windows

Hot Wheels expansion comes to Forza Horizon 5 Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels is available now in the Forza Horizon 5 Premium Add-ons Bundle, Premium Edition and Expansions Bundle. If you don’t have any of those bundles, you can buy the standalone Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels expansion directly for $19.99.  “This is our first big expansion for Forza Horizon 5 and features our fastest, most extreme, gravity-defying tracks, new biomes to explore and tons of new cars and features,” writes Mike Brown, creative director of Forza Horizon 5, Playground Games, in a post on Xbox Wire. “Hot Wheels Park features a ton of new and diverse biomes: from the rugged Giant’s Canyon; to the frozen tundra dripping into the molten lava in the Ice Cauldron; to the tree canopy towering above epic waterfalls in Forest Falls; and all brought [ more… ]

Inspired by crime dramas, interactive game As Dusk Falls now available As Dusk Falls is now available. The game comes with Xbox Game Pass for PC, console and cloud, and is available for purchase on Windows, Steam, and Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. “As Dusk Falls is an interactive narrative for all levels of players, something meant to be experienced with a group,” writes Kelly Lombardi, product marketing manager for the game, on Xbox Wire. “Inspired by prestige TV shows, the team at INTERIOR/NIGHT has crafted an uncompromising tale of family, resilience and sacrifice. You will learn more about the Walker and Holt families and how their lives were destined to intersect. You’ll make choices within the game to navigate tough scenarios like a hostage negotiation, a robbery, family conflict and more.” Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can [ more… ]

Releasing Windows 10 Build 19044.1862 to Release Preview Channel Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 21H2 Build 19044.1862 (KB5015878) to the Release Preview Channel for those Insiders who are on Windows 10, version 21H2. This update includes the following improvements: New! We provided the ability for you to consent to receive urgent notifications when focus assist is on. New! We restored functionality for Windows Autopilot deployment scenarios that are affected by the security mitigation for hardware reuse. This update removed the one-time use restriction for self-deploying mode (SDM) and pre-provisioning (PP). This update also re-enabled any User Principal Name (UPN) display in user-driven mode (UDM) deployments for approved manufacturers. We reduced the overhead of resource contention in high input/output operations per second (IOPS) scenarios that have many threads contending on a single file. We improved the reliability [ more… ]

‘Meet Windows 11’: New video series helps with basics, personalization, apps and tools If you’re just starting out with Windows 11 – or looking for refreshers on making the most out of it – there’s a new video series that will help you with staying organized, keyboard shortcuts, personalizing your experience, apps and tools. “Meet Windows 11” recently debuted with three short videos that will get you up and running on Windows 11. The first one goes over basics such as universal search, desktop groups and Microsoft accounts. The second video helps you personalize your Windows experience by suggesting several features, such as creating collections for websites you browse, choosing desktop backgrounds and using widgets. The third video explores new and refreshed apps, such as the Photos app, Microsoft Store and Phone Link. Read the accompanying articles through the links [ more… ]

Customer Orders Database – what next? A few years ago we created a code sample for enterprise developers called Customer Orders Database, designed to demonstrate how developers can create and manage customer accounts, orders, and products for the fictitious company Contoso. It was very popular, so we continued updating it to support each new version of Windows and the Windows App SDK, and to demonstrate current design guidance. Last year we updated it to use WinUI 2.6. In May of this year, just in time for Microsoft Build, we gave it a major overhaul to work with Windows App SDK, and to support the latest Azure features. Of course, we had to make it look at home on Windows 11. So now, based on WinUI 3, the Customer Order Database showcases UI controls including a data grid from the Windows Community Toolkit. [ more… ]