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  • Xbox Put a Working Series X Inside a Giant Fake Alligator
    Finding a place for a game console usually means clearing a shelf, not making room for a reptile. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X-BITE puts a working Series X inside an artificial alligator measuring more than five feet long. The one-off creation trades a discreet electronics box for something closer to a wildlife exhibit, complete with a controller between its teeth. The alligator rests on slim posts above a rectangular, wood-grain base, with its legs hanging below and its tail curling toward the fl
     

Xbox Put a Working Series X Inside a Giant Fake Alligator

Par : JC Torres
4 novembre 2026 à 09:20

Finding a place for a game console usually means clearing a shelf, not making room for a reptile. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X-BITE puts a working Series X inside an artificial alligator measuring more than five feet long. The one-off creation trades a discreet electronics box for something closer to a wildlife exhibit, complete with a controller between its teeth.

The alligator rests on slim posts above a rectangular, wood-grain base, with its legs hanging below and its tail curling toward the floor. Dark, ridged scales and a lighter belly give it the appearance of a mounted specimen. That familiar display format does much of the work, making the oversized enclosure feel deliberately theatrical rather than like an ordinary console wearing a novelty cover.

Designer: Microsoft (Xbox)

A raised section on its back interrupts those scales, with an illuminated Xbox Nexus symbol worked into the surface. It’s the clearest clue that the animal has supposedly swallowed something it shouldn’t. The branding stays small against the length of the body, allowing the fabrication to carry the joke before the glowing logo explains why there’s an alligator underneath your television in the first place.

The head gets a less subtle treatment. Xbox-green irises surround pupils shaped around the Nexus symbol, turning the creature’s stare into another brand reference. Between the open jaws sits a custom Xbox Wireless Controller with artificial bite marks. It gives the sculpture a little unfinished business, as though the console wasn’t quite enough of a meal and the accessories were next on the menu.

The commission went to creature-effects specialists, who used 3D modeling, sculpting, and fabrication to build the animal around the hardware. That process gives a promotional console the attention normally associated with a film prop. Florida supplied the inspiration, according to Xbox, although the animal itself is entirely artificial. No actual alligators were used or harmed in creating this unusually elaborate console enclosure.

For the person who eventually owns it, the obvious challenge is finding a suitable place to put it. More than five feet of reptile won’t disappear into the usual gap beside a television. Its long base asks for a substantial display surface, and the raised mounting makes the whole assembly something to plan a room around rather than tuck away.

There’s also a qualification behind the playable-console claim. Xbox says the Series X inside works, but its fine print recommends the finished creation for display. The announcement doesn’t explain ventilation, access to ports, or servicing inside the sculpted body. That leaves a distinction between functioning hardware and a practical replacement for the console you switch on every evening after work.

Only one Series X-BITE exists, and it’s being offered through a sweepstakes rather than a retail release. There isn’t a shelf price to weigh against a standard console or a choice of less toothy finishes. The appeal is owning the fabrication itself, with a working Xbox as its unlikely inhabitant. The controller has a home, provided you don’t mind the teeth.

The post Xbox Put a Working Series X Inside a Giant Fake Alligator first appeared on Yanko Design.

Xbox and PC prices are out of control, and Microsoft clearly knows it

Microsoft's big news this week is about how Windows 11 is now considerably more responsive on 8GB of RAM. A couple of weeks ago, it was the Xbox Series X|S and AMD-powered gaming handhelds getting AMD's FSR 4.1 upscaling to help boost performance.

What do these stories have in common? To me, they're evidence that the standard tech market model is breaking down in the face of unprecedented hardware shortages.

Laptops and desktop PCs keep rising in price, even as they're stripped of memory and storage. Xbox consoles have never been pricier. The latest gaming handhelds, including the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, are ballooning in price, to the point that they cost as much as a high-end gaming laptop from just a few years ago.

Consumer hardware that used to brute-force its way to acceptable performance in Windows, games, and beyond is no longer on the table for a lot of people because of AI-inflated prices.

What's left? Microsoft, despite its major role in the AI race, can't directly make hardware cheaper. It can, however, make it last longer by focusing on optimizations and innovations that offset the current economic reality that's keeping old hardware in our hands.

Windows 11 running better on 8GB PCs is part of a bigger picture

A laptop sits on a wooden coffee table, displaying Windows Task Manager’s Memory page; books and a sofa frame the quiet home setting.

The Acer Swift Air 14 with 8GB RAM, on which I tested RAM usage in Windows 11 26H2. (Image credit: Future)

The bigger story surrounding Windows 11's 8GB improvements is that Microsoft is putting significant engineering efforts into improving the OS for low-end hardware. And it's not afraid to show it off.

To me, this is a reversal of tradition. For what feels like all my life until recently, the answer to a sluggish PC was to upgrade the hardware. Microsoft and its OEMs loved this tradition, of course, because it let them sell more products.

Copilot+ PC launch event with Satya Nadella

The Copilot+ PC initiative only lasted for a couple of years.

Now, the focus is shifting to making the hardware we have feel like it can indeed last until an upgrade becomes affordable.

This shift comes a couple of years after Microsoft's massive Copilot+ PC initiative, which I'm sure was conceived as an ultimate ploy to get users to buy new hardware.

That didn't turn out so well for Microsoft. The AI tools built into the OS failed to capture the whimsy of the average user. Adoption was slow, no doubt largely because of rising prices. The Copilot+ PC badge was eventually phased out in September 2026.

Microsoft must have realized at some point during this transition that the millions of Windows users still running old hardware are not going to upgrade any time soon.

Optimization used to be a nice bonus when it arrived, but it's now becoming a major pillar in Microsoft's consumer strategy.

AMD's FSR 4.1 will held extend the life of consoles and handhelds

FSR 4.1 on an Xbox Ally

AMD FSR 4.1 running on the ROG Xbox Ally. (Image credit: AMD)

Microsoft isn't just working on optimizations for Windows users. AMD recently announced it's bringing its FSR 4.1 upscaling technique to its older hardware, which includes Xbox Series X|S, Radeon RX 6000 GPUs, and a host of Ryzen-powered gaming handhelds, including the ROG Xbox Ally X.

I've discussed how this update gives the current console generation some much-needed legs in the face of next-gen uncertainty. It improves image quality, makes rendering easier, and boosts framerates (maybe not all at the same time).

It won't turn your Xbox into a supercomputer, but it is the next best thing to buying an entirely new device with more power. This is particularly important as rumors of the next-gen Xbox Helix's $1200-$1800 price begin to swirl.

Xbox Helix logos

Helix is so far expected to cost somewhere between $1200-$1800 when it launches. (Image credit: Microsoft | XBOX)

If Helix indeed launches at that price, Microsoft has to know that adoption won't be fast. But the company also knows it can't afford to lose those Xbox gamers.

Keeping the Series X|S relevant longer into the future ensures that gamers keep buying Game Pass subscriptions, keep buying new games, and, ultimately, remain inside the ecosystem.

Microsoft doesn't really need people to buy new PCs

Image of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 (Gen 10) and ASUS Zenbook A14 (2025) laptops.

PC sales are no longer such a big part of Microsoft's business model. (Image credit: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy)

Microsoft used to make ungodly amounts of money from licensing Windows on PCs. However, it's arrived at a point where licenses are a tiny fraction of revenue. It's all about the subscriptions now, including Game Pass, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Copilot, Azure, and many more.

Don't get me wrong; I'm sure Microsoft would still love to be selling a ton of PCs. That's just good for business. That's not what's happening these days. PC sales are on a steep decline because of rising prices.

But as long as people are still using some sort of Windows PC that doesn't frustrate them with sluggish performance, there's a good chance that Microsoft will receive at least one monthly payment and remain within the ecosystem.

The current upgrade cycle is stuck in place

RAM sinking into the ocean

Unbelievably high RAM and storage prices have halted the tech upgrade cycle for a lot of people. (Image credit: Windows Central | Jez Corden)

Microsoft realized at some point that the upgrade cycle we're currently in is going to last for a lot longer than usual, especially as prices keep climbing.

And although I'm sure there were external circumstances playing a role in these recent optimizations I laid out, the big story is that Microsoft knows software is the answer to unaffordable hardware.

Do you agree with my opinions above? Do you think we'll be seeing a lot more software optimization in the years to come if PC prices don't drop? Do you think this is all just a small bandage on a seeping wound? Let me know in the comments section below!

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Microsoft Authenticator’s Android Backup Switch Is Coming in January — Google One Takes Over

4 novembre 2026 à 10:45

Microsoft Authenticator's Android backup switch is coming in January. Existing recovery settings may not carry over automatically.

