Items tagged with NASDAQ:MSFT
Your Xbox One may not be easily portable, but that does not mean your games can’t be. Western Digital just announces its Gaming Drive Accelerated SSD for the Xbox One. The portable SSD allows players to store more games and load them more quickly. The Western Digital (WD) Gaming Drive Accelerated SSD is available in 500GB and 1TB capacities. The 1TB allows users to store up to 25 games. Both versions reportedly load games 50 percent at 400 MB/s read speeds. The SSD is compatible with the Xbox One S and Xbox One X and relies on a USB 3.0 connection. Most importantly, the SSD is portable. It measures 5 X 4 X 1.3 inches (127 X 101.6 X 33.03 millimeters) and weighs 0.2379 pounds (roughly 124.24...
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Microsoft is giving its popular Windows Defender antivirus utility a name change, and it is reflective of the company's increasingly important (and lucrative) decision to branch into cross-platform endeavors. Windows Defender will now be called Microsoft Defender, while Windows Defender Exploit Guard is now called Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard. This move to rename Windows Defender as Microsoft Defender will more closely align the company's suite of security offerings which has grown to include products like Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), which is available for devices running macOS, iOS, Android and Linux. According to Ghacks, which first made note of the...
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When you sign up to test beta (or in some regards, alpha) software, you know that there are bound to be bugs. Such is the case with public testers that join in on the Windows Insider program, where they can access early builds of Windows 10 before the general public. However, Microsoft's latest build in the Windows 10 20H1 (2020, First Half) branch is causing more problems than many testers bargained for. Microsoft pushed out Windows 10 Build 18941 to Windows Insiders yesterday, and it didn't really add a whole lot new to the mix other than updates to the Korean IME and some fixes for explorer.exe and settings app crashes. However, what testers weren't expecting were install failures that...
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If you have a system running the Windows 10 April 2018 Update (version 1803) or earlier, Microsoft is about to push a forced upgrade on you – and you will have little recourse to prevent it from happening. Microsoft made its intentions clear leading up to and during the launch of the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903) earlier this year. Customers have balked at the idea of being forced into a newer version of Windows against their will — especially if their current build is functioning nominally — but Microsoft sees its motives as security-based. “Keeping these devices both supported and receiving monthly updates is critical to device...
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Microsoft is baking in tighter integration between Windows 10 and third-party digital assistants such as Alexa, the helpful AI that is found in many of Amazon's products (such as its Echo speaker line). The latest test build of Windows 10 19H2 (18362.10005) features a change to enable digital assistants like Alexa to be voice activated from the Lock screen. This test build is available to Windows Insiders who are subscribed to the Slow ring. These typically entail more polished builds than the ones that first show up in the Fast ring, and features they contain are more likely to end up in the final release that gets doled out to the public. In this case, the final release is the next major upgrade...
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The Windows 10 May 2019 Update (Version 1903) was pushed out a couple of months ago, and for the most part, there were relatively few issues with the major operating system upgrade. Sure, there were some problems here and there -- and Microsoft put in upgrade blocks to ensure that most users were unaffected – but the May 2019 Update has not been nearly as much of a disaster as the preceding October 2018 Update. With that being said, Microsoft has put a new upgrade block in place for owners of one of its own hardware products. The device in question is the Surface Book 2, which is a convertible tablet available in 13.5-inch and 15-inch versions. Microsoft has discovered...
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Fans of AR games like Pokemon Go have a new AR game entering beta to try out called Minecraft Earth. Microsoft began to talk up Minecraft Earth in May, and for those who liked what Microsoft was cooking up, the beta for the game is now available. The beta is closed, so only a limited number of participants can get in on the action. The closed beta registration page is here, and to be able to play, you need a smartphone that runs at least Android 7 or iOS 10. You also need a Microsoft or Xbox Live account, and an app store log-in. Microsoft says you'll need to answer a few questions to participate and be at least 18-years-old. Reports indicate that Microsoft plans for the closed beta to be a huge...
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Although the Windows 7 operating system was first released way back in 2009, it is still being updated on a regular basis by Microsoft -- that is until extended support ends on January 14th, 2020) Like clockwork, Windows 7 received the usual bevy of bug fixes and security updates during Patch Tuesday. However, Microsoft is drawing suspicion over some added content with KB4507456, which is labeled as a "Security-only update". This month's update is being bundled with a Compatibility Appraiser (KB2952664), which is a diagnostics tool for systems running legacy Windows operating systems. Microsoft describes the Compatibility Appraiser, writing, "The diagnostics evaluate the compatibility status...
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Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows 10 test build to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. The new build (18936) contains a few new noteworthy features, the most interesting of which is a passwordless login. Not every Windows Insider will see the setting, however, as Microsoft is limiting the roll out to a "small portion" of users in the early going. Insiders can enable the feature by going to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and selecting On under Make your device passwordless. "Enabling passwordless sign in will switch all Microsoft accounts on your Windows 10 device to modern authentication with Windows Hello Face, Fingerprint, or PIN. Don’t have Windows Hello set up yet?...
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Back in late 2018, we first talked about the controller prototypes for Microsoft's Project xCloud game streaming service that were meant to make gaming on smartphones and tablets more enjoyable. Controls are a crucial part of allowing gamers to enjoy the games xCloud offers anywhere, and few are happy with touch controls. A Microsoft patent has now turned up that shows line art that looks just like the prototypes that we saw last year. The tech that Microsoft cooked up was granted a patent on July 9, 2019, and is U.S. patent No. 10,348,108. The patent application was filed on June 13, 2017, taking a bit over two years to make its way through the patent process. Essentially, the controller attaches...
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Early last week, Microsoft started to talk up the "all-new" Windows 1.0 with MS-DOS Executive, clock, and more. We all wondered at the time what exactly the deal was. Rumors suggested that Windows 1.0 was going to be a tie in with Netflix's third season of Stranger Things which landed on July 4. The Stranger Things Season 3 mashup has now been confirmed with the official launch of the Windows 1.11 app. The description for the app reads, "Experience 1985 nostalgia with a special edition Windows 10 PC app inspired by Windows 1.0—but one that's been taken over by the Upside Down from Stranger Things. Explore the mysteries and secrets plaguing Hawkins, unlock unique show content and easter...
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In a recent interview, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates described his one-time arch nemesis Steve Jobs as a wizard of sorts, saying he was adept at "casting spells" during his time at Apple. Gates was not speaking literally, of course, but to the style of leadership that Jobs used, compared to his own. Jobs died of pancreatic cancer in 2011. Before his unfortunate demise, however, he built one of the most successful technology companies ever, and helped create a consumer culture that is somewhat unique to Apple and its various products. According to Gates, Apple was "on a path to die" before Jobs started casting spells. "I was like a minor wizard because he would be casting...
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Lots of details on the coming video game Gears 5 were offered up at E3 2019, and at the show, more information about the game's multiplayer modes was promised. The Versus Multiplayer Technical Test is set to kick off in July, and ahead of that launch more details about the Versus modes have been provided. The Versus Multiplier Technical Tests will each run all weekend long. During the test weekends, players will get to partake in Escalation, the updated competitive game type, and Arcade. The latter is a new and approachable game type that appears aimed at people new to the game and multiplayer. Players can also enjoy the old fan favorite King of the Hill mode. A new training mode was added for...
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We mentioned a few days ago that the Windows 10 19H2 insider preview build was available and talked about it being rather boring as for as updates go. However, Microsoft has a made some changes in the latest Windows 10 preview that includes Eye Control and Your Phone improvements that are expected to be seen in a Windows update that will land in the first half of next year. Eye Control has some new options including mouse drag-and-drop, allowing you to combine click and drags with Shift and Ctrl modifier keys. The launchpad can now be hidden by selecting the pause button and reappears when the user briefly closes their eyes or looks away from the screen. A second activation method has been...
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