local ai

CES 2026 made one thing unmistakably clear: AI stopped being an optional spec line and became the operating layer across PCs, displays, and peripherals — and the devices that impressed most were the ones that treated on‑device intelligence as a first‑class design constraint rather than a sticker...

Local AI browsers now let your phone run a full assistant without sending private queries to cloud servers — but setting one up takes planning, correct hardware, and an understanding of trade‑offs between privacy, performance, and convenience. In this piece we walk through the realistic options...

Microsoft has quietly turned one of PowerToys’ smallest utilities — Advanced Paste — into a proving ground for on‑device AI, adding multi‑provider support and explicit local model paths so clipboard transforms can run on your PC (even on an NPU) instead of always phoning home. Background...

Microsoft’s PowerToys Advanced Paste has taken a decisive step toward local-first AI by adding on-device model support and multi-provider flexibility in the 0.96 update, turning a once-simple clipboard helper into a hybrid AI gateway that gives users faster transforms, reduced cloud costs, and...

Microsoft PowerToys 0.96.0 pushes Advanced Paste from a niche convenience feature into a configurable hybrid AI gateway—adding support for multiple cloud providers and local model hosts—while polishing the Command Palette, extending PowerRename with photo metadata tokens, and addressing a long...

Microsoft’s Ignite 2025 update turns the Windows 11 taskbar into a front door for AI — introducing a one‑click “Ask Copilot” composer, taskbar‑visible AI agents, and deeper Copilot integration across File Explorer, search, voice, and local AI runtimes that shift Windows from a passive OS into an...

I pulled the power plug on Windows 11, flashed a Linux USB, and turned a pocket-sized Minix ER937‑AI into a surprisingly capable Linux workstation and local‑AI testbed — and the results were more impressive (and more practical) than I expected. Background / Overview The Minix ER937‑AI arrived as...

The moment I booted the Minix ER937‑AI, wiped Windows 11, flashed a Linux USB stick and had Ollama answering a prompt in seconds, it became obvious this tiny machine was more than a lightweight desktop — it was a compact, pragmatic workstation that delivered real local‑AI capability without the...

PewDiePie’s latest off‑camera project reads like a tech parable for the AI age: Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg quietly built a private, multi‑GPU AI lab in his home and wired it to a custom chat front end he calls ChatOS — running Chinese open‑source models, local web search and retrieval‑augmented...

Clippy’s paperclip grin is back on the desktop — not as an official Microsoft resurrection, but as a DIY homage that runs entirely on your PC using local LLMs and the open-source LLM inference stack. What started as a nostalgic tinkering project has become a practical, privacy-conscious way to...

Microsoft’s optional Release Preview cumulative KB5067036 delivers a focused but consequential set of non‑security upgrades for Windows 11—most notably Fluid Dictation inside Voice Access and an expanded Improved Windows Search experience on Copilot+ PCs—while also shipping a package of UI...

The Kubuntu Focus NX Gen3 proves that a compact, Linux‑first mini PC can be both a polished daily driver and a surprisingly capable local AI workstation, delivering instant usability, quiet operation, and real‑world performance that outpaces what many users expect from a small form‑factor...

The Kubuntu Focus NX Gen3 mini PC proved to be a striking example of how a small, Linux‑first system can legitimately replace a typical Windows desktop for most users — fast, quiet, and capable of tackling local AI workloads that until recently required much larger machines. Background /...

The Geekom A9 Max AI arrives in the small‑form‑factor ring as an unapologetically powerful mini PC — and a recent hands‑on test that ran the DeepSeek model locally exposed both the promise and the practical limits of packing modern on‑device AI into a palm‑sized chassis. Background / Overview...

Microsoft has started shipping a Notepad update for Windows 11 that brings true on‑device generative AI — including Summarize, Write, and Rewrite — to Copilot+ PCs, and those capabilities can run entirely offline without a Microsoft account or a paid subscription when executed locally on...

The clock is already ticking: Windows 10 reaches end of support on October 14, 2025, and for small- and mid-sized businesses the decision to upgrade is rapidly shifting from optional maintenance to strategic opportunity. Upgrading isn’t just about avoiding security gaps; it’s about harnessing a...

Microsoft has begun testing a coordinated set of feature updates to three of Windows 11’s oldest inbox apps — Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad — rolling them out to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels. These updates add a native project save for Paint, an in‑capture “Quick Markup”...

Microsoft has begun rolling out Gaming Copilot (Beta) to Windows PCs via the Xbox Game Bar, an in‑overlay AI assistant that promises real‑time, voice‑first help, screenshot‑aware guidance, achievement tracking, and personalized game recommendations — with mobile Xbox app support scheduled for...

Microsoft’s recent nudge to users — asking “what do you miss most in Windows?” — is more than a PR moment; it’s a revealing sign that the company is wrestling with conflicting priorities for Windows 11: glossy AI capabilities and the long list of everyday quality‑of‑life features that power...

Microsoft’s Click To Do is the kind of small change that can quietly rearrange how you work: a system-level overlay that turns whatever is on your screen—text, images, even tables—into actionable items you can edit, summarize, or hand off to Copilot, all without leaving the context of your...