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Microsoft explains it knows native commands in PowerShell can be complex, which is why a simpler solution is necessary. “Many of today’s modern native commands are complex, they themselves are mini-shells with their own mini-language containing sub levels, or sub contexts. If you’ve worked with kubectl, docker or netsh.exe, you have experienced the complexity of executing and automating these commands.” According to Microsoft, PowerShell Crescendo wraps common commands to function within cmdlets....

Still, it will be Microsoft celebrating winning the JEDI deal for a second time. The company’s Azure cloud services were upheld as the best choice for the project, according to the DoD: “The Department has completed its comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft’s proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government,” the DoD points out in a statement. “The JEDI Cloud contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that will make a full range of cloud computing services available to the DoD....

Spotlight is the tool Microsoft uses to switch Bing images on the lock screen. At the moment, it is limited solely to the lock screen and does not extend to the desktop. Most people really love Windows Spotlight because Bing images are frankly amazing. By extending it to desktop, users will be able to automatically change desktop wallpapers to see a different Bing image at intervals. It’s amazing Microsoft has not done this sooner, but at least it is happening now....

In fact, Microsoft says the supercomputer it will develop with the Met Office will be in the top 25 in the world, and more than twice as powerful than any other supercomputer currently in the UK. The Met Office will base the supercomputer in the south of the UK, and it will be operational from summer 2022. Microsoft says the machine will have a 10-year lifespan. While the UK is not home to the most devastating of weather, climate change is causing concerns about increasingly powerful storms, snow, and floods....

The patent in question is called Changing an application state using neurological data‘. Microsoft’s proposal focuses on using electroencephalography (EEG) nodes to measure brain activity. EEG is usually used in medical practices, but Microsoft sees use in the tech realm. In its patent, the company describes how the technology could work in Mixed Reality, specifically for HoloLens. It is worth noting the patent is from 2016, so this has been in development for some time....

Now it’s functionality is widening. A recent iPhone update ties in functionality from other Microsoft apps, allowing for better pictures of documents and whiteboards. “We have data that shows people are taking a lot of whiteboard photos at work, they are doing a lot of document scanning,” explained Josh Weisberg, principal program manager in Microsoft’s Computational Photography Group. Pix now detects whiteboards, documents, and business cards in real-time, adjusting photos for those scenarios....

Of course, Microsoft’s second-generation laptop is already available after being launched last year. That means any Surface Book 2 Black Edition would be a specialized variant of the device. The report also points to the Surface Pro receiving the black colorway. Microsoft is hosting a hardware press event in New York City on October 2. It seems likely the Black Edition Surface products will be unveiled at that event. We are also still expecting the company to launch a new Surface device (Surface Pro 5?...

In a blog post last year, Microsoft said the solution is similar to static lighting meshes that are integrated, allowing shadows and light sources to be calculated beforehand. Now, the solution is available in the Unity engine for developers to access. “Ray-based acoustics methods can check for occlusion using a single source-to-listener ray cast, or drive reverb by estimating local scene volume with a few rays. But these techniques can be unreliable because a pebble occludes as much as a boulder....

1 Principles2 Windows Privacy In a blog post, Redmond is now pushing governments to create a universal international law to limit access to personal data. Additionally, the company wants authorities to create rules for when data can be accessed, and how. “As a global company entrusted by millions of users, we believe it is important for Microsoft to make clear how governments should address these issues,” Microsoft says. For that reason, we are sharing six principles that have driven, and will continue to drive, our advocacy as governments reform their laws and negotiate international agreements....

A little more than a year after unveiling Microsoft Flow, the company has released its app for Windows Phone to the Windows Store. In the blog post, Microsoft notes that the Flow app for Windows Phone devices is similar to the Flow Mobile app for iOS and Android. It allows users to create and monitor flows, receive notifications, and more. Of course, the Windows Phone Microsoft Flow app comes with known features which allow users to:...

Organizations can integrate their security operations into VAST. The solution combines the abilities of Power BI and Azure Log Analytics to present data visualization of security states. This makes understanding security situations easier for companies. “Visual Auditing Security Tool (VAST) is a cloud-based PowerBI dashboard solution that provides security professionals visibility about the many of the most common types of security weaknesses in an IT environment. It also provides specific, actionable KPI-based metrics to measure your organization’s effectiveness in mitigating well-established, known attack playbooks....

By leveraging Bing Maps Local Search and Bing Maps Location Recognition, Soundscape is oriented to users who are blind or have poor vision. By using the intelligent voice mapping technology, the users can move around their neighborhood. It is worth noting Microsoft first detailed Soundscape a year ago, but has expended on the technology in a recent blog post. Melanie Kneisel, a Microsoft Research engineer, says the app uses automatic call outs....

If you are unfamiliar with the Bounty Program, it is an initiative that gives hackers rewards for finding flaws in Microsoft Windows, Azure DevOps, and Cloud solutions. The Bounty Program has extended across Azure (April 2015) and Office 365 (August 2015). In September, 2016 the Bug Bounty also extended to the Microsoft Edge Insider Program. During 2018, the Microsoft Bounty Program debuted as a catch-all program. This new overhaul is focused directly on the Windows Insider Preview bounty program....

1 Windows 10 Version 2004 and Insider Version 20H22 Versions 1909 and 19033 Windows 10 18094 Unsupported Versions Considering the recent history of Patch Tuesday’s, we are unsure whether to greet new updates with excitement or concern. That’s because these updates have a nasty habit of fixing one issue but causing others. Recently, Microsoft sent out a fix for Windows Search that has left users unable to boot their PCs. In April, that month’s release also triggered BSODs in Windows 10....

Microsoft’s Richard Lander says the company has been focused on tweaking and polishing .NET Core 3 and that the final release is “very, very close”. Many users were not expecting a release candidate build at all. Microsoft originally pointed to the final preview (Preview 9) being the last major release before the final version. However, the company changed tact and opted for the RC1 update to coincide with Visual Studio 2019 16....

“When users navigate to a site, the extension checks the URL against a list of enterprise sites defined by enterprise administrators. If the site is determined to be untrusted, the user is redirected to an isolated Microsoft Edge session,” explained Microsoft. “In the isolated Microsoft Edge session, the user can freely navigate to any site that has not been explicitly defined as enterprise-trusted by their organization without any risk to the rest of system....

If you are unfamiliar with Custom Translator, it brings a new way for organizations to add customizations to neural machine translation systems. Microsoft says businesses can boost the quality of translations by building their own neural models. These models can be developed to host the organizations own pre-translated content. Customer translator is underpinned by Azure and is an extension of the Translator Text API within Cognitive Services. Once a neural translation model is customized, Microsoft Translator will integrate it into applications, websites, and other organizational locations....

Of more accurately, it’s not that an update has problems. Instead, a new update for Windows 10 is arriving with drivers that are not compatible with machines. Users are reporting they are receiving drivers that are not designed for their brand or model. All the drivers are being sent out to all Windows 10 devices, aside from those on the Windows Insider Program. As for the update, it is “Intel-System”, which has been rolling out since the middle of last week as part of an optional driver package....

“Ninja is going to be streaming exclusively on Mixer! We couldn’t be more hyped for this news and what it means for our community. We’re committed to building the best and most positive streaming community, as well as continuing to foster growth,” wrote Josh Stein, Social Lead at Mixer on the official Mixer Discord server, via OnMSFT. The announcement led to an immediate uptick in the downloads of Microsoft’s Mixer app....

One of the interesting things about the Mixed Reality Viewer is that it may miss the Fall Creators Update. The next major Windows 10 release is Redstone 3 (FCU) and has been in preview testing on the Inside since April. However, the Mixed Reality Viewer is currently in the Skip Ahead feature on the Fast Ring. If you are unfamiliar with Skip Ahead, it allows Insiders to move ahead a branch....