ChatGPT is rapidly changing the world. The process is already happening, and it’s only going to accelerate as the technology improves, as more people gain access to it, and as more learn how to use it. What’s shocking is just how many tasks ChatGPT is already capable of managing for you. While the naysayers may still look down their noses at the potential of AI assistants, I’ve been using it to handle all kinds of menial tasks for me. Here are my favorite examples. Further reading: This tiny ChatGPT feature helps me tackle my days more productively Write your emails for you Dave Parrack / Foundry We’ve all been faced with the tricky task of writing an email—whether personal or professional—but not knowing quite how to word it. ChatGPT can do the heavy lifting for you, penning the (hopefully) perfect email based on whatever information you feed it. Let’s assume the email you need to write is of a professional nature, and wording it poorly could negatively affect your career. By directing ChatGPT to write the email with a particular structure, content, and tone of voice, you can give yourself a huge head start. A winning tip for this is to never accept ChatGPT’s first attempt. Always read through it and look for areas of improvement, then request tweaks to ensure you get the best possible email. You can (and should) also rewrite the email in your own voice. Learn more about how ChatGPT coached my colleague to write better emails. Generate itineraries and schedules Dave Parrack / Foundry If you’re going on a trip but you’re the type of person who hates planning trips, then you should utilize ChatGPT’s ability to generate trip itineraries. The results can be customized to the nth degree depending on how much detail and instruction you’re willing to provide. As someone who likes to get away at least once a year but also wants to make the most of every trip, leaning on ChatGPT for an itinerary is essential for me. I’ll provide the location and the kinds of things I want to see and do, then let it handle the rest. Instead of spending days researching everything myself, ChatGPT does 80 percent of it for me. As with all of these tasks, you don’t need to accept ChatGPT’s first effort. Use different prompts to force the AI chatbot to shape the itinerary closer to what you want. You’d be surprised at how many cool ideas you’ll encounter this way—simply nix the ones you don’t like. Break down difficult concepts Dave Parrack / Foundry One of the best tasks to assign to ChatGPT is the explanation of difficult concepts. Ask ChatGPT to explain any concept you can think of and it will deliver more often than not. You can tailor the level of explanation you need, and even have it include visual elements. Let’s say, for example, that a higher-up at work regularly lectures everyone about the importance of networking. But maybe they never go into detail about what they mean, just constantly pushing the why without explaining the what. Well, just ask ChatGPT to explain networking! Okay, most of us know what “networking” is and the concept isn’t very hard to grasp. But you can do this with anything. Ask ChatGPT to explain augmented reality, multi-threaded processing, blockchain, large language models, what have you. It will provide you with a clear and simple breakdown, maybe even with analogies and images. Analyze and make tough decisions Dave Parrack / Foundry We all face tough decisions every so often. The next time you find yourself wrestling with a particularly tough one—and you just can’t decide one way or the other—try asking ChatGPT for guidance and advice. It may sound strange to trust any kind of decision to artificial intelligence, let alone an important one that has you stumped, but doing so actually makes a lot of sense. While human judgment can be clouded by emotions, AI can set that aside and prioritize logic. It should go without saying: you don’t have to accept ChatGPT’s answers. Use the AI to weigh the pros and cons, to help you understand what’s most important to you, and to suggest a direction. Who knows? If you find yourself not liking the answer given, that in itself might clarify what you actually want—and the right answer for you. This is the kind of stuff ChatGPT can do to improve your life. Plan complex projects and strategies Dave Parrack / Foundry Most jobs come with some level of project planning and management. Even I, as a freelance writer, need to plan tasks to get projects completed on time. And that’s where ChatGPT can prove invaluable, breaking projects up into smaller, more manageable parts. ChatGPT needs to know the nature of the project, the end goal, any constraints you may have, and what you have done so far. With that information, it can then break the project up with a step-by-step plan, and break it down further into phases (if required). If ChatGPT doesn’t initially split your project up in a way that suits you, try again. Change up the prompts and make the AI chatbot tune in to exactly what you’re looking for. It takes a bit of back and forth, but it can shorten your planning time from hours to mere minutes. Compile research notes Dave Parrack / Foundry If you need to research a given topic of interest, ChatGPT can save you the hassle of compiling that research. For example, ahead of a trip to Croatia, I wanted to know more about the Croatian War of Independence, so I asked ChatGPT to provide me with a brief summary of the conflict with bullet points to help me understand how it happened. After absorbing all that information, I asked ChatGPT to add a timeline of the major events, further helping me to understand how the conflict played out. ChatGPT then offered to provide me with battle maps and/or summaries, plus profiles of the main players. You can go even deeper with ChatGPT’s Deep Research feature, which is now available to free users, up to 5 Deep Research tasks per month. With Deep Research, ChatGPT conducts multi-step research to generate comprehensive reports (with citations!) based on large amounts of information across the internet. A Deep Research task can take up to 30 minutes to complete, but it’ll save you hours or even days. Summarize articles, meetings, and more Dave Parrack / Foundry There are only so many hours in the day, yet so many new articles published on the web day in and day out. When you come across extra-long reads, it can be helpful to run them through ChatGPT for a quick summary. Then, if the summary is lacking in any way, you can go back and plow through the article proper. As an example, I ran one of my own PCWorld articles (where I compared Bluesky and Threads as alternatives to X) through ChatGPT, which provided a brief summary of my points and broke down the best X alternative based on my reasons given. Interestingly, it also pulled elements from other articles. (Hmph.) If you don’t want that, you can tell ChatGPT to limit its summary to the contents of the link. This is a great trick to use for other long-form, text-heavy content that you just don’t have the time to crunch through. Think transcripts for interviews, lectures, videos, and Zoom meetings. The only caveat is to never share private details with ChatGPT, like company-specific data that’s protected by NDAs and the like. Create Q&A flashcards for learning Dave Parrack / Foundry Flashcards can be extremely useful for drilling a lot of information into your brain, such as when studying for an exam, onboarding in a new role, prepping for an interview, etc. And with ChatGPT, you no longer have to painstakingly create those flashcards yourself. All you have to do is tell the AI the details of what you’re studying. You can specify the format (such as Q&A or multiple choice), as well as various other elements. You can also choose to keep things broad or target specific sub-topics or concepts you want to focus on. You can even upload your own notes for ChatGPT to reference. You can also use Google’s NotebookLM app in a similar way. Provide interview practice Dave Parrack / Foundry Whether you’re a first-time jobseeker or have plenty of experience under your belt, it’s always a good idea to practice for your interviews when making career moves. Years ago, you might’ve had to ask a friend or family member to act as your mock interviewer. These days, ChatGPT can do it for you—and do it more effectively. Inform ChatGPT of the job title, industry, and level of position you’re interviewing for, what kind of interview it’ll be (e.g., screener, technical assessment, group/panel, one-on-one with CEO), and anything else you want it to take into consideration. ChatGPT will then conduct a mock interview with you, providing feedback along the way. When I tried this out myself, I was shocked by how capable ChatGPT can be at pretending to be a human in this context. And the feedback it provides for each answer you give is invaluable for knocking off your rough edges and improving your chances of success when you’re interviewed by a real hiring manager. Further reading: No, don’t threaten ChatGPT for better results. Try this instead Read...

Have you seen the news? Microsoft has signaled that future Xbox consoles will run Windows, which points to one big possible future: gaming PCs may soon be taking the living room by storm. It sounds like the next Xbox will run Steam games, too. Meanwhile, at CES 2025, Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais told PCWorld that going beyond handhelds to living room PCs was one of Valve’s long-term goals. Remember when Steam Machines launched back in 2015? A decade later, it seems we may be looking at their return—except in a new, more interesting way. Thanks to the Steam Deck, Linux-based gaming PCs may be a bigger threat to Microsoft this time around. In short, the next great console war will likely go down between Microsoft and Valve. Both companies have signaled their intentions, with Xbox-themed Windows PCs battling SteamOS-running Linux systems for living room dominance. Which one will come out on top? Xbox is smartly merging with Windows Next-generation Xbox consoles look like they will be running Windows! And they won’t be locked to a single store—it sounds like the next Xbox will also run Steam and other PC gaming platforms. That’s not a big surprise as Microsoft already announced an Xbox-branded Windows handheld PC named the Asus ROG Xbox Ally. Microsoft hides that it runs Windows, which makes sense because Windows has so far been a mess on gaming handhelds. When I reviewed the Lenovo Legion Go S, I found that Windows made the entire experience more frustrating compared to a Steam Deck, and SteamOS delivers better performance on the same hardware. But Microsoft isn’t just shrugging its shoulders and letting PC manufacturers slap the Xbox name on gaming PCs. Instead, the company appears to be merging Xbox and Windows in a smart way, at least according to press announcements. For example, Microsoft says existing Xbox games will run on that next-generation console, and Windows is transforming to run better on gaming-focused devices. SteamOS is way, way, way better now Valve initially launched Steam Machines back in 2015, a line of gaming PCs designed to offer a console-style living room experience. While Valve didn’t make its own hardware for those PCs—aside from the now-discontinued Steam Controller—the company did partner with PC makers like Alienware, who made their own hardware that ran Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS. The initial line of Steam Machines—released just a few years after Microsoft freaked Valve out with the launch of Windows 8 and its iPad-style app platform locked to Microsoft’s own app store—didn’t take the world by storm. Those Steam Machines ran games that were ported to Linux… and the results weren’t pretty. Since then, however, Valve’s Proton software compatibility layer has provided a way for the Steam Deck and other SteamOS-based machines to run Windows games directly on Linux, sometimes with better performance than they have when running on Windows itself. The software is now much more ready. And Valve is already making moves to certify SteamOS for other manufacturers’ devices. Lenovo’s Legion Go S is the first non-Valve SteamOS device in the modern era. Valve doesn’t have to make its own Steam Machines—all Valve has to do is give the stamp of approval to PC makers who want to deliver their own experiences. Except this time, Valve’s SteamOS is ready. Valve’s Steam Deck is already a living room gaming console Valve already has a solid living room console. It’s called the Steam Deck! Paired with a dock—like Valve’s own Steam Deck docking station or a third-party dock like this one—the Steam Deck can easily connect to and run on your living room TV. Pair a controller of your choice (or even a mouse and a keyboard) and you’ll be using your “handheld” gaming console docked to your living room TV, just like you would with a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 console. While the Steam Deck doesn’t have the power to run the latest PC games at high graphics settings, there are solutions. Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming platform works on the Steam Deck, giving you a powerful way to play demanding games with high graphical detail in your living room right on your TV, just like you can on the go. Valve’s Steam Deck also supports Remote Play, so you can stream games wirelessly from your own PC right to your living room TV. It’s a quick-and-easy-to-set-up living room gaming experience. Valve probably won’t release its own Steam Box any time soon… Near the start of 2025, we heard rumors of Valve working on its own Steam Machine-style living room console, and those rumors took the web by storm. Valve appeared to be working on support for AMD RDNA4 hardware. But, as Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais explained, that’s nothing new. Valve always does this kind of work, and it’s no sign that a proper SteamOS console is imminent. There’s at least one case of what appears to be a “Valve Steam Box” in the wild, but that machine is a prototype from the 2017 era. Definitely not a recent device to hang our hopes on! Given the rumors circulating online, it’s much more likely that Valve will release its own “Deckard” VR headset—and I hope they do. The VR gaming industry needs the help. …but Valve doesn’t need to release its own SteamOS console iBuyPower’s SBX Steam Machine from 2015. iBuyPower Valve doesn’t need to release its own hardware. If Microsoft is building to a Windows-based future for Xbox consoles, many users will want a proper SteamOS-based interface for their consoles. But why run Steam on a combination Xbox-plus-Windows-PC when you can run it on SteamOS and have the slick experience you get on a Steam Deck? Heck, if the future of living room gaming involves PCs, why would Valve let Microsoft run away with that without any competition? The Steam Deck needed to exist—and needed to be a Valve-created product—because it wasn’t just about the software. There was no great handheld gaming PC that delivered what Valve delivered. When it comes to the living room, things are different. Gaming PC companies can deliver excellent console-style experiences in everything from a “mini PC” form factor to a traditionally large gaming PC. The hardware is already ready, so Valve doesn’t have to be the one making the perfect living room PC. SteamOS is more mature than ever, too—and PC makers may be eager to get into the living room and start competing against Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo. It’s about time PCs took over living rooms This is PCWorld, so I’ll just say it: I’m happy the PC is taking over the living room. While the simplicity of console gaming is great, I’ve long hoped for a more open gaming experience in the living room. I want multiple stores, I want consoles that can run homebrew games from outside stores, I want support for mods, and I want all the other cool stuff you can traditionally get from PC gaming but not console gaming. Whether Valve decides to put SteamOS up against Microsoft’s new Xbox-Windows combo operating system, I’m just excited to see the living room move in a more open, PC-oriented direction. But I do hope SteamOS goes toe to toe with Microsoft in the living room. If nothing else, competition is better for everyone. Valve’s SteamOS efforts have already made Microsoft take Windows PC gaming much more seriously, and that’s good for all PC gamers. Read...

