Windows Weekly (MP3)

Microsoft's FY23 Q4, Zenbleed vulnerability, Nearby Share for Windows

Microsoft Earnings

Microsoft had another blockbuster quarter. What else is new?
Fiscal quarter: a net income of $20.1 billion on revenues of $56.2 billion. Those figures represent year-over-year (YOY) gains of 20 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Intelligent Cloud was again Microsoft's biggest business unit, delivering $24 billion in revenues (up 15 percent YOY) on the strength of server and cloud services revenue growth of 17 percent. Azure and other cloud services grew 26 percent YOY, and Enterprise Mobility saw its installed base grow by 11 percent to over 256 million seats.
Productivity and Business Processes was Microsoft's second-biggest business, with $18.3 billion in revenues, a gain of 10 percent YOY. Here, Microsoft reported that Office commercial revenue was up 12 percent, Office 365 commercial revenues were up 15 percent, and Office consumer revenues were up 3 percent. Microsoft 365 consumer subscribers grew 12 percent to 67 million customers.
More Personal Computing once again brought up the rear, with $13.9 billion in revenues, a decline of 4 percent YOY. Windows revenues from PC makers declined 12 percent. Surface (and HoloLens, but really just Surface) revenues were down 20 percent YOY, as that product line continues to struggle. Gaming revenue overall was up 1 percent, with Xbox hardware revenues down 13 percent YOY and Xbox content and services revenues up 5 percent, "driven by growth in third-party content and Xbox Game Pass."

AI Stuff

Top AI companies agree to safeguards (just not for privacy).
Microsoft opens up Bing Chat to users on Chrome and Safari.
ChatGPT for Android is available in the U.S. to handle all your mobile AI needs.
GitHub Copilot Chat is now available in Beta, stage one of the transition to GitHub Copilot X.

Apple is rumored to be working on its own ChatGPT.

Windows

This just in: Preview cumulative update for 22H2 arrives a day late.
Insider: Microsoft tests 23H2 features in the Beta channel.
AMD to fix Zenbleed vulnerability.
Microsoft could release a Surface Studio Laptop 2 this year.
U.S. Army to test upgraded HoloLens soon.

Activision Blizzard

Paul looked at how the Activision Blizzard acquisition will impact its quarterly financials. Not much, actually.
Chief regulators from the FTC and CMA have spoken a bit publicly about their mishandled Microsoft cases.
Mirroring what happened with the CMA last week, the FTC ended an internal trial against Microsoft so the sides can reach a settlement.

Xbox

Microsoft starts rolling out YAHE (yet another home experience)
Google Play Games for PC expands

Blizzard is bringing key titles to Steam

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Clipchamp's hidden gems
App pick of the week: Nearby Share for Windows
RunAs Radio this week: Future of Integrated Communication with Bob Serr
Brown liquor pick of the week: Bottles!

Hosts: Leo Laporte , Paul Thurrott , and Richard Campbell

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It's happening! Microsoft will absolutely acquire Activision Blizzard

An amazing (ahem) blizzard of activity on the acquisition front leaves Microsoft on the verge of consummating this deal. It's amazing how much has happened since last week.
FTC appealed its court loss and was immediately defeated again
UK CMA extends deadline for its review of Microsoft's new concessions
Microsoft and Sony agree to a Call of Duty deal (!) - not clear if it's for 10 years
UK court formally pauses CMA block of AB acquisition so the two sides can negotiate
Microsoft and Activision agreed to extend the acquisition deadline to October 18 to accommodate the CMA

Windows

Windows 11 23H2 will be deployed as an enablement package, virtually providing our theories that 23H2 = Moment 4.
Tied to this, Microsoft finally explains how it updates Windows now, literally 8 years after the release of Windows 10. It's easy to be cynical, but a Microsoft whitepaper offers a lot of overdue transparency about updating
Insider Program: New Dev build today. Passwordless for Windows Hello Business, local file sharing improvements, Outlook now an inbox app
Insider Program: New Beta and Release Preview builds out last week.
Beta is 23H2. Galley view in Explorer, new Paint app
Release Preview is 22H2, just fixes
The NUC lives!
Microsoft has a new font

An AI told you so

Microsoft announces Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing (for commercial) and it is exactly as expensive as we warned
Bing Chat adds visual search support
Bill Gates dismisses the dangers of AI. "We've done this before."
FTC is investigating OpenAI

