computer

How it works and how to avoid this scam to hack your computer

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Let’s explain to you what is the fake CAPTCHA scamalso called as ClickFix. This is a type of social engineering attack that appeared at the end of 2023, and that is gradually becoming popular, becoming a danger for Internet users. The idea of ​​the scam is simple, use something that we have all automated such as completing a CAPTCHA to convince the user to execute malicious commands on your own computer. We are going to explain how this scam works so that you can identify it, and then we will give you several tips to avoid it. What is the fake CAPTCHA scam? The fake CAPTCHA scam, also known as ClickFix, is a social engineering attack. This means that the attackers are not trying to scam you in a technical way, but rather by manipulating you so that you yourself are the one who opens the door for them through deception. Specifically, the ClickFix technique consists of tricking the user into executing a malicious command on their computer, and affects both Windows and macOS. They do this by taking advantage of their victims’ tendency to solve small technical problems and other seemingly harmless interactions, such as human verification and CAPTCHAs. The way ClickFix works is simple. Use a website as a hook that shows you a scenario technical error, false CAPTCHA or security notices apparently legitimate. You can be taken to these websites with phishing techniques, both by email and by fraudulent links or ads on legitimate pages. On this website where you are shown an error or a false CAPTCHA, you are given instructions to continue. These instructions guide you through manual steps, such as open a run or terminal screen and paste a code or command. One of the complex things is that, sometimes, on the website where ClickFix is ​​made, the malicious code is copied directly to your clipboard using JavaScript. So, the instructions can be as simple as pressing Windows + R and then Control + V, opening the Windows launch window by directly pasting the code. This is malicious code can do many thingsit all depends on the attack campaign in which it is used. It can be used to steal credentials, but also to install remote access Trojans with which the cybercriminal can do whatever they want on your computer. This may seem like a seemingly easy attack to detect, but in the end it follows the rules of social engineering: the weakest link in the chain of online security is always the human. To carry out the manipulation, the page where you are given the instructions may have recognizable visual aspectslike that of some conventional CAPTCHA website, classic error messages from Chrome, Windows or Mac, or whatever. The idea is to manipulate you, make you believe that you are in an environment that you know so that you let your guard down. How to protect yourself against this attack If you want to avoid this attack and not have it affect you, it is best to distrust any website that asks you to open the terminal or the window Execute from your computer. Don’t press Windows + R, this is immediately an alarm that it wants you to do something you shouldn’t on your computer. It is also very important pay close attention to the pages that ask you to do thingseven if they look like pages you see every day, seemingly normal CAPTCHA systems, or error messages you think you’ve seen. Read the instructions for what is asked of you, try not to act automatically. These are two tips that most experienced users know by heart. But here, you must remember that perhaps you or I are not the objective victims of these attacks, but rather many other not so experienced users who browse carelessly and without knowing how some Internet systems work. The ClickFix attack is becoming popular with fake CAPTCHAs, so it is also worth remembering that these verification systems usually ask you to select images of a certain type or solve musical acuity challenges. But they will never ask you to execute commands on the computer or do things outside the browser. Therefore, whenever they ask you for something like this you should automatically distrust. In Xataka Basics | What is PhishingAlert and how to use it to avoid identity theft scams at online casinos

In the nineties many people had a cactus next to their computer. It wasn’t for decoration, it was to protect yourself from radiation

