Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Leo Laporte

Apr 1st 2020

Windows Weekly 666

Chocolate Sahara

Microsoft Virtualizes Ignite, Cloud vs Covid-19

Records live every Wednesday at 2:00pm Eastern / 11:00am Pacific / 18:00 UTC.
Category: News

Microsoft cancels Ignite, will embrace "all-digital experiences"

  •  It was inevitable, but Microsoft seems to suggest that more changes are coming.

Microsoft 365

  •  Microsoft hosts a digital press event to announce Microsoft 365 for consumers. There are some new features coming too.
  •  Microsoft Editor, new PPT tools, more
  •  A consumer version of Teams is coming eventually, plus home/work integration in work Teams
  •  Microsoft Edge - Password monitor, vertical tabs, and more are on the way
  •  It's not just consumers: Microsoft is also rebranding its Office 365 SKUs for small- and medium-sized businesses. Only its Enterprise SKUs remain as "Office 365." That will change, Paul thinks.
  •  Related: A look at Microsoft 365 and how we got here.
  •  Related: Slack says it will integrate with Teams chat. And boom, it does so

Windows 10/Edge

  •  Microsoft releases the 5th CU for Windows 10 version 2004
  •  Windows 10 version 1909 adoption nears 30 percent
  •  A paper written by an academic (that is, not a true academic paper) falsely accuses Microsoft Edge of being less private than, gasp, Chrome. Microsoft says it's not true.
  •  Related: Google resumes Chrome development. So does Microsoft Edge.

Cloud v. Covid19

  •  Microsoft cloud demand is WAY up, so it is prioritizing traffic
  •  Oh, about that 775 percent thing. That was just Italy, sorry.

Xbox

  •  Hacker leaks some of the Xbox Series X GPU source code. Thanks again, AMD!
  •  Here are the titles we're getting with Games with Gold in April
  •  Microsoft delays Minecraft Dungeons to late May

Tips and picks

  •  Tip of the week: Gaming in the apocalypse

While many are turning to Netflix, etc. during our isolation, maybe we should try something more interactive: Video games. There are plenty of free games to be had across PC, console, mobile, and web. And plenty of games that are fun to play with others, including some family members who are not gamers. Also, how about some actual, physical games? I have some choices to try.

  •  Tip of the week 2: Learn software development!

If I could plug my own beginner programming project efforts again, you could also look into learning software development. I've created .NETpad in WinForms and WPF so far, and I'm working on a UWP version now. But there are all kinds of books/video courses/etc. out there, and lots of languages/environments/frameworks to consider. If I was starting right now, I'd choose JavaScript and probably React/React Native.

  •  App pick of the week: Microsoft Editor.

Microsoft's new Grammarly clone is available as an extension for Chrome and Edge.

  •  App pick of the week 2: The real Grammarly is now available for Word for Mac and Word Online
  •  App pick of the week 3: Microsoft PowerToys 0.6 adds new and improved tools, er, toys.
  •  Enterprise pick of the week: Get ready for a remote Patch Tuesday

MS has a good blog post on how to use ConfigMgr to handle Patch Tuesday when many of your users are now remote: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/configuration-manager-blog/managing-patch-tuesday-with-configuration-manager-in-a-remote/ba-p/1269444

  •  Enterprise pick No. 2: Microsoft extends the retirement date for key certifications by 7 mos.

MCSE, MCSD and MCSA certifications won't be retired until Jan. 2021 because (you guessed it), impacts of COVID-19

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Check out Mary Jo's blog at AllAboutMicrosoft.com

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