Microsoft is holding a special event in San Francisco on October 7, and is remaining tight-lipped about what will be discussed. The company has confirmed that Windows, RTX Spark, and Surface are on all the agenda, but is yet to delve into specifics.

This will be the first dedicated Windows & Surface event since the Copilot+ PC launch event in 2024. That event ended up being a total disaster, generating a wave of negative pushback online around features like Recall, tarnishing the category right out of the gate.

Microsoft will be livestreaming its October 7 event, which means the company believes the news it's planning to announce is worthy of public attention. Both myself and Daniel Rubino will be attending the event in-person, giving us an opportunity to go hands-on with all the new features and hardware as they are announced.

So, what can we expect Microsoft to discuss on October 7? Here's what I know.

Surface Laptop Ultra fully revealed

Unsurprisingly, a big focus on October 7 will be on Microsoft's new RTX Spark hardware. The Surface Laptop Ultra was unveiled back in June, and I'm expecting to hear more about the hardware, capabilities, and availability in San Francisco.

A big part of the keynote will be about how Surface Laptop Ultra and RTX Spark are capable of running local 120B parameter models that enable on-device AI experiences and agentic workflows without requiring the cloud. The laptop will be primarily marketed at AI developers and content creators who frequently use apps like Premiere Pro, Blender, and more.

I also understand that Microsoft will demonstrate how the Surface Laptop Ultra maintains maximum performance even when not plugged in, similar to the MacBook Pro. It'll also highlight the PixelSense Ultra display, which sources tell me will be both sharper and brighter than the display on the upcoming MacBook Pro/Ultra with touch.

Surface Laptop Ultra also features a large haptic trackpad that supports Windows 11's built-in haptic engine system that provides subtle feedback when interacting with apps and UI surfaces. I also expect Microsoft to reveal a unique USB-C port that may feature a breakaway design, similar to Surface Connect.

Microsoft will also delve into configurations of the Surface Laptop Ultra that customers will be able to buy. According to my sources, Surface Laptop Ultra will be available in two RTX Spark configurations: an 18-core model with 5,120 GPU cores, and a 20-core model with 6,144 GPU cores for higher-end workflows.

The 18-core model will be available with 24GB or 32GB RAM, and the 20-core model will be available with 32GB, 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB RAM. The entry-level 18-core SKUs will ship with Windows 11 Home, and higher-end configs will come with Windows 11 Pro.

Of course, all eyes will be on pricing. Sources haven't been able to confirm exact pricing just yet, but I understand that Surface Laptop Ultra will not be cheap, likely starting well above $2,000 for the entry-level 18-core model with 24GB RAM.

I also wouldn't be surprised if we hear more about the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, which I suspect will likely start shipping at or around the same time as Surface Laptop Ultra.

Windows K2 recap, and support for agents

In addition to the new RTX Spark hardware, Microsoft has teased that "something new is coming from Windows" at this event. Details around what exactly Microsoft is planning to talk about remain under wraps, but I have a few theories.

Of course, the company will likely spend some time recapping the Windows K2 effort that has been ongoing this year. It'll highlight recent performance, reliability, and feature improvements delivered to the OS, and maybe even discuss how it has tuned the Prism emulation layer to run better on RTX Spark PCs.

I'm also expecting Microsoft to highlight some refreshed user interface and design improvements across the OS. The company has been working to bring WinUI to more areas of Windows, including File Explorer, Start menu, and more, which is expected to improve performance.

Windows is also set to gain new unified memory controls that will allow users to adjust how much memory is reserved for the GPU on RTX Spark. This should help enable more advanced local AI workflows and increased gaming performance when needed.

But the big focus will be on how Windows 11 now supports agents. Microsoft has been working on adding agentic capabilities to the OS over the last year, and I'd be surprised if we don't get a demo showcasing how the platform has been updated to run agentic workflows locally and securely.

At Build 2026, Microsoft unveiled three new in-house language models that are designed to run entirely on-device: Aion Instruct, Aion Plan, and MAI Code Flash. I suspect all three will be highlighted as working great on RTX Spark.

Lastly, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft finally takes the wraps off its new voice-enhanced user experience that it has been teasing is in the works over the last year. On multiple occasions, the company has said it's working to adapt and improve voice input across Windows in the wake of AI.

Pavan Davuluri said in July that Microsoft is working to make "voice more natural and fluid to interact across the apps you use every day." We are yet to see this work in action, and so I expect October 7 will be when the company reveals this.

Microsoft's play for the high-end, MacBook Pro AI developer crowd

According to my sources, this event will focus a lot on appealing to the AI developer crowd, a large chunk of which has flocked to the high-end MacBook Pro or Mac Studio for all their on-device language model needs.

The Mac platform has become the default choice for AI development, and Microsoft and NVIDIA are keen to win back those users. Microsoft will use this event to appeal to that audience, along with content creators who have also chosen the Mac for photo and video editing needs.

Hopefully there will be some surprises in the form of Windows announcements, but I fully expect the majority of the event to focus on how Windows is now ready for RTX Spark and local agents.

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Microsoft's Windows 11 and Surface event is only a couple of days away. At the event, we expect to hear a recap of improvements made to the operating system as part of the Windows K2 initiative. But why simply watch people talk about updates when you can test them out yourself?

Many of the biggest changes to Windows 11 have already shipped through Windows 11 version 26H2. But items that are still in the works are being tested among Windows Insiders. A flurry of five builds shipped recently.

👉Don’t miss Microsoft’s October 7 Windows & Surface keynote — here’s how to tune in and follow the biggest reveals

Many of the changes are rolling out to multiple builds, such as added support for Unicode 17.0. Below, I've outlined all the updates and improvements rolling out to Windows Insiders. Make sure to check the channels noted below to see what's on the way to your PC.

Unicode (Beta, Experimental)

• We've updated Windows text shaping support for Unicode 17.0, helping Windows correctly display and shape newly encoded characters and scripts. Unicode 17.0 added 4,803 characters, including support for four newly encoded scripts: Beria Erfe, Sidetic, Tai Yo, and Tolong Siki.
• These updates help keep Windows text support current as the Unicode Standard evolves and improve support for languages and writing systems used by people around the world.

Settings (Beta, Experimental)

• We're making performance improvements to the Settings home page, which should result in reduced loading times in certain scenarios.

Settings (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• Updated Settings > Apps > Installed apps to show the version number at the top level for packaged apps, as it already does for other apps.

Recovery (Beta, Experimental 

• We're adding a new entry point for Cloud Rebuild under Settings > System > Recovery, making it easier to access the feature from Settings.

Windows Recovery (Beta (26H1))

• We're introducing Cloud rebuild, a new recovery option that restores a Windows 11 PC to a clean, known-good state by performing a full OS reinstall, even when Windows won't boot. Unlike Reset this PC, Cloud rebuild downloads both the target Windows image and the device's drivers from Windows Update, so the device comes back fully functional without USB media, without a custom image, and without depending on the health of the currently installed OS.
• In this preview, you can try Cloud rebuild today:
  • Start it directly from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) by selecting Troubleshoot > Recovery and uninstall > Cloud rebuild.
  • Connect over wired Ethernet or a Wi-Fi network from within WinRE.
  • Review the target Windows build, edition, and language, then confirm the data-loss warning before the rebuild begins.

File Explorer (Experimental)

• Address Bar now supports '~' , making it quicker to navigate directly to your user profile folder and subfolders (e.g., "~\AppData").

File Explorer (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• This update adjusts how the preview pane handles files downloaded from the web. For HTML files, a new Preview anyway button lets you acknowledge the warning and preview the file. Non-HTML files, such as PDFs, are now previewed automatically.
• Fixed an issue causing the previews in File Explorer to have an unexpected bar in the middle in recent flights.

File Explorer (Experimental (26H1))

• Customizations
  • Improved File Explorer to keep folder view customizations, such as sorting and icon size preferences, consistent across different access paths and apps.
• Address bar improvements
  • The address bar now supports paths containing double backslashes and quotation marks, for example, C:\Users\user or "C:\Users\user", improving compatibility with a wider range of inputs.
  • Improved reliability of the address bar suggestion dropdown so it now consistently closes after an item is selected.
• Refinements to the rename experience
  • Fixed an issue where text would be repeatedly selected while renaming items in folder views.
  • Fixed an issue where updated names with case-only changes weren't immediately reflected in folder views across local and cloud storage.

Windows Magnifier (Experimental (26H1), Beta (26H1))

• Magnifier now gives you more control over how you zoom. You can type an exact zoom percentage directly in the Magnifier toolbar to land on precisely the level you need.
• We've also added preset step increments (5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 100%, 150%, 200%, and 400%) to the Settings dropdown, so you can jump to common levels in a single click. Whether you need a subtle boost or a dramatic close-up, Magnifier adapts to how you want to zoom.

Cloud rebuild (Experimental (26H1))

• We're updating Cloud rebuild, the recovery option that restores a Windows 11 PC to a clean, known-good state by performing a full OS reinstall, with two additions.
• Cloud rebuild can now sanitize the device's drives as part of the rebuild. When you start a rebuild in WinRE, choose Remove files if you're keeping the PC, or Remove & sanitize files before recycling, returning, or reassigning it. The sanitize option uses the storage hardware's erase capability to securely erase data before Windows is reinstalled and is irreversible.
• IT administrators can now configure and start a Cloud rebuild remotely through the Recovery CSP, using either the currently installed build or a target build you specify.

Windows Share (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• Added the ability to pin your favorite apps in the Windows share window.

Family Safety (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• Improved family safety messaging when applications are blocked because of age-restricted parental controls.

Taskbar (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• Fixed a few small visual polish issues when using the taskbar in alternate positions.

Audio (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• Fixed an issue affecting certain USB Audio Class 1.0 devices, including some multichannel audio headsets, that could prevent the device from working correctly after installing the latest updates.

Remote Desktop (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• Fixed an issue causing Remote Desktop to not use the correct window size after recent flights.

Other (Experimental (Future Platforms))

• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to experience extreme lag over time after updating to the last two flights.

These changes aren't as substantial as the new features and upgrades in Windows 11 version 26H2, but they help create a smoother computing experience.

My favorite improvements are those rolling out to Windows Magnifier. Fine-tune controls make it much easier to create the best experience for your specific screen. The presets make it easy to jump incrementally, but I prefer entering the magnification manually.

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It looks like Microsoft is wrapping up its Windows and Surface efforts for 2026 to be able to focus on the future. Last week the company announced refreshes to the Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch. This week, Microsoft rolled out Windows 11 version 26H2.

With a bunch of Surface announcements in the rearview mirror and another update to Windows 11 rolling out, Microsoft can point its followers to the future. The description of the Windows and Surface event next week says, "Join us live... for a look at what's next from Windows, Surface, and NVIDIA."

I hope Microsoft has some exciting news in store for its event. Windows and Surface have been far from exciting lately. It is possible to market boring products, of course, but they have to be reliable.

This week Microsoft announced Windows 11 version 26H2 and called it a "predictable and low-disruption update." If Microsoft wants to win back consumers, it needs to either be cutting edge or actually deliver predictable and low-disruption updates. It feels like for the last few years we've gotten neither.

Biggest News of the Week

Microsoft has had to release multiple out-of-band updates in 2026. Some bugs required multiple patches to fix. It's gotten so bad that most of our articles about Windows 11 updates are met with comments asking what will break this time.

Unfortunately, the commenters have been proven right several times. One serious bug made Outlook, OneDrive, Dropbox, and other cloud-backed apps inoperable. Another issue froze Remote Desktop and caused audio failures. At one point users couldn't even install a Windows 11 update, forcing Microsoft to pull that update.

If Microsoft is going to undercut its events and trim down its Surface lineup, it needs to double down on reliability. Next week, we should get some answers about Microsoft's plans.

Windows and Surface event

A boring but bug-free Windows 11 update may be a welcome change of pace, but it makes me curious about what Microsoft will discuss at its Windows and Surface event next week. Considering Windows 11 version 26H2 is already rolling out, the focus is likely the future of Windows.

Does Microsoft have something up its sleeve? Has the tech giant learned a lesson about how to build consumer hype? Or are we due for another on-stage announcement about AI and how new PCs can run models locally?

I'm sure there are developers interested in the potential of the Surface Laptop Ultra and RTX Spark for AI development, but there are hundreds of millions of Windows users who care very little about AI. Microsoft needs to at least throw some scraps our way to keep us interested.

Shopping with Sean

Amazon's October Prime Day is next week, but there are already some great deals live. Competing retailers are trying to beat Amazon to the punch, resulting in big savings.

A trio of laptops are the best deals of the week. I'm partial toward the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x because of its thin design but the Samsung Galaxy Book6 and Dell 14S are also great choices.

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