But the physical media debate isn't really about discs; it's about control. People want to control the content and devices they've purchased. Microsoft's newly expanded options for resetting PCs showcase how choice and control can be given to consumers.
Like many, I've spoken out against Sony's plans and advocated for physical media to be preserved. So, it might come as a surprise to hear that I'm happy about the new option to reset a Windows 11 PC that relies entirely on the cloud and does not use a USB drive.
While I advocate for physical media to preserve ownership of games and movies, when it comes to the pure utility of fixing a broken PC, convenience wins.
A new feature called Cloud rebuild is in testing on Windows 11. It lets you restore a PC to a clean state without needing an external drive.
What is Cloud rebuild on Windows 11?
Microsoft has added a new option to reset your PC by using the cloud, but the previous options remain in place. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)
Cloud rebuild is a feature that lets you reinstall Windows and your PC's drivers by using the internet. Rather than requiring a USB drive that's been set up, you can reset your PC entirely through the cloud.
"Unlike Reset this PC, Cloud rebuild downloads both the target Windows image and the device's drivers from Windows Update, so the device comes back fully functional without USB media, without a custom image, and without depending on the health of the currently installed OS."
While Reset this PC and Cloud rebuild both let you recover your PC, they differ in important ways apart from the fact that one uses a USB drive and the other uses the cloud.
Reset this PC gives you the option to retain your personal files, which could save vital content from being lost. But even if you have an external USB install drive ready to go, you can only use Reset this PC if Windows is bootable.
The feature also requires you to have manually created a USB installer ahead of time on a working computer.
In contrast, Cloud rebuild works even if your PC refuses to boot. The downside is that it does not provide an option to maintain apps and files.
Cloud rebuild brings your PC to a clean slate with Windows working and device drivers in place.
The biggest advantage of Cloud rebuild is reliability. Cloud rebuild doesn't rely on a tool you've set up in advance or ensured was formatted correctly. It just pulls a fresh image and drivers through Windows Update.
All my files are stored on OneDrive and backed up elsewhere, so I don't need the option to retain my files. It would save a bit of time after a reset, but it's not essential.
Cloud rebuild does depend on having an internet connection, so a USB installer is still the safer option for people in low‑connectivity environments.
Let the people decide
Of course, having the option to use a USB drive or the cloud is best. While I personally prefer Cloud rebuild for restoring my PC, I want both options to be available. Many people prefer to have physical tools they know are reliable and that can run locally.
That's what the current debate about physical media comes down to: choice and control. The vast majority of game sales are digital, but people want the option to own physical media.
Windows 11 management is the same way. Some will rely on the cloud while others will have USB drives to reset their PC and SSDs stored away to back up files.
Cloud rebuild is the better option for my workflow, but the point isn’t to replace USB recovery. It’s to give people the choice and control. Just like physical media, recovery tools shouldn’t be taken away; they should coexist.
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The launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag: Resynced, the highly anticipated (and high-scoring) remaster of one of the best games in the Assassin's Creed series, has been followed by 51 of its game designers from Ubisoft Barcelona being laid off, according to an exclusive report by Tom Henderson at Insider Gaming.
The report states that Ubisoft tends to assign teams to new projects long before they finish their current project (sometimes up to a year in advance, at least). The developers tried to raise their concerns with Ubisoft's higher-ups about not being given a new project back in 2025, yet in this case, they were never given a new assignment to work on before being laid off.
In fact, one employee who was affected by these layoffs (who wishes to remain anonymous) informed Insider Gaming:
"These layoffs coincide with the broader context of ongoing workplace issues. This is not an isolated event; it reflects a pattern of constant mistreatment, loss of talent, forced departures resulting from the erosion of workers’ rights, and an increasingly top-down management culture that leaves employees with little voice in decisions affecting their work.”
The report then states that, in response to this, Ubisoft Barcelona's staff will go on strike every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from June 30, 2026, to July 16, 2026.
Windows Central's take
To compound the severity of this depressing situation, these layoffs were announced shortly after Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced had a successful launch. It is currently enjoying a high overall Metacritic score of 84 — based on 84 critics — and fans are leaving mostly positive reviews on its Steam Page.
We even gave Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced a near-perfect 4.5 review score for improving upon the original Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's already stellar naval combat, beautiful graphics redone from the ground up, and new content along with story-rewrites that has made the story more compelling (the fact they got rid of the modern-day segments from the original game already makes this remake superior in my book).
This will no doubt degrade the morale of Ubisoft's developers, knowing that even if a game launches to critical and fan acclaim, they will still be laid off before the official sales numbers even start to come in.
Will the strike at Ubisoft Barcelona convince Ubisoft to improve working conditions? Will we see more layoffs at Ubisoft on the level of Xbox's massive 'Reset' that has laid off over 3,200 people? We'll watch for further developments.
Relive the tales of Edward Kenway as he sails the seven seas for treasure while unraveling a dark conspiracy of the evil Templars in Assassin's Creed Black Flag, remade for the modern era with new graphics, improved combat, and more.
The tech world is sweating, and it’s not just the summer heatwave. This week on the Windows Central Podcast, Daniel Rubino, Zac Bowden, and Jez Cordon sit down to unpack a massive wave of Microsoft layoffs. We break down Asha Sharma’s internal memo revealing a staggering 14 layers of middle management at Xbox, why the gaming division has struggled to capitalize on massive acquisitions like Fallout and Minecraft, and whether turning Xbox into an independent subsidiary is the brand's last chance for survival.
Zac walks us through the shocking Discord leak of "Project Ion," an experimental, web-native Copilot Operating System built entirely inside Microsoft Edge. Finally, we break down the quiet arrival of Snapdragon X2-powered Surface devices, the new 24 GB RAM "sweet spot," and why sources tell us the Surface Go lineup is officially dead.
Microsoft and Xbox Layoffs: An in-depth look at the 4,800 job cuts, why the brunt is hitting Xbox, and a critique of management's failure to capitalize on massive IPs like Fallout and Minecraft.
Leaked "Project Aion" (Copilot OS): Zac reveals an internal 2024 incubation project that leaked on Discord—an experimental, platform-agnostic, web-native operating system built entirely inside Microsoft Edge where Copilot replaces the traditional Start menu.
The Tech Industry's AI Bubble: A philosophical debate on consumer pushback against AI, the staggering cloud costs of large language models, and the lack of quantifiable productivity gains for regular users.
Snapdragon X2 Surface Refresh: Details on the consumer launch of the Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12, the introduction of a 24 GB RAM middle-tier "sweet spot," and lower-cost 8 GB configurations engineered to beat the RAM crisis.
The Death of the Surface Go Lineup: Breaking down exclusive source info confirming that the 10-inch Surface Go and the Surface Laptop Go lines have been canceled, leaving a major gap for enterprise and ultra-portable tablet fans.
Have a question you want us to answer on the podcast? Send it to us at [email protected]
We could all use some levity after this string of bad news, so we're going to do that by marveling at the creative ingenuity of YouTuber 'Game of Tobi'.
For you see, this clever tinkerer has managed to get a version of the legendary Minecraft running on two iconic portable consoles that helped pave the way for gaming handhelds as we know them today: the Game Boy Color from 1998 and the original Game Boy from 1989.
This fan-made game "3D Minecraft" isn't a lower-resolution port of Minecraft. It's a unique creation where the player can play on a flat map or a full 3D-generated world. Like in regular Minecraft, you can place blocks, explore the world, and even build.
Granted, the graphics, frame rate, and gameplay are limited compared to the real thing, especially when running on the original Game Boy, as it has no colors other than black and white. Yet the fact that this creator managed to get Minecraft working on a 1998 gaming handheld and an even older one from 1989 is nothing short of technical wizardry.
This isn't the first time 'Game of Tobi' got a modern game to work on retro hardware, as they made working versions of Minecraft on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS in the past that more closely resemble and play like regular Minecraft (complete with Survival Mode!).
In addition, they also made a Nintendo DS version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a Nintendo 3DS version of Super Mario Odyssey, and more.
Personally, I like seeing people using their technical know-how to make games we love playable on platforms we wouldn't expect (look no further than DOOM being playable on Notepad.exe or even a pregnancy test), and these Game Boy ports of Minecraft are no exception.
It just makes you wonder what the gaming world would've looked like if Minecraft had been made in the 1990s instead of 2011, and whether it would've been as successful back then, when gaming was still niche.
