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The Microsoft Partner Network is comprised of more than 400,000 global organizations and these partners are essential to how Microsoft delivers innovative products and services to customers around the world. This deep relationship between Microsoft and our partners spans more than 30 years, and in that time frame our partners have provided unique solutions across numerous industries, helping countless customers succeed in an ever-changing world. They especially have played a pivotal role in helping businesses adapt amidst the pandemic. As things continue to change and evolve, we are committed to investing in and delivering what partners need to innovate, grow their busine…

As organizations around the world make the definitive shift from remote to hybrid work, one thing is clear: the people who went home to work in 2020 are not the same people returning to the office in 2022. There’s no erasing the experience of the last two years and employee expectations are higher than ever. They want flexibility and face time, and are making career changes that prioritize personal goals and well-being. And based on findings from our 2022 Work Trend Index, there’s no going back to the way it once was. Understanding and keeping pace with new expectations is a challenge facing every leader today — and one that will be key to making hybrid work work. Our …

You can now check out a new map in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition that celebrates the Minecraft x Lacoste apparel collection. This map features a tennis court, a parkour course, a “fill the gaps” minigame, a scavenger hunt and a giant crocodile. The apparel collection comes out March 16 and includes a range of activewear, accessories and footwear. The Minecraft aesthetic inspired all the designs, and you can mix and match the different items to create perfect comfy everyday outfits. Buy what you like at Lacoste.com or in select retail stores around the world. Find out more at Minecraft.net. Continue reading...

Two Point Hospital players can now check out a new expansion called “Speedy Recovery,” which is for PC on Steam and the Microsoft Store. In this DLC, players will experience a new game mode, as they take command of a fleet of innovative ambulances, designed for every and any emergency. As incidents pop up via a new Dispatch button, players must use their ever-growing and improving ambulance squad to deliver patients to hospitals all over Two Point County, while also curing their ailments. Race past new and familiar Two Point locations to pick up sick patients, from the cold Pointy Mountains to the tropical islands of Pebberley Island. Go the extra mile and dispatch shi…

Today Microsoft released its annual sustainability report, offering a comprehensive look at our progress in 2021 to becoming a carbon negative, water positive, zero waste company by 2030. When we announced our climate commitments in January 2020, we also committed to transparency in sharing our learnings. This year’s report includes several important lessons, and our goals remain consistent: we aspire to build a world better than the one we found, and to help our customers and partners do the same. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2022/03/Sustainability2022SnapshotFinal-1024x576.jpg Progress is not linear We made progress on a number of our …

Today we shared an update on our 2021 progress against our sustainability goals. It’s been a year of progress and learning. Our commitment to climate extends to our broad ecosystem of customers, partners, and suppliers too. This includes those customers within the energy industry. We believe that technology has an important role to play in helping the industry decarbonize, and this work must move forward in a principled manner – balancing the energy needs and industry practices of today while inventing and deploying those of tomorrow. We have developed a set of principles to guide our work and have shared these principles with many of our existing energy customers a…

Season Six, the latest Sea of Thieves content update, is now available for free for all players with Xbox Game Pass and across Windows, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Steam. “Along with an offering of brand-new Seasonal rewards, Season Six is all about expanding Sea of Thieves’ narrative through time-limited Adventures, while still giving you opportunities to forge your own epic tales of derring-do – with Sea Forts and the new Pirate Legend-exclusive Voyage, Legend of the Veil,” writes Joe Neate, executive producer, Rare, in a post on Xbox Wire. To find out more and watch the official video, head over to Xbox Wire. Continue reading...

The Horizon Rush Takeover has begun. For the next four weeks, the Horizon Stadium in the Forza Horizon 5 Series 5 Update is transformed into a Stunt Park featuring ramps, drift zones, loops and smashables. “To celebrate the PR Stunt Carnival, every week in Series 5 we’ll be adding four new PR Stunts – one of each type: Speed Zone, Danger Sign, Trailblazer and Speed Trap – for a total of 16 new PR Stunts,” writes Alan Walsh on Forzamotorsport.net. “The Speed Zones will be added permanently, while the others are only available to complete in Series 5 and will feature a special icon to distinguish them from existing PR Stunts.” Head over to Forzamotorsport.net to find out mo…

https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2022/03/ExecBlogSocial_BlogInLine_16X9_v2_1_FINAL-1-1024x576.jpg Cynthia Per-Lee, left, and Erin Chapple. Editor’s note: In recognition and celebration of Women’s History Month, Cynthia Per-Lee and Erin Chapple, two of the executive co-sponsors of the Women at Microsoft employee resource group, got together for a conversation about boundaries, access, inclusion and the powerful impact of the women’s community inside and outside of Microsoft. This is an abridged version of their chat. Learn more about Women’s History Month here. CPL: I’m excited about what’s happening for Women’s History Month and for us to spend s…

At Microsoft, we aim to create and maintain a healthy ecosystem where our partners and customers can thrive. Startups play a pivotal role in a thriving ecosystem given their outsized ability to push the entire ecosystem forward. Despite being vital to innovation and growth, by some estimates, over 90% of startups will go out of business in their first year. With this in mind, we set out to better understand what startups need to be successful, especially when just getting started. Based on real-world feedback from thousands of entrepreneurs from around the world, across a range of backgrounds, we are excited to unveil, Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub. Open to anyon…

The promise of technology to advance and meaningfully improve people’s lives has never been greater. That is why we are incredibly excited that Microsoft + Nuance have joined forces as one organization. As a pioneer in conversational AI and ambient intelligence, Nuance combines the power of cutting-edge technology and deep domain expertise across an array of industries – including healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, retail, among others – to design innovative solutions that amplify human intelligence and revolutionize how people interact with technology, so they can be their best selves. Nuance’s world-class technology has earned them a market-leading rep…

Thanks to Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft Flight Simulator is now available on a wide range of PCs, Xbox One and other supported devices, powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware. “Players can enjoy the same awe-inspiring experience as on Xbox Series X|S,” writes Jorg Neumann, head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, in a post on Xbox Wire. “Microsoft Flight Simulator is available for Xbox Series X|S and PC with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Windows 10/11 and Steam, and also now on Xbox One and supported mobile phones, tablets and lower-spec PCs via Xbox Cloud Gaming and a Game Pass Ultimate membership.” Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in 26 supported countries can access cloud g…

Every day, millions of young people in every country and territory around the world use Minecraft as a platform to connect, solve problems together and explore their creativity in all sorts of ways. Players can truly build whatever they imagine in Minecraft, and now, this extends to their visions for world peace. Today we are honored to launch an immersive Minecraft learning experience at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. The “Active Citizen” project educates young people about Nobel Peace Prize laureates past and present and fosters an understanding of the skills needed to drive positive change in the world. “Active Citizen” is now available for millions of lea…

Even though Cameron Akitt grew up hard of hearing, for him British Sign Language is a second language. English is his first. An avid gamer, subtitles supplement what he hears, correcting things he may have misheard or missed because of too much background noise. But he has friends who are deaf, for whom reading captions can cause fatigue. “For them, it’s a really tiring experience, not being able to access your first language,” says Akitt, a London-based teacher of deaf/hard of hearing young children in a hospital-based school. “We should be able to access the same story beats and narrative components. Otherwise, we’re only getting half the picture and not getting the …

2021 and into 2022 have seen continued innovation in the attack landscape as cybercriminals refine tactics and tools to evade defenses. 2021 saw the highest year on record for zero-day exploits, increased firmware attacks and new tampering attacks targeting security agents. Microsoft and our silicon partners have been vigilant in working to address these trends and we’re proud to share that Qualcomm and Microsoft have partnered on innovations designed to help keep the security capabilities in Windows 11 ahead of attackers. We’re excited today to announce that the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s, built with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, is the first ARM platform for Windows tha…

At MWC Barcelona, Lenovo unveiled a lineup of Windows 11 laptops to meet the needs of hybrid workers, global travelers, students, gamers and more. The first ThinkPad powered by the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 compute platform – running up to Windows 11 Pro – is the ThinkPad X13s, developed in collaboration with Qualcomm and Microsoft. The ultra-slim, 2.35-pound, fan-less design also incorporates battery life up to 28 hours, enhanced 5G connectivity options and application support through the Microsoft App Assure program for maximum productivity, security and collaboration. Lenovo, Qualcomm and Microsoft are continuously collaborating with top tier ISVs (Independent Software Vend…

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced on Sunday at the MWC Barcelona event its Galaxy Book2 Pro series, a flagship PC lineup featuring the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 with S Pen functionality and Galaxy Book2 Pro with 5G. Both combine flexibility and versatility for work and education with Samsung’s mobile DNA for a PC experience that is productive and portable. Samsung also announced the April release of Galaxy Book2 Business, a powerful new PC built on the vPro platform that will deliver advanced security and productivity features to help businesses conquer the new reality of hybrid work. To keep users protected, the Galaxy Book2 Pro series is the first consumer PC lineup me…

