Specifically, the company has introduced NTFS storage requirements which have had consequences for many users. Because of this change, many external SD card storage linked to OneDrive has become useless. This is particularly frustrating because Microsoft seems to have implemented this under the radar. There are some who believe this is just a test, but it does appear as though this is a permanent change going through preview. Naturally, many users are unhappy with the situation and have taken to Microsoft’s forums and Reddit to vent: “Without warning, Microsoft changed their consumer OneDrive policy to only support the NTFS file system,” the company’s support forum read....

Admins are given more control who gets a product license and what services are made available. Microsoft says the group-based license management solves a significant problem where customers would delay service roll-outs because no service would work at scale. With the new feature, admins can define a license template and assign it to a security group in Azure AD. This allows the platform to assign and remove licenses per user when they join and leave the group....

Because they are created for low latency workloads, the L Series for Storage VMS are ideal from NoSQL databases. For example, customers using MongoDB, Cassandra, Cloudera, and Redis will find plenty of value in the news sizes. Beck explains that the series comes with up to 32 CPU Cores and run the Intel Xeon E5 v3 family of processors. These Azure virtual machines offer similar performance to the existing G-Serie that customers can currently use....

“Our teams ship tens of millions of hardware products every year including the Xbox One X, Xbox One S, a full accessories lineup, and more. Microsoft is the destination for the brightest minds in gaming device design. Come be part of what’s next,” says the opening. It emphasizes the need for an engineer with experience in DRAM, including DDR3, GDDR5, GDDR6, and future technology. The candidate in question will be the primary focal point for memory solutions on both current and future Xbox projects, balancing performance, reliability, and cost....

1 Windows Server Insider Preview 162372 Nano Server Changes Build 16237 gives dedicated users an early look and the OSes latest improvements, allowing them to prep for the transition and provide essential feedback. This release is a lead up to Windows Server version 1709, which be available to everyone in September. It’s available to both Windows Insider for Business users and general Insiders. Windows Server Insider Preview 16237 Microsoft has gone big in its first build, with a ton of new functionality and plenty more enhancements....

Being able to manage and run sophisticated workloads is a big part of Windows Server IoT 2019. Functional across cloud or on premises, the platform also provides leading security features. In an announcement today, Microsoft also announced increased chip support for Windows 10 IoT. The company says IoT Core now supports the i.MX 8M and i.MX 8M Mini applications processors. Furthermore, Windows 10 IoT enterprise now supports Qualcomm Snapdragon CPUs....

Microsoft has put together a different type of hype campaign for Scorpio. The company announced the console at E3 2016 and has drip fed information on the device since. Before the event today, we have known about the specs of the device, and many of its core features. For example, we knew Xbox One X would play 4K games natively since last year. We have also known for some time that Scorpio will arrive during the holiday season....

According to Windows Central, the UI on the display is actually a leak of Windows 12. With Windows 11 only a year old, it is easy to think it is too early to see the next generation of the OS. However, Microsoft has apparently decided to go to a tighter upgrade schedule with new Windows platforms arriving every three years. If that is the case, we are around 2 years away from seeing Windows 12....

Despite Microsoft saying it was working on developing a single OneNote experience for Windows last August, the unified app has not arrived yet. It is a confusing situation that sees the OneNote app in Office and a separate Windows 10 app in the Microsoft Store. This update is for the OneNote app that is baked into Microsoft 365 as a native app in Office on Windows 11. Although, it too can be installed as a standalone application....

We have often believed the folding screen hinged devices Microsoft has worked on have been for Surface Phone. Perhaps they still are. The latest Microsoft patent shows a new locking system. In the notes, Microsoft says the solution creates a locking mechanism for a dual-screen smartphone. Called the user-controllable lock. In Microsoft patent notes how a single finger touch would “pop-up” to instantly unlock the two attached screens. Microsoft discusses a pop-up feature that works with a spring and hinge mechanism when it is unlocked....

The patent’s abstract describes a system where a sensor connected to the user will collect their body activity data, verify that it meets a service provider or advert’s conditions, and reward currency if those are met. Some examples given are brain waves or body heat. “For example, a brain wave or body heat emitted from the user when the user performs the task provided by an information or service provider, such as viewing an advertisement or using certain internet services, can be used in the mining process,” the patent explains....

However, this does not seem to be the same kind of functionality hinted at by the Surface Phone and Andromeda. You may remember the Surface Phone has been teased for much of this year. However, Microsoft has also reportedly decided to make Andromeda a more stable tablet device. Firstly, this patent does not look like it is Andromeda recast in a tablet. Instead, it shows a Surface Pro lookalike that has a smaller second screen....

The proposal would let users give Cortana access to their emails in return for an intelligent summary. The diagrams give conversational examples such as “You have one email from your boss, and email to check-in for your flight, a text requesting your resume…”. Users would then be able to reply asking for further details on specific messages, with this possibly extending to content from SMS or other sources. The system would automatically rank messages in order of importance to ensure you get the most timely information first....

Those new additions are a Host File Editor and a File Locksmith. Starting with File Locksmith, it is a utility that allows users to see which processes are in use when a file is selected. As for the Host Editor, it provides users to edit host files with a special Editor UI. Microsoft is also adding new features in PowerToys 0.64.0. For example, in Settings there is now the ability to back up or restore settings from within a file....

In a blog post to confirm the deal, Joy Chik, corporate VP of Microsoft Identity, explains how CloudKnox Security will bolster the company’s wider cloud security services. If you are unfamiliar with CloudKnox Security, it develops Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) services. As a leader in the space, the company allows organizations to manage permissions and privilege access. Using analytics, the platform protects against security breaches. CloudKnox will work on Microsoft Azure Active Directory to provide deeper visibility for customers, who can monitor and automate multi-cloud, cloud, and hybrid permissions....

The key to the research lies in how robotic devices differentiate and anticipate. Microsoft Research says humans have these abilities innately, but artificial intelligence can struggle with such concepts. Autonomous vehicles and delivery drones are growing industries, but the ability to truly operate on their own is still a major limitation. Object avoidance and anticipation will be a key step to machines achieving full autonomy. Aerial Informatics and Robotics Platform includes software that gives developers tools to easily write code to control drones and other AI machines....

Microsoft’s Steve Guggenheimer has revealed Microsoft’s leading position on four AI tests. The CVP of Microsoft’s developer platform says its AI is now first on the WikiSQL, ARC, SQuAD challenges. The leader of these challenges changes constantly, but it’s significant that Microsoft researchers top four simultaneously. The WikiSQL challenge is of Salesforce’s making and tests natural language interfaces for relational databases. Guggenheimer puts Microsoft’s WikiSQL success down to a new approach called IncSQL, which led to a 5....

HoloScreens, also known as Mirage, has an expensive buy-in cost (a HoloLens 2) but some useful functionality. Users are able to extend their laptop or desktop screen real estate with a few clicks. After pairing their app with a QR code, they can add monitors and reposition them to their liking. Everything gels with Windows 10, you can move your cursor and programs across displays without any issues. Microsoft isn’t the first to come up with this concept....

The change is thanks to a runtime re-architecture and supports all major Azure function features. For the unfamiliar, Azure Functions is Microsoft’s answer to AWS’ Lambda. It removes the stress of maintaining servers with a scale-on-demand, reliable compute platform. The new addition will simply bring that to more people. “The new Java runtime will share all the differentiated features provided by Azure Functions, such as the wide range of triggering options and data bindings, serverless execution model with auto-scale, as well as pay-per-execution pricing,” said Nir Mashkowski, partner director of program management for Azure App Service....

The patch in the spotlight is KB4100347, which was sent out to users last month as a Spectre mitigation for Windows 10 April 2018 Update. On Windows Update, Microsoft describes the Intel patch as: “Intel recently announced that they have completed their validations and started to release microcode for recent CPU platforms related to Spectre Variant 2 (CVE 2017-5715 [“Branch Target Injection”]). This update includes microcode updates from Intel for the following CPUs” Users are reporting the update is causing booting problems in machines after it is installed....