Windows Weekly 856: Sunglasses For Your Whiskey

Leo, Richard, and Paul discuss this past week’s OpenAI drama, Windows 11 and Windows 10, more earnings, antitrust, Xbox, and more.

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And you thought AI was already controversial

On Friday, OpenAI’s board suddenly and unexpectedly fired CEO Sam Altman, kicking off several days of unprecedented high drama…

• Still no reason given
• OpenAI president and board chairman Greg Brockman announced that he was quitting in protest
• Microsoft announced it had hired Altman and Brockman over the weekend
• 95 percent of OpenAI employees threatened to quit if Altman did not come back
• Altman began negotiating his return to OpenAI (and major governance changes)
• And he’s back: Altman is once again CEO of OpenAI
• Key takeaway: No matter what happens, Microsoft wins. Discuss.
  • Wrong takeaway: Nothing changed. Not exactly, skippy

Windows

Windows 11 is about to get awesome in the EEA.

• WHY IS WINDOWS 11 ONLY GOING TO BE AWESOME IN THE EEA???

Microsoft confirms that Copilot is coming to Windows 10 too. “No new features, my ass!”

Windows Insider Program:

• Copilot begins rolling out to Windows 10 in Insider Program
• Release Preview: Copilot in Alt + Tab and on other displays, limited Copilot with local account, DMA compliance, Windows Spotlight changes
• Canary: Disable Phone Link in the Bluetooth settings, display Teams contacts in the Windows share window when signed in with a Microsoft Entra ID
• Dev: Narrator improvements, File Explorer fixes (wait for it)

Redmond, we have a problem. With Windows Hello.

Earnings learnings

Nvidia continues to soar on AI (Winner)

• Loser: Zoom has settled back down to reality

HP stumbles through its fourth quarter and FY2023: AI PCS FTW in late 2024!

Lenovo stumbles too but explicitly predicts industry recovery

Antitrust

Apple, ByteDance, and Meta contest their DMA gatekeeper designations

Xbox

Half-Life turned 25 last weekend and Valve finally remembered it exists

Nvidia’s GeForce Now adds Microsoft Store, PC Game Pass, and Ubisoft+ integration – over 1700 games now

Amazon Luna comes to France, Italy, and Spain – that eases some worries

Call of Duty vNext leaks!

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Ignite’s over, but the videos are forever

Microsoft Ignite 2023 hinted at a sort-of return to normal, but one of the key benefits of the pandemic-era shows remains: You don’t have to travel to catch (most of) the show.

• Keynote and session videos are on the Ignite website (in many cases with transcripts, slides, more) and YouTube – stream or download
• I interviewed Amanda Silver and Gaurav Seth
• Richard: Gil Pekelman, Erin Chapple, Brendan Burns

App pick of the week: Half-Life

The OG Half-Life is just 0.99 cents now and it is still amazing!

• Also: All HL games are on sale this week with DEEP discounts

RunAs Radio this week: Azure Operator Nexus with Jennelle Crothers

https://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/907

Brown liquor pick of the week: Willett Wheated 8 Year Bourbon

https://www.kentuckybourbonwhiskey.com/the-whiskeys/willett-wheated-8-year-bourbon/