Leo, Richard, and Paul discuss a bunch of weird bugs in Windows 11, the new hardware release season, Windows 11, Microsoft 365 and AI, Xbox, and much more.
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It’s not just you
I think it’s time we addressed a painful reality of Windows 11 that no one is talking about. It’s broken. And it’s only going to get worse
- Best example: You’re working in some window and File Explorer jumps in front of it for some reason
- Also: You’re working on whatever and all of your desktop icons switch to a blank white icon
- And it’s about to get worse: the new File Explorer is a performance dog and looks like it was designed for Windows 8. Why on earth would Microsoft release this? And why do third-party file managers transfers files across drives/network at what appears to be 10x that of File Explorer?
- Users with unsupported hardware are seeing BSODs. Yep, it’s a Windows bug.
- Bonus round: Microsoft can’t stop using malware tactics to promote Edge and Bing (this is on top of forcing Edge, Bing, and MSN down Windows 11 users’ throats) – Now, they’re saying this is unintended. Weird, the UI must have invented itself.
- Also, can we collectively agree that “I don’t see that on my PC” doesn’t equate to “this isn’t happening”? It is happening. All of it.
- Also, Paul hasn’t written about this yet for some reason, but legacy troubleshooters (they debuted in Windows 7) are going away (!) What’s replacing them, you ask? Why, the “modern” Get Help app, of course. No, I’d never really heard of it either, but it’s right there in Start.
‘tis the season
Spring is developer show season, but Fall is hardware release season. Here’s what to look forward to:
- IFA – Held annually in Berlin, this year’s show starts basically tomorrow because there will be pre-announcements. What to expect: New PCs for the holiday season, 14th Gen Intel Core chipsets for desktop. What to look for: NPUs everywhere and lots of AI.
- Apple: Apple’s annual iPhone event is September 12. Plus there will be M3 Macs later in 2023.
- Microsoft: Microsoft’s special event is September 21 in NYC. It’s a live event, but it will not be live streamed. And while we guessed Surface/Windows 11, it’s really all about AI … across “Microsoft 365, Surface, Windows, Bing, and more.” Paul will be there.
- Google: Google will announce Pixel 8 series on October 4 in NYC. They just killed Pixel Pass, which probably says a lot about the rise in cost of subscription cloud services.
- Plus: CES 2024 is in January, and this is where we will see new 14th Gen Intel mobile chipset-based PCs announced. Again, NPUs and AI.
Windows 11
Windows Insider builds:
- Beta channel: New Settings Home view, new Cast UI, and Windows Backup app. Don’t get too excited about that latter feature. (Here’s my take on a better “backup and restore” solution for now.)
- Canary channel: still waiting on Windows 12, but a new post-OOBE (”after out of box”?) experience that will install the Dev Home app if you choose ‘Development Intent’ within the ‘Let’s Customize Your Experience’ page during OOBE. Plus, Dynamic Lighting, Task Manager changes from Beta/Dev.
- Dev channel: A search flyout will now appear when you hover your mouse over the search box in the taskbar (can be disabled in taskbar settings). But this is where things get interesting: Microsoft says that “Windows system components” will now use the default browser to open links for Insiders in the EEA.” Huh. DSA related? I tried to test this and failed miserably. This is my life in a nutshell: afternoons lost.
Microsoft adds Bing Chat Enterprise support to Windows Copilot in the preview – it’s available now on the Windows Insider Dev Channel, but will be coming to Beta soon.
IDC says that the PC market will finally rebound in 2024, with just 3.7 percent growth. But the coming commercial PC upgrade cycle and AI could point to a pretty good future.
Microsoft 365 + AI
OneDrive for Business drops unlimited storage plan (as does Dropbox)
Google Workspace Duet AI (for commercial customers) is out, costs $30 per user per month. Interesting price point there.
NVIDIA is now the world’s biggest hardware maker by revenue. Thanks, AI!
Web browsers
Microsoft is deprecating some good but little-used Edge features. Paul has a better idea for Edge (and Windows): make it work like Visual Studio Code. They will never do this, and for good reasons.
Firefox 117 is out, as is Firefox Relay for email privacy
Vivaldi has refactored its browser with tremendous speed improvements
Xbox
Phil Spencer says Xbox prices are never coming down and no mid-season refresh is on the way. This is a mistake.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to Xbox this year
Sony PS Plus is getting more expensive because everything is
Tips and picks
Tip of the week: Get a foundational C# certificate
Trying to learn C# the right way? Microsoft and freeCodeCamp now offer a free Foundational C# Certification that spans 35 hours of C# training hosted on Microsoft Learn.
Plus: A quick update on my YouTube video archive. The digital decluttering continues!
App pick of the week: The Making of Karateka
This incredible interactive documentary includes an archive of documents, playable prototypes, and all-new video features accessing via an interactive timeline, pixel-perfect versions of the original Karateka games and early prototypes like Deathbounce: Rebounded (with new life features like save anywhere, rewind, chapter select, and director’s commentary), an all-new version of the game called Karateka Remastered that features content, commentary, achievements, and more, and other content. It costs $19.99 and is on available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch! More on the way, starting in Q4 too.
RunAs this week: Getting Ready for M365 Copilot with Karoliina Kettukari
https://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/895
Brown liquor pick of the week: Aero Whisky
https://aeroewhisky.com/en/