Microsoft Teams native on Apple silicon

Microsoft says:

We are rolling out a production grade universal binary version of Teams, which means it will run natively on the entire Mac lineup, including those with Apple silicon. For Mac users, this means a significant boost in performance, ensuring efficient use of device resources and an optimized Teams experience even when using multiple high-resolution monitors during calls or meetings.

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edge://surf

I rebooted a lot of my networking gear today and that included my Internet router which had been connected for four months straight. While I was waiting for the connection to return, Edge offered me to play a game. I had never seen this before, so I hit the button, and there it was, a game inside the Edge browser. What an easter egg.

Surface Laptop Go 2

Surface Laptop Go war für mich immer ein No-Go. Zu klein, zu langsam, einfach von allem zu wenig. Nun legt Microsoft eine neue Version auf, die anscheinend mehr kann. i5-1135G7 Prozessor, 12.4″ Bildschirm im 3:2 Format, Multipoint Touch, die SSD is austauschbar, für Windows Hello gibt es einen Touch Sensor.

Die kleine Konfiguration können wir als Lockvogel abbuchen. Sowas wird normalerweise nur Enterprise-Kunden angeboten, die sparen wollen, koste es was es wolle. Als Betriebssystem ist Windows Home drauf.

Traditionell sind die Enterprise-Versionen teurer. Dafür gibt es dann Windows 11 Professional.

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Microsoft to add free VPN to Edge

Encrypts your connection: Encrypts your internet connection to help protect your data from online threats like hackers.

When using Microsoft Edge Secure network, your data is routed from Edge through an encrypted tunnel to create a secure connection, even when using a non-secure URL that starts with HTTP. This makes it harder for hackers to access your browsing data on a shared public Wi-Fi network.

Helps prevent online tracking: By encrypting your web traffic directly from Microsoft Edge, we help prevent your internet service provider from collecting your browsing data like details about which websites you visit.

Keeps your location private: Online entities can use your location and IP address for profiling and sending you targeted ads. Microsoft Edge Secure Network lets you browse with a virtual IP address that masks your IP and replaces your geolocation with a similar regional address to make it more difficult for online trackers to follow you as you browse.

Microsoft support document

This sounds too good to be true. The service is provided by Cloudflare. And there is a catch:

Is free to use: Get 1 gigabyte of free data every month when you sign into Microsoft Edge with your Microsoft Account.  See below instructions to turn on your Microsoft Edge Secure Network.

I burn through a few gigabyte every day. We will see. Maybe they will provide more with Microsoft 365.

Microsoft disrupting cyberattacks targeting Ukraine

Today, we’re sharing more about cyberattacks we’ve seen from a Russian nation-state actor targeting Ukraine and steps we’ve taken to disrupt it.

We recently observed attacks targeting Ukrainian entities from Strontium, a Russian GRU-connected actor we have tracked for years. This week, we were able to disrupt some of Strontium’s attacks on targets in Ukraine. On Wednesday April 6th, we obtained a court order authorizing us to take control of seven internet domains Strontium was using to conduct these attacks. We have since re-directed these domains to a sinkhole controlled by Microsoft, enabling us to mitigate Strontium’s current use of these domains and enable victim notifications.

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Microsoft Journal graduates from Garage

Microsoft Journal is an app for Windows that invites people who love to journal to pick up their digital pen, express themselves quickly, and evolve their ideas.

Of all the different methods of device interaction, digital ink is unique in the speed and degree of natural expression and in aiding memory. With Journal, disparate ideas can be connected, drawings can be sketched, annotations can be freely inserted, information can be located with search, and you can easily connect your ink across other apps to grow your best ideas.

Journal provides an ink-first solution that delivers new AI, intuitive gestures, and connected experiences for Microsoft 365 for work and school (subscription required, sold separately). It’s designed for people who thrive when writing out their ideas, notes, and sketches.

It works quite well. Simple and intuitive. However, it only works with Azure ID, not with Microsoft ID. That means all your data stays on one machine and that makes it unusable for me.

Available for Windows 10 and 11 >

Praktische Hilfestellung: Wenn man keine gemeinsame Sprache spricht

Microsoft Translator im Split-Modus. Man sitzt sich gegenüber und sieht, ob das Smartphone die eigene Sprache versteht. Dann wird automatisch übersetzt und die Übersetzung angezeigt und vorgelesen.

Die vor dem Krieg flüchtenden Ukrainer können sich häufig schlecht verständlich machen, wenn nur slawische Sprachen aber keine der bei uns verbreiteten westlichen Sprachen verstehen. Hier kann Software helfen.

Ich benutze Microsoft Translator mit Japanern. Das geht mit Apps auf Android und iOS, aber auch im Web. Es ist auch in Teams und Skype eingebaut. Translator beherrscht das wechselseitige Gespräch nicht in ukrainischer Sprache, aber in Russisch.

Alternativ bietet sich Google Translate (Android & iOS) an, dass Ukrainisch kann, aber nicht diesen Gegenüber-Modus beherrscht. Im Conversation Mode werden beide Sprachen in der gleichen Orientierung angezeigt. Bei beiden Programmen muss man das Smartphone im Auto-Modus nicht berühren. Es funktioniert “einfach so”. Wichtig sind nur Sprechpausen, in denen der Übersetzer tätig wird.

Jetstreaming new machines

I have a rather good feeling of how fast a machine is when I first try it, but I still like to run a browser benchmark to see if I am right. Since I know dozens of JetStream2 results, this benchmark gives me a good indication if my assessment was right. Everything above 100k feels fast to me, and everything beyond 200k very fast.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook (SD 7c gen2) felt slow to me and a benchmark of 72k showed that I was right. The Lenovo Tab P12 Pro (SD 870) felt slightly faster and in fact it is with a benchmark of 86k. The new Motorola Edge 30 Pro is powered by the SD 8 gen 1 and quite a lot faster.

Just for perspective, my Surface Pro 8 (i7) clocks in at 190k, so did the Surface Laptop Studio (i7), both with the latest Edge version. The iPhone 13 Pro (A15) comes in at 215k and the mighty iPad Pro (M1) at 245k, both with Safari.