The lockdown is gradually easing. By the time you read this, pubs, restaurants, cinemas and campsites will have begun reopening. People will be making tentative steps back out into these social spaces.
But the landscape out there will look very different. Pubs and restaurants won’t be allowing walk-ins, and will be restricting bookings to no more than six people. Orders will be made via an app where possible. Cinemas will be leaving some seats empty to minimise human contact.
As Kay Ewbank and David Ludlow both note (Kay’s Corner, page 10; Rants & Raves, page 11), even as the UK starts to open up, the workplace will continue to feel very different, too. Indeed, your office will mostly be your home where possible for the foreseeable future.
For those of you in the market for a new computer to support this shift to home working, we’ve reviewed and compared 22 laptops to help you source the perfect one (page 66). These include professional models to get some heavy-duty work done; ultraportables that will keep you prepared for when you do need to start travelling back into the office again; budget machines if you or your employer is short on cash in these lean times; and gaming laptops if you want something that you can use in your spare time, too.
If you’re looking for ways to entertain friends and family at home this summer, turn to page 120 for our guide to setting up the perfect outdoor cinema. We’ve got a rundown of picking the most suitable kit – projector, speaker, screen, Wi-Fi – and how to get the best viewing experience in your back garden, whether watching your favourite movie or tuning in for the big match.

Download from:

NitroFlare

• History of War – Issue 83, 2020
• Custom PC – September 2020