Workstation vs Gaming vs Desktop: Which PC is for you?

From the onset, let's be clear about the definitions.

• A desktop PC or personal computer is usually powered by an x86 (either Intel or AMD) processor, runs Microsoft's Windows operating system, is connected to a monitor and the mains and is usually fixed. Yes, there are a myriad of other combinations (ARM-based and Android or the endless flavours of Linux), but we'll stick to those for now.
• A workstation PC is a subset of the desktop PC family. They are primarily used by engineers (in the widest interpretation of the term), analysts, designers, content creation professionals, developers and anyone that requires data manipulation with a strong visual slant.
• A Gaming PC is the consumer alter-ego of the workstation PC and, as its name implies, is used mostly for gaming. However, their sheer performance and value-for-money ratio have made – for some – a compelling alternative to their workstation siblings.

But there's more to that: workstations are built with reliability, first and foremost, in mind, because they address a very different audience; one that earns a living working on a computer.

Quite different to a gamer. Which is why all workstations worthy of the name will come with an array of technologies that will enable it to remain in working order as long as possible. These include:

• ECC RAM: A more expensive memory type that corrects any mistakes before they affect your computer.
• RAID: The ability to backup data transparently, at OS level, by using a secondary hard disk drive or SSD.
• Warranty: Most of them come with onsite next business day warranty for three years or more by default. That can be upgrade to a longer period with even shorter intervention times.
• Redundant PSUs: Inherited from servers, they allow another power supply unit to take over immediately should the main one fail.
• Manageability: Most workstations will offer tool-free access to the components with their cases being designed to suit 24x7 workflows (that means extra fans).

The other big differences include:

• The CPU: Intel's Xeon is the preferred processor for workstations. Xeons support features like multiple sockets, ECC memory and way more of it, far more cores and cache memory – essential for heavy workloads and number crunching.
• The graphics card: Forget about the AMD Radeon or Nvidia Geforce. When it comes to professional graphics and mission-critical reliability, optimisation and certification are more important than sheer performance and pricing. You simply won't get that on consumer grade graphics cards.
• The OS: Windows 10 Home on a workstation? Don't count on it. It's Windows 10 Professional or Windows 7 Professional all the way. That's because the latter version comes with business features that have limited value for home users.
• The type of motherboard: Some offer the ability to run more than one processor with 16 or more memory slots available, space for multiple graphics (or compute) cards, dual Gigabit LAN ports, Thunderbolt and even legacy ports. That means that they are often far bigger than your mainstream model.

The bottom line means that a workstation PC can (and will) cost more than an equivalent gaming PC. The sky is essentially the limit for top-of-the-range models.

• Check out our list of top 10 best workstations and the top 10 best mobile workstations. Also these are the Best gaming PCs you can buy in 2016.

August 02, 2016 at 06:30PM
Desire Athow

25 cool things to try in the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition update

Introduction

Almost one year to the day that Windows 10 first landed on July 29, 2015, its biggest update – Anniversary Edition – is now landing on PCs everywhere.

It brings with it a host of new features relating to Cortana, using a Bluetooth pen, Microsoft's Edge browser and Windows Hello. Not everything is quite in place just yet – so don't expect to be buying Xbox Play Anywhere games using your device's fingerprint scanner just yet – but there's still plenty of cool tricks that you can try.

If you're rocking Windows 10, at some point you'll be prompted to download the update - but don't worry, as it might not happen straight away. If you find yourself in that boat, here's how to download and install the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

If you've already got it, click (or tap) on ahead to check out 25 cool things that you can try today.

• And don't worry - Windows 10 is going to continue evolving

1. Search within documents

Cortana can now forage through your documents like an urban fox checking out the contents of your bins. Previously it was only possible to have the personal assistant search the titles of files stored in OneDrive, but it can now sniff out information stored within them. So long as they're stored in Microsoft's cloud, you can say, "Cortana, search my documents for [search phrase]". If Cortana makes a match, it will then retrieve the document and show it in the search window.

2. Set detailed reminders

With Cortana, Microsoft is starting to fulfill its original vision of a truly useful personal assistant. Windows 10's Anniversary Update now lets you log more granular, timely reminders by saying things like, "Remind me to pick up the shopping on Wednesday at 3pm." Be warned: this invalidates any excuse you ever have for missing a family occasion ever again. Think twice if it's worth it.

3. Set a reminder from the lock screen

You might find that you occasionally lock your computer before remembering something that you need to do. Instead of making you log back in, detailed reminders can now be set on the lock screen by saying the usual, "Hey Cortana" line.

