Back in 2017, Microsoft launched an initiative to bring broadband connectivity to the more rural parts of the world, starting first in select US regions with the eventual goal of deploying its efforts to three million people in underserved areas within the United States by 2022. Roughly two years into the project, Microsoft is reporting that the company has reached 50% viability of its goal but notes that “one thing we have learned is that the problem is even bigger than we imagined.”

Far from throwing up its hands and calling it a day, Microsoft acknowledges that the broadband gap between more rural parts of the United States versus the more metropolitan areas presents a unique challenge but ultimately a solvable one.

According to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC)2019 broadband report, more than 21 million people in America, nearly 17 million of who live in rural communities, don’t have access to broadband. 

Part of the issue facing Microsoft in its efforts to expand broadband access are the numbers being reported. According to a recent study published by BroadbandNow, the number of unserved people may look to be almost double the currently reported states. The lack of access to broadband connectivity exceeds 42 million Americans with a majority living in the more rural parts of the country, furthermore, Microsoft’s own internal research finds that over 157.3 million people in the US aren’t utilizing internet access at broadband speeds.

As we’ve said from the start of the initiative, without accurate data we cannot fully understand the broadband gap. You cannot solve a problem youdon’t understand.More accurate data will help deploy broadband in the places its needed. 

While waiting to get a handle on the exact number of people who do not have access to or are not utilizing broadband speeds, Microsoft continues its project and is now reporting that its white noise utilization is up and running in “25 states and one territory, and staging pilot programs in two additional states.” On top of their spreading presence in the United States, Microsoft’s broadband efforts have touched 633,000 people who previously were underserved by their previous internet access. According to Microsoft’s numbers, the 633,000 best the company’s expansion in 2018 where it managed to only serve 24,000 people. Microsoft plans an accelerated reach of its broadband project by leveraging its partner’s network deployments such as Wisper Internet to its 1 million customers across six states, Watch Communications to 860,000 users, and Sacred Wind Communications 47,000 people off the Navajo lands.

Aside from leveraging a growing list of telecommunications partners, another factor to Microsoft’s enthusiasm about expanding its efforts and potentially exceeding its goals comes by way of lowered connectivity costs through TV white spaces devices in general. TVWS connectivity technology prices have dropped YoY by 50% while simultaneously increasing broadband speeds by 10 times as much as before. While not a cure-all for the many issues ravaging ecosystems in rural America, Microsoft is hoping that connectivity will assist its other endeavors such as its TechSpark program, digital skills, and telehealth initiatives to boost job creation and employment in the areas.

Microsoft listed this particular update as an “Annual Updated” so we can presume we’ll get another update this time in 2021 where the company’s numbers have once again risen across the board, meaning the access to information is further democratized in the U.S.

Harmonix, the studio behind the popular Dance Central Kinect games on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, is teaming up with NCSoft to release a new music festival title.

Named Fuser, this new game tasks the player with mixing over 100 songs together by blending blend vocals, bass lines, beats and riffs from different tracks. It actually sounds very similar to the Dropmix card game that Harmonix also made recently.

Fuser will support both solo and online multiplayer modes and gamers will be able to share their creations on social media.

Here’s the official announcement trailer:

No release date for Fuser has been announced yet, however, it has been stated that it’s expected to launch in Fall this year.

Are you a fan of Harmonix’s titles? Let us know in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Twitter for more Xbox gaming news.

To help promote the upcoming release of the Ori and the Will of the Wisps video game, Microsoft has created 10 official bonsai (see above image) based on the title and is giving each of them away to gamers.

Those interested in obtaining this limited, and pretty cool, piece of video game memorabilia can enter the giveaway by simply replying to this Facebook post with an emoji or GIF that represents their own spirit.

The competition will close on March 9th and is limited to gamers who are residents of Australia. You can read the full terms and conditions here.

Xbox Australia frequently creates cool Xbox video game merchandise for promotions with some of the more-notable examples being the Xbox Onesie and the inflatable Xbox One Controller.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the first sequel to the hit Ori and the Blind Forest and is due out on March 10th on both Xbox One and Windows 10. Digital pre-orders for the title are already open and it will also be available to play for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Are you going to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps? Do you like this bonsai? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Facebook for more Xbox gaming news.

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Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Developer:
Xbox Game Studios

Price:
Free

Crossplay is now live for Black Desert players on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles. This means that gamers on each platform can now play with each other in games which should significantly boost the number of players online in the MMORPG.

Black Desert players will still be able to select console-specific servers if they want but special Conquest and Node Wars events are currently planned for cross-console servers which should entice many to try the feature out.

To help promote the game and its new crossplay functionality, Black Desert is currently free to play on Xbox One consoles until Match 10th and it’s also had its price slashed by 50% to just $14.99 for those that want to buy it.

Black Desert is the latest of many video games being given cross-console support following the likes of Minecraft, Dauntless, Fortnite, and Next Up Hero.

Do you like crossplay between Xbox One and other platforms? Let us know why or why not in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Twitter for more Xbox gaming content.

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Black Desert – Standard Edition

Developer:
Pearl Abyss

Price:
Free

Nicole Forsgren, a PhD, author, and former CEO of DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment, which was acquired by Google last year, is taking on a new role at Microsoft, as VP of Research and Strategy at GitHub. In a post on her blog, Forsgren describes what she’ll be doing next (after “after a short break to enjoy some naps, Diet Coke, and ice cream”):

At GitHub, I will expand and continue investigating developer happiness and productivity while also helping the industry get better, and there’s no better place to ask these questions because GitHub is truly at the heart of software development for so many communities. Here, I can bring the research closer to the tools that we use and build on the foundation of knowledge that exists while asking different questions, from different angles, and surfacing different insights. I am excited to continue talking with and learning from developers, testers, IT ops, infosec, and executives to understand their work; working with tools teams across the ecosystem to understand their challenges and what they see so we can help make things better; nerding out with researchers and makers across the industry and academia so we can partner to find interesting questions (and ways to ask and frame and think about those questions), supporting each other and collaborating on solutions.

There’s always some back and forth between big tech companies, but this looks to be a big get for Microsoft and GitHub. So far, Microsoft has been fairly hands-off with GitHub, a favorite for developer collaboration, but it’s good to see the company bring on this level of talent to move it forward.

According to a new report from Brand Sams at Petri.com, Microsoft could be shaking up Cortana a bit and giving it a bit of re-brand. Falling in with news about a possible Spring release for the Surface Earbuds, the report reveals that Cortana could soon be named “Microsoft 365 Assistant” and also might pick up a new integration with Teams.

Though best treated as a rumor, Sams details that Cortana is now known as “Microsoft 365 Assistant” internally at Microsoft, and believes that he “wouldn’t be surprised to see the assistant publicly rebranded as well.” In addition, the report says that Microsoft is playing with the idea of including a new Cortana-functionality in Teams. Per Sams, Teams could pick up a new look, with Cortana appearing in the search bar at the top of the window. Cortana, or the “Microsoft 365 Assistant,” could also be used in Teams for common productivity tasks such as sending files, creating chats, presenting content while in meetings, and more.

As for the news about Surface Earbuds, it is said that the reason for the delay in release was due to issues with the software, and the productivity features originally revealed by Microsoft. Additionally, the “Play my Emails” of Surface Earbuds feature might be re-branded as well to a “commute” feature, and could come to more devices than just the earbuds.

This news should not be too surprising, as Microsoft recently came out and announced that Cortana will be evolving from more of a personal assistant to a productivity assistant. Losing features like Cortana skills, it now fits in better with Office 365 and Microsoft 365, though the overall goal is still to help you achieve more with less effort.

Yesterday, we reported that Microsoft harshly degraded the points values of Xbox Game Pass quests, causing many Xbox fans (like myself) to become upset. A short 24 hours later, Microsoft has responded to the complaints of Xbox fans and has backtracked by increasing Game Pass Quests points values, although they’re still lower than the original values.

Although daily quests for logging into the Game Pass app on Mobile and playing Xbox Game Pass games are now still at 5 points, other quests that involve spending more time playing games have now increased. The value of weekly-game-specific quests has now gone up from 20 points to 50 points, and monthly-game specific quests are now valued at 75 points instead of 20 points. As the folks at True Achievements point out, that’s now a gain of 405 to 1635 points.

Other points values still remain the same and are still reduced. For instance, the bonus for earning achievements in Game Pass titles is still 10 points vs the original 50 or 25 points. Completing Adventurer, Apprentice and On the Go Quests also still remains 25 points vs the original 50.  

Either way, it’s great to see that Microsoft has listened to the feedback of gamers. Do you like the new points values? Let us know in the comments below.

I’ve always been a big fan of Microsoft Rewards. Like many others who use the program, I run Bing searches every day across my phone and PC to eventually cash in my points for Microsoft products. That’s why I was quite happy when Microsoft revamped Xbox Game Pass Quests last month. Just like other gamers paying for Game Pass, I had more reason to turn on my Xbox, play my favorite games, and get rewarded with Microsoft Rewards points for doing so.

But, starting this month in March, Microsoft made a major change to Xbox Game Pass Quests. Points values for common quests are now extremely undervalued compared to what they were originally, and that is making Xbox gamers, and myself included, really disappointed.

To understand how much the points have been degraded, we need to look at how Game Pass Quests began. In the last month, you would get heavily rewarded for your time completing the daily, weekly, and monthly quests.

Before, you would get rewarded with 30 points each day for two tasks: logging into the Xbox Game Pass app on Mobile and playing an Xbox Game Pass game on Xbox. You’d also be able to get up 50 points each for monthly tasks, and 100 points for completing them all. Other quests also rewarded you heavily for getting achievements in Game Pass games or downloading or playing a certain amount of Game Pass games. You’d even get a payout 1,000 points for completing all the tasks for the month, as well.

As pointed out by the folks on Reddit, with this method, gamers, were able to average 500 points a week with the right level of dedication. It was an easy way to play Xbox and get rewarded for doing so.

But now that Microsoft has changed the way that points are valued for Game Pass Quests, they might as well be pointless. Daily quests for logging into the Xbox Game Pass app on Mobile and playing an Xbox Game Pass game on Xbox are now just worth 10 points at the rate of 5 each. Weekly quests are now just 10 points each, and monthly quests are down to 10 each also. You’d also only get a 100 point payout for finishing all the quests.

Math aside, the Xbox Game Pass quests are now way less valuable, with roughly just 285 points payout for the monthly section alone. You’d now get more Microsoft Rewards points per day by just completing searches on Bing on PC and Mobile than you do for playing Xbox Game Pass in a single month. You can check the chart below to see why (courtesy of Reddit user Dzahc.)

It is unknown why Microsoft made this change, but I think it might be a way of just experimenting with points values. Either way, much like myself, gamers are not happy about it. Considering the monthly price of Game Pass, some Redditors have said that they won’t be renewing their subscription to the service anymore if the points stay this way. Other gamers, myself included, played their Xbox and downloaded games they’d care less about otherwise just to score these points.

Indeed, now that Xbox Game Pass points are undervalued, it doesn’t even make sense to even buy into Game Pass to get the bonus Microsoft Rewards points. A subset of gamers simply won’t bother checking out games just to get the points from quests. And, for those in countries like Australia where getting Rewards points is tough enough, this only makes it harder to enjoy the program.

We reached out to Microsoft for comment about this change, and a Microsoft Spokesperson tells us the following:

“We’re always listening to fan feedback, and we appreciate those who took the time to reach out about changes to Xbox Game Pass Quests points. Based on that feedback, we’re rolling out adjusted point values that should be reflected on dashboards today.”

We will be keeping a close eye on the points values on the Xbox Game Pass Quests, and will keep you updated if values happen to change. Stay Tuned to OnMSFT for more.

Microsoft’s freeware suite of system utilities dubbed PowerToys was resurrected from its Windows XP days and brought to the company’s flagship operating system Windows 10 in May of 2019.

For power users accustomed to a very niche and specific workflow, the release of PowerToys was a godsend as it brought back the ability for users to tweak obscure settings such as opening cabinet files in a similar fashion to the regular File Explorer experience and shortcuts to opening desktop files from a menu on the taskbar, to name a couple.

PowerToys is arguably analogous to modding in gaming, for many Windows users. However, once brought back, the Windows team had its works cut out for it as users marked up a laundry list of issues when using the suite.

Today, the Windows team is confident that it has addressed those concerns and published an update to PowerToys via its GitHub repository.

Heads up #WindowsInsiders @ClintRutkas just hit publish on PowerToys 0.15! Over 100 bug fixes and some awesome improvements! https://t.co/hDcIS2cVHm

— Brandon LeBlanc (@brandonleblanc) March 3, 2020

According to the release notes, PowerToys is up to version 0.15.1 after a hotfix came in hours after the initial release of v0.15.0. PowerToys users can now look forward to over 100 resolved issues as well as a cool new update notification system to “make you aware there is a new version from within PowerToys.

• Make you aware there is a new version from within PowerToys
• Removed requirement to always ‘run as admin’
• Added almost 300 unit tests to increase stability and prevent regressions.
• Resolved almost 100 issues
• Made .NET Framework parts of the source run faster with NGEN
• Improved for how we store data locally
• Increased FancyZones compatibility with applications
• Created the v1.0 strategy, the launcher, the keyboard manager specs
• Work on cleaning up our issue backlog and labels

For those anxious to download the update, the team does note that users will need to reapply their zone layout for FancyZones after updating. Fortunately, it seems that the minor inconvenience does not apply to custom zone sets, as they appear to be preserved.

Microsoft has just announced the next wave of games coming to Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC in March. NBA 2K20 will be the first Xbox game to join the Console catalog tomorrow, March 5, along with Train Sim World 2020. The latter will also be available on Xbox Game Pass for PC, if you prefer the comfort of using a keyboard and mouse.

Next week, the much-anticipated Ori and the Will of the Wisps and the puzzle game Pikuniku will join Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC on March 11 and 12, respectively. The first one is already available for pre-download on both platforms, and it will be an Xbox Play Anywhere title that supports cloud saves.

On March 13, State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition, a remaster of the zombie survival game will also join Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC, along with the new team brawler Bleeding Edge from Ninja Theory. These two games from Xbox Game Studios support Xbox Play Anywhere as well as crossplay multiplayer across Xbox One and PC.

Lastly, Microsoft announced two more games joining Xbox Game Pass for PC later this month with The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game and the beat ‘em up title Mother Russia Bleeds. However, the company didn’t indicate when these last two games will be available via the new Xbox beta app for Windows 10.

Overall, this should be a pretty exciting month for Xbox Game Pass members. If you have yet to subscribe, we remind you that you can get your first month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Live Gold, for just $1.

Microsoft is offering a six-month free trial to the premium version of its Microsoft Teams business chat/collaboration application, a part of the Office 365 suite. The move comes as fears of the coronavirus outbreak cause many businesses to have their employees work from home.

Companies and businesses that take advantage of the six-month free trial of Teams premium will gain access to many of the application’s features which aren’t available of the free plan—including better access to scheduling and meeting features. Additionally, Microsoft says it will begin to allow users on the free Teams plan to schedule meetings starting March 10. The move promotes public health safety by making it easier to work from home.

At Microsoft, the health and safety of employees, customers, partners and communities is our top priority. By making Teams available to all for free for six months, we hope that we can support public health and safety by making remote work even easier. https://t.co/e8aaocLzYD

— JP Courtois (@JP_Courtois) March 3, 2020

Microsoft has recently begin promoting Teams as the place for employees to access from anywhere, likely as the result of the increased demand from working from home. A Microsoft employee from Shanghai also shared some tips for those who will be taking their work to their homes.

While coronavirus concerns have resulted in the cancellation of numerous tech events including Microsoft’s summit, the company says it will continue to monitor the situation before it decides on whether or not to cancel this year’s Build event.

Will you be working from home? What do you think about Microsoft’s promotion? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments area below.

Microsoft and Accenture have teamed up to help deepen the reach of entrepreneurs and startups that are focused on social impact and sustainability. The collaboration is part of the companies’ shared vision to amplify the societal impact of emerging technology and benefit a million people by democratizing access.

As part of the initiative, Microsoft Research India and Accenture Labs will help social enterprise startups test and validate proofs-of-concept, conduct design thinking sessions to help them re-envision the impact of their solutions, and provide support in exploring and using Microsoft technologies. The partnership will help these startups build scalable solutions and business models with more tangible and lasting benefits.

“Our experience shows that by applying emerging technologies to critical challenges facing society, we can accelerate social transformation. This collaboration is a great illustration of delivering on ‘value’ and ‘values’ – creating tangible business and social value while aligning with people’s values. By providing social impact entrepreneurs with direct access to the combined power of Accenture and Microsoft’s technology expertise, we can help significantly improve access, equality, education, inclusion, health, sustainability, and the environment.”

– Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive, Accenture Technology & Chief Technology Officer, Accenture

The program will initially engage with startups in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, leveraging the MSR India Center for Societal impact through Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (SCAI). Initially, the program will focus on the areas of agriculture, education, and healthcare.

Microsoft’s involvement in this initiative is part of Microsoft’s Global Social Entrepreneurship program. The Global Social Entrepreneurship program is designed to empower an ecosystem of tech-enabled startups, focused on addressing important social or environmental challenges. The involvement of Accenture Labs is part of its ongoing Tech4Good program, which is focused on applying emerging technologies to help solve complex social challenges.

It’s no secret that Microsoft has been on a mission to give Windows 10 a new look. We’ve seen new icons roll out across the operating system, as well as the Light Mode introduced in the Windows 10 May 2019 Update. But, there could be bigger things ahead. Indeed, Microsoft recently teased a cleaner looking Windows 10 Start Menu, which appears to be heavily designed by Fluent Design and the new modern Windows icons (via PCWorld.)

As seen in the featured image above, this new Start Menu isn’t much different from the current version of Windows 10 when it comes to layout and overall format. It does, however, look to be more uniform, with less randomly colored backgrounds on the app tiles. Overall, it is cleaner with more uniform colors throughout, allowing the icons to blend in nicely with the acrylic effects delivered by Fluent Design.

This Start Menu was originally discussed by Microsoft during today’s Windows Insider webcast. You can see a still of it in action by watching the webcast on-demand here, at around the 46-minute mark. “The idea is to visually unify the Start menu, [from] a somewhat chaotic color, to something a bit more uniform,” said Mike LaJoie, the person in charge of icon design at Microsoft.

Rumors have previously said that Windows 10’s Live Tiles might be dead in the future, but judging from what Microsoft PM Brandon LeBlanc said during the webcast, the Live Tiles are here to stay. As the image of the Start Menu is still, we can’t tell if they’re present in this new Start Menu. However, LeBlanc mentioned that “Those with Live Tiles will still be able to use them.” It could be that users will continue to have full control over Live Tiles and be able to turn them off and on as needed.

Do you think that this new Start Menu is more clean and efficient? Let us know in the comments below.

Great news for Halo fans, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is now available on PC as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. This remaster of the original Halo game follows the release of the Halo: Reach remaster on PC and Xbox One in December, and it’s once again available on Xbox Game Pass for PC, the Windows 10 Microsoft Store, and Steam.

The PC version of Halo: CE Anniversary will still let PC gamers switch between remastered and classic game graphics on the fly, and both modes should look pretty good in 4K. Here are all the power user features you can expect according to 343 Industries:

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary looks and plays better than ever at 60 frames-per-second (or greater) with 4K UHD support, and players can fine-tune their experience with a vast array of options including variable framerate, native mouse/keyboard support and the ability to rebind controls, support for ultra-wide displays and different aspect rations, updates texture/shadow quality and more. Additionally, we’re happy to introduce community-requested features such as the option to use ‘classic’ audio in multiplayer and improvements to Spartan customization

If you have an Xbox Game Pass for PC or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you can download Halo: CE Anniversary for free today. The game is also included in the full $39.99 Halo: MCC bundle available on Steam and the Microsoft Store, but you can also purchase it separately for $9.99.

343 Industries is still on track to bring the rest of the Halo games to Halo: MCC on PC throughout the year. You can expect Halo: 2 Anniversary to come next, followed by Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo 4, the latter being the first Halo game developed by 343 Industries after Bungie went to work on the Destiny franchise.

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Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Developer:
Xbox Game Studios

Price:
Free

Due to the spread of Novel Coronavirus, Microsoft has already canceled both the MVP Summit and its GDC briefing in favor of virtual events. Many have now been wondering if Build 2020, which is set for May 19-21 would be canceled, too.

Although an official decision has not been made yet on that front, the company recently updated its Build 2020 webpage with a message about Coronavirus, saying it will “monitor and make any necessary changes as the situation evolves.” Here’s the statement:

In light of the global health concerns due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Microsoft is monitoring public health guidance in relation to in-person events. At this time, global health authorities have not issued guidance to avoid travel to this location. We are looking carefully at our event calendar as well as our presence at industry events in the coming months. We are not taking decisions lightly, but the health and well-being of our employees, partners, customers and other guests remain our ultimate priority.

We will continue to monitor and make any necessary changes as the situation evolves.

March 2, 2020

Currently, Coronavirus is spreading across the Seattle area, and many Microsoft watchers like Paul Thurrott are doubtful about the status of Build. However, as Microsoft states on the webpage, global health authorities have not yet issued guidance to avoid travel to Seattle, Washington. The company instead insists that it is “monitoring public health guidance in relation to in-person events” and is “looking carefully at [the] event calendar as well as [the] presence at industry events in the coming months.”

While it is still two months out, canceling Build could likely be a huge logistics nightmare for Microsoft. In the statement on the page, the Redmond giant insists it does not take decisions lightly, and wants to put the health and well-being of employees, partners, customers, and other guests first.

There’s been some talk of MVPs, especially if they can’t get refunds for their travel and accommodations, to head to Seattle/Redmond anyway. In a reply to a tweet related to the MVP Summit, former Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar said that people should not be planning to visit Microsoft’s campus, as the company will be locking down visitations with “tons of people working from home.”

Coronavirus is definitely shaking up the conference industry for sure, even outside of Microsoft. Google recently announced it would be re-imagining its Cloud Next ’20 conference as a free, global, digital-first, multi-day event. Adobe also canned its annual summit in Las Vegas in favor of an online event. And, outside of the United States, Microsoft canceled its Ignite Tour in Zurich.

When Apple released the fourth generation MacBook Pro in 2016 it came with a new feature known as the “Touch Bar.” An OLED strip running above the keyboard, the Touch Bar replaced the traditional function keys with multi-touch keys. Depending on which app you use, the Touch Bar is able to adapt and show you various functions, as well as a digital “ESC” key. Many apps in MacOS, including Microsoft’s own Office 365 suite, have special Touch Bar functionality, and in this guide, we’ll show you how to make the most of it in the core Office apps.

Word

In Microsoft Word on Mac OS, there are quite a few useful Touch Bar functions to help you be more productive and skip out common keyboard shortcuts. Starting from left to right, you will find access to a clipboard paste button and a styles button for bold, italics and underline. You’ll also find options for highlighting, followed by text color, and bulleting, numbers, and justification.

Scrolling on the Touch Bar will show additional controls for inserting hyperlinks, photos, and comments. For faster access to opening documents, there’s even a button for opening recent documents. Finally, on the far left, you’ll find one to bring Word full-screen.

It’s worth noting that some of these buttons on the Touch Bar will have secondary functions. Clicking the clipboard gives you quick access to pasting, complete with formatting options. The highlight button will then show you a color wheel and allow you to pick the right color for highlighting. The same also applies to the font color. It’s a quick convenient way of getting to core editing functions and will save you a valuable click.

Excel

Moving on to Excel, the functions of the Touch Bar are quite similar to the ones for Word. Again, left to right, you’ll still have access to some basic editing functionality without using keyboard shortcuts. This includes a paste button, as well as options for formatting for bold, italics and underline. After that, though, the buttons change a bit. There’s a new option for boarders in cells, as well as an option for the cell fill color. That’s then capped off with options for the cell style, and then an option to create a chart.

In terms of secondary functions, the cell border button will give you access to various cell border styles. The Cell fill color, meanwhile, will give you a color picker, as does the font color option. As for the cell style button, you can choose from a variety of styles such as “Good,” “Bad,” or “Neutral.” Finally, the chart button will give you quick picks for charts such as Column, Line, or Pie. Again, this is a quick way of avoiding clicking on the ribbon in Excel for common tasks.

PowerPoint

Next up, there’s PowerPoint. This Office program has perhaps what is the best function for the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro as the functions change based on how you’re using PowerPoint. We’ll be starting first with the functions for editing mode. In this mode, from the left side, you’ll find the clipboard paste option, just as you do in the other Office apps. That’s then followed up by a button to add a new slide and a button to insert a table, photo, and shape. You’ll then find a button to summon the text edit option, followed by a button to open recent files, and another to begin the presentation. We’ll move on to the text edit options next.

With the text edit options for the Touch Bar in PowerPoint on the MacBook. there’s quite a lot similar to Word. There are buttons to bold italics, underline, insert number or bullets, edit the color of text, and change the justification. When in this mode, you can go back to the main view by tapping the ESC key. That will then give you access to additional features such as fill color, outline color, and options to rotate images and change image formats. Again, quite useful, as these are typically buried beneath the right-click menu.

Finally, we’ll talk about how you can use the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro in PowerPoint during a presentation. This is the coolest mode of them all, as here, you’ll be able to see a live preview of your slides. A button on the left of the Touch Bar will allow you to end the show, and the button next to it will show you the progress on the slideshow. You’ll then see a preview of each of the slides, and you’ll be able to drag your way through and touch each slide one by one while seeing it on the screen to move from one to the next. There’s even a mini clock in the Touch Bar to show you the time, and additional controls to switch your screen to the more traditional presentation mode.

Outlook

Much like PowerPoint, the Touch Bar in Outlook will show you different options based on how you use the app. We’ll be starting first with when you’re in your inbox. In this mode, you’ll find a button to switch between the mail and calendar portions of outlook. That’s then followed by options for creating a new message, deleting, arching, moving, and replying to the message. You’ll also find a flag button, too.

Next, there are functionalities for when you’re replying to an email. In this mode, The Touch Bar will have a button to send out your email, followed by an emoji key, and then the clipboard paste button. There are then the standard editing options seen from the rest of Office 365, such as style, font color, and more.

Lastly, there are some functions for the calendar. In this mode, there are options for sorting through the different views: Day, Month, Week, Work Week. There’s even a key to start a new meeting or event. It’s quite the nifty little trick, to help you avoid clicking buttons in the menu bar, or using keyboard shortcuts.

Just a little way to boost productivity

Looking at things all together, these Touch Bar tricks are just one small way to boost your productivity. Instead of having to worry about keyboard shortcuts or where to click in the Office Ribbon, you can slide your fingers up to the Touch Bar instead. It’s just one small thing, though, as we’ve previously explained tips and tricks for many of the Core Office 365 apps. Check out our coverage here for more, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

A couple of games are leaving Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC soon, as seen on the Xbox Game Pass mobile app today (via TrueAchievements). Shenmue I & II, Thimbleweed Park, Litchspeer: Double Speer Edition will be leaving the Console and PC catalogs soon, and you can add to that list Deus Ex: Mankind Divided on Console as well as Titan Quest Anniversary Edition and Apocalipsis on PC.

The Xbox Game Pass Mobile app doesn’t reveal when these games will be removed, but it will likely be later this month. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will actually be the latest high-profile Square Enix to disappear following Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Just Cause 4.

It’s not all bad though as Xbox Game Pass will get two new Xbox Game Studios titles this month with the much-anticipated metroidvania game Ori and the Will of the Wisps (coming March 11), as well as the team brawler Bleeding Edge (coming March 23). Microsoft will likely announce more games very soon, as it usually does at the beginning of every month. If you have yet to try Xbox Game Pass, we remind that you can get your first month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just $1.

In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, many companies have been canceling pubic events or suggesting employees work from home via telecommuting solutions like Teams or Slack. This is of particular concern in the Seattle area, Microsoft’s home-base where the virus is still spreading.

As a result, Microsoft recently canceled its MVP summit, but that isn’t stopping the company from advertising its products in the wake of the virus. Ironically, some timely new ads for Teams are showing how it is the “Teamwork from anywhere” solution.

Recently, we noticed two of these new Teams ads online. Our managing editor came across an advertisement for Teams on Twitter, which can be seen above. The ad mentions that remote work is made easy for free with Teams and shows an image suggesting how Teamwork can be done from anywhere. In a separate instance, one of our writers also noticed a banner ad for Microsoft Teams on Microsoft’s support website for two-factor verification. The “Learn how” banner mentions how users can keep in touch and stay productive with Teams and Office 365 with working remotely.

This is a fairly engrossing way to draw more attention to Teams. Microsoft previously aired an ad for Teams during the NFL Playoffs in January, and it took jabs at Slack. As a result, it will be interesting to see how this campaign helps boosts Teams’ popularity as Cortanavirus spreads and more companies encourage folks living in impacted cities to work from home.

Several Microsoft apps began to update on Windows 10 devices last week with their new app icons such as Calendar and Mail and now it looks like even more have started to get their icon refresh.

Earlier today, Films & TV (Movies & TV), Microsoft Alarms & Clock, and Groove Music (see above image) all got an update that replaces their old icon with their new one. The app icon update appears to a bit staggered with others claiming that their Calculator, Photos, and Voice Recorder apps have also been refreshed.

Microsoft revealed their intention to update their numerous app icons back in December of 2018 but the rollout has been strangely delayed and randomly implemented across Windows 10, iOS, and Android devices. The company then expanded on this idea in December last year with an even more ambitious icon plan.

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