Windows Weekly (Video)

• Let's run through some announcements. No picks, tips this week
• Guests: Brad Sams and Richard Campbell
• Demo fail. It was a moonshot gone bad
• What's new in Chredge: IE Mode, Collections, new tracking settings
• Virtual assistants (including Cortana) to get smarter
• Genoa (Minecraft as Pokemon)
• Fluid Framework
• .NET 5
• New terminal, WSL 2.0. There's a Linux kernel in this thing!
• Lots of database news – Richard Campbell
• Tomorrow (Tuesday): Build Blogger Bash at The Pinebox! A short walk from the convention centre. 7-9 pm no RSVP needed!

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

Guests: Brad Sams and Richard Campbell

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.

Sponsors:

This Week's Stories

• Microsoft earnings: Net income of $8.8 Billion on Revenues of $30.6 Billion
• Related: Microsoft was briefly worth $1 trillion
• Related: Microsoft documents product releases in the quarter
• Google just gave Chromium-based Edge a thumbs-up
• Sorry, but crapware is still in Windows 10 version 1903
• Windows 10 Version 1903 Requires at Least 32 GB of Storage
• New 20H1 test build adds Your Phone changes, better dictation - Another new build adds nothing
• Windows 10 version 1809 hits almost 30% usage share
• Microsoft looks ready to add some new Azure regions, while it takes one away
• Microsoft, Dell unveils new Azure-VMware integrations
• Microsoft wants to help business users build customized digital assistants
• Related: Microsoft, an also-ran in the market for digital personal assistants, has issued a report about digital personal assistants.
• Microsoft rebrands Bing Ads as Microsoft Advertising
• Microsoft delays testing of Halo: MCC on PC
• Microsoft and the VA are partnering to provide the Xbox Adaptive Controller to veterans.
• Notch will not be part of Minecraft's 10th anniversary
• Xbox version 1905 has a few neat new features
• PS4 has sold 100 million units

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Microsoft has revealed the Xbox Game Pass games and Games for Gold titles for May!
• App pick of the week: PureText - Also: Simplify for Chrome fixes Gmail
• Enterprise pick of the week: Windows Server 1903
• Codename pick of the week: Cosine
• Beer pick of the week: Holy Mountain Brewing Witchfinder

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.

Sponsors:

This Week's Stories

• Goodbye to Sets, hello to less sucking

Microsoft has shelved Sets for the long term (and likely, permanently).

Tabbed "experiences" are still coming to the Console and likely Explorer (and Notepad?)

To those wondering about claims that Sets isn't really dead, remember: This is exactly how they 'killed' Band 3 and Andromeda

• But long-live Microsoft Paint!

Related: These two events (Sets, Paint) speak to the good and bad of Windows 10 today

Good: Microsoft has removed most of what sucked in Windows 10 in version 1903!

Bad: Inconsistency is rampant in the OS still. Just look at the icons and at the inconsistent application of Fluent design elements.

• Surprise: Windows 10 1903 is available (early) on MSDN! It showed up quietly a week ago.

It's also on the Evaluation Center for those who know enough to look for it

• Meanwhile, 1903 remains in testing in the Release Preview ring and is due out in "late May"

Microsoft's 'early' release of 1903 on MSDN seems to be linked to its call for devs to start writing for 1903

Related: MS is blocking 1903 on PCs with SD cards and/or USB devices inserted

• Who wants an EdgeBook? What if Chredge is really about making a true Chromebook competitor, one that is based around Microsoft and AAD accounts instead of Google?

Semi-related: Chredge expands to 32-bit Windows 10. Baby steps.

• Microsoft buys an RTOS maker

Express Logic, the maker of ThreadX, is one of the big players in the microcontroller OS space

What does this mean for Azure Sphere? And for Microsoft's IoT strategy, as a whole?

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Sync Chredge with Edge Mobile
• App pick of the week: PWA Builder 2.0
• Enterprise pick of the week: Global ONLINE Azure Bootcamp
• Enterprise pick no. 2: G Suite-to-Office 365 migration tools
• Codename pick of the week: Catnip
• Beer pick of the week: Cloudburst Brewing REALLY SOLID AMAZING LIQUID

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.

Sponsors:

This Week's Stories:

• Microsoft launches Surface Hub 2S: pricing, specs, and availability.
• An 85-inch version is on the way, and there's a Surface Hub 2 display coming, too.
• Xbox One S All-Digital Edition debuts will cost $250.
• Microsoft announces Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
• Sony describes next-gen console before Microsoft - when we can expect Xbox v.Next news?
• Microsoft reveals E3 plans.
• Microsoft is working with Warner Bros. on a Minecraft movie for some reason.
• Xbox One April 2019 Update is here, but it's a minor release.
• One week (or more) with the new Edge: It's a winner.
• Firefox for ARM - Those hardy few with Windows 10 on ARM PCs can now use a native version of the Firefox web browser in the Beta channel.
• Microsoft confirms that some Outlook.com accounts were compromised,
• Microsoft will not provide facial recognition tech to California.
• Microsoft to release Surface Buds - an idea Paul proposed in January.
• Microsoft kills a misfit Surface Go configuration.
• Acer announces a new premium brand called ConceptD. I think they may be on to something.
• HP debuts new EliteBooks, Zbook portable workstations, and more.

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Microsoft/Xbox Store is hosting a Spring Sale.
• Plus: Numskull announced a fun new range of officially-sanctioned Xbox merchandise.
• Plus: Want to clean install Windows 10 version 1903 right now. Here's how.
• PLUS! The Office Home Use Program is live for Office 365 Home and Personal!
• App pick of the week: Forza Street
• Enterprise pick of the week: JEDI bidding is down to two.
• Codename pick of the week: Bosque
• Beer pick of the week: Citizen Cider bRose

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.

Sponsors:

This Week's Stories

• Microsoft releases first public previews of the new Edge to the Canary and Dev channels.
• Blockbuster: Microsoft is making major changes to WaaS in Windows 10 version 19H1.
• Windows 10 19H1 moves to the Release Preview Ring after MSFT released a small CU to fix some last minute issues.
• And ... the magic window is CLOSED: New Fast ring build is for 20H1. As promised. Wait, what? 20H1? What about 19H2??
• Office 365: Microsoft to move Kaizala into Teams.
• Slack is improving its Office 365 integration.
• Skype video calls now support 50 people.
• Xbox: A rumored GamePass Ultimate service combines Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass and paves the way to xCloud.
• The first 100+ Build 2019 sessions are now live. And they're about what you'd expect: Lots of Azure, IoT, very little UWP.

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: How to transition to the new Edge
• App pick of the week: Microsoft Launcher 5.3
• Also: The new Edge, obviously. It's ready for anyone listening to this podcast.
• Enterprise pick No. 1 of the week: PowerShell 7.0
• Enterprise pick No. 2 of the week: RIP HealthVault
• Beer pick of the week: Bell's Oberon Ale

Hosts: Mary Jo Foley, Paul Thurrott, and Megan Morrone

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.

Sponsors:

News of the Week

• As of late last week, Windows 10 1809 (the October 2018 update) is now ready for broad deployment, MS says.
• Microsoft drops eBooks from Microsoft Store and Edge Without Warning.
• Surface Book 2 is 1.5 years old and it just got a new configuration and it's complicated.
• HoloLens is being used by the Royal Canadian Navy.
• Visual Studio 2019, Visual Studio 2019 for Max and VS Live Share are all now available.

Tips and picks

• Tip/app pick of the week: Time for some games
• Tip/app pick of the week #2: It's past time to abandon Groove
• Enterprise pick of the week: Putting the 'open' in ODI (Open Data Initiative)
• Codename pick of the week: Cayman
• Beer pick of the week: Founders KBS 2019

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.

Sponsors:

News of the Week

• Chredge leaks and ... it's good. The Chromium-based Microsoft Edge has leaked ahead of the formal first Insider release. It's a lot like Chrome and is missing key Edge features, but it's surprisingly solid.
• Windows 7 end of support prompts arrive. Stop using Windows 7 by January 14, 2020.
• Windows Virtual Desktop is finally available in public preview
• Windows 10 19H1 build 18362 went to the Slow ring. And then was pulled because of install issues. This is basically RC1.
• Microsoft is hosting a Surface Hub 2S event in April
• Microsoft says a bit about xCloud but the big bang announcement will happen at E3

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Support Atta Elayyan's family
• App pick of the week: Firefox for iPad
• Enterprise pick of the week: Azure Stack HCI: a new addition to the family
• Enterprise pick of the week No. 2: Microsoft Connected Vehicle platform – an update
• Beer pick of the week: New Belgium Fat Tire amber ale

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.

Sponsors:

Today's special guest: Microsoft engineering GM for mixed reality apps, Lorraine Bardeen.
• Let's talk more about what MS is doing with HoloLens, iOS, Android in mixed reality.

News of the Week

Google
• Google announces Stadia, a cloud-based streaming game service that will compete with Microsoft's Project xCloud.
• Microsoft will respond at E3.
• Google has now been charged with three antitrust violations in the EU - Will it be hobbled like Microsoft was?
• Google agrees to let Android users in EU choose their browser, shades of Microsoft's Browser Ballot.

