Microsoft is bringing back the ID@Xbox Game Fest this month, with cool discounts on some of the best indie games every week. During the first week of May, the puzzle-platformer game I, Hope is 20% off ($7.99).

For those unfamiliar, this indie game has been developed in partnership with hospitals and child researchers to have a poignant impact on the lives of children fighting cancer, and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Game Changer Charity, a non-profit organization that leverages technology to ease the pain and suffering of children facing life-threatening illnesses.

Titles featured in the first week of ID@Xbox Game Fest also include Firewatch (75% off), Night in the Woods (30% off), Mulaka (10% off), Tacoma (25% off) and the critically-acclaimed platforming game Celeste (20% off). We invite you to check the Game Fest page on Xbox.com  to see what’s new every week through May 28.

Yesterday, Twitter made their new Progressive Web App (PWA) for Windows 10 official by announcing they would no longer support the old UWP app come June 1. This marks an important step, especially since the social media giant said they are making a “long overdue” commitment to Windows with the new PWA.

In perspective, this hints at the failure of the old Twitter UWP and shows that PWA is to be taken seriously going forward. It also is important because Twitter is specifically leading the release of the app and not just Microsoft, as has been the case with some UWPs in the past.

“This release represents a renewed commitment to Windows that has been long overdue and is part of a longer-term strategy to reach greater feature parity to all of our platforms. We wanted to make sure the app represented a modern Twitter experience while taking advantage of unique Windows features,” explained Twitter in a blog post.

Microsoft published a separate blog post on the news, where it was detailed that only users running the Windows 10 April 2018 or Windows 10 Fall Creators Update would get the new PWA Twitter app, which requires Edge support for PWA features like Service Workers. This obviously shows that PWAs are the new deal, and will be first-class citizens in Windows 10 moving forward.

Starting tomorrow, May 3, and lasting until May 6, 2018, Just Cause 3 is free to play all weekend on Xbox One. As noted in a Reddit post, Just Cause 3 is a great sandbox game, albeit with some noticeable framerate issues. All games in the Just Cause series were great, with game maps that dwarfed those that appeared in any installment of Grand Theft Auto.

Just Cause 3 continues the story of Rico Rodriguez who is tasked with taking out yet another ruthless dictator on a fictional Mediterranean island. Just Cause 3 features an a vast open-world environment were you can use your infinite grapple and parachute to scale buildings, hijack vehicles (land and air), and use your grappling hook to tether things together to create maximum “Chaos.” Almost everything in the game is destructible.

Just Cause 3 features several DLC packs, including special weapons, vehicles, and more. Just Cause 3 also has online features, including a co-op mode and other multiplayer modes. As always any progress you have in the game this weekend, will carry over if you buy the full game after this weekend. Just Cause 3 is a great game to try for free, or buy for just $29.99.

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Just Cause 3

Developer:
Square Enix

Price:
$19.99

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is receiving its 13th patch for Xbox One consoles today and it boasts several graphical and gameplay optimizations that should please players who had been critical of its admittedly less-than-perfect state (it is in Game Preview after all).

Here’s the official list of fixes that have been made.

• The free-fall and parachuting process has been optimized, leading to performance improvements during the initial stages of each game.
• World loading has been optimized. “Play-doh” and interior prop pop-in effects have been improved.
• Movement data for nearby but out-of-sight players is now handled in a more efficient manner, resulting in general performance improvements.
• Similarly, when nearby but out-of-sight players equip or unequip items, this process is handled in a more efficient manner. This helps with performance and crashes throughout the game.
• The inventory has been optimized, improving response time when opening it and solving some crashing issues.
• Uninhabited boats and vehicles were causing some performance issues, and we’ve resolved this issue.

PUBG is one of the biggest games on the Xbox One right now and, just last week, it was announced that the title’s very first official global esports tournament would be happening later this year.

Are you a fan of PUBG and have you been playing on your Xbox One console? Let us know if you’re happy with its current state in the comments below and make sure to like us on Facebook for more PUBG news.

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PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS

Developer:
KRAFTON, Inc.

Price:
Free

Starting tomorrow, on May 3rd, the video game For Honor will be free to play through the weekend until May 6th.

On Microsoft’s family of Xbox One consoles, the game will unlock at 1am PDT on May 3rd. Access will close at 12am PDT on May 7th. Like most free play campaigns, the full video game will be unlocked and players will be able to gain Xbox Achievements and save their progress for any future play sessions.

As an extra bonus, For Honor is also going to be heavily discounted on the Xbox One from May 3rd through to May 15th with a 67% cut off its regular price. A special trailer promoting the free weekend has launched which you can view below.

For Honor is a major Ubisoft video game that pits warriors from different cultures against each other. Have you played For Honor yet on your Xbox One? Let us know if you’d recommend it in the comments below and make sure to like us on Facebook for more Xbox video game news.

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FOR HONOR – Standard Edition

Developer:
Ubisoft

Price:
Free

Just a day after the public rollout of the new Twitter Progressive Web App (PWA), Twitter’s Charlie Croom published a blog post where he enthused the many benefits of the PWA platform and promised that new features, like night mode, will be coming in the very near future.

“This release represents a renewed commitment to Windows that has been long overdue and is part of a longer-term strategy to reach greater feature parity to all of our platforms,” Croom said of the importance of this new app. “We wanted to make sure the app represented a modern Twitter experience, while taking advantage of unique Windows features, like support for Windows native APIs such as share integration, pinned tiles, jump links, and more. We want to continue providing our Microsoft users with the latest and greatest, and will be adding additional features like night mode, in the coming weeks and months.”

The previous Twitter app for Windows 10 devices was functional but had been heavily neglected by its developers and had fallen way behind its iOS and Android counterparts when it came to features and functionality. One of the benefits of the PWA format is that it allows updates to be pushed out to apps faster and more frequently and also allows for developers to distribute the same app across multiple devices, thus hopefully saving on manpower and expenses.

Have you tried the new PWA Twitter app yet? Let us know what features you’d like to see added soon in the comments below and make sure to follow us on Twitter for more app news.

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Twitter

Developer:
Twitter Inc.

Price:
Free

Xbox’s Major Nelson today announced that Saints Row 2 has arrived in the Xbox One Backward Compatibility catalog. The title joins the other Saints Row games which already were backward compatible with Xbox One— both Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row IV, added in 2017 and 2016.

Saints Row 2 is coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today https://t.co/qPMRNs2ZLo pic.twitter.com/S69cdryFFS

— Larry Hryb ????????☁ (@majornelson) May 1, 2018

Saints Row 2 is an open-world action adventure game and it was originally released back in November of 2009. The game is set in the fictional city of Stilwater and challenges you with the task of helping the 3rd Streets take back their city. If you already own a physical copy of this game, all you need to do is put the disc into your Xbox and enjoy. If you own a digital copy of the game, meanwhile, it should appear in “Ready to Install” section in the Games and Apps section of the Xbox One dashboard.

If you’ve never owned the game before you can download it by clicking here. It might be a great way to boost your gamerscore and get you ahead of your friends, especially since Xbox’s Gamerscore Leaderboard now takes Xbox 360 and Backward Compatible achievements into account.

Just yesterday, Microsoft unleashed the Windows 10 April 2018 update to PCs across the world. The update comes with many new features, one of which is support for Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). Windows Insiders have had the privilege of these apps for a while now, and today, Microsoft is choosing to promote the Twitter PWA. It is now available for everyone running the Windows 10 April 2018 or Windows 10 Fall Creators Update to download from the Microsoft Store.

The new PWA will replace previous Twitter UWP desktop and mobile apps, which will be phased out “over the coming weeks.” This means that those not yet running the Windows 10 April 2018 or Windows 10 Fall Creators Update should consider updating their OS, (or visit Twitter on the Web instead), as Twitter will no longer support previous versions of the app starting on June 1st.

The Twitter PWA comes as a major improvement over the previous UWP app on Windows 10. It supports all the features that are present on Twitter on the web, including the ability to type out Tweets of up to 280 characters, explore trending topics, bookmark tweets, and view polls and videos. There are also Windows 10 specific features too, such as pinning the app to the taskbar, getting push notifications in the Action Center, and sharing content with other Windows apps.

You can check it out by visiting the link below, and keep in mind that new features (like a dark mode) will be coming to the Twitter PWA at a quicker pace since the app is built on a common web code and is not platform specific. Once you’ve downloaded, do feel free to let us know your experience by dropping us a comment in the section below.

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QR-Code

Twitter

Developer:
Twitter Inc.

Price:
Free

Update: We’ve updated the headline and this article to clarify that Twitter will no longer support old versions of the app come June 1st.

April has come and gone, and it is now time to look back at the new features introduced in Microsoft 365. First, Office 365 picks up new creativity features, AI enhancements, new features in Outlook for iOS, and new security features. Here’s a look at what you need to know.

Creativity

Microsoft added Ink analysis to PowerPoint, enhancing shape and text recognition to give users more ways to be creative when inking on their slides. Users can also leverage this feature to convert their handwritten words to text, and sketch out an entire slide, making things flow much more easily.

Also falling under the same category is inking in Microsoft Word. Users can now add handwritten text to a document, and interact with content using a pen. Examples include splitting paragraphs, inserting words into sentences, and joining separated words.

AI inspired features comes to Word for Mac

In April, Microsoft delivered AI capabilities to Word for Mac. MacOS users can now translate sections of text and documents in over 60 languages in order to understand sentence context. They also can enjoy the Resume Assistant, which is powered by LinkedIn.

Office 2019 Preview and Mobile Editing for more users

Also in April, Microsoft announced the availability of the first Office 2019 previews for commercial customers. This is the first preview, coming first for the Windows apps, including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, Project, and Visio.

There will be more previews soon for Office 2019 on MacOS, and previews of Exchange 2019, SharePoint 2019, and other servers. Microsoft is also promising that more Microsoft 365 subscribers (Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 F1, and Office 365 E1 subscribers) will soon get access to the full versions of the Office mobile apps.

New features for Outlook on iOS, and Outlook Calendar on Windows 10

For Outlook on iOS, Microsoft made it easier for you to continue drafting your emails that were started on other devices. The name of this feature is “Draft Sync” and it makes it easier for you to pick up where you left off, almost instantaneously by just navigating to the conversation in your Inbox. Other new features for Outlook on iOS include a new organization view, which uses AI to show pictures of user profiles and positions of a user inside a company.

Lastly, there is the new features for Calendar in Outlook for Windows. You can now protect your company’s privacy since Microsoft introduced the option for meeting organizers to prevent forwarding calendar invitations to recipients that weren’t on the original invite list.

Microsoft 365 gets more secure and makes IT simpler

Finally, here are the new Microsoft 365 features for April. Microsoft says it has added Intelligent security for the modern workplace, and also made IT simpler for Microsoft 365 users. Have a read below for more on these features.

• We also announced the addition of advanced security features in Microsoft 365 Business to further protect small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from cyberthreats and safeguard sensitive information from unintentional data leaks.
• We announced several new technologies and programs that build on our unique intelligence capabilities to make it easier for enterprises to secure their assets from the cloud to the edge. These new features help organizations simulate phishing attacks, automate threat detection and response, quickly assess their security posture.
• We announced a range of new capabilities coming to Microsoft 365 to help organizations minimize total cost of ownership while enhancing user experience. These new capabilities include improvements to cloud-based device management, solutions like Kiosk Browser in Windows 10.
• We unveiled new resources and tools to help organizations meet compliance obligations like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• We announced the general availability of Multi-Geo Capabilities in Office 365, a new feature that helps multinational organizations address their global data-residency requirements.

Microsoft definitely improved on Office 365 and Microsoft 365 last month, and we’re hoping for more of the same in May. The subscription-based services continue to offer big value for the buck, especially since they are constantly getting new features. Are you a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscriber? If so, which of these features are your favorite? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

For all the Xbox achievements hunters out there, we have some good news for you. Starting today, all achievements unlocked on Xbox 360 games, including backward compatible games played on the Xbox One, will now be taken into account in the Gamerscore Leaderboard. Previously, the monthly ranking only counted Achievements unlocked on Xbox One games or Xbox Live-enabled games on Windows 10 and other platforms.

Starting today, Gamerscore earned from Xbox 360 and Backward Compatible achievements will now count towards the monthly Gamerscore leaderboard pic.twitter.com/D6yS81gYIf

— Larry Hryb ????????☁ (@majornelson) May 1, 2018

Xbox’s gamerscore leaderboard is a pretty great gamification feature, and you can check it from your profile on Xbox One, Xbox.com as well as the Xbox apps for Windows 10, iOS and Android. Integrating achievements from Xbox 360 games to the monthly gamerscore leaderboards may encourage more players to play backward compatible games. Moreover, this also contributes to making these old games look like they are natively integrated into the Xbox One experience.

Are you an Achievements hunter, and if so are you pleased that all Xbox 360 achievements will now be taken into account on the Gamerscore leaderboard? Sound off in the comments below.

The Microsoft Launcher experience is always evolving on Android, and new releases are frequently tested first with users who have opted into the Beta version of the launcher. In the latest version 4.9 beta, Microsoft is enhancing the overall user experience and introducing ways to make the launcher more customizable.

The full changelog is shared on the Google Play Store, but you can also have a look below for more on what is new:

• Improved Home screen import logic
• Sort your apps alphabetically in folders
• Display names of apps or folders in your dock
• Customizable gesture for pressing the Home button from the Home screen
• New gesture option that lets you quickly lock your Home screen

Prior updates for Microsoft Launcher Beta have improved Cortana integration, fixed notification bugs and added custom daily backgrounds. You can expect today’s update to roll out to general users soon, but you can also enroll in the Beta and get this update by heading to the bottom of the Google Play Store listing for Microsoft Launcher on your Android device.

Microsoft announced yesterday several new features coming to Outlook across Windows, Mac, web, and mobile platforms. Not all Mail and Calendar features will roll out to all platforms at the same time, and we’ll just highlight the most important additions below.

First of all, Outlook.com can now help you pay your bills on time with bill pay reminders. That’s right, the web app can now identify bills in your mail and automatically create calendar events on the due date.

Outlook for Windows has also been updated to suggest event locations when you create a meeting, and the suggestions will use recently used and available conference rooms as well as Bing. During the process, You’ll also see a new option to allow or prevent the forwarding of your calendar invitation.

Among other highlights, Outlook for Windows now lets you see the tracked responses and RSVPs for all your meetings. The Windows app also supports up to three time zones, which you can add under File > Options > Calendar Time Zones. Multiple time zones are also supported on the Mac and Outlook on the Web.

There are a lot of new features coming to Outlook for iOS and Android as well. On iOS, the Outlook app can now show you organization directory details, helping you see who your contacts report to (this feature only works with Azure AD accounts). You may also have noticed the new Quick Reply feature, which added a reply box at the bottom of your email conversations. As for the Outlook app for Android, an upcoming update will add an integration with Office Lens later this month. When writing an email, you’ll be able to tap the new photo icon and quickly scan a whiteboard, document, or photo.

In June, the Outlook apps for iOS and Android will also get a new “Favorite people” feature, letting users keep select contacts front and center across mobile and the web. You can learn more about all the new features coming to Outlook in May and June on Microsoft’s blog post.

With yesterday’s release of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, SteamVR on Windows Mixed Reality has finally come out of early access. This follows several months of beta testing (and a period of 24 beta updates) in which the entire experience, overall performance, and stability evolved based on the feedback from early users.

The news means that there are now over 422 games in the Steam Store that officially declare support for Windows Mixed Reality. More SteamVR games also now support the Windows Mixed Reality controller haptic feedback function, and will also show virtual versions of the motion controllers inside games.

Valve also said in the message that it still has some work to do to make SteamVR a better experience for Windows Mixed Reality users, and there are plans to add in more customizable input options, and the ability to launch StteamVR from the Cliff House:

It’s important to clarify that today’s announcement doesn’t change anything about our ongoing commitment to our SteamVR experience and our community. We will continue to release regular updates with new fixes and features, and you will still find us here in the discussion forums. We aren’t going anywhere. In particular, we’ve heard the community’s requests for more customizable input and the ability to launch from the Cliff House. We’re investigating solutions and look forward to sharing more details soon!

Windows Mixed Reality is still a very young platform, but it’s nice to see that Valve remains committed to supporting it with SteamVR games. It will be exciting to see where things can go from here on out.

Microsoft today announced they have taken OneDrive security to a new level for consumers by integrating Windows Defender into OneDrive Files Restore. This new feature is designed to further protect users from ransomware attacks by directly identifying breaches and prompting for a restore of files to a previous state via OneDrive.com.

You must have an Office 365 Home, or Office 365 personal account to try this out, and a OneDrive restore alert should automatically appear once Windows Defender removes the ransomware. The feature is actually rolling out today to Windows Insiders and will be coming to all users running the Windows 10 April 2018 update in a few weeks.

This is definitely interesting, hinting that Microsoft knows ransomware is a problem for both consumers and businesses alike. It also proves that the cloud is the place to be since cybercriminals can’t easily get to your cloud backups. Learn more about the security features included in Office 365 Home and Personal by checking here.

Microsoft leaker Walking Cat has just linked to the ISO and EXE files for the Windows 10 build 17134.12 SDK. Microsoft has yet to announce the release of this build, but it lines up perfectly with last week’s release of the latest consumer-facing Windows Insider build 17134.5, which Microsoft usually recommends for use with SDKs.

https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/990987516672004096

3:51 PM ET Update: Microsoft has officially announced the SDK for the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. Our original article still stands below.

As always, these files are meant to be used by developers for building Windows 10 Apps. The Windows SDK for Windows 10 contains headers, libraries, and tools needed to create apps that run on Windows. We last saw an official SDK release one month ago, with Build 17125, so this might as well be the final Redstone 4 SDK, just in time for the official release of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

If you so happen to be a Windows 10 developer eager to get on the latest build, these links will be for you. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft will announce this SDK soon, especially since the company has already been working to add new API updates and additions with each build.

Microsoft today announced a new series of security features for the Microsoft 365 Business lineup. The new security features aim to protect small businesses of up to 300 employees from cyber threats and also help them safeguard their sensitive information.

First among the new security features are advanced protections from phishing and ransomware attacks. Microsoft says that Microsoft 365 Business now includes sophisticated scanning of attachments and AI-powered analysis to detect and discard dangerous messages. Also new are automatic checks of links in emails and device protection, which will prevent devices from interacting with ransomware and other web locations.

There are also new ways for Microsoft 365 Business subscribers to protect information such as social security numbers, and banking account details. According to Microsoft, subscribers can now enjoy data loss prevention policies to identify, monitor, and protect sensitive information such as social security and credit card numbers. Also included are information protection in Outlook, email archiving and preservation policies, and the ability to enforce BitLocker device encryption on all Windows devices.

These features are especially important, as Microsoft finds that 71% of small businesses think they are vulnerable to a cyber attack. You can learn more about these new features here, and sign up for a free workshop at the Microsoft Store.

Windows Server version 1803, the next release in Microsoft’s Semi-Annual Channel, will be generally available for Software Assurance customers on May 7, the company announced late last week. This comes just after the release of the preview build 17650 for the server OS last week.

#WinServ, version 1803 will be GA on May 7th. Check out what’s in the release & more information about the Semi-Annual Channel: https://t.co/LJO97SemO1

— Windows Server (@windowsserver) April 27, 2018

New releases in the Semi-Annual Channel usually focus Containerized applications, container hosts, and application scenarios benefiting from faster innovation, and Windows Server version 1803 will introduce a couple of new features including Curl.exe, Tar.exe, and SSH support, Container networking enhancements, and more. You can get more details about the new features in the in the Insiders space in the Windows Server Tech Community.

You can try Windows Server version 1803 right now through the Windows Insider Program, or wait for the bits to be available on the VLSC portal on May 7. If you’re more interested in new Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) and Software-Defined Datacenter (SDDC) features, you’ll have to wait for Windows Server 2019, the next release in the Long-Term Servicing channel to be released in the second half of calendar year 2018. This version is also available for testing through the Insider Program.

Xbox One Insiders signed-up to the Alpha ring were expecting a new build on Saturday. Due to an issue, this build got delayed, and was then expected to be released late on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the Xbox team are continuing to see issues with this build that is causing Microsoft to hold the roll out of the build. As a result, Brad Rossetti of the Xbox Preview Program team, has announced that the build is now expected to release next week, on Wednesday.

Xbox One Insiders – No new 1805 build for Alpha users today given some issues. The team is working hard to release a new one ideally Wed with new features and lots of fixes.

— Brad Rossetti (@WorkWombatman) April 29, 2018

The good news is that, should the build release on Wednesday, it will be bringing new features, as well as “lots of fixes”. What these new features will be included in the build are unknown at the moment.