Author: Microsoft Stories

Xbox gaming has its hardcore fans and these fans always crave for a nice nickname. Over the decade, almost all the favorite possible nicknames or gamer tags have been taken by the user and it is quite possible that the user may have abandoned it. Microsoft is updating its Terms of Services, wherein users have to sign in twice a decade. The software company warned that if one does not adopt the new policy, they will lose the existing gamer tag ownership.

The first two bundles of the new Xbox One S, that pair games with the smaller 4K-ready console, will ship August 23. But they’re up for pre-order now. First, a Madden NFL 17 option comes with a One S that offers a download of the game, 1TB of storage, seven Madden Ultimate Team Pro Packs and one month of EA Access for $349. Unfortunately, there’s no 500GB model available with the popular football title.

Microsoft is announcing a whole slew of updates throughout Office, using the cloud and artificial intelligence to help you work more efficiently across Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

BlackBerry announced that more of its secure enterprise mobility solutions will utilize the open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform Microsoft Azure to run a broad range of business apps. Steve Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President, Developer Experience and Evangelism and Chief Evangelist, Microsoft, said, “With BlackBerry’s Good Dynamics now on the Microsoft Azure platform, we continue to help protect customers’ data and enhance our ecosystem of business-critical apps.”

Last week’s Windows 10 update to beta testers is almost certainly the final code for this year’s big upgrade, set to release on Aug. 2. Build 14393 was issued to participants in Microsoft’s Windows Insider preview program last week, first on July 18 to those who had selected the “Fast” track, then two days later to users on the “Slow” ring. As expected, the final build for what Microsoft dubbed “Anniversary Update” appeared after this month’s Patch.

Microsoft is making life easier! The company is releasing a new set of cloud-powered intelligent services in Office apps designed to save time and produce better results. These features help to improve writing in Word, deliver dynamic presentations in PowerPoint and prioritize the emails that matter most to users in Outlook.

On August 15 this year, Microsoft will release the new “Microsoft Authenticator” app in all mobile app stores. This new app combines the best parts of the previous authenticator apps into a new app which works with both Microsoft accounts and Azure AD accounts. This new app will be delivered as an update to Azure Authenticator. Existing accounts in your Azure Authenticator app will be automatically upgraded.

Microsoft said that the Windows 10 software is now running on over 350 million devices worldwide. It’s seeing the highest customer satisfaction ratings ever for a Windows release. So expectations are running pretty high for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, which arrives August 2nd. Currently, the software delivers some useful upgrades to key features like Cortana and Windows Ink.

ESET, a global pioneer in IT security, announced the launch of ESET Remote Administrator (ERA) Virtual Machine for Microsoft Azure. The product enables IT administrators to drill-down into endpoint security environments at any time, allowing for ongoing security management and quick problem remediation. The availability of ERA Virtual Machine for Azure expands the options for businesses who want to manage their ESET security solutions from the cloud, regardless if the devices they manage are also in the cloud or on-premises.

When Windows 10 was first debuted on July 29, 2015, Microsoft made it available as a free upgrade for Windows 7 or 8.1 users, and other compatible devices. Terry Myerson, Executive Vice President of Windows wrote, in a blogpost, “This is more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no cost.” The offer was made available to all Windows users, regardless of whether they are Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 users.