What you need to know

• QuakeCon is an annual event that's been held since 1996, having grown over the years and sponsored by ZeniMax Media ever since its acquisition of id Software. 
• QuakeCon is returning in August 2024, with four days of events from August 8 -11 focused on in-person events and tournaments
• Like in past years, there'll be some programming livestreamed via the Bethesda channel on Twitch.
• QuakeCon 2024 tickets go on sale on May 21, with a lottery for a chance to purchase Elite Tickets opening today.

The annual gathering high frames and cool computers is coming. 

QuakeCon 2024 is on the way, with Bethesda and id Software again returning for an in-person event from August 8 through Aug. 11, 2024. This year's event will heavily center around BYOC (bring your own computer) tournaments, with meet-and-greets, tabletop events, and more. There'll also be some programming that'll be streamed on the Bethesda Twitch channel, so anyone watching from home will still be able to take part. 

Tickets for QuakeCon 2024 are slated to go on sale on May 21, 2024. Here's the prices for each ticket type, as well as what's included:

• QuakeCon Fan Ticket - $15
  • Daily event access from 8am to 1am for all four days
  • Tabletop rooms and tournament sign-up access

• Standard BYOC - $75
  • Four days 24/7 event access
  • LAN seat and 36" x 24" table spot
  • Exclusive T-shirt
  • One-time discount on fan tickets at purchase

• Premium BYOC - $200
  • Everything in the Standard BYOC ticket package
  • Express BYOC equipment check-in
  • QuakeCon gift

• Elite BYOC - $400
  • Everything in the Standard BYOC ticket package
  • 72" x 24" table spot
  • Pre-scheduled equipment check-in
  • Gaming chair loaner (or bring your own)
  • Pecos Pete mug with weekend refills
  • One (1) free QuakeCon Fan Ticket

If you're interested in purchasing an Elite Ticket package, you can go ahead and enter in the raffle to potentially be selected starting today, as slots will be limited.

What should I expect from QuakeCon 2024?

Past QuakeCon events have been primarily geared toward the Bethesda community, and there's no reason to expect that'll be any different year. People go there to have fun, show off cosplays, and get together with friends. While there are panels, it's never been focused on news and showcase-type announcements. 

With that said, that doesn't mean there'll be nothing announced. Past years have included looks at upcoming games like Doom Eternal, and just last year, id Software revealed Quake 2 Remastered, which launched the same day. It's certainly possible some kind of remaster could be revealed, or we could see an update on another upcoming Bethesda game, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Analysis: A cool tradition continues

I'm glad to see that QuakeCon will still be happening this year, as I know it's important to a lot of people. I've never been able to go, but I would love to one year. It'll be neat if there's any tidbits of news announced, but my hunch is that upcoming Xbox showcase in June is going to be more substantial when it comes to big gaming news from the Bethesda Softworks side of the Xbox first-party family.

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According to The Information, via unnamed sources, the in-house LLM from Microsoft is called MAI-1 (presumably "M" stands for "Microsoft). It's being developed with 500 billion parameters, compared to OpenAI's GPT-4 which has over 1 trillion parameters.

The report says that the development of MAI-1 is being headed up by Microsoft's new AI chief Mustafa Suleyman. He was hired by the company in March after co-founding Google's DeepMind AI division, and then later forming his own AI startup Inflection.

Before being hired by Microsoft, Suleyman was working on another LLM for Inflection. The Information reports that this new MAI-1 LLM that he is supervising does not share any code with his previous work with Inflection, but it may use some training data from that startup.

Microsoft likely wants to be less dependent on OpenAI for help in creating AI services like its various Copilot versions, which all currently use some version of ChatGPT.

Today's report does not state what services will be used by the upcoming MAI-1 LLM. The Information says that it's possible Microsoft could reveal more about this project at its annual Build developers conference, which gets underway in Seattle on May 21.

Microsoft has already released a number of smaller and lightweight open-source LLMs. Last week, it released the new Phi-3 family of small LLMs. They work with as low as 3.8 billion parameters. They are also designed to run on local devices such as smartphones, but they are still made to handle advanced natural language processing for a wide variety of tasks.

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Indeed, the day before that deadline, Helldivers 2 was removed from sale on Steam in 177 countries where those players were barred from establishing a PSN account.

Thankfully, cooler and smarter heads have prevailed in this incident. In a post on the official PlayStation X (formerly Twitter) account, Sony has backed down and now says its plans to make Helldivers 2 Steam players link to a PSN account to play the game "will not be moving forward."

The message added:

We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans.

Sony's post does sound like they won't be revisiting this particular issue down the road so we think this case can be considered closed.

Helldivers 2 PC players started review-bombing the game on its Steam page soon after Sony announced its PSN linking plans. It remains to be seen if Sony's turnaround on this issue will bring back all those players who made those review comments. As of this writing, the game's developer Arrowhead, and its vocal and supportive CEO Johan Pilestedt have yet to comment on Sony's PSN account reversal.

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So, when and how can we watch the "Let Loose" Apple event, and what do we expect to be revealed? Here's what we know, and what has been rumored, about what we will see later this week.

When can I watch the Apple event?

It will begin streaming on Tuesday, May 7, starting at 10 am Eastern Time (7 am Pacific). This is an unusually early time for US audiences to watch such an Apple event. However, The Independent reports that the streaming event will be accompanied by a live in-person event in London. It's likely that is the big reason for the earlier start time.

How can I watch the event?

The easiest way for most folks to view the Apple event is to watch it on the company's YouTube channel. It will also be streamed on the Apple.com site and on the Apple TV app.

What can we expect to see during the Apple Let Loose Event?

Apple is rumored to be making some major new iPad reveals during the event. The iPad Pro tablet, which has not had a new version since October 2022, may get finally get a new model next week, in 11-inch and 14-inch versions. Rumors claim these will be the first iPad Pro tablets with the more advanced OLED display.

More recent unconfirmed reports claim the iPad Pro will also be the first to get Apple's new in-house M4 processor. Since Apple just introduced the M3 processor with its recent MacBook Pro laptops in October 2023, this would be a very fast launch of a new chip in this series.

Apple is also rumored to launch a new iPad Air tablet on Tuesday, This will reportedly be a minor hardware refresh for this product, which is rumored to be sold in 10.9-inch and 12.9-inch versions. Apple will also reportedly launch new versions of its Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard iPad accessories as part of the event.

