This Week in IT
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- This Week in IT
Join Russell Smith, Editorial Director of Petri.com, to take a look at the most important news for IT pros in the past week. This Week in IT is a podcast for IT Pros that covers all the latest developments on Windows, Microsoft 365, and Azure. The show is enterprise focused for IT Pros who are looking to make the most of Microsoft solutions and products.
Latest Episode: Microsoft’s MXC Explained: Secure AI Agents on Windows
This Week in IT Episodes
Microsoft’s MXC Explained: Secure AI Agents on Windows
Microsoft is bringing Execution Containers to Windows, giving AI agents a more secure way to run locally with tighter controls over files, apps, network access, and user interaction. In this video, I explain why that matters for IT pros, how it could give Windows an edge over macOS for AI agent workloads, and what it...
Microsoft Build: SCOUT AI Agents Running 24/7 on Every Windows PC
This week, Microsoft launched an always-on personal agent called Scout that acts under its own Entra identity at Build. They announced sandboxed execution containers that turn Windows into a proper agent runtime. And ASUS unveiled a mini PC purpose-built to run AI agents locally on your desk. Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode. Episode...
Mac Mini Is Now Shadow IT Infrastructure — And IT Isn’t Ready
This Week in IT, the Mac Mini quietly became the default home for always-on AI agents — and your users are probably already running them outside your security boundary. Meanwhile, VMware just dropped an ARM hypervisor. And if you needed a reason to treat AI agents like real identities, a coding agent just wiped an...
Browsers Are Downloading AI Without Permission — Here’s What IT Admins Need to Do
This Week in IT, Google Chrome is silently downloading a 4 gigabyte AI model onto devices right now and unless you’ve deployed one specific policy, there’s nothing stopping it. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s fix for a sluggish Windows 11 is to spike your CPU to the max when clicking, and they just started the deprecation clock on...
Microsoft Wants You to Trust Edge but Then Leaves Passwords in Cleartext
This Week in IT, Microsoft Edge is exposing passwords by design, shadow AI agents are lurking on your endpoints, and Azure is quietly pulling the plug on VMs you’re probably still running. Episode overview 1. Microsoft Edge Stores All Saved Passwords in Plaintext RAM — “By Design” A Norwegian security researcher discovered that Microsoft Edge...
Windows 11 Can Now Undo Everything — Including Your Security Patches
Microsoft is previewing a full system rollback for Windows 11 — OS, apps, files, everything — snapped back to where it was 72 hours ago. It’s basically a time machine for your PC. But here’s the thing: it can also roll back your security patches. Meanwhile, a single configuration change knocked Outlook off every iPhone...
Taskbar AI Agents Are Going Mainstream in Windows 11
Microsoft just confirmed that AI agents — including third-party ones — are coming to the Windows 11 taskbar. The controls to manage them exist the default hands control to the user. Plus, there’s a new way to do a Hybrid Entra Join without waiting for Entra Connect to sync, but it needs Windows Server 2025...
Microsoft Finally Gives Entra ID a Backup Button — But There’s a Catch
Microsoft just Entra ID something it’s never had before: a native backup button. And not just any backup. One that’s tamper-proof, meaning not even a Global Admin can delete it. But there’s a catch. Also in Entra, cross-tenant security group sync is going GA this month, finally letting you manage groups centrally across multiple tenants....
‘Evil’ Tokens Explained, Purview DLP Locks Down Copilot, and Autonomous AI Agents Are Coming to Microsoft 365
This Week in IT, hackers have a new trick that uses an Oauth 2.0 login process to slip into accounts, no password needed. Meanwhile, Microsoft is locking down its Copilot AI with fresh controls to keep your company’s data under wraps. And just when you’re getting comfortable with Copilot, Microsoft’s already onto the next frontier:...
Unreliable and Unpatched: Enterprise PCs Are Losing Trust
This Week in IT, Omnissa says enterprise PCs are “unreliable, unpatched, and unloved” with Windows machines crashing 3-times more and updating far slower than Macs. At the same time, Washington is ripping foreign-made routers off the market over spying fears, effectively banning new Wi-Fi equipment from abroad to safeguard networks. And just as hackers weaponize...
Microsoft’s Windows 11 Quality Pledge—What’s Changing?
Microsoft just officially announced a significant Windows 11 quality manifesto, including taskbar upgrades, smarter Copilot integration, and a promise to fix the update chaos. At the same time, a hacking group hijacked Microsoft Intune and wiped tens of thousands of a company’s devices overnight. Craig Birch, Principal Technologist at Cayosoft joins me to discuss the...
Copilot’s Outlook Automation and the $99 AI Plan
What if your Outlook inbox could clean itself up while you focus on bigger projects? Microsoft’s new AI can not only write your emails, it might even reschedule your meetings and finish your slide decks for you. There’s good news for IT admins: recovering from user mistakes just got easier. Microsoft 365 Backup is getting...