Slack vs Teams, Win 10 Roadmap, RIP Xbox Live Gold

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

For full show notes on this episode, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/682

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• Microsoft releases a CU for Windows 10 version 20H2. Right. It's "done."
• Meanwhile, let's check in on 2004. New and fixed bug list updated
• New Dev Channel (Fast Ring) build has fixes, sound setting tweaks
• The Passing of Wintel? Jean-Louis Gassée makes one big mistake in his push for ARM on the desktop.
• Related: ARM pricing is going up
• It turns out most Surface PCs are still blocked from getting Windows 10 version 2004
• Semi-related: Thanks to COVID stay-at-home orders, PC sales grew 7.1 percent in Q2
• Microsoft announces 3 million features for four different versions of Outlook
• Microsoft is retiring OneDrive Fetch
• Microsoft and Citrix expand their partnership. But what's really new here?
• Here comes Microsoft Consulting (and some layoffs)
• Microsoft spins off creepy chatbot
• Microsoft talks up Xbox Series X storage tech

• Tip of the week: A workaround for OneDrive Fetch. A lot of people are outraged by Microsoft killing OneDrive Fetch. But it's not that big a deal if you know about another OneDrive feature.
• App pick of the week: Stardock Curtains. It's like Windowblinds on steroids, for Windows 10. Plus: Don't forget, Halo 3 is out on PC! And: Microsoft Launcher v6 is a big upgrade
• Enterprise pick of the week: Microsoft Inspire is next week. Microsoft's annual partner show is next week. There's usually some decent tech news unveiled at Inspire, along with strategy updates. It starts Tuesday with partner program announcements. Nadella, Smith, Julia White, Jared Spataro, and other product folks are speaking Wed. The keynotes seem to be open to anyone to stream: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/inspire/
• Codename pick of the week: Portmeirion. Project Portmeirion aims to explore hardware-software co-design for security in the Azure general-purpose compute stack. (thanks, Walking Cat). It's part of Microsoft's confidential computing push. And Portmeirion is a village in Wales, for those wondering.
• Beer pick of the week: The Bruery The Brite: Hibiscus Lime. A fun pink sour that's only 75 cals. It's a sour blonde ale that almost doesn't taste like a beer at all. It's from the excellent folks at The Bruery Terreux in Anaheim: https://www.thebruery.com/beer/brite-hibiscus-lime

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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Windows 10

• Microsoft debuts a "new" Start menu
• Just one problem, it's not new. It's barely even refreshed.
• Well, two problems. We won't see this until 21H1 at the earliest. Probably.
• Microsoft is bringing ALT + TAB to Edge tabs --- hated this at first, but it's starting to make sense
• Windows 10 on ARM check-in - Paul is reviewing an 8cx-based PC. What's changed in two years?
• Windows 10 2004 problems continue: Your settings aren't supported

Microsoft 365

• Office.com portal is getting a refresh. Can you spot what this looks like now?

Surface

• Microsoft hires 60 employees from Movial to work on Surface Duo OS
• We previously thought it had purchased the firm, but no. (Similar to Google and HTC, I guess)
• And as of today, contrary to Microsoft's promise that it was unblocking some Surface devices from receiving 2004, these devices are still blocked. C'mon, Microsoft.

Corporate

• Peggy Johnson leaves Microsoft, takes CEO role at Magic Leap
• Yes, this is like Stephen Elop. No, not for the conspiracy theory nonsense many still believe
• Microsoft also bought a computer vision company called Orions Systems this week
• And let the new FY21 reorgs begin! Starting with the field sales org

Xbox

• Here comes Halo 3 for PC!
• Next-gen AAA titles will finally rise to $69.99

• Tip of the week: Customize your Windows 10 desktop. Brad has some good tips for making Windows 10 more usable and friendly.
• App pick of the week: Halo 3 for PC. Here comes Halo 3 for PC next week!
• Enterprise pick of the week: Dynamics 365 and Power Platform 2020 Wave 2 plans are here. Sound the ERP and CRM trumpets! This is the roadmap for the 'hundreds' of new features MS plans to roll out from October to March.
• Codename pick of the week: Project Freta. Freta is a new free service from Microsoft Research meant to help spot rootkits in cloud VMs.

