Windows Weekly 1005: Nicely Frosted
Microsoft's latest Windows event left even diehard enthusiasts scratching their heads, with new AI-powered hardware and "RTX Spark" PCs getting top billing but little clear reason for anyone to buy them. If you're wondering what actually matters in the world of AI PCs. or why no one can explain it, you're not alone.
Windows
We need to talk about last week's Windows event... what the heck was this?
Lots of Windows, lots of Surface, a little bit of ecosystem, confusing local AI story, no major new end user features that are unique to RTX Spark, a weird Osborne Effect for RTX Spark, and a stunning lack of self-awareness combine for one of the weirder Microsoft events in memory
The RTX Spark era begins this week. How is this different from Copilot+ PC?
Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big milestone
Minor changes for 24H2, 25H2, 26H2
Big changes for 26H1
This is the first Patch Tuesday for 26H2, the last one for 24H2 (Home, Pro)
1400+ security fixes, a new record(!!) - This is almost 15x the normal number of patches
ASUS allows reviewers to show unboxing, so here's the RTX Spark-based ASUS ProArt P16
PC market fell over 20 percent in Q3 as component crisis takes its toll
Googlebooks suck, and everyone is finally noticing what I reported last week. But there is another, and it's an unexpected option
Tiny11 Builder gets a major update with a WinUI makeover
AI/dev
This has been the most exciting week in AI advances since this era kicked off in February 2023
ArtCraft releases impressive clones of the top 7 Adobe Creative Cloud apps
ArtCraft is also working at replacing Microsoft Office, with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint clones so far - Also clones of AutoCAD and Audacity(?)/audio editor
Google Playground lets anyone create a game that you can share with anyone
Google AI Studio now lets anyone vibe-code Android and web apps, and you will soon be able to put them in the Google Play Store
Big changes to Microsoft 365 for consumers - Family/Premium loses 1 TB per user, goes to a single pool of 2 TB, but all users now share the same Copilot rights
Apple makes a long-overdue smart home push thanks to Siri AI finally making sense - New HomeView smart display is the star
.NET 11 heads to the finish line
XBOX and gaming
XBOX creates an XP division for non-game entertainment. They should have called it XBOX One, cough
Asha Sharma creates XBOX LABS team to explore how vibe coding changes gaming
Microsoft announces an XBOX Nano Controller
Forza Horizon 6 is coming to PS5 in January
GTA VI coming to the PC in early 2027
Epic Games vibe-coded its new launcher, and it's available in preview for Windows, Mac, and Linux
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Just make it
App pick of the week: ArtCraft for the win
RunAs Radio this week: Choosing Tools in M365 with Joy Apple
Brown liquor pick of the week: Bunnahabhain 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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