Windows Weekly 943: Five Paperclips

With Richard away, Chris Hoffman joins Leo and Paul to discuss Windows 10 at ten, Windows 11, AI, Microsoft 365, layoffs, Xbox and gaming, and more.

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Windows 10 turns ten

Ten years ago yesterday, Microsoft released Windows 10, fixing the issues with Windows 8.x and giving Windows 7 users a solid upgrade. One historical curiosity: It was the first Windows release without a major launch event

Bad: Its legacy is mixed: This is when the enshittification of Windows began, really.

  • Windows as a Service
  • Ads, crapware, and telemetry — plus some made-up privacy issues
  • Terry Myerson gaff about one billion users
  • Universal apps/One Windows was a bust, with Windows Phone and HoloLens failures
  • Windows 10’s launch was a missed opportunity to make the Store matter

Good:

  • Windows Subsystem for Linux was huge
  • WinGet was also huge, but is underappreciated and underutilized to this day
  • It did reverse the mistakes of Windows 8, and in time it got more stable as Microsoft figured out WaaS (and then went on to abuse it in…)

Oh, and the Windows 10 Field Guide is free to celebrate the anniversary

Windows 11

Microsoft is using Rust for Surface drivers, and it wants all Windows drivers to switch to Rust too

The Link to Windows app is getting a nice upgrade on Android

Windows Insider

  • Dev (25H2) and Beta (24H2): Settings agent for x86, SCOOBE changes, Click to Do improvements, Windows Search improvements
  • Canary: Just a couple of bug fixes (Actually, two builds, one today also with no features)

Apps

Rant: More importantly, Recall is boring and not useful given the hype around it.

PC hardware

AI, Microsoft 365

Perplexity Comet is real and it shows the way forward for AI web browsers

And coincidentally, Microsoft suddenly launches Copilot mode for Microsoft Edge. (But I’ve played with Copilot Mode, and it’s no Comet or Dia.)

Plus, Copilot is getting real-time expressions. It’s the return of Clippy!

And Microsoft’s long-term Copilot plans are a lot wilder than you might expect

Google earned $96.4 billion in one quarter

This week in Microsoft layoffs

Microsoft publishes a Nadella email to the troops about the layoffs but he never really addresses the layoffs

Xbox and gaming

Xbox is coming to Gamerscom in Germany in August, and it’s bringing the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds

The July Xbox Update is here and it’s all about the PC

I reviewed the Lenovo Legion Go S, and the Windows experience was so bad. Also: PC OEMs are having trouble competing with the Steam Deck’s pricing on gaming handhelds.

Tips and picksz

Tips of the week: Chris and Paul are partnering on his new newsletter

Newsletter changes coming to Thurrott.com.

Snipping Tool OCR does much of what Click to Do does on any Windows 11 PC, and PowerToys Text Extractor can do it on Windows 10. No need for an NPU. (I don’t have one on my high-end desktop gaming PC, anyway!)

App pick of the week: Perplexity Pro

This is random, but if you download Perplexity through the Galaxy Store on a Samsung device, you get Perplexity Pro for free for one year!

Auto Dark Mode is a perfect tool and does something Windows should do natively.

Beer pick of the week: Alesong Rhino Suit

Bourbon barrel-aged ale, with a perfect business-related story.

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