An old Xbox AI patent is going viral for the wrong reasons — assistive tech is good, actually
Xbox New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's AI background has thrust an old Microsoft patent into the spotlight. Its system would let assistants help you in-game.
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Features
Ditch Discord? That's easier said than done, as I found out.
Apps None of the Discord alternatives I could find are good enough to help me sell a migration to my group of gamer friends.
Windows 11 Insider roundup: the 11 biggest features and changes (February 2026)
Windows 11 Windows 11 February 2026 Insider builds bring File Explorer tweaks, Cross-Device Resume, Hello ESS upgrades, and various Settings changes.
Windows 11 changed the Start menu and the community reaction is… not subtle
Community Reddit reacts to the new Windows 11 Start menu, calling it too big, too automated, and lacking customization options.
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Countless Army brings reverse tower defense gameplay to Xbox
ID@Xbox Don’t stop the horde. Lead it.
Windows & Software
Florida e-commerce boss busted in Microsoft license scam
Software A Florida woman has been sentenced to 22 months in prison and fined $50,000 for running a massive Microsoft license fraud scheme.
Did Windows 10 really update itself while this user was mid-shower?
Windows 10 A furious user claims Microsoft automatically upgraded their PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11 without their consent.
Windows 11's market share jumped double digits two months in a row
Windows Windows 11 worldwide market share has increased by more than 10% for the second month in a row, suggesting its growth has finally hit a tipping point.
PC Hardware
Hideo Kojima's awesome 2-in-1 PC collab is now available to buy
Hardware "Limited" is no joke, so don't wait too long if you're interested in this gorgeous custom gaming laptop.
Affordable PCs will be a fond memory by 2028, says analyst
Hardware I'm once again suggesting you replace your aging PC as soon as possible.
Razer’s new 16-inch sleeve is a wireless charger for your phone
Accessories Razer's latest accessory turns your laptop sleeve into a MagSafe-compatible charging station, but you’ll still need to bring your own power bank or power source.
AMD's Zen 5 still has some of the best NPUs with Ryzen AI PRO 400
CPUs AMD's AI PRO 400 Series is Gorgon Point chips in a suit and tie and repackaged for the enterprise audience, with some of the best x86-64 NPUs I've seen.
Deals
Lenovo’s "iMac killer" is $600 off during Apple launch week
Deals While Apple floods the zone with iPhone 17e and iPad Air news, the Lenovo Yoga AIO 27" is stealing the show with a $600 discount and a rotating screen the iMac can't touch.
This $27 champion gaming mouse hasn't left my desk for over 5 years
Deals Logitech's G305 Lightspeed wireless gaming mouse hasn't left my desk for over 5 years, and sometimes it feels like its single AA battery lasts forever, too.
This 2-in-1 OLED laptop deal from Lenovo is too good to last
Deals Lenovo's Yoga 7 2-in-1 with a 2K OLED display and AMD Ryzen AI 5 CPU is currently down to just $599 at Best Buy. It's such a good deal that it's set to expire tonight.
Reclaim your desktop: 25% off Start11 for Windows 11
Deal Stop fighting a rigid Start menu. Reclaim your desktop with Start11 and save 25% using our exclusive Windows Central discount code.
Handheld Gaming PCs
ASUS pushes a ROG Ally driver for Windows, so is the Z1 Extreme safe?
Handhelds It's a minor revision, but the latest ROG Ally driver confirms ASUS is still maintaining its Z1 Extreme handheld in 2026.
Gaming
Whoa, Xbox may be teasing Cyberpunk 2077 coming to Game Pass
Xbox CD PROJEKT RED's Cyberpunk 2077 is a hugely popular RPG, and a new tease from Microsoft and Xbox suggest it could come to Game Pass soon.
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"Black Ops Royale" is a massive update coming to Call of Duty: Warzone
Call of Duty Activision has revealed Black Ops Royale for Call of Duty: Warzone, a mode inspired by Black Ops 4 BR set on the Avalon map.
Here's when you can play the new Blackout-inspired mode in Call of Duty: Warzone
Gaming Black Ops Royale is the new Blackout-inspired battle royale experience for Call of Duty: Warzone. But when can you drop in and play?
Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft tried to stop a meme… the meme won
News A harmless meme got caught in Copilot’s filters, and the community wasn’t having it.
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Copilot’s newest feature could be a game‑changer
AI Microsoft's new "Copilot Tasks" feature is entering preview, and it might fix some of Copilot's most annoying feature gaps. Here's how it works.
Microsoft finds a sneaky way to push Copilot sales, hiding in plain sight
AI Microsoft could reportedly launch a $99 AI‑powered Microsoft 365 bundle, adding Copilot and Agent 365 features to boost productivity tools.
Select Lenovo PCs will soon have a new AI super-agent to play with
AI Lenovo's AI super agent, named Qira, is expected to make its debut on Lenovo PCs in the coming weeks. Will it be a big hit immediately, or will it take time to reach users?
"Cancel ChatGPT" movement goes mainstream after OpenAI closes deal with U.S. Department of War
AI After Anthropic refused flat out to agree to apply Claude AI to autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens, OpenAI jumps right into bed with the United States Department of War.
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Microsoft
LibreOffice slams Microsoft Office's ribbon UI while lauding its own
Office LibreOffice says Microsoft Office's "ribbon" UI shouldn't be treated as an ergonomic standard.
OpenAI just raised $110 billion, but Microsoft didn’t give them a penny
AI Microsoft skipped OpenAI's latest multi-billion dollar funding round, but a joint statement confirms their Azure and IP agreements remain unchanged.
Teams swapped Designer for Copilot, and nobody’s sure if this is simpler or just… Microsoft
TEAMS Microsoft is retiring the Teams Designer bot and banners, consolidating creative features under Copilot for a unified AI experience.
Outlook is pushing ads that break Steam’s ToS — incredible scenes
News An Outlook ad linking to a site selling gaming accounts for up to $1,000 highlights the risks of automated ad approvals and platform responsibility.
Peripherals & Accessories
The Pro X2 Superstrike proves haptics might be the future of competitive mice
Review Logitech's new gaming mouse is the world's first to include haptics in place of a physical click system for the right and left click buttons, and it makes me wish more mice had this.
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