Dec 18th 2024
Windows Weekly 912
Unicornification
Real-time translation, AI steak video, The Great Circle
Records live every Wednesday at 2:00pm Eastern / 11:00am Pacific / 19:00 UTC.
An early peek at the top stories of the year! Oddly, Paul's top article of 2024 was apparently the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review, closely followed by his Pixel 8 Pro review.
- Intel’s downfall follows years of mistakes and anticompetitive behavior. AMD focuses on datacenter, the PC rebound that wasn’t
- They did it: Microsoft and Qualcomm finally deliver the Windows on Arm we always wanted
- Antitrust finally takes on Big Tech and scores some nice wins
- AI because of course but what was the real impact? And why it already looks different than it did in January. AI is costing Microsoft a lot, when do shareholders push back? Also, the different approaches taken by OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Amazon
- Recall is recalled again and again in controversy and then launches to yawns
- Microsoft acquires Activision for $89 billion and then does almost nothing with it. Everyone seems to hate the new strategy. At least we had layoffs and subscription price increases! Game Pass is a hard pass for many
- Windows 11 makes chaos look calm, 24H2 is somehow even worse than usual
- Sonos sh*ts the bed, may never come back from it
- Microsoft gets serious about security. Again. No, really. This time they’re serious. Plus, the Microsoft hack it never talks about, Crowdstrike (”the incident”)
- Passkeys get portable! 2025 will be even better
Windows
- BLOCKBUSTER: Microsoft deprecates a Windows 11 feature no one knows about it and you’re not going to believe what happens next. OK, maybe it’s believable
- Dev channel with new AMD/Intel Copilot+ features. Live captions and real-time translation in many more languages, formal Recall enable/disable
- New Dev and Beta builds this past Monday, but just minor updates
- Arm v. Qualcomm is in the courtroom in front of a jury as we speak. How did we get here? And what do we think will happen?
- iA Writer 2.0 will supposedly address the performance issues with the original Mac app port
- ChromeOS adds a non-destructive Safety Reset feature. But Windows has had something like this for years, and there’s an even less destructive new tool in 24H2 too
- Vision Pro production was halted, Windows Mixed Reality and Hololens are dead or on life support. So naturally, Google is going for it with Android XR
Microsoft 365
- More crazy machinations with Copilot, this time impacting businesses
- First, Microsoft tells businesses to uninstall Copilot app and remap the Copilot key on PCs (!)
- Then, we find out why: Microsoft is replacing the Microsoft 365 app with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which is nearly identical but has a new icon and offers enterprise protection capabilities
- This news was lost in the Ignite tsunami, mostly because Microsoft totally glossed over it
AI
- Grammarly acquires Coda to make a Notion killer
- Google moves quickly with Veo 2, Imagen 3 updates, Whisk
- Broadcom is now worth $1 trillion thanks to AI
Xbox
- Microsoft Store countdown sale brings massive discounts on PC and Xbox games
- Microsoft brings more PC games to the Xbox app on Windows
Tips and Picks
- Tip of the week: Best and worst hardware of 2024, Paul's favorite 2024 books, and Eternal Spring book preview
- App pick of the week: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- RunAs Radio this week: Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric with Yitzhak Kesselman
- Brown liquor pick of the week: Mithuna Indian Single Malt
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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Links
- Intel is Dead and x86 is Next (Premium)
- They Did It (Premium)
- I Will Not Pay for AI (Premium)
- I Can’t Recall a Win-Win Like This (Premium)
- The Future of Xbox is More Games, More People, and More Devices (Premium)
- A Game (Pass) with No Winners (Premium)
- Redmond, You Have a Problem. A Quality Problem (Premium)
- Sonosgate
- Non-Negotiable (Premium)
- Microsoft Deprecates Suggested Actions in Windows 11
- Releasing Real-Time Translation in Live Captions to More Copilot+ PCs in the Dev Channel
- Microsoft Issues New Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds to Dev and Beta Channels
- RISCy Arm v. Qualcomm Trial Begins
- iA Writer 2.0 for Windows is (Sort of) Now Available in Public Beta
- ChromeOS 131 Adds Safety Reset, Other New Features
- Google Announces Android XR
- Microsoft Tells Business to Uninstall Copilot, Remap the Copilot Key
- New Microsoft 365 Copilot App to Replace Microsoft 365 App in January
- Grammarly Acquires AI Productivity Startup to Take on Notion
- Google Announces Veo 2, Imagen 3 Update, and Whisk
- Broadcom Joins the $1 Trillion Club
- Microsoft Store Countdown Sale Arrives for Last-Minute Holiday Deals
- Microsoft is Bringing More Games to its Xbox App for PC
- 2024: The Best and Worst in Hardware (Premium)
- My Favorite Books and Audiobooks of 2024 (Premium)
- From the Editor’s Desk: 25 Hours (Premium)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric with Yitzhak Kesselman
- MITHUNA by Paul John - Zodiac Series - Indian Single Malt Whisky