In a new blog post on the Windows Blog, Microsoft’s Partner Group Program Manager for Windows Maps team has outlined some of the updates that have come to both the Windows Maps app on Windows 10 devices, but also the system that underpins Windows Maps for developers across the large array of Windows 10 devices available.

Some of the key updates that are most noticeable include:

• Ink on aerial mode – make any view of maps your own by adding rich annotations with Windows Ink. Planning an off-road hike, calculating the distance, and marking a mid-way spot for lunch becomes easier when you can personalize and write on your map, just like you would with a pen.
• Create your own collections – from all the places you want to hit on a trip, to frequent places you go with your kids, to spelling out a proposal through a collection of coffee shops, creating and organizing collections can both help you stay organized and let you express yourself
• Contribute to improve the map data – if you have a correction for a restaurant’s open hours or know a road is missing, you can tell us and help get things improved for yourself and the community
• New capabilities for Developers, such as styling API that will allow developers to customize the look and feel of the map canvas on the fly.

One change in particular that caught the attention of Windows 10 Mobile fans, but also the greater Windows 10 userbase, is the changes that have been taking place around the underlying map data. As some may know, the map data is derived from Microsoft’s own Bing Maps, but also parts of HERE. As time has progressed, more of Bing Maps’ data has been used, particularly after HERE pulled support for Windows phones. Resulting from this, the road view on maps has been adjusted, allowing labels to either lie flat or stand up depending on what makes it most readable at the time.

Searches on maps now follow you across Windows 10 devices, be it phone, PC, Xbox, HoloLens or IoT, making it a seamless transition to find directions on your PC, but then swap to your phone when you’re about to set off. More importantly, as part of the Creators Update, the Maps app is available on Xbox One – now you can find your way around right from the comfort of your favourite gaming console.

If you’re needing to make multiple stops on a single trip – now you can. The Maps team added the ability to set multiple stops along your journey, so the directions continue, but ensure you reach each stop you need to get to along the way.

And there’s many, many more improvements that have come along. You can read the full details on the Windows Blog.

With Build 2017 just around the corner, times are clearly busy at Microsoft. Indeed, the company has just pushed out several new stock Windows 10 app updates for fast ring Windows Insiders. These updates to Windows Calculator, Windows Camera, Voice Recorder, and Paint 3D all introduce the Project NEON design language to the Windows 10 experience.

The latest round of updates introduces translucent and blur looks to all of the apps.  Specifically, with the Paint 3D app, there is now a transparent effect on both the app title bar and in the app menu, allowing you to see through behind the app. The menu in Paint 3D itself also sees an update, making it much more simple to navigate and save projects.

Similarly, with the camera, there is now a see-through effect on the title bar and the blank space above where the live image is seen. And, with the voice recorder, the area with the list of recordings and the title bar is now is transparent, rather than the flat black color that currently is seen in the standard non-insider version of Windows 10.

Lastly, with the calculator, some of the non-number buttons are now transparent, as well as the app title bar.

Specific app version numbers can be seen below.

• Windows Calculator: Version 10.1705.1221.0
• Windows Camera: Version 2017.308.90
• Windows Voice Recorder: 10.1705.1221.0
• Paint 3D: Version 2.1704.26037.0

These updates all come as Microsoft recently updated both the Photos and People app with a similar transparent look. This is all a part of Project NEON, which is the upcoming overhauled design language for Redstone 3 in Windows 10.  Have you updated your apps yet? Let us know your thoughts below.

Chris Bishop, director of Microsoft Research Cambridge, is one of the 50 distinguished scientists that have just been elected to Britain’s Royal Society, Microsoft announced today. A recognized expert in artificial intelligence and machine learning, Bishop joined the European arm of Microsoft’s research organization in 1997 and was later promoted as lab director in 2015.

“I am totally delighted. It’s a pinnacle of my career,” said Bishop, adding that his election “reflects the emergence of machine learning as the most transformational technology in computing.” The scientist already won multiple awards and honours over the past 10 years, and he’s also an elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Bishop worked on worked on various machine learning use cases including healthcare and signal processing, and he has already been working with the Royal Society on public engagement activities. “I look forward to continuing and extending this involvement,” Bishop said today. You can learn more about his background and recent work on Microsoft’s official blog.

Microsoft Research won one of the 14 awards at the eighth annual GeekWire Awards in Seattle yesterday. Project Catapult, a longtime research initiative on field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), received the “Innovation of the year” award during the ceremony held at the Museum of Pop Culture.

