Yesterday, we posed the question, “Do you prefer the slow ring or fast ring?” This question deals with Microsoft’s Windows 10 Technical Preview for Windows Insider participants. For those who are not sure what the difference between a slow ring and a fast ring, head over here for an explanation.

So, which ring is popular? According to Microsoft’s Gabriel Aul, the fast ring is about 10% the size of slow ring. It is also exactly what Microsoft was hoping to see. So what exactly does this mean? This simply means that those who are beta testing Windows 10, only 10% of them want to be on the bleeding edge with the fast ring of updates. Or perhaps, they are unaware of the ability to switch between the slow and fast ring.

The results of our poll show that the majority of WinBeta readers prefer to be in the fast ring. There are still a few that prefer to be in the slow ring. This is not surprising, as our readers want to be on the bleeding edge of what Microsoft has to offer.

You can see the tweet below. Do you think Microsoft should expand the slow/fast ring of updates to other services? Should app developers have the ability to roll out a slow or fast ring of app updates?

As is the case with aircraft engines, German elevator-maker ThyssenKrupp keeps a close eye on its elevators to monitor when maintenance is needed to ensure maximum efficiency and customer safety. The last thing any elevator maker needs is bad press following a free-falling elevator incident.

To secure the promise of providing safe and reliable elevators, ThyssenKrupp has teamed up with CGI, an independent IT and business process service firm to develop Internet-of-Things (IoT) technical solutions based on Microsoft Azure, Power BI for Office 365 and Microsoft Azure Machine Learning service to constantly monitor the conditions of the company’s elevators around the world.

“Not only can they now offer customers predictive maintenance and analytics, they’re setting a new industry standard for reliability, creating a totally new business model and differentiating themselves from competitors.” – Susan Hauser, Corporate VP, Enterprise and Partner Group, Microsoft

Dr. Rory Smith of ThyssenKrupp noted that this can be a difficult task considering that the company has provided over 1 million elevators and escalators in the US alone, and in some of their rapidly expanding markets, such as the Middle East, India and China, they will be providing a lot more of their products. Businesses and contractors in China for example are ordering half a millions elevators and escalators from ThyssenKrupp on a yearly basis.

“We manufacture [elevators] once, we install them once, but we service elevators continuously, it could be a hundred years. And so we feel that using cloud computing and IoT we can do predictive maintenance, predictive analytics, and those are important to us in the developed markets, such as Western Europe and North America. There we look to control costs, but in the developing markets, we are almost just trying to survive with the tremendous growth.” – Dr. Rory Smith

The company has admitted that this demand has changed their business model, as providing the after-sales services of supporting the elevators is now a big part of how the company positions itself among competitors. With such strong demand, the company also had to figure out how to approach training employees in all of the different markets they now sell to, and to work around this issue they developed a remote diagnostics strategy that ties into the company’s call centers.

“…the ability to use machine learning and remote diagnostics has helped augment employee talent while reducing the amount of time needed for training. These types of efficiencies illustrate the importance of becoming a digital business and the competitive advantages it offers.” – Hauser

(One World Trade Center houses some of the fastest ThyssenKrupp elevators in the Western hemisphere) 

With the help of CGI, ThyssenKrupp developed an application that allowed for a secure connection to the millions of elevators in service, and that also provided real-time monitoring. Additional partners were brought in to develop an intuitive user interface that both engineers and customers would find easily accessible.

Looking forward, ThyssenKrupp plans to upgrade 60% of its currently deployed elevators to take advantage of the new Microsoft-based IoT system, as well as about 18% of its escalators in service. The strategy has allowed them to create new revenue streams as well as differentiate themselves from the competition. We should be hearing about more companies from all sorts of different industries following suit in the near future.

The IT industry is becoming is growing ever so quickly, and so the demand for people with IT knowledge grows with it. Unfortunately, the supply is severely lacking. According to a 2012 report by US President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, there will be an estimated shortfall of about 1 million people within STEM-related jobs over the next decade.

Microsoft is currently competing fiercely with the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook among others to attract the best computer-science graduates from top schools such as MIT, Stanford, Harvard and more. But those at the company have asked themselves about the possibility of finding untapped potential elsewhere.

“That is the hurdle the U.S. IT industry needs to leap– finding new ways to discover and train people who have the aptitude for IT, and a desire to learn it, but for many reasons haven’t cracked the code on how to get into IT.” – Alison Cunard, General Manager of Learning Experiences, Microsoft.

At a recent IT Jobs Roundtable held at the White House that Microsoft took part in, creative ideas were thrown around about how the US could increase the number of people working in STEM-related jobs. Microsoft itself has been pushing to convert army veterans into coders with its MSSA program. New companies have also popped up recently with the sole purpose of identifying specific IT gaps within companies and helping them fill it with the right personnel.

“Year-old Launchcode, for instance, is a St. Louis-based startup (started by the founder of Square) that works with companies to assess their IT skills gaps, then quickly trains prospective employees and places them as paid apprentices. After 90 days, some 90+ percent of Launchcode trainees are hired by their host companies. And these are candidates who didn’t have an IT “pedigree.”” – Cunard

Although the scale of recruitment is a problem that Microsoft has identified, and existing programs may successfully provide a few hundred people after training them for about a year, the software giant insists that this is not fast enough, and that new ways should be developed to quicken this process.

“We have a shortfall of a million people, and some of the innovative accelerated programs we’re seeing today are successful in terms of getting 100, 200, 300 people trained. That’s great, but it’s not enough. In the IT world, we need to think of ways to find people with talent – hundreds of thousands of them – and get them the training they need in months, not years.” – Cunard

It’s clear that the way IT companies like Microsoft, and even non-IT companies that require some form of IT solutions are changing the way they pursue potential employees and finding hidden talent. Microsoft has a presence at education institutions around the world including high schools and community colleges where “people build skills but maybe don’t earn the name recognition of a Stanford degree”, as all people need is an opportunity to enter the world of IT. Once in, they will only learn and grow.

Earlier today, it was revealed that Microsoft had bumped the NT Kernel version of Windows 10 from 6.4 to 10.0. WinBeta understands that this change has been apparent since build 9884, which was compiled on November 9.

WinBeta confirmed earlier today when the news broke that this change was accurate, but if you were still in doubt, Microsoft has now somewhat confirmed this change in an MSDN document available to IE developers.

Developers preparing for Windows 10 should note that the Windows NT value in the UA string will change from 6.4 to 10.0 with the new release. If you have code that depends on the version number, we advise that you update to allow for the new value.

The MSDN document is asking IE developers to begin updating if they depend on the NT kernel version, because if not, certain websites and programs may have compatibility issues with the new Windows 10 operating system.

If you’re an IE developer, or any developer for that matter, it may soon be time to start updating your web app / program compatibility for Windows 10. Microsoft may or may not talk more about this change soon — we hope they will.

So there you have it, Microsoft has publicly confirmed the bump in version number from 6.4 to 10.0. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below.

Microsoft’s new conference, Ignite, will be held in Chicago this May 2015, and is the company’s conference for IT professionals. For Ignite, Microsoft is looking for feedback from previous event attendees on what they liked or disliked. With all this feedback, hopefully Ignite will be a hit with IT pros looking for a fun and informative conference.

To gather this feedback, Microsoft is hosting what they call TweetJams, with their different twitter accounts in order to communicate with potential attendees on what they would like to see Ignite look like. Here is the list of questions Microsoft has posted:

1. 1.What’s one thing you’ve loved in a past event that you’d like to see included in Microsoft Ignite?
2. 2.How can we help showcase your community at Microsoft Ignite?
3. 3.What is your preferred way to engage with our engineering teams at the event?
4. 4.What specific sessions do you want to see?
5. 5.What have you seen done at ANY event you’ve attended, Microsoft or other, that we should consider doing at Microsoft Ignite?
6. 6.How interested are you in learning about other Microsoft products, such as Azure and Windows 10?
7. 7.What’s one “can’t miss” thing to do in Chicago?
8. 8.As you know from past events, we throw a great party for attendees. What do you value in a party? Great band? Cool venue? Loud or quiet?

Hopefully Ignite will be a hit for Microsoft, and everyone who goes. If you are interested in participating in one of the TweetJams, follow the source link and add one to your calendar.

Hacker group, DerpTrolling, has recently finished what they are calling a “glorious raid across the high seas of the internet”. This time around, the infamous group of online bandits have hacked a number of 2K Gaming Studio, Windows Live email, and PlayStation network user accounts. This breach has released thousands of private username and password login information onto the web.

“These usernames our bestowed upon you in the humble name of Derp.”

DerpTrolling, also simply regarded to as “Derp”, has been in action bringing down known websites, including the ever popular, LeagueOfLegends.com, via DDOS style attacks. The motives behind DerpTrolling’s actions are currently unknown, but they warn that “nothing is safe from Derp”.

We strongly suggest changing your password if you are a member of the aforementioned services. At this time, we are not linking to the list of stolen credentials for safety and security concerns. If your Microsoft account currently has two-step authentication enabled, you should be safe as the hackers only have one piece of the puzzle; however, we still suggest changing your password for maximum protection.

We have reached out to Microsoft for a comment on the breach of security.

UPDATE: Microsoft has responded back, noting that they have not detected ay intrusions in their system.

“We immediately investigated reports regarding some Microsoft Accounts including Windows Live and Hotmail and can confirm that no Microsoft site or service was compromised. Microsoft takes account security and privacy seriously. Should we identify any specific account at risk for any reason, we will take action to protect the account. To help keep your information safe, we encourage you to set strong passwords, change passwords regularly and avoid using the same password for multiple accounts. For more information on password security, visit our website at www.microsoft.com/security.”

Although Microsoft isn’t issuing out any more builds to Windows Insiders this year, the company is still compiling and issuing them to partners. New changes are cropping up in builds every day, and today a rather interesting change to the kernel version is apparent. Windows 10 started its development at NT version 6.4, but it seems Microsoft has bumped that number again, as the NT version now seems to be 10 in recent builds.

According to ITHome who claim to have access to build 9888 of Windows 10, winver and many other areas of the operating system which display the kernel version are displaying version 10 rather than 6.4. It looks like Microsoft has yet again bumped the NT kernel version, 6.4 was the beginning of Windows 10 development, 6.3 was Windows 8.1, 6.2 was Windows 8, 6.1 was Windows 7 and 6.0 was Windows Vista.

WinBeta can confirm that this change is real and is apparent in the latest builds we’ve got access to. The jump to NT 10 is a big one, and hopefully this change in version number doesn’t break existing desktop applications. Ignore the dock and other things within the screenshot, they are third party applications and are not included with this build of Windows 10. What are your thoughts on this? Leave them in the comments below!

Beginning January 2015, Windows developers will be at a disadvantage when it comes to making money using their apps submitted in the respective app stores. Currently, Microsoft takes a 30 percent cut on the revenues generated through the app sales, with 70 percent going to the developers. Upon reaching $25,000 sales, the cut is reduced to 20 percent, making it more attractive for developers to create apps for Windows and Windows Phone. The 20 percent caveat is only applicable until 31st December, 2014. 

If you take a closer look at the App Developer agreement, it states,

For the Windows Store: The Store Fee for Apps made available in the Windows Store is thirty percent (30%) of Net Receipts, unless and until your App takes in total Net Receipts of USD$25,000, after which time the percentage is 20% for that App. The twenty-percent (20%) Store Fee will be in effect until December 31, 2014.

For the Windows Phone Store. The Store Fee for Apps made available in the Windows Phone Store is thirty percent (30%) of Net Receipts, except for transactions subject to the Commerce Expansion Adjustment, for which the Store Fee shall be forty-three and nine-tenths percent (43.9%) of Net Receipts.

From January 1st, 2015, the 20 percent cut condition will be removed, and developers will get 70 percent of the net sales no matter how much they sell. Microsoft mentioned further in the developer agreement,

“Beginning January 1, 2015, the Store Fee for all Apps made available in the Windows Store will be thirty percent (30%) of Net Receipts.”

 This is definitely a disappointing news for developers. Windows Phone and Windows store are already lagging behind in terms of quality apps when compared with iOS and Google Play Store, and this could further affect the volume as developers are likely to focus on other platforms when it comes to apps.

This isn’t a new change. As per Neowin, Microsoft confirmed to them that this change was introduced at Build 2014, but was missed due to all the big announcement made during the big event. 

Microsoft announced not too long ago that the recently released Windows Technical Preview build would be sent out to those in the slow ring soon, and will arrive with a number of bug fixes to help stabilize the operating system. The company claims that crash data from those in the fast ring has helped Microsoft in identifying the many problems this build suffered from.

It’s currently unclear how the bug fix will be applied to the slow ring, whether it will be included with the actual upgrade process or released as a separate hotfix via Windows Update remains to be seen. For those who downloaded the build in the fast ring, we assume the bug fix will be delivered to you too via Windows Update.

It’s unclear when Microsoft plan on pushing out the build for slow ring participants, however we have a feeling that it will be very soon. Microsoft promised that with the release of the build to the slow ring, ISO’s would be made available for clean installation. Let’s hope they stick to their word.

For those that did not know, you can switch between Slow and Fast ring updates in PC Settings > Update and Recovery > Preview Builds. Everyone is on the slow ring, by default. If you want to see the build right as it comes available, you will want to be on the fast ring. If you want to wait a bit and let major bugs get fixed before you install the build, wait for the slow ring.

In this case, Windows 10 build 9879 was released to those on the fast ring not too long ago, and has since been identified to have some issues that need to be resolved. Luckily, those on the slow ring will be receiving this build with less issues or bugs to worry about.

For those who need a little catchup, the OneStore is a new Windows Store coming in Windows 10 which works across all form factor devices. That includes PC’s, tablets, phones, Xbox and more. Today, Microsoft has further detailed its plans for the new OneStore, and how the new Store will be ready for businesses.

First up, the new OneStore will offer IT administrators access to the app catalog directly from a new web-based portal, which allows IT admins to download apps in bulk and distribute them to devices:

“In Windows 10, IT administrators can access a new web-based Store portal specifically for organizations – and can do so by signing in with an Azure Active Directory identity. Apps acquired through the portal can then be assigned to people in the organization, who need only to click on a link to install the apps. This will provide organizations with a controlled and customizable experience specifically for their members.”

Not only that, but Microsoft is making it easier for apps to be listed on company portals. For businesses which do not have a company portal, Microsoft is also allowing IT admins their own private section on the Windows Store, which will make getting apps for your company easier.

Furthermore, IT admins will have the ability to fully control the Windows Store and its features and distribution. This allows for admins to be able to install or uninstall apps, control app updates and manage app licenses. For devices without internet, the new Windows Store will allow administrators to download app files locally, and include them in custom Windows installation images.

Microsoft says that these new features will be available on Windows 10 in the coming months, and that signing up as a Windows Insider will help in getting you access to the Windows Technical Preview.

MSN.com is Microsoft’s web portal, which is a rare term these days. With services being built into apps and pushed out to devices, web portals have faded from the limelight, but a large number of people still use web portals. In fact Microsoft sees millions of page views on MSN.com every day. In early October Microsoft pushed out a redesign of MSN, but how did that affect their number of daily page views?

Before the redesign of MSN.com, Microsoft was seeing their daily page views hover between 130 and 120 million a day, once dipping down to almost 110 in May. After the redesign there was a visible spike in daily traffic up to 140 million. This was the highest daily page views in 2014. After some time the page views dropped off to maybe 135, then rebounded to hover around 140 through October and November. This is a modest 7.7% increase in daily traffic, which is impressive for such an old site.

This is good news for Microsoft but not the point of the redesign. The core focus of redesigning MSN.com seemed to be bringing Microsoft’s cloud services to the front, and giving users quick access without leaving the site. Microsoft knows that apps are the future of services and the web portals may not be around forever, so they are trying to span the gap between their services and MSN. Rebranding their Windows and Windows Phone apps to MSN brings the brand back into relevancy with today’s app paradigm.

The real measure of MSN’s redesign would be to see how many new customers were acquired via the new MSN.com. Microsoft is a traditional technology company which makes its money from paying users. MSN may be a great web portal for people to read news, stocks, weather, and sports, but Microsoft really wants people to discover Office 365, OneDrive, Skype, and Xbox Music so they can gain more paying users and keep making the great software we’ve all come to expect from for years to come.

A U.S Judge has rejected Samsung’s bid to put a lawsuit on hold, regarding a dispute to pay Microsoft in interest royalty fees.

Samsung states that the original collaboration agreement between thw two companies became void when Microsoft acquired Nokia in 2013. Since then, Samsung has refused to pay $6.9 million in royalty interest to Microsoft, stating that the company is now a direct hardware competitor. In August of this year, Microsoft put their foot down regarding the matter and sued Samsung for not coughing up.

Whilst Samsung is yet to comment on the result, a Microsoft Spokesperson said that they are “pleased that the court agrees that New York is the appropriate venue for this dispute.” Samsung wanted to move the dispute to Hong Kong, while the company pursues an existing arbitration.

In Microsoft’s favor, Antitrust regulators within the United States and other countries have already approved the acquisition of Nokia as being legal. If these approvals hold up, Samsung will most likely be forced to pay off the debt they owe to Microsoft.