Beginning Feb. 18, Minecraft players can get the new World Warrior skin pack from the Minecraft Marketplace. “This incredible new pack from 57Digital and Capcom brings 35 of your favorite fighting characters like Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li from the arcade to the Overworld and celebrates a tale of fierce feuds and formidable foes,” writes Sophie Austin in a post on Minecraft.net. “These familiar faces have been on our screens even longer than Steve and Alex, and now you can play as one of them (or all 35!) in Minecraft.” As part of celebrating Capcom’s classic fighters, one free Character Creator item will be available for you to claim plus 12 paid character creator items so you…

Kicking off a new series of time-limited, narrative-focused events, “Shrouded Islands” is now available for Sea of Thieves fans to play until March 3. “As part of our push to make the Sea of Thieves a more dynamic place to explore, these Adventures won’t be replacing our Season-based method of delivering free, regular content updates but will run alongside them, offering a new Adventure roughly every month, each lasting for a minimum of two weeks,” writes Mike Chapman, creative director for Rare, in a post on Xbox Wire. “There’ll be secrets to discover, battles to fight, rewards to earn and a unique cinematic trailer to introduce each Adventure, laying out the stakes and …

Total War: Warhammer III – now available to play with PC Game Pass — introduces you to the game’s fantastical world and how to build a massive army. In it you’ll also learn how effective diplomacy can be for gaining allies and even setting rival factions at war with each other. “Yes, this is the third title in this trilogy, but there is no better time to start marshalling your forces and building empires in the world of Warhammer Fantasy,” writes Andy Hall, principal writer for Creative Assembly, in a post on Xbox Wire. “The game starts with a brand-new experience, a bespoke narrative campaign designed to bring you up to speed and refresh lapsed generals in both the ba…

Put on your racing gloves Forza Horizon 5 fans, the Horizon World Cup is now under way. Pitting France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. against each other for top bragging rights, the event promises unmissable driving action. “You’re invited to represent your favorite country by driving cars from the different countries’ auto manufacturers across The Trial, Seasonal Championships and Playground Games every week throughout Series 4,” writes Alan Walsh on Forzamotorsport.net. “Completing these events every week will grant points to the home country of the car the player was driving. We’ve set up the car restrictions for each event to ensure each country is fair…

As the PC continues to play a more meaningful role in our lives, we will continue to evolve Windows 11 as a connection point between people, ideas and creations. Today, we’re excited to announce new experiences for Windows 11 are starting to become available, including an Amazon Appstore preview available in the U.S., Taskbar improvements and two redesigned apps: Media Player and Notepad. We can’t wait to see what you do with them. Enjoy the Amazon Appstore Preview featuring select Android™ apps and games in the Microsoft Store on Windows 11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6SpHPF40Ik View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6SpHPF40Ik Windows has always been about e…

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve taken a data-driven approach to decision making while prioritizing the safety and well-being of our employees. For nearly two years, our hybrid workplace model has anchored each of our work sites to one of six defined stages, allowing us to quickly adjust our guidance depending on health data, local government guidance, the availability of vaccines and vaccination rates and other considerations. Based on this approach and improving local health metrics, our Washington state work sites will move to our sixth and final stage of the hybrid workplace model, effective Feb. 28, 2022. From this date, employees will have 30 days to make a…

A new update for Crusader Kings III adds Cultural Traditions, bringing Cultures more in line with Faiths, with Pillars and Traditions providing effects. This makes a lot of currently opaque features transparent in the user interface, and provides a new and exciting acceptance system for players to enjoy. The free update also brings Inventory System, a favorite from Crusader Kings II, in a new and improved form. Collect artifacts, from weapons to crowns and regalia. Essentially, the positions are mini-councilors that provide an effect, but have no jobs. With the Coat of Arms designer tool, you can design your very own Coat of Arms and apply it to your House, Dynasty or Tit…

Minecraft Dungeons has hit the milestone of 15 million players since the launch of the game, and is celebrating with the Festival of Frost, taking place from now until Feb. 22. “Avid Tower runners will discover that their favorite tall structure has been outfitted with new frost-themed floors,” Per Landin writes in a post on Minecraft.net. “In addition, seasonal trials from the Chills and Thrills event will make a return, offering players who missed out on last year's event the chance to experience all the fun. And, saving the best for last, to commemorate this occasion, every player who logs into the game after Feb. 8 will receive the ‘Iceologer Cape’ reward as a thank y…