Extreme Networks has unveiled new features in its ExtremeCloud Universal ZTNA, enhancing network access management and security for hybrid work environments. Read...

The new features include notification summaries and tools to assist users in writing messages. Read...

Google has big plans for AI, and that’s no secret. But specifically what it plans to do with AI in the near future — and how it hopes consumers will interact with it — is a little more hazy. According to a new report, the next major revision of the Gemini model has some grand ambitions, including the ability to completely control the Chrome browser. That’s according to The Information, citing unconfirmed leaks from deep within Google. The system is allegedly codenamed “Project Jarvis,” a clear allusion to Tony Stark’s fictional and semi-sentient artificial intelligence from the Iron Man movies. This upgraded version of Gemini can apparently control Google’s Chrome browser with screenshots and virtualized mouse clicks, similar to what Anthropic recently unveiled with its Claude AI system. According to the leaked info, the end goal is a system that’s sophisticated and reliable enough to be used to order products from online stores or even arrange and pay for plane tickets. That would be a serious step up from the somewhat basic attempts at automation currently seen from Google and its competitors. But Google’s deep hooks in the browser and search space would certainly make it possible, if not easy. Google is expected to unveil an early preview of this capability in December, though that’s allegedly subject to change. A small initial beta test to work out the kinks — and boy, there would be some concerning kinks in any system expected to autonomously spend regular users’ money — would then follow. We can’t independently confirm The Information’s, um, information. But it tracks with Google’s more consumer-focused take on AI, as opposed to Microsoft’s clear intention to woo businesses. Google is trying to bake AI features into Chromebooks and Pixel phones, making a case for integrating it into everyday tasks. So far, its attempts have been met with a lot of hesitancy, particularly when it comes to Google’s primary Search tool. But Gemini’s integration with ChromeOS makes a better case for leaning on these intense, remote-heavy processes, at least in some cases. If Google can get automation into Chrome in a more comfortable, and crucially, reliable fashion, it might just convince people that this is something worth the asking price. Read...

Many users have been experiencing all kinds of problems after installing Windows 11’s big annual 2024 update. Issues include broken internet connections and buggy Windows features, and it’s gotten bad enough that Microsoft has blocked the update for some users. If you’re one of the many people who are struggling with a frustrating Windows 11 24H2 experience, here’s a tip: you can uninstall the update and reset your Windows 11 system. Here’s how. Warning: Even though data normally isn’t lost during this process, there’s always a slight risk of things going wrong. We recommend backing up your important data — the stuff you seriously don’t want to lose — to an external drive before reverting Windows 11. This isn’t mandatory, but it does ensure that at least your data will remain on the off chance that you run into problems. How to revert or reset Windows 11 To reset Windows 11, open Settings (using the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut), Then navigate to System in the left sidebar, then scroll down and select Recovery. Here you will find various options for repairing Windows or returning to a previous version: Thomas Joos Scroll down to the bottom of the window, look under Recovery options and click on Go back to uninstall the latest Windows 11 update and revert to the previous version you had. You won’t lose any installed apps with this option, except for ones you installed after updating to 24H2. If the button is grayed out, the necessary data is no longer available on your PC, in which case you can try clicking on Reset PC instead. This may solve the problem, but you will probably lose some installed apps. Thomas Joos After initiating the reversion process, Windows prepares the process. At the “Feedback” stage, click Next to commence. Thomas Joos At the “Check for updates” stage, click No thanks. At the “What you should know” stage, click Next. At the “Keep your old password” stage, click Next. You get the gist. Keep going. Thomas Joos Lastly, click on Revert to a previous build. Windows 11 will then start the process proper and, after a short time, the previous Windows 11 version you had before installing 24H2 will be active again. Thomas Joos After restarting your PC, log in to Windows 11 per usual. Everything should now work again. Once Microsoft fixes the errors in Window 11 24H2, you can try updating again then. Further reading: My favorite changes in Windows 11 24H2 Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Eight bays/slots for HDDs and SSDs Supports SATA and NVMe Runs two HDDs in RAID Affordable for the ilk Cons 10Gbps caps NVMe performance at 1GBps No RAID for the last two HDD bays Our Verdict The D8 Hybrid is a versatile USB storage enclosure that lets you use up to four 3.5/2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs, as well as up to four NVMe SSDs. It’s only 10Gbps, which is easily fast enough for HDDs and SATA SSDs, but limiting for the NVMe SSDs. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: TerraMaster D8 Hybrid HDD/SSD USB enclosure Retailer Price $299.99 View Deal TerraMaster $299.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket With four full-sized 3.5/2.5-inch SATA bays, and four 2280 M.2 slots to accept NVMe SSDs, the D8 Hybrid is an incredibly versatile external storage enclosure capable of housing up to 162TB of storage (30TB HDDs/8TB SSDs). It’s also a good performer within the limits of 10Gbps USB. What are the D8 Hybrid’s features? I already enumerated the available storage bays/slots for you above, but you can also use 2.5-inch SATA SSDs or 2.5-inch HDDs in the 3.5-inch drive bays. SATA SSDs will deliver faster performance individually or combined in RAID 0, but 2.5-inch HDDs lag far behind their larger cousins in both capacity and speed. The D8 Hybrid is a largely black plastic box measuring 8.75-inches deep, by 6.75-inches tall, by 7-inches wide (approximate measurements), encasing a metal frame. The four 3.5-inch drive trays are easy open, but don’t lock. Two screws on the back of the enclosure secure the removable side panel that hides the four M.2 NVMe slots. The D8 Hybrid’s M.2 slots filled with various NVMe SSDs. A minor issue with the M.2 slots is shown above: I was able to screw down an NVMe SSD while it wasn’t completely inserted into the M.2 socket, and then it didn’t appear when the box powered on. Make sure you don’t see any SSD metal edge contacts when you install them. While the D8 Hybrid supports RAID, it applies to only the first two 3.5-inch drive bays. Drives in the six other bay/slots appear as single LUNs (logical units)/drives. Consider the D8 a two-drive RAID box with two extra bays and four M.2 slots. We’re not pooh-poohing the arrangement. It can be very handy under the right circumstances — that being lots of miscellaneous SATA and NVMe storage laying about. The rear of the D8 Hybrid with a Type-C port, power port, RAID mode selector, and RAID reset pinhole button. The back of the D8 Hyrbid is home to the RAID select rotary switch (single, JBOD/concatenated, striped RAID 0, and mirrored RAID 1), a RAID reset pinhole button, a large fan opening, a power jack, and the on/off button. As discussed, USB 3.2 10Gbps is the transport interface, and TerraMaster includes a high-quality Type-C to Type-C cable with the unit. The AC adapter is a 7.5 amp/12-volt type with a detachable wall cord. How much is the TerraMaster D8 Hybrid? The D8 Hybrid was $300 at the time of this writing, or little less than $40 a bay. That’s certainly less than what you’d pay for a 10Gbps dual 3.5-inch RAID enclosure plus six other enclosures. And there is value in consolidating all those drives into one box and onto one connection. Especially given the often parsimonious port allotment on today’s thin and light laptops! In other words, if the D8 Hybrid fits your needs, it’s a pretty good deal. How fast is the D8 Hybrid? The speed that the D8 Hybrid delivers will depend highly upon what type of storage you install. But whatever it is, it will max out at around 1GBps due to the 10Gbps bus. I’m a tad surprised that TerraMaster didn’t go for USB 3.2×2 or USB 4. I’ve been chagrined at other NVMe-enabled products making similar choices recently — the scuttlebutt is that chips for USB 4 are still in short supply. Just to be clear as to the relevant conundrum: NVMe is capable of 3GBps plus when used over Thunderbolt 3/4 or USB 4, and 2GBps over 20Gbps USB 3.2×2. Bus choice aside, the D8 Hybrid performed up to 10Gbps snuff, which is pretty darn fast in the real world. I saw just over 1GBps out of SSDs in the NVMe slots, 570MBps out of SATA SSDs in the 3.5-inch bays, 290MBps from a single 3.5-inch, 24GB WD DC HC580 hard drive, and 580MBps from two of the latter in RAID 0. That is very good on all accounts for USB 10Gbps. While the D8 Hybrid only offers RAID for the first two bays, you can use Windows (or macOS) software RAID to create more complex arrays… Note that instead of highlighting the drive being reviewed in red, this time it’s gray, with the Seagate Game Drive SSD — another 10Gbps product that is a good match for the D8 Hybrid’s NVMe slots — in red to highlight the 10Gbps cap. Why? I didn’t like the other shades of red I came up with. Sue me. The D8 Hybrid actually beat the Seagate Game SSD drive with NVMe. But the Sabrent Rocket 4 I used may be a faster SSD than the one inside the Seagate. Regardless, you know you’re not sacrificing performance for the D8 Hybrid’s versatility. Given the 10Gbps constraint, at any rate. CrystalDiskMark 8 rated the D8 Hybrid as completely up to snuff for a 10Gbps USB enclosure. Longer bars are better. You can basically disregard the HDD numbers in the CrystalDiskMark 8 4K tests. Hard drives simply don’t access data with anywhere near the alacrity of an SSD of any type. You can basically disregard the HDD numbers in the CrystalDiskMark 8 4K tests. Hard drives simply don’t access data with anywhere near the alacrity of an SSD of any type. Longer bars are better. Remember that shorter bars are better in the graph below charting 48GB transfer performance, where the D8 Hybrid did quite well in all phases — for the type of media involved, of course. Remember that shorter bars are better in this graph charting 48GB transfer performance, where the D8 Hybrid did very well. Shorter bars are better. The D8 Hybrid was right on target with the various media types for the 450GB long file write. The D8 Hybrid was right on target with the various media types for the 450GB long file write. Shorter bars are better. Other than wishing it was 20Gbps or 40Gbps technology, I have zero complaints about the D8 Hybrid’s performance. And you can get a lot done with 1GBps transfers. While the D8 Hybrid only offers RAID for the first two bays, you can use Windows (or macOS) software RAID to create more complex arrays or utilize more of the D8 Hybrid’s eight drives in that fashion. I’d only recommend it for redundancy (mirroring, RAID 5) as the 10Gbps USB bus is going to cap performance at 1GBps no matter how you combine the SSDs. Should you buy the D8 Hybrid? If you’re looking to run a pair of hard drives in RAID 0, plus a couple of other HDDs/SATA SSDs, as well as some NVMe SSDs externally, then the TerraMaster D8 Hybrid is a versatile way to combine them all into one physical box. Performance is certainly good enough for most tasks, albeit limiting for NVMe. Put another way, if price, capacity, versatility, and HDD/SSD SATA support are paramount, the D8 Hybrid is a great product — an excellent way to employ miscellaneous drives you may have lying about. But if you’re looking for top-tier performance from your NVMe SSDs, look to something utilizing a faster bus. Read...

The majority of U.S. homes have an internet connection, and it’s probably not a stretch to guess that the proportion that also has Wi-Fi is close to 100 percent. Anyone who lives in a populated area and opened the Wi-Fi settings on their mobile phone will have seen how there are many networks competing for space in the ether. Modern routers, especially mesh routers, have thankfully made problems with poor Wi-Fi coverage fairly rare, but there are still many good reasons to review your network. It’s not just about security, but also about getting the most out of your internet connection, minimizing lag in online games and protecting your and your family’s privacy. Why not settle for the operator’s router? Many internet service providers lend a Wi-Fi router to customers, while others offer it as an optional extra for a small fee. Of course, it’s easy to make do with it, and it can be cheaper if it’s included. But it might be a better idea to get a router yourself instead. For one thing, it means you can keep your router and don’t have to redo all the settings if you switch operators. Carrier routers are rarely the most powerful, so you can get faster wireless internet with your own. This is especially true if you have many devices and/or a large house or a home with solid walls that weaken the signal. With mesh systems, you can get as many access points as you need to provide a strong signal throughout your home. Security can also be higher, as over the years there have been relatively frequent security flaws in operators’ routers, which are not always fixed quickly. With so many customers using the same router model, such routers become more tempting prey for hackers. Finally, you can get features that aren’t in your operator’s router but that you could benefit from, like vpn connectivity for the whole network or selected devices, separate networks for smart home gadgets, connection of peripherals like nas devices and printers, and much more. Mesh or traditional router? Before you start looking at the different manufacturers’ router models, you have an important question to consider. Do you want a traditional router plus any Wi-Fi boosters, or should you opt for a modern mesh system? A question that has no obvious answer. Mesh routers often have a cylindrical design.Andres Urena Mesh In a mesh system, two or more Wi-Fi routers or access points are combined into a larger, theoretically more robust network. The device you plug into the wall with Ethernet (or into a modem of some kind) becomes the master device and mediates the connection between all devices on the network and the internet. The routers involved communicate with each other and optimize the network so that all connected phones and other gadgets have the fastest and most stable connection possible. Advantages Easier to get good coverage throughout your home Fewer settings to make Disadvantages Fewer settings that can be made More expensive Usually lower maximum speed Traditional router with multiple antennas.Asus Traditional router A centrally located router covers as much of the home as possible — powerful models with large antennas can easily cover a medium-sized house and even reach out into the garden if it has a clear view. If you need more coverage, you need to get an extender. Advantages Less expensive Can offer significantly more customization options Powerful models have higher maximum speeds Disadvantages Can be difficult to reach all nooks and crannies Slightly more complicated settings To make the choice a little more complicated, some manufacturers have software in their regular routers that makes it possible to build mesh systems with them. Asus, for example, has something called AI Mesh. It takes a little more effort to get up and running than, for example, Google’s Nest Wifi, but offers the same benefit of better coverage and can be cheaper. Further reading: Supercharged home Wi-Fi with mesh networking: What you need to know Foundry How to choose a good model for your needs Once you’ve decided on a mesh or regular router, you’ll be faced with a veritable jungle of different models. Even if you stick to the biggest brands, such as Asus, Netgear, TP-link, and Linksys, there are hundreds of models to choose from. Here are the key aspects to look at: Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6e share the same basic technology, but 6e opens up the use of channels in the 6GHz band, where there is typically less interference. Signals in that frequency band are more efficiently blocked by walls, which can also help improve the signal for your own devices that are in the same room. Wi-Fi 7 is the new version of Wi-Fi that has just been released. It brings higher speeds, both in theory and practice, and shorter response times. It’s not yet built into many computers, phones, and other gadgets, but it’s the technology of the future. Number of bands Routers are often marketed as “dual band” or “triple band.” This refers to the number of radios they have, and therefore the maximum capacity of all connected devices combined. For mesh routers, one of the bands is usually used for communication between the routers involved. Software and updates Older models may be cheap, but they carry the risk that the manufacturer will stop releasing security updates before you want to retire the router. The software in a router needs to be kept constantly updated, making it somewhat safer to choose one of the big, tried-and-tested manufacturers. Another aspect of the software is how much customization the router offers and what extra features it has. For example, if you want to be able to connect a TV or media player via VPN to view content from other countries, you may benefit from a router with a built-in VPN function. Key settings No matter which router or mesh router you get — or if you settle for the one from your operator — there are a handful of settings you should change right away. The way you connect to the router’s admin interface varies slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Instructions can be found in the user manual or an accompanying quick guide. Enabling https is even more important.Foundry Enable https Before you do anything else, I highly recommend enabling https connectivity to your router settings. This will prevent others on the local network from intercepting the router’s password by collecting all network traffic. Admin login Change the password to the router settings. On some routers you are forced to do this when you first connect, on others it is optional but something you should definitely do. If possible, I also recommend changing your username. If you have to set a new password before you can enable https, you can change the password again after you have done so for extra peace of mind. Foundry Wi-Fi name and password Once you’ve secured your router’s settings, it’s time to secure the wireless network. The router usually has a semi-random network name (SSID) that I recommend changing. Choose something fun that you can easily recognize, but be aware that others can mimic and choose the same name. A good Wi-Fi password is long but easy to type in — for example, four randomly chosen words. No one is happy about having to type p&g_Kx%qU6s%qq$ewc-= by hand, but “wire underpaid rich banner” is no problem. When choosing the Wi-Fi solution, you also get to choose the security model. Best today is WPA3, or just WPA2 if not available. WPA3 is more secure, but so far too many devices do not support it. Further reading: 5 ways to check Wi-Fi signal strength on Windows PCs Channels If you don’t know better, I suggest you choose “auto” on most of the settings in the router, at least until you have learned more or have tested the network and want to see if you can optimize it a bit. This applies to channel selection and channel width, for example. Internet connection If you get internet via fiber, the router will probably fix the connection automatically, but some operators require a login using the PPOE protocol. You should then have received the name and password from the operator, and can check the instructions from your router’s manufacturer. Switch off WPS, UPNP and NAT-PNP Look for settings for these technologies and switch them off. WPS is inherently insecure and UPNP and NAT-PNP open up your network in a way that can lead to intrusions unless both you and your gadgets do the right thing. Enable automatic updates and you won’t miss any important security fixes.Foundry Enable automatic updates If your router has a feature to install firmware updates automatically, you should enable it. Sure, there’s a minimal risk of the manufacturer releasing a bad update that crashes the router, but in return, you won’t have to log into the router periodically to avoid missing important security fixes. Connect by cable where possible Wi-Fi is handy and nowadays really fast, but the vast majority of routers still have a number of connectors for wired networking with Ethernet. High-end models today don’t settle for Gigabit Ethernet, but sometimes have 2.5 Gigabit or even faster. And the fact is that wired is usually faster than wireless. This is true even with newer Wi-Fi standards that theoretically have higher speeds. For example, Wi-Fi 6/6e has a theoretical ceiling of 9.6Gbit/s, but no real networks are that fast. Moreover, the figure applies to all connected devices combined, and traffic in both directions must be taken into account, whereas Ethernet is so-called full duplex with the same speed in each direction. Stephen Phillips More realistic is to get 0.5Gbit/s on a connected device with Wi-Fi 6, at some distance and with multiple devices connected. With Wi-Fi 6e or 7, the network can use the 6GHz band, where there is usually much less interference. This leads to higher speeds in practice, but even with the fastest routers it is difficult to reach more than 1,500Mbps. In addition to consistently high speeds, cable provides lower latency and almost no risk of occasional slowness, which can still happen with wireless. Connecting devices that have an Ethernet connector — and to which you can run a cable without creating a tangle of wires in your home — gives them a stable connection, but that’s not all. Your wirelessly connected devices will also benefit, as they will have less competition for radio waves. For example, if your router happens to be close to your TV, you can connect your TV, any media players, games consoles, and other wired devices on the same shelf. If you use smart home gadgets, it’s also a good idea to connect hubs like Ikea’s Dirigera by cable. If you don’t have enough ports, you can get a switch. Position your router correctly for a better Wi-Fi signal Wireless networks are delicate affairs whose range and speed are hugely affected by small changes, both to the settings and the positioning of the router. Radio waves are weakened by walls, and the more solid the wall, the worse the signal on the other side. If you have a traditional router, you’ll get the best signal if you place it as close to the center of your home as possible, and preferably not next to a wall. But don’t run a lot of Ethernet cable without testing first. Of course, if it works well anywhere near the socket, you can leave the router there. Smart home gadgets can mess up The default setting on most routers is to combine the two frequency bands into a common network with the same SSID, allowing the router and connected devices to choose which band based on signal strength. Some smart home devices only support 2.4GHz. Further reading: The paranoid’s guide to securing your smart home Therefore, if you have problems with some gadgets not wanting to connect or disconnecting from time to time, try splitting the network into two separate ones, one for 2.4GHz and one for 5GHz. Create a guest network that your guests can use.Foundry Use guest networks if your router supports them If you don’t want to give away your Wi-Fi password left and right, you can take advantage of a feature found in many routers, namely the ability to add a separate guest network. The guest network has its own name and password, and on many routers it is set so that devices on the guest network cannot communicate with other devices on the local network, either on the guest network or the regular one. This means that your visitors can access the internet, but not, for example, your smart home gadgets or printers. Read...

Let’s address the big thing first: The Corsair One i500 compact gaming desktop costs $3,599. That will stop a lot of you in your tracks. Like a luxury automobile, however, there are touches throughout that signal why you’d want to spend the extra money on this lovely little PC. I favor a very brutalist approach to PC hardware: I don’t really care what it looks like as long as it performs well and cost-effectively. But my personal aesthetic has always been very organic, and the i500’s genuine wood-paneled case plays into that perfectly. On paper, the Corsair One i500 is an aggressive little machine. Inside is a Core i9-14900K processor and an Nvidia RTX 4080 Super, which is nearly the best of what you can buy today. All of that fits inside a compact little 22-liter chassis that’s perfectly suited toward a bookshelf: cool, quiet, compact, and understated, all characteristics normally associated with a cut above. You can certainly buy your own case and components, and assemble them; it will certainly save you money. With the One, Corsair makes a strong argument that paying (a lot) extra can bring both aesthetic and practical benefits that aren’t immediately obvious. Corsair One i500: The whole package argues for opening your wallet My evaluation of the Corsair One i500 is a hybrid of formal review and a hands-on. We already have our hands full reviewing the dozens of laptops that come into our labs, and we normally write for the portion of our audience who buys and assembles their own PCs. Pre-built PCs like this one still offer peace of mind for someone without the time or technical aptitude to put their PC together, and it’s worth checking in to see what this segment of the market can achieve. Because we don’t cover pre-built PCs on a regular basis, though, you won’t find as many comparisons with competing products as in our laptop reviews. I still couldn’t resist testing it, though. Wouldn’t you? For starters, the warm aesthetics of the enclosure and the practicality of the case design are a winning combination. Add in a rather delightful interior, with backside cable routing and water-cooling, to what the Corsair One i500 offers on specs. There’s room for expansion, too. Yes, it all totals up to $3,599, but I don’t think that’s an extraordinary amount when balanced against what this desktop offers. I’ll run through the other highlights of the Corsair One i500, but this impressed me most: No need to fumble around in the dark when a tap on the back lights everything up.Mark Hachman / IDG Corsair One i500 specifications Corsair sent me the cheaper of two configurations, which retails for $3,599. A more expensive $4,699 option includes a Core i9-14900K, Nvidia RTX 4090, and a larger 64GB loadout of DDR5 RAM. Both desktops ship with a two-year warranty. Processor: Intel Core i9-14900K Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super Memory:  32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 Storage: 2TB NVMe SSD Ports: 2 USB-A (5Gbps), 1 USB-C (10Gbps), 4 USB-A (480Mbps) 3 USB-C 10Gbps, USB-C (20Gps, 2×2), 7.1 audio jack, headphone jack Wired connection: 2.5Gbps Ethernet Wireless: WiFi 6e; Bluetooth 5.3 Operating system: Windows 11 Home Dimensions (inches): 15.5in. x 7.4in. x 11.8in. Weight: 21.2 lb Colors: Metal Dark, Wood Bright, Wood Dark Also in the box: power cord, Wi-Fi antennas Price: $3,599.99 Corsair One i500 build quality: Class, with a bit of bling The Corsair One i500 is available in three colorways: a dark metal, or either bright- or dark-wood options. Unlike the 1980s minivan I grew up with, the wood is wood, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council with a unique wood grain. (I believe my “dark” wood was walnut.) To date, wooden accents have been typically reserved to niche cases, like the Fractal Design North, though they’ve become more popular as a stylistic backlash to RGB. Don’t get me wrong, the Corsair One i500 has its share of RGB, in the form of LED strips that run down each of the front corners. The RGB is controlled by touch-sensitive strips above and below the front-mounted power button, which can adjust the lighting. More fine-grained controls are built into the Corsair One Dashboard app, however, which offers a surprisingly basic UI. Compact power, and looks great too Corsair One i500 Best Prices Today: $3,522.65 at Amazon That’s indicative of one of the things that sets the Corsair One i500 apart. Some people prefer overt controls, and there’s a certain segment of the tech audience that revels in the ability to control every little thing with a dedicated knob or button. The i500 disagrees, and it works. The case is enticingly compact: just 15.5 inches by 7.4 inches wide, and 11.8 inches deep, for a total volume of 22 liters. I prefer placing my desktop near my feet, largely because of a lack of desk space. But the Corsair One i500 is a PC you’ll want to show off, especially if your aesthetic leans toward the natural. I have a walnut antique roll-top desk that I bought decades ago because I’ve always liked old wood, but it’s just a bit too small to showcase the Corsair One i500 properly, which is a shame. Corsair’s i500 looks as lovely in the lab as on a shelf, as in the image at the top of this review.Mark Hachman / IDG Corsair’s i500 offers understated RGB lighting that can be left on or off.Mark Hachman / IDG Inside the shipping container that Corsair sent me was also the power cord and Wi-Fi antennas, which screw in. I would encourage Corsair to invest in a longer power cord; the included cord is about 4 feet, and it was a just a bit too short for my desk setup. I do like RGB, and what the i500 offers is understated, illuminating the corners with adjustable lighting. But you’ll have to decide whether it looks good against the wood. I don’t think so, but those who buy the metal option will probably feel differently. There’s one feature that the Corsair One i500 offers that I love, and plays into my love of the practical alongside the i500’s aesthetic: one-touch rear lighting. If you’re like me, your PC is seated near or at your desk, in a somewhat dim room. (People prefer Windows’ dark mode for a reason!) That’s just fine for the 1,439 minutes that make up almost all of a day. But when you need to plug in a USB key, or a printer, or a keyboard cable, fishing around in the gloom for a minute or two to align a cable correctly gets old quick. The i500 solves that problem. Tap the rear of the chassis, and a small LED illuminates the entire I/O panel. That’s amazing! No longer do you have to squint to make sure an HDMI cable is aligned properly. Don’t scoff; how many times do you use the illuminated vanity mirror on your car? Probably almost never — but you’ll certainly hear about it from a friend or partner if they can’t check themselves out as you whiz through the night to a social event. I was delighted by the i500’s one-touch rear lighting. It’s indicative of the care and attention Corsair paid to the details. The rear I/O shield of the Corsair One i500 features numerous ports, though it skimps a little on USB-C. The single USB-C port on the rear is a 20Gbps port, a relative rarity but one designed to connect to a gaming SSD for storing game files.Mark Hachman / IDG The rear I/O includes four USB-A ports (5Gbps), another three running at 10Gbps, and a dedicated 20Gbps USB-C port, too. There’s also an audio jack. Though there’s an HDMI port connected to the integrated GPU via the Intel B760M chipset on the motherboard, there are three DisplayPort ports and an HDMI port directly attached to the graphics card. One complaint I have is that there isn’t anything comparable for the front port, lighting-wise. Since there’s a pair of USB-A ports (and a USB-C port, plus a headphone jack) tucked under the front lip of the i500, it would be helpful to ensure those USB ports lined up correctly. I accidentally yanked my power strip off my shelf when I pulled the i500 forward to correctly align the USB-A port…which there are probably a bit too many of, too. One or two more USB-C ports would be convenient for modern setups. The i500’s side panels serve as filters, and magnetically snap on to the sides of the chassis. Removing them is simple. I didn’t like the tiny black screws that affix the underlying metal grille, though; keep a magnetic screwdriver handy, and work on a light-colored surface. (Why not thumbscrews, Corsair?) Opening the left-hand side of the case reveals the internals, with another grill whose screws need to be loosened. When you’ve done that, you can open the grill “door” and access the insides. The slideshow below will walk you through the process of opening the case and revealing the internals, as the other side of the motherboard. About the only thing running through the interior of the system are the two watercooling hoses, which can be gently moved aside if you need to change out a component. Otherwise, Corsair buries all the cabling behind the motherboard (behind the right side) and very neatly organizes the wires. There’s a lot of care that went into this design. The interior of the Corsair One i500, which still has a bit of cable clutter. (On the right, two pieces of tubing route coolant from the GPU below to the top radiator.) The liquid cooling means that the system is less dependent on maintaining a clean interior, but it still helps.Mark Hachman / IDG Both GPU options include a 240mm GPU radiator plus two dedicated AF120 120 mm fans to cool it. The CPU also has its own 120mm cooler, too, along with a similar 120mm AF120 fan. Corsair mounts another 120mm fan on the bottom of the left side, to pull cool air underneath the graphics card, which essentially subdivides the case. Another 120mm fan pulls air from the top. I didn’t try upgrading the chassis, but Corsair says that there’s an available x4 PCI Express expansion slot (with an effective length of 7 inches or less). Note that it’s a lot easier to swap out the M.2 slot and add memory, since access is granted via the upper “door”. (Two of the four memory slots were populated on my cheaper version of the Corsair One i500, with 32GB of memory.) Corsair makes a second M.2 slot available for upgrades, as well as a 2.5-inch SSD bay. Replacing the graphics card — which Corsair also allows for — requires more disassembly. The one thing I really didn’t like about Corsair’s configuration was its approach to software. The Corsair One Dashboard app is good for adjusting the RGB (both colors and patterns, which include the typical strobing options, color shifts, and a starlight mode which makes parts of the RGB twinkle) but that’s about it. The app leaves room for fan monitoring, for example, but the sensors apparently weren’t connected. The Corsair One Diagnostics app leans more toward stability testing. Further tweaking options are left to the BIOS/UEFI, which isn’t that unusual and had the fine-grained tweaking options I expected. BIOS updates require the user to download a firmware update, put it on a USB stick, and then apply it That seems rather primitive compared to the competition. I would have liked at-hand overclocking options, or the ability to scale up and down between silent running and maximum performance. Those options simply don’t seem to be there. Corsair One i500 performance Corsair doesn’t explicitly say that air will be pulled in from the physical bottom of the chassis, but it appears that it definitely could. I tested the Corsair One i500 on my floor, but on a hard surface that didn’t block airflow. Under normal operation, I couldn’t hear the i500 at all; it’s only under load that I heard the fans crank up. The noise was moderate though not overwhelming, and without coil whine. A quiet PC is one you can game and work on. While this isn’t a formal review, I couldn’t help but run a few benchmarks to test gaming performance. If you aren’t familiar with the nuances differentiating a 4080 Super from a “vanilla” 4080, the Super has a few more CUDA cores (10,240 vs 9,728) and runs at a slightly higher clock speed (2,295MHz vs 2,205 MHz). There’s a slight performance improvement, of course, of a few percent. I recently tested the Acer Predator Orion 3000, a $1,699 desktop with an older Core i7-13700F chip and a GeForce RTX 4070 chip inside. I’d expect the 4080 Super to somewhat outperform the Acer’s 4070 GPU, though the 13th- and 14th-gen Core chips aren’t that far apart in terms of performance. I also added a couple of gaming notebooks from our database, including the $3,700 Gigabyte Aorus 17X (Core i9-14900HX/RTX 4090) and the Dell Alienware x16 R2, a $3,199 gaming notebook with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and an RTX 4080 inside. Mark Hachman / IDG This is a gaming desktop, but you might use it during the day for “work,” right? We ran the PCMark 10 benchmark for comparative performance. With a score of over 10,000, this desktop made short work of the benchmark, which includes CAD elements to push the GPU a bit. Again, the fact that the i500 ran this benchmark largely silently is a good sign. We’re in the middle of re-evaluating how we assess gaming performance, but we have two games that we’ve stuck with: Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Metro: Exodus. We’ve tended to prioritize 1080p performance on both, though gaming is slowly climbing into the 1440p range, and the 4080 Super inside the Corsair One will be able to play at that resolution (as well as 4K) without breaking a sweat. Mark Hachman / IDG If you do stick with 1080p gaming as your priority, this desktop will easily include the older Tomb Raider game, though it struggles a bit with the Metro release. It’s worth noting that with Metro (we use the “Extreme settings), the “99th-percentile” score dropped down to 77 frames per second, which is playable, though a little less than some would prefer. Mark Hachman / IDG To this we added two more games: Cyberpunk: 2077 and Assassins Creed: Valhalla. Cyberpunk: 2077, in addition to (eventually) becoming a deep, rich gaming experience, also provides a wealth of benchmarking options to examine the performance of a laptop or desktop. We’ve used our legacy settings for this test, which have been tested on just a couple of desktops and laptops. Here, I’m making a direct comparison between the Corsair desktop and the Asus Predator Orion 3000. Mark Hachman / IDG We’re considering tweaking these settings, turning on basic ray tracing and enabling frame generation. With these options enabled (at High settings), Cyberpunk is easily playable at over 300 fps. At 1080p and High settings, AC:V is perfectly playable, too, at 226 fps. Chances are that you’ll want to dial up the graphics settings a bit to show the game off a bit more without hurting performance. Should you buy the Corsair One i500? Again, if you can’t get past the $3,599 price point, I can understand. I grew up in a minivan, though my parents now own a luxury sedan. Both have cup holders, four wheels and an engine, but there are little bits of polish and thought that help you understand while you might opt for the pricier option. There’s a lot that Corsair offers here that goes beyond just the specs. I really do love the design, which feels unique. There’s a reason why Fractal cases receive attention, as they feel emotionally warmer and more organic than a traditional case. Corsair’s upgradability is somewhat nominal, but it is there. You’d almost hope that Corsair would create a version of the i500 with AMD’s AM4 or AM5 socket, to truly allow this PC to sit on someone’s shelf for years. True, the RGB feels out of sync with the aesthetic and the software is average at best. Still, there aren’t too many other knocks against it. And though my colleagues tell me that yes, a rear-mounted LED has been done before, I’m not going to nitpick. Corsair engineers made some smart, thoughtful decisions in creating the Corsair One i500, creating a well-rounded, cohesive compact PC with just very few quibbles to make. Read...

