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Like you, I see those flashy headlines and articles every day trying to convince Windows users to switch to Linux—how it’s supposedly better in every possible way, how you can use all your favorite apps, and so on. But honestly, most of that is just talk. It sounds great on paper, but it doesn’t match up with reality. Still, I guess those kinds of articles do their job pretty well.Here, though, I want to take a slightly different approach. Right from the start, let me be clear: I’m not here to persuade anyone to jump on the Linux bandwagon. Instead,...

Take this with a grain of salt, but users have reported another privacy transgression by Microsoft. According to the report by users from the Resetera forum and elsewhere, Copilot Gaming, an AI specially for gaming-related AI tasks, is taking screen captures of your gameplay for training. While that would be fine if the user knew about it and enabled it willingly, it appears to be turned on automatically and without informing users about the data collecting and use of the data. According to the user who noticed it first by monitoring network traffic, the AI is using OCR technology to...

As many of us have seen, Windows 11 is introducing AI into PCs programmed with that O/S. Granted, there are methods of removing it. Installing W11 with Rufus software is a common way of doing it. Using Flyoobe is another option. There is also software out there to remove unwanted components once W11 is installed. Regardless, I, and I'm sure many others, are trying to find ways of running Windows software on a Linux system. I've run across a few software packages in Linux that try to accomplish this. Bottles, Wine, Winapps and PlayonLinux are just a few things I've...

I own four computers. Two desktops. One laptop. One Microsoft notebook. Three have Win 11. One has 10. Lately, on a desktop w/11, frequently, when I'm searching google for data, when I type in the phrase or business or topic, I'll get a captcha test. It's becoming more frequent. I always clear my cache, run ccleaner, clear history, etc. It's still happening. And none of my other computers are doing it. When it happens, it starts with the "I'm not a robot" box which I check. Directly underneath it has some computer lingo with the word "google" in it. And...

ZDNET's key takeawaysWindows 10 support has ended, making Linux a possible alternative.It's a good time to consider switching from Windows to Linux.Switching to Linux can extend your computer's life and performance.I can still remember when I decided to install Linux on my very first computer (a Pentium 75). I'd been using Windows 95 and found myself more frustrated than not. I was experiencing constant blue screens of death, couldn't make the OS behave how I wanted, the software was expensive, and I hated the way it looked.So, I installed Linux over Windows, and the rest is history. I've been using...

I don't do anything hinky or illegal on my PC. But is CCleaner good for cleaning up cache? At the moment, I use the "delete history" feature on my browser and the "delete history" feature on "Internet Options." Does CCleaner do anything else?

Winboat is a tool that now easily let's you run your Windows programs underneath Linux in a way that makes it almost seamless. How do you do this? Let's find out!

Want to play Windows games on your Linux system but not sure where to begin? Heard that some Linux distros are better optimized for gaming but don’t know which ones to pick? Don’t worry, here’s a guide to the five best Linux distros that make running Windows games smooth and hassle-free.The good news is that gaming on Linux has improved dramatically in recent years. Besides the many native Linux titles already available, you can also play a huge selection of Windows-only games using compatibility tools like Proton (built into Steam) and Wine. In fact, nearly 80% of the most popular...

Next month sees Windows 10 finally reaching the end of (mainstream) support. Microsoft has been pushing people towards Windows 11 for what feels like forever, and it worked – for a while. The latest market figures show that this is changing. The statistics for August 2025 from statcounter Global Stats show a marked drop in Windows 11’s share of the desktop market. Rewinding a little bit through time, June 2025 was a significant month because it marked the point at which Windows 11 finally caught up (well, very nearly) with Windows 10. Windows 11 managed to reach a market share...

Mini-PCs are space-saving, quiet, versatile and often cheaper than a classic desktop PC. We discuss the advantages and what you should look out for when buying in this guide. Mini-PCs have been experiencing a real boom in recent years. No wonder, because these small desktop computers are powerful, space-saving, and flexible. This guide shows what a mini-PC actually is, where its strengths lie, and who can benefit the most from buying one. Also, be sure to check out the PCWorld deals page where we highlight the best deals from around the web on mini-PCs, like the latest stellar deal on...

