{"id":309057,"date":"2025-11-23T14:23:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/309057\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T14:23:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:23:10","slug":"raycast-for-windows-will-instantly-improve-your-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/309057\/","title":{"rendered":"Raycast for Windows will instantly improve your PC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 106, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you\u2019re new here, welcome, Happy Thanksgiving Week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

This week, I\u2019ve been reading about prediction markets<\/a> and Hilary Duff<\/a> and Matt Belloni<\/a> and yeast<\/a>, clearing space for a Steam Machine<\/a>, playing News Tower<\/a> thanks to Stephen Totilo\u2019s recommendation<\/a>, checking to make sure I remember all the Wicked lyrics (I do, don\u2019t worry) before seeing For Good<\/a>, giving up on my fantasy football team, and recording season two of Version History<\/a>. It\u2019s a fun one.<\/p>\n

I also have for you a new way to use your Windows computer, Google\u2019s new LLM, a documentary that\u2019ll take up your whole weekend in the best way, and much more.<\/p>\n

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading \/ watching \/ playing \/ building \/ snacking on this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com<\/a>. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Raycast for Windows<\/a>. Raycast \u2014 a launcher, clipboard manager, shortcut system, and much more \u2014 is the first app I install on any new Mac. Now it\u2019s finally on Windows, too! It\u2019s not quite on par with the Mac app in this public beta, but it\u2019s pretty close, and I suspect it\u2019ll make a lot of things about your computer better.Kirby Air Riders<\/a>. I don\u2019t think anyone expected this game, a Switch 2 sequel to a delightful but deeply weird GameCube title. It\u2019s a racing game, and a battle game, and it doesn\u2019t let you do very much but also seems to be totally filled with havoc and chaos all the time. Perfect combo, if you ask me.Marvel\u2019s Deadpool VR<\/a>. I don\u2019t remember the last time a new VR game caused me to actually get my Quest out of its charging stand. But this one, with Neil Patrick Harris voicing Deadpool and a lot of the same bonkers action energy as the movies, might just get me playing again.Gemini 3<\/a>. Google\u2019s LLM appears to be among the best all-purpose models available right now, and you can use it practically everywhere. It\u2019s in the app, it\u2019s in Search, you can use it to make apps and visualizations and all sorts of things. Google\u2026 might be winning.The Samsung Smart Keyboard<\/a>. A super light, super small keyboard is a sneaky great travel accessory \u2014 bring this and your phone or tablet, and you\u2019ll be amazed how much you can get done in a pinch without needing your laptop. You can find models cheaper than the $110 this\u2019ll set you back, but the size and weight are hard to beat.Comet for Android<\/a>. All the AI browsers seem to start on Apple devices \u2014 and mostly just Macs \u2014 so it\u2019s good to see them spreading out to the rest of the ecosystem. Quick summaries and answers are actually a killer use case for a mobile browser.The American Revolution<\/a>. Ken Burns alert! And a timely one, at that, as Burns drops a 12-hour history lesson on how the USA was created. Even the bits I\u2019ve seen are complex and bound to make some people mad \u2014 but nobody does this like Burns does it.\u201cNASA Shares Interstellar Comet 3I\/ATLAS Images<\/a>.\u201d NBD, just a bunch of data and images about a comet traveling from another freaking solar system. This stream is an hour long but totally worth it, and there\u2019s a great explainer<\/a> on the NASA site too.The Analogue 3D<\/a>. I have been waiting for this thing \u2014 an Analogue console based on the Nintendo 64 \u2014 for so long I had basically given up hoping it would ever ship. But now it\u2019s shipping! The reviews are excellent, the games are plentiful, the only problem is this thing can\u2019t seem to stay in stock.<\/p>\n

At this point, my most-used device other than my phone is my Boox Palma. If you\u2019ve been reading this newsletter, or my other work, for a while, this will not surprise you<\/a>. As a result, over the last couple of years I have become a lot of people\u2019s Palma guide \u2014 turns out I\u2019m not the only person sold on the idea of a more focused, minimalist device that fits in my pocket.<\/p>\n

I just reviewed the new Palma 2 Pro<\/a> (which I was excited about and super disappointed by), so I had occasion to rethink my Palma usage. I like where my new homescreen ended up, and ported it back to the Palma 2<\/a> I still like. I figured I\u2019d share. Here it is:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Funny thing about that screenshot: It doesn\u2019t look like that on my device! It\u2019s black and white on the Palma\u2019s E Ink screen. Looks much better that way.)<\/p>\n

The wallpaper: It\u2019s called \u201cTree,\u201d and it\u2019s one of the built-in wallpapers. I had it blank for a while, but this one feels better to me for some reason.<\/p>\n

The apps: Claude, NYT Games, MyMind, Libby, Roku, Kindle, Readwise Reader, Workflowy, Spotify, Pocket Casts.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty straightforward, really. Kindle and Libby for reading books, Reader for articles. Spotify for listening to music, Pocket Casts for podcasts. (I hate Spotify as a podcast app.) Workflowy for taking quick notes (it\u2019s a very sparse app, which is perfect on the E Ink screen), MyMind for saving quotes, screenshots, and other snippets of stuff I come across. NYT Games because that\u2019s what I do in bed and this thing mostly lives by my bed. Claude in case I need to look something up \u2014 I\u2019ll do anything to avoid lots of typing on the Palma. And Roku as a backup TV remote in a pinch, which has come in handy more than once.<\/p>\n

The only other app I\u2019ve installed on the Palma is 1Password, but that doesn\u2019t need to be on the homescreen. This setup does everything I need and precisely nothing else. Which is exactly what I\u2019m looking for.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you\u2019re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com<\/a> or message me on Signal \u2014 @davidpierce.11 \u2014 with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we\u2019ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads<\/a> and this post on Bluesky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust replaced the battery in a 10 year old PS Vita with an iFixit kit<\/a> and it took me like 20 minutes and was actually super fun.\u201d \u2014 Jonathan<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of ignoring well-meant advice about this new and somehow unusual way to learn a language, I finally gave in and listened to a few short Language Transfer<\/a> lessons. I\u2019ve never been so completely captivated by a teaching method: seemingly nothing special, yet in reality a true game changer. By explaining how a language works through short conversations, you really grasp and learn it. I even adjusted my own language lessons (I teach in secondary education). Language Transfer is that good. And it\u2019s free.\u201d \u2014 Pieter<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently reading this awesome coffee table book<\/a> all about the Jordan Brand. It\u2019s about the advertising, his brand, the photography, etc., instead of his career as a player. The first chapter is about 40 years of his shoe evolution..\u201d \u2014 Boukou<\/p>\n

\u201cRewatching Stranger Things<\/a> season 1-4 before the last season drops next week.\u201d \u2014 Alex<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten into physical pocket notebooks again. I bought a Space Pen<\/a> because it\u2019s nice and small, and now keep a Field Notes<\/a> notebook with me at all times and use it for everything: to-do lists, ideas, journaling, etc. It\u2019s quite addictive and I highly recommend it.\u201d \u2014 Josh<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying out a new animated wallpaper app for Mac called Backdrop<\/a>. It\u2019s the only one I\u2019ve seen that unifies an animated wallpaper between your desktop and lock screen.\u201d \u2014 Russ<\/p>\n

\u201cJust started reading Beyond a Boundary<\/a> by CLR James. It is billed as THE GREATEST SPORTS BOOK EVER WRITTEN, but mostly got it because I enjoyed The Black Jacobins<\/a>. Also the cover is easily top 5 all time (first place is forever the Penguin Galaxy version of The Left Hand of Darkness<\/a>).\u201d \u2014 Rich<\/p>\n

\u201cMy recommendation is for Cyberspace.online<\/a>. It\u2019s social media, but text based; like when the internet was good. I haven\u2019t had this much fun online since 2007 with the original Tumblr!\u201d \u2013 Jordan<\/p>\n

\u201cWriting to recommend the Rock Planner<\/a> app for iPad. It\u2019s buggy, it\u2019s primitive, BUT \u2014 and I hope you\u2019re ready for this \u2014 you can annotate your calendar entries! It displays your calendar then allows you to write on it with the pencil. Even has a to-do section next to it. It was made by the people who created the Rock paper and pencil tip<\/a> (highly recommended btw).\u201d \u2014 Mario<\/p>\n

We live in weird times, where it\u2019s often hard to know what\u2019s real and what isn\u2019t. When I first saw a photo of a skydiver in front of the sun, I just filed it under \u201cAI\u201d and went about my day. But I was wrong! What it is instead is one of the most remarkable photos I\u2019ve ever seen<\/a>: a shot with remarkable detail that required an astonishing amount of planning<\/a> and very human creativity. And the photographer, Andrew McCarthy \u2014 who you might know as @cosmic_background<\/a> on Instagram \u2014 has a portfolio full of similarly awe-inspiring work. My favorite follow in a while.<\/p>\n

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