Windows Weekly (Audio)

On Halloween, the last day of October, Microsoft delayed Recall again. It was supposed to preview in October, this is the third delay. No clear reason why. December now, supposedly. Plus, Paul gives an earnings recap that he didn't get to dive into much last week.

Windows

New 24H2 bug More features coming to Prism emulator in Windows 11 on Arm (!) New generative AI features are coming to Paint, Photos, and Notepad Beta channel: Here's the new Windows Hello experience, with explicit references to passkeys Proton VPN is native on Windows 11 on Arm Windows Server 2025 is GA (and some are being mistakenly force-upgraded. This is what you get when you share a codebase with Windows 11, apparently) Google shifts Android development cycle - Major update each Q2, minor update each Q4, monthly feature/quality updates

A Tale of 2 Chips

Paul reviewed the AMD Zen 5-based HP OmniBook Ultra, it's awesome. Paul is also reviewing an Intel Lunar Lake laptop, and it is not awesome Early glee around Lunar Lake was misplaced Laptop reviewers all report what Paul is seeing (for once), that the performance is horrific. You need to switch to "Best performance" power management mode for reasonable performance, but this hasn't solved all the issues COD: Black Ops 6. Average FPS under Zen 5 is 90 to 120 at native resolution/medium graphics, single and multi-player. Lunar Lake? 40 FPS with all graphics settings on low/very low Intel now says Lunar Lake is a one-off too (Meteor Lake was likewise a one-off, architecturally). It will no longer package RAM with processors because of margins. Lunar Lake rushed to market and was key contributor to recent financial issues

More Earnings Learnings

Amazon: $159 billion in revenues, $27.5 billion for AW Apple: $95 billion in revenues, a small uptick in iPhone revenues

Microsoft 365/AI

Some curious/confusing moves with Microsoft 365 for consumers: subscribers in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand are getting Copilot Pro credits with base subscription (Word, Excel, etc.), Designer, ... and the long-overdue and dreaded price increase This must be a test for the U.S. and western Europe. Feels inevitable OpenAI launches ChatGPT Search. This is not the Google Search replacement you're looking for

Xbox

It's November, so here's the incredible list of Activision Blizzard games now coming to Game Pass! Just kidding, but we are gettingFlight Sim 2024 Microsoft introduced an AI-powered support virtual agent to Xbox because something something AI Switch sales drop off a cliff, Nintendo will announce backward-compatible successor before the end of March Sony launches the PS5 Pro to meh

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Windows 11 minus the MSA App pick of the week: Docs in Proton Drive RunAs Radio this week: Software-Defined Networking using Azure Firewall with Aidan Finn Brown liquor MOVIE pick of the week: Whisky Galore

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott

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Enjoy Leo's many hats in this fun and silly edition of Windows Weekly. Happy Halloween!

Windows 11

Yes, Windows 11 version 24H2 got its preview update for October too, a few days late as expected 24H2 was a surprisingly big platform shift - no enablement updates - faster updates going forward Dev and Beta get new builds, minor changes in each

Microsoft 365/AI/dev

Teams is... getting weird Microsoft 365 apps get Handoff support on Apple devices Notion Mail - a light alternatives to Google Workspace and M365? GitHub Copilot goes multi-LLM Apple Intelligence wave one arrives, mostly to indifference. Wave two in December. EU is getting it in the Spring New Macs this week with M4. But the big news? 16 GB of RAM, minimum. Finally. The Browser Company can't realize its vision for the future with Arc

Earnings/Corporate

Microsoft and Google duke it out over Cloud licensing - This one is getting ugly Google - $88.3 billion in revenues AMD - OK, but dominated by Intel on PCs and NVIDIA in AI/datacenter

Xbox

More games, more people, more devices, Microsoft says Less emphasis on console but what might a next-gen console look like? Arm? Mobile? Third-party hardware makers? Cloud Gaming is limited to the most expensive Game Pass tier - that has to change, and what about a standalone tier? Mobile app stores are coming - but what about native mobile games? Call of Duty Black Ops 6 lands on PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and Cloud Gaming - Paul puts aside his grudge and gives it a shot Microsoft previews new Home experience for Xbox app on Windows

