That’s because this situation is only applicable to offline environments where updates would otherwise be deployed manually.
This issue does not affect systems that receive updates directly through Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog.
So, the overwhelming majority of systems and especially all of those used by average consumers.
If this is a hard / full system freeze, there will be nothing you can do because the system has fully locked up. Test whether or not this is the case by pressing CapsLock and seeing if the status indicator light changes states.
Freezing like you describe is often a hardware issue, I recommend that you start by testing your RAM with Memtest86
I understand and respect your preference.
A “power user” is typically going to go through the UEFI/BIOS settings immediately after assembling their machine to configure them to their liking. Having that preference, you likely fall within that category. I would add that, at this point, this practice is about 6 generations old at this point and in use by most motherboard vendors.
As the article mentions, the feature could be considered useful. These products aren’t designed specifically for power users. Having network access and a frictionless path to driver deployment is ultimately beneficial to the majority of consumers who are going to interact with this hardware.
I’m quite happy to install it, disable its startup background functions, and then use it to install / update drivers periodically. Much less tedious than doing it the manual way, especially when managing 10-20 systems per week.
There’s a bunch of other potential functions but I simply don’t bother with them.
It’s for the more novice users who can assemble a PC but don’t ever think go download / install drivers afterwards.
Most of the motherboard OEMs do this. I get a lot fewer tickets where the root cause of the issue can be boiled down to “never installed drivers afterwards installing Windows”, which is also helped by the fact that many drivers are also served through Windows Update.
automatically reinstall
The user is prompted to install the application.
Go back and play Cyberpunk!
My experience with that glow-up is exactly why I’m going to be waiting to go deep on a Stalker 2 playthrough.
The rough state of Stalker 2 reminded me a lot of Cyberpunk’s launch, so I’ve gone back to the playthrough that I started back when 2.0 came out. Still haven’t experienced Phantom Liberty or gotten to Act 2, be replaying everything that was janky at launch and getting to re-experience it as it should have been has been wonderful :)
Reminds me of “And Yet It Moves”
I like this game a lot. Played the Colin McRae and Sega Rally games as a kid, this game captures that feeling.
Normally play rally sims in my sim pit, it’s nice to have something very casual to play on Steam Deck
That, and there are still many parts of the US that are underserved in internet access. I have a friend who lives ~15 minutes outside of a major city and, until recently, the whole family shared a flaky ~2Mbps connection. They begrudgingly adopted Starlink because that was the only decent option.
From the article, the large size is specific to the Xbox version:
The large download size might be due to how Xbox releases its updates. Xbox updates are often bigger compared to those on PC and PlayStation 4/5.
At least the mod didn’t break as a result, had me worried for a second there.
I had dial-up through my Mom’s work’s VPN at the time and couldn’t even sign in to Steam with it, so I had to use an AOL 30-day trial just to be able to play the game.
When both the trial and Steam’s Offline mode timing ran out, I had sufficient motivation to learn how to crack WEP so I could borrow the neighbor’s WiFi
In terms of storyline, it doesn’t really matter too much.
I still think you should play through the first one. If you need something that feels less 1998, Black Mesa is a remake of the original Half Life and it is very fun.
The touchpads, virtual menus, layers / action sets, and overall control customizability really make the Steam Deck shine. PC Games with complicated keyboard-centric control schemes can be adapted to the Steam Deck so easily.
A handheld without that is going to be a hard sell for me no matter how well it performs. As a secondary device to a Gaming PC with a strong internet connection, cloud gaming makes my Deck handle whatever I can throw at it.
It never seems to be the people who have actually used the mouse complaining about the port location.
A brief 1-2 minute charge nets you hours of use, it’s really not a big deal.
Notice that it’s never people who have the mouse complaining about the port location.
A brief 1-2 minute charge nets you hours of use, it’s really not a big deal.
With Windows 10 support ending in a matter of days, that leaves the latest Microsoft OS as the only real option for gamers right now
Windows 10 support ends in 2025. Linux is a very real option for the majority of games.
Given the idiocy in this article, I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t occur to them to delete Windows.old from an external software environment. Ultimately, that’s something you want to keep around for a while because it’s what lets you roll back the upgrade if there turns out to out to be problems.
Might be cozy because of the nostalgia more than anything else, but I’ve been cruising through the Turok remasters
This article is just plain bad. The author’s own conclusion contradicts the headline.
In the end, I don’t think I would ever consider a handheld gaming PC without trackpads.