cross-platform

The author’s migration away from Windows 11 to macOS is a conversion driven less by fanaticism for Apple and more by pragmatism: fewer interruptions, a richer app ecosystem that matches professional workflows, and a single standout productivity tool — Raycast — that fills gaps Windows users have...

Microsoft’s push to make Xbox the gaming platform that follows players across consoles, PCs, and handhelds is now measurable—and exposed by a practical problem: some of the biggest publishers still aren’t playing ball with Xbox Play Anywhere, and that gap risks turning Microsoft’s cross-device...

Microsoft's public posture toward Windows Mobile has quietly shifted from product-led ambition to maintenance-mode realism: the company will keep the platform alive for security patches, enterprise deployments and compatibility with Windows 10's broader ecosystem, but it will no longer...

Microsoft’s design reset for Windows 10 — long-rumored as Project NEON — was always pitched as more than a fresh coat of paint: it was meant to be the visual glue that would finally make the Universal Windows Platform feel truly uniform across PCs, tablets and phones. That plan surfaced publicly...

If your PC can’t run Windows 11, you’re not alone — and you still have a set of sensible, ranked options to stay secure, productive, and compliant after Windows 10 reaches end of support on October 14, 2025. Background: why this moment matters Microsoft will stop shipping regular security...

Valve has quietly but meaningfully reshaped the Steam client with a sweeping UI and accessibility refresh that brings long-requested controls — UI scaling, high-contrast mode, reduced motion, and a dedicated customization tab for game artwork — to the desktop and SteamOS users, and the result is...

XL Converter arrives as a quietly powerful, free and open-source image utility that brings modern compression formats and advanced JPEG tech to Windows and Linux users—making it a smart tool for anyone who needs to shrink, transcode, or batch-process large photo libraries without sacrificing...

A fresh round of cross‑platform testing shows Ubuntu 25.10 pulling ahead of Windows 11 (version 25H2, preview) in heavily multi‑threaded workloads on AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X, underscoring persistent differences in how Linux and Windows extract performance from modern Zen‑5 silicon. (phoronix.com)...

Microsoft’s latest preview releases reveal a clear — and continuing — pattern: on identical high-end hardware, Ubuntu 25.10 is holding or extending Linux’s multi-threaded lead while Windows 11 25H2 remains highly competitive in single-threaded and platform-specific workloads, particularly where...

When I first started using the command line on Windows, the Command Prompt felt like a utility drawer: useful for a handful of quick tasks but cramped, inflexible, and increasingly outclassed by modern tooling — which is precisely why switching to Windows Terminal has become a practical...

Microsoft has quietly closed another chapter of Windows history by retiring a clutch of familiar apps — Internet Explorer, Paint 3D, Movies & TV (storefront), Groove Music’s streaming service, and the legacy Mail app — each disappearance reflecting a larger strategy to consolidate services, cut...

Mobile usage of AI assistants has taken a measurable lead over desktop in recent months, with Comscore reporting mobile reach for AI tools rising to 73.4 million users (a 5.3% increase) while PC usage fell roughly 11.1%, and the largest mobile growth rates concentrated in Microsoft Copilot...

Helldivers 2 can be launched and played on a Steam Deck, but the reality is far messier than a simple “works” or “doesn’t work” label — performance is uneven, requires compromise, and Arrowhead’s leadership says formal handheld support isn’t a near-term priority while the studio focuses on...

Sony’s Helldivers 2 has crashed Xbox’s best‑seller list and — for a brief, loud moment — is outselling Microsoft’s own heavyweights on the Xbox storefront, an unusual reversal that speaks to how cross‑platform releases and live‑service economics are reshaping console competition today. The...

Microsoft quietly added a native option in Windows 11 to push your PC clipboard to Android — and in early hands‑on testing it appears to land inside any Android keyboard that reads the system clipboard, including Gboard. (windowslatest.com) Overview Windows 11’s clipboard has long been more than...

Sony appears to be widening its PC support for PlayStation audio gear: a newly reported PlayStation Link PC Driver for Windows — said to support the PULSE Elite headset and PULSE Explore earbuds — would let PC users update firmware and tune audio without needing a PS5, while September’s...

Mozilla appears to have closed a workflow gap that’s annoyed Windows users for years: external links opening in a Firefox window on a different virtual desktop, pulling you out of your current workspace. The fix—reported as part of the recent rapid-release updates—changes the browser’s launch...

Chrome Canary’s overlay scrollbars will now flash selectively — only when a scrollbar first appears in view or when the mouse actually hovers over it — reducing the distracting, page‑wide flicker users have complained about for years. This behavior is exposed in Canary behind a new experimental...

Windows Subsystem for Linux has quietly become one of the most consequential developer features in Windows 11 — not because it’s flashy, but because it removes long-standing friction between two operating systems that many of us need to use every day. What used to require dual‑booting, slow...

Windows ships with a competent baseline of tools, but for users who prefer transparency, control, and long-term maintainability, the open-source alternatives on this How‑To Geek roster are worth considering — this article examines the nine apps the original author installs on every fresh Windows...