Microsoft’s Surface Go line seemed to be an answer in search of a question when the company first unveiled it, actually, many questions. Among some of the questions, people might have had when weighing the options between a relatively pocketable mini Surface or its bigger well known Pro brother is, why?

Over the next few weeks, I’ll see if this little device can answer that question.

On paper, the Surface Go is only a shadow of the Pro with a less powerful processor, smaller screen, smaller keyboard attachment, and handcuffed with Windows 10 S out of the box, but hell if it isn’t a well-crafted piece of hardware that warrants a double-take when looking at future PC purchases.

The Surface Go 2 comes with the same meticulously and almost child-proof packaging as any other Surface device, but when you finally claw the device out of its outer sarcophagus, you’re met with the relatively lightweight PC, long-held proprietary charging cable and seemingly unnecessary paperwork. For those fortunate enough to afford the attaching keyboard, there is some extra packaging to go through, but you won’t cut yourself or lose part of a fingernail in the process.

Together, the attached Microsoft Signature keyboard and Surface Go 2 feel about a heavy as Moleskin notebook (give or take a few ounces), and because of the size, I found myself toting it back and forth between rooms similar to my paper and pen notebook. Unfortunately, the review unit I received didn’t include the majestic Surface Pen, so a requisite review will be done san 4,096 points of pressure sensitivity.

The Surface Go 2 looks and feels like a mini Surface by all accounts, the bezels are similar, the aspect ratios (albeit shrunken) are similar, camera and speaker placements are the same and even the miniature keyboard attachment connects the same pogo pins with the same satisfying click noise.

So far, my experience with the Surface Go 2 has been relatively positive. I’m limiting myself to working in Windows 10 S like anyone else who purchases the device. Right off the bat though, the limitations of Windows 10 S became apparent, downloading the new Xbox app on Windows 10 couldn’t be performed. While I was able to download games such as State of Decay and Minecraft Dungeons, actually playing them were no-gos.

Disappointing.

My game testing on this device might be limited to just the remastered Streets of Rage game.

As for productivity, everything else has worked surprisingly well. Opening Excel and PowerPoint projects were a breeze and web browsing was pretty smooth.

Perhaps, due to the processor, there is a noticeable lag in opening apps for someone coming from a 16GB Intel i5 workstation.

I’ll be putting it through its paces over the next couple of weeks. At $600 plus, Microsoft has a steep asking price for the whole package, but from what I’ve used it for in my limited experience, it’s served well for writing and researching a few articles and catching up Avatar the Last Airbender on Netflix quite nicely.

Earlier today, German-based publication Dr.Windows.de revealed that Microsoft’s Android launcher would be getting an update in the Google Play Store that is unlike any others before it. As Microsoft preps for a possible July release of its hotly anticipated dual-screen Surface Duo device, today’s Microsoft Launcher 6.0 release highlights a splintered path of development that has been slowly converging since January of 2020.

At the end of 2019, the Microsoft Launcher team began redesigning its Android launcher experience with more Google-Pixel like design and feature sets and using the beta channel as its testing bed for other sorts of functional development. However, today’s launcher update comes to the Play Store as a beta release but marks a rebuild rather than a simple redesign of the consumer-facing version of the Microsoft Launcher and many believe it’s going to become the predominant launcher experience for both foldable and single screen Android devices going forward.

Over the past six months, the rebuilt, beta version of the Microsoft Launcher has gone through several feature set updates that have brought it back on par with the current public version, and in some instances, surpassed it. Items like landscape rotation and support for hidden app functionality were all brought to the consumer-facing version of the Microsoft Launcher, however, as part of the rebuild, there have been several features that the Microsoft Launcher development team has scrapped in favor of performance or utility, such as blurred backgrounds and the way it handles timeline content fetching as well as no longer supporting landscape switching.

Presumably, many of these will return in a future update to the launcher before it’s released as the main interaction point on its flagship foldable device possibly in July.

For now, anyone signed up for the beta launcher program can head over the Google Play Store and grab the update to test out. Anecdotally, the experience is relatively bug-free, but noticeably lacks the same sort of polish the public launcher enjoys.

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At Build 2020 last month, Microsoft announced that its Edge Add-ons site would receive a major update, with better search and curated collections. In a blog post today, Microsoft has announced that the new Microsoft Edge Add-ons website is now live for everyone across the globe, addressing users’ “key concerns” related to the usability of the platform.

A first look at the new Edge Add-ons site indicates that it’s now divided into various categories such as entertainment, accessibility, and productivity. To help users easily find their relevant extensions, the site now features a carefully curated home page with a series of new collections. The company has also redesigned the search page which now offers detailed insights into the search result while improving navigation at the same time.

Moreover, a dedicated section lists the most popular add-ons, while another one provides recommendations from the editors. In order to improve hand-holding for its users, Microsoft has introduced some new enhancements to the add-ons site as well as the extensions manager page. The company said that the new website has been re-designed to be more accessible with high contrast or narrator options.

While the Edge add-ons site is the easiest way for Edge users to install extensions, it’s still possible to get extensions from other established sources including the Chrome web store. That’s one of the main advantages of Microsoft Edge now leveraging the Chromium open source project.

Grounded, one of the upcoming Xbox Game Studios titles developed by Obsidian Entertainment is getting a first limited-time demo today. Only select Xbox One users will get access to the demo via the Xbox Insider Hub, but the single-player demo will be available for everyone on Steam.

The demo will allow players to get a look at the single-player experience of Grounded, explained Mikey Dowling, Obsidian Entertainment Director of Communications. “Upon choosing their character, players will be thrust right into the heart of the backyard at sunrise, and will quickly discover that life is different when you’re only one centimeter tall. “Over the course of one in-game day, this experience will allow players to craft tools and weapons, build structures, and survive against the various perils of being small.

If this first Grounded demo is actually timed, you’ll be able to replay it anytime you want through Monday, June 22. Obsidian Entertainment is mostly known for its critically-acclaimed RPGs such as Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, and it will be interesting to see the developer trying something different with this new survival game. Grounded is expected to hit Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access on July 28, 2020, and it will also be available on that date for Xbox Game Pass members.

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In a pair of new blog posts, one on Azure and one on Teams, Microsoft detailed its technical response to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, and how they’ve advanced their systems in the time of crisis. Penned by Mark Russinovich, the Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Azure, the posts cover all the kinds of strategies the company embarked on, from resiliency, capacity forecasting, scaling resources, optimizations, and more.

Some interesting highlights from the Teams post point out that Microsoft employed some resiliency strategies to protect Teams during high demand. This includes active-active fault-tolerant systems, resiliency-optimized caches, a circuit breaker, bulkhead isolation, timeouts, and more. “When COVID-19 stay-at-home orders started to kick in around the world, we needed to leverage the architectural flexibility built into our system, and turn all the knobs we could, to effectively respond to the rapidly increasing demand,” said Mark Russinovich.

In addition, Microsoft also planned for the future. The company built and iterated models that could anticipate where growth would occur in both raw users and usage patterns. When Teams usage peaked, the company had to build new models to take the growth in global demand for Teams into account. That was due to new usage patterns from existing users, new usage from existing but dormant users, and new users, too. “Throughout the process, we erred on the side of caution and favored over-provisioning—but as the usage patterns stabilized, we also scaled back as necessary,” explained Russinovich.

Interestingly, since Teams is power by Azure, Microsoft made moves to scale their compute resources. Microsoft provisioned resources to take on certain demands in regions across the globe.  The company says it increased the total number of regions per geography, decreased the total amount of spare capacity each region needed to hold to absorb emergency load, and reduced the total capacity needs. “Dealing with load at this new scale gave us several insights into ways we could improve our efficiency,” said Russinovich.

Other high points in the blog post highlight that Microsoft optimized its networks and routine strategies to leverage the idle capacity when most people aren’t using Teams at night. To improve storage, the company also stored cache states in a binary format rather than raw JSON, as well as compressed data before sending it to the cache.

Of course, there is a human side to it too, for the folks that work on Teams. Microsoft says Every on-call engineer had at least 12 hours off between shifts. They also brought in more incident managers from across the company and deferred all non-critical changes across services.

Microsoft has announced this morning a slew of new features coming to the built-in PDF Reader in Microsoft Edge, with most of them rolling out in the coming months. In a recent blog post, Microsoft noted that the company is currently working on a bunch of new features including Table of Contents, Highlight mode, Text notes, Digital signatures, as well as a smoother scroll experience and accessibility improvements.

In addition to the aforementioned features, Microsoft Edge’s PDF Reader is also getting the ability to view the sensitivity labels of protected pdf files. Here is a quick look at what’s to come for the new Microsoft Edge browser:

• Smoother scroll experience: We are bringing the smooth scroll of Legacy Edge to the modern browser.
• Table of Contents: You will soon be able to view the contents of PDF files and navigate through the file with the same.
• Highlight mode: In this mode, you will be able to create highlights directly by selecting text, without the need of clicking on a highlight button.
• Text notes: With this, you will be able to add their own notes to text in PDF files. These notes will travel with the PDF.
• Protected PDF files: Microsoft Information Protection adds a layer of security to your documents. It ensures that only the users who have certain permissions as view, copy, annotate can take those actions on the file. Hence, no matter where the document goes, the data of your organization remains secure.
  • Viewing labels of protected files: You will soon be able to view the sensitivity labels
  • Viewing MIP files protected in other tenants: This will enable you to view the files protected in other organizations, or in other tenants in the organization.
• Digital signatures: View and validate certificate based Digital signatures on signed files.
• Accessibility improvements: With this, you will be able to fill PDF forms using screen readers, and navigate through PDF documents using caret mode.

Since Microsoft released the first Edge Insider builds last year, it’s good to see that the browser is getting new features on both Mac and Windows. Again, it will take sometime before it happens, but it’s likely that you will see all these features in one of the preview builds (Canary and Dev Channels) that are available for Microsoft Edge soon.

Microsoft is launching a new Bing app for Xbox One consoles in the US. If it’s currently in preview, the Bing app provides quick access to web search, as well as entertainment and gaming news. The app also comes with the beautiful daily wallpapers that most Bing users seem to enjoy.

If you’re in the US, you can try this new Bing app on your Xbox One by signing up for the preview in the Xbox Insider Hub app. Once installed, the app can be added to groups or pinned to the Home Dashboard for easier access.

As you may know, Bing used to be front and Center in the Xbox 360 dashboard, but the Xbox One later came with a better and more versatile web browser, which is now the legacy Edge. This new Bing app is no replacement for Microsoft Edge on the Xbox One, but it does come with a new UI that’s optimized for the console.

It’s not clear yet when Bing for Xbox One will be available in other markets, but we’ll sure let you know when it happens. In the meantime, let us know in the comments if you think this new Bing app should be a useful addition on the console.

Yesterday, we reported that some users have discovered that the Fresh Start feature has been removed beginning with the Windows 10 May 2020 Update. Well, Microsoft has quietly updated its official support document (via Windows Latest) this morning to explain what is actually happening with Fresh Start in the latest Windows release.

According to the updated support page, the recovery tool has not been removed in the latest version, and it has just been moved to another place. “Fresh start is available for Windows 10 versions prior to 2004. For version 2004 and after, Fresh start functionality has been moved to Reset this PC,” the company explained.

Microsoft explains that to access the Fresh Start feature, you simply need to follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Head over to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC > Get Started to use Fresh Start on PCs running the May 2020 Update or later.
2. Click “Keep my files” option when prompted, choose between the local or cloud recovery option.
3. Finally, select “No” when prompted “Restore preinstalled apps?”

However, Microsoft said that the preinstalled apps recovery option is only available if your machine has some preinstalled apps that are configured by the PC manufacturer. Microsoft has also confirmed that users running the Windows 10 November 2019 Update or older can still go to Settings > Update and Security > Windows Security > Device performance & health > Additional info > Get Started to access the feature.

It is worth noting that the Fresh Start references are still present in other parts of the OS (Update & Security section of the Settings menu), but in reality, the Fresh Start option has been removed from there, and it has been merged with the “Reset this PC” option under Recovery settings. Now that Microsoft is aware of the broken link in the Windows Security app, it’s likely that the software giant will remove them in future updates.

Lenovo will finally bring a 5G-enabled PC stateside with its Lenovo Flex 5G, also known as the Lenovo Yoga 5G in other select markets. Announced today, Lenovo will not only be selling a new 5G-enabled PC, but it will be doing so with backing from leading 5G service providers that include Verizon, EE, Sunrise, and CMCC.

The Lenovo Flex 5G will be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G chipset, allowing users to connect to speeds up to 10 times faster than current 4G/LTE PCs on the market.

“Lenovo introduced the world’s first 5G laptop in market to equip the mobile generation with smarter technology for always-on connectivity and computing. The hardware is just the first step,” says Johnson Jia, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer Business Segment in Lenovo’s Intelligent Devices Group. “With our strategic partnerships with global 5G network carriers, consumers will now be able to access easier, faster, and more secure connectivity seamlessly from virtually anywhere. As 5G computing holds the power to transform user experiences, we believe it can ultimately disrupt the PC industry for the better.”

And, because it’s housing the Snapdragon 8cx, Lenovo is promising seemingly pie-in-the-sky battery life claims of up to 24-hours. Other notable specs include an integrated Qualcomm Adreno 680 GPU, 8GBs of LPDDR4X memory, and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. There’s also a fingerprint reader housed in a 2.97lb frame with a 14″ FHD glossy multi-touch display that can pump out 400nits of brightness.

Starting June 18, customers in the US will be able to purchase the Lenovo Flex 5G online at Verizon or through the My Verizon app. Verizon will provide installment payments through its Verizon Device Payment Plan with 0% APR for $58.33 for 24 months for those who qualify, otherwise, the device can be had for the full MRSP of $1,399.99.

As for international markets, Lenovo will have the Yoga 5G available via its own website later this year. International customers will need to wait until telecom carriers in their region release more info about pricing, availability, and compatible frequency bands.

To make it easier for Microsoft Excel users to track their finances, Microsoft announced a new feature called Money in Excel on March 30. In a blog post today, Microsoft has announced that the Money in Excel feature is now generally available to all Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in the US.

Money in Excel is basically a dynamic template/add-in for Excel that connects to your bank, credit card, investment, and loan accounts, and allows you to securely import transactions and account balances into an Excel spreadsheet. Once the data is imported into a spreadsheet, you can easily keep an eye on your monthly expenditures, and analyze the “Snapshot” sheet to see how much you are spending across various categories including groceries, household items, rent, and more.

If you’re a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriber, you can access this feature by following these steps. We also invite you to check out our hands-on with the experience by clicking here.

1. Head over to the official Microsoft Office templates page to install the template.
2. Open the Excel template and follow the on-screen instructions to link your bank accounts.
3. The plug-in will verify your account details, and then Excel will pull in your transaction history to fill your spreadsheet

Money in Excel will also provide proactive alerts for changes such as overdraft charges, increases in your subscription fees, as well as major purchases made during the current month. Moreover, the customizable template lets you create your own spending categories or charts to suit your specific goals and needs. We invite you to check out the official blog post to learn more about its features.

Do you like the Money in Excel feature? Let us know in the comments down below.

Amanda Langowski, the new head of the Windows Insider program announced some pretty big news for Insiders today. This month, the existing Ring system will be replaced by new Windows Insider Channels, which reflect an increased focus on quality and consistency with other Microsoft products such as Office and Microsoft Edge.

“As we continue to evolve the way we release Windows 10 and the diversity of Insiders we serve is greater than ever, it is critical that Insiders have a flighting option that is tailored to their needs. We believe the best way to do this is to shift focus from frequency to quality. Insiders can pick a channel that represents the experience they want for their device based on the quality they are most comfortable with. Our intention is to ensure Insiders will continue to receive frequent updates no matter which channel they’ve chosen,” explained Langowski.

The Dev channel will replace the Fast Ring later this month, while the Beta channel and Release Preview channel will replace the Slow and Release Preview rings, respectively. The Dev channel will continue to receive more unstable builds that are not tied to a specific Windows release, and this channel will still be used for testing experimental features. On the other hand, the Beta channel (previously Slow Ring) will get builds tied to a specific release (that should soon be 20H2), and Microsoft recommends this channel for most early adopters and IT professionals looking for “relatively reliable updates that are validated by Microsoft.”

The new Release Preview channel (previously Release Preview ring) will continue to get early access to upcoming Windows 10 releases, with “advanced quality updates and certain key features.” Importantly, Langowski also said today that “As we continue to evolve the way we’re building and releasing Windows 10 in the future, we may introduce new channels for new experiences for Insiders.”

Microsoft’s new Windows Insider channels system is now more aligned with how things work for the Office Insider program, though the two programs remain separate. However, it’s worth noting that there’s now Dev channel for the Office Insider program, while the equivalent of the Windows Insider Release Preview channel is the Current or Semi-Annual Preview channel.

If you’re already a Windows Insider, you’ll soon be automatically moved to your new corresponding Insider channel. While the name change is one thing, what’s important here is that Microsoft wants each of these new channels to get builds more frequently, while also focusing on code quality. The new system is also a bit easier to understand with one channel (Beta) dedicated to the next Windows release, and hopefully, the new Dev channel will soon receive the experimental features that Fast Ring insiders have been waiting to see for months now.  There’s still the possibility of Microsoft adding more new channels, as Langowski mentioned today, though we hope this won’t be necessary. Let us know what you think of these latest changes in the comments below.

As Microsoft is currently getting ready for its big Xbox Game Studios showcase next month, the company is sharing some new information about Smart Delivery today. For those unfamiliar, Smart Delivery is a new feature that will allow developers to automatically provide the best version of the game optimized for your Xbox console, at no additional cost.

All upcoming Xbox Game Studios titles will support delivery, in addition to existing games such as Gears 5: if you already own the latter and want to play it on Xbox Series later this year, the next-gen Xbox will get a version of the game optimized for the new hardware, with graphical enhancements and support for up to 120FPS in multiplayer.

It will be up to developers to support Smart Delivery, and we already know that Destiny 2, Cyberpunk 2077, DiRT 5, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla are some of the biggest AAA games that will support it when the Xbox Series X launches this holiday season. With Smart Delivery, you only have to buy a game once to benefit from free enhancements on Xbox Series X (again, if the developer supports it), and this should definitely be a killer feature for the Xbox ecosystem.

If you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you’ll also be able to enjoy Smart Delivery with games that support it. “Outside of our Xbox Game Studios titles, it will be up to the individual developer to determine whether they take advantage of Smart Delivery.” Keep in mind that in the case Game Pass games don’t support Smart Delivery, the Xbox Series X should still provide a better gaming experience as even non-optimized games should benefit from smoother frame rates and faster loading times.

Microsoft currently has a list of 14 first-party and third-party games that will support Smart Delivery, but it’s not clear yet if many developers and publishers will embrace this feature. EA apparently won’t, as the company recently announced a limited-time free Xbox Series X upgrade for consumers purchasing the upcoming Xbox One version of Madden NFL 21. Things could get messy if other publishers follow EA’s footsteps, but Microsoft definitely deserves credit for allowing gamers to purchase a game once and get free upgrades when buying a new console. That’s how things always worked in the PC world, so maybe it’s time for the console industry to finally catch up.

Microsoft has announced new updates for Microsoft Teams this morning as the collaboration hub is seeing increased usage since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. First of all, the 7×7 grid view for Teams meetings will be available in preview this month ahead of general availability in the Fall. Even though the news was announced in blog post about Teams for Education, Microsoft confirmed to us that the 7×7 grid view won’t be restricted to Teams for Education users at launch.

Being able to see 49 participants at once is often considered as one of Zoom’s killer features, and Microsoft said today that it should make a big difference for remote learning. Teams for Education also received useful new features including Raise your hand during class meetings, Attendance reports and Class Insights for teachers. New meeting options will allow educators to create a Meeting Lobby this summer, and Breakout Rooms will let students collaborate in small groups later this fall.

In recent months, Microsoft clearly saw an increasing number of institutions adopting Microsoft Teams for remote learning. “Since the pandemic hit, we’ve witnessed entire countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and entire counties in the United States, like Broward County in Florida, shift to remote learning within a matter of weeks,” explained Barbara Holzapfel, General Manager, Microsoft Education Marketing.

According to a recent survey of 500 members of the Microsoft Education community, 61% of respondents expect to begin the next school year in a hybrid learning environment. “With this transition, it has become clear that with the required physical distance between teachers and students, it’s more important than ever to help educators find ways to connect with students and keep them engaged, motivated, and safe in a digital world,” Holzapfel said today.