Just got my first Mac


Recommended Posts

So I just got my first Mac. It is a 15.4" MacBook Pro. 3.06Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM and 500GB 7200RPM HDD.

Build wise the machine is lovely but for some reason I have not fallen in love with it like I was kind of hoping I would :(

I don't know if it is just that I prefer how Windows does some things or not but it just feels more slugish than Windows 7 does and not quite as intuitive or smooth to use. Now I don't think Windows 7 is perfect either, in fact I hate how it combines the taskbar items so I have it set to the old Vista way of doing things.

Part of me just feels a little home sick in OS X land. I miss some of the things I love about Windows. Like I can't find an mp3 tag editor anywhere near as good as mp3tag, not even a non-free one. And something as simple as unzipping 100 zip files into one directory rather than 100 directories of the same name as the archive is a mission. Not as simple as just using WinRAR to select the file I want, hell I can't even fine a tool that will let me browse a zip or rar file, only extract it.

Some things are great but on the whole I really don't know if I am going to be able to keep it, I want to love it. I just don't feel I can. Windows 7 does everything OS X can do and, and I don't want to start a war here so please don't start one, it does it better in a lot of ways. Sure OS X has a solid base but I have had about a dozen lock ups on OS X due to crappy PrefPane's such as MediaLink and Perian which has halted the whole machine for a few minute while I force quit it.

I am feel kinda deflated now to be honest, I really was hoping I would fall head over heals in love with the platform like I did with my iPhone but i'm not :'(

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/843328-just-got-my-first-mac/
Share on other sites

Did you not play with an Apple in the store before purchasing?

You have spent years working in Windows, fitting into the "Windows Way". You might want to play around with OSX a week or so and see if things grow on you.

And...

If not...

You can always install Windows on it.

Did you not play with an Apple in the store before purchasing?

You have spent years working in Windows, fitting into the "Windows Way". You might want to play around with OSX a week or so and see if things grow on you.

And...

If not...

You can always install Windows on it.

Why waste the money if he's just gonna install windows 7 on it? he could buy a windows 7 laptop and save quite a enormous amount of money.

Yeah I spent ages playing with them in John Lewis and I love many, many things about it but actually owning one is very different to test driving one in store. I have installed Windows on it but that feels kind of stupid as I already have a great spec laptop running Windows 7 so the MBP would be returned. I have 14 days to think it over but I am thinking it will be going back as it just doesn't seem to tick all the boxes sadly. Windows, while not perfect, works how I want it to whereas OS X doesn't do some of the most basic things I want like the zip feature :(

Why waste the money if he's just gonna install windows 7 on it? he could buy a windows 7 laptop and save quite a enormous amount of money.

Ummm.... Maybe because I read in his post that he loved the build of the hardware?

...

Build wise the machine is lovely but for some reason I have not fallen in love with it like I was kind of hoping I would :(

...

Sorry if my post that he might keep the hardware he "loved" the build quality on somehow irritated you and question my suggestion.

Ummm.... Maybe because I read in his post that he loved the build of the hardware?

Sorry if my post that he might keep the hardware he "loved" the build quality on somehow irritated you and question my suggestion.

Yeah, I read that.. But He'd have to go buy a copy therefore he's pumping out even more money.. Which is why I say he's better off returning it and getting a nice laptop with windows 7 on it.

It doesn't matter much to me what he does with it, and it really is up to his preferences and what he likes and dislikes about the hardware and software.

If he wants to use the MacBook to prop up an uneven leg on a table, I'm good with that, too! :p

It doesn't matter much to me what he does with it, and it really is up to his preferences and what he likes and dislikes about the hardware and software.

If he wants to use the MacBook to prop up an uneven leg on a table, I'm good with that, too! :p

loling, and by the way no you're post did not irritate me and i was not trying to be an arse by any means.

To each his own. I'm sorry you're not liking OS X. It really is a personal preference. I love it and find Windows too restrictive (to me, the general quality of apps on Windows is worse than on OS X), but others will feel the exact opposite. Both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are great OSs in the end.

I find it the complete opposite, i dont see how Windows is "restrictive" you can do a lot more in Windows than you can in OSX...

Like I said: personal preference. I'm so used to the Unix world now (I work with *nix servers daily) that Windows is almost a non-option for me at this point. My web development work is much easier on OS X (for me). I tried doing it on Windows and almost pulled all my hair out just trying to set it up. :p I also like keeping consistency between my development environment and my production environment.

