December 2025's Patch Tuesday brought major shifts, but the real action is in Microsoft's pricing, privacy battles, and the arms race to control AI-enabled browsers. Plus, Paul recommends <a href="https://github.com/ntdevlabs/tiny11builder">Tiny11 Builder</a> for a clean install, or <a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-11/330573/de-enshittifing-windows-11-version-25h2-win11debloat">Win11Debloat </a>for an existing install. Then, <a href="https://rufus.ie/">Rufus</a> to create installation media without the forced Microsoft account (MSA) sign-in or hardware requirement checks. Use <a href="https://github.com/rcmaehl/MSEdgeRedirect">MSEdgeDirect</a> to use the default web browser for stories from Widgets, web-based search results, etc. And <a href="https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-11/330547/what-i-use-explorerpatcher">ExplorerPatcher</a> can fix the performance and reliability issues in File Explorer. 
It's the final Patch Tuesday of 2025<ul> 
<li>Major dark mode updates (with a fix for the "flashbang" problem)</li> 
<li>AI Agent in Settings, Click to Do, Windows Studio Effects, and Search improvements for Copilot+ PCs</li> 
<li>Many other improvements: FSE, Share, Settings, Widgets, more</li></ul> 
More Windows 11<ul> 
<li>New 25H2 preview build on Beta/Dev adds MCP public preview, Quick Machine Recovery auto-enabled, Unified Update Orchestration Platform, Windows MIDI services</li></ul> 
Microsoft 365<ul> 
<li>Microsoft 365 is getting a lot more expensive in mid-2026. You didn't think all those free AI updates were free, did you?</li></ul> 
AI <ul> 
<li>Paul has been talking about "programmatic" apps and services because he wasn't sure of a term for this type of interaction. But there is a term for this: Semantic. As in semantic web. And there you go</li> 
<li>Microsoft one of 1,000 companies partnering on Agentic AI Foundation because you're getting agents whether they work or not</li> 
<li>Gartner says NO to AI web browsers</li> 
<li>The New York Times is suing Perplexity for all the obvious reasons</li> 
<li>After a big win in the legal battle with OpenAI</li> 
<li>Opera for Android gets a big AI update</li> 
<li>Google Workspace Studio brings code-free agent creation to business users - automation is a solid AI use case</li></ul> 
Xbox<ul> 
<li>Xbox Series X|S notably absent during Black Friday sales</li> 
<li>Call of Duty won't repeat the mistakes of the past anymore since it didn't work out twice now</li> 
<li>MS Flight Simulator 2024 is now available on PS5</li> 
<li>Red Dead Redemption comes to mobile for the first time, free with a Netflix account</li></ul> 
Tips & Picks<ul> 
<li>Tip and app(s) of the week: De-enshittify Windows 11</li> 
<li>RunAs Radio this week: Incident Management and the Crowdstrike Event with Liam Westley</li> 
<li>Brown liquor pick of the week: Old Farm Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey</li></ul> 
Hosts: <a href="https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte">Leo Laporte</a>, <a href="https://twit.tv/people/paul-thurrott">Paul Thurrott</a>, and <a href="https://twit.tv/people/richard-campbell">Richard Campbell</a> 
Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at <a href="https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly">https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly</a> 
Check out Paul's blog at <a href="https://www.thurrott.com/" target="_blank">thurrott.com</a> 
The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/carlfranklin.bsky.social" target="_blank">Carl Franklin</a>. 
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