Windows Weekly 887: You’re Drinking Wood!

Mikah, Richard, and Paul discuss Windows 11 and the Week D preview update, Apple and Microsoft antitrust, and Xbox. Oh, and Copilot+ PC. We discuss that too.

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Windows 11

Week D arrives with preview updates for Windows 11 versions 22H2 and 23H2 only

• The second Patch Tuesday in a row with no 24H2 update (on the day)
• This preview update adds 24H2 features to 22H2/23H2 as predicted
• Most likely 22H2, 23H2, and 24H2 will line up feature-wise as of the next Patch Tuesday*

Windows Insider

• Beta channel (last week): Bizarre Start menu extension for Phone Link users – Paul’s take is not kind
  • Related: Paul just finished a massive 57-page rewrite of the Phone Link chapter for the Windows 11 Field Guide, so naturally they’re changing this feature again. Also, it rarely works well. Huge problem for device integration, which is seamless in the Apple ecosystem.
• Release preview channel (last week): The 22H2/23H2 builds and features that shipped to stable as a preview update on Tuesday
• Canary channel (last week): After pausing the previous build (hint: Recall code), new build arrives with drag-and-drop address bar in File Explorer, notification tweaks

Copilot+ PC

We’re one week into the Copilot+ PC and the feedback is positive with caution

• Paul finally got a Copilot+ PC to test, a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14
• App compatibility scorecard: Excellent, but with familiar Arm uncertainties
• Hardware compatibility: Excellent, but with the same person-by-person caveat
• Gaming: Lots of fiddling, but if you can find a compatible game, some great perf and visual quality – still better than the Mac, and better than any x64 Ultrabook. But not a gaming PC – But … no Xbox Game Pass support?? COME ON
• In-box AI capabilities: With Recall out, there’s almost nothing to see here
• Key take-aways so far: Much improved performance and reliability, AI features mostly stink, but there is still uncertainty each time you install/do anything. Plus … Intel and AMD are gunning for Qualcomm.

iFix reports that Surface Laptop 7/Pro 11 repairability is “astonishingly” good. Granted, the bar was low.

Related: Microsoft brings Surface Flex Keyboard to Surface Pro 8, 9, and 11. But not X. Because … no one knows.

Related: Microsoft releases recovery images for Surface Pro 11/Laptop 7

• This is important – If you’re going to test Recall in Insider, you need a way to get back
• When (or how) will Microsoft address the need for 24H2/Copilot+ PC ISO downloads?

Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-In Security (ESS) is one of several Copilot+ PC protections that rendered those security researcher complaints about Recall moot. But Paul now has two PCs that use this feature, and it’s even more impressive than you think.

Finally…

The Windows 11 decoder ring – Understanding Windows 11 … in this slice of time

• Home and Pro SKUs (product editions) for consumers, as has been the case for a long time. Arbitrary feature differences
• OS is 64-bit only, unlike Windows 10. But it can run 32-bit apps too.
• Some features require specific hardware – Windows Hello facial recognition as obvious example
• Windows 11 on Arm is just Windows 11, but running on Arm hardware. There are Home and Pro editions, it’s 64-bit only but can run 32-bit (and 64-bit) x64 apps in emulation, some features require specific hardware
• Copilot+ PC is a specification (NPU, but also 16+ GB of RAM, 256+ GB of storage) – adds certain NPU-based features. Can be x64 or Arm, is only Arm right now. Can be Home or Pro.
• Current supported versions of Windows 11 are 22H2, 23H2, 24H2. They will all have the same features soon. In October 22H2 EOL, so 23H2 and 24H2 going forward. With the same features
• Copilot+ PCs will all run 24H2 (and add whatever AI/NPU features)
• Any questions?

Antitrust

As expected, the European Commission announced preliminary charges against Microsoft for Office/Teams bundling.

A couple of points here:

• This is antitrust, not DMA (like Apple)
• The EU has not explained WHAT Microsoft can do to fix this (unlike with Apple)
• This is based on a complaint from Slack, which was created 7 years after Microsoft first offered this type of app/service

Xbox

Hot off a terrific Xbox Games Showcase event, Xbox promises its “biggest-ever” booth at Gamerscom 2024 (which is now the biggest trade show in Europe, apparently)

Microsoft details how Auto SR and Prism work in WOA11 to make gaming both possible and decent

Steam Deck LCD models are on sale

Tips and picks

App pick of the week #1: New browsers

New stable version of Edge adds some new AI features – A theme generator no one has yet, AI in Workspaces to pre-populate a workspace with relevant sites related to a specific project and organize these websites sites into group (in preview), address bar notifications in reading mode for Copilot-based summaries (also rolling out gradually). So not so much “adds” as “is adding over time.”

Vivaldi 6.8 adds major Mail upgrades, more

Opera starts testing Opera One R2 in Developer channel with lots of upgrades planned

App pick of the week: Proton Drive

Proton Drive now supports iPhone (and Android) photo backup. The catch: No big storage tiers.

RunAs Radio this week: The Hard Part of Machine Learning with Lynn Langit

https://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/938

Brown liquor pick of the week: Cragganmore 12

https://www.malts.com/en-us/brands/cragganmore