The launch of Windows 10 wasn’t as star studded in the public eye as Windows 95, which featured commercials with cast members of Friends and the Rolling Stone’s “Start Me Up,” but privately it looks like Microsoft was celebrating with some big names.

GeekWire is reporting on numerous Twitter and Instagram posts from a lucky few who got to enjoy a Microsoft sponsored concert featuring Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to celebrate the shipping of Windows 10. With the hashtag of #Windows10shipparty, the social media posts show that the concert took place yesterday afternoon and according to one Instagram user there was “unlimited beer.”

The folks in Redmond definitely have much to celebrate as after years of hard work to finish Windows 10 during a tumultuous time of layoffs and reorganization, their latest operating system is rolling out worldwide and hitting very high marks right off the bat for upgrades installed.

But the work is just beginning as Windows is now moving to a Software as a Service model (also known in Redmond as Windows as a Service) which will feature continual ongoing support and upgrades on a more frequent basis. And with features still expected such as extension support for Microsoft Edge and a reported new messaging app, there are significant Windows 10 updates just around the corner.

Windows 10 is a great operating system, but it’s far from being bug-free. The operating system is still incomplete and Microsoft aims to fix many issues via Windows Update in the coming weeks. Some users have been experiencing problems with both the Windows Store and certain apps such as Mail. The issues prevent some users from being able to sign into the store or specific apps.

If you’re one of those users experiencing these issues, fret not as Microsoft is aware of the issue and are working on a fix for it. The folks at Windows Central managed to get in touch with Microsoft, and were notified that they are working on a fix which will roll out via Windows Update in the next 48 hours.

There’s no word on why users are experiencing these issues, but it’s good to see the company is trying to fix them as soon as possible. We’ll update you as soon as the update starts rolling out.

Microsoft’s pitch for Windows 10 is ‘familiarity’. Microsoft believes that consumers who have used older versions of Windows will appreciate the return of desktop refinements in Windows 10. For Windows 8 users, Windows 10 re-imagines mobile friendliness first introduced by Metro/Modern design. Whichever story users choose to rally behind, Microsoft is using various avenues to inform Windows users of all the new and old that Windows 10 has to offer.
A few weeks ago, Microsoft launched a YouTube series of videos that walked users through 10 upcoming features in Windows 10, alongside a television campaign highlighting Cortana, Windows Hello, and Microsoft Edge. We’ve also recently stumbled across an interactive web demo of Windows 10 for Windows users who have yet to upgrade, but are curious about Windows 10.
The demo includes interactive Q&A’s, video walkthroughs, as well as device-specific layouts and information. Users can scroll through options such as:

• Meet Cortana
• Get Apps
• Personalize my PC
• Manage my Photos
• Find my way with maps
• Stay Organized
• Browse the Web (With Edge)

The web demo is a comprehensive overview of what users can expect from Windows 10 on PCs, tablets, and phones. Combining this latest web demo with the YouTube series and recent television commercials, Microsoft is arguably doing a better job of introducing Windows 10 than it did Windows 8. To many, Windows 8’s biggest shortcoming was the lack of instructions that accompanied the release. Perhaps Microsoft’s telemetry relied a bit too much on a mobile learning curve that didn’t extend to PC users. Whatever the cause, the Windows 8 adoption appeared to be partially marred by users who were merely confused about features, details, and usability.
Whether or not Microsoft succeeds in telling a complete and coherent ‘familiarity’ story is still up in the air. It has been two weeks since the wider public has been allowed to fiddle with the latest retooling of Windows. Early numbers issued by Microsoft have been positive and the greater accessibility of information and tutorials such as these, should aid in users familiarity with Windows 10.

With Windows 10 now in the hands of more users, developer related news is beginning to resurface. During Build 2015 this year, Microsoft spent a considerable amount of time going over the benefits of Windows 10 to developers. At the time, Microsoft was shackled by release dates and internal development timeframes, and many of the features discussed at its developers conference had to be shelved for a later discussion.

Over the past couple of weeks, a lot of those discussions are finally happening. Windows ports for Android, the web and iOS apps are finally becoming a thing, and in today’s news, developers looking to leverage Windows 10 for IoT can finally do so. Microsoft announced today, the public release of Window 10 IoT Core for Raspberry Pi2 and the MinnowBoard Max.

In late April of this year, Microsoft went into detail about the Windows 10 IoT Core, explaining that it was developed to target small embedded devices that typically do not have screens or GUI information. Specifically, Windows 10 IoT Core lacks the Windows shell experience, but instead, allows developers to write Universal Windows apps that become the interface for the particular device. Microsoft also highlighted the cores flexibility as it is als designed to work with Visual Studios as well as a plethora of open source languages.

Since April, Microsoft has added a few things to the public preview that released at Build. Among the added features and improvements are:

• Improved support for Python and Node.js, including a new Express Node.js project template•GPIO performance on the Raspberry Pi 2 has improved by 8X to 10X
• Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and pulse-width modulation (PWM) are now supported via breakout boards and ICs
• New Universal Windows Platform (UWP) APIs give apps easy control over system management features like time zone and network connections

Developers interested in fully utilizing their access to the broad swath of Windows 10 enabled devices should visit the Windows IoT Dev Center. Once a developer is at the Dev Center, they are then free choose their target board, acquire tools and follow a few basic walkthroughs before they are up and running. To receive the tools and target boards, developers will need to have it on a machine running the latest build of Windows 10 (build 10240) and Visual Studios 2015.
 

