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Hello Windows Insiders, today we’re releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19587 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here, including a list of all the new features and updates released in builds so far. Not seeing any of the features in this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re on the Fast ring. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected. If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring, head over to Flight Hub. Please note, there will be a slight delay between when a build is flighted and when Flight Hub is updated. General changes & improvements Based on feedback, when you have muted your volume, the volume will now not unmute when using the hardware keyboard volume keys until you raise the volume (or manually unmute). We made a couple of improvements to Narrator and how it works with some of the controls in Windows: Narrator now uses a more friendly string to describe the audio output in the Select playback device dropdown menu in the volume flyout. Narrator now announces more information in the Add Bluetooth or other devices dialog in the Settings application when first opened. Fixes We fixed an issue where the new icon next to Scan with Microsoft Defender in File Explorer’s context menu didn’t have a transparent background. We fixed an issue that could result in Default Apps page in Settings crashing when you tried to change defaults. We fixed an issue that could result in the search box being missing from certain apps. We fixed an issue where some files couldn’t be opened in win32 apps from File Explorer when the path length to the file was very long and parts of the path included East Asian characters. We fixed an issue where thumbnails weren’t being generated for pictures inside a Work Folder. We fixed an issue where adding the Session column to the Users tab in Task Manager would result in not being able to expand the details for a particular user. Known issues We’re blocking this build from ARM devices because of an issue causing them to receive a bugcheck. BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview. See this article for details. We are aware Narrator and NVDA users that seek the latest release of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium may experience some difficulty when navigating and reading certain web content. Narrator, NVDA and the Edge teams are aware of these issues. Users of legacy Microsoft Edge will not be affected. NVAccess has released a NVDA 2019.3 that resolves the known issue with Edge. We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build. Some devices may experience a bugcheck (GSOD) during the reboot to install this update. If this happens, log in, schedule a time for the update to install, and then log off all user profiles before the scheduled install time. The install will then proceed as expected. The Documents section under Privacy has a broken icon (just a rectangle). When trying to use Win + PrtScn to capture a screenshot, the image is not saved to the Screenshots directory. For now, you’ll need to use one of the other options for taking screenshots, such as WIN + Shift + S. We’re looking into reports where, when running corruption repair (DISM), the process will stop at 84.9%. We’re investigating reports that Sticky Notes windows cannot be moved on the desktop. As a workaround, when you set focus to Sticky Notes, press Alt+Space. This will bring up a menu that contains a Move option. Select it, then you should be able to use either the arrow keys or the mouse to move the window. Celebrate Earth Day Earth Day is next month, and Bing wants to celebrate with you! Check out our Earth day feature, where we have a countdown and news about the big day. We also have quizzes allowing you and your friends to learn more about the great outdoors and endangered animals. If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insiders Program. Thanks, BLB The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19587 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/71d40c511988d8c4a741ed1ddca2847b.jpg From the launch of Windows 10, our focus was on moving people from having, to choosing, to loving Windows. With the release of every new build of Windows 10, we have seen customer satisfaction improve as we have made fixes and added new capabilities and experiences. We are humbled that customers are choosing and loving Windows 10, and there has never been a more important time for a secure, reliable platform that can empower people to create, educate and communicate wherever they are. Today we’re delighted to announce that over one billion people have chosen Windows 10 across 200 countries resulting in more than one billion active Windows 10 devices. We couldn’t be more grateful to our customers, partners and employees for helping us get here. From one to one billion devices—one customer at a time One in every seven people on the planet are planning, creating, ideating, executing, moving, shaking and doing great things with Windows 10. Because no matter who or where in the world or life they are, Windows 10 provides them with the features and flexibility they need to achieve more. From the high-powered developer who needs the most advanced technology available, to the business professional who needs to be productive at work and home, to the student in a developing market who is looking for a low-cost device for learning and self-improvement—Windows 10 is the platform to meet all these needs. With 100% of the Fortune 500 now using Windows 10 devices, it has become a critical platform for driving business transformation in the enterprise and beyond. As companies transition from Windows 7 to Windows 10, they are making a commitment to running their business more efficiently, more securely, and positioning themselves to offer better products, services and solutions to their customers. New Windows 10 features and security updates are now delivered faster than ever before. We’ve evolved from releasing a version every three years, to releasing multiple versions per year. And with the recent decoupling of the new Chromium-based Edge browser from Windows 10 we can now deliver new builds to customers outside of the normal Windows 10 release cadence—and to more versions of Windows. With Windows 10, our focus has always been to put the customer at the center, to listen to feedback, and to have that feedback shape the development process. One of the strongest examples of this customer focus is our Windows Insider Program which now has over 17.8 million Insiders, with members in every country of the world. We have also strived to make Windows an open, inclusive and accessible platform that can empower everyone to achieve their goals. Our Windows Accessibility team focuses on human-centered design, a method where engineers and designers work to deeply understand peoples’ needs, and then co-design and continuously iterate on solutions directly with them. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/783bf4d57719f68388fd5d50f5c28d9c.jpg It’s incredible to see the results of this work and the impact features like closed captions, narrator, magnifier and custom text size have made on people’s lives. Like Mitra Niknam’s son Andrew who was able to conquer his fear and learn to read. And From PCs, to Mixed Reality, to Xbox and more Freedom of choice has always mattered to us—because we know it matters to you. Windows 10 is the only operating system at the heart of over 80,000 models and configurations of different laptops and 2-in-1s from over 1,000 different manufacturers. But that’s not all. Windows 10 also powers Mixed Reality and HoloLens—transforming the way people build, design, learn and experience the world around them. And not only is Windows 10 the most popular PC gaming platform on the planet, but it also powers the entire Xbox family of consoles, including the fastest and most powerful Xbox Series X, which will be available later this year. Windows 10 has enabled new category creation with devices like the Surface Pro, Surface Book and Surface Hub 2S. And we are committed to keep driving to innovate with devices like Surface Neo, a new dual-screen device which will run Windows 10X, which enables unique experiences on multi-posture dual-screen PCs. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/98bdbf872e870cd4bc5ff930ac4e99b6.jpg Windows is a diverse and powerful canvas that gives our OEM partners the flexible tools they need to deliver innovation to the world which can be seen in their latest and greatest devices, all built on Windows 10: The Acer ConceptD 700 workstation is also built to handle heavy content creator workflows with ease, thanks to an Intel Xeon E processor and up to NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 graphics to address the needs of film makers, animators and AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) designers with powerful and stable performance for 3D computer-aided design (CAD). The ASUS ExpertBook B9 is built for professionals who do business on the go, weighing in at just 865 grams with a 14.9mm-thin profile. In addition, the B9450 integrates a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM) security chip to keeps business-critical data safe, while a built-in IR camera allows for biometric logins. The latest version of the popular XPS 13 from Dell is aimed at helping you innovate, collaborate and accomplish more in the next decade with the new 25% brighter XPS InfinityEdge display that delivers more screen space to multitask throughout the day and a new design that delivers a 13.4-inch display in an 11-inch form factor—fitting neatly on an airplane tray. In the Secured-Core PC family, the HP Elite Dragonfly has built-in Tile technology, which allows users to use an intuitive app to help you find your device near or far even when your PC is turned off. It also contains ocean-bound plastics in the speaker covers, and the outer box packaging is 100% sustainably sourced. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 has up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 with Intel Iris Plus graphics. It also includes hands-free login and auto-logoff via IR camera and Windows Hello, plus an adjustable Smart Battery that transitions capability based on usage behavior, temperature and whether the device is plugged in. Combining productivity with a premium experience, the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex α provides the experience of a laptop with the mobility and flexibility of a smartphone.The 2-in-1 PC delivers a super-bright display that allows you to enjoy the screen’s 100% color volume and vibrant picture in almost any lighting with up to5-hours of battery life. From 1.0 to 10 and beyond From pioneering seamless touch and pen experiences, to enabling biometric log-in with Windows Hello, and with experiences like the Your Phone app, enabling Android users to connect their phone to their PC—we strive to meet people where they are. And this innovation continues, bringing Windows to the cloud to make Windows 10 through Azure and virtual machines available on nearly every platform, from Mac to iOS or even Chromebooks. We will strive to make Windows the most accessible operating system on the planet regardless of where our users are, or what device they are on. Reaching a billion people with Windows 10 is just the beginning. We will invest in Windows not only within Windows 10 for PCs but also across many other Windows editions, serving diverse customer needs including Windows IoT, Windows 10 Teams edition for Surface Hub, Windows Server, Windows Mixed Reality on HoloLens, Windows 10 in S mode, Windows 10X and more. We are inspired by the ways you use Windows 10, and we look forward to seeing how you continue to use these billion devices in new and exciting ways to power the world. The post Windows 10: Powering the world with 1 billion monthly active devices appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. 