• Cortana will soon just be a skill on Alexa and Google Assistant. Microsoft said it would not miss the next wave. Has it?
• Microsoft announces new software, services, and PC partner hardware for education at BETT
• Windows 10 enters its final phase of deployment. What does that mean?
• What's going on with Windows Server 1903/19H1? A few incremental features have been announced. Is there more?
• Yet another Cumulative Update for 1809 went out this week (fourth Tues of the month)
• Bug bash for Win 10 19H1 starts today
• Support is ending for the last versions of Win 10 Mobile in December 2019
• Microsoft pledges $500 million to help improve affordable housing in Redmond area. But isn't this a problem of its own making?
• The Power Platform: One of Microsoft's biggest bets for 2019 and beyond

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Finding news you can trust
• App pick of the week: Microsoft To-Do
• Enterprise pick of the week: Microsoft Customer Agreement
• Enterprise pick No. 2 of the week: Dynamics 365 April '19 update
• Beer pick of the week: Sierra Nevada Resilience

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

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

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:

• Sophos.com
• Atlassian.com

Windows 7: The one-year support cutoff countdown begins

• One year from January 14, Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7 for free. (Only for pay).
• Is there any chance of an XP-like extension?
• Don't expect a huge upgrade wave. But Microsoft has a way around this...
• Microsoft is pushing Microsoft 365 (not simply Windows 10) as the upgrade path for Windows 7. Will folks bite?
• Free support for lots of other products expires on January 14, 2020, too: Office 2010, Windows Server 2008/R2, Exchange Server 2010, SharePoint Server 2010 and more.
• Related: Desktop App Assure is generally available. Will it convince Win7 users that their apps will likely work on Win 10?
• Related: PC sales have now fallen for seven years. But there is some good news too.

Folding Windows, Dual-Screen Style

• A leaked build of Windows 10 19H1 indicates Microsoft is adding support for foldable (aka, dual screen) devices to Windows.
• What does this really mean? Is Andromeda in the wings? (NOPE).
• Meanwhile: Speculation mounts that Microsoft could show off the new HoloLens at MWC in February.

Windows 10

• Microsoft pushed a bunch of Cumulative Updates with loads of bug fixes for WIn 10 1703, 1709, 1803.
• It also (interestingly) pushed a small Cumulative Update with fixes for Win 10 19H1 Fast Ring build 18312.

Microsoft's latest customer wins: Some patterns emerge

• Microsoft is having luck courting retailers who are scared of Amazon (See Kroger, Walmart and most recently, Walgreens). Good news for Azure, M365.
• Cortana was MIA at CES, but its "Virtual Assistant Accelerator" wasn't. MS gets its virtual assistant tech into BMW, UEI, LG Electronics.
• The $10 billion JEDI jackpot's coming up in April. Looking like an Amazon-Microsoft dogfight. MS keeps adding more govt. certifications leading up to it (Outlook Mobile is latest).

Tips and picks

• Tip of the Week: How to Switch to Chronological Timeline on Twitter.
• App pick of the week: DuckDuckGo.
• Enterprise pick of the week: Where's Windows Server 2019?
• Codename of the week: Sydney (Hololens 2)
• Beer pick of the week: Grimm Double Negative

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

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

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:

• capterra.com/windows
• Wasabi.com offer code Windows
• go.itpro.tv/windows use code WW30

• CES is this week: let's not beat this to death. A lot of computers were announced, including a Surface Studio clone from Lenovo.
• It looks like Intel is serious about moving to 10nm this year, and Intel is talking up 'Project Athena,' its strategy for going beyond ultrabooks.
• Privacy (as a service): Microsoft should stop marketing AI and market privacy instead. First step: Bali, a way for users to control data that's been collected about them.
• Microsoft giveaway update: we gave away the Xbox Game Pass and Office 365 Home product keys and the hardware just arrived. Here's how you can win a Surface Go with Type Cover or Surface Headphones! (U.S. and Canada only, sorry)
• Two major signs of sanity in Windows 10 19H1: 7-day update delays in Windows Update in Windows 10 Home, Microsoft finally silences Cortana in Windows 10 Setup (but not in Home).
• Windows 10 19H1 build adds support for password-less Microsoft accounts and sign-ins.
• Build 18312 was released today with Reset This PC improvements.
• Let's revisit Windows 10 on ARM. Yes, this really matters.
• Non-controversy of the week: Windows 10 will now set aside 7 GB of disk for coming updates
• About Citrix's plans for Windows Virtual Desktop
• GitHub to give free users unlimited private repos
• Microsoft should make Surface-branded wireless earbuds (Update: They are working on it)
• Microsoft continued losing to Sony in the console wars in 2018, but there was a lot of good news too

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Choose the right digital assistant
• App pick of the week: Firefox ARM64 for Windows 10 on ARM
• Enterprise pick of the week: Teams gets more firstline worker features
• Buzzword pick of the week: "Partner"
• Beer pick of the week: Firestone Walker Propagator Generation 1

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

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

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:

• Atlassian.com
• expressvpn.com/windows

Our Predictions for Microsoft in 2019

Mary Jo Foley's list

• Microsoft's obsession with Chromebooks and ChromeOS continues (alongside its Chromium Edge work)
• More of a push to sell to "first-line workers." This is where MS sees its untapped audience for Office, Windows, more
• Microsoft 365 Consumer plan launches
• Microsoft does something (though not actually sure what) to address Win 10 quality issues
• Surface team continues to iterate on a handful of laptop form factors
• New HoloLens debuts and is focused almost 100% on business users
• Microsoft is going to get quieter about new products (not just Windows). They think this is a feature, not a bug!

Paul Thurrott's list

• Microsoft Edge + Chromium: What's the expected timing and how will this change affect the UX
• Windows 10 will put the updating terribleness of 2018 behind it in 2019
• Related: Where we're at as we enter the New Year
• What still needs work: Updating a PC is a freaking nightmare
• Windows 10 Lean (Lite?) - What is it and when will it ship
• Windows 10 on ARM: Is 2019 the year Qualcomm and MSFT overcome the performance and compatibility issues?
• And will Surface Go 2 ship and utilize an ARM chipset?
• Xbox One vNext - before the cloud, Microsoft will improve its console yet again
• Short term: CES is next week. Expect a lot of iterative new PCs

Also:

• Windows 10 usage finally surpasses that of Windows 7
• As it turns out, Edge still retains its battery life advantage over Chrome Tips and picks
• Tip of the week: Properly set up Windows 10
• Plus: Games with Gold, baby! Plus, new Game Pass titles too!
• App pick of the week: Microsoft Launcher
• Enterprise pick of the week: New Microsoft 365 commercial plans
• Codename pick of the week: Bari
• Beer pick of the week: Burlington Beer Company, Chunky & Jelly

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

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

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:

• LastPass.com/twit
• WordPress.com/windows

We take a look back at the biggest and best Microsoft stories of 2018.

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

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

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.

• Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela is back for his annual holiday appearance. Chris talks Microsoft's biggest successes and failures of 2018, and we have some questions.
• Windows Sandbox might finally make Paul's container dreams come true.
• Windows 10 version 1809 is finally broadly available, over two months after the initial release.
• Windows 10 on ARM takes a step forward with the Snapdragon 850. But what it really needs is a quality web browser.
• Microsoft announces the Office app for Windows 10
• Brad drops a scoop about future Xbox revisions

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Charge Surface Pro/Laptop over USB-C
• Also: The Xbox One S and Xbox One X are both $100 off, again.
• App pick of the week: Brave
• Enterprise pick of the week: PowerApps and Flow pricing/licensing changes
• Codename pick of the week: Madrid
• Beer pick of the week: Corsendonk Christmas Ale

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

Guest: Chris Capossela

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

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:

• RocketMortgage.com/Windows
• Molekule.com promo code TWIT75

• The rumors were true: Microsoft will move Edge to Chromium
• Related: Firefox is screwed, and it knows this. But it's spreading FUD to make its case
• Windows 10 19H1... New build brings improvements to Notepad for some reason (FOR SOME REASON??)
• The Snapdragon 8cx will allegedly rescue Windows 10 on ARM, because of course it will
• But what about now? The Snapdragon 850 isn't that bad, as it turns out
• Next-generation HoloLens will be based on Snapdragon 850 - This is now confirmed
• Cortana looks to be getting multi-voice/user support soon
• Tons of new games coming to Xbox Game Pass this month
• Microsoft Enables Xbox Family Settings for Cross-Play

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Microsoft's open source stories
  • Plus: Want to test the new Edge? The join the Edge Insider Program!
• App pick of the week: Office for Mac
• Enterprise pick of the week: Bye, bye Azure Container Service (ACS), and hello Azure Kontainer Service (aka Kubernetes Container Service)
• Codename pick of the week: Spartan
• Beer pick of the week: Brooklyn Black Ops

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

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

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:

• LastPass.com/twit
• Molekule.com promo code TWIT75

Edge vs Chromium

• Is Microsoft about to switch rendering engines in its Windows 10 browser?
• Is this a good thing or bad thing for 1. the industry; 2. developers; 3. users (Yes, yes, and yes; let's debunk some myths.)
• Will it still be called Edge?
• Will it look/work like Edge does today? What about extensions, etc.?

Windows Lite

• Windows RT failed. Windows 10 S Mode failed. Can Windows "Lite" succeed?
• Our guesses about how Windows Lite fits in with WCOS
• If this isn't called Windows, what should/might it be named? ("Yoghurt"? "DillyDally"?)

Related to these two topics, we need to talk about Terry Centaurus: The dual-screen successor to Andromeda

• If at first you don't succeed in landing a dual-screen pocketable device, should you try, try again?
• Microsoft is working on another attempt to take on Chromebooks with Centaurus

Xbox + Surface futures

• Brad drops a bombshell about the future of Xbox and for Surface too

Microsoft Connect roundup

• Microsoft open sources WPF, Winforms and WinUI
• Microsoft releases public preview 1 of Visual Studio 2019
• Microsoft open sources the ONNX inference engine
• Azure Machine Learning is now generally available

Microsoft v. FCC

• The FCC says that most Americans have access to broadband. Microsoft says that's not even close to reality.

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: You can once again download the Windows 7 and 8.1 ISOs. But...
  • Plus: Yes, Bootcamp still sucks
• App pick of the week: Typora
  • Plus: Google Arts & Culture mobile app adds a cool AR Vermeer experience
• Enterprise pick of the week: CNAB
• Codename pick of the week: Chromium
• Beer pick of the week: Collective Arts Ransack the Universe

Hosts: Mary Jo Foley, Paul Thurrott, and Megan Morrone

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

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:

• Prilock.com/twit promo code LEO
• RocketMortgage.com/Windows
• WordPress.com/windows

• More bugs emerge in the Windows 10 October 2018 update. Some get fixed; others are being tested in Release Preview.
  • Windows 10 1809 breaks Media Player
  • Windows 10 1809 blocked on PCs with certain Intel video drivers
  • But, hey: The iCloud-1809 bug is now fixed
• Windows 10 19H1 continues full steam ahead. New build out today: a few UI tweaks, not much else.
• First Windows Server 19H1 build was released last week. What's in it?
• Is Apple a monopolist? The Microsoft reporter veterans weigh-in.
• Microsoft briefly overtook Apple's market cap
• It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Microsoft Cloud: multi-factor authorization outage No. 2, right after Microsoft issued a thorough root cause analysis of what caused MFA outage No. 1. They've got concrete steps for fixing MFA, but some won't be done till Jan. 2019.
• Meanwhile: Here comes Amazon, breathing down Microsoft's neck, with its own Windows File System for AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/fsx/windows/

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Games with Gold
• App pick of the week: Project Fi
• Enterprise pick of the week: Check out the Petri.com forums, IT pros
• Also, for the developers in the house, December 4 is Microsoft Connect(); -- expect some VS 2019 news, among other AI/Azure, etc.
• Codename pick of the week: Windows (Core) Lite
• Beer pick of the week: Destihl Cranberry Criek

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

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

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:

• SlideBelts.com/TWIT code: TWIT
• grammarly.com/windows

• Microsoft accounts go password-less.
• Irony alert: Azure/Office 365 were just hit by a 2FA sign-in issue.
• Windows 10: 64-bit ARM apps are now a thing. What this solves and doesn't solve.
• Slippery slope: Microsoft tested ads in Windows Mail, got negative feedback, pretended it was just a test.
• Quality matters: between Windows 10 1809, Google Pixel 3, and Apple, it seems like the quality of the tech we use is going downhill. Is it?
• The Cortana RIP tour continues: Microsoft Store is selling Echo smart speakers now. And yet... the Cortana mobile UX update continues to rollout.
• Xbox One S to go disc-less in 2019.
• Now you can customize an Xbox controller right from your Xbox.

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Beneath a Surface: shipping next week!
• Also: The best deals from Microsoft's Black Friday sale.
• App pick of the week: Microsoft Launcher.
• Enterprise pick of the week: Microsoft buys FSLogix.
• Enterprise pick of the week No. 2: Cognitive services are now in containers (near you).
• Beer pick of the week: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.

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

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

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:

• RocketMortgage.com/Windows
• Prilock.com/twit promo code LEO