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The Game Awards caps off the year with a celebration of gaming excellence. This year, the ceremony included special guests Harrison Ford and Snoop Dogg. Xbox Game Studios received several nominations and two winners. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 won for Best Performance (Melina Juergens) and Best Audio Design, and “Fallout” took home Best Adaptation. Head over to Xbox Wire to find out more. Continue reading...

For Xbox Wire’s Mike Nelson, getting older means reminiscing more often about the places he’s lived and traveled throughout the world, and marveling at the growing list of countries he wants to visit. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has become a “conduit of nostalgia” for those journeys. Because the sim is a “digital twin” of Earth, he can virtually fly over any of those locations and even get out of his plane to explore even further. Head over to Xbox Wire to read more about his deep dive into this aspect of MSFS 2024. Continue reading...

We are thrilled to announce that the full capabilities of Windows 11 can now be enjoyed on mixed reality headsets, starting with Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S. Microsoft is partnering with Meta to make this experience available now in public preview, and we’re excited to get feedback from the community. Access to your local Windows PC or Windows 365 Cloud PC from a Quest headset is seamless and it takes only seconds to connect to a private, high-quality, multiple-monitor workstation. [HEADING=2]Easy PC connection[/HEADING] [caption id=attachment_179253" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/1-Connect1920-1024x576.png Seamlessly connect to your Windows 11 PC.[/caption] Connecting your Quest to your local PC for the first time is simple and secure. Just press “Windows + Y” on your keyboard, look at the QR code that pops up and you are on your way to experiencing unparalleled productivity with Windows 11. Reconnect at any time by tapping the “connect” button over your PC’s keyboard. [HEADING=2]Windows 365 Cloud PCs[/HEADING] [caption id=attachment_179254" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/2-CPC1920-1024x576.png Connect in seconds to your Windows 365 Cloud PC.[/caption] Windows App, your secure gateway to Windows, is available now on Meta Quest devices, so you can connect directly to your Windows 365 Cloud PC and access your personalized Windows desktop, apps, settings and content streamed from the Microsoft Cloud. Windows App can also connect you to Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Dev Box and more for a portable computing experience. [HEADING=2]Immersive and private productivity[/HEADING] [caption id=attachment_179255" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/3-multimon1920-1024x576.png Flexible and secure productivity anywhere[/caption] Meta Quest is now a natural extension of your Windows PC. Access multiple high-resolution virtual monitors on Meta Quest to boost your productivity whether at home, in the office or on the go. Choose to block out distractions by fully immersing yourself while you work on virtual monitors or take advantage of Passthrough and stay connected to the physical world around you. Either way, you can get more done on multiple large screens visible only by you, even when you’re working in a busy place. Whether you're participating in virtual meetings, working in shared spaces or interacting with digital content in your physical environment, Windows and Meta Quest together provide a powerful tool for productivity. [HEADING=2]Getting started[/HEADING] Join the future of work today by experiencing Windows 11 on Meta Quest. This experience is starting to become available now as an experimental feature of the v72 software update for Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S. Find out more and share your feedback. * The v72 software update from Meta will roll out gradually so If you don’t see the update today, don’t worry! It’ll make its way to your headset soon. Continue reading...

The holiday season is in full swing, and we know it can be a busy time. To help make your festivities even brighter, and check items off your to-do list, we are excited to share new Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs that may be exactly the gift you’re looking to give or receive. [HEADING=1]A Windows 11 PC for everyone[/HEADING] Windows 11 PCs offer peace of mind with world-class security, the performance you need for your busy lifestyle – no matter work or play – and provide the right tools to help spark creativity and boost productivity. And opting for a new Copilot+ PC supercharges your Windows 11 experience with the fastest, most intelligent, most secure Windows PCs ever. With innovative AI-enabled features and your favorite apps, these PCs redefine what’s possible, making them the ideal gift this holiday season. Whether you're searching for the perfect gift, or looking to upgrade your own setup, below are just a few of the many Windows 11 PCs available this holiday, offering the perfect blend of performance, innovation and style. [caption id=attachment_179285" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/SUR24-Laptop-Rational-Sapphire-13-01-16x9-RGB-1024x576.jpg New Surface Laptop (7th Edition)[/caption] The New Surface Laptop is not just faster, it's smarter. The AI-accelerated Surface Laptop 7th Edition puts next-generation performance and Copilot+ experiences at your fingertips so you can work, play and create without limits. Copilot+ PC | Starting at $999.99 USD. Still unsure which device to choose? Please visit our Help me choose selection tool to discover the full portfolio of Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs available from our many of our partners, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Microsoft Surface, or explore options available in-store and online at our worldwide retailers, including: Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Currys, Elkjøp, JB Hi-Fi, JD.com, Walmart and at the Microsoft Store. On behalf of the Windows team, we wish you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season! 1 All-day battery life, up to 15 hours: Based on Inspiron 14 Plus (7441) tested with Snapdragon® X Plus, X1P-64-100, QHD+ Display, 16GB, 512GB SSD. Testing conducted by Dell labs in April 2024 with display brightness set to 150 nits and wireless enabled. Based on streaming Netflix 4K content using the Netflix Windows 11 app. Actual battery life may be significantly less than the test results and varies depending on product configuration and use, software, usage, operating conditions, power management settings and other factors. Tested configurations may not be available in all regions/countries at all times. Maximum battery life will decrease with time. Note: Prices listed are U.S.-only and are subject to change. Please check your local retailer for prices in your region. Continue reading...

[HEADING=2]Introduction[/HEADING] This blog is the first installment in a new series of technical content designed to provide insights into the AI innovation on Windows. Today we will share how the Applied Sciences team used a multi-interdisciplinary approach to achieve a breakthrough in power efficiency, inference speed and memory efficiency for a state-of-the-art small language model (SLM), Phi Silica. Integrated into Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs (starting with Snapdragon X Series), this SLM powers several features of the latest generation of Copilot+ PC experiences: Click to Do (Preview), on-device rewrite and summarize capabilities in Word and Outlook, and a turnkey pre-optimized SLM for developers to utilize. [HEADING=2]Background[/HEADING] In May, we introduced Copilot+ PCs, these devices include a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) capable of over 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). During our May announcement, we also unveiled Phi Silica, the new on-device SLM available starting with Snapdragon X Series NPUs. Phi Silica is the sister-series of Phi models that leverages the NPU on Copilot+ PCs. At Ignite in November, we also announced that developers can access Phi Silica API starting in January 2025. Developers can bring language intelligence capabilities into their apps without needing to worry about model optimization or customization as Phi Silica is pre-tuned and ships inbox. NPU devices with all day battery life claims run sustained AI workloads over long periods of time, in the background, with minimal impact to system fundamentals and resources. Connected to, and enhanced by the cloud, Copilot+ PCs can now achieve a level of performance never seen before – they are up to 20x more powerful1 and up to 100x as efficient2 for running AI workloads, and have smaller footprints than GPUs per TOPS/Watt/dollar. NPUs can sustain AI workloads that exhibit emergent behavior (3 to 7B parameter SLMs) in a semi-continuous loop, allowing users to make limitless low-latency queries to the model, without incurring additional subscription fees. This is a paradigm shift in compute; we now have the ability to run powerful reasoning agents as part of background operating system (OS) services, unlocking the potential for innovation across the range of our applications and services. View: https://www.youtube.com/embed/lo-uIlQbfUs Copilot+ PC: A new AI era at work [HEADING=2]Original floating-point model[/HEADING] Phi Silica is based on a Cyber-EO compliant derivative of Phi-3.5-mini, developed specifically for Windows 11. It has a 4k context length, supports multiple languages including Tier 1 languages and others [English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish] and includes key improvements necessary for in-product experiences. [caption id=attachment_179256" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/LLM-Flow1920-1024x359.png Language model generation process[/caption] The tokenizer breaks down the input text into smaller units and maps them to an index based on a pre-specified vocabulary. Tokenization forms a mapping between the language of humans and the language of models. The detokenizer performs the reverse operation. The embedding model transforms every discrete input token ID into a continuous, higher dimensional vector that captures semantic information in the space of language as understood by the language model. The direction of the normalized embedding vector encodes the context and the meaning of the text. The transformer block transforms these incoming vectors to output vectors (or output hidden states) that point in the direction of the token that should follow the current one. The language model head computes the most likely token based on the output vectors. Generating a response to a prompt consists of two distinct phases of operation of the transformer block: Context processing: The language model processes input tokens to compute the key-value (KV) cache and generate hidden states and the first token. This involves intense parallel computation, mainly matrix multiplications, requiring high computational power. Token iteration: Tokens are generated one by one (i.e. autoregressively) and each new token becomes part of the extended context to predict the next one. Generation stops when an end token is produced, or a user-defined condition is met. Running the aforementioned stages for even SLMs such as Phi, with their billions of parameters, can place considerable strain on your device. The context processing stage requires significant computational resources, which impacts the CPU and running applications, and involves high power usage when GPUs are employed due to their efficiency in TOPS per Watt. In contrast, the token iteration stage demands substantial memory for storing and accessing the KV cache for each token generation step. While it needs less computation, efficient memory access is crucial for maintaining performance. Memory constraints make efficient token generation challenging. NPUs within Copilot+ PCs are built to be power-efficient, capable of executing several TOPS within a single-digit Watt range. On Copilot+ PC devices with Snapdragon X Elite processors, Phi Silica’s context processing consumes only 4.8mWh of energy on the NPU, while the token iterator exhibits a 56% improvement in power consumption compared to operation on the CPU. Consequently, we can execute Phi Silica on your device without burdening the CPU and GPU, ensuring efficient memory and power consumption, thereby allowing this highly capable and versatile model to