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The official start of summer is just days away, but no one is slacking around here. This week, we saw how Microsoft researchers used artificial intelligence (AI) to master what was thought to be the un-masterable “Ms. Pac-Man,” an addictive 1980s video game. We met the new Xbox One X, a console system designed to play the best games of the past, present and future. And we hung out at Microsoft’s Data Insights Summit in Seattle, where Power BI Premium was introduced. Let’s go: It was a mix of nostalgia and sci fi, but in this case there was nothing “fi” about it: Microsoft researchers created an AI-based system that learned how to get the maximum score on “Ms. Pac-Man.” The researchers used a divide-and-conquer method that could have broad implications for teaching AI agents to do complex tasks that augment human capabilities. The team from Maluuba, a Canadian deep learning startup acquired by Microsoft earlier this year, used a branch of AI called reinforcement learning to play the Atari 2600 version of “Ms. Pac-Man” perfectly. Using the divide-and-conquer method, the team achieved the maximum score possible: 999,990. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/d3c79611e64f4037671ba96f65dcb197.jpeg Between May 2014 and October 2016, Microsoft’s U.S. operations received 118,417 complaints about tech support scams in which a payment was not made, and 19,878 in which victims made payments to the scammers. In this Power BI data visualization, the blue lines represent complaints without payment and the yellow lines represent complaints with payments. We also learned how AI was used in another way by Microsoft, to help crack down on tech support scams worldwide. It’s a fascinating detective story. The findings helped the Federal Trade Commission in its crackdown. Xbox One X, the most powerful and smallest console Xbox has ever built, was unveiled at E3 in Los Angeles. With 40 percent more power than any other console, you’ll experience immersive true 4K gaming when it’s paired with a 4K display. Xbox One X will also make your existing library even better, with better textures, smoother frame rates and faster load times, even on a 1080p TV. All Xbox One games and accessories are compatible with the Xbox One X, which will start rolling out Nov. 7 to all Xbox One markets. At E3, Xbox showcased a record 42 games, including 22 with console exclusivity from creators large and small. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/3bce1109e8b25a7987b2ebbac54e7a75.png Also debuting this week: The Surface Laptop and the new Surface Pro, now available in 25 markets around the world. All four Surface Laptop colors – Burgundy, Cobalt Blue, Graphite Gold and Platinum – will be available in the coming months in 17 new markets: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the U.K. The in-demand Surface Studio, recently made available in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, is now also available in Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. It was a great week for data analytics news. At Microsoft’s Data Insights Summit, Power BI Premium, Microsoft’s next step in its commitment to empower people and organizations with access to critical intelligence, was made generally available. Power BI Premium enables the distribution of data analytics and visualization reports broadly across an enterprise and externally, without requiring recipients to be individually licensed. There was also big news about an organization that deals in big news: The Associated Press and Microsoft announced that AP will use Microsoft Power BI to expand the way AP shares data with its member news organizations and customers. The pilot program will enable local and regional news outlets to more easily uncover and report the data-driven local stories most interesting to their audiences through AP’s use of Power BI. They’re coming – and soon! More than 50 teams of student developers (who are definitely not summer slackers) are headed to the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, to show their visions for the future, and compete for more than $200,000 in prizes in the 15th Imagine Cup, with the championships slated for July 27. The mix of student projects is impressive, says Anthony Salcito, Microsoft vice president for Worldwide Education, who will be among the judges. “We’ll see a wearable device designed to enhance surgeons’ ability to perform complex surgeries using image processing, VR applications and 3D models; a project focused on creating a virtual coach powered by artificial intelligence; and an Internet of Things (IoT) solution designed to help monitor infants’ vital signs, just to name a few,” Salcito says. Speaking of IoT, we met a prince of a guy wooing a brainiac princess in Episode 2 of the animated series, “Explanimators.” “Fair princess, imagine if I were the internet and you were a toothbrush,” his missive to her begins. Trust us: It gets way better from there, as she educates him about some of the people using IoT to create everything from a self-sustaining urban farm to more intelligent vehicles. We also got to hear from a prince of a songwriter/musician, Ernest Greene of Washed Out. He’s planning a live show for the upcoming “Get Lost” tour to promote his latest album, “Mister Mellow.” Greene will perform with two others bandmates, who will handle percussion and keyboards. Three Kinect sensors will track their movements in real time and project infinite repeating patterns reminiscent of live video feedback behind them. It’s the latest in an artist series featured on Music x Technology, an initiative that celebrates forward-thinking artists who are using Microsoft technology to transform the way people create and experience music. That’s it for this edition of Weekend Reading. Now you can put your feet up and relax – well, at least until Monday! Posted by Suzanne Choney Microsoft News Center Staff The post Using AI to defeat ‘Ms. Pac-Man,’ meeting the Xbox One X and analyzing Microsoft’s Data Insights Summit — Weekend Reading: June 16 edition appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

It’s been an action-packed week between announcing Xbox One X and showing 42 new titles at E3, and the availability of the new Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and Windows 10 S. Head over here to catch up on all the Xbox news out of our E3 Briefing, check out the new gaming devices announced at E3 by ORIGIN PC and Alienware and Dell – or, keep reading for what’s new in the Windows Store! Our This Week on Windows video team is all down at E3 this week, and we’ll be back with a new episode of the show next week! In case you missed it: All about E3 2017: Heading into a Firefight with Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare Earlier this year the we saw the return of grand real-time strategy on Xbox One and Windows 10 with the release of Halo Wars 2. With it came an explosive new single-player campaign, an innovative competitive multiplayer system in Blitz, and an introduction to a new, captivating villain in the Banished and Aritox. At E3, we got our first hands-on with the next chapter of the saga with Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare, which sees the return of our favorite ancient enemy, the Flood, as well as the new co-op multiplayer mode Terminus Firefight. Head over to Xbox Wire to read all about it! Razer announces upgraded Blade Stealth Laptop powered by Windows 10 Click to view slideshow. This week, Razer announced its upgraded 13.3-inch version of the 12.5-inch Razer Blade Stealth with Windows 10, measuring 0.52 inches thin, weighing 2.93 pounds and with up to nine hours of battery life. Powered by the Windows 10 Creators Update, it arrives with the all-new Paint 3D app and Remix3D.com community, Night light, mini view and more. It also ships built-in with Microsoft Edge for fast and secure browsing, your digital personal assistant Cortana* and comprehensive protection with Windows Defender. Features of the Blade Stealth Laptop include: Available in traditional black or gunmetal with tone-on-tone Razer logo (US only) 3 in. IGZO 16:9 aspect ratio, capacitive multi-touch display QHD+ (3200 x 1800) 100% sRGB Touch IGZO Panel Intel Core i7-7500U Processor (2.7 GHz / 3.5 GHz) and Intel HD Graphics 620 256GB / 512GB / 1TB PCIe SSD options 16GB Dual-Channel System Memory (LPDDR3-1866MHz) Killer Wireless-AC 1535 (902.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.1) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) – External Graphics with Razer Core USB 3.0 port x 2 (SuperSpeed); HDMI 2.0a audio and video output; built-in stereo speakers; built-in array microphone; 3.5 mm headphone/microphone combo port Built-in 43.6 Wh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery To learn more, visit razerzone.com! Here’s what’s new in the Windows Store this week: Pre-order Forza Motorsport 7 Ultimate Edition Experience the danger and beauty of competitive racing at its limits with the most comprehensive automotive game ever made: Forza Motorsport 7 Ultimate Edition is now available for pre-order. Drivers will experience gorgeous true 4K graphics within 30 famous environments, with race conditions that change each time you return to the track. Pre-order it from the Windows Store here, and head over to Xbox Wire for our hands-on impressions of the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS! Blockbuster Movie Sale* – Save up to 45% off https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/87b1a42d84e8148913489628a2725b54.jpg Kick off summer with the Blockbuster Movie Sale! Save up to 45% on new releases like XXX: Return of Xander Cage, score amazing deals on movie bundles like the Transformers 4 Movie Collection, and enjoy major savings on franchise favorites like Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, The Hunger Games, and more. Don’t miss the Blockbuster Movie Sale, now through June 19 in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. Saban’s Power Rangers – Buy for $14.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b91299fcce95e1c81e3597010648cd24.jpg When five high school students discover an old spaceship and acquire unique superpowers, they must team up to save the world from a dangerous alien threat. Saban’s Power Rangers ($14.99 US) is available now in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store, two full weeks before Blu-ray and DVD. Have a great weekend! *Blockbuster Movie Sale is not available in all markets. Sale content and discounts may vary by market. The post This Week on Windows: E3, the new Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, Windows 10 S and more appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Our mission with Windows is to build a platform that inspires creativity in each of us. This is the North Star that guides our team in all we do. With Windows, not only do we want to build a platform that inspires creativity in each of us – we also want customers to have choice around the best Windows for their needs. Back in May, we introduced a new set of educational products and services, including the introduction of Windows 10 S. Windows 10 S is the next step of our Windows journey by offering customers a familiar Windows 10 experience, streamlined for security and performance. By exclusively using apps from the Windows Store, Windows 10 S is ideal for students, educators, creators, and businesses alike who prefer longer battery life, faster boot up time, and the peace of mind that comes with using apps that are Microsoft-verified. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/2e8e023ea885b98d866eb43d2db735ca.jpg Windows 10 S ships with the Windows 10 Creators Update, and includes familiar Windows 10 experiences like Cortana*, Windows Hello**, Windows Ink**, Microsoft Edge, Paint 3D, and more. Here are six things you need to know about Windows 10 S and some tips for getting started: Windows 10 S is designed for superior performance. Start-ups are quick and designed to stay that way. Browse the web with Microsoft Edge: a faster, more secure browser. With Windows 10 S, Microsoft Edge is the default browser. Microsoft Edge is built for Windows 10 and offers a secure browsing experience. In fact, Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 S blocks more phishing sites than Google Chrome on Chromebooks. Microsoft Edge is useful for students and home users alike, ensuring compatibility with the sites college students and universities use, like Google Docs. New features in Microsoft Edge–like the new Tab Preview Bar–make it easy for students to research and manage school projects. And, with Windows Ink in Microsoft Edge, students can easily make notes directly on a web page and share them with a classmate. If you’re new to Windows 10 S and Microsoft Edge, visit this post to learn how to import your data from other browsers into Microsoft Edge. With Microsoft Edge, Bing is the default search engine, and you can easily research and save any tabs – including any search engine as your preferred search destination. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/e4f4d4718406bcd320a5382646a79df4.png Microsoft–verified security. With Windows 10 S, customers who want to use apps can get them from the Windows Store where they are first verified for security, and then locally each run in a safe “container,” ensuring consistent performance and security for the system. Windows 10 S customers will be protected from malware by default with Windows Defender and can use additional anti-virus software available in the Windows Store if they choose. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5789d8df9bf842763c82955fda05504c.png Download the apps you want right from the Windows Store. There are many choices of apps in the Windows Store that are ready for you to download and use with Windows 10 S. Some examples include: Office 365 Personal in preview – available today for Windows 10 S– Hulu, Pandora, Autodesk SketchBook, Netflix, Sling TV, Complete Anatomy, Duolingo, NPR One, Facebook, Instagram, Drawboard PDF, OhBot, Fluid Math, Sensavis Visual Learning, and Twitter. We continue to work with our partners to bring even more apps to the Windows Store over time – Spotify and iTunes are apps we recently announced that will be available in the Windows Store in the coming months. Visit the Windows Store to get started exploring all the content available to download. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ff7e19139b0341c0bd587cc547857a4a.png Office 365 and Windows 10 S are Better Together. Windows 10 S runs the rich desktop Office apps including popular productivity apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook. The full suite of Office apps in preview are currently available to download today with Office 365 in the Windows Store for Windows 10 S. On Surface Laptop, you can simply open the Start menu and click on any of the Office app icons like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint to launch the download from the Store. For more information on Office 365 Personal in the Windows Store for Windows 10 S, visit this FAQ. Built-in Windows experiences to keep you productive and inspire creativity. Windows 10 S offers familiar Windows 10 experiences like Cortana–your digital personal assistant–password-free sign in with Windows Hello, Windows Ink, the Xbox app, Paint 3D, and more. For more tips on getting started with Windows 10 S, check out our Windows 10 Tips blog posts or visit this FAQ. We are excited to make available Windows 10 S today on the new Surface Laptop, and in the coming months, Windows 10 S will become available on even more devices across a range of price points from our partners. *Cortana available in select markets. **Windows Hello and Windows Ink experiences dependent on hardware. The post Six things you need to know about Windows 10 S appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

For more than 170 years, The Associated Press (AP) has told the world’s biggest and most important stories, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and more recently Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Today, when news is frequently accompanied by massive quantities of data, reporting means making sense of all that data, and AP continues to lead the way in data journalism. The news agency, with locations in more than 100 countries, provides newsrooms worldwide with data-driven reporting on everything from politics, business, environmental science and public safety to sports, education and more. Recent AP data journalism efforts uncovered water quality issues in public and private water systems, analyzed the history of refugees from the seven countries included in President Trump’s proposed travel ban and revealed the money and politics behind the opioid epidemic. That’s why today, the AP and Microsoft are excited to announce that AP will use Microsoft Power BI, a powerful data analytics and visualization tool, to expand the way AP shares data with its member news organizations and customers. The pilot program will enable local and regional news outlets to more easily uncover and report the data-driven local stories most interesting to their audiences through AP’s use of Power BI. AP regularly provides robust, deeply researched and credible raw data to its members and customers and knows that they have a huge appetite for local angles available in the AP data. However, many local and regional news organizations need help transforming that data into easily digested information that’s pertinent to their audiences. The AP’s water quality data set is a great example of the news agency providing a highly relevant and timely data set to its members. Large and complex data sets that are deeply researched and credible, but not easy to quickly interpret, can present a challenge to news organizations that lack the time, resources and tools to uncover local stories in national or global data. By including interactive visualizations along with the data, the AP will make it easier for its members and customers to discover local stories and, with just a few clicks, create and publish localized interactive data visualizations to illustrate those stories with Power BI. Sharing data encourages a greater level of transparency and understanding, but comes with the great responsibility of being accurate, useful, significant and comprehensible. The ability for people, businesses and the media to see and touch data is creating a dramatic change in the way stories are being told and reported. Interactive data visualizations invite readers into the role of a journalist, enabling them to dig deeper and uncover the story that is the most relevant, meaningful and personal to them. In a recent release from the AP about the new data journalism section in the AP Stylebook, the AP wrote, “Data journalism has become a staple of reporting across beats and platforms, no longer reserved for specialists. Government agencies, businesses and other organizations all communicate in the language of data and statistics. To cover them, journalists must become conversant in that language.” The end goal is to help create data stories that are more relevant to readers. This increased engagement will enable readers to benefit from the interactive data visualizations by being able to discover their own findings and explore insights pertinent to their markets. “The collaboration with Microsoft to enhance our data journalism efforts with Power BI helps take data storytelling to the next level,” said Troy Thibodeaux, AP data journalism team editor. “At The Associated Press, we’ve always been forward-thinking about the role data plays in journalism. Including interactive data visualizations with the data we provide our members and publishing the new section on data journalism in this year’s AP Stylebook are just two examples of ways we’re making data journalism more accessible and efficient for our members and customers, ultimately helping us all better understand the world in which we live.” Additionally, yesterday we unveiled use of Power BI by the AP for AP member news outlets like WTOP to enhance its coverage of the hotly contested Virginia gubernatorial primary election. With a history of election night accuracy dating to 1848, the world counts on AP to deliver up-to-the-minute results. By leveraging Power BI to showcase AP election data, we were able to create compelling and interactive data visualizations of yesterday’s election results. Interested news organizations were provided with easy-to-interpret, publishable charts and maps, such as an interactive map of Virginia subdivided by county. AP member news outlets published these data visualizations, helping audiences track and more easily understand the Democratic and Republican races for governor, right down to the results from counties of greatest interest to them. We are excited to be in the trenches with The Associated Press to enhance the significant adoption of data storytelling in an impactful way. Collaboration between The Associated Press and Microsoft has been spearheaded by Microsoft’s Data Journalism Program, a training, implementation and support program helping journalists improve their data analysis and illustration skills. If you’d like to learn more about our Data Journalism Program, I invite you to visit this page and reach out to us. The post The Associated Press takes its data storytelling to the next level with Microsoft Power BI appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Fifteen years ago, when Microsoft first launched Imagine Cup, the premise was simple – create a global innovation competition to inspire the brightest young minds in the world to bring their boldest ideas to life with technology In just a few short weeks, more than 50 teams of student developers will descend upon the Microsoft campus here in Redmond to show us their vision for the future and compete for more than $200,000 in prizes. Those prizes include $100,000 in cash, a $120,000 Azure Grant, a trip to next year’s Build developer conference and, best of all, a private mentoring session with our CEO, Satya Nadella. I’m honored to have a front row seat as a guest judge, and I’m also excited to announce that Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Cloud and Enterprise, will preside over the Imagine Cup Championships, which you can watch via a special webcast at 9 a.m. PDT on Thursday, July 27. From the looks of the finalist teams’ ideas, we are going to have another incredible competition. We’ll see a wearable device designed to enhance surgeons’ ability to perform complex surgeries using image processing, VR applications and 3D models; a project focused on creating a virtual coach powered by artificial intelligence; and an IoT solution designed to help monitor infants’ vital signs, just to name a few. Head over here to learn more, and be sure to catch all the action and watch the best young developers in the world compete for the Imagine Cup Championship via the webcast at 9 a.m. PDT on July 27 on Microsoft Imagine. Best of luck to all the students who will be traveling to Seattle in July to compete – we can’t wait to see the future through your eyes. Anthony The post Tune in to Imagine Cup July 27 to see which team of student developers wins appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

In the next few years, we will see the arrival of some 30 to 50 billion connected devices. The internet of things will allow unprecedented creation and sharing of data. And, by analyzing all of that information, we will learn how to improve different aspects of our lives and create new experiences in the home, the workplace and beyond. Now you can learn everything you need to know about the internet of things by watching the latest episode of “Explanimators” from Microsoft Story Labs. Set as a modern take on a classic fairy tale, the video features Asta Roseway, principal research designer at Microsoft Research and co-founder of FoodFutures, an exhibition addressing food production needs in the year 2050; Ros Harvey, founder and managing director at ag-tech company, The Yield Lab, that is pioneering connected oyster production (yes, you read that correctly); and Microsoft Executive VP of Business Development, Peggy Johnson, who (among other things) is responsible for driving strategic partnerships between automotive manufacturers and the Microsoft Cloud in order to create the next generation of smart vehicles. Check out the new episode above, and stay tuned for more animated adventures in technology coming soon from Story Labs. The post Watch an animated guide to the internet of things on the latest episode of ‘Explanimators’ appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Fifteen years ago, when Microsoft first launched Imagine Cup, the premise was simple: create a global innovation competition to inspire the brightest young minds in the world to bring their boldest ideas to life with technology. As a leader on our education team, Imagine Cup is one of my favorite times of year. The competition shows the true power of technology to unlock students’ innate creativity and ingenuity and helps them build the skills they’ll need in the modern workforce. I’m thrilled to share that this milestone anniversary year for Imagine Cup is poised to be one of the most exciting yet. In just a few short weeks, more than 50 teams of student developers will descend upon the Microsoft campus here in Redmond to show us their vision for the future and compete for more than $200,000 in prizes. Those prizes include $100,000 in cash, a $120,000 Azure grant, a trip to next year’s Build developer conference and, best of all, a private mentoring session with our CEO, Satya Nadella. I’m honored to have a front row seat as a guest judge, and I’m also excited to announce that Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s executive vice president of Cloud and Enterprise, will host the Imagine Cup Championships, which you can watch via a special webcast at 9 a.m. PDT on Thursday, July 27. From the looks of the finalist teams’ ideas, we are going to have another incredible competition. This year, we have more teams than ever representing some of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions, including the University of Oxford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Tokyo. What’s more, the mix of student projects is equally impressive. We’ll see a wearable device designed to enhance surgeons’ ability to perform complex surgeries using image processing, VR applications and 3D models; a project focused on creating a virtual coach powered by artificial intelligence; and an IoT solution designed to help monitor infants’ vital signs, just to name a few. In addition, we have a stellar trio of championship judges drawn from the best-of-the-best across academia, Microsoft and the broader technology industry. These three judges are each on the forefront of driving innovation in their respective fields and will choose the next Imagine Cup Champion. They are: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/35f5344d6fa21793cdc14765eb3deba2.png Kimberly Bryant Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, a national nonprofit that supports black girls in technology. Kimberly has also enjoyed a successful 25-year engineering career in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, holding a series of technical leadership roles at several Fortune 100 companies, including Genentech, Merck and Pfizer. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/80d5c5d4f287b7448ec7c99576c6483d.png David Malan Harvard University computer science professor David Malan, a senior member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and instructor for Computer Science 50 (CS50), the largest CS course at both Harvard and Yale University, and the largest online course at edX with lectures being viewed by more than a million people. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/36d5f45ec15f3e41a9b9f1bc10e71fab.jpg Mark Russinovich Microsoft’s own Mark Russinovich, a Microsoft technical fellow and the chief technology officer for Azure. Mark is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, one of the most notable computer science universities in the world. And, for the first time, we’ve put together a great lineup of coaches who will mentor the final four teams in real time to prepare them for the championship competition. These four coaches all hail from different parts of Microsoft, and all are rock stars in their own right. Their role at the Imagine Cup will be to help the finalist teams strengthen their tech, sharpen their onstage presentations and perfect their business pitches. They are: Deen King-Smith, a senior product marketing manager on the Search, Edge and AI team with a passion for building great enterprises solutions. Dona Sarkar, the engineering lead for the Windows Insider Program, a global community of people using technology to make a lasting impact in their world. Jasmine Lawrence, a program manager on the HoloLens Experience team and a recent University of Washington master’s graduate who studied Human Centered Design & Engineering. Jennifer Marsman, a software engineer in our Developer Experience group, where she educates developers on Microsoft’s newest technologies with a focus on data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Be sure to catch all the action and watch the best young developers in the world compete for the Imagine Cup Championship via the webcast at 9 a.m. PDT on July 27 on Microsoft Imagine. Best of luck to all the students who will be traveling to Seattle in July to compete! We can’t wait to see the future through your eyes. Anthony The post Tune in to Imagine Cup July 27 to see which team wins more than $200,000 in prizes appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders! We have released Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 15223 to in the Fast ring. This build is just one builder newer than last week’s Mobile build and includes the following fixes and improvements: We fixed an issue where only the first VPN profile was being displayed in the VPN settings page via Settings > Network & wireless > VPN. We fixed an issue where a meeting Time Zone was garbled in Chinese or Japanese. Based on Insider feedback, we have changed “Phone Update” to “Windows Update” under Settings > Update & security. Known issues for Mobile In some cases, the WeChat app may crash on launch. Keep hustling team, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15223 for Mobile appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

On May 12, 2017, the WannaCrypt ransomware served as an all too real example of the danger of cyber attacks to individuals and businesses globally. In reviewing the updates for this month, some vulnerabilities were identified that pose elevated risk of cyber attacks by government organizations, sometimes referred to as nation-state actors or other copycat organizations. To address this risk, today we are providing additional security updates along with our regular Update Tuesday service. These security updates are being made available to all customers, including those using older versions of Windows. Due to the elevated risk for destructive cyber attacks at this time, we made the decision to take this action because applying these updates provides further protection against potential attacks with characteristics similar to WannaCrypt. For more technical information and links to related articles, visit our Microsoft Security Response Center blog. It is important to note that if you’re running a supported version of Windows, such as Windows 10 or Windows 8.1, and you have Windows Update enabled, you don’t need to take any action. As always, we recommend customers upgrade to the latest platforms. The best protection is to be on a modern, up-to-date system that incorporates the latest innovations. Older systems, even if fully up-to-date, lack the latest security features and advancements. If you’re unsure what version of Windows you’re running, or whether you have Windows Update enabled, there are links at the bottom of this page to help you check. We appreciate your business and are committed to delivering the most secure and trusted technology possible in today’s complex and interconnected world. Additional Resources: Visit this link for help determining which Windows operating system you’re running. Visit this link if you’re running a version of Windows that no longer receives extended support. Visit this link for help enabling Windows Update. For more technical information and links to updates for products no longer in extended support see our Microsoft Security Response Center blog. The post Microsoft releases additional updates to protect against potential nation-state activity appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders! At Build 2017, Joe Belfiore announced that the new OneDrive Files On-Demand feature will be delivered with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. And today, we are excited to announce that OneDrive Files On-Demand is rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring who are on Build 16215. The updated OneDrive client will be rolling out over the next few days but can also be installed from here. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/8487329d9c2afcd02b1dfa5e85d945b5.png With Files On-Demand, you can access all your files in the cloud without having to download them and use storage space on your device. All your files—even online-only files—can be seen in File Explorer and work just like every other file on your device. You’ll be able to open online-only files from within any desktop or Windows Store apps using the Windows file picker. And you’re covered in both your home and professional life since it works with your personal and work OneDrive, as well as your SharePoint Online team sites. After enabling Files On-Demand in OneDrive, your files will have these statuses in File Explorer: Online-only files https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ade722565eb00e8255b3488d961c5a1a.png Online-only files don’t take up space on your computer. You see a cloud icon for each online-only file in File Explorer, but the file doesn’t download to your device until you open it. You can only open online-only files when your device is connected to the internet. However, you online files will always be visible in File Explorer even if you are offline. Locally available files https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f858b80324735fc88627c49941752e98.png When you open an online-only file, it downloads to your device and becomes a locally available file. You can open a locally available file anytime, even without Internet access. If you need more space, you can change the file back to online-only. Just right-click the file and select “Free up space.” Always available files https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4c36dd7c6c8a39da8a6884cbcc830ca8.png Only files that you mark as “Always keep on this device” have the green circle with the white check mark. These files will always be available even when you’re offline. They are downloaded to your device and take up space. To read up on everything you need to know about OneDrive Files On-Demand, click here. And here are a few things we recommend you try out! Setup your personal MSA and Office 365 accounts with OneDrive Files On-Demand. Right-click on a file or folder in OneDrive and select “Free up space” or “Always keep on this device”. Double click an online-only file with a cloud on it. It will download on-demand. Navigate into a folder in OneDrive that is full of pictures, and you can watch the thumbnails populate. Access an online-only file through your favorite apps. Mount a SharePoint Online team site. Work with all your files as you normally do! This has been the #1 requested feature for OneDrive on UserVoice, so we’re excited to get this out to Windows Insiders. Tell us what you think! The post OneDrive Files On-Demand now available for Windows Insiders appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Today at E3, Alienware and Dell announced new PC gaming systems and components, including Alienware gaming desktops with new multi-core processor options, and a full range of performance gaming monitors and peripherals. Powered by Windows 10—the best version of Windows for gaming— these new devices are built specifically for the needs of gamers, including native live game streaming through the Game bar with Mixer, Game Mode, connection to your gaming community through the Xbox app, DirectX 12 and more. Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop launches at E3 Click to view slideshow. Dell introduced the first gaming desktop in its growing Inspiron Gaming line at Computex and will start shipping it in the US tomorrow. The new Inspiron Gaming Desktop is built for gamers seeking a competitive advantage at an affordable price and incorporates the latest AMD multicore Ryzen processors featuring SenseMI, thermally-optimized airflow routing, Polar Blue LED Illumination, easy component access and power supply options up to 850 watts for supporting dual discrete Ready for VR graphics from AMD and NVIDIA. Available in the U.S. starting today, from $599.99 USD. Alienware Area-51 updated with new multi-core processors Click to view slideshow. Intel and AMD’s new multi-core processors available in two new versions of Alienware Area-51, for the best experiences geared towards gamers who create or creators who game. Each are excellent choices for Megatasking, streaming gamers as well. If you can picture yourself gaming, recording and broadcasting your game while running a render or deeply immersed in VR or with multiple 4K displays running concurrently, these are the gaming PCs for you. They’re powered by Intel’s Core™ X-Series or AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper – marking Alienware’s first 16-core/32-thread Area-51. The Area 51 Threadripper Edition will be available to order on July 27 and the Area 51 featuring Intel Core X-Series will arrive on August 22, with pricing to be announced soon. Alienware 15 to offer NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q design Click to view slideshow. Alienware will offer the new GeForce® GTX 1080 with Max-Q technology starting June 27 with their award-winning Alienware 15 notebook. Alienware’s adoption of Max-Q technology provides the highest performance possible in a 15.6” notebook and continues our tradition of designing outstanding products tailored specifically for gamers. The Alienware 15 also features a full complement of input/output connections for popular gaming peripherals and VR headsets. Available in the U.S. June 27, with pricing to be announced soon. Alienware debuts high-performance monitors, keyboards & mice Click to view slideshow. Monitors – The Alienware 25” gaming monitor, with either NVIDIA G-SYNC (AW2518H) or AMD FreeSync, (AW2518HF), offers fast, responsive gameplay with virtually no input lag, at an extremely rapid 1 ms panel response time, and a native 240Hz refresh rate for sharp, clear graphics. With AlienFX lighting (AW2518H only), three preset display modes, full adjustability, single-diecast stand legs, and a seamless panoramic multi-monitor view with ultra-thin bezel, the Alienware 25” gaming monitor is perfect for any gamer. Available in the U.S. June 13, concurrent with E3: monitors ($499-699 USD). https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/a3522d6426b152f1c33a10259f98090e.jpg Alienware Advanced Gaming Keyboard – The Alienware Advanced Gaming Keyboard with optional palm rest delivers a premium gaming experience at an affordable value. Featuring mechanical keys with brown switches, with more precise, responsive and consistent key strokes and five keys dedicated for macro commands that give gamers a competitive edge. Available in the U.S. June 13, concurrent with E3: Advanced Gaming Keyboard ($89.99 USD). https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/15cb71f0287d734a8eac275f14d78edc.jpg Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard – The Alienware Pro Gaming Keyboard with optional palm rest exemplifies all the essential design components of the Advanced Gaming Keyboard, and elevates the engineering innovation with dedicated volume roller, onboard memory, 15 macro commands and 13 zone-based RGB backlit lighting options. Available in the U.S. June 13, concurrent with E3: Pro Gaming Keyboard ($119.99 USD). https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9330f1a492502d51b1d64976ee6d0997.jpg Alienware Advanced Gaming Mouse – The Alienware Advanced Gaming Mouse offers multiple configurations with 3 on-the-fly DPI (dots per inch) levels to switch between precision and speed style gameplay. Outfitted with nine unique buttons for in-game customization. Available in the U.S June 13 ($49.99 USD). https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/7c9bc8b9a419956a7c3b30ec15c1b96c.jpg Alienware Elite Gaming Mouse – Additionally, the Alienware Elite Gaming Mouse leverages advanced custom ability innovation with swappable grips, up to 13 programmable buttons, adjustable palm rest and four variable levels of weight adjustment providing ultimate control over cursor precision and movement speed to dominate opponents. Available in the U.S. June 13 ($89.99 USD). To learn more about everything Dell announced today, visit Dell.com/Gaming! The post E3 2017: Alienware and Dell announce PC gaming systems powered by Windows 10 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Today at E3, we announced Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare, a full DLC expansion coming to Xbox Play Anywhere title Halo Wars 2 in Fall 2017 that sets the stage for an epic conflict between the Banished and – that’s right – the Flood! Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare promises to expand on the epic story from the main game, where players will battle through a brand-new series of campaign missions from the perspective of the Banished and experience their desperate struggle against the terrifying Flood. Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare is more than just a story expansion though; it is jam-packed with new content that also includes new multiplayer maps (available for all Halo Wars 2 players), gorgeous Blur cinematics, exclusive new multiplayer Leaders and Terminus Firefight, a unique game mode in the expansion set on a dynamic map where players build bases and armies to defend against waves of enemy forces. In this tower-defense style firefight mode, you can build various types of walls, mini bases, and turrets to protect your Terminus from every enemy unit imaginable including new mini bosses! Head over here to read more about today’s announcement, and be sure to stay tuned to Halo Waypoint and Xbox Wire for all the latest news with Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare. The post E3 2017: Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare comes to Windows 10 and Xbox One this fall appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Since its launch on PC in 1997, the Age of Empires franchise has explored early human civilization all the way up to Colonial America, and has even examined legendary creatures and lore. Fast forward 20 years to today and we’re proud to announce Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is coming exclusively to Windows 10, with a closed beta starting soon. We created Age of Empires: Definitive Edition as an homage to the fans of the series and to PC gamers everywhere. Fully remastered with beautifully enhanced graphics that support up to 4K resolution, entirely re-orchestrated soundtrack, brand-new narrative, major gameplay improvements, Xbox Live support for multiplayer, and achievements — the Definitive Edition brings back the original Age of Empires and its Rise of Rome expansion with 16 civilizations to explore in time periods ranging from the Stone Age all the way to the Roman Empire. Developed by Forgotten Empires, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition will highlight the original classic at its best, exclusively for Windows 10 and available for purchase from the Windows Store. Can’t wait for launch? Check out the trailer above for what to expect in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, and sign up for the closed beta at AgeOfEmpires.com to play soon! We hope it will excite loyal PC gamers, as well as encourage a new generation to experience this classic. The post E3 2017: A classic returns to Windows 10 in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

It’s the third year for the PC Gaming Show at E3. I love it at E3; new and re-imagined games are announced, trailers run at every corner, new tech debuts, and fans get a glimpse at what’s next for their favorite gaming passions. As a gamer, this is what it’s all about. And as a PC gamer, I’m personally excited because this year is also packing a PC gaming punch. Here’s a closer look at what Xbox shared at this year’s PC Gaming Show. Adam Isgreen, creative director for Microsoft Studios Publishing, celebrated the 20-year anniversary of Age of Empires, by announcing Age of Empires: Definitive Edition coming exclusively to Windows 10. The Definitive Edition modernizes the classic game with fully remastered graphics that support up to 4K resolution, entirely re-orchestrated soundtrack, brand-new narrative, major gameplay improvements, Xbox Live support for multiplayer, and more. Adam also announced that gamers can sign up today for the closed beta that’s coming soon at ageofempires.com. Forza Motorsport Creative Director, Bill Giese, introduced Forza Motorsport 7, the most comprehensive racing game on Windows 10 with more than 700 ForzaVista™ cars to collect, race and customize, 30 racing environments with over 200 ribbons, a massive campaign mode, dynamic weather, unprecedented tuning, new assists, and mods to suit player of all skill levels. Thanks to the Forza Racing Championship esports league (ForzaRC), enhanced spectating modes and Mixer integration, everyone can now compete. As PC Design Lead for Sea of Thieves, the highly-anticipated shared-world pirate adventure, Ted Timmins brought the spotlight to Rare Ltd.’s first Windows 10 PC game. Ted announced that the game will support 4K at 60fps, unlocked framerate, and 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio. For more information on Sea of Thieves, gamers can join the Insider Programme at seaofthieves.com. Windows 10 is the best version of Windows ever for gaming and keeps getting better, including native live game streaming with Mixer, DirectX 12 powered performance, Game bar, Game Mode, and GameDVR, and integrated Xbox Live. We’re building outstanding experiences that are made for the PC, enabling 4K support, uncapped frame- and refresh rates, 21:9 aspect ratio, and more, with the customization PC gamers expect. You can check out an on-demand view of the PC Gaming Show here, and read more about everything announced today over at Xbox Wire! The post E3 2017: Everything you need to know about what Xbox shared at the PC Gaming Show appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Today at E3, ORIGIN PC gave a sneak peek of their all-new thin and light EVO15-S laptop powered by Windows 10—the best version of Windows for gaming. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/176227b229703f317998750060dbd526.jpg Measuring only .73 inches thick and weighing only 4.3 pounds, the all-new EVO15-S redefines the thin and light gaming notebook by supporting up to NVIDIA’s latest GeForce GTX 1070 desktop-class graphics; providing gamers with an unprecedented level of performance and power efficiency for games, 4K gaming and VR experiences. For Windows 10 gamers, this device is equipped with native, live game streaming through the Game bar with Mixer, Game Mode, their gaming community through the Xbox app, DirectX 12 support, and more. The EVO15-S lights up the best of the Windows 10 Creators Update, including the all-new Paint 3D app and Remix3D.com community, Windows Defender Security Center, Night light, mini view and more. It also arrives built-in with Microsoft Edge for fast and secure browsing, your digital personal assistant Cortana* and comprehensive protection with Windows Defender. Features of the new EVO15-S include: Windows 10 Creators Update 7th Generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor Optional 15.6” 4K-UHD (3840×2160) or a FHD (1920*1080) HD IPS display Up to an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 VR-Ready GPU Up to 1 x 2TB m.2 PCIe and 1 x 2.5” 4TB HDD/SSD Up to 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4 2666MHz Memory Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 Built-in HD Webcam Sound BlasterX Pro-Gaming 360˚ 2x USB Type C 3.1, 3x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, and a 6-in-1 Push-Push Card reader Backlit multi-color keyboard and optional custom paint Includes free lifetime 24/7 US-based tech support To learn more about the new EVO15-S High-Performance Thin & Light Laptop actual release date and price, please visit originpc.com, subscribe to their newsletter, or follow them on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook via @ORIGINPC. *Cortana available in select markets. The post E3 2017: ORIGIN PC announces thin and light EVO15-S laptop powered by Windows 10 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Did you know that with the Windows 10 Creators Update, we’ve added a new digital category in the Windows Store called books,* joining games, apps, movies/TV, and music? With books in the Windows Store, you can discover and read e-books from your favorite authors across genres you love – from sci-fi to thrillers, to children’s books, and everything in between. Here’s how to get started: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f63219f0e96543af32d17f37cb75870f.gif Open the Windows Store from the Start menu or by searching, then click on “Books” at the top to start browsing. Books is available across Windows 10 devices, from laptops to 2-in-1s, desktops, and mobile. Once you’ve purchased a book from the Windows Store, you can start reading immediately with Microsoft Edge, which supports offline reading without an internet connection. What’s more, in Microsoft Edge you can easily personalize your reading experience with custom font sizes, layouts, and themes. Microsoft Edge has integrated Learning Tools accessibility features like Read Aloud and text spacing to make it easier for everyone to read, including people with learning differences like dyslexia and English Language Learners. Have a great week! *US only The post Windows 10 Tip: Browse books in the Windows Store with the Windows 10 Creators Update appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4fbc5d49e5a6fbce94f4d43784871e29.jpg As the newest member of the Xbox One family of devices, Xbox One X will offer gamers premier console performance for $499 USD / 449 GBP / 499 EUR / 599 CAD/ 649 AUD and begins rolling out to all Xbox One markets starting Nov. 7. Every Xbox One X unit will come with a 1TB hard drive, a matching Xbox Wireless Controller, HDMI cable, power supply, a 1-month free Xbox Game Pass subscription and a 14-day free Xbox Live Gold membership. Inspired by the sleek design elements of Xbox One S, now in black, Xbox One X is not only the most powerful console we’ve ever created, it’s also the smallest. Like the Xbox One S, it includes a 4K UHD Blu-ray player, built-in power supply, three USB 3.0 ports (one in the front and two in the back), and IR blaster. It can be placed horizontally or vertically with an optional stand. For those who already own an Xbox One S, all the cables you own will transfer over, with port locations designed to be an easy plug-and-play swap in your existing gaming setup. Click to view slideshow. Games play better on Xbox One X With 40 percent more power than any other console, Xbox One X is the world’s most powerful console. With the 6-teraflop Scorpio engine, developers can realize their biggest worlds in vibrant 4K and in a superior format for 1080p screens. Xbox One X delivers immersive, true 4K gaming Xbox One X is built for true 4K gaming, which combines 2160p frame buffers, High Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut into a pristine visual package. At launch, we’ll be offering Xbox One X Enhanced versions of existing Xbox One games including Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Minecraft, Resident Evil 7, Final Fantasy 15, Rocket League, each upgraded to take advantage of Xbox One X’s additional performance. In addition, some of this year’s biggest blockbusters will be launching in true 4K, including Forza Motorsport 7. Xbox One X is fully compatible across the Xbox One family of devices With the Xbox One family of devices, our focus is on hardware innovation without sacrificing compatibility. That’s why all existing Xbox One games, including Xbox Play Anywhere titles, Backward Compatible Xbox 360 games, and accessories will be compatible with Xbox One X. Fans can enjoy all the same benefits of Xbox Live on Xbox One X Xbox Live is the most advanced multiplayer network and all its benefits extend to the Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One X. Those include dedicated servers to maximize performance, speed and reliability, cross-platform integration with gamers on Windows 10 and Xbox One devices, as well as two to four free games each month with Xbox Live Gold. It’s an incredibly exciting time for the industry and for our fans, and we’re looking forward to launching the world’s most powerful console, Xbox One X, starting this November. Read more about Xbox One X over at Xbox Wire! The post E3 2017: Introducing Xbox One X, the world’s most powerful console appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/3c7c250881c2539b234a27898ba780ba.jpg Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, discusses the Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One X, at the Xbox E3 2017 Briefing on Sunday, June 11, 2017 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Casey Rodgers/Invision for Xbox/AP Images) ICYMI: Watch the Xbox E3 Briefing on-demand. Today marked a milestone Xbox E3 Briefing as we unveiled the world’s most powerful console, Xbox One X (formerly code-named “Project Scorpio”), and the largest and most diverse games lineup in E3 history. Broadcast for the first time in 4K UHD on Mixer, we showcased a record 42 games in the briefing including 22 with console exclusivity from creators large and small. Xbox One X was designed to be the best console to create and play games on, putting the greatest graphic fidelity in the hands of the world’s best game creators to create true 4K games. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer underscored that every game will play great across the Xbox One family, and Xbox One X also makes your existing library even better, with better textures, smoother frame rates and faster load times. Xbox One X is coming to all Xbox One markets starting Nov. 7, 2017, and will retail for $499, 449 pounds, 499 euros, CA$599 and AU$649.1 “Xbox empowers game developers large and small to create different types of games for every type of player,” Spencer said. “Not only do we have the biggest cross-platform blockbusters on our platform, we’ve also scoured the world to bring our fans unique content from creative artists that capture the imagination.” — Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox Empowering the world’s creators Xbox empowers game developers around the world to create different types of games for every type of player. Showcasing a record 42 titles on the E3 stage including 22 with console exclusivity, Xbox debuted a wide range of titles from game creators large and small, all of which play better on Xbox One X. Here’s a closer look at just some of the great titles announced: Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 2017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 “Crackdown 3” Xbox One and Windows 10 Exclusive. Starring Terry Crews as Commander Jaxon, “Crackdown 3” brings the boom with its worldwide campaign gameplay reveal, where players will stop crime as a superpowered Agent in a sandbox of mayhem and destruction. Developed by Microsoft Studios in collaboration with Sumo Digital and Reagent Games, “Crackdown 3” delivers four-person campaign co-op, as well as an all-new multiplayer mode2 where destruction is your ultimate weapon, powered by the Microsoft Cloud. Available worldwide on Nov. 7 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title alongside the launch of Xbox One X. Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 2017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 “Cuphead” Xbox One and Windows 10 Exclusive. Available beginning Sept. 29, 2017, as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, “Cuphead” is a classic run-and-gun action game heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era, i.e., traditional hand-drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds and original jazz recordings. Play as Cuphead or Mugman (in single player or local co-op) as you traverse strange worlds, acquire new weapons, learn powerful super moves and discover hidden secrets while you try to pay back your debt to the devil! “Forza Motorsport 7” Xbox One and Windows 10 Exclusive – World Premiere. The best-selling racing franchise of this console generation3 returns with “Forza Motorsport 7.” Experience the danger and beauty of competitive racing at its limits with the most comprehensive automotive game ever made. Drivers will experience gorgeous true 4K graphics at 60 fps and true resolution in HDR within 30 famous environments, with race conditions that change each time you return to the track. Whether you’re a new player or a pro, collect over 700 Forzavista™ cars, including the new 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS cover car and the largest assortment of Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis ever. The premier Xbox One X experience launches worldwide as an Xbox Play Anywhere title in October 2017. “Minecraft” Unification, Better Together Update, Super Duper Graphics Pack, coming to Xbox One and Windows 10. Mojang and Microsoft announced a new version of “Minecraft” that will bring the complete “Minecraft” experience to everyone on gaming consoles, mobile, VR and Windows 10 PCs this summer. The unification of “Minecraft” across platforms will transform the “Minecraft” experience everywhere from a game to a platform, providing simple access to massive community servers, community creations from the Minecraft Marketplace, Realms, dedicated servers and more. The team also announced the Super Duper Graphics Pack, a new optional upgrade for in-game visuals in stunning true 4K HDR. “Ori and the Will of the Wisps” Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive- world premiere. From the creators of the multi-award-winning “Ori and the Blind Forest” comes the highly anticipated sequel, “Ori and the Will of the Wisps.” Embark on an all-new adventure to discover the mysteries beyond the forest of Nibel, uncover the hidden truths of those lost and unravel Ori’s true destiny. “Sea of Thieves” Xbox One and Windows 10 Exclusive. Developed by Rare, the legendary creators of “Perfect Dark” and “Banjo-Kazooie,” “Sea of Thieves” is an immersive, shared-world adventure game filled with pirates, unexpected dangers and loot for the taking. Explore, fight and live the pirate life together in a unique co-op experience that combines the thrill of adventuring together with friends with the unpredictability of a shared ocean and its threats, both from other players and the world itself. Available worldwide as an Xbox Play Anywhere title in early 2018. Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 2017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 “State of Decay 2” Xbox One and Windows 10 Exclusive. “State of Decay 2” is the ultimate zombie survival fantasy game, where you build a lasting community in an open world filled with hostile zombies, human enemies and the valuable gear necessary to keep your community alive. Play solo or invite up to three friends in multiplayer co-op to overcome challenges and survive as a group while defining your own unique story. Your choices shape the identity of your community, ensuring that no two stories are alike — and remember, once you lose a survivor, they’re gone forever thanks to the return of permadeath in “State of Decay 2.” Available worldwide as an Xbox Play Anywhere title in spring 2018. “Super Lucky’s Tale” Xbox One and Windows 10 Exclusive – world premiere. Developed by Playful Corp., “Super Lucky’s Tale” is a delightful, playground platformer for all ages that follows Lucky, the ever-optimistic, energetic and lovable hero, on his quest to find his inner strength and help his sister rescue the Book of Ages. Along the way, encounter a hilarious supporting cast of friends and adversaries. Available worldwide on Nov. 7 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title alongside the launch of Xbox One X. Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 2017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 “Tacoma” Console launch exclusive and coming to Windows 10. The second game from Fullbright, creators of the critically acclaimed “Gone Home,” “Tacoma” puts you in control of Amy Ferrier, an independent contractor sent to Lunar Transfer Station Tacoma to recover sensitive data. As she explores the station, she unearths why the previous crew of six have been evacuated, gathering clues to what exactly went wrong. Like “Gone Home,” it’s a game where you pull details of the narrative from the environment, both physical and digital. “Tacoma” is a story about people and relationships, even in the isolation of outer space. Available Aug. 2 on Xbox One and Windows 10. To catch up on all the news, highlights, exclusive reveals and a behind-the-scenes look at some of your favorite games throughout the week of E3, visit Xbox Wire at news.xbox.com and tune in to Xbox Daily: Live @ E3 on mixer.com/xbox starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on Monday, June 12; 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT Tuesday through Wednesday, June 13–14; and 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Thursday, June 15. 1 Prices are estimated retail prices; actual retail prices may vary. 2 Xbox Live Gold membership required for online multiplayer on Xbox consoles. 3 Source: The NPD Group/Retail Tracking Service (U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand), November 2012–January 2017. The post E3 2017 Briefing recap: Introducing Xbox One X and an epic lineup of new games appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

With Cortana and Microsoft Edge, we hope to continue offering features that will help you save time and money when shopping online using the Microsoft Edge web browser. To that end, we recently released a pilot feature that helps find the best pricing for the product you are viewing. However, Cortana will only notify you if the relevant details are available at the time of your visit. We are just beginning to roll this out to everyone on Windows 10 Creators Update to get feedback. Currently the feature supports 14 retailers including Amazon, Walmart, and eBay, within the US. We will be increasing availability and the number of retailers we support in the months ahead, so stay tuned for more updates. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/3738d6d9bdf308f46d7b89f4591a4b5b.jpg https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/7470c536449f132faa3fe8d7ba367018.jpg How it works: The feature works similar to current Cortana features where you see Cortana display notification in the address bar if there’s helpful information available for the site you’re on. When you visit the site of a supported retailer, Cortana will alert you that there are other options available at a lower price for the same product. Once you click on the Cortana icon, the information will be displayed in the right pane within the same window. Let us know what you think about the feature. Your feedback is important as we continue to make improvements and add support for other sites. The post Introducing more shopping tips with Cortana in Microsoft Edge appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/445fad3ac395a7e93253fec5aaeae6e0.jpg Microsoft teams with Children’s Hospital SIDS research. (Photography by Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures) From the champion soccer team to the teamwork now transforming grocery stores to the collective efforts of cyber heroes, this week gave us daily lessons on the power of joining forces. New alliances are fueling crucial causes and creative pursuits alike. Teams of student developers are helping people overcome addiction. Teams of young gamers worked together to catch a virtual pig. A new app enables government field workers to connect across teams. Let’s sample this catalogue of collaboration. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/2d17e6d6047b9d759301a36a30871521.jpg Cloud security is one of the ultimate team endeavors, requiring a unified effort to arm the cyber heroes that detect, block and learn from the 1.5 million attempted daily breaches of Microsoft’s systems. Bharat Shah, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of security for the company’s Azure platform, compares cybersecurity to how U.S. states long ago discovered the best way to nab bank robbers: share robbery info with each other. Today, if one customer sustains an attempted cyberattack, all other customers are protected as well – a pooling of data called the “cloud effect,” Shah said. This week on the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, we amplified this piece, titled “Securing the Cloud.” The Story Labs feature dove into the high-tech, high-stakes race to keep the cloud safe, secure and empowering for all. This includes the advanced encryption projects Microsoft researchers are building to keep data secure. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/57757029e08032ca3d4cd615740fe2a5.jpg Microsoft employees and leaders stood together Tuesday at the company’s Redmond, Washington, campus to kick off participation in global Pride celebrations. At the soccer field gathering – filled with folks in turquoise-and-rainbow Microsoft T-shirts – speakers discussed the company’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and LGBT+ rights. Kathleen Hogan, executive vice president of Human Resources, spoke on behalf of Microsoft’s executive leadership team, including CEO Satya Nadella. GLEAM, Microsoft’s employee resource group for LGBT+ workers, has helped create an inclusive environment that’s integral to the company’s culture, Hogan said. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/a97c3c6cb674211761bfabe0dbe0e3d6.jpg John Kahan in his office at Microsoft, with a photo of his son, Aaron, on the computer screen. (Photo by Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures) More than a dozen data scientists at Microsoft donated 450-plus personal hours during the past year to create a new research tool aimed at solving the mystery of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which claims approximately 4,000 U.S. babies each year. The Microsoft team used publicly available – but unanalyzed – birth and death data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They developed a tool that runs on Microsoft Azure and that uses statistical analysis and machine learning to interpret the CDC data on SIDS in a way never done before. The team hopes its work will leads to finding the causes of SIDS, and the development of preventive measures. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/003fe7278a1b2603ef89565f5f82d105.jpg If we’re talking teams, we must mention Real Madrid, which won the Champions League last Saturday on the shoulders and feet of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored two goals. Named the world’s best footballer by FIFA in January, Ronaldo also will be the face of “FIFA 18” when it comes to Xbox One this September. To record his famous chop moves and acceleration on the pitch, Ronaldo wore the EA Sports motion capture suit during a game. See all of this data come to life in the new video game. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/63632f9867d11b44a3f1b3df4dd4472c.png The ‘Medley’ concept. (Image courtesy of Hershey) At supermarkets across the world, app makers, tech innovators and grocery chain operators are combining visions to transform food shopping. Hershey has imagined an entirely new grocery experience called “Medley,” featuring demo chefs and wine stewards. Coop Italia has opened a “supermarket of the future” in Milan, Italy, using cloud-connected sensors that read shoppers’ gazes, revealing ingredients in the foods they’re eyeing. App maker Lakeba uses Microsoft Azure and Power BI to deploy robots and drones to serve as inventory trackers at a number of pilot stores abroad. And Utah grocery chain Macey’s is equipping customers with the Skip app, which makes shopping lists sharable and checkout a breeze. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/6de5c4a019a97b4677fd976bfb72a6f1.png LabTECH Innovations – Uganda. Teams that will compete in Seattle this July at the 2017 Imagine Cup World Finals seek to boost maternal health and to help curb addiction. The competitors vying for more than $100,000 in prizes include BITSplease UJ from South Africa, which created an online environment to help people overcome multiple forms of addiction. And from Uganda, LabTECH Innovations developed an integrated solution for effective diagnosis and monitoring of maternal health. A slew of gaming teams also grabbed honors this week. Project Malmo, built on “Minecraft,” is an artificial intelligence research tool for investigating how to train intelligent agents to collaborate. The recent Project Malmo Collaborative AI Challenge asked teams to solve a game using collaborative agents. More than 80 teams, made up of postgrads from 26 countries, entered the challenge. They were required to create and train agents to work together in a mini-game toward a common goal: catching a pig. Each team submitted their code to GitHub, sent in a write-up about their approach and created a video showing their agent in action. Prizes for winning the challenge included a placement at the invitation-only Microsoft Research AI Summer School and/or Microsoft Azure for Research grants, worth up to $20,000. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/097443c2f293b0eff627f0a504329b8c.jpg A new app, Microsoft StaffHub, gives government field workers an office connection so they can manage schedules, share info and communicate within and across teams. The app is part of Office 365 Enterprise (K1, E1, E3, and E5), and works on iOS, as well as on Android phones and tablets. Speaking of Office 365, go-to guides are now available to help companies switch to the service. The eight guides have step-by-step pages to make a fast and smooth transition from Google G Suite to Office 365. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/d3968e07dbef7e15db450bd7cdaa7bf8.jpg We close with some small-screen magic pitting two teams that will never find common ground – zombies and uninfected survivors. Yes, you can scoop up the first two episodes in the third season of “Fear the Walking Dead” (prequel to “The Walking Dead”) in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. Or, buy a season pass to get all the episodes of the show as they become available. The plot does include some crucial collaboration. Survivors come together to rebuild society – and their families – in the zombie-ridden wasteland formerly known as the U.S.-Mexico border. That’s it for this week. Visit again next Friday – and be sure bring your brains – for another edition Weekend Reading. Posted by Bill Briggs Microsoft News Center Staff The post Teaming up to foil cyber villains, stop SIDS and celebrate Pride — Weekend Reading: June 9 edition appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders! Today we are excited to be releasing our #TacoHat Thursday build – Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16215 for PC – to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring! We are also releasing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 15222 to Insiders in the Fast ring. Our goal is to do a Windows Insider webcast on our Mixer channel every month. This month’s webcast will take place next Wednesday June 14th from 10:30am – 12:00pm (5:30pm- 7:00pm UTC). Be sure to tune in! What’s New in Build 16215 For PC Start & Action Center bring elements of Fluent Design This build introduces new UI for Start and Action Center that includes elements of our new Fluent Design System which was announced at Build 2017. Start improvements include: Acrylic: If you have transparency enabled for Start, you’ll notice it’s now been updated to use the new acrylic design. Vertical resize: No more glitches at the bottom of the frame. Horizontal resize: The frame now starts resizing horizontally immediately (like vertical resize), as opposed to only “snapping” to certain widths. Diagonal resize: The frame can be resized diagonally! Resize grips: It’s now easier to “grip” the edge of the frame to start resizing. Tablet mode transition: Smoother transition into tablet mode. A new look for Action Center: Action Center has been redesigned based on your feedback to provide much clearer information separation and hierarchy. And the new design for Action Center also includes elements of our Fluent Design System such as acrylic! (and in case you were wondering, we’ve also added acrylic to our notification toasts!). As a reminder, you can customize the visible quick actions by going to Settings > System > Notifications & actions. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/22446ee61ad0fa34bb034030b0e6fe02.png Note: we’re investigating a bug where notifications in the Action Center lose their outline if acrylic falls back to having no transparency. This will be fixed in a later flight. Microsoft Edge Improvements Pin your favorite websites to your taskbar: Pinned sites are back! We heard your feedback, and are in this build you can now pin a website to the taskbar from Microsoft Edge! We’ll use the site’s icon to give you quick access to your favorite sites right from the taskbar. Simply select “Pin this page to the taskbar” from the settings menu in Microsoft Edge. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/d5bf07ac0297632ee12b2a53983ee8e5.png Full screen mode (F11) in Microsoft Edge: This build introduces a new Full Screen experience in Microsoft Edge. Simply press F11 or choose the new Full Screen icon in the Settings menu to take your websites full-screen. You can exit Full Screen view by pressing F11 again, or by clicking the Restore icon in the top-right corner. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/67dbaa85dc83946701da16dd8bd2dc15.png Annotate Books in Microsoft Edge: We’ve added the ability to annotate EPUB Books by highlighting in four colors, underlining, and adding comments. To get started, select some text, and choose an option from the menu. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/dbc4135b305b37639cb7d84b4dac83f9.png To add notes as you read, select text, tap or click the Add a note button and add your note. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/7467ac7957706753d92241bf40e724b2.png To edit or delete your note, click the Edit your note button. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/1b78cd6c5a6450999b5834300043422e.png Microsoft Edge PDF improvements: We’ve added more highlight colors and the option to Ask Cortana in PDFs in Microsoft Edge. Other Microsoft Edge Improvements, including: Microsoft Edge’s splash page (seen when newly launched) so that the color transitions more smoothly to the Start and New Tab pages. You will now be able to close the Microsoft Edge app directly using the close button, even when a JavaScript dialog is showing. We’ve added an option to “Add tabs to favorites” from the right-click context menu on tabs. Using it will create a Favorites folder with all the sites open in tabs in the current window. New tabs will now animate more smoothly onto the tab bar when opened and closed. We’ve improved session restore behavior so that when a multi-window Microsoft Edge session is restored by clicking on a link (for example, from an email), the window in focus at the end of restoration is the one containing the new link. Cortana Improvements Taking Cortana reminders to the next level through vision intelligence: Most of us have experienced taking a picture of upcoming event poster or bookmarking an event site for future reference, only to forget about it later. With this build, we’re rolling out two new features starting with the en-us market to help you never again miss an event you’re interested in! Cortana camera roll insights: With your permission, Cortana will now prompt you to create a reminder when she notices event posters in your camera roll! To try it out, make sure you’re signed into Cortana with your MSA or work account, and then give Cortana permission to access your camera roll via Settings > Cortana > Permissions & history > “Manage the information Cortana can access from this device”. The next time you take a picture of a flier for an upcoming event, Cortana will reach out asking if you want to create a reminder for that time. Note: Cortana will only provide insights when your device is plugged into a power source and on an un-metered network. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0fe6339fc5ae73552fa64b795fbf7db2.png Cortana Lasso: Are you a pen user? If so, Cortana can now help keep track of future events on your screen! Use the new lasso tool to circle the relevant information and Cortana will recognize the time, and offer suggested follow-ups through a context menu. Keeping track of upcoming events has never been easier! To try it out, go to Settings > Device > Pen & Windows Ink > Press and hold, and select Cortana Lasso in the dropdown picker. Find a website with upcoming event info, or an event poster someone shared in social media – once you have the event on your screen, just press and hold the pen back button, circle the time information, and watch Cortana do her magic. That easy! Note: For this to work, your pen will need to support Press and Hold – for example the pen that came with the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, or Surface Studio. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/6569e07493691e2afcfbbedebafe9167.png Evolving the handwriting experience in Windows 10 Using your feedback to evolve the handwriting experience: We’ve been hard at work incorporating your feedback, and with today’s build we’re introducing a new XAML-based handwriting panel – with more gestures, easier editing, emoji, and more! New features include: Write as much as you want in the panel with the new conversion & overflow model! As you write, you’ll now see your previous words convert to typed text within the handwriting panel. When you fill the handwriting panel and lift your pen off the screen, the text will shift so you have room to continue writing. Press the commit button to insert all the text and clear the slate. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/44944e6f8beb15e90e1b5371228050b2.gif Select text to edit it: See something you want to change? If you select text while the handwriting panel is open, that text will now appear within the panel so you can easily make alterations. Make corrections within the handwriting panel by overwriting converted text: Was something misrecognized? Instead of using the suggested text alternate, you now have the option of just inking the correct letters right on top of the converted text! https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/65348f73567bbc14abf70f989f9b87a4.gif Make corrections using ink gestures: Once your written words have been converted to type, or if you’ve selected existing text, you can now easily make simple edits from within the handwriting panel using our four new gestures: strikethrough, scratch, join, and split. Try it out! https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/582cdef9b5bd99d270cfb78f05b6084f.gif Easier access to emoji and symbols: We’ve added two new buttons to the handwriting panel, so you can easily input emoji or symbols without needing to switch to the touch keyboard Simply tap the button, pick the character you want, and you’re set to go! Reducing the chance of palm rejection: We’ve added a new setting in Pen & Windows Ink Settings so finger inking needs to be explicitly enabled – this will help avoid inadvertent ink being drawn on the handwriting panel as you’re writing with your pen. Floating by default: While you still have the option to choose, we’ve made the decision for the handwriting panel to now by default appear next to where you’re writing. To change modes, tap the new keyboard settings menu button in the top left corner of the keyboard. Improved handwriting recognition for English (United States): We’ve made some changes to our US English handwriting recognition engine to improve its accuracy. Would love for Insiders to try it out and share feedback on how it feels now. English mode for Simplified Chinese handwriting: To further improve the recognition accuracy of mixed input (when Chinese and English characters are inked together), we’ve added an English mode button when handwriting in Simplified Chinese. Just press the button, ink the desired English words, and the inking done in English mode will be recognized using the English (United States) handwriting recognition engine. After your inking in English is finished, you can press the English mode button again to go back to default mode. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/e9810e854fbd231ec2bd19dd1a016962.jpg We rely on your feedback to let us know how this new experience is doing, and will be using your feedback to determine readiness. Please try writing some things and log feedback about the experience here. If your PC has pen support, then the handwriting engine for each language should download automatically when you add it to your language list. If it doesn’t, you can go to Optional Features and choose to download it. We’re currently investigating your reports that there’s been some lag when inputting ink in recent builds. Find My Pen: Don’t know where you put your pen? The pen doesn’t have a GPS, so we can’t help you there, but what we *can* do is tell you where you were when you last inked on your computer. Which is what we’ve done! Head over to Settings > Update & Security > “Find My Device” to see what it’s all about. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/31147a48d348e6236d82f8e7452cf237.png Pen interaction improvements: Scrolling with pen. In the effort to create a more intuitive pen interaction on Windows, we are emphasizing natural and direct manipulation of content with pen. You don’t have to “hunt and peck” for scrollbars or frequently switch between pen and touch when navigating; now you can scroll content directly and fluently as you would with your finger. Want to see it working? Using the pen to scroll is a pretty big request I've heard from pen users – looking forward to #WindowsInsiders getting their hands on it ???? pic.twitter.com/1cQELsoz9D — Jen Gentleman ???? (@JenMsft) May 11, 2017 Selection with pen. We also revised selection with pen by giving it more control over the selection process. Not only are we showing selection grippers whenever text is selected via pen, but also are allowing for a consistent and fast selection of content – text, objects, or ink—by dragging the pen while the barrel button is pressed. Note: scrolling with pen is currently only supported for UWP apps, however we’re working on adding it for Win32 as well (like File Explorer). Selection with pen isn’t yet up and running in Microsoft Edge, but it will be coming in a later flight. This will also impact selecting text with pen in epubs and PDFs in order to try the new Microsoft Edge features shown above. For now, please use another input method if you’d like to see how it works. Hardware keyboard Improvements Entering emoji on your hardware keyboard just got easier: We’ve heard your feedback, and today we’re happy to announce the new Emoji Panel! Press Win + period (.) or Win + semicolon (;) while focus is in a text box and the Emoji Panel will pop up for you to quickly scroll through and pick the emoji you want. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/dea1e5a45473d6a9d90472de8eeabdce.png In the “People” emoji category, you can change the skin tone of the emoji by clicking the button on the top-right: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/bd84e5c7fbc8e423e84937088878e25f.png In addition to using your mouse to select an emoji, you can also navigate through the panel by using the following keys: Arrow keys – Navigate among emoji Tab / Shift + Tab – Switch emoji category Enter – Select an emoji Esc – Close the panel Currently this emoji experience is only available when English (United States) is the active language of your keyboard. As a reminder, if you need to switch between the languages in your language list, you can use the Win + Space hotkey. Converging our touch keyboard experience We have a totally new touch keyboard on Desktop! If you’ve been jealous of better keyboard features on your phone, then you’ll be happy to hear with today’s build we’re bringing those familiar phone keyboard experiences to your PC with our new XAML-based touch keyboard! This includes many popular requests we’ve heard from you such as: Enhanced Text Prediction: We’ve made a bunch of improvements to our text prediction engine to make it more intelligent. For example, you now don’t need to type anything other than “Text ” to complete the frequently used message, “Text me when you get a chance” using the suggested words. If you’re using a UWP app, you can also now enjoy Emoji suggestions!Try it out! Type “birthday ”, “coffee ”, or “dog ” and see what happens! Prediction is currently only working with the English US keyboard, however we’re working on enabling more languages https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/e3ac6776e4a18690a238842714e4bf7e.png Improved emoji experience: If you switch to the touch keyboard’s emoji view, you’ll find can now smoothly scroll through the entire contents of each emoji category, rather than page by page. You’ll also notice that any additional available emoji candidates based on your most recent word are displayed at the top in the candidate area https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5174fe6d138588b6702da47488ffbc7f.png One-handed touch keyboard: Following extensive research on tablet postures, we’re adding a new keyboard layout to provide the most comfort when holding the device in your hands! It looks similar to a phone keyboard – smaller and more narrow. You can freely put this smaller touch keyboard wherever you want (although we recommend docked to the side of your screen ) and use it with one hand. To switch between languages, press and hold on the &123 key. Note: This keyboard takes the place of the split keyboard layout https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/069f4befdfe6eb60d7503c54bd98d758.png Shape writing with the one-handed touch keyboard: One of the most powerful phone keyboard features for fast and easy text input involves swiping over the keys without releasing your finger on the screen. We call it shape writing. Today we proudly announce the first shape writing keyboard on PC! Because it’s works just like your familiar phone-style one-handed keyboard, you don’t need to do anything to learn it again. Just use it as you would use your phone’s touch keyboard. Bonus: it also works with pen! Shape writing is currently only supported for the English US keyboard, however we’re working on enabling more languages. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/895b8def85f53c533bc37303a555edf3.png A new touch keyboard settings menu: Along with all our other improvements, we’ve updated the way to switch into Handwriting panel and other keyboard layouts. You can find our keyboard settings menu icon at the top left corner of the touch keyboard. It’s a one-stop settings panel for all the layouts (Default, One-handed, Handwriting, Full) and modes (Docked, Floating), as well as a shortcut for jumping to language settings. As we light up these new keyboard experiences, it’s very important that we receive your feedback to help make improvements and ensure we ship a polished experience to Windows users. If you have a touch or pen capable device, please take a moment to try it out in any languages that you speak and give feedback in as much detail as possible. Our readiness decision will be based on what you tell us. (PS – don’t forget you can move the keyboard around when it’s undocked by dragging the move icon in the top right corner!) Please note the touch keyboards for Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages are not working with this build – we will fix this as soon as possible in an upcoming flight. Dictation on the Desktop: Our keen-eyed Insiders may have noticed a microphone button in the touch keyboard pictures above – that’s because you can now use dictation to input English or Chinese text on desktop! Simply tap the microphone button in the top left corner of the touch keyboard or handwriting panel, or press the new dictation hotkey Win + H to start dictating. Currently only available for English (United States) and Chinese (Simplified) input methods. Besides dictating text, you can also use voice commands to do basic editing or to input punctuations. Below are some examples of English dictation voice commands: Say “press backspace” to inject a backspace character Say “clear selection” to unselect the text that has been selected Say “press delete” to inject a delete keystroke Say “delete that” to delete the most recent speech recognition results, or the currently selected text Say “delete last three words” to delete the last three words Say “stop dictating” to terminate the dictation session Say “end spelling” to terminate spelling mode Say “go after <word or phrase>” to move the cursor to the first character after the specified word or phrase Say “go to the end of paragraph” to move the cursor to the end of the paragraph Say “move back to the previous word” to move the cursor to the left side of the previous word Say “go to start of <word or phrase>” to move the cursor to the first character before the specified word or phrase Say “go to the start of paragraph” to move the insertion point to the start of paragraph Say “go down to next sentence” to move the cursor forward to next sentence Say “go to the end of the sentence” to move the insertion point to the end of the sentence Say “move to the start of the word” to move the insertion point to the start of the word Say “go to the left” to inject a left arrow into input Say “move right” to inject a right arrow into input Say “select <word or phrase>” to select the specific word or phrase Say “select that” to select the most recent speech recognition result Say “select next three words” to select the next three words Say “start spelling” to switch to spelling mode Say “comma” (or “period”, “question mark” etc.) to input the punctuation “,” (or “.”, “?”, etc.) Shell Improvements Enhancing your Share experience: We want sharing to be easy and natural. With the last build we added people-first sharing, and with this build we’re bringing another new Share feature to your desktop: Copy Link: Don’t see the app you’re looking for in the Share UI? If you’re sharing a link – like a website in Microsoft Edge, or an app from Store – we’ve added a new option in the Share UI to copy that link to your clipboard, so you easily can paste it into your app of choice. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b62c853a0f044f57ceda7fc7cb23b5d6.png New local media folder detection for UWPs: Photos, Groove Music and Movies & TV all have one thing in common: exploring your local content based on the folders you provide. We’ve heard your feedback that sometimes local media is missing as a result of folders not being included, so with this build we’re adding new logic to address this. After a storage scan, we will now detect relevant media folders you might want to include in your collection when looking at the files via UWP apps, and suggest them to you when you go to add new folders. Want to try it out now? Add a new folder with 30+ pictures, songs, or videos to your desktop. Go to Storage Settings and press the refresh button to trigger a scan. The next time you go to add a folder to your favorite UWP (such as Groove Music), you’ll see this new experience: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/8a225f2b41dacea9f99d33e2147bf460.jpg Note: If no new media is detected, you will see the file picker dialog. My People Improvements: We fixed an issue where the icons of contacts pinned to the taskbar would appear cut off when using small taskbar icons. We’ve updated our logic so that if you have the My People flyout open, you can now drop a file onto any of the contacts pinned in the overflow area to initiate a share with them. We’re updated the sound made when you receive an emoji from one of the contacts pinned to the People bar in the taskbar. We improved My People reliability and fixed an issue where hit testing would become offset after adding or removing items from the systray. Night light improvements including: We fixed an issue where mirroring a display and then disconnecting from it would break night light on that screen. We fixed an issue where when night light had been manually enabled, and the device entered then exited S3 sleep, night could then become disabled. As a result of your feedback, we’ve updated our logic to now use a quick transition into night flight if applicable after rebooting or manually enabling night light. Settings Improvements: New Video Playback Settings: Head to Settings > Personalization > Video Playback and you’ll now find some additional controls for media enthusiasts. If you have an HDR monitor, we’d love to hear your feedback on how video streaming feels when these new options are enabled. We’ve also added some battery settings for you to decide whether you’d prefer to optimize video streaming for battery usage or video quality. Note: You’ll noticed a “Unsupported video type or invalid file path” error at the top of the page. This is a known issue we’re looking into, it shouldn’t otherwise impact the usage of these settings. A new HDR and Advanced Color Settings Page: If you have at least one connected display that supports HDR, you’ll now see some additional information! Go to Settings > System > Display > “HDR and advanced color settings” to find more details about the HDR settings of the currently selected display. Per-App Defaults Settings Page: In the past, when using Settings you had to start with your file type or protocol if you wanted to make a change to the default app. That’s changing with this build, and you can now start with your app, and then see the available options for what it can handle. To see this new option, go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > “Set defaults by App”. Choose an app and click ‘Manage’ to see all the file types and protocol associations for which the app is the default. This page takes the place of the one that had been available in Control Panel, as part of our ongoing effort to converge the settings experience. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/004298038dcfd15eb89fa830813ed6fb.png Updated Network connection properties page: We’ve heard your feedback that setting a network profile to public or private isn’t discoverable, so we’ve updated the Network connection properties page to make it easier and prominent. Instead of the previous toggle under “Make this PC discoverable”, you’ll now find two radio buttons to select whether the profile should be public or private. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f6543353195e4cf3a08687a4b1cdfb94.png A new context menu for Wi-Fi networks in the View Available Networks flyout: To get you where you need to go faster, we’ve added a new context menu full of quick actions when you right-click one of the listed Wi-Fi networks. Options include Connect, Disconnect, View Properties, or Forget Network. Windows Update improvements: View your active Windows Update policies: If there are any applied group policies for Windows Update, a page will now appear in Windows Update Settings so you can look through them. Understanding your updates: We now list out the individual update status and progress in Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. So if there are multiple updates pending (for example, a new build, a driver update, and a definition update for Windows Defender), you can see and track each different status, which wasn’t as obvious with the single progress bar used in prior builds. Other improvements in Settings include: You can now add other AAD work/school users from Settings. We’ve heard your feedback, and have adjusted the order of the Settings categories so that the new Cortana category is now more central, and the Windows Update category is now once again the final one in the list. When moving or uninstalling an app from the Apps & Features Settings page, you’ll now see a progress bar. We fixed an issue where pinned secondary tiles would appear as groups in that app’s Notification & Actions Settings. We fixed an issue resulting in garbled characters when viewing the new tips in Settings on non-English languages Gaming Improvements Game bar improvements: Based on your feedback, the Game bar (Win + G) now has a button to enable or disable Game Mode for the current game. Its icon will be updated soon in a future flight. The Game bar (Win + G) now allows you to take screenshots of games running in HDR. Sharing those screenshots to Xbox Live using the Xbox app will come in a future update of the app. Note: broadcasting does not support HDR. Screenshots will be taken in the resolution of the game window, which enables the 4K screenshots that are now supported. Game Clips and broadcasts will be transcoded to 1080p if the resolution is higher than that. Screenshots of games running in HDR should now correctly save a copy in PNG that is tone mapped to SDR. Bitrate changes during game broadcasting to Mixer should now be smoother and more seamless. When broadcasting to Mixer, you can now specify the language that you are speaking during the broadcast. The resources made available to games running in Game Mode have been tweaked on popular machine configs, including 6 and 8 core CPU machines, resulting in improved game performance for games running in Game Mode. If you missed our announcement introducing Mixer and all the goodness along with it, check it out here! Developer Improvements Per app Runtime Broker: If you open Task Manager, you will notice UWPs now use per-application instanced Runtime Broker processes, rather than all sharing a single session-wide Runtime Broker. This will help improve resource attribution, resource management, and fault tolerance. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) no longer requires Developer Mode! Previously, you had to enable Developer Mode (Settings -> Update & Security -> For Developers) in order to run Bash & Linux tools on Windows. This restriction has been lifted; you can now run Bash on Windows without developer mode being enabled! More information here Hyper-V gets virtual battery support: You can now see your machine’s battery state in your VMs! To try this feature, create a new VM using the “New-VM” cmdlet, and add the “-Prerelease” flag. This will give you a pre-release VM that will have this feature enabled. Other improvements including: Registry Editor is now per-monitor DPI aware! That means it should no longer be blurry when used in mixed DPI environments, or when changing DPI. We fixed an issue resulting in VIM being broken for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) users in result flights. We fixed an issue where the choice command was failing when run in a Command Prompt script. Ease of Access Improvements: Narrator Improvements: Scan Mode on By Default: The largest change that you will experience is that Scan Mode is now on by default. This means that: Up and Down Arrows to get through everything: You can simply use the up and down arrow keys to get through all of the content of your application. Press Space to Interact: To interact with simple controls (such as buttons, checkboxes, toggle buttons etc. you can press the space bar). Editbox Switching: If you navigate to an edit field using the up and down arrows, Narrator will automatically turn off Scan Mode so that you can type into the edit field. When you are ready to exit the edit field you can use the up and down arrows to exit the edit field and Narrator will turn scan mode back on. Turn off Scan Mode with Caps + Space: If you want to turn off scan mode, and want to get back to the old way of doing things, press Caps + Space. It will be turned off for that app and you will hear “Off”. Remembering the state of scan mode by application: If you explicitly turn off scan mode, by pressing Caps + Space in an application, this choice will be saved in an exceptions list so that when you reopen the application Scan Mode is off. To remove this application from the exceptions list you can press Caps + Space again Left and Right Arrow to move by character: Left and right arrows will move you by character Since Scan Mode is now on by default, we’ve removed the popup dialog when first launching Narrator explaining how to start scan mode. Narrator Input learning: This will allow you to learn the keys on your device. Narrator will tell you the key that you have pressed, and the Narrator command associated with it. This mode can be turned on and off with Caps + 1. New and improved hotkeys: To read from where you currently are through the rest of the application you can press Caps + R for Read. To jump to the beginning of an application you can now press Caps + Home and to jump to the end of an application you can press Caps + End. The read window command, Caps + W also had some improvements in this release. Caps + W will now read both the controls in the window and the text. [*]Narrator Getting Started User Guide: There is now a button in the main Narrator UI to the Narrator User Guide located here, where you can find more information about scan mode and all of the Scan Mode commands. Braille improvements: Narrator users can type and read using different braille translations, choose a blinking cursor representation, and choose the duration of “flash messages”. You can also now perform braille input for app shortcuts and modifier keys, which enables you to use your braille display for common tasks such as: Pressing the Tab key Pressing the Escape key Pressing the Windows key Pressing sequences like Win + U to open Ease of Access Settings Pressing sequences like Alt + F to open the file menu Pressing sequences like Ctrl + S to save Pressing sequences like Ctrl + Alt + N Using first letter navigation in lists And more! For the app shortcuts, there are also new commands to perform that input. Here’s a list of example commands (Braille dots = Keyboard input): Space + dot4 + dot5 = Tab key (Tab key) Space + dot1 + dot2 = Shift + Tab key (Set skipping of blank braille windows on/off) Space + dot2 + dot3 + dot4 + dot5 = Alt + Tab key (Set track screen cursor on/off) Space + dot2 + dot4 + dot5 + dot6 = Windows key (Set sliding braille windows on/off) Space + dot1 + dot2 + dot3 + dot5 = Windows + Tab key (Set autorepeat on/off) Space + Routing Key 1 – 12 = F1 – F12 keys Dot7 = Backspace key Dot8 = Enter key Space + dot2 + dot6 = Escape key Space + dot3 = Cursor left key Space + dot6 = Cursor right key Space + dot1 = Cursor up key Space + dot4 = Cursor down key Space + dot2 + dot3 = Page up key Space + dot5 + dot6 = Page down key Space + dot2 = Home key Space + dot5 = End key Space + dot3 + dot5 = Insert key Space + dot2 + dot5 + dot6 = Delete key Inject and hold one or more modifier keys followed by another letter or key: Space + dot8 + dot1 = Hold Windows key Space + dot8 + dot2 = Hold Alt key Space + dot8 + dot3 = Hold Ctrl key Space + dot8 + dot4 = Hold Shift key Space + dot8 + dot5 = Hold AltGr key Space + dot8 + dot6 = Hold Caps Lock key Space + dot8 + dot7 = Un-hold all modifiers Introducing Color filters: Windows 10 now includes color filters at the system level, including filters designed to make it easier for people with color blindness to differentiate between colors like red and green and to make it easier for people with light sensitivity to create and consume content. You can find these new filtering options under Settings > Ease of Access > Color and High Contrast” (previously called High Contrast Settings). https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/a1a4abcf5dc1c69bc25ee4de07a9f491.png Magnifier UI improvements: We’ve updated the Magnifier zoom in and out buttons to have a more modern style. Note: You’ll notice a new “Enable bitmap smoothing” option in Magnifier Settings. This feature isn’t functioning yet, but we’ll let you know when it is. Font Improvements Please welcome UD Digital Kyokasho-tai to our Windows font family in Japan! We’ve been listening carefully to your feedback, and starting with Build 16215, we have a new inbox font when you install Windows 10 in Japanese. This font maintains the feel of handwriting – the shapes of tear drops and sweeps – by carefully controlling the weight of the strokes, while also leveraging designs that address concerns for those with low vision or dyslexia. Our research shows that the font increases readability of textbook content. Please try typing a few phrases using this font and let us know what you think! https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/c2abd8ebb4fe61a7a33cdcd6e5e4da24.png Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) Improvements: More contextual predictive candidates: Predictive candidates are now more contextual than with the Creators Update so you can smoothly input your desired text https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/8e045f2e25767ef752eaba216b20fa26.png The predictive candidate window is now suppressed in search boxes: The IME predictive candidate window will be hidden when you are typing in search boxes such as Bing search or the Microsoft Edge address bar, where suggestions are already shown from the app or service. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/1c54bb6582c7092389b4c663074f1dfa.png Improved reliability and several bug fixes: Please try out the experience in this build and let us know if it’s improved for you. Includes fixing an issue where the IME Pad and the Japanese IME User Dictionary Tool weren’t launching when focus was set to input fields in Microsoft Edge. Traditional Chinese Input Method Editor (IME) Improvements: Improved Bopomofo IME learning: We’ve modified the Bopomofo IME to make it learn which candidates were selected and adjust the suggested candidates based on the ones you pick more frequently. Improved IME mode handling: We’ve modified the behavior of input mode for the Bopomofo IME to now respect your preferred default mode in settings when switching to this IME from other traditional Chinese IMEs. When the Bopomofo IME is turned off (either intentionally or accidentally), it is now possible to toggle the IME back on by pressing shift key, or clicking on the mode icon in the language bar. We’ve addressed the issue where the Traditional Chinese ChangJie and Quick IMEs would enter into full width for alphanumeric characters, despite preferred default mode being configured to “Chinese”. Improved reliability and bug fixes including: We fixed an issue from recent flights where moving focus away from the Microsoft Edge window while the Bopomofo IME was the active input method would result in the window becoming unresponsive. Changes, improvements, and fixes for PC Language Packs via Settings > Time & language > Region & language are available again starting with this build. The issue causing updating to the latest builds to get stuck at 12% should be fixed. If you still hit this, please send us feedback in Feedback Hub so the team can investigate. We fixed the issue causing you to be unable to type in your password to log in to any UWP apps such as Netflix, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Messenger apps. We fixed the issue causing Outlook 2016 to hang on launch due to an issue where the spam filter gets stuck reading the Outlook Data File and the UI waits indefinitely for it to return. We fixed an issue from the previous flight where Microsoft Edge would crash when enabling or disabling extensions. We’ve removed the power option to “update and shutdown” for now as it wasn’t working. You may see Recovery Drive tool show up under “Recently added” on Start after updating to this build. We have made a change that makes the tool, previously only accessible via Control Panel, to now be available in the Windows Administrative Tools folder in Start. We fixed an issue where an unexpected Wireless Display Media Viewer app with a blank icon was visible in Start after upgrading on certain devices. We’ve made some improvements to our facial recognition, along with a new toast you’ll see prompting you to further train Windows Hello if having issues signing in when a large amount of backlighting detected. We fixed an issue resulting in Windows Hello Face failing to work on the previous flight for a large number of non-English languages. We fixed an issue resulting in games such as Civilization VI, Galactic Civilizations III, and Expeditions: Viking failing to launch on recent builds. We fixed an issue where inbox UWP app icons were overscaled in Cortana search results. We’ve heard your feedback, and have adjusted the text in our prompt to initiate cross device notifications from saying “Trust this PC?” to now say “You got a message on your phone. Want to see phone messages on this PC too?”. We fixed the issue causing some people to hit Error 0x8000ffff while trying to launch an isolated Edge session in Windows Defender Application Guard. Known issues for PC Features that are delivered on-demand from Windows Update such as Developer Mode, .NET 3.5, and Speech Packs will not be available for this build. If you are a developer and require Developer Mode – please ensure it is enabled BEFORE taking this build. On some PCs with enterprise configurations, you may not be able to open PDFs in Microsoft Edge on this build. As a workaround, you can download PDFs and open them with a third party reader or the Reader app from the Windows Store. Microsoft Edge may load web pages at the wrong scale factor (highly zoomed in) on some devices with high density displays. As a workaround. switching to another tab and back should resolve this problem. Some PDFs may open in a cropped view (zoomed in) in Microsoft Edge, and part of the content may be inaccessible to the user. Additionally, input to these PDFs may be offset to the wrong location on screen. As a workaround, you can download PDFs and open them with a third party reader or the Reader app from the Windows Store. After upgrading, inbox apps that are the same version on the downlevel OS and uplevel OS will disappear from Start. If you are impacted by this, please go to Settings > Apps > Apps & Features, select the impacted app, tap “advanced options”, click reset, and that should fix it. We’ve made a fix to address your feedback that PDFs aren’t opening in Microsoft Edge. This will resolve the issue for most Insiders, however we’re still investigating one issue specific to those with Windows Information Protection (EDP) enabled. We’re working to address this as soon as possible in an upcoming flight. New Windows Mixed Reality developers need to install build 16193 or RS2 RTM, plug in the Windows Mixed Reality headset and set up Mixed Reality, then upgrade to the latest FAST build for the best development experience. If you update to Build 16215 without setting up Mixed Reality, you will not be able to download Mixed Reality software. You will end up with multiple copies of each printer after upgrading. Only the copy with the highest number will work. Wi-Fi will get turned off on certain devices like the Surface Pro 1 and Surface Pro 2 and some USB devices and won’t work due to a driver issue. To get Wi-Fi working again, you will have to roll-back to the previous build. If you’re using a Chinese IME and try to type in Cortana, it will hang Cortana and not work. Some UWP apps such as Twitter will crash on launch. After updating to this build, Microsoft Text Input Application might appear on your All apps list and when you try to open it, it opens as a blank window. The mini surveys we call SIUFs from Feedback Hub will not work on this build but please send us feedback as you normally would for this build! Changes, improvements, and fixes for Mobile This build also includes all the improvements from KB4016871 and KB4020102. The copyright date is correctly showing 2017 now under Settings > System > About. We fixed an issue where WhatsApp would not launch after updating to the latest Mobile builds. We fixed an issue with using the Japanese 12 Key soft keyboard where the “right arrow” key did not input a space We fixed an issue with the Bulgarian keyboard localization for the HP Lap Dock in Continuum. We have further improved the reliability of notifications for apps with a paired Bluetooth device, such as Fitbit. Improved the Time & Language settings page UX for Speech and Keyboard language downloads. Previously, the status would show “Downloading” for speech and “Installing” for keyboard. Unless, the user tapped on the language or navigated to the Update & Security settings page, there was no indication that a restart is required to complete the installation. Now when the update reaches the reboot pending state, a “Restart Required” is displayed under the language. We fixed several enterprise device management issues. We fixed an issue where notifications and Cortana’s cross-devices settings on your device were not being mirrored to your PC. Known issues for Mobile In some cases, the WeChat app may crash on launch. No downtime for Hustle-As-A-Service, Dona <3 The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16215 for PC + Build 15222 for Mobile appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

We hope you enjoyed today’s episode of This Week on Windows! Head over here for our Windows 10 Tip on how to organize your Start files with the new tile folders in the Windows 10 Creators Update, explore an ocean world and encounter majestic creatures and ancient secrets in ABZU, now in the Windows Store – or, keep reading to catch up on this week’s news. In case you missed it: Here’s what’s new in the Windows Store this week: HP launches new, cutting-edge portfolio of OMEN by HP gaming products with Windows 10 Click to view slideshow. This week, HP announced a new portfolio of OMEN PCs, displays and accessories, packed with features designed to target the needs of gamers around the world. Built with Windows 10, these devices arrive equipped with the Xbox app and Direct X12, can take advantage of Xbox Play Anywhere and have Cortana* – your digital personal assistant who can help you complete tasks, set reminders and more – built-in. The new products announced include: OMEN X Compact Desktop with a factory-overclocked GPU from NVIDIA and a versatile formfactor, creating the ability to dock and undock quickly for gaming in any room or attach the desktop to a backpack accessory for an unparalleled, untethered VR experience. New backpack accessory with the OMEN X Compact Desktop for a new dimension of flexibility to the platform OMEN mechanical keyboard, a mouse with weight customization, and a headset with cushioned ear cups to reduce background noise and mousepads designed for precision OMEN Desktop with advanced thermal engineering, a modern powerful design and access to industry standard parts for easy upgradability Improve your reaction time and maximize the potential of your GPU with the OMEN 25 display with AMD FreeSync or the OMEN 27 Display with NVIDIA G-Sync support OMEN 15 and OMEN 17 laptops, with the latest high-performance graphics from NVIDIA and AMD, high-resolution displays with optional GSync and FreeSync technology for fast refresh rates and a single-access service panel To learn more, visit HP.com! Beauty and the Beast – Rent from $4.99 or buy from $14.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9a2f859d40231551831e6cb9f44ddb66.jpg The story and characters you love come to life in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic, a cinematic event celebrating one of the most beloved tales ever told. Rent or own Beauty and the Beast now in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 – Buy from $26.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/788dfaca085f04c48fe5c61e73871a75.jpg In the zombie-ridden wasteland formerly known as the U.S.-Mexico border, the remaining survivors will come together as they attempt to fight off the infected and rebuild not only society, but rebuild their families as well. Don’t miss the season 3 premiere of Fear the Walking Dead ($34.99 HD, $26.99 SD), available now in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. Forza Horizon 3 Mountain Dew Car Pack – Buy for $6.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f548a7cc871fcdc7dc36cb41b27e4af2.jpg Seven new cars arrived today in Forza Horizon 3 with the release of the Mountain Dew Car Pack. From the ultimate track toy prowess found in the 2016 Lotus 3-Eleven or the sensible practicality of “Australia’s Own Car” the 1951 Holden FX Sedan, this car pack is full of fun, functional, and formidable cars to take to the track or your favorite road. Microsoft Ultimate Word Games – Free https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/01e1f27649510b0990e65b4c4a988ee9.png It’s new, it’s fun, it’s three games in one: Microsoft Ultimate Word Games (Free, with IAP options) is the ultimate collection of the three best word games for Windows 10. Start with Crosswords, featuring multiple board sizes, difficulties and lots of options, test your skills at Wordament to find words in a 4×4 grid of letter tiles and then play Jumble to create as many words as you can using the given letters. Yooka-Laylee – Buy for $39.99 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/1982fae487209f884ab6e151b235de17.jpg The two pals who lead the way to fun in Yooka-Laylee ($39.99) also give the game its name. The goal is to thwart corporate creep Capital B, but along the way Yooka and Laylee explore the huge, beautiful worlds unfolding before them, meet an unforgettable cast of characters and horde a vault-load of collectibles. Father’s Day Collection https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/77432626a1a2cf4beefbca81f6030753.png The Father’s Day Collection in the Windows Store helps dads everywhere get the most out of their special day. Find favorite apps for dads including Skype, iHeartRadio, Hulu, OpenTable, PGA Tour, WatchESPN and much more! Have a great weekend! The post This Week on Windows: Beauty and the Beast, Yooka-Laylee and more appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b767e6c4ea4fc827f6c15fed5eda366d.jpg We’re extremely excited to announce that, for the first time, our briefing will be broadcast in 4K! If your monitor or TV supports the technology, you can watch the Xbox E3 2017 Briefing live in glorious 4K on the official Xbox Mixer Channel or on the Mixer app for Xbox One. You’ll also be able to catch a live stream of the briefing on the Xbox Twitch Channel, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook Live. We’re also partnering with the innovative media company Fuse to bring the Xbox E3 2017 Briefing to cable and satellite subscribers in the U.S. and Canada at 2 p.m. PDT (or 5 p.m. EDT). Be sure to download the Fuse TV app or hit up Fuse.tv to find out where you can watch Fuse. E3 2017 kicks off Saturday, June 10, with the industry’s biggest game developers and publishers converging on the Los Angeles Convention Center to share the most exciting game reveals and announcements of the year. Feel like enjoying the briefing with your fellow Xbox fans? We’re excited once again for fans across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia to be able to join the E3 celebration at their local Microsoft Store. Watch the Xbox E3 2017 Briefing live as we unveil the latest Xbox announcements and giveaway Xbox gear and more. Plus, attendees can participate in a Forza Motorsport 6 tournament to show off your racing gaming skills to win exclusive Xbox One prizes. More information can be found on the Microsoft Store Facebook event page. New York and Sydney fans can also enjoy a premium viewing experience including the brand new Mixer NYC Studio at the flagship Microsoft Store in New York and Los Angeles fans can meet Twitch shoutcaster and four time Pro Bowler Ahman Green, who’s hosting the tournament. What’s more, all three locations will include exclusive access to a special surprise! Once again, we’re excited to share that Xbox Daily: Live @ E3, our live news show that covers all things Xbox at E3, will return. The show will air: Monday, June 12, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. PDT Tuesday, June 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. PDT Wednesday, June 14, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. PDT Thursday, June 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PDT The best place to watch Xbox Daily: Live @ E3 is on the official Xbox Mixer channel (via the web, your Windows 10 PC, mobile device, or your console), as we’ll be doing giveaways there throughout the show. The show will also be streamed live on the Xbox Twitch Channel, YouTube, and Facebook Live. Julia Hardy will be joining our own Larry Hryb (Xbox Live’s Major Nelson) and Graeme Boyd (Xbox Live’s AceyBongos) as hosts of the show. You’ll also be able to catch Geoff Keighley and surprise guests from Xbox on the YouTube Live @ E3 show. The show kicks off Sunday, June 11 at 4 p.m. PDT, and will take a deep dive into some of the hottest news coming out of our briefing. These are just a few of the E3 activities that Xbox has planned; we’ll also have plenty of announcements, game previews, and other awesome stuff, so stay tuned to Xbox Wire for all the latest on E3 2017, and head over here to read more about how you can tune in. The post How to follow along with Microsoft at E3 2017 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Happy Monday! Today, we’re going to show you how you can organize your Start files with tile folders, new to Windows 10 with the Windows 10 Creators Update. Here’s how to get started: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4dd60b45c4b4a1556bba4f2f29b28c29.gif Simply click and drag one icon onto another to create a tile folder with both. Then, you can add any other icons you’d like by dragging them onto the folder, or resize it by right-clicking on it. Have a great week! The post Windows 10 Tip: Organize your Start files with new tile folders appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

This month we’re featuring seven very special cars, including two legendary classics, one from Australia and the other, America. The 48-215, otherwise known as the 1951 Holden FX Sedan, was a post-war breakthrough for Australian car fans, featuring the roomy ruggedness that Aussies demanded. For Americans, the AMC Gremlin X was a response to the fuel crisis of the 1970s, resulting in a car whose distinctive shape has become the stuff of legend. For fans who want a bit more speed, this month’s pack features the GT version of Ferrari’s classic F50, as well as the 2016 Lotus 3-Eleven – a track car in its purest form. The Mountain Dew Car Pack is available as a standalone purchase for Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One and on Windows 10 PCs, with Xbox Play Anywhere. As always, all the cars in the pack are compatible with both the Blizzard Mountain and Hot Wheels expansions. For a closer look at each of the cars in the pack, head over to Xbox Wire! The post Rev your engines with the Forza Horizon 3 Mountain Dew Car Pack appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...