Windows Weekly 862: One Click to Malware

Leo, Richard, and Paul discuss the end of Windows Mixed Reality, Windows 11, Surface, AI, Microsoft 365, Xbox, and much more.

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Microsoft finally kills Windows Mixed Reality

Just in time for Christmas, Microsoft revealed that its long-dead WMR platform is now officially dead

Windows 11

Moment 5 is allegedly coming in February

Microsoft quietly reissues Windows 11 version 23H2 installation media

Microsoft kills install from web capabilities in Windows App Installer (MSIX)

Windows Insider Program

• Dev (today): Richer weather experience on Lock, more Voice access improvements
• Canary (today): Same Voice access changes, no more WordPad or People in a clean install, Steps Recorder deprecated, new Energy Saver icon in the system tray, Nearby Sharing can name your PC

Surface

New Surface Pro 6 and Laptop 6 are expected in Spring 2024 with Intel and Qualcomm chipsets.

• Microsoft’s first “real” AI PCs. FU, Surface Laptop Studio 2 buyers!

Microsoft 365

Something to consider for 2024: Have Microsoft’s core platforms gotten too complex? And when/if this will drive away customers?

• They’re losing Paul. I switched to Notion (from OneNote) in 2022, to Google Drive (from OneDrive) in late 2023, and to Typora (a Markdown editor, from Word) most recently. I’m tired of hitting myself in the face

AI

New York Times sues Microsoft, OpenAI for massive copyright infringement

GitHub Copilot Chat is now GA. Requires $10/month GitHub Copilot sub, but it may be the single best example of how AI can improve our lives so far

Standalone Copilot app launches on Android … and then, days later, on iPhone and iPad – And it offers a ChatGPT4 mode, interestingly

Xbox

New Xbox Game Pass titles for early January: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Resident Evil 2 remake, more

Does something smell better around here? Bobby Kotick has left the building

PlayStation: Just kidding, you can keep your stupid Discovery shows

Meta Quest 2 gets a permanent price cut

Steam no longer supports Windows 7 or 8.1

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Properly secure your Microsoft account

It’s probably been a while since you looked at this, if ever

Related: The secret history of passkeys and how to use passkeys with your Microsoft account

App pick of the week: MSEdgeRedirect

MSEdgeRedirect adds the Europe Mode we deserve

Bonus pick: MediaSorter turned my photo collection consolidation slog into something achievable – Direct download

RunAs Radio this week: Doing More with Less in 2024 with Erin Chapple

https://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/913

Brown liquor pick of the week: Elijah Craig Small Batch

https://elijahcraig.com/small-batch