Earlier this year, Microsoft launched a new feature for Word on the web that lets users keep track of all the edits made to a document. Now, the company has announced some enhancements that are coming to the Track Changes feature in the Word web app.

The latest Office Insider update brings a new pop-up card functionality that makes tracking changes more manageable. “Getting feedback from your collaborators is a critical part of producing great content. The Track Changes feature has played an essential role in that process for many years. With this recent update, we’ve introduced new pop-up cards that make it easier to preview any tracked change in Word for the web before you accept or reject it,” the Office Insider team explained.

To get started, open a Microsoft Word document and click on any tracked change in Reviewing or Editing mode. Users will now see the suggested change from their colleagues in a pop-up card. Finally, hover over the buttons available at the top right corner of the pop-up card to Accept or reject the suggestion.

Microsoft says that this feature is gradually rolling out to Office Insiders, and it will be available for all web users “over the next month or so.” These improvements should be beneficial for documents with multiple collaborators who want to review each other’s changes. However, it is worth noting that users won’t be able to see the formatting changes when hovering over the Accept or Reject button on the card.

25 years ago, Mark Russinovich started Sysinternals (or more precisely NTinternals at first), a set of 3rd party tools that became essential for anyone needing to dive deeper into the inner (and sometimes undocumented) workings of Windows. For a time, Microsoft wasn’t all too happy with Russinovich’s ability to pull back the curtains on Windows, but they eventually bought Winternals in 2006, and put him to work on Windows while allowing Sysinternals to remain available.

Russinovich has since moved up in the company (he’s now Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft Azure), but Sysinternals is still alive and well, and today during a 25th anniversary celebration, he announced that the Sysinternals Suite is now available in the Microsoft Store.

You can now get the Sysinternals Suite from the Microsoft Store to always stay current with the latest updates: ms-windows-store://pdp/?productid=9P7KNL5RWT25 pic.twitter.com/gQ2s7MrOjs

— Mark Russinovich (@markrussinovich) October 14, 2021

If you find yourself needing tools like Process Explorer, DiskMon, PsExec, or Hex2dec, or even less deep diving tools like Zoomit, help celebrate Sysinternals’ 25th anniversary and download the suite of tools

And that’s not all, Russinovich also announced that SysMon, one of the most popular tools, is now available for Linux:

And it's here: Sysmon for Linux! https://t.co/aA3v8214hG

— Mark Russinovich (@markrussinovich) October 14, 2021

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

Download
QR-Code

Sysinternals Suite

Developer:
Microsoft Corporation

Price:
Free

These days it seems like content creators like bloggers or video editors might be more interested in Apple’s M1 Macs, but when it comes to folks who must have Windows machines, the XPS lineup is just as solid. I’ve already reviewed the XPS 13, the XPS 15 is also available, but the XPS 17 just sent to me by Dell for review is at the top of the top.

With a massive immersive slim-bezel 17 inch screen, options for Nvidia’s GeForce RTX graphics, and an 8-Core Intel processor, this laptop is quite unique compared to other 17-inch Windows laptops on the market (HP Envy 17, Razer Blade 17, LG Gram 17.) It also packs some serious power and has everything a content creator might want on the Windows side of things.

Specs & Price

The unit sent to us for review comes configured with an 11th Generation Intel Core i7-11800H processor. In these times, I also want to mention that It is a Windows 11 ready laptop. However, our unit came shipped to us with Windows 10 Home. Windows 11 can now be chosen at checkout on Dell.com if you do want it.

Our unit came with an RTX 3060 70W GPU sporting 6 GB of VRAM. As for physical RAM and storage, we were upgraded to 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Our 16:10 aspect ratio display was also bumped up to the 4K UHD+ (3840 x 2400) resolution touch panel. Ports are standard on all models, including 4 Thunderbolt 4 ports (2 left, 2 right,) as well as a headphone jack and full-sized SD Card slot. Dell is even kind enough to include a USB-C to HDMI/USB-A dongle in the box. Charging, meanwhile, happens via USB-C with the included 130W adapter.

