Of course, there are only certain ways to create a search engine that is properly functional. With that in mind, there are already glaring similarities between Google and Bing. However, Microsoft’s service has always carried its own aesthetic charm. While I find it hard to clearly say Bing is better than Google, I do think Microsoft’s search engine is better looking. Subjective, sure, but it is sad if the company is moving towards Google’s design....

Counterfit is a new open source solution that Microsoft will use to automate security tests across AI systems. Organizations can leverage the tool to gain security insights and protections across artificial intelligence services. Microsoft says the project was born from customer feedback. Specifically, the company surveyed 28 organizations and found 25 believed their AI security was not robust enough. They wanted more tools to help their IT admins better secure AI systems....

Building applications on microservice architecture is not easy. That’s a problem according to Microsoft. The company points out 90% of all new apps are predicted to include microservice architecture by 2022. Dapr has been created to make it easier for developers to build apps with microservice architectures. The service provides dev’s with tools to build portable microservice applications running on the cloud and edge computing. Microsoft says Dapr supports all languages and frameworks and will be accessible for new code apps or for mitigating legacy apps....

It is worth noting, the iOS Edge experience is not related to the Chromium Edge preview. Microsoft is testing its browser based on Google’s Chromium web platform. While that preview will eventually replace the normal Edge, mobile devices remain on the standard browser. Read Aloud is an important new tool for several reasons. Of course, the main focus is on accessibility and allowing users with impairments to have a website read to them....

App Extensions as a monetizing opportunity actually arrived with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. However, Microsoft has introduced the extension mechanism into the Edge web browser. This allows developers to extend Microsoft Edge to add new capabilities. This is built off the App Extension capability, which allows dev’s to declare its hosts extensions in its manifest. Developers can declare their extensions implements that a named mechanism. With the Edge integration, apps that host extensions can use the AppExtensionCatalog API to name all the installed extensions....

That’s a 16% revenue increase year over year, with a net income increase of 35% to $7.4 billion. Once more, Microsoft’s cloud offerings still the show, its Office 365 commercial revenue growth up 42% and intelligent cloud up 17% to $7.9 billion. However, the report also held some surprises. Surface revenue increased by a massive 32%, though last year was hampered by the lack of new hardware. Despite the Xbox One’s exclusive problem, revenue increased by 18%, driven by “third-party title strength”....

The report comes from Digital Music News, suggesting original distributors of music will now find it hard to publish on Microsoft Groove. Of course, this started out as just a tip from a source. Digital Music News decided to do some investigating. The outlet contacted TuneCore, a company that distributes music across streaming services like Spotify, iTunes, and Groove. The answer appears to back up the initial tip: “Please note that your sound recording(s) may not be available for streaming until Groove is able to license certain rights in the underlying musical composition(s)....

Abhishek Singh has developed a version of the game that plays out in mixed reality in the real world. The 28-year-old creator has managed to recreate a single level from Mario and implements it in New York City’s Central Park. Singh demonstrated the game in the park, wearing HoloLens and a Mario costume. The NYU graduate spoke to UploadVR and said it took him around one month to build the level....

The first new service is called IoT Central and gives Azure IoT customers the ability to deploy and manage their ecosystem. Microsoft is pitching this as a sort of IoT-as-a-service, allowing customers to manage cloud, analytics, networks, devices, and software under one service roof. What is most interesting about IoT Central, is that it is among the only services available that allows this vast blanket of functionality. The service will be rolling out in the coming months....

The release of new a new sign-in for Outlook on the web is part of a general update for Outlook during December. Joining a more efficient login experience are changes to meeting response and Microsoft Teams abilities. Starting with the sign-in, Microsoft describes the change as a more efficient way to sign-in to Outlook.com for businesses: “Users with an Office 365 account who use Outlook on the web can now sign in to their work or school accounts through www....

That conclusion is reached because the Windows Server vNext build is numbered 18917, which is the same build as the Windows 10 preview released on the 20H1 channel last week. Furthermore, Microsoft’s use of vNext could be telling. If this was the next Windows Server semi-annual release, it would be numbered 19H2. As you may know, Microsoft has yet to start flighting any previews for 19H2, on Windows 10 or Server....

The report suggests Microsoft jobs will be cut from corporate offices and several global regions. This time, the layoffs are labelled as “small round” so we don’t expect cuts to reach significant numbers. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not expanded on details, but did confirm the layoffs are happening. Interestingly, the layoffs will affect the Windows Devices Group primarily. This is almost certainly a reflection of Microsoft deciding to virtually abandon the mobile market last year....

Starting with the release of the beta version, Microsoft has made the channel available for Windows and macOS today. When Chromium Edge launched in preview in April, Microsoft announced three development channels. However, only two of those channels have been available, Canary and Dev. The former provides daily updates and the latter provides weekly updates. Neither are particularly stable because of the frequency of updates. Microsoft said the beta channel would provide a more stable experience that would be closer to the production ready version of Chromium Edge....

Shortly after Apple launched the MacBook Pro last October, Microsoft confirmed it would bring Office support to the Touch Pad. The company has been developing Office support since that announcement. The Touch Bar is a Multi-Touch strip of Retina display that sits above the MacBook Pro keyboard. While Apple’s claims it revolutionizes the keyboard experience are a stretch, it is a very useful tool. The Touch Bar changes icons and settings depending which app is in use and what the user is doing....

Hurricane Harvey is a tropical storm that has caused devastation in Texas and parts of the Gulf Coast. Flooding in Texas has been described as catastrophic and unprecedented, matching the aftermath of Wilma in New Orleans. Harvey was the first category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the United States in 12 years. The hurricane is also the wettest tropical storm on record. Millions of people have been affected and many have died....

Microsoft says its built Mu around a concept about how UEFI development should be. Specifically, the company understood a UEFI product is part of an evolving collaboration that starts with creation and moved through shipping and maintenance. “For too long the industry has built products using a “forking” model combined with copy/paste/rename and with each new product the maintenance burden grows to such a level that updates are near impossible due to cost and risk....

Microsoft has announced an update for the Paint 3D app. The release brings several important new abilities to the service. Arguably the most important is enhancements to the magic select tool. Additionally, Microsoft has added new Line and Curve capabilities and support for the GLB file standard. Paint 3D is a modernization of Microsoft’s classic Paint app. It is a 3D creation tool for Windows 10 that allows users to easily create and edit 3D models....

The fix is a part of Windows 11 preview build 22000.282, which also includes fixes for other problems, including users seeing the Windows 10 taskbar. So, Microsoft is handling some of the most notable Windows 11 bugs in one update. Of course, this is still a preview so it will not solve the issues immediately for users running non-Insider Windows installations. Still, the fixes should move swiftly through preview channels towards a wider release this week or next....

With the new change, users can add another plan to the group via the usual ‘create a plan’ menu. They’re then able to select ‘Add to an existing Office 365 group’. A list of groups will appear in a drop now menu for users to select. Howard and Monica from the Microsoft Planner team appeared in the usual indoor sunglasses getup to explain the feature, which you can watch below:...

1 Spreading the Fund2 First Investment In a blog post penned by Microsoft president Brad Smith and CFO Amy Hood, the company says the focus will be on the Puget Sound regions. Why? Because that’s where Microsoft’s first 30 employees lived in 1979. Aside from nostalgia, Puget Sound is among the communities around Seattle facing an affordable housing crisis. Microsoft says not enough homes have been built. Since 2011, jobs have increased 21 percent while new house builds have grown 13 percent....