Windows Weekly 808: Nuclear Conservation

Microsoft in 2022: the good, the bad, the meh

Activision Blizzard. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I mean, Brazil OKed the deal. COME ON
Microsoft Teams turned 5. Is it unstoppable? (Stack is asking for a friend)
Games in Teams?
Just one feature update per year? Just kidding! Microsoft released Windows 10 version 22H2 in October. Since then, we've seen the unexpected, largely (or completely) untested rollout of three new features: Search "pill," Task Manager access from the Taskbar, and now a new OneDrive. Each has inconsistently rolled out to different PCs. One has a regression. One was actually tested with the Insider Program. And one wasn't tested at all.
Don't like Windows 11? Please, let the designers explain it
One Outlook (Project Monarch) arrives, sort of, changes nothing
Loop doesn't arrive, changes nothing
.NET MAUI lands. Is it the future? Or just "a" future?
Project Voltera looks cool, but Arm is still down the road
DuckDuckGo colluded with Microsoft, then didn't
Alex Kipman was just trying to be like Bill Gates!
GitHub CoPilot: friend or foe?
PC sales fell off a cliff. That cliff is about to get higher. Deeper. Whatever
Joe B leaves. Like Mad Men, he might have stuck around too long
The year the Insider Program broke - there is no way out of Dev, Beta, or WOA builds

Windows 11

Microsoft brings Android 13 to WSA in preview

Hardware

Microsoft touts HoloLens 2 "momentum," says that an HL3 will need to be "meaningful"
Lenovo is pre-gaming CES with major PC announcements. Isn't this how E3 started to fall apart?
Google Android/Nest and Amazon both go live with early Matter implementations.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft will let all EU cloud customers store their data locally.
Microsoft teams with AWS, Meta, and TomTom to take on Google Maps
Microsoft, Teams has failed with consumers. Just bring back Skype already
In its second announcement all year, Skype adds real-time translation that imitates your voice
Amazon settles EU antitrust case. Did it learn anything from Microsoft?

Xbox

Microsoft launches a massive sale on Xbox games
Amazon expands in gaming, will publish next Tomb Raider title
John Carmack leaves Meta, has a lot to say. Little of it good
Ubisoft is giving Stadia customers the PC versions of the games they bought

Tips & Picks

Tip of the week: Make Mastodon less sleepy
Apps of the year: Brave, Notion, ImageGlass, Modern Warfare II
Term of the Week: Overwhelm Freeze

Holiday cocktail pick of the season: Winter Warmer

Mix equal parts apple whiskey and cranberry juice with a few good shakes of ginger bitters.
Warm gently on the stovetop or in the microwave--to a little above room temperature, not hot like tea or coffee.
Serve with a cinnamon stick or dried apple slice.
You can make a batch for a party and keep it warm on the stove or in a crock-pot, just keep in on low or the alcohol will evaporate.

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott

Guest: Richard Campbell

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