Windows Weekly

Microsoft's earnings report went out last week, and the company spent a lot on AI in the quarter. Microsoft updates its customers on what it's done to address Windows 11 problems. And Xbox kills Copilot plans for the console.

Microsoft Earnings
Microsoft announced that it earned a net income of $31.8 billion on revenues of $82.9 billion in the previous quarter.
Windows: 1.6 billion monthly active devices, a focus on quality after years of enshittification - but revenues from PC makers were down 2 percent YOY.
Microsoft Edge "has taken share for 20 consecutive quarters," which isn't supported by the evidence.
Bing "monthly active users reached one billion for the first time," raising questions about how Microsoft defines the term "user."
Xbox: "The team is recommitting to our core fans and players, and shaping the future of play," new records for monthly active Xbox users and game streaming hours.
AI: Capex spending in the quarter was $32 billion, down from previous quarter as previously described, but up 49 percent YOY.
More earnings
Apple, Google/Alphabet, and Amazon.
AMD - Up because of AI datacenter.
Qualcomm - Plus, Intel just hired away a key Qualcomm exec.
Windows
Microsoft shares an update about what it's done to address Windows 11 pain points so far.
Marcus Ash is one of the good guys.
Some of this is happening in Insider, some is rolling out to retail.
Windows Insider Program and Windows Update improvements we discussed last week - two primary channels in WIP now.
Simplifying AI experiences - fewer Copilot icons (Notepad, etc.).
File Explorer improvements - performance, fewer hangs, better polish and consistency.
Widgets - Feed will be off by default, fewer interruptions, no hover activate.
System performance - Smaller memory footprint, more aggressive RAM restoration, and more.
Soon: Taskbar updates, Start updates, and more to share at Build in June.
Week D update arrives with a peek at May's Patch Tuesday.
Major: Xbox Mode, AI agents on the Taskbar are the first two big features of 2026.
Minor: Also adds File Explorer improvements, new haptic feedback effects, touch keyboard improvements, and more.
Shocking new report that Microsoft Edge is incredibly insecure should surprise no one.
AI
Microsoft Agent 365 Platform is out of preview, supports local AI agents and Copilot Cowork Agent arrives on mobile with plugin support.
Microsoft launches a Legal AI Agent in Word.
Apple's plan to open up to multiple third-party AIs is a good one.
Canonical's plan to add AI to Ubuntu is also good, but you're never going to believe what happened next.
Xbox and Gaming
Asha Sharma reorgs Xbox, kills Copilot on the console.
Forza Horizon 6, more coming to Game Pass in May.
Xbox April Update is out with updates for all platforms.
Next Call of Duty will not ship on Xbox One, PS4.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is coming to the Mac for some reason.
And finally, with the Supreme Court refusing to block the implementation of the ruling in Epic v. Apple, Microsoft's Xbox game store for mobile is one step closer to happening.
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Embrace inconvenience.
App pick of the week: Windows Defender.
RunAs Radio this week: Securing Active Directory with Spencer Alessi.
Brown liquor pick of the week: Stalk & Barrel Whisky.
These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/982 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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This episode dives into early MS-DOS/PC-DOS source code, Snapdragon X2 gaming, and the "We are Xbox" messaging. Plus, Paul details 2 big changes in the Windows Insider Program. The latest PowerToys adds 2 useful new utilities and many improvements. And a TWiT listener asked about buying Windows 11 on Arm to virtualize it on a Mac. You're not going to believe what happened next.
Windows
Microsoft announces big changes to Windows Update
Microsoft announces Windows Insider Program changes, with Experimental channel
Hands-on with both predictably shows some nice improvements
Hands-on with Snapdragon X2 gaming - more wins, but still some losses
Microsoft open sources some of the earliest MS-DOS source code and related materials
Intel loses $3.7 billion and Wall Street could not be happier. WTF is happening - Paul has a theory and its called collusion
AI
Microsoft and OpenAI revise partnership again and wait for it...
OpenAI immediately signs on with AWS
Microsoft 365 Copilot subscribers get Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agentic AI features
Copilot in Outlook can manage your inbox and calendar, but seriously stop using Outloook
GitHub Copilot's switch to usage-based billing starts June 1
OpenAI is reportedly working on a phone because of course it is
Adobe Firefly AI Assistant is now available in preview
And then Anthropic goes deeper into the creator market
Xbox and gaming
Microsoft Gaming is being (re)rebranded to Xbox!
New Xbox leadership can't stop explaining its plans and it's glorious
Microsoft still plans a mobile game store, waiting on Apple to stop being so f'ing terrible
Valve's Steam Controller will cost $99 and launches next week
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Windows licenses, $, and you
App pick of the week: PowerToys 0.99
RunAs Radio this week: M365 Copilot vs Claude Cowork with Sharon Weaver
Brown liquor pick of the week: Reifel Rye
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
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AI is democratizing the making of things, from bespoke/custom apps to websites, designs of all kinds, and everything else you might imagine. It's a new world, and it's time to create. Plus, Helium is a new Chromium-based web browser that's completely open source, lightweight, secure, and private. There's a native version for Windows 11 on Arm, too. Also, Firefox 150 arrives with over 270 security fixes!
Windows 11
Reports of a Recall security vulnerability are, once again, bogus, Microsoft says
New builds on all channels, still on the old system
Xbox Mode is now available in all channels
Release Preview shows us the May Patch Tuesday updates: Xbox Mode, File Explorer improvements, Haptic improvements, Drop Tray renaming, Agents on the Taskbar
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x - Snapdragon X2 Elite, 14-inch display impressions
Lenovo IdeaPad 5x - Snapdragon X2 Plus, 15.3-inch display impressions
Microsoft 365, Surface, more
OneDrive now supports Markdown natively
New Surface PCs with Intel chips coming soon
Microsoft is making changes to its Rewards program
AI
GitHub Copilot moves to token-based billing in a sign of the true cost of AI
Claude Design democratizes visual design on the heels of Claude Opus 4.7
OpenAI Codex moves into productivity
OpenAI releases ChatGPT Images 2.0
Chrome AI Mode gets a big update
Mozilla announces Thunderbolt, sovereign AI for businesses
Google brings vibe coding to Android apps with Android CLI
Xbox and gaming
Microsoft drops Xbox Game Pass prices (!), but also drops Call of Duty from Day One
Plus, Xbox teases a Game Pass Discord perk
More Game Pass titles for April: Kiln, Vampire Crawlers, more
Xbox April Update is here with that Quick Resume feature we all want
There's an ID@Xbox event on April 23 to highlight indie games
Xbox is selling Forza Horizon 6 limited edition controller and headsets
Starfield is coming to the Nintendo Switch 2
A Call of Duty movie will finally arrive in 2028
Try out the Modern Warfare remake on Game Pass, it's a reminder of COD's gritty past
PS5 Digital is down to its $399 launch price temporarily
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Just make it
App pick of the week: Helium
RunAs Radio this week: The Life and Death of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit with Michael Niehaus
Brown liquor pick of the week: Ned Australian Whisky
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
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With Microsoft finally doing right by Windows 11 and the Windows Insider Program, it's time to start testing and provide some feedback. And then we'll see if we can really trust these people. Also, Stardock's Connection Explorer 1.0 is here! And if you want one of macOS's dumbest features on Windows 11, you can get it now.
Windows
Yesterday was Patch Tuesday - Another month in paradise
26H1 - Eh, 24H2/25H2 - Narrator, File Explorer, display, Pen settings, WRE, Remote Desktop improvements
Microsoft reveals how it will simplify the Windows Insider Program
Two top-level channels, but really three
A way to enable all features in new builds, finally, and easy channel switching. But there are complexities, of course
New builds for Canary, Beta, and Dev - Two for Canary, but nothing new, Beta and Dev get Storage, networking, Windows Security, and Feedback Hub improvements
The first Snapdragon X2-based PC is out, and Paul has that waiting in PA, and two more PCs are coming to Mexico
PC sales were somehow up 2.5 percent in Q1, but the rest of 2026 will be a bloodbath
Also, smartphone sales are doing even worse
NVIDIA reportedly wants to buy Dell or HP ahead of a big PC chipset push. Interesting
Surface/Microsoft 365
Microsoft is forced to hike Surface prices dramatically
Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Hub
Microsoft College Offer: 12 months of Microsoft 365 Premium, 12 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and a custom Xbox controller when students in the U.S. purchase a PC
AI/Dev
Microsoft AI releases a faster and more efficient image model
Amazon CEO tries to explain the AI spending
Google app for Windows rolls out worldwide, but the Mac gets a Gemini app
Claude for Microsoft Word arrives in Beta
Claude for Desktop gets a major redesign for multiple AI agents
Microsoft's reported plans to charge for AI agents
.NET 11 Preview 3 arrives right on schedule, but there's nothing to see here
Build session catalog is up - joking, but the new Windows native app strategy should just be vibe coding
Google I/O registration is open, and you are never going to believe what the main topics will be - number five will shock you
Xbox & gaming
New Xbox CEO says Game Pass is too expensive, also that the sky is blue
Xbox will show off the next Metro game soon
Starfield for PS5 is getting a fix
Amazon Luna is stripping down to the basics e.g. "pulling a Stadia"
Tips & picks
Tip of the week: It's time to get involved
App pick of the week: Stardock Connection Explorer
RunAs Radio this week: Internal Corporate Communications in 2026 with Emily Mancini
Brown liquor pick of the week: ScapeGrace Vanguard
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
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The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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Julia Liuson is leaving Microsoft. Liuson joined Microsoft in 1992, the same year as CEO Satya Nadella (she worked on Access at first). She helped build the first version of Visual Studio and was the first female corporate vice president at Microsoft. Liuson has been president of Microsoft's Developer Division since 2021. Also, curious about life on the other side of the fence? Paul has a tip for finding games that are optimized for Linux. Plus, Chrome joins the 21st century with vertical tabs and a real reading view. Just be sure to install those anti-tracking extensions.
Windows
Microsoft promises more native apps for Windows 11, but... which apps? New apps? Replacements for existing apps?
Thanks for making us revisit the web app vs. native app thing yet again, Microsoft
Windows 11 version 25H2 is now being pushed to all compatible PCs
Compatibility milestone, not a big deal because 24H2/25H2 features are identical, same underlying codebase - but some will complain that Microsoft is "forcing" 25H2 on them
Secure Boot certificate notifications are now available so you can see where your PC is at
Another month, another emergency Windows Update patch
New Dev/Beta builds add Xbox Mode, new haptic effects, etc., plus a new Canary build with features we've seen before
Microsoft is taking the Insider Program on the road
Component shortages trigger another Raspberry Pi price hike, but also a promise for the future
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition processor will be available from leading retailers starting Apr. 22 with a retail price of $899
AI
Microsoft's terms of service for Copilot say it's for entertainment purposes only. Yes, really.
Microsoft AI releases new foundational models for transcription, voice, and images
Word on iPhone gets Copilot co-create capabilities - used to be AI Mode, you need a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription
Anthropic has hired away a key AI executive from Microsoft, and what he has to say about the opportunity is interesting
Anthropic brings Computer Use to Windows
Google: Seriously, we are not training AI with your Gmail
Google AI Pro plans now offer 5 TB of cloud storage, yikes
Xbox & gaming
Xbox is refreshing the look of achievements on the console
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, more coming to Game Pass this month
Was this the best COD ever? In search of greatness
Also: Forza Horizon 6 launches May 19 and will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and playable day one with Xbox Game Pass
Xbox will hold FanFest events around the world
Tips & picks
Tip of the week: So you want to try gaming on Linux
App pick of the week: Google Chrome
RunAs Radio this week: Securing AI Agents with Niall Merrigan
Brown liquor pick of the week: Corowa Peated Single Barrel 521
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
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Microsoft's AI ambitions overflowed into GitHub, sparking backlash when ads appeared in pull requests and raising new concerns about where your code is really going. GitHub is going to automatically use your data to train AI, so Paul tells how to opt-out if you don't want that. Plus, there's a new Microsoft 365 alternative in town, and this one is from a little tech company you can trust
Windows
Week D updates go live last Thursday - Smart App Control, many other minor changes
And here we go again: Microsoft issues emergency patch for March Week D optional update
Microsoft says it will replace web-based in-box apps and experiences with native apps ... somehow
Four builds across three channels - Canary with opt-in gets a huge Windows Console upgrade, Dev/Beta get Administrator Protection (again), more
AMD has a new flagship gaming processor
AI/Dev
Microsoft Research AI has a new Critique feature that uses ChatGPT and Claude together in an unholy Frankenstein's monster of orchestration
A week of Siri AI rumors/leaks - This is Apple's version of Microsoft trying to buy TikTok
Google makes it easier to switch to Gemini - This is like Mac vs. PC, but for AI
Mozilla's approach to AI in Firefox is both right and correct
The plan to the save the open web from Big Tech
The future of Firefox includes a Smart Window mode that works like Private window but for AI
SwiftUI SDK for Android is now available
Xbox and gaming
New Xbox chief seeks to reset Xbox brand image - reminder, that's not the same as changing anything
Xbox announces 14 Day One Game Pass titles coming soon
Xbox Games Showcase 2026 and Gears of War E-Day Direct are coming in June
Sony to raise PS5 prices soon
Nintendo to raise prices for physical Switch 2 games soon
Tips & picks
Tip of the week: Opt-out of training AI on GitHub
App pick of the week: Proton Workspace with Meet
RunAs Radio this week: My Home Lab
Brown liquor pick of the week: Jeptha Creed Six Year Old Wheated Bourbon
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
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In 2015, Satya Nadella said that he wanted users to love Windows. But Microsoft has only enshittified Windows more aggressively since then. Paul wrote a book. And now Microsoft says it's changed, baby, and it's serious this time. Here's what was said ... and what was not said.A Timeline
Early signs of positive change: Rust in the Windows kernel, numerous new security features in Windows 11 - "two sides" of Windows, the engineering side and the "let's push AI at all costs/UX" side - more recently, Baseline Security Mode and User Transparency and Consent announcement
Last September, Pavan Davuluri took over Windows and reorganized the business immediately, bringing Server/Core back in-house
In December, Paul saw the first signs of positive changes in OneDrive, while not perfect, a major step back from the enshittification there. It took a few months to understand exactly what changed.
In January, there are over one billion Windows 11 users. Davuluri first mentions a push for quality in 2026 - "pain points"
In February, Nadella announced leadership changes that included people directly in charge of security and engineering quality
Now, Microsoft has announced that it will address (some of) the complaints about Windows 11, and this includes performance and reliability improvements across the board
Microsoft said it will
Let you move the Taskbar to other screen edges, finally
Improve File Explorer performance
Make changes to how users to skip Windows Updates (vaguely)
Make improvements to Widgets (but what about the quality problem?)
Remove unnecessary Copilot entry points
Make the Windows Insider Program more transparent
More relevant recommendations in Start - ??
Reduce resource usage across the board, give more resources to what you're doing (good for gaming, especially)
Reduce interaction latency - WInUI3
Reduce search latency throughout - also context menus and navigation (which is WinUI3, I guess)
Make improvements to Windows Subsystem for Linux
OS, drive, and in-box app reliability improvements
Windows Hello improvements - Wonders if this is tied to the complaint about speed here
What Microsoft didn't discuss
Of the several items in the Windows 11 Enshittification Checklist, only one was addressed by Davuluri's post, Windows Update chaos, and then only partially. Not mentioned: Forced telemetry, bundled crapware, forced Microsoft account sign-ins, forced Microsoft Edge usage and configuration harassment, hardware requirements (less relevant today), OneDrive behaviors (partially addressed already).
Recall is rare in that it's opt-in, but most of the AI and unwanted features are opt-out or worse
Controlled Feature Releases are not controlled, but they do suck
Microsoft has monthly Security Updates that include new features. Security and Feature updates should be separate and have different pausing rules
Microsoft is not removing Copilot from Windows, nor is it doing less AI; it is just removing Copilot icons from most places and trying to be more thoughtful about how it deploys AI in Windows 11
The Windows Insider Program makes 0 sense right now, and this was only partially addressed; it's not clear what's changing yet
Davuluri says that WinUI3 UIs are the solution to many performance problems, but just using an old
Mor
These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/976 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

There's an ongoing narrative that Windows is worse than ever today and people are leaving in droves. Paul does not see that, and will simply point to Windows 8 and remind folks that it can be (and was) worse. Also, PowerToys 0.98 adds a major new feature to Command Palette, big changes to Keyboard Manager and CursorWrap, and about 100 other updates. This is a big one. Plus, Mozilla Firefox is staging a comeback and may be worth another look.
Windows
Rajesh Jha is retiring and Microsoft is reorging its Experiences + Devices team
Release Preview: A peek at next week's Week D update (and April's Patch Tuesday) shows we're getting improvements to Narrator, Settings, Smart App Control, Pen settings, Display, File Explorer, and the Windows Recovery Environment (WRE). The trend continues!
New Canary, Dev, and Beta builds - Nothing new in Canary. Dev/Beta: Drag Tray is being renamed to Drop Tray, you can change the user folder name during Setup, Restore points are getting a modern update finally
Intel goes nuts with new "Arrow Lake refresh" processors; these are not Copilot+ PC capable and it's unclear what the Panther Lake comparison looks like
IDC now expects 11.3 percent decline in PC market in 2026, 7.6 percent decline for tablets
AI
Microsoft may sue OpenAI for contract breach - the best Microsoft divorce since IBM
Major reorg in Microsoft's AI businesses
Former Snap exec in charge of consolidated Copilot offerings across consumer and commercial
Mustafa Suleyman to focus on Microsoft's foundational models
There has been a lot of retiring and a lot of outside hires for top-level executive positions in Microsoft over the past year or more. Curious.
Rumors vs. reality in Microsoft scaling back AI ambitions in Windows
Rumor: Microsoft is backtracking on some Copilot features
Reality: Microsoft is not backtracking on its AI ambitions, it's just going to try to do a better job with branding and positioning
Microsoft launches Copilot Health in the U.S.
Google Personal Intelligence ships in the U.S.
OpenAI releases GPT-5.4 mini and nano models
GPT-5 mini is available as a reasoning model on Duck.ai
Xbox and gaming
Rumor vs. reality in Xbox strategy
Rumor: Microsoft removed "This is an Xbox" messaging from website so it must be focusing on consoles again
Reality: Literally nothing has changed
Xbox Insiders is testing per-game Quick Resume toggle
Also more groups on Home, custom colors, profile badges in guide
Big half month for Game Pass, with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, more coming
Starfield is coming to PS5 on April 7
NVIDIA launches DLSS 5, changes existing games, people are freaking out
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: The grass is always greener
App pick of the week: PowerToys 0.98
RunAs Radio this week: Sustainable AI with Darshna Shah
Brown liquor pick of the week: Teeling Small Batch Whiskey
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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From bug-busting AI that's transforming Firefox to personal coding breakthroughs, the team breaks down how practical applications are cutting through skepticism and reshaping developer workflows. Plus, hear why lighter Patch Tuesdays are refreshing from time to time!
Windows 11
Patch Tuesday's familiar list of updates: Network speed test, Camera tilt and pan controls, sysmon, RSAT improvements, Quick Machine Recovery improvements, WEBP support for desktop wallpaper, Emoji 16.0, etc.
It's been a light year so far for Patch Tuesday features - that's a good thing
New builds for Canary, Dev, and Beta late last week. Canary is nothing, Dev/Beta get Administrator Protection, Drag Tray refinements, File Explorer improvements, and fixes
Android 16 QPR3 brings Desktop Mode to Android devices - and a hands-on with Pixel phones and tablets shows the way forward for Android-based laptops later this year
Intel has new gaming processors for creators and gamers and they look excellent and are inexpensive
AI and dev
Copilot Cowork is literally Claude Cowork in Microsoft 365 - "Wave 3" for Microsoft 365 Copilot begins with a lot of agentic features, in private preview at first
Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive get big Gemini updates for consumers and Workspace customers
Mozilla partners with Anthropic to use AI to find bugs, and it's paying off nicely
Visual Studio Code moves to a weekly update schedule
The .NET 11 Preview 2 is here
Xbox and gaming
Microsoft starts talking up next Xbox console! It's called Project Helix and, yes, it will run Windows games
New Xbox Mode is on the way
Project Helix dev kits to game makers in 2027
Satya Nadella explains why he/Microsoft are "long" on gaming
Gaming is a core identity for Microsoft alongside platforms, developers, and knowledge workers
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Nostalgia with a purpose
App pick of the week: Stardock Clairvoyance
RunAs Radio this week: SQL Server in 2026 with Bob Ward
Brown liquor pick of the week: Canadian Centennial Rye Whisky
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly 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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Can Microsoft's push for cloud PCs and AI-powered agents redefine where and how we work? If you keep to the defaults, Windows 11 is secure. Copilot+ PC is even more secure. But you can take additional steps to secure it either way, and you should. Plus, Paul's been trying to play different types of games, and Resident Evil Requiem is better (in his opinion) than Silent Hill f and Silent Hill 2 remake... if you want a horror game. Also, there's a cheaper new Audible plan thanks to Spotify!
Windows 11
Shenanigans? If you use a third-party AI client in Edge Canary... you will not be amused.
Bitwarden (TWiT sponsor) is (possibly the 1st?) third-party password manager to support passkey sign-ins on Windows 11
New Canary, Dev, and Beta builds last Friday- Canary is more of the same, Dev/Beta get shared audio improvements, narrator improvements, new IT policies
ASUS and Dell will soon sell Windows 365 Cloud PCs
Google is moving Chrome to a two-week dev schedule. Should we assume Microsoft will follow suit with Edge?
Dell is up 39 percent, but because of AI servers not PCs
NVIDIA revenues up 73 percent to $68.1 billion
AI/dev
OpenAI closes $110 billion funding round as the AI circle jerk continues
Microsoft brings Copilot Tasks to consumer Copilot
Google introduces AppFunctions for Android, it's way to make mobile apps work like MCP (be semantic), similar to what Microsoft is doing in Windows
Windows App Development CLI updated to 0.02 with Store CLI integration and .NET project support
Build 2026 is in San Francisco, as expected, but in June - overlap with WWDC?
Xbox and gaming
Here come the first Game Pass titles of March
Microsoft highlights some indie games to consider
Xbox ROG Ally gets AI-based game recaps
Legion Go Fold is the star of the new PCs at MWC
Sony might be backtracking on its PC games plans
Developing: Epic/Google settlement was approved
Tips & picks
App pick of the week: Resident Evil Requiem
Tip of the week: Secure your Windows 11 PC
RunAs Radio this week: Hiring in 2026 with Suzi Edwards-Alexander
Brown liquor pick of the week: St. Augustine Florida Straight Bourbon
Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly 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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Just last week, we asked about Phil Spencer and why he's been so quiet lately. Now we know why! Also, OneDrive for the Mac is finally going to look like it belongs on the Mac. And Google Chrome finally picks up a split view like the rest of the planet, plus a few other new features.

PHIL SPENCER OUT AT XBOX
Phil Spencer has retired from Microsoft and his heir-apparent, Sarah Bond, left Microsoft as well
Report details the Xbox reorg
Ex-Xbox executive issues an old guy shouting at sky assessment
New Microsoft Gaming CEO discusses "return to Xbox"
Hot-take: This person seems unqualified to run Xbox/MS Gaming, but let's give her a chance
Alternative hot-take: She is literally here to wind down this business, which makes no sense... unless there's a spin-off
Windows
WSJ report sheds some light, and adds a lot of confusion, to Nvidia's Windows PC plans
Week D arrived on time this month
Preview of March Patch Tuesday updates
Network speed test, pan and tilt in Camera settings, sysmon, RSAT improvements, Quick Machine Recovery improvements, WEBP background image support, Emoji 16.0
And you thought the Canary channel was weird already
-New builds for Canary, Dev, and Beta. Canary gets features we already saw elsewhere, Dev and Beta get context menu, settings, and Taskbar improvements
Paul has published (an incomplete version of) De-Enshittify Windows 11
De-enshittifying Copilot and AI is doable but not yet automated
What about the alternatives?
Next step: Security and Apps chapters
HP revenues up 6.9 percent to $14.4 billion but RAM warning is more dire than expected
Apple to add multitouch to MacBook Pro lineup in late 2026. Oh the irony
AI
Xbox February update brings 1440p streaming to Xbox consoles, updates for Xbox ROG Ally, more
Xbox app is delivering post-game recaps on Windows 11 for Insiders
EA had the most game downloads on PC and console in 2025, thanks to having the three most popular AAA games of the year (BF6, EA Sports FC 25, and EA Sports FC 26). Microsoft was number two, followed by Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Sony. Fortnite is somehow still the biggest game overall on console, and Counter-Strike 2 (!!!!) is the biggest on PC. 20 million Fortnite players on PS, 15 million on Xbox
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: OneDrive for the Mac
App pick of the week: Google Chrome
RunAs Radio this week: SaaS on Multiple Clouds with Steve Buchanan
Brown liquor pick of the week: Sons of Vancouver Wheated Rye Whisky
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
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Microsoft might finally give power users what they've been demanding: the ability to move the Windows 11 taskbar wherever they want. Plus, 3 major new chapters in Paul's next book, and a strange pick that solves his big issue with Windows Spotlight.

Windows 11
Potentially good news for the 13 people who want to move the Taskbar to a different screen side
Beta (but not Dev) with one new "feature"
Release Preview for 24H2/25H2 with emoji 16.0, QMR improvements, network speed test, pan and tilt controls for compatible cameras, widgets improvements, more
Lenovo revenues up 18% to $22.2 billion
AI/Dev
Google announces 30-second audio generation
Google sets a date for I/O 2026, but where in the Carmen Diego is Build 2026?
Android 17 Beta is here with an even shorter runway
With '26.3 out, Apple releases '26.4 Beta 1s
Xbox and gaming
Phil Spencer is always in the spotlight, but he's been on the down-low for months
Some hints for the future coming GDC 2026
Kingdom Come Deliverance II, Witcher 3, more coming to Xbox Game Pass
Avowed comes to the PlayStation 5 along with the Anniversary Update
Microsoft is retiring user-created Xbox social clubs
NVIDIA GeForce Now comes to Amazon Fire TV 4K Sticks
Tips & picks
Tip of the week: Major progress on De-Enshittify Windows 11, the book
App pick of the week: Bing Wallpaper
RunAs Radio this week: Hacking using AI with Erica Burgess
Brown liquor pick of the week: Lot 40 100% Pot Still Rye
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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After years of ignoring and maligning Windows, Microsoft has finally woken up and is making some happy noises. Last week, we discussed how Microsoft plans to improve the quality of Windows and that there are already many signs of that work in various security features and new OneDrive Folder Backup changes - plus those two new direct reports to Nadella. Then, Microsoft announced its Windows Baseline Security Mode and User Transparency and Consent initiatives with questions about the timing. And now, Microsoft just explained Windows 11 version 26H1, and it's not like 24H2 at all despite being tied to Snapdragon X2 silicon.Something happened ... and that something is tied to 26H1
26H1: Only for Snapdragon X2, a "scoped release," based on a "different core" from 24H2 and 25H2
You cannot upgrade 24H2 or 25H2 to 26H1
You cannot upgrade 26H1 to 26H2 (!) - instead, those on 26H1 "will have a path to update in a future Windows release." - Is that future Windows release Windows 12? Probably
24H2, 25H2, and 26H1 will all have the same user-facing features, this has been the case with all support Windows (11) versions for 2+ years
(Remember, this is not what happened with 24H2. Shipped early on Snapdragon X1, but was made available to all Windows 11 PCs later that year)
So why is this happening now? Fortune 500/corporate customer pushback on AI is one guess
This is GOOD news, however it all unfolds
More Windows 11
Yesterday was Patch Tuesday, so get to work. Updates this month include: Agent in Settings (Copilot+ PCs only) improvements. Settings improvements, cross-device Resume improvements, Windows MIDI Services improvements, Narrator improvements, Smart App Control improvements, Windows Hello New ESS improvements, and File Explorer improvements
Somewhat related to the quality/security push noted above, Microsoft is rolling out new Secure Boot certificates this year for older (pre-2024/25) PCs
Microsoft announces a Store CLI that does (almost) nothing new compared to winget
New Dev and Beta builds with minor changes: Emoji 16.0, camera improvements, various fixes
More earnings
Amazon hits $213.4 billion in revenues, will spend $200 billion CAPEX/AI infrastructure this fiscal year, more than Google ($175/$185 billion) or Microsoft (estimated $150+ billion)
Qualcomm $12.25 billion in revenues, up 5 percent
Alphabet/Google - Up 18 percent (!) to $113.8 billion - 750 million MAUs on Gemini, 74 percent of revenues come from advertising
Spotify - somehow has over 750 million MAUs now
AI and dev
OpenAI and Anthropic release dueling agentic AI coding models that do more than agentic AI coding within minutes of each other
Ads appear in ChatGPT Free and Go as threatened
Duck.ai adds private, anonymous real-time AI voice chat
NET 11 Preview 1 arrives, but there's nothing major here
Xbox & games
Microsoft announces the 2025 Xbox Excellence Awards
Celebrate 35 years of Id Software - Castle Wolfenstein 3D was a wake-up call for PC gaming, but DOOM was a miracle, and Quake was a real WTF moment
Sony sold 8 million PlayStation 5s (down 16 percent YOY) in the holiday quarter, 92 million (!) overall
Valve predictably delays the vaporware Steam Machine
Epic Games is having a winter sale - for example, Silent Hill 2, GTA V Enhanced are 50 percentR

These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/970 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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Microsoft is burning through billions on AI, but Wall Street is finally demanding to see where the payoff is. The earnings announcement triggered a $357 billion valuation wipe-out, the largest in Microsoft's history and the second-largest in history overall (Nvidia managed to lose $593 billion in value in the wake of DeepSeek in early 2025).Windows
Windows 11 has over one billion users - and, surprise, it got their faster than Windows 10 without any of the shenanigans
Microsoft to address the quality issues in Windows 11 in 2026
There is already evidence that Microsoft is trying to make Windows 11 suck less: Recent OneDrive changes that address a key ensh*ttification, and let's not forget all those security advances
What did Microsoft really promise? Not much
Microsoft has new EVPs for Security and Quality
Microsoft belatedly delivered the January Week D update last Thursday, a preview of this month's Patch Tuesday
Dev and Beta builds both deliver Mark Russinovich's sysmon tool
Microsoft earnings deep dive
Microsoft reported a net income of $38.5 billion on revenues of $81.3 billion in the quarter ending December 31. Those figures represent gains of 60 percent and 17 percent, respectively, year-over-year
Earnings analysis: All eyes are on AI and no one is happy
Microsoft spent $37.5 billion on AI infrastructure (capex) in the quarter, up 66 percent YOY, and it's on track to spend $150+ billion in the fiscal year
Every single question was about this and how it will ever recoup the costs
There are now 15 million paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats out of 450+ million Microsoft 365 seats
OpenAI is Microsoft's biggest Azure customer, but it's unclear if there is any real money there because of accounting tricks
Windows, Edge, and Bing all "gained share," PC maker revenues were up just 1 percent, the Windows 10 upgrade cycle was mostly a bust (it's likely that most of it was tied to RAM pricing fears, too)
Xbox fell off a cliff with content and services revenues down 5 percent in a holiday quarter somehow and Xbox hardware revenue declined an astonishing 32 percent YOY
Standalone Office 2025 suite was a surprise hit, Hood is curious if that continues
Microsoft 365 "cost of business" up 10 percent YOY because of AI costs
AMD revenues up 34 percent to $10.3 billion
Apple delivers record revenues of $143.8 billion; iPhone made more revenues by itself than all of Microsoft
AI
Microsoft is going to basically make an app store for content makers who wish to be paid for use by AI
Anthropic advertises that Claude will be advertising-free, unlike ChatGPT
The next Firefox will include the promised AI kill switch and Vivaldi "extends the middle fingerˮ to AI
Xbox and games
AMD reveals next Xbox console in 2027
We're getting a solid collection of Xbox Game Pass titles for the beginning of February
Battlefield 6 was the best-selling shooter of 2025 and EA made $1.9 billion in Q4
Epic Games has big plans for its PC launcher/store
Nintendo has now sold 17 million Switch 2s as OG Switch hits 155 million units
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Make OneDrive Folder Backup work for you
App pick of the week: Bitwarden (TWiT sponsor)
RunAs Radio this week: Getting Started using Purview with Erica Toelle
Brown liquor pick of the week: Glendronach Ode to
These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/969 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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Microsoft's Patch Tuesday blunder triggers emergency fixes, surprise layoffs ripple through Amazon, and the crew debates whether rapid AI advances spell the end of traditional apps. Also, password managers do a lot more than manage passwords, so there's one thing everyone needs to get right.
Windows 11
Dev splits from Beta, tests what will surely be 26H1 - After last week's show, Microsoft did issue that same Beta build in the Dev channel for some reason
Dev and Beta get same fixes in different builds, but no new features
24H2 and 25H2 Release Preview update(s) are a peek at the next Patch Tuesday, lots of changes
January Patch Tuesday update was so terrible it required two emergency fixes, the second of which went out late Sunday
Earnings/industry
Intel falls flat in Q4, full year 2025 despite U.S. "investment"
Amazon lays off 16,000 employees
Microsoft, Apple, earnings this week, Alphabet, Amazon are next week
AI
Microsoft announces Maia 200 AI datacenter processor
Like Baldric in Black Adder, Apple has a cunning plan for an AI Siri
With AI costs soaring, cheaper new AI plans appear somehow
OpenAI was last week with big expansion of ChatGPT Go
Google does the same this week with AI Plus plan
OpenAI, Anthropic (this week), others are adding "apps" to their chatbots
Microsoft is exposing app features as AI Actions in Windows 11
Paul opined that this semantic/programmatic capability was the end of apps
But we can now essentially vibe-code our own custom apps - this is vaguely reminiscent of the home computer/DIY era, but without the technical knowledge requirements
The age of native apps is over, at least on desktop. Will mobile fall next?
Dev
Microsoft introduces the Windows App Development (winapp) CLI. For some reason
Xbox and gaming
Microsoft refreshes the Xbox Cloud Gaming web experience — bigger changes coming?
Fable is coming to Xbox, PC, PS5 in late 2026
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Choose a single password manager, make your life easier
App pick of the week: Proton Pass
RunAs Radio this week: Business Process Automation in 2026 with Ian Cooper
Brown liquor pick of the week: Tullibardine 18

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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This week, the hosts go deep on out-of-band updates, unwanted "innovations," and the uneasy cost of tech's latest gold rush. Plus, securing a Microsoft account is not as hard as some think, and neither are passkeys once you get past the jargon. And for developers, AI Dev Gallery offers a fascinating glimpse at what you can do for free with AI used against a CPU, GPU, or NPU.
Windows 11
Microsoft issues an emergency fix for a borked Windows Update. Right. A fix for a fix.
Hell freezes over, if only slightly: Microsoft quietly made some positive changes to forced OneDrive Folder Backup. Donʼt worry, itʼs still forced (and appears to be opt-in, but isnʼt). But you can back out more elegantly. So itʼs opt-out, not opt-in, but a step forward. Plus, a new behavior
Windows 11 on Arm PCs can now download games from the Xbox app (previously only through the Insider program)
Over 85 percent of Xbox games on PC work in WOA now
Prism emulator now supports AVX and AVX2 and Epic Anti-Cheat, and there is a new Windows Performance Fit feature offering guidance on which titles should play well.
Beta: New 25H2 build with account dialog modernization, Click to Do and desktop background improvements. Not for Dev, suggesting itʼs about to move to 26H1
Notepad and Paint get more features yet again. Notably, these updates are for Dev and Canary only, suggesting these might be 26Hx features (then again, versions don't matter, right?)
AI
Just say no: To AI, to Copilot, and to Satya Nadella
Our national nightmare is over: You can now (easily) hide Copilot in Microsoft Edge
ChatGPT Go is now available worldwide, ads are on the way because of course
Wikipedia partners with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, more on AI
Xbox & gaming
January Xbox Update brings Game Sync Indicator, more
Solid second half of January for Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft will likely introduce a free, ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier because of course
Tips & picks
Tip of the week: Secure your Microsoft account
App pick of the week: AI Dev Gallery
RunAs Radio this week: Ideation to Implementation with Amber Vandenburg
Liquor pick of the week: Estancia Raicilla
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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Satya Nadella gave up much of his CEO duties in 2025. Are we on the cusp of a new CEO? And does some money manager/political duo like Amy Hood and Brad Smith actually make more sense in this role than an engineer-type for the modern Microsoft?
Microsoft is trying to win our hearts and minds on AI
After spending three years trying to jam AI down our collective throats, Microsoft has only met resistance. Now, the real marketing begins
Governments and regulators: Microsoft will build out its AI infrastructure by actually paying for it and respecting the communities in which this happens
Customers: Satya Nadella is blogging, and he wants us to stop complaining about AI. He's the wrong messenger
Windows 11
First Patch Tuesday of 2026 brings security and bug fixes but no new features
First update of 2026 brings Copilot-powered image descriptions in Narrator, new IT policies for Copilot, other changes to Dev & Beta
Dev is about to switch to 26H1
IDC says that PC sales rose 8.1 percent in 2025, warns again about 2026
The good & bad of Paul's Panther Lake laptop
Dell doesn't sell any PCs to consumers so it obviously has opinions about why consumers don't buy PCs for AI
Microsoft will soon retire its Lens mobile app
AI
Apple predictably partners with Google to bring Gemini to Siri
Samsung correctly points out we're all using AI already so there's no reason to complain about it
We can't trust AI, so Microsoft is letting Copilot go shopping with our credit cards
We can't trust AI, so OpenAI is giving ChatGPT access to our private health data
Gmail is getting more AI because email is the low-hanging fruit of data collection
Xbox and gaming
Developer Direct returns on January 22 with Fable and Forza 6 gameplay
Microsoft to bring Avowed to PS5 in February
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Kick off 2026 with a security checkup
App pick of the week: Microsoft Local Foundry
RunAs Radio this week: Azure in 2026 with Jeremy Winter
Brown liquor pick of the week: Don Julio 70
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly 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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PC makers are shaking up CES with wild designs and next-gen chips, but the real story is Microsoft's bold software moves, AI's hardware hunger, and a candid debate over whether any tech company still puts users first. Come for the Windows updates, stay for the whisky warnings and robot bathroom assistants.
CES 2026 is here with the 4K hummingbird feeder of your dreams
New PCs and more from HP consumers/commercial, HP gamers, Lenovo, others
The first official Copilot+ PC desktops
Snapdragon X2 Plus joins X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme
Intel Panther Lake has meaningful CPU and graphics performance gains, but predictable reliability issues
AMD Ryzen AI 400 series is a minor bump
Windows
Paul was the first to report that Microsoft is refactoring it all with Rust
A Microsoft distinguished engineer wrote about his desire to refactor all C/C++ code in the company with Rust by 2030
Some mistook this to mean "rewriting Windows with Rust,ˮ so he had to issue a clarification. But I never wrote that.
Heads-up: That will happen, but this is really about Azure first and the core underlying code in Microsoftʼs most important platforms
Microsoft released hardware-accelerated BitLocker in late 2025 and never told anyone. It requires the latest PC CPUs
Copilot app update that adds text editing actions to Copilot Vision across channels
Dev and Beta got first previews of AI agents on the Taskbar, starting with the Researcher agent, plus underlying Agent Launchers experience
IDC says the global memory shortage (thanks, AI!) could screw up PC and smartphone growth this year
AI
ChatGPT now has an app store, but it has a ways to go
Mozilla Firefox will have a "killswitchˮ for AI
Our national nightmare will soon be over, LG will let users remove Copilot app from their smart TVs
Xbox and gaming
First Xbox Game Pass releases of 2026 include Resident Evil Village and Star Wars Outlaws
Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to Hisense smart TVs and to the latest Fire TV smart TVs
GOG goes independent, will continue DRM-free push
"Have a blastˮ and other FPS throwbacks from the 1990s
Valve quietly killed the LCD Steam Deck model
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Itʼs time to give Little AI a look
App pick of the week: Bonjourr
RunAs Radio this week: What AI can do for SysAdmins in 2026 with Cecilia Wiren
Brown liquor pick of the week: The Singleton of Dufftown 12
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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This isn't your usual Windows Weekly. Pour a glass and settle in as Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell ditch the headlines for whisky-soaked tech stories, behind-the-scenes Microsoft confessions, and the unexpected joys (and disasters) of vintage hardware. These are the tales you only hear when the mics are (almost) off.
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
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The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
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We were inundated with new Windows features in 2025, but which ones actually moved the needle? Fortnite isn't just back on iPhone and Android, it's available on Windows 11 on Arm, and it works great! Plus, 2 big mobile wins for Epic Games and some thoughts on the "right" way to roll out AI features.Windows 11
Best Windows 11 updates of 2025, in no particular order...
Dark mode improvements to File Explorer
Widgets major overhaul with separate widgets and Discovery feed
Xbox Full Screen experience - especially good on handhelds, of course, but also any PC you use for gaming with a controller
Click to Do (Copilot+ PC only)
External fingerprint reader support for Windows Hello ESS
-External/USB webcams supported by Windows Studio Effects (Copilot+ PC only)
Quick Machine Recovery is the tip of a wave of new foundational features like Admin Protection, Smart App Control (updates), and more that go beyond surface-level look and feel
Redesigned Start menu isn't perfect but it's a nice improvement
Copilot Vision, though this type of thing may make more sense on phones
AI features in Paint, Photos, Notepad, and Snipping Tool
Natural language interactions like the agent in Settings, file search, and more (mostly Copilot+ PC only, but you can do this in Copilot as well)
Bluetooth LE support for improved audio quality in game chat, voice calls
Gaming on Windows 11 on Arm and Snapdragon X: Major steps forward, but the same issue as always
Looking ahead to 2026: 26H1, Agentic features that work, potential Windows 12, and AI PCs
AI
An extensive new interview with Mustafa Suleyman confirms why this guy is special and how confusing it is that Copilot is so disrespected
Microsoft Copilot is auto-installing on LG smart TVs and there's no way to remove it
GPT-5.2 is OpenAI's answer to Gemini 3
ChatGPT Images is OpenAI's answer to Nano Banana Pro
Disney invests $1 billion OpenAI, sues Google
Opera Neon is now generally available for $20 per month
AI is moving quick as we all know but the bigger issue may be the incessant marketing about features like agents that don't even work now
Microsoft is getting pushback on forced Copilot usage, price hikes
Google is expanding its use of "experiments" outside of mainstream products with things like NotebookLM, Mixboard, CC, and much more. Maybe this is the better approach: Test separately and then integrate it into existing products
Oddly enough, Microsoft does have a Windows AI Lab for this kind of experimentation
Many small models vs. one big LLM in the cloud
Mobile
Fortnite is back in the Google Play Store in the U.S. as Google plays nice
Apple loses its contempt appeal, the end of "junk fees" (Apple Tax) is in sight
Xbox and gaming
Xbox December Update has one big update for the mobile app and one big update for Xbox Wireless Headphones
There's a new Xbox Developer Direct coming in January
Half-Life 3 may really be happening, but it will be a Steam Machine launch title so it could be a while
Tips & picks
Tip of the year: De-enshittify Windows 11
App pick of the year: Fortnite
RunAs Radio this week: Zero Trust in 2026 with Michele Bustamante
Brown liquor pick of the week: Lark Symphony No. 1
These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/963 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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