ThurrottTech

Yep, all the time. We joke that Microsoft, in particular, uses a roulette wheel to determine who it prebriefs for each announcement. Sometimes we both get it, sometimes just one of us. Sometimes neither, which is always irritating. --Paul

Smartest thing Microsoft has done recently.

Yes, some will argue that this is not good for the ‘open web’, being driven primarily by one rendering engine, but its a fight that Microsoft decided is not worth taking on and I agree with their decision. The new version of Edge is quite good and I have yet to switch back to Chrome since installing a pre-release version of the browser.

Microsoft found itself in a battle against Google, whose nearly entire bottom line is based on what happens in a web browser, with its own internally developed engine. While Microsoft has the cash-follow and technical ability to compete with the Chromium engine, the financial incentives were not there to do so at a level at which Google was dumping cash into expanding its efforts to build out the Chromium rendering engine. - brad

My relationship with Google is complicated. :) I still don't trust them in some ways, but some of their products---like Maps and Photos, especially---are SO good I'd just be punishing myself by avoiding them. Honestly, this is very much like my relationship with Microsoft a couple of decades ago---Microsoft was a terrible, predatory company at one point---so I guess it was like riding a bike. :)

In addition to Maps and Photos, I used Gmail (through G Suite) and Google Calendar daily. I also use Chromecast/Google Cast for music, Google Home/Assistant, and Google's Wifi product, which is excellent. And Google Fi for phone. It's amazing. --Paul

I think Amazon will do something very similar to Google Stadia. Not sure whether they will have a better/worse capability for getting exclusives, that's kind of a gray area for both of them. As a gamer, I'd like to see less of that, but I get that it's a platform advantage. --Paul

Not at first. The original Zune announcement was handled badly and the device was a clear iPod rip-off, and the software was a terrible skin over Windows Media Player. But the software became great over time. And when I saw Zune HD, with its Metro-like UI and apps support, I thought they had done it. I later learned that the Zune hardware team had been disbanded before that device even shipped. It's a shame, though the UI was later adapted by Windows Phone. Which was also a shame. ---Paul