environment Archives

AppWizard

July 18, 2026

GTA 3 and Vice City are now playable inside San Andreas — a mod lets you revisit Liberty City and Vice City without leaving San Andreas

A modder named DryxioGTA has created a modification that enables players to play Grand Theft Auto III (GTA 3) and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (GTA VC) as mini-games within Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA SA). This mod was demonstrated in a YouTube video, showing it running on a Windows virtual machine while on macOS. Players can interact with a television screen in GTA SA to launch either GTA VC or GTA 3. Additionally, DryxioGTA showcased the ability to run GTA Vice City within GTA 3 while still navigating through GTA SA. The release of GTA 6 is anticipated on November 19, following several delays.

AppWizard

July 18, 2026

I’m not worried about Fallout: New Vegas 2, because Obsidian knows how to make the best out of a bad situation

Obsidian Entertainment, founded in 2004, is known for titles like Knights of the Old Republic 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Pillars of Eternity. The studio was acquired by Microsoft in late 2018, leading to a cautious approach in its development, as seen in The Outer Worlds and the reimagined Avowed. Despite recent challenges, including layoffs, Obsidian has produced successful titles outside its traditional RPG genre, such as Grounded and Pentiment. The studio is currently working on New Vegas 2, generating optimism among fans and industry observers.

AppWizard

July 18, 2026

I used videogames to solve my country’s politics: Turns out the answer is ultra-mega-communism

The Labour prime minister of the United Kingdom has stepped down, leading to the anticipated leadership of former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. A simulation exercise envisions the UK in 2026 under a radical premiership, proposing initiatives like cryptocurrency, subsidized healthy food, and university grants. The legislation of the right to die significantly boosted approval ratings to approximately 43%. A financial crisis led to a state of emergency, allowing for sweeping reforms such as a state postal service and increased NHS funding. The political landscape is divided, with socialists and trade unionists supporting the leadership, while religious conservatives and capitalists oppose it, forming armed factions. The campaign strategy focused on galvanizing the base, resulting in a 70% turnout from supporters and a nationwide turnout of 72%, translating to 30 million votes and 44.7% of the overall vote for the party.

Winsage

July 18, 2026

Windows Server 2022 reach end of mainstream support in 90 days

Windows Server 2022 will end its mainstream support on October 13, 2026, transitioning to an extended support phase that will last until October 14, 2031, during which security updates will be provided at no additional cost. Windows Server 2022 was released in September 2021 and is part of the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) with a decade of support. Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows Server 2025, which became generally available in November 2024 and will have mainstream support until November 13, 2029, and extended support until November 14, 2034. A 180-day trial for Windows Server 2025 is available through the Microsoft Evaluation Center. Additionally, hotpatching for Windows Server 2022 will be extended until October 2027 for Datacenter: Azure Edition systems, and the free Windows 10 Extended Security Updates program has been extended by one year. Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 and Windows 11 24H2 will stop receiving updates three months after their end of support.

AppWizard

July 18, 2026

As Google sits back and watches, terrible ads are ruining Android’s free app ecosystem

The mobile advertising landscape has shifted from simple banner ads to aggressive monetization tactics that often manipulate users. Common intrusive ad experiences include unclosable interstitial ads, interactive playable ads that mislead users, and unsolicited notifications promoting unrelated games. This shift has negatively impacted independent developers, who struggle to compete against large ad networks and feel pressured to adopt disruptive ad practices. Google, which controls the Play Store and ad services, benefits financially from these intrusive ads but has not effectively addressed the issue, allowing low-quality ads to proliferate. The current state of advertising is eroding user trust in free applications, threatening the integrity of the Android ecosystem.

AppWizard

July 18, 2026

This week’s Epic Games Store free games go spooky with mystery and psychological horror

This week, the Epic Games Store is offering two games for free: Luto, a first-person psychological horror game that explores themes of dreams, secrets, love, loss, and regret, and Echo Generation, a nostalgic adventure game inspired by pop culture references. Luto features a haunting narrative and an unsettling environment, while Echo Generation includes a vibrant voxel art style and engaging combat with button-mashing mini-games. Both games are available from July 16 to July 23 and will remain in players' libraries indefinitely once claimed.

Winsage

July 18, 2026

I tried this Linux distro that looks like Windows, is made by a Microsoft engineer, and is based on Ubuntu

AnduinOS is a new Linux distribution created by a Microsoft engineer, based on Ubuntu, designed to provide a user experience similar to Windows 11. It offers both Long-Term Support (LTS) and short-term releases, with the latter featuring enhancements over its predecessor. Unlike Ubuntu, which uses Snap packages, AnduinOS utilizes Flatpak for software management, allowing access to a wider range of applications. The desktop environment closely resembles Windows 11, featuring a taskbar, Start menu, and other familiar elements, enhanced by GNOME extensions. Users can customize the taskbar and Start menu extensively, surpassing the customization options available in Windows. The integration of GNOME extensions, such as Clipboard History and Tiling Shell, further enhances productivity and user experience.

AppWizard

July 18, 2026

2 months after releasing Zero Parades, Studio ZA/UM is laying off employees: ‘Its commercial performance has not enabled us to sustain a studio of our current size’

Studio ZA/UM announced layoffs two months after the launch of their game, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, due to sales not meeting expectations. The studio issued redundancy notices affecting up to 32 employees, despite the game receiving critical acclaim. The game did not achieve the same level of success as its predecessor, Disco Elysium, with mixed reviews highlighting its shortcomings. Key figures from Disco Elysium had left the studio prior to the game's release, contributing to a challenging environment. Critics noted that the cultural context surrounding the game has impacted its reception, turning it into a symbol of industry practices rather than a standalone experience.

AppWizard

July 18, 2026

We just awarded $500 to the PC gamer who sent us this wild Crimson Desert video, and next month it could be you

Crimson Desert has maintained excitement among gamers months after its launch, leading to a recent winner of the PC Gamer Clips contest who received 0 in Amazon gift cards for their video submission. The contest invites participants to record and submit gameplay clips from any PC game, with monthly prizes awarded for the most engaging entries. Eligibility is limited to citizens of the US or UK. The contest accepts clips from various games, including GTA 5 and Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, and encourages gamers to share their creative moments. The PC Gamer Clips page features entertaining videos from the community.

AppWizard

July 17, 2026

Minecraft 26.3 Snapshot 4

The window management, input, and platform integration library has been transitioned from GLFW to SDL3. New features include custom furnace fuels and enhancements to signs, world generation, and loot tables. Players in spectator mode can interact with portals for teleportation. Exclusive fullscreen mode on Windows may cause crashes with multiple monitors, and it crashes on Wayland. Minor tweaks have been made to blocks, items, and entities, including armadillos no longer rolling up in liquids. The Raw Input mouse setting has been removed, and mouse input will now use relative mode. Key bindings will use physical keys, and borderless fullscreen is now the default mode. Exclusive fullscreen mode is no longer supported on macOS, and the minimum window size has been set to 320 by 240 pixels. Linux systems will prefer Wayland if available. The debug overlay now supports a separate GUI scale and displays the player's speed and refresh rate. The Data Pack version is 111.0, and the Resource Pack version is 92.0. New components for cooking and brewing fuels have been added, and various bugs have been fixed to improve gameplay stability.