Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Leo Laporte

Jun 17th 2020

Windows Weekly 677

Everything's a Widget in Flutter

Everything You Need to Know About Windows 10 20H2

Records live every Wednesday at 2:00pm Eastern / 11:00am Pacific / 18:00 UTC.
Category: News
  • 20H2 it is! (And 21H1)
  •  Microsoft is changing the way it names Windows 10 versions. So the next version of Windows 10 will be called Windows 10 version 20H2 (not 2010 or whatever). This will be the case going forward.
  •  The first 20H2 build headed out to Insiders in the Slow ring yesterday.
  •  And now the first build of Windows 10 version 21H1 too!
  • 20H2 will be a minor, CU-style update masquerading as a Feature update, just like 1909 (19H2).
  • MORE WINDOWS 10!
  • Good: Microsoft makes Windows 10 recovery options slightly less confusing
  •  Good: Microsoft fixes those printer issues on most supported Windows 10 versions - after acknowledging them last week
  • Bad: Now there are Storage Spaces issues in 2004. WTH Microsoft
  • Good: Microsoft is going to fix PDF support in Edge. Also fixing Edge memory usage
  •  Good: A few more Project Reunion details are now available on GitHub
  •  Good (?): Parallels is partnering with Google to bring Windows apps to Chrome Enterprise late this year
  • Windows Insider Program
  • Microsoft is changing from Rings to Channels.
  • But this is just a naming change. There is only one change to note, and it impacts almost no-one.
  • Microsoft 365
  •  Money in Excel is now available to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in the U.S. only.
  •  Live Presentations is now available for PowerPoint on the web
  •  Microsoft Launcher 6 heads to Beta. It's a peek at the Surface Duo UI.
  • Xbox
  •  The June 2020 Update is here
  •  Microsoft touts Smart Delivery for Xbox Series X


Tips and picks

  •  Tip of the week: It's time to participate. The problem with the Windows Insider Program is that there aren't enough people making their voices be heard. If you are about Windows 10, it's time to participate.
  •  App pick of the week: Affinity Photo. Affinity Photo is an inexpensive alternative to Adobe Photoshop Elements and it's on a half-off sale right now, which makes it even less expensive at $25. Worried about licensing? Get it from the Microsoft Store!
  •  Enterprise pick of the week: Behind the scenes with Azure. Microsoft has had capacity issues with Azure for months (even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit). Officials have shared a bit about how they were addressing them. But this week, they went public with a lot more specifics and some interesting stats on how they're building up Azure and Teams.
  •  Enterprise pick of the week No. 2: New ML courses, scholarships. Microsoft and Udacity are partnering to make machine learning courses more available. You can apply for a chance to earn one of 300 scholarships as part of the ML Scholarship Program for Microsoft Azure (the Nanodegree Program for more advanced users). Or you can check out the free course on Azure ML (the "start free" course for true beginners).
  •  Beer pick of the week: Fullsteam Juneteenth Unfiltered Pilsner. Durham, N.C.-based Fullsteam Brewing has a German-style unfiltered pilsner ready for this week's Juneteenth celebration. Called "Juneteenth," this pilsner uses all NC grain and the proceeds go to the Hayti Heritage Center and Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

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