Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. Guides

Microsoft releases a PC buying guide geared toward moms

Konrad Krawczyk
By
convertible laptop makers uneasy 2014 prospects lenovo yoga 2 pro press image
Image used with permission by copyright holder

So you want to get mom something nice this holiday season. Then, you recently decided that getting her a PC would be the best, most practical and useful gift of all. That’s when the brain cramps started.

But what kind of PC should you get, you might be wondering. There are so many price points, multiple manufacturers and an endless array of systems with multiple specs setups. It could be difficult to decide what PC would be best for your mom, especially if you’re far from being a computing wiz.

Recommended Videos

If you fall in this camp, you’re in luck. Microsoft put out a PC buying guide, written by Microsoft employee Kim Douglas, that’s geared towards moms and people shopping for them. If you look past Microsoft’s attempt to steer people towards buying a Windows 8.1 machine, you may realize that the guide asks some pretty straightforward questions about the kind of person you’re buying for, and what they’re likely to do with a PC once they’re in possession of one. These are the same kinds of questions we ask as well.

Related

For instance, the guide asks whether mom wants to store and edit photos, play games, browse the web, watch tv or perform any number of other tasks. Next to each question, Microsoft recommends that the PC you buy have a “sufficient” amount of RAM, hard drive space, and more. Depending on the task in question, Microsoft makes a different recommendation, though stops short of providing any hard stats. For the record, a system sporting between 4GB and 8GB of RAM should suffice for any of the above-named tasks. SSDs are faster, but typically smaller, while mechanical hard drives are larger in size but slower. 

The guide addresses  whole host of other questions as well, including the importance of the display, physical space requirements and more. Just remember to take it with a grain of salt and maintain your inner skeptic, though there’s valuable info to be gleaned from the guide for sure. You can check it out here.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Konrad Krawczyk
Konrad Krawczyk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…
God of War PC performance guide: The best settings for high FPS
Kratos in God of War on PC.

God of War may have come out in 2018, but it's back in 2022 with a vengeance and a high-end PC port in tow. Based on the enhanced PS5 version, God of War on PC promises higher frame rates and resolutions. But to squeeze out the most performance, you need the best settings for God of War on PC.

I tested each setting, upscaling mode, and resolution to find the optimal settings for God of War on PC, and in this guide, I'm going to run you through the performance you can expect. Although there are still some issues with the PC port -- keyboard and mouse controls chief among them -- the performance is solid.

Read more
Halo Infinite PC performance guide: The best settings for a high frame rate
Halo Infinite capture the flag.

Halo Infinite is officially here, following a surprise announcement during Xbox's 20th-anniversary celebration, where Microsoft dropped the Halo Infinite multiplayer beta. Now that we've had time to test the campaign and multiplayer, we put together a guide on the best settings for Halo Infinite so you can optimize your PC's performance.

The Halo: Master Chief Collection is on PC, but Halo Infinite is the first new game in the franchise to arrive on PC since the original Halo: Combat Evolved. There are a lot of graphics options to dig into, as well as a few critical options you need to tweak for a high frame rate.
The best settings for Halo Infinite

Read more
Battlefield 2042 PC performance guide: The best settings for a high frame rate
Player flying with a wing suit in Battlefield 2042.

Battlefield 2042 is one of a few massive AAA shooters releasing this holiday season. It ditches the campaign to focus solely on multiplayer, and it still features the same gigantic, bombastic battles that the Battlefield franchise is known for. To feel the heat of the battlefield as accurately as possible, we rounded up a list of the best Battlefield 2042 settings so you can optimize your gaming PC's performance.

Like previous games in the franchise, Battlefield 2042 is a game built to stress the most recent PC hardware. Our testing revealed how demanding the game is, though it seems to stress older and low-end components more. As long you meet a certain threshold -- particularly a recent six-core CPU and one of the best graphics cards -- you should be able to reach 4K with a few settings tweaks.

Read more