We're spoiled for choice on great Windows laptops with prices as low as the MacBook Neo — and upgraded specs to boot

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

16 mars 2026 à 12:35

Best Buy is hosting a limited-time Tech Fest sales event, and it has discounted a bunch of laptops and 2-in-1 laptops with huge price cuts between 25% to 40%.

AI-Generated image of Dell and ASUS laptops visuallized

AI-Generated image of several Dell and ASUS laptops

ASUS laughs at the MacBook Neo — This $699 OLED laptop has the one spec Apple won't give you

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Sean Endicott)

16 mars 2026 à 12:10

Best Buy's $300 discount on the Zenbook A14 makes the MacBook Neo look like a ripoff. You get 16GB of RAM and 12-hour battery life for just $699.

ASUS Zenbook A14 with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus in beige (2025).

The ASUS Zenbook A14 already lived near the top of our best Windows laptop roundup. Now it's $300 off.

Xbox’s Project Moorcroft quietly evolved — here’s what replaced it

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

16 mars 2026 à 11:58

Reports claimed Xbox cancelled Project Moorcroft, but an interview with ID@Xbox director Guy Richards suggests the initiative evolved instead. Xbox continues to support game demos through ID@Xbox demo festivals.

ID@Xbox hero image.

Reports claimed Xbox cancelled Project Moorcroft, but a recent interview suggests the initiative evolved instead.

Samsung laptop owners lose their C:\ drive on Windows 11 with "access denied" errors — as Microsoft removes the offending app

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Kevin Okemwa)

16 mars 2026 à 11:44

A critical Windows 11 bug has been traced to the Samsung Galaxy Connect app, prompting Microsoft to pull the app from its Store to stop new installs.

Samsung Galaxy Connect app shown on the Microsoft Store, displayed on a computer monitor

A critical Windows 11 bug has been traced to the Samsung Galaxy Connect app.

Jeff Kaplan has choice words for players who just live to hate: "Shut the f— up"

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Michael Hoglund)

16 mars 2026 à 10:59

Straight and to the point, the former Vice President of Blizzard calls bullshit on people who's existance depends on earning more internet upvotes.

Jeff Kaplan photo

Choice words by a wise man.

Despite ID@Xbox generating hundreds of millions in sales, Xbox still eyes store discovery improvements

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

16 mars 2026 à 10:36

Xbox says its ID@Xbox program generated hundreds of millions in sales on the Xbox Store. Despite that success, the company is introducing changes to improve how games are discovered.

ID@Xbox promotional image

Xbox says its ID@Xbox program generated hundreds of millions in sales on the Xbox Store.

Xbox 360 games can now run on iPhone, iPad, and Mac thanks to a new app

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

15 mars 2026 à 18:32

A new experimental emulator called XeniOS aims to bring Xbox 360 games to iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Based on the Xenia emulator, the alpha build already runs some games but still has limited compatibility and requires sideloading with JIT enabled.

Halo 3 on iPhone 17

The original Xbox One has reportedly been jailbroken — yes, the 2013 one

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

15 mars 2026 à 18:21

The original Xbox One “VCR” model has reportedly been jailbroken almost 13 years after its launch. Researchers bypassed the console’s boot ROM security using a hardware technique known as voltage glitching, allowing unofficial software to run and opening new possibilities for preservation and hardware research.

The Original Xbox One from 2013

Original Xbox One and Kinect from 2013 with, yes, a Windows Phone.

Sam Altman wants to turn AI into a utility — and meter “intelligence” like electricity

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Kevin Okemwa)

15 mars 2026 à 18:02

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts AI will shift from subscriptions to utility billing, charging by usage like power or water.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is seen on a mobile device screen.

Windows Central’s subreddit just hit 1,000+ members — here’s why you should join us

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Daniel Rubino)

15 mars 2026 à 16:48

Our subreddit is quickly becoming one of the best places for Windows, Surface, Xbox, and PC fans to talk directly with us and with each other. Here’s why we built it — and why you might want to join.

