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Gemini in Google Docs lets you set custom instructions that are actually useful
If you regularly use Docs over alternatives like Microsoft Word, Google’s new feature for Gemini in Docs might be one of the most practical upgrades yet. It lets you set custom instructions inside the document, so you don’t have to spend two minutes explaining your preferred tone or format every time you take Gemini’s help to draft content, summarize documents, etc.
Best price alert: The Eufy E25 robot vacuum and mop just dipped to a record-low at Amazon
SAVE $700.01: The Eufy E25 robot vacuum and mop is on sale at Amazon for $599.98, down from the list price of $1,299.99. That's a 54% discount and the best price we've ever seen at Amazon.
Opens in a new window Credit: Eufy Eufy E25 robot vacuum and mop $599.98 at Amazon$1,299.99 Save $700.01 Get Deal
We all have plenty on our plates. If you're not busy running between work, meetings, chores, errands, and other life requirements, please divulge your secrets. But in the meantime, there's a proven way to eliminate the need to clean the floors. We have robots that actually do a fantastic job at keeping the carpet vacuumed and the kitchen mopped. If you need to offload some chores, check out this deal at Amazon.
As of May 5, the Eufy E25 robot vacuum and mop is on sale at Amazon for $599.98, marked down from the list price at Eufy of $1,299.99. That's a 54% discount and the best price we've ever seen at Amazon.
Why get a robot vacuum when you could get a robot vacuum that also mops? The Eufy E25 uses 20,000Pa turbo suction power to pick up dust, dander, coffee grounds, pet hair, crumbs, and more. Instead of worrying about the brush roll getting tangled with hair, it uses a unique DuoSpiral Detangle Brush which gathers hair and fur in the center of the brush. Then the brush roll separates its two parts to suck up any hair and fur that would have ordinarily stayed on the roller.
SEE ALSO: Snag the powerful Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete robot vacuum for its lowest price everWhen it comes time to mop the floor, the Eufy E25 uses a HydroJet System. Instead of cleaning up a mess and continuing on with a dirty mop roller, the Eufy cleans the roller as it goes, ensuring it's always clean. The roller mop is nearly a foot in length, making for quick mopping.
While it's sitting at a new record-low price, upgrade your floor's cleaning routine with the Eufy E25. It's well over 50% off and will save you the time and hassle of keeping up on floor cleaning as we head into the busy summer.
Mystery Sony headphones with metal headband and steep price appear in new photos and leaks
As we've noted repeatedly, if you want a pair of flagship noise-cancelling headphones in 2026, then $450 is the starting price of admission. But a Sony leaker claims that an even pricier pair of premium Sony headphones is coming this year, with a potential price tag of $649.
Prominent leaker billbil-kun published a report detailing the specs of previously unknown new headphones from Sony, which could be called "Sony 1000X The ColleXion" (first reported by The Walkman Blog). The headphones may also be part of a larger collection of products with the tagline, "Master the art of listening."
These premium 1000XM headphones also appear to have leaked visually via photos of British actor Damson Idris, who was seen allegedly wearing them in NYC (via Reddit).
SEE ALSO: PS5 gamers entitled to credits in new Sony lawsuit settlementPhotos of Idris in New York City over the weekend show an unknown pair of Sony headphones and a travel case, which match the details reported by billbil-kun. The headphones have white ear cups and a metal headband, a departure from Sony's usual headphone style.
Our reviewers have criticized Sony headphones in the past for their all-plastic design, which can feel flimsy compared to headphones that use aluminum, leather, and other premium materials.
Credit: Michael Simon/WireImage Credit: Michael Simon/WireImage Credit: Michael Simon/WireImageBefore we get into any technical details, it's again worth emphasizing that billbil-kun is reporting that these cans will cost a whopping $649 in the United States. That's $200 more than the already very nice and expensive Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones, and almost $100 more than the latest Apple AirPods Max 2. In the ultra-premium category, they would cost less than the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, which retails for $799.
According to the leak, you'll get what you pay for, though.
The premium headphones reportedly come in a non-folding design with a "premium magnetic carrying case" and "studio-quality sound" featuring 360-degree head tracking. They use 12 microphones for active noise cancellation and noise reduction during phone calls, as well as "DSEE Ultimate technology for audio upscaling." The design reportedly features synthetic leather and metal materials.
