In its Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker the market analysis firm says the decrease means there has been a 15% year-on-year decline in PC shipments. Even so, the shifts seen in the pandemic are still evident. Sales remain higher than they were before the pandemic. Furthermore, the company points to Apple devices as covering for others in the market: “Consumer demand has remained muted though promotional activity from the likes of Apple and other players has helped soften the fall and reduce channel inventory by a couple weeks across the board,” says Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers....

With the advent of concepts like work-from-home, and new jobs requiring you to travel to remote places, or even connect with clients halfway across the world, it becomes extremely important for you to have top-notch, highly efficient gadgets, especially laptops. Why Laptops? 1 Why Laptops?2 How to Improve Your Laptop’s Battery Life?2.1 Use the Windows Performance Management Tool:2.2 Airplane Mode2.3 Adjusting Graphics3 How to Protect Your Laptop from Malware:4 How to Enhance Laptop Performance...

Of course, at this stage Microsoft is saying nothing official about the Surface Pro 8. We know it is in development but don’t know what improvements it will have over this year model. It is worth noting Microsoft updates Surface devices less frequently than the yearly bump we see smartphones get. So, there’s no surprise to see the Surface Pro 7 remain in place beyond the one-year anniversary of its launch....

“Beginning early 2018, Delta will equip its more than 23,000 flight attendants and 14,000 pilots with Apple iPhones and Apple iPad Pros, respectively, as the airline transitions to its next generation of flight crew devices,” said the statement. Besides citing co-operation with other airlines, Delta didn’t give a reason for the change. From an outside standpoint, it seems obvious that Delta didn’t want its employees to utilize the unsteady pairing of Lumia 1520 phablets and Surface....

Microsoft is issuing caution following the ending support of Basic Auth on Exchange. That started happening on October 1, 2022. As for its replacement, Microsoft is recommending customers start using the more secure Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0). Microsoft will roll the depreciation into 2023. That means customers not ready can currently re-enable Basic Auth via the self-diagnostic tool. This approach will work until December before Microsoft closes support permanently in early January....

On Microsoft 365, users have had accessed to a simplified administration for end-to-end scenarios for some time. With this workspace, admins can access devices and apps across an organization. Microsoft says it has now streamlined this Microsoft 365 admin experience through Intune. This new experience has been available in preview and is now generally available. It is worth noting the streamlined admin experience is specifically for the specialist workspace on Microsoft 365....

For example, the Microsoft 365 (M365) division is going through a reorg in its marketing division. ZDNet reports Microsoft has created a dedicated M365 marketing group that is headed by Corporate Vice President Jared Spataro. The new group has been in operation since July 1. Spataro has been leading the marketing three aspects of Microsoft 365: Windows 10, Enterprise Mobility + Security, and Office 365. It seems Microsoft has decided to integrate these separate marketing divisions under one roof....

If you’re unfamiliar with Flatcar Container Linux, it is a Linux distribution built specifically to handle container workloads. Kinvolk positions the distro as providing low maintenance and robust security in container environments. In a blog post, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Azure Compute, Brendan Burns says Kinvolk GmbH will now fold into the Azure team. More accurately as part of the team working on Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS). Azure Kubernetes Service was launched in preview during 2017....

Leading the goals of the partnership is to drive transformation in logistics and manufacturing across North America, Southeast Asia, and Japan. On its end, Hitachi, will integrate its solutions into Microsoft’s cloud services. For example, the IoT industrial controllers HX Series and Lumada platform will now integrate with Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365. “We are delighted to expand our partnership with Microsoft and combine our OT, IT and products excellence to provide manufacturing and logistics companies with digital solutions....

In a joint press release, Microsoft and KPMG say the partnership allows start-ups to move securely to cloud storage. Adoption of blockchain allows developers to create applications suited to real world processes. Microsoft and KPMG are long-time collaborators and have a mutual global alliance. This partnership allows Microsoft to match its technology with KPMG’s blockchain application expertise. The newest agreement will place an emphasis on the financial services industry. More specifically, Blockchain Nodes will help to develop new technology to determine how blockchain can help business processes....

Microsoft’s flagship laptop is on its third generation, while the low-end tablet Surface Go gets a sequel. Speaking to PCWorld, Microsoft Surface’s director of engineering of A/V systems, Doug Beck discussed how the devices have vastly improved camera experiences. Both the Surface Book 3 and Surface Go 2 cameras have designed to work better in low-light conditions. Microsoft is aiming for the growing conference and video communication market. Both devices have 5-megapixel lenses with larger pixels to optimize low light....

It is hard to say the news was met with much disappointment. Most people, even Windows 10 users, did not use Groove. However, there are certainly those who do use the Music Pass. Those customers are probably wondering what they will do with MS Rewards points bought for the service. Earlier this year, the company allowed members to redeem Groove Music Pass subscriptions at discounted rewards points rates. With the service closing, Microsoft has apologised to those users....

Furthermore, Microsoft is touting an Instant-on capability. According to new Microsoft documentation found by WindowsLatest, Windows 10X will get what the company calls “Modern Standby”. Of course, this is already something available in Windows 10. It is an evolution of Microsoft’s Connected Standby idea, that first arrived with Windows 8.1. For Windows 10, the tool keeps the PC in a low-power idle state that allows its to maintain connection. Additionally, Modern Standby also allow background activity to continue, such as downloads, app activity, and updates....

Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) allows users to create a virtualization of Windows 7, Windows 10, Office 365 ProPlus apps and third-party apps. With WVD, customers receive remote desktop sessions by running virtualizations in Azure virtual machines. Windows 7 users running can get free extended security updates (ESUs) over three years to compensate for Microsoft ending Win7 support in January, 2020. Now available in public preview, Microsoft has expanded on the partner integrations with Windows Virtual Desktop....

If you take a look at the new Chromium Edge logo, Microsoft has designed it based on a wave. Referencing surfing is logical considering that’s what users will be doing on the browser. With its SURF game, users can surf Edge and complete tasks to win. Many people have said they are unable to find the Easter Egg and play the SRUF game. If you are one of those users, follow the steps below to enable the title....

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are web-based applications that are enhanced with modern features. They are regular web page that can be used like a traditional or mobile application. Back in October, Microsoft confirmed it was working with Google to develop its own PWAs solution for Windows 10. Now the company has reiterated its ambition to launch Progressive Web Apps with the Redstone 4 release. However, Microsoft is eager to say PWAs are not replacing Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps: “Given the overlap in terms of capabilities, we often get asked about the recommended approach: PWA or UWP....

“Today we’re announcing that we intend to adopt the Chromium open source project in the development of Microsoft Edge on the desktop to create better web compatibility for our customers and less fragmentation of the web for all web developers,” said Microsoft CVP Joe Belfiore. “As part of this, we intend to become a significant contributor to the Chromium project, in a way that can make not just Microsoft Edge — but other browsers as well — better on both PCs and other devices....

“Today, we are thrilled to announce Windows 11 will start to become available on October 5, 2021. On this day, the free upgrade to Windows 11 will begin rolling out to eligible Windows 10 PCs and PCs that come pre-loaded with Windows 11 will start to become available for purchase. A new Windows experience, Windows 11 is designed to bring you closer to what you love.” The big news aside from the launch confirmation is that Windows 11 will ship with the majority of the features Microsoft unveiled at the introduction event....

“Our team is hard at work on E3, we look forward to sharing with all who love to play what’s ahead for us. Our artform has consistently been propelled by the cross-section of creativity and technical progress. 2020 is a milestone year in that journey for Team Xbox.” The news comes just a day after Sony confirmed it will be skipping E3 2020. Interestingly, the contrasting news from Microsoft and Sony tells a story about how each company has operated in recent years....

With that in mind, Redmond has today announced an open source bot that will give developers a helping hand. The bot accelerator for virtual assistance gives organizations tools to create their own in-house virtual assistants for business tasks. Microsoft says it has been able to develop the solution by working with partners on their own virtual assistants. It is also worth noting, as these are in-house assistants, they won’t be in the way of the company’s own Cortana plans....