Microsoft has just launched the OneNote Search API in Beta form, powered by the company’s Bing decision engine. This integration between two of Microsoft’s most popular services brings personal search to your private notes in the cloud. Here is what Microsoft had to say on the official OneNote Developer blog:

Over the last few months, we have been partnering with the folks over in Bing to integrate their search tech into our service and bring the power of full text search to the OneNote API. It’s like having your own personal search engine for your private notes and memories in the cloud. And, because we are reusing the same search tech powering bing.com today, the OneNote search API has all the smarts you would expect from Bing such as: spelling forgiveness, stemming, relevance and ranking, word breaking, phrase search, etc. The search API works across notebooks so your app can find the right notes for the user no matter where they are stored. Under the covers, there is a personal index per user so searches are scoped to only the notebooks the user has access to.

In order to partake in the Beta program, you must sign up so your notebooks can be indexed. It could take up to 2 hours for your notebooks to get picked up by the indexer. You can head over here to sign up for the program. (click the purple Sign Up button)

Microsoft plans to add support for searching across notebooks shared with the user in a future update to the API, as well as the ability to scope search queries to a particular notebook, added support for page last modified time, and relevance/ranking improvements.

Give the Beta a try and let us know how you like it!

OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage solution for consumers, OneDrive for Business is their cloud storage solution for businesses. While the two are similar, they both have very different beginnings but have been united under one similar brand. Even though the two services are different technically, Microsoft is simplifying their OneDrive story to include unlimited storage across the board.

Now businesses who have subscribed to Office 365 ProPlus will have OneDrive for Business included in their plan. Previously ProPlus didn’t include OneDrive for Business because the plan was mostly focused on the Office programs and not the online services. Microsoft must have seen how even if people use the Office programs and don’t use Office Online, having syncing between devices is a great feature. OneDrive for Business can sync documents between computers so users no longer have to save the file to an online service then switch computers and go download it.

OneDrive for Business is a great solution for companies of any size to store files for access anywhere. In addition to making OneDrive for Business available to ProPlus customers, Microsoft is also planning on increasing the storage to unlimited cloud storage. This means that every user can store all their files online for access, backup, or sharing.

Offering OneDrive for Business to more customers free of charge is a good move for Microsoft. This means more companies are putting documents on the cloud and becoming more comfortable with file storage off the premises of the business. More customers becoming comfortable with the cloud could mean more of them sign up for Microsoft’s other cloud services like Yammer, Azure, and OWA.

Earlier this week, Microsoft released a preview of Visual Studio 2015, along with a free version of Visual Studio. Developers can now rejoice as Microsoft has also introduced a new Blend experience. Blend for Visual Studio 2015 features a better development experience for creating beautiful XAML apps.

Blend for Visual Studio 2015 features a sleek new dark look that matches Visual Studio 2015, for an improved workflow between the two products. Both these products work hand-in-hand when developing XAML apps.

The new Blend experience features a consistent user interface that matches Visual Studio, XAML IntelliSense, basic debugging capabilities, file reload experience, Team Explorer, the ability to manage NuGet packages, better accessibility, and much more.

Here is a breakdown of all the new features in Blend for Visual Studio 2015, which you can use by installing the preview of Visual Studio 2015:

• Consistent user interface with Visual Studio: You can design your applications within the familiar context of the Visual Studio user interface, which makes switching to and from Visual Studio a more pleasant and productive experience. Blend also includes an exclusive new Dark theme that helps you focus on the content you are designing by improving the contrast between your content and the Blend user interface.
• XAML IntelliSense: Blend supports all of the common capabilities you would expect from IntelliSense including statement completion, support for common editor operations like commenting and formatting code, and navigation to resources, binding, and code.
• Basic debugging capabilities: You can now debug in Blend, including setting breakpoints in your code to debug your running app. To maintain a consistent debugging experience with Visual Studio, Blend includes Visual Studio’s debugging windows and toolbars.
• Peek in XAML: Peek in XAML allows you to view and edit XAML controls and resources within the context in which they are used. You can even browse through a series of XAML declarations without leaving the original XAML file. Furthermore, you can do in-place editing of style and templates within the document that consumes them using Peek in XAML.
• File reload experience: You can edit your XAML files in either Blend or Visual Studio, and have your edited files reload automatically as you switch between them. To minimize workflow interruptions, you can now set your file reload preferences in the file reload dialog.
• Synchronized Layouts and Settings: Custom layouts enable you to save and apply tool window layout customizations. Blend will synchronize these customizations and preferences across machines once you sign into the IDE with the same Microsoft account.
• A common Solution Explorer: The Solution Explorer provides you with an organized view of your projects and their files, as well as ready access to the commands associated with them. With Solution Explorer, it is easier to work with big enterprise projects. In addition, all of the project capabilities that were missing in Blend are now available, including support for Solution folders and the ability to change build configurations.
• Team Explorer: With Team Explorer you can manage your projects with GIT or TFS repositories to facilitate team collaboration.
• NuGet: You can manage NuGet packages in Blend. NuGet is a package manager for the .NET Framework that simplifies the installation and removal of packages from a solution.
• Better accessibility: You can use your keyboard and screen reader software to interact with several areas of the Blend user interface, including top level menus, solution explorer, and team explorer. 
• HTML Design Support. In Visual Studio 2015, Microsoft is focusing on better code, editing, and debugging experiences for HTML app developers. 
• SketchFlow. Blend for Visual Studio 2015 will not support SketchFlow projects. 

Microsoft’s recent moves and drastic changes, which resulted in strong quarterly earnings, has earned it the rank of second most valuable company, right behind Apple. The company saw its market value increase and reach $410 billion yesterday, which was enough to surpass Exxon Mobil, the previous holder of the second-most valuable company.

The company saw its stock value increase more than 30 percent in the last year, as it underwent a series of changes. Under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella, the company has made several dramatic moves. In addition to making its productivity suite Office available for free on rival platforms, the company also announced the layoffs affecting 18,000 employees, and chopped Nokia’s ambitious Android lineup. Earlier this month, the company also launched its first smartphone Microsoft Lumia 535, and an Android emulator for Visual Studio.

The company’s share rose to hit $50.04 yesterday, its highest point since early 2000, giving it a market capitalization of $410.5 billion. Exxon Mobil shares are now valued at $94.90, giving it a market capitalization of $401.9 billion. Apple maintains its title of being world’s most valuable company with a market capitalization of about $662 billion.

Update: Apparently, AMD made ‘speculative comments’ regarding Windows 7 and DirectX 12. You can read the original story below.

Microsoft’s DirectX set of low-level graphics API’s has defined gaming and rendering-heavy applications in Windows ever since its introduction in Windows 95. It enabled high-performance multimedia to run on PC’s for the first time.

Every major release of Windows has since been accompanied by a new version of the API, but Microsoft has recently made it a habit of backporting DirectX to older versions of Windows. We saw this happen first when Microsoft released DX11 – once a Windows 7 exclusive – back to Windows Vista via a Service Pack. Although, back at Build 2014, Microsoft said that it would backport DX12 that will release alongside Windows 10 two generations back all the way to Windows 7. It seems those plans have since changed.

According to AMD’s Richard Huddy, who is the company’s Chief Gaming Scientist, DirectX 12 will not be coming to Windows 7. In an announcement, Huddy made during a presentation at PDXLAN, he said:

“52 percent of all people who use Microsoft operating systems these days are still using Windows 7, and that number is going up. It’s a very very popular operating system and one thing that’s not going to happen to it is DX12, DX 12 is not coming to Windows 7″.

It seems DirectX 12 will only be available to those running Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, so if the API lives up to its name, and game developers make full use of it, this may finally be reason enough for gamers to upgrade from Windows 7.

Microsoft has yet to confirm Huddy’s comments and since DirectX 12 is still a long way to completion, plans may change between now and launch day. The good news is that DX12 will still be supported by all NVIDIA Fermi-based GPUs (GeForce 600 series) and up, AMD Graphics Core Next-based GPUs (Radeon HD 7000 series) and up, and Intel Haswell IGP’s and up, so hardware compatibility is still strong.

Microsoft has opened up the registration process for testers to preview the new Skype Translator feature, which was demoed earlier this year by Microsoft. For those who don’t know what the Skype Translator is, it’s a new feature coming to Skype which allows you to chat with people who speak entirely different languages in real time.

The preview is limited, so make sure you register for a spot on the list as soon as possible. The preview is only being conducted on devices running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 right now, and only a certain amount of languages will be available at first.

There’s no ETA on when the preview will begin yet, so stick around for more regarding the Skype Translator. Check out the video below, and click here to begin the sign up process. The video is something very special indeed, real-time translation is a new breakthrough in technology, and it’s coming to Skype soon!

Microsoft recently announced that they have sold almost 10 million Xbox One consoles to retailers since its launch almost a year ago. Most of the progress is attributed to the price reduction for the console — the Kinect-free console — as well as exclusive new games and bundles which were introduced in the past few weeks. 

Microsoft even offered a $50 discount on Xbox One for the holiday season, making it an even better choice for gamers in the US. To kick things off even more, Microsoft introduced the latest in the Halo franchise a few days back, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, as well as some other popular titles such as Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Sunset Overdrive (and the white console), and more. 

Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi further mentioned that Xbox One sales have tripled since November 2nd in the US after Microsoft reduced the price of the console by $50 for a limited time period. 

“The response to this wave of blockbuster game releases and new bundles has been amazing, and sales have skyrocketed since the new price took effect on Nov. 2. Compared to the previous week, Xbox One sales in the US have more than tripled, which is exciting as more and more friends will be playing together this holiday,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Devices and Studios. “As we head into the busy holiday season Xbox One led generation 8 console sales in the US for the past two weeks.  Shortly, we will have sold in to retailers more than 10 million Xbox One consoles.”

Furthermore, it’s definitely a good news for the software giant, but selling units to retailers is quite different than selling them to consumers. Sony’s PlayStation 4 has consistently outsold the Xbox One in the past few months, but things may turn out to be different in the coming weeks as Microsoft has taken measures to attract more customers.

Microsoft has officially begun pushing out a new preview build for Windows Insiders running the Windows Technical Preview. The new build, being build 9879 includes yet even more fixes and changes to the operating system over the last publicly available build, which was 9860. Microsoft has listed a few of the important updates, so let’s get started.

There are a whole heap of new changes in this build. The basic ones being options to remove the Task View and Search buttons from the taskbar, and the charms ‘button’ in Modern UI windowed apps has changed from three dots to the hamburger menu.

More changes include Modern UI popups being in a window too now, which is awesome for desktop users. Improvements to the home tab within File Explorer are also apparent, and OneDrive gets a tonne of new options too. You can now turn off OneDrive on Startup, plus a number of other options for the service.

There’s a few new icons and a whole number of other changes and features which you’ll have to find yourself. Make sure you check out the source link for the complete change log from Microsoft.

The build is being pushed out right now, so get downloading! To do so, open the PC settings app, navigate to Update and recovery > Preview builds > check for updates. Make sure you’re in the fast ring to get the update.

Microsoft has just announced that Windows 10 build 9879 will be the next preview build for Windows Insiders, which means we can expect the build get pushed out to the Technical Preview within the next hour or so. We recommend you start checking for updates now via the PC Settings app.

Windows 10 build 9879 has been covered thanks to a number of screenshot leaks which happened previously. From the screenshots, we know that a number of small changes are coming, such as the option to remove the Task View and Search buttons as well as improvements to the Home tab in File Explorer.

We’re sure Microsoft will post a more in-depth change log as the build starts reaching people, so stay tuned to WinBeta for that. Also, keep an eye on us as we’ll be posting our hands on video of the build very soon.

We’ve covered the use of Microsoft’s line of Surface devices in education, aviation, and a range of other industries in great depth. The devices have been very well received by enterprises around the world thanks to their hybrid nature of offering laptop-level performance in a thin and light tablet form factor.

Industrial design and manufacturing businesses also seem to be enjoying and appreciating what the Surface Pro line has to offer, in making the jobs of their employees more convenient, thus making the companies more productive in their day-to-day operations.

Trlby Innovative is one such company where its industrial designers now have a powerful tool that can run full-fledged Windows applications like Siemens Solid Edge, while carrying their work with them wherever they are; be it at home, at the office, on the shop floor, or with customers. The flexibility that the Surface Pro offers is a game-changer, as employees can view and edit complex designs with thousands of components on the fly — no restrictions.

As for manufacturing businesses like CheerPack North America, a division of the CDF Corporation that manufactures flexible liquid packaging for the chemical, petrochemical, cosmetic, and food and beverage industries, the Surface Pro also helps them work faster in an environment where peak efficiency is a crucial factor.

“By being able to answer questions from customer service or sales quicker, a warehouse coordinator can get answers to the customers quicker,” says IT manager Alex Ivkovic. “Manufacturing is able to get access to the parts they need in a timely manner and keep manufacturing flowing. It has increased overall efficiency in the warehouse.”

Microsoft’s Surface devices once again prove how well they increase productivity and efficiency in enterprises, large and small. In many of such organizations, spanning across a range of different industries, where there is a need for computing, Surface will fit right in.

Microsoft has released a new version of their popular IDE called Visual Studio Community 2013 for free. Visual Studio Community 2013 is a fully featured and extensible developer environment which can be used by individuals to develop for desktop, mobile, web or server. This new version enables more people to get up and running with a great professional grade tool without the cost.

Releasing one of their most popular tools for free is an interesting move by Microsoft. This new Visual Studio isn’t a stripped down demo version either; it is the real deal. So how does Microsoft continue to make money if they give their software away for free? The same way they always have, enterprise and scale. Visual Studio Community 2013 is free for individuals but companies still have to pay.

In addition to a new free version of Visual Studio, Microsoft has opened their Visual Studio Online developer tools free for their basic package of up to 5 team members. This makes developing with friends easier by sharing code via the cloud and tracking project planning. So why would Microsoft be giving these tools away for free? The new developer model is apps. These apps are simple and can be written by one person or a small team, but most popular apps need a backend to run their services on. This backend is where Microsoft is looking to make money, and Microsoft offers a free trial (note only a free trial) for any user.

Hosting the backend of apps on Azure is easy with Visual Studio Community 2013. Offering free tools to plan and share code with a team with Visual Studio Online brings small teams of developers closer to Microsoft and brings Microsoft into the new fast moving world of app development. While Microsoft is late to the game when it comes to supporting the new development environment, it’s better late than never. Now new and old developers can leverage free tools from Microsoft to deliver powerful and scalable solutions in many forms.

With Patch Tuesday taking place yesterday, Microsoft fixed a security bug which affected versions of Windows all the way back to Windows 95. This bug left secure sockets open for hackers to potentially steal data or run malicious code. While every version of Windows does have this bug, it cannot be leveraged unless the user is using software which is listening on a secure port. Regardless if you believe your computer to be at risk, everyone should apply the patch from Microsoft.

Windows has a layer of security called the Microsoft secure channel. This is the code which Windows uses to leverage SSL and TLS which are security protocols. Since the vulnerability resides above the SSL and TLS layers Windows will be open for attack even though SSL and TLS improves. Microsoft has fixed this issue now and hopefully fixed any other flaws which resided in the same stack.

If you just use your computer for accessing content via a web browser or Modern Apps then you should be safe. This bug affects systems which are running software which is listening on ports for connections, like a web server. Highly vulnerable systems are Windows Servers which are continuously making connections and usually always connected to the internet. However, no matter what, all Windows users should apply this fix from Microsoft. Even if you don’t use any port listening applications, it is important that your system is secure for potential future use or resell.

We’ve detailed in the past how Microsoft is revolutionizing the classroom in K-12, college and university institutions with their proven Office and Office 365 productivity suites and hardware such as the Surface and Perceptive Pixel devices. The company is no stranger to the education industry, but a problem lies in teachers’ awareness levels of Microsoft’s available solutions.

In the US, Microsoft offers both its full Office suite and its Office 365 cloud-based equivalent to teachers and students for considerable discounts and even for free in some cases, but students and teachers don’t always know about this. So Microsoft set out to make it as simple as can be to find out.

“Millions of teachers and students are already eligible through their school to utilize the advanced editing and collaboration capabilities, unlimited OneDrive storage and Dropbox integration of an Office 365 subscription and may not realize it.”

Starting today, all teachers in US-based educational institution would have to do is to head over to www.office.com/teachers and enter their school-provided email address to see if they are eligible for a free subscription to Office 365 Education. Likewise, students can do the same by navigating to www.office.com/getoffice365.

Office 365 Education includes the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access and Publisher, in addition to 1TB of OneDrive storage with unlimited storage coming soon. The subscription can be used on up to 5 PCs or Macs and can take advantage of Office Online and the Office mobile apps for Windows, Android and iOS, so it’s got students and teachers completely covered.

While Microsoft currently offers Office 365 University with a 4-year subscription for only $79.99, students enrolled at qualifying schools can get Office 365 Education for nothing at all, absolutely free. So it’s definitely worth checking for eligibility if you’re in the US. Microsoft has also mentioned that the self-sign up process for both students and teachers will be rolling out to global markets later this year.

Internet has become a necessity. But not everyone has access to it just yet. Take developing countries for example, where lots of places still don’t have the infrastructure to facilitate internet connectivity. Major tech giants including Facebook and Mozilla are now trying to get those people plugged into the web. The latest to join the club is Microsoft, which wants more people in India to connect to the internet.

One of the major issues in getting internet to the rural areas is the scarcity of infrastructure. That’s where Microsoft’s plan looks promising. The company wants to use the abundant and readily available TV spectrum to beam the data. It plans to tap the ‘white space’, otherwise known as unused spectrum, to bring connectivity across the country.

Microsoft India chairman Bhaskar Pramanik explained the benefits of using TV spectrum for beaming connectivity. “Wi-Fi has a range of only about 100 metres, whereas the 200-300 MHz spectrum band available in the white space can reach up to 10 km. This spectrum belongs mainly to Doordarshan (Indian public broadcaster) and the government and is not used at all. We have sought clearance for a pilot project in two districts.”

The company will first test drive the project in two districts, and if the results come promising, it will take the initiative further. If it succeeds, Microsoft will help Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India program of getting more people connected to the web.

Today marks the 31st birthday of Windows 1.0. On November 10, 1983, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates unveiled Windows 1.0 to the world. This operating system required only two floppy disks and 192KB of RAM in order to function. Windows 1.0 would ship to consumers for $99 only two years later after its unveiling.

Windows 1.0 wanted to change the way we used computers, during a time when most computers were text based. Windows 1.0 had a graphical user interface, which was a radical shift from the norm, and was met with a lot of hesitation from users and critics (sound familiar?).

Windows 1.0 came with several programs which we still use to this day — including Calculator, Calendar, Clipboard Viewer, Clock, Notepad, Paint, Reversi, Cardfile, Terminal, and Write. Windows 1.0 had an amazing interface at the time, having all windows tiled, rather than overlapping. This meant only dialog boxes could appear over other windows.

“Rather than typing MS‑DOS commands, you just move a mouse to point and click your way through screens, or ‘windows.’ Bill Gates says, ‘It is unique software designed for the serious PC user.’” Take a look at a promo below showcasing Steve Ballmer and Windows 1.0.

Back in 1983, Windows 1.0 had mixed reactions from consumers. Critics were saying the platform had potential but did not fulfill expectations. In fact, Windows 1.0 was said to be demanding when it came to system requirements and offered poor performance when running multiple applications at once. Windows 1.0 also encouraged the use of a mouse for navigation, which was something new at the time. 

Windows 1.0 was trying to sell a new concept to the world — the graphical user interface. During this time, only Apple had made somewhat an impact with that environment. Interestingly enough, Microsoft wanted to make an impact in the tablet/touch space with Windows 8 to take on Apple’s iPad, but faced a lot of criticism with the operating system.

Did you know that Microsoft wanted to call it ‘Interface Manager’ but changed the name to Windows 1.0 at the last very second? “Interface Manager is the code name and is considered as the final name, but Windows prevails because it best describes the boxes or computing “windows” that are fundamental to the new system. Windows is announced in 1983, but it takes a while to develop. Skeptics called it vaporware,” Microsoft explains.

Take a trip down memory lane and take a look at the controversial Windows 1.0 in the video below. Happy 31st Birthday Windows 1.0!

This past week has been quite informative in terms of Windows 10 news. In case you missed anything, we are going to go over the past week in a feature we like to call ‘Windows 10 news recap.’

New screenshots were leaked this past week of an internal build of Windows 10, revealing a number of new changes and additions to the operating system which we can expect to see in the next public build of the Windows Technical Preview. These new screenshots come from build 9879, which is a fairly recent build.

In this build, you can simply right-click on the taskbar and hide the Search and Task View buttons on the taskbar. You can also pin things to the Home area of File Explorer, and the Modern UI app settings menu available in the top left has changed from three dots to the familiar hamburger-style button. It still functions the same, but it now has a more universal look to it.

According to our sources, newer builds of Windows 10 now feature complete and smoother window animations. In other words, the new window animations are far more polished than before.

The Notification Center has also seen some updates, as the button on the taskbar where the Notification Center would usually sit has moved over next to the tray clock. WinBeta also understands that Microsoft is working on improvements to the actual Notification Center itself, perhaps introducing the inevitable action center, however we cannot confirm whether said feature will arrive in the next preview, but it’s definitely coming.

Earlier this week, Microsoft detailed a few of the ways in which Windows 10 has been optimized to make it easier for enterprises to manage devices; this includes new identity and device management options such as Microsoft Active Directory and Azure Active Directory, where connected devices allow users to login to Windows and use a singular ID to access business apps and resources.

Microsoft has expanded on the introduction of Mobile Device Management (MDM) in Windows 8.1 that were focused on the management of a BYOD environment. In Windows 10, that management system can now manage corporate-owned devices too, including the support to configure Enterprise Data Protection policies, multiple user management, Windows Store filter control, VPNs, and a lot more.

Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program for Windows 10 is currently under way and for those of you who are testing Windows 10, Microsoft is offering you a gift. But don’t get too excited, the gift comes in the form of ‘fun desktop backgrounds’ for your customization pleasure. You can check out the wallpapers here.

We learned earlier this week that Dell’s customers are happy with what they are seeing when it comes to Windows 10. Initial impressions of Microsoft’s new operating system are positive, as Dell’s customers are happy that it bridges some of the gaps present in Windows 8.1.

Microsoft is set to issue four new security patches this coming Patch Tuesday for users running the Windows 10 Technical Preview. The updates, which are set to enhance security of the operating system will be pushed out via Windows Update, and included is an update to the Windows Malicious Removal Tool. Patch Tuesday for November takes place on the 11th.

Windows 10 is also set to come with out-of-the-box support for two media formats — MKV and HEVC. MKV, for those that did not know, is a flexible and open standard video file format that has quickly become the preferred file extension for high definition video. High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), on the other hand, is a video compression standard and is a successor to H.264 or Advanced Video Coding (AVC).

That’s all for this edition of ‘Windows 10 news recap.’ You can stay on top of WinBeta’s non-stop coverage of Windows 10 by checking out our dedicated page here.

New screenshots leaked today of an internal build of Windows 10 has revealed a number of new changes and additions to the operating system which we can expect to see in the next public build of the Windows Technical Preview. These new screenshots come from build 9879, which is a fairly recent build.

Build 9879 was compiled around November 2nd, and includes a number of small improvements over the last public Technical Preview build being 9860. According to the screenshots published by IThome, Microsoft is fine tuning certain elements of the UI, as well as adding more options for the user.

One option which users have requested is the ability to hide the Search and Task View buttons on the taskbar. In build 9879, you now have that ability by right clicking the taskbar. The Home area in File Explorer has also seen some additional changes, now with the ability to pin things to the Home area.

IE11 now has the feedback smilys in the top right hand corner of the window, which allows for submitting feedback directly from IE about IE. In Modern UI apps, the charms bar button drop down menu available in the top left has changed from three dots to the familiar hamburger-style button. It still functions the same, but it now has a more universal look to it.

There are a few smaller changes in this build too, which is to be expected as Microsoft is constantly adding and improving things. Build 9879 isn’t expected to reach the public as it isn’t labeled as a low flight build, however considering the stability of the most recent builds (being 988x), it’s likely that we’ll see a new public preview build very soon.

We have been patiently waiting for a smartwatch-style device compatible with Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. After listening to the rumor mill for the past year, Microsoft has finally unleashed the Band, a device that is aimed at health and fitness. Luckily, the Band also acts as a basic watch and serves up notifications for your email, calendar, messages, and more.

The Band is a bit hard to find at the moment due to the fact that Microsoft is experiencing higher sales than expected. However, before you head out and plop down $200 of your hard earned cash, here are five things you should know about the Microsoft Band.

Voice assistance is only available on Windows Phone.

By now you have probably watched the commercial for Microsoft’s Band and have seen voice assistance in action. At first, we were unsure if Cortana would be bundled into the watch or the system would access a respective voice assistant via your Windows Phone, iOS, or Android device.

The answer is that you need a Windows Phone to use Cortana. If you want to check information on the fly with your voice, you are going to need a Windows Phone. Pairing the Microsoft Band will not give you access to Siri or Google Now. That being said, if you are picking up the Band, you are probably a Windows Phone fan to start.

You wear the screen on the inside of your wrist.

Almost every promotional photograph shows users wearing the Band on the insides of their wrists, and yes, that is how it is meant to be worn. The Band is obviously not glued to your wrist, so you can wear it the other way around, but you will be losing out.

First, the Band’s heart rate monitor was placed on the opposite end of the watch, so that when you wear the device, the sensor sits underneath the back of your palm. If you reverse the watch, heart rate readings can become unreliable. Second, the band itself is a bit rigid and doesn’t sit as comfortable when worn the other way around.

Note that we have heard complaints the screen can be a bit easy to scratch, and since it will be face down on the table when you are sitting, you might want to consider picking up a screen protector.

The Band is compatible with other services.

Thanks to Microsoft’s applications and its partnerships with other companies, the Band is third party ready. Users can easily sync their results to myFitnessPal and RunKeeper. Support for MapMyFitness is coming soon, and Gold’s Gym currently supports the hardware.

Starbucks has also signed up, so you can easily pay for your Starbucks order with your watch, and let me tell you – there is nothing more that makes you feel like you are in the future.

Notifications are available to keep you informed and healthy.

As we mentioned, notifications are available to keep you on the go. Users can receive text messages, incoming calls, emails, calendar updates, and all other push notifications on their wrists. It is worth pointing out that text message replying from the Band does not work with iOS devices due to the locked down nature of the platform.

Health gurus can also take advantage of the unit’s sleep notifications, guided workouts, and 24-hour heart rate tracking. The Band can even measure the UV index, so you can stay protected against the sun before going out on a run (super cool).

The battery life is good, but not what Microsoft promised.

I currently wear a Samsung Galaxy Gear Live device on my wrist and it hardly lasts an entire day. The Microsoft band originally promised to deliver up to 48 hours of “normal use”, but testers are finding the watch lasts only around 24-36 hours in real world usage.

What does this mean? It means that the Band is most likely not going to reach 48 hours of battery life, while on your wrist, but it stills delivers damn good performance. Just be sure to charge your Band when you head to sleep each night and it will become part of your nightly ritual (unless you care about the sleep tracker functionality, then charge it while you are awake).

You can check out the Microsoft Band using the VIA link below.

Routine tasks such as walking from your home to the store is simple enough for most people; you swiftly move down the steps to the curb, you hop over and navigate your way around the remnant puddles from last night’s downpour, taking all the right turns as you make your way to the store and excusing yourself as you pass through a crowd of people at the entrance. Now imagine accomplishing that if you were one of the millions of people around the world who are visually impaired.

That’s where Microsoft’s 3D soundscape technology comes in. The solution works using a combination of a Windows Phone, a pair of bone-conducting headphones which sit just behind the cheek bone and transmit sound directly into ones inner ear, leaving the ears open to capture environmental noises and to have conversations with, and a series of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth beacons placed among a “boosted route” in a city.

The beacons work to provide both the smartphone and the headphones information including GPS turn-by-turn instructions as well as store location information, bus arrivals and more. Even after you’ve reached the store, sensors inside will help you traverse the aisles, and product barcodes can be scanned to get all its details read out to the user.

“[the technology is] an audio-rich experience in which the headset, smartphone and indoor and outdoor beacons all work together to enhance the mobility, confidence and independence of people with vision loss.” – Jennifer Warnick, Lead Writer at Microsoft

Microsoft has worked with a number of organizations in the United Kingdom to bring this early prototype to reality including the Guide Dogs charity, Network Rail, Reading Buses, Future Cities Catapult, the Reading Borough Council and Tesco. As the technology matures and more partners join, Microsoft’s 3D soundscape technology could be implemented in major cities around the world, making navigation for the visually impaired a lot more convenient.