Setting Up Your Home Office

Spider, Minesweeper, and Hearts—these longtime staples of Windows (plus other familiar titles, from Solitaire to Freecell) have been missing in action since the launch of Windows 8 in 2012. Sure, you can find versions of these games in the Microsoft Store, but they're cluttered with ads and generally don't feel as good to play as the classic iterations so many of us remember. But there's a way to get the OG time-wasters back. It's not even particularly hard to do: An installer built by Winaero—a long running website that offers all kinds of system tweaking tools—makes it easy to get these classic games running on computers operating with Windows 8, 10, or 11. The games ar…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Like it or not, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. “But the holiday is made up!” you cry. “All holidays are made up,” I reply. “You need to get your partner a gift." No matter how badly you want to stick it to the Hallmark industrial complex, and no matter how much your loved one assures you they “really don’t want gifts,” the fact of the matter is that we’ve all been conditioned to feel the need to meet a bare minimum for romantic gift-giving every Feb. 14. And no, you’re not going to successfully overcome a lifetime of Valentine’s propaganda by deciding to stiff your partner on the gift front. Hallmark will neve…

With Apple finally killing the Home button in today’s iPhone 16e announcement, the company’s phones have now all adopted the same general look: boring. Apple’s latest budget phone might have a bigger battery and surprising power for a follow-up to the iPhone SE, but anyone looking for something that breaks the mold will have to wait for the iPhone 17. That’s because Apple’s next lineup of phones finally seems to be doing something different with the iPhone’s design. For the first time since the Dynamic Island was introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro, it looks like you might finally be able to tell if someone has a new iPhone from a simple glance. Is the iPhone 17 getting a ca…

Paying more and getting less seems to be standard operating procedure these days. Certainly that’s what Microsoft 365 (the fancy new name for Microsoft Office) users are about to experience, as the service's included VPN is being dropped as of February 28. According to a support note on the Microsoft site, the company “routinely evaluate[s] the usage and effectiveness of our features” and has decided that the VPN is no longer a necessary part of Microsoft 365. As VPNs go, it was only OKIn truth, it’s not a major loss. Microsoft’s VPN came with a 50GB monthly data limit and didn’t allow you to trick your browser into thinking you were elsewhere in the world, making it arg…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is a tablet/laptop hybrid that came out last summer and quickly rose to become one of the best laptops for college students. It is sleek and has a long battery life, and its comfort and ease of use as a tablet make it great for hands-on learning. It starts at $799.99 (originally $999.99) for the most basic version (which is powerful enough for most people), $879.99 (originally $1,199.99) if you want to double the storage to 512GB, and $1,399.99 (originally $1,699.99) to max out the storage with 1TB. With either, you'll …

With tax season officially underway, you'll need to know the standard deduction amount you can claim for 2024. After all, most taxpayers opt to take the standard deduction rather than itemizing deductions on their federal income tax return. The standard deduction amounts tend to increase slightly each year to adjust for inflation. So let's take a look at how much you can claim in 2025 for the 2024 tax year. What's this year's standard deduction? For tax returns filed in 2025 for the 2024 tax year, here are the standard deduction amounts: Single filers: $14,600 (up from $13,850 in tax year 2023) Married couples filing jointly: $29,200 (up from $27,700 in tax year 2023) Hea…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Sonos brand is well known in the smart speaker and surround sound system space. And very much like Apple, people will pay a premium price for their minimalistic, premium quality, and discounts are often hard to come by. Of course, it's always better to get a deal, and that's exactly what you can do today: The Sonos Arc, which was Sono's flagship soundbar prior to the launch of the Sonos Arc Ultra, is $649, $250 off its usual $899 price. It's also a new low price for this model, according to price tracking tools. …

Whether or not you plan on observing the Christian season of Lent, celebrating Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) is a great excuse to chow down on some desserts. In the past, Lent meant abstaining from indulgent foods like butter, sugar, and eggs. As Christianity spread across different parts of the globe, during a time when food spoiled relatively quickly, there was no hope in preserving these ingredients during the 40-day period of fasting. Instead of tossing it all, there was a massive clear-out feast: Everything had to go. In the wake of this food-liquidation period, many creative and indulgent treats were born. Most of them are fried. All of them are carbs. Here are nine e…

Breaking news: Apple has another update for you to install. While it seems like there's always a new update for us Apple users to install on our devices, this one is quite important to prioritize. That's because it's not a simple feature update, changing the software you're used to. Instead, it's a security patch, fixing issues with iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and other Apple OSes that, left unpatched, leaves you vulnerable to hacking. Security patches vs. software updatesSome platforms separate security patches and software updates as two distinct processes. Not Apple. Usually, the company couples security patches and software updates together, which creates some interesting si…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It's a potentially concerning sign of the times, but my morning is dictated by my apps. On an average day, I start off by putting in a mobile Dunkin' order, checking my sales on Poshmark and my rentals on Pickle, and playing the New York Times games before shifting over to the more serious work apps. As of last week, I added a new app to the morning mix: Finch, which is sort of like a to-do list mixed with a Tamagotchi. My ultimate goal with this whole morning app rotation is to resist the siren call of social media and, with it, an unproductive start to the day. This app, I reasoned, would help me be even more productive …

I'm a full-screen apps guy on my Mac. I love sending each app to its own workspace and swiping between them to use the one I need. When I'm writing, it helps me focus on the task at hand, and it's not hard to use three and four-finger swipes on my trackpad get to my other productivity apps as I need them. However, messenger apps like WhatsApp and Slack are an exception. I need to be able to check these out at a moment's notice, like when I'm using my browser in full-screen. Luckily, that's where the Opera sidebar comes in. This handy tool is home to social media apps, messengers, and even some streaming services, keeping them from getting lost in separate tabs and letting…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Nothing Ear wireless earbuds are currently $144, down from $159—their lowest price ever, according to price trackers. They work with Bluetooth 5.3 and support high-quality codecs like LDAC, so you get clear, detailed audio, especially on Android devices. They also feature multipoint pairing, allowing you to connect with up to two devices at once. Battery life is a little over 5 hours with ANC on (eight with it off) plus an additional 18 hours with ANC (or up to 32 hours without it) from the charging case. Speaking of, charging is handled via USB…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It wouldn’t be fair to say that I bought an air fryer simply to reheat french fries, but it would be disingenuous to claim that my desire to reheat french fries had nothing to do with the purchase. A few years ago—when we were young and the air was sweet—I wrote a blog claiming that waffling sad, cold fries was a first-rate way to reheat them. Almost immediately, the comments started rolling in. “You fool, you absolute imbecile,” they said. “An air fryer is the only tool you should use to reheat french fries, and you are an idiot for suggesting otherwise.” (I am paraphrasing, but this was the feel of the comments, at least…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Groceries are damn expensive now, even the basics. Honk if you walked out of the supermarket with one measly bag of food that cost $50. Food shopping is one of those instances where I get mad about it (nothing will stop me from complaining into the void), but in the end, I have to find a way to cook smarter. Here are some of the strategies I use to maximize the money I spend at the grocery store, along with a few of my favorite budget-friendly recipes that are anything but boring. Make proteins work for your budgetThough eating meat will make your grocery bill climb quickly, you don’t need to go without. I eat a variety of…

Not all apps are safe. It's why I always recommend downloading apps from official app stores, like the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, rather than a random website: Apple and Google both have policies to scan for malware and stop them before reaching app stores. But neither company is perfect, and apps infected with malware end up on official app marketplaces more often that we'd like to think. These apps usually pop up on the Play Store more than the App Store given that Apple is extremely strict, but that doesn't mean the App Store is impervious to malware—it definitely happens, and we've covered it before. In fact, researchers just found a batch of apps containing…

Part-time work is great for increased flexibility, but a significant bummer when it comes to benefits. Luckily, a new rule now opens the door for millions of part-time workers to start building their nest eggs earlier through employer-sponsored retirement plans. This rule—part of the Secure Act 2.0 passed in 2022—reduces the waiting period for part-time employees to join their company's 401(k) or 403(b) plans. Here's what you need to know to take advantage of this change and maximize your savings this year. How part-time workers can save more for retirementUnder the new rules, part-time workers can qualify for their employer's retirement plan after just two years of servi…

From security and privacy concerns to good old-fashioned cringe, there are all kinds of reasons you might want to delete your old social media posts. And there are plenty of tools for the job out there. The problem: most tend to focus on one or two social media networks. Redact, however, is a paid tool with support for deleting posts on 28 different services. You can use it to scan for old posts and choose what to delete, or you can search for posts that mention specific topics. It can also be used to delete posts on a schedule—this is perfect if, for example, you wanted to delete all Bluesky posts a month after you post them. It's a lot of power, basically, and it runs l…

It’s not just eggs—all the basics we need to live our lives are getting more expensive, including the energy we use to run our appliances, heat our homes, and do just about everything else. The average monthly cost for electricity and gas is already over $200, so when your utility bill spikes, it’s often a cause for panic. After all, you can only do so much to cut down on your usage. If you’re looking for ways to manage your utility bills, there is one option worth investigating. Check with your local utility company to see if it offers what’s known as a Time of Use (TOU) plan. While these plans require some adjustment and a healthy dose of personal discipline, they also …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I recommend a lot of organizational tools around here, from high-quality shelves to renter-friendly options. While having a bunch of designated storage space is crucial for maintaining the decluttering and organizational principles that keep a home in order, some of the products on the market are a little spendy. Sometimes, sure, you need to drop some significant cash on something that will really help you whip a space into shape, but most of the time, there are inexpensive options that get the job done just as well. Here are some of my favorite organizing staples, all of which cost me less than or around $25. Storage car…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Apple has been top dog in the premium tablet space for years, and the iPad Pro with an M4 chip released last year is no exception. If you've been waiting for a discount on the best-performing tablet you can get, consider the 11-inch M4 iPad Pro for $849.99 (originally $999.99) after the additional $50 discount at checkout. This brings it down to the lowest price the this iPad model has been since its release, according to price-tracking tools. Apple iPad Pro 11-Inch (M4) …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When someone experienced uses a rowing machine, it’s almost a thing of beauty—a continuous rhythm, their entire body continuously moving back and forth as the numbers on the screen rise higher and higher. So why, when you get on, does using it immediately feel impossible, and also your back hurts? You probably have the settings wrong, and chances are your technique sucks too. Let's fix both of those. There is a learning curve to the rowing machine (also called an erg), but you can master it—probably more quickly than you think. It’s also common to note the damper setting and assume it works the same way as the resistance s…

Gone are the days of blaming an entire generation's money problems on avocado toast. In fact, the stereotype of "millennial money problems" may not be quite what it seems in the first palce. Millennial wealth in the U.S. has nearly quadrupled since 2019, according to Federal Reserve data. And yet, time and time again, millennials report feeling financially insecure. This disconnect between numerical wealth and actual financial wellbeing has been termed "phantom wealth—money that exists in theory, but it doesn't translate to a sense of security or freedom in daily life. Here's why millennials might still be feeling financially vulnerable, and how you can regain a sense of…

I'm sure you've received a random text from a supposed employment recruiter recently—we all have. These texts, you likely realize, are scams. No company is so desperate for workers that they’d message random numbers with job offers. According to the Federal Trade Commission, you shouldn't respond to these texts or click on any links on them—the smart thing to do is to block these numbers and get on with your day. But I wanted to see what happens to people who follow through and actually try to get the job, so I answered a scam text, and it led me down a surprisingly long road that included bogus online piecework, a discussion of the nature of labor itself, and repeated r…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve been thinking about getting a budget-friendly robot vacuum with mopping capabilities, you might want to check out the iRobot Roomba Combo Essential. This PCMag Editor's Choice-winning robot vacuum is currently $149 (down from $274.99), its lowest price ever, according to price trackers. iRobot Roomba Combo Essential $149.00 …

After OpenAI, Perplexity AI is joining the "deep research" bandwagon. And it's doing it in a fairly interesting way. Following in the footsteps of DeepSeek's "reasoning" model, Perplexity is the first major AI provider that's offering a Deep Research feature for free users, too. By comparison, OpenAI's Deep Research feature is only available in the $200/month Pro subscription. Deep Research is an upcoming AI feature that takes a bit of time, but performs dozens of related searches, goes over hundreds of resources, and uses a reasoning model to logic out each prompt in a step-by-step process. You can get similar results from tools like Copilot's "Think Deeper" feature, sur…