Elementary OS 0.3 Freya

Over 1,100 improvements make Freya the biggest elementary OS update yet

Elementary OS has continued to impress in the four years since its first release and almost two years since Luna, its last major update at version 0.2. The developers claim over three million downloads and elementary OS has remained in the top ten most searched-for distros for the last year, with a strong community continuing to build behind this enduringly popular distro. Freya, based on Linux 3.16 and the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, brings a host of visual changes that are largely based around improvements and additions to Pantheon, the Ubuntu-based operating system’s desktop environment that replaces Unity.

Debian 8.0 Jessie

Jessie has gone stable, and this new LTS release for Debian seems to have spent only a short time at the testing branch

The Debian cycle seems to be extremely short this time round. 7.0Wheezy felt like it was in testing for a long time, yet already we’ve had 8.0 Jessie supersede it as the next stable. It’s odd to think it’s been two years since then, but here we are with 8.0 stable and the latest LTS release for the venerable Debian distro. With Stretch the next testing build, and probably the onewe’ll see used most in desktop distros,what is the actual stable release like?

Intel Core i5-4690K

Still the ultimate gaming CPU?

All the gaming CPU you'll ever need. That's the familiar refrain for Intel's quad-core Core i5 processors in unlocked К-series trim. The inference is that frills such as Intel’s Hyperthreading technology, which allows a single Intel processor core to crunch two software threads simultaneously in parallel rather than sequentially in series, are irrelevant for PC gamers. The same applies to having a truck-load of cores. Six and eight-core chips sound impressive. But they won’t run your games any faster. That’s the sales pitch for the quad-core Intel Core i5-4690K. But is it actually true?

AMD A10-7850K

The future is fusion. But not yet...

Fusion chips are coming. So everyone keeps telling us. And you know what? They are undeniably right. The thing is, what happens in the future doesn't help up in the here and now. It isn’t much use if what's predicted for the future arrives too late to be relevant before the PC processor you buy today spirals off into obsolescence.

AMD FX-8350

Loads of cores. For not a lot of money

For enthusiasts, and especially gamers, it's tempting to think AMD’s FX CPUs have become irrelevant. Knocking together an argument to that effect doesn’t exactly demand mental gymnastics of Olympic quality, either. The argument would start with the fact that the Bulldozer architecture underpinning AMD's FX processors has basically been a failure. Even AMD is now tacitly conceding that if you listen to what it's saying about its upcoming Zen processors, which are designed explicitly to address Bulldozer’s shortcomings.

Intel Core i7-4790K

Intel's devilish quad-core all-rounder

Normally, buying the most expensive version of any CPU is for chumps. It means having your wallet hammered in return for a spec bump that's more about scoring a PR win than actually improving your end-user experience. Should you therefore be doubly wary of the Intel Core i7-4790K? After all, it’s just the top chip for Intel's LGA1150 socket. It’s a stopgap replacement for what was once the range-topping quad-core Intel Haswell CPU, the 4770K.

Ether One

An indie odyssey through the inside of an ailing mind

About midway through Ether One, there’s a puzzle where you use a barograph to predict the weather. In a lesser title this would just be eye-catchingly arcane fluff, tossed in without much thought to the context. In this game, it’s a natural extension of the provincial tragedy you’re in the process of  reconstructing. Puzzlers as cohesively wrought as Ether One don’t appear that often – and nor, for that matter, do games that wrestle so intelligently with the question of mental illness.

Project Cars

PS4 simulation racers now have an axle to grind

What do you want Project CARS to be? Are you looking for a Need For Speed facsimile with slippery tyres, or to push yourself beyond Gran Turismo’s rather comfortable brand of simulation for a stiffer challenge? Slightly Mad’s crowd-funded racer does one of these things exceptionally well – but not both.

It’s great news for anyone who’s ever owned a force feedback steering wheel, who’s turned auto gear changes off in a controls menu, and who crashes a car into a wall over and over and over, just to observe the accuracy of its damage model. Because Project CARS is a vessel for absolutely fearsome, rigorously simulated motorsport, more exhilarating in its trackside action than anything Polyphony’s produced. A swathe of disciplines is represented here, from 125cc karts to Le Mans Prototypes and beyond.

Shovel Knight

This seasoned yet sprightly adventure has charm in spades

Retro gaming can be more of a trial by ordeal than an exercise in fun. We subject ourselves to the archaic, bloodstained machinery of the classics to prove that we’ve still ‘got it’ after years of gentler fare such as Assassin’s Creed. But that isn’t the case with Shovel Knight – a fabulous homage to the giddy highs and grating lows of single-screen 8-bit platforming.