Altogether, the price of our model adds up to $2,600 on Dell.com. That’s not cheap, but considering all that power, it is totally worth it. Introduction pricing starts at $1,600, but that includes a Core i5 1140H processor, integrated Intel UHD graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a standard 1920 x 1200 FHD+ display. If you want a mid-range model with RTX 3050 graphics, you can step it up to $2,099 for the Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and an FHD+ display.

Design, weight, portability

If you’ve ever seen an XPS laptop, then you know the deal. The XPS 17 is one nice-looking machine. On the outside, it has a platinum silver machined aluminum finish and on the inside, it sports a soft-to-the-touch black carbon fiber material. That interior is quite quick to pick up fingerprints, which is slightly annoying.

The side walls are also diamond cut so that they’re shiny and gleaming. There are even upwards firing speaker grills on the inside to the left and right of the keyboard.

Compared to all-aluminum Macbooks, this is something special to look at and touch. Even the Blade 17’s all-aluminum finish looks dull against the XPS.

As for weight, the XPS 17 is a heavy and big laptop. Our touch-screen model weighs in at 5.34 pounds and measures in at 14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 inches. That’s not too surprising, as 17 inch laptops have always been heavy, but this is a laptop that’s built tough. There’s no bending or flexing on the display, unlike on an LG Gram.

With the dimensions, the XPS is also 15% smaller than most 15-inch laptops on the market. Next to the 14.4 inch Surface Laptop Studio, it isn’t all that much bigger. or heavier. Dell manages to fit a 17-inch screen in a 15-inch chassis.

For weight and size comparison, the Razer Blade 17 comes in 6.06 pounds and 15.55 x 10.24 x 0.78 inches. The LG Gram 17 is the lone exception, at it weighs in at just 3 pounds (14.97 x 10.24 x 0.70 inches, but doesn’t have all the beefy internals as the other laptops we’ve mentioned.

The weight is still manageable though, and I carried the XPS 17 around from my home office to the living room and other spots around my home without breaking my back. However, I still think this is more of a studio and “desktop replacement,” laptop, so I don’t see it moving around too much as it will likely stay plugged into the wall most days.

This design is able to bring cooling to a thin form factor. Dell is using dual opposite outlet fans to improve the cooling of the system. Dell says this can improve airflow by 30% and drive air in both directions. There’s even a massive vapor chamber that spans the entire width of the laptop and hidden exhaust vents in the hinge to improve cooling.

Display

I’ve always liked XPS laptops for their displays, and the one on the XPS 17 is no exception. Coming in Dell’s signature 16:10 aspect ratio, the 3840 x 2400 UHD+ display really impresses. When changing the scaling to a lower level in Windows (mine is at 150% but the default is 250%,) this display can let you go detached from monitors.

With Infinity Edge slim bezels, there’s plenty of room for on-screen content. I stacked three Edge browsing sessions side by side by side, and my content wasn’t cut off. I even played Microsoft Flight Simulator on one side of the screen, while keeping Teams open on the other. And, when editing the weekly OnMSFT podcast in Filmora, the 17-inch screen let me see more of my editing timeline, to drag and drop content in with ease.

Sure, it might not be super fast with a 360Hz refresh rate like on the Blade 17, but when it comes to accuracy, the Dell wins out. According to my colorimeter, the XPS netted 100% sRGB, 100% AdobeRGB, and 97% DCI-P3. Even the brightness is high, coming in at over 470 nits, beating the LG Gram’s 382 nits, and the MacBook Pro’s 429 nits.

I watched some 4K nature videos on YouTube to verify those numbers, and couldn’t help but feel as though I was standing in the forest scene that appeared on my screen. This display is super immersive and is super bright. Even though there’s no OLED screen on board, as far as color accuracy goes, this is one of the best laptops out there, especially for creators who need the best colors. With HDR support, you even can use Dell’s Cinema Color and Dell PremierColor software (included) to tweak the look of the screen to content on your screen.

