Tag: microsoft

  • Resetting OneDrive on a Mac

    At work we recently changed domain names and ever since my Mac’s OneDrive syncing utility would stop syncing and error when I tried to log back in. To fix the issue our support technician needed to reset OneDrive. I learned that OneDrive comes with a .command file that can be run to reset OneDrive. Use…

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  • Microsoft in talks to buy TikTok

    Microsoft: This new structure would build on the experience TikTok users currently love, while adding world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections. The operating model for the service would be built to ensure transparency to users as well as appropriate security oversight by governments in these countries. I cannot tell if this is a bad…

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  • The Best of 2019 as told by me

    At the end of the year I like to sit down and make a rather random list of the “best” things I’ve seen that year. I do this almost entirely from memory but I also peruse my browser history and look through my Unmark archive in order to uncover some of the things I appreciated…

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  • CaptionBot

    Microsoft: CaptionBot.ai is powered by machine learning technology that identifies and captions your photos. When you upload a photo, it is sent to Microsoft for image analysis to return a caption. We won’t store, publish, or let other people use your images. I uploaded a few images. It works pretty well. I’m unsure of this…

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  • Thoughts on the Microsoft Surface event

    I’m pretty excited for Microsoft. I’ve been excited for what they’ve been doing as a company, on several fronts, for a few years now. I won’t rehash all of the nice things I’ve been writing about them, but I can link to how I feel about Satya, the work they’ve been doing in open source…

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  • PowerToys for Windows 10

    Windows PowerToys is back! And, it is open source. Brandon LeBlanc: PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity. Inspired by the Windows 95 era PowerToys project, this reboot provides power users with utilities to squeeze more efficiency out of the Windows 10 shell and…

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  • Microsoft invests $1B in OpenAI

    Microsoft on the investment of a cool $1B in OpenAI: The companies will focus on building a computational platform in Azure of unprecedented scale, which will train and run increasingly advanced AI models, include hardware technologies that build on Microsoft’s supercomputing technology, and adhere to the two companies’ shared principles on ethics and trust. This…

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  • On a Microsoft Surface Phone

    Zac Bowden: It’s fair to say that in 2019, Microsoft is “all-in” on the Android platform thanks to its efforts like the Microsoft Launcher, Edge, and Office, all first-class experiences on Android smartphones around the world. I’m glad Bowden wrote this post. I’ve been wanting to. Longtime readers of my blog will know that I…

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  • Windows 10 May 2019 update brings better Windows Update

    Zac Bowden, writing for Windows Central: Windows Update received some pretty significant upgrades with the May 2019 Update, and it’s good news for users. Microsoft is backing off its heavy-handedness when it comes to forcing updates onto users. Starting this month, users will no longer be forced to install new feature updates unless they explicitly…

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  • Microsoft releases WSL 2

    Lots of Microsoft developer related announcements over the last few days. Since I use WSL every single day I am really looking forward to this WSL 2 release. Initial tests that we’ve run have WSL 2 running up to 20x faster compared to WSL 1 when unpacking a zipped tarball, and around 2-5x faster when…

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  • I’m calling it, Satya Nadella is Microsoft’s best CEO ever

    Me, in September 2017: I have the feeling we’re going to look back at Nadella as one of the best CEOs in the history of tech. We’ll see how this bold prediction pans out but I’m ready to call Satya Nadella the best CEO in Microsoft’s history. Microsoft reported a record-setting Q1. They are killing…

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  • Xamarin videos, now on YouTube

    Me, 17-minutes into an audio bit in 2017 (paraphrasing): If you go onto YouTube search for a problem you’re having for Xcode and Swift you’ll find 15 well-produced videos to solve your problem. […] But you won’t find 15 well-produced videos with Visual Studio + C# (or Xamarin). For the last few years I’ve thought…

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  • My interpretations of announcements by Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter

    Apple pre-announcing something: “We’re excited to get this in customer’s hands late next year”. My interpretation: “We never pre-announce things. Why are we doing this? We’re terrible at it. In fact, we make fun of other companies for doing it! Steve Jobs would never allow this! (mostly) We must be doing this because some group…

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  • Firefox 66

    There is a lot to love about Firefox lately (especially the last 20 or so releases) and 66 is no different. Dan Thorp-Lancaster for Windows Central: Firefox version 66 includes support for Windows Hello for web authentication, allowing you to log in to websites that support the latest FIDO2 standards for passwordless logins. Very cool…

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  • Microsoft open sources Windows Calculator

    Microsoft: Today, we’re excited to announce that we are open sourcing Windows Calculator on GitHub under the MIT License. This includes the source code, build system, unit tests, and product roadmap. Our goal is to build an even better user experience in partnership with the community. We are encouraging your fresh perspectives and increased participation…

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  • The Mac is turning less Pro

    skywhopper, on Hacker News, commenting on a thread relating to Mark Gurman’s scoop on Apple’s (supposed) plan to have apps running on iOS and macOS using the same (or, similar) code bases by 2020: And then the Mac is losing what should be its primary audience through unwanted innovations and otherwise stagnant hardware, and a…

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  • Observations on the Dell XPS 13\” laptop

    For the past 10 months my daily work computer has been the Dell XPS 13″ 9370 white & rose gold laptop. Overall the experience with this hardware has been positive and most of the issues I’ve encountered have been software related (rather than related to the laptop itself). Here are some observations I’ve made about…

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  • Observations on the Dell XPS 13\” laptop

    For the past 10 months my daily work computer has been the Dell XPS 13″ 9370 white & rose gold laptop. Overall the experience with this hardware has been positive and most of the issues I’ve encountered have been software related (rather than related to the laptop itself). Here are some observations I’ve made about…

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  • Observations on the Dell XPS 13\” laptop

    For the past 10 months my daily work computer has been the Dell XPS 13″ 9370 white & rose gold laptop. Overall the experience with this hardware has been positive and most of the issues I’ve encountered have been software related (rather than related to the laptop itself). Here are some observations I’ve made about…

    Continue >

  • Observations on the Dell XPS 13\” laptop

    For the past 10 months my daily work computer has been the Dell XPS 13″ 9370 white & rose gold laptop. Overall the experience with this hardware has been positive and most of the issues I’ve encountered have been software related (rather than related to the laptop itself). Here are some observations I’ve made about…

    Continue >

  • Observations on the Dell XPS 13\” laptop

    For the past 10 months my daily work computer has been the Dell XPS 13″ 9370 white & rose gold laptop. Overall the experience with this hardware has been positive and most of the issues I’ve encountered have been software related (rather than related to the laptop itself). Here are some observations I’ve made about…

    Continue >

  • Observations on the Dell XPS 13\” laptop

    For the past 10 months my daily work computer has been the Dell XPS 13″ 9370 white & rose gold laptop. Overall the experience with this hardware has been positive and most of the issues I’ve encountered have been software related (rather than related to the laptop itself). Here are some observations I’ve made about…

    Continue >

  • Observations on the Dell XPS 13\” laptop

    For the past 10 months my daily work computer has been the Dell XPS 13″ 9370 white & rose gold laptop. Overall the experience with this hardware has been positive and most of the issues I’ve encountered have been software related (rather than related to the laptop itself). Here are some observations I’ve made about…

    Continue >

  • Microsoft is the MVP

    Raymond Wong: The seeds Nadella’s been planting since he hopped in the chief executive seat blossomed in full this year. Looking ahead, Microsoft’s future looks bright so long as it doesn’t drop the ball. You already know where I stand on this topic.

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  • Best of 2018

    This year I’m taking a slightly more comprehensive approach to my “best of” list. I’ve taken a look at previous year’s lists: 2008, 2009, 2017 and comprised a slightly more complete set. Again, this is only the things I came across this year and can remember. I don’t keep a list throughout the year but…

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  • Jeremy Keith on Edge switching to Chromium

    Jeremy Keith: There’s just no sugar-coating this. I’m sure the decision makes sound business sense for Microsoft, but it’s not good for the health of the web. His reaction is very similar to mine. His call to action is too.

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  • Andrew Kim goes to Apple

    Andrew Kim, who I mentioned back when he rebranded Microsoft and eventually was hired by them, has moved again — this time to Apple. Somehow I missed that he was at Tesla. Jon Porter for The Verge: After three and a half years at the company, Kim moved to Tesla, where he contributed to the…

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  • The State of Web Browsers

    Ferdy Christant: If you agree that this sucks, install Firefox. Also on mobile. Here’s instructions on how to switch from Chrome. Read the entire thing. Sorry it is on Medium. I don’t know why he’d post this there. The irony is palpable.

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  • Microsoft gives up on EdgeHTML

    Chris Beard, CEO Mozilla Corporation: Microsoft’s decision gives Google more ability to single-handedly decide what possibilities are available to each one of us. From one point-of-view this move by Microsoft might seem to make total sense. They spin this as “it will be easier for web developers to target one less browser engine”. However, this…

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  • Things about Windows 10 #3: Taskbar icon apps are frustrating

    In Things about Windows 10 #2 I wrote: It turns out Windows 10 is fairly terrible at remembering window sizes and placement when connecting to or disconnecting from an external display. This post is in a similar vein. The Windows 10 taskbar houses a few apps that constantly run such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Docker,…

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  • How to transfer photos from iPhone to Windows 10

    Occasionally I will have need to transfer photos from Eliza’s iPhone X to my Windows 10 laptop. I’ve found the process of transferring the photos to be excruciatingly slow, unreliable, and frustrating. That is, until I figured out a better way. Most tutorials, including Microsoft’s own, will recommend you plug the phone into your computer,…

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  • Things about Windows 10 #2: Moving non-existent windows

    Well, I had said I’d try to keep this series positive but every now and then you run up against a problem. It turns out Windows 10 is fairly terrible at remembering window sizes and placement when connecting to or disconnecting from an external display. So far I’ve had issues going both ways and having…

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  • Things about Windows 10 #1: Task Bar Previews

    There is so much blogger coverage for Apple’s hardware and software products that I feel there needs to be a few more in the Microsoft and Google world. To that end I’m going to start a few new series here on my personal blog; Things about Windows 10, Things about Android. Generally, I’ll be keeping…

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  • Xamarin.Forms 3.1

    David Ortinau on the Xamarin Blog: Earlier this year, we surveyed Xamarin.Forms developers about the kinds of custom controls and extra platform code being written repeatedly that should be considered for support “in the box”. From these conversations, we created an initiative to deliver as many as we could in the next several releases. Just…

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  • My clipboard managers: 1Clipboard & Clip Stack

    I use two clipboard managers currently. On Windows 10 I use 1Clipboard: A universal clipboard managing app that makes it easy to access your clipboard from anywhere on any device. It says “any device” but I do not believe it has any mobile apps. Since I now use the Microsoft Launcher for Android I may…

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  • My opinion of Microsoft Surface, 6 years later

    Me, in 2012, writing about the first time I saw a Surface device: I could have played with it longer. But I wouldn’t want to. The Surface is terrible. Even if you’ve never picked up an iPad or an Android-powered tablet you would think the Surface is pretty slow, hard to use, and heavy; three…

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  • My experience buying a Windows laptop

    After 16+ years working, writing, playing, making, listening, watching on a Macintosh, I’m switching back to Windows. Within a few days from today I will no longer be a Mac user. In fact, the only Apple product I will be using regularly will be my 2014 iPad Air 2 which I plan to replace soon.…

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  • Reid Hoffman on Microsoft

    Reid Hoffman: Under Satya Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has re-invigorated itself with an exploratory, future-oriented, and developer-focused mindset.

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  • Microsoft buys GitHub

    Satya Nadella: More than 28 million developers already collaborate on GitHub, and it is home to more than 85 million code repositories used by people in nearly every country. From the largest corporations to the smallest startups, GitHub is the destination for developers to learn, share and work together to create software. It’s a destination…

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  • Terry Myerson leaves Microsoft

    Terry Myerson, on the success of Windows 10 under his watch: Today, we are now approaching 700 million active Windows 10 users, commercial usage is growing 84% year over year, Xbox One is running a Windows 10 core, Surface is leading PC innovation, HoloLens is bringing breakthroughs to computer vision, our universal Microsoft store enables…

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  • Technology Dogmatism

    Are you dogmatic about the companies you will buy technology from? Are you an Apple fanboi? Or, perhaps you’ll only run Windows and Apple sucks at everything because reasons. I try not to be that guy. I try to look at the entire field of offerings in every category; hardware, software, cloud services, home entertainment…

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  • Microsoft for Startups

    Microsoft: We’re excited to announce Microsoft for Startups, a new program that delivers access to technology, go-to-market and community benefits that helps startups grow their customer and revenue base.  We are committing $500 million over the next two years to offer joint sales engagements with startups, along with access to our technology, and new community spaces…

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  • Paul Stamatiou switches to Windows 10

    Paul Stamatiou, long, long-time online friend, designer at Twitter, and a hobbyist photographer: I decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more powerful. This time I decided to build a PC and switch to Windows 10 for my heavy computing tasks. Yes, I switched to Windows. The shift of professionals needing to switch to…

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  • Trey Ratcliff switches to Windows 10

    Trey Ratcliff, professional photographer (via the aforementioned Stammy): I converted to Apple over 5 years ago when it was clear to me Apple made the best products for creative professionals. I loved Apple and became a hardcore fanboy. I was all-in. Now, I’m switching back to PCs. The new line of MacBook Pros are not-that-awesome.…

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  • Microsoft Office now shares a common codebase

    Erik Schwiebert: Mac Office 2016 version 16 is now live! For the first time in over 20 years, Office is again built out of one codebase for all platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android)! MSFT is dog fooding big time with this latest release of Mac Office. I’ve been enjoying my work within their frameworks and…

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  • Best of 2017 as told by me

    To create this list I sat down and wrote from the top of my head the things I could remember being awesome in 2017. The list isn’t exhaustive. It is just what made an impression on me as being "the best" in each category. Best Blog: fuzzy notepad Evee consistently writes well-researched, readable, diatribes on…

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  • Universal Apple apps

    Mark Gurman, for Bloomberg: Starting as early as next year, software developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it’s running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac hardware, according to people familiar with the matter. Remember the many times…

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  • NFL and the Surface

    Dan Thorp-Lancaster for Windows Central: Under the deal, the NFL will continue to use Microsoft Surface tablets for referee video reviews through the end of the 2018/2019 season, SportsPro reports. Coaches and players will also continue to use Surface tablets to review footage during games. I’m glad MSFT is sticking with this. You’ll recall this…

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  • Developers, Let me tell you about Microsoft (audio)

    I’ve been writing about Microsoft’s moves for the last three years. This week everything has come together and I’ve been writing my first multi-platform application using C# and Visual Studio. In this long rant I go on and on about how Microsoft needs to spread the word about what they are up to. Links for…

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  • GeekWire Summit: Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

    Satya Nadella in a video interview on YouTube at GeekWire Summit: By the way, all of these efforts didn’t started three-and-a-half years ago. It was Bill [Gates] who started MSR and Steve [Ballmer] who started our cloud push. A sprawling, candid interview with someone who may end up being Microsoft’s best CEO. I love that…

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