In the worlds of Microsoft, Windows, and gaming, plenty of news stories roll out each week. It’s easy to miss a few, especially when busy hunting for the best Prime Day deals. That’s why we round up all of the biggest news from each week into one convenient piece to kick off the weekend.
A bit of a trend emerged early this week. We covered several stories centered around getting Windows to run on things it was never meant to be on. Independent developer Gustave Monce saw a major breakthrough in the Windows 11 on Surface Duo project, another developer added support for dual-booting Windows 11 onto Chromebooks, and someone even managed to get Windows 98 to run on an Xbox Series X.
Microsoft moving to three-year release cycle for Windows
The week’s biggest news is that Microsoft is moving to a three-year release cycle for the Windows client. That means the company will ship a major version of Windows every three years. This lines up more with what Microsoft did with many previous versions of its operating system but is a major shift when compared to Windows 11 and Windows 10, which launched seven years apart.
Some have speculated that the next major release of Windows could feature a new name, but that’s not confirmed at this point. While Microsoft can do whatever it likes with its own OS, we chose to focus on what the company should do with it in our weekly poll.
Our senior editor Zac Bowden broke down the news in an exclusive report earlier this week.
Chromebooks dual-boot Windows 11 and Chrome OS
Those hunting for an affordable laptop often check out the best Chromebooks, but moving over to Chrome OS has a learning curve that some people don’t want to deal with. Now, people with select Chromebooks can get the best of both worlds by dual-booting Chrome OS and Windows 11 (or Windows 10) onto a laptop. The ability comes courtesy of an unofficial project to improve the versatility of Chromebooks. At the moment, it only works with a small set of devices with AMD Ryzen 3000-series CPUs, but that could change in the future.
Windows 11 on Surface Duo project takes major leap
Another project centered around getting Windows 11 onto devices it wasn’t meant for made the news this week. The Windows 11 on Surface Duo project took a major leap forward by adding support for Wi-Fi, cellular data, GPS, and more. The original Surface Duo can even work with an eSIM following the update to the project.
While it is still an unofficial project that probably won’t ever be aimed at general users, the Surface Duo is now much more useful when running Windows 11.
Microsoft tries a new Windows Search UI
Microsoft rolled out Windows 11 Build 25158 to Insiders in the Dev Channel this week. The update included a handful of new features and changes, the most noteworthy of which was an experimental UI for the search button. The latest Insider build of Windows 11 has three different options for Search in the Taskbar, including a text bubble and an icon. You can check out the new interface and the rest of the changes in our piece on the build.
Microsoft partners with Netflix
Microsoft and Netflix announced a partnership this week centered around the streaming service’s lower-priced ad-supported subscription plan. Microsoft is now Netflix’s new global advertising technology and sales partner. The news in itself isn’t that exciting, but it led one analyst to believe that Microsoft may purchase Netflix.
Xbox summer sale kicks off
On the gaming side of things, GameStop’s Summer Game Day sale kicked off. The event cuts up to 50% off some of the best Xbox games.
Review roundup
Our experts regularly review the latest gadgets, games, and more. Here’s what we looked at this week:
