Windows Weekly 694

Microsoft Work From Home, Xbox Series X Unboxing

• Where Do You Want to Go (to Work) Today?
•  Microsoft makes it official: Most employees will be able to work from home at least sometimes going forward
•  It's a hybrid approach and not a blanket "no more office" thing (unlike some earlier reports claimed)

 

• Microsoft 365
•  The outages continue. It's the worst thing about 2020!
•  Speaking of bad cloud things: Don't worry. LinkedIn Premium isn't forever; yes you can cancel it
•  Microsoft Office 2010 and 2016 for Mac are no longer supported
•  One Outlook? Microsoft is trying to consolidate its many Outlook UXs and architectures (Note: This work dates back to 2014, if not before!)
•  Late-breaking: New Dev channel build of Windows 10
•  PC sales rose 8.43 percent in Q3 - Thanks, COVID!
•  Semi-related: Microsoft has some advice for other app stores. Just not the Xbox Store.

 

• Xbox
•  Microsoft will bring Cloud Streaming to iOS/iPadOS with a web app
•  Unboxed! Someone peeked inside an Xbox Series X box a little early
•  Xbox Series X|S give Auto HDR to backward compatible games
• More Xbox Game Pass titles for October … including the first for Cloud Streaming! - Also, Forza MS 7 is now on Game Pass

 

• Tips and picks
• Tip of the week: Preload COD: Black Ops Cold War. If you preordered the new COD---of course, you did---digitally you can preload it now on your current Xbox console so that it's ready to go for the public beta this weekend. Access starts on October 15! Didn't preorder? It's free for everyone from Saturday, October 17 to Monday, October 19.
•  App Hardware pick of the week: 4K/UHD/HDR10 for the win. I grabbed a 4K display for the coming Xbox Series X. It's already transformed my Xbox One X.
•  Enterprise pick of the week: New Microsoft 365 tools for admins. Available hot off the preview presses New tools for admins for Office servicing, Office apps, and add-in inventory and security currency. These are meant to help folks managing the ongoing Office monthly updates and were first announced at Ignite last month.
•  Codename pick of the week: Premonition. Microsoft Premonition is an advanced early warning system that combines robotic sensing platforms, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and cloud-scale metagenomics to autonomously monitor disease-carrying animals such as mosquitoes, robotically collect environmental samples, and then genomically scan them for biological threats. It dates back to at least 2015 when it was an MS Research Project about mosquitos.
•  Beer pick of the week: Central Waters Wendy Coffee Pumpkin Milkshake IPA. If you like pumpkin spice lattes (no judgment, promise!), you might like an IPA that tastes like one. I'm not a huge pumpkin beer person, but tis the season. And Central Waters (Amherst, WI) makes some excellent dark beers. So I'm betting this milkshake-style IPA is probably pretty decent: https://untappd.com/b/central-waters-brewing-company-wendy-coffee-pumpkin-milkshake-ipa/3938802

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Links

• Microsoft: Most employees can work from home less than 50 percent of the time
• Microsoft cloud outages continue as Office and Outlook customers report problems
• Microsoft is working to fix LinkedIn Premium subscription cancellation problems
• Microsoft Office 2010 and 2016 for Mac are no longer supported
• Microsoft Will Finally Try to Fix Its Outlook Problem
• Microsoft aligns its different Office code bases as of the latest Mac Office release
• Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20236
• PC Sales Rose 8.43 Percent in Q3 2020
• Microsoft Offers Up 10 Principles for App Stores
• Microsoft Has a Plan for Cloud Streaming on Apple Devices
• Microsoft Details Xbox Series X|S Backward Compatibility
• Microsoft Announces Remaining Xbox Game Pass Titles for October
• Forza Motorsport 7 Lands on Xbox Game Pass
• Microsoft 365 Apps Admin center new inventory & monthly servicing feature
• Wendy Coffee Pumpkin Milkshake IPA
• premonition