Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell go over the latest batch of preview updates for January 2025, including KB5050094! The big story of the week revolves around DeepSeek and its noticeable effects on the modern AI world. Sinofsky even wrote a big piece on the latest AI assistant!

Windows 11

• Preview updates for Windows 11, 10 arrive ahead of February Patch Tuesday
• Windows 11 - Taskbar preview improvements, Windows Studio Effects in the system tray, many File Explorer fixes, more
• Windows 10 - New Outlook replaces Mail, Calendar, People
• New Dev and Beta channel builds - Overdue battery icon updates in Dev, Snap Layout experiments in Beta
• New Canary build today with new File Explorer home view tab
• Microsoft to remove Dev Home from Windows - This never made sense, so that's fine, but its most important features will live on
• Microsoft Edge for Windows now has a Scareware blocker in preview

AI

• DeepSeek explodes out of the gate, sends Big Tech/AI stock reeling and opening up questions about how much money these companies are spending on AI
• Nadella, Altman, Nvidia all react to this change in interesting ways
• Steve Sinofsky - This was inevitable, disruption always comes from outside
• Ahead of this blockbuster development, a look at how the Microsoft/OpenAI relationship is changing - and now we need another look
• OpenAI announces Operator agent for ChatGPT in preview
• Google is bringing new Gemini features to Android and Pixel
• Google is also bringing NotebookLM to almost every Workspace tier, including the cheap one I (Paul) use, NotebookLM Plus to WS Standard and better

Microsoft

• Microsoft preps smaller Surface Pro and Laptop models with Snapdragon chips for some reason
• Microsoft is closing its UK-based "experience center"

Xbox

• Thanks to Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is the biggest game publisher in the world
• Phil Spencer: Xbox Series S a "real advantage" for coming portable gaming product
• Phil Spencer says hardware still "critical" to Xbox. More like "critical condition," am I right?
• No surprises at Xbox Developer_Direct, but a solid collection of games, including the new DOOM

Tips and Picks

• Tip of the week: It's time to start watching Dave's Garage
• App pick of the week: PowerToys, now with Zoomit
• RunAs Radio this week: Querying for Breaches with Mark Morowcyznski
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Blair Athol 12 Floral & Fauna

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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OpenAI, Stargate Project, 24H2 Preview

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/916

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The first Patch Tuesday of 2025 brings temporary but sweet relief. There were no preview updates last month, so this month is just security/bug fixes. Plus, will Microsoft back down from its Windows 10 EOL line in the sand? It appears not. Finally, got New Year's resolutions? Paul's got a better idea. Maybe...

Windows

• New Canary build with nothing in it
• Microsoft will not support Office on Windows 10 after October EOL date
• Microsoft is auto-installing the new Outlook in Windows 10 too - Don't let the door hit you on the way out
• Parallels Desktop for Mac now supports running x86 Windows VMs. Very slowly

AI, Microsoft 365

• New business models for AI emerge in 2025. Pay as you go vs. pay or no pay
• Microsoft has shifted its business model strategy over two years
• 15 months of Copilot in Windows: Madness
• Microsoft announces pay-as-you-go AI agents
• Google has a different (better) take with "the best of Google AI" in Workspace
• What to expect: Price hikes on subscription services to pay for this AI
• Massive reorg of Microsoft's engineering groups is all about AI - There are PM-level layoffs happening now all over Microsoft
• OpenAI adds tasks in beta to ChatGPT
• Microsoft Excel in Windows will soon support dark mode. Wait, what?

Hardware

• Surface teases a big announcement on January 30
• AMD surges on incredible new x86 chips and Intel's epic fail
• Former Surface design lead Ralf Groene joins Panos at Amazon. Why?
• Arm Holdings plans massive licensing price hikes. Everyone needs to settle the F down
• There's a 16 GB Raspberry Pi 5 now. But at this price, a low-end NUC is the better choice for most

Dev

• .NET 9.0.1 arrives - and with it, the fix for the app-crashing WPF/Windows 11 theming bug
• Paul tried GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio. It is MAGIC

Xbox

• Microsoft is clearly planning something big for gaming handhelds. Windows or Xbox? Or both?
• Happy New Year, Xbox fans! Microsoft to bring more Xbox exclusives to PS, Switch
• Xbox to host a Developer Direct event next week
• Microsoft introduces new Xbox repair options
• The Nintendo Switch 2 is leaking all over the place, and there were prototypes at CES

Tips and Picks

• Tip of the week: Think about making micro changes each month or quarter instead of huge, sweeping changes once a year
• App pick of the week: Start11 v2.5
• RunAs Radio this week: DevOpsDocs with Mattias Karlsson
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Buchanan's Deluxe 12
  

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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We heard you missed us. We're back.

Windows

• Microsoft declares 2025 the "year of the Windows 11 PC refresh."
• As likely as "year of the Linux desktop"
• The theory: Windows 10 EOL, AI PCs, lingering security fears from CrowdStrike
• The issue: Windows 10 has 63 usage share right now. At this point in time, Windows 7 had only 25 percent usage share (and was in second place, not first)
• Intel joins in on this fever dream but we've stopped listening
• More interesting: AMD is kicking ass and taking names. And we thought the existing chips were good (they are). Related to this, PC makers are embracing AMD like never before. Check out HP's workstations (including laptops)
• Microsoft is blocking the 24H2 update on PCs with Auto HDR enabled
• New Canary and Beta builds ring in the New Year
• Not that it matters, but Windows 11 almost had Vista Ultimate Extras-like dynamic wallpapers
• Dell kills XPS and all its other PC brands because Dell is stupid and doesn't know what it had

Arm & PCs

• Qualcomm defeated Arm Holdings in licensing dispute court case. And, yes, it won big time, contrary to Arm's nonsense
• Qualcomm announces an even lower-end Snapdragon X chip for $600 PCs, so ASUS announces an $1100 laptop that uses it
• Snapdragon Dev Kit update
• Part 2 of Paul's history of Windows on Arm is up
• New Arm PCs announced, including desktops. Ahead of CES, Geekom jumped the gun and said it was coming out with a Snapdragon X-based NUC. Lenovo has a NUC/SFF
• NVIDIA and MediaTek confirm partnership on Arm chips for PCs

Microsoft 365

• First, GitHub Copilot, but now Microsoft 365 Copilot will allegedly stop using OpenAI exclusively
• Microsoft reveals (confirms) it will spend $80 billion on AI infrastructure in FY 2025 as it suckles up to Trump like the rest of the tech industry
• Microsoft and OpenAI allegedly tied AGI milestone to profits, not intelligence

Xbox & Gaming

• Microsoft discusses a console-like experience for Windows handheld gaming. Tied to that, a new generation of handheld gaming PCs is on the way
• Xbox Game Pass says Happy New Year with a full slate of Activision Blizzard titles. Just kidding
• NVIDIA announces new graphics cards for PCs
• No one wants this, but Xbox is coming to LG smart TVs
• Xbox Rewards shuffles the deck chairs, hopes no one notices it's worse now

Tips & Picks

• Tip of the week: Spend a little, upgrade to Windows 11
• App pick of the week: Microsoft PowerToys
• RunAs Radio this week: Least Privilege in 2025 with Bailey Bercik
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey

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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Windows Weekly wishes all viewers and listeners a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Here's a look back at Microsoft's 2024!

• NYT sues OpenAI and Microsoft
• Copilot Pro announced
• Copilot GPT Builder Impressions
• XZ Utils Backdoor Found by Microsoft Hero
• Copilot+ PC & Recall Announced
• Recall Drama Prompts Opt-in Changes
• Thurrant: WSJ Hit Piece on Qualcomm?
• Lenovo's nutty ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid
• 3 Mile Island Revival
• Halo Studios & Unreal Engine 5
• Snapdragon Dev Kit Unboxed
• Coffee and Nespresso tangent!
• Steve Gibson's Worry About "Connected Experiences"
• Intel's CEO "retires"
• Clonakilty Whiskey in studio!

Host: Leo Laporte

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The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Real-time translation, AI steak video, The Great Circle

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/912

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Recall impressions, Copilot Vision preview, x86's future

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/911

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BLOCKBUSTER NEWS FROM INTEL

• Intel announces Arc B-series GPUs!!!
• CEO Pat Gelsinger "retires," but was really forced out by the board of directors
• Why? Theories include too-slow progress, major partner bailing on foundry, disagreements over keeping x86 design and foundry, etc.

Windows

• All Quiet on the Windows Front
• No Insider builds last week. Thanks Thanksgiving! Today, a new Canary build with Win32 app updating in the Store
• Patch Tuesday is next week - this will be a big one
• The rest of December will be quiet too
• Microsoft: TPM 2.0 is "non-negotiable" in Windows
• And now, a long-threatened change: Watermark on the desktop of unsupported PCs
• PC sales slid 1.5 percent in Q3 after two quarters of "growth"/flat sales
• Samsung is killing DeX
• Phone Link is the new Dex. Interesting, given the partnership with Microsoft
• Plus, Google is FINALLY adding desktop capabilities to Android. This should have always come from the platform maker

AI, Cloud

• FTC is investigating Microsoft for cloud licensing too - And about 16 other things apparently
• Microsoft: SHE HIT ME FIRST!
• Spotify Wrapped 2024 uses Notebook LM to create a personalized podcast for each customer
• OpenAI is solving the biggest problem with AI... its lack of advertising!
• The Browser Company's next browser is called Dia and it's all about AI. Does it have a chance?

Xbox

• Xbox Year in Review is live
• Indiana Jones and more is coming to Game Pass in the first half of December
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is getting big reliability updates. Hopefully, Boeing is helping out here
• For some reason, Sony announces that it sold 160 million PlayStation 2 consoles

Tips and Picks

• Tip of the week: Get out of the basement
• App pick of the week: Google Drive
• RunAs Radio this week: A SysAdmin Christmas with Rick Claus and Joey Snow
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Dewar's 8 Year Old Caribbean Smooth Rum Cask Finish

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly 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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