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Focusing on the Creators in all of Us Since I was a kid, I have been drawn to computers because of what they enable each of us to make, to create. Recently Microsoft announced new hardware such as the Surface Studio and Dial, the Windows 10 Creators update, and new software such as Paint 3D, all focused on creators. Creation is a theme that extends across our suite of experiences, including the Photos app that comes with Windows 10. We have now made available the next step in this creator’s journey with an update to Microsoft Photos. We’re making it fun to view all your digital memories in photo or video form, with a refreshed user experience that makes it pleasant to browse your collection. We’ve updated the way you edit photos and apply filters to simplify the most common actions. To celebrate the new hardware and the creator in all of us, we’ve added the ability to draw on your photos and videos and even play back the ink with animation! We have ambitious plans with much more to come as we think about creators, digital memories, and storytelling. Stay tuned. The updated Photos app: Now in dark or light One of the first things you’ll notice in the updated Photos app is that things got a little lighter. We heard your feedback that for some people (most people!) a dark theme can be overwhelming or intimidating. We’ve got a new, light theme for browsing your pics! Let your memories shine through with the new light theme, or you can always go back to the dark theme in Settings. The single photo view still uses a black ‘lightbox’ feel to let your media show most effectively when it is the center of attention. Plus, Photos also now has a horizontal navigation bar, making it easier than ever to view your memories in different ways: your whole collection chronologically, or by Albums or Folders. We’ve also taken the time to add subtle animations throughout the experience to make your memories come alive. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/51b8234ada37556ae028e5be4bf148c5.png Draw on your memories We each use photos and videos to capture some of the most important moments in our lives. But sometimes, there is more to the story than what our pictures and videos can convey on their own, or you’d just like to personalize a message. Now you can use your stylus (or your finger if you have a touch screen device, or your mouse!) to draw on your memories directly. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/2ee6575c3805877ef6390fc09e6b819e.gif Choose from three pen types (I like calligraphic!), pick a color to draw with, and use the eraser to fine-tune your work. Once the ink dries, you can share a still of your new image. But even cooler, allow your message to come to life by sharing an animation of your drawing with friends and family as a video. Share it on Facebook, send over email. You can also draw on videos, and the ink will play back at the right places when others view it. Use the pen to mark up the peewee league football video just like the pros. Or give stage direction for the school play. Or just add funny comments, thought bubbles and moustaches to lighten up a goofy video. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/7587a3d8928b1bf2921650d1c84534bf.gif Editing made simple The photo editor now has a new, easy-to-use interface. The commands have been rearranged to emphasize the most common user needs, such as easy cropping and adjusting. All the other capabilities are still there under Enhance and Adjust. We’ve added a whole new set of filters too. Get creative with filters such as Zeke or Denim, then check out the other adjustable enhancements you can make to your photos, like tweaking the lighting or warmth. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/02e8bd16d8e8f3b5a155db7044c06a2d.png Photos now on Xbox As a Universal Windows application, Microsoft Photos is showing up throughout the Windows ecosystem. We’re also releasing Photos for the Xbox, which allows you to browse media you have stored on OneDrive for access on all your devices. Use your controller to navigate your memories just as you would expect with our Xbox optimized user interface. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/1b71459839633d76d2403465875212ba.png We’d love to hear from you! We’re making a big investment in Photos these days and we want your feedback on how to make it better. You are a key part of all the changes we make to the Photos experience. Try out the latest update, edit some photos, draw on some videos, and continue to share your feedback with us through the built-in feedback tool. You can find “Send Feedback” under the “…” menu. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ddd808f6351e08bec90bb0af87890b4b.png Chris Pratley Studio Manager The post New features arrive in Microsoft Photos on Windows 10 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Ready for a frozen adventure? Well, the wait is over because the Blizzard Mountain Expansion for Forza Horizon 3 is here! Available today in the Microsoft Store either as a standalone purchase or as part of the Forza Horizon 3 Expansion Pass, Blizzard Mountain invites players to the snowy elevations of a brand-new playable area of Forza Horizon 3’s Australia. A big part of the fun with Blizzard Mountain is the amazing roster of new cars and trucks coming to the game, each of which have been hand-picked to provide maximum fun in the extreme elevations and challenging weather conditions that can only be found on the mountain. Heading off the list is the brand new 2016 Ford GYMKHANA 9 Focus RS RX. Then there’s legendary rally racers like the 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Group B, the 1975 Lancia Stratos HF Group 4, alongside rough and ready trucks like the 2016 Nissan Titan Warrior Concept and the 1966 Ford F-100 Flareside Abatti Racing Trophy Truck and the 2016 RJ Anderson #37 RZR-Rockstar Energry Pro 2 Truck. Last, but not least, the 2016 Subaru #199 WRX STI VT15r Rally Car is a slice of modern rally brilliance that must be driven to be believed. And don’t forget: this expansion will also feature a brand-new barn find car, hidden somewhere in the snowy reaches of Blizzard Mountain. Blizzard Mountain is available separately for $19.99 or as part of the Forza Horizon 3 Expansion Pass, which gives players discounted access to two expansions for $34.99. Ultimate Edition owners receive a $10 discount on the Forza Horizon 3 Expansion Pass if purchased before the end of 2016. Read more over at Xbox Wire and check out the day-long stream showing off the best of what the mountain has to offer over on the official Forza Beam channel. Time to enjoy the snow! The post Forza Horizon 3’s Blizzard Mountain Expansion is here! appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Starting today, Rift owners can now stream their Xbox One library to Rift with the new Xbox One Streaming to Oculus Rift app, including favorites like “Gears of War 4,” “Forza Horizon 3” and “Halo 5: Guardians,” the biggest sports games, indie darlings, Backward Compatible Xbox 360 games, and more titles coming in 2017. Thanks to game streaming technology between Xbox One and Windows 10, the greatest Xbox console exclusive games can now be played on Windows 10 PCs, and now on Oculus Rift. What’s more, Rift works natively with Windows 10, which makes it easy to set up, jump in and have an incredible VR gaming experience with the fastest framerates and top performance. The app is available to download for free from the Oculus Store. Here’s how to get started with streaming your Xbox One games to your Windows 10 PC with Oculus Rift What you’ll need: Oculus Rift running on a Windows 10 PC (Not sure if your PC is powerful enough to drive VR experiences? Visit this link to check.) Xbox One Xbox One controller – remember, an Xbox One controller comes with every Xbox One console sold at retail and comes with every Rift sold at retail Free Xbox Live account Free Xbox One Streaming to Oculus Rift app Network connection To get started, you need an Oculus Rift running on a Windows 10 PC as well as an Xbox One on the same network. Simply download the Xbox One Streaming to Oculus Rift app in the Oculus Store and fire it up. Once you load the app, you can select your Xbox One on the list. As soon as you’ve connected to your Xbox One, you’ll see a streaming image straight from your console. Don’t have an Oculus Rift yet and want to check out this cool experience for yourself? You can purchase one from the Microsoft Store. Have a great week! The post Windows 10 Tip: How to stream Xbox One games to your Windows 10 PC with Oculus Rift appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Today, I’m excited to share another significant commitment by Microsoft to democratize AI: a new Microsoft Ventures fund for investment in AI companies focused on inclusive growth and positive impact on society. I also have an update about the growth of our overall portfolio of companies. AI holds great promise to augment human capabilities and improve society by tackling some of the world’s biggest problems. Our recently announced partnership with OpenAI is a key example of us working to use AI to address important issues such as climate change, inequality, health and education. Building on that, our participation in the Partnership on AI, and other efforts, we’ll make investments in startups that are responsibly harnessing the promise of AI to empower people and businesses. Companies in this fund will help people and machines work together to increase access to education, teach new skills and create jobs, enhance the capabilities of existing workforces and improve the treatment of diseases, to name just a few examples. Not long ago our CEO Satya Nadella outlined principles and goals for AI: AI must be designed to assist humanity; be transparent; maximize efficiency without destroying human dignity; provide intelligent privacy and accountability for the unexpected; and be guarded against biases. These principles guide us as we move forward with this fund. The first investment from this fund is Element AI, an incubator and platform that helps organizations embrace an AI-first strategy in support of these principles. Based in Montreal, Canada, the Element AI team is composed of academic researchers with strong connections across the top research labs in North America. Together with Element AI, we can connect human and machine intelligence to fuel powerful solutions. With today’s news, Microsoft Ventures expands our original mandate of supporting cloud companies that help enterprises navigate digital transformation. This new fund will make investments of similar size to previous Microsoft Ventures investments, and will only include businesses with promise for strong financial returns (as opposed to non-profits or NGOs). We expect our overall pace of investments will accelerate. Since forming the team earlier this year, we’ve already immersed ourselves in the global startup community – with investments in 19 inspiring companies. Following my last update in October, we’ve not only added Element AI to the list, but, we’ve also closed the following five investments in the U.S. and one in Israel: i3 Equity Partners – an investment vehicle dedicated to early-stage investments in Israeli IoT startups Zipwhip – a SaaS provider that enables businesses to send and receive text messages on existing landline, VoIP and toll-free phone numbers Paxata – a platform provider that enables business analysts with an enterprise-grade, self-service data preparation system xAd – a location intelligence software company that helps marketers unlock opportunities in the 90 percent of retail transactions that are still completed offline Dynamic Signal – a communications platform company that increases productivity and employee engagement with timely, relevant content across multiple channels and devices Tact – a sales experience platform that transforms a salesperson’s connected device into an AI-powered smart assistant We’ll continue to partner early with entrepreneurs who are breaking through, leading change and making a positive impact as the technology landscape evolves. As I reflect on the progress that Microsoft Ventures has made since I joined the company and began the fund earlier this year, I’m incredibly proud to be part this organization. We are providing resources to positively impact the startup ecosystem, the tech industry and people around the world. I’m looking forward to a great 2017. The post Microsoft Ventures: Making the long bet on AI + people appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