Oh, boy. My Dell Win 10 Pro desktop suffered a MS Update last night, and won't reboot. None of the Dell repair / restore options have worked so far: I'm holding off on a complete "recovery" which would involve repartitioning the boot SSD & losing all the data on it, then reinstalling the OS, etc. Luckily, all my documents, images, etc., are saved to another HD, but, I would lose the programs on the boot drive and have to reinstall them, which means losing lots of settings and so on. So far as I can tell, I may be able...

They use AI more but also check it moreFor those who thought AI vibe coding was just for the youngsters, newly published research shows that developers with over 10 years of experience are more than twice as likely to do it. According to a July survey of 791 US developers from cloud services platform Fastly, around a third of senior developers with more than a decade of experience are using AI code-generation tools such as Copilot, Claude, and Gemini to produce over half of their finished software, compared to 13 percent for those devs who've only been on the...

WinRAR has been such a steadfast part of the Windows experience that its payment model—politely nagging users to buy a license—has become a meme. But after more than 20 years, I've finally found an alternative. What's Wrong with WinRAR? WinRAR is packed with great features, and in the decades I've been using it, I could count on one hand the number of times I've encountered a bug. Unfortunately, it has two things working against it for me. WinRAR's User Interface Is Stuck in the Past To WinRAR's credit, it fully integrates with Windows 11's new(ish) right-click context menu, which is...

Microsoft warns patched systems remain vulnerable as attackers find new ways to infiltrate SharePoint servers. Microsoft has issued a critical warning about Chinese state-backed hackers exploiting security flaws in its SharePoint software. These vulnerabilities have been used to compromise a growing list of government agencies and private organizations worldwide, including the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). In a detailed blog post, Microsoft identified three hacking groups with ties to China. The groups, known as Linen Typhoon, Violet Typhoon, and Storm-2603, are believed to have taken advantage of SharePoint weaknesses that mainly affect customers who operate the software on their...

Choose wisely. Your PC could end up vulnerable to online threats otherwise. This fall, Windows 10 will reach its end of life—at least, as defined by Microsoft. On October 14, the company ends feature updates to the operating system. Security and stability updates also become restricted—a potential liability, depending on the choices you make now. To help users successfully navigate Windows 10’s extinction event, Adam Patrick Murray sat down with ethical hacker Mike Danseglio to talk options. The goal: To find the best option for your PC to stay current with security updates and patches, no matter the age of...

Note: This article is for those who are familiar with Windows Network configuration, Sharing Public Folders and Troubleshooting. Jumbo Frames can increase the throughput on a Gigabit or higher speed LAN port significantly. It requires a separate network and that all devices on that network use the same Jumbo Frame size. On Windows 11, a Jumbo Frame test bed network can easily AND CHEAPLY be setup with Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) services. For brevity, we will assume you have 2 brand new systems with Windows 11 freshly installed, updated with good drivers. Each with a 2.5Gz Ethernet Port and...

No Copilot, no ads, no bloat, no AI — and seven extra years of official support. It sounds too good to be true, but there's a reason most haven't heard of it. Microsoft won't advertise it, and you're highly unlikely to stumble across it by accident, but there's a version of Windows 10 that drops the ads, the AI, and will be officially supported for years to come — long after most are forced to upgrade to Windows 11. For those unaware, Windows 10 is due to be retired by Microsoft on October 14, 2025. Beyond this date, the operating...

Microsoft is saying hello to the Black Screen of Death error message instead.The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) has held strong in Windows for nearly 40 years, but that’s about to change. Microsoft revealed earlier this year that it was overhauling its BSOD error message in Windows 11, and the company has now confirmed that it will soon be known as the Black Screen of Death. The new design drops the traditional blue color, frowning face, and QR code in favor of a simplified black screen.The simplified BSOD looks a lot more like the black screen you’d see during a...

Why does Bahnschrift SemiBold Condensed font look great (quite condensed but highly legible) in Word 2000, but does not look as "Condensed" in a Libre Office Spreadsheet?

Windows are a major source of energy loss in buildings, a sector that accounts for nearly 40 percent of global energy use, as heat entering through glass surfaces significantly reduces heating and cooling efficiency. A research team at KAIST has developed a pedestrian-friendly smart window technology. The smart window not only significantly reduces heating and cooling energy consumption in urban buildings, but also addresses the long-standing problem of light pollution in densely populated areas.