Microsoft Weekly: Upcoming Windows 11 features, Azure outage, Xbox news, and more

This week's issue of Microsoft Weekly talks about upcoming Windows 11 feautes, Azure outage, Xbox news, and more.

This week's news recap is here, with an Azure outage that took down Windows Update alongside Teams and SharePoint, Microsoft finally reining in Copilot in one small corner of Windows 11, and a fresh wave of Xbox news.

Quick links:

1. Windows 10 and 11
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Reviews are in
5. Gaming news

Windows 11 and Windows 10

Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions.

Microsoft confirmed an Azure outage disrupted Windows Update, the Microsoft Update Catalog, Microsoft Store downloads, and WSUS this week. This happened just two days after a separate Microsoft 365 outage took down Teams and SharePoint. These outages severely limited all the activities connected to said services during the crisis period. Fortunately, Microsoft has since dealt with the outages, and all services are now functioning normally.

The LG Monitor App saga also wrapped up this week. Windows Update was found to be silently installing the app on user PCs without consent, and it used a tracking technology called Automated Content Recognition to monitor what's displayed on screen.

The installer was also bundling McAfee antivirus on top of it. Win11Debloat added an option to block the app entirely, and shortly after, Windows chief Pavan Davuluri confirmed Microsoft worked with LG to at least stop the McAfee bundling.

Microsoft is also tightening up Windows volume activation. A new capability called KMS Hardware-Secured will require TPM-based attestation to verify that KMS hosts are running on trusted hardware before they can activate Windows devices. This should stop fake or clone KMS servers, and in theory, make pirating Windows harder.

• Microsoft is killing Whiteboard for personal Microsoft accounts, editing gets blocked August 22 and all content is deleted after September 5, though business accounts are unaffected
• Microsoft and AMD expanded their Azure AI partnership. Microsoft is deploying AMD's Helios rack-scale platform (Instinct MI455X GPUs, EPYC "Venice" CPUs) through new Azure ND MI455X v7 VMs
• Microsoft paused the planned removal of the expanded people card view in Outlook Classic after backlash over it nudging users toward New Outlook

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

Microsoft shipped Release Preview updates for Windows 11, with plethora of new features. The Widgets panel received the biggest overhaul, so it's now significantly decluttered and easier to use. Widgets and Discover are now split into two separate sections, finally separating actual widgets from the Bing and MSN clutter. The same build also snuck Copilot into File Explorer Home, with "Ask Copilot" and "Open file location" quick actions on hover, though it didn't actually work in testing.

Elsewhere, a modern dark version of the Properties dialog was spotted hidden in build 26300.8935. So far the new Properties panel design is only enabled for the deleted files dialog, which suggests that Microsoft is still in the early stages of testing this change.

Microsoft is also testing a "Do nothing" option that lets users disable the Copilot hardware key entirely, which is a nice contrast in an otherwise Copilot-heavy week.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

Microsoft is killing off Copilot Deep Research and Podcasts in the consumer Copilot app on August 18. Existing Deep Research reports stay accessible in chat history and can be exported to Word, but generated podcasts become completely inaccessible with no way to export them.

Visual Studio Code 1.130 rearchitects agent sessions around a new agent host process that runs Copilot, Claude, and Codex via the Agent Host Protocol. This change allows sessions to render across multiple VS Code windows at once.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• Microsoft is bringing a dedicated Copilot entry point to Outlook classic starting August 2026, aligning it with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and New Outlook

• Opera One finally adds vertical tabs and better Google Lens integration

• Rufus alternate Ventoy improves upon one of Windows 11's system requirements

   

Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• Intel Arc graphics driver 32.0.101.8864 (non-WHQL), fixing crashes in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Assassin's Creed Shadows, Rainbow Six Siege, and LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

• NVIDIA hotfix driver targeting stability issues in Halo: Campaign Evolved on RTX 50-series GPUs and fixing the long-reported freezing bug in Path of Exile 2

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

This week, Steven Parker played with the GeekBook M16, a16-inch laptop with respectable benchmark scores and respectable battery life that still costs less than competitors. Check out the full review here.

Pulasthi completed another game review, this time on the highly anticipated Halo: Campaign Evolved. If you're feeling nostalgic about the roots of the Halo franchise, check out how the remake of the original campaign looks now, reworked in the Unreal Engine 5.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more.

Microsoft unveiled Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC, a new program that brings classic Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles that never officially made it to PC onto modern hardware. Xbox VP Jason Ronald called it the start of a broader effort to preserve older games long-term.

Xbox is also trialing an ad-supported cloud streaming tier for games you already own. You'll watch an ad before the session starts, so there's no mid-game interruptions, but each free session is capped at one hour. Microsoft says it’s a way to play your existing library on whatever device you have, without needing to buy new hardware. Still, users won’t appreciate the ads too much.

Deals and freebies

• Story-driven card game Foretales is free to claim on the Epic Games Store
• Weekend PC Game Deals: Anno, Civilization, Monster Hunter, and more

Other gaming news includes the following:

• This wave of Xbox Game Pass adds Halo: Campaign Evolved, Game Freak's Beast of Reincarnation, and the pirate city builder Corsair Cove

• Meta Horizon+ subscribers gained access to Xbox Game Pass Starter Edition, following the same bundling model Microsoft started with Discord Nitro

• CD Projekt RED confirmed a reveal for The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past expansion at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25

• Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game got a surprise six-week Xbox delay just hours before launch, though pre-orders remain active

• Age of Empires III returns to life as studio uncancels major expansion

• Microsoft could finally fix one of Xbox's biggest download speed issues with new feature

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post. Feedback welcome.

Posted Sunday 26 July 2026 at 7:55 am AEST (my time).

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