Microsoft

Microsoft today released a new Windows 10 preview for PCs with a few enterprise improvements. This build is from the RS4 branch, which represents the next Windows 10 update the company has yet to announce (but is likely to ship soon). There is no new build from the RS5 branch. Windows 10 is a service, meaning it was built in a very different way from its predecessors so it can be regularly updated with not just fixes, but new features, too. Microsoft has released four major updates so far: November Update, Anniversary Update, Creators Update, and Fall Creators Update. The only major changes in this release are for enterprise users. Enterprises can now run custom actions during a feature update and run post rollback scripts in system context. The former is a new feature the lets enterprises run custom actions/scripts synchronously with setup. Windows 10’s setup will execute custom actions during two update phases controlled by preinstall.cmd (before all the system and device … [Read more...] about Microsoft releases new Windows 10 preview with enterprise setup improvements

As part of a recent push to increase rural broadband access in the U.S., Microsoft announced today that it will partner with Michigan-based Packerland Broadband. The goal is to provide internet access to 82,000 people living in rural regions of northern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan over the next four years. The partnership is the first of its kind between Microsoft and a regional broadband provider like Packerland. Microsoft president Brad Smith made the announcement at a meeting of the National Governor’s Association. The initiative is part of Microsoft’s TechSpark program, which aims to provide digital skills and job training programs, grants to local nonprofits, broadband access, and other digital resources to six communities across the U.S., including Northeast Wisconsin. “Broadband has become the electricity of the 21st century, essential for education, business, agriculture, and health care,” Smith stated in a press release announcing … [Read more...] about Microsoft partners with Michigan company to bring internet access to 82,000 rural residents

Microsoft today announced several improvements to its pre-built AI tools for companies, with a focus on improving facial recognition, custom image classification, and understanding important entities. The updates are included in the company’s suite of Cognitive Services — APIs that help developers deliver intelligent capabilities even if they don’t have a great deal of AI expertise. The three updated services — Microsoft’s Custom Vision Service, Face API, and Bing Entity Search — are designed to make AI easier for companies that can’t keep a professional data scientist on staff. That’s important, given the limited number of AI experts currently available, how much they cost to hire, and how complicated the task of rolling your own AI capabilities can be. The Custom Vision Service is now in paid public beta. It allows companies to train their own image classification tools for specific tasks (like identifying different types of birds … [Read more...] about Microsoft improves its AI face and image recognition tools