Windows Weekly 843

This week on Windows Weekly, Leo, Paul, and Richard dive deep into Microsoft’s prolonged acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview builds, the launch of Edge for Business, and the Mixed Reality collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Magic Leap.

CMA: F&$% you, common sense!

• Despite appearing to step back from the wrong decision it made about Activision Blizzard, the CMA has instead rejected the deal again… because cloud gaming
• So Microsoft has offered to give Ubisoft (non-exclusive) rights to cloud streaming all AB games (except in the EU)

• Now the EU is wondering how/if this impacts its own agreement with Microsoft - a close reading of the Microsoft and Ubisoft announcements provides some clues that all is well

  Windows 11

• It’s Week D, so we just got the preview versions of next month’s Patch Tuesday CU
• And it’s August, so Microsoft has probably finalized 23H2 and could ship it in preview form in September’s Week D
• Perhaps not coincidentally, Microsoft has scheduled an in-person Surface/Windows event in NYC for the following week
• Insider: we got new Dev and Beta builds last week
• Dev: rich thumbnail previews in Start, new Cast flyout, never-combine Taskbar mode
• Beta (23H2): native support for RAR and other archive formats, never-combined Taskbar mode, rich thumbnail previews in Start, Snipping Tool update with links to Paint and Clipchamp, new app defaults behavior (that one is in the preview update above)
• Edge for Business is now available
• Microsoft sets Windows Mixed Reality Toolkit free because AI is the new AR

AI + Dev

• As predicted, the addition of AI-based Bing Chat has not helped Bing usage share in the slightest: “Bing AI is cute, but not a game changer". Microsoft is not happy.
• AI-generated Microsoft travel guide recommended a food bank in Canada to those with “empty stomachs”
• Brave is bringing a safe and private AI assistant to Brave because of course it is
• Quick hands-on with Project IDX. Yep, it’s Visual Studio Code on the web

Xbox

• The end of an era: Xbox 360 store to shut down in one year
• Age of Empires IV is now available on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass
• PC Game Pass has arrived on NVIDIA GeForce Now
• Sony’s PlayStation Portal Remote Player is launching later this tear at $199.99
• The nostalgia keeps coming: Atari announces the 2600+ console

Tips & Picks

• Tip of the week: Enjoy my video archive on YouTube
• App pick of the week: Parallels Desktop 19
• RunAs Radio this week: Microsoft Fabric with Andrew Snodgrass
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Oban 14

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• Transcripts: Windows Weekly 843, Transcript

Links

• Announcing Python in Excel: Combining the power of Python and the flexibility of Excel.
• Microsoft Proposes Selling Activision Blizzard Cloud Streaming Rights to Ubisoft
• Pushback
• The EU is Unsure About Microsoft’s New UK CMA Deal
• Microsoft Issues Latest Monthly Update Preview for Windows 11 22H2
• Microsoft Announces Special Event on September 21
• New Windows 11 Insider Builds Are Available on the Dev and Beta Channels
• Microsoft Edge for Business is Now Available
• Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Toolkit is Now Being Developed with Qualcomm and Magic Leap
• Cute, But Not a Game Changer (Premium)
• AI-Generated Travel Guide from Microsoft Suggested Food Bank Stop on an “Empty Stomach”
• Brave is Adding a Native AI Assistant to its Browser
• Microsoft to Shut Down Xbox 360 Store in July 2024
• Age of Empires IV is Now Available on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass
• PC Game Pass is Coming to Nvidia GeForce Now This Week
• Sony’s PlayStation Portal Remote Player is Launching Later This Year at $199.99
• Tech Nostalgia: Atari 2600+ Looks Like Original VCS, Will Play 2600 and 7800 Cartridges
• Paul Thurrott Youtube
• Hands-On with Parallels Desktop 19
• Microsoft Fabric with Andrew Snodgrass
• Oban 14