Back in December 2022, Microsoft released the commercial version of its artificial intelligence-powered Copilot platform for developers at $19 per month which leverages open-source code to help developers create quick reference code for a plethora of projects.

Yesterday, Google announced its latest partnership with Replit Inc. to create its own GitHub Copilot-like platform to also deliver AI-infused code to developers.

The details of both Microsoft and Google’s business models are a bit different, but look to deliver similar outputs for developers.

Google and Replit revealed that it will leverage a customized version of Google’s new language-generation AI to power its flagship Ghostwritter app. While a select number of testing consumers are getting their hands on Google’s Bard AI chat bot powered by the company’s newest LLM models, Google’ Cloud vice president June Yang alluded to a more customized language-generation AI for Replit’s purposes that will host a combination of different systems to address a multitude of developer tasks.

Roughly for the past seven years Replit has used its own AI to host its 20 million Ghostwriter customers and more than 240 million projects, but soon it will have the power of Google’s new AI to help win over larger enterprise contracts as Google will also use its own channels to distribute the platform to its partners.

Under the new partnership, Replit developers will get access to Google Cloud infrastructure, services, and foundation models via Ghostwriter, Replit’s software development AI, while Google Cloud and Workspace developers will get access to Replit’s collaborative code editing platform.

Inversely, Microsoft owns GitHub and sought a partnership with OpenAI back in 2020 to create a collaborative AI-led developer platform.

While Microsoft offers commercial Copilot plans for developers at $19 a month to leverage the vast library of GitHub open-source code, it is unclear at this point what how Replit and Google plan to structure their own monetization model around an upgraded Ghostwriter platform.

Microsoft has released a non-security update for Windows 11 22H2 with build 22621.1485 (KB5023778). The update, which follows the updated cadence of releasing security updates on the second Tuesday of the month and non-security updates like this one on the fourth Tuesday, makes one notable upcoming change, adding notifications (some would say “ads”) to the Start Menu:

New!This update introduces notifications for Microsoft accounts in the Start menu. This is only available to a small audience right now. It will deploy more broadly in the coming months. Some devices might notice different visual treatments as we gather feedback. See the example below.

22621.1485 also makes a change we’ve seen in recent Windows Insider updates, changing the search box on the taskbar to a lighter color when you use a custom color combination:

• New!The search box on the taskbar will be lighter when you set Windows to a custom color mode. This will occur when you set the Windows mode to dark and the app mode to light in Settings > Personalization > Colors.

The update also includes a number of issues addressed, as well as a long list of improvements. You can check out the Microsoft Support post for all the details.

To install this update, “Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. In the Optional updates available area, you’ll find the link to download and install the update.”

We are edging closer to the end of this month and as usual, Microsoft has released a comprehensive list of new features that made it to Microsoft Excel in March. We’ve already recapped February’s features in a separate post, here’s everything new in Excel this month:

Excel for the web

Unwanted formatted cells are a menace in workbooks since they negatively impact the user’s productivity. However, Excel now ships with a new capability that automatically detects these unwanted formatted cells. It then suggests launching Check Performance.

Next up, users no longer need to seek assistance from external sources whenever they need help writing formulas. With Formula Argument Assistance, you can confidently write formulas without having to worry about them being eroneous.

Additionally, Microsoft has incorporated Drag & Drop in Queries Pane into Microsoft Excel. The addition will make it easier for users to organize queries by either moving them between folders or sorting them out.

Excel for Windows

Microsoft is making Excel on Windows safe by adding an extra layer of protection to your sheets. Block untrusted XLL Add-Ins are designed to protect you from attacks coming through XLL add-ins. Most attackers leverage the add-in to spread malware to unsuspecting users.

And finally, both Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac users can now delegate duties within Microsoft Excel and Word easily with the new Assign a Task with @mentions feature. What’s more, users will get an email notification immediately after a task is assigned to them.

That’s everything for this month folks, we also invite you to check out our weekly recap post where we highlight some of the new features announced as coming to Microsoft 365.

Be sure to check out Microsoft’s blog post for more details on everything added to Microsoft Excel this month, and let us know which feature fascinates you most in the comments.

Germany has set its sights on Microsoft as it opens proceedings to determine if Microsoft’s business in the country can be subject to special abuse measures, aka the German Competition Act, due to the company’s sprawling digital ecosystem.

President of the Bundeskartellamt, Andreas Mundt addressed German’s preliminary investigative probe into Microsoft with the following,

With Windows and its Office products Microsoft has had a long-standing and very strong position with regard to operating systems and office software. Based on this, the company has continuously expanded its product range both for business customers and consumers. More recently, we have seen a strong increase in the importance of the cloud services Azure and OneDrive, which are often linked to other Microsoft applications, and the resounding success of Teams, a software for video conferences and collaborative working. In addition, Microsoft is also active in other areas, including gaming with its Xbox, career networks with its service LinkedIn or internet searching with its search engine Bing. Most recently, the company has attracted attention with the integration of AI applications. In light of this, there are good reasons to examine whether Microsoft is of paramount significance for competition across markets. Such a finding would allow us to take action at an early stage and prohibit possible anti-competitive practices.

It’s unclear at this time if Mundt is flexing some of the newly imbued powers given to the FCO to go after more antitrust cases but there are reviews of Apple, Amazon, Google and Meta currently underway as well.

It should be noted that the FCO is taking the formal step of investigating Microsoft but not actually filing an antitrust claim against the company, and will most likely consult with the European Commission and other regulatory bodies in the region before issuing any official antitrust complaint.

Today’s decision to initiate a proceeding does not yet entail a proceeding to assess specific practices employed by Microsoft. If complaints or other information suggest that there are indications of Microsoft engaging in potentially anti-competitive practices, a separate decision will have to be issued in this matter – also in consultation with the European Commission and possibly other competition authorities.

It’s also unclear what Microsoft has done specifically that may have sparked the FCO’s investigation into the company, but some speculate that it could involve the almost yearlong Activision Blizzard buyout or rumors of the company already applying a heavy hand in regards to data restrictions on 3rd parties looking to jump into the AI chatbot field recently.

Whatever the reason, Microsoft joins several other big names under the FCO microscope and with as many moving parts as it has currently, a formal complaint could become an inevitability.

We’re on the verge of concluding the month of March, and it’s during this time when Microsoft gives up a round-up of everything new. This time it’s for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Devices.

Microsoft Teams Rooms continues to provide users with simple and easy-to-use meeting rooms that feature “innovative new solutions for inclusive collaboration, with audio and video that gave everyone a voice.” And with these new additions, Microsoft continues to build on this premise with the aim of enhancing the user experience.

Ultimately, helping satisfy the ever-growing hybrid meeting needs while simultaneously providing simple solutions. Here’s everything you need to know:

Teams runs natively on Cisco

Building on Microsoft’s goal to have multiple avenues through which users can join meetings and collaborate together, native Microsoft Teams Rooms is now accessible on Cisco meeting devices. “The new Cisco Board Pro, available in 55-inch and 75-inch sizes, are among the first Cisco devices certified for Teams,” says Microsoft.

Now, users with Cisco devices certified for Teams can easily connect from a native Teams Meeting to a Webex meeting, What’s more, they also have the alternative of setting Microsoft Teams Rooms as the default experience.

Team displays are now easier to use

Users can now manipulate Teams displays with the hotdesk experience to reserve a seat in the workplace, thus allowing you to make plans in a timely manner. In turn, promoting effectiveness and efficiency.

Microsoft has plans in place to launch a new QR code sign-in experience later in the summer that will allow hotdesking users to easily access their personal Teams account by simply scanning the QR code on the Teams display, then using the Teams app on their mobile devices to sign in faster.

Therefore, you no longer have to enter your details manually into the device which saves you a lot of time.

Teams meeting experiences expand to Windows and Android

Microsoft has laid out its plans to expand the availability of Teams meeting experiences across both Windows and Android with the aim of providing users with more consistency as well as functionality. Surface Hub is slated to join Teams Rooms later this year, marking the first touch-enabled board running Teams Rooms on Windows.

