Last year, Microsoft Teams introduced the ability to pop out chats, apps, and meetings into separate windows. The company is apparently planning to expand this functionality to live events in Teams. The Microsoft 365 roadmap suggests that the feature is currently under development, and it’s coming in mid-May.

Multi-window support for live events was originally requested on the Microsoft Teams UserVoice forum back in July 2020. Currently, producers manage the live events within the primary window of the app. It’s a bit annoying for users, forcing them to switch between different windows multiple times.

Fortunately, the company is aware of this limitation, and it’s finally working to address this problem. With this update, producers will see a separate window experience for managing events in Microsoft Teams. The new window will offer all functionalities and features that are currently available in the in-window user experience.

The ability to manage live events in a dedicated window should make it easier for producers to spread their workflow across the desktop and it should help them to effectively manage their event. If you have yet to try live events, we remind you that Microsoft has extended the temporary limit increase for Microsoft 365 live events until June 30, 2021.

To lead off its spring 2021 lineup of devices, Dell has announced a plethora of new monitors and gaming laptops. At the front of the pack is the new Alienware m15 R5, which introduces AMD’s speedy Ryzen 5000 chips, as well as a 1140p and 240Hz display to Alienware’s lineup of laptops. Additionally, Dell is also launching new gaming monitors and a more budget-friendly Dell G15 Ryzen Edition laptop, too.

Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5

We’ll start first with the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5. Though the design of this hasn’t changed over generations (Alienware is just introducing a new interior color called Dark Core,) the changes inside are what matter. The laptop can be configured all the way up to a Ryzen R9 5900HX CPU and an RTX 3080 graphics card. This makes it the first time in 14 years that Dell is introducing an AMD option to the main Alienware lineup, which is usually reserved for Intel-only chipsets.

Note that the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 also comes with up to QHD 240Hz or FHD 360Hz panels. There’s also user-upgradeable 3200Mhz DDR4 memory for the first time on an Alienware 15-inch notebook. And finally, Dell is making history as this laptop is the first gaming laptop with switches made by Cherry MX. It’s designed to make it feel like you’re using a mechanical keyboard. Prices start at $1,793.98 come April 20.

Dell G15 & G15 Ryzen Edition

For something a little cheaper, Dell is also introducing the G15 Ryzen Edition. These laptops now come with a redesigned look, featuring a two-sided, narrow-bezel screen, as well as an Alienware-inspired thermal design with a vent on the back hinge to maximize airflow for optimal cooling. Under the hood, meanwhile, there are the same Ryzen processors as the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5, but with the GPU maxing out with the RTX 3070.

You’ll find the G15 Ryzen Edition in four new colors — Dark Shadow Grey, Specter, Green with Speckles, and Phantom Grey with Speckles, with Obsidian Black. Pricing on this starts at $900, with availability coming May 4. An Intel version will also come on April 12 for $900.

New Dell Gaming Monitors

To pair up with these new laptops Dell is also introducing four new gaming displays. These include the Dell 25, Dell 27, Dell 32 Curved Gaming Monitors, and the Dell 34 Curved Gaming Monitor. The Dell 25 Gaming Monitor is all about the 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. It also has support for both NVIDIA GSync and AMD FreeSync for lag-free gaming.

Meanwhile, for more immersive gaming, there are the 3 new curved VA gaming monitors in either the 27-inch, 32-inch, and 34-inch sizes. The Dell 27 and 32 Curved Gaming Monitors feature QHD resolution and 165Hz refresh rate and 2ms response time. The Dell 34 Curved Gaming Monitor features WQHD resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. These monitors sport AMD FreeSync.

All of these displays feature Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) output for gaming consoles. The Dell 25 Gaming Monitor will come to the US on May 27. The Dell 27 and 32 Curved Gaming Monitors will come on June 22, and the Dell 34 Curved Gaming Monitor on May 27. Pricing was not shared.

A brief look at Java

Java has been a force to be reckoned with for nearly 25 years. It came with the promise of “write once, run anywhere”, the idea was to allow developers to compile their applications down to bytecode which could run on any platform which supported its Java virtual machine sometimes also referred to as a runtime environment.

