Last year, I reviewed the Surface Laptop 3 for Business and called it “the ultimate laptop I’ve always wanted.” For the $1,300 price, it definitely was a good laptop for me. That’s thanks to its spacious 15-inch screen, the 3:2 aspect ratio display, and the Intel Core i5 Ice Lake processor inside. But recently, with the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, I was itching for a new laptop with more power.

My old XPS 15 with a GTX 960M inside just wasn’t cutting it and, my Surface Laptop 3 could not play the simulator at all. Looking at all the options available, including a Surface Book 3, I decided to sell my Surface Laptop 3 to my colleague, and settled for buying the HP Envy 15 ep0098nr, instead.

For the sale price of $1,600 ($1,700 normally,) this laptop offers a lot of value. From its CPU, RTX 2060 Max-Q graphics card, AMOLED display, and overall performance, it’s one big beast. In the long run, I even think it even has everything that should come in the next Surface Laptop or Surface Book.

The specs, the price, and the options

To begin my review, I’ll start first with the specs and a bit of a tangent. But, please, do stay with me. As a Surface fan, I think the HP Envy 15 departs from anything Microsoft has to offer from the Surface lineup. After using it as my main machine, I do hope Microsoft could make some changes for its next-generation Surface Book devices, or the Surface Laptop 4.

My top-range Envy 15 model from HP (there’s another model with more storage and RAM on sale at Costco) comes configured with the 10th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H processor, clocked at 2.60 GHz. It should be noted that this is a 6-core processor that can turbo-boost to 5 GHz when needed.

The Envy 15 also comes configured with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD with 32GB of Intel Optane storage boost. Both RAM and storage are upgradeable by removing the screws at the bottom of the laptop and prying the casing off. There’s also the star of the laptop, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q graphics card with 6GB of VRAM. The display, meanwhile, comes in at 15.6 inches, 4K Resolution. It’s also an AMOLED panel, as well. Full specs are listed below.

Looking at the Surface Lineup, this is where there’s a lot of value for the price in the HP. Microsoft’s own 15-inch Surface Laptop doesn’t come with a dedicated graphics card inside. Keeping that difference in mind, configuring a 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 with Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD will push the price to well over $2,099. The 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 for Business, meanwhile, comes in at $2,200 for a model with 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and the Intel Core i7 processor. Again, all these models come without a dedicated graphics card.

With just the Surface Book 3, meanwhile, the difference is quite astounding. This is one of the closest Surface devices to the Envy 15, in terms of specs. It is true that the Surface Book 3 has the benefits of a detachable screen and tablet or inking (the HP Envy 15 doesn’t support pens) but when it comes to raw power, this HP is hard to beat for this price.

For $2,300, Microsoft’s Surface Book 3 comes configured with an Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor. This is still a 4-core processor, to be clear. It also has 16GB of RAM and only 256GB of Storage. The GPU, meanwhile, maxes out at the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q with 6GB VRAM.

Now for the TL;DR version. For $1,700 (or $1,600, as I paid, when on sale,) the Envy 15 is an absolute steal. It comes with a better graphics card, a better 6-core processor, and a better AMOLED panel, too. Not to mention, you can upgrade the RAM and the storage on the Envy, which isn’t an easy task on a Surface.

Though I don’t own one, reviews have shown that the Surface Book 3 is its own monster, and is great for video editing and even gaming, However, the $600 difference between Surface and HP can make a huge difference when looking for a device with raw power.

The Surface comes at a premium, but Microsoft really could make some gains by including a graphics card in the next Surface Laptop, or buffing up the Surface Book 4 with a heftier GPU, even if it means changing up the design. This review will show lessons to learn for Microsoft and potential Surface buyers. There are indeed better laptops out there for the price you pay for a Surface.

The design, keyboard, and trackpad

Speaking of design, Microsoft’s Surface lineup has always been associated with premium look and feel, and HP’s Envy 15 is no different. Microsoft opts for an aluminum enclosure on its Surface Laptop devices, and magnesium on the Surface Book and Pro lineup. HP looks to have learned from this and applies that to the Envy 15. Tl;DR, this feels like a Surface device.

All around, the Envy 15 sports a minimalist look. It features an aluminum silver-colored chassis which looks just like a MacBook, or a Surface Laptop from afar. For this high-end price, there are no cheap materials. The Envy is built like a tank, including the keyboard deck, as well as the display itself.

But I say “built like a tank” because the Envy 15 is a heavy laptop. At nearly 4.7 pounds, and with a dedicated GPU inside, it’s heavier and a lot thicker than a Surface Laptop 3, which is what worries me if Microsoft ever decides to add a dedicated graphics card to the Surface Laptop lineup. It’s also heavier than a Surface Book 3, too, which comes in at 4.2 pounds.

Still, the Envy 15 still plenty portable when you compare it to other gaming laptops with RTX graphics like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX701GX. It is more like the Razer Blade 15 and has a compact look when sitting on the desk. Silver look and all, it is so much more of a professional look and slimmer profile than most gaming laptops. And, the lid is easy to open with just one hand, too.

The keyboard on the Envy 15 meanwhile, is one of my all-time favorites on a laptop. While I appreciated the keyboard on the Surface Laptop 3 (finding it was as comfortable as the Surface Type Cover) HP manages to take things up a notch with the Envy 15. The keyboard is in a chicklet-style layout, and tapping on the keycaps gives a nice soft-feeling, a little softer than what you get on a Surface. I was able to get to 75 words per minute on Bing’s typing test.

Unlike Surface, the keycaps are silver on gray, though. This means that it might be hard for some to see, especially when the two levels of backlighting are turned on at night. But to rescue itself, HP integrates a webcam kill switch and a microphone kill switch on the keyboard. This disables both camera (it puts a physical shutter in front of it) and microphone in the device manager, a nice thing to have when we’re spending most of our time in meetings these days.

Moving to the Trackpad, now. It is just fine. With Surface devices, the Trackpads always feel like they’re solid and integrated into the keyboard deck. The Envy 15’s trackpad, while does feature Microsoft precision drivers, fee,s a bit light and “cheap.” It makes a hollow clicking noise, which I hate. Most times I did try to use a Bluetooth mouse with the Envy.

Oh, and let me not forget! There’s a fingerprint reader on the keyboard, too, since the Envy 15 lacks a Windows Hello webcam. I liked having this for quick and easy logins, just like Windows Hello on my old Surface. Just tap the fingerprint reader and login in a hurry. No passwords are necessary.

The Ports

Looking at the ports onboard the Envy 15, there is a lot to go around. You won’t ever need a dongle if you buy yourself this laptop. It comes with 2 Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, an HDMI port, and 2-USB-A ports, too. Of course, there’s also a headphone jack as well. Oh, and there’s even a microSD card port for expansion, too.

This is where the Envy 15 doesn’t feel like it has wasted space. Unlike what you get on a Surface Laptop (USB-C and USB-A and no expandable storage) there’s a port for everything you need. It comes closer to what Microsoft has on the Surface Book 3 (2 USB-A, 1 USB-C,  2 Surface Connect, and full-size SD card reader.) For content creators, which both Surface Book 3 and the Envy 15 target, that’s a nice mix of ports, though some folks might have wanted a full-size SD card reader instead of micro SD on the Envy.

There is still one flaw, though. While all modern Surface devices with USB-C can be charged through the port, the Envy 15 can not. It only will charge up through its 200-watt proprietary pin charger. This makes a lot of sense because of the dedicated power-hungry RTX graphics card, but it is a bummer for this price. It would have been great to be able to charge the laptop up on the go.

Related to ports are the speakers, webcam, and connectivity. In these areas, the HP feels a bit different from a Surface. I loved the speakers on my Surface Laptop 3, but with the HP, speakers are buried under the laptop chassis and are downward-firing. I often had to turn the sound up to high levels just to feel immersed.

The webcam is also just like what you get on a Surface as it is 720p. However, the HP Envy doesn’t have a dual far-field microphone as you’d find on a Surface. It’s noticeable when you’re on web calls. I had to plug in an external microphone when I do my weekly Podcast for OnMSFT.

As for wireless, the Envy sports support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5. No issues there, as this is routine for most laptops in 2020.

The performance and gaming

One of the reasons I purchased my HP Envy 15 was for gaming and enjoying Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. In this area, the Envy does not disappoint. I may be repeating myself, but it’s one heck of a machine, with specs that can handle almost any game.

But to be clear, though, HP doesn’t advertise this as a gaming laptop. Instead, it’s meant as a studio laptop, for coding, designing games, and videos. This is evident when you boot up the laptop and open the Nvidia GeForce Experience. There are no game-ready driver updates for download, as you’d see on most gaming laptops.

Like most of my reviews, I don’t want to dive too deep into technical testing and aspects. Generally speaking, I will just mention how I used the HP Envy 15. For me, that’s casual computing and work, as well as gaming.

For work and casual computing, the Envy 15 doesn’t disappoint. Generally, I have a workflow in Edge of 10-15 tabs. Sometimes its media-heavy content, and other times, it’s webpages with lots of images. Here, the Envy blasts through everything. That’s evident with its Basemark web score of 765 as well as the obvious advantages of having a 6-core Intel Core i7 processor inside. There’s no need for Geekbench, here.

For gaming, the Envy 15 tackles every game I threw at it. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, I did not get any lag when playing on “High-End” settings at the native 4K resolution. The lands below my airplane loaded just fine, and it looked great when flying through New York City and taking in all of my home town’s details from the skies above. I thoroughly enjoyed cross-country flights, flying over Pakistan, Disney, and even Downtown Los Angeles, not to mention the realistic feeling of flying through a hurricane.

Again, the HP Envy 15 isn’t designed to be a gaming laptop, but with RTX graphics inside, there’s no reason why it can’t be one. It was able to play some games on Steam at excellent frame rates. I downloaded Metro: Exodus on Steam, and it hit about 40 frames per second on ultra settings with ray-tracing enabled, and 38 without it enabled. It’s amazing to see that game push out such high frames.

Really enjoying Microsoft Flight Simulator. This is oddly relaxing. Glad I finally have a PC that can handle it, and so much more! I can see Citi Field and Flushing Meadows Corona Park from up here, too! pic.twitter.com/OqFoSjUl6T

— Arif Bacchus (@abacjourn) October 17, 2020

Finally, for video-editing, the Envy 15 doesn’t disappoint, either. When I encoded a 38 minute long 1080p 30 frames per second video (the weekly OnMSFT Podcast) the HP Envy took around 2 minutes to push it out to completion. My MacBook Pro typically takes about 30 minutes to do this same task.

Encoding the latest episode of the OnPodcast for tmrw. Wow my HP Envy 15 will blow through it and finish it in 2 minutes. Insane. My MacBook Pro 13 inch usually takes 30 mins, lol. pic.twitter.com/txVdCYOERP

— Arif Bacchus (@abacjourn) November 1, 2020

I do also want to mention the cooling, here, as well. HP is using “vapor cooling” technology on the Envy 15. This is usually reserved for higher-end gaming laptops, and I think it works well with this Envy, too. The Envy never felt too hot to the touch, especially when I was gaming and playing Microsoft Flight Simulator.

HP’s own Performance Control app will also give full control of the systems’ fans to help cool down the laptop when gaming. The fans might come on full-speed when plugged in and gaming, but it does it for a purpose — keeping the laptop cool. Air will pass through the sides and the vents on the rear, as well as the vents on the top of the keyboard, too, ensuring the laptop never turns into a stovetop.

The display

These days on a laptop, it’s all about the bezels and image quality. While Surface Book 3 and Surface Laptop 3 do have thicker bezels than laptops like the XPS 15, HP’s Envy 15 is on a similar footing. The bezels along the side are slim, but there’s an ugly chin at the bottom of the display. However, the 4K AMOLED Panel (which supports HDR) makes up for this in every single way.

Though I praised the PixelSense display on the Surface Laptop 3 when I reviewed it, the Envy 15 kicks things up a notch. Thanks to the AMOLED panel, it pushes out some very accurate colors and deep blacks. On the first day I unboxed the laptop, I watched a sample video to test the 4K HDR quality, and I was amazed. The yellow and golds in the saxophone in the video were super vibrant and lively. Not to mention, the accurate brightness of the colors on the DJ’s stage. I felt like I was in the scene with these musicians.

I’ve yet to see a laptop with this type of color accuracy and vibrancy. Microsoft’s PixelSense displays are great for inking, but 4K OLED is even better, especially for creators. HP says it can hit 100% of the DCI-PC color gamut, and total brightness of 400 nits. Just be aware, there’s no screen-technology for gamers, here. You won’t find Nvidia’s G-Sync on board and the screen is locked to 60Hz.

The display does have some faults, though. One of which is battery life, as we’ll discuss next. The other is its aspect ratio. Coming from using a Surface Laptop 3, I really do miss the 3:2 aspect ratio. On this HP, with a 16:9 aspect ratio, it feels like I am losing a lot of vertical space. If the bottom chin was cut out, this problem probably would have been solved.

The battery life

To end this review, there’s the all-important battery life segment. Here’s where there’s a mixed bag. AMOLED and 4K displays are known to consume a lot of power. And, with this HP Envy 15 having a power-hungry RTX graphics card inside, the combination doesn’t quite equate to good battery life.

Keeping the display brightness down to around 20 percent, and setting Windows to “better battery” I received about 5-6 hours of screen-time for my general day-to-day productivity. When gaming on the battery (which I would not recommend because the HP isn’t able to use the full power of the RTX GPU) I got half that, with the performance settings set to “best performance.” Considering this is more of a workstation and desktop replacement, rather than an ultrabook. This is still good battery life considering the specs, though.

The end: Better than a Surface

If you’re looking for a powerful laptop that’s under $2,000, but also has enough power for gaming, video editing, and even managing virtual machines, then this HP Envy 15 is you. Compared to Microsoft’s top-end Surface devices, there’s a lot of value here for the price.

For sure, you do lose some things from Surface with the HP. That includes a 3:2 aspect ratio, pen support, and the tablet form factor, along with battery life. However, in terms of raw power, the HP Envy 15 is unmatched for it’s $1,700 (and when on sale $1,600) price. You’ll get better RTX graphics, a fantastic display, and the versatility of a six-core Intel processor.

It could be lessons learned for Microsoft, too. The company’s own Surface Laptop 3 lacks a dedicated GPU, and when compared to the Envy 15, the Surface Book 3 sports a lesser-powered GTX graphics. Here’s to hoping the next Surface packs more power.

The Apple TV app is finally coming to Xbox consoles on November 10, right for the launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S. The Apple TV app will join Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube TV, and many more subscription-based video apps already available on Xbox One, in addition to free apps like YouTube, Twitch, or Spotify.

“The Apple TV app gives you access to thousands of shows and movies from one convenient location, allowing you to enjoy Apple TV+, Apple TV channels, brand-new and popular movies, and personalized entertainment recommendations,” Microsoft explained today. Interestingly, the Apple TV app will allow Xbox users to “buy or rent more than 100,000 movies and shows,” making it compete directly with Microsoft’s own Movies & TV store.

Just like other media apps on Xbox consoles, the Apple TV app will also support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and it’s currently much easier to find content that supports these advanced audiovisual technologies on Apple TV/iTunes than it is on Microsoft’s Movies & TV store. In the long run, we have to wonder if it makes sense for Microsoft to continue selling movies and TV shows on the Microsoft Store when there are so many great alternatives.

Ironically, the Apple TV app will also launch on Xbox consoles at a time when Apple isn’t allowing Microsoft to bring its Cloud Gaming service (Project xCloud) to the iOS App Store. Apple clearly has a power advantage here with iTunes being one of the biggest digital storefronts for movies and TV shows. If Apple’s new TV+ subscription which includes the company’s original shows has yet to really make its mark, it’s great to see all the movies and TV shows from iTunes finally coming to Xbox consoles through the Apple TV app.

The next-gen version of Fortnite will launch alongside Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S consoles on November 10, and today Epic Games detailed what kind of upgrades early adopters can look forward to. As expected, the Xbox Series X will be able to run the game at a 4K resolution at 60FPS, while the Xbox Series S will be limited to 1080p with the same FPS target.

Epic Games is also teasing dynamic visuals and physics on the Series X, including ” a more dynamic and interactive world with grass and trees responding to explosions, enhanced fluid simulations for smoke and liquid (cooler-looking smoke and liquid effects), and all-new Storm and cloud effects.” The less powerful Series S will “support most of the visual enhancements available on the Series X,” Epic said today.

There’s won’t be any ray-tracing support on the Series X for now, even though the PC version of the popular battle Royale game now supports it. However, Fortnite on the Series X|S will get other enhancements including faster loading times and 60 FPS support for Split Screen. Epic mentioned similar upgrades for the PlayStation 5 version of the game, with the addition of exclusive DualSense features and the ability to launch the different modes right from the PS5 home screen.

To get an idea of Fortnite’s next-gen visual enhancements, Epic Games published the following PS5 gameplay video back in September:

Last but not least, Fortnite on next-gen consoles will still support cross-saves and crossplay, and the game on the Xbox Series X|S will also still require an Xbox Live Gold subscription. That will remain a notable difference with Sony’s consoles, where the game has always been free to play.

Microsoft will soon launch a public preview program for Microsoft Teams to allow administrators to provide early access to unreleased features for employees in their organization. The new pre-release channel will start rolling out in mid-November, and it should hit all tenants by the end of this month.

Microsoft Teams Admins will be able to enable preview features by signing in to the Microsoft Teams admin center and enabling the Show preview features setting. However, it will be up to the Office 365 Admins to create custom policies to assign preview directly to one or more users in their tenant.

“Public preview is enabled for each user, and the option to turn on public preview is controlled in an admin policy. Update policies are used to manage Teams and Office preview users who will see pre-release or preview features in the Teams app. You can use the Global (Org-wide default) policy and customize it, or create one or more custom policies for your users,” the company explained.

To get started with enrolling in the Teams public preview program on Windows 10, macOS, and the web, Teams users will need to click on their profile picture in the upper right corner of the screen. They will then select the public preview option on the bottom.

Unlike the Teams developer preview program, this program has been specifically designed for end-users to make it easier for them to explore and test upcoming features new features before they are generally available. If you are interested, feel free to check out this Microsoft Teams preview program support page to learn more.

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 to change how Windows 10 manual driver updates work on November 5

Improvements to how driver updates are managed on Windows 10 are coming in early November. For automatic driver updates, these will continue to function as normal, installing either when you connect a peripheral for the first time, or if the manufacturer publishes a driver to Windows Update. But for manual driver updates, these will only install if you specifically request them fromSettings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View optional updates.

Adobe Flash removed for good with latest Windows 10 optional update

A new optional update for Windows 10 does away with Adobe Flash for good. The optional update to remove Adobe Flash is also available for all supported versions of Windows 8.1 and Windows Server. This only removes Flash from Internet Explorer and legacy Edge, other browsers that come with it as a built-in component may continue to have Flash available.

Alexa for Windows 10 gets new look, new features

Amazon’s Alexa app for Windows 10 has received a design overhaul, implementing a new design language, in addition to bringing some new features, such as adding support for Drop in to video calls.

@windowscentral @zacbowden @Daniel_Rubino @ALumia_Italia Just got an update for Alexa on Windows 10 that completely changed the whole app. pic.twitter.com/U4IxtnNryS

— Cameron Singh (@AlphaChap) October 28, 2020

Microsoft is reportedly planning big Windows 10 redesign codenamed “Sun Valley”

A design overhaul could be heading for Windows 10 in the future. According to a new report, Microsoft is planning a design overhaul codenamed “Sun Valley” which could be coming in the Windows 10 “Cobalt” update, expected in Fall 2021.

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

With Halloween now just one day away, the month of October is coming to a close. That means it’s time to look back at everything that was new in Microsoft Teams in the month of October. From improvements for the spotlight feature, pinned posts, and more, here’s what you need to know.

Calling features

We’re starting first with the calling features. This month, Microsoft added live captions to Teams with speaker attribution, so that you can see who is speaking during a call. Also new is the spotlight feature for all attendees in a meeting. With this, presenters can pin an individual video feed for everyone in a meeting, and spotlight them.

Another feature added for calling is the ability to prevent attendees from unmuting in Teams Meetings. Thanks to this, meeting organizers and presenters can now prevent attendees from unmuting during the meeting and enable specific attendees to unmute when they raise their hands.

There were also some smaller features, too. Microsoft Whiteboard picked up a read-only mode, to allow for more reliability, and it became possible to save teams meeting and call recordings in OneDrive for Business or in SharePoint.

Chat features

Next up are the chat and collaboration features. The biggest one here is pinned posts. With this feature, you can pin a message in a channel, so that it appears in the channel information pane for everyone to see. There are also some little things, too. This includes a new offline presence status, language-aware proofing, templates for creating a new Team.

Of course, we can’t forget the new file sharing experience, too. Now you’ll be able to create a sharable link for any file stored directly in Teams and get the appropriate permissions.

Some of the other things added in October in relation to chat include an Updated SharePoint pages app and new and simplified global notification settings to make it easier to tweak your Teams experience so you’re not constantly being notified about things.

Education features and Firstline Workers

Moving along, there’s features for Teams for Education and Firstline features. With education, Microsoft added special features for teachers and students. This is the ability to anonymously grade and mark assignments. In addition, teachers and students can also now see upcoming assignments by class, too.

As for Firstline workers, Microsoft delivered on off-shift access controls. Thanks to this, IT Admins can configure Teams to let workers know that they’re opening the app on their personal device outside of working hours.

Other features

We’ve only touched on some of the core features added to Teams in October, but there’s a lot we can’t possibly touch on in just one post. The list includes a native ARM64 app for Microsoft Teams, new capabilities for Microsoft Teams Rooms, a new Power Automate app for Teams, and more. Head over to Microsoft to see the full list, and remember to check out our news hub for all the latest Microsoft 365 news and information.

Microsoft is changing the process of installing manual driver updates on Windows 10 next month. In a post on the Windows IT Pro Blog (via Neowin), the company explained that starting November 5, 2020, Windows Update will better differentiate automatic and manual drivers updates.

Earlier this year, Microsoft rolled out a change in Windows 10 that made optional driver updates appear in a new page under Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View optional updates. But as of today, when a user connects to a Windows 10 PC a new peripheral that has a manual (previously optional) driver update available on Windows Update, this driver is automatically installed without any input from the user.

Microsoft has acknowledged that this isn’t ideal, and the company will now give users more control over manual driver updates with the Windows Update change that will roll out on November 5. Here’s what’s changing for PCs that are open to receive driver updates directly from Windows Update:

1. Automatic driver updates will automatically be installed on your machine either when you plug-in a peripheral device for the first time, or when a device manufacturer publishes a driver to Windows Update. In other words, there will be no change to the plug-and-play scenario when an automatic driver is available on Windows Update.
2. Manual driver updates can be installed manually on your machine if you specifically request them by navigating to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View optional updates.

This is an important next step in the transformation of driver servicing that Microsoft kicked off on Windows 10 earlier this year. However, this upcoming Windows Update change won’t impact IT Pros currently managing drivers on behalf of their organizations.

Microsoft PowerToys users are getting a new update, moving to version 0.25. This release is focused on making stability, quality, and some major accessibility improvements for both end-users and developers. This time, the company has also completed the first pass of localization of its tool in 17 different languages.

Just released #PowerToys 0.25. We did our first pass at localizing to 17 languages and big accessibility improvements.https://t.co/RbWvrGZt2F

— Clint Rutkas (@ClintRutkas) October 29, 2020

Furthermore, the company noted that the Video Conferencing Mute utility will be released next week, and it’s not included in this version. “This will be coming in about a week’s time. We need additional work done here to ship this out. It will be 0.26 Experimental and will be 0.25 + The video conference utility,” said Clint Rutkas, Program manager lead on PowerToys.

Here is the full changelog for PowerToys version 0.25:

General

• First pass on localization complete. 17 different languages. We know there will be some rough areas, please make us aware so we can correct them.
• Logging added into the installer
• Large sums of accessibility issues fixed.
• Less notifications for installing
• FxCop work is almost fully wrapped up

Color Picker

• Additional color style selections such as CYMK and HSL

FancyZones

• Multiple bugs fixed
• Better zone drawing improvements

Keyboard manager

• Fixed terminal input map failure
• Better app compat
• Multiple bug fixes
• Ability to directly disable keys/shortcuts

PowerToys Run

• expanded environment var searching such as %windr%
• multiple crash bug fixes
• Improvements on calculator plugin
• Directly able to override theming
• Windows will open to what shell you want
• Better action key support
  • = for direct calculator
  • ? for direct file searching
  • . for direct for applications
  • // for direct URL
  • < for running processes
  • > for shell processes

Dev docs

• • Added multiple developer related docs.

The company is seeking user feedback to improve the localization of its PowerToys suite of tools. If you find an issue, be sure to report it to the development team. To get the latest version of the service, users can head to the official GitHub page.

The popular Jump Force, PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds (PUBG), and Dead by Daylight: Special Edition video games are currently free to play on Microsoft’s family of Xbox One consoles from now until end of Sunday for all gamers with an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.

As with previous Free Play Day campaigns, each title can be played in full and all progress will save to the cloud for future sessions for those that choose to buy the titles outright further down the line.

To encourage players to buy these games, both PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Dead by Daylight: Special Edition have been discounted within the Microsoft Store online storefront. PUBG has been given a whopping 75% discount, bringing its price down to just $5 while Dead by Daylight: Special Edition is now down to $12 with its 60% discount.

The Dead by Daylight: Silent Hill Edition has been discounted by 30% and costs just $27.99.

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

Download
QR-Code

JUMP FORCE

Developer:
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.

Price:
Free

Download
QR-Code

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS

Developer:
KRAFTON, Inc.

Price:
Free

Download
QR-Code

Dead by Daylight

Developer:
Behaviour Interactive Inc.

Price:
Free

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QR-Code

Dead by Daylight: Silent Hill Edition

Developer:
Behaviour Interactive Inc.

Price:
Free

The November 2020 Games With Gold video games have been announced. First up will be Aragami: Shadow Edition and the OG Xbox’s Full Spectrum Warrior on November 1st with Swimsanity and the Xbox 360’s LEGO Indiana Jones unlocking on November 15th.

All four titles will be playable on Microsoft’s family of Xbox One consoles and the new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles which are set for release just over a week from now. This will be the first batch of Games With Gold titles released during the next (soon to be current) console generation.

Here’s a brief description of each title along with links to their online store pages.

Aragami: Shadow Edition

Aragami: Shadow Edition includes Aragami: Nightfall, a story campaign which takes place before the events of Aragami, and all content released so far for Aragami. You are Aragami, a vengeful spirit with the power to control the shadows. You’ve been summoned by Yamiko, a girl imprisoned in the city fortress of Kyuryu. Embark on a dark journey full of blood and secrets to discover the truth about aragami. Infiltrate the occupied city of Kyuryu with your supernatural powers and fight Light with Shadow. Uncover a story about twin souls bound together by destiny that surpasses time and memory.

Full Spectrum Warrior

The U.S. Army is the most powerful ground force in the entire world. The backbone of a ground invasion is the U.S. Army Infantry, and in the midst of combat, their skills, courage, and teamwork are put to the test. While readiness continues to be the U.S. Army’s top priority, how it goes about its business is changing. Full Spectrum Warrior began as a training aid for the U.S. Army to reinforce Army doctrine and team effort within the troops. It is the most realistic portrayal of Infantry-level urban warfare via unique tactical action gameplay. Players become the Squad Leader, commanding Alpha and Bravo squads. There is potential for danger down every alley, behind every window. Watch those angles folks, we’ve got a job to do here. Hooah! Unique combination of tactical and action gameplay. Authentic implementation of U.S. Army Infantry doctrine. Simple control scheme lets you command eight soldiers in real time. Squad equipment reflects real weaponry and equipment currently in use by the U.S. Army. Immersive urban environments with danger around every corner. 2-player co-op, each player controls one fire team.

Swimsanity

Swimsanity! is a multiplayer underwater shooter with action-packed Co-Op and Versus game modes, all supported by online and local play. You play as our hero Mooba, who uses a variety of unique power ups and weapons to survive in this aquatic world. Whether you’re teaming up with friends to swim into Adventure mode, or clashing in competitive matches such as Last Mooba Standing, there’s more than 150+ challenges to complete across 8 action-packed Game Modes in Swimsanity! All modes can be played online or locally.

LEGO Indiana Jones

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures takes the fun and creative construction of LEGO and combines it with the wits, daring and non-stop action from the original cinematic adventures that enthralled audiences everywhere (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). With a unique tongue-in-cheek take on the original adventures, LEGO Indiana Jones follows the escapades of Dr. Jones through the jungles of South America to the mountaintops of India. Fans can build, battle and brawl their way through their favourite cinematic moments, from Indy’s entanglements with snakes to his dashing boulder run. Additionally, players can also mix and match the body parts of more than 60 playable characters to create new heroes in more than 18 different levels that mirror the classic films.

Games With Gold titles are video games that Xbox Live Gold subscribers can claim and keep for as long as their subscription remains active. Each title must be claimed during its active period to be added to a user’s games library though which means that those who want to build up their collection need to check in at least once a month to see what’s on offer.

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Aragami: Shadow Edition

Developer:
Lince Works

Price:
$24.99

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Full Spectrum Warrior

Developer:
THQ Nordic

Price:
$14.99

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Swimsanity!

Developer:
Decoy Games, LLC

Price:
$14.99

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LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

Developer:
Disney Interactive Studios

Price:
$4.99