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Sea of Thieves enters a new era with the arrival of Seasons, its latest content update. New Voyages, Events, rewards and ways to play are all packed into Season One, available as a free download for all players on Windows 10 PC, Steam, with Xbox Game Pass and across Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. Seasons are designed to run for around three months. Making your way up through the 100 levels in Season One will unlock a reward each time, from gold and Doubloons to cosmetics and even Ancient Coins to spend on goods in the Pirate Emporium. Get all the details on Xbox Wire. Continue reading...

A year ago, we launched the biggest commitment in Microsoft’s history to focus on the climate crisis. As Satya Nadella, Amy Hood, and I announced last January, Microsoft committed to become carbon negative as a company by 2030 – meaning that by that date we will remove from the environment more carbon than we emit. By 2050, we committed that we’ll remove from the environment all the carbon that Microsoft has emitted directly or through electricity use since the company was founded in 1975. As we reach the one-year anniversary of this pledge, which we coined our “moonshot,” I want to share the initial progress we’ve made and some lessons we’ve learned. We’re also announ…

The Lords of the West downloadable content is available now on PC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, which you can get through the Microsoft Store and Steam. It includes two new civilizations – Burgundian and Sicilian – in three new fully-voiced campaigns and 16 new achievements. Xbox Game Pass members can use their member discount to save 10%. Get all the details over at Xbox Wire. Continue reading...

While 2020 can certainly be characterized as a year of disruptive change, it was also a year of accelerated innovation across industries and technology trends that, in many cases, were already gathering pace. For example, well before the pandemic, many of our customers had embraced a modern compute paradigm in the cloud and were increasingly looking to create an economic flywheel or engine to unlock further innovation. They also showed a keen interest in democratizing digital experiences that allow everyone in their organization, from the frontline worker to the C-suite, to be part of the innovation process. Further, they made the strategic decision to put their data t…

While the holiday season has come and gone, the new year brings a renewed opportunity for reflection, goal-setting and personal growth. The start of the new year makes me appreciate our team’s progress and I’ve got to tell you, there’s a lot of great stuff coming in 2021! This month marks the one-year birthday of the new Microsoft Edge and to celebrate this milestone, you’ll see some beautiful new designs and visual themes so you can customize Microsoft Edge to reflect your unique personality. Thanks for your feedback and continued support over the last year! Over the holidays, I hope you’ve had a chance to experience why Microsoft Edge is the best browser for shopping wi…

At this year’s first-ever, all-digital Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft’s device partners announced innovative new Windows hardware and software for all kinds of gamers. They also embraced graphics cards that fully support DirectX 12 Ultimate in their flagship gaming PCs. Xbox Wire’s Will Tuttle calls DirectX 12 Ultimate “the latest gold standard for gaming graphics on both PC and Xbox Series X|S consoles.” Over at Xbox Wire, Tuttle rounds up some of these gaming devices, from the thinnest, most ultraportable gaming laptops yet, to immersive displays and sleek designs, to new graphics cards. Continue reading...

2020 is now – finally – hindsight. It was a year of unprecedented disruption – how businesses connected with their employees and customers transformed nearly overnight. We saw organizations rapidly pivot to remote-first environments, undergoing years’ worth of digital transformation in a matter of months. Time to market was already top of mind for software development teams, but the last year ushered in urgent requests for new functionality to engage with customers and communities digitally. Much of this transformation was supported by developers who became “digital first responders” – helping their organizations become more agile and resilient. Developers moved workloads…

My name is Colin a 68 year old fella from the UK who would like to get online and meet other people from around the world.

Coming off a year that brought everyone’s priorities into focus, the all-digital CES 2021 was a powerful reflection of the importance of devices in peoples’ daily lives. The digital conference gathered global brands online to share ideas and introduce products that will define the future of the tech industry. This week, we’ve seen innovative PCs, gaming consoles, tablets, Microsoft Teams Room systems and other devices that will make it even easier to work, learn, shop, stream, play and connect in any scenario. Devices designed to empower people This year’s event was the perfect illustration of Microsoft’s belief that modern tech empowers everyone to do more. The intel…

At CES 2021, ASUS announced its latest lineup of laptops, displays and entertainment solutions at its “Be Ahead” virtual launch event. Among the Windows 10 devices unveiled: The ROG Flow X13, the first 2-in-1 convertible ROG gaming laptop, and the ROG XG Mobile, an ultraportable external GPU that augments the Flow X13’s gaming performance and connectivity. The Flow X13 arrives in an ultraslim 13-inch body with up to an 8-core AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS CPU and dedicated GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, which provides the performance needed for demanding workloads and enables strong performance in the latest games. Up to 32GB of memory provides smooth multitasking. A PCIe SSD provides…

As part of their special event this week, NVIDIA introduced its GeForce RTX 30 Series laptops, built with the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, the second generation of RTX, which fully supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. This includes new Ray Tracing Cores, Tensor Cores and streaming multiprocessors to give gamers and creators the most realistic ray-traced graphics, AI-accelerated performance and greater efficiency. These laptops introduce new third generation Max-Q technologies. Max-Q is a system wide approach to provide even more performance in thin and light laptops. The technologies include NVIDIA DLSS, Dynamic Boost 2.0 and WhisperMode 2.0, which use AI algorithms to opt…

At CES 2021, Acer announced updates to several Windows 10 gaming notebooks in its portfolio, including the Predator Triton 300 SE, Predator Helios 300 and Nitro 5. The company also introduced three new high refresh rate gaming monitors. The Predator Triton 300 SE and Nitro 5 notebooks have been updated to include the latest 11th Gen Intel Core H35-series processors, while the Predator Triton 300 SE and Predator Helios 300 have been refreshed with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop GPUs — plus upgrades that include increased display refresh rates and better cooling technology. They're also compatible with Cortana. [caption id=attachment_175284" align="aligncenter" …

At CES 2021, AMD announced its full portfolio of Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors, which deliver the “Zen 3” core architecture to gamers and creators, with consumer laptops available from major PC manufacturers expected to launch throughout the year. The company also announced the AMD Ryzen PRO 5000 Series Mobile Processors for commercial laptops, with enterprise-level security features with layers of defense at the silicon, OS and platform levels, giving IT teams confidence their laptops will have protection wherever employees work. In all, more than 150 consumer and commercial systems will include these processors in 2021. At the top of the product stack, AMD …

At CES 2021, Dell showed off new and refreshed Windows 10 PCs and monitors to help you work smarter. They do so by being more intelligent, secure and sustainable – whether you’re back at the office (or never left), home or in a hybrid environment. Among the products are 5G powered PCs and Microsoft Teams certified displays that help unlock enhanced connectivity and collaboration, commercial PCs built from bioplastics and built-in low blue light and security technology. View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/JlSu9lplQ9s The Latitude 9420 comes with a powerful built-in speakerphone and camera enhancements that provide automatic light correction and background blur so you …

At CES 2021, Lenovo introduced an array of powerful Windows 10 devices for families, professionals and gamers that include Windows Hello, 5G, bigger screens and blue light reduction to reduce eye strain as more and more people spend time in video conferences. With so many families working and learning from home, sharing Wi-Fi, it’s more important than ever to have a reliable 4G/LTE or 5G cellular connection to enable lightning-fast speeds during many, many video conference calls and classes. With this in mind, the new ultra-portable Lenovo IdeaPad 5G is ready to work and explore when you are, with Instant on with Modern Standby. Where 5G is unavailable, you’ll enjo…

The post CES 2021 is here: Catch our partner highlights appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

