windows

Visual Studio 2017 – Now Ready for Your Windows Application Development Needs Visual Studio 2017 is the most powerful Universal Windows Platform development environment. It brings unparalleled productivity improvements, a streamlined acquisition experience and enhanced debugging tools for Universal Windows Platform developers. Try out Visual Studio 2017 today! Redefined fundamentals We have focused on enhancing the efficiency of basic tasks you encounter every day, starting with a brand-new lightweight and modular installer, a faster and more responsive IDE from start-up to shut down and a new way to view, edit and debug any code without projects and solutions. Brand-new lightweight and modular installation tailored to your needs – The new lightweight and componentized installer breaks Visual Studio down into independent workloads so you can install just what you need, helping you get to coding much faster. The Universal Windows Platform [ more… ]

Building the Terminator Vision HUD in HoloLens James Cameron’s 1984 film The Terminator introduced many science-fiction idioms we now take for granted. One of the most persistent is the thermal head-up-display (HUD) shot that allows the audience to see the world through the eyes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 character. In design circles, it is one of the classic user interfaces that fans frequently try to recreate both as a learning tool and as a challenge. In today’s post, you’ll learn how to recreate this iconic interface for the HoloLens. To sweeten the task, you’ll also hook up this interface to Microsoft Cognitive Services to perform an analysis of objects in the room, face detection and even some Optical Character Recognition (OCR). While on the surface this exercise is intended to just be fun, there is a deeper level. Today, most [ more… ]

Windows 10 Tip: How Cortana can automatically remind you of your commitments Now, our favorite digital personal assistant can automatically remind you to do things you mentioned in emails! Did you promise someone a report by 5 p.m.? Cortana will remind you about it before your deadline. Here’s how to enable this cool new feature: Start by signing into Cortana with your Microsoft account. If you don’t already have an account, you can sign up here. Go to Notebook, then Permissions and make sure the “Communications History” permission is checked. Go back to Notebook and click Connected Services, then click “Office 365” and go through the prompts to add either your Outlook or Office 365 account, or both. After that, it’s an easy as sending an email! *Cortana available in select markets Source: Windows 10 Tip: How Cortana can automatically [ more… ]

Microsoft and Steelcase unlock creativity at work Today, I’m excited to announce that Steelcase and Microsoft are joining forces to reimagine the modern workplace by integrating the best of Microsoft Surface devices into the architecture of Steelcase. We are unveiling five new “Creative Spaces” to help companies revolutionize their workplaces, both physically and digitally. Creative Spaces are designed to help people better harness their own creative potential, transfer their creativity into their work and improve how they collaborate with their teams. Creative Spaces unlock people’s imaginations and optimize their interactions with both their teammates and Surface devices, unleashing the full capabilities of Windows 10 and Office 365. Creativity as a transformative asset A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers 2016 CEO Survey cited creativity as one of the key skills needed for employees today. Furthermore, CEOs have said creativity is the most challenging skill [ more… ]