One downside, though, is that they're approximately 60 grams heavier than the WH-1000XM6 headphones, most likely due to the metal materials. According to the leak, they'll launch as soon as May 19, so keep your head on a swivel.
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Microsoft at NSDI 2026: Advances in large-scale networked systems
Large-scale networked systems underpin cloud computing, AI, and distributed applications and services. The USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation 2026 (opens in new tab) (NSDI ’26) is a leading forum where researchers and practitioners share new research, insights, and advances in the design and operation of these systems.
Microsoft is proud to support NSDI ’26 as a returning sponsor, reflecting our ongoing commitment to advancing systems and networking research and engaging with the broader community. Microsoft researchers and engineering leaders are also serving on the program committee and in other organizational roles.
This year, 11 papers by Microsoft authors and collaborators were accepted to the conference, spanning datacenter and wide-area networks, AI systems, and cloud infrastructure. Together, they highlight advances in building and operating large-scale networked systems.
Azure AI Foundry LabsGet a glimpse of potential future directions for AI, with these experimental technologies from Microsoft Research.
Azure AI Foundry Opens in a new tab Technical sessionsMonday, May 4, 2:00–3:20 PM
DroidSpeak: KV Cache Sharing Across Fine-tuned Model Variants (opens in new tab)Yuhan Liu, Yuyang Huang, Jiayi Yao, Zhuohan Gu, Kuntai Du, Hanchen Li, Yihua Cheng, and Junchen Jiang, University of Chicago; Shan Lu, Madan Musuvathi, and Esha Choukse, Microsoft
DroidSpeak enables LLMs with the same architecture to share and partially reuse KV caches across models, delivering up to 4 times higher throughput and faster responses with minimal impact on output quality.
Monday, May 4, 3:50–5:30 PM
Eywa: Automating Model-Based Testing using LLMs (opens in new tab)Rajdeep Mondal, Rathin Singha, Todd D. Millstein, and George Varghese, UCLA; Ryan Beckett and Siva Kesava Reddy Kakarla, Microsoft Research
Eywa uses LLMs to automatically build protocol models from natural language sources, enabling model-based testing. It uncovered 33 bugs, including 16 previously unknown, in widely used network protocol implementations.
Tuesday, May 5, 2:00–3:20 PM
Octopus: Enhancing CXL Memory Pods via Sparse Topology (opens in new tab)Yuhong Zhong, Columbia University; Fiodar Kazhamiaka, Pantea Zardoshti, Shuwei Teng and Rodrigo Fonseca, Microsoft Azure; Mark D. Hill, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Daniel S. Berger, Microsoft Azure and University of Washington
Octopus introduces a switch-free design for disaggregated memory pods that reduces cost and scales to multi-rack pods. On a three-server hardware prototype, Octopus RPCs are 3.2x faster than in-rack RDMA and 2.4x faster than CXL switches.
Tuesday, May 5, 3:50–5:30 PM
HEDGE: Traffic Engineering with Probabilistic Link Capacities (opens in new tab)Arjun Devraj, Cornell University; Bill Owens, NYSERNet; Umesh Krishnaswamy, Microsoft; Ying Zhang, Meta; Rachee Singh, Cornell University
HEDGE mitigates wavelength-specific faults in optical networks by combining link-local and global network-wide resilience that maintain stable capacity and optimize traffic flow despite fluctuating link performance. It matches existing systems’ throughput while reducing network disruptions.
Wednesday, May 6, 9:00–10:20 AM
AVA: Towards Video Analytics with Vision Language Models (opens in new tab)Yuxuan Yan, Zhejiang University; Shiqi Jiang, Microsoft Research; Ting Cao, Tsinghua University; Yifan Yang, Microsoft Research; Qianqian Yang and Yuanchao Shu, Zhejiang University; Yuqing Yang and Lili Qiu, Microsoft Research
AVA supports open-ended video analytics by combining event knowledge graphs with agentic retrieval over vision-language models. Furthermore, to evaluate video analytics in ultra-long, open-world scenarios, the authors introduce AVA-100, a benchmark comprising eight videos each exceeding 10 hours and 120 manually annotated, diverse, and complex question–answer pairs, on which AVA achieves 75.8% accuracy.
