Letters
Tell us what’s on your mind
Why I don’t need an AI PC
I doubt many people will be tempted to upgrade to Windows 11 because of the new AI tools in the 24H2 update (Issue 695, page 6). I’ve been hugely impressed by how AI works, especially when having conversations with ChatGPT (https://chatgpt.com) or enhancing old photos using Upscayl (https://upscayl. org), but both those are free (yes, I know ChatGPT has paid-for options, but the free version is all you need).
These kinds of tasks are what ordinary people are using AI for, not the complicated stuff you need an NPU for. I’ll keep using my boring-but-fast non-Copilot Windows 11 PC for many more years, and when I want to use AI I’ll go online and look for a free tool.
Mal Lewington
I’ve stopped using Kaspersky (reluctantly)
I’ve been using Kaspersky for about 10 years, having installed it when it went on a run of winning Computeractive’s antivirus tests. It seems to have done a great job, but now I’ve no choice but to uninstall it. I was reminded of this by Issue 695’s news story on Google removing Kaspersky software from its Play Store (page 8), following the US government’s ban.
I visit my daughter in Houston, Texas, about four times a year, and always take my laptop with me. I’m worried that having Kaspersky on my laptop will cause problems when I try to connect to Wi-Fi over there. So I’ve replaced Kaspersky with Norton, bought from Computeractive’s store. That’s based in the US and Czech Republic, so should be safe to use for years unless something goes badly wrong with the world in the meantime.