Microsoft News
Microsoft and LinkedIn to Bring Digital Skills to 25 million People Worldwide
Microsoft has announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year. The announcement comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Expanded access to digital skills is an important step in accelerating economic recovery, especially for the people hardest hit by job losses. This initiative, detailed on the Official Microsoft Blog, includes immediate steps to help those looking to reskill and pursue an in-demand job and brings together every part of the company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft. This includes: /* custom css */ .tdi_3_d1c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_d1c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The use of data to ...
A Second Next-Gen Xbox is Reportedly Set for Reveal in August
Sourced from jiveduder on Reddit. A newly leaked document from Microsoft has hinted that the tech giant could be preparing to announce a second next-gen Xbox console other than the Series X, and now rumours allege that the new console is planned for an August reveal. Eurogamers reports that Microsoft had originally planned to unveil the console, codenamed “Lockhart” in June. These plans have been moved to August by the company, with Eurogamer claiming that the console will be named the Xbox Series S. According to The Verge, Microsoft has been working on this second, cheaper next-gen console for months. Documents leaked last week seemingly confirm the second console being slightly toned-down performance-wise to lower the price. According to the documents, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X devkit – ...
Microsoft Reportedly Suspending Advertising on Facebook and Instagram
Sourced from Getty Images. Microsoft has reportedly paused advertising on Facebook and Instagram worldwide due to growing concerns about the content that is accompanying its adverts. Interestingly, the company isn’t participating in the industry-wide Facebook advertising boycott alongside mega-corporations like Coca-Cola and Unilever. Instead, Microsoft is more worried that their adverts might be shown with “inappropriate content” such as hate speech or pornography, according to internal communication viewed by Axios. Microsoft distances itself from larger boycott “Based on concerns we had back in May we suspended all media spending on Facebook/Instagram in the US and we’ve subsequently suspended all spending on Facebook/Instagram worldwide,” Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela said in an intern...
Deleted an Important Document by Mistake? Microsoft’s New File Recovery Tool Might Help
Sourced from The Sun UK. Microsoft has quietly launched a new utility service – Windows File Recovery for Windows 10. While this service may be an important boon for users who have been struggling for years to use an application to quickly and efficiently recover permanently deleted files, it comes with a rather large catch. The entire utility, Windows File Recovery, as of right now runs only on the Window’s Command shell, and it’s only available from the Microsoft Store. Windows File Recovery. Sourced from Thurrott. “Accidentally deleted an important file? Wiped clean your hard drive? Unsure of what to do with corrupted data? Windows File Recovery can help recover your personal data,” the store listing for the app states. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_513.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3...
Microsoft Teams Now Available for Personal Use
Sourced from Tech Republic. Microsoft has launched the personal version of Microsoft Teams, as a part of a broader effort by Microsoft to remain relevant with its consumers after a series of moves away from consumer-friendly products. The company is adding new features to the existing Microsoft Teams app that might appeal to a set of people looking to do more than just chat. The Verge writes that this is not meant to be a way to begin to compete with the likes of WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, but simply a repositioning of Teams as more friendly to individuals and their families, and not just meant for corporations or businesses. Sourced from The Verge. Launched initially as a preview for iOS and Android, Microsoft Teams for personal use includes the basics of text chat and video calling,...
Hybrid Cloud Environments Provide Cheap Security for Financial Service Organisations
Sourced from ZDNet. Worldwide, financial services organisations are turning to the cloud as the means to transform outdated legacy systems and commit to disruptive technologies. The size of the public cloud market is expected to top $354 billion by the end of 2022, a significant jump from the less than $197 billion of 2018. But instead of going the all-or-nothing route, the hybrid cloud is positioned to provide companies with a more secure way of leveraging their data. Yunus Scheepers, CTO at SilverBridge, discusses these security benefits at a time when Microsoft Azure data centres in the country are attracting attention from financial services organisations as a safer alternative to what their current on-premise offerings can provide. A hybrid cloud environment also provides risk-averse ...
Microsoft Won’t Sell its Facial Recognition Tech to Law Enforcement
Tech juggernaut Microsoft won’t sell its facial recognition software to police or law enforcement until more federal regulations for facial recognition technology are set in place. This is what company president Brad Smith said during an interview. “The bottom line for us is to protect the human rights of people as this technology is deployed,” Smith adds that the company hasn’t previously sold the technology to law enforcement. Both consumer advocates and civil liberties groups have long warned about the dangers of facial recognition technologies, particularly with respect to the police. Two years ago, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) began calling on tech giants to stop providing the technology to governments and law enforcement agencies, arguing that it posed a potential threat...
New “Wormable” Bug Discovered in Windows 10
Sourced from Travellers Windows 10 users have been urged once again to ensure that their systems are updated and properly protected with the latest security patches following the discovery of a dangerous new vulnerability. This comes via Tech Radar. This new warning emanates from US Homeland Security, whose cybersecurity advisory unit has discovered an exploit code for a wormable bug online. The Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is now urging all Windows 10 users to patch and update their systems immediately to ensure they stay safe from the vulnerability. The bug itself was discovered in a GitHub post. An exploit that targets a known security flaw in the server message block tool that allows Windows to communicate with other devices, including appli...
Slack and Amazon Join Forces to Take On Microsoft Teams
Sourced from TechSpot. Slack is partnering with Amazon in a multi-year agreement that means all Amazon employees will start to use video-conferencing and business communication platform Slack. This deal comes on the heels of Slack facing increasing competition from Microsoft’s Teams platform. The deal will also see Slack migrate its voice and video calling features over to Amazon’s Chime platform, alongside a broader adoption of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon’s roll-out of Slack to its employees is a key part of the deal, thanks to an enterprise-wide agreement. It’s not immediately clear how many of Amazon’s 840,000 employees will be using Slack, though. Up until today, Slack’s biggest customer has been IBM, which is rolling out Slack to its 350,000 employees. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_7e...
Windows is Getting A New Apple-Like Upgrade
Sourced from The Sun UK. Windows search is getting a massive upgrade in the guise of Mac’s Spotlight search function with a tool called PowerToys Run. Launched this past Tuesday and still in a very early stage. CNN calls the new feature “promising”, a search box that could put the Start Menu and Windows key-R shortcuts out of business. The new tool was announced at Build, Microsoft’s annual developer event. It was held virtually this year for the first time in its history because of the coronavirus pandemic. Other highlights included new Google Docs-like features for Office and some Edge browser updates. The new search tool pops up in the middle of your screen, spurred forth by an Alt-Space shortcut, and is incredibly fast at finding files, programs and other items. It’s much faster than t...
Andela Partners with Microsoft to Launch Azure Training Program
Sourced from Tech Gist Africa. Microsoft 4Afrika and Andela have partnered to implement the ALCwithMicrosoft Azure Training 2020 to up-skill developers in Kenya and Nigeria through an immersive program where selected developers will work to learn basic skills in Azure, via the LinkedIn Learning platform. The program is focused on training software engineers in learning the basics of Azure, a public cloud computing platform created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centres. The ALCwithMicrosoft Azure Training is open to anyone looking to grow their Azure software development skills and excited to learn with a community of technologists. At the end of the program, developers are expected to: Have a proficiency...