4. Add photos to reminders

Reminders are bland yet functional things, so it doesn't hurt to spice them up by adding a visual aid. There's now an option at the bottom of the window when setting a reminder to take a picture with your device's camera or upload one. This could come in especially handy when creating shopping lists - you don't want to buy somebody the wrong birthday present now, do you?

5. Activate dark mode

Microsoft has seen the light by bringing Dark Mode to Windows 10, and you'll love it if you're the sort that stays up until 3am huddled in front of your screen in the dead of night. Dark Mode changes UWP apps like Mail, Calendar and Store to a primarily black color scheme, which is easier on the eyes and can even help save battery life, according to Microsoft. It also looks great on high-resolution displays.

6. Automatically delete your browsing history

Yeah - you there reading this - we know why you might be interested in this one. Microsoft doesn't want anybody to find out about your secret love of Tom Jones, so it's baked in an option to delete your browsing history every time you close down Edge. You could actually do that before the Windows 10 update, but you're now given more choice with what to erase. You now can choose to erase your browsing history upon shutdown, along with cookies, cached data, download history and passwords. Because it's not unusual to want a lil' privacy.

7. Check out Xbox Play Anywhere

Xbox Play Anywhere games haven't quite landed just yet, but you can have a root around the redesigned Microsoft Store to get a feel for what it will look like when they do. Each title now lists compatible devices that games will run on, and you can expect 'Play Anywhere' logos to start cropping up soon.

8. Make the Start Menu bigger

The Start Menu was never big enough on Windows 10 – until now. By changing an option within the Start pane on the taskbar settings screen it's now possible to maximize the menu to squeeze in more live tiles. Additionally, Microsoft has made it so that Live Tiles now take you directly to the content that's being displayed in the tiles - rather than the app's 'home' screen. So if you see a new story's headline pop up in a Live Tile, giving it a click (or tap) will take you to that specific story.

9. Quickly access recent doodling apps

Microsoft has introduced Windows Ink in the new update, a side-loaded menu that makes doodling on your display quicker and easier. Simply give your Surface Pen's top button a click to pull it up. There you'll find the five most recent pen-compatible apps that you've previously used.

10. Draw on screenshots

One of Windows Ink's new features is Screen sketch, which lets you doodle on a screenshot. Simply give your Surface Pen's button a click and select 'Screen sketch' to take a snapshot of your screen's contents. You're given a handful of different pens to play with – from pencils to those chunky highlighters that never used to fit in your pencil case.

11. Hide the taskbar

Windows 10's Tablet Mode has never felt very tablet-ey with that ugly taskbar hovering around at the bottom of the screen. You can now right-click it and select 'Automatically hide the taskbar' to make it shuffle out of sight to provide a more distraction-free tablet experience.

12. Check out Edge extensions

Edge has finally caught up with just about every other browser out there by introducing extensions. There's the usual suspects – including AdBlock and Save to Pocket – in addition other useful entries such as OneNote Web Clipper and the Reddit Enhancement Suite.

13. Schedule Windows Defender

Even if you're running a separate antivirus program, it's still a good idea to have Windows Defender lurking in the background like a not-very-reassuring last line of defense. Still, Windows 10's Anniversary Update now lets you schedule when Defender scans your system, so at least you can set it to work when you're not there.

14. Draw straight lines

We just couldn't rule out including this one. (Sorry.) It's a well known fact that wonky lines anger artists more anything, which is probably why Microsoft has included a ruler feature in its Sketchpad app. Your sketches of quaint backwater villages are going to look more life-like than ever.

15. Reorder Action Tiles

Re-ordering Quick Action tiles was a little clunky post-Anniversary Update. Now it's as simple as dragging, dropping adding and deleting up to 14 Quick Action live tiles that show up when you open the Action Center.

16. Pin a zillion tabs

Shh – whisper it – Edge is actually looking quite funky in the latest Windows 10 update. One of its simpler yet neat features is to pin website tabs to save space. Sure, Chrome and other browsers can do it too, but in Edge it just looks squarer and strangely pretty. Must be our OCD.

17. Consolidate your Favorites

Another new space-saving feature in Edge is to only show icons in your Favorites bar. Combined with pinned websites, it's a feature that could come in super useful on smaller displays.

18. Play music through Cortana

Cortana now lets you play music on the lock screen before you've signed in by speaking commands, which is undoubtedly cool. However, you'll need a Groove Music subscription for it to work, which is not. We tried asking Cortana to play something through Spotify; in short, we might as well have been speaking French.

