Windows Weekly (Audio)

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Windows Weekly (Audio) episodes

September 13, 2023WW 846: Purple is for Jazz Hands - Enhanced Windows 365 App Experience, Paint's random new feature, Xbox Mastercard
The latest updates to Windows 11, including the removal of legacy troubleshooting tools. Paul, Richard, and Mikah also discuss Windows 365 integration with Android phones, the new iPhone models, and Qualcomm supplying 5G modems to Apple. Plus, the full Game Pass Core library, the announcement of the Xbox Mastercard, an update on .NET 8 nearing its release, and opinions on Unity's new Runtime Fee for game installations.
Windows 11
New Insider Preview builds

Patch Tuesday arrives and the latest Windows 11 update is a non-event

Microsoft Paint is getting a background removal tool

Microsoft is removing the legacy troubleshooters from Windows 11 and killing third-party printer drivers
Mobile
Microsoft announces Enhanced Windows 365 App Experience for Android. Yes, that's the name. Yes, it's a cloud-based version of Samsung Dex

Qualcomm extends wireless partnership with Apple for three more years

Intel announces Thunderbolt 5 branding, surprising no one
Microsoft 365, Antitrust, & AI
PowerPoint co-creator Dennis Austin passes away

Apple's new iPhones have USB-C ports to meet the needs of a new EU law

United States vs. Google kicks off

Day 1: Yes, Google pays Apple $10 billion per year to be the default search on iPhone

Adobe's Firefly generative AI is now generally available
Dev
.NET 8 hits release candidate

Unity might have just jumped the shark
Xbox
Microsoft reveals the full Xbox Game Pass Core library. This new offering replaces Xbox Live Gold. A moment of silence, please

Apple envy? Microsoft announces an Xbox credit card for some reason

Minecraft Live is coming back, but it's not in-person
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: Google rolls out privacy sandbox. Seriously, use a different browser

App pick of the week: WizTree

RunAs Radio this week: Doing More with Less with Sonia Cuff

Brown liquor pick of the week: Chivas Regal

Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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2 hr 6 min
September 06, 2023WW 845: My NAS is Out of Date - End of WordPad, OneDrive album storage, Lenovo Legion Go
Leo, Paul, and Richard discuss issues with the reliability of File Explorer (is XAML the root cause?), Microsoft's decision to retire WordPad, antitrust lawsuits and investigations into Big Tech companies, Microsoft's upcoming Surface(?) event, automatic OneDrive uploads for Xbox captures, the launch of Bethesda's Starfield, digital decluttering tools, and more!
Windows
Canary: some changes to the Dynamic refresh rate feature, no more Power & Battery page in Settings, etc

Dev: Bug fixes

Beta: File Explorer fixes (INTERESTING, given last week's rant)

A moment of silence, please: WordPad will be retired

The secret life of WordPad via its source code release and it being an example for developers (over time) of MFC, open Word document format support, the ribbon, and more

The future is open plain text: embrace Markdown

Notepad and Snipping Tool are getting new features

Microsoft is changing how it counts your OneDrive storage usage
Events
We forgot the Amazon devices event, which is September 20

Microsoft will host a OneDrive/AI event on October 3

Ignite registration just opened up - November 14-17 in Seattle
Antitrust
Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others are all gatekeepers, EU says

Bing: Hold my beer

Zoom would like the FTC to unbundle Teams/M365 in the US

Google is heading into an antitrust trial against the DOJ next week.

Microsoft's approach to antitrust has changed a bit

Margrethe Vestager is stepping aside to bid on a new job

Google has tentatively settled a US Play Store class action antitrust lawsuit brought by over 30 states; the settlement is subject to the court's approval, according to a legal filing

FTC to file antitrust lawsuit against Amazon after firm made no concessions, may seek to break up the company
Xbox
Microsoft to add auto OneDrive upload to Xbox game clips

Xbox September Update is here with Discord game streaming

New Game Pass titles for early September - Starfield among them

Your Xbox Series S has arrived, Mr. Vader

Lenovo has a Steam Deck competitor
Tips & Picks
Tip/app pick of the week: Digital decluttering

RunAs Radio this week: Breach Reporting with Troy Hunt

Brown liquor pick of the week: Old Perth 23

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
2 hr 32 min
August 30, 2023WW 844: Friday Sweets - Windows 11 bugs drive Paul crazy, Microsoft AI event coming, no Xbox mid-cycle refresh
Windows 11 bugs drive Paul crazy, Microsoft AI event coming, no Xbox mid-cycle refresh

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/844
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2 hr 30 min
August 23, 2023WW 843: The Drawer of Broken Dreams - UK CMA stubbornness, Parallels Desktop 19, Atari 2600+
This week on Windows Weekly, Leo, Paul, and Richard dive deep into Microsoft's prolonged acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview builds, the launch of Edge for Business, and the Mixed Reality collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Magic Leap.
CMA: F&$% you, common sense!
Despite appearing to step back from the wrong decision it made about Activision Blizzard, the CMA has instead rejected the deal again... because cloud gaming

So Microsoft has offered to give Ubisoft (non-exclusive) rights to cloud streaming all AB games (except in the EU)

Now the EU is wondering how/if this impacts its own agreement with Microsoft - a close reading of the Microsoft and Ubisoft announcements provides some clues that all is well

Windows 11

It's Week D, so we just got the preview versions of next month's Patch Tuesday CU

And it's August, so Microsoft has probably finalized 23H2 and could ship it in preview form in September's Week D

Perhaps not coincidentally, Microsoft has scheduled an in-person Surface/Windows event in NYC for the following week

Insider: we got new Dev and Beta builds last week

Dev: rich thumbnail previews in Start, new Cast flyout, never-combine Taskbar mode

Beta (23H2): native support for RAR and other archive formats, never-combined Taskbar mode, rich thumbnail previews in Start, Snipping Tool update with links to Paint and Clipchamp, new app defaults behavior (that one is in the preview update above)

Edge for Business is now available

Microsoft sets Windows Mixed Reality Toolkit free because AI is the new AR
AI + Dev
As predicted, the addition of AI-based Bing Chat has not helped Bing usage share in the slightest: "Bing AI is cute, but not a game changer". Microsoft is not happy.

AI-generated Microsoft travel guide recommended a food bank in Canada to those with "empty stomachs"

Brave is bringing a safe and private AI assistant to Brave because of course it is

Quick hands-on with Project IDX. Yep, it's Visual Studio Code on the web
Xbox
The end of an era: Xbox 360 store to shut down in one year

Age of Empires IV is now available on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass

PC Game Pass has arrived on NVIDIA GeForce Now

Sony's PlayStation Portal Remote Player is launching later this tear at $199.99

The nostalgia keeps coming: Atari announces the 2600+ console
Tips & Picks
Tip of the week: Enjoy my video archive on YouTube

App pick of the week: Parallels Desktop 19

RunAs Radio this week: Microsoft Fabric with Andrew Snodgrass

Brown liquor pick of the week: Oban 14

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Sponsor:
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2 hr 32 min
August 16, 2023WW 842: Eight Strikes and You're Out - Live listener questions, Edge for Business, subscription fatigue
This fun episode of Windows Weekly features Paul and Richard answering questions from listeners in the Club TWiT Discord! Plus, they chat about minor Windows Insider updates, strategies for saving money on streaming services, new gaming releases like the enhanced Quake II, and more.
Windows
New Canary build JUST released - Nothing major; the wait for 12 continues

Dev Home Preview 0.4 JUST released - accessibility and other improvements

Windows 365 Switch comes to the Windows Insider Dev and Beta channels

Here comes Edge for Business
Microsoft 365
Microsoft is releasing a new default theme for Office
Mobile + AI
Google Photos gets a new AI-powered Memories view

Opera brings Aria AI to its iOS browser

Google brings more features to its generative AI search service

Amazon adds more AI-generated review summaries on mobile

Google to add Audio Magic Eraser feature with Pixel 8 series

Apple to finally pay its victims for Batterygate
Xbox
Overview of Microsoft's new system to suspend toxic players on Xbox via strikes

Now Netflix is testing a cloud gaming solution
Tips & Picks
Tip of the week: Dealing with subscription fatigue

App pick of the week: Quake II Remaster

RunAs Radio this week: PowerShellGet in 2023 with Sydney Smith

Brown liquor pick of the week: EH Taylor Small Batch

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Sponsor:
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2 hr 16 min
August 09, 2023WW 841: You've Been Tennified - Windows 365 Switch public preview, Project IDX, digital decluttering
Windows 365 Switch public preview, Project IDX, digital decluttering
Windows 11
Patch Tuesday arrives - nothing to see here, first PT this year with no new Windows 11 22H2 features

New Canary build today: Two features from Dev, one new feature, plus a few minor fixes

Windows 365 Switch is now available in public preview
More Earnings Learnings
Amazon revenues up 11 percent, but we have lots of AWS info

Apple revenues flat as smartphone market slide continues - but services
Microsoft 365, AI, etc
Bing Chat comes to (some) third-party mobile browsers

Slack is getting a major UI refresh
Dev
Microsoft issues final .NET 8 preview, RC next

Google uses VS Code to make its new AI-based code editor in the browser

GitHub Copilot adds a beta code referencing tool
Xbox
New Zealand OK's Activision Blizzard acquisition

Microsoft, er, Activision announces Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

Sony revenues soared 33 percent in the previous quarter, with PlayStation 5 unit sales up 38 percent to 3.3 million

PS5 Cloud Streaming goes live for some (requires PS Plus)
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: One strategy for digital decluttering

Tip of the week #2: Back-to-school sale at the Microsoft Store

Tip of the week #3: Subscribe to Thurrott Premium, Windows Intelligence newsletter, and Club TWiT

Podcast pick of the week: Azure Innovations with Mark Russinovich

Brown liquor pick of the week: Port Askaig 100 Proof

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Sponsor:
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2 hr 37 min
August 02, 2023WW 840: Buried in Corn - EU investigates Teams, Loop in the Microsoft Store, Beta build 22631.2129
EU investigates Teams, Loop in the Microsoft Store, Beta build 22631.2129
Windows
Insider: Last week, Canary got features from Dev plus some new features of its own.

Dev channel: Improved screen cast, HDR background support, more Voice access, presence sensing, more.

Beta channel: Windows Copilot, Dev Drive, enhanced Narrator/Excel integration, new Voice access text authoring features, passwordless experience for Windows Hello for Business, plus screen cast, presence, and voice access from above.

Intel is profitable again, hopeful for the future (and massive fab expansion in Oregon)

AMD revenues fell 18 percent, but also some hope for the future
Microsoft 365
The EU announces formal investigation of Teams bundling in Microsoft 365

Microsoft Teams gets spatial audio support

Microsoft lowers storage allotments for M365 Education customers, kills Office 365 A1 Plus

Clipchamp is coming to Microsoft 365 commercial (with OneDrive storage integration)
Dev
Microsoft to launch .NET 8 at .NET Conf in November
Xbox
CMA publishes Microsoft's list of "material changes" in its Activision Blizzard case, gives public four days for feedback

Unexpectedly, not a single new concession, just a bunch of new "evidence" that appeared since the decision

Xbox Games with Gold goes out with a whimper

Here come the first August Game Pass titles

Final Fantasy XIV Online is FINALLY coming to Xbox

Microsoft starts testing game streaming from Xbox to Discord

You can buy Xbox controller parts now

Sony has now sold over 40 million PS5s

EA revenues up 9 percent in Q2

Nintendo's next Switch to debut next year

Microsoft is killing the Xbox Console Companion app, has never made a new solution for getting Xbox console screenshots and videos on the PC
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: Enroll in the Windows Insider Beta channel if you want to test 23H2

App pick of the week: Loop for Windows is now available

RunAs Radio this week: Windows 11 and Windows Update for Business with Julie Andreacola

Brown liquor pick of the week: Angel's Envy

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Sponsor:
GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT
2 hr 44 min
July 26, 2023WW 839: Velcro and Tang - Microsoft's FY23 Q4, Zenbleed vulnerability, Nearby Share for Windows
Microsoft's FY23 Q4, Zenbleed vulnerability, Nearby Share for Windows
Microsoft Earnings
Microsoft had another blockbuster quarter. What else is new?

Fiscal quarter: a net income of $20.1 billion on revenues of $56.2 billion. Those figures represent year-over-year (YOY) gains of 20 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Intelligent Cloud was again Microsoft's biggest business unit, delivering $24 billion in revenues (up 15 percent YOY) on the strength of server and cloud services revenue growth of 17 percent. Azure and other cloud services grew 26 percent YOY, and Enterprise Mobility saw its installed base grow by 11 percent to over 256 million seats.

Productivity and Business Processes was Microsoft's second-biggest business, with $18.3 billion in revenues, a gain of 10 percent YOY. Here, Microsoft reported that Office commercial revenue was up 12 percent, Office 365 commercial revenues were up 15 percent, and Office consumer revenues were up 3 percent. Microsoft 365 consumer subscribers grew 12 percent to 67 million customers.

More Personal Computing once again brought up the rear, with $13.9 billion in revenues, a decline of 4 percent YOY. Windows revenues from PC makers declined 12 percent. Surface (and HoloLens, but really just Surface) revenues were down 20 percent YOY, as that product line continues to struggle. Gaming revenue overall was up 1 percent, with Xbox hardware revenues down 13 percent YOY and Xbox content and services revenues up 5 percent, "driven by growth in third-party content and Xbox Game Pass."
AI Stuff
Top AI companies agree to safeguards (just not for privacy).

Microsoft opens up Bing Chat to users on Chrome and Safari.

ChatGPT for Android is available in the U.S. to handle all your mobile AI needs.

GitHub Copilot Chat is now available in Beta, stage one of the transition to GitHub Copilot X.

Apple is rumored to be working on its own ChatGPT.

Windows

This just in: Preview cumulative update for 22H2 arrives a day late.

Insider: Microsoft tests 23H2 features in the Beta channel.

AMD to fix Zenbleed vulnerability.

Microsoft could release a Surface Studio Laptop 2 this year.

U.S. Army to test upgraded HoloLens soon.
Activision Blizzard
Paul looked at how the Activision Blizzard acquisition will impact its quarterly financials. Not much, actually.

Chief regulators from the FTC and CMA have spoken a bit publicly about their mishandled Microsoft cases.

Mirroring what happened with the CMA last week, the FTC ended an internal trial against Microsoft so the sides can reach a settlement.
Xbox
Microsoft starts rolling out YAHE (yet another home experience)

Google Play Games for PC expands

Blizzard is bringing key titles to Steam

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Clipchamp's hidden gems

App pick of the week: Nearby Share for Windows

RunAs Radio this week: Future of Integrated Communication with Bob Serr

Brown liquor pick of the week: Bottles!

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Sponsor:
GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT
2 hr 44 min
July 19, 2023WW 838: Dabbling with Farclas - FTC double-defeated, ASUS saves the NUC, Gates on AI concerns
It's happening! Microsoft will absolutely acquire Activision Blizzard
An amazing (ahem) blizzard of activity on the acquisition front leaves Microsoft on the verge of consummating this deal. It's amazing how much has happened since last week.

FTC appealed its court loss and was immediately defeated again

UK CMA extends deadline for its review of Microsoft's new concessions

Microsoft and Sony agree to a Call of Duty deal (!) - not clear if it's for 10 years

UK court formally pauses CMA block of AB acquisition so the two sides can negotiate

Microsoft and Activision agreed to extend the acquisition deadline to October 18 to accommodate the CMA
Windows
Windows 11 23H2 will be deployed as an enablement package, virtually providing our theories that 23H2 = Moment 4.

Tied to this, Microsoft finally explains how it updates Windows now, literally 8 years after the release of Windows 10. It's easy to be cynical, but a Microsoft whitepaper offers a lot of overdue transparency about updating

Insider Program: New Dev build today. Passwordless for Windows Hello Business, local file sharing improvements, Outlook now an inbox app

Insider Program: New Beta and Release Preview builds out last week.

Beta is 23H2. Galley view in Explorer, new Paint app

Release Preview is 22H2, just fixes

The NUC lives!

Microsoft has a new font
An AI told you so
Microsoft announces Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing (for commercial) and it is exactly as expensive as we warned

Bing Chat adds visual search support

Bill Gates dismisses the dangers of AI. "We've done this before."

FTC is investigating OpenAI
Xbox
Xbox Game Pass Core to replace Xbox Live Gold in September

The next Game Pass titles for July

Game Pass Friends and Family Preview is ending in August

More fun retro gaming as Anstream Arcade is coming to Xbox on July 21
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: Enable passkeys in GitHub

Book of the week: John Romero wrote a book

RunAs this week: Securing Sprawling Services with Karinne Bessette

Brown liquor pick of the week: Glenfarclas 12

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Sponsors:
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kolide.com/ww
2 hr 36 min
July 12, 2023WW 837: A Small Internet Boutique - Microsoft defeats the FTC, AdDuplex shutting down, Azure AD rebrand
MICROSOFT BEATS FTC IN DRAMATIC FASHION
Judge throws out FTC's request to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard

For once, common sense prevails

FTC threatens to appeal, but legal experts say this will fail

UK CMA (sort of) realizes the error of its ways and will renegotiate with Microsoft and then later said it may require a new investigation because they are terrible

Just a quick note about an old friend: AdDuplex is shutting down

Amazon is first Big Tech firm to legally challenge EU's new anti-Big Tech laws
Windows
Microsoft releases Moment 3 for the fourth time

Insider: New Canary build (today) brings new features from Dev, Arm32 deprecation, etc.

Amazon Appstore for Windows 11 is now generally available

Microsoft Edge now blocks spam pop-ups. Finally, a reasonable Edge feature

Intel is killing the NUC, will exit the PC business
Cloud/Enterprise
Microsoft is renaming Azure AD to Entra ID

Former original NT team member burns bridges as he leaves Google for second time

Dev

Microsoft is bringing .NET MAUI is coming to Visual Studio Code

Microsoft Dev Box is generally available

Raspberry Pi open-sources its Code Editor

GitHub announced the public beta of passkey authentication
Xbox
Digital Eclipse is going to release a series of interactive classic video documentaries on Xbox

Xbox introduces new voice reporting feature to help battle online toxicity

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: You can get a $1 Game Pass trial again

App pick of the week: Nostalgia (for Intellivision)

RunAs Radio this week: Windows 11 Deployment with Johan Arwidmark

Brown liquor pick of the week: Smooth Ambler Old Scout

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Sponsors:
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2 hr 37 min

About Windows Weekly (Audio)

From the publisher's feed

Windows Weekly is about more than Windows. Veteran Microsoft insiders Paul Thurrott and Richard Campbell join Leo for a deep dive into the most valuable company in the world. From consumer to enterprise, AI to Xbox, Windows Weekly is the only Microsoft podcast you'll ever need.

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