Microsoft makes changes to Productivity Score over privacy concerns
Microsoft has announced that it is committed to privacy as the company introduces changes to its Productivity Score tool that raised concerns recently.
The tool is part of Microsoft 365 and was designed to help employers analyze the performance of teams working on projects. But privacy advocates said that the ability to monitor employees on an individual basis amounted to it being a "full-fledged workplace surveillance tool". With the newly announced changes, Microsoft is hoping to allay such fears.
Microsoft 365's 'Productivity Score' raises serious privacy concerns
Microsoft has attracted the attention of privacy campaigners over the Productivity Score feature of Microsoft 365. The tool uses telemetry to enable employers to track the activities and performance of workers.
The analytics tool has been criticized for being a serious invasion of privacy, as it gives employers the ability to closely monitor individuals. One data privacy researcher describes it as "turn[ing] Microsoft 365 into a full-fledged workplace surveillance tool".
Microsoft resolves issue that wiped out many of its services
Numerous Microsoft 365 services were knocked offline for several hours, leaving users unable to log into accounts and use various tools. Affected services included Office.com, Outlook.com and Teams, and the problem hit users around the world.
The company scrambled to determine the root cause of the issues, eventually homing in on a "recent change" which needed to be rolled back. This, however, did not ultimately solve the problem, so Microsoft was forced to put other mitigations in place.
Master Microsoft Excel 2019 with these three free quick reference guides
Excel is a fantastic piece of software, but unlike Word, its Microsoft Office stablemate, it’s not something most people can conquer unaided.
In fact, I’ve seen many people over the years break off from doing something in Excel to add-up figures needed for their spreadsheet using Calculator, which is madness. There are plenty of courses to take, and books to read, which can help you master Excel, but we’ve got an easier route.
Microsoft teases a new look for Office and Microsoft 365
Microsoft has given us a sneaky glimpse into the future, showing off some of the design changes that are coming to its Office apps. The company has revealed the updated UX that Microsoft 365 users can expect to see.
In addition to introducing a more muted color palette and fully embracing the Fluent Design language, Microsoft is also making some key changes to the ribbon. Part of this involves incorporating AI into the software so that a more flexible ribbon can contextually adapt to what you are doing.
Microsoft releases a fix for Outlook crashes after a problematic update causes issues for many users
Microsoft's track record with updates for Windows has been a little wobbly of late, with many updates introducing problems, or creating more issues than they fix. But it seems that it is not just the famous operating system that is jinxed -- Outlook is too.
Following reports from users that the Outlook desktop app was crashing with a 0xc0000005 error, Microsoft launched an investigation. While the company is now in the processing of pushing out a fix, a workaround has been shared online for those affected.
Phishing attack evades Microsoft 365 security
Researchers at email protection company Armorblox have uncovered a targeted email phishing attack designed to get past Microsoft 365 security.
The attack is a variant of 'PerSwaysion', a recent spate of credential phishing attacks that utilize compromised accounts and leverage Microsoft file-sharing services to lull victims into a false sense of security.
Microsoft opens a can of whoop-ass on reply-all email storms in Office 365
When you work in an office, there are many annoying things you must put up with, such as coworkers microwaving stinky fish for lunch, or dealing with people that never refill the paper tray in the printer.
There is probably nothing more annoying, however, than reply-all email storms. This is where one coworker accidentally selects “reply all” rather than “reply” and ends up sending an email to a huge list of people. Then, other people in the organization do the same thing, creating a massive email chain that clogs up everyone’s inboxes. Thankfully, Microsoft is finally trying to end this nightmare in Office 365 (aka Microsoft 365) with the all-new “Reply All Storm Protection” feature.
Clumio adds Microsoft 365 protection to its SaaS enterprise backup solution
Enterprises and their data are vulnerable, perhaps more so than ever right now, with COVID related phishing scams booming.
Backup specialist Clumio is adding Microsoft 365 to its secure backup as a service offering, providing organizations running Microsoft 365 with a globally consolidated data protection service.
Microsoft 365 is available now, but you can save 47% off the price of Office 2019
Today is the day that Office 365 is rebadged Microsoft 365, complete with several new features as Microsoft moves to give its favored subscription model a wider appeal.
Existing Office 365 subscribers need do nothing -- as of today, your plan seamlessly switches to the equivalent Microsoft 365 plan. But the rebadged service also launches with several new features designed to tempt more subscribers. But if you remain unconvinced by the subscription model, we’ve got two great deals for Office 2019 and Windows 10, offering licenses that won’t expire.
Office 365 becomes Microsoft 365 -- a 'subscription service for your life'
Microsoft has done a spot of rebranding today, replacing Office 365 with Microsoft 365, and introducing personal and family subscriptions.
This builds on the foundation of Office 365, but improves on it and adds some useful consumer focused apps and features.
Microsoft Teams is more popular than Slack
Microsoft has shared usage numbers for its group chat tool, Teams. The company has revealed the number of daily and weekly users for the first time, and they reveal that Microsoft Teams has overtaken Slack in popularity.
The number of daily users of Microsoft Teams stands at 13 million, while the weekly figure is 19 million. Considering the service is just two years old, to have surpassed the behemoth that is Slack is an impressive achievement.
Microsoft 365 delivers a complete solution for businesses
As the workplace evolves to become more diverse and teams are more widely distributed, businesses are looking to technology to empower their staff.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella used his speech today at Inspire to announce the launch of Microsoft 365 which incorporates Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security, to deliver a complete, intelligent and secure solution for employees.
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