This week, the hosts go deep on out-of-band updates, unwanted "innovations," and the uneasy cost of tech's latest gold rush. Plus, securing a Microsoft account is not as hard as some think, and neither are passkeys once you get past the jargon. And for developers, AI Dev Gallery offers a fascinating glimpse at what you can do for free with AI used against a CPU, GPU, or NPU.

Windows 11

Microsoft issues an emergency fix for a borked Windows Update. Right. A fix for a fix.
Hell freezes over, if only slightly: Microsoft quietly made some positive changes to forced OneDrive Folder Backup. Donʼt worry, itʼs still forced (and appears to be opt-in, but isnʼt). But you can back out more elegantly. So itʼs opt-out, not opt-in, but a step forward. Plus, a new behavior
Windows 11 on Arm PCs can now download games from the Xbox app (previously only through the Insider program)
Over 85 percent of Xbox games on PC work in WOA now
Prism emulator now supports AVX and AVX2 and Epic Anti-Cheat, and there is a new Windows Performance Fit feature offering guidance on which titles should play well.
Beta: New 25H2 build with account dialog modernization, Click to Do and desktop background improvements. Not for Dev, suggesting itʼs about to move to 26H1
Notepad and Paint get more features yet again. Notably, these updates are for Dev and Canary only, suggesting these might be 26Hx features (then again, versions don't matter, right?)

AI

Just say no: To AI, to Copilot, and to Satya Nadella
Our national nightmare is over: You can now (easily) hide Copilot in Microsoft Edge
ChatGPT Go is now available worldwide, ads are on the way because of course
Wikipedia partners with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, more on AI

Xbox & gaming

January Xbox Update brings Game Sync Indicator, more
Solid second half of January for Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft will likely introduce a free, ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier because of course

Tips & picks

Tip of the week: Secure your Microsoft account
App pick of the week: AI Dev Gallery
RunAs Radio this week: Ideation to Implementation with Amber Vandenburg
Liquor pick of the week: Estancia Raicilla

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

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WW 967: 2nd-Generation Bonobos - Windows 11 Gets Emergency OOB Update!

Windows Weekly (Audio)