Microsoft has been quietly testing out a new flexible content canvas tool to help Office 365 users access the files, media, links, documents, To-Do Lists, Sticky Notes, emails, and more.

The first appearance of this new digital workspace (similar in fashion to content management tools such as Trello or Monday) came back in February of 2020 when images and videos of the service began surfacing on the internet. At the time, Microsoft’s coalescing efforts were only known as Project Moca, and when asked about the project, the company avoided direct confirmation of its existence.

Since the pandemic hit, Project Moca has flown relatively under the radar, despite a preview roll out in May of this year. However, yesterday Microsoft finally acknowledge its existence by crowing it with a promotional roll out via the company’s Outlook Blog.

As the blog name implies, Project Moca will be part of a feature set for Outlook where users can call upon it from the navigation pane in Outlook for the Web and create and organize buckets of content. Use case scenarios might include project-specific “Buckets” to keep all corresponding emails, notes, websites, project goals, and related files, in one area.

Depending on the level of access, Project Moca could be just another reason small to mid-sized businesses can find value in moving from free patchwork options such as Google, Trello, and Slack to a more streamlined Office 365 experience.

As part of the Community Blog post “Project Moca is available for Microsoft 365 consumer subscribers, EDU customers, and select commercial customers as a preview and is shipped off-by-default. Admins can enable it through PowerShell with the Set-OwaMailboxPolicy OwaMailboxPolicy-Default -ProjectMocaEnabled $true parameter.”

As we reported back in May, those interested and have access to an Office 365 account can visit this link to test it out the feature set ahead of a presumed general rollout.

Microsoft has discovered a new compatibility issue for some PCs with LTE modems running the Windows 10 May 2020 Update (via Bleeping Computer). On the Windows 10 Health Dashboard, the company explained yesterday that some PCs with certain WWAN LTE modems running the May 2020 Update might not be able to connect to the Internet after waking from sleep.

The company expects to fix the issue in a patch coming in late September, but in the meantime, the company has applied a compatibility hold on devices with affected WWAN LTE modems. For users who have already installed the May 2020 Update and are now encountering the issue, Microsoft recommends to enable and then disable Airplane mode to connect to the Internet after waking from sleep.

The Windows 10 May 2020 Update launched with several compatibility issues in the last week of May, and many owners of recent Surface devices have also been unable to install it until recently. However, Microsoft and its partners have now managed to resolve most problems, though there’s still a compatibility issue with Conexant audio drivers.

In the latest AdDuplex Windows Devices Statistics report for the month of August, the May 2020 Update was running on 24.1% of all surveyed PCs, still lagging behind the November 2019 Update at 35.5%. As the latest Windows 10 version is continuing its slow progression, Microsoft is now getting ready to roll out Windows 10 version 20H2, which will be a minor release just like the November 2019 Update was last year.

The first Surface Duo review units are out, but Microsoft has a review embargo, and tech reviewers are under NDA and can not discuss the software or camera experiences until September 10th. Being the Surface fan that I am (and since OnMSFT was not on the initial review unit list and not under embargo) I was still eager to try one out, gather my own thoughts, and share them here.

Ahead of the arrival of my own Surface Duo pre-order next week, I headed to my local Best Buy where a display unit was available to try one out (without any limits on looking at the software or cameras.) It was tricky finding a location that had one available, but after spending two hours with the Duo in my hands, I must say, it is a phone like any other, and a phone that’ll make you a dual-screen believer.

Editor’s note: We are not under any NDAs and are using a display unit, and the final Android/software experience of the Surface Duo is subject to change. There’s also a red “tint” in our photos and videos, due to the lighting in the room at Best Buy. This is only noticeable on camera, and not in person.

The premium-feeling hardware

The minute I walked up to the Surface Duo display unit, I was amazed. As I picked it up with my hands, I was really surprised at how thin the Duo felt. Coming from the world of Windows Phone, Blackberry, iPhone, and Google Pixel, I never quite felt a phone that thin. As many tech reviewers have pointed out, one screen on the Duo is almost as thin as a single USB-C port. And, when folded together, the Duo is just as thin as a Pixel 3XL. It really is quite amazing.

But the thinness wasn’t all that amazed me. As I folded and unfolded the screen, the hinges really caught my attention. They are super solid and really can hold the phone up well. No matter which angle I opened the Duo too, the phone was able to support itself thanks and stay in place thanks to the hinges. The feel is a bit reminiscent of the watchband hinges that Lenovo has on its Yoga laptops, but the difference is that Microsoft tucked the hinges inside the screen.

Then, there’s the overall material. The Duo is unlike your average Surface and is made of glass and not magnesium. It did feel a bit too smooth and slippery in my hands for my liking, but I think the included bumper case or a Drand skin can fix that. That’s also where I really appreciated the thick bezels, as it gave my fingers something to grab onto when handling the phone and rotating it around.

Comparing the dimensions of the Duo to my Pixel 3XL, meanwhile, offered another interesting experience. The Pixel is a lot taller than Duo, whereas the Duo is shorter, and a bit wider. I wasn’t able to move the Duo to see if it could fit in my pocket, but with those dimensions, I don’t see why it can’t fit.

The Dual-Screen Android experience

Next up in my hands-on experience was touring the dual-screen experience. This is where the Duo again feels different from other phones, and it’s all thanks to the underlying work Microsoft has done with Android. In fact, I think the Duo marks the perfect combination of Microsoft hardware and Google Android software.

In my experience of testing out the dual-screens on the Duo, I tried a couple of things. I stacked and scrolled two apps on the two screens at the same time, slid apps around from one screen to the next, spanned an app across the two screens. I also ended up rotating the Duo so both screens are in the vertical orientation, and turned it back over and shifted apps around. Then, I ended up using the Duo in its various modes, such as “tent” or “laptop.” Keep in mind, all of these gestures and experiences are powered by Microsoft Launcher and Android.

Again, thanks to Microsoft’s work on the hardware, leveraging those dual-screens for all my tests was an amazing experience. My fingers easily moved in between the two screens hinges as I pushed one screen to the next. It felt like the hinges and the gap in the screen were not even there. Even for pre-release, the software also felt quite polished too. As I moved things around, the Duo didn’t freeze and on-screen animations were always fluent and fast.

However, the hinge did feel a little annoying when spanning apps “full screen” in the horizontal mode. It cut out things I was scrolling or watching, especially when it comes to videos.

But I do want to mention an interesting point. Although Microsoft hyped-up opening apps side by side, the real strength of the Duo is using it in the vertical mode, with a single app. Thanks to its aspect ratio and orientation, scrolling webpages, and other apps felt really natural and smooth. When reading the New York Times website, It felt like I was holding a piece of paper in front of me, and the content on the screen was really natural-looking. This will be a point for the Duo that I’ll keep an eye on moving forward.

I’ll end this section by pointing out another thing that makes the Duo unique. Since it has hinges, you can fold the Duo over into a tent mode. I did this to watch a video on YouTube, and it was really cool, to say the least. Although the video had a weird letterbox mode (I assume YouTube isn’t optimized for the Duo) it was a little heartwarming to be able to “fold” a phone over and use it to watch videos, in the same way that I would on a Windows 2-in-1.

The inking and using the Surface Pen

As I moved along in my demo, I found that the display unit I played with asked me to sign into a Microsoft Account to use core apps like OneNote, and Outlook, so my inking experience was a bit limited. However, that didn’t stop me.

I pulled up a New York Times article on one screen, and the sticky notes widget in the Microsoft Launcher on the other. I simulated jotting down notes, and I felt right at home. The movements of the pen on the screen is fluent, as is the latency. It’s really like using a Windows 10 PC or a Surface Pro.

Just be aware, there’s nowhere for the Surface Pen to attach to the Surface Duo. It’ll stick to the back screen, but it also will slide off. You’ll have to keep attaching it as it moves. From what I know, this isn’t officially supported, and you’d have to keep the pen stored in your pocket. Apparently this gets a bit better with the bumper, but still, it’s no Note 20.

The camera

The final point I want to mention is the camera. This has been an area of controversy with the Duo, and a reason I was quite hesitant to purchase one for my personal use. However, after trying the Duo out, I’m not as worried. Here’s why.

Microsoft has done a lot of optimization with the Surface Duo camera. To my surprise, the overall user interface is quite fluent. While it is true that there’s no rear camera, if you want to take pictures of something in your world, the Duo has your back.

Thanks to the software, just fold the screens over, and flip them around to switch from selfie mode to rear-camera mode. The switch happens almost instantly as clicking the “switch camera” button on a typical Android phone.

But, then there’s the quality. With a single 11MP sensor, can the Duo make the cuts? Have a look below for the quality, and let us know what you think in the comments.

And, here's three photos with the Surface Duo… same scene, different result? Be the judge. pic.twitter.com/vE67f3cAaT

— Arif Bacchus (@abacjourn) August 31, 2020

Overall, I am not too worried about the Surface Duo camera. For situations with a lot of light, it looks like the camera can punch out some really great photos. However, in situations with low-light, the Duo might struggle a bit. It’s hard to come to a conclusion right now, but I do look forward to finding out more when I get my own Duo and take it out into the wild.

I can’t wait to get my own Duo!

As my initial hands-on occurred on a demo unit in the limited setting of Best Buy, there’s still a lot of things I am curious to see about the Duo. Once I get my own Duo, I can’t wait to set up my daily apps (Snapchat, Instagram, etc) and see how the phone tackles my everyday needs. I’ll be doing a full review of the Duo come mid-September, so be sure to keep tuned to OnMSFT. And, if you have any questions for me, drop me a comment in the section below. I’ll do my best to answer them!

The month of August was a pretty good one for Xbox Game Pass, which received no less than 4 new Microsoft games including the critically-acclaimed Flight Simulator and Wasteland 3, the Battletoads reboot, as well as the first episode of Tell Me Why. Well, Microsoft has just announced the next wave of new games coming to Xbox Game Pass in September, starting with the freshly-released strategy game Crusader Kings III on PC.

More games will follow on Thursday, September 3, with Resident Evil 7, Touhou Luna Nights, and the episode 2 of Tell Me Why on Console and PC. Console gamers will also get The Jackbox Party Pack 4 on the same day, while World War Z, which is already available on Xbox Game Pass for Console, will also join the PC catalog. It’s worth noting that the latter was previously exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC, and the Left 4 Dead-inspired game also recently introduced support crossplay between PC and Xbox One.

Next week, two new games will join the catalog on September 10 with Disgaea 4 Complete+ on PC and Hotshot Racing on Console. Additionally, the third and final chapter of Tell Me Why will also be available on Console and PC on September 10. The Xbox team also listed Destiny 2: Shadowkeep & Forsaken as “coming soon” on Console, and we’ll let you know once we have the release date.

In case you missed it, four games will also leave Xbox Game Pass in September, starting with NBA 2K20 on console today. Red Dead Redemption 2 will follow on September 7, and then Jumpforce and Gonner: Blueberry Edition will also be removed on September 15. On that day, Microsoft will also launch Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud) on Android as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and Microsoft promised that over 100 Xbox games would be playable on mobile devices at launch.

If Microsoft recently confirmed that its next-gen Xbox Series X console will launch in November, the company has yet to announce its cheaper alternative, the Xbox Series S, also codenamed “Lockhart”. This second next-gen Xbox console previously appeared in official documentation for developers as well as on the packaging for the next-gen Xbox controller to be released alongside the Xbox Series X and presumably, the Xbox Series S.

Earlier today, Twitter user BravaryBrendan tweeted a picture of an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate trial code sheet mentioning the “Xbox Series X/S consoles.”

the latest regular Xbox One controllers now mention "Xbox Series S" in the Xbox Game Pass sheet. At least we're now in the month of September https://t.co/8QwFRcca33

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) September 1, 2020

According to previous reports, the Xbox Series S will share many of the Xbox Series X’s components, including a custom AMD Zen 2-based CPU and custom NVMe SSD. However, the Xbox Series S GPU is expected to deliver just 4 teraflops of computing power compared to 12 on the Xbox Series X. As a result, Microsoft is expected to position the Xbox Series S as an affordable next-gen option for 1080p gaming, delivering a better experience than the now-deprecated Xbox One X thanks to a faster SSD and a more modern GPU and CPU.

With the Xbox Series X set to launch in November, Microsoft probably won’t wait too long before officially announcing the Xbox Series S, as well as pricing details for the new console. A lot of details about the Xbox Series S have leaked in the past couple of months, but it’s quite impressive that the full hardware, which is presumably already in production, hasn’t leaked yet.

According to a previous report, the Xbox Series S could look more like the Xbox One S/X than the Xbox Series X. As the Xbox One X has now been discontinued, it could make sense for the company to re-purpose its existing Xbox One X manufacturing capabilities for Xbox Series S consoles going forward.

Xbox One owners who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition version of Marvel’s Avengers can now begin playing the full game three days before everyone else.

Marvel’s Avengers is the first major Avengers-focused video game to be released on any gaming platform in a very long time. Well, if you don’t count the various (legitimately fun) LEGO Marvel video games that is.

The game features a rather realistic visual style and follows a completely original storyline set outside of the comic books and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On Day One, players will be able to play as Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, and Ms Marvel though a number of additional characters are set to arrive post-launch such as Hawkeye. A data leak made mention of a large roster of potential upcoming characters from Quake and Mockingbird to Scarlet Witch and Black Panther though it’s unknown if these Marvel creations are completely locked in.

Spider-Man has also been confirmed but will frustratingly be only available to players on Sony’s PS4 and PS5 consoles.

The Xbox One version of Marvel’s Avengers supports forward compatibility with Microsoft’s Xbox Series X console which means that owners of the current gen version will be able to play the next gen version for free.

Are you going to play Marvel’s Avengers or are you satisfied with getting your Marvel fix in the current season of Fortnite? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Twitter for more Xbox gaming news.

Download
QR-Code

Marvel’s Avengers: Deluxe Edition

Developer:
Crystal Dynamics

Price:
Free

Download
QR-Code

Marvel’s Avengers

Developer:
Crystal Dynamics

Price:
Free

While Microsoft and Slack duke it out for enterprise market share, the relatively new contestant Zoom is not so quietly eating up both general mindshare and market share while also making a nice little profit in the process.

On Monday, Zoom reported to investors that the company’s revenue earnings were $663.5 million for the quarter versus the market expectations of $500.5 million. Signaling a 335% revenue growth for Zoom year over year. The result for investors was a 92 cents per share increase beating out the estimated 45 cents the market once again predicted.

Perhaps, more importantly, Zoom’s monthly active users continue to grow and were at 148.4 million for the company’s fiscal second-quarter highlighting a 4,700% YoY increase.

On the heels of a stellar fiscal quarter report, Zoom is raising its guidance for the full 2021 fiscal year, expecting its fortunes to continue amid continued pandemic circumstances.

Perhaps, in preparation for Zoom’s earnings results, Microsoft unloaded a sack of new features all seemingly targeted at Zoom’s user base. This week’s update includes improvements to the app on iOS and Android, search in chat, uploading images to galleries, generating links for free meeting invites, and a Safe Key setting as well sidebar navigation customizations.

What may have started off as a duel between Teams and Slacks is now becoming a three-way showdown for video and enterprise chat communication supremacy for Microsoft going into 2021.

Welcome back to our Windows 10 news recap, where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft’s flagship operating system.

This week was fairly quiet in the Windows 10 world, though Windows 10 Insiders received new builds as normal. But outside of the Insider Program, things were on the quiet side.

AdDuplex: Windows 10 May 2020 Update now running on 24.1% of all surveyed PCs in August

In AdDuplex’s latest survey of the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, its numbers show that the update is now running on just over 24% of devices surveyed during August.

Microsoft Teams starts rolling out native Windows 10 and macOS notifications for some users

Rolling out to both Windows 10 and macOS users, Microsoft Teams has added support for using the native notification systems of each respective platform, helping create a more consistent and unified experience.

Lookie what I've got! ???? OS-level notifications in #MicrosoftTeams! ???? (Rumor has it it's only available for macOS at the moment. ????) pic.twitter.com/bu5by1XxNF

— Matt Wade (@thatmattwade) August 25, 2020

That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next week with more Windows 10 news.