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This week is National Small Business Week, a chance to celebrate the entrepreneurs and all that your businesses bring to our communities. As a former CEO of two small businesses myself, I know it takes courage and resilience to turn a vision into reality. It also requires powerful and flexible tools and secure technology to run an organization, having the right tools enables you to focus on your customers and growing your business. I am proud that Microsoft and our partners deliver incredible Windows 11 Pro devices, cloud services and experiences purpose-built for small businesses. Since Microsoft’s inception, we have relied on the strength and scale of our partner ecosys…
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The U.S. Congress in 1999 officially designated May as National Military Appreciation Month, and at Microsoft we mark this as a time to recognize and celebrate the employee military community globally. In this moment I remember my own grandfathers. My dad’s father served as an infantryman in World War I. The tri-corner folded flag presented to us at his funeral is encased steps away from my desk at home. My mom’s stepfather served as a paratrooper in World War II. The map he carried with him of the 1943 invasion of Sicily, where he jumped behind enemy lines, hangs just a few feet from my desk as well. Both my grandfathers were enlisted soldiers who volunteered and ser…
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Dynasties of India – the third expansion for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – is available now. The new downloadable content involves three unique civilizations, exciting campaigns and a long list of achievements to conquer. Plus, from 4 p.m. PT on April 28 through May 12, the Dynasties of India Event will be available with new challenges and rewards. Head over to AgeOfEmpires.com for all the details. Continue reading...
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The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase will stream on Sunday, June 12 at 10 a.m. PT, featuring new titles coming from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and partners around the world. "The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase will include everything you need to know about the diverse lineup of games coming soon to the Xbox ecosystem, including upcoming releases to Game Pass on Xbox and PC," writes Will Tuttle on Xbox Wire. The showcase will be streamed on a variety of outlets in over 30 languages. Head over to Xbox Wire to see where you can tune in from and more. Continue reading...
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https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2022/04/RE-re_-GettyImages-1311276615-1024x697.jpg Photo credit: lupengyu/Getty Images This past quarter was shaped by global events and has renewed our focus on how the cloud enables organizations to manage risk while supporting growth. In my conversations with customers, building more resilient and adaptable supply chains is top of mind. Organizations across industries are using cloud-powered technologies to help predict supplier constraints and deliver on their customer promises. Customers have also shared how the cloud enables them to achieve more with less and better track, measure and report progress toward the…
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“As we observe Earth Day 2022, we know that protecting the planet is critical, and we are committed to creating a more sustainable future,” writes Nick Parker, corporate vice president for Global Partner Solutions, on the Official Microsoft Blog. “Organizations around the world need to transition to a net zero, environmentally sustainable future in a short period of time, and our partners are leveraging the Microsoft cloud, Cloud for Sustainability, data and AI to build innovative applications, solutions and services to help customers transform their operations, products, services and supply chains, to facilitate their transition to net zero, and achieve their sustainabil…
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As we observe Earth Day 2022, we know that protecting the planet is critical, and we are committed to creating a more sustainable future. For Microsoft, sustainability isn’t just an ambition — it’s part of our culture. Our commitments and actions on sustainability are far-reaching and are some of the most ambitious out there. Our goal isn’t just to become more sustainable though, we want to help every organization on the planet to do the same. Organizations around the world need to transition to a net zero, environmentally sustainable future in a short period of time, and our partners are leveraging the Microsoft cloud, Cloud for Sustainability, data and AI to build innov…
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Some people consider clothes shopping to be retail therapy. For Charlotte Oxnam, it’s usually been the opposite of a healing experience. “There’s a really common misconception of, ‘Oh, well there's multiple sizes. You can just grab one,’ which hurts even more when none of them are yours,” says Oxnam, 20, a plus-size budding entrepreneur and engineering student in her junior year at Northwestern University. “It's this constant feeling of otherness. Even if you haven't experienced it in clothing, everyone's felt it to some degree: of being the odd man out, being the one not thought about, the one left behind. It felt like no matter what you do – the diets you try, the sport…
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Sea of Thieves' third time-limited Adventure, The Shrouded Deep, and the long-awaited Pirate Legend Voyage, Legend of the Veil, are playable now. The connected stories both involve the Veil of the Ancients, a magical artefact that can grant its user the ability to travel between the living world and the spectral Sea of the Damned. "In The Shrouded Deep, players join forces with Belle and famed Megalodon hunter Merrick, and attempt to summon that great pale leviathan: the Shrouded Ghost," writes Mike Chapman, creative director for Rare, in a post on Xbox Wire. "Be prepared for a monster hunt that’ll live on in legend as you seek to liberate the Veil of the Ancients from th…
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Luminous Night, Minecraft Dungeons’ second seasonal adventure, is now live and available for free. "Explore the Tower as you’ve never seen it before, with floors that feature new biomes, perplexing puzzles and the wildfire – an old fan favorite that is making a triumphant return to the Minecraft universe," writes Per Landin on Minecraft.net. "Luminous Night also features plenty of radiant rewards that will light up your surroundings with bioluminescent delight! These include the dreadfully adorable ministrosity and abomination pets, but also plenty of shiny emotes, skins and flairs." Like all seasonal adventures, Luminous Night is completely free. For those interested in …
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A year ago, we made a promise to simplify and help secure our customers’ lives, and what an amazing journey it’s been. We have been humbled by the love we have received over the past 12 months. We’re grateful to you, our customers, for trusting Microsoft Autofill to secure your passwords and other data and helping us with your feedback. We’ve heard you and made a lot of improvements along the way, and we thank you for that! Today is a special day not just because it’s our 1-year anniversary, but also because starting today you can use Autofill in Microsoft Authenticator to help protect your online accounts by generating strong, unique passwords. If you’re looking to prot…
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The Minecraft Spring Sale is now underway. From now until April 18 at 10 a.m. PT you'll find free content as well as daily discounts at the Minecraft Marketplace. "If you’re new to Minecraft: Bedrock Edition or you’ve simply never clicked that third button on your loading screen, then let me tell you what lies behind that door, friend. Worlds! Skins! Maps! Mini-games!" writes Sophie Austin on Minecraft.net. "You can add new textures to your game, change your character’s style, or jump into a whole new world to tame pets, beat bosses and more. Minecraft Marketplace is full of fantastic creations and, until April 18, this imaginative wonderland of ideas and additions is goi…
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What's in the latest update to Halo: The Master Chief Collection? Flood Firefight. Halo 3 and ODST co-op crossplay. Full custom game browser support. And that's just for starters. "In Halo 3: ODST, we’ve done more than just add the Flood to Firefight!" writes Alex Wakeford on Halo Waypoint. "Players can now use the VISR map to see enemy locations, even while waiting to respawn, in Firefight matchmaking. Players can now use the Energy Sword and Sentinel Beam in ODST for the first time ever, and can even spawn with these weapons in Fiesta Fight. We’ve also mixed new enemies (such as Elites and Flood) into the wave lineup for various Arcade variants in Firefight matchmaking…
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The first major update of Age of Empires IV for 2022 is now available. Festival of Ages brings Ranked Seasons, the Content Editor beta (and Mods), Seasonal Events, Major Balance changes, as well as lots of quality-of-life changes. Head over to AgeOfEmpires.com to watch the trailer and dig into the details of the update, which you can download and start enjoying the next time you launch the game. Continue reading...
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Every year in the month of April, we celebrate Earth Day. Living in the Pacific Northwest, as the snow begins to melt and the landscape brightens, I reflect on what a privilege it is to live in such a beautiful place. The theme for this year’s global Earth Day is “Invest in Our Planet,” and I believe it represents such an important reminder for us all – to invest. So, when the time comes to celebrate the Earth and recognize the amazing progress Microsoft and our partners are making to reduce our carbon footprints, change business practices to be more environmentally responsible and create more sustainable products, I jump at the opportunity. I’m so proud of the commitment…
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Sonic the Hedgehog races into Minecraft in updated downloadable content that's now available. “From the creative masterminds at Gamemode One and SEGA, this update brings back the Labyrinth Zone, a level from the 1991 game that taught me a) exploring ruins is awesome and b) don’t trust gargoyles,” writes Sophie Austin on Minecraft.net. “Armed with a new mission, you’ll have to dodge obstacles and navigate traps as you try and stop the Master Emerald from falling into nefarious hands! And if that’s not motivation enough for you, then should I mention the new character skins? That’s right, on top of the 24 existing skins, there’ll be five brand new ones!” Open up the Marketp…
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Over the past two years, work has changed dramatically. Most employees want flexible and remote options to stay. Cyberthreats are at an all-time high. And with the move to hybrid work, IT managers are challenged to empower their workforces with new tech experiences. At Microsoft, it’s our responsibility to deliver tools and technologies that make hybrid work, work for you, our customers. Windows is central to this mission. Windows 11 is the operating system for hybrid work. It’s built on a compatible and familiar foundation that’s easy for IT to manage. It’s designed to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving cyber landscape and equipped with experiences that help employe…
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Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) aren’t space tourists. They’re workers, scientists and engineers. They are doing critical science missions in an intense operating environment where safety is paramount. On spacewalks they repair equipment, install new instruments and upgrade the largest spacecraft ever flown. Just like workers here on Earth, their gloves can show wear and tear – even rips and cuts – presenting potential safety concerns. To prevent problems from arising, astronauts working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) must take photos of their spacesuit gloves during and after every spacewalk and transmit them down …
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Tilting Point’s hit puzzle adventure anthology game Adventure Escape Mysteries is now available for Windows desktops. You can download and enjoy AEM's many stories and point-and-click brain busters for free on PCs, joining 5 million players who have experienced AEM and its continually growing story content. The average ratings for the game are better than 4.5 stars. Game critics such as AppPicker, TechWiser, AndroidAuthority and AppUnwrapper have picked Adventure Escape games as the best escape room game. Find out more by downloading Adventure Escape Mysteries from Microsoft Store and diving into the fun. Continue reading...
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Basketball has been a part of Natalie White’s life since she was 5. She’s pretty sure her first word was "ball." She grew up idolizing Pat Summit, a legendary coach at the University of Tennessee. White played as a point guard on school teams and in amateur leagues in New York City through high school. All these experiences made her a passionate advocate for the sport. “So often, women's basketball has been regarded as almost a JV version of men's basketball. We have female basketball players used to wearing men's uniforms, used to shopping in the men's section, used to playing before or after the men. Everything is in relation to the men,” says White, who graduated from …
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Each April we celebrate Families month at Microsoft, and our theme this year is “Empowering everyone through every stage, phase and season of our personal and professional lives.” The Families Employee Resource Group (ERG) has a vision to support employees in whatever family role they play. Collectively, we discard the idea that one can leave one’s personal life at the door when coming to work, because the modern reality is that our work lives are no longer fully separate from our personal lives. Being our whole selves means balancing a wide variety of personal and work responsibilities that all come with a host of expected and unexpected challenges. With the right suppor…
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InnoGames, Germany’s developer and publisher of online and mobile games, celebrates the tenth anniversary of its strategy city-builder Forge of Empires. The title has experienced steady growth since its launch in 2012 and continues to gather momentum. To celebrate the anniversary, players can look forward to a new event with special prizes that runs from now through April 18. To date, players have spent more than 311,482 years’ worth of playtime in the game, during which time approximately 60 million cities have been built. When the game was first released it included a total of six eras and several months’ worth of content. There are now 20 eras with the release of Spac…
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The first week in Candy Crush Saga’s Great Adventure Season has begun with the arrival of a guest starring character in the game – none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. All blue candies this week will be reskinned into a “sonictastic” design in the game, and two different adventures will invite you to join and to collect the blue Sonic Candies: Sonic Dash Collection and The Great Chase. If you manage to get to the top 10 on the leaderboard in the Great Chase or collect at least 5,000 blue Sonic Candies in Sonic Dash Collection, you can take a screenshot of your achievement and claim your Candy Community Sonic badge. Let the fun begin. After the first week Sonic will leave t…
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Dell has launched a new portfolio of intelligent Windows 11 PCs, accessories and software for hybrid work. Specialty professionals and creators can maximize performance and portability with the new 14-inch Precision 5470 and is equipped with the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processors, 64GB of DDR5 memory, 4TB of storage and high-performance professional graphics. [caption id=attachment_177000" align="aligncenter" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2022/03/Dell_pr5470_crop-1024x638.jpg Dell Precision 5470[/caption] In addition, new products are aimed at business leaders and users who need portability and performance, come with 12th Gen …
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Spring is here, and with this season comes a feeling of growth and change. Especially with all that has been happening in the world, this season has me thinking about everything I am grateful for and the things that keep me grounded: connecting with loved ones near and far, making the most of the “little things” in life, and finding joy and inspiration from everyday tasks. That’s why, this month, we are highlighting all the ways we want to help you save time and prioritize the things that matter most to you: whether it’s making it easier to get work or school projects done with new features like Microsoft Editor and web select, helping you stay organized with Collections,…
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