Episodes
One more look back at Build
Microsoft talked a lot about what's coming to Windows, was vague on the timing. Speaking of vague, Microsoft gave the impression that there were "1 billion" Windows 11 users. There are not.
Paul can confirm that Panos Panay was purposefully sidelined.
Dev Drive: excellent. Dev Home: Eh. Windows Copilot, Winget config: maybe
A theory about 23H2 = Moment 4
Windows 11
New Insider Preview builds.
Canary: Microsoft Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies on...
Published 05/31/23
Build 2023 key(note) takeaways, Neeva shutting down, Leo updates to Moment 3
Microsoft Build 2023
Microsoft's keynotes are a combination of marketing and developer talk and that stands in sharp contrast to how Google and Apple handle their developer shows. It's good and bad, but Microsoft's keynotes must be mostly boring and/or pointless to mainstream users.
Microsoft announces Windows Co-pilot, with yet another Taskbar button and a new sidebar
Dev Home is a dashboard for developers...
Published 05/24/23
Windows 11: We're having another moment!
After hitting Release Preview last week, Moment 3 will arrive in preview form next week (Week D) or the following week and then head to stable on June 13 (Patch Tuesday).
Now we have a better understanding of Microsoft's update schedule for Windows 11
Feature Updates - one per year in H2, deployed logically using best-known configurations first
Moments - once per quarter
Controlled Feature Releases (CFRs) - almost every month, deployed randomly...
Published 05/17/23
Windows 11
Patch Tuesday: Windows 11 gets that one new feature that Microsoft was awfully quiet about.
New builds last week across Canary, Dev, and Beta - Nothing in Canary, lots in Dev, two changes to Beta.
Beta channel: Photos app gets new slideshow and spot fixing tool.
Beta channel: No features for consumers, one feature for IT pros, a Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) fix.
Widgets might be coming to the desktop because it's 2009 again.
Related: Qualcomm revenues...
Published 05/10/23
Windows 11 LTSC, PC peripheral consolidation, CFRs
WE GOT ROADMAPS
Microsoft updated the Windows roadmap. And there are two takeaways
Windows 11 LTSC will finally arrive in the second half of 2024
Windows 10 version 22H2 is the final version of Windows 10, and it will be supported with only security updates until October 14, 2025
Windows 11
Last week, we talked about Week D monthly preview updates. This week, we need to talk about Controlled Feature Rollouts (CFRs). This is what...
Published 05/03/23
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,...
Published 04/26/23
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?...
Published 04/19/23
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...
Published 04/12/23
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?...
Published 04/05/23
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...
Published 03/29/23
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...
Published 03/22/23
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...
Published 03/15/23
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...
Published 03/08/23
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
Published 03/01/23
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...
Published 02/22/23
The AI morning after
A week after the irrational exuberance, reality sets in. It's still Bing. And it's still competing against Google
Microsoft shares an update on Bing AI rollout
Google employees were not amused at botched Bard announcement
Microsoft to add AI to Office in March
Everyone is doing AI now. Including Opera and Notion
Windows 11
New Windows 11 Dev build adds more live captions
IE was disabled in Windows 11 on Patch Tuesday. It's dead, Jim
2FA is coming to Windows 11....
Published 02/15/23
WORLD WAR AI
OpenAI announces ChatGPT Plus
Google responds to ChatGPT with Bard
Microsoft announces AI-powered Bing and Edge.
Google hosted its own AI event and it announced multi-search, Maps improvements, and Translate improvements, and discussed how AI can make life better
Semi-related: Paul was let into the Notion AI beta
Windows
Paul has some thoughts about Windows 12 and what an AI-based Windows could look like
Ads are coming to the Microsoft Store. FINALLY
New Insider build...
Published 02/08/23
Halo engine switch, Intel Q4 2022 revenues, Ground News
Windows 11
Skipping the Windows 11 upgrade? Microsoft will force-feed it to you soon
Related: Microsoft is using dark patterns to get people to upgrade to 11
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25290 heads to Dev channel with new Spotify and Phone Link widgets, new Start menu "exploration"
Screen recording in Snipping Tool rolls out to users in Windows Insider Beta channel
More earnings
Since Microsoft's mixed earnings last week,...
Published 02/01/23
F23Q2 analysis, the subscription future, Microsoft 365 Insider program
Microsoft announced a net income of $16.4 billion on revenues of $52.7 billion for the quarter ending December 31. Net income decreased by 12 percent year-over-year (YOY) in the time period while revenue was up just 2 percent. It was a mixed quarter, at best, and below expectations.
Intelligent Cloud delivered $21.5 billion in revenues in the quarter, up 18 percent YOY.
Productivity and Business Processes was...
Published 01/25/23
AI for the consumer client side, HoloLens request rejected, Azure DevOps
Layoffs
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella informs employees of 10,000 layoffs
Is Surface on the cutting block?
Amazon to layoff 18,000
Welcome to the AI era
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirms Microsoft's AI moves: Azure Open AI service, ChatGPT APIs, and infusing AI across the entire Microsoft stack
This is a much bigger deal than Microsoft's pivot to the cloud 20 years ago because it infuses everything that it...
Published 01/18/23
Fungible, rounded corners, Xbox Oreos, the AI wave
Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019
Surface Pro X, also from 2019, featured the first-ever NPU in a Surface product
Eye contact announced in 2020 - requires NPU
Windows Studio Effects announced at hybrid work event in April 2021 - adds Voice clarity, Voice focus, Automatic framing, Portrait blur, and Background blur to Eye contact
Windows Dev Kit 2023 (Volterra) arrives in late 2022 with NPU
Did Microsoft just soft announce...
Published 01/11/23
Notepad tabs, Stack Overflow 2022 developer survey, LastPass alternatives
Windows
Microsoft's next Moment for Windows 11 is on the way
Microsoft is testing tabs in Notepad internally
This is what we're reduced to with the Windows 11 team, a 25-year old debate about MDI and SDI
Google is changing the Chrome release schedule again... no word from the Edge team
Services
Bing is reportedly going to get a ChatGPT upgrade to take on Google Search
CES
Intel announces 13th Gen Core...
Published 01/04/23
Looking back on the year in Microsoft, from Paul's rants to Mary Jo's beer! The world of Windows has had one wild 2022!
Activision Blizzard acquisition begins
Autocorrect/autocomplete baffles Mary Jo!
Experimenting with Ads in File Explorer!? Uh oh!
Farewell to Clippy/Gottfried
DuckDuckGo's controversial Microsoft problem
Interrupted by a crisis in Leo's office!
Zac Bowden & Rich Woods discuss the new Windows update schedule
Live widget notifications are annoying!
Outlook? More...
Published 12/28/22
Microsoft in 2022: the good, the bad, the meh
Activision Blizzard. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I mean, Brazil OKed the deal. COME ON
Microsoft Teams turned 5. Is it unstoppable? (Stack is asking for a friend)
Games in Teams?
Just one feature update per year? Just kidding! Microsoft released Windows 10 version 22H2 in October. Since then, we've seen the unexpected, largely (or completely) untested rollout of three new features: Search "pill," Task Manager access from the Taskbar,...
Published 12/21/22