Billions of devices and computers run Java. Although its use has declined lately, chances are in the early 2000s you were installing applications on your computer which required the deployment of the Java virtual machine. Fast forward to the year 2021 and there seems to be renewed interest in the platform. Microsoft itself runs a wide variety of Java powered systems behind their Azure cloud. In fact, some of their biggest IPs are backed by Java, a couple worth mentioning are LinkedIn, Yammer and some editions of Minecraft.

Microsoft OpenJDK

Microsoft supporting this development platform through OpenJDK is huge for developers that have invested heavily in it for the past few years and decades. it will become the default distribution for Java on Azure in the near future and the transition promises to be seamless.

My experience with Java has not been smooth from a development perspective, Although not necessarily was it directly related to writing code, I wrestled with getting SonarQube up and running on a Windows Server a few months ago. This is a tool many developers are familiar with as its used for scanning code for quality. I have been spoiled with seamless and automatic deployments of .NET runtime when deploying applications, and the process of standing up the environment which allowed SonarQube to run was a bit of a challenge. Hopefully Microsoft throwing their weight behind Java means a better and smoother experience for both developers and consumers of Java powered applications.

What are your thoughts on these investments from Microsoft into “competing” development platforms? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. For learn more about OpenJDK check out the official Microsoft website.

It’s been a while but it looks like Gamerscore leaderboards are finally returning to the Xbox mobile apps in the very near future. The announcement was made by Microsoft’s Larry Hryb this morning who revealed on his personal Twitter account that the feature was currently being tested in the Beta version of the iOS Xbox app.

Those users who are currently testing the Xbox Beta app on iOS should be able to see the new leaderboard today.

Monthly leaderboards have been added to the Xbox Mobile app (beta). Go to your profile in the app to check it out and see how you rank against your friends. pic.twitter.com/E7BnHkMGL0

— Larry Hryb ????????☁ (@majornelson) April 6, 2021

Leaderboards that rank friends by how much Gamerscore they’ve earned in a current month have long been a staple of the Xbox gaming experience and were present in previous versions of the Xbox mobile and PC apps. They were removed, however, as part of the recent design revamp which was considered very odd by most as the feature has been a favorite of gamers ever since it was introduced.

Are you looking forward to the return of the Gamerscore leaderboard in the Xbox apps? Let us know why or why not in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Twitter for more Xbox gaming news.

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable starting at $1,409.40

Lenovo clearly has its sights set on Microsoft and its Surface Pro line with its own thin and light ThinkPad X12 Detachable.

While Microsoft released a follow-up to its Surface Pro 7 in the form of a spec bump and a new title in the Surface Pro 7 Plus, there is still an unsatiated audience craving some easily visible and accessibility improvements to the company’s flagship computer.

Microsoft may or may not deliver a device in 2021 that addresses the wants and needs of longtime fans and consumers of the Surface Pro line. Fortunately, it seems other PC makers are finally ready to re-compete for the detachable market with devices that arguably rival the industry frontrunner.

Enter the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable.

Yes, Lenovo began re-entering the detachable market in 2020 with its Yoga Duet 7i for international markets last Spring after exiting it in 2017 with its Miix 720, but now it’s expanding both its geographic footprint and audience reach with its new X12 PC.

Hardware

The X12 Detachable follows similar design tenants of Lenovo’s ThinkPad line that include the company’s premiere 12-point military grade spec requirement, to the lightweight magnesium chassis. I’m not sure what sort of oleophobic coating Lenovo has tossed on the outside portion of the tablet PC, but unlike other matte black ThinkPad’s, the X12 Detachable seems pretty resistant to collecting oily fingerprint smudges across its body. The reduced oil accumulation appears to contribute to the retained grippiness of the PC when it’s used in tablet mode.

Another reason a buyer might want to make use of the tablet mode of the X12 more often than other detachables is the balanced weight profile of the device. At 1.67lbs or 760g, Lenovo’s computer feels every bit as comfortable held in the hand from its initial detached state as it does an hour in. I know it feels hyperbolic to gush about the reduction of 0.03lbs or 15g from its closest competitor in the Surface Pro 7, but it surprisingly makes a difference in the hand.

Aside from the feel in hand, the X12 does make a host of other design changes that set it distinctly apart from its Surface Pro 7/Plus cousin. Among the hardware changes are thinner bezels. While the bezels aren’t as razor thin as the Surface Pro X, they are still significantly reduced compared to other Surface Pro’s. The reduced bezels also enabled the overall footprint of the X12 Detachable to remain concise at 283.3mm x 203.5mm x 8.8mm or 11.15″ x 8.01″ x 0.34″. The slightly smaller 12.3″ FHD screen contributes to its comparatively smaller footprint than the Surface Pro 7 Plus at 13.5″, however, because of the reduced bezel profile the net screen real estate is roughly the same.

Another welcomed change is the application of an anti-reflective and anti-smudge screen which has been something of contention for a long time Surface Pro user. Anit-reflective and anti-smudge coating on the screen adds a certain level of polish that’s lacking on the Surface Pro side as well acknowledges the device’s long-term use as a viable tablet solution. With anti-reflective coating, the viewability in both indoor and outdoor usage is very nice as well as not having to be tethered to a wipe cloth because of my OCD about smudge-free screens.

While the X12 offers fewer pixels to peep than the Surface Pro 7 Plus at FDH (1920 x 1280) IPS resolution, its 400 nits of brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass, and coating technologies more than make up for it. The color gamut for the X12 closely matches that of the Surface Pro 7 Plus at 75% of DCI-P3 color gamut measurements where the Pro 7 Plus sits at 76%.

Further inspecting the hardware, the X12 comes with a similar if not identical hinge-enabled kickstand supporting up to 160-degrees of flexibility. Lenovo’s hinge engineering is arguably better than Microsoft’s own Surface hinge tech, so the fluid-rigidness of the X12’s kickstand positioning is every bit as good if not better than the Pro 7’s.

The X12 begins to differentiate itself further away from the Surface Pro 7 Plus with its port game. While the Surface Pro 7 Plus offers a single USB-C, USB-A, and earphone/mic jack, the X12 offers two USB-C ports with one supporting Thunderbolt 4, a Nano-SIM slot for 4G LTE support, and a Kensington lock slot in addition to the headphone/mic combo jack.

The keyboard, which is included in the box (point Lenovo), is just as good as any other Lenovo keyboard, albeit a bit cramped. As it succumbs to the limited footprint of the X12, the overall typing experience on the keyboard takes some time to get used to. The familiar U-shaped chicklet keys of the X12 keyboard are springy as expected and that’s in large part because the keyboard is just thicker than Microsoft’s Surface Type Cover. The X12’s keyboard is by no means garishly thick but it’s noticeably thicker when compared to Microsoft’s Type Cover and it’s not a bad thing. The added thickness adds a layer of protection to the overall X12 package when it’s closed. Unlike the Surface Pro 7 Plus which feels like jewelry comparatively, a closed X12 feels rugged enough to be tossed around with nary a second thought.

If there were any negatives about the hardware, they would stem from Lenovo’s inability to come up with an elegant pen solution. Ten years in and Lenovo is still trying to push pen loops as a viable answer to “where do I put this pen?” Despite engineering embedded pen housings in their Yoga solutions, the X12 still forces its included pen into its laughable pen-loop housing that’s attached to the keyboard. It’s a nitpick of epic proportions in the grander scheme of value and productivity but still feels inelegant compare to the magnetism engineering of the Surface Pro 7 or even the embedded housing of Lenovo’s own Yoga line.

Experience

With hardware accounted for, the experience of the X12 is just as impressive as its housing. 2021 will be a showcase of the detachable with Intel or AMD’s chipsets at the core of the competition among PC manufactures. Fortunately, for buyers, Intel’s 11th generation Tiger Lake chips are proving to be powerhouses and AMD’s Ryzen 5000s are no slouches either.

On this particular review model, Intel’s 11th generation chip with support of its own integrated Iris Xe graphics handled everything I threw at it with relative ease. Intel’s 2021 trick of low-power efficiency with the Tiger Lake chip line made using a Core i5-1130 G7 variant feel like using an older and speedier i7. I’ve begun to start adding Adobe’s suite of applications to my daily workload as I add more image editing, video, and audio mixing to my weekly list of tasks, and I was able to easily accomplish all of these tasks without a hitch.

During my day job, as I’ve mentioned ad nauseum here, I work in Excel, PowerPoint, Google Docs, specialized .exe applications, GIMP, Outlook, Adobe Dreamweaver, and dozens of Chrome and Edge tabs, but recently I’ve taken on using Audacity and Adobe Audition to mix and edit a podcast, Adobe Photoshop to edit images, FL Studio to mix music and Filmora to edit videos. Using the X12 was just easy and pleasant an experience as using the Surface Pro 7 Plus. The added GPU gains I experienced with the Surface Pro 7 Plus were mainly because of Intel’s Tiger Lake focus and that same focus and experience carried over to the X12.

I was able to fly through windows, virtual desktops, and even VW’s with only a handful of hiccups, most of which I attribute to putting the device into Insider testing. I didn’t run side-by-side benchmarks for the two devices because, well, I was busy using them for work, but I did manage an export comparison. On the X12, converting a 40-minute video shot in 4K resolution to 1080p for portability took 22 minutes and was two minutes faster than the same conversion on the Pro 7 Plus. Since the Surface Pro 7 Plus and X12 use the same chips, I assume it comes down to the different SSD’s the X12 and the Pro 7 Plus support. The reads and writes on the X12 “felt” faster on average when doing a few anecdotal downloads and uploads to OneDrive.

ThinkPad’s are designed for work and at work-related tasks, the X12 inched out the Pro 7 Plus in several tasks but when it came to things outside of the scope of productivity such as gaming, there was definitely a cliff the device fell off of. Most games run on the X12 were glitchy and dropped frames at identical default settings between the Pro 7 Plus. Dropping games to medium, low, or bare minimum produced slightly better and playable experiences, but the X12 is not meant for native gaming right now. Thankfully, solutions such as Google Stadia and xCloud will help democratize the gaming experience on these ultra-portable detachables soon.

Thanks to the pandemic, I’m going to have to start measuring the video conferencing setup on computers more earnestly and the experience on the X12 is, simply fine. The webcam, mic, and speaker configuration are slightly better than what we experienced in 2019, but it’s still recommended that buyers also invest in a separated webcam, mount, and mic for those more professional feeling video conferencing experiences. For a quick pop-up Zoom meeting to plan a more elaborate meeting (we’ve all had them), the X12’s 5mp is fine but suffers from the same up the nose positioning and tinny sound recording as most other computers on the market now.

Lastly, the whole X12 experience is wrapped up in a device that pushes north of 10 hours for battery life. When running Chrome and even pushing the fans at full blast during encoding, converting, or exporting, I was able to squeeze a solid 6 hours out of the device from start to finish, which isn’t bad for a 12.3-inch portable workstation. Recharging the device was also impressive, where Lenovo’s Rapid Charge technology could get me back up and running at 50% in roughly 20 mins.

Summary

The X12 is every bit as good as the flagship Surface Pro 7 Plus and even manages to outclass it on a handful of occasions. Lenovo took its sweet time to re-enter the detachable market, but it reemerges with a solid hit on its hands for anyone who was looking for a Surface Pro replacement or couldn’t talk their organization into switching contracts. As I mentioned, the in-hand tablet feel of the X12 was preferable to me, offering a bit more ruggedness and grippiness, so for warehouse or in-the-field workers, the military-grade engineering of the X12 may be the right balance between portability and real-world usage. Couple the fact that both the pen and keyboard come bundled in the box, the X12 is a clear winner for anyone who isn’t buying their device based on brand loyalty.

In recent years, Microsoft has been experimenting with new ways to cool its various data centers around the globe. In 2016, Project Natick saw Microsoft put a data center underwater inside submarine-like tubes, but the company may have found a simpler solution with immersing servers into cooling tanks.

“We are the first cloud provider that is running two-phase immersion cooling in a production environment,” said Husam Alissa, a principal hardware engineer on Microsoft’s team for datacenter advanced development. The current experiment takes place at one of the company’s US datacenters on the eastern bank of the Columbia River, and the results are already very promising.

If most data centers these days use air cooling to chill servers, the cryptocurrency industry has been leveraging liquid immersion for quite some time to cool chips that can get really hot. Microsoft has also been experimenting with liquid immersion for high-performance applications such as AI, and saw that power consumption for any given server could be reduced by 5% to 15%.

Compared to air cooling, liquid cooling has the advantage of allowing servers to run at elevated power without overheating. The fluid inside the tank boils at a low 112 degrees Fahrenheit (50° C), and Microsoft has built a closed-loop cooling system where the vapor changes into liquid after getting in contact with a cooled condenser in the tank lid. The result is a technology that could eventually make the process of running servers more environmentally-friendly.

The cooling coils that run through the tank and enable the vapor to condense are connected to a separate closed loop system that uses fluid to transfer heat from the tank to a dry cooler outside the tank’s container. Because the fluid in these coils is always warmer than the ambient air, there’s no need to spray water to condition the air for evaporative cooling, Alissa explained.

Microsoft, together with infrastructure industry partners, is also investigating how to run the tanks in ways that mitigate fluid loss and will have little to no impact on the environment.

Microsoft is still in the experimenting phase right now with its partners designing the couch-shaped tank and the engineered fluid that goes inside it. In the coming months, the software giant plans to perform a series of tests to see if its technology is actually viable.  “If done right, two-phase immersion cooling will attain all our cost, reliability and performance requirements simultaneously with essentially a fraction of the energy spend compared to air cooling,” said Ioannis Manousakis, a principal software engineer with Azure.

Last month, Microsoft announced a bunch of time management features coming to Outlook at its spring Ignite conference, including a new calendar board view for web users. Now, the company has announced in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center that the feature will begin rolling out to Targeted Release customers later this month.

The new Calendar board view transforms the existing Calendar experience available in Outlook on the Web. It works much like Trello and provides tools for organizing and managing calendars and meetings. More specifically, users will be able to create a customized board with calendars, tasks, notes, goals, links, files, etc., and manage them all in one place.

At launch, the new board calendar view will only be available in Outlook for the web, and it’s coming soon to commercial and education users, too. But it’s unclear when this new capability will show up in the mobile apps and Outlook for Windows, though. In case you missed it, Microsoft Outlook has recently released a new Suggested times feature for Android users.

Xbox Game Pass will have more great games to play this month in addition to Outriders, Square Enix’s brand new cover shooter that joined the catalog on its launch day, April 1. Rockstar Games’ GTA V, which first joined on Xbox Game Pass for Console between January and May 2020 will come back to the catalog on Thursday, April 8.

GTA V will also be added to the growing list of cloud-enabled games that can be played on Android devices via Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming technology. This month, Microsoft is also adding touch controls support to 50+ cloud-enabled games such as Sea of Thieves, Gears 5, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, Slay the Spire, and more.

In addition to GTA V, Microsoft is also bringing two new sports games to Xbox Games in April, including the baseball game MLB The Show 21. The Sony-developed game will be the first game in the MLB The Show series to be released on Xbox consoles, and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will get to play it on its launch day, April 20. For Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members, the hockey game NHL 21 will also available through EA Play starting April 12.

You can check out the full list of new Xbox Game Pass games coming in April below:

• Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud and Console) – April 8
  
• Zombie Army 4: Dead War (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – April 8
• Disneyland Adventures (Cloud) – April 8
• Rush: A Disney/Pixar Adventure (Cloud) – April 8
• NHL 21 (Console) EA Play – April 12
• Rain on Your Parade (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – April 15
• Pathway (PC) ID@Xbox – April 15
• MLB The Show 21 (Cloud and Console) – April 20

Microsoft usually announces a second wave of new Xbox Game Pass games later in the month, and we hope to see more blockbuster games in the list. In the meantime, Deliver Us the Moon, Gato Roboto, and Wargroove will leave the Xbox Game Pass for Console and PCs catalogs next week on April 15. For Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members, a couple of old Madden and NHL games released before 2019 will also disappear from the EA Play catalog on April 16.

If you have yet to try Xbox Game Pass, we remind you that you can still enjoy your first month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just $1. The $14.99/month service includes Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox Cloud Gaming on Android devices, and it’s still one of the best deals in gaming in 2021.

Microsoft Teams on the desktop is getting a new Outlook integration that should make it easier for users to share emails in chats and channels. Jeff Teper, CVP of Microsoft 365, announced the news on Twitter, though the feature is now gradually rolling out to Outlook clients globally.

The Share to Teams experience enables Outlook users to share an email or a conversation, including attachments, with a co-worker, group chat, or a Teams channel. When a user clicks the Share to Teams button in Outlook, the app will launch a window in the Teams desktop client (if it’s already installed) or open a new window within the Outlook app.

The Teams desktop app will create a copy of the email and attachments, and the recipients will be able to see the email message in preview, and users will need to click it to view the contents.

The new sharing experience requires the Outlook add-in for Share to Teams. It will be installed automatically when a user runs the Microsoft Teams web or desktop app for the first time after this feature is available in their tenant. To get started, you will need to follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Click the Share to Teams button on the Home tab to open the Share to Teams dialog box.
2. Type the name of the chat or channel and fill in the relevant details in the “Type a message” section.
3. If the email message contains any attachments, select the “Include attachments” checkbox and finally click the Share button.