The added touch support also means that you can spare your mouse some clicks, especially when dealing with timelines in video-editing software. It’s something that I appreciated in my time editing the OnMSFT podcast on this machine.

Performance & battery

Thanks to the quad-core Intel Core i7 H-series processor under the hood, as well as Nvidia’s RTX 3060 (70W) GPU (6GB VRAM), paired with 32GB of RAM, the XPS 17 is something that can tackle any load you throw at it. Usually, I start by mentioning the limits of a laptop, but with the XPS 17, there are none. This laptop is desktop replacement material, and it’s built to last quite a while.

Geekbench 5 scoring can attest to that. The XPS 17 nets a total of 8,024 on the multi-core test, and 1,569 on the single-core test. That’s ahead of the listed 1,327 single-core and 3,848 on the LG Gram 17. It’s even ahead of the 1,284 and 6,559 on the Razer Blade 17.

As far as what the GPU is capable of, I would say, pretty much anything a creator might want. I edited a 1 hour and 30-minute long 1080p and 60 FPS podcast on the XPS 17, and the XPS outputted the 17GB file in an impressive 10 minutes. The CUDA cores on the RTX 3060 really help make a difference when it comes to content creation, and I don’t see why this machine can’t handle 4K video editing or anything else that’s heavy and used by other content creators.  Outside of the GPU, I even opened about 32 tabs in Edge, and the XPS didn’t freeze or glitch.

Currently editing the #OnPodcast on my latest review unit, the @DellXPS 17. It's quite the monster of machine. Chugging along nicely with this podcast that has over 17GB worth of files and media in it…. My usual HP Envy video editing laptop would have melted down by now.. pic.twitter.com/8P3OZrIwfq

— Arif Bacchus (@abacjourn) September 25, 2021

When it comes to gaming, the XPS 17 impresses even more. In Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (one of the most demanding games yet,) the XPS pleased. It punched out 30 frames per second with the screen set at native resolution, and graphics set to high-end. On medium settings, meanwhile, Flight Simulator played at 45 frames at the native resolution. On 1080p settings, things were even better, at a solid 60 frames per second on high-end settings, and 72 frames at medium.

In other games like GTA V, the XPS gets 74 frames per second when set at 1080p, and around 30 frames per second at the native resolution. This isn’t a gaming laptop, but I don’t see why it can’t be. With a 6GB VRAM and a 3060 graphics card, the XPS can play almost any game you throw at it.

As far as battery goes, though, the XPS 17 isn’t exactly the best, even with the slider set to “Best Battery Life,” as suggested by Dell. With H-series processors and hungry RTX graphics inside, the XPS struggled to get through 5 hours in my daily workflow of web browsing, media consumption with the screen set at around 30% brightness. Even in looping a 1080p video, it didn’t fair too well and died out after just 9 hours. The LG Gram 17 will exceed the XPS in battery, as it doesn’t have a power-hungry GPU inside.

I do want to mention Dell’s custom software, too. Using Dell power manager, you can tweak the GPU/CPU for the best performance or battery life. The application allows users to switch between quiet, cool, optimized, and performance modes. So, whether you want maximum performance or a cooler running or quieter experience, you can choose the one that’s right for you.

Keyboard, trackpad, and camera

If you’re familiar with MacBooks, then you might know how terrible the Mac keyboards can be. That’s not a problem here on the XPS 17. The keyboard is towards the middle of the chassis and in the perfect spot for arcing down my fingers for long typing sessions. I will admit that the keyboard travel is a bit shallow, but the keycaps are big to make up for that. I still was able to type at a pace of around 83 words per minute and I loved how responsive the keys felt as I clicked them down. And yes, the keyboard is backlit on two levels, with the backlighting bleeding through evenly on all levels.

I still, though, wish that the XPS 17 had a number pad. I never use it, but there are people who do. Considering the speakers are in the way, though, it’s probably not a possibility with this design.