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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• The drama of the week: Microsoft is closing its retail stores
• Perhaps overdue, but shocking nonetheless: Microsoft is closing all of its retail stores
• Related: A look back at the 2012 opening of the first Boston-based Microsoft Store

• The drama of last week: Apple, the morning (OK, week) after
• Two developments of interest to the Microsoft community
• As expected, the first Apple Silicon developer device destroys Surface Pro X in benchmarks, no matter how you look at it
• Apple is reportedly thinking about bringing a Continuum-like feature to the iPhone where it could run macOS and be connected to a keyboard, mouse, and display.
• A more reasoned assessment about the impact of Apple's moves on Windows

• Windows 10 version 2004 is off to a slightly faster start than 1903.
• And now (finally) SL3 and SP7 can get 2004. Yay? (But not SL1 and SL2. Boo!)
• Windows 10 Pro no longer has deferral capabilities
• Except that it sort of still does. Here's what changed.
• That shift from rings to channels just happened
• Microsoft to expand automatic Edge rollout to education then businesses
• Microsoft announces new digital skills initiative
• Related: Teams is getting a new learning app
• Big changes coming to OneDrive for consumers and businesses
• It's July, so Xbox Games with Gold and Game Pass subscribers have new games on the way
• Mixer co-founder is OK with closure
• Xbox Game Bar is now extensible

• Tip of the week: Download this tool, just in case: Windows File Recovery is a command-line tool you'll want to download just in case.
• App pick of the week: Amazon Prime for Windows 10. I don't often get to recommend Store apps.
• Also: Power Apps and Power Automate. You need to look at these M365 commercial features.
• Enterprise pick of the week: Your Office 365 IT pro bible has gotten a feature update. Tony's Redmond's 7th edition (2021) of Office 365 for IT Pros is now available. https://gumroad.com/l/O365IT/windowsweekly
• Enterprise pick No. 2 of the week: STOCKHISTORY. Pulling stock prices directly into Excel has been a top request for a while. It's almost here in the form of STOCKHISTORY. And perfect timing, given Microsoft's stock price has been at an all-time high lately.
• Beer pick of the week: Victory Prima Pils.

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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• Sorry (but not sorry): We need to discuss Apple. Ladies and gentlemen, start your gongs!
• The Mac transition to ARM and how this is better than Windows 10 on ARM
• The new macOS UX and how this is better/more consistent than Fluent in Windows 10
• The new iOS 14 UX and how it's the same thing as live tiles, just 10 years later
• Related: Microsoft complained about Apple's business practices; Apple subtly announced small changes to address the concerns.
• Edge memory improvements are coming to Chrome too
• Consumer features start appearing in Teams on mobile in preview
• Skype for Windows 10 and Skype desktop are consolidated. Confused yet?
• From the "oh, you'll pay" department: Edge enterprise sync comes to Microsoft 365 Business Premium; Windows Defender ATP comes to Android in preview
• Send Later feature coming to Outlook on the web. Some of it, anyway.
• Microsoft shuts down Mixer
• More Game Pass games coming this week!
• Tip of the week: Paul embraces Linux, and you should too. How to correctly install and configure WSL 2. What's the future of WSL?
• App pick of the week: Opera. Opera 69 for desktop picks up Twitter integration.
• Enterprise pick of the week: Microsoft's latest acquisitions in data modeling and IoT. It's always interesting to see where Microsoft is putting its acquisition dollars. In the past two weeks, the company bought a data-modeling company, ADRM Software, and an IoT security company, CyberX.
• Developer pick of the week: Microsoft releases phase one of OpenJDK for Windows 10 on ARM. Microsoft loves Java!
• Cocktail pick of the week: Grand Cosmo: A tribute to CosmoDB (COME ON)... Paul's wife's unique take on a Cosmopolitan:

- 6 parts pear vodka
- 2 parts Grand Marnier (or triple sec or Cointreau)
- 2 parts lime juice
- 4 parts cranberry juice
- Shake with ice and serve over ice. Garnish with a lime wedge or slice.

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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Everything You Need to Know About Windows 10 20H2

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

For full show notes on this episode, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/677

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• What is the Windows Experience Feature Pack?
• If you get Windows 10 2004, you automatically get this thing. But MS officials won't talk about it... (insert shrug emoji here)
• Microsoft fixed a blocker issue for the May 2020 Update that brings Windows 10 version 2004 to Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3.
• Related: Another Windows 10 Fast Ring build is out today. It has nested virtualization for AMD processors. And a few fixes. That's it.
• We heard from Keivan Beigi, Mr. AppGet
• Amazon sues Google over our old buddy Brian Hall
• FU2, Microsoft! Slack and Amazon partnership is interesting
• Apple set to announce macOS on ARM - It will succeed where Microsoft and Qualcomm have failed repeatedly. Also, Apple should buy DuckDuckGo, not Microsoft.
• Using Brave requires trust. And they just blew it.
• Déjà vu: Now 50 U.S. states want to break up Google. This is a great idea.
• Hardware is hard. Google sold only 7.2 million handsets in 2019, and most of them were low-end devices. Remember when Microsoft used to sell many more than that?
• Huawei is at war because of U.S. actions against it. One strategy: Hoarding.

• Xbox
• Microsoft launches Digital Direct
• And whatever happened to that disc-to-digital thing?
• Sony's PS5 games event is rescheduled to this Thursday
• New Game Pass games for June
• Plus: There's a big Xbox sale right now

• Tip of the week: Consider powerline networking. Everyone knows about Wi-Fi and Ethernet, but powerline networking provides an interesting middle ground between the two and can work well in some circumstances.
• App pick of the week: Sumatra PDF. It ain't pretty, but Sumatra PDF is the lightweight and full-featured PDF reader we need. Plus, it works with EPUB as well.
• Enterprise pick of the week: WVD users: MSIX App Attach is ready for testing. Windows Virtual Desktop users can now test MSIX App Attach. If this ends up working as advertised, it should make using WVD even better.

