According to AndroidCentral, Microsoft has rolled out the full Android Office suite to ChromeOS. In doing so, Microsoft is bringing its popular, market leading, productivity suite to Google’s platform. This makes Chromebooks wholly more versatile and it is hard to see how Microsoft is not just doing Google a huge favor. ChromeOS may fall short of the functionality of Windows, but it has been hugely successful with education customers. A potent mix of affordable Chromebook hardware and ease of use have helped ChromeOS....

“We are freshening up the Start menu with a more streamlined design that removes the solid color backplates behind the logos in the apps list and applies a uniform, partially transparent background to the tiles,” Microsoft says in a blog post. The emphasis on this re-design seems to be focused on reducing the importance of Live Tiles on the Windows 10 Start. As Microsoft noted in March, Live Tiles don’t mesh well with its new Fluent Design icons....

Zebra Technologies develops devices in sectors such as healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, retail, and more. By leveraging Microsoft Intune, the company will get a more complete experience in Android device administrator mode. Microsoft says Android Enterprise management will arrive later in the year. It is worth noting Intune is already part of Zebra devices through the service’s Android settings management. However, the companies say a deeper integration allows customers to access complete device management tools on Zebra devices....

The collective is based in the office of Microsoft’s CTO, Kevin Scott, and headed by Jaron Lanier, one of the founding fathers of virtual reality and a prominent critic of data collection and social media. “Data is one of the most valuable resources in the world today. Right now, the ability to sell data is gated in a lopsided, artificially-limited market. Most people are unable to take any economic actions around their data, while it is collected and sold often without their knowledge or permission,” reads the project’s description....

“Since this is a new application, the number of coding challenges is high: taking advantage of conceptual services for voice command and control, identifying interesting components in the context of the application, interacting with the entire desktop, interacting with 10X OS in new ways within the scope of security and integrity,” said the job posting. We were unable to find the posting to verify this information, but it’s more bad news for Cortana if true....

For enterprises running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, it is less of a problem. Most desktop applications for those builds run perfectly in Windows 10. However, some legacy apps do not function well on a modern browser, such as Microsoft Edge. Rewriting these older apps for new browsers in impractical from a perspective of cost and time. Microsoft has brought Internet Explorer 11 to Windows 10 to ensure these legacy apps are supported without any new versions needing to be made....

Announced by Major Nelson on his official blog, Bleeding Edge is an Xbox Game Studios exclusive. Like other titles under the umbrella, the studio services as the publisher of the game. In terms of Bleeding Edge, the game is developed by Ninja Theory. You may recognize the name as the company behind Devil May Cry and Hellblade II. This marks the first time the developer has released a game under Xbox Game Studios....

Furthermore, Security Policy Advisor will provide information about the existing security infrastructure of an organization. IT admins will have several tools within the Security Policy Advisor toolkit, including the ability to tailor recommendations. The service can also provide in-depth insights based on data gathered within Office 365 ProPlus. The full capabilities of the solution include: “Tailored recommendations for specific security policies that can provide a high value in helping to raise the overall security posture of an enterprise and helping to protect against contemporary attacks....

SDT for Business is available for users running the Surface Pro 3 or any Surface hardware released after that device. Microsoft points out the tool is specifically for IT admins in organizations and is not a consumer-fronted feature. As mentioned, the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit for Business covers several factors. Microsoft detailed what the features of the SDT are: If SDT finds hardware issues, it generates a report, pinpointing potential causes and recommended troubleshooting steps....

Started in 1994, the Superbrands survey results in a list based on the opinion of 2,500 people. They are asked to rank 1,500 UK brands for quality, reliability and distinction. It is not necessarily about how recognized a brand is, otherwise a company like Apple could well top both business and consumer lists. Also, Google would conceivably own the consumer rankings because of Android. However, consumers are clearly ranking the company on its other Google-branded products....