The post Microsoft Authenticator’s Android Backup Switch Is Coming in January — Google One Takes Over appeared first on TechRepublic.

Microsoft is tackling Outlook's search problem, and it wants your feedback

Searching for a specific email in Outlook can prove challenging. Outlook search can sometimes return irrelevant results while missing the exact email you need. Microsoft is looking to improve that frustrating experience with a revamped search.

The new search has a feature that genuinely removes the most frustrating part of Outlook for me. That phrase is thrown around a lot online and is often clickbait, but I mean it here emphatically.

Outlook now handles stop words better. Those words, such as "the," "and," and "is," often clog search results with irrelevant emails. I can't tell you how many times those tiny words have led to terrible searches that made me fish through the results that appear chronologically.

Microsoft's example from a blog post shows how drastically different the results are when searching "the FY27 budget" using the old Outlook search versus the new one.

Before-and-after comparison of Outlook search results showing Microsoft's improved relevance ranking for emails matching a budget-related query.

Microsoft's example shows how Outlook's updated search ranks relevant emails higher in the results instead of surfacing messages that only happen to contain common search terms. (Image credit: Microsoft)

The improvements highlighted by Microsoft center around ranking emails better. Microsoft focused on three areas when building the new search tool in Outlook: better ranking, improved performance when connectivity is poor, and a tighter feedback loop.

When you search for an email within Outlook, you will see seven ranked results rather than three. Those emails are ranked based on recency, sender, how much the message has been interacted with, and other factors. Expanding the number of ranked messages presented should show users more relevant emails while also helping Microsoft improve its ranking systems over time.

The new ranking layout is available across several versions of Outlook, including the new and Classic versions.

There are other upgrades as well. Classic Outlook now automatically falls back to locally indexed content when connectivity is poor. That same functionality is on the way to new Outlook but will ship later.

Users of Classic Outlook should also see faster search results. Microsoft also said recent improvements reduced latency for the slowest 5% of Outlook searches.

The improved rankings in Outlook are the result of a small language model ranker built specifically for Outlook. That model is trained through distillation, meaning it is built under the supervision of a larger model.

Distillation helps Outlook search be more efficient than if it had to run a larger model just to look through and rank emails.

I'd probably be okay with using a larger model in Outlook if it cut out irrelevant results that appear simply for using an article or common verb like "is." I bet I'd still save some time that way. But I don't have to test that theory because the new Outlook search is lightweight.

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Windows 11 Lets You Customize the Right-Click Menu — Here’s What Changes

4 novembre 2026 à 06:57

A familiar Windows frustration is getting a fix. New menu settings let users bring back text commands, manage app extensions, and reduce clutter.

The post Windows 11 Lets You Customize the Right-Click Menu — Here’s What Changes appeared first on TechRepublic.

Does Windows 11 26H2 actually use less RAM? I tested to find out.

Microsoft has revealed the depths of its work to make Windows 11 feel less sluggish, with the company claiming, among other things, up to 20% better responsiveness on systems with 8GB of RAM.

Microsoft has claimed before that things "seem faster," but is there any juice behind this new claim? I decided to find out myself by running some tests on an 8GB laptop in my office.

The results will likely be surprising to some, especially once we get into the heavier workloads below.

How I tested Windows 11's responsiveness on an 8GB laptop

A Dell XPS laptop with a gray lid and an open Swift Air 14 display showcasing specifications. An abstract logo in pink, purple, and yellow overlaps the images.

Dell's XPS 13 and Acer's Swift Air 14 are both from a new group of 8GB laptops running on Intel Core Series 3 chips. (Image credit: Future)

I installed a barebones version of Windows 11 25H2 (262000.7019) from about a year ago on an Acer Swift Air 14 with an Intel Core 5 320 CPU, 8GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a 512GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD.

I didn't touch the page file (4524MB), and I only installed the necessary drivers before beginning my tests. I used the Best Performance power profile for all tests.

Once I'd completed all tests on 25H2, I upgraded to Windows 11 26H2 (26300.9711), which was released in October. Same system, same drivers, same programs.

Microsoft used telemetry data from things like Search, Settings, File Explorer, and Snipping Tool to measure responsiveness. I took a look at RAM usage instead; lower usage generally means fewer hiccups and interruptions, leading to an overall better experience.

Testing Windows 11's fresh-boot memory footprint with 8GB of RAM

Task manager window showing Memory usage on Windows 11 25H2.
Windows 11 25H2's baseline memory usage after a fresh boot.Future
Task manager window showing Memory usage on Windows 11 26H2.
Windows 11 26H2's baseline memory usage after a fresh boot.Future

For this test, I checked both new and old versions of Windows 11 about 10 minutes after booting the PC. This gives me a baseline to work with. I opened no additional apps and just let the system idle.

Windows 11 25H2 (262000.7019)

Windows 11 26H2 (26300.9711)

Total RAM Usage

5.3GB

4.1GB ^

Available RAM

2.3GB

3.5GB ^

Paged / Non-Paged Pool

351MB / 257MB

275MB / 300MB ^

Cached

2.2GB

2.3GB ^

Committed

4.7GB/9.5GB

4.4GB/9.5GB ^

The older Windows 11 25H2 version was eating up 5.3GB of RAM in this scenario, leaving 2.3GB free. Windows 11 26H2 dropped RAM usage to 4.1GB, leaving 3.5GB free. That's a big drop.

Although both commits are the same at 9.5GB, Windows 11 26H2 uses slightly less at 4.4GB compared to 4.7GB.

TL;DR: Windows 11 26H2 is well ahead in the boot test where no additional apps are running, using significantly less RAM than 25H2.

Testing common workloads in Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM

Windows 11 Task Manager showing Memory usage graph in 25H2.
Windows 11 25H2 memory usage in a common workload.Future
Windows 11 Task Manager showing Memory usage graph in 26H2.
Windows 11 26H2 memory usage in a common workload.Future

Now that I've established a baseline, I put together a test to see how each PC handles an average user's daily workload.

I opened 10 tabs in Edge with a mix of Windows Central, Reddit, YouTube, Gmail, X, Amazon, etc. I also opened a Word document, Slack messenger, and the Spotify app.

Windows 11 25H2 (262000.7019)

Windows 11 26H2 (26300.9711)

Total RAM Usage

7.0GB

6.6GB ^

Available RAM

563MB

1018MB ^

Paged / Non-Paged Pool

332MB/397MB

300MB/345MB ^

Cached

580MB

738MB ^

Committed

11.5GB/12.2GB

9.1GB/10.4GB ^

Windows 11 25H2 climbed to 7.0GB RAM usage, while 26H2 hit just 6.6GB. That's about a 0.4GB improvement. Windows 11 26H2 was able to keep its cache larger while also committing less RAM at 10.4GB compared to 12.2GB.

For reference, committed memory indicates how much RAM the PC is setting aside for operations. In this case, 12.2GB of RAM committed includes physical system RAM and virtual memory (set by the page file). Committing less RAM keeps your system from clogging up, so this is good news.

TL;DR: Windows 11 26H2 keeps its lead under load, actively using less RAM and allocating less RAM overall.

Testing heavy workloads in Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM

Windows 11 25H2 Task Manager window showing memory usage graph.
Windows 11 26H2 memory usage in an extreme workload.Future
Windows 11 26H2 Task Manager window showing memory usage graph.
Windows 11 25H2 memory usage in an extreme workload.Future

Although the fresh crop of recommended Windows 11 laptops with 8GB of RAM aren't really meant to handle workloads this heavy, I knew it would be fun to really stress out the PC.

I opened Edge (with 20 tabs), a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, Spotify, Slack, Microsoft Store, the Photos app, File Explorer, and GIMP simultaneously for this test.

Windows 11 25H2 (262000.7019)

Windows 11 26H2 (26300.9711)

Total RAM Usage

7.3GB

6.8GB ^

Available RAM

352MB

764MB ^

Paged / Non-Paged Pool

355MB/434MB

318MB/357MB ^

Cached

383MB

638MB ^

Committed

14.7GB/15.2GB

9.8GB/10.4GB ^

You can see the 7.3GB total RAM usage on 25H2 and just 6.8GB on 26H2. That's a good sign, but there's some nuance.

Windows 11 25H2 began requiring more RAM than the system could provide, which led to paging and swapping, which led to disk usage spikes as the PC moved increasingly to virtual RAM.

Windows 11 26H2 also saw some disk usage spikes, especially when jumping around between apps and tabs, but not quite as severe.

The big number that stands out is committed RAM. 25H2 has 15.2GB allocated, while 26H2 has just 10.4GB allocated. Overall, the system is still using less RAM.