Last year at its Ignite conference in Atlanta, Microsoft discussed how it was using the programmable chips in its data centers to improve its cloud computing platform Azure and other online services. At the time, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that FPGAs were “no longer just research” and an “essential priority” for the company. As of today, the programmable chips are being used in Microsoft servers in 15 countries on five different continents.

When accepting the award, Andrew Putnam, principal research hardware design engineer at Microsoft Research explained that Project Catapult started as a very small project. “We kept it around UW and kept it local,”he said. “Now, we are changing the world. I hope you guys can use our AI and cloud platform for your next innovations,” he added.

Image credit: GeekWire

It’s been quite some time since Microsoft gave us an update on the global Windows 10 userbase. Back in September, the company said that Windows 10 was now running on 400 million devices, but Microsoft’s CVP of Windows of Devices Group Yusuf Medhi just shared a more accurate metric in a recent interview with Bloomberg (via MSPoweruser).

“Windows 10 has been doing great. It’s been many months sine we reported we had over 400 million monthly active users. 300 million+ use it every day for 3 and a half hours. It’s the fastest adoption in corporation we’ve ever seen, and we’re seeing great deployment on that. We couldn’t be more thrilled with the progress on Windows.”

In the same interview, the exec also discusses Microsoft’s Surface hardware and shared that “you might expect to see an update to Surface Pro 4 coming soon.” This seems pretty much in line with the May 23 event in Shanghai that Microsoft announced a couple of hours ago.

Microsoft initially expected Windows 10 to reach 1 billion users within 2-3 years of launch, but the company has since backtracked on this initial forecast. As PC sales have been slowing down over the past couple of years, the Redmond giant is now looking closely at the education market, where Google’s Chromebooks have become increasingly popular. With the education-focused Windows 10 S, Microsoft finally has a response to the Chromebook threat and we’ll see if cheap Windows 10 S PCs can contribute to the growth of the Windows 10 userbase in the near future.

Project Neon, the new design language that Microsoft is expected to introduce with the Redstone 3 update is already starting to pop up in several Windows 10 native apps. The redesigned apps are rolling out first to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring, and the Windows 10 People app is the last one to be updated with the addition of nice blurring and transparency effects.

The new version 10.2.1211 seems to be only available for select Fast Ring Insiders for now, so don’t worry if you didn’t receive it yet. Here is how the new translucent design looks in another picture sent by a tipster:

Other Windows 10 native apps such as Photos, Groove Music, Movies & TV received a similar fresh coat of paint over the past few weeks, and the desktop OS is slowly but surely starting to look better than ever. If you also received this latest version of the People app, let us know in the comments what do you think of the new design.

Thanks for the tip, Leo!

Late today Microsoft took to Twitter to announce that they will be having another “#MicrosoftEvent” on May 23rd in Shanghai, China. At the moment Microsoft is urging fans to “stay tuned” so it’s still not officially clear what is expected to occur at this event. The news comes right after the company held an education-focused event in New York on May 2nd, and right as the company’s annual Build developer conference is set to kick off next week in Seattle.

We’re having another #MicrosoftEvent. May 23 in Shanghai. Stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/gcJcaz1SsI

— Microsoft (@Microsoft) May 5, 2017

Microsoft has already put up an event page so fans of the company and the media can follow any announcements, but it currently just leaves one very vague and promising message.

On May 23 in Shanghai, Microsoft will show the world what’s next. Check this site for updates and more information.

Windows Central, nonetheless, has confirmed that new hardware news will be shared at this event, and that Panos Panay, Corporate Vice President of Devices will also be in attendance. They have also confirmed that there will be “global and regional” news.

The Shanghai location is still very strange, given that New York City is usually the company’s city of choice for announcements and media events relating to Surface and Windows.  We will be following this story closely, and things will surely develop in the days ahead, so be sure to keep it tuned in for more information.

Today, Microsoft is celebrating the fourth of May with a special Star Wars Day sale, featuring discounts on Star Wars movies, games, and more in the Windows Store. Depending on your preference, Microsoft has more than enough Star Wars movies and other content available at your fingertips.

If you are just starting out, you can buy the Star Wars Digital Six Film Collection, now on sale for $74.99, saving 17% off. You can also choose to build your custom Star Wars collection, film-by-film, with the first 6 films on sale for 30% off, at $13.99 each. Start with Star Wars: A New Hope and finish with the last film in the series, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

The Windows Store has the two latest Star Wars installments, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And, if you want to listen to the music of the Star Wars films, you can purchase Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($7.99) to listen to everything from start to finish, all music in this score was created by the famous composer, John Williams.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($7.99) is the first official score of the newest Star Wars installment, composed by Michael Giacchino, available for $7.99 in the Windows Store. Star Wars Headspace is also available for $6.99 and features artists including, Kaskade and Flying Lotus, who create original songs using Star Wars sound effects. The Star Wars Trilogy soundtrack is available for $9.99 if you want to hear The Imperial March.

If movies and music aren’t for you, there are Star Wars-themed games available in the Windows Store. Pinball FX2 Windows 10 Edition is a free-to-play title that has a Star Wars two-table pack available for just $2.99. Angry Birds Star Wars is also available in the Windows Store for $3.49, where you can fling birds from the Rebel Alliance against the Empire’s Pigtroopers.

Not every title that join the Xbox Backward Compatible list is a AAA game worthy of announcing. Once in a while, some will slip through undetected, managing a spot on the ever growing list of Xbox 360 classics. Today, Major Nelson’s list of Backward Compatible games for Xbox One had five titles marked as new. Here’s a little bit about each.

Band of Bugs

Play as your Avatar and fight against bugs, spiders, even up to seven of your friends in Spider Hunter mode. Band of Bugs is a fast playing, accessible, tactics strategy game that puts YOU in the game! Gameplay is deep enough for established fans of the tactics genre, but friendly enough to appeal to casual gamers as well.

Bullet Soul

A brand-new recipe for the shooting genre which rewards survival through aggressive play. Blending classic shooting game design with a solid dash of modern day bullet hell, this soul food dish has it all! Destroy enemies at close quarters to build your multiplier, and see their bullets rendered harmless. Scour the stages for secret bonuses to push your score to even greater heights. (via Steam)

Bullet Soul -Infinite Burst-

The Games on Demand version supports English. Bullet Soul -Infinite Burst- is Japanese Shooter. Please enjoy new Bullet Soul!

Hard Corps: Uprising

Thrilling retro run-and-gun action is back with a vengeance in Hard Corps: Uprising, a new 2D side-scroller developed by ARC System Works that pays homage to classic Konami action series. Play as the soldier Bahamut as he begins to write his legend. Battle in the grueling trenches of Arcade mode, where only the best-of-the-best can survive to the end, or the all-new Rising mode, where a life bar and point system allow you to purchase items and upgrades to build your soldier up and achieve ultimate victory.

Harms Way

Harms Way is a fast paced, action packed race where both drivers and snipers need to team up to win the race. As the sniper, you need to blow-up the competition. As a driver you need to finish 3 laps first.

Are you looking forward to playing one of these titles? Let us know which one or if you’re waiting for a game to join the ranks, which titles you would like to see.

Yesterday at Smart Cities NYC ’17, Microsoft announced Smart Cities for All involvement. At day two of the event today, Microsoft is highlighting how The City of New York is embracing innovative technology and tech-based initiatives powered by Microsoft to make the city smarter, safer, more inclusive and more efficient.

Overall, the City of New York is using Microsoft technology to improve city services, create more personal care, and train tomorrow’s tech professionals and Leaders.  As one example, the city is exploring how Microsoft Translator technology and Surface devices can handle many translation needs at little to no cost. In another instance, Microsoft’s 18-week technical training Tech Jobs Academy program helps unemployed and underemployed New Yorkers gain the skills needed for in-demand tech jobs.  You can find some highlights below.

• The New York City Department of Education’s Office of Student Support Services (OSSS) “Illumination Program” is architecting some key innovations that leverage the Microsoft cloud, data warehousing and analytics, and artificial intelligence.
• The New York City Department of Education’s Office of Pupil Transportation, which transports more than 600,000 students each day—the largest school transportation department in the U.S.—recently rolled out a pilot Global Positioning System (GPS) bus monitoring system on 500 school buses to increase efficiency, enhance safety for students, and better address parent and family inquiries and requests. The system is built on Azure and uses Power BI to capture and illustrate real-time information on locations, traffic conditions, students, drivers
• Microsoft partner DataKind is working with Microsoft to analyze traffic collision data in New York, Seattle and other Vision Zero Cities, all with the goal to reduce traffic-related deaths and serious injuries to zero.
• Hackensack University Medical Center was among the first to use Skype for Business to connect parents with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), providing a simple, secure and cost-effective way for families to bond when they cannot be together physically.
• New York’s Microsoft Reactor is dedicated to fostering an ongoing engagement and dialogue between Microsoft and the local developer and startup community.

You can learn more, and check out videos describing these initiatives by visiting this website.

This week I was live in my hometown of New York City to cover Microsoft’s May 2nd education focused event. While I was previously invited to cover other Microsoft events, including last week’s Digital Difference event, the October 2016 Microsoft event and November 2016’s Microsoft Teams event, this time I carried around a different set of devices with me on the road. So, if you’re curious as to what this Microsoft blogger uses, now is your chance to find out!

Surface Pro 4:

Unlike the prior Microsoft events from last year (Teams and October event,) this time my device of choice was my new Surface Pro 4 instead of my older Lenovo laptop. To keep things short and sweet, I’ve done a comparison of my experiences between last year (laptop) and this year (Surface Pro 4) for you! It’s also worth noting that I recently purchased my Surface Pro 4, and didn’t have it last year during my coverage of other Microsoft events.

• For one, my laptop was too heavy. For this week’s event, with my Surface Pro 4, I could pack everything I needed into one bag without worrying about carrying around extra weight. I was also able to save space in my bag thanks to the Surface Pro 4’s compact 2 in 1 design, not having to worry about lugging around a large bag through the NYC subway system in my journey to the event.
• Secondly, my laptop did not have a rear facing webcam. Last year, this proved to be a problem for me, as I had to snap pictures with my DSLR camera and then manually upload back to my colleagues at OnMSFT so we could get posts up using my content. With this week’s event, and with my Surface Pro 4, I was able to raise the device up, and snap quick pictures and post them up to our live blog, bringing quality content.
• Lastly, my laptop was very large and took up too space on the table at the event. Last year, I found myself putting my essentials on the floor or in my bag instead of my desk. This year, with the Surface Pro 4, I was able to put everything I needed on my desk, including my SD Card, my camera lenses, a beverage, my phone, and my chargers. Surface Pro 4 has a very small footprint compared to my laptop, and it’s amazing.

Lumia 950 XL:

While I hate to admit this in such a fashion, my main daily driver is an Android phone, more specifically, a Nexus 6P. Like some other Microsoft reporters, I recently made the switch from Windows 10 Mobile to Android, but unfortunately, I had a very upsetting experience with my Android phone after last week’s Digital Difference event. As a result, for the May 2nd event I carried around my Lumia 950 XL instead, using it to snap quick pictures and videos and to record longer featured videos for OnMSFT’s Youtube channel.

So here is the story. Last week at the Digital Difference event, I snapped some wonderful photos and videos using my Nexus 6P, and sadly, I lost all of my work when I came home to offload photos via a USB connection to my computer. I’m still not quite sure why this happened, but when I plugged my Android into my Surface to copy photos, my Surface froze up and bombarded me with popups telling me that the pictures folder on my Android phone is not available. I may or may not have caused this to happen (since I was multitasking and also copying photos from my SD card,) but when I rebooted and plugged my phone back in, all my photos were gone and nothing copied to my Surface. I guess this is what happens when you take an Android phone to a Microsoft event.

On the bright side of things, thanks to my Google Photos backups, I was indeed able to recover most of my photos and videos, but the best quality stuff (and large video files) were all gone. From this experience, I figured that it would be smarter to carry my Lumia 950 XL for the Microsoft May 2nd event. With my Lumia as a side phone, I captured some good videos, including a hands-on with the Surface Laptop, and an overview of Windows 10 S.

At the end of the day, the Lumia 950 XL took higher quality videos and also netted some high-quality audio, AND, everything transferred safely to my Surface via USB cable. While I was frustrated with the photos experience on my Android phone, I still used my it to keep in touch with my team using the (much more polished) Android version of the Microsoft Teams app. Since many of my friends use WhatsApp, Snapchat and other apps (which are not either available or not as polished on Windows Phone,) I still used my Android device to personally share event photos to my family and friends, but my Lumia was used for all business.

24LiveBlog:

At previous Microsoft events, I did not live blog, and instead opted for short posts and social media bursts using the photos I captured with my DSLR camera. While I experimented with this last week for the Digital Difference event, I again choose the live blogging platform 24LiveBlog to embed a live blog right here on OnMSFT.com. Like I described above, thanks to the power of the Surface Pro 4 camera, and this live blogging platform, I was able to drop in quick snapshots from the event’s keynote, giving readers a more personal feel.

We’re always looking for feedback from our readers, so we would love to hear your thoughts on our recent live blog. How do you want us to improve the experience? Did you know that you could comment by clicking “comment” and signing in with your social media account? Let us know your thoughts in our comments section below.

Accessories:

Since the Surface Pro 4 carries only 1 USB port, I also carried a variety of accessories (along with my extra camera lenses) to help me get business done in a fast and efficient matter. First up is a USB 3.0 to Gigabit Network Adapter. I choose this accessory because it’s always best to use a hardwired ethernet connection at Microsoft press events and get the most out of internet speeds to upload content back to my team at OnMSFT. And, the accessory also carries two USB 3.0 ports, which means I have extra room for my other peripherals.

Next up is this Transcend USB 3.0 reader. This reader is particularly useful because I am able to pull out my SD card from my camera and plug is right into my Surface to quickly upload photos to my team at OnMSFT. Without the reader, I would be forced to upload via USB, which is a much slower process.

So, there you have it. I carried my Surface Pro 4, My Lumia 950 XL, used 24LiveBlog, and a few accessories to Microsoft’s May 2nd event. The Surface Pro 4 and my accessories made for a great live blogging experience, and my Lumia 950 XL helped me capture some great photos and videos to share with our readers. I’m looking forward to the next Microsoft event, and will always do my best and carry the best devices to bring the best quality material from Microsoft events. Thanks for reading, and be sure to drop us a comment before with your thoughts!

The free-to-play video game, Paladin, is now available on the Xbox One console and can be downloaded from the Store right now. The game features a blend of technology and fantasy and uses an art style not dissimilar to the popular Overwatch. Here’s the official description:

Enter a fantasy world of ancient technology in Paladins, a team-based shooter with strategy elements and deep character customization. Through a unique collectible card system, players can amplify and augment a character’s core set of abilities to play exactly how they want to play.

Download Paladin on Xbox One

Have you tried Paladin yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Is it worth playing?

Microsoft’s video game streaming service, Beam, has just launched a new feature being referred to as Interactive 2.0. This update essentially allows for more interaction between stream viewers and the game (and streamer) they’re watching while also enabling more functionality for game developers to program into their titles.

Here’s the full list of new features available today:

Per-User Control Events – See who pushed a button enabling more engaging more personal interactivity.

Dynamic Controls – Create new buttons and interactive elements on the fly from your game without needing to visit the Interactive Studio (Platform & Typescript SDK)

Malleable Controls – Change the text, spark cost and cooldown controls on the fly to spice up the gameplay during a session.

Spark Transactions – Confirm actions, before deducting sparks. (Platform & Typescript SDK)

Groups – Group your players into Teams or collections to provide different controls to different sets of users.

Snazzy new control editor renamed to our Interactive Studio.

A set of tools and processes to support you in authoring next generation interactive experience.

Everything from initial creation to publishing is carefully crafted and delivered to help you in making the best possible Interactive experience.

JSON Based Protocol – A human readable format that is easy to debug.

And here are the planned features that are coming soon:

Universal Windows Platform build for C++ and Unity

Spark transaction management for Unity and C++

Xbox build for Unity

Win32 build for C++

Server side aggregations

Dynamic control generation from Client for Unity and C++

iOS and Android Support in Unity

Beam is Microsoft’s solution to the incredibly popular Twitch video game streaming service and while the company only purchased it last year, they’ve already injected quite a bit of support behind it by integrating it into Windows 10 and the Xbox One operating system. It’s unclear of Microsoft will be able to bring it up to Twitch’s level of popularity but Beam already seems to have carved out a bit of a niche for itself among gamers.

Have you tried Beam yet? How would you improve it? Let us know in the comments below.

This week, the Windows Store is slashing off deals of the recent survival horror title Resident Evil VII: Biohazard for Xbox One. The deal cuts the Standard Edition down to $38.99 and the Deluxe Edition to $67.49. While the Season Pass still remains at $29.99 with three new game modes of content, the Deluxe version comes with it in tow.