Wednesday, May 6, 9:00–10:20 AM
SmartNIC-Enabled Live Migration for Storage-Optimized VMs with Pyrocumulus (opens in new tab)Jiechen Zhao, University of Toronto and Microsoft Research Asia; Ran Shu, Lei Qu, Ziyue Yang, and Rui Ma, Microsoft Research Asia; Derek Chiou, Microsoft and UT Austin; Natalie Enright Jerger, University of Toronto; Peng Cheng and Yongqiang Xiong, Microsoft Research Asia
Pyrocumulus enables fast, low-overhead live migration for storage-optimized VMs through hardware customizability and efficient network accessibility of the FPGA SmartNIC with LM protocol, architecture, and algorithm designs.
Wednesday, May 6, 10:50 AM–12:30 PM
ForestColl: Throughput-Optimal Collective Communications on Heterogeneous Network Fabrics (opens in new tab)Liangyu Zhao, University of Washington; Saeed Maleki, Independent Researcher; Yuanhong Wang, Tsinghua University; Zezhou Wang, University of Washington; Ziyue Yang, Microsoft Research; Hossein Pourreza, Microsoft; Arvind Krishnamurthy, University of Washington
ForestColl constructs broadcast/aggregation spanning trees as the communication schedule, achieving theoretical optimality. Its schedule generation runs in polynomial time and is highly scalable. It supports any network fabric, including both switching fabrics and direct accelerator connections.
Wednesday, May 6, 10:50 AM–12:30 PM
Heuristic Analysis from Source Code via Symbolic-Guided Optimization (opens in new tab)Pantea Karimi, MIT; Siva Kesava Reddy Kakarla and Ryan Beckett, Microsoft Research; Santiago Segarra, Rice University; Pooria Namyar, Microsoft Research; Mohammad Alizadeh, MIT; Behnaz Arzani, Microsoft Research
MetaEase analyzes heuristics directly from source code to uncover worst-case performance scenarios, eliminating the need for complex formal modeling. It matches or outperforms state-of-the-art analyzers across domains and reveals previously unknown performance gaps in real-world systems.
Wednesday, May 6, 2:00–3:20 PM
Harvesting Spare CPU Resources in Container Systems (opens in new tab)Adam Hall and Anirudh Sarma, Georgia Institute of Technology; Esha Choukse, Microsoft Azure Research; Umakishore Ramachandran, Georgia Institute of Technology; Sameh Elnikety, Microsoft Research
HarvestContainers protects latency-sensitive containers from interference while using their spare CPU cores to run latency-tolerant workloads. It dynamically determines how many cores can be safely harvested and requires no changes to applications or the operating system. It enables up to 75% utilization of spare CPU while keeping tail latency within 4% of standalone performance.
Wednesday, May 6, 3:50–5:30 PM
Offloading Cloud Network Services at Production Scale with SONiC DASH SmartSwitch (opens in new tab)Community Award Winner
Shaofeng Wu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Microsoft Research Asia; Zhixiong Niu, Microsoft Research Asia; Riff Jiang, Lawrence Lee, Junhua Zhai, Ze Gan, Vasundhara Volam, Prabhat Aravind, Prince Sunny, Prince George, Qi Luo, Evan Langlais, Soumya Tiwari, Venkat Satish Katta, Weixi Chen, Rishiraj Hazarika, Sachin Jain, Deven Jagasia, Michal Zygmunt, Avijit Gupta, Neeraj Motwani, and Pranjal Shrivastava, Microsoft; Qiang Su, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Anil Reddy Pannala, Kristina Moore, James Grantham, Anupam Pandey, Xin Liu, Guohan Lu, Gerald De Grace, Rishabh Tewari, Lihua Yuan, Erica Lan, Deepak Bansal, and Dave Maltz, Microsoft; Yongqiang Xiong, Microsoft Research Asia; Hong Xu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
SONiC DASH SmartSwitch redesigns cloud network offloading with a hardware-friendly pipeline, unified switch architecture, and open development model while addressing key scalability and deployment challenges. Deployed at scale in Azure, it delivers high throughput and connection capacity while significantly improving power and space efficiency.
Wednesday, May 6, 3:50–5:30 PM
KRAKENGUARD: Towards Fine-Grained eBPF Isolation (opens in new tab)Jainil Patel, IIT Roorkee; Lucas Graeff Buhl-Nielsen, Quantco; Adrien Ghosn, Microsoft; Marios Kogias, Imperial College London
KRAKENGUARD enforces fine-grained, policy-based controls on eBPF programs at load time using symbolic execution, enabling safe use in multi-tenant environments without relying on coarse Linux capabilities. It prevents malicious behavior, detects vulnerabilities, and allows for secure execution of untrusted programs with strong isolation guarantees.
Symposium organizers from Microsoft Program CommitteeGanesh Ananthanarayanan
Behnaz Arzani
Hitesh Ballani
Ryan Beckett
Ranveer Chandra
Paolo Costa
Rodrigo Fonseca
Xenofon Foukas
Kevin Hsieh
Umesh Krishnaswamy (opens in new tab)
Jing Liu
Jonathan Mace
Dave Maltz
Sathiya Mani
Dushyanth Narayanan
Suman Nath
Ram Ramjee
Stefan Saroiu
The post Microsoft at NSDI 2026: Advances in large-scale networked systems appeared first on Microsoft Research.
Lego Smart Play Millenium Falcon on sale for the first time: Save $20 at Best Buy on May 5 only
SAVE $20: On May 5 only, the Lego Star Wars Smart Play Millenium Falcon set is on sale for $79.99 as the Best Buy drop of the day. This is the first time this set has been discounted — get the rare deal in the Best Buy app.
Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Star Wars Smart Play Millenium Falcon 75426 $79.99 at Best Buy$99.99 Save $20 Get Deal
It may be May the 5th to us on Earth, but in a galaxy far, far away — on Planet Best Buy, of course — they're still in full May the 4th mode. You can find the Lego Star Wars Smart Play Millenium Falcon set on sale for $79.99 at Best Buy as the May 5 drop of the day.
This is the first time this set has been discounted since its release in January, according to price tracker camelcamelcamel. Remember: You'll only find this special deal in the free Best Buy mobile app (Best Buy drops don't show up in a web browser.) From there, you can add it to your cart and check out like usual. Since all Best Buy drops have a limited inventory, you'll want to keep an eye on the live status bar of the percentage left.
SEE ALSO: From F1 sets to new Botanicals plants, these are the best new Lego sets of MayThe Smart Play-compatible Millenium Falcon set contains 885 pieces, slightly less than the 921 pieces of the 25th Anniversary Millenium Falcon midi-scale build (which is on sale for $67.99). The removable top folds out for more ways to play inside, like a game of holochess. You'll get four Smart Tags for four Smart Minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and C-3PO.
Credit: LegoAdding a Smart Brick activates the interactive light and sound effects like hyperdrive leaping to light speed, laser-shooting battles, fuel explosions, and Lightsaber clashes. Smart Play-compatible sets don't come with a Smart Brick — you'll only be able to find a Smart Brick in all-in-one sets. Put the $20 you saved at Best Buy toward Darth Vader's TIE Fighter and it's only $49.99, kind of.
If you're a Lego Insider, we'd suggest grabbing your all-in-one set at Lego.com. All Lego Star Wars Smart Play purchases through May 6 earn double the points, which can be redeemed later for even more Lego discounts. Spending $40 on Star Wars sets also unlocks a free Razor Crest mini-build.
Need to get rid of old Legos before bringing home new ones? You can recycle unwanted Bricks and minifigures using the Lego Replay free mail-in service.
Forget the Toyota RAV4—this Nissan SUV is cheaper and just as practical
The modern SUV market has quietly gotten out of hand. Prices keep climbing, and a lot of what you’re paying for is extra size and badge appeal you don’t really need.
Is Threads down? Users report outage with social media app.
It seems like every week another app or digital platform shuts down unexpectedly, and this time social media app Threads may be experiencing an outage.
On the morning of May 5, multiple Mashable editors were unable to access the Threads app.
DownDetector showed a spike in user error reports for Threads beginning around 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning. (Disclosure: DownDetector and Mashable are both owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.)
