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Thanks to the rise of AI and its insatiable hunger for all the silicon its manufacturers can get their hands on, the last several months have been very rough for the tech industry and any consumer interested in purchasing new electronics. Ongoing RAM and shortage shortages show no signs of recovery any time soon, with prices continuing to rise and supply continuing to fall.Gaming is one of many verticals that's been hit hard by the hardware crisis, with Microsoft recently announcing huge Xbox co

Another day, another Xbox rumor! Today's revolves around Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's controversy-prone subscription service giving access to hundreds of games on a monthly subscription. Xbox Game Pass took a battering last year when Microsoft made the spectacularly ill-advised move of making it $30 a month — a 50% increase. In one fell swoop, Microsoft destroyed one of its most stable revenue drivers for its gaming operation, leading to the biggest decline its seen in its history. New Xbox CEO A

The PC market is in shambles these days, and it's so bad that you don't have to be an enthusiast builder to feel the effects of RAM and storage shortages. Heck, even my less-tech-savvy parents are asking what's going on.Last week, I wrote a lengthy analysis about the RAM crisis and when it might end, and I came up with answers that no one wants to hear. It essentially boils down to the global supply of DRAM being so short and the demand for AI datacenters being so high that it will likely take u

In what I can only assume is one of the first of many similar projects, a 3D-printed Steam Machine clone is making the rounds online. The custom gaming PC comes from Jacob Terkelsen, an AMD AI GPU engineer who recently posted his personal creation on X. The Terk Box v1.1, as it's known, is a compact mini-ITX build that uses a custom 3D-printed case that you, too, can download and try out if you're so inclined. It's available on Printables alongside a parts list, which was created by a user named

Xbox mode only rolled out to Windows 11 with the May 2026 Security Update, but the feature already has a name change in the works. The latest Windows Insider build shows "XBOX mode" rather than "Xbox mode."The change is small, but it reflects the rebrand Microsoft is in the middle of. Earlier this year, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma polled people on X asking if the name of the brand should be Xbox or XBOX. The overwhelming majority preferred the all-caps version, and Microsoft listened to the feedback.In

Update (06/29/2026, 4:20am EST): The WD_Black C50 1TB Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S is no longer in stock at Best Buy. ~ Alexander Cope, Staff WriterOriginal article (06/29/2026):Seagate's Storage Expansion Cards are one of the most popular plug-and-play SSDs for Xbox Series X|S for their increased install space and high read speeds. However, their high listing prices make them somewhat undesirable for the average player, especially during the ongoing memory crisis that has made tech so una

The 2026 XBOX Games Showcase was undeniably packed with exciting game reveals from AAA studios and independent teams alike, but there was one particular reveal that I can’t stop thinking about. As soon as the large purple text and adorably odd bird-like creatures appeared on screen, I recognized the art style. Everybody’s favorite little purple dragon was back to face a new foe, albeit with a little more of a mature redesign that reflects some of the new gameplay mechanics. Toys for Bob unveiled

In recent months, Microsoft has taken significant steps to improve the Windows 11 user experience through its Windows K2 initiative, including scaling back where Copilot and its integrations appear across the interface.And now, these efforts appear to have extended to Microsoft Edge. As spotted by Neowin, Microsoft has decided to discontinue its AI-powered history search feature in the Chromium-based browser "Enhanced search finds sites in your History even when you use a synonym, phrase, or ty

Two more Surface devices were announced this week, at least technically. The ongoing RAM crisis forced Microsoft to follow in the footsteps of Apple and Acer by making laptops with 8GB of RAM in 2026.During a week full of deals through Amazon and other retailers, Microsoft took a different approach to make its Surface devices more affordable, at least for certain models. The Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch can now be bought with just 8GB of RAM.Those versions with less memory star

If, by some miracle, you've been living on the moon in a soundproof dome for the last six months, you may not have noticed that gaming hardware has grown extremely expensive, making the hobby a mostly miserable affair for all involved. We first called it the RAM crisis, but the sad reality is that it's now spilling over into storage, and experts are predicting a grim future.It's shredding PC gaming, as Valve's much-anticipated Steam Machine launched at over $1,000 for its cheapest model — a high

