Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2023 i PCWorld

In recent years, it’s gotten a lot easier to have better password hygiene without using a dedicated password manager. Thanks to built-in password management tools on iOS and Android, and at the browser level on Chrome and Microsoft Edge, you can create secure passwords with minimal efforts. These tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated, such that a separate password manager might not be necessary. But before you tie all your logins with the likes of Google, Apple, and Microsoft, take some time to consider the trade-offs. In exchange for the convenience of their built-in solutions, you’ll lose both the freedom and features that a proper password manager provides. BUILT-IN OPTIONS ARE IMPROVING Relying solely on your web browser for password management used to be a laughable concept. Sure, the auto-fill features…

How do you know if a fancy USB4 external storage drive is really using the full speed of USB4? If you’re just looking at a box on a shelf, the answer is, “You don’t.” As a standard, especially if you’re looking for those fast file transfers, USB4 is still a confusing mess of techno-babble that makes it easy for manufacturers to label a substandard drive “USB4” without delivering the performance that this implies. Gordon breaks it down for you in the latest PCWorld video on YouTube. To start with, did you know there’s a difference between USB4 (no space, a copyrighted term referring to the specification from the USB Implementers Forum) and USB 4.0 (note the space)? Well there is, and it affects which controllers the circuit board inside than…

Microsoft offered its first look in May at Windows Copilot, an AI-powered assistant that appears to be a one-stop shop for managing all sorts of tasks within Windows 11. Microsoft showed Windows Copilot standing in for Bing Chat, the AI chatbot that’s rivaled OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the main AI assistant of the Web. But Windows Copilot appears to be much more, as a concierge of sorts for everything your PC and its apps can do. There’s a real question, however, of what class of hardware Windows Copilot will demand—and in May Microsoft offered the first hints of how it may manage the diversity of PCs that wish to run it. Windows Copilot, at least at that first glimpse, appears to be a sidebar that for right now will open up as…

The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 delivers the latest from Intel and Nvidia for a fraction of the cost of premium models that feature higher-grade RTX 40-series GPUs. We’ve reviewed two admittedly impressive RTX 4090-based gaming monsters—the $4,300 Razer Blade 16 and the $5,300 (!) MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V—that are more showpieces than attainable objects for most. This laptop will fit into many more budgets. You can outfit the Legion Pro 7i Gen 8 with an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 GPU, but our test model features a RTX 4070 GPU and is roughly half the price of the Razer Blade 16 we reviewed recently. It lacks the striking design of the slab-like Razer as well as its dual-mode display, but the look and build quality is certainly…

Modern mechanical keyboards hold endless possibilities in design and function, yet one experience remains rare: the classic buckling spring keyboard. This key switch design was popularized by early IBM keyboards, such as the Model M and Model F, prized for their uniquely clicky, tactile feel. Enter Model F Labs, a small company set up exclusively to produce buckling spring keyboards. The model I received, the counter-intuitively titled Model F Ultra Compact, retails for an intimidating $420. That’s a high price to pay for a keyboard with few modern conveniences—but I’m sold. WHAT’S A MODEL F KEYBOARD, GRANDPA? IBM’s Model F is the original buckling spring keyboard, launched in 1981 alongside early IBM PCs. It was standard issue for most IBM PCs through 1985, when the Model F was replaced by…

Computex is the most vital PC show of the year, every year. Just look at the name! Taiwan’s trade show is where computer vendors large and small unveil their latest, greatest gear ahead of the crucial back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons. If CES is where the industry showcases its vision for the future, Computex keeps it real. Product cycles for the world’s biggest chip vendors made this Computex, held in late May and early June, feel somewhat muted. Intel and AMD skipped keynotes all together, while Nvidia spent two hours talking about AI rather than games. With no new CPUs or GPUs on tap, the usual barrage of fresh PCs packing new tech slowed to a trickle this year, as the next generation had already arrived earlier in the year.…

Microsoft might want everyone on an active internet connection while setting up Windows 11, but that’s not always possible. Some people have limited internet connections, while others may find Windows doesn’t recognize their ethernet and/or wireless hardware. Having no internet can seem like a big problem, too, since Microsoft doesn’t want people creating local accounts during Windows 11 setup. Even when disconnected from the internet, the setup screen insists you sign into a Microsoft account. Fortunately, you can get around this restriction. Turns out local accounts are still available during Windows 11 setup if you put in a little bit of keyboard work. During setup, when you reach the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen, it will appear that you can’t go further without an internet connection. But you…

Pinnable windows floating in midair. Three-dimensional dinosaurs. Video calls. 3D castles emerging from the ground. No, I’m not talking about the capabilities of Apple’s new Vision Pro VR/AR headset. These are all things Microsoft’s HoloLens could do when it launched roughly seven years ago. Apple has a reputation for reinventing technology—and boy, was that underscored by the launch of the Vision Pro at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. For months behind-the-scenes reporting has indicated that even Apple employees have questioned the launch of the Vision Pro, an AR/VR headset that executives said was in the works for years. But what it actually is still isn’t as clear as we’d like. Detailed spec pages accompanied Apple’s launch of the Mac Studio and the new 15-inch MacBook Air. Not the Vision Pro: We…

Microsoft may have sent Windows XP off into the great unknown in 2014, but the operating system never fully went dark. Never mind that yet two more versions of Windows have been put to rest since XP’s final days. Against the advice of just about everyone, the efforts to keep XP usable have continued—as evidenced by recent news about a crack that enables offline validation of Windows XP product keys. Previously, getting Windows XP to activate required circumventing Microsoft’s validation process or using a third-party server to fool XP. But as documented by tinyapps, a blog dedicated to floppy-drive-size Windows programs, a new validation technique came to light last year. An app shared in a thread on the Windows XP subreddit not only performs Microsoft’s official activation process, but does…

Trust is everything. I’m not an IT expert, but I have spent decades fielding questions and tending to devices belonging to friends and family. They know I’m going to look out for their best interests. But sometimes when I’m called to action, I discover my nearest and dearest have been making decisions that can harm them—for example, not installing security patches or other firmware updates. And it’s because their suspicion of a company outweighs their belief in me. I can’t always talk them out of the behavior, either. That’s especially the case when the situation is like that with HP printers. Earlier this year, HP doubled down on its so-called “dynamic security” policy, issuing firmware updates for its printers that blocked the use of third-party ink. Instead of issuing warnings…

Portable monitors are advertised for travel, but in reality, most never leave the home or office they’re shipped to. Many people purchase portable monitors not for their portability but instead for their versatility and ease of use. The Asus ZenScreen MB249C leans into this reality, offering unique benefits alongside a 24-inch screen. SPECS Asus ZenScreen MB249C is marketed as “portable” but has a 23.8-inch display. Clearly, portability in this case isn’t about sticking the monitor in a suitcase but instead refers to moving it across a home or corporate office. Display size: 23.8-inch widescreen Native resolution: 1920×1080 Panel type: IPS LCD Refresh rate: 75Hz Adaptive Sync: Yes, AMD FreeSync HDR: None Ports: 1× USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 60 watts Power Delivery, 1× HDMI 1.4, 1× 3.5mm audio out…

Nothing revs a storage reviewer’s engine more than a large jump in mainstream performance. Hitting that long skinny pedal for me was Crucial’s T700 PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD, which transferred data a full gigabyte per second faster than any SSD we’ve tested to date. All I can say is, “Yowser!” PRICE, DESIGN, AND SPECS The T700 is available in 1TB, 2TB (tested), and 4TB capacities. It’s sold bare or with a rather beefy heatsink for $180/$210, $340/$370, $600/$620, respectively. Alas, that’s nearly twice as expensive as for some very good PCIe 4.0 competition, though you’re paying for a genuine leap in performance (see below). Note that those were pre-release prices provided by Crucial, so you might find it cheaper after launch. Look around. As to the optional heatsink, most users…

At long last, you can link your iPhone with a Windows PC—at least, you can if you’re running Windows 11. Anyone still on Windows 10 isn’t missing out on as much as you might think, though. You don’t get the same experience as when pairing an iPhone with a Mac. So while you can use Microsoft’s Phone Link app to interact with your iPhone’s text messages, make phone calls, and see phone notifications, some functions come with caveats, particularly texts: • Group, picture, and other media messages won’t show in conversation threads. You will see notifications for those kinds of incoming messages, though. • Message conversations only show texts that were sent and received after pairing, and only upon the second message received from a contact—even if you have an…

Have you ever registered with a new website and suddenly started receiving emails from companies and providers you’ve never heard of? If so, it’s highly likely that your data has been sold. Data is a valuable business these days, and companies can make a lot of money selling your information to data brokers and other interested parties. This uninvited spam is certainly annoying, but don’t worry. Here we’ll show you how to stay one step ahead of spam and untrustworthy websites. And even if you don’t use Gmail, the following trick works with Outlook and iCloud as well. HOW TO FIND OUT WHO IS SELLING YOUR DATA You might not know it yet, but your personal Gmail address has countless variations. By simply adding a “+” and a word or…

Internal cable management is the most frustrating part of building a desktop PC. Wait, that’s not right—the most frustrating part is making sure all your parts are compatible. Okay, that’s not right either—the even more frustrating part is how expensive all those parts are. But cable management is definitely in the top five, especially if you like to tinker frequently with your setup. There’s an emerging trend for PC hardware this year, and the PCWorld editorial staff has christened it the War on Cables. PC hardware manufacturers are coming up with ever more elaborate tricks to keep your desktop enclosure nice and tidy, eliminating power and data cables whenever possible, and when not, tucking them all behind the motherboard so the main chamber looks like a minimalist office lobby. (I…

Laptops have a problem: the screen. There’s only one, and it’s too small, too far away, and too public. Sightful thinks it’s solved that problem with the Spacetop, a laptop that gets rid of the screen entirely and uses augmented reality to create a 100-inch virtual display floating in front of your face. And you know what? It works. It’s immediately apparent that something is different. Clamshell laptops fold flat and thin; the Sightful Spacetop looks more like a rubberized, squarish calzone, wrapped in the sort of protective cover you’d see enfold an Apple iPad or Amazon Kindle. Unfold the cover, and what makes the Spacetop special is revealed: a pair of thin, tethered, augmented glasses that sit where you’d expect to find the laptop’s display planted. Put simply, the…

Now this is a graphics card release we can finally praise. AMD’s new $269 Radeon RX 7600 delivers fantastic 1080p gaming that can keep even a high refresh rate monitor well fed in a tiny, quiet, incredibly power-efficient package. Better yet, while Nvidia continues to push either stagnant generational performance upgrades or exorbitant prices for its rival GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards, AMD’s budget champion delivers a massive step-up in frame rates for $60 less than its predecessor’s launch price. Budget gaming requires compromise, and the Radeon RX 7600 isn’t good at ray tracing, especially since image upsampling technologies like FSR 2.0 and Nvidia’s DLSS don’t look great at 1080p resolution. Don’t get it twisted, though; other than the ferociously powerful (and pricey) RTX 4090 and Radeon RX 7900 XTX flagships, this modest…

The OBSBOT Tiny 4K certainly ranks among the best webcams you can buy, 4K or not, period. It offers so much: 4K video, a 60fps option (albeit at 1080p), and the real magic: an automated gimbal that physically rotates and dips the webcam to center your face. It gets better. The OBSBOT Tiny 4K (sometimes sold as the OBSBOT Tiny PTZ 4K) will soon be supplemented by the Tiny 2, with a larger sensor for improved video. That should help solve one of the Tiny 4K’s only shortcomings: Video quality is good, just not outstanding. On the other hand, OBSBOT is discounting the Tiny PTZ 4K in anticipation of the Tiny 2’s launch, so you can save a large chunk off of its regular $269.99 MSRP. The Tiny 4K ships…

Trying to keep up with all of the latest Windows 11 features can be confusing, especially during the Microsoft Build rush in May when Microsoft releases new features, then announces others. This year was no different, with Microsoft unleashing a torrent of new Windows 11 features ranging from practical to fantastical (see page 30). But what’s coming and when? Microsoft now releases new features in what are colloquially known as “Moments.” These Moments can occur at any time, which makes it even more confusing. The company unveiled Windows 11’s “Moment 3” at Build with a host of exciting new features coming very soon—but Microsoft also tipped off even more goodies that are due at a future date. We’ll outline which new Windows features are arriving in the current Moment 3, and which…

Browser extensions improve the experience of internet trawling. Just a handful can save you time, money, and sanity, plus protect your security and privacy. Everyone has their favorite add-ons. And as you might expect, the PCWorld staff’s faves tend to overlap. For example, my colleague Mark Hachman’s list of top 5 Edge extensions is kind of a sneak peek of my own lineup. But while you’ll see the same themes come up, my actual picks differ. There’s a lot of choice on this planet, and that means you can tailor your experience to fit your needs and interests. Mine revolve around staying safe on the web, deal hunting, and not letting social media get the best of me. (None make my cut here, but if you need to protect your traffic…