A majority of DownDetector users reported problems accessing the Threads app.
Threads, Meta's answer to X, reported having more than 400 million monthly users in 2025.
Mashable reached out to Meta for comment, and we'll update this story if we receive a response.
This is a developing story...
Take over $500 off the 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K TV at Amazon
SAVE $514: The 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K TV (QN80F) is on sale at Amazon for $785.99, down from the list price at Samsung of $1,299.99. That's a 40% discount.
Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K TV (QN80F) $785.99 at Amazon$1,299.99 Save $514 Get Deal
Are you ready for summer streaming? We have season two of Avatar: The Last Airbender coming up in June, new Love Island, and a Little House on the Prairie show coming to Netflix. If you don't have a TV that feels up for these big shows, it might be time to upgrade. Check out this Samsung TV deal.
As of May 5, the 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K TV (QN80F) is on sale at Amazon for $785.99, down from the list price at Samsung of $1,299.99. That's a 40% discount.
Why is the 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K TV perfect for summer shows? For one, it has a QLED display which performs well for watching in daylight thanks to its bright display. It also has a native refresh rate of 120Hz which can reach up to 144Hz, making it a great gaming TV. Speaking of gaming, today's sale at Amazon includes one month of free access to Xbox GamePass for new users.
SEE ALSO: Amazon's most advanced Fire TV Stick, the 4K Max, is the cheapest it's ever beenComing with 4K display, the Samsung uses an AI upscaler with 20 neutral networks to get the sharpest and smoothest picture. Samsung also used multi-dimensional speakers in this model to give you the feeling of being in the center of the show.
In addition to coming with free Xbox GamePass, Amazon is offering free delivery and unpacking service, instead of the normal price of $29.99. Delivery includes unboxing of the TV in your room of your choice and removal of packaging.
Since it's on sale ahead of summer streaming for under $800, upgrade to the 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K TV. It'll be ready for new shows and summer gaming.
This streaming deal gets you an entire year of AMC+ for less than $30
SAVE $80: Through May 25, new and returning subscribers can sign up for an entire year of streaming on AMC+ for just $29.99. That's more than 70% off the usual cost of $109.99.
Opens in a new window Credit: AMC+ AMC+ (1-year subscription) $29.99$109.99 Save $80 Get Deal
A good streaming deal is hard to come by in 2026. Subscription prices are rising across the board, but AMC+ isn't playing by the same rules, apparently.
Through May 25, new, returning, and upgraded Annual Premium subscribers can get an entire year of streaming on AMC+ for only $29.99 instead of the typical cost of $109.99. That's $80 or over 70% in savings, which knocks down the monthly fee to just $2.50. After a year, your subscription will revert back to full cost unless you cancel before then. But just think of all of the things you can watch within a 12-month span.
It may not be the most popular streaming service out there, but AMC+ is actually pretty stacked when it comes to content. It's where you can watch the entire Shudder library, making it a must-have for horror lovers. The Lili Reinhart and Lola Tung-led witchy horror Forbidden Fruits will make its debut on the streamer next month. It's also where you can watch AMC original series like the Silicon Valley satire The Audacity and the latest season of the brilliant Interview with the Vampire, now titled The Vampire Lestat, which premieres June 7. You can use this now affordable streaming subscription to catch up on or rewatch the first two seasons before Season 3's premiere. (And while you're at it, you can listen to Lestat's singles "Long Face" and "All Fall Down" on Spotify).
Whether you're looking to broaden your streaming horizons this year or you just love a good streaming deal, a year of AMC+ for just $29.99 is hard to pass up.
This 41-Year-Old Windows Shortcut Is Still the Fastest Way to Multitask
The modern Windows interface is primarily based around a graphical user interface (GUI) that you interact with using the mouse, but it isn't my preferred way to use my PC. Instead, I mostly use keyboard shortcuts, and at the heart of that approach is Alt+Tab.
Snag the powerful Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete robot vacuum for its lowest price ever
SAVE $100: As of May 5, get the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete for $1,599.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,699.99. That's a discount of 6% and the lowest price we've seen.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete $1,599.99 at Amazon$1,699.99 Save $100 Get Deal
If you're tired of spending all your time cleaning your house, join the club. It's a chore no one really wants to do, but a necessary one. Fortunately, robot vacuums are a great option to make it a little easier, and there's one in particular that can help you tackle that task with gusto. It's also available for the lowest price we've tracked so far.
