Hands-On Windows 209: Budget Laptops in 2026

On this week's episode of Hands-On Tech, Barry asks whether anything inside a QR code can actually hurt you, or whether the real danger lies somewhere else, and what a person should check before scanning one out in the wild. Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode! Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: NetSuite.AI/HOT

This week, we're celebrating Shotcut, Cloudflare's new ACME Certificate Authority, and OpenSUSE's Leap Micro. Then there's a new SPECTRE attack and a Zimbra faw under attack. KDE Plasma and Fedora both have Betas to try, Microsoft has released WSL Containers, and the Netherlands is going with NixOS. For tips, we have eval for building scripts with variables, tuxdle for your word-game addiction, and shwim for easy remote shells in hard places. You can find the show notes at https://bit.ly/4y0Hcnq and enjoy! Host: Jonathan Bennett Co-Hosts: Jeff Massie and Ken McDonald Download or subscribe to Untitled Linux Show at https://twit.tv/shows/untitled-linux-show Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit

Think you're having a hot summer? Try living on 55 Cancri-e, a super-Earth with daytime temperatures above 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of these super-Earths orbit frighteningly close to their host stars and have long since had their atmospheres scraped away, leaving them baked, parched rocks. But some, like 55 Cancri, still have dense envelopes of air. How is that possible, when the planet is 20 times closer to its star than our own planet Mercury? Dr. Laura Schaefer explains how molten lava worlds defy the odds. Plus: Starship update, the first orbital data centers, and a new year on Mars. Headlines: SpaceX's Starship Achieves First Full Orbital Flight With Satellite Deployments Google and Planet Labs Launch AI Data Center Satellite Multiple SpaceX Launches Within Hours Mark a New Operational Standard Cowboy Space Debuts Power-Beaming AI Data Center in Orbit Mars Celebrates a New Year on Its Extended Journey Around the Sun NASA Anniversary and Notable Space Birthdays Noted Main Topic: Living on Lava Worlds—Atmospheres, Extreme Planets, and the Search for Life Early Exoplanet Detection Methods and Evolution of Exoplanet Surveys Cosmic Shoreline Concept: How Gravity and Stellar Radiation Shape Planetary Atmospheres Airless Valleys, Sandbars, and Other New Categories for Rocky Exoplanets Permanent Magma Oceans: Why Some Lava-covered Worlds Retain Atmospheres Volatiles, Atmosphere Loss, and The Soda-Bottle Effect on Hot Exoplanets Sandbar Regime: Superheated Planets Keep Atmospheres Longer Than Expected Case Study: 55 Cancri e and the Myth of the Diamond Planet K2-18b: Possibilities of a Water World or Another Magma-Lava Hybrid Redefining Goldilocks Zones With Atmospheric Survival Factors Tidal Heating, Volcanism, and Dynamics Shaping Exoplanet Atmospheres Future Directions: Webb Telescope, Habitable Worlds Observatory, and Prospects for Imaging True "Earths" Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Dr. Laura Schaefer Download or subscribe to This Week in Space at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/space coveron.com/thisweekinspace and use code thisweekinspace

Abrar Al-Heeti is guest-hosting this episode of Tech News Weekly and is joined by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy for the first half of the show! Apple's smart home display could be closer than we think. Is the iPhone Duo going to be for most consumers? Are there too many satellites in orbit? And a leaked IPO filing from Anthropic shows concerns within the company that its AI models pose a risk to humanity. Jennifer breaks down Mark Gurman's reporting that Apple's long-rumored smart home display could be announced as early as October 13, and shares specs of the device, including a 6-inch screen, an iMac G4-style design, and a price point between $250-$350. Abrar wrote a piece for CNET about how she thinks that Apple's $2,000 iPhone Duo is not going to be for everyone and how foldable phones will be a niche market for some time. Senior Writer Joe Supan of CNET joins the show to talk about space junk and how, since satellite launches have exploded since 2019, a cascade of collisions within low Earth orbit is of concern. And CNN's Tech Editor Lisa Eadicicco talks about a leaked IPO report from Anthropic that shows concerns and risks with its AI models to the human race. Hosts: Abrar Al-Heeti and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guests: Joe Supan and Lisa Eadicicco Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira rippling.ai/tnw trustedtech.team/twit

Abrar Al-Heeti is guest-hosting this episode of Tech News Weekly and is joined by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy for the first half of the show! Apple's smart home display could be closer than we think. Is the iPhone Duo going to be for most consumers? Are there too many satellites in orbit? And a leaked IPO filing from Anthropic shows concerns within the company that its AI models pose a risk to humanity. Jennifer breaks down Mark Gurman's reporting that Apple's long-rumored smart home display could be announced as early as October 13, and shares specs of the device, including a 6-inch screen, an iMac G4-style design, and a price point between $250-$350. Abrar wrote a piece for CNET about how she thinks that Apple's $2,000 iPhone Duo is not going to be for everyone and how foldable phones will be a niche market for some time. Senior Writer Joe Supan of CNET joins the show to talk about space junk and how, since satellite launches have exploded since 2019, a cascade of collisions within low Earth orbit is of concern. And CNN's Tech Editor Lisa Eadicicco talks about a leaked IPO report from Anthropic that shows concerns and risks with its AI models to the human race. Hosts: Abrar Al-Heeti and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guests: Joe Supan and Lisa Eadicicco Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira rippling.ai/tnw trustedtech.team/twit

With Apple's MacBook Neo shaking up the market, Paul Thurrott breaks down how PC makers like Lenovo and Intel are scrambling to deliver affordable Windows machines—and what you give up for the lower price. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: threatlocker.com/twit

With Apple's MacBook Neo shaking up the market, Paul Thurrott breaks down how PC makers like Lenovo and Intel are scrambling to deliver affordable Windows machines—and what you give up for the lower price. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: threatlocker.com/twit

The 2026 CEDIA Expo was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, and there was a LOT to see—so much, in fact, that Home Theater Geeks will devote three episodes to covering it! Mike Heiss and Joe Klusnick were there and join Scott Wilkinson to discuss what they saw and heard. In Part 3, we focus on some of the big demos and industry trends. Host: Scott Wilkinson Guests: Michael Heiss and Joe Klusnick Download or subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: helixsleep.com/htg

The 2026 CEDIA Expo was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, and there was a LOT to see—so much, in fact, that Home Theater Geeks will devote three episodes to covering it! Mike Heiss and Joe Klusnick were there and join Scott Wilkinson to discuss what they saw and heard. In Part 3, we focus on some of the big demos and industry trends. Host: Scott Wilkinson Guests: Michael Heiss and Joe Klusnick Download or subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: helixsleep.com/htg

Your next chatbot doesn't need the cloud. Mikah Sargent installs a free app, downloads an AI model, turns off the Wi-Fi, and keeps right on chatting, all on an ordinary computer. Along the way, he explains how to read a model listing, including what the size and "Q4" labels mean, so you can pick a model that runs well on your own machine. Then the local model goes head-to-head with a cloud assistant to see where it holds up and where it falls short. Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On AI at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-ai Want access to the ad-free audio and video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.