As of now, the Share to Teams feature is supported on Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, and the new Outlook for Mac Preview. However, it’s not clear when it will be available for mobile users. Microsoft noted that It Admins can manage this add-in for individual users, and more details are available on this support page.

Many organizations across the world are beginning to recognize the importance of enhanced network security. With more companies requiring their staff to work from home, more robust security solutions are needed to cover emerging issues that range from unpatched devices to poor best practices adherence. As such, Microsoft has been looking to provide customized solutions that not only cover intrusion detection, but breach mitigation to provide better security to more diverse online environments. In this regard, it has revealed recent discussions with Cloud Security Alliance regarding Zero Trust.

Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit whose main focus is enhancing network security by providing best practices awareness. It also works to enlighten internet users on the benefits of cloud-based security as a holistic approach.

What’s Zero Trust

Zero Trust is a network security solution that is based on the concept that all network connections connected to a system should be vetted regardless of whether they are internal or external connections. The main goal behind the strategy is to ensure that all communications within a network are authenticated before access privileges are granted.

Issues Discussed

In the latest Microsoft – Cloud Security Alliance discussion, ten security managers from companies in the energy, insurance, and finance industries were involved. Some of the points discussed included identity authentication. Identity authentication is typically achieved through IP confirmations and reliance on Unique Device Identification Systems. Multifactor and passwordless authentication methods were also brought up, as well as execution through cryptographic keys, PINs, and biometric data.

Lastly, network and application segmentation strategies were explored. Such procedures help mitigate an escalation of data access privileges by preventing applications from reading what others on a network are doing. This creates a secure environment that can also be used to run virtual testing spaces before full network access is granted.

Microsoft is Providing Zero Trust Services

Microsoft is already providing Zero Trust solutions to its customers. It is partly doing this via the Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). Some of the features available to clients include passwordless authentication using end-to-end security configurations. The setting allows members to log in using biometrics and has been made possible via Windows Hello, and the Microsoft Authenticator app. Some third-party access options are also available for Yubico, AuthenTrend, and Feitian users via the FIDO2 authentication protocol.

In the setup, Azure AD Conditional Access helps to reinforce data access policies on apps to ensure that devices attempting to connect to a network meet minimum access principles.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was originally set to launch on Windows and Microsoft’s Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles in spring 2021 but it’s now been delayed to give the developers more time to create the cross-generational Star Wars experience that they think fans deserve.

The announcement came via the official TT Games Twitter account this past weekend. No new release window has been mentioned which means that fans could expect LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga to drop sometime in late-2021 or even next year.

Thanks to all our fans for your continued patience. pic.twitter.com/tCDV9Ikftd

— TT Games (@TTGames) April 2, 2021

This is the second time that the game’s release date has been pushed back. LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga was originally set for release in October 2020.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is an entirely new game in the LEGO Star Wars video game series that will have characters, locations, and storylines from all nine of the main Star Wars films. While not confirmed yet, the likelihood of elements from the various Star Wars TV series appearing in the game are also expected to be included. Especially with the popularity of The Mandalorian and The Clone Wars with modern fans.

Are you disappointed by this delay? Let us know in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter and Pinterest for more Xbox gaming news.

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LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga

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Microsoft Teams is set to launch a new feature that will allow users to join meetings via digital code. Last week, the company announced the introduction of the feature on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, which is expected to roll out to Teams users starting in May.

Microsoft recently updated Teams to make it possible for users to create and share meeting invites, but the app will soon match Zoom’s ability to join a new meeting by entering a meeting ID. The feature will be available on all platforms, including the Microsoft Teams desktop, mobile, and Web clients.

“All meetings will have a Meeting ID that is automatically assigned to a Microsoft Teams user and added to the meeting invite under the meeting link. Meeting attendees can join the meeting by entering the Meeting ID. For all meeting attendees, the pre-join, lobby and security will remain the same,” the company explained.

The addition of the new meeting joining experience will further expand the usability of the Teams collaboration platform. This should provide an additional way for users to quickly jump into the Teams meetings when they don’t have the full meeting invite or join link. While the feature will begin rolling out in early May, Microsoft noted that it should be generally available by the end of next month.

