You might have recently heard about Tasks, one of the newest apps for Microsoft Teams. This new experience for Teams is a rebrand of the Microsoft Planner app in Teams, and plugs with the rest of Microsoft 365 and bring your content together in one central hub for Teamwork. There is a lot of ways that the Tasks app is similar to Planner, but it’s also quite different, too. Here’s a quick explainer, and everything you need to know about the new Tasks app.

When is the new Tasks app coming?

We’ll start first with what’s most important: when is the new Task app coming? Well, despite an initial delay, Microsoft announced on July 28 that the new Tasks app in Teams is now slowly rolling out. It is a gradual rollout that will be continued through September of 2020, so this means not everyone will see it just yet.

It is also worth noting that though the Tasks app itself is a new experience, the name for it has not changed. Currently, Microsoft has a bit of a complicated rollout plan. As they continue to roll out the new Tasks experience in Teams desktop, the app name will initially remain as Planner, then change to Tasks by Planner and To Do, and then change to Tasks. That means that for now, you’ll still access the Tasks app from the Planner icon in Teams. Mobile users, though, will always see the app name as Tasks.

What are some features of the new Tasks app?

So, what makes Tasks different from the old Planner experience? Well, the Tasks app in Microsoft Teams is designed to bring together your personal and individual tasks from To Do and Outlook with your team Tasks from Planner. Microsoft believes that this combination can help you work more efficiently.

There are two core parts of the Tasks app. You’ll see that there are My Tasks, which make up the lists from your To Do app and tasks you’ve added in To Do and Outlook. You’ll also see Shared Plans, which include Planner plans that have been added to Teams.

Another feature of the Tasks app lets you add a plan to a Microsoft Teams Channel. Once added, you can see your plan in the context of the rest of your team conversations, files, and more. It works just like Planner on the web would, but isn’t new as this was previously possible in the old Planner app in Teams, too.

The newest feature coming with the Tasks app is what’s called a List view. With List view, the Tasks app displays tasks and information associated with them in rows and columns. This also allows you to change many tasks at once. This wasn’t possible in either To Do or Planner before. It also allows you to filter your tasks, which previously wasn’t possible in To Do. We will describe Lists View in a dedicated section later in this piece, as it is quite cool.

How do I use the new Tasks app?

Ok, so how do you use the new Tasks app? If enabled by your IT administrator, it’s quite easy. Simply head to the three-dot (. . . ) menu, and search for “Planner.” Once you find it, you can click it and drag it to your sidebar in Teams for easy access.

From there, you’ll see My Tasks, To Do, and Shared View. My Tasks will be a hub of all the Tasks that you’ve created or anything that has been assigned to you and all your tasks across Microsoft 365. When it comes to My Tasks, you should see them listed by Tasks, Important, Planned, Assigned, and Lists. Tasks is a list of tasks that you added in Outlook or in To Do. Important, meanwhile, includes all of the tasks in To Do that you’ve marked with a star. As for Planned, this includes tasks in To Do that have a due date. They will be listed by date so you can properly plan your time. Finally, Assigned to me includes all of the tasks in Planner that have been assigned to you. This, though, might only show up if you synced your Planner tasks to To Do. Microsoft has a help article that explains that you want to learn more.

Keep in mind, that there are some caveats to this experience. My Tasks will not include My Day or Flagged email lists. You also won’t be able to see recurrence for your To Do tasks in the Tasks app, but the information is still attached to those tasks and can be seen in To Do in Outlook or To Do app. Some of the other limits of Tasks vs To Do can be seen in this Microsoft Article here.

That explained, there’s still a bit more left. We’ll now touch on the Shared Plans section of Tasks. From here, you’ll be shown Microsoft Planner plans that have been added to channels in Teams. There is a list view of teams and channels which can help you choose what you’re looking for. Shared Plans sync with Planner and will have the usual Board, Chat, and Schedule View as seen from Planner on the web and the old Planner app. You also can use the new Lists view here, too, as we describe in the next section.

There are some differences though. You can view a columned list in the Task app, but not on the Planner app. You can rename a plan in the Planner app, but not in the Task app. You can learn more about these differences at Microsoft here.

What’s the new Lists View in the Tasks app?

We’ve talked a lot about the Lists View in the Tasks app, so what’s so special about it? Well, with List view, you can edit multiple tasks at once, be it from To Do or Planner. You can best check this out by clicking the main Tasks icon from the My Tasks list.

Once you do that, you can change several tasks at the same time, and do a bulk edit. You can select a task by clicking or tapping on it, anywhere but on the complete circle. You can then press and hold the SHIFT key down and select multiple tasks that are consecutive. If the task is nonconsecutive, then all you need to do is press and hold the CTRL or CMD key. You’ll then want to choose Progress, Priority, or Due date from the list. You can also choose more options or delete the task, move the task, or see additional controls. Finally, you can enjoy some filter tools, too, which isn’t available directly in the To Do app.

Other features, and more

We’ve touched on the core features of the Tasks app, but there is a lot more that is possible with Tasks, too. Companies can create tasks at the corporate level and push the tasks to targeted Teams across their Firstline Workforce. There is also the ability to use Graph API and Power Automate integrations as well. This is all part of Microsoft’s new Tasks in Microsoft 365 effort, so there are definitely some new updates and features coming soon. Keep it tuned to our Microsoft 365 Hub for more news, and let us know if you like the new Tasks app by dropping us a comment below.

Microsoft has just put the wraps off a redesigned Microsoft Store on Xbox that select Xbox Insiders will be able to try this week. We’re previously seen this new store in leaked pictures a couple of months ago, but the new design probably isn’t as important as the speed boost provided by the new experience.

“The new Microsoft Store on Xbox is more than twice as fast as before. It launches in under two seconds, and the browse performance is greatly improved – it’s faster than ever to load pages and find what you need, whether it’s checking out a sale price or watching HD trailers,” explained Cody Bird, Principal Program Manager, Xbox.

According to Bird, the Store experience on Xbox has been rebuilt from the ground up “to be faster, safer and easier to use than ever before.” The design language is consistent with the one found on the Xbox Game Bar and Xbox app for Windows 10, and the new Store should be easier to navigate with a left panel providing quick access to games, Movies & TV, hardware, your Wishlist, and your shopping cart.

The store listings now use color to better highlight discounts, and Microsoft has also rebuilt the search feature to add filters and the ability to view trailers inline while you search. The store will also automatically apply content filters for child accounts, and the store actually won’t be accessible without being logged in on the console. “Being signed in also helps you have a more personalized experience – you’ll see content that is more relevant for you,” explained Bird.

Another noteworthy update is the ability to view the price of Xbox 360 and OG Xbox games without having to tap the “View price” button first, and users will also be able to add these backwards compatible to their Wish List or shopping cart. You can see how this rebuilt Microsoft Store on Xbox works in the video below:

“We’ll be rolling this update out gradually, so if you’re an Xbox Insider, you may begin to see the new Microsoft Store on Xbox starting as early as August 5; the experience will be available for more Insiders over time before it rolls out to all users this fall,” Bird said today. Let us know what you think in this redesign in the comments below.

Battletoads, Rare’s decades-old beat em’ up franchise, is coming back to life next month with a new game developed by Dlala Studios. It’s been quite some time since we last heard about this new game, but Microsoft has just revealed that it’s coming on August 20 on Xbox One, Windows 10, Steam, and Xbox Game Pass.

“It’s been quite a while — 26 years, in fact — but at long last, the Battletoads are ready to morph, leap and smash their way back into the limelight for an all-new adventure helmed by Dlala Studios and supported by series creator Rare, a partnership first teased during the Xbox E3 2018 Briefing,” wrote Adam Park, Head of Brand and Licensing at Rare.

This new Battletoads game will features familiar protagonists Zitz, Rash and Pimple, and it will support three players co-op. The vintage Battletoads games were notoriously difficult, and rest assured that this new game will come with different difficulty settings. As for the art style, Dlala Studios opted for hand-drawn graphics reminiscent of cartoons of the nineties.

The Steam page for Battletoads is now live, but you can’t pre-order the game yet. The Microsoft Store listing is still missing, and the Xbox Wire blog post curiously didn’t include pricing details for the game. However, it’s currently listed at $19.99 at GameStop. We’ll update this post with the Microsoft Store link once it goes live.

One of the latest battle royale video games to hit the scene in recent times, Hyper Scape, is set to launch on Microsoft’s family of Xbox One consoles in just over a week’s time on August 11th.

Hyper Scape was first announced earlier this month and almost immediately launched in open beta on PC. While its first trailer (which you can watch below) was met with numerous Ready Player One jokes on social media due to the game’s plot being almost identical to that of the hit movie and book, the game still managed to garner a lot of buzz very quickly due to a large number of planned promotions with large and small streamers on Twitch and special integration with the streaming service itself that allows viewers and players to unlock content while streaming Hyper Scape or watching someone else play.

The open beta is set to end on August 2nd with the official PC launch also planned for August 11th alongside Sony’s PS4 console. Hyper Scape’s first season will also launch on August 11th on all platforms and cross-play will be enabled which will allow players to transfer progress between devices.

“Season 1, titled “The First Principle,” will introduce new limited-time game modes, a new weapon and hack, new features for Crowncast (Hyper Scape’s interactive Twitch extension), and provide insight into the lore and universe of Hyper Scape,” Ubisoft’s Youssef Maguid explains. “Season 1 adds a new gun, the Dragonfly, and new hack, Magnet, for a total of 11 weapons and 11 hacks, each of which can be fused up to four times into increasingly powerful versions. The First Principle will also introduce new limited-time game modes, a new in-game Melee event (which makes all melee attacks instantly lethal), and both a free and premium 100-tier Battle Pass.”

Hyper Scape isn’t available to pre-download on Xbox One consoles just yet but we’ll make sure to post about it when it is.

What do you think about Hyper Scape? Does it interest you or are you a bit tired of the battle royale genre? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook for more gaming news.

The three Xbox One video games, Two Point Hospital, Disintegration, and Rocket Arena, will be completely free to play on Microsoft’s family of Xbox One consoles for all Xbox Live Gold subscribers from now until Monday as part of this week’s Free Play Days campaign.

As with previous Free Play games, all of these titles will be able to be played, Xbox Achievements can be unlocked, and all game progress will save to the cloud for continuing at a later date. Each game has also received discounts ranging from 40 to 80% for a limited time to help encourage gamers to buy them outright after getting a taste during this special period.

Here’s the game trailer for each video game along with the links to their pages on the online Microsoft Store storefront for initiating their download on your Xbox One console.

Are you going to play Two Point Hospital, Disintegration, or Rocket Arena this weekend? Let us know which title you’ll be playing first in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Twitter for more Xbox gaming news.

Download
QR-Code

Two Point Hospital™

Developer:
SEGA Europe Ltd

Price:
Free

Download
QR-Code

Disintegration

Developer:
Private Division

Price:
$9.89

Download
QR-Code

Rocket Arena

Developer:
Electronic Arts

Price:
Free

Download
QR-Code

Rocket Arena Mythic Edition

Developer:
Electronic Arts

Price:
Free

While Microsoft has crafted a powerful gaming console in the Xbox Series X, it may be its digital subscription service that ultimately becomes the company’s secret weapon in an upcoming next-gen gaming competition.

Over the past handful of months Microsoft has trotted out its Xbox Series X console and a series of gaming footage to mixed reactions from the industry, but one clear take away from each event has been how sought after its Game Pass subscription service is among fans and critics alike.

Game Pass continues to grow in popularity for Microsoft for several different reasons but chief among them has been its seemingly loss-leading approach to providing value to gamers.

Xbox marketing chief Aaron Greenberg in an interview with What’s Good Games addresses the financial elephant in the room for Microsoft’s Game Pass and what its value proposition means for subscribers and the company.

As armchair accountants around the world crunch the numbers, the value that Game Pass offers in return for its monthly subscription doesn’t add up to a profit-driving business for the company. The apparent lopsided value versus profit enigma that is Game Pass in its current form has many concerned and waiting for another rational shoe to drop for a primarily profit-driven Microsoft.

“We always laugh [when we hear that]. Please don’t worry about us. Microsoft is going to be alright. We’re gonna make it–I think we’re gonna be OK.”

Fortunately for gamers, Microsoft is taking an approach to Game Pass the company has more recently publically shied away from, in which it’s willing to take a loss to “over-deliver on value.”

“When people feel like you’re over-delivering on value, they want to not only continue to use your service but they want to tell their friends about it.  The most powerful marketing is word-of-mouth marketing. We can’t create as many advertisements, as many assets as we want, but if both of you go tell one of your closest friends, ‘You have to get Game Pass!’ that’s way more effective than any marketing I can do. For us, we just want to keep adding more and more value [to Xbox Game Pass] so you feel really good about that and you feel like you want to go tell your friends about it. And ultimately, we think long-term that’s the right thing for the business and will have long-term benefits for us. In the short-term, yeah, [Xbox Game Pass] is not a big profit play. But we think long-term it works out good for everybody.”

While Greenberg’s words may resonate with passionate gamers, the more cold and calculated cynics have also chimed in with some rather reassuring analysis of Microsoft’s Game Pass longevity.

About Game Pass, we should be aware that:

???? Microsoft is a US$1.5 TRILLION company, one of the biggest on earth
????US$390 million in revenue DAILY
???? US$120 million net profit DAILY

As far as "Netflix for gaming" goes, Microsoft overall can bring cannons to a knife fight. https://t.co/rcnkrlyB4n

— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) July 25, 2020

Without question, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has transformed the company’s financial trajectory over the past six years by “trimming the fat” from consumer-facing and seemingly fan-driven expenditures. In such time, fans of Nokia, Windows Phone, Groove, Mixer, the Microsoft Band, Microsoft’s physical retail spaces, Health Vault, and a smattering of other lower profiled products have had to watch anxiously as Greenberg’s proposed value to profit margins ultimately doomed the products.

Fortunately, Microsoft’s Xbox division seems to be shielded from Nadella’s profit carving knife, for the time being.