Microsoft Teams is coming to Linux
Microsoft is working to bring its Teams software to Linux. The company has said that it is "actively working" on creating a Linux version of the client, although there is no word on quite when it might be released.
There have long been calls for Microsoft to cater for Linux users. The collaborative Teams software is used by many people in mixed platform environments, and the announcement from Teams engineers have been greeted with enthusiasm.
Orange screenshot bug blights Windows 10 KB4512941 update
The KB4512941 update for Windows 10 has already proved itself to be problematic, causing issues with high CPU usage. Now another bug has emerged in the update, with users complaining of corrupted screenshots.
The strange problem rears it head no matter how a screenshot is taken, with the resulting images exhibiting an orange tint. Other users complain that their screens are turning red.
Microsoft wants to close down Wunderlist -- so the creator offers to buy it back
It is now more than four years since Microsoft bought popular to-do list app Wunderlist, and the company now wants to shut it down. This is perhaps not entirely surprising as it has its own To-Do app, but the creator of Wunderlist is not happy.
The founder of the app, Christian Reber, used Twitter to appeal to Microsoft to sell Wunderlist back to him to save it from being shuttered.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18975 with Cortana and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) improvements
Work continues apace on the next major Windows 10 update due out next spring. Recent preview releases have all introduced big improvements, and today's new flight, Build 18975, is no different.
This release for Fast ring Insiders introduces the ability to move the Cortana window to anywhere on screen, and also makes improvements to Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
Microsoft is working to address high CPU usage and search problems with KB4512941 update
A week after its release, Microsoft says it is working to fix a problem with the KB4512941 update for Windows 10. Users have complained of a spike in CPU usage by SearchUI.exe and said that search results are blank.
The company had been slow to recognize that there was a problem, but it did eventually acknowledge the issue on Twitter. Now Microsoft has provided more details about its work on a fix which is due for release later this month.
Microsoft releases the first PowerToys utilities for Windows 10 -- FancyZones and Shortcut Guide
It has been a little while since news broke that Microsoft was bringing back PowerToys for Windows 10 but four months down the line the company has kept its word.
Microsoft has just released the first preview of PowerToys, and you can download two new utilities right now. Kicking things off are FancyZones, a window manager which greatly enhances window snapping for improved productivity, and Shortcut Guide, which uses a screen overlay to reveal the keyboard shortcuts you can use at any given time. Sadly, however, there is no TweakUI for Windows 10.
Windows 10 KB4512941 causes high CPU usage by Cortana [UPDATED: Microsoft is working on it]
Following the release of KB4512941 for Windows 10 version 1903, users have noticed a huge leap in CPU usage by Cortana.
After installing the cumulative update, the Cortana process SearchUI.exe is making much higher use of the CPU for many people. The problem can arise on systems where Bing Search has been disabled, and a series of workarounds have been suggested while Microsoft works on addressing the problem.
New version of Windows 95 gains a snazzy user interface on Windows 10, macOS and Linux
Windows 95 has been enjoying a nostalgia-fueled revival in recent years. There have been concepts made for modern versions of the ancient OS on desktop and mobile and it’s even now possible to give an Apple iPhone a Windows 95 makeover.
Last year, developer Felix Rieseberg released Windows 95 as an Electron app and a few months later updated it to run gaming classics like Doom. Three months ago he gave the OS a welcome performance boost, and now it gets a smart new user interface and upgraded components.
Microsoft will release HoloLens 2 in September
Microsoft is due to launch the second edition of its augmented reality headset next month. HoloLens 2 will go on sale in September, according to the executive vice president of the company's artificial intelligence and research group, Harry Shum.
Shum was speaking at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai when he made the revelation, finally bringing to an end speculation about when the device will see the light of day.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18970 with cloud recovery feature and redesigned tablet experience
A number of previous Windows 10 Insider builds from the 20H1 branch have featured a new "Cloud download" option in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) under Reset this PC. Despite the feature’s presence in these builds, Microsoft has yet to release a working version. That changes in the latest flight.
Build 18970 allows users to download Windows over a high speed internet connection when resetting a PC. The option reinstalls the same build, version, and edition that's currently on your device.
Open source champion Microsoft makes the Linux kernel better with exFAT
I'm someone who uses both a Linux-based operating system and Windows 10 daily. You'd think I constantly run into roadblocks when working between them, but really, that couldn't be further from the truth. Actually, much of the software I use on Linux is also on Windows, such as GIMP, Google Chrome, and LibreOffice. One area where I have faced difficulty over the years, however, is working with different file systems for external drives. It is a common problem.
Today, Microsoft announces it will make working between Linux and Windows 10 even easier. How, you ask? By publicly publishing the exFAT file system specification and hopefully paving the way for it to be included in the Linux kernel. In other words, if you have a memory card, flash drive, or other storage device formatted in exFAT, you will eventually be able to access it on Linux right "out of the box" -- no need to install additional packages. I suppose you could say, Microsoft is essentially improving the Linux kernel! This should come as no surprise, as the Windows-maker has transformed itself into an open source champion these days.
Microsoft faces another European investigation over Windows 10 privacy concerns
Worries about privacy in Windows 10 show no signs of abating, with Europe expressing ongoing concerns about Microsoft's data gathering and telemetry.
Having already asked Microsoft to make modifications to Windows, the Dutch data protection agency (DPA) has since looked into what changes the company has implemented. Having found "new, potentially unlawful, instances of personal data processing", the agency is calling for an investigation by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), Microsoft's lead EU privacy regulator.
Microsoft will unveil new Surface devices in October, and Apple should be worried
Jony Ive recently left Apple. The man was considered by many to be the top computer designer. Other people, including yours truly, thought Panos Panay of the Surface team was the superior designer. Well, with Ive gone, there is no longer any debate to be had -- Panay is undeniably the "top dog" and in a league of his own.
Apple will be holding an event next month, where the company is expected to not only unveil new iPhones and iPads, but also, a new MacBook Pro. And yeah, a new laptop from Apple is exciting stuff, but let's be honest -- it will probably just be an evolutionary design. Rumors suggest a MacBook Pro with a bigger screen and a huge price tag. True innovation seems to be coming from Microsoft lately, and this October, Panos Panay and his Surface team will unveil new devices in New York City.
Microsoft and others join the Linux Foundation's Confidential Computing Consortium
Microsoft, Google, Red Hat, IBM and Intel are among those to join the newly formed Confidential Computing Consortium (CCC). The new organization will be hosted at the Linux Foundation, having been established to help define and accelerate the adoption of confidential computing.
The company explains that, "confidential computing technologies offer the opportunity for organizations to collaborate on their data sets without giving access to that data, to gain shared insights and to innovate for the common good". Microsoft will be contributing the Open Enclave SDK that allows developers to build Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) applications using a single enclaving abstraction.
Microsoft contractors have been listening to audio captured via Xbox consoles
There have been lots of exposés over the last few weeks about the fact that numerous companies -- including Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and Google -- have been listening to recordings of interactions between customers and digital assistants. The latest revelation is that Microsoft contractors have been listening to Xbox users.
A new report says that contractors working for Microsoft listened to audio clips recorded when Xbox users interacted with Kinect and Cortana on their consoles.
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