Microsoft is rumored to be working on six new Lumia devices which also includes some high-end Windows 10 Mobile handsets codenamed Cityman and Talkman. We’ve heard about both handsets over the past few weeks, including their detailed specifications. 

Over the weekend, the popular Twitter leaker Evan Blass revealed that Microsoft will hold an event in September to launch the highly anticipated Cityman and Talkman. Microsoft has already scheduled an event on September 4th at IFA 2015 in Berlin where Nick Parker, corporate vice president, OEM Division, Microsoft, will deliver a keynote titled “Windows 10 Lights up New Devices”. It’s likely we’ll see new Windows 10 powered devices at the big event, but we may not see any new Windows Phones at the event. 

Microsoft planning September event to launch Talkman and Cityman.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 8, 2015

Back in July, a rumor, citing a source within Microsoft’s UK advertising team hinted that Microsoft is planning to hold a separate event on September 24th where the company will announce the two devices, alongside Windows 10 Mobile operating system. It’s not just these two handsets, the report further mentioned that five new Lumia devices will see the light of the day at the event, some of which may be mid-range handsets.

As far as the specifications are concerned, the Lumia 950 codenamed Talkman will feature a 5.2-inch display sporting a resolution of 2,560 by 1,440 pixels resolution as well as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor. The handset will reportedly come with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 20MP PureView camera, 5MP front-facing camera, a 3,000 mAh battery and will ship with Windows 10 Mobile as its operating system. 

As for Cityman, the handset features a 5.7-inch QHD display, a Snapdragon 810 processor paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The alleged device is also expected to ship with an Iris scanner as an added security measure. Other rumored features include 32GB of internal storage, 20MP camera, a 3,300 mAh battery and is expected to come with Windows 10 Mobile out of the box.

There’s no official confirmation from Microsoft for any such event, but if it’s real, it’s likely that we’ll hear more about it in the coming days. We’ll update you as soon as we hear anything.

Welcome to another episode of the WinBeta Podcast. Each week we discuss the top Microsoft related news. This week we cover Windows 10 download numbers and updates, projects Astoria and Islandwood for porting apps to Windows, Windows 10 Mobile Build 10240, Lumia 950 photo leaks, some of the biggest Microsoft related stories from Gamescom, and more.
We want to apologize for the technical difficulties we had on the show this week. Due to unexpected problems with live streaming, this week’s episode only has video from Zac. The audio is fine and we still had a good show other than the video streaming issues. During the scramble to get the show running without video, we also accidentally omitted this week’s poll results.
In this week’s poll we asked our readers when they think the new Lumia flagships will be announced. 47% of over 500 voters believe they’ll be launched in October, 35% think August or September and 17% and 1% believe they’ll launch in November and December respectively.

We broadcast each week live on YouTube at 3PM EDT and then post the video (shown above) and audio (shown below). You can listen to us on iTunes, the Windows podcast app, TuneIn, or your favorite podcast app. You can also watch us on YouTube.

Whether you’re looking for good discussion and insight on Windows news, or just a good time with some guys who love tech, you’ll enjoy the podcast. During the full episodes of the show we discuss the Windows news of the week and then after each week’s episode recording we have a general discussion and Q&A with our viewers. If you can’t join us live, you can share your thoughts in the comments, and vote in our weekly polls. You can also tweet us at @ZacB_ and  @Sean_Michael_UK or using #AskWinBeta.
Links to stories covered in this week’s episode:

• Windows 10 may be it 25 million downloads
• Windows 10 receives cumulative update
• Project Astoria reportedly used to port  first Android app
• Project Islandwood will be open source
• DVD playing app in Windows 10 costs $15
• Windows 10  Mobile Build 10240
• Lumia 950 prototype images leak
• Windows 10 on the Xbox One arrives in November
• Xbox One as a DVR for OTA television
• Xbox 360 backwards compatibility rolls out in November
• Halo 5: Guardians bundle with custom console and controller

In this feature, we will be looking back at the past week’s most popular Windows 10 stories. Last week, we learned that Steam gamers are flocking to Windows 10 – usage has already doubled the most popular MacOS version. We also learned that Windows 10 has been installed on over 25 million devices, over one week after the release of the operating system.

You can show off your Windows 10 pride with new official t-shirts sold through the Microsoft Store. Each sells relatively cheaply for around US$10 and there’s some pretty cool, though equally geeky, designs to choose from.

We learned this past week that Microsoft is now shipping both the Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3 with Windows 10 pre-installed. By shipping Windows 10 with the Surface and Surface Pro 3, Microsoft is combining their premium hardware with their newest operating system.

If Windows 10 isn’t new enough for you or if you’d like to test out some new features soon, it’s now possible to again enroll in the Windows 10 Insider Preview program. In the Advanced Options area of the Update and Security settings you can select “Get Insider build.”

Microsoft announced new PC accessories designed to take advantage of Windows 10 features. You can check out the new keyboards and mice here.

Microsoft has released the Windows DVD Player app for Windows 10 PCs and desktops. Users upgrading from Windows 10 from Windows 7 Ultimate, Professional, Home Premium or Windows 8.1 with Media Center will get it as a free app from automatic Windows update for a limited time period.

A cumulative update (KB3081424) for Windows 10 was released on August 5th, and features a collection of fixes and under-the-hood improvements which are said to improve overall performance. However, it is likely intended to address a multitude of post-release issues Windows users are running into.

While some users may not like the new Start Menu, the folks at the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) gave it a Digital Design Award for it’s looks and combination of features it offers. You can read more about that here.

If you’ve been waiting on the Windows 10 update but haven’t received a notification for the free upgrade, there’s another way to get it on your computer. All you need to do is to schedule a free consultation at an Answer Desk at a Microsoft Store!

We learned this past week that Microsoft is taking updating Windows seriously, making it difficult to stop or delay updates to Windows 10 machines, especially ones running Windows 10 Home. Speaking of updates, VLC for Windows has been updated for Windows 10, now featuring a new name and plenty of new features. Having previously been called VLC for Windows 8, the app is now referred to as VLC for Windows Store.

Don’t miss these stories

• How Windows 10 convinced me that Desktop is dead
• How to enable ‘God Mode’ in Windows 10 and get access to hidden settings

Alongside the Windows 10 Technical Preview, Microsoft also kicked off a preview for the next version of Windows Server, coming in 2016 and sensibly titled Windows Server 2016. Back in April, Microsoft released a second build of Windows Server 2016, titled Technical Preview 2 and included a number of improvements and features. Today, Gabe Aul has confirmed that a Technical Preview 3 is coming this month.
Gabe was not too specific on the details regarding Technical Preview 3, but we assume it will include a whole bunch of changes and improvements over the last two Technical Preview builds. Furthermore, I also believe the build issued will be one higher than 10240, which is to be expected.

@LiamBramwell A new RSAT for Windows 10 will be released this month, along with Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3

— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) August 8, 2015

Although we don’t know much about Technical Preview 3, we know many server admins will be eager to test out the latest server bits and deploy it to test systems. Are you a server admin running Windows Server? What are your thoughts on the Windows Server Technical Preview? Let us know below.

Data visualization has become easier and easier with the advent of computers and increased access to data. Excel has been the default for crunching numbers across industries but there have been a few core data visualizations which have been missing. In Excel 2016, Microsoft has introduced six new graph types to help people get more done without leaving Excel.

These six chart types are very commonly used in statistical analysis like the box and whisker plot and histograms. Other commonly used charts are waterfall, Pareto, Treemap, and Sunburst, and these are all now available in Excel 2016. None of these chart types are particularly ground breaking or complex, but it they have been oddly missing from Excel for such a long time. To help walk people through the new chart types, Microsoft is breaking each one out for a blog post, currently they’ve only done the waterfall chart for now.

The waterfall chart is great for visualizing gains and losses alongside totals. The easiest way to demonstrate this can be seen in financial balance sheets. The waterfall chart separates gains and losses by color and by representing the bars as moving up or down from the previous bar. If you have created a new chart in Excel 2016, the chart can be viewed from the Excel mobile app on Windows, but nothing can be changed because the new chart comes in as a single object. Go grab the preview of Office 2016 and try out these data visualizations for yourself.

Back in 1997, Microsoft included an Office Assistant with the Office productivity suite, an intelligent user interface that would help you (well, at least attempt to help you) via an interactive animated character called Clippit (or Clippy as his friends called him). As years went by, Clippy was made fun of in pop culture, having been in memes, parodies, and much more.

Clippy was receiving negative response from users, and probably because people were sick of seeing him ask you “it looks like you are writing a document, need some help with that?” When Office XP rolled out, Clippy was disabled by default. And slowly but surely, Clippy faded away into obscurity.

Until now. Clippy is starring in a new music video for the song Ghost by Delta Heavy. Clippy has been abandoned and is stuck between the software of the 90s and the contemporary web. Watch him as he hacks his way into the new digital age and meet Apple’s Siri. Definitely an interesting (and catchy) music video. 

VLC for Windows has been updated for Windows 10, now featuring a new name. Having previously been called VLC for Windows 8, the app is now referred to as VLC for Windows Store.

“It’s been a long time since we updated the VLC app on the Windows Store. Last update was released on May, 19th, and April 23rd on Windows Phone. Today, we’re releasing an update on VLC for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. It has been optimized to run flawlessly on Windows 10. This new version brings tons of changes and bugfixes,” app developer Thomas Nigro stated in an official blog post.

So what’s new in this major update? First of all, the user interface has received a major overhaul to match the new Windows 10 style. The app is supposed to run faster on lower-end devices like the Surface RT and Lumia 520/620. There are new animations and a beta version of the Win2D component. The app also features improvements to the music library, video library, search, and more. 

The update also introduces a mini-player, which works amazing on Windows 10. You can head over here to read the full blog post and download the app update from the link below. The update for Windows 10 Mobile will arrive at the end of next week, according to Nigro, so grab the update for your desktop in the mean time.

Mike Wendland is an author and a tech journalist with 20 Emmy Awards to his name. His book titles include The Complete No Geek-Speak Guide to the Internet, The Wired Journalist and more. His TV series of news reports, “PCMike TV”, is sent out to every NBC affiliate, 215 in all. He’s an expert in research and information gathering through the internet and even spent three weeks teaching journalists to use the internet in Israel, Jordan, Bahrain, and Egypt.

In addition to his television and writing work, he also hosts his own podcast on PCMike.com. In his latest episode, he goes through “Five Things to Know About Windows 10 Now.” I had the opportunity to appear on the show and discuss those five things, namely, the Start Menu, Cortana, tablet and desktop modes, the combined Windows Store, and Windows as a service. You can listen to it here.

You can find the show on his website along with a wide variety of other tech related content. His podcasts are directed towards listeners who aren’t experts in tech. The phrase “no geek speak” is used regularly so if you know someone who uses technology but doesn’t need to know the detailed ins and outs, you should direct them to his show. You can also find his podcast on iTunes and various podcast apps.

If you are interested in listening to more content on Microsoft and Windows, we also have the WinBeta Podcast every week.

American football is a very complex game. To advance their strategies and analysis, teams use whatever technological means available. One technology NFL teams have used are Surface devices from Microsoft. In 2014, NFL teams used custom made Surface Pro 2s to analyze information from the game. As reported by Engadget (via Windows Central), in 2015, teams will use the newer Surface Pro 3s and will try out a new feature.

During twenty pre-season games, teams will also test out the ability to review controversial calls by game officials using their Surface Pro 3s. Coaches can challenge many calls made on the field now but have to rely on their staff in the booth to review the film. With this feature, NFL coaches would be able to make that judgment with their own eyes.

While Surface Pro 3s allow teams to look at photos, draw up plays, and more, they may be supplemented by another Microsoft technology in the future, the Microsoft HoloLens. Augmented reality would provide a one of a kind experience for both NFL teams and potentially their fans. Quoted in CNET, the director of Sports and Alliances within the Windows devices group, Jeff Tran, said that the HoloLens is being “worked on with the NFL.” The HoloLens could have many applications for American football from training players to gaming.

Technology and the NFL are a perfect partnership. The almost insatiable thirst for more information and immersion into the game by teams and fans creates a demand for these new technologies. In addition the Surface Pro 3 and potentially HoloLens there are also new apps on the way for the Xbox One and Windows 10. These will display in depth analytics such as the distance and speed of players thanks to motion capturing by Zebra Sports solutions. Those apps will both be ready by the 2015 NFL season.

Microsoft has a strong partnership with the NFL, a multi billion dollar industry with millions of fans tuning in. It’s a smart move by Microsoft to place their products front and center during NFL games and analysis. 

When Windows 8 launched, I immediately understood what Microsoft was trying to do with their redesigned operating system. The desktop was where users could get work done in the traditional Windows setting while the new Start Screen was just a button press away for media consumption with its collection of games and apps like the their new full screen Internet Explorer.

A vocal group of Windows 8 users lamented the fact that the old Start Menu had been removed though I personally couldn’t even remember the last time I had used it on a Windows device. For years I had either been making shortcuts to my most used programs on the Desktop itself or simply pinned them to the Taskbar. The only time I would use the Start Menu would be to turn my computer off or perform a restart if things were slowing down and with Windows 8 eventually adding the power button directly onto the Start Screen, I had no reason to miss the Start Menu at all.

As much as I loved Windows 8’s Start Screen, I was glad the Desktop was still present however. It’s hard to beat the productive environment that it creates with its quick and easy access to different programs all within view in the Taskbar and the ability to save content directly onto the Desktop can be a real timesaver. While working, I’d spend about 80% of my time on the Desktop and it’s because of this that I’m so surprised to find that since upgrading to Windows 10 a few days ago I barely use the Desktop AT ALL.

You see, one of the first things I did after installing Windows 10 was head directly into the Personalize settings and enable the full screen Start option. I loved the Start Screen on Windows 8 and would often swipe through it, checking out the Live Tiles, even with my Type Cover attached to my Surface Pro, and really wanted that experience back. The Start Screen (well technically it’s a full screen Start Menu now) in Windows 10 isn’t exactly as rich as the Windows 8 version (more on that later) but for the most part it works the same even though there appears to be a weird Windows 10 glitch that’s preventing Live Tiles from displaying properly for a lot of users right now. That should be fixed in time though.

Very quickly I noticed that Windows 10’s full screen Start Menu had become my default home screen. The Desktop still existed somewhere under it but I had no need for it except for the odd occasion when I needed to access a file in one of the three folders I had created there or to drag an image to it from a site in a web browser that prevented the saving of its images directly. Hitting the Windows key had become second nature for exiting an app and with the Taskbar now under the Windows 10 “Start Screen”, I had all the functionality of Windows 8’s separate systems conveniently merged into one super-efficient design.

A lot of people have been raving about Windows 10’s newly redesigned Start Menu but, like the Start Menu of old, I realized that I had no need for anything it offered. After a day of giving it a chance I went into the Personalize settings once again and removed every single folder from it. Documents? I open those from within programs or find them in File Explorer which I already have pinned to my Taskbar. Settings is already in the new Action Center so its inclusion in the Start Menu is redundant and any music, pictures or video I feel like looking at I would either find in File Explorer or open within the relevant media apps.

I then disabled the Start Menu’s ability to list my most recent and most popular apps as all the apps I’m most interested in are already on my Taskbar or pinned to the full screen Start. The only really useful aspects of Windows 10’s Start Menu are the power button and option to view all the apps installed on a device but with my Start Menu now running in full screen all of the time and both those options in plain view I began to wonder if Microsoft could continue to evolve the operating system in this direction, streamline the Start options more and even remove the Desktop completely.

There would still need to be some changes made to make this setup acceptable for the majority of users but it is something that could happen as Windows 10 continues to evolve over the next few years.

You can see a screenshot of my current Windows 10 setup at the top of this page and below you will find an edited version I’ve made which offers a rough estimation of what a more evolved Windows 10 could look like. One of the most noticeable differences you’ll see would be the increase in Live Tiles. Windows 10 currently limits the space for Live Tiles to two vertical columns but with the return of the default full screen Start Screen in my possible future version, we would hopefully see a return to the horizontal navigation used in Windows 8 along with more space for content which provides a much better user experience.

With most of the current Windows 10 Start Menu folders repeating content already in the Action Center, I’ve removed the upper-left hamburger icon which currently leads to those redundant items and have also removed the lower-left icon for the list of apps as, in this version of Windows 10, that function would be given to the Start button which, when clicked, would bring up the app list.

The lack of a traditional Windows Desktop would remove the ability for users to drag items to it or create folders but that problem is easily solved. Interactive Live Tiles are something that Microsoft is already working on for Windows 10 and it wouldn’t be too hard to create special Live Tiles that act as folders which users can dump files into. It wouldn’t be too different from how apps are placed in folders on current Windows Phones and would be a lot more visually pleasing than the folder icons which look outdated no matter how many redesigns they go through.

A more controversial change I’d like to see made would be the moving of the Search/Cortana field in the Taskbar to the Action Center. As it is right now, the search box fills up way too much space and isn’t used that often. It would actually make a lot of sense to relocate the feature to the Action Center. Cortana could even greet you when it’s activated and read that as a cue to listen for voice commands. No “Hey, Cortana” or other input needed.

What do you think? If you haven’t yet, switch your Windows 10 Start Menu to full screen for at least a day and see how it affects your computer usage. It really does make one wonder why Microsoft didn’t merge the Start Screen and Taskbar in Windows 8 to begin with. The operating system could have been a lot better received than it was if they had. Are there any other changes you’d like to see Microsoft make to Windows 10 as it evolves? How have you customized Windows 10? Let us know in the comments below.

When people hear the word “engineer” many arguably think of a man on a building site in a yellow hard hat with some plans in his hand. In fact, search the internet and it too will bring you that image first; go ahead and try it. However, engineers are a diverse bunch, ranging from the men on the building site to the women bringing us Hololens, Windows 10 or even the Orion space ship.

This is my team. We created #Cortana. #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/nEl6R3j73G

— Melissa Lim (@melissalim89) August 5, 2015

This stereotype is the focus of a new Twitter campaign and women of the web are joining in the effort. Many are sharing their photos and a description of what they work at on #ILookLikeAnEngineer to shift the stereotype a little more in the direction of reality.

We’ve shipped @Windows @bing @Office @Azure @VisualStudio + more at @Microsoft. You’re welcome! #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/MwEACZUWx7

— Dona Sarkar (@donasarkar) August 5, 2015

It all started when platform engineer Isis Wenger’s image featured as part of a recruitment drive by her company Onelogin. She was appalled by the response online because it fixated on how she looked and not on what she worked at. She either wasn’t a man or didn’t match the image of a female engineer. So she wrote a blog post about how much this bothered her and put out a call to woman engineers to support her campaign.

Some #MicrosoftEdge PMs hanging out with “Teddy” the dog and Spartan statue in the background ? #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/kyBp0tDi8b

— Paula Chuchro (@P4OL1N4) August 4, 2015

Step in the women of Microsoft. In an effort to drive the campaign forward, the women of Microsoft have been joining in on the fun, and that’s what this is; a fun campaign that just wants to teach (tweach?) and not preach. You can find just a sample of the Microsoft tweets throughout this article.

We make holograms! Love this hashtag. #ILookLikeAnEngineer #HoloLens @JoanChao pic.twitter.com/QAe3oTEoKg

— Lauren Bissett (@laurenjbissett) August 3, 2015

To be clear, no matter what any keyboard warrior may say, it’s blatant sexism to judge the skill of someone because of her gender alone. Microsoft is absolutely behind the effort with Satya Nadella retweeting one of the Microsoft tweets. Nadella has outlined his stance on this issue in the past, and it is yet another area that Microsoft leads.

Microsoft just announced today about their relaunch of Docs.com, which is a place where users can publish document collections of their Sways, Word documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Documents can be grouped into collections and shared with family, friends, and colleges. 

Microsoft says that the redesigned Docs.com experience improves publishing, managing, and reading documents. If you use Sway, clicking the share button gives you an option to quickly share a Sway to Docs.com. 

In addition to being able to share Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Office Mix files, users can also publish PDFs and web links. The site provides stats on your documents and presentations, and is also very search engine friendly, as your profile, documents, and collections can be found on places like Google and Bing. 

What do you think about the new Docs.com? Let us know what you think about it by letting us know in the comments below. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest Microsoft news delivered to your news feed. 

Security, or at least the appearance of security, is highly important to the software industry. One slip of the mask can spell doom for business contracts and stock prices, as such, every trick in the book is used to keep data safe. “White Hats” are particularly important, hackers that find and report bugs rather than exploit them.

Big bounties are attached to these finds through a series of Microsoft Bug Bounty programs. In an attempt to turn the grey and black hats towards cleaner practices, Microsoft has now gone one step further in this, raising the bounty limit for the Bounty for Defense to $100,000, whereas the previous ceiling was $50,000. This opens the way for a flood of bug finds, and will no doubt encourage a great many computer whisperers to Redmond’s door, as reported by TechNet.

If there is one thing to take away from this expansion of the program, it is this: security is now a number one priority for Microsoft.

Do you think the ceiling ought to be extended further? Let us know in the comments below.

Synaptics, a developer of human interface solutions based on touch, display, and biometrics, announced in a press release that they are working with Microsoft to bring biometric fingerprint authentication directly into TouchPads.

The new TouchPads would be able to read your fingerprint to enable Windows 10’s new biometric login feature Windows Hello, which aims to eliminate the use of passwords by replacing them with either fingerprints, facial recognition, or iris scanning. In the press release that was spotted by Windows Central, Synaptics explains this new collaboration with Microsoft to provide fingerprint scanning TouchPads to OEMs by saying:

“Synaptics’ advanced image sensing technology and drivers are fully certified with Microsoft’s Precision Touchpad (PTP) specification empowering OEMs with Windows 10-ready Synaptics products. Windows 10 users will benefit from Synaptics’ industry-leading precision TouchPad™ technology, and SecurePad™, the industry’s only solution to integrate secure biometric fingerprint ID technology directly into the TouchPad… Fingerprint authentication through Windows Hello and subsequent access to apps and online services through Microsoft Passport is far more convenient than typing a password and infinitely more secure.”

While the press release seems to imply that this would only be enabled through new hardware, it quite possibly could be much simpler, if not cheaper, for OEMs to install new fingerprint sensing TouchPads over Intel RealSense 3D cameras and other biometric scanners on future devices. This could lead to a new range of Windows Hello ready laptops and 2 in 1s, among other devices, being able to come to market in a more widespread effort by OEMs, and also giving consumers more options of what biometric login feature they would prefer.

With passwords generally being most people’s weakest link in their digital security, hopefully Windows Hello and partnerships with Synaptics and OEMs enables more options for superior alternatives to the traditional password.

What do you think of Windows Hello and replacing the password with biometrics? Let us know in the comments section below.

Microsoft Outlook is an excellent email client with dedicated apps for all major platforms. Ever since the company changed its strategic decisions, we’ve seen the folks at Redmond release updates and apps for rival mobile operating systems. With the latest update, Microsoft has extended Outlook App support to Apple Watch, allowing users to stay up-to-date with the emails and calendar entries from their wrist. 

It’s not just about checking your emails, you can even send replies from your Apple Watch if it’s urgent by selecting from a list of pre-written replies. There’s also voice dictation and emoji support for sending emails. Users can also create custom notifications to help them sift through the information they receive.

Overall, the Outlook app for the Apple Watch looks like what you’d expect from Outlook, which is a compliment. Microsoft appears to have done a good job fitting their email and calendaring client into very different form factor in the shape of the Apple Watch.

At the end of the change log for the app, Microsoft also dropped a cryptic hint about upcoming features in Outlook for non Apple Watch users “PS: Psst, don’t have an Apple Watch? Don’t worry, we have plenty of cool new features coming your way very soon.” It doesn’t say anything specific about the features but as the app was updated today, that hint has to be for some features that are yet to be released.

You can download Outlook for the Apple Watch by following the link below.

When Microsoft announced their Fourth Quarter earnings last month, behind the news of the $7.6 billion write-down were more indications that their commercial cloud business is set to soar. In the fourth quarter of their last fiscal year commercial cloud revenue grew by 88% and projections are being made that Microsoft is on track to reach a $20 billion annual run rate by Fiscal Year 2018.

And now it looks like Microsoft has been really doubling down on their cloud business as CRN is reporting that Microsoft is spending more than $10 billion per year building Azure data centers to support its commercial cloud and Azure businesses. Microsoft General Manager George Taylor told a group of IT executives that they are now spending more money on building out its Azure data centers than it spends on its annual research and development budget.

When speaking at the CloudScape 2015 conference, Taylor said:

“The investment we are making in data centers is stunning. We used to invest about $10 billion in research per year, which we still do. Our data center investments are more than that. It is unbelievable.”

Taylor went on to say that with Microsoft having data centers in 19 regions, and a data center footprint growing annually at a rate of 10 times, they have taken the leading position in what he described as a “hyper-cloud arms race” in competition with Amazon and Google.

Some other details Taylor shared in his keynote address were that

• Azure is adding more than 90,000 customers each month.
• There are 1.4 million SQL databases in Azure.
• Azure active directory has 475 million users.
• There are 3,200 Azure MarketPlace applications.
• Microsoft has plans to expand its data centers into 5 more regions, bringing it to a total of 24 regions.

It’s clear that Microsoft recognizes the potential of their cloud business and is investing heavily to come out ahead of Google and Amazon in an area of competition that should be right up their alley, providing innovative technology solutions for the enterprise market.

Update: Microsoft has provided a clarification to the CRN report. “To be clear, per our latest earnings report, for fiscal year 2015, research & development spend was $12 billion and capital expenditures were $5.9 billion. Since opening our first datacenter in 1989, Microsoft has invested more than $15 billion in building our global cloud infrastructure,” a Microsoft spokesperson told WinBeta. 

At Gamescom today we’ll get exclusive looks at many games coming to the Xbox One and Windows 10. One such game is Quantum Break, the highly anticipated action game that combines a series of films with time warping gameplay. Not only did we see a lengthy segment on both gameplay and the filmography within the game, we also learned the official release date, April 5th 2016.

We’ve known for a very long time that Quantum Break was on the way but now the maker of the game, Remedy, included the April 2016 release date.

Also at the event we saw Creative Director of Remedy, Sam Lake discuss the game and introduce Shaun Ashmore who plays the protagonist Jake Joyce within the game. Lake described Quantum Break as a “cinematic story driven, action game.”

We’ll have more news from Gamescom and on Quantum Break when more details emerge. You can tune into Gamescom live at the time of this article being published. If you miss the live event, a replay will be online shortly.

Like most organizations, Microsoft has had their occasional gaffe in regards to diversity. Still, they have recently been emphasizing their commitment to increasing diversity and awareness in the workplace. And now, Microsoft is expanding one of their more innovative diversity programs to encourage law firms they do business with to have more diverse leadership.

Microsoft has been fostering diversity amongst law firms they contract with using their Law Firm Diversity Program since 2008. This program provides incentives for firms by paying out a bonus at the end of the fiscal year equivalent to up to 2% of their fees for the year if they have met certain goals in promoting diversity within their own organization. Microsoft announced today that they are changing the criteria to base the annual bonus on the firm’s performance in increasing diversity in three dimensions of their leadership. They are:

• Leading the management of the law firm.
• Leading the law firm’s relationship with Microsoft.
• Leading work on Microsoft’s legal matters.

With this recent change to the program Microsoft is encouraging more diversity not among the lawyers representing Microsoft but at the firms’ overall leadership levels.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s General Counsel and Executive VP for Legal and Corporate Affairs, wrote in the post the reasons for the change in the program were twofold. One, that it had been such a successful program since 2008 from their point of view, having an impact on business results and helping them and their legal teams be more creative and be able to better understand legislators, regulators, and customers around the world. Secondly, statistically, diversity among law firm leadership ranks even lower than among law firms as a whole. Smith goes on to say:

“All of this has inspired us to take our next step. As we do so, we’ve concluded that it’s important now to focus on promoting more diversity in leadership positions in law firms.”

You can learn more about Microsoft’s LawFirm Diversity Program on the Microsoft on the Issues blog post.

It’s well known that Microsoft is a wealthy company with its current market valuation at $374.4 billion. An estimated $108.3 billion of the profits are sitting outside the US and this is something the US Government is keen to change. However, current law in the U.S. isn’t making it attractive for Microsoft and other US companies to capitulate with Internal Revenue currently in a legal battle with the company over the matter according to a Bloomberg report.

There is a possible compromise in the works with the US government supporting the proposal of an amnesty tax rate of 14 percent. U.S. law states that companies only have to pay tax when they repatriate the money from abroad so it’s understandable that Microsoft is happy to leave the money where it is.

Microsoft gets a better tax rate on its earnings abroad with low-tax countries such as Ireland, Singapore and Puerto Rico offering as little as 3.1 percent tax rates. If Microsoft brought its money back to the US, it would have to pay the difference between the foreign tax rate and the US tax rate which currently sits at 35 percent and that’s a whole lot of money.

What are your feelings on this? Should Microsoft bring the money home? Are they being too greedy?

As we have reported previously, Microsoft has released a beta online web version of Skype and integration of it on Outlook.com. Microsoft is actively working on the Skype for Web, and have already added free voice and video calling from the web app. Users can add up to 25 people to a voice call or 10 people into a video call. To do this, just follow these five easy steps. 

1. Visit web.skype.com or outlook.com from your web browser. 
2. Clock New from Skype for web or + from Outlook. 
3. Add all the users you want in the group call into the chat. 
4. Click confirm to create the group chat. 
5. When you’re ready, click the either voice or video call buttons. 

Of course, with new betas comes many bugs. In voice calls, users may not be able to add or remove participants during a call. In video calls, there’s a couple of additional issues. Presenter view may not be available, and only three participants will have their video shown. However, these issues will be fixed in the future. 

Late last week, a report emerged claiming Windows 10 had surpassed 67 million installs just 48 hours after it launched worldwide. Now, if you were like me in thinking that number was a bit optimistic, that’s because it was. Instead, my sources (who wish to remain anonymous) tell me that as of yesterday, Windows 10 had been installed on around 18 million machines total, definitely not 67 million.

Now, the 18 million number is an approximation as it’s difficult to give out an exact number because rather obviously the number is always increasing. My source told me the current rate was around 1000 per minute, or 60,000 an hour for a while yesterday. This rate is also constantly changing, so again it’s hard to give a definitive answer. It’s safe to say Windows 10 is yet to surpass 20 million installs.

There’s quite a large difference between 67 million and 18 million I know, but 18 million is still an impressive number, and one which can absolutely be considered for a successful launch. There’s no reason for things to not get better as time goes on either, as word is quickly spreading regarding the arrival of Windows 10, and we’re not even a week in after launch just yet.

Hopefully Microsoft will make another announcement regarding install numbers soon. Last week, we exclusively revealed that Windows 10 had surpassed 10 million installs not even a day after launch, not too long after Microsoft announced Windows 10 had reached 14 million installs total.

Windows 10 has had a very strong launch, and internally Microsoft are very pleased with the way things are currently moving. Now, the company is focussing on what’s next, with Update 1 and patches in between. Microsoft has a few things planned for Update 1, including a new Universal Messaging app and more. Insiders can expect to start receiving preview builds for Update 1 in the next few weeks.

Welcome to another episode of the WinBeta Podcast. This week is the Windows 10 Special of our show because the new operating system rolled out to the public this week. Because of the special occasion, we shied away from our usual top story style and made an entire episode on Windows 10. We went over its history, the Windows Insider program, the rollout this week, and where it’s headed in the future. We also touched on Windows 10 Mobile. Our poll this week was also on Windows 10, specifically how people think it will rank as an operating system.

​

We had a lot of fun this week and got to break down an operating system that we’re really passionate about. Next week we’ll be back to our standard format which is sure to include plenty more Windows 10 related news as well as all the biggest Microsoft related stories. If you have a question for next week’s show, tweet it to us using #AskWinBeta. We’ll pick out the best questions and answer them during the episode. During the live stream of the podcast we’ll still stick around after to answer even more questions.

We broadcast each week live on YouTube at 3PM EDT and then post the video (shown above) and audio (shown below). You can also listen to us on iTunes, the Windows podcast app, TuneIn, and watch us on YouTube.