As far as the trackpad goes, it’s amazing. It’s one of the largest I’ve ever seen on a Windows laptop and the smooth glass service is a pleasure to glide my fingers on. Compared to the size of the spacebar, it’s around 2.5 times bigger. My palms didn’t get in the way of the pad, either, and when it did, the XPS rejected my palm movements. The trackpad even makes a slight clicking noise when you tap it, and it’s not too loud.

One thing that I wish was improved was the webcam. Yes, it is Windows Hello, but it’s 720p. I tried using the webcam for my podcast, but the image it produced was absolutely terrible and grainy. For a $2,000 machine, that was a huge letdown. The audio, though, was pretty good thanks to the dual microphones at the top of the display. Dell says that Waves MaxxVoice – a suite of studio-quality voice optimizations – is engineered to match the quality of face-to-face communication for clear and uninterrupted voice conferencing.

Audio

I want to end this review by touching on the audio. It’s rare to have upwards firing speakers on a Windows laptop, and that’s what this XPS has. There are two primary up-firing speakers, and two traditional tweets in the base. This is a quad-speaker design, and it makes audio really immersive. I listened to Daxten’s High Hopes, and I could feel the trumps of the bass escaping the speakers. People have claimed that the 16 inch MacBook Pro has the best speakers, but the XPS is even better — especially thanks to the Waves MaxxAudioPro software, which lets you use an equalizer to tweak the speakers to your own liking.

The ultimate laptop for creators

Though it’s an expensive venture that adds up to $2,600 on Dell.com, this XPS 17 model that we’re reviewing is one of the best laptops money can buy. Thanks to the immersive 17-inch screen, Intel’s H-series processor, as well as the Nvidia GPU, there isn’t anything this laptop can’t handle. Other than the Razer Blade 17, it’s one of the most powerful options for content creators, and can go above and beyond standards.

In recent years Microsoft has stumbled over its perception as a human rights advocacy company publicly while sometimes practicing quite a different tune with undisclosed partnerships and contracts.

To that point, employees and shareholders have continued to pressure the company to review contracts with governments and law enforcement agencies to better adhere to what Microsoft pushes publicly as its human rights policies and statements.

According to correspondence viewed by Bloomberg, Microsoft has agreed to commission law firm Foley Hoag LLP to conduct an independent review of the human rights impacts of over sixteen active contracts and products the company maintains with ICE, U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection, and more.

While the total number of contracts to be reviewed is unknown, the specific areas of scrutiny are believed to cover the impacts Microsoft’s partnerships have had on POC’s, Indigenous, and Black Communities with regards to police, immigration enforcement and other unspecified agreements.

In a joint statement, Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw, Sister Joanne Safian of Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary and executive director of Open MIC Michael Conner walked through the broad strokes of the new human rights review commission.

In response to shareholder requests, Microsoft Corp. will commission an independent, third-party assessment to identify, understand, assess, and address actual or potential adverse human rights impacts of the company’s products and services and business relationships with regard to law enforcement, immigration enforcement, and other government contracts. The assessment will include consultation with BIPOC communities, including immigrants, and other groups representing communities most impacted by Microsoft’s surveillance products, law enforcement and government contracts. – Frank Shaw

Open MIC is also involved with another Microsoft initiative that is a result of shareholder oversight that includes the company ceasing to sell facial recognition software to government agencies.

Last year, Microsoft attempted to tout its opposition to the indiscriminate use of facial recognition by law enforcement.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t’ end there, shortly after, email correspondence surface showing Microsoft begging agencies to use the company’s facial recognition software, after being turned down numerous times.

Perhaps, a blessing in disguise. but since being ghosted by US law enforcement agencies, Microsoft has been free to double down on its advocacy of how facial recognition software should be used.

The independent commission’s report is due out next year.

Visual Studio 2022, the latest version of Microsoft’s IDE will officially launch on November 8, and a Release Candidate build is available to download for developers today. The company will also hold a Visual Studio 2022 digital event on November 8 to celebrate this release, with different sessions providing tips and tricks for developers.

