Windows Weekly 892

On this episode of Windows Weekly, the show has a new yet similar look (as Leo tries to read chyrons that may be a tad tiny). Microsoft announces its quarterly (and annual) financial results. They’re doing OK. The company also expands on what it has done and will do, with Windows security in the wake of the CrowdStrike outage. Finally, Paul advises that the password manager in a browser isn’t enough, as secure users need more capabilities like 2FA code generation, dark web monitoring, passkey storage, and more.

Earnings

• Microsoft announces its quarterly (and annual) financial results. They’re doing OK.
• Microsoft’s FY24: a net income of $88.1 billion on revenues of $245.1 billion, up 22 percent and 16 percent
• Windows - Barely mentioned, another solid $10 billion+ in revenues, no gain from Copilot+ PC
• Office - Solid growth, mostly commercial
• Surface - Flush twice, it’s a long way to New Mexico
• Xbox - Problematic, propped up mostly by Activision, but there are huge costs there too
• AI - Huge investments, Microsoft can afford it. $19 billion (!) in infrastructure costs in this quarter, and it’s going up next year … when/how does AI pay off?
•  Microsoft to give employees a one-time cash award on top of bonuses
• TikTok was paying Microsoft $20 million per month through at least March for OpenAI on Azure, close to 25 percent of Microsoft’s total revenues for that business
• AMD revenues - the next NVIDIA?

Windows

• Windows 11 versions 22H2/23H2 get theirs a few days late, features we saw in Release Preview a few weeks ago
• Nothing for 24H2, but a new Release Preview build is almost certainly its equivalent, meaning we’ll see these features in stable in August
• All channels: Support for Android file system navigation in File Explorer
• Beta channel (last week): Widgets is about to get third party feeds
• It’s not a dud, but the HP EliteBook Ultra doesn’t measure up
• Qualcomm and AMD have spoken, now Intel is delivering Lunar Lake on September 3

Microsoft 365 and AI

• No more ads in Skype! Cue the Skype jokes from all the jerks
• OpenAI announces SearchGPT, search features it will add later to ChatGPT - and just today, more natural advanced voice mode voices for ChapGPT
• Apple ships some Apple Intelligence in Beta. it’s pretty good!  But it’s also delayed to iOS 18.1 etc
• Canva buys Leonardo for its AI 
• X (Twitter) is using your posts to train Grok (its AI). You can disable it. But these names all suck  

Xbox

• Xbox is getting new Discord and streaming features in a coming update
• With Xbox in the toilet, some thoughts about gaming PCs to go
• RIP, Xbox 360. We had a good run

Tips and Picks

• Tip of the week: What to look for in a password manager
• App pick of the week: Password managers - 1Password, Dashlane/Proton Pass, and Bitwarden
• RunAs Radio this week: Microsoft Cloud PKI with Richard Hicks
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Laird of the Fintry BSV Pipe Finish
   

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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

• Tech: Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 Packs a Punch
• Transcripts: Windows Weekly 892 Transcript

Links

• Microsoft Revenues Up 15 Percent in Quarter, 16 Percent in Fiscal Year 2024
• Analysis: Microsoft’s FY24 Q4 (Premium)
• Microsoft will give employees a special one-time cash award on top of annual bonuses
• TikTok Spending and Microsoft's Booming AI Business
• AMD Revenues Up 9 Percent in Quarter
• Resiliency (Premium)
• Microsoft Belatedly Delivers Windows 11 22H2/23H2 Week D Preview Update
• Microsoft Delivers New Windows 11 24H2 Build to the Release Preview Channel
• Windows Insiders Can Test Accessing Their Android Phones From File Explorer
• Microsoft Gets Ready to Support Other Widget Feeds on Windows 11
• HP EliteBook Ultra Review
• Intel to Launch its “Lunar Lake” Core Ultra Mobile CPUs on September 3
• Microsoft is Removing All Ads from Skype
• OpenAI Announces SearchGPT
• Canva Acquires AI Image Generator Leonardo
• First iOS 18.1 Beta Adds a Waitlist for Apple Intelligence Features
• Apple Intelligence Will Reportedly Launch With iOS 18.1 in October
• X Now Uses Public Posts to Train its Grok AI, But You Can Opt Out
• Xbox Consoles Are Getting New Discord Calling and Streaming Features
• A Few Thoughts on Portable PC Gaming (Premium)
• Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-In-1 First Impressions
• Xbox 360 Store is Shutting Down Today
• Password Management Basics (Premium)
• Microsoft Cloud PKI with Richard Hicks
• Laird of Fintry BSV Pipe Finish Single-Malt Whisky