WW 760: The Activision Acquisition - Microsoft's largest acquisition, PC 2021 sales, Surface Laptop SE

01/19/22 • 122 min

Microsoft is acquiring Activision Blizzard, the makers of WoW, CoD, Overwatch, and Candy Crush, among other gaming hits.
Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition is the biggest in the company's history.
Sony shares stumble as the firm cedes $20 billion in value overnight
Windows 11 SE devices are rolling out for the education market, starting as cheap as $219.
Surface Laptop SE is now available for schools to purchase.
PC sales, in a third consecutive year of growth, increased 16% in 2021.
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22538 announced and released to the Dev channel.
New updates roll out for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones.
Game Pass titles for January include Death's Door and Nobody Saves the World

Tips & Picks:
Tip of the week: Programming Windows articles and projects
App pick of the week: .NETpad
Enterprise pick of the week: Microsoft fixes yet another botched Patch Tuesday update
Codename pick of the week: Nickel
Beer pick of the week: Shacksbury The Vermonter Cider

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsors:

Microsoft is acquiring Activision Blizzard, the makers of WoW, CoD, Overwatch, and Candy Crush, among other gaming hits.
Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition is the biggest in the company's history.
Sony shares stumble as the firm cedes $20 billion in value overnight
Windows 11 SE devices are rolling out for the education market, starting as cheap as $219.
Surface Laptop SE is now available for schools to purchase.
PC sales, in a third consecutive year of growth, increased 16% in 2021.
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22538 announced and released to the Dev channel.
New updates roll out for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones.
Game Pass titles for January include Death's Door and Nobody Saves the World

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsors:

Previous Episode

WW 759: Local Hooch - Windows 11, Microsoft HoloLens, Microsoft 365

Windows 11, Microsoft HoloLens, Microsoft 365

Microsoft Issues First Windows 11 Build of the New Year
Microsoft Issues New Windows 11 Build to the Dev Channel
Stardock Releases Start11 v1.1
Tip: Get the New Windows 11 Media Player Now

AR/VR/XR

Microsoft Hit by Defections as Tech Giants Battle for Talent to Build the Metaverse - WSJ
Meta Platforms Halts VR and AR Operating System Project — The Information
Magic Leap Targets Medical Customers for Its Augmented Reality Headset - Bloomberg
CES 2022: Microsoft, Qualcomm to collaborate on custom augmented-reality chips

Microsoft 365

Microsoft is rolling out the ability to chat across personal and business Teams accounts
Microsoft adds more Teams, Viva features for frontline workers

Microsoft Surface

Surface Pro 8 with LTE is now available to order from the Microsoft Store | Windows Central

Xbox

Report: Microsoft Has Sold 12 Million Xbox Series X|S Consoles
Sony to Continue PS4 Production Through 2022

Tips and Picks

Tip of the week: How to use the Quick Access menu
App pick of the week: Firefox 96
Codename pick of the week: Gibraltar
Cocktail pick of the week: Blue Bomber

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsors:

Next Episode

WW 761: 1.4 Billion Served - Microsoft Q2 Earnings, Windows 11 Updates, One Outlook

Microsoft Q2 Earnings, Windows 11 Updates, One Outlook

Windows 11 users will get several new features in February ahead of its H2 feature update
Microsoft Plans Public Preview of Android Apps on Windows 11, More in February
Microsoft: Teams now has more than 270 million monthly active users
1.4 Billion
Microsoft Highlights Windows 11 Momentum
Lenovo Will Not Enable Microsoft's Pluton Processor by Default

Microsoft FY22 Q2 Earnings

Cloud revenues power Microsoft's $51.7 billion Q2 in the fiscal year 2022
Microsoft Delivers Another Monster Quarter
The WinForms Notepad Project (2022): It's (A)live! (Premium)
Microsoft: Teams now has more than 270 million monthly active users

Microsoft 365

Microsoft marches toward its 'One Outlook' rollout

Surface

Microsoft Finally Upgrades Surface Duo ... to Android 11

Hardware

Report: NVIDIA to Abandon Its $40 Billion Arm Acquisition
EU Overturns Intel's Antitrust Conviction, €1 Billion Fine
Intel to Invest $20 Billion on New Chip Factories in Ohio

Xbox

Halo Infinite is the Biggest Halo Launch in History*
Phil Spencer Opens Up About Activision Blizzard Plans
Rethinking Videogame Exclusives (Premium)
Google Play Games Soft Launches on Windows in Beta

Tips and Picks

App picks of the week: .NETpad (C#/WinForms/.NETFW4.x), File Manager
Enterprise picks of the week: Wave 1 2022 Dynamics and Power Platform, Azure Open Source Day
Beer pick of the week: Other Half Broccoli World Special Reserve

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and Paul Thurrott

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

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Sponsors: