Your Windows PC runs dozens of background services you never asked for, and most can go - MakeUseOf

He gave Claude Code the manufacturer’s Windows driver to study, got a working Linux scanner in hours, then released a harness so others can do the same.

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious npm package that's part of a recently disclosed software supply chain attack campaign dubbed MALFEX. The package, named "imgdecode," was uploaded to the package registry on September 30, 2026, by a user named "malfexteste8. " It has been downloaded 979 times as of writing and is still available on npm as of writing. The latest version of the package is 1.0.3.

I’ve personally been a big downer on the Windows 11 experience, but I’ve seen enough from Microsoft that I’m hoping I can finally change my tune. In an extra-long blog post, Microsoft VP of Windows experiences Navjot Virk gave us a rundown of everything that’s coming to the age-old operating system, and it’s not just quality-of-life improvements that could make Windows 11 an OS you actually want to use. Microsoft has been planning these fixes for a while, and they’re available now in the Insider beta and will see a full release later this year. There are dozens of improvements, including the ability to move the taskbar to the sides like you could in previous OS versions. I’ve seen the promised land firsthand, and it’s a Windows 11 experience that may finally not suck. I’ve seen, though I haven’t yet played around with, several bits and bobs of revised functionality built into Microsoft’s OS. Namely, the new Search capabilities and Photos app are both completely redesigned, run faster, and offer more functionality than before. Search is especially better now.

News Summary: NVIDIA RTX Spark laptops are available today from ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and MSI — with additional systems to follow — bringing RTX acceleration and NVIDIA's full-stack AI platform to slim, premium Windows PCs for creation, gaming and local AI. RTX Spark delivers up to 1 petaflop of AI compute and up to 128GB of unified memory — enabling AI developers, creators and gamers to run frontier AI models locally, render 90GB+ 3D scenes and play AAA games at 1440p at over 100 frames per second, all on a slim, portable device. Day-one support across local AI agents, creative apps and major games helps users put RTX Spark to work immediately — from editing with Adobe Photoshop and Premiere to running Hermes and OpenClaw agents and playing titles including Gears of War: E-Day and NBA 2K27 with NVIDIA DLSS 5. NVIDIA today announced the availability of NVIDIA RTX Spark™ laptops, bringing together RTX graphics and NVIDIA's full-stack AI platform in slim, premium Windows PCs for accelerated creation, immersive gaming and powerful local AI — rolling out from ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and MSI.

Tom Warren is a senior correspondent and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Earlier this year Microsoft laid out a plan to fix Windows 11, with a focus on performance, reliability, and the overall OS experience. After months of fixes, Microsoft now says the “result is a Windows experience that’s up to 20 percent more responsive.”Microsoft has made improvements to Start, File Explorer, Search, Edge, and other parts of Windows 11 to make it feel faster and more responsive. “A big part of that work is making smarter use of memory and system resources,” says Navjot Virk, corporate vice president of Windows experiences at Microsoft. “We’ve improved memory management and efficiency across Windows to help keep more of your PC’s resources focused on what you’re actively doing.”The improvements to memory management now make a “meaningful difference” on PCs with just 8GB of RAM. “Windows can now keep up to 2GB more of your active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage,” says Virk.