Tag: Microsoft

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Microsoft testing File Explorer tabs in Windows 11

Source: https://twitter.com/WithinRafael/status/1501675774847246337?s=20&t=_FgipaRBZJKnm3Z5cfnc9w

The ‘File Explorer’ app in Windows 11 is finally getting tabs. Tabs in File Explorer is a much-wanted feature that will allow users to open multiple folders in one File Explorer window.

Unfortunately, Windows 11 users may have to wait a while before Microsoft actually released File Explorer tabs.

The feature was spotted in the latest Windows 11 test build by Rafael Rivera, one of the developers behind the ‘EarTrumpet‘ app for Windows. Rivera shared a picture of the feature on Twitter:

According to The Verge, tabs in File Explorer appear to be a ‘secret addition‘ in Windows 11 and Microsoft has not officially announced the feature. Windows Insider chief Amanda Langowski previously said the company would only communicate about features it purposefully enables for Insiders to test. That said, considering tabs are a high requested feature, Microsoft may make an announcement about them soon.

It’s worth noting this isn’t the first time Microsoft has dabbled with adding tabs to File Explorer. Back in Windows 10, Microsoft was working on a feature called ‘Sets‘ that would effectively add tabs to File Explorer and several other Windows apps. Unfortunately, Microsoft cancelled the project.

While many Windows users have waited for Microsoft to add tabs to File Explorer, others have taken matters into their own hands. The Verge notes that designers have created concepts of what a modern File Explorer could be like, while some developers have even created their own File Explorer apps. For example, there’s the ‘Files‘ app on the Windows Store, which already supports tabs, themes, and other modern features.

For those not willing to download a third-party file management app, it’ll likely be a long wait until Microsoft officially adds tabs to File Explorer in stable Windows 11. But hey, at least there’s a light at the end of this tunnel.

Image credit: Rafael Rivera

Source: Rafael Rivera (Twitter) Via: The Verge

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Mouse and keyboard support is coming to Xbox cloud games

I might finally start using Xbox Cloud Gaming (oft called xCloud) thanks to an upcoming, much-needed addition: mouse and keyboard support.

Currently, Microsoft’s game streaming service only supports gamepads and touch (on limited titles). While there’s nothing wrong with those options, I’ve found that restriction to be one of the main reasons I don’t use xCloud. The few times I’ve wanted to try xCloud games, I couldn’t because I didn’t have a controller handy. What did I have? Yup, a keyboard and a mouse.

Windows Central spotted the news in a developer Q&A video. A comment from Jorg Neumann, the head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, at 8:40 confirmed that xCloud keyboard and mouse support was on the way.

“The next step for us is mouse [and] keyboard,” Neumann said. “This is platform-level support, so it has nothing to do with us. Obviously, mouse and keyboard works for our sim. So the platform team is working on this. I know I can’t give a date because it’s the platform team. I don’t know their dates, but it’s coming.”

Neumann also said Flight Simulator would get touch control support in the future, and expressed interest in adding gyroscope support for mobile devices. Both would make Flight Simulator much more accessible on mobile devices, which can access the title now thanks to its recent arrival on xCloud.

Despite the lack of a timeline, it’s great to know that mouse and keyboard support is on the way. xCloud, to me, has always stood out as a great way to game on the go or for testing games before committing to a download. For the former, I often have a laptop with me when I’m away from home — mouse and keyboard support would make it much easier to use that for xCloud. For game testing, mouse and keyboard support would make it much easier to try PC titles like Age of Empires IV.

Source: Developer Q&A Via: Windows Central

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Microsoft halts new sales in Russia amid invasion of Ukraine

Microsoft president Brad Smith announced that the company will “suspend all new sales” in Russia in a blog post published on March 4th.

The company behind Windows and Xbox is just the latest to announce a stop to some services in Russia amid the ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The announcement specifically addresses new sales and doesn’t mention existing service contracts, nor did it address why. The Verge points out that Microsoft has recently focused on cloud and support services — cutting off existing contracts would be “devastating” for both organizations and individuals using Windows, Office, Microsoft 365, Azure, and Xbox products in Russia.

“We are coordinating closely and working in lockstep with the governments of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, and we are stopping many aspects of our business in Russia in compliance with governmental sanctions decisions,” Smith wrote.

Moreover, Smith wrote that Microsoft would “continue to work proactively to help cybersecurity officials in Ukraine defend against Russian attacks, including most recently a cyberattack against a major Ukrainian broadcaster.”

The move comes after Ukraine asked Sony and Microsoft to pause operations in Russia and Belarus. Microsoft’s ban on new sales in Russia also comes amid restrictions from several tech giants, including Apple and Netflix.

Source: Microsoft Via: The Verge

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Playground Games brings Sign Language accessibility features to Forza Horizon 5

Playground Games has added American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) to Forza Horizon 5‘s in-game cinematics.

According to the developer, the update includes actors from the deaf and hard of hearing community signing sections of the critically acclaimed racing title’s story through roughly 150 cutscenes.

The scenes include jumping into challenges, getting ready for races and encountering other players across Mexico.

The feature was created with the help of Cameron Akitt, an avid gamer who grew up hard of hearing.

“We should be able to access the same story beats and narrative components. Otherwise, we’re only getting half the picture and not getting the full experience. Including sign language is about enabling more deaf and hard of hearing people to have ownership over their gaming experience,” said Akitt in a recent blog post.

When the feature is turned on, a native ASL/BSL speaker appears on-screen during these scenes and signs the story to the player (see the example in the above video). Over the last few years, there’s been a significant push to make gaming more accessible, with Microsoft releasing its Xbox Adaptive Controller and major titles like The Last of Us Part II offering features like text narration, customizable colour and contrast, a screen magnifier and more.

Playground Games took home the award for ‘Innovation in Accessibility” at The Game Awards 2021 and two ‘Can I Play That?’ awards at the ‘Accessibility Awards.’ For more on Forza Horizon 5, check out our in-depth look at the game.

The feature is set to make its way to Forza Horizon 5 on March 1st. The game is available on Xbox consoles and PC.

Image credit: Xbox 

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Valve’s Gabe Newell ‘more than happy’ to bring Microsoft’s Game Pass to Steam

Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell isn’t interested in doing a Steam game subscription service but is open to bringing Microsoft’s Game Pass to Steam.

Newell did an interview with PC Gamer about the recent Steam Deck release. However, the publication also asked him whether Valve wanted to make its own subscription service like Microsoft’s Game Pass.

“I don’t think it’s something that we think we need to do ourselves, building a subscription service at this time. But for their customers it’s clearly a popular option, and we’d be more than happy to work with them to get that on Steam,” Newell said.

“We’ve talked to people there quite a bit about that topic. If your customers want it, then you should figure out how to make it happen. That’s where we’re at.”

So, it sounds like we won’t see a “Steam Pass” subscription (or whatever Valve would call it). However, Microsoft’s Game Pass on Steam is also quite intriguing. Some people have had issues with how the service handles installing and managing games on PC, while other games have had issues or missing features on Game Pass. If people were able to use Steam to handle game installs instead, it might make Game Pass more popular.

Moreover, as PC Gamer points out, there is precedent for Steam hosting other subscription services. EA added its EA Play subscription to Steam in 2020. Moreover, Steam support for Game Pass could open the subscription up to Steam Deck owners. Currently, Steam Deck runs Linux, which means Game Pass isn’t available — it uses Microsoft’s Xbox app, which doesn’t exist for Linux.

That said, PC Gamer notes that Steam Deck owners may be able to play Game Pass without the need for Linux support in the future. Valve and AMD are reportedly still working on driver compatibility to allow installing Windows on Steam Deck — once that’s sorted out, Steam Deck owners may be able to install Windows and access Game Pass that way.

Regardless, Game Pass on Steam depends on Microsoft too. Valve is clearly open to the idea, but it remains to be seen if Microsoft is — judging by previous comments, it might be. In August 2021, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said there were “no plans to bring [Game Pass] to any other kind of closed platforms right now” in response to questions about putting the subscription service on the Nintendo Switch.

Instead, Spencer said the team was focussing on “open platforms” but acknowledged that Xbox was open to discussions about bringing the “full experience to a device that players want.” Maybe that sentiment includes game distribution platforms like Steam too.

Source: PC Gamer Via: VGC News

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Here are the free games hitting Xbox Games with Gold in March 2022

Xbox has announced the four games that will be offered at no additional cost to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in March.

It’s important to note that Xbox 360 titles offered through Games with Gold can be played on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The Series X/S can also play all of the Xbox One and Xbox 360 games that are made available through the program.

In Canada, an Xbox Live Gold subscription costs $11.99 for one month or $29.99/three months.

Additionally, Xbox Live Gold is included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is priced at $16.99/month and also offers Game Pass and PC Game Pass, Cloud Gaming (mobile streaming) and EA Play.

Image credit: THQ

Source: Xbox

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Microsoft started Activision acquisition talks three days after harassment report

According to newly public SEC filings, Activision acquisition talks started at Microsoft three days after the bombshell harassment report on the company was released. As first reported by CNBC, talks amongst the Microsoft brass of an Activision purchase first commenced on November 19, 2021, three days after The Wall Street Journal dropped its report detailing harassment within the company.

The Wall Street Journal Report outlined widespread harassment at Activision that CEO Bobby Kotick was well aware of. Kotick was also alleged to have participated in these acts himself by mistreating women in and out of the company.

After the Activision report went public on November 16, the company’s shares dropped nearly $10. Two days after the report’s release, Xbox head Phil Spencer sent a company-wide email. In it, Spencer mentions he was “disturbed and deeply troubled” by the Activision news.

Then as detailed in the SEC filing the very next day Spencer reach out to Kotick expressing Microsoft’s interest in “discussing strategic opportunities” between the two. The proposal was then brought before Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the following day.

It was a mere eight weeks later that Microsoft officially announced the acquisition of Activision for $69 billion.

Also revealed in the SEC filing was the fact that negotiations between the two went fast, as there were at least four other companies trying to purchase Activision.  These companies remain nameless; however, it is noted that one was attempting to purchase Blizzard separate from Activision.

The Microsoft/Activision deal is currently pending review.

Image credit: IGN

Source: CNBC

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Halo TV series to begin streaming on Paramount+ Canada on March 24

The long-awaited Halo TV series will premiere in Canada exclusively on Paramount+ on March 24th, Paramount has confirmed.

This is the same date that the show drops on Paramount+ in the U.S. For some time, it was unclear whether the series would come to Paramount+ in Canada, given that the service has a far thinner catalogue than its U.S. counterpart.

It’s been a long time coming for the show, which has been in development hell for several years. Amblin Entertainment, Steven Spielberg’s production company, is co-producing the series, with Xbox-owned Halo developer 343 Industries consulting.

The series isn’t intended to be canon or a direct adaptation of the iconic sci-fi shooter games, 343 has said.

Halo stars Ymir, B.C.’s Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, Natasha McElhone as Dr. Catharine Halsey, Charlie Murphy as Makee, Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066 and Jennifer Taylor as the voice of Cortana (reprising her role from the games).

In related news, Paramount has revealed that the show has already been renewed for a second season.

-Thanks, Sachin

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Conflicting reports emerge about the alleged demise of Microsoft’s HoloLens 3

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens

Earlier this week, a report from Business Insider detailed divisions among Microsoft’s HoloLens team and sourced claims from insiders that the HoloLens 3 project (codenamed Calypso) had been cancelled.

In response, Alex Kipman, a ‘technical fellow’ at Microsoft and overseer of the company’s Mixed Reality division, refuted the claims on Twitter. A follow-up report from Business Insider cited more insider sources backing up the original claim, with one going so far as to call Kipman’s claim “complete bullshit.”

The original Business Insider report included information from over 20 current and former Microsoft employees and outlined divisions among the HoloLens team about whether to pursue hardware or software. The report claimed that Microsoft cancelled HoloLens 3 in mid-2021 and that the company’s recent partnership with Samsung caused rifts and drew resources away from HoloLens.

Kipman responded to the report by writing on Twitter: “don’t believe what you read on the internet.” He claimed HoloLens was “doing great” and pointed out that before Microsoft shipped HoloLens 2, reports claimed the company cancelled the project.

Business Insider followed up with a new report (via Windows Central) that countered Kipman’s claims. A source with direct knowledge of the product roadmap told Business Insider that “In no uncertain terms, Calypso was cancelled.”

“All of the people who were working on it have been distributed to other programs or have left the company. Microsoft might take the HoloLens 2 and put lipstick on a pig for another release,” the person said.

However, the cancellation isn’t necessarily bad news. According to the Business Insider report, Calypso was intended to be a “full-self-contained computer,” but the cancellation allowed Microsoft to refocus, specifically on the Samsung partnership and a potential cloud-based mixed reality device.

The device built in partnership with Samsung, dubbed ‘Project Bondi,’ is a set of screens in a headset and relies on a Samsung phone to act as the computer, unlike the HoloLens devices. That would be more in-line with the mixed reality and augment reality headsets competitors are working on — for example, Apple’s long-rumoured virtual reality headset will likely rely on an iPhone.

Ultimately, the future of HoloLens remains unclear. There seems to be no HoloLens 3 on the horizon, and Microsoft’s future headset plans appear to be moving away from the HoloLens models entirely. It’s possible the new headsets will use the HoloLens name, but I think that’s unlikely given the different foundation.

Image credit: Microsoft

Source: Business Insider Via: Windows Central, (2)

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Microsoft scrapped HoloLens 3 plans, according to report

Despite success with the HoloLens, Microsoft may not plan to do a HoloLens 3.

According to a Business Insider report (via Windows Central), Microsoft scrapped plans for the HoloLens 3 and has left the HoloLens team in a state of perpetual confusion. Further, the team’s uncertain about the project’s future and existing long-term plans. Because of this, the HoloLens team has seen several members leave Microsoft to pursue augmented reality (AR) projects at rival companies, like Meta (Facebook). Windows Central previously documented cases of HoloLens team members jumping ship before the Business Insider report.

Problems also stem from divisions within the HoloLens team itself. Some members want to focus on hardware, particularly with the company’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) contract with the U.S. Army. Windows Central notes the contract can net Microsoft up to $22 billion USD (about $27.9 billion CAD) for delivery of soldier-attuned HoloLens variants. However, reports indicate Microsoft has failed to produce a combat-ready device, leading to the project being delayed.

The other group wants to focus on the metaverse, although Microsoft allegedly still doesn’t have a clear vision for that space. Business Insider’s source claimed that the split in focus resulted in several assignment and vision changes that have hampered progress.

Finally, Microsoft’s alleged partnership with Samsung on an AR project reportedly created further complications, namely by pulling the HoloLens team away from existing issues that need to be addressed. Moreover, one source said Samsung wants Microsoft to focus on the software side while it handles hardware, but that hasn’t sat well with the team.

Ultimately, it sounds like HoloLens 3 is dead. The report’s timeline indicates the Samsung partnership was the final nail in the coffin for HoloLens 3. However, maybe something can still come out of the Samsung partnership in the future.

Source: Business Insider, Windows Central