- Hey, everyone, Daniel Rubino here, Windows Central,
and this is your Microsoft and Windows news fix.
(upbeat techno music)
All right, on Sunday, February 24th
at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft is going
to take the stage and unveil something.
We think it's HoloLens 2.
One of the reasons we think that is because Alex Kipman,
who heads up the whole HoloLens project at Microsoft,
is the main presenter.
In fact, he teased a short little video this week
and it shows something.
We're not really sure.
It looks like something to do
with carbon fiber wiring in a new processor.
All this leads us to believe this is probably something
that's powering the new HoloLens 2.
As to what it's actually gonna be, though,
you will have to wait and find out.
Now if you're curious what we know about HoloLens 2 so far,
Zac Bowden, our senior editor, has written
a nice little article detailing all the stuff we know,
so you can go check that out for more information.
Of course, you could just watch the live stream
from Microsoft on February 24th
live at Mobile World Congress to see what's gonna be there.
And yes, I'll be in Barcelona, as well, so expect a hands-on
or at least a field report from me when I get there.
Turning to Xbox, and it's a busy month for games,
so we have Crackdown 3 and Metro Exodus,
which are now available.
Our own Jez Corden has given reviews to both of them,
and Crackdown 3, well, it's a bit of a disappointment,
especially after all those delays.
Having said that, while you don't want to pay the $60
for the full price tag, if you're using Xbox Game Pass,
it's actually a lot of fun to play.
I've been using it on PC since it's play anywhere,
and I actually really liked the graphics on it,
and it's just mindless fun, as Jez noted himself.
Turning to Metro Exodus, well, this is a more serious game,
but if you're using Xbox One X, well,
you're gonna really enjoy those 4K graphics
and just exquisite design.
It's a very well-designed first-person shooter
and it has a very rich story, as well,
so make sure you go check out those reviews to decide
before you plunk down your money.
Turning to Windows 10 in the Windows Insider Program,
well, some craziness has happened this week.
So Fast Ring is still getting 19H1.
If you don't know the naming codes here,
19 is simply the year, so 2019, H1, the first half.
So that's coming out later in the spring this year,
and for those on Skip Ahead, well, you would expect
to get 19H2 for the second half coming in the fall.
Instead, well, you got 20H1,
so that's for 2020 in the spring.
As to why Microsoft is skipping two builds ahead,
well, they weren't too clear on it outside of saying
that there's some new features that are coming
that need a long lead time.
As to what those features could be, well, who knows,
but we actually think it could be CShell,
and Microsoft may be revealing that sooner than later
and want to get ahead of it
so they're keeping some stuff secret.
We'll have to wait and see, though, what it actually is.
Turn to Surface news.
If you like the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2,
or other devices like this Studio 2,
well, good news is it's available in 20 new markets.
Which markets, we don't have any idea, actually.
Microsoft didn't tell us, but there's a good chance now
you can pick up one of these devices in your local store,
so go check that out.
Speaking of, if you want Surface Headphones, well,
that's also launching in eight new markets coming in March,
and those markets include Australia, Austria, Canada,
France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
Now if you're curious about those Surface Headphones,
well, we did a really good review of my opinion of them,
so go check it out and you can decide for yourself.
They seem to be doing all right, though,
but tell me what you guys think.
Finally, Microsoft has announced
its Build developer conference
happening May 6th through the 8th.
That's gonna be in Seattle, Washington just like last year.
Now this does slightly overlap with Google I/O,
which starts on the 7th.
That means Microsoft gets one whole day
to really steal the press before they all flock down
to Google's conference.
As to what Microsoft is going to announce,
we don't really know.
A lot of it will be developer tools and, you know,
that kind of boring stuff, but super important,
but they may actually talk about Windows this year.
Yes, we may actually hear about Windows Core OS,
or Windows Lite, as it's also known by.
Microsoft may even show off some devices
running this operating system,
and that could be really interesting.
We may also learn about why 20H1
is going to that Skip Ahead ring.
We may see some components of CShell, as well, which is why
they didn't want to reveal it to the Insider Program.
Of course, we'll have to just wait and see,
but don't worry, Windows Central will be on the ground
to cover it live as it happens.
All right, so that does it for this episode
of your Windows news fix.
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Thanks for watching, take care, everyone.
Pro, which (laughs), Exodus Metro, Metro Exodus.
Hold on, let me make sure I get that name right.
Yeah, Metro Exodus.
We expect it to be CShell, the Composable Shell layer
that Microsoft may be revealing at Build later in March.
Eh, is it March, no, May.