Windows Weekly 928: The Rice is Done
Paul, Leo, and Richard get into new Windows features (thanks to the Feature Tracker), hardware shifts for Microsoft/Intel/Apple, AI moves from OpenAI/Apple/Adobe, Notion Mail, a Hawaiian drink, the National Recording Registry, rice cookers, and electronic timer tunes!
Windows 11
Feature Tracker. Since we last talked, Microsoft has announced the following new features for Windows 11:
Semantic search can now search for Windows settings using natural language - Dev and Beta (24H2) channels, no clear stable date but guessing June
Narrator can more accurately describe images by detailing the people, objects, colours, text, and numbers in them, Snapdragon X only, same builds as above
Snipping Tool with "Text extraction" in the capture bar - This in Canary now, but it was in at least Dev previously, this could ship in stable at any time, it's an app
Recall (preview) and Click to Do (preview) head to the Release Preview channel (24H2) - Expect this in May Patch Tuesday
Narrator speech recap, Phone Link/Start integration, File Explorer Home updates, Windows Share with Edit all head to Release Preview (23H2) - Expect these in May Patch Tuesday - They were added to Beta channel (23H2) a few days earlier
Plus, Microsoft Edge is up to 9 percent faster at web rendering and we're having a fiesta
Also, the Windows 95 startup/logout chime has been inducted into the National Recording Registry
Hardware
Surface Hub OG hits EOL this year just like Windows 10
First major change under new Intel CEO
What's a computer? The iPad, supposedly, but we'll see
Everything's fine, but Google laid off hundreds in Pixel/Android group
AI
Apple is making big changes so that Apple Intelligence will actually be intelligent
Adobe is going agentic too
OpenAI is creating its own social network because the world needs another social network
OpenAI announces three GPT-4.1 models - may retire GPT-4 soon - plus now o3 and o4-mini models
ChapGPT gets an image library and a memory
Claude gets Research and Google Workspace integration
Meta will start training its AI models with EU data, wink wink
Xbox and games
Xbox app on mobile will soon let you buy games (!) and add-on content, join Game Pass, and redeem perks. Did Microsoft get a concession from Apple/Google??
COD: Modern Warfare II (OG) and more are coming to Game Pass in the next few weeks
Xbox announces Doom: The Dark Ages limited edition accessories
Sea of Thieves is coming to Battle.net
Sony forced to raise the price of PS5 in three locales
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: Think like an individual, not an enterprise
App pick of the week: Notion Mail
RunAs Radio this week: How to Not Hate PowerShell with Barbara Forbes
Brown liquor pick of the week: 12th Hawaii Distiller's Reserve
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly
Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Sponsors:
1password.com/windowsweekly
uscloud.com
Deutschland