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: It might be time to look at the Raspberry Pi again App pick of the week: My God, it's full of web browsers RunAs Radio this week: Updating Windows on ARM with Aria Hanson Brown liquor pick of the week: Laird of the Fintry Black Label Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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

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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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In case you missed it

You didn't. But Qualcomm canceled that Snapdragon Dev Box, will refund customers Qualcomm picked the wrong company for this Also, there are plenty of Copilot+ PCs and does it make more sense to develop against the type of PC your customers will use?

Windows 11

23H2 gets a preview update, as expected Copilot key customization, Gamepad for virtual keyboard, notification suggestions, etc. Qualcomm and Microsoft solve Paul's only hardware issue with Arm, more Qualcomm brings Oryon cores to the phone, comes out firing against Intel, and is sued by Arm Dev channel: That Gamepad virtual kb thing Canary: That Copilot key customization thing Photos app gets Super Resolution feature - Microsoft says in preview, but Paul sees it in stable Microsoft Store is getting "immersive trailers" because ADHD

Microsoft 365, AI, more

Report details mounting tensions between Microsoft and OpenAI. Worst partnership ever? Several months after releasing Mac and iPhone ChatGPT apps, OpenAI delivers a comicly-named "early version" of it for Windows. Thanks guys, don't hurt yourselves. Microsoft announces first AI agents for commercial space, DIY in AI Studio AI in phases? Copilot is phase one, this thing that works beside you (app, essentially) Agents is phase two, this thing that works on your behalf away from you (service, essentially) Copilot comes to OneNote for Mac, iPad in beta Two years behind in AI, Apple has figured out the right quips and marketing messages As expected, Google gets a stay of execution (pardon the pun) in Epic case (also, pardon the pun) WTF is happening with smartphones? Did Apple and Google look at the 2024 Windows 11 Mess and say, we want us some of that? Apple Intelligence to roll out over at least four major iOS 18 updates and then forever Google rushes Android 15 dev to meet new August deadline for Pixel 9 series, whiffs it, and then delivers it 2 months late ... But at least it's jam-packed with AI

Xbox

Age of Empires goes mobile In the wake of Xbox/Halo adopting Unreal Engine, Unity ships Unity 6 Engine Netflix shuts down AAA game studio - I could've saved you guys a lot of money New Xbox Wireless Headset more battery, better Bluetooth, new voice isolation

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: Scott and Mark, sitting in a tree... App pick of the week: Affinity Photos 2.6 Beta RunAs Radio this week: Securing Data using Azure Virtual Desktop with Jim Duffy Brown liquor pick of the week: Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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

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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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On this episode, Leo Laporte shows off his new Snapdragon Dev Kit to Paul Thurrott and Richard Campbell. He also tries setting it up, and the process is TOTALLY "seamless." AMD has revealed the Ryzen AI PRO 300 Series alongside Intel's launch of the Core Ultra 200S desktop processors. The FIDO Alliance has published new credential exchange specifications. Sarah Bond announces that Xbox games will be purchasable on Android. And Paul unveils his new "get rich" scheme... as he looks for some feedback.

x86's Last Stand?

Intel and AMD announce partnership that is clearly aimed at taking on Arm. Intel was already working on simplifying the x86 architecture by removing older, unused bits Don't worry, Intel and AMD will still compete. And AMD just released new AI processors, with Intel also announcing first Core Ultra chips for Desktop Which raises a question: Why do the desktop chips not meet the Copilot+ PC spec?

Windows

Redmond, we have a quality problem: 24H2 is besieged by a curious number of issues despite several months of gestation and a shared feature set with 23H2. Dev and Beta: Beta is minor, but Dev has some Taskbar updates Release Preview: New builds for 23H2 and 24H2 hint at this month's Week D preview updates - since this announcement, some features have been delayed

Microsoft 365/Surfac

Google Workspace is adding a OneDrive (for Business) data migration capability Is there some new cloud interoperability thing going on? We're seeing this in the consumer space too. Wondering if this is related to regulatory attention A Lunar Lake Surface Laptop? Probably not

Passkeys Get Real

As expected, FIDO Alliance will standardize passkey portability Two sides to this: Portability between devices but also import/export between password managers Amazon has 175 million customers using passkeys - one year after initial unveil

Xbox

With Google antitrust loss, Microsoft vaguely reveals that Xbox games are coming to Android Long-forgotten ability to stream games you purchased over Cloud Gaming is now coming soon Microsoft settles BS "Gamers' lawsuit" for what we hope was a pittance The only gamers with a case to sue Microsoft are Xbox fans - one year this week Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and more are headed to Game Pass if anyone still cares Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S mid-season replacements are here, and they come with a fun surprise New Xbox wireless headset is incoming Microsoft to host Xbox Partner Preview tomorrow, October 17 Steam forced to communicate that you don't own anything you buy

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Check out the Thurrott swag App pick of the week: Arc browser, now native on Windows 11 on Arm! RunAs Radio this week: Pen Testing Yourself with Paula Januszkiewicz Brown liquor pick of the week: Jameson Irish Whiskey

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.

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Join Leo, Paul, and Richard on a potentially Spanish-adjacent episode! Patch Tuesday arrives and Microsoft finally admits that 24H2 is a thing. Plus, a discussion on Satya Nadella recently describing the LLMs behind Copilot and other AIs as a "commodity." In Xbox news, Microsoft finally reveals it's moving Halo to Unreal Engine, and it's renaming the tarnished 343 Industries after laying off much of that studio.

Windows 11

24H2 appears on the Microsoft Support site for the first time 22H2 gets its final cumulative update (same update as 23H2) 24H2 new features: Share local files from search results, Sign out moved to where it belongs, media controls on lock screen, Copilot Plus management in Settings > Account, etc. - 22H2/23H3 mostly the same Paul is updating the Windows 11 Field Guide for 24H2 this month - the first several chapter updates are live Dev and Beta: New builds right after 24H2 ships? Why not? And there are some interesting new features in the pipeline New Canary build today as well Passkeys are a joke in Windows 11 ... someday, they'll be less of a joke, but today is not that day. Paul finally has a Lunar Lake laptop in-house. Or in-casa, one could say

Antitrust

Google is ordered to open up Android apps and the Google Play Store- Breathtaking. DOJ is open to breaking up Google - even better Web browser makers you've never heard of want the EU to add Microsoft Edge to the DMA list

Microsoft 365/AI/Dev

Microsoft announces major new features for OneDrive Colored folders, yay, but will it fix the ensh*ttification? .NET 9 Release Candidate 2 lands on schedule, no new features RIP, Surface Duo

Xbox

Finally, Microsoft makes a good decision for Halo fans Flight Sim 2024 will get a technical alpha on PC Red Dead Redemption is coming to the PC on October 29 Diablo IV to be first Microsoft game enhanced for PS5 Pro

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Something for videogame fans to watch and read App pick of the week: Multiplicity 4 (Beta 1 for now) RunAs Radio this week: OpenAI for PowerShell with Doug Finke Brown liquor pick of the week: Talisker 45-Year-Old Glacial Edge

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.

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After a flurry of last-second pre-release activity, Microsoft shipped 24H2 a week earlier than expected! Copilot also gets a major update for individuals too, and Copilot+ PCs get more features.

24H2 is here!