Photo of the r/windowscentral subreddit on a laptop display

Microsoft quietly scraps plans to bring Copilot to notifications and Settings on Windows 11 as it moves to reduce AI bloat across the OS

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Zac Bowden)

15 mars 2026 à 15:55

Originally announced in 2024, Microsoft's plan to integrate Copilot across various areas of the Windows 11 shell has been shelved as the company reevaluates its AI approach in the OS.

A copilot logo with the word "Windows" next to it on an abstract background.

Copilot helped me find the problem my doctors missed — and that matters even more as Microsoft announces Copilot Health

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

15 mars 2026 à 13:00

Microsoft just announced Copilot Health, a secure vault for your medical history and wearable data. While 67% of our readers say they aren't ready to hand over the keys to their health data, I have a different perspective.

Cartoon doctor enthusiastically gestures beside a colorful "Copilot Health" logo in a blurred doctors office setting

Microsoft just announced Copilot Health, a secure vault for your medical history and wearable data.

Windows Wrap: Windows 11’s disastrous year came at the perfect time for Xbox — Project Helix will drag PC gaming to where it needs to be

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Sean Endicott)

14 mars 2026 à 21:04

Windows 11 struggled in 2025, but it may have paved the way for Project Helix. Microsoft promised to reduce the pain points of Windows 11, and gamers may be the biggest benificiaries.

Xbox Ally

Windows 11 PCs will receive Xbox mode next month. That mode is the next evolution of the Xbox Full Screen Experience seen on the Xbox Ally and other devices.

Lenovo challenges the MacBook Neo with this Snapdragon X laptop — its RAM and SSD especially are a huge step up

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

14 mars 2026 à 19:56

Amazon is offering an 8% discount on the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3X laptop. While it's not the best price drop, it has made it on par with the newly released MacBook Neo while offering superior RAM, storage, and other hardware features.

AI-Generated image of a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3X visualized.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3X may not be the best looker, but it has it where it counts.

I sent my Xbox ROG Ally X away for repair, and now it's back — but I've already moved on to another handheld (with some guilt)

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

14 mars 2026 à 13:00

The Xbox ROG Ally X that betrayed me is back, but I've found solace in the detachable arms of the Lenovo Legion GO and don't know if I can go back.

A handheld gaming device with a large screen and controls on each side rests on a pink surface.

I've been playing happily on the Lenovo while my Xbox ROG Ally X remains waiting for me to reinstall my games

HP is not taking Apple's MacBook Neo lying down — it's just discounted one of its laptops with superior RAM and storage with a whopping $650 off

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

14 mars 2026 à 10:26

The HP Omnibook 5 with a 14-inch OLED 2K display, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and Snapdragon X processor has been given an insane 57% discount as part of HP's response to Apple's MacBook Neo making waves on the internet.

Trailer screenshot of the HP Omnibook 5 14" AI laptop

HP fights back against the MacBook Neo with a cheaper and better alternative

Beloved Fallout composer says Bethesda's Todd Howard is a "visionary" — and that critics of Xbox's Starfield "were just not ready" for the controversial RPG

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Brendan Lowry)

13 mars 2026 à 23:10

Fallout and Starfield composer Inon Zur believes one day, we'll all think Xbox's Starfield is a "legendary" RPG, and that Todd Howard is a "visionary."

Starfield

Xbox's Starfield is the first new IP from Bethesda Game Studios in many, many years, but for many, it didn't live up to the community's expectations.

Ex-Xbox exec Larry Hryb 'Major Nelson' just joined this legendary gaming brand, but he says it's not his "full time gig" — "I am still working on that"

Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.

Par : [email protected] (Brendan Lowry)

13 mars 2026 à 20:47

Former Xbox programming director Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has joined Commodore, but it's not his "full time gig." Could he return to Xbox at some point?

A photograph of Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb.