Your membership journey starts here. Keep exploring and earning more as a member. Latest about Microsoft Updates, launches and rumors. Latest about AI. AI updates, how-tos and comparisons in one place. Explore your membership benefits. Stay Ahead with Windows Central Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox. GAMING CDPR brings Cyberpunk 2077 to Battle.net, plus an Overwatch Edgerunners collab and Diablo 4 Geralt skin GAMING World of Warcraft's new "Skyborne" elf race is causing some controversy in the WoW community, many of whom are tired of Blizzard's apparent love of elves. Gaming Blizzard Entertainment has announced that Warcraft 3, one of its most beloved real-time strategy games, is getting a new expansion after 23 years called "Forsaken Kingdom". GAMING World of Warcraft Forever is Blizzard's long-rumored "Classic+" take, designed to keep Warcraft's old-school social-first gameplay intact while providing new content. Gaming Blizzard announced Diablo V for Spring 2029, set in a post-apocalyptic Sanctuary where Diablo has won. Gaming Diablo 4 gets a new class and a Nintendo Switch 2 port! All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards. LIVE Join Daniel, Jez, and Zac on August 21 at 1PM ET for the LIVE Windows Central Podcast. Surface Apple’s iPhone Duo highlights a painful truth for Microsoft: Apple knows exactly what its hardware stands for, while Surface no longer has a reason to exist. Gaming Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the latest legacy title to be added to Xbox Game Pass, and I think it might be the game to play right now, even with Modern Warfare 4 looming. Windows 11 Project Zenith tailors Windows 11 for developers, but its core idea could pave the way for an AI-free Windows or other custom configurations. GAMING Age Twisters is an upcoming co-op adventure by Piccolo Studio about a granddaughter and grandfather who have more in common than they first think. GAMING PUBG: DED.NET is a 1996-set PvP FPS that introduces a multi-match career journey and roguelite progression to the PUBG universe. From The Windows Central Archives As we look ahead to Windows Central’s 20th anniversary in 2027, we’re taking time to revisit the stories that shaped our community. From Microsoft and Xbox to Windows and PC, these throwbacks remind us how far we’ve come together. As we look ahead to Windows Central’s 20th anniversary in 2027, we’re taking time to revisit the stories that shaped our community. From Microsoft and Xbox to Windows and PC, these throwbacks remind us how far we’ve come together. On this Day A look back at Xbox’s 2015 “games everywhere” vision — the moment Phil Spencer sketched out a future that Asha Sharma is now fully realizing 11 years later. Flashback A decade later, Microsoft’s unreleased Moonraker smartwatch still feels like a glimpse into an alternate timeline. Flashback Looking back at the 2016 editorial that captured Xbox’s growing pains and predicted the decade ahead. Flashback A look back at the LG Lancet and the era when Windows Phone 8.1 defined Microsoft’s mobile peak. Flashback A 2016 warning about Android apps on Chrome feels newly relevant as Googlebooks pushes Android PCs into the agentic era and challenges Microsoft again. Flashback From our archives: A decade ago Microsoft was already testing a Bing “concierge bot,” an early take on the AI agents Google is only now announcing. Microsoft just announced new family safety features for Windows 11 that speed up parental approvals. The tech giant also introduced new developer APIs that bring controls to more apps. Apps Microsoft is automating routine Edge extension reviews to keep up with an influx of submissions driven by AI development tools. Windows 11 The latest Windows 11 preview builds are now rolling out to Insiders in the Experimental and Beta channels. Windows 11 Microsoft is expected to release over 650 security patches for Windows 11 as AI speeds up the race to find and fix bugs. Apps Battery Flyout adds a Battery Status widget to Windows 11 so you can check your PC and accessories. Zac Bowden Senior Editor — Windows Jez Corden Executive Editor Daniel Rubino Editor-in-Chief Richard Devine Managing Editor — Tech, Reviews Sean Endicott Staff Writer — News Ben Wilson Senior Editor — Tech