That’s right, you read the headline correctly – Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition releases for Windows 10 today. Previously available only on Xbox One, the Definitive Edition packs up ALL the content we’ve ever released – every character (psst, there are 26), stage (20 in full glory), costume, color, trailers and tracks – and puts it all into one box of awesome goodness. As an added bonus, it also comes with behind-the-scenes videos, never-before-seen concept art, and a full universe map so you can read the bios and backstories of all your favorite characters. With this release, Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition is now an Xbox Play Anywhere title – which means if you purchase the digital version (this also means current players on Xbox One) you can play on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs at no additional cost. Plus, Xbox Live cloud-saved player profiles enable you to access all your progress and add-on content, allowing you to pick up where you left off and bring all your saves, game add-ons and Achievements with you on both platforms. Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition also supports cross-play between Xbox One and Windows 10, so you can play with your friends regardless of which platform they use. Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition is available today for $39.99 in the Windows Store. Read more over at Xbox Wire! The post Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition launches on Windows 10 with Xbox Play Anywhere appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of This Week on Windows! Head over here to get Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 for 30% off, learn how to find your favorite holiday music with Microsoft Groove or catch up on the latest Xbox and Windows 10 devices – built to make it easy to play anywhere, connect socially around your favorite games, and even take your progress with you during holiday travels. Don’t miss Microsoft Stores’ 12 Days of Deals through Friday, Dec. 16 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5ff3d6b9d051ebedf50838680a7f35bc.jpg Whether you’re looking to knock out the last items on your gift list, find a new game for a friend or treat yourself to some of the coolest gadgets, the Microsoft Store has you covered. With great savings on some of the most sought-after gifts of the season like Xbox One games, select Surface devices, virtual reality experiences and many others, Microsoft Stores put everything you want within reach – at a great price. Visit your local Microsoft Store or microsoftstore.com for more details on availability and pricing. Dead Rising 4 Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 Trying to figure out what to get the zombie survivalist in your life for the holidays? Dead Rising 4 ($79.99 Deluxe Edition) has you covered and we’re excited to share the game is available today across the world in the Windows Store for Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One, and in Japan this Thursday, Dec. 8. Forza Horizon 3 Logitech G Car Pack Hot on the heels of Forza Horizon 3 winning the Best Racing/Sports award at the 2016 Game Awards, today we’re unveiling our latest car pack – the Logitech G Car Pack ($6.99), which features seven amazing vehicles hand-picked to deliver driving delights during the holidays. Leading off the pack is the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept. Sure, it might not be drivable in the real world yet, but it’s easy to appreciate this car’s beautiful melding of performance and luxury in Forza Horizon 3. Best of 2016 in Movies & TV https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/bf3c17b6f709e490f059c0978500e141.jpg Experience the biggest digital releases of the year all over again with the Best of 2016 collection! From superheroes to Stormtroopers, from dragons to zombies, we’ve got all your favorite movie and TV titles from 2016, along with everything you meant to watch this year but didn’t. Find it all in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. The Magnificent Seven https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/8fa0bc00c87ec5fc7c93042b3f1e7c32.jpg Seven gun-slinging outlaws join forces to protect a small town from vicious thieves in Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven ($14.99). Starring Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington, this action-packed retelling of the iconic western is available in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store two full weeks before it comes to Blu-ray. Gigantic https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4e214d4654281e3dd47d1ceb54a3107d.jpg We’re proud to announce Gigantic is available in open beta for the Xbox One and Windows 10 Game Preview Program in North America and Europe. Gigantic is a free-to-play, third-person MOBA that pits two teams of five against each other in the fight to take down the enemy guardian. Get it from the Windows Store today! Have a great week! The post This Week on Windows: The Magnificent Seven, a new car pack for Forza Horizon 3 and more appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Flying pigs, bunnies with wild eyes and ninja cats. In 3D. Since the launch of Paint3D, people have been creating and remixing crazy 3D creations. Today we’re highlighting some of our favorite weird and wonderful designs. If you are eligible to join the Remix3D Preview community, you can download and remix any of these models (and more!) to kick start your own creations. Could it “bee” any easier? https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/c6921da3ad4aa1bedd5d3b8a9ea2b529.png When we set our remixers loose on our various creations, everything from cats and dogs to sharks and starfish, we saw a number of unique hybrids come to life – including this multi-legged bee, complete with matching yellow feet. And his happy facial expression shows how easily you can give personality to any kind of object you want. Fly the friendly skies https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/af6c410b0a89c5b8665e5a7ff5a3a4f1.png With just a few simple pieces and the drawing tool, our remixers can take to the skies, literally and figuratively. This easy-to-create little plane promises a safe and enjoyable trip, and is customized with drawn-on windows. The happy clouds and sun provide the right backdrop, with just a sky-blue square and stickers. Ice cream astronaut https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/39aca4374aacffb3907fa2b38af397e3.png An ice cream cone large enough to ice skate on. This cold creation combines two of our favorite frozen things – skating and sweets. It also shows how easy it is to change perceptions using 3D. The artist resized the image of the skater and the ice cream to create a new vision of reality. The future looks delicious. These are just three of our favorites. But hey, with hundreds of models remixed already, there are many more we hope you’ll check out. Discover them for yourself and get inspired! Then, create your own with the Paint 3D Preview. Have a remixed creation you want us to showcase? Tweet your work to @JessicaMarzipan, and follow us at @Windows! The post Remix3D Preview Community Spotlight appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

It was an exciting week at Microsoft, with STEM education support, LinkedIn news, WinHEC in China and predictions for the new year. Let’s catch up. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/606a7a322c4e590e8037a855e8b28a0a.jpg To celebrate Computer Science Education Week and counteract the dearth of women in computing fields, 17 female researchers at Microsoft shared their predictions for 2017 and 2027. They included Kalika Bali in India, who says speech and language technology applications will become more multilingual next year, and Susan Dumais in Redmond, Washington, who says deep learning in search and information retrieval will come of age. A fascinating read, the story is also terrific inspiration for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education. For even more inspiration, a story this week of two women who learned to code highlighted the life-changing nature of computer science beyond ones and zeroes. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b323bc2d07e219696770ba23007a2798.jpg Heba Nayef “Coding teaches you about teamwork, logical thinking and how you can create something out of nothing. You learn how to push through the unknown. Nothing is too big to tackle,” said Heba Nayef, who left Syria in 2012, studied computer engineering and now manages apps and websites for a creative agency. Microsoft continued its longtime support of Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code this year with a new “Minecraft” tutorial, free workshops at Microsoft Stores and helpful coding resources for students and educators. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ce8b03f70b12fb0f1dc67c7ffbdb1efb.jpeg Microsoft researchers also received major honors this week, with eight computer scientists being named Fellows of the Association of Computing Machinery, the world’s largest computing society. The organization also named five Microsoft researchers to its list of Distinguished Members. The honors recognize significant contributions and impact to computer science across a range of disciplines, and highlight the “tremendous respect, reputation and visibility of Microsoft researchers in the external scientific and engineering community,” said Jeannette Wing, corporate vice president, Microsoft Research. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/82c20c0323d057f3aaa86542a2f52ae9.png Abigail Sellen, deputy director and a principal researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge, was one of eight Microsoft researchers honored as a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery. (Photo by Jonathan Banks) Also this week, Microsoft announced it has completed the acquisition of LinkedIn, the world’s largest and most valuable professional network, in a journey to empower professionals around the world to achieve more. The acquisition brings together “the world’s leading professional cloud and the world’s leading professional network to deliver more connected, productive and intelligent experiences for our members and customers,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an Influencer article on LinkedIn. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/daa67ed83a7eea40940ac8daed1424a4.png Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, left, and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner Over in China, Terry Myerson, Microsoft executive vice president of the Windows and Devices Group, announced new innovation opportunities in mixed reality, gaming and cellular PCs at the WinHEC conference in the city of Shenzhen. Windows 10 updates and new partnerships with Intel and Qualcomm will empower the next wave of modern devices and creativity. Microsoft also announced its 2017 event lineup, with Microsoft Build coming to Seattle May 10-12. The Worldwide Partner Conference, now called Microsoft Inspire, will be July 9-13 in Washington, D.C. And Microsoft Envision will become part of Microsoft Ignite, scheduled for Sept. 25-29. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0da34cb905167232f061cf71d82599ff.pngIn app news for the week, the Windows Store has a Best of 2016 collection of the biggest movies and TV shows of the year. “Pinball FX2 Windows 10 Edition” added new environments based on “Fallout,” “DOOM” and “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” And you can deck the halls with boughs of zombies with “Dead Rising 4” now available for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. Childish Gambino fans got a treat, with a new 360-degree video of him (real name: Donald Glover) singing “Me and Your Mama.” The video is a preview of an immersive, digital experience that Childish Gambino and Microsoft are creating to take viewers into the three-day “PHAROS” concert he did this year at the Joshua Tree National Park in California. And finally this week, Microsoft’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages highlighted the company’s “Art of Harmony Holiday” ad campaign, which showcases seven people who overcame adversity to stand up for their beliefs. Depicted using Microsoft products, including the Surface Studio, the kids, artists, activists and entrepreneurs celebrate the campaign’s message of unity, peace, beauty and hope. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/078b2c23d65f817c0499bdef5eefcd73.jpg Thanks for reading and see you next week! Vanessa Ho Microsoft News Center Staff The post Celebrating Computer Science Education Week, sharing predictions and empowering professionals — Weekend Reading: Dec. 9 edition appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

We’re excited to let you know that we’re giving away five albums for free and nine holiday albums for 99 cents each in the US, available now in the Windows Store.* Check out the whole collection of free albums and the holiday albums for 99 cents here, or keep reading! Don’t miss these five albums, yours for free Halsey – Badlands (Deluxe) https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/fa3e86c164af41751d7fa28c23d6e96b.jpg Badlands is American singer and songwriter Halsey’s first studio album, and includes the songs “Castle,” “New Americana,” “Hurricane” and more. Avenged Sevenfold – The Stage https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9c405be7182e4b0a63ee46fa48a13d03.jpg The seventh studio long-player from the veteran California-based metal ensemble, and their first new collection of music to feature ex-Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman behind the kit, Stage sees Avenged Sevenfold rolling up their sleeves and delivering an ambitious concept LP. 2 Chainz – Collegrove https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/41a016203ae23e23d92260e0b5531ea8.jpg This album is the debut LP between 2 Chainz and fellow American rapper Lil Wayne under the stage name ColleGrove, and includes production from several high-profile record producers; including Mike Will Made It, TM88, Infamous, Zaytoven, Lil’ C, Metro Boomin, Ben Billions and London on da Track, among others.ColleGrove is the combination for 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne’s hometowns of COLLege Park & HolloGROVE respectively. Gwen Stefani – This is What The Truth Feels Like https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/2639e091448223707935cec4948f2e87.jpg Don’t miss “Used to Love You,” “Rare” or “Red Flag” – all included in This Is What the Truth Feels Like, Gwen Stefani’s first solo album in ten years. James Bay – Chaos and the Calm https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/3037605f0365395502e494cfff71dbf3.jpg When it comes to debut albums, you can’t do much better than Choas and the Calm by this young English singer-songwriter. Get 10 holiday albums for 99 cents each from the Windows Store https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/586e703b0ff5b4c74e4235b49470ecf4.jpg We’re sharing nine holiday albums for only 99 cents each in the Windows Store! Don’t miss the chance to get Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas, Rascal Flatts’ The Greatest Gift of All and more. Head over here to see the full collection of holiday albums! Want even more music? Get a Groove Music Pass and download and listen to these and millions of other songs, wherever you go. Sign up here for a free 30-day trial of Groove Music and start listening today on your Windows 10 devices. *Available in US only until 11:59 p.m. PT, Dec. 9, 2016 or while supplies last. The post Get five albums for free and nine for 99 cents each from the Windows Store appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

343 Industries is getting the holiday celebrations off to an early start – Monitor’s Bounty is out now for Halo 5: Guardians! The latest content release marks the tenth update for Halo 5: Guardians, and includes new weapons, armor and skins, brand new ways to play and seek out custom games and the largest Forge update we’ve ever released. Halo 5 players on Xbox One and Windows 10 will now have a new way to find matches and teammates with the addition of the join-in-progress Custom Games Browser. This new browser enables players to search for in-progress games from the main menu and utilizes the content browser to filter for any map or mode your heart desires. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b4d1c9d333c0f2796d5a3089dd86f253.png With this powerful new feature, Halo 5: Forge on Windows 10 graduates to a full-fledged Halo Arena multiplayer experience, letting players search, find and join games to play with strangers and friends alike – at up to 4K resolutions – for free! With Monitor’s Bounty, Halo 5’s Forge mode has also been updated with more than 650 new objects on top of entirely new systems and functionality! One of the most exciting outcomes is an expanded ability to create all-new game modes in Halo 5. With this new “Minigames” functionality, players can not only experience fan-favorite modes like Race and King of the Hill, but also create new modes and experiences, the likes of which have never been seen in a Halo game before. Head over to Xbox Wire to read more about the update, and happy holidays from 343 Industries! The post Monitor’s Bounty available now for Halo 5: Guardians appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

We’re proud to announce Gigantic is available in the Windows Store in open beta for the Windows 10 and Xbox One Game Preview Program in North America and Europe! Gigantic is a free-to-play, third-person MOBA that pits two teams of five against each other in the fight to take down the enemy Guardian. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4e214d4654281e3dd47d1ceb54a3107d.jpg Choose between 16 different heroes, each with their own unique playstyle. Each hero can be built in a variety of ways, allowing them to focus on a different aspect of their arsenal. As you play and learn about a hero, make sure to experiment with the different upgrades to see which one best fits your style. Part of the fun of Gigantic is not only discovering what build suits you, but which will best counter the build paths the enemy has chosen. We hope you decide to join the fray and download Gigantic. After all, it’s free via Xbox One’s Game Preview Program, so it’s worth a try. To help give you an edge in battle, we’ve put together some tips and tricks to help you get started in this competitive game. Head over to Xbox Wire to read more! The post Start playing Gigantic on Windows 10 and Xbox One today appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

We believe that everyone deserves a personal assistant, and a great personal assistant should be available to help on-the-go, on whatever device you carry. We’re excited to bring Cortana*, your truly personal digital assistant, to Android and iOS in the UK, and a fresh new look for the apps. Coming to the UK: The Cortana Android and iOS apps are coming to the UK, extending the functionality of your Cortana on Windows 10 to whatever smartphone you carry, always in perfect sync, always helping you stay on top of things. Reminders that Travel with You: Cortana has your back, seamlessly keeping track of the things you need to remember across all the platforms you use her. Set a reminder on your PC and get it on your mobile phone. Never Miss a Phone Call: In a meeting and can’t answer your phone? With the Cortana app, get a missed call alert on your Windows 10 PC and let Cortana send a text back letting them know you’ll call them later – all without leaving your PC. Optimized for Mobile: Designed specifically for your mobile life with quick action buttons and voice to get what you need quickly, a streamlined design and widgets for Android and iOS. Of course, you can also use the app to quickly look up information. With the Android app, you can invoke Cortana hands-free inside the app with “Hey Cortana.”** And because it’s the same Cortana across devices, your Notebook with all your interests and connected accounts travels with you. The Cortana Android app will be available over the course of this week, with the Cortana iOS app coming to the App Store in a few weeks. A Fresh Look: Since releasing Cortana on Android and iOS a year ago in the US, you have been telling us what you liked and how you’d like it to be improved. We listened. We’ve created a more simplified look and feel for the apps, designed with your mobile life in mind. Now you can get to what you need faster and easier than ever before with quick actions, putting the most frequent things you do front and center, so setting a reminder or viewing your reminders is just a tap away when you don’t want to use voice. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/05ec4213a21663703fc46dd7fb6eb9ad.png We’ve also made it more natural and consumable for you to get information from Cortana with clean, full-page answers. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b8da39a75f79793f5dd82cf9849567ca.png It’s not just the look we’ve updated. The Cortana app is now faster so you can get what you need more quickly on the go. The Cortana Android app will be available over the course of this week with the new look in the Google Play store, and the Cortana iOS app will be updated in the coming weeks. You’ll find several more improvements in the app, so give it a try and let us know what you think. *Available in select markets **Not available on iOS ***This post was edited to reflect updated timing. The post Cortana for Android and iOS comes to the UK, gets a fresh new look appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

On Thursday, Microsoft announced it has completed the acquisition of LinkedIn, the world’s largest and most valuable professional network. Plans for the acquisition were announced last June. The acquisition brings together “the world’s leading professional cloud and the world’s leading professional network to deliver more connected, productive and intelligent experiences for our members and customers,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in an Influencer article on LinkedIn. “I’m more confident than ever that our move to join forces with Microsoft will accelerate our mission to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful, and ultimately help create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce,” said LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner in an Influencer article on LinkedIn. To learn more, read Nadella’s post on LinkedIn and Weiner’s post on LinkedIn. Jeff Weiner’s biography Image: Jeff Weiner and Satya Nadella Image: LinkedIn and Microsoft logos Video: Satya Nadella and Jeff Weiner on Microsoft acquiring LinkedIn – June 13, 2016 Press Release: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn – June 13, 2016 LinkedIn newsroom The post Microsoft and LinkedIn begin journey to empower professionals around the world to achieve more appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

In October, I shared how the Windows 10 Creators Update will empower a new wave of creativity, bringing 3D and mixed reality to everyone, enabling every gamer to be a broadcaster, and much more. At our core, we are all creators. Whether an artist, an architect, a teacher or student, a business professional on the go or a hardware engineer building innovative devices for the future, each of us creates using technology in our own way – and we are building Windows for each of you. Today, we’re at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC) in Shenzhen, China –where our OEM partners have created more than 300 Windows devices shipping in 75 countries generating more than 8 billion RMB in revenue for Shenzhen partners. We continue this journey with Intel, Qualcomm and hardware engineering creators from around the world. Together, we will build the next generation of modern PCs supporting mixed reality, gaming, advanced security, and artificial intelligence; make mixed reality mainstream; and introduce always-connected, more power efficient cellular PCs running Windows 10. A new wave of modern PCs Windows has always been about deep partnerships that marry the best innovation across hardware, software, and services to provide our customers with ground-breaking experiences and great device choices. One of our most important partners making this possible is Intel, and today, I’m thrilled to announce our latest collaboration, codenamed “Project Evo.” https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/be8f255400ca4e2436224a4ba83f6d8e.jpg With Project Evo, Microsoft and Intel will deliver all-new ways for devices to light up with the latest in advanced security, artificial intelligence and Cortana, mixed reality, and gaming. Through this collaboration, devices of the future will leverage Microsoft and Intel innovations including: Far-field speech communications so you can ask Cortana a question or play a song from across the room. The latest security capabilities to protect devices from malware and hacking threats, advances in biometric authentication with Windows Hello, sophisticated insights from Microsoft’s Intelligent Security Graph, additional world-class security intelligence, and analytics from Intel. Mixed reality experiences for everyone through affordable PCs and head mounted displays (HMDs) that blend the physical and virtual realities in ways that no other platform can. Gaming innovations like eSports, game broadcasting and support for 4K, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Wide Color Gamut (WCG), spatial audio, and Xbox controllers with native Bluetooth. Together, our work will extend these experiences to hundreds of millions of PC and HMD customers and raise the bar for what’s possible with Windows PCs. Making mixed reality mainstream Windows is the only platform unifying the ecosystem, providing inside-out tracking for HMDs, a single platform and standardized inputs for developers, and a consistent interface with a single store for customers. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f0deacd97e0b952709018f36f8ab8f7f.jpg Today, we announced several new ways we’re making mixed reality mainstream in 2017: We submitted Microsoft HoloLens for government approval in China, and we look forward to making it available to developers and commercial customers in China in the first half of 2017. We shared the specifications that we co-developed with Intel for PCs that will power the first headsets capable of mixed reality. HMDs from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo will be available next year. Joining those partners, 3Glasses, the leading China-based hardware developer for HMDs, will bring the Windows 10 experience to their S1 device in the first half of 2017, reaching more than 5 million monthly active customers in China. Customers will gain access to amazing mixed reality content. This includes: More than 20,000 universal Windows apps in the catalog 3D objects from the web using Microsoft Edge to drag and drop into their physical world Immersive WebVR content via Microsoft Edge 360 degree videos available for the first time in the Movies & TV app [*]Finally, HMD developer kits will become available to developers at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Visit this link to join us on the journey to make mixed reality mainstream. Always connected, more power-efficient PCs coming to Windows 10 Finally, we talked about innovation that empowers creation in a connected, mobile world. Everyone is more mobile today than ever before in large part due to pervasive, faster, and more affordable cellular networks. In future Windows 10 updates, we will enable connectivity that is always within reach. We will help customers easily buy data directly from the Windows Store and put them in control of how they use Wi-Fi and cellular networks, consume data, and manage costs. We will enable our partners to build always-connected devices without hindering form factor design. Specifically, partners can take advantage of eSIM technology to build devices without an exposed SIM slot, making it easier for people to activate a data plan right on their device. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/726d77a8cd3168e5bbfd53a48d504f4b.jpg Finally, to deliver on our customers’ growing needs to create on the go, we announced today that Windows 10 is coming to ARM through our partnership with Qualcomm. For the first time ever, our customers will be able to experience the Windows they know with all the apps, peripherals, and enterprise capabilities they require, on a truly mobile, power efficient, always-connected cellular PC. Hardware partners will be able to build a range of new Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Windows 10 PCs that run x86 Win32 and universal Windows apps, including Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office and popular Windows games. With Windows 10 on cellular PCs, we will help everyone make the most of the air around them. We look forward to seeing these new devices with integrated cellular connectivity and the great experiences people love like touch, pen and Windows Hello, in market as early as next year. The software and hardware innovations we have seen today position us all to continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Together, we can fulfill our mission to build technology that serves all of us, by ensuring there are devices for the creator in each of us. Terry The post Device innovation opportunities in mixed reality, gaming, and cellular PCs appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Hello Windows Insiders! It smells like snow up in Redmond-town and you know what that means? A big ole pile o’ features to keep us company during SNOWpocalyse! Today we are excited to be releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14986 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. What’s new in Build 14986 Making Cortana awesomer: Turn off your computer, change volume with voice commands: Being able to control your computer with just your voice is one of the top requests we get with Cortana, so we’re excited to say that we’ve added several new features to Cortana that let you do just that. Now you can shut down your PC just by asking Cortana. You can also restart, lock, or put the system to sleep, and raise and lower your system volume with just your voice. Give it a try and let us know what you think! Cortana loves music: You can now use Cortana to control music playback on more of your favorite music apps (EN-US only). Starting with this build, we’ve enabled natural language compatibility for iHeartRadio and TuneIn Radio. This will work on both, above the lock screen (PC is locked) as well as below! You can try queries like… Play <Artist/Track/Title/Genre> on <AppName> Play Drake on iHeartRadio Play Christmas music on iHeartRadio Play NPR Hourly News on TuneIn Play jazz music on TuneIn Play <Frequency/Call Letters> on <AppName> Play 90.3 on iHeartRadio Play KUOW on TuneIn While you are listening to music in one of these apps, you can also use your voice to control playback and volume. With radio stations, we often want to know what that catchy tune is that has played a million times, so we added support for “What’s Playing”. Try saying “Hey Cortana, What song is Playing?” and it will work for all apps playing music. As a bonus, we made Cortana smarter by remembering the last played music app so you don’t have to say “on Groove” over and over. All you need to do is say your desired app one time, something like “Play jazz music on iHeartRadio”; then the next time, just say “Play rock music” and it will play on iHeartRadio. Please look for the Quest and give us feedback! https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9d1ff45ddaa797bbaf1cdeb167740fe7.jpg https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5eab7ffdf9b7801af804553067e0b489.png https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ec9b319aa1890f347026232e9a1f6552.png Adding music recognition support to Chinese (Simplified): Cortana can now recognize music for customers in China. Simply tap the music notes icon in the top corner of Cortana’s home page, and Cortana will listen to whatever music is playing and use Netease to tell you what song it is. This works exactly like the feature does in English (United States). You can also say “Hey Cortana, what’s playing?” (except, in Chinese, of course, so you’d say 你好小娜，这是什么歌) and Cortana will start listening to the song. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/be85685a6200537c8c5aaaf3c860839d.jpg https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/7d5f1362066c7b1b89026db3d2fcc1f5.jpg Full screen when Idle: We’ve made major improvements to Cortana’s look when using “Hey Cortana” when your PC is unlocked and idle. When your PC is in this state, asking Cortana questions will result in a gorgeous full-screen experience that is optimized for far field viewing! Give it a try by enabling “Hey Cortana” and then wait for about 10 seconds or so without touching your PC. May we recommend asking to see if it will snow tomorrow? https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/eb5190a4136e3ac822d82d76a991fa56.png https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/123532a4352f1935a00baa7def1c4a43.png Cortana sign-in using Azure Active Directory (AAD) identity: This capability will allow you to sign into Cortana with your work or school account instead your MSA, enabling you to use Cortana even if your organization does not support MSA. To sign in to Cortana using your work or school account, just go to Cortana’s Notebook and “About Me” and sign in. You’ll get the full Cortana experience with most of the same features. AAD join is currently only available on Windows 10 PCs. Enterprise Cloud Printing: The new Enterprise Cloud Printers discovery UI under Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners will enable corporate users to discover corporate printers when on Azure Active Directory joined devices when the IT admin deploys and configures the backend services. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/9e93fdb74929b928d0b02e1e44df5d24.png This feature requires the corresponding backend services to work, which are not yet available. Please continue to use existing UI to discover and install printers in the interim. Windows Game Bar improved full-screen support: With the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, we added support for six full screen games in Game Bar. For the Windows 10 Creators Update, we’re working on adding many more. In this build, we’ve added support for 19 additional games in full-screen mode with Windows game bar. As always, just hit WIN + G to invoke Game Bar to capture a recording or screenshot. ARMA 3 Battlefield 1 Civilization V Dark Souls III Fallout 4 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Mad Max Mafia 2 NBA 2K16 Overwatch Star Wars: The Old Republic StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm The Binding of Isaac The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Terraria Tom Clancy’s The Division Total War: WARHAMMER Warframe World of Tanks Tip: You can control this feature through the Windows Game bar settings. In the settings dialog, look for the “Show Game bar when I play full-screen games” checkbox. See Major Nelson’s post on Game bar for more info on how to adjust settings for best game performance. Taking your Windows Ink experience to the next level: We’ve already announced and released some of the improvements that will be coming for our pen and Windows Ink users with the Creators Update, and with this build we’re excited to announce some more! Resuming previous screen sketches: We’ve heard your feedback that it can be too easy to accidentally lose your Screen Sketch sketch, so we’re excited to announce that with build 14986 you can now resume previous sketches! By default, when you open Screen Sketch, it will always open to a new screenshot, but now you can click on the Resume button and it will take you back to the sketch you were working on when Screen Sketch last closed. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/65dad669c1f25be330479b8be714596d.png Updated Ink Flyout Visuals: The Windows Ink pen, pencil and highlighter flyouts now show a preview of what it would look like to ink with the currently selected color and width. This improvement will be visible in any app that uses Windows Ink with the Windows 10 Creators Update SDK. We’ve also updated the flyouts so that they’ll no longer show what appear to be duplicate color entries when in high contrast, now support using the Esc key to close the flyout, and have returned the flyout to dismissing once you tap a color or change the width (rather than staying open until you manually close it) Finer control over ruler rotation: We’ve updated the Windows Ink ruler to now rotate in sub-degree increments when you’re moving it with touch, so as to make it easier to line the ruler up with two points on the screen Polishing your inking experience: The cursor will no longer be shown while you’re inking – we believe this makes the experience feel even more like pen on paper. Try it out and let us know what you think! New Extensions in Microsoft Edge: Great news! We have new extensions to share with Windows 10 users. Please take a look at Ebates, Intel TrueKey, and Read & Write. Try them out and send feedback to the Feedback Hub or @MSEdgeDev on Twitter. Updated Rendering Technology: We’ve changed the rendering technology used for many types of UWP app content, so please provide feedback through the Feedback Hub if you notice any new visual glitches in UWP apps. For additional context on this change, we are now widely using the same Windows.UI.Composition API that app developers have access to for XAML UWP app and shell rendering. Narrator improvements: Making our products more accessible is a goal of ours and improving the experience when using Narrator is a big part of that. As such, this flight comes with a number of improvements, including: Narrator has a new feature to give you additional information about fonts, colors, line spacing, margins and more. Press Caps Lock + F to hear this information. Continue to press Caps Lock + F to cycle through nine categories of information. Use Shift + Caps Lock + F to move through these categories in reverse. The default level for a Narrator feature called Context Awareness is now set to 2. You will hear additional information as you move around areas such as the Start Menu, Office ribbon and more about the areas you are in. Use Alt + Caps Lock + / to cycle through the different options. Zero means off for the feature. The key to get advanced information about the item with focus has been changed to Caps Lock + 0 from Caps Lock + F in Narrator. We fixed an issue from recent flights where Narrator would only say “No item in view” when placing focus on the Start menu tiles. If you haven’t already read our plan for what to expect in 2017 with the Windows 10 Creators Update, and Office 365 – we invite you to go over it now. Lots of exciting things yet to come! New Windows Defender dashboard: We are making it easier for you to view and control Windows 10 device security and health features available on your PC or tablet with the availability of a new dashboard coming in the Windows 10 Creators Update. Windows Insiders will get a preview of the new experience beginning today. After upgrading to this build, Insiders will have to restart their PC. After that, they can find the dashboard by searching for “Windows Defender” and clicking on the search result that says “Windows Defender/Trusted Windows Store app”. Remember, the dashboard is a work-in-progress and not fully functional just yet. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/50fe0d11aad7767ebb143cd706485376.png Registry Editor improvements: Continuing our theme of enhancing your registry experience, we’ve taken your feedback and added the familiar File Explorer keyboard navigation shortcuts to Registry Editor, so you can now easily go up (Alt+ Up arrow), backwards (Alt + Left arrow) or forwards (Alt + Right arrow) in the registry. We’ve also added a new entry point in the View menu so you can customize the font Registry Editor uses. The USB Audio 2 Class Driver and You: Previous builds flighted to Windows Insiders have contained a Microsoft class driver for devices that support the USB Audio 2.0 standard. However, if you had a third-party driver which was specifically written for your device, Windows would use that instead. In order to get more miles on the class driver, we are temporarily changing things as of 14986 to prefer the class driver over third-party drivers – this is so we can flush out device compatibility issues and other bugs in our driver. When you have a chance, please go through all your regular listening scenarios and see how they sound (we’ll be adding a Quest about this too!). If everything works fine for you, awesome! If you do run into a problem where our class driver does not work with your device, please let us know by filing a problem report, and then manually switching to your specific third-party driver Some things that we are already aware of: Our class driver does not support ASIO Our class driver does not work in WASAPI exclusive mode in certain applications For the most recent information on USB Audio in Microsoft Windows, see https://aka.ms/usbaudio. Improved Update Experience: Windows strives to keep your device running the most secure, reliable and feature rich version of Windows available with minimum impact to you. We’ve heard your feedback, and as such, 14986 comes with two more improvements in this space: Involving you more when specifying a time to update: For some of you though, receiving these updates has resulted in your device not being available for use when you needed it. For those of you that happened to fall into this category, you will be happy to see that we now have moved to involving you more in specifying when to successfully apply a pending update. If Windows Update in unable to find a good time to restart your machine to apply the latest updates, you will now get be prompted to “restart now”, “Schedule” a time that works for you, or simply “Remind me later” which will not apply the update but offer you these options again. Improving Windows 10 in Asia Along with Cortana’s new music recognition support for Chinese (Simplified) that we mentioned above, we’ve also done a few more things to improve the Windows 10 experience in Asia based on feedback. Chinese Input Method Editor (IME) Improvements: We’ve heard your feedback about the Chinese typing experience, and we’ve happy to announce that we’ve made some changes based on what you’ve told us! Smart fuzzy matching for pinyin and updated Microsoft Pinyin IME candidate pane experience: As part of our effort to improve the efficiency of Chinese input, the Microsoft Pinyin IME candidate pane has been updated to make it easier to find the candidate you’re looking for. The IME now more clearly indicates fuzzy pinyin candidates, along with tips for how to change the related settings. When you’re typing, this feature will be triggered automatically when fuzzy pinyin candidates are detected and it will show them in the candidate window. We’ve also added a small icon to indicate when a particular cloud candidate is trending. In addition, since most of these trending candidates are related to hot stories, when you have that candidate highlighted, we’ve made it easier to search and learn more about it. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/e83f461f7cb7d6e0d84acbcb09fb9a67.png New context menu for the IME mode: The IME mode indicator in the taskbar now has a context menu if you right-click it when using the Microsoft Pinyin or Wubi IME! It contains options to easily access that IME’s settings page, or show the language bar. Microsoft Pinyin IME now supports importing and exporting self-learned phrases: If you enable self-learning, the Microsoft Pinyin IME can learn and store the phrases as you use it to type. With this build, these phrases can be now be exported and imported. This means that if you re-install your PC, or have multiple PCs to maintain, you can now keep the same user lexicon. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/89a988dfea1c5a93cffe1da7889ac45f.png Wubi IME has been updated to support user-defined phrases: You can add custom phrases manually, or import and export custom phrase files. In the Wubi IME settings, click the “user-defined phrase” button to enter the custom phrase page. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/6ab1879be3d396e9c0f2ad67f4777d4e.png Line Mode for Chinese (Simplified) Handwriting: With the Anniversary Update, the Chinese (Simplified) handwriting panel only supported entering text using box mode – writing a single character in each box, and then the character would disappear after the candidate had been finalized, and there was no way to edit the ink. We’re excited to announce that with 14986 that is now longer the case! Just like the Japanese handwriting panel, the Chinese (Simplified) handwriting panel now supports line mode, so you can write and edit your characters all in one continuous sentence. We’ve also added two editing gestures for users – a strikethrough to delete, and a circle to grouping. New experience writing Chinese characters: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/7e909f2e68a48763fae3872604b288c1.png Deletion gesture: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/356580a08bb6b6a44d4deb0a60c4e27d.png Grouping gesture: https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4e386b0929e176211747be092e5cb9a1.png Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) Improvements: It’s now possible to remove text prediction candidates. To do this, hover over the entry in the candidate list and an ‘X’ button will appear. Removed candidates will not be suggested next time. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/6f07d254e02bfd193959ca2bb422b2c3.png Improving the Japanese IME conversion accuracy: Improving the conversion accuracy of Japanese IME is an ongoing goal of ours – with this build, we’ve enhanced our logic how we take into account previously determined context. To give an example, with the Anniversary Update, when typing “にんげんをやとう” in one shot and then converting the text, the IME would return the correct conversion. However, if you were to do the conversion in two parts (aka, type “にんげんを”, convert, and then type “やとう” and convert), the IME would return a different and potentially undesirable conversion. With the work lighting up with 14986, the IME will now return the same result in both cases. We have also improved learning behavior when user registered shortcut word (短縮語) is involved and added a new keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+.) so that you can flag particularly bad conversion errors. Conversions flagged in this way will be prioritized among all other mis-conversions when we investigate. We rely on your feedback to improve our conversion accuracy so please do report bad conversion errors when you see them! Improved reliability and responsiveness: We’ve improved the responsiveness of the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) and fixed an issue where key input might sometimes get stuck in certain environments. We also fixed an issue where the Japanese IME’s self-learning wouldn’t work in certain environments, and fixed an issue resulting in being unable to use the IME to enter text in a program that had been launched using Command Prompt’s “runas” command. Other changes, improvements, and fixes for PC We have improved the Windows Hello face which may require you to “Improve Recognition” to get recognized again. To do this – go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in Options and under “Windows Hello” and “Face Recognition”, select “Improve Recognition” to go through the Improve Recognition wizard. We updated the Taskbar’s context menu settings entry to now explicitly be called “Taskbar settings”, as that is where it pointed. We fixed an issue where the Virtual Touchpad’s left and right buttons might not work on some devices. We also fixed an issue where the Virtual Touchpad wouldn’t launch if the primary monitor was non-touch, and added the Virtual Touchpad icon to the Taskbar settings where you can Turn system icons on or off. We fixed the issue where apps such as Store, Photos, and People might launch on their own after your PC had been inactive for a period of time. We fixed the issue where navigating to Settings > System > Battery would crash the Settings app. We’ve changed the default state of the Handwriting Panel to be floating next to the text field, rather than docked at the bottom of the screen. If you prefer docked-mode, you can still select it by tapping the icon in the top right corner of the Handwriting Panel. We fixed an issue where using ~ to switch languages using the Thai keyboard when typing in Office apps, such as Outlook or Word 2016, might sometimes result in a hang. We’ve updated our migration logic, so that going forward from 14986 the default user’s numlock setting will now be preserved across upgrades. We fixed an issue where double-clicking on an Excel document to open it from File Explorer would crash Microsoft Excel. We fixed an issue where Windows Hello might get stuck “Looking for you”. We fixed an issue Insiders with Surface Dial may have experienced recently where rotating the Dial could result in unexpected beeps. We’re moving some things around in Storage Settings – stay tuned for future updates. For this flight, you’ll notice that the settings to change save locations has moved to its own page. We also fixed an issue where Storage Usage for the Other category might show an unexpectedly high number. We fixed an issue where the PowerShell entry in File Explorer’s File menu would sometimes be unexpectedly greyed out. We fixed an issue where the Clock and Calendar flyout in the taskbar wouldn’t launch when the display language was set to Chinese (Traditional) and the system was using the phonetic sorting method. We’ve updated the full screen Settings search results to now use smaller icons – we feel this delivers an overall more polished feel, as well as enables more search results to display on the page at a time. We fixed an issue where some notifications might draw too high or too low, and then be seen moving itself to the correct position. We fixed an issue where the outline incoming notification toasts could still be seen if notification banners as a whole for that particular app had been turned off. We fixed an issue Insiders may have experienced where the Favorites bar on desktop might appear empty, despite having items in the Favorites folder. We fixed an issue that could result in CPU throttling when idling on certain webpages with many gifs or looping videos in Microsoft Edge. We fixed an issue that could result in Alt + D sometimes not being able to set focus to the address bar in Microsoft Edge. For Insiders with PCs that upgraded to builds 14926-14959, some default power settings may have been lost and not recovered on subsequent upgrades. The effect of this causes devices to potentially use more power, change the power button behavior on tablets, etc. Starting with 14986, an attempt to detect this issue and re-apply the power settings will be made during upgrade. This attempt is a temporary process to help address this issue for Insiders, and will be removed once we’re closer to the Creators Update release. We’ve heard your feedback, and updated our Windows Error Reporting logic so that uploading crash data should no longer interfere with online game play, video streaming, Skype calls, or other network-intensive activity. Please keep an eye out for this if you experience any crashes and let us know how it goes. We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Studios games like Microsoft Sudoku, Jigsaw, Minesweeper, Taptiles, and Treasure Hunt potentially freezing at the splash screen on launch. We fixed an issue where, if the taskbar location was set to be on top, it was visible on the Welcome screens after upgrading. Known issues for PC Using keyboard monitor hotkeys to adjust brightness won’t work as expected. Desired brightness change could be done via the Action Center or by going to Settings > System > Display. You may see a popup “Catastrophic Error” dialog when opening OneDrive folders. If you do, the workaround is to open an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell window and enter “attrib -O <path to OneDrive failure that resulted in the error dialog>”. We’re currently investigating reports that DirectAccess isn’t working for some Windows Insiders. When using Microsoft Edge with Narrator, you may hear “no item in view or silence when tabbing or using other navigation commands. You can use Alt + Tab when this happens to move focus away from and back to the Edge browser and then Narrator will read as expected. Hey Cortana, play <blah> on <AppName> doesn’t work immediately after installing the app. Wait 5 minutes for indexer to kick in and try again. Currently, the Windows Defender dashboard is primarily aimed at providing some minimal read-only status for Antivirus/Firewall, with some very limited functionality for interacting with the app. Here are some of the known issues with the dashboard to be aware of (not a comprehensive list): Doesn’t accurately roll up status of Pillars Doesn’t accurately show status when a 3P AV is on the machine. History is not yet available in the new app Advanced/Custom scans are not yet available in the new app Settings are not configurable through the new app Firewall control panel not launchable from new app Firewall settings are not configurable through the new app Team Updates I’ve been so excited to see all of the passion from the Windows Insiders community around completing the Minecraft Hour of Code activity. I’ve heard from so many of you that you had fun doing it and you’re ready for the next step. I plan to spend the later part of December building a curriculum for our Insiders so that we can start our mission of first, getting very comfortable with creating WITH tech, rather than just using tech and then working on plans to make tech accessible to the next 5 billion people. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/a624a3a30f662baf556afc47f8be548b.jpg Keep sending me your certificates. I will publish a wall of them next week on this blog as well as on the #WINsiders4Good Hour of Code page. I am spending 24 hours in NYC this week doing an Hour of Code activity at the Microsoft store with students from a variety of backgrounds. It’s been AMAZING to see the next generation of leaders already stepping up to learn this incredibly important skill. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/26618e805eded90dd3082559c70727ac.jpg Do your Hour of Code if you haven’t! You’ll be glad you did https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/bd4cd7b0435542efcf0ccd5dad031ffe.png Thank you everyone and keep hustling, Dona <3 Got feedback on this blog post? Let us know. The post Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14986 for PC appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

2016 has been a year of exciting growth and innovation here at Microsoft and for our customers. Business leaders, IT professionals, developers and our partners are embracing the cloud and new technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT and mixed reality to drive digital transformation. As we look toward 2017, I’d like to share an update on Microsoft’s premier conferences for the year ahead. As always, our goal is to provide high-quality event experiences that deliver impactful guidance and enable our vibrant communities to network, grow and learn from each other. First, we are bringing our annual Microsoft Build conference to Seattle — the “cloud city” — from May 10-12, 2017. Once again, developers can hear from Microsoft engineering leaders and learn about the latest tools and technologies to boost creativity and productivity. Look for information about Microsoft Build 2017 at http://build.microsoft.com. Next, we are renaming the Worldwide Partner Conference to Microsoft Inspire, which will be held July 9-13 in Washington, D.C. This new name reflects how Microsoft and our partner community inspire each other to innovate and deliver powerful new solutions to customers. Registration for Microsoft Inspire is now open — learn more at https://inspire.microsoft.com/. And finally, we are shifting Microsoft Envision, our event for business leaders previously planned for February, to become part of Microsoft Ignite Sept. 25-29. The partnership between business and IT leaders has never been more important, so Microsoft Ignite will now cater to both audiences and help foster collaboration between the two. We’ll have more details to share in the coming months. In addition to these signature, world-class conferences, we will continue to offer a wide range of live and virtual events to provide customers and partners with opportunities to learn, grow and network. You can find local Microsoft events at www.microsoft.com/events. I’m looking forward to these conferences and a great 2017! Chris The post Microsoft 2017 event line up appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Hot on the heels of Forza Horizon 3 winning the Best Racing/Sports award at the 2016 Game Awards, today we’re unveiling our latest car pack – the Logitech G Car Pack, which features seven amazing vehicles hand-picked to deliver driving delights during the holidays. The car pack is included as part of the Forza Horizon 3 Car Pass, which is available as a separate purchase or as part of the Ultimate Edition of Forza Horizon 3 in the Windows Store. You can also get the car pack as a standalone purchase for $6.99 in the Xbox Store. Leading off the pack is the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept. Sure, it might not be drivable in the real world yet, but it’s easy to appreciate this car’s beautiful melding of performance and luxury in Forza Horizon 3. The remaining roster in the Logitech G Car Pack is deep in unique driving experiences. The Morgan 3 Wheeler makes its Forza debut, with its unique design making it a highly requested car from fans all over the world. The Morgan is paired with early-American muscle in the 1965 Pontiac GTO and long-awaited imports like the 1992 Toyota Supra. There’s also Jaguar’s SUV debut and the latest speedster from Mercedes-AMG, alongside an Australian rarity in the 1996 HSV GTSR. Head over to Xbox Wire for a closer look at each of the vehicles in the Logitech Car Pack! The post Extraordinary driving awaits in the Forza Horizon 3 Logitech G Car Pack appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Trying to figure out what to get the zombie survivalist in your life for the holidays? Dead Rising 4 has you covered and we’re excited to share the game is now available across the world in the Windows Store for Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One, and in Japan this Thursday, Dec. 8. Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 Where’s the best location to take cover from a roving horde of undead? How do you find food when all the fryers in the local restaurants have ceased their bubbling? And how the heck can you fashion cool tools to defend yourself from the basic building blocks of office equipment? Check out the video above to learn this and more, and remember, there’s hundreds more weapons and a vast amount of vehicle combos to explore as well. Get Dead Rising 4 today in the Windows Store and head over to Xbox Wire to learn more! The post Dead Rising 4 now available on Windows 10 and Xbox One appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

It was roughly six months ago, on June 13, that we announced that Microsoft would acquire LinkedIn. At that time, we said that we aimed to close the deal by the end of the year. Today, the European Commission announced that it has cleared the acquisition. As a result, we’ve now obtained all of the regulatory approvals needed to complete the acquisition, and the deal will close in the coming days. The approval in Brussels follows similar reviews and clearances in the United States, Canada, Brazil and South Africa. In each country and in a number of others, we’ve had the opportunity to review our combination with government officials and regulators in considerable detail. As part of our discussions with the European Commission, we formalized several commitments regarding Microsoft’s support for third-party professional social networking services. For example, we’ve committed that for the next five years: We’ll continue to make our Office Add-in program available to third-party professional social networking services. The Office Add-in program enables developers to integrate their services into Microsoft Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel, providing users an enhanced experience using Office. As we continue to improve this program, these improvements will be available to third-party professional social networking services. We’ll continue to make promotional opportunities in the Office Store available to third-party professional social networking services. We’ll ensure that IT administrators and users can customize their Office experience by choosing whether to display in the user interface the LinkedIn profile and activity information that may be integrated in the future. If we develop a LinkedIn application or a tile for Windows PCs and include it in Windows, we’ll allow PC manufacturers to choose not to install them on their Windows PCs in the European Economic Area, or EEA. Similarly, we’ll ensure that users can uninstall the application and tile if they wish. We also won’t use Windows itself to prompt users to install a LinkedIn application, although it can remain available in the Windows Store and be promoted in other ways. In the EEA we won’t enter into agreements with PC manufacturers for pre-installation of a Windows LinkedIn application or tile that would favor LinkedIn on an exclusive basis and thereby bar the distribution of competing professional social networking services. We appreciated the opportunity to talk through these and other details in a creative and constructive way with the European Commission. With this regulatory process behind us, we can bring together two great companies and focus on even broader issues for the future. The events of the past six months make not just this business opportunity, but the broader societal issues connected to them, more important. In June, Satya Nadella and Jeff Weiner, the CEOs of Microsoft and LinkedIn, announced their shared vision for bringing together the world’s leading professional cloud with the world’s leading professional network. Just ten days after they announced this combination, voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. And roughly five months after that, a tumultuous presidential election campaign in the United States came to a close. On both sides of the Atlantic, it has become increasingly apparent that many people feel left out and unable to participate in the economic growth and opportunities created by the rising digital economy. While technology tools are not a panacea for current economic challenges, we believe they can make an important contribution. Microsoft and LinkedIn together have a bigger opportunity to help people online to develop and earn credentials for new skills, identify and pursue new jobs, and become more creative and productive as they work with their colleagues. Working together we can do more to serve not only those with college degrees, but the many people pursuing new experiences, skills and credentials related to vocational training and so-called middle skills. Our ambition is to do our part to create more opportunity for people who haven’t shared in recent economic growth. With the combination of Microsoft and LinkedIn, we can take new steps to help people learn added skills and seek better jobs. Through Microsoft Philanthropies, we’ll invest more than any other company to bring digital skills to schools. Through our Affordable Access initiative and new wireless broadband “TV White Spaces” technologies, we’ll help bring broadband access to more rural communities. And with the LinkedIn Economic Graph, with its data on local job growth and skills needs, there is an expanded opportunity to help governments use better data and analytical capabilities to pursue economic development strategies to help connect people with new opportunities. We readily recognize that no single company can come close to solving the many economic challenges that confront the world today. Perhaps more than anything else, governments will need to continue to innovate across a wide array of education, training and labor policies. And across the private and public sectors, we all will need to come together and act with a sense of shared responsibility. There’s no shortage of work – or opportunity – ahead of us. Having completed detailed conversations with governments around the world about the opportunity to bring Microsoft and LinkedIn together, we’re excited to get started and committed to doing our part. The post Microsoft-LinkedIn deal cleared by regulators, opening new doors for people around the world appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

Today, we’re showing you a couple ways you can make the most of Groove Music for all your holiday playlists! From modern twists such as Josh Groban’s “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to oldie classics like Frankie Valli’s “Merry Christmas Baby,” you’ll love the hand-selected holiday playlists to set the perfect holiday mood. You can start listening now if you’re a Groove Music Pass subscriber – and if you aren’t, you can sign up here for a free 30-day trial and start listening today on your Windows 10 devices. Enjoy a daily musical treat with 31 days of holiday playlists https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/0e7b4cd70bc7d39d8a38727728793d76.gif Save time and turn the jolly up with featured holiday playlists, where we will be bringing you 31 days of fresh holiday playlists every day. Simply launch the Groove app and click on the explore tab to find “31 days of Playlists” featured at the top. You can also expand your holiday playlists with the collection of popular holiday album compilations. In your Groove player, click on the “Explore” tab and type in “Holiday” or “Christmas” to find compilations for different occasion. Try searching for Pure Holiday Music, Holiday Slow Jams, Holiday Jazz or Holiday Office Party to get started! Find a holiday album by your favorite artist https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ebc2e5c1fbe771f5dbc90c738324f09d.gif In the Groove player, head to search and type in your favorite artist + “Holiday” to rediscover classics by your favorite artists, including Whitney Houston’s One Wish Holiday Album, Idina Menzel’s Holiday Wishes, Jackson 5 Ultimate Christmas Collection and more! Groove even has holiday favorites for kids, such as Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits, the SpongeBob Christmas Album or the Disney Princess Christmas album. If you don’t already have a Groove Music Pass, you can sign up here. Have a great week! The post Windows 10 Tip: Find your favorite holiday music with Microsoft Groove appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/f4571ce7327d90d877a703b1e1c0b4a6.jpg This year’s event will consist of talks and presentations about Microsoft’s vision for the hardware ecosystem with innovations in mixed reality, gaming, and other incredible opportunities for partners powered by the Windows 10 Creators Update. Attendees will gain an understanding of what’s next for Windows 10 and how to build devices that will take advantage of new capabilities. The WinHEC keynote begins Thursday, Dec. 8 at 9:30 a.m. in Shenzhen, China (Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 5:30 pm Pacific time). We’ll be sharing our keynote news right here on the Windows Blog along with details on how to watch the keynote on demand. Stay tuned! The post Get ready for WinHEC 2016 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of This Week on Windows! Read more about three ways Cortana can help you this holiday and don’t miss the free holiday albums available today in the Windows Store* and the 12 days of deals at the Microsoft Stores. Here’s what’s new in the Windows Store this week: Pre-order Halo Wars 2: Definitive Edition https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/926febdcb9bda5506e3f7549294c8012.png Early access to Halo Wars: Definitive Edition, available to anyone who preorders the digital version of Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition, begins rolling out to Xbox One and Windows 10 PC on Dec. 20! Halo Wars tells the tale of the UNSC Spirit of Fire and its intrepid crew as they battle against the Covenant on the planet Harvest, set over two decades before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Pre-order Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition here and read more over at Xbox Wire! The Turing Test https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/b9b3cebbc15bc0deaf8d645b1e78299f.jpg The Turing Test ($19.99) is a first-person puzzler that explores the phenomena of consciousness and challenges the meaning of human intuition. Take control of Ava Turing, an engineer for the International Space Agency (ISA), and progress through a narrated story of introspection and morality whilst uncovering the hidden mysteries of Europa. Delve into The Turing Test’s human interaction puzzles and arm yourself with logical and methodical thinking. Vikings – Season 4 https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/8997a48857046d7319474c99d1227e88.jpg The gripping drama series Vikings ($39.99 HD, $37.99 SD) is back with Season Four, and all of pillaging, plundering action you love. Catch up on past episodes and watch new ones now in the Movies & TV section of the Windows Store. Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta – Cartoon Texture Pack Update https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ad009160302f93c804529f6ec8e7c94e.jpg Presenting the Cartoon texture pack. Googly eyes! Goofy grins! Turn your world into a toon with this pack. The Cartoon Texture Pack is available as an in-app purchase for just $2.99. The Hamilton Mixtape https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ff83c15909126980b47ca65216016db3.jpg The Hamilton Mixtape is out today and available in the Windows Store. You can buy the album for $15.99 or listen free with a free 30-day trial of Groove Music Pass.** Have a great weekend! *Available in US only until 11:59 p.m. PT, Dec. 2, 2016 or while supplies last. Only Groove Music Pass subscribers qualify for this offer. **30-day trial continues to a paid monthly subscription unless cancelled. Credit card required. Groove Music Pass sold separately and in select markets. Catalog size and availability varies by market and over time. The post This Week on Windows: Cortana, Halo, holiday music and more appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

