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First up is PowerPoint’s with Ink analysis. Ink analysis provides better text a shape recognition to convert any handwritten words and objects either as they’re drawn or when the whole slide is complete. It’s rolling out to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 Insiders next month. It joined by Ink gestures in Word, which should prove useful to those on Surface devices. As you would expect, this lets you draw onto a document and have it interact with text....

Out of those, Excel easily steals the crown. Co-authoring is now generally available, meaning you and a coworker can work on the same spreadsheet simultaneously. This works with documents saved in SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and OneDrive for Business. Users can see who else is working on the spreadsheet and view their changes in real-time. Combined with Skype or Microsoft Teams, this could be a great tool for learning and financial advisors....

Spotted by Twitter user h0x0d, the game is currently just a placeholder and cannot be downloaded. Microsoft is expected to launch a beta for xCloud soon and this shows the company is preparing for games to be available on the Microsoft Store. As for the listing, it is labelled as an Xbox One application even though Project xCloud will be more focused on mobile game streaming. Perhaps this placeholder application will eventually become the bridge that allows the Xbox One to act as a server....

By all accounts, everything seemed to run smoothly, with no perceptible lag and great battery life. However, Win32 apps generally use more power than UWP ones, and Always Connected PCs need to emulate them for ARM processors on top of that. Some publications, ourselves included, wondered if that would hold on Windows 10 Pro. The answer is yes, according to Qualcomm VP representative Pj Jacobwitz. According to Neowin, the employee said the impact from win32 apps will be the same as on a regular PC with an Intel processor....

The Surface Pro 3 is an excellent piece of hardware, but sadly it has had battery issues long term. The support page on Microsoft’s official channel is now around 140 pages. This has been a long standing issue that we discuss shortly, but earlier in the year Microsoft made some promises to affected users. During a Reddit AMA to discuss the issue, Surface VP Panos Pinay said “To sum up: We’ve built a great battery into the product (details above)....

Still, it is worth remembering that all of those companies remained in IBM’s shadow for decades. As a report from ZDNet shows, it is only this month that Microsoft managed to move from under that shadow. When Redmond’s FY 2018 earnings were announced earlier this month, they included two milestone firsts. Microsoft’s revenue passed $100bn for the first time. Secondly, the total $110.4bn turnover was the first time Microsoft had ever been bigger than IBM....

This time, it was Samsung’s fault. SamCentral noticed an update to the Galaxy Wearables APK that included images of yet-to-be-released devices. They include official confirmation of the buds, a smartwatch, and a fitness tracker. Galaxy Buds Specs and the Galaxy Active Little is known about the watches, but there are several rumors floating around about the Galaxy buds. They will allegedly be water resistant and could come with a charging case that can sit on the back of an S10 for power....

Among the most useful features is Skype’s Instant Chat. It means you’ll no longer have to add a friend as a contact before you can message them. Instead, you can just find them and start chatting either one-on-one or as part of a group. However, perhaps more noticeable is the applications new notifications panel. As you would expect, all your messages, memos, and reactions appear here to make sure you don’t miss anything....

Thanks to Snap Map you can see where your friends and other nearby Snapchat users are. Furthermore, Snap Map shows you all the events and activities that are taking place in your vicinity. Essentially, this new feature allows users to hook up with other nearby Snapchat users. You can update your Snapchat app in iOS or Android and start using the new feature now. Snap Map Ghost Mode One of the interesting options of Snap Map is Ghost Mode, which allows users to keep their location to themselves and not let others know where they are....

He was speaking specifically about the company’s position in Europe. In fact, Steve Ballmer has urged regulators on the continent to continue to be hard on Google. “I still believe that the … power of Google in Europe is out of control,” he said. “I think they should be regulated to permit competition. I thought that when I worked at Microsoft; I still believe it. Microsoft has backed off from that....

It seems British security officials are not on the same page. The UK, a long-time first-base ally for the United States does not support a full ban on Huawei technology from its networks. “We don’t favor a complete ban. It’s not that simple” a source told Reuters today. Huawei is the world’s largest manufacturer of telecoms equipment but is largely untrusted in the West. The company has often been accused of acting as a gateway for the Chinese government to spy on other nations and their people....

Valve has been doing everything it can to hand out Steam Links, including discounts from $50 to just $2.50. The device is now sold out Europe and almost in the US, and Valve has no plans to restock it. The announcement appeared on the Steam Link blog in a post that didn’t quite capture the gravity of the situation. “Steam Link hardware almost gone!,” read the post title. “The supply of physical Steam Link hardware devices is sold out in Europe and almost sold out in the US....

The result has been a sharp drop in public image for Yahoo, and it’s had an effect on Verizon’s bid for the company’s operating business. Verizon’s initial bid of 4.8 billion has been knocked down to 4.48, with a $350 million reduction. Though it’s not much in the grand scheme of things, another clause may prove more expensive. Under a new agreement, Yahoo will share 50 percent of any cash liabilities that come from SEC investigations and third-party breach litigations....

1 Keep Insider Program Consistent2 Pay More Attention to User Feedback3 Freedom of Installation4 Solved Problems? At the heart of the change seems to be Microsoft learning some lessons about Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809). The company has implemented changes that it believes will make the Windows Update experience better. Microsoft launched version 1809 on October 4 and it quickly turned into a disaster. This release became one of the worst software rollouts in recent memory....

1 Windows 10: How to Create a virtual drive as a hard drive2 Windows 10: How to Create a virtual DVD drive3 Windows 10: How to Create a virtual drive as a RAM disk The multiple uses of a virtual hard disk can extend your disk management capabilities on Windows 10 and have various benefits. Importantly, creating a vhdx or vhd on Windows 10 is no longer a complicated process. For Ramdisks, a virtual hard disk, or virtual DVD drive, generating a virtual drive is relatively simple....

1 How to Enable or Disable Aero Shake via Group Policy2 How to Enable or Disable Windows Aero Shake via the Registry Editor Unfortunately, the feature can also have unintended consequences. Those who move their windows about or have dual monitors may notice that they’re accidentally activating Windows shaking. This can cost valuable time when you’re trying to be productive and is generally very annoying. Disabling Aero Shake Modifying this feature thankfully isn’t too hard....

Redstone 4 has been passing through the Windows Insider Program for some time. First it was on the Skip Ahead feature but is now the main preview branch since the full launch of the Fall Creators Update. Microsoft now runs Windows as a service, offering sporadic major update releases, with smaller patches and bug fixing in-between. Coming on the next release (due in spring 2018) is a feature called “Near Share”....

If you have already downloaded Windows 10 20 H1 preview build 18922 and not seen the new Cortana app, that’s because it is hidden. Twitter user and Microsoft watcher Albacore discovered the app before further details we released. Like the old Cortana Beta experience, the new application is still located by Windows Search in the taskbar. However, it now features a new UI experience. Microsoft seems to be transitioning the mobile UI it uses on iOS and Android to Windows 10....

For Windows 10 20H1, which will launch next year, Microsoft has now fully introduced Windows Subsystem for Linux 2.0 (WSL 2). We discussed this new WSL version back in May, revealing how the subsystem now supports a full Linux kernel. “The kernel itself will initially be based on version 4.19, the latest long-term stable release of Linux. The kernel will be rebased at the designation of new long-term stable releases to ensure that the WSL kernel always has the latest Linux goodness....

After removing them, a restart will enough to completely uninstall them from your PC. This will save a little storage while removing general clutter and bloat in the OS. If needed, you can reinstall the programs at any point. This seems to be an ideal solution to Microsoft’s conundrum with legacy Paint. With the Windows 10 Creator’s Update, it introduced its upgraded app, Paint 3D. However, many users still prefer classic Paint, and its proposed removal was met with some resistance....