It seems like almost every day a new framework or tool is released in the quest to help developers be more productive. While diversity is never a bad thing, a lot of times it feels we are trying hard to reinvent the wheel by solving problems that don’t really exist anymore. While that might be the case with many of the tools and utilities out in the market today, when it comes to Microsoft Store app development the Windows Template Studio extension is king!

What exactly is this magical tool you ask? Well I am about to tell you! As Microsoft continues their quest to lure developers to the now not so new Universal Windows Platform, they ingeniously devised a way for developers of pretty much any skill and experience level to hit the ground running when developing a Universal Windows application. And when I say hit the ground running, I am not kidding! Let’s drive right in!

The first thing you are going to need is Visual Studio 2017 or newer installed. Once we have gotten that out of the way head over to the Visual Studio marketplace and download the Windows Template Studio extension and install it. You can grab that by following this link.

Creating a project using the tool is straight forward.

Open Visual Studio, Click on File -> New -> Project…

That will launch the Create a new project dialog. From here type “Windows Template Studio” in the search box and select the first option if you are going to use C# or second option for Visual Basic if that is still your thing…

On this next dialog you are asked to select the project name, location, solution name. After doing so comes the fun stuff!

Modern Windows application development is demanding. Users expect these applications to support things like notifications, live tiles and deep linking all while remaining very efficient and available. What do I mean by available? Well they expect their application experience to be consistent and available across devices.

The Universal Windows Platform delivers just that, and now with the Windows Template Studio you don’t have to worry about properly implementing these concepts on your own, it does all the heavy lifting for you and generates well-formed, very readable code which follows Microsoft and industry best practices and design patterns.

I am going to take you through some of the available options in the tool as you begin configuring your application.

The first step is to choose a project type. In this context that basically means navigation type. We will select “navigation pane”, many of you may know this simply as a “hamburger menu”.

The next decision is probably one of the most important, I am partial to MVVM Basic, but Code Behind continues to be a very popular approach. These decisions are not going to necessarily limit what you can do with the application, but they will, depending on your skill level, add an element of difficulty to your implementations.

The next section is where you add pages to the application. There are a lot of common pages Windows Template Studio takes care of for you. These include pages for settings, data grids, media players and more! Creating blank pages is a great way to make place holders for content you expect to add later on, it adds it to the navigation menu and gives you an idea of how to do that later yourself in code.

The final step is to add features. If you thought this tool was great already, your mind is about to be blown away! The features section allows you to, with the click of a button add functionality like deep linking, live tiles, toast notifications and integration with the Windows Timeline.

That was it! The last thing we need to do now is hit “Create”.

The result is a buildable, runnable application which can be deployed across any device which supports Universal Windows Platform applications.

At this point you can begin to modify and mold this application to fit your needs. The possibilities are endless. While most of the functionality this tool deploys for you was never particularly difficult to implement, the fact remains they were time consuming. This tool eliminates that initial and tedious implementation and deployment of your application framework. Not only that but the resultant code follows industry standards and patterns while providing developers of all skill levels with an extremely robust and extensible foundation for their applications.

Now that you have the foundation to a great Microsoft Store App, what story will you tell with it?

For more information on the Windows Template Studio extension for Visual Studio visit the official extension page.

NBA 2K20 is now available to pre-order and pre-download on Microsoft’s Xbox One consoles ahead of its September 6th release date.

This latest version in the NBA video game series is said to feature improved graphics and gameplay, new game modes, more customization than previous entries, and an open-world neighbourhood to explore.

NBA 2K20 will be available in three versions, each with a plethora of additional digital bonus content. Here’s what comes with each version in addition to the base game:

NBA 2K20

• 5,000 Virtual Currency
• 5,000 MyTEAM Points
• 5 MyCAREER Skill Boosts
• MyPLAYER Clothing Capsule
• 10 MyTEAM League packs (delivered one a week)
• 5 Heat Check packs (delivered one a week beginning at the start of the NBA season)

NBA 2K20 Digital Deluxe

• 35,000 Virtual Currency
• 10,000 MyTEAM Points
• 10 MyCAREER Skill Boosts
• MyPLAYER Clothing Capsule
• 10 MyTEAM League Packs (delivered one a week)
• 10 MyTEAM Heat Check Packs (delivered one a week beginning at the start of the NBA season)
• 1 Sapphire MyTEAM Cover Athlete Card

NBA 2K20 Legend Edition

• 100,000 Virtual Currency
• 50,000 MyTEAM Points
• 20 MyCAREER Skill Boosts
• MyPLAYER Clothing Capsule
• MyPLAYER Apparel Collection
• ‘Pick 10’ MyPLAYER Shoe Collection (10 shoes, user choice)
• 20 MyTEAM League Packs (delivered one a week)
• 20 MyTEAM Heat Check Packs (delivered one a week beginning at the start of the NBA season)
• 5 MyTEAM Themed Packs (one per theme release across the first five releases)
• 2 Sapphire MyTEAM Cover Athlete Cards

Are you interested in NBA 2K20? Let us know which version you’re going to pre-order in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest for more Xbox gaming content.

Download
QR-Code

NBA 2K20 Pre-Order

Developer:
2K

Price:
Free

Download
QR-Code

NBA 2K20 Digital Deluxe Pre-Order

Developer:
2K

Price:
Free

Download
QR-Code

NBA 2K20 Legend Edition Pre-Order

Developer:
2K

Price:
Free

Microsoft’s new survey solution, Microsoft Forms Pro, has finally launched in proper after several months of public preview testing.

The tool is available as part of a Dynamics 365 Enterprise license but can also be accessed by other Office 365 users who can sign up for it via the official website.

Microsoft Forms Pro is a tool for both collecting information for users and for analysing the result data. Each survey can be heavily customized visually and in how it flows with options for advanced branching, skip logic, individualized survey links, and multilingual capabilities being made readily available for developers.

The tool can also be integrated into existing Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform projects.

The rollout of Microsoft Forms Pro has be surprisingly fast for a Microsoft as it was announced back in February of this year, just four or so months ago.

Are you interested in using Microsoft Forms Pro? Let us know why or why not in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter for more Microsoft news.

Microsoft’s official Windows social media accounts have been having a bit of fun today by “introducing” the new Windows 1.0 operating system to their followers.

The fun started with a post on their Instagram and Twitter accounts with a short teaser video for the “all-new Windows 1.0, with MS-Dos Executive, Clock, and more!!” which was soon followed by subsequent posts about Windows 1.0 software such as “Excel, Chart, and even Flight Simulator” and a Twitter poll quizzing people on how much memory would be required to run the OS.

https://twitter.com/Windows/status/1145731141695168512

The Twitter account has even updated its profile photo and banner to reflect the launch of this retro OS.

While the first two posts had people wondering if Microsoft was planning some sort of retro/nostalgia product release, the text in the Twitter poll tweet referencing 1985 pretty much gave the true aim of these posts away.

They’re just a clever promotion for the new season of Strange Things.

Running Windows 1.0 in 1985 required at least how much memory?

— Windows (@Windows) July 2, 2019

Strange Things Season 3 is set to debut on Netflix over the next 24 hours and this latest season will be set in the year 1985, the same year that Windows 1.0 actually launched. Microsoft products have appeared in a variety of Netflix TV shows over the years so it’s incredibly likely we’ll see some in Stranger Things as well. Hell, showcasing old-school computer software would actually be a perfect fit for Stranger Things with its heavy emphasis on geek culture nostalgia.

What do you think? Are these posts a Stranger Things tie-in or something else entirely? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter for more Microsoft news.

Following the launch of the Windows Insider Program in late 2014, Microsoft has been pursuing a wide “insidering” effort across the company, with new Insider programs for Office, Skype, Xbox, and more. This actually happened so fast that it’s actually hard to keep up with all the various Insider programs that the company created over the years.

Fortunately, the software giant has now put all information about its various Insider programs on a single web page, which was shared on Twitter today by Microsoft Partner Program Manager Scott Hanselman.

One stop shopping for ALL Microsoft Insiders programs! Free to join https://t.co/Cb3hyyZPUB

— Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) July 2, 2019

This may have passed under your radar, but Microsoft has launched Insider programs for Bing as well as Visual Studio Code in recent years. The last Insider program Microsoft launched is for the new version of Microsoft Edge, which is now based on the open-source Chromium project. Since its official launch in April, the Edge Insider Program has become pretty active with the Canary and Dev channels giving us new builds at a regular pace.

On the Windows Insider side, the program has now crossed more than 16.5 million members this year, but it looks like some changes are incoming. For the first time ever, Microsoft recently made Fast Ring Insiders skip the next Windows 10 update (19H2) to test the first feature update coming in 2020. As for the 19H2 update, the first preview build shipped to Slow Ring Insiders yesterday, and Microsoft explained that this minor update will install just like a regular cumulative update when it’s released later this Fall.

