Microsoft News Roundup: EU forces Windows 11 fix, Microsoft forces Bing on Chrome, and Surface Duo runs Windows 11
The theme of the week is technology that extends across platforms.
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What a wild week it’s been for Microsoft and Windows news. Seemingly by coincidence, the biggest news stories of the week have a theme, crossing platforms. Sea of Thieves became was the most pre-ordered game on PlayStation, developers managed to get the Surface Duo to run Windows 11, and new EU law forced Microsoft to let people use non-Microsoft services on Windows. Toss in Windows 11 shoving an ad for Bing into Chrome, and you have a packed week of news. Oh, and did I mention the free version of Copilot got an upgrade as well?
EU helps fix Windows 11
Windows 11 just got a bit better, and you have the European Union (EU) to thank for it. The EU’s new DMA regulations are designed to foster competition among companies, and Windows is one of the big players affected by the legislation. While some Microsoft products are exempt from the DMA regulation, the tech giant had tomake several changes to Windows 11 to comply with the law.
Most notably, users in the European Economic Area canuninstall Microsoft Edge, disable Bing in Windows Search, and turn off the Microsoft News feed and ads in the Widgets Board on Windows 11. Why won’t Microsoft just allow anyone to have the option to do so? I’ll leave the to you to guess.
The changes made their way to PCs throughthe latest Windows 11 feature drop. That update also has some new features for Copilot and some other changes.
Sea of Thieves PS5 preorders
Some were unhappy when Microsoft announced that a handful of itsXbox console exclusives would ship to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. It appears PlayStation owners aren’t among those complaining. Sea of Thieves, which is among the first four Xbox console exclusives to make their way to other consoles, reached thetop spot on the PlayStation preorder chartin the United States.
Microsoft already has several popular titles on PlayStation, including Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, and many Bethesda titles and Activision Blizzard games. But Sea of Thieves is a different beast, considering it was once Xbox console exclusive and is now on PlayStation.
Surface Duo lives on
Microsoft hasessentially abandoned the Surface Duolineup. Technically the Surface Duo 2 is still supported until later this year (the first one reached end of support last year), but Microsoft hasn’t shipped a meaningful update to a Surface Duo in a while. That hasn’t stopped third-party developers from having fun with the device, however.Gustave Monceled the charge to getWindows 11 to run on Surface Duo, and our Senior Editor Zac Bowden showed the technical marvel in a recent video.
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Windows 11 looks surprisingly good on Surface Duo. Given that Surface Duo runs Android out of the box, there are some odd behaviors here and there. There are also some noteworthy limits, such as not being able to send text messages. This is more of a passion project than a way to get a device you can use daily.
TheSurface Duo was originally supposed to run Windows, but Microsoft’s leadership shifted plans late in the development of the device.
While Windows 11 on Surface Duo is a technical marvel, owners of a Surface Duo may be more interested in the work ofThai Nguyen, who made acustom Android 14 ROM for Surface Duo.
Bowden spoke with Monce and Nguyen, both of whom shared insight into the unique challenges of their respective projects.
Copilot gets an upgrade
The free version of Microsoft Copilot is now more accurate and powerful, thanks to an upgrade to GPT-4 Turbo. The tool previously used GPT-4, which has a much earlier cutoff date than GPT-4 Turbo. The older GPT-4 also has a smaller context window (8k vs. 128k). In layman’s terms, GPT-4 Turbo is better in many cases and should result in an improve Copilot experience.
OpenAI explainedthe four main benefits of GPT-4 Turbo over other models:
While newer is often better, sometimes old tech is best. If you prefer the GPT-4 model, it is still available, but using it requires a Copilot Pro license.
Copilot Pro |$20 at Microsoft Store
Copilot Pro builds off the free version and has better performance and priority access during peak times, as well as more image creator boosts that let you create more AI generated images in a single day. Copilot Pro also enables AI features in Office apps, something the free version doesn’t have.
Reviews
Our team takes a close look at the latest games, gadgets, PCs, and accessories each week. Recently, our experts went hands-on with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, sat down and watched episode 6 of the Halo TV series' second season, and used a surprisingly good flight stick from Turtle Beach. Here are all of our recent reviews.
Tech deals of the week
Some excellent laptops and convertibles are on sale at the moment, including the Surface Pro 9, Dell XPS 17, and Lenovo Yoga 9i. We also saw a discount on the Xbox Series X|S Seagate Storage Card (2TB) that’s still going strong.
In addition to the deals below, make sure to check out our collection of the7 best Xbox games under $10.
Surface Pro 9 |was $1,5399.99now $1099.99 at Best Buy
The Surface Pro 9 builds on a decade of 2-in-1s from Microsoft to create the best Surface the company has ever made. This deal saves you $440 and includes a Surface Pro Keyboard, which is a must-have accessory.
Dell XPS 17 |was $2,399now $1,699 at Dell
Despite having a 17-inch display, the Dell XPS 17 is as compact as possible thanks to its thin bezels. This particular model has a 13th Gen Intel Core i7, an NVIDIA RTX 4060, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. Those are some of the most modest specs available, but it’s also the most affordable XPS 17.
Xbox Series X|S Seagate Storage Card (2TB)|was $359.99now $249.99 at Amazon
This expansion card has the same peak speeds as the internal storage of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. You just plug it into the port on the back of your console to expand your storage.
Dell XPS 15 |was $2,709now $1,899 at Dell
This Dell XPS 15 is $510 off for Dell TechFest. This model pairs a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics. The newer XPS 16 has a different design than the XPS 15, so if you prefer the “classic” look, this is the XPS 15 to get.
Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 |was $1,399.99now $1,099.99 at Best Buy
The flexible laptop features a 2.8K OLED display, an Intel Core i7, and comes in a lovely oatmeal color. The Yoga 9i has sat atop our list of the best Windows laptops for ages, and now is a great time to pick up the Yoga 9i Gen 8, thanks to a sizeable discount.
Price check:$1,099.99 at Lenovo
Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.
