MICROSOFT DESIGNER

Bag a software bargain

Don’t pay full price for software when we can offer you huge reductions on genuine products

I went to Barcelona and all you get is this lousy column

A l ong with receding hairlines and exercise-resistant

The A-List

The best products on the market, as picked by our editors

Readers’ comments

Your views and feedback from email and the web

Star letter

`Linux switch I was interested to read

Readers’ poll

When you make a tech purchase, which of these is the most important factor?

Next month

ON SALE Thursday 8 May 2025

One last thing...

TV has changed beyond recognition, says Jon Honeyball, and that means old rules must change, too

Apple stand-off could lead to landmark ruling

Row with Apple provides first big test for UK snooping law

Openreach rolls out symmetric gigabit – at a price

Huge upload speed increases arrive for a three-figure monthly fee

Best of MWC Barcelona 2025

This year’s show was packed to the brim with exhibitors, visitors and BEST OF product launches, with this selection cutting through the noise

Feeling kind of Blue (tooth)

Join Dick on a winding musical journey that started with a Bluetooth dongle and cheap Maplin gizmo – and finished with an Android app

How I’m using AI now and why I’m still not impressed

Running a search or writing a short story is clearly within reach of our AI overlords, but let’s hold back before letting them run government services

The Kindle’s not a swindle

The fuss over the ending of Kindle book downloads is petty nonsense, and don’t even try to compare this to the days of renting films

HACK WINDOWS

WITH TEN TOOLS & EXPERT KNOW-HOW

CUSTOMISE WINDOWS WITHOUT APPS

Don’t want to spend money or time on third-party apps? Here’s how to tap into Windows’ more hidden options to personalise it for your needs

How AI taught itself to reason

AI researcher and author Sebastian Raschka explains how large language models learned to “think through” their answers

AFFINITY DESIGNER

INSTANT EXPERT

Talkin’ ’bout my generation

What makes the latest processors better than last year’s? Darien Graham-Smith digs into some generational trauma to find out

Quantum in the UK State of the nation

The trends and technologies that are the shape of things to come

Dell Pro 13 Premium

The biggest, best, most exciting products in technology – reviewed and rated

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14in Aura Edition

Breaks new ground with ThinkPad design, but it’s a shame Lenovo didn’t include a bigger battery

Asus Zenbook Duo UX8406CA

A welcome update to Asus’ dual-screen laptop design, and it’s faster than ever thanks to Intel’s Core 9 Ultra

Apple MacBook Air M4

The design stays the same, but a tempting price and speedy M4 chip make the Air a better choice than ever

Apple iPad Air M3 (11in)

Crams stellar performance, a vivid display and Apple Intelligence features into the familiar skinny design

Honor Pad V9

Great audio, a fine display and bundled productivity apps make this a great mid-range Android tablet

PCSpecialist Hydra R60S

Build around RTX 4060 graphics, this is a compact and quiet PC that majors in value for money

CyberPowerPC Infinity Z890 Air

The Core Ultra 7and RTX 5070 combine to produce stonking rates at 1440p in a high-quality, compact chassis

Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 Tiny

This sturdy, easily configured mini PC offers plenty of adaptability, adding to its appeal for office rollouts

How we test

Laptops and PCs We run a selection

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Simply the best processor around thanks to its fantastic performance in games and demanding tasks

Your bonus software

We scour the globe to negotiate the best software deals for our readers, from extended licences to full programs you don’t need to pay a penny for. Here’s this month’s lineup

High-end graphics cards

We reveal how AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT compare to the latest cards from Nvidia: the RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti

ADOBE FIREFLY

Firefly produced a series of dynamic, engaging

ARTBREEDER

Artbreeder lets you choose from several models

GOOGLE IMAGEFX

PROS Excellent photorealistic image generation price generally good

LEONARDO

The real-time generator literally updates the picture as

MIDJOURNEY

Each prompt generates four images as starting

OPENAI DALL-E

PROS Collaborative workflow good text handling smart when

STABLE DIFFUSION

Stable Diffusion did a good job of

Photorealistic images

PROMPT Make a photorealistic image of a ginger

Oil painting

PROMPT Generate an oil painting. The subject

Poster art

PROMPT Make an advertisement for a 1980s-themed

Pencil sketch

PROMPT A pencil sketch of a woman waiting

Podcast cover art

MIDJOURNEY Although there’s an architectural quirk here,

Logo

PROMPT Create a two-colour logo on a

AI and the artist

Curious about the intersection of technology and creativity? So is JAG Gillan, a pioneering digital artist who blends AI with traditional art techniques

NAS appliances 2025

The Network

Qsan XCubeNAS XN2204-4C

A low-profile hybrid storage appliance with excellent performance and impressive hardware at a great price

Synology DiskStation DS1823xs+

A powerful desktop NAS with a high capacity, great data protection features and top 10GbE performance

TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus

Pricey, but this innovative 8-bay all-flash NAS appliance delivers impressive 10GbE performance

Ugreen NASync DXP6800 Pro

The OS is a work in progress, but this powerful business NAS packs an impressive hardware spec for the price

EnGenius ECW516L

Modest performance, but this Wi-Fi 7AP offers good cloud management and plenty of features for the price

TP-Link DR3650v

A well-priced, all-in-one communications, security and networking solution that’s packed with features

What to do when your critical app goes offline

Businesses are increasingly reliant on mobile apps and remote services; Steve Cassidy asks what you can do when something goes wrong

Real world computing

Expert advice from our panel of professionals

“Too often has the simple act of getting inside a laptop ended in blood dripping off my elbow”

As Microsoft enjoys mixed fortunes at the inaugural PC Pro Repair Awards, we reveal what Oscar Wilde really knew about fixing laptops

“The information security space is awash with ‘thought leaders’ with no thoughts of their own”

There’s a problem with content filtering as it stands, all thanks to a security upgrade that was meant to protect our privacy – but there is a solution

“You’re at greater risk using Chrome as there are more people to catch in each digital dustpan”

Davey ponders whether Chrome extensions need to be diminished to shrink the browser attack surface. It’s a more fun read than it sounds…

Apple iPhone 16e

The cheapest iPhone sure ain’t cheap, but this is a huge upgrade over the iPhone SE 2022

Xiaomi 15 Ultra

An exceptional piece of design and hardware for an equally exceptional price, with particular appeal to photographers

Nothing Phone (3a) Pro

This mid-priced phone could be faster, but its striking looks and optical zoom mean it remains a strong choice

Nothing Phone (3a)

Aside from storage, you sacrifice little when choosing the big-value Phone 3a over its Pro sibling

AI IMAGE GENERATORS

AN EXPLOSION OF AI IMAGE GENERATORS HAS INVADED OUR LIVES, BUT WHICH ONES ARE BEST FOR PERSONAL AND BUSINESS USE? WE PUT EIGHT TO A THOROUGH TEST

What is ITaaS?

Do you need your own IT department? Steve Cassidy looks at an ambitious outsourcing model – and asks who it’s right for

“This is about just how twisted up things have become when it comes to our data”

STEVE CASSIDY

Flipping back through time

Inspirational stories from computing’s long-distant past

SPIT FIRE

http://www.spitfire.co.uk

PC SPECIALIST

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Chillblast

http://www.chillblast.co.uk

Zen

http://www.zen.co.uk

SCAN

http://www.scan.co.uk/prographics

Palicomp

http://www.palicomp.co.uk

Magazinedirect

http://www.magazinedirect.com

QNAP

OWL LABS

http://www.owllabs.com

CYBERPOWERSYSTEM

http://www.cyberpowerstsyem.nl

WIRLD 2 FIRE

http://www.wired2fire.nl