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https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/8df7723a0aeb08a0704bc816a36db48f.jpg In December, Xbox chief Phil Spencer revealed Xbox Series X, the company’s fastest, most powerful console ever. When it is released this holiday season, Xbox Series X will set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, while allowing gamers to bring their legacy forward with them and play thousands of games from four generations. Recently, along with the tech experts Austin Evans and Digital Foundry, the Xbox Wire team took a closer look at some of the technologies that are powering Xbox Series X and talk to the team about the choices they made when defining the next generation of gaming. The team spent an entire day discussing everything from the console’s custom processor and latency solutions to backward compatibility and visual enhancements. Head over to Xbox Wire for the full report. The post A closer look at Xbox Series X: technology powering the next generation appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/02/61e09837ecacd403a7106ddcc18c9053.jpg The next evolution of Undead Labs’ popular zombie survival fantasy game series, State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition, becomes available Thursday across the world on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, Steam and the Epic Game Store. “Juggernaut Edition provides the highest quality and most expansive State of Decay experience in a single title, replacing the Standard and Ultimate editions, and includes all previous add-on packs (Independence Pack, Daybreak Pack, and State of Decay 2: Heartland),” writes Xbox Senior Product Marketing Manager Brandon Wells in a blog post on Xbox Wire. “This new edition not only unlocks all previously released DLC, but also adds a tremendous amount of new content like a new open-world map named Providence Ridge, fully remastered graphics and audio, and hundreds of minor improvements for veterans and new survivors alike.” To find out more and see the trailer for the new edition, head over to Xbox Wire. The post State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition now available on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, Steam and Epic Game Store appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we’re releasing 20H1 Build 19041.153 (KB4541738) to Windows Insiders in the Slow ring. This Cumulative Update includes quality improvements. Key changes include: We fixed an issue that might prevent ActiveX content from loading. We fixed an issue that might cause Microsoft browsers to bypass proxy servers. We fixed an issue with rendering PeerDist-encoded content in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. We changed how the Linux kernel in WSL2 is installed and serviced on your machine, for more details please read this Windows Command Line blog post. Security updates to Windows Server, the Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Graphics, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Media, Windows Silicon Platform, Microsoft Edge, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Authentication, Windows Cryptography, Windows Kernel, Windows Core Networking, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Peripherals, Windows Network Security and Containers, and Windows Update Stack. For more information about the resolved security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Security Update Guide. Known issues We are aware Narrator and NVDA users that seek the latest release of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium may experience some difficulty when navigating and reading certain web content. Narrator, NVDA and the Edge teams are aware of these issues. Users of legacy Microsoft Edge will not be affected. NVAccess has released a NVDA 2019.3that resolves the known issue with Edge. Thanks, BLB The post Releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19041.153 to the Slow ring appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we’re releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19582.1001 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here, including a list of all the new features and updates released in builds so far. Not seeing any of the features in this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re on the Fast ring. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected. If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring, head over to Flight Hub. Please note, there will be a slight delay between when a build is flighted and when Flight Hub is updated. What’s new in Build 19582 Eye Control Improvements Eye Control enables users to interact with Windows using only their eyes. Based on feedback, with this build, we’re updating the Eye Control settings to now span multiple pages, in order to give the options a bit more room to breathe. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/d39bb5a9d70f13c8c4ae23340e4aa927.png To get started with Eye Control, connect a supported eye tracking device, then follow the steps here. Other updates for Insiders Your Phone app–Samsung Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip introduces multiple new features Continuing our strong partnership with Samsung from last August, we’re excited to introduce exciting new features, which are now available on the latest Samsung Galaxy S20/S20+/S20 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip devices in select markets. You can enjoy copying and pasting text and images between your devices, black screen while in phone screen, Rich Communication Service messaging, and more! Copy and paste between devices and vice versa You can now copy and paste text and images between your phone and Windows 10 PC seamlessly. Simply turn on this feature in the Your Phone app settings and enjoy copying and pasting content with the familiar ctrl + C and ctrl + v commands on the PC or the tapping and holding gesture on your Android phone. It’s that simple. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/32a2e4a30b1de179802648af94ee137f.png Copy and paste requirements: Samsung Galaxy S20/S20+/S20 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip devices in select markets PC running Windows 10 April 2018 Update or higher Black screen while using phone screen The phone screen feature is getting a boost. Users now have the option to turn off their smartphone screen to optimize battery consumption and protect the privacy of their phone’s personal content. Black screen will show during a phone screen session on all supported devices (any device that supports Link to Windows). The black screen kicks in when the session is initiated and dismisses itself when it ends. The user can dismiss the black screen anytime by: Pressing the power button Swiping the device screen Activating Bixby Disabling the black screen at any time from the Settings page Feature Requirements: Latest version of Link to Windows Phone screen supported devices Check out the list of supported phone screen compatible devices. Rich Communication Service (RCS) Your Phone app now supports RCS (send/receive) for a richer messaging experience on select Samsung devices, provided your mobile operator supports RCS. For users who have RCS messaging enabled on their device and use Samsung Messages app as the default app on their phone, they will now be able to send and receive these messages from the Your Phone app. Additionally, users will be able to see their messages get marked as read. If a user views messages on their PC, they will also be marked as read on the phone, removing the need to clear notifications on the phone. RCS requirements: Samsung Galaxy S20 series running version 10.0 or higher PC running Windows 10 April 2018 Update or higher Mobile operator supporting RCS messaging These features are gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders on Windows 10 Build 19H2+ and to the general public, so it may take a few days to be available inside the Your Phone app. Please make sure you have the latest versions of the Your Phone Companion, Link to Windows, and the Your Phone app. We plan on supporting additional Samsung devices in the future and will keep you posted. We value your feedback, so give these features a try and let us know what you think. You can report any issues under Your Phone > Settings > Send feedback or directly through Feedback Hub. General changes & improvements In an effort to consolidate information, we’re removing the Windows Security status details from the About Settings. This information is still available under Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security. We’re working on giving you control over whether apps can disable the screen capture border. The page isn’t finished being wired up yet, but you’ll see it listed under Privacy Settings. We’ve updated the “set time zone automatically” toggle in Time & Date settings to now be greyed out if location has been disabled. Based on feedback, we’re updating the Scottish Gaelic keyboard in two ways: Pressing AltGR + 7 will now input ⁊ (U+204A TIRONIAN SIGN ET). Pressing ‘ will now directly insert that character (right single quote). Pressing AltGr + ‘ will now act as a dead key to combine an acute accent with a subsequent letter. Fixes We fixed an issue for Chinese Insiders where Windows setup (for example, if you reset your PC) would get stuck after inputting your Microsoft Account details. We fixed an issue where, when you upgraded with certain languages like Japanese, the Installing Windows X% page wasn’t rendering the text correctly (only boxes were displayed). We fixed an issue resulting in notifications sometimes having the wrong actions associated with them (for example, an unexpected reply box). We fixed an issue causing some attempts to update to a newer build to result in error 0x8007042b. We resolved the issue preventing the cloud recovery option for Reset this PC from working. We fixed an issue that could result in a green screen with Win32kbase.sys crash at session shutdown. We fixed an issue resulting in not being about to navigate between the Xbox Game Bar options using an Xbox Controller. We fixed an issue where the “set time zone automatically” toggle in Time & Date settings wouldn’t stay enabled. We fixed an issue that could result in the Open With dialog not accepting the selection when opening PDFs. We fixed an issue resulting in Task Manager showing “Unavailable” DPI Awareness for all processes. Known issues BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview. See this article for details. We are aware Narrator and NVDA users that seek the latest release of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium may experience some difficulty when navigating and reading certain web content. Narrator, NVDA and the Edge teams are aware of these issues. Users of legacy Microsoft Edge will not be affected. NVAccess has released a NVDA 2019.3 that resolves the known issue with