31Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are going to work together

Microsoft Development, Software Events
Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are going to work together Amazon and Microsoft announced on Wednesday that they’ve been working on a partnership to allow their respective voice assistants, Alexa and Cortana, to speak to one another. Starting later this year, owners of Amazon Echos and other Alexa-powered devices will be able to say: “Alexa, open Cortana” to start querying Microsoft’s voice assistant. Owners of devices running Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system will be able to summon Alexa via Cortana in a similar manner. Why would customers want that — especially with the relatively clunky nature of the necessary voice command? The companies say that each voice assistant has its strengths — features like Microsoft Outlook and Exchange email integration for Cortana and smart-home controls or shopping for Alexa — and that…
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30Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

New WinDbg debugger available in preview!

Microsoft Development
New Microsoft debugger WinDbg available in preview! Debugging Tools for Windows Microsoft is excited to announce a preview version of a brand new WinDbg a Windows debugger.  WinDbg has more modern visuals, faster windows, a full-fledged scripting experience, built with the easily extensible debugger data model front and center. Things to know Installation - You can install the WinDbg Preview from the store if you have Windows 10 Anniversary Update or newer at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/windbg/9pgjgd53tn86 - WinDbg Preview uses some features from the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, so that’s required for now. Feedback - Familiarize yourself a bit with the Feedback Hub!  Microsoft will be using the Feedback Hub to help prioritize what you want Microsoft to work on! The Windows Insider website has a great overview on how to give good feedback - https://insider.windows.com/en-us/how-to-feedback Once you've read that, just hit the 'Feedback Hub' button…
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30Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

NYPD dropping Window Phone for iPhones

Microsoft Development, Software Events
NYPD dropping Window Phone for iPhone A New York Post report that one of Microsoft's more celebrated U.S. business customers for Windows Phone is dumping the platform raises some interesting questions about Redmond's future mobility plans. The Post reported on August 28 that the New York Police Department (NYPD) is going to scrap the 36,000 Nokia phonesrunning the Windows Phone OS that it has been rolling out for the past two years. Microsoft dropped support for Windows Mobile 8.1 in July 2017. But the two handset models the NYPD purchased, the Lumia 640XL and Lumia 830, both were among the Windows Phones that were upgradable to Windows 10 Mobile. (Of these two, only the newer 640XL will also be eligible for the coming Fall Windows 10 Mobile update, however.) As of October 2016,…
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24Aug 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Half of Windows 7 machines do not run AV software

Microsoft Development, Software Events
Half of Windows 7 machines do not run AV software It has been disclosed by Microsoft that Windows older desktop operating systems remains more vulnerable to malware as of today.  The majority of users are still running older versions of Windows, without necessarily using up to date security software which is Anti-Virus packages. In its latest Security Intelligence Report, the company revealed that among all Windows 7 and Windows Vista PCs reporting statuses other than “Protected” to Microsoft, more than half of them have no type of protected software installed at all, which is pretty massive. Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft decided to turn on Windows Defender by default when no other anti-malware software is present. The majority of unprotected Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 PCs have their anti-malware software turned…
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12Oct 2016 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Microsoft ending TechRewards Learning Program

Microsoft Development
 Microsoft Killing TechRewards Learning Program Microsoft will be ending its TechRewards learning program for developers and IT pros.  In the business world this is just reducing overhead or fat from the budget.  There are similar programs offered by Microsoft to all developers and IT staff. Developers the Visual Studio Dev Essentials is a better path since it does provide countless software tools and webinars on how to use a particular Microsoft tool. The Visual Studio Dev Essentials is a free program for anyone who wishes to join.  The TechRewards program was small and is easily replace by the other programs offered by Microsoft. The TechRewards program formally will end on Jan. 6, 2017 and for the most part it is essentially defunct at the moment.  As of Oct. 6, 2016, it's…
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