Amongst what feels like a deluge of bad news for Xbox right now, from console price rises (again) and threatened studio closures, it seems GTA 6 preorder sales data has become the next battleground for which fans and publications are using to stick the knife in. There’s a particular social media post right now being shared from IGN stating that, based on their affiliate data, PlayStation is outperforming Xbox on GTA 6 preorders by a rate of 8-to-1. Windows Central can confirm that we’ve received

On October 14, 2025, Microsoft officially ended support for Windows 10, despite widespread pleas from millions of users still relying on the operating system. The move risked leaving nearly 400 million PCs without updates, effectively rendering them obsolete. However, Microsoft ultimately extended Windows 10’s lifespan through its Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, giving users continued access to critical patches beyond the end-of-support date.The Restart Project group, which helped co-de

If there ever was a golden age of cheap memory and storage, I'm sorry to tell you that it's over.The 2TB NVMe SSD you bought early last year? It now costs three times what you paid. The 32GB kit of DDR5 RAM that was $90 last summer? It's now somewhere between $300 and $500, if you can find it for sale at all.The effects of the RAM crisis are being felt downstream in tech markets everywhere. Xbox just announced this week another console price hike. Apple announced it's raising prices of its MacBo

Amazon Prime Day has entered its fourth and final day, and I know that some of you are probably tired of the sheer amount of deals floating around social media and your favorite websites.I get it. There are countless deals to sift through, and the fatigue is real. However! I figured it was worth throwing together a collection of the deals that our readers here at Windows Central seemed to love the most.• Shop all Amazon Prime Day dealsAt the top of the list, and no surprise in the current consol

Stop the presses! A laptop maker just announced a price reduction in 2026. Despite the ongoing RAM crisis and component shortage, Framework just dropped the price of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro.Framework was able to source a new SSD from its partner ADATA that offers better performance and reliability while costing less.Framework Laptop 13 Pro preorders have not started shipping, so any order that's already been placed has been upgraded to the new SSD and had pricing adjusted."This new SSD comes

Microsoft plans to begin the Windows 11 July 2026 Security Update on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. In this seventh month of the year, the company is rolling out several new features and improvements for existing features. In addition, this update is expected to deliver a number of bug fixes.In this new quality update, Microsoft will be introducing brand new features, including the Point-in-time Restore recovery feature and the Screen tint accessibility feature. This release also introduces the new Win

In case you didn't notice (I'm joking, because you definitely did), PC gaming has become a painfully expensive hobby. Amazon Prime Day is supposed to help offset that with massive discounts, but does it really count when it brings components back to near-MSRP levels? We take what we can get, I suppose.Either way, it's difficult to recommend building your own PC from scratch right now. If you've never tried it, the anxiety of handling now-overinflated RAM will surely feel worse than ever — and th

Microsoft needs to copy a new feature that makes it easier to multitask on Windows 11. But rather than Sherlocking a third-party app, Microsoft just needs to copy a concept proposed for its own app, PowerToys.Every once in a while a feature gets added to PowerToys that makes me wonder "why isn't this part of Windows?" FancyZones immediately comes to mind, and Microsoft seems to agree since improved snapping in Windows 11 takes inspiration from that feature.PowerToys may have another winner on it

Earlier this week I wrote about the marketplace scandal rearing its head in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Fast forward a few days and we have action. It's all centered around a single vendor, Mscenery, who is – there's no other word for it – scamming people. Poor quality work riddled with issues, AI imagery, and highly suspicious ratings are all on the table. After the issue was receiving significant attention online, Microsoft has provided an update, and it's good news; Mscenery is being giv

A couple of days ago, I wrote an article about how researchers discovered an "AI stigma" affecting Steam games that disclose the use of AI during development. For me, the most shocking piece of data revealed that established studios with a positive track record see a "catastrophic" 40% to 60% drop in sales when they use AI.This stat, as well as others proposed in the research by Ross Burton at Game Oracle, raised a big question that our readers have been discussing in the original post's comment