StarTree unveils new AI-powered features, including Model Context Protocol and vector embedding, enhancing real-time enterprise data insights and control for June 2025. Read...

If you use Microsoft’s Authenticator app on your mobile phone as a password manager, here’s some bad news: Microsoft is discontinuing the “autofill” password management functionality in Authenticator. According to the announcement post (spotted by BleepingComputer), the transition will take place in three stages over this summer. Starting in June, you will no longer be able to store new passwords in Authenticator. In July, the actual autofill feature will stop working, meaning you won’t be able to use Authenticator to fill in passwords for you. In August, all saved passwords will disappear from Authenticator, effectively killing the feature for good. Fortunately, all your saved passwords are synced to your Microsoft account, which means they’ll still be accessible another way. To access your saved passwords after they’re gone from Authenticator, you’ll need to install Edge on your mobile phone. Edge also has autofill, so you can resume password management there. If you don’t want to use Edge as your password manager, you’ll need to export your passwords from Authenticator and import them into whatever other password manager you end up using. Check out our favorite free password managers if you don’t know what to use instead. Read...

As announced a few weeks ago, Microsoft has officially discontinued the Skype messaging service as of today, May 5th. Apparently, there wasn’t enough user interest to keep the once-iconic video call app alive. If you’re one of the dwindling few who still used Skype in 2025, you might be wondering what you can do going forward. Naturally, Microsoft recommends switching to Teams, which is free to use and conveniently installed on every Windows PC with Microsoft 365. But if you don’t want to use Teams, you have other options, too. Switching from Skype to Teams Microsoft offers the ability for Skype users to log into Teams using their existing login details, which automatically transfers all chats and contacts. Up until the final shutdown, it was still possible chat or call via Teams with Skype users who hadn’t yet switched to the new platform. However, this is no longer possible. If you still have a Skype subscription, you can keep using it until the end of the next renewal period. If you have Skype Credits, you’ll be able to keep using them via Teams’ Dial Pad feature. If the seamless migration from Skype to Teams didn’t work, you can also try this method to move your contacts from Skype to Teams: Open Microsoft Teams. Select the three-dot menu > Settings. Select People. Under Synchronize contacts, select the Manage button. From there, you have the option to synchronize Skype if you use the same Microsoft account for Teams. You can also back up your Skype data: Sign into Skype and go to My Account. In the settings page, select the Export contacts option. Skype will offer you all your contacts for download. You will then receive a CSV file that you can open and edit in Excel. For chats and media, log in at go.skype.com/export and select everything you want to download (messages, pictures, videos, recordings, and other files). Confirm and wait for the export to finish. You’ll then get a download link under Available exports. It’s not yet possible to delete your Skype account without closing the associated Microsoft account, as explained on this support page. Microsoft was expected to offer the option of deleting just your Skype account without touching your Microsoft account, but as of yet there’s still no information on this. Alternatives to Skype and Teams If you’re looking for another messaging app besides Skype and Teams, the following options are available: Zoom (offers meetings, calendar, chats, and calls; good for overall organization and planning of communication) Google Meet (formerly Google Hangouts; offers video calls, meetings, and conferences via PC, tablet, and phone) Slack (offers chats, group communication, video meetings and calls; optimized for remote teamwork) WhatsApp (offers chats, group communication, video calls, and many other features; better for private use) Cisco Webex (offers web and video conferencing; mainly for professional use with optional paid subscription features) Discord (offers chats, voice and video calls, and group communication; best for public and private communities) TeamSpeak (offers text chats and voice calls, no video; mainly for gaming but can be used for any team-based purposes) Further reading: Do you really need an encrypted messaging app? Read...

Update on May 5, 2025: According to a Windows 10 support page (spotted by Windows Latest), the removal of “recent files” app jump lists in Windows 10’s Start menu was confirmed to be a bug caused by the integration of account control experiences in the Start menu. The bug was fixed with a service change that rolled out on April 25th. If you’re still running into this issue, make sure your device is connected to the internet so it can receive the automatic resolution. Once received, it should be resolved after rebooting your system. Original story from April 23, 2025: Microsoft developers apparently love making changes to the Start menu. Sometimes it’s to add new features like an account manager, while other times it’s to inject advertisements. And now it’s time to make changes again. The big April update for Windows 10—known as update KB5055518—has apparently removed the convenient jump lists that appear when right-clicking on app tiles in the Start menu. This feature, which let you quickly access recent files relevant to the app in question, has been part of Windows 10 for years… but it’s gone now. Spotted by Windows Latest, it’s unclear why the recent file jump lists were removed from the Windows 10 Start menu, and Microsoft hasn’t mentioned making this move, so it’s possible that it’s just a bug. If you want the feature back, you can uninstall update KB5055518, but you’ll also lose the important security fixes in the update. Read...

