Podcast appearances and mentions of Paul Thurrott

Microsoft is finally trimming the clutter from Edge in 2026, cutting outdated features and simplifying the overloaded interface. Is this the fresh start Windows users have been waiting for? Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Microsoft is finally trimming the clutter from Edge in 2026, cutting outdated features and simplifying the overloaded interface. Is this the fresh start Windows users have been waiting for? Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Microsoft is finally trimming the clutter from Edge in 2026, cutting outdated features and simplifying the overloaded interface. Is this the fresh start Windows users have been waiting for? Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Microsoft is finally trimming the clutter from Edge in 2026, cutting outdated features and simplifying the overloaded interface. Is this the fresh start Windows users have been waiting for? Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

There's been so much drama over what options Microsoft will allow for the Copilot key. But you don't have to wait for a future Windows update; you can remap any key with Microsoft's own Keyboard Manager PowerToy. More people should take advantage of this. Also, Paul just finished his major 2026 rewrite of the Windows 11 Field Guide! Every single chapter was rewritten or consolidated, with several new chapters added. Lastly, the OG Halo remake is a great reminder of how good this series was in the beginning. And it looks and plays terrific. Windows Week D updates arrive on time this month Windows Hello ESS support for external fingerprint readers, many small improvements Experimental (Future Platforms) finally gets an update, but it's just the features we saw elsewhere first Several in-box app updates for July, nothing major Microsoft convinces LG to drop the McAfee ads, but HP's Bing ads are A-OK Chris tested Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM and the experience is not great Paul has a Wildcat-based laptop waiting for him in PA Microsoft is testing a "Do nothing" option for the Copilot key Your Windows 11 PC now has a OneDrive Photos app for some reason Opera One gets vertical tabs, deeper Google Lens integration Earnings Google/Alphabet - net income of $28 billion on $120 billion in revenues, but negative cash flow for the first time in the company's history Intel - net loss of $11 million, no Foundry customers leaves Wall Street swooning for some reason AI Microsoft begins shifting to its own MAI models, but the forward progress is minimal NVIDIA, Microsoft, more team up for AI empire, er, Alliance Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5 Xbox and gaming Halo: Campaign Evolved is here XBOX went down for the count for most of the day on Monday. But disc-based games still worked XBOX begins testing ad-supported Cloud Gaming Ubisoft game purchases on Xbox now carry over to PC for free Luna comes to Prime Video app Tips and picks Tip of the week: Remap keys with PowerToys Keyboard Manager App pick of the week: Halo Campaign Evolved Chris's pick of the week: His new newsletter! Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott Guest: Chris Hoffman 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: joindeleteme.com/twit-biz cirasync.com/Windows canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

There's been so much drama over what options Microsoft will allow for the Copilot key. But you don't have to wait for a future Windows update; you can remap any key with Microsoft's own Keyboard Manager PowerToy. More people should take advantage of this. Also, Paul just finished his major 2026 rewrite of the Windows 11 Field Guide! Every single chapter was rewritten or consolidated, with several new chapters added. Lastly, the OG Halo remake is a great reminder of how good this series was in the beginning. And it looks and plays terrific. Windows Week D updates arrive on time this month Windows Hello ESS support for external fingerprint readers, many small improvements Experimental (Future Platforms) finally gets an update, but it's just the features we saw elsewhere first Several in-box app updates for July, nothing major Microsoft convinces LG to drop the McAfee ads, but HP's Bing ads are A-OK Chris tested Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM and the experience is not great Paul has a Wildcat-based laptop waiting for him in PA Microsoft is testing a "Do nothing" option for the Copilot key Your Windows 11 PC now has a OneDrive Photos app for some reason Opera One gets vertical tabs, deeper Google Lens integration Earnings Google/Alphabet - net income of $28 billion on $120 billion in revenues, but negative cash flow for the first time in the company's history Intel - net loss of $11 million, no Foundry customers leaves Wall Street swooning for some reason AI Microsoft begins shifting to its own MAI models, but the forward progress is minimal NVIDIA, Microsoft, more team up for AI empire, er, Alliance Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5 Xbox and gaming Halo: Campaign Evolved is here XBOX went down for the count for most of the day on Monday. But disc-based games still worked XBOX begins testing ad-supported Cloud Gaming Ubisoft game purchases on Xbox now carry over to PC for free Luna comes to Prime Video app Tips and picks Tip of the week: Remap keys with PowerToys Keyboard Manager App pick of the week: Halo Campaign Evolved Chris's pick of the week: His new newsletter! https://preferences.pcmag.com/PCMag/windows-guide Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott Guest: Chris Hoffman 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: joindeleteme.com/twit-biz cirasync.com/Windows canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

There's been so much drama over what options Microsoft will allow for the Copilot key. But you don't have to wait for a future Windows update; you can remap any key with Microsoft's own Keyboard Manager PowerToy. More people should take advantage of this. Also, Paul just finished his major 2026 rewrite of the Windows 11 Field Guide! Every single chapter was rewritten or consolidated, with several new chapters added. Lastly, the OG Halo remake is a great reminder of how good this series was in the beginning. And it looks and plays terrific. Windows Week D updates arrive on time this month Windows Hello ESS support for external fingerprint readers, many small improvements Experimental (Future Platforms) finally gets an update, but it's just the features we saw elsewhere first Several in-box app updates for July, nothing major Microsoft convinces LG to drop the McAfee ads, but HP's Bing ads are A-OK Chris tested Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM and the experience is not great Paul has a Wildcat-based laptop waiting for him in PA Microsoft is testing a "Do nothing" option for the Copilot key Your Windows 11 PC now has a OneDrive Photos app for some reason Opera One gets vertical tabs, deeper Google Lens integration Earnings Google/Alphabet - net income of $28 billion on $120 billion in revenues, but negative cash flow for the first time in the company's history Intel - net loss of $11 million, no Foundry customers leaves Wall Street swooning for some reason AI Microsoft begins shifting to its own MAI models, but the forward progress is minimal NVIDIA, Microsoft, more team up for AI empire, er, Alliance Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5 Xbox and gaming Halo: Campaign Evolved is here XBOX went down for the count for most of the day on Monday. But disc-based games still worked XBOX begins testing ad-supported Cloud Gaming Ubisoft game purchases on Xbox now carry over to PC for free Luna comes to Prime Video app Tips and picks Tip of the week: Remap keys with PowerToys Keyboard Manager App pick of the week: Halo Campaign Evolved Chris's pick of the week: His new newsletter! https://preferences.pcmag.com/PCMag/windows-guide Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott Guest: Chris Hoffman 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: joindeleteme.com/twit-biz cirasync.com/Windows canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

There's been so much drama over what options Microsoft will allow for the Copilot key. But you don't have to wait for a future Windows update; you can remap any key with Microsoft's own Keyboard Manager PowerToy. More people should take advantage of this. Also, Paul just finished his major 2026 rewrite of the Windows 11 Field Guide! Every single chapter was rewritten or consolidated, with several new chapters added. Lastly, the OG Halo remake is a great reminder of how good this series was in the beginning. And it looks and plays terrific. Windows Week D updates arrive on time this month Windows Hello ESS support for external fingerprint readers, many small improvements Experimental (Future Platforms) finally gets an update, but it's just the features we saw elsewhere first Several in-box app updates for July, nothing major Microsoft convinces LG to drop the McAfee ads, but HP's Bing ads are A-OK Chris tested Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM and the experience is not great Paul has a Wildcat-based laptop waiting for him in PA Microsoft is testing a "Do nothing" option for the Copilot key Your Windows 11 PC now has a OneDrive Photos app for some reason Opera One gets vertical tabs, deeper Google Lens integration Earnings Google/Alphabet - net income of $28 billion on $120 billion in revenues, but negative cash flow for the first time in the company's history Intel - net loss of $11 million, no Foundry customers leaves Wall Street swooning for some reason AI Microsoft begins shifting to its own MAI models, but the forward progress is minimal NVIDIA, Microsoft, more team up for AI empire, er, Alliance Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5 Xbox and gaming Halo: Campaign Evolved is here XBOX went down for the count for most of the day on Monday. But disc-based games still worked XBOX begins testing ad-supported Cloud Gaming Ubisoft game purchases on Xbox now carry over to PC for free Luna comes to Prime Video app Tips and picks Tip of the week: Remap keys with PowerToys Keyboard Manager App pick of the week: Halo Campaign Evolved Chris's pick of the week: His new newsletter! Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott Guest: Chris Hoffman 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: joindeleteme.com/twit-biz cirasync.com/Windows canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

