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Measuring the quality of Windows is a complex undertaking that requires gathering a variety of diagnostic signals from millions of devices within the Windows ecosystem. The insights we derive from these signals are essential to our understanding of whether our customers, starting with our Insiders and progressing to the general population of Windows users, are successfully using our products and services. In addition to all the internal testing that we do, we rely heavily on the feedback provided through diagnostic data to detect and fix problems before we release new updates of Windows to the general population, and to monitor the impact of those updates after each release. In this installment of our quality blog series, Jane Liles and Rob Mauceri from the Windows Data Science team share some of the practices we’ve developed during the last few years to measure and improve the quality of Windows. Measuring the impact of change We approach each release with a straightforward question, “Is this Windows update ready for customers?” This is a question we ask for every build and every update of Windows, and it’s intended to confirm that automated and manual testing has occurred before we evaluate quality via diagnostic data and feedback-based metrics. After a build passes the initial quality gates and is ready for the next stages of evaluation, we measure quality based on the diagnostic data and feedback from our own engineers who aggressively self-host Windows to discover potential problems. We look for stability and improved quality in the data generated from internal testing, and only then do we consider releasing the build to Windows Insiders, after which we review the data again, looking specifically for failures. Answering the question, “Is this update of Windows ready?” requires that we design and curate metrics in a way that is reliable, repeatable, precise, true and unbiased. It requires a high level of testing and iteration. We look at the metrics multiple times per week as part of our normal rhythm of the business to better understand the impact of the code changes that our engineering teams put into the product, and to make decisions about where to focus stabilization efforts. By the time we are ready to ship to our customer base, our metrics must be, at a minimum, at or above the quality levels for the previous release, the idea being that every update should make the Windows 10 experience better. We use these testing methods and metrics throughout the release and track their performance over time, enabling us to ship with higher confidence. We then continue monitoring for quality issues that affect the ecosystem as the update reaches a broader audience. To understand the quality of each update through data, we divide the feature set of Windows into distinct areas defined by the customer experience. Building on the ability to count unique “active” devices each month, we then focus on the success of the upgrade process and general health of the user experience. From there, we define “measures of success” for key user scenarios that exemplify a best-in-class operating system (OS) experience. For example, we measure success rates for connecting to Wi-Fi, or opening a PDF file from Microsoft Edge, or logging in using Windows Hello. For any given update of Windows, we have thousands of “measures” (proprietary metrics built on a shared data platform) that we use at the team level to monitor the impact of the changes. Of these, we have just over 1,000 that we incorporate daily into our Release Quality View (RQV) dashboard, which gives us an “all up” product view. We use this dashboard to assess the quality of the customer experience before we ship, i.e., while our engineers and Windows Insiders are running daily and weekly pre-release builds. We continue monitoring the RQV when the product becomes generally available to the hundreds of millions of devices used by our consumer and commercial Windows customers, using the data to spot and quickly fix issues that may arise so that Windows is always improving, even after it is released. In fact, we use measures at every stage of development to monitor the quality of each release, whether it is a feature update or a monthly servicing update. We build these “measures” from Windows diagnostic data and feedback signals to help us understand if the product is working the way it’s supposed to. The diagram below shows what one of these measures looks like. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/03/b6321e6297f68cd0401f062670da860d.jpg Example measure: Average time to connect to Wi-Fi on a recent Windows 10 update: 1.503 seconds (within the goal of 3,000 ms, measured over 101.1 million connections with at least 50 percent signal quality) When developing the RQV, we needed to normalize our assessment across many measures, each with a different way of expressing “success.” The measures had to be flexible enough to best capture what is important, for example: How should we characterize the experience being measured to influence the right action, for example, defining success as a low failure rate for connecting to Wi-Fi, or the percentage of devices with no failures, or the success rate of deleting browser history via Settings? How should we express targets, such as a 99.85 percent success rate when creating a new tab in Microsoft Edge, or <500 milliseconds to launch the Start menu? Which unit of measurement should we use, for example, how many milliseconds to open the Action center pane vs. absolute counts of installation rollbacks? To provide a meaningful view of quality across so many variables, we evaluate each measure with a normalized score, based on the distance to its target. We calculate this score for each of the measures that make up the RQV and provide a summary view for each product area (e.g., networking), sub-area (e.g., Wi-Fi), and for Windows as a whole. We then track the trends towards meeting targets for all areas, with the goal of continuous improvement. If any area starts heading in the wrong direction, away from targets, we can detect it quickly, diagnose and correct the problem, and validate that the measure is tracking towards healthy again. One of the things we learned as we were developing the RQV was the importance of linking the bugs for problems exposed by failing measures to the measures themselves. Having the ability to validate that a bug fix actually resolved a problem by seeing the same measure return to a healthy range, based on real use by our own engineers and by our Insiders, turns out to be a powerful and useful thing. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/03/46af920f372c5ac6e0e5f67cd379d901.jpg View of measure trend for Networking measures in internal and Windows Insider builds between 1/25/2019 and 2/19/2019 shows an improvement in score (76 –>100) since the previous build Measures drive action As anyone who regularly works with metrics has probably discovered, data is only as valuable as an organization’s commitment to using it to inform real decisions and drive action on a consistent basis. Having a dashboard of measures provides limited benefit unless there is a process and accountability for using it. Today, leaders in the Windows organization meet multiple times each week to review the quality of the latest version of Windows being self-hosted by our own engineering teams and by hundreds of thousands of Windows Insiders, as represented by our RQV measures. Starting with the lowest scoring problem areas, we run down the list of areas whose measures are proportionally farthest from their targets. The engineering owners for those areas are then called on to explain what is causing the problem, who is on point to resolve it, and when they expect the quality of that area, as represented by the measures, to be back within target. We look for both build-by-build differences and the trends of measures over time. Between these “Release Readiness” sessions, engineers and managers regularly review their measures and customer feedback, investigating failures using analytics tools to correlate cohorts of failure conditions with problems in the code. This enables them to more easily diagnose issues and fix them. Fixes that engineers check into future builds are tracked through the system, so reviewers can see when a fix will be delivered via a new build and can monitor impact as the build moves through its normal validation path: through automated quality gates, to self-hosted devices in our internal engineering “rings,” and to our Windows Insiders. Impactful regressions—again, exposed through measures and user feedback—in quality at any of these stages can halt the progression of that build to the next audience until a new fix (usually in the form of a new build) is available. It has been exciting to grow a new team culture focused on driving quality through measurements built from our listening channels, and we continue to invest in making it better. In the early days of Windows 10, it took months of curation, review and iteration just to get an initial set of measures that were representative, reliable and trustworthy. It required patience and rigor to get to a state where the measures could tell a credible story. If a feature owner had to explain why the measures weren’t accurately describing what was happening, we had to develop the habit of asking how they were going to fix the measures and when. It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen, thanks in part to leaders like Mike Fortin, who are passionate about us living by our measures, and to our dedicated teams of data scientists and engineers. We have learned a lot about how to express quality in a customer-centric way through quantitative measurement (at considerable scale), and we’re still learning. Measure example: Success creating a new tab in Microsoft Edge One of the hundreds of measures we track is the failure rate of opening new tabs in the Microsoft Edge browser. The success of this action is essential to a good customer experience, but it is also a non-trivial operation behind the scenes. This makes it a good action to track as a quality measure. We detect that a new tab is being created by looking for a sequence of three diagnostic events: (1) TabAddedToViewModel, (2) AddNewTabCreateInstance and (3) ConsumedPreLoadedTabInstance. If each of these events occurs in order, and within the prescribed amount of time, the action is considered a success. However, there are many events that can cause the operation to fail. For example, if we see the TabAddedToViewModel event, but the sequence is not completed in time, then the action is deemed a failure. Here is the logic behind this measure illustrated as a state model, which is the way we describe the event pattern in the measure definition: https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/03/777e144f6b0fee2c327ddaff454db814.jpg State machine diagram for “percentage of Microsoft Edge Tab Failures” measure We aggregate all success and failure outcomes to determine the overall reliability of the action. The percentage of successes over all successes and failures is the measure result. In this case, the “target” or goal that the Microsoft Edge team set for this measure is .15 percent, so if the average percentage of tab creation failures is .15 percent or less over a rolling seven-day period, then the measure is passing. When we view the results for a measure, we compare across builds to understand the following: How is this measure performing for this audience of devices with this specific build? Is this feature working better in this build than in the last build we released to this audience? How is the quality of this feature in this build compared to in the latest released version of Windows? An example comparison of results for this measure across three different builds on Feb. 24 looks like this: https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/03/a9454a9b33763621ac51062fdd2b9a0a.jpg Comparison of tab creation failure rate for three different Windows 10 builds Since the measure was within its target of .15 percent, averaging .07 percent within the last seven days, it gets a score of 100 (in green). A more detailed view of the first chart shows more information about the number of instances and the daily averages: https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/03/2a60e2b04960d736a7afb5d8d5336871.jpg Detailed view of Tab Create failure measure The grey bars at the bottom of the chart show the number of instances of that measure for that day. The confidence interval shows the range of results for that day, which on Feb. 24 was relatively narrow with 95 percent chance of the true mean falling within a .02 percent range that is well within target. If the measure were failing, we could drill from the chart to get machine learning-generated information about anomalous cohorts, or patterns of conditions among the failing devices, as well as correlations with known crashes. We can also seek additional diagnostic data to understand the root cause of the problem(s), to aid engineers on the Microsoft Edge team in fixing it quickly for a future build. Progress, and more investment We have come a long way in our quest to better understand and improve the quality of Windows through the signals we receive from Windows Insiders and in-market usage. We will continue to look for opportunities to make our listening and analytics systems more intelligent, all in an effort to provide you, our customer, with the best possible Windows experience. We are constantly looking to apply new and improved ways to augment our instrumentation and measures—for example, investing more in customer feedback to help us identify gaps or inconsistencies in our diagnostic data-based measures and provide insight into the experiences you have on your actual devices. We’re also investing in new machine learning models to foster earlier detection through text analytics. In short, we are on a journey of continuous improvement, and we’re using data and AI to make release decisions that are more informed and customer-centric, while also maintaining your privacy and trust. The post Data, insights and listening to improve the customer experience appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing 20H1 Build 18850 to Windows Insiders who have opted into Skip Ahead. Remember – these builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1. IMPORTANT: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, these builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you take this flight, you won’t be able to switch back to the Fast or Slow rings without doing a clean-install on your PC and starting over. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle. What’s New in Build 18850 Snip & Sketch version 10.1901.10521.0 As some of you may have already noticed, we’re in the process of rollout out a new app update to Skip Ahead. It includes a number of fixes based on your feedback, among which are: We fixed an issue that could result in snips being a bit blurry after saving or copying to clipboard. We fixed an issue where copying to clipboard would fail if you switched out of the app while the copy operation was in progress. We fixed an issue where the suggested file name was unexpectedly a GUID for snips opened from Win + Shift + S toast. We’ve added Narrator (screen reader) confirmations when a snip is copied to clipboard. We’ve updated the default save format to be png. You can still use the dropdown when saving to pick your desired format if it’s not png. We fixed an issue where auto-copy changes to clipboard wasn’t working on return from Snip & Sketch settings. We fixed an issue where the app might crash if you closed two app windows one after another. We fixed an issue where the default save file location was documents rather than pictures. In fixing this we also fixed an issue where when saving the save dialog wouldn’t remember where you last saved a snip. The rollout of this app is not tied to the upgrade, so you may see it outside the bounds of this flight. General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We fixed an issue where Narrator continuous reading in Edge did not keep the text cursor at the position where reading was started from. We fixed an issue where Narrator Scan mode down arrow navigation might get stuck when reading in Chrome. In Windows Sandbox, Settings app no longer crashes when you navigate to the Narrator settings. We fixed an issue where the time shown on the clock in Windows Sandbox might not match the clock outside of Windows Sandbox. We fixed an issue resulting in some devices unexpectedly experiencing a 30 second wait before pin re-entry was available after a pin was incorrectly entered on the lock screen. We fixed an issue resulting in Emoji 12 emoji showing up as boxes in certain XAML text fields. We’ve made some adjustments to improve WIN+(period) reliability. We fixed an issue that could result in the Start menu not launching if the GPO to turn off the all apps list in Start was enabled. We fixed an issue where the default Microsoft Word web tile pinned to Start (in the case where Office wasn’t installed) was unexpectedly launching Microsoft Edge in inPrivate mode. We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge sometimes crashing when editing or tabbing through PDFs. We’ve made a change to improve cloud clipboard (if enabled) sync reliability. We fixed an issue that could result in the lock screen unexpectedly not dismissing until Ctrl+Alt+Del was pressed. We fixed an issue where if high contrast mode was enabled during Windows setup, that state wouldn’t persist first logon. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). If you use third party apps to adjust the color of your screen, we’ve made a fix with this build to address feedback that certain apps were no longer working. We’re continuing to investigate feedback in this space. For display calibration scenarios, monitors may be missing in the built-in Color Management application. As a work around, please use the Settings app to select color profile instead, under the Display Settings page. When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled, the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. We’re investigating an issue preventing VMware from being able to install or update Windows Insider Preview builds. Hyper-V is a viable alternative if available to you. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Skip Ahead and switch to either the Fast ring or the Slow ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18850 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. 