Xbox

Xbox Game Pass Core to replace Xbox Live Gold in September
The next Game Pass titles for July
Game Pass Friends and Family Preview is ending in August
More fun retro gaming as Anstream Arcade is coming to Xbox on July 21

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Enable passkeys in GitHub
Book of the week: John Romero wrote a book
RunAs this week: Securing Sprawling Services with Karinne Bessette
Brown liquor pick of the week: Glenfarclas 12

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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MICROSOFT BEATS FTC IN DRAMATIC FASHION

Judge throws out FTC's request to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard
For once, common sense prevails
FTC threatens to appeal, but legal experts say this will fail
UK CMA (sort of) realizes the error of its ways and will renegotiate with Microsoft and then later said it may require a new investigation because they are terrible
Just a quick note about an old friend: AdDuplex is shutting down
Amazon is first Big Tech firm to legally challenge EU's new anti-Big Tech laws

Windows

Microsoft releases Moment 3 for the fourth time
Insider: New Canary build (today) brings new features from Dev, Arm32 deprecation, etc.
Amazon Appstore for Windows 11 is now generally available
Microsoft Edge now blocks spam pop-ups. Finally, a reasonable Edge feature
Intel is killing the NUC, will exit the PC business

Cloud/Enterprise

Microsoft is renaming Azure AD to Entra ID

Former original NT team member burns bridges as he leaves Google for second time

Dev

Microsoft is bringing .NET MAUI is coming to Visual Studio Code
Microsoft Dev Box is generally available
Raspberry Pi open-sources its Code Editor
GitHub announced the public beta of passkey authentication

Xbox

Digital Eclipse is going to release a series of interactive classic video documentaries on Xbox

Xbox introduces new voice reporting feature to help battle online toxicity

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: You can get a $1 Game Pass trial again
App pick of the week: Nostalgia (for Intellivision)
RunAs Radio this week: Windows 11 Deployment with Johan Arwidmark
Brown liquor pick of the week: Smooth Ambler Old Scout

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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EU's Big Tech gatekeepers, AI-powered shopping tools, Windows Copilot Preview

The EU officially identified the first Big Tech "gatekeepers" that will be held to a higher regulatory standard, and Microsoft made the list.
Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook (Meta)
Plus, TikTok owner ByteDance (?) and Samsung
Booking.com says it was notified it will be on the next list for some reason too
What is the standard? What are the penalties for non-compliance?
Microsoft to face EU antitrust investigation after discussions break down.

Windows

Microsoft JUST makes its self-imposed June deadline, releases first public preview of Windows Copilot to (some) Windows Insiders.
Windows Copilot hands-on
Windows 365 Frontline exits preview

AI

Microsoft adds new AI-powered shopping tools to Bing and Edge. I'm sure they won't just recommend Microsoft products.
Google changes its privacy policy, admits it will scrape the Internet to train its models

Hardware

Hybrids bridge the gap between the new and the old, and they're all around us. In personal tech, the laptop was an early hybrid, but today's hybrids—like folding smartphones—are getting interesting and are inarguably the future of the premium, and then the mainstream, smartphone market. So much for "right tool for the job."

Xbox

Nadella claims he wants videogame exclusives to go away. This explains why Microsoft has purchased so man game studios, and why its wants Activision Blizzard. Somehow.
What would a "mobile-native" version of Game Pass look like? And how could Microsoft get past the mobile gatekeepers?
Microsoft announces its July Xbox Games with Gold titles
Microsoft also announced its first Game Pass titles for July

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week #1: Enable Windows Copilot (Preview)
Tip of the week #2: Get Office 365 for IT Pros 2024 Edition for $10 off
App pick of the week #1: Stella
App pick of the week #2: Firefox 115
RunAs this week: Power Platform Proliferation with Luise Freese
Brown Liquor this week: Dewars 12

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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Microsoft/FTC hearings reveal numerous details about the Xbox business

