No operating system is without its merits, and that includes Windows 11, even as much as I complain about Microsoft’s latest operating system. Its handful of useful features continues to grow as time goes on, with more and more being rolled out every year. get win11 pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro But with helpful utilities and settings trickling out slowly, it’s easy to miss a few here and there, especially when the flashier features hog the news headlines. We’ve pulled out 10 features that we don’t think get enough love—if you’ve heard of them and haven’t tried them yet, now’s the time. Further reading: The Windows 11 survival guide for Windows 10 refugees Notepad tabs You no longer need to keep multiple Notepad windows open on the Taskbar.PCWorld Notepad actually predates Windows, but it’s still fully relevant (and useful!) today. The streamlined app lets you open a window to make quick notes. And in Windows 11, you can now manage and navigate between open files in a single window, thanks to the addition of tabs. It’s far tidier than opening a new instance of Notepad for each file—and combined with the new dark mode, it makes the app look and feel modern. Widgets Widgets for Facebook, Spotify, and PC performance monitoring could be coming soon.PCWorld Windows 11 makes a wealth of info available with just one mouse click (or quick tap of Win + W). Right now you can get weather, stock prices, sports updates, and entertainment news, and those cards are slowly being joined by new additions, like for Xbox Game Pass. It’s a much easier way to stay up to date than fully shifting to a browser and poking around in your tabs. Screen recording Click the video icon, then New to start recording a portion of your screen.PCWorld Previous versions of Windows had a Snipping Tool app, but you could only take screenshots. In Windows 11, screen recording finally gets added—and unlike Windows’ Xbox Game Bar’s recording feature, you can use it to capture specific parts of your screen. If you serve as informal tech support for family and friends, this feature can make your life a lot easier when explaining how to tinker with an app or in Windows. (Note: You’ll have to open the full Snipping Tool app for screen recording—it doesn’t appear in the Win + Shift + S keyboard shortcut overlay.) Quick Assist If you need help, you’ll first generate a code to share with the person doing the troubleshooting.PCWorld If your loved ones can manage unfamiliar but basic interactions with a PC, a Windows Pro license isn’t necessary to provide them remote support. You can have them fire up Quick Assist instead. (Remember this app from Windows 10? It’s still around in Windows 11.) Once in the program, they’ll log in to their Microsoft account, and then generate a six-digit code to send to you. You’ll input that code into Quick Assist on your PC, at which point you can then see what’s happening on their end, and even request full control of their PC. Clock info This tiny tweak adds more precision to your clock readout.PCWorld If you’ve needed more precision in your clock readout on the Windows 11 taskbar, you’re in luck. You can now add seconds to the display—but you’ll have to head to taskbar settings to flip it on, rather than your date and time settings. Under Taskbar behaviors, scroll to the bottom of the list and check the box for Show seconds in system tray clock. File Explorer tabs Now if Microsoft would just add a Ctrl + Shift + T keyboard shortcut to quickly bring back closed tabs.PCWorld Microsoft didn’t just add tabs to Notepad. File Explorer got the upgrade, too. You no longer need third-party software to enable the feature (like Stardock’s excellent Groupy). All your numerous Explorer windows can now be grouped as tabs in a single container. Just click the “+” button in the top-most menu bar (or hit Ctrl + T on your keyboard)—each new tab will appear along the top of the window, just like a web browser. Fast Snap Bar access We love Snap, and having fast access to the default layouts makes it even easier to get the right arrangement for your open windows.PCWorld Snap is one of our favorite features in Windows—being able to automatically resize and align windows saves time and makes working a lot easier. And not only do you get more layouts to choose from in Windows 11, but you can access them faster, too. Just hover your mouse over the maximize button in the upper right-hand corner of any window. A small pop-up menu will appear showing six different template options. Roll your cursor over any of the grids, and your current window will get sent to that position. Keyboard users can instead tap Win + Z, then the number of the layout they want. Further reading: 12 handy Windows shortcuts you probably don’t know Power savings Microsoft’s Energy Recommendations can help reduce your power bill.PCWorld Energy costs keep climbing—and in some parts of the world, they’re still at record prices. While you can of course switch your power plan in Windows to something lighter, Windows 11 has a few specific settings you can turn on to reduce idle power consumption. (After all, why pay for the higher electricity use when you’re not active on the PC?) You’ll find these under Settings > System > Power & battery > Energy recommendations. You can then turn on one or more of the suggestions. These more stringent settings will help extend battery life on laptops, too. Virtual desktops You can set different backgrounds for each of your virtual desktops to tell them apart.PCWorld This feature might be one of the most underrated in Windows. Virtual desktops, which first launched in Windows 10, let you spread your active apps and windows among different home screens—it reduces clutter and makes your primary desktop less overwhelming. Some people use their virtual desktops to separate out work from play (or research from daily tasks), while others separate programs by category or function. Navigating between your desktops is as fast as clicking on the Virtual Desktop taskbar icon or tapping Win + Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow. Clipchamp Clipchamp’s video editing capabilities amply cover the basics.PCWorld Davinci Resolve is great if you need deep video editing capabilities, but Microsoft has an alternative free option that’s easier to jump into. Clipchamp can handle quick cuts, fades, and media insertions with ease, and the interface is far less intimidating. It also handles direct uploads to services like YouTube and TikTok, as well as cloud saves for OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Combine this program with the built-in recording features in Windows (i.e., Xbox Game Bar or Snipping Tool) and you can be on your way to internet fame quickly. get windows 11 pro for cheap in pcworld`s software store Windows 11 Pro Read...

TL;DR: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows is just $19.97 (MSRP $229) through October 19 only — one payment, no subscription fees, all the essential apps you already use every day. Why rent MS Office every month when you can just own it? For $19.97, you can score a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows. That gets you Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and OneNote, forever, no ongoing subscription fees required. This is one of Microsoft’s most widely used Office versions for good reason. It’s stable, streamlined, and packed with the features that everyday users, business owners, freelancers, and spreadsheet wizards rely on. Whether you’re managing invoices, writing your next pitch deck, editing a résumé, or organizing your inbox like a boss, Office 2019 is built to make your life easier. Once installed on your Windows PC, it’s good to go with—no recurring costs, no cloud dependency (thank goodness), and no fuss. Plus, this version’s got some sweet upgrades: better inking across apps, more data analysis in Excel, improved email handling in Outlook, and sleek new transitions in PowerPoint. Don’t miss getting lifetime access to Microsoft Office 2019 while it’s just $19.97 (MSRP $229) until October 19 at 11:59 p.m. PT. No coupon is needed. Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for WindowsSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

Oracle expands Oracle Database@AWS with AI-powered features and a new partner programme, broadening enterprise access through AWS channels globally. Read...

Salesforce and OpenAI expand their partnership, integrating AI and commerce features into ChatGPT to enhance enterprise workflows and customer interactions. Read...

You’ve installed a camera to keep an eye on your front door. One afternoon a package goes missing, so you check the footage. Sure enough, someone walks up, grabs the box, and disappears. But as you scrub through the video, something else jumps out—a private moment in your neighbor’s yard. Through a narrow gap in the fence, your camera has captured them having a heated argument. Or maybe something more personal. In one 30-second clip, you’ve caught someone breaking the law–but you might also have broken one yourself. Smart cameras are everywhere now—mounted on porches, tucked under eaves, perched on fences, and watching over driveways, garages, and balconies. They’re cheaper, easier to install, and produce sharper video than ever. But with that convenience comes a degree of legal uncertainty. Can you record anything your camera sees? What about what it hears? Can a neighbor make you take it down? And what if you rent instead of own? We’ll break down what the law actually says about surveillance at home—what’s legally allowable, where things get complicated, and how to protect your home without accidentally violating someone else’s privacy. Courts often decide camera cases based on whether someone had a “reasonable expectation of privacy.”Reolink Video vs. audio: Same camera, very different laws Your security camera might look like a single device, but the law treats it as two. One set of rules for video, another for audio. And the difference can get you into trouble if you’re not familiar with both. There’s no single federal law that spells out where you can and can’t point a security camera. Instead, video recording is governed by a mix of state voyeurism statutes and civil privacy claims such as intrusion upon seclusion. The key principle courts use when deciding if surveillance crossed a legal line is the “reasonable expectation of privacy.” If someone can be seen from the street—in your driveway, porch, or front yard—you’re usually fine recording it. But if your camera peers through a window into a bedroom, bathroom, or anywhere else in the interior of a neighboring home–or even into its fenced-off yard–that’s where the law says people have a right to privacy. Courts have allowed claims in these situations, and state laws–like this one in California–are often written to enable such claims. Audio is much more clear-cut because it’s covered by federal and state wiretap laws. At the federal level, the Wiretap Act (18 U.S.C. § 2511) bans secretly intercepting conversations but follows a one-party consent rule: if you’re part of the conversation, or one particpant agrees, it’s legal. In some states, a doorbell camera can break the law simply by recording conversations on the porch.Reolink Eleven states—including California, Florida, and Massachusetts—go further with all-party consent laws. In those places, recording without every participant’s knowledge is illegal. That means your doorbell camera could be breaking the law just by picking up porch chatter. What about neighbors and shared spaces? Just because your camera can see into your neighbor’s yard doesn’t mean you’re breaking the law. Again, if the area is plainly visible from your porch, deck, or upstairs window, it’s generally fair game to capture it incidentally. The key word there is incidentally. The trouble starts when cameras are purposely aimed at private spaces, like a backyard hot tub, a bedroom window, or a fenced-in patio. If it looks like you’re using a security camera to monitor someone else’s life, not your own property, you could face legal pushback. Shared spaces get even murkier. If you and your neighbor use the same driveway, walkway, or fence line, recording those areas could land you in a gray area. Technically, it might be legal, but it depends on local laws and on whether your camera becomes a source of tension. In some cities and states, nuisance or harassment laws can apply even when surveillance is otherwise allowed. So, if a neighbor raises concerns, don’t brush them off. You might be within your rights, but it’s often easier to shift a camera angle than start a feud. Recording what’s visible from the street—like your driveway, porch, or front yard—is usually legal.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Apartments and multi-unit dwellings Things get trickiest when you don’t control the entire property. In apartments, condos, or duplexes, shared spaces come with shared rules and you can’t just stick up a camera wherever you want. Generally, you can’t install personal security cameras in common indoor areas like hallways, laundry rooms, or lobbies without permission from the landlord or homeowners’ association. Even doorbell cams can be a problem if they capture too much shared space or record audio. If you’re a renter, check your lease. Some spell out what kind of equipment is allowed, if any. Others ban cameras altogether in shared zones, especially if audio is involved. That said, landlords and HOAs can legally monitor common areas if they give proper notice. Posted signs that say something like “This area is under video and audio surveillance” typically reduce legal risk and might satisfy notice requirements in many states. Tips for legal, respectful surveillance If you’re going to use security cameras, use them smartly. Most of the legal trouble people get into isn’t because they intended to break the law, it’s because they didn’t give enough thought to where they were putting the camera. These quick dos and don’ts will help you stay on the right side of the law and your neighbors. Do: Keep cameras visible. Hidden cameras feel sneaky and can raise legal red flags, especially indoors. Post a sign. Some camera manufacturers like Ring offer branded signage, but if yours doesn’t, you can buy generic “Audio and Video Recording in Use” signs online or at hardware stores. A simple notice can defuse tension and in some states, help with legal compliance. Point your cameras where they belong. Stick to your own entryways, driveway, and yard. Avoid anything that could be considered a private space. Know your state’s audio laws. If you live in an all-party consent state, disable audio recording unless you have clear permission. Use your camera’s privacy features to block your neighbors doors and windows. Consider showing your neighbor the view from your camera if their property is in its field of view. Point out the privacy screens you’ve put in place. Remind a neighbor who objects to your camera because their property is in its field of view that the camera could capture an intruder lurking around their home as well yours. Don’t: Spy on your neighbors. Even if you think it’s harmless, courts might not agree. Share clips of other people without consent. This is particularly true for recordings that capture private conversations. Install cameras in shared spaces without written permission. For renters, that includes common areas such as hallways. Lock it down Use strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and keep your camera firmware up to date. A hacked camera doesn’t just compromise your security, it could end up leaking footage that gets you sued. The surveillance age needs boundaries Smart cameras are now as much a part of home security as locks and porch lights. But having the ability to record everything doesn’t mean you should. The line between safety and snooping usually comes down to common sense: Why are you recording? Where is the camera pointed? Do people know it’s there? When you’re not sure where the boundary is, here’s a simple gut check: Would I be okay being recorded in this exact situation? If you’re not, then the person on the other side of the lens probably isn’t either. Read...

Today, October 14th, officially marks the end of full support for Windows 10, a whopping decade after Microsoft debuted the operating system. You’re probably aware of this already, as Microsoft has been begging, pleading, cajoling, and not-quite-demanding that Windows 10 users switch over to Windows 11 by upgrading to a new device or updating their operating system (if their hardware supports it). But if you haven’t done anything about it yet, you probably should. Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know and what to do about it. Your options for Windows 10 You don’t have to leave Windows 10 if you don’t want to. Hundreds of millions of PCs (about half of them, in fact) won’t stop working today just because of a specific date on the calendar. This is not a Y2K situation. Even Microsoft itself has backtracked on the ultimatum, offering regular users “free” ways to extend security support for another year, albeit with some distasteful strings attached. (Many countries in Europe have strong-armed Microsoft into that extra year of security support for users with no need to jump through hoops. A cynical observer might ask why Microsoft can afford to give extended support without strings to residents of countries with more robust regulatory infrastructures but not to everyone else on the planet. Hey Microsoft, why can you afford to give extended support… yadda yadda?) Over the past few months, PCWorld has been covering the transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11, your options for upgrading or staying, or even moving to another platform entirely. This series of articles covers everything you need to know: Here are all your options for keeping your current laptop or desktop PC, including Linux. How to keep using Windows 10 and keep getting security updates. How to download a backup of Windows 10 installation media (ISO). How to update or upgrade to Windows 11. Here’s how to get a Windows 11 license for cheap, or possibly free. Here are things that Windows 11 does better than Windows 10. Here’s how to get started using Windows 11’s new features. Here are easy tweaks that can boost Windows 11’s performance. Why now? Why Windows 11? No piece of software lasts forever. Indeed, the preceding operating system Windows 8 was supported from 2012 to 2023, by at least some measures, so a 10-year stretch is not unprecedented. Meanwhile, Windows 11 has been available since 2021. But I think there are several reasons why Microsoft is seeing such a strong pushback this time around. One, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Windows 10 that really necessitates an upgrade for most users. Windows 11’s initial teething troubles are done, but many users still aren’t happy with its less flexible setup, to say nothing of its more intense load of advertising integration with Microsoft services. Speaking as a life-long Windows user, I’m still annoyed that four years after launch I need a third-party tool to get my taskbar on the top of my monitor, or even open widget links in the browser of my choice. Windows 11 is, in a word, annoying. And Windows 11 doesn’t offer much of anything to most people that isn’t covered by Windows 10. Arguably, a newer suite of Copilot tools is neat if you’ve hopped on the generative “AI” train, but Copilot hooks into services like ChatGPT that work fine in a browser and don’t need anything fancy in terms of local hardware—not even those NPUs that are a headline feature of new laptops and processors. The most visible feature in “Copilot+ PCs” is Windows Recall, a tool that’s so potentially devastating to the privacy and security of most users that my colleague Mark Hachman recommends you turn it off immediately. A different digital world But I think the biggest problem Microsoft is facing during this don’t-call-it-forced transition is that we’re in a much different digital landscape than we were in 2015. An entire generation of young people sees their phone—not their laptop or their desktop—as their primary digital device. Alternatives to Windows are more visible and available than ever, with plenty of users adopting macOS for better integration with iPhones and plenty of kids accustomed to Google’s Chromebooks through deep penetration in the education market in many countries. Even Linux is finally having a moment in the spotlight, with millions of users now adopting it as a gaming platform via the Steam Deck, even if they’re not fully aware that it’s Linux-powered. This is, in short, a really bad time for Microsoft to try and force tons and tons of users onto a new operating system that they generally don’t need and didn’t ask for. The backtracking on another year (or two) of security updates, previously gated behind premium support and aimed only at corporate customers, indicates to me that at least someone in Redmond is sounding the alarm. Read...

