After years of ignoring and maligning Windows, Microsoft has finally woken up and is making some happy noises. Last week, we discussed how Microsoft plans to improve the quality of Windows and that there are already many signs of that work in various security features and new OneDrive Folder Backup changes - plus those two new direct reports to Nadella. Then, Microsoft announced its Windows Baseline Security Mode and User Transparency and Consent initiatives with questions about the timing. And now, Microsoft just explained Windows 11 version 26H1, and it's not like 24H2 at all despite being tied to Snapdragon X2 silicon.

Something happened ... and that something is tied to 26H1

26H1: Only for Snapdragon X2, a "scoped release," based on a "different core" from 24H2 and 25H2
You cannot upgrade 24H2 or 25H2 to 26H1
You cannot upgrade 26H1 to 26H2 (!) - instead, those on 26H1 "will have a path to update in a future Windows release." - Is that future Windows release Windows 12? Probably
24H2, 25H2, and 26H1 will all have the same user-facing features, this has been the case with all support Windows (11) versions for 2+ years
(Remember, this is not what happened with 24H2. Shipped early on Snapdragon X1, but was made available to all Windows 11 PCs later that year)
So why is this happening now? Fortune 500/corporate customer pushback on AI is one guess
This is GOOD news, however it all unfolds

More Windows 11

Yesterday was Patch Tuesday, so get to work. Updates this month include: Agent in Settings (Copilot+ PCs only) improvements. Settings improvements, cross-device Resume improvements, Windows MIDI Services improvements, Narrator improvements, Smart App Control improvements, Windows Hello New ESS improvements, and File Explorer improvements
Somewhat related to the quality/security push noted above, Microsoft is rolling out new Secure Boot certificates this year for older (pre-2024/25) PCs
Microsoft announces a Store CLI that does (almost) nothing new compared to winget
New Dev and Beta builds with minor changes: Emoji 16.0, camera improvements, various fixes

More earnings

Amazon hits $213.4 billion in revenues, will spend $200 billion CAPEX/AI infrastructure this fiscal year, more than Google ($175/$185 billion) or Microsoft (estimated $150+ billion)
Qualcomm $12.25 billion in revenues, up 5 percent
Alphabet/Google - Up 18 percent (!) to $113.8 billion - 750 million MAUs on Gemini, 74 percent of revenues come from advertising
Spotify - somehow has over 750 million MAUs now

AI and dev

OpenAI and Anthropic release dueling agentic AI coding models that do more than agentic AI coding within minutes of each other
Ads appear in ChatGPT Free and Go as threatened
Duck.ai adds private, anonymous real-time AI voice chat
NET 11 Preview 1 arrives, but there's nothing major here

Xbox & games

Microsoft announces the 2025 Xbox Excellence Awards
Celebrate 35 years of Id Software - Castle Wolfenstein 3D was a wake-up call for PC gaming, but DOOM was a miracle, and Quake was a real WTF moment
Sony sold 8 million PlayStation 5s (down 16 percent YOY) in the holiday quarter, 92 million (!) overall
Valve predictably delays the vaporware Steam Machine
Epic Games is having a winter sale - for example, Silent Hill 2, GTA V Enhanced are 50 percentR

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WW 970: Token Kill! - What Version 26H1's Scoped Release Implies

Windows Weekly (Audio)