDrive Photos app for Windows 11more broadly than it intended.

Microsoft confirms that it won't be bringing a transparency slider to Windows 11 anytime soon
By Zac Bowden Published
Windows 11 A Microsoft designer has confirmed that there are no plans to being an iOS-like transparency slider to Windows 11 at current, and recommends users download Windhawk instead.
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