TL;DR: Heavy workloads bog down any 8GB system, but Windows 11 26H2 puts up a much more responsive fight than 25H2 from a year ago.

Windows Central's take

Acer Swift Air 14

Acer's Swift Air 14 that I used for testing (pictured here at Computex). (Image credit: Zac Bowden / Windows Central)

It's a bad time to be shopping for a new PC. The world's supply of memory and storage is constrained due to demand from AI data centers, leaving scraps for the rest of us.

The shortage is also forcing PC brands to raise prices. To offset costs, these brands are also reintroducing 8GB RAM models. This has led to plenty of discourse as to whether or not that's enough memory for modern Windows 11, which I explored in June.

In my opinion, Microsoft is A) listening to its user base that has been asking for a more streamlined Windows 11, and B) making it easier for OEMs to sell 8GB laptops to a wider range of people.

I'm here for it. There's no reason Windows 11 should be bogging down a system with 8GB of RAM, especially if it's just being used for common tasks. Compared to almost exactly one year ago, it definitely appears that the work was well worth the time.

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Microsoft details how it's made Windows 11 optimized for 8GB RAM PCs

Microsoft has detailed a number of changes and improvements that it has made to Windows 11 over the last handful of months that are designed to improve the OS for devices that have just 8GB of RAM. The company says that as of today, Windows 11 is more RAM-efficient and faster on PCs with limited memory compared to a year ago.

"On 8 GB PCs, Windows is now up to 20% more responsive, and multitasking is up to 40% faster in our lab test" Microsoft CVP Pavan Davaluri says. "We’re approaching this in three parts: making better use of the memory in every Windows 11 PC, protecting the interactions that need to feel instant even under load, and ensuring key apps and Windows require less memory."

Recent Windows 11 updates have changed how the OS preloads background services and apps on PCs with 8GB RAM. Now, the OS will no longer preload things like the Widgets Board on these devices with 8GB RAM or less, which frees up RAM for other tasks and activities.

Microsoft also says that it has worked with teams across Windows, Office, and Edge to reduce the amount of RAM these apps use, resulting in up to 900MB of RAM being given back to the system for other tasks. A large chunk of those savings came from Office apps, which add up to 350MB of RAM freed for the system.

Task Manager RAM difference comparison

You'll notice the OS uses less RAM at idle now. (Image credit: Windows Central)

There are also consolidation efforts around behind the scenes technology that should also free up system memory. A number of web-powered interfaces across the system are now powered by the same engine, rather than individual engines, and a number of web experiences are being rewritten as native WinUI experiences that use less RAM.

In fact, if you install Windows 11 version 25H2 from a year ago, and compared it to the latest version of Windows 11 with the latest OS updates installed, you'll find that even at idle, Windows is now using significantly less RAM compared to before. These improvements appear to be very real.

Additionally, the company is enforcing "memory budgets" on OEM hardware with limited RAM. This should stop hardware makers from preloading 8GB RAM devices with unnecessary bloatware, reserving preload for the most important services.

These improvements are all in the name of ensuring Windows 11 runs well on 8GB RAM. Windows 11's performance on limited RAM PCs was pulled into the spotlight earlier this year when MacBook Neo shipped, which revealed that macOS is well optimized for 8GB RAM.

Now, Microsoft is eager to let people know that it has made the necessary improvements to Windows 11 to ensure that it too is well optimized for 8GB RAM. Here's a rundown of some other improvements it has made to the OS over the last year:

  • Memory compression already helps Windows keep more of your work in faster memory. Next, we’re making it even smarter and more efficient to get the most out of your system performance.
  • Windows features and apps will share common parts instead of each carrying its own. Search and Widgets will share one web engine, and so will OneDrive and Photos for memory savings across all four apps.
  • Apps and experiences built on WinUI 3, including File Explorer, Notepad, Paint, and the new Windows search are being designed to open faster and use less memory.
  • Together with PC makers and silicon partners, we’re optimizing how much memory your PC needs to reserve for its hardware, leaving more available for Windows and the apps you use.
  • We’re also working with third-party app developers to help their apps use memory more efficiently.

Of course, Windows 11 technically officially supports 4GB RAM PCs, and I'm told these optimizations also apply to those devices too. If you're running Windows 11 on 4GB RAM, you should see notable improvements to performance and multitasking with the latest OS updates.

But are these improvements going to be enough for users? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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