The FTC's economist could not explain how the acquisition would actually harm competition
The FTC bungled its questioning of Phil Spencer so badly that he had to explain how mergers work to the agency.
Microsoft decided to pursue AB after it learned that Sony was paying publishers to skip Xbox and that it was trying to make Starfield exclusive to PlayStation
A Bethesda executive asked Phil Spencer why AB was so different, noting that some Bethesda titles became Xbox exclusives
Phil Spencer says that Microsoft "expects" Xbox to be profitable, but he never said that it ever was. Its continual third-place finishes in the console market is what kicked off Microsoft's game studio buying spree: Sony was outspending it on exclusives
Phil Spencer also admitted to what I think is Xbox's biggest failure, it's lack of an "organic" strategy for mobile.
Spencer: there is no native Minecraft on PS5 because Sony. (Related: if Microsoft buys AB, Sony will not give AB advanced access to PS6)
Xbox Cloud Gaming was promoted as a way to get Xbox in front of 3 billion more eyeballs, but it's been used as a way for Xbox console users to test new games before they buy them.
Sony's PlayStation boss came off badly during the hearings.
Microsoft considered "spending Sony out of business." If this deal fails, it should do just that
AB demanded a better revenue share and threatened to pull COD off Xbox otherwise. They had no choice, so AB gets an 80/20 revenue split instead of the usual 70/30. Blackmail!
Microsoft considered buying over 100 separate companies to gain a foothold in mobile gaming (and overall). Key among them are Zynga, Bungie, Sega, CD Projekt Red, and Gearbox

Windows 11

Deja vu: Microsoft issues Windows 11 version 22H2 Moment 3 as a preview update
A quick update on that new switch in Windows Update
Welcome to the nanny state: Windows 11 just can't stop telling us how to do things
Microsoft wants to bring Cloud PC to consumers for some reason
DuckDuckGo's web browser is here for Windows in beta. It's as safe and private as Brave, but it is still lacking too many core features for daily use

Microsoft and AI

ChatGPT adds Bing integration in iOS
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks about his AI conversion

Xbox

Meta launches a VR Quest+ subscription service
Google is bringing games to YouTube

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: Xbox Series X/S storage hits lowest prices ever
App pick of the week: Stardock Deskscapes 11
RunAs Radio this week: Patching in 2023 with Sami Laiho
Brown liquor pick of the week: Green Spot:

Regular - 40% - $50

Leoville Barton - 46% - Bordeaux - $100

Chateau Montelana - 46% - Zinfandel - $100

Quails Gate - 46% - Pinot Noir - $100 CAD

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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Microsoft squares off against the FTC

On Thursday, Microsoft will face off against the FTC in its bid to acquire Activision Blizzard. But the FTC has proven that it does not understand its role as an enforcer of US antitrust laws. The FTC should lose this case, paving the way for an immediate acquisition. The CMA can go F itself.
NZ may be stepping in soon too

More Moment 3 confusion

This week, Microsoft issued Moment 3 to the Windows 11 Insider Program Release Preview Program
This is odd because Microsoft released Moment 3 to stable last week
We need to talk about Chat in Windows 11
New Beta channel builds with changes to notifications and Wi-Fi Hotspot
Intel unveils branding changes for its processors - there's no "i" in "Core"

New (new) Outlook confusion

Microsoft announces that it will replace Mail and Calendar in Windows 11 with the new Outlook in late 2024. Smart!
The world freaks out for some reason
Microsoft quickly recants, will "re-evaluate" this decision

AI & Cloud

Google files complaint to FTC about Microsoft's cloud contracts
Microsoft: June outages were cyberattacks

Opera says it has released the first-ever "AI-native" web browser

Xbox

Incoming price hike for Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft stops making Xbox One games
Halo Infinite Season 4 is here
More games are heading to Xbox Game pass in the second half of June
Microsoft will host an ID@Xbox Showcase on July 11

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Try the new Outlook now
App pick of the week: Amiga Forever 10
RunAs Radio this week: Windows Update for Business with Aria Carley
Brown liquor pick of the week: Mortlach 12

Hosts: Paul Thurrott , Richard Campbell , and Mikah Sargent

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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Cortana's Windows death, 3 months with no Xbox, thoughts on WWDC23

Developer Story

As the developer conference season winds down with WWDC, a look at how Apple, Google, and Microsoft are both similar to and different from each other
Hololens flashbacks anyone?

