Windows Weekly 936: Liquid Aero

Get to know Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday updates and new features in Windows 11, such as improvements to the Start menu, File Explorer, and Copilot integration. They also cover new AI features coming to the Photos app for Copilot+ PCs and updates to the Microsoft Store. The discussion then shifts to developer conferences like Google I/O and Apple's WWDC, with a focus on their respective AI advancements and product strategies. Plus, the controversy surrounding Microsoft's decision to no longer host its Build conference in Seattle. Don't miss the discussion on the evolving role of the iPad as a potential threat to Surface devices due to recent software enhancements!

Windows 11

• June Patch Tuesday is here! Big changes for Windows 11 versions 22H2, 23H2, and 24H2
• New Start menu finally debuts in Dev and Beta - synchronized again for some reason
• Copilot+ PCs get Relight feature and natural language search in the Photos app
• The Microsoft Store gets a major update in the Beta channel
• And Canary is still a thing, no one knows why

Developer conference season draws to a close

• Build: Protests, problems, and more problems
• Microsoft pulls out of Seattle permanently
• Google I/O: Stunning array of AI announcements. But Android 16 is on a weird slow boil after a truncated development cycle
• Apple WWDC: Apple Intelligence? Look, Liquid Glass! Also, some actual advances across its newly unified platforms
• Look out Surface: The iPad is a real computer now - And it only took 15 years
• Microsoft, Google, and Apple all played to their strengths
• Between Windows 11 2xH2, Android 16, and iOS whatever - do the platform makers even know how to ship software anymore?

Xbox

• Microsoft unveils the first Xbox-branded third-party gaming handheld as part of its Xbox Games Showcase 2025 event - a few interesting things there as well - COD: BO7, Gears remake, Gears v.next delayed to 2026
• This heavily modified/optimized version of Windows 11 is coming to more gaming handhelds
• Looking to the future: What if this is literally the model for future Xbox console hardware? What if the next Xbox was a NUC?
• More Game Pass titles across platforms for the second half of June
• You can add 4 TB of storage to your Xbox, but it will cost you dearly
• Apple loses again in Epic v. Apple, Fortnite can stay in the App Store and developers can stop getting robbed by Apple
• The Nintendo Switch 2 launched this past week and is apparently the best-selling console of all time at launch
• PS5 controllers to support multiple Bluetooth connections

Tips and Picks

• Tip of the week: Share Feature, image crunching
• App pick of the week: Dia Browser
• RunAs Radio this week: The Case for Telemetry with Liz Fong-Jones
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Glenlossie 26

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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