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A few days ago we were talking about a myth circulating that says that if you put a coin on top of the router improves WiFi. It’s as stupid as a temple, but it’s the typical easy-to-do trick that ends up going viral. In the nineties we did not have social networks and the word viral had a completely different meaning, but myths of dubious credibility were also spread, such as the one that said you had to have a cactus next to your computer to absorb its radiation. The origin of the myth. It is believed to come from from an observation made at the geobiology institute in Chardonne, Switzerland, in 1987. It was not a formal experiment, but rather the perception of the institute’s employees who claimed that placing a cactus next to the monitor reduced their symptoms of fatigue and headache after spending many hours working. To that anecdote was added, without links or details, the reference to “a NASA study.” There is no evidence to support any of this, but the use of institutional names was enough for the myth to spread with a semblance of scientific rigor that it never had. Fear of radiation. The word radiation acquired a very negative tone especially after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. However, not all types of radiation are harmful. “Bad” radiation is ionizing radiation, such as x-rays or gamma rays, but in the case of a computer, it is low-frequency electromagnetic radiation, non-ionizing and incapable of altering our cells. This and other myths (such as related to 5G) arise from the false belief of associating any type of radiation with something dangerous and harmful. Why a cactus. The fact that a cactus is recommended and not any other plant has to do with the fact that they have a high water content and of course, like water absorbs radiation since it is assumed that the cactus will also do it. It can absorb radiation, yes, but no more than any object: by that rule of three, a watermelon or a jug of water next to the computer would achieve an even greater effect. In addition to the fact that the electromagnetic field that a computer can emit is not harmful, it goes out in all directions, so to protect us from it, we would have to surround the entire machine with cacti, not place one next to it and that’s it. Efficacy not found. In 2018, a group of Turkish scientists set out to check if changes occurred in the electromagnetic field by placing a cactus nearby of the screen. They were made with LCD monitors and old tube monitors, as well as different varieties of cacti, including some large ones. They measured the electromagnetic field by placing the cactus in various positions and came to a clear conclusion: the effect was null. Although this trick has been refuted, the popular belief has remained and there are those who have taken advantage of it. Who is it? The cactus sellers. Image | Magnificent In Xataka | We could assume that the plant world was one of the last AI-free corners. we would be wrong

Microsoft promised a quantum computer by 2029. Nature publishes a review that questions its promise

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Microsoft has been trying to demonstrate for almost two decades the existence of Majorana modes: quasiparticles that emerge in certain topological superconducting materials and that behave as if they were Majorana fermions. The Italian physicist Ettore Majorana mathematically described the existence of these fermions in 1937, and since then many researchers have become obsessed with them because they have a characteristic that makes them unique: They are both a particle and their own antiparticle. However, the Majorana modes that Microsoft works with are not fundamental particles; They are emerging phenomena in the field of condensed matter. Its appeal lies in the fact that if it manages to master them, it could manufacture qubits that are intrinsically more stable than those of its rivals and capable of resisting the external noise that weighs everyone down today. quantum computers. About that bet Majorana 2 arrived earlier this June, a new topological quantum processor that incorporates new materials to create a more stable topological phase. Its scientific basis comes from an article published in February 2025 in Naturecentral to all subsequent developments of this company. Regarding that work, Chetan Nayak, the technical director of quantum hardware, announced that Microsoft had cut its schedule in half: the goal of having a fully functional quantum computer is now set for 2029. Shadow looms over Microsoft’s quantum research The scientific community is being extraordinarily demanding with that article and with the research program surrounding it. In fact, this ability to exercise criticism and analysis is one of the strengths of the scientific method. Last Wednesday, Nature posted a review peer-reviewed and signed by Henry Legg, professor of quantum physics at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), which raises new doubts about the foundations of that work. Not about a peripheral detail. On its foundations. And the background of those from Redmond does not help. Two scientific articles supported by Microsoft have already been removed from Nature. On those occasions, the editors also pointed out several alerts about possible problems in two other texts: one from Nature and the other from Science. Microsoft explained that the recalled items were produced outside of its laboratories and that did not review the data before publication. Be that as it may, the February 2025 work questioned by Legg is the fifth under scrutiny and, unlike the previous ones, it is not being withdrawn. “It’s almost like debating whether flight is possible or not, and then you find yourself next to a plane. Well, come on, get on and take a spin” Microsoft’s response has been overwhelming. According to Reutersthis company assures that it supports its research and that its program is making practical advances despite the doubts it is raising. Nayak has illustrated it with a metaphor: “It’s almost like debating whether flight is possible or not, and then you find yourself next to an airplane. Well, come on, get on and take a spin.” The response has been equally resounding. Sergey Frolov, a physicist at the University of Pittsburgh, points to a fundamental problem: Microsoft lacks the accumulated evidence that supports IBM or Quantinuum, rivals that do not depend on the existence of Majorana modes. “Neither Microsoft nor anyone else has laid the groundwork to make it clear that these advances based on Majorana modes are plausible through a series of reliable experiments,” Frolov declared. “On the contrary, we have several articles that continue to be questioned at the most basic level by different people.” The geopolitical context adds additional pressure. The Trump Administration has invested $2 billion in quantum computing and this week has set the goal to have a functional system by 2028, a year ahead of Microsoft’s deadline. The race is real. The question is whether the science that supports it is also. Image | Microsoft More information | Reuters In Xataka | 38% of AI experts in the US have been trained in China. They are essential to sustain your leadership

