Windows Weekly #963: "I've Got an Apple Guy"

Date: December 17, 2025
Host: Leo Laporte
Co-Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell

Episode Overview

In this penultimate (and self-described “Abbey Road”) episode of 2025, the Windows Weekly crew looks back at a year marked by the rapid evolution of Windows 11, AI everywhere, and fascinating shifts in hardware—from OLED laptops to AI PC specs. The hosts share personal tech stories, reflect on the challenges of “AI first” integration, dissect Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, and explore the shifting landscape of gaming, both on Windows and the rumored return of Half-Life 3. Along the way, the conversation meanders through apple and banana lore, a deep dive into Tasmanian whisky, and the quirks of holiday podcasting.

Highlights & Key Discussion Points

1. Personal Hardware Journeys & OLED Laptops

• OLED as the New Must-Have:
  • Leo shares his journey to buying a new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon with an OLED screen, based on Paul’s hardware reviews.
    • "I've decided I only OLED screens from now on. I just love them." [03:01, Leo]
  • Discussion about storage and RAM pricing, and the challenges of finding the sweet spot for specs.
    • "Two grand for 32 gigs of RAM, which is enough for me on a laptop." [04:32, Leo]
  • Linux adventures: Leo ditches Windows for Pop!_OS with the new Cosmic Desktop and reminisces about the friction of configuring Linux the old way.
    • "It's a little bit a throwback to the old days where you have to do things like type startx." [05:14, Leo]
  • Paul and Richard riff on Lenovo’s latest hardware, the “Aura” edition ThinkPad, and quirks like the new Copilot key.

2. Windows 11 in 2025: Features, AI, and Frustrations

• An Overload of Updates:
  • Paul recounts the massive number of Windows 11 updates ("1177 updates we got to Windows 11 this year") and focuses on both useful and surface-level improvements.
    • "This is about as minor of an update you can get year over year, but the number of actual functional updates you got is pretty impressive." [10:09, Paul]
  • Security features get spotlighted (quick machine recovery, Smart App control toggling), as do Copilot+ innovations like click-to-do, semantic search, Widgets, and Windows Studio Effects.
• AI Features: Where’s the Value?
  • Mixed reception for AI features in individual apps and across the OS.
    • "The AI functionality that Microsoft has added to individual apps is often quite good in my opinion." [15:44, Paul]
    • Praise for Paint, Photos (especially Super Resolution), and Notepad’s AI writing tools, but critique of confusing rollouts and inconsistent requirements (NPU vs. GPU, etc.).
• Copilot+ PC Chaos:
  • Ongoing confusion over requirements for “AI PCs,” NPU cards, and whether features like Windows Recall really need certain hardware.
    • "Please let my giant GPU be treated as an NPU... That's not happening, but not yet anyway." [13:27, Paul]
  • Paul muses on the possibility of “Copilot Plus PC V2” creating even more market fragmentation and spec frustration.
    • "We might be looking at this, right? ...Please don't do this to us." [50:26, Paul]
• Opt-In Is Good (But Rare):
  • Praise for Microsoft finally making features opt-in and off by default, especially on controversial AI features.
    • "One of the good things is they finally woke up to opt in, off by default. Opt in. Yes. This is the way many features should be." [54:01, Paul]

3. AI Everywhere: Microsoft, OpenAI, and Sulaiman’s Candid Interview

• Exclusive Interview Reactions:
  • The hosts dissect Mustafa Suleiman’s Bloomberg interview—applauding his candor, humanity, and realism about the current state of AI and “agentic” features.
    • "Literally the first thing he says is, yeah, it's not there yet... It's in dev mode is the way he called it. It's not generally available yet. When it does work, it's the most magical thing you've ever seen. When it doesn't work, you just bought something you didn't want." [64:10, Paul quoting Suleiman]
  • Discussion of the tension between real AI progress, over-marketing, and the gap between hype and daily usefulness.
    • "It's been sold as too futuristic and too exciting and too much. And then you see what it is, and you're like, okay, so I made a watercolor picture of a banana... It's not curing cancer, right? ...The hype has outperformed the reality." [88:41, Paul]
• The Microsoft–OpenAI Relationship—Details Emerge:
  • Revelations about Microsoft’s limitations under the OpenAI agreement (couldn’t pursue AGI independently until the partnership was restructured).
    • "Until OpenAI restructured their partnership yet again, Microsoft was not allowed by contract to pursue AGI or superintelligence independently. The deal was OpenAI would do that, Microsoft would get it." [80:39, Paul]
  • After changes, Microsoft can now do its own AI research; they still have a license to everything OpenAI produces through 2032.
• Thoughtful Rollout or AI Spam?
  • Comparison of Microsoft’s aggressive, default-on Copilot approach to Google’s more experimental rollout (e.g., CC in Gmail Labs).
    • "Maybe this is a better way to roll out AI... you should be able to go to that thing and get it if you want it, but you should never be bothered by it if you don't want it. It's like, yep." [84:32, Paul]

4. Gaming, Emulation, and the Still-Unknown Future of Half-Life 3

• Windows 11 on ARM: Gaming Adventures:
  • Paul revisits gaming on the latest Snapdragon X laptops, discovering improvements since launch but ongoing inconsistency, especially with non-optimized AAA titles.
    • "The needle is moved. It's moved in the right direction, but it's still in the same general space. Meaning it's just not... You don't buy this computer for this." [46:53, Paul]
• Epic Games–Google/Apple Settlements:
  • Recap of recent legal victories and settlements between Epic, Google, and Apple—restoring Fortnite to app stores, and highlighting the dysfunction (and slow change) of mobile app markets.
    • "It took five years of billions of dollars of legal battles, but Google finally saw the common sense that I've been trying to ask these companies…" [106:55, Paul]
• Half-Life 3 Rumors & Gaming Legacies:
  • The crew muses on persistent rumors of a Steam Machine launch exclusive, how a new Half-Life could upend the market, and the deep replayability of classic titles.
    • "I literally would drop everything I'm doing to play this game all the way through." [112:25, Paul]
    • "It wasn't even more complicated than that. ...That was the reality—massive multiplayer games was just so much more money." [113:59, Richard]
    • Nostalgia for both Half-Life and games like Fallout: New Vegas and Halo.

5. Tangents: Apples, Bananas, and Whisk(e)y

• Apple "Guy" and Fruit Stories:
  • The episode’s title comes from Paul’s local apple orchard connection ("I have an apple guy" [31:18, Paul]), prompting a detour into regional apple varieties, cider-making, monocultures, and bananas in Mexico.
    • "Big Banana wants a banana monoculture. Ask your banana man about that." [35:44, Paul]
• Tasmanian Whisky Deep Dive:
  • Richard Campbell shares a rich history of Tasmanian distilling and offers a review of Lark Symphony No. 1.
    • "Bill Lark is without a doubt the first person from the Southern Hemisphere to be put into the Whiskey Hall of Fame in Scotland." [149:49, Richard]
    • "Symphony is actually... a blend of Tasmanian whiskies. This particular one... is Australia’s best blended malt in 2025." [147:13, Richard]

6. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Windows Updates:
  • "1177 updates we got to Windows 11 this year..." [08:48, Paul]
• On AI Overload:
  • "I think the hype has outperformed the reality." [88:41, Paul]
• On AI Job Loss Panic:
  • "That was your boss making a horrible decision. That was not AI stealing a job. That was someone just being an idiot or being malicious and they were going to fire them anyway and just using that as an excuse." [71:10, Paul]
• On Rolling Out AI Features:
  • "There's no reason to accept the defaults in Windows 11 I guess is what I'm trying to say." [127:20, Paul]
• On Nostalgic Gaming:
  • "Half-Life is like Star Wars. I owned it in every format available every time... These games were just fundamental." [117:00, Paul]

Key Topic Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |----------------------------------------|------------| | OLED Laptop Journey, Linux switch | 03:01–06:09| | Windows 11: Features Recap & AI | 08:46–19:54| | Copilot+ PC Chaos/NPU Confusion | 11:45–14:00| | Widgets, Studio Effects, AI Features | 14:42–19:46| | Gaming on Windows 11 ARM | 36:02–47:29| | Copilot, AI Hype & Sulaiman Interview | 63:33–80:39| | Microsoft & OpenAI Relationship | 80:39–88:41| | On Rolling Out AI Features | 76:03–89:58| | Epic Games vs. Apple/Google | 106:11–112:23| | Half-Life 3 Rumor Discussion | 112:05–121:10| | Apple/Banana Fun | 31:18–36:02 (apple guy); 33:06–36:02 (bananas)| | Tasmanian Whisky Review | 134:05–151:58|

App/Tip & Recommendation Section

• Tip of the Year:
  • Paul recommends “deinsurdify-ing” Windows 11 using tools like Tiny 11 Builder (for clean installs), Win11 Debloat (post-install), Rufus, MsEdgeDirect, and ExplorerPatcher to reclaim a bloat-free OS.
    • "There’s no reason to accept the defaults in Windows 11." [127:20, Paul]
• Game of the Year:
  • Surprisingly, Paul finds himself lauding Fortnite, especially on ARM hardware:
    • "The thing I like about Fortnite is it's the smallest of the games... It plays great and it plays really well in Windows on ARM." [130:02, Paul]
• RunAs Radio Episode Pick:
  • Richard’s guest: Michelle Bustamante on modern security, Zero Trust, and the shift in cyber defenses.
    • "...an intense conversation about dealing with modern authentication, thinking through the cybersecurity frameworks from NIST..." [132:22, Richard]
• Brown Liquor Segment:
  • Richard reviews Lark Symphony No. 1 blended Tasmanian whisky; traces its mythic origin, current ownership, and taste profile.

Closing Thoughts

This episode is equal parts year-in-review, technical deep-dive, and cozy holiday chat, with the Windows Weekly hosts striking a balance between skepticism (especially regarding AI hype), nostalgia for great hardware and games, and honest appreciation for moments of human ingenuity—be it in code, in the kitchen, or in a bottle of whisky.

For listeners seeking a snapshot of 2025’s Windows ecosystem, AI’s promises and pitfalls, and the lived experience of the tech-savvy (with a side order of apples, bananas, and Tasmanian drams), it’s a rich, relatable listen.

Next week: A non-standard episode; then in two weeks, a holiday special with stories, fire, and a look forward to 2026.
Regular shows resume January 7.