Like I said: personal preference. I'm so used to the Unix world now (I work with *nix servers daily) that Windows is almost a non-option for me at this point. My web development work is much easier on OS X (for me). I tried doing it on Windows and almost pulled all my hair out just trying to set it up. :p I also like keeping consistency between my development environment and my production environment.

Just curious have you ever played around with the Subsystem for UNIX Based Applications on Windows?

(Ive only tried it once myself ran a app on Vista just playing around with it)

Well I returned my 15" macbook pro just two days after I got it. The drivers for Windows are just no good. The touchpad, speakers, mic, keyboard backlight all don't work properly under Windows and you can't switch between the 9400m and 9600m. Also, if you don't need a laptop right now, I'd suggest waiting for the new macbook pros coming out early next year.

So I just got my first Mac. It is a 15.4" MacBook Pro. 3.06Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM and 500GB 7200RPM HDD.

Build wise the machine is lovely but for some reason I have not fallen in love with it like I was kind of hoping I would :(

I don't know if it is just that I prefer how Windows does some things or not but it just feels more slugish than Windows 7 does and not quite as intuitive or smooth to use. Now I don't think Windows 7 is perfect either, in fact I hate how it combines the taskbar items so I have it set to the old Vista way of doing things.

Part of me just feels a little home sick in OS X land. I miss some of the things I love about Windows. Like I can't find an mp3 tag editor anywhere near as good as mp3tag, not even a non-free one. And something as simple as unzipping 100 zip files into one directory rather than 100 directories of the same name as the archive is a mission. Not as simple as just using WinRAR to select the file I want, hell I can't even fine a tool that will let me browse a zip or rar file, only extract it.

Some things are great but on the whole I really don't know if I am going to be able to keep it, I want to love it. I just don't feel I can. Windows 7 does everything OS X can do and, and I don't want to start a war here so please don't start one, it does it better in a lot of ways. Sure OS X has a solid base but I have had about a dozen lock ups on OS X due to crappy PrefPane's such as MediaLink and Perian which has halted the whole machine for a few minute while I force quit it.

I am feel kinda deflated now to be honest, I really was hoping I would fall head over heals in love with the platform like I did with my iPhone but i'm not :'(

I recently bought an iMac and I haven't had a single issue with it. It is not as idiot-proof as Windows (no offense to you or anyone) but is is not hard to learn either.

Both Windows and Mac have their pros and cons. Mac I think is more stable than Windows since there is no registry or DLLs to worry about. If you install an application on a Mac, to get rid of it all you have to do is drag it to the trash can and its gone. On Windows you have to uninstall it and if the uninstaller fails you are screwed with files all over the place.

Windows UI is more customizable than Macs. You can completely turn off the fancy animation effects on Windows. On a Mac you can't - (I haven't found a way to do it yet. If anyone knows how, please post it)

Windows is more user-friendly and easier to use than OSX. I have both a PC and a Mac and I use both, but I use the PC more ;)

wow.

I was thinking about buyin a mac lately as well, but really worried if i'll like it.

Not many mac stores around where i live, so i cant test it, but i guess i can always order it online, and send it back if its no good.

But i wonder if i'll come to the same conclusion i did with Ubuntu. Fun to set up, and see something new, but after a while it's not very good for general use. But then again. OSX has photoshop and other actual quality programs, so it should be good. i dunno

but im gonna have to get one just to find out for myself.

I wish i knew someone in real life who owned a mac so i can tinker around with it, lol

thanks for your topic.

I have Photoshop on both Windows and OSX and the Mac version is way better than Windows.

You disliked, also, a difference between Vista and Windows 7, maybe you just don't like change? :p

Anyway, I'd say give it a week at least, and try out *everything* you *ever* do in Windows and to get more accustomed to some of the OS X quirks. You might discover things that tip the balance over enough that the problems you are having now are more than made up for. Or you may decide you really like doing certain things in OS X but will virtualise/bootcamp another OS for other things.

Personally I loved OS X from the off and still do .. the novelty certainly hasn't worn off here. That said, I didn't get used to it immediately and experienced a shallow learning curve...well, shallow compared to learning Linux. If you don't like the idea of having to "learn" the OS in any way or adapt to a different way of doing things, then give up now :p

Windows is more user-friendly and easier to use than OSX. I have both a PC and a Mac and I use both, but I use the PC more ;)

I actually find OS X far more intuitive, in general, I think it's just personal preference. I do prefer Windows 7 and Linux for a few things though. But yeah everyone varies in what they like/find easy to use/previous experience.

wow.

I was thinking about buyin a mac lately as well, but really worried if i'll like it.

Not many mac stores around where i live, so i cant test it, but i guess i can always order it online, and send it back if its no good.

But i wonder if i'll come to the same conclusion i did with Ubuntu. Fun to set up, and see something new, but after a while it's not very good for general use. But then again. OSX has photoshop and other actual quality programs, so it should be good. i dunno

but im gonna have to get one just to find out for myself.

I wish i knew someone in real life who owned a mac so i can tinker around with it, lol

thanks for your topic.

OS X is generally easier to set up and get going than any Linux distro I have used. For example, the drivers are all installed out of the box.

When I was deciding whether to buy a Mac I found it useful to list all of the software I was using in Windows and check if there were decent options for it in OS X. To date OS X has always had a good option for the software I use most often. The only let downs are not being able to run games or Office 2007 on it .. but that was an excuse for another computer..

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Well I really think the repasting helped if your higher clocks have returned, maybe the next thing to look at is if there is a problem with your case airflow? I guess this because your 3080 has returned to optimal state, but is still staying too warm, which might suggest it was thermal throttling before you repasted, of which the only logical conclusion could be outside factors.
    • Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Flip 8, Z Fold Wide: Everything you need to know by Hamid Ganji Galaxy Z Fold 7 - Image via Samsung The next generation of Samsung foldables is set to be unveiled next month at the second Unpacked event of the year. Samsung’s 2026 foldables are not expected to offer significant upgrades over their predecessors, with the Korean firm instead focusing on design refinements and conventional upgrades such as faster processors and better cameras. However, Samsung is reportedly planning to unveil an all-new passport-style foldable this year to rival Apple’s first foldable iPhone, which is expected to debut this September. Here’s a roundup of everything we know about Samsung’s upcoming foldable devices ahead of their official debut. When can we expect Samsung’s new foldables? The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 series were unveiled in July, and Samsung is expected to maintain this timeframe in 2026. Based on previous reports from Korean sources, Samsung will hold its Unpacked event on July 22 in London, UK, to pull back the curtain on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series. The devices are also expected to hit the shelves a few weeks after launch. However, Samsung has yet to announce an official date. A new naming scheme? One of the most interesting changes we might see this year is a new naming scheme for Samsung’s latest foldables. SamMobile reported that since Samsung is expected to unveil three foldables this year, it has adopted a new naming strategy to simplify product identification for customers. Accordingly, the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 will reportedly be called the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and will serve as the direct successor to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7. The “Ultra” suffix suggests the phone could feature higher-end specifications, such as additional rear camera modules. Samsung’s new passport-style foldable is expected to carry the Galaxy Z Fold 8 name without any suffix. This model is reportedly equipped with two rear cameras. No major changes are expected for the Flip model. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 anticipated specs Rumors over the past few months suggest Samsung is preparing several upgrades for its upcoming foldables, although the devices may continue to rely on larger batteries and faster charging speeds rather than dramatic design changes. The primary focus this year is expected to be the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its wide-screen design. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra official CAD renders - Image via AndroidHeadlines Here are the anticipated specifications for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra based on previous leaks: 6.5-inch outer display and 8-inch inner display, 120Hz refresh rate, and 2,600 nits peak brightness Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage 4.1mm thickness when unfolded and a weight of 210g 200MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera, 10MP or 12MP telephoto camera, 10MP cover camera, and 10MP selfie camera 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired charging Android 17 and One UI 9 As for the Galaxy Z Flip 8, the device is not expected to be a major departure from its predecessor, although it could become slightly slimmer. Expected specifications include: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 or Exynos 2600 processor 12GB of RAM with 256GB and 512GB storage options 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner dispaly and 4.1-inch Super AMOLED outer dispaly 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide camera, and 10MP selfie camera 4,300mAh battery with 25W wired charging Android 17 and One UI 9 Samsung’s foldables are also expected to launch with Gemini Intelligence, Google’s AI suite for automating tasks in Android ecosystem. Moreover, given current memory and component costs, some Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 