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At How-To Geek, we're building a community—we want to get to know you and hear your thoughts on tech. As part of that, it's now possible to start your own conversation topics where anyone can respond. Since we introduced Threads earlier this year, our editors have posed hundreds of questions. We've received thousands of responses, chatting about the best apps, old-school technology, gaming habits, and more. Now it's your chance to lead the conversation. To get started, sign in to your How-To Geek account and select the blue "Submit a Thread" button on this page.
What's the Minimum Amount of RAM You Need in a PC?
If you were buying or building a computer today, what's the minimum amount of RAM you personally would need it to have? I was surprised to see Amazon still features some budget laptops with 4GB of RAM. For daily use, I wouldn't buy anything with less than 12GB if I can avoid it.
Do You Ever Send Voice Notes on Your Phone?
Voice notes are a handy feature on many messaging apps that let you quickly send a recording rather than typing a message out. They're convenient, since you can do other things while recording your message, and are often more personal. How often do you use voice notes?
What Do You Use to Monitor Your Linux PC Resources?
When you're using any computer, it can be helpful to keep an eye on how your hardware is being used by the operating system. That's especially the case when you hit an unexpected slow down. For Linux, I use KDE Plasma's System Monitor on my desktop, and htop on headless servers. What's your preferred monitoring tool?
Excel or Google Sheets: Which Do You Prefer?
I've worked in both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets, and I've felt Google Sheets was at least a little less cluttered and more streamlined. At the time, some years ago, Sheets though was missing some functions that Excel had. If you're able to choose, which spreadsheet application do you prefer?
Which 3D Printer Do You Recommend for Beginners?
3D printing can be a fun though challenging and expensive hobby. If someone told you they were thinking of getting a 3D printer, but they weren't sure where to start or how far into the hobby they want to go, what would you recommend they buy first?
Do You Still Have Your Old Physical Video Games?
If you've been gaming for a while, you'll remember a time when buying through digital platforms like Steam wasn't the primary way to get games. You actually had to go to a store and buy a physical copy! Do you still have your physical game collection?
How Fast Is Your Internet?
When you do speed tests on your phone or computer at home, what kind of speeds are you getting? Does it match what you pay for? Depending on the device and connection, I can typically get upwards of around 850Mbps. That's plenty fast, and close enough to the 1Gbps I pay for, to not draw any complaints from me.
Do You Shut Down Your Computer?
When you've finished using your computer, do you shut it down completely? Or do you leave it permanently on, perhaps in sleep mode? Your decision may depend on how long you're stepping away for. Personally, I turn my computer off at night; it takes seconds to boot up in the morning, so leaving it on provides no benefit.
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MoreWhich Linux Distro Should Be Added to WSL Next?
Recently, Microsoft made Arch Linux an official WSL distribution. It was followed a few days later by Fedora joining the WSL-certified train. If you're a Windows Subsystem for Linux fan, which distro do you think should become officially supported next? Or do you think Arch and Fedora were the only bases that needed covering?
Do You Rate What You Watch on Streaming Services?
Most streaming services prompt you to rate what you watch, to help improve your recommendations and save you from endlessly searching for your next binge. To really improve the algorithm, you can also go through the library and rate movies and shows you have already seen.
What Artist Did Spotify Help You Discover?
Spotify is not only about listening to the music that you love, it's also about discovering your next obsession thanks to features like personally tailored playlists. What is the last great discovery you made through Spotify?
What Do You Run in Your Homelab?
If you operate a homelab, you probably have more than one project going. To name a few, I'm at the moment running Jellyfin for streaming media, Nextcloud for remotely storing and accessing files, and FreshRSS for a synced news feed. What do you self-host?
What's the Best Photo You've Captured With Your Smartphone?
For the average person, smartphone cameras do a great job at capturing a moment, whether you're on vacation, at a gig, or just want a funny photo of your pet. I'd like to see the best photo you've ever taken with your phone. You can attach the image directly to your comment.
