Andy Patrizio
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Andy Patrizio
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Microsoft launches ‘Feature Pack’ for SharePoint 2016
The traditional update to a major product release is a service pack, which is mostly bug fixes and maybe a few new features. But Microsoft is doing something a little different with the release of "Feature Pack 1" for SharePoint 2016. + Also on Network World: Nov 2016 Patch Tuesday: Microsoft released 14 security updates, 6 rated critical + Microsoft released SharePoint Server 2016 in May, along with mobile apps for iOS and Android shortly thereafter. Mobile access was one of the major emphasis points in SharePoint 2016, along with hybrid cloud support and Office 365 support. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft patent hints at a more human-like Cortana
A newly discovered Microsoft patent hints that Microsoft is developing more personalized, "human-like" responses for Cortana, so she sounds less generic and speaks to the user directly using personal information. The patent describes how user-specific information and contextual information is retrieved by querying a user profile database and one or more services, which generates a personalized greeting based on user-specific information, such as user inferences and interests, and the contextual information to generate the personalized greetings for presentation by the digital assistant on the client device. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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The Microsoft Store is having a PC fire sale
New hardware means the old inventory has to go, and that's what Microsoft is doing. Hot on the heels of its big announcements in New York late last month, the company has put almost a dozen PCs sold through the Microsoft Store on discount. These aren't cheap whitebox products, either. We're talking desktops and laptops from Dell, Sony, HP, MSI, ASUS, Alienware and Lenovo. The complete list of items on sale is here, although some are already sold out. Some of the bigger deals include:Lenovo Z50-87 notebookOn sale for $349, $250 off its $599 price tag (42% savings)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Windows 10, Edge growth both flatline in October
What happens when you stop giving away an OS for free in a weak PC market? Growth flattens. Imagine that.New data from NetMarketShare, from the analytics firm Net Applications, shows no growth in use for Windows 10 between August and October, the period after Microsoft ended its free offer for the operating system. In Q3, Gartner reported a 5.7 percent decline in PC sales vs. the same period the year before. So, with no giveaway and poor PC sales, this is hardly a surprise. + Also on Network World: Microsoft confirms Windows 10 adoption slowdown + It has to be remembered that Net Applications measures usage and not actual market share. It has sensors all over the internet that detect the OS and browser of users it encounters. So, if a lot of people using Windows XP machines are active while Windows 10 machines are not, it looks like XP is doing better. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft cleans house at the Windows Store
Microsoft announced earlier this year that it would remove applications from the Windows Store that do not comply with the age rating policies the company had adopted. The age rating policy is based on appropriate age and content ratings administered by the International Age Ratings Coalition (IARC) rating system. Microsoft said these ratings are about the suitability of the content in the app, rather than the age of the target audience for your app. Well, it meant what it said. A large number of applications have been removed from the Windows Store, with reports ranging from 90,000 apps and games to more than 100,000. Given the Windows Store has (or had) 329,000 apps, that's about one-third of the total apps. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft introduces mobile scheduling app for Outlook
Stating it wants Outlook for mobile to be more than just checking messages while waiting in line for coffee, Microsoft today announced a new scheduling experience for Outlook for iOS that's similar to the Outlook feature on the desktop. The scheduling assistant for Outlook for iOS is similar to the desktop version of the app, which lets you see your co-workers' schedules, so you can schedule an event at a time that works for everyone.First, you create an event in your calendar, then add co-workers to the “People” field. Times that work for everyone show in white, yellow indicates availability for one or more people in the group, and red indicates times with no availability. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft to launch low-end VR headset in December
Apparently Microsoft is not done with hardware introductions. The company plans to bring new low-cost mixed-reality headsets to market through its Windows Holographic platform for as little as $299. The details came out at the big Surface launch event in New York earlier this week, but the news site Polygon got more details from Microsoft Technical Fellow and head of the HoloLens program Alex Kipman.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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The PDF format finally reaches 2.0 release
Twenty-three years after Adobe Systems introduced the Portable Document Format (PDF), the format is finally getting a significant makeover. The new release will be available some time next year. So, what can expect after all this time? PDF was designed as a way to make formatted documents, such as contracts, available as electronic images without requiring them to be printed. What started as merely a static image when introduced in 1993 has grown into an industry standard that is modifyable, so people can PDF-fill forms on their computers, and capable of being generated by a wide variety of applications.A BPI Network report called "Dealing With Document Deluge and Danger" (available as a PDF, of course) states some 2.5 trillion PDFs are generated every year, and about 90 percent of survey respondents describe themselves and their co-workers as "PDF-dependent." So, PDF has become integral in the lives of many people and businesses. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft expands laptop trade-in program to cover Macs
Perhaps Microsoft smells blood in the water because it's getting more aggressive with its laptop trade-in program. A while back it launched a program to trade in old laptops incapable of being upgraded to Windows 10. Now it has a new program, this time targeting old MacBooks.According to the trade-in page, users can send in almost any type of MacBook Air or MacBook Pro and they will be eligible for the discount. You might not get very much, and you might be better off selling the thing yourself on Craigslist. Then again, a lot of people are nervous about doing sales like that.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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How much does ‘Free Wi-Fi’ cost your business?
Everywhere you go, you see signs for "Free Wi-Fi." And oftentimes, that free Wi-Fi is useless. The problem is that the free Wi-Fi in the airport or Starbucks often isn't very good, especially if you have a lot of data to download. It's usually so slow you can't get anything done. So you either turn to a 4G connection, if you are so fortunate, or pay for a premium Wi-Fi service. Usually this comes in the form of a $10 per night fee in your hotel.The cost of that, plus other intangibles, costs businesses in Europe and North America at least $2.91 billion every year according to a report from iPass, a provider of global mobile connectivity, and Rethink Technology Research, a wireless technology research firm.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Why is Apple letting Macs rot on the tree?
Apple has been selling Macintosh branded computers for 31 years, but with its emphasis shifting to smartphones, watches, music and who knows what else, the company has neglected its Mac line, leaving the Apple faithful wondering if the company is still committed to it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
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Microsoft Surface isn’t the culprit in Patriots coach’s blowup
When the New England Patriots' normally taciturn head coach Bill Belichick goes on a five-minute tirade, you know it must be a bad situation. But that's what happened during a press conference with Belichick last week's drubbing of the Cincinnati Bengals.Belichick went off on the Microsoft Surface tablets as being unreliable, and that came weeks after he was seen throwing one on the ground in frustration.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Verizon may back out of Yahoo deal due to email snooping
The deal for Verizon to purchase struggling Yahoo became endangered thanks to reports of Yahoo spying on user email for the U.S. government, not to mention the lost data on 500 million accounts and a decline in revenue.Earlier this month, Verizon publicly declared it was looking for a $1 billion discount on the original $4.8 billion it offered to purchase Yahoo. Verizon sought the discount because of Yahoo’s enormous data breach and because of reports that Yahoo was under a court order to scan emails for terrorist chatter, according to the New York Post. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Dell EMC aims for a converged, custom fit in an off-the-rack world
It may be a cloud world, but Dell EMC is still invested in on-premises systems, in particular converged systems. At VMworld 2016 in late August, the company took the wraps off a new product line called Validated System for Virtualization, which reflects a significant shift in the company’s converged systems portfolio.The new solution, according to Dell EMC, represents what it calls “service-defined infrastructure” by incorporating a wide range of form-factors, technology choices and deployment options, all designed to fit the needs of a customer ranging from midsized to the Fortune 10.Converged systems, a recent trend in hardware, combine compute, storage, networking and the software workload all into one fully integrated system rather than piecing it together. They are designed for easy installation and use by customers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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The fix for Windows 10 needs a fix
A fix issued this past Tuesday to address problems in the Anniversary Update to Windows 10 hasn't fixed the problem and is causing just as many issues with users, according to online reports.Cumulative update KB3194798, issued on Oct. 11, is failing to install on a number of computers for no particular reason. This update was supposed to repair systems running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (version 1607) and offer performance improvements and optimizations, as well as bug fixes to the OS. It's not doing any of those things for some people.What users see This update is suffering from the same issues that affected previous cumulative updates. After attempting to install the update, a message pops up that the install failed and the operating system is undoing changes. The system reboots and users are brought back to the desktop where they are asked to install the update again.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft is changing how you use the Control Panel in Windows
We all know Windows 10 is a continuously evolving operating system with regular changes made over the course of its release cycle. It seems those changes are extending to the Control Panel, the central hub for system settings. Windows10Update.com noted that a modest but significant change in build 14942, the latest Fast ring preview version released by Microsoft, made a change to how the Control Panel is presented when using the Power Menu (the Windows and X key) Instead of the Control Panel shortcut that was placed between the Task Manager and File Explorer in the operating system, there is now a full menu of options that match the Control Panel's set of applets. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft expands HoloLens in six new global markets
Microsoft announced plans to offer its well-hyped HoloLens virtual reality headset in six new markets outside North America after what Microsoft calls "tremendous excitement and interest from developers and commercial customers and partners around the globe."Alex Kipman, technical fellow in the Windows and Devices group, made the announcement in a blog post that the company has opened pre-orders today in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. The headset will begin shipping in those markets in late November. Interest in augmented reality (AR) and VR products has exploded this year thanks to the shipments of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets, among many others. Microsoft is late to the market, but the buzz on HoloLens has been enormous. IDC predicts global revenues for the mixed reality (MR) market will grow from $5.2 billion this year to $162 billion in 2020.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft increases European cloud data center capacity
Microsoft has spent the past few years engaged in massive expansions of its data centers in the U.S., adding the capacity needed as its Azure business grows. Now it's moving on to Europe, as is Amazon, in what looks to be the next big cloud battleground. At a company event in Dublin, Ireland, CEO Satya Nadella told an audience that the company is building out its data centers as "a global hyperscale cloud." Microsoft has over 30 regions across all parts of the globe, making sure customers worldwide have access to the cloud. Its next big push will be to open multiple cloud data centers in France, beginning next year. Amazon Web Services (AWS) last week said it plans to do the same. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft increases European cloud data center capacity
Microsoft has spent the past few years engaged in massive expansions of its data centers in the U.S., adding the capacity needed as its Azure business grows. Now it's moving on to Europe, as is Amazon, in what looks to be the next big cloud battleground. At a company event in Dublin, Ireland, CEO Satya Nadella told an audience that the company is building out its data centers as "a global hyperscale cloud." Microsoft has over 30 regions across all parts of the globe, making sure customers worldwide have access to the cloud. Its next big push will be to open multiple cloud data centers in France, beginning next year. Amazon Web Services (AWS) last week said it plans to do the same. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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4chan finally feels the weight of economic reality
4chan, the wretched hive of scum and villainy that has caused more disruptions on the internet and in real life than any other single website, is in financial trouble and facing the harsh reality that success and traffic are useless without income.The site went live in 2003 when then-15-year-old Christopher "moot" Poole set it up as a copy of a Japanese board called 2chan. The site is the ultimate in bare bones. No login or account is required; everyone is anonymous. Poole, a fan of Japanese pop culture, wanted to create an American equivalent of 2chan, where people shared images of anime and manga.It rapidly grew beyond that, with the /b/ board, Random, becoming a hive of all sorts of insanity. For a while, it was the home base of the hacktivist group Anonymous. 4chan users became notorious for both good deeds and bad, both online and in the real world, resulting in profiles of the site by the Washington Post, New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. A book has been written about Anonymous and its 4chan connection, and the site was even the subject of an MIT research paper (PDF). To read Continue reading