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Hello Windows Insiders! Today we are pleased to release a new Insider build of the Windows Server VNext Semi-Annual Channel release. What’s New Server Core App Compatibility feature on demand (FOD): The Server Core App Compatibility FOD was new in Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809. We are continuing investment in the App Compatibility FOD based on customer and Insider feedback. New in this Insider release for App Compatibility FOD: Hyper-V Manager (Virtmgmt.msc) Create and connect to VMs hosted on Server Core + the App Compatibility FOD!! [*]Task Scheduler (Taskschd.msc) Please try it and let us know! More to come…. Available Content Windows Server vNext Semi-Annual Preview The Server Core Edition is available in the 18 supported Server languages in ISO format and in English only in VHDX format. Windows Server Core App Compatibility FoD Preview Windows Server Language Packs Windows Admin Center 1902 The following keys allow for unlimited activations of Windows Server Previews Server Standard: V6N4W-86M3X-J77X3-JF6XW-D9PRV Server Datacenter: B69WH-PRNHK-BXVK3-P9XF7-XD84W This Windows Server Preview will expire July 5th, 2019. Symbols are available on the public symbol server – see Update on Microsoft’s Symbol Server blog post and Using the Microsoft Symbol Server. Matching Windows Server container images will be available via Docker Hub. For more information about Windows Server containers and Insider builds, click here. How to Download Registered Insiders may navigate directly to the Windows Server Insider Preview download page. If you have not yet registered as an Insider, see GETTING STARTED WITH SERVER on the Windows Insiders for Business portal. We value your feedback! The most important part of a frequent release cycle is to hear what’s working and what needs to be improved, so your feedback is extremely valued. For Windows Admin Center, Send us feedback via UserVoice. We also encourage you to visit the Windows Admin Center space on the Microsoft Tech Communities forum to collaborate, share and learn from experts. For Windows Server, use your registered Windows 10 Insider device and use the Feedback Hub application. In the app, choose the Windows Server category and then the appropriate subcategory for your feedback. In the title of the Feedback, please indicate the build number you are providing feedback on in this format: [server #####] Title of my feedback We also encourage you to visit the Windows Server Insiders space on the Microsoft Tech Communities forum to collaborate, share and learn from experts. Windows Server Bug Fixes (New) Error after remoting to machine with RDP post FOD installation. The error message indicates immediately that the remote session has ended with potential reasons, followed by a black RDP screen. This only impacts remoting to a physical machine with Server Core + FOD. (New) Applies to App Compat FOD MMC.exe only: Multiple Active Directory Users and Computers snap-ins added to the same MMC.exe instance could show inconsistent or no data on part of the snap-ins after adding extra columns to the UI view. Wokaround: for UI user management, use a separate MMC for each ADUC (DSA.MSC) snap-in. A local user’s last logon time output from “net user username” may not be recorded even when the user has accessed the server’s network share. Scheduled startup tasks may fail to run. An event is logged, ID 101 with the error code ERROR_LOGON_FAILURE when the failure occurs. A virtual machine may not report all virtual fibre channel (vfc) LUNs after powering on if there are 2000+ vfc LUNs. WMI queries from the host show the LUNS available. Restarting the VMMs may show the LUNS again as available. DCPromo fails if the interface metric of the physical NIC is larger than Loopback Interface. Third-party password filter dlls may not be notified when the local Administrator account’s password was changed. [New] Attempting system image recovery from an image located on a network share may result in error “A specified logon session does not exist. It may already have been terminated” Server FODs are not retained after in-place (or B2B) upgrade. Domain Controller rename updates incorrect attributes in AD leaving orphaned data behind (ValidateSPNsAndDNSHostNameActual). This can be reproduced by adding a new FQDN, setting it as primary, restarting the domain controller, then removing the current FQDN. Checking the msDS-AdditionalDnsHostName, msDS-AdditionalSamAccountName and servicePrincipalName attributes will incorrect values. Invalid file may be created in %Systemroot%\System32\LogFiles\Sum by User Access Logging. Self-service users cannot install Feature on Demand (FOD) packages and Language Packs for Windows Server Update Service (WSUS), System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), and Autopilot scenarios. A container host may become unresponsive due to a deadlock when attempting to mount a volume. On an affected system, Docker hangs on all commands. When a Windows Defender Application Guard container crashes, the resulting type of dump may be unexpected. Terms of Use This is pre-release software – it is provided for use “as-is” and is not supported in production environments. Users are responsible for installing any updates made available from Windows Update. All pre-release software made available to you via the Windows Server Insider program are governed by the Insider Terms of Use. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows Server vNext Insider Preview Build 18346 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18351 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1). General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC If you haven’t been able to get the game State of Decay for free (for a limited time), we’ve just made more slots available! Whether you’ve tried it in earlier builds or haven’t had the chance yet, these instructions have everything you need. We’ve also made fixes to improve the download and install experience thanks to your feedback, so please try again if you had problems before. We fixed an issue from recent builds that could result in monitors being missing from the built-in Color Management application. We fixed an issue causing Explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when Jump list content was updated. We fixed an issue resulting in some devices unexpectedly experiencing a 30 second wait before pin re-entry was available after a pin was incorrectly entered on the lock screen. We fixed an issue where the time shown on the clock in Windows Sandbox might not match the clock outside of Windows Sandbox. We fixed an issue resulting in Emoji 12 emoji showing up as boxes in certain XAML text fields. We fixed an issue where text scaling values did not persist across upgrades for Win32 applications. Due to a Narrator reading reliability issue for the “Change how capitalized text is read” feature, the feature has been disabled starting in build 18351. We fixed an issue where the mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. While this flight contains some night light improvements, we’re continuing to investigate reported issues in this space. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working. We’re investigating an issue where region settings are being reset on upgrade for some Insiders. We’re investigating an issue preventing VMware from being able to install or update Windows Insider Preview builds. Hyper-V is a viable alternative if available to you. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button. Join the Bing Insider Program Going somewhere? Save time and money on your next trip. Use Bing Maps to plan your route and see gas prices, hotels, attractions, and restaurants along the way. If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insider Program. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18351 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Did you know you can look up definitions while you’re reading web pages, books and PDFs, thanks to the Windows 10 October 2018 Update? Microsoft Edge is the only browser with Microsoft Learning Tools built-in that help improve reading and focus. While you’re in Reading view on Microsoft Edge, you can look up definitions for key words, even when you are offline. Simply select a single word to see the definition appear above your selection. Check it out in action: https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/2c17b7220eb095ada9c98e8faaab6c29.gif You can also choose to have a word read aloud so you can hear the correct pronunciation or expand more details from the definition. You can also toggle to choose whether definitions appear and which types of content they work in under the “General” tab of the Microsoft Edge settings menu. If you like this, check out more Windows 10 Tips. The post Windows 10 Tip: Look up definitions for words in web pages, books and PDFs appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18348 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1). What’s New in Build 18348 Emoji 12.0 Update With Build Build 18277, Insiders got their first look at the Emoji 12.0 emoji. In early February, the set of emoji to be included with Emoji 12.0 was finalized by Unicode, and with today’s build when you press WIN+(period) or WIN+(semicolon), all of these emoji now have keywords hooked up to make them easy to search for. Try it once you install the build! Keywords include otter, sloth, waffle, ballet shoes, and more. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/f1fb104c18407236bb6651f244e2422a.png If you haven’t tried it already, be sure to also check out our new Kaomoji and Symbols section in the picker – makes it super easy to type things like (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ or em dash! https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/942fff0790053ef66c62cf935e9b45f4.png General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We’ve made some adjustments to improve WIN+(period) reliability. We fixed an issue that could result in the Start menu not launching if the GPO to turn off the all apps list in Start was enabled. We fixed an issue where the default Microsoft Word web tile pinned to Start (in the case where Office wasn’t installed) was unexpectedly launching Microsoft Edge in inPrivate mode. We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge sometimes crashing when editing or tabbing through PDFs. We’ve made a change to improve cloud clipboard (if enabled) sync reliability. We fixed an issue that could result in the lock screen unexpectedly not dismissing until Ctrl+Alt+Del was pressed. We fixed an issue where if high contrast mode was enabled during Windows setup, that state wouldn’t persist first logon. Note: We’re rolling back the new Settings header from 100% to 50% of Insiders on Home and non-domain joined Pro edition PCs. This is so we can have a side by side comparison to help evaluate quality in both on and off state. We’ll let you know when the rollout increases again. We fixed an issue where Narrator continuous reading in Edge did not keep the text cursor at the position where reading was started from. We fixed an issue where Narrator Scan mode down arrow navigation might get stuck when reading in Chrome. In Windows Sandbox, Settings app no longer crashes when you navigate to the Narrator settings. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. We’re continuing to investigate reported issues in the night light space. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. If you use third party apps to adjust the color of your screen, we’ve made a fix with this build to address feedback that certain apps were no longer working. We’re continuing to investigate feedback in this space. For display calibration scenarios, monitors may be missing in the built-in Color Management application. As a work around, please use the Settings app to select color profile instead, under the Display Settings page. We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working. We’re investigating an issue where region settings are being reset on upgrade for some Insiders. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18348 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing 20H1 Build 18845 to Windows Insiders who have opted into Skip Ahead. Remember – these builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1. IMPORTANT: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, these builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you take this flight, you won’t be able to switch back to the Fast or Slow rings without doing a clean-install on your PC and starting over. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle. What’s New in Build 18845 Emoji 12.0 Update With Build 18277, Insiders got their first look at the Emoji 12.0 emoji. In early February, the set of emoji to be included with Emoji 12.0 was finalized by Unicode, and with today’s build when you press WIN+(period) or WIN+(semicolon), all of these emoji now have keywords hooked up to make them easy to search for. Try it once you install the build! Keywords include otter, sloth, waffle, ballet shoes, and more. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/f1fb104c18407236bb6651f244e2422a.png If you haven’t tried it already, be sure to also check out our new Kaomoji and Symbols section in the picker – makes it super easy to type things like (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ or em dash! https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/942fff0790053ef66c62cf935e9b45f4.png General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We fixed an issue which would cause the Bluetooth Hands-Free audio driver to hang. We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders not being able to access the Quests section of the Feedback Hub. We fixed an issue resulting in a decrease in Start menu reliability in the previous flight. We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge crashing on launch for some Insiders in the previous flight. We’ve made some small tweaks to make the help icon in File Explorer look a bit better when dark theme is enabled. We fixed an issue where in certain languages if you pressed WIN+V before having opted into clipboard history the clipboard history UI would be truncated. We fixed an issue with the new Adlam keyboard resulting in not being able to type certain common words. We fixed an issue where, when typing Vietnamese, the touch keyboard was auto-capitalizing every word in certain apps. We fixed an issue that could result in unexpected flickering if you used pen or touch in certain win32 apps to launch a second instance of the app when in tablet mode. We fixed an issue that could result in DWM crashing after enabling high contrast. We fixed an issue where, when friendly dates were enabled in File Explorer, in certain languages (such as Japanese and Chinese) Insiders would see the wrong day name displayed. We fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected and non-functional Family Safety icon in the notification area of the taskbar. We fixed an issue that could result in the taskbar search box text becoming black on a black background. We fixed an issue where Start menu would crash when using Narrator to navigate pinned folders in Start. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). Please note that while we’ve made some improvements to night light reliability in this flight, we’re continuing to investigate reported issues in this space. For display calibration scenarios, monitors may be missing in the built-in Color Management application. As a work around, please use the Settings app to select color profile instead, under the Display Settings page. When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled, the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes. Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Skip Ahead and switch to either the Fast ring or the Slow ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. Join the Bing Insider Program In the market for a new home? Let Bing help you find the perfect place. Search listings in your area and get notifications when new homes that match your preferences go on the market. Whether you’re looking for a house or a condo, a studio or a 4-bedroom – optimize your search with Bing! If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insider Program. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18845 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Cybersecurity is about people. The frontline defenders who stand between the promise of digital transformation and the daily reality of cyber-attacks need our help. At Microsoft, we’ve made it our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. Today that mission is focused on defenders. We are unveiling two new cloud-based technologies in Microsoft Azure Sentinel and Microsoft Threat Experts that empower security operations teams by reducing the noise, false alarms, time consuming tasks and complexity that are weighing them down. Let me start by sharing some insight into the modern defender experience. Every day Microsoft security professionals help organizations respond to threats at scale and through targeted incident response. In one recent example from the latest Security Intelligence Report, Microsoft experts were called in to help several financial services organizations deal with attacks launched by a state-sponsored group that had gained administrative access and executed fraudulent transactions, transferring large sums of cash into foreign bank accounts. When the attack group realized they had been detected, they rapidly deployed destructive malware that crippled the customers’ operations for several days. Microsoft experts were on site within hours, working around the clock with the customers’ security teams to restore normal business operations. Incidents like this are a reminder that many defenders are overwhelmed by threats and alerts – often spending their days chasing down false alarms instead of investigating and solving complex cases. Compounding the problem is a critical shortage of skilled cyber defenders, with an estimated shortfall of 3.5 million security professionals by 2021. With today’s announcements we are unlocking the power of the cloud and AI for security to do what they do best—reason over vast amounts of security signal, spot anomalies and bring global scale to highly trained security professionals. Too many enterprises still rely on traditional Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools that are unable to keep pace with the needs of defenders, volume of data or the agility of adversaries. The cloud enables a new class of intelligent security technologies that reduce complexity and integrate with the platforms and productivity tools you depend on. Today we are pleased to announce Microsoft Azure Sentinel, the first native SIEM within a major cloud platform. Azure Sentinel enables you to protect your entire organization by letting you see and stop threats before they cause harm. With AI on your side it helps reduce noise drastically—we have seen an overall reduction of up to 90 percent in alert fatigue with early adopters. Because it’s built on Azure you can take advantage of nearly limitless cloud speed and scale and invest your time in security and not servers. In just a few clicks you can bring in your Microsoft Office 365 data for free and combine it with your other security data for analysis. Azure Sentinel is the product of Microsoft’s close partnership with customers on their journey to digital transformation. We worked hand in hand with dozens of customers and partners to rearchitect a modern security tool built from the ground up to help defenders do what they do best – solve complex security problems. Early adopters are finding that Azure Sentinel reduces threat hunting from hours to seconds. Corey McGarry, Senior Technical Specialist, Enterprise Operations, Tolko Industries, Ltd., told me, “After using Microsoft Azure Sentinel for six months, it has become a go-to resource every morning. We get a clear visual of what’s happening across our network without having to check all our systems and dashboards individually. I haven’t seen an offering like Microsoft Azure Sentinel from any other company.” Azure Sentinel supports open standards such as Common Event Format (CEF) and broad partner connections, including Microsoft Intelligent Security Association partners such as Check Point, Cisco, F5, Fortinet, Palo Alto and Symantec, as well as broader ecosystem partners such as ServiceNow. You can even bring your own insights and collaborate with a diverse community of defenders. Azure Sentinel blends the insights of Microsoft experts and AI with the unique insights and skills of your own in-house defenders and machine learning tools to uncover the most sophisticated attacks before they take root. Azure Sentinel helps empower SecOps teams to keep their organizations safe by harnessing the power, simplicity and extensibility of Azure to analyze data from Microsoft 365 and security solutions from other vendors. Azure Sentinel is available in preview today from the Azure portal. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2019/02/Capture-1024x510.pngOur approach to security is not only about applying the cloud and AI to your scale challenges, but also making the security operations experts who defend our cloud available to you. Therefore, we are pleased to announce Microsoft Threat Experts, a new service within Windows Defender ATP which provides managed hunting to extend the capability of your security operations center team. Through this service, Microsoft will proactively hunt over your anonymized security data for the most important threats, such as human adversary intrusions, hands-on-keyboard attacks, and advanced attacks like cyberespionage—helping your team prioritize the most important risks and respond quickly. The service also provides world-class expertise on demand. With the new “Ask a Threat Expert” button, your security operations team can submit questions directly in the product console. To join the public preview of Microsoft Threat Experts, apply in the Windows Defender ATP settings. There are no easy answers or silver bullets for security, however the cloud is unlocking new capabilities. This is why we are putting the cloud and AI to work to extend and empower the defenders whose unique human insights are key to avoiding cyber threats. Azure Sentinel and Microsoft Threat Experts are two new capabilities that join our broad portfolio of security solutions across identity, endpoints, data, cloud applications and infrastructure. We look forward to showcasing Azure Sentinel and Microsoft Threat Experts at the RSA Conference next week and encourage you to stop by the Microsoft booth on the main show floor or any of our compelling sessions to learn more. The post Announcing new cloud-based technology to empower cyber defenders appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/3f5c10c196b2165b6bed2e467a88654c.jpg Back in 1999, the first Wi-Fi-enabled laptop was introduced, and it wasn’t long before connectivity became a driving force in how the workplace evolved. Laptop sales began to overtake desktop PCs. As people realized the benefits of portability, open offices became a thing, as did laptops in conference rooms and coffee shops. And a few years later, smart phones made connectivity even more central to modern work and life. At MWC Barcelona (formerly Mobile World Congress), we’re seeing a similar evolution. Announcements this week from telecoms and eSIM service enablers, demonstrate momentum toward building the infrastructure to provide the connectivity and capacity that LTE-enabled devices have been missing. These services are critical for customers to take advantage of 5G. The result is a wave of product innovation in both the consumer and corporate spaces like we haven’t seen in years. Next Generation PCs Over the past few months, we have seen the rise of LTE-enabled PCs that have extended battery life such as the ASUS NovaGo, HP Spectre x360 13, Lenovo Yoga C630 WOS and Samsung Galaxy Book2. These PCs marry the experience of a phone—awakening quickly, instantly connected and ready to go—with improved power availability. Surface is also adopting this innovation with both the Surface Pro (5th Gen) and Surface GO available in LTE-enabled versions, offering our customers the perfect balance of performance, portability with additional connectivity options. LTE-enabled PCs offer an always connected experience. You may not realize how frictionless the hunt for connectivity can be until you experience one of these PCs for yourself. No longer will you need to click on anything to connect, or duck into a coffee shop to get a signal, or ask your server what the Wi-Fi password is, or wait for a file to download on your hotel’s painfully slow connection. It’ll just be there, ready to go whenever you are—and more importantly, wherever you are. The beach, a park, or the back of a taxi. These capabilities have been available as a PC add-on for some time. But with these new PCs it’s native, and while they work well with today’s 4G LTE connections, upcoming 5G connectivity will make for a transformative experience in personal computing. Enabling constant connectivity with eSIMs A big part of making that ubiquitous connectivity happen on a broader scale is the move from physical SIM cards in connected devices to electronic SIMs, or eSIMs. eSIMs come with several advantages. For consumers, they bring the ability to stay connected by purchasing a data subscription on demand, when and where they need it. Since eSIMs can be updated over the internet, there is no need to visit a provider’s store. Enterprises, meanwhile, get much more security and control with eSIMs in both phones and PCs. They can create multiple profiles for users traveling to different countries, enabling employees to be constantly connected to resources in the cloud. If a device is ever lost or stolen, it can be wiped first and then the connectivity disabled, without having to worry about whether it’s connected to the internet. Since Microsoft announced Windows 10 support for eSIM back in 2016, we’ve seen much more interest in cellular-enabled devices, not only from PC makers, but also from the hardware vendors who create modems that now support eSIMs. As manufacturers and service providers roll out support for eSIMs in the coming months, expect to see them become a centerpiece for the connected computing movement. 5G: the newest technology disruptor With so much potential just around the corner, there’s no doubt that 5G has MWC buzzing this week. As 5G capabilities begin to become available around the world, people are working to understand and prepare for the inevitable innovation and disruption it will bring across industries. The high throughput of 5G enables extraordinary reductions in latency. Besides things like extremely fast downloads, improved clarity and reliability, the ability to deliver so much data, so quickly, opens up a world of possibilities for new technology solutions. 5G can enable and extend the intelligent edge, reaching drones flying remote inspections, allowing them to return high-definition video feeds and data analytics instantly. Autonomous vehicles in factories, warehouses or airports can be controlled and continually tracked to within one centimeter. New types of collaborative experiences can be enabled, putting everyone in the same virtual room. We’re talking untethered AR and VR and real-time gaming from anywhere. Many are calling this the “year of infrastructure” as providers build out 5G capabilities across industries. On one hand, you have the telecommunications industry deploying the infrastructure and innovating with new services. And on the other, the entire ecosystem of connected computing device makers of all types, working to tap into the possibilities. The results will be truly transformative. In our homes, in our cars, at our work, in our stadiums, in our entertainment centers, every industry, from precision agriculture to precision medicine, from personalized retail to personalized banking—every walk of life could see real changes in the coming years. Microsoft partners and network providers jump in With all of this going on, we’re very excited about some of the big announcements from our partners and device makers here at MWC. Partners are critical to making this a reality—device makers, silicon manufacturers, mobile operators, eSIM enablers, mobile device management providers (MDMs) and ISVs, all need to establish a new “connected computing” approach to business. And we’re hearing that’s just what they’re up to. Devices Qualcomm Technologies announced a new 5G-enabled Snapdragon X55 modem in the lead up to MWC, their second-generation 5G modem after the X50, which was announced in October, 2016. This 5G modem will enable connectivity for smartphones, mobile hotspots, fixed wireless access points, extended reality devices, automotive applications, and larger-screen devices like LTE enabled PCs, laptops, tablets, which are critical to the ecosystem. For Microsoft this is foundational technology that underpins the sexier intelligent edge solutions to come, a key part of the full picture: PCs connected to a cloud service via 5G, with all of that computing power served up as if you were right there at the server farm. They also announced Wi-Fi 6, which will play an important role for both consumers and in the enterprise. Telecommunications services Another foundational element will be onboarding service providers and offering up mobile data plans that let users get the most from LTE-enabled PCs and 5G. Mobile Plans is a Windows experience that provides consumers with an easy way to top off a data plan with their existing carrier, or sign up for additional data plans with local MNOs if their carrier is not available based on location. On that front, we’ve been working with Telstra in Australia for more than a year, and in the next few weeks they will launch a marketing push, offering customers who wish to sample the new technology, a 30-day trial that includes 30GB free data to use in Australia. Telstra joins our growing ecosystem of mobile operators including GigSky, KDDI Japan, Swisscom, Tele2 and Ubigi. eSIMs With eSIMs coming on in a big way, a new ecosystem has evolved, working together to address the productivity, connectivity and manageability gaps that commercial customers are currently experiencing. This week, several of these players are announcing new releases and partnerships within this category at MWC. As an example, IDEMIA and Mobile Iron will be sharing the offering for their common customers and mobile operators in support of the Windows commercial solution for eSIM. Wandera showcased its Windows connected PC solution, which helps enterprise customers define policies that govern how mobile data can be utilized by both users and mobile apps across a variety of network scenarios (physical SIMs, eSIMs, Wi-Fi, etc.). We are also excited to continue to work with mobile operators, such as C Spire and KDDI, as we get closer to deploying eSIM within the organizations of their customers. Consumers are also benefitting from two new partnerships that will make it much easier for mobile operators to deliver support for easy connectivity with eSIM through Microsoft’s “Mobile Plans” app. Shown for the first time at MWC this week, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Microsoft demonstrated the expansion of “Digital Identity” with HPE’s Device Entitlement Gateway (DEG), a software product that enables mobile network operators to safely and securely connect to the Windows 10 eSIM platform. Microsoft is also partnering with Amdocs to take advantage of their “Digital eSIM platform” offering to streamline the Mobile Operator onboarding process into Mobile Plans. Just like the Wi-Fi revolution at the turn of the century, we expect this transformation to connected computing and 5G to take time. But as we’re seeing this week in Barcelona, the entire ecosystem is working to sort out the challenges and make this a new era of continuous, instantaneous, high-speed connectivity. The post 5G at MWC, here’s how this will change the way you work and live appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18346 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1). General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We fixed an issue which caused the Bluetooth Hands-Free audio driver to hang. We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders not being able to access the Quests section of the Feedback Hub. We fixed an issue that could cause Settings to crash if you clicked “Pick your insider settings” button under Windows Insiders Program Settings. We fixed an issue where the PowerShell .GetType method was unexpectedly returning error “out-lineoutput : The method or operation is not implemented”. We fixed an issue where in certain languages if you pressed WIN+V before having opted into clipboard history the clipboard history UI would be truncated. We fixed an issue with the new Adlam keyboard resulting in not being able to type certain common words. We fixed an issue where, when typing Vietnamese, the touch keyboard was auto-capitalizing ever word in certain apps. We fixed an issue where, when friendly dates were enabled in File Explorer, in certain languages (such as Japanese and Chinese) Insiders would see the wrong day name displayed. We fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected and non-functional Family Safety icon in the notification area of the taskbar. We fixed an issue that could result in the taskbar search box text becoming black on a black background. We fixed an issue where Start menu would crash when using Narrator to navigate pinned folders in Start. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. Please note that while we’ve made some improvements to night light reliability in this flight, we’re continuing to investigate reported issues in this space. For display calibration scenarios, monitors may be missing in the built-in Color Management application. As a work around, please use the Settings app to select color profile instead, under the Display Settings page. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes. Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button. REMINDER: Annual Windows Insider Program Survey If you haven’t had a chance to take our 2019 Windows Insider Annual Survey, we’d love to hear from you before it closes on February 28. It only takes 10-15 minutes to complete, but your feedback helps us shape the program for the rest of the year. Take the annual survey now. And thank you to everyone who has already taken the survey for helping us plan what’s next for the Windows Insider Program! Join the Bing Insider Program In the market for a new home? Let Bing help you find the perfect place. Search listings in your area and get notifications when new homes that match your preferences go on the market. Whether you’re looking for a house or a condo, a studio or a 4-bedroom – optimize your search with Bing! If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insider Program. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18346 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

At Microsoft, we’re focused on simplifying the Internet of Things (IoT) by making it easier to quickly build secure, smart devices that leverage the intelligent cloud while harnessing the full power of the intelligent edge, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and robotics. This week at Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany, we’re announcing new products and services for Windows IoT to help make this real for device manufacturers, solution developers, and customers. Here are some highlights of what we’re unveiling at Embedded World. Windows Server IoT 2019 is here Windows 10 IoT provides a family of operating systems for device builders to develop solutions, from compact low-power devices to servers and everything in between. This includes Windows 10 IoT Core for small-footprint, smart-edge devices and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, which brings the full power of Windows to IoT devices. Today, we’re pleased to announce the release of Windows Server IoT 2019 to securely handle the largest edge workloads with fixed-function, server-class devices. With full binary compatibility to Windows Server 2019, device manufacturers can build server-class IoT edge devices that enable high-capacity storage and compute scenarios and seamlessly scale between cloud and the edge. For example, imagine network videorecorders or high-end gateways, connecting thousands or even tens of thousands of sensors or devices, then storing, analyzing, and acting on these data streams in near-real-time with reduced latency and bandwidth consumption through utilizing the power of the intelligent edge. Easier innovation at the edge New capabilities for Windows 10 IoT are oriented to making developers’ jobs easier: Azure IoT Edge for Windows—Developers can easily bring cloud workloads to the edge so that they can harness the full power of the Windows 10 IoT platform. They can scale IoT solutions across the cloud or edge with a managed service that delivers cloud intelligence locally by deploying and running AI, Azure services, and custom logic directly on cross-platform IoT devices. Customers benefit by deploying cloud applications and services on the edge, while ensuring they meet latency, bandwidth, and data privacy requirements. With these capabilities, it’s easy to see how devices get smarter. Azure IoT Device Agent for Windows—Customers across industries, whether in an industrial setting or retail environment, are looking for ways to remotely provision and manage their IoT devices. Direct device access may not always be feasible when IoT devices are out in the field or on the factory floor. Microsoft Azure IoT Device Agent enables operators to configure, monitor, and manage their devices remotely from their Azure dashboard. Robot Operating System for Windows IoT—Now developers can build and deploy commercial-grade Robot Operating System (ROS) solutions on Windows, making robots easier to develop, more aware of their surroundings, and safer to be around. Bringing ROS to Windows IoT enables rich AI and intelligent edge capabilities, including hardware-accelerated Windows machine learning, computer vision, Azure Cognitive Services, and turnkey connection to Azure IoT cloud services. In addition, customers can benefit from the enterprise security, manageability, and supportability Windows IoT brings to robotic and industrial systems. “Microsoft has been a valued addition to the ROS-I Consortium,” says Matthew M. Robinson of the ROS-Industrial Consortium Americas. “Our membership has expressed significant interest in developments that will bring the advanced capabilities of ROS to industrial applications on the Windows platform and enable richer integration with other Microsoft tools that the Consortium membership have come to leverage.” Extending device and silicon support Microsoft continues to partner with silicon providers to ensure a broad range of hardware support for Windows 10 IoT. Strengthening partnership with NXP We are pleased to continue our partnership with NXP and are announcing a public preview for Windows 10 IoT Core with built-in Azure connectivity, running on the i.MX 8M and i.MX 8M Mini applications processors. The i.MX 8M family of applications processors will enable secure, power-optimized devices for the intelligent edge that give developers a choice of Linux or Windows IoT. Developers can quickly build new intelligent devices using the familiar and powerful Windows development environment and commercialize them using our powerful Azure IoT platform as well as Azure Cognitive Services. In addition, NXP has worked with Microsoft to enable Azure IoT Edge on Linux for the i.MX 8M and i.MX 8M Mini applications processors. Azure IoT Edge allows customers to deploy and manage containerized cloud workloads running on i.MX8 devices from their Azure IoT dashboard. “We are pleased to expand our partnership with Microsoft to bring Azure IoT Edge to our high-performance, multicore i.MX 8M applications processors platform,” says Geoff Lees, senior vice president of microcontrollers at NXP. “With this addition, NXP customers will have access to industry-leading edge computing solutions, from i.MX 6 to i.MX 7 and i.MX 8/8M across Windows 10 IoT Core and Linux operating systems, for advanced industrial and IoT applications, harnessing the full power of Azure in their intelligent edge products.” Qualcomm Snapdragon support for always-on, always-connected IoT devices Our partnership with Qualcomm and board providers enables developers to harness the power of the Snapdragon family of processors with Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. Customers gain always-on connectivity and the power management capabilities of Snapdragon, with the full power of Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. “The combination of Qualcomm Technologies’ cutting-edge platforms and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise can enable always-connected, always-on intelligent edge devices to help companies of all sizes and industries deliver on the promise of IoT. We’re excited to support the work of companies like USI, with its SOM 850, and Thundercomm, with its TurboX AI Kit, as they bring their products to commercialization,” said Jeffery Torrance, vice president, business development, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Customers from across industries are simplifying digital transformation with Windows IoT Building and deploying IoT solutions can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming. Customers and partners are looking for ways to take connected devices to market fast, capitalize on smart capabilities that drive new applications and services, and ensure device security. Action Point, an IT services company headquartered in Ireland, used Windows 10 IoT Enterprise to create a predictive maintenance solution for its manufacturing customers called IoT-PREDICT. The Action Point solution uses AI, machine learning, and data analytics to identify and resolve potential issues. Manufacturers benefit by reducing downtime and costs and increasing efficiency. “Because IoT-PREDICT is built on Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, it’s very easy for customers to deploy,” says John Savage, ActionPoint co-founder and chief technology officer. “They’re essentially just installing a Windows 10 IoT device on their network, with the same familiar management and security framework they already use to manage their other Windows-based devices.” IDEX Fire and Safety provides equipment that helps firefighters and emergency medical technicians perform lifesaving duties. The company needed to ensure that equipment would always be available, without risk of malfunctioning or going offline. IDEX Fire and Safety chose Windows 10 IoT Core and the Microsoft Azure Government cloud to develop the Captium platform to connect all in-truck systems. The IoT solution provides telemetry, health reporting, and predictive maintenance that keeps emergency vehicles operationally ready 24×7, 365 days a year. “Windows IoT Core enabled us to leverage our existing skills and provides the security and trust we needed to develop a demanding application that helps ensure first responders’ equipment is always operationally ready,” says Jeffrey Zook, marketing manager, IDEX Fire and Safety. “Windows IoT Core, combined with Azure, provided IDEX with the end-to-end platform to build our solution.” Learn more about how Windows IoT is powering what’s next, securely A fundamental challenge of digital transformation is protecting IoT devices from vulnerabilities. At Embedded World, we’re not only introducing new Windows 10 IoT products and services—we’re also showcasing how Microsoft stands behind your IoT devices throughout their lifespans, including 10-year support for security updates via the Windows Long-Term Servicing Channel. Come and see real-world Windows IoT-based solutions—robotics, securely connected factories, remote field service and predictive maintenance, among others—on display at the Microsoft booth #422 in Hall 4 at Embedded World. We’d love to talk about the possibilities our IoT platform can bring to your company. Learn more about Windows 10 IoT. The post Microsoft announces latest Windows IoT innovations for intelligent edge devices at Embedded World appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

At MWC Barcelona 2019, Lenovo announced a fresh range of Windows 10 IdeaPad and IdeaCentre mainstream consumer PCs that deliver budget-friendly design choices and greater value for students, young professionals and families. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/21cb990e253f852e6b9bbbcaa139f374-1024x409.jpg IdeaPad S540 in Copper Available in 14-inch and 15-inch sizes in an all-aluminum chassis, the new IdeaPad S540 ultra-slim laptop balances higher performance with greater portability and longer battery life [1]. You can get it in two options: the latest 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with up to NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GPUs, or up to an AMD Ryzen 7 3700U mobile processor with Radeon RX Vega 10 graphics. Either way, the IdeaPad S540 gives you more than enough horsepower for binge-watching a TV series, word processing and online shopping. It has up to 12 hours of all-day battery life [2] with RapidCharge technology, which enables up to two hours of use with about a 15-minute charge [3]. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/fe54bc252a87aace9ee5f12cc7b1065f-1024x773.jpg IdeaPad S340 in Platinum Grey The IdeaPad S540’s younger sibling is the new IdeaPad S340, which shows off an even slimmer and lighter profile than before in an array of four colors and 14-inch or 15-inch size options. Also boasting more power than before, this ultra-slim laptop has up to the latest 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8565U processor with up to NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GPUs, or the option of up to AMD Ryzen 7 3700U mobile processor with Radeon RX Vega 10 graphics. With AI-powered features in Amazon Alexa and Microsoft Cortana [4], you can schedule meetings, get reminders or manage to-do lists on Cortana or ask to shop, order food, or turn on the music and the lights through Alexa. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/15ae4103b8dacd509178ab6e03f18a4e-1024x658.jpg IdeaPad C340 in Onyx Black Thin and versatile for those on the move, the new IdeaPad C340 2-in-1 convertible laptop is a close cousin to the IdeaPad S540 and S340 ultra-slim laptops. It offers full-day battery life of up to eight hours [1] with RapidCharge technology [3], Active Pen support on select models to conveniently sketch or write from anywhere, and an optional integrated fingerprint reader for quick and easy PC log-in. Also available in 14-inch and 15-inch sizes in three colors [5], it can easily flex from a laptop for typing longer emails and spreadsheets into a tablet for watching videos during daily commuting. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/9bc922be4e3d63f3e15390f92b51e0f6.jpg IdeaCentre AIO A340 Completing the new family of consumer PCs is the new IdeaCentre AIO A340 all-in-one desktop. Designed to fit seamlessly into nearly any modern home or workspace, the new IdeaCentre is available in 22 or 24 inches as a full HD display, with thinner bezels. Made for families or professionals who want a space-saving home desktop or reliable work desktop for their small workspace or home office, it has an Intel Core i5-8400T processor with AMD Radeon 530 or integrated graphics, or up to a 7th Generation AMD A9-9425 processor with Radeon R5 graphics for daily work or home computing needs. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/b6170179c471102ac836c7720e310c67-1024x491.jpg Yoga ANC Headphones For an immersive entertainment experience or focused productivity, pair any of the new IdeaPad or IdeaCentre PCs with the new Yoga ANC Headphones, which include hybrid ANC (active noise cancellation) and ENC (environmental noise cancellation) mics with voice assist and Dolby-tuned drivers that can intelligently filter out background noise during calls. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/b074b7b1355e8732585b5af01e15ac8f-1024x455.jpg The evolution of workspaces includes connected devices that provide features and benefits for laptops, which are central to modern users’ digital wardrobe. With this in mind, Lenovo also introduced the latest additions to the ThinkPad portfolio: the T490s, T490, T590, X390 and X390 Yoga. (They join more than 140 million ThinkPads that have been sold to date.) https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/59da0fd41627fe1e105ec5e36f209e3e-1024x576.jpg Thinkpad T490s with Dolby optional display Whether it is working on business-critical workflows or interacting on social media, users expect access wherever and whenever they want. All ThinkPad models include high-performance Wi-Fi and optional LTE-A global WWAN capability. The ThinkPad T490 takes roaming connectivity to the next level with CAT16 LTE-A support with the 4×4 UltraConnect antenna configuration for up to Gigabit speeds and maximum signal strength. The ThinkPad T490s, X390 and X390 Yoga also feature new Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ technology with Bluetooth 5.1 for premium Gigabit wireless connectivity. For 2019, Lenovo has embraced Intelligent Connectivity principles through a foundational engineering philosophy. With industry-leading security with ThinkShield, users can confidently work with confidential information. The online world is full of hazards and threats, such as data breaches and stolen identities. Users want their personal information, identity and data to be secure out of the box. In any typical day, a user will most certainly login to their laptop, likely participate in a video conference and perhaps review confidential information. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/7a67789b4460c0ee8cf66cde6376c2f3.jpg Lenovo fingerprint reader The Match-on-Chip fingerprint reader enhances the privacy of fingerprint information by ensuring the biometric image never leaves the chip, thus delivering a more secure identification for login and online transactions. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/4e3f17b6eb44c36d24b87b98693fa8e7.jpg ThinkShutter ThinkShutter [6], a physical camera cover, available on both RGB and IR webcams, offers a way to protect users from malicious webcam hackers. ThinkPad PrivacyGuard [7] activates screen privacy at the touch of a button. PrivacyAlert can even warn you if someone is snooping over your shoulder. Users will also notice significant improvements to the ThinkPad BIOS, such as a new modern Graphical User Interface making the BIOS much easier to navigate. Lenovo has also developed a range of new UEFI-based BIOS security and manageability enhancements, providing users and IT administrators with higher levels of security and management capabilities. One of those is a self-healing feature that is able to revert to a known good backup copy in the event of BIOS corruption or a malicious attack. This is designed to provide customers with a more resilient BIOS and to prevent hackers from infiltrating the lowest level firmware code. To further enhance the mobile work experience, Lenovo has high-definition displays, such as a new low-power 400 nit FHD display using Low Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon technology to boost brightness with improved battery life. And for the first time in ThinkPad T and X series, Lenovo introduces dual far-field microphones that significantly enhance VOIP conferencing performance, especially for multiple participants and in noisy environments, and Dolby Audio Premium greatly improves sound. These updated ThinkPad T and X series laptops also include HDR displays with Dolby Vision support available on all T series and the latest 8th Generation Intel Core processors. Also debuting at MWC: the Lenovo 14w with Windows 10 and Lenovo 14e Chromebook laptops, which are aimed at increasing firstline worker productivity; an all-new ThinkVision M14 mobile display; and X1 ANC Headphones to maximize the flexibility of remote teamwork. Firstline workers are key contributors within large enterprise segments, such as retail, hospitality, travel and manufacturing. By providing firstline workers with PC devices, such as the Lenovo 14w and 14e Chromebook, companies can improve their collaboration and contribution. Designed with this specific segment of the workforce in mind, the Lenovo 14w and 14e Chromebook, powered by AMD, are built with features to handle the wear and tear of a day on the shop or factory floor. In the Lenovo 14w with Windows 10, users will find AMD A6-9220c performance in a thin and light package: 17.7mm and 3.39 pounds, with an aluminum top cover. There’s also a 14-inch FHD with IPS touch display; a spill-proof and backlit keyboard; and a 57 Whr battery built to last a full day. It will be available starting in March, with an expected starting price of $299 [8]. The new ThinkVision M14 monitor offers a simple mobile display solution for increased screen real-estate while on the move so users can share content with colleagues and customers. Both USB-C ports can be used as a pass-through when connected to AC power. They can also charge your laptop or simply connect as a second screen. It will be available starting in May, with an expected price of $249 [8]. The X1 ANC Headphone, professionally tuned by Dolby for Lenovo systems, offers enhanced audio capability and noise-cancelling features such as active noise cancellation (ANC) and electronic noise cancelling (ENC), similar to technology used in aviation headsets. The headphones can be used wireless through Bluetooth 5.0, or connected and charged by USB-C. The collapsible design means easy storage and transport. It will be available starting in June, with an expected price of $149 [8]. The following will be available starting in June: ThinkPad T490s, with an expected starting price of $1279 [8]. ThinkPad T490, with an expected starting price of $999 [8]. ThinkPad T590, with an expected starting price of $1029 [8]. ThinkPad X390, with an expected starting price of $1099 [8]. ThinkPad X390 Yoga, with an expected starting price of $1359 [8]. Find out more through Lenovo’s press release. [1] All battery life claims are approximate and based on test results using the MobileMark 2014 version 1.5 battery life benchmark test. Actual results will vary, and depend on numerous factors including product configuration and usage, software, operating conditions, wireless functionality, power management settings, screen brightness and other factors. The maximum capacity of the battery will naturally decrease with time and usage. See MobileMark 2014 ver 1.5 – BAPCo for additional details. [2] Up to 12 hours of battery life available on the Intel-based IdeaPad S540 and IdeaPad C340, based on MobileMark version 1.5 battery life benchmark test above. [3] Charged in power-off mode, requires using 65 watt power supply. [4] Cortana is accessible through the Windows 10 start menu, and Alexa for PC is accessible through Lenovo Vantage during the initial set-up. Alexa is available on select Lenovo PCs in the U.S., U.K. and Germany. [5] Prices may not include tax and do not include shipping or options and are subject to change without notice; additional terms and conditions apply. Reseller prices may vary. On-shelf dates, size and color options may vary by geography and products may only be available in selected markets. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings, features and specifications at any time without notice. [6] ThinkShutter physical webcam security is available on all ThinkPad models including both RGB and IR webcam options. [7] ThinkPad PrivacyGuard is available on the new T490s, T490 and X390, as well as the recently announced ThinkPad X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga. [8] Pricing and availability may be subject to change and local country configuration. The post At MWC, Lenovo reveals the latest in the IdeaPad and IdeaCentre family, plus intelligent ThinkPad laptops appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

This evening at a press event to kickoff MWC Barcelona, I had the pleasure of joining CEO Satya Nadella and Technical Fellow Alex Kipman onstage to talk in depth about Microsoft’s worldview for the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. As part of today’s press event, we also introduced the world to HoloLens 2. YouTube Video This is a tremendously exciting time for Microsoft, our partners, our customers, the computing industry and indeed the world. The virtually limitless computing power and capability of the cloud combined with increasingly intelligent and perceptive edge devices embedded throughout the physical world create experiences we could only imagine a few short years ago. When intelligent cloud and intelligent edge experiences are infused with mixed reality, we have a framework for achieving amazing things and empowering even more people. Today represents an important milestone for Microsoft. This moment captures the very best efforts and passion of numerous teams spanning Azure, HoloLens, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Devices — this truly is a moment where the sum is greater than the parts. From cutting-edge hardware design to mixed reality-infused cloud services, today’s announcements represent the collective work of many teams. And none of this would be possible without our passionate community of customers, partners and developers. On behalf of everyone on the team, it is my privilege to introduce you to HoloLens 2 and all the announcements we made today to kick off MWC Barcelona. Introducing HoloLens 2 https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2019/02/HoloLens2-1024x576.jpg Since the release of HoloLens in 2016 we have seen mixed reality transform the way work gets done. We have unlocked super-powers for hundreds of thousands of people who go to work every day. From construction sites to factory floors, from operating rooms to classrooms, HoloLens is changing how we work, learn, communicate and get things done. We are entering a new era of computing, one in which the digital world goes beyond two-dimensional screens and enters the three-dimensional world. This new collaborative computing era will empower us all to achieve more, break boundaries and work together with greater ease and immediacy in 3D. Today, we are proud to introduce the world to Microsoft HoloLens 2. Our customers asked us to focus on three key areas to make HoloLens even better. They wanted HoloLens 2 to be even more immersive and more comfortable, and to accelerate the time-to-value. Immersion is greatly enhanced by advancements across the board, including in the visual display system, making holograms even more vibrant and realistic. We have more than doubled the field of view in HoloLens 2, while maintaining the industry-leading holographic density of 47 pixels per degree of sight. HoloLens 2 contains a new display system that enables us to achieve these significant advances in performance at low power. We have also completely refreshed the way you interact with holograms in HoloLens 2. Taking advantage of our new time-of-flight depth sensor, combined with built-in AI and semantic understanding, HoloLens 2 enables direct manipulation of holograms with the same instinctual interactions you’d use with physical objects in the real world. In addition to the improvements in the display engine and direct manipulation of holograms, HoloLens 2 contains eye-tracking sensors that make interacting with holograms even more natural. You can log in with Windows Hello enterprise-grade authentication through iris recognition, making it easy for multiple people to quickly and securely share the device. Comfort is enhanced by a more balanced center of gravity, the use of light carbon-fiber material and a new mechanism for donning the device without readjusting. We’ve improved the thermal management with new vapor chamber technology and accounted for the wide physiological variability in the size and shape of human heads by designing HoloLens 2 to comfortably adjust and fit almost anyone. The new dial-in fit system makes it comfortable to wear for hours on end, and you can keep your glasses on because HoloLens 2 adapts to you by sliding right over them. When it’s time to step out of mixed reality, flip the visor up and switch tasks in seconds. Together, these enhancements have more than tripled the measured comfort and ergonomics of the device. Time-to-value is accelerated by Microsoft mixed reality applications like Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Layout and the new Dynamics 365 Guides applications. In addition to the in-box value, our ecosystem of mixed reality partners provides a broad range of offerings built on HoloLens that deliver value across a range of industries and use cases. This partner ecosystem is being supplemented by a new wave of mixed reality entrepreneurs who are realizing the potential of devices like HoloLens 2 and the Azure services that give them the spatial, speech and vision intelligence needed for mixed reality, plus battle-tested cloud services for storage, security and application insights. Building on the unique capabilities of the original HoloLens, HoloLens 2 is the ultimate intelligent edge device. And when coupled with existing and new Azure services, HoloLens 2 becomes even more capable, right out of the box. HoloLens 2 will be available this year at a price of $3,500. Bundles including Dynamics 365 Remote Assist start at $125/month. HoloLens 2 will be initially available in the United States, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand. Customers can preorder HoloLens 2 starting today at HoloLens 2—Pricing and Preorder | Microsoft HoloLens. In addition to HoloLens 2, we were also excited to make the following announcements at MWC Barcelona. Azure Kinect Developer Kit (DK) https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2019/02/Azure-Kinect-DK-1024x576.jpg The Azure Kinect DK is a developer kit that combines our industry-leading AI sensors in a single device. At its core is the time-of-flight depth sensor we developed for HoloLens 2, high-def RGB camera and a 7-microphone circular array that will enable development of advanced computer vision and speech solutions with Azure. It enables solutions that don’t just sense but understand the world — people, places, things around it. A good example of such a solution in the healthcare space is Ocuvera, which is using this technology to prevent patients from falling in hospitals. Every year in the U.S. alone, over 1 million hospital patients fall each year, and 11,000 of those falls are fatal. With Azure Kinect, the environmental precursors to a fall can be determined and a nurse notified to get to patients before they fall. Initially available in the U.S. and China, the Azure Kinect DK is available for preorder today at $399. Visit Azure.com/Kinect for more info. Dynamics 365 Guides When we announced Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Dynamics 365 Layout on October 1, we talked about them as the “first” of our mixed reality applications for HoloLens. Today, we are proud to announce our latest offering: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides. Dynamics 365 Guides is a new mixed reality app that empowers employees to learn by doing. Guides enhances learning with step-by-step instructions that guide employees to the tools and parts they need and how to use them in real work situations. In addition to the experience of using Guides on HoloLens, a Guides PC app makes it easy to create interactive content, attach photos and videos, import 3D models and customize training to turn institutional knowledge into a repeatable learning tool. This application will help minimize downtime and increase efficiency for mission-critical equipment and processes and becomes the third Dynamics 365 application that will work on both the previous generation of HoloLens and the new HoloLens 2. Dynamics 365 Guides is available in preview starting today. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2019/02/HoloLens2_Guides-1024x683.jpg Azure Mixed Reality Services Today we also announced two new Azure mixed reality services. These services are designed to help every developer and every business build cross-platform, contextual and enterprise-grade mixed reality applications. Azure Spatial Anchors enables businesses and developers to create mixed reality apps that map, designate and recall precise points of interest that are accessible across HoloLens, iOS and Android devices. These precise points of interest enable a range of scenarios, from shared mixed reality experiences to wayfinding across connected places. We’re already seeing this service help our customers work and learn with greater speed and ease in manufacturing, architecture, medical education and more. Azure Remote Rendering helps people experience 3D without compromise to fuel better, faster decisions. Today, to interact with high-quality 3D models on mobile devices and mixed reality headsets, you often need to “decimate,” or simplify, 3D models to run on target hardware. But in scenarios like design reviews and medical planning, every detail matters, and simplifying assets can result in a loss of important detail that is needed for key decisions. This service will render high-quality 3D content in the cloud and stream it to edge devices, all in real time, with every detail intact. Azure Spatial Anchors is in public preview as of today. Azure Remote Rendering is now in private preview in advance of its public preview. Microsoft HoloLens Customization Program HoloLens is being used in a variety of challenging environments, from construction sites and operating rooms to the International Space Station. HoloLens has passed the basic impact tests from several protective eyewear standards used in North America and Europe. It has been tested and found to conform to the basic impact protection requirements of ANSI Z87.1, CSA Z94.3 and EN 166. With HoloLens 2 we’re introducing the Microsoft HoloLens Customization Program to enable customers and partners to customize HoloLens 2 to fit their environmental needs. The first to take advantage of the HoloLens Customization Program is our long-standing HoloLens partner Trimble, which last year announced Trimble Connect for HoloLens along with a new hard hat solution that improves the utility of mixed reality for practical field applications. Today it announced the Trimble XR10 with Microsoft HoloLens 2, a new wearable hard hat device that enables workers in safety-controlled environments to access holographic information on the worksite. https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2019/02/TrimbleLensXR10_w_HoloLens2-1024x576.png Open principles Finally, as we closed things out, Alex Kipman articulated a set of principles around our open approach with the mixed reality ecosystem. We believe that for an ecosystem to truly thrive there should be no barriers to innovation or customer choice. To that end, Alex described how HoloLens embraces the principles of open stores, open browsers and open developer platforms. To illustrate our dedication to these principles, we announced that our friends at Mozilla are bringing a prototype of the Firefox Reality browser to HoloLens 2, demonstrating our commitment to openness and the immersive web. Alex was also joined by Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, who announced that Unreal Engine 4 support is coming to HoloLens. In the coming months we will have more announcements and details to share. We look forward to continuing this journey with you all. Julia The post Microsoft at MWC Barcelona: Introducing Microsoft HoloLens 2 appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing 20H1 Build 18841 to Windows Insiders who have opted into Skip Ahead. Remember – these builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1. IMPORTANT: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, these builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you take this flight, you won’t be able to switch back to the Fast or Slow rings without doing a clean-install on your PC and starting over. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle. General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC Windows Sandbox now supports configuration files! These files allow users to configure some aspects of the sandbox, such as vGPU, networking and shared folders. A blog post to explain this new feature is available here. Windows Sandbox now captures hotkeys in full screen. We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox would not start on localized builds. We’ve done some work to improve error reporting in Windows Sandbox. Now the error dialog includes the error code and a link to the Feedback Hub. We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox was unexpectedly throwing an error due to referencing a deleted file under Windows.old. We fixed an issue where if you unpinned groups from Start, apps might end up thinking their tiles were still pinned. We fixed a recent issue where if you hid the search icon in the taskbar, a number of win32 apps would unexpectedly redraw when opening the Start menu. We fixed an issue resulting in the Search pane becoming truncated if launched after rotating the device orientation from horizontal to vertical. We fixed an issue where Settings would sometimes crash when opening “Advanced Display Settings” from Display Settings. We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to add a drive to the list of folders to exclude when setting up Enhanced Search in Settings. We fixed an issue where there were unexpected characters in the text under the Storage Sense listing for temporary files. We fixed an issue resulting in certain games no longer rendering UI updates (appearing visually stuck) after using Alt + Tab to quickly switch away and back to the game. We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar blinking if an AC adapter was attached when the device had less than 20% battery. We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar disappearing for a second when dismissing Start/Cortana/Search on a secondary monitor. We fixed an issue resulting in File Explorer potentially hanging when trying to rename, delete, or move MKV files in the recent flights. We fixed an issue that could cause Windows logon to forget the last logged on user, and instead would display the sign-in prompt for the default user from the list after dismissing the lock screen. We fixed an issue resulting in CDPUserSVC using an unexpectedly large amount of CPU for prolonged periods of time. We fixed an issue where the newly added popup window shadows might unexpectedly stop appearing after using your PC for some time. We fixed an issue impacting UWP apps resulting in entries under a “…” that launched other apps not working after the first time the secondary app was launched. We fixed an issue resulting in the left and right arrows on the touch keyboard inserting 4 and 6, respectively, in certain languages. We fixed an issue resulting in the game bar record and broadcast options unexpectedly not working in recent builds. We fixed an issue impacting Emoji Panel and Clipboard History reliability. We fixed an issue in Ease of Access’s Cursor and pointer settings, mouse pointer size and color are now retained on upgrade. There is a remaining issue with mouse pointer showing white color instead of the selected color after signing out and signing back in. When using the Magnifier with larger pointers, it pans smoothly as the pointers change shape. We fixed an issue where navigation mode on Orbit braille display could not be changed. We fixed an issue where Narrator paused unexpectedly when reading through a PDF. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). While we’ve done some work to improve night light reliability in this build, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space. When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes. Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. You may experience an increase in Start menu reliability issues on this build – a fix will be included in the next flight. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Skip Ahead and switch to either the Fast ring or the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18841 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18343 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1). Other Updates for Insiders In Build 18342, we announced that Windows Sandbox now supports configuration files. These files allow users to configure some aspects of the sandbox, such as vGPU, networking and shared folders. You can read about all the details here in this blog post! General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We fixed the Connected Standby issue that resulted in us blocking PCs with Intel64 Family 6 Model 142 and Intel64 Family 6 Model 158 processor model. If your PC was unable to take Build 18342 from earlier this week due to having one of these processor models, you should be able to take this flight! We fixed the issue that required an additional reboot when performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. We’re continuing to investigate reported issues in the night light space. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes. Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button. Annual Windows Insider Program Survey If you haven’t had a chance to take our 2019 Windows Insider Annual Survey, we’d love to hear from you before it closes on February 28. It only takes 10-15 minutes to complete, but your feedback helps us shape the program for the rest of the year. Take the annual survey now. And thank you to everyone who has already taken the survey for helping us plan what’s next for the Windows Insider Program! No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18343 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18342 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. PCs with the following chipsets will not receieve this build due to an issue with Connected Standby: Intel64 Family 6 Model 142 and Intel64 Family 6 Model 158. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1). What’s New in Build 18342 Improving Gaming on Windows 10 Thanks to everyone who signed up to try out our new Windows gaming technology in Build 18334. With today’s new build (Build 18342), we have some fixes that we can’t wait to have folks try out: the game now runs correctly with parental controls enabled, and the install process is more stable (including a fix for the game being stuck in “Pending” instead of downloading). If you have already tried State of Decay and everything worked: we’d appreciate you uninstalling State of Decay and then trying the install again, to make sure everything still works. If you have already tried State of Decay and something didn’t work: please try again and see if your issue has been addressed. If not, it would help us a lot if you let us know using the Feedback Hub in Windows (instructions here in this post). Even if you already sent feedback on the issue before, it’s very helpful to know that it’s still happening on a new version of Windows. If you were not able to get a slot for State of Decay: we’ve opened up more slots now, so just go to the Xbox Insider hub and click Insider content to join. NOTE: we’re still limiting availability as we roll out, so we recommend joining right away. If you miss out this time, don’t worry, we’ll be adding more again soon! If you are trying State of Decay for the first time: just do the following: Install the Xbox Insider Hub app on the PC you’ll be flighting on. Sign in to the Xbox Insider Hub with your Gamertag. If you don’t have a Gamertag, see instructions. Select Insider Content in the upper left. Scroll to the bottom and select the Windows Gaming program (in the System section). Join the program. Follow the instructions in the previous post, skipping any steps you’ve already completed above. If you see any problems downloading or installing the game, or if important functionality like game saving isn’t working, please be sure to use the Feedback Hub to tell us. And thank you again for helping us find any issues! Linux Files inside of File Explorer We added the ability for users to access Linux files in a WSL distro from Windows. These files can be accessed through the command line, and also Windows apps, like File Explorer, VSCode, etc. can interact with these files. Access your files by navigating to \\wsl$\<distro_name>, or see a list of running distributions by navigating to \\wsl$. You can learn more about this here. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/32357a34d51aadf8e2b5b4310d7d4905.png Other Updates for Insiders New Chrome Extension for Timeline: We’re pleased to announce an extension that collects activities from your Google Chrome browser and adds them to your Timeline in Windows. You can download the new Web Activity extension now from the Chrome Web Store. Just sign-in to the extension on your Chrome browser with your Microsoft account, visit a site in Chrome, then watch it appear on Timeline – and pick up where you left off. Your Chrome activities will also sync with Timeline on Android devices using the Microsoft Launcher app. Give the new extension a try and let us know what you think in the Feedback Hub. This is just one of many updates inspired by Insiders to make Timeline even better! General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is now on by default for Insider Preview builds. We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox would not start on localized builds. We’ve done some work to improve error reporting in Windows Sandbox. Now the error dialog includes the error code and a link to the Feedback Hub. We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox was unexpectedly throwing an error due to referencing a deleted file under Windows.old. Windows Sandbox now captures hotkeys in full screen. Windows Sandbox now supports configuration files! These files allow users to configure some aspects of the sandbox, such as vGPU, networking and shared folders. A blog post to explain this new feature will be available here. We improved the capabilities of the wsl.exe command line interface, by adding new features such as importing and exporting distros and consolidating existing features from wslconfig.exe, such as listing distros and setting defaults. We fixed an issue where if the Magnifier was enabled and set to docked mode, machine would crash and reboot on sign-in creating a boot loop. We fixed an issue resulting in build unable to log into WinRE with an admin account in the last couple of flights. We fixed an issue where if you unpinned groups from Start, apps might end up thinking their tiles were still pinned. We fixed an issue resulting in being unable to re-arrange pinned folders in Start’s tile grid. We fixed an issue where the text explaining the Downloads section of Storage Sense had unexpected characters in it. We fixed an issue where Settings would sometimes crash when opening “Advanced Display Settings” from Display Settings. We fixed an issue where after changing an app’s audio endpoint, it might no longer follow master volume changes. We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to add a drive to the list of folders to exclude when setting up Enhanced Search in Settings. We fixed an issue with the Settings header at certain window sizes where long names might be truncated in the middle, rather than wrapping properly. We fixed an issue from the previous flight where right-clicking the desktop would bring up a light colored context menu in dark theme. We fixed an issue impacting Emoji Panel and Clipboard History reliability. We’ve made another fix to address reports of devices getting stuck with “Hibernating…” text on the screen on resume from hibernate. We fixed an issue that could cause Windows logon to forget the last logged on user, and instead would display the sign-in prompt for the default user from the list after dismissing the lock screen. We fixed an issue where an issue where some of the Real-Time Protection options for Malwarebytes Premium are not able to be turned on. We fixed an issue resulting in Internet Explorer’s menu bar not always appearing if enabled. We fixed an issue resulting in CDPUserSVC using an unexpectedly large amount of CPU for prolonged periods of time. We fixed an issue resulting in DWM crashing frequently for some Insiders on the previous flight. We fixed an issue resulting in certain games recently going into a black screen/not responding state if their resolution was lower than 1920*1080 and the game entered fullscreen. We fixed an issue resulting in certain games no longer rendering UI updates (appearing visually stuck) after using Alt + Tab to quickly switch away and back to the game. We fixed an issue resulting in significant video and audio lag when projecting videos from certain devices on recent builds. We fixed an issue where turning off Location from the Action Center might take multiple clicks to react. We fixed an issue resulting in single Unicode character insertion failing for IMEs, the touch keyboard, and the Emoji Panel in certain types of edit controls recently. We fixed an issue resulting in the left and right arrows on the touch keyboard inserting 4 and 6, respectively, in certain languages. We fixed an issue where newly installed apps might not show up in search results. We fixed an issue resulting in the Search pane becoming truncated if launched after rotating the device orientation from horizontal to vertical. We fixed a high impact issue resulting in a decrease in Start reliability in the last couple of flights. We fixed a recent issue where if you hid the search icon in the taskbar, a number of win32 apps would unexpectedly redraw when opening the Start menu. We fixed an issue that could result in unexpected flickering if you used pen or touch in certain win32 apps to launch a second instance of the app when in tablet mode. Have a need to create a file that starts with a dot? File Explorer will now allow you to rename a file to be something like “.gitignore” – previously there would be an error siting that you needed to provide a name. We fixed an issue resulting in File Explorer potentially hanging when trying to rename, delete, or move MKV files in the previous flight. We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders not being able to open Cortana when in Tablet Mode. We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar blinking if an AC adapter was attached when the device had less than 20% battery. We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar disappearing for a second when dismissing Start/Cortana/Search on a secondary monitor. We’re updating the name of the “Windows Light” theme to now be “Windows (light)”. We fixed an issue where Cortana’s icon on secondary monitors wouldn’t update colors after switching between light and dark theme. We fixed an issue where when using light theme + small icons + a vertical taskbar orientation, text written on the taskbar would stay white and thus wouldn’t be readable. We fixed an issue that could result in open apps not being shown on the taskbar (but being visible in Alt + Tab). We fixed an issue resulting in greys having an unexpected slight pinkish/purple-ish tinge on some devices in recent flights. We fixed an issue that could result in DWM crashing after enabling high contrast. We fixed an issue in Ease of Access’s Cursor and pointer settings, mouse pointer size and color are now retained on upgrade. There is a remaining issue with mouse pointer showing white color instead of the selected color after signing out and signing back in. When using the Magnifier with larger pointers, it pans smoothly as the pointers change shape. We fixed an issue where navigation mode on Orbit display could not be changed. We fixed an issue where Narrator paused unexpectedly when reading through a PDF. We fixed an issue where users were unable to join or switch between Windows Insider rings. We fixed an issue where the Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. While we’ve done some work to improve night light reliability in this build, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space. When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes. Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in. We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button. Join the Bing Insider Program The 91st Academy Awards will honor the best films of 2018 this Sunday. Find out everything you need to know before the ceremony with Bing. Check out this year’s nominees in each category, explore all nominated films, check out local showtimes, and even see who Bing predicts will go home with an award. Bing also gives you a red carpet rewind to see the best of Oscars fashion. Looking for something more competitive? Test your knowledge with the Bing Oscars quiz or cast your vote with the Oscar’s ballot. If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insider Program. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18342 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, Thank you for your continued interest in Windows Admin Center! This preview release builds on the previous 1812 version and adds new functionality including all-new software defined networking tools in the HCI solution, and one of the top-requested customer features: shared connection lists. For folks that use RDCman, we have published a small script that you may use to export your saved RDCman connections to a .CSV file which you can then import with PowerShell to maintain all your RDCman grouping hierarchy using tags. Shared connections We’re excited to release a highly-requested feature: a single connection list that can be shared across all users of a WAC gateway. To add servers, clusters, and PCs as shared connections, you must be a WAC gateway administrator. Go to WAC Gateway Settings > Shared Connections, and then add servers, clusters, and PC as you normally would. You can tag servers in this pane as well, and these tags will appear for all users. The tags are immutable from the home “All Connections” page, meaning WAC users cannot change tags on shared server connections. Software Defined Networking (SDN) New Tool – Access Control List management (SDN) With SDN, you can use access control lists (ACLs) to manage data traffic flow using Datacenter Firewall and ACLs on virtual subnets. You can enable and configure Datacenter Firewall rules by creating ACLs that get applied to a virtual subnet. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/4cd2bc07f611113c564730a96b0db045.png https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/f857a07b26f856748a6b961ca120c4ef.png New Tool – Gateway Connection (SDN) SDN Gateway is a software-based, multitenant, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) capable router designed for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and Enterprises that host multiple tenant virtual networks using Hyper-V Network Virtualization. In the Gateway Connection tool, you can manage and monitor your gateway connections in an SDN environment. It supports all three types of gateway connections – IPSEC, GRE and L3. For more information about Gateways, see RAS Gateway for SDN https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/d19b31316cf8a2dd95fa5c0dc79b1fcd.png https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/9583a018fbffab2d815e2be5545d13d5.png New Tool – Logical Network Management (SDN) VM networks are abstract objects that act as an interface to logical networks. In a virtualized network environment, by using the VM networks, you can abstract virtual machines from the underlying logical network. In the Logical Network tool, you can manage and monitor your logical network. For more information about Logical Networks, see Plan a Software Defined Network Infrastructure https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/bd6e2aa93255d97a6c95cda8e15f6d87.png https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/d6b6f7b7337309879230e132b36e8cbc.png SDN Feature enhancement – Connect VM to VLAN or Virtual Network Based on customer feedback, now you can choose to connect a VM to a VLAN or a Virtual Network in your SDN environment. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/b1eec0c64f5ea376f33c88d52a91e5e1.png https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/b55d5e75adf8a812755c230e7fe627e6.png Known issues Virtual machines – When adding a new VHD to a VM, and selecting the option to add a new, empty disk, you can’t save your changes. [20420660] Network – If you have configured an Azure Network Adapter, the value under Microsoft Azure Virtual Network Gateway Address will be formatted as a hyperlink but leads to an invalid address. [20420185] How to Download Registered Insiders may download Windows Admin Center Preview 1902 directly from the Windows Server Insider Preview download page, under the Additional Downloads dropdown. If you have not yet registered as an Insider, see Getting Started with Windows Server on the Windows Insiders for Business portal. We value your feedback! The most important part of a frequent release cycle is to hear what’s working and what needs to be improved, so your feedback is extremely valued. Send us feedback via UserVoice. We also encourage you to visit the Windows Admin Center space on the Microsoft Tech Communities forum to collaborate, share and learn from experts. Terms of Use All pre-release software made available to you via the Windows Server Insider program are governed by the Insider Terms of Use No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows Admin Center Preview 1902 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

As a child of “First to’s” (First African-American to command the U.S. Army Old Guard, First African-American to be selected National Elementary School Principal of the Year by President Bill Clinton), my family is deeply steeped in the history of African-American culture and civil rights in the United States, emanating from northern cities (Philadelphia, Pa. and Gary, Ind.) and the deep south (Hayneville, Ala.). I have been raised with a belief in the verse that “to whom much is given, much is required,” and a commitment to give back to our society, honoring those who paved a path forward for us. When I look around our country today, I am so pleased to see how diversity and inclusion have moved from a concept to an expectation, embedded in every industry and sector of our society. I see leaders speaking up and actively listening to the feedback on what it takes to create diverse and inclusive environments. Mostly, I see regular citizens showing up, rediscovering their voice, sharing their stories, and demanding inclusion and equality – not just for people of color, but for groups of all kinds. Every February during Black History Month, a 28-day window provides an opportunity for our nation, our company, and each of us to pause and take stock of the condition and progress of Black people and other minority populations. We can celebrate the achievements and contributions of so many and, at the same time, lament the increase in violence and hate crimes, inflammatory discourse in our political arena and sense of increasing polarization across our country. At Microsoft, we have made the long-term commitment to build and sustain a culture that fosters an inclusive working environment, which will enable our employees to do their best work and serve the diverse needs of our customers around the world. We also are committed to engaging in and advancing diversity and inclusion conversations in communities where we believe we can help empower people. Black History Month presents us with an opportunity to engage in diversity and inclusion dialogues across all minority groups. At Microsoft, we kicked off the month with our Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) chapter ringing the Nasdaq bell on Wall Street for the second consecutive year. As a direct result of the impact our team had last year, Nasdaq has created its own employee network called GLOBE – Global Link of Black Employees. Next week, I will share the stage with civil rights activist, Reverend Jesse Jackson, at the Wall Street Project, which strives to ensure equal opportunities for culturally diverse employees, entrepreneurs and consumers. Reshma Saujani, who founded Girls Who Code with the single mission of closing the gender gap in technology, will be speaking with Microsoft employees later this month. We celebrate the passionate young gamers who demonstrated to everyone, that a level playing field is possible with the help of their friends, family and adaptive technology. At the upcoming BAM conference, we will recognize the pioneers who started the affinity group 30 years ago – the first employee group of its kind. I count myself incredibly fortunate to work at a company that embodies many of the principles my parents instilled in me, which have stood the test of time as we continue to engage in the diversity and inclusion dialogue: set the bar high and exceed it, approach the world with a service mentality and, above all, lift each other up. The post Black History Month: A time to lift each other up appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing a new build to Insiders who have opted into Skip Ahead. These builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1. IMPORTANT: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you take this flight, you won’t be able to switch back to the Fast or Slow rings without doing a clean-install on your PC and starting over. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle. General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC REMINDER: The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is designed to be on by default, however the default state is not currently in effect for current Insider Preview builds. You may see a new recommendation in the Windows Security app suggesting you turn this setting on. We fixed an issue where turning off Location from the Action Center might take multiple clicks to react. We fixed an issue resulting in being unable to re-arrange pinned folders in Start’s tile grid. We fixed an issue where newly installed apps might not show up in search results. We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders not being able to open Cortana when in Tablet Mode. We fixed an issue from the previous flight where right-clicking the desktop would bring up a light colored context menu in dark theme. We’re updating the name of the “Windows Light” theme to now be “Windows (light)”. We fixed an issue where Cortana’s icon on secondary monitors wouldn’t update colors after switching between light and dark theme. We fixed an issue where when using light theme + small icons + a vertical taskbar orientation, text written on the taskbar would stay white and thus wouldn’t be readable. We fixed an issue that could result in open apps not being shown on the taskbar (but being visible in Alt + Tab). We fixed an issue resulting in build unable to log into WinRE with an admin account in the last couple of flights. We’ve made another fix to address reports of devices getting stuck with “Hibernating…” text on the screen on resume from hibernate. We fixed an issue resulting in greys having an unexpected slight pinkish/purple-ish tinge on some devices in recent flights. We fixed an issue in Ease of Access’s Cursor and pointer settings, mouse pointer size and color are now retained on upgrade. We fixed an issue where the Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. The issue impacting Creative X-Fi sound cards has been fixed. Known issues Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). While we’ve done some work to improve night light reliability in this build, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space. When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. File Explorer may hang when trying to rename, delete, or move MKV files. In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Skip Ahead and switch to either the Fast ring or the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18836 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders! Today we are pleased to release a new Insider build of the Windows Server VNext Semi-Annual Channel release. What’s New Server Core App Compatibility feature on demand (FOD) The Server Core App Compatibility FOD was new in Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809. We are continuing investment in the App Compatibility FOD based on customer and Insider feedback. New in this Insider release for App Compatibility FOD: Task Scheduler (Taskschd.msc) Please try it and let us know! More to come… Available Content Windows Server vNext Semi-Annual Preview The Server Core Edition is available in the 18 supported Server languages in ISO format and in English only in VHDX format. Windows Server Core App Compatibility FoD Preview Windows Server Language Packs Windows Admin Center 1812 The following keys allow for unlimited activations of Windows Server Previews Server Standard: V6N4W-86M3X-J77X3-JF6XW-D9PRV Server Datacenter: B69WH-PRNHK-BXVK3-P9XF7-XD84W This Windows Server Preview will expire July 5th, 2019. Symbols are available on the public symbol server – see Update on Microsoft’s Symbol Server blog post and Using the Microsoft Symbol Server. Matching Windows Server container images will be available via Docker Hub. For more information about Windows Server containers and Insider builds, click here. How to Download Registered Insiders may navigate directly to the Windows Server Insider Preview download page. If you have not yet registered as an Insider, see GETTING STARTED WITH SERVER on the Windows Insiders for Business portal. We value your feedback! The most important part of a frequent release cycle is to hear what’s working and what needs to be improved, so your feedback is extremely valued. For Windows Admin Center, Send us feedback via UserVoice. We also encourage you to visit the Windows Admin Center space on the Microsoft Tech Communities forum to collaborate, share and learn from experts. For Windows Server, use your registered Windows 10 Insider device and use the Feedback Hub application. In the app, choose the Windows Server category and then the appropriate subcategory for your feedback. In the title of the Feedback, please indicate the build number you are providing feedback on in this format: [server #####] Title of my feedback We also encourage you to visit the Windows Server Insiders space on the Microsoft Tech Communities forum to collaborate, share and learn from experts. Windows Server Bug Fixes We fixed an issue where In-place upgrade failed. We fixed an issue where a CPU spike may happen when Windows Server logs obsolete Windows Error Reporting reports PnPDriverInstallError and PnPDriverImportError. We fixed an issue where Dynamic Update Setup on Server shows “Installing Windows 10” instead of Server. We fixed an issue where ADFS Requests with invalid domain suffixes fail after a long delay (around 3 minutes) with error DS_NAME_ERROR_DOMAIN_ONLY. This can cause queued legitimate requests to experience delays or also timeout. We fixed an issue where Windows may attempt to reuse an expired DHCP lease if the lease expired while the OS was shutdown. Windows Server Known Issues [New] A local user’s last logon time output from “net user username” may not be recorded even when the user has accessed the server’s network share. Scheduled startup tasks may fail to run. An event is logged, ID 101 with the error code ERROR_LOGON_FAILURE when the failure occurs. A virtual machine may not report all virtual fibre channel (vfc) LUNs after powering on if there are 2000+ vfc LUNs. WMI queries from the host show the LUNS available. Restarting the VMMs may show the LUNS again as available. DCPromo fails if the interface metric of the physical NIC is larger than Loopback Interface 19919812 Third-party password filter dlls may not be notified when the local Administrator account’s password was changed [New] Attempting system image recovery from an image located on a network share may result in error “A specified logon session does not exist. It may already have been terminated” Server FODs are not retained after in-place (or B2B) upgrade Domain Controller rename updates incorrect attributes in AD leaving orphaned data behind (ValidateSPNsAndDNSHostNameActual). This can be reproduced by adding a new FQDN, setting it as primary, restarting the domain controller, then removing the current FQDN. Checking the msDS-AdditionalDnsHostName, msDS-AdditionalSamAccountName and servicePrincipalName attributes will incorrect values. Invalid file may be created in %Systemroot%\System32\LogFiles\Sum by User Access Logging Self-service users cannot install Feature on Demand (FOD) packages and Language Packs for Windows Server Update Service (WSUS), System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), and Autopilot scenarios. A container host may become unresponsive due to a deadlock when attempting to mount a volume. On an affected system, Docker hangs on all commands. When a Windows Defender Application Guard container crashes, the resulting type of dump may be unexpected. Terms of Use This is pre-release software – it is provided for use “as-is” and is not supported in production environments. Users are responsible for installing any updates made available from Windows Update. All pre-release software made available to you via the Windows Server Insider program are governed by the Insider Terms of Use. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows Server vNext Insider Preview Build 18334 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Thinking about ways to make your PowerPoint presentation stand out? How about adding 3D embedded animations? Thanks to the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, you can. You can now insert 3D models with built-in animations to your PowerPoint and Word documents. These embedded 3D animations make it faster and easier for anyone to add movement and animation to slides and documents. To give you even more creative flexibility, there are more than 30 new animated 3D models. To give you even more creative flexibility, there are more than 30 new animated 3D models. Check it out in action: https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/01/b2150ce4550e59b7b59c604438ca816e.gif If you like this, check out more Windows 10 Tips. The post Windows 10 Tip: 3D embedded animations appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18334 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. REMINDER: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If this makes you uncomfortable, you may want to consider switching to the Slow ring. Slow ring builds will continue to be higher quality. If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1). What’s new in Build 18334 Gaming Improvements We’re excited to bring technology tailor-made for gaming to Windows. Help us validate these systems work as expected, and play State of Decay for free (limited time only!). Just tell us about any problems you encounter with installing and launching the game. Note: we only have a small number of available slots currently, so don’t wait too long to sign up. But if you don’t get in this time, don’t worry, we’ll be expanding over the next few weeks so you’ll have more chances. Thanks for making Windows gaming better! Instructions: If you have an Xbox Live Gamertag, go to step 2 below. If you don’t have a Gamertag, use your Microsoft Account (MSA) to log into Sign in to your Microsoft account and create an Xbox account. Once completed, you will see your Gamertag in the top right of the page. Install the Xbox Insider Hub app on the PC you’ll be flighting on (link opens in Store app). Sign in to the Xbox Insider Hub with your Gamertag. Select Insider Content in the upper left. Select State of Decay. Click Join. If not redirected, click the Show in store button to launch the Store app. Install the State of Decay test game to your machine from the Store app Launch State of Decay and try it out! NOTE: State of Decay is rated M for Mature. As part of the game launch, you’ll be prompted to install DirectX. This is for testing purposes, so go ahead and do the install, and the game will launch afterwards. [*]If you find any issues with the install, or if the game fails to launch, please file a Feedback Hub bug under the Microsoft Store category (pick Download or Install depending on your issue), and include WindowsGamingFeedback in the title. Known issues: BattleEye software (used by Fortnite, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and other popular games) does not work correctly with builds flighted to the Windows Insider Fast ring since December. If you have a PC that is not already enrolled in Windows Insider Fast, and you play games that use BattleEye software, we recommend you don’t join Windows Insider Fast on that PC. If you don’t have access to the State of Decay test game, be sure to use the same Microsoft Account (MSA) and Gamertag for the Xbox Insider hub and the Microsoft Store app. If you experience an error related to DirectX, please first file a Feedback Hub bug following the instructions above, and then try the following: Launch the game again. This should trigger the DirectX installer to run which should fix any issues caused by previous install failures. If the above doesn’t work, uninstall State of Decay by right-clicking Start, selecting Apps and Features, and then selecting Uninstall for the State of Decay entry. Then try the download and install again. If you continue to see the same error even after the steps above, you can also try downloading and installing DirectX manually: Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center [*]If the Install button in the Store doesn’t work, please first file a Feedback Hub bug following the instructions above, and then try the following: Restart your PC and try the install again. If the above, doesn’t work, click Start, search for ‘wsreset’ and run that command, then try the install again. [*]There is an intro video that plays at the start of the State of Decay test game which is squeezed into a thin line on left side of screen. Please ignore this issue; the game works fine once the title screen appears. [*]If you have a Microsoft Account on your machine which is a Child account and have Parental Controls turned on for that account, the State of Decay test game won’t install. We are investigating a fix for this in a forthcoming Windows flight. [*]You can install and run the State of Decay test game in a Virtual Machine (VM) if you aren’t able to test on real hardware; the download and install will work fine, but you will experience slow performance when running the game itself. Note: downloading and installing is still very helpful to find issues! General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC REMINDER: The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is designed to be on by default, however the default state is not currently in effect for current Insider Preview builds. You may see a new recommendation in the Windows Security app suggesting you turn this setting on. We fixed an issue resulting in a recent increase in taskbar icons becoming blank. We fixed an issue where your cursor color and size settings wouldn’t persist upgrade. We fixed an issue where hardware keyboard text prediction settings wouldn’t persist upgrade. We fixed an issue resulting in Settings crashing when going to Color Filters. We fixed an issue resulting in Sign-in Settings crashing recently under certain conditions. We fixed an issue where changing the state of the Hey Cortana toggle in Settings wouldn’t stick. We fixed an issue where the Cortana section of Settings was visible in regions where Cortana wasn’t supported. We fixed an issue where the icons and text in the new Settings header were misaligned an certain window sizes. We fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected blank space in the navigation pane in Privacy Settings. We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft David speaking when previewing voices under Settings > Time & Language > Speech, regardless of which actual voice was selected. We fixed an issue resulting in unexpected double spaces when listing the active hours under Windows Update Settings. When you set focus to search the search box will now have an accent colored border. We fixed an issue where the Search box in the taskbar was no longer dark when dark mode was enabled. We fixed an issue where recent activities in Search would use a white icon in light theme even if a dark icon was available. We fixed an issue that could result in the Start menu resetting back to default on reboot for some users. We fixed an issue resulting in Shutdown and Restart options in Start’s power menu not showing up in a remote desktop session. We fixed an issue where having Cortana open would result in an invisible File Explorer window being shown as open in the taskbar. We fixed an issue resulting in unexpected “The item you selected is unavailable” errors when interacting with jump list list items. We fixed an issue where explorer.exe would crash if you shared a file via Nearby Sharing and then turned off Nearby Sharing. We fixed an issue where the File Explorer title bar would blend into black backgrounds when dark theme was enabled. We fixed an issue resulting in an error when extracting files on the last 2 flights. We fixed an issue where attempting to set default file association for a filetype that was not explicitly declared as supported by a Win32 app would fail. We fixed an issue resulting in mouse lag when certain XAML dropdowns were open. We fixed an issue where unzipping files would throw an error. We fixed an issue where when files were grouped by date, files that were actually downloaded last month would say “A long time ago” if it was January and the files were downloaded in December. We fixed an issue resulting in some apps not going full screen properly if the app started from being snapped to the side of the screen. This issue also resulted in the taskbar appearing on top of full screen videos in this scenario, and could result in apps slowly shifting offscreen if repeatedly toggle between snapped and fullscreen. We fixed an issue resulting in some languages not being able to type in UWP apps recently – Buginese, Friulian, and Gothic were among those impacted. We fixed an issue impacting the Japanese IME in certain apps, like Microsoft Teams, where if you tried to finalize a converted string by typing, the converted string would disappear. We fixed two issues impacting the ability to adjust brightness in recent flights. We fixed an issue that could result in notifications unexpectedly being drawn at the wrong scale fact (too large, or too small). We fixed an issue where the value in Narrator Settings “Change the level of detail Narrator provides about text and control” might be empty. We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox may launch to a black screen for some users. Narrator now announces headings at all verbosity levels. Improved reading of pull-down menus in the Skype desktop client with Narrator. Improve pitch change detection by increasing the pitch deltas for capitalization reading option “Change how capitalized text is read” to “Increase pitch”. Improved reading while using Narrator’s text movement commands. Ensured that Narrator’s dialog reading behavior was more reliable. Ensured that focus is set on the Start menu when minimizing Narrator Home. Narrator now announces the value of the Calendar Date picker control as a user navigates with the Tab or Shift + Tab key. Narrator no longer announces blank tooltips. Removed the “not selected” phrase from speaking with Narrator unless multiple selection is possible. Continued to refine reading experiences for Chrome as well as some interaction with controls such as combo boxes and expandable buttons. Made moving by heading more reliable with Narrator and Chrome. Resolved an issue when changing the navigation mode on the Baum VarioUltra when used with Narrator. Small app update news for those in Skip Ahead: We’re rolling out Weather app version 4.28.10351.0 to you, which addresses an issue in which the Weather live tile either wouldn’t work at all, or worked but highlighted the wrong location (depending on your configuration). Thanks everyone who reached out about this, we appreciate your patience while we investigated the issue – the app update will be rolling out to other rings soon. Known issues The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes. Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD). Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue. While night light functionality is back up and running, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space. When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly. Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue. After upgrade, there might be two Narrator voices talking at the same time. Reboot the machine once, this issue will go away. Some of the Real-Time Protection options for Malwarebytes Premium are not able to be turned on. MSA user after password change may not be able to login at next attempt. Reboot fixes the problem. If Magnifier is enabled and set to docked mode, machine will crash and reboot on sign-in creating a boot loop. We recommend anyone who uses Magnifier to disable docked mode for this flight. A fix for this will be in an upcoming build. For users who upgraded and encountered this reboot condition, you can try turning off Magnifier by pressing Win + Esc at sign-in, then change the Magnifier View to Lens or Full screen in the Magnifier settings. Known issues for Developers If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings. REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button. Microsoft Ignite | The Tour The Windows Insider Team is hitting the road for Ignite The Tour! If you can be in Sydney on February 13th – 14th, please come and see us. We will be hosting an Insider session at each conference as well as an “off hours” event for Insiders in each city! Join the Bing Insider Program Music’s Biggest Night is just around the corner, so make sure to stay up to date with Bing. Explore the category nominees for Sunday’s 61st Annual Grammy Awards, listen to nominated songs and albums, and test your knowledge with a Grammy Awards quiz. If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing insider Program. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18334 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. 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Ransomware, botnets and phishing scams were at an all-time high in 2018 and attackers are taking every opportunity to steal data for their own gain. In 2018 alone, Microsoft found that “More than 75 percent of phishing mails include malicious URLs to phishing sites. Other variations include malicious phishing attachments and links in attachments.” But there’s a lot you can do to protect yourself – including using the tips below and keeping proactive security features, like Windows 10 in S mode, Windows Defender Antivirus protection and auto-updates, turned on. Our customers’ security is of the utmost importance to Microsoft and we’ve designed our solutions to enable productivity while providing a secure, streamlined experience. Use Microsoft 365 to help protect your devices and data, and follow these easy best practices: Beware of phishing scams. Don’t risk clicking on unfamiliar links, and carefully review notifications from banks to track potential damage to your accounts. Personalized emails that appear to be from a credit company can suggest an urgent need to act. If the email and link look the slightest bit suspicious, open a new window (don’t click the link), and go directly to the website or call the main phone number to check your status. Always have a backup. To better safeguard your files, use a cloud storage source like Microsoft’s OneDrive to back-up and protect your data against ransomware attacks. Microsoft follows a set of guidelines, requirements and processes for delivering rigorous levels of secure engineering, legal and compliance support for its cloud services. Be careful when using insecure Wi-Fi networks. Research has found that one in five consumers make online purchases over insecure Wi-Fi networks. If you are using public Wi-Fi networks, make sure your connection is encrypted and secure by looking out for the “lock” icon in the top left of the address bar and always double check that the address you are navigating to is what you expected. Many modern devices, like the Lenovo Yoga C630 WOS (Windows on Snapdragon), now feature LTE built-in, which – when enabled with a data plan – offers a more secure experience for your online habits. Don’t rely on passwords alone. When possible, always use multi-factor authentication like the Microsoft Authenticator app for managing your Manage Service Account logins and Windows Hello for easy and secure sign-in to your Windows 10 device. They enable biometric authentications like your face/fingerprint to quickly and safely log in across devices, apps and browsers without you having to remember passwords. Did you know that with a Microsoft Account, you can securely and automatically sign-in to other Microsoft cloud-based applications including Bing, MSN, Cortana, Outlook.com, Xbox Live (PC only), Microsoft Store and Office? Keep software current. Run a modern operating system, like Windows 10, with the latest security and feature updates, in tandem with built-in anti-virus protection, such as Windows Defender Antivirus. Use privacy screens to stop “shoulder surfing.” Use devices with integrated privacy screens like the button you can find on the HP EliteBook x360 and HP Spectre x360 keyboards that instantly makes your screen private, so those sitting near you cannot see it. If your device doesn’t come with one built-in, check out the Microsoft Store to purchase one. Learn more about Microsoft Security and follow/share these easy tips to keep your devices and data safe. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/3fa1bc3360425e4bc0d2724659d707a5.jpg The post Keep your devices and data safe using these simple security best practices appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

The healthcare industry’s leading minds are getting ready to educate, intrigue, and inspire attendees next week at the HIMSS19 conference—a leading healthcare IT event in the US. We expect to see many innovative ideas and solutions to the most prevalent and persistent challenges in modern health, and we are excited to show new technologies making a real difference in people’s lives and demonstrate Microsoft’s commitment to transforming how healthcare is experienced and delivered. Over the last few years, we have been learning alongside industry experts and making steady progress in helping health organizations navigate complex technology transformations. We have been so pleased by the enthusiastic response of the providers, payors, software developers, device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies we’ve been working with. But what drives us most is the profound impact on people. As we all look for more personalized and transparent approaches for healthcare services, technology transformation will help providers deliver modern patient experiences that promote patient engagement, satisfaction, and well-being while increasing the chances of more successful treatment. This year at HIMSS, we will talk about how Microsoft’s technology and partnerships are helping empower care teams, improve clinical and operational outcomes and advance precision healthcare, with a specific focus on putting people’s privacy at the center. To kick things off, today we’re announcing several new innovations supporting the industry’s transformation: Microsoft 365 for health organizations: New capabilities in Microsoft Teams that enable healthcare teams to communicate and collaborate in a secure hub for teamwork, and ultimately improve patient care. Microsoft Healthcare Bot: Now generally available, this service helps organizations create AI-powered, compliant virtual assistants and chatbots for a variety of healthcare experiences. Azure API for FHIR®: A new tool to help health systems interoperate and share data in the cloud. Empowering health organizations with secure messaging and AI-powered tools People are at the heart of healthcare – physicians, nurses, clinicians and of course, their patients. We are committed to empowering care teams with the tools they need to deliver their best care as well as empowering people as they interact with various aspects of the healthcare system. When it comes to secure communications, many clinicians report having to choose between convenience and compliance. Adhering to compliance has often meant having to wait for critical information at the point of care. Conversely, many clinicians have turned to consumer messaging apps that facilitate communication but can compromise security. Microsoft is working hard to ensure convenience and compliance are no longer a zero-sum equation. Today, we are announcing new capabilities in Microsoft Teams, a secure hub for teamwork that enables secure messaging and collaboration workflows that tap the wealth of patient information housed in electronic medical records. Enable secure workflows in Microsoft Teams: The new priority notifications feature in Teams alerts a recipient of an urgent message on their mobile and desktop devices until a response is received, for up to 20 minutes; message delegation enables clinical staff members to delegate their messages to another recipient when they are in surgery or otherwise unavailable. We are also announcing the ability to integrate FHIR-enabled electronic health records (EHR) data with Teams. The ability to view EHR data is enabled through partnerships with leading interoperability providers, including Dapasoft, Datica, Infor Cloverleaf, Kno2 and Redox. Clinical or hospital staff can securely access patient records in the same app where they can take notes, message with other team members, and start a video meeting, all in a single place to coordinate care. For health organizations looking to optimize operational processes or create new experiences for their people and patients, we are also announcing the Microsoft Healthcare Bot general availability. Microsoft Healthcare Bot: The Microsoft Healthcare Bot service is now generally available after first being introduced as a research project in 2017. It is designed to empower healthcare organizations to build and deploy compliant, AI-powered virtual health assistants and chatbots, and includes important features like healthcare intelligence, medical content and terminology, and a built-in symptom checker. The Microsoft Healthcare Bot service is fully extensible to help organizations adjust the bot to solve their own business problems, and can connect to health systems, like EHRs. In addition to partners like Premera, today we are announcing bots available, or available soon, from Quest Diagnostics, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Clalit Health Services. Securely connecting data for better clinical and operational outcomes Our bodies are a lot like complex computers, and each interaction with today’s health system creates a new data point. These data points are often spread across multiple records, with valuable insights somewhat hidden in siloes. Microsoft is committed to helping address this opportunity by developing technology that connects data and surfaces important insights at exactly the right time, with privacy and security at the core. A better-connected healthcare system would provide clinicians with more complete profiles of their patients, researchers with more complete data to study, and individuals with more information to take ownership over their health. I hear this often from leading experts in the research and care delivery communities. With this in mind, today we’re announcing the Azure API for FHIR, a tool to help health organizations better connect systems and harness the power of data in the cloud. Azure API for FHIR: The Azure API for FHIR will provide a method for health systems and data to ‘talk’ – what is known as interoperability – so for example, health records can connect to collaboration tools, pharmacy systems, fitness devices and others far more seamlessly. Data and insights from this more connected system can then be served up when and where they’re needed most. API is a term for technology that links software programs together. Similar to electrical outlets and plugs, APIs can most easily be compared to the adapters you need to use electronics while traveling in foreign countries. Though technical, its functionality is important to everyone who interacts with today’s healthcare systems, as interoperability is a foundational health technology need. The Azure API for FHIR is available in public preview, and we have more than 25 technology partners in our early access program that can help health organizations build FHIR-enabled services today. Advancing precision healthcare Some of the most exciting breakthroughs at the intersection of science and technology are in precision healthcare. We all stand to gain from a health system that can precisely care for us based on our unique biology, environments and ailments. Cloud and advanced AI are the key tools that will help achieve that future. To advance precision care, Microsoft continues to invest in a series of services and computational biology projects, including research support tools for next-generation precision healthcare, genomics, immunomics, CRISPR and cellular and molecular biologics. For example, Microsoft Genomics, which provides accelerated sequencing and secondary analysis, enables research insights for organizations like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with the St. Jude Cloud, the world’s largest public repository of pediatric cancer genomics data. Earlier this year, we published an update on our partnership with Adaptive Biotechnologies, announcing we’ve opened up our joint research to immunosequence 25,000 individuals, targeting ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, celiac disease, type 1 diabetes and Lyme disease. Work also continues on several Microsoft Research projects, including intelligent scribe Project EmpowerMD, medical imaging Project InnerEye, machine reading Project Hanover and metagenomics Project Premonition. These projects are pushing the boundaries of how technology can be applied in healthcare and we are excited to see how they might be used by health organizations in the future. Working with the experts Improving healthcare is not a singular or silver bullet effort. Microsoft’s ambition is not to be a healthcare provider, but to enable and empower those who are doing good things for people around the world. We see strategic alliances with leaders like Walgreens Boots Alliance, Allscripts, Hill-Rom, Novarad and others leading the way, with support from our thousands of technology partners. Here are a few examples: Walgreens Boots Alliance: Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership aimed at transforming health care delivery. Our companies will combine the power of Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies, health care investments, and retail solutions with WBA’s customer reach, convenient locations, outpatient health care services, and industry expertise with the goal of making health care delivery more personal, affordable and accessible for people around the world. Veradigm: Veradigm, an Allscripts company, and Microsoft announced a collaboration focused on implementing an innovative, integrated model for clinical research, aiming to enhance clinical research design, conduct studies more efficiently and improve the research provider and participant experience. Hill-Rom: Hill-Rom and Microsoft announced a collaboration to bring advanced, actionable point-of-care data and solutions to caregivers and healthcare provider organizations. Our collaboration will combine Hill-Rom’s deep clinical knowledge and streaming operational data from medical devices with Microsoft’s cloud, IoT and AI technologies to help drive enhanced patient outcomes. Novarad: Novarad, a healthcare enterprise imaging company, recently obtained 510(k) clearance from the FDA for the OpenSight Augmented Reality System for Microsoft HoloLens. OpenSight received pre-operative clearance for augmented reality usage in surgical planning, giving physicians access to a new solution that can improve surgical procedures by enhancing accuracy and shortening operative times. ThoughtWire: ThoughtWire, is helping save lives with its EarlyWarning application, designed to preempt and prevent patients from suffering cardiac arrest in hospitals. This solution has already reduced code blue calls, which signals a risk of cardiac arrest, by 61 percent at Hamilton Health Sciences, a medical group of seven hospitals and a cancer center. ThoughtWire will deliver the EarlyWarning app, running on Microsoft Azure, to health systems at scale. Innovaccer: Innovaccer is a healthcare data activation platform company working towards solving data interoperability challenges in healthcare and helping health systems enhance their clinical and financial outcomes with a data-first approach. Innovaccer is a portfolio company of M12, Microsoft’s venture fund. The future is bright – a more connected future to deliver better experiences, insights and care. We are looking forward to meeting many of you next week at HIMSS19 and sharing more about what we are working on. Please be sure to stop by our booth No. 2500 to see our solutions in action, and follow our HIMSS19 story on @Health_IT to learn more. The post Microsoft for Healthcare: technology and collaboration for better experiences, insights and care appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2019/02/36384c1013f0af00cacbb8d6441de69e-1024x576.png If you’re trying to decide what to buy between Office 365 and Office 2019, you’ll find there’s a world of difference between the two. Both include fully-installed Office applications – the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. But Office 365 is also connected to the cloud, so you can access your content from any device, co-author with anyone in real-time (regardless of whether or not they’ve purchased a copy of Office) and use the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to create more impact with less effort. On the flipside, Office 2019 is not cloud connected and doesn’t have Office 365’s AI-powered capabilities. These apps are “frozen in time” without the prospect of being updated with new features. To further help you choose, Microsoft pitted Office 2019 and Office 365 against each other in a head-to-head showdown, challenging three sets of twins to complete the same tasks in both versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint – and filmed them along the way. Find out more and see the videos on the Microsoft 365 Blog. The post Twins take on multiple challenges of Office 2019 vs. Office 365 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...