As you likely know, I was in attendance today at Microsoft’s Media event, running a live blog and sending in photos and videos for OnMSFT. A lot happened at this event, including the reveal of Windows 10 S, Surface Laptop, and much more. To relive the event from my eyes, you can check out a few of my favorite photos from the event below (all snapped by yours truly!)

The event was a very amazing experience for me as a Microsoft blogger, so be sure to keep it tuned to OnMSFT, as myself and my colleagues will be here to bring you the latest news.  Also fell free to check out our hands-on video with the Surface Laptop, and our quick look and overview of Windows 10 S.

Our own Arif Bacchus was in New York today, running our liveblog and capturing photos and videos from today’s announcements of Windows 10 S, Microsoft’s continued push into education, and the new Surface Laptop.

Here’s Arif with a demo of Windows 10 S, running on a Dell laptop:

Windows 10 S offers educators and others to run Windows 10 in a semi locked down state, able to only download and run apps and content from the Windows Store. This new version of Windows 10, which leaked out as “Windows 10 Cloud” some months ago, and will be shipping on the Surface Laptop, as well as being available for “upgrade” for free for anyone using Windows 10 Pro, a one-way process that will lock down educational or corporate machines to the Store.

We’ll continue our coverage of Windows 10 S, Surface Laptop, and everything Microsoft as more information becomes available, stay tuned!

At one point in today’s webcast, Surface leader Panos Panay mentioned that his presentation was running behind, and that he had to keep going. Perhaps that’s why Microsoft’s latest accessory, the Surface Arc Mouse, didn’t make it into his presentation (although there were some on stage). However, Microsoft has posted a new video on the mouse:

We’re waiting for the Surface Arc Mouse, and for the Surface Laptop for that matter, to show up in the Microsoft Store, but you should be able to get your hands on one soon.

Microsoft’s education media event today has been killing it ways announcers have shown the new system will help to innovate in the classrooms and implement new technologies into learning. One such feature that is planned to release on Windows 10 for the Fall calendar school year is the View Mixed Reality. Microsoft feels that the ability to show live scale 3D models in comparison to reality will build on educational experiences.

View Mixed Reality lets the user view 3D content and models through the device’s screen. Teased as being ‘available in a wide range of experience’, Microsoft says that this feature will be available for any classroom Windows 10 PC with an RGB camera including just using a plugged in webcam.

This is similar to the ‘Magic Window’ feature we’ve seen in the past. Originally, it was suspected we’d see this feature rolled out with the Windows 10 Creators Update (seen in the video above) but it looks like it was just a little delayed. It’s not yet known if this feature will be limited to the classroom through Windows 10 S yet or if we’ll see it publicly available for use.

Microsoft is looking to empower educators with their newly announced Windows 10 S, and it looks like they want to get it into as many teacher’s hands as possible right off the bat. During the media event today, Terry Myerson shared that it’s going to be easier for classrooms to implement Windows 10 S than any other Windows 10 version.

Partners will be offering these new Windows 10 education PCs starting at $189. Furthermore, these devices will come with a free subscription to Minecraft: Education Edition. With the Microsoft Teams collaborative software, they’ll also have access to Microsoft Office 365 for Education. If schools aren’t able to afford these cheaper new devices, any Windows Pro PCs in schools will also be offered Windows 10 S for free.

On top of all the news, Microsoft Intune for Education has also been released publicly today.

The rollout of Windows 10 S will be coming this Summer, ready to prepare for the next calendar school year.

Following the cancellation Fable Legends and closure of Lionhead Studios last year, it wasn’t clear if a true successor to Fable 3 could ever the see the light of day. A collectible card game called Fable Fortune is currently being developed by Lionhead Studios veterans, but this probably isn’t the new Fable game that fans of the beloved franchise would like to see.

Microsoft still owns the Fable IP, but the company never said what it wanted to do with it going forward. Yesterday though, Xbox head Phil Spencer answered a Fable 4 question on Twitter, explaining that the IP has “a lot of places it could go” (via Digital Trends)

Nothing to announce right now but I do think the IP has a lot of places it could go.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 30, 2017

As a reminder, the cancelled Fable Legends was a quite a departure from the original trilogy, as Microsoft designed it as a free-to-play cooperative game with crossplay between Window 10 and Xbox One. We don’t really know what Spencer could be thinking about, but his statement comes nearly a week after he said to The Guardian that single player, story-driven games like the original Fable trilogy can struggle to capture a big audience these days. “You’ll have things like Zelda or Horizon Zero Dawn that’ll come out, and they’ll do really well, but they don’t have the same impact that they used to have, because the big service-based games are capturing such a large amount of the audience,” he explained.

Fable 3 was released back in 2010, and it didn’t receive the same critical acclaim as its predecessors. The IP is still very valuable for Microsoft, but the company no longer has a dedicated studio to create a new Fable game. Moreover, AAA is now riskier than ever, and Halo 5: Guardians and Gears of War 4 (both games were not developed by their original creators, Bungie and Epic Games, respectively) didn’t exactly set the world on fire. We’ll see what happens in the future, but it could well be years before we eventually see a new Fable game, if ever.

Nearly five years ago, Windows 8 was the first version of Windows to ship with an integrated app store, a touch-optimized version of Internet Explorer and many other “modern,” lightweight native apps. Windows 8 and Windows Store apps were poorly received by consumers, but Microsoft persevered with Windows 10, which brought a much better Windows Store and a new set of UWP apps that are much more usable for keyboard and mouse users.

As of today, the Windows Store is definitely a key part of Windows 10: it now offers entertainment content, AAA games as well as UWP apps, but Microsoft is also looking inviting developers to distribute their legacy Win32 apps available in its unified storefront. And even if you don’t use the Windows Store at all, the app will still work in the background, updating Microsoft’s native UWP apps such as Outlook Mail and Calendar, the Xbox app or even the Calculator app.

However, there is one major UWP that is not updated through the Windows Store, and that’s Microsoft Edge. This seems pretty surprising considering that third-party browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome have adopted a fast release cycle, with new versions being released every six weeks or so. For many of us, the web browser is our most-used apps on our PCs, and it’s not clear how Microsoft Edge could ever catch up with its competitors if Microsoft keeps updating it once or twice per year, along with major Windows 10 updates.

However, after Edge extensions finally became available to download through the Windows Store last year, and it seems that Microsoft could finally make Edge a true Windows Store app this year. According to a new report from Neowin, the change could occur with the upcoming Redstone 3 update later this Fall:

According to internal sources, that’s all going to change in September, when the next feature update to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone 3, is released. Users will finally be able to get updates to the Edge browser via the Windows Store, which will allow Microsoft to add new features more frequently.

If this does happen, this could definitely help Microsoft Edge to improve faster than it does currently. This move would also be consistent with the upcoming release of Windows 10 Cloud, which won’t support Google Chrome or Firefox out of the box. Microsoft really needs to improve its Edge browser if it wants Windows 10 Cloud to be able to compete with Chromebooks, which ship with the very popular Chrome browser.

Do you think it makes sense for Microsoft to make Edge a true Windows Store app, and would you use it more if it was updated with new features more frequently? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

As noted by well-known Microsoft leaker, WalkingCat, Microsoft’s Story Labs is going cartoonish to explain AI in the first of what is a new series of “Explanimators.” The first story explains what is AI, how it works, and why it is only popular now.

Seen in the video above, the “explanimator” features an animated character (who is still using a Windows Phone!!) talking to Cortana. He begins by explaining what is the meaning of life, and then questions how we are supposed to “shine on” when we’re so busy trying to get stuff done.

Cortana takes over, explaining that AI can help by giving reminders and updates and that people are already using AI for all kinds of things across all kinds of devices. There is also talk of how AI is the result of a combination of advances in data, algorithms computing power, and machine learning. The video then ends with a discussion and examples of how AI can change the landscape of transit, healthcare, and business.

More “explanimators” can definitely be on the way, so if you’re interested, be sure to bookmark this web page and keep your eyes peeled for more from Microsoft. And, as always, be sure to drop us a comment below to let us know if you’ve found the latest videos helpful in our quest for understanding AI.

Microsoft tomorrow will be holding a media event in New York City focused on “learning what’s next.” From the unveil of Windows 10 Cloud to “Cloudbook” devices, plenty could happen at this education-focused event. We will be there live, and here’s a look at what we expect.

Windows 10 Cloud:

It is widely believed that this event will focus on Windows 10 Cloud, a version of Windows 10 which is locked to running apps only from the Windows Store. Since Microsoft is tagging the event with “#MicrosoftEDU” we might as well hear about how Windows 10 Cloud can be used in education scenarios, and more specifically about how it can be used on laptops in the classroom, instead of Google’s Chromebooks.

Secondly, since rumors also show that Windows 10 Cloud could be updated to Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Home, we also might hear more about the upgrade path or just about how students and IT professionals can unlock the full potential and experience of the OS.

Leaked versions of Windows 10 Cloud have surfaced in the last few months, and our own Cody Carson went hands-on with the leaked OS.

Win32 Apps in the Windows Store:

Next up, since Windows 10 Cloud is locked to running apps from the Windows Store, we might hear more about future plans for the Windows Store. We could hear more about Project Centennial apps in the Windows Store, which are Win32 apps that are released to the Store with Microsoft’s Desktop app converter. As we noted previously, the Office apps made a brief appearance in Windows Store as “Soup” and “Sandwich,” so after several months of rumors, Microsoft could likely use this event as a chance to take the wraps off the Project Centennial desktop ported versions of these Office apps.

A Surface Cloudbook?

Spec sheets for a “Cloudbook” leaked a few days ago, so this event could also likely feature a series of new devices which run Windows 10 Cloud. While earlier rumors showed Microsoft may have a new Surface device (possibly Surface 4?) for this event, the spec sheets do not make it clear if the “Cloudbook” devices will carry the Surface branding. It’s still not clear if the Cloudbook devices will be built by Microsoft OEMs, or Microsoft itself.

The leaked spec sheet does show that minimum recommend specs for Windows 10 Cloud are rather low, including a quad-core Celeron processor, 4GB or RAM and 32GB of storage (fast eMMC or SSD.) Also shown is how Microsoft is specifically targeting Chromebooks, highlighting differences in battery life, cold boot to login screen, and first sign in.

As we noted before, rumors show that Microsoft is not expected to discuss the Surface Book 2 at this event, since the focus is still on selling the Surface Book and Surface Book with Performance Base. While a bit wild (unless it is really in line with this education theme), word from Mary Joe Foley’s sources at ZDNet also show that a Surface launch could happen at the event, but the device might be more “evolutionary than revolutionary” with just Kaby Lake chips and no USB C or new power ports.

Lastly, despite what the crazy spreading rumor says about the Windows 10 Mobile version of Samsung Galaxy S8, it’s unlikely that Microsoft will discuss plans for Windows Phone (or Surface Phone) at an event which is supposedly mainly focused on Windows 10 Cloud and education.

With Build 2017 and E3 2017 just around the corner, times will be very busy at the Redmond giant. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and keep your eyes peeled for our live blog from the May 2nd event, as we will be providing you with all the Microsoft news and information.

Microsoft (MSFT) news recap is a weekly feature highlighting the top Microsoft news stories of the past week. Sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy the read!

Microsoft’s Q3 earnings show steady Office gains, sharp drop in Surface revenue

Microsoft has released its Q3 earnings and it hasn’t painted such a rosy picture of its Surface revenue. In fact, its Surface line suffered a 26% drop in revenue. Gaming, Office and search ad revenue all saw increases.

Microsoft backpedals to revert Azure AD login changes, vows to do better

Microsoft’s Azure team have acted to revert changes they made to the Azure AD login page, as what was dubbed a “sudden change” confused employers and employees.

Microsoft Rewards is now live in Australia

Microsoft has launched its rewards program, Microsoft Rewards, in Australia, marking another territory it is now available in.A

Kaspersky won’t sue Microsoft for anti-trust, for now anyway

After David Kaspersky of security company Kaspersky once wanted to sue Microsoft for anti-trust, he’s now said that Microsoft has made a few changes and are listening to them, so they won’t sue – at least, for now, that is.

Microsoft continues to break stock price records as NASDAQ soars

Despite seeing a 26% drop in Surface revenue for Q3, it seems Microsoft’s stock price has still continued to reach highs, as it hit the 6,000 mark for the first time.

That’s all the top Microsoft news for this week – we’ll be back next week with more!

In an email sent out to users of LinkedIn, Microsoft is announcing a slew of changes and improvements to LinkedIn. With these changes, the company will be adjusting its Privacy Policy and User Agreement to clarify certain clauses and add additional sections.

The first two of the changes affects users’ profiles. LinkedIn profiles will now be visible to ‘service partners’, in addition to them already being indexed by search engines. Service partners will be able to find profiles more easily to deliver opportunities (such as job vacancies) to you. Additionally, LinkedIn will begin offering suggestions to add accomplishments to your profile (such as patents or publications). These suggestions will be generated through publicly available information, both on-and-off of LinkedIn.

The final of the two updates delivers two new features for users, aimed at making LinkedIn that little bit more social. Automated systems (dubbed bots) will use messages you send through the service to suggest responses to messages for you, meetings and ice breakers, so that you type less, but say more.

Finally, Microsoft is adding a ‘meet up’ feature to LinkedIn, which is similar to Facebook’s version, where users will be able to opt-in to the meet up service so you can see when people in your network are nearby and offer to meet up. LinkedIn hopes this will be used at conferences or public gatherings to meet those you’ve made a connection with.

The Privacy Policy and User Agreement will be updated on June 7, 2017. It is not clear whether these features will go live at the same time or shortly after, as the policy changes pave the way for Microsoft being legally permitted to launch them.

Let us know what you think to these changes in the comments below!

Ever so often Insiders are given a glimpse behind the curtain that’s behind the curtain of Windows 10. Yes, being a part of the Insider program, grants participants access to new and upcoming features to Windows as well as information about delays, bugs, and retractions ahead of major releases to the public.

However, there are times when Insiders are given access to the people who are behind the updates, fixes and community news that goes on in the Insider program. The first instances came around the refocus on the Insider Feedback hub and now the team is offering more info about the the program and the people behind it, with today’s release of preview build 16184 for PC and Mobile.

Alongside today’s build release, Insiders are greeted with a community update that walks through how the Insider team works and a brief introduction and overview of a handful of players and their roles.

Windows and Devices Group – thousands of people who build Windows, our apps, devices and services. Within WDG are a group of people called.
Community Champs + FlightOps – Engineers throughout WDG who live and breathe customer data/feedback – these are all the lovely humans who help make flight/no flight decisions based on data and feedback from Windows Insiders. Each person is responsible for a specific area from Core UX to deployment and are the main evangelists for customer feedback for their area. Within this group are a bunch of folks you all probably know well.
Windows Insider Team – a scrappy group of six who represent the Windows Insiders both internally and externally. Here we are below left to right with our Twitter handles. Please get in touch with us if you want to know about the things we’re working on!

As for the players specific to Window, most Insiders already have a clue of Dona Sarkar and what her responsibilities are but we’re also introduced to:

Blair Glennon (@jbglennon) – Baseball loving Blair leads the Windows Insider Program for Business sub-program and owns Insider Insights. He is the one who partners with our AMAZING data science team to understand the happiness and health of our overall community. Through both quant and qual data (cluster/trend analysis, surveys, side convos at meet-ups), he helps us determine what we need to do to better co-create Windows and the Insider program with you all.
Jason Howard (@northfacehiker) – #TeriyakiTuesday-loving Beam Master Jason leads social sentiment from Insiders to communicate to the overall WDG org. He also spends a ton of his time helping Insiders get unblocked on build issues and rolling up lists of top issues to the product teams. He is also the creator and owner of the monthly Insider Beam webcasts.

Tyler Ahn (@skrelnick) – Chihuahua-mom Tyler leads the Global fan programs and the Insider MVP Program. She is partnering with Brandon on the website spec and launch and thinking about how to create Insider-in-a-box so you can run Insider programs within your own organizations! She has over a decade of experience doing business development in emerging markets and has the superpower of taking an activity and figuring out how to scale it globally eg CAT-in-a-box, forums, etc. She has been an INVALUABLE asset for our team as we think about building products and services to empower EVERY person and organization on the planet to do the thing.

Brandon LeBlanc (@brandonleblanc) – Bat’leth wielding Brandon owns the main communication to Insiders. He works with the Community Champs to make sure the features and bugs are represented in our communication. Brandon is working on the Insider all-up social media strategy as well as content creation for our shiny new website.

Jeremiah Marble (@jeremiahmarble) – Global negroni hunter Jeremiah is the architect of the Windows Insider Program. He drives projects for our core audiences and projects, deciding where and how to grow our community. This year, he’s focusing heavily on global entrepreneurs and creatives. He also leads our “Co-Creating with Sub-communities” initiative, which will launch its first pilots in June. As a third area, he’s looking at ways to better connect Insiders seeking to help others. Jeremiah was a founding member of the Windows Insider Program and our current “village elder”.

On top of the “get to know us blog post” the Insider team also hosted a Visiting the Twitter handles of Jeremiah, Brandon, Tyler, Jason and Blair should help Insider put a face on the countless hours of engineering, coding, testing, flighting and releases some people are often flippant in demanding. looks like Dona and her team want to bring the Insider community even closer.

Microsoft announced today that it has hired Julie Brill, former Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as the new head of the company’s Privacy and Regulatory Affairs Group. Brill will join the company as a CVP and deputy general counsel for Privacy and Regulatory Affairs.

The new exec will report directly to Microsoft’s President and Chief Legal Office Brad Smith, who shared that Brill’s expertise on privacy, cybersecurity law an policy will be key to push the Microsoft Cloud forward:

“Cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence have the potential to drive profound and positive change across society, but they raise new issues and responsibilities as well. Julie’s deep expertise in privacy, keen intellect and strong international relationships will enable our customers to use the Microsoft Cloud knowing that we will help meet their global technology regulatory needs.”

Brill was appointed to the FTC by former US President Barack Obama back in 2010, where she worked for six years on solutions to improve transparency, consumer protection and anti-trust. She left the FTC last year to join the global law firm Hogan Lovells, where she co-led the company’s Global Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group.

“I’ve been deeply impressed by Microsoft’s commitment to privacy, their willingness to stand up for customers and their focus on offering constructive solutions to new challenges,” said Brill. “I’ve always tried to do the same throughout my career in government. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to contribute in a new and particularly meaningful way,” she added.  The privacy expert will start her new privacy leadership role at Microsoft this summer.

At Microsoft’s Digital difference event, several Microsoft customers, partners, and groups showcased how they are leveraging Microsoft technologies in their businesses to drive the digital transformation. One of these customers is Intermountain Healthcare (Intermountain), a not-for-profit health system based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with 22 hospitals, a broad range of clinics and services, about 1,400 employed primary care and secondary care physicians. I had a chance to talk to Intermountain Healthcare Medical Director for TeleCritical Care, Dr. Bill Beninati, and discuss how the healthcare company is using virtual healthcare solutions powered by Skype for Business.

To begin, Dr. Bill Beninati demonstrated Intermountain virtual healthcare solution, which since introduced has helped the non-profit health system see a nearly 40% decrease in mortality rates in their Critical Care Telehealth program. With the click of a button, the doctor was able to show me how he could connect to a patient room and initiate a call. When the call is initiated, the doctor is able to use a high-quality camera (installed in the patient’s room) and pan back to see the whole room, or even focus in on the gradations on the finest syringes, and examine the patient’s pupils.

On the patient side of things, the patient is able to see the doctor largely filling the screen and a little picture in picture of what the doctor is looking at in the room. The doctor, meanwhile, has a six monitor workstation so he can see where he is looking. While Intermountain is also approaching 1,000 endpoints with the system installed, there are also mobile carts will allow doctors to get into areas where the system is not yet installed. He offered me his thoughts on how this improves healthcare.

“We’re improving the access to care of probably 15% of the population in our service area who lives a long distance away from advanced medical care…. We can give those 15 percent much of the same access that people have who live close to advanced healthcare… We’re transforming care to access, and safety, and at the same time we’re transforming care by reducing cost.”

When asked about how this virtual healthcare solution leverages the power of Skype for Business, Dr. Bill Beninati described it as “simple, intuitive, user-friendly and highly reliable.” Patients, meanwhile, have very good acceptance of the technology, with the doctor telling me that “the level of acceptance and trust in using this tool has been very high.”  With this so, I asked the doctor about how this technology empowers him, and how it can be used to cure cancer and other diseases.

“It empowers me to reach patients far earlier in the course of their illness than I otherwise could. What I tell my team that we’re trying to do is to engage critical illness injury when and where it occurs. This empowers my team to get early on so we can turn off [health] problems so they don’t turn into big things.”

“Right now our cancer folks will be increasingly using this to provide highly personalized and advanced cancer care to people in remote areas… I wouldn’t say it’s transforming cancer care, as much as it taking the same kind of cancer care, and make sure sure the high quality care is accessible more broadly.”

This talk with Dr. Bill Beninati and the virtual healthcare solution, are proof that modern technology has the power to connect people all over the world, save time on commutes, and help us collaborate. You can learn more about Intermountain Healthcare by visiting their website, and you can learn more about TeleHealth at Intermountain by checking here.

Prey, the much-anticipated reboot of the 2006 sci-fi shooter now has a free demo on the Xbox One. The game has been developed by Arkane Studios, the French game developer behind the critically-acclaimed stealth action-adventure games Dishonored and Dishonored 2. Prey is expected to be much different though, as you’ll play a scientist being hunted by aliens on a moon-orbiting space station.

Here is the official description:

You are Morgan Yu, lead scientist aboard Talos I, working on a scientific breakthrough meant to alter humanity forever. What starts off as an exciting first day of work very quickly takes a dark turn. You find yourself alone on board Talos I, a lavish but abandoned interstellar research facility. Aliens have overrun the station and are hunting down any surviving crew members, including you.

The demo is a 13.1 GB download and you can get it from the download link below. The $59.99 game will be released on May 5, and you can already pre-order it on the Xbox Store.

Get the Prey demo on Xbox One

Microsoft’s Skype UWP app finally dropped its “Preview” tag earlier this month, but the app is still not as full-featured as the legacy desktop app. Fortunately, Microsoft is releasing frequent updates and the latest version 11.15.570.0 which is now rolling out to Fast Ring Insiders bring some useful new features.

First of all, the app now lets you share your PC’s audio when you share your desktop screen with your contacts, which is a nice addition. Additionally, you can now open images right within the Skype UWP app (the app previously used the Windows 10 Photos app to do this). Lastly, sharing your feedback about the app is now easier than ever thanks to the new Feedback button in the left navigation bar.

Here is the full changelog:

• Share your PC’s audio when you share your desktop. Watch videos and listen to music together!
• See your images withoug having to leave the app. Tap on an image in a conversation and try this out.
• We love hearing from you. Now you can send us feedback directly from the left navigation bar.

The app has also been updated to version 11.14.675.0 on the Production ring today, but there is no changelog. However, it’s worth noting that the Live Tile finally displays your Skype messages, just like the Windows 10 Messaging app does. This is especially nice to have on Windows 10 Mobile, considering that the legacy Silverlight app used to have a functioning Live Tile right from the start.

Now, we would really like to see the app being integrated with the Windows 10 Share menu: if you use the Skype UWP app as your default messaging app, not being able to easily share pictures or urls is really inconvenient, to say the least. Let us know in the comments what other features you would like to see being added in the Skype UWP app.

An update to the Groove Music app has begun to rollout that introduces some aspects of the Project NEON design sensibility as well as some extra features.

Project NEON is the codename for a new visual style that Microsoft has begun introducing to their First-Party Windows 10 apps that mainly uses more of a flat, glass design with more transparency and more fluid motion between app changes.

The new features added with this update include music videos, the ability to add 10 songs to a playlist at once, and a new Follow function for listening to new music as it’s added to featured playlists.

Have you got the new Groove Music app yet? Let us know what you think about the changes in the comments below.

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