Developer Tool Archives

AppWizard

April 9, 2025

The Last of Us Part 2 proves that 8 GB of VRAM can be enough, even at 4K with maximum settings, so why aren’t more games using the same clever asset-streaming trick?

Sony's The Last of Us Part 1 faced significant issues upon its PC release, including bugs, instability, and excessive VRAM usage, leading to debates about the adequacy of 8 GB of VRAM. In contrast, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered demonstrated improved VRAM management during testing, with an RTX 5080 averaging 11.36 GB of memory usage and an RTX 3060 Ti averaging 11.06 GB. The game effectively managed VRAM without overloading the GPU, unlike its predecessor. Additionally, TLOU2 exhibited high CPU utilization, indicating efficient parallel task management. This performance suggests that proper asset streaming can maintain stability even on lower VRAM configurations, highlighting the importance of effective asset management in future AAA titles.

Winsage

March 22, 2025

AMD 25.3.2 driver fixes major bug so Windows Update no longer installs older driver on 9070

AMD has released a beta display driver version 25.3.2 for Windows 11 and 10, which addresses a bug that caused older drivers to be installed via Windows Update, affecting various GPU generations. This issue has been resolved for the RX 9000 series graphics cards. The driver adds support for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows and The Last of Us Part II Remastered, along with several bug fixes, including improvements for Counter-Strike 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Assetto Corsa Competizione. Developer updates include support for RX 9000 series in the AMD Radeon Developer Tool Suite and the availability of AMD FSR 3.1 in over 110 games. Known issues include memory leaks with SteamVR, performance logging notifications, crashes with certain games, and stuttering with some VR headsets. The driver can be downloaded from AMD's official website.

Tech Optimizer

October 29, 2024

Timescale expands open source vector database capabilities for PostgreSQL

Timescale is enhancing its open-source database platform with AI capabilities, focusing on time series database technology built on PostgreSQL. The company has introduced the pgai Vectorizer developer tool, allowing users to create and synchronize embeddings within the database, facilitating generative AI applications. Timescale's vector capabilities were advanced with the pgvectorscale and pgai initiatives launched earlier this year. The integration of time series and vector data is seen as a significant trend, with organizations increasingly leveraging both functionalities. The pgai Vectorizer simplifies embedding management using SQL commands and supports the testing and deployment of AI models. Timescale's pgvectorscale extension aims to improve performance and scalability compared to the existing pgvector extension. Both the pgai Vectorizer and pgvectorscale will remain open-source, contributing to a growing community of users. The company plans to expand its AI strategy beyond Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to include agentic AI for vector database operations.

Winsage

September 27, 2024

This hidden Windows 11 setting adds an ‘End task’ option to every task on your taskbar

Users can add an 'End Task' option to the taskbar in Windows 11 by navigating to Settings, selecting System, and then the For Developers section to toggle on the End Task feature. This feature allows for immediate termination of unresponsive applications without prompts to save work, posing a risk of data loss.

Winsage

September 1, 2024

This hidden Windows 11 setting lets you kill unresponsive apps right from the taskbar

To add the 'End Task' feature to the taskbar in Windows 11, navigate to Settings, select System, then For Developers, and toggle on the End Task option. This feature allows users to terminate unresponsive applications directly from the taskbar, similar to the Task Manager, but does so without prompting to save unsaved work, which can lead to data loss.

Winsage

July 30, 2024

How to add an End Task option to the Taskbar in Windows 11

Microsoft has hidden the End Task feature within the Taskbar in Windows 11, categorizing it as a developer tool. To enable it, users need to open the Settings app, navigate to the System section, select For Developers, locate the End Task option, and toggle it to On. Once enabled, right-clicking on the Taskbar button of any running application will reveal the End Task option, allowing users to terminate unresponsive apps easily.

BetaBeacon

March 24, 2024

Microsoft to End Test Base for Microsoft 365 by May

Microsoft has started the end-of-life process for Test Base for Microsoft 365, which will be fully retired by the end of May. The process began in early March. Test Base for Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based application testing service on Azure that tests application compatibility with new Windows releases or updates. The retirement of the service is due to the progress made with Windows 11, which has made Test Base for Microsoft 365 redundant.