As Microsoft reinvents itself for the “mobile first, cloud first” world, services are going to play a key role.  They already do now, of course, and the company is pushing Office 365, OneDrive, Skype, and Xbox Live as cornerstones of its vision for the future.  But there are other services to come, and one of those may well be “Arcadia”, a code name uncovered by Mary Jo Foley related to a new “streaming” team within the OS Group at Microsoft, the ones responsible for Windows, Windows Phone, OneDrive, and more.

Microsoft has a number of problems that could be solved by a service that could stream games and apps to Windows devices.  Allowing Xbox One and Xbox 360 game owners to play against each other might be one, and another might be a way to get Android games and apps running on Windows powered devices, without the overhead of an Android emulator.  Running Android from a Windows device (such as a Windows Phone 10 powered smartphone) isn’t as easy as it might seem, and the idea of streaming Android apps is apparently tabled, at least for now, according to Foley’s sources. Microsoft hasn’t given up on the idea of getting Android apps onto Windows devices, however, as the “app gap” remains Windows Phone’s biggest stumbling block in competing in the mobile space.

While the company continues to work on new services, including the “Arcadia” streaming service, Mary Jo doesn’t believe we’ll be seeing it at January’s Consumer Preview event, or anytime soon for that matter.  That Microsoft is still in the hiring process seems to bear that out, but the notion of being able to stream games and/or apps to your Windows devices looks to be on the way.

Microsoft recently became the first large company to speak out for its users privacy concerns, following a recent ruling by a US court ordering Redmond to hand over user data that was being stored in a data center based in Ireland. Microsoft contended that aside from being a violation of Ireland’s sovereignty, the order was deemed to be a violation of the user’s rights, and as such they voluntarily entered contempt for failing to carry out the court’s orders.

Now, in their appeal against the court’s ruling, they have acquired a number of powerful new allies. Among these stalwart additions to the cause can be found Apple, Google, Amazon, AT&T, The Guardian, The Washington Post and HP. That so many have joined the action is indicative of many things, the first certainly being the culture that pervades throughout Western society at the moment, where privacy is a major concern to the extent that companies such as Blackphone are manufacturing their own devices and operating system aimed exclusively at protecting user data.

The second reason is far more palpable however, at least for the firms in question. As more and more enterprise customers choose to move their dealings to the cloud, terabytes of sensitive information is being handed to strangers, as such trust is a major concern. The firms who seek to make a profit hosting enterprise data must be seen as against government or indeed any other potentially hostile intrusion, for if not their customers may simply take their business elsewhere. As shown above, all involved have a direct relationship with the outcome of this case, as such they wholeheartedly wish to see a ruling in their favor.

What the fallout of this situation will be is yet to be seen, as is its conclusion. What is for sure however is that, however this case ends up being decided, the precedent set will have a massive implication for privacy related issues throughout the USA for a number of years yet.

Do you support Microsoft in their case? Let us know in the comments below.

One of the most noticeable changes introduced with Windows Vista was the translucent Aero Glass theme. It introduced a level of depth that XP only provided in the form of dropdown shadows. Aero then greatly improved in Windows 7, offering even more shiny transparency across the desktop user interface.

Microsoft moved away from the Aero theme with the launch of Windows 8 and its flat, Modern UI designed language, previously known as “Metro”, but with the software giant’s renewed focus on customer feedback with Windows 10, there is a good chance of Aero making a comeback, provided enough people vote for it that is.

@0hstopityou There are some popular suggestions on aero/transparency in the Feedback app. Go ‘ me too’ your faves.

— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) December 14, 2014

WinBeta recently unveiled that internally, Microsoft was talking about bringing Aero back in Windows 10, so it looks like your votes do matter. But as Aul said, make sure you keep voting, the Redmond giant will only bring it back if there is high-enough demand for it!

If you would like to see Aero come back to Windows, Microsoft’s Gabriel Aul suggests you head over to the Windows Feedback app in the Windows Technical Preview, and ‘Me too’/vote for one of the many requests to bring back the theme. You’ll find most of the requests in the Personalization category.

Gaming on phones has become a massive use of smartphones these days, and the games are getting more and more sophisticated. As we reported last week, Minecraft pocket edition has finally landed on Windows Phone, but how does it play on the range of hardware available to users? From the massive 1520 to the extremely affordable 520, Windows Phones come in all shapes and sizes. Minecraft was developed to support devices with only 512MB of RAM.

After shelling out $6.99, Minecraft installs without a hiccup on more than one device if they are all on the same Microsoft account. The game runs smoothly and menus and navigation are fast. The options are stripped down from the full game, but similar to the game on other mobile platforms. Generating a new world is fast even on the 520, and gameplay starts right away with no tutorials or how-to guides.

After playing for a few minutes with the default settings, I quickly decided to review the control options and try to make some changes. On every phone the directional pad to navigate around felt too small, luckily there is a way to make it bigger and easier to use. The other annoying control was having to reach and tap directly on the block I wanted to interact with, but luckily there was a setting which could change that. When the option for split controls is turned on the game acts more like there are two joysticks, one for direction and jumping, one for looking and interacting. This setting also enables interaction with block at the crosshairs in the center of the screen by tapping near the right corner instead of reaching to each block.

When the settings were figured out the game was much easier to play and it felt much more natural to a long time Minecraft classic player. Playing on different screen sizes wasn’t that big of a difference, other than the fact that thumbs will take up more of the screen on small phones. The Lumia 1520 was a great device to play on because the screen was so large and it was easy to use the directional d-pad without taking up too much of the screen. Using a Lumia 1020 was completely acceptable and still fun, but I felt myself wishing the screen was  a bit bigger.

When comparing pocket edition to the classic version it is obvious there are a lot of features missing. Redstone circuits are not in the game at all, which could render the game useless for players who mainly focus on redstone contraptions. The nether is also missing from the pocket edition which also means no potions, or terrifying nether gameplay. Farming does exist, and animal breeding which makes creating a long term base plans more feasible. However Minecraft PE does have a couple of blocks which are unique like the stonecutter which is used to craft blocks like steps, slabs, and polished granite. The crafting UI doesn’t require users to memorize recipes, instead the game will list all possible recipes given the users inventory, and this makes crafting on a touch screen easy and fast.

Performance was excellent on all the devices, even the Lumia 520. This was the biggest surprise about the game because the full version can be a serious resource hog. Generating worlds, running around, and interacting with mobs all happens very smoothly. However like all apps on Windows Phone, resuming Minecraft PE will take a few seconds to resume after another app is switch then back, but when it does resume the game picks up right where it left off.

While playing Minecraft on a phone is a blast, it can be much more difficult to fully control with a touch screen. Multiple times I found myself wishing I could run and jump or be more accurate when trying to avoid zombies or creepers. Killing hostile mobs was difficult because fumbling with controls was enough to die several times while trying to flee. This is a point where Windows Phone needs external control support to keep advanced games interested in the platform.

Minecraft Pocket Edition has been on Android and iOS for some time now, so the lack of Xbox Live support on the Windows Phone app was not a surprise. In fact the game offers no achievements of any kind, which are in the desktop game and could easily be tied into Xbox Live. Nonetheless Mojang (which is now owned by Microsoft) has released a very popular game which runs very well and is a lot of fun to play. Personally I would like to see Xbox Live integration but this is hardly a deal breaker.

With Minecraft a big part of the game involves playing with others. On the desktop game it is easy and simple to play with friends over a LAN, and with Minecraft PE it is easy to play with friends. To do all users need to do is be on the same WiFi and the game should pop up in the list of available worlds. If there is no WiFi available then one users just needs to turn on internet sharing to create a WiFi hotspot which the other players can connect to. The world is saved on the phone of the player who started the world, so users who join and play on it won’t have access if the owner of the world is not near by.

Finally, considering the price Minecraft Pocket Edition is $6.99, by most accounts this is an expensive app. The app is not available as a modern app on Windows, which means $6.99 is only buying a phone app because today the app is not universal, but concerning recent news of Windows Phone apps running on the desktop in Windows 10, this would be a welcome addition. The bottom line when considering buying this game is whether you will have time to be sucked into the world of Minecraft, and if that is you then this app is a resounding buy. Although, if you are not a fan of Minecraft or free open world RPGs then this version will not change your mind.

Under the realm of Satya Nadella, Microsoft has been aggressively trying to comply with his “productivity and productivity” strategy. But what does “productivity and productivity” really mean? And how do other executives taking it? To answer that and several more questions, Microsoft’s Chief Experiences Officer Julie Larson-Green and the company’s “chief storyteller” Steve Clayton recently sat down with NBC for an interview.

First off, what does productivity mean? Does it depend on the kind of devices we use? According to Larson-Green, that’s not really the case. “We’re defining it as people-centric. It’s not so much about the tools I need, it’s about what I’m trying to achieve. And overall, we’re not really defining the world in enterprise and consumer anymore. People are people. They do work at home, they do home stuff at work. That’s just life.” she said.

“To some people it means getting stuff done. To me it means being creative about how we work in this world where we have infinite devices, but we have this finite thing called time. How do we help people do less, rather than more. That’s being productive.”, said Clayton.

How has that vision changed company’s thinking while looking at customers? According to Larson-Green, the company now gives more emphasis on human reasons. “I have a 14-year-old son and 22-year-old daughter, and they expect things to rewind, to be constantly connected and updated, to be searchable. They talk to their friends through Snapchat, texts, FaceTime, Xbox. My daughter thinks of email as mainly for communications from the university, that it’s only for serious stuff once in a while. That is so unlike me, and it’s hard to break out of your own bubble.

“I watch my son play “Halo” on Xbox Live, and that’s the best meeting. People talking and working together in real time to achieve a mission — it’s the dream. How can we learn from something like that in the business world? I think you’ll see our email service moving that way.” she added.

You can read the interview in its entirety from the via link below.

Having seen a positive reaction from users over the past few months, Microsoft is updating their Office Sway Preview with new features and usability enhancements that promise to refine the user experience even further.

Among the new features included will be an undo/redo feature, bullets and numbering, and editing text on the canvas, all of which will allow users to tell their stories a little more easily and with extra added flair. Included too are new improvements which allow users to reorder sections more easily, the ability to import PDFs, and enhancements to the color picker.

Sway for iPhone has also now been made available to users in Australia. The new build is an update from the previous versions made available to users in New Zealand, who will have to update if they wish to activate the new features.

With over 175,000 requests to join, Sway has been a success, and with these new improvements this is sure to continue.

Are you a user of Sway? Let us know in the comments below.

When running a large multinational tech corporation, there are a few things that are essential to the core of your operations. Among these, perhaps the most integral is the issue of trust. For Microsoft, as its revenue stream relies ever more on the growth of its cloud services to the public, and particularly to the enterprise market worldwide, cultivating an aura both of respectability and dependability is vital to the continuing health of their efforts in this direction.

This is contrasted with national level government however, which has enemies that seek to exploit its weaknesses and so develops means to acquire information that may not necessarily fall within the legal abilities afforded to public companies in order to defend themselves.  Amid a culture of fear, propagated by terror groups abroad and brought home by the media, governments harvest their citizens’ private data, ostensibly to protect them but in reality not always having such pure ambitions.

Companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Google and the like thrive on the goodwill of their customers, it is only through appearing to be anything other than inflexible and corporate that they manage to continue to increase their business, both on a consumer and enterprise level. As such, the revelations that have come over the past few years, regarding unprecedented state surveillance, but moreover of the complicity of certain companies in the harvesting of this data from their users, are anathema to our tech giants. As such, they have begun to fight back.

Microsoft is one of the first to fire a shot in the opposite direction, and should it find its mark, things could prove to become a little safer for users. Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president for legal and corporate affairs for Redmond, is the man who is taking the shot, it is of little surprise that he recognizes the gravity and size of the task in front of him.

The issue he is fighting for is simple: based on a server in Ireland, Microsoft have stored a number of emails regarding a larger narcotics investigation. Earlier in the year, a US court reached the decision that Microsoft had to hand the data over to aid in the investigation, Redmond refused and voluntarily entered contempt of court. Brad Smith is appealing against the findings of the court, arguing that sovereign incursions into other nations’ territory, whether for data or otherwise, is an unacceptable intrusion into the lives of users and against international law.

This is the first time that a US company has fought against a domestic warrant for data held overseas, in this it is highly significant, especially as it follows the Snowden leaks, which laid bare the inner dealings of government agencies as they attempted to collect data indiscriminately. Should he fail in his task, the precedent set by the case will prove to be highly detrimental to any future such efforts, but should he succeed, a milestone will have been placed on the road leading to greater clarity in government dealing, and a little less opacity for the rest of the world to deal with.

As mentioned, Microsoft of course have a large degree of self interest in the outcome of this case, given that they harbor, large amounts of sensitive information taken from clients the world over, yet they are the first to challenge government in the courts rather than simply rolling over or complaining. With the issue of privacy continuing to dominate public debate, as technology changes and we give ever more of our lives away to strangers on the web, it is good to see someone taking a stand, hopefully he will inspire many more to come.

Are you pleased to see someone taking a stand for privacy? Let us know in the comments below.

The Microsoft Store started the week off right with the first of its 12 Days of Deals on Monday, just in time for Christmas. The deals continued all week, and we made it all the way til Wednesday before the whole 12 day list leaked.  There were other deals, too, including a sweet deal on a Surface Pro 3. 

A number of apps were updated, including a big update to the Facebook Windows Phone beta app, and updates to the Twitch app and the arrival of a Showtime Anytime app for Xbox One, and a visual refresh for Foursquare for Windows 8.1.  The MSN Suite of apps made their way to iOS and Android, the HERE suite was updated and HERE Maps arrived on Android, and Skype Qik for Windows Phone got some update love, too.  Oh, and Candy Crush finally arrived on Windows Phone!

In conference and event news, we got a glimpse of the speaker list for “Ignite”, the Tech-Ed successor coming to Chicago in early June, and Microsoft made it official with the announcement of a press event for Windows 10 consumer preview, slated for January 21st in Redmond.  The event will last most of the day and will be live webcast, so mark your calendars and get the popcorn ready, this should be good.

But we didn’t make you wait all the way to January, this week was full of news on what’s next for Windows 10. We even got some Windows Phone 10 news with some new information about “MixView” , the evolution apparently of Nokia’s 3D UI that was to be included in the ill-fated “McLaren” phone.

But we’re not stopping there, it looks like we’re in for another big week including developing news about Windows 10 and the leak of build 9901, so stay tuned to WinBeta for all the latest!

Thanks to the recent leak of Windows 10 build 9901, a number of consumer-orientated features have been revealed. Cortana, improved apps and many more things are amongst the many changes, however if you do plan on installing this leaked build, keep in mind that you’ll have to jump through some hoops to upgrade to the next Windows Technical Preview build.

According to Gabe Aul on Twitter, updating to new builds on build 9901 is broken, meaning to upgrade you’ll have to do it manually via an ISO or clean install fully. This could be a problem however, as Microsoft may not even release ISOs with their next preview drop.

@ZacB_; Yes, but not punitively. There is a bug in 9901 that breaks flighting, you’ll need to upgrade through ISO.

— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) December 14, 2014

So, if you’re planning to download 9901, make sure you keep that in mind. Windows Insiders who wish to give feedback on the update process may want to hold off on 9901.

Another week of Windows 10 is behind us. This week, we learned that Microsoft is planning to unveil new ways in which the company plans to monetize Windows 10 in the new year. Kevin Turner (Microsoft COO) took time to answer some questions, and spoke about monetizing Windows and “monetizing the lifetime of the customer.”

Also this week, it was revealed that Microsoft is looking at ways to improve touch targeting within Windows 10. In other words, Microsoft wants to ensure that Windows 10 features the right size and spacing for mouse or touch. When asked if Microsoft was looking at concept designs for File Explorer, Aul tweeted that he does definitely look at them and loves seeing ‘cool high fidelity mockups by Windows fans.’

Windows Insiders received somewhat of a problematic update this week too, which caused problems for a number of users. The update was supposed to fix a number of Explorer.exe crashes, however it appears that over 12% of users who tried to install the update was met with an error.

This week, a new rumor claimed that “Mixview”, the exploding live tile UI which was supposed to arrive with the now canceled Lumia McLaren device would arrive alongside Windows 10 for phones. The UI is rumored to allow more information to ‘explode’ from a live tile by simply hovering over the tile.

Microsoft also sent out invites for an event in January, in which the company plans to unveil the “next chapter” of Windows 10.  The event is rumored to unveil Windows 10 running on tablets and phones, as well as even more improvements to the desktop. Features like Continuum and possibly Cortana are on schedule to make an appearance.

Furthermore, another Windows 10 build leaked, which includes the Remind Me app which is yet to be seen in a public build. The build wihch leaked is fairly old, being compiled way before the first Windows Technical Preview. The leak is zh-CN, and in x64. The Remind Me app is a companion to Cortana, which is not present in this leak.

Up next, Phil Spencer clarified what he’d be talking about during the January Windows 10 event. Spencer will be speaking about gaming on Windows 10, which could mean a number of different things. Perhaps Microsoft is planning to bring Xbox One games to PC? Only time will tell.

It was also revealed this week that Microsoft is planning to improve the File Explorer within Windows 10. It’s currently unclear what these improvements will be, but we’re hoping to see a brand new user-interface, something that hopefully matches Office 2015.

And finally, build 9901 leaked which includes a number of consumer preview features. An updated Cortana, improved Taskbar UI, new Modern UI apps and more are all on the list of new features.

So there you have it, another awesome week of Windows 10 news. As January approaches, you can expect to hear even more about new features coming to Windows 10 in the new year, so stay tuned for that.

Microsoft is yet to announce any consumer features which will be available in Windows 10, but thanks to a leak earlier today, we’ve got our hands on what appears to  be an early build of what Microsoft is planning to reveal to consumers in January. The new build includes Cortana, an updated UI and many improved apps. So let’s dig in.

Cortana is one of many features which appears to be on schedule for a reveal in January. In this build, her UI is far more polished than what she was when we exclusively unveiled her running on the desktop a few weeks ago. Not only that, but the taskbar has started to get an update.

Furthermore, apps throughout the operating system are being updated too. A whole number of apps have been given a complete UI overhaul, and we expect many more apps to join in on the facelift soon. This is our first proper look at the direction in which the Modern UI is going, and it’s definitely a positive one.

We’ve embedded our video below for your viewing pleasure. Let us know what you think of this early consumer preview build below! Of course, as per usual, everything seen in the video does not represent the final product.



WinBeta recently brought you an exclusive first look at Cortana running on an internal build of Windows 10. Within our build, most of her functionality was in place, however her UI was not. Well, screenshots of recent internal builds have leaked onto the web, revealing Cortana’s updated UI.

The new UI looks a lot more polished and a lot more like Windows Phone. Her options are now accessible directly from the app, unlike the build we tested which opened the Settings app. Of course, considering Cortana is still in development the UI is still being tweaked and played with, which means what you see in the screenshots are not final.

We’ve embedded the screenshots below for your viewing pleasure. With Cortana showing up in more builds now, all signs are pointing towards her unveiling during the Windows 10 January event being held in Redmond. Still no word on when she’ll hit public builds however, hopefully it’ll be soon.

We’ve also embedded our hands on video of Cortana (with her older UI) below:

New screenshots from recent internal builds of Windows 10 have revealed that the Settings app has received a huge make over, along with the title bar which now has a dedicated full screen button. The screenshots also reveal that elements within the Control Panel are slowly going away, with features being stripped in place of messages which tell users to use the new Settings app.

From the screenshots, it’s clear that Microsoft has started with the user-interface updates, something that we claimed would begin to happen this month. WinBeta understands that a lot more than just the Settings app within Windows 10 is set to get a face lift, including File Explorer which was mentioned by Gabe Aul recently.

The fact that elements within the Control Panel are being removed with messages telling users to use the Settings app may mean that Microsoft is planning to remove the Control Panel completely. This is something that has been rumored for sometime now, and it looks like it may be true.

We’ve embedded the screenshots above for your viewing pleasure. What are your thoughts on new UI changes? Leave them in the comments section below! As with all leaked screenshots, take them with a grain of salt.

File Explorer, which used to be known as Windows Explorer, is Microsoft’s file manager functionality that comes with the Windows operating system. With Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 10 release, the Redmond giant is looking to improve the user experience of File Explorer.

In a tweet by Microsoft’s Gabriel Aul, the company is still working on the File Explorer user experience and plans to reveal “more goodness” at some point during the first part of next year. Microsoft is slated to release a ‘January Technical Preview’ next month, focused on consumers. No specific details were revealed.

@antcook_ Cool! Explorer UX is still in prog, you’ll see more goodness there to come.

— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) December 11, 2014

Just recently, Aul emphasized in a tweet that Microsoft was in fact placing focus on touch targeting with Windows 10. In other words, Microsoft wants to ensure that Windows 10 features the right size and spacing for user interface elements, regardless if a consumer is using a mouse or touch input. 

When asked if Microsoft was looking at concept designs for File Explorer, Aul tweeted that he does definitely look at them and loves seeing ‘cool high fidelity mockups by Windows fans.’ Who knows, perhaps a particular concept you have seen on the internet might end up being the idea behind the new File Explorer user experience.

Thanks for the tip, Foze!

Ford’s Sync in-car infotainment system was announced in 2007 as part of a partnership between the automaker and Microsoft. Built on the software giant’s Windows Embedded Automotive operating system, Sync has since become available to customers on both Ford and Lincoln vehicles, but with Ford’s new Sync 3, Microsoft and its software are no longer involved.

The new system is built on QNX, a BlackBerry-owned operating system, and is designed to operate very much like a smartphone. Although Sync 3 is designed to be used hands-free, it does improve on the touchscreen experience greatly by replacing the previous resistive touchscreens with capacitive ones. Touch input is now much more responsive, and it also makes use of multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom.

“SYNC 3 – Ford’s new communications and entertainment system – features faster performance, more conversational voice recognition, a more intuitive smartphone-like touch screen and easier-to-understand graphical interface to help Ford customers connect and control their smartphone on the road” – Ford

The new Sync also includes some rather intelligent features. For example, the AppLink feature allows the system to tap into Bluetooth-connected smartphones and scan its application list for use with voice. Compatible apps such as Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM Radio, and iHeartRadio among others will show up on the in-car display for easy access and control. Sync 3 will also automatically dial 911 via a user’s smartphone in the event of a serious accident.

