Scent of Carbon - CrowdStrike Outage, Windows 23H2, Halo Series

CrowdStrike: Terrible name, terrible outage
• CrowdStrike, a company no one has ever heard of, ships an update that borks Windows PCs, servers, and clouds services at the heart of the worldʼs infrastructure. Naturally, everyone blamed Microsoft at first
• Microsoft says outage impacted under 1 percent of PCs. It was just the worst PCs imaginable
• Microsoft blames EU regulation for its inability to be like Apple
• That is not a good look. It's also deceptive.
• Microsoft issues repair tool (later updates).
• CrowdStrike explains what it did wrong. TLDR: everything.
Windows
• Windows 11 version 23H2 is fully available! Wait, what?
• Surface Laptop 7 review: big, heavy, no presence sensing or fingerprint reader. Right, I love it.
• Also, the ThinkPad T14s arrived.
• Related: Intel cops to mistake in Core Gen 13/14 processors, will issue fix. Why this is unprecedented. And also precedented. Also, why precedented is a word.
• Microsoft is FINALLY bringing ads to the Microsoft Store search box.
• Microsoft starts testing new Start menu layouts. Surely one of them has live tites.
• Canary build today: Duplicate File Explorer tab, not much else.
AI/Antitrust
• Meta is making a surprising-and surprisingly strong-case for AI as open-source.
• Proton adds an AI writing assistant to its Drive-based Docs.
• Amazon lost an alleged $25 billion on Alexa devices over four years, so itʼs all in on AI-based devices now! (Panos Panay is the perfect fit for this business if the goal is to be unprofitable).
• Google effectively kills Privacy Sandbox in a victory for regulation.
• Microsoft probably cleared the final hurdle to avoid EU antitrust action on cloud licensing. Hey, it worked with security companies and the Windows kernel!
It's That Time of the Quarter Again
• Alphabet / Google: Double-digit revune gains YOY, but how much of this is AI?
• Subscription services (Netflix, Spotify, not so much Game Pass) are KILLING it,but theyʼre also in full-on enshirtification mode - how do we fix this? Can we fix this.
Xbox
• FTC complains about Xbox Game changes. They’re not wrong. But they’re not
right either.
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare III lands on Game Pass today - what the what
• Also, Microsoft muffed the landing badly - but it appears to be working now
• Halo TV series canceled. It’s the worst thing that’s happened with Xbox this entire year
Tips and Picks
Tip of the week: The best thing about Copilot in Windows 11 now
• With Copilot switching from a pane to an app, thereʼs an unintended benefit that comes into play when you use an AI PC with a Copilot key on it. Youʼre never going to believe what happens next.
App pick of the week: Microsoft Designer for image generation
• Microsoft Designer exited preview last week and thereʼs at least one secret benefit to using it: Unlike Copilot, you can create wide and portrait images (and not just square) without paying. This is why I pay for Copilot Pro. (You do need to sign in with an MSA, however.)
RunAs Radio This Week: Data Risk Management using Purview with Joanne Klein
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Brown Liquor Pick of the Week: Writerʼs Tears Tequila Cask
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Windows Weekly Episode 891
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