For years, I’ve assumed that most people don’t need third-party antivirus tools and have cheerily passed this suggestion along to others. After all, Microsoft’s Windows Security suite (also known as Windows Defender or Microsoft Defender) provides built-in virus protection for your PC, and it doesn’t cost a dime. I’ve been using it for years, and the last time I can recall having virus problems on my PC was well over a decade ago. And yet, looking around for confirmation of this long-held belief quickly turns up an alternate universe, full of experts who insist that everyone should be paying for antivirus software. This advice comes not just from the companies that sell antivirus suites, but from reputable sites that perform antivirus software reviews. On top of that, nearly every laptop I’ve reviewed for PCWorld has come with some form of antivirus trialware from companies like McAfee and Norton. Those companies pay PC makers for placement, which wouldn’t make sense if no one bought the products, right? At this point, I’ve heard enough questions from readers—and family members—that I decided to dig a little deeper. What I’ve learned is that my initial assumptions were mostly correct: Most people can indeed skate by without extra antivirus software. But that doesn’t mean everyone should, or that you shouldn’t take any extra precautions to stay safe. The case against extra antivirus software As a Reddit thread on the subject shows, the consensus answer is yes, with caveats. Jared Newman / Foundry PCWorld writer Jon Martindale came to the same conclusion, as did the website SafetyDetectives. The reasoning is simple: Windows Security rivals other programs at sniffing out viruses. While this wasn’t always the case, Microsoft’s detection has improved considerably in recent years, to the point that the independent AV-TEST Institute regularly awards it a perfect 6 out 6 in protection, usability, and performance, beating industry averages. Perhaps more importantly, security is decentralized now, so a single virus scanner is no longer your only line of protection. Some examples: Major web browsers can detect and block malicious websites on their own, thanks to tools like Google Safe Browsing. Those browsers may also warn you if you’re about to download an unrecognized program. Major email providers, such as Gmail and Yahoo, scan attachments for viruses before you can even download them. Those same email providers’ spam filters do a great job at keeping malicious emails out of your inbox and warning you of potential phishing schemes. The SmartScreen filter built into Windows will warn you if you’re attempting to install unrecognized software. Antivirus, in the end, is just another line of defense. For many people, Microsoft’s built-in defenses should be strong enough. Further reading: Windows Defender antivirus: 5 settings to change first Getting a second opinion Malwarebytes might find some potential threats that Windows Security misses.Alaina Yee / Foundry So why to do some folks recommend Malwarebytes as an additional layer of protection? Mainly because it’s nice to have another set of eyes on your computer. Last year, for instance, I ran a scan in Malwarebytes, and picked up a set of potentially unwanted programs tied to my installation of Chrome. While my Chrome installation seemed to be working fine—with no sketchy toolbars or search redirects that I could see—this did convince me to delete my sync data from Chrome, reset its settings, and perform a fresh Chrome install. (I suspect it was a browser extension behaving badly.) But Malwarebytes has its downsides as well. If you’re not careful during installation, it will automatically install its own extension in all your browsers, and the free version routinely nags you with upgrade prompts. Also, unless you disable its real-time protections (which are only available as a 14-day trial for free users), they’ll override Microsoft’s own virus scanner. I may still occasionally install Malwarebytes to get a second opinion on my computer’s health, but for now, I’m leaving it off my PC as well. Further reading: The best antivirus software The case for extra antivirus protection Tools like Norton 360 provide more than just virus scanning.Ian Paul / Foundry To be clear, third-party antivirus software isn’t a grift with no actual utility behind it. While many people don’t need to pay for antivirus software, there are still some reasons to consider doing so: You need more help with security: Some antivirus programs offer extra security features beyond the realm of traditional virus scanning. Avast, for instance, can monitor webcam use and let you block untrusted apps from capturing video, and it can also alert you if any of your online passwords are involved in a security breach. (Many premium AV suites now offer identity protection features.) You’re looking to bundle: In addition to extra security features, some antivirus programs offer tools that you might otherwise purchase separately. Norton 360 Deluxe, for instance, includes its own password manager and cloud storage service. Avast One has a built-in VPN and a temporary file cleaner. You want more kinds of protection: Some third-party tools offer additional methods of protection that aren’t built into Windows. AVG’s “Behavior Shield,” for instance, can look for patterns of malicious behavior even when it hasn’t detected a virus, while Avast One has ransomware protection that prevents apps from encrypting your files without permission. (Windows offers this as well, but not by default.) Secure file deletion, browsing protection, and other helpful features are available in many premium security packages as well. Antivirus suites also typically provide protection for mobile devices as well as personal computers. All of these extra features, however, may bloat your computer, affecting performance and getting in your way, and they might not even be the best tools for the job. I’d much rather use a dedicated password manager than one that’s bundled with antivirus software, and if I needed a VPN, I’d want to choose the provider myself. That said, there’s strong appeal in an all-in-one solution for people who don’t want to handle a mish-mash of programs, and modern antivirus suites offer exactly that. the best windows antivirus overall Norton 360 Deluxe Read our review While extra antivirus software was essential in the early days of personal computing, these days it’s just one potential tool in the broader security arsenal, which should also include strong passwords, two-factor authentication, robust data backups, and a healthy dose of common sense. On that, at least, the experts seem to be in total harmony. Want more tech advice like this? Sign up for my Advisorator newsletter, where a version of this column originally appeared. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Top-notch performance Excellent display Fast wired and wireless connectivity Supports USB-C charging Cons Premium pricing Still has the short battery life of a gaming laptops Trackpad could be bigger Our Verdict The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 continues its family’s knack for delivering extreme performance in a quality chassis at a competitive price. There are little areas for improvement, and the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 can’t get away from typical gaming laptop issues like weight and limited battery life, but it’s still excellent for what it is. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Lenovo’s Legion laptop family has been setting a high bar for gaming laptops over the last few years. While the Legion 9 series may be top dog in that family, the Legion Pro 7 series tends to mark a balance of class-leading performance, build quality, and value. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 continues that legacy nicely, offering extreme CPU and GPU performance all in a robust chassis with an excellent display.  With a starting price of $2,849 and a bump up to $3,599 to get the RTX 5080-equipped system tested here, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is solidly in the high-end gaming laptop category. But from our first benchmark to the last, it wastes no time cementing itself as one of the best gaming laptops you can get right now.  Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Specs and features Model number: ?82WQ002SUS CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Memory: 32GB DDR5X-6400 CSODIMM Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5080 (175-watt TGP) Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 240Hz OLED, Anti-glare Storage: 2X 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 5MP Connectivity: 1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB-C 10Gbps (with DP 2.1 and 140W PD input), 1x USB-A 10Gbps, 2x USB-A 5Gbps, HDMI 2.1, 2.5GbE, 1x 3.5mm combo audio Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: n/a Battery capacity: 99 watt-hours Dimensions: 14.35 x 10.9 x 1.05 inches Weight: 5.84 pounds MSRP: $3,599 as-tested ($2,849 base) At the time of writing, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is available in just a few largely similar configurations. The one tested here costs $3,599 and is built around the RTX 5080. It is the only configuration listed on Lenovo’s website, but B&H also has configurations that swap in the RTX 5070 Ti for $2,849 or the RTX 5090 for $3,999. Lenovo often starts off some of its laptop models with just a few configurations but expands on them later on, so don’t be surprised if more options trickle in later on. For now, all of these configurations include the same 32GB of DDR5 memory on two CSODIMM sticks, the same pair of 1TB PCIe 4.0×4 SSDs, the same OLED display, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX.  The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 sets the stage nicely for high-end gaming laptops running on the latest GPUs.  Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Design and build quality IDG / Mark Knapp The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is a hulking machine, much like its predecessors. It packs a lot inside and aims to let it run at high wattages, so the size and weight make sense. Lenovo didn’t push much beyond the necessary bounds though, with the screen featuring narrow bezels and the rear of the laptop sticking out just an inch behind the display hinge to accommodate the beefier cooling required for this kind of application. Unsurprisingly, the laptop ends up over an inch thick.  The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is blacked out with a matte black aluminum frame spanning the keyboard deck, display lid, and underside of the laptop. This metal build has some minor flex to it but altogether feels quite sturdy.  Despite being a gaming laptop, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 offers a tame look. There’s no needlessly aggressive embossing or angularity to most of the chassis. It has per-key RGB keyboard lighting and a thin light bar at the front edge of the deck, but beyond this lighting (which is easy to turn off), the only real hint to the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10’s gaming nature is the fighter-jet-like exhaust at the rear of the system, which houses a massive radiator that spans the entire rear edge.  There are three intake fans tucked behind the bottom grille — two large ones on either side and a smaller one slightly offset from the center that seems meant for the memory modules. They pull air in from the bottom and sent it out of the aforementioned radiator.   While some of Lenovo’s prior gaming laptops situated extra ports along the back edge of the system, the dedication to heat dissipation in the rear meant Lenovo had to shift all of its I/O to the side of the laptop.  Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Mark Knapp The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 offers a solid keyboard. The keys are lightly contoured, helping me keep my fingertips centered on them. They’re also very well stabilized for a laptop keyboard, helping keep the stroke even and avoiding rolling off the edge. They’re also not mushy and offer 1.6mm travel. Despite these quality aspects of the keyboard, the deck is long and can make it a bit uncomfortable to type on unless the ergonomics of the desk/table are just right. I was able to get up to 116 words per minute with 97 percent accuracy in Monkeytype, but this was a hair slower and more error-prone than I’d like to see, and it required removing my watch to manage. The rest of the keyboard is quite nice as well. The backlighting is bright and thoroughly illuminates the key legends. Lenovo includes full-size arrow keys slightly offset from the rest of the keyboard, making them easy to use and feel out — great for quick navigation. There’s also a large number pad, and while the keys are slightly narrower than the rest of the keyboard, they still allow for convenient touch typing. The trackpad is a slightly sore point in the inputs. It’s a fine trackpad, offering smooth swiping and a satisfying tactile click when depressed. But it’s rather small for a system this large, and it’s so far to the left that I find I’m almost constantly right-clicking. This may not be a concern if you’re left-handed, but righties will likely find it a slight bother reaching so far over to use the trackpad.  Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Display, audio IDG / Mark Knapp The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 includes an excellent display. It’s wonderfully sharp thanks to its 2560×1600 panel, and gamers will get a lot out of its 240Hz refresh rate. Better still, it’s an OLED panel that effectively eliminates ghosting, which can be quite a bit worse on laptop IPS displays than desktop ones in my experience. That combines with infinite contrast, a bold peak brightness of 509.8 nits, 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, and color accuracy with a maximum dE of 1.47 — good enough for professional uses.  Lenovo says the display is anti-glare, and while it’s certainly no mirror, it’s not matte either. I can clearly see my reflection in it when I’m in bright environments. It can get bright enough to help subdue some reflections, but that will draw more power and still leave reflections visible in darker areas of the screen.  The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 boasts a set of four speakers. Two are situated above the keyboard on an elevated shelf by the display hinge, and two are on the underside of the laptop. These pump out a ton of volume with crisp mids and a nice bit of bass. If you’re trying to game or watch movies on the laptop, you won’t immediately be running for headphones or external speakers here. They’re quite excellent for laptop speakers. Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Webcam, microphone, biometrics You’ll get a great-looking webcam on the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10. It offers 5MP resolution stills and can record at 1440p/30FPS. Even without perfect lighting, it’s surprisingly low on noise, and it does an impressive job exposing the picture without blowing out highlights. Its wide field of view will also help if you want to record yourself and a friend side-by-side. It comes paired with a solid microphone system as well. Even in a large room, my voice sounded clear and full to the mics, avoiding room echo.  Unfortunately, you won’t get any convenient biometric login capabilities on the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10. There’s no fingerprint reader or facial recognition.  Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Connectivity IDG / Mark Knapp The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 has decent wired connectivity for a laptop of its size. It has USB-A ports on either side, a 3.5mm jack and 2.5GbE port on the right side, and two USB-C ports and an HDMI 2.1 port on the left side. Only one of those USB-C ports is Thunderbolt 4, but the other at least supports DisplayPort 2.1 and 140W PD input. That USB PD input actually lets the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 recharge over USB-C when it’s set in Hybrid Mode (the GPU would drain too much power otherwise), providing some bonus flexibility if you don’t want to carry the 400W charger everywhere you go. An SD card reader would have been a good addition given the system’s productivity and creative application chops.  Wireless connectivity is a strong point, with the system supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. In testing, it had no issues on the wireless front and offered plenty of bandwidth when downloading games on my Wi-Fi 6 network.  Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Performance The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is geared up for major performance, and it’s no surprise to see it zoom through our benchmarks with aplomb. It’s one of the first few gaming laptops powered by an RTX 50-series GPU that we’ve tested, so it presents a good opportunity to not only see the potential of the chips in mobile platforms but also see what improvements have come over the prior generation, if any.  Lenovo tends to make well-rounded configurations with its Legion series, and the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is no exception. In the holistic PCMark 10 benchmark, we see strong overall performance. By combining a fast CPU, GPU, memory, and storage, it performs impressively in every test that PCMark 10 throws at it, leading the pack here. That said, it’s only a minor uptick over the earlier Legion 9i Gen 9. Impressively, it beat the MSI Raider 18 HX A2XW — a bigger, heavier laptop that ought to have benefitted from extra cooling to run faster but showed a particular weakness in office productivity tasks. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 gets a high-end CPU, so it’s no surprise to see it ripping away at encoding tasks. It pulls off our 4K video encode in just under seven minutes — an impressive pace that pulls ahead of even the Core i9-14900HX in some of its competitors. It didn’t quite keep up with the MSI Raider 18 HX’s Core Ultra 9 285HX, which has the same core configuration but benefits from slightly faster clock speeds. That said, Lenovo didn’t let the MSI’s high-end CPU always take the lead. In Cinebench R20 and R23, it actually led the MSI Raider 18 HX in single- and multi-core performance, though MSI takes back the performance lead in Cinebench R24, which can benefit from extra cooling thanks to its longer run time. While the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 and MSI trade blows with narrow margins, offering extreme CPU performance, they simply blow the rest of the pack out of the water here with double-digit performance advantages.  The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10’s CPU is matched well with its GPU. In 3DMark’s synthetic gaming benchmark Port Royal, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 offers the fastest performance we’ve seen from a laptop. It not only clears the MSI Raider 18 HX with its own RTX 5080 but also beats the RTX 4090 in the Legion 9i and Gigabyte Aorus 17X.  While synthetic benchmarks are a useful guide for gaming performance, it always helps to see actual games run on a GPU, so we put each gaming laptop through a battery of demanding game benchmarks. Unsurprisingly, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 keeps up its lead. Despite its age, Metro Exodus remains a demanding game at its Extreme graphics setting because of its heavy use of ray-traced effects. Still, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is able to run it at nearly 100 fps on average, leading all of the other systems here and yet again offering some of the fastest laptop performance we’ve seen in this test. Shadow of the Tomb Raider also proves a rather demanding game but isn’t quite as hard on the GPU and therefore lets the CPU help push performance even further. Here, the powerful combination of the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10’s Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and RTX 5080 achieves an impressive average of 238 frames per second, nearly topping our charts. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is even capable of running Cyberpunk 2077 at native 1080p with Ultra settings without ray tracing or DLSS at 151 fps. That drops to just 41 fps with the fully path-traced RT Overdrive mode, but again, that’s before tapping into DLSS for any performance improvements.  The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 will default to the performance power profile when plugged in, helping ensure you get the most out of it. But that’s not to say this is its peak. Lenovo’s Legion Space software offers customizable performance settings that could see it eke out even higher speeds.  All this performance does come with some cost: the fans kick up when the system goes into high gear. It’s not too shrill, but it’s fairly loud, and there is still a high pitched element to it that will wear on you after long. Also, the system relies on a massive 400W power brick. Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Battery life To help conserve battery, Lenovo has set the Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 to go from Windows’ Performance mode when plugged in down to its Balanced mode when it’s running on battery. Not having to manually make this change can help ensure you don’t find out the laptop is needlessly churning through battery power only after it has wasted a good chunk of charge. And you’ll want to conserve as much as you can. That said, laptops have been making improvements to battery life in leaps and bounds, with some Windows machines scratching 24 hours. While gaming laptops have made improvements, they’re still lacking in this area. With the display set between 250 and 260 nits and the system on airplane mode, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 managed a little under six hours of runtime in our local video playback test.  Bear in mind, video playback can offer some favorable results where the battery is concerned, especially when an OLED display gets to show letterboxes (black pixels don’t use power, after all). In actual use, the battery life is shorter. Even with the dGPU disabled and performance set to balanced profiles in Windows and Lenovo’s LegionSpace, the system lasts closer to 3 hours in normal use, browsing the web and watching the occasional video. On the bright side, the 400W charger can juice the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 back up quickly. Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10: Conclusion The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is an extreme-performance laptop. Its combination of potent CPU and GPU readies it for intense gaming and heavy computing workloads alike. That comes with some extra bulk, weight, and noisy cooling, but the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 is still relatively strong next to competing laptops. Lenovo has fit all of that power into a great frame, offering an above-average keyboard, an excellent display, and a healthy selection of ports for most uses.  With all its packing, it’s not surprising to see the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 costs a tidy sum. But at $3,499, it’s still a fair price. It’s cheaper than the prior-generation Legion 9i — a higher-tier system — and yet it outperforms that system in most respects. It’s also quite a bit cheaper than the $4,499 MSI Raider 18 HX A2XW, which it squares off against, trading blows and landing quite a few victories over. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 Gen 10 sets the stage nicely for high-end gaming laptops running on the latest GPUs. Read...

On its own, the term “network-attached storage” sounds rather boring. You could easily imagine a useful-but-dull beige box that’s intended to live its days out in a corporate network’s server room. But that isn’t the case! In fact, NAS drives are surprisingly exciting and brimming with possibilities. They’re the farthest thing from a boring corporate storage device, and if you don’t have a NAS drive of your own yet, you’re seriously missing out. What is a NAS drive? Think of a portable hard drive. Normally, you plug it into a computer to access the contents of the drive, and you can only access the contents from that computer while it’s plugged in. But what if you could connect that hard drive to your home network? And what if that drive’s contents were accessible by all the other devices connected on the same network? That’s basically what a NAS drive is in a nutshell, hence the name “network-attached storage.” A NAS drive is like a file server for whatever network it’s currently on. Mark Pickavance / Foundry You might also hear them referred to as NAS devices or NAS boxes, which are essentially the same except they can house multiple drives at once, offering more storage space but serving the same purpose. But for this article, I’ll just refer to them as NAS drives. Here’s why you should consider adding a NAS drive to your home network and what you could use it for. Run apps and services 24/7 Mark Pickavance / Foundry A NAS drive isn’t just for storage. Modern NAS devices are basically streamlined home servers, and they let you install services and apps. For example, you could run a BitTorrent client like Transmission or qBitTorrent on your NAS for torrenting, or a home media server app like Plex or Jellyfin. It will remain running 24/7 and you won’t have to leave your power-hungry PC on all the time. There’s so much more you can do here than you might have even imagined. A Synology NAS even includes Docker support, so you can install a whole world of self-hosted applications. Home media server for your TV Media servers are the most compelling service you can run on a home server, and as it turns out, many NAS devices let you run software like Plex or Jellyfin, effectively turning your NAS drive into a media server. When configured this way, your NAS drive can handle the transcoding of media files on the fly into a format that’s compatible with your TV. In other words, you can stream media files directly from your NAS on your TV like it was your own personal Netflix. (A word of warning, though, that older NAS drives or ones with slower hardware may struggle to transcode high-resolution media files—like 4K videos—at the proper speeds. If this is your use case, be sure to get solid hardware.) Ben Patterson / Foundry Modern smart TVs and streaming boxes generally have Plex clients you can install. With these, you can place all your movies, TV shows, music, or even photos on your NAS, then connect to it with your TV and stream. There’s no need to connect a USB