Microsoft’s timing is deliberate: with Windows 10’s end-of-support deadline looming, Redmond is using the upgrade window to reposition Copilot+ PCs — and in particular Arm-powered machines such as the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 — as not just optional refresh buys but a strategic...
appcompatibility
appnativeonarm
arm
arm64ec
batterylife
compatibilitytrackers
copilotplus
emulation
enterpriseit
npus
ondeviceai
pilotprogram
prismemulator
snapdragonx
surfacelaptop7
surfacepro11
windows 10 end of support
windows10eol
windowsonarm
windowsupgrade
Valve is closing the book on native 32‑bit Windows support for Steam: starting January 1, 2026, the Steam client will no longer be supported on 32‑bit versions of Windows, a move that Valve says affects roughly 0.01% of users but carries outsized implications for legacy machines, embedded...
32-bit windows
64-bit only
anti-cheat
driver compatibility
emulation
end of support
gaming preservation
legacy hardware
preservation
retro gaming
security updates
steam
steam hardware survey
valve
windows 10
windows 10 32-bit
windows 11
windows 32-bit
windows lifecycle
Steam will stop supporting Windows 32‑bit installations on January 1, 2026, a move that, if confirmed and implemented as reported, will leave the vanishingly small number of users still running Windows 10 in its 32‑bit form without client updates, security fixes, or official Steam Support help —...
2026
32-bit
32-bit deprecation
32-bit windows
32-bit-windows
32bit
32bitendoflife
32‑bit deprecated
64 bit
64 bit migration
64 bit upgrade
64-bit
64-bit era
64-bit only
64-bit transition
64-bit windows
64-bit-windows
64bit
64bit-windows
64bitbaseline
64bitmigration
64bitwindows
anti-cheat
anticheat
archival
archiving
backup
backup data
backup saves
cef
chromium
chromium-cef
chromiumcef
cleaninstall
cloud gaming
cloud-gaming
cloud-saves
cloudgaming
compatibility
compatibility-layers
data backup
data preservation
dataprotection
deprecated-os
deprecation
digital distribution
driver compatibility
drivers
drm
embedded browser
embedded systems
embedded-chromium
embedded-runtime
emulation
end of life
end of support
end-of-life
end-of-support
endofsupport
esafety
esu
esu windows 10
esuwindows
extended security updates
game preservation
game-platform
gamecompatibility
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gaming news
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gaming platform news
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gaming-ecosystem
gaming-industry
gaming-pc
gaming-platform
gamingnews
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hardware survey
hardware upgrade
hardware-survey
hardware-upgrade
hardwarecompatibility
hardwareupgrade
industry shift
installationmedia
kiosk systems
kiosks and legacy setups
legacy hardware
legacy os
legacy systems
legacyos
lifecycle
linux
linux gaming
linux proton
linux-gaming
linuxgaming
longevity
microsoft esu
migration
migration guide
migration planning
migration to 64 bit
migration-guide
migrationguide
notification
offline
operating system
os deprecation
os lifecycle
os migration guide
os upgrade
os-lifecycle
os-upgrade
osmigration
pc gaming
pc gaming security
pc-gaming
pc-market
pcgaming
platform
platformmigration
preservation
preservation and archiving
proton
proton compatibility
protonlinux
retro gaming
retro-gaming
retrogaming
save files
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software maintenance
software-deprecation
softwarelifecycle
steam
steam 32 bit
steam 32 bit end of support
steam client
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steam end of support
steam hardware survey
steam migration
steam on windows
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steam-client
steam-hardware-survey
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steamos
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techpolicy
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valve
valve steam 32 bit
virtualization
webruntime
win10endofsupport
windows
windows 10
windows 10 32 bit
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windows 10 end of life
windows 10 end of support
windows 11
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windows 64 bit upgrade
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windows-11
windows-32-bit
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windows-7-8-deprecation
windows10
windows10endoflife
windows11
windows32bit
windows64bit
wow64
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 7 arrives as a tidy, well-engineered Copilot+ laptop that clearly hits the brief for battery life, build quality, and on-device AI acceleration — yet the real-world experience described by some owners and reviewers exposes a stubborn seam between polished hardware and...
arm laptops
battery life
copilot plus
dolby vision iq
emulation
enterprise it
external displays
intel sku
npu
on-device ai
peripherals
pixel sense flow display
snapdragon x elite
surface copilot
surface laptop 7
tooling and updates
usb4
windows on arm
x86 app compatibility
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...
app development
continuum
cross-device
cross-platform
design system
emulation
fall creators update
fluent design
fluent ui
mdl2
project neon
redstone 3
surface
surface phone
ui design
uwp
windows 10
windows 10 mobile end of life
windows mobile
x86 on arm
Windows 3.0’s arrival in 1990 was less a single product launch than a change in the way millions of people thought about personal computing — and yes, the tiny game of Solitaire bundled with it played a surprisingly large role in that cultural shift.