Welcome back to our Windows 10 news recap, where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft’s flagship operating system.

Microsoft releases first production ready release of Project Reunion with version 0.5

Project Reunion was announced at Build 2020, and now it has received its first production release, starting with version 0.5. Its aim is to make it easier for developers to build apps for all Windows devices, reducing fragmentation between Windows APIs and Universal Windows Platforms.

Twitter gains new Topics menu and support for Fleets on Windows 10 and web in latest update

A new update for Twitter on Windows 10 and the web has been released, which adds a new Topics menu, as well as support for Twitter’s Fleets feature. Full Fleets support is not yet available, with Fleets being viewable via DMs, but no menu existing along the top which displays available Fleets.

PowerToys 0.35 is now available with a bunch of improvements and bug fixes

A new version of PowerToys was released this week, version 0.35, which brings a number of improvements and bug fixes, including adding shortcuts for swapping FancyZones layouts, the ability to specify the location of the PowerToys Run tool, and more. You can read the full release notes here.

Hello #powerToys 0.35! FancyZones learned a new trick, swap layouts with a keystroke ? Get it over at https://t.co/uuGnw4z6J2

— Clint Rutkas (@ClintRutkas) April 1, 2021

That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next week with more Windows 10 news.

Microsoft news recap is a weekly feature highlighting the top Microsoft news stories of the past week. Sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy the read!

Microsoft Build scheduled for May 25 through 27, 2021

Microsoft’s annual developer conference, Build, has been announced for 2021, and will run from May 25 through May 27. The conference will be streamed online.

That moment you go to confirm the dates of #MSBuild and find this! Hey that is me!!! ? Can't wait! Let's do this!!! pic.twitter.com/bBdV9orRpz

— Donovan Brown #BlackLivesMatter (@DonovanBrown) April 1, 2021

Microsoft delays the “full” reopening of its Redmond campus to September 7

The full reopening of Microsoft’s Redmond campus has been delayed to September 7. Originally, a full reopening was planned for July 6, but this has now been pushed back by 2 months, with Microsoft saying it is to allow employees to “make summer plans”.

Microsoft will make Xbox Series X Mini fridges available for Xbox fans

Following the successful win of Twitter’s “Best of Tweets Brand Bracket” competition, Microsoft is coming through on its promise to offer Xbox Series X Mini fridges to consumers. It was close between Xbox and Skittles, with a 1% difference, but ultimately, Xbox came out on top.

Thanks to everyone who voted, this was down to the wire and thrilling to follow. Now that @Xbox won, we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X Mini Fridges. First one off the line will be filled with games & headed to our friends @Skittles of course! ???????? https://t.co/xeeN8yLGV8

— Aaron Greenberg ????????‍♂️????U (@aarongreenberg) April 2, 2021

Microsoft snags potential $21.88 billion U.S. Army contract for HoloLens headset production

A new $21.88 billion U.S. Army contract for the production of HoloLens headsets has been snagged by Microsoft, building on its pre-existing relationship with the U.S. Army.

This week in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams native notifications support is now rolling out on Windows 10

First announced back in August, Microsoft Teams has begun to roll out support for native notifications on Windows 10. Users will be able to choose between the existing notification style that is built into Teams, or to switch to the native notification system of their operating system, in this case Windows 10.

Microsoft Launches Teams Bug Bounty Program

Offering between $6,000 and $30,000 per security flaw, Microsoft Teams now has a Bug Bounty Program, aimed at encouraging white hat hackers to identify security flaws in Microsoft Teams and report them to Microsoft, to help bolster the security of its communication platform.

Microsoft Teams is adding Supervised private chats for educational institutions next month

Beginning to roll out in mid-April, Microsoft Teams is adding a new Supervised private chat feature for educational institutions. Supervised chats provides an alternative to the traditional 1:1 messaging system, allowing an educator to be present to monitor the chat between individuals, which is aimed at stopping inappropriate behaviour.

Microsoft Teams phones get new meeting stage, simplified sign-in experience, and more

A host of improvements have arrived for Microsoft Teams phones, including an improved sign-in experience, a new meeting experience, as well as an option to dock the call controls. The new sign-in experience in particular aims to simplify signing in, by allowing you to enter a code on another device, such as a computer or smartphone, in order to sign in.

That’s it for this week. We will be back next week with more Microsoft news.