Get ready to unwrap a new offer every day beginning December 5 through December 16 with 12 Days of Deals at Microsoft Stores and microsoftstore.com. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/5ff3d6b9d051ebedf50838680a7f35bc.jpg Whether you’re looking to knock out the last items on your gift list, find a new game for a friend or treat yourself to some of the coolest gadgets, the Microsoft Store has you covered. With great savings on some of the most sought-after gifts of the season like Xbox One games, select Surface devices, virtual reality experiences and many others, Microsoft Stores put everything you want within reach – at a great price. Visit your local Microsoft Store or microsoftstore.com for more details on availability and pricing. Here’s a look at the deals this season: Day 1 (Dec. 5) Save up to $1,000 on select Intel PCs starting at $199 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Save $50 on a JBL Flip 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker, only $19.99 Day 2 (Dec. 6) Save $100 on Lenovo Ideapad 110, only $199 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Biggest savings of the year on the FitBit Blaze Day 3 (Dec. 7) Save 50% on select Xbox One games, just $19.99 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Get a $50 Microsoft Store gift card/code with purchase of a 12-month subscription of Groove Music Day 4 (Dec. 8) $250 off select Surface devices, only $649 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Get a $25 Microsoft Store gift card/code with the purchase of an Xbox Live Gold 12-month subscription Day 5 (Dec. 9) Buy select Windows tablets up to 70% off, starting at $49 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Save $120 on a Lumia 650, only $79 Day 6 (Dec. 10) Save up to $250 on the Windows Premium Collection of PCs, starting at $499 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Biggest savings of the year on Office 365 Home Day 7 (Dec. 11) Get a $25 Microsoft Store gift card/code with purchase of select Xbox Wireless controllers In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Save $120 on select Xbox One consoles (500 GB consoles), only $179 Day 8 (Dec. 12) Save $50 and get two free select games with select Xbox One consoles In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Be one of the first customers in line to get a $25 Microsoft Store gift card Day 9 (Dec. 13) Get a $100 Microsoft Store gift card/code with purchase of an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Biggest savings of the year on FitBit Charge HR Day 10 (Dec. 14) Save up to $1,000 on select Intel powered gaming PCs, starting at $799 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Get Quantum Break, Halo 5 and Forza Motorsport 6 for only $19.99 Day 11 (Dec. 15) Save up to 40% on select Dell PCs, starting at $199 In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Save $150 on an Acer Jade Primo, only $299 Day 12 (Dec. 16) Get a type cover with any Surface Pro 4 for up to $159.99 in savings In-Store Doorbuster Deal: Be one of the first customers in line to get a $50 Microsoft Store gift card Not sure which device to buy? Get hands-on with products and let our knowledgeable and friendly Microsoft Store associates help with gift recommendations, or shop at microsoftstore.com with free shipping and free returns on every item, every day. Happy shopping! Deals will be posted on 12 Days of Deals page here, running from Monday, Dec. 5 through Friday, Dec. 16. The deal lasts 24 hours (until the next deal goes live). The deal is available at local Microsoft Stores or com, while supplies last for customers in North America. For microsoftstore.com, deals are available starting 12 a.m. PT. For Microsoft Stores, deals are available starting at the time the store officially opens that day until it closes. Xbox offers valid on Xbox One consoles and bundles, and do not include Xbox One S. [*]Doorbuster deals are exclusively available at our brick-and-mortar locations, while supplies last. [*]For microsoftstore.com shoppers, the last day of guaranteed delivery in time by Christmas is Dec. 14 (standard ground service) or Dec. 20 by 9:59 a.m. PST (expedited shipping). [*]Deal pricing and availability varies in select markets. The post Here’s a look at all the deals included in Microsoft Stores’ 12 Days of Deals appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...

After the Thanksgiving holiday, we came back to work to discover news about Microsoft’s participation in a $3 million fundraising effort to shelter homeless families, how quantum computing can help end world hunger and how one couple has figured out how to convert used cooking oil into soap. Microsoft joined The Starbucks Foundation, the Schultz Family Foundation and many other businesses to support the annual No Child Sleeps Outside campaign by Mary’s Place. They’re part of an unprecedented effort to mobilize the King County, Washington community, contributing more than $3 million to provide safe emergency shelter for the estimated 500 unsheltered families in King County, including hundreds of children. Find out more at the Starbucks Newsroom. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/4bba16d9b3cd2816a21531b30391c711.jpg In the second installment of his series on cloud computing, “Things to Come,” author Barry Briggs explores whether quantum computing could speed up agricultural processes, and as a result, help feed our growing global population. Briggs says software developers, data scientists, agronomists and farmers are joining forces to use technology – and especially the cloud – to enhance food production, sometimes with very dramatic results. Read his full essay on quantum computing and world hunger on the Transform blog. Find out how Megan and Marshall Dostal turn grease into soap through Further Products. With its motto “Wash responsibly,” the company turns used restaurant cooking oil into fine glycerin products and sells the soap back to restaurants, hotels and stores around the country in a smooth, zero-waste loop. The road to upcycling success hasn’t always been easy for the couple, who became entrepreneurs with no formal business backgrounds. But with the help of Microsoft technologies, they’ve learned how to make, market, sell and ship their products; manage their growth in a sustainable way; and balance time for themselves and their 10-year-old son Wyatt. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/ab453730433261be8e85660a1c196aee.jpg Pioneer’s new app comes preloaded on an 8-inch Windows 10 tablet readers can get by signing up for a one-year subscription to the newspaper. (Photo by Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures) A plucky newspaper chain in the Pacific Northwest just may have come up with an innovative way to revamp not only its own existence but that of the entire industry. Seattle-based Pioneer News Group, which owns 23 daily and weekly newspapers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah, has begun selling Windows 10 tablets along with subscriptions. They’re preloaded with the uReporter app that lets subscribers not only read the news but report it too. Find out how Pioneer is living up to its name on the Transform blog. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/73c440eda1662ee0703ea897cb2118b5.png Tuesday, we saw the debut of a new mobile app from The Microsoft Garage, Clip Layer, as well as a new puzzler in the Windows Store: “The Turing Test.” The Blizzard Mountain Expansion for “Forza Horizon 3,” due out Dec. 13, brings a Forza first – snow, ice, extreme elevations and blizzards to challenge players in their quest to become the king of the mountain. Xbox Wire delivers all the details. Nearing its fifth anniversary, “Minecraft: Pocket Edition” will add more features before the end of the year with the 1.0 Ender Update, which provides a World Seed Library to help you more easily find worlds with features you’re looking for; playing the game along with the original soundtrack; and chilly locales populated by polar bears and igloos. https://extremetechsupport.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/1bcbad97a433bffe7b4e8a7dafe643c0.png This week on the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, we highlighted Donovan Brown, a senior program manager at Microsoft who works in DevOps, a development approach that calls for teams to step out of their traditional silos and collaborate in a system that emphasizes automation, monitoring and continuous delivery. He is demystifying DevOps for thousands of IT pros around the world and has become a recognizable face on both presentation stages and Twitter streams. That’s it for our round-up. See you next Friday for another Weekend Reading! Posted by Athima Chansanchai Microsoft News Center Staff The post Helping efforts to shelter homeless families, address world hunger and recycle used grease into fine soaps — Weekend Reading: Dec. 2 edition appeared first on The Official Microsoft Blog. Continue reading...

In a surprise announcement at The Game Awards, 343 Industries revealed on stage that early access to Halo Wars: Definitive Edition, available to anyone who preorders the digital Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition, begins rolling out to Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs on Dec. 20! Play Video Restricted Content Confirm your age to continue month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 year 201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 Halo Wars tells the tale of the UNSC Spirit of Fire and its intrepid crew as they battle against the Covenant on the planet Harvest, set over two decades before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Released back in 2009, Halo Wars was widely considered to be the one of the best console RTS games available and with Halo Wars: Definitive Edition, old fans and new can now experience the game remastered with all of its DLC, including those beautiful Blur cinematics. Head over to Xbox Wire to find out how you can secure your copy of Halo Wars: Definitive Edition! The post Fight with Forge Again in Halo Wars: Definitive Edition on Dec. 20 appeared first on Windows Experience Blog. Continue reading...