Microsoft released a fun new commercial for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X video game consoles this week that features Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson (aka Falcon) from the upcoming Disney+ series, Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

In it, Sam enters a video game store and explains to the clerk that he’s behind in gaming and pop culture since being blipped for the past five years. The clerk then points to a pair of Xbox Series S and X consoles behind him, implying that they’re both the hottest thing in gaming right now and that Sam should buy one.

While the ad itself is really just a bit of fun marketing and cross-promotion between Microsoft and Disney, it also features a fun Easter egg that many Marvel fans quickly spotted. The clerk talking to Sam is actually the same one that spoke to Steve and Natasha in the Apple Store scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It’s unclear if he was blipped as well but it definitely looks like he’s switched jobs. Maybe Apple had to close a few stores after half of the population disappeared?

#TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier  
how it started how it’s going pic.twitter.com/A4wStJwF9O

— zach (@civiiswar) March 9, 2021

Speaking of the blip, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, like most post-Endgame Marvel series and films, is set in or after the year 2023 which means that both Xbox consoles are surprisingly still pretty hot stuff in the MCU several years after they were released. We’re probably not supposed to overthink the ad this much though.

Right on schedule, a new Microsoft Edge Dev update is here. This week’s release is a little minor, and it will be the final major version 90 release, according to Microsoft. That said, it does bring some improvements to Collections as well as autofill. Here’s a look at what you need to know.

First off, we’ll start with the new features. It’s now possible to sort overall Collections. It’s also possible to drag and drop downloaded files from the list in the Downloads popup into webpages or folders. Other new features are below.

• Added the ability for users to manually search through their autofill data by pressing the / key.
• Added an option to the Disable Developer Mode Extensions popup to stop showing it. Note that this popup only appears in Beta and Stable.
• Finished rolling out the new Downloads popup

Now, for the usual reliability fixes, changed behaviors, and known issues. For reliability fixes, you should notice that Microsoft fixed an issue where using an extension that has a popup menu in a PWA or website installed as an app causes the browser to crash. They also fixed a crash when opening the Web Widget, and issues where webpages might crash upon loading. See below for everything else you need to know. The list is shorter than usual this week!

• Fixed an issue where Edge may be unusable the first time it is opened after an update, but closing and re-opening it fixes it.
• Fixed a hang when uninstalling a PWA or website installed as an app.
• Fixed an issue where interacting with the Web Widget when the browser is using a Guest session sometimes leads to a crash.
• Fixed an issue where some webpages crash upon loading.
• Fixed an issue where some videos appear black but audio plays fine.
• Fixed an issue where images don’t display properly on certain websites.
• Improved the Site Information popup.
  Fixed an issue where the Profiles Settings page sometimes shows a broken image with the message “HIDE_HEADER”.
• Fixed an issue where focus automatically moves into the Downloads menu when it appears to ask users what to do with a pending download.
• Fixed an issue where adding notes to a Web Capture causes the captured image to go blank.
• Fixed an issue on Mac where the Tab menu has a duplicate option to Select Next Tab.
• Fixed an issue where tabs forget they’re supposed to be horizontal after exiting fullscreen.
• Fixed an issue where some webpages appear too wide and can’t be scrolled to see all their content.
• Fixed an issue on Linux where scrolling the vertical tabs pane switches the active tab instead of scrolling the pane.
• Fixed an issue where the “See more in sidebar” link in dictionary definitions in PDFs doesn’t work.
• Fixed an issue where changing the browser’s zoom settings also incorrectly affects the Web Widget.
• Fixed an issue where installing a PWA or website as an app sometimes results in the app having no favicon even though the website did before it was installed.
• Deprecated the management policy to control the SSL Version Min

To end, there’s a new known issue we want to note. Microsoft says users of certain VMWare software may run into an issue where Edge will no longer open. Known issues from last week and prior releases are still the same and have not changed.

Outside of Edge Insider news, there’s still a lot to report this week. The legacy version of Microsoft Edge is no longer being supported, and Microsoft is bringing the new Chromium-based Edge to Xbox. As always, you can check out all these stories over at our Microsoft Edge news hub.

Microsoft issued an update to its recent March Cumulative Update for its Exchange Server platform aimed at patching four critical vulnerabilities that have recently become exploits.

Today’s March 9, 2021, update follows a previously issued emergency patch for its 2013, 2016, and 2019 Exchange Server products that have become the recent targets of cyberattacks from a presumed nation-state. Internally, Microsoft is tracking CVE-2021-26855, CVE-2021-26857, CVE 2021-26858, and CVE-202-27065 as the four identifiable flaws within its various Exchange Server platforms for on-premise setups.

Microsoft’s community support forum details the steps admins can use to temporarily patch the vulnerabilities within their systems against the latest cyberattack.

• These updates must be installed from an elevated command prompt:
  1.      Download the update but do not run it immediately.
  2.      Temporarily disable file-level antivirus software
  3.      Select Start, and type CMD.
  4.      In the results, right-click Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.
  5.      If the User Account Control dialog box appears, choose Yes, and then select Continue.
  6.      Type the full path of the .msp file, and then press Enter.
  7.      After the installation is finished, re-enable the antivirus software, and then restart the computer. (You might be prompted by the installer to restart.)

Among the additional crucial bits of protection, the community support blog also hosts information that includes the limitations to Microsoft’s support of affected Exchange Servers. Embedded within Microsoft’s community support blog is the company’s explanation on why it’s currently racing to patch and protect previously unsupported platforms as well as the distinction that these new updates should not infer future support.

These update packages contain only fixes for March 2021 CVEs (CVE-2021-26855, CVE-2021-26857, CVE-2021-26858, CVE-2021-27065); no other product updates or security fixes are included. Installing these updates does not mean an unsupported CU is now supported.

Today’s update comes as an acknowledgment by Microsoft that its on-premise Exchange Server has become the highlighted target of malicious online attacks twice within a year or so. While not the scale of SolarWinds, the Hafnium cyberattack has been running for some time and is in its own right has the potential to be crippling.

An estimated 18,000 organizations worldwide are potentially affected by the Hafnium cyberattack. The list of vulnerabilities for the affected Exchange servers includes Server-Side Request Forgery for HPPT requests that don’t require authentication, insecure decentralization at the SYSTEM level, and write paths to post-authentication arbitrary file writes.

Back in late February, Microsoft was brought before Congress to answer questions regarding the massive SolarWinds cyberattack, and it stands to reason the company will be questioned about this most recent attack and what steps it’s going to take going forward to mitigate this level and occurrence of cyber-attacks to its older on-premise Exchange Servers.

Microsoft is reportedly planning various digital events this year, starting with an Xbox event rumored for March 23. A Surface event is also in the cards for this Spring, where Microsoft is expected to announce the new Surface Laptop 4 alongside other accessories.

A new Microsoft webcam could be announced at this Spring Surface event according to a new report from Brad Sams. This new webcam could include a privacy cover and support HDR video, though it may not come with a 4K sensor. According to the report, Microsoft could also use this Spring Surface event to announce some new audio accessories that could work in tandem with this new webcam.

Microsoft has been selling webcams and other PC accessories for quite some time now, and you may remember the company’s series of LifeCam cameras that you can still find today. In recent years, though, the company let other manufacturers such as Logitech and Lenovo sell cameras that support the same Windows Hello sign-in technology available on Surface devices.

Since there are already many excellent webcams on the market, it remains to be seen how this new Microsoft webcam could stand out from the competition. Microsoft accessories can sometimes be quite expensive, though the company recently surprised us with its $99 Xbox Wireless headset to be released on March 16.

Recently, I reviewed NotMP3, and I proclaimed it as one of the best ways to download YouTube videos on Windows 10. I mentioned the simplicity and the design of the app as reasons why use it so much in my production of the OnPodcast. However, I also had the chance to chat with the person behind the app, Mike Tomson.

In a series of emails, we talked about the inspiration for this app, what makes it so different from the many others in the market, and what makes his app so great. Here’s his story.

What was the inspiration for NotMP3?

One of the first questions I had for Mike was about the inspiration for the app. I was curious, in a crowded market of conversion apps and services, why and how NotMP3 wanted to breakthrough. I also questioned him about the legality of downloading from YouTube — knowing that copyright violations are often a thing in the online world. In the words of Tomson.

“The high-profile dispute over the legality of downloading from YouTube, that was erupted in 2017, engaged us to find a new legal way to extract MP3 audio from YouTube. Thus, we created our first program – Free MP3 Recorder for YouTube which is the implementation of a new stream-recording approach to saving YouTube audio.”

On copyright issues, Tomson says NotMP3 spent a lot of time in meetings with lawyers. They examined YouTube’s Terms of Service in detail and came up with two different approaches. This is the key to the way their products are implemented. He tells me:

“All our products were implemented according to 2 different approaches: stream recording and stream-ripping methods. The first one is absolutely legal because the stream recording software does not download any content. Our recorders for YouTube and SoundCloud let us play audio tracks in real-time and record audio straight from the sound card of a computer. The second method is legal for personal use. If users download videos exclusively for personal and private use they are unlikely to face responsibility for their actions.”

He also went on to mention how NotMP3 expanded its reach. Over time, the service became quite popular, and he tells me that NotMP3 listened to users’ requests for the expansion of the NotMP3 toolset. “Later, at the requests of our users, we extended the list of our free tools by adding Free MP3 Recorder for SoundCloud, Free Video Downloader for YouTube, Free YouTube to MP3 Converter, Free Music Downloader for SoundCloud,” said Tomson.

What was it like developing this app? Was it an easy task?

App development isn’t an easy task, which is something I learned a lot about when I spoke to Windows app developer Joe Finney in episode 16 of the OnPodcast. There are a lot of challenges involved With that in mind, I wondered how Tomson developed the app. He tells me it’s all about user feedback and what the user wants and needs.

“It is not a secret, that the way from a creative idea to a viable product is never short and easy. Our case was no exception. But the most important thing is to live up the user`s expectations. We hope that we have succeeded. Besides, we remain open to the users’ requests and keep on implementing new features and developing new programs.”

Tomson pointed me back to his app and promised that new tools could be coming soon. It’s something that NotMP3 promises on its website —free updates and staying up to date. “Stay tuned for new free straightforward tools,” he told me.

Are you planning a Microsoft Store version of the app?

With OnMSFT being a Microsoft-centric publication, another question I had for Tomson had to deal with a Microsoft Store version of the app. With there being 1 billion Windows devices in the world, it seemed to me like a store version of the app would be a no-brainer, but Tomson told me it wasn’t quite easy dealing with the Microsoft Store.

“Quite frankly, we already tried to submit our app to the Microsoft Store, but it was refused. Then we decided to ensure the development of our own site, and therefore, we don`t plan to make a new attempt to add our program to the Microsoft Store.”

This surprised me, as there is indeed a YouTube converter in the Microsoft Store already, but it is a hit-and-miss experience where sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. As a Win32 application, NotMP3 always works, and it never fails out and refuses to download videos. That’s what makes it so great. Tomson even pointed back to me the many reasons why I already love NotMP3. There are no ads or bundled software, there’s a simple user interface, fast downloading, unlimited downloads, batch downloading, support for 4K videos, and more.

What makes NotMP3 so different?

The final question I had for Mike had to relate about what makes NotMP3 so great and different from all the other converters on the web. I already touched on no ads, limits, and the fact there are no restrictions, but there’s still a bit more. Tomson mentioned that NotMP3 programs are always available and work 99% of the time, with the 1% only being when YouTube makes changes and the software needs to be adjusted.

“NotMP3 software is faster at converting and downloading than browser-based tools. In addition, it doesn’t require any registration with an email address, and therefore there is no risk to receive spam,” he told me.

Are you a developer? Email us, we’d love to chat!

If you’re a Windows app developer, we’d love to chat with you, just like how we spoke to Mike Tomson and previously, Joe Finney. Have a new Windows app? Just getting into development? We’d love to chat and have you join us on the OnPodcast. Send us an email at [email protected]. And remember to watch us every Sunday at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET on YouTube!

Microsoft has been using the third-party service UserVoice for many years to collect feedback about its own services, but this partnership is about to end. After users noticed the closure of the Office 365 Uservoice website last week, the company has now confirmed that it will be gradually replacing these sites with in-house tools starting this year.

“We will be moving away from UserVoice feedback sites throughout the 2021 calendar year on a product-by-product basis. We will leverage 1st party solutions. Customers can continue to communicate with Microsoft and provide feedback through a number of different channels,” the company says on a new support page.

A Microsoft spokesperson also told us “We are always striving to better serve our customers, including how we can improve the tools and processes for collecting feedback. We are leveraging 1st party solutions and are evaluating enhancements and standardizations to improve and streamline how we communicate with customers and collect their feedback.”

As of today, users of Microsoft services have various ways to submit feedback to the company including in-app feedback modules, the Windows 10 Feedback Hub, or the Microsoft Community and Microsoft Tech Community websites. However, all these different channels work differently, this is apparently something Microsoft wants to address. “We are evaluating enhancements and standardizations to improve and streamline how we communicate with customers and collect their feedback,” the company said in the support page.

For now, customers can also continue to submit feedback through existing Microsoft UserVoice sites while they remain active. As an example, the UserVoice sites for Microsoft Teams and OneDrive are still available, and they can be a great source of information about upcoming features. It doesn’t seem that all this content will be transferred to Microsoft’s first-party solutions, though we hope the transition will eventually make it easier for users of Microsoft services to share their feedback with the company.

It’s official, Microsoft has finally completed its acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. The Redmond giant now owns 8 more talented video games studios including Bethesda Game Studios (Fallout 4), id Software (Doom), MachineGames (Wolfenstein), Arkane Studios (Dishonored), and all of their future games will be available on day one on Xbox Game Pass.

“With the addition of the Bethesda creative teams, gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players,” Xbox head Phil Spencer said today. If Microsoft will respect the timed-exclusivity deals for Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo that will ship first on PlayStation consoles, Spencer made it clear today that some future Bethesda games will be exclusive to Xbox consoles and Windows.

The head of Xbox also reiterated today that Bethesda will continue to operate independently while benefiting from Microsoft’s vast resources. “We look forward to empowering Bethesda’s creative teams to reach even more players around the world, helping make future Bethesda titles the biggest and most popular games in their history,” the exec said, adding that Xbox and Bethesda will have more to share about what’s next later this year.

In a new report from VentureBeat, video games journalist Jeff Grubb explained that Bethesda’s usual summer game conference should still happen this year, independently from Microsoft’s big Xbox conference. However, the Redmond giant may want to hold the two events back-to-back for maximum exposure. We’ll see what happens, but in the meantime, additional Bethesda games will be coming to Xbox Game Pass later this week. There are no more details yet, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see classic games like Fallout 3 and 4 come back to the game subscription service.

The reporting on Microsoft’s latest Surface Laptop 4 has been a rollercoaster of speculation and the latest tidbits about the device seemingly contradict a crowd favorite hope for the laptop.

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the Surface Laptop 4 could be coming with the latest AMD Ryzen 5 chipset, thanks in large part to some Geek Bench sleuthing. However, it now appears Microsoft is doing what it always seems to do with Surface hardware and cautiously opting to power its AMD variant laptop with the Ryzen 5 4680 U and Ryzen 7 4980 U Surface Edition chips rather than the newer Ryzen 5000U series we previously speculated.

Surface Laptop 4: Microsoft will use AMD Ryzen 5 4680U and Ryzen 7 4980U Surface Edition APUs based on Zen 2, not newer Ryzen 5000U series in their new 13,5 and 15in laptops: https://t.co/ZOwKzg6jCm

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) March 8, 2021

In addition to the potential chipset coming with the Surface Laptop 4, there are some more specs that have been reported that include Iris Plus Graphics 950 rather than the Evo Iris Xe Intel support newer devices are getting as or simple Radeon Graphics for AMD variants. The rest of the reported specs are pretty standard fare for the Surface Laptop such as RAM configurations starting at 8GB and SDD storage options up to 1TB for both variants.

Perhaps, more importantly, it’s being reported that the Surface Laptop 4 could be announced as early as next month, April 2021. If true, having the Surface Laptop 4 revealed in April chips away at a potentially significant Fall hardware event for the company.

Microsoft is introducing a new password import option that will allow Edge users to import their passwords from CSV files. The feature was recently added to Microsoft Edge Canary (version 90.0.817.0) and is currently hidden behind an experimental flag (via Windows Central).

Edge and Microsoft Authenticator users were previously able to import CSV files via Authenticator, which then could sync those passwords to Edge, but this new feature will import without the need for Authenticator.

Currently, the Stable version of Edge only supports exporting passwords to CSV files, and there is no way to import them back natively from these files. Users need to use the sync capability to synchronize passwords between multiple devices. However, this will change soon with the addition of the new “Import passwords” option, which is already available for Edge Insiders.

To use the feature, Insiders will need to enable it using edge://flags on Microsoft Edge Canary. To do this, follow the steps listed below:

1. Go to edge://flags through the address bar, search for “Password Import” through the search bar, and enable it.
2. Once done, restart the web browser.
3. Head to edge://settings/passwords in the Edge address bar to open the Passwords settings.
4. Select the three-dots menu next to the “Saved passwords” option and click Import passwords from the list.
5. Finally, select the CSV file to import passwords.

Microsoft is constantly experimenting with new features in Edge, and the company has recently announced several improvements coming soon to the browser. The list includes improvements in the password manager, the built-in PDF reader, Collections, and more. If you’re interested, be sure to check out the What’s Next page here.

Microsoft has just released a new cumulative update for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel to test its service pipeline. This is the build 21327.1010 (KB5001277), which includes no new features or changes compared to the original build 21327 released last week.

For #WindowsInsiders in the Dev Channel, we're releasing a small servicing update: 21327.1010. No notable changes as this is a servicing pipleline validation.

Note has been added to the blog post! https://t.co/2uo8pIX93g pic.twitter.com/232udUiDuO

— Windows Insider (@windowsinsider) March 8, 2021

As a reminder, last week’s build 21327 refreshed the design of News and Interests in the taskbar, though the new experience remains only available for a subset of Insiders in the Dev Channel. This new build also brought new system icons inspired by Microsoft’s Fluent Design style, and that’s hopefully an appetizer for the “Sun Valley” design update expected for later this year.

Microsoft has been testing its service pipeline more regularly in recent weeks and months, but the process for installing these cumulative updates with no new features is pretty quick. We hope to see another flight with more substantial changes for the Dev Channel later this week.

Back in July 2020, Microsoft announced a bunch of updates for Teams, including a new Live Transcription capability and Video Filters. The company has recently updated the Microsoft 365 roadmap to indicate that the Transcription experience is currently rolling out in the Windows and macOS desktop apps.

The new accessibility feature allows users to view a live transcription of speech with speaker attribution during a video call or meeting in real-time. The text appears alongside the meeting video, including the name/avatar of the speaker and a timestamp to specify who is speaking. This works for organizers, presenters, and attendees, making it easier to follow along with the conversation during remote meetings.

Users will be able to record these transcripts along with the meeting and download them in a Word file after the meeting. However, the meeting organizer can delete the saved transcript with the Teams desktop client. There are also some admin controls to allow for these settings.

Overall, it is a great feature for people that are deaf, hard of hearing or working in a noisy environment. It is important to note that attendees need to be running the desktop version of Teams to use it, and it doesn’t work on the Web version of the app. In addition, Live Transcription is currently limited to English-speaking users who have their default language set to English in Teams.

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.

Twitter begins adding Fleets and Revue newsletters to its web and Windows 10 apps

Updates are arriving for Twitter’s web and Windows 10 apps, which have started adding Twitter’s Fleets feature and Revue newsletters.

Microsoft releases PowerToys 0.33.1 with a new onboarding experience and localization improvements

PowerToys version 0.33.1 has been released which brings a new onboarding experience, as well as localization improvements. The new onboarding experience is designed to make it easier for new users to get started with the suite of tools.

Why hello #powerToys v0.33.1. Improved localization, new onboarding experience, new PT Run plugin manager, and just has that 'new build smell'. https://t.co/oZM9vOGRTL pic.twitter.com/P7SBK313Cy

— Clint Rutkas (@ClintRutkas) March 4, 2021

Microsoft’s Windows 10 Alarms & Clock app just updated with a whole new look

The Alarms & Clock app on Windows 10 has received a design overhaul this week. Of particular note is the larger font, as well as the addition of a fullscreen mode.

Latest update to the Microsoft Store brings hints of ‘Sun Valley’ design

Design tweaks have been made to the Microsoft Store on Windows 10, with hints of Microsoft’s “Sun Valley” design being included, though the internet was thinking Microsoft was building a whole new store experience, which doesn’t appear to be the case.

No. A new Microsoft Store app is not rolling out. It's simply an *update* (like we normally release) to the existing Store app in Windows 10 with improvements. The Store now displays the same whatever the size of the window and has an updated progress ring. That's it. https://t.co/INXFROEtHe

— Brandon LeBlanc (@brandonleblanc) March 2, 2021

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