The acclaimed horror adventure is set in Louisiana swamps where the main protagonist Ethan Winters is searching for clues to his wife’s whereabouts. The gruesome mystery that ensues leads him through deadly interactions, uncovering the truth behind the derelict estate and its residents.

Along with the Standard and Deluxe versions of the game being on sale, a bundle including the last movie of its film franchise is also on sale for over $30 off.

Capcom’s Resident Evil VII: Biohazard was released on January 24, and has been rewarded by fans of the franchise with praise. Some even consider it the ‘rebirth’ of Resident Evil after its lower quality predecessors. If you’re one of the hesitant, now might be the time to try it out while it’s on sale.

Microsoft today announced Smart Cities for All involvement during Smart Cities NYC ’17, a first of its kind conference which explores the merging of technology and urban life. Microsoft’s announcement comes as the world is undergoing an urban renaissance, where more people are moving to cities to build their lives.

With Smart Cities for All, resources developed by Microsoft partners, Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict) and World ENABLED, help cities becoming inclusive and smarter. Tools are provided to city leaders, to help them to align technology initiatives and smart cities programs, including the following.

• ICT accessibility standards that city governments can readily adopt
• Model procurement policy for accessible ICT
• Communication guide on the advantages of incorporating ICT accessibility into a city’s digital services
• Database (alpha) of accessible smart city solutions

Microsoft is also helping city leaders deepen their innovation and deliver faster, smarter, and safer government operating through the cloud. Examples include.

• The City of Los Angeles is using Microsoft cloud technology to power an A.I. virtual assistant – “Chip” – the city’s new digital ambassador, responding to citizen & business requests 24/7.
• The New York City Department of Education is using a GPS bus monitoring system built on Microsoft Azure and Power BI to manage vehicle maintenance, provide improved student location services, and ensure greater safety for students.

It is because of these commitments that the IDC recently identified Microsoft as the number one trusted vendor for US Smart City Transformation.

The Keynote for the event, led by Toni Townes Whitley, CVP of Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector and Industry, also discussed how business and government leaders can embrace the cloud to create new experiences in the digital economy through digital leadership. You can learn more about this initiative visiting www.smartcities4all.org.

In the shadow of its previous world colliding efforts between rival platforms Xbox and Playstation, Rocket League is once again crossing boundaries to bring two seemingly disparate audiences together with its newly announced sponsorship of the next WWE pay-per-view.

With a brief Twitter announcement, Rocket League has let its fans and the fans of WWE superstar wrestler’s know, it will be part of the exclusive live PPV event Backlash on May 21 on the WWE network.

What a play! We're teaming up with @WWE, and #WWEBacklash is just the beginning! #SDLive https://t.co/CUjZrCh673

— Rocket League (@RocketLeague) May 3, 2017

The WWE cosigned on the excitement by tweeting its own promotional video showcasing Rocket Leagues involvement. With a few weeks to go, it’s still unclear the level of involvement Rocket League will have during the broadcast, but fans of the wildly popular Windows 10, Xbox One and PS4 game should expect some reasonable tie-ins into the gaming franchise somehow.

Fans of the two franchises are still trying to make heads or tails of the announcement, but the overall sense is that it’s something could ultimately work for the WWE and Rocket League considering their fan bases more than cross the venn diagram of engagement.

After yesterday’s unveiling of Windows 10 S, a new Surface Laptop, updates coming to Microsoft Teams as well as evolved Office apps on the horizon, it seems the company is looking to keep its momentum and focus in the education sector going by also announcing STEM Saturday’s during the month of May.

Aligned with the company’s vision of inclusive, immersive learning, as shared at the Microsoft Education event in NYC and via Windows Blog , Microsoft Store today announced STEM Saturdays throughout the month of May in all full line locations in addition to the range of free programs Microsoft Store hosts year-round that empower youth by providing direct access to technology and hands-on learning. The free workshop series gives participants a hands-on experience building a sensor that measures the flexion and extension of a finger to learn about the anatomy of a human hand. Anyone can attend STEM Saturdays at their local Microsoft Store starting on May 6 and every Saturday this month.

With Windows 10 Creators Update and the new Windows 10 S coming to more devices this spring and summer, this new STEM Saturday’s are sure to be packed full of useful lessons, tidbits, and hands-ons such as,

• How to build a flex sensor that lets them control a robotic finger with their own finger.
• How to use a Surface and Excel to visualize the flexion and extension of their finger. 
• Basic skills typically used by mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and data scientists. 

The best part of the monthly event is that these STEM classes are completely free unless you walk out of the stores with new PCs, IoT devices, or Xbox games due to your level of enjoyment in the class.

It was clear when Microsoft announced Windows 10 S last night that this version of the Windows 10 operating system was going to be slightly more restrictive than the full version and today many are finding out just how restrictive it might be.

Spotted by The Verge, an official FAQ for Windows 10 S reveals that while other web browsers can be used if downloaded from the Windows Store (only Windows Store apps are allowed on Windows 10 S machines), it will be impossible to change the default file settings. In short, opening an htm file will always open Edge. Due to Microsoft’s efforts to make Edge an all-in-one app for reading pdfs and ebooks as well, it’s possible this could also affect other file types as well. It should theoretically be possible to open these files from within other open apps however. Maybe.

Something a bit more drastic is the decision to make Bing the default search engine for Edge and Internet Explore. What’s more is that it appears Microsoft will prevent users from changing this setting. A simple workaround for this problem would be to simply navigate to Google.com or the webpage of another search engine and simply search from there but when it comes to native searches in the browsers’ search/address bar, Windows 10 S users appear to be out of luck. Here’s the official wording:

Do these decisions frustrate you or are they not that big of a deal? Let us know in the comments below.

An update for the Windows 10 Twitter app has begun to rollout to Windows 10 PCs and tablets and Windows 10 Mobile smartphones.

This latest update incorporates Twitter’s new policy of not counting usernames in the 140 character count and now removes @replies completely, instead using a new “Replying to” label above reply tweets. Another big change with this update is the separation of replies and regular tweets on profile pages. Before now, profiles on the Windows 10 app would list all of a user’s tweets on one long timeline. Now only the regular tweets are visible and all of the replies have been sorted into a new screen next to the existing Media and Likes sorting options.

Other changes with this update include improvements to images and video in Moments and the support for multiple timelines on the Live events page. Users can also create a new tab by holding Ctrl and clicking anywhere within the app on PC.

Do you like these changes or do you miss the traditional Twitter @replies? Let us know in the comments.

A new bundle containing the remastered editions of both Darksiders video games has just been announced for Xbox One. Called the Darksiders: Fury’s Collection: War and Death, the bundle is a good opportunity to get both Darksiders and Darksiders II at a cheaper than usual price. Also, for a limited time this bundle is selling with a 50% discount which adds even more value. Here’s the official description:

In celebration of the announcement of Darksiders III, Darksiders: Fury’s Collection – War and Death presents Darksiders Warmastered Edition and Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition in one package at one great value. The perfect compilation for longtime fans of the franchise and players new to Darksiders, players will take on the role of War – the first, most powerful and most eratic Horseman of the Apocalypse and Death, the most feared and legendary of the Horsemen.

Darksiders Warmastered – War’s Redemption: Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end of the world, War – the first Horseman of the Apocalypse – stands accused of breaking the sacred law by inciting a war between Heaven and Hell. In the slaughter that ensued, the demonic forces defeated the heavenly hosts and laid claim to the Earth.

Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition- Death’s Revenge: Become the terrifying force which everything fears but nothing can escape. Awakened by the End of Days, Death, the most feared of the legendary Four Horsemen embarks on a quest to redeem his brother’s name. Along the way, the Horseman discovers that an ancient grudge may threaten all of Creation. Death lives!

Buy Darksiders: Fury’s Collection: War and Death on Xbox One

Both games have had their graphics and gameplay improved for these versions with the titles themselves being highly regarded among Xbox gamers.

Are you going to buy this bundle or do you already own the first two Darksiders games? Let us know in the comments below.

While Microsoft’s Xbox One does support a good number of languages, there are still several that have remained absent such as Arabic. A user on Twitter recently asked Microsoft’s Mike Ybarra if the tech giant had plans to add the language and Ybarra pretty much confirmed that it was coming sometime in the future and that they’re working on it right now.

We’re working on it. https://t.co/JJPv3B96zk

— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) May 3, 2017

“We’re working on it,” his tweet said. Short and to the point and 100% confirmation that at least one new language is on its way to the Xbox One. Arabic is actually one of the top five most-spoken languages in the modern world which makes its late arrival on the Xbox One a bit of a surprise.

Have you been waiting for a specific language to be added to the Xbox One console? Let us know which one it is in the comments below.