Windows Weekly 984: For Entertainment Purposes Only

Richard, Leo, and Paul discuss Release Preview builds, Taskbar changes, WinHEC, more Windows 11 fixes, AI, Xbox and gaming, and more.

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Windows

Windows Insider Program

• Release Preview channel updates (including 26H1 for the first time?) – A preview of the June Patch Tuesday updates – Shared audio, NPU usage in Task Manager, multi-app camera support, Magnifier improvements
• Taskbar updates come to Insiders! – Also in Canary, we’re throwing them a bone this time

Enshittification remedies all around

• Microsoft just held a WinHEC for the first time since 2018 and there’s a new Windows Driver Initiative!
• Microsoft will soon let us remap Copilot key to Right Ctrl, which is what it was in the first place
• A Linux privacy nut YouTuber confuses privacy and security and doesn’t understand Windows 11 so…
• … Paul wrote a complete guide to the local account de-Microsoft experience in Windows 11
• Microsoft Edge will stop loading all passwords into clear text on startup like a big boy browser

Hardware

• Paul came home to an ASUS Zenbook A16 and ohmygodohmygodohmygod

Surface

Microsoft finally revs Surface Laptop and Surface Pro for Business, with Intel chips and VERY high prices

• Snapdragon X2 variants in late 2026 because of supply issues wa-waa-waaaaah

AI

MDASH is Microsoft’s answer to Anthropic Mythos, in-house only

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are both terrible but a jury decided against Musk’s frivolous lawsuit

OpenAI and Apple might head to court over Siri promises

OpenAI Codex is on mobile via the ChatGPT app

Google unleashes an AI tsunami at Google IO this week. A few relevant takeaways:

• Overview of the major announcements
• Google advances Android as a developer platform
• Chrome is turning into a proactive assistant
• Google AI subscriptions are an incredible value
• Related: The Gemini Intelligence feature for Googlebooks and more has steep hardware requirements – 12+ GB of RAM, flagship SoC – So Pixel 10 series/Galaxy S26 series and newer only etc.

Just a reminder that Microsoft makes a Linux distribution … for Azure specifically

More dev

• WWDC schedule is up for June 8 opening day
• Build 2026 kicks off June 2 in SFO
• After another boring .NET 11 preview release, we finally get our first look at a major change: MAUI is switching from the Mono runtime to the CoreCLR runtime
• And we should pause for a moment to remember S “Soma” Somasegar, who sadly passed away this week

Xbox and gaming

Xbox CEO announces more leadership changes

Next Xbox Elite controller leaks and it is glorious

• Related: An Xbox Cloud-Connected controller leaks too and it is less than glorious

Forza Horizon 6 is here, and it’s on Game Pass on Day One

• Be sure to read Laurent’s detailed review

Haters gonna keep hating: Fans want Xbox exclusives because their heads are still in the sand

• Sony is allegedly returning to this model for single player experiences
• Related: Sony raises prices on PS Plus

Fortnite comes back to the Apple App Store worldwide *excluding Australia for some reason

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Google AI Studio

Vibe-code your next app with this incredible free tool.

Related: A look at Markdown editors

App pick of the week: DeskScapes 2026

Stardock DeskScapes 2026 is normally $9.99 but it will cost just $6.99 during the launch period.

Also: Firefox 151 is a big update on desktop and mobile, the latter gets the AI kill switch

RunAs Radio this week: UEFI Secure Boot with Richard Hicks

https://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/1037

Brown liquor pick of the week: Daftmill Winter Batch Release 2012

https://www.daftmill.com/