Desktop

Six months after the release of version 18, Zorin OS gets updated to 18.1. In this refresh, the Ubuntu-based distro offers better Windows app detection, tiling window improvements, and updates for the desktop panel, which now works seamlessly with right-to-left scripts, enhancing the experience for Arabic, Hebrew, or Urdu users.

After months in beta, Google is now rolling out its desktop app globally. The app functions as a kind of control center, allowing users to search both the web and their own PC, as well as ask Gemini questions directly – all from a single search bar.

The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II aims to be a more comfortable gaming headset with versatile connectivity. It pairs with up to 4 devices supporting Bluetooth or 2.4GHz audio, bolstered by longer-lasting batteries. Dual 60mm drivers promise a more robust sound while ANC returns to reduce interference.

Presented in stunning hand-drawn animation, Machinarium takes you on a potentially nostalgia-inducing trip to the early days of gaming.

Disco Elysium, the acclaimed isometric detective RPG known for its story-driven design and dialogue- and skill-check-based “combat,” is currently discounted 75% on Steam to $9.99, backed by strong critical and user scores.

Bungie’s Marathon update 1.0.6 introduces the C.A.R.R.I. system and experimental "Stay Together" mechanics to reward player cooperation. Check out the latest weapon balance changes for the Biotoxic Disinjector and Railgun in the Season 1 mid-season pass.

Sales for the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 will start from April 22 but initial benchmarks have started showing up. The first set reveals 7-Zip and Cinebench scores with the stock air cooler.

Microsoft April 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes 167 vulnerabilities, including an actively exploited SharePoint zero-day. Windows 11 KB5083769 and KB5082052 bring new builds and RDP security.

According to data spotted on SteamDB, Valve may soon introduce a built-in option that lets users view the 30-day price history of Steam games. This feature would make it easier to track price changes without relying on third-party tools.

Pragmata reviews are revealing that graphics cards with 8GB of VRAM may struggle. A popular tech site had to adjust settings to achieve smooth 1440p performance on an RTX 4060. Capcom has also prevented testers from comparing GPU benchmarks until closer to the Pragmata release date.

Nvidia could be planning new memory configurations for its mid-tier RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti models. It is expected to increase the memory capacity from 8 GB GDDR6 to 9 GB GDDR7.

New GTA Online financial leaks reveal how much more profitable the service is on consoles. While a GTA 6 PC port seems inevitable, there are far more PS5 and Xbox players waiting to upgrade. Rockstar won’t suffer from a delay, but rumors hint that a Windows version could arrive in February 2027.

In an internal memo, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has expressed concern about the rising price of Xbox Game Pass. She says the company plans to ‘evolve’ it into a more ‘flexible system’ to provide more value to subscribers.

Tiny Corp has released a custom driver enabling Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, including the RTX 5090, to run on macOS for the first time since 2019. Performance is still limited by software despite the hardware breakthrough.

The latest Alienware display may make gamers think twice about IPS or VA alternatives. At $349.99, the AW2726DM is the brand’s new budget-friendly 27-inch OLED gaming monitor. The QD-OLED panel offers lower-end typical brightness, but compensates with a 240Hz refresh rate at 1440p resolution.

Hoyoverse says Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.2 “So Laughed the Masses” will go live on April 22, bringing anniversary rewards, new characters Silver Wolf LV.999 and Evanescia, and the debut of the Elation Trailblazer.

NZXT and its billing partner Fragile Inc. have agreed to a $3.45 million preliminary settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging the NZXT Flex “Rent-a-PC” program misled nearly 20,000 customers with deceptive rent-to-own claims, component bait-and-switching, and aggressive collections that prompted RICO allegations. If approved in September 2026, the deal would cancel qualifying subscriptions, forgive about $923k in debt, provide $1.21 million toward transferring PC ownership to eligible long-term payers, and offer $450–$500 in cash payments to certain former subscribers.

Champion of the original Xbox, Seamus Blackley, has serious concerns about Project Helix. He argues that Steam has a more consistent philosophy that values games above all else. The new Xbox console may also lack the innovative features that draws gamers to Nintendo hardware.

A new leak has revealed Intel’s entire Nova Lake desktop lineup. It consists of 12 SKUs, of which only three will come with bLLC- Intel’s answer to AMD’s 3D V-cache.

YouTuber Zac Builds has built a custom DIY Steam Machine that costs a bit less but performs up to 100% faster in games. The build involves used PC hardware, some 3D printed parts, as well as a wooden replaceable front face.

The Noctua SuperDome answers the question of whether a gaming tower with more fans is actually always the better choice. This is because the side panel in the shape of a hemisphere houses 15 high-quality 120 millimeter Noctua fans, which are designed to cool powerful gaming hardware particularly effectively.

Blizzard’s Director’s Take says Overwatch Season 2 will add baseline upgrades for Mercy, Reaper, and Pharah, revive post-match accolades, and give map-vote majorities more control.

(Update: Clarifications made) Keychron has officially made all of its keyboard and mouse designs open-source, including all of the wireless gaming keyboards and mice, making it significantly easier to design custom enclosures, mods, and add-ons for the relevant products. While these designs are not available for commercial use, the STEP files are free to download, and the community can suggest improvements in GitHub pull requests.

It didn’t take a hacker long to overcome Denuvo protection in Resident Evil Requiem. While the DRM thwarted pirates in the past, more games are being pirated closer to release dates. Resident Evil Requiem performance also improved compared to the hypervisor bypass alternative.

Gamers expected the next Fable title to ship before the end of 2026. However, a reliable insider reports that the Xbox game has suffered an internal delay. If Playground Games can’t finish development by October, Microsoft may postpone it until after the November GTA 6 release date.

An insider divulged that Microsoft is considering a shakeup of its lineup of Xbox Game Pass games. Call of Duty games, one of the perks of the Ultimate and PC tiers, may no longer arrive on day one. Both revenue from the shooter and the subscription service have diminished.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D needs no introduction. The powerful Zen 5 part happens to be the most worthy gaming CPU that money can buy right now, especially for folks who care more about gaming performance than anything else.

A trip to one U.S. retailer may dismiss any notion that memory prices are falling. Costs for DDR5 RAM and SSDs at Micro Center keep rising, even as consumer demand fades. With DRAM makers signing new lucrative contracts with AI data centers, the outlook for buyers looks grim.

Despite Microsoft’s best efforts, many publishers prioritize Steam and the PS Store. As a result, there are fewer Xbox Play Anywhere games than anticipated. A leak reveals that to bolster support for Windows handhelds and Project Helix, devs will receive a higher percentage of revenue.

A known leaker has suggested that those waiting to play GTA 6 on PC will not have to wait a whole year or two. The PC version of the game could come out shortly after the console version releases in November this year.

Pearl Abyss is hard at work addressing issues and improving player experience. They have now shared insight on what’s coming between now and June and some of the content may help ease the complaints of those who have finished the game.

Diablo Immortal is getting a DOOM: The Dark Ages crossover on April 16 with a Cyberdemon boss, Slayer’s Bane event, The Crucible gem, and free rewards.

Pearl Abyss has enabled Intel Arc GPU support for Crimson Desert following significant community backlash and public comments from Intel, with the game now launching properly on Arc cards after installing Intel’s Game On driver 32.0.101.8629. Early reports indicate the fix comes with notable visual artifacts and instability, while Intel XeSS remains unavailable.

A driving force behind the first Xbox system sees many parallels with Project Helix. In a recent podcast, Ed Fries revealed why Microsoft decided against a Windows PC concept. The new Xbox console may benefit from larger memory capacities and more games with controller support.

With Texture Set Neural Compression, Intel has unveiled a new AI-based technology intended to store textures and material data far more efficiently. That could not only reduce download sizes, but also lower the VRAM requirements of modern games – an area Nvidia is also actively targeting.

The TCL G64 QD-Mini LED TV is now on sale at Walmart for less than $150. The monitor is meant primarily for eSports and competitive play with a 300 Hz refresh rate, FHD resolution, a 1 ms response time, and AMD FreeSync/Nvidia G-Sync.

Although the recently discovered vulnerabilities in Firefox 140.9.1 have apparently not been exploited yet, Tails 7.6.1 comes to ensure that won't happen in the future either. This emergency release includes Tor Browser 15.0.9 and Tor client 0.4.9.6, as well as some refreshed firmware packages for improved hardware support.

Opera has pushed version 130 to the stable desktop channel with a Chromium 146.0.7680.178 base, multiple crash fixes, interface cleanups, and Threads and Twitch sidebar access for Early Bird users.

Chrome Beta 148.0.7778.4 is now available on Android through Google Play, adding Web Serial API support, SharedWorker on Android, and a broader set of Chrome 148 web-platform changes.

Intel says its 14th‑gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs and the LGA 1700/700‑series motherboard platform will remain in production, ensuring continued availability for desktop builders even as the company transitions to Arrow Lake. The move also keeps DDR4 support alive amid volatile memory pricing, giving users a lower‑cost entry point and a clearer upgrade path to DDR5 later.

RPCS3 developers release a simplified set of 2026 system requirements, broken into "Minimum", "Recommended", "Optimal", and "Max Performance" tiers. All told, these requirements look pretty reasonable, as they should following years of optimization efforts.

Sony is hunting for a server-side engineer to revamp the PlayStation Network. The job listing mentions voice chat across multiple platforms, likely for live-service PS5 PC games. Rumors had suggested that the company planned to keep more titles confined to the PlayStation Store and consoles.

Xiaomi has started selling an affordable new 120 Hz monitor in Europe. Available across the EU and the UK, the Xiaomi 2K Monitor A27Qi 2026 surpasses its 2025 predecessor in several areas with a faster refresh rate and higher peak brightness, among other improvements.

Microsoft has announced the next lineup of games that Xbox Game Pass members will be able to download and play this month. The lineup includes Hades II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and more.

Not every Counter-Strike update is good, and not every video essay is worthy of an essay—but Counter-Strike 2's new animgraph overhaul ported and overhauled from Half-Life: Alyx may be worth revisiting the game.

A hardware modder on Overclock.net reports successfully booting Windows 11 on Intel’s OEM-only Core 9 273PQE “Bartlett Lake” CPU using a standard Asus Z790 LGA1700 motherboard after crafting custom BIOS microcode and patches that spoof early initialization as Raptor Lake. The proof-of-concept highlights both the platform’s latent compatibility and the limits of accessibility, since Bartlett Lake chips remain unavailable to typical consumers despite interest in an all–performance-core desktop release.

An indie deckbuilder unexpectedly topped the Steam sales charts for March. Slay the Spire 2 notched more than twice the total of any rival, including a popular Pearl Abyss open-world game. Following patches, Crimson Desert Steam reviews continue to improve, hinting at a successful April.

A reliable leaker has compared the clock speed and IPC uplift of Intel Nova Lake and AMD Zen 6 CPU architectures. If the leaker's report is correct, Intel might finally be able to take the performance crown from AMD in all workloads, including gaming.