This is what the chilling lyrics of ‘Computer God’ say

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Nothing surrounding the creation of Black Sabbath’s ‘Dehumanizer’ album looked like it was going well. However, the song that opens that album, ‘Computer God’, remains 34 years after its recording one of the most dystopian and terrifying lyrics about how technology replaces the human. A topic that resonates especially disturbingly in these times. A tortuous process. The first sessions of ‘Dehumanizer’ were done in Birmingham with Cozy Powell on drums, but an accident forced him to be replaced by Vinny Appice, who had not played with the legendary band since 1981. In the process, it was even considered to replace Dio himself, who had been occupying the place of Ozzy Osbourne as a vocalist since 1979. Finally, ‘Dehumanizer’ was produced by Reinhold Mack, famous for his work with Queen. A twist in Dio’s work. Until the arrival of this album, all of Ronnie James Dio’s lyrics in his other band Rainbow, in the first albums with Sabbath or in those he signed as Dio deal with warriors, wizards and Tolkienian references, which made him one of the classic emblems of the most epic and hairy heavy metal. However, with ‘Computer God’ he took a turn to talk about topics more linked to reality. This is how he describes it Dio himself: “Technology has eliminated the humanity of the human being. And when the day comes when we are completely exhausted as a race, God will be a computer. Great writers like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke inspired this song.” It was the first time that Dio cited two fathers of the hardest and most classic science fiction as a direct source of inspiration for his lyrics. What ‘Computer God’ is talking about. The opening verse of the song sends us to a present of dark future: “Waiting for the revolution / New clear vision, genocide”, “new clear” being a phonetic play on “nuclear”). And he continues: “Computerize God, it’s the new religion / Program the brain, not the heartbeat”, talking about how the logic of computers occupies a space that other things previously occupied. The verse that Dio identified as the most important on the album is “Man’s a mistake, so we’ll fix it.” Dio spoke of this verse stating that “the computer thinks humanity is a mistake, so it corrects it. Let’s hope we’re not there when they want to correct us.” A process that had already received its name in 1992 (transhumanism) and that some critics confirm as the central theme of the album. The most disturbing thing. The lyrics are not at all obvious, because they do not describe catastrophes in the style of a classic science fiction film, but instead describe erosion. When he says “Digital dreams and you’re the next correction,” he’s not talking about robots replacing humans, but about something more gradual: systems that treat people as variables that need optimization. In 1992 that was an abstraction, but it is becoming less and less so. 1992, what a year. The album did not do well commercially, because the world was looking in another direction: ‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana and ‘Ten’ by Pearl Jam had come out in September 1991, and had transformed rock into introspective and somewhat abstract music. However, over time, this song from a group that was already considered an old glory at the time has a more consistent basis in reality than many of the things with which Seattle revolutionized alternative music that year. On July 18, 1992, the first image would be uploaded to the World Wide Web. And from there, every man for himself. In Xataka | A trip by a teacher from Cartagena to meet John Lennon forever changed how we study English

We thought the MacBook Neo was the perfect affordable computer. AMD claims it has a big problem: games

