WW 877: The Tiger in the Grass - Backlash against tech criticism, Ralf Groene retires, Hardcore Software

Microsoft is promising to put security first, again. Three features have been added to Windows 11 Canary build 26212. Microsoft shuts down some game developer studios under its Xbox Games Studios, including a popular one that published Hi-Fi RUSH. And Playstation recinds PSN account requirement for Helldivers 2 on PC. Microsoft & Security Microsoft promises to put security first. Again. Microsoft adds passkey support to Microsoft accounts. Windows 11 Windows 11 Canary build 26212 adds three features from the beta channel. Microsoft starts controlled feature rollouts (CFRs) on Windows Insider dev channel. Microsoft acknowledges VPN connection issues on Windows 11 and Windows 10. More improvements to Tiny11 Builder. Arc for Windows shipped last week. Armed and Ready Apple announces M4 along with new iPad Pros. Qualcomm earnings flat, but big promises for current quarter. AI Better prompt writing is coming to Microsoft 365 Copilot. OpenAI is allegedly testing its replacement for Google Search. Microsoft allegedly testing LLM that challenges OpenAI. Xbox Microsoft shuts down more Xbox studios, triggering a new round of angst. Starfield is getting the 60 FPS support it should have had at launch on Xbox Series X. Nintendo has now sold over 141 million Switch consoles, promises Switch 2. Just kidding on the PSN account requirement for PC Helldivers 2. Tips and picks Tip of the week: Build Blogger Bash App pick of the week: DesktopGPT Plus: Proton Pass gets much-needed account protection features. RunAs Radio this week: Identity Governance with Jef Kazimer. Brown liquor pick of the week: Shelter Point Cask Strength Single Malt. 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. Sponsor: kolide.com/ww

FY24 Q3 Earnings, AI Explorer, Github Copilot Workspace Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/879 Sponsors: GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT - code TWIT30 cachefly.com/twit

Leo, Paul, and Richard steer towards the performance race as they speculate about how Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite/Plus PCs will compare to Apple Silicon MacBooks. What makes a laptop truly user-friendly? System reliability, UI consistency, battery life? Plus, the recent Fallout TV series, the practicality of using winget for browser installations, and how the ARM chipset switch is revving up the PC market. ARMed & ready Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon X Plus and confirms Paul's report that the Snapdragon X Elite will have three SKUs (product editions) All four SKUs outperform Apple M3, Intel Core Ultra 7/9, AMD Ryzen 9 7940/8945HS on most benchmarks Why? PC makers asked Qualcomm for familiar choices Previously, an X Plus-based Surface Pro 10 and an X Elite-based ThinkPad T40s leaked. Paul can now confirm from a source that Surface Laptop 6 (13 and 15-inch) and Surface Pro will all be on X (something} Vivaldi is bringing its browser to Windows on Arm too Windows 11 The April 2024 Week D preview update is here: Recommended apps and frequently used apps in Start, Widgets icon updates, Lock screen widgets improvements Canary: Moves off 24H2 train to build 26200, no more switch to Dev, minor changes to the Widgets board and Taskbar (no new build for Dev) Beta: New Widgets design with navigation bar, new account manager in Start, Gmail in Share, MSA recovery advertisement, and new Game Pass recommendation card in Settings Microsoft Store app downloads from the web get simpler, more sophisticated After yet another Quest 2 Headset price cut, and mounting problems for Apple's Vision Pro, Meta opens up Horizon OS, Microsoft is sort-of on board Microsoft 365/Dev Office LTSC 2024 commercial is now available in preview Classic Teams rides off into the sunset on July 1 Dropbox offers deeper Microsoft 365 integration GitHub sees success in 2FA push AI The European Commission will not formally investigate Microsoft/OpenAI partnership Microsoft released a new SLM Microsoft gives a sneak peek of VASA-1, a crazy and scary "talking faces" AI tool Google copies Microsoft again, announces massive AI reorg - that has Pixel fans worried Adobe's generative AI image capabilities are predictably fantastic Xbox Get an Xbox Mastercard in the US, if you're a tool Microsoft announces IGN x ID@Xbox digital showcase - indie games Tips & Picks Tip of the week: Have you heard the one joke about the one time you need to use Edge? App pick of the week: Tiny11 Builder RunAs Radio this week: PowerShell 7.4 with Sydney Smith Brown liquor pick of the week: GlenKinchie 12 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. Sponsors: kolide.com/ww GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT - code TWIT30

Backlash against tech criticism, Ralf Groene retires, Hardcore Software Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/877 Sponsors: GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT - code TWIT30 kolide.com/ww Melissa.com/twit

On this episode, Paul shares his thoughts on the Snapdragon X Elite chip with Leo and Richard. Windows 11 24H2, AI, NPUs, and SoCs from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm are all on the way this year. But a schedule is finally starting to emerge. And it looks like we'll soon have answers to the questions about how or why AI will matter on PCs. Windows, AI, and the future Windows 11 version 24H2 - staggered release schedule as discussed last week Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-based PCs in May/June - nothing but good news to date, but Paul went hands-on last week. It's the real deal. Intel's first-gen Core Ultra chipsets are lackluster, but now we have big promises for Arrow Lake in late 2024 Microsoft Build 2024 is in mid-May, and now we have a session list with some nice clues. For example, Introducing the Next Generation of Windows on Arm Microsoft is expected to unveil 24H2 and new X Elite-based Surface PCs at Build Computex and other milestones, and then back-to-school and holiday selling periods Windows 11 Moment 5 arrives in stable with yesterday's Patch Tuesday (which is now called the General Availability channel, by the way). Of course, we still don't have all the features. In particular, waiting on Android phone as a webcam. IDC says PC market grew by 1.5 percent in Q1 and acts like it's the turnaround of the century Microsoft is manually blocking certain registry keys related to default browsers now: Apple-like non-EU belligerence or pragmatic protection of user choice? Why can't it be both? Beta channel (last week) - Copilot actions improvements New Store app update improvements performance dramatically The Windows 11 de-ensh*ttification experiments continue Does Windows 11 Enterprise solve the problem? No. So it's time to move on Hardware TSMC gets some of that sweet, sweet CHIPS Act money to expand its US operations AI Three AIs comparison Blockbuster report claims OpenAI/Microsoft, Google, and Meta stole content at scale to train AI Microsoft opens a new AI hub in London Google mulls charging for generative AI in Search Spotify lets user create AI playlists using text prompts now Brave brings Leo to iOS, so it's on all supported platforms now. And it added Leo to Brave Talk Premium too Google rebrands Studio Bot to Gemini in Android Studio, still in preview. This is their GitHub Copilot Xbox Microsoft rolls out April updates for Xbox consoles, Xbox app on PC Xbox reorgs, Kareem Choudhry leaves Microsoft A rumored game preservation team is too obvious not to be true Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Microsoft Store hosts its annual Spring Sale App picks of the week: Standard Notes & Beeper RunAs Radio this week: Securing AI with Sarah Young Brown liquor pick of the week: Dalwhinnie 15 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. Sponsor: cachefly.com/twit

Windows 11 version 24H2 is coming and you're not going to believe what happens next... and then again 6 months later Microsoft reveals Windows 10 Extended Security Updates pricing Paul reinstalled Windows 10 after three years on Windows 11. There's some good and some bad Multiple sources have revealed a staggered release schedule for Windows 11 version 24H2 Insider Builds Canary/Dev - Widgets improvements head out to more people Canary/Dev (today) - New build today with minor changes, bug fixes (24H2 RTM-ish?). Canary/Dev switch is ending soon Microsoft is moving Photos app to Windows App SDK (from UWP, presumably). Paul has theories Microsoft will move the Widgets button in Windows 11 if you put the Start button on the left Dropbox comes to the Microsoft Store in Windows 11. It only took 12 years AI Copilot for Microsoft 365 is getting many new features by the end of April Copilot for Microsoft 365 picks up priority ChatGPT-4 Turbo and no more conversation limits You can use ChatGPT without an account now, asterisk, asterisk Amazon concludes its $4 billion investment in Anthropic Opera is bringing local LLMs to Opera One web browser Google: Just kidding, non-Pro Pixel 8 will get Gemini Nano too, and you can suck on the performance issues Is Intel circling the drain? Antitrust The EU is predictably investigating Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon—for not complying with the DMA. Notably absent from that list? Microsoft. Which is unique among Big Tech in that it is being reasonable with DMA compliance and antitrust in general Microsoft debundles Teams from Office. Too little too late? Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 Basic picks up some new features A random Microsoft engineer found a backdoor lurking in a Linux utility and might have saved the world LinkedIn isn't just getting games, it's getting TikTok-style videos too .NET 7 EOL is coming. Is the .NET support schedule too aggressive? Xbox A MASSIVE LIST OF ACTIVISION GAMES ARE COMING TO GAME PASS! Just kidding, you're getting Shadow of the Tomb Raider, jerks Xbox is getting an AI-powered support agent. Huh. Kind of like a personal assistant then. If only they had a name for this thing Phil Spencer says he's open to rival games stores on Xbox Take-Two is buying (most of) Gearbox for $460 million. A Grand Theft Auto and Duke Nukem cross-over is inevitable Rumored white Xbox Series X emerges. White and discless? YOU'RE white and discless! Tips & Picks Tip of the week: You can still access legacy File Explorers in Windows 11 App pick of the week: Two for two RunAs Radio this week: Microsoft Copilot for Security with George Coldham Brown liquor pick of the week: Clonakilty 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. Sponsor: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

On Windows Weekly, Moment 5 has arrived as a Preview Update, Windows 10 gets a preview update, and Microsoft announces the Surface Pro 10 & Surface Laptop 6 for Business at a digital event. Designer and Copilot are coming to the Microsoft 365 mobile app. Would Microsoft develop a Windows-based gaming handheld device? And Canva acquires Affinity. Windows Moment 5 arrives as a Preview Update right on schedule - it's Week D, etc. Microsoft previously described this schedule in its DMA compliance documentation, and noted that it would be fully deployed in stable by the end of April. Quick raise of hands: Did you think this was already available? You're not alone. But ... you know. Microsoft. Oh, and there's a preview update for Windows 10 too. Because come on Microsoft. Don't worry, that lock screen nonsense in Windows 10 is coming to Windows 11 too. Qualcomm claims that most Windows games will "just work" on its X Elite processor. How? Chromium accepts Microsoft commit that will improve Chrome/Chromium text rendering on Windows. Google Chrome comes to Windows on Arm, instantly legitimatizing the platform. Surface Microsoft announces Surface Pro 10, Surface Laptop 6. For businesses, only - Intel Core Ultra-based. Consumer versions based on X Elite to follow in May, according to reliable rumors. It's first "AI PCs," supposedly. But now we know why they are using that terminology, and it's stupid. (Related, Intel has its own definitions for what makes a PC an AI PC.) This was billed as an AI event, "the new era of work," but there was NO news for Windows or Copilot. None. Why is that? One word: Momentum. AI In the wake of Microsoft AI reorg (a NeXT-style takeover), a key Microsoft exec says no and steps aside, will likely leave the company Microsoft Teams is gaining new AI capabilities because, duh, of course it is Designer and Copilot are coming to the Microsoft 365 mobile app - Two more checkmarks for that grid of Copilot capabilities Our developer show schedule is complete: Apple to host WWDC 2024 in June, following Google I/O and Build in May Samsung spreads Galaxy A1 to more devices starting tomorrow in the US Xbox It's finally happening: Diablo IV will be the first Activision Blizzard game on Xbox Game Pass when it goes live tomorrow. Phil Spencer says Windows is wrong for gaming handhelds, thinks an Xbox would be better. Xbox is testing mouse and keyboard support for Cloud Gaming. Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Arc browser just became more viable on Windows. App pick of the week: Affinity Photo 2 Also: Proton Pass now supports (portable) passkeys. And it's free. RunAs Radio this week: GitHub for SysAdmins with April Edwards. Brown liquor pick of the week: Stauning Kaos Danish Whisky. 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. Sponsors: zscaler.com/zerotrustAI kolide.com/ww GO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT

On this episode, Paul, Richard, and Mikah talk AI developments, Windows 10 (yes, 10), Azure egress, and even VR gaming! Is the new Microsoft AI organization an "acquisition" in disguise? How did NVIDIA's recent GTC keynote go? Plus, why it makes sense for Apple to partner with Google for Gemini on iPhone. AI Reorg Microsoft has created a new Microsoft AI "organization" that reports directly to Satya Nadella Led by former Inflection co-founders and staffed in part by several ex-Inflection employees Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, who orchestrated Microsoft's OpenAI partnership, will continue forward in his other role as executive vice president of AI and will remain responsible for Microsoft's overall AI strategy Mikhail Parakhin and the entire team responsible for Copilot, Bing, and Edge, plus Misha Bilenko and the GenAI team, will move into Microsoft AI. Rajesh Jha will continue as executive vice president of Experiences & Devices and will "partner closely with Mustafa and team" on Copilot for Microsoft 365. What does this mean for Windows? (Paul's guess: Not much. Windows is still presumably under Jha) Windows Windows 10 (Yes, 10, not 11) is getting new Sports, Traffic, and Finance cards on the lock screen for some reason No new Insider builds since last week! WHAAAAAT? Microsoft 365 No AI for you! Microsoft announces perpetual Office 2024 and Office 2024 LTSC for late 2024 AI for you! Microsoft 365 web apps now support Copilot Pro users Better AI for you! Free Copilot gets ChatGPT-4 Turbo (previously a paid feature) Microsoft follows Google and AWS, ends Azure egress fees - the other European Big Tech battleground AI Apple is almost certainly going to (try to) partner with Google on AI for iPhone How the F is Microsoft not part of this? Google I/O is set for May 14, Apple WWDC will be in June, both to focus on AI (duh) Microsoft to host "AI and Surface event" right before Build 2024 in May Nvidia is determined to not just ride the AI wave, but win it In the wake of a subtle rebranding, Google is bringing generative AI to Fitbit Amazon is bringing generative AI for product pages to sellers Xbox New games across Game Pass for the second half of March - including, for the first time, an Activision Blizzard title, Diablo IV Microsoft is killing the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox... though there is a Rewards tab on your Profile page. LinkedIn is experimenting with games because everything has to suck now Sony halts PSVR2 production because no one wants to pay $550 for VR on PS5 Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Steam Sale goes through tomorrow (March 21) App picks of the week: Stardock ObjectDock 3, Proton Mail native app, Firefox 124 RunAs Radio this week: From SysAdmin to Platform Engineer with Steve Buchanan Brown liquor pick of the week: Bull Run Oregon Single Malt Whiskey 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: zscaler.com/zerotrustAI Melissa.com/twit

Can we have a Windows experience tailored for enterprise efficiency? Paul, Richard, and Mikah unpack the freshest updates from Windows 11's March 2024 Patch Tuesday, dissect Microsoft's transparency behind Midnight Blizzard's November attack, and speculate on Microsoft's much-anticipated Surface/AI event. Plus, Paul offers insights from his time with Copilot Pro's custom GPT builder. Windows 11 Patch Tuesday new features: Phone Link settings is renamed to Mobile devices, USB 80 Gbps support, more - Windows 10 users get some love (hate?) too Microsoft confirms that Moment 5 will be delivered in the March preview update, fully deployed in late April Microsoft details how it is changing Windows in the EU - and now we all want to move to the EU Beta (last week): New Copilot actions experiment Dev and Canary: Unified Teams experience, Copilot updates to more people, Power Automate via Copilot in Windows, Live Captions quick settings tile, progress bars in Taskbar icons, File Explorer file copy improvements, etc Beta (today): Most frequently used apps now appear in Recommended Microsoft Microsoft continues to dribble out details about that Russia-sponsored hack and the news is predictably getting worse each time We have an event! March 21st will focus on Copilot, Windows, and Surface AI Microsoft brings Custom GPT Builder to Copilot Pro subscribers Here comes Copilot for Security. April 1 rollout is perfect Teams app developers get AI capabilities via a free Microsoft toolkit Opera Feature Drops to bring new AI features early to Opera One EU moves to the AI Act Microsoft 365 Microsoft finally spells out its commercial deployment schedule/plans for the new Outlook. Let the complaining continue Skype is updated with new Channels features, prompting questions about Skype still being alive Parallels Desktop for Mac is updated with Clipboard and game improvements for Windows VMs Xbox Some Activision QA works vote to unionize More Microsoft Studio titles come to Boosteroid, that service you only heard of because of the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard Tips & Picks Tip of the week: Time zone math App pick of the week: Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is now available! Plus, Joplin (a Notion alternative) RunAs Radio this week: Understanding Large Language Models with Jodie Burchell Brown liquor pick of the week: Bushmills 21 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. Sponsor: cachefly.com/twit

This week, Paul, Richard, and Leo unpack the twice-delayed unveiling of Moment 5 for Windows 11 and the long list of small features it brings to users, alongside whispers of new Surface devices on the horizon. Plus, they dissect the implications of Elon Musk's critical eye on OpenAI and the captivating prospect of upscaling classic adventure games via DirectSR. "Moment 5" Moment 5 is here. Sort of. In preview. Well, some features This was supposed to happen before last week's Windows Weekly, but the announcement was delayed twice Windows 11 Microsoft quietly reveals that it is killing the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), triggering two reactions: "Who cares?" and "Why?" Beta: Controversial new mouse hover experience for Copilot Dell had double-digit revenue declines in Q4, all of 2024 HP revenues fell 4.8 percent in Q1 Surface Rumor: Microsoft to launch Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 soon, with both Intel Core Ultra and Snapdragon X Elite variants AI Microsoft engineer continues to raise disturbing issues with Copilot Microsoft Edge picks up two new AI features: Video highlights and screenshot integration Copilot is coming to OneDrive (commercial) and Microsoft 365 mobile app Microsoft announces Copilot for Finance Microsoft files motion to dismiss parts of the NYT's copyright suite, compares AI to a Betamax machine. Maybe not the smartest comparison Elon Musk sues OpenAI because something something ChatGPT picks up a Read Aloud feature. Is there anything AI can't do?? Anthropic announces a three-tier Claude 3 family of LLMs with the usual claims Apple releases the M3-based MacBook Air. Or should we call it the MacBook AIr? Brave brings Leo AI to Android app Xbox Microsoft comes clean on DirectSR, will say more soon Xbox Partner Preview event today - Final Fantasy XIV, STALKER Original Trilogy, more announced MLB The Show 24, more come to Xbox Game Pass in March Linux exceeds 4 percent usage share for the first time. Is this the "SteamDeck" effect? Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Twitter user? Disable this new feature immediately App picks of the week: LibreOffice, Vivaldi, Anytype RunAs Radio this week: Upgrading TLS with Scott Helme Brown liquor pick of the week: Hornitos Black Barrel 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. Sponsor: kolide.com/ww