Microsoft device ecosystem platform

The platform is designed to unify the best experiences from both Microsoft and Android that’s curated specifically for shared spaces and optimized for Microsoft Teams devices. It’s built on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which provides security, reliability, management, and easy deployment.

“The Microsoft device ecosystem platform delivers class-leading security tailored for shared spaces and features a class-leading collection of security and tamper resistance features including secure and verified boot, anti-rollback, access-controlled security policies, partition Logical Unit Number (LUN) locking, and data at rest encryption,” Microsoft states in the Tech Community blog post.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2

Microsoft has also announced that it will be further enhancing Team Room’s endpoint security for Teams Rooms Pro to ensure that the meeting experience is secure at all times. The company intends to integrate Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 into the Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro license and the Pro Management Portal by the end of Q2 2023, thus making the experience better and more secure.

This means users will no longer have to incur an additional cost while seeking other security services since it has now been incorporated into the experience making it more seamless. The feature will be included automatically for those with existing licenses, and it will also be incorporated into new Teams Rooms Pro licenses.

Teams Rooms on Windows devices gets new UI

Microsoft has also announced its plans to revamp Teams Rooms’ user interface on Windows this month. The redesign will feature five beautiful new themes, more intuitive messages, a homepage and function screen design refresh as well as the ability to customize unique themes that align with your organization’s brand. The redesign will be consistent across Android and Windows devices.

Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android updates

And finally, Microsoft has incorporated a host of new capabilities for Android users such as the ability to quickly start an ad-hoc meeting with the Meet button, and even invite other participants to join from the table console.

What’s more, users will be able to join meetings using an ID. The front-row experience is also available for Teams Rooms users on Android.

That’s it for this month folks, we invite you to check out Microsoft’s blog post for more information as we only hit the key points. Be sure to also share your thoughts with us in the comments.

The Covid pandemic brought on a new era of working remotely, shaking up the traditional ways organizations functioned. Nowadays, two-thirds of businesses across the globe have adopted the hybrid work model, with the likes of Microsoft Teams taking center stage in facilitating collaboration. But with great power comes great responsibility – and, unfortunately, great opportunity for cyber attackers. Phishing and ransomware, the pesky culprits of data breaches everywhere, have extended their reach to collaboration platforms.

To tackle the problem, Microsoft has introduced the public preview of Collaboration Security for Microsoft Teams, aimed at assisting organizations in safeguarding themselves against the increasing cyber-attacks. This new feature is accessible to customers of Microsoft E5, Microsoft E5 Security, or Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

The company is adding security features, including prevention, detection, and response, to Microsoft Teams to protect customer email environments. These collaboration security capabilities will be integrated into Microsoft 365 Defender, a top-rated XDR solution that correlates signals and alerts across various domains. The move will provide customers with a comprehensive and unified SecOps experience to keep their collaboration environments secure.

Furthermore, Microsoft is expanding message protection by empowering Teams users to report potentially suspicious messages. This proactive measure triggers an alert to the security team, who can conveniently view the flagged message within the Microsoft 365 Defender portal for further scrutiny. The tech firm is also introducing Zero Auto Purge (ZAP), which analyses messages after delivery and automatically hides those containing malicious content to prevent compromising the account and safeguard end-users.

To foster knowledge, mindfulness, and threat evaluation among users of Microsoft Teams, the technology heavyweight has integrated simulation and instruction resources for potential attacks. Also, the advanced hunting capabilities of Microsoft 365 Defender are being expanded to cover Teams security, allowing users to examine up to 30 days of raw data and identify potential threats through customized searches or guided hunting workflows.

Via Microsoft 

Ubisoft has announced that it will not be attending E3 this year after all, despite previously committing to do so. In a statement to Video Games Chronicle the French publisher said,

E3 has fostered unforgettable moments across the industry throughout the years. While we initially intended to have an official E3 presence, we’ve made the subsequent decision to move in a different direction, and will be holding a Ubisoft Forward Live event on 12th June in Los Angeles. We look forward to sharing more details with our players very soon.”

The company behind such hit franchises as Assassins’ Creed, Far Cry, The Crew, Tom Clancy’s and many more, Ubisoft joins the big three—Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft—in skipping E3 2023 in favor of hosting its own event.

E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) has traditionally been the video game industry’s most prominent showcase event. However, it was canceled two out of the last three years due to the COVID pandemic, with the 2021 event being virtual only. 2023 marks the return of an in-person E3, though with so many big-name publishers dropping out the future of the expo beyond 2023 seems very much in question at this point.

Lenovo will be shipping its flagship consumer PC brands the Slim and Yoga next month with some notable upgrades that include new display technology with both software and hardware tweaks that should give customers longer battery life for content creators.

According to Lenovo’s latest press release, the Lenovo Slim Pro 9 leads the pack with a similar chassis to last year’s model but sports a new Mini-LED ‘PureSight Pro’ display and an upgraded keyboard deck. While the Slim 9 will also come with LCD configurations, the MiniLED version will most likely be the showcase device as it pushes 3K resolution alongside 165Hz refresh rate touchscreen on a 16:10 panel with up to 1200nits of brightness and Dolby Vision support.

Onboard the Slim 9i variants will be Intel 13th Gen Core processors ranging from i5 to i9 as well as GPU options from integrated Iris Xe, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 or 4070. Customers can also configure memory options by choosing from 16, 32, and 64GB LPDDR5X options.

For AMD fans the Slim 9 models will come with Ryzen R5 and R7 processors, integrated UMA GPUs or NVIDIA RTX 3050 and 4050 options. The AMD models unfortuntately do not come with MinLED screen options but instead offer three options of LCD panels that include 2.5K matte and glossy at 90Hz refresh rates or a 3K at 120Hz matte selection.

MiniLED technology also makes its way to the webcam system on the Slim 9 alongside IR, and ToF camera sensors.

Lastly, the 9i will come with a 75Whr battery that leverages Lenovo’s X-Power platform that should intelligently throttle or boost performance to help with renders and exports for content creators and sip battery for more data processor-like workflows.

The Pro 9i will come in both 14 and 16-inches this year and should hit shelves as early as May 2023 starting at $1,699.99.

Lenovo also announced that it’s bringing the more affordable version of the Slim, the Slim 7 and 7i to stores starting at soon as April, for $1,179.99.

The Slim 7 and 7i both come in 14.5-inch models and feature the same polished comfort edges as the last generation and the latest Slim 9. Similar to the Slim 9 series, series 7 will also be aided by both Intel and AMD processors and NVIDIA RTX GPUs that range from 3050 to 4050 options.

Lenovo expects its Slim 7 PCs to run cooler and for longer with a 73Whr battery onboard as well as support for Rapid Charge Express8 delivering up to three hours of battery life in 15 minutes.

Memory options top out at 16GB alongside an SSD capacity of 1TB, which should be plenty for a Slim 7 PC customer.

Last up are the flexible cousins of the Slim line up, the Yoga’s, that will come in both 14 and 16-inches this year and start at $799.99 starting next month.

For under $1,000 in the US, customers will get the same rounded polished Lenovo comfort edge design as the 9 and 7-series, similar 13th and 7000 Series Intel and AMD processors, memory configuration options that include 8 and 16GB’s, and 16:10 display panels.

The Yoga’s won’t be getting the MiniLED or ProSight treatment this year but a solid 2.8K OLED or 2.5K LCD touch screen pushing 400nits of brightness at 60Hz could be enough for most users.

Lenovo has also settled on Storm Grey being the color theme for 2023 as every model offers the same color variant alongside a Tidal Teal option as well for select devices.

According to a recent filing with the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD), Microsoft announced an additional 559 job cuts on Monday. The job cuts were made in Redmond and Bellevue, Washington, as part of the tech giant’s global plan to lay off 10,000 employees, first announced on January 18. Please note that the ESD filings only reflect job cuts made in Washington state.

The most recent iteration of restructuring has affected the SCIM units of Microsoft, which comprises the Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management department, overseen by Charlie Bell – a former executive of Amazon Web Services, as reported by GeekWire.

According to reliable sources, Business Today has learned that GitHub, an internet hosting service provider under the ownership of Microsoft, has recently laid off approximately 142 engineering positions associated with its operations in India. “A total of 142 engineers were let go at GitHub India yesterday (Monday). Laid-off employees have been given two months’ pay as severance,” a source told the outlet.

In a recent email to employees, GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke explained the rationale behind some tough decisions the company has made, including staff reductions and new budgetary measures aimed at safeguarding short-term business health and fueling long-term growth. Dohmke also highlighted the importance of accelerating the company’s integration of AI technology, citing GitHub Copilot as a prime example of success in this area.

Several individuals who identify themselves as employees of GitHub have verified the occurrence of layoffs through the social media outlet Twitter, although these appear to be separate from the India layoffs.

“I was laid off from GitHub today. Please let me know about product manager and open/inner source roles or leave me a recommendation on LinkedIn,” said one user.

I was laid off from @github today. Please let me know about product manager and open/innersource roles or leave me a recommendation on LinkedIn. ♥

Seven years is a wild ride. So long and thanks for all the fish, Mona.

— allthedoll (@allthedoll) March 27, 2023

A stripped down, modular, faster and safer Windows architecture has been a goal of Microsoft for a long time. Years ago we heard about “Project Midori,” which was supposed to be a built from the ground up modular successor to Windows, and then it was Windows Core OS, which was going to start with a core set of Windows functionality, and then add to that core, for say a lightweight notebook, or a tablet, or a full on desktop computer, with different variants having different components, but all built on the same core.

Neither of those products ever saw the light of day, but word from Zac Bowden at Windows Central is that Microsoft is trying once again, this time with “CorePC:”

The project is codenamed CorePC and is designed to be a modular and customizable variant of Windows for Microsoft to leverage different form factors with. Not all Windows PCs need the full breadth of legacy Win32 app support, and CorePC will allow Microsoft to configure “editions” of Windows with varying levels of feature and app compatibility.

The big change with CorePC versus the current shipping version of Windows is that CorePC is state separated, just like Windows Core OS. State separation enables faster updates and a more secure platform via read-only partitions that are inaccessible to the user and third-party apps, just like on iPadOS or Android.

Bowden reports that a version of Windows running only Edge, web and Android apps, and Office apps, planned to compete with Chromebooks with an OS that is “60-75% smaller than Windows 11 SE” is already in internal testing, and the plan is for CorePC to become avialable in time for Windows 12, which is widely expected to launch sometime in 2024.

Of course AI will be a big part of this next version of Windows, as Microsoft has been AI-ing all the things:

Some AI features being developed include the ability for Windows to analyse content on display and provide contextual prompts to jumpstart projects or apps based on the information that’s currently being viewed. Windows may also be able to identify objects and text within images, and allow the user to easily cut out and paste those items elsewhere. Some AI features will require dedicated hardware to function.

Microsoft has been chasing the modular, lightweight core OS idea for ever, yet the desire to continue to support legacy apps and backward compatibility have always gotten in the way for a company that relies on corporate and enterprise business. From the sounds of it, Microsoft might be closer than ever to a newer more modular Windows, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Staying on top of everything while in school can be a daunting task, from keeping track of all your assignments and announcements to making sure that you’re able to juggle extracurricular activities, that is sports and even a part-time gig.

All this to say, students struggle to remain “engaged, connected, and motivated” with information streaming in from multiple platforms simultaneously. It is easy to lose track and follow through with everything.

Microsoft has launched Microsoft Viva Connections for Education, a tool designed to provide students with a unified experience directly within Microsoft Teams to mitigate these issues.

“On average, 143 EdTech tools were used by students in the 2021-2022 school year, negatively impacting engagement, retention, and other important outcomes,” says Microsoft.

Viva Connections for Education ships with an intuitive design and easy access. What’s more, the dashboard is curated and personalized to meet the student’s needs and wants. This way, it’s easy for them to stay informed about everything going on around them.

Additionally, the tool also features customized cards for every student. The dashboard categorizes their courses, assignments, extracurricular activities, tuition payments, internship opportunities, scholarship applications, and more for easy access.

