Windows Central: November 2017

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Windows Central Podcast 74: My People needs work

This week on the Windows Central Podcast: We talk new Insider builds, My People and its terrible implementation in Windows 10, Surface Book 2, MS Launcher and more!

We're back with another exciting episode of the Window Central Podcast. This week, Daniel Rubino and Zac Bowden talk new Insider builds for PC, along with Surface Book 2 GPU issues, big updates to the Microsoft Launcher, hardware reviews and a whole lot more.

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Life Is Strange: Before the Storm getting bonus episode in 2018

Today, Deck Nine Games and Square Enix announced that the bonus episode of Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, called Farewell, will launch in early 2018.

Apart from that, Ashly Burch and Hannah Telle will be returning to play Max and Chloe. Fans of the series wanted their return for a long time and weren't too thrilled about other actors replacing them in Before the Storm. Burch has been working with the writing team to shape the dialogue.

"The team here were thrilled to hear the news that both Hannah Telle and Ashly Burch were able to come back together again to voice Max and Chloe", said Jeff Litchford, Vice President of Deck Nine Games. "We were really happy with Rhianna DeVrie's performance as Chloe in Before the Storm and the fan reaction to her has been great, she'll continue to work closely with us as part of a really close team we have created."

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Fallout 4 achieves native 4K resolution on Xbox One X

Yesterday, Fallout 4 received an Xbox One X update but it wasn't immediately clear what resolution the game ran at.

The description just said "4K" support with "dynamic resolution". Many gamers assumed this was a checkerboarded or upscaled solution like the 1440p 30 FPS target on PlayStation 4 Pro. However, that's not the case and the game manages to achieve native 4K almost all the time on Xbox One X. Even when it dynamically scales down the resolution to maintain 30 FPS, it only does so on the horizontal axis so the game looks crisp even during these drops.

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Spotify now sports a Live Tile on Windows 10

Spotify has embraced one of the Windows platform's signature features: Live Tiles.

Spotify finally hit the Microsoft Store earlier in 2017, but it arrived as a basic port of the standard desktop app using Microsoft's Project Centennial Desktop Bridge.

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Save $400 on Surface Book 2 bundled with a Windows Mixed Reality headset

Microsoft's latest bundle deal serves up some solid savings on the Surface Book 2 and a Windows Mixed Reality headset.

The Surface Book 2 and Windows Mixed Reality are both fresh on the market, and Microsoft is bundling up the newness for the holidays.

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5 Xbox games that deserve sequels

Just because some franchises are left in the past doesn't mean they can't come to the present. Here are five gaming titles we think deserve sequels.

In the gaming industry, publishers and developers are always searching for new and unique concepts to draw players in and entice them to buy their products. While this isn't a bad thing, it does often cause some past games to be left behind, even if they're fan-favorites. Here are five games that we think should become modern once again through the creation of a sequel.

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Dataminer discovers hidden Star Wars Battlefront II character customization options

Yesterday, EA's CFO Blake Jorgensen said that cosmetic customization wasn't part of Star Wars Battlefront II because it violated Star Wars canon.

However, Star Wars Battlefront launched with certain customization options a few years ago so this response choses to conveniently ignore that. Jorgensen used a rather strange example of a pink Darth Vader outfit to illustrate his point. He issued the following statement when asked about why they weren't part of the game to begin with and what future plans were.

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Full Guest Access in Microsoft Teams still 'a few months' off

Guest Access in Microsoft Teams is seeing another delay.

One of the most requested features for Microsoft's Slack-competitor, Microsoft Teams, has been Guest Access.

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Microsoft, Gaming and Libations: Join us for Ghost Recon: Wildlands on Mixer and win!

Join us for Microsoft, Gaming and Libations LIVE with Ghost Recon: Wildlands on Mixer, and you could win a copy!

"Microsoft, Gaming and Libations" is a live show hosted on Microsoft's streaming network, Mixer, featuring Jez Corden, Zac Bowden, Daniel Rubino and Matt Brown from Windows Central. This week, we'll be playing Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and we'll give away an Xbox One copy during the chat!

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Microsoft rolls out Fall Creators Update fixes with new cumulative update

Microsoft is rolling out yet another cumulative update for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

Coming outside of the standard Patch Tuesday schedule, the latest cumulative update adds another batch of fixes for PCs running the Fall Creators Update (via OnMSFT).

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How to use the Elgato Stream Deck with Mixer

This nifty little piece of hardware can help you make your Mixer streams even better.

The Elgato Stream Deck has been around for a little while now but like a fine wine gets better with age. Recently, Elgato added Mixer support offering direct integration with Microsoft's streaming platform.

If this piqued your interest in the product, here's everything you need to know about getting set up.

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The best tech deals that you don't want to miss out on

Our friends at Thrifter post some great deals every day, and here are the best ones available right now!

From mobile phones to general tech, home goods and much more, the team at Thrifter is scouring the web every single day to find the best deals. Whether something hits a new all-time low, gets discounted for just a limited time, or has a new coupon code available for it, you won't want to miss out any of them. If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you'll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

So, what are the best deals that you should be looking at right now? Well, let's take a look at them so you can see which ones are best for you!

Amazon Dash Buttons - Buy 1, Get 2 Free

With this deal, all you're spending is $5 on a single Amazon Dash button. You'll get two extra dash buttons for free, and all Dash buttons give you a $4.99 credit the first time you use them. That's $25 total coming back to you with $10 in free Dash buttons and $15 in credit after you use each one.

All you have to do to get the Buy 1, Get 2 discount is add three Dash buttons to your cart. You'll see $10 taken off the price automatically during checkout.

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Best Soundbars for Xbox One Gaming

These soundbars deliver a well-balanced and rich soundscape without having to run wires everywhere.

Connecting to your Xbox One with just a digital optical cable, soundbars are a great and compact way to enhance your gaming experience. Most won't quite match the capabilities of a true surround sound system, but they're usually less expensive and far easier to install.

In case you are in need of some great sound, we pulled together this list of some of the best soundbars you can use with your Xbox One.

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PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds to run at 60 FPS on Xbox One X

When it comes to competitive multiplayer experience, frame rate is just as important as resolution because it makes the controls feel tighter and more responsive.

However, in a highly visual game like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, even resolution is important because it's all about spotting your opponent from far away. Not only is the Xbox One X version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds going to feature a higher resolution than the standard Xbox One, but it might also feature a higher frame rate if the developers aren't able to get it running at 60 FPS on the base unit. All of this information and more was revealed during an interview between GamesTM and the game's developers. WCCFtech compiled their responses.

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Sonic Adventure 2 and Earth Defense Force 2017 come to Xbox backward compatibility

Two more games are headed to the Xbox backward compatibility program.

Xbox's Larry Hryb has announced that two more Xbox 360 titles, Sonic Adventure 2 and Earth Defense Force 2017, are now playable on Xbox One via the console's backward compatibility feature.

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Fortnite Battle Royale getting new social features, inventory revamp, and other big changes

Epic's evolving Battle Royale mode is in for some changes.

Even though it's already in the hands of millions of players, Fortnite Battle Royale is still very much a work in progress.

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Xbox Wireless: Everything you need to know

These are all the details you need on Xbox Wireless – Microsoft's latest ecosystem for accessories free of cables.

While Microsoft continues to converge its experiences across Xbox One and Windows 10, programs like Play Anywhere are proving how unified platforms can be beneficial to both the consumers and the company itself. "Xbox Wireless" shows this philosophy being applied to accessories too, building a hardware ecosystem between Microsoft's two flagship gaming platforms. Here's everything you need to know about Xbox Wireless, and its benefits to you as a gamer.

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There are a few ways you can play Skyrim in VR; which one is best?

Playing Skyrim in VR isn't just for those with a PlayStation.

Skyrim VR, available on PlayStation VR, is getting a lot of attention due to the scale and overall gameplay it's brought to the 3D gaming world. For some, Skyrim in VR might already be familiar. There are, in fact, a few different ways you can experience the world of dragons and snow in VR. Which one is most worth your time? Let's compare!

Get a year of Microsoft Office 365 Home for just $60

Grab a year of Office 365 Home for just $59.99 on Amazon. That's $40 off what this would cost on a normal day, and it even beats Microsoft's Cyber Monday sale by $20. You can also find this deal at Newegg.

This is a digital download, so it should be easy to attach to an existing subscription.

