Julia Liuson is leaving Microsoft. Liuson joined Microsoft in 1992, the same year as CEO Satya Nadella (she worked on Access at first). She helped build the first version of Visual Studio and was the first female corporate vice president at Microsoft. Liuson has been president of Microsoft's Developer Division since 2021. Also, curious about life on the other side of the fence? Paul has a tip for finding games that are optimized for Linux. Plus, Chrome joins the 21st century with vertical tabs and a real reading view. Just be sure to install those anti-tracking extensions.

Windows

• Microsoft promises more native apps for Windows 11, but... which apps? New apps? Replacements for existing apps?
• Thanks for making us revisit the web app vs. native app thing yet again, Microsoft
• Windows 11 version 25H2 is now being pushed to all compatible PCs
• Compatibility milestone, not a big deal because 24H2/25H2 features are identical, same underlying codebase - but some will complain that Microsoft is "forcing" 25H2 on them
• Secure Boot certificate notifications are now available so you can see where your PC is at
• Another month, another emergency Windows Update patch
• New Dev/Beta builds add Xbox Mode, new haptic effects, etc., plus a new Canary build with features we've seen before
• Microsoft is taking the Insider Program on the road
• Component shortages trigger another Raspberry Pi price hike, but also a promise for the future
• The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition processor will be available from leading retailers starting Apr. 22 with a retail price of $899

AI

• Microsoft's terms of service for Copilot say it's for entertainment purposes only. Yes, really.
• Microsoft AI releases new foundational models for transcription, voice, and images
• Word on iPhone gets Copilot co-create capabilities - used to be AI Mode, you need a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription
• Anthropic has hired away a key AI executive from Microsoft, and what he has to say about the opportunity is interesting
• Anthropic brings Computer Use to Windows
• Google: Seriously, we are not training AI with your Gmail
• Google AI Pro plans now offer 5 TB of cloud storage, yikes

Xbox & gaming

• Xbox is refreshing the look of achievements on the console
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, more coming to Game Pass this month
• Was this the best COD ever? In search of greatness
• Also: Forza Horizon 6 launches May 19 and will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and playable day one with Xbox Game Pass
• Xbox will hold FanFest events around the world

Tips & picks

• Tip of the week: So you want to try gaming on Linux
• App pick of the week: Google Chrome
• RunAs Radio this week: Securing AI Agents with Niall Merrigan
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Corowa Peated Single Barrel 521

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.

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In 2015, Satya Nadella said that he wanted users to love Windows. But Microsoft has only enshittified Windows more aggressively since then. Paul wrote a book. And now Microsoft says it's changed, baby, and it's serious this time. Here's what was said ... and what was not said.

A Timeline

• Early signs of positive change: Rust in the Windows kernel, numerous new security features in Windows 11 - "two sides" of Windows, the engineering side and the "let's push AI at all costs/UX" side - more recently, Baseline Security Mode and User Transparency and Consent announcement
• Last September, Pavan Davuluri took over Windows and reorganized the business immediately, bringing Server/Core back in-house
• In December, Paul saw the first signs of positive changes in OneDrive, while not perfect, a major step back from the enshittification there. It took a few months to understand exactly what changed.
• In January, there are over one billion Windows 11 users. Davuluri first mentions a push for quality in 2026 - "pain points"
• In February, Nadella announced leadership changes that included people directly in charge of security and engineering quality
• Now, Microsoft has announced that it will address (some of) the complaints about Windows 11, and this includes performance and reliability improvements across the board

Microsoft said it will

• Let you move the Taskbar to other screen edges, finally
• Improve File Explorer performance
• Make changes to how users to skip Windows Updates (vaguely)
• Make improvements to Widgets (but what about the quality problem?)
• Remove unnecessary Copilot entry points
• Make the Windows Insider Program more transparent
• More relevant recommendations in Start - ??
• Reduce resource usage across the board, give more resources to what you're doing (good for gaming, especially)
• Reduce interaction latency - WInUI3
• Reduce search latency throughout - also context menus and navigation (which is WinUI3, I guess)
• Make improvements to Windows Subsystem for Linux
• OS, drive, and in-box app reliability improvements
• Windows Hello improvements - Wonders if this is tied to the complaint about speed here

What Microsoft didn't discuss

• Of the several items in the Windows 11 Enshittification Checklist, only one was addressed by Davuluri's post, Windows Update chaos, and then only partially. Not mentioned: Forced telemetry, bundled crapware, forced Microsoft account sign-ins, forced Microsoft Edge usage and configuration harassment, hardware requirements (less relevant today), OneDrive behaviors (partially addressed already).
• Recall is rare in that it's opt-in, but most of the AI and unwanted features are opt-out or worse
• Controlled Feature Releases are not controlled, but they do suck
• Microsoft has monthly Security Updates that include new features. Security and Feature updates should be separate and have different pausing rules
• Microsoft is not removing Copilot from Windows, nor is it doing less AI; it is just removing Copilot icons from most places and trying to be more thoughtful about how it deploys AI in Windows 11
• The Windows Insider Program makes 0 sense right now, and this was only partially addressed; it's not clear what's changing yet
• Davuluri says that WinUI3 UIs are the solution to many performance problems, but just using an old

Mor

These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/976

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Microsoft's AI ambitions overflowed into GitHub, sparking backlash when ads appeared in pull requests and raising new concerns about where your code is really going. GitHub is going to automatically use your data to train AI, so Paul tells how to opt-out if you don't want that. Plus, there's a new Microsoft 365 alternative in town, and this one is from a little tech company you can trust

Windows

• Week D updates go live last Thursday - Smart App Control, many other minor changes
• And here we go again: Microsoft issues emergency patch for March Week D optional update
• Microsoft says it will replace web-based in-box apps and experiences with native apps ... somehow
• Four builds across three channels - Canary with opt-in gets a huge Windows Console upgrade, Dev/Beta get Administrator Protection (again), more
• AMD has a new flagship gaming processor

AI/Dev

• Microsoft Research AI has a new Critique feature that uses ChatGPT and Claude together in an unholy Frankenstein's monster of orchestration
• A week of Siri AI rumors/leaks - This is Apple's version of Microsoft trying to buy TikTok
• Google makes it easier to switch to Gemini - This is like Mac vs. PC, but for AI
• Mozilla's approach to AI in Firefox is both right and correct
• The plan to the save the open web from Big Tech
• The future of Firefox includes a Smart Window mode that works like Private window but for AI
• SwiftUI SDK for Android is now available

Xbox and gaming

• New Xbox chief seeks to reset Xbox brand image - reminder, that's not the same as changing anything
• Xbox announces 14 Day One Game Pass titles coming soon
• Xbox Games Showcase 2026 and Gears of War E-Day Direct are coming in June
• Sony to raise PS5 prices soon
• Nintendo to raise prices for physical Switch 2 games soon

Tips & picks

• Tip of the week: Opt-out of training AI on GitHub
• App pick of the week: Proton Workspace with Meet
• RunAs Radio this week: My Home Lab
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Jeptha Creed Six Year Old Wheated Bourbon

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.

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