What else can we expect during the event?

Some reports say that if the iPad Pro does have the new M4 chip inside, Apple will promote it as an AI chip. We may get some hints about Apple's plans to introduce AI features in iOS 18 on Tuesday ahead of its WWDC event on June 10.

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Paul's Hardware (1.48M subscribers)

May 5, 2024

Video length: 10m 02s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - May 5, 2024

1:33 AMD Radeon GPU Sales Tank; Zen 5 CPUs Now Sampling

3:24 RTX 4090 at 75% power melts 16-pin connector both GPU and PSU side

4:56 EKWB Boldly Defies Gamers Nexus Judgment by Still Existing

TECH BRIEFS

6:25 FTC fines Razer for every cent made selling bogus “N95 grade” RGB masks

7:04 Rabbit R1 AI box revealed to just be an Android app

7:52 Intel CPU Instability Update - It’s the mobos (and it’s Intel’s fault)

8:39 HellDivers 2 adds PSN Account Link Requirement on Steam, So it Sucks Now

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150+ views, 0 likes, you're welcome.

Table of contents:

1. Windows 10 and 11 news
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Gaming news
5. Reviews are in
6. Random fact about Microsoft

Windows 11 and 10

Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported (and even unsupported) versions.

Let us start with some stats since there are some interesting ones. Microsoft Edge is slowly increasing its market share and getting close to the 13% mark. Windows 11, on the other hand, is going down. For the second month in a row, Statcounter reports a significant decrease in Windows 11's market share. What makes the situation extra odd is Windows 11 is the first version to lose market share mid-cycle. Windows 7, meanwhile, is back above 70%, as unhappy Windows 11 users return to the classic.

While Windows 11 is reportedly not doing great in the global market, things look pretty good on the gaming side. According to Valve, Windows 11 is now just 6 points away from Windows 10. In April 2024, Windows 11 crossed the 45% mark.

Following the initial release of the reworked Tiny11 Builder script, its maker, NTDEV, released a new version with one important change: the ability to turn off telemetry (shortly after another update brought ESD support). If you think Windows 11 wants to know too much about you, the latest Tiny11 Builder is just for you.

Plenty of updates happened in the list of known bugs and issues in Windows 10, 11, Server, and more. For starters, Microsoft confirmed that KB5036893 and KB5036892 broke VPN connections on Windows 10 and 11 (some important network-related changes are coming soon). Windows Server editions are also experiencing high NTLM traffic and LSASS crashes after KB5036909.

If you cannot update your profile picture after installing Windows 11 April 2024 Cumulative Updates, rest assured that Microsoft is aware of the problem and is working on fixing the 0x80070502 Account Picture error. You can also bypass the bug and change your local profile picture without the Settings app.

Also, Microsoft confirmed it cannot fix "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" on Windows 10, which means users have to apply the necessary fixes manually.

As for more positive updates, Microsoft finally fixed the BitLocker error 6500 on Windows 10 and 11.

Microsoft plans to unveil its new ARM-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop at a special event on May 20. It turns out ASUS also has plans for that day. At 11 AM PT, the company will host an event that will feature "a collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and ASUS" to "celebrate the fist of the new-era ASUS AI PCs."

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft Released this week for testing in the Windows Insider Program:

Windows Insiders recently noticed a mysterious "Global.WindowsMigration" app in the Start menu, which, according to Microsoft, is just a bug. That is a component of the Windows Backup app, and it should be gone from the Start menu in future updates.

To finish the Windows section, here is Windows 8 updating straight to Windows 11 without losing data and apps. Yes, it turns out that is possible, assuming your Windows 8 PC is Windows 11-compatible.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

More Surface devices received new firmware updates this week. Microsoft released network, audio, and other improvements for the Surface Go 2 and the Surface Studio 2 Plus. Also, the Intel-based Surface Pro 9 got fixes for the choppy cursor and stuttery Windows animations.

Microsoft 365 Insiders can try out the new ink-to-text feature in Excel. It allows typing in handwritten text with a stylus and converting it into regular text on the fly.

Microsoft also released a bunch of new features for OneDrive on the web. Customers with school and work accounts can now work in offline mode and more. Also, the company confirmed that Copilot for OneDrive was delayed from April 2024 to summer 2024.

This week was full of other Copilot news. Outlook on iOS and Android received Copilot support, Copilot features are generally available in Viva Engage, Copilot for Microsoft 365 now supports more languages, and Copilot for Planner in Teams is now rolling out. However, all those AI news also have a dark side. Microsoft engineers (and from other companies) anonymously report big burnouts because of forced deadlines.

For Teams users, Microsoft published a lengthy support document to outline all the changes made from the class Microsoft Teams to the new one. They include Windows notifications, Settings, general appearance, search box commands, and others.

Speaking of Teams, check out a recap of all the features Microsoft added to the service in April 2024.

If you use MSN Weather to plan your day according to the weather outside, you will be glad to know that Microsoft developed some AI models that could help the company provide more accurate 30-day weather forecasts.

On the third-party side, Mozilla released another update for its browser. This time, version 125.0.3 brought fixes for the blank 0.0.0.1 page appearing out of nowhere, corrupt fonts on Linux, and other bugs.

The browser war on Windows is heating up as a new player emerged this week. After several months of closed beta testing, The Browser Company finally released the Arc browser for all users on Windows 11. Built on Chromium, it offers uncompromised compatibility and several interesting productivity features while focusing on minimalism.

If you are also annoyed by the new "Rewrite with Copilot" popup in the latest Edge updates, check out this article to learn how to disable that. Spoiler alert: a few clicks is all it takes.

By the way, a minor update for Edge 124 introduced a built-in internet speed tester and security fixes. Microsoft Edge 125 arrived in the Beta Channel with improvements to sleeping tabs, a new memory limiter, and other changes. And as for Dev users, they received the first Edge 126 update with new media controls and fixes.

Finally, Microsoft announced the deprecation of legacy properties for high-contrast themes in the Edge browser.