drive to your TV and cart files back and forth when you can access them over the home network. You can also set up remote access to access the NAS from outside your network! You can remotely stream from your music library, or even grant friends access to your NAS so they can stream it, too. This is one of the best reasons to use a NAS! Network backups for all your devices We all know we should be backing up data regularly. But local backups can be inconvenient. You need to plug an external drive into each of your PCs and perform the backups, or rely on an online backup service. A NAS drive makes the whole process way easier, giving you a central location to which all your PCs can back up their data. Since it all happens over the network, you don’t need to plug anything anywhere, and devices can automatically back up to the NAS on a schedule. Unlike with cloud backups, you’re backing up to your own hardware—and backing up and restoring files is faster because it’s over your local network. You may still want to back up to the cloud, though. It’s good to have multiple backups, both onsite (i.e., on your NAS) and offsite (i.e., somewhere physically outside your home or office). Easy file sharing between devices While a NAS can do a lot more than just storage, network-attached file storage is also exactly what it says on the tin. You get a pool of storage you can access over the network from any device. It’s great for file sharing and accessing the same files across multiple PCs. Mark Pickavance / Foundry It’s also a great way to add additional storage to all your devices. Rather than installing more big hard drives in your various PCs or lugging around portable SSDs, you can do it all with a NAS that has ample storage. Every device on the network can use the NAS like an external drive. And if you use your NAS as a dumping grounds for files, it’s super easy to transfer files between, say, your PC and your MacBook. Use the NAS as a middleman makes file transfers convenient. Remote file access without the cloud Modern PCs, devices, and apps want to store your files on the cloud, and that’s why if you’re using Windows, you’ll find that OneDrive wants to slurp up everything in your Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos folders and store it all online. That can be convenient… but you may prefer to manage your own files. In fact, you may want to retain local control of your files while making them remotely accessible while you’re away from home, whether on your phone, a tablet, or a laptop. A NAS can do this thanks to remote access capabilities. If you set it up right, you can browse and access your files even when you’re away from your home network. Just be sure to enable remote access with proper security in mind. It’s not a good idea to expose your NAS directly to the internet. A feature like Synology QuickConnect lets you access your NAS over the web without actually forwarding ports and making it vulnerable to hackers. Storage for your security camera footage Speaking of skipping the cloud, a NAS drive can also be a great storage option for home security cameras. Normally, you either keep all your security footage on a microSD card and manually pull videos off when you need them, or you pay for a premium subscription provided by your security camera brand that auto-uploads footage to their cloud. Rather than going for a cloud-connected security camera system that charges you subscription fees, you can set up a local storage-focused setup that records to a NAS. For example, take a look at the Synology Surveillance Station software for Synology NAS devices. Get started with your first NAS drive There’s so much you can do with a NAS drive. You could use it as a networked photo library that lets you remotely share photos with friends or family. You could use it as a VPN endpoint so you can remotely access your home network while away from home. Think of a NAS drive as a multipurpose home server—not just storage attached to your network—and the possibilities will open up. If you want to get started pronto but don’t know what to get, there’s nothing wrong with buying a pre-built NAS box. I’d recommend the tried-and-true Synology DiskStation DS224+. It has two hot-swappable bays and supports both 3.5-inch SATA HDDs and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs, but it’s diskless so you’ll have to supply your own drive. To take full advantage of Synology’s features, you’ll need Synology-branded drives—like the 4TB Synology HAT3300 Plus Series. Other options include the 2-bay Ugreen NASync DXP2800 and the 4-bay TerraMaster F4-212, both diskless as well. Whatever you end up getting, you’ll love the extra convenience and functionality you get from having network-attached storage. It’s a game-changer! Read...

The Acer Nitro V is easily one of the most affordable gaming laptops you can get these days. Amazon has it down to $625 right now, which is a solid discount on its $849 MSRP. The Nitro V’s highlight is the GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, which is a phenomenal get for the price. It’s admittedly an entry-level RTX option in today’s gaming landscape and you won’t be able to crank your settings to the max, but you should be able to play modern 3D titles on medium (or better with games that support DLSS 3). Frankly, if you can do without cutting-edge visuals, then you’re good to go here. Equipped with a 13th-gen Intel Core i5-13420H processor and 8GB of DDR5 RAM, this laptop is decent enough to handle your daily workload, but you will notice it struggle at times. If you want a slightly more powerful combo—we recommend at least 16GB of RAM when dealing with Windows 11—then you should consider paying a few bucks more for the Nitro V with Core i7 and 16GB RAM that’s on sale for $700. The 15.6-inch IPS display is color accurate and gaming-ready with its 144Hz refresh rate and 1920×1080 resolution. You can hook up to two monitors to this laptop as it features HDMI 2.1 and Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port with 65 watts of power delivery. (The laptop itself is charged via barrel port so the TB4 port can be used for other stuff.) You also get three USB-A 3.2 ports, a LAN port, and a 3.5mm headset jack. This is a great deal that you’ll want to pounce on before tariffs kick prices way up in the coming months. Get yourself the Acer Nitro V for $625 (or the upgraded config for $700) before this discount expires! If you want something even more powerful than both of these, though, check out our picks for the best gaming laptops under $1,000. Get the Nitro V with Core i5 and 8GB RAM for $625Buy now at Amazon Get the Nitro V with Core i7 and 16GB RAM for $700Buy now at Amazon Read...

