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AppWizard

July 26, 2026

Halo: Campaign Evolved Looks Worse Than Master Chief Collection on Steam Deck and Xbox Ally

Halo: Campaign Evolved has been released for early access. It features impressive visuals on high-end PCs and current consoles but struggles on lower-end hardware, particularly handheld devices like the Steam Deck. The game requires an Intel Core i7-10700K and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super, which are beyond the capabilities of the Steam Deck and base Xbox Ally. On the Xbox Ally, the game runs at 1280x720 resolution with Very Low settings and achieves around 30 fps, occasionally dipping into the mid-20s. Despite being technically playable, the visual quality is poor, with bland textures and a lack of environmental detail. In contrast, the Master Chief Collection runs at 65-70 fps on the Xbox Ally and offers superior visual fidelity. The Steam page claims Campaign Evolved is Steam Deck Verified, although performance is lacking compared to other titles. For those wanting to experience the original Halo campaign on the Steam Deck, the Master Chief Collection is recommended.

AppWizard

July 25, 2026

Forget Ultra settings, Halo: Campaign Evolved looks nearly as good with everything set to Low

During testing of Halo: Campaign Evolved, a notable performance dip of around 20% was observed when transitioning from Low to Ultra settings, averaging nearly 200 fps on high-end hardware. On an RTX 4070 Super rig, maintaining 60 fps at 1440p without upscaling is affected by these settings. Performance metrics for the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X at 1080p with Very Low settings and FSR Medium upscaling showed: - FSR Low: 49 Avg FPS, 39 1% Low FPS - FSR Medium: 43 Avg FPS, 34 1% Low FPS - FSR Ultra: 33 Avg FPS, 27 1% Low FPS - FSR Native: 22 Avg FPS, 19 1% Low FPS - TSR Low: 33 Avg FPS, 30 1% Low FPS - TSR Medium: 32 Avg FPS, 28 1% Low FPS - TSR Ultra: 31 Avg FPS, 26 1% Low FPS - TSR Native: 20 Avg FPS, 14 1% Low FPS For Low settings, the performance metrics were: - FSR Low: 32 Avg FPS, 27 1% Low FPS - FSR Medium: 26 Avg FPS, 22 1% Low FPS - FSR Ultra: 23 Avg FPS, 27 1% Low FPS - FSR Native: 16 Avg FPS, 14 1% Low FPS - TSR Low: 29 Avg FPS, 23 1% Low FPS - TSR Medium: 29 Avg FPS, 25 1% Low FPS - TSR Ultra: 29 Avg FPS, 25 1% Low FPS - TSR Native: 16 Avg FPS, 14 1% Low FPS For Medium settings, the performance results were: - FSR Low: 28 Avg FPS, 24 1% Low FPS - FSR Medium: 24 Avg FPS, 23 1% Low FPS - FSR Ultra: 21 Avg FPS, 18 1% Low FPS - FSR Native: 14 Avg FPS, 12 1% Low FPS - TSR Low: 29 Avg FPS, 24 1% Low FPS - TSR Medium: 28 Avg FPS, 25 1% Low FPS - TSR Ultra: 27 Avg FPS, 24 1% Low FPS - TSR Native: 15 Avg FPS, 14 1% Low FPS It is recommended to use Low settings for better performance and to disable motion blur for an improved gameplay experience.

Winsage

July 25, 2026

It’s impossible to recommend paid Windows cleanup utilities when Windows Sysinternals does everything for free

Many utility suites for Windows maintenance require a yearly subscription but often only aggregate basic tools. Users can achieve similar results without costs, as Windows manages routine maintenance effectively. Microsoft's Sysinternals suite offers advanced tools like Autoruns, which provides a comprehensive view of startup entries, and Process Explorer, which offers detailed process monitoring. SDelete securely deletes files beyond recovery, while RAMMap provides insights into memory usage without the risks of third-party applications. Although Sysinternals tools may lack polished interfaces, they deliver substantial functionality for users willing to learn how to use them.

AppWizard

July 24, 2026

Ultrahuman’s new ‘Emerald’ update is a massive overhaul of how the app works

Ultrahuman has released the "Emerald" update for its companion app, featuring a new design and enhanced user experience for Ultrahuman Ring PRO and other devices. The update introduces the "UltraSphere," a decision-making engine that provides personalized "Next Best Actions" based on factors like location, weather, and circadian rhythms. It utilizes health metrics such as heart rate variability, skin temperature, and movement patterns, and can incorporate blood glucose levels for users with Ultrahuman M1 or M2 Live devices. The update also includes new tabs for health insights, such as the "Sleep Screener," which consolidates sleep data, and the "Longevity Tab," which aggregates health markers related to lifespan. The "Windows" feature offers insights into time-sensitive data. Workout tracking has been improved with better automatic detection and heart rate algorithms, increasing VO2 Max accuracy by 21%. Users can connect third-party devices for seamless workout tracking. All health data processing now occurs on-device, allowing access to insights without network connectivity. The Emerald update is being rolled out globally and is available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Tech Optimizer

July 23, 2026

Optimizing PostgreSQL on Azure directly in Visual Studio Code

Poor database performance can lead to missed SLAs, delayed releases, customer dissatisfaction, and lost revenue. Microsoft has enhanced PostgreSQL on Azure, transforming it into a fully managed platform that meets enterprise demands. Azure Database for PostgreSQL and the new Azure HorizonDB offer significant performance improvements, with HorizonDB being three times faster than self-managed PostgreSQL. The PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code integrates performance management into development workflows, providing tools for managing PostgreSQL throughout its lifecycle. Key features include a server metrics dashboard that displays performance indicators, Azure Advisor recommendations for actionable insights, improved query plan visualization, and AI-assisted query analysis. The extension also enhances schema design and query formulation experiences, ensuring secure and governed interactions with PostgreSQL. Azure HorizonDB is in public preview, designed for AI-native workloads. These advancements aim to reduce friction, enhance clarity, and enable faster actions for enterprise teams managing PostgreSQL at scale.

