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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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

There's an ongoing narrative that Windows is worse than ever today and people are leaving in droves. Paul does not see that, and will simply point to Windows 8 and remind folks that it can be (and was) worse. Also, PowerToys 0.98 adds a major new feature to Command Palette, big changes to Keyboard Manager and CursorWrap, and about 100 other updates. This is a big one. Plus, Mozilla Firefox is staging a comeback and may be worth another look.

Windows

• Rajesh Jha is retiring and Microsoft is reorging its Experiences + Devices team
• Release Preview: A peek at next week's Week D update (and April's Patch Tuesday) shows we're getting improvements to Narrator, Settings, Smart App Control, Pen settings, Display, File Explorer, and the Windows Recovery Environment (WRE). The trend continues!
• New Canary, Dev, and Beta builds - Nothing new in Canary. Dev/Beta: Drag Tray is being renamed to Drop Tray, you can change the user folder name during Setup, Restore points are getting a modern update finally
• Intel goes nuts with new "Arrow Lake refresh" processors; these are not Copilot+ PC capable and it's unclear what the Panther Lake comparison looks like
• IDC now expects 11.3 percent decline in PC market in 2026, 7.6 percent decline for tablets

AI

• Microsoft may sue OpenAI for contract breach - the best Microsoft divorce since IBM
• Major reorg in Microsoft's AI businesses
• Former Snap exec in charge of consolidated Copilot offerings across consumer and commercial
• Mustafa Suleyman to focus on Microsoft's foundational models
• There has been a lot of retiring and a lot of outside hires for top-level executive positions in Microsoft over the past year or more. Curious.
• Rumors vs. reality in Microsoft scaling back AI ambitions in Windows
• Rumor: Microsoft is backtracking on some Copilot features
• Reality: Microsoft is not backtracking on its AI ambitions, it's just going to try to do a better job with branding and positioning
• Microsoft launches Copilot Health in the U.S.
• Google Personal Intelligence ships in the U.S.
• OpenAI releases GPT-5.4 mini and nano models
• GPT-5 mini is available as a reasoning model on Duck.ai

Xbox and gaming

• Rumor vs. reality in Xbox strategy
• Rumor: Microsoft removed "This is an Xbox" messaging from website so it must be focusing on consoles again
• Reality: Literally nothing has changed
• Xbox Insiders is testing per-game Quick Resume toggle
• Also more groups on Home, custom colors, profile badges in guide
• Big half month for Game Pass, with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, more coming
• Starfield is coming to PS5 on April 7
• NVIDIA launches DLSS 5, changes existing games, people are freaking out

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: The grass is always greener
• App pick of the week: PowerToys 0.98
• RunAs Radio this week: Sustainable AI with Darshna Shah
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Teeling Small Batch Whiskey

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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