run seamlessly, with minimal impact on your primary applications and experiences. As NPUs are domain-specific processors, we have employed various techniques to achieve an optimal balance between efficiency and performance without compromising accuracy. We are eager to share these techniques and hope they can be applied to other small language models as well. Our discussion will primarily focus on optimizing and offloading the transformer block to the NPU. The tokenizer, embedding and language model head are not compute-intensive but involve lookups; therefore, we allocate these tasks to the CPU. [HEADING=2]Creating Phi Silica[/HEADING] Considering the size of the original floating-point model, memory limitations of the target hardware, as well as the desired performance metrics in terms of speed, memory usage and power efficiency, it was clear that Phi Silica should have the following characteristics: 4-bit weight quantization to ensure high speed and a low memory footprint during inferencing Low idle memory consumption to support pinned memory and eliminate initialization costs Rapid time to first token for shorter prompts to enhance interactivity A context length of 2k or greater to ensure real-world usability NPU-based operation to achieve power efficiency in sustained usage High accuracy across multiple languages Small model disk size to make distribution at Windows scale efficient We designed Phi Silica with these goals in mind for the current generation NPUs. In doing so, we pushed the envelope on what’s possible today across several levels of the stack such as post-training quantization, efficient resource use in inference software and targeted silicon-specific optimizations across operator placement and model graph. The result is a model that delivers, with the bulk of compute offloaded: Time to first token: 230ms for short prompts Throughput rate: Up to 20 tokens/s Context length: 2k (with support for 4k coming shortly) Sustained NPU-based context processing and token iteration Real-time demo of Phi Silica running on Copilot+ PCs (Snapdragon X Elite) [HEADING=2]Post-training quantization[/HEADING] In a bid to achieve true low-precision inference by quantizing both weights and activations, Microsoft and academic researchers collaborated to create QuaRot: Outlier-Free 4-Bit Inference in Rotated LLMs (pronounced “carrot”). QuaRot acts as a pre-quantization modifier, enabling the end-to-end quantization of language models, including all weights, activations and KV cache, down to 4-bits. By rotating language models to remove outliers from the hidden state without affecting the output, QuaRot facilitates high-quality quantization at lower bit-widths.  The ingenuity of QuaRot is anchored in two fundamental concepts: Incoherence processing: Previous weight-only quantization methods such as QuIP and QuIP# employ rotations to pre-multiply and post-multiply the weight matrices (and Hessians). A weight matrix has high incoherence when its largest element is an outlier relative to the average element's magnitude, making it difficult to quantize. Incoherence processing reduces the incoherence in weight matrices by rotating them to make quantization easier. However, this comes at an increased computational cost of rotations and de-rotations for each weight matrix. Computational invariance: QuaRot extends the idea of computational invariance introduced in SliceGPT. Computational invariance means that a transformation to the weight matrices does not change the output. QuaRot uses random Hadamard transforms for the rotations and applies incoherence processing in a computationally invariant manner. This reduces the computational overhead because the rotations and de-rotations across layers can be fused and skipped, leaving only an ingoing and outgoing rotation outside the transformer block. Furthermore, QuaRot allows activations to be incoherence-processed, making activation quantization easier. QuaRot uses rotations to remove outliers to make quantization easier This results in an equivalent network in a rotated space, allowing activations, weights and KV cache to be quantized to 4-bits, with minimal accuracy loss. [HEADING=2]Realizing gains from a 4-bit model[/HEADING] The 4-bit weight quantization optimized our memory footprint. However, adapting QuaRot to enable 4-bit quantized weight model inference on an NPU necessitated several adaptations due to specifics of quantization support in the software stack for NPUs. The final 4-bit Phi Silica model comprises of: Rotated network: In the base floating-point ONNX model, we convert the LayerNorm transformer network into an RMS-Norm transformer network and used fused Hadamard rotations to obtain an equivalent rotated network. Embedding layer: A fused one-time ingoing QuaRot rotation. Activations: Asymmetric per-tensor round-to-nearest quantization to unsigned 16-bit unsigned integers from ONNX. Weights: Symmetric per-channel quantization to 4-bit integers from QuaRot with GPTQ, copied into the rotated network. Linear layers: To get the best latency on the current NPU stack, we converted all linear layers into 1x1 convolutional layers (Conv2D). This improved efficiency for the specific matrix sizes involved in Phi Silica. Selective mixed precision: To further enhance accuracy, we identified several quantized weights that exhibited larger reconstruction errors and selectively quantized them using per-tensor 8-bit quantization. This is advisable for NPU-based inference to mitigate the effect of static quantization of all activations, but it is important to use this method sparingly to keep the overall model size small. In practice, we used 8-bit quantization for 4-8 out of 128 weight matrices. Language model head: A fused one-time outgoing QuaRot de-rotation. We also quantize the language model head with 4-bit block-wise quantization to keep the memory usage low. We observed that QuaRot significantly improves quantization accuracy, compared to the de-facto round-to-nearest quantization, particularly for low granularity settings such as per-channel quantization. The following table presents benchmark results before and after 4-bit quantization. Zero-shot task (lm-eval harness) Floating-point model (%) 4-bit QuaRot weights (float activations) (%) piqa 80.47 79.76 winogrande 72.77 72.38 arc_challenge 63.48 60.49 arc_easy 85.69 82.74 hellaswag 77.14 75.13 mmlu_abstract_algebra 45.00 38.00 mmlu_business_ethics 76.00 73.00 mmlu_college_computer_science 57.00 48.00 mmlu_college_mathematics 40.00 38.00 mmlu_conceptual_physics 71.91 67.23 mmlu_formal_logic 53.97 50.00 mmlu_machine_learning 57.14 52.67 [HEADING=2]Improving memory efficiency[/HEADING] Keeping Phi Silica persistent in memory to handle sustained inference requires the memory usage of the model to be tightly bounded. We optimized the memory efficiency of the model through an iterative process of accurate memory measurements and addressing the most pressing memory issue. Some key techniques included: Weight sharing: The context processor and token iterator share the same set of quantized weights and most activation quantization parameters, which halved memory usage and accelerated model initialization. This was achieved by having the two model graphs reference the shared weights in ONNX Runtime. Memory-mapped embeddings: The embedding layer scales with the vocabulary size and the embedding dimension. Using a memory-mapped file for the embedding matrix and implementing the layer as a lookup table effectively reduced the dynamic memory footprint to zero because it eliminated the need for this large matrix to be held in memory. Disabling arena allocator: By default, ONNX Runtime uses an arena allocator, which results in excessive pre-allocation of memory. Arena allocation helps to reduce frequent memory allocations and deallocations and can be beneficial in some cases, but it leads to higher initial memory usage. For Phi Silica, the pattern of memory usage is pre-determined, so disabling this behavior improved memory efficiency overall. The combined effect of these changes, with the 4-bit quantized model led to a ~60% reduction in memory usage. [HEADING=2]Expanding the context length[/HEADING] Expanding the context length beyond the sequence length of the context processor despite static tensor shape requirements of the NPU-facing software stack was crucial for enabling real-world applications. To expand the context length and enable streaming prompt processing, we came up with two key innovations that work in tandem: Sliding window: Instead of processing the entire prompt, we process it in smaller chunks of size N (with padding applied to the last chunk if necessary). This reduces the effective sequence length of the chunked context model to N while keeping the total context length the same as before. We process each chunk sequentially and update the KV cache to maintain history. We use N=64. This approach unlocks faster processing of shorter prompts without sacrificing speed on longer prompts, i.e. prompt processing time scales with the prompt length. Context processing and token iteration process within Phi Silica Dynamic and shared KV cache: A context processor that runs wholly on the NPU but has a read-only key-value cache is highly efficient, but this limits the context length to the sequence length of the context processor. We experimented with different ways of splitting context processing across the NPU and CPU to find a good balance of speed and flexibility. The best configuration involved doing only the GroupQueryAttention operation on the CPU. This enabled a read-write, dynamic-sized KV cache for context-processing, which can then be expanded during iteration for token generation. A dynamic-sized read-write KV cache can be shared across context processing chunks, which maintains history, but also across context processing and token iteration which improves memory efficiency. Input/Output binding pre-allocates sufficient memory during context processing and enables context processing and token iteration to share a single KV cache efficiently; this improves runtime latency significantly. Memory efficiency of KV cache management is crucial because the context KV cache scales quadratically with the context length. [caption id=attachment_179259" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/Asset-9-Still-Latency-throughput_new-1024x427.png Time to first token and throughput measurements for Phi Silica[/caption] [HEADING=2]Safety alignment, Responsible AI and content moderation [/HEADING] The floating point model from which Phi Silica is derived has undergone safety alignment using a five stage ‘break-fix’ methodology similar to the one outlined in this technical report: Phi-3 Safety Post-Training: Aligning Language Models with a “Break-Fix” Cycle. Phi Silica model, the system design and the API undergo a Responsible AI impact assessment and deployment safety board reviews. Local content moderation is available in the Phi Silica developer API. An overview of this process can be reviewed here: Get started with Phi Silica in the Windows App SDK. [HEADING=2]Closing[/HEADING] We pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with today’s NPUs in a rapidly evolving, complex technical landscape. By advancing quantization research, we have achieved remarkable gains in three critical areas with Phi Silica: memory efficiency, power efficiency and inference latencies, without compromises in quality or functionality. These results underscore Microsoft's commitment to developing models that are not only powerful in capability but also highly efficient. By including Phi Silica in the operating system on Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft is ensuring that these powerful and efficient models are seamlessly integrated into Windows 11 experiences on Copilot+ PCs, empowering users to achieve more with their devices. Editor's note – Dec. 6, 2024 – In an earlier version, the 'Time to first token' graph units were mistakenly labelled as being in milliseconds (ms) instead of seconds (s). This has now been corrected. 1 Tested April 2024 using debug application for Windows Studio Effects workload comparing pre-release Copilot+ PC builds with Snapdragon Elite X 12 Core to Windows 11 PC with Intel 12th gen i7 configuration. 2 Tested April 2024 using Phi SLM workload running 512-token prompt processing in a loop with default settings comparing pre-release Copilot+ PC builds with Snapdragon Elite X 12 Core and Snapdragon X Plus 10 core configurations (QNN build) to Windows 11 PC with NVIDIA 4080 GPU configuration (CUDA build). Continue reading...

Avowed, a first-person fantasy action role-playing game from Obsidian Entertainment, is launching Feb. 18 for the Xbox app for Windows, Xbox Series X|S, Steam and Battle.net. It will be available on day one with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Xbox Wire’s Mike Nelson explores combat and player choice after he got extended hands-on time with the game. He talks to a gameplay director and senior combat designer about how Avowed rewards player choice and experimentation, while still giving them an array of weapons. Head over to his story to find out how he gravitated to a magic weapon, as well as how flexibility in combat actions was always a goal and how AI creates different dynamics based on locations. Continue reading...

The Windows Accessibility team is on a mission to make Windows 11 the most inclusive version yet and create a digital environment where everyone is empowered to achieve more. We remain committed to prioritizing feedback and insights from the disability community for our products as we continue to evolve Windows for the future. From performance improvements in Narrator and enhanced spelling and correction improvements in Voice Access, to a dedicated focus on improving reliability and core functionality across all assistive technologies, significant strides have been made in addressing the diverse needs of our customers. Today as we celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we are excited and humbled to look back at the year. [HEADING=2]Nothing about us without us[/HEADING] Microsoft Inclusive Design principles put people at the center of the design process. Fresh, diverse perspectives are the key to true insight. Developing Windows with the disability community’s input is critical to creating meaningful and effective features. The Windows Accessibility team aligns with the disability community's guiding principle, "nothing about us without us," emphasizing the importance of co-creation with our advisory boards for the blind, mobility and hard of hearing communities, grounding us in the needs of our customers. [HEADING=2]Improved performance for Narrator and Voice Access[/HEADING] Collaboration with advisory boards not only informs our understanding of customer needs but also drives meaningful updates and enhancement to reliable assistive technologies. Recent improvements include: Narrator scan mode now turns off more quickly when typing in an edit field, reducing interruptions and allowing for a smoother, more efficient typing experience. Narrator users will not face slowdown in Narrator performance when using with a single application over extended period of use. Users can now use Voice Access in additional languages: French (France), French (Canada), German, Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Mexico). Enhanced speech recognition accuracy for executing commands and text authoring will make Voice Access faster and more reliant while using. Voice Access now supports Multi Monitor setup, providing greater flexibility and control across multiple screens. Narrator and Voice Access can now be used together, allowing Narrator commands to be given through Voice Access, such as “Turn on Narrator,” “Read selection” or “Read next line.” [HEADING=2]Voice shortcuts with Voice Access[/HEADING] Voice Access now allows customers to create custom commands and voice shortcuts (English only at this time), making it easier to tailor the experience to individual needs. These shortcuts can be used to perform specific actions, such as opening a URL or executing a series of tasks in sequence, providing greater personalization. For example, a customer can create a shortcut to open their favorite news website by saying, “Go to my news,” or set up a sequence like launching a video conferencing app and muting the microphone with a single command. This feature enhances productivity by reducing repetitive steps and offering greater personalization. For guidance on setting up and using custom voice shortcuts, visit the Voice Access support page. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/Narrator_Keyboard_shortcuts1920-1024x576.png [HEADING=2]Keyboard shortcuts and enhanced image descriptions in Narrator [/HEADING] We have introduced new Narrator shortcut keys to improve usability and provide quicker access to important information such as: Narrator key + Shift + B to hear battery and network status Narrator key + Control + X to copy the last Narrator speech to the clipboard Additionally, the image description experience in Narrator has been enhanced to make visual content more accessible: Detailed AI-generated image descriptions Shortcut (Narrator key + Ctrl + D) to request descriptions of images on demand, enabling a more seamless navigation experience Quickly move between graphics or images in Scan mode (Narrator key + Spacebar) using "G" or "Shift + G" https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/VA_Shortcuts1920-1024x683.png [HEADING=2]Reliable experiences – a focus on fundamentals[/HEADING] Consistency and reliability are essential to creating a seamless experience for customers who rely on assistive technologies. That's why we’ve prioritized addressing critical issues across tools like Voice Access and Narrator, ensuring they perform as expected in day-to-day use. Recent updates have resolved issues that could disrupt workflows, allowing customers to focus on their tasks without interruptions. These improvements mean fewer frustrations, smoother navigation and increased confidence that assistive technologies will work when needed. To learn more about specific fixes and improvements, refer to Appendix in Narrator guide. [HEADING=2]Improvement to Spellings & Corrections[/HEADING] We now offer better suggestions for the Spellings & Corrections experience and support more dictation commands for selection, deletion and text navigation. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/12/VA_Correction1920-1024x683.png [HEADING=2]Join us on the journey [/HEADING] Thank you to all our Windows customers for helping us improve the accessibility experiences, especially those who try out our Windows Insider builds to give feedback earlier in the release process. We will continue to keep you updated on new features on Windows and invite you to join us by trying Windows 11 and giving us your feedback (Windows logo key + F to launch the Feedback hub) to help create better experiences for each of us. If you are a customer with a disability and need technical assistance with Windows or any other Microsoft product, please reach out to the Disability Answer Desk via phone, chat or American Sign Language (via videophone). Continue reading...

If you’re looking for a game this holiday season that’ll transport you to another era and immerse you in movie magic, check out Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a much-anticipated game coming to Windows PC (with Game Pass), Xbox Series X|S and Steam on Dec. 9. Xbox Wire has published several articles related to this launch to get you up to speed. MachineGames, the studio behind the game, delivers insights and tips throughout those stories, including how it mixed modern game design with traditional filmmaking techniques, the work it took making Indy’s character as authentic as possible and the prominence of puzzles in both the films and this title. Head over to Xbox Wire to get caught up! Continue reading...

Xbox Wire’s Danielle Partis is not a fan of scary games, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl – which launches today on Xbox Series X|S and PC – is a first-person survival journey where The Zone encompasses a “unique, complex and compelling setting to unravel.” She writes, “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is an open world affair, in which you’re expected to fend for yourself in brutal and unpredictable situations, where basically any living thing you come across can and will hurt you. For those unfamiliar with the series, it is paramount to stay prepared – as with any survival game, you’ll need to constantly be on the hunt for weapon ammo, medical supplies and food. Not to mention, this entire habitat is one giant, quarantined hazard, brimming with monsters, environmental anomalies and of course, radiation.” Find out more about the game on Xbox Wire and read about the journey the studio took to finish it. Continue reading...

The pilot had been missing for about a week, last seen taking off from an airport in Covington, Washington, heading home in his Piper Dakota to Puyallup, about 36 miles south of Seattle. Though he had gone down in the heavily developed and densely populated suburbs, no one had been able to find him or his small aircraft. This was 2007 and Khoi Duong was on an air mission as part of a search and rescue team. He’d already gone up once that day looking for the missing pilot, eyes continually scanning the landscape below, looking for something, anything, that could lead them to him and his aircraft. Duong, who was raised in Seattle, was a high school intern at Microsoft. After he graduated from the University of Washington, he returned to Microsoft and is now a full-time quality engineer within Xbox Game Studios. His professional and volunteer worlds intertwine constantly. As a tester, he lent his search and rescue expertise to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which released Nov. 19 on PCs (Win 10/11 and Steam) and consoles (Xbox Series X|S). https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/MSFS_Limitless_Screenshot_09-1024x576-1.jpg Fans of the sim have asked repeatedly for search and rescue situations, and they’ve gotten their wish with this release. MSFS 2024 is as close as someone can get on a computer or console to flying all kinds of aircraft, from gliders to Cessnas to vintage fighter planes and commercial airliners. In this newest version, flying search and rescue missions is a career option, complete with step-by-step guides that allow players to take what they’ve learned and apply it to each stage of becoming a first responder. Find out more about Duong’s search and rescue experiences, along with others’ perspectives on this part of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, on Microsoft Source. Continue reading...