As of May 5, get the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete for $1,599.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,699.99. That's $100 off and a discount of 6%. It's also the lowest price we've seen.
SEE ALSO: I found the best robot vacuums for every floor, budget, and level of lazinessThis robot vacuum's not lying when it dubs itself the "Max Ultra Complete". It can do just about everything and then some, with 35,000Pa of suction to suck up dirt and debris as its extremely slim profile goes everywhere you need it to. That includes under beds, sofas, and other difficult to reach places. Using dual AI-equipped cameras, it can set up its own navigation to get through your home with ease, and keep from bumping into things.
It also can intelligently detect steps and navigate around those. When it does happen to get to an area that's difficult to reach, it can use its MopExtend RoboSwing tech to get to corners and beneath furniture as well as edges.
Switching over to the mop is painless as well, with scrubbing that reaches up to 230RPM to get those set-in stains out of everywhere you need to mop. And with hot-air drying, a self-emptying dock, and extensive app customization, you can truly sit back, relax, and let this bot handle your entire cleaning schedule.
Now that it's on sale, it's a good time to go ahead and splurge. It'll handle all the vacuuming and mopping so you have time for other things.
Go big or go home: The Hisense 100-inch U8 Mini LED 4K TV is at a best-ever $1,200 off
SAVE $1,202: As of May 5, the Hisense 100-inch U8 Mini LED ULED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for only $2,797.96 instead of its usual $3,999.99. That's a savings of 30% and its best price on record.
Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 100-inch U8 Mini LED ULED 4K TV $2,797.96 at Amazon$3,999.99 Save $1,202.03 Get Deal
There's no such thing as a TV that's too big (assuming it actually fits in your space). These massive screens can totally transform your living room, taking movie nights and sports to new heights (literally). Of course, not all giant screens are created equal. If a huge TV is on your tech upgrade list, we recommend checking out this deal on the Hisense 100-inch U8 ULED model.
Hisense's U8 TVs from 2025 are among the brightest TVs CNET (Mashable's sister site, also owned by Ziff Davis) reviewer Ty Pendlebury has ever tested. And as of May 5, the colossal 100-inch option is on sale for 30% off. Usually $3,999.99, you can grab the Hisense 100-inch U8 Mini LED ULED 4K TV at Amazon for just $2,797.96 — its best price ever on record.
A bright TV is nothing without well-saturated colors and deep contrast. Fortunately, according to Pendlebury, the U8 checks all of these boxes. It also packs a 165Hz native refresh rate, 5,000 nits peak brightness, up to 5,600 local dimming zones, a streamlined Google TV interface with loads of smart features, and support for HDR in Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. It's a great choice for sports fans, movie buffs, and even gamers looking to truly lose themselves in other worlds.
While it's not cheap by any stretch of the word, the 100-inch Hisense U8 TV is down to the best price we've ever seen. If you're in the market for a gigantic TV and have the dough to drop, you won't be disappointed.
Everyone thinks USB killed this 66-year-old PC port (but it secretly runs the modern world)
There was a time when all PCs had at least one serial and one parallel port. Today, you won't find either of these ports on a typical desktop or laptop computer, but just because consumer-facing technology has left the serial port behind, doesn't mean it's anywhere close to dead.
Microsoft Edge is storing passwords as plain text? Heres what Microsoft says.
Password managers are supposed to make life easier for users by remembering their passwords and keeping them secure.
However, one cybersecurity researcher has discovered a quite concerning development regarding Microsoft Edge and how the web browser's password manager behaves.
According to researcher Tom Jøran Sønstebyseter Rønning, Microsoft Edge loads every saved password into memory at startup — in plaintext.
In a thread on X, Rønning detailed how the credentials are decrypted even if a user doesn't visit a site that uses the password manager during the user session.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed."If an attacker gains administrative access on a terminal server, they can access the memory of all logged‑on user processes," Rønning writes.
Edge is Microsoft's proprietary web browser based on the Chromium open-source project, the code base developed and maintained by Google. However, as Rønning shared, this issue involving plain text credentials does not appear in other Chromium-based browsers like Google Chrome.