Windows 10
• 19H1 builds continue to be boring, the end is near. Plus this one. And then these two!
• Microsoft kills OneDrive music streaming to the Groove app. Now what?
• Huawei says it has made Windows and Android replacements just in case.
• Related: Windows 7 users – it wasn't you, it was Microsoft – if your security scans were going crazy this week.
• Also: We're all on Edgium/Chredge watch. More leaks (this time, the installer). This thing has to be close to public preview.

Office
• New logos! Paul has seen them in Windows (Office Insider). Outlook on iOS. And Your Phone on Android.
• Microsoft Teams turns 2 (sort of). More new Teams features coming later this year: fake backgrounds, secure private channels, new camera tricks.

Xbox
• Microsoft should have spun off Xbox a long time ago. Good thing it didn't.
• Microsoft brings Xbox Live to Android and iOS. Game Stack is the key.
• Cuphead is coming to Nintendo Switch ... with Xbox Live.

Windows Weekly Tips and picks
• Tip of the Week: Join the Halo Insider Program
• App pick of the Week: Castbox
• Also: Firefox 66 Blocks ALL Auto-Play Content by Default
• Enterprise Pick of the week: Windows Defender Application Guard Extensions for Chrome, Firefox
• Also: A Little More Info on Windows 10 Removing Faulty Updates
• Codename Pick of the Week: Zipline
• Beer Pick of the Week: BFM 225th Anniversary BA Saison

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

Guest: Lorraine Bardeen

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.

Sponsors:

Windows

• Microsoft is ready to start nagging users about Windows 7's end of support deadline. So here come the pop-ups. Luckily, you can turn them off completely.
• Plus: Microsoft brings DirectX 12 to Windows 7 ... for some reason.
• Windows 10 19H1 users start testing Android app-mirroring.
• Breaking: Windows 10 19H1 Home edition may allow you to defer updates by 35 days! (This is in A/B testing it seems)
• Windows 10 now on more than 800 million active devices. Right on schedule!
• Microsoft makes good on its year-old promise to give consumer app devs a 95% cut of revenues.
• Microsoft says it is now able to remove faulty Windows 10 updates without user intervention – but are they? A mysterious support article mentions this with no details

Xbox + Gaming

• Microsoft demos xCloud game streaming service.
• There's a cool new controller, but it's not the Elite rev we all want
• Minecraft is FINALLY coming to Xbox Game Pass in April
• Master Chief Collection is FINALLY coming to Windows
• Plus: Microsoft announces 13 new ID@Xbox titles
• Plus: Xbox and PS gamers can now play Fornite together
• Plus: Google is about to announce some big gaming news. But first, their controller.

Microsoft

• Microsoft cuts 200 jobs in commercial sales
• Microsoft sues Foxconn parent Hon Hai over 2013 patent-licensing deal

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Crackdown 2 is now free on Xbox One
• Plus: Spotify Premium users can get free (ad-supported) Hulu
• App pick of the week: Google Chrome 73
• Plus: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 is here, and you can get it on the Mac too!
• Plus: our favourite podcast app.
• Enterprise pick of the week: No more Semi-Annual Channel releases for System Center
• Developer pick of the week: DTrace is coming to Windows 10 19H1
• Beer pick of the week: Two Roads Brewing Co. Irish Exit

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.

Sponsors:

• Here's the real reason Microsoft is already testing 20H1
• Also: Windows Calculator is open-sourced for some reason. Could Notepad be next???
• Microsoft Edgium screenshots leak. Surprise, it looks like Chrome, not Edge. But that could change.
• Microsoft Band was dead two years ago, but now it's really, really dead. A look back at Microsoft Band from its biggest fan
• It's interesting to watch Intel follow Microsoft down the same path to the future
• The USB Promoter Group needs to be stopped: It announced USB 3.2 and then USB4 within a week of each other.
• And in "better late than never" news, MJF got to try the HoloLens 2 -- and may have discovered an interesting bug.
• Microsoft will allegedly ship a "disc-less" Xbox One S in May
• Plus: Microsoft plans to announce a new Xbox One console at E3 in June. Expect NvME storage and 4K/60 fps.

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Surface Pro 6 + Type Cover Bundle
• App pick of the week: Pocket Casts
• Plus: Grammarly Keyboard for iOS adds Dark theme, more.
• Enterprise pick of the week: Excel (mobile) can turn photos of table data into working spreadsheets
• Enterprise pick No. 2 of the week: Microsoft opens its first datacenters in Africa
• Beer pick of the week: Jack's Abby Barrel Aged Framinghammer

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.

Sponsors: