Microsoft

The big news out of Microsoft's video game division today is the launch of a new service called Xbox Game Pass. For a $9.99 monthly fee, players will be able to access a wide library of Xbox One titles on demand, making it less and less necessary to dole out dozens of dollars every time you want to play a new game.

This represents not only a milestone moment in the evolution of the Xbox One platform and the way people play games on it, but also for the console wars as a whole. Sony has a competing service -- similar in some ways and starkly different in others -- which means it's officially time to clear the stage for a new chapter in the perennial battle for gaming dominance.

When Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is released later in the year, it will be the first glimpse many users get of Microsoft's new Fluent Design System. But Windows Insiders can already enjoy the new look, and an update to the Windows Store sees the app getting an acrylic makeover.

Formally known as Project NEON (when we were still talking about Redstone 3 builds), the Fluent Design System sees Microsoft bringing elements of Glass and Aero back to life. The acrylic material, specifically, refers to the blurring of backgrounds, and if you're an Insider on the Fast Ring, you can grab an update to check it out for yourself.

Quantum computing is not the only large leap in computing the human race is currently working on, there's also the crazy and amazing research in storing data in DNA.

According to media reports, Microsoft is now planning on building, "an operational storage system based on DNA working inside a data center," by the next decade.

Microsoft's event in Shanghai today may have been mainly about the Surface Pro, but there was also news of a new version of Windows 10. The new version -- which we reported about a couple of months ago -- is called Windows 10 China Government Edition and it makes a number of concessions to keep Chinese officials happy.

It’s a release that raises a lot of questions. The Windows 10 China Government Edition allows the country to not only use its own encryption, but also to control updates, remove unwanted apps, and manage telemetry. Users around the world will almost certainly be asking why control over telemetry is not an option for them, and what the implications of making changes for the Chinese government could be.

At today’s launch event in Shanghai, Microsoft officially took the wraps of its new Surface Pro tablet. There was no official live stream, and the software giant’s live blog was hit by technical difficulties which meant it wasn’t updated as intended, but we finally have the information on the new device, which Microsoft describes as "the most versatile laptop."

Called simply Surface Pro, the tablet is a beautifully crafted device that’s the thinnest and fastest produced so far. It’s powered by the Core i7 7th Gen Kaby Lake processor, and promises 13.5 hours of battery life -- that's a big 50 percent improvement over the Surface Pro 4.

I was recently in Seattle for Microsoft's Build 2017 developer conference. It was a monumental trip for me, as I had never been to the west coast before. Being a New Yorker, the furthest west I'd ever been was Colorado. Getting there was an interesting experience in itself, as I had a layover in Minnesota -- yet another place I had never been.

On the final day of Build 2017, some journalists -- including yours truly -- were invited to a tour of the Microsoft campus. This was an invitation I couldn't pass up. As a self-proclaimed computer nerd, visiting such a historic place -- a nerdy pilgrimage, if you will -- was on my bucket list, so I jumped at the opportunity.

Microsoft is expected to unveil the successor to the Surface Pro 4 tomorrow at a special event in Shanghai. There is not much that we know about the new hybrid device at this stage, other than it will look very similar to the current model, but the software giant hints that there will be four new Type Covers available for it.

Microsoft's corporate VP of Devices, Panos Panay, has posted a photo on Twitter which shows the keyboard in what appears to be red, gold, gray and blue colors. That would match the keyboard colors of the Surface Laptop, which was introduced early this month.

Amazon Video is one of the best deals in entertainment, as it comes included with a Prime account. As many consumers sign up for the retailer's Prime membership scheme to get free two-day shipping, the streaming video service is often viewed as an added bonus. True, its selection isn't the best, but it is passable. Not to mention, Amazon's original programming is rather solid.

Another great deal is Microsoft's Xbox One S. Not only does it play games, but it includes a 4K Ultra-high-definition Blu-ray disc player. In fact, the console is often less expensive than many such standalone disc players, making it in an insane value. The Xbox One S doesn't just handle 4K from discs, however -- it can output the resolution from video apps too. Now, the Amazon Video Xbox app gets updated with 4K support, meaning an excellent service on wonderful hardware just got even better.

It’s been a week since the WannaCrypt/WannaCry ransomware cyber attacks began, and the repercussions are still being felt. It became clear quite early on that the ransomware was hitting older Windows systems hard (Windows 10 wasn’t affected), with a lot of talk focusing on the number of at-risk Windows XP systems still in service.

But here’s the interesting thing. Most of the affected systems -- over 98 percent -- were actually running Windows 7.

When the education-focused Windows 10 S was announced, many people were dubious that it could be a success. Limiting the operating system to apps from the Windows Store seems like a recipe for disaster. That opinion is understandable, as we have sort of been down this road before with Windows RT -- which failed. The concept can confuse users.

I was sort of hopeful for Windows 10 S when Microsoft made a shocking announcement at Build 2017 that it is bringing Linux distributions to the Windows Store. This gave the impression that students using the S variant of the OS would be able to tinker with Linux. Unfortunately, this is not the case as Microsoft will be blocking Linux on the new OS. In other words, not all apps in the store will be available for Windows 10 S.

Panos Panay may have said that the Surface Pro 5 does not exist, but that certainly does not mean there's not a Surface Pro 4 successor. Microsoft has an event scheduled for Monday in Shanghai, and Panay himself has already indicated that it is Surface-related.

Ahead of the event, writer and serial leaker Evan Blass has revealed a number of images of the upcoming device which drops the numbering and is to be known simply as the Surface Pro.

When Microsoft purchased LinkedIn back in December 2016, many predicted the eventual integration of Dynamics with the world’s primary professional social network. As well as being a valuable business networking tool, LinkedIn is just as useful for cold sales leads and recruitment prospects as it is for connecting people.

With Dynamics 365 designed to combine the company’s CRM and ERP services into a single cloud-based platform, the prospect of having access to nearly 500 million LinkedIn users could be more than enough to sway a new customer towards Microsoft. Dynamics 365 now has a clear advantage, but what impact will this have on the CRM software market when pitted against its competitors?

Office 365 officially received a project management tool, called Planner, in June 2016, but it is not until today that Microsoft introduces an accompanying mobile app. And the platform of choice for the first Microsoft Planner app is iOS.

When Microsoft publicly launched Planner, the software giant said that there will be apps available for Windows and Android devices too, but there is no announcement regarding the support for the other two platforms. Hopefully, that will happen at some point in the near future.

When Microsoft rolled out the previous Windows 10 Redstone 3 build to Insiders (Build 16193), it looked as if the new Story Remix feature was going to be included. However, it turns out the software giant had other plans, and only made it available to a select group of testers (of which I’m lucky enough to be one).

Microsoft says that the "large majority of Windows Insiders in the Fast ring should have Story Remix right now", however, and you can check by launching the Photos app which it’s part of. (If it's not there, and you want to try it, you can request access by sending an email to [email protected].) There’s no such confusion with this week’s new release, Build 16199, as everyone can try all of the new features today -- and there are quite few of those.

As the world's leading productivity software, Microsoft Office plays an integral role in the daily lives of professionals.

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