Nvidia’s DLSS has become the secret sauce that keeps gamers hooked on the company’s GPUs. Sure, Nvidia’s GPUs are solid even without DLSS, but the company’s own marketing claims DLSS with multi-frame generation can boost the frame rate of Cyberpunk 2077 from 28 FPS to 242 FPS. That’s an eight-fold improvement! Who wouldn’t want that? But as some reviewers have noted, the boosts from DLSS aren’t always as impressive in real life as they are in marketing materials. And it’s often less powerful systems—like gaming laptops—that see the most modest benefits. So, I decided to test it out myself. Here are my Nvidia DLSS 4 results on a gaming laptop. Keep reading for the exact laptop I used and the various gains (or lack thereof) I saw in a handful of different high-profile games. The laptop I used for these tests When Nvidia boasted about the awe-inspiring eight-fold improvement in Cyberpunk 2077 performance, those tests were done under ideal conditions. According to the fine print, it was achieved on a PC with an RTX 5090 at 4K resolutions with all the graphical bells and whistles turned on, and in DLSS performance mode. But that’s far from your typical gaming PC. Most modern gaming PCs are budget laptops—like the Lenovo LOQ 15, so that’s the laptop I chose to use for these tests. It’s equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 250 CPU, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, as well as a 15.6-inch 1080p display with a refresh rate up to 144Hz. With specs like that, it’s one of the best gaming laptops under $1,000. Lenovo LOQ 15 gaming laptop with RTX 5060Matt Smith / Foundry It also has Nvidia’s RTX 5060 mobile. Boasting 8GB of GDDR7 memory and a maximum graphics power of 115W, the RTX 5060 mobile isn’t an incredibly powerful GPU… but it is widely available in laptops priced around $1,000, and it faces precisely zero competition from AMD and Intel. That means the RTX 5060 mobile, like the preceding RTX 4060 mobile, is destined to become one of the most popular graphics solutions on the face of the planet. Even so, the RTX 5060 mobile is much less powerful than a desktop RTX 5090, and the LOQ 15 (which has a display resolution of 1080p) isn’t the preferred scenario for using DLSS. Does that mean DLSS is pointless on a lesser machine? Or is it still an awesome addition? Let’s find out. Laptop DLSS 4 in Cyberpunk 2077 As already mentioned, Cyberpunk 2077 is the headline use case for DLSS 4. It’s repeatedly included in Nvidia’s marketing, and the claims made are so aggressive they seem unrealistic. But the reality is not so far from what the marketing suggests—when it comes to frame rate, at least. 1080p Ray Traced Ultra, No DLSS: Avg: 36 FPS Min: 31 FPS 1080p Ray Traced Ultra, DLSS 4 Auto 2x: Avg: 99 FPS Min: 88 FPS 1080p Ray Traced Ultra, DLSS 4 Auto 4x: Avg: 176 FPS Min: 160 FPS Results: Matt Smith / Foundry The Lenovo LOQ 15 can barely handle Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p and the Ultra ray-traced preset, with an average just a shade above 30 FPS. For many gamers, reducing quality a step would be preferred to enjoy a smoother and more stable experience. Or you could just turn on DLSS 4 with frame generation. Enabling DLSS 4 with 2x frame generation boosts the average to 99 FPS, a nearly three-fold gain. If that seems odd, remember that the first test didn’t enable DLSS all (or any other form of upscaling or frame generation), so the gain from DLSS upscaling is also part of this result. Flipping on DLSS 4 with 4x frame generation boosts the average again to 176 frames per second. That’s not quite the 800 percent gain that Nvidia’s marketing bragged about, but it’s still a nearly five-fold improvement. Honestly, it’s a bit nuts. Laptop DLSS 4 in Marvel Rivals Marvel Rivals is another game that paints DLSS 4 in a favorable light. It includes support for DLSS 4 with up to 4x frame generation. It also runs well on the LOQ 15 to begin with, so adding DLSS 4 quickly boosts the average FPS above 100. 1080p Ultra with Lumen On, TUUA (No DLSS): Avg: 70 FPS 1% Low: 38 FPS 1080p Ultra with Lumen On, DLSS 4 Balanced Frame Gen 2x: Avg: 145 FPS 1% Low: 44 FPS 1080p Ultra with Lumen On, DLSS 4 Balanced Frame Gen 4x: Avg: 245 FPS 1% Low: 68 FPS Results: Matt Smith / Foundry As the graph shows, moving from no DLSS to DLSS 4 with 2x frame generation slightly more than doubles performance. Upping DLSS 4 frame generation to 4x boosts performance by (roughly) another 70 percent, for a total increase in frame rate of 350 percent when compared to native rendering (no DLSS). That said, the 1% Low still reveals some significant dips. I didn’t find them a major problem during actual gameplay, but they were noticeable. Competitive players might not find them acceptable. This isn’t the fault of DLSS 4, by the way, as those dips still occurred with native rendering. Not to mention that DLSS 4 boosts the dips as well as the average. Still, the difference between the average and dips is high enough that a rare stutter-stop feel can be noticed. Laptop DLSS 4 in No Man’s Sky No Man’s Sky is the game I’m currently playing the most out of this set, but the settings I decided on for testing were a bit tricky. The LOQ 15 is mostly able to handle No Man’s Sky at Ultra detail, but a few settings—including textures and GTAO—obliterated the frame rate. (I’m talking single digits!) Blame the RTX 5060’s 8GB of video memory, which just isn’t enough to handle Ultra textures in this game. 1080p Ultra / High Textures, Tessellation, GTAO, FXAA: Avg: 102 FPS 1% Low: 44 FPS 1080p Ultra / High Textures, Tessellation, GTAO, DLSS 4 Balanced 2x Frame Gen: Avg: 143 FPS 1% Low: 71 FPS 1080p Ultra / High Textures, Tessellation, GTAO, DLSS 4 Balanced 4x Frame Gen: Avg: 143 FPS 1% Low: 73 FPS Results: Matt Smith / Foundry The good news is that DLSS provides a noticeable boost to performance in No Man’s Sky, with the average frame rate increasing by roughly 40 percent. Interestingly, the 1% Low nearly doubled—which