BEST SECURITY SUITES 
Revealed:Should you pay or choose the free version?.

18-core Intel
It’s big and it’s fast, but can it unseat AMD?.

Microsoft Surface Pro X
The best 2-in-1 yet? Full review..

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.

MONEY SAVER OF THE MONTH
With electricity bills set to soar, how can technology help you cut your costs? We reveal some simple tips and explore a set of more advanced options...

INSTANT GRATIFICATION OF THE MONTH
Can’t wait for Microsoft to offer Windows 11 via an update? We explain how to install it right now, and how to bypass the CPU and TPM requirements.

May 2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

December 2023

November 2023

October 2023

Summer 2023

September 2023

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

March 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.

1. You agree that the use of Magzter.com, the application and its services, are at solely at your own risk. Neither Magzter.com nor its associates nor employees nor third party content providers guarantee that the service will be completely uninterrupted or error-free or foolproof against miscreant activities. Nor do they warranty that you will get the exact results as expected or promised by the website or product.

11. THE SERVICE AND ALL PUBLICATIONS ARE PROVIDED ON AN 'AS IS' AND 'AS AVAILABLE' BASIS. MAGZTER, ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS AND AGENTS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER MAGZTER NOR ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS OR AGENTS, MAKES ANY WARRANTY THAT (I) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (II) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (III) THE INFORMATION THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR THAT MAY BE CONTAINED IN THE PUBLICATIONS WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, OR (IV) THE QUALITY OF ANY PUBLICATIONS OR THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBTAINING AND MAINTAINING RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY AND YOUR DEVICE. MAGZTER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INABILITY TO DOWNLOAD CONTENT. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR MOBILE DEVICE OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM MAGZTER OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY.

2. You will maintain and promptly update that information to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your computer, and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account, including the selection and use of all content and services.

2.You will maintain and promptly update that information to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your computer, and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account, including the selection and use of all content and services.

3. In no event will Magzter.com or any person or entity or third party involved in the creation, production and distribution of the content on the website and the application be liable in contract or legally for any damages, including and not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, special, and consequential incurred to you while or on using Magzter.com. By registering on the website or downloading the application, you agree that the provisions mentioned in this section shall apply to all use of and content on the website and the application.

3. Without prior written or authorised permission from Magzter, you should not modify, copy, distribute or sell any content obtained from Magzter as everything published here is the proprietary property of Magzter or its licensors. As such unauthorised use may also violate applicable laws including copyright and trademark laws, Magzter strictly prohibits these and will terminate your access and account if any such illegal activity is proved or detected. You should also stand liable for the damages caused by these unauthorised activities. Except as permitted by the Publication's lawful owner, you acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading Publications accessed through the Service. Except as explicitly required under copyright law or permitted by the features of the Service you may not modify, reverse engineer, publish, transmit, display, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works of, or in any way commercially exploit or provide to a third party the content of the App, the Publications, or any portion of them without the express permission of Magzter and the owner of such content. We do not grant you any licenses, express or implied, to the intellectual property of Magzter or Magzter's licensors.

5. You specifically acknowledge that Magzter.com is not liable for any kind of defamatory or offensive or illegal conduct of other users or third parties or their content and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with you.

8. Magzter reserves all rights to monitor the content published and inputted by you for the purpose of determining whether you are compliant with these terms and conditions and other operating rules determined by Magzter. Magzter has the right to take decisions about the content and delete them at its own will.

9. Magzter is a distributor and NOT a publisher of the Publications and so Magzter has no editorial control over the content, including opinions, advice, statements, services, offers etc., that is represented in the magazines. So Magzter will not take responsibility for the accuracy or the reliability for any information or facts provided therein or that is made available through the service, by anyone other than authorised Magzter employees who are acting on their official capacities. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered by the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of Magzter. Magzter will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information obtained through the Service or from the Publications. The Service may contain links to other Internet sites and third-party resources and Magzter does not assume any responsibility or liability for communications or materials available at such linked sites. These links are provided for your convenience only. You are solely responsible for understanding any terms and conditions that may apply when you visit or place an order through a third-party site.

Details of the objectionable content, including its link on our platform

Download your favorite titles and read them offline, anytime and anywhere

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines and newspapers from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from {{magCount}} best-selling international titles.

Girish Ramdas is the Co-founder and CEO of Magzter, a New York based startup that has been making waves in the global digital publishing business. Magzter has crossed 80 million users since its inception in 2011 from more than 150+ countries with 1000s of magazines, newspapers and books from more than 4,500 publishers worldwide. He has more than 25 years of experience in cross-platform publishing, including print, mobile, and Web development. During this period, he has co-founded and run three successful start-up businesses. He has enabled magazine companies to go digital and helps them monetize their content across the digital world. Girish's deep industry experience in online, mobile and publishing ecosystems has made him an expert in acquisition, marketing and monetizing digital content across platforms globally.

In the event that you encounter any objectionable content on our platform, we have put in place a grievance redressal policy to address your concerns.

Magzter Inc. (“Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) knows that you care about how your personal information is used and shared. Please read the following privacy policy (the “Policy”) to learn more about our privacy practices. By visiting any of the websites operated by the Company, and any sub-domains thereof, or using any of our mobile applications and other methods of content distribution (collectively, the “Service”), you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Policy, and you hereby consent that we will collect, use, and share your information in the following ways.

Magzter Inc. is the World's largest and fastest growing self-service, cross-platform digital newsstand with over 80 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.

Magzter is committed to providing a safe and secure platform for our users. Please note that Magzter is merely a platform for publishers to distribute their content. We do not control or endorse the content published on our platform. We cannot be held responsible for the actions of our publishers or their content.

Magzter is not responsible for compensating any party that has suffered damages or incurred costs due to any content, or part of the content, that violates their rights. Magzter is not liable to face any legal action in civil court for any violation of rights caused by any content, or part of the content, that infringes the rights of a third party.

Magzter offers the world’s largest {{allyoucanread}} subscription service called {{gold}} which gives digital readers unlimited access to 8,500+ magazines and newspapers for a monthly subscription price. Magzter also has the largest number of stories in the world with its game-changing ezRead 2.0 feature for its apps, which enables smartphone and small-screen mobile users to enjoy magazine content the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with article text that is easy to read and is accompanied by stunning videos and high resolution photography.

Magzter offers the world’s largest “All-You-Can-Read” subscription service called Magzter GOLD which gives digital readers unlimited access to 8,500+ magazines and newspapers for a monthly subscription price. Magzter also has the largest number of stories in the world with its game-changing ezRead 2.0 feature for its apps, which enables smartphone and small-screen mobile users to enjoy magazine content the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with article text that is easy to read and is accompanied by stunning videos and high resolution photography.

Name

Note: This will only share the cover and the publication information, but not the content.

Please fill out this form if you need any help regarding publishing your content on Magzter

Prior to Magzter, he was the President of Dot Com Infoway (DCI) and Galatta Media. His duties included strategic marketing, partnership development, and monetizing content globally. DCI grew from a small team of 3 in 2000 to 300 by 2011 and was dealing with web, software and app development for clients globally.

Since we launched, Magzter has been committed to partnering with global organizations to provide the greatest possible newsstand technology & service to our customers. Whether you are looking to offer magazine subscriptions to your customer database or just want to learn more, Magzter is committed to helping your business grow. To find out more, please fill out the questionnaire below:

The DMCA allows us to restore the removed content if the party filing the original DMCA Notice does not file a court action against you within ten business days of receiving the copy of your Counter Notice.

This Policy covers Company’s treatment of personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) and other information about you and your computer or device that Company gathers when you are accessing the Service. We may collect Personal Information from you, as explained in more detail below, and we use this Personal Information internally in connection with our Services, including to personalize, provide, and improve our products, services, content, and advertising, and to allow you to set up a user account and profile, to contact you, to fulfill your requests for certain products and services, and to analyze how you use the Services. In certain cases, we may also share some Personal Information with third parties, but only as described in point 4.

This title is included with your Magzter GOLD subscription

To analyze the quality of content and provide appropriate feedback to publishers

We have designated a Grievance Officer to address any complaints related to objectionable content.

We request that any complaint related to objectionable content be sent to the Grievance Officer through email to the above-mentioned email address. We also request that you provide the following details when making a complaint:

and the App that provides you the capability to order, subscribe to and receive the delivery of various magazines, books, news and magazine and publication related content (collectively known as 'Publications') and to have these digital versions of the Publications delivered to you

c. We also collect information associated with your use of the application in order to make personalized recommendations. If you provide your third-party account credentials to us, you understand some content and/or information in those accounts (“Third Party Account Information”) may be transmitted into your account with us if you authorize such transmissions, and that Third Party Account Information transmitted to the Service is covered by this Policy.

f. The Personal Information we collect allows us to respond to your requests, improve our products and services, customize the advertising and content you see, and communicate with you about new products.

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.

n. We will also use usage information in order to ensure users adhere to our Terms of Use. For example, a user’s usage information will help us confirm that a user only downloads a magazine or other content a permitted number of times or to a permitted number of devices.

which gives digital readers unlimited access to 8,500+ magazines and newspapers for a monthly subscription price. Magzter also has the largest number of stories in the world with its game-changing ezRead 2.0 feature for its apps, which enables smartphone and small-screen mobile users to enjoy magazine content the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with article text that is easy to read and is accompanied by stunning videos and high resolution photography.

{{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 - April 2020

PC Pro Magazine - April 2020

In this issue

PC Pro Magazine Description: