Apr 16

Virtual Desktops in Windows 10 – The Power of Windows…Multiplied

We know there’s a vocal set of people who just love virtual desktops. Having desktops beyond the limitations of a physical display is a powerful way to organize and quickly access groups of windows. Virtual desktops aren’t new. In fact, Xerox PARC created one of the earliest virtual desktop experiences called Rooms back in the 1980s and subsequently made a version available for Windows 3.x. Microsoft offered the Virtual Desktop Manager as part of the Windows XP PowerToys and a little while later released the Sysinternals Desktops add-on which enabled similar functionality. Many other OSes and third-party utilities have also embraced the power of virtual desktops. Given the growing popularity of this organizational tool, we decided to build a native virtual desktop experience directly into Windows 10.

Virtual Desktops

Goals

When our team set out to build virtual desktops into Windows 10 we first took the time to understand how different people approach organization. For instance, we know that there are “filers” who like to separate things into subsets and then there are “pilers” who prefer to tackle tasks in a single group. We see this regularly with the way people handle email and directory structures for files. The same approaches also apply to open windows on a desktop. For those of you who like to organize your windows, we want to make sure that we offer the right experience to create and manage these groups. Here are some high-level goals we identified:

  1. Give you more desktop space to group related windows
  2. Help you quickly locate and switch to any window or group of windows
  3. Let you easily re-organize your groups and move windows as tasks evolve
  4. Keep you in control of the degree of separation between your grouped windows

Design

To add a new desktop simply click the task view button on your taskbar and click the “new desktop” button. Just like how you can run as many application windows as you like, there’s also no limit to how many desktops you can create. I like to run my work email and Office apps on the first desktop and open my personal browsing on my second desktop. You may find the need to have more desktops…the possibilities are endless.

Add as many desktops as you need

Task view is also where you can go to switch between desktops. The top part of this view shows previews of the windows you have open, just like Alt+Tab. However, task view also is able to filter this list when you create virtual desktops, so only the relevant windows appear. Under that you will find the list of desktops you have open. The labels along with accurate previews make it easy to find what you want to switch to. However, what if you’re trying to find that music player and you forgot which desktop you had it on? With hover preview it really is a breeze. Just hover over each desktop preview and Windows will let you peek into any desktop to see what windows are open there. That’s right, no need to switch to one desktop at a time to search for the window you’re looking for! You can even click on the app preview from task view to bring that window straight to the top.

Hover on a desktop to peek what’s in it

We know from time to time you may want to re-organize which windows go on which desktop. Of all the virtual desktop feedback provided by Windows Insiders since the January Tech Preview (build 9926), over 63% of requests were in regards to making it easier to move windows across desktops. We heard you loud and clear! We decided to expedite drag-and-drop support in our schedule so that we could provide Insiders with the feature sooner. You can now drag any window into the desktop you want to move it to right from task view. You can even drag a thumbnail to the “new desktop” button to create and move it to a new desktop in one step.

Drag and drop a window to move it to another desktop

For the keyboard inclined users, you’ll appreciate some of these shortcut combos to accelerate your virtual desktop experience.

  • WIN + CTRL + LEFT/RIGHT: Switch to previous or next desktop
  • WIN + CTRL + D: Create a new desktop
  • WIN + CTRL + F4: Close the current desktop
  • WIN + TAB: Launch task view

Make your voice count!

One of the most divided opinions about virtual desktops is what windows are represented on the taskbar. On one side, some users want stronger separation between desktops and expect to see open windows that are only on the current desktop. On the flip side, other users expect the taskbar to always give them access to all their open windows no matter where they are. We are convinced both options are valid so we made it a user setting (actually one for the taskbar and another for Alt+Tab). The hard part is choosing which one is the default so we think the only option is to let you decide. In the most recent flight we are A/B testing the taskbar behavior with the Insiders. If you get a notification asking how you like the taskbar behavior when using virtual desktops, be sure to let us know. Your votes play a direct role in helping us decide! We’re eager to see the results.

We’re glad you’re coming on this journey with us to embed the power of virtual desktops natively in Windows 10. We love the thoughtful input you sent us through the feedback channel and we look forward to your continued thoughts. Over the course of the upcoming flights you can also expect polish and reliability updates to virtual desktops in anticipation of our summer release.

Have questions or comments about Virtual Desktops? Head over to the Windows Insider Program forums.

Source: MS Blogs

Apr 14

Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones Build 10051

April 10th Microsoft released Build 10051 of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones to the Fast ring. This build not only supports more phones, but also has tons of exciting new features that you’ll be able to try for the first time

New Outlook Mail-App, New Browser Codename Spartan, New Calendar and so much more…

Supported device list:

  • Lumia 1020
  • Lumia 1320
  • Lumia 1520
  • Lumia 520
  • Lumia 525
  • Lumia 526
  • Lumia 530
  • Lumia 530 Dual Sim
  • Lumia 535
  • Lumia 620
  • Lumia 625
  • Lumia 630
  • Lumia 630 Dual Sim
  • Lumia 635
  • Lumia 636
  • Lumia 638
  • Lumia 720
  • Lumia 730
  • Lumia 730 Dual SIM
  • Lumia 735
  • Lumia 810
  • Lumia 820
  • Lumia 822
  • Lumia 830
  • Lumia 920
  • Lumia 925
  • Lumia 928
  • Microsoft Lumia 430
  • Microsoft Lumia 435
  • Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM
  • Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM DTV
  • Microsoft Lumia 532
  • Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM
  • Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual SIM
  • Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM

 

How to get your hands on it? install the Windows Insider App and follow the steps.

Windows Insider App: Store Url

Source: MS Blog

Mar 18

Microsoft updates Word, Excel & PowerPoint for IOS, now supports iCloud

Microsoft updates Word, Excel & PowerPoint for IOS, now supports iCloud

New since 1.6:
• iCloud support: open, edit, and save your work to iCloud and other online storage services (requires iOS 8).
• Bug Fixes.

Word
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id586447913
PowerPoint
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id586449534
Excel
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id586683407

Mar 17

Windows Hello & Microsoft Passport in Windows 10

Source: MS Blog

 

Mar 16

Microsoft Announces the Office 2016 IT Pro and Developer Preview

Today at Convergence Microsoft revealed the availability of the public preview of Office 2016

office-2016_medium

some of the new stuff:

Data Loss Protection (DLP)—Over the last few years we’ve added DLP to Exchange, Outlook, OneDrive for Business and SharePoint. Now we’re bringing these same classification and policy features to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. With these new capabilities, IT admins can centrally create, manage and enforce polices for content authoring and document sharing—and end users will see policy tips or sharing restrictions when the apps detect a potential policy violation.

Outlook—We’re delivering a number of significant technical improvements to Outlook.

  • MAPI-HTTP protocol. We’ve replaced the RPC-based sync with a new Internet-friendly MAPI-HTTP protocol that supports Exchange/Outlook connectivity.
  • Foreground network calls. We’ve eliminated the use of foreground network calls to ensure that Outlook stays responsive on unreliable networks.
  • Multi-factor authentication. With this release of the Outlook client, we’ll support multi-factor authentication through integration with the Active Directory Authentication Library (ADAL).
  • Email delivery performance. We’ve reduced the amount of time it takes to download messages, display the message list, and show new email after resuming from hibernation.
  • Lean storage footprint. We’ve added settings that allow users to better manage storage by only retaining 1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days of mail on the device.
  • Search. We’ve improved the reliability, performance, and usability of Outlook search, and integrated the FAST-based search engine in Exchange.

Click-to-Run deployment—For customers on our Office 365 subscription service, the 2016 release includes new deployment features that IT pros have been asking for:

  • Better network traffic management. We’re introducing a new Background Intelligence Transfer Service (BITS) to help prevent congestion on the network. BITS throttles back the use of bandwidth when other critical network traffic is present.
  • Enhanced distribution management. We’re improving our integration with System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) to allow IT admins to efficiently download and distribute monthly Office updates using the native SCCM features.
  • Flexible update management. We’ve created a way for admins to manage the pace at which they receive feature updates and bug fixes while continuing to receive regular security updates.
  • Simplified activation management. We’re adding a feature in the Office 365 Admin Portal to allow admins to manage device activations across users.

Macros and Add-ins—We’re not making any changes to Macros or Add-ins in this release. It’s rare that “no changes” is a something we’d want to highlight, but we think it’s worth celebrating the consistency in the programming model across releases. We understand how important this is and we’re committed to a high level of compatibility as we continue to innovate.  (See dev.office.com for more on how we’re innovating in Office extensibility.)

Accessibility—We’ve improved keyboard accessibility for high-value Excel features like PivotTables and Slicers, addressed a number of readability issues in Outlook, and introduced a dark theme for users with visual impairments.

Information Rights Management (IRM)—We’ve extended IRM protection to Visio files, enabling both online and offline protection of Visio diagrams.

Source: MS Office Blog

Sign up here to get access to the preview

Jan 29

Outlook for iOS and Android

Microsoft released the Outlook App to Android and iOS:

Outlook for A&I Outlook for A&I2

Outlook is a free email app that helps you get more done from anywhere with one unified view of your email, calendar, contacts, and attachments. Outlook automatically surfaces your most important messages – across all your email accounts. Swipe to quickly delete, archive, or schedule messages you want to handle later. Easily view your calendar, share available times, and schedule meetings. And attach files from your email, OneDrive, or Dropbox with just a few taps.

Outlook works with Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Outlook.com, iCloud, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail.

——————————

Why use Outlook?

Manage your inbox
• Outlook automatically triages your inbox for you, surfacing your most important email. Less relevant email is placed in your “Other” inbox.
• Swipe to quickly delete, archive, or schedule messages.
• Schedule emails and they will return to your inbox at a later time.

Your calendar built-in
• Switching between your email and calendar apps is a thing of the past. Outlook includes your calendar and notifies you with appointment reminders.
• Find available meeting times and share them in email or schedule a meeting.

Attachments made easy
• View and attach any file from your email, OneDrive, Dropbox, and other accounts with just a few taps.
• Send large files even if you haven’t downloaded them to your phone.

Find anything fast
• Filter your inbox to only show messages that are unread, flagged, or have attachments, with a single tap.
• Quickly find the right messages, people and files by typing just a few letters.
• Outlook shows people you communicate with most often, and lets you conveniently drill down to see all related emails, meetings and files.

 

Grab the Microsoft Outlook Preview app Android Play Store or Apple Store

Jan 21

Windows 10: The Next Chapter

A lot of great new stuff, Cortana on the pc, xBox on the pc, Universal Apps, DirectX 12,…

Check out the webcast on demand here:

http://news.microsoft.com/windows10story/?OCID=WIP_r_Jan_Body_Webcast_9

New Surface Hub 84inch 4K interactive touch display to unlock the full potential of your meeting:

http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-surface-hub/en-us

Microsoft HoloLens, yes the future is actually here!

http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

Dec 19

MVA: Complete two courses and win two cinema tickets so you can relax with the best movies these holidays!

Tech Monster
You’re an IT beast with skills that can squash any project in your path.

Get ready for monstrous action this holiday season with Microsoft Virtual Academy.

http://aka.ms/techmonster

Dec 09

Azure RemoteApp GA on the December 11, 2014

Azure RemoteApp delivers Windows Server session-based applications from the Azure cloud to provide scale, agility, and global access to your corporate applications. With Azure RemoteApp, you can enable your users to access corporate applications from anywhere and on a variety of devices, scale up or down to meet the dynamic business needs without large capital expense or management complexity, and centralize and protect corporate applications with the security features and reliability of Azure.

Azure RemoteApp will be generally available on December 11, 2014. Any Azure RemoteApp instances created during the current public preview period will continue to function as they do today. These instances will automatically transition to a 30-day free trial on December 11, 2014. The limit of two app collections and 10 users per instance will continue to be enforced during the free trial period. To remove these limitations, you can exit the free trial at any point and be charged the rates detailed on the Azure RemoteApp Pricing Details webpage.

https://www.remoteapp.windowsazure.com/

Dec 06

Recovery Media for 8.1 made easy!

Need to re-install Windows 8.1 and need the media? Check out this new tool that makes it easy to get the right media.

Create installation media for Windows 8.1

If you want to install or reinstall Windows 8.1 and don’t have installation media, you can create it from this page. You’ll need to use a PC with a reliable Internet connection and either save the installation files to a USB flash drive or burn an ISO file to a DVD.

Before you begin, here are some things you’ll need:

  • PC with an Internet connection. If you don’t have a reliable Internet connection, maybe you can go to a friend’s house, library, Internet café, or somewhere else with Internet.

  • USB flash drive. Use a USB flash drive with at least 4 GB of available drive space. We recommend using a drive with nothing else on it.

    -or-

  • DVD. This requires a DVD burner on or connected to the PC you’re using to create the media, and a DVD player on the PC where you want to install Windows 8.1. Use a DVD with at least 4 GB of space, and we recommend using a blank DVD.

Here are some things to check on the PC where you want to install Windows 8.1:

  • 64-bit or 32-bit processor (CPU). You’ll need to download either the 64-bit or 32-bit version of Windows 8.1 that’s appropriate for your CPU. To check this on your current PC, go to PC info in PC settings or System in Control Panel, and look for System type.

  • System requirements. See the system requirements before installing Windows 8.1. We also recommend that you visit your PC manufacturer’s website for info about updated drivers and hardware compatibility.

  • Language in Windows. You’ll need to choose the same language when you install Windows 8.1. To see what language you’re currently using, go to Time and language in PC settings or Region in Control Panel.

  • Edition of Windows. You should also choose the same edition of Windows. This might be Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 Pro. To check what edition you’re currently running, go to PC info in PC settings or System in Control Panel, and look for Windows edition.

When you’re ready, connect your USB flash drive or insert the DVD, tap or click Create media, and then follow the instructions.

Create media

* Your use of the Windows media creation tool is governed by the Microsoft Terms of Use for this website.

To install Windows 8.1, do one of the following:

  • Connect the USB flash drive to the PC where you want to install Windows 8.1, browse to it in File Explorer, and then open the setup.exe file. Follow the instructions in setup.

  • Insert the DVD into your PC, and then restart (reboot) it. Follow the instructions in setup.

 

Source: Windows.microsoft.com