Tech Optimizer

July 23, 2026

Simplify AI agent orchestration with Lakebase Postgres

The auditing process has traditionally been labor-intensive, requiring extensive document reviews. CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) partnered with the Databricks Forward Deployed Engineering team to develop a document processing application that reduces extraction time from hours to minutes while maintaining quality. The application is built on the Databricks platform, utilizing technologies like Lakebase Postgres, Databricks Apps, Lakeflow Jobs, MLflow, and Unity Catalog Volumes. The application addresses challenges in document parsing, including unpredictable per-task latency, rate-limit-aware throttling, workload prioritization, cost attribution per task, and real-time progress visibility. It eliminates the need for multiple specialized systems by integrating components such as a web application for user interaction, Lakebase for state management, an orchestrator for task management, and AI agents for document processing. The task queue is supported by two Postgres tables in Lakebase, tracking task status and execution attempts. Concurrency safety is ensured through a locking mechanism, and crash recovery is facilitated by lease-based locking. The orchestrator implements rate-limit-aware throttling and idempotent webhook callbacks to manage task processing effectively. An operator dashboard provides real-time metrics on task status, agent performance, and workload costs, with live updates through Postgres LISTEN/NOTIFY events. Cost attribution is managed at the application level, allowing for detailed monitoring of expenditures. Lakebase enhances the orchestration process with features like autoscaling compute, OAuth-rotated authentication, Unity Catalog integration, and support for branching and snapshots.

Tech Optimizer

July 22, 2026

Google boosts AlloyDB vector search with HNSW preview

Google has introduced a preview of its columnar engine-accelerated HNSW feature for AlloyDB, enhancing vector search throughput by up to four times for users of the pgvector extension in PostgreSQL. This improvement is aimed at approximate nearest neighbor searches using HNSW across large datasets. AlloyDB utilizes a columnar engine that allows HNSW indexes to reside in memory, improving throughput and recall metrics. In benchmark tests on the GloVe 100 Angular dataset, queries per second increased by approximately 4.2x to 4.9x, with recall improving from about 0.78 to over 0.94 at a throughput of around 350 queries per second. The columnar engine's design bypasses traditional PostgreSQL buffer management bottlenecks, enhancing efficiency during graph traversal. The memory architecture is distinct from basic caching techniques, and the feature requires no changes to application code. Users must enable the columnar engine and index caching flags to utilize this feature. Benchmarks were conducted on an AlloyDB C4A machine with 16 virtual CPUs.

Winsage

July 21, 2026

Samsung’s new GAIA PC chip challenges Microsoft’s Copilot+ program — and why I can only see that as a positive for the AI PC industry

NVIDIA announced the RTX Spark at Computex 2026, prompting Samsung to develop custom silicon for AI-driven PCs, marking its return to the PC silicon market since the Exynos 5 Dual in 2012. The new silicon, named GAIA, is being created by Samsung's System LSI unit as a companion Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to enhance performance by offloading AI tasks. GAIA is expected to utilize a 4nm process and may explore processing-in-memory (PIM) capabilities with specialized DRAM. Samples of GAIA have been sent to Lenovo China and HP USA for evaluation. Many details about GAIA, including performance metrics and pricing, remain undisclosed. Microsoft has not commented on GAIA's implications for its Copilot+ program, which has a minimum threshold of 40 TOPS for integrated NPUs.

AppWizard

July 20, 2026

Steam Week in Review: Take cover, because it looks like more than half of Steam games will have an AI-disclosure by 2027-2028

In June 2017, Valve introduced Steam Direct, changing the platform's game release process from manual curation to a more open system. Before this, game releases were limited, with only one month—December 2016—exceeding 500 releases. By February 2025, monthly game launches on Steam surpassed 1,500. A study by Sulka Haro analyzed around 53,600 Steam titles released between mid-2023 and mid-2026, noting that in 2024, 10.9% of new games included an AI disclosure, rising to 19.9% in 2025, and reaching 30.8% by July 2026. Non-AI flagged launches increased from about 1,030 to around 1,320 per month, while AI-flagged launches grew from approximately 13 to about 530 monthly. Projections suggest that by 2027 or 2028, nearly half of all games on Steam will have an AI flag. Despite the increase in AI-flagged titles, many struggle financially and receive mediocre reviews. The gaming industry is seeing a rise in generative AI technologies, particularly in management simulation genres. Recent notable releases on Steam include Granblue Fantasy: Relink and Palworld, with anticipation for Star Wars Zero Company on August 27.

AppWizard

July 19, 2026

Proton got so good I keep forgetting which of my games were even built for Windows

Linux gaming has gained popularity, especially after the release of Valve's Steam Deck, which shows that many PC games can run well on Linux despite not being designed for it. Proton, Valve's compatibility layer, allows Windows games to run efficiently on Linux without developer intervention. Most games lack specific Linux versions, but many Windows titles, including Elden Ring and Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered, perform better on Linux through Proton, achieving frame rates up to 75% higher. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which has a native Linux version, shows similar performance to those relying on Proton. Microsoft is reportedly using SteamOS as a benchmark to improve Windows gaming performance, indicating a shift towards aligning with Linux capabilities. Overall, gaming on Linux has become more accessible and enjoyable, often outperforming Windows.