At Microsoft, security is our top priority, and with every release, Windows becomes even more secure. At Ignite 2024, we will highlight new Windows security innovations that will provide the clarity and confidence our customers and organizations require while navigating this evolving digital landscape. We will also talk about our learnings from the July incident, and investments we are making as a result. Protecting your data and ensuring the integrity of your systems is paramount. From chip to cloud, Microsoft provides multiple layers of security to help protect identities and data, and enables an expansive ecosystem for innovation at a critical time. As the security landscape evolves, we continuously enhance Windows' security and resilience, ensuring it remains a secure platform for our partners, developers and customers. A strong security posture is essential for your business, and a shared responsibility across our ecosystem. This week at Ignite, we’re sharing more on our Secure Future Initiative (SFI) — our commitment to making security foundational in everything we do at Microsoft. Since launching SFI, we’ve focused the equivalent of 34,000 full-time engineers on the highest-priority security challenges. The November update dives into insights across all aspects of SFI as well as learnings that customers can implement to strengthen their own security posture. Explore the latest insights and best practices in our November update. [HEADING=1]Security and Resiliency: Our Top Priority[/HEADING] Protecting your organization’s data from emerging threats and ensuring system integrity is paramount. Windows 11 raises the bar for security and reliability, while maintaining the Windows open ecosystem where customers and partners innovate freely. We are committed to ensuring that Windows remains the most reliable and resilient open platform for our customers. As part of this commitment, we are introducing the Windows Resiliency Initiative, covering four areas of focus: Strengthen reliability based on learnings from the incident we saw in July. Enabling more apps and users to run without admin privileges. Stronger controls for what apps and drivers are allowed to run. Improved identity protection to prevent phishing attacks. Empowering IT administrators with great tools during critical times is a top priority. Our first step is born out of the learnings from the July incident with the announcement of Quick Machine Recovery. This feature will enable IT administrators to execute targeted fixes from Windows Update on PCs, even when machines are unable to boot, without needing physical access to the PC. This remote recovery will unblock your employees from broad issues much faster than what has been possible in the past. Quick Machine Recovery will be available to the Windows Insider Program community in early 2025. We are our evolving our partnership with endpoint security partners who you rely on to keep your employees safe as part of the Microsoft Virus Initiative (MVI). Together, we will adopt Safe Deployment Practices, which means that all security product updates must be gradual, leverage deployment rings, as well as monitoring to ensure any negative impact from updates is kept to a minimum. To help our customers and partners increase resilience, we are developing new Windows capabilities that will allow security product developers to build their products outside of kernel mode. This means security products, like anti-virus solutions, can run in user mode just as apps do. This change will help security developers provide a high level of security, easier recovery, and there will be less impact to Windows in the event of a crash or mistake. A private preview will be made available for our security product ecosystem in July 2025. And, in alignment with the Secure Future Initiative, we are adopting safer programming languages, gradually moving functionality from C++ implementation to Rust. [HEADING=1]Windows 11 Secure by Default: More Secure than Windows 10 [/HEADING] Moving to Windows 11 provides a more protected environment with advanced security features. We are intently focused on raising the bar to ensure robust defense against sophisticated attacks. All new Windows 11 PCs require a hardware-backed security baseline, such as TPM 2.0 and virtualization-based security by default. This baseline is the starting point, and the foundation needed to help secure everything else on Windows. Copilot+ PCs feature Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security, and the built-in Microsoft Pluton security processor, ensuring they meet the high standards of secured-core PCs by default. Built into new Windows 11 PCs, including Copilot+ PCs, are a growing list of existing features now enabled by default, or with additional protections added to significantly reduce the potential for attacks. These changes make Windows 11 more secure by default than Windows 10, from the chip to the cloud. Examples include Credential Guard, vulnerable driver block list, Local Security Authority (LSA) protection now enabled by default for new consumer devices, and BitLocker enabled by default on most modern systems. In addition, insecure code and crypto algorithms have been removed, and kernel attack surfaces, like Tool Tips, have been moved to user mode. Our security teams are working hard for you, so you don’t need to spend your time manually enabling security on new or upgraded PCs. Our focused security work, driven by observing attacker patterns and behaviors, has resulted in a reported 62% drop in security incidents and a threefold reduction in firmware attacks and 2.9 times fewer instances of identity theft reported.1 [HEADING=1]New Windows 11 Security [/HEADING] Security is a pursuit, and not a destination. Today, I am announcing new features to help commercial customers with three longstanding challenges with Windows security — overprivileged users and applications; unverified apps and drivers; and insecure credentials and authentications. These capabilities have been top requests from customers around the world, including our internal Microsoft security team who we are working with to ensure real-world testing in preparation for scaling to our largest customers. [HEADING=2]Reducing Administrator Privileges[/HEADING] Running users and apps as administrator violated the principle of least privilege and leads to many security incidents. As noted in the 2024 Microsoft Digital Defense Report, token theft incidents, which abuse user’s privileges, have grown to an estimated 39,000 per day1. With that in mind, organizations today have a complex binary challenge when setting up policy for employees. The choice is between having users with standard user permissions or users with administrator permissions. By choosing to run with administrator permissions, you can do every modification you need — like adjusting the time-zone, making registry changes, installing applications and many other tasks without friction. However, the bad news is that if malware infects your account, it then also has direct access to critical system resources, and can silently make changes that cause disruption, result in data loss, or worse. By contrast, standard user permission offers better security. User access to critical system resources is blocked by default, and it helps block malware or apps from silently changing machine configurations. However, standard user permission is frustrating for users as they cannot do some common tasks like changing the time settings or installing productivity applications, because in many cases a standard user will not have the administrator credential. Standard user permission also creates an additional overhead for IT to help users with acceptable tasks, unless they have tools such as Microsoft Intune Endpoint Privilege Management. Administrator protection, currently in preview, is a new solution where users have the security of standard user permissions by default, but can still easily make system changes, including app installation, on their PCs when needed. With administrator protection, if a system change requires administrator rights, like some app installations, the user is prompted to securely authorize the change using Windows Hello. Windows creates a temporary isolated admin token to get the job done. This temporary token is immediately destroyed once the task is complete, ensuring that admin privileges do not persist. Administrator protection helps ensure that users, and not malware, remain in control of system resources. It will also be disruptive to attackers as they no longer have automatic, direct access to the kernel or other critical system security without specific Windows Hello authorization. [caption id=attachment_179206" align="alignnone" width="815]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/prompt-815x1024.jpg User prompts for authorizing admin operations[/caption] [HEADING=2]Protecting Credentials[/HEADING] Credential and identity theft is a prime focus of cyberattacks. In fact, Microsoft Entra data shows that of more than 600 million identity attacks per day, more than 99% are password-based2. And our findings reveal that Multifactor Authentication (MFA) offers outstanding protection, with over 99.99% of MFA-enabled accounts remaining secure during the investigation period3. We continue to add additional protection for credentials and authentications. Windows Hello is the built-in MFA solution on Windows. It has been further hardened and extended to support passkeys. You no longer need to choose between a simple sign-in and a safe sign-in. Windows Hello is also being used to protect Recall and Personal Data Encryption. [HEADING=2]Trusted Apps and Drivers[/HEADING] Many attacks occur due to users downloading unsafe or unsigned apps and drivers. We continue to add protections to help you defend yourself and your organization from malicious apps and drivers. Smart App Control and App Control for Business policies provide peace of mind that only verified apps can run on your device. This eliminates attacks like malicious attachments or social engineered malware. With the power of AI, we’ve made it much simpler to deploy. IT admins can simply select the ‘signed and reputable policy’ template in the app control wizard. This enables millions of verified apps to run regardless of the deployment location. Line of business apps unknown to Microsoft can be easily added by the IT admin through policy changes or via Microsoft Intune managed app deployments. Windows Protected Print works seamlessly with Mopria-certified devices and does not require third-party drivers. It is designed to mitigate many of the past security issues with print drivers, and offers a more streamlined experience. [HEADING=2]Data Protection[/HEADING] Your commercial data is one of the most important assets for your business, and we are providing more encryption options, including Personal Data Encryption. Personal Data Encryption for known folders is a new Windows 11 Enterprise capability using Windows Hello authentication to help protect files stored in the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders. Protection is indicated by the lock icon on the file. With Personal Data Encryption enabled, a device administrator won't be able to view file content, as the files remain encrypted until you authenticate with Windows Hello. An IT admin, using Microsoft Intune (or another management tool) can select all or a subset of these folders to apply Personal Data Encryption. It integrates with OneDrive and SharePoint on Microsoft 365 to allow for easy collaboration. Personal Data Encryption can be used independently of BitLocker, or other solutions, and when combined with BitLocker, it offers double encryption protection. Enterprise developers can also leverage the Personal Data Encryption API to extend protection of their application data. [HEADING=2]OS Management and Configuration[/HEADING] In addition to evolving security features, we continue to evolve tools to enable IT to manage and configure Windows at scale. Hotpatch in Windows is being introduced for Windows 11 Enterprise 24H2 and Windows 365. This revolutionary feature allows businesses to apply critical security updates without requiring a system restart, shortening your time to adopt critical security updates by up to 60% from the moment a security update is offered. With hotpatching through your Windows Autopatch settings in Microsoft Intune, you can reduce the number of system restarts for Windows updates from 12 times a year to just four, minimizing security risk while keeping systems secure and productivity uninterrupted. This means consistent protection, and a streamlined, seamless experience for your users. Hotpatch in Windows is currently in preview. Zero Trust DNS. Network destinations are often defined by domain names, making enforcement challenging. Zero Trust DNS restricts Windows devices to approved domains, blocking outbound IPv4 and IPv6 traffic unless resolved by a Protected DNS server or allowed by IT admin. Learn more about the Zero Trust DNS preview. Config Refresh, available now, is a frequently requested feature as configuration drift can occur when a user or app makes changes to a PCs system registry. Config Refresh helps enforce MDM-defined security policies by automatically returning PC settings to the preferred configuration. Config Refresh works locally on the PC without needing to connect to the MDM, so devices can self-manage settings drift even when offline. [HEADING=1]Security and Innovation for a Reliable Digital Future [/HEADING] Nearly 40 years after its launch, Windows continues to evolve to meet the challenges of the ever-changing digital landscape and delivering on expectations for reliability and security. Security is a team effort; by collaborating with OEM partners, app developers and others we deliver Windows from chip to cloud, secure by design and default. The updated Windows Security book is available to help you understand how to stay secure with Windows. Learn more about Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs. To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity. Continue reading...

Windows has been at the heart of modern computing for nearly 40 years. It is the ubiquitous, open platform that powers computing experiences around the world and plays a significant role across multiple industries, such as education, government, military, hospitals and corporations, many of which provide mission critical services requiring a high level of security and resiliency. And this responsibility that Windows holds to keep businesses of every size running is one we take seriously. In close collaboration with our ecosystem partners, we ensure that Windows remains the optimal platform for organizations to perform at their best. As we enter this new era of work, we are focused on empowering our customers and organizations to modernize their computing experience with AI experiences and the cloud. As we come together at Microsoft Ignite 2024, we're excited to unveil the latest security, AI and cloud innovations coming to Windows for our commercial customers. We're pushing the boundaries to continue making Windows the most secure and performant platform for you and your organization. Announcements include: The latest security innovation, requirements and updates on our commitment to building the most secure operating system on Earth Availability of new cutting-edge AI tools for our developer community designed to drive new innovation on Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11 Updates on AI-powered Copilot+ PCs with Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 for enhanced productivity The introduction of a new class of devices built to connect securely to Windows 365 in seconds, and expansion of Cloud PC solutions to more jobs such as Frontline workers, BYOD (bring your own device) employees, high-capacity computing and cloud-powered resiliency. Throughout the next few days, we will outline our commitment to security, productivity and user experiences across Windows 11, Copilot+ PCs and Windows 365. Windows 11 is the most secure operating system on Earth, and the best computing platform for businesses of all sizes. We will explore how, together, Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 boost employee productivity, the value and performance Copilot+ PCs provide organizations, and we will share details on the right IT controls and security layers available to safeguard your organization. Additionally, we will highlight how Windows enables management of countless mission-critical workloads and how we are extending Windows across more platforms, to more jobs, with Windows 365 Cloud PCs. [HEADING=1]Security and Resiliency: Our Top Priority [/HEADING] [caption id=attachment_179197" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/WLL_Security_Diagram_no-shadow-1024x576.png Layers of protection chip to cloud[/caption] Protecting your organization’s data from emerging threats and ensuring system integrity is paramount. Windows 11 raises the bar for security and reliability, while maintaining the Windows open ecosystem where customers and partners innovate freely. We are committed to ensuring that Windows remains the most reliable and resilient open platform for our customers. As part of this commitment, we are introducing the Windows Resiliency Initiative, covering four areas of work: Strengthen reliability based on learnings from the incident we saw in July Enabling more apps and users to run without admin privileges Stronger controls for what apps and drivers are allowed to run Improved identity protection to prevent phishing attacks Empowering IT administrators with great tools during critical times is a top priority. Our first step is born out of the learnings from the July incident with the announce of Quick Machine Recovery. This feature will enable IT administrators to execute targeted fixes from Windows Update on PCs, even when machines are unable to boot, without needing physical access to the PC. This remote recovery will unblock your employees from broad issues much faster than what has been possible in the past. This feature will be available to the Windows Insider Program community in early 2025. We are also evolving our partnership with endpoint security partners you rely on to keep your employees safe. For over 20 years, we have collaborated deeply with these partners as part of the Microsoft Virus Initiative (MVI). These partners have extensive integration with the Windows platform and play a significant role in safeguarding customers' digital portfolios. This summer we brought together a group of industry leaders and partners to discuss new ways we can work together to ensure that Windows 11 remains the most secure and resilient operating system. As an outcome of that summit, MVI partners will be required to take specific actions to improve security and reliability. In addition to increased testing and strengthened incident response processes, these partners must follow safe deployment practices for updates to your Windows endpoints. The practices include controlled gradual rollouts, and the monitoring and recovery procedures such as those recently shared by the US Cybersecurity and Secure Infrastructure Administration (CISA). The close Microsoft collaboration with MVI partners also includes working on new Windows platform capabilities to enable running anti-virus processing outside kernel mode. This will enable anti-virus products on Windows to provide a high level of security while minimizing reliability risks, as crashes outside kernel mode will only affect the anti-virus application, and not all of Windows. A private preview of these new Windows security platform capabilities will be made available to partners in July 2025. Our focus on Windows security goes well beyond the close collaboration with the MVI partners. Our Windows Secure by Design strategy is a comprehensive approach to ensuring that Windows 11 is the most secure operating system we have ever built, from the moment you power on your PC. [HEADING=2] With Windows 11, we've achieved a remarkable 3x reported reduction in firmware attacks and 2.9x fewer instances of credential theft compared to Windows 101 [/HEADING] We continue to raise the security bar with hardware security baseline requirements, security at every endpoint and related features enabled on by default. Hardware Security Baseline: Our customers expect that every Windows 11 PC is safe and secure. Windows 11 leverages the latest hardware security features, such as TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, to provide a robust defense against sophisticated attacks. Hardware security baselines now provide organizations with a consistent foundation and the confidence they expect in their operating system. User-centric security enhancements: Guided by the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative, we are making big changes to deliver the highest level of Windows security. Smart App Control and App Control for Business policies provide peace of mind that only verified apps can run on your device, helping fend off attacks like malicious attachments or even social engineered malware. Windows Hello authentication has been extended to passkeys, so that you no longer have to choose between a simple sign-in and a safe one. Administrator protection: We have introduced a new feature in preview where employees have standard user permissions by default, but can still make Windows system changes, including app installation, when necessary. With administrator protection enabled, if a system change requires administrator rights, the employee is prompted to authorize the change using Windows Hello. Upon approving the change, Windows creates a temporary isolated admin token that is destroyed once the process is completed. Administrator Protection helps to ensure that employees remain in control, not malware. Learn more from David Weston about these new security enhancements. [HEADING=2] Windows 365 and Windows 11 provided us with the capability, the operational resilience, the security that we needed to be able to provide a secure platform on which to build our products and services off. [/HEADING] [HEADING=2] --Sandra Lee, Group Chief Information Security Officer, London Stock Exchange Group [/HEADING] For detailed insights into these features and our Windows security priorities, please refer to our updated Windows Security book. This book provides a comprehensive view of our commitment to the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative and our aligned Windows security goals. [HEADING=1]Empowering Developers with Cutting-Edge AI Tools[/HEADING] https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/Windows-Copilot-Runtime-stack-1024x632.jpg As we continue our journey into the AI era of computing, providing the right software tools and performant hardware to our developer community is critical to our success. This important community is at the forefront of this AI transformation, and with the introduction of Copilot+ PCs equipped with a powerful neural processing unit (NPU), we are seeing accelerated innovation around new AI experiences. Today, I’m excited to share new capabilities for developers which are designed to assist in the integration of AI in applications. At Build 2024, we introduced Windows Copilot Runtime (WCR), a reliable platform for developers to create innovative experiences more securely and efficiently, regardless of where they are on their AI development journey. Windows Copilot Runtime encompasses AI frameworks and tool chains that enable developers to integrate their own on-device models into Windows, utilizing robust client silicon such as GPUs and NPUs. Whether they are just getting started or are already building custom models, WCR includes a set of APIs that are powered by over 40 on-device models included with Windows. Phi 3.5 Silica, built from the Phi series of models, is optimized for the Snapdragon X series NPU in Copilot+ PCs, enabling text intelligence capabilities like text summarization, text completion and text prediction. Developers can access Phi 3.5 Silica API and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) API which recognizes and extracts text present within an image in Windows App SDK 1.7 Experimental 2 release in January. Today, I’m pleased to announce four new Imaging APIs in Windows Copilot Runtime which developers can access in Windows App SDK 1.7 Experimental 2 release in January. Image super resolution: API increases fidelity of the image as well as upscaling the resolution of the image. This API can be used to enhance clarity of blurry images. Image segmentation: API enables separating foreground and background of an image, as well as removing specific objects or regions within an image. Creativity apps like image editing or video editing can easily bring background removal capabilities in their apps using this API. Object erase: This API enables erasing unwanted objects from the image and blends the erased area with the rest of the background. Image description: API provides a text description of an image. We are seeing exciting innovation with Windows Copilot Runtime and the NPU, coming from new third-party developers such as Adobe Premiere Pro, LiquidText, Dot Vista, Promeo by Cyberlink, McAfee’s Deepfake Detector, Capture One, Affinity Photo and more. In addition to the new AI-powered APIs and frameworks, it’s important to enhance developer productivity with tools they need to be efficient in their workflow. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) offers a robust environment for AI development on Windows, allowing developers to simultaneously run Windows and Linux workloads. Starting today, we are introducing several critical enhancements to WSL and WinGet, empowering IT professionals to effectively manage their enterprise’s line-of-business applications. Intune device compliance integration will provide IT professionals with an interface to control WSL distribution and version usage in their enterprise with controlled access. Microsoft Entra ID integration with WSL allows enterprise developers to access protected enterprise resources from a WSL distribution. It provides an automatic connection for Linux processes to use the underlying Windows authentication. We are excited to offer developers more choices for Linux distribution on WSL. With a new WSL distribution architecture, we are providing additional extensibility to IT professionals and enterprise developers to have more Linux distributions including Red Hat to choose from. [HEADING=1]Harnessing the Power of AI: Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs[/HEADING] AI is at the heart of our vision for the future of Windows 11, and its introduction into the productivity space is an exciting step forward. By leveraging the combined strengths of Windows 11 and Microsoft 365, we empower employees to achieve more with less effort through all-new AI experiences on Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11. With an integrated NPU capable of 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second), Copilot+ PCs provide unique AI experiences and rich contextual insights across applications, with near real-time processing capabilities and support for the next generation of AI applications. When you add Microsoft 365 and the suite of innovative tools – including a large language model, graph and productivity features – employees can improve workflows, communicate effectively and collaborate more efficiently. With the introduction of Copilot+ PCs, Windows has been rearchitected, in collaboration with AMD, Intel and Qualcomm, and OEM partners, to optimize every layer of the stack for AI experiences. Copilot+ PCs are the fastest, most intelligent and the most secure PCs we've ever built. Together, Windows 11 on Copilot+ PCs with Microsoft 365 deliver experiences that enrich and empower employees and businesses in valuable new ways. Our innovation focuses on three key aspects of the employee experience: simplifying workflows, helping you find information faster and improving communication tools so everyone can be seen, heard and understood. Together, Windows and Microsoft 365 offer an experience with fewer clicks, less friction, richer context and greater capabilities for everyone. [caption id=attachment_179200" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/WIN24_CML_CP_M365App_16x10_en-US_1920Nov18-1024x640.png Microsoft 365 Copilot[/caption] [HEADING=2]Simplifying Your Workflow[/HEADING] An important aspect of productivity is the ability for employees to quickly switch between tasks, navigate applications and identify the right tools. This all takes time and effort which may distract from the task at hand. With Microsoft 365 Copilot on Windows 11, employees with a Copilot+ PC have access to a personal assistant for work designed to scale their impact, including aiding in idea generation, collaboration and task completion. We have only just begun unlocking new possibilities with Microsoft 365 Copilot on Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft 365 Copilot can harness the power of AI by utilizing the integrated NPU, allowing models to run locally. This reduces reliance on an internet connection for tasks such as AI writing assistance in applications like Outlook and Word. In the coming months, organizations will experience even greater benefits through new AI innovations, making generative writing capabilities accessible to more employees and enabling them to achieve more with less effort. Learn more from Jared Spataro about Microsoft 365 Copilot innovations in his blog. [HEADING=2]Recall (Preview): Disabled by Default[/HEADING] Earlier this year, we introduced Recall for Copilot+ PCs, designed to make it easier to quickly find what you've seen before on your PC. We heard your feedback on needing a secure and controllable experience for using Recall in your organizations, and it will be. Recall will be disabled by default, and IT will enable this feature through new policies before it can be made available to employees for opting in and will ship with meaningful security enhancements, including additional layers of data encryption and Windows Hello protection, making it one of the most secure experiences we have ever built. Our goal is to ensure that your employee and organization data is protected from the beginning, and we look forward to hearing your feedback on this new experience. [caption id=attachment_179201" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/WIN24_CML_CP_Recall_Settings-Filter_Sensitive_Info_1920Nov18-1024x640.png Recall IT controls[/caption] [HEADING=2]AI Assistance at Your Fingertips[/HEADING] Another Copilot+ PC feature recently announced is Click to Do (preview), an all-new powerful productivity paradigm that puts AI at your fingertips to assist with many tasks across applications such as being able to summarize any content on your screen, even if it’s in a Teams call. Click to Do (preview) in Recall is releasing first to our Windows Insider community on Copilot+ PCs before rolling out more broadly to our customers. It is designed to connect you to quick AI actions based on the context of what's on your screen, making it faster and easier to get things done, all done in secure and private workflows. [caption id=attachment_179202" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/WIN24_CML_CP_Click_to_Do-Text_Actions_Flow-3_1920_Nov18-1024x640.png Click to Do (preview)[/caption] [HEADING=2]Finding What You’re Looking For Faster[/HEADING] A seamless workflow relies on quickly finding what you need. Employees often struggle to locate files or information on their PC and across applications. Copilot+ PCs, with powerful NPUs, will reduce this frustration using Improved Windows Search, which uses federated semantic search to interpret user intent even when it doesn't match the exact file name. This feature will be released first to our Windows Insider community on Copilot+ PCs, starting early next year, before rolling out more broadly to our customers. Our Microsoft 365 Copilot customers can search both local and cloud files, boosting efficiency. These capabilities will expand to the Windows search box and Settings in the future. [caption id=attachment_179203" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/WIN24_CML_CP_IWS_File_Explorer_Search_1920Nov18-1024x640.png Improved Windows Search[/caption] [HEADING=2]Effective Communication and Team Collaboration[/HEADING] Achieving optimal productivity involves more than just completing tasks; it also includes enabling employees to communicate effectively while engaging in work they are passionate about. When using Teams on Copilot+ PCs, employees will experience optimized performance and reduced battery consumption. Teams Super Resolution enhances the quality of incoming video, improving visibility of colleagues even with weak internet connections. Live Captions with live translation support from over 40 languages into English, makes it easier than ever to connect with colleagues near and far2. And, for the days you need to look and sound your best, Windows Studio Effects provide valuable visual and audio filters, providing optimal appearance and sound quality during a video call. These innovative experiences are powered by Windows Copilot Runtime. Studio Effects, Live captions with live translations and Image super resolution are available as ready to use APIs in Windows Copilot Runtime. Organizations can leverage these APIs to bring similar experiences to life in your applications, such as WhatsApp who has upgraded their user experience adding Windows Studio Effects controls directly into the UI. Learn more. [caption id=attachment_179204" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/WIN24_CML_CP_Teams_Super_Resolution_Flow2_1920Nov18-1024x640.png Teams Super Resolution[/caption] [HEADING=1]Work Securely and with Enhanced Flexibility in the Cloud [/HEADING] With Windows 365, we extend Windows 11, Microsoft 365 and AI capabilities across any platform. Give employees the limitless computing power of Windows in the cloud, with access to the same Windows experience no matter which device they are on. With Windows 365 you can ensure business continuity across your entire team from remote and in-person employees, to consultants, contractors and temporary workers. [HEADING=2]A More Secure Way to Access Your Work – Windows 365 Link[/HEADING] As organizations shift more workloads to the cloud for better security and flexibility, Microsoft is expanding its Cloud PC solution with a new class of devices built to connect securely to Windows 365 in seconds. Today we are excited to announce Windows 365 Link – the simple, secure and purpose-built device for Windows 365. Windows 365 Link is now in preview and will become generally available for purchase in select markets at $349 starting April 2025. It enables desk-based users to work securely on a familiar Windows desktop in the Microsoft Cloud with responsive, high-fidelity experiences. Compact, fanless and lightweight, Windows 365 Link can be conveniently shipped directly to users. It boots in seconds, wakes instantly from sleep, and offers local processing for video conferencing solutions such as Microsoft Teams meetings and Webex by Cisco, maximizing employee productivity. Windows 365 Link supports dual 4K monitors, four USB ports, an audio port, an Ethernet Port, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, making it compatible with both wired and wireless peripherals. It is simple to manage using Microsoft Intune alongside other PCs with a small Windows-based OS footprint with minimal applicable configuration policies. Windows 365 Link is designed with security in mind. The device does not store local data or apps and employees do not have admin privileges, ensuring corporate data stays protected within the Microsoft Cloud. Security baseline policies are enabled by default and security features cannot be disabled. Login is simple and secure with password-less authentication using Microsoft Entra ID and the Microsoft Authenticator app or USB security keys. Windows is dedicated to delivering choice and flexibility for our customers. Critical to that effort is our OEM and silicon ecosystem. Just like we did with 2:1s, we’re starting with first party devices and doing the work to get the product experience right. As we continue to expand the Cloud PC category, we look forward to expanding offerings as well, scaling with our OEM partners in 2025. [caption id=attachment_179205" align="alignnone" width="1024]https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2024/11/Windows-365-Link-front-side-angle-powered-on-1024x576.jpg Windows 365 Link[/caption] [HEADING=2]Support for Frontline Workers and BYOD[/HEADING] Today at Ignite, we are also announcing Windows 365 Frontline provisioned in “shared mode,” which will provide a new way to access Windows 365 Cloud PCs and is now available in preview. This new mode is designed for users who need brief access to complete ad-hoc tasks quickly and securely from a non-personalized Windows desktop environment and their user data is deleted upon log off. Additionally, Windows App now supports Mobile application management (MAM) for iOS and Android. Now in preview, MAM enhances device redirection and strengthens security on unmanaged or externally managed devices. It allows organizations to define device security criteria and customize access, supporting BYOD scenarios. [HEADING=2] [/HEADING] [HEADING=2] --Vineet Gupta, Head of Employee Experience, HP [/HEADING] [HEADING=2]Extending Windows 11 to Mixed Reality[/HEADING] Windows in mixed reality brings the full capabilities of Windows 11 to mixed reality headsets, starting with Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S. Access to your local Windows PC or Windows 365 Cloud PC from a Quest headset is seamless and it takes only seconds to connect to a private, high-quality, large, multiple-monitor workstation. This will be available in public preview by the end of the year. [HEADING=2]Endpoint Modernization[/HEADING] We continue to make progress on Windows endpoint modernization, designed to enhance security, productivity and management efficiency for organizations moving to Windows 11. As the end of support for Windows 10 approaches, there has never been a better time to upgrade to Windows 11, a more secure and resilient computing environment that empowers organizations to protect their data, optimize productivity and remain competitive in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. And with features like Windows Backup for Organizations with Entra ID Accounts coming in public preview this Spring, the transition to Windows 11 is easier than ever before. Learn more about the tools and resources available to organizations. And, as more of our customers make the move to the cloud, we continue to support them with Cloud PCs, Cloud Services and Cloud Management tools. Today at Ignite we announced several new features to help IT management ensure they can minimize the impact to the already stretched resources within their teams. Windows Update for Business deployment service has now been woven into Windows Autopatch, providing a more cohesive and streamlined update experience. With this change, customers can use Windows Autopatch to simplify keeping their Windows devices up to date. This automation helps to ensure the seamless deployment of updates for the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Edge. The unified dashboard in the Microsoft Intune admin center allows for easy management of update policies, groups, status and reports, enabling IT professionals to maintain the level of control needed for their organization. This approach aims to reduce complexity, enhance compliance and security, and improve resource allocation. This dashboard ensures timely updates, minimizes disruptions and frees IT resources for strategic initiatives, without requiring additional licensing. Hotpatch for Windows is an innovative feature in preview, aimed at boosting both productivity and security. With Hotpatch, updates are downloaded in the background and become effective immediately upon installation, eliminating the need for a device restart. This enables customers to work without interruptions, while keeping systems protected with the latest security updates. When combined with Windows Autopatch, Hotpatch streamlines the update process and significantly shortens the time needed for applying updates. Organizations utilizing Windows Autopatch have reported up to a 95% reduction in the time required to deploy feature updates. Hotpatch will also be available on Windows 365 Cloud PCs. Learn more about the related tools and resources available to the Windows ITPro Community. [HEADING=1]Building a Future with Windows: Innovation and Security at the Forefront[/HEADING] As we look to the future, our mission remains clear: to create a seamless and secure experience for every customer, organization and developer. With the new capabilities in Windows 11, Copilot+ PCs and Windows 365, combined with our relentless focus on innovation, we are building a future where we will unlock the full potential of what Windows can offer. What you've seen today is just the beginning. We're committed to continuous innovation and improvement. Whether it's through enhanced security, better performance or transformative AI experiences, we're building a future where Windows empowers every user and organization to achieve more. 1 Windows 11 Survey Report. Techaisle, September 2024. Commissioned by Microsoft. Windows 11 results are in comparison with Windows 10 devices. 2 On some devices, Copilot+ PC experiences require free updates available starting later this year and continuing into 2025. Timing varies by device and region. See aka.ms/copilotpluspcs Continue reading...

Two things can be true at the same time. In the case of AI, it is absolutely true that the industry is moving incredibly fast and evolving quickly. It’s also true that hundreds of thousands of customers are using Microsoft AI technology today and, by making early bets on the platform, are seeing big benefits now and future-proofing their ability to benefit from the next big wave of AI improvements. Microsoft Ignite is our annual event that spotlights the updates and creations that enable customers, partners and developers to unleash the full potential of Microsoft’s technology and change the way we approach work. This year, we are announcing about 80 new products and features, including new capabilities in Microsoft 365 Copilot, additions to the Copilot + AI stack and new Copilot+ devices offerings. Underpinning each of these innovations is our commitment to security. Since launching our Secure Future Initiative (SFI) one year ago, we have made security the No. 1 job of every employee at Microsoft, dedicated 34,000 engineers to this focus and, at Ignite, we will announce innovations that are rooted in our SFI principles: secure by design, secure by default and secure operations. More than 200,000 people have registered to join us for this year’s Ignite, with more than 14,000 attendees at our in-person events in Chicago. Attendees can choose from more than 800 sessions, demos and expert-led labs from Microsoft and our partners. Most of the Ignite content will be available on demand for those who can’t attend the live event. [HEADING=2]Copilot momentum[/HEADING] Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work, and we have seen the momentum grow as more organizations are moving to Copilot and deploying it to great success. All up, nearly 70% of the Fortune 500 now use Microsoft 365 Copilot. That echoes an industry trend: A recent IDC study showed that generative AI is on the rise, with 75% adoption among companies surveyed in 2024. In addition, for every $1 invested, companies are realizing a return of $3.70, and leaders are saying they are realizing as much as a $10 return, according to the study. The investments that Microsoft has made in Copilot are paying dividends for our customers. We recently highlighted some of the more than 200 customer stories of accelerated AI Transformation, with Copilot helping many of them spark innovation and transform their organization for the better. Several examples include: Power management company Eaton used Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline and automate operations, improve data access, centralize knowledge and empower teams to focus on higher-value tasks. Copilot helped Eaton’s Finance operations document over 9,000 standard operating procedures (SOPs), an 83% time savings for each SOP documented. Consulting firm McKinsey & Company is creating an agent to speed up the client onboarding process. The pilot showed lead time could be reduced by 90% and administrative work reduced by 30%. The agent automates complex processes, such as identifying the right expert capabilities and staffing teams and acts as a single place where colleagues can ask questions and request follow-ups. By streamlining tasks and reducing manual inputs, this agent could potentially save consultants many hours, allowing them to spend more time with clients. [HEADING=2]Boosting productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot [/HEADING] Microsoft is continuing to supercharge productivity with new capabilities in Microsoft 365 Copilot designed to help simplify the workday. Copilot Actions, now in private preview, enable anyone to automate everyday tasks with simple, fill-in-the-blank prompts, whether it’s getting a daily summary of meeting actions in Microsoft Teams, compiling weekly reports or getting an email upon return from vacation that summarizes missed meetings, chats and emails. Anyone can easily set up Actions right in their Microsoft 365 app, allowing users to focus on more impactful work, save time and boost productivity. New agents in Microsoft 365 are designed to help scale individual impact and transform business process. At Ignite we will introduce: Agents in SharePoint: These natural language AI assistants are grounded on relevant SharePoint sites, files and folders to make it easy to find answers from that content, and to make quicker decisions as a result. Now generally available, every SharePoint site will include an agent tailored to its content. Users can also create customized agents scoped to select SharePoint files, folders or sites with as little as one click. Interpreter: This agent in Teams helps users overcome language barriers by enabling real-time, speech-to-speech interpretation in meetings. Available in public preview in early 2025, meeting participants will also have the option to have the agent simulate their personal voice. The Employee Self-Service Agent: An agent available in private preview in Business Chat expedites answers for the most common policy-related questions and simplifies action-taking on key HR and IT-related tasks — like helping employees understand their benefits or request a new laptop. It can be customized in Copilot Studio to meet an organization’s unique needs. Other agents in public preview take real-time meeting notes in Teams and automate project management from start to finish in Planner. [HEADING=2]Copilot + AI Stack[/HEADING] The Copilot stack empowers users to build more ambitious products by leveraging advanced technology at each layer of the stack. To create a unified experience where customers can design, customize and manage AI applications and agents, we are introducing Azure AI Foundry, which gives customers access to all existing Azure AI services and tooling, plus new capabilities like: Azure AI Foundry SDK, now available in preview, provides a unified toolchain for designing, customizing and managing AI apps and agents with enterprise-grade control and customization. With tools that help organizations responsibly scale their applications, Foundry also provides 25 prebuilt app templates and a simplified coding experience they can access from familiar tools like GitHub, Visual Studio and Copilot Studio. Azure AI Foundry portal (formerly Azure AI Studio), now available in preview, is a comprehensive visual user interface to help developers discover AI models, services and tools. With a new management center experience that brings essential subscription information into a single dashboard, the portal also helps IT admins, operations and compliance teams manage AI applications at scale. Azure AI Agent Service, coming soon to preview, will enable professional developers to orchestrate, deploy and scale enterprise enterprise-ready agents to automate business processes. We also continue to back up our Trustworthy AI commitments with new tools. Today we’re announcing AI reports and risk and safety evaluations for images to help organizations ensure AI applications are safe and compliant. AI reports will help organizations improve observability, collaboration and governance for AI apps and fine-tuned models, while evaluations for image content will help customers assess the frequency and severity of harmful content in their app’s AI-generated outputs. [HEADING=2]Copilot+ devices[/HEADING] As organizations move more workloads to the cloud to enhance security and flexibility, Microsoft is expanding its Cloud PC solution by introducing the first in a new class of devices purpose-built to connect securely to Windows 365 in seconds. Windows 365 Link is the simple, secure, purpose-built device for Windows 365. It is in preview now and will become generally available for purchase starting in April 2025 in select markets with an MSRP of $349, allowing users to work securely in a familiar Windows desktop in the Microsoft Cloud with responsive, high-fidelity experiences. Windows 365 Link is secure by design. The device has no local data, no local apps and admin-less users so corporate data stays protected within the Microsoft Cloud. Other new capabilities for Copilot+ PCs for commercial customers include harnessing the power of inbuilt native processing units (NPUs) to deliver local AI. With improved Windows Search, and the new Recall experience (preview), finding what you need on your PC is easier than ever by just describing what you are looking for. These features are releasing first to our Windows Insider community on Copilot+ PCs before rolling out more broadly to our customers. [HEADING=2]BlackRock momentum[/HEADING] Four years ago, BlackRock, one of the world’s pre-eminent asset management firms, formed a strategic alliance with Microsoft to move its Aladdin platform to Microsoft Azure. With this foundation on Azure, BlackRock rolled out generative AI tools for global clients with Aladdin Copilot. Through generative AI, Aladdin Copilot serves to strengthen the connective tissue across the platform, leveraging Microsoft technology to help users receive answers instantly to unlock new efficiencies and discover important business insights even faster. Aladdin Copilot makes BlackRock’s Aladdin platform even more intelligent and responsive. That results in enhanced productivity, enables scale and keeps users more informed. BlackRock’s move to Azure and launch of Aladdin Copilot are just two of the many ongoing milestones in a long-term partnership that also includes an enterprise-wide deal for 24,000 seats of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Today, about 60% of BlackRock’s Copilot user population is leveraging Copilot on a weekly basis. Additionally, BlackRock also recently made the choice to move its on-prem CRM solution to the cloud with Dynamics 365, citing its native integration with Teams and Outlook as one of its primary decision-making factors. [HEADING=2]Strength in security[/HEADING] We know that the threat landscape is rapidly evolving, and it’s imperative that we stay ahead of bad actors. At Microsoft we believe that security is a team sport, and we are stronger when we partner as a security community to share information, collaborate and stop bad actors. In that spirit, and as part of our Secure Future Initiative (SFI), at Ignite we are announcing the largest public security research event in history: the Zero Day Quest. This event, which focuses on AI and cloud security, will offer the largest award pool in the industry at $4 million, in addition to our existing $16 million annual bounty program. This competition aims to attract the world’s best security minds to tackle high-impact scenarios critical to our customers’ security, with award multipliers, starting today. As the threat landscape has changed, we have seen rapid evolution in the way attackers exploit weaknesses within systems — particularly by navigating graph relationships between identities, files and devices to uncover attack paths. Attackers thinking in graphs cause wider damage from the first point of intrusion. Traditional security products, with limited visibility into these graph relationships, are often better suited to protect specific devices or mediums — like laptops or inboxes — rather than the full scope of potential attack surface. Today’s Microsoft Security Exposure Management launch is a pivotal step in transforming cybersecurity with savvy data and AI-based strategies. The power of incorporating Microsoft graph data, in context with data from customers’ other third-party security tools, creates a powerful single pane of glass to visualize attack paths before threat actors do. With computing power and cloud-scale performance to distill powerful real-time mapping of assets and evolving risks, Exposure Management assists security teams in preventing intrusions and provides IT, operations and risk leaders with real-time data to support cyber risk decision-making. This is only a small section of the many exciting features and updates we will be announcing at Ignite. As a reminder, you can view keynote sessions from Microsoft executives including Satya Nadella, Rajesh Jha, Scott Guthrie, Charlie Bell and Vasu Jakkal, live or on-demand. Plus, you can get more on all these announcements by exploring the Book of News, the official compendium of all today’s news. The post Ignite 2024: Why nearly 70% of the Fortune 500 now use Microsoft 365 Copilot appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

