2025 was a meaningful year for the Microsoft Store on Windows, with more than 250 million monthly users discovering a Microsoft Store that feels more personalized, helpful and delightful to use. We welcomed exciting new arrivals to the store, including innovative productivity tools like Raycast, Noteastic and Cephable, fan-favorite games like Fortnite, Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, accessibility apps like DotVista, and standout apps such as RunCat 365 and Adobe Premier Elements 2026. We also expanded in partnership with Tencent the catalog in China with mini apps and games, such as Rednote, Kaipanla and Fire to the Zombies, bringing even more choice to customers around the world. And lastly, we recently announced our 2025 App Awards winners, each exemplifying tremendous value for Windows users. Here are some of the other ways we strengthened the Microsoft Store this year.

Special Events: Helping customers discover more

Customers told us they want an easier way to discover what’s happening inside  their favorite apps – from new shows and seasonal game events to new features they might otherwise miss. This feedback inspired us to introduce Special Events, a new way to surface timely, high value content directly in the Store. We are beginning to roll out Special Events in select markets, offering a dedicated space where users can quickly find in-app experiences, game events and feature drops as they go live¹. By highlighting this content in curated collections and on product pages, we’re making it simpler for customers to stay up to date and get more out of the apps and games they already love.

Themes: Make your PC your own

For customers looking for not just apps that fit their needs, but for their PC to feel more like their  space, just last week we introduced a dedicated Themes department in the Microsoft Store on Windows, making it simpler than ever to discover and apply designs that match your style. Whether you prefer cozy aesthetics, energizing artwork, beautiful landscapes, gaming inspired looks or wallpapers from your favorite shows, the Store now offers a growing collection curated with care and craft. With streamlined browsing and installation experiences, finding a look that feels right for you is faster and more enjoyable. Learn more here: Your PC, your personality: New themes in Store for you.

A more personal Store experience

As the Store continues to grow, it’s become increasingly important that every visit feels tailored, intuitive and relevant. As we shared in June, we refined the way the Store adapts to individual interests, regional trends and timely deals, helping people discover the apps and experiences that matter most to them. Since June, we have expanded the personalized content from just the home page to apps and games pages as well. Whether someone prefers discovering new creative tools, exploring the latest games or browsing productivity essentials, the Store now does a better job of meeting them where they are. Personalized recommendations are controlled by your Store settings.

Installation made easier

Installing apps should feel effortless, whether you're browsing on the web or inside the Store. This year, we made meaningful improvements to reduce friction and help people get to what they need more quickly. On the web in select countries since November, multi-app install lets people choose a set of apps, like a productivity suite, a creative toolkit, or the essentials for social and entertainment, and install them in one click. It’s a streamlined way to set up a new device or refresh a workflow, and it’s rolling out in select markets with global expansion on the way. More details are included here: Introducing multi-app install on Windows - Microsoft Apps. In June, we introduced a new way for users to find, install and launch the app they are looking for through the Windows Search Bar. Lastly, in response to community feedback we introduced expanded inline installs in Store Spotlight in October.

Helping you explore AI

We continue to see incredible energy from the developer ecosystem, with innovative new apps and experiences powered by AI continuously arriving on Windows. To help Store visitors navigate this rapidly evolving space, in February we refreshed the AI Hub, to make it easier to discover high quality AI apps and understand what they can do at a glance². The updated design helps people explore a growing landscape of tools, agents and creativity boosting features. As of June, on product pages, new app badges highlight when apps include AI capabilities or are optimized for Copilot+ PCs, and in the U.S., Copilot can assist with Store browsing. As of November, for Microsoft 365 users, it’s now easier than ever to find Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, which offers options like a personal analyst, researcher, prompt coach, writing coach or idea coach in supported markets³.

Focusing on the fundamentals

Last but certainly not least, we continued to invest in our fundamentals – including:

• Quicker Navigation⁴: The Store app launches faster than before, thanks to performance improvements we made earlier this year. And moving between departments in the Store is now noticeably faster, thanks to new updates rolling out in December.

• Improved Error Handling: Our goal is to ensure you have an error-free experience – but when you do run into issues, we’ve clarified our messaging to help lead to a resolution.  For example, in the past mismatched region settings would block a purchase with an error message. Now, the Store automatically detects the issue and guides you to adjust your region settings, so you can complete your purchase without interruption.

• Uninstallation directly from the Library: This has been a top customer ask in Feedback Hub – now, simply head to the Library, click the three-dot menu for an installed app and click uninstall.

• Better update orchestration: Background updates are now better scheduled for smoother performance and minimal disruption while devices are in use.

• Improved search: Earlier this year, we rearchitected how search works so that it is now more intent-aware, leverages signals like app updates and ratings more diligently for ranking, and addresses language-specific nuances. While these improvements mark progress, we know search is never ‘done.’ We continue to refine and we actively investigate feedback coming through the Feedback Hub to guide the next wave of improvements.

Looking ahead

As we move into 2026, our focus remains steady: Continue improving the fundamentals, build experiences that feel thoughtful and keep listening to what you need from the Store. Your feedback continues to guide our work. Thank you for sharing it and please keep it coming through the Feedback Hub, (WIN + F) under Apps > Microsoft Store. We appreciate all your support in 2025, and we look forward to sharing more with you in 2026! ¹ Special Events launched to select devices in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. ² AI Hub is available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.  ³ AI Agents are available for M365 users in the Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. ⁴ Data based on internal testing and subject to factors such as device, location, Windows and Store app versions.