The RC release of Visual Studio 2022 (version 17.0) comes with a go-live license for building production-ready apps. It can be installed alongside the new Visual Studio 2022 Preview 5, which includes the latest features the team is currently working on. When Visual Studio 2022 will officially launch on November 8, the Preview 5 version will update to Visual Studio 2022 17.1 Preview 1 and will bring more new features to developers.

Visual Studio 2022 was first announced back in April this year, and the Redmond giant has launched several previews of its developer IDE for Windows and macOS since then. One of the biggest highlights of this release is that it’s built exclusively for 64-bit PCs, allowing developers to edit, run, and debug complex solutions without running out of memory.

The Visual Studio 2022 launch event will kick off at 08:30 AM PT on November 8, and there will be a dedicated live Q&A session for developers. You can find more information about the free digital event on this page.

Microsoft wants to give its customers more insights into how their usage of the company’s cloud services impacts the environment. That’s why the company announced today the general availability of its new Emissions Impact Dashboard, which follows the launch of the Microsoft Sustainability Calculator back in January 2020.

With the new Emissions Impact Dashboard, customers can have a detailed look at the carbon emissions associated with their usage of Azure and other Microsoft cloud services. “Organizations can measure the impact of Microsoft cloud usage on their carbon footprint, and they can drill down into emissions by month, service, and datacenter region,” the company explained.

Moreover, Microsoft’s new Emissions Impact Dashboard can also help customers estimate emissions savings from migrating apps and services to the Microsoft cloud. The Emissions Impact Dashboard runs on Power BI Pro, and its methodology for measuring greenhouse gas emissions was validated by Stanford University in 2018 and it aligns with ISO standards.

“The Emissions Impact Dashboard is part of our commitment to address our own environmental impact and help our customers do the same,” the company said today. Azure has become one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing businesses in recent years, and the company has been building new data centers all around the globe. It’s certainly not easy to conciliate a fast-growing, energy-intensive business with sustainability goals, though  Microsoft is committed to using 100% renewable energy for its data centers by 2025.

Microsoft is holding a second Ignite digital event for developers and IT Pros on November 2-4, and the full session catalog is now available on the official website. You can already register for the free event and start building your own schedule to make the best from the 394 sessions currently available.

⏰ The time has come! ⏰

Choose your adventure and check out #MSIgnite Session Scheduler ???? to create your personalized event experience.

Create your schedule now ???? https://t.co/lRKoQbZ56x pic.twitter.com/NiHgiqewm4

— Microsoft Ignite (@MS_Ignite) October 12, 2021

This Fall Ignite event will focus on hybrid work, next-generation businesses, cloud computing, and security. With the event coming just a month after the launch of Windows 11, there’s a good amount of sessions dedicated to the new OS. Microsoft previously said that it has designed Windows 11 for the hybrid work era, and the company now needs to convince organizations that its new OS is more agile, collaborative, and secure.

You can also find many sessions dedicated to Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Viva, SharePoint, Power Automate, and other Microsoft 365 apps in the session catalog. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will once again speak during the opening keynote on November 2, and CVP of Microsoft 365 Jared Spataro and EVP of Cloud and AI Group Scott Guthrie will also have their own sessions on that day.

During Microsoft’s previous Ignite 2021 digital event in March, the company announced several updates for Microsoft Teams, Outlook, the Azure Power Platform, and more. The company also used the event to unveil Microsoft Mesh, a new Mixed Reality Platform designed to allow people in different physical locations to join collaborative and shared holographic experiences.

Dell Technologies is announcing two fully redesigned Dell Latitude Rugged laptops. The first of the two include the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged which Dell claims is the lightest, most powerful 5G-capable 14-inch semi-rugged laptop. Launching alongside is the Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme, which is being called the industry’s smallest 5G-capable 13-inch fully-rugged laptop.