Ford has confirmed though that the current Microsoft-based Sync systems have yet to be discontinued and will receive updates in the future. But for how long into the future the company has not mentioned.

“Microsoft has worked with us very closely improving the experience of MyFord Touch. We continue to work together.” – Don Butler, head of the Connected Vehicles Unit, Ford.

Current vehicles with older versions of Sync will not be able to upgrade to the new system without buying a completely new Ford with Sync 3. Ford plans to include Sync 3 in its entire Ford and Lincoln lineup by the end of 2016 and this all starts in 2015.

Microsoft announced today that it is offering Internet Explorer 11 users an option to disable the SSL 3.0 protocol. Microsoft had previously announced that it would be disabling the vulnerable SSL 3.0 by default in its flagship browser Internet Explorer by December, but it seems to be taking some extra time. The company says that it will disable SSL 3.0 by default on February 10th, 2015. 

For those of you who are unaware, in October Google revealed a major security flaw in the widely used SSL 3.0 (Sockets Layer). The vulnerability dubbed PODDLE (Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption) allowed decryption of encrypted connections to websites. The age old vulnerability affected Internet Explorer, as well as other popular browsers including Firefox and Chrome. The SSL 3.0 already has been succeeded by Transport Layer Security, however the former is still prevalent and is is still required for compatibility by several old browsers including Internet Explorer 6. The SSL 3.0 omits validation of certain pieces of data that accompany each message. This is an exploit attackers use to decipher the entire data byte by byte.

Microsoft’s move to offer an option to disable SSL 3.0 protocol comes weeks after both Mozilla and Google implemented the said feature on their respective browsers. Chrome removed the fallback to SSL 3.0 with Chrome version 39, and Mozilla offered the same feature with the Firefox version 34 which it released earlier this month. Today’s update is also applicable to the enterprise customers, who can now configure the settings manually by adjusting Group Policy. But the normal users will have to wait until February 10, or run a “Fix It” patch.

Users of the Windows 10 Preview have reported that the OneNote, Mail and Reader apps not updating on the latest build 9879 of Windows 10. However, a fix has been found for each separate app.

For OneNote, users are advised to firstly start Admin powershell. Following this, in powershell, prompt (without quotation marks)

“get-appxpackage *microsoft.office.onenote* | remove-appxpackage”.

Following this, prompt “remove-appxprovisionedpackage –Online –PackageName Microsoft.Office.OneNote_2014.919.2035.737_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe”.

Having done this, restart the store, search for the OneNote app, install it and the problem will most likely have been resolved.

For Mail, again start Admin powershell. Then prompt

“get-appxpackage *microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps* | remove-appxpackage”.

Then prompt “remove-appxprovisionedpackage –Online –PackageName microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_17.5.9879.20671_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe”.

If an error message pops up at this point, just ignore it. Following this, repeat the same steps from before, restart the store, search for the app and then install it. If the app fails to install the first time, cancel the installation and then try again, this time it should work.

Lastly, for Reader, start the Admin powershell, then prompt

“get-appxpackage *Microsoft.Reader* | remove-appxpackage”.

Then prompt “remove-appxprovisionedpackage –Online –PackageName Microsoft.Reader_6.4.9841.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe”

Again if an error message appears, just ignore it. After doing this, restart the store, search for the app and install it, if the installation fails then do the same as before, cancel the installation and try again.

Hopefully this should resolve the update issues present, however users are encouraged to continue feedback to Microsoft in order to ensure further improvements.

Thanks for the tip Foze!
 

Has this solved your issues? Let us know in the comments below.

Microsoft has rolled out an update to the Surface Hub app for Windows 8.1, adding a few new improvements and capabilities for those of you who own a Surface Pro 3. You can now disable the Windows button on your Surface Pro 3, making it easier than ever to utilize the pen for drawing or writing and not having to worry about accidentally triggering the Windows button.

Microsoft first released this app back in October and the initially release only included Surface Pen related settings. Now, you can finally disable the Windows button, for those of you who find the button placement to interfere with your drawing or writing. Disabling the button doesn’t remove the option to access the Windows key on your keyboard, CTRL+ESC, or the Charms bar. 

You can snag the updated app via the download link below.

Thanks for the tip, anon!

This week has been quite interesting in the world of Microsoft. We’ve covered a lot over the past week and chances are you most likely missed an important piece of news. Let’s take a look back in a feature we call “Weekend Recap,” highlighting the popular stories from the past week.

Last week, word leaked out that Microsoft was set to buy mobile email startup Acompli. Microsoft eventually made the announcement official. The deal, said to be “north of $200 million”, will bring Acompli’s set of iOS and Android mobile email apps to the Redmond company. These apps work with Google and Microsoft’s email services.

As the years pass, more and more legacy features in Office are being discontinued. Following Clippy’s footsteps, Clip Art sees a similar fate as Microsoft has replaced those old-school goofy images with Bing-powered image results.

Earlier this week, former Windows Phone manufacturer Huawei said ‘nobody made money’ with Windows Phone. Quite a bold statement indeed on their part. Speaking of Windows Phone, Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview update (build 8.10.14219) rolled out to developers this past week, enabling Cortana in Europe. VLC Beta was also finally made available to Beta testers on Windows Phone.

There is no denying that Microsoft’s Xbox console and Sony’s PlayStation console have been bitter rivals for years now. With the PS4 beating the Xbox One in sales thus far since launch, except for the fact that the Xbox One was popular during Black Friday, Microsoft’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer has taken it to Twitter to wish PlayStation a happy 20th birthday — a classy move on his part.

Microsoft’s 12 Days of Deals for 2014 is about to start on December 8th and if this promotion is anything like it was last year, expect to see some fantastic deals on various products. Last year, Microsoft offered the Dell Venue 8 Pro for $99, which was an amazing price at the time.

Unfortunately, earlier this week, a technical glitch on Microsoft’s end caused many Xbox Live Indie Games developers to go unpaid. The glitch has only affected indie games on the Xbox 360, as Xbox One developers enrolled in the ID@Xbox program have all received their third-quarter payments on time. 

Top story of the week

Unveiled as a US-only feature for Microsoft’s mobile operating system Windows Phone 8.1 earlier this year, the digital voice assistant Cortana has learned many more languages since. A few months ago, Microsoft made the service available in the United Kingdom, China, and India, and earlier this week the company added a few more languages to the mix. 

The company announced on Friday that Cortana will now work in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. The service, for now, is only available to the Windows Phone Developer Preview program users, but will soon make its way to the stable build as well. 

Stay tuned for another week of exciting Microsoft news!

As most of you are well aware by now, Microsoft is expected to roll out another build of Windows 10 in January of next year. In fact, reported recently that Microsoft will likely release a Consumer Preview build by the end of January.

Now a new report from Mary Jo Foley, who is very credible in the field of Microsoft news, claims that Microsoft plans to roll out the “January Technical Preview (JTP)” in January, along with support for Continuum (watch our hands on demo of an early version) and Cortana. Microsoft will then roll out the February Technical Preview (FTP) and March Technical Preview (MTP), and so forth.

“The coming JTP is expected to include support for Continuum, a feature that will allow users with two-in-one devices to more easily transition modes when connecting and disconnecting keyboards. It also may be the first build where Microsoft turns on Cortana integration in Windows 10,” Mary Jo Foley explains. She pretty much confirms what WinBeta also revealed back in November.

While we sit here eagerly awaiting the Consumer Preview build to land in January, Microsoft may not even refer to it that way. “But the next update to the Technical Preview will be known as the January Technical Preview (JTP), rather than the consumer preview, sources say. It will be followed by a February Tech Preview, a March Tech Preview, etc.,” Foley adds.

Microsoft is also expected to unveil Windows 10 for smartphones, likely around January 20th or January 21st during a private press event in Redmond, Washington. Windows 10 for smartphones is rumored to feature support for ARM based processors on smartphones and tablets, as well as smaller, lower-end smartphones powered by Intel processors. Again, she pretty much confirms what WinBeta also revealed back in November regarding Windows 10 for smartphones.

Microsoft is also expected to show off progress with Windows 10 and you can also expect to hear about the next version of Windows Server during that time too. 2015 is going to be an exciting year for Windows 10, and we are definitely looking forward to it.

Keep an eye on WinBeta for the latest Windows 10 news as it breaks.

Bing is Microsoft’s brand for search and some cloud services, but that doesn’t stop them from applying the Bing branding to anything dealing with advertising or polling. Microsoft has a tool called Bing Pulse which can be used for television program audience polling. The technology enables the producer to pose questions to the audience and have them respond via their devices’ web browser.

Microsoft has created a new version of Bing Pulse, which is currently in beta form and can be tested for free. The technology isn’t tied to television though, it could be used to poll audiences at an event, or viewers of a program. Essentially the speaker at an event could pose a question to the attendees and then display the feedback on screens during the event. Bing Pulse enables companies or organizations to gain near-real time data on current topics of discussion. Using this information, producers or speakers could shift the direction of a discussion or debate.

Branding this technology Bing is a bit odd, because it has little to do with web search. Microsoft has probably felt that they have no other brand which represents polling an audience so they settled with Bing. There was some question of the longevity of the Bing brand since the Windows and Windows Phone apps went to MSN. Now it seems Microsoft is refining Bing to mean search and advertising, with a few odd balls like most of their other brands.

Today (Dec 2) being Special Education Day in the United States, Microsoft has taken the opportunity to talk about some of the ways in which the company’s hardware and software solutions are helping educators offer education to special needs students.

Robin Lowell, for example, is a distance learning teacher who teaches mathematics to visually impaired and blind students across large distances. How does she do that you ask? She accomplishes this remarkable feat by utilizing Microsoft Lync and Yammer. Check out the video below to see how students connect to Lowell who teaches from home, 180 miles away from the school the students go to.

Microsoft hardware and software solutions are also used for similar purposes in other countries. In Japan, for example, Michio Inaba is a deaf teacher who teaches at Ikuno School for the deaf in Osaka. He makes use of Microsoft’s Surface hybrid PC’s and OneNote to make the most out of his students abilities. See his video below.

For students, there are several special education apps already available in the Windows Store for them to download. Such apps include Tap to Talk, an app for non-verbal children and adults that transforms a Windows device into an augmentative and alternative communication device. Visolve is another one that can apply color transformations to images, designed to assist people with color blindness.

The flexibility that Windows 8 provides, particularly in hybrid PC’s like the Microsoft Surface, is a huge benefit to students as they can easily switch between interacting with the device using mouse, keyboard, touch or pen, whichever works best for them.

Additionally, there are a few apps for Windows 8 that help educators assess the learning progression of their students, which is of course important for all students. Apps such as Record Voice & Pen that as its name suggests records voice and pen input so students can show and record their understanding of concepts that a teacher can later assess. Skitch Touch is another such app, you can watch how it works in the video below.

These are just a few examples of how Microsoft solutions are helping educators, students and people with disabilities overcome some of the challenges that they face. To read more, you can check out our coverage here and here.

Since the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services division by Microsoft earlier in the year, the various ‘Nokia’ branded services present across Lumia devices have slowly either been killed off or folded into the new ‘Lumia’ branch of services and apps.

An official message on the Nokia Trailers website has indicated that it is the latest such example of this process, although it is unfortunately an example of the former category rather than the latter. The app provided a hub for users to access various movie trailers and teasers, with the ability to download clips and share them with friends. Though the app had not seen an update for a significant period of time, it nonetheless remained popular with a loyal core, and as such its loss is unfortunate. The service is due to terminate after December 31st.

“Dear friends, Nokia Trailers will close services on 31st of December 2014. You can try Xbox Video app which brings the latest movies and TV shows to your Windows Phone 8.1 and makes it easy to watch what you love wherever you are,” the official Nokia Trailers website states.

Whether Microsoft will develop an alternate service for users affected is yet to be seen, however it does not seem as though it is highly prioritized by Redmond. Either way, Microsoft is pushing Xbox Video as an alternative to the app.

Are you a user of Nokia Trailers? Let us know in the comments below.

Microsoft has their technology in a wide range of industries, from education, to legal, finance, gaming, and medical. The Microsoft cloud can be used in such a wide range of applications because it is compliant with a wide range of regulations such as HIPAA, and companies can be within regulation while leveraging cutting edge technology. Microsoft has outlined some of the ways the cloud is being used to make patient care better, and will be present at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Sharing images on the web has been possible and popular for a long time. The days of sending digital pictures via CD or other physical medium is long gone for most people. However in the medical world the laws governing how medial information is stored and transferred are fairly strict. The government has required that patient information must be handled properly by medical workers. This means no emailing MRI images to patients or other doctors. Since this information needs to be shared, but it cannot be shared easily, doctors and hospitals have been mailing a CD containing medical images for the patient, but this practice’s days are numbered.

Using the cloud, Microsoft has enabled patients to receive their medical images online in a secure and controlled fashion. These images could then be shared by doctors to other medical professionals for further analysis. Easily and securely transferring files enables patients to stay with one doctor and get great advice without having to perform more scans or travel to share information. This technology is an obvious solution to an issue which requires a modern tool which can deliver power and security — the Microsoft cloud is perfectly equipped to handle this task.

This week has been quite interesting in the world of Microsoft. We’ve covered a lot over the past week and chances are you most likely missed an important piece of news. Let’s take a look back in a feature we call “Weekend Recap,” highlighting the popular stories from the past week.

Earlier this week, we learned that Microsoft will be at the Mobile World Congress event taking place next year. MWC 2015 will be held in Barcelona between March 2-5, and Microsoft may take this opportunity to show off Windows Phone 10 running on next-generation hardware, or at least a preview of the OS and some of the new features.

Bing has become an expert at cooking, as we discovered earlier this week. Cooking the perfect meal is no easy task, but finding the perfect recipe is no piece of cake either! Microsoft looks to change that with its homegrown decision engine by integrating popular recipe sites like AllRecipes.com and Food.com.

VLC has been ‘coming soon’ to Windows Phone for a long time now, but there is now a light at the end of a very long tunnel. Earlier this week via Twitter, the lead developer working on this project asked for beta sign ups. Unfortunately there were only a 10,000 spots and they went immediately. VideoLan also teased us with a video of the app running on Windows Phone.

Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against the IRS for failing to comply to a details request about a third-party agency who is investigating the Redmond giant’s tax behavior. Microsoft is looking to find out details about this special contract between the third-party agency and the IRS. Speaking of taxes, Microsoft was hit with a $140 million fine for tax evasion in China too.

Following the announcement from Microsoft and Dropbox on November 4th, Dropbox has finally rolled out an update to their apps for Android and iOS. This update adds integration with Microsoft’s Office productivity suite. 

On November 12th, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella paid his first visit to Switzerland and spoke during a “Mobile First, Cloud First” event which featured more than 400 IT decision makers from various Swiss companies. Nadella once again elaborated on the new Microsoft vision, as well as spoke briefly about Windows 10 and company partners.

At a press event this past week, Microsoft launched the budget-friendly Lumia 535 in India. The handset is the first device from the software giant to come with the new Microsoft branding on board. The handset is available right now for Rs. 9,199 ($148).

Microsoft released a new video advertisement this week focusing on the Windows Store and all the apps you need. You can check out that video below.

We reviewed the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro Windows 8.1 Hybrid PC earlier this week, taking a look at Lenovo’s latest and most expensive iteration of their Yoga hybrid thus far. Check out the review here.

Story of the week

This week’s biggest story deals with the Xbox One and PS4 console war. During Black Friday 2014, Microsoft’s Xbox One outpaced the PS4 in terms of sales. 

Microsoft’s aggressive strategy for the holiday season is working. The company’s gaming console Xbox One has outpaced Sony’s PlayStation 4 in the Black Friday sales, according to sales and research firm InfoScout. The Xbox One accounted for 53 percent of all console sales whereas Sony’s PlayStation 4 could only capture 31 percent of the market.

That’s all for this edition of Weekend Recap. Stay tuned for yet another exciting week of Microsoft news.

Recent builds of Windows 10 feature a few additional improvements over the last public build of Windows 10, which was issued to Windows Insiders recently. Yesterday, WinBeta exclusively acquired build 9888, and we’ve got all the details on what’s new here. Before we dive any further, 9888 is an internal (partner) build of Windows 10 which is not planned for public release.

First up, build 9888 appears to be the first build which attempts to begin unifying context menus throughout the operating system. In current public builds of Windows 10, right clicking a file within File Explorer or on the desktop reveals a context menu which differs from that on the Start Menu / Start Screen. In build 9888, it appears Microsoft is set to unify these context menus, making them the same as the ones available within the Start Menu / Start Screen.

In this build, the new context menu only shows up when right clicking the taskbar. Right clicking within a Win32 application still reveals the older Windows 8.1 context menu style. This build is merely the beginning of that transition from old context menu UI to the new one.

Furthermore, the zPC Settings app which was found in the last two iterations of public builds is now the default PC settings app in build 9888, and the PC settings app has simply been renamed to “Settings”. The new Settings app is yet more evidence to Microsoft replacing the desktop control panel, as the new Settings app features almost everything the current desktop control panel can do.

Not only that, but the new Settings app includes a search bar at the top of the available options. Why it’s there remains a mystery, as all it does right now is reveal the charms search when pressing enter on your query. We assume Microsoft isn’t finished with this search bar just yet.

​Of course, build 9888 is also one of the first builds of Windows 10 to feature version 10.0 of the NT kernel. WinBeta understands that build 9888 is not the first build to feature NT 10.0. According to our sources build 9884 was the first NT 10.0 build, meaning 9883, which was sent out to partners a couple of weeks ago, was the last NT 6.4 build.

Last but not least, Microsoft has added an additional two animations for windows. One for maximizing, and one for unmaximizing/demaximizing/minimizing. These new animations make it so windows slide in and out of maximized states, instead of just popping in and out like they do in current public builds.

We also have a video of the build demonstrating these new features below:

So there you have it, that’s our sneak peek at Windows 10 build 9888. WinBeta understands that builds compiled after 9888 are considered pre-consumer preview, and as we wrote recently, many new consumer preview features are set to begin making an appearance in Windows 10 throughout December, ready for Windows Insiders in January.

Can we expect more leaks regarding new Windows 10 features to begin surfacing throughout the month of December? We hope so, so stay tuned at WinBeta for coverage the second news breaks.

As soon as Microsoft unchained its Xbox Kinect sensor and brought it over to Windows, the possibilities were endless as to how and to what purpose the device could be used for. Now in its second iteration, Kinect v2 for Windows is even more accurate and precise, allowing for even more complex applications.

Today we witness another use case that is part of the ‘Kinect Effect’ as Microsoft likes to put it, where the device is utilized to control a Sphero ball using simple hand gestures. Mike Taulty, and engineer at Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Group created a simple JavaScript application to control the robotic toy that is usually controlled using a smartphone or tablet app. With Kinect, Taulty is able to rotate and roll the ball in different directions, check out his demo below.

His application takes advantage of Kinect’s skeletal tracking abilities which can recognize for example when fists are clenched or unclenched, as well as track limb, arm and body movements. If you own a Sphero ball and a Kinect v2 sensor, you can head over to Taulty’s blog here where he provided the JavaScript code required to make all this possible.

In the above video, Microsoft describes the “Kinect Effect” in the rather old but brilliant commercial for the motion sensing device.

Microsoft may have accidentally revealed its plans to acquire a mobile email client called Acompli. A post, written by Microsoft corporate vice president Rajesh Jha, appeared on the company’s blog today, but it had no description or body, just a blank title saying “blank post please delete.” Things get interesting if you take a look at the slug in the URL, which mentions “Microsoft acquires Acompli.”

The post appears to have been pulled, but the folks at TechCrunch spotted it on time and took a screenshot for authenticity. This could mean that both companies may have reached a deal, or it may be in final stages of talks. If true, this could mean that Microsoft could acquire an excellent email client app which has received its fair share of success on iOS, and even Android. The app is compatible with Exchange, and this may be the reason Microsoft showed interest in it.

Last year, Accompli managed to raise $7.3 million, and there’s a possibility that they ended up with an offer while looking for more investment, as per TechCrunch. Anyway, there’s no official confirmation from Microsoft about it. 

Microsoft’s Gabriel Aul has teased us yet again, tweeting out a screenshot showcasing Windows Media Player in Windows 10 playing music with the FLAC audio format. Microsoft recently revealed that Windows 10 will also come with native support for MKV and High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).

“FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player just like you would an MP3 file,” the FLAC website states.

Check out the tweet below. The next preview build of Windows 10 is expected in January of next year. Stay tuned to WinBeta for all your Windows 10 needs!

Keen eyed #WindowsInsiders will notice something cool about this pic. Something to look forward to in the new year! pic.twitter.com/4uQe5LlLmI

— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) November 25, 2014

Last March, Microsoft’s OneNote team introduced the OneNote Clipper, a tool you add to your Internet Explorer Favorites bar allowing you to easily capture information from the web and save it to OneNote.  Today, they’ve announced some improvements to the service.

These new improvements include Product clipping, a way to capture relevant information from major shopping websites such as Amazon.com, Homedepot.com, Sears.com, Lowes.com, and Overstock.com; PDF clipping, allowing you to save PDFs from the web to OneNote, and read them from within OneNote without the need for a separate PDF reader; and some visual improvements to the OneNote Clipper including a semi-transparent purple Clipper bar, and better responsive flow.

“Our goal is to help you collect your wish list and gift ideas in OneNote in a clear, easy to review format. Then, on these big shopping days, you can use OneNote on your phone, tablet or computer to keep track of it all – OneNote is available for free on all major platforms,” Microsoft explained.

You can get the OneNote Clipper by visiting the OneNote Clipper page in IE and adding it to your Favorites, instructions are on the page. Product clipping, like recipe clipping before it, works by using the Bing Platform to extract key details from web pages and then present them in an easy to use format in OneNote. 

Give it a try, and as Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach us, these new features can come in handy!