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How to use Microsoft Teams v1

By admin August 27, 2024

How to use Microsoft Teams v1, Learning how to use Microsoft Teams properly can save you heaps of time. It has a built-in whiteboard, video chat functionality, team organization tools, and integrates well with the Microsoft 365 productivity cloud and its suite of useful applications.

With both educational and business interactions increasingly moving online, it is more crucial than ever to effectively communicate and organize with large groups to achieve common goals, impart knowledge, and create a productive environment for work and learning. Read on to find out more about how to use Microsoft Teams.

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What is Microsoft Teams?

Created by Microsoft as a collaboration app, Teams combines the best features from Microsoft Classroom and Skype for Business to create a program capable of file storage, app integration, videoconferencing, instant messaging, VoIP calling, and granular organization of team and collaborators.

Teams has more than 270 million users around the world and is the most popular collaboration app with businesses. However, it is not only a business app. More than 1 million people use Teams as their primary messaging app as well.

The app itself is packed with functionality. For starters, people can silo different parts of their lives into independent Teams. For example, a person could have personal chats and work chats independent of each other. These are the nuts and bolts of what Microsoft Teams is.

Each Team has one-on-one chats (called Chats), group chats (called Teams Channels), file sharing, group whiteboards, and video calling with up to 100 people. There’s also the ability to schedule events directly in the app so everybody involved receives it in their calendars, and users can set reminders in the app.

Finally, there’s the ability to customize profile pictures for both individuals and entire groups, and users can set their availability status directly in the app so others know if they’re around or not.

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How to use Microsoft Teams v1

How to install Microsoft Teams on PC

Microsoft Teams is free to use. However, if you want to unlock full functionality with seamless syncing between OneDrive, Calendar, To Do, and other Microsoft apps, you’ll want a Microsoft 365 account. For mobile devices, simply head to the App Store, search for “Microsoft Teams,” and install the app.

Most modern Windows PCs come with Teams pre-installed. However, if your computer doesn’t have it, the process is straightforward.

Step 1: Download Teams from Microsoft.

Step 2: Run the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions to install Microsoft Teams.

Step 3: Sign in with your Microsoft account when Teams opens.

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How to set up Teams for individuals

Teams is a fantastic communication tool for everyday use. Not only can you make video calls with your loved ones, but you can also text them via SMS directly from Teams!

Setting it up is straightforward and should only take a minute or two.

Step 1: In Windows, open the Start menu and select Teams. On Mac, open the Launchpad and click on Teams.

Step 2: Sign in with your Microsoft account.

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How to set up Teams for organizations

Businesses and organizations can set up Teams just as easily as individuals. The difference is that the organization will need to invite members to join its Team. This process is simple enough, but each person on the team will need to install and set up Teams on their end.

Organizations will also need an active Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise subscription to work, and they’ll need a valid domain name. Another thing to note is the full Business or Enterprise versions of Teams are not available for academic institutions.

Once all team members have Teams installed, setting up Teams for everybody to use is simple. Here’s how:

Step 1: Open Teams from the Start menu or Launchpad (on Mac).

Step 2: Select Sign up for Teams.

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Step 3: Enter your organization’s identity and press Next.

Step 4: Enter your details, then select Set up Teams.

Step 5: Invite your team to join your organization.

Microsoft will email you a link you can use to invite your team members, or you can click on the Teams icon on the left-side menu and select Invite people at the bottom.

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How to chat in Teams

Chatting is arguably Teams’ strongest suit. Whether as an individual user or as part of an organization, chats keep you connected.

Microsoft Teams has the same chatting capabilities you would expect to find in other chat apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage. It is also a strong competitor to Slack when it comes to team-based chats. You’ll find the app fairly straightforward to use.

Step 1: Select Chat from the left-side menu bar.

Step 2: Select New Chat from the little box with a pen above it. You’ll find this in the Chat window to the right of the menu bar.

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Step 3: Type the name of the person or people with whom you wish to chat in the “to” field.

Teams will automatically suggest people in your organization or your contact list.

Step 4: Write your message in the Type new message field.

You can easily find all your chats in the Chat menu. Teams will keep them the moment you begin a new chat.

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How to use Channels in Teams

Channels are sections of your Team where you can keep everything organized by subject, projects, etc. However, they are called Teams, not Channels. Yet when it comes to usage, Microsoft calls them Channels, and the overall organization is the “Team.” It’s confusing, we know.

Channels (or Teams) are big group chats where entire teams of people (there it is again) can message each other, share files, join video conferences, and more. Admins can set roles within the team, such as Team Owner and Team Member. They can also designate moderators to manage content on the channel … err, team.

Each team automatically comes with a “general” channel, but if you’re running a business, you’ll probably want to break that down into more focused silos. Here’s how.

Step 1: Click on the Teams icon in the left-side menu bar.

Step 2: Click Join or create a Team at the bottom of the screen.

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Step 3: Choose whether to create a team From scratch or From a Group or Team to add any existing group or team contacts.

Step 4: Select Private, Public, or Org-wide for your Team’s privacy level, then enter a name and description.

Step 5: Select Create Team to finish the process. We have a more in-depth look at how to create a team in Microsoft Teams if you wish to explore the options further.

How to share files in Teams

One of Microsoft Teams standout features is the ability to share files large and small with your entire organization. OneDrive and Sharepoint can be embedded right into the application, giving you quick access to your cloud files on every device.

Step 1: From a chat window, select the Attach icon resembling a paperclip and click either OneDrive or Upload from my computer. You can also copy and paste the sharing URL into the compose-message box.

Step 2: Sharing files is exactly the same for channels, but the Attach options also include Recent and Browse Teams and Channels.

Step 3: After the file finishes attaching, select Send to share your file.

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How to use a whiteboard in Teams

Whiteboard access is one of the newest additions to Microsoft Teams, and it turns the platform into a productivity powerhouse for businesses and organizations. You can brainstorm, make diagrams, and doodle mindlessly while everyone watches.

The Whiteboard function is only available during a team meeting. However, admins will first need to enable the ability.

Step 1: (Admins only) Visit the Microsoft Teams Admin Center – opens in a web page.

Step 2: Click Settings.

Step 3: Select Services and add-ins.

Step 4: Scroll down to Whiteboard.

Step 5: Toggle Turn Whiteboard on or off for entire organization to “on.”

Step 6: Head to the Teams icon in the left-side menu bar of the Teams app.

Step 7: Find the Team (aka Channel) with whom you want to share a whiteboard.

Step 8: Click on the *Meet now * icon on the top-right corner of the Team chat (it looks like a film camera).

Step 9: Name your meeting and press Join now.

Step 10: Once in the meeting, select Share.

Step 11: In the Whiteboard section, select Microsoft Whiteboard.

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How to schedule events in Teams

You can easily schedule meetings and live events in Teams. and every member will be notified. Once they accept, the meeting or event will appear in their Microsoft 365 calendar. You can do this with recurring events as well.

Step 1: Go to the Teams tab in the left-side menu bar.

Step 2: Choose the team with whom you want to have a meeting.

Step 3: Click on Schedule a meeting under the chat box.

Step 4: Select Calendar on the left side of the meeting pop-up.

Step 5: Click on New meeting.

Step 6: Select the date and time for the meeting from the pop-up.

Step 7: Select Save.

Step 8: Alternatively, you can use the Scheduling Assistant to help you find the best time for a meeting with all the team members.

Scheduling Assistant is what Microsoft has down with Cortana, their now-defunct virtual assistant. Select this option, and the assistant will show you the free and busy times of your team members.

How to make video calls in Teams

Teams allows you to make one-on-one video calls or conduct group video calls with up to 100 participants. Everyone can chat, share files, and work on a whiteboard during these calls.

Step 1: From your chat list, select the New chat button.

Step 2: Enter the name or names of your contacts into the To field at the top of the chat.

Step 3: Select the Video call button resembling a camera to start a call. Note that you can record a Microsoft Teams meeting if this is required for review later.

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How to share your screen in Teams

You can share your screen with team members during a Teams video call. The process is easy. Here’s how.

Step 1: While in a Teams meeting, click Share in the center of the screen, then select the window, document, or screen to share.

Step 2: When finished, click Stop sharing in the bottom right.

Note that a red border appears around any content that you are actively sharing.

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How to check your messages and notifications on Teams

The Activity feed serves as a one-stop shop for viewing all messages, whether you joined or were given control of a team, replies to your posts as well as posts you’ve liked, suggested posts, and trending posts. You will receive a notification in both the Chat menu and Activity feed when you receive a message, but other notifications can be found only under Activities.

Any DMs sent between individuals or groups will remain private, whereas sending a message in a channel will cause a notification to appear in your Activity feed. Channel messages can also help you send preview cards that detail activities on the Teams app.

Note that if you are unavailable, you can set an out of office message in Microsoft Teams.

How to change your settings on Teams

While Teams offers a plethora of options including language, keyboard shortcuts, and app settings, here’s how to set up the three most important settings. Namely, how to change your profile picture, configure your privacy settings, and choose a theme.

Step 1: Select your Account icon in the top-right corner.

Step 2: Click Settings.

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How to change your profile picture on Teams

Step 1: From the Settings menu, select Edit profile.

Step 2: Select the Upload picture button to open a File Upload window.

Step 3: Select your new image, and click the Open button to upload your photo.

Step 4: Select Save.

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How to change your privacy settings on Teams

Select the Security tab to adjust your security settings, including Do Not Disturb, priority access, call-blocking, read receipts and survey participation.

Note that if you change the read receipt settings, you will have to close all chats for the settings to take hold.

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How to choose a theme on Teams

Step 1: From the Teams app, select your Account icon in the upper-right corner to open the main menu and click Settings.

Step 2: Select the General tab and decide between Default, Dark, and High Contrast.

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How to send an SMS with Teams

The great thing about Microsoft Teams is its ability to send SMS messages to non-Teams users. This function is a perk to using a personal Teams account that businesses don’t have.

Step 1: Click on the Chat tab in left-side menu.

Step 2: Select New Chat.

Step 3: Enter your recipient’s phone number in the To: field.

Step 4: Enter a name for your contact. They won’t see the name you assign — this is solely for your use.

Step 5: Type a message and send it.

Teams is jam-packed with functionality for organizations and individuals. Microsoft has clearly separated it from competitors like Slack by adding a host of features, from Whiteboard to SMS messaging. It’s no wonder Teams is one of the most used business applications in the world today.

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Games

Best Free City Building Games in 2024

By admin May 20, 2024

Best Free City Building Games in 2024, Do you want to play the best city building games for Windows PC? In this comprehensive article, you will learn 8 most popular city building games to play in 2024. Read on to the entire article for complete information.

In the course of playing one of the top city-building games, you will find yourself wasting many hours growing your city, perfecting your infrastructure, and concentrating on your trade. You may construct magnificent cities and give them your own personal touch. Whether you want to construct a modest mountain village, a future tech center, or an ancient empire, you will find what you are searching for in the list that is provided here. Although city-building games often have a high learning curve and a large amount of material, novice players may enjoy themselves by playing any of the games on our list from the beginning.

Top 8 Best Free City Building Games For PC in 2024

Currently, the following are the best city building games that are available for play on computers:

1. Cities: Skylines

For the complete and utter delight of any person’s inner-city planner, this immediate classic captured the essence of SimCity series and boosted it up to a higher level. Create the most popular seaside clubbing zone in the area by devoting a significant amount of time to refining your highway swaps or by using specialized zoning rules.

Players have godlike influence over every area of life, from budgets to bus timetables, so it is easy to spend hours geeking out in the weeds as your city expands. Players have the ability to regulate every aspect of existence. Cities: Skylines – An absolute need for everyone who is passionate about the genre. There are over ten expansion packs available for Skylines, ranging from Parklife to Mass Transit, allowing players to keep things exciting. Overall, it is one of the best city building games that you can play on your PC.

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2. Frostpunk

There is a possibility that this city building game is the ideal choice for you if you are someone who enjoys dark role-playing narratives. Frostpunk is a work of historical fiction that takes place in the late 1800s, after the cataclysmic explosions carried out by two stratovolcanoes, Mount Tambora and Krakatoa, had induced a global volcanic winter.

Constructing a camp for refugees and maintaining civilization is your task as the commander of an institution located in the coal-rich northern region of the country. The repercussions of imposing child labor and 24-hour work shifts while also keeping a restless populace at bay are something that you will have to think about in Frostpunk, in contrast to other top-rated city-building games that may have you focusing on things like commercial and residential taxation.

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3. Anno 1800

Create a time machine since this cool city building game is perfect for those who are interested in history as well as those who create cities. This seventh entry in the Anno series, titled Anno 1800, takes place during the time period known as the Industrial Revolution, which, for those of you who skipped history class, corresponds to the 19th century.

While you are concentrating on the strategy of your craftsmen and inhabitants, who are obsessed with production and consumption, you will need to manage the delicate supply-demand balance that exists between your Old World city and a parallel New World metropolis and manage it. You will be able to minimize the spread of industrialized industries in your city while enjoying the whimsical architecture of the period. However, the drawback of this great city building game is that the PC users are the only ones who can access it.

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4. Tropico 6

You will have another opportunity to manage, influence, and construct your very own banana republic this time around since El Presidente has returned to Tropico 6. The Tropico games are city builders, and if you haven’t played one before, you should know that they let you engage in all of the devious and corrupt activities that you are not meant to do when you are constructing a city. As the undisputed monarch of your island, it is your responsibility to deliver brilliant speeches in order to maintain the happiness of your people while simultaneously maximizing the value of the land and the resources available to you.

Tropico 6 is a game that is a lot of fun to play, not only because it is so insane, but also because it is a city builder that is very enjoyable. DLC, on the other hand, makes it even more enjoyable.

Playing Tropico 6 is such a delightful experience that it is difficult to overstate how much fun it is. Give Tropico 6 a try if you find that the icy industry of Anno 1800 and the dismal survival of Frostpunk are simply too much for you to handle. In short, it is one of the best games for city building available on this list.

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5. SimCity 4

The SimCity series has indeed been around for over twenty years, but no list of good city building games would be complete without including it, even if it were just in an honorary capacity. Despite being the finest game in the series, SimCity 4 was the pinnacle of the genre at the time it was released. It also served as a model for all subsequent games in the series.

This realistic builder, much like its spiritual sequel Cities: Skylines, has a strong emphasis on city planning and challenges players to strike a balance between the many requirements of a developing city and the resources that are available. On the other hand, this best city making game was exceptional for two distinct reasons: Players were able to import their very own Sims into their city, and it was the first game in the genre to allow for 3D rendering.

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6. RimWorld

The next best free city building game that you can play is RimWorld. This is basically a colony simulator; a place where almost anything may take place. You take the helm of a new colony that is being established on a rim world, which is a planet that is situated on the periphery of known space.

RimWorld is one of the greatest simulation games now available on the market, and it is also a game that creates gaming experiences that are both distinctive and unforgettable.

Every single one of your colonists comes with a set of characteristics that are rolled at random and determine how they behave. You can have a genius who is fast to learn but is susceptible to having a mental breakdown, or you might have someone with bloodlust who gets a mood boost from murdering strangers and manufacturing garments out of their flesh. That’s right. All of the characteristics are tongue-in-cheek, regardless of how serious they may get (for instance, nudists receive a mood boost regardless of whether or not they are nude).

The mix of characteristics that are present throughout your colony provides you with an experience that is completely one of a kind each time you open up the game. The character attributes of your colonists will determine how they interact with one another, and this interaction will constitute a significant portion of the foundation for the gameplay. In addition to that, an artificial intelligence (AI) narrator will guide you through your adventure, supplying you with random occurrences depending on the level of difficulty you choose and the settings you choose for the game.

RimWorld is a story generator. It’s designed to co-author tragic, twisted, and triumphant stories about imprisoned pirates, desperate colonists, starvation and survival. It works by controlling the “random” events that the world throws at you. Every thunderstorm, pirate raid, and traveling salesman is a card dealt into your story by the AI Storyteller. There are several storytellers to choose from. Randy Random does crazy stuff, Cassandra Classic goes for rising tension, and Phoebe Chillax likes to relax.

Your colonists are not professional settlers – they’re crash-landed survivors from a passenger liner destroyed in orbit. You can end up with a nobleman, an accountant, and a housewife. You’ll acquire more colonists by capturing them in combat and turning them to your side, buying them from slave traders, or taking in refugees. So your colony will always be a motley crew.

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7. Banished

If you are searching for a straightforward city survival game, Banished is the game for you. It does not include a lot of the backstory, bells, or whistles that you will find in more elaborate games. This great city building game considers its residents less as denizens and more as a means to a goal despite the fact that it is an exercise in working (and presumably succeeding) inside the architecture of a planned economy.

In your role as the leader of a community of exiled people, it is your responsibility to delegate responsibilities to the inhabitants, such as fishing and construction, while maintaining a balance between the expansion of the town and the distribution of its resources. It is possible for populations to increase due to births and arrivals, but it is also possible for populations to decrease due to the aging of the population, which is a great variation of the standard paradigm. In sum, it is one of the best city building games in 2024 that you can consider.

In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland.

The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource. They are born, grow older, work, have children of their own, and eventually die. Keeping them healthy, happy, and well-fed are essential to making your town grow. Building new homes is not enough—there must be enough people to move in and have families of their own.

Banished has no skill trees. Any structure can be built at any time, provided that your people have collected the resources to do so. There is no money. Instead, your hard-earned resources can be bartered away with the arrival of trade vessels. These merchants are the key to adding livestock and annual crops to the townspeople’s diet; however, their lengthy trade route comes with the risk of bringing illnesses from abroad.

There are twenty different occupations that the people in the city can perform from farming, hunting, and blacksmithing, to mining, teaching, and healing. No single strategy will succeed for every town. Some resources may be more scarce from one map to the next. The player can choose to replant forests, mine for iron, and quarry for rock, but all these choices require setting aside space into which you cannot expand.

The success or failure of a town depends on the appropriate management of risks and resources.

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8. Aven Colony

The next name on this list of the best free city-building games in 2024 is Aven Colony. This is a game that allows you to set up your very own city right from scratch. The game offers a variety of gameplay options for your ease. From terrestrial to extraterrestrial objects, buildings, vehicles, and more, you will find that this game is quite different than the ones offered before.

Build a new home for humanity with Aven Colony.

Discover Aven Prime – an alien planet of deserts, tundras, and jungles light years from earth. Aven Colony puts you in charge of humanity’s first extrasolar settlement, where you build and expand your small colonies into massive, sprawling cities while dealing with the challenges faced when settling on a new world.

Build your colony’s infrastructure, look after the well-being of your citizens, manage your resources, and guide your colony to prosperity against the backdrop of the harsh and often dangerous realities of the exotic world of Aven Prime.

KEY FEATURES:

COLONIZE AN ALIEN WORLD: Build a new home for humanity on a world with a low-oxygen atmosphere, extreme electrical storms, shard storms, dust devils, deadly toxic gas eruptions from geothermal vents, and days so long they have their own seasons. Explore a variety of biomes, from the lush wetlands environment to the much less habitable desert and arctic.

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Top Rated City Building Games in 2024: Closing Words

So, these were the 7 best city building games in 2024 that you can play on your Windows PC. Hopefully, our detailed list helps you make a better choice. If you have any questions or better recommendations, please feel free to drop us a line in the comments section below.

Additionally, for more tech-related information, you can subscribe to our Newsletter and follow us on Social Media (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, & Instagram) so you never miss out on any tech updates.

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Games

Best Free Mac Games 2024

By admin May 10, 2024

Best Free Mac Games 2024, There is a myth that macOS isn’t built for games and to bust that myth we have listed some of the best free Mac games that you can play in 2024. Playing games is one of the best stress busters which cost nothing. While playing the game you feel alive because you can perform the actions which in real life you desire or aim to do.

There are many types of games that you can play including first-person shooting games, multiplayer competitive sports games, and many others. Whichever genre of games you like you can play them and have a great time.

There are many games available for you macOS that you can play but if you are not aware of them, then worry not as we have listed some of them in this article. You can simply jump on to the genre or category of games that you like and then read more about the game. So without any delay let’s start the list of the best Mac games you should play.

20 Best Free Mac Games You Should Try in 2024

Below we have shared 17 games from various categories that you can play. The categories include First Person Shooter (FPS), Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), and Real-Time Strategy Games.

Best First Person Shooters For Mac

1. Fortnite Battle Royale

On the list of best free Mac games, we have Fortnite Battle Royale. This is very popular among the youth since it was launched. This game took popularity in all major Operating systems, the game is developed by Epic Games. In the game, you will fly and land on an island where you need to survive. To survive you need to kill others and collect the necessary things either from others or from the places on the island.

The game will have 100 players on the same island including you. After everyone has landed onto the plain the time will start and as the time passes the area or the zone where you can survive will reduce which means you will ultimately have to face others and kill them to survive.

This is a great strategy shooting kind of game that you would love. The graphics are also very realistic as you will find houses, guns, parachutes, and other things. Though to offer the best gaming experience you need to have some system requirements fulfilled.

For the game, you need to have a Mac that supports Metal API and that is running on macOS 10.12.6 or newer versions. Other than this you also have to have a 2.4 GHz Intel Core i3 processor, Intel HD 4000 graphics card, and 4GB of RAM at least. If you have a better configuration then the game would run smoothly and have an enhanced game experience otherwise you can face issues while playing.

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2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

If you are shocked after seeing this game on the list then you are not aware of the latest changes. This game was earlier available for a cost but now you can simply have it on your Mac for free and enjoy an unlimited first-person shooting experience. This is one of the best free Mac games to try in 2024. The reason why this game is so popular is because of its eSports titles. You can also take part in the championship and compete with players from all around the world.

In the game, you get two options to choose from: Counter-Terrorists and Terrorists. The terrorist has to plant the bomb whereas the counter-terrorists have to stop them. You will get limited time to perform the work. Other than this you can even join the community and interact with all the other players. You can play this game with your friends as the game offers the freedom to create custom maps.

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3. Paladins

Paladins is another great game that you can try, this game has a very unique set of graphics, and other than this you will experience a whole new world of first-person shooting. If you have played Overwatch then you might find many similarities in Paladins. In the game, there are many characters out of which you can choose your favorite one. The characters are divided into four categories including front line, damage, support, and flank.

Apart from the characters the game has modes to offer newness and keep the interest. This is not just a shooting game as it requires strategy and teamwork to win. This is a very high resolution and high graphics game which has a certain requirement for PC. For all the Mac PCs, to run this game you need at least macOS 10.10 or a newer version, and other than this Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz processor with at least 2GB RAM and a graphics card of a minimum of 512 MB.

If your Mac has it all then you are good to play Paladins, the best Mac game in 2024. The reason why the game is kept lower on the list is because of its incompatibility with an older version of Mac. All in all, this is a great game that you must try as you will not get bored of this fun strategy-based game.

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Best Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) for Mac

4. League of Legends

This is one of the best free mac games according to the gamers as it is among the most played games. In this game, you form a team of 5 players, and with teamwork, you have to defeat the opposition team by taking down their nexus. If you like competitive games then this is a great option for you as it offers a great option of a championship pool that consists of 137 champions where each one of them has different powers and play style.

The champions are divided into categories that include mage, marksman, support, fighter, and tank, each champion has a unique role. If you would play this game for the first time then you might face issues in understanding as it has to offer many things, but you will adapt the champions and the game style which will make you fall in love with this best Mac game. It even offers various maps and modes to keep it interesting for the players. Irrespective of the mode or map you play the objective remains the same that you have to destroy the nexus.

The game requires some set of hardware and software in your system in order to smoothly run the game. Your Mac should run on macOS 10.8.5 or higher version with a minimum of 2GHz processor, 2GB RAM, and graphics card. These are the minimum requirement of the game if you have better versions then you would definitely have a better gaming experience.

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5. DOTA 2

DOTA is another very popular and the best Mac game that you should play. This is an online multiplayer battle arena game that has many similarities to League of Legends. In the game, you have to destroy your opponent’s base with the most important structure. Instead of nexus in the game, you will have Ancient.

Apart from the gameplay, you get many options to choose from the list of heroes. There are hundreds of heroes options available and each one of them has a different style and power. You can choose according to your gameplay and eventually you will learn more about that hero or character.

The best part about this game is that you get all the characters for free, unlike other multiplayer online battles arenas. This game too has some system requirements which you need to fulfill in order to play this game smoothly. The Mac should have OS X 10.9 i.e., Mavericks or a new version. Apart from this, the Mac should have a dual-core processor of intel with 4GB RAM and Intel HD 3000 graphics. If your PC has this configuration then you can play the game and can have average performance. For the users who have better configuration, you will have better gameplay and less lag. The above-listed system requirements are the minimum that you need to have.

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6. Heroes of the Storm

The next game on our list of best free Mac games is Heroes of the Storm. The game is a great alternative to League of Legends and DOTA 2 but it has many different things which you might like. Other than that you would be having the same gameplay of killing enemy base using the champions just like DOTA 2.

Every champion has a different ability which makes it easy for you to play according to your comfort zone. The best part about the game is that it keeps on getting new updates which make it the best Mac game you should try. Other than this you would need a PC that has macOS 10.9 with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Nvidia GeForce 330M graphics card, and 4GB of RAM at least.

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Best Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games for Mac

7. Path of Exile

If you have played the Diablo series game then Path of Exile is a Mac game you should play. Many of the players feel that this game is better than Diablo 3 and which is why we have kept this game on our list of best Mac games you should try. The game has great graphics along with very unique gameplay. Though in the beginning, you can face difficulty as it is very complex. But if you like such games then this is the best pick for you.

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8. World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a very popular game and if you haven’t played this game yet then you are missing so much in the gaming world. This is the most recommended Mac game you should try. According to the players, this is the most addictive game that you will play. In the game, you can choose the character from various classes and races according to your choice. The characters are divided into two segments: the Alliance and the Horde.

You have to take down the monsters that are spread around the world. It moreover has an amazing storyline which makes it even more interesting. Though the game is considered the best Mac game, it is not available for free. You can only play the first 20 levels for free and after that, you have to pay.

For playing this game on Mac you need to have 70GB free space on your disk along with that you need to have macOS X 10.12 or newer versions, Intel Core i5-750M, and at least 4 GB RAM.

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9. Lord of the Rings Online

This is another great MMO game that we consider the best free Mac game. It is developed by Turbine for Middle-East gamers to offer them a unique journey in the game. Most of the elements in the game are available for free but there are some which need purchase and that is totally up to the gamer to buy or not.

This is a role-playing Mac game you should play, all you need to do is pick your character and find the enemies in the Middle-East lands. This is a whole new adventure that you will experience. You need to have a Mac with macOS 10.7.5 with Intel Core i5 processor, 2GB RAM, and Intel HD 3000 graphics at least to run this game. It moreover needs 25 GB of free space on your hard disk for downloading and installation.

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10. Pixel Starships

If you are a fan of space games then you would love Pixel Starships too. The reason why we considered it in the list of best free Mac games is because of its freedom offered for full customizing and building the starships. The game moreover has plenty of aliens, enemies, and other races which makes it more challenging and interesting.

To dominate against the enemies you can team up with friends and other players from the community. The game not only offers an arena for fighting but it also has many other planets and secret spaces which you can explore and find eventually while playing the game. It is a great massive multiplayer online role-playing game where you can do many things other than just fighting or killing enemies.

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Best Real-Time Strategy Games for Mac

11. Starcraft II

Starcraft II is a great game that you would love if you are into real-time strategy games. The game is based on science fiction where you will have an intergalactic war. The best part about the game which impressed us is its storyline. Other than this it has many modes including multiplayer. Though if you are looking for the best free Mac games then skip this game because it is not available for free. Some parts of the game need additional purchases which you need to make in order to play the game.

The game may be new for you but once you get used to it then you will enjoy the matches against opponents. If you want you can even play unranked matches, initially you will have to play unranked matches. After you complete 10 wins then your ranked match section will be unlocked.

The game offers commanders for free, but till level 5 only after that, you would have to purchase. The game requires a Mac with 10.11 macOS with Intel Core 2 Duo, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M, 4 GB RAM, and 30 GB free space.

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12. 0 A.D.

Next up in the list of best free Mac games is 0 A.D. This is a free and open-source game that anyone can play. The game is based on historical war just like Age of Empires II. In the game, you would have to build your own army and train them to survive against the enemies. The game is both single-player as well as multiplayer, you can decide which mode you wish to play.

In the single-player mode, you will be competing against the AI-based enemies whereas in the multiplayer mode you will compete against real gamers in real-time. The game has more than 13 civilizations that progress accordingly with their unique armies and play styles. As compared to other games in this list, 0 A.D. is the most compatible game for Mac. This game is compatible with Macs after 2006, all it requires is macOS X 10.8 and a newer version.

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13. Kingdom Chronicles

Another great story drive game that you would love. Kingdom Chronicles is not a simple and straight game, you need to use your brain to proceed further in the game as you need to build a new strategy at each step. If you lack in making perfect strategy then you might not be able to clear the stage.

In the game, you need to plan out your strategy using many aspects like research, fighting, trading, and building new things. Though to help you there is a magic skill too which will save you from your opponent if you are not prepared.

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Best Card-Based Strategy Games for Mac

14. Hearthstone

Hearthstone is one of the best card stone strategy games which you should definitely try. The game offers cards on the basis of the characters that you have chosen, the characters are from World of Warcraft which is designed by Blizzard. The game uses a turn-based mechanism where two players including you can play and have a deck of the third card depending on the character.

Unlike other paid games Hearthstone is a free-to-play game that requires no payment or fee. You can easily play this game on any platform as it is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. The card in the game is divided into 9 different classes and each class has its own unique quality.

The game has certain requirements which your PC needs to fulfill in order to have a smooth gaming experience. The Mac should have OS X 10.10 with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT, and 2 GB RAM. However the list only contains the games for Mac, so we have only mentioned the system requirements for Macs, if you want to know about other OS then you can click on the below-mentioned website link.

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15. The Elder Scrolls: Legends

This is another one of the best Mac games you should play. The game has similarities with other games on the list. You will get the character from the World of Warcraft universe which other card-based strategy games too have. The great thing about this game is that it is available for free and you will not have to pay any penny at any point in time.

Though if you wish to have the card deck faster than you can purchase it, there is no compulsion for making any purchase. Depending on your choice you can play against AI as well as other online players. To play this game you need to have at least the mentioned configuration. Mac version 10.8 with Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, and Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card. Anything better than these specifications can offer a great gaming experience.

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16. Epic Cards Battle

This is a great game for all the players irrespective of the experience you have. The game has three types of cards including spell, trigger, and creature, other than this it has six factions including hell legion, shrine alliance, nature force, dragon descendants, dynasty rising, and fanstiya empire.

Above all, it has PVP modes and real-time matchmaking too. If you are not satisfied then you can even customize it according to your needs. The game has no such mentionable system requirements. You can easily install and play this game without any issues.

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Best Casual Games for Mac

17. OpenTTD

The last game on your list of best free Mac gems you should play is OpenTTD. This is a very unique game where you are a businessman and the story is based on your occupation only. In the game, you have a transport business where you have to earn by transporting people and cargo. You can use ships, boat planes and other modes of transport for this job.

All the money you will earn will help you in building your own empire. This is a 100-year long game, you have to keep on progressing till 100 years. When you start the game you will be in the early 1950s and at the end directly in 2050. As time will pass you will get new technology and using that you can make your work easy. In multiplayer mode, you can play with more than 255 players at the same time.

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18. Sniper Ops 3D

The last game on your list of best free Mac games that you should play is Sniper Ops 3D. The game is quite interesting with a hooking storyline. Here, your player is designated as a US sniper who should protect the innocents from the vicious attacks of terrorists, Ransom-seekers, kidnappers, and other defaulters.

In the game, you can earn coins by clearing different stages and levels with better rankings. Additionally, you can also upgrade the skills of your player as well as your weapon using the coins earned. The realistic 3D graphics of the game allow you to show your sniping skills in different locations and terror-raging situations.

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19. Call of Duty

If you are still looking for the best free Mac game that you should play, then you should give Call of Duty a try. Call of Duty is an amazing FPS game that allows you to join teams of soldiers and combat against enemies. The gameplay of Call of Duty is just amazing. The game series is amongst the top-rated ones ever. This series alone houses over 20 different games for Mac, Android, Windows, iOS, PlayStations, and various other consoles and operating systems.

IN any Call of Duty series game, you get the use a variety of lethal weapons for combat. From RPGs to Assault Rifles, from Snipers to Pistols, the game offers so many realistic and unrealistic weapons that make the gameplay just out of this world. Immerse yourself in the world of war with Call OF Duty.

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20. Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City is the next best free Mac game that you can play in 2024. This game is quite amazing and allows you to dive into the life of Batman to protect Gotham city from the attack of multiple threats. The gameplay of Batman: Arkham City is quite hooked and keeps you at the edge of your seat. The game has a series of missions and open-world areas to access but in a limited way.

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Download the Best Mac Games for Free

Having a Mac and playing the game of your choice is the best feeling. Now that you also know the best free Mac games, you can simply download them and have a great time playing. We have shared the games in a different section, each section only has the games which fall under that category. We hope that we have helped you in finding the right game of your choice. If we did, please let us know by writing in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you.

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Best Online TikTok Video Downloader 2024

By admin May 3, 2024

Best Online TikTok Video Downloader 2024, This comprehensive guide helps you choose the best online TikTok video downloader to watch the TikTok videos offline. Read the entire write-up for complete details:

Undoubtedly, TikTok is a globally recognized video-focused social media networking service owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance ltd. And, within a very short span of time, it has become a sensational video-sharing platform. It hosts a good variety of short-form videos from distinct genres including stunts, tricks, jokes, dance, entertainment, and pranks with durations from 15 seconds to 3 minutes. The application first stepped in 2016 and the rest is history.

TikTok has everything you love right from dancing, comedy, education, motivation, and whatnot. But the only problem is, you can not use the application without an internet connection. But, there are several applications available that help you download the TikTok videos so you can watch them later.

A List of 7 Best Online TikTok Video Downloaders in 2024 You Can Try

In this article, we are going to show you the 7 best TikTok video downloaders (free and paid). The list contains easy-to-use, secure, and reliable video downloaders. Let’s check them out below:

1. ByClick Downloader

The first best TikTok video downloader on our list is ByClick Downloader. It is a free video downloader but also has a paid version that comes with advanced and special features. Not only for TikTok, but the software is a perfect software to download videos from other video sharing applications like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Vimeo, Instagram, and more. The user can download videos from any of these sites just within a click of the mouse. You can easily download the videos in HD and 4K quality. ByClick Downloader supports all the major platforms including MP3, MP4, AVI, WMV, 3GP, WAV, AAC, and M4A.

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2. 4K Tokkit

Another best TikTok video downloader to get the TikTok videos from profiles and hashtags is 4K Tokkit. It is an excellent video downloader that lets you download different TikTok challenges, captions, hashtags, entire accounts, and song-related videos in good quality. With this downloader, you can get TikTok videos in MP4 format and up to 720p resolution.

Furthermore, with this software, you can also back up your TikTok account with just a single click. Its auto-download feature automatically downloads the latest and trending TikTok clips. This software can also be used to download videos from other video-sharing sites like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and more.

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Read Also : Best Instagram Alternatives For Android – iOS 2024

3. Tiktokfull

This is a more straightforward way to watch the TikTok videos offline. Tiktokfull also helps you in receiving more views for your TikTok videos. It is a completely free TikTok video downloader that downloads TikTok videos without watermark, and also without even asking for any login formalities. It offers an in-built mobile application, especially for Android users. And, iOS device users have to access the web-based application in order to get the TikTok videos downloaded without any hassles.

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4. SnapTikApp

SnapTikApp is another best free downloader that lets you download TikTok videos without a watermark. This downloader helps you get HD-quality videos in just one or two clicks of your mouse. All you need to do is just copy the link of the video you wish to download and paste it into the text bar of SnapTikApp’s webpage. Later on, click on the Download button. That’s it! See how easy it is to download the TikTok videos in good quality with this amazing free TikTok video downloader.

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Also See: 5 Best YTD YouTube Video Downloader Alternative for Mac & Windows

5. TTDownloader

Next on this rundown of the best video downloaders for TikTok is TTDownloader. With this video downloader, you can save TikTok videos in a good quality GIF (Graphics Interchange Format). It lets you save videos on your Android and iOS devices with or without a watermark. It is a 100% free and easy-to-use, lightweight web-based application to download videos from TikTok. Not only from TikTok, but it supports all popular formats including GIF, JPMG, TIFF, and more.

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6. MusicallyDown

Want to download TikTok videos within a few seconds? Then, you must give MusicallyDown a try. Whether you want to download music or a video, this application can download everything you want from TikTok, without any watermark. Similar to other best video downloaders, the application easily works on the web and no installation is required. Just visit the website, copy the video link and paste it, the rest of the application will do.

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7. TikTok Downloader

Here’s the next online TikTok video downloaded for you in 2024. With the help of this tool, you can easily download the video in different formats. You can download the TikTok audio as well with the help of this tool. All you need to do is copy and paste the URL of the video and download it.

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Which is the Best Online TikTok Video Downloader in 2024?

So, these were the most dedicated online Tiktok video downloaders that you can consider in order to watch the TikTok videos offline. If you are looking for our opinion, then we recommend you try ByClick Downloader. It is the best way to save TikTok videos to watch later. It is a versatile application that allows you to download videos from more than 40 sites including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vimeo, and more.

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Application

Best Audio Recording Software For Mac in 2024

By admin May 3, 2024

Best Audio Recording Software For Mac in 2024, If you are looking for good audio recording software, our blog here has listed some of the most popular and top recording software for macOS.

Known for its performance, ease of use and stability, Mac is the most preferred platform for audio and video professionals. Although a Mac comes with built-in audio recording software it cannot support high-end recordings like podcasts and music production.

The powerful macOS together with the best audio recording software will satisfy all your requirements smoothly. So without wasting any more time let’s have a look at some of our picks.

Best Audio Recording Software For macOS 2024

Here, we have listed the best bunch of sound recorder software that will work perfectly on your Mac device. You can refer to our list and choose one as per your desire.

1. Apowersoft

Suitable for both beginners and professionals Apowersoft is great audio recording software for various sorts of sounds. OCG, WAV, AAC are a few file formats supported by it.

It is an indisputable winner in creating and editing HD audio recordings and can also work seamlessly well as a CD ripper and audio converter tool. It is even capable of recording radio, VoIP calls, and streaming audio files.

It can support audio recording for up to 3 minutes in a go and allows you to download music from online music platforms. Apart from this, you can also use it to add music files to iTunes.

Features of Apowersoft:

• The app offers unlimited audio recording for free.

• Apowersoft does not charge any extra money for subscriptions or usage.

• Whether it is a meeting or a lecture, or any other event or audio, Apowersoft offers advanced recording outputs for all.

• With the help of the app, you can also play the recorded audio.

Pros

• Allows audio trimming

• Simplistic UI

• Zero cost

Cons

• Lacks some features that are available in paid alternatives.

• Low reliability.

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2. WavePad

Wavepad tops our list of best audio recording software for Mac for fairly good reasons and is loaded with an array of professional features. It is a great tool if you want to edit and update your audio in a hassle-free manner.

With its huge basket of editing tools, you can cut, copy, delete, paste compress tour recordings along with pitch shifting. Apart from this it also supports various other audio effects like amplify, reverb, equalizer, and many more.

This incredible recording software for Mac you can also princess batch files and enjoy noise removal techniques. WMA, VOX, AIF, MP3 are a few of the file formats supported by WavePad.

Features of WavePad

• The interface of the app is quite understandable.

• On the app, you will see the inputs in the form of waves for ease that are easy to manage and helps you create precise outputs.

• You can choose the output frequency from various values ranging from 6 to 192kHz.

• You can get precise inputs with the help of the app using various filters and effects.

Pros

• Beginner-friendly UI

• Smart and helpful features

• Supports various audio formats

• 8, 16, 24, and 32-bit audio

• Autortrim and audio merging features

Cons

• May contain ads

• Lacks some effects

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3. QuickTime

QuickTime is undoubtedly the best audio recording software for Mac. And, as you may know, it is an in-built utility in Mac that is commonly accessed for video or audio playback. With QuickTime, you can also record your own content as well. QuickTime also allows you to record a video using any connected device or a webcam. Everything is super easy to implement with QuickTime. With minimal customization options, QuickTime’s user interface is really very impressive, clean, and easy to use. Plus, whatever you record will be available in a sole file.

Features of QuickTime:

• This app is more than just a regular audio recording app but a full-fledged multimedia player.

• The cross-platform tool is available for Windows, Mac, and other operating systems.

• You can easily navigate to various features and use them.

• The QuickTime app allows you to use the keyboard for maximum ease.

Pros

• Multilingual UI

• Easy to access and use

• Smart options

• Various OS version compatibility.

Cons

• No advanced recording features

Best Audio Recording Software For Mac in 2024

4. Adobe Audition

If you are looking for multi-purpose audio recording software for your mac that can help you in recording, editing, and creating background score then there is no better option than Adobe Audition. Its high-end recording and editing capabilities make it a perfect pick for not only home users but also for digital audio stations.

Its restoration tools, audio clean-up feature, and a massive array of plug-ins make it a highly powerful tool. Use its various plug-ins to add audio effects, remove noise with precision, and much more.

A great waveform editing environment powered with audio ducking features and AI-enhanced tool is perfect for making your audio recording life easy. Its clean and convenient UI also deserves a mention.

Features of Adobe Audition:

• The app is solely developed for recording and managing audio files.

• The app is perfect for professional music artists, interviewers, and other such personnel.

• A couple of clicks on the app allow you to do so much more than any traditional recording app.

• You can use other audio files as well to remix.

• You can integrate the app and use it with other ones for better results.

Pros

• Smart interface perfect for professionals

• Free sound effects

• Audio mixing features

• Noise-reducing options

Cons

• Limitedness of the trial version

• Can be tough for beginners

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5. Audacity

Next on our list of best sound recorder software for Mac is Audacity. It is an open-source freeware tool. In addition to expert features, it is also loaded with live recording capabilities and multi-track editing. If you want to do the audio recording in CD’S, convert various types of audio files and enjoy a hassle-free digital recording experience, then there is no better tool than Audacity.

Use it to cut, copy, paste, and track various audio tracks within seconds. FLAC, MP2, MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC are few file formats supported by this stunning Mac audio recording software.

Features of Audacity:

• If you want an open-source tool, then Audacity is the best.

• This cross-platformed solution is perfect for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux, and various other operating systems.

• The tool is completely free to use without any hidden or direct charges.

• You can import or export recordings or other audio files using this tool.

• The app shares a plethora of effects that you can use and apply.

• Smart editing options of Audacity are a must to try.

Pros

• Option to select various audio outputs

• Keyboard and shortcut compatibility

• Supports plugins and more

• Easy to use

• Multiple themes of the UI

Cons

• Lack of features than some paid tools

• Complex at times

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6. GarageBand

Powered with a professional and convenient user interface, Apple GarageBand surely deserves a spot on our list of best audio recording software for mac in 2024.

It is a great tool for music enthusiasts if you want to learn online piano and guitar. Enjoy class-apart free artist lessons and instrument classes with this incredible tool. It comes as an in-built feature with every mac device and can be used by both beginners and professionals.

Use it to record and mix audio music with ease. Apart from all the features mentioned above it also supports third-party plug-in along with a 24-bit recording.

Features of GarageBand:

• GarageBand is a well-designed app with tons of different features and accessibility options.

• The app allows you to select the sound of your favorite instruments and play their notes for enhanced audio creativity.

• You can select from a variety of modes for the perfect audio outputs.

• The app is the perfect choice if you want to use metal audio for outputs.

Pros

• All-inclusive interface

• Well-put features and filters

• A multilingual base for your ease

• Select multiple audio files

Cons

• Not for Android

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7. Record Pad

Developed by NCH Software, RecordPad is an ideal choice for all your audio recording needs. It works seamlessly with Mac devices and is fully compatible with Android, Windows, and Linux.

It is a great tool for recording music and audio files which can be saved in your hard drive as mp3 and AIFF files. You can also share your recordings with others via email. Burn your recording on CD with its built-in express burn feature and use its massive basket of editing features for noise reduction, editing silence, and equalizing your audio clip.

Its clean and convenient UI along with an easy-to-navigate design also deserves a fair mention. It is compatible with multiple music formats including FLAC, MP3, AAC, and WAV.

Features of Record Pad:

• Both free and paid versions of Record Pad are available to you.

• You can download and use the tool on Windows, macOS, iPhone, and other operating systems.

• The app allows you to record fresh audio or edit, merge, trim, or modify existing files in other ways.

• You can even burn the audio to a CD using the ExpressBurn feature.

• You get a variety of output options.

Pros

• Smart encoding with MPEG Layer-3

• Automated system

• Supports FTP server

Cons

• Complicated for beginners

• Outdated UI

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8. Ardour

If you are a musician, track editor, or composer, then look no further, Ardour is the ultimate tool for all your audio recording and editing needs. It is highly suitable for MIDI projects and multi-track recording.

The tool is compatible with a wide range of formats and systems and adds the utmost ease to the tour audio recording experience.

Features of Ardour:

• Using Ardour, you can easily record, edit, or modify audio files.

• The crossfading options of the tool are some of the smartest and strongest you will ever find.

• The easy undo and redo features are a lifesaver that allows you to try anything and everything.

• Ardour’s automotive features are top-notch.

• The interface of the software has numerous external control options.

Pros

• Supports drag and drop.

• Flexible mixer settings

• Supports plugins

• Open-source

Cons

• Limited output formats

• No paid version

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9. Macsome Audio Recorder

Macsome Audio Recorder is one of the best audio recording software for Mac in 2024. It is an ideal option for recording audio from multiple sources. Macsome Audio Recorder is good enough for organizing all your recording files as well. Plus, you can also use the ID tags to organize your recording files. Apart from this, you can also add distinct recording profiles for applications and hardware. And, within a single click, you can start the recording procedure. Isn’t it something very nice? Without a single doubt, YES! However, the UI of Macsome Audio Recorder is very simple and not so impressive, but it offers productive yet effective features. It is all-in-one audio recorder software for Mac users.

Features of Macsome Audio Recorder

• Apart from the Mac, you can also install the tool in the form of a browser extension and plugin.

• The tool allows you to record the audio of your choice in MP3 and/or AAC formats.

• The software allows you to filter audio files into formats and other settings.

Pros

• Easy to use

• Fast interface

• Quite useful for beginners

• Advanced options

Cons

• Offers trial with limited features

• Not the best tool on the list

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10. Logic Pro

Logic Pro is the next name on this list of the best audio recording software for Mac in 2024. The tool is quite amazing and boasts an easy-to-use interface for all Mac users. Hence, even if you are a beginner to the tool, you can easily understand its performance patterns. Additionally, the learning curve of the software is also quite steep. You can use this all-in-one audio recorder software for Mac to show off your creativity on all kinds of projects.

Features of Logic Pro:

• Logic Pro is more than just a basic recording tool but an advanced solution for audio creation.

• The outputs of the software are Dolby Atmos compatible for better quality.

• The software contains a 3D Object Panner that makes editing feasible.

• This is an advanced solution with multiple helpful solutions for you.

Pros

• Support Plug-ins

• Contains multiple samples

• Easy to use

Cons

• The trial version has limited features

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11. Audio Hijack

Audio Hijack is the last name on this list of the best audio recording software for Mac in 2024. The tool is suitable for both beginners and professionals for recording and editing audio. You can easily use the tool to create podcasts as well as record your artistic talents with ease. The app also allows you to stream the audio using various spectrums and sources.

Features of Audio Hijack:

• If you want to extract the audio from some app, then Audio Hijack is the perfect choice for you.

• You can even record audio from third-party websites for the best results.

• If there is too much noise in the audio, the tool allows you to remove it.

• The tool is even more helpful for gamers who want to record live streaming of games and their audio.

Pros

• Both free and paid versions are available

• Allows audio recording scheduling

• Internet broadcasting compatible

• Smart Scriptwriting features

Cons

• Only for macOS

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12. Movavi Screen Recorder

Movavi Screen Recorder is the next best audio recording software for Mac in 2024. The software is an advanced alternative to the tools provided above. Although the tool is a screen recorder, it can also be used to record audio on your Mac without video or screen.

Features of Movavi Screen Recorder:

• Allows you to apter the screen and audio in multiple ways

• Supports screenshots.

• Helps in enhancing videos

Pros

• Both free and paid versions are available

• Offers scheduling options

• Works on Windows and Mac

Cons

• Limited options in the free version

• Limited trial period

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13. Ocenaudio

Ocenaudio is another of the best audio recording software for Mac in 2024. The tool is quite efficient and allows you to record real-time audio on your Mac device. The tool offers a plethora of options for recording and more.

Features of Ocenaudio:

• Free to download and use

• Offers audio editing

• Feasible control

• Play and pause functionality

Pros

• Entirely free to download

• Works on Windows and Mac

Cons

• Lacks some features as available in paid tools

Download

Time to Make a Good Choice For Yourself

The audio recording software mentioned above are some of the best available options for both beginners and professionals.

We hope that our list of best audio recorder tools for mac has been of great help to you and has been able to answer your questions around “What is the best software that you can use to record audio on your Mac device ”.

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Application

Best Music Player For Windows 2024

By admin April 29, 2024

Best Music Player For Windows 2024, Browsing for the best music player for Windows 10? There are tons of such tools available, which makes choosing the perfect one tricky. Whether you’re a casual or ardent music listener, picking the right player enhances your listening experience. I, for example, love apps that support lyrics and have many customization options.

So, in this detailed guide, I took into account all these features and many more and singled out 5 tools that performed the best. You can find out about my testing process below.

Ready? Let’s get started!

How We Test

I prioritized certain criteria like sound reproduction, user interface, and customization while hunting down the best music player for Windows 10.

Music evokes certain emotions in us when we listen to it. However, when it plays like a broken record from an application, then it ruins the experience.

Here are the qualities I examined during my tests:
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1.User-friendly interface: A music app should be intuitive, especially for beginners.

2.Audio quality: A good player supports a variety of audio formats, and allows users to adjust sound settings like equalization.

3.Album organization: It should be easy to sort and search for songs, artists, and genres. The app should also support features like auto-tagging and album artwork.

4.Offline playback: The right music player should allow users to download and access songs on their PC without the internet.

5.Low system resource usage: No one wants their music player to consume too much. So, the perfect application should run smoothly using minimal PC resources.

6.Gapless playback: This feature allows you to play a long list of songs seamlessly without unnecessary breaks in between.

7.Visual customization: Although this may seem trivial, being able to switch around colors, tools, and features on your music app can be satisfying.

Out of 15 apps I tested, only 5 made the list. I made sure to pick tools that suit both novices and advanced users.

Best Music Player for Windows 10

By now you are fired up to know the good music players I chose for Windows 10.

Now, let’s discuss each of them extensively:

1. AIMP – Lightweight for Windows 10

This free audio player was developed by Artem Izmaylov, a Russian developer. AIMP is simple to use and takes up less PC resources.

While listening to music or podcasts, you may want to attend to something else. That’s where AIMP’s bookmark feature comes in! Just activate it and when you’re back, it starts just where you left off.

This player also supports 20 audio formats and its sound reproduction is top-notch. Additionally, you can perform inline searches, control playlists, and customize homepage themes.

Also, if you exit the music app, you can hide it at the edge of your screen, and then bring it out only with the cursor.
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Pros:

• Lightweight

• MP3 / ID3 renaming

• Zero advertisements

• Multiple audio support

• Built-in 18-band equalizer

• Audio converter

• Tag editor

Cons:

• Poorly colored UI buttons

• Music files don’t automatically update

2. Spotify – Supports Seamless Playback

What sets Spotify apart is its seamless playback feature – now your music can flow from song to song.
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Furthermore, the app’s interface is not only colorful but beginner-friendly. Another fun thing Spotify does is daily personalized album suggestions.

In addition to that, you’re at liberty to create, arrange, and share your own specially curated playlists with both the public and loved ones. There’s also an option for offline playback.

If your network is poor, you can save video podcasts as audio as well.

Pros:

• Responsive customer support

• Flexible subscription fees

• Supports offline playback

• Inline search

• Creation and sharing of playlists

• Lyrics support

• Personalized music suggestions

Cons:

• Excessive ads in the free plan

• No live radio

3. MediaMonkey – Supports CD Burning

MediaMonkey automatically finds all songs on your PC and adds them to its collection. It doesn’t stop there, it goes ahead to label them into their corresponding genres and singers.

Although this app doesn’t have the best graphical design, you can adjust it to fit your preferences. With its automatic file renamer and playlist organizer, you can relax and just enjoy your music.
MediaMonkey supports various formats, including MP4, MP3, OGG, AVI, PLS, WMV, WAV, M3U, and FLAC. It even has a CD ripper that allows you to extract audio from CDs to WAV or MP3.

Additionally, there’s an option to burn CDs, manage podcasts, download songs for offline listening, and sync devices.

Pros:

• Easy syncing to mobile

• Manages over 50,000 music files

• Countless settings and customizations

• CD ripping/burning

• Downloads album art

• Auto-tagging and Auto-conversion

• Functions as a server for DLNA/UPnP devices.

Cons:

• Poor user interface

• Searches PC without permission

• The free version lacks some features

• May associate music files wrongly.

4. Windows Music Player – Theme and Accent Color Customization

Windows 10 has an in-built music player, and it’s pretty decent. So, if you don’t want to download additional apps, you can go with this one.

Windows Media player supports various audio and video formats like WMV, AVCHD, 3GP, AAC, and MPEG-4. The interface is straightforward and easy to use, too. It has a taskbar with efficient playback controls.

Furthermore, you can easily customize this app to your taste. It has a dark and light theme, including accent colors to vary the tones. There’s also the option to use the system’s graphics settings instead.

Do you enjoy mixing and adjusting your music cadence all by yourself? Then you’ll love this app’s 9-band slider equalizer. Additionally, it supports DVD, making it one of the best free DVD players for Windows 10.

Pros:

• Metadata editing/lookup

• CD ripping

• Multiple audio and video formats

• Free

• Easy to use

• DVD support

Cons:

• Lags sometimes

• Resource-heavy

5. VLC Player – Audio and Video Support

Millions of Windows PC users are familiar with this media player – in fact, it’s most people’s favorite choice. But why is this so? First off, VLC is free and it plays both audio and video files. It’s also the best PC Blu-ray player.

Files that fail to open on other apps will easily do so in VLC. So, maybe your music album link isn’t broken, you just haven’t tried using this app.

You can customize the VLC media player with both built-in tools and plugins to give you the best listening experience. It further enhances sound reproduction with quality settings for equalizers and lots more.

Pros:

• Hotkeys

• Customizable features

• Support various videos and audio formats

• Simple user interface

• Built-in equalizer

• Free

Cons:

• Poor playlist arrangement

• Lack of tagging and renaming

• Files aren’t updated automatically

Conclusion

It’s not easy to choose the best music player for Windows 10, given all the options.

That aside, whichever app you choose, ensure to download it from its official website of a trusted source. You should still run an antivirus check afterward, for good measure.

Feel free to share which player is your favorite and why in the comments below!

What do I look for in a digital, PC-based music player? Well, for starters: it needs to be free of charge, as I’m not paying for the privilege of listening to my own music! It also needs to run on Windows 10, as that’s my desktop operating system of choice these days.

But beyond being free and working on my PC correctly, I’m looking for a player that plays music well. It’s important, for example, that it doesn’t mess with the music signal in any significant way: what comes out of the speakers must be, close enough, what the digital music file contained, with nothing added or taken away by the software doing the playing of that file.

In similar vein, it’s critical that a music player must be able to do proper ‘gapless playback’. That means, when you have one track on a CD run immediately into another, the music player software must be able to handle that without introducing a gap, pause, click or other interruption.

As well as playing my music well, however, it’s important to me that my music “player” also acts as a supremely competent music library or organiser. When you have tens of thousands of pieces of music to choose from, it’s vital that you can pick a composer, or a named piece of music, at will, quickly and efficiently. The grouping and sorting functions a music library function has must therefore be rational, logical and sensible.

I don’t choose to listen to a piece of music by the key it’s written in, for example, so a music library that has a tab which sorts music by its key is useless to me (unless it also has tabs which sort by composer and genre equally well). A player that sorts music by the year it was recorded, to take another example, is perhaps useful to people who listen to the pop music of the 1970s – 1990s, but it’s decided un-useful to someone who chooses which Bach cantata to play by its BWV number (i.e., the composition’s formal title)! So: sensible grouping, sensible filtering, sensible sorting.

A good search function is also important for working with a large music collection. I may want to find all music that I own that’s a passacaglia, for example. Or on which Franco Fagioli is singing. A player that forces me to click through a lot of things before answering the latest spontaneous brain-wave I’ve just had is of limited to use me, in other words.

Optionally, too, because I inhabit almost exclusively the world of classical music where we talk of composers and compositions, I’d ideally like the player to use ‘classical music language’: players that talk ‘album artists’, ‘songs’ and ‘playlists’ are of less use to me than ones that know to talk of ‘composers’, ‘works’ and so on. If I have to, however, I can live without this so long as the basic music playing functionality is good and the music library functionality meet my needs.

I think that pretty much states what I want from a music player; what I definitely do not want is a music player that will, by default, start fetching metadata about my music from Internet sources… or, even worse, changing the metadata I’ve applied to my music using that Internet-fetched stuff as its replacement! (Internet metadata for classical music is always, and without exception, 100% utter rubbish, so you never want to see it being fetched or applied to any music collection you care about).

On the other hand, whilst I don’t want my music player pulling information down from the Internet, I would like it to be able to push it up to the Internet: specifically, I use Last.fm to record my music listening habits. Being able to ‘scrobble’ to that service is important to me (being able to scrobble to the similar, but open-source, Libre.fm is a nice-to-have feature, too).

I don’t really have views on the looks of a player: good use of Album Art to help me navigate my collection is quite important, but my player doesn’t need to look spectacularly wonderful, so long as it meets my other requirements. I would like to be able to tweak it a bit and change its default appearance to suit my needs, if possible; but if that functionality is missing for some reason, I wouldn’t mind too much.

So, with that set of requirements in mind, I went searching on the Internet and found several articles that claimed to list the best Windows music players. By combining the various suggestions in those (and other) articles, I decided I’d take a look at (in no particular order):

• AIMP

• Dopamine

• Foobar2000

• MediaMonkey

• MusicBee

• Songbird

• Strawberry Music Player

• Winamp

• Windows Media Player

• Groove

I should explain that I excluded players such as VLC or Media Player Classic because whilst those can play music well, they are mainly geared to playing video and don’t have great music library management functionality. You can create playlists for VLC, for example, but not browse though an entire music library, picking which tracks to play as the mood takes you. I also didn’t review DeadBeef, because its Windows version currently has no means of displaying Album Art. When its Windows offering matches the functionality of its Linux versions, I may have a second look at DeadBeef.

Anyway: the music players bullet-pointed above are both music players and music library managers and I looked at each in detail on the pages linked to each of their names.

If you just want the ‘final answer’ rather than the detailed reviews, however: my choice of best music player on Windows is… (much to my surprise, I have to say) …MusicBee (9/10). It’s graphically pleasing, nicely functional, responsive, handles a large music collection well, does gapless playback well, doesn’t mess with my metadata too much and gets out of my way acceptably when I don’t want to be looking at it as it plays in the background. It ticks all the boxes and looks good, so becomes my new music player of choice (from a long-standing Foobar2000 user, that’s quite an endorsement!)

Foobar2000 (9/10) and Strawberry Music Players (8/10) are slightly old-school players (i.e., lots of text and not much graphical bling!) that are nevertheless excellent for managing large music collections, too. If you find the visual ‘froth’ of MusicBee to be a dreadful distraction, either of these players would be worthy alternatives. As a long-time Foobar2000 user, I was expecting Foobar2000 to win the final accolade -but it just loses out in the looks department.

Of the other seven players, in descending order of greatness:

• MediaMonkey: 7/10 – Almost a contender, but let down by an interface that is inflexible, text-heavy and pretty ugly, even when you switch on album art views. I had repeatable problems with gapless playback, but of a rather unique kind (clicks on track changes); on the other hand, gapless was fine at other times. Go figure!

• Winamp: 6/10 – Looks old-fashioned, few graphical touches, but does proper gapless playback and is responsive in use. Mostly let down by being, as far as one can tell, abandonware. Close run thing with MediaMonkey otherwise.

• Dopamine: 4/10 – Visually quite good, but utterly unresponsive with massive pauses as you click just about anything (even with a dedicated graphics card handling the graphical display side of things); no proper gapless playback

• AIMP: 3/10 – Visually poor, quite responsive, but no proper gapless playback

• Songbird: 2/10 – Visually good, very responsive, gapless but can’t display embedded album art and the software has been discontinued for over 6 years now

• Windows Media Player: 1/10 – Has all the graphical charm of a spreadsheet -and much of the functional inflexibility. It wants to overwrite all your good metadata with rubbish fetched from the Internet. It is slow to process a large music collection. It hasn’t been updated in years and may not have much of a future

• Groove: 0/10 – Visually appealing, but functionally completely useless. No scrobbling, no album art, no control over sort order… the worst player reviewed, bar none.

And from left field…

I doubt it will make anyone’s top list of everyday music players, but I was so impressed by the command-line only Musikcube that I thought I should give it a once-over. If you need a comprehensively-functional player without any graphical flim-flam at all, Musikcube’s for you. I’d recommend it as a top pick if only it was possible to run it in a standard command window. Unfortunately, it insists on launching a window of its own, making it impossible to run in a terminate-and-stay-resident drop-down terminal, such as ConEmu. As such, it lost its allure for me in a hurry. But give it a look anyway and see if its minimalism appeals: it’s a really strong contender!

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How to factory reset Windows 10 or Windows 11

By admin April 23, 2024

How to factory reset Windows 10 or Windows 11, Factory resetting Windows 10 or Windows 11 can be a great way to fix a sluggish or unresponsive computer. It clears our a lot of changes you might have made, applications that might be causing trouble, and old drivers that might not have been uninstalled properly. A fresh start can make your PC feel even better than general Windows speed up tricks.

Here’s how to factory reset Windows 10 and Windows 11 to get your PC feeling right again.

First, back up your computer

Before you reset your system, you’ll want to back up important information that you don’t want to lose. This includes documents, photos, music, and movies, but there are other items to back up as well. Make sure that you know all of your saved passwords, export all of your browser bookmarks, and have installation files for all the software you’ll want to reinstall — or know where to get them.

Also, make sure you back up app-specific data, like custom filters saved in a photo utility, save files from your favorite games, and back up emails if using an offline client.

How to factory reset Windows 10 or Windows 11

How to factory reset Windows 10

Windows 10’s reset feature is found in the settings panel. It can rebuild a fresh copy of Windows 10 if you so choose, replacing all drivers and resetting all settings.

Note that this might be technically different from a “factory reset” option provided by manufacturers. Check your documentation or give technical support a call if you want to return your PC to how it was when you first pulled it out of the box. The manufacturer might have special partitions set up on the hard drive or might be able to provide a factory restore image on bootable media.

Step 1: Click the* Notifications* icon on the taskbar (or press the Windows button + A) and then select the All settings tile in the Action Center. You can also select the start button followed by the Gear icon on the Start Menu.

Step 2: Select Update & Security.

Step 3: Select Recovery listed on the left.

Step 4: On the right, you’ll see two options. The first, Reset this PC, is the method we’re going to use for this guide. When you are ready, click the Get Started button listed under Reset This PC.

The second, Advanced startup, is worth considering if you have a little more technical skill. It’s for modifying your computer on a deeper level or installing a completely different operating system. This comes in handy if your manufacturer provides a factory restore image or external drive containing the image to return your machine to its factory state — proprietary software included.

Unless you’re completely sure you understand what each of the options in this setting does, it’s probably best to leave it alone.

Step 5: A new window will appear with two options, Keep my files and Remove everything.

Here you need to decide whether you want to keep all of your files and folders intact, or truly start from scratch and then use your backup to restore those files and folders. Whichever you choose, you will need to reinstall all apps and programs acquired outside the Microsoft Store. Your settings, such as the Start Menu arrangement, will go back to their defaults.

Select one of the two options.

In both cases, it rebuilds Windows 10 using the current installation. It’s Microsoft’s “imageless recovery” system so installation media doesn’t need to lurk on a hidden partition, taking up space. However, the Local reinstall option may not be able to repair Windows 10 if it’s too broken, too corrupted. That’s where the Cloud download option comes in: Windows pulls everything from Microsoft’s servers to rebuild the local copy.

Both options return all settings to their factory defaults and remove all software not installed from the Microsoft Store. However, the Keep my files option keeps your profile intact along with the associated files and folders. What it doesn’t do is update Windows 10 to the latest version if you never bothered to install patches and feature updates. The Cloud download option installs the latest version stored in Microsoft’s cloud.

DigitalTrends

Step 6: Select a source: Cloud download or Local reinstall.

Step 7: On the following screen, select the Choose settings link if you would like to alter the current reset settings. Otherwise, skip to Step 9.

The image is based on the Remove everything option and using the cloud as our source. Since our example PC has multiple drives, we have an additional “Delete files from all drives” setting. Note that you can toggle off reinstallation, but if you’re having serious issues related to Windows 10 components, a fresh copy might be ideal.

Likewise, if we took the Keep my files route and selected the Local reinstall option, we would see two toggles: Restore preinstalled apps and settings that came with the PC, and rebuild Windows 10 using the local installation.

DigitalTrends

Step 8: Select the appropriate toggle next to the setting you want to alter and then select Confirm.

Step 9: Select Next to proceed.

Step 10: The Reset tool will present a summary. If you chose the Keep my files option, you’ll see a link you can click to see all the apps that will be removed during the reset, like Google Chrome, Steam, and even Microsoft 365. This list will be saved to your desktop when you finish the recovery process. You won’t see this link when you select the Remove everything option.

Make sure you are good with everything, and then select the *Reset *button.

Your PC will reboot automatically and enter the Windows Recovery Environment. The reset process might take an hour or more, so if you’re using a laptop, it’s a good idea to plug in the power cord. It may reboot itself several times. Wait for Windows to restart and begin the setup process, then enter your personal information and login information if prompted.

Once you’ve confirmed everything’s working, make sure Windows 10 is up to date and install the latest drivers from hardware manufacturers.

How to factory reset Windows 11

The factory reset process for Windows 11 is much the same as it is for Windows 10.

Step 1: Press the Windows + I keys together to open up important pinned apps. Here, look for the Settings menu with the gears icon, and select it.

Step 2: Select Update & Security. Look at the left-side menu and choose Recovery.

Step 3: Select the Reset PC option on the right.

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Step 4: At this point, things should look like they do in Windows 10. You will need to choose to “Keep My Files” or “Remove Everything.” Then you will be able to choose between a “Cloud Download” and a “Local Reinstall”.

Step 5: Here things get a little different. Instead of another Settings menu, Windows 11 streamlines the process for clarification and shows you the current settings you have chosen in a summary window. If everything looks all right, select Next. Do one final check, then select* Reset*.

Another way to factory reset Windows

Another method is to use the manufacturer’s recovery tool, usually located on a separate partition on your hard drive. You’ll find a wide variety of recovery software with name brands numerous enough to match the various brands of electronic devices in which you’ll install them. We have tried to make it less overwhelming by narrowing the list down to our preferred software. Each brand has a different name for what you are looking for, so here is a list of what to search for according to each brand:

• Acer: Acer eRecovery or Acer Recovery Management

• Asus: Asus Recovery Partition or AI Recovery

• Dell: Dell Factory Image Restore, DataSafe, Dell Backup & Recovery, and various other names

• HP: HP System Recovery or Recovery Manager

• Lenovo: Rescue and Recovery or ThinkVantage Recovery (on ThinkPads)

You can also access these recovery options outside of Windows, which means you still have hope if your OS won’t load. Every manufacturer is different, but you can find the method for accessing recovery just after powering on your machine. Read the text as your machine boots and look for the recovery mode key. Many devices use the F11 key as a shortcut to recovery mode.

The most common Windows 11 problems and how to fix them

With Windows 10 officially losing support next year, Windows 11 is poised to take over as the dominant operating system. Many users have already switched over to the latest Microsoft OS – and while it’s not perfect, most are finding it to be a nice step forward from Windows 10. Of course, there are a few quirks people will have to get used to, but most of the bugs and technical issues have already been ironed out.

That’s not to say Windows 11 is perfect. In fact, there are still a handful of common Windows 11 problems that people are encountering, including ones that cause no sound to play, network connections to be laggy, and games to run at less-than-optimal speeds. Thankfully, many of these issues are easy to resolve without extensive troubleshooting or the need to contact customer support.

If you’re experiencing any growing pains, here’s a look at the most common Windows 11 problems and how to fix them. Once you’ve solved your issue, be sure to look at our favorite Windows 11 tips and tricks to make the most out of the operating system.

No sound in Windows 11

Windows 11 does have sound. It should have sound. But if your version of Windows 11 stubbornly refuses to make any sound, you might need to fix it. There are a few reasons that you might have no sound on Windows 11, so try a few of these potential fixes:

• Check your volume levels: Right-click the speaker icon in the bottom right (next to the date and time) and select Open Volume Mixer. Make sure that the volume is raised high enough that you would hear it.

• Check the sound settings: Right-click the speaker icon in the bottom right and select Open sound settings. Check that next to Choose where to play sound, your speakers or headphones are selected.

• Check the connections: If you’re using external speakers, make sure they’re properly connected. Double-check any cable connection, and if you’re using wireless speakers or headphones, disconnect and reconnect them again.

• Run the Windows 11 audio troubleshooter: Right-click on the speaker icon in the bottom right and select Troubleshoot sound problems. Then follow the on-screen instructions.

Windows 11 network issues

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Can’t connect to the internet? Connection slower than expected? Windows 11 network problems can crop up from time to time. Try these possible fixes:

• Reset your router: It may not be Windows’ fault. Try resetting your modem and/or router to see if that fixes the issue.

• Reset your PC: Just rebooting can sometimes fix network issues. Give it a try.

• Reset Windows 11 network settings: Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings menu. Select Network and internet > Advanced network settings. Scroll down and select Network reset. Select Reset now > Yes to confirm.

• Change the connection method: If you can, switch from Ethernet to Wi-Fi, or vice versa, to see if that helps.

• Run the Windows 11 networking troubleshooter: Search for Network Troubleshooter in the Windows search box. Select Find and fix network problems. Select Next > Troubleshoot my connection to the internet.

Your Windows 11 screen is flickering, blurry, or black

Is your screen not behaving properly in Windows 11? If it doesn’t look right, here are some fixes you can try:

• Turn it off and on again: Reset your PC and turn your monitor off and on again.

• Check the connections: Confirm the cables are connected correctly to your PC and monitor. If in doubt, unplug and replug them.

• Update your drivers: If you have a dedicated graphics card or chip, try updating your GPU drivers. Download the latest ones from AMD, Intel, or Nvidia from their respective websites. Need more help? Here’s our guide on how to update Windows 11 graphics drivers.

• Update Windows: Try updating to the latest version of Windows 11. Certain patches and fixes might address this issue for you. Here’s how to download the latest big update.

Games running slow on Windows 11

Gaming performance on Windows 11 has been a mixed bag since its debut, and some people have faced serious performance issues.

• Check that your system isn’t overheating: Check your CPU temperature (and your GPU while you’re at it) to make sure they aren’t overheating. If they are, that might be why gaming performance is down.

• Update your graphics drivers: Download the latest graphics drivers from AMD, Intel, or Nvidia from their respective websites.

• Install the latest Windows updates: Try updating to the latest version of Windows 11; some of the recent releases have gaming related patches. Here’s how to download the latest big update.

• Try disabling VBS: Windows 11’s Virtualization Based Security can reportedly cause some issues with gaming performance in Windows 11. Try disabling that to see if it helps.

If your game performance is still poor, you might need to adjust your in-game settings for better performance. Check out our guide to in-game settings so you can maximize your frames per second.

Windows 11 search can’t find your files

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Windows 11’s search tool is smart, but sometimes it acts really dumb. It might just need to index your files again, though. Try this:

Use Windows search to look for Index and select Indexing options. Select Advanced > Rebuild.

Now that you’re a wiz at Windows 11 troubleshooting, why not brush up on printer setups? Here’s how to set your printer up properly in Windows 11.

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How to dual boot Linux and Windows

By admin April 23, 2024

How to dual boot Linux and Windows, Windows might be your bread and butter, but you can dual-boot it with Linux if you want to tinker, or play around with a wider range of open source software. Whether you’re using Windows 10 or Windows 11, you can install a range of different Linux distributions as a secondary operating system to give you the best of both worls.

Here’s how to dual boot Windows and Linux.

Microsoft

Start by installing Windows

The first step is to install Windows, assuming you’re starting from scratch. We have a full guide on how to install Windows 11, so make sure to keep that handy if you need extra detail. For dual booting, the process is largely the same minus one key difference.

Instead of allowing Windows to take up all of the space on your hard drive, you’ll allocate it a partition. If you have multiple hard drives for dual booting, you can allow Windows to take up the full space on your hard drive. This process works for Windows 10 and Windows 11, but we’ll be using Windows 10 for our example.

If you don’t have an extra Windows PC to create installation media, you can install Windows first before installing Linux (though you may need to fully defrag your hard drive to create a partition for Linux).

Step 1: With your spare PC, download the Windows Media Creation Tool and follow the steps to create installation media on one of your blank USB drives. Note: you may be asked to format the drive, which will remove all of the data.

How to dual boot Linux and Windows

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 2:Leaving your installation USB drive plugged in, turn off your PC. Turn it back on and select the F12 on your keyboard rapidly while the computer boots. This will take you to a boot menu. Select your Windows USB drive and continue.

Step 3:Follow the steps for the Windows installer until you reach the What type of installation do you want page. Choose Custom: Install Windows only.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4:You need to create a partition on your hard drive. You’ll likely see multiple partitions here unless you’re using a brand-new hard drive. Assuming you want to start from scratch, delete the partitions (note: this will remove all the data on your hard drive, so make sure your hard drive is backed up).

Step 5:Select your hard drive and select New to create a new partition. Set how large you want the partition to be and confirm. This will be the total amount of space Windows has access to, and you’ll need extra space to install Linux. We recommend splitting the empty space in half, allocating half to Windows and half to Linux.

Follow the remaining installation steps to finish.

How to Install Linux

Installing Windows first is a good idea because it makes installing Linux much easier. If you already have Windows installed, you can still dual boot Linux, but you’ll need to create a new partition on your hard drive.

We’ll be using Ubuntu for our example, but the process is similar for most Linux distros.

Step 1: Download the latest version of Ubuntu and store it somewhere you can easily access. Grab your second blank USB drive and insert it into your computer.

Step 2: Download balenaEtcher and open it up. Select your blank USB drive and your Ubuntu image and run the software to create your bootable Linux media.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 3: Keeping your Linux USB drive plugged in, restart your computer and rapidly press the F12 key to enter the boot menu. Select your Linux USB drive to boot into the installation screen.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: You will be able to try or install Ubuntu, so if you’re unsure about Linux, try out the OS first. It can run off of your USB drive, though with decreased performance. Once you’re settled, select Install Ubuntu to continue.

Select your keyboard layout and language and opt for a Normal installation. Make sure to check both boxes under the Other options section on this screen.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 5: Ubuntu will automatically detect if you have Windows installed. Select Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10 on this screen. The other option, Erase disk and install Ubuntu will remove Windows from your PC.

Step 6: If you started with a blank hard drive, you’re done. Finish the installation and use the boot menu referenced above to choose which OS to boot into (select the hard drive partition you want).

If Windows is taking up the entire drive, you’ll see a screen that allows you to allocate disc space to Ubuntu. Choose how much space you want to allocate and continue. We highly recommend creating a partition through Windows first, however, to avoid accidentally deleting data.

Most Linux distros will launch into a boot menu that allows you to select between Linux and Windows, but you may need to use the boot menu to choose which OS you want to load into.

How to dual boot Windows and Linux FAQ

Does dual boot slow down a PC?

No. Dual booting does restrict that quantity of storage space you have access to within each operating system, since you’ll need to dedicate drive space to not only the operating systems themselves, but their respective services, drivers, and applications. However, when you’re using either of the operating systems, you are not using the other one, so they don’t slow down your PC at all.

How do I share files between Windows and Linux on a dual boot?

The same way you would share files between two different computers running Windows and Linux. You can use a flash drive or external hard drive to manually transfer files between the two installations — the only difference is you don’t have to unplug the drive. You could use a cloud storage provider for the same purpose, or set up a shared folder on a partition both operating systems can access.

Depending on the files you’re transferring, there can be compatible issues, however, so consider the best way to transfer the data for your needs.

Windows is an operating system designed by Microsoft. The operating system is what allows you to use a computer. Windows comes preloaded on most new personal computers (PCs), which helps to make it the most popular operating system in the world.

Windows makes it possible to complete all types of everyday tasks on your computer. For example, you can use Windows to browse the Internet, check your email, edit digital photos, listen to music, play games, and do much more.

Windows is also used in many offices because it gives you access to productivity tools such as calendars, word processors, and spreadsheets.

Microsoft released the first version of Windows in the mid-1980s. There have been many versions of Windows since then, but the most recent ones include Windows 10 (released in 2015), Windows 8 (2012), Windows 7 (2009), Windows Vista (2007), and Windows XP (2001).

About this tutorial

This tutorial is designed to show you the absolute basics of using a Windows computer, including how to use the desktop, how to open different files and applications, and how to move and resize windows. The information in this tutorial will apply to more recent versions of Windows, including the ones mentioned above. However, once you’ve learned the basics, you may also want to review one of our version-specific Windows tutorials. Just select the version of Windows that’s installed on your computer:

• Windows 10

• Windows 8

• Windows 7

• Windows XP

Windows 8 vs. other versions

While most versions of Windows are relatively similar, Windows 8 works very differently from other versions. However, if you have Windows 8 on your computer, you should now be able to upgrade to Windows 10, which is more similar to earlier versions, including Windows 7. We recommend upgrading your computer to Windows 10 if you can. Review our Windows 10 tutorial to learn how.

However, we’ll still point out any major differences between Windows 8 and other versions, which means you’ll see some Windows 8-specific information from time to time. If your computer uses Windows 8, you’ll want to review both this tutorial and our Windows 8 tutorial to learn more about the differences.

Navigating Windows

Whether you’re new to computers or just Windows, it’s important to learn the basics of using your computer. If it all seems a little overwhelming right now, don’t worry! We’ll take you through it step by step and show you some of the most fundamental things you’ll need to know, including how to work with the desktop, open and close windows, and turn off your computer.

Watch the video below to learn the basics of navigating Windows.

The desktop

Once your computer has finished starting up, the first thing you’ll see is the desktop. You can think of the desktop as the main workspace for your computer. From here, you can view and manage your files, open applications, access the Internet, and much more.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to become more familiar with the desktop.

In Windows 8, you will usually see the Start screen before the desktop. To learn more, review our lesson on Getting Started with Windows 8.

Working with applications

An application—also known as a program—is a type of software that allows you to complete tasks on your computer. Windows comes with many built-in applications you can use. For example, if you want to browse the Internet, you can use Microsoft Edge (or Internet Explorer if you’re using Windows 8 or earlier).

To open an application:

1.Using your mouse, click the Start button, then select the desired application. If you don’t see the one you want, click All Programs to see a complete list of applications. In our example, we’ll open Microsoft Edge.

2.The application will appear in a new window.

There is no Start menu in Windows 8, so you’ll usually open applications from the Start screen. Click the Start button to go to the Start screen, then click an app to open it.

Working with windows

Whenever you open a file, folder, or application, it will appear in a new window. You can have multiple items open at the same time in different windows. You’ll use windows all the time, so it’s important to know how to switch between open windows, how to move and resize windows, and how to close windows when you’re done using them.

In Windows 8, some programs will open on the Start screen, not the desktop. If you’re using Windows 8, note that the information below applies only to windows you have opened on the desktop.

Parts of a window

You’ll see the same three buttons in the upper-right corner of almost every window. These buttons allow you to perform several functions, including these below.

• Click the Minimize button to hide the window. The window will be minimized to the taskbar. You can then click the icon for that window on the taskbar to make it reappear.

• Click the Maximize button to make the window fill the entire screen.

• If the screen is maximized, the Maximize button will be temporarily replaced by the Restore button. Just click it to return the window to its original size.

• Click the Close button to close the window.

To move a window:

1.Click and drag the top of the window to move it to the desired location on the screen. When you’re done, release the mouse.

2.The window will appear in the new location.

To resize a window:

1.Hover the mouse over any corner of the window, then click and drag the mouse to make the window larger or smaller. When you’re done, release the mouse.

2.The window will be resized.

Switching between windows

If you have more than one window open at the same time, you can quickly switch between them by clicking the icon for that window on the taskbar.

Shutting down your computer

When you’re done using your computer, it’s important to shut it down properly. The procedure will vary slightly depending on which version of Windows you’re using.

To shut down your computer:

• If you’re using Windows 10, click the Start button, then the Power icon, then click Shut down.

• If you’re using Windows 8, click the Start button to access the Start screen, click the Power icon near the upper-right corner, and select Shut down. If you don’t see this option, it means you’ll need to upgrade to Windows 8.1. Review this page from our Windows 8 tutorial to learn how.

• If you’re using Windows 7 or earlier, Click the Start button, then select Shut down.

Restarting and Sleep mode

You can also click the power button button for more options. For example, if your computer has become unresponsive, you can choose Restart to quickly turn it off and on again.

You can also choose to put your computer into Sleep mode. This turns off most of your computer’s processes, but it remembers which applications and files are open. It allows the computer to start up more quickly because you won’t have to wait for the operating system and applications to load. Note that your computer may go into Sleep mode automatically if you haven’t used it for more than a few minutes.

If you have a laptop, you can simply close the lid to put it into Sleep mode.

Waking your computer from Sleep mode

If your computer is in Sleep mode, you’ll need to wake it to use it. To wake the computer from Sleep mode, click the mouse or press any key on the keyboard.

What is Linux?

Linux (pronounced “linnucks”) is a monolithic, open-source kernel, and a family of operating systems based on that kernel. The Linux kernel was developed by Linus Torvalds, who announced it on the comp.os.minix newsgroup on August 25, 1991. Since then, it’s been ported to computer architectures including x86-64, x86, ARM, RISC, and DEC Alpha. It is licensed under version 2 of the GPL.

Developers can access all Linux source code, and are permitted under the license conditions to modify and distribute it.

Where is Linux used?

Presently, Linux is used by several million users worldwide. The composition of users varies from private users, training centers, universities, research centers, and companies. Below are examples of where Linux is used today.

• Android phones and tablets – Android phones and tablets use a form of Linux.

• Servers – A vast majority of the web servers that run many web pages (including this one) are using Linux.

• Supercomputers – All of the top supercomputers use a Linux-based operating system.

• TV, Cameras, DVD players, etc. – Most of the appliances that use some form of a computer use Linux.

• Amazon – Many of the computers that help run Amazon use Linux.

• Google – Computers that help run Google and Google search results use Linux.

• Planes – Airplanes computers and screens you watch on the plane use Linux.

• U.S. Postal service – The computers and servers that help run systems to sort and manage mail in the U.S.

• NYSE – The New York Stock Exchange uses Linux to help run its exchange.

• LHC – The Large Hadron Collider uses Linux.

• OLPC – The One Laptop Per Child program used Linux on all its computers.

Who makes Linux now?

Thousands of organizations, corporations, and individuals help develop Linux and each of its various distributions. For more information, visit LinuxFoundation.org. You can read what’s happening right now in Linux development at LKML.org, the Linux kernel mailing list.

Linux distributions, flavors, and variants

Linux may be obtained in different ways. All the necessary components can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet, which means an operating system can be assembled for almost nothing. An alternative is to use a so-called distribution, a Linux variation offered by many companies. They include a broad range of applications and full programs that significantly simplify the installation of Linux.

There are hundreds of different distributions of Linux were released. Below are a few that we currently have listed on our site. A great site that lists almost every distribution, and rankings is DistroWatch.

System requirements

There are many variants of Linux, each with hardware requirements. Some can run on minimal systems with small amounts of RAM and disk space.

To run Linux, and your computer meets the following specifications, it should be able to run any variant of Linux.

• 64-bit Intel or AMD processor

• 1 GB RAM

• 10 GB of hard drive space

• CD/DVD drive or a USB (universal serial bus) port for installation

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Featured

9 best processors for PC gaming 2024

By admin April 18, 2024

9 best processors for PC gaming 2024, It’s tough to find the right gaming CPU for your next PC. We’ve benchmarked dozens of processors to find the best CPU for gaming, and there’s a clear winner right now: AMD‘s Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Although the latest chip from Team Red claims the crown, there are still several other great options on the market.

Whatever your needs and budgets, though, we have options from AMD and Intel that will be great performers. We’re focused on gaming here, but if you want a processor that can game and get work done, make sure to check out our list of the best processors.

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The best gaming CPU you can buy

Why you should buy this: It’s the fastest gaming processor you can buy, by far.

Who’s it for: Gamers who want top-tier performance and don’t need productivity power.

Why we picked the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D:

AMD is back on top of the gaming charts, but it isn’t with the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X3D. It’s with the midrange Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Through our testing, we found that the Ryzen 7 is sometimes even faster than AMD’s flagship and blows away the competition from Intel.

As we saw in the last generation, the reason why is 3D V-Cache. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D has the unique advantage of leveraging AMD’s cache tech with a single core complex (CCX), though. This, according to AMD, offers faster cache-to-cache transfers and speeds up gaming performance.

That’s what we saw in our testing. Overall, our testing revealed that it’s around 13% faster than Intel’s Core i9-13900K and a massive 20% faster than last-gen’s Ryzen 7 5800X3D. By a decent margin, it’s the fastest gaming CPU you can buy right now.

There are some trade-offs, though. Productivity performance, although solid, is still behind the flagship options from both AMD and Intel. In addition, single-core speed suffers due to the lower boost clock speed of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. For gamers, though, those issues are easy to look past.

best processors for PC gaming

Intel Core i5-13600K

The best Intel processor for gaming

Why you should buy this: It’s the best value on a gaming CPU available today.

Who’s it for: Gamers who want near-flagship gaming performance without paying the high price.

Why we picked the Intel Core i5-13600K:

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on a processor for gaming, and Intel’s Core i5-13600K is proof of that. It’s the best Intel CPU you can buy right now, sporting 14 cores (6P + 8E) and 20 threads, with a boost clock that hits as high as 5.1GHz.

It’s not the fastest Intel CPU, or even quite the fastest for gaming. However, it’s so much more affordable than the 13700K and 13900K, and yet offers very comparable gaming performance — especially at resolutions above 1080p — that it delivers much more value for the money. It dominates the AMD competition, too. It is far faster for gaming than the Ryzen 5 7600X and goes toe-to-toe with the more-expensive 7700X — even exceeding it if you overclock it.

While you’ll get your best performance with the 13600K using DDR5 memory, you don’t have to. Running it on a more affordable motherboard with DDR4 memory can make upgrading to the 13600K much cheaper than the alternatives, leaving you plenty of room for upgrading your CPU and memory in the future. However, you won’t be able to move up to 14th-gen chips in the future, as Intel is moving to a new socket design with the next generation.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D

The best last-gen AMD processor for gaming

Why you should buy this: It’s competitive with some of the latest CPUs and it’s an easy upgrade.

Who’s it for: Anyone with an AM4 system who wants the best performance possible without a system overhaul.

Why we picked the Intel Ryzen 7 5800X3D:

AMD ended its Ryzen 5000 generation with a bang. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D was so good for gaming when it was released that it’s still competitive with the latest Intel and AMD CPUs, outclassing chips that cost twice as much in many cases. The fact that you can install it in motherboards that cost less than $100 with DDR4 memory makes the 5800X3D an amazing value and arguably the best bang-for-the-buck gaming CPU that AMD offers, even with its newer — and faster — Ryzen 7000 CPUs available.

It comes with the same eight Zen 3 cores as the Ryzen 7 5800X, but with an additional 64MB of L3 cache stacked on top of the chip. That extra cache is put to good use in games. Across a suite of seven titles, we found it was 6.4% faster than the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X.

It doesn’t beat out the top 7900X and 7950X in gaming, and it loses out heavily in multithreaded workloads and productivity applications, but if you’re just looking for gaming, and especially if you already have a compatible AM4 system, the 5800X3D is the best AMD CPU for gaming.

AMD Ryzen 5 7600

Best budget AMD processor for gaming

Why you should buy this: It’s an affordable new-generation gaming CPU with heaps of upgrade potential.

Who’s it for: Gamers who want to have a clear upgrade path for the future.

Why we picked the Ryzen 5 7600:

AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600 is the baby of the new generation, lacking the high core counts of its bigger siblings and the clock speed of its X-counterparts, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great CPU. In fact, it punches well above its weight, offering comparable performance to the 7600X at its default settings – and it’s almost identical once you enable precision boost overdrive, despite running at a lower power draw.

AMD hasn’t done an affordable, overclockable CPU like this for a few generations, but it’s returned to its roots with a great option for anyone looking to build a new AM5 system without paying sky-high prices. Motherboards and DDR5 memory still aren’t cheap, but this platform will be supported for years to come, so you shouldn’t need to upgrade anything for several generations of processors.

There are more affordable options in the older Ryzen 5000 generation of processors, but they perform significantly worse than the latest AM4 designs, and you are locking yourself into a dead-end platform with no upgrade potential.

Intel Core i9-13900K

The best high-end gaming CPU

Why you should buy this: It’s the fastest gaming CPU money can buy.