variants could see a price hike. Galaxy Z Fold 8 adopts a wide-screen design The centerpiece of the upcoming Unpacked event could be the Galaxy Z Fold 8, previously rumored as the Galaxy Z Fold Wide. This model adopts a passport-style form factor and is expected to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone Fold. Galaxy Z Fold 8 official CAD renders - Image via AndroidHeadlines Here’s what to expect: 7.6-inch primary OLED display and 5.4-inch cover display, 120Hz refresh rate, 2,600 nits peak brightness, and 4:3 aspect ratio Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, 12GB or 16GB of RAM, and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage options 4,800mAh battery with 45W wired charging 50MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera, and 10MP selfie camera Android 17 and One UI 9 The three new foldable phones are unlikely to be the only devices unveiled at Samsung’s Unpacked event. The company is also expected to introduce the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and the Galaxy Watch 9 series.
    • Thanks
    • 7 Days: Killing uBlock Origin bypasses, Euro Office faces fire, and will AI replace you? by Aditya Tiwari 7 Days is a weekly roundup of picks of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (black) coffee. This week's highlights include WWDC 2026 announcements, updates on child safety, and Meta's use of data from outside businesses to optimize your feed. Let's get started. You can check out the recent issues of the 7 Days weekly roundup. Killing uBlock Origin bypasses The hottest news of the week was about Google Chrome effectively ending most uBlock Origin workarounds (a free, open-source ad blocker extension) by permanently dropping MV2 extensions and their bypasses. Chrome is transitioning towards newer MV3 extensions. A recent discussion thread highlighted how the latest and upcoming versions of the most popular browser are expected to be its final releases with support for MV2 extensions. Genuinely European? Euro-Office faces fire The recently launched cloud-based office suite, Euro-Office, is facing criticism at home. The LibreOffice developer wrote an open letter criticizing Euro-Office for its marketing claim that it's the "first open-source office suite developed in Europe," since the honor has belonged to OpenOffice since 2001. The Document Foundation has called out Euro-Office, arguing that it can't consider "itself genuinely European" as long as it keeps pushing Microsoft defaults on users, adding that "it has to speak ODF as its mother tongue." Will AI replace you? Image: Tara Winstead via Pexels Microsoft's AI boss, Mustafa Suleyman, said in an interview earlier this year that AI would replace office workers within 12 to 18 months. Joining the ranks of top executives who have softened their stance on AI replacing humans, Suleyman recently walked back his earlier remarks and now says that AI will automate tasks, not replace entire white-collar jobs. He defended his earlier comments by arguing that they referred only to individual actions people perform at their desks. Louis Rossmann wants to sue Samsung Image: Louis Rossmann Tech repair entrepreneur and right-to-repair activist Louis Rossmann contacted Samsung support over a failed 4TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD. After back-and-forth communication, Samsung offered a $330 refund instead of a replacement, but Rossmann found that the SSD was readily available for new buyers at a higher price. He has issued a formal 60-day notice and intends to file a suit in Texas small claims court, as Samsung's actions reflect a failure to honor its warranty obligations. Samsung reached out to Neowin to clarify its updated stance that customers in such situations will receive a refund equal to the product's current market price. Child safety or mass surveillance? Image: Jonathan Borba via Pexels Signal accused the UK government of using child safety and device-level explicit content ban as a cover for mass surveillance. Calling the plan "dystopian," Signal warned that it violates everyone's fundamental right to privacy. The messaging platform believes that the government should keep children "safe" and "protected," but it should do so through social services and education. Fears of social media regulation Image via DepositPhotos.com More governments across the globe are tightening their grip on social media and bringing stricter regulations in the name of child safety. Bluesky COO, Rose Wang, warned that social media regulations could destroy competition from small startups and that heavy regulatory compliance costs favor deep-pocketed tech giants while locking out new entrants. Our Features Image: Pexels Our coffee-powered team publishes a platter of editorials, opinion posts, and guides. Here's what they got for the week: UK **** blockers are a looming privacy disaster, we must be able to see the source code This week in software news Image: Proton Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week: Dark clouds over PC makers: Building on our report from last month, Dell officially acknowledged that its own remediation software was causing BSOD issues and unexpected system restarts. HP is also facing equally frustrating issues involving recent Windows Secure Boot updates on Windows 11. Controversial icon: Spotify finally removed the disco ball icon from its app and replaced it with the familiar flat green logo after weeks of mixed reactions online. While some people don't like the new design, the retro, three-dimensional look has generated a following of its own. Even other brands are coming up with their versions of the disco logo. NVIDIA