WW 896: A Very Buxom Seal - Touchpad right-clicking, Pixel 9 XL, Win11Debloat

Microsoft just made a major change to the Windows 11 install media, and you're not going to believe what happens next! Plus, the AI spelling and grammar checking app/service that Paul relies on. And yes, he does pay for it. Windows 11 Copilot Vision gets full Desktop support, Voice integration across all Insider channels Click to Do gets a "Describe image" action, Administrator protection, App permission dialog changes in Dev (25H2) and Beta (24H2) Canary finally gets the features everyone else has had for a while now Also, Microsoft quietly killed the simplified date/time in the Windows 11 Taskbar because no one liked it PC sales grew 5 percent in Q2 but there is a BIG caveat Semi-related: Google is "combining" ChromeOS and Android ChromeOS will build on Android going forward, smart Even less related: HMD quietly pulls Nokia out of the U.S. market, the dream is over Microsoft 365, AI Microsoft layoffs directly attributed to AI Microsoft scuttled OpenAI's acquisition of Windsurf and all hell broke loose Google snapped up key execs and engineers and licensed Windsurf for $2.4 billion All's well that ends well: Cognition acquires Windsurf Microsoft keeps changing the terms of the deal: Microsoft 365 apps will be updated on Windows 10 only through August 2026 Microsoft 365 Copilot is finally getting a Memory OpenAI is going to war with Microsoft and the world It's working on a web browser It's also working on an office productivity suite of sorts Google NotebookLM gets curated featured notebooks. This is emerging as one of the more useful AI tools Xbox and Gaming Xbox app for Windows 11 gets "Stream your own game" functionality Grounded 2, more coming to Game Pass in second half of July Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to the Mac for some reason Tips & Picks Tip of the week: Save big on PCs, go refurbished App pick of the week: LanguageTool for Desktop RunAs Radio this week: Fabric in 2025 with Arun Ulag Brown liquor pick of the week: Slane Triple Casked Blend 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/twit bitwarden.com/twit uscloud.com

It's been a big year for Windows 11 updates. This month is at least semi-manageable! Also, a few more bits from the layoffs. Plus, Amiga Forever 11 and C64 11 Forever help you live in the past! Patch Tuesday Copilot+ PC only: Ask Copilot action for Click to Do 24H2 only: Show smaller Taskbar icons. Screen curtain feature in Narrator. Settings home page for commercial customer 23H2 and 24H2: Windows Share shows preview when sharing web content. Beginning of PC migration feature in Windows Backup. More changes for EU users to meet DMA requirements, mostly Edge related Windows 10: EU/DMA updates as above More Windows 11 WE DID IT! Windows 11 is now in use on more PCs than Windows 10. It's time for Windows 12! No new Insider features but some bug fixes in Canary Microsoft Edge keeps getting more responsive Microsoft 365 and AI Teams gets threading in Channels about three years later than needed Google brought its Veo 3 video generation model to all AI Pro subscribers last week, and now it's bringing that and two other big AI features to Pixel Perplexity just launched its AI web browser Xbox and gaming No, Phil Spencer is not retiring Romero Games forced to cancel Xbox shooter, lay off 100 employees Warcraft Rumble Mobile won't get any more updates Xbox angst in the wake of last week's layoffs is mostly undeserved Xbox fans keep finding new ways to complain - Most of the game/studio closures we know about were well-deserved. If anything, Microsoft let these things continue for too long with no viable deliverables But what is Xbox? Looking at the platform and what Microsoft has done under Phil Spencer paints a very different picture than all the moaning we see on social media Game Pass was key to getting Satya Nadella to keep Xbox going, but after the Activision acquisition, the day and date promise was unworkable. After the changes and price hikes, it's possible that Game Pass has peaked. Microsoft uploaded an out of date version of Call of Duty: WWII to the Store and hilarity ensues Sony to publish a game for Xbox for the first time Epic Games quietly settled with Samsung ahead of today's Unpacked event - but not with Google Tips and picks Tip of the week: Office 365 for IT Pros 2026 Edition is now available App pick of the week: Microsoft Edge RunAs Radio this week: Building Real Software using PowerApps with Luise Freese Brown liquor pick of the week: Bolster Road Maple Rye Whiskey 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: 1password.com/windowsweekly threatlocker.com/twit