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Windows 11 might be the most advanced operating system Microsoft has ever put out, but its default features aren’t even the full toolkit. To unlock some extra features beyond what’s in base Windows, you’ll need to install an optional app called Microsoft PowerToys that offers plenty of cool capabilities that you’ll certainly find useful. Maybe you already know about PowerToys and its more popular features like Image Resize (for right-click resizing images), Keyboard Manager (for remapping certain keys as other keys), Text Extractor (for copying text from images), Peek (for previewing files in File Explorer), and Screen Ruler (for measuring pixels on screen). Well, keep reading for some other PowerToys features that are just as useful but maybe not as well-known. Further reading: How to use PowerToys Workspaces to finesse your Windows desktop What is Microsoft PowerToys? Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of utilities that enhance the base Windows experience, bringing you all sorts of shortcuts and powers that boost productivity and make things just a bit easier to deal with. While Microsoft PowerToys used to only be accessible through a custom installer that you had to download via GitHub, you can now grab it directly from the Microsoft Store. (You can also get it using Windows Package Manager if you’re a command line sort of person.) Once installed, you can use the PowerToys dashboard to enable or disable whichever features you want or don’t want to use.Joel Lee / IDG On the PowerToys page in the Microsoft Store, click on Get and then Install. Once installed, most of the features will be enabled by default and you’ll likely want to disable the ones you aren’t going to be using. You can toggle the different features in the PowerToys dashboard. Without further ado, let’s check out some useful PowerToys features you might’ve overlooked that are worth enabling. Advanced Paste Jon Martindale / IDG When you copy text on the web or in Microsoft Word, the formatting usually gets copied along with the text — and you might already know that you can use the alternate Ctrl + Shift + V keyboard shortcut to paste from your clipboard as plain text (i.e., without any formatting). Microsoft PowerToys has a feature called Advanced Paste that takes it a step further: with it, you can paste as plain text, as Markdown, or as JSON, and you can even use AI to add additional formatting if you have an OpenAI API key. Advanced Paste also has a clipboard history that shows you a list of all the things you’ve copied before. To use it, press Windows key + Shift + V and select the special paste action you want to use. (Alternatively, you can open the Advanced Paste option within PowerToys and customize the keyboard shortcuts to ones that are more straightforward for you.) Related: Useful Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts I use daily Always On Top Have a window you need to see at all times but fed up because it keeps disappearing behind all the other windows you have open? Make it stay on top of everything no matter what with Always On Top. Select the window you want on top, then press Windows key + Ctrl + T. The window should get a blue outline to designate it as being on top. You can repeat the command to turn it off, or use it on another window to mark that one as always on top (the other will lose its place). Color Picker Jon Martindale / IDG Color Picker is a quick and simple tool for grabbing the exact color of any pixel on your screen. It functions a lot like the dropper tool in photo editing apps like Photoshop, except you can use it at any time. Simply press Windows key + Shift + C, move your mouse cursor over the pixel you want to grab, then click to open up the dashboard with a breakdown of its hex, RGB, and HSL color codes. You can further customize it to display other color codes like CMYK, too. FancyZones Jon Martindale / IDG Windows 11 comes with a built-in feature called Snap Layouts that you can use to quickly organize your on-screen windows in various configurations. But if Snap Layouts feels limited, you’ll like FancyZones. Press Windows key + Shift + Backtick (which is the same as Windows key + Tilde) and choose the configuration you want to use. But what’s truly great is you can click Create new layout at the bottom right to design your own custom layout for your windows. File Explorer add-ons In Windows 11, File Explorer already lets you preview images and certain document types in the Preview Pane without having to launch their respective apps. But with PowerToys, you can expand File Explorer to support previews for a few more file types. By default, the File Explorer add-ons let you preview SVG files, Markdown files, and source code formats like CPP, JSON, PY, XML, etc. You can also enable support for previewing PDF files, both in the Preview Pane as well as in thumbnails. Find My Mouse Jon Martindale / IDG Ever found yourself shaking your mouse around, trying to spot where the cursor is? This can be especially problematic with multiple monitors, and it’s maddening if your PC is unknowingly frozen. With Find My Mouse in PowerToys, this is no longer an issue. When enabled, all you have to do is tap Ctrl twice to highlight your mouse cursor. (Want to make it permanently easier to spot? Enable Mouse Pointer Crosshairs with Windows key + Alt + P.) PowerRename Got a big collection of pictures or videos with generic filenames and dread having to rename them one by one? Not a problem with PowerRename! Select all the files you want to rename, then hold Shift and right-click to open the extended context menu. Then, select Rename with PowerRename. Choose the text within the file names that you want to replace, type what you want to replace them with, then click Apply. PowerToys Run Windows Search isn’t great at launching apps, right? PowerToys Run is better, and it’s readily accessible once enabled. Just press Alt + Spacebar and you can run applications quickly and effectively. (If you’ve used Spotlight on macOS, this will feel very familiar.) PowerToys Run just seems to understand my searches better. If I use Windows Search for the “Fan Control” app I have installed, it just tries to give me Bing results; meanwhile, PowerToys Run finds the app even if I search for “FanControl” without the space! Shortcut Guide Jon Martindale / IDG Windows 11 has heaps of handy keyboard shortcuts you can use to speed up your workflow and day-to-day PC usage, but can you remember them all? I sure can’t. But PowerToys can make it easier to find those niche keyboard combos with Shortcut Guide. Press Windows key + Shift + / (that’s a forward slash) and a list of shortcuts will appear on the screen. Press the Windows key and any of the numbers and letters on screen to actuate that command. Further reading: How Microsoft PowerToys improves my life Read...