2026-09-16
Today's roundup covers seven hardware reviews, spanning mini PCs, CPU coolers, OLED monitors, a foldable controller, and a flagship PSU. The GEEKOM A9 Max 2026 packs AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 but ships an overpriced single-channel base config that throttles performance. Meanwhile, value stands out in the ASRock Rock White 360 AIO at ~$89 and the pocketable Razer Prio controller at $99.99. Overall, the best picks for most buyers are the ASRock AIO and Razer Prio, while the GEEKOM and Noctua coolers are worth it only if configured correctly.
2026-09-15
Devolutions shipped UniGetUI v2026.3.0 on September 15, 2026, its biggest feature release under the company's ownership in a while. The headline updates let you schedule four heavy background tasks—update checks, auto-updates, and local and cloud backups, on independent schedules, plus mark individual packages for automatic updates instead of applying it globally. It also brings real zero-footprint portable mode, expanded Start Menu shortcut controls, and security hardening against PowerShell injection and path-traversal attacks. You can download it from the Microsoft Store, WinGet, Scoop, Chocolatey, or the GitHub Releases page, with Windows, Linux, and macOS builds compiled with NativeAOT.
PowerToys v0.101.2572.0, the latest preview build released today, introduces a long-requested Auto Hide Cursor feature that hides the pointer after keyboard input or inactivity and restores it on movement. It also adds DSC v3 profile deployment for Keyboard Manager, letting IT admins push key and shortcut remappings across fleets without a restart. The update includes Power Display profile reordering plus a batch of fixes for Quick Accent, Advanced Paste, the Command Palette, and Mouse Without Borders. As a pre-release with four installer variants available now on GitHub, it targets testers rather than stable production use.
Open Shell Menu 4.4.201, a pre-release build published September 15, 2026, bundles two changes both from first-time contributors. The headline update is a wide-ranging accessibility overhaul that improves screen-reader support, keyboard navigation, and High-Contrast display across all three components. A smaller addition lets users horizontally offset the Start button, solving an alignment problem that Windows 11 users with custom skins have long complained about. The release arrives while the stable channel remains at 4.4.198, reflecting a busy, ongoing update cadence for the beloved Classic Shell successor.
Today's hardware roundup covers two new MSI cases, with the panoramic, back-connect-friendly MAG PANO 110R PZ and the feature-packed MEG Maestro 900R pulling in opposite directions. The FPS Review settles an ongoing upgrade debate, weighing the older Ryzen 7 7700X3D against the Zen 5 9800X3D to see if the jump is worth your money. Asus' 4K ROG Swift PG27UCWM OLED earns its premium billing with 240 Hz at 4K, while two outlets agree the $1059 Steam Frame is excellent hardware held back by its price. Round out the day with a brisk Sandisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 SSD, a featherweight ATK gaming mouse, and be quiet!'s quiet TKL keyboard.
Microsoft has shipped WSL 2.9.12, a pre-release focused on making its native wslc container tool behave like the Docker CLI through new flags like --size, --all, and --all-tags. Alongside the CLI polish, it lands real fixes for the parts people actually complain about, most notably a virtiofs ownership bug that made every file look root-owned, plus a networking fix that left /mnt/wsl/resolv.conf without nameservers. Four installers are available now, though it rides the pre-release channel so expect some rough edges. It's a solid move toward containers-on-Windows maturing, but as with any pre-release it's really for developers who want to test things early.
Microsoft released an out-of-band Windows update on September 14, 2026 to repair damage caused by its September 8 Patch Tuesday security update, which broke three things. The most disruptive was Remote Desktop Services going unresponsive and blocking sign-ins, followed by broken Hyper-V host folder sharing in Linux VMs and USB Audio Class 1.0 failures in multichannel modes. The emergency patch is also a security update closing CVE-2026-62721 and, for Windows 11 26H1, CVE-2026-85921. However, it does not fully fix the USB audio problem, so a follow-up fix is still coming.
