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One of Microsoft’s most advanced datacenters ever, the new location will be in Gävle Sandviken and Staffanstorp. “Building on Microsoft’s 35-year history in Sweden and strong partnerships across the energy, manufacturing, and retail sectors, we are looking forward to delivering the Microsoft Cloud from this new datacenter region in 2021. We believe that digital transformation should always be both inclusive and sustainable. As such, we will provide digital skills training for up to 150,000 citizens, to help support their employability and empower them to take advantage of the opportunities that this investment brings to Sweden....

The need for the Driver Module Framework has become apparent through the evolution of the Surface brand. Microsoft develops drivers and firmware for products such as the Studio, Book, Laptop, and of course the Surface Pro. What’s interesting about these products is Microsoft approached each individually. This means separate teams worked in product-specific drivers despite the similarities between the hardware. In a blog today, Microsoft says this presented problems in terms of duplicate code and maintenance time....

At the same time, it emerged Microsoft founder Bill Gates uses the Galaxy Z Fold 3. In a Reddit AMA this year, Gates seemed to throw some subtle shade at the Surface Duo by not making it his daily driver. Is anyone really surprised, the Surface Duo 2 feels like a half-ready device while the Galaxy Fold handsets are usable right now. Look, I am a Surface Duo apologist and appreciate what Microsoft is trying to do....

In fact, Microsoft points to a total of 129 security flaws it dealt with through this September Patch Tuesday release. Of those, 23 have been classified as critical, while 105 are “important” and one “moderate”. While it’s never good news to have a bunch of critical flaws, Microsoft says none of the 129 security issues have been exploited in the wild. Windows was home to most of the critical vulnerabilities, although Microsoft Edge and the aging Internet Explorer also host some....

1 Minecraft Dungeons2 Ori and the Will of the Wisps3 Lego Speed Champions for Forza Horizon 4 We covered some of those games already, but what about some other triple A and indie games coming to Xbox in the coming months? Arguably the biggest of them all is Gears of War 5. While Microsoft was short on details at the event, the company did drop a new trailer. Additionally, Microsoft says Gears 5 will launch on September 10, or if you are an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, on Sept....

Sets is a tabbing system that will work across Windows 10. Essentially a universal tab ability for applications. It works like tabs on a web browser, allowing users to open a tab in an application by clicking a + symbol in the title bar. A new tab will show recent apps, documents, and a search. The concept of using Windows 10 Sets is to be able to multi-task more easily without needing to leave an app you are in....

This time the hackers are attacking the Serv-U FTP software from SolarWinds. MSTIC says it is likely they are trying to access information from SolarWinds customers in the US defense industry. An everyday Microsoft 365 Defender anti-virus scan first picked up on the zero-day. Microsoft’s security suite found an “anomalous malicious process”, which suggests the threat group wanted to get administrator access on the Seri-U software. In a blog post, Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center points out such access would give hackers control over system: “If Serv-U’s SSH is exposed to the internet, successful exploitation would give attackers ability to remotely run arbitrary code with privileges, allowing them to perform actions like install and run malicious payloads, or view and change data....

Batteries are an area of consumer technology where companies should be ultra-competitive. While we have seen giant leaps in mobile processing, screens, cameras, and other areas, battery performance has stayed largely stagnant. Companies are mostly left maintaining existing battery life capabilities to accommodate more powerful devices. The company that makes a significant breakthrough in battery technology is surely onto a winner. It is worth remembering battery life is a crucial factor when consumers buy a device....

If you’re unfamiliar with Soundscape, here’s a refresher. It is a tool that help visually impaired users navigate through their environment by leveraging voice mapping. It combines the power of Bing Maps Local Search and Bing Maps Location Recognition to bring intelligent voice mapping to users. While Microsoft has been working on Soundscape since at least 2018, the company expanded on the project last year. “As a person approaches identifiable places and things like businesses, bus stops, and intersections, Soundscape will call out the name of the place or thing from the direction they are located....

In a court filing Friday, Microsoft claimed Foxconn did not give its agreed twice-annual royalty reports. The manufacturer was supposed to file the reports detailing unnamed products. Microsoft adds the company also failed to make royalty payments on time. Microsoft filed its legal action with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The filing shows the company is seeking the royalty payment be made and with additional interest....

It’s also a bleeding edge device, taking dual screened technology and packaging it in a high-end flagship smartphone. Since the announcement, Microsoft has been quite on both specs and price for the Surface Duo. Many predicted the Duo would cost a lot and could even become the most expensive mainstream smartphone on the market. According to a new report, the Duo will be priced competitively against other cutting-edge handsets. Furthermore, the report also adds some interesting details about the Duo’s specs....

Again, Zoom is king of the issues and has faced numerous problems. However, Microsoft Teams has not been immune, including several major outages. Microsoft has confirmed it has patched a bug that was found in Teams last month. Back last month, security teams working for CyberArk described a Teams bug that put user accounts at risk and subsequently parent PCs. Specifically, the bad actor would send a GIF to unsuspecting users....

It seems that getting the feature ready for Microsoft Teams takes longer than Microsoft thought. Of course, delays happen and it is just one (albeit welcome) ability. Though, it is worth noting that the company has not said when Guest Access will now arrive. So, in other words, it is delayed indefinitely until we hear official word otherwise. Turning to guess work, we guess Microsoft will debut the ability at its Inspire event in mid-July....

Of course, that makes sense for a whole range of reasons. However, there is no doubt there are plenty of people who are disappointed the realization of the Surface Phone meant leaving behind Windows as a mobile concept. Or did it? One of the problems of Microsoft adopting Android for the Surface Duo is it put a further block on the concept of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). It seemed UWP app developers were shut out from the device....

Microsoft has used Intel chips in its Surface hardware exclusively over the last five years. However, Brad Sams reports the company has grown frustrated with recent CPUs and is seeking to diversify. Sams says Intel’s Skylake CPUs were particularly disappointing to Microsoft and gave the company a “black eye”. He goes as far as to say the relationship between Microsoft and Intel is now on “shaky ground”. Microsoft is now seeking alternatives and is testing a version of the Surface Laptop with the 12nm AMD Picasso processor....

Microsoft is the latest to join the race to create the most innovative campus. The company has announced it will “refresh” of its Redmond base. While the company will not be moving to a new location, that refresh is more like a complete overhaul. The 500-acre campus in Washington has been Microsoft’s home for thirty years. Over the coming years, the company will begin a major redevelopment. This will include revamping existing buildings and adding 18 new structures to the complex....

“We polished the design of To Do by reducing the header size and adding in more color to give the app warmth and personalization. It’s still the simple and elegant app you love, but now with more options to customize, so you can tailor it to suit yourself and your lists. With the new version of To Do, you can choose from a wide range of backgrounds, including the beloved Berlin TV tower that was a feature in Wunderlist....

In its announcement, the company says Munich is the perfect place to open the IoT lab. Microsoft says the city is an industrial hub of manufacturing. It is also a central point in Europe to attract companies from across the continent. The new Munich lab will mirror those already opened in the USA and China. It allows companies of all sizes to work at no cost. By using the lab, companies have access to Microsoft technology and engineers focused on machine learning AI and internet of things....

1 Core functionality2 Hybrid3 Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI)4 Windows Server 2019 platform5 Extensibility and ecosystem6 Available Now Microsoft has been expanding the capabilities of Windows Admin Center throughout the year. When launched, the company described the management system as: “Windows Admin Center is a new, locally-deployed, browser-based management tool set that lets you manage your Windows Servers with no Azure or cloud dependency. Windows Admin Center gives you full control over all aspects of your server infrastructure and is particularly useful for managing servers on private networks that are not connected to the Internet,” explains Microsoft....

Users who leverage the new Web Live Preview extension can now find a new option called “Edit in Browser”. This is discoverable by right clicking the ASPX page inside Visual Studio IDE. As the name suggests, this means you can edit within a web browser. When the “Edit in Browser” option is opened, the default browser on a PC will open. The ASPX page is displayed in a bespoke web page that allows developers to select elements of their application....