As fans of books, especially in their physical format, it is our great pleasure to launch 8080 Books, an imprint of Microsoft. Our first title, No Prize for Pessimism, is authored by Sam Schillace, deputy chief technology officer at Microsoft, and is available today. Our second title, Platform Mindset, by Marcus Fontoura, will be available later this year. Computing has become an essential ingredient to almost every endeavor on our planet, and, as students of both Microsoft and technology, our goal with 8080 Books is to publish original research, ideas and insights at the intersection of science, technology and business, and, in doing so, to help advance discourse on this important landscape. The name of our imprint takes its inspiration from the 8080 microprocessor — a foundation for the company’s earliest software breakthroughs. Not coincidentally, 8080 is also the last four digits of Microsoft’s corporate headquarters phone number.  With a combined tenure of, well, let’s just say a long time, we’re both acutely aware of the rich well of talent at Microsoft from which we can draw upon and publish under the 8080 Books imprint over time. However, our intention is that we will seek to use this not just as a platform for Microsoft authors but also to showcase minds and ideas from outside of the company. While we are not currently accepting unsolicited manuscripts, our website does provide more details about our plans, such as evaluating out of print titles that we feel remain relevant to today’s leaders, and why we feel the time is right to launch this imprint. We hope you enjoy our launch title, which is available here, and we look forward to hearing your feedback, questions and ideas as we embark on this new adventure. For anyone in the Puget Sound area, we invite you to Schillace’s first reading and signing at Brick & Mortar Books, on Wednesday, Dec. 11 in Redmond, Washington. Check here for details. Space is limited. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2024/07/sam_cover_omb.png The post 8080 Books, an imprint of Microsoft, launches, offering thought leadership titles spanning technology, business and society appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Every day, NASA’s satellites orbit Earth, capturing a wealth of information that helps us understand our planet. From monitoring wildfires to tracking climate change, this vast trove of Earth Science data has the potential to drive scientific discoveries, inform policy decisions and support industries like agriculture, urban planning and disaster response. But navigating the over 100 petabytes of collected data can be challenging, which is why NASA has collaborated with Microsoft to explore the use of a custom copilot using Azure OpenAI Service to develop NASA’s Earth Copilot, which could transform how people interact with Earth’s data. Geospatial data is complex, and often requires some level of technical expertise to navigate it. As a result, this data tends to be accessible only to a limited number of researchers and scientists. As NASA collects more data from new satellites, these complexities only grow and may further limit the potential pool of people able to draw insights and develop applications that could benefit society. Recognizing this challenge, NASA embarked on a mission to make its data more accessible and user-friendly. As part of its Transform to Open Science initiative, the agency seeks to democratize data access, breaking down technical barriers to empower a diverse range of audiences, from scientists and educators to policymakers and the general public. YouTube Video Click here to load media [HEADING=2]The challenge: Navigating the complexity of data[/HEADING] NASA’s Earth Science Data Systems Program is responsible for collecting an incredible variety of data from spaceborne sensors and instruments. This data spans everything from atmospheric conditions to land cover changes, ocean temperatures and more. However, the sheer scale and complexity of this information can be overwhelming. For many, finding and extracting insights requires navigating technical interfaces, understanding data formats and mastering the intricacies of geospatial analysis — specialized skills that very few non-technical users possess. AI could streamline this process, reducing time to gain insights from Earth’s data to a matter of seconds. This issue isn’t just a matter of convenience; it has real-world implications. For example, scientists who need to analyze historical data on hurricanes to improve predictive models, or policymakers who want to study deforestation patterns to implement environmental regulations, may find themselves unable to easily access the data they need. This inaccessibility affects a broad array of sectors, including agriculture, urban planning and disaster response, where timely insights from spaceborne data could make a significant difference. Moreover, as new satellites with new instruments continue to launch and collect more data, NASA is constantly faced with the challenge of building new tools to manage and make sense of this growing repository. The agency explored emerging technologies that could not only streamline data discovery but also broaden accessibility, enabling more people to engage with the data and uncover new insights. [HEADING=2]The solution: AI-powered data access through Microsoft Azure[/HEADING] To address these challenges, NASA IMPACT worked with Microsoft to develop an AI-driven customer copilot, called Earth Copilot, which could simplify data access and encourage a wider range of users to interact with its Earth Science data. Together, they built the proof of concept AI model that leverages Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and advanced AI capabilities to transform how users can search, discover and analyze NASA’s geospatial data. The key to NASA’s Earth Copilot lies in the integration of cloud-based technologies like Azure OpenAI Service, which provides access to powerful AI models and natural language processing capabilities that enable developers to integrate intelligent, conversational AI into their applications. This approach allows NASA to integrate AI into its existing data analysis platform — VEDA. These technologies together make it easier for users to search, discover and analyze Earth Science data By combining these technologies, Earth Copilot enables users to interact with NASA’s data repository through plain language queries. Instead, they can simply ask questions such as “What was the impact of Hurricane Ian in Sanibel Island?” or “How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect air quality in the US?” AI will then retrieve relevant datasets, making the process seamless and intuitive. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2024/11/NASA-Earth-Image-1.png NASA’s EARTHDATA VEDA Dashboard. [HEADING=2]Democratizing data for open science[/HEADING] The collaboration between NASA IMPACT and Microsoft has resulted in a solution that democratizes access to spaceborne data, enabling a broader range of users to engage with NASA’s science data. This has significant benefits for the scientific community, as researchers can now spend less time on data retrieval and more on analysis and discovery. For example, climate scientists can quickly access historical data to study trends, while agricultural experts can gain insights into soil moisture levels to improve crop management. Educators and teachers can use real-world examples to engage students in Earth Science, fostering curiosity and encouraging the next generation of scientists and engineers. Policymakers can leverage the data to make informed decisions on critical issues like climate change, urban development and disaster preparedness, ensuring they have the most accurate information at their fingertips. The development of this AI prototype aligns with NASA’s Open Science initiative, which aims to make scientific research more transparent, inclusive and collaborative. By removing barriers to data discovery, NASA and Microsoft are setting the stage for a new era of discovery, where insights are not confined to a select few but can be explored and expanded by anyone curious about the world. [HEADING=2]Looking ahead: Bridging the gap between data and insights[/HEADING] At the moment, the NASA Earth Copilot is available to NASA scientists and researchers to explore and test its capabilities. Any responsible deployment of AI technologies requires rigorous assessments to ensure the data and outputs cannot be misused. After a period of internal evaluations and testing, the NASA IMPACT team will explore the integration of this capability into the VEDA platform. This collaboration exemplifies how technology can empower people, drive innovation and create positive change. Solutions like this will be essential in ensuring the benefits of data are shared widely, enabling more people to engage with, analyze and act upon information that shapes our world. The post From questions to discoveries: NASA’s new Earth Copilot brings Microsoft AI capabilities to democratize access to complex data appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...