In this issue:

Unveiled: Hot hardware releases We take a first look at a 7nm AMD chip, a true Dell XPS 13 rival and a PDA with a backlit keyboard.

How to live the smart home dream Our homes are getting smarter, but how do you implement a smart home? Darien Graham- Smith gets hands on with the tech.

DARIEN GRAHAM-SMITH It’s time for Microsoft to deactivate its kill switch and much more...

MONEY SAVER OF THE MONTH
You don’t need to invest thousands of pounds in solar panels to beat the energy system. Some clever software, and batteries in their various forms, could do the trick.

Affinity takeover leaves customers wary
Canva moves in for British company that took on Adobe with subscription-free software.

7 habits of effective IT pros
The PC Pro team combine their collective wisdom to create seven tips for keeping on top of your IT game..

REVIEW OF THE MONTH | Dell XPS 14 (2024)

If you’re wondering what an AI PC looks like,
this is it. In fact, chances are that almost every laptop we review in 2024 will tick the AI PC box, because as we discuss in the lead feature what that really means is that it has a processor with a builtin neural processing unit (NPU). Where the XPS 14 differs from most is its minimalist design and gorgeous OLED panel. If Plato were alive today, he would have given it the nod as the aesthetically ideal laptop. But what’s it like to use?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OF THE MONTH

Here’s a question that Gemini, GPT and Llama all struggle to answer: what is an AI PC? And why should anyone buy one in 2024? Luckily our feature is here to help

COPILOT OF THE MONTH
Microsoft has finally released a version of Copilot to boost Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more. We reveal what it’s good for – and whether it’s worth the money.

PREDICTION OF THE MONTH
You can currently bag a gigabit fibre bargain thanks to the rise of numerous challengers to BT and Virgin. But is it a smart long-time move? Barry Collins investigates.

SHOW AND TELL OF THE MONTH
We trawled the CES halls to find the most exciting products – and the bizarrest ones. With 37 innovations, ranging from earbuds to magic mirrors, something is sure to pique your interest.

Chatbots that sound just like us
New technology that can clone any voice with only a few seconds of reference audio will make AI assistants sound less synthetic..

The civil war at OpenAI
The sacking and rehiring of Sam Altman exposes the internal strife at the world’s best-known AI company.

Firefox edges closer to being put down
Mozilla’s once all-powerful browser looks set to drop below a critical user threshold...

The smart meter switch-off
The decline of 3G is bad news for the nation’s smart meters.

Hot hardware of the year
We pick 20+ of the hottest bits of kit and software from this year’s PC Pro podcast.

AWARDS OF THE YEAR
There’s nothing quite like drawing upon the experience of others when planning a purchase, which is why we recommend you keep this guide with you for the next year.

PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR
If you have a safe, we suggest you place your credit cards inside it before turning to p36 and discovering which products made our cut for the best of 2023.

PERSON OF THE MONTH
Alan Sugar
While Alan Sugar didn’t have much to do with the making of the CPC series, he definitely had a vision for the machine. Here, we give an extremely long-term review of an all-time classic machine.

POWER-UPS OF THE MONTH
Just as Windows 10 is the dominant OS in the world, Chrome dominates for web browsers. But don’t keep it running in its bland, vanilla form: power it up with these ten add-ons.

MILLISECOND SAVER OF THE MONTH
In its search for the perfect racing car, Formula 1 has switched to Amazon Web Services to help with R&D. But is the end result actually a better race? Barry Collins investigates.

Google’s “DRM for the web”
Google says it wants to make the web a safer place with a new standard, but rights advocates are worried.

Build your own Spotify for free
Nik Rawlinson explains how to break free from Spotify’s monthly bills by running your own free music server that works with Alexa..

Hackers attack live satellite
Competition tasks participants with hacking a satellite in Low Earth Orbit.

Game over for gaming PCs?
Looking for the ultimate gaming experience? We examine the alternatives to a hulking great gaming PC, from cloud streaming to consoles.

Welcome to the Fediverse
Darien Graham-Smith looks at the free, community-run apps that could usurp the tech billionaires’ social networks..

