TechSpot Features

Unlike Windows and macOS, there is a world of Linux distributions to experience. Ubuntu is a good and popular recommendation, but if you're curious what else there's out there, here is a quick guide.

Today we're talking our first real look at Windows 11 performance to see how much difference there is when compared to Windows 10, but also to establish a baseline for testing Alder Lake in a few weeks.

Welcome back to another month expensive graphics cards. Unfortunately, after a brief glimpse of hope a few months back, MSRP GPUs are off the table for the rest of the year based on current trends.

Using end-to-end encrypted messaging services can make this data inaccessible to third parties and protection from bad actors. So the question is, which popular messaging apps use end-to-end encryption?

In the world of semiconductors, bigger numbers are often better. More cores, higher GHz, greater FLOPs. But there's one measure where smaller is better. Enter semiconductor manufacturing and the technology node.

Launched in 1970, Xerox's PARC has played an instrumental role in the engineering of laser printing and many of the technologies that compose the PC you're reading this on: the graphical user interface, ethernet, the mouse, among others. We'd like to take a few and give credit where credit's due.

Today we're taking a look at Far Cry 6 to see how it runs on a variety of PC hardware, so lots and lots of benchmarks including 30+ AMD and Nvidia GPUs at 3 resolutions and 2 quality presets.

It's time to discuss something that's been bugging me for some time: Ultra quality settings in PC games. Everyone wants to crank stuff up to the max, but what we've discovered is that Ultra settings are actually pretty dumb.

Most people who hear the word "Nokia" associate it with mobile phones, but there's a convoluted history to tell since the company's humble beginnings over 150 years ago and many reinventions.

If you're buying a new iPad, you may be surprised by all the different options. The iPad Pro models differ in more than size, and the latest base iPad and iPad Mini are interesting alternatives to the iPad Air.

It'd be great if GPU pricing was normal and we didn't have to update you on the state of the market, but tracking GPUs is useful if you're wanting to jump the gun. Also, this month we can celebrate a rather unfortunate anniversary.

Is this a better time to buy or build a new PC than it was earlier this year, when we saw component shortages and skyrocketing prices? Let's take a look at how the market has changed in the past few months.

The word cryptography evokes images of spies, secret messages and covert agencies. But what is cryptography? Cryptography is the method of scrambling data so that it looks like gibberish to anyone except those who know the trick to decode it.

The Chrome browser is stable and secure, but that comes at the expense of RAM usage and privacy, since Google can see most of what you do on it. Here are 5 top alternatives to Chrome and why you should consider them.

When choosing a new computer monitor, the type of panel used by the display is a key piece of information that reveals a lot about how the monitor will behave and perform. By far the most common types of display panels are TN, IPS and VA.

These days, even expansive high-budget gaming experiences can be enjoyed for free. However, wading through all that muck to find the gems can be difficult, so here are 11 top free games available on Steam.

How much difference can L3 cache make with just 4 CPU cores active? We've gone back to test a variety of CPUs checking for frequencies, number of cores and L3 cache to draw some conclusions.

The world of Virtual Reality has only expanded since the first Oculus Rift debuted, and here are the top gaming highlights in various genres to whet your appetite for immersive and fun VR games.

Graphics cards are still quite difficult to purchase at reasonable prices in most regions, but the month of August in particular has seen a number of developments that are worth talking about.

Today, there are at least 1 million miners for Bitcoin alone. How is this all happening? What role is the miner playing? And how might this change the landscape of computing in the future?

At some point you may have heard someone say that for gaming you need X amount of cores. Examples include "6 is more than enough cores," or "you need a minimum of 8 cores for gaming," let's address that misconception.

A common reason to move your game install files is that you've added a new faster or larger drive to your system. Redownloading is impractical, so here's how you can move your Steam games and many others in a few simple steps.

For those growing up in the 1980s, the name "Coleco" stirs up nostalgic memories of a gaming era long past. The ColecoVision competed with the likes of Atari and Intellivision, leaving its mark in gaming history.

Most of your digital photos use the JPEG format, but when you download an image from the web, it may be using the more modern WebP format. But why do we need so many file types? And how are they different?

Be the first to cross the finish line. Second is the first to lose, as the great Ayrton Senna would say. Over the years car fanatics have been living and driving the dream, all made possible by games like the iconic Need for Speed.

It's that time of the month when we provide you with an update on the current state of the GPU market. There's good news as graphics card availability and pricing has started to improve in recent weeks.

What do you play when you want an adrenaline rush? We can think of dozens of games, but narrowed the list to 10 of our favorites. Scary, gory or frustratingly hard, but all are guaranteed to spike your adrenaline.

These days, not a month goes by that we hear about a new major ransomware attack. But how did we get to this point where our data and services could be held for ransom?

There's plenty of graphics history and technology to unpack here after AMD purchased ATI, it didn't just absorb the company, but continued its reputation of being a graphics powerhouse for years to come.

Few vehicles are more popular than the Ford F-150, which is why the recent introduction of the all-electric F-150 Lightning is such a big deal. Here's what we learned after a session with it.