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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• Microsoft released Windows 10 version 2004 ... or did they? (if a tree falls...)
• Discontent is growing in the community. Two key issues:
• Why don't Surface PCs get new Windows versions on Day One?
• Why were their sudden over a dozen known issues that had never come up during testing?
• Microsoft essentially stole WinGet after courting the developer of AppGet and offering a job that never materialized.
• Microsoft's response is inadequate.
• Beigi says he's talking to MS and may have more to share soon (whatever that means)
• Microsoft reveals deprecated, removed features in Windows 10 version 2004
• HP reveals a new Windows Mixed Reality headset. Why?
• New Edge starts rolling out to Windows 10 users via Windows Update (starting w. 1803/1809)
• Google is sued for tracking users in Incognito move. Seriously, people use Brave. Or Edge.
• Microsoft enables Windows Spellcheck API for all Chromium browsers
• Samsung Access - a new subscription service that gets you an S20, premium support, and ... Microsoft 365 Personal. Interesting.
• Microsoft says Xbox Series X will be the most compatible console ever.
• Sony starts making the PS5
• Microsoft launches that simpler new Guide in latest Xbox System Update
• Tip of the week: Wait. I know you want Windows 10 version 2004. Just wait if your hardware isn't ready. Seriously.
• App pick of the week: Any browser not named Chrome. Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Firefox, Safari are all better choices.
• Enterprise pick of the week: Microsoft bot tools you can use. Microsoft is adding more bot tools to its stable for developers and non-developers, including a tool for building Alexa stills using the MS Bot Framework
• Codename pick of the week: Bicep. Microsoft has started developing a new ARM desired-state language, codenamed as "Bicep." ARM as in Azure Resource Manager. Thanks to Aidan Finn for the link from the Build content about this
• Beer pick of the week: SlackTide Brewing Angry Osprey IPA. I haven't had this beer, but I chose it in honor of Slack's Stuart Butterfield, who continues to act like an angry osprey when it comes to Teams. It sounds like a good one – a west coast IPA with Citra and Centennial

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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Windows 10 version 2004 is finally here

• Today's the day. And ... nothing is going to change, really.
• There is some new Cortana app info for the now standalone productivity aide
• And what about new features? Anything worth discussing?
• Meanwhile: What does Windows 10 usage share look like on the eve of 2004's launch?
• And it's almost time to ramp up the Windows 10 21H1 testing!
• Related: Windows 10 on ARM can now be installed virtually, but only on Windows 10 on ARM.
• Related: Source code for NT 3.5 and OG Xbox leaks
• Extension sync finally comes to Microsoft Edge. History sync is "this summer," and open tab sync is unclear.
• Why is Microsoft still pushing proprietary dev solutions for Windows apps?
• And on that note, This is what Microsoft said about PWAs at Build
• .NET MAUI is the future of Xamarin.Forms. But is it the real future for Windows dev?

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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• Microsoft Build 2020!
• Microsoft is holding its first-ever virtual version of Build this week and there is a TON of news.
• And ScottGu is alive! And collecting stamps!
• Microsoft is finally unifying Win32/UWP development and decoupling it from specific Windows versions. Here's how it will work for new apps---let's call them Windows apps---and for existing apps that devs want to upgrade.
• Windows Subsystem for Linux 2, with GUI apps coming soon.
• Windows Terminal 1.0
• Windows Package Manager - Microsoft Store will eventually just be a front-end to this
• Microsoft Lists
• Microsoft Teams - new automations, plus template support
• Fluid Framework - open-source, end-user UX
• Project Cortex
• New consumer and work features coming...
• Collections is getting Pinterest and OneNote integration
• More new features: Sidebar search, new add-on store, automatic profile switching
• Microsoft now has the 5th-fastest supercomputer in the world.
• HoloLens 2 was quiet at Build, but it's getting 5G and is heading to more markets
• Microsoft is adding the ability to share running apps in Visual Studio Live Share, and it's also adding built-in chat and calling functionality to the IDEs.
• Tip of the week: Get the Build 2020 (virtual) swag! Can't go to Build this year? Neither can anyone else. But be sure to get the swag!
• App pick of the week: Microsoft PowerToys 0.81. PowerToys is turning into a cool collection of utilities, with one gotta-have-it: PowerToys Run.
• Enterprise pick of the week: Learn TV. If you like geeky Microsoft developer and engineering content, you may want to check out Learn TV, its newest video content channel: https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-adds-new-learn-tv-video-channel-for-daily-technical-content/
• Codename pick of the week: Odyssey. That new massive supercomputer work seems to be codenamed Odyssey (at least based on a job posting or two).

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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