Plus, having a physical, offline version of Minecraft that isn't beholden to online servers to keep it running sounds like a pretty good idea, especially in this day and age, when online games can be delisted at any time, at the whim of a corporation, for whatever reason.
Either way, Game of Tobi has my YouTube subscription for this invention, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they make next (here's hoping they make Minecraft playable on the Nintendo Virtual Boy just for the sheer, eye-bleeding hilarity of seeing the Nether rendered entirely in the system's Red and Black color scheme).
What do you think of 'Game of Tobi's' Game Boy Color and Game Boy versions of Minecraft? Would you like to play an offline version of Minecraft on older hardware for the nostalgic novelty?
If you have any thoughts, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.
Embark on a journey of wonder and creativity with your friends in the world-famous crafting survival game, Minecraft.View Deal
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Xbox's cuts over the past week have been brutal; let's not mince words here.
Four studios divested with a possible fifth in progress, over a thousand jobs removed already, with a further 2000 planned. The atmosphere within Xbox right now is dire — a total 180 following the wave of optimism from new CEO Asha Sharma's appointment in spring.
As a result, there are tons of stories coming out about what the fate of Xbox's remaining studios might be. A lot of the discourse has fallen on id Software right now, the beloved maker of DOOM. The studio is an industry staple, and arguably one of the most important and influential brands in the modern gaming canon.
What's the truth here? I've been investigating Microsoft's plans for id. Despite the callousness of Microsoft's bean counters, I'm confident the studio will endure.
Microsoft has no plans to shelve id Tech
id's OG engineers popularized the first-person genre, which now generates billions of dollars.
DOOM and other id Software games have long been powered by the id Tech engine. The engine was designed originally for Quake back in the 90s, and has since powered a huge variety of titles, including open-world games like RAGE, horror games like The Evil Within, Wolfenstein shooters, and, of course, the modern DOOM games. More recently, Machine Games' Indiana Jones and DOOM: The Dark Ages were built on the latest versions of id Tech.
It has a very different feel to Unreal Engine, particularly for first-person games. It's been lauded for its optimization on lower-end hardware stacks, as well as its general versatility.
The cuts to id Software have hit the teams that develop id Tech hard, with decades of expertise wiped out over night. But rumors that there's now virtually nobody working on the engine are false. Sources tell me that there remains a solid stack of expertise for id Tech across id Software itself, and Machine Games. I'm told Microsoft also has no plans to shift either studio forcibly to Unreal Engine, which seems to have become the default for Microsoft and many other core game makers.
Microsoft provided us this statement on the topic: "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there’s only one person left in Texas are inaccurate."
In my view, Microsoft would have to be miserably short-sighted to deprecate id Tech. Handing even more power to Unreal Engine opens them up to monopolistic price increases down the line, which would be fiscally irresponsible. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma herself said in her memo to staff that she wants Microsoft to rely less on vendors for things like this. As such, I would argue that Microsoft should invest more in id Tech, not less.
But hey, quarterly thinking is Microsoft's M.O. these days. And it is true that generational talent and knowledge has been carelessly cast aside.
id Software's headcount is now similar to what it was for DOOM (2016)
DOOM (2016) is, in my view, id Software's best ever game.
The other rumor flying around is that id Software has shrunk to a headcount that is untenable for future self-made products, relegating them to "support studio" status. This too, is false.
While the cuts have been alarmingly callous, my understanding is that the remaining id Software core team is roughly the same as it was when DOOM (2016) shipped. DOOM (2016) is arguably the studio's best-ever game in my view, despite the comparatively smaller headcount that produced it. That's not too suggest in any capacity that we should expect the same quality bar without proof ... Microsoft removed mountains of incredible talent from the pool.
Still, I'm not sure exactly what id Software could be making next. There have been reports that id Software had a variety of pitches in the pipeline, including a Perfect Dark reboot and a Western-styled shooter dubbed Ironwood. It's unclear if any of these will be greenlit.
id Software just shipped DOOM: The Dark Ages Revelations, a sizeable story expansion for last year's DOOM prequel. What the studio builds next remains to be seen, but Xbox CEO Asha Sharma specifically called out DOOM and Quake as franchises to invest in.
Microsoft wants to grow its most staple and recognizable IP, which at least in the near term, likely excludes "new" franchise ideas. I'd still like to see what a modern Hexen would look like ... perhaps we'll learn more at Quakecon, which is still going ahead.
It's still been a needlessly brutal exercise
DOOM will outlive Microsoft's bean counters. (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)
While rumors of id Software's demise have been greatly exaggerated, the layoffs have still been callous and brutal. Staffers with decades of expertise and tenure were let go, despite the success of the modern DOOM trilogy.
Microsoft's gaming aspirations have been heavily reduced over the past week, in what CEO Asha Sharma has been describing as a "reset." This has led to sizeable reductions in teams working on a variety of projects, from The Elder Scrolls to Xbox's social media delivery and platform features. Other studios, like Blizzard, seem to have emerged largely unscathed so far. And Xbox's hardware team building Helix has also been left intact.
Xbox has worked hard to save studios like Undead Labs from outright closure. But, it hasn't prevented Microsoft from expunging hundreds of jobs in other areas, inside Xbox and beyond. Microsoft's huge bets on artificial intelligence haven't really delivered meaningful returns, and the vast capital expenditure on data center buildouts is spooking investors.
At Xbox, the layoffs reflect a challenging time in traditional gaming. Core gaming has seen a contraction owing to increased costs and lack of investment in younger cohorts, which dropped consoles in favor of Roblox on mobile devices, alongside non-gaming activities. Microsoft's lack of investment in Xbox's platform and social features have prevented it from finding new users out of the Gen-X and Gen-Y cohorts, many of whom are starting to age out.
Where Xbox goes from here wholly remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: DOOM is eternal, and it will outlive Microsoft's bad decision-making.
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Though it launched to scathing criticism and widespread controversy in late 2018 due to lackluster content offerings and severe technical issues, Fallout 76 — Bethesda Game Studios' multiplayer-focused MMO-lite take on the post-apocalyptic RPG series — grew to become fairly popular over time, with the title still enjoying regular content updates and a healthy community eight years later.
It's been reported that over 50 staffers have been cut from Bethesda across its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland and its office in Dallas, Texas — a reduction in force that has The Elder Scrolls 6 devs fearing crunch on and delays of the long-awaited RPG moving forward. Some also worry that a significant amount of time will have to be spent training contractors to use Bethesda's proprietary tools like the Creation Engine.
Notably, though, one Bethesda developer commented to IGN that they "have no idea how they'll continue updating Fallout 76 without hiring an external studio," which suggests development of the experimental Fallout title could end at some point in the near future.
Fallout 76 has enjoyed eight years of steady patches and content updates, but support for the game may now be at risk after Microsoft's Xbox layoffs hit Bethesda.
We may also see external support for Fallout 76 come, as in a letter sent to staff, Bethesda president Jill Braff emphasized the need for the studio to better support its "strongest franchises" — echoing recent sentiment from Xbox's CEO Asha Sharma that it needs to "move faster" with core IPs like Fallout.
Ending support for the most recent game in the series would arguably go against that goal — especially while the extremely popular Fallout TV show is bringing countless new eyes to the property. With that said, Fallout 76 is now eight years old and isn't massively popular, and with Obsidian now making a new Fallout game, Microsoft may not see much value in continuing to invest resources in the title.
In the end, it's impossible to say what will happen with Fallout 76 moving forward until we hear something official from Microsoft, Xbox, or Bethesda. Based on the aforementioned comment from a developer, though, I do think it's likely that the game's live-service development will change in some way.
Whether it ends up stopping completely or just slowing down remains to be seen, but I can't imagine that this week's cuts won't be reflected in Fallout 76's update cadence somehow.
In the wake of Microsoft's Xbox layoffs, should support for Fallout 76 continue? Or do you think Bethesda should move on from the game? Let me know in the comments, and in the above poll.
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Microsoft is using AI to protect Windows against attackers. The development represents an arms race because AI is also being used increasingly to find vulnerabilities modern tech, as highlighted by The Hacker News.
Hackers can use AI to find and take advantage of vulnerabilities that could then be weaponized. It's not just discovery that's been sped up, reverse engineering security flaws is now a quicker process because of AI. That means attackers can find flaws and quickly take advantage of them before traditional methods of protection could take effect.
To combat those malicious actors and evolving tactics, Microsoft is deploying MDASH (Multi-Model Agentic Scanning Harness) at scale across Windows.