"Edge is the only Chromium‑based browser I’ve tested that behaves this way," says Rønning. "By contrast, Chrome uses a design that makes it far harder for attackers to extract saved passwords by simply reading process memory."
Rønning says he first reached out to Microsoft regarding his findings before publicly disclosing the issue. According to the cybersecurity researcher, Microsoft responded by saying this behavior in Microsoft Edge was "by design."
The German tech website Heise Online replicated the password issue. The site also noted that, according to well-established cybersecurity best practices, "passwords should only be decrypted at the time of use and deleted from memory very shortly thereafter."
Given Microsoft's alleged response to Rønning, users concerned about the potential issue should consider alternative password managers.
Mashable has reached out to Microsoft for more information regarding the recent findings. We will update this piece if we hear back.
Forget the Tesla Model Y—This Korean rival outclasses it for less money
The Tesla Model Y has spent years as the default choice for anyone shopping in the EV crossover space. Strong range, quick acceleration, and a well-established charging network have made it the safe bet, even as prices and incentives have shifted around it. But in 2026, the ground beneath it is starting to move.
Cinco de Mayo 2026 deals: Score free food from 7-Eleven, Chipotle, Taco Bell, and more
Cinco de Mayo is an annual celebration held on May 5 to celebrate Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire. We know you don't need a history lesson right now. What you need is a thorough list of all the popular restaurants offering food deals to celebrate this occasion. We've got you.
You can find limited-time food offers from the likes of 7-Eleven, Chipotle, Taco Bell, and more popular names on Cinco de Mayo. We've checked out everything on offer to bring you the very best Cinco de Mayo food deals live right now.
7-ElevenCustomers can buy one burrito, get one free all day on Cinco de Mayo. You can also get the store-brand 7-Select Spicy Guacamole Tortilla Chips and two Mantecadas or Conchas in chocolate or vanilla for $3. 7Rewards and SpeedyRewards members can score $3 off select beers, including Modelo Especial, Coronita Extra, and Pacifico Clara.
Abuelo’sAbuelo’s is offering all-day drink specials on Cinco de Mayo. You can score a drink for just $5, such as Mexican Grande Draft Beer, La Grandeza Margaritas, Mexican Flag Margaritas, and Chile son Queso.
BarberitosOn May 5, visit Barberitos and get a free small queso with any purchase. Barberitos Rewards members who scan in-store or order through the app will automatically be entered to win free queso for a month (50 winners) or free Barberitos for a year (one winner).
Barrio Burrito BarGet $5.99 regular size burritos, bowls, or taco trios and $1 Jarritos.
Bubbakoo’s BurritosRewards members can get a free queso or guac with any order. Through May 5, Bubbakoo’s Burritos are also offering two tacos, chips, and salsa for $5.
BJ’s Restaurant & BrewhouseScore $6 Brewhouse margaritas from 3–7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
California TortillaOn May 5, get a free Taco Coupon for your next order with purchase.
ChipotleThrough May 5, Chipotle is offering free chips and queso blanco or chips and guacamole with promo code CINCO26. These offers are only available when you purchase via their website or app.
Chronic TacosOn May 5, Chronic Tacos will offer its rewards members $1 off all tacos. This offer is valid online and in-store all day.
El Pollo LocoOn May 5, purchase two chicken tacos for $5 in-store and online.
GrubhubUntil May 10, Grubhub+ members can score a free Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme with an order of $20 or more.
Moe’sOn May 5, Moe’s will offer a free Side of Queso with an entree purchase for Rewards members,
Ojos Locos Sports CantinaScore $3 house margaritas, $4 Paleta shots, and $2 tacos all day on Cinco de Mayo.
Papa Murphy’sPapa Murphy’s is offering a special 16-inch Taco Grande pizza (beef or chicken) through May 17.
Taco BellOn May 5 at 2 p.m. PT, Taco Bell will be offering $1 Diablo Dusted Nuggets for the first 30,000 redemptions.
Tijuana FlatsEnjoy the $5 Cinco de Mayo menu through May 5. This includes Minijuana Burritos, Uno Taco and Chips, beers, chips and queso, and more, available for dine-in, carryout, or delivery.
