Windows Weekly (Audio)

While Microsoft pushes Copilot+ PCs, NVIDIA storms into the Windows ecosystem with AI-focused Spark machines and game-changing specs, igniting new rivalries with Apple and upending expectations for what local hardware can do. Plus, Atari revives 39 Activision classics for a price that will make retro fans blink, while the Sonos saga continues as it pivots to an open AI platform that might finally win back old loyalties. Finally, Paul's Markdown book will be released sometime in the next week.

Windows

The mystery of 26H2 is now less mysterious

Last week: Week D came and went without a preview release, triggering speculation

Microsoft issues Windows 11 version 26H2 to Release Preview, a first

This means a September or October release to stable. Just guessing, but Preview Update in September, general Update in October is most likely

Version numbers don't matter much anymore. There are no unique 26H2 features, just a few unique 26H2 presets - These include Point-in-time restore and Memory Integrity Protection being on by default

Two 26H1 pre-release builds with little to speak of

IFA 2026 is underway in Berlin

Acer is first out of the gates with dozens of new PCs, including one based on the NVIDIA RTX Spark

EU General Court confirms that Microsoft Edge is not a gatekeeper

Visual Studio Code now has a full Markdown Editor experience

Brave now offers free email aliases, and will have a premium option soon

Firefox for iOS now has integrated ad blocking

NVIDIA - $96.2 billion in revenues, up 106 percent YOY

Dell - record $47 billion in revenues, but it's all from server/infrastructure

HP - $15.7 billion in revenues, up 12.5 percent - $11.8 billion from PCs, vs. $15 billion for all Dell client products

AI/dev

Sony and Warner sue Anthropic for stealing their music

Gemini Notebook gets first Expert Intelligence upgrade with integrated e-book support

Sonos announces Sonos 27 OS with major AI functionality

Microsoft moves WinUI development fully to GitHub ahead of open-sourcing it

XBOX and gaming

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, more coming to Game Pass

Every Activision title for the Atari 2600 is being reissued in cartridge form, but it's going to cost you

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Markdown: A Field Guide for Writers

App pick of the week: ImageGlass 10

RunAs Radio this week: Reimagining Intranets with Susan Hanley

Brown liquor pick of the week: Macaloney's Cath-Nah-Aven

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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsors:
outsystems.com/twit

threatlocker.com/twit

helixsleep.com/windows

Microsoft tries to prove Windows on ARM is ready for prime time, but behind the PR push, unresolved questions about compatibility, branding, and a tepid market threaten to derail the company's ambitions. Also, PowerToys 0.101 is here with Windows Hopper and multiple improvements! Plus, Parallels Desktop 27 for Mac launches.

Windows

If a Week D falls in the woods and no one installs it, did a Week D really happen?

Theory: This is the big one, with the three big changes Microsoft promised this year. Basically, this is Windows 11 version 26H2

Three new builds across Beta, Experimental, and Experimental (26H1) with a modernized AutoPlay experience and a new "Open apps maximized" accessibility feature

Microsoft reminds business customers that Windows on Arm is terrific ahead of Nvidia RTX Spark launch

Totally coincidental that this happened on the same day that Apple announced a new Mac Mini with M6 and M5 Pro and Mac Studio with M5 Ultra and M5 Max

Microsoft 365

OneDrive for Mac gets native sync engine

Proton Mail gets automatic and customizable category filtering

AI/dev

Bill Gates issues a strong warning on the dangers of AI. And you're not going to believe what number two is

WSJ report echoes the complaints that Paul has been making for years. Again

Adobe Firefly gets production-quality music, speech, and sound effect generation capabilities

Apple Music will start labeling AI-generated music

.NET Conf 2026 on track for November with .NET 11

XBOX and gaming

XBOX testing long-awaited disc to digital entitlements

The ASUS ROG XBOX Ally X20 is available now for $1299, or in a $2499 bundle

Rumor: Microsoft prepping an Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition console for November

Update: it's real. The XBOX 25th anniversary collection arrives November 13

Microsoft announces (third party) Designed for XBOX 25th Anniversary Collection of hardware peripherals

IKEA has designed some XBOX-influenced furniture and it is amazing

Rockstar Games weighs in on leaks as GTA VI reveal arrives (tomorrow)

Commodore announces Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection for PC, consoles

NVIDIA brings GeForce Now to Firefox

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Expose yourself to other points of view

App pick of the week: PowerToys

RunAs Radio this week: Security Features of PowerShell 7 with Mike O'Neill

Brown liquor pick of the week: SpiceBox Spiced Whisky

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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsor:
canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

For years, the checkbox to get a PC out of the Insider Program when that Windows version shipped in stable did absolutely nothing. That's no longer the case.

Windows

A new context menu for File Explorer heads out to Insiders along with five new preview builds

There are lots of other like UX changes happening with little communication. Will Microsoft really touch (and update) all the ancient UIs in Windows 11?

New Release Preview builds point at next Week D and Patch Tuesday updates: New Taskbar, New Start, new Windows Search, many minor changes throughout

Hardware

Now we know more about Snapdragon C ahead of IFA, where we may see the first laptops

Google is holding a PixelBook reviewers event in mid-September

You know that Commodore is back, but now the Amiga is back too!

Lenovo surges on AI spending, but it's now engaged in financial shenanigans too. More like Spotify than Big Tech, but still bad

AI

Big Tech spending on AI is finally getting more scrutiny from financial/business publications

It's happening: Microsoft "pulls a Teams" and will consolidate its Copilot (consumer) and Microsoft 365 Copilot (business apps) into a single app, evolve it in a "super app"

OpenAI's new strategy: Get 'em while they're young

Mozilla provides a progress report on Smart Window for Firefox, details new AI search partnership

Alexa+ is now free on all FireTV devices in the U.S., no Prime required

XBOX

Resonance: A Plague Tale and more are heading to Game Pass during the second half of August

XBOX August Update is here with more Achievements details, Game Hubs now support Xbox 360 titles, Game Pass subscribers can now stream a game while it installs in the background

XBOX Insiders can now test Home Improvements, local save game management, and profile badges

Apple makes major App Store concessions in the EU. But Epic Games says it is not enough.

The new Call of Duty has a public beta on Friday, and there will be a single-player episode for the first time

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Yes, Virginia, you can exit the Insider Program now

App pick of the week: Brave

RunAs Radio this week: Automatic Attack Disruption with Liz Tesch

Brown liquor pick of the week: Red Bank Premium Blended

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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsor:
scribe.how/windows

Microsoft's AI investments reveal a bizarre financial loop where billions pour into infrastructure, yet profits remain elusive. The hosts break down why the industry's most hyped tech might just be a high-stakes game of circular accounting. Plus, a developer has resurrected Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a to run natively on Windows 11! Lastly, Stardock's latest utility replaces Alt + Tab for $7.99.

Windows

25H2: new touchpad gestures, Windows Hello ESS improvements, Widgets improvements, Windows Search improvements, more

26H1: Windows Update calendar-based pausing, Picture Password EOL, Point in time restore, multi-camera support, user folder customization in Setup, etc.

Over 420 bug fixes, but that's over 200 less than last month

Follow-up on Microsoft's AI spending. It's much worse than we knew - And also much worse than we know now

Yes, Microsoft Edge is going all-in on Manifest V3

Proton Drive - Now with a CLI and business features, and it's coming soon to Linux

A developer ported Word for Windows 1.1 to x64

AI

Gemini now has one billion users. But how many pay? - Plus the new Pixel phones are one step sideways, one step back

OpenAI brings ChatGPT to Linux (!)

Xbox and gaming

A new Xbox Elite Series 3 controller leak shows it will have a mini display

Microsoft tests new console features with Xbox Insiders

Id Software brings a new episode to Quake to mark 30th anniversary!

Minecraft is coming to Switch 2

Here comes GTA VI

A Valve partner was hacked, Steam Machine customers warned

Nintendo revenues decline 9.5 percent to ¥518 billion

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: View Git status directly in File Explorer

App pick of the week: AltTabby

RunAs Radio this week: The Content Management System Landscape with Matt Garrepy

Brown liquor pick of the week: Sideshow Lincoln Straight Bottled-in-Bond 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.

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsors:
helixsleep.com/windows

cirasync.com/Windows

cachefly.com/twit

Behind the headlines about skyrocketing revenues and AI investments, the actual costs and future risks for Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are shrouded in strategic accounting moves. Plus, Paul finished rewriting and adding new chapters to the Windows 11 Field Guide - mostly just clean-up now, and then whatever new monthly features. Lastly, The Document Foundation issues a friendly reminder about the Office 2021 EOL and how that never happens with their software

Microsoft earnings

Microsoft earnings up 18 percent to $90 billion

Analysis: Microsoft finds a new way to not account for AI costs

Windows

Pavan Davuluri says he's "energized" about what's happening to Windows in 2026.

OK. But what's really happened so far? When will the biggest changes land? And when, if ever, will you address the real enshittification in Windows 11?

Windows Insider Program: Five new builds - New Taskbar comes to Beta channel

This leads to questions of timing, and here, WIP is not all that transparent still

Another antitrust win: Apple to allow Copy and Paste between Windows and iPhone

AMD revenues up 50 percent to $11.5 billion, but it's all AI datacenter

Amazon: up 20 percent to $200 billion

Apple: up 16 percent to $109 billion

AI

Satya Nadella mentions AI super app again, not clear why anyone cares about this

Proton Lumo can do data visualization now

Xbox and gaming

Asha Sharma details the priorities for XBOX in the next year and number 5 will shock you

XBOX console prices going up in the EU and UK

Thanks, Caption Obvious: Yes, Backward Compatibility on PC will support Xbox 360 games too

XBOX plans new FanFest tour dates - there's SO much to celebrate!

Gears of War: E-Day leads the charge for new Game Pass titles in August

XBOX Insiders is testing new console features

XBOX app comes to Hisense and VIDDA TVs

EA goes private for $55 billion in cash, but also some debt

Sony has sold 95.3 million PS5s

Sony responds to concerns about no more discs (with "pffffftttt")

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: It's done!

App pick of the week: LibreOffice

RunAs Radio this week: Ransomware Readiness with Heather Renze

Brown liquor pick of the week: Frey Ranch Straight 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.

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsors:
cirasync.com/Windows

threatlocker.com/twit