The official Twitter app for Windows 10 devices just updated with a bit of a menu change. In addition to the menu icons being noticeably bolder, links for Twitter Bookmarks and Twitter Lists have also been added.

Twitter Bookmarks are a way to save specific tweets for viewing later or just for future reference. Any tweet can be bookmarked by clicking on its share icon next to the like/heart icon and selecting Add Tweet to Bookmarks.

Lists on Twitter are an incredibly easy way to curate your Twitter feed by creating groups of certain accounts. Some of the perks of using Twitter Lists is that all tweets in them appear chronologically and sponsored tweets don’t appear at all.

No release notes have been published yet so it’s unclear if anything else has changed with this update. Have you noticed anything different in the Windows 10 Twitter app? Let us know in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter for more Windows news.

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Microsoft’s move to rebuild its Edge web browser using Chromium hits another landmark today with the first Edge Insider Dev update. The releases place Edge both Dev and Canary at version 75.0.131.0, and although so far the Canary channel still hasn’t quite reached “nightly build” status, it’s a lot more frequent than Old Edge users are accustomed to seeing.

As for a changelog, that’s still in the works, but a couple of things to note with these latest builds. First, both Edge Insider Dev and Canary channels now contain support in preview form for WebVR/WebXR content for Windows Mixed Reality headsets:

Make sure either the WebVR or WebXR flag in edge://flags is enabled, and try it out on your WMR device! Requires build 75.0.131.0 or later.

In addition, today’s release now allows for running Edge Insider on 32-bit machines with the Edge Canary channel.

If you have been waiting for 32-bit support to try out Edge Insider, there’s no reason to wait and you can download Edge Dev or Edge Canary channels from this Edge Insider download page. Remember too that you don’t have to choose between channels, either, as you can run Edge Insider Dev, Edge Insider Canary, and even the “old” EdgeHTML-based Edge side by side by side. And if you’re not sure if your Edge Insider build has been updated or not, you can quickly check:

You'll notice in the top right hand corner a little greem icon that looks like the image below when there is an update ready. Simply click that and you will see a prompt to update. From there click the prompt and you're all set. pic.twitter.com/KbwzqDkrCx

— Microsoft Edge Dev (@MSEdgeDev) April 18, 2019

So far, although it’s very early, Edge Insider (as we like to call it, nothing like having one name for multiple completely different products, eh Microsoft?) has been getting good reviews and seems to be fully functional for the most part, so if you’ve been hesitating, we recommend giving Edge Dev or Edge Canary (or both) a try. Worst case scenario, you just close the browser and go back to what you were using before!

Following the release of Windows 10 May 2019 Update in the Windows Insider Release Preview Ring last week, app developers can now download the Windows 10 18362 SDK in its final form. The SDK is compatible with both Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio 2019, the latest version of the IDE released earlier this month.

Microsoft has a long list of New APIs and Features for developers in this SDK on the Windows Dev Center. Highlights include the ability to access Linux files from the Windows File Explorer thanks to recent updates to the Windows Sub-system for Linux, as well as the ability to package Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) for Xbox One consoles. Windows Windows UI Library 2.1 can also add the latest Fluent design elements and controls to their UWP apps.

Microsoft notes that Visual Studio will use this new SDK as default once the May 2019 becomes generally available next month. There’s still no exact release date, as this time Microsoft will make good use of the Release Preview ring to make sure that the latest Windows 10 update doesn’t ship with critical bugs.

Microsoft announced today the acquisition of Express Logic, a San Diego-based company that creates specialized software for IoT devices powered by microcontroller units (MCUs). One of Express Logic’s most important products is ThreadX, a real time operating system for MCU based devices with already over 6.2 billion deployments.

With this acquisition, Microsoft wants to combine ThreadX with its existing IoT tools including Azure Sphere, and make it easier for manufacturers to create MCU-powered devices that can connect to Azure. While we recommend Azure Sphere for customers’ most secured connections to the cloud, where Azure Sphere isn’t possible in highly constrained devices, we recommend Express Logic’s ThreadX RTOS over other RTOS options in the industry because of its additional certifications and out-of-the-box connectivity to Azure IoT Hub,” explained Director, Head of Azure IoT at Microsoft.

The Redmond giant didn’t share financial details about the acquistion, but Express Logic William E. Lamie said today in a separate post that the company’s engineering team was joining Microsoft immediately.  “We look forward to continuing our efforts to help simplify embedded IoT development and continuing to build customer loyalty by helping our customers get to market quicker with solutions that are simple, safe, secure and that can take full advantage of the IoT,” the exec said.

Microsoft finally revealed its Xbox One S All Digital Edition earlier this week, and even though the most important details about the new console had leaked beforehand, we had yet to know if the hardware was significantly changed compared to the standard Xbox One S. As it turns out, the Xbox One S All Digital Edition is pretty much what we thought it would be: an Xbox One S without the disc drive.

The YouTuber Austin Evans got its hands on the new console and published a teardown video earlier this week (via Windows Central), showing that dedicated ports for connecting the disc drive are still present on the motherboard . Additionally, the eject button is still there, though it’s hidden behind the new casing.

The new $249.99 console also ships with the same 1TB hard drive and internal power supply, so Microsoft apparently didn’t try to cut costs by doing more hardware changes. However, Brad Sams, who was the first to report on the discless Xbox One S also wrote in his initial report that Microsoft was planning a newer version of the Xbox One S for later this year that would keep the disc drive but still be a cost saver for the company. “Microsoft is moving forward very carefully with this product as it knows that a sizeable portion of its users do prefer to buy physical games and not download them,” Sams wrote back in November.

So far, the Xbox One All Digital Edition has received a polarized reception, to say the least. The YouTube video shows 42% of dislikes as of this writing, with several comments highlighting the fact that’s it’s quite easy to find cheaper Xbox One S bundles with more interesting games without sacrificing the 4K Blu-Ray player.

Microsoft still deserves credit for its forward-thinking approach, and the fact that the company is testing waters with this discless version of the Xbox One S doesn’t mean that the “Anaconda” family of next-gen Xbox consoles won’t come with a disc-drive. Since Sony’s PlayStation 5 is now confirmed to have a disc drive, Microsoft would pretty much shoot itself in the foot if it was going all digital for its next console generation.

The Xbox One S All Digital Edition will start shipping on May 7, and it remains to be seen if it can appeal to gamers who are not interested in physical disks and the used games market. You can already pre-order the new console on the Microsoft Store, let us know in the comments if you’re interested in purchasing one.

Feature image credit: Austin Evans.

Microsoft invited the press for a Surface event in New York City this morning, where the company shared more details about the successor to its Surface Hub digital whiteboard. The Surface Hub 2S was officially revealed back in May 2018, but we finally know how much it will cost and when it will start shipping.

The original Surface Hub was an enterprise-focused device, and that’s not changing with the Surface Hub 2S. Indeed, the new device will be priced at $8,999.99 in the US and start shipping in the country in June, with additional Surface Hub markets to follow “shorlty thereafter,” the company said today.

The Surface Hub 2S’ premium pricing is somewhat justified by the much better specs found in the new digital whiteboard: there is an Intel 8th gen Core i5 processor inside with 8GB of DDR4 Ram and a 128GB SSD, but there’s also a 4K+ 50-inch multi-touch display that is 60 percent thinner than the previous version. The device itself is forty percent lighter than its predecessor, and Microsoft has teamed up with Steelcase to create a stand and wall mounts that will be sold separately.

One of the most interesting results from Microsoft’s partnership with Steelcase is the new Steelcase Roam Mobile Stand and APC Charge Mobile Battery that will transform the Surface Hub 2S into a mobile PC. The mobile battery will also be sold separately for $1,400, and it will provide up to 2 hours of battery life, according to The Verge.

If the Surface Hub 2S is an impressive hardware upgrade, the device will still run the Windows 10 Teams OS that currently ships on the original Surface Hub. This customized version of Windows 10 is optimized for team work and comes with Microsoft Teams built-in and support for universal Windows 10 apps.

Thanks to a new cartridge system that Microsoft unveiled last year, the Surface Hub 2S will be upgradable to the Surface Hub 2X next year. The cartridge will include beefier specs to unlock new software features powered by Windows Core OS, including display rotation and the ability to combine four different Surface Hub 2X displays together. According to The Verge, Microsoft is also exploring support for Win32 apps on the Surface Hub 2X.

The Surface Hub 2X cartridge isn’t the only thing that will ship next year, as Microsoft said today that it will start testing a 85-inch version of its new Surface Hub with select customers in early 2020. Interestingly, the company will also release a Surface Hub 2 display only model featuring the same 4K+ 50-inch multi-touch display found in the upcoming Surface Hub 2S, but without the compute cartridge, and this should be much more affordable for companies interested in the innovative display technology. Lastly, Microsoft will also offer enterprise customers the option to run Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise on the Surface Hub 2S instead of Windows 10 Teams, which currently doesn’t support all app scenarios.

Unfortunately, there was no livestream for today’s Surface event, but the full video should be available later today. The Surface Hub 2S will be the first new Surface device to ship in 2019, and it certainly manages to meet the high expectations we’ve come to have about Surface products in recent years. While this new Surface device will target enterprise consumers, Microsoft should have new Surface products for consumers later this year including a heavily redesigned Surface Pro tablet, and we’ve also learned about new Surface earbuds earlier this week.

Microsoft has already officially announced the Xbox One S All Digital edition (or Xbox One SAD, as it’s being dubbed), which is exactly the same as the original One S, just without a disk reader. The company is pitching this as “the most affordable way to play Xbox games,” but that isn’t stopping the whopping 40% dislikes the video has received on YouTube along with the roasting comments.

The console starts at $249 and comes with three digital games included—Forza Horizon 3, Minecraft, and Sea of Thieves. Despite the slight reduction in price, many users feel that the starting point is simply too high to be willing to commit to a single locked-down ecosystem.

Some have also mentioned their disappointment that the console is just a downgrade, holding no real advantage over the current Xbox One S that does include the disk drive.

Both commenters make compelling arguments, especially given that there are many cheaper Xbox One S bundles on other retailers such as right now. Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy are selling the systems for the same price if not less than the diskless version right now, which not only doesn’t accept physical games but also can’t read DVDs and BluRays.

Of course, Microsoft seems to be willing to help those commit to an all-digital gaming life, as Thurrott’s Brad Sams has recently pointing out that “there will be a ‘disc-to-digital’ program that, as the name states, turns your physical games into digital downloads. The idea is that you can take your disc to a participating retailer (like the Microsoft store) and trade in your disc for a digital download.”

For now, we’ll just have to wait and see how well consumers can adapt to digital-only games and movies, if they’re willing at all. Could you see yourself living inside of Microsoft’s walled ecosystem?

For anyone paying attention, Microsoft’s consolidation of its Skype development has been a messy reoccurring pitch where the company announces a  singular vision going forward, to then follow through with several different engineering solutions that overlap and Frankenstein features from one app to the next.

To their credit the Skype team has handle multiple moving parts as well as a migration of four billion total users and thankfully, the team has managed to scale their development using a small, in-house tool called Azure Cosmos DB.

Azure Cosmos DB Program Manager Parul Matah, breaks down the ins and outs of modernizing Skype’s backend infrastructure to help scale support and services for over 300 million monthly users.

Prior to 2017, PCS ran in three data centers in the United States, with data for one-third of the service’s 4 billion users represented in each data center. Each location had a large, monolithic SQL Server relational database. Having been in place for several years, those databases were beginning to show their age. Specific problems and pains included:

• Maintainability: The databases had a huge, complex, tightly coupled code base, with long stored procedures that were difficult to modify and debug. There were many interdependencies, as the database was owned by a separate team and contained data for more than just Skype, its largest user. And with user data split across three such systems in three different locations, Skype needed to maintain its own routing logic based on which user’s data it needed to retrieve or update.

• Excessive latency: With all PCS data being served from the United States, Skype clients in other geographies and the local infrastructure that supported them (such as call controllers), experienced unacceptable latency when querying or updating PCS data. For example, Skype has an internal service level agreement (SLA) of less than one second when setting up a call. However, the round-trip times for the permission check performed by a local call controller in Europe, which reads data from PCS to ensure that user A has permission to call user B, made it impossible to setup a call between two users in Europe within the required one-second period.

• Reliability and data quality: Database deadlocks were a problem—and were exacerbated because data used by PCS was shared with other systems. Data quality was also an issue, with users complaining about missing contacts, incorrect data for contacts, and so on.

As most users can attest to, there was a period of reaccuring outages with Skype not to long ago and Matah attributes many of those service failures to deadlocks produced by an aging backend infrastructure that was unable to scale to the demand of increased traffic. Depsite best efforts to add extra code to throttle database request to maintain connections and workaround deadlocks, the Skype team was ultimately pushed to change due to the recent General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The previous systems in place were non-compliant which complicated matters for the Skype team by adding a clock to their development efforts.

To make sure Skype wouldn’t run into issues similar to previous one, the team decided that owning its own data store was the only viable solution.

Skype found the perfect fit in Azure Cosmos DB, the globally distributed NoSQL database service from Microsoft. It gave Skype everything needed for its new People Core Service (PCS), including turnkey global distribution and elastic scaling of throughput and storage, making it an ideal foundation for distributed apps like Skype that require extremely low latency at global scale.

The Skype team began migrating of its backend in October 2017 and moving the records of 4 billion users interestingly enough, only took two months. With the switch came the additional benefits of

• Cross-partition transactions and the ability to integrate other services
• Separate read and write paths and data models for optimal perforce
• Custom change feed processing
• Event-driven architecture

Now Skype request are processed using Azure Cosmos DB to the tune of 15,000 reads and 6,000 writes per second and over 140 terabytes of data stored.

The Sims 4 is the latest Xbox One video game to gain support for mouse and keyboard controls. This added support comes as part of today’s free update which should now be rolling out to all Xbox One consoles.

In addition to these new control options, this update also added a host of (late) Lunar New Year content.

Here’s the release notes for the new content and control changes:

Mouse & Keyboard support is available to all console players of The Sims 4. Simply connect your mouse & keyboard of choice and away you go.
You may be wondering how to adjust the mouse sensitivity or switch to left handed play. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One handle these settings for you. Just head to the following locations on your console to make changes:

PlayStation 4 – Settings > Devices> Mouse

Xbox One – Settings > Kinect & devices > Mouse

Lunar New Year came a little late to console but now you can extend the celebrations with

• New Recipes
• Vegetable Dumplings – Requires Level 1 Cooking Skill
• Mud Carp – Requires Level 7 Cooking Skill
• New Objects: ,Shadow of the Moon Table – A six seat round dining table — perfect for family meals!, Moon-Gazing Dining Chair, Fiery Moon Gift Centerpiece, Wealth of the Moon Envelopes, Lucky Citrus Tree of the Moon, Paper Lantern of the Wiseacre Moon, Symbols of the Watery Moon, Sycee of the Prosperous Moon, Moon Panda Toy, Year of the Pig Statuette.
• New Clothing & Accessories

A variety of minor fixes and changes were also made with this update. You can read about all of these here.

Keyboard and mouse functionality was added to Xbox One consoles in late-2018 and has since been added gradually to more and more games ever since. One of the most-recent video games to gain support for mouse and keyboard was Sea of Thieves which got it during an update last month.

Do you like to use mouse and keyboard when playing Xbox One games or do you prefer the controller? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest for more Xbox gaming content.

Microsoft’s monthly Inside Xbox live show is still ongoing, and the company has just announced a batch of new backward compatible games that are now enhanced for the Xbox One X. Ninja Gaiden II is becoming backward compatible today and will run better on Xbox One X, but Microsoft is also giving the same enhanced treatment to five existing backward compatible games, including three Tom Clancy’s games and two Fable games.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double agent, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, and Fable 2 and Fable 3 are now Xbox One X enhanced. This means that these games will now run in 4K on the high-end console, and Microsoft and its team of Xbox engineers are improving the pixel count on these titles without doing changes to the game’s code. This is a great way to breathe new life into old-gen games, and the list of Xbox 360 titles enhanced for the Xbox One One X already includes several classics such as Fallout 3, Halo 3, Gears of Wars 2, or Final Fantasy XIII.

Microsoft regularly markets the Xbox One X as the best console to play games from the past, present and future, and Sony has apparently been paying attention. We got the first official details about the PlayStation 5 earlier today, and the next-gen console will be able to run all existing PlayStation 4 games thanks to its x86 architecture.

It’s official, Microsoft is launching a discless version of its Xbox One S console on May 7. The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition was previously revealed in multiple leaks, and the information we had so far was accurate: This is just a 1TB Xbox One S without the disc drive, and it comes with three games: Minecraft, Sea of Thieves, and Forza Horizon 3.

The Xbox One S All Digital Edition will be priced at $249.99, which is quite expensive considering that it’s not too difficult to find cheaper Xbox One S bundles right now. The standard Xbox One S also remains one of the cheapest 4K Blu Ray players you can find on the market today, and the disc drive also gives gamers access to the used games market.

“The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition was created for those who prefer to find and play their games digitally and are looking for the most affordable way to play Xbox games,” Microsoft said in today’s announcement. “The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is $50 USD less than Xbox One S, and we expect to maintain at least that price difference between the two consoles going forward.”

The new console is available to pre-order on the Microsoft Store starting today, and it will also be available at select retailers worldwide including Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon.com starting on May 7. Sound off in the comments if you think this discless version will resonate with consumers.

Microsoft’s Inside Xbox monthly live show will air later today at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m, and those of you who watch it on Mixer will get another free “MixPot.” This time, the digital rewards will include an Xbox avatar item from the upcoming game Rage 2, as well as the Ebon Flintlock in-game accessory for Sea of Thieves.

Claim your exclusive #SeaOfThieves and #RAGE2 MixPot content tomorrow at 2 PM PT!

Only on @WatchMixer: https://t.co/dyRlrnqsQT pic.twitter.com/8jNqjw12hZ

— Xbox (@Xbox) April 15, 2019

Today’s episode should be quite interesting as we expect Microsoft to finally announce the new Xbox One S All Digital Edition console, and the company may also unveil a new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription that combines Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold in a $15/month bundle.

There are many other things on today’s agenda including some “exciting Xbox Game Pass news,” as well as new backward compatible games to play on Xbox One. Rod Fergusson, Studio Head of The Coalition will also be here to talk about new Gears of War game, including the new Gears Pop! mobile game that is now available in closed beta on iOS (we just got our invite today!).

If you haven’t done it yet, make sure to link your Mixer account to your Microsoft account, and don’t miss today’s episode at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m on mixer.com/xbox.

When Microsoft announced that it was going to drop its development of EdgeHTML and begin work on a Chromium-based alternative, some fans and users feared that all the beneficial engineering done for Edge on Windows 10 would be lost.

Thankfully, as early developer and Insider builds are revealing, the Edge team has been able to port some of the features users have come to enjoy and rely on such as stored passwords, extensions, and Edge scrolling.

However, perfecting Edge’s scrolling dynamics on the Chromium-based browser has proven to be a bit of a task as other Chromium-based browsers do not leverage the unique Windows 10 and EdgeHMTL off-thread scrollbar engineering.

In an attempt to optimize scrolling on the Chromium-based Edge, the developers pushed out a Canary build last week that was causing some browsers to crash when attempting to scroll.

The latest Canary build (75.0.130.0) is live. A big thank you to the community for identifying an issue over the weekend that caused Canary to crash while two-fingered touch pad scrolling. While this update should fix this, please let us know if you continue to have any issues. pic.twitter.com/rVMu6sza2B

— Microsoft Edge Dev (@MSEdgeDev) April 15, 2019

Earlier this week Microsoft acknowledged and put out a fix for ‘Canary’ Insiders and developers who were reporting issues with the way the Chromium Edge browser handled scrolling with the browser often crashing when applying two-finger touchpad gestures or just after page loads.

As by the very nature of Canary software development, Microsoft’s expeditiousness on the matter is expected but the company has made it a priority to port its arguably superior scrolling technology to the new Chromium Edge browser as well as the open source project itself.

In a world of diminishing differentiators between general web browsing experiences, smoothing scrolling is something Microsoft cannot afford to leave by the wayside as it continues to build its replacement browser and industry alternative.

Microsoft has always put security as a focus in its Edge web browser. The upcoming Chromium remake is no exception to this rule, as the new browser will soon begin warning those who run it in Administrator Mode (via BleepingComputer).

While the event in which a user runs Edge in such a way sounds unlikely, it’s always possible for it to be done unintentionally. This could happen when another application in Administrator Mode opens the browser with the same privileges. If another program is launched from Edge running this mode, the app retains the same privileges, which leaves the computer vulnerable to attack if the software proves to be malicious.

The warning titled “Administrator Mode Detected” will alert users in this instance, telling him or her to “close Microsoft Edge and relaunch in non-administrator mode for best performance.” By closing the browser and reopening it without Administrator privileges, an application won’t be able to run in the same mode without the user’s prior consent.

Microsoft continues to push out refinements to its Edge Insider builds, and those wishing to give it a try can download either the Dev or Canary versions for Windows 10 to see how it fairs. The company also plans to bring its browser to older versions or Windows and macOS soon, for those who might be interested.

As E3 2019 is now less than two months away, Microsoft has just shared its plans for the event and they’re consistent with Xbox’s head Phil Spencer previous statement about “going big” this year. “From our briefing to our fan events, the Xbox Experience to the Xbox Official Gear Shop, this will be our biggest E3 presence ever,” the company said today.

First of all, Microsoft’s E3 press briefing will be on Sunday, June 9 at 1 p.m. PDT. Just like last year, Microsoft will offer free “MixPot” digital rewards to those who watch the event live on the company’s Mixer service. “During the briefing, you’ll have a chance to check out everything from trailers for unannounced titles coming in 2019 and beyond to in-depth looks at previously announced games,” the company said today. We expect to learn more about Project xCloud, Gears 5, Halo Infinite, as well as the new RPG that Forza Horizon 4 developer Playground Games is currently working on.

In addition to the E3 press conference on Sunday, there will also be an special Inside Xbox Episode on Monday, June 10 at 3 p.m. PDT. Microsoft is teasing “exclusive announcements, game demos, interviews, and more” during the show, and this should guarantee that Xbox will remain part of the conversation during the annual trade show.

E3 2019 will be open to the public from Tuesday through Thursday, and attendees will be able to enjoy The Xbox Experience at The Microsoft Theater and the Xbox Plaza at LA Live. Microsoft announced 100 gameplay stations, a “massive” Xbox Official Gear Shop, as well as a Mixer Dome for game streaming enthusiasts. Xbox FanFest will also make a come back at E3, and Microsoft will share more details during Inside Xbox later today. Tune in to the livestream at 2 p.m. PDT on Mixer if you want learn more earn another exclusive MixPot.

A new Twitter thread is making the rounds today, with investor Garry Tan (who conveniently pushes his small startup investing strategies over big companies like Microsoft), reminisces about Microsoft and their many failings over the last 20 years:

Every major battle: iPod, iPhone, iOS, iMessage, Slack, Dropbox Completely dropped the ball. Total capitulation through just mismanagement. Much infighting.

Here’s the thread (click through for all 5 tweets):

It also makes me excited to fund great engineers, designers and product people who are ready to throw their chains off. There is magic in running hard in a direction with smart people and no pointy headed bosses.

If you are ready, the water is warm.

— Garry Tan (@garrytan) April 15, 2019

While Tan’s viewpoint may be a bit self-serving, the message is clear, Microsoft’s toxic infighting allowed other companies like Apple, Google, Dropbox and Slack to move in and innovate while Microsoft floundered. At the time, Microsoft was bent on competing in the consumer space, but hampered by both having to uphold Windows and Office while also, yes, being slow to move on what turned out to be important trends like the move to mobile computing and the evolution of messaging to include co-working.

There just isn’t any question that Microsoft dropped the ball with mobile, a loss that could continue to hurt the company for years to come. CEO Satya Nadella is making a valient effort to make the company’s products cross-platform and mobile friendly, but it just isn’t the same. In other areas, Microsoft is making far more money in the enterprise space with SharePoint and Office 365 than it probably ever could competing as a pure consumer play with OneDrive and Teams, so is “losing” the consumer space while winning in the more lucrative enterprise really losing?

Microsoft to its credit did continue to build out infrastructure for Bing, Xbox, and Online Services that turned out to become Azure, turning out to be quite a big win in the same span of time that Tan calls “total capitulation.” It also pivoted from Office to Office 365, is moving Windows to a new generation with “Windows Lite” (although we’re yet to see how that plays out), and is trading at record levels with a near trillion dollar market cap, so all isn’t quite lost yet.

Did Microsoft “lose” in the consumer space? Does it matter?

A host of new avatar items based on popular properties have recently gone live within the Microsoft Store for Xbox gamers to customize their Xbox avatars with.

What’s particularly cool is that all of these new items are completely free due to them being more about brand promotion than actually earning individuals or companies a profit. Among the new items worth checking out are the Jon Snow and Daenerys costumes from Game of Thrones, a pet Viserion from the same series, a Shazam costume, a new Borderlands 3 mask, Warframe outfits and helmets, Mortal Kombat 11 cap and t-shirt, and a Sekiro t-shirt.

All of these free Xbox avatar items can be viewed and claimed here.

Microsoft completely revamped the Xbox avatar system last year. This revamp resulted in the trashing of all of the digital items for the old avatars but new items made for the new system, such as the ones mentioned above, have since begun to repopulate the online storefront.

Xbox avatars are digital representations of players which can be used on Xbox One consoles and on Windows 10 devices. While they can be used in some video games, they’re primarily used to represent gamers within the friends list on the Xbox One’s dashboard and within the Xbox apps.

Do you like to customize your Xbox avatar and will you try any of these free items? Let us know which ones in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest for more Xbox gaming content.