Mauro Hucalak Windows How-To Expert Cale Hunt Staff Writer — Tech Jennifer Young Contributor — Commerce, Gaming Kevin Okemwa Contributor — News Brendan Lowry Contributor — Tech, Gaming Surface Apple's iPhone Duo video features a real 2018 Surface Magazine article during its split-screen demo, likely poking fun at Microsoft's foldable history. Surface Apple’s iPhone Duo highlights a painful truth for Microsoft: Apple knows exactly what its hardware stands for, while Surface no longer has a reason to exist. Gaming Qualcomm released new Adreno GPU drivers for Snapdragon X and Snapdragon X2 PCs, bringing stability and quality fixes to titles like Halo Infinite and Avowed. Futurism Lenovo's newest rollable laptop concept doesn't try to reinvent the PC. Instead, it solves a surprisingly simple problem: how to get a bigger screen without carrying a bigger laptop. Laptops With seven colors, customizable keycaps, and a choice of AMD, Qualcomm, or eventually Intel, the IdeaPad Vibe is anything but another boring laptop. Airjet Powered by Intel and cooled by Frore Systems' AirJet technology, Lenovo's AeroBlade concept rethinks what a modern laptop can be. Deals Dell is offering a huge $1,000 discount on the Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop, which offers premium-quality performance for both gaming and productivity. Deals A big Labor Day discount turns this 16‑inch Ryzen AI laptop into a standout performance deal. Deals The ASUS ROG Strix G16 remains one of the best-performing premium laptops for gaming at over 120 fps on 1,600p resolution, and it's now 24% off thanks to Best Buy's Labor Day deal Deals Antonline is offering gamers a chance to boost their performance for less with Intel's modern Core Ultra desktop CPUs. Deal Newegg is offering massive discounts on 12-month Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions bundled with NordVPN, dropping prices down to as low as $61.99. Deals Back‑to‑school Dell deals are offering the bargain new XPS 13 laptop, along with essential accessories, and standout value for students. Pre-order The ROG Xbox Ally X20 is now available to pre‑order, giving Windows handheld fans a new OLED option with upgraded hardware and a premium standalone price. No limit The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ vanished from retailers almost immediately, and the grey market has responded the only way it knows how: by duct-taping an absurd surcharge to the box and calling it market demand. PC Gaming Steam Deck (and other Linux systems) might soon be able to play PC Game Pass games with the help of Xodus. Gaming Blizzard Entertainment has announced a new hero called Doctrine, two reworks for Roadhog and Sombra, a new map set in Iceland, and more new features for Overwatch during BlizzCon 2026. Gaming There's a new Call of Duty game upon us in Modern Warfare 4, so let's break down exactly what items you can carry forward into the new game from Black Ops 7. Gaming Offset counters, new attacks that buff allies while knocking out monsters, and more have been added to the Hunting Horn's repertoire in Hunter Wilds: Ascendance. News GameSir has come out and defended itself against misinformation about "built-in cheats" in its controllers, because the internet is a terrible place. Gaming Capcom has released the 9th weapon showcase gameplay trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, and it's showing plenty of new ground-based attacks for the normally aerial-focused Insect Glaive. App You can now summon Gemini on your computer by pressing Alt + Space. AI Microsoft EVP overseeing Office and LinkedIn Ryan Roslansky posts an oddly oblivious self-own. The company flooding the internet with AI slop has started to realize how dumb its technology actually is in most scenarios. AI In a new podcast, OpenAI and ChatGPT lead Sam Altman lamented how much the industry made AI a hated tech, in his words, that they failed to "explain the benefits." You will no longer be able to use the COPILOT function in Excel after September 14, 2026. Here is why Microsoft is retiring the preview feature and what it means for your spreadsheets. Apps Copilot has gone missing in classic Outlook, drawing joking questions about whether the behavior is a feature or a bug. AI Windows users were (and still are) unsure about Recall, and something similar is now headed to macOS. LIVE Join Daniel, Jez, and Zac on August 21 at 1PM ET for the LIVE Windows Central Podcast. Windows 11 Microsoft swapped Bing Wallpaper backgrounds for a fullscreen movie promo, putting promotional text directly on Windows 11 desktops. Microsoft 365 Switzerland is trialing alternatives to Microsoft 365, shifting 3,000 government workstations to test other apps amid sovereignty and data protection concerns. Apps Microsoft Teams will soon let users temporarily pause all notifications. Here is how the new quiet feature works and how it differs from Do Not Disturb. Microsoft Over 41,000 people have signed a petition opposing Microsoft's planned $5.4 billion hyperscale data center in Leeds, England. Apps Microsoft renamed the Microsoft 365 Roadmap as the "AI at Work Roadmap," even though most of what it tracks has nothing to do with AI. Gaming SteelSeries unveils the Aeon Pro Controller, which features the world's first QuickSwitch Dock System for Xbox and PC, an Infinite Power System, Hall Effect Thumbsticks, and more. Review Razer’s tenth Huntsman keyboard brings optical analog power down to desk level—and my trained typing hands couldn't be happier. Keyboards Windows Central tests and reviews the latest and greatest gaming keyboards to help you make the best possible decision for your gaming setup. Please login or signup to comment