Windows Weekly 972: I'm A Tolkien Scholar

Just last week, we asked about Phil Spencer and why he's been so quiet lately. Now we know why! Also, OneDrive for the Mac is finally going to look like it belongs on the Mac. And Google Chrome finally picks up a split view like the rest of the planet, plus a few other new features.

PHIL SPENCER OUT AT XBOX

• Phil Spencer has retired from Microsoft and his heir-apparent, Sarah Bond, left Microsoft as well
• Report details the Xbox reorg
• Ex-Xbox executive issues an old guy shouting at sky assessment
• New Microsoft Gaming CEO discusses "return to Xbox"
• Hot-take: This person seems unqualified to run Xbox/MS Gaming, but let's give her a chance
• Alternative hot-take: She is literally here to wind down this business, which makes no sense... unless there's a spin-off

Windows

• WSJ report sheds some light, and adds a lot of confusion, to Nvidia's Windows PC plans
• Week D arrived on time this month
• Preview of March Patch Tuesday updates
• Network speed test, pan and tilt in Camera settings, sysmon, RSAT improvements, Quick Machine Recovery improvements, WEBP background image support, Emoji 16.0
• And you thought the Canary channel was weird already
• New builds for Canary, Dev, and Beta. Canary gets features we already saw elsewhere, Dev and Beta get context menu, settings, and Taskbar improvements
• Paul has published (an incomplete version of) De-Enshittify Windows 11
• De-enshittifying Copilot and AI is doable but not yet automated
• What about the alternatives?
• Next step: Security and Apps chapters
• HP revenues up 6.9 percent to $14.4 billion but RAM warning is more dire than expected
• Apple to add multitouch to MacBook Pro lineup in late 2026. Oh the irony

AI

• Xbox February update brings 1440p streaming to Xbox consoles, updates for Xbox ROG Ally, more
• Xbox app is delivering post-game recaps on Windows 11 for Insiders
• EA had the most game downloads on PC and console in 2025, thanks to having the three most popular AAA games of the year (BF6, EA Sports FC 25, and EA Sports FC 26). Microsoft was number two, followed by Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Sony. Fortnite is somehow still the biggest game overall on console, and Counter-Strike 2 (!!!!) is the biggest on PC. 20 million Fortnite players on PS, 15 million on Xbox

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: OneDrive for the Mac
• App pick of the week: Google Chrome
• RunAs Radio this week: SaaS on Multiple Clouds with Steve Buchanan
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Sons of Vancouver Wheated Rye Whisky

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

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