News archive

August 2026

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120 articles

August 21
- Microsoft is finally updating one of Windows 11’s oldest dialog boxes with a full WinUI redesign
- Microsoft has a new way to twist your arm to use Edge, this time on mobile
- Microsoft has been served a 'Grand Theft Auto 6' court subpoena by Take-Two (UPDATE)
- Xbox's "OG Green" Series X25 console might cost nearly $900, with rumors aligning the $100 premium with a Black Friday launch.
- New Windows 11 feature will make using handheld gaming devices and small tablets easier: Ability to force apps to open in full screen coming soon
August 20
- Microsoft Surface and other Windows on Arm PCs can't use Outlook or Teams right now
- The man behind PowerToys is most excited about these features that ship next week
- Forget GTA 6 gameplay leaks — I'm more interested in path-traced GTA 4 that looks shockingly close to 2026 graphics
- Oops! Qualcomm retracts key Snapdragon C benchmarks for budget laptops
- Windows 11's latest Patch Tuesday update is breaking games and turning off PCs — This temporary fix might get ARC Raiders and The Finals running again
- A build-your-own OG Xbox has Morrowind and Psychonauts secrets hidden inside its not-LEGO bricks — and it costs over $300
August 19
- Xbox Insiders are getting a wave of new Xbox Series X|S dashboard features today, here's what's new
- Is Microsoft Defender crashing on your PC? A bad update is breaking scans
- I tried GeForce NOW on Firefox as NVIDIA and Mozilla team up for 1440p at 120 FPS — Yeah, it's still the best for cloud gaming.
- Apple's leaked AirPods Ultra already have competition — Razer's Motoko is a PC gaming headset with built-in cameras, and it's no longer just a concept
- Windows 11 will soon let you block camera and mic access for any individual desktop app
August 18
- A tiny change to Windows 11's File Explorer proves Microsoft can't keep everyone happy
- The Witcher 3 will leave Xbox Game Pass this month, barely half a year after joining — as an indie-heavy wave enters instead
- The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme beats Intel's flagship Panther Lake chip by up to 87% while costing significantly less, according to a new lab report
- Microsoft disables Windows 11's new "Ask Copilot" Taskbar feature to "incorporate feedback" as it pivots to unified Copilot app
- I replaced File Explorer on my Windows 11 laptop with this app — and it's still one step ahead of Microsoft's optimization plans
- Crucial dodges SSD warranty claim, says "our inventory is depleted" — Consumers are being ignored as record profits roll in for memory and storage makers
August 17
- Microsoft admits Windows 11's context menus are "cluttered and sluggish": Announces major upgrades to the right-click menu that increases performance and customizability
- Microsoft pulls "frustrating" Drag Tray file sharing feature from Windows 11 in latest preview builds: Promises to "explore improvements" after feedback from users
- People are paying $2,599 for MSI’s latest handheld gaming PC because apparently RAM shortages, AI demand, and fiscal self-preservation are all optional now
- Is gaming discourse more negative than ever? — And if so, is it deserved? How did we get here?
- GitHub’s latest outage took Copilot down with it, creating one of the most disruptive developer breakdowns we’ve seen in months — GitHub says it is now "operating normally"
- Standalone RTX 5090s now cost at least $4,800, more than entire pre-built PCs with the same GPU inside — Who's buying anything when the market is this chaotic?
- This Microsoft Outlook replacement comes with a shot of Windows Phone nostalgia
- One of the biggest Linux distros is growing faster thanks to WSL for Windows 11 than it is its own desktop
- "Market response has far exceeded our expectations" — ASUS can't make enough laptops with RTX Spark ahead of their expected Q4 launch
- Microsoft is ditching the COPILOT function in Excel before it even launches
August 15
- I tried Windows 11's new customizable context menus, and they're a major improvement: Microsoft will let you restore Windows 10 style vertical layout for primary actions and more
- Microsoft confirms that it will begin shipping major Windows 11 Taskbar and Start menu updates very soon: Big OS update enters final preview phase before public rollout begins
August 14
- Windows 11 is finally on the brink of restoring full taskbar movement — a reversal of one of its most controversial design decisions
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has shown off its free 2.0 Update with a gameplay trailer, and it makes it feel almost like a new game, even without the upcoming DLC
- Microsoft Defender vs. VLC: Which is causing MP3s to take 30 seconds to load?
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's beta tests are stacked with an exclusive single-player campaign mission, multiplayer, and more — here are all the details
- The big Xbox exclusivity debate: SHOULD Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6 be Xbox console exclusive?
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 6 is officially available but with some bad news for AMD Radeon users
- Classic Outlook bug breaks Copilot, but some might call it an upgrade
- ChatGPT adds Windows 11's most hated feature to Mac — Will the backlash be the same this time around, or has OpenAI taken the right approach?
- Halo: Campaign Evolved is getting an update soon to turn off its worst graphical features and fix blocked mission progression
August 13
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Zombies comes to its dramatic conclusion in Season 05 Reloaded — here's when you can play
- A YouTuber just stress-tested a Snapdragon X2 laptop for 17 hours straight
- The guy who built Windows Task Manager in 1996 just remade it with a cyberpunk vibe — but there's one big issue for PC users
- OLED monitor shipments are up a massive 98% year over year — I think the real reason has less to do with the panels than most people suspect
- Microsoft begins unified Copilot app rollout: Reveals major plan to merge Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot across all platforms, along with updated branding
- Snapdragon C specs mean Qualcomm could eat Intel's lunch with budget laptops: Here's what we know (and what we still don't)
- Hogwarts Legacy is getting a sequel — Warner Bros. confirms a follow-up to the best-selling Harry Potter game that took the wizarding world by storm in 2023
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV has been delayed by two months — to polish its gameplay for the fans who have waited almost a decade
- Hands-on with AltTabby, Stardock's replacement for the Windows 11 Alt+Tab experience
August 12
- "If it was opt in ... nobody would opt-in." Twitch CPO squirms, admits everyone hates its new AI training 'feature'
- Euro Truck Simulator 2 might soon be playable on console for the first time, if you're in Tokyo
- Limited Edition Gears of War: E-Day Xbox controllers have been revealed, and they're some of the sickest-designed Xbox gamepads I've seen in ages
- New research shows Windows 11 keeps undermining basic browser choice with harmful design tactics
- Quote of the day by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang: "Moore's law is dead. It's completely over" — Will GPUs ever be affordable again?
- I checked GOG's most popular games and found shocking gaps in updates, DLC, languages, soundtracks, and more — 1,140 games are affected with 1,531 issues
- Mozilla Firefox and Brave keep uBlock Origin alive while Chrome and Edge block the adblocker
- A severe ASUS Armoury Crate vulnerability affects laptops, handhelds, and desktop PCs — Here's how to check if you're in the clear
- Microsoft says Windows 11 KB5101684 makes your PC more reliable, especially on devices with low amounts of system memory: PCs with 8GB RAM or less should feel more responsive
- Images of what looks like a prototype Xbox Elite Series 3 controller seemingly leaked on Reddit — before being rapidly removed
August 11
- Atlus is interested in remaking the PlayStation One-era Persona games, something that, after waiting for many years, I hope finally happens on Xbox and PC
- Microsoft Edge’s new sign-in option is a quiet admission of defeat on mobile
- Xbox cut thousands of jobs, but a bigger threat to game development may be happening lower down the ladder — Turkey's AI dilemma is a perfect example
- Microsoft PowerToys will soon take full advantage of the same AI that powers Copilot+ PCs
- The Razer Naga V3 Pro, the long-awaited successor to one of our favorite gaming mice, is out now — here's the price and where to find one
- Reddit helped me find not one, but two AirDrop alternatives for Windows 11
- My biggest Steam Deck regret was losing native PC Game Pass, but an open-source project called Xodus might finally undo that mistake
- Xbox has finally started recognizing your account activity and clears the need for age verification
- Is this Microsoft’s canceled Surface Phone from 2014? Mysterious Windows Phone prototype appears in new photos
August 10
- Amid RAM price hikes, Microsoft reportedly raises Windows license cost, forcing OEMs to hike prices even further on hardware
- Xbox CTO shares an explanation of Xbox Live's recent down time, in a refreshing display of transparency
- Microsoft isn't scrapping its unwanted OneDrive Photos app; it's just giving you a way to get rid of it
- Notchify brings macOS-style “Dynamic Island” flair to Windows 11 — and it’s surprisingly useful if you can get by the ick factor
- Windows 11 is pulling picture passwords and pushing people to PINs, passwords, and biometrics
- As Australia forces Xbox to make you reveal your age, it's also gone back to banning games again
- We now know exactly when uBlock Origin will stop working on Microsoft Edge
- “‘We’re fixing that," Microsoft admits error that caused new OneDrive Photos app to appear on millions of Windows 11 PCs
- Valve's shipping partner leaks shipping data in a cyberattack — including the names, addresses, and phone numbers of Steam Machine and Steam Controller buyers
- Microsoft confirms that it won't be bringing a transparency slider to Windows 11 anytime soon: Says developers have the freedom to build their own tools to allow this
August 9
- Blizzard is now the "top performing" Xbox studio, says internal emails — as the Overwatch-maker ends FY26 over-delivering on Microsoft's projections
August 7
- CEO of company that printed money with GTA 6 digital pre-orders shockingly supports ending physical game discs
- A new survey shows the scale of Xbox's fall vs. PlayStation and Nintendo in the U.S. — and the scale of the opportunity
- Linux users finally get a real Copilot app, and Microsoft didn't even make it
- Lucky PC builder beats the graphics card price rises and snags an NVIDIA RTX for just $5 and leaves the rest of us jealous as hell
August 6
- You've only got 9 days left to play this criminally underrated Xbox Game Pass title in time for its sequel
- Xbox customer support looks bad once again, this time over a Forza Horizon 6 issue that came from a Steam Deck
- Microsoft is updating even more parts of the Windows 11 UI with modern designs: Here's what's next on the list of overhauls
- Here's a quick look (and listen) at Xbox's new voice clip recording feature, available to insiders
- Minecraft's long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade is now official — here's what's new and when you can get it
- Netflix will be showing us more about GTA 6 real soon, and no, that's not a joke
- Microsoft filings suggest "around 70%" of its AI revenue is concentrated entirely on OpenAI — which seems rather unhealthy
August 5
- Halo Studios is the latest Xbox Games Studio to be hit by layoffs just days after Campaign Evolved launch, as reports reveal "troubled" development
- Xbox will finally let you record party chat in gameplay clips, and more
- Confirmed: Xbox 'Platinum' completion achievements are coming "later this year"
- A Lenovo Legion Go BIOS update is bricking handhelds, and out-of-warranty repairs aren't cheap
- This cult indie action-RPG series has always intrigued me, and now that the first game is free on Steam while the sequel is leaving early access, it's time I give it a shot
- I can't wait to use this new Outlook feature to rearrange my schedule
- I tested 5 major changes and improvements coming to Windows 11 this year: Microsoft is clearly serious about fixing Windows, and it's doing things right this time
- "It's a pretty cool part of the Xbox ecosystem," Larian explains why 'Baldur's Gate 3' hits Play Anywhere — as the service grows faster than ever
August 4
- Windows Insiders have one week to update their PCs, or else
- Popular simulator game has reached the end of the line for Xbox One — here's what it means for you
- Gears of War: E-Day's multiplayer beta test leads (or perhaps overshadows) the first wave of Xbox Game Pass for August 2026
- Microsoft pays security researchers $20M following AI-backed surge in bug reports
- This eGPU hack proved Snapdragon laptops can game with an RTX GPU, but developers need to catch up
- DOOM runs inside Paint on Windows, built by a Microsoft executive: "The spreadsheet-tier framerate is part of the charm."
- Apple confirmed iPhone-to-Windows clipboard sync is coming, but only because the EU forced its hand
- Gears of War: E-Day's Xbox and PC multiplayer beta tests are starting soon: Here's how to enter, what content to expect, and what rewards they'll offer
August 3
- Microsoft Teams just added an app to help you skip meetings
- Xbox Play Anywhere secures its biggest win yet with Baldur's Gate 3, and it being 30% off is just icing on the cake
- "It's not great news": Halo: Campaign Evolved on the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme shows how far Windows on Arm gaming still has to go
- "Control Panel gets tricky" Microsoft CVP explains why killing Windows legacy code takes so long, and how it's evolving its tools to make modernizing apps like File Explorer and Registry Editor faster
- Microsoft CVP on optimizing Windows 11 for 8GB RAM: "We're relentless at reducing the memory footprint", breaks down how Microsoft is minimizing performance bloat across the OS
- Microsoft celebrates Xbox's 25th anniversary by revealing Xbox profile designs, Xbox FanFest Tour dates, and curated classic titles for Xbox Game Pass
- Halo: Campaign Evolved was made to be played with the most legendary Xbox controller of them all
- Microsoft is testing deeper Phone Link integration in Windows 11, but does anyone actually use it?
- No, Xbox isn't quitting Steam — but it IS doubling down on PC gaming. Here's how.
August 2
- Microsoft's most-underrated gaming feature is steadily gaining traction, but big gaps remain — Xbox Play Anywhere report card
August 1
- Halo Campaign Evolved performed well on Xbox, but PS5 gamers give it a collective shrug — just 1% of PS5 gamers tried it, hurting Xbox's brand identity for no real return