When Musk and Gelsinger talk, it's worth listening.

Two of the biggest CEOs in tech land have been saying things. One we agree with and the other fills us with fear | Elon Musk finally says something we can all agree on: No one wants to have to log in with a Microsoft Account on Windows 11 | Intel CEO admits 'I've bet the whole company on 18A' Created for ignoble.experiment@arconati.us |  Web Version March 3, 2024 CONNECT WITH PC GAMER       SIGN UP ⋅   SHARE First up Two of the biggest CEOs in tech land have been saying things. One we agree with and the other fills us with fear (Future) We're not immune to the lure of celebrities here at PC Gamer. It's just that our celebrities are unlikely to be on the front of the tabloid rags week-in-week-out. Well, okay maybe ol' Elon has a certain draw for the gossip mags, but it would be a cold day in hell before the venerable Pat Gelsinger found himself splashed across the front page of the National Inquirer... The Big Story (Getty Images/Photo by Chesnot) Elon Musk finally says something we can all agree on: No one wants to have to log in with a Microsoft Account on Windows 11 Ah, Mr Musk. Few figures are more controversial in modern times than our Elon, and it seems barely a week can pass without some sort of internet uproar over his latest creation, opinion, or dubious style of company leadership. Still, he's recently taken to his Twitter account to complain about the difficulties of setting up a new Windows PC without creating a Microsoft account, and you know what? He might actually have a valid point.   Shock, horror, and indeed awe. Anyway, Musk has apparently been laptop shopping (here's hoping he checked our cheap laptop deal pages first) and come home with a shiny new machine, only to find that it initially appears like you can't set up a new Windows machine without creating an accompanying Microsoft account (via Gizmodo). Musk bemoaned the apparent forcing of his hand, while also making the assertion it "also means giving their AI access to my computer". Well then, where to begin. Firstly, if it's Microsoft Copilot Mr Musk is complaining about when he references "their AI", then he may wish to check out our quick guide on how to disable it. Beyond that however, when it comes to the Microsoft Account requirements it's somewhat difficult to disagree, as setting up a Windows PC without an account is indeed a lot more tricky than it used to be. Eventually the problem was traced to his laptop automatically connecting to a local Wi-Fi connection without password access, which once deselected provided him the ability to skip creating a dreaded Microsoft account, although the Twitter and Tesla CEO might want to think twice before throwing stones. Both Twitter and Tesla heavily push users towards creating user accounts in order to make use of various services, so this whole ordeal strikes a little of folk in glass houses. Still, despite having the good people of Twitter act as his tech support (an interesting decision for a man who's made a career out of owning tech companies) Musk seemed unprepared to let the issue go, even reaching out to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella a day after the fact. As tech support requests go, it's up there isn't it? Read the full story (CNBC) Intel CEO admits 'I've bet the whole company on 18A' "I’ve bet the whole company on 18A." So, says Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in the most deadpan, matter-of-fact manner imaginable. He's not glib. He's not joking. Everything rides on Intel's 18A process according to Gelsinger. Intel's CEO made the comment during a recent interview with TechTechPotato. And we can't help but notice that Gelsinger was even less equivocal this time than when he addressed precisely the same subject late last year. As we noted at the time, he stopped just short of saying he was betting the company on 18A. "Betting the entire company? I don’t know that I’d go all that way," he said in November. "But this is the biggest bet we have ever made as a company because it also puts incredible stress on the financials of the company," Read the full story Pretty big deals HP Omen Transcend 14 | Nvidia RTX 4060 | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H | 14-inch | 120Hz | 2880 x 1800 | OLED | 512GB SSD | 16GB DDR5-7500 | $1,269.99 at HP (save $300) (HP Omen) This is an outstanding deal on a great compact gaming laptop. The Transcend 14 has only recently been released and yet there's already a $300 discount on one of the best versions, the RTX 4060 option. You get an excellent OLED panel as standard, and a 65W GPU that will still deliver a quality gaming experience. 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