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs hits Xbox Gaming hard as the company cuts approximately 9,000 jobs despite record profits. This week, Paul Thurrott and Richard Campbell discuss the impact of these layoffs, Windows 11's new version naming, Microsoft Copilot coming to Mac, and dive deep into passkey security. LAYOFFS As expected, Microsoft began a massive round of layoffs across Xbox/Microsoft Gaming on Wednesday. The fiscal year started on Tuesday. These were originally going to happen a week or two earlier. 9,000 employees impacted across Microsoft - about 4 percent of workforce, Xbox/MSGaming was NOT hit hardest, Microsoft now says (on top of 6,000 in May). 10 percent of King being laid off. Carefully worded email from Phil Spencer requires some parsing. It's Finally Official: 25H2 Is Next! Microsoft finally admits that the Dev channel is testing Windows 11 version 25H2, which will arrive, as expected, around October This news came as part of another set of commingled Dev and Beta channel builds. 25H2 will be delivered as an enablement package, so it's a minor release technically. Dev and Beta are linked because 25H2 and 24H2 are linked: Each will get the same features, as started with 22H2/23H2 in late 2023. Windows 11 Last week was Week D, but we didn't get preview updates per usual before WW That finally happened last Thursday - new preview updates for 24H2 and 23H2/22H2 24H2: Click to Do improvements, start of PC migration in Windows Backup, small icons in Taskbar, more. Windows Insider Preview: Those Dev/Beta builds noted above have the first implementation of third-party passkey. Microsoft Edge 138 is a pretty big update, with AI-enhanced history search and Copilot integration into the search box and new tab page. AI Microsoft 365 Copilot is available on the Mac. Apple may cave and adopt Anthropic Claude and/or OpenAI ChatGPT for Apple Intelligence. After Coda's acquisition and $1 billion in funding, Grammarly acquires Superhuman to build an "AI-native" productivity suite that will take on Big Tech (Microsoft, Google) and Little Tech (Notion, Proton) alike. Xbox and Gaming Xbox 360 dashboard is getting its first update in years. Halo Studios teases an October tease of the next Halo from the studio. New Game Pass titles for the first half of July - plus, COD: WWII turns up in Game Pass for the first time. Cursor sort of comes to the web and mobile - like Adobe Firefly on mobile, but for devs when "the mood strikes". Tips and Picks Tip/App picks of the week: Cure Mac envy. The Mac is about to get even prettier. But Windows 11 can rise to this challenge. The PC matters: Paul recommends Surface Laptop 7 as a MacBook Air alternative. Software? It's all free. Full screen apps: Hide the Taskbar and touchpad gestures - also, use DS Clock if you need to see the time. Transparent system menu? You can make the Taskbar transparent too. Want Spotlight? No problem, we have Command Palette (an updated, more extensible PowerToys Run) in PowerToys. Bonus app pick: Inoreader for RSS feeds (and read later if you want). RunAs Radio This Week: More Azure Innovations with Mark Russinovich Brown Liquor Pick of the Week: Alberta Distillers 23 Year Old Rare Batch No. 1 These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/939 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Sponsor: uscloud.com

Windows 10 EOL update Microsoft confirms that Windows 10 EOL is a go for October. But... Consumers can now get a free year of extra security updates instead of paying(!) Businesses can now enroll in extended security updates program Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 to get security updates through October 2028 Windows 11 A few new features via the Insider Program Recall gets a new home page and some nice updates to hardware indicators in Dev and Beta We know there's a Settings AI agent coming to Windows 11. Apparently, it needs its own local AI model. And why this might be problematic Canary gets features we've seen elsewhere, plus an ISO - plus a new 24H2 build in Release Preview with features we can expect on June 8, Patch Tuesday Microsoft launches AI-powered learning app for Copilot+ PCs First Arm-based Chromebook Plus arrives with 50+ TOPS NPU, local AI features - using the chip that would make for a nice Copilot+ PC. But what's going on with Chrome OS? Microsoft 365 Microsoft Ignite registration is open Android users can now open shared Office documents without a Microsoft account AI Copilot is struggling against ChatGPT, even in the enterprise Alexa+ is now available to over one million testers in the U.S. - but have you met even one of them? Android Studio gets Gemini-based Agent Mode in preview Xbox and games First, the bad news: Yes, there are massive layoffs coming to Xbox next week - this is in addition to the sales org-related layoffs that are also coming, and probably more It's happening! Microsoft begins testing Steam integration with the Xbox app on Windows 11 AMD expands a bit on the news that it's working with Microsoft on next-gen Xbox silicon June Xbox update arrives with more home screen customization, more mouse and keyboard support for more games, more "Stream your own games" titles (over 200 now) There's a limited edition Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition - move quick if you want one Hellblade II: Senua's Saga Enhanced arrives on PlayStation on August 12 - but there's more going on here, including "Xbox on PC" language Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Don't pay for Windows 10 extended security App pick of the week: Discord for Windows 11 on Arm RunAs Radio this week: Getting More from GitHub with April Yoho Brown liquor pick of the week: Drayman's Highveld 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

No, it's not you. Windows Hello doesn't work in the dark anymore. For reasons. Say "Hello" to the Windows Hello controversy of the month! Windows AI agent in Settings and Recall export experience in Dev/Beta channels - plus the old clock is back, baby July Patch Tuesday preview: App defaults (EEA only), Share images with visual preview, and some fixes for Windows 11 (The first one is coming to Windows 10 too - tied to the DMA news from last week.) Commentary: What Apple gets right in macOS 26 (and otherwise) Surface One year with Surface Laptop 7 Microsoft issues its first firmware updates for Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 in several months, sort of Microsoft 365 BBB complains about how Microsoft promotes Microsoft 365; Microsoft disagrees but will change the way it communicates about these features AI OpenAI, Microsoft, and... the nuclear option?? The Open AI Files provides an insider view of the company and finds it lacking Copilot Vision is GA in the United States - It's also free to try on mobile The Browser Company starts explaining Dia, finally Xbox and Games Microsoft announces (extends?) partnership with AMD on future Xbox hardware - a one minute video with plenty to parse Next-gen hardware Multi-year partnership with AMD on Xbox consoles and gaming handhelds Compatibility with existing game libraries Working closely with the Windows team, ensure Windows is the number one games platform Microsoft shares Xbox Ally details with devs, a hint at the coming Windows-based Xbox platform requirements? More Game Pass titles for June, including an old favorite Minecraft gets three great updates Steam will run natively on Apple Silicon soon. Unlike all the games. Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Don't give in App pick of the week: Camtasia online RunAs Radio this week: SQL Server 2025 with Bob Ward Brown liquor pick of the week: The Macallan 18 Sherry Oak Cask 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: uscloud.com