Daniel Rubino

Your source for the best stories and insights from the world of Windows, Surface, Xbox, HoloLens, and everything Microsoft. Hosted by Zac Bowden and a rotating set of guests! Streamed LIVE every… An Agentic OS? | Windows Central Podcast LIVE | 08/07/25

🗣️ The Windows Central Podcast LIVE is starting up!

This week: Windows 2030 Vision, XP Crocs, open-source WinUI, thoughts on Surface Laptop 7 (and 8), and more!

Join us youtu.be/Tefv9KToduk

The number of sites that still rip off our stories/links in 2025 without giving credit is both hilarious and sad.

So much ego, so little talent.

YouTube video by Screaming Void I have done terrible things to The Empire Strikes Back (Part 1)

This is why internet. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLMV...

World's First Rollable OLED Screen in a laptop — Hands-on with Lenovo's Strange ThinkBook Plus. Who is this for? Lenovo's ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is the first of its kind, and I've tested it myself.

NGL, it looks weird.

Useful!

But also weird.

www.windowscentral.com/hardware/lap...

Gears of War Quiz: How well do you know this Xbox series? Take our first-ever Gears of War quiz and check how well you really know this iconic Xbox franchise.

Do you like Gears of War?

Time to prove it with the latest Windows Central quiz! www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/...

Hands-on with the Surface Laptop you’ll never own — Microsoft’s secretive 50th anniversary black-and-gold edition Microsoft's Surface Laptop 50th Anniversary Exclusive is a very limited-edition Copilot+ PC and a little special for these reasons.

Unboxing and hands-on with the Microsoft Surface Laptop 50th Anniversary Exclusive, a laptop you can't buy.

(And yes, we have the special wallpaper)

www.windowscentral.com/hardware/sur...

This is Microsoft's canceled Windows-based Surface Duo — the dual-screen Windows Phone from 2018 that we never got Surface Andromeda was the successor to Windows Phone we never got. Now, we know exactly what it would have looked like thanks to leaked images of prototype hardware from 2017 and 2018.

🥲 "This is Microsoft's canceled Windows-based Surface Duo — the dual-screen Windows Phone from 2018 that we never got"

DETAILS: www.windowscentral.com/hardware/sur...

10 years of 10 | Windows Central Podcast LIVE | 07/31/25 Your source for the best stories and insights from the world of Windows, Surface, Xbox, HoloLens, and everything Microsoft. Hosted by Zac Bowden and a rotati...

The Windows Central Podcast LIVE is starting up!

This week Win10 is ten, Copilot Mode launched, weird SE Surface Laptops, GPT-5 coming to Copilot, Adobe 💘Snapdragon X, Dan's favorite laptop is just $599.

Join us! www.youtube.com/live/IVUb4Xu...

Sneak peek: Microsoft Surface Laptop 13.8" 50th Anniversary Exclusive 🤓

Nice to see the special packaging, too.

My earlier coverage for more details: www.windowscentral.com/hardware/lap...

Cheap Windows laptops are still boring — but this $599 AI PC changes everything. Here's why. The ASUS Zenbook A14 is one of the most fun laptops I've used in years, and it's an even better deal for the Back to School season.

Seriously, this is one of my favorites and go-to laptops.

OLED, crazy light at 2.16lbs, and 10 hours of real battery life ... now for $599.

Even customers rate it at 4.7 (out of 5) www.windowscentral.com/hardware/asu...

Adobe brings native Windows on Arm support to Premiere Pro, After Effects, and more — but not all features made it Adobe's flagship creative apps are now in public preview for Windows on Arm, but some features will remain exclusive to Intel PCs.

Progress!

I don't use any of these apps (just Elements, which runs fine in Prism), but I'm glad to see more Adobe apps (Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, and Media Encoder) running on Qualcomm chips: www.windowscentral.com/software-app...

🤔
🤷‍♂️

"Microsoft launches limited edition 'Smurface Laptop' with blue logo and laser-etched Smurfs on the lid — but there are only 100 for sale!"

www.windowscentral.com/hardware/sur...

Microsoft revolutionizes Edge as an AI-powered web browser with new experimental 'Copilot Mode' — but it won't be free forever Copilot Mode in Microsoft Edge is a new experimental feature that transforms the browser into an agentic AI experience, but it's only free for a limited time.

Microsoft announces new 'Copilot Mode' for Microsoft Edge, something which I've shared before via Edge flags, but is now available to everyone.

Details: www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/mi...

Microsoft concedes that 'The Outer Worlds 2' retail price was too high — Xbox says it "will keep our full priced holiday releases at $69.99," with refunds incoming Xbox controversially raised the base price of its mainline games to $80 in an announcement a few weeks ago. Now, it seems to be backtracking. Good, I say.

"Xbox controversially raised the base price of its mainline games to $80 in an announcement a few weeks ago. Now, it seems to be backtracking" www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/...

"A system that looks like the one you had as a kid." — This PC fuses 90s throwback vibes with absolute spec overkill Maingear's new Retro95 gaming PC is a real sleeper, available with up to an RTX 5080 GPU.

Maingear's new retro 1995 desktop PC but with 2025 hardware on the inside is 🤌 www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-ga...

I'll give it a chance!

Microsoft launches Intel-exclusive Surface Laptop 5G with reengineered design — but it's SHOCKINGLY expensive The Surface Laptop 7 with 5G is now available to order, but only for business customers and with an Intel Core Ultra chip. The device will ship on August 26 and starts at an eyewatering $1,799.

Some interesting news on that Surface Laptop 5G, which is now finally available. Intel-only, which makes some sense as it's aimed at enterprise.

I haven't tried a Surface Laptop in a few generations now, but this should be a solid choice: www.windowscentral.com/hardware/sur...

Microsoft kills Movies & TV storefront on Windows and Xbox — here's what will happen to your purchased media After 12 years, Microsoft is shutting down its storefront that let Windows and Xbox users buy or rent Movies & TV shows natively on the platform.

Microsoft kills Movies & TV storefront on Windows and Xbox

I'm upset about this, but Netflix/Amazon/MAX, etc. must be eating into the market like crazy. Always shocked to see how a movie in theaters is on MAX like 2 months later with no rental.
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/mi...

Microsoft and AMD have entered a new multi-year partnership for first-party Xbox hardware, with full support for your existing console games — "in your living room, and in your hands" Xbox President Sarah Bond shared an update on Xbox consoles today, confirming their ongoing partnership with AMD for first-party hardware, while committing to supporting your existing console library ...

👀 Microsoft and AMD have entered a new multi-year partnership for first-party Xbox hardware, with full support for your existing console games — "in your living room, and in your hands" www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/...

From The Editor's Desk — new Windows Central community features, we'd like to hear from you! From the editor's desk? In 2025? In this economy? We have some cool news to share about the future of Windows Central, and we want to hear from you.

While this technically happened a few months ago, we're still rolling out new features and improvements for our comment system. Here’s an update on that.

www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/fr...

Microsoft Build 2026 won’t be in Seattle — crime, drugs, and homelessness may be to blame Homelessness, drug use, and criminal activity were cited in an internal Microsoft email when explaining the move.

Microsoft is reportedly relocating from Seattle for Build.

Not a surprise. Microsoft used to hold Build in San Francisco, but left for similar reasons (or at least, that was my experience and perception, as that's when San Francisco started to decline).

www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/mi...

The Surface Pro 12-inch is actually pretty great, with only one disappointment After three weeks, we've concluded that the new Surface Pro 12-inch has finally found its processor, making it shine and worth your attention.

My review of the Microsoft @Surface Pro 12-inch.

We can thank @Qualcomm for finally letting us have something this good. Battery life could be a smidge better, though.

FULL REVIEW: www.windowscentral.com/hardware/sur... 🪟

Summer Game Fest 2025 & Xbox Games Showcase LIVE: Persona 4 Remake may appear, and Black Myth Wukong arrives on Xbox Welcome, Xbox fans! We're covering all major announcements from this year's Summer Game Fest and the Xbox Games Showcase. Check back regularly for the latest news.

It's a big day for gaming (and Xbox)!

You can find all the latest news for Summer Game Fest 2025 and Xbox Games Showcase as it happens live right here: www.windowscentral.com/gaming/live/...

EXCLUSIVE: Xbox's handheld has been sidelined (for now) Xbox's handheld ambitions continue unabated, but the focus is shifting towards improving Windows 11 for third-party handhelds — for now. The Xbox Series X 'Melrose' successor is safe, with development...

Xbox's handheld 'Pembrooke' has been sidelined (for now), as Microsoft doubles down on Windows 11 PC gaming handheld optimization

Exclusive from @jezcorden.com www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/...

Build recap and Surface reviews | Windows Central Podcast | 05/22/25 Your source for the best stories and insights from the world of Windows, Surface, Xbox, HoloLens, and everything Microsoft. Hosted by Zac Bowden and a rotati...

The Windows Central Podcast is going LIVE! Talking thoughts on the new Surface Pro 12" (review) and Laptop 13," Build 2025 recap, Windows 11 news, and more!

Join our YouTube stream: youtube.com/live/-iIzs0l...

Powerful, long-lasting, and shockingly affordable—get 2025’s best OLED Windows laptop for $799 The ASUS Zenbook A14 with Snapdragon Plus is my favorite of 2025, and it’s now $200, but only for a few days.

We reviewed this laptop in April, but I now have the X Plus (16GB/512GB) model, and it's been my go-to laptop for the last few weeks.

Not only is it awesome, but it's now just $799, and you're nuts if you miss out on this.

www.windowscentral.com/hardware/lap... 👇

Microsoft may be about to kill the Surface Laptop Studio Production on Surface Laptop Studio 2 is reportedly coming to an end. Resellers will no longer stock it over the summer, and it appears a Surface Laptop Studio 3 isn't imminent.

I have mixed feelings about this. A Surface Laptop Studio 3 with actual up-to-date technology could be a great device, but as noted on the podcast, I don't think many bought v1 or v2, partially because of the use of old processors/slow to market 🤔

www.windowscentral.com/hardware/sur...

With the ability to create an agentive avatar for it coming, you could literally make it look like them.

Yeah, I think they're doing a lot around Wallet and passwords in Edge. Will see about Passkeys.

Is the next Xbox based on Qualcomm chips? A Qualcomm job listing suggests Xbox is working on next-gen Arm-based hardware — but what's the truth?

Good breakdown of what that Qualcomm job listing that mentions Xbox means via sources from @jezcorden.com.

DETAILS: www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/... 🎮