Windows Weekly 962: Peak Bloat – The Last Patch Tuesday of 2025

Release Date: December 10, 2025
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell
Special Context: Recorded from a Microsoft office in Malvern, PA, with a holiday celebration and upcoming .NET Rocks event.

Episode Theme & Overview

This episode, titled “Peak Bloat,” navigates a crucial juncture for Microsoft and Windows users: the last Patch Tuesday of 2025. The hosts analyze Microsoft's end-of-year updates, highlight the mixed progress and growing pains of Windows 11, and undertake a spirited assessment of artificial intelligence—both as an enterprise tool and a societal disruptor. The conversation is rich with skepticism and optimism for AI's role in daily life, weaving in current news, personal stories, and memorable rants on what technology is getting right (and wrong) in its march forward.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Patch Tuesday: The Final Update Cycle of 2025

• What’s New in Windows 11 Updates (05:05–13:19)

  • Significant File Explorer dark mode improvements—now extends to file copy and properties dialogs.
  • Streamlined context menus: More submenus, including for OneDrive, Photos, and AI actions.
  • Updates for Copilot+ PCs:
    • Enhanced AI agent integration, Windows Studio Effects, and upgraded semantic/local search.
    • "Every one of [the Copilot+ updates] is using a local AI model and/or the NPU." — Richard Campbell (07:57)
  • General improvements for all users: Widgets board UI overhaul, tweaks to Taskbar and Windows Share.
  • New “Advanced” Settings pane centralizes developer and power-user options, including ‘sudo’ compatibility.

• Insider Previews & Upcoming Features (11:23–13:19)

  • First public preview of MCP (Model Context Protocol), enhancing AI-app interactivity and standardization.
  • Unified Update Orchestration Platform: More apps will update via Windows Update instead of only via Store.
  • MIDI Services with MIDI 2.0, targeting audio professionals.

2. Microsoft 365 & Copilot: Price, Value, and Confusion (13:21–17:24)

• Ongoing price hikes scheduled for July 2026 across most Microsoft 365 commercial SKUs.
• Only primary account holders get full Copilot AI features in Family plans—a notable frustration.
• "The company has been posting record profits every quarter for two straight years… They need to raise prices." — Paul Thurrott (14:25)
• “Retail” price discussion is misleading; most enterprises get volume discounts.
• Copilot add-on price ($30/user/month) remains, though real-world pricing “is all over the map.”

3. AI in Microsoft & the Broader Tech Ecosystem (22:27–41:08)

Where AI Is Actually Useful: Separating Hype from Value

• Semantic Apps & the 'Semantic Web' (24:11–26:41)

  • The next evolution: programmatic interfaces for apps and websites, so AI agents can perform actions directly (e.g., right-click image → “rewrite with Word” or “blur background with Photos”).
  • "If there is a Semantic Web, I think we could argue there will be semantic apps as well and we see the beginnings of that in Windows." — Richard Campbell (25:00)

• Real-World Use Cases (26:41–39:40)

  • Summarization (meetings, documents, articles)
  • Q&A (direct answers, contextual search)
  • Visual search: “What is this object?” via phone or desktop
  • Accessibility: Live translation and captioning is now “babelfish in real life.”
  • Productivity Automation ("if this, then that" tasks powered by natural language)
  • Writing and coding help—the AI “programming partner”

• Pragmatic Skepticism

  • “The notion that agents are going to go do things on your behalf is mostly science fiction today... But I just listed, I don't know how many that was—10 or more? That stuff's all real.” — Richard Campbell (39:40)

• Memorable Banter: AI as Friend or Foe

  • Discussion on whether it’s OK to curse at Alexa or Siri (32:18–32:54)
  • “It's in my nature [to curse at AI].” — Paul Thurrott (32:59)

4. AI Safety, Security, and the Legal Quagmire (56:01–92:48)

• Industry Collaboration and Risks

  • Microsoft joins Anthropic, Amazon, and others in founding the Agentic AI Foundation for AI agent standards.
  • Gartner warns that “AI browsers” pose unknown cybersecurity risks; advises blocking them until there’s better understanding (61:10–64:45).

• Copyright, Fair Use, and Lawsuits (64:45–92:48)

  • NYT and OpenAI: High-stakes lawsuits over content used for AI training.
  • Perplexity caught summarizing and mixing content—creators see their words “stolen” verbatim.
  • Class-action settlements (e.g., Anthropic) offer modest per-book damages—authors torn between accepting payment and supporting open AI research.
  • Spirited, philosophical debate:
    • “I feel guilty because I am, I'm a supporter of AI. I think AI needs to have as much genuinely good content as possible… But at the same time, Anthropic is…” — Leo Laporte (74:12)
    • “Why would I not get some of it? They did steal my content.” — Paul Thurrott (78:47)
    • “You’re using the fruit of the forbidden tree. You shouldn’t use AI.” — Leo Laporte (75:50)

5. Xbox, Gaming, and ‘Peak Bloat’ (97:04–109:12)

• Xbox's Weak Holiday Showing
  • No Black Friday discounts for Xbox consoles; PlayStation and Switch dominate sales.
• Call of Duty’s Storage Obesity
  • Full install can approach 500GB+ for Black Ops/Modern Warfare titles.
  • “If you think Windows is a nightmare to update and maintain… Call of Duty makes this thing look like a Commodore 64 title from 1981. It's the biggest, bloatiest piece of junk.” — Richard Campbell (101:31)
• Gaming on Windows on ARM
  • Fortnite runs smoothly on Snapdragon PCs (despite emulation confusion).
• Netflix as Game Publisher
  • Red Dead Redemption remaster playable on mobile free via Netflix subscription (108:09).
  • Netflix’s potential Warner Discovery acquisition—debates on impact on theaters, movies, competition.

6. Back of the Book: Tips & Tastings

Windows Tip: De-bloating Windows 11 (121:10–128:25)

• Tools for a clean, ‘de-insurrectified’ Windows experience:
  • Win11 DeBloat (GitHub) — PowerShell tool for uninstalling bloatware and disabling nags.
  • Rufus — For clean OS installs minus forced Microsoft account or hardware nags.
  • MsEdge Direct — Redirects forced Edge links to your preferred browser.
  • ExplorerPatcher — Roll back File Explorer to faster, classic UIs.

Runas Radio of the Week: Disaster Management (128:28–131:38)

• Incident response during the CrowdStrike event: Even companies not directly affected can be disrupted by the dependencies in their tech stack. Fascinating behind-the-scenes exploration.

Whiskey Corner: Pennsylvania Rye (132:31–160:19)

• Deep dive into Pennsylvania’s rye whiskey tradition with a tasting of Old Farm Pennsylvania Straight Rye.
• Rich, lively history lesson: Rye as colonial staple, roots in the Whiskey Rebellion, legacy of the Overholt family.
• “Nobody at this point is really making a true Pennsylvania rye… but the ingredients are all there.” — Paul Thurrott (157:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Growing OS Complexity:
  “If you think Windows is a nightmare to update and maintain… Call of Duty makes this thing look like a Commodore 64 title from 1981. It's the biggest, bloatiest piece of junk.”
  — Richard Campbell (101:31)

• On AI as Everyday Utility:
  “You can take a photo of anything and your phone will tell you what's in the picture… You've forgotten it was impossible.”
  — Paul Thurrott (40:13)

• On AI Copyright Debate:
  “You're using the fruit of the forbidden tree. You shouldn't use AI if you believe all this stuff is stolen.”
  — Leo Laporte (75:50)

• On Market Hype and AI's Staying Power:
  “Any of us who have been around for any amount of time have seen this pattern before… The downturns are useful for focusing on what's actually valuable.”
  — Paul Thurrott (48:13)

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |---------------------------------------------------|-----------------| | Patch Tuesday + Windows Insider Updates | 03:49–13:19 | | Microsoft 365 & Copilot Pricing | 13:19–17:24 | | AI: Use Cases, Skepticism, and Banter | 22:27–41:08 | | AI Safety, Legal, Copyright & Moral Debates | 56:01–92:48 | | Xbox/Black Friday, Peak Bloat, Netflix Games | 97:04–116:19 | | Windows Tip: De-Bloat & Optimize Win11 | 121:10–128:25 | | Runas Radio: Incident Management (CrowdStrike) | 128:28–131:38 | | Whiskey: Pennsylvania Rye | 132:31–160:19 |

Tone and Takeaways

The tone is quintessentially Windows Weekly: clever, irreverent, thoughtful, and at times, righteously indignant. There’s open skepticism about AI “agents” and Microsoft pricing, balanced by real enthusiasm for the genuine advances in accessibility and productivity. The copyright debate is intense but principled, illustrating the dilemmas creators and techies now face. Whether you care about operating systems, digital rights, or the future of gaming and movie distribution, this wide-ranging episode is packed with insight, laugh-out-loud commentary, and practical wisdom.

For more:

• Paul Thurrott’s field guides: leanpub.com
• Richard Campbell’s podcasts: RunAsRadio.com, DotNetRocks.com

Next Episode:
Back to regular schedule, with a special pre-recorded show for New Year’s.