Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Leo Laporte

Jun 19th 2024

Windows Weekly 886

The Old Banana in the Tailpipe

Copilot+ PC Launch Chaos, Recall Delay, Windows 11 Updates

Records live every Wednesday at 2:00pm Eastern / 11:00am Pacific / 19:00 UTC.
Category: News

Copilot+ PC launches: Hot or not?

  • Behind the scenes, Microsoft asked/demanded that PC makers NOT ship review units to reviewers until Recall was fixed
  • On Thursday, Microsoft announced it would delay Recall, and test it with Insiders first. Still coming in preview to stable this year, not clear when
  • On Saturday, Microsoft delivered the 24H2 Patch Tuesday update we didnʼt get last week
  • PC makers alerted reviewers they would ship PCs on Tuesday, Copilot+ PC launch day
  • Hereʼs what happens when you turn it on the first time: An update to this new version of 24H2 before you can do anything else, probably a firmware update (model dependent)
  • Microsoft, like Apple (and Google), would love to see an AI hardware upgrade cycle. The irony: The AI features in Copilot+ PC are not compelling. Come for the AI, but stay for the efficiency, uptime, and reliability 
  • Paul expects to review three Copilot+ PCs soon: Surface Laptop 7, HP OmniBook X or EliteBook Ultra, and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Windows 11

  • New Beta and Dev builds (last week) - changes to the Start Menu, Windows Spotlight, and Phone Link in Beta, bug fixes and no new features in Dev - Your phone will soon be added to Share, jump lists in Start
  • Right now, 22H2 and 23H2 are identical - win/win: Microsoft wants the same features everywhere, some users donʼt want to install a Feature Update
  • The initial release of 24H2 is in stable, so now we have three supported Win11 versions
  • This is temporary: 22H2 EOL on October 8, a Patch Tuesday
  • 22H2 and 23H2 will get all 24H2 features this summer - so three versions, all identical (this excludes Copilot+ features, obviously)
  • “Finalˮ release of 24H2 to ship in same October time frame as ever
  • So we will have two supported Win11 versions again, 23H2 and 24H2. And they will have the same features. Again.
  • The Achilles Heel of Windows remains: Could we get an adult to steer this shift and get rid of the enshirttification?
  • One example thatʼs common throughout Windows 11 - Make a UX change, remove a feature by mistake
  • Related: Three different power management problems in Mexico this week with three different laptops, two Intel-based (both different gens) and AMD. Again, we need Arm. But the fear is that Windows is the issue and could undermine the hardware. Or maybe itʼs the PC makers. there are many theories.

AI

  • Apple will roll out its Apple Intelligence features through 2025
  • Apple reveals how it trained its AI
  • Apple isnʼt paying OpenAI for AI, Google's deal on Gemini is incoming
  • Just after Paul signs up for an Adobe subscription plan, the US government sues Adobe for its subscription plans.
  • Adobe is adding Firefly AI to Acrobat
  • Brave Leo now integrates Brave Search results when it makes sense for up-to-date info

Xbox

  • Microsoft announces more Game Pass titles for June
  • Nintendo announces new slate of Switch titles including a new Metroid Prime title  (might be tied to Switch 2 launch)
  • Boosteroid announces a 4K Ultra subscription plan in Europe

Tips and Picks

  • Dev pick of the week: MAUI extension for VS Code is GA
  • App pick of the week: Artifact lives! Unfortunately, itʼs called Yahoo News now.
  • RunAs Radio this week: Microsoft Defender in the Cloud with Yuri Diogenes
  • Brown liquor pick of the week: Elsburn the Journey 2023

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