Other notable updates include the following:

• Microsoft added passkey support to all consumer accounts.
• Microsoft is promising to make security its top priority from now on.
• Microsoft added Mistral Small LLM for Azure AI services.
• Microsoft plans to invest $1.7 billion in AI and cloud development in Indonesia.
• Bill Gates is reportedly still very involved at Microsoft.
• Microsoft released a new version of the Cascadia Code with new symbols, quadrants, and more.
• Wintoys received several fixes and service-related improvements.
• Microsoft is investing $2.2 billion in a major cloud and AI expansion in Malaysia.

Finally, here is this week's Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly with the latest additions, such as Copilot in Forms, Copilot in Loop, Teams improvements, and more.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more.

The Xbox and PC Game Pass catalog has new games. The latest additions include Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and more. Some titles are leaving the program this month, so check out all the details here.

Sea of Thieves is now available on PlayStation 5. In addition to that, Rare launched Season 12 with new weapons, ziplines, and other content for the game released six years ago.

Starfield, another Microsoft-owned game, is getting a new expansion. The Shattered Space expansion should land this fall. While there are currently no details about it, you can expect to hear some news about it at the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase, which is scheduled for June 9. And by the way, you can win a trip to that Showcase.

Speaking of showcases, check out our recap of the recent ID@XBox Digital Showcase. We may soon publish another showcase recap as The THQ Nordic 2024 Showcase was recently announced. However, you will need to wait a little longer for that one since it is coming on August 2, 2024.

Ninja Theory is getting ready to launch the much-anticipated sequel to Hellblade. Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is coming May 21, and if you plan to play on your PC, better make sure it is compatible. You can do it now, as the studio released full PC hardware requirements.

Some interesting stuff is happening with Helldivers, a popular third-person sci-fi shooter, which was launched to critical acclaim a couple of months ago. Sony is forcing all PC players to get a PSN account to continue playing, and those PC players are having absolutely none of that.

Nvidia added a batch of new games to its cloud streaming service. GeForce NOW now supports Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Stromgate Closed Beta, Gray Zone Warfare, MotoGP24, FOUNDRY, INDIKA, and Orcs Must Die! 3.

Some Xbox Insiders can try dashboard background improvements. Members of the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings can set game art backgrounds for selected games on Home with any background, not just the default one.

Another thing that is currently available for Xbox Insiders is the ability to remember up to ten Wi-Fi networks on their consoles. For reference, current Xbox consoles cannot remember Wi-Fi networks at all.

Deals and Freebies

This week's edition of Weekend PC Game Deals covers Star Wars Day specials, farming festival titles, Total War, and other games across different stores, such as Steam, Epic Games, GoG, Humble Store, and more.

Reviews are in

Here are the hardware and/or software reviews published this week on Neowin

Steven Parker continues his journey through the world of mini PCs, and this week, the GEEKOM XT12 Pro went through his testing labs. This tiny Windows 11 PC is a well-built metal brick with great connectivity, fast SSD, and support for up to four displays, but it also has some downsides, such as the lack of an SD card reader or Type-C on the front panel.

After hearing some reports about mini PCs shipping with malware, Steven also conducted a bunch of AV tests on small form-factor computers from AceMagic, Beelink, and Geekom. Check out the results here.

Random fact about Microsoft

And here is a randomly selected piece of trivia about the company, Windows, and other Microsoft-made things.

We all know and love the Start menu button, which was first released many years ago as part of a major UI overhaul in Windows 95. Did you know that the iconic "Start" inscription may not have appeared at all? This week's random fact about Microsoft, courtesy of Windows on Windows on X, shows an early taskbar UI with just the Windows logo on the Start button. Looks familiar, right?

In 2007, Microsoft released Windows Vista, which ditched the "Start" word in favor of just a simple Windows logo.

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Sony's decision this week to require that Helldivers 2 PC players on Steam link their game to a PlayStation Network account is resulting in some major consequences. Valve has now removed the popular third-person sci-fi shooter from developer Arrowhead Game Studios for sale in 177 countries.

That development was revealed by SteamDB in an X (formerly Twitter) post today. The reason is that gamers in those countries cannot currently sign in to a PSN account as Sony doesn't support the online gaming network in those locations. As we have reported earlier, new Helldivers 2 players will need to create a PSN account and link it to their Steam account to play the game starting on Monday, May 6.

On Friday, Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt posted on his own X account that the developer is having discussions "with our partners at PlayStation and trying to find a solution" for this current problem.

In a new post on X today, he reiterated that they are having talks with Sony about this problem, stating "Your voice has been heard, and I am doing everything I can to speak for the community - but I don't have the final say."

Pilestedt also took some of the responsibility for this situation in a follow-up X post, stating

I do have a part to play. I am not blameless in all of this - it was my decision to disable account linking at launch so that players could play the game. I did not ensure players were aware of the requirement and we didn't talk about it enough. We knew for about 6 months before launch that it would be mandatory for online PS titles.

Meanwhile, Helldivers 2 continues to get review-bombed on its Steam page, with players expressing their negative comments on the PSN linking requirement.

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Starfield was one of last year's most popular, and also most controversial games. 

Despite launching to critical acclaim (including my own 9/10 Starfield review), the Steam review score has fallen to "Mixed" over time. I'm not sure I recall a game that has generated as many negative headlines about a specific game besides Starfield since covering this beat, outside of a few noteworthy examples you may quite easily recall. 

Starfield was the first new IP from Bethesda in decades, the Microsoft-owned studio behind The Elder Scrolls, and the resurgent Fallout franchise. 

I loved the game for what it was. Though flawed in certain regards to varying degrees, it still offered some high highs that typically look for in a Bethesda experience. However, I would agree with criticisms that it hasn't enjoyed the same kind of longevity as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, perhaps owing in part to the difference in overall density. Finding interesting places to explore in Starfield that is actually meaningful can be quite difficult, and repetition in exploration is a notable downside of the game. I would, however, argue that the core experience is absolutely grand, and going back to Fallout 4 for its next-gen update really reiterated to me how far ahead Starfield is on a technical level.

Either way, hype for the absolutely amazing Fallout TV show has driven some corners of the internet to call for Starfield's abandonment. I'm here to argue in defence of Bethesda's sci-fi epic, alongside my belief that history will be a lot kinder to Starfield. 

A universe of untapped potential

(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Starfield is getting its first major DLC, Shattered Space, later this year. Bethesda also announced a major update for Starfield set to drop on May 15, which will bring long-awaited city mapping tools among other quality-of-life improvements. Bethesda also revealed that they are working on implementing ground vehicles to the game, which has long been a criticism. It is patently odd that we're required to hop around planetary expanses on foot, to the contradiction of every space exploration trope and fantasy in history. 

In any case, the point is that the improvements have been coming. Perhaps not at a pace people would've liked, but it does seem like the studio is on a path to expansion. During an interview with KindaFunny last week, Bethesda's Todd Howard emphasized that the team is exploring ways to get new Fallout content into players hands more quickly, which in one instance could mean growing the studio to accommodate it, or perhaps improving technology on the dev pipeline with Microsoft's support. Perhaps it could also be further investment in support studios, too. Either way, hopefully that'll keep Starfield within scope. And why should it? Because Starfield just has so much potential. 

Starfield is what Bethesda has described as "NASApunk," which is a grounded-in-reality imagining of what the world might look like when humanity becomes a space-faring species. All of humanity's incredible technological ingenuity and impressive penchant for stupidity and violence is a theme within Starfield, as people split into separate unique factions and mini communities, following a great galactic colony war.

(Image credit: Windows Central)

One of my personal favorite moments in Starfield was discovering an irradiated planet that was the remnants of one of these grand wars. One faction armed to the teeth with hulking mechs and the other with bio-engineered super beasts turned this planet into a wasteland and war machine graveyard, complete with the angry offspring of those aforementioned mutated creatures. 

I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment after seeing the sprawling planet expand before me, as awe-inspiring as it was. I lamented that we couldn't ride in any of the broken down mechs — there's some kind of peace treaty that bans their use, but surely that wouldn't completely prevent their existence, would it? Pirates exist in this universe after all. I lamented that we couldn't experience the war the game's universe either, although I'm not sure how the tech would cope with tons of units on screen like that. But I digress.

This simple example is central to my argument that there's so much within Starfield's sizeable lore space that is ripe for further expansion and exploration, both in terms of story and gameplay. 

The best parts of Starfield generally take place within the game's main quest lines, which is also generally true of Bethesda games in general. However, I would also argue that exploration is Starfield's weakest pillar right now. Things like mechs and ground vehicles would doubtless elevate the traversal elements between locations, but then we have the issue that it's just a little bit hard to actually find the interesting content pieces within the exploration layer of the game. Most planets are just "empty," and the procedural elements that occasionally dot points of interest on these planets feels desperately in need of more random encounters, more building types, settlements with side quests, landmarks, and other landscape features. 

Starfield does have these moments occasionally, but finding them without sign posts can be like looking for a needle in a galactic haystack. This is the type of content that I feel could inject a lot more longevity and life into Starfield, and given that they've already laid the groundwork, it feels just plain silly to abandon that now. 

Cyberpunk and No Man's Sky taught us a valuable lesson

Cyberpunk 2077 had one of the biggest turnarounds in gaming history.  (Image credit: Windows Central)

Much like Fallout 76, I found myself loving Cyberpunk 2077 at launch even if many others were (rightfully) angry at it. I played the game on a higher-end PC so sidestepped a lot of the issues others saw on the console versions of the game, which earned it a ton of ire from fans who deserved a polished experience. Fast forward to 2024, and Cyberpunk 2077 got a big 2.0 relaunch, an award-winning expansion in Phantom Liberty, and a similarly award-winning Netflix show in the form of Cyberpunk Edgerunners. Cyberpunk 2077 offered a roadmap for redemption for games that are fundamentally great concepts at their core, and Fallout 76 is also enjoying a similar renaissance right now after years of updates, and hype from the TV show. I'm not quite sure Starfield will get a TV show to help it reach that level of publicity, but neither did No Man's Sky, which has also enjoyed a similar resurgence owing to Hello Games' relentless updates and expansion packs. 

Starfield also has nowhere near the same mountain to climb as Cyberpunk 2077 — Starfield joins the likes of Elden Ring for being one of the most successful new IPs in recent memory. In fact, Starfield was the only new IP to break the top 10 games list for revenue last year. Cyberpunk 2077 is just an easy example to reference off-hand because I've been playing it a lot again recently, but it also emphasizes my point of how Starfield could have a potentially easier trip to really reconnecting with the wider fanbase, compared to the technical issues that plagued Cyberpunk 2077 at launch. 

Starfield has every opportunity to continue selling and growing for years to come, with similar update treatment. I already talked about mechs and ground vehicles, but there's a lot of room for improvement on various other Starfield aspects. The base building aspect feels under-baked compared to Fallout 4 and 76 as an example. I wish there was a more immersive "survival mode" that put a bit more emphasis on space hazards and travel, and having the right tools for the situation at hand. I mostly just ignored those hazard warnings on my space suit because they simply aren't really, well, hazardous 99% of the time. I'd ask for improved gore in the game's combat to give weapons a bit more impact, but Bethesda pretty much confirmed to me last year in LA that it isn't the tone they want for Starfield — which is fine. But perhaps modders can inject some of that when the modding tools arrive a little later. 

Even without leaning on modders to add to Starfield's overall offering, there's plenty of things that could be "easily" added to the base game to elevate the overall experience, without overhauling what's already there. 

Space combat in Starfield is awesome, but could probably be  (Image credit: u/Punidue on Reddit)

We don't yet know the full breadth of what's contained within Starfield's Shattered Space expansion, but it's widely expected that the expac will revolve around the shadowy House Va'ruun. This theocracy worships a great (mythological?) space serpent, and it will no doubt bring with it a range of base-game improvements on top of a story expansion too. 

One of the best things Cyberpunk 2077 did for the game was to really do an overall pass on the base experience, for free, when they launched Phantom Liberty. CD Projekt RED improved or elevated practically every in-game system with new features, balance tweaks, and improvements — which in some cases resulted in entire systems being scrapped and replaced. It focused heavily on user feedback and data, giving fans what they wanted and asked for, while also taking the extra mile to include tons of small surprises along the way. 

Fallout 4 did this to some degree as well, with some incredible post-launch DLC. Fallout 76 is still doing it, with a huge map expansion set to drop in the coming weeks. Yes, we all want Fallout 5, but it needn't come at the expense of Starfield's clear untapped potential. 

Crazy idea, let devs cook

Let devs cook, or make sandwiches.  (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

Starfield is far from a perfect game, but I'd argue that's true of Bethesda games in general. They're awesome because they offer things that no other games do, and at least in the case of Starfield, some of that Bethesda uniqueness was undoubtedly a little under-whelming the more you play. But, it needn't be that way. 

The underlying Starfield experience is built on an incredibly solid foundation. Sure, there's no zero-g gore, but the gunplay is tight and feels satisfying. The ship combat can create spectacularly cinematic moments. The hand-crafted areas of the game are evocative and immersive. The story has some great high points and moments. And the overarching back story is deep and full of intrigue. 

I want to see Bethesda develop and nurture this franchise, rather than move away so quickly. Yes, they could announce Fallout 5 is coming and pivot the entire team to that instead right now to ride the hype train offered by the TV show, but Fallout isn't going anywhere. Fallout 4 has got a next-gen refresh (and yes, it has issues, particularly with mods, but that'll gradually get ironed out.) Fallout 76 is like a completely different game from launch, too. There's also Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics to try out on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate if you want to try something old school you might've missed. There's also Fallout 3 and New Vegas with tons of DLC as well on Xbox back compatibility, complete with FPS enhancements of their own in some cases. 

Point being, Fallout is a pretty well-served franchise overall right now, and there's plenty to scratch the itch while waiting for more. It would be a shame to cut and run from Starfield and leave it to the mercy of a "Mixed"-rated legacy. 

In my view, with only a bit more love, history will be a lot kinder to Starfield. Let 'em cook! 

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What you need to know

• Recent rumors suggest that OpenAI could soon announce a search engine to compete with Google.
• Evidence is scarce at this point, but there is enough to warrant a discussion about what a Google competitor powered by OpenAI could look like.
• Perplexity and Microsoft's Bing already use OpenAI's GPT tech, so a hypothetical OpenAI search engine would need to differentiate itself from those search engines as well as Google.

OpenAI may make one of the biggest tech announcements of the year in less than a week. Recent rumors suggest that the AI giant could announce a search engine to compete with Google on May 9, 2024. There isn't a ton of concrete evidence at this point, but there's enough information to force a discussion about what an OpenAI search engine would look like and if it could convince people to switch away from Google.

The recent smoke surrounding a potential OpenAI search engine is a post on X by Jimmy Apples, who claims that OpenAI who says an event on May 9 "might not be model release but search engine announcement." Yesterday, A Reddit post highlighted that the "search.chatgpt.com" domain and SSL certification have been created. 

The concept of an OpenAI search engine isn't new. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has discussed the possibility in the past.

"Google shows you 10 blue links, well, 13 ads and then 10 blue links, and that’s one way to find information. But the thing that’s exciting to me is not that we can go build a better copy of Google search, but that maybe there’s just some much better way to help people find and act on and synthesize information," said Altman in an episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast.

He added, "I don’t think it’s that interesting to say, “How do we go do a better job of giving you 10 ranked webpages to look at than what Google does?” Maybe it’s really interesting to go say, “How do we help you get the answer or the information you need? How do we help create that in some cases, synthesize that in others, or point you to it in yet others?”"

Altman also accurately pointed out that many have tried to make a better search engine than Google and that it's a challenging proposition.

(Image credit: Windows Central | Bing Image Creator)

Of course, there already is a search engine that integrates real-time information with OpenAI's GPT tech, Bing. Microsoft's search engine utilizes GPT-4 to provide search summaries to answer queries. Microsoft took things a step further with Deep Search, which is a new feature that takes Bing's web index and ranking system and then enhances results with GPT-4.

So, with Bing already using GPT-4, what would an OpenAI search engine provide that Bing does not? I think the most obvious answer is that a new search engine from OpenAI wouldn't be held back by the Bing name. I honestly believe that OpenAI could ship an exact copy of Bing's Deep Search with different branding and draw interest from the press and general users alike. I don't think that's what OpenAI will do, but I say that to argue that the Bing name is an albatross around the neck of any company or tool that uses the brand.

OpenAI is a hot name in tech. Any quote from OpenAI's Sam Altman drives headlines and anything OpenAI does is followed closely. While OpenAI is close to Microsoft, the AI company is distant enough that it can earn praise (or criticism) on its own. OpenAI could make its own search engine and continue to power Microsoft's Bing and Copilot.

OpenAI vs Perplexity

Perplexity combines real-time information with OpenAI's GPT tech within a chat interface. (Image credit: Future)

ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but it has the heavy limitation of having a cutoff point for data. If you search for anything that requires recent news, ChatGPT will remind you that it can't provide real-time information and point you in the general direction of where you could find answers.

Perplexity is yet another tool that combines OpenAI's GPT tech with real-time information, but it does so in a way that's very different to Bing. Perplexity looks much more like ChatGPT than Bing does, including a chatbot interface that an untrained eye may confuse for ChatGPT.

"Perplexity is an alternative to traditional search engines, where you can directly pose your questions and receive concise, accurate answers backed up by a curated set of sources. It has a conversational interface, contextual awareness and personalization to learn your interests and preferences over time," explains Perplexity.

"Perplexity’s mission is to make searching for information online feel like you have a knowledgeable assistant guiding you, it is a powerful productivity and knowledge tool that can help you save time and energy with mundane tasks for a multitude of use cases."

If OpenAI does release its own search engine competitor, I think it will be more along the lines of Perplexity than Bing. In addition to the layout of Perplexity aligning with ChatGPT, Perplexity's mission is more in line with what OpenAI and ChatGPT aim for.

Making a Google clone infused with GPT tech isn't different enough from what already exists. There are plenty of traditional search engines on the market, many of which use AI. But a fully OpenAI-backed search engine alternative that guides you through the web? That may actually turn some heads.

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CNBC reports it has received messages from AI engineers from many major tech businesses who claim that their superiors are pushing them too hard to get these products released. One unnamed engineer at Microsoft says the company is competing in an "AI rat race." He also claimed Microsoft was prioritizing speed to release AI products over concerns of ethics and safety.

Microsoft did not respond to CNBC's request for comment. Earlier this week, the company released its first AI responsibility and transparency report, where it says it has established a Responsible AI Council that regularly meets to try to improve the safety elements in its AI services.

The same CNBC report also quotes an unnamed AI engineer from Amazon. This team member claims they were going to enjoy a weekend with friends when they received a notice to work over the weekend on an AI project. The engineer worked over the weekend on the tasks to complete it, only to have the project shut down.

That same team member echoed the comments from the Microsoft employee that Amazon was trying to release new AI products faster rather than be concerned with accuracy and testing.

When contacted, an Amazon spokesperson stated the company is "focused on building and deploying useful, reliable, and secure generative AI innovations that reinvent and enhance customers’ experiences." The spokesperson did not deny the report from the unnamed Amazon engineer, saying only, "It’s inaccurate and misleading to use a single employee’s anecdote to characterize the experience of all Amazon employees working in AI."

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In a buyback program, a company purchases its own outstanding shares from the open market or shareholders. Companies usually use this strategy to reduce the number of available shares, increasing the value of the remaining shares for existing shareholders. A buyback also increases Earnings Per Share (EPS)— even without the company truly increasing its actual earnings.

CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that Apple expects to grow low-single digits in overall revenue in the current quarter.

For the March quarter, however, Apple reported a huge amount of cash and cash equivalents of $32,695 million as of March 30, 2024. Apple's retained earnings are also $4,339 million during the same period. Buybacks usually signal to the market that the company feels that its stock might be undervalued. By utilizing its cash reserves and retained earnings, Apple can make its stock more attractive to existing investors, boosting confidence and supporting the stock price.

Apple's stock has been on a steady decline, as much as 10% between 2023 and 2024. This could be due to weaker iPhone sales globally, as well as the company's struggle with competition in China.

Apple has also been relatively quiet about its AI plans when compared to rivals like Microsoft and Google, both of which are heavily investing. Despite this, Cook stated to Reuters that Apple has increased its R&D spending significantly and has allocated over $100 billion towards AI R&D in the last five years.

We're expecting more updates from Apple through its May 7 press event where the company will reveal new OLED iPad Pro and iPad Air. In an interview with CNBC, Cook said that the event will feature some news from an "AI point of view".

Via Reuters

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Reddit user halfstar spotted SSL certificates for the domain name of ChatGPT's search engine, search.chatgpt.com. Adding fuel to the fire, an AI podcast host who goes by the name Pete said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), "Search (dot) ChatGPT (dot) com May 9th," hinting at the May 9 launch of ChatGPT's search engine.

When you visit the subdomain on a web browser, it returns a cryptic "Not found" message and not a "404" or "domain error," adding more to the speculation that ChatGPT's search engine might be in the works.

There aren't many details about the ChatGPT search engine as of now, but the recent developments do give us a hint that Microsoft, which is a major investor in OpenAI, wants to challenge Google's monopoly in search engines. Microsoft's Bing hasn't been able to cripple the dominance of Google Search, so it might as well take the help of OpenAI to take down Google Search.

As noted by Android Authority, the ChatGPT search engine may focus on using AI to provide quick results and AI summaries. If everything falls into place, we could see a new search engine rival to Google Search on May 9.

Recently, OpenAI shook hands with the Financial Times to further improve its models. The partnerships will show links to appropriate articles in the Financial Times whenever relevant queries are asked on ChatGPT. Moreover, this venture could also help ChatGPT get the latest information via different Financial Times sources.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook got interviewed by CNBC on the financial results. Cook said it was hard to compared this past quarter results from the same period in 2023. That was because a year ago, Apple recorded $5 billion in delayed sales for its then-current iPhone 14 due to supply issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Cook added.

If you remove that $5 billion from last year’s results, we would have grown this quarter on a year-over-year basis . . . And so that’s how we look at it internally from how the company is performing.

iPhone revenues from the last quarter were $45.96 billion but that's down 10 percent from the same period a year ago. iPad revenues came in at $5.6 billion, which were down 17 percent from a year ago.

Apple is planning to hold a virtual press event on May 7 where it is expected that the company will reveal new iPad Pro and iPad Air tablets. The iPad Pro models are rumored to have OLED displays and may also be the first products with Apple's next gen M4 processor. Cook told CNBC that the Apple press event next week will also feature some news from an "AI point of view".

Revenue from Mac PCs came in at $7.45 billion for the quarter, up 4 percent from a year ago. The Other Products category, which includes revenues from the Apple Watch, came in at $7.9 billion, down 10 percent from a year ago. Services, which includes subscriptions to Apple Music and Apple TV+, had revenues of $23.9 billion for the quarter, which was up 14.2% from a year ago.

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One of the additions we are concentrating on in Unity 6 Preview is the inclusion of Windows on ARM support for the Unity Editor. This means that developers will now be able to develop and run games on Windows machines powered by ARM processors, which are becoming increasingly popular due to their improved efficiency and performance. 

And if you already didn’t know, Microsoft said that Windows on Arm PCs are better than the latest Apple MacBook M3 Air. ARM architecture is a type of design for computer processors, specifically a family of instruction set architectures (ISAs) known as ARM (Advanced RISC Machines). ARM processors are known for their:

• Low power consumption
• Smaller size: This allows for compact device designs.
• High performance

While the blog post doesn’t mention it explicitly, Windows on ARM support for Unity Editor is likely to be a welcome addition for developers who are working on mobile device games. ARM processors are widely used in smartphones and tablets, and having the ability to develop and test games on a Windows machine with an ARM processor could help fasten the development process.

It’s important to note that Unity 6 Preview is still a preview release, and it is not recommended for use in production projects. However, it is a valuable tool for developers who want to start experimenting with the new features that will be coming to Unity in the future.

More here.

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You're welcome

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Quick answer: A System-on-Chip (SoC) is a piece of hardware that integrates separate computing components, essentially creating a working system on a single piece of silicon. For example, Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X SoCs integrate a CPU, GPU, NPU, and Sensing Hub into each chip, with memory, Wi-Fi, 5G, and other support built right in.

What is a System-on-Chip (SoC)?

A basic layout for an SoC, as provided by Qualcomm. (Image credit: Qualcomm)

As the name suggests, an SoC contains the components crucial to a system's operation, all on the same piece of silicon. SoCs have been around for decades, first showing up in compact electronics in the 1970s. Although you might hear an SoC referred to as a processor (CPU), it's actually much more than just your system's main microprocessor.

An SoC differs from a more traditional PC design, where individual components are built onto a motherboard separately, with expansions and lines of communication between each piece. An SoC has its major components all built into the same silicon, greatly reducing latency and boosting the overall performance of the system.

We've seen this pay off huge for Apple's ARM-based M-series chips in its computers, and we're expecting similar perks from Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X platform for Windows laptops. Even Intel's current run of Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" chips can be considered SoCs, as they include the CPU, integrated Arc GPU, and Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for AI acceleration.

SoCs are commonly found in modern phones, tablets, routers, cars, gaming consoles, wearables, and other Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices like cameras and video doorbells. Outside of consumer products, they're also commonly found in industrial and medical devices.

While SoCs are found in plenty of electronics, those in laptops usually include a specific CPU, integrated graphics (GPU), memory or memory interface, wireless radios, and other controllers for things like USB and storage.

What are the benefits on an SoC?

As mentioned, the primary benefits of an SoC are improved efficiency for better battery life and lower latency for improved performance. Because major components are contained in the same silicon, they can communicate quickly with less power draw compared to separate components built into a motherboard.

There's also the matter of size. You can have all (or most) of the components you need contained within a single tiny chip, making SoCs ideal for a long list of electronics where a compact design is crucial. 

Something like the Raspberry Pi is a full PC that's about the size of a credit card. It has an SoC (in the case of the Pi 5, a Broadcom BCM2712) complete with an Arm Cortex-A76 CPU, VideoCore VII GPU, video scaler, memory interface, and more. Considering it costs less than $100, we can see how SoCs also contribute to more affordable prices for consumers.

Scaling things up, SoCs are also more commonly making their way into modern laptops. I mentioned Apple's impressive M-series SoCs for its laptops and desktops, and we're expecting the same sort of computing renaissance with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X platforms.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X SoCs

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite SoC (Image credit: Future)

There's been a lot of talk lately about Qualcomm's ARM-based Snapdragon X platforms that are expected to launch this year, and for good reason. If what we've seen from preliminary benchmarks is realized in actual consumer laptops, Qualcomm could be ready to revolutionize the Windows PC space.

Covering these new chips has led to some confusion among readers (and writers), which is why we've built this explainer. Qualcomm refers to its Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips as a "platform," and they are indeed SoCs comprised of a bunch of different components.

The Snapdragon X Elite is composed of four major components: a 12-core Oryon CPU, an integrated Adreno GPU, a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for local AI acceleration, and a Sensing Hub that handles additional security measures like human presence detection.

The X Elite also has a memory controller with LPDDR5x RAM support, a storage interface, 64MP HDR MIPI camera support, a USB interface, and wireless support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 5G. It really is so much more than just a CPU.

The Snapdragon X Plus is essentially the same idea, except the SoC offers lower performance due to a 10-core Oryon CPU and less potent Adreno GPU. Qualcomm isn't new to the Windows on Arm scene. Its Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC (and Microsoft's SQ3 offshoot) has appeared in some great Windows on Arm laptops, including the Surface Pro 9 with 5G and the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s.

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Microsoft has championed its AI campaign across most of its products and services (if not all) for the better part of the year leading up to this moment. There's a Copilot for almost everything now, including Teams, Windows, OneDrive, etc. You get the point. The tech giant's multi-billion dollar investment in AI and extended partnership with OpenAI has placed it in a beneficial position, earning it the world's most valuable company ahead of Apple with over $3 trillion in market capitalization.

Market analysts are betting on Microsoft and anticipate an iPhone moment with AI for the company, and its latest earnings report for FY24 Q3 builds upon this premise. Billionaire Elon Musk recently indicated we're on the biggest technology revolution with AI, and he's absolutely right. The future certainly looks bright with AI, especially for the PC market, with more companies hopping onto the AI wave and integrating the technology across their new lineup of devices and hardware.

The future of AI PCs certainly seems a tad far away for my budget, so I decided to remap the Copilot key onto my keyboard and to get a taste of what this future feels like with a dedicated button of my own.

What does an AI PC look like in Microsoft's eyes?

ASUS' Zenbook 14 laptop integrated with Microsoft Copilot.

(Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

Soon, most modern PCs will feature a dedicated Copilot button, potentially bringing a wealth of resources and advances to your fingertips, something Microsoft refers to as the "most significant change to the Windows keyboard" in 30 years. This means the best laptops in 2024 will feature a dedicated Copilot key, but does that make them AI PCs? Well, according to our contributor Cale Hunt:

"Generally speaking, an AI PC is a computer that has hardware inside — an NPU — specifically designed to boost the performance of AI and machine learning tasks without having to rely on cloud computing."

The definition of an AI PC differs from one PC maker to another. While we'll not delve into this right now, we'll break down Microsoft's definition of an AI PC. Simply put by the company, it's essentially a device spotting sophisticated hardware, including a new and powerful CPU, GPU, and NPU. It will also feature onboard Copilot software and a dedicated Copilot button.

My device certainly doesn't ship with Qualcomm's impressive and powerful Snapdragon X Elite chip or most of the sophisticated hardware requirements highlighted above to make it a PC, but at the very least, I can use software to remap a dedicated Copilot button onto my PC and potentially get to see what all the hype about AI PCs. A boy can dream, you know!

Journey to the future with a dedicated Copilot key

Microsoft seems more eager than ever to keep Copilot on your Windows sidebar.

(Image credit: Windows Central | Jez Corden)

Microsoft doesn't seem to be backing away from its AI-focused campaign anytime soon. As we speak, Copilot is seemingly consistent across the Windows ecosystem. You can either access it directly from the taskbar on Windows 11 or through the assigned Windows key + C shortcut. The company is also testing several additional ways to launch Copilot on Windows, including one that will let it appear like an AI genie in Windows 11 if you so much as tickle the taskbar icon, much like those unwanted ads Microsoft is driving to the Start menu. 

Interestingly, in a recent Windows Central poll designed to find out how useful Copilot is to our readers and how often they use it, more than half of the readers voted they never use Copilot on Windows 11. For those who find the tool resourceful, we have a dedicated guide highlighting how to remap Copilot to any key on Windows 11 using PowerToys. I followed the steps highlighted in our own guide to assign Copilot a dedicated key function on my keyboard.

A dedicated key makes sense, but it's not for me

Even Lenovo's ultra-affordable LOQ 15IAX9I gaming laptop features a dedicated Copilot button.

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

I've been an avid user of Microsoft's AI-powered assistant, Copilot, from its inception when it was still Bing Chat. Every day, I find fun and useful ways to leverage its capabilities to make work easier for me.  Interestingly, it seems Copilot is quickly gaining traction and popularity among users. As part of the recently announced Microsoft earnings for FY24 Q3, the CEO, Satya Nadella, indicated Bing had grown significantly, pushing it to over 140 million daily active users. He attributed some success to the company's AI and Copilot efforts.

Having a dedicated Copilot button on my PC for a week didn't make much of a difference for me. In fact, I often forgot that I had remapped it onto my keyboard and naturally used my mouse to access it from my taskbar. 

I'll go out on a limb to say that launching Copilot with a mouse from the taskbar on Windows 11 is faster.

Copilot even expands into third-party peripherals, new Logitech accessories will also get a dedicated button to launch ChatGPT. The Verge's Emilia David shared a rather odd experience with the new mouse featuring the dedicated ChatGPT button. She indicated that she was unable to launch ChatGPT while using multiple browsers on her PC. This begs the question — is a Copilot efficient enough for a dedicated button to exist right now?

Microsoft also started testing a relatively unpopular way to launch Copilot for touch users on Windows 11. For those familiar with how swiping right on their device will allow them to access the notification center on your device, it'll now launch Copilot instead. 

And while the remapped Copilot button on my PC takes a couple of tries to launch Copilot, I assumed in a perfect world it would work similarly to how the Start button works when trying to access the Start menu on Windows 11.

Maybe I'm not using Copilot as intended?

ChatGPT offers its own dedicated app alongside Copilot on Android.

(Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central)

ChatGPT has the upper hand on Microsoft Copilot regarding its user base, despite the latter shipping with free access to OpenAI's GPT-4 model and DALL-E image generation technology. Users often compare both models, and a popular opinion among most is that ChatGPT is better in terms of responses and performance than Copilot. 

But according to Microsoft, this couldn't be farther from the truth. The company indicated users' reluctance to upgrade to new and updated apps was one of the main reasons they were spotting this disparity in performance. Additionally, users seem to have difficulty differentiating the work version of Copilot for Microsoft 365 from its web version.

Most users expect a consistent performance track record across Microsoft products and services, but this isn't the case. The "work version" uses internal customer data to curate personalized responses, whereas the latter generates quick and detailed responses to queries. It's also worth noting that the web version heavily relies on the Internet for information, which explains why it may perform better than the work version.

Lastly, the lack of prompt engineering knowledge and skills is a significant issue among most users, preventing them from realizing the tool's full potential.

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Nadella said (via CNBC) that this is the largest single investment in Microsoft's 29-year history in Indonesia. The funding will be used to build new cloud computing data centers and AI infrastructure across the country. The data centers will bring advanced AI technologies directly to the country.

In addition to major investments, Microsoft will also focus on workforce training. Nadella announced a plan to provide AI education to hundreds of thousands of Indonesians through training programs. Specifically, the company aims to train more than 2.5 million people across Southeast Asia by 2025, including 840,000 from Indonesia. This will help develop a skilled local talent pool that can design, build, and support AI systems.

In a statement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said:

The thing I am really excited to announce today is the expanded announcement of data centre investment, so $1.7 billion to bring the latest and greatest AI infrastructure to Indonesia.

 

We are going to lead this wave in terms of the next generation of AI infrastructure that's needed. Our mission ultimately is to empower every person and every organisation in Indonesia to take advantage of this next big AI wave.

Dharma Simorangkir, president director of Microsoft Indonesia, also said the $1.7 billion investment "sets a new milestone for Indonesia's digital landscape." He stated that it will enable Microsoft to meet the growing demand for cloud computing services in the country.

Microsoft's embrace of AI has boosted sales of its key Azure cloud services, which are now the core of its business. In the most recent quarter, Microsoft saw revenue growth of 17 percent and net income growth of 20 percent.

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In an appearance on the Kinda Funny Gamecast, Bethesda Game Studios's director Todd Howard stated that the Shattered Space expansion for Starfield would be available sometime this fall. He offered no more info on what the expansion will be about. We would suspect we could learn more at Microsoft's Xbox Game Showcase event that's happening sometime in early June.

Well before the expansion is released, Howard did state that there is "a big update that's coming really soon for Starfield." He stated that this update will be related to shipbuilding but it looks like we will have to wait for the official announcement from Bethesda.

Similarly, Howard also stated that the promised Creation Kit for Starfield, which will officially support mods in the game, has been sent out to some mod makers. More info on that feature, which Howard first confirmed in September 2023, will also be revealed soon. The Creator Kit will support mods on both the PC and the Xbox versions of the game.

Bethesda Game Studios may still be working on Starfield expansion content and updates. however, we also know the studio is now working on its next major game, The Elder Scrolls VI. In March, to celebrate the franchise's 30th anniversary, the studio posted a vague update on that game, stating that "playing early builds has us filled with the same joy, excitement, and promise of adventure." It will likely be several years before that game is released.

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The Surface Pro 9 has a beautiful 120Hz display, so stuttery animations and the buggy cursor can feel extra annoying. Fortunately, the issue seems to be hiding in the Intel graphics driver, so getting to the latest version from Windows Update should fix the problem in no time.

Here is the changelog:

The following update is available for Surface Pro 9 with Intel Processor devices running Windows 10 November 2021 Update, Version 21H2, or greater.

 

Improvements and fixes:

 

• Addresses potential performance issues that can cause slowed mouse movements and slowed Windows animations.

Here is the list of new drivers:

You can download the latest firmware update for the Surface Pro 9 with Intel processors in Settings > Windows Update. If you want to install it manually, go to the official support website and download the latest package (744MB). It is compatible with Windows 10 version 21H2 and Windows 11 version 22H2 or newer releases.

Like other Surface computers released after January 1, 2021, the Surface Pro 9 has a six-year lifecycle. Therefore, expect Microsoft to receive plenty of other firmware updates and fixes before the device reaches its end of life on October 25, 2028.

You can check out other Surface computers that have been updated with new firmware in April 2024 using this link.

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