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Different Standards Just like other PC components, motherboards have standardized form factors, including ATX, MicroATX, and Mini-ITX. Nearly every motherboard for home computers at your local PC shop or online will be in one of these flavors. Standardization means you can easily find a processor, RAM, power supply, and storage that works with your motherboard. It also opens up the choices for desktop PC cases. Numerous cases support all three of the major motherboard sizes....

GPU Launches Are Always Exciting The launch of the RTX 3000-series was marred by bad timing and bad luck: a global supply chain disruption, combined with a hot cryptocurrency market, drove up prices and hurt availability. It was hardly possible to get a 3000-series GPU at MSRP until nearly two years after their initial release. Limited supplies and inflated prices have compelled gamers to hang on to their GPUs longer than they might normally, and the general sentiment leading up to NVIDIA’s GTC has been “I’ll wait for the 4000-series to release before I decide....

However you’re getting Windows 10 — either with the free upgrade offer or on a new PC — you’re probably getting Windows 10 Home. You can pay to upgrade that Windows 10 Home system to Windows 10 Professional — but should you? If you already had a Professional edition of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, don’t worry. The free upgrade offer will give you Windows 10 Professional. Otherwise, you’ll need to shell out some money if you want the below extra features....

They say you can never have too many tools, but everyone has to start somewhere. If you’re just getting into the DIY scene, are are some basic tools that everyone should have in their toolbox. These are tools that are pretty much an absolute must if you plan on doing any kind of DIY work around the house, even if it’s as minor as hanging curtains or picture frames on the wall....

Getting Office Workers Into Computing In the 1960s and 70s, most computers were large, expensive devices operated using batch-processing with punched cards or through interactive command-line operating systems accessed through teletypes or video display terminals. They weren’t very user-friendly and required specialized training to program or operate properly. In the early 1970s, Xerox began to experiment with a new graphical approach that culminated in its revolutionary Xerox Alto computer, which utilized a mouse and a bitmapped display....

In late 2014 Microsoft released the Band. It came out of left field. Rumors had been rolling around about Microsoft possibly doing a wearable, but details were non-existent. When it came out people were… well, confused. And rightly so. What is this thing? Is it a fitness tracker? Is it a smartwatch? Is it any good? The answer to all three questions is yes. Fitness trackers are hot right now....

If you’ve bought a pair of wireless Sony headphones in the last few years, you might have noticed that they claim to support LDAC. So what exactly is LDAC, and what benefits does it confer? LDAC Is a Wireless Audio Codec LDAC is a proprietary wireless audio codec developed by Sony. It’s not clear exactly what the acronym stands for since Sony has never defined it. The codec is different from older Bluetooth streaming technologies in that it uses a combination of lossless (when possible) and lossy compression to deliver high-resolution audio....

English Words Spelled with Numbers and Symbols Leetspeak is an internet phenomenon that predates the World Wide Web. It’s a style of typing that replaces English letters with similar-looking numbers or symbols, and its closely tied to early hacking and gaming culture. You’ve probably run into some of the more common examples of leetspeak, like 1337 (leet), n00b (noob or newbie), and hax0r (hacker). But these are just the most basic forms of leetspeak....

In the Android world, you’re either using SMS or RCS for text messaging. You may have noticed some weirdness when texting people from your Samsung Galaxy (or another Android device). Certain features aren’t always available. Why is that? SMS vs. RCS When you send a text message from an Android device, it’s either SMS or RCS. SMS (Short Messaging Service) is the standard that has been around for many years....

If you hear a distinct “clicking” or tapping coming from your PC, it’s probably worth investigating. Let’s take a look at some problems that can cause your PC to make a clicking noise. PCs make a lot of sounds. Some of them—like the hum of an optical drive spinning up or whine from a coil—are pretty normal. Others, like cracking or popping sounds from your speakers, are frustrating, but not necessarily something to worry about....

The new Clock app features a completely overhauled visual style that blends nicely with the rest of Windows 11. That’s all well and good, but the company is really touting the new Focus Sessions feature that lets you lock into your work and get more done without any third-party software. You can use the Clock app to set a Focus Timer that’ll block out distractions for however long you choose....

Hulu isn’t the catch-all movie and TV streaming service that it once was, but it still has a massive library from FOX, ABC, and Disney, as well as its own original content. Now you can get the service for a year for just $1.99 per month. Hulu has two main subscriptions: a cheaper plan with advertisements for $7.99 per month (or $79.99 per year), or a plan without advertisements (and the addition of offline downloads) for $14....

Ask anyone who’s tried to make an extra buck or two on Wall Street on their own, and they’ll all tell you the same thing: investing is hard. But, thanks to a new collection of apps, now it doesn’t have to be so confusing that only the financial elite can really understand when the market is up, when it’s down, and what a couple of grizzly bears have to do with the whole thing....

If there is one thing that we can all agree on, it is that slow download speeds are extremely frustrating. In the quest for better download speeds, is it possible that changing DNS servers will have a positive effect? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a curious reader’s question. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

If you start encountering bad sectors on your hard drive and decide to format it, will it “remember” those bad sectors afterward or not? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post helps answer a curious reader’s question about bad sectors and formatting. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites. Photo courtesy of Scott Schiller (Flickr). The Question SuperUser reader chris wants to know if a hard drive remembers bad sectors after formatting:...

If you have a VBA function that turns Microsoft Excel into a CPU munching beast, is it possible to tame things down so that you can continue to use your computer for other activities while Excel is finishing up? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post comes to the rescue to help a frustrated reader get Excel back under control. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

A lot of Mac tutorials mention the Library folder, which is where your macOS applications store things like settings and caches. Some settings can only be changed by editing files in the Library. But the Library is hidden by default. That makes sense: messing with this folder can break programs pretty quickly, so it’s not something you want every user finding. But if you consider yourself an informed user, and want to open your Library folder, here’s how....

At the core, iPhones are communication devices. So it makes sense that you’d want to put the people you talk to the most front and center. We’ll show you how to create home screen shortcuts for your favorite contacts. Surprisingly, Apple doesn’t make it clear that it’s even possible to do this. The functionality is buried in the powerful Shortcuts app. It takes a bit of work to set up, but it’s not super complicated....

The MetaMask mobile wallet is most useful with tokens and apps based on the Ethereum blockchain. It can be used with NFT marketplaces like OpenSea or Foundation. You can also buy and sell tokens with DEXs like Uniswap. Many other dApps are compatible with MetaMask, too. How to Install MetaMask on iPhone or Android You can download the MetaMask app on Android or iPhone. We’ll be using an iPhone as the example here....

The ability to have multiple desktops was missing for a long time in Windows, until Windows 10 finally added it. We’ve covered how to use virtual desktops in Windows 10, but there’s at least one missing feature that we’ll show you how to add. RELATED: How to Use Virtual Desktops in Windows 10 Virtual desktops allow you to separate your open programs into categories, such as for work, gaming, checking social media, or web surfing....