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In summary:
Microsoft officially ended telephone activation for Windows on December 3, 2025, requiring users to activate through an online portal instead.
PCWorld notes discrepancies between Microsoft’s actions and some support documentation that still references the discontinued telephone method.
The new digital workflow requires an internet connection and…
RAM and storage are expensive now. You know that. They’ve been going crazy for months, and though some data points indicate that the prices may have peaked, others show just the opposite. But the woes are spreading beyond computers, game consoles, phones, and any other…
Google literally built its business around search. Gmail became popular because you could quickly find and resurface old emails. But I’ve tried Google’s new Google app for Windows… and I’m not convinced.
Google’s new freely downloadable Google app for desktop…
Is 8GB of VRAM enough for modern PC gaming? That’s the question a lot of people have been asking lately as prices for graphics cards climb higher, and doubly so since the Steam Machine was announced with a custom AMD GPU with “just” 8GB. A Valve engineer seems to have been working on the problem, and a new kernel patch for AMD graphics cards could deliver greater performance on Linux.
The…
One of Windows 10’s strengths was that it felt like a collaboration between users and Microsoft developers, especially in its early going. Now, Microsoft is bringing Windows 11 users back into the fold, mostly.
Windows 11 has had a problem: Testing Windows beta builds via…
Intel’s next-generation desktop CPU, Nova Lake, has leaked — and boy, does it look like a workhorse, including what (fingers crossed!) looks like the debut of Thunderbolt 5 on the desktop.
Within the last few days, both WCCFtech as well as VideoCardz appear to have…
Earlier this week, when AMD revealed its price for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, I waded into a few comment sections. I expected to see a lot of scoffing (at minimum) about the $899 MSRP for this soon-to-be released halo chip—the first dual 3D V-Cache processor the company has produced.
The internet didn’t disappoint. One of the first comments I saw on Reddit: “AMD is out of their minds with that…
GPU running hot? How to diagnose and fix it yourself
April 13, 2026
If the frame rate suddenly drops, the PC gets very noisy or games crash unexpectedly, an overheating graphics card is often to blame. The good news is that you can identify and fix many of the causes yourself. If you take a systematic approach, you can usually improve…
RAM prices are soaring. Framework may not survive it
April 13, 2026
If you want an ongoing tally of how bad the “AI” bubble is for consumers, all you need to do is look at RAM prices. Laptops, game consoles, and cell phones are going up, too, but seeing a RAM DIMM that’s 500 percent more expensive than a year ago is a real shock to the…
Guys, I’ve done it. I’ve drunk the kool aid and joined the pantheon of super gamers that will tell you without doubt, that if you aren’t gaming on an OLED monitor, you’re missing out. That’s what I wish I’d been able to tell myself earlier, at least. This upgrade was a long time coming, but finally, after eight years with my previous main monitor, I bought an Alienware AW3225QF and…