Whether you’re looking for good discussion and insight on Windows news, or just a good time with some guys who love tech, you’ll enjoy the podcast. During the full episodes of the show we discuss the Windows news of the week and then after each week’s episode recording we have a general discussion and Q&A with our viewers. If you can’t join us live, you can share your thoughts in the comments, tweet us at @ZacB_ and  @Sean_Michael_UK or using #AskWinBeta,  and vote in our weekly polls.

Because we covered such an expansive timeline of Windows 10 coverage, this isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are links to many of the major topics we discussed this week:

• Over 14 million downloads of Windows 10 in just 24 hours
• How the rollout of Windows 10 went for the public
• Issues people are having with the Windows 10 upgrade process
• Many pirates are having Windows 10 remain activated
• Windows 10 Mobile is almost feature finished
• What’s up next for Windows 10

With millions of people expecting to upgrade to Windows 10 this week, fraudsters have taken advantage of an opportunity to scam some money. Many people have not received an official notification to upgrade, so when an email purporting to be from Microsoft tells them to run an attached file for the upgrade, some people are eager to do it.

To the unsuspecting eye, the email looks quite convincing; it uses the Microsoft color scheme, comes from an [email protected] address, has a disclaimer message and even includes a message saying that the email was scanned for viruses and passed.

But the email is of course fake and the attached file is a CTB-Locker, which is ransomeware or a variant of malware. Ransomeware, in this case, encrypts files and photos on the PC and the only way to “release” them is to pay the scammers a fee in Bitcoin or Tor. They even have the audacity to give the victim a 96 hour time limit to fork over the cash.

There are some clues which might warn a potential victim against opening the attachment. The text in the email doesn’t render correctly with non-standard characters spread throughout the message. Oddly, the message doesn’t even contain the Microsoft logo; perhaps the scammers were worried about getting sued by the company. However, the most important clue is to remember that Microsoft would never send out an email with an exe in a zip file attached. In fact, no professional company with any sense would do such a thing.

To many readers, this may seem like an easy scam to spot but Windows 10 is being downloaded by millions and there are bound to be more than a few “less technical” people in that number. Unfortunately these scams are a feature of modern life that Microsoft is doing its best to tackle. However, the best ways for an individual to prevent them is to install antivirus software and to back up regularly.

Now that Windows is a service (WaaS), which means it will constantly be updated rather than have big regular updates, Microsoft has put some features in to Windrows 10 to speed up the delivery of those updates. One feature that may have escaped your notice is called Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO). This feature isn’t mentioned in the “Get Started” app but needs to be searched for in the documentation.
This new Windows 10 feature works in a similar way to torrent technology which uses a peer to peer network to distribute files quickly over the internet. The torrent system works so effectively because as files are downloaded, parts of the file are also uploaded to the next computer and so on. In order to receive, you have to give a little back.

Windows 10 works in a similar way with the WUDO feature. If your computer has downloaded an update but a computer on your local network hasn’t, then your computer will send that data to the other computer. It’s faster than updating over the internet. To change how Windows distributes downloads, do the following:

Go to Settings > Update & security > Under Windows Update, hit Advanced options > Choose how updates are delivered
Then choose to get updates from only PCs on your local network, or PCs on your local network, and PCs on the Internet

Also, by default, the WUDO is set to send updates to computers over the internet (similar to torrents). Happily, Microsoft assures that no personal information is sent in the transfer and no changes are made to any files on the PC. The feature will also only use limited and unused bandwidth and if your connection is set to metered, then it won’t do it at all. However, if you have a capped Wi‑Fi connection, you should make sure Windows 10 sees it as a metered connection by doing the following:

Go to Start  [Start button icon] , then Settings > Network & Internet > Wi‑Fi > Advanced options.
Use the toggle under Set as metered connection to set your Wi‑Fi connection as metered.

While this feature will help get Windows update faster and that’s a good thing, Microsoft needs to be wary about eroding any positive feeling Windows 10 has built up. To do that, it should at least highlight this option during the update process.

Several days ago, Nvidia promised to release a new set of drivers for those of you running Windows 10. After releasing driver version 353.62 on Windows Update at the start of this week, the company has now rolled out the same set of drivers to their website. Head over to the download links below to manually download the drivers for Windows 10.

These drivers are WHQL (passed Windows Hardware Quality Labs testing process) and claims to offer the best possible gaming experience on Windows 10. “NVIDIA has been working closely with Microsoft on the development of Windows 10 and DirectX 12. Coinciding with the arrival of Windows 10, this Game Ready driver includes the latest tweaks, bug fixes, and optimizations to ensure you have the best possible gaming experience,” the driver description reads. Grab the drivers from the download links below.

With every year, the Imagine Cup grows bigger and its entrants more impressive, and 2015 is no exception. On Thursday, the winners in each separate category were announced, paving the way for the World Championship, held today and judged by a group of fine minds, including Alex Kipman and Thomas Middleditch.

As shown on an official blog by Microsoft, each team represents something very different. IzHard, from Russia and representing the Games category, with their entry ‘Ovivo’, a fiendishly clever puzzle game, are the first. eFitFashion from Brazil, with their ‘Clothes for Me’, an online service for bespoke clothing, represent the Innovation category. Finally, for the World Citizenship category, the Virtual Dementia Experience team, all from Australia, are hoping that their interactive experience will help them seize the day.

Started in 2003, the Imagine Cup is now enormous in size, representing some of the best and brightest from around the world as they compete for a cash prize and a unique boot-camp experience. You can watch a webcast of the 2015 World Championship Finals on the Imagine Cup website, beginning at noon, PDT.

Who do you think should win the Cup? Let us know in the comments below.