Table of contents for June 2018 in Tech Advisor

Reports that Windows 10 S will become a ‘mode’ of Windows 10 were confirmed recently by Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, who stated that the transition will occur next year. Belfiore, a corporate vice president in the Operating System Group within Windows, tweeted his statement in response to this author’s own comment that Microsoft had neglected to mention 10 S in a recent blog post touting the success of Windows devices in schools. Microsoft launched the OS in 2017 as a standalone version of Windows, partly to provide a secure, manageable version of Windows to those schools. Currently, Microsoft sells Windows 10 S and 10 as separate versions. Windows 10 S works only with the UWP apps Microsoft itself provides from the app store. Its users may also switch to Windows 10…

£1,249 inc VAT from fave.co/2HuFrpL Dell‘s XPS line has always been good, but this year it is now certainly great. The 2018 XPS 13 is the best laptop Dell has ever made, and boy has it made a few. Comparing it to the MacBook is lazy – the XPS 13 is more powerful by some distance than Apple’s MacBook, the 12in rival of a similar price. In fact, the Core i7 XPS 13 we tested is the smoothest, fastest XPS ever and worthy of your consideration if you have the money to spend on a high-end laptop. Design Barely had the press release been flung to every corner of the earth before the XPS 13 was bestowed with a CES Innovation Award. Just like last year. It seems Dell has…

£199 inc VAT from fave.co/2t0pN2H There‘s no let up in the smartphone market and Honor has yet another new handset to tempt those looking for a stylish phone at an affordable price. Over the following pages we take a close look at the 9 Lite. Honor’s range can get a little confusing, especially when you include Huawei, the firm’s parent company, devices into the mix. So the Honor 9 Lite sounds like a cut-down version of the excellent Honor 9 and while it is to some extent, it’s also a sort of mini or light edition of the Honor View 10 because of its 18:9 screen. However, the device is closest – almost identical in fact – to the Huawei P Smart which has just launched on Vodafone. Honor’s version,…

Windows Phone might now be consigned to the recycle bin of history, but Android and iPhone users can still connect their devices to a Windows 10 PC. Doing so means you can take advantage of extra features such as sending articles you find on the web straight to your laptop. It’s easy to set up and get going in only a few minutes. Here’s how. Using Settings on your PC When Windows 10 first launched there was a ‘Phone Companion’ app that was used to connect your smartphone. This is due to be retired very soon, possibly by the time you read this, so instead there’s now a new section in the Settings menu. To get started, tap the Windows key on your PC, then either type in Settings or…

If you’re a fan of Windows 10’s tabbed Sets interface, you may want to sign up for the Windows Insider program this autumn, because Sets is back. Microsoft has announced Windows 10 Insider Build 17618, a closed beta for the ‘Skip Ahead’ portion of the Windows Insider program. Most Insiders follow the developer team working on the current build; that team is wrapping up the spring update (Redstone 4) that’s due in the next few weeks. The ‘Skip Ahead’ Insiders follow another team of developers working on the next update, due in the autumn. It’s in the autumn update, known as Redstone 5, where Sets will reappear. We tested Sets late last year, which replaces the traditional ‘one app, one window’ user interface with something that looks more like a…

£79 inc VAT from fave.co/2F8JBpr The Vodafone web listing for the Smart N8 says: “Access your messages, apps and contacts via the Smart N8’s fingerprint sensor.” This doesn’t actually make sense, but hints at the limitations of an incredibly cheap smartphone. If all you need is a phone to call, text, dabble with email, Facebook and online banking, then the Smart N8 will suffice. But you’ll find a whole host of frustrations if you want it for anything more than that. Design The plastic Smart N8 is surprisingly sturdy considering its £79 price tag. There’s hardly any flex or bend in the frame despite the removable back panel that gives access to the nano-SIM card and SD card slot. It’s an odd design choice given that the battery is not…

Far too many games these days are built to be played in small bursts: brief encounters, designed for a world with too few hours in the day and too many digital distractions. And that’s fine. Blasting through a few rounds of Call of Duty multiplayer, or playing a few run-throughs in Spelunky, is a wonderful way to spend a few minutes. But sometimes, you want something more – something meatier. Whether you’re looking for an entertaining way to blow a long weekend or simply want to wrap your head around a satisfyingly complex experience, these 20 deep, intricate, and just plain great PC games will hold you for hours on end. 1. Divinity: Original Sin 2 Price: £29.99 from fave.co/2FI3HEj The first Divinity: Original Sin was one of the best…

If you want a hint of how fragile our tech-reliant world is, look no further than the Oculus Rift. Rift owners the world over recently discovered that their £399 virtual reality headset had become a paperweight overnight – at least temporarily. It seems as though Oculus forgot (?) to issue an updated Windows certificate, the security feature that confirms that, yes, Oculus’s software is actually Oculus’s software. As Microsoft’s decade-old primer puts it, “Digital certificates function similarly to identification cards such as passports and drivers’ licenses.” That’s a pretty good analogy. When the certificate expired, Windows stopped recognizing Oculus Runtime Service and thus stopped allowing it to run – for good reason, I might add. As the end user though, this manifests as a pretty opaque ‘Can’t reach Oculus Runtime…

The Raspberry Pi reignited interest in the DIY home computer market. Thanks to the little marvel there are now a wide range of kits and platforms available for users to assemble their own machines, ranging from budget boards up to more expensive complete kits that include keyboards, cables, batteries, and even robotic arms. Whether you’re looking for a project to tinker with, a chance to learn some coding skills, or just a gift for a curious child, it can be hard to know where to begin, so we’ve done our best to break down what you can expect from the best DIY computer kits on the market. Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Price: £26.69 from fave.co/2pb7HqB Although it certainly wasn’t the first DIY computer kit, the Raspberry Pi has quickly…

Even a generous 24in monitor can feel cramped when you’ve got multiple windows open on your desktop (and who doesn’t). It’s much worse if you’re confined to a laptop screen. Fortunately, it’s simple enough to add a second monitor to your PC setup and spread out. Any modern desktop or laptop PC has the graphics capability to run dual displays. All that’s required is a second monitor. You can get a very nice second screen for around £100. Today’s monitors typically come with some combination of VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort ports. In other words, you’ll have a couple options for how to connect the monitor to your PC. While its common for VGA and DVI cables to come included with the display, you may have to purchase your HDMI…