Edge. We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build. Some devices may experience a bugcheck (GSOD) during the reboot to install this update. If this happens, log in, schedule a time for the update to install, and then log off all user profiles before the scheduled install time. The install will then proceed as expected. The Documents section under Privacy has a broken icon (just a rectangle). When trying to use Win + PrtScn to capture a screenshot, the image is not saved to the Screenshots directory. For now, you’ll need to use one of the other options for taking screenshots, such as WIN + Shift + S. We’re looking into reports where, when running corruption repair (DISM), the process will stop at 84.9%. NCAA Basketball Quiz They shoot, they score! Are you a true NCAA basketball fan? Put it to the test with our college basketball quiz. Learn about Magic Johnson, Lorri Bauman, record breaking moments and more. Challenge your friends and become a NCAA basketball expert here! If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insiders Program. Thanks, BLB The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19582 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/8eba086ad034b1b151fcd4b8ce7a6b02.jpg The latest monthly content update for Sea of Thieves, titled Heart of Fire, is now available with Xbox Game Pass and on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. “This free update brings story-driven action with a new Tall Tale continuing the sagas of Pendragon and Captain Flameheart, alongside new weaponry to fight your foes and a special challenge for Pirate Legends,” says Joe Neate, executive producer at Rare, in a blog post on Xbox Wire. For details and imagery from the update – plus some guidance if you’re new to Sea of Thieves – head over to Xbox Wire. The post Say hello to Heart of Fire: Free update adds Tall Tale and new weaponry to Sea of Thieves appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/73eaa76d2588419d04b2e42359a39308.jpg Jasmine Crowe, founder & CEO for Goodr Before she founded a profit-for-good corporation that helps other companies strive for zero waste – which has so far diverted more than 2 million pounds of surplus food from landfills (about 1.8 million meals) – Jasmine Crowe used to feed people experiencing homelessness directly from the kitchen of her small one-bedroom apartment in Atlanta, something she called Sunday Soul. For three and a half years, she cut coupons, price matched and shopped at three to four grocery stores and farmer’s markets, then spent 15-20 hours to make the bi-weekly meal (4-6 entrees, 10-ish side dishes, desserts and bread) for 250-500 people. She would then load up her car and drive the food to senior homes, shelters, parks, under bridges and alleyways. “A video of one of my pop up restaurants went viral on Facebook and I woke up one day to millions of views, friend requests and I was reading through the comments, and one of the recurring questions people kept asking me was, ‘Who donates the food?’ And the reality was nobody,” she says. “And I started thinking, why aren’t restaurants donating the food? So, I started researching food waste.” She found that nearly 75 billion pounds of perfectly good food is wasted every year in America – which amounts to about $218 billion a year spent in the U.S. on food that people never eat. “The idea that hunger is an issue of scarcity and we need to produce more food is false,” says Crowe, who founded Goodr in 2017 as a sustainable food waste management company that leverages technology to solve hunger and food waste. “What I look at hunger being is an issue of logistics, and so Goodr is solving what I call the surplus food supply chain problem.” Read the rest on Microsoft Stories. The post Goodr and Jasmine Crowe use technology to reduce other companies’ carbon footprint appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/a197259d661a855799f2cf859de8b4dd.jpg Xbox Game Studios on Wednesday welcomed gamers to a brand new adventure as Ori and the Will of the Wisps celebrated its worldwide release with Xbox Game Pass and for Xbox One, Windows 10 PC and Steam. “Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a game that everyone at Moon Studios has poured their hearts and souls into developing over the last five years so that our community can play the best version of the game possible,” said Thomas Mahler, Co-Founder of Moon Studios. “We believe we’ve delivered on that promise to players and are looking forward to the response from the community.” Players will be immersed in the beautiful visuals the Ori series is known for, all with music composed by Gareth Coker. Along Ori’s journey, an improved combat system with new spirit weapons, skills and a new shard system will allow players to customize Ori’s powers in a unique way, making each playthrough unique. For more details on what to expect in the game, news about the launch and more, head over to Xbox Wire. The post Ori and the Will of the Wisps now available with Xbox Game Pass and for Xbox One, Windows 10 PC and Steam appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

The newest “Simply Windows” video is , focusing on ways to customize the settings on your PC. If you’re new to Windows 10 or want to learn more about how to get the most out of it, this video series can help you get up to speed on using it. In this episode, writers Jackie Tidwell and Doug Thomas help viewers change the size of text in Windows 10, increase contrast on their screens and show you how Microsoft Edge can read webpages to you, among other things you can personalize in the Ease of Access settings. Find out more about “Simply Windows” and check out a playlist of previous shows. And if you like this, check out other Windows 10 Tips. The post Latest ‘Simply Windows’ video can help you make your PC easier to use appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

One of my earliest learnings was that my experiences as a woman were not identical to other women’s experiences, although they were similar. As with any dimension of identity, the way women experience the world depends on much larger context. As a white girl growing up in Victoria, British Columbia, there were multiple layers to my experiences. Although my brothers and I had what was necessary, we did not have much socioeconomic privilege. What I learned as I watched the world around me is that as a benefit of my race, it was easier for me to cover my socioeconomic status than it was for my friends who were not white. The United Nations marked March 8 as International Women’s Day by declaring that “fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women everywhere.” This declaration is inclusive of all women with intersectionality in mind. Understanding intersectionality in the workplace It starts with something as simple as the way we think about all the dimensions of our identity, including things like race, ethnicity, disability, religion, age and sexual orientation. Even class, education, geography and personal history can alter how we experience womanhood. When Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality 30 years ago, she explained it as how these overlapping identities and conditions impact the way we experience life’s challenges and opportunities, the privileges we have, the biases we face. So simply focusing on a single dimension of identity, without that context, is not always helpful. When we consider women as a single category, as a monolith, it can be misleading at best, dangerous at worst. Doing so overlooks the variations of circumstances and perspectives within the group and obscures real lived experiences as outliers or exceptions. “Women’s workplace issues” is a vague term without enough specificity to drive action. Women of color, women with disabilities, transgender women, women who are the first of their family to work corporate or professional jobs, women who are caregivers — all women deal with additional social, cultural, regional or community demands that may not exist for others. Although all women navigate varying degrees of conscious and unconscious gender biases, intersections of identity can place compounded pressure on a woman to downplay other aspects of her life to conform — a behavior called covering, as explored by Kenji Yoshino — leading to even greater workplace stress. To increase hiring, retention, representation and the development of women in the workplace, companies must be intentional and accountable for being aware of the diversity within the diversity. Conventional strategies to increase the representation of women in a workplace have mostly benefited those who do not also experience intersectional challenges. By getting curious and exploring the lived experiences of women through the lens of intersectionality, we become more precise about the root cause and about finding ways to generate systemic solutions for all. Setting the stage for allyship Understanding all this can be a powerful catalyst for change, not just for organizations as a whole but also for individuals. At Microsoft we are refining how we think about allyship. Part of that exploration is the recognition that as Microsoft employees each of us has some dimension of privilege. This isn’t meant to minimize or negate the very real ways that communities experience significant, systematic historical bias or oppression. But rather it is meant to shine a light on our opportunity to show up for each other. For example, as a community of women we have an opportunity to be more thoughtful about the experiences of our peers who face greater challenges due to their intersectional identity. So although traditionally we might look to men in the workplace to carry the full weight of allyship, women in the workplace also have an opportunity to be thoughtful allies for others in their community. Such an awareness opens the door for true allyship — an intentional commitment to use your voice, credibility, knowledge, place or power to support others in the way they want to be supported. I am very aware of my opportunity, due to my personal privilege, to show up for other women in a meaningful way. I embrace my obligation to create space for other voices to be heard, not just on International Women’s Day, but all year round. The post Women as allies for women: Understanding intersectionality appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

At Microsoft, our goal within healthcare is to empower people and organizations to address the complex challenges facing the healthcare industry today. We help do this by co-innovating and collaborating with our customers and partners as a trusted technology provider. Today, we’re excited to share progress on the latest innovations from Microsoft aimed at helping address the most prevalent and persistent health and business challenges: Empower care teams with Microsoft 365: Available in the coming weeks, the new Bookings app in Microsoft Teams will empower care teams to schedule, manage and conduct virtual visits with remote patients via videoconference. Also coming soon, clinicians will be able to target Teams messages to recipients based on the shift they are working. Finally, healthcare customers can support their security and compliance requirements with the new HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) assessment in Microsoft Compliance Score, now in private preview. Protect health information with Azure Sphere: Microsoft’s integrated security solution for IoT (Internet of Things) devices and equipment – is now widely available for the development and deployment of secure, connected devices. Azure Sphere helps securely personalize patient experiences with connected devices and solutions. And, to make it easier for healthcare leaders to develop their own IoT strategies, today we’re launching a new IoT Signals report focused on the healthcare industry that provides an industry pulse on the state of IoT adoption and helpful insights for IoT strategies. Learn more about Microsoft’s IoT offerings for healthcare here. Enable personalized virtual care with Microsoft Healthcare Bot: Today, we’re pleased to announce that Microsoft Healthcare Bot, our HITRUST-certified platform for creating virtual health assistants, is enriching its healthcare intelligence with new built-in templates for healthcare-specific use cases, and expanding its integrated medical content options. With the addition of Infermedica, a cutting-edge triage engine based on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) that enables symptom checking in 17 languages Healthcare Bot is empowering providers to offer global access to care. Reimagine healthcare using new data platform innovations: With the 2019 release of Azure API for FHIR, Microsoft became the first cloud provider with a fully managed, enterprise-grade service for health data in the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) format. We’re excited to expand those offerings with several new innovations around connecting, converting and transforming data. The first is Power BI FHIR Connector, which makes it simple and easy to bring FHIR data into Power BI for analytics and insights. The second, IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) FHIR Connector, is now available as open source software (OSS) and allows for seamless ingestion, normalization and transformation of Protected Health Information data from health devices into FHIR. Another new open source project, FHIR Converter, provides an easy way to convert healthcare data from legacy formats (i.e., HL7v2) into FHIR. And lastly, FHIR Tools for Anonymization, is now offered via OSS and enables anonymization and pseudonymization of data in the FHIR format. Including capabilities for redaction and date shifting in accordance with the HIPPA privacy rule. Frictionless exchange of health information in FHIR makes it easier for researchers and clinicians to collaborate, innovate and improve patient care. As we move forward working with our customers and partners and others across the health ecosystem, Microsoft is committed to enabling and improving interoperability and required standards to make it easier for patients to manage their healthcare and control their information. At the same time, trust, privacy and compliance are a top priority – making sure Protected Health Information (PHI) remains under control and custodianship of healthcare providers and their patients. We’ve seen a growing number of healthcare organizations not only deploy new technologies, but also begin to develop their own digital capabilities and solutions that use data and AI to transform and innovate healthcare and life sciences in profoundly positive ways. Over the past year, together with our customers and partners, we’ve announced new strategic partnerships aimed at empowering this transformation. For example, to enable caregivers to focus more on patients by dramatically reducing the burden of documenting doctor-patient visits, Nuance has released Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX). This ambient clinical intelligence technologies (ACI) is enriched by AI and cloud capabilities from Microsoft, including the ambient intelligence technology, EmpowerMD, which is coming to market as part of Nuance’s DAX solution. The solution aims to transform the exam room by deploying ACI to capture, with patient consent, interactions between clinicians and patients so that clinical documentation writes itself. Among health systems, Providence St. Joseph Health is using Microsoft’s cloud, AI, productivity and collaboration technologies to deploy next-generation healthcare solutions while empowering their employees. NHS Calderdale is enabling patients and their providers to hold appointments virtually via Microsoft Teams for routine and follow-up visits, which helps lower costs while maintaining the quality of care. The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department is embracing mixed reality by working with technology providers Medivis, Microsoft and Verizon to roll out its first 5G-enabled hospital. And specifically for health consumers, Walgreens Boots Alliance will harness the power of our cloud, AI and productivity technologies to empower care teams and deliver new retail solutions to make healthcare delivery more personal, affordable and accessible. Major payor, pharmaceutical and health technology platform companies are also transforming healthcare in collaboration with us. Humana will develop predictive solutions for personalized and secure patient support, and by using Azure, Azure AI and Microsoft 365, they’ll also equip home healthcare workers with real-time access to information and voice technology to better understand key factors that influence patient health. In pharmaceuticals, Novartis will bring Microsoft AI capabilities together with its deep expertise in life sciences to address specific challenges that make the process of discovering, developing and delivering new medicines so costly and time-consuming. We’re pleased to showcase how together with our customers and partners, we’re working to bring healthcare solutions to life and positively impact the health ecosystem. To keep up to date with the latest announcements visit the Microsoft Health News Room. About the authors: As Corporate Vice President of Health Technology and Alliances, Dr. Greg Moore leads the dedicated research and development collaborations with our strategic partners, to deliver next-generation technologies and experiences for healthcare. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Rhew recently joined Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business Healthcare leadership team and provides executive-level support, engaging in business opportunities with our customers and partners. As Corporate Vice President of Healthcare, Peter Lee leads the Microsoft organization that works on technologies for better and more efficient healthcare, with a special focus on AI and cloud computing. The post Microsoft for Healthcare: Empowering our customers and partners to provide better experiences, insights and care appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we’re releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19577 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here, including a list of all the new features and updates released in builds so far. Not seeing any of the features in this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re on the Fast ring. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected. If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring, head over to Flight Hub. Please note, there will be a slight delay between when a build is flighted and when Flight Hub is updated. What’s new in Build 19577 Diagnostic data changes in Settings As part of the Microsoft initiative to increase transparency and control over data, we’re making some changes to the Settings app and Group Policy settings that will start showing up in Windows Insider builds this month. Basic diagnostic data is now known as Required diagnostic data and Full diagnostic data is now Optional diagnostic data. If you’re a commercial customer and choose to send Optional diagnostic data, we will also be providing more granular Group Policy settings to configure the data that’s collected within your organization. We’ll publish more specifics around the new policies when we get closer to the retail release, and in the meantime, check out the Microsoft Privacy Report for more information around our data collection practices. Note: Please make sure your device is set to “Full” before updating to Build 19577. You will not be able to take future flights if your diagnostic level is left at “Enhanced”. AAD/Domain-joined PCs set to “Enhanced” will be blocked from taking Build 15977. For more information, see this Answers post. More new icons: Windows Security We’re continuing to roll out updated icons to many of the built-in apps in Windows 10. In today’s build, we’ve updated the Windows Security icon to match the new design principles outlined here from the Microsoft Design Team. Unlike many of the built-in apps in Windows 10, which can be updated through the Store, the new Windows Security icon is updated through the OS and will rollout in a future Windows 10 feature update. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/254a7cea7eb9aed8586fc445faeaa227.png Other updates for Insiders Announcing PowerToys 0.15.1 Yesterday, during our Windows Insider webcast, the PowerToys Team announced the release of PowerToys 0.15.1. PowerToys 0.15.1 contains these improvements: Notifies you there’s a new version from within PowerToys Removed requirement to always ‘run as admin’ Added almost 300 unit tests to increase stability and prevent regressions. Resolved almost 100 issues Made .NET Framework parts of the source run faster with NGEN Improved for how we store data locally Increased FancyZones compatibility with applications Created the 0 strategy, the launcher, the keyboard managerspecs Worked on cleaning up our issue backlog and labels Get more details about these improvements. If you missed our webcast yesterday, watch it on-demand from our Mixer channel! Continuing the optional updates experiment with drivers We’re continuing to look at ways we can improve the update experience on Windows 10 PCs for our customers. Back in January in Build 19551, we announced we were conducting an experiment related to how we deliver driver updates through Windows Update. During this experiment, drivers categorized as “optional” will not be automatically downloaded and installed on Windows Insider’s PCs running Build 19536 and newer. To install any new optional drivers available for a PC that’s involved in this experiment (including drivers for new devices that might get plugged in to a PC), Insiders can go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View optional updates and manually download these drivers. We are extending this experiment to now run through the end of March. (Note: This applies ONLY to the latest builds in the Fast ring and not 20H1.) General changes & improvements Following up on our post about the new Cortana app, we wanted to let you know that in addition to timers and instant answers, which lit up last month, assistant conversations are now online. Some examples to try are “tell me a dad joke”, “tell me a bedtime story”, or “rock, paper, scissors.” We appreciate your patience while we worked on this. This is a server-side change, however we’re noting it here for awareness. We’ve updated the behavior of Advanced startup (Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Advanced startup “Restart now”) to enable some Ease of Access features to work properly. For example, previously, if the narrator feature was enabled prior to launching Advanced startup, it would stop working. Now, Advanced startup will reboot directly into the Windows Recovery Environment. While the Vietnamese alphabet doesn’t include the Latin letters F, J, W, or Z, based on feedback we’re updating the grouping in the Start menu’s all app’s list to account for these letters when using this display language, so that apps like Windows PowerShell are included in the expected group. Fixes We fixed an issue where input would stop working in some places if clipboard history (WIN + V) was dismissed without pasting anything. We fixed an issue resulting in extra characters in the message in File Explorer when no files were listed yet in Recent Files. We fixed an issue where, when setting up Windows Hello while using the Arabic display language, the box tracking progress of setup wouldn’t line up with your face. We fixed an issue where preferred SafeSearch settings (Settings > Search > Permissions & History) were no longer persisting upgrade. We fixed an issue which caused the microphone to sometimes not work on certain devices from Builds 19559 to 19569. If you continue seeing issues with your microphone, please file a problem report in Feedback Hub with “recreate my problem” logs. We fixed an issue impacting Explorer.exe reliability when navigating in File Explorer for some Insiders. We fixed an issue where using Restart Manager API to restart explorer.exe would result in all open UWP apps being closed as well. We fixed an issue that could result in the DWM crashing when inking on your PC. We fixed an issue that could result in Outlook crashing if you typed too many characters into the To field using the Korean IME. We fixed an issue where, when using Storage Sense to clean up Windows.old, it might not be totally removed. We fixed an issue that could result in Settings hanging when accessing Windows Update Settings. We fixed an issue where the Family & Other Accounts page wouldn’t finish loading for some Insiders. We fixed an issue resulting in the system potentially bugchecking upon toggling Bluetooth ON and OFF after waking back from sleep. We fixed an issue for local account users where, until rebooting, night light would no longer work after attaching your Microsoft account. We fixed an issue resulting in the machine not rebooting and kicking off the scan when you selected Microsoft Defender Offline Scan in Windows Security. We fixed an issue resulting in Windows Update failing with error 0x80070002 for some users. We fixed a high hitting DWM crash that some Insiders were experiencing. Known issues BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview. See this article for details. We are aware Narrator and NVDA users that seek the latest release of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium may experience some difficulty when navigating and reading certain web content. Narrator, NVDA and the Edge teams are aware of these issues. Users of legacy Microsoft Edge will not be affected. NVAccess has released a NVDA 2019.3 that resolves the known issue with Edge. We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build. We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are unable to update to newer builds with error 0x8007042b. The Documents section under Privacy has a broken icon (just a rectangle). When you upgrade with certain languages, like Japanese, the “Installing Windows X%” page isn’t rendering the text correctly (only boxes are displayed). The cloud recovery option for Reset this PC isn’t working on this build. Please use the local reinstall option when performing Reset this PC. When trying to use Win + PrtScn to capture a screenshot, the image is not saved to the Screenshots directory. For now, you’ll need to use one of the other options for taking screenshots, such as WIN + Shift + S. We’re looking into reports where, when running corruption repair (DISM), the process will stop at 84.9%. Notifications sometimes have the wrong actions associated with them (for example, a reply box or various buttons). Episode 28 of the Windows Insider Podcast now available! On our March episode of the podcast, we’re looking at the future of troubleshooting with Ben Rudolph, who is driving Microsoft News to troubleshoot with technology for the field of journalism, and Christopher Caulfield and Emma Saboureau, who tell us how Windows Insiders can start troubleshooting their own devices. Download it on your favorite podcast app or listen to it on our website. Give us your feedback about Windows, Windows devices, and accessibility Help us continue to improve Windows! Join our latest user research session today, March 5 from 1 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PST to give us your feedback. Get more details about this session. Celebrate Women’s History Month with Bing Happy Women’s History Month! Want to learn more about moments in women’s history? Check out our moments carousel, where we share some of the historical firsts and monumental events in women’s history. We are highlighting the 19th Amendment, the “Me Too” movement, and many more impactful moments. Celebrate women’s history month and learn with Bing here! If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insiders Program. Thanks, BLB The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19577 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/03/c46cc1fbe4dcf9a90c14779dfa57f640.jpg Players who want to continue their Spartan saga can, with the PC release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, the second installment of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, now available with Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta), Windows 10 PC and Steam. It’s the remastered version of the original Halo campaign, where you can switch between the classic game graphics and the fully enhanced version to experience the rise of Spartan, the Master Chief. The Master Chief’s saga on PC comes equipped with new features, optimizations and customizations built for the platform. PC players will have a few different avenues to obtain Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, depending on their platform: Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta) and through Microsoft Store or Steam. Get all the details at Xbox Wire. The post Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary now available for PC with Halo: The Master Chief Collection appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/02/f69360e54e2a53b2505fd65896b03fd1.jpg AI in Microsoft 365 is driving a significant shift in how people interact with Microsoft 365 applications. Our experiences personalize and adapt to you, support you and help amplify your skills. You can see this shift in the personalized experiences we are enabling through Cortana, your personal productivity assistant in Microsoft 365. Cortana helps you stay on top of your day, save time and do your best work. Today, Microsoft is announcing an updated Cortana experience in Windows 10 that will deliver more help from your assistant in Microsoft 365. This next step in Cortana’s evolution will bring enhanced, seamless personal productivity assistance as a free update to the latest version of Windows 10 coming this spring. Through this updated Cortana experience, we will roll out new Cortana services delivered through Microsoft 365 backed by the privacy, security and compliance promises of Office 365 services as set out in the Online Services Terms. Protecting your data and privacy is our highest priority, and we give you control over your data. Cortana’s new capabilities help you achieve more with less effort The upcoming update to Windows 10 will include access to a new Cortana experience with an emphasis on productivity, helping you quickly find the information you want across Microsoft 365. The new Cortana experience in Windows 10 features a chat-based UI that gives you the ability to interact with Cortana using your voice or the keyboard. For English (United States) users, Cortana will assist you in better managing your schedule and tasks by staying on top of your calendar and focusing on what matters with meeting insights. You can speak or type requests to find people or files, or quickly create or query emails. You can also easily check your calendar, set a reminder, or add to your lists in Microsoft To Do: “What’s next on my calendar?” “Remind me to send the ‘weekly report’ every Friday at 2pm.” “Add ‘status report’ to my task list.” And Cortana will continue to help you get answers from Bing, set alarms and timers, open apps, adjust settings, or give you a joke you can share with colleagues, friends or family. Outside of the United States, the initial release of the Cortana experience in Windows 10 will include answers from Bing and the ability to chat with Cortana. We plan to enhance our international experience with more productivity-based capabilities in the future. Additional changes for Cortana As part of Cortana’s evolution into a personal productivity assistant in Microsoft 365, you’ll see some changes in how Cortana works in the latest version of Windows 10. We’ve tightened access to Cortana so that you must be securely logged in with your work or school account or your Microsoft account before using Cortana, and some consumer skills including music, connected home and third-party skills will no longer be available in the updated Cortana experience in Windows 10. We’re also making some changes to where Cortana helps you. As part of our standard practice, we are ending support for Cortana in older versions of Windows that have reached their end-of-service dates. We recommend that customers update their devices to the latest version of Windows 10 to continue using Cortana. We’ll also be turning off the Cortana services in the Microsoft Launcher on Android by the end of April. We’re excited about how these updates to Cortana will help you stay on top of things, save time and do your best work. As we continue to innovate on Cortana in Microsoft 365, we plan to share further improvements in the coming months. The post Cortana in the upcoming Windows 10 release: focused on your productivity with enhanced security and privacy appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we’re releasing 20H1 Build 19041.113 (KB4540409) to Windows Insiders in the Slow ring. This Cumulative Update includes quality improvements. Key changes include: Addresses an issue that might block digital rights management (DRM) video playback in apps that depend on the Windows 8.0 or later PlayReady Store Framework for content protection. Updates the copyright date for Windows 10, version 2004 to the year 2020. Addresses an issue that causes the Notepad icon to appear on the Start menu after uninstalling the Feature-on-Demand (FOD) version of Notepad. Addresses an issue that might cause some systems to stop responding at sign in because several background services are being hosted in the same service host process. Addresses an issue with the Your Phone app that might cause the copying of large PC files (such as images) to certain phone models to time out. Addresses an issue with cellular data for certain mobile carriers that might prevent connectivity on Microsoft Surface Pro X. Addresses an issue that fails to pin the new Microsoft Edge icon to the taskbar after a user installs the new Microsoft Edge and creates a new user profile on the device. Addresses an issue that prevents some users from signing out because the user session stops responding. Known issues We are aware Narrator and NVDA users that seek the latest release of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium may experience some difficulty when navigating and reading certain web content. Narrator, NVDA and the Edge teams are aware of these issues. Users of legacy Microsoft Edge will not be affected. NVAccess has released a NVDA 2019.3that resolves the known issue with Edge. Thanks, BLB The post Releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19041.113 to the Slow ring appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, we have released 20H1 Build 19041.84 via WSUS that contains the latest security fixes for organizations to prepare for releasing Windows 10 version 2004 in their organizations. This release will replace the existing content in Windows Pre-Release if you have already added it to your catalog. Please visit our original announcement on Tech Community for additional details on our support for WSUS. This build contains all updated features, fixes, and security updates previously announced in 20H1. The Windows Insider Docs page contains more information on the changes made up until this point and includes a complete list of features available in 20H1. If you or your organization need help installing preview builds from WSUS, these instructions are available to help you get started. Thanks, BLB The post Releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19041.84 to WSUS appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

If you’re new to Windows 10 or want to learn more about how to get the most out of it, there’s now a video series to help you get up to speed on using it: “Simply Windows.” The first five episodes are now available on a playlist, with more to follow in the coming weeks. Writers serve as friendly hosts to walk you through tasks like finding your files, getting apps from the Microsoft Store and signing in with a Microsoft account. Writers at Microsoft help bring the voice of customers directly into its products – from the words you see in your software and hardware, to learning content that helps you improve your skills, to support content when you run into a problem. Their goal is to make technology easier to use and understand. Writers regularly listen to customers who share their technology wins and troubles. They then take this feedback and incorporate it in their work to improve products and experiences. Putting the videos on YouTube goes to where users are already searching for help, says Tanya Grant, a writer on Microsoft’s Content Experience team in Customer Success Engineering (CSE) team who helped conceive the idea with teammate Seoyoung Kim. “It’s a mobile-friendly world and we know it’s a big channel for folks looking for how-to videos on all kinds of topics,” she says. Each “Simply Windows” video is on the short side – about 2-3 minutes – and focused on helping people make a quick transition to Windows 10. The on-camera guides for the videos include Amy Keeney, David Eitelbach, Trish Winter-Hunt, Jackie Tidwell, Maxx Ramos, Doug Thomas and Grant. (Thomas and Grant also script each episode.) Some of them appear in two episodes. Genevieve Alvarez, who works for the Video team, co-directs with Thomas. She also shoots and edits the videos.team, co-directs with Thomas. She also shoots and edits the videos. For most of these writers, it’s the first time they’ve appeared on-air. And since this series is extra work for most involved, “This project better be fun to make,” jokes Thomas, who has infused the series with casual quips that make it easily digestible to a general audience. “It’s another tool in the tool belt for the writers,” who must memorize lines and be subjected to on-air make-up, which is not a normal part of their routine. Other topics in the current playlist include how to personalize settings (dark mode, picture in background, themes and colors) and Windows updates. Head over to the Windows YouTube channel to check them out. The post New to Windows 10? Check out ‘Simply Windows’ videos to get up to speed appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Imagine what it would mean if communities that lack access to safe drinking water had a simple, affordable way to test their water supply for cholera, a water-borne disease that sickens 4 million people every year and causes an estimated 143,000 deaths? Or if we could skim plastic bottles, bags and microfibers from coastal waterways around the world? And what if there was a way to connect Africa’s growing community of young data scientists with organizations that have valuable data sets but lack the expertise to uncover the insights that the data might provide? Whether it’s by saving lives, protecting the marine environment or focusing the talent of up-and-coming experts in machine learning on local issues in Africa, each one would mark an important step toward addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The good news is that today, this work is already happening. It’s happening at startups that are creating new businesses, built around powerful technologies and designed to make the world a better place. A smartphone-based cholera detection system developed by OmniVis is already being tested in field studies in Bangladesh and elsewhere. More than 800 trash-skimming devices deployed by Seabin Project have collected more than half a million tons of marine litter, the majority of which is microplastics. And more than 10,000 data scientists have signed up for Zindi’s web platform, which has hosted dozens of competitions that have yielded valuable artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for companies, nonprofits and government organizations across Africa and around the world. This is truly just the beginning. Around the world, innovators and entrepreneurs are finding new ways to harness technology to fuel purpose-driven social enterprises that measure success not just by the profit they generate, but by the good they do. At Microsoft, we are deeply inspired by the commitment of these social entrepreneurs, who are focusing their passion for positive change on improving human health and the environment, advancing social and economic equity, and much more. But these are huge, complicated problems and far too large for any single organization to hope to solve alone. So to empower social entrepreneurs, Microsoft is launching a new Global Social Entrepreneurship program to offer qualified startups access to technology, education, customers and grants. Our global initiative is designed to help social enterprise startups build and scale their companies to do good globally. The program is available in 140 countries and will actively seek to support underrepresented founders with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. The criteria to qualify for the program include a business metric that measures impact on an important social or environmental challenge; an established product or service that will benefit from access to enterprise customers; and a commitment to the ethical and responsible use of AI. At Microsoft, we believe in providing the foundational building blocks to help social entrepreneurs create companies that can achieve worldwide impact. Social enterprises that become part of the Global Social Entrepreneurship program will receive access to free Microsoft cloud technologies, including up to $120,000 in Azure credits, along with technical support and guidance. A dedicated program manager will help Global Social Entrepreneurship startups market and sell solutions and connect to large commercial organizations and nongovernmental organizations that are potential customers. Participants focused on sustainability, accessibility, and skills and employability will also be eligible for grants. And social enterprises that join the Global Social Entrepreneurship program will be part of a worldwide community of like-minded innovators who come together to share ideas, foster connections and celebrate success. To help us identify promising social entrepreneurs from around the world who are pursuing innovative tech-based solutions that can have a transformational impact, we’re excited to be working with organizations like MIT Solve. A marketplace for social impact innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Solve currently supports more 130 teams of social entrepreneurs – more than half of which are led by women – from 36 countries. With its global reach and reputation, Solve will ensure that we recruit talented social entrepreneurs who might otherwise be overlooked. I see social enterprise startups like OmniVis, Seabin Project and Zindi as examples of one of the most important trends of the past decade – the growing recognition that building a business can be a powerful way to be a force for progress to benefit people and the planet. It’s an idea that has been gathering momentum. A 2016 report by the Global Entrepreneur Monitor found that one-third of startups around the world were focused on social good rather than just commercial success. Today, social entrepreneurship is much more than a trend. It has developed into a global movement as more and more entrepreneurs find innovative ways to use AI to pioneer new approaches to solving the problems the world faces. For many of them, it is a chance to turn a lifelong passion into mission-driven enterprise that can thrive because it is doing good and driving positive change. Dr. Katherine Clayton, the founder of OmniVis – which was selected as a 2019 Solver with MIT Solve – is a great example. After her uncle died of AIDS when she was just 7 years old, she declared she was going to get rid of disease when she grew up. It was a promise that led her to study biomedical engineering in college and then work on water safety issues in rural Thailand in a study-abroad trip alongside Engineers Without Borders. When she learned about the impact of cholera on vulnerable communities around the world, she saw a perfect opportunity to bring her knowledge of technology together with her desire help rid the world of life-threatening health issues. One reason cholera is so difficult to control is that current tests for the bacteria must be processed in a major laboratory, which takes days and comes with high costs. Working with colleagues at Purdue University, Clayton has developed a simple, cellphone-based device that can analyze a few drops of water and provide an answer within minutes and then transmit location data to let health authorities know where to send the supplies needed to prevent an outbreak. And all for less than $10 a test. Seabin Project is a similar story of lifelong passion applied to a contemporary problem. It was co-founded by Pete Ceglinski, who grew up in a small coastal town in Australia, where he learned to surf at age 8. He began his career as a product designer in Perth while still in his 20s and then became a builder of high performance boats for America’s Cup racing teams. In 2014, Ceglinski quit his job and used his life savings to launch Seabin Project. Based on a business model pioneered by Patagonia, Seabin Project combines education and technology, with a goal of removing debris from the ocean and teaching people that if we are smarter about the use of plastics, we can keep them out of our oceans in the first place. Named one of the world’s 50 best inventions by Time magazine in 2018 and recognized by the U.N. as a technology that can help address ocean pollution, Seabin trash skimmers are now trapping an average of 3.6 tons of marine litter per day in ports and marinas in more than 52 countries. And the devices not only collect trash, they collect data that scientists can use to better understand the impact that plastic debris has on marine life and human health. At Zindi, which is based in Cape Town, South Africa, CEO Celina Lee sees incredible opportunities to be a catalyst for applying the power of AI to challenges for businesses, nonprofits and governments in Africa. A platform for hosting online machine learning competitions, Zindi connects engineers and data scientists at every level of experience with organizations that have difficult problems that machine learning and AI can help solve. Recent Zindi competitions include a UNICEF-sponsored effort to use AI to predict the impact of flooding in Malawi, a challenge to be presented at the International Conference on Learning Representations to use computer vision to recognize crop diseases, and a competition sponsored by Tunisia’s Ministry of Finance to use AI to detect tax fraud. As important as the results of these competition are in creating AI solutions to meet the specific needs of African communities and organizations, Lee believes Zindi can have an even greater long-term impact by helping to build and support a thriving AI ecosystem in Africa and by giving young data scientists opportunities to improve their skills, build their work portfolios and connect with potential employers. I never stop being inspired by the passion and purpose of people like Katherine Clayton, Pete Ceglinski and Celina Lee, who have dedicated their knowledge, time and resources to making a difference in the world. At Microsoft, we are honored to stand with them by offering access to technology, financing, partners, customers and a community that recognizes that people have great power to effect positive change if they have the right resources. I believe more than ever that amazing things happen when startups work together with investors, enterprises, governments, nonprofits and communities. Through Global Social Entrepreneurship, we look forward to working in close partnership with social enterprises from around the world. I can’t think of a more compelling way to help create a sustainable, accessible and equitable world. To learn more and apply, please visit: https://startups.microsoft.com/en-us/social-entrepreneurship/ The post Creating a world of good: Microsoft launches the Global Social Entrepreneurship program appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we’re releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19569.1000 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here, including a list of all the new features and updates released in builds so far. Not seeing any of the features in this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re on the Fast ring. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected. If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring, head over to Flight Hub. Please note, there will be a slight delay between when a build is flighted and when Flight Hub is updated. Evolving the Windows 10 icons We are currently working on a multi-year effort across Microsoft’s design teams to redesign the icons across all our products. We started with the Office icons, and now we’re moving forward with updating the icons in Windows 10, starting with the built-in apps like Alarms & Clock, Calculator, Mail, and Calendar. Research and feedback from Windows Insiders showed a desire to see consistency in design and connection to the brand, with enough differences to aid in recognition. You can read all about our approach to updating the icons in Windows 10 in this Medium post from the Microsoft Design Team! https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/02/7e4667f9c9e488683aca797991b5a747.png Many of these icons will be updated as app updates from the Microsoft Store. We are beginning to roll them out to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring first, starting today. The Mail and Calendar icons rolled out this morning to Release Preview. Over the coming months, Insiders will see more of the icons in Windows 10 get updated with new designs! General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We fixed an issue resulting in OneDrive not working and using an unexpectedly high amount of CPU for some Insiders on the previous build. We resolved an issue where SCSI drivers weren’t being recognized with certain third-party virtual machines, which was causing c1900191 errors on these devices. We’re continuing to investigate additional c1900191 errors on other devices. We fixed an issue impacting Start menu reliability after upgrade for some Insiders. We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders experiencing a green screen with a SYSTEMTHREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED error on recent builds. Known issues BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview. See this article for details. We are aware Narrator and NVDA users that seek the latest release of Microsoft Edge based on Chromium may experience some difficulty when navigating and reading certain web content. Narrator, NVDA and the Edge teams are aware of these issues. Users of legacy Microsoft Edge will not be affected. NVAccess has released a NVDA 2019.3 that resolves the known issue with Edge. We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build. We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are unable to update to newer builds with error 0x8007042b. The Documents section under Privacy has a broken icon (just a rectangle). When you upgrade with certain languages, like Japanese, the “Installing Windows X%” page isn’t rendering the text correctly (only boxes are displayed). We’re continuing to investigate the issue where input stops working in some places if clipboard history (WIN+V) is dismissed without pasting anything. The cloud recovery option for Reset this PC isn’t working on this build. Please use the local reinstall option when performing Reset this PC. Windows Insider Webcast is back on March 3 The Windows Insider webcast is back on Tuesday, March 3! Mark your calendars to join us as at 10 a.m. PST / 6 p.m. UTC on the Windows Insider Mixer channel! 2020 U.S. Presidential Candidates Are you keeping up with the U.S. presidential candidates? No worries, Bing has everything you need to get you up to speed. Check out our U.S. presidential candidates carousel. We provide detailed information on candidates including events, quotes, stance on issues, and more. If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insiders Program. Thanks, BLB The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19569 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Technology is reshaping society – artificial intelligence (AI) is enabling us to increase crop yields, protect endangered animals and improve access to healthcare. Technology is also transforming criminal enterprises, which are developing increasingly targeted attacks against a growing range of devices and services. Using the cloud to harness the largest and most diverse set of signals – with the right mix of AI and human defenders – we can turn the tide in cybersecurity. Microsoft is announcing new capabilities in AI and automation available today to accelerate that change. Cybersecurity always comes down to people – good and bad. Our optimism is grounded in our belief in the potential for good people and technology to work in harmony to accomplish amazing things. After years of investment and engineering work, the data now shows that Microsoft is delivering on the potential of AI to enable defenders to protect data and manage risk across the full breadth of their digital estates. The AI capabilities built into Microsoft Security solutions are trained on 8 trillion daily threat signals and the insights of 3,500 security experts. Custom algorithms and machine learning models make, and learn from, billions of queries every day. As a result, Microsoft Security solutions help identify and respond to threats 50% faster than was possible just 12 months ago. Today, Microsoft Security solutions are able to automate 97% of the routine tasks that occupied defenders’ valuable time just two years ago. Microsoft Threat Protection, generally available today, does the heavy lifting for defenders by proactively hunting across users, email, applications and endpoints – including Mac and Linux. It brings together alerts and takes action using AI and automation. Microsoft Threat Protection breaks down security silos so security professionals can automatically detect, investigate and stop coordinated multi-point attacks. It weeds out the unimportant and amplifies signals that might have been missed, freeing defenders to work on the incidents that need their attention. With identity protection as a core component, it is the only solution of its type that is designed for Zero Trust. More details on the Microsoft Threat Protection announcement can be found on the Microsoft Security Blog. It also builds upon solutions recognized as leaders in their categories, like Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) for endpoint security. Defender ATP offers preventive protection, post-breach detection and automated investigation and response for Windows and macOS. Today we’re announcing support for Linux and plans for iOS and Android as well. Azure Sentinel, the first cloud-native SIEM with fusion AI technology turns huge volumes of low fidelity signals into a few important incidents for security professionals to focus on. In December 2019 alone, within Microsoft, Azure Sentinel evaluated nearly 50 billion suspicious signals that in practical terms would be impossible for people to manually analyze and emitted just 25 high-confidence incidents for SecOps teams to investigate. Microsoft was the first major cloud company to embrace the reality of the hybrid and multi-cloud enterprise, with more than 60% of enterprises using two or more cloud platforms. We’re committed to helping SecOps defend the entire stack, not only Microsoft workloads, and that’s why Azure Sentinel brings together events generated by security products from leading vendors such as Palo Alto Networks with the signals generated by cloud platforms such as AWS, providing security teams with visibility across their estates. To further help our customers secure their entire multi-cloud estates, today we are announcing the general availability of the Azure Sentinel connector for IoT and the ability to import AWS CloudTrail logs into Azure Sentinel at no additional cost from Feb. 24, 2020 until June 30, 2020. With this offer AWS customers now have seamless access to the best in-class, cloud-native security information and event management (SIEM) technology from a major cloud provider. More on the details of the Azure Sentinel announcements can be found on the Microsoft Security blog. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/prod/prod/2020/02/Inline-art-_From-alerts-to-high-security.jpg An example of Azure Sentinel machine learning activity from the 30-day period of December 2019. Securing the enterprise is not just about external attackers, but also managing insider risk – which has become a top concern of CISOs. Insider Risk Management in Microsoft 365 – the first born-in-the-cloud, integrated insider risk management solution – helps customers tackle the problem with no agents to deploy and no data ingestions to configure. Extending the same Microsoft Information Protection technology that already classifies and protects more than 50 billion documents for Microsoft customers, machine learning in Insider Risk Management brings together signals, sensitivity labels and content together in a single view, which saves security teams time by allowing them to quickly make informed risk decisions and take action. The general availability of Insider Risk Management is rolling out to customers’ tenants over the coming days. When people and technology come together, we can accomplish amazing things. The world is indeed getting more complicated, but the public cloud combined with human expertise and industry collaboration are delivering innovation that gives the advantage back to the defenders of cyberspace. We have never been more optimistic about the potential for technology to support and scale your most precious cybersecurity assets – your people. The post Delivering on the promise of security AI to help defenders protect today’s hybrid environments appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