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He MacBook Neo has been everything a missile on the waterline of the “affordable” Windows laptop market. Our analysis confirmed our expectations and we were able to verify that we are facing a more than solvent team with a outstanding price/performance ratio. However, it is not perfect, and its Achilles heel is in a specific area: video games. AMD strikes back. The company has launched an aggressive advertising campaign with a strong message: “The competition makes sacrifices. You don’t have to make them”, and then focus on how the Apple team falters in a section that is important for a notable sector of users: “While 15 of the top 20 PC games don’t run natively on the MacBook Neo, AMD systems give you access to a massive library of games across Steam, Epic Games Store, and PC Game Pass.” The hateful comparisons. In that campaign AMD compares the HP Omnibook X Flip with an AMD Ryzen 5 220 with Apple’s MacBook Neo. It boasts of its 512 GB SSD (256 GB in the Apple model indicated, although there is a 512 GB version), its touch screen and its greater connectivity options. Beware of AMD’s message. As noted in Tom’s Hardware, this AMD chip is not new, but rather a version derived from the 8540U that is accompanied by an integrated Radeon 740M GPU. It’s a modest chip that can run titles like GTA V at 100 FPS in low quality, but Hellblade 2 runs at 8 FPS and Alan Wake 2 runs at 11 FPS. So it may indeed be able to run those video games, but it’s not clear that they are actually “playable.” One thing is certain: the MacBook Neo is not for gaming. In reality, Apple does not focus its MacBook Neo on gamers, because it knows that although the A18 Pro is a truly remarkable SoCis not designed for that sector. The company has its Metal API to be able to run games and it is even possible to enjoy some native ones with some joy, but if what you want is to play (especially with top PC titles), the MacBook Neo is not your device. The laptop war for students. This counterattack from AMD is to be expected: the company has undoubtedly been affected by the enormous success of the MacBook Neo, and is trying to demonstrate that its proposals are just as valid or even better. The juicy niche of student laptops is at play here: if you convince a young person to opt for a MacBook Neo, they will likely end up trapped in the Apple ecosystem (if they weren’t already). Intel also reacts. Intel’s response to the MacBook Neo has not been an advertising campaign, but something much more tangible. The company has announced its platform Wildcat Lakechips made with 18A photolithography that are a priori up to 21% more powerful than the A18 Pro. Equipment like the Chuwi Unibook (from $449) are better at least with the specifications sheet in hand, but its real performance is for now an unknown and we will have to wait for independent analyzes. More options are coming. The Computex fair that took place two weeks ago also made it clear that other manufacturers they are going to try to take advantage this moment of uncertainty to sneak in their proposals. Qualcomm launched its Snapdragon C and Nvidia made something similar with their RTX Spark (we will see the prices). What is clear is that the launch of the MacBook Neo has awakened a segment that had become comfortable, and that is good: there will be a lot of competition and, above all, many options. In Xataka | Apple is selling so many MacBook Neos that it runs the risk of not being able to make more

Microsoft believed it would take decades to have a useful quantum computer. Majorana 2 just pushed that deadline to 2029