Windows

She's dead, Jim: Microsoft kills Cortana in Windows 10, 11 - this is all about marketing
Teams for Windows (consumer) gets new features that no one will notice either
Windows Insider Preview: Microsoft Paint gets Dark mode support (FINALLY) and more in Canary and Dev
Canary: New build brings SMB signing requirement (Enterprise ed only), camera app troubleshooting (plus new build today)
Dev (new): redesigned Home view for File Explorer, modernized address bar and search box, Dynamic Lighting settings
Dev: File Explorer tabs and gallery view improvements, Add Phone Photos button for setting up OneDrive camera roll
Beta: WPA3 support in Phone Link, fixes
Microsoft Edge arrives with Workspaces (but not the new UI)
Brave finally gets vertical tabs
One week after HP, Dell posts 20 percent revenue fall

Xbox

Well, Paul finally did it: 3 months without Xbox
WD Xbox Series X|S expansion cards start at just $80
Minecraft comes to chromebooks
Microsoft was fined $20 million by the FTC for collecting kids' data (Amazon was fined $25 million)
Report explains why Redfall failed. (It sucks)
Apple brings Windows games to macOS using Wine-based toolkit

Amazon kills Luna app on Windows and Mac, focuses on web. Are we facing a Stadia moment now?

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: Passkeys come to Google Workspace accounts too
Tip of the week #2: Get the updated Windows 11 22H2 ISO
RunAs Radio this week: Microsoft Sentinel with Sarah Young
Brown liquor pick of the week: Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 14

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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One more look back at Build

Microsoft talked a lot about what's coming to Windows, was vague on the timing. Speaking of vague, Microsoft gave the impression that there were "1 billion" Windows 11 users. There are not.
Paul can confirm that Panos Panay was purposefully sidelined.
Dev Drive: excellent. Dev Home: Eh. Windows Copilot, Winget config: maybe
A theory about 23H2 = Moment 4

Windows 11

New Insider Preview builds.
Canary: Microsoft Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies on Windows on ARM.
Dev: Dev Drive, Windows Backup, never combine in Taskbar.
Beta: Minor changes.
Don't forget that Moment 3 arrives next week.
Hackers fully crack Windows XP activation.
HP revenues fall 22 percent as PC market doldrums continue.
Intel CEO discusses "serious leadership issues" at Intel and the rocky turnaround.

Surface

Surface Pro X camera just stops working, so Microsoft issues a temporary fix.

Xbox

Margrethe Vestager discusses the UK CMA and Activision Blizzard.
New Games for Gold titles - Adios is available now, and on Windows too (a first?).
New Game Pass titles.
Xbox app gets May update.
Google Play Games for PC Beta comes to Europe, New Zealand.

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Get started on what's next for Windows 11
App pick of the week: Greenshot, ImageGlass, VLC
RunAs Radio this week: Azure Sticker Shock with Aidan Finn
Brown liquor pick of the week: Crown Royal Northern Rye Harvest

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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Build 2023 key(note) takeaways, Neeva shutting down, Leo updates to Moment 3

Microsoft Build 2023

Microsoft's keynotes are a combination of marketing and developer talk and that stands in sharp contrast to how Google and Apple handle their developer shows. It's good and bad, but Microsoft's keynotes must be mostly boring and/or pointless to mainstream users.
Microsoft announces Windows Co-pilot, with yet another Taskbar button and a new sidebar
Dev Home is a dashboard for developers with ReFS and winget configuration
Qualcomm makes its case for local and hybrid AI
AI is coming to the Microsoft Store
Microsoft also talked up Moment 3
Microsoft Edge gets a major UI revamp, a business experience, and more
Avatars are coming to Teams this week
Microsoft 365 Co-pilot is getting plug-in support
Bing becomes the default search engine for ChatGPT
Microsoft's tsunami of AI for customers and developers
ChatGPT comes to the iPhone
Neeva shuts down its paid search service to focus on AI
Chris Cap is unfairly raked over the coals for his comments to employees about getting raises

Xbox

China is the "37th country" to OK Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard
Microsoft snags a legal victory in ridiculous "gamers' lawsuit"
Microsoft brings its first PC games to NVIDIA GeForce Now
Sony sold 600,000 PSVR2 headsets in 6 weeks somehow

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: Grateful Geek
App pick of the week: Microsoft Edge Beta
RunAs Radio this week: Incident Response Readiness with Paula Januszkiewicz
Brown liquor pick of the week: Woodinville Straight Rye

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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