AI HELPERS OF THE MONTH
Ignore the hype around AI and start putting it to work. We pick out ten brilliant apps that could enhance your workflow, give you new skills and generally make your life better.

SCANDAL OF THE MONTH
Chances are that either you or someone you know has been affected by e-crime. Lee Grant explains what’s happening, why it’s happening and what you can do about it.

TRASH TALK OF THE MONTH
Microsoft just can’t help itself from adding more stuff to Windows. Some of it is genuinely useful, but much seems to be there to annoy us. Or worse. Here’s how to take back control.

MUSKY READ OF THE MONTH
He reportedly thinks of himself as something of an Iron Man, but how exactly has Elon Musk changed the world? James O’Malley speaks to those who worked with him to find out.

THE LABS IN ONE NUMBER
Projectors have moved on from the whirring monsters still found in most meeting rooms. They’re mobile, they’re bright and they’re also smart. We review 13 contenders, including the clever Samsung Freestyle, which weighs a mere 800g..

LIFE-CHANGING TIPS OF THE MONTH
Okay, we may be over-egging this one – but out of our 50 time-saving tips, we’re pretty sure there must be one or two that will improve your working life!

VACATION OF THE MONTH
We don’t allow Lee Grant to take time off, instead forcing him to play a simulation of his day job. And then force a Tube driver, football manager and pilot to do the same.

RESCUE OF THE MONTH
The NHS is under more pressure today than it has been for generations, and while technology is never going to solve all its problems, it can help. Barry Collins explains how.

MONEY-SAVER OF THE MONTH
Office Online doesn’t gain many headlines, but it’s a superb way to tap into Office without paying Microsoft a penny – and we also explain how to integrate it with LibreOffice.

HELPER OF THE MONTH
Ignore the hype – we care about what AI can genuinely do for you today. And it’s more than chatting to a robot. We talk to the people who are putting AI to proper work.

OPPOSING FORCES OF THE MONTH
America and China aren’t just facing it off on the geopolitical front but on the cutting edge of technology, too. James O’Malley investigates the chip wars..

SHOW AND TELL OF THE MONTH
The world’s biggest technology show was back with a vengeance this year, with the likes of LG and Samsung wowing the crowds. But what did the show reveal about the year ahead?

FIREWALL OF THE MONTH
We review Intel’s NUC 11 Essentials barebones PC on p60, which would be a perfect candidate for an always-on home firewall – and we explain how to set this up, for free, on p34.

Build your own firewall in 30 minutes
Worried about intruders and hack attacks? Nik Rawlinson shows how to take charge of your network security with the free pfSense firewall..

DIET ADVICE OF THE MONTH
It’s tough to change habits, especially when they’ve been ingrained for years, but follow our tech nutritionists’ advice and you could save hundreds of pounds per year.

EXTREME BROADBAND OF THE MONTH
If you can remember internet connections of 55.6Kbits/sec (or less!) you might have some sympathy for scientists in Antarctica who still make do with 80Kbits/sec. Here’s their story..

BROADBAND BARGAINS OF THE MONTH
BT would have had a lovely monopoly if it hadn’t been for that pesky Ofcom, and now the big ISPs have even more rivals thanks to gigabit fibre upstarts. Should you switch?

GUIDED TOUR OF THE MONTH
The motherboard is often ignored for its more glamorous component counterparts, but Darien Graham-Smith thinks it needs a closer inspection to reveal its inner magic..

YOUNG DEVELOPER OF THE MONTH
Like many a 15-year-old, Alistair Smith didn’t want to do his homework. Unlike his counterparts, though, he used his coding skills to cheat the system. This is his story.

HOTTEST STORY OF THE MONTH
So how do you spot energy-hungry devices, as we put on the cover this month? With the help of an infrared camera. Paul Ockenden explains all from p111..

AWARDS OF THE YEAR
If you buy one issue of PC Pro each year, make it this one (or better yet, subscribe – see p108!). Because this month we include a full breakdown of brands’ reliability and service across dozens of categories.

PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR
Our final set of awards is dedicated to the stand-out products from the year, as decided by our writers and editors. And we review hundreds, so to make this shortlist is quite an achievement..