While it once scoffed at the possibility of offering an ad-supported tier, Netflix has since embraced the idea, with millions of users snapping up its “Standard with Ads” plan, garnering plenty of interest from Madison Avenue along the way.  Since its arrival more than two years ago, Netflix has added a variety of features to its ad-supported tier to set it apart from the streaming crowd–and for now, its price remains a fraction of Netflix’s priciest 4K streaming plan.  So, how much does Netflix with ads cost, what’s included, and is anything left out? Here’s what you need to know. How much does Netflix with ads cost? Netflix Standard with Ads costs $7.99 a month, which reflects a buck-a-month price hike that Netflix imposed back in January 2025. For some context, ad-supported Hulu costs $9.99/month, as does Disney+ Basic, while Paramount+ Essential and Peacock Premium (which, confusingly, is ad-supported) both cost $7.99 a month. Finally, Max Basic with Ads goes for $9.99 a month. As it stands, Netflix’s cheapest available ad-free tier (following the demise of Netflix’s Basic plan) is the Standard plan, which currently costs $17.99 a month. How many streams do you get with the Netflix Standard with Ads plan? At launch, Netflix’s ad-supported plan (which was initially called “Basic with Ads”) only offered a single stream. But last year, Netflix upped the number of concurrent streams available on the Standard with Ads plan to two. Does Netflix with ads offer 4K HDR video resolution? No, but the video quality of Netflix Standard with Ads has improved since the tier was first launched. While ad-supported Netflix once offered only 720p video quality, it has since been boosted to 1080p, same as Netflix’s ad-free Standard plan. Currently, only Netflix’s priciest plan–Premium ($24.99 a month)–offers 4K HDR streaming, with four concurrent streams per household. Same as Netflix, most other streamers reserve their 4K HDR streams for their ad-free subscribers, although that’s not a universal policy; Paramount+, for one, does allow ad-supported subscribers to stream in 4K. Does ad-supported Netflix offer downloads for offline viewing? One of the best perks offered by the big streamers is the ability to download videos for offline viewing, perfect for binge-watching your favorite series during a long flight or when you don’t want to bust through your ISP’s (or carrier’s) data cap. Until recently, Netflix didn’t allow its with-ads subscribers to download videos for offline viewing, a restriction shared by the other big streamers. But in November 2023, Netflix reversed course, becoming the first big streaming service to enable offline downloads for subscribers to its ad-supported tier. There is a monthly limit to downloads for Standard with Ads subscribers, however: 15 downloads per device, resetting on the first of the month. How many commercial breaks does Netflix with ads have? Netflix Standard with Ads subscribers will have to sit through 4- to 5 minutes of commercials per hour, with the ads running at the beginning and during videos (ideally during “natural plot breaks”). Each ad will be either 15 or 30 seconds. That 4- to 5-minute-per-hour figure is pretty much in line with Netflix’s competitors. For example, the “with ads” version of Max averages about four minutes an hour, while Peacock tops out at about five minutes per hour. You will get some ad-free episodes as a bonus for binge-watching, however. Netflix previously announced a new “binge” ad unit that allows advertisers to sponsor an ad-free episode for viewers who just binge-watched a few episodes in a row. Of course, you’ll need to watch a 30- to 60-second “cinematic” ad from the sponsor before you get to watch your ad-free episode. Is Netflix with ads available on all streaming devices? Most devices that work with ad-free Netflix should also support Netflix Standard with Ads, although a “small percentage” of streaming players and TVs won’t work because its Netflix software can’t be updated anymore. And while the ad-supported Netflix plan wasn’t initially supported on Apple TV streaming devices, it is now (on Apple TV HD devices and later) following an update of the Netflix tvOS app in March 2023. Netflix with ads is also available on most other streaming platforms, including Amazon’s Fire TV, Android and iOS devices, most smart TVs, Mac and Windows computers, and Google TV players. Does Netflix with ads offer the same content as ad-free Netflix? Almost, but not quite everything. While the “vast majority” of TV shows and movies on Netflix are available for “with ads” viewers, a “small number” are missing because of “licensing issues,” Netflix says. If you do run across a video that’s unavailable on the Netflix Standard with Ads plan, you’ll see a padlock on the title, or a “Change plan to watch” banner in place of the standard “Play” button. Why did Netflix launch an ad-supported plan? Netflix lost subscribers during the first and second quarters of 2022, ending a decade of growth and sending Netflix’s stock price into a tailspin. And while Netflix is ubiquitous in North America, it’s having trouble gaining traction in the rest of the world, where it’s facing tough competition from cheaper streaming services. Meanwhile, Netflix’s rapidly growing competitors, including Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu, have rolled their own cheaper ad-supported plans, all of which undercut Netflix’s cheapest ad-free plans. So while it wasn’t all that long ago that Netflix executives scoffed at the idea of cheaper ad-supported plans, the company abruptly changed course when it became clear that its once seemingly unstoppable growth had stalled. In May 2024, Netflix reported that its Standard with Ads tier had roughly 40 million global active monthly users, up from just 5 million users in May 2023. (Netflix has since ceased tallying its monthly user base for the public.) Read...

