“Microsoft Monday” takes a look back at the past week of news related to Microsoft. This week, “Microsoft Monday” includes details about Surface device price drops, 79,000 Xbox One S controllers sold in August, the Skype U.K. office shutting down, the Windows 10 Build 14926 changes and plans for Microsoft Studio games to render at 4K on Xbox Scorpio.
Microsoft Temporarily Drops Price Of Surface Book And Surface Pro 4
Microsoft has dropped the price of the Surface Book by $150. The price drop is on the entry-level Surface Book, which has specs like an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The discount — which prices the Surface Book at $1,349 — is valid until October 1st. And if you buy the Surface Book with Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM and 256GB storage for $1,899, then you will get a $150 Microsoft Store gift card.
A similar discount has been applied to the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 with an Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. Now you can buy that device for $150 off at $849.
Microsoft Sold 79,000 Xbox One S Controllers In August Alone
According to The NPD Group, Microsoft outsold all of the other gamepads in the United States for the month of August. In total Microsoft sold about 79,000 Xbox One S controllers, thus beating the Sony DualShock 4.
Microsoft released the Xbox One S console and controller on August 2nd. This console is slimmer than the original and it supports HDR. Plus it can play 4K Blu-ray content. And the Xbox One S controller has improved analog sticks and Bluetooth support.
Sony also recently announced a slimmer PlayStation 4 console with a new controller. So the numbers for next month could be very interesting.
Skype Office In The U.K. Shuts Down
According to the Financial Times, Microsoft is shutting down the Skype headquarters in the U.K. About 400 people will be affected by the layoffs. And around 220 positions are at risk. Fortunately, Microsoft said it will use a consultation process to help the employees that were laid off.
"Microsoft is consolidating offices across London, moving employees to Microsoft’s new office at Paddington. As a result, Microsoft conducted a review of some roles based in London, making the difficult decision to unify some engineering positions, potentially putting at risk approximately 220 globally focused Skype and Yammer roles," said Microsoft in a statement via Geekwire.
Skype was founded in London back in 2003 and portions of the VoIP messaging service was acquired and sold a few times. For example, eBay acquired Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005 and then sold approximately 65% of it to Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $1.9 billion in 2009. Two years later, Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011.
How Microsoft Accidentally Sent An Xbox One To A Customer Two Months Before The Announcement
Back in March 2013, a 25-year-old in Miami named Jia Li ordered a new laptop from Microsoft’s website, but he was accidentally given a box with a lot of security tape over it. Li told BusinessInsider that the box actually contained an Xbox One — which Microsoft did not announce until two months later followed by a public release six months after that.
How did Li get the console? Apparently the Microsoft Xbox team was attempting to hide the beta consoles from the public and employees by storing them in a shipping facility that was not fully secured. Li’s laptop was supposed to come from that same facility and perhaps the wrong shipping label was placed on it. Li said that the box it was shipped in looked like it could have been intended for a computer.
Within the box, there were several international plugs and some paperwork. But there wasn’t an Xbox One gamepad or a Kinect camera. When Li turned it on, the word “Kryptos" appeared on the TV screen. That is when he realized that he may have possession of the rumored “Xbox 720” so he emailed Engadget about it and sent them photos.
Eventually Microsoft contacted Li and negotiated with him. Shortly after that, a Microsoft representative arrived at Li’s house in March 2013 and gave him a new Xbox 360, a Kinect along with the laptop that he ordered in exchange for the prototype console.
Microsoft Hits The Kill Switch On Older Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds
Windows 10 evaluation copy details screenshot / Photo Credit: Microsoft
According to BetaNews, Microsoft activated a “kill switch” that causes older versions of Insider builds to display expiration notifications. Fortunately, every Windows 10 Insider Preview Build on PCs are limited based on a timeline and new versions are released before the previous builds expire. If you do not install the new version, then your system will automatically reboot every three hours starting October 1st.
And if you don’t update your build, then your computer will stop booting properly from October 15th. I highly recommend that you update from an older build by going to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update. BetaNews also pointed out that the latest release — which is known as Build 14926 — will not expire until May 1, 2017 so there is plenty of time to update.
What Changes Are Reflected In Windows 10 Build 14926?
Last week, Microsoft officially announced Build 14926 with the following updates:
- Snooze In Microsoft Edge: Microsoft has added an experimental “Snooze” action on a tab in Microsoft Edge which lets you set a Cortana reminder on the website you are viewing. “This feature lets you put a site into a Cortana reminder that will show up as a notification and in Action Center, allowing you to quickly open that site in Microsoft Edge when you’re ready to get back to it,” said Microsoft in a blog post.
- Updated Wi-Fi Settings Page (Mobile): Microsoft has updated the Wi-Fi settings page in Settings > Network & wireless > Wi-Fi on Mobile to match how it looks on PCs. And Microsoft also added the capability for you to connect to Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) networks on your phone. And you can still fallback to the Wi-Fi legacy settings if you want.
- Improving Your PC Upgrade Experience: Whenever you upgrade Windows, the apps that come preinstalled with the operating system will reinstall after each upgrade. In this build, it will check for apps that were uninstalled and it will preserve that state once completed.
- Making Pin Logins Easier: Sometimes when you try to enter your pin, the numbers do not show up because Num Lock was off. This will no longer happen because numbers will still be inputted if you’re typing into the pin password field.
- New Extensions On Edge: Microsoft said it is working with partners on adding new extensions. Recently two more extensions have been added: TamperMonkey — a userscript manager that allows users to customize content on the web — and the Microsoft Personal Shopping Assistant.
- Export Favorites From Microsoft Edge: Microsoft has added the ability for you to export your favorites from Microsoft Edge to an HTML file. You can do this by tapping on the “More” icon at the top right (three dots), selecting “Settings” and then “View favorites settings.”
Many other minor improvements and fixes for PCs have been made such as bug fixes and improvements for scaling for full screen games and more.
Microsoft Adds “Interesting Calendars” To Mobile Version Of Outlook
Microsoft has added several improvements to the mobile version of Outlook. Most of these features were based on the Sunrise Calendar app, which Microsoft acquired last year.
And Microsoft also said that “interesting calendars” will be available from the Android version of the app. It starts with sporting event calendars, but TV shows and other information will be added soon. There is now also an embedded calendar in the event details when an address is specified.
Microsoft Tops List Of Most Open Source Contributors On GitHub
According to WinBuzzer, Microsoft has around 16,419 contributors on GitHub. Microsoft topped companies like Facebook (15,682) and Google (12,140). Docker was ranked number three at 14,059 and Angular was ranked number four at 12,841.
GitHub saw over 5.8 million active users and hit 19.4 million active repositories over the past year.
"To see that all change has been pretty remarkable. It’s real. I think a lot of people were skeptical of Microsoft at first, but they’re real," said GitHub CEO Chris Wanstrath via Fortune. "You would project onto Microsoft, 'Oh one of their pillars is that they’re against open source.' And to see them embrace open source in a real way, my understanding of this company is now different."
Microsoft Studio Games To Render At 4K On Xbox Scorpio
Shannon Loftis of Microsoft Studios has announced that games created by Microsoft will run at 4K on the Xbox Scorpio. Loftis confirmed these details in a recent interview with USA Today.
"Any games we're making that we're launching in the Scorpio time frame, we're making sure they can natively render at 4K,” said Loftis in the interview.
Microsoft Monday includes seven days worth of updates from the Redmond-based software giant. What are your thoughts about the “Microsoft Monday” news from this week? Please leave a comment!