Are You Watching The Last of Us?
The Last of Us recently returned to screens for its second season, based on the popular video game series. This season has already had some shocking moments and I'm excited to see how the rest of it plays out. Are you enjoying the show? If so, what do you think?
Which Brand Makes the Coolest Phones?
Lately, we've posted a few articles about our favorite (or least favorite) smartphones. This got me thinking about which manufacturer you think makes the coolest phones. While LG gave up on the market, the company had some amazing and weird products over the years. Nothing phones are pretty neat, too. What are your thoughts?
Which Streaming Service Offers the Best Original Content?
Though many streaming services offer licensed movies and shows, most produce their own original content to hook you, like Netflix's Stranger Things and Apple TV+'s Severance. Which streaming service do you think offers the best exclusives?
What Do You Do With Windows Subsystem for Linux?
Microsoft has been offering a tool for using Linux operating systems and applications on Windows for almost a decade now as WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). There are several reasons to use WSL, though to be frank, I've always preferred to just use a Linux operating system bare metal when I have a Linux task. If you use WSL, what do you do with it?
What's the Best Nintendo Game Ever?
Nintendo has created some undeniable classics, like Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Odyssey. And that's not even touching games from previous eras like Metroid Prime and Star Fox 64. Of all Nintendo games, which is your favorite?
Which GPU Brand Do You Buy?
When you buy a graphics card, you have to choose a manufacturer you're going to get it from. There's Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, and more out there. What GPU brand do you prefer?
How Fast Do You Type on Your Computer?
Despite taking a typing class in college, I'm not the fastest typist. I clock in at around 60 words per minute most of the time. With skill, you can type much faster than that. What's your top typing speed?
How Do You Remember Terminal Commands?
One of the toughest parts of learning to use any command line is just recalling specific commands, their syntax, and what useful flags there are. Do you just keep doing web searches for commands until they're baked into your brain, or do you have another memorization method?
What's Your Favorite Podcast?
You name it, there's probably a podcast for it. The barrier to start your own podcast is low, and many celebrities have their own. Many streaming services invest a lot of money in podcasts too, sometimes tying creators exclusively to the platform. What's your favorite podcast and why?
Do You Ever Stream an Entire Album?
Services like Spotify make it easy to flick between different genres, artists, and time periods, and playlists with a mixture of music are a big part of the experience. While I enjoy that and being my own DJ, I still find value in listening to an entire album. How often do you listen to an album as the artist intended?
How Often Do You Back Up Your Computer?
If you don't want to ever lose your data, you need to back up your files regularly. Ideally you follow the 3-2-1 rule, with three different copies of your data in two different mediums, with one off-site. How often are you backing up the data on your PC, whether it's automatic or manual?
Do You Watch Movies or Shows on Your Phone?
Every major streaming service has a phone app, often with support for offline viewing, which makes it a breeze to watch movies and TV shows on the go. Personally, I don't like watching on a small screen and I prefer the full experience of a TV, so I never watch movies or shows on my phone.
Will You Buy a Nintendo Switch 2 on Launch?
The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5, 2025, and costs $449.99. It maintains a similar design to its predecessor, but has a bigger and better screen, more storage, and other improvements like magnetic Joy-Cons. Mario Kart World looks like a good launch title, but do you plan to buy the Switch 2 when it comes out? Perhaps you'll wait for the inevitable second version or a price drop.
M365 Sub or Single-Purchase Office: Which Do You Buy?
It seems everything is a subscription these days, but believe it or not, you can still buy individual Microsoft Office product keys, paying for them one time only. If you use Office apps, do you pay for Microsoft 365 subscription or did you buy a single-purchase copy of Office? Or is the free version good enough?
Will You Try Fedora 42?
Fedora Linux 42 came out of beta for a full release this week. It has several interesting improvements and additions, including support for x86 applications on ARM computers. Are you going to give Fedora 42 a try, or will you stick what you have?