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Finding the Majorana particle would be the best thing that could happen to them. quantum computers. The Italian physicist Ettore Majorana mathematically described its existence in 1937, and since then many researchers have become obsessed with it because it has a characteristic that makes it unique: it is both a particle and its own antiparticle. What makes it very attractive for quantum computing is that, when it appears, it does so in pairs and its topological nature gives it a resistance to external noise that conventional qubits do not have. This distribution of information at two separate points means that local errors triggered by vibrations, temperature or radiation cannot easily erase it. The coincidence of this duplicity and its stability suggests that these particles could be used to make qubits that are more stable and less prone to external perturbations than the qubits used in current quantum computers. Or that, at least, is what Microsoft is pursuing, although with an important nuance: it sounds very good, but after the cold water of 2021 physicists are extraordinarily careful when dealing with them. Microsoft promises to have a functional quantum computer in 2029 Microsoft does not work with Majorana fermions in the strict sense of the elementary particle predicted by Ettore Majorana. What you are looking for are Majorana modes or Majorana quasiparticles: collective excitations that emerge in certain topological superconducting materials and that behave as if they were Majorana fermions. They are not fundamental particles; They are emerging phenomena in the field of condensed matter. This strategy allowed Microsoft officially present in February 2025 Majorana 1, the first topological quantum processor. However, the scientific community received it with skepticism. And it did so because the Redmond company claimed to have created a state of matter in silicon that until then it only existed in theory. His proposal was to use Majorana modes as a basis for more stable quantum computing. Majorana 2 has been developed with the help of Discovery artificial intelligence The problem is that Microsoft had tried to demonstrate something similar before, in 2018, and the scientific article that supported it ended up being retracted by Nature three years later. Majorana 1 was, in that sense, both a technical advance and an attempt to regain credibility. And now Majorana 2 arrives. Microsoft has confirmed that this new quantum processor has been developed with the help of its artificial intelligence (IA) Discovery, and has also explained that it incorporates new materials with the purpose of accelerating the arrival of an error-resistant, and therefore fully functional, quantum computer. Chetan Nayak, CTO and Corporate Vice President of Quantum Hardware, has explained that the Microsoft Quantum team has improved the materials stack used in Majorana 1 for the purpose of create a more stable topological phase. Majorana 2 replaces aluminum with lead, and upgrades the semiconducting active region to a combination of indium arsenide and indium arsenide-antimonide. This change in materials has triggered, according to Microsoftsignificant performance improvements. And it also helps protect the fragile qubits of cosmic disturbances that can destabilize them. Be that as it may, this statement from Nayak summarizes the impact that Microsoft believes Majorana 2 will have on its roadmap: “Based on this rapid progress, we are accelerating our plan toward a scalable and practical quantum computer: we have cut our schedule in half and now aim to reach this goal in 2029.” It is an ambitious promise. And with Microsoft’s track record in quantum computing, the scientific community has reason to continue to be demanding when evaluating it. Image | Microsoft More information | Microsoft In Xataka | 38% of AI experts in the US have been trained in China. They are essential to sustain your leadership

Computer companies didn’t make money on computers. What they are doing is making money thanks to AI servers

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On Friday, May 29, Dell shares they grew 39% suddenly. Since becoming a publicly traded company seven years ago, Dell has never had a rise like that. At first glance, this growth would seem strange, but the company has discovered that with stagnant PCs, the focus had to change. Nothing has gone wrong with that turn of the helm, but other traditional PC manufacturers have also taken advantage of the opportunity. The PC is dead, long live the server. In recent years the PC segment has been struggling with low margins and sales that have slowly been slowing down. Manufacturers were totally tied to that situation, but some have taken advantage of the opportunity that AI offered them. Dell and Lenovo rub their hands. Dell published its financial results and they were spectacular: 88% year-on-year growth thanks to the fact that its revenue in the server segment has risen 757%. Not only that, its guidance for this year has improved as well, further boosting confidence in the company’s near-term future. Lenovo also had a fantastic quarter: May was its best month on the stock market since 1999, doubling the value of your shares thanks again to that fever for hardware dedicated to AI. AI as a shield against inflation. The entire sector is experiencing a paradoxical situation: the cost of components such as DRAM memories or SSD units is absolutely shotbut companies are earning more than ever. Dell has tripled its net profit to $3.44 billion, allowing it to offset those costs through almost daily price increases. Lenovo has managed to maintain its margins because once again the market is willing to pay whatever it takes for servers and AI infrastructure. Beyond hyperscalers. One might think that to have resources in the age of AI it would be necessary to turn to hyperscalers (Amazon, Microsoft, Google), but Dell and Lenovo have shown that their experience in servers has managed to offer an alternative for all types of clients. Jeff Clarke, chief operating officer at Dell, explained that the need for AI hardware is so enormous that this segment continues to break sales records. The PC is no longer the protagonist. Although Dell’s Client Solutions division—which includes its revenue from PC and laptop sales—grew a more than decent 17%, that figure pales in comparison to the 181% growth of its infrastructure division. Lenovo follows a similar line: its shares rose 22% last Friday after confirming that its AI revenues manage to offset the weakness of the traditional PC business. The focus changes. Something similar happens with HPE, the company that spun off from HP to focus on the business segment. Its server business hasn’t grown as much, but they already have contracted orders worth $5 billion and that guarantees a promising second quarter. Other consumer products makers are also migrating to AI infrastructure: Foxconn has absolute trust in which the demand for these components will continue to be exceptional in the coming months, and the same happens with Quanta Computer, which continues to see how its servers do not stop growing in importance in revenue for the company: They were already 80% of the total in the first quarter of 2026. Image | Dell In Xataka | For some people there is something much better than having a PC at home: having a server rack

Meta employees have not known for weeks if they are going to be fired. Meanwhile, the company records everything they do on the computer

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Meta is one of the companies that is betting the most on AI. Zuckerberg’s company is investing massively in the development of new data centers and critical AI technologies. And in the midst of this transformation, your employees find themselves vulnerable to mass layoffs, surveillance, and pressure to embrace the technology that could replace them. What exactly is happening. Meta has told its employees in the United States that it will record what they type on their keyboard, how they move their mouse, where they click, and what appears on their screen. The tool, internally called the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), runs in the background on corporate computers and also takes periodic screenshots, according to counted Reuters, which had access to the internal memos. The company’s stated objective is to train its AI models so that they learn to perform everyday tasks on a computer in the same way that their employees do. Reaction. When the company announced the measure, hundreds of workers responded on internal channels, mainly asking how they could disable tracking. Andrew Bosworth, Chief Technology Officer at Meta, affirms That option does not exist on business laptops. However, that has not calmed the reaction of its employees. And it is that according to account In the New York Times, one employee even wrote to him directly: “Your insensitivity to the concerns of your own workers is troubling.” And all while they don’t know if they are going to be fired. Two days after announcing the tracking system, Meta confirmed which will lay off approximately 8,000 people on May 20, which represents around 10% of its global workforce. According to NYTwho spoke with several of his employees, many workers have been in a state of uncertainty for weeks. Some admit to being looking for work elsewhere. Others directly try to give signals that they want to be included in the layoffs to collect compensation. “It’s tremendously demoralizing,” wrote one of the users in an internal message to which the media had access. What Meta says. The company insists that the data collected is not used to evaluate employee performance or for any purpose other than training AI models. “If we are building agents to help people complete everyday tasks on computers, our models need real examples of how people use them,” explained a company spokesperson told the BBC. Meta also states that there are safeguards to protect sensitive content, although without specifying which ones. What employees say. The story is different from within. A worker who preferred not to be identified described the situation is described as “very dystopian”: knowing that every small action you perform on the computer is being recorded, just when the company is announcing layoffs, generates a feeling that is difficult to ignore. Another former employee said that it is “the last way they shove AI down your throat.” Legislation. In the United States there is no federal law that limits this type of workplace surveillance, as long as employees are informed of it, according to explained told Reuters Ifeoma Ajunwa, a law professor at Yale University. The situation is radically different in Europe, since Valerio De Stefano, a professor at the University of York specialized in labor law and technology, counted to the same means that this practice would probably violate the General Data Protection Regulation European. In countries like Italy, tracking productivity through electronic means is outright prohibited; In Germany, courts only allow keystroke recording in exceptional circumstances, such as suspicion of a serious crime. In Spain it would also be a very difficult measure to justify, and would directly clash with the RGPD. AI, at the center of everything. Beyond monitoring, Meta has been reorganizing its internal structure around artificial intelligence for months. It has organized mandatory training weeks for employees to learn how to use AI agents, introduced internal dashboards that measure consumption of tokens (the minimum unit of AI that measures its consumption) to foster competition between workers, and is creating a new generic professional profile called AI builder that replaces more specialized roles. And now what. May 20 is the date proposed by Meta to announce another wave of mass layoffs. Until then, thousands of the company’s employees live with the uncertainty of whether they will remain with the company, while also tracking their activity. Meta’s CFO, Susan Li, admitted during a call with investors that the company “really doesn’t know what the optimal size of the company will be in the future.” A phrase that is probably not reassuring for those who expect news on May 20. Cover image | Compagnons and Goal In Xataka | The Musk-Altman trial is giving the spectacle it promised: a soap opera of dirty laundry in which no one comes out well

put an Android computer on your table

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The presentation of the new Googlebooks It left many of us wanting more. Above all, more information, because although the company revealed its intentions with these “Premium Chromebooks”, what it did not explain is what operating system would govern them. Everything seems to indicate, however, that here Google will go all out on an operating system that was born to conquer the mobile but now wants to also conquer the desktop: Android. Android comes out of your pocket. For a decade, Google’s strategy has been two-fold: ChromeOS for lightweight, affordable laptops, and Android for everything else. Both operating systems have been getting closer for some time, and in June 2024 the Chromium developers they already explained that “ChromeOS will soon be built with large portions of the Android stack.” We are facing a merger that was silent but now seems to have its own name. Aluminum OS. Curiously, Google did not mention this project even once, but everything indicates that Googlebooks could be governed by this evolution of ChromeOS that will be called Aluminum OS. Those responsible for Google have already indicated that they hoped to launch it in 2026 and everything suggests that it will be just to accompany those laptops. From desktop mode to something else. Although Google takes years fiddling with the idea from desktop mode, it has only been now that has finally offered it on some Pixel family devices officially. One can connect the mobile phone to a monitor using a USB-C cable, and then also connect a keyboard and mouse to the mobile phone via Bluetooth, and start using that desktop mode as if you were working on a conventional PC… more or less. “Stretched” apps. What we have in that desktop mode is an Android experience adapted to the big screen, and that is noticeable from the first moment, for better and for worse. Although the applications work and being able to use them with a mouse and keyboard is very attractive, others seem like “stuffed apps” that don’t fit too well with a conventional desktop environment. What Google intends here is to solve precisely that problem and so that we do not miss the traditional versions of Photoshop or Excel. The danger here is that the “Google PC” will remain a toy for browsing the web, which is something that Chromebooks with ChromeOS could already do. It is reasonable to think that the current Android desktop mode is basically what we will see on Googlebooks. Gemini like glue. Competing with Windows, macOS or Linux with these options may not be enough, so Google keeps the card for its artificial intelligence platform. Gemini Intelligenceits new AI platform to automate mobile processes, also seems like a good way to enhance this operating system, but we will have to see if the implementation is really useful or not. What is proposed is striking: an operating system in which icons are no longer too relevant, because AI will anticipate our needs and do things for us in the operating system without us barely having to use a mouse or keyboard. Samsung DeX has already shown the way. The South Korean company has been betting on its own desktop mode with DeX. That function is still present on their phones, but it has remained a second-tier feature that users can take advantage of but that has never had the ambition of making us stop using Windows or macOS. But of course: Samsung does not sell laptops with DeX (at the moment), and Google intends to do exactly that to offer a total alternative to the traditional Windows or macOS laptop. Can we do it all with an Android laptop? Maybe not everything—we’re thinking about gaming, and Googlebooks won’t be for that—but most of what we currently do. The problem is not being able to do it, it is whether changing a Windows or a macOS for a desktop operating system based on Android will provide something truly different. That is the challenge, and although Android has its strengths (such as a huge app catalog), pure “desktop apps” are not its forte. But the moment is right. Especially considering that Windows is in low hours after that obsession that has made Microsoft I flooded it with AI. The company seems want to correct that problem that so many criticisms has generated, but there are many users disenchanted with an operating system. That gives a unique opportunity to its rivals, and for now Apple has already taken advantage of it. with the Macbook Neo. If Google’s execution is good, Googlebooks could indeed present an alternative. Image | Pepu Ricca (Xataka Android) In Xataka | France wants to “become independent” from Windows and embrace Linux: Extremadura has a lesson to transmit

