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Microsoft says the reason for the change is to create a stable and transparent price model across purchasing channels. The adjustments include structural changes across channels and individual price tweaks for some solutions. In the announcement, Microsoft announced the core changes as the following: Establishing a single, consistent starting price across all programs aligned to web direct for online services (OLS) Removing the programmatic volume discounts (Level A and Open Level C) in Enterprise Agreement (EA)/EA Subscription, MPSA, Select/ Select Plus, and Open programs (Open, Open Value, Open Value Subscription) Aligning government pricing for on-premises and online services to the lowest commercial price in EA/EAS, MPSA, Select Plus, and Open Programs Delivering a newly designed Customer Price Sheet that better outlines how a customer’s price was derived (direct EA/EAS only)...

Alongside Paint 3D, Microsoft also introduced the Windows View 3D app, which helps users view and interact with 3D models. Now, according to Microsoft enthusiast, WalkingCat, the Redmond giant is allegedly getting ready to bring the so-called “Magic Window” Augmented Reality feature to the View 3D app for tablets. “Magic Window” is a reference to the so-called “large magic-window type of devices” which were shown in Microsoft’s announcement video for its Beihai 3D ecosystem project....

Speaking to IGN, Molyneux said “you know, Kinect… I’ll be honest with you. It was a disaster.” “It was a trainwreck,” he continued. “It started as this device which kind of could do everything itself. It didn’t take up any processor power, the field of view could encompass the whole room. The audio on it, which no one really talks about, was originally supposed to be multi-sensing, it could sense where you were....

Specifically, while default configurations in PowerApps protect tables secure, it does not protect lists. Data from 47 businesses, including Microsoft payroll information and government agency data was exposed. Among those who have confirmed they were affected by the leak are the Maryland Department of Health and its COVID test appointments, New York City Department of Education rosters, employees lists from the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority, and contact-tracing data from the Indiana Department of Health....

Leaks have suggested many things, such as the Pro 7, Surface Book 3, Surface Laptop 3, and the folding Surface Centaurus device. For a good look at what to expect on Wednesday, check out our Surface event guide here. However, it seems we won’t be getting the Centaurus. Looking at the images from WalkingCat, Microsoft will unveil an AMD-powered Surface, the Surface Pro 7, and Surface Laptop 3. Over the last week, those have become the most likely devices, so confirmation is not a surprise....

Text-based games are good learning tools for AI and researchers can leverage TextWorld to train and test AI. Among the learning abilities available through the project are the improvement of memory, language understandings, exploration, planning, and more. “One reason I’m excited about TextWorld is the way it combines reinforcement learning with natural language,” said Geoff Gordon, Principal Research Manager at Microsoft Research Montreal. “These two technologies are both really important, but they don’t fit together that well yet....

While Spectre was more problematic due to Intel’s faulty patch, it was thought the Meltdown fix was more straightforward. However, security researcher Alex Ionescu says Microsoft’s Meltdown patch for Windows has a “fatal flaw”. Microsoft sent out the patch in January, among the first to react to Meltdown and Spectre. Unfortunately, Ionescu suggests there has been an underpinning problem with that patch. So much so, the mitigation has been pointless: “Welp, it turns out the #Meltdown patches for Windows 10 had a fatal flaw: calling NtCallEnclave returned back to user space with the full kernel page table directory, completely undermining the mitigation....

Under the previous Microsoft Store policies stated that apps cannot “attempt to profit from open-source or other software that is otherwise generally available for free, nor be priced irrationally high relative to the features and functionality provided by your product.” While Microsoft is keeping the part about commercial profit-seeking apps, those that are free or priced reasonably will remain. In its policy 11.2 updates, the company details the changes it is making: “All content in your product and associated metadata must be either originally created by the application provider, appropriately licensed from the third-party rights holder, used as permitted by the rights holder, or used as otherwise permitted by law....

Under normal circumstances, the removal of a service arrives ahead of time. In this instance, Microsoft has culled the book store section of the Microsoft Store immediately. The company says the section is closed from today (April 2). It is worth noting the store was for digital eBooks. Microsoft says customers who paid for books will now receive automatic refunds and will not be able to access those titles after July 31: “Starting April 2, 2019, the books category in Microsoft Store will be closing....

According to Redmond, the aim of the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator is to give customers more oversight across their carbon output. More specifically, to become more transparent about what their environmental impact is. “It’s challenging to make and meet meaningful carbon reduction goals without the ability to measure carbon emissions,” Microsoft says. “Using AI and advanced analytics, the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator provides actionable insights on how to reduce emissions, the ability to forecast emissions, and simplifies carbon reporting....

Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA-1) is a quarter of a century old and is a system that creates hashes through cryptographics. Major weaknesses were found in SHA-1 by Google back in 2017 and browsers have been adopting SHA-2 since. Microsoft is going a step further and moving all services under the newer algorithm. This completes a move Microsoft has been discussing for years. Back in 2019, the company signaled its intentions to switch to SHA-2: “Unfortunately, the security of the SHA-1 hash algorithm has become less secure over time due to weaknesses found in the algorithm, increased processor performance, and the advent of cloud computing,” Microsoft said at the time....

Posted on the Microsoft Teams roadmap, the update will allow users to tap into the channel calendar and share with members. They can share events and other calendar elements in meetings. Under this new system, new meetings on a channel will see Teams crate a new post automatically in the calendar. This new post will appear as a pop up in the activity feed for meetings participants. Microsoft says the tool comes to all channels by the end of January 2021....

“Disruptive echo effects, poor room acoustics, and choppy video are some common issues that hinder the effectiveness of online calls and meetings. Through AI and machine learning, which have become fundamental to our strategy for continual improvement, we’ve identified and are now delivering innovative enhancements in Microsoft Teams that improve such audio and video challenges in ways that are both user-friendly and scalable across environments.” Echo cancellation is especially interesting and something Microsoft Teams users have requested for some time....

The new tool will be located on the taskbar and will create a ticker showing information such as stocks, news, and weather. This seems to be part of Microsoft wider redesign of the Windows 10 desktop that will debut with Windows 10 21H2 Sun Valley. I get why this seems like a decent addition. Users who are not on their browser can get a quick view of information while working in another app without needing to open the Start menu....

1 Black Editions2 Pushing Apple As the name suggests, Surface Black will see Microsoft clad its hardware in a black case. Sure, it’s only an aesthetic twist, but it is one people have been asking for. And yes, we have come full circle. Black laptops were considered boring around 10 years ago. Companies started embracing other colors more frequently, especially in the metal-clad ultrabook market. As is usually the case with these things, black is now back....

Previously, users could choose between the OneNote Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app or the standard Win32 app. It seems Microsoft has finally merged the two while also giving the visuals a tweak. “OneNote for Windows 10 will no longer be available in the Microsoft Store,” explains the company in a blog post. “It will continue to work, but it will not get new feature updates and will reach end-of-support in October 2025....

When people use Microsoft Word in the future, their searchers will be handled more like a typical search performed on a web browser. According to Microsoft, users will be able to surface search results when they make an in-text error, like a typo. Word will help by searching other related items. This behavior is similar to web search engines and is not currently available on the app. Next, Microsoft Word search will also group together forms of words....

These kits give developers the early version of the console to begin creating games for the device. In terms of design, we would guess these dev kits are very close to the final design of Project Scorpio. A closer look at the hardware shows the XDK (Xbox Development Kit) branding. Looking at the design, this carries a close resemblance to the current Xbox One S. That makes plenty of sense, although there will undoubtedly be some aesthetic tweaks....

Game capacity has been increasing for years and it’s a problem gamers face by being forced into download the full game onto their console. However, Microsoft has confirmed the Xbox Series X will come with a 1TB SSD, just like the Xbox One X. That’s problematic because it severely restricts how many games a player can hold on the console. For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare weighs in at 185GB....

Currently available for beta testers, this is an update for the Bedrock Edition and is landing on Windows, Xbox, and Android. Unfortunately, as Mojang looks to feature updates of the future, the latest Minecraft: Bedrock Edition release does not add any new features. Instead, version 1.18.0.24 focuses on squashing bugs, improvements, and making the overall experience better. So, exciting this update is not, but that’s okay. Below is the full changelog:...