White, Dutch, male and writing about Black History Month? As an executive at Microsoft, a resident of the United States and a human being, it is important to me to use my voice to support the many communities around me, to give back, to empower others and to be a catalyst for change. It was with that idea in mind that I reached out to Kathleen Hogan, our executive vice president of Human Resources some years ago and asked if I could be a sponsor for the Employee Resource Group that supports our black and African American community at Microsoft called Blacks at Microsoft (BAM). Being part of BAM for the last three years as co-sponsor has been an absolute honor and a privilege. Thanks to the generosity of the BAM community, I have had the opportunity to listen and learn much more directly about what’s top of mind for the community and explore my own understandings and assumptions. I’ve learned things about black history in the United States that I knew embarrassingly little about. And I’ve been deeply impressed with the cohesion and support BAM members provide each other and the external community. For me, the opportunity to influence others by actively participating in events and tune in to learn from others, to speak up when I observe behaviors inconsistent with our values or beliefs on inclusion, and to amplify stories that need to be told to help address injustices in society is some of the most rewarding work I have done while at Microsoft. Black History Month, in the U.S. and Canada, is an opportunity for all of us to “knock on the door” to increase our awareness and understanding – from African history to slavery to the Jim Crow South to the civil rights movement to present-day inequities. It is also an opportunity to recognize and honor more recent examples of achievement from the black community and to reflect on what it means to create a truly equitable society. I encourage everyone – community member or ally – to set aside some time this month to better understand black history, to be intentionally inclusive and to get acquainted with those who are different, with the intention of deepening empathy and understanding. In doing so, we become aware of our own biases, get curious about other points of view and gain the courage to have challenging conversations. Let every Black History Month be an opportunity to understand a little more, to be more connected and to deepen our sense of community. The post Black History Month: Leaning In appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/02/94e07dbc4ba48ec6f9c7fab5463f114b.png State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition launches on March 13 on Windows 10 and Xbox. It’ll also be on Steam with cross-network play across all platforms. This is a free, automatic upgrade for all owners of State of Decay 2, including all Xbox Game Pass members. It’s an expanded and improved version that takes everything players love about State of Decay 2 and adds tons of new content and improvements for veteran and new players alike. Get more details on Xbox Wire. The post State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition launches March 13 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

The last place Kristi Odom expected to be was in a crowd. Shy by nature, she studied electrical and computer engineering at Georgia Tech, but a loss in her family led to unusual environments (for her): football games and concerts. And during those moments, she found what she’d do for the rest of her life. “I’ve always been close to my family, very close to my grandfather. And when he passed away, he left me his camera gear. I started taking photos to feel close to him and to remember him,” Odom says. “And I realized that even in being quiet, I could have a loud voice that went far. And photography brought me out of my shell. It made me less introverted and it put me in the middle of everything and made me realize that I had a voice that I could share.” https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2020/02/9d50335d6f7f4032adad4e38eca8d65a.jpg Sleeping lion just waking up at Karongwe Game Reserve South Africa, December 2019 (Photo by Kristi Odom) Now the introvert goes to conferences and speaks in front of thousands. She leads conservation-focused workshops. (This year, those will be in Bolivia, Kenya and New Zealand). Besides the Smithsonian, she’s had an image up in Times Square, on display at conferences like CES and Photoplus, and in various publications including Forbes, Outside magazine, People.com, Rollingstone.com, ABC news and Nikon.com. And now she’s expanded her skillset by opening a new branch of her company, thanks to faster processors and graphics cards in laptops. “I’ve just started doing video work over the last year and a half, and that’s because of the technology that’s now available. Currently my workstation is the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, and this laptop opens up so many possibilities,” she says. “Being able to edit on an airplane or in a tent, and to be able to put a piece together at the height of the passion of the moment helps me put my emotion into my work. My main goal in life has always been to connect people emotionally to wildlife, to show people the beauty that there is in animals and the beauty there is in this planet that we have. And hopefully through visuals I can get people to really care more for this planet.” Find out more about Odom at Microsoft Stories. The post Nature photographer uses ASUS all over the world to connect people to wildlife appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Two years ago, we announced an ambitious goal to become the leading enterprise cloud for B2B startups in the world. Called Microsoft for Startups, we launched a founder-first program that delivers the technology, go-to-market and community benefits needed to catalyze startup success. Since then, the industry has seen tremendous growth among B2B tech startups. According to PitchBook, venture capitalists bet $30 billion on enterprise startups in 2019, surpassing consumer tech funding for the first time in a decade. Microsoft for Startups has witnessed that momentum firsthand. Thousands of startups from more than 140 countries have connected their game-changing solutions to our enterprise customers. Startups active in our program are on pace to close more than $1 billion in new sales opportunities over the next year alone. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/prod/prod/prod/2020/02/MSFT_StartupSocial_Satya_Handshake-_Final-003.jpg To celebrate tomorrow’s hyper-scale companies, we are expanding member benefits to include: GitHub Enterprise: Starting today, all new and current startups in the program will receive access to GitHub Enterprise. GitHub Enterprise extends the flexibility and functionality of GitHub with features that simplify account administration and provide additional security, compliance and deployment controls as teams scale. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/prod/prod/prod/2020/02/GitHub_Logo.png Microsoft Power Platform: In the coming months, all new and current startups will also receive access to Microsoft Power Platform which empowers organizations to analyze data, build solutions, automate processes and create virtual agents. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/2020/02/PreviewImage.png What lies ahead for Microsoft for Startups? Like the early-stage founders we support, there are big things in the pipeline. We are committed to: – Listening to the needs of startup communities around the world and employing these insights to guide our program experience from events and education, to unique vertical tracks such as our Quantum or Autonomous Driving – Extending our reach even deeper into communities of under-estimated founders and ensuring diverse voices are heard and championed. – Providing open access to distribution channels including our commercial marketplaces (Azure Marketplace and AppSource), cloud solution providers (CSP), and our enterprise sales force, all positioned to empower startups with unparalleled growth opportunities. But don’t take our word for it. Here are a few of the incredible startups and organizations we’re working with. We’re so happy to call them partners and to be a part of their continued success. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/2020/02/Element-AI-LOGO-scaled.jpg “Element AI has progressed from a startup to an AI solutions provider that is helping organizations operationalize AI to drive business impact, led by fundamental research teams that are connected to the best academic ecosystems. We joined the Microsoft for Startups program to accelerate the commercialization of our AI products and solutions with customers around the world.” – Omar Dhalla, Senior Vice President at Element AI https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/2020/02/eagle-genomics_owler_20161208_095548_original.png “Eagle Genomics now sells together with Microsoft — a relationship that has doubled the size of our platform business in the past year and cemented a major deal with Unilever.” – Anthony Finbow: Chief Executive Officer, Eagle Genomics Click here to load media https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/2020/02/Microshare.jpg “Through the Microsoft for Startups program, we were able to connect with Microsoft’s vast partner ecosystem. We recently forged a global alliance with Arrow Electronics which allows us to deliver our IoT solutions to over 200,000 leading manufacturers and service providers.” – Ron Rock, Microshare CEO and cofounder https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/2020/02/Techstars_horizontal_primary.png “TechStars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, and our Global Network Partners — including Microsoft — are an important part of our network. Microsoft adds powerful industry expertise by offering hands-on mentorship, business development opportunities and access to resources that help accelerate our global startups across 150 countries. Microsoft for Startups provides a streamlined path for B2B startups to connect with the world’s leading enterprise companies and we congratulate them on their two-year anniversary.” – Max Mead, SVP of Business Development https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/prod/2020/02/Clobotics-Logo.png “Clobotics is headquartered in both Shanghai and Seattle, and our solution is aimed at Fortune 1000 enterprises The Microsoft for Startups program was instrumental in connecting us with global customers including Walmart, P&G and Coca-Cola.” – George Yan Founder of CEO of Clobotics The post Microsoft for Startups unlocks $1 billion in sales opportunities for B2B startups; adds GitHub and Microsoft Power Platform appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...