Author: Microsoft Stories

With Microsoft’s Bing search engine you can now purchase items directly via the search results page. The updated Bing image search will now provide options that let you buy the product in the image, carry out related searches based on that image, Pinterest collections with the source image, see more sizes of the image, or lead you to pages containing that image.

Microsoft has started rolling out the second build (10051) of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones to its Windows Insider users. The highlight of the build is the inclusion of an early version of Microsoft’s Spartan browser for phones, along with a number of other features.

A new system update for the Xbox 360 will allow users to connect hard drives as big as 2TB via USB and use them to store data. Up to two storage drives will be supported at a time, and Microsoft will no longer reserve any space on your hard drive beyond what the data already takes up.

Microsoft’s HoloLens stands out in an age of Virtual Reality headsets, bringing augmented reality and a new way to experience games to the Xbox One, and, according to Kinect creative director Kudo Tsunoda, it has the potential to deliver all kinds of experiences.

Microsoft has developed a container technology to run on its Windows Server operating system. “We’re finding that interest in containers is very high,” said Mike Schutz, who runs cloud platform product marketing for Microsoft. Twenty percent of Azure users deploy Linux and a significant number of those users run Docker containers, he said.

Intel has come out with its own version running Microsoft Windows 8.1. The Intel Compute Stick can conveniently plug into your TV’s HDMI Output and run Windows 8.1 apps. The device also lets users add a keyboard and mouse for use. Intel aims to capture the ‘Enterprise Market’ through the Compute Stick as it could lead to huge cost savings and increased employee mobility within enterprises.

Microsoft has moved its Work and Play bundle online, allowing those who want to sign up for all of Microsoft’s premier services to save a ton of money while doing so.

Microsoft has a new pilot program to hire people with autism for full-time positions at its Redmond campus. “It’s simple, Microsoft is stronger when we expand opportunity and we have a diverse workforce that represents our customers,” said Microsoft Corporate VP of Worldwide Operations Mary Ellen Smith, who has a teenage son with autism. This pilot program will be run in partnership with Specialisterne, a Danish nonprofit that helps train people with autism for careers in IT.

Government and educational institutions can now buy applications via Microsoft’s Azure Marketplace and deploy them on the company’s cloud platform. The store is also opening to businesses that bought Azure services through Microsoft partners. The expansion broadens access to the cloud app store, through which Microsoft sells its own apps and tools, and those of third parties.