Who’s it for: Gamers with deep pockets who want the absolute best gaming and productivity performance possible.

Why we picked the Intel Core i9-13900K:

You don’t need more than the Core i5-13600K for gaming, but the Core i9-13900K is a true enthusiast-class processor. It comes with 24 cores (8 performance and 16 efficient) and it can hit a staggering 5.8GHz. In a straight shootout with any other CPU, it’s the fastest, so if you need flagship performance, there isn’t any other chip worth considering. There are some caveats, however.

For starters, most other top CPUs are almost as good, especially in games where GPU power is more important. You also need a very powerful cooler, as even 360mm all-in-ones have proved unable to keep this chip cool enough to prevent thermal throttling. That’s because it uses a lot of power — over 300 watts in some cases. You’ll need to make sure your power supply is up to the task.

If you stream and game or want to edit your gaming footage, this is easily the best CPU for the job, as it is not only the fastest at gaming, but often beats even AMD’s best in video-editing performance, too.

Wondering why we didn’t pick the 14900K? Because it’s basically the same CPU. The performance difference is almost non-existent, and it’s more expensive, making the 13900K by far the better choice.

Intel Core i3-12100F

The best $100 gaming CPU

Why you should buy this: It’s the fastest CPU at around $100.

Who’s it for: Anyone building a gaming PC on a tight budget.

Why we picked the Intel Core i3-12100F:

The Core i3-12100F is an unassuming quad-core processor, but it’s hard to expect more for around $100. It’s not as powerful as the Ryzen 5 and Core i5 options, but it’s not far behind — especially considering how much less it costs.

Unlike Intel’s other 12th-generation offerings, it ditches the efficient cores for four performance cores. Overall, it’s about 10% slower than the Core i5-12600K, but it depends on the game. In some titles, it’s just as fast.

Many games don’t need more than four cores, especially when those cores can hit 4.3GHz. Because of that, many older games run great on the Core i3-12100F. Newer titles, like Horizon Zero Dawn and Red Dead Redemption 2, may not have as high of performance, however.

AMD Ryzen 5 8600G

The best processor for gaming with integrated graphics

Why you should buy this: It has some of the most powerful onboard graphics of any CPU available.

Who’s it for: Anyone building a gaming PC now, but who plans to buy a GPU later.

Why we picked the Ryzen 5 8600G:

The Ryzen 5 8600G is for the gamer who doesn’t need one of the best graphics cards. It includes Radeon graphics on the chip itself, which is powerful enough for playing even AAA games at 1080p at lighter settings, or running esports games at high frame rates for competitive play.

It’s based on the Zen 4 CPU architecture, so it has six powerful cores and a high clock speed, while the onboard graphics are an enhanced version of the excellent RDNA 3 design found in AMD’s RX 7000 series of graphics cards. While the 8700G is more powerful, it’s not by a huge leap, and the price is almost 50% higher, making it harder to recommend.

What’s great about the Ryzen 5 8600G is that you can still use a discrete graphics card. Although we recommend one of the processors above if you already have a graphics card, the Ryzen 5 8600G is a great stopgap product that allows you to game while you save up. It also has a great upgrade path ahead of it, since you’ll be able to drop in a future AM5 CPU without the need to upgrade your motherboard too.

Ryzen 9 7950X

The best CPU for gaming and streaming

Why you should buy this: It’s the processor with the most performance cores.

Who’s it for: Anyone who wants a high-powered machine for gaming and streaming.

Why we picked the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X:

AMD’s 7950X goes back and forth with Intel’s top CPUs when it comes to gaming performance, and there’s a tussle when it comes to streaming performance, but for gaming and streaming, we lean towards AMD’s flagship CPU. This 16-core, 32-thread processor has the most high-speed performance cores of any modern CPU, making scheduling far easier whether you’re on Windows 10 or Windows 11, and that means you get more consistent performance across a wider range of applications.

The 7950X is also a monstrously powerful CPU in its own right, whether you’re gaming or streaming — or both. It offers heaps of cache and a near-6GHz clock speed. It is pricey, and you’ll need to factor in the cost of a high-end motherboard and DDR5, but if you want a powerful machine for gaming and streaming, there’s nothing quite like AMD’s 7950X. Recent price cuts have made it far more attainable, too.

Intel Core i5-13400

Best affordable gaming CPU

Why you should buy this: It has 12600K-level gaming performance for a cheaper price.

Who’s it for: Anyone who wants impressive multithreaded and gaming performance at an affordable price.

Why we picked the Intel Core i5-13400

The Intel Core i5-13400 hasn’t received much fanfare, but it should. It has 10 cores for around $250, which is incredible considering just three generations ago, you had to buy the top Core i9 CPU to get such multi-threaded capabilities. It doesn’t hit the high clock speeds of the other 13th-gen CPUs, but it still manages 4.6GHz across multiple cores at once, making it great for gaming at any resolution.

This CPU offers the kind of gaming performance you’d typically see on a Core i5-12600K, a CPU with higher clock speeds and much higher demands on power and cooling. The Core i5-13400 is relatively pedestrian with its 65-watt thermal design power (TDP) — a rarity in Intel’s latest processors.

If you’re building an affordable gaming PC, or you want good gaming performance in a compact, low-power system, the Core i5-13400 is a great choice.

Although you don’t need a top-shelf processor for gaming, your CPU still plays a significant role in how well your games run. Picking the right gaming CPU for you is an important choice to make.

Once you’ve decided on it and hit the buy button, check out our guide on how to install a CPU, so you’re prepared when it arrives.

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Application

Gaming Software for Windows 10

By admin April 17, 2024

The best free software for your gaming PC

Gaming Software for Windows 10, Looking for essential free apps for your new gaming PC? You’ve come to the right place. Whether you’ve just bought yourself a gaming PC or built one from scratch, that humming mass of silicon and plastic is in need of superior software to take it to said limits. Lucky for you, even if you’ve just blown all your cash on your rig, there are a few such apps out there that won’t cost you a dime.

Don’t let your shiny new PC sitting in pride of place in your office wait to be pushed to its limits until you refill your bank balance. There are quite a few essential free apps for your new gaming PC that you can download now, at no cost to you, as long as you know where to look.

Our carefully collated collection of complimentary curatives should start you off on the right foot, just in time for PC Gaming Week 2024. These 10 essential free apps for your new gaming PC will help turn your burgeoning beast into a towering powerhouse, enabling you to track frame rates, voice chat with ease, and stream like a seasoned pro.

Gaming Software for Windows 10

Gaming Software for Windows 10.

1. Steam

We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Valve’s essential PC gaming platform and marketplace

2. LogMeIn Hamachi

Enjoy multiplayer games over a secure virtual network, completely free

If you want to organize secure meetings or record multiple contributors to a podcast or game session, you need to be able to rely on a strong and robust VPN (virtual private network).

As you might have guessed since it’s included in this list LogMeIn Hamachi is totally free to use, but don’t let the absence of a price tag scare you off – free most definitely does not equal ‘cheap’.

Hamachi enables you to establish an airtight network between multiple computers and do everything from sharing files to playing private games, using a super–secure P2P protocol to ensure it can smoothly access servers, firewalls and routers. It boasts one of the simplest interfaces we’ve ever used in the world of VPNs, so if you’re relatively new to the concept, Hamachi won’t make you feel a total noob.

3. Razer Cortex: Game Booster

Optimize your PC’s settings, no matter what gaming platform you’re using

Razer, as a long established maker of PC gaming peripherals, also makes some very powerful free software to optimize your machine. Of course, there are areas of the suite that will lead you to some of Razer’s premium apps, but there’s still a lot of gratis gold to be mined from Razer Cortex: Game Booster.

It’s been designed to work with every kind of PC, so whether you’re rocking a basic build or a souped–up monster of a rig, Game Booster has something to offer your machine. Whether you’re using Steam, Origin or any other platform to launch your games, Game Booster will start trying to enhance your settings to improve your experience automatically.

It’s a really clever bit of free software for your gaming PC, and it’s ideal if you’re looking for a little extra improvement without much effort. It’s also great if you want to make an older PC work a little harder.

4. TeamSpeak

The perfect voice chat application for gamers, with optional encryption

Gaming can be a great source of escapism, but few things compare to joining up with your friends online for a good chat over your headset. Whether you want to link up on World of Warcraft or simply chew the fat while everyone is playing their own thing, a great a VoIP (voice over internet protocol) app is essential.

There are a lot of options out there when it comes to voice chat, but our favorite VoIP app is TeamSpeak. You can connect to your friends with ease, and its suite of options is seriously impressive, enabling you to tune sound levels, employ echo reduction and even use encryption.

TeamSpeak is free for everyday non-commercial PC use, though you’ll have to open your wallet to rent a server or use the mobile app.

• Download TeamSpeak

The best free overclocking tool to wring extra performance from your GPU

MSI originally wrote Afterburner to overclock its own range of graphics cards, but the software has since been opened up to enable Nvidia and AMD card owners to push their hardware to the limit. If you have even a passing interest in making your new gaming PC’s graphics card earn its price tag, free optimization software MSI Afterburner is essential.

Think of MSI Afterburner as the way to unlock the inner potential of your GPU – the software opens up the voltage settings of your chosen bit of hardware and enables you to improve its overall performance.

Video memory and clock speed are the two areas MSI Afterburner shines the most when it comes to overclocking your machine. Be warned, though – mucking about with this settings can seriously overheat your rig, so make sure your cooling unit is set to full blast before you start cooking your GPU.

6. OBS Studio

High-end recording and streaming software for YouTube, Twitch and more

You’ve got your new PC, a stable internet connection and an unhealthy obsession with gaming. There’s only one way this is going to go: streaming.

There are plenty of options out there when it comes to broadcasting your games, but far too many constrict you with unnecessary limitations. That’s where OBS Studio comes in – a brilliantly customizable piece of freeware that enables you to stream to your own server or a variety of popular portals (including Twitch, DailyMotion and more).

Setting up OBS Studio is really easy too, so if you’re relatively new to the streaming scene you won’t get lost amid all those options. Should you want to get a little more advanced, there’s the option to adjust your webcam footage and add images/graphics to add that extra level of professionalism.

OBS Studio also supports HD streaming, so if you’re into broadcasting with a higher level of quality you can maintain your pristine image online.

• OBS Studio review

• Download OBS Studio

7. f.lux

A free app that adjusts your display automatically to protect your eyes

Away from your smartphone, gaming sessions usually mean long stretches in front of your display, straining those peepers of yours in the quest for trophies and achievements. It’s a fine old life, but it’s not going to do your eyes any good in the long run. One potential solution is a piece of software specifically designed to make your monitor that bit less damaging over long periods.

One such option is f.lux, and it’s especially useful if you like getting in your gaming hours later at night with the lights down low. This free Windows app works by dynamically adjusting the colour temperature of your display depending on the time of day and the light sources in the place you have your new gaming PC PC set up. It will help reduce eye strain and potentially improve sleep patterns when gaming later in the evening. It’s also pretty tiny, and won’t gobble up system resources better used by your favorite games.

• Download f.lux

8. CPU-Z

Get detailed info about your PC’s performance and identify ways to boost it

Much like MSI Afterburner and f.lux, CPU–Z is all about fine–tuning your beloved PC gaming machine into a well–oiled, well, machine.

It’s certainly not an attractive program, but it’s the kind of back end kit you should really try if you want to get your PC in the best possible condition (especially if you’re trying to break into the eSports scene or you’re building a career in streaming).

CPU–Z enables you to review all kinds of detailed information about various areas of your PC in a fairly straightforward format. It’s certainly not for the faint hearted, but it’s definitely worth spending some time with if maximizing PC performance is your bag. You can see what’s going on in real time, and save reports at any time in TXT or HTML format.

• Download CPU-Z

9. Piriform CCleaner

Clean out junk files to free up space, and suspend resource-hungry programs

Whether you realize it or not, your gaming PC or laptop is full of files and various bits of digital detritus you simply don’t need. All those extra bits and bobs take up valuable space, and that means said PC is going to run slower and slower as time goes by. Not the kind of situation you want with a gaming–dedicated rig. The solution: a proper cleaning utility like Piriform CCleaner.

It can delete temporary files and broken Windows registry entries automatically, and identify software your system doesn’t need. There is a caveat, though: CCleaner is very powerful, so make sure you check its settings before turning it loose on your machine to avoid accidentally deleting anything you’d rather hang onto (saved passwords in your web browser, for example). Still, CCleaner is an excellent free app for your new gaming PC.

10. Iolo System Mechanic

Analyze and optimize your PC for a noticeable performance boost

Another great option for cleaning up and optimizing your Windows PC is Iolo System Mechanic. There isn’t much benefit in running both, but this would be our preference if you’re not too confident tinkering with software settings yourself and would prefer a wizard-based program to make the decisions for you.

You’ll need to invest in the premium version of System Mechanic if you want extra tools like real-time optimization, but for clearing out the cruft from your system without the worry that you might accidentally delete something important, the free edition is hard to beat.

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