Windows Weekly (Video)

Microsoft's latest Windows event left even diehard enthusiasts scratching their heads, with new AI-powered hardware and "RTX Spark" PCs getting top billing but little clear reason for anyone to buy them. If you're wondering what actually matters in the world of AI PCs. or why no one can explain it, you're not alone. Windows We need to talk about last week's Windows event... what the heck was this? Lots of Windows, lots of Surface, a little bit of ecosystem, confusing local AI story, no major new end user features that are unique to RTX Spark, a weird Osborne Effect for RTX Spark, and a stunning lack of self-awareness combine for one of the weirder Microsoft events in memory The RTX Spark era begins this week. How is this different from Copilot+ PC? Patch Tuesday is here and it's a big milestone Minor changes for 24H2, 25H2, 26H2 Big changes for 26H1 This is the first Patch Tuesday for 26H2, the last one for 24H2 (Home, Pro) 1400+ security fixes, a new record(!!) - This is almost 15x the normal number of patches ASUS allows reviewers to show unboxing, so here's the RTX Spark-based ASUS ProArt P16 PC market fell over 20 percent in Q3 as component crisis takes its toll Googlebooks suck, and everyone is finally noticing what I reported last week. But there is another, and it's an unexpected option Tiny11 Builder gets a major update with a WinUI makeover AI/dev This has been the most exciting week in AI advances since this era kicked off in February 2023 ArtCraft releases impressive clones of the top 7 Adobe Creative Cloud apps ArtCraft is also working at replacing Microsoft Office, with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint clones so far - Also clones of AutoCAD and Audacity(?)/audio editor Google Playground lets anyone create a game that you can share with anyone Google AI Studio now lets anyone vibe-code Android and web apps, and you will soon be able to put them in the Google Play Store Big changes to Microsoft 365 for consumers - Family/Premium loses 1 TB per user, goes to a single pool of 2 TB, but all users now share the same Copilot rights Apple makes a long-overdue smart home push thanks to Siri AI finally making sense - New HomeView smart display is the star .NET 11 heads to the finish line XBOX and gaming XBOX creates an XP division for non-game entertainment. They should have called it XBOX One, cough Asha Sharma creates XBOX LABS team to explore how vibe coding changes gaming Microsoft announces an XBOX Nano Controller Forza Horizon 6 is coming to PS5 in January GTA VI coming to the PC in early 2027 Epic Games vibe-coded its new launcher, and it's available in preview for Windows, Mac, and Linux Tips and picks Tip of the week: Just make it App pick of the week: ArtCraft for the win RunAs Radio this week: Choosing Tools in M365 with Joy Apple Brown liquor pick of the week: Bunnahabhain 12 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: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira originhq.com/windowsweekly cachefly.com/twit

Microsoft and NVIDIA's RTX Spark laptops are official, with preorders open and shipping October 16. Prices run from $2,599 (24GB) to $5,899 (128GB, already sold out on Surface). Paul and Leo cover who needs that much RAM, what "hybrid intelligence" means, and why Paul's new Googlebook disappointed him. Windows RTX Spark laptops: from $2,599 (24GB), $3,700 (32GB), $5,899 (128GB). Ships Oct 16 Partners: Microsoft, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI. Paul reviews the HP OmniBook Ultra 16 first Surface RTX Spark Dev Box: $6,000+ "Hybrid intelligence": local AI first, cloud when needed Windows Search gets inline AI actions in Insider builds Cloud Rebuild adds better remove and sanitize options Windows app adds Remote PC connections (preview) Intel Wildcat Lake: Paul's test laptop was slow even with 16GB Googlebook first look: Lenovo Googlebook 15 (~$1,100) is missing basics an iPad has Microsoft has tried to kill Windows many times, including the leaked Project Aion AI/Dev Microsoft AI ships new voice and transcription models Gemini 4 Argon is announced, but limited to cybersecurity partners Google Docs and Drive add native Markdown C# Dev Kit 11 arrives with .NET 11 Xbox and Gaming Rockstar corrects reports of exclusive Xbox GTA VI streaming. Launch is Nov 19 Xbox Elite Series 3 controller leaks again, with a built-in screen October Game Pass: Battlefield 6 and more Sony brings QSSR AI upscaling to the standard PS5 Google Playground lets you vibe-code games Tips and Picks Tip of the week: Desktop98.com, a Windows 98 simulator in your browser App pick: Gears of War: E-Day (Game Pass Ultimate and PC) Brown liquor pick: 1792 Small Batch bourbon Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott 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: helixsleep.com/windows threatlocker.com/twit PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira trustedtech.team/twit

Why does Microsoft keep stumbling with new devices and software design... and what happens when enthusiasts start favoring AI over old-school Office? Paul, Richard, and Leo dig into shifting loyalties and what that means for the future of the desktop. And with the release of 26H2, it's time to update your install and recovery media. The build number is 26300.9457 Windows Windows 11, version 26H2 is here New features, none unique: Start, Taskbar, Search, etc New defaults for some features: Windows settings backup for commercial customers, etc. The time a UX legend interviewed for a job at Microsoft running Windows UX WSL Containers are generally available in Windows 11 Four new Insider builds, but only Experimental gets anything interesting: Phone companion improvements and Energy recommendations directly in Quick Settings Software Microsoft retires the Microsoft 365 Companion apps for Windows 11 that never made sense in the first place Mozilla ships the new Nova UI in Firefox 157 Hardware Copilot+ PC brand could be on the way out, but it was all over IFA, including on RTX Spark-based PCs Microsoft launches new base Surface Pro and Laptop models with Snapdragon X2 - And a new mouse, for some reason Qualcomm brought (first-gen) Snapdragon X to Googlebook, but it's also bringing X2 to Linux Google quietly reveals that, yes, Chromebooks are on the way out AI Microsoft unveils the Copilot "super app" and the notion that this is basically an OS Open releases about 1000 new updates for ChatGPT Claude Sonnet 5.5 joins Opus 5.5 The AI money pit, part 127: Report details Anthropic losses, spending, and revenues. Report also does a bad job at visualizing that information XBOX and gaming Disc to digital program is live Minecraft Dungeons is here with a new dimension, and it's coming to Minecraft next year too Microsoft has a new casual mobile game for some reason XBOX now has mythic achievements Tips and picks Tip of the week: Get the Windows 11 version 26H2 ISO App pick of the week: Opera on desktop and on mobile RunAs Radio this week: AI and Penetration Testing with Paula Januszkiewicz Brown liquor pick of the week: Kilchoman Loch Gorm 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: PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira bitwarden.com/twit

Windows Week D arrives, and this time we get updates - a preview of Octoberʼs Patch Tuesday 24H2/25H2 Minor update with new Copilot key remaps, Wi-Fi in WRE, more 26H1 Major update that brings all new 26H2 features—Start, Taskbar, Search —to 26H1. Finally. Windows Insider Program Four new builds last Friday - Biggest change is Cloud Rebuild in WRE (in Experimental) gaining new capabilities. Software 30 years ago, Dave Plummer created Task Manager, and now heʼs vibe-coded a modern version that works on Mac and Linux too. Stardock announces a new Windows 11 utility called Snipboard. Clipchamp does AI upscaling to 4K now Hardware The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15p Aura Edition is nearly perfect, with 11 hours of battery life. Googlebook revealed! Questions answered - $899 starting price is much lower than expected. This is Androidʼs Copilot+ PC moment - An AI PC? What a concept! AI/dev Microsoft announces a OneDrive + Copilot event in October - Also a separate Copilot event before then. Financial Times reveals internal OpenAI prediction of $278 billion in losses over the next five years. NYT copyright case discovery reveals what Microsoft and OpenAI really think about stealing content. Anthropic merges Cowork into chat, adds Docs and Slides. Google Labs CC turned into Gemini Daily Brief, so now itʼs an AI agent for families. Google opens up its Home smart home ecosystem to other AI assistants. XAML.io is a web-based vibe coding IDE for .NET apps and it looks amazing. XBOX and Gaming A big reorg and a small number of layoffs at XBOX sets off a new round of hand wringing. Tip and Picks Tip of the week: Get Auto SR on Panther Lake-based laptops Auto SR was designed to make gaming viable on Windows 11 on Arm/Snapdragon X/X2, but now itʼs available on Intel Core Ultra Series 3-based PCs and it is worth experimenting with. App Pick of the Week: Affinity Possibly the greatest free app in existence, Affinity just got 60 new features and is even better. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott 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: trustedtech.team/twit originhq.com/windowsweekly

Microsoft's record-breaking Patch Tuesday unleashed nearly a thousand fixes, but the bonus story is in the chaos that followed as out-of-band updates and AI-driven bug hunts left admins scrambling to keep up. Windows Patch Tuesday was so buggy Microsoft had to release an emergency fix to address all the issues New Release Preview builds for 24H2/25H2 - I guess we're moving past the features that are also in the initial 26H2 release - New Copilot key remapping feature, they will get it right eventually Five builds across Experimental and Beta channels - All over the map as you'd expect Google releases the Gemini app for Windows Adobe released Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2027 AnyType is a top-tier Notion alternative and it's about to get very interesting Microsoft previews an October Windows + Surface event that's clearly all about Nvidia - but is this also tied to 26H2 release? HP announces a new Ryzen-based portable workstation with an interesting detail about unified memory Apple announced iPhone 18 Pros, iPhone Duo, Watch 12 + Ultra 4, AirPods 5, and then released its '27 OS updates - And sure whatever AI AI fear-mongering reaches new heights (or new lows): Is this just PR from Big AI to keep the money rolling? Bill Gates says Gates Foundation will donate $1+ billion to solve AI inequality Big AI could solve the PR problems by actually doing something positive for mankind. Just a thought Copilot Work and Copilot Studio get app building capabilities Google will bring MCP to Google Home, in early preview now Mozilla and Mistral partner on Firefox Smart Window AI XBOX and gaming Gears of War: E-Day and more is coming to Game Pass in the second half of September XBOX is going to the Tokyo Game Show and a nice surprise for Kojima fans Valve opens up Steam Frame preorders and it's only $1060! Amazon Prime Gaming and Luna are having a pretty g26ood September Apple is reportedly making an iPhone game controller for some reason Tips and picks Tip of the week: There's a new MSA bypass for Windows 11 Setup App pick of the week: Google Dreambeans RunAs Radio this week: Patching in 2026 with Susan Bradley Brown liquor pick of the week: Art of the Spirits Honored to Serve 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/twit