Features include:

1-year subscription for 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets including iPad, Android, or Windows, plus 5 phones
Each user also gets 1 TB of OneDrive Cloud storage
Always have the latest, fully installed versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote
Publisher and Access are available on PC only

See at Amazon

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Remember that Galaxy S8 'Microsoft Edition?' Samsung says it never existed …

More than seven months ago, shortly after the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S8 (GS8), we wrote about a version of the phone that Microsoft planned to sell in its brick-and-mortar retail stores, dubbed the "Galaxy S8 Microsoft Edition." Today, Samsung wants you to know that it was never a thing.

Shortly after the "news" broke about Microsoft selling a GS8, I did some digging to get to the bottom of exactly what the phone was all about. I reached out to Microsoft at the time, and wrote up all the answers to my questions in FAQ type post.

To sum that story up, the phones, the GS8 and GS8+, weren't any different hardware- or software-wise; Microsoft was just selling them and then providing some sort of "training" to help users get the most of the Microsoft apps that were available. In other words, it was basically a PR stunt to draw people into Microsoft Stores to buy a hot new phone, and then raise awareness of the Microsoft app ecosystem. Makes sense … sort of.

The real news there, as I pointed out at the time, was that Microsoft was selling an Android phone for the first time, while Windows phones were nowhere to be seen in those stores.

Fast forward to today, more than half a year later, and I received a message from Samsung asking me to "correct" my stories on the phone. From that company:

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Best Stranger Things Gifts

Take care of your Stranger Things fans this year.

Stranger Things quickly became one of those shows where everyone who hasn't seen every episode is treated like a social pariah, and with the second season having recently hit Netflix the excitement has been renewed. If you have a Stranger Things fan in your life, be careful with what you choose to give them as a gift.

It's not hard to find something with the logo on it, but if you want something special, take a look at some of the things we found.

DVDs of that show you can stream from anywhere

Yes, Netflix exclusive Stranger Things had a Blu-Ray release for its first season. Stop laughing, there's more to it than that. This box set is designed to look like a beat-up VHS cassette straight out of the show, and comes with a nice poster, too.

The Stranger Things fan in your life, the one eyeballing a 011 (or 008 if they're really cool) tattoo for their wrist, is going to love this. And, really $35 is a small price to pay to be their hero.

See at Amazon

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Microsoft Edge officially launches on iOS and Android

Following weeks of testing, Microsoft has officially launched its Microsoft Edge mobile apps for iOS and Android.

We recently saw the Microsoft Edge app drop quietly drop its beta tag on Android, and now Microsoft is making it official.

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How to get Doom VFR on your Mixed Reality headset

Here's how you can play Doom VFR on everything!

First-person shooters in VR are a dime a dozen, but Doom VFR is on an entirely different level. Combining the AAA scale of a Doom with the full immersion is truly epic, but currently only officially available for PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.

Got a different headset? You can still enjoy Doom VFR. Here's what you need to know!

Chime in: Should Microsoft launch an ARM-powered Surface in 2018?

With Windows 10 on ARM still nowhere to be seen, should Microsoft launch a Surface with it in 2018?

Windows on ARM is something that we're all excited for, but yet to see anything from. It has been announced, but beyond some technical demos, nothing in the way of consumer hardware.

Down in the Windows Central forums, one thread is wondering whether Microsoft should go down this route in 2018 with a new Surface.

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Best Windows 10 apps of November 2017

The Microsoft Store gained some powerful apps this month and we also reviewed some fan favorites as well. These are the best Windows 10

The Microsoft Store gained some powerful apps this month, continuing its transition into a destination for developers of all kinds of apps. In addition to some powerful new apps, this month's roundup includes a familiar fan favorite.

Groupy

Groupy allows you to drag any app, program, or file into a grouped tab. This makes multitasking quick and easy, especially on smaller screens. The app also allows you to run multiple instances of the same application with a grouped tab which in effect creates a tabbed file explorer.

When we reviewed this app we pointed out that it's so good that it makes you wonder why Microsoft hasn't built a similar experience directly into Windows 10. It turns out they are in the form of "Sets" as part of a future Windows 10 release.

But Sets isn't available right now, even to Insiders, but you'll be able to use Groupy before the end of the year, or earlier if you're part of the beta. Beta testing is limited to Object Desktop users but Groupy will be released as a standalone product next month for $9.99 on Windows 10.

See Object Desktop suite

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