About Rich Woods
Hello! I'm the Editor-in-Chief of XDA, and I've been reporting on all things consumer tech since 2013. More recently, I've had more of a focus on Windows, and I've reviewed pretty much every mainstream laptop under the sun. If you see me somewhere, come say hello and let me ask you awkward questions about why you use the tech that you use.
What was your first computer?
I'm not sure of the brand, but back in 1987, my family had a PC with an Intel 8088 processor, 512KB RAM, and 20MB storage. It's fun to think about how I now have photos that wouldn't have fit on that entire hard drive. It ran DOS, and I used it to play games like The Oregon Trail and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.
How long have you been interested in technology?
A few years after I got that first PC, I liberated my father's book on GW-BASIC. That was my start with wanting to learn more about how computers worked. By the time I was in high school, I was writing Visual Basic programs to figure out the passwords on school computers. Weirdly, I never actually got into trouble for that.
What tech products or categories are you most passionate about?
Windows! It's the software that I've been using since I was a child and I've always admired the broad range of hardware that uses it. This interest is what led to that passion to understand why people choose the tech that they do, and to help people to make those decisions by reviewing the products that they might end up buying.
Latest Articles
Qualcomm has an exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Windows on ARM
The reason that Windows on ARM PCs that have been released so far have Snapdragon chipsets is because of an exclusivity deal with Qualcomm.
Last week, we reported that MediaTek is planning to build a chipset for Windows on ARM. As it turns out, the Windows on ARM chipset space could be even hotter than that, because there's a reason that we've only seen Qualcomm SoCs in ARM PCs so far. Qualcomm actually has an exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Windows on ARM, and speaking with people familiar with it, we've learned that the deal is set to expire soon.
MediaTek teases Kompanio 1200 for Chromebooks, but it's still not ready
At its Executive Summit today, MediaTek teased the Kompanio 1200, its Chromebook chipset aimed at the premium segment of the market.
On the second day of its MediaTek Executive Summit today, the company held a brief session on its PC and Chromebook efforts. It was one of the few sessions that didn't have any actual product launches, but there was some insight into what the firm is up to. One thing it did was tease the MediaTek Kompanio 1200 chipset, which is aimed at high-end Chromebooks.
MediaTek wants to make a chip for Windows on ARM PCs
At MediaTek's Executive Summit, the company confirmed that it's working to make its own ARM chipsets for Windows on ARM devices.
MediaTek kicked off its Executive Summit in Laguna Beach, California today. The company is set to make a series of announcements throughout the week, but one thing that it's already confirmed is that we're going to see MediaTek-powered PCs running Windows. The biggest question is when, as the plan is still in early stages.
Lenovo ThinkPad P15 and ThinkReality A3 review: A desktop on the go
Lenovo's ThinkReality A3 AR headset lets you use a laptop as a multi-monitor desktop, and the powerful ThinkPad P15 makes it happen.
Lenovo's ThinkPad P15 is a beast. If you're looking for a portable PC, this is about as much power as you can get, with a Core i9-11950H and NVIDIA RTX 5000 graphics with 16GB GDDR6 memory. It's a mobile workstation, which means that it's not just made for hefty workloads like video editing, but this thing is designed to take whatever kind of multi-threaded workloads you can throw at it like 3D rendering and such.
Apple Watch Series 7 with Apple Fitness+ is the perfect fitness companion
The Apple Watch Series 7 is excellent for fitness tracking, and Apple Fitness+ really puts the device over the top. Read on for more.
There are a lot of reasons to get a smartwatch. You might just want a timepiece that can show you notifications as they come in. Some smartwatches aim to be health monitors, such as how the Apple Watch can monitor not just your heart rate, but can detect falls or even do an ECG. You'll probably also want your new smartwatch to be a decent fitness tracker, and that's simply an area where the Apple Watch Series 7 excels. Our review for the Apple Watch Series 7 talked about why it is a great smartwatch, and now I want to focus a bit more on the holistic fitness experience.
Windows 10 will get annual feature updates from now on
Alongside Windows 10 version 21H2, Microsoft announced that the OS will be getting annual feature updates beginning next year.
Today, Microsoft announced the availability of Windows 10 version 21H2, also known as the November 2021 Update. It's a minor update that doesn't have any front-facing features for consumers; rather, it's more focused toward IT. Perhaps more interesting is that the Redmond firm announced that moving forward, Windows 10 is going to get yearly updates until its end of support date in October 2025.
Microsoft releases the Windows 10 November 2021 Update
Microsoft is finally releasing its next feature update for Windows 10, called the November 2021 Update. It's a minor feature update.
When Microsoft announced Windows 11 back in June, it did confirm that there would still be a fall feature update for Windows 10. That ended up being called the Windows 10 November 2021 Update, or version 21H2, and the company is releasing it today.
Hyper has a new triple-display MacBook dock, and you can get it for 50% off
Hyper is introducing a new dock for MacBooks of all sizes, and it lets you connect to multiple 4K 60Hz displays. Plus it's 50% off.
Hyper is unveiling some new docks for MacBooks, which can be used to connect multiple 4K displays to the laptops. Specifically, there are two different ones: one for 13- to 16-inch MacBooks, and one that's specifically for 13- and 14-inch MacBooks.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon Developer Kit lets you test Windows on ARM apps for $219
Qualcomm has finally released its Snapdragon Developer Kit, allowing Windows on ARM developers to test their apps for just $219.
Ahead of Microsoft's Build developer conference back in May, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Developer Kit. The idea was to give developers a way to test out their Windows on ARM apps without costing an arm and a leg (pun intended).
Windows 11 build 22499 is out, and it comes with new ISOs
Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview build 22499. It has minor new features, and it comes with new ISO images.
Today, Microsoft is releasing Windows 11 build 22499 to the Dev channel. As usual, there's not a whole lot that's new, but there's a little bit more this week than we've seen in previous weeks. Also, the company is releasing new ISO images, so if you want to do a clean installation of the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build, you can.
Download the new Windows 11 SE wallpaper here
While you can't get your hands on Windows 11 SE, you can still get your hands on the new Bloom wallpaper that it comes with.
Microsoft has announced its new version of Windows aimed at K-8 students, Windows 11 SE. While there's a lot about it that's different from Windows 11 proper, you're not going to be able to get your hands on it. It requires a new laptop, and those devices, such as the Surface Laptop SE, are only sold through educational sales channels. One thing that you can get right now, however, is the all-new Windows 11 SE Bloom wallpaper.
Microsoft announces Windows 11 SE and Surface Laptop SE, aimed at K-8 education
Microsoft is announcing Windows 11 SE, its latest attempt to compete with Chromebooks in the educational space, but only for K-8.
Today, Microsoft is announcing Windows 11 SE, its latest attempt to strip down the OS and aim at the educational market. In other words, Windows 11 SE is the latest attempt from the Redmond firm to compete with Chromebooks.
Microsoft is shutting down OneDrive for Windows 7 and 8.1 next year
Microsoft today announced that it's going to be shutting down the OneDrive sync client for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 beginning next year.
Today, Microsoft announced that beginning on January 1, it's no longer going to provide updates for the personal OneDrive app for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. As of March 1, 2022, the app will stop syncing your files to the cloud, making it effectively useless.
Dell Latitude 9420 2-in-1 Review: The top-end Dell business notebook struggles to deliver
Dell's Latitude 9420 2-in-1 offers ultra-thin bezels, a privacy guard on the camera, 11th-gen processors, AI features, and more.
Dell's Latitude 9000 series of business laptops is the best that the company has to offer. Along with Intel 11th-generation processors, the Dell Latitude 9420 2-in-1 comes with a QHD+ screen standard, and it has interesting features like an automatic privacy guard on the camera.
Some Windows 11 apps aren't working due to expired certificates
Microsoft has released a support page saying that some apps and features on Windows 11 aren't working due to an expired certificate.
If you've been finding that certain apps and features on Windows 11 aren't working, you're not alone. Some things aren't working due to a certificate that expired on October 31, as Microsoft has started warning users about.
Intel Core i5-12600K and Core i9-12900K review: Alder Lake is a total game-changer
Intel's new 12th-gen 'Alder Lake' processors offer a new hybrid architecture, with big and little cores, along with DDR5 support and more.
Last week, Intel announced its 12th-generation processors, codenamed Alder Lake. After six generations (yes, six) of using 14nm nodes, the company made a radical change in the architecture. In fact, this could be the biggest change since Intel adopted AMD's 64-bit architecture that was based on x86.
Start11 is out, letting you make the Windows 10 Start Menu look like Windows 11
Stardock has released Start11, the newest version of its Start Menu customization app, also letting you make Windows 10 look like Windows 11.
Nearly a month after launching the release candidate, Stardock is releasing Start11 1.0. Like its predecessors Start10 and Start8, the utility is designed to allow you to customize your Start Menu. Indeed, Start8 was originally designed to fix the mess that was Windows 8, letting you bring back the old Windows 7 Start Menu.
Microsoft Edge for Linux is now generally available
Microsoft has announced that its Edge browser for Linux is now generally available. It's also offering some new IE Mode improvements.
It's been over a year since the first preview of Microsoft's Edge browser on Linux, and now it's generally available. If you were looking forward to a stable version of Edge on the open source OS, it's finally here.
Microsoft's HoloLens 2 is almost $750 off this month
At its Ignite 2021 conference, Microsoft announced that it's going to offer a 15% discount on its HoloLens 2 holographic computers.
At its Ignite 2021 conference today, Microsoft announced that it's offering a 15% discount on its HoloLens 2 headset this month. Considering that the lowest-priced unit costs $3,500, you don't have to be a mathematician to know that that's a pretty hefty discount. For the Industrial Edition, which costs nearly $5,000, it's a savings of almost $750.
Windows 11 is now available for all Windows 365 customers
Microsoft is announcing a range of new Windows 365 improvements, one of which is that Windows 365 Business customers can use Windows 11.
It's Microsoft Ignite, the company's biggest event of the year. As usual, there's a ton of announcement, and there are a few that have to do with Windows 11, as you'd expect. Most notably, all Windows 365 subscribers can now use the new OS. You might recall that when Windows 365 was announced as basically a streaming operating system, or cloud PC, it offered Windows 10 with a promise of Windows 11 later. With it already available to Windows 365 Enterprise users, there are new tools to help Windows 365 Business users make their transition to the newest version of Windows. This is available now.