fixes stuff: A new hotfix driver 610.52 fixes various issues related to monitors and displays, noting that G-SYNC-related frame pacing troubles should now be resolved on Ada Lovelace GPUs. The feedback thread also points out that the hotfix patches a BSOD issue. FIFA World Cup tracker: Opera is redesigning its Android browser with a built-in football tracker for the upcoming World Cup in the US. The new homepage is now "more immersive" with easier access to common browser features. Command line for Proton: The Swiss technology company has launched a command line version of the Proton Drive, which you can use to manage your encrypted files directly from a terminal across all major platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This week in hardware news Image: Thermaltake Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week: Intel and AMD PCs in one case: Thermaltake's CAPO X dual-system chassis brings you the best of both worlds by supporting two microATX (mATX) motherboards and up to two 360 mm AIO liquid coolers. If you want ideas, maybe you can use one as your main PC and another as an AI agent. Google Tensor production: While TSMC will remain the lead producer, the search giant is reportedly in talks with Samsung to hand over part of the production of its next-generation Tensor AI chips. The upcoming TPUs are reportedly codenamed “Icefish” and will be produced using Samsung's 2-nanometer process technology. Lethal fake phone chargers: UK-based consumer rights organization Which? has warned that "potentially lethal knock-off chargers" are still being sold on online marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay, despite the dangers of such chargers having been exposed. This week in Google News Image: Google Catch up on some of the latest Google news updates that arrived throughout the week: Sliding into DMs: You might remember that YouTube had a direct messaging feature back in the day. It's now rolling out a revamped direct messaging inbox that lets you share Shorts, videos, and live streams and have conversations about them. New in NotebookLM: The AI-powered note-taking app got some new agentic capabilities and more advanced reasoning, thanks to support for Gemini 3.5 and Antigravity. NotebookLM can now generate outputs in more formats, making it easier to start new projects with less information. This week in Apple News Image: Apple Catch up on some of the latest Apple news updates that arrived throughout the week: WWDC 2026: This week was all about Apple's annual developer conference, where the iPhone-maker finally unveiled an upgraded Siri AI and a platter of new Apple Intelligence features. Siri AI now has a cross-platform app, which is supported on select models of iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. What's different about WWDC: I wrote a detailed feature this week discussing how Apple changed the WWDC keynote this year, blurring the lines between its operating systems. Apple didn't have dedicated segments for its operating systems this year and didn't even publish the official press releases. Liquid Glass slider (finally): It's that time of the year when Apple previews fresh updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other platforms. A new transparency slider for Liquid Glass is coming to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate. Is your device supported?: If you're wondering whether your Apple device supports the new developer beta builds, you can check the respective compatibility lists for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and watchOS 27. Siri AI not coming to Europe: Yes, that's true due to complications related to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). While Apple penned a blog post to tell its side of the story, a European Commission spokesperson told Neowin that the DMA does not prohibit Apple from launching its services in the EU; the company is simply required to comply with the law. New child safety features: Apple announced a trove of new safety features for kids, including a simpler setup experience for parents, Ask to Browse, Time Allowances, and a redesigned Screen Time UI. Parents can now visit a new website to find answers to common questions around child safety features. More cloud power: Apple's Private Cloud Compute cloud infrastructure will now run beyond its own data centers for the first time. It's working with Google and NVIDIA to run new Apple Intelligence workloads on Google Cloud systems powered by NVIDIA GPUs. This week in Meta news Catch up on the latest Meta news updates that arrived throughout the week: Data from outside: Meta is rolling out a new update globally to personalize your AI responses and primary feeds using data from outside businesses. It already targets ads based on shopping activity, but the latest development enables it to personalize other "parts of your experience." There is a toggle in the Settings to disable activity from other businesses; however, it won't prevent companies from sending your data to Meta. Level playing field: The European Commission has ordered the social media giant to restore access to WhatsApp for third-party AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and Copilot. Meta previously blocked rival AI chatbots from operating on WhatsApp, prompting the Commission to launch an antitrust investigation. Spying on users: On the flip side, WhatsApp accused the Israeli cyber-intelligence firm, NSO Group, of deploying a fresh wave of targeted "spear phishing" attacks against its users, which were thwarted by WhatsApp's security teams. Reorder profile grid: Adding some customization for the profile grid