From new Surface devices and fresh Windows 11 features to a leaked Xbox handheld and another legal blow to Palworld, here's everything that made Microsoft headlines this week.
New Surface Pro and Surface Laptop
Microsoft unveiled the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch this week. Both PCs feature more compact designs than their Surface siblings, but they're more than smaller computers.
The Surface Pro 12-inch is a fanless 2-in-1 PC that is in many ways the spiritual successor to the Surface Pro X. From the front, you'll see a 90Hz display, but if you look from the side, you'll see a device that's only 7.8mm thick.
Both the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch run on Snapdragon X Plus processors. In his Surface Pro 12-inch early impressions piece, our Editor-in-Chief was impressed by that chip.
We'll have to wait to see how the Surface Pro 12-inch stands up to long-term testing and how the performance of the Surface Laptop 13-inch differs since that PC does have fans.
While the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch look like promising devices, Microsoft's announcement coincided with some frustrating news. The tech giant stopped selling the $999 versions of the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7.
The move was likely made to make the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch more appealing, but I found it disappointing.
New Windows 11 features
Alongside the new Surface devices, Microsoft also announced a "new generation of Windows experiences." Copilot+ PCs have a bunch of new features on the way, as do all Windows 11 devices, regardless of if they're Copilot+ PCs.
If you have a Copilot+ PC, you'll soon have an AI agent in Windows 11 to help you find settings on your PC. More actions are on the way to Click To Do as well.
A new Ask Copilot action will be able to act on an image from your screen and draft content in Microsoft Word.
Microsoft's Photos app, Paint, and Snipping Tool are getting some love as well. The Photos app will gain a relight feature and Paint will add support for object select.
An update to Snipping Tool will allow the app to adjust a capture automatically to fit tightly around content.
File Explorer will also gain some AI actions in the future. Microsoft will also enhance Notepad with AI in the form of creating text from a prompt.
Notepad will also gain some formatting features, which is a nice bonus for those who don't value AI or want a minimal Notepad experience.
I broke down all the new Windows experiences and Copilot+ PC features earlier this week. That piece includes a large chart of all the upcoming features and planned rollout dates for each addition.
Xbox handheld leak
More details emerged about the gaming handheld known as Project Kennan. That device is the result of a partnership between ASUS and the Xbox team.
Within a US FCC filing are images that show what appears to be Project Kennan. The filing actually includes images of two devices, but one is likely the ASUS ROG Ally 2.
The black model, which is shown above, includes a dedicated Xbox button and an Xbox-style button layout.
The new gaming handheld from ASUS is expected to run Windows 11, though there could be some gaming-specific features in store.
There's a chance we'll learn more about the device at Computex on May 20, 2025.
Palworld
The makers of Palworld had to make "yet another compromise" due to the company's legal battle with Nintendo. A patch to the game will remove the ability to glide on pals within Palworld.
Palworld already lost the animations for catching and summoning Pals, so losing features is nothing new to Palworld players.
Nintendo is infamous for its aggressive legal tactics, so I doubt this is the last change we'll see in Palworld. But hey, at least flying isn't affected.
Xbox backward compatibility
A job listing by Microsoft suggests that the Xbox backward compatibility program could return. That program launched in 2015 and ran until 2021.
Xbox backward compatibility is considered a massive win for the gaming community. In addition to older titles becoming playable on new hardware, many of those games got a boost with tech such as FPS boost and upscaling.
Now, there's a chance we could see the return of the popular program. The listing on Microsoft's website states:
"Come help build the next evolution in Xbox Game Compatibility. Join the Xbox Platform team to leverage your system and security engineer experience to secure the future of Game Preservation. Your work will help identify and outline the specific requirements and security boundaries for protecting game content, build scalable emulation solutions, and ensure a safe and fun gameplay experience for all players. Our technology solutions are a critical part of enabling the Xbox goal of allowing players to experience their games on any device."
We haven't heard much about the Game Preservation program from Microsoft since it was announced last year, so this week's news was exciting.
Windows Central Podcast
Each week our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino and Senior Editor Zac Bowden discuss the biggest Windows, Microsoft, Xbox, and tech stories. The most recent episode of the Windows Central Podcast focused largely on the new Surface devices, but they also chat about new ads from Qualcomm, new Windows 11 features, and more.
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Reviews & Editorials
- CalDigit Element 5 Hub ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- ASUS ROG Delta II ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- GameSir Super Nova review ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
- HP ZBook Ultra 14 (G1a) ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
- DOOM: The Dark Ages ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Surface Pro 12-inch: First impressions and hands-on review
- ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (G835L) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