is important, as it indicates less noticeable stuttering in-game, something that can be a problem for No Man’s Sky. On the downside, bumping up from DLSS with 2x frame gen to DLSS with 4x frame gen didn’t return an improvement. In fact, even the 2x frame gen doesn’t provide the 2x performance gain you might expect from its name. Clearly, some other limitation (most likely CPU performance) is a bottleneck here. This creates an awkward situation. With DLSS 4 enabled, No Man’s Sky can find itself reaching much lower levels of performance than Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel Rivals, though I’d argue No Man’s Sky isn’t as visually appealing as those games. DLSS 4 Frame Gen still posts a gain and is maybe worth using with 2x frame generation, depending on your preferences for image quality versus frame rate, but it’s definitely not the most impressive result. Laptop DLSS 4 in Ghostrunner 2 Ghostrunner 2 is a bit tricky. It supports DLSS 4 and multi-frame generation, but it doesn’t offer the same range of options that can be found in other titles. DLSS can be on or off and provides the usual quality settings. Frame generation can also be either on or off, but doesn’t promise a specific multiplier (i.e., 2x, 3x, or 4x). Perhaps that’s for the best because Ghostrunner 2 didn’t benefit as much from DLSS 4 as other titles. 1080p Epic, No DLSS: Avg: 115 FPS 1% Low: 41 FPS 1080p Epic, DLSS 4 Balanced Frame Gen: Avg: 144 FPS 1% Low: 45 FPS Results: Matt Smith / Foundry The average frame rate went up by nearly 30 FPS, which isn’t bad and is arguably still enough to provide a slight boost to motion fluidity. However, it didn’t do much to improve the lowest frame times, and the boost to performance—though nice to have—isn’t essential. On the other hand, the game averages 115 FPS to begin with, so it’s not as if DLSS 4 is required to save the title’s performance. The LOQ 15 handles it beautifully at native 1080p. Laptop DLSS 4 in Diablo 4 An action-RPG like Diablo 4 isn’t the sort of game that most people expect to deliver beautiful and demanding graphics. But the game is, surprisingly, rather harsh on modern hardware when the full suite of ray traced features are turned on. 1080p High/Highest, RT Shadows/Reflections High, RT Particles On, No DLSS: Avg: 52 FPS 1% Low: 35 FPS 1080p High/Highest, RT Shadows/Reflections High, RT Particles On, DLSS 4 Balanced Frame Gen 2x: Avg: 131 FPS 1% Low: 41 FPS 1080p High/Highest, RT Shadows/Reflections High, RT Particles On, DLSS 4 Balanced Frame Gen 4x: Avg: 215 FPS 1% Low: 36 FPS Results: Matt Smith / Foundry Diablo 4 ran better than I expected even without DLSS enabled, but adding DLSS 4 with 2x frame generation increased performance by roughly 250 percent. Swapping to DLSS 4 with 4x frame generation boosted performance by a tad more than 400 percent relative to rendering at native resolution with no frame generation. DLSS 4’s boosts come with a cost The benchmarks above may look favorable to DLSS 4, and that’s because they are. The option to boost performance by over 500 percent with the flip of a simple switch is nutty. It’s the kind of thing I simply wouldn’t have believed possible if you told me it would exist when I first dove into PC gaming over 25 years ago. But it’s not all good news. Image quality can suffer when frame generation is used. Yes, it’s impressive that DLSS 4’s frame generation works at all, but modern AI still has limits. Trying to piece together several synthetic frames for every real frame isn’t easy and it leads to image quality artifacts like blurring, ghosting, and shimmering. Nvidia Even Nvidia’s headliner, Cyberpunk 2077, shows this problem. Aiming down the sights of a gun will almost always reveal ghosting and smearing around the weapon’s sight. The problem is most severe with 4x frame generation, but still rather obvious with 2x frame generation. I also noticed this problem in Marvel Rivals when I paid attention to the fast, flashy effects and animations that accompany most in-game abilities. However, while frame generation can at times lead to noticeable downsides, DLSS 4 upscaling is generally awesome even at 1080p. It’s much improved over DLSS 3 and the best of the current image upscaling technologies. You don’t have to use frame generation with DLSS 4—it’s an option that’s part of DLSS 4 in some titles, and you can choose to leave it off while still enjoying the benefits of DLSS 4 upscaling. Indeed, that’s probably the way to go if the game you’re playing is already able to achieve a frame rate high enough to match the maximum refresh rate of your gaming display. But DLSS 4 is still rather awesome The frame rate boosts found in games well suited to DLSS 4—like Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel Rivals, and Diablo 4—are incredible. The added motion fluidity is smack-you-in-the-face obvious. That’s important on a laptop with a high-refresh display. Even the budget-friendly Lenovo LOQ 15 has a 144Hz refresh rate. A boost from 36 to 176 FPS, as I recorded in Cyberpunk 2077, is a difference anyone who owns the laptop will be able to enjoy and appreciate. Indeed, DLSS 4 is way more than just “fake frames.” Matt Smith / Foundry There’s also something to be said for the range of choice DLSS 4 provides to gamers. Prior to DLSS, your options for improving performance on low-end and mid-range hardware were limited to detail settings or sub-native resolutions. But modern upscaling technologies give you big fat dials that can crank up performance at the expense of image quality, and DLSS 4 provides the biggest, fattest dial. DLSS 4 isn’t perfect, but I came away impressed by how much utility it provides even on budget hardware at 1080p resolution—so impressed, in fact, that I must begrudgingly admit it could be time for me to join Team Green for my next video card purchase. The benefits of DLSS 4 may even be enough to let me forgive Nvidia for its comical stinginess when it comes to video memory. Maybe. Read...

