Windows Weekly 964: Happy New Year! (Dec 28, 2025)

Episode Overview

In a special, relaxed New Year’s Eve edition of Windows Weekly, Leo Laporte hosts Paul Thurrott and Richard Campbell for a cozy, story-driven episode. Eschewing the usual Microsoft news and tech updates, the trio gathers fireside in Macunji, Pennsylvania, reflecting on family memories, sharing old tech tales, swilling whiskey, and discussing how their professional and personal lives wound through technology’s evolving landscape. This episode is a celebration of nostalgia, camaraderie, and insight into the personalities behind Windows Weekly, all sprinkled with playful humor and candid moments of reflection—perfectly capturing the warmth and wit the show’s audience has come to love.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting and Format

• No Microsoft news this week: Instead, the hosts share personal stories, tech nostalgia, and holiday cheer.
  [00:36] Leo: “That's not what we're doing today. Today we're just going to celebrate the holidays…”
• Paul and Richard record together in Pennsylvania for a rare in-person episode.
• Various drinks sampled—whiskey, gin, and more—set the festive mood.
  [04:12] Leo: “Then I don't know why I have some Lagavulin 16...”

2. Holiday Memories and Family Roots

• Favorite Gifts and Christmas Stories:
  • Paul: Reminisced about receiving Barry Manilow’s Greatest Hits as a formative childhood gift, and more recent experiences seeing Barry live.
    [09:09] Paul: “Getting Barry Minnows greatest hits as a young man really was… I was pretty happy about it.”
  • Richard: His father, an electrical engineer, gave him his first soldering iron; led to a teenage job repairing, assembling, and sometimes accidentally exploding tech.
    [11:57] Richard: “My father…getting me my first soldering iron. Because I'm that kind of geek, man.”
• Parents’ Influence:
  • Paul’s dad: Boston police officer turned lighting industry worker.
  • Richard’s dad: Built S100 bus cash registers, steering Richard early toward tech.

3. Early Tech History and Hardware Nostalgia

• Tales of retro compute gear: Radio Shack, Tandy, Amiga, North Star Advantage, Z80 processors, and more dominate the conversation.
  • [12:51] Richard: “My after school job…working at HS Microsystems… doing RAM expansions… repairs on drives and things.”
  • [52:32] Richard: “You got an expansion board for it so you could run a PC DOS on it.”
• Building, Breaking, and Salvaging:
  • Memories of blowing up capacitors, salvaging spectrum analyzers, and tinkering for hours. [15:27] Richard: “So, I'm yanking parts out, I pull out these can capacitors…and then there's this gigantic blue flash…whole building power goes up.”

4. Tech Media and Community Evolution

• Recollections of first computer trade shows—Comdex, CES, and the memorabilia-heavy era:
  [58:53] Leo: “My first Comdex was around 91 or 92 in Vegas...they give you bags and they just load you up with material.”
• Stories from the era of massive, low-cost Las Vegas conference hotels, and the general evolution (and disappearance) of early tech companies.
• Old School Microsoft Memories:
  • Appreciation for early Microsoft products, like Professional BASIC and Windows for Workgroups. [44:47] Paul: “NT4 especially was a big leap for me.” [46:04] Richard: “I think the first Microsoft product that made me money was their Professional BASIC.”

5. Personal Journeys and Global Living

• Paul’s Life Split Between the US and Mexico City:
  • The journey to dual residency and buying a home in Mexico.
    [26:00] Paul: “We did just a week trip in June that year... the very first trip on the last day…there was an apartment for sale.”
  • Created the “Eternal Spring” project and book about the experience.
• Richard’s Multinational Family Odyssey:
  • Complex family migration stories: Scottish heritage, rubber plantations in Malaysia, WWII evacuations to New Zealand, and a return to British Columbia.
    [33:59] Richard: “That's the normal one. The weird one is my maternal grandmother was the young eldest of six kids that grew up on a Malaysian rubber plantation...”
• Both express gratitude for their parents’ influence on their technical curiosity and global mindsets.

6. Microsoft Leadership, Company Culture, and Industry Reflections

• Favorite and Least Favorite Microsoft Execs:
  • Debating who inspired and who disappointed among Microsoft leaders (Ballmer, Panos Panay, others). [69:11] Paul: “There were just people like…Julie [Larson-Green] …unqualified to be where they were.” [67:21] Richard: “He [Ballmer] would down a pint of honey before he'd go on stage.”
• Satya Nadella’s Legacy:
  • Strong praise for Satya’s successes but speculation on the challenges ahead, especially with AI. [73:03] Richard: “See, Satya jumping so hard on the AI thing like this is the first thing he gets to hang his name on.”
• Industry Cycles:
  • Drawing parallels between the AI boom/bubble and prior tech cycles (dot-com, crypto, etc.).
    [83:00] Paul: “This is dot com bubble stuff…everything that occurred there is. We're still using it…”

7. The Future: Tech, Windows, and Economic Outlook

• Pondering what’s next for Windows and Microsoft, expressing cautious optimism for 2026, and discussing the economic headwinds of AI and the market. [87:33] Leo: “Your hopes for 2026, which starts tomorrow…” [88:13] Richard: “I like the realignment of the leadership and some of the new people are coming into play.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Drinking and Holiday Cheer:
  [05:09] Paul: “Let the evening be gin.” [08:18] Richard: “As my old grandfather Kelsey’s probably a good call then, because the Irish don't mess around. Lunchtime is whiskey time.”

• On Tech Nostalgia:
  [46:15] Leo: “It was a real programming language.”
  [54:43] Leo: “I wanted a C compiler for it. There was no way you could run it. I got White Star C…”

• On Family Tech Influence:
  [14:51] Leo: “Well, that your dad, I guess, kind of gave you your love for technology, you think?”

• On Executive Meetings:
  [64:16] Paul: “[Panos Panay] locked the door behind me, and he's like, 'I need you to tell me exactly who leaked you the information about whatever the Surface 2 stuff.' And I'm like, I'm not doing that... it was like a mob meeting.”

• On The Future of Tech and AI:
  [87:50] Paul: “I hope the lesson learned here in Microsoft's part was opt in is important and always give people an escape hatch for those that don't want it.” [88:13] Richard: “Some of the new people are coming into play. That speaks well to a younger generation wanting to take the company places it hasn't been before.”

• On Industry Consolidation:
  [51:58] Paul: "This is the inevitable consolidation that happens in any industry. Right. And this is what we're going to see with all the AI nonsense that is happening now. We have 3,000 companies doing AI things and eventually it's just going to be three again."

• On Market Crashes and Optimism:
  [85:14] Richard: “A little five year gap.”
  [87:02] Leo: “I don't believe in market timing…I'm a. I am betting on the long term success of the country in our economy.”

• Episode’s Spirit:
  [80:03] Paul: “You're all winners in my eyes, guys. Well, except for you, Kev Brewer. You're kind of a. No kidding. No, I love Kevin.”

Important Timestamps for Segments

• [00:36] – Episode introduction and format change: no news, storytelling, holiday cheer.
• [08:57] – First round of holiday memory sharing.
• [11:57] – Richard on his formative soldering experiences.
• [15:27] – The infamous capacitor explosion story.
• [26:00] – Paul recounts moving and buying property in Mexico City.
• [33:59] – Richard's deep-dive into family migratory history.
• [52:13] – Discussion on industry consolidation and early tech company graveyards.
• [64:16] – Paul tells the story of being confronted by Panos Panay.
• [73:03] – Discussion of Satya Nadella and the Microsoft CEO legacy.
• [87:33] – Hosts’ hopes and predictions for 2026 and beyond.

Tone and Style

The episode is nostalgic, relaxed, and gently irreverent. Gentle teasing, sentimental recollections, and understated wisdom combine for an entertaining listen, blending the old with contemplations of tech’s future. The panel’s camaraderie is evident, making for a warm and festive end-of-year episode.

Closing Thoughts

This New Year’s Eve special offers a treat for Windows Weekly listeners: a look behind the curtain at the long careers, family journeys, and shared quirks of its hosts. The episode stands as a tapestry of personal anecdotes, tech history, industry analysis, and laughter—proof that the people behind the tech are just as interesting as the systems they cover.