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    Phone satisfaction falls to 10-year low – and AI is only partly to blame

    Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETIf you’re not as happy with your current mobile phone as you used to be, you’re not alone.A recent American Customer Satisfaction Index study showed that overall cell phone user satisfaction took a big step back this year from 82% to 78%. That might not sound like a huge drop, but it’s the lowest satisfaction score in 10 years. Last year’s score was an all-time high.Also: I test dozens of phones every year: Here’s how Apple and Samsung stack upACSI said the drop is largely in part to AI enhancements that didn’t quite deliver what they promised. Add in the fact that most people aren’t embracing AI on mobile devices anyway (only 8% of people said they’d pay for AI features), and it’s clear customers are more focused on practical things like simple calling and texting, the phone’s design, and improved battery life instead of fancy features.The study showed that steep prices and low upgrade rates also played a part in people being less satisfied. More

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    Grab the HP Victus 15L gaming desktop for just $600 ahead of Memorial Day

    HP Gaming desktops can get pretty expensive, but right now you can snag the HP Victus 15L<!–> direct from HP.com for 41% off with this site-exclusive sale. And just because this PC is under $1,000 doesn’t mean it skimps on quality components. Read more: The best Memorial Day 2025 deals live now –> Current price: […] More

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    This Eufy robot vacuum’s dustbin doubles as a cordless vac and it’s $200 off

    <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Eufy Clean E20 3-in-1 robot vacuum and handheld vacuum combination costs $650. The Eufy E20 performed very well in suction testing; it offers up to 8,000Pa of suction power and thorough edge cleaning; the robot vacuum’s dustbin doubles as a handheld vacuum that includes a floor attachment and a crevice […] More

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    5 of the easiest, quickest Linux distros to install – and I’ve tried them all

    Jack Wallen / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETI remember back in the day when Linux was a challenge, even for computer scientists. It was all text-based; you had to manually format the hard drive, understand how networking functioned, and use the command line like a magician.Today’s Linux is a far easier experience. In fact, there are some Linux distributions that are so easy to install that anyone, regardless of skill, can do it. With that particular breed of distribution, the hardest part is burning an ISO to a USB drive. Even so, from the start of the ISO download to logging into your new Linux system, it should only take about 10 minutes — depending on the speed of your internet connection for downloading the ISO and the performance of your machine. Also: 5 factors steadily fueling Linux’s desktop riseSo, which distributions are the easiest? I’ve chosen five, all of which you can install without knowing anything about Linux. 1. Ubuntu More

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    Microsoft finally open-sources (most of) Windows Subsystem for Linux

    HJBC/Getty Images It took Microsoft long enough, but the company has finally open-sourced its Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) code. The announcement was made at the Build 2025 developer conference, closing a nearly nine-year-old request from the developer community, and signals a new era of collaboration between Microsoft and open-source contributors. Also: Rust turns 10: […] More