It’s now been two weeks since Microsoft released its new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles, which have been selling out very quickly across their 40 launch markets. If you already got your hands on the new consoles, we hope you’re having a good experience with them so far, though there are a couple of things you need to know to really take advantage of the new hardware.

Both the Xbox Series X|S and the Sony PlayStation come with a new HDMI 2.1 port, a new gaming-focused technology that will standardize next-gen features such as 120 Hz gaming, Auto low-latency mode (ALLM), and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). HDMI 2.1 is still pretty rare on TVs and gaming monitors right now, though ALLM and VRR are two technologies that your current TV or monitor may already support and we’ll explain why they are important to get the best gaming experience.

There are also some important things to know about storage management on Xbox Series X|S consoles, as well as Xbox One features that are no longer supported. What will follow is going to be a bit technical, but please bear with us if you really want to take advantage of everything your Series X|S console has to offer.

Why you may want to upgrade your TV or gaming monitor

Microsoft’s new Xbox Series X and Series S consoles both support 120 Hz gameplay, meaning that games can now run at up to 120 frames per second (FPS) on compatible TVs and monitors. This is twice as fast as the 60FPS target that some Xbox One games had, and until now 120 FPS gameplay is something only PC gamers have been able to enjoy.

To play games at 120 FPS on your Xbox Series X|S console, be aware that this something that developers will need to implement. Some games like Dirt 5 offer an optional 120 FPS mode with lower graphic settings, while others like Gears 5 only support 120 FPS in the game’s multiplayer mode. However, all games in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection have been updated to support 120 FPS in Campaign and Multiplayer on both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

If playing games at 120 FPS can make a big difference, you also need a screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate, and this is where things can get complicated. On the PC gaming space, there are already plenty of monitors with a 120 Hz refresh rate or higher, but 120Hz is often only supported via DisplayPort, and not HDMI. The existing HDMI 2.0 standard does supports 120 Hz gameplay, but some monitors still ship with older HDMI ports limited to 60 Hz.

That’s why the new HDMI 2.1 standard is going to be a big deal on TVs and gaming monitors, bringing supports for 4K gameplay at 120FPS as well as 8K at 60FPS. Asus was the first company to announces a series of HDMI 2.1 4K gaming monitors for this holiday season, though if you’re more interested in a 4K TV, the LG CX OLED is probably the HDMI 2.1 TV that most shopping guides are currently recommending to gamers.

In addition to 4K at 120 Hz support, HDMI 2.1 also brings support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), the TV equivalent to AMD’s Freesync technology for gaming monitors. VRR can eliminate screen tearing by adapting the screen’s refresh rate to the game’s frame rate so they’re constantly synchronized. I’ve personally had screen tearing issues on games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Dirt 5 on my HDMI 2.0 4K TV, and VRR should address that.

It’s worth noting that Variable Refresh Rate is already supported on Microsoft’s Xbox One S and Xbox One X consoles, along with auto low-latency mode (ALLM). The latter will also be available on HDMI 2.1 TVs, even though some HDMI 2.0 models already support it. ALLM will reduce latency by automatically enabling your TV’s “game mode” when you boot up your Xbox console, so make sure to enable it if your TV supports it.

If I personally prefer playing games on a gaming monitor, most console gamers prefer the convenience of a TV, especially those with an expensive audio system connected to it. Most 4K TVs these days also support HDR and Dolby Vision, two features that can make a big difference compared to gaming monitors. Both the Xbox Series X and S also introduced a new Auto HDR feature that to apply an HDR treatment to SDR games, and the two consoles will also support Dolby Vision for games next year.

Get ready for the next evolution in gaming.

Introducing @Xbox Series X|S. The first consoles ever with gaming in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.

Available soon. pic.twitter.com/ws4CGxXThf

— Dolby (@Dolby) September 29, 2020

Before you go buying a new TV or gaming monitor, make sure to check out the features that your existing screen supports. On your console, you can do so by opening the Xbox Guide, and then selecting Power & system > Settings > General > TV & display options > 4K TV details. If your screen does supports 4K, 120 Hz, ALLM , VRR, HDR, Dolby Vision, you can enable these features by going to Advanced > Video modes.

Using the Xbox Series X|S for media purposes

Microsoft misread the market by trying to make the Xbox One an all-in-one entertainment system seven years ago, and fortunately, the company’s messaging for the new Xbox Series X|S consoles has been mostly focused on games this time aorund. Both consoles have dropped support for the Xbox One Kinect accessory, and the HDMI-in and optical audio ports are also gone.

The OneGuide app that also debuted with the Xbox One console is also missing on Xbox Series X|S consoles, though gamers still have access to a good selection of media apps and a growing catalog of content in HDR and Dolby Vision. While Microsoft’s Movies & TV store is still there, Xbox owners can now purchase movies from Amazon or iTunes with the Amazon Prime Video and new Apple TV app.

If you do plan to use your Xbox Series X|S as your main media player, you need to be aware of ongoing issues with the YouTube and Netflix apps. As of today, the YouTube app on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S doesn’t support HDR playback, even though the Xbox One S brought support for HDR four years ago. A YouTube spokesperson told Polygon that Google is working on HDR support in the YouTube app, but there’s no ETA yet.

As for Netflix, Forbes recently pointed out that the Netflix app for Xbox One and Series X|S consoles play all content in HDR, which can give some poor results for SDR content. If you have an HDR TV or monitor, the Netflix app will turn HDR on all the time and change a wide range of settings to display the best HDR picture. “If your TV makes all these changes with content that’s actually mastered in SDR, though, the resulting picture just doesn’t look right anymore,” emphasized Forbes’ John Archer, who reached Netflix for comment but couldn’t get an explanation for this weird behavior.

How to make the best use of external storage

If you’ve been using external storage to install Xbox One games, the good news is that you can unplug your drive from your old console, plug it to your new Xbox Series X|S console and start playing your old games right away. As the Xbox Series X comes with just 802GB of internal storage (only 364 for the Series S), it’s probably best to keep this space for next-gen games that leverage the new Xbox Velocity Architecture and store backwards compatible games on USB-based external storage.

It’s worth noting that the new Quick Resume feature, which can suspend multiple games in the background instead of closing them also works for games stored on external storage. The feature also works after a reboot, allowing you to pick up where you left off in less than 10 seconds. Quick Resume currently doesn’t work for all Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S games, and Microsoft recently deactivated it for recent games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Dirt 5 to fix some issues. Quick Resume remains a true-game changing feature and I hope Microsoft will polish it in the coming months, but as of today, it can be pretty unpredictable: It’s probably best to keep saving your progress manually just in case your recent games have been dropped from the Quick Resume pool without any warning.

SSDs have become really cheap in recent years, and I’m currently using two external drives with my Xbox Series X|S consoles to store Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. While you can store next-gen games on external storage, these titles won’t launch until you move them to the internal storage or a Seagate 1TB expansion card that delivers the same speed as the console’s internal NVMe SSD. I recently got my hands on this first proprietary expansion card from Seagate and it works as expected, though it’s not a must-have accessory yet considering its $219.99 price.

If you have multiple Xbox consoles at home, you can actually hot swap external storage between them and your games will launch just fine, no reboot required. You can also use external storage to copy games to a different drive, which is a great time-saving feature. To manage storage devices, you can go to My Games & Apps > Manage > Storage devices, where you’ll see different options for choosing your default install location, moving or copying games, and more.

If the new Share button on the Xbox Series X|S controller makes it easier than ever to capture screenshot and gameplay videos, I recommend using external storage as capture location instead of the console’s internal SSD: Doing that will allow you to capture up to 60 minutes clips, which you’ll be able to easily transfer to a PC. The downside is that you can’t upload clips and screenshots captured on external storage on Xbox Live, though the auto-uploads to Xbox Live that happen in the background have always been quite slow on Xbox consoles. Both the Xbox Series X and PS5 can capture 4K 60 fps gameplay footage in HDR if you have the right TV or monitor, though you may want to turn HDR recording off to prevent your videos from looking weird on non-HDR screens.

Last but not least, following the sunsetting of Mixer back in July, Twitch is now the only place where you can stream games on Xbox consoles. You’ll need to download the Twitch app from the Microsoft Store and log in with your Twitch account, then go to the Broadcast tab. It would be much more convenient if streaming services like Twitch and YouTube were built into the Xbox OS like they are on PS4 and PS5 consoles, but it is what it is.

As the Xbox Series X and Series S run the same OS as Xbox One consoles, the next-gen pretty much feels like a PC-like upgrade, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Microsoft keeps iterating on the Xbox OS and recently made the Home screen load more than 50% faster when you boot your Xbox, and almost 30% faster to load when you’re returning from a game. There’s still a lot of room for improvements, but we hope that all the tips mentioned in this post will help you enjoy your Xbox Series X|S console even more during this holiday season.

Last year, Microsoft unveiled its plans to expand its cloud reach in Sweden with sustainability as their key objective. Now, over one year later, the company has confirmed that it’s building its first sustainable datacentre region in Sweden in 2021 as part of the initiatives.

This investment builds on Microsoft’s existing presence in the country, which involves strong partnerships across different sectors such as the energy, manufacturing, and retail industries. The initiative involves establishing three sustainable datacentres, which Microsoft says will focus on delivering Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 and Power Platform across Sweden. It should equip local businesses with advanced connectivity, data privacy, as well as security.

“Sweden has long been a leader on the global stage in many areas, including sustainability, innovation and gender equality. It is one of the places in the world where IT and tech have the greatest potential to create new opportunities for the individual, the organization and society. In this time of change, we invest in the digital infrastructure and our Swedish ecosystem to accelerate digital transformation that will empower public and private companies to innovate, providing a strong digital foundation for the country’s future growth,” said Hélène Barnekow, General Manager, Microsoft Sweden.

Alongside the launch of the new datacenter region, the company also plans to partner with 13 local organizations to provide digital skills training to around 150,000 Swedish citizens. The effort is a part of Microsoft’s long term goal to help 25 million people globally to improve their technical competence.

It is important to note that Microsoft Azure is already available in more than 140 countries worldwide with over 65 data center regions, making it the world’s largest cloud infrastructure.

Microsoft Planner is finally getting on a new feature that will bring the ability for users to add custom background images to their plans. The Microsoft 365 Roadmap indicates that the feature is currently under development, and it’s expected to roll out in January.

Currently, Microsoft Planner allows users to create multiple plans, but they all have a similar plain background. Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t yet provided a way to customize Planner backgrounds in a supportable manner, making it hard to distinguish plans at a glance.

With this new feature called smart background, users will be able to view image recommendations and add a relevant and unique background image to each plan. The upcoming Planner experience, which is powered by Designer, will automatically analyze the plan’s title to provide smart image recommendations.

As a part of this change, the company is also working on a new Settings UI for Microsoft Planner. As seen in the screenshot above, the updated design will divide Plan settings into three different groups: General, Group, and Notifications. This should make it easier for users to find relevant settings.

Overall, these changes will be a welcome addition to Microsoft Planner, which hasn’t received a fresh coat of paint in a while. Let us know what do you think about these features by dropping us a comment below.

The Xbox app updated earlier today for both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. This latest update brings the app to Version 2011.1117.2133 on Android and Version 2011.1117.2218 on iOS and adds the ability to upload a custom gamerpic avatar from a device’s photo library and create group chats via the Chats tab.

Here’s the full release notes:

New stuff!

• Custom gamerpics are here — Set your gamerpic with images from your phone or choose from the Xbox library, directly from the app!
• Chat improvements — Message requests are now supported. You can also create group chats by selecting multiple friends when starting a new conversation.
• View your games — View and manage all your games remotely, including the full Game Pass catalog.

The Xbox app allows gamers to manage their Xbox video game library, control their Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles, and communicate with friends from their tablet and smartphone. A Windows 10 Xbox app is also available and all three versions received a rather significant design revamp recently that modernized the experience for the launch of the newer Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X consoles.

Do you use the Xbox app? Let us know what features you think it’s missing in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more Xbox gaming news.

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It’s now been two weeks since Microsoft released its new Xbox Series X and Series S consoles worldwide, and Xbox head Phil Spencer has just given a long interview to The Verge to discuss this recent console launch as well as what’s coming next for Xbox. Between the competition with other platforms and the rise of cloud gaming and subscription services, Spencer has a lot of interesting insights about the evolution of the video games industry, especially at a time where a worldwide pandemic as been affecting the development and the consumption of video games in many ways.

Having worked at Microsoft for more than 30 years, Spencer saw the launch of all previous Xbox consoles, but the Xbox Series X|S is the first console generation fully created under Spencer’s leadership. Having two very different consoles at launch is also a first for the company, and Spencer admitted in the interview that going forward with the discless, less powerful Series S was “a good tough decision.” Sony also launched two different PlayStation 5 consoles this fall, though the presence of a disc drive is the only difference between the two PS5 SKUs.

“The way I would frame it, the best argument against doing it was Sony. We didn’t think that they were going to do it,” Spencer admitted. While Microsoft isn’t sharing sales numbers for the Series X|S, the exec said that he’s “very happy” with console sales so far. “A lot of new people to Xbox are coming in through Series S, which is what we would have expected. It’s lower-price. There’s Game Pass there. They will get a bunch of games,” Spencer said.

As of today, both Sony and Microsoft are struggling to keep up with the very high demand for the new consoles. According to Spencer, Microsoft is currently prioritizing Xbox Series X production over the Series S, but the exec expects to “moderate that a bit” starting next year. “Over the long run, in most cases, price wins out. If you just go back and look at previous generations and when console generations hit the real sweet spot of sales, which is one of the reasons we like having that, that’s the Series S at its price point,” Spencer said.

The head of Xbox couldn’t avoid being asked about the Xbox Series X|S launch lineup, which is missing the much-anticipated Halo Infinite. If delaying the game to next year was “a miss on our part,” Spencer admitted, the exec believes that “we’re going to get a better Halo game at a good time when people can actually get a console.” The exec is also confident about Microsoft’s growing Xbox Game Studios division, which will soon welcome many more high-profile studios with the upcoming acquisition of ZeniMax Media. “I feel good, really good, the best I’ve ever felt about our roadmap,” the exec said.

If Spencer reiterated in the interview that the Xbox Series X|S probably wouldn’t be the last consoles from Microsoft, the exec reiterated its intention to bring the Xbox ecosystem anywhere thanks to Cloud gaming, including Smart TVs. “I think you’re going to see that in the next 12 months. I don’t think anything is going to stop us from doing that,” Spencer said.

In addition to Smart TVs, Microsoft ultimately wants to make Xbox Cloud Gaming available on all devices that ship with a web browser. “If the device is capable of running a capable web browser, we’re going to be able to bring games to it, which is pretty cool,” Spencer confirmed, adding that “Apple does remain open in the conversations that we have on this topic.”

Phil Spencer’s full interview with The Verge is well worth a read, but you can also listen to it on this page.

OnPodcast is available on these streaming services:

If you didn’t already know, my colleague Kareem Anderson and I recently relaunched the OnMSFT Podcast, now branded as OnPodcast. Over the past 12 weeks, we’ve been talking about all things Microsoft. We’re on YouTube and  on the major streaming platforms, too, every Sunday at 9 AM ET/12 PM ET. But, have you ever wondered what goes behind the scenes? Well, our Podcast is powered by Microsoft Teams, Windows 10, and the other Microsoft 365 apps. Here’s a look at how it works.

The equipment

What’s a podcast without the right equipment? Before diving into the Microsoft 365 section, I’ll talk about the equipment being used behind the scenes. I myself, have a couple of things on my end. Obviously, my laptop is the HP Envy 15, which I previously reviewed. As for my webcam, It’s an AUKEY FHD Webcam. My microphone, meanwhile, is a generic studio microphone from Amazon.

Of course, I also sport the original Surface Headphones, too, to hear Kareem as he speaks to me, and avoid echo on the camera. My colleague Kareem, meanwhile, is sporting a Surface Laptop 3 15-inch. He’s not using a dedicated microphone or headset (yet), but his webcam is the Logitech C920x.

The outline in OneNote

Before we even podcast, we put together an outline of topics every Friday, looking at some big stories we saw across the week from Microsoft. To share this outline across the editorial team at OnMSFT, we use OneNote. The OneNote notebook is shared, and Kareem, Managing Editor Kip, and the editorial crew are free to add topics, suggestions, and more to the list before we record on Saturday night. We also keep the notebook open during our recording, to gather notes, and other reference points, too.

The recording with Teams

Next on the list is the recording process. While a lot of other podcasts depend on specialized software, we here at OnMSFT are a Microsoft-centric operation. Every weekend. Kareem and I pre-record our Podcast at 8 PM ET or 5 PM PT (usually). We do this through Teams. Kareem gives me a call via Teams Meetings, and then we begin the recording, just as you would for your meeting. The discussion then starts, and we save the recording when we’re done.

The download with Stream, editing with Windows 10 and Filmora

As we’ve covered before, once the recording of the podcast is finished, it is saved to Microsoft Stream. This is the most unique area of our podcast workflow, as Teams handles all the recording, and Stream all the saving. I don’t need to worry about screen recording, audio, or any other issues. The process is all automatic. Teams will record the podcast and then save it to Microsoft Stream, within a few minutes. When it’s ready, I just head to Microsoft Stream online, click the download link next to the call I recorded with Kareem, and then save it to my PC. The file is saved an MP4, which works perfectly for my video editing.

Once downloaded, I create a new project in Filmora, as I described before. I upload the recording, add captions, images, animations, and transitions. If there were any mistakes, I also edit the video, fixing mistakes and editing for time. In cases where we have special guests like our own Laurent in Episode 12, I edit the segment in at the appropriate point.

So far, this experience has been all but flawless for me. By recording with Teams, and downloading the recording through Stream, I save a lot of time in my editing. The file I need is right there, on-demand, and I can always download it when I need it. One note: we use Microsoft 365 Business Basic here at OnMSFT.com, which includes everything needed for this workflow for $5/user/mo.

The publishing, YouTube, Soundcloud, and more

Once I finish editing, I publish the podcast to our platforms. Filmora lets me save the audio as an MP3, which I upload to SoundCloud, which then distributes our audio podcast to all our other platforms. The video, meanwhile, gets sent to YouTube, where I set it as a YouTube Premiere. Though our podcast is pre-recorded, this makes it seem as if Kareem and I are live, and it gives us the chance to chat with you, the readers on YouTube.

We want your feedback!

So, that’s how we Podcast here at OnMSFT. Of course, we wouldn’t be here without you, the readers, so we’d love to hear your feedback. Do you have suggestions for how we can improve our show? Do you want to appear on our show? We’re always looking for guests, and feedback, so be sure to drop us a comment below to let us know. And, remember, you always can send us an email at [email protected].

Back in August, Microsoft announced that some Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel would start seeing something new in the header of the Windows 10 Settings app. In addition to the existing shortcuts to OneDrive, Windows Update, and Microsoft Rewards, Microsoft has started experimenting with a new Web browsing section in the Settings header, though we believe that it has yet to reach all Insiders in the Dev channel.

While new features can come and go in the latest Insider builds, it appears that some non-Insiders are also starting to see this new Web Browsing section in the Settings app header. Alex, a tipster from France saw it on his Surface Pro tablet on the production ring and sent us some screenshots.

You can see the new Web Browsing shortcut in the top right corner of the header, and clicking on it will open a pop up inviting you to use Microsoft’s recommended settings: Those are to use Microsoft Edge as your default browser, as well as Bing as your default search engine. If that’s already the case on your PC, you’ll get a different pop up explaining that your PC is currently using Microsoft’s recommended web browsing settings.

This experiment will likely be seen as another “ad” for Microsoft’s new Chromium-based Edge browser on Windows 10, which the company has been pushing to all users to replace the legacy Edge that shipped with Windows 10. It’s not clear if many non-Insiders are currently seeing this new Web Browsing section in the Settings app header, and we currently don’t have it on our PCs. The presence of a shortcut to Microsoft Rewards in that same header also seems to be quite random.

Keep in mind that this new Web browsing shortcut in the Settings app remains an experiment, and it may not roll out to all Windows 10 users. Microsoft may have very good reasons to promote its new Edge browser on Windows 10, which is a pretty great browser overall, but there’s a fine line between helping users browse the web more securely, and making these same users feel like their PCs are becoming advertising spaces for Microsoft’s services.

Microsoft has a storied history with the country of Ireland, the company’s most notable entanglement with the area came as a 2014 legal battle over user privacy. Microsoft was held in contempt of court by the US court system as it attempted to leverage user data stored on Microsoft servers based in Ireland. Ultimately, three years later the Supreme Court, Congress passed the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (CLOUD Act), which amended the SCA to resolve concerns from the government and Microsoft related to the initial warrant. The Supreme Court, following agreement from both the government and Microsoft, determined the passage of the CLOUD Act and a new warrant for the data filed under it made the case moot and vacated the Second Circuit’s decision.

Since then, Microsoft has continued to break ground on new facilities and expanded its presence in Ireland, and news of the company’s new Engineering Hub in the country looks to continue that trend.

Announced yesterday, Microsoft plans to invest in a $32 million dollar Engineering Hub at One Microsoft Court in Leopardstown, Dublin. The new expansion will come in at 107,639 sq ft and sit just outside of Microsoft flagship One Microsoft Court Place. With its new facility, Microsoft is also looking to recreate a Seattle campus favorite experience in its engineering “Garage.”

In The Garage, employees have the freedom to innovate, fail, learn and experiment on projects they are passionate about. It’s a fantastic space and we’re looking forward to welcoming colleagues, customers and community members to have fun and to create when restrictions are lifted – particularly our new engineer recruits.

Aside from expanding its physical footprint, the new Engineering Hub will also provide 200 new engineering roles to its portfolio of over 600 engineers in the area. Microsoft explains that it’s already underway attempting to recruit for the new 200 engineering slots and that filling the roles will help in various facets of the company’s portfolio that include software engineering and product design, user experience, and data science, all with a focus on cloud services.