BIRTHDAY OF THE MONTH
Windows 11 is a year old, and to celebrate Microsoft has lavished the OS with gifts: a new-look taskbar (again!), much-improved accessibility and Android apps.

DEEP DIVE OF THE MONTH
We all know that DDR5 is “better” than DDR4, but as ever the devil is in the detail. And the timing. Here, we reveal everything you didn’t realise you needed to know..

FIRST STOP FOR GEEKS
We go beyond the obvious apps to discover what our readers use on their digital devices. And here’s a cast-iron guarantee: you will download at least one new app to try.

FIRST STOP FOR EMPLOYERS (& EMPLOYEES)
The balance of power has shifted to the worker, and that means perks. Whether you want to lure fresh talent or simply know your rights as an employee, we have the answer..

SMART ADVICE OF THE MONTH
Alexa, Google and Siri can all add smartness to your home, but people who want real smarts – with advanced features and 100% compatibility – should follow our hard-won advice.

SURVIVAL ADVICE OF THE MONTH
If you want to work anywhere – and we don’t mean the local café – you need tech that will survive bumps and blizzards. Barry Collins enters the world of rugged computing to reveal all.

Windows 11 fixes: make PCs great again:
It’s been a year since Windows 11 was
announced, but many bugs and irritations
remain. We show you how to fix them, and
reveal the £5.99 tool that could make your life a whole lot easier. Plus Jon Honeyball gives his first-year progress report (it isn’t good).

Apple self-repair needs fixing,
says expert: Apple’s new self-service repair programme
gives a glimpse of a world where anything is
possible – even fixing your own iPhone. But
with expensive proprietary tools still needed for most jobs, is it just greenwashing?

REVOLUTION OF THE MONTH
Netflix may be losing subscribers, but people are signing up in droves to watch the output from the likes of Big Jet TV. We speak to the new generation of streaming stars.

The world’s most iconic PCs
From the Xerox Alto and Commodore Pet to the M1 Apple iMac, these are the machines that changed the world, altering perceptions of what computers could be or inspiring a new type of design. We present the most influential PCs of the past 50 years – and some of the near misses.

MWC 2022: beyond the phones
We visit the show halls of the world’s largest mobile technology show – and the virtual halls of the vendors who weren’t physically present in Barcelona – to reveal each company’s big announcements.

Security audit your home network
We all know the importance of online security, but how secure is your own network? Darien Graham-Smith shows you how to ensure you’re protected.

UPGRADE OF THE MONTH
Gigabit broadband sounds like the kind of upgrade all of us want, but will even the most demanding of households take advantage? We dig into the detail from p26.

USEFUL TOOL OF THE MONTH
While phones can’t match the convenience of a printer with a built-in scanner, the quality of their cameras mean they come darn close – and include advantages of their own..

CEREBRAL CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH
AI has been accused of killing professional chess, but there are plenty of reasons to be upbeat about its impact – and ones that may draw you back into playing yourself.

BATTERY BOOST OF THE MONTH
Battery technology has lagged behind every other laptop component. Why? And could we be on the threshold of some big breakthroughs? Darien-Graham Smith reveals all.

Science of keyboards - What's lurking behind the key caps.

10 biggest threats to PC - From malware to your mate Steve.

Apple MacBook Pro - It's brilliant - but is it right for you?

14 tablets on test - Why you shouldn't rush to buy an iPad.

June 2024

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February 2024

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December 2023

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October 2023

Summer 2023

September 2023

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July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

The UK's biggest selling PC monthly magazine, and your source of professional IT news, reviews and tests. Combining in–depth industry comment and analysis with rigorous product testing.

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{{magzter}} is the World's largest and fastest growing self-service, cross-platform digital newsstand with over 87 million users since its inception in 2011 and thousands of magazines and newspapers across 40+ categories and 60+ languages. Headquartered in New York, Magzter has its local presence in Amsterdam, London, Mexico City, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Singapore, and will soon be expanding to other countries. Founded by global entrepreneurs, Girish Ramdas and Vijay Radhakrishnan in June 2011, Magzter enables magazine and newspaper publishers around the world to create and deliver digital editions of their titles to global consumers.

PC Pro Magazine - February 2019

PC Pro Magazine - February 2019

In this issue

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