19. Get Sticky

Stickies are great in Windows 10's Anniversary Edition. They look just like the real deal, allowing you to position, resize and make them different colors. They've actually quite smart too, capable of automatically turning scribbles into reminders or links. They even retrieve information about flights if you write down the flight number.

20. Pin app windows to desktops

Task View felt half-baked until this new feature came along. Like on macOS, you can now 'pin' app windows to various virtual desktops in Task View, which makes your desktop feel much bigger than it actually is. Simply right-click the window in question and select 'Move to [desktop name]',

21. Check your notifications

We've lost count of how many times we've gone to click the Action Center button in the taskbar and missed it, only to open Norton or something else by accident. Windows 10's Anniversary Update has relocated the Action Center button to the bottom right-hand corner, just to the right of the clock. Handily, it now has a bubble with the number of notifications that are waiting for you in there.

22. Annoy people with emojis

Yes – Microsoft has included a bunch of new emojis in the latest update. Available in 25 different languages, they include 'Ninja-cat' and Liverpool FC soccer star Daniel Sturridge. If that's not cool then we don't know what is.

23. Easily change your Pen settings

Windows 10 previously used a dedicated app to let you tweak your Bluetooth pen settings, and it can now all be done from within the OS itself. Navigate to Settings > Pen & Windows Ink to find them.

24. Check your calendar in a click

So long as you've set up one or more accounts in the Calendar app, it's now possible to get a glimpse of what's coming up by clicking on the clock in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

25. Draw straight shapes

As we mentioned before, Windows 10 now lets you draw with a ruler in sketchpad. Microsoft has built more coolness of the straight lines variety by converting your wonky scribbles in Office apps. OneNote, for example, will convert your bad attempts at circles and squares into perfectly-drawn shapes. After several attempts, however, it still couldn't work out what an octagon was. Why the hate for eight sides, Microsoft?

August 02, 2016 at 04:30PM
Kane Fulton

This is why Pokemon Go's footprint tracking feature was killed

Pokémon Go's latest update left players disgruntled after removing some of the game's key features, including the footprint tracker, and Niantic has finally explained why.

Writing on its Facebook page, Niantic gave a few reasons for the recent changes, also explaining why it had requested third-party tracking tools be taken down.

Niantic said the '3-step' display, which broke before being removed entirely, was "confusing" and did not meet the company's goals. In its beta phase, Go actually told you the precise meter distance away the Pokémon were.

That system was changed in the full release, indicating a Pokémon's distance with the number of footprints beneath it. While we didn't think the footprint system was bad, it'll be interesting to see if Niantic finds something better.

But for now, we don't even have any third-party options. Niantic recently requested these third-party maps that tap into the game's internal APIs, such as Pokévision, be removed due to the strain they were putting on the servers.

"We have limited access by third-party services which were interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users and to bring Pokémon Go to users around the world," said Niantic, adding that a rollout in Brazil is on the horizon.

Yangcheng Liu, creator of third-party app Pokévision, told TechRadar that on July 26 the site had 10.8 million unique visitors, and that, in the whole period the site was live, the most visitors on the site at one time was 320,000.

The long silence

Niantic has been frustratingly quiet through much of this, but it's pretty clear the company was caught short by the game's phenomenal popularity.

The company said that the large number of Pokémon Go players has made the rollout a "challenge".

"We have read your posts and emails and we hear the frustration from folks in places where we haven't launched yet, and from those of you who miss these features," the company added.

"We want you to know that we have been working crazy hours to keep the game running as we continue to launch globally. If you haven't heard us Tweeting much it's because we've been heads down working on the game. But we'll do our best going forward to keep you posted on what's going on."

• Read up on the best Pokemon tips and tricks

August 02, 2016 at 04:20PM
Hugh Langley

Review: Dyson Supersonic

Introduction and Design

Primarily known for products that suck – calm down, we're talking about vacuums – Dyson has also proven adept at machines that blow, too (hey now, what did we say earlier?), having refined its jet technology on its Airblade hand dryers and Hot + Cool fans.

Now, the airflow innovator has opened itself up to a completely different market, engineering and creating what it claims is one of the most technologically-advanced beauty products ever, with its new Dyson Supersonic hair dryer.

While it's undeniably one of the most impressive hair dryers we've ever seen, the Dyson Supersonic doesn't come cheap – the high-end device comes with a high-end price, and is only available in Australia on the Dyson website, and at Myer and David Jones stores for AU$699.

In the United Kingdom, the Dyson Supersonic is priced at £300 and is available on the UK Dyson site and at Selfridges.

So the real question is whether or not the added technological fanciness afforded by the Supersonic justifies its hefty price tag.

Design

Though hair dryers have been around since the late 19th century, consumer models haven't really changed much since then. In fact, it's been over 60 years since the last significant evolution in hair dryer design, and that involved putting the motor inside the casing.

In typical handheld hair dryers, a bulky motor sits in the head of the device. This makes them awkwardly top heavy, and the motors themselves have a tendency to be loud, often overheating and burning out.

To remedy this, Dyson spent roughly AU$67 million in research and development on a new kind of dryer, using dozens of prototypes to dry 1,625kms of natural hair tresses over several years until it settled on the Supersonic design it has today.

So what's different about it? For starters, Dyson's engineers have come up with a much smaller and more efficient digital motor, which has the ability to propel 13 litres of air per second. Not only that, it's moved the motor from the head of the device into the handle, which is why you can see straight down its barrel right through to the other side, much like Dyson's aforementioned fans.

That's not to say there isn't anything fancy going on in the Supersonic's head; it's got a microprocessor that monitors temperatures 20 times a second, making sure it never overheats and burns out. Ordinary hair dryers will keep rising in temperature, which is why they give off a burning smell the longer you use them. Thanks to the Supersonic's microprocessor, the device will actually prevent itself from going over a certain temperature (around 120 degrees Celsius), so you'll never have to worry about your hair experiencing heat damage.

One of the Supersonic's neatest and most convenient design elements is also its simplest – magnetised attachments and nozzles. It's the kind of smart inclusion which makes it difficult to go back to lesser hair dryers, as it allows you to instantly snap on a diffuser, styling concentrator or smoothing nozzle (all included) without worrying about it falling off.

Inside the box, you'll also find a non-slip mat and a little rope hanger, so that you can hang the Supersonic from a hook in your preparation area.

Performance and Verdict

The most immediately noticeable aspect of the device's performance (and probably the main reason it received the Supersonic name) is that it's fairly quiet. It's not absolutely silent or anything – you'll still hear the powerful whooshing of air – but compared to any other hair dryer, the sound it gives off is much quieter and infinitely less irritating.

Aside from a power switch and a button to instantly turn the Supersonic's airflow cool, there are two main buttons used to control the device. The first, which has a little picture of a fan on it, scrolls through three different airflow speeds, while the button to its right, which has a red dot on it, allows you to cycle between three heat settings.

The power level on each of these settings is indicated by three LED lights (white lights for power, red lights for heat) right above each button, making it easy to keep track of how powerful and how hot you've set the device.

In terms of drying speed, the Supersonic is on par with most devices of its kind, taking around 3-6 minutes to turn wet hair dry, depending on the thickness and length of your hair. Though it doesn't get as (irresponsibly) hot as cheaper competing dryers, its sheer blowing power makes sure to get you well-coiffed quickly.

It's important to note that the Dyson Supersonic is a corded product, so while it might've been extra impressive to have a cordless model in the same vein as the company's excellent cordless vacuums, it would also come with significant drawbacks.

The unit would need to be bulkier and heavier to accommodate an in-built battery, and short battery life and long recharge times would make that proposition hardly worth investing in. Most people will be using the Dyson Supersonic in front of mirror anyway, so being tied to the wall is really no big deal.

Verdict

Though it's only got one real function (and one that's hard to get wrong, at that), we can't help but overstate just how well it performs that singular task.

The Dyson Supersonic is a pleasure to use, with its perfectly-weighted build, attractive design, easy-to-use settings and quiet-yet-powerful airflow, you really do feel like you're using a high-end, luxury product.

Admittedly, the Supersonic is incredibly expensive for a hair dryer, costing 2-3 times as much as a professional grade hair dryer from a well-renowned brand like ghd, which are priced at roughly AU$250/£145.

With that said, Dyson execs have suggested that the Supersonic is so well-built, that it should last at least ten years – a much longer lifespan than most other hair dryers. The actual warranty on the device is only two years, however, so that's not a guarantee set in stone.

Quite frankly, the device's exorbitant price is its only real drawback. It's likely going to be out of most people's price range. However, if you have disposable income and want the best hair dryer you can possibly get, or if you're a professional hair-stylist, you should look no further than the Dyson Supersonic. It really is the Porsche of hair dryers.

August 02, 2016 at 02:10PM
Stephen Lambrechts

The new Pokemon Sun and Moon wearable looks absolutely ridiculous

Windows 10 Week: Why does Windows 10 cost money when OS X is free?

