Windows Central

1. Beat AI slop with Huion's back-to-school PC drawing tablet deals: Here are the top picks for artists of all levels

   Huion is launching a back-to-school campaign, discounting a large variety of its high-quality tablets for note-taking and creating art. Here are our top recommendations from this sale.

2. Windows 11 is finally on the brink of restoring full taskbar movement — a reversal of one of its most controversial design decisions

   You can now move your Windows 11 taskbar if you're an Insider. That option will ship in just a few weeks to non-Insiders.

3. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has shown off its free 2.0 Update with a gameplay trailer, and it makes it feel almost like a new game, even without the upcoming DLC

   GSC Game World has given players a glimpse at the new content coming to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl's upcoming 2.0 update, which is set to launch on August 20, 2026, alongside the Hope of Despair DLC expansion. Here's what the trailer showcased.

4. Microsoft Defender vs. VLC: Which is causing MP3s to take 30 seconds to load?

   Opening MP3 files in VLC can take over 30 seconds due to a bug. A well-known game designer argued the issue shows what's wrong with open source software.

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's beta tests are stacked with an exclusive single-player campaign mission, multiplayer, and more — here are all the details

   Infinity Ward and Activision have announced the full contents of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's upcoming beta tests, including its multiplayer modes, Warzone, an exclusive single-player campaign mission, and more.

6. The big Xbox exclusivity debate: SHOULD Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6 be Xbox console exclusive?

   With Xbox CEO Asha Sharma teasing the next Elder Scrolls subtitle, debate is heating up across social media about whether or not Xbox should make it exclusive. What do you think?

7. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 6 is officially available but with some bad news for AMD Radeon users

   The latest big update for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is here with Sim Update 6 bringing back Bush Trips, adding lighting improvements, and more. But there's a change of plan for AMD Radeon graphics users.

8. Classic Outlook bug breaks Copilot, but some might call it an upgrade

   Copilot has gone missing in classic Outlook, drawing joking questions about whether the behavior is a feature or a bug.

9. ChatGPT adds Windows 11's most hated feature to Mac — Will the backlash be the same this time around, or has OpenAI taken the right approach?

   OpenAI just announced a new feature called ChatGPT Computer History for macOS, and it looks a lot like the reviled Windows Recall feature that was delayed after intense backlash from the Microsoft community. Here's how ChatGPT's version compares (and why you might want to stay away from it).

10. One of our favorite Snapdragon X Plus Surface Laptops just dropped 27% — finally making it affordable again

    The critically acclaimed 7th Edition of Microsoft's Surface Laptop is having a limited-time 27% discount on its Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, and 512GB configuration with a 2K touchscreen to help students and workers alike beat their daily workflows in no time flat.

11. School life is tough, but this durable 2-in-1 laptop with a touchscreen display makes work and exams a lot more bearable

    One of Best Buy's Back-to-School discounts has found its way to the HP Omnibook X Flip 14 (2025), a well-made laptop that skips frivolous design choices for straightforward, solid performance.

12. Halo: Campaign Evolved is getting an update soon to turn off its worst graphical features and fix blocked mission progression

    One of the criticisms leveled at Halo: Campaign Evolved was its stylistic choice to use film grain and chromatic aberration and not allow them to be turned off. Fortunately, that's going to change.

13. Did the Surface Phone FINALLY leak? The Windows Central Podcast breaks down what we know about the mysterious Windows Phone prototype, plus a recap of the latest news from Windows and Xbox

    On this week's episode: Zac and Jez sit down to discuss the newly leaked images of a mysterious Windows Phone prototype from 2013, plus the latest from Windows and Xbox.

14. The Xbox One S is the best value ticket to saying "no" to streaming services and going all-in on physical media

    As we're led into a digital future where we'll own nothing, what about ignoring it and buying movies on Blu-ray again. Where the old Xbox One S remains an excellent value 4K UHD Blu-ray player.

15. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Zombies comes to its dramatic conclusion in Season 05 Reloaded — here's when you can play

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's latest mid-season refresh is bringing the Zombies saga to a close, at least for now. Here's when you can play the final map, Rex Infernus.

16. A YouTuber just stress-tested a Snapdragon X2 laptop for 17 hours straight

    YouTuber DevonDoesTech ran a 17-hour live stream on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite.

17. The guy who built Windows Task Manager in 1996 just remade it with a cyberpunk vibe — but there's one big issue for PC users

    The creator of the original Windows Task Manager has returned with an updated version, and it probably doesn't look anything like what you think. The big problem? Task Manager OG is currently only available for macOS, with Windows support coming soon. Here's what it looks like and why you might want to test it out.

18. OLED monitor shipments are up a massive 98% year over year — I think the real reason has less to do with the panels than most people suspect

    Market research firm TrendForce has new data on the considerable rise in OLED monitor sales in Q2 2026. Although the reasons behind the newfound popularity lie in falling prices and improved supply chains, I suspect that there's another factor at play that isn't mentioned in the research.

19. Microsoft begins unified Copilot app rollout: Reveals major plan to merge Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot across all platforms, along with updated branding

    We knew it was coming, and now it's official: Microsoft is beginning to rollout a new Copilot app that merges Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot under one experience.

20. Snapdragon C specs mean Qualcomm could eat Intel's lunch with budget laptops: Here's what we know (and what we still don't)

    Qualcomm revealed full specs for its Snapdragon C platform, promising up to 67% faster battery performance and better power efficiency than Intel's N250.

21. Hogwarts Legacy is getting a sequel — Warner Bros. confirms a follow-up to the best-selling Harry Potter game that took the wizarding world by storm in 2023

    In a recent open letter to shareholders, Warner Bros. casually announced they are making a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy, a popular open-world RPG based on the iconic Harry Potter franchise.

22. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV has been delayed by two months — to polish its gameplay for the fans who have waited almost a decade

    KING Art has announced that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, the long-awaited sequel to the fan-favorite Dawn of War RTS series, has delayed its release date so the developers have more time to polish it to its best possible launch state.

23. Hands-on with AltTabby, Stardock's replacement for the Windows 11 Alt+Tab experience

    Stardock's AltTabby brings customizable views, search, and smart grouping to the Windows 11 Alt+Tab experience. I went hands-on with the brand-new app.

24. "If it was opt in ... nobody would opt-in." Twitch CPO squirms, admits everyone hates its new AI training 'feature'

    Twitch's Chief Product Officer accepts that everyone hates its AI "features," but is going to double down on it anyway.

25. Euro Truck Simulator 2 might soon be playable on console for the first time, if you're in Tokyo

    Fans eagerly awaiting Euro Truck Simulator 2 on Xbox and PS5 have their first piece of big news, with its creator SCS Software announcing it might be playable at an event coming soon.