In the middle of the RAM crisis, your cheapest computer was a bargain too good to last

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If there is a product in Apple’s portfolio that was a real candy, it was the Mac Mini. This has been a reality for years, but in these times that are even more so: the Mac Mini M4 It came to the market with the power of the M4 chip, 16 GB of base RAM, a 256 GB SSD (the most stingy, Apple style) and a RRP of 719 euros, which in practice was much less. I bought it myself for less than 600 euros. Well, that bargain has come to an end: in the context of current shortages, the 256GB Mac Mini is no longer an option. We had already seen it with its models with more RAMbut this decision is dramatic for the general public. Goodbye to the 256 GB Mac Mini. Apple has made a decision that directly affects the pockets of those who want to buy the Mac mini in its most basic version. Since yesterday, May 1, 2026, Cupertino has removed that entry model from its catalog, as Joe Rossignol advances for MacRumors. It is not that it appears out of stock, it is that it has directly disappeared, as can be seen on the Spanish website. Of course, there is still stock and offers of the old base model in stores like amazon, at Media Markt either in El Corte Inglés. The entry price of the Apple desktop computer starts at 969 euros and corresponds to the version with M4 chip, 16 GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. In the United States the jump has been from 599 dollars to 799 dollars, in Spain it has gone from 719 euros to 969 euros. The versions with the M4 Pro processor remain as they are. This decision is framed within a structural RAM supply crisis and whose main culprit is the voracity of the AI ​​infrastructure. Prices and delivery for the Mac Mini. Apple Why is it important. Raising the entry price of one of its star products by almost 35% (in the United States it is 33) more is an aggressive move that has implications for both the individual consumer and the technology market in general. It is true that technically speaking Apple has not raised its prices, it has simply eliminated the lower step, leaving orphans those people who considered that base version sufficient, which are quite a few: it is my main computer for mixed tasks, basic editing, office automation and the Internet and the performance is more than good. In short: for many users, students or professionals, with tight budgets, this increase of more than 200 euros is a real chore. The problem is not just the price: the impact is worsened by delivery times. I have tried different Apple Stores and shipping is delayed until the end of May or beginning of June. Context. Tim Cook gave an explanation during the conference results for April 30, 2026 recognizing that the supply of Mac mini and Mac Studio is severely restricted and that normalization could take months. The reason given by the still CEO of Apple is that both devices have become popular platforms for artificial intelligence and agentic tools, which has triggered demand above forecasts. And he anticipated something: Apple will face significantly higher memory costs in the current quarter, according to MacRumors. This places the Mac Mini in a paradox: that the configuration of this compact desktop computer makes it ideal for working with AI locally and that precisely this reality is what has exhausted the stock, forcing Apple to cut its catalog. The AMR crisis continues to claim victims. In March of this year Apple already removed the 512 GB RAM option from the Mac Studio and in April several models of the Mac mini and Mac Studio they directly stopped being able to order in the Apple Store in the United States, with delays of up to five months for versions with more RAM. The memory chip supply crisis is not something exclusive to Apple, but a trend that crosses the entire sector and caused by the demand of the hyperscalers. Apple needs to ensure that every machine sold is capable of fluidly running its new digital agents and AI tools, making lower memory and storage configurations no longer viable or cost-effective under the company’s current standards. The particular thing about Apple’s decision is the timing: just when it launches its best chips for local AI processing, the global RAM market is strained to unsuspected limits precisely because of that fever. The result is paid by the final consumer. In Xataka | Not even Apple is free from the new reality of the technology industry: RAM goes first for hyperscalers In Xataka | The RAM crisis was supposed to make computers and smartphones very expensive. Apple has another opinion Cover | Apple and Alberto García

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