Microsoft has just announced that Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Prey, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, and Dishonored Definitive Edition now support FPS Boost on Xbox Series X|S consoles. All these games are now available on Xbox Game Pass, and they can now run at “nearly 60 FPS” when FPS Boost is enabled on Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox consoles.

Fallout 4 was the first game Microsoft used to demo FPS Boost last year, and the open-world RPG will really benefit from the boost from 30 to 60 FPS. However, be aware that enabling FPS Boost on Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 will reduce these games’ resolution so they can reach this 60FPS performance target.

“In some instances, because there are higher graphics requirements to enable FPS Boost technology, we’ve had to reduce a game’s resolution to ensure it both runs smoothly and plays great. In those select cases, such as Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 in this latest title announcement, FPS Boost is not automatically enabled for Xbox Series X gamers,” the Xbox team explained today.

Following the release of the Xbox March 2021 Update last week, players on Xbox Series X|S consoles can now turn FPS Boost and Auto HDR on and off in the “Manage Game” section for any enhanced title. Microsoft will continue to give Xbox gamers the choice to experience backwards-compatible games in their original or enhanced form, but FPS Boost is probably not something you’re going to want to turn off. In general, a silky smooth 60 FPS is a true game-changer, especially for first-person games like Fallout 4.

Overall, there are now 10 Xbox One games that support FPS Boost on Xbox Series X|S consoles. The first wave of games came last month with Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs 2, Sniper Elite 4, EA Sports UFC 4, and New Super Lucky’s Tale, the latter now running at 120 FPS on both the Series X and the Series S. “We’ve got more titles that will support FPS Boost to announce in the coming weeks,” the Xbox team said today, and we’re looking forward to seeing what games are coming next.

Outriders, the high-profile co-op third-person shooter from Square Enix will be available on Xbox Game Pass for Console on its launch day, April 1, 2021. After Xbox Game Pass subscribers got to play Destiny 2’s Beyond Light Expansion on day one back in November, Microsoft continues to impress with its ability to get big games on its game subscription service on their release day.

For those unfamiliar, Outriders is the latest game from People Can Fly, the Polish studio that previously worked with Epic Games on the Gears of War trilogy and was the sole developer of the Gears of War: Judgment episode. The studio has long experience with co-op third-person shooters, but Outriders integrates RPG elements with four different classes with unique abilities to choose from.

Outriders will support co-op with up to two friends, and the game will be fully cross-play. It will also be optimized for Xbox Series X|S consoles, with the digital version supporting Smart Delivery. In case you missed it, a demo is already available on the Microsoft Store and players will see their progress carry on to the full game when it launches on April 1st.

Outriders is already available for pre-order on the Microsoft Store where it’s priced at $59.99, and Square Enix is offering the Hell’s Rangers Content Pack with unique Gear Sets and guns as a pre-order bonus. You won’t get these goodies if you wait for the game to land on Xbox Game Pass on April 1st, though if you’re an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, you’ll get to play Outriders on your Android devices via Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming technology, which is pretty cool.

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OUTRIDERS

Developer:
Square Enix Ltd

Price:
Free

Last November, we reported that Microsoft is working on a new update that will allow users to set their presence status to “Out of Office” in Teams. This feature is now rolling out in public preview on the Teams desktop app and the web, making it easier for users to keep their colleagues informed about their availability status.

“Let others know that you are not available by scheduling your Out of Office in Teams. During this time, your presence status will change to “Out of Office” and your status message will be displayed when someone reaches out to you via chat. Additionally, your Outlook calendar and automatic replies will be updated accordingly,” the company explained on the Microsoft 365 roadmap.

To try out the feature, users will need to opt into the Microsoft Teams public preview program. Microsoft detailed a couple of ways to schedule the Out of Office feature on the web or the Teams desktop app. For those already enrolled in public preview, you’ll need to click on your profile picture and see if the “Schedule out of office” option is available.

There is an option to set up a message for users to let others know they would not be available to respond for a specific period. The status would be visible when colleagues or attendees reach out to them via chat. Users can also choose to send automatic replies to people outside their organization and select dates and times to start and end the Out of office status message and presence status.

In addition, Teams users can head to Settings to access this option. To do this, click General > Out of Office > Schedule, and then enable the “Turn on automatic replies” toggle button. Finally, add text to auto-reply message and configure other options. Microsoft mentioned that this Out of Office status will also sync with the Outlook calendar, presence, and contact card information of the user.

It’s good to see that the Teams desktop and web apps will help users to step away from their desk and escape the storm of alerts during short breaks or vacations. As of this writing, the Microsoft 365 roadmap says that the feature is in development and is scheduled to hit general availability later this month, though that timeline is subject to change.

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 Is Investigating Printing-Related BSOD Issues In This Month’s Patch Tuesday Update

Following the Patch Tuesday update this week, some users are complaining of issues with BSOD’s related to printing. It appears to only impact a few printer brands, but Microsoft has confirmed it is investigating the issue.

Microsoft Acknowledges Random Black Screens Issues Affecting Some Surface Book 3 Devices

If you’re the owner of a Surface Book 3, you might be experiencing a random black screen issue. It’s been quite widely reported by users as an issue. Microsoft has now acknowledged the problem.

Windows 10 Facebook App Returns To The Microsoft Store App Store As A PWA

It’s been just over a year since the Facebook Windows 10 app was removed from the Microsoft Store, but a year on, Facebook is now beta testing a new app, and has released its new Facebook app to the Windows 10 Microsoft Store, in beta form. It’s a Progressive Web App (PWA).

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 4 Reportedly Won’t Use AMD’s Latest Ryzen CPUs

Previous information suggested that Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 4 would make use of AMD’s latest Ryzen CPUs, but now that appears to not be the case, instead Microsoft looks to be opting to use the Ryzen 5 4680 U and Ryzen 7 4980 U Surface Edition chips rather than the newer Ryzen 5000U series.

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

That’s it for this week. We will 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 Edge To Follow Google Chrome’s Faster New Release Every Four Week Cycle

Google recently announced that it was increasing the release frequency of Chrome, from 6 weeks to 4 weeks, and now Microsoft has followed suit with Microsoft Edge, with new releases being released every 4 weeks.

Microsoft Teams Will Allow Meeting Organizers To Pause Video Recordings Later This Year

Later this year, Microsoft Teams meeting organizers will gain the ability to pause video recording during a meeting. It’s been a hotly requested feature, and is a feature available on Zoom, so Microsoft is working on bringing it to Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Issues Update On The Shuttering Of Its Business And Education App Stores

Microsoft’s Business and Educating App Stores are to be shutdown. Microsoft has issued an update on the situation, saying that from April 14, it will not be possible to purchase non-free apps from the store. Existing purchases will remain intact and any updates will still be delivered.

Well the Microsoft Store for Business and Education are dead. If this doesn't show the death of UWP not sure what does. No way to purchase new apps for distribution in a month. @maryjofoley pic.twitter.com/ONoHHFSgML

— Hoyty (@hoyty) March 11, 2021

Microsoft Completes Its Acquisition Of Bethesda And Confirms Some Upcoming Games Will Be Exclusive To Xbox

Microsoft’s big acquisition of Bethesda completed this week, and Microsoft has already made a number of strides to incorporate Bethesda’s lineup into its services. 20 Bethesda games made their way to Xbox Game Pass, and it has been confirmed that some upcoming Bethesda games will be exclusive to Xbox or platforms with Xbox Game Pass.

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

After Google announced a major shift to releasing major Chrome updates every four weeks instead of six weeks, Microsoft is ready to do the same on its end with its own Chromium-based Edge browser.

The company has just detailed the changes, revealing that the Microsoft Edge web browser is indeed now ready to move to a faster release pace, but also keep a legacy cycle for those enterprise users who aren’t ready for it.

Microsoft says that they are looking forward to their new 4-week release cadence to “help deliver innovation to our customers even faster,” but notes that they haven’t forgotten about their enterprise customers who need more time to roll out updates. As a result, the new 4-week release schedule will now be the default experience for everyone, except for enterprise users who opt in to what’s being called a new “extended stable option.” That option is the one that will stick to a longer 8-week major release cycle.

Note that the Canary, Dev, and Beta branches will not change. It is also important to note that enterprise users who are in the extended stable options will still get updates from the 4-week cycles. However, the pace will be a bit more manageable. This means enterprise users can set expectations for a biweekly security update with the most important fixes, with everything else being delivered on the extended schedule every eight weeks. Basically, getting every other version of Microsoft Edge, but still keeping key security and bug fixes.

The change is not expected to take place on Microsoft’s end until version 94, just as Google has announced with their changes rolling out starting in Chrome version 94. Currently, Microsoft Edge is on version 89, so it will be quite a while until we get to that four-week release schedule, likely not until September or Q3 2021. More information is available here if you’re concerned.

In an effort to defend its position amid growing financial concerns from international and domestic journalism compensation, Google penned a blog post attacking Microsoft.

Google’s SVP of Global Affairs, Kent Walker recently published a piece titled “Our ongoing commitment to supporting journalism” where he takes time to reinforce Google’s commitment to supporting journalism amid an ongoing conversation about compensation and publishing. Walker points out that Google is one of the world’s leading financial supporters of journalism and their recent $1 billion commitment over the next three years to license news content for its Google News Showcase platform.

“We welcome the discussion of ways to create a better economic future for quality journalism, especially as the news media business model has been facing increased challenges for many years. But proposals that would disrupt access to the open web (such as requiring payment for just showing links to websites) would hurt consumers, small businesses, and publishers. That’s why we’ve engaged constructively with publishers around the world on better solutions and will continue to do so.”

However, the post takes a sudden and sharp turn into attacking Microsoft for “naked corporate opportunism,” “attempts at distractions,” and “willing to break the way the open web works,” among other claims. What started out as a defense presumably aimed to shift public opinion to its side regarding its ongoing negotiations with Australia over licensing journalism from local platforms, quickly turned to a roasting of Microsoft’s recent involvement in SolarWinds, and the new Exchange Server hacks. Walker spent 337 of his 531-word post invoking old sentiments of “Microsoft’s longtime practices” which included a reference to the company’s seven-year-old Scroogled marketing campaign.

“This latest attack marks a return to Microsoft’s longtime practices. And it’s no coincidence that Microsoft’s newfound interest in attacking us comes on the heels of the SolarWinds attack and at a moment when they’ve allowed tens of thousands of their customers — including government agencies in the U.S., NATO allies, banks, nonprofits, telecommunications providers, public utilities, police, fire and rescue units, hospitals and, presumably, news organizations — to be actively hacked via major Microsoft vulnerabilities. Microsoft was warned about the vulnerabilities in their system, knew they were being exploited, and are now doing damage control while their customers scramble to pick up the pieces from what has been dubbed the Great Email Robbery. So maybe it’s not surprising to see them dusting off the old diversionary Scroogled playbook.”

Ironically, after venturing heavily into all of the things Walker perceives as issues Microsoft should address before attempting to lobby against Google’s journalism licensing negotiations, he sums up his post with, “Microsoft’s attempts at distraction aside, we’ll continue to collaborate with news organizations and policymakers around the world to enable a strong future for journalism.” While it is true that Microsoft is currently at the center of an international hacking exploit that’s affected millions, Walker also omits Google’s own efforts to use this opportunity to leverage its own political lobbying to issue questions to congress when investigating its competitor’s involvement. Eventually, Walker gets back on track when discussing Microsoft’s switch to AI bots over actual journalism as a way to undercut the company’s current lobbying against Google’s position.

Sandwiching the Microsoft attack fest post, Walker returns to the origin of his post by ending with, “We look forward to continuing to engage with regulators and news publishers to ensure a thriving and healthy publishing industry,” which feels like another detour from the Exchange Server, Scroogled, SolardWinds journey he went on.

In the end, it’s nice to know that, unlike Facebook, Google is willing to negotiate with local journalists on an amicable solution going forward and has already committed financially to ensuring progress on the matter; however, I’m not sure the anti-Microsoft diatribe moves the needle of public opinion in their favor when their opponent is fair compensation for journalist and not the Scroogled boogeyman of years past.

The Stellaris: Console Edition and Cities: Skylines video games are currently both completely free to play until the end of the weekend for all current or last-gen Xbox console owners with an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.

Any Xbox Live Gold member with a console in the Xbox One or Xbox Series X families can play both titles in full and unlock Xbox Achievements until end of Sunday at 11:59 PM PDT. As is usual with Free Play Weekend promotions, Stellaris and Cities: Skylines have both been discounted for those wanting to continue playing after the free play period is over.

Both versions of Stellaris: Console Edition currently have an impressive 65% discount while all versions of Cities: Skylines have been reduced by 75%.

Are you going to play either of these Xbox games this weekend? Let us know which ones in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more Xbox gaming news.

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Stellaris: Console Edition

Developer:
Paradox Interactive

Price:
Free

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QR-Code

Cities: Skylines – Xbox One Edition

Developer:
Paradox Interactive

Price:
Free

As Microsoft continues to evolve its app developer vision from Metro to UWP to PWA’s, so too goes its vision of distributions. Today, March 11, 2021, Microsoft notified customers that it will no longer have apps that will “be available for acquisition” through its Microsoft Store for Business and Education.

Today’s warning follows a year-long transition away from the specific Business and Education Store form of distribution for Windows enterprise and education app developers. Taking a 30,000-foot view of Microsoft’s conceptual app development vision, funneling business and education development through these two portals makes little sense now, especially in light of the infrequent attention developers are showing towards the Windows 10 platform. Couple the fact that commercial devs have been hesitant to rewrite apps for the UWP platform as well as adopting web and cloud-based options, it’s become apparent the need to end support for these terrestrial distribution channels.

Well the Microsoft Store for Business and Education are dead. If this doesn't show the death of UWP not sure what does. No way to purchase new apps for distribution in a month. @maryjofoley pic.twitter.com/ONoHHFSgML

— Hoyty (@hoyty) March 11, 2021

As of now, Microsoft is clarifying that users who have already downloaded their institution’s apps from their respective channels will still be able to receive updates for them for now. No new paid apps will be distributed through the stores after April 14, 2021, and after that date, users will need to have an existing Azure Active Directory account to navigate the stores.

ZDNet journalist Mary Jo Foley is also hearing from sources within Microsoft that as early as June 2020 the two stores were scheduled to be deprecated but understandably roadmaps have adjusted according to the world during the pandemic.

While Microsoft was mum on the shuttering of its commercial app stores during its recent virtual Ignite 2021 conference, BUILD is just around the corner and hopefully, Microsoft will have a clearer picture for its new vision of app development and distribution.