WW 999: Physical Goods - Acer SFF RTX Spark Desktop Design Showcased at IFA 2026

While Microsoft pushes Copilot+ PCs, NVIDIA storms into the Windows ecosystem with AI-focused Spark machines and game-changing specs, igniting new rivalries with Apple and upending expectations for what local hardware can do. Plus, Atari revives 39 Activision classics for a price that will make retro fans blink, while the Sonos saga continues as it pivots to an open AI platform that might finally win back old loyalties. Finally, Paul's Markdown book will be released sometime in the next week.

Windows

The mystery of 26H2 is now less mysterious

Last week: Week D came and went without a preview release, triggering speculation

Microsoft issues Windows 11 version 26H2 to Release Preview, a first

This means a September or October release to stable. Just guessing, but Preview Update in September, general Update in October is most likely

Version numbers don't matter much anymore. There are no unique 26H2 features, just a few unique 26H2 presets - These include Point-in-time restore and Memory Integrity Protection being on by default

Two 26H1 pre-release builds with little to speak of

IFA 2026 is underway in Berlin

Acer is first out of the gates with dozens of new PCs, including one based on the NVIDIA RTX Spark

EU General Court confirms that Microsoft Edge is not a gatekeeper

Visual Studio Code now has a full Markdown Editor experience