Almost A Thousand Windows Weekly

Almost 1,000 weeks ago, I started listening to one of my first podcasts. Circa mid-2006, when Apple’s iPod was rocketing in popularity, I was 100% a Microsoft dude. So when news that Windows XP would be followed by an ambitious new OS — dubbed Longhorn — this tech geek was eager to learn more. Enter: Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott.

A podcast without an iPod

I did not own an iPod back then. I also never owned a Zune. So what did I listen to my podcasts on? Dude, it was a Dell — the Axim X3 PDA. My PocketPC was cool! It had a mobile pocket version of Windows Media Player. I synced audio files to the device over a physical cable from my PC. My version of the Axim didn’t even have wifi or other wireless tech. Imagine today, a not-always-connected device. Crazy talk.

Dude. A Dell Axim X3 PDA came with a stylus.

I don’t recall how I discovered Windows Weekly, hosted by Leo Laporte. But I do remember the original intro music. Whenever a new episode landed, I’d enjoy talk about potential new features and benefits said to be coming in Windows Longhorn (which eventually boiled down to a delayed and lackluster Windows Vista).

Those times were exciting. I was a young whippersnapper (I’m now middle-aged, not old) and had started my career with a bright future ahead. The tech world was beginning to boom. Web 2.0 and Apple’s iPod were forerunners of the mobile always-connected devices we now take for granted (and want to minimize at times).

Gradually, Apple won me over in tech as the iPhone and its ilk dominated the culture. Sometimes I’d embrace the Android side of things. For a very brief moment, I owned a Nokia Lumia 520 Windows Phone as a side-gadget to try out. But Apple’s influence led me to eventually be a Mac guy.

Yet as a type this post on my M1 MacBook Air, I’ll likely switch to a Windows PC next year. I even built a custom gaming rig on a NewEgg wishlist last night, something I haven’t done since 2011.

Why Windows

The first reason is I’m able to switch. I’m free, no longer entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. I traded in my old Apple Watch SE after falling out from it. I swapped out my AirPods 2 for more affordable and better-featured JBL buds. My daily driver is the awesome Moto Razr 2024 Android phone. And my main apps now are mostly by Google instead of Apple.

The second reason is I’m able to PC game. Yes, there are a few games on the Mac via Steam. But on PC, there are, like, all the games. Steam on PC is very cool. And this past week, I bought and installed Tiny Glade on my family’s Asus Tuf gaming laptop. On that machine, I also have all my Google web apps working smoothly.

The third reason is Windows 11 is capable. When it debuted in 2021, I was surprised by its refinement, though it lacked some features. Since then, it’s grown and improved.

Don’t get me wrong: Windows is still Windows after all these years (going back to the 90s with Win 3.1 for me). The OS retains its characteristic reliability challenges. On the flip side of that coin, it is still Windows after all these years — it somehow has kept close to its roots and is thus familiar. (Note: I’ve continuously used only Windows in my professional career.)

With that, next year might see the release of the next version, Windows 12. It will likely still be the Windows known and loved accepted/tolerated (not a drastic shift as was Windows 8, which should have been named Tiles).

Windows Annually

Today, as I was listening to Paul Thurrott on Windows Weekly (now at episode 910), it struck me again how crazy it seems that I’ve been enjoying the same podcast (off and on) for eighteen years. It’s hard to process that fact. Hearing Paul discuss Windows 11 and related tech news still satisfies my geeky brain after nearly two decades with six versions of Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11).

By the way, the WinSuperSite, now Thurrott.com, and Paul’s coverage of Microsoft has been great in my estimation. While the podcast is only 18 years old, Paul’s work is at least 20. Here’s a good summation:

Paul Thurrott is an award-winning technology journalist and blogger with over 20 years of industry experience and the author of over 25 books. Paul writes for Thurrott.com and devotes much of his coverage to the consumer-side of Microsoft's offerings.

Will Thurrott still be reporting on Microsoft twenty years from now? Will I still be geeking out likewise? It’s hard to imagine, honestly. But here I am now, eighteen years since first finding Windows Weekly. If you had asked me back then if I’d still be listening nigh on two decades later, I’d probably have doubted it. So who knows? My consumer tech enthusiasm is still going like the Energizer bunny.

As much as I’ve liked Apple’s excellent hardware and software, it’s noteworthy that I’ve benefited most from Windows for over 30 years — starting with my education in high school and then my career in the workforce. And for at least 18 of those years along the way, I’m glad to have enjoyed Windows Weekly.