At CES 2021, Intel introduced the 11th Gen Intel vPro platform, a business platform delivering high performance and comprehensive hardware-based security. This platform aims to deliver a better experience for anyone working anywhere. Intel found that productivity was 23% faster when using Office 365 [1] and 52% faster productivity during a conference, compared to a competitive device [2]. View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/JlSu9lplQ9s Initially featuring four new 11th Gen Intel Core vPro processors for thin-and-light Windows 10 laptops, the new platform includes Intel’s SuperFin technology, Intel Iris Xe graphics and integrated Intel Wi-Fi 6/6E (Gig+) that provides …

COVID-19 has changed the way people live and work this past year, so much so that HP research has shown people in the U.S., U.K. and Japan using their personal PCs an additional seven hours a week. Photography, writing stories/articles and live streaming emerged as the top three activities. View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ux6Chbu9NnE HP has unveiled a lineup of Windows 10 devices at CES 2021 to help those spending more time on their devices pursuing creative and professional goals. With fingerprint readers and IR cameras, you can login via Windows Hello for increased security. [caption id=attachment_175250" align="aligncenter" width="2736]https://blogs.windows.co…

Dig through the soil, discover new mysterious plants and take naps in the woods with the latest Bedrock map, Bloom, now available for free in the Minecraft Marketplace as part of Minecraft’s continuing Community Celebration. “Bloom is a world full of flowers and plants that you have complete control of. We were really inspired by the existing plants in Minecraft, the idea of growing, and we wanted to expand on that and see where we can take it,” says John Newell, whose studio, Gamemode One, makes DLC games, experiences, mods and add-ons for Minecraft. Another bonus, from now until Jan. 13, everybody gets a complimentary week when they subscribe to Java Realms. Ge…

Got some downtime on your hands during the holidays? If you’re a young map maker in search of new challenges in Minecraft, check out the continuation of the Community Celebration with this new downloadable content: Terra Swoop Force, which you’ll find for free in Minecraft Marketplace. In this DLC, you’re flying to the center of the earth to find out what happened to a two-person team that disappeared there 30 years ago. Get all the details on Minecraft.net. Continue reading...

For two weeks, until Jan. 4, you can find major discounts on creator content at the Minecraft Marketplace, including 28 doorbusters at 75% off (two per day) and up to 100 regular sale items at 33% off. Find out more at Minecraft.net. Continue reading...

If you’ve got the Minecraft for Windows 10 Starter Collection and want to get some virtual dirt under your very real fingernails, check out the new free content waiting for you from the Pixel Heads team. Farm Life, this week’s Bedrock Community Celebration gift, is now available in the Minecraft Marketplace. Head over to Minecraft.net to check it out. Continue reading...

Want to find out how much more time you’d have for the things you want to do if you were more organized? A good way to find out is with three tech tips from the Windows team. For instance if you’re a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you can use Money in Excel to track your spending. If you’re not a subscriber, you can use free templates to do much the same thing. If you want to make sure all your computer files are backed up for protection and available wherever you want to access them, try OneDrive. And if you want to organize your thoughts while online – so you can easily follow up on them later – check out the Collections feature in Microsoft Edge, which uses pictures so you …

It’s that time of year when 4 p.m. starts to feel like midnight. The days of being able to go outside and exercise or play are waning as it gets colder, wetter and darker. But families looking for ways to find some relief indoors can turn to video games as a way to take a communal break, creating new memories and developing some surprising skills. The Entertainment Software Association, which conducted research in the U.S., shows “Parents are using video games to connect with their kids…In fact, more than half of parents (55%) say they play games with their children at least once a week, and 92% pay attention to the games their child plays.” “We advocate gaming as part of…

Loneliness among the older generation is a growing problem world-wide. Gaming in virtual worlds can provide a vital connection between older and younger family members. "Xbox: Beyond Generations" aims to bridge that generational divide in families. The initiative launches with a short documentary film, which follows the story of a family on their journey towards re-connecting with each other via gaming. Howard and his grandson Dhillon, who live nearly three hours’ driving distance apart, used to have a close relationship. But they drifted apart. Over four weeks, the filmed experiment documents their rekindled relationship. Their ability to go on virtual road trip…