The robotic vacuum market is crowded with devices that promise automation but often fall short when it comes to true adaptability and long-term hygiene. Dreame’s Aqua10 Ultra Roller stands out by addressing both challenges head-on: smarter navigation powered by NVIDIA’s AI stack and a re-engineered mop system designed to keep itself as clean as the floors it scrubs. Looking at its features in depth, it’s clear this isn’t just an incremental update but one of the most ambitious robotic cleaners yet. Navigation: NVIDIA-powered AstroVision™ Most robots rely on simple LiDAR or front cameras for navigation. The Aqua10 Ultra Roller upgrades this with AstroVision™ obstacle intelligence, combining dual HD AI cameras with NVIDIA Isaac Sim training. The cameras capture depth to form 3D maps with 1mm precision, and reinforcement learning helps the robot recognize and adapt to dynamic environments. In practice, this translates into fewer collisions and smoother routing around furniture. Dreame highlights support for 240+ object categories, with features like Active Pet Avoidance and Chaos-Proof Routing—ideal in homes where toys, pet bowls, and clutter shift constantly. The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller MSRP is $1,599.99. From October 13 to October 31, U.S. and Canadian consumers can get an extra 5% off with code DMPWAQUANA on Amazon and the Dreame website. Dreame Carpet strategy: flexible and customizable Vacuum-mop hybrids typically struggle with carpets. Dreame addresses this with a multi-layered carpet strategy that feels more like a system than a patch: Carpet identification: Users can mark all carpeted zones—even irregular ones—in the app for accurate detection. Suction boost: The main brush, roller mop, and side brush all lift when crossing carpets, while suction power intensifies for a deeper clean. Carpet cleaning first: A scheduling option lets the robot vacuum carpets before moving to wet cleaning tasks. The combination works well for mixed-floor homes, especially those with both wall-to-wall carpets and small rugs. Dreame’s AutoSeal™ Roller Guard also prevents mop water from seeping into carpet fibers—a rare feature that directly solves a common frustration. Dreame Low-space cleaning: VersaLift™ LDS sensor One standout innovation is VersaLift™, a retractable LiDAR system that allows the robot to maintain spatial awareness in both open and low-clearance environments. Raised, it scans wide areas efficiently. Retracted, it relies on its dual AI cameras with LED lighting to continue mapping under beds and sofas. This approach makes the Aqua10 Ultra Roller one of the few robots that can reliably clean under low furniture without losing its bearings. Dreame claims 100% accuracy in positioning and obstacle avoidance in these scenarios, which, based on early testing, isn’t far-fetched. Dreame Mop technology: clean mop, clean floor Where Dreame really differentiates itself is mop hygiene. Many hybrid robots simply drag a damp cloth until it’s dirty, effectively spreading grime. The Aqua10 Ultra Roller introduces a real-time fresh water circulation system combined with industry-first mop technologies. Continuous fresh water: A 12-nozzle system sprays clean water onto the roller while a scraper removes dirty water, which is pumped into a separate tank. FluffRoll™ module: A counter-rotating roller running at 1000rpm keeps mop fibers loose and effective at lifting dried-on dirt. ThermoHub™ 212°F self-cleaning: At the dock, the mop undergoes high-temperature washing to dissolve grease and sanitize fibers, followed by 158°F hot-air drying to prevent mildew. This is safe for everyone as after cleaning the washboard’s PTC system temperature automatically drops to a safe level before the robot leaves the base station. AutoSeal™ Roller Guard: Automatically prevents dripping when moving onto carpets. In effect, the robot is always mopping with a clean surface. This not only improves stain removal but also reduces odors and contamination—a major upgrade for hygiene-focused users. Mixed-flooring and mobility: AgiLift™ and ProLeap™ Mobility is another area where Dreame has gone further than most competitors. The Triple-Wheel AgiLift™ chassis dynamically adjusts wheel height for smoother transitions between tiles, hardwood, and rugs. For more complex terrain like door sills, the ProLeap™ retractable leg system lifts the chassis, with sensors calculating the safest ascent and descent angles. These systems reduce the chances of the robot getting stuck mid-task, a frequent frustration with lower-end models. The integration of shock absorption also helps it run more quietly despite its 30,000Pa Vormax™ suction, which is near the top of the industry. Dreame Edge and corner cleaning Corners and edges remain tricky for many robotic vacuums, but Dreame takes a two-pronged approach: MopExtend™: Extends the roller mop by 40mm to cover wall edges. SideReach™ Brush: Extends and retracts over 10mm to sweep into corners while avoiding contamination of freshly mopped areas. Combined with StereoEdge™ obstacle recognition, the robot is noticeably better at navigating cables, books, or pens that often derail less capable bots. Lifestyle and ecosystem features On top of cleaning, Dreame has layered in features that reflect modern smart-home expectations. Matter protocol support ensures compatibility across ecosystems, while direct voice control simplifies operation. Pet owners also benefit from real-time monitoring, automatic pet activity hotspot cleaning, and even pet vlogs, which use the robot’s cameras to capture and compile clips. Intelligent home cleaning The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller isn’t just an iterative update—it rethinks the fundamentals of robotic vacuum-mop design. AstroVision™ AI navigation handles cluttered and dynamic environments with precision, while its multi-stage mop self-cleaning system sets a new standard for hygiene. Add in intelligent carpet care, under-furniture cleaning, and obstacle-crossing agility, and you get one of the most comprehensive solutions available. The Aqua10 Ultra Roller delivers genuine value where it matters: true adaptability and consistently clean results. For homes with mixed flooring, pets, or high traffic, it’s one of the most compelling robot cleaners on the market today. 5% Dreame discount with code DMPWAQUANA View Discount Read...

