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Today, I’m excited to share more information about the Windows 11 accessibility journey. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced its upped commitments and ambitions for accessibility. And, we recently introduced Windows 11. An early preview of Windows 11 is available to Windows Insiders today and will start to be generally available later this year. I’m excited to share our ambition to empower people with disabilities to achieve more with Windows and more specifically, what’s coming in Windows 11. Note, this is a lengthy post, we’ve got a lot to share. Beyond possible, efficient and yes, delightful Accessible technology is a fundamental building block that can unlock o…
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Between June 29 – July 12, the Minecraft Marketplace Summer Celebration delivers a sale filled with items up to 33% off and two free maps, the first of which is available now. Rasa Studios created the first map, which includes four headliner games, seven mini-games, six custom skins and lots of gifts. Oreville Studios made the second map, a customized adventure that will launch July 9. It’ll have challenges and mini-games, more than 100 unique models, custom music and animated cutscenes. Head over to Minecraft.net to get more details and install the Minecraft for Windows 10 Starter Collection if you don’t have it already. Continue reading...
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HP has unveiled its lightest consumer laptop yet: the HP Pavilion Aero 13 laptop PC, starting at less than 2.2 pounds (1 kg). This is also the first Pavilion laptop to feature a full magnesium aluminum chassis, a 4-sided narrow bezel and a 90% screen-to-body-ratio. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/06/HP-Pavilion-Aero-13_NaturalSilver_CdeckBuild_Hero.jpg Find out more about it over at HP. [1] Not all features are available in all editions or versions of Windows. Systems may require upgraded and/or separately purchased hardware, drivers, software or BIOS update to take full advantage of Windows functionality. Windows is automatically updated, w…
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Gateway is expanding its Ultra-Slim Notebook series to include laptops outfitted with the latest 11th Gen Intel processors. These will be available exclusively in Walmart stores and online at Walmart.com. These lightweight Windows devices have the Intel Pentium Quad Core Processor and Intel’s Tiger Lake 11th Gen Processor for lightning-fast connections, computing power and superior visuals for gaming and streaming, as well as for creative projects and learning. Tuned by THX provides a more immersive entertainment experience with enhancements to maximize warmth, loudness and intelligibility from small speakers. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021…
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As of June 28, Xbox Cloud Gaming is available to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members with Windows 10 PCs and Apple phones and tablets, via browser, across 22 countries. If you’re a member or want to become one, go to Edge, Chrome or Safari on your PC or mobile device to start playing hundreds of games from the Xbox Game Pass library. Another big part of this milestone: Xbox Cloud Gaming is now powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware. Microsoft datacenters have been upgraded around the globe to give players faster load times, improved frame rates and an experience of a new generation of gaming. Read more over at Xbox Wire. *Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) on mobile requires Xbox…
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At a time when the PC is playing a more central role in our lives, Windows 11 is designed to bring you closer to what you love. Windows has always existed to be a stage for the world’s innovation. It’s been the backbone of global businesses and where scrappy startups became household names. The web was born and grew up on Windows. It’s the place where many of us wrote our first email, played our first PC game and wrote our first line of code. Windows is the place people go to create, to connect, to learn and to achieve – a platform over a billion people today rely on. The responsibility of designing for that many people is one we don’t take lightly. The past 18 months br…
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Today, we introduced Windows 11. What makes Windows, well, Windows is the variety of apps available - from core to casual games, from sophisticated productivity suites to social experiences, from creativity tools to niche hobbyist apps, from developer tools to entire virtualized environments. A few years ago, we launched the Microsoft Store on Windows. The Microsoft Store is now one of the most used apps on PCs, and customers tell us they love the convenience and reassurance it brings, compared to the risks of installing apps from the web. However, app developers have told us that technical and policy constraints built into the original foundations of the Store sometimes …
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The latest season of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Elite, is now here, and it covers a lot of ground. Halo fans will see a fresh set of Elite customization options to choose from, two new maps for matchmaking with Edge and Waterfall, the return of the Halo 4 Champions Bundle, Firefight being added to the social matchmaking menu and the Custom Game Browser (CGB) for Halo: Reach. But, there’s much more! Head over to Halo Waypoint to get the full rundown. Continue reading...
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Lenovo is refreshing its Windows-based ThinkPad and ThinkVision lines with redesigned and re-engineered devices, including the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4, the ThinkPad L13 Gen 2, L13 Yoga Gen 2, ThinkVision M15 mobile monitor and ThinkVision T24m-20 display. The X1 Extreme Gen 4 is available with the latest NVIDIA RTX mobile graphics, up to 64GB DDR4 memory and dual Solid-State Drive (SSD) support. You can also upgrade it with optional 5G Wireless WAN for high-speed access to cloud data. To make the most of remote work, it has an edge-to-edge 16-inch display (with options up to 4K with Dolby Vision support), a new FHD webcam, dual noise-cancelling microphones and a user-fa…
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Microsoft is joining the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) to advance the protection of space-based critical assets vital to government agencies and the global economy. As the first hyperscale cloud service provider to join this member organization, we will share our unique global threat insights to protect critical infrastructure and strengthen cybersecurity expertise in the space community. Through Microsoft’s founding membership in the Space ISAC we look forward to supporting the mission to facilitate collaboration across the global space industry, to enhance the community’s ability to prepare for and respond to cyber vulnerabilities, incidents an…
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To celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog’s 30th birthday June 23, free downloadable content tied to the speedster is now available for Minecraft for Windows 10. You’ll find rings to collect, along with plenty of obstacles to dash past, bosses to defeat and momentum to build towards a high score. Find out more on Minecraft.net. Continue reading...
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The latest Sea of Thieves content update, Season Three, is now available and free for all players with Xbox Game Pass and across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam. In addition to that, players can join forces with Captain Jack Sparrow in “Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life” – a new story campaign that brings “Pirates of the Caribbean” sailing into the Sea of Thieves. All players can earn Renown and rewards, with optional Trials to boost progress. They can also buy a Plunder Pass to expand the reward pool. Find out more over at Xbox Wire. Continue reading...
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Getting on top of your finances is critical to making sure all your hard work isn’t for naught. But where do you begin? The Windows Resource Center has compiled a page of resources and information to help you make sense of your money. It involves setting goals, understanding where your money is going, automatically tracking where your money goes and saving money when shopping online. For each, tools and tips are provided to help you take the next steps to financial stability. Head over to the Windows Resource Center to get started. Continue reading...
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In more than a decade working at Reallusion – a 3D and 2D software and content developer that specializes in Windows-based real-time animation and creation tools – Enoc Burgos has seen a lot of changes in the industry, but one thing is consistent in his role as director of partnership marketing: being able to support and empower up-and-coming creators who lack skills and/or resources to develop their vision. Authors use Reallusion software to make trailers for their books, students and professors tap into the technology to create more realistic training sessions and movie studios find the company’s iClone -- an animated storyboard that helps preview scenes that need to be…
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It has been one year since we outlined a set of actions and commitments our company would take over the next five years to address racial injustice. These commitments stem from a belief that the work we must do as individuals and as an organization toward justice and equity is urgent and requires intention and sustained engagement. It’s critical that this not be something we only care about at one time of year, or for one year in a lifetime – but instead that we commit to the ongoing exploration needed to help us be as informed, effective and sustainable as possible in how we approach change. Our approach combines financial investments, technology and intellectual capi…
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When Sea of Thieves Season Three launches June 22, you’ll also see “Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life” – an original story that brings Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew sailing in from beyond the horizon to spark new adventures spanning five narrative-driven Tall Tales. A special Xbox broadcast catches up with the Rare and Walt Disney Games teams behind this collaboration to offer some insights into its creation. Both talk about the vision, the ambition, the care and attention poured into every aspect of this dream crossover – and just some of the features they’re most excited for fans of both franchises to experience. Read more and check it out over at Xbox Wire. Contin…
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With 62% of parents planning to purchase more back-to-school items online this summer, they can start saving now on tech and accessories for the upcoming school year. To help parents plan ahead, starting June 21, Microsoft Store’s upcoming sale will have discounts on laptops, PCs, accessories and more. Here are some of the top deals to kick off back-to-school shopping: https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/06/Tournament-287x300.jpg Up to 50% off Razer accessories To get the most out of your gaming session, select Razer accessories, including the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition and the Razer Kraken Ultimate, will be 50% off. Play comfortably for h…
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It’s a wrap on Season 1 of Envision. We finished the online series with a sense of optimism and an eye toward the future. This past year has been a proving ground for so many organizations to test their digital transformation progress, to become more agile and resilient, and to reimagine their business for the future. It’s an exciting time to be in tech! Now, how can leaders use technology for the hybrid future that lies ahead, helping them move faster and driving continuous innovation? We explored this and other timely topics during the Envision Season 1 finale. Envision is our series for business leaders presented by Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft. Accenture CEO…
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After a three-year hiatus, the Razer Blade 14 is back, highlighting a new partnership with AMD. The Windows 10 laptop becomes the first Razer Blade ever to have an AMD processor. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX 8-core processor features a base clock of 3.3GHz with a max boost clock of up to 4.6GHz, so it can quickly dispatch dense workloads, reduce latency when gaming and chew through 3D renders at breakneck speeds. Gamers can also add up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, and up to a Quad HD 165Hz display. Built with NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture, the RTX 30 Series offer improved ray tracing and advanced AI features to create more visually immersive worlds. Both IPS-gra…
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During the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase June 13, a lot of news came out on new games. We’ll highlight a few here, but be sure to go over to Xbox Wire to get the full download. Forza Horizon 5, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s breakout hit open world driving game Forza Horizon 4, arrives Nov. 9 on Xbox consoles, PC on Windows and Steam and Xbox Game Pass including console, PC and Cloud Gaming (Beta). In this game, you lead breathtaking expeditions across Mexico in hundreds of the world’s greatest cars. Discover living deserts, lush jungles, historic cities, hidden ruins, pristine beaches, vast canyons and a towering snow-capped volcano – the highest point e…
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Editor’s note: In acknowledgment and celebration of Pride, Microsoft executive co-sponsors of Global LGBTQI+ Employees and Allies at Microsoft Employee Resource Group (GLEAM) Ann Johnson and Liat Ben-Zur got together (virtually) for a personal conversation about leadership, allyship, intersectional identities, bias and the powerful advocacy work of communities across the company. This is an edited version of their chat. Liat: Ann, would you share some insights about your personal and professional path and how that connects both to what we do in GLEAM, and to how you approach your role leading teams at Microsoft? Ann: First, it’s so great to be having this talk. You …
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Right now is a great time to get set for gaming this summer. Xbox’s Deals Unlocked sale offers savings on everything from epic exclusive games to gaming PCs to accessories through June 17. Of course you’ll find discounts on Xbox Game Studios titles, but you’ll also find great deals for PC gamers, including gaming PCs starting at $699, up to 60% off on select PC digital games and savings of up to 25% on select gaming accessories. Head over to Xbox Wire for all the deals and details. Continue reading...
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Ahead of the first-ever Xbox and Bethesda Showcase on June 13, Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella discussed the importance of gaming to Microsoft and in the world. “As a company, Microsoft’s all-in on gaming. We believe we can play a leading role in democratizing gaming and defining that future of interactive entertainment,” Nadella said. Nadella and Spencer touched on Microsoft’s earliest days of gaming, cloud computing and empowering creators, and shared new updates on how Xbox Game Pass is changing the way people discover, connect and play. Another blog post dives deeper into Xbox Game Pass and shares new updates on its success and what’s next …
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This past year has been difficult for many of us in the Black and African American communities. Technology brought images of violence against our community to the forefront of the public consciousness, and the pandemic revealed its deep economic fault lines. At times, the depth of the systemic racial inequality that has occurred in the United States for five centuries and still exists today can feel overwhelming. We have an opportunity to harness data and technology to accelerate and scale equitable solutions. That change starts with each of us. What motivates me is my African American son and daughter and what they experience in society. To work on racial equity issues e…
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Caves & Cliffs: Part I, an update introducing new mobs (living creatures in the game) and blocks for Minecraft users, is launching on Tuesday for Windows 10 and other gaming platforms. Head over to the post on Minecraft.net to find out more and view the trailer. The characters you’ll see sure are cute, but they range from the axolotl predator to goats that are highly fond of ramming. So watch yourself; you might end up bumped into the glow squid. Continue reading...
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