Welp, Azure crashed on Microsoft's earnings day, the cloud's weakest link exposed just as AI investments hit mind-boggling numbers. And 2.5 years into the AI era, things are still moving quickly, and there are extreme opinions on both ends of the spectrum. But Paul finally found a source for a good way to evaluate AI and figure out where it works and where it does not. It came from an unexpected place.

Windows 11

• Week D arrives with a massive Preview Update for 24H2 and 25H2 - including the new Start menu, finally
• Copy & Search, Voice typing improvements, Proactive Memory Diagnostics, more in Dev and Beta
• Copilot Vision in Copilot app updated with text input and output across all Insider channels
• Intel earnings are great unless you understand how numbers work

Microsoft 365

• Australia regulator sues Microsoft over misleading Microsoft 365 consumer pricing
• Copilot is being integrated into the People, Files, and Calendar companion apps for Microsoft 365 commercial
• On the day Microsoft will report earnings, Microsoft 365 and Azure went down. Hilarious!

AI

• OpenAI completes its transition to a for-profit owned by a non-profit
• Microsoft's stake is 27 percent. A lot has changed in the Microsoft/OpenAI partnership agreement
• WSJ finally calls out Microsoft for its lack of financial reporting transparency. Paul's been complaining about that for over a decade - Big Tech has became a shell game. These companies are managing money they don't even have and actual products and services and "real" value be damned
• Big Copilot feature dump for consumers with a human touch: Mico, Copilot Groups, memory improvements, connectors, Proactive Actions in preview, Copilot for Health, Copilot in Edge improvements, and Copilot in Windows updates from last week
• Microsoft 365 Copilot is getting App Builder and Workflow agents
• GitHub Copilot to support third-party AI agents
• Grammarly rebrands as Superhuman

Xbox and gaming

• Credible report claims Microsoft requires Xbox/Microsoft Gaming to deliver 30 percent profit margin
• That is impossible and this is clearly coming from Amy Hood and has led to the ensh*ttification of Xbox as a platform
• As Microsoft launches first gaming handhelds, all anyone wants to talk about is the next-generation Xbox console. It started with Sarah Bond last week - "very premium" console with "curated" experience
• Phil Spencer discusses it this week, who implied Windows at the heart of console
• The rumor mill churns up - Will be Windows, as we've said, will drop multiplayer paywall that debuted in 2002
• Now Satya Nadella is commenting on the next console, confirms publisher focus for this business
• Halo: Campaign Evolved is coming in 2026, new features, new Unreal Engine graphics, new PS5 compatibility
• Also, The Outer Worlds 2 is now available. Yes, on PS5 too
• Amazon relaunches Luna, and the new Amazon layoffs point to a new focus on casual gaming

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Understand where AI works and where AI is just a marketing term used to hype something that doesn't work
• App pick of the week: Tiny11 Builder
• RunAs Radio this week: AI for DBAs with Grant Fritchey
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Redbreast Dream Casks

These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/956

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Sponsors:

• framer.com/design promo code WW
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Microsoft is promising a bold AI-infused future for Windows 11, as the company aims to turn the OS into an AI-powered "agentic" hub. Amid all the Copilot hype, the hosts ask the tough questions: Are these AI features solving real problems, or is Big Tech just chasing a revenue gold rush? Tune in for sharp takes on AI skepticism, notable buzzwords, and the practical impact of Microsoft's ambitious new direction.

Windows 11... Windows.ai??

• Microsoft announces several new Copilot and AI features in Windows while redefining the term "AI PC" out from under Intel
• New features: Hey Copilot wake phrase (and goodbye), Copilot Vision is GA, new features coming soon include Copilot replacing Search in the Taskbar, Copilot Actions for local files, Manus AI agent and Filmora integration with File Explorer AI Actions, Zoom integration with Click to Do
• This is about Windows transforming into an "AI native" agentic OS
• Which ties into Paul's AI is the End of Apps editorial, where apps became programmable so that they can be controlled by AI - You can see baby steps in Windows 11 in-box apps now
• Microsoft explains how it will secure agents in Windows because Recall what happened last time
• Microsoft releases so-called emergency update for Windows 11 after the October Patch Tuesday updates killed USB mouse and keyboard supports in the Windows Recovery Environment (WRE).
• Windows Insider Program: Mobile devices settings improvements, File Explorer improvements, Drag Tray improvements, and other changes head to Dev (25H2) and Beta (24H2) channels
• New Start menu, battery icons, Copilot Vision integration in Taskbar, File Explorer improvements, Voice access improvements, and Click to Do improvements (Copilot+ PC only) head to Release Preview, indicating they will be a Week D preview and then Patch Tuesday release in November
• Restyle rolling out in Paint across most Insider channels
• Open AI finally launches long-expected web browser, but only on the Mac because FU, Microsoft
• Facebook Messenger for Windows is retiring, will chase rabbits on a farm upstate

Microsoft

• What does Microsoft's annual report say about its relationship with consumers?
• Three core consumer businesses: Windows, Microsoft 365 Consumer, Xbox/gaming
• Xbox/gaming smallest (500m) but also the most engaged - and also the most discussed in the report
• Not clear what % of users/revenues is consumer based, but it's not a small number (guessing its at least one-third of each)

AI

• Copilot for Education is coming in December, $18 per student per month
• Anthropic Claude is coming for Copilot in Microsoft 365 commercial
• Copilot has AI competition on Samsung smart TVs now
• Opera Neon is getting an AI research agent

Xbox and gaming

• Xbox president says next console will be "very premium". You know, like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
• ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are now available for purchase
• New wave of games coming to Game Pass across PC, console, and cloud, including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, The Outer Worlds 2, and more
• Following console price hikes, Xbox Development Kit gets a 33 percent price increase thanks to insane U.S. tariffs

Tips & Picks

• Tip of the week: Laptops are upgradeable again and life is good
• App pick of the week: A grab bag of apps for Windows users
• RunAs Radio this

These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/955

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Sponsors:

• ventionteams.com/twit
• helixsleep.com/windows
• framer.com/design promo code WW
• outsystems.com/twit

Forget the doomsday headlines about Windows 10's end of life. Paul, Richard, and Leo break down why most users can relax, what Microsoft really has planned, and why the supposed landfill crisis around old PCs is mostly exaggeration. Also, Microsoft said OneDrive's new app was coming next year, but your file system says otherwise.

Windows 11

• October Patch Tuesday arrives, 1st for 25H2
• Copilot+ PCs: Click to Do improvements, AI agent in Settings, File Explorer improvements
• 24H2/25H2: Desktop improvements, File Explorer improvements, Keyboard shortcuts for en and em dashes, Administrator Protection (off by default), Passkey improvements, Game Bar improvements
• Windows 10 (didn't) reach EOL and the world didn't end
• Zorin OS and ChromeOS Flex seize the moment
• Windows Insider: Copilot on Windows gets Connectors, Document creation and export. Copilot on Windows gets Settings support. Dev and Beta get AI agent in Settings improvements (Copilot+ PC), Setting search improvements (ditto), Drag Tray, Click to Do improvements, Dark mode improvements
• Dashlane partners with Yubico to make security keys primary vault access
• Lenovo ThinkCentre neo 50q QC is a Snapdragon X-based SFF PC
• HP OmniBook 5 16-inch shows why even the cheapest Snapdragon X chip is a winner
• Hope springs eternal: Intel Panther Lake is the efficiency of Lunar Lake plus the performance of Arrow Lake. Hopefully, it's not the reliability of either
• IDC: PC sales jumped 9.4 percent in Q3, just not where you live

AI

• AI is the end of apps
• Microsoft reveals its first image generation model
• Opera Neon adds Nano Banana (image gen) and Sora (video gen) capabilities

Xbox and gaming

• Target and Walmart will keep selling Xbox consoles unlike those losers at Costco
• A veteran of Halo Studios leaves, warns everyone
• Sorry, but there will be a sequel to the Minecraft movie
• Game Pass member? Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is free to play for one more day
• Sony and AMD trickle out some PS6 news in a bizarre way - oh, and we're just getting started

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Yes, Virginia, you can still sign in to Windows 11 25H2 with a local account
• App pick of the week: The new OneDrive app
• RunAs Radio this week: The End of NTML with Steve Syfuhs
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Holladay Soft Red Wheat Bourbon

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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