WW 872: Go Skype Yourself - Copilot GPT Builder Impressions, DMA compliance, actual Skype news

03/13/24 • 131 min

Can we have a Windows experience tailored for enterprise efficiency? Paul, Richard, and Mikah unpack the freshest updates from Windows 11's March 2024 Patch Tuesday, dissect Microsoft's transparency behind Midnight Blizzard's November attack, and speculate on Microsoft's much-anticipated Surface/AI event. Plus, Paul offers insights from his time with Copilot Pro's custom GPT builder.

Windows 11

Patch Tuesday new features: Phone Link settings is renamed to Mobile devices, USB 80 Gbps support, more - Windows 10 users get some love (hate?) too
Microsoft confirms that Moment 5 will be delivered in the March preview update, fully deployed in late April
Microsoft details how it is changing Windows in the EU - and now we all want to move to the EU
Beta (last week): New Copilot actions experiment
Dev and Canary: Unified Teams experience, Copilot updates to more people, Power Automate via Copilot in Windows, Live Captions quick settings tile, progress bars in Taskbar icons, File Explorer file copy improvements, etc
Beta (today): Most frequently used apps now appear in Recommended

Microsoft

Microsoft continues to dribble out details about that Russia-sponsored hack and the news is predictably getting worse each time
We have an event! March 21st will focus on Copilot, Windows, and Surface

Microsoft brings Custom GPT Builder to Copilot Pro subscribers
Here comes Copilot for Security. April 1 rollout is perfect
Teams app developers get AI capabilities via a free Microsoft toolkit
Opera Feature Drops to bring new AI features early to Opera One
EU moves to the AI Act

Microsoft 365

Microsoft finally spells out its commercial deployment schedule/plans for the new Outlook. Let the complaining continue
Skype is updated with new Channels features, prompting questions about Skype still being alive
Parallels Desktop for Mac is updated with Clipboard and game improvements for Windows VMs

Xbox

Some Activision QA works vote to unionize
More Microsoft Studio titles come to Boosteroid, that service you only heard of because of the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: Time zone math
App pick of the week: Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is now available! Plus, Joplin (a Notion alternative)
RunAs Radio this week: Understanding Large Language Models with Jodie Burchell
Brown liquor pick of the week: Bushmills 21

Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsor:

cachefly.com/twit

Windows 11

Patch Tuesday new features: Phone Link settings is renamed to Mobile devices, USB 80 Gbps support, more - Windows 10 users get some love (hate?) too
Microsoft confirms that Moment 5 will be delivered in the March preview update, fully deployed in late April
Microsoft details how it is changing Windows in the EU - and now we all want to move to the EU
Beta (last week): New Copilot actions experiment
Dev and Canary: Unified Teams experience, Copilot updates to more people, Power Automate via Copilot in Windows, Live Captions quick settings tile, progress bars in Taskbar icons, File Explorer file copy improvements, etc
Beta (today): Most frequently used apps now appear in Recommended

Microsoft

Microsoft continues to dribble out details about that Russia-sponsored hack and the news is predictably getting worse each time
We have an event! March 21st will focus on Copilot, Windows, and Surface

Microsoft brings Custom GPT Builder to Copilot Pro subscribers
Here comes Copilot for Security. April 1 rollout is perfect
Teams app developers get AI capabilities via a free Microsoft toolkit
Opera Feature Drops to bring new AI features early to Opera One
EU moves to the AI Act

Microsoft 365

Microsoft finally spells out its commercial deployment schedule/plans for the new Outlook. Let the complaining continue
Skype is updated with new Channels features, prompting questions about Skype still being alive
Parallels Desktop for Mac is updated with Clipboard and game improvements for Windows VMs

Xbox

Some Activision QA works vote to unionize
More Microsoft Studio titles come to Boosteroid, that service you only heard of because of the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: Time zone math
App pick of the week: Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is now available! Plus, Joplin (a Notion alternative)
RunAs Radio this week: Understanding Large Language Models with Jodie Burchell
Brown liquor pick of the week: Bushmills 21

Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsor:

cachefly.com/twit

Previous Episode

WW 871: Ash Happens - Windows 11 Moment 5, DirectSR API, LibreOffice Writer

This week, Paul, Richard, and Leo unpack the twice-delayed unveiling of Moment 5 for Windows 11 and the long list of small features it brings to users, alongside whispers of new Surface devices on the horizon. Plus, they dissect the implications of Elon Musk's critical eye on OpenAI and the captivating prospect of upscaling classic adventure games via DirectSR.

"Moment 5"

Moment 5 is here. Sort of. In preview. Well, some features
This was supposed to happen before last week's Windows Weekly, but the announcement was delayed twice

Windows 11

Microsoft quietly reveals that it is killing the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA), triggering two reactions: "Who cares?" and "Why?"
Beta: Controversial new mouse hover experience for Copilot
Dell had double-digit revenue declines in Q4, all of 2024
HP revenues fell 4.8 percent in Q1

Surface

Rumor: Microsoft to launch Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 soon, with both Intel Core Ultra and Snapdragon X Elite variants

Microsoft engineer continues to raise disturbing issues with Copilot
Microsoft Edge picks up two new AI features: Video highlights and screenshot integration
Copilot is coming to OneDrive (commercial) and Microsoft 365 mobile app
Microsoft announces Copilot for Finance
Microsoft files motion to dismiss parts of the NYT's copyright suite, compares AI to a Betamax machine. Maybe not the smartest comparison
Elon Musk sues OpenAI because something something
ChatGPT picks up a Read Aloud feature. Is there anything AI can't do??
Anthropic announces a three-tier Claude 3 family of LLMs with the usual claims
Apple releases the M3-based MacBook Air. Or should we call it the MacBook AIr?
Brave brings Leo AI to Android app

Xbox

Microsoft comes clean on DirectSR, will say more soon
Xbox Partner Preview event today - Final Fantasy XIV, STALKER Original Trilogy, more announced
MLB The Show 24, more come to Xbox Game Pass in March
Linux exceeds 4 percent usage share for the first time. Is this the "SteamDeck" effect?

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Twitter user? Disable this new feature immediately
App picks of the week: LibreOffice, Vivaldi, Anytype
RunAs Radio this week: Upgrading TLS with Scott Helme
Brown liquor pick of the week: Hornitos Black Barrel

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsor:

kolide.com/ww

Next Episode

WW 873: Amino Man! - Microsoft AI's leadership, Azure's free egress, Office 2024

On this episode, Paul, Richard, and Mikah talk AI developments, Windows 10 (yes, 10), Azure egress, and even VR gaming! Is the new Microsoft AI organization an "acquisition" in disguise? How did NVIDIA's recent GTC keynote go? Plus, why it makes sense for Apple to partner with Google for Gemini on iPhone.

AI Reorg

Microsoft has created a new Microsoft AI "organization" that reports directly to Satya Nadella
Led by former Inflection co-founders and staffed in part by several ex-Inflection employees
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, who orchestrated Microsoft's OpenAI partnership, will continue forward in his other role as executive vice president of AI and will remain responsible for Microsoft's overall AI strategy
Mikhail Parakhin and the entire team responsible for Copilot, Bing, and Edge, plus Misha Bilenko and the GenAI team, will move into Microsoft AI.
Rajesh Jha will continue as executive vice president of Experiences & Devices and will "partner closely with Mustafa and team" on Copilot for Microsoft 365.
What does this mean for Windows? (Paul's guess: Not much. Windows is still presumably under Jha)

Windows

Windows 10 (Yes, 10, not 11) is getting new Sports, Traffic, and Finance cards on the lock screen for some reason
No new Insider builds since last week! WHAAAAAT?

Microsoft 365

No AI for you! Microsoft announces perpetual Office 2024 and Office 2024 LTSC for late 2024
AI for you! Microsoft 365 web apps now support Copilot Pro users
Better AI for you! Free Copilot gets ChatGPT-4 Turbo (previously a paid feature)
Microsoft follows Google and AWS, ends Azure egress fees - the other European Big Tech battleground

Apple is almost certainly going to (try to) partner with Google on AI for iPhone
How the F is Microsoft not part of this?
Google I/O is set for May 14, Apple WWDC will be in June, both to focus on AI (duh)
Microsoft to host "AI and Surface event" right before Build 2024 in May
Nvidia is determined to not just ride the AI wave, but win it
In the wake of a subtle rebranding, Google is bringing generative AI to Fitbit
Amazon is bringing generative AI for product pages to sellers

Xbox

New games across Game Pass for the second half of March - including, for the first time, an Activision Blizzard title, Diablo IV
Microsoft is killing the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox... though there is a Rewards tab on your Profile page.
LinkedIn is experimenting with games because everything has to suck now
Sony halts PSVR2 production because no one wants to pay $550 for VR on PS5

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: Steam Sale goes through tomorrow (March 21)
App picks of the week: Stardock ObjectDock 3, Proton Mail native app, Firefox 124
RunAs Radio this week: From SysAdmin to Platform Engineer with Steve Buchanan
Brown liquor pick of the week: Bull Run Oregon Single Malt Whiskey

Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsors: