Latest news with #XDADevelopers
Engadget
17-05-2025
- Engadget
Microsoft gets its own Spotlight-like feature with the Command Palette launcher
Microsoft has introduced the successor to PowerToys Run, its quick launcher for power users, called the Command Palette. As The Verge notes, it now functions pretty much like Mac's Spotlight and will now let you search for apps, whole folders and single files, let you perform calculations just by typing on the search bar and let you do web searches without having to open a search engine. You can launch websites straight from the results it gives you, and it also lets you run system commands. The company has rolled out the new launcher ahead of this year's Build developer conference. In addition, Microsoft will let you add commands and features for your favorite apps to Command Palette, thanks to its support for extensions. XDA Developers recently took the launcher for a spin and said that you can search for extensions for it from WinGet and the Microsoft Store through its own search function. There's even an option to create a project for a new extension that you're building yourself. You can access the Command Palette on Windows by pressing Win + Alt + Space. From within the Command Palette window that pops up, you can see the various actions you can do within the launcher. It's also where you can access its Settings, which allow you to set the keyboard shortcut to show or hide the Palette, program the Backspace key to take you back to the previous page and set list items to activate on a single click, among other things.
Digital Trends
13-05-2025
- Business
- Digital Trends
The GPU market might go from bad to worse as Nvidia reportedly increases prices
As if the GPU market wasn't enough of a nightmare lately, Nvidia might have just raised the prices of its best graphics cards. According to a new report, Nvidia is increasing the pricing of its RTX 50-series GPUs for its board partners and suppliers, which might affect how much they cost for consumers. Here's what you need to know. First of all, we're not talking about a straight-up increase that, let's say, raises the MSRP (recommended list price) of the RTX 5090 from $2,000 to $2,500 (don't worry, that didn't happen, although good luck buying an RTX 5090 for less than $3,000). This is a behind the scenes kind of price increase, and as such, we have no way to verify whether it's true — so take it with a pinch of salt. The report comes from Digitimes and was later shared by XDA Developers, and Nvidia itself has yet to comment on the matter, so we have to be patient. Even if it's true, we might never get an official confirmation. Recommended Videos Assuming it's all true, though, I won't lie to you — the GPU pricing situation could soon end up looking pretty grim, and it's not like it was any good to begin with. Digitimes claims that Nvidia is raising its prices, and while this affects the suppliers and add-in board partners (AIBs), Nvidia has reportedly allowed its partners to pass on the cost to the end users. This means that, instead of cutting into their own profit margins, those companies might instead opt for a price increase that affects the customers. Given the current state of the GPU market, that wouldn't surprise me at all. The report says that one major reason behind this decision lies in export controls. Nvidia's top GPUs, meaning the RTX 4090 and the RTX 5090, cannot be exported to China, which drives up the global demand and ensures that those GPUs are practically never sold at MSRP. Digitimes says that this kind of demand doubled the channel price for these cards — and yet, they're still selling and are often out of stock, so clearly that never stopped anyone. Tariffs also play a major part in this (rumored) decision. Nvidia has shifted a lot of the RTX 50-series production to TSMC's Arizona plant to try and combat the tariffs, but it's impossible to fully escape their impact. By raising the prices, Nvidia could be able to offset some of the losses caused by external factors and maintain its profit margin. So, how much are we talkin'? Digitimes says that the RTX 5090 saw a price increase of 10%, and server manufacturers will now have to pay up to 15% more than previously. It's unclear whether every single RTX 50-series model was hit by this presumed price increase, but the RTX 5090 is certainly the most likely culprit here. The GPU market has been in a state of turmoil over the last few months. While the RTX 40-series was mostly available at MSRP once the initial hype died down (bar the RTX 4090), the RTX 50-series is most certainly not. Even mainstream GPUs along the likes of the RTX 5060 Ti, or AMD's RX 9070 XT for that matter, are consistently selling for more, with price hikes ranging from $100 to $300 for some models of the AMD card. Modest GPUs like the Intel Arc B580 are also pricier than they were at launch. If Nvidia does go through with this rumored price increase, it's hard to estimate just how much of it might be passed over to us — the customers. With the prices already high, we can hope that companies will lower their profit margin and GPUs won't be much more expensive … although, I might be just fooling myself.
Forbes
20-04-2025
- Forbes
Microsoft's Free Upgrade Offer—Bad News For 240 Million Windows Users
Are you ojn the bad news list Microsoft's campaign to urge some 240 million PC owners to recycle their devices or consign them to landfill continues. The company has already told those users they do not get its free Windows 11 upgrade, and is now emphasizing why the new hardware so many must (but don't want to) buy is absolutely critical to staying safe. As spotted by Neowin, following Microsoft's suggestion that users 'dump their PC and get a new one with Windows 11,' the company is now explaining 'why that is and how it helps make Windows 11 a better OS than Windows 10.' Thankfully, it has done this 'in simple words so that most users can understand them.' This is TPM 2.0, the hardware security chip that is the dividing line between PCs that can upgrade to Windows 11 and PCs that can't. 'The Trusted Platform Module (TPM),' Microsoft says, 'is a specialized chip built into your computer's hardware. It's designed to protect sensitive data by ensuring only trust software runs on your computer. It also keeps your important information safe from unauthorized access.' The company provides four security related bullets to explain Windows 11's security benefits, which as is always emphasized, is a hardware/software combination: TPM 2.0 is not just chip, Microsoft says, 'it's your device's first line of defense against the ever-evolving world of cyber threats.' Microsoft has a fast-approaching problem as it 'tries to convince Windows 10 users that TPM 2.0 is worth the upgrade,' per XDA Developers. There is a hard red line between the PCs that can and can't upgrade, those with and without the TPM 2.0 chip. With workarounds being shutdown and the Windows-maker being clear than ineligible PCs should be be changed, we will hit a brake in those Windows 11 numbers. After trailing Windows 10 since its launch, Windows 11 now has almost the same market share as its predecessor, and the numbers of those switching is accelerating at long last. But at some point that will stop or at least drastically slow down. The current estimate of the number of ineligible PCs is 240 million — but there are fears there could be even more. And a vast number of those will neither update hardware nor pay $30 for a 12-month support extension. That will leave hundreds of millions of PCs exposed to the cyber threats that hit Windows PCs constantly. Bad news all round.
