Remembering John C. Dvorak, a Passionate Chronicler of PC History

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 04:10:58 +0000

As John's editor at InfoWorld and PC Magazine, I had a front-row seat to his cantankerous and often hilarious views on technology.

I was saddened to learn of the passing last week of John C. Dvorak, one of the most interesting computer journalists whom I ever had the pleasure (and sometimes pain) of editing.

John was a mainstay of PC Magazine for many years, a columnist known for his often cantankerous, frequently …

Living With HP’s EliteBoard G1a: The PC-in-a-Keyboard Concept Is Intriguing, But I'll Stick With My Laptop

Michael J. Miller — Sat, 09 May 2026 20:00:00 +0000

A compact desktop hidden inside a keyboard sounds brilliant. But it solves a problem most people don't have.

I was very intrigued when I first saw HP's EliteBoard G1a, an enterprise computer that just looks like a keyboard. It is designed for office workers who may sit at different desks on different days, in what is sometimes described …

HP and Lenovo Are Vying for AI Dominance. Maybe They Should Just Stick to Hardware

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:51:26 +0000

They're betting big on on-device assistants, but without the speed and singular focus of true AI players like Anthropic and OpenAI, PC manufacturers are going to have a tough time breaking through.

Lenovo and HP's new AI assistants, Qira and HP IQ, run queries locally on your PC, work across devices, and provide a common user interface. Both PC makers hope these tools are widely adopted, but while it's an interesting proposition, I'm more than a bit skeptical …

PC Makers Like HP and Lenovo Want to Win AI. Good Luck With That

Michael J. Miller — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:37:17 +0000

They’re betting big on on-device assistants, but without the speed and singular focus of true AI players like Anthropic and OpenAI, can PC manufacturers break through?

Late Night Calls From Steve Jobs and Angry Letters From Mac Fans: Apple Memories From a Former PCMag Editor-in-Chief

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:56:21 +0000

On Apple's 50th anniversary, a look back at a magical (and occasionally contentious) time in personal computing history.

In the fall of 1983, I was living in San Francisco and writing for Popular Computing, one of the early computer magazines, when I got the call to go down to Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus to see a new product. Neither the Apple III nor the rather expensive Apple Lisa …

Buying a Business PC in 2026? 6 Trends That Will Impact Your Choices

Michael J. Miller — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:44:03 +0000

It’s not a revolutionary year, but steady gains in chips, displays, and AI features are reshaping the computing market. Here's what’s worth paying for and what you can skip.

In the next few weeks, I expect the PC industry to showcase new designs and processors, along with various small improvements, even if the RAM crunch puts a damper on things. Here are some trends I expect to see in the business laptop space.

1. Faster, …

Why AI Is Reshaping Computer System Design, And Just About Everything Else

Michael J. Miller — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 13:00:00 +0000

At CES, what stood out to me was just how much Nvidia and AMD focused on a systems approach, which may be the most consequential change we've seen in computer design in years.

For the past few years, AI has dominated any discussion of technology trends. Sure, PCs are faster and longer-lasting, phones can snap eye-popping photos, and TVs look better than ever. But these changes have been mostly incremental. The biggest change is the emergence of large language models,

Amazon's Vision of 'Billions' of AI Agents Inside Every Company Seems Premature

Michael J. Miller — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

AWS CEO Matt Garman acknowledges that reaching that goal will 'push the limits of what's possible with the infrastructure.' Much of this is still in preview, so it all seems a little early to me.

At its annual AWS Re:Invent conference earlier this month, Amazon unsurprisingly focused on AI, and placed more emphasis on the building and managing of agents.

In his keynote, AWS CEO Matt Garman argued that "the true value of AI has not yet been unlocked," but said …

Struggling to Keep Up With Microsoft's Copilot Changes? Let's Break It Down

Michael J. Miller — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000

I've covered Microsoft for decades, but even I was confused by the different versions of its AI. At Ignite, I asked execs to walk me through what the different tiers of Copilot can do for you.

Microsoft has moved quickly to roll out new Copilot upgrades, from simple features that come free with Windows to more advanced tools included with a M365 Copilot license. However, all the changes have left me a little confused, so I talked with …

Microsoft Wants Us Creating Our Own AI Agents. Is Anyone Actually Interested?

Michael J. Miller — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 13:00:00 +0000

At Ignite, Microsoft said software is 'evolving from being made for people to being made by people.' Attendees I spoke with were intrigued, but a little confused about how to make that work.

At Microsoft Ignite in San Francisco, what stood out to me is just how quickly Microsoft is adopting AI and, even more importantly, intelligent agents across its entire software stack—from Windows itself and the Microsoft 365 productivity suite to security and development products. …

AI Isn't Paying Off for Many Businesses. Here's How to Change That

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:30:00 +0000

At Gartner's annual conference, multiple sessions discussed the challenges of getting a return on investment from AI. Here are some suggestions from its analysts and what I heard from attendees.

If one topic stood out above all the others at last week's Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, it was the difficulty most organizations have in finding return on investments from their AI projects. In a variety of sessions, Gartner analysts discussed parts of the issue, and I had the chance to talk …

Gartner: 10 Ways AI Will Change Your Business (and Hiring) in 2026 and Beyond

Michael J. Miller — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 19:56:58 +0000

In a 'world of shattered norms...we can't expect anything to be the same as it was last year or the year before,' Gartner Fellow Daryl Plummer says at the company's IT Symposium/Xpo.

Every year, I'm interested to hear where Gartner sees technology heading for CIOs and other IT leaders. Typically, the company's IT Symposium/Xpo conference features a session on current trends, which reflects the current state of affairs, and another on predictions for the future.

Gartner …

AI Supercomputing Platforms and 7 Other Strategic Tech Trends Businesses Can't Ignore in 2026

Michael J. Miller — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000

At the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, analysts Gene Alvarez and Tori Paulman outline what will be top of mind for enterprises in the next few years.

In a "year filled with chaos," Gartner analysts Gene Alvarez and Tori Paulman argue that businesses need three things: an architect to help with AI platforms and infrastructure; a synthesist who will help with AI applications and architectures; and a vanguard who will help with security, trust, and governance. All …

Frustrated by AI? How to Turn the Hype Into Real Results for Your Business

Michael J. Miller — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 12:00:00 +0000

At Gartner's annual IT Symposium/Xpo, analysts explain how to get value out of AI when most projects currently don't show any return on investment.

In some ways, Gartner's annual IT conference was a departure from previous years. There was a lot more discussion of disappointing returns on AI investments thus far, alongside suggestions for how enterprises should plan for AI playing a more important role over the next few years.

Gartner analysts Alicia Mullery and …

Living With a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7: The Most Useful Foldable I've Ever Tried

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 12:00:00 +0000

If you can overlook the crease and aren't too concerned about the zoom capabilities, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 lives up to the expectations I had for it at launch.

For the past several weeks, I've been testing a Galaxy Z Fold 7, the latest in Samsung's foldable lineup, and this very high-end phone lives up to the expectations I had when it was first announced, even if …

Living With an HP EliteBook X Flip G1i: A Top-of-the-Line But Affordable 2-in-1

Michael J. Miller — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 19:34:53 +0000

The HP EliteBook X Flip G1i is an excellent convertible laptop, with a strong build, stellar performance, and a number of extra features at a good price.

For the past few weeks, I've been doing most of my traveling with an HP EliteBook X Flip G1i. It's proven to be a terrific 2-in-1 laptop for executives and others who want a relatively lightweight yet powerful and flexible PC.

Like others in the high-end …

Living With a Dynabook Tecra A60-M: A No-Frills Laptop That Gets the Job Done

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:59:23 +0000

While performance isn't quite up to snuff compared with the best laptops, and I wish it had stronger AV capabilities, the Tecra A60-M's battery life is notable for a midrange PC.

Lately, I've been using a Dynabook Tecra A60-M (series 2) laptop, a midrange 16-inch notebook that sports an Intel Arrow Lake chip, very good battery life, and an excellent selection of ports and features at a good price.

The Dynabook series isn't as well known in the US as its …

Living With Acer's TravelMate P6 14 AI: A Lightweight Battery-Life Champ for Work

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 20:07:56 +0000

The biggest downsides of this otherwise solid laptop are the video and audio features.

Acer isn't as popular in enterprise circles as Dell, HP, or Lenovo, but it's been in the market for a long time, and the TravelMate series has its merits. Recently, I took the TravelMate P6 14 AI with me on the road, and while it's not exactly flashy, it should …

Living With HP's ZBook Ultra G1a: A Powerful Work PC With One Big Drawback

Michael J. Miller — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 12:00:00 +0000

This machine runs AMD's Ryzen AI Max Pro processor, but a lot of workstation apps are only certified on Nvidia, so it's hard to recommend a laptop that's not certified for professional work.

HP's ZBook Ultra G1a is an interesting laptop. It's positioned as a mobile workstation, but it doesn't have a discrete GPU. Instead, it utilizes AMD's Ryzen AI Max Pro processor, designed to deliver desktop-level performance in a mobile chip. This performs exceptionally well for applications that leverage many CPU cores …

Samsung Has Me Almost Convinced That Foldables Are Ready for Primetime

Michael J. Miller — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 13:46:00 +0000

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 fits nicely in my pocket and has robust features, but that $1,999 price tag is awfully steep.

I've long been intrigued by the concept of foldable phones and have tried several over the years. However, each one involved trade-offs compared with other flagship phones. They're more expensive, awkward to carry, and lack the robust camera features of their traditional counterparts.

In the limited …

Qualcomm at 40: From Disrupting Mobile to Playing the Long Game With PCs

Michael J. Miller — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 18:48:20 +0000

Alex Katouzian, a 23-year-veteran of the chip maker who currently heads Qualcomm's mobile, compute, and XR business, explains how it's transitioning to a compute company.

The PC market has evolved significantly over the years, with a handful of companies at the forefront. Chief among them is Qualcomm, which is approaching its 40th anniversary this month. Ahead of that milestone, I spoke with Alex Katouzian, a 23-year-veteran of the chip maker who currently heads the company's …

Microsoft Wants to Solve Everyone's Problems With AI, But Can Copilot Get the Job Done?

Michael J. Miller — Fri, 23 May 2025 11:00:00 +0000

CEO Satya Nadella and team show tools for building and scaling agents and AI apps and a new version of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Very cool demos, though there’s still a lot of work to do.

SEATTLE—Microsoft is now focused on "building the open, agentic web at scale," CEO Satya Nadella said in an opening keynote at the Build conference this week, an ambitious vision of giving users a stable of Copilot agents who do things for them, from handling customer service …

Living With the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10: I'm Not Sure About the AI, But Battery Life Is Stellar

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 20 May 2025 13:01:18 +0000

Having used this long-lasting 2-in-1 for some time now, I can say Lenovo's AI tools aren't really useful yet, but performance is impressive thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 200V.

I've long been a fan of Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 2-in-1, the company's high-end convertible PC, and this year's version, known as an Aura Edition, is no exception. It adds Intel's Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) processors and some interesting AI features to the X1 …

Living With an HP EliteBook Ultra G1i: An Impressive Copilot+ PC With a Little Heft

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 06 May 2025 12:00:00 +0000

It's not the lightest laptop, or the one with the best battery life, but it does a good job of balancing features and performance.

HP’s new EliteBook Ultra G1i is the latest generation of the company’s high-end executive notebook, formerly known as Dragonfly. It’s a well-built, sleek laptop, based on Intel’s latest Lunar Lake chip, and is part of the Copilot+ PC program. As such, like other recent machines I’ve …

Living With the ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition: A Spiffy Ultraportable With AI Smarts

Michael J. Miller — Sat, 03 May 2025 13:35:40 +0000

With the X9, Lenovo gives the ThinkPad a contemporary makeover with plenty of AI-powered optimization features.

With its black matte finish and signature red TrackPoint pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard, Lenovo’s ThinkPad series has long been the most distinctive corporate laptop. But to some eyes, that distinctiveness seems old-fashioned, so the company gave it a more contemporary look …

Living With the Galaxy S25 Ultra: Samsung's AI Shines in This Year's Model

Michael J. Miller — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 20:00:00 +0000

The S25 keeps what's good about Galaxy and bolts on some impressive AI. For top-end buyers, it's an easy choice.

I've spent a lot of time lately using Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra, the high-end version of Samsung's latest flagship line. The phone comes packed with a lot of positives, but what stands out to me are the AI features. Not only are they …

Living With an HP EliteBook X G1a: A Solid Enterprise PC With Handy AI Features

Michael J. Miller — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 13:00:00 +0000

This sleek 'Strix Point' laptop looks great, but is the performance worth the top-dollar price tag?

I'd been looking forward to testing HP's new EliteBook X G1a, one of the first enterprise-class laptops based on AMD's Ryzen AI 300 (Strix Point) chips. It was worth the wait.

The EliteBook X G1a is a fine laptop with some handy HP AI features. In …

Can Microsoft Win the AI Race? I Want to Try These Copilot Features First

Michael J. Miller — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 20:06:51 +0000

At its 50th anniversary event, Microsoft welcomed us 'to the era of AI companions' and showed off intriguing Copilot features it says are the 'very first glimmers' of what its AI can do.

As a part of its 50th anniversary celebration this month, Microsoft rolled out several updates to its Copilot AI, including additional vision, shopping, research, and podcast features. But what interested me most was the firm's discussion of how

At Google Cloud Next, We're Off to See the AI Agents (And Huge Performance Gains)

Michael J. Miller — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 21:21:07 +0000

Google's AI has led to fun projects like reworking The Wizard of Oz for The Sphere in Vegas, but the real moneymakers are billion-dollar investments like its upcoming Ironwood TPU.

Google's AI ambitions were on full display at its Cloud Next conference this week, but for me, two things stood out: It's now firmly promoting AI agents and is laser-focused on efficiency.

As usual, there was a lot of AI hype. "It's a unique moment," said Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, …

Reflections on Microsoft's 50th: What Will It Take to Make It to 2075?

