Windows Weekly (Audio)

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Windows Weekly (Audio) episodes

April 26, 2023WW 826: Make it Suntory Time - CMA blocks Activision Blizzard deal, FY23 Q3 earnings, Mad Dogs Hot Dogs
CMA blocks Activision Blizzard deal, FY23 Q3 earnings, Mad Dogs Hot Dogs
Microsoft earnings
Microsoft announced that it earned a net income of $18.3 billion on revenues of $52.9 billion for the quarter ending March 31. Those figures represent gains of 9 and 7 percent, respectively, year-over-year.

Intelligent Cloud, the home of Azure and Server, was once again the software giant's biggest business, with $22.1 billion in revenues, up 16 percent YOY.

Productivity and Business Processes, which houses Office, delivered $17.5 billion in revenues, up 11 percent YOY.

Windows, Xbox, and Surface once again tripped over themselves, with $13.3 billion in revenues, down 9 percent.
Analysis of Microsoft's F23Q3
Yet another AI theory: After years of 70 percent-ish growth in Azure revenues driving its stock price and market cap, Microsoft needed something exciting for Wall Street. (Azure grew "just" 27 percent in this quarter)

Windows revenues from PC makers fell 28 percent in the quarter. Windows Commercial products and cloud services increased 14 percent YOY, "driven by strong renewal execution and an increase in agreements that carried higher in-period revenue recognition."

Surface was a no-show: Devices revenues fell by 30 percent.

Xbox: Xbox console sales and other hardware revenues fell 30 percent in the quarter while gaming revenue, overall, declined 4 percent and Xbox content and services revenue grew 3 percent. But revenue from Xbox subscriptions reached nearly $1 billion in the quarter.

Teams: over 300 million MAUs.

Microsoft 365: Office commercial revenue grew 13 percent in the quarter. Paid Office 365 commercial seats were up 11 percent YOY to 382 million. Office consumer revenues were up, sort of, by 1 percent, while the Microsoft 365 consumer user base grew 12 percent to 65.4 million.
Windows 11
A new monthly preview update to think about

Phone Link for iOS is now rolling out to everyone

New Beta channel builds: new Live Caption languages

Leak: Microsoft will bring (back) app labels and grouping to the Windows 11 Taskbar
Microsoft 365
Microsoft rumored to unbundle Teams from Office to appease regulators

Does Microsoft have an antitrust problem?
Xbox
UK CMA blocks Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard... because of cloud streaming??

Microsoft Flight Simulator has a new World Update

Atari just acquired over 100 classic games from the 80s and 90s

ASUS ROG Ally is a new Windows gaming handheld
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: Bulk-install apps with Winget and Winstall

App pick of the week: Google Authenticator

On RunAs this week: Building your Data Analytics Team at SQLBits!

Brown liquor pick of the week: Ohishi Whisky Sherry Cask

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:
GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT
lookout.com
kolide.com/ww
2 hr 51 min
April 19, 2023WW 825: You're Not a Normal Human - Bing in SwiftKey, Gallery in File Explorer, Ubisoft+ Multi Access
Gallery in File Explorer, Bing in SwiftKey, Ubisoft+ Multi Access
Bing/AI
Samsung allegedly is considering replacing Google Search with Bing. Can they even do that?

Bing chatbot comes to Swiftkey and Microsoft Start. And now you can remove the Bing button from Swiftkey. Sound familiar?

Microsoft is all-in on AI hardware

Microsoft brings more AI to developers ahead of Build

Amazon announces Bedrock generative AI tool for developers. Speaking of which, where's Apple in all this?
Windows 11
New Dev channel build: remove time/date from the system tray, "new" hover behavior on search

New Beta channel build: Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC) on plugged in PCs, a PC maker-enabled feature - plus RDC redesign for Windows 11

Photo Gallery view comes to File Explorer in Insider Program This isn't the first time a Photos app feature has shown up elsewhere this year
Surface
Microsoft can't seem to escape the trap of its one successful Surface design
Xbox
Minecraft Legends, more on tap for Xbox Game Pass

Ubisoft+ Multi Access comes to Xbox

The exodus from 343 Industries continues

Microsoft: just kidding on the latest Xbox Dashboard UI

Sega buys Rovio for the same reason Microsoft wants AB
Tips & Picks
Tip of the week: Hyper-V or Windows Sandbox?

App pick of the week: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate/Xbox app for Windows 11

RunAs Radio this week: Project Zero Trust with George Finney

Brown liquor pick of the week: Woodford Reserve

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.
Sponsors:
Miro.com/podcast
meraki.cisco.com/twit
cachefly.com
2 hr 7 min
April 12, 2023WW 824: It's Called Flocculation - KB5025239, Build 2023 session catalog, Xbox April update
KB5025239, Build 2023 session catalog, Xbox April update
Microsoft brings more new features to Windows 11 on Patch Tuesday. It's a mini moment!

Windows 11 is coming to HoloLens 2! The platform is saved! (Oops)

IDC says that PC shipments tanked 29 percent in Q1. Don't worry, the Mac did even worse. And you won't believe how the Apple community is rationalizing THAT bit of news

Windows 365 gets a Frontline worker option and a smart TV app
Microsoft Build is coming
Microsoft has posted the session catalog! Anything stand out? Yep.

Windows: How we integrated WinUI 3 into File Explorer, Q&A; The Old New Thing with Raymond Chen, Q&A; Deliver AI-powered experiences across cloud and edge, with Windows; Learn how to build the best Arm apps for Windows; Optimize your apps for Arm

.NET: Full stack Blazor in .NET 8 with Blazor United; What's new in .NET Multi-platform App UI (MAUI), Q&A

The era of the AI Copilot with Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott

Fluent 2: It must be based on the work in Loop
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 Copilot is coming soon to OneNote

Microsoft Edge gets three new features, including DALL-E-based image creation

The case of the mysterious reappearing Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) in Office. A tale of ribbons, simplified ribbons, and personalized toolbars, oh my

LinkedIn adds free ways to verify yourself on the service - there better be a blue checkmark!

Microsoft brings Bing chatbot to Swiftkey on Android
Xbox
Xbox Game Pass exits beta, is now available in 40 new countries

Xbox April Update adds revamped search, ability to adjust active hours - a nice compromise on energy savings

Microsoft drops the hammer on Xbox game emulation

Microsoft brings more Elite Controller 2 customizations to Xbox Design Lab

Microsoft announces another 10-year cloud gaming deal with a company not named Sony
Tips & Picks
Tip of the week: Learn to code for free

App pick of the week: Opera's free VPN

This Week on RunAs: Team Metrics with Angela Dugan

Brown liquor pick of the week: The Famous Grouse

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.
Sponsor:
meraki.cisco.com/twit
3 hr 1 min
April 05, 2023WW 823: The Door is Made of a Rake - Microsoft turns 48, Edge Workspaces public preview, Xbox Remix Special Edition Controller
File Explorer access keys, Edge Workspaces public preview, Xbox Remix Special Edition Controller
Happy birthday, Microsoft
Microsoft turned 48 this week (April 4). It took a wrong left turn in Albuquerque
Windows 11
New Beta channel build adds Access Keys to File Explorer, Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC), and, yes, a new Bing button on the Taskbar

Microsoft Edge Workspaces now in limited public preview
Microsoft 365
Oh you didn't think the new Bing was free, did you?

(New) Outlook for Windows Preview gains Gmail support, finally

Right before the new Bing launch, Microsoft fixed a major security vulnerability that compromised Bing

Google secretly enacted a 5 million file limit on Drive then retracted it after complaints
Surface
Microsoft announces Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock (Surface Dock 3) with no Surface Connect connector
Xbox
Microsoft reveals first Game Pass titles for April

New Xbox Wireless Controller contains "some" recycled materials, is very expensive
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: Enable split window feature in Microsoft Edge

App pick of the week: Google Nearby Share for Windows

This week on RunAs: IPv6 and Azure Active Directory with Pierre Roman

Brown liquor pick of the week: Auchentoshan Virgin Oak

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.
Sponsors:
meraki.cisco.com/twit
Melissa.com/twit
CDW.com/LenovoClient
2 hr 6 min
March 29, 2023WW 822: Squirt a Little Fresh Air - Week D production-quality updates, revamped widgets board, Microsoft Teams redesign
Week D production-quality updates, revamped widgets board, Microsoft Teams redesign
Windows 11
Microsoft debuts new Windows 11 features in Preview. And now we have a new updating schedule!

Coming via Canary: another Widgets UX update

Surface Hub 2S is still a thing and will be upgradeable to Teams Rooms OS soon

You can hide the Bing button in Edge 111.x now
Microsoft 365
As expected, Microsoft announces Teams 2.0 with Apple-like improvement claims
AI o' the week
OpenAI announces ChatGTP plug-ins capability - Now it's a platform! Next stop: sentience

Microsoft brings AI-based copilot capabilities to security pros
Xbox
UK CDMA: Just kidding on Microsoft's AB acquisition issues, will likely approve it

Japan FTC approves Microsoft's AB acquisition without conditions

Activision CEO disappointed in his best partner, Sony

Microsoft announces red and blue (get it?) Elite Series 2 Core Controllers

No more $1 intro offer on Xbox Game Pass

Now even Xbox developers can help your console use less power

Steam will drop support for Windows 7/8.x in 2024
Tips & Picks
Tip of the week: Still on Windows 7/8.x? Switch to Firefox

App pick of the week: Oofhours.com Media Creation tool

This week on RunAs Radio: When does Multi-Cloud Make Sense with Phoummala Schmitt

Brown liquor pick of the week: Dalmore 12

(Thumbnail artwork by Club TWiT member Joe Esposito)

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:
lookout.com
kolide.com/ww
GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT
2 hr 26 min
March 22, 2023WW 821: Windows Everywhere - Microsoft Loop public preview, GibHub Copilot X, Adobe Firefly
Microsoft Loop preview FINALLY arrives
Microsoft Loop web app launches in public preview for MSA and work/school accounts - Yeah, it's a Notion rip-off. Alarmingly so.
Windows 11
Now, Microsoft is testing Windows 11 features first in Release Preview

New Dev channel build: Seconds in the system tray is a game changer! /s

Minor changes coming to default apps

Based on a single hardware review, it appears that 13th Gen Intel Core processors have the same problem with docks and hubs as do 12th Gen processors.
AI all the things
Bill Gates describes AI as the biggest technology transformation since the GUI.

Bing Chatbot can now generate images from text

GitHub launches ChatGPT-4 powered Copilot X

Adobe launches responsible/ethical generative AI tools

Google launches Bard in early access

Mozilla.ai startup goes live

Opera adds AI prompts, sidebar ChatGPT
Xbox
Microsoft's AB acquisition is all about mobile, not COD

Microsoft announces it will launch mobile apps store on iPhone and Android as soon as regulators make it possible

FOSS patents: We've moved into the acceptance phase, and this acquisition is on track

Netflix is expanding its mobile games library dramatically

Microsoft releases a third set of Game Pass titles for March

Get a Steam Deck for 10 percent off to celebrate its first birthday
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: Inbox Zero

App pick of the week: Visual Studio Code

RunAs Radio this week: SMB over QUIC File Servers with Ned Pyle

Brown liquor pick of the week: Ben Nevis 10

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:
Miro.com/podcast
kolide.com/ww
cachefly.com
2 hr 51 min
March 15, 2023WW 820: Mustard Can Solve Any Problem - OpenAI's GPT-4 released, KB5023706 update, YouTube Music
OpenAI's GPT-4 released, KB5023706 update, YouTube Music
Windows 11
Moment 2 is official; mostly a solid update

The ensh*ttification of Windows/Microsoft 365 continues: Microsoft Word, Paint, Teams, and Edge
AI all the things
One wonders, if everything is AI, is anything AI?

OpenAI releases ChatGPT 4

Microsoft "reveals" it was using an early version all along, duh

BING CHATBOT IS OPEN TO EVERYONE

Bing will move Chatbot responses to the top of search results

Microsoft's LinkedIn is adding GPT AI to improve the writing of profiles and job postings

Grammarly adds more AI

Google Workspace is getting generative AI features, obviously... and it's raising prices (coincidentally!)

Duolingo adds two new AI features at great cost
Microsoft 365
Microsoft Word is getting two keyboard shortcuts it should have always had: "Paste as Text" & Zoom
Dev
Microsoft Build 2023 is May 23-25, live and remote

GitHub starts rolling out its 2FA requirement for contributors
Xbox
Microsoft announces two 10-year cloud gaming deals with companies not named Sony: Boosteroid & Ubitus

Epic Games takes a page from the Microsoft Store and will allow self-publishing
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: YouTube Premium member? Play some games

App pick of the week: YouTube Music

This week on RunAs: Incident Management with Hila Fish

Brown liquor pick of the week: Springbank 10

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:
drata.com/twit
kolide.com/ww
2 hr 21 min
March 08, 2023WW 819: Sixty-four Threads but None for You - Windows Insider Canary Channel, video super resolution, Outlook for Mac goes free
Microsoft adds Windows 12 to the Insider Program
Last week's feature release shows you how these Insider channels map to the next release, which is sometimes a Moment now and not just a formal Feature Update. Don't worry. They didn't tell anyone that.

Canary - big changes that need lots of incubation time (e.g. kernel changes), no release target

Dev - changes that need incubation, no release target

Beta- testing changes targeting the next release

Release preview - testing changes that are slated to ship imminently in the next release barring any major explosions (e.g. printers)

Stable - nothing works

First Canary build today: Access keys and File Recommendations in File Explorer, LSA Protection Enablement on upgrade.

Dev channel: This channel is "rebooted" to 23000 series now, per above. This build has live captions in more languages, access keys in the File Explorer context menus (another Win11 regression), Recommendations in File Explorer, and other changes.

Dev channel (last week): Microsoft is working on a new volume mixer.
Windows 11
Microsoft is bringing "video super resolution" to Microsoft Edge

We're still not done with PC maker results: Dell goes down in Q4 too
AI
Satya Nadella, marketing AI, now says that Cortana was "dumb as a rock." Come on.

Microsoft to talk up AI in work next week

Microsoft talks up AI in Microsoft 365 - this will never end now

Microsoft brings more AI to devs at Azure Open Source Day

Brave Search adds an AI-powered Summarizer

DuckDuckGo adds a similar Answer feature
Microsoft 365
Microsoft Outlook is now free on the Mac
Xbox
EU likely to approve Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Told you so?

Halo Infinite Season 3 is live. Can it save this game?

Halo players have created over one million maps with Forge Beta

Microsoft announces new titles for Xbox Game Pass

Starfield arrives in September
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Don't be a statistic

App pick of the week: Start11

RunAs this Week: FIDO2 and Passwordless with Kyle Kotowick

Brown liquor pick of the week: Craigellachie Bas Armagnac Cask Finish 13

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:
kolide.com/ww
CDW.com/LenovoClient
2 hr 26 min
March 01, 2023WW 818: Antitrust Theater - New features in KB5022913 update, Microsoft's defense of Activision Blizzard bid
New features in KB5022913 update, Microsoft's defense of Activision Blizzard bid

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/818
Sponsor:
Melissa.com/twit
2 hr 15 min
February 22, 2023WW 817: The Moment of Confusion - Parallels Desktop 18 for Mac, AI anthropomorphism, WinUI 3 & WinAppSDK
Microsoft FINALLY brings Windows 11 on Arm support to Apple Silicon Macs
A new Release Preview build shows us what the next Moment update will look like

New Beta channe builds are a bit less interesting

More PC maker fallout with Lenovo revenues down 24 percent in Q4
Bing AI
Bing AI is a lying liar who lies. Questions about Microsoft releasing it in this state continue

After many Bing AI freakouts, Microsoft limits the length of chats... and then it bumps up the length a bit just a few days later.

Microsoft brings Bing AI to Bing, Edge, and Skype mobile apps
Microsoft 365
Microsoft IS releasing Teams 2.0 in March.
Dev
Microsoft releases Visual Studio 2022 17.5, and it's a big update

Microsoft releases .NET 8 Preview 1

Visual Studio gets an integrated .NET Upgrade Assistant... previously only a command line tool

Paul examines WinUI 3 and the Windows App SDK.

Microsoft is moving File Explorer from XAML Islands to Windows App SDK.
Xbox
Microsoft defends the Activision Blizzard acquisition in court.

Microsoft inks 10-year deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo

Microsoft's PC games are coming to NVIDIA GeForce Now

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Friends & Family Plan comes to 6 new countries, none of which are your country

As suspected, we're getting a third Xbox Game Pass title drop this month
Tips & Picks
Tip of the week: 2FA all the things

App pick of the week: Craiyon

RunAs Radio this week: Migrating to Windows 11 with Michael Niehaus

Brown liquor pick of the week: The Macallan Estate

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 54 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.

You can join Club TWiT for $10 per month and get ad-free audio and video feeds for all our shows plus everything else the club offers...or get just this podcast ad-free for $5 per month.