Last week's Week D updates did finally go out, first to 22H2/23H2 and then to 24H2 That 22H2/23H2 preview update was apparently a hot mess Now Microsoft has issued a fix Windows 11 version 24H2 is fully available. Arm64 ISOs are coming soon The first LTSC version(s) of Windows 11 is now available - Windows 11 Enterprise Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) 24H2 + Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024) New Dev and Beta builds, not much new, but new Snipping Tools spreads further Canary build today

Copilot

Copilot morphs into an AI companion or something Copilot+ PCs are getting new features, including one with a serious Recall vibe Microsoft is trying a different tact with the new AI features - explaining why they can be trusted. Can they be trusted? Microsoft belatedly explains why you can trust Recall As expected, Microsoft does a song and dance on changes to Recall, but notably never thanks the feedback it got from the security community. Good. But this is still a win-win, if just for opt-in and, now, uninstall Google pushes Gemini more in ChromeOS

Microsoft 365, More

Microsoft finally kills HoloLens 2 Germany has a plan for regulating all of Microsoft, not just the products that fall under the DMA Office 2024 is here for individuals too Intel rejects buyout offer... from Arm?

Xbox

Xbox announces new games at Tokyo Game Show First Game Pass titles of October reveal a bonanza of Activision titles, is what I wish we could discuss Starfield expansion arrives on Xbox, PC J Allard joins Amazon for some reason

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Get the 24H2, refresh your recovery drivers/setup media App pick of the week: Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2025 are here RunAs Radio this week: Data Security and Governance with Nikki Chapple Brown liquor pick of the week: Russell's Reserve 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.

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Windows 11

24H2 is following a now-familiar trajectory to release. Right, it's chaos Microsoft issues last-second updates to 22H2/23H2 and 24H2 in the Release Preview on Monday. Paul predicted these would turn into our Week D updates later in the week and that we'd get nothing on Tuesday Dev and Beta channels got some interesting updates recently as well The Windows App is now available on Windows, Mac, and iOS HP announces two new flagship AI PCs, one AMD and one Intel. Plus a lower-cost 8-core Snapdragon model. This is officially a trend. A week after providing details about the September 2024 firmware update for Surface Laptop 7, Microsoft confirmed it shipped the same update to Surface Pro 11. This has had a major negative effect on the device's instant-on capabilities

Microsoft 365, cloud, AI

Microsoft is reviving Three Mile Island and other headlines I never thought I'd write Google formally complains about alleged Microsoft antitrust abuses in the EU LinkedIn is training AI with your data. You can turn it off because Microsoft loves opt-out Microsoft issues a SFI progress report and they are doing GREAT, thank you very much Gemini comes to Workspace Apple Intelligence will hoover 4GB of drive space on iPhones to start, more later as more features are added

More!

Qualcomm makes another offer to acquire Intel Investment firm offers Intel a $5 billion lifeline Arc just experienced its first major security incident and handled it really well Raspberry Pi reports its first-ever earnings Paul has finished updating .NETpad for Windows 11 theming support in .NET 9, will put code up in GitHub after .NET ships in stable

Xbox

A new tell-all about Blizzard, Activision, and Xbox arrives October 8 Game Pass features are coming to Xbox mobile app where they belong Also, Game Bar Compact mode as part of September Xbox Update New Indie Selects titles Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is available for preorder and it will look a lot better and take up a lot less disk space Xbox Ambassador's Program is dead, Jim Xbox spends $1 billion per year to acquire Game Pass titles Xbox figured out how to reduce its carbon emissions. You know, besides selling fewer consoles Sony announces 30th anniversary PS5 collection

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Stop paying so much for everything App pick of the week: A week of browser-adjacent updates RunAs Radio this week: Windows Server 2025 and Active Directory with Orin Thomas Brown liquor pick of the week: Hatozaki Small Batch

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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

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The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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On this episode, Paul Thurrott gets a bit better at unmuting! Mikah is back once again while Leo is away, and Richard features a classic single malt scotch. Wave 2 of Microsoft 365 Copilot kicks off, including an agent builder! Lenovo's got an everything-in-one ThinkBook, HP's got a Ryzen AI 300-based Copilot+ PC, and Netflix has a new series with Bill Gates.

