WW 975: A Bubble of Knowledge - Microsoft Reorgs, OpenAI Drama, & Xbox's Next Move

19 snips

Mar 18, 2026

Discusses Microsoft shuffles and leadership changes shaping Windows and Copilot strategy. Covers potential Microsoft–OpenAI legal drama and reorganized AI teams. Highlights big PowerToys 0.98 updates and Windows preview tweaks. Dives into Intel chip refresh, PC market dips, and Xbox feature tests and Game Pass additions. Notes Firefox revival efforts and debates around local AI and Copilot Plus PC choices.

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INSIGHT

Windows Fixes Focus On Foundational Usability

Windows is getting usability fixes long overdue: change user folder name, modernize Restore Points, and rethink remote desktop.
Paul highlights System Restore and user-folder renaming as power-user features finally receiving attention.

INSIGHT

Intel Refresh Chips Split The Market For On‑Device AI

Intel's Arrow Lake refresh chips (Core Ultra Plus) arrive without NPUs for Copilot+ PC capabilities, creating market segmentation.
Paul and Richard note Panther Lake's NPU/graphics advantage targets ultralights while Arrow refresh targets gaming/desktops.

INSIGHT

IDC Expects A Multiyear PC Market Downturn

IDC projects a continued PC market decline driven by RAM/supply issues and macro risks; expect multi-year softness.
Updated forecast moved to an 11.3% decline in 2026 with tablets also down ~7.6%.

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There's an ongoing narrative that Windows is worse than ever today and people are leaving in droves. Paul does not see that, and will simply point to Windows 8 and remind folks that it can be (and was) worse. Also, PowerToys 0.98 adds a major new feature to Command Palette, big changes to Keyboard Manager and CursorWrap, and about 100 other updates. This is a big one. Plus, Mozilla Firefox is staging a comeback and may be worth another look.

Windows

Rajesh Jha is retiring and Microsoft is reorging its Experiences + Devices team
Release Preview: A peek at next week's Week D update (and April's Patch Tuesday) shows we're getting improvements to Narrator, Settings, Smart App Control, Pen settings, Display, File Explorer, and the Windows Recovery Environment (WRE). The trend continues!
New Canary, Dev, and Beta builds - Nothing new in Canary. Dev/Beta: Drag Tray is being renamed to Drop Tray, you can change the user folder name during Setup, Restore points are getting a modern update finally
Intel goes nuts with new "Arrow Lake refresh" processors; these are not Copilot+ PC capable and it's unclear what the Panther Lake comparison looks like
IDC now expects 11.3 percent decline in PC market in 2026, 7.6 percent decline for tablets

Microsoft may sue OpenAI for contract breach - the best Microsoft divorce since IBM
Major reorg in Microsoft's AI businesses
Former Snap exec in charge of consolidated Copilot offerings across consumer and commercial
Mustafa Suleyman to focus on Microsoft's foundational models
There has been a lot of retiring and a lot of outside hires for top-level executive positions in Microsoft over the past year or more. Curious.
Rumors vs. reality in Microsoft scaling back AI ambitions in Windows
Rumor: Microsoft is backtracking on some Copilot features
Reality: Microsoft is not backtracking on its AI ambitions, it's just going to try to do a better job with branding and positioning
Microsoft launches Copilot Health in the U.S.
Google Personal Intelligence ships in the U.S.
OpenAI releases GPT-5.4 mini and nano models
GPT-5 mini is available as a reasoning model on Duck.ai

Xbox and gaming

Rumor vs. reality in Xbox strategy
Rumor: Microsoft removed "This is an Xbox" messaging from website so it must be focusing on consoles again
Reality: Literally nothing has changed
Xbox Insiders is testing per-game Quick Resume toggle
Also more groups on Home, custom colors, profile badges in guide
Big half month for Game Pass, with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, more coming
Starfield is coming to PS5 on April 7
NVIDIA launches DLSS 5, changes existing games, people are freaking out

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: The grass is always greener
App pick of the week: PowerToys 0.98
RunAs Radio this week: Sustainable AI with Darshna Shah
Brown liquor pick of the week: Teeling Small Batch Whiskey

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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