Users can opt to make use of the already pre-built cards in Viva Connections for Education while setting up or decide to customize their own based on their needs.

Moreover, you can personalize your dashboard experience further by applying your brand as well as your institution’s colors and logo to establish “a sense of continuity for students.”

Microsoft states that:

With Viva Connections for Education, you can also send targeted messages to your whole institution or subsets of students. Students can stay up to date on key news by scrolling through the Viva Connections for Education feed, helping them learn about club announcements, campus events, cafeteria menus, and more.

The same experience can also be replicated on mobile devices, allowing you to access all the information you need to get through the day while on the go.

Microsoft released a public preview of the new Teams for desktop today, and as advertised, it’s much faster than the old, admittedly slow and somewhat clunky Teams. We’ve been kicking the tires on the new experience, and have noticed some differences, some of them quite a departure from the old Teams. Let’s take a look:

Enabling Teams from the Admin Center

Here at OnMSFT.com, we’ve been using Teams and Microsoft 365 for two years at least, running on a set of Microsoft 365 Business Basic plans. With this plan we get access to Teams, Planner, Loop, Exchange, SharePoint and OneDrive, but with web access only to Office. We also have full control of Admin settings for security and compliance, Azure Active Directory (AAD), Exchange, and Teams, as well as user, roles, groups, and billing settings.

So the first thing we had to do to enable the new Teams was to do a bit of setup on the back end. If you’re already in the Teams Public Preview program, you should be all set and see some prompts to try the new Teams. If not, your Teams Administrator (in our case, me) will have to make some changes by going to the Teams Admin Center>Teams>Teams Update Policies and either add a new policy or as we did, just amend the Global (Org-wide default) policy. Open the policy, and Enable “Allow public preview” and make sure that Use new Teams client is set to “Users can choose.”

Apply the policies, and your users should get a notification that they can try out the new Teams. Once the preview is downloaded, we’ve found that it’s easier to just open the new experience by clicking on the new Teams Preview shortcut (if you don’t have Teams set to launch at startup).

Now, there are a lot of changes to Teams affecting Meetings and Calls, two important aspects of Teams that we rarely use here at OnMSFT.com. We use Teams almost exclusively as a chat client, and having used it for a couple of years we’ve developed some muscle memory.

New Chat behavior – which way to scroll?

So much so that one big (for us) change that didn’t get much play in the blog posts is that in the main chat window, posts are now organized with the most recent posts at the top. With the old slow Teams, it wasn’t uncommon to have to scroll a bit to get to the latest messages, and it took a while to realize that I was scrolling further and further back into history instead of getting to the latest messages. This isn’t necessarily a bad move, but it’s going to take some getting used to, especially as private chats are still ordered by newest at the bottom.

Pop out a thread, or immerse yourself

Back in 2020, Microsoft introduced the ability to “pop out” a chat, that is, open a private chat in a floating window, making it easier to carry on multiple chats along with keeping up with general chat threads. With the new Teams Preview, Microsoft is expanding this ability to include threads in a general chat.

Individual chats can be broken out from the main chat a couple of ways. First, by clicking on the three ellipses (…) at the top right of each thread in a main chat and selecting “Pop out conversation,” which opens the thread in a pop out window much like private chats.

But you can also open an “immersive” conversation, which singles out a thread in the main chat window, focusing solely on that thread. So far, the way we’ve found to open this experience is to click on the Activity tab (the bell) in the left hand column and choose a segment of a thread. This will open the thread in this new immersive mode. You can then close the immersive mode by clicking on “Go To Channel” at the top (or pop out the thread as before into its own window):

Lots more for Calls and Meetings

We’re admittedly not big Call or Meeting users here, but Microsoft made a number of changes to the way they work, too. Be sure to check out the Tech Community blog post for more.

One and one more thing, when you install the new Teams Preview, it creates a shortcut icon you can find in your list of apps. Pin that to Start or the Taskbar to open directly into the new Teams, once you have it enabled, saving you from having to assure Teams that yes you do want to use the new Teams each time you open the app.

What’s your favorite new feature in the new Teams Preview? Let us know in the comments below.