Pavan Davuluri, EVP of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, shared a blog post about the new methods the company is using to protect Windows.
"The fastest way to reduce customer exposure is to find issues before attackers can use them," said Davuluri. "Windows is expanding its ability across the platform to find issues earlier, accelerate the engineering work to fix them, strengthen validation, and deliver timely, high-quality updates that keep customers protected."
Using AI to identify potential flaws, prioritize fixes, and scale discovery across the codebase of Windows lets Microsoft quickly roll out protection to customers.
To scale MDASH to Windows, a dedicated cloud infrastructure was set up for scanning for potential flaws. A separate prove pipeline then is used to eliminate false positives. The Windows engineering team can then act on the most likely candidates that need addressing.
Microsoft will expand its use of AI for scanning and proving to other parts of the company.
Using AI to improve work
When Microsoft announced 4,800 layoffs across the company, its leaders emphasized that the eliminated roles are not being replaced by AI. People across a wide range of sectors are concerned about automation taking human jobs.
The approach Microsoft is using to scan for issues and streamline the selection process of candidates to address represents AI helping people rather than replacing workers.
When speaking of improving internal systems and practices, Davuluri said, "That means using AI to help identify potential issues earlier in the development process, while relying on human expertise to evaluate findings, make risk-based decisions and ensure fixes meet the quality bar customers expect."
The end result is that more security updates will be included in each security release, which should protect PCs from the growing number of attacks.
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Bethesda Game Studios — the team behind Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starfield, and the upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6, among other titles — has also been hit, with reports of over 50 of its developers being let go. And according to a new report from IGN, that loss of talent will have a "substantial and cascading effect" on development of the next The Elder Scrolls RPG.
"Their loss will have a substantial and cascading effect on the game and morale of this studio," lamented one Bethesda staffer. "It's been a mix of every discipline: programmers, artists, and designers. One person who's been at the company since Morrowind [the third The Elder Scrolls game released in 2002] was cut," added another.
Those impacted by the layoffs include "key, high-performing people in the trenches" — and those who remain at Bethesda fear that their dismissal will lead to significant complications for The Elder Scrolls 6, including an extensive amount of time spent training contractors, unhealthy amounts of crunch and overtime, and delays for a title that's already reportedly two years away as it is.
Several ZeniMax and Bethesda studios, including id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, and Bethesda Game Studios, have experienced significant cuts as a result of Microsoft's mass Xbox layoffs. (Image credit: Bethesda)
"There is a fear that we are going to be replaced by cheaper, contracted labor, or we will hire folks to replace them that will need to be onboarded [due to proprietary tools] resulting in more delays, and we'll need to crunch to make up the time," one Bethesda employee told IGN. Another noted they've heard colleagues have been asked to train new contractors already.
"We've all been very excited and hyped for TES 6 and this has had a crushing effect on morale," said another worker. "We were already running a tight ship and are worried about this delaying the game."
Reportedly, the team working on the RPG will receive support from ZeniMax Online Studios, though it's unclear how extensive of a role the The Elder Scrolls Online studio will play. I can't help but think it will be minor, given the fact that that team just suffered over 200 cuts.
Developers still at Bethesda have been assured they're safe from the 1,600 layoffs of the 3,200 that are coming throughout the next 12 months, though team members worry they'll eventually be let go as well. It's a rational fear, given Microsoft and Xbox's layoff history.
"The 'survivors' were told they're safe from those next 1,600 but it's not entirely reassuring," one asserted. "Even if that's true, who's to say there's not another 1,600 next year after that? It's had the chilling effect of realizing you don't get to retire off your work at Xbox. Your time ends when you quit or are laid off, that's it."
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When Palworld first launched in early 2024, skeptics labeled it simply as"Pokémon with guns" that would surely fold the moment Nintendo's legal team caught wind of it.
Instead, over the proceeding 2 and half years, Pocketpair have built a legitimate survival-crafting funfest that has more than carved it's own path in the gaming industry.
To give you an idea of the sheer scale of this launch, Pocketpair’s Community Manager, Bucky, has been teasing that he's nearly losing his mind trying to format the patch notes.
The update boasts 27 PDF pages totaling over 66,000 characters of changes and additions, so massive it actually broke Steam's standard 32,000-character post limit.
Ok...hmm...How to fit...patch note...on Steam... pic.twitter.com/BsYD488IChJuly 9, 2026
Palworld's rocky road to 1.0
(Image credit: Pocketpair)
Palworld's success is nothing short of legendary at this point. Launching into Early Access in January 2024, it became a viral hit and secured it's place as Xbox's biggest third party Game Pass launch in history by drawing in over 7 million players. Fast forward to today, and Pocketpair has just announced a mind boggling 40 million total players across all platforms. With 1.0 finally here, I'm hoping that number rises exponentially.
Pocketpair have also confirmed that despite the industry standard of Early Access games to bump up their price for a retail launch, Palworld will remain at $29.99.
"We are incredibly proud of how far Palworld has come. Thanks to the amazing support of our players, it has become a success beyond our wildest dreams."
Is Palworld worth a revist if I played at launch?
PocketpairPocketpairPocketpairPocketpair
Palworld is absolutely worth going back to whether you haven't played since 2024, or even the most recent update.
While Pocketpair has confirmed that your old Early Access save files will still work, Bucky and the dev team strongly recommend starting entirely fresh. The early-to-mid-game progression has been completely overhauled to create a seamless, rewarding experience from the ground up.
Here is a breakdown of the biggest changes you can look forward to at launch:
Biome and world changes
The Sky Island biome: A massive, beautiful floating island region suspended high above the Palpagos archipelago, serving as the focal point for endgame exploration.
A new Sky Village: A friendly, inhabited settlement tucked away in the clouds of the new biome.
Revamped map & story: Vast new areas have been stitched into the world, while older regions have received visual reworks and structural improvements.
Pal & System reworks
Tower boss overhaul: The game's marquee boss encounters have been entirely redesigned with new mechanics and scaling.
Wildlife Sanctuary remodel: Sanctuaries are now encased in massive, glowing shield bubbles. They are heavily guarded by flying drone-type defenders and prowled by dangerous, powerful bosses.
Early-game progression: Brand-new Pals have been strategically distributed into the early stages of the game to make the initial leveling journey feel entirely fresh.
Base building upgrades
Floating foundations: Say goodbye to land constraints; you can now build your structural foundations directly out onto the water.
Expanded architecture: New roof variants and decorative statues allow for highly customized aesthetic designs.
Streamlined expedition stations: The station has received a sleek visual redesign to look much less obtrusive when blending it into your custom bases.
New mechanics & gear
The Wing pack: A traversal tool described as a "jetpack with wings," custom-built to help you navigate the vertical gaps of the Sky Islands.
The Fish Sword: A hilarious and powerful new combat mechanic where you unsheathe the literal spine of a fish Pal to use as a sword, mirroring Foxparks' famous flamethrower ability.
Advanced weaponry: A suite of un-named, high-tier weapons for players to craft.
And don't forget the new Pals!
PocketpairPocketpairPocketpairPocketpair
Pocketpair is dropping more new Pals in this single update than in every prior patch combined. Here are the standout creatures and variants confirmed by trailers and community teasers.
Ahri & The Crazy Dragon Serpent - The newest Sky Island Tower Boss, heavily tied to a massive, serpentine dragon seen in the cinematic trailers.
Seekmet - Affectionately dubbed "Catgirl Anubis" by the community; a powerful addition to the roster.
Soul Mora - A sleek fish Pal first teased in a comic strip. It is an exceptionally rapid swimmer that can curiously be ridden at high speeds on dry land.
Lefan - A martial-arts-themed panda who serves as a direct counterpart to Mossanda.
Hoodle & The Sleepy Pal - Hoodle looks like a hoodie possessed by a ghost child, and is constantly accompanied by a guardian Pal that looks like it desperately wants to go to sleep at 6:00 PM.
Venusa - A wonderfully derpy, happy Gorgon/Medusa-themed snake lady.
Tropica - A flightless, comical raptor-bird hybrid sporting a giant, floppy flower on its head.
Dupin - A mischievous, rabbit-jester magician creature.
Puff & Pikmi - Puff is a yappy, electric-type puppy, while Pikmi is a tiny ghost child Pal that lives to jump-scare players.
Snock - An electric snail Pal, making its official debut after being hidden away as an official comic-strip exclusive.
Other notable additions to watch out for include: a Beetle-themed Egyptian warrior with arm-whips, and a mysterious silhouette waiting at the very top of the World Tree, and I'm sure many more that I've missed..
What time does Palworld 1.0 go live?
The launch drops simultaneously worldwide. Depending on where you live, you'll be jumping in either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Here are the approximate global release times:
Los Angeles: 8:30 PM PT (Thursday, July 9)
New York: 11:30 PM ET (Thursday, July 9)
London: 4:30 AM BST (Friday, July 10)
Tokyo: 12:30 PM JST (Friday, July 10)
Sydney: 1:30 PM AEST (Friday, July 10)
Get your Pal Spheres ready and clear your weekend schedule.
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This update, titled Preview 26.40.30, is bringing with it a slew of gameplay changes, bug fixes, and a couple of new in-game items that felt like they should've been in Minecraft from the beginning: Cushions and a Straw Bed.
Cushions allow players to sit and rest after a long day's adventuring and crafting. They don't offer any statistical gameplay benefits but can make for fun roleplay toys when sitting by campfires or having sleepovers with your friends in co-op.
The Straw Beds are a new type of bed which players can sleep on to recover health without creating a new spawn point that overrides a previous one. This can be handy if you plan on adventuring but don't want to respawn in the middle of a Creeper-infested cave and want to go back home when you die.
The materials needed to craft these items, along with the rest of this update's gameplay changes, can be found in the patch notes below:
Click here to expand the full list ↴
Drop 3 Experimental Features
Cushion
The Cushion is an item that the player can place in the world and interact with to sit on
Can be crafted in 16 colored variants
Cushions are crafted using 3 Wool Slabs of the same color
Known Issue: Cushions aren't currently generating in the Abandoned Camps, but can be found in the creative inventory
Cushion Placement Rules
A cushion can be placed on any flat surface
Cushions always align horizontally to the grid, but vertically sit on top of the supporting surface
Cushions cannot move
Cushions break if the supporting block is removed
Cushions do not have collision and can overlap with other objects (except other cushions)
Straw Bed
Straw Bed is a new type of bed which can be used to sleep through the night without setting your spawn point
It can only be used once and will be destroyed after use
It can not be used in the Nether or The End and will be destroyed if you try to sleep on it there
It is crafted using 3 Hay Bales and will give you 4 Straw Beds
Abandoned Camp
Abandoned camp now generates in Pale Garden and Flower Forest biomes (MCPE-230024) (MCPE-240045)
Straw Beds can now be found in Abandoned Camps
Updated Abandoned Camps to place procedural trees
Fixed wrong potion names in the loot tables for the Abandoned Camp
Dappled Forest
Changed biome fog settings to match other forest biomes
Updated Orange, Red & Yellow Poplar Leaves MERS textures
Sounds
Updated ambient sounds for Poplar leaf blocks
Added custom sound events for Red Shrubs and Poplar leaf blocks
Graphical
Added opaque versions to the Poplar leaves to fix black background issue (MCPE-240020)
Added hinges to Poplar door icon. Also removed 3 pixels from top door texture that didn't match the palette
Fixed Poplar sign texture to follow other sign assets
Gameplay
Added missing recipes for Wool Stairs and Wool Slabs (MCPE-240040)
Features and Bug Fixes
Accessibility
Fixed the focus indicator on the "More options" button on the start screen so it no longer relies on color alone, adding an underline when the button is focused
Blocks
Azalea and Flowering Azalea are no longer see-through when viewed from below (MCPE-217896)
Brown and Red Mushrooms can no longer be placed under the sky when it is dark
With the Minecraft Education features toggle enabled, it is possible to place charcoal again in the Lab Table (MCPE-240097)
Fixed a miscolored pixel in one of the Sulfur Spike textures
Gameplay
Fixed an issue where structure loot would differ on the same seed (MCPE-239951)
General
Brown and Red Mushrooms now generate on Crimson Nylium and Warped Nylium no matter the brightness
Graphical
Fixed a rendering issue with Vibrant Visuals where some items and text could be invisible on certain Android GPUs
Updated supported devices for Vibrant Visuals on Android
Items
Fixed issue where book and quill from pre-26.30 worlds freezes the game (MCPE-239753)
Arrows of Harming no longer bounce off entities and are now correctly removed on hit (MCPE-239756)
Character Creator
Exiting the dressing room no longer automatically saves your character if you have an unequipped color change.
Stability and Performance
Fixed a crash that could occur when spawning more than one Iron Golem
Game servers now attempt to self-repair some player connection issues
Fixed a crash that could occur during world generation when placing structures containing double chests
Fixed a potential crash issue related to Concrete Powder blocks converting into Concrete.
User Interface
Fixed a bug where text formatting codes in a resource pack's name carried over into the rest of the toast notification when the pack was activated or deactivated (MCPE-182130)
Add missing preview image for the Desert flatworld preset (MCPE-194395)
Updated the network disconnection message to direct players to enable 'Use Mobile Data' in general settings instead of profile settings
Fixed a bug where button touch areas did not align with the buttons in windowed Android modes with a title bar, such as Samsung DeX and pop up view.
The Pause Game setting is now rendered in the Main Menu (MCPE-237101)
Show "Game unpaused" notification over all screens when the pause screen is open (MCPE-229796)
Fixed a soft-lock that prevented further join attempts after a party leader's Experience join was blocked by the party eligibility check
Fixed the "How to Play" button being missing from the Settings menu in Minecraft Education
Fixed Cloud sync storage banner to not show redundant information that storage is both full and almost full when cloud storage is full (MCPE-240036)
Fixed the Beacon screen displaying a duplicated header in the Pocket UI
Create New World list is loaded correctly after deleting world data through the "Manage Worlds" button (MCPE-239804)
Updated Nintendo Switch terminology for local wireless multiplayer
Fixed a problem that caused touch scrolling to be unresponsive in creative inventory. (MCPE-236783)
Fixed an issue that prevented splitscreen players from interacting with Game Settings. (MCPE-237830)
Updated Marketplace badges to use semantic Tag styling for bordered and spacious variants, with refreshed Tag documentation and tests
Fixed skin info button not working on expanded skin pack page
After entering the sidebar while spinning the character, it will no longer continue to spin by itself
Players with multiplayer-restricted skins can now enter worlds with multiplayer disabled
Removed space appearing between the chat tab and the social drawer (MCPE-239456)
Marketplace
Updated Marketplace content cards with new pass and rating iconography, refreshed Minecoin visuals, and a notice badge treatment for surfaced states
Storage
Updated old world conversion flows in the Storage Settings tab.
Technical Updates
Commands
Allow self selection expansion when using commands (i.e. /tell) for non-operator players.
Fixed clone command cloning partial beds, both parts must be fully inside cloning volume
Fixed the /fill command from improperly placing blocks defined with the minecraft:multi_block trait
Graphical
Tightened the anti-x-ray trigger box to avoid false-positive cases when riding a mob
Fixed custom blocks rendering a stray solid face that could bleed through textures when a model face was hidden by setting one of its UV size dimensions to zero
Fixed texture bleeding on custom blocks using automatic block face UV assignment with undersized textures
Actor Components
Made schemas for the following components stricter when parsing and will fail to load an entity json that has invalid data in versions 1.26.40 and newer.
minecraft:cannot_be_attacked
minecraft:ignore_cannot_be_attacked
minecraft:floats_in_liquid
minecraft:wants_jockey
AI Goals
Fixed a bug where the on_kill event in the following behavior components was incorrectly mapped to the on_attack field, causing the event to never fire when an entity killed its target. The fix applies to entity definitions with format version 1.26.40 and above.
minecraft:behavior.melee_attack
minecraft:behavior.melee_box_attack
minecraft:behavior.delayed_attack
minecraft:behavior.stomp_attack
minecraft:behavior.use_kinetic_weapon
API
Fixed minecraft:hopper_minecart to fire EntityItemPickupAfterEvent and EntityItemPickupBeforeEvent for items above the cart.
Released LootItem.conditions in @minecraft/server v2.4.0 (moved from beta to stable)
DDUI
Fixed Images in CustomForms not being centered in the form.
Added ImageOptions.onClick and ImageOptions.tooltip which allow for a callback on click of an image and a tooltip on images, for use with CustomForm.image.
Blocks
N-way rotation on geometry components no longer requires upcoming creator features experiment
minecraft:sixteen_way_rotation state on placement direction block trait no longer requires upcoming creator features experiment
Align brightness sampling strategies between custom and vanilla blocks (MCPE-237493)
Jigsaw Block replacement will now log when an invalid final_state is encountered
Added new biome decoration feature "minecraft:multi_block_feature", which can be used exclusively to place blocks defined with the "minecraft:multi_block" trait
Released the minecraft:instrument_sound component from experimental.
