HoloLens 2 was announced last February. Despite Microsoft saying the device is enterprise-only, a Development Edition arrived soon after. However, the whole point of the edition has been lost. Microsoft has been slow to roll out HoloLens 2 to developers. Microsoft’s second-generation AR platform was quickly launching in the United Kingdom, United States, China, Japan, Canada, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, France, and Australia. However, dev availability remained relatively low. Speaking earlier this year, HoloLens chief Alex Kipman said Microsoft is manufacturing to keep up with demand....

Of course, this is not new information per se. Microsoft has previously said the reveal will happen at the its press event on June 11 2 PM PDT (11 AM EDT). However, this is the official announcement to confirm the launch. In a blog post on Thursday, the company says bringing the best product to gamers and developers is important: “We’ve created the most powerful console with you in mind....

Grafana has been a Microsoft partner since 2021. At the time, Microsoft said it would eventually integrate the tool into Azure. With Azure Managed Grafana, the company is fulfilling that promise. In a blog post to announce the new integration, Microsoft says the app provides Azure customers with a way to fully handle telemetry data across the cloud platform. “The Grafana application lets users easily visualize all their telemetry data in a single user interface....

Bing Pages has launched in beta and is not just focused on Bing but works across Microsoft services. Users can customize their page to reflect which content they want to be displayed. For example, they can manage social media feeds from the page. For individuals with media profiles, Microsoft says Bing Pages is a low cost but effective way of promoting themselves on search results. Furthermore, organizations can manage their online persona on services such as Outlook and Skype....

Microsoft says the extension is available for Canary (Chromium preview), developer, and beta branches of Microsoft Edge. Users can find the browser tool by heading to the Microsoft Store and selecting “Get”. Once downloaded, an icon appears in the Microsoft Edge toolbar that connects to notifications about Edge Insider information. The extensions also send notifications about important announcements or problems. At the moment, the Edge extension is not showing any details about Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge....

With great browsers like Safari and Chrome already honed on iOS, it’s unlikely Edge will draw general consumers. Its main sway is with those already using it on desktop, so a seamless experience between the two is very important. With version 41.3, Microsoft has added password syncing. You can now sign into your Microsoft account using two-factor authentication, and everything will be ready to go. That creates a big incentive for desktop Edge users to make the switch....

According to Microsoft’s Hari Pulapaka, these additions were spurred by the OpenDTrace effort on GitHub. The project looks to create portable versions of DTrace on different operating systems, and it’s this Microsoft utilized. For those unfamiliar, DTrace was created by Sun Microsystems for release its Solaris OS in 2005. It was quickly considered one of the stand-out features and has since been ported to Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and macOS. “DTrace of course needs no introduction: it’s a dynamic tracing framework that allows an admin or developer to get a real-time look into a system either in user or kernel mode,” explained Pulapaka....

Cortana is already running on numerous smart home devices. She can help control lights, thermostats, routers, and more. Microsoft has expanded the list of devices Cortana will work on. Specifically, products from Honeywell, Lyric, LIFX, TP-Link Kasa, Geeni, and ecobee now support Cortana. Those products join those supported last year, such as Nest, Philips Hue, Insteon, and Samsung. Some of the new support allows control of smart lighting, smart plugs, and more: “To set up your connected home with Cortana, open Cortana on Windows 10 or go to the Cortana app on your phone, click Notebook, then click Connected Home....

At the time, Microsoft offered the following information: “We continue to investigate issues in our services impacting all regions. The underlying issue seems to be a datacenter cooling outage in South Central US which is impacting all services in a specific part of the datacenter.” In a new Azure blog post, the company explains what happened. The explanation is part of Microsoft’s cloud commitment to maintain transparency with customers. In the post, the company says it experienced swells and sags in voltage in South Central US, causing the center to knock itself into generator power....

After many complaints, Microsoft has now offered a reason for the decision. The situation started when the company sent out Windows 10 security update 4.18.2007.8 last month. This update came with a significant change. Namely, Microsoft decided to kill the “DisableAntiSpyware” Registry value. This was important because the value was a gate for users to disable Microsoft Defender (previously Windows Defender) permanently. For some users, this was a problem but as we explain in a tutorial, there are several ways to disable Windows Defender on Windows 10....