Your Excel setup is slowing down your workbook—here's how to fix it
It's tempting to blame a slow Excel spreadsheet on a weak processor, but the fix usually lives in the formula bar. By removing the hidden bottlenecks inside your formulas and data structure, you can make Excel feel brand new. Here's why your sheets are slow and how to repair them.
The campsite-worthy Anker Solix F2000 portable power station is on a major sale at Amazon — save over $1,100
SAVE $1,150: The Anker Solix F2000 portable power station is on sale at Amazon for $849.99, down from the list price of $1,999. That's a 57% discount.
Opens in a new window Credit: Anker Anker Solix F2000 portable power station $849 at Amazon$1,999 Save $1,150 Get Deal
Camping season kicks off in just a few weeks. If you haven't done so already, it's time to consider what gear needs replacing before heading out this year. If you've been thinking about an upgrade this year to a portable power station but haven't decided on the optimal model, check out this deal at Amazon.
As of May 5, the Anker Solix F2000 portable power station is on sale at Amazon for $849.99, marked down from the normal price of $1,999. That's a huge 57% discount that takes $1,150 off.
The Solix F2000 comes with a sweet 2,048Wh of battery capacity. Invite the station along on the next camping trip and you'll be able to use the air fryer to cook dinner, recharge phones, keep the portable projector showing nightly films, and plenty more.
In total, the Solix F2000 has 12 ports including four standard AC outlets, three UBS-C, and an RV port, to highlight a handful. If your campsite has access to direct sunlight, consider recharging the F2000 with solar panels. It can connect with up to 1,000W of solar input for recharging. If you're going with standard wall AC recharging, expect to get back to 80% in under 90 minutes.
SEE ALSO: The water-resistant Jackery Explorer 1500 Ultra portable power station is $300 off at AmazonSince the Solix F2000 has a hefty 2,048Wh capacity, it's not exactly a lightweight model. It clocks in at 67.2 pounds so Anker added all-terrain wheels and a telescoping handle to the station. Instead of having a power lifting session at the campground, you can roll it around with ease. Of course, you can also use it at home during power outages to keep the refrigerator cooling.
The Anker Solix app gives you access to vital stats like remaining power, the level of power output when in use, and remaining time when recharging.
While it's well over half off at Amazon, upgrade your summer camping experience with the Anker Solix F2000. You'll be able to enjoy on-grid convenience while being off-grid in nature.
Take to the skies with the DJI Mini 3 at its lowest price ever
SAVE $170: As of May 5, get the DJI Mini 3 for $379, down from its usual price of $549. That's a discount of 31% and the lowest price we've seen.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon DJI Mini 3 $379 at Amazon$549 Save $170 Get Deal
Summer is right around the corner, meaning it's time to get into your favorite warm-weather activities. If that includes flying drones, you might first want to pick up a new one. Whether you're a casual or seasoned veteran, you can save big on a DJI favorite that's on sale (and in stock) right now.
As of May 5, get the DJI Mini 3 for $379, down from its usual price of $549. That's $170 off and a discount of 31%. It's also the lowest price we've seen.
SEE ALSO: The DJI Neo is down to its best-ever price at Amazon — save $60 right nowThe DJI Mini 3 is fairly simple to navigate or learn to fly with. It's lightweight and compact, with a battery life that should get you about 115 minutes of flight time, so you can explore long enough without stopping for a recharge. And with its level 5 wind resistance, you don't have to keep stopping to deal with choppy weather, since it can handle flying in breezes up to 23 miles per hour.
It's great for shooting 4K footage as well, with True Vertical Shooting offering the option to capture vertical videos with ease. And thanks to its 3-Axis Gimbal, you don't have to worry about flying the straightest you possibly can -- the DJI Mini 3 will take care of that issue for you so you can focus on taking great video.
If you're thinking about flying drones or getting into drone photography, this is your chance to save big and get started with something manageable. Be sure to grab yours while it's available on sale.
Why the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the last Samsung phone I actually wanted to keep
While these days Samsung is all about 200MP camera sensors, folding screens, and AI-integrated everything, I find myself looking at my S21 Ultra not as an aging relic, but as the last time a phone felt truly complete.