Taking a laptop with you when you travel means you have the convenience of your work or entertainment with you wherever you go. But there’s no doubt that having such an expensive and important device with you can also be a logistical and security challenge. So, here are some tips to help keep you and your laptop safe. 1. Use a VPN and antivirus software Using public Wi-Fi is a necessity for most people travelling with a laptop, unless you have an LTE connection, that is. Unfortunately connecting to public Wi-Fi can compromise your laptop security. These networks are often unsecure, without password protection or encryption, and many have been compromised with malware that malicious actors can use to steal information or passwords. Information breaches via public Wi-Fi happen more often than you might think. A Forbes Advisor survey of 2,000 working Americans that used public Wi-Fi found that four out of every 10 had their information breached while on public Wi-Fi. The survey also found that the most common places that breaches occurred were cafés, airports, and hotels. That’s why you should always use a virtual private network (VPN) and have an antivirus program running when on public Wi-Fi. A VPN acts as an intermediary that encrypts the data you send between your device and the public router, making it a lot harder for cybercriminals to steal your data. If you have to download any files, a good antivirus program can detect and stop malware before it can damage your PC. Pexels: Kevin Paster 2. Have tracker software loaded Tracking software can often be your best bet for getting your laptop back if it goes missing on a trip. Find My Device is one utility that you can use to track a lost laptop. If you have Windows 10 or 11 and a Microsoft account, you have access to this feature and can turn it on in your Microsoft settings. As well as basic tracking of your lost device, it lets you lock your laptop and reset the passwords on it remotely to prevent others from accessing your personal data. The catch is, your Microsoft account has to be an administrator account; you need to have location settings enabled; and the laptop has to be connected to the internet for these features to work. Some savvy travelers prefer to use more sophisticated tracking software than Find My Device. One example is Absolute’s Home and Office software. It gets integrated into the laptop’s BIOS once installed, so even if your laptop’s operating system is changed or the storage drive is replaced, you can still track it down. Chris Hoffman / IDG 3. Label it for easier recovery It may seem like an obvious nugget of advice but having a label on your laptop that specifies your name, phone number, and either your residential or work address can be the one thing that gets you your laptop back when it’s found. The people who found it need to know who it belongs to. Add a sticker on your laptop’s underside as a discrete identification tag. You can buy writable and printable adhesive tags on Amazon for just a few dollars. Otherwise, slip a note into your laptop bag as a less intrusive identification method. You should also record your laptop’s make and model and serial number before you go, in the event it is found, and you need to make a report about it. Also jot down any other distinguishing features that will help you describe your laptop’s appearance, like its color, or any stickers on the chassis. Pexels: Brett Sayles 4. Apply common sense protection strategies The number one protection strategy you can apply is to always keep your laptop in your line of sight wherever you go. But if you do need to travel light and leave it in your hotel when you go out, be sure to store it in your room security safe or have the hotel staff store it in a secure place if you don’t have a safe in your room. Travel insurance is also a must when traveling with a laptop. The right kind of insurance will cover you for the complete cost of the device in the event it’s lost or stolen. If your laptop has a Kensington lock port, you should use a Kensington lock to prevent grab and run theft. Otherwise, buy a cable lock before you go that will work with your laptop’s ports. When it comes to physical protection against damage, ensure your laptop bag is either a hard case or has sufficient padding to protect it in the event it is dropped. Buying a bag made from waterproof material is also a sensible idea. As a rule, you don’t want to leave your laptop in the overhead compartment of an airplane where it can be squashed or battered by other luggage. Instead, keep it with you in your seat. If your laptop bag is deemed to be checkpoint friendly, that can prevent you having to remove it from your bag every time you go through airport security. Pexels: Markus Winkler 5. Bring your own safe laptop accessories Always bring a universal travel adapter and a wall charger to use with your laptop when you travel. The universal travel adapter should have the correct plug shapes for the country or countries you are visiting, if you intend on travelling overseas. The adapter should also support a voltage range of between 100 to 240V. Make sure you have surge protection too, either built into your adapter or as a standalone accessory, because you can never rely on unfamiliar electrical outlets. Unexpected power surges can and will fry your laptop’s circuitry. The reason you want to bring a wall charger and always plug it into a wall socket is so you can avoid using public USB chargers, which are used by hackers for Juice Jacking. This is another cyber-theft tactic used by cybercriminals, whereby they load malware onto public USB ports to infect and maliciously access user devices. If you do ever have to use a public USB port, be sure to use charge-only cables with data blocking functionality. These cables deliver power but prevent any data (and therefore any malicious files) from being downloaded to your computer. Pexels: ready made Related content Best laptops: Our experts pick the top 11 models 23 travel gadgets you need for your next trip How to find lost gadgets (and avoid losing them) Read...

Azul and Chainguard have teamed up to offer zero-CVE Java containers, enhancing security and support for enterprise Java workloads with Hardened, source-built images. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros A repairable and customizable 2-in-1 laptop Swappable ports Reasonable performance for its class A microphone shutoff switch! Cons Battery life is on the lower side Not quite a budget price No keyboard backlight No biometrics for Windows Hello Our Verdict The Framework Laptop 12 delivers a capable 2-in-1 laptop with extreme customizability and repairability. However, battery life is a little on the low side due to the previous-generation CPU. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The Framework Laptop 12 is something of a rare breed: a compact 2-in-1 convertible that you don’t just use, you build. It brings Framework’s vision of a do-it-yourself laptop experience to a machine that’s both less expensive and more flexible than Framework’s other laptops — literally, thanks to its 360-degree hinge, touchscreen, and stylus. Framework originally designed this laptop with students in mind, but the company says, “every adult who tried it wanted one too” during the prototyping process. As Framework’s first 2-in-1 machine, the Framework Laptop 12 is largely a success! Like all of Framework’s laptops, you may pay more for this type of do-it-yourself experience. But if you’re the kind of person who likes to build and customize your own PC, Framework is hugely interesting in the laptop space. Framework Laptop 12: Specs IDG / Chris Hoffman The Framework Laptop 12 is available in two different editions: A pre-built edition that comes ready to use with Windows installed and a DIY Edition that lets you build the machine yourself. Framework loaned us a DIY Edition for this review, and I put it together myself. It’s an incredibly simple process that just takes a few minutes. Installing Windows (and the drivers the machine requires) takes longer than building this laptop. Assembling the hardware is the easy part! The Framework Laptop 12 has a variety of different hardware configurations. The DIY Edition starts at $549, but you’ll need to bring your own storage, RAM, power adapter, and operating system — and the ports are extra, too. Still, you could get the base hardware with four USB ports for $593 and bring everything else yourself. The pre-assembled machine comes with Windows already installed and costs $799, which isn’t quite a “budget-priced” 2-in-1 but is arguably at the lower end of a mid-range one. It’s also worth noting that the base model comes with an Intel Core i3-1315U processor with a total of six cores — two performance cores and four efficiency cores. A step up to an Intel Core i5-1334U processor with a total of ten cores — two performance cores and eight efficiency cores — costs another $150. Both are based on Intel’s 13th-generation Raptor Lake architecture, which means they don’t have neural processing units for AI tasks or the kind of battery life improvements we saw in Intel’s Lunar Lake or even Meteor Lake chips. CPU: Intel Core i5-1334U Memory: 16GB DDR5 RAM Graphics/GPU: Intel UHD Graphics NPU: None Display: 12.2-inch 1920×1200 IPS display with 60Hz refresh rate, touch screen, and stylus support Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1080p 2MP camera Connectivity: Up to four swappable ports of your choice – USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), USB-A, HDMI 2.0b, Ethernet, DisplayPort, microSD reader, and SD card reader Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 Biometrics: None Battery capacity: 50 Watt-hours Dimensions: 11.29 x 8.42 x 0.72 inches Weight: 2.86 pounds MSRP: $1,176 as tested If you want a modular, repairable, customizable 2-in-1 laptop, there’s no other machine like this on the market. This is your dream machine.” Framework Laptop 12: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman Framework offers the Framework Laptop 12 in a variety of two-tone color schemes: Black, Gray, Lavender, Bubblegum, and Sage. Our review unit came in the two-tone Gray color, but the colorful variants look particularly striking. True to Framework’s DIY ethos, the Laptop 12 is easy to build and exhibits solid build quality. You lift the screen up like you’re opening a normal laptop and discover a plastic tray where the keyboard would be, with the laptop’s internals right below it. You’ll just remove the piece of plastic and insert the storage and RAM. There are no screws to deal with on the inside. The storage and RAM just snap into place. You then place the keyboard tray into position, where it snaps in magnetically. IDG / Chris Hoffman Finally, it’s just a matter of closing the laptop, flipping it over, and tightening a few screws on the bottom with an included screwdriver. The ports themselves are easy to install and swap as needed — they’re little blocks that plug right into USB-C ports set into the bottom of the laptop. Assembly was easier than with the last Framework laptop I put together: There was no fiddly cable connection of the touchpad to the motherboard, for example, as on the Framework Laptop 13 I reviewed in 2024. It’s just a quick magnetic snap into place and then tightening a few screws. And opening the laptop up is just as easy — whether you’re starting with a DIY edition or getting a prebuild edition. The weight of the laptop means that I can’t quite open the lid of the laptop with a single hand, but the 360-degree hinge feels great otherwise. The choice of the material on this laptop is very unusual for a laptop: Framework calls it a “chassis made of overmolded shock-absorbing TPU over plastic with an inner metal structure.” Rather than smooth plastic or metal, like many laptops, the chassis and keyboard tray have more of a matte plastic feel. Framework says it’s hard to break, but I didn’t subject it to any drop tests during the review process! It does seem to pick up fingerprints quite a bit, as you can see in some of the photos I took. IDG / Chris Hoffman While this is a DIY build-and-customize-your-own-laptop experience, once the keyboard is popped on magnetically and the screws are tightened, everything feels like a normal laptop. Even the ports have locking switches so they won’t pop out. At 2.86 pounds, it’s not unusually heavy for a 2-in-1 machine, although it may be a tad on the heavier side. Framework Laptop 12: Keyboard, trackpad, and stylus IDG / Chris Hoffman The Framework Laptop 12’s full-size keyboard feels pretty good. With 1.5mm of key travel, the action feels responsive. It’s a solid chiclet-style laptop keyboard with good feedback. I could type quickly on it, and it’s also pleasantly quiet — a bonus for classroom or library environments. Unfortunately, the keyboard has no backlight. This is, of course, an extremely helpful feature in dark or dim lighting. If you can reliably touch type or just plan on using the laptop in good lighting, it’s not a concern. You’ll have to decide whether you need a laptop with a backlit keyboard, but I would’ve liked to see one — at least as an option. If you’re a Linux user, you’ll appreciate that the “Windows key” on the keyboard doesn’t have a Windows logo. It functions as a Windows key in Windows, but it has the Framework gear logo on it. Also, unlike most modern PC laptops, there’s no Copilot key on the keyboard here. The trackpad also feels nice and smooth, and the click action feels solid. I like that the click is rather quiet — many laptops have loud, clicky sounds, while this feels like something you could use in a classroom or library without bothering other people. IDG / Chris Hoffman Framework didn’t have the swanky Framework Laptop 12 Stylus ready for us at review time — Framework says they’ll release it later in 2025 — but they did provide a MPP 2.0-compatible stylus to test the system out. Both the stylus input and the touch screen worked well. Framework Laptop 12: Display and speakers IDG / Chris Hoffman The Framework Laptop 12 has a 12.2-inch 1920×1200 IPS display. Its 60Hz refresh rate could be higher for a smoother picture, but it’s brighter than the average budget laptop display with over 400 nits of brightness. The display looks good and sharp — that’s a solid resolution for a 12.2-inch display, and it’s more brightness than a budget laptop’s display would offer. However, this being a 2-in-1 laptop with a touch screen and stylus support, the surface of the screen is rather glossy. That’s a given, and the reasonable amount of brightness helps. However, glossy displays produce more reflections in direct sunlight and other bright areas, so a glossy display isn’t the right fit for everyone. The Framework 12’s speakers are decent. They’re nowhere near as loud as some other laptop speakers I’ve used, however. Playing Steely Dan’s Aja on Spotify, the audio was clean and clear, but didn’t have the kind of crisp and bright instrument separation you hear on a higher-end pair of headphones. Playing Daft Punk’s Get Lucky to test something modern with more bass, the audio was clear, and there was no distortion, but there wasn’t a lot of bass — and the audio wasn’t quite as punchy as it might be on a laptop with higher-end speakers. These are fine speakers with no problems, but you’ll want a good pair of headphones for the best music or video-streaming experience. Framework Laptop 12: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Framework Laptop 12 has a 1080p 2MP webcam. On paper, that’s fine but not particularly special — although it is a relief to see that this machine has a 1080p webcam instead of a 720p webcam! In the real world, though, the Framework Laptop 12’s webcam looks pretty good — this is more than good enough for video meetings, and it’s a solid entry for the laptop’s price range. The microphone was a little quiet out of the box — in other words, after installing Windows 11 and then installing Framework’s driver package myself — but tweaking the settings in the Realtek Audio Console application improved things. It did a good job of canceling background noise and the audio quality was fine. The Framework Laptop 12 is a rare beast: Above its webcam, you’ll find not just a physical webcam shutter switch but also a physical microphone shutter switch. A physical switch to disconnect the microphone is an important security feature, but it’s extremely rare. Now this is a machine designed with privacy controls in mind. Unfortunately, there are no biometrics for Windows Hello here: You won’t find a fingerprint reader or an IR camera for facial recognition. Framework Laptop 12: Connectivity IDG / Chris Hoffman The Framework Laptop 12 shines when it comes to connectivity — mostly. The base laptop has a combo audio jack on the left side, and that’s it for the base model. Then, there are four places to plug in “ports,” which you can buy from Framework and swap on the fly. That lets you choose which ports you want: USB Type-C, USB Type-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, Ethernet, microSD card, or SD card. You can also buy “ports” that have storage inside them to expand the laptop’s storage. The machine charges via USB-C, so at least one of those ports must be USB Type-C so that you can plug in a charger. But you can put the USB-C port on either side of the laptop — or on both sides. That said, there’s a limitation under the hood. Functionally speaking, all of those “ports” are blocks that plug into a USB Type-C port — it’s all USB-C under the hood. These ports are all USB 3.2 Gen 2 under the hood, so there’s no faster USB4, Thunderbolt 4, or even HDMI 2.1 here — just HDMI 2.0b. There’s a good chance that’s fine — just be aware. This machine also supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. The Wi-Fi worked well, but it would’ve been nice to see Wi-Fi 7, of course. Framework is using previous-generation Intel “Raptor Lake” hardware here, and Wi-Fi 7 doesn’t come standard with this Intel hardware. Framework Laptop 12: Performance The Framework Laptop 12 can run either Windows or Linux. I installed Windows 11 Home on this machine myself to benchmark its performance with our standard suite of Windows benchmarking tools. Framework says this machine was designed “to be unusually powerful for its class,” which is why it has a full Core i3 or Core i5 processor rather than a less-expensive, mobile-focused version. In day-to-day desktop use, the Intel Core i5-1334U CPU in this machine handled web browsing in applications like Google Chrome, conversations in workplace tools like Slack, and producing content like this very review in Microsoft Word. The laptop’s keyboard stayed cool and comfortable even when the fan was whirring away and expelling heat from the back of the machine. However, the bottom could get fairly hot under load — that’s the older Raptor Lake hardware in action. As always, though we ran the Framework Laptop 12 through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs. IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance.  The Framework Laptop 12 delivered an overall score of 5288 in this benchmark — that’s on the low side compared to other modern laptops, which isn’t a surprise as this is a previous-generation chip. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. The Intel Core i5-1334U in this machine has fewer cores than the CPUs in the other modern PCs we compared it to, so it’s no surprise that the multithreaded score of 2106 is on the low side. IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. The Framework Laptop 12 completed the encode process in 2648 seconds, which is just over 44 minutes. That’s a long time, and it confirms that this machine isn’t a speed demon — especially at tasks that benefit from a lot of multithreaded CPU performance. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, but it’s still worth evaluating GPU performance. We run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. The Framework Laptop 12 produced a score of 1255 in 3DMark Time Spy. That’s very low compared to other modern laptops, which is no surprise — the Intel UHD Graphics here are part of the previous-generation Raptor Lake package here, and integrated GPUs have improved dramatically since then. Overall, the Framework Laptop 12’s benchmark scores didn’t impress compared to other recent laptops with more modern CPUs. It was still plenty capable of producing solid-day-to-day productivity performance, but it will particularly struggle when it comes to CPU-heavy multithreaded workloads and 3D graphics. Obviously, that’s not what this machine is for — but it’d be nice to have better performance, especially for 3D graphics, with a laptop designed for students. Framework Laptop 12: Battery life The Framework Laptop 12 has a 50 Watt-hour battery, which is on the small end for a machine like this one. Additionally, the choice of an Intel Core i3 or Core i5 CPU from the older 13th generation (“Raptor Lake”) keeps the price down and delivers decent performance, but it suggests this machine will be more power-hungry and get lower battery life than a newer machine with Intel’s Lunar Lake hardware — which is, of course, much more expensive. IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled — and the screen set to 250 nits of brightness — until the laptop suspends itself. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. The Framework Laptop 12 lasted for an average of 688 minutes — that’s nearly eleven and a half hours — in our standard benchmark. While that sounds impressive, real-world battery life will always be less than this, and it’s a low number compared to laptops with more modern power-efficient CPUs. CPU manufacturers have made a lot of progress since Intel first released Raptor Lake in 2022! For my workload — Google Chrome, Slack, Microsoft Word, OneNote, and similar apps — I got about five hours before I had to plug in the machine. That’s serviceable, but it’s still far below what a machine with Intel Lunar Lake or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus would deliver. A larger battery would make this less of an issue. Framework Laptop 12: Conclusion The Framework Laptop 12 is a hard laptop to score. If you want a modular, repairable, customizable 2-in-1 laptop, there’s no other machine like this on the market. This is your dream machine. You’ll find 2-in-1s with more battery life and performance, but you won’t find any you can crack open and make your own like this. On the other hand, when comparing this to other 2-in-1 machines, if repairability and customization aren’t priorities, this machine is a tougher sell, especially over something with a newer CPU and faster 3D graphics performance. For a few hundred bucks more, for example, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition delivers much improved battery life, CPU performance, and GPU performance — alongside an NPU for AI tasks — and the main sacrifice is Framework’s repairability and customizability. Framework’s laptops are amazing. I love that they exist! If it had a slightly newer CPU, it’d be a slam-dunk. As it stands, it’s an excellent (though niche) choice for tinkerers and students who value flexibility over raw performance. 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SentinelOne has partnered with Amazon Web Services to enhance cloud security by integrating AI-powered threat detection with AWS Security Hub`s new features. Read...

TL;DR: Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 is down to just $27.97 (reg. $499), giving you access to premium development tools without the premium price tag. Whether you’re building your first app or managing large-scale software projects, having the right tools makes all the difference. Visual Studio Professional 2022 gives developers a powerful, flexible environment for writing, debugging, testing, and deploying code across multiple platforms, and right now, it’s available for a one-time price of just $27.97. This isn’t a trial or a watered-down version. It’s the full suite of Microsoft’s flagship IDE, ready to support Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and web development. You can work with .NET MAUI to create cross-platform apps, use Blazor to build interactive UIs with C#, and even run and debug C++ or .NET code on Linux. Speed up your workflow with modern features: Hot reload: apply code changes without restarting. IntelliCode: offers AI-assisted code suggestions and autocompletions. CodeLens: insights on references, changes, and test results without leaving your code. Live Share: collaborate with teammates in real time with no screen sharing required. If you’re looking to level up your development stack or need a reliable platform for professional coding projects, this deal is a no-brainer. Just don’t wait too long—licenses are limited, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 now for just $27.97 (reg. $499) while these codes last. Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for WindowsSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

One of the most prominent features of this year’s spate of graphics card launches—from both AMD and Nvidia—is the pricing issues they’ve faced. Due to various factors, GPUs that launched at modest MSRPs are selling with price tags several hundred dollars beyond. Though some newer and more affordable cards are bucking the trend, like AMD’s Radeon RX 9060 XT, most gamers are simply being priced out by the latest GPUs. Anyone looking to upgrade is likely having a hard time, and a new study by Liquid Web suggests these prices are sending gamers toward cloud gaming in greater numbers than ever before. Liquid Web (admittedly a cloud hosting company) polled 1,000 gamers of various ages and backgrounds on their recent PC upgrade interests and intentions. Some of the results are quite stark. PC gamers are being priced out Over half of all polled gamers said they had been so affected by price hikes and scalping on GPUs that they’d been forced to delay—or even cancel—their PC upgrading plans altogether. In fact, 43% of respondents said that life expenses (e.g., rent and bills) had forced them to skip graphics card purchases. You have to imagine there’s a lot of crossover there. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition is incredible, but its exorbitant price puts it out of reach of just about everyone.Foundry That’s no surprise considering the sky-high graphics card prices we’re seeing. Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 was supposed to sell at $2,000, but it quickly rocketed to over $3,000 at most retailers. Even much-more-affordable cards, like the RTX 5070 Ti and 5070, ended up retailing for hundreds of dollars north of their MSRP in the weeks following launch. The downside of rapidly rising GPU prices isn’t just that PC gamers miss out on next-generation gaming experiences—it disillusions them to the idea of upgrading at all. Among gamers who were ready to upgrade, 39% said they would wait at least another one to two years to upgrade their graphics cards, while a further 37% said they’d run what they have into the ground and only replace it when it dies. Then again, maybe by that time they won’t feel the need to upgrade anymore. Liquid Web’s study also shed insight on gamers switching to cloud gaming, where upgrades aren’t dependent on hardware availability or retail pricing. And there were an impressive number of respondents who were keen on the idea. Will the cloud replace hardware? Cloud gaming has come a long way over the past decade, and today it’s a relatively solid alternative to native play. Geforce Now, Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus—they all offer relatively affordable options for playing large libraries of PC and console games without needing to own the proper hardware… or, in some cases, even the games. As of this writing, cloud gaming is far from replacing local gaming. There are a number of factors as to why that is, but for the gamers in this study, it’s mainly due to latency problems. 62% of respondents (mostly Millenial and Gen Z) said they would switch to cloud gaming full-time instead of playing on their own hardware if latency were “eliminated.” Cloud gaming makes gaming anywhere with anything a lot easier.Muha Ajjan / Unsplash Unfortunately, that’s just not going to happen. While modern hardware and networking is fast, there’s just no beating the physical immediacy of local rendering on your own machine. However, when the question was asked more broadly of respondents, a sizeable number (42%) said they’d skip upgrading their graphics cards if “their needs were met” with either cloud gaming or AI upscaling. That’s a much more achievable goal for cloud providers who want to deliver a premium remote gaming experience. Around 20% of Millennial and Gen Z gamers believe that high-end GPUs will become less essential in the next three years because of cloud gaming and the growing improvements to AI upscaling like DLSS and FSR. Meanwhile, nearly 60% who are still holding out for a GPU upgrade to improve their gaming experience. I’m not entirely sold on the idea of AI upscaling being everything, but frame generation has made some impressive leaps lately. If Nvidia keeps its focus on AI and can’t figure out how to keep its GPUs in better stock, we may all be relying on more cloud and AI features before long. Read...

Customers lost internet for up to an hour. Read...

The Downdetector site shows reports of outages across the North Island. Read...