Both of these devices come with the latest generation 11th generation Tiger Lake processors, Wi-Fi 6E, and 5G capabilities. Other unique features between the two models include improved daylight-readable and glove-touch capable screens of up to 1400 nits of brightness, as well as battery life of up to 25 hours. There are even options for Windows 11, though Windows 10 is still being offered, too.

Both models underwent military-grade STD-810H testing and can operate in optimum temperatures between -20 degrees Fahrenheit or 145 degrees Fahrenheit. The laptops also are water protected, with the 5430 being IP-53 resistant, and the 7330 being IP-65 resistant against pressurized water.

Dell did not share pricing at the time of launch, but these laptops aren’t designed for everyday consumers and are usually well over $1,800. Rather, the laptops are meant to be used in harsh environments like industrial, construction, and military purposes. Some of the competitors to the Dell Latitude Rugged lineup include the Panasonic Toughbook, or the HP Probook lineup.

To celebrate the recent launch of the Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl video game, Microsoft is giving away limited edition Xbox Series X consoles and controllers with looks inspired by SpongeBob Squarepants and Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The competition is open to gamers over the age of 18 who are residents of a region that has official support for the Xbox Live service. A full list of countries is available here while the full rules can be read here.

To enter, participants need to follow the official Xbox Twitter account and retweet this tweet.

???? x ????

Follow and RT with #XboxAllStarBrawlsweepstakes for a chance to win one of these vibrant @NickBrawlGame Xbox Series X consoles.

Age 18+. Ends 10/24/21. Rules: https://t.co/Z2VzIdludF pic.twitter.com/4NbEa2RBPp

— Xbox (@Xbox) October 11, 2021

The competition closes on October 24th.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl launched on Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles earlier this month. It’s a family-friendly fighting game in the vein of Smash Bros and features characters from a number of popular Nickelodeon cartoons such as Hey Arnold! and Rugrats.

Are you going to enter this contest? Let us know in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter for more Xbox news.

The Disney Magic Kingdoms video game updated for both Windows 11 and Windows 10 devices last week.

This latest update added a variety of new content inspired by the Haunted Mansion ride and Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary but a recent Facebook post on the official Disney Magic Kingdoms page also confirms that an even bigger change was made to the game; crossplay.

Until now, Windows players could only transfer process between other Windows devices despite the fact that the Windows version of the game has content and feature parity with both iOS and Android versions.

For example, I used to load up Disney Magic Kingdoms on my Surface Pro while at home and then check in on the game on my Lumia Windows phone while out and about. Now, after installing this latest update, I can also load the same save file on my iPhone and Android tablet as well.

Not only is this great for players who own devices on different ecosystems, but it also makes the process of transferring data to a different device much easier if switching to an iPhone or Android smartphone or dropping Mac for Windows. Previously, players needed to contact customer support directly and have someone manually move the data over to the new platform.

“Previously, those who played DMK on the Windows platform existed on their own little save file island, separate from the players using other devices,” the official announcement explains. “Now, Windows players have joined the rest of the ranks!

“In addition to this, iOS/Android users can also now play the Windows version of DMK using the progress made on the aforementioned mobile devices. (Please note that you must link your game to a social media account in order to facilitate this.) This means that you will likely see some new names on various leaderboards!”

One important part to emphasise is that players will need to connect their account to Facebook to create the cross-platform cloud save. Windows players can still connect their game to their Microsoft account if they want but a Facebook connection is also needed if looking to connect to an iOS or Android device.

Disney Magic Kingdoms is a free-to-play video game that lets players create and manage their own Disney theme park by unlocking characters and rides inspired by Disney properties. When the game first launched several years ago, it primarily featured Disney and Pixar properties but it’s recently also added a variety of Star Wars characters from both the Original Trilogy, Sequel Trilogy, and The Mandalorian such as Cara Dune, Luke Skywalker, Grogu, and Darth Vader. Some Bad Batch content has also been added recently.

Are you a Disney Magic Kingdoms player and have you been waiting for crossplay? Let us know in the comments and then follow us on Facebook and Pinterest for more Windows content.

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QR-Code

Disney Magic Kingdoms

Developer:
Gameloft SE

Price:
Free

Digital pre-orders for Just Dance 2022 went live for Microsoft’s Xbox One and Xbox Series X console families today.

The upcoming latest entry in the popular dancing game series is set to launch on November 4th and is confirmed to support Smart Delivery. This means that a single copy of Just Dance 2022 will work on both Xbox console generations and won’t require any additional purchases to work properly.

One thing that isn’t confirmed in the Microsoft Store listing, nor on the official Just Dance website, is whether Just Dance 2022 will support the Kinect sensor when played on an Xbox One console. Fortunately, the listing for the game on the Australian JB Hi-Fi website includes a product description that’s significantly longer than that on the Microsoft Store and also includes specific information regarding motion camera support for Microsoft’s Xbox consoles in addition to Nintendo’s Switch and Sony’s PlayStation 4 and 5.

The listing confirms that Just Dance 2022 will work with the Kinect on Xbox One consoles and the PlayStation Camera on PS4. The game won’t support any kind of camera or sensor accessory on the Xbox Series X or PS5.

The Just Dance Controller iOS and Android app can be used to control Just Dance 2022 across Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, and the Nintendo Switch while Switch users can also use Joy-Con controllers.

It should be noted that owners of Xbox One S and Xbox One X consoles will need a Kinect adaptor to plug in a Kinect sensor. However, if you have one of these consoles and you currently use a Kinect with it, it’s likely that you already have an adapter and don’t need to worry about this.

A Kinect won’t work with the Xbox Series X (nor Xbox Series S) no matter what adapter you use due to Microsoft ending support of the popular gaming accessory with its current console generation. Funnily enough, Microsoft has recently worked with Sky to incorporate a variety of Kinect functionality into its new smart TVs, including motion gaming and voice controls.

Are you planning on buying Just Dance 2022? Let us know which control scheme you plan on using in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Twitter for more Xbox gaming news.

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QR-Code

Just Dance® 2022

Developer:
UBISOFT

Price:
Free

An age-old problem of web browsing is coming across a website that might end up slowing down your PC. You can typically see this in Task Manager, by looking at the Edge process and seeing its overall memory consumption, but it’s usually a struggle to pinpoint the exact website that might be giving you issues (if you don’t use Edge’s own in-built Browser Task Manager.) Well, starting in Edge 94 on Windows 11, Microsoft is making big changes that should make this a thing of the past.

In Edge 94 on Windows 11, Microsoft enabled a detailed view of Microsoft Edge processes in Task Manager. For web browser processes in the Task Manager, you now can see the process type with a descriptive name and icon such as “browser,” “GPU Process,” or “Crashpad.” Meanwhile, for utility, plug-in, and extension processes, you will see the process type, and the name of the service, plug-in, or extension. Finally, for tabs and render processes, you’ll see the word tab, followed by the site name and icon.

This is how you can end up finding and “killing” a tab that takes up too many resources. We included a sample of this for you below. You can learn more about killing tabs through the Task Manager, and any adverse effects from doing so over on Microsoft’s blog.

Microsoft Edge processes in Task Manager might end up being shared, so you can click the arrow to expand a process, and see all subprocess associated with it. Since multiple items share a process, the item that has the arrow next to it will show you the total resource usage for that process. When expanded, the resource usage for the remaining rows will remain blank.

In addition to these changes, Microsoft is also updating the Browser Task Manager in Windows 11. It now looks a bit similar to Edge browser processes in the Windows 11 task manager. Microsoft says this is to help people better understand where system resources are going in Edge.

These changes are now available in the stable version 94 of Microsoft Edge. We’re seeing it on a non-insider Windows 11 PC, too. So, make sure Edge is fully updated, and check this feature out and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Back 4 Blood, the much-anticipated zombie-themed co-op shooter from Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock Studios is now available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles. For players in the Xbox ecosystem, Back 4 Blood is also available today day Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC, as well as Xbox Cloud Gaming.

If you’ve played Left 4 Dead before, Back 4 Blood will feel instantly familiar with a 4-player co-op campaign and different types of “Ridden” zombies you’ll encounter between safe zones. However, Back 4 Blood spices things up with eight customizable “Cleaners” to choose from, upgradable weapons, and a card system to improve the game’s replayability.

Back 4 Blood also does a lot of things right by supporting cross-play multiplayer on day one, Smart Delivery on Xbox consoles, as well as cross-saves between Xbox and PC. This is a great game to have on Xbox Game Pass on launch day, and you can even try it without installing it thanks to Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Back 4 Blood is priced at $59.99 on the Microsoft Store, and you’ll get both the Xbox and PC versions of the game with your purchase. There’s also a $39.99 Season Pass that will provide access to new playable characters, special mutated monsters, and an upcoming new campaign.

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QR-Code

Back 4 Blood

Developer:
Warner Bros. Games

Price:
$59.99

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QR-Code

Back 4 Blood: Deluxe Edition

Developer:
Warner Bros. Games

Price:
$89.99

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QR-Code

Back 4 Blood: Ultimate Edition

Developer:
Warner Bros. Games

Price:
$9.99

Microsoft Edge has started testing a new feature that should make it easier for users to manage Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) installed on their PCs. The software giant has announced that a new PWA hub is rolling out in preview to select Insiders in the latest Canary builds.

More specifically, the Edge Insider team has updated the existing apps page with a user-friendly UI that lists all the installed PWAs in a grid view. It features dedicated buttons to open the app and pin it to the taskbar or Start menu. Notably, each PWA has its own details page that lets users configure permissions and privacy settings. There is also an ellipsis menu that includes settings to add the app to run automatically at startup or create a desktop shortcut.

As noted by Reddit user Leopeva64-2, Edge Canary Insiders who have yet to receive this PWA hub update can enable it by following these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge and go to the “edge://flags” page.
2. Search for the “Refreshed edge://apps user experience” flag and enable it.
3. Finally, restart the browser to apply the changes.

Once done, the new PWA hub should be active, and users can access it by heading to the edge://apps page. It provides options to sort apps (with the title, installation date, and recently used filters) or arrange them in a list or grid view. However, it doesn’t support uninstalling apps at the moment.

Overall, this redesigned hub is a welcome addition, and it should contribute to the push towards the adoption of PWAs. Unfortunately, the feature is currently available in Microsoft Edge Canary version 96.0.1043.0 or newer. We hope that the Edge Insider team will roll out this update to Dev and Beta channels in the coming weeks.

Last week, we reported that Microsoft Teams is getting a redesigned search experience that should provide faster and more intuitive results. The Redmond giant has announced that this update is now rolling out in preview on Windows and macOS.

“We have reimagined search and are bringing you a new experience. We got our early positive feedback for the richer, overhauled experience in various conversations earlier this year. Big thank you to everyone for their feedback, engagement and working together with Microsoft on this journey,” the company explained.

First up, Microsoft Teams has introduced a new landing page that groups search results into categories such as people, messages, and files. The search results page now features actionable buttons that let users directly go to a specific message/file or preview it. Other improvements include the addition of bookmarks, acronyms, as well as sorting options.

The new search experience also brings an improved messages tab that makes the filters more discoverable for users. This means that users can filter search results by type, date, @ mentions, attachments, and more. The messages tab has received a new “Top Hits” section that provides the most relevant search results at the top of the page. In addition, the People tab can now help users save some clicks by providing contextual information, including email, contact number, and organizational details.

Last but not least, the Microsoft Teams desktop app offers additional options for filtering files by type, date, and “modified by” in the search results. There is also the ability to preview files with metadata details before opening them. This should make it easier for users to find relevant files quickly and eliminate the need to jump between windows.