Windows 11

Microsoft comes clean on the schedule for Windows 11 version 24H2 First AMD Zen 5-based Copilot+ PC in here (if here means "Paul's house") A few thoughts on where we're at with Copilot+ PCs, AI, etc Microsoft deprecates legacy DRM in Windows Google is bringing desktop windowing capabilities to Android

Microsoft 365 + AI/Dev

Microsoft announces "Copilot Wave 2" with new Agent Builder, Pages experience, more Slack: Look at me, look at me! I have agents too!! Office LTSC 2024 is now available for businesses - consumer versions in "the coming weeks" Microsoft held its security summit with CrowdStrike, etc. There were no reports of a tarp on the floor Apple releases annual upgrades for all its hardware platforms and not an iota of AI in sight This is the end of an era. An era we will think back on as "the good old days" Microsoft issues .NET 9 RC1 ahead of November release. Clear to Paul that the WPF support in this release will never be updated again, which sucks

Hardware

Intel finally has some good news: Foundry subsidiary spin-off, AWS expanded partnership, more CHIPS money Intel also has some bad news: It lost out on the PS6 contract to AMD, which made previous gen PS chips A Windows 11 2-in-1 (like Surface Book) in which the detachable display is a powerful, standalone Android tablet

Xbox

Microsoft lays off 650 more Gaming division employees Microsoft realizes that some Xbox members do have friends, is bringing back Friends Requests Microsoft concludes September with three more Game Pass titles Bonus points: How many of these are Activision Blizzard titles? Bonus tip: If you play Overwatch 2 on Xbox, there are now some bonus perks for Game Pass members: Six hero skins, 30 Mythic prisms to spend on Mythic unlocks, a stackable XP boost, and access to Overwatch 2 Shop cosmetics from prior seasons Unity: Just kidding about that runtime fee, please stop harassing us now

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: How to spend your time and your money App pick of the week: ExplorerPatcher RunAs Radio this week: Asymmetric Encryption with Eli Holderness Brown liquor pick of the week: Talisker 10

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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Paul is back from Berlin! Mikah Sargent subs in for Leo, while Richard brings a glass of Einar's whisky to the show! They talk about the latest from IFA 2024, including the state of Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. Later, tune in for intriguing updates about Parallels Desktop, Windows 10's Photos app, and Apple's lineup of (currently) AI-less devices.

IFA Part Deux

More perspective from industry insiders on where Intel, AMD and Qualcomm are at now Why did Qualcomm launch lower-end Snapdragon X chips now? Intel bails on 20A manufacturing process to focus on 18A - making lemonade Intel lands a punch with Lunar Lake. Is it enough for a comeback? Qualcomm has reportedly been trying to buy Intel's chip design business for months Lenovo launches new PCs with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm chips - Photo gallery Copilot+ PC-class PCs with AMD and Intel chips come with 24H2e

Windows

Patch Tuesday arrives - 22H2/23H2 and 24H2 all get updates - same as last month's preview updates, of course Microsoft still doesn't list 24H2 in Windows 11 Update History on the Support sit Parallels Desktop 20 will benefit from Microsoft's Prism emulator too Microsoft is updating Photos app in Windows 10 too It's not just macOS Sequoia, ChromeOS is copying Windows's Snap feature too

Apple launches new devices but AI is not ready

Apple launches iPhone 16 series without AI, plus new Apple Watch and AirPods 4 also without AI... and confirms next software updates, also without AI - AI is for later, sometimes much later This was a lackluster launch by any measure. But AI might make things more interesting in time Dashlane recommends skipping out on Apple Passwords

Microsoft 365, AI, more

Microsoft opens up Ignite 2024 registration Windows App set to replace various RDP apps

Xbox

Sony tips PS5 Pro for a November 7 launch at $699 Xbox Game Pass Standard launches Netflix allegedly saw 210 million game downloads

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Lose the bookmarks, gain a (free) New tab page Tip of the week #2: Amazon Prime Games has free games too RunAs Radio this week: Microsoft 365 and PowerShell with Tony Redmond Brown liquor pick of the week: Einar's Great Skua Single Malt

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:

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