There's been so much drama over what options Microsoft will allow for the Copilot key. But you don't have to wait for a future Windows update; you can remap any key with Microsoft's own Keyboard Manager PowerToy. More people should take advantage of this. Also, Paul just finished his major 2026 rewrite of the Windows 11 Field Guide! Every single chapter was rewritten or consolidated, with several new chapters added. Lastly, the OG Halo remake is a great reminder of how good this series was in the beginning. And it looks and plays terrific. Windows Week D updates arrive on time this month Windows Hello ESS support for external fingerprint readers, many small improvements Experimental (Future Platforms) finally gets an update, but it's just the features we saw elsewhere first Several in-box app updates for July, nothing major Microsoft convinces LG to drop the McAfee ads, but HP's Bing ads are A-OK Chris tested Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM and the experience is not great Paul has a Wildcat-based laptop waiting for him in PA Microsoft is testing a "Do nothing" option for the Copilot key Your Windows 11 PC now has a OneDrive Photos app for some reason Opera One gets vertical tabs, deeper Google Lens integration Earnings Google/Alphabet - net income of $28 billion on $120 billion in revenues, but negative cash flow for the first time in the company's history Intel - net loss of $11 million, no Foundry customers leaves Wall Street swooning for some reason AI Microsoft begins shifting to its own MAI models, but the forward progress is minimal NVIDIA, Microsoft, more team up for AI empire, er, Alliance Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5 Xbox and gaming Halo: Campaign Evolved is here XBOX went down for the count for most of the day on Monday. But disc-based games still worked XBOX begins testing ad-supported Cloud Gaming Ubisoft game purchases on Xbox now carry over to PC for free Luna comes to Prime Video app Tips and picks Tip of the week: Remap keys with PowerToys Keyboard Manager App pick of the week: Halo Campaign Evolved Chris's pick of the week: His new newsletter! https://preferences.pcmag.com/PCMag/windows-guide Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott Guest: Chris Hoffman 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: joindeleteme.com/twit-biz cirasync.com/Windows canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

There's been so much drama over what options Microsoft will allow for the Copilot key. But you don't have to wait for a future Windows update; you can remap any key with Microsoft's own Keyboard Manager PowerToy. More people should take advantage of this. Also, Paul just finished his major 2026 rewrite of the Windows 11 Field Guide! Every single chapter was rewritten or consolidated, with several new chapters added. Lastly, the OG Halo remake is a great reminder of how good this series was in the beginning. And it looks and plays terrific. Windows Week D updates arrive on time this month Windows Hello ESS support for external fingerprint readers, many small improvements Experimental (Future Platforms) finally gets an update, but it's just the features we saw elsewhere first Several in-box app updates for July, nothing major Microsoft convinces LG to drop the McAfee ads, but HP's Bing ads are A-OK Chris tested Windows 11 with 8GB of RAM and the experience is not great Paul has a Wildcat-based laptop waiting for him in PA Microsoft is testing a "Do nothing" option for the Copilot key Your Windows 11 PC now has a OneDrive Photos app for some reason Opera One gets vertical tabs, deeper Google Lens integration Earnings Google/Alphabet - net income of $28 billion on $120 billion in revenues, but negative cash flow for the first time in the company's history Intel - net loss of $11 million, no Foundry customers leaves Wall Street swooning for some reason AI Microsoft begins shifting to its own MAI models, but the forward progress is minimal NVIDIA, Microsoft, more team up for AI empire, er, Alliance Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5 Xbox and gaming Halo: Campaign Evolved is here XBOX went down for the count for most of the day on Monday. But disc-based games still worked XBOX begins testing ad-supported Cloud Gaming Ubisoft game purchases on Xbox now carry over to PC for free Luna comes to Prime Video app Tips and picks Tip of the week: Remap keys with PowerToys Keyboard Manager App pick of the week: Halo Campaign Evolved Chris's pick of the week: His new newsletter! https://preferences.pcmag.com/PCMag/windows-guide Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott Guest: Chris Hoffman 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: joindeleteme.com/twit-biz cirasync.com/Windows canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

As the tech world catches its breath from AI whiplash and retro gaming returns to the PC, Microsoft quietly kills underused tools and tries to double down on what actually works. This episode blends the excitement of tech and entertainment (like Xbox classics landing on Windows 11) with a poignant look back at the life and legacy of legendary columnist John C. Dvorak. Windows Five new Insider builds released on Monday; the new Start menu comes to the Beta channel Experimental (26H1) a day later with no interesting new features The Whiteboard app is apparently being retired AI Microsoft expands partnership with Mistral to improve EU AI infrastructure Copilot for consumers is losing Podcasts and Deep research features soon U.S. judge approves Anthropic $1.5 billion settlement with authors it stole from 1Password partners with Anthropic to make AI access to password-protected websites secure Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook Google's next big AI models are delayed, but we got Gemini 3.6 Flash, Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber to tide us over XBOX and gaming Microsoft brings XBOX Backward Compatibility to PC!! Here comes Halo: Campaign Evolved, along with more Game Pass titles for the end of July Bethesda announces Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, and Fallout 5 is entering pre-production Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 in Early Access on August 21, Open Beta on August 27 XBOX July update adds support for longer gamertags, new library customization options, and more XBOX teams with Meta to bring Game Pass Starter Edition to Meta Horizon+ subscribers Valve says the component crisis dogging Steam Machine pricing will only get worse Tips and picks Tip of the week: Windows Package Manager for bulk app installs App (game) of the week: Doom: The Dark Ages RunAs Radio this week: Security Begins at Procurement with Jessie Schofer Brown liquor pick of the week: Loup River Nebraska Straight Bourbon 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: arcticwolf.com/trends zscaler.com/security cirasync.com/Windows

Windows 11 is introducing Point in Time Restore, a modern recovery tool that aims to make system recovery faster and smarter. Find out why this update could change the way you bounce back from disaster. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit

As the tech world catches its breath from AI whiplash and retro gaming returns to the PC, Microsoft quietly kills underused tools and tries to double down on what actually works. This episode blends the excitement of tech and entertainment (like Xbox classics landing on Windows 11) with a poignant look back at the life and legacy of legendary columnist John C. Dvorak. Windows Five new Insider builds released on Monday; the new Start menu comes to the Beta channel Experimental (26H1) a day later with no interesting new features The Whiteboard app is apparently being retired AI Microsoft expands partnership with Mistral to improve EU AI infrastructure Copilot for consumers is losing Podcasts and Deep research features soon U.S. judge approves Anthropic $1.5 billion settlement with authors it stole from 1Password partners with Anthropic to make AI access to password-protected websites secure Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook Google's next big AI models are delayed, but we got Gemini 3.6 Flash, Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber to tide us over XBOX and gaming Microsoft brings XBOX Backward Compatibility to PC!! Here comes Halo: Campaign Evolved, along with more Game Pass titles for the end of July Bethesda announces Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, and Fallout 5 is entering pre-production Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 in Early Access on August 21, Open Beta on August 27 XBOX July update adds support for longer gamertags, new library customization options, and more XBOX teams with Meta to bring Game Pass Starter Edition to Meta Horizon+ subscribers Valve says the component crisis dogging Steam Machine pricing will only get worse Tips and picks Tip of the week: Windows Package Manager for bulk app installs App (game) of the week: Doom: The Dark Ages RunAs Radio this week: Security Begins at Procurement with Jessie Schofer Brown liquor pick of the week: Loup River Nebraska Straight Bourbon 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: arcticwolf.com/trends zscaler.com/security cirasync.com/Windows

As the tech world catches its breath from AI whiplash and retro gaming returns to the PC, Microsoft quietly kills underused tools and tries to double down on what actually works. This episode blends the excitement of tech and entertainment (like Xbox classics landing on Windows 11) with a poignant look back at the life and legacy of legendary columnist John C. Dvorak. Windows Five new Insider builds released on Monday; the new Start menu comes to the Beta channel Experimental (26H1) a day later with no interesting new features The Whiteboard app is apparently being retired AI Microsoft expands partnership with Mistral to improve EU AI infrastructure Copilot for consumers is losing Podcasts and Deep research features soon U.S. judge approves Anthropic $1.5 billion settlement with authors it stole from 1Password partners with Anthropic to make AI access to password-protected websites secure Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook Google's next big AI models are delayed, but we got Gemini 3.6 Flash, Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber to tide us over XBOX and gaming Microsoft brings XBOX Backward Compatibility to PC!! Here comes Halo: Campaign Evolved, along with more Game Pass titles for the end of July Bethesda announces Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, and Fallout 5 is entering pre-production Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 in Early Access on August 21, Open Beta on August 27 XBOX July update adds support for longer gamertags, new library customization options, and more XBOX teams with Meta to bring Game Pass Starter Edition to Meta Horizon+ subscribers Valve says the component crisis dogging Steam Machine pricing will only get worse Tips and picks Tip of the week: Windows Package Manager for bulk app installs App (game) of the week: Doom: The Dark Ages RunAs Radio this week: Security Begins at Procurement with Jessie Schofer Brown liquor pick of the week: Loup River Nebraska Straight Bourbon 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: arcticwolf.com/trends zscaler.com/security cirasync.com/Windows

As the tech world catches its breath from AI whiplash and retro gaming returns to the PC, Microsoft quietly kills underused tools and tries to double down on what actually works. This episode blends the excitement of tech and entertainment (like Xbox classics landing on Windows 11) with a poignant look back at the life and legacy of legendary columnist John C. Dvorak. Windows Five new Insider builds released on Monday; the new Start menu comes to the Beta channel Experimental (26H1) a day later with no interesting new features The Whiteboard app is apparently being retired AI Microsoft expands partnership with Mistral to improve EU AI infrastructure Copilot for consumers is losing Podcasts and Deep research features soon U.S. judge approves Anthropic $1.5 billion settlement with authors it stole from 1Password partners with Anthropic to make AI access to password-protected websites secure Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook Google's next big AI models are delayed, but we got Gemini 3.6 Flash, Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber to tide us over XBOX and gaming Microsoft brings XBOX Backward Compatibility to PC!! Here comes Halo: Campaign Evolved, along with more Game Pass titles for the end of July Bethesda announces Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, and Fallout 5 is entering pre-production Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 in Early Access on August 21, Open Beta on August 27 XBOX July update adds support for longer gamertags, new library customization options, and more XBOX teams with Meta to bring Game Pass Starter Edition to Meta Horizon+ subscribers Valve says the component crisis dogging Steam Machine pricing will only get worse Tips and picks Tip of the week: Windows Package Manager for bulk app installs App (game) of the week: Doom: The Dark Ages RunAs Radio this week: Security Begins at Procurement with Jessie Schofer Brown liquor pick of the week: Loup River Nebraska Straight Bourbon 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: arcticwolf.com/trends zscaler.com/security cirasync.com/Windows

As the tech world catches its breath from AI whiplash and retro gaming returns to the PC, Microsoft quietly kills underused tools and tries to double down on what actually works. This episode blends the excitement of tech and entertainment (like Xbox classics landing on Windows 11) with a poignant look back at the life and legacy of legendary columnist John C. Dvorak. Windows Five new Insider builds released on Monday; the new Start menu comes to the Beta channel Experimental (26H1) a day later with no interesting new features The Whiteboard app is apparently being retired AI Microsoft expands partnership with Mistral to improve EU AI infrastructure Copilot for consumers is losing Podcasts and Deep research features soon U.S. judge approves Anthropic $1.5 billion settlement with authors it stole from 1Password partners with Anthropic to make AI access to password-protected websites secure Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook Google's next big AI models are delayed, but we got Gemini 3.6 Flash, Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber to tide us over XBOX and gaming Microsoft brings XBOX Backward Compatibility to PC!! Here comes Halo: Campaign Evolved, along with more Game Pass titles for the end of July Bethesda announces Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, and Fallout 5 is entering pre-production Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 in Early Access on August 21, Open Beta on August 27 XBOX July update adds support for longer gamertags, new library customization options, and more XBOX teams with Meta to bring Game Pass Starter Edition to Meta Horizon+ subscribers Valve says the component crisis dogging Steam Machine pricing will only get worse Tips and picks Tip of the week: Windows Package Manager for bulk app installs App (game) of the week: Doom: The Dark Ages RunAs Radio this week: Security Begins at Procurement with Jessie Schofer Brown liquor pick of the week: Loup River Nebraska Straight Bourbon 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: arcticwolf.com/trends zscaler.com/security cirasync.com/Windows

Windows 11 is introducing Point in Time Restore, a modern recovery tool that aims to make system recovery faster and smarter. Find out why this update could change the way you bounce back from disaster. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit

As the tech world catches its breath from AI whiplash and retro gaming returns to the PC, Microsoft quietly kills underused tools and tries to double down on what actually works. This episode blends the excitement of tech and entertainment (like Xbox classics landing on Windows 11) with a poignant look back at the life and legacy of legendary columnist John C. Dvorak. Windows Five new Insider builds released on Monday; the new Start menu comes to the Beta channel Experimental (26H1) a day later with no interesting new features The Whiteboard app is apparently being retired AI Microsoft expands partnership with Mistral to improve EU AI infrastructure Copilot for consumers is losing Podcasts and Deep research features soon U.S. judge approves Anthropic $1.5 billion settlement with authors it stole from 1Password partners with Anthropic to make AI access to password-protected websites secure Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook Google's next big AI models are delayed, but we got Gemini 3.6 Flash, Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber to tide us over XBOX and gaming Microsoft brings XBOX Backward Compatibility to PC!! Here comes Halo: Campaign Evolved, along with more Game Pass titles for the end of July Bethesda announces Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, and Fallout 5 is entering pre-production Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 in Early Access on August 21, Open Beta on August 27 XBOX July update adds support for longer gamertags, new library customization options, and more XBOX teams with Meta to bring Game Pass Starter Edition to Meta Horizon+ subscribers Valve says the component crisis dogging Steam Machine pricing will only get worse Tips and picks Tip of the week: Windows Package Manager for bulk app installs App (game) of the week: Doom: The Dark Ages RunAs Radio this week: Security Begins at Procurement with Jessie Schofer Brown liquor pick of the week: Loup River Nebraska Straight Bourbon 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: arcticwolf.com/trends zscaler.com/security cirasync.com/Windows

Windows 11 is introducing Point in Time Restore, a modern recovery tool that aims to make system recovery faster and smarter. Find out why this update could change the way you bounce back from disaster. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit

Windows 11 is introducing Point in Time Restore, a modern recovery tool that aims to make system recovery faster and smarter. Find out why this update could change the way you bounce back from disaster. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: bitwarden.com/twit

Windows 11 widgets finally get a streamlined redesign that ditches the frustrating news feeds and random notifications, making them genuinely useful for the first time. Find out how the new setup quietly transforms your desktop experience. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

Windows 11 widgets finally get a streamlined redesign that ditches the frustrating news feeds and random notifications, making them genuinely useful for the first time. Find out how the new setup quietly transforms your desktop experience. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

Microsoft's July 2026 Patch Tuesday just shattered records with hundreds of bug fixes, and AI is the force behind the surge. Are we witnessing the beginning of a safer Windows, or is this flood of vulnerabilities the new normal? Plus, Tony Redmond's epic book has a new name (was Office 365 for IT Pros) and is now a bundle of four books. Windows Patch Tuesday is here! Point in Time Restore, quieter Widgets, Windows Update improvements, Screen tint, and more The biggest Patch Tuesday in history, by far: a record 570 fixes for security flaws, and a huge 3X increase from the then-record flaws fixed last month. (Some say the number is 622. Math is hard.) And this is on top of 468 Microsoft Edge/Chromium flaws that were fixed by Google this month too. Yikes. Microsoft discusses how it's improving Windows security with AI Windows Insider Program: Improved Windows Search is next on the docket, heading out to Experimental this week. Question: When do these things hit stable? Microsoft releases Snapdragon X2 versions of its Surface for Business Pro and Laptop models AI Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets Surprised there was no talk of "thermonuclear war" OpenAI's response is hilarious, and it is already prepping its first hardware device OpenAI just announced the rumored super app, which is a combination of ChatGPT, Work, Codex, and an in-app web browser, which replaces the standalone Atlas web browser. Also, GPT-5.6. In keeping with recent history, Anthropic announced its in-app web browser for Claude less than 24 hours later Reminder that Microsoft acknowledged that it, too, is working on an AI super app at Build Apple releases public betas of its OS 27 releases and, shocker, Siri is really good Now Spotify has an AI chatbot so I can tell it how much I hate Spotify Xbox and gaming Obsidian is working on a new Fallout game, duh. A quiet time after last week's terribleness Tips and picks Tip of the week: Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition) is here! App pick of the week: MusicBee RunAs Radio this week: Finding Security Vulnerabilities using AI with Sami Laiho Brown liquor pick of the week: Sanctuary Single Malt Whisky Reserve Edition 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT helixsleep.com/windows

Microsoft's July 2026 Patch Tuesday just shattered records with hundreds of bug fixes, and AI is the force behind the surge. Are we witnessing the beginning of a safer Windows, or is this flood of vulnerabilities the new normal? Plus, Tony Redmond's epic book has a new name (was Office 365 for IT Pros) and is now a bundle of four books. Windows Patch Tuesday is here! Point in Time Restore, quieter Widgets, Windows Update improvements, Screen tint, and more The biggest Patch Tuesday in history, by far: a record 570 fixes for security flaws, and a huge 3X increase from the then-record flaws fixed last month. (Some say the number is 622. Math is hard.) And this is on top of 468 Microsoft Edge/Chromium flaws that were fixed by Google this month too. Yikes. Microsoft discusses how it's improving Windows security with AI Windows Insider Program: Improved Windows Search is next on the docket, heading out to Experimental this week. Question: When do these things hit stable? Microsoft releases Snapdragon X2 versions of its Surface for Business Pro and Laptop models AI Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets Surprised there was no talk of "thermonuclear war" OpenAI's response is hilarious, and it is already prepping its first hardware device OpenAI just announced the rumored super app, which is a combination of ChatGPT, Work, Codex, and an in-app web browser, which replaces the standalone Atlas web browser. Also, GPT-5.6. In keeping with recent history, Anthropic announced its in-app web browser for Claude less than 24 hours later Reminder that Microsoft acknowledged that it, too, is working on an AI super app at Build Apple releases public betas of its OS 27 releases and, shocker, Siri is really good Now Spotify has an AI chatbot so I can tell it how much I hate Spotify Xbox and gaming Obsidian is working on a new Fallout game, duh. A quiet time after last week's terribleness Tips and picks Tip of the week: Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition) is here! App pick of the week: MusicBee RunAs Radio this week: Finding Security Vulnerabilities using AI with Sami Laiho Brown liquor pick of the week: Sanctuary Single Malt Whisky Reserve Edition 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT helixsleep.com/windows

Microsoft's July 2026 Patch Tuesday just shattered records with hundreds of bug fixes, and AI is the force behind the surge. Are we witnessing the beginning of a safer Windows, or is this flood of vulnerabilities the new normal? Plus, Tony Redmond's epic book has a new name (was Office 365 for IT Pros) and is now a bundle of four books. Windows Patch Tuesday is here! Point in Time Restore, quieter Widgets, Windows Update improvements, Screen tint, and more The biggest Patch Tuesday in history, by far: a record 570 fixes for security flaws, and a huge 3X increase from the then-record flaws fixed last month. (Some say the number is 622. Math is hard.) And this is on top of 468 Microsoft Edge/Chromium flaws that were fixed by Google this month too. Yikes. Microsoft discusses how it's improving Windows security with AI Windows Insider Program: Improved Windows Search is next on the docket, heading out to Experimental this week. Question: When do these things hit stable? Microsoft releases Snapdragon X2 versions of its Surface for Business Pro and Laptop models AI Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets Surprised there was no talk of "thermonuclear war" OpenAI's response is hilarious, and it is already prepping its first hardware device OpenAI just announced the rumored super app, which is a combination of ChatGPT, Work, Codex, and an in-app web browser, which replaces the standalone Atlas web browser. Also, GPT-5.6. In keeping with recent history, Anthropic announced its in-app web browser for Claude less than 24 hours later Reminder that Microsoft acknowledged that it, too, is working on an AI super app at Build Apple releases public betas of its OS 27 releases and, shocker, Siri is really good Now Spotify has an AI chatbot so I can tell it how much I hate Spotify Xbox and gaming Obsidian is working on a new Fallout game, duh. A quiet time after last week's terribleness Tips and picks Tip of the week: Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition) is here! App pick of the week: MusicBee RunAs Radio this week: Finding Security Vulnerabilities using AI with Sami Laiho Brown liquor pick of the week: Sanctuary Single Malt Whisky Reserve Edition 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT helixsleep.com/windows

Microsoft's July 2026 Patch Tuesday just shattered records with hundreds of bug fixes, and AI is the force behind the surge. Are we witnessing the beginning of a safer Windows, or is this flood of vulnerabilities the new normal? Plus, Tony Redmond's epic book has a new name (was Office 365 for IT Pros) and is now a bundle of four books. Windows Patch Tuesday is here! Point in Time Restore, quieter Widgets, Windows Update improvements, Screen tint, and more The biggest Patch Tuesday in history, by far: a record 570 fixes for security flaws, and a huge 3X increase from the then-record flaws fixed last month. (Some say the number is 622. Math is hard.) And this is on top of 468 Microsoft Edge/Chromium flaws that were fixed by Google this month too. Yikes. Microsoft discusses how it's improving Windows security with AI Windows Insider Program: Improved Windows Search is next on the docket, heading out to Experimental this week. Question: When do these things hit stable? Microsoft releases Snapdragon X2 versions of its Surface for Business Pro and Laptop models AI Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets Surprised there was no talk of "thermonuclear war" OpenAI's response is hilarious, and it is already prepping its first hardware device OpenAI just announced the rumored super app, which is a combination of ChatGPT, Work, Codex, and an in-app web browser, which replaces the standalone Atlas web browser. Also, GPT-5.6. In keeping with recent history, Anthropic announced its in-app web browser for Claude less than 24 hours later Reminder that Microsoft acknowledged that it, too, is working on an AI super app at Build Apple releases public betas of its OS 27 releases and, shocker, Siri is really good Now Spotify has an AI chatbot so I can tell it how much I hate Spotify Xbox and gaming Obsidian is working on a new Fallout game, duh. A quiet time after last week's terribleness Tips and picks Tip of the week: Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition) is here! App pick of the week: MusicBee RunAs Radio this week: Finding Security Vulnerabilities using AI with Sami Laiho Brown liquor pick of the week: Sanctuary Single Malt Whisky Reserve Edition 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT helixsleep.com/windows

Microsoft's July 2026 Patch Tuesday just shattered records with hundreds of bug fixes, and AI is the force behind the surge. Are we witnessing the beginning of a safer Windows, or is this flood of vulnerabilities the new normal? Plus, Tony Redmond's epic book has a new name (was Office 365 for IT Pros) and is now a bundle of four books. Windows Patch Tuesday is here! Point in Time Restore, quieter Widgets, Windows Update improvements, Screen tint, and more The biggest Patch Tuesday in history, by far: a record 570 fixes for security flaws, and a huge 3X increase from the then-record flaws fixed last month. (Some say the number is 622. Math is hard.) And this is on top of 468 Microsoft Edge/Chromium flaws that were fixed by Google this month too. Yikes. Microsoft discusses how it's improving Windows security with AI Windows Insider Program: Improved Windows Search is next on the docket, heading out to Experimental this week. Question: When do these things hit stable? Microsoft releases Snapdragon X2 versions of its Surface for Business Pro and Laptop models AI Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets Surprised there was no talk of "thermonuclear war" OpenAI's response is hilarious, and it is already prepping its first hardware device OpenAI just announced the rumored super app, which is a combination of ChatGPT, Work, Codex, and an in-app web browser, which replaces the standalone Atlas web browser. Also, GPT-5.6. In keeping with recent history, Anthropic announced its in-app web browser for Claude less than 24 hours later Reminder that Microsoft acknowledged that it, too, is working on an AI super app at Build Apple releases public betas of its OS 27 releases and, shocker, Siri is really good Now Spotify has an AI chatbot so I can tell it how much I hate Spotify Xbox and gaming Obsidian is working on a new Fallout game, duh. A quiet time after last week's terribleness Tips and picks Tip of the week: Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition) is here! App pick of the week: MusicBee RunAs Radio this week: Finding Security Vulnerabilities using AI with Sami Laiho Brown liquor pick of the week: Sanctuary Single Malt Whisky Reserve Edition 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT helixsleep.com/windows

Microsoft's July 2026 Patch Tuesday just shattered records with hundreds of bug fixes, and AI is the force behind the surge. Are we witnessing the beginning of a safer Windows, or is this flood of vulnerabilities the new normal? Plus, Tony Redmond's epic book has a new name (was Office 365 for IT Pros) and is now a bundle of four books. Windows Patch Tuesday is here! Point in Time Restore, quieter Widgets, Windows Update improvements, Screen tint, and more The biggest Patch Tuesday in history, by far: a record 570 fixes for security flaws, and a huge 3X increase from the then-record flaws fixed last month. (Some say the number is 622. Math is hard.) And this is on top of 468 Microsoft Edge/Chromium flaws that were fixed by Google this month too. Yikes. Microsoft discusses how it's improving Windows security with AI Windows Insider Program: Improved Windows Search is next on the docket, heading out to Experimental this week. Question: When do these things hit stable? Microsoft releases Snapdragon X2 versions of its Surface for Business Pro and Laptop models AI Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets Surprised there was no talk of "thermonuclear war" OpenAI's response is hilarious, and it is already prepping its first hardware device OpenAI just announced the rumored super app, which is a combination of ChatGPT, Work, Codex, and an in-app web browser, which replaces the standalone Atlas web browser. Also, GPT-5.6. In keeping with recent history, Anthropic announced its in-app web browser for Claude less than 24 hours later Reminder that Microsoft acknowledged that it, too, is working on an AI super app at Build Apple releases public betas of its OS 27 releases and, shocker, Siri is really good Now Spotify has an AI chatbot so I can tell it how much I hate Spotify Xbox and gaming Obsidian is working on a new Fallout game, duh. A quiet time after last week's terribleness Tips and picks Tip of the week: Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition) is here! App pick of the week: MusicBee RunAs Radio this week: Finding Security Vulnerabilities using AI with Sami Laiho Brown liquor pick of the week: Sanctuary Single Malt Whisky Reserve Edition 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT helixsleep.com/windows

Windows 11's upcoming Start menu revamp gives you more power to personalize than ever, ditching old limitations and letting you decide exactly what shows up when you hit Start. Discover what's changing behind the scenes and how it could reshape your daily workflow. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit

Windows 11's upcoming Start menu revamp gives you more power to personalize than ever, ditching old limitations and letting you decide exactly what shows up when you hit Start. Discover what's changing behind the scenes and how it could reshape your daily workflow. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs and game studio shakeups reveal deep cracks in the XBOX business, as years of unprofitability and missed expectations force the company into tough decisions. Are industry icons like Game Pass and big-name studios on borrowed time? Also, Paul's made major progress on the Windows 11 Field Guide updates! Plus, a desktop and mobile web browser that now blocks YouTube ads by default. Layoffs Microsoft announces 4800 layoffs, 3200 at XBOX Analysis: What Sharma said and didn't say. Many interesting details revealed here. Many questions unanswered Great outcomes for four studios, id Software reportedly laid off half its staff Interesting alternative analysis: The Game Pass thesis, XBOX can't do everything Windows Four new builds yesterday, one major new feature: Cloud restore Microsoft Edge is adding support for Google account sign-ins Opera One adds clipboard attack prevention Google and Samsung have announced new hardware launches, both with new foldables on the way - Apple's first foldable expected in January AI Microsoft is reportedly transitioning to its in-house MAI models where possible Latest Corey Doctorow book takes on the future of AI and is surprisingly middle-of-the-road. Unlike his last book, he explains how he handles this and has some ideas for doing so yourself XBOX and gaming Gears of War Reloaded, more head to Game Pass The oldest rumor in XBOX history is back, with Microsoft working (again, or as always) on a disc-to-digital program in the wake of the Sony PS5+ physical media announcement Nintendo to end OG Switch sales, make Switch 2 changes in the EU You can play Half-Life 2 in a web browser now Tips and picks Tip of the week: All Mint Mobile Plans Are Now Just $15 Per Month App pick of the week: DuckDuckGo browser RunAs Radio this week: Implementing Azure Policies with Barbara Forbes Brown liquor pick of the week: Shenk's Homestead Sour Mash 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs and game studio shakeups reveal deep cracks in the XBOX business, as years of unprofitability and missed expectations force the company into tough decisions. Are industry icons like Game Pass and big-name studios on borrowed time? Also, Paul's made major progress on the Windows 11 Field Guide updates! Plus, a desktop and mobile web browser that now blocks YouTube ads by default. Layoffs Microsoft announces 4800 layoffs, 3200 at XBOX Analysis: What Sharma said and didn't say. Many interesting details revealed here. Many questions unanswered Great outcomes for four studios, id Software reportedly laid off half its staff Interesting alternative analysis: The Game Pass thesis, XBOX can't do everything Windows Four new builds yesterday, one major new feature: Cloud restore Microsoft Edge is adding support for Google account sign-ins Opera One adds clipboard attack prevention Google and Samsung have announced new hardware launches, both with new foldables on the way - Apple's first foldable expected in January AI Microsoft is reportedly transitioning to its in-house MAI models where possible Latest Corey Doctorow book takes on the future of AI and is surprisingly middle-of-the-road. Unlike his last book, he explains how he handles this and has some ideas for doing so yourself XBOX and gaming Gears of War Reloaded, more head to Game Pass The oldest rumor in XBOX history is back, with Microsoft working (again, or as always) on a disc-to-digital program in the wake of the Sony PS5+ physical media announcement Nintendo to end OG Switch sales, make Switch 2 changes in the EU You can play Half-Life 2 in a web browser now Tips and picks Tip of the week: All Mint Mobile Plans Are Now Just $15 Per Month App pick of the week: DuckDuckGo browser RunAs Radio this week: Implementing Azure Policies with Barbara Forbes Brown liquor pick of the week: Shenk's Homestead Sour Mash 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs and game studio shakeups reveal deep cracks in the XBOX business, as years of unprofitability and missed expectations force the company into tough decisions. Are industry icons like Game Pass and big-name studios on borrowed time? Also, Paul's made major progress on the Windows 11 Field Guide updates! Plus, a desktop and mobile web browser that now blocks YouTube ads by default. Layoffs Microsoft announces 4800 layoffs, 3200 at XBOX Analysis: What Sharma said and didn't say. Many interesting details revealed here. Many questions unanswered Great outcomes for four studios, id Software reportedly laid off half its staff Interesting alternative analysis: The Game Pass thesis, XBOX can't do everything Windows Four new builds yesterday, one major new feature: Cloud restore Microsoft Edge is adding support for Google account sign-ins Opera One adds clipboard attack prevention Google and Samsung have announced new hardware launches, both with new foldables on the way - Apple's first foldable expected in January AI Microsoft is reportedly transitioning to its in-house MAI models where possible Latest Corey Doctorow book takes on the future of AI and is surprisingly middle-of-the-road. Unlike his last book, he explains how he handles this and has some ideas for doing so yourself XBOX and gaming Gears of War Reloaded, more head to Game Pass The oldest rumor in XBOX history is back, with Microsoft working (again, or as always) on a disc-to-digital program in the wake of the Sony PS5+ physical media announcement Nintendo to end OG Switch sales, make Switch 2 changes in the EU You can play Half-Life 2 in a web browser now Tips and picks Tip of the week: All Mint Mobile Plans Are Now Just $15 Per Month App pick of the week: DuckDuckGo browser RunAs Radio this week: Implementing Azure Policies with Barbara Forbes Brown liquor pick of the week: Shenk's Homestead Sour Mash 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs and game studio shakeups reveal deep cracks in the XBOX business, as years of unprofitability and missed expectations force the company into tough decisions. Are industry icons like Game Pass and big-name studios on borrowed time? Also, Paul's made major progress on the Windows 11 Field Guide updates! Plus, a desktop and mobile web browser that now blocks YouTube ads by default. Layoffs Microsoft announces 4800 layoffs, 3200 at XBOX Analysis: What Sharma said and didn't say. Many interesting details revealed here. Many questions unanswered Great outcomes for four studios, id Software reportedly laid off half its staff Interesting alternative analysis: The Game Pass thesis, XBOX can't do everything Windows Four new builds yesterday, one major new feature: Cloud restore Microsoft Edge is adding support for Google account sign-ins Opera One adds clipboard attack prevention Google and Samsung have announced new hardware launches, both with new foldables on the way - Apple's first foldable expected in January AI Microsoft is reportedly transitioning to its in-house MAI models where possible Latest Corey Doctorow book takes on the future of AI and is surprisingly middle-of-the-road. Unlike his last book, he explains how he handles this and has some ideas for doing so yourself XBOX and gaming Gears of War Reloaded, more head to Game Pass The oldest rumor in XBOX history is back, with Microsoft working (again, or as always) on a disc-to-digital program in the wake of the Sony PS5+ physical media announcement Nintendo to end OG Switch sales, make Switch 2 changes in the EU You can play Half-Life 2 in a web browser now Tips and picks Tip of the week: All Mint Mobile Plans Are Now Just $15 Per Month App pick of the week: DuckDuckGo browser RunAs Radio this week: Implementing Azure Policies with Barbara Forbes Brown liquor pick of the week: Shenk's Homestead Sour Mash 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs and game studio shakeups reveal deep cracks in the XBOX business, as years of unprofitability and missed expectations force the company into tough decisions. Are industry icons like Game Pass and big-name studios on borrowed time? Also, Paul's made major progress on the Windows 11 Field Guide updates! Plus, a desktop and mobile web browser that now blocks YouTube ads by default. Layoffs Microsoft announces 4800 layoffs, 3200 at XBOX Analysis: What Sharma said and didn't say. Many interesting details revealed here. Many questions unanswered Great outcomes for four studios, id Software reportedly laid off half its staff Interesting alternative analysis: The Game Pass thesis, XBOX can't do everything Windows Four new builds yesterday, one major new feature: Cloud restore Microsoft Edge is adding support for Google account sign-ins Opera One adds clipboard attack prevention Google and Samsung have announced new hardware launches, both with new foldables on the way - Apple's first foldable expected in January AI Microsoft is reportedly transitioning to its in-house MAI models where possible Latest Corey Doctorow book takes on the future of AI and is surprisingly middle-of-the-road. Unlike his last book, he explains how he handles this and has some ideas for doing so yourself XBOX and gaming Gears of War Reloaded, more head to Game Pass The oldest rumor in XBOX history is back, with Microsoft working (again, or as always) on a disc-to-digital program in the wake of the Sony PS5+ physical media announcement Nintendo to end OG Switch sales, make Switch 2 changes in the EU You can play Half-Life 2 in a web browser now Tips and picks Tip of the week: All Mint Mobile Plans Are Now Just $15 Per Month App pick of the week: DuckDuckGo browser RunAs Radio this week: Implementing Azure Policies with Barbara Forbes Brown liquor pick of the week: Shenk's Homestead Sour Mash 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

Microsoft's latest round of layoffs and game studio shakeups reveal deep cracks in the XBOX business, as years of unprofitability and missed expectations force the company into tough decisions. Are industry icons like Game Pass and big-name studios on borrowed time? Also, Paul's made major progress on the Windows 11 Field Guide updates! Plus, a desktop and mobile web browser that now blocks YouTube ads by default. Layoffs Microsoft announces 4800 layoffs, 3200 at XBOX Analysis: What Sharma said and didn't say. Many interesting details revealed here. Many questions unanswered Great outcomes for four studios, id Software reportedly laid off half its staff Interesting alternative analysis: The Game Pass thesis, XBOX can't do everything Windows Four new builds yesterday, one major new feature: Cloud restore Microsoft Edge is adding support for Google account sign-ins Opera One adds clipboard attack prevention Google and Samsung have announced new hardware launches, both with new foldables on the way - Apple's first foldable expected in January AI Microsoft is reportedly transitioning to its in-house MAI models where possible Latest Corey Doctorow book takes on the future of AI and is surprisingly middle-of-the-road. Unlike his last book, he explains how he handles this and has some ideas for doing so yourself XBOX and gaming Gears of War Reloaded, more head to Game Pass The oldest rumor in XBOX history is back, with Microsoft working (again, or as always) on a disc-to-digital program in the wake of the Sony PS5+ physical media announcement Nintendo to end OG Switch sales, make Switch 2 changes in the EU You can play Half-Life 2 in a web browser now Tips and picks Tip of the week: All Mint Mobile Plans Are Now Just $15 Per Month App pick of the week: DuckDuckGo browser RunAs Radio this week: Implementing Azure Policies with Barbara Forbes Brown liquor pick of the week: Shenk's Homestead Sour Mash 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT threatlocker.com/twit cachefly.com/twit

This week I'm joined by guest Paul Thurrott as we talk about technology, travel, and how pros and cons are at the core of how we should move through the world. Show music by OGRE. Support the show!

What happens when you strip Windows 11 to the bone and dodge Microsoft's usual bloat? Paul Thurrott reveals how far you can actually go in building a lean, privacy-focused Windows experience—without third-party debloating tools. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT

What happens when you strip Windows 11 to the bone and dodge Microsoft's usual bloat? Paul Thurrott reveals how far you can actually go in building a lean, privacy-focused Windows experience—without third-party debloating tools. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT

Windows 10's Extended Security Update program quietly gets extended for another year for consumers. Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products & is now selling 8 GB Surface Pro & Laptop models. And Xbox Series X & S prices are going to go up again. Windows Microsoft quietly extends the Windows 10 Extended Security Update program one year to October 2027 for consumers Windows Insider Windows Update is transitioning to the new Windows Insider experience by default Plus, five new builds across Beta, Experimental, Beta (26H1), Experimental (26H1), and Experimental (Future Platforms) — new Taskbar size setting is the much-needed new feature Hardware Apple raises prices on Macs, iPads, and more, easing pressure on PC makers Microsoft quietly begins selling 8 GB Surface Pro/Laptop models Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products right when we need them the most The ASUS Zenbook A16 is nearly perfect, but it's unclear what you get with an X2 Elite Extreme chip AI HP partners with OpenAI for its agentic makeover Anthropic seizes on the "good enough" AI movement with Sonnet 5 Proton Lumo 2.0 is here Gemini personalized image creator is available for free in the US Notion blames agentic AI for it killing Notion Mail Xbox and Gaming The 2026 Doom and Gloom Watch Xbox Series X|S prices to go up again, by $150, on August 1 - and the 2 TB X is going away Undead Labs and Arkane Lyon possible victims of pending closures Latest rumor: Microsoft to layoff 2.5 percent of workforce next week - that's 5,500 people, less than expected, but that's because of the earlier voluntary buyouts, which apparently met internal expectations Minecraft Bedrock edition gets closed captions Sony will stop selling PS physical media in 2028 Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Help or get out of the way People who just complain aren't solving problems, they're just making noise and distracting us from the real problems. App Pick of the Week: Snapdragon Control Panel If you have a Windows 11 on Arm PC on Snapdragon X or X2, you need this app to make games run as well as possible. Plus - Settings > System > Display > Graphics for Auto SR and other settings and whatever is in each game RunAs Radio this week: AI-Accelerated Supply Chain Attacks with Mackenzie Duncan Brown liquor pick of the week: Rupert's Exceptional Canadian Whisky 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT zscaler.com/security cohesity.com/Resilience

Windows 10's Extended Security Update program quietly gets extended for another year for consumers. Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products & is now selling 8 GB Surface Pro & Laptop models. And Xbox Series X & S prices are going to go up again. Windows Microsoft quietly extends the Windows 10 Extended Security Update program one year to October 2027 for consumers Windows Insider Windows Update is transitioning to the new Windows Insider experience by default Plus, five new builds across Beta, Experimental, Beta (26H1), Experimental (26H1), and Experimental (Future Platforms) — new Taskbar size setting is the much-needed new feature Hardware Apple raises prices on Macs, iPads, and more, easing pressure on PC makers Microsoft quietly begins selling 8 GB Surface Pro/Laptop models Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products right when we need them the most The ASUS Zenbook A16 is nearly perfect, but it's unclear what you get with an X2 Elite Extreme chip AI HP partners with OpenAI for its agentic makeover Anthropic seizes on the "good enough" AI movement with Sonnet 5 Proton Lumo 2.0 is here Gemini personalized image creator is available for free in the US Notion blames agentic AI for it killing Notion Mail Xbox and Gaming The 2026 Doom and Gloom Watch Xbox Series X|S prices to go up again, by $150, on August 1 - and the 2 TB X is going away Undead Labs and Arkane Lyon possible victims of pending closures Latest rumor: Microsoft to layoff 2.5 percent of workforce next week - that's 5,500 people, less than expected, but that's because of the earlier voluntary buyouts, which apparently met internal expectations Minecraft Bedrock edition gets closed captions Sony will stop selling PS physical media in 2028 Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Help or get out of the way People who just complain aren't solving problems, they're just making noise and distracting us from the real problems. App Pick of the Week: Snapdragon Control Panel If you have a Windows 11 on Arm PC on Snapdragon X or X2, you need this app to make games run as well as possible. Plus - Settings > System > Display > Graphics for Auto SR and other settings and whatever is in each game RunAs Radio this week: AI-Accelerated Supply Chain Attacks with Mackenzie Duncan Brown liquor pick of the week: Rupert's Exceptional Canadian Whisky 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT zscaler.com/security cohesity.com/Resilience

Windows 10's Extended Security Update program quietly gets extended for another year for consumers. Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products & is now selling 8 GB Surface Pro & Laptop models. And Xbox Series X & S prices are going to go up again. Windows Microsoft quietly extends the Windows 10 Extended Security Update program one year to October 2027 for consumers Windows Insider Windows Update is transitioning to the new Windows Insider experience by default Plus, five new builds across Beta, Experimental, Beta (26H1), Experimental (26H1), and Experimental (Future Platforms) — new Taskbar size setting is the much-needed new feature Hardware Apple raises prices on Macs, iPads, and more, easing pressure on PC makers Microsoft quietly begins selling 8 GB Surface Pro/Laptop models Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products right when we need them the most The ASUS Zenbook A16 is nearly perfect, but it's unclear what you get with an X2 Elite Extreme chip AI HP partners with OpenAI for its agentic makeover Anthropic seizes on the "good enough" AI movement with Sonnet 5 Proton Lumo 2.0 is here Gemini personalized image creator is available for free in the US Notion blames agentic AI for it killing Notion Mail Xbox and Gaming The 2026 Doom and Gloom Watch Xbox Series X|S prices to go up again, by $150, on August 1 - and the 2 TB X is going away Undead Labs and Arkane Lyon possible victims of pending closures Latest rumor: Microsoft to layoff 2.5 percent of workforce next week - that's 5,500 people, less than expected, but that's because of the earlier voluntary buyouts, which apparently met internal expectations Minecraft Bedrock edition gets closed captions Sony will stop selling PS physical media in 2028 Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Help or get out of the way People who just complain aren't solving problems, they're just making noise and distracting us from the real problems. App Pick of the Week: Snapdragon Control Panel If you have a Windows 11 on Arm PC on Snapdragon X or X2, you need this app to make games run as well as possible. Plus - Settings > System > Display > Graphics for Auto SR and other settings and whatever is in each game RunAs Radio this week: AI-Accelerated Supply Chain Attacks with Mackenzie Duncan Brown liquor pick of the week: Rupert's Exceptional Canadian Whisky 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT zscaler.com/security cohesity.com/Resilience

Windows 10's Extended Security Update program quietly gets extended for another year for consumers. Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products & is now selling 8 GB Surface Pro & Laptop models. And Xbox Series X & S prices are going to go up again. Windows Microsoft quietly extends the Windows 10 Extended Security Update program one year to October 2027 for consumers Windows Insider Windows Update is transitioning to the new Windows Insider experience by default Plus, five new builds across Beta, Experimental, Beta (26H1), Experimental (26H1), and Experimental (Future Platforms) — new Taskbar size setting is the much-needed new feature Hardware Apple raises prices on Macs, iPads, and more, easing pressure on PC makers Microsoft quietly begins selling 8 GB Surface Pro/Laptop models Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products right when we need them the most The ASUS Zenbook A16 is nearly perfect, but it's unclear what you get with an X2 Elite Extreme chip AI HP partners with OpenAI for its agentic makeover Anthropic seizes on the "good enough" AI movement with Sonnet 5 Proton Lumo 2.0 is here Gemini personalized image creator is available for free in the US Notion blames agentic AI for it killing Notion Mail Xbox and Gaming The 2026 Doom and Gloom Watch Xbox Series X|S prices to go up again, by $150, on August 1 - and the 2 TB X is going away Undead Labs and Arkane Lyon possible victims of pending closures Latest rumor: Microsoft to layoff 2.5 percent of workforce next week - that's 5,500 people, less than expected, but that's because of the earlier voluntary buyouts, which apparently met internal expectations Minecraft Bedrock edition gets closed captions Sony will stop selling PS physical media in 2028 Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Help or get out of the way People who just complain aren't solving problems, they're just making noise and distracting us from the real problems. App Pick of the Week: Snapdragon Control Panel If you have a Windows 11 on Arm PC on Snapdragon X or X2, you need this app to make games run as well as possible. Plus - Settings > System > Display > Graphics for Auto SR and other settings and whatever is in each game RunAs Radio this week: AI-Accelerated Supply Chain Attacks with Mackenzie Duncan Brown liquor pick of the week: Rupert's Exceptional Canadian Whisky 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT zscaler.com/security cohesity.com/Resilience

Windows 10's Extended Security Update program quietly gets extended for another year for consumers. Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products & is now selling 8 GB Surface Pro & Laptop models. And Xbox Series X & S prices are going to go up again. Windows Microsoft quietly extends the Windows 10 Extended Security Update program one year to October 2027 for consumers Windows Insider Windows Update is transitioning to the new Windows Insider experience by default Plus, five new builds across Beta, Experimental, Beta (26H1), Experimental (26H1), and Experimental (Future Platforms) — new Taskbar size setting is the much-needed new feature Hardware Apple raises prices on Macs, iPads, and more, easing pressure on PC makers Microsoft quietly begins selling 8 GB Surface Pro/Laptop models Microsoft reportedly kills Surface Go products right when we need them the most The ASUS Zenbook A16 is nearly perfect, but it's unclear what you get with an X2 Elite Extreme chip AI HP partners with OpenAI for its agentic makeover Anthropic seizes on the "good enough" AI movement with Sonnet 5 Proton Lumo 2.0 is here Gemini personalized image creator is available for free in the US Notion blames agentic AI for it killing Notion Mail Xbox and Gaming The 2026 Doom and Gloom Watch Xbox Series X|S prices to go up again, by $150, on August 1 - and the 2 TB X is going away Undead Labs and Arkane Lyon possible victims of pending closures Latest rumor: Microsoft to layoff 2.5 percent of workforce next week - that's 5,500 people, less than expected, but that's because of the earlier voluntary buyouts, which apparently met internal expectations Minecraft Bedrock edition gets closed captions Sony will stop selling PS physical media in 2028 Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Help or get out of the way People who just complain aren't solving problems, they're just making noise and distracting us from the real problems. App Pick of the Week: Snapdragon Control Panel If you have a Windows 11 on Arm PC on Snapdragon X or X2, you need this app to make games run as well as possible. Plus - Settings > System > Display > Graphics for Auto SR and other settings and whatever is in each game RunAs Radio this week: AI-Accelerated Supply Chain Attacks with Mackenzie Duncan Brown liquor pick of the week: Rupert's Exceptional Canadian Whisky 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT zscaler.com/security cohesity.com/Resilience

What happens when you strip Windows 11 down to the bare essentials and kick most Microsoft services to the curb? Paul Thurrott reveals how going minimal can transform your PC into a cleaner, faster machine. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

Windows 12 is stalled and the real reasons go far beyond software. The conversation unpacks how soaring hardware prices, AI chaos, and market confusion have Microsoft in a holding pattern. Also, Paul finally took a sledgehammer to the subscription services he pays for, and more is on the way. Plus, one of Paul's favorite Markdown editors supports authorship on Windows now and an integrated Search/Outline view on Mac, iPad, and iPad.Windows Week D is here with a preview of July's Patch Tuesday Point-in-time restore is now generally available in Windows 11, sort of Quieter widgets, which is nice! Plus, Screen tint, Windows Update improvements, more Tied to this, sort of, something wonderful is happening to the Windows 11 Field Guide Five new builds, plus some 26H2 news (and still no news about what 26H1 becomes, see below...) Mostly minor fit-and-finish improvements So... what about Windows 12? The history is interesting, and Copilot+ PC was what Paul originally thought Windows 12 would be. But now we're talking agentic capabilities that will handle local/cloud/hybrid orchestration per last week's discussion, and maybe that will be it. We knew that Surface Laptop and Surface Pro would come in 8 GB configurations. But they're available now with just 256 GB of storage and the prices are $950 and $850 and up, respectively. Plus all the usual Surface limitations, like one color choice. (16 GB is $1150 and $1050, respectively, so $300 more.) Once again, it's time to just get a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x for $850. It has 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage and is awesome. Tim Cook just admitted that Apple will raise hardware prices because of the component crisis. If this is hitting Apple hard, the rest of the industry is screwed. AI Cory Doctorow's new book is out and let's just say his new neologism isn't as catchy as enshittification Reverse centaur (groan) Surprisingly centrist view on the pros and cons of AI Highlights the Microsoft financial shenanigans I point out every quarter: Microsoft "invests" $10 billion of "tokens" in OpenAI, but there's no volume discount and Microsoft books the transaction as $10 billion in AI revenues as OpenAI simply uses its infrastructure. It gave $10 billion to OpenAI so that it could spend $10 billion on Azure. Google Home Speaker is the Gemini speaker and it's now shipping to first customers as Google discontinues Nest Audio and Nest Mini speakers. Can we trust this company with hardware? And why are there no Apple or Google home theater setups? Adobe brings its creative agent to Firefly and the biggest apps in Creative Cloud XBOX & gaming No movement yet on the massive changes we expect in XBOX soon Microsoft has "dozens" of gaming IP-based movies and TV shows in the works XBOX Insiders can now test updates to Gamertags, Game Hub, and Wish List Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 are being ported to modern PS consoles. Sadly, not remakes or remasters. GTA VI will cost $79.99 and up - Arrives in November, can preorder on June 25 Steam Machine to cost $1049 and up, and that's with no controller Tips & picks Tip of the week: How to save $100 a month App pick of the week: iA Writer RunAs Radio this week: Securing Developers with Tanya Janca Brown liquor pick of the week: Glen Breton Rare 10 These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/989 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Sponsor: webroot.com/twit

Windows 12 is stalled and the real reasons go far beyond software. The conversation unpacks how soaring hardware prices, AI chaos, and market confusion have Microsoft in a holding pattern. Also, Paul finally took a sledgehammer to the subscription services he pays for, and more is on the way. Plus, one of Paul's favorite Markdown editors supports authorship on Windows now and an integrated Search/Outline view on Mac, iPad, and iPad.Windows Week D is here with a preview of July's Patch Tuesday Point-in-time restore is now generally available in Windows 11, sort of Quieter widgets, which is nice! Plus, Screen tint, Windows Update improvements, more Tied to this, sort of, something wonderful is happening to the Windows 11 Field Guide Five new builds, plus some 26H2 news (and still no news about what 26H1 becomes, see below...) Mostly minor fit-and-finish improvements So... what about Windows 12? The history is interesting, and Copilot+ PC was what Paul originally thought Windows 12 would be. But now we're talking agentic capabilities that will handle local/cloud/hybrid orchestration per last week's discussion, and maybe that will be it. We knew that Surface Laptop and Surface Pro would come in 8 GB configurations. But they're available now with just 256 GB of storage and the prices are $950 and $850 and up, respectively. Plus all the usual Surface limitations, like one color choice. (16 GB is $1150 and $1050, respectively, so $300 more.) Once again, it's time to just get a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x for $850. It has 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage and is awesome. Tim Cook just admitted that Apple will raise hardware prices because of the component crisis. If this is hitting Apple hard, the rest of the industry is screwed. AI Cory Doctorow's new book is out and let's just say his new neologism isn't as catchy as enshittification Reverse centaur (groan) Surprisingly centrist view on the pros and cons of AI Highlights the Microsoft financial shenanigans I point out every quarter: Microsoft "invests" $10 billion of "tokens" in OpenAI, but there's no volume discount and Microsoft books the transaction as $10 billion in AI revenues as OpenAI simply uses its infrastructure. It gave $10 billion to OpenAI so that it could spend $10 billion on Azure. Google Home Speaker is the Gemini speaker and it's now shipping to first customers as Google discontinues Nest Audio and Nest Mini speakers. Can we trust this company with hardware? And why are there no Apple or Google home theater setups? Adobe brings its creative agent to Firefly and the biggest apps in Creative Cloud XBOX & gaming No movement yet on the massive changes we expect in XBOX soon Microsoft has "dozens" of gaming IP-based movies and TV shows in the works XBOX Insiders can now test updates to Gamertags, Game Hub, and Wish List Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 are being ported to modern PS consoles. Sadly, not remakes or remasters. GTA VI will cost $79.99 and up - Arrives in November, can preorder on June 25 Steam Machine to cost $1049 and up, and that's with no controller Tips & picks Tip of the week: How to save $100 a month App pick of the week: iA Writer RunAs Radio this week: Securing Developers with Tanya Janca Brown liquor pick of the week: Glen Breton Rare 10 These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/989 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Sponsor: webroot.com/twit

Windows 12 is stalled and the real reasons go far beyond software. The conversation unpacks how soaring hardware prices, AI chaos, and market confusion have Microsoft in a holding pattern. Also, Paul finally took a sledgehammer to the subscription services he pays for, and more is on the way. Plus, one of Paul's favorite Markdown editors supports authorship on Windows now and an integrated Search/Outline view on Mac, iPad, and iPad.Windows Week D is here with a preview of July's Patch Tuesday Point-in-time restore is now generally available in Windows 11, sort of Quieter widgets, which is nice! Plus, Screen tint, Windows Update improvements, more Tied to this, sort of, something wonderful is happening to the Windows 11 Field Guide Five new builds, plus some 26H2 news (and still no news about what 26H1 becomes, see below...) Mostly minor fit-and-finish improvements So... what about Windows 12? The history is interesting, and Copilot+ PC was what Paul originally thought Windows 12 would be. But now we're talking agentic capabilities that will handle local/cloud/hybrid orchestration per last week's discussion, and maybe that will be it. We knew that Surface Laptop and Surface Pro would come in 8 GB configurations. But they're available now with just 256 GB of storage and the prices are $950 and $850 and up, respectively. Plus all the usual Surface limitations, like one color choice. (16 GB is $1150 and $1050, respectively, so $300 more.) Once again, it's time to just get a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x for $850. It has 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage and is awesome. Tim Cook just admitted that Apple will raise hardware prices because of the component crisis. If this is hitting Apple hard, the rest of the industry is screwed. AI Cory Doctorow's new book is out and let's just say his new neologism isn't as catchy as enshittification Reverse centaur (groan) Surprisingly centrist view on the pros and cons of AI Highlights the Microsoft financial shenanigans I point out every quarter: Microsoft "invests" $10 billion of "tokens" in OpenAI, but there's no volume discount and Microsoft books the transaction as $10 billion in AI revenues as OpenAI simply uses its infrastructure. It gave $10 billion to OpenAI so that it could spend $10 billion on Azure. Google Home Speaker is the Gemini speaker and it's now shipping to first customers as Google discontinues Nest Audio and Nest Mini speakers. Can we trust this company with hardware? And why are there no Apple or Google home theater setups? Adobe brings its creative agent to Firefly and the biggest apps in Creative Cloud XBOX & gaming No movement yet on the massive changes we expect in XBOX soon Microsoft has "dozens" of gaming IP-based movies and TV shows in the works XBOX Insiders can now test updates to Gamertags, Game Hub, and Wish List Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 are being ported to modern PS consoles. Sadly, not remakes or remasters. GTA VI will cost $79.99 and up - Arrives in November, can preorder on June 25 Steam Machine to cost $1049 and up, and that's with no controller Tips & picks Tip of the week: How to save $100 a month App pick of the week: iA Writer RunAs Radio this week: Securing Developers with Tanya Janca Brown liquor pick of the week: Glen Breton Rare 10 These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/989 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Sponsor: webroot.com/twit

Windows 12 is stalled and the real reasons go far beyond software. The conversation unpacks how soaring hardware prices, AI chaos, and market confusion have Microsoft in a holding pattern. Also, Paul finally took a sledgehammer to the subscription services he pays for, and more is on the way. Plus, one of Paul's favorite Markdown editors supports authorship on Windows now and an integrated Search/Outline view on Mac, iPad, and iPad.Windows Week D is here with a preview of July's Patch Tuesday Point-in-time restore is now generally available in Windows 11, sort of Quieter widgets, which is nice! Plus, Screen tint, Windows Update improvements, more Tied to this, sort of, something wonderful is happening to the Windows 11 Field Guide Five new builds, plus some 26H2 news (and still no news about what 26H1 becomes, see below...) Mostly minor fit-and-finish improvements So... what about Windows 12? The history is interesting, and Copilot+ PC was what Paul originally thought Windows 12 would be. But now we're talking agentic capabilities that will handle local/cloud/hybrid orchestration per last week's discussion, and maybe that will be it. We knew that Surface Laptop and Surface Pro would come in 8 GB configurations. But they're available now with just 256 GB of storage and the prices are $950 and $850 and up, respectively. Plus all the usual Surface limitations, like one color choice. (16 GB is $1150 and $1050, respectively, so $300 more.) Once again, it's time to just get a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x for $850. It has 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage and is awesome. Tim Cook just admitted that Apple will raise hardware prices because of the component crisis. If this is hitting Apple hard, the rest of the industry is screwed. AI Cory Doctorow's new book is out and let's just say his new neologism isn't as catchy as enshittification Reverse centaur (groan) Surprisingly centrist view on the pros and cons of AI Highlights the Microsoft financial shenanigans I point out every quarter: Microsoft "invests" $10 billion of "tokens" in OpenAI, but there's no volume discount and Microsoft books the transaction as $10 billion in AI revenues as OpenAI simply uses its infrastructure. It gave $10 billion to OpenAI so that it could spend $10 billion on Azure. Google Home Speaker is the Gemini speaker and it's now shipping to first customers as Google discontinues Nest Audio and Nest Mini speakers. Can we trust this company with hardware? And why are there no Apple or Google home theater setups? Adobe brings its creative agent to Firefly and the biggest apps in Creative Cloud XBOX & gaming No movement yet on the massive changes we expect in XBOX soon Microsoft has "dozens" of gaming IP-based movies and TV shows in the works XBOX Insiders can now test updates to Gamertags, Game Hub, and Wish List Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 are being ported to modern PS consoles. Sadly, not remakes or remasters. GTA VI will cost $79.99 and up - Arrives in November, can preorder on June 25 Steam Machine to cost $1049 and up, and that's with no controller Tips & picks Tip of the week: How to save $100 a month App pick of the week: iA Writer RunAs Radio this week: Securing Developers with Tanya Janca Brown liquor pick of the week: Glen Breton Rare 10 These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/989 Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Sponsor: webroot.com/twit

With major leadership shakeups and rumors of studio closures, the future of XBOX inside Microsoft suddenly looks uncertain. Is this the beginning of a Game Pass overhaul, or could XBOX face an outright split from the company? Plus, PowerToys 0.100 (yes, point one hundred) arrives with so many improvements. And the Windows Insider program is leaving even seasoned users scratching their heads over Microsoft's so-called "simplification." Windows Windows Insider Program: Microsoft releases a record 7 builds to the allegedly simpler Insider Program You can't tell the players without a program Experimental: Less disruptive Windows Update, Windows Search improvements Beta 26H1: Screen tint Beta 25H2: Screen tint, quieter Widgets, Magnifier zoom controls Release Preview 25H2: Screen tint, quieter Widgets, Magnifier zoom controls, Bluetooth connectivity improvements All (?) get Voice access and Voice typing improvements, and new right-click Touchpad settings Good God, Microsoft Hardware Microsoft announces Snapdragon X2-based Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Laptop 13 and the prices are eye-watering Samsung announces Snapdragon X2-based Galaxy Book6 Edge and, yes, the prices are eye-watering The component crisis is a disaster but limitations are driving innovation, as they always have Google releases Android 17 alongside a new Pixel Drop, setting the stage for Googlebooks Software Microsoft Edge to follow Chrome to a two-week development schedule because we all love updating our web browsers Mozilla releases Firefox 152 and a new roadmap for the browser AI FINALLY AN AI-FREE WEEK XBOX and gaming Fear & loathing at XBOX! The Microsoft fiscal year ends in two weeks, and big changes are coming XBOX leadership set to reveal "hard truths" that will absolutely include layoffs and studio and game closures Microsoft is looking at all options for XBOX, including a spin-off XBOX Studios CEO and chief of staff announce their departures ahead of expected layoffs XBOX reportedly closing Ninja Theory, makers of the Hellblade games Compulsion Games is likely on the chopping block too XBOX is coming to Gamescon this year Xbox June Update arrives with new boot animation, more while Microsoft continues testing minor UX changes in the Insider Program COD: Vanguard, EA Sports FC 26 and more coming to Game Pass in the second half of June Rockstar Games is giving free GTA V upgrades to Xbox One and PS4 players Tips and picks Tip of the week: Don't doomscroll, learnscroll instead App pick of the week: PowerToys 0.100 RunAs Radio this week: 47 Day Certificates with Todd Gardner Brown liquor pick of the week: Thornæs Kagerup 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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: trustedtech.team/windowsweekly365