feature, Instagram now lets you rearrange posts in your profile without deleting and reuploading content. Go to your profile and long-press any thumbnail to find the "Reorder grid" option. This week in AI news Catch up on the latest artificial intelligence news updates that arrived throughout the week: Claude RAM hogger: Windows users are getting infuriated by Claude Desktop's hidden 1.8GB Hyper-V VM bug, which spins up if you use Claude Cowork or agent mode even once. It shows a Vmmem process in Task Manager, indicating 0% CPU usage but 1.8GB of RAM usage. Claude Fable 5: The new state-of-the-art AI model from Anthropic beats OpenAI's ChatGPT-5.5 in multiple AI benchmarks. Claude Fable 5 sits above the Opus models and outperforms most other generally available models across knowledge work, vision, scientific research, and more. However, the model was abruptly suspended after receiving an export control directive from the US government. Stack Overflow for AI agents: The popular Q&A platform has launched Stack Overflow for Agents in beta, which AI agents can use to share, find, and reuse coding knowledge. It explained that AI agents operate in isolation, creating an Ephemeral Intelligence Gap, and valuable tokens are wasted on something another agent has already solved. Upgrading Codex: OpenAI is buying a company called Ona, which makes secure cloud execution and orchestration technology for developers. The ChatGPT-maker aims to make Codex agents run for days without being tied to a local machine or an active session. It also announced a new developer mode in Chrome. This week in open-source news Catch up on some of the latest open-source and Linux updates that arrived throughout the week: Linux 7.1 rc7: Linux Torvalds dropped an optimized rc7 with crucial fixes for AMD and laptop hardware. He said that a stable version of Linux 7.1 could arrive next week, adding that the latest RC is not small, but smaller than recent releases. Alpine Linux 3.24: The latest Alpine Linux release added support for COSMIC Desktop, Linux 6.18, IPv6 installer support, automatic serial console configuration for headless setups, and major package updates and removals. This week in Microsoft News Microsoft had to shut down more than 70 GitHub repos after they were compromised by malware, Teams is getting a controversial tracking feature that users may hate, and the company explained why the new update makes PowerToys faster. You can check out Taras's freshly baked Microsoft Weekly roundup to catch up on all the interesting stories this week. This week in gaming The latest issue of Pulasthi's Weekend PC Game Deals curates several exciting games on sale this week. On the Epic Games Store, the new titles on display for grabs include Warhammer 40K Speed Freeks and The Ouroboros King. NVIDIA GeForce NOW's summer sale lowered the prices of both the Performance and Ultimate membership options for a limited time period. Meanwhile, the Xbox Free Play Days brought Undead Labs' post-apocalyptic title State of Decay 2, as well as two Team17-published titles. That said, here are some more stories from the gaming world: Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen expansion to bring snowy region, new updates also coming Playground drops 30 minutes of Fable gameplay, shows off life sim and morality system Playground Games confirms Forza Horizon 6 save wipe bug Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations expansion gives the Slayer a brutal Chain Spear State of Decay 3 is out in 2027, reveals Plague Nests with new co-op gameplay trailer From the review corner This week, Taras got his hands on the DuRoBo Krono portable e-ink reader, which comes with a $279 price tag. It's a smartphone-sized device with a rotating dial, sitting somewhere between premium and cheap in terms of build quality. Speaking of the pros, the physical controls are cool, the smart dial is useful, the battery life is good, and Android 15 has no-nonsense software. On the flip side, the device lacks software customization, the built-in AI needs improvement, the smart dial is a bit wobbly, and there is no ambient light sensor. EA Sports UFC 6 EA Sports UFC 6 does a better job at onboarding new players than most fighting games, according to Pulasthi's detailed review. The game comes with rewarding combat systems, top-notch animation, impressive impact physics, and visible damage on fighters. However, the menus lag a lot, grappling isn't very fun, and the flow state feels a little misplaced. More price drops! We got you covered with some hot tech deals all week. For some reason, if you missed out on a great discount, here is a summary of some recent deals that are still alive: GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC ICE 16G - $649.99 (13% off) 1TB Samsung T7 Portable SSD - $189.98 (31% off) AirPods Pro 3 - $179 ($50 off) Edifier R1280Ts Powered Bookshelf Speakers - $129.99 (24% off) To view all of our recent deals, click here. So, these were some of the biggest tech news and other updates from this week. There will be more issues of our 7 Days series in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing to extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option. Have a great weekend!
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      agatameier earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      505
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      196
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      141
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      90
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      81
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!