This finalized build has already passed through the Alpha, Beta, and select Delta Insiders. After this testing phase, Microsoft has now sent the Xbox One Fall Update to the Preview Delta and Omega branches. For Xbox Insider Program members, this means the RTM version is available to all Insiders. For reference, the build number is 1710.171009. The release comes with Microsoft’s overhauled dashboard for the Xbox One. The new UI adds customization options such as “Content Blocks” and a new Xbox Guide....

DACA is an Obama-era program that the Trump Presidency has repealed. DREAMers are immigrants who entered the United States illegally as a minor. Under the new administration, these now-adult people will now have to leave once their current work permit had ended (up to a maximum of two years). Microsoft promised it would legally back DREAMers and the first evidence of that has happened. The company has partnered with Princeton University to defend one of its students....

The new Insider preview introduces some new features, while Microsoft has also made the normal unnamed performance improvements and bug fixes. In terms of new features, Microsoft has added animated 3D objects to the Excel app in Office. These animations bring more dynamism to spreadsheets with objects moving within the document. Elsewhere, Outlook has an improved folder support system. Microsoft says it has removed the 500 folder limit within shared mailboxes....

Michigan-based Packerland Broadband will leverage TV Whites Spaces to bring high-speed internet to rural areas in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The collaboration is initially for four years. Microsoft’s technology will extend the reach of Packerland’s fiber-coax wireless delivery. Also part of the partnership, the internet provider will supply Office 365, Windows hardware, and Microsoft Azure services to consumers, students, and organizations in the region. Furthering Azure adoption, Packerland will also make the cloud platform a bigger part of its operations....

That build is known as Sun Valley, or what we thought would be Windows 10 version 21H2. We know the update will introduce features from the cancellation of Windows 10X and a new design, but is that enough? At the moment, there seems to be nothing coming to Sun Valley that is big enough to move to Windows 11. It seems my concerns are not unique as plenty of Windows 10 users have since taken to social media to agree....

Among the new features bundled into the PowerShell 7 package, Microsoft has added an easier way to see errors and new operators to the shell. Furthermore, a new compatibility layer for importing modules is also available, although only in Windows. Other new features include automatic notifications for new versions, alongside APIs and bug fixes. While there are no sweeping changes in PowerShell 7.1, it makes some tweaks and additions to version 7....

Unfortunately, the fix did not come with a Windows 10 cumulative update (Build 18362.207) last week. In that particular release, Microsoft is issue fixes for Internet Explorer, and a bug in the Night Light. As for problems with the Windows Sandbox, they are likely to be solved in July. Microsoft confirmed the problem is still in Windows 10 May 2019 Update and no workaround is available: “Windows Sandbox may fail to start with “ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND (0x80070002)” on devices in which the operating system language is changed during the update process when installing Windows 10, version 1903,” the company said in the changelog....

We have seen services under severe strain from more people using the internet, cloud, and streaming. For example, Microsoft Teams saw its daily active userbase double to 44 million within a week. Last Monday the service went down under the strain. Companies have started limiting their service to ensure they can keep up with demand. In terms of YouTube and Netflix, this has meant throttling streaming quality. For Microsoft is means making some changes to Office 365....

With plenty of confusion still around this subject, Microsoft’s PC Health Check tool is making a comeback. This is a useful feature that allows users to see if their PC meets the hardware requirements for Windows 11. Over recent months, Microsoft has been previewing PC Health Check on the Inside. It is now live for all users ahead of the full launch of Windows 11. This is a new version of the tool that highlights all the areas a device may not be compatible with the new platform....

FarmVibes.AI is the first available open-source component of Project FarmVibes. It is a sample collection of algorithms aimed at boosting research into using data to drive improvements in agriculture. Based on Microsoft Azure, FarmVibes.AI uses algorithms that predict how much fertilizer and herbicide to use. Furthermore, it will provide accurate forecasts of wind speeds/directions and temperatures on specific fields. This allows the platform to highlight when the best time is to plant crops and spray them....