2026-09-14
This week's five reviews cover iFi's redesigned NEO iDSD 3 DAC, Thrustmaster's Airbus flight-stick grip, the EPOMAKER TH65 keyboard, the Kioxia Exceria Pro G2 SSD, and Dell's Pro 5 webcam. The standout value pick is the EPOMAKER TH65 at $59.99, scoring 8.6 out of 10 for its gasket-mounted thocky feel. Not everything earns a buy recommendation: the Kioxia SSD's import pricing swings to $750 versus its expected $340, and the Dell Pro 5 webcam's $119.99 price tag asks too much for solid-but-unremarkable quality. Meanwhile, the Thrustmaster Airbus grip wobbles out of the box, making it hard to justify for everyone.
2026-09-12
WSL Manager 2.1.0 introducing a schema-driven interface that lets AI runtimes like OpenClaw and OpenCode describe their own settings directly from the UI. The update also rewires dashboard routing for non-Windows hosts, fixing persistent loopback mismatches while keeping the MCP server exposed for external AI agents. Core distro management remains free under GPL-3.0, but the AI workspaces and dynamic configuration tools require a one-time Pro purchase. You can grab the release via winget install Bostrot.WSLManager, the Microsoft Store, or the direct .exe installer, though Trenkel warns that the AI configuration feature is still in beta.
Cooler Master's MasterFan A140 FC secured a Cybenetics Platinum rating for 164.4 CFM airflow, though reviewers flagged a confusing discrepancy between the spec sheet and the fan's printed amperage label. Razer debuted the Reclusa X Mini 65% at $49.99, delivering hot-swap support and Gen-3 Orange switches in a budget-friendly board that Windows Central praised as the start of a new enthusiast family. Thermalright's $91 TR-KG750 power supply undercuts nearly every name-brand 750 W Gold unit, but Tom's Hardware warns that "acceptable rather than good" regulation makes it a gamble for builders who prioritize silence or verified efficiency. Finally, AVerMedia's DUALCAM PW313D earned 95% for its unique dual-camera design at $149.99, filling a niche for streamers needing two angles without the cost of a full multi-camera rig.
Microsoft has released Windows Subsystem for Linux 2.7.14. The update bundles four major backported fixes addressing uninitialized memory leaks, out-of-bounds reads in interop messages, network exposure on the kernel daemon relay, and authorization bypasses in plugin mounts. By maintaining a dedicated release/2.7 branch for these hardening updates, the WSL team ensures stability without interrupting active feature development on the master track. You can apply the patch immediately by running wsl --update in PowerShell to secure your existing distributions without any manual intervention.
Microsoft shipped new Windows 11 Insider Preview builds, expanding desktop customization and security hardening across the Beta, Experimental, and Release Preview channels. The Release Preview flight now lets you anchor the taskbar to any screen edge, size the Start menu to your preference, and swap the "Recommended" panel for a cleaner "Recent" list. Behind the scenes, Memory Integrity will auto-enable on more eligible PCs this October, Administrator Protection blocks privilege escalation via just-in-time profiles, and post-quantum ML-KEM encryption joins TLS key exchange. Experimental branches do carry friction, including Easy Anti-Cheat launch failures and VMware display glitches, so stick to the Release Preview until the bugs cool down.
2026-09-11
ASUS has announced the ROG Swift OLED PG27UCWM, a 26.5-inch 4K Tandem RGB OLED display capable of reaching 480Hz in Dual Mode, priced at €1,249.90. The company also revealed the ROG Azoth Extreme Edition 20, a collector's keyboard with a 24-karat gold nameplate and 8,000Hz wireless polling that costs upwards of €629. On the value front, the MSI Maestro 500 Wireless offers tri-mode connectivity and ANC for $69.99, while Endorfy's Viro Wireless delivers 130-hour battery life and premium build materials for €86.90. The roundup also covers Pulsar's new X2N Crazylight sub-50g mouse and the Libernovo Omni Pro chair, which addresses comfort with an integrated seat ventilation fan.
Microsoft has released Windows Package Manager v1.30.140-preview, a servicing update focused on stability and parity features. The most notable addition is the --ignore-unavailable flag for the winget install command, which allows batch installations to skip missing packages instead of aborting entirely. The update also resolves a crash involving the Resume feature in non-interactive modes, fixes Microsoft Store ID search behavior, and hardens path validation against crafted manifests.
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