Background / Overview
Windows 3.0 launched...
386 era
browser emulation
bundling
emulation
file manager
gui
klondike
marketing blitz
microsoft
ms-dos
pc history
platform economics
program manager
retrocomputing
software preservation
solitaire
ui design
user onboarding
ux quirks
windows 3.0
Nearly half a century after those first keystrokes on primitive terminals, Microsoft has made public the assembly-language source for its 6502-targeted BASIC interpreter — a compact, remarkable artifact of early microcomputer engineering that is now available on GitHub under a permissive MIT...
6502
apple ii
assembly
basic
commodore
commodore pet
computing heritage
early computing
emulation
garbage collector
history
interpreter
kim-1
microsoft
mit license
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osi
preservation
retrocomputing
rom
Is there any way to continue using old computers with Windows on them? I have got a really old computer that is suitable for Windows 98 and a computer that's got Windows 7 hardward and one that's got Windows 10. I keep being told that they are outdate and I am not intelligent enough to get them...
Microsoft has published the assembly source for “BASIC for 6502 Microprocessor — Version 1.1” on GitHub under a modern permissive license, making the exact code that powered a generation of home computers readable, buildable, and reusable by anyone — hobbyists, historians, educators, and...
6502
apple ii
assembly
basic
commodore pet
education
emulation
floating point
garbage collector
interpreter
kim-1
license
microsoft
mit license
ohio scientific
open source
osi
preservation
retro computing
rom
Microsoft's decision to put the original 6502-targeted Microsoft BASIC source into the public eye is both a tidy act of software preservation and a reminder of how much of modern computing grew from tiny, highly optimized assembly programs—code once written by Bill Gates and his earliest...
6502
altair basic
assembly language
basic
commodore 64
commodore pet
education
emulation
floating point
garbage collector
github release
interpreter
microsoft basic
mit license
open source
preservation
retro computing
rom
vic-20
When a modern operating system built for multicore CPUs and GPU-accelerated compositing is forced to run in a display mode designed before many readers were born, the result is part engineering curiosity and part living museum exhibit — and that’s exactly what happened when Windows 8.1 was...
On August 24, 1995, Microsoft unleashed a consumer operating system that would reshape everyday computing, not just as a technical milestone but as a cultural event: Windows 95 combined a sweeping user-interface overhaul, aggressive marketing and architectural changes that together accelerated...
32-bit architecture
air-gapped
backward compatibility
briefcase
consumer tech marketing
data migration
data traceability
dos compatibility
egg sorting
emulation
file explorer
hardware compatibility
industrial automation
industrial it
isolation networks
legacy software
legacy systems
long filenames
marketing campaign
modernization
oem preloads
operational continuity
os history
plug and play
preemptive multitasking
printer drivers
regulatory compliance
risk management
rolling stones start me up
security risk
start button
start menu
taskbar
user interface
virtualization
windows 95
windows ux evolution
wrapper app
Confusion between “Windows on ARM” and “Copilot+ PC” has become a real buyer’s trap, especially now that sleek Snapdragon laptops share shelf space with new Intel and AMD systems carrying the Copilot+ badge. If you care about software compatibility, battery life, and performance, you need to...
app compatibility
arm vs x86
arm64
arm64ec
copilot+
cpu architecture
driver compatibility
emulation
gaming on arm
kernel drivers arm64
laptop buying guide
npus on laptops
snapdragon
windows 11 on arm
windows on arm
x86 compatibility
Microsoft’s Xbox app is shedding a major limitation for Arm-powered Windows PCs: Insiders can now download and run selected ARM64-compatible games locally, moving Windows on Arm from “cloud-only” convenience closer to legitimate local gaming capability for the first time in years.