If you’re into MMOs, then you need a proper mouse to fire all your skills and spell combos with ease. The Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed is the mouse for that, and right now it’s available for 38% off. That means you can grab it for just $62.49, considerably less than its original $99.99 and close to its cheapest sale price of all time. The Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed isn’t just uber-fast with a 30K optical sensor, but it also comes with an insanely high number of programmable buttons. I’m talking a total of 19 buttons that you can set up to do whatever you need, with 12 of them being on the side of the mouse. Just imagine playing World of Warcraft and cycling through your action rotation without touching your keyboard. Fantastic! The Naga V2 HyperSpeed also features Razer’s HyperScroll technology, which allows you to quickly scroll through all the content you need at blazing speed, even entering free-spin mode. It’s totally wireless—with both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth options—also has excellent battery life, with a single AA battery providing almost 400 hours of usage, which is pretty great because you won’t be spending a fortune on batteries. If you’re into MMOs, you’ll love the convenience of a button-loaded wireless mouse like this. Get the Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed for $62.49 while you still can and level up your MMO experience! The Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed is a dream for all MMO gamersGet the Naga V2 mouse for 38% off Read...

Are you getting used to Windows 11 but wish it was a bit faster? Do you feel like your computer has become slower or starts up unusually slowly? Follow along and I’ll go through various tricks that can speed up your system. Uninstall unnecessary programs Foundry If you’ve bought a new computer with Windows pre-installed, chances are that the manufacturer has included a bunch of programs, often completely unnecessary or pure junk. But even if you installed the system yourself, Windows 11 comes with a lot of programs you may never use. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, where you’ll find a complete list of installed programs (Microsoft, like Apple, has started calling common computer programs “apps”). Click the more button to the right of a program you want to remove and select Uninstall. Nowadays, the vast majority of programs shown here can be uninstalled, including the Edge browser. Foundry Microsoft also insists on adding shortcuts to various games and programs in the Start menu, which aren’t even installed but are installed via the Microsoft Store the first time you click on them. You can remove these too, and don’t need to go through Settings. Right-click on an icon directly in Start and select Uninstall. While you’re cleaning up Windows’ bundled programs, you can also take the opportunity to uninstall programs you’ve installed but never use. Some installed programs are running in the background all the time, and even if they don’t take up a lot of resources, it’s unnecessary work. You also reduce the risk that a program you haven’t updated for a long time will turn out to have a security flaw that can be exploited by hackers. Clean up other junk Foundry If you’ve updated to Windows 11 from Windows 10 and have had that system for a few years, it’s likely to have accumulated some junk. Take the opportunity to do some spring cleaning while you’re at it! There are plenty of third-party programs that claim to help with this, but I recommend sticking to Windows’ built-in tools and manual cleaning. Start by running the Disk Cleanup application. Here you can tick the options you want to empty, and you’ll see on the right how much space each category represents. Click on an option to see a description below. For example, Lifetime Optimization Files are files that Windows Update has downloaded and not used yet, but sometimes there may be unused files here even though you have installed all available updates. The next step is to open Explorer and go to the Downloadeds folder. If you’re like me and leave most of the files you’ve downloaded here without ever deleting older files, you can free up tens of gigabytes. Sort in order of size and delete everything you don’t need anymore. Windows also offers a way to remove old components via the command prompt. Type command prompt in Windows search, select Run as administrator, and enter the following command: dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /AnalyzeComponentStore After a while, the results will come up and you can see if the program recommends running the cleanup function, which removes duplicates and copies of some system components that can accumulate after updates. To run the cleanup function, type: dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup Once it’s done, you can run the first command again to see how much space it managed to free up. For me, it was almost five gigabytes, despite the fact that I installed a fresh copy of Windows 11 version 22H2 less than two years ago. Foundry An exception to the above rule about third-party software is a program that scans the disk and displays all files and folders in order of size, making it easy to find large files that you may not need at all. My recommendation is Wiztree. Foundry When you start the program and let it scan the disk, the contents are displayed both as lists sorted by size and as a color-coded chart. You can then go through the results from top to bottom and delete what you don’t need. But avoid folders like Windows and Program Files, and anything you don’t know what it is (if you’re not sure, do a web search). Choose what to start automatically Foundry When you start your computer and log in, a number of processes and programs start automatically. Some are completely in the background, others are visible in the Taskbar, and a few open with application windows. In most cases you can control this from Settings > Apps > Startup. Switch off the programs/processes you don’t want to start automatically. If you want to add a program to start automatically yourself, you can place a shortcut to the program’s .exe file in one of the following folders: shell:startup (for your user account) shell:common startup (for all users) Foundry Locate the application you want to autostart in Applications or Programs (x86) and copy it. Then type in any of the above shortcuts in Explorer to go to the folder in question. Right-click in the window and select Show more options followed by Paste shortcut. Many programs have a built-in setting to start automatically at startup, adding themselves to the registry instead. By minimizing the number of programs that start automatically, you will not have to wait as long for the system to finish after each restart. On a new computer with a fast SSD, this may not make much difference, but on older hardware it can make a big difference. Settings that speed up Windows 11 If