This is a recording of our AI Book Club discussion of Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick, held Dec 14, 2025. Our discussion touches upon a variety of topics, including the educator's lens, cautious optimism, the jagged frontier, personas, pedagogy, takeaways, and more. This post also provides discussion questions, a transcript, and terms and definitions from the book.

On Wednesday evening, OpenAI launched an App Directory to browse all the tools currently available and opened its SDK for developers to build new interactive experiences that operate within the bot's UI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said last month that "We are planning to build the obvious features that you would expect for a robust platform over time," and opening an app store is certainly a huge step in that direction.

Another change is that OpenAI has renamed the "connectors" that helped users pull data from other services (like Google Drive or Dropbox) into ChatGPT, and is now calling those apps too. As a support page explains, chat connector …

Read the full story at The Verge.

A new issue of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine has landed today! A wild guess led us to the conclusion that you would like this article about an Amstrad PPC 640’s Raspberry Pi makeover the best.

When faced with a broken Amstrad PPC 640, Mikey Damager had two choices: return the machine to its former glory or tear it apart and rebuild it using modern parts. He decided to do the latter, turning what was Amstrad’s first portable IBM PC compatible computer, released in 1987, into a cool-looking cyberdeck powered by Raspberry Pi 4. It produced a machine capable of running an interactive fiction project for Mikey’s master’s degree. 

“I wanted to explore AI and machine learning to see if I could incorporate some of the tools into a creative workflow in a way that felt somewhat critical and not too detached,” he says. “I ended up making something that uses LLMs to explore what it’s like to be existentially brutalised by an evil corporation which has hidden access to pseudo-sentient technology. It’s supposed to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek and satirical.”

Key to success

Mikey had considered repairing the original machine, but doing so would have entailed a huge amount of work. “The screen was completely smashed and the case was pretty dinged-up. A few bits of plastic had also snapped off.”

Deciding an upgrade was preferable, he opened the case and detached the screen and keyboard. “The chassis is basically a plastic suitcase with a screen and a keyboard attached,” Mikey says. “Once inside with a screwdriver, the motherboard practically leapt into my arms. I was left with a big empty box that I could fill up with new gadgets.”

The screen was replaced with an eight-inch 4:3 LCD panel connected to an HDMI driver board. Mikey used screen repair tape to fix this panel to a sheet of 2mm acrylic for protection, and he connected the display to Raspberry Pi 4 before wiring the PPC 640’s original LEDs and switches to the new hardware, allowing the system to be easily powered up.

Replacing the keyboard proved straightforward too. “One of the best things about the PPC is that it has a full-size keyboard, which means that if you just remove the little plastic tangs where the Fn key should be, you can grab pretty much any random full-size mechanical keyboard, de-glove it, and there’s a good chance that it will fit almost perfectly.” 

Black is the new grey

The floppy disk drive was also retained, even though it was disconnected. “I wired the write-protect switch from the floppy drive to an Arduino to turn on a small screen when a disk is inserted, but it doesn’t read any data,” Mikey says.

The biggest challenge was the development of the front end. “I needed what’s running on the screen to look and feel suitably cyberdeck-y,” he explains. “The piece is built around a React app that’s styled to look like an OS. Raspberry Pi is running FullPageOS, so it’s just a kiosk that boots straight into a web page over Wi-Fi, with the back end running either from my laptop or in the cloud.”

It means the Raspberry Pi is just handling the display and user input, ensuring that the cyberdeck does the intended job. As a finishing touch, Mikey sprayed the grey computer black and added colour to some of the keys, but he’d like to go further. “There are a few cosmetic improvements I’d like to make, such as new badges and branding,” he says. “I’m also planning a better power solution, because currently it’s running from power banks that I’ve hidden inside, and I’d like something a bit more elegant.” 

Raspberry Pi Official Magazine #161 out NOW!

You can grab this issue from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, WHSmith, and other newsagents, including the Raspberry Pi Store in Cambridge. It’s also available from our online store, which ships around the world. And you can get a digital version via our app on Android or iOS.

You can also subscribe to the print version of our magazine. Not only do we deliver worldwide, but people who sign up to the six- or twelve-month print subscription get a FREE Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W!

The post Amstrad PPC 640 cyberdeck gets a Raspberry Pi makeover appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

This episode kicks off the Career Growth Accelerator series, focused on the specific hurdles faced by mid-to-senior level engineers, managers, and leaders who are looking to move to the next level. Before diving into specific strategies, I’m addressing the fundamental prerequisite for real growth: getting out of your own way. We often block our own progress because our ego conflates our self-worth with our career position, making it impossible to see the real problems or lessons we need to learn. In this episode, I share a vital mental exercise to help you disconnect your identity from your job title and begin diagnosing your career challenges honestly.

• Understand why protecting your ego is one of the most dangerous ways to control your career, leading you to discount valid reasons for stagnation or failure by focusing only on external factors.
• Discover the fundamental shift needed: disconnecting your self-worth from your career aspirations. Your position is merely a fact and has little bearing on your innate value or capacity to succeed more generally.
• Learn how to use a distancing thought experiment—viewing your situation as if it were an acquaintance’s story—to remove your ego from the diagnostic process and gain necessary clarity and perspective.
• Explore why effective growth advice, whether for promotion or post-mortem analysis, requires focusing almost exclusively on the diagnostic aspect ("What happened and why?") rather than building justifications based on your worthiness or past performance.

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