The Windows Insider program isn’t the only one that went through some changes in recent years, as the Xbox Insider program went from an invite-only structure to a more complex organization with five different Insider rings. It’s nice that all information about Microsoft’s Insider programs can be found in one single place, but all programs keep their specificities and it certainly take some time to figure out how to use them best.

Microsoft Teams is a powerful collaboration service that rivals Slack. It can help bring your employees together from across your company or organization in a digital online space, but did you know Teams also has Microsoft OneNote built right in? That’s right, you can combine the power of Teams and OneNote to share important task lists, drawings, notes, and accomplish more across your organization.

Using OneNote within Teams is easy, and in the fast-paced world of Microsoft blogging, is something we leverage here at OnMSFT and use in our operations. Here’s more on how you can get started with OneNote in Teams.

How to add OneNote to a Microsoft Teams Channel

To get started with OneNote in Microsoft Teams, you will need to add it to one of your Teams general channels. You can do that by heading to the top bar (under where the name of your channel appears) and clicking the add a tab (+) button. Once that is done, you can choose OneNote from the list.

You’ll be presented with the option of opening an existing notebook (as we have in our list) or creating a new notebook from scratch. You also can click on “Paste a OneNote link” and add in the address, and then click “Save” if you want to link an existing notebook from elsewhere in your organization.

If you opt to create a new notebook, you can give it a name, and press save. Regardless, the notebook you opened or created should now show up on the top bar for easy access to all your employees within that Teams channel. If your employee or anyone in the channel is blocked from viewing the notebook, they’ll be able to request access right from the tab, allowing them to view and make edits.

So, how does OneNote in Teams work?

OneNote in Microsoft Teams uses the power of OneNote Online. In simpler terms, that means it works as a web interface, so, you’ll need to be connected to the internet to save all your work or any changes that you may make to notebooks. You’ll have access to some basic editing functionalities while using OneNote within Teams, and you’ll see the File, Home, Insert, Draw, and View tabs. You can still insert tables, files, pictures, and audio recordings, as well as draw certain items on your screen.

You also can press on the “Open in browser” button if you want to edit the Notebook using the OneNote app on your computer, but you’ll be prompted to sign in with your account. Here at OnMSFT, we use OneNote to keep a list of our editorial procedures for our day-to-day operations, making it easier to onboard new employees.

How to use a OneNote Class Notebook in Teams for Education

If you’re using Teams for Education, things are a bit different. Each team in Teams for Education comes with its own linked OneNote Class Notebook. These notebooks come with three components, a Student Notebook, Content Library, and Collaboration Space. The setup process is similar to what we described above, and you can navigate under the General channel of a classroom, and selecting the Class Notebook Tab. Microsoft dives deeper into the process here.

How will you succeed with Teams and OneNote?

So, there you have it! Using OneNote with Teams is as simple as adding it to a channel, and clicking on the add a tab button, and creating or opening a OneNote notebook. How will you use OneNote and Teams? Let us know in the comments below, and keep tuned for more Microsoft Teams tricks and tricks.

If you’ve been thinking about subscribing to Office 365 to get access to the Microsoft Office suite of applications for an affordable yearly or monthly price, there are two options you can to choose from. Currently, for general consumers, Microsoft offers both Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal.

While both of these subscription tiers give you similar access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access, there are some subtle differences for what you can get for your money. In this guide, we dive a bit deeper and will help you choose the subscription plan that is right for your home.

So, what’s included in both subscriptions?

Before diving into the differences, it is best to look at the software and services you get with both subscriptions. Covered under Office 365 Home and Personal is access to full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Skype. These all receive monthly updates from Microsoft, and you can install on PCs, Macs, tablets, and phones. If installing on just a PC, you’ll get bonus access to Microsoft Access and Publisher.

As a bonus, both subscriptions also include 1TB of cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive per user (with paid options for more storage, if needed) and 60 minutes of calling on Skype per month. There are some exclusions and exceptions with who you can call on Skype, however. If you’re using OneNote, you will also gain access to some special features. These include Ink replay, Researcher, Math Assistant, Stickers, and more.

Office 365 Personal — For one person only

Now, it’s time to look at the differences. We’ll start first with Office 365 personal. For the price of $6.99 a month, or $69.99 a year, Office 365 Personal is the cheapest way to get Office on your devices. We’d recommend it if you’re  just buying a subscription for one person, with no plans to add users to your plan. 

While the subscription does grant you access to PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, Publisher, and Skype, there is an important limit.  If opting for this base plan, you only will be able to use the Office applications with one Microsoft account (meaning one user with one license) across multiple PCs, Macs, or tablets. You’ll also only get 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage with that single account.

Keep in mind, however, that while it may seem as though you may be able to install Office on as many computers as you want using this subscription, there are some technical limits. According to Microsoft, you only can stay signed in to Office 365 Personal with five devices at the same time. That means, that if you sign in to a sixth device, you’ll be forced to sign out of one of your other devices via the Microsoft Account page.

You might be able to install Office without signing in on that sixth device, but as Office 365 is activated using a Microsoft Account, you’ll also lose some subscription features and Office might only run in read-only mode.

Office 365 Home — For up to six people, best for families

Priced at $99.99 a year, or $9.99 a month, Office 365 Home is a subscription that we’d recommend for families. Compared to Office 365 Personal, for the extra $30, this version of Office 365 lets you pay one price to enjoy Office with multiple users, under one paid plan. There’s even a free 30-day trial available if you’re not sure if the subscription is right for you.

With this subscription, six different people can use PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, Publisher, and Skype across multiple devices. In technical terms, this means you can link up to six Microsoft accounts with a single Office 365 Home subscription. Each person will be able to install Office on all their devices, with their own personal accounts, but only can stay signed in to five devices at the same time.

This means that each person will continue to get all the benefits, including full versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, plus the 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage and more. There’s plenty of value here for families, as adding things up across the six users, you can get up to 360 total minutes of Skype calls, and 6TB of storage on Microsoft OneDrive.

For most, Office 365 Home and Personal is the way to go

At the end of the day, both Office 365 Home and Personal are excellent ways to save money and get Office for an affordable price. The alternative to these options would be to buy Office Home and Student 2019, which comes at a one-time cost of $149. However, by going that route, you’ll only be able to install Office on 1 PC or Mac, and you won’t have the ability to update to the next major version of Office for free when it’s available. You’ll own the software forever, and won’t have to worry about paying a yearly subscription fee, but you’ll end up paying more if you want to enjoy Office on multiple PCs or Macs with multiple users.

You can buy Office 365 Personal today from Microsoft by heading to this link here. Stay tuned for more as we continue to dive deeper into the world of Office 365.

Remedy Entertainment, the game developer behind Quantum Break, Max Payne, and Alan Wake is now in control of the publishing rights for the latter. In a message for investors (via Eurogamer), the Finnish company explained today that it would earn “approximately 2.5 million euros of royalties from previously released games” for its first half-year period of 2019, adding that “the publishing rights of Alan Wake games are reverted to Remedy.”

Alan Wake was initially released back in 2010 on Xbox 360, with Microsoft acting as a publisher. A Windows version was released two years later, and despite the game gaining cult following over the years, Remedy cancelled a sequel to work with Microsoft on Quantum Break.

Speaking with Eurogamer, a Remedy spokesperson explained that the game developer remains entirely focused on its next multiplatform game named Control, but owning the IP for Alan Wake means that releasing the game on more platforms is now a possibility.

“The only thing we want to clarify, now that Remedy owns the publishing rights, is that we could bring Alan Wake to different platforms if we so choose,” the Remedy spokesperson said. “We have nothing to announce for now. We are fully focused on Control releasing on 27th August.”

Alan Wake disappeared from the Xbox Store two years ago, but the PC version is still available on Steam and is 70% off during the Steam Summer sale.

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.

Microsoft and Intel to continue support for Huawei laptops

Despite the ongoing feud between the US and Huawei, Microsoft and Intel have confirmed that they will continue to release their software and updates to Huawei laptops, despite the ban. They believe the ban does not prohibit them from doing so.

Microsoft’s new Windows Terminal is now available on the Windows 10 Microsoft Store

Announced last month at Build, Microsoft’s new Windows Terminal app is now available for users to download and install from the Microsoft Store.

Windows Calculator is now available on Android, iOS, and the Web because why not

In a strange move, Microsoft has made its Windows Calculator cross-platform, bringing it to Android, iOS, and the web.

Latest AdDuplex report shows small but growing use of Windows 10 May 2019 Update

Windows 10’s May 2019 Update is slowly growing in usage, according to the latest AdDuplex report, but its growth has been slow.

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