Michael J. Miller — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 14:55:47 +0000

After 50 years, Microsoft is still talking about the same things it did in 1975, but with different technologies. Can Copilot help Redmond stick around for another five decades?

As I sat at Microsoft's 50th anniversary event on Friday, watching all three of the company's CEOs—Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella—on stage, I couldn't help but think about the company's past and its future. Nadella has focused the company on his AI Copilot strategy with a renamed its PC offerings, with Dell Pro replacing the venerable Latitude name for enterprise systems. I recently traveled with a Dell Pro 14 Premium and found it to be more than just a rebranding. With an Intel Second Generation Core Ultra …

At 50, Microsoft Makes a Midlife Pivot

Michael J. Miller — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Redmond's 2025 roadmap shows a shift toward AI and away from major changes to core products.

As Microsoft turns 50, you might think the megacorporation would unveil some major upgrades to its core software. You would be wrong.

The venerable giant has published roadmaps of what it plans to do for the rest of the year, and very little of it has to do with the mainstays …

Living With a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition: A Performance Champ

Michael J. Miller — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 14:00:00 +0000

The Intel Lunar Lake version of Lenovo's high-end business laptop offers improved battery life and surprisingly better performance than its predecessor, particularly on my toughest tests.

For the past few weeks, I've been traveling with Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, the Intel Lunar Lake version of the company's high-end business laptop, and I'm impressed. Not only is this year's version lighter, …

The Tech Trends Set to Shape 2025

Michael J. Miller — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 00:28:15 +0000

Now that we're a month out from CES, these are the trends that have stuck with me. Yes, AI is on the list, of course, but so are a few things that may surprise you.

As usual, this year's CES featured a ridiculous number of product introductions and demonstrations, from traditional consumer electronics to home appliances to industrial and agricultural machines. There have been a lot of stories about specific introductions, but here are a few trends that have stuck with …

Microsoft Woos Business Users With New Surfaces, Pluton Capabilities

Michael J. Miller — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 23:10:00 +0000

A significant upgrade to Pluton should make things like BitLocker and Windows Hello more resistant to attacks, specifically those involving memory safety.

As part of its "AI Tour," Microsoft last week announced new generations of its Surface Pro and Surface Laptop For Business family based on Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) processors. But what stood out to me were the security improvements, most notably a significant upgrade to its Pluton capabilities …

AI Features, Faster Chips, Better Battery Life: Business Laptops Poised to Leap Forward in 2025

Michael J. Miller — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 23:09:29 +0000

And why I expect AI PCs to go mainstream this year.

This promises to be an interesting year for buyers of business class notebooks, with all three of the big vendors—Dell, HP, and Lenovo—showing major changes to their lineups, and the big chip vendors offering new options that promise better performance and manageability. Many of …

Amazon Explains How It Will Make AI More Efficient and Affordable

Michael J. Miller — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 22:21:52 +0000

At AWS: re-Invent, Amazon tips a slew of upgrades in everything from storage and databases to new computing chips and various AI tools, mostly aimed at reducing cost and complexity.

Watching sessions from last week’s AWS: re-Invent conference, what stood out was Amazon’s insistence that AI, rather than something that stands on its own, is fast becoming part of applications, meaning developers need to focus on things like cost and efficiency.

"My view is generative …

Copilot+ PC Status Report: Microsoft Still Working on Support for AMD, Intel PCs

Michael J. Miller — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 18:19:03 +0000

I had expected to see Copilot+ PC support for AMD and Intel machines at Ignite, but it's still a work in progress. When it does roll out, a host of new Copilot features await.

One of the things I was hoping to hear more about at this year's Microsoft Ignite conference was the status of new software for Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft announced several new features coming to these PCs, which aim to run more AI applications locally. However, some of the things I was …

Microsoft Wants Every Person to Have a Copilot, Every Business to Have an Agent

Michael J. Miller — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 21:48:21 +0000

Compelling or dystopian? Microsoft's vision of making Copilot 'the UI for AI' is fascinating but incredibly ambitious.

Individually, there were a lot of discrete announcements around Copilots and Agents at the Microsoft Ignite show this week, but until I started to see how they all fit together, I don't think I fully grasped the full extent of Microsoft's vision in this area.

This is nothing short of making …

Microsoft CEO Talks AI Growing Pains, Developing a 'Tapestry of AI Agents'

Michael J. Miller — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 16:49:25 +0000

From where I sit, the big challenge for Microsoft is to manage or even hide the complexity of AI from the user while still offering the management, security, and governance the tools require.

Microsoft opened its annual Ignite conference in Chicago this week by focusing on AI agents, Copilot, and advances in its Fabric data platform and some security platforms.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella set the tone in his keynote by talking about how we are in the "middle innings" …

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