Background...
anti-cheat
arm devices
arm native builds
arm socs
arm64 compatibility
arm64 drivers
arm64 gaming
auto sr
automatic super resolution
cloud gaming
emulation
game pass
pc gaming preview
performance improvements
prism emulator
windows 11
windows insider
windows on arm
xbox pc app
Microsoft is starting a staged Insider preview that finally lets some Windows on Arm systems download and run compatible games locally from the Xbox PC app — a practical, incremental shift away from the cloud-only model that has dominated Arm-powered Surface and Snapdragon devices until now...
anti-cheat
anti-cheat drm
arm gaming devices
arm windows 11
arm-gaming
arm-native
arm64
arm64 binaries
auto-sr
automatic super resolution
battleye
cloud gaming hybrid
cloud-gaming
denuvo
directx on arm
emulationemulation overhead
game compatibility
gpu-drivers-arm
insider preview
insider-preview
local game install
local-install
native arm64
pc gaming preview
pc-gaming-preview
prism emulation
prism-emulator
publishers and middleware
remote gaming cloud
windows on arm
windows-11
windows-on-arm
xbox game pass
xbox pc app
xbox-pc-app
Today Microsoft began rolling out an update that broadens the Xbox PC app experience on Arm®-based Windows 11 PCs, enabling Insiders to download and run more games locally from the Xbox PC app catalog — a change that shifts the platform from cloud-first to a hybrid model for many Arm notebooks...
anti-cheat
arm devices
arm64
battleye
cloud gaming
directx
dx11
emulation
gaming on arm
insider preview
local installs
native arm64
pc gaming
prism emulator
windows 11
windows on arm
xbox
xbox insider hub
Microsoft is rolling out a targeted update that begins to change how the Xbox PC app behaves on Arm®-based Windows 11 devices, and for the first time Microsoft is letting Insiders download and run more PC titles locally on ARM hardware rather than relying solely on cloud streaming. This shift —...
anti-cheat
anti-cheat compatibility
arm devices
arm windows 11
arm-windows-11
arm64
arm64 gaming
auto-sr
battleye
cloud gaming
compatibility-list
directx
drm
dx11
emulationemulation-performance
game catalog
game pass
game-compatibility
gaming on arm
gaming-on-arm
handheld gaming
hybrid-cloud-local
insider preview
insider-program
kernel-driver
local install
local installs
local-gaming
microsoft dev
native arm
native arm64
pc gaming
pc gaming preview
pc-gaming-preview
prism emulator
prism-emulation
snapdragon
storefront
windows 11
windows gaming
windows insider
windows on arm
windows-on-arm
works-on-woa
xbox
xbox insider hub
xbox pc app
xbox-pc cohesion
xbox-pc-app
Reliving the adventures of classic DOS games is something many PC enthusiasts and retro gamers still crave, decades after the golden age of MS-DOS. For those who grew up with the likes of Commander Keen, Prince of Persia, or the unforgiving challenges of The Oregon Trail, the nostalgia is...
abandonware
digital preservation
dos emulator
dos games
dosbox
dosbox staging
emulation
game emulators
game preservation
gaming community
gaming compatibility
gaming nostalgia
legacy software
old school games
pc gaming
retro computers
retro gaming
software preservation
vintage games
windows 11
Microsoft’s Xbox division finds itself at an extraordinary crossroads. Once proudly the industry’s standard-bearer for backwards compatibility, Xbox is stepping into uncharted territory as the next-gen console strategy reorients dramatically around Windows. Hardware sales have sharply declined...
backwards compatibility
cloud gaming
console evolution
digital ownership
digital rights
emulation
game industry
game library
game licensing
game preservation movement
gaming history
gaming preservation
hardware transition
microsoft
next-gen consoles
platform loyalty
windows 11
xbox
xbox series s
xbox series x
For many Windows enthusiasts, Turbo C++ remains a nostalgically familiar sight—a relic of a time when programming education was often intertwined with the blue screens and chunky menus of early Borland IDEs. Yet, as Windows 10 and Windows 11 march steadily onward, they leave such legacy tools...
borland
c++ development
cross-platform emulators
dosbox
emulating 16-bit applications
emulation
ide alternatives
installing turbo c++
legacy computing
legacy software
modern c++ tools
nostalgia
programming education
retro computing
retro programming
software compatibility
turbo c++
virtual machine
windows 10
windows 11