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Earlier in May, we announced the public preview of the Cortana Skills Kit, which allows developers to easily create intelligent, personalized experiences for users of Cortana in the US*. Today, we’re pleased to share that the latest skill on Cortana is available, from our partners at Fitbit. With the new Fitbit skill for Cortana, you can easily monitor your health and fitness goals – just by asking Cortana. Users can access the Fitbit skill across devices and platforms, starting with Windows 10, Android and iOS and soon on the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker. Fitbit is the leading global wearables brand with more than 50M registered users across the world. Fitbit’s health and fitness trackers and software are compatible across Windows 10, Android and iOS platforms, and offers the widest range of easy-to-use, smart and motivational tools that keep users engaged to meet their goals. With the new Fitbit skill for Cortana, it’s now easier than ever for Fitbit users to monitor their health and fitness goals, sleep, stats and progress. Once you have connected your Fitbit account to Cortana, simply ask Cortana to get the information you need to stay inspired without having to pull up the Fitbit app or website. And because Cortana works across your Windows 10, Android and iOS devices, you can easily do so on the device closest to you. You can say, “Hey Cortana, Ask Fitbit how am I doing today,” along with several other supported health and fitness prompts to learn about your daily progress. Cortana will not only read out your progress – like active minutes you’ve logged, how you slept last night, or the number of calories you’ve burned for any day within the previous week – but may also show you a short summary with all the handy information. If you’re tracking how you’re performing against your friends, you can say, “Hey Cortana, show me my leaderboard,” and Cortana will provide you with the extra motivation to keep you going. Cortana will also offer words of encouragement to inspire you to meet your goals, with responses that are tailored to the specific time of day. For example, if you inquire about your active minutes in the morning, you might be encouraged with “Today’s the day. Let’s do this.” Or, if you ask about your steps in the evening: “You are so there. I’d high five you if I could.” Cortana understands natural language and makes it very easy to update Fitbit about your beverage and food intake without having to manually log the information. You can say, “Hey Cortana, Tell Fitbit to log I had an omelet for breakfast,” or “Hey Cortana, Ask Fitbit to log I drank 12 ounces of water,” and Cortana will update your Fitbit account accordingly. Cortana provides you with the convenience of being able to log these activities through voice, helping you maintain a fuller view of your calorie intake – along with the impact on your overall health and fitness stats. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/bb91a2986084c3ec95d7486d88324b23.jpg There are many ways Cortana can help you engage with Fitbit. Here are a few you can try: “Hey Cortana, ask Fitbit how much water I’ve had today” “Hey Cortana, ask Fitbit how many calories do I have left to eat” “Hey Cortana, ask Fitbit how many steps do I have left” “Hey Cortana, ask Fitbit how many workouts I need to do this week” To find out more, get started with the new Fitbit skill. Simply say “Hey Cortana, Open Fitbit,” and Cortana will ask you to connect your accounts by signing-in with your Fitbit username and password. You can then ask Cortana about your Fitbit activity. Happy stepping! To learn more and discover the currently available skills, visit: microsoft.com/en-us/windows/cortana/cortana-skills/ *Available in US only. Other markets will be added over time. The post Tracking your fitness goals just got easier with the Fitbit skill for Cortana appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/3ee6c63fa5d1045de466b549a6773338.jpg Lydia Winters, Mojang brand director, is among those interviewed in the latest .future podcast. In the latest .future podcast, “Minecraft: Beyond Just Building,” hear four stories from individuals around the world who used “Minecraft” to build themselves a new future. For some, the game helped them reinvent themselves; for others, it helped them heal and even empower their communities. The podcast is a Microsoft series about making the future happen, exploring tomorrow’s technology today and how it will affect generations to come. Suzanne Choney Microsoft News Center Staff The post Meet those who used ‘Minecraft’ to build new lives, as well as worlds, in latest .future podcast appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders! Today we are excited to release Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16251 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring! The same build will be available for Insiders who opted in to Skip Ahead. We are also releasing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 15235 to Insiders in the Fast ring. We won’t have a new Windows Server Insider Preview build for Windows Insiders this week. What’s New in Build 16251 For PC Windows lets you link your phone and PC You may remember at Build we talked about PCs and phones working better together. With Build 16251, we are introducing the first set of features that enable “linking” your phone to your PC. This build’s scenario is focused on cross-device web-browsing. Today, we’re asking for you Windows Insiders to help us test this experience out using your Android phones. Support for iPhone is coming very soon, stay tuned. To get started, after installing today’s new build on your PC, go to Settings > Phone and link your phone. Having you link your phone ensures that your sessions from your phone are continued only on to the PC that you’ve chosen. After adding your phone to be linked, you will receive an SMS from us directing you to install a test application called “Microsoft Apps” for Android that completes the link between your phone and PC and enables one of our first cross device browsing scenarios. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/a7217a5217a761f525052abd8ecb7e60.png After you’ve linked your phone, just go to your phone and start browsing the web. When you are at a website you want to view on your PC, simply invoke the native share experience on your phone and share the website to the “Continue on PC” option. You might need to click the “…” or more to add this test app to your share menu. Once invoked, it will first ask you to sign in with your Microsoft Account. It is important you use the same account you are using on your PC. Next it will ask you if you want to “Continue now” or “Continue later”. If you choose “Continue now”, the website will magically open on the linked PC. If you choose to “Continue later”, the website will show up under Action Center for you to get to later when you’re ready. Try it out and let us to know of any issues you run into! https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/326bceea7daaa76293a0f35b247d470c.png https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/819bcf63dbad80ae3038b2460f31fbc8.png https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/04e27e71d9884bf8310065a8e65c52f0.png Get web search results in Cortana without opening your browser Now you can view the results that Cortana has for you without launching the web browser. For some questions, the Cortana pane will expand automatically, quickly showing you exactly what you need to know. It works with movies, celebrities, stock prices, weather, flight status – you name it! If Cortana doesn’t have a quick answer for your query, the pane won’t automatically expand. No worries! Just click the arrow next to the relevant web suggestion (or press the right arrow key) to see what the web has for you. We look forward to hearing your feedback, which you can file using the in-Cortana feedback button. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4d490574a7279e50b2fda34c62f4063f.png Use Cortana voice commands to lock, sign-out, shutdown, or turn off your PC We have now enabled the ability for you to use Cortana to turn off, restart, lock, or sign-out of Windows. While previously announced, we haven’t fully enabled it via the cloud until now. So, in case your hands are busy at the moment, you don’t have to stop what you’re doing to turn off or lock your PC. Instead, you can say “Hey Cortana, turn off my PC” and Cortana will take care of it. In a similar fashion, you can use Cortana to restart your computer, sign-out, or lock your PC. Just use your voice and try out the following commands: “Hey Cortana, restart PC.” “Hey Cortana, turn off PC.” “Hey Cortana, sign out.” “Hey Cortana, lock PC.” For some of these voice commands, such as the one for turning off your PC, Cortana may ask you for a verbal confirmation. You’ll have to respond to Cortana with a “Yes” for Cortana to complete the voice command. In addition, you can also ask Cortana to execute the commands above on the Lock screen, but first you should enable Cortana on the Lock screen if you have not done so already. You can enable Cortana on your Lock screen by opening Cortana’s settings and turning on this option: If you have any feedback, be sure to send it our way via Feedback Hub! NOTE: This is available only in English* (EN-US, EN-AU, EN-CA, EN-GB and EN-IN) markets. Improved Boot Up Experience Use sign-in info to apply settings after a restart or update: The advanced Windows Update feature to use your sign-in info to automatically finish setting your device after an update has been extended to regular reboots and shutdowns. When you log in and initiate a reboot or a shutdown through power options available on the Start Menu and various other locations, Windows will automatically setup your account after it’s has booted back up. This will help you sign-in faster and will restore your accessibility applications and any other application that has registered for application restart. Command-line options: shutdown /sg Shutdown the computer. On the next boot, restart any registered applications. shutdown /g Full shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is rebooted, restart any registered applications. Opt-out: Under the Privacy section of the Sign-in options page of your Settings, you can disable and re-enable using the option show below: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ce5b320478062297fea0d08c30192d17.png Note: The feature is only available on PCs that are not managed by enterprises. This includes home PCs that are sync’d to enterprise (work, school, etc.) email. Input Improvements We’ve adjusted the size of the onehanded touch keyboard to be a little bigger, as well as added a thicker border as padding around it so you’re less likely to accidentally tap outside the keyboard and dismiss it. We’ve updated the new XAML touch keyboard to now support a full keyboard layout option for English (United States), English (Australia), French (France), Italian (Italy), German (Germany) and Spanish (Spain) languages. Appreciate everyone who shared feedback on the subject! To access this keyboard layout, tap the button in the top left of the touch keyboard. As you launch and dismiss the touch keyboard, you’ll now notice an animation of it sliding in and out. We’ve softened the sound of typing on the touch keyboard – thanks for your feedback! We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard might get into a state where swiping across it would move the keyboard contents around. We’ve updated the Japanese onehanded touch keyboard specific key labels to be written using the Yu-gothic UI font. We fixed an issue where the Japanese touch keyboard might sometimes take multiple taps of the delete key to delete a selected character or phrase in certain text fields. We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard’s options in Settings to disable suggestions and disable “add a space after I choose a text suggestion” didn’t work. We’ve adjusted two-finger precision touchpad scrolling so it should feel a bit smoother now – please try it out in today’s build. We fixed an issue where the Microsoft Pinyin IME candidate window wasn’t visible when Microsoft Edge was in full screen mode (F11). We fixed an issue where Japanese IME status notification didn’t appear when the IME was turned on with Kana input method. In addition to scrolling, pen can now also select and drag objects when barrel button (a button on the side of the pen) is pressed. This functionality was already available in Win32 apps and Microsoft Edge as of 16215, and today we’re expanding it to include all UWP apps as well. Please try it out in your favorite apps and let us know how the experience is working for you. We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to use the pen to move a Win32 app window up and down by dragging the title bar. We fixed an issue where the coordinates were slightly off when using the pen to point erase in the last few flights. Microsoft Edge Improvements Microsoft Edge will no longer re-scale sites when in Tablet Mode with narrow viewport width (such as in a snapped view or portrait orientation). This provides a more natural experience on modern responsive sites in tablet mode. We fixed an issue from recent builds where the Copy Link option displayed in Microsoft Edge when you right-click a hyperlink wasn’t working. We fixed numerous reliability issues in Microsoft Edge that will improve user experience with crashes and hangs within the app. We fixed an issue in Microsoft Edge with PDF failing to open on refresh. We fixed an issue in Microsoft Edge with PDF fitting to page for certain books. We fixed an issue with Pinned Sites from Microsoft Edge where it wasn’t showing the right favicon on the taskbar. PC Gaming Improvements Some users may see Game Mode enabled in the Game Bar by default for some of their games. What’s New in Build 15235 for Mobile Switch to portrait mode orientation in Continuum Are you an Windows Insider who is loving the convenience of Continuum by carrying your PC in your pocket? We have heard your VERY PASSIONATE feedback and just made it better. We’re excited to introduce portrait mode support for Continuum starting with this build of Windows 10 Mobile. Without portrait mode support, the landscape rendering of Continuum from your phone on a portrait oriented monitor would look like this: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0724dbdfb42b2332c46d5235a36fb689.png Now, it will look like this: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/c7ba7132d7caa7f0c9e480725f408ffe.png To enable this, go to Settings > System > Display on your device and change the display orientation to “Portrait” and press apply. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/22f01ff7d2d307c79ac16d69c1b0518e.png If your phone is connected to a monitor via cable, your phone will ask you to disconnect and reconnect the cable to the external display and press ok to change the orientation to portrait. If your phone is connected to a monitor via Wi-Fi, your phone will ask you to disconnect and reconnect to your wireless display. Once this is done, your phone will remember the orientation and you will not have to repeat the setup process when connecting again to the same monitor. General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We fixed an issue from the last flight where if you had display scaling set higher than 100%, you might encounter a bug where the hit targeting was offset when interacting with various parts of the shell. This was particularly noticeable in Action Center, where it might appear that nothing in Action Center could be clicked or tapped, but could also have been experienced in other UI around the system. We fixed an issue resulting in IMAP email accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Aol potentially not syncing in the Mail app in the last two builds. We fixed the issue causing Windows Defender Security Center to be unable to configure and list items for Controlled folder access, Threat History and Exclusions due to a crash in the UI. Narrator Scan Mode is now on by default for just the Edge app. You can continue to toggle Scan Mode on and off with Caps Lock + Space. We made this change based on your feedback. Please keep providing feedback with Caps Lock + EE. We fixed a bug that resulting in poor text rendering on some machines when Magnifier was running with bitmap smoothing enabled. Please try it in today’s build and let us know if it seems better now. We fixed an issue where the Windows Defender Security Center icon appeared unexpectedly stretched out when using a wide sized tile pinned to Start. We fixed an issue where certain inbox apps might unexpectedly show a progress bar on their Start tiles for a short time after upgrading. We fixed an issue resulting in explorer.exe using an unexpectedly high amount of CPU in recent flights when certain apps such as Microsoft Edge were running. We fixed an issue where Groove Music’s mini view player would reset its position to default if you used File Explorer to open and start playing a new mp3 in Groove Music. We fixed an issue resulting in some apps, such as Tweetium, not rendering the UI correctly and becoming difficult to use. We fixed an issue resulting in the notification prompting you to enter tablet mode not working properly when you access in recent flights. We’ve heard your feedback and have adjusted the My People emoji above the Taskbar to now be referred to simply as “My People notifications”. This terminology can be found in Taskbar Settings. We fixed an issue where the mouse response might appear erratic on certain devices when playing games with Raw Input disabled. If you are a gamer and had noticed this issue, we’d appreciate you trying this in today’s build and letting us know if it’s improved. We fixed an issue where the insertion point mouse cursor appeared white for some Insiders, making it invisible against the white background of many text boxes. Some Insiders may have noticed the Windows Error Dialog had a new string in recent flights (“opening a portal to another dimension”). It was a placeholder while we decided what string we wanted to go with, and based on your feedback we’ve updated it to explain that the problem is being reported to Microsoft. We fixed the issue with PC Games using the Origin overlay where the use of overlay may cause game movement to lock up. TruePlay, formerly called Game Monitor, is a placeholder within the Windows UI. Your games cannot be affected at this time. We’ll have more to share soon. Known issues for PC If you installed Builds 16226-16237 and upgrade to this build, Storage Spaces will not work correctly. While Build 16241 contained a fix for the general reported issue with Storage Spaces in that build range, we discovered that the fix only applies for computers not already in the bad state, and need to do some extra work to return those already impacted to the good state. Special thanks to the Insiders that have helped us investigate this! Trying to use the dictation hotkey (WIN + H) in UWP apps won’t work – you’ll see the UI come up and immediately dismiss. If you’d still like to use dictation, the microphone in the touch keyboard will work. You can right-click the Taskbar for an option to show the touch keyboard button if it’s not already visible. We’re investigating your reports that after upgrading to the latest Insider Preview builds, some network settings are lost and revert to default settings. Static IP address configuration is reverted to DHCP. Networks which were marked as private are reverted to public. After the upgrade you will need to manually readjust your network settings back to your preferred settings. Start, Action Center and notification toasts may at times have a background that is 100% transparent. A fix will be available in later flight – for now, if you encounter this issue, try ending ShellExperienceHost.exe via Task Manager or rebooting to resolve the issue. Connecting to a VPN using a solution downloaded from the Windows Store may result in a system crash. The battery flyout might show unexpected text for the % charged (specifically “%1!s!%2!s!% until fully charged”). General changes, improvements, and fixes for Mobile This build also includes all the improvements from KB4025342. We fixed an issue where downloading large apps could report out of disk space when there is sufficient space available. We fixed an issue where installing apps (particularly games) from the Windows Store would sometimes fail with “Error, see details”. We fixed an issue where a device could not be unlocked after removing/turning off Windows Hello. We fixed an issue where Cortana would not provide the region when saying “Your region is set to” and then “Is that right?”. We fixed a Turkish localization issue where the string “We need to fix your Microsoft account before you can use shared experiences …” was shown in English. Known issues for Mobile There is a problem with the HP Elite X3 with wired docks where the portrait orientation setting is lost when the external display is disconnected and reconnected. A workaround for this is to reboot the phone after tapping the “OK” button instead of disconnecting and reconnecting. This workaround must be performed every time you connect to an external display you want to use with Continuum in portrait orientation. Community & Team Updates To celebrate our annual company-wide hackathon (the largest private hackathon in the world https://blogs.microsoft.com/jobs/one-week-microsoftlife), we’re releasing a new batch of Ninjacat backgrounds for Windows Insiders! In addition to the Tiger, we are introducing the Dragon and Dire Wolf! Download the zip file here including the assets to make your own! No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16251 for PC & Build 15235 for Mobile appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/713a6eacc3459352b6c7f535a0388b11.jpg Today, we’ve seen an incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint. If there’s anything we learned, it’s that after 32 years, MS Paint has a lot of fans. It’s been amazing to see so much love for our trusty old app. Amidst today’s commentary around MS Paint we wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight, clear up some confusion and share some good news: MS Paint is here to stay, it will just have a new home soon, in the Windows Store where it will be available for free. Paint 3D – the new app for creativity, also available for free with the Windows 10 Creators Update, will continue to get new feature updates. In addition to the new 3D capabilities, many of the MS Paint features people know and love like photo editing, line and curve tools, and 2D creation are in Paint 3D. So, thanks for all the MS Paint love, keep the feedback coming via the Paint 3D app, and keep creating! The post MS Paint is here to stay appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

The deep chill of Wisconsin winters inspired a patent application – filed on this date 130 years ago – that changed the world and created a company that offers a warm tale of sustained innovation. Warren Johnson grew up on a western Wisconsin homestead in the mid-1800s and, later, became a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. On winter days at the college, a janitor had to manually check and adjust the furnace heat for every room, interrupting classes. That led Johnson to invent the Electro Tele-thermoscope, the first thermostat to monitor room temperature. In time, that gave way to Johnson Controls, write Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft, and Carol Ann Browne, director of executive communications and public affairs at Microsoft. Their post is the first in a new LinkedIn series. Today, Johnson Controls has a new world-leading set of technologies and services that enables its customers to manage their buildings reliability, efficiency and sustainability. This includes the company’s Smart Connected Chillers platform, which enables technicians to use digital tools and predictive analytics to identify early indicators of potential issues and address them before they become problems. And it includes new services that enable Johnson Controls itself to manage directly and electronically over 40,000 buildings across North America. Read the full post on LinkedIn. Bill Briggs Microsoft News Center Staff The post How Johnson Controls has warmed the world with its spirit of innovation appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

We know there are a lot of great options when it comes to Windows 10 PCs, and narrowing it down can be overwhelming. That’s why the Windows team created Help Me Choose: an interactive tool on Windows.com that makes it easy to find the best PC that will meet your needs. We designed Windows to be the place you love to create and play, with the tools to help you make your mark on the world – whether you’re a student, gamer, artist or mobile professional. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/e41439b19815e011a1fb9527d7d3795e.jpg Here’s how to use Help Me Choose: Shop for a new Windows 10 PC https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/1386ef2ed4b69024499f07f78f0f6fd0.jpg Simply click on “Shop for a new Windows 10 PC,” and you’ll be asked a couple questions about how you’ll be using your PC, and what features are most important to you – like having a choice of using touch or typing, or signing-in password-free with Windows Hello, for example. Then, Help Me Choose will share a couple different PCs for you based on your needs. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/8eff99276b04fda0b02a4cec84a77176.jpg Learn more about Windows 10 features https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/82150774de3fe0980c83a2f40141c138.jpg With Help Me Choose, you can also learn more about all the awesome features in Windows 10 – including Paint 3D, Windows Hello*, Cortana** and more! Check for Windows 10 updates https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0b3c652ba36bd98545da40be8b45e561.jpg Just click on “Check for Windows 10 updates,” and then “Verify you’re updated” to make sure you have all the latest features and protection. Every Windows 10 PC includes built-in enterprise grade security with Windows Defender. Head over here to get started with Help Me Choose, or here for more Windows 10 Tips. ICYMI – here’s last week’s Windows 10 Tip. Have a great week! *Windows Hello requires specialized hardware, including fingerprint reader, illuminated IR sensor or other biometric sensors and capable devices. **Cortana available in select markets. The post Windows 10 Tip: Get started with Windows Help Me Choose appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Virtual reality. Mixed reality. Augmented reality. What’s the difference, and how will blending the physical and digital worlds empower you to do things that were previously impossible? More importantly, how will all this affect our pants? Watch the latest episode of the Microsoft Story Labs animated series “Explanimators” above to learn everything you need to know about mixed reality and the future of human-computer interaction. The post Watch an animated guide to mixed reality in new ‘Explanimators’ episode appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/2aa2a6322837f0a9646c52d9377d2b09.jpg We at Motiga and Perfect World Entertainment couldn’t be more excited to get our unique hero-shooter into the hands of gamers across the globe. The development team has been working for years to create a visually stunning and strategic experience featuring massive Guardians, creatures to summon, and a diverse roster of heroes. One of the best aspects of gaming is that it offers experiences for all types of gamers. With Gigantic, we’re proud to offer 19 heroes (with many more on the way) that each have their own playstyles, diverse skill sets, and varied skill trees to fine-tune your gameplay for each match. Even in the heat of battle, hero skills can be upgraded depending on the friendly or enemy team composition, the state of map control, or if you feel like making some wacky plays. We know that choosing a hero can be difficult, especially when they have captivating aesthetics, but we put together a few tips over at Xbox Wire that will hopefully point you in the right direction. We can’t wait to see you on the airship! The post Gigantic launches on Windows 10 and Xbox One appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Yesterday, our CEO Satya Nadella discussed the company’s quarterly results with financial analysts and highlighted several customers and partners to underscore our momentum. I want to share a bit more about how these companies are partnering with us to embrace digital business. Organizations around the world are looking to technology to help power their innovation and maintain their competitive edge. Across every industry, companies are looking to create more engaging customer experiences, empower employees, reinvent operations and transform products and services. More and more, when companies work with us to envision their digital strategy across cloud, apps and devices, they do not just become part of a new wave of innovation — they help create it. Building on recent announcements with organizations like NASCAR, BMW, T-Mobile, KPMG, Baidu and Dun & Bradstreet, Satya yesterday noted customers who are choosing Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365 and other solutions to propel their businesses. Here are a few examples from finance, fashion, logistics, retail and media companies. HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations, has selected Dynamics 365 as its cloud platform to digitally transform its customer engagement model. With 37 million customers and operations in 70 countries, HSBC needed a secure cloud solution and scalable infrastructure to support its client engagement and power a 360-degree relationship management program. This capability will help HSBC deliver high data integrity, reduce manual and time-consuming processes and innovate for future growth — all while ensuring data security and satisfying the unique regulations it faces as a global bank. Moving from finance to fashion, Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana chose Dynamics 365 for its scalability, flexibility and reliability. Dolce & Gabbana is involved in every step of the fashion industry, from the purchase of raw materials to the sale on the market, and the company needed a solution to offer both a comprehensive view of its customers and the availability of finished products in each geographical area and for every sales channel. Dynamics allows the company to streamline processes and better plan production and distribution to ensure excellent service to customers globally. When it comes to employee collaboration and the secure, modern workplace, industry leaders are choosing Microsoft 365, which combines Office 365, Windows 10 and security management in a complete solution to help simplify IT management. For example, FedEx, the global logistics and delivery services company serving 220 countries, pioneered industry standards for tracking and real-time monitoring for packages. Committed to a collaborative, modern workplace that supports its culture of innovation, FedEx is using Microsoft 365 to empower its workforce. FedEx also leverages the Azure cloud platform to build and power new services, such as its SameDay delivery service, securely and at scale. In addition, Staples, the North American business solutions provider, brings technology and people together in innovative ways to consistently deliver products, services and expertise that delights customers. Staples is in business with businesses. The company is passionate about empowering people to become true professionals at work. As part of its public cloud strategy, Staples has chosen Microsoft 365 to simplify its IT infrastructure and create a secure, seamless productive experience for its 24,000 corporate workers and 38,000 retail workers. Finally, Hearst — one of the U.S.’s largest diversified media, information and services companies, with more than 360 businesses — has partnered with Microsoft to implement a public cloud strategy. Recently, the company chose Azure to power its storage and compute needs as well as improve disaster recovery. With Azure, Hearst is also exploring new opportunities in AI with cognitive services and machine learning to power more advanced digital customer experiences. Hearst also uses Office 365 for collaboration and productivity for its global workforce, and Enterprise Mobility + Security and Intune to secure employee devices. My best days at work are when I talk to leaders of companies like these. It energizes me to see how Microsoft can help them bring to life their digital vision by addressing their needs today and laying the foundation for business success tomorrow. The post Customers recognized in Q4 earnings: From high finance to high fashion, industry leaders look to Microsoft to drive business innovation appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

This week underscored the power of technology to advance social good, from a group of organizations that are helping young people thrive in a changing economy to a new cloud-based initiative to protect the electric grid. We also take a look into the future of autonomous cars, hear from indie developers who are shaking up the gaming industry and meet a Washington couple who live a Victorian-era lifestyle, with Skype one of their few concessions to modernity. Join us for a recap of this week’s noteworthy and sometimes quirky news. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/abe0e84ee159a48d0c8f0254aeeca373.jpg The U.S. economy is experiencing a historic shift, with greater demand for workers who have technical skills and post-secondary education, and fewer jobs requiring no education beyond high school. In partnership with Microsoft, three organizations — Year Up, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and City Year — are helping young people meet those needs. Year Up works to close the opportunity gap by providing technical and professional skills training that is supported by Microsoft. Boys & Girls Clubs of America combines expertise in youth programming with Microsoft’s deep knowledge of computer science to establish effective computer science programs. And City Year is partnering with Microsoft to deliver computer science learning in after-school programs and expand participation in the Hour of Code initiative. “Together, we’re inspiring young people to pursue careers in tech, and giving them some of the training they will need but wouldn’t otherwise receive,” leaders of the three organizations write in a guest column. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/6632537694e5af1a08853e9f8b45d84a.jpg Microsoft and Chinese web services company Baidu Inc. this week announced a partnership to take the technical development and adoption of autonomous driving worldwide. Up to 15 percent of new cars sold in 2030 will be fully autonomous, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company — creating the need for an ecosystem of partners to support that evolution. Microsoft’s Azure Cloud infrastructure will provide global scale for Apollo, Baidu’s open-source autonomous driving platform, which provides cloud services, an open software stack and other services that support autonomous vehicles. “We’re excited to partner with Baidu to take a giant step in helping automotive manufacturers and suppliers fully realize the promise of autonomous driving,” Kevin Dallas, corporate vice president, Microsoft, said in a release. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/907a871c5195b48196893556e8e01784.png The utilities industry is under continuous threat from hackers, making proactive protection increasingly important, says Larry Cochrane, Azure principal program manager for energy. Recognizing that need, Microsoft on Tuesday announced a new Azure Cyber Analytics program for power and utilities customers, part of the company’s commitment to help partners and customers secure the electric grid. The initiative will enable participants to better track threats in their networks, identify malicious software dialing outbound from their servers and establish an alerting system to enable active network cyber defense. Microsoft is covering the initial costs for deploying and running the Azure Operations Management Suite for participants. “Microsoft has invested deeply in tools, analytics, cyber intelligence and services for our own cloud, and we believe it is imperative we engage customers to put these capabilities to work for them as well,” Cochrane writes. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/81c40a2a931e27b3933196215dcc1abe.jpg Indie developers are revolutionizing the gaming industry, breaking out from the studio system to bring fresh creativity and diversity that is shaking up the world of gaming. In the latest episode of the .future podcast, Larry Hryb — aka “Major Nelson” — talks with developers who are redefining gaming. The episode features Richard Eberhardt of the MIT Game Lab, Katie Stone Perez of Xbox and Karla Zimonja, co-founder of indie game studio The Fullbright Company, creators of the “Gone Home” game. The podcast is a Microsoft and Gimlet Creative series about making the future happen, exploring tomorrow’s technology today and how it will affect generations to come.https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/6f4fbccbe809914679dbfad65cf968ab.jpg Sarah and Gabriel Chrisman are so fond of the Victorian era that they’ve devoted their lives to living it as closely as possible — from the corsets Sarah wears to the oil lamps they use to light their home in Port Townsend, Washington. The husband and wife eschew technology, choosing not to have cell phones or tablets. Skype is one of the few modern technologies they’ve allowed into their lives, and they use it to communicate with journalists, students and researchers. “We chose Skype because we already had a computer which I use for sending manuscripts to publishers and for certain elements of research, and we wanted to avoid any additional modern hardware,” says Sarah, who is a novelist. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0c1a138afb513102b7399104c76bd3f0.jpg To mark the return of “Game of Thrones,” Microsoft Groove curated a 42-song “Medieval Mayhem Mix” playlist for fans of the hit HBO hit show. Xbox One members can play “Doom” for free through 9 p.m. July 24, and Forza fans won’t want to miss Forza Garage, a weekly series of car reveals for “Forza Motorsport 7.” The first week showcases more than 160 cars, including the largest collection of Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris ever seen in a racing game. If vampires are more your thing, the first episode of the fourth season of “The Strain” is now available in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/133230ac0bb2b8f6b9568c87f22fd795.jpg This week on Microsoft’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages, we featured The Empowerment Plan, a Detroit non-profit that hires homeless parents and teaches them valuable trade skills, so employees can build stable futures for their families. Every day at 3 p.m., seamstresses stop sewing and start taking classes. In partnership with the local Microsoft Store, The Empowerment Plan employees are learning valuable skills: everything from leadership to computer literacy, which is empowering them to both imagine a brighter future and make it a reality. That’s it for this week. Come back next Friday for another edition of Weekend Reading. Posted by Deborah Bach Microsoft News Center Staff The post Helping young people thrive, protecting the electric grid and living the Victorian life (almost) — Weekend Reading: July 21 edition appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

We hope you enjoyed today’s episode of This Week on Windows! Head over here to learn all about the new LinkedIn app for Windows 10 PCs, check out our Windows 10 Tip on getting started with the Photos app and Sway – or, keep reading for what’s new in the Windows Store. In case you missed it: Learn how indie games are providing a platform to showcase creativity and diversity in the latest episode of our .future podcast https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/dc3f0d3f1de72842530616725dc1e874.png We recently launched .future, a new podcast about making the future happen. In this week’s episode, we’re talking about the ‘Moonlights’ and ‘Napoleon Dynamites’ – the indie games that are breaking out, changing paradigms and making a case for independence in gaming. Head over here to listen to our own Major Nelson & Katie Stone Perez discuss the gaming industry and how to support indie developers! Here’s what’s new in the Windows Store this week: Groove playlists – Best Beats for the Beach https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/788d692ce83ae52360b8570efca2ac07.jpg Groove knows what a great day at the shore should sound like, and its Best Beats for the Beach playlists bring together awesome music in a series of can’t-miss mixes. Wherever you are, Groove has a playlist for your mood – from Poolside, to Chill on the Beach, to Upbeat Tempo and the Wind-Down. Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 Sale – Buy for $69.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/bd911060e224edebabaf61d5b58aa5c6.jpg Technology makes it easy to capture images every day, but keeping them organized, easy to find and easy to share is where Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 ($69.99 through July 30, 2017; regularly $99.99) comes in. Now on sale for 30% off through July 30, Adobe PSE makes photo and video organization, editing, creating, and sharing as simple as it gets. The Strain, Season 4 – Buy from $16.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/654214e2b70adb3df68d6c1976ab2a40.jpg It all comes down to the final fight. After a nuclear apocalypse, does humanity stand a chance against the vampiric strigoi? Watch the final season of the terrifying horror series The Strain ($24.99 HD, $16.99 SD) available now in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. Have a great weekend! The post This Week on Windows: New LinkedIn app, organize your photos and more appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5173ceb10133fe9e7a1b14fff935b95d.jpg With more than 700 vehicles in the game at launch, Forza Motorsport 7 features the most diverse lineup of cars in series history. Each week in the Forza Garage we’ll put the spotlight on some of the most notable cars in the list and offer some background on what makes these cars so special. Whether you’re looking to learn something new or you’re making plans of which cars to hit first when the game is released beginning on Sept. 29 (via early access for Ultimate Edition), we hope you enjoy our weekly look at Forza’s biggest and best car list yet. We’re kicking off the Forza Garage with a bang, showcasing more than 160 cars this week alone, including the largest collection of Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris ever seen in a racing game. Head over here for the entire list of cars we are announcing the first week of the Forza Garage, and stay tuned every week to Xbox Wire and This Week on Windows for more car reveals! The post Forza Motorsport 7 Garage opens today appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/daa3163c5071a1d53e4f0e0b0ddfc39d.pngKate Johnson, a business and technology industry veteran of more than 20 years, will join Microsoft as president and corporate vice president (CVP) of Microsoft US on Sept. 8, 2017. Johnson is currently the chief commercial officer for GE Digital, a division of GE focused on leveraging software and data analytics to digitize industrial companies. Prior to her current role, Johnson held key senior leadership roles at GE, including CEO of GE’s Intelligent Platforms Software Group and VP, Chief Commercial Officer, GE Enterprise Solutions. Johnson brings a wealth of experience to Microsoft in leading business and cultural transformation, having also held senior commercial roles at Oracle, Red Hat and Deloitte Consulting. At GE, Johnson has supported diversity initiatives, including “Balance the Equation,” a corporate-wide program to hire 20,000 female technologists by 2020, and “Women in Commercial,” an initiative to drive more gender diversity into sales and marketing. Johnson has an MBA from The Wharton School, and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University. The post Kate Johnson, GE Digital chief commercial officer, to join Microsoft as president, CVP of Microsoft US appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

The Photos app automatically creates albums for you based on when and where they were taken, but if you want to edit an existing album or create a new one, simply select albums, the album you want and then click Edit. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/a73f9b4d28b0aaa150c0906de09e723e.gif You can create a new album by selecting Albums, Create new Album and then selecting the photos you’d like to include. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b5f8ffd0d228731413a6a5e2c1849553.gif From there you can edit the title, add or remove photos and change the cover photo. Easily share all the awesome photos you’ve catalogued right from the Photos app by clicking the Share the Album button. Transform your album into an interactive story in minutes with Sway https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f5f1bb13fa82556de9a0278763ee6876.gif To get started, simply open your album, and select Share and then Create a Sway. After the album is uploaded to Sway you can play around with the layout, add words, animation and other fun effects – and then share your Sway online with all your friends and family. We have more great storytelling experiences coming to photos and videos later this year, in the meantime we hope you enjoy what you can do with the Photos app today. Head over here for tips on drawing on your memories with the Photos app, and have a great week! The post Windows 10 Tip: Get started with the Photos app and Sway appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0e935cff56d86e84353f985a80f92f06.png Today, LinkedIn announced we are bringing the LinkedIn experience that millions of professionals around the world use on the web to the Windows Store with an all new Windows 10 app. With the app, we are giving Windows 10 customers a better way to keep up with what’s happening in their professional world that is accessible and tailored for Windows 10. The app is beginning to roll out to the Windows Store. If you’d like to download the app, launch the Windows Store and search for the “LinkedIn app”. If you don’t see the app in the Store or you’re not able to download the app yet, you will soon as we will be rolling out the app globally by the end of July. The LinkedIn app for Windows 10 provides a more engaging and fully integrated LinkedIn experience that is quickly accessible from your Start menu and taskbar. In the Action Center and Live Tile, the app delivers real-time notifications, including new messages, insights on who you’re meeting with next, trending news in your industry, and timely updates on your network. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/51162f8f55d19a92c5e3979f50bb922f.png The app will launch in 22 languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified), Arabic, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Turkish, Swedish, Chinese (traditional), Czech, Indonesian, Thai, Malay, Romanian). You can learn more about today’s exciting news over on the LinkedIn Blog. The post Announcing the LinkedIn app for Windows 10 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

With the new update, you can easily share your files to Skype, react to messages, and get to your calls and conversations faster than ever. Let’s take a look at what’s new in this update: Get to your calls and conversations faster https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4eb197b6c5695299cdefc7ff59c588d5.jpg In the first in a set of updates we’ll be making, the new look helps you get to your calls and conversations faster – you can now start new conversations, see your profile and visit the dial pad from the top of your recent conversations. Share photos, videos and more directly to Skype https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5fff8eb2761ac6f30eb8ddaecb3f100a.jpg Now you can easily share files, videos, photos, links and more directly to Skype from your Windows 10 PC – just click on the Windows share charm, and select Skype. New message reactions https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/2235cd8f2e7902404c1bf1f97f162150.jpg By simply tapping on the reaction icon next to any message or video call, you can now easily express how you feel at any time. We’re excited to share these new features to make it easier than ever for you to stay in touch with friends from your Windows 10 devices. To learn more about the new Skype, check out the Skype blog! The post Here’s what’s new in the latest update to Skype on Windows 10 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

We hope you enjoyed today’s episode of This Week on Windows! Head over here for all the news from Inspire 2017, read our Windows 10 Tip on how to get started viewing and streaming with Mixer – or, keep reading for what’s new in the Windows Store. In case you missed it: Xbox at gamescom 2017 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/fe093bafcef5eaec2ce63bdec4658004.jpg We’re happy to announce that in August that Xbox is coming to Cologne, Germany for gamescom 2017. This will be the first time Xbox One X will be on the ground in Europe, with a huge line up of 27 playable games from developers around the world, including Forza Motorsport 7, Age of Empires Definitive Edition and Sea of Thieves. Head over to Xbox Wire for a rundown of what’s happening throughout the week. See you there! Here’s what’s new in the Windows Store this week: Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2, Episode 1 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/1484eb50d3f072fd693532e4ef42ca41.jpg The second season of the narrative-led Minecraft spin-off series is here! And so begins an all new adventure involving bitter rivalries, cursed gauntlets, obstinate llamas, mythical beings, mystic temples and much more. The first of five episodes of Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2, titled Hero In Residence, is available to download today! Candy Crush on CBS https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/dc0da72cfe5d8329e0e25a38fa216c93.jpg Candy Crush is more than just one of the world’s most popular and addictive games; it’s a live-action game show on CBS. And now, enjoy themed mini-games from each episode running in different versions of Candy Crush games – Candy Crush Saga has four mini challenges, Candy Crush Soda Saga has team-vs-team events, and Candy Crush Jelly Saga includes a TV-themed version of the Cupcake Challenge. It’s next-generation technology and whole new level of fun for Candy Crush fans. Apps to Study and Play https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/05bd6fc85b0457eefaf410a6ba8fc7cb.jpg Apps to Study and Play Collection is a special selection of 18 helpful, handy apps to accompany students through another year of studying and accomplishment. Popular titles include Nebo, Complete Anatomy, Duolingo, Khan Academy and much more. Check out the whole selection in the Windows Store today! Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 Sale – Buy for $69.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/bd911060e224edebabaf61d5b58aa5c6.jpg Technology makes it easy to capture images every day, but keeping them organized, easy to find and easy to share is where Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 ($69.99 through July 30, 2017; regularly $99.99) comes in. Now on sale for 30% off through July 30, Adobe PSE makes photo and video organization, editing, creating, and sharing as simple as it gets. Ghost in the Shell – Buy from $14.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/d8e9324de66a5d3b2e90cced2bea9e9f.jpg Major is the first of her kind: a human mind inside an artificial body, cyber-enhanced to be the perfect soldier. When she learns that her creators lied about her origins to control her, Major will stop at nothing to learn the truth and take down the people who stole everything from her. Ghost in the Shell ($19.99 HD, $14.99 SD) is available now in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store, more than two weeks before it hits Blu-ray. Have a great weekend! The post This Week on Windows: Skype, Mixer and Ghost in the Shell appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

In this week’s Weekend Reading, we include stories about the many partner offerings at Microsoft Inspire, the introduction of AI for Earth and a new strategy to deliver broadband to rural areas. A variety of new Microsoft partner offerings were announced Monday at Microsoft Inspire, including Microsoft 365, Azure Stack being available to order and two new business applications to help partners connect with customers and bring innovative solutions to market. Microsoft doesn’t celebrate technology for technology’s sake, CEO Satya Nadella told the audience during his keynote at Microsoft Inspire, where partners from 140 countries gathered this week in Washington, D.C. The company’s success, he says, is in Microsoft customers’ success. “Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and our partners bring that mission to life every day with our customers,” writes Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business, on The Official Microsoft Blog. The new offerings will help partners continue to succeed, Althoff says. Two ways that Microsoft will help partners “connect with customers and bring innovative solutions to market,” were also announced. The Azure co-sell program, which has been in pilot form, will be accelerated over the next year. Another program, ISV Cloud Embed, will make it easier for partners to modernize existing business applications and build new ones. Also on Monday at Microsoft Inspire, Microsoft’s Windows & Devices Group introduced new ways for partners to achieve more, including Windows integration into Microsoft 365, virtualization opportunities for Windows 10 E3 and E5 customers, a Surface partnership with IBM and the expanded Mixed Reality Partner Program. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/308536fd0cd99018b0854c8250e5c7b3.jpg On Wednesday, Microsoft Research AI was announced as a research and incubation hub within Microsoft that will focus on solving some of the most difficult challenges of AI (artificial intelligence). A team of scientists and engineers will work closely with colleagues across Microsoft’s research labs and product groups. “The group will tackle some of the hardest problems in AI and accelerate the integration of the latest AI advances into products and services that benefit customers and society,” writes Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence and Research group, on The Official Microsoft Blog. Learn more about the news announced at the London AI event at Microsoft News Centre UK. Also on Wednesday at an AI event in London, Microsoft announced a new program called AI for Earth, aimed at “putting the power of artificial intelligence towards solving some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time,” says Microsoft President Brad Smith. “We are excited by the potential of putting artificial intelligence in the hands of researchers and organizations to drive new data insights that will help solve important issues related to water, agriculture, biodiversity and climate change,” Smith writes in a post on Microsoft on the Issues. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/20ffa5f91cceb3cd88da0d5ba50068ee.jpg Smith made other news earlier in the week, calling for a new strategy on Tuesday to eliminate the rural broadband gap in the United States within the next five years, in part by using TV white spaces. “Broadband connectivity has become a vital part of 21st century infrastructure, yet today, 34 million Americans still lack broadband internet access,” Smith writes. “Of these, 23.4 million live in rural parts of our country. People who live in these rural communities increasingly are unable to take advantage of the economic and educational opportunities enjoyed by their urban neighbors.” https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0bc38fd5c71f090dec4be7f4961f14e1.jpg In 2016, Microsoft and BMW announced a partnership to build a platform called Open Mobility, which powers BMW Connected, BMW’s personalized mobility companion powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud. Following the launch of the new BMW 5 series in December, BMW became one of the first auto manufacturers to commercially offer Office 365 communications and collaboration services through Microsoft Exchange to drivers who already rely on Office 365 at work and want to extend the services to their car. Thursday, at BMW’s annual Innovation Days event in Chicago, BMW announced it will expand those services to include Skype for Business, making Skype meetings available in cars. This functionality will be integrated and operated via BMW’s iDrive system. The services will be offered in Germany, France and the U.K., with other markets coming soon. Thousands of employees worldwide took part in Microsoft-sponsored Pride events in 29 cities on five continents, the company’s biggest global Pride participation to date. Read more about it at the Microsoft News Center. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/92e84eb8d5cb74e9a6d7a27c5c51b9ae.jpg On the grassy Canterbury Plains of New Zealand, Craig Blackburn raises cattle and sheep in a line of work with a long tradition, keeping a close eye on land, weather and water. Blackburn manages the 990-acre Blackhills farm, a complex, bustling operation with 2,100 cattle and 800 sheep that runs on irrigated water from the scenic Rakaia River. He uses SCADAfarm, an industrial Internet of Things solution, to monitor and manage his water use. Developed with Schneider Electric and Microsoft technologies by WaterForce, a New Zealand irrigation and water management company, SCADAfarm helps Blackburn save time, reduce costs, increase yields and use less water and electricity. The mobile, cloud-based solution is transforming agriculture with remote controls and advanced analytics, and empowering sustainable farming, a global movement to conserve natural resources. Read the full story on Transform. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/987b1d737551c13bbd28a5e9a4799cfd.jpg In August the Xbox team is going to Cologne, Germany, for gamescom 2017. This will be the first time Xbox One X will be on the ground in Europe. Fans will also see a lineup of 27 games for the Xbox One family of devices and Windows 10 PC from developers around the world, including “Forza Motorsport 7,” “Age of Empires Definitive Edition” and “Sea of Thieves.” Find out more on Xbox Wire, where you’ll also get details on the latest update to Xbox. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ca91f914fb65ef75bbd49f55fa2e472d.jpg This week on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages, we featured Easton LaChapelle. The 21-year-old has spent six years creating artificial limb technology to provide people with affordable robotic limbs. Though technology is behind each and every aspect of his story, the heart of his work lies with the millions of people whose lives it will change. That’s it for our round-up. See you next Friday for another Weekend Reading! Posted by Athima Chansanchai Microsoft News Center Staff The post Plenty for partners at Microsoft Inspire, AI for Earth, plus a plan to deliver rural broadband — Weekend Reading: July 14 edition appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders! On June 15th we announced some very exciting news: Windows Server will now have more frequent releases providing customers who are innovating quickly an opportunity to take advantage of new OS capabilities at a faster pace, both in applications – particularly those built on containers and microservices – as well as in the software-defined datacenter. Today we are very excited to be releasing the first Windows Server Insider Preview to Windows Insiders: Build 16237. To access to the latest Windows Server preview release, register at the Windows Insiders for Business program or the Windows Insider Program. Windows Server Datacenter Core and Standard Core editions are headless operating systems and are best managed remotely. For more information, please refer to Configure a Server Core installation of Windows Server with Sconfig.cmd. Updated remote administration information will be provided with future Insider releases. General Scenario Highlights Developers and Containers: New base container images (available on Windows Insider Docker Hub repo) Optimized Nano Server base image (over 70% smaller) The .NET team is providing an preview image based on Nano Server with .NET Core 2.0 The PowerShell team is providing a preview image based on PowerShell 6.0 [*]Optimized Server Core base image (over 20% smaller) [*]Support for SMB volume mounting [*]Infrastructure for Orchestrators Networking enhancements for on going Kubernetes work Named pipe mapping support [*]Bug fixes, performance enhancements Cloud Guest: IIS TLS info: administrators can make specific recommendations to default to HTTPS [*]Disaster Recovery Storage Replica Test Failover [*]Guest + Host better together vPMEM in Guest: Tenants can use and manage PMEM/SCM Tenant-Aware VM Start Ordering: App Ready / OS Heartbeat for better load balancing Guest RDMA [*]Improvement in time accuracy [*]Azure enlightened clusters – optimized to run on Azure IaaS Cloud Host: Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) host Security Shielded Linux VM SDN: Encrypted virtual networks Secure clusters SMB 1 disabled by default [*]Resiliency and Availability SDN: Reduced downtime for tenant connections through gateways Spaces Direct: Scoped Spaces to mitigate impact of multi-node loss Spaces Direct: Marginal drive handling for predictive detection of drive failures [*]Efficiency Data Deduplication available for ReFS New Data Deduplication DataPort API for optimized ingress/egress Space efficiency with ReFS Compaction Performant Spaces Direct Multi Resilient Volumes (MRV) [*]Hyper-converged Scale Cluster Sets: Significantly increases hyper-converged SDDC cloud scale by grouping multiple clusters into a larger fabric [*]Hardware support Support for Storage Class Memory (SCM) in Spaces Direct What’s New in Build 16237 for Server Persistent Memory can now be exposed to Hyper-V VMs: In this build, NTFS-formatted direct access volumes that are created on non-volatile DIMMs can now be exposed Hyper-V VMs. This enables Hyper-V VMs to leverage the low-latency performance benefits of Persistent Memory devices. Virtualized Persistent Memory (vPMEM) is enabled by creating a VHD file (.vhdpmem) on a direct access volume on a host, adding a vPMEM Controller to a VM, and adding the created device (.vhdpmem) to a VM. Using vhdpmem files on direct access volumes on a host to back vPMEM enables allocation flexibility and leverages a familiar management model for adding disks to VMs. PowerShell can be used for the creation and management of Virtualized Persistent Memory. Battery Passthrough: With new additions to Set-VM, a PowerShell cmdlet, you can now enable and disable Battery Passthrough, a new feature. Battery Passthrough let your VMs have the same battery state as the host they are on. To use this feature of Set-VM, use the flag -BatteryPassthroughEnabled {$true, $false}. This option is only available for version 8.2 virtual machines. Improvements to Container Networking: This build introduces enhancements to container networking to better support Kubernetes by adding support for multiple containers (w/out Hyper-V isolation) to a single Pod (Network Compartment) as well as only requiring a single endpoint per Pod for all traffic types (e.g. ingress and East-West) The Host Networking Service (HNS) now has support for creating ACL, NAT, and Load Balancing network policies for Container endpoints for fine-grained policy application. RDMA for Trusted Guests: This build includes several enhancements for (Trusted) Guest RDMA to enable low-latency storage access with zero CPU usage by Trusted Guest VMs – this is ideal for running Windows File Servers in a Guest to accelerate file serving. Requires updated NIC drivers. Improvements to Software Defined Networking: Encryption can be enabled for virtual network subnets to protect your traffic from anyone with physical access to the wire, including network administrators. Failover time for SDN gateways is improved. Now, you will observe much faster failover times for the gateways, even with high number of connections. Access control lists can be applied for infrastructure on logical subnets. Improvements in Networking transports: 2X throughput improvement for single connection TCP and UDP performance in low latency intra-datacenter scenarios Default congestion control algorithm CUBIC for high speed networks Improvements in HTTP(s): SSL throttling to enable predictable service for established connections, in the face of high incoming SSL traffic. Deterministic certificate updates for HTTPS enabling greater service availability. Improvements in time accuracy: Pressing EU regulations in 2018 require strict time precision and traceability. Win32tm improvements in RS3 support greater time accuracy, and jitter is removed from the measurements that calibrate the service. New system event logging lets you archive time service data to support traceability compliance. System center monitoring now includes a new rule which lets you detect when a machine in your environment is out of compliance. Nano Server optimized for Containers: Nano Server is now a container only option and optimized for containers, more information is available in the Delivering continuous innovation with Windows Server blog post. To optimize for containers, several features were removed that were in the Nano Server base image in Windows Server 2016, these include WMI, PowerShell, .NET Core, and the Servicing stack, which has significantly reduced the image size. Server Core base image optimizations: The Windows Server Core base image has been optimized saving over 20% download and on disk space. How to Download The latest Windows Server build and matching symbols are available for download here. Matching Windows Server container images will be available via the Docker Hub. For more information about Windows Server containers and Insider builds, please visit http://aka.ms/containers/insiders. The following keys are available for unlimited activations of Windows Server. These keys may be used throughout the pre-release cycle. Server Datacenter Core: B69WH-PRNHK-BXVK3-P9XF7-XD84W Server Standard Core: V6N4W-86M3X-J77X3-JF6XW-D9PRV SPECIAL NOTE: If you signed up for Windows Insiders for Business using an AAD account, there is a temporary issue with access to the Windows Server Download page using AAD accounts. If you registered using an MSA account at the Windows Insider program, your MSA account may be used to access the page and to download builds until this is resolved. It’s all about your feedback! Use the Feedback Hub app to provide feedback on Windows Server builds. Feedback Hub comes pre-installed on Windows 10. Register a Windows 10 device with the Windows Insider or Windows Insider for Business programs. Open the Feedback Hub application. Choose the Server category and then the appropriate subcategory for your feedback. Please indicate what edition and build number you are providing feedback on. The Feedback Hub app cannot scan a server for diagnostic information, however you may manually attach screenshots or other files to your feedback entry. We encourage you to visit the Windows Server Insiders space on the Microsoft Tech Communities forum to collaborate, share and learn from experts. NOTE: The expiration date for this server preview build will be 12/4/2017. Known issues Local vs remote management: Some command-line tools and PowerShell modules may not be available for use locally on a Server Core installation. To remotely manage Server Core by using the full set of GUI tools, command-line tools, and PowerShell modules, use Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10, available for download from the preceding link. If a user attempts to update to the latest OS build on a device that has .NET Framework 3.5 installed, the update may fail because of a side-by-side (SXS) assembly missing error (0x80073701), and the device will roll back to the previous build. To work around this issue, uninstall .NET Framework 3.5, perform the OS update, and then reinstall .NET Framework 3.5. (The last step is optional if the user does not have apps that are dependent on .NET Framework 3.5.) Some devices using a common 64-bit chip architecture may not be able to update to the latest OS build because of an unexpected error (E_UNEXPECTED, error code 0x8000FFFF). An app may become unresponsive because of an application hang end task error (0xCFFFFFFF) in the Windows firewall API library (FirewallAPI.dll), which occurs when the library is blocked on an advanced local procedure call (ALPC) while attempting to diagnose a connection failure and retrieve information during network isolation. Cluster Sets: A couple of key functionalities to enable end-to-end testing of Cluster Sets scenarios are not present in this build, so defer all evaluation of this scenario to a future build. Bugcheck during volume creation: A stop error may occur during volume creation in a cluster. The recommended workaround is, after restarting the computer, to delete the volume and try creation again. Bugcheck during volume repair: A stop error may occur during volume repair in a cluster. The recommended workaround is to restart the computer. No corruption or data loss is expected. AEP is not supported in this build. Clone support for Hyper-V isolated containers does not work, this can be disabled temporarily and will be fixed in subsequent Insider Preview builds. See the Insider section on http://aka.ms/containers for more details No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows Server Insider Preview Build 16237 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. 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Hello Windows Insiders! Today we are excited to release Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16241 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring! We are also releasing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 15230 to Insiders in the Fast ring. Upcoming Bug Bash We’re really excited to do our 2nd (and final) Bug Bash for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update! The Bug Bash will start at 12am (Pacific Time) on Friday July 14th and will run a full week ending at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time) on Sunday July 23rd. This build will be our Bug Bash build. As usual, we will be publishing new quests so be sure to open Feedback Hub and complete as many quests as you can! And we’ll also be doing Mixer webcasts at the following dates and times for the Bug Bash: Tuesday July 18th: 1:30pm – 3:00pm (Pacific Time) Friday July 21st: 10:00am – 11:30am (Pacific Time) What’s New in Build 16241 For PC Windows Shell Improvements: Recover your pin and password from the lock screen: Self Service solutions empower end users, unburden helpdesk/IT admins, and save organizations money. Cloud Self Service Password Reset (Cloud SSPR) has been a really popular Azure AD Premium (AADP) feature and now we want to take this great capability one step further – Windows Integration. If you’re using an AADP or MSA account and you find yourself stuck at the login screen, you can now reset your password and PIN straight from here. Just click the “Reset password” (for password) / ”I forgot my PIN” (for PIN) link and you’ll be prompted to go through the AAD or MSA flow to reset it. Once reset, you’ll be returned to the login screen where you can login with your newly minted credentials. Refining Acrylic Material: We’ve heard your feedback, and in response in today’s build you’ll notice we’ve softened the noise layer of Acrylic Material. Below you’ll find a side by side comparison of how it was and how it is now. This will take effect in any XAML based UI and apps where Acrylic Material can be seen which targets Build 16241+. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/40a5439f0f3248c45bad628e7464a66e.jpg PC Gaming Improvements: We fixed an issue preventing profile cards in the Xbox Live in-game experience from working. We also fixed an issue causing Game bar to crash while broadcasting. Task Manager Improvements: We have made some design changes to the GPU section of Performance tab: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/543fd6ab5a11dfc702b74244a7316fa2.png The GPU name is now shown on the left-hand side of the Performance tab for each GPU. We now default to the multi-engine view, which shows performance monitors for the four most active GPU engines. Typically you’ll see charts for the 3D, Copy, Video Encode and Video Decode engines. Right-click on the chart to switch back to the single-engine view. There is now a total GPU memory text counter next to the dedicated and shared text counters at the bottom of the Performance tab. The Direct X version now also contains the highest supported DX feature level. We have improved how Microsoft Edge’s processes are labeled in Task Manager: In Build 16226, we introduced grouping an app’s processes together in Task Manager. For Microsoft Edge, tab processes were labeled in Task Manager with their web page title. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0ee7fd587c8d9b30baa075bb13cc5001.png We’ve heard your feedback that other Microsoft Edge processes could use better labels. Starting in Build 16241, additional processes (such as the Chakra JIT Compiler, UI Service, and Manager process) are now labeled in Task Manager. We’ll continue to revise these labels based on feedback. Mixed Reality Improvements: Added support for Mixed Reality Motion Controllers over USB (Wireless/Bluetooth support to come soon!) Connection reliability improvements (Code 43 errors in Device Manager). We’ve updated the Mixed Reality Portal icon. We’ve updated teleportation experience to make this more intuitive and direct. We have also improved stability of the headset during your Mixed Reality session. We have fixed the issue where the Hill on the side of the cliff house flickers. We have also fixed where the audio of HoloTour can now turn off promptly when switching between apps and cliff house. we have also fixed speech commands to work during exclusive app sessions. We have also improved the experience where we can now load the Environment effectively with no black screen during startup. Mixed Reality Portal now explicitly informs users that headsets require USB 3.0. Improved support for ASMedia and other 3rd party USB controllers 4K 360 Video streaming has also been improved in this build. 3Glasses improvements: we have fixed various issues with 3Glasses headset and controller to help jumpstart your development. Preset holograms in the Cliff House now show up in the right order. We have also fixed the issue where black screen is shown when the environment is loading. We have fixed the headset’s sleep cycle to correct according to user activities. We have also fixed the issue to enable users to share the Mixed Reality captures to Facebook. For more details, please go to Mixed Reality Flight Notes Delivery Optimization Improvements: Delivery Optimization has been synonymous with “Peer-to-peer” but few people are aware that it is also used as the main downloader for content downloaded from Windows Update and Windows Store. Delivery Optimization, even without P2P, is what makes downloads from Windows Store much faster as well as makes downloads of Quality and Feature updates far more reliable. In line with this, the main settings page – now titled “Delivery Optimization” – indicates that while you can enable or disable the P2P functionality, Delivery Optimization is still used when downloading updates and apps directly from Microsoft’s content servers. You can go to this page via Settings > Update & security > Windows Update under “Advanced options” and then “Delivery Optimization. You may notice two new links under the Delivery Optimization settings page that provide you with some new features for more control and visibility: Delivery Optimization Advanced Options: Here you can configure various Download and Upload settings. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/a0e20ea293128746ed6ca38d363821d7.png Delivery Optimization continuously measures your available bandwidth during a download and dynamically adjusts the amount of bandwidth used in background downloads to ensure these downloads won’t interrupt your use of your device. However, Delivery Optimization may not be aware of download activity that takes place on other devices in your household. If you have limited connectivity and would like to minimize the impact you can now use the Download settings to throttle your download speed for background downloads. If you own multiple devices we encourage you to allow downloads from other PCs on your local network to reduce the amount of bandwidth used by your devices that are downloading the same updates. In addition, if you enable the option to download from other PCs on the Internet, you may want to restrict the use of your upload bandwidth by throttling the upload speed or the total amount of bytes sent to other devices by enabling a Monthly upload limit. Activity Monitor: Here you can see the overall bandwidth used in downloads of OS Updates including Feature and Quality updates as well as Store App downloads and updates on your device. You will also be able to see exactly the amount of data coming from other PCs on your local network or other PC on the Internet based on your settings. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f650d7c15c378b22fff3c83f43048082.png Note that the data reflects the bandwidth used since the first day of the month. Windows Console & Bash on Windows: Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux Distro is now available in the Windows Store and can be downloaded and installed on any Windows 10 Insider Preview build >= Build 16215! For more – check out this blog post from Rich Turner. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9ac07b985f6f0849062391ea02aaccda.png General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC The Pin to Taskbar option is now grayed out for InPrivate sessions in Microsoft Edge. Websites pinned to the taskbar from an InPrivate session on a previous build will now open in a regular (non-InPrivate) Microsoft Edge session. We fixed an issue where Windows Defender Security Center showing an ‘Unexpected’ state depending on the implementation of the 3rd party firewall product. We fixed an issue where the battery status on certain laptops wasn’t updating while the device is unplugged. Thanks everyone who shared logs to help narrow this down. We fixed an issue from the last flight where apps that called into the firewall, such as Microsoft Edge and other apps using networking, might become unresponsive until you rebooted. We fixed an issue from the last flight resulting in the Surface Dial UI not appearing. We fixed an issue when in Recovery Settings if you chose “Reset This PC” > “Keep My files” the operation would fail at 1% and will revert with no changes to the system. We fixed an issue resulting in an increase in UWP app reliability issues, for example in Microsoft Edge and Photos, in recent flights. If you were still seeing Storage Spaces issues in 16237, please try again in 16241 and let us know if the issues have been resolved. We’ve made an adjustment to our previous fix. We fixed an issue resulting in Windows Media Player displaying a class registered error when attempting to play music files in recent flights. We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard wasn’t automatically displaying upper case keys at the beginning of sentences. We fixed an issue where Storage Settings might show the size of C: as double the actual size. Known issues for PC IMAP email accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Aol may not sync in the Mail app in this build. Trying to use the dictation hotkey (WIN + H) in UWP apps won’t work – you’ll see the UI come up and immediately dismiss. If you’d still like to use dictation, the microphone in the touch keyboard will work. You can right-click the Taskbar for an option to show the touch keyboard button if it’s not already visible. We’re investigating your reports that the Copy Link option displayed in Microsoft Edge when you right-click a hyperlink isn’t working in recent builds. There is an issue with PC Games using the Origin overlay. Use of overlay may cause game movement to lock up. We’re investigating your reports that after upgrading to the latest Insider Preview builds, some network settings are lost and revert to default settings. Static IP address configuration is reverted to DHCP. Networks which were marked as private are reverted to public. After the upgrade you will need to manually readjust your network settings back to your preferred settings. If you have display scaling higher than 100%, you may encounter a bug where the hit targeting is offset when interacting with various parts of the shell. This is particularly noticeable in Action Center, where it might appear that nothing in Action Center can be cleared, but can also happen with the taskbar Jump lists and My People. If this happens, go to Settings > System > Display and change the size of text, apps, and other items to something else. Once you’ve done that, put it back to how you like it and issue should be resolved. Some apps like Tweetium may not render the UI correctly and be difficult to use. Windows Defender Security Center cannot be used to configure and list items for Controlled folder access, Threat History and Exclusions due to a crash in the UI. This is not affecting the real-time protection capabilities and will be fixed in the next build. General changes, improvements, and fixes for Mobile We fixed an issue where VPN profile appeared to be always ON. We fixed a notification issue between the Bluetooth Support Service and device background services for fitness bands. We fixed issues with Caller ID matching in Japan & Denmark. Community & Team Updates Our team has been at the Microsoft Inspire conference this week representing the Windows Insiders. It’s been amazing to meet 200+ Insiders over the past few days and hear about their goals as well as talk about how we can work together to achieve them. On Tuesday night, we hosted an intimate dinner for a small group of Insiders to help us get 1:1 time as well as provide an opportunity for local Insiders to meet and build relationships with each other. On Wednesday, we were surprised to be pulled on stage at Windows Weekly to share our thoughts on the events of the week, but were happy to participate in extreme sock-throwing for the audience Q&A! https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ee113465ad14fc8417052161b48284e5.jpg https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ceed8442ffdae24c31182c359e514b6a.jpg https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/8dfe25d851dd89713cffcc23ea7896ab.jpg https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4f003261abab3059da4f7320d7eed7b7.jpg No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16241 for PC & Build 15230 for Mobile appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Here at Xbox, we’re still buzzing from our fans’ reaction to our news at E3 – from the unveiling of the Xbox One X to the 42 games shown on our stage. But we’re only just getting started. Today, we’re happy to announce that in August we’re coming to Cologne, Germany for gamescom 2017. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/fe093bafcef5eaec2ce63bdec4658004.jpg This will be the first time Xbox One X will be on the ground in Europe, and we’ll have a huge line up of 27 playable games for the Xbox One family of devices and Windows 10 PC from developers around the world, including Forza Motorsport 7, Age of Empires Definitive Edition and Sea of Thieves. Tune in on Sunday, August 20, at 9 p.m. CEST, 12 p.m. PDT to a special Xbox @ gamescom live show to get latest news and announcements on Xbox One X. We’ll have news to share, games to show off, will sit down to talk with developers from fan favorite studios and play some of the year’s hottest games yet to be released. There will even be a few surprises and giveaways along the way, so be sure to tune in on mixer.com or watch via the mixer app. We’ll be tweeting, live streaming and sharing news and content via social media – Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Mixer, etc, most often using the hashtag #XboxGC. Head over to Xbox Wire for a rundown of everything that’s happening throughout the week. See you there! The post Xbox at gamescom 2017 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5dd40ab22cab87245e23d4af35cc5a4e.gif The Paint 3D app is a 3D creation app on Windows 10 that makes it easy to create anything in 3D, whether you draw from scratch or pull from our online 3D community, Remix 3D. Since the release of Paint 3D as part of the Windows 10 Creators Update earlier this year, we’ve been listening to feedback from our fans to improve the experience and bring you the features you want. Today, we’re excited to announce updates based on that feedback to further empower the creator in everyone. First, we’ve made editing and personalizing your creations even easier with improvements to the popular magic select tool, which instantly lets you crop the background of any picture to turn into a sticker or wrap onto a 3D object. Second, we’re bringing one of the most popular features from MS Paint to Paint 3D, the ability to draw and create shapes with the straight line and curve tools to Paint 3D. No need for impossibly steady hands! Let’s take a closer look at these new features: Updates to magic select Magic select is an amazingly powerful tool that lets you instantly crop out the background of any picture. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/2a698ce5f4b307be7008540d99c8b742.jpg One of the most common uses is to “lift” a person or object out of one image for use in another scene – think a family picture, or the family pet – to personalize your 3D creations. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/bcb631f666f13bc7902db45673d5ba31.jpg You can even turn the flat picture into a sticker or wrap it onto a 3D object. As of today, you can now magic select content directly into a scene, even after the scene has been partially composed so there is no need to move the object off canvas first. Line and Curve Tools https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ac405ef8bcb1b8aa2b34c66e851fad95.gif Starting today, we have simplified the process of drawing and creating shapes with the straight line and curve tool – by bringing a key feature from MS Paint to Paint 3D. This will help you create perfect lines and curves with a few simple clicks. We added the straight line and curved line tools alongside other 2D shapes in the ‘Stickers’ menu. The Line tool gives you the ability to control the thickness and opacity and the Curve tool has one, two, and three inflection point controls that allow for the creation of lots of interesting objects. When you use these tools across 3D shapes, the line and curve tools act just like other stickers, which means that they can be seamlessly applied to both the canvas and 3D objects. Paint 3D also now supports a new industry-wide open standard for 3D file sharing called GLB, a part of gLTF (GL Transmission Format). This allows for faster and more efficient transfer of 3D assets by outputting only one container for all assets, minimizing the file size and the ability to use the files across other programs as a universal format. To check out these new features for yourself, you can get started by opening the Paint 3D app. Whether you’re an artist or just want to try out these new features for the first time, Paint 3D makes it easy to unlock your creativity and bring your ideas to life. To check out these new features for yourself, you can get started by opening the Paint 3D app. If you’re new to Paint 3D, check out this blog post on tips for getting started with Paint 3D! Lastly, we want to hear from you! We’ve got more updates coming but hearing our feedback is what inspires us to deliver the best experience possible. Use our feedback hub in settings in Paint 3D to share your thoughts! The post Announcing more updates to Paint 3D: Magic select enhancements & drawing tools appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

When the field of artificial intelligence was founded more than five decades ago, computer scientists could only dream of the type of capabilities that an average consumer might now take for granted. We are living in a golden age of AI advances. Every day, it seems like computer scientists are making more progress in areas such as computer vision, deep learning, speech and natural language processing — areas of AI research that have challenged the field’s foremost experts for decades. Those breakthroughs are bringing to life tools including Microsoft Translator that were, only recently, the stuff of fantasy and science fiction. And these tools are, in turn, helping people in so many ways, by breaking down language barriers and facilitating communication. The intersection of AI with people and society presents us with incredible opportunity and demanding challenges. As AI breakthroughs abound, we as a technology company have the chance to channel all those innovations into tools that help people do their jobs better and more efficiently, and that solve some of the world’s toughest challenges. Using AI, we are already finding better ways to do things as seemingly narrow as determining what email warrants your attention and as astonishingly complex as discovering a personalized cancer treatment. We are responsible for building AI advances that amplify human ingenuity, and also that reflect our shared societal values and expectations. The AI tools and services we create must assist humanity and augment our capabilities. The people who use those tools should be able to understand how they work and what data they rely on. AI can be more useful if the people who created and use the tools can explain how they work and why decisions are made. These AI advances should be as inclusive and unbiased as possible. Just the beginning Despite all the progress we’ve made so far, we know that we are still in the nascent stage of development of AI tools and technology. Technology that uses AI can perform specific tasks well, such as correctly identifying an image or recognizing the words in a conversation, but it cannot yet begin to compete with a child’s ability to understand and interact with the world around her using senses such as touch, sight and smell. As technology that uses AI gets smarter, we want to ensure that we take a responsible approach to our progress — and one that will ultimately provide the most benefit to our customers and to society as a whole, as captured in the AI principles and goals Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella unveiled last year. This is uncharted territory, and we recognize that the decisions we make will have profound implications. Last September, we announced the creation of Microsoft AI and Research, a new group that brings together approximately 7,500 computer scientists, researchers and engineers from the company’s research labs and product groups such as Bing, Cortana and Azure Machine Learning. Today at an AI event in London held, in part, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Microsoft’s Cambridge, U.K., research lab, we talked publicly for the first time about Microsoft Research AI, a research and incubation hub within our research organization that is focused on solving some of AI’s most difficult challenges. The team of scientists and engineers will work closely with colleagues across Microsoft’s research labs and product groups. The group will tackle some of the hardest problems in AI and accelerate the integration of the latest AI advances into products and services that benefit customers and society. Another core goal of Microsoft Research AI is to reunite AI research endeavors such as machine learning, perception and natural language processing that have evolved over time into separate fields of research. This integrated approach will allow us to develop sophisticated understandings and tools that can help people do complex, multifaceted tasks. For example, using this approach we can create methods and systems that understand language and take action based on that understanding. Take machine reading. It’s an emerging field that has incredible potential for situations such helping a doctor quickly find important information amid thousands of documents, saving time for higher-value and potentially life-saving work. To do machine reading well requires combining AI disciplines such as natural language processing and deep learning. In fact, Microsoft’s integrated approach is currently leading a competition in the field. Our leading work in machine reading also is an example of the progress we are making toward a broader goal we have at Microsoft: creating technology with more sophisticated and nuanced capabilities. Every day, computers are getting better at doing individual tasks like recognizing faces in photos or words in a conversation, using functionality such as pattern recognition and classification. We believe AI will be even more helpful when we can create tools that combine those functions and add some of the abilities that come naturally to people. That includes things like applying our knowledge of one task to another task, or having a commonsense understanding of the world around us. The pace of AI research is moving quickly, thanks to advances in AI algorithms, the power of cloud computing and the availability of useful training data to teach AI systems. We can’t – and don’t want to – put the brakes on this speed of progress, but we do want to make sure we are advancing our AI efforts in a responsible way. The advances we are making in AI won’t happen just at one company, or thanks to one computer scientist, and they won’t happen responsibly without a strong community working together. That’s why Microsoft is an active participant in organizations such as the Partnership on AI to Support People and Society. It’s also why Microsoft researchers regularly collaborate with computer science scholars and experts in other areas, from academia and other institutions. As AI moves from research to product, we are maintaining our commitment to foundational, open and collaborative research and our dedication to solving society’s toughest problems in partnership with all members of society. We’re doubling down on research as we pursue our mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. Learn more: Microsoft reinforces AI vision at London event Announcing AI for Earth, Microsoft’s new program to put AI to work for the future of our planet Microsoft Build 2017: Microsoft AI – Amplify human ingenuity Microsoft AI products and services Follow Harry Shum on Twitter Learn more about Microsoft Research AI The post Microsoft’s role at the intersection of AI, people and society appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Mixer is the only next-gen live game streaming service that offers viewers real-time influence and participation in game streams. Mixer’s streaming protocol delivers content with less than one second of latency. It makes game streams so fast and clear, that it’s a refreshing surprise to both streamers and viewers—almost like they’re in the same room! Here’s how to get started with Mixer: To view Mixer content from your PC, simply navigate to Mixer.com. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/c2769ca89955a8055fc44e5e9fd85721.gif Featured streams are available right from the homepage, or you can sort streams by game using the “Games” menu on the left-hand side of the homepage. While you’re there, consider logging in with your Microsoft account so that you can start earning sparks when you view Mixer streams across both Windows and Xbox One devices. Sparks are in-app currency you use to interact with streamers in ways they’ve setup (like soundboards!). To log in to Mixer with your Microsoft Account: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4da716507a8053b4e4562cf53262953f.gif Click “Log In” in the top right corner of the window. In the Log In menu, select “Log in with Your Microsoft Account” In the popup, complete the log in steps using your Microsoft account and password. You should now see your Microsoft account profile photo in the top right corner of the Window. To start broadcasting a Mixer stream of your own: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/833ea8f9e3c75fd70799dfb7deb5bfa1.gif Launch a game. Press Windows logo key + G on your Windows 10 PC to open the Game bar. Press the Broadcast button to choose how you want your broadcast to look. Press Start broadcasting to broadcast your game. To set more detailed settings for your future broadcasts, select the Start button, then Settings > Gaming > Broadcasting. Additional settings can be accessed by visiting your channel on Mixer.com. Enable Video on Demand (VoD) for your streaming sessions: A Video on Demand (VoD) is a recording of a previous stream that is automatically saved on Mixer. VoD recording must be enabled with the “Keep recordings [VoDs] of my streams” option on your “Manage Channel” page of Mixer.com before your stream starts for the VoD to be saved (VoD recording is disabled by default). In a web browser, navigate to Mixer.com and log in. Click your profile photo in the top right, then click on “Manage Channel” in the menu. Select the button for “Keep recordings (VoDs) of my streams” in the preferences menu. Once enabled, any broadcast longer than 5 minutes will be automatically saved as a VoD. You can watch, download, and delete saved VoDs from your “Manage Channel” page on Mixer.com. Don’t forget you can read all of our Windows 10 Tips right over here. Have a great week! The post Windows 10 Tip: How to get started viewing and streaming with Mixer appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

As we kick off Microsoft Inspire in Washington, D.C., the world is on the cusp of major technology disruption – and that brings major opportunity. Digital transformation is a wave of business innovation fueled by cloud technologies like the Internet of Things, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and data. Driving our customers’ businesses forward through digital transformation has opened an estimated $4.5 trillion market opportunity. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, 86 percent of companies view digital disruption as an opportunity. Companies across every industry are seeking ways to use digital transformation to empower their employees, better engage with customers, optimize operations and transform their products. Leaders recognize that successful transformation depends on their employees and culture, which is why both are at the heart of the offerings we are announcing today. Introducing Microsoft 365 Today at our annual partner conference, we unveiled Microsoft 365, a new set of commercial offerings that brings together Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security. Microsoft 365 is a complete, intelligent and secure solution to empower all companies and all workers, recognizing that people are at the heart of digital transformation. It puts people at the center, giving them flexibility to work where and how they want and giving them new ways to collaborate with others — all while protecting company data. We are introducing two Microsoft 365 offerings today. Microsoft 365 Enterprise is the evolution of our highly successful Secure Productive Enterprise offering, and includes Office 365 Enterprise, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Enterprise Mobility + Security. It’s designed for large organizations and empowers employees to be creative and work together, securely. Microsoft 365 Business, available in public preview starting August 2, is designed for small- to medium-sized businesses with up to 300 users and integrates Office 365 Business Premium with tailored security and management features from Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security. It also includes a centralized console for deploying and securing devices and users in one location. Microsoft 365 represents a fundamental shift in how we will design, build and go to market to address our customers’ needs for a modern workplace. It’s a more cohesive approach and reflects the shift our partners and our mutual customers are making — from viewing productivity, security and device management as individual workloads to seeking a comprehensive approach to secure productivity. Microsoft 365 is great for partners, too. It represents a significant opportunity to increase deal size, differentiate offerings, and grow their managed services revenue. According to a Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study (Commissioned Studies conducted by Forrester Consulting), Microsoft 365 Enterprise increases partner revenue opportunity by more than 50 percent versus selling and deploying Office 365 alone. Applications and Infrastructure As more and more companies transform, it is important for our partners to think bigger and create faster. To fuel our partners’ success and help meet our goal of a $20 billion cloud run rate by 2018, we are excited to announce with our launch hardware partners, Dell EMC, HPE and Lenovo that Microsoft Azure Stack is now available to order. Azure Stack is an extension of Azure that brings the agility and fast-paced innovation of cloud computing to on-premises environments and enables entirely new hybrid cloud scenarios. Azure Stack offers a truly consistent hybrid cloud platform, providing an ideal fit for customers who want flexibility without having to build applications in a different way. From Azure datacenters to the edge of the cloud — whether miles underground in a mine shaft, away at sea on a ship, or on a factory floor dependent on continuous real-time operation — Azure Stack enables modern cloud applications that meet all business and regulatory requirements. A truly consistent hybrid cloud helps customers execute on their cloud strategy faster in a way that makes the most sense for their business. Azure Stack extends the Azure ecosystem opportunity by helping partners grow their Azure business and reach a larger addressable market through hybrid cloud scenarios. Many of our partners have already begun to capitalize on the power of Azure Stack including Rackspace, Tieto and Resello. Partners can learn more about how to build a successful cloud practice through our Practice Development Playbooks or sharpen their Azure skills through our online trainings here. Business Applications I’m excited to announce two new ways Microsoft is helping our partners connect with customers and bring innovative solutions to market. Last year we piloted a new Azure co-sell program to provide comprehensive sales and marketing support for partners building solutions with Azure. In its first six months in market, this program helped close more than $1 billion in annual contract value for Azure partners, created $6 billion in Azure partner pipeline opportunity and generated more than 4,500 partner deals. Azure is the only public cloud providing partners with this incredible benefit through which Microsoft sales reps are paid up to 10 percent of the partner’s annual contract value when they co-sell qualified Azure-based partner solutions. This means Microsoft is uniquely incenting its sales reps to work hand-in-hand with Azure partners to drive new business together and enabling partners to leverage the Microsoft salesforce to grow their business globally. To build on this incredible momentum, we are making additional investments to accelerate Azure co-sell over the next 12 months. We are also creating a new dedicated Channel Manager role that will be 100 percent focused on supporting partners go to market efforts, helping ensure their solutions reach new customers and integrating with our co-sell motion. Together, these represent a quarter of a billion dollar investment that materially increases our partner-dedicated personnel, and adds to Azure co-sell incentives. We also are making it easier for partners to modernize existing business applications, and build new ones, with a new program we are calling ISV Cloud Embed. Through this new program partners can purchase core Dynamics 365, Power BI, Power Apps and Microsoft Flow capabilities as embeddable “building blocks” at discounts of up to 50 percent. In the same way that partners today build their apps on Microsoft Azure, they can now also use our business applications platform to easily add sales automation, service line and operational backend functionality to their own apps. This helps lower development overhead and costs by putting our engineering resources to work for them. Partners receive tiered go to market support and an opportunity to reach Office 365’s 100 million active monthly users and a growing community of Dynamics 365 customers through Microsoft AppSource. From building on Azure to industry leading co-sell support and new embeddable business application services, no other vendor provides a more comprehensive approach to helping partners accelerate their transformation and their business. Putting Partners First Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and our partners bring that mission to life every day with our customers. Our partners employ more than 17 million people around the world, and IDC estimates that Microsoft and its partner ecosystem will garner almost a trillion dollars in revenue in 2017, according to IDC Microsoft Footprint Model 2017. Together, we are helping companies in every industry grow faster and more efficiently than ever before, through business innovation fueled by cloud technologies like the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, data, and through opportunities like the integration of LinkedIn Sales Navigator with Dynamics 365 and the expanded global Mixed Reality Partner Program announced today. At Microsoft Inspire, executives from KPMG, Schneider Electric, Sephora, Adobe, Track’em and more will demonstrate how they are driving digital transformation in their respective industries. KPMG, for example, is working with us to create the KPMG Digital Solutions Hub and, with KPMG “Clara” on Azure, will be the first of the “Big 4” professional services firms to bring its auditing platform to the public cloud. However, the transformation our partners drive with customers is not new. For more than 40 years, we have been a partner-led company, which is proven by fact that we generate more than 95 percent of our business through our robust and constantly evolving partner ecosystem. Today, Microsoft has more than 64,000 cloud partners — more than AWS, Google and Salesforce combined. Our partners tell us they choose Microsoft because we are more than a technology provider– we are their business partner. Notably, 30 percent of our partners joined our network in the past year, and we are adding more than 6,000 partners each month. But, we can achieve more together. To help partners innovate more, go to market faster and connect with the right customers at the right time, we are transforming how we engage with our partner community by bringing our partner-facing roles into one organization. We have aligned all partner-facing roles to three primary functions: Build-With, Go-To-Market, and Sell-With. This will simplify and optimize our engagement, drive increased collaboration and foster a culture of work that puts our partners first. Microsoft Inspire will gather more than 17,000 people for our most important partner event of the year. More than 145,000 meetings take place during the event, and past exhibitors have experienced a 30 percent year-over-year sales increase. Tune into the live stream keynotes to hear what the buzz is all about. In a world where transformation is inevitable, the opportunities for our partners are endless. 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