It seems the problem is found across all Windows 10 versions from version 1903 and newer. In a support document disclosing the issue, Microsoft says USB printers are causing issues when Windows 10 is shutting down: “if you connect a USB printer to Windows 10 version 1903 or later, then shut down Windows and disconnect or shut off the printer, when you start Windows again the USB printer port will not be available in the list of printer ports....

Microsoft first launched Controlled Folder Access last year for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. A year later, the company has created a shortcut to allow easier access to customization for the feature. Controlled Folder Access is integrated into Windows Defender. Windows 10 designates specific directories as “protected” with some folders (like Documents) being protected by default. Essentially, this means these folders can only be accessed by apps on a whitelist....

MAUI is a mobile-focused Xamarin.Forms framework and Microsoft says the new capability allows developers to build single apps targeting multiple devices and platforms: “.NET Multi-platform App UI (MAUI) unifies Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows APIs into a single API so you can write one app that runs natively on many platforms,” Microsoft said. “.NET MAUI enables you to deliver the best app experiences designed specifically by each platform (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Tizen) while enabling you to craft consistent brand experience through rich styling and graphics....

It is clear Microsoft has wanted backward compatibility to be more than just a gimmick. This also means the Xbox Series X will launch with thousands of available games from across Xbox generations. In a blog post this week, Director of Program Management for the console Jason Ronald expanded on Microsoft’s plans. Of course, the company has been building towards this all-encompassing support of older titles for several years. Backward compatibility on Xbox is not a new thing....

1 Updates2 New Update Cycle The notes are fairly extensive at 238 pages. The enterprise grade planning and customer relationship suite of apps will make over 100 incremental updates. Among the apps receiving updates are Dynamics Marketing, Customer, Sales, Portals, Operations, and Finance. Dynamics 365 A1 for Sales will gain new features like call sentiment analysis and warning when transactions may be risky. The update details were offered along with the inauguration of Microsoft’s Business Applications Summit, which was held in Seattle this week....

As spotted by Pureinfotech, Microsoft’s requirements state that “Devices that run Windows 10 for desktop editions must include a storage device that meets the size requirements shown”. The changes will be an unfortunate change for users with low cost, 32GB eMMC storage laptops. However, Reports indicate that Microsoft is working on a Windows 10 Lite variant. Now codenamed Santorini, it will optimize and cut unnecessary features. It’s also worth noting that Microsoft’s increase is far from unreasonable....

When making payments with a card on Microsoft Edge, the Wallet feature will ask if you want to use a saved card instead of entering a new card number, and CVV. Users can include their own cards manually, or Edge will request to save card details you enter when making purchases. Considering Microsoft does not have its own payment platform, this is the closest the company has come. I will also file this as a useful Microsoft Edge feature....

Though the feature won’t be available to the general public until the next version of Windows releases in later this year, it’s an early look at what’s to come. “We trust web sites to process credit card numbers, save addresses and personal information, and even to handle sensitive records like medical information,” said Microsoft in a blog post. “All this data is protected by an ancient security model—the password. But passwords are difficult to remember, and are fundamentally insecure—often re-used, and vulnerable to phishing and cracking....

“In response to these events, we, the workers of Microsoft and GitHub, support the 996.ICU movement and stand in solidarity with tech workers in China. We know this is a problem that crosses national borders,” reads the letter. “These same issues permeate across full time and contingent jobs at Microsoft and the industry as a whole[…]We have to come together across national boundaries to ensure just working conditions for everyone around the globe....

In a detail post, the company has discussed how it will manage the Minecraft servers on PC, mobile, and rival consoles. You may remember that Cross-Play brings unified Minecraft on PC, mobile, Xbox, and Nintendo. However, Sony was a notable absentee as the company questioned the safety of Microsoft controlling servers. The company said it had a responsibility to keep its PSN customers safe, so Minecraft cross-play would not come to PlayStation....

“There are tremendous amount new themes (both static and animate) arriving in Microsoft Forms which hopefully could attract more attention from your audience and make them “feel” the excitement and connections behind screens, especially in the new hybrid world.” Thousands of new themes are available, and as this is the Holiday Season, a bunch of them reflect upcoming festivities. Microsoft says they allow users to make more emotional content in Microsoft Forms....

I don’t know all the nuances of the problem, but from my understanding, it’s due to the how the waveguide works. A waveguide points light in a certain direction, usually through rectangular, reflective tubes. In order to support internal reflections inside that waveguide, Microsoft has to limit the exit angle to 35 degrees, which impacts the FOV. Splitting Waveguides The Redmond giant has been struggling to find a solution to this problem, with executives previously saying its unlikely to get much better....

Tom Burt, corporate vice president for customer security and trust for Microsoft, was speaking during a panel at the Aspen Security Forum. He said the company has tracked three attempts from hackers to use a Microsoft Account to target candidates. “Earlier this year, we did discover that a fake Microsoft domain had been established as the landing page for phishing attacks, and we saw metadata that suggested those phishing attacks were being directed at three candidates who were all standing for election in the midterm elections,” Burt said....

Windows Defender ATP was launched last March and is aimed at enterprise customers on Windows 10. The service provides an early barrier against cyberattacks, detecting and dealing with incoming threats on enterprise networks. Avi Sagiv, Principal Program Manager, Windows Defender ATP has written an extensive blog post on the new abilities. He says that security is hugely important for customers and Windows Defender ATP has become a valuable tool on nearly 2 million devices....

This means the calendar will always show the right date, even if you switch time zones or the clocks change. It also has a slightly more simplistic look, increasing the clean feeling of the launcher. For reference, this version of the app is technically 5.9.0.54736. This is because Insiders have been testing the addition for a little while, and Microsoft has stamped out bugs in the meantime. This time around, users should note fixes for the calendar card, dock, and wallpapers....

SMI is an open project that Microsoft has been developing in recent months. Through that early stage, the company has already acquired major partners such as VMWare, Weaveworks, Pivotal, Docker, AspenMesh, and more. Service Mesh has brought majors changes to networks through Kubernetes. Previously, networks were limited but Service Mesh allows smarter integration through management APIs. The technology has become increasingly popular with developers. “There’s extensibility just all over the system,” Brendan Burns, Kubernetes cofounder and Microsoft distinguished engineer, told VentureBeat....

In its announcement, the company calls SQL Server 2017 RC2 an important release. Its continues development of SQL Server and enhances its performance for Windows, Linux, and Docker containers. Microsoft points out development on the platform continues. Performance improvements are the focus as SQL Server 2017 works towards managing Tier 1 workloads. RC2 is available to test now, and as usual the SQL Server team wants user feedback. The company has supplied updated developer tutorials to help developers install SQL Server 2017 across platforms....

Lists is another example of Microsoft fleshing out its workplace tools to provide organizations with a one-stop shop for inter-organization collaboration tools. However, while the company has largely built on current market leaders – such as the success of Microsoft Teams after basing the service heavily on Slack – Microsoft Lists is different. Microsoft is not building on a current market leader with Lists, but is instead entering a space that I ready for expansion without a clear leader....

According to Aggiornamenti Lumia, you can now draw in Mail and Calendar, making it a strong choice for touchscreen users. It works with the Surface Pen, fingers, or graphics tablets, with a number of color and nib options. Users can access the functionality under a new ‘Draw’ tab once they begin composing mail, where they can add a canvas to the mail. After the message is complete, the app converts it a png so receivers can view it on any device....

Among those fixes is a patch for one Win32K zero-day that has already been exploited in the wild. October 2021 Patch Tuesday covers fixes for a wide range of Microsoft products, such as Exchange Server, Visual Studio, Edge browser, Microsoft Office, and MSHTML. Microsoft is tracking the zero-day vulnerabilities as CVE-2021-41335, CVE-2021-41338, CVE-2021-40469, and CVE-2021-40449. The latter of those is the vulnerability that already has an active exploit. Microsoft says CVE-2021-40449 has a CVSS severity rating of 7....