productivity
Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra review: A monster AI laptop with a monster price
The Dell Laptop Buying Guide UK: Which Dell Laptop Should You Buy? When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra is part productivity machine, part AI workstation. But can you afford it? Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra is a new class of device, combining efficient productivity, powerful graphics, plus AI capabilities, all for a price that seems totally unrealistic in the 2026 economy. Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra and its newfangled Nvidia RTX Spark chip characterize what many would call a new axis of productivity: AI. With it comes an old, familiar feeling of FOMO, or the fear of missing out. For decades, the equation has been simple: A faster CPU means applications run faster. A faster GPU equates to higher frame rates in PC games. Now there's AI, which means memory matters. Memory is shared between the Arm CPU and powerful RTX GPU inside the Nvidia Spark N1X chip powering the Surface Laptop Ultra, and more memory means the ability to load more powerful AI models. As regards the Surface Laptop Ultra model that Microsoft shipped us, my first impression was one of disappointment, as it came with just a "measly" 32GB of memory (along with its whopping $3,699 price tag).
I doubled my laptop's battery life in a single click. Here's how
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. I doubled my laptop's battery life in a single click. This week in Smart Mode, we look at Microsoft's ways to save power within Windows and keep your laptop up and running for longer. It's not often that I come across a productivity tip so good that it amazes even me. And that's what happened when I started testing Windows' hidden "energy recommendations" to extend laptop battery life.
3 myths about working from home, debunked
Turns out we're not more productive and happy in the office. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Working from home won't hurt morale, no matter what your boss says. Remote work isn't new--I've known people who telecommuted in the 1960s, and farmers were working from home long before that. But many people worked remotely for the first time in 2020, for reasons you may remember.
LG's 45-inch OLED ultrawide with dual refresh modes is 700 off
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. LG's 45-inch OLED ultrawide with dual refresh modes is $700 off Ultrawide monitors offer significantly more horizontal screen real estate, which is handy whether you're gaming (for immersion) or working (for focus and productivity). OLED panels offer true blacks, vivid colors, and ultra-fast response times. The LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B combines both into a single 45-inch display that'll upgrade any PC desk. The 45GX950A-B is priced down on Amazon right now, available for "just" $1,299.99.
Microsoft Edge is about to lose uBlock Origin, too
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Microsoft's Edge team has posted a timeline for migrating away from Manifest Version 2, the extensions foundation upon which uBlock's superb uBlock Origin adblocker lives. Remember how one of the best adblockers, uBlock Origin, was effectively killed by Google Chrome? Throughout 2024 and 2025, Google said that it was migrating its extension support from what is called Manifest, from version 2 to version 3. Now Microsoft says that it is following Google's lead, and beginning that transition as well. Ads stink, and anyone who says that they don't affect productivity has never turned off an adblocker and tried to surf a major media site, including our own.
3 ways you're working wrong, according to scientists
More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Open offices are loud and not great for productivity. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . I think a lot about productivity.
America Is Headed Toward the Infinite Workweek
The future of AI and jobs will be so much weirder than you think. This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Last year, Steve Yegge started "suddenly getting pounded by nap attacks in the middle of the day." Without fail, Yegge--a programmer and tech blogger--would "hit a wall, fall over, and sleep for 90 minutes," he told me. Like many developers, Yegge no longer writes code by hand; instead, he manages a legion of bots to do that for him.
Replace or Reshape: How AI Could Change the Way We Work
Christopher Marquis is a professor at the University of Cambridge and the author of The Profiteers. In 1930, in the depths of the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes wrote a short essay called . It is often remembered for one striking prediction: by 2030, people in wealthy countries might only need to work about 15 hours a week. What Keynes imagined was a society advanced enough to solve what he called the "economic problem" of basic material provision. If technology kept improving, and societies kept growing richer, then fewer hours of human labor would be needed to produce the necessities and comforts of life.
'Your craft is obsolete': WiseTech staff in limbo as AI touted as better than humans
WiseTech's headquarters in Sydney, where staff fear many jobs will be lost to AI. WiseTech's headquarters in Sydney, where staff fear many jobs will be lost to AI. 'Your craft is obsolete': WiseTech staff in limbo as AI touted as better than humans Staff at WiseTech have been waiting almost three months to be told if they are among the 2,000 people the logistics software company is to cut due to advances in AI, with workers criticising the wait as stressful and "ridiculous". The comments come as its founder on Tuesday told investors an AI agent could learn a human's job in just 15 minutes, according to the Australian Financial Review. The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company announced in late February that it would lay off almost 30% of its workforce across 40 countries, with 2,000 of the 7,000 jobs set to go over the next 18 months. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Some areas would be hit harder than others, with product and development and customer service teams expected to be reduced by up to 50%, the chief executive, Zubin Appoo, told an investor briefing in February. "The era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over," Appoo said.