Roku is best known for its streaming boxes and sticks, but it also offers free TV entertainment on its Roku Channel, including live linear TV and some original movies, and you don’t need to have Roku’s hardware—or a Roku TV—to watch it. We’ll show you all the ways you can enjoy the bounty. You can access the Roku Channel via a web browser or via Roku’s mobile apps for Android and iOS. To watch on a smart TV or another brand of streaming device (an Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung smart TV), you’ll need to install the Roku Channel app from that device’s app store. Unfortunately, Roku doesn’t have a version of the Roku Channel app for LG smart TVs or the Apple TV streamer. But we’ll show you some workarounds for those platforms later. If you do want a Roku streamer, we’ll help you find the right one. You don’t need a Roku-powered streaming device or TV to watch the free entertainment on the Roku Channel; in fact, you don’t need a media streamer at all. Just point your web browser to theRokuChannel.com and pick what you want to watch.Michael Brown/Foundry What’s available on the Roku Channel? The Roku Channel offers a wide array of FAST (free ad-supported TV) channels, movies and TV series you can watch on demand, as well as live linear TV (movies and shows are streamed on a fixed schedule—as in the good ol’ days of broadcast television—but you can drop in whenever you want). You’ll find some of this same content on other FAST services, such as Pluto and Tubi, but Roku always has a selection of popular films and shows that are exclusive to the Roku Channel. Roku’s most high-profile original project so far is the Emmy-winning Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe as the satirical singer. Roku offers a small amount of its own original programming, including Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe.Jared Newman / Foundry Other original shows include The Great American Baking Show, Honest Renovations, and Visionaries: The Arch Project with Keanu Reeves. It’s a tiny catalog when compared to what’s streaming on Max or Netflix, but you can watch all these shows for free (with ads). Roku has also gone bargain hunting, picking up worthy projects other streaming services have dropped. That includes the entire library of Quibi, the failed “quick bites” short form video service that Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg (former chief executive of Disney and co-founder of Dreamworks), designed for phones. Roku rescued an entire library of Quibi shows like Die Hart with Kevin Hart, Most Dangerous Game, a Punk’d revival with Chance the Rapper, the Reno 911! revival, and Bill Burr Presents Immoral Compass. Roku also picked up The Spiderwick Chronicles TV series from Disney+. Roku acquired the entire Quibi library of short films and offers it for free on the Roku Channel.Quibi Since The Roku Channel was designed as a hub for Roku streaming devices, there’s a lot of emphasis on luring users to subscribe to other streaming services, such as Prime Video, Peacock, MGM+, and Paramount+. If you’re not familiar with the catalogs of those streaming services, you might find yourself routed to their apps or websites when you click on a title. If you are interested in subscribing to those services, it’s best to sign up for them directly, so that your customer relationship is with the service provider and not a go-between. How to use a browser to watch the Roku Channel First, point your browser to therokuchannel.com. You’ll see a large grid with thumbnail images of the movies and TV shows on offer. At the risk of contradicting everything I’ve said about this entertainment being free and ad supported; well, some of it—a little of it—isn’t. But the Roku Channel user interface makes it easy to tell the difference.Roku’s browser view makes it easy to identify which content is free with ads and which requires a subscription to one service or another. Each section features tiles that slide to the left or right with arrows on each side of the screen, much like the navigation on Netflix. You’ll need to scroll down three times to see the entire user interface when viewing the Roku Channel in a web browser on an iPhone. Michael Brown/Foundry What you can’t do is adjust the view of the page to hide the Premium Subscription content. That makes sense—for Roku, at least—because part of the company’s business model revolves around you subscribing to outside services from within its site, for which Roku collects a commission. But it would be nice if users could hide the subscription options they don’t plan to use. A Browse tab allows a viewer to focus on such categories as Roku Originals, Movies, Series, Comedy, Drama, Western, and dozens of others. You can click a + button next to a program’s description to add it to a Saved tab. The Live TV tab shows what’s streaming now with the same sliding tile interface the rest of The Roku Channel site uses. It’s a bit counterintuitive for anyone who grew up with the traditional cable guide grid interface that Pluto and Tubi use for their live TV offerings. How to use the Roku Channel mobile app The Roku Channel lives inside the Roku app for iOS and Android. That app is primarily designed to act as a remote for a Roku device or Roku-powered television, so you’ll need to get used to working around that capability if you’re primarily using the app to just watch the Roku Channel. There is no Roku Channel app for the Apple TV streaming box, but you can play the service on your phone and cast it to the box connected your big-screen TV via Apple AirPlay.Michael Brown/Foundry For example, I use an Apple TV streamer with a TCL television that happens to have the Roku software built in. I don’t use the Roku software on the television, but I do have a Roku account. Press the wrong icon on the screen, and the Roku interface launches on the TV screen. There’s no way to turn that off or eliminate the icons for apps you may have installed on a Roku device or television. The mobile app uses the same sliding tile interface as the web version, but it’s far more difficult to use on a smaller screen. There’s no way to get an overview of what’s streaming live, and it’s impossible to surface a list of Roku Originals if you’re looking to focus on movies and shows exclusive to the channel. If you own an Apple TV, you can watch The Roku Channel on your television screen via mirroring. There’s no support for AirPlay. That means you won’t have access to anything but the streaming video when watching. What’s the best way to watch the Roku Channel? If have a Google-, Amazon Fire- or Roku-powered streaming device or television, download the Roku Channel app for your respective device, as that’s the easiest way to watch the service, as you’ll be able to use a remote control. If you don’t have one of those devices, the easiest way to watch the Roku Channel is on a web browser on a computer or tablet. If you’re looking to use your mobile device and want to have access to the full catalog of movies and shows, your best bet is to log in via a web browser and add what you want to your Save List. That content will then be easily accessed on the mobile app. Free streaming has become a major player in home entertainment. If you’re willing to put up with a few commercials (and sometimes the same commercials playing during every single ad break), there’s a wide variety of classic and relatively new movies and shows available on the Roku Channel—and other FAST services—to pass the time. Read...