you have a slightly older computer and find that Windows 11 feels a little sluggish from time to time, you can go through the system settings and trim the computer a little. Foundry Performance mode Open Settings and go to System > Power & battery. Click on Power Mode to display those settings, then select Best Performance from the drop-down menu to the right of Plugged in. If you have a laptop, there will also be a separate setting for when the computer is not connected to the mains, where you should select Balanced or Best power efficiency instead. In previous versions of the system, these settings were in the Control Panel, but as part of Microsoft’s efforts to move as much as possible to Settings, they appeared there in 24H2. If you want to fine-tune individual settings, you can still do so in Control Panel, but for most people, the new Power Mode setting will suffice. Efficiency mode Foundry Programs running in the background rarely take up a lot of computer resources, but if you’re running a really heavy program or game, such background processes can still lead to a drop in performance. Then you can take advantage of a relatively new feature that Microsoft added to Task Manager in 2022 called Efficiency Mode. With efficiency mode enabled, two things happen: The application’s priority is lowered to “low,” which means that other applications with higher priority take precedence over the processor, and something called Ecoqos is activated. The latter means that the program runs as energy-efficiently as possible. Exactly how this is done varies depending on the processor and other factors, but it can include running without turbo or only on efficiency cores. To activate it, right-click on a process in the list and select Efficiency Mode. A dialog box will appear warning that it can make some programs unstable, but if you encounter one, you can always turn it off afterwards. Switch off search indexing Foundry Another feature that is useful on newer hardware but can slow down an older computer is indexing. This is especially true if you have the system on an old-fashioned hard drive and not an SSD. Click on the magnifying glass in the Start search and type in index and you should find the Indexing Options control panel. Open it and check which locations the system is set to index for faster searching. Click Modify to change your choices. If you rarely search for anything outside your home folder, you can delete everything except that folder to make indexing faster. If your home folder is very full, you can go down to the next level and deselect individual folders in your home folder that you don’t need to search quickly. Switch off special effects Foundry If your computer doesn’t have a standalone graphics card and the processor is a few years old, the integrated graphics circuit may struggle to keep up, especially if you have a high-resolution screen. This can make Windows 11 feel slower than older systems like Windows 7 and XP. One thing you can try to speed up the interface is to turn off special effects like shadows and animations. Open Windows search and type sysdm.cpl, which will take you to the System Properties control panel. Select the Advanced tab and click Settings in the Performance pane. In the window that opens, you can change from Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer to Adjust for best performance (to turn off all effects) or Custom, which lets you tick off the effects you think you can do without. Switch off transparency Foundry A special effect found in many places in the system is missing from the above settings. Transparency effects can instead be found in Settings > Personalization > Colors. Switch it off and the graphical interface will be a little less cumbersome. Sometimes it’s enough to make the system feel like it used to be, and you can leave shadows and other effects enabled. Maximize gaming performance with these settings and tricks Windows 11 has been accused of being slower in games than Windows 10, and that’s not entirely off the mark. One reason it may feel that way is that the new system has several security features enabled by default that users previously had to actively go in and switch on, and which, when running, can contribute to lower performance in games, among other things. Foundry Memory Integrity is a feature that uses virtualization to protect Windows from certain types of attacks. It’s one of the reasons Microsoft has raised the system requirements for Windows 11 so much, but for those who mostly play games on their computer, it might be worth trying to switch it off and see if it improves gaming performance. Open Windows Security, select Device Security > Core Isolation and switch off Memory Integrity. Foundry The second feature you can experiment with turning off is called Virtual Machine Platform and you’ll find it in Windows Features, which you can easily find via Windows Search. Tick it off and click OK. Check the drivers Old drivers for various hardware components can also make your computer less stable or slower than necessary. This is especially true for the graphics card, especially if you’re playing newer games, but even drivers for simpler components can crash the system if they have bugs. For graphics cards, I recommend that you check which card you have and install the manufacturer’s latest driver for that particular card. That is, directly from AMD, Intel, or Nvidia. Windows can install working drivers automatically for many cards, but it is better to go to the source. Skärmdump Other drivers can be searched for by opening Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Optional Updates. After a fresh installation of Windows on a computer, a lot of drivers may pop up here for various components on the motherboard like audio circuit and control circuit. You can also manually update drivers for individual devices in Device Manager, but this is rarely needed nowadays. Switch off unnecessary Windows features Windows has a large number of built-in features that run in the background and handle various things. They are called services and are often used by the system or other programs to perform various tasks. For example, the Print Spooler service handles printing and the Sensor Service handles various physical sensors such as GPS and light meters. Foundry The Services application allows you to manually switch off services that you and your installed applications never use, which can make your computer feel a little quicker. This is a slightly more advanced intervention and you should check each service to make sure you don’t accidentally switch off something important that you actually need. Even if you can’t make your computer much faster, Services is a great way to learn more about how Windows works and if you’re curious, I highly recommend a deep dive. Try it out — if you find your system unusable, you can always restore from backup or reinstall Windows. Further reading: Every Microsoft Windows operating system, ranked Read...