Speaking to Wired, Lee Holmes, principal software design engineer for PowerShell, describes how the company is now protecting the platform against would be hackers. PowerShell has become an open back door for cybercriminals, allowing them to access Windows, a PC, and even networks. Trickbots, password miners, and fileless attacks have all targeted PowerShell. The effectiveness is clear, with more than a third of cyberattacks linked to the tool. Clearly this is concerning for Microsoft as PowerShell is a valuable tool....

According to a support article, the issue was caused not by the patch, as was assumed, but by the company’s Activation and Validation Servers. “On January 9, 2019, we reverted a change that was made to Microsoft Activation and Validation servers. For devices that continue to report activation and ‘not genuine’ notifications, you should remove KB 971033 by following the steps in the ‘Resolution’ section,” said the company. “For Windows editions that experience activation and ‘not genuine’ errors that are not caused by the Microsoft Activation and Validation server change around January 8, 2019, we recommend that you follow standard activation troubleshooting....

In terms of Flow, the company has improved the way in which the service allows users to create integrations. Specifically, the update focuses on streamlining the approval workflows process. Microsoft has introduced new templates and improved designs. The update also brings better methods for managing team members across Flow. Microsoft says the ability to share and maintain a flow of multiple people is now out of beta. Additionally, shareable buttons are also making their debut with this update....

If you are unfamiliar with Microsoft Garage, it is a special division that allows Microsoft employees from various teams to collaborate. These are largely pressure free collaborations as Garage products are not meant to become first-level Microsoft services. Over the years, this has allowed Microsoft Garage to pump out some truly stellar services. Whether Ear Hockey becomes one of them remains to be seen. Ear Hockey is a free game that replicates the arcade classic air hockey, but adds something new to the concept....

Potential Groove subscribers are now getting several free months of usage. Although, this time Microsoft is changing up the deal a little. As mentioned, the company has previously offered four-month free trials in November, February, and April. This time, Microsoft want customers to commit to Groove with a one-month subscription ($9.99). In return, Microsoft will give you two promo codes that unlock three months of free use each. So, this means you can unlock both codes yourself and get six months of unpaid, unlimited, Groove access....

It all starts with the 2021 Microsoft Student Hackathon, which runs alongside the Microsoft Global Hackathon event. Hosted by the Microsoft Garage skunkworks division, the Student Hackathon tasks Microsoft summer intern 2021 alumni and their co-creators to find hacks for real-world challenges. Held last Octobers, hacks focus on education, Sustainability, and Societal issues. Winners of the Student Hackathon Grand Prize ended their internships with Microsoft in September, but the team chose to remain with the company to form a new hackathon team....

Jim Weinstein and Joshua Mandel are two veterans of health companies and are joining Microsoft Healthcare. Weinstein will become a Vice President at Microsoft and be the Head of Innovation and Health Equity. “Jim Weinstein will work closely with organizations on the front lines of healthcare delivery as we aim to support health systems, empower clinicians and enable the systems of care as they move to the cloud. He will be my partner in developing the strategic vision for Microsoft Healthcare, and will provide leadership that is grounded in decades of health industry experience....

Yes, this is the HoloLens versions of the Windows 10 May 2021 Update that is currently rolling out. While the base Windows update is rather limited in terms of new features, Windows Holographic 21H1 comes loaded with additions. Leading the way is Microsoft Edge, the “new” Chromium version, which is coming to HoloLens 2 for the first time. It has been a long time coming considering HoloLens got Chromium Edge in preview back in January....

That evolution has taken a big leap today with inclusion in Office Online. One of Learning Tool’s drawbacks was the exclusivity of some features, and Microsoft has now addressed this in full. Learning Tools Features The exclusive OneNote features will be coming to Word Desktop and Online and Office Lens. Here’s a quick rundown of the features: “A Read Aloud feature reads text out loud with simultaneous highlighting improves decoding, fluency, and comprehension while sustaining focus and attention....

In a blog post, Microsoft says Azure has often been a leading platform for researchers and the Microsoft Investigator Fellowship will maintain Azure’s position. “Microsoft fellowships have a long history of supporting researchers,” the company says. “Seeking to promote diversity and promising academic research in the field of computing. This fellowship is an addition to this legacy that highlights the significance of Azure in education, both now and into the future....