Crafting
"minecraft:recipe_smithing_transform" now accepts items tagged with "minecraft:transform_materials" in its "addition" field
Editor
Fixed a bug where copying and pasting a double chest with the Paste Preview or Structure tool pasted it as two separate single chests instead of a single double chest
The Block Inspector tool now highlights the currently selected block with a bounding box, giving a clear visual indicator of which block is being inspected
Fixed the Primitives Tool preview and placement to follow the Fixed Distance cursor projection
The Flood Tool no longer errors when pressing Ctrl+D to remove a preview that has already been removed
Editor property pane items no longer display an empty tooltip when there is no tooltip text to show, such as the Flood Tool progress bar
The Dimensions tool now returns the player to their last-known position in the target dimension, or the origin on first visit
The Farm Generator tool now offers Pale Oak, Dark Oak, Nether Brick, and Mangrove fence options
Fixed a bug in the Biome Data Assignment tool where the Allow biome tag list was matched with a logical AND, so only biomes containing every allowed tag were eligible; allowed tags are now matched with a logical OR, so a biome is eligible if it has any of the allowed tags
Fixed a bug in the Vibrant Visuals color settings where dragging a timeline playhead no longer scrubbed the viewport time, so color and value keyframes could not be previewed across the day/night cycle
Fixed a bug that caused the sliders connected to any Vibrant Visuals "Enabled" checkbox to be manipulated with the checkbox toggled off
Fixed a bug that caused incorrect theme color to display for disabled text field
Added a Timeline panel to the Cinematic Tool for visualizing and editing keyframes along the camera path
Renamed "Control Points" to "Keyframes" throughout the Cinematic Tool to align with standard animation terminology
Removed all transaction recording and management functionality from the TransactionManager API and moved it to the PendingTransaction object. Transactions are now created through createPendingTransaction function, while staged changes are finalized using the submit and discard methods
Added pending transaction support for ClipboardItem.writeToWorld and BrushShapeManager APIs
Added a drag handle to the cinematics timeline so the timeline duration can be adjusted directly in the editor
Fixed a bug that caused placeholder string in text field to be incorrectly styled
The Navigation panel's minimap now uses the new minimap control
World locations are now stored per-dimension and shared across all clients
Lowered the Nether's minimap scan Y-level so the map skips the bedrock ceiling
Removed the "X" button from progress windows for the Custom Mesh, Primitive, and Flood tools
Fixed a bug that appears in Layout Template Manager during 'Copy Template' operation when copying a template with structures. The template is copied along with name and display name. The fix is that the name and display name metadata are set from the caller.
Fixed a bug where the custom cursor does not change from wait/load icon after canceling the flood operation
Fixed a bug that caused Collection Tree UI element width to be incorrect
Entity Components
Made the should_bounce boolean field of the minecraft:projectile component into an enum:
no: the projectile never bounces (default)
if_invulnerable: the projectile bounces only when the target is invulnerable to the damage source (e.g. creative mode, shield blocking)
if_no_damage_dealt: the projectile bounces whenever no damage was dealt, regardless of the reason (invulnerability, damage sensor, invulnerability frames)
Content authored against earlier format versions is automatically upgraded when loaded in 1.26.40 or later: true becomes if_invulnerable and false becomes no
Features
Fixed incorrect example json for Height Difference Filter documentation
Graphical
The MERS textures for following baby mobs and Rabbits are now visible
Baby Humanoid Chainmail Armor
Baby Dolphin
Baby Fox
Baby Goat
Baby Hoglin
Baby Panda
Baby Warm Pig
Baby Zombie Piglin
Rabbits
Snifflet
JSON Schema
Updated the generated Minecraft JSON Schema files to use a more granular schema layout instead of producing one self-contained schema file per registered type. This reduces duplicated schema content and makes the generated schemas easier to consume with external tools.
Added binary-protocol metadata to generated SharedTypes JSON Schemas, including ordinal index, control value type, underlying type, and serialization options. This gives tools more information about the binary layout of the objects described by the JSON Schemas.
Mobs
The tamed baby Wolf's collar now has a proper MERS texture
Sounds
Fixed the destroy block sound position to be at the center of the block instead of at the corner (MCPE-60799)
Experimental Technical Updates
API
Added getShapes method on PrimitiveShapesManager.
Added interface PrimitiveShapeQueryOptions for use with getShapes.
Added AllowListEntry to @minecraft/server-admin with optional name and xuid properties in beta
AllowList changes in @minecraft/server-admin all in beta
Added entries: AllowListEntry[] property
Changed add() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
Changed remove() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
Changed contains() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
Added new beta enum CloneMode with values Copy, ForceCopy, and Move that specifies how blocks are cloned between regions
Dimension
Added cloneBlocks method to beta that clones a region of blocks from one area of the dimension to another, with support for clone modes and an optional block filter
Sound Duration Info
The playback position now reflects calls to SoundInstance.seekTo
While a sound is paused via SoundInstance.pause, the playback position no longer advances; SoundInstance.resume continues from where it was paused
Editor
Removed and replaced uses of minecraft/server CompoundBlockVolume in the Experimental API with the beta minecraft/server-editor RelativeVolumeListBlockVolume
Graphical
Fixed a performance issue when in the Nether
Added a system to dynamically scale per-point-light shadow resources
Increased the maximum number of point lights
Fixed a bug where point light shadows would flicker during dynamic scaling
Sound
Added minecaft:sound block component
it requires format version 1.26.20 and Experimental Upcoming Creator Features
it can be used to assign a set of sounds to block and its permutations similar to sound field in blocks.json
blocks.json overrides values of minecraft:sound component, including values in all permutations
What do you think of Minecraft's latest patch and the new Cushion and Straw Bed items it's providing? Are you looking forward to the second Minecraft Movie and Minecraft Dungeons 2?
If you have any thoughts, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.
Embark on a journey of wonder and creativity with your friends in the world-famous crafting survival game, Minecraft.View Deal
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Microsoft's share price has slid 22% in the past year, as investors increasingly cast doubt on the firm's long-term AI strategy.
Artificial intelligence has been billed as the next coming by Big Tech, with everyone from Amazon to Google trying to figure out how to leverage the expensive technology to generate profits. The problem is, nobody is even close to having an answer.
Generative AI is incredibly costly to run, and the return on investment is unclear at best. Many companies are starting to discover that, in fact, it's cheaper and more effective to simply use human labor. Companies that previously laid off engineers in favor of AI models later found themselves crawling back to those fired, and others have put large restrictions on token expenditure as returns remain elusive.
I saw a clip on CNBC from Ed Zitron, creator of theWhere's Your Ed At newsletter and host of the Better Offline podcast recently. It summarized Microsoft's AI conundrum in pro wrestling terminology — which appealed to my simple brain. His full analysis is anything but simplistic, though. It speaks to the hard reality companies like Microsoft are facing: Is any of this actually worth it?
Zitron describes the challenges of companies like OpenAI and Anthropic joining SpaceX in going public, describing how the company's financial realities betray the almost demented hype around them.
"They'd be the first to be this bad, other than WeWork, and this is so much worse than that. OpenAI burned $20.9 billion dollars in 2025. The problem with these companies is ... their margins are getting worse. Their costs increase linearly with their revenues. There's no proof they can improve their margins. No amount of specialist silicon will bring these costs down.
"We're at a point where OpenAI is pushing their IPO to 2027 because they couldn't get a trillion-dollar valuation. People are wising up to the problem of generative AI: there's not really a business there."
Zitron posits that none of the hyperscalers and companies like OpenAI and Anthropic "encourage waste," while potentially stealing ideas generated by companies using their models, citing Claude Design and Figma. Indeed, the only public company that seems to be flying on its AI hype right now is Google. I would argue that's less to do with innovating, and more because they've found a way to steal revenue from human creators via Gemini's Google Search summary box — instantaneously creating infinite, dynamic (albeit hallucinating) ad-scaling opportunities.
This wholesale content theft is not as readily available to OpenAI, Anthropic, or Microsoft. Google Search remains the dominant tool for browsing the web, and thanks to Chrome and Android, Google owns the entire stack here.
Microsoft's data centers have come under increasing scrutiny for pollution, noise, electricity bill inflation, and water depletion. (Image credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft very much does not own the entire stack. It barely owns a stack at all here.
Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI is on the verge of collapse, pending contractual obligations that will expire over the next few years. It's already ditching OpenAI's pricey models in favor of supposedly more-efficient MAI home-grown models in some products. Microsoft Copilot is already barely used, despite being baked into Windows. It languishes at lower than 10% of the market, according to estimates, far behind the likes of Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT.
CEO Satya Nadella's decision to give up on Windows Phone and internal Android projects has precluded Microsoft from any form of mobile play here. Mobile is where all new consumer tech will thrive, whether or not it's AI or something else. The historical open nature of Windows prevents it from reaching consumers with any of its products. Nobody uses Bing, Edge, or Copilot, and it's a result of Microsoft's wholesale lack of foresight.
Microsoft bet that it could provide the underlying infrastructure instead, and has spent monstrous amounts of CapEx on data centers in the past few years. But Zitron posited in a large report from May that it might be exaggerating, or perhaps even outright lying, about its data center expansion plans. Indeed, there's little evidence that Microsoft has actually expanded its capacity since 2024. Zitron tracked a variety of Microsoft-announced data center projects and found them in various states of incompletion.
Is this a signal that there's no real demand? Is Microsoft intentionally stalling and dragging out construction because it knows there's no actual ROI incoming from these projects?
Microsoft's OpenAI bet was called the smartest investment it had ever made a few years ago. On paper it still is. Imaginary, fantastical paper, at least.
AI-adjacent stocks, including SpaceX, Oracle, and Microsoft, have all been in near free-fall decline recently, as investors seem to bet that there's gross over-extension going on. Meta is also reportedly spinning up a cloud company to try and offload excess compute it had previously invested in AI specifically, despite not having any actual demand.
"The only reason Big Tech is investing in this is that they've run out of hypergrowth ideas," Zitron said, on the general AI industry. "They don't have a next iPhone, they don't have a new Google Search. They've put over a trillion, with trillions more to come, into a kind of dead-end industry. When that ends, they'll have to admit that they don't have anything else."
"In the future, I see [AI] as a boring hardware-based business, kind of the Oracle licensing hardware model. I think this is a $10 to $30 billion TAM [total addressable market] industry, pretending to be a $1 trillion industry."
"Everyone is just kind of pretending. It's the kayfabe of a tech industry that really has run out of ideas."
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Hier — 9 juillet 2026Windows Central - News, Forums, Reviews, Help for Windows 10 and all things Microsoft.
Alienware makes gaming laptops and desktops, sure, but the line I enjoy looking at most is its QD-OLED gaming monitors. They're immensely popular after being the first to market in 2022; they're generally well-rated, and they're usually competitively priced.
One of the most popular Alienware gaming monitors is the AW3425DW, and it has now received a significant update for 2026. Dell let me get my hands on the new AW3426DW ultrawide monitor early so I could get a true feel of what it's like, and I'm here to share my thoughts on whether or not it's worth a buy.
Dell had no input, nor saw the contents of this review, prior to publication.
It's worth noting that the older model is currently sitting at $649.99 after a $150 discount, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that price drop stick around now that the new model is here.
Here's a closer look at the specs that make up the Alienware AW3426DW.
Alienware AW3426DW
Size
34.18 inches
Panel
Samsung QD-OLED Penta Tandem (RGB stripe, 5-stack)
Resolution
3440x1440
Refresh rate
280Hz
Response time
0.03ms
Peak brightness
1,300 nits
Typical brightness
300 nits
HDR
HDR10, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500, Dolby Vision
The main change arrives for the Quantum Dot-Organic Light Emitting Diode (QD-OLED) panel. It's using Samsung's new fifth-genPenta Tandem tech that was revealed earlier this year, which the company says has twice as long a lifespan as well as 1.3 times better brightness. Text should be easier to read, and there are improvements to dark colors in bright ambient light. More on that below.
Alongside the higher brightness, the monitor now has an anti-reflective coating to better combat glare. And, finally, the refresh rate has been raised from 240Hzto 280Hz.
What I like about the Alienware AW3426DW
The small Alien head and the power button are the only RGB elements you'll find. (Image credit: Future)
From a purely design standpoint, the Alienware AW3426DW hasn't changed much compared to the AW3425DW. Its case has a pleasant Interstellar Indigo color scheme, with minimal interruptions on the back panel.
An Alienware head logo is off to the left of the stand, and there's the secondary AI logo on the other side. These logos are surrounded by venting, altogether offering a clean look.
For a bit of extra jazz, the Alienware head has customizable lighting. The same applies to the monitor's power button on the bottom edge of the casing.
The front of the monitor features Alienware branding, and that's basically it. Bezels are nice and slim, and the rounded stand seems like a perfect pairing.
I like the bubbly, rounded look of the AW3426DW's stand. (Image credit: Future)
On that note, the stand is plenty sturdy. It doesn't offer much rotation (this is an ultrawide, after all), but there's enough tilt and swivel to keep me happy. If I were keeping the screen, it'd go onto my MSI dual-arm VESA mount thanks to 100x100mm compatibility.
All OSD settings are controlled with a single joystick. There are a ton of menu options to play around with should you want to tweak the picture, and the monitor includes quite a few presets for different tasks and gaming styles. You can also change shortcuts for easier control.
The OSD menu is controlled with a single joystick.FutureOSD menu controls in the Alienware AW3426DW are quite extensive.FutureOSD menu controls in the Alienware AW3426DW are quite extensive.FutureOSD menu controls in the Alienware AW3426DW are quite extensive.Future
Smart HDR, Dolby Vision, refresh rates, and much more are all customizable. You can choose how the monitor handles multiple inputs. And, for those who game and work on the same screen, I'm happy to report that the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) and Picture-by-Picture (PbP) features work flawlessly.
The older AW3425DW's OSD menu, or "Command Center," had issues with freezing and closing randomly, but I've not seen those issues in the newer AW3426DW model.
How is the Alienware AW3426DW's color and brightness?
It's hard to convey through photos how great the Alienware AW3426DW looks. (Image credit: Future)
Thanks to the new fifth-gen QD-OLED panel, Alienware's flagship line of ultrawide gaming monitors has never looked better.
One of the biggest complaints about the older model was that black colors often appeared purple when in a bright room. That's been significantly improved here, and it seems that no matter how much light is falling on the screen, dark colors remain dark.
This latest model includes a new anti-reflective finish that Dell says reduces glare by up to 30%. I can't test for that precisely, but I can say that the only time I had issues with glare was in a sun-drenched room with direct light hitting the screen. If you're in an office or a gaming room, you should have no issues.
The Alienware AW3426DW's brightness and contrast readout. (Image credit: Future)
It also helps that brightness has gone up from a 250-nit cap to 300 nits. Whereas the AW3425DW tested for roughly 252 nits of brightness, I saw the AW3426DW hit 330 nits in SDR, and it goes up to about 1,300 nits with HDR enabled. This additional brightness pushes its HDR certification up to VESA DisplayHDR 500.
You can see for yourself the brightness, color, contrast, and white point ratings in the above chart that I pulled from my SpyderX Pro colorimeter.
(Image credit: Future)
Color reproduction has actually improved slightly compared to the previous generation. Whereas we previously tested for 97% P3 and 94% AdobeRGB coverage, the new model hits 99% and 95%, respectively. It otherwise remains at 100% sRGB.
Is Alienware's AW3426DW good for gaming?
You're going to love gaming on Alienware's AW3426DW. (Image credit: Future)
Thanks to a curved panel, an ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio, a 3440x1440 resolution, a 280Hz refresh rate, and a 0.02ms response time, the Alienware AW3426DW is an outstanding gaming monitor.
The resolution hits the sweet spot for most gamers, and once you go ultrawide, you'll find it's very hard to go back to a 16:9 aspect ratio. The 280Hz refresh rate has plenty of ceiling for high-end performance hardware, and it's fast enough that you shouldn't mind using it for competitive titles.
Because it's an ultrawide with room for (at least) three separate windows, it's also great for productivity. Text is easier to read with this generation of QD-OLED panel, and you might be surprised at how crisp everything looks if you're coming from an older model.
What I dislike about the Alienware AW3426DW
Ports on the Alienware AW3426DW are a bit more limited than I'd like. (Image credit: Future)
There's not much to dislike about this monitor from a display quality standpoint. But there are some drawbacks you should know about before buying.
The port selection is notably a bit lacking. There's no 3.5mm audio jack (and no built-in speakers), and for data, there's just USB-C (15W) and USB-A, feeding off an upstream USB-B port.
Alienware's AW3426DW is easy to love, whether you're gaming or working.
Video inputs include dual HDMI 2.1 with Fixed Rate Link (FRL) for uncompressed 4K@120Hz gaming, but the single DisplayPort is 1.4 standard with Display Stream Compression (DSC). Some newer monitors are shipping with DP 2.1 with less compression, and I'd say it only really matters for enthusiasts.
Should you buy the Alienware AW3426DW?
Alienware's AW3426DW is an outstanding gaming monitor, but it's also handy for productivity. (Image credit: Future)
You should buy this if ...
✅ You're looking for a competitively priced ultrawide gaming monitor featuring fifth-gen QD-OLED tech.
✅ You have a gaming PC that can handle a 3440x1440 resolution and that can make use of a 280Hz refresh rate.
You should not buy this if ...
❌ You're a competitive gamer who mostly plays at a 16:9 aspect ratio.
❌ You just want a QD-OLED ultrawide and don't care about the generation (go with the AW3425DW from last year that's now usually cheaper).
I loved my time with the Alienware AW3426DW, and it's something I'll recommend to anyone who's searching out a new QD-OLED ultrawide for gaming.
The 280Hz refresh rate is perfect for most people, the fifth-gen panel is better than ever, and the overall design is sleek and balanced.
Although some might complain that the port selection isn't generous enough or that the RGB lighting is lacking, others might not mind those drawbacks nearly as much.
And considering how many perks the monitor has, it's easy to see why this line of monitors from Alienware is so popular. I have to return the review sample, but the AW3426DW is at the top of my list for when it comes time to upgrade.
Penta Tandem
Alienware
AW3426DW
Alienware's AW3426DW makes several important upgrades over its predecessor, including a new Penta Tandem QD-OLED panel that ups brightness, improves color, and makes text easier to read. It's an outstanding option for work and for play, just as long as you can live with the (minor) downsides.
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Microsoft Forms just got a major upgrade thanks to Copilot. Microsoft 365 Copilot chat now lives within Microsoft Forms, adding a familiar tool to those who use AI in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Copilot in Microsoft Forms can suggest improvements to your polls and forms and present insights from responses.
The Copilot integration is available now to users with Microsoft 365 commercial Copilot licenses.
Microsoft listed all the changes to Forms in a blog post:
Smarter suggestions & refinements: Get targeted recommendations to improve your form’s structure, clarity, and effectiveness. Copilot can also apply refinements directly to the form, so you can save time making edits – just describe what you want, and watch Copilot make it happen.
Deeper analysis: Copilot can now analyze your results in-depth to provide clear insights and actionable takeaways for you and your team. You can even ask follow-up questions to help parse and summarize your data and unlock your next step.
More settings: Review and update form settings with ease, such as applying custom thank-you messages and close dates, so your form is ready to send. You can also adjust question settings in bulk, such as making questions required.
Open-ended chat: Copilot chat gives you access to a broad world of capabilities, whether you’re seeking inspiration on survey topics or consulting on how to configure your form – the possibilities are broad with Copilot at your fingertips.
Basic branching: Apply basic branching logic directly through the agent. (Note that some complex scenarios are not yet supported, and you should continue to review your branching logic prior to sending your forms.)
I use Microsoft Forms to gather feedback from my American football team. I admit that I first tried it because my job centers around knowing Microsoft products. But after using Microsoft Forms for a while, I grew to prefer it over Google Forms.
Microsoft Forms can sync with Excel documents, making it much easier to stay on top of responses. I'm deeply entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem, so anything that works seamlessly with the rest of my workflow gets bonus points in my book.
I also prefer some of the features of Microsoft Forms, such as question-level branching. That feature makes filling out forms feel smoother when a poll includes branching questions because it keeps you on the same page.
The layout of Microsoft Forms also presents results quicker because if you want to look at a chart, you don't need to open a separate spreadsheet.
The new Copilot experience in Forms could also be a boon to the platform, though I'll have to see it in action to judge. In my experience, Copilot as a general tool is good at suggesting improvements, performing bulk edits, and creating summaries, so it should thrive within Microsoft Forms.
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It looks like Microsoft is planning to make a small but interesting (ok, maybe not that interesting) change to Windows 11 in the coming weeks, one that has us scratching our heads a bit. The company has revealed (albeit accidentally) that it's making the search box that appears on the Taskbar and in the Start menu a little taller, by 4 whole pixels.
4 pixels doesn't sound like much of a change, but it is a noticeable difference, if you can believe it. The change makes the search box appear chunkier, taking up more visible space above and below it, and bringing it closer to the top edge of the Taskbar itself and slightly pushing content down in Start.
Here's a before and after of the Start menu and Taskbar, in gif format so that it loops making the difference very easy to identify:
Notice how things shift slightly when the thicker search box is enabled. (Image credit: Zac Bowden / Windows Central)
Microsoft hasn't explained why it's making this change, but if I had to guess, I'd say the change is being made to align it with the Ask Copilot search box appearance, which differs from the existing Windows Search search box.
Ask Copilot is an alternative search experience coming soon to the Taskbar on Windows 11 that incorporates Copilot chat directly into the user interface. It's currently aimed at commercial customers, and includes a thicker but narrower search box that appears on the Taskbar when enabled.
Ask Copilot is a separate UI to the standard Windows Search experience, and needs to be manually enabled before you can use it. That's why I think Microsoft is making the default search box 4 pixels taller, as the company likes the look of Ask Copilot and would like that appearance to apply to the default search box too.
Here's a closer look at the search box on the Taskbar comparing the new height to the old height. See, it is a noticeable difference! Investigative journalism at its finest on display here.
Top: The new taller search box. Bottom: The current search box. (Image credit: Zac Bowden / Windows Central)
Either way, you can likely expect to see the search box in the Start menu and on the Taskbar get slightly bigger in the coming months, as Microsoft begins rolling out the change to Insiders before making it generally available to all. The change was unveiled in a changelog for a recent Windows 11 preview build, but a Microsoft engineer has since confirmed to me that the change isn't yet being previewed.
I’m just so angry today. People will never know the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making ESO or how we basically funded other failing projects while never getting enough resources to really keep up with our release cadence. The team deserved much better.July 6, 2026
One of the game developers who previously worked at ZeniMax Online, Andrew Young, has reacted with anger and disappointment at this news, stating that "I’m just so angry today. People will never know the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making ESO or how we basically funded other failing projects while never getting enough resources to really keep up with our release cadence. The team deserved much better."
There's little doubt that more official reports of the exact damage done to Xbox's game studios will continue to be released as the company's restructuring goes on. So, we'll keep you posted on further developments regarding the ongoing situation at ZeniMax and Bethesda.
When do you think these mass layoffs will end? Do you think Xbox's game studios will be able to bounce back from these layoffs and continue making games? Do you think The Elder Scrolls Online will be able to survive now that ZeniMax Online has lost a considerable amount of manpower?
If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.
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It stated, "Yesterday's layoffs at Bethesda Game Studios were not a cut of '14 layers of management. We lost dozens of programmers, artists, designers, and testers. Many of whom worked at BGS for decades. If Bethesda fans are worried this will harm the quality of our future games, like The Elder Scrolls VI, let Microsoft know!"
One way you can show Microsoft your concern is here through the XBOX Player Voice feedback platform: feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/ide...
Upon hearing this, players flocked to the platform in droves and unleashed all their pent-up frustrations and criticisms at Microsoft.
Comments ranged from scathing doomsaying, like "If Microsoft does not reverse course they will be destroyed." by Percy Hartley to constructive feedback, like the most upvoted comment (at over 2,500 votes) by Witt Yao, stating, "The layoff of 3,200 workers at XBOX (across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, Obsidian, id Software, and XBOX Game Studios) is unacceptable. This continues a pattern that has led to 10,000+ layoffs at XBOX in as little as two years."
Witt Yao continues, "Multiple studios have been closed or had their futures jeopardized (Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios) and numerous games have been cancelled. The developers and players agree that This Can Not Continue. A true reset that meets the needs of the XBOX community looks like the following:"
He then advises on how Microsoft could potentially improve the Xbox brand with the following suggestions:
Transparency for Players - Showcasing games from studios they intend to sell or close weeks later feels bad for players.
Keep Teams Together - No layoffs for the next 2 years and end studio closures. Studio closures hurt the fans of that studio.