Windows 10

Windows 10 is no longer free. As of July 29, a year to the day since Microsoft's release of its pivotal operating system (OS), you can't upgrade your existing laptop, desktop or tablet to the platform for zero dollars, pounds, deutschmarks – you name it.

From here on out, if you want to enjoy the fresh new features and updated protocols for various worthy pursuits, namely gaming, social media, search and cloud computing, you'll have to pay up in the way of $119 (or £99, AU$179).

Now, you might be wondering, "Hey, Apple doesn't charge for its software, so why should Microsoft?" So, why don't we make that crystal clear?

Microsoft was a software company first

Simply put, Windows has been the central pillar of Microsoft's business since its inception. It's only been in the past four years that the 41-year-old company has significantly (and successfully) invested in its own computing – not gaming – hardware to demonstrate the OS's capabilities and to offer the most capable versions of the devices running its software.

Frankly, the expectation that an OS should be free is a combination of misinformation and misconception revolving around the development of Apple's products. Just because they exist within the same general market doesn't mean Microsoft and its arch nemesis should be stacked up apples to apples by the public in how their pricing is perceived.

For the first 35 years of its run, Microsoft merely dabbled with hardware, largely making money selling its Windows software to various PC hardware makers. The cost of which was then and continues to be subsidized into the pricing of devices (and later further by third party software companies).

But, it has also sold boxed versions of the operating systems straight to consumers to install on their self-built systems or upgrade existing machines.

Apple, on the other hand, has done everything, from the hardware to the software, on its own since (well, a bit after, if you ask Bill Gates) the start in 1976. When you buy a MacBook or an iPhone, it comes with software that the hardware maker also made for it. Considering Apple's premium pricing for all of its products, that cost of making the OS was in part subsidized that way.

Arguably, Microsoft works in the same way with all of its Surface devices. Beyond its self-made hardware, you could pick up a brand new laptop, desktop or tablet with the Windows 10 installed, which is kind of like getting the interface free, but not really because (again) it's subsidized into the price of the device.

Ultimately, that $120 price tag will only affect users who didn't upgrade in time or are building a new PC. Otherwise, like the future iterations of MacOS and the last few versions of OS X, Windows 10 will get free updates for the next decade.

Catching onto content and continuity

Aside from producing a handful of devices, Microsoft's main focus remains squarely in software, including its Office 365 productivity suite and a few mobile apps – and not to mention its cloud services business Azure.

Conversely, Apple caught on quickly to other ends of the software industry, namely digital media and the mobile app economy – arguably having a hand in their creation. The company's steady stream of revenue from these channels allowed it to adjust the pricing of its other software offerings, the ones that are sort of the keys into the company's castle of digital transactions.

As in, the operating system and its most important apps. They're now free on all Apple products, essentially. Free admission is an effective means of getting people into your stores. Because of this, tech customers have come to expect "free" updates for their expensive devices.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has only begun achieving a similar hardware-to-software ecosystem in a meaningful way within the past five years. It's turning the corner, but by nature Microsoft will never truly adopt a similar model whole cloth. It simply can't abandon what it's built.

And Microsoft will always be a software company first

Now, do you see why this free year of the Windows 10 upgrade couldn't go on for much longer? This release will vastly change the firm's approach to the operating system moving forward. And that's not only in that this will be – for all intents and purposes – the final version of Windows, but that eventually Windows 10 will reach ubiquity in its communities, and direct sales will dry up.

In the meantime, Microsoft needs to continue charging for the OS because it has little other means of subsidizing the cost of its creation. Thousands of people work hard on the creation, maintenance and development of an OS, work that has to be paid somehow. (If it works out, those costs will largely be covered in digital media and app sales before long.)

And, judging from the changes brought to bear in the Anniversary Update, they're working to make sure that every box earns your $120. Even if you somehow missed the free upgrade, you'll see the value in the new way of using Windows minutes after installing. (Just check out the features we've published this Windows 10 Week for more about that.)

Windows costs money now, frankly, because it has to. What I like to call "The Apple Effect" has caused consumers to always expect free major updates from their devices. Now, after you pay the $120 price of admission, you'll get the same treatment there on out from Microsoft.

But, since Microsoft doesn't have the same structure as its rivals, it has to work perhaps a little harder to earn your appreciation for its software. And maybe, just maybe that makes the difference between its OS and its rivals' products.

This article is part of TechRadar's Windows 10 week. Microsoft's latest operating system turned from a free to a paid upgrade on July 29, and we're looking to answer the question of whether it's good for you.

August 02, 2016 at 12:49AM
Joe Osborne

Pokemon just got a whole lot more confusing