XBOX is already profitable without reaching a billion people every day - Stop constraining XBOX by the unrealistic profit expectations of the Microsoft Accountability Margin.
Trust the Developers - Negotiate in good faith with unions and developers, so they can better represent the needs of both developers and gamers.
Layoffs are a Failure of Leadership - No executive bonuses when there is a layoff.
Invest in the Future of Gaming - Invest in the future generation of video game developers instead of unpopular technologies like AI that players don’t want. Game development expertise is the biggest asset of a video game company.
Stay tuned for more info, as we can keep an eye out for developments and reactions regarding the biggest shake-up within the Xbox brand's history.
Have you voiced your opinions to Microsoft through the Xbox Player Voice Feedback? Do you have destructive or constructive criticisms regarding the Xbox brand's "reset" that has seen over 3,200 jobs terminated across many of Xbox's game studios?
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The second gameplay demonstration kicks off with a look at the Adeptus Mechanicus (Admech for short), a faction of tech-worshipping cyborg cultists who are making their debut in the Dawn of War series in this game.
What makes this faction unique is that the buildings they use to produce combat units can be linked together with a Noosphere Network. The more buildings that are linked together within an Admech player's network, the cheaper the cost of creating combat units will be, and the stronger the turrets they make will be.
In addition, the Admech faction features a wide variety of combat units, from fast Skitarii Rangers who can run around the map to steal Control Points while sniping enemies to heavily armored tanks and walking mechs that bring the hammer down on even the most heavily armored enemy units.
Don't underestimate the Adeptus Mechanicus' military might lest you wish to face the wrath of the Omnissiah. (Image credit: Deep Silver)
After the Admech player establishes a base of operations, we cut to the Necron player. Necrons are an ancient alien race of robot mummies that are nearly impossible to kill due to their extremely tough metallic bodies, their ability to regenerate wounds, and being able to resurrect upon destruction if they're not destroyed completely.
In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, those abilities are faithfully represented with the Necron faction, as they can build buildings that will revive fallen combat units for free so the Necron player can divert resources towards producing endless hordes of Necron Warriors, advanced combat units like giant robotic insects called Canoptek Wraiths, or mobile flying fortresses called Monoliths, just to name a few.
A horde of Necron Warriors obliterating an enemy outpost (Image credit: Deep Silver)
Another unique aspect of the Necrons in this game is that they don't have to take and hold Control Points for resources. Instead, they draw resources by covering the map in a Power Matrix, which is spread by constructing Necron buildings.
On top of that, the Power Matrix can buff a Necron player's combat units with passive health regeneration and faster squad member replenishment, and allow the player to teleport defensive turrets where they want after they're built so they can defend any position at a moment's notice.
Speaking of teleportation, the Necron faction has access to buildings that can hold combat units in reserve and then deploy from their Headquarters to any Necron Tomb Pylon on the map. This tactic can help you deploy reinforcements in dire situations or simply help the Necron combat units move faster, as most of them are slower than a snail.
A Necron Monolith destroying an enemy squad. (Image credit: Deep Silver)
After both players have established footholds, the rest of the video becomes a mechanical bloodbath as the Admech players fights desperately to fight back the Necron forces who just simply refused to die.
However, after careful management of resources, strategic plays, and amassing an small army of tanks lead by giant mechs called the Knight Castellans, the Admech player was able to overcome the Necrons and achieve victory.
Windows Central's take
A Knight Castellan emerging from a drop pod to help turn the tide of battle in the Admech's favor. (Image credit: Deep Silver)
So seeing them in action in Dawn of War is a pretty cool sight to see, as they have access to some of the advanced weapons in the setting that would even give Space Marines a run for their money if pushed too far, which look so much fun to use in this game.
The Necrons also look pretty neat and somewhat nostalgic in this game, as their gameplay tactic of generating Power Matrix on the map to build buildings feels inspired by the Zerg's Creep mechanic from StarCraft.
Although I wouldn't expect any Zerg Rush tactics from the slow-moving Necrons any time soon unless a player masters their teleporting gimmick to deploy dozens of Necron Warriors behind enemy lines.
Either way, this game continues to impress me with every new extended gameplay showcase for its multiplayer skirmish mode, and I can't wait to see what the developers have cooking for its other modes, like the single-player campaign.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV launches on September 16, 2026, for PC via Steam. Are you looking forward to this game? Have you played any of the earlier Dawn of War games?
If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.
Take control of the Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, or Adeptus Mechanicus factions and wage a bloody war for domination in epic single-player campaigns or chaotic multiplayer modes in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV.View Deal
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While the ZeniMax and Bethesda studio id Software is best known for its DOOM games — including both the classic titles as well as the modern installments DOOM 2016, DOOM Eternal, and DOOM: The Dark Ages — it's explored other properties and ideas in the past, and has reportedly been "toying around" with doing so again.
Described as a "bloodbath" by one former dev, the cuts have seemingly made it extremely unlikely that id's ideas for non-DOOM projects will ever be developed (especially with Xbox directing ZeniMax/Bethesda to focus on core IPs). A new report from GamesBeat, though, gives some insight into what those concepts were.
Aside from a multiplayer-focused DOOM game with co-op, the studio was also considering a game heavily inspired by the John Wick films called Fury, a new entry in the Perfect Dark series, and a survival-focused Western game with robots called Ironwood.
The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot may have been canceled, but I would have loved to see id Software develop a new entry in the long-dormant franchise. Alas. (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
Fury was a new original property pitched by id Software's studio co-director and game director Hugo Martin, with "elements of sci-fi, noir, and Louisiana and Chicago gangsters" and "a modern, cyberpunk-like feel." Notably, it had a "Gun Fu" gameplay style that blended gunplay with martial arts melee combat, and was intended to feel like a playable John Wick movie. It was never greenlit.
Allegedly, id was also exploring the possibility of making a Perfect Dark game. The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot was canceled last year when Microsoft and Xbox shuttered the studio; with nobody else working on a new installment in the 2000s stealth-action shooter series, id considered doing so and reportedly even had concept art drafted.
Finally, there's Ironwood. Very little is known about it other than that it would be set in a Western environment with robots and survival gameplay, though it's been said it would be very similar to the popular HBO TV show Westworld.
Apparently, there were, and are, no plans for a new Quake — another iconic shooter series id created in the '90s.
Personally, I think the concept for Fury sounds incredibly cool, and I'd love to have seen the full id Software team make a Perfect Dark game. With over half the studio now gone, however, the chances of anything other than a DOOM title being made seem extremely slim.
Perhaps one day, several years into the future, id will be able to explore some of these concepts further. With Xbox CEO Asha Sharma aiming to "move faster" with its biggest franchises, though, I doubt that would happen anytime soon.
How are you feeling about Microsoft's mass Xbox layoffs, and the major impact they've had on id Software? I'm curious, so let me know in the comments below as well as in our poll.
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Though the redundancies have affected teams across all of Xbox, they've impacted certain game studios such as ZeniMax and Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment quite disproportionately. Another developer that's experienced a severe reduction in force is id Software, the team that creates and oversees the modern DOOM games.
According to a new report, however, the total number of layoffs at the Texas-based developer is even larger. At first, it was believed that 96 roles were removed at id. Now, though, Game Developer writes that a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) notice — obtained by the outlet from the Texas Workforce Commission upon request — has revealed that 40 remote workers at the studio have been let go as well.
Microsoft's mass Xbox layoffs hit id Software just one day before the release of its new Revelations DLC for DOOM: The Dark Ages. (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
That brings the total number of id Software cuts up to 136, meaning that the studio's workforce has been hit significantly harder than early reports indicated. Notably, the WARN document also confirmed that 22 staffers have been affected at Bethesda Game Studios' office in Austin, Texas, with 158 Texas employees laid off across both teams.
With how concerning the news of the loss of half of id was, hearing that an additional 40 workers were laid off on top of that is extremely worrying. I can't help but be fearful about the studio's future, and that it no longer has a headcount sufficient for the efficient development of new DOOM games and other projects moving forward.
The painful irony of the situation is that these cuts have come at the same time id released its new Revelations DLC for its latest game, 2025's DOOM: The Dark Ages. So far, the new expansion has garnered strong reviews, and I'm glad to see it...but it's also heartbreaking to see that many of the creative minds responsible for it, The Dark Ages, and other modern DOOM titles are now gone.
Do you believe that Microsoft and Xbox went too far with the cuts made to id Software? Voice your feelings on the matter in the comments, and vote in our poll as well.
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