Microsoft Archives - Page 25 of 52

Browser wars: Microsoft Edge just steamed past a major rival

April 6, 2022
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As the browser wars rage on, Microsoft Edge is one step closer to challenging Google Chrome as it has finally surpassed another major rival.

According to data from the web analytics service StatCounter, Microsoft’s browser is now used on 9.65 percent of all desktops worldwide which still pales in comparison to Chrome’s 67.26 percent market share.

Back in February of this year, Edge was closing in on Safari but based on new data from March, Apple’s browser now has 9.57 percent of desktop browser market share worldwide. Meanwhile, Mozilla Firefox has slipped slightly from 9.18 percent to 7.57 percent.

Surprisingly, Internet Explorer is still being used on one percent (0.92%) of desktops globally, most likely by users that haven’t upgraded to Windows 11 or even Windows 10 yet. Microsoft is planning to retire its IE 11 app on June 15 of this year though, so these users will have to make the switch to Edge or even to an alternative browser like Opera which has 2.83 percent of desktop browser market share worldwide.

Mobile is a different story altogether

Although Edge is certainly making inroads on desktop, the same can’t be said for Microsoft’s browser on Android and iOS.

According to StatCounter's mobile data, Chrome is used on 63.26 percent of all smartphones which makes sense as there are currently over 3bn active Android devices in use and Google’s browser comes preinstalled on Android smartphones. Likewise, Safari, which comes preinstalled on iPhones, has 24.81 percent of the mobile browser market share worldwide. Samsung’s browser, Samsung Internet, meanwhile is currently in third place at just under five percent (4.99%).

> This long-lost Microsoft Edge feature may be making a comeback

> Microsoft Edge wants to make the web more accessible for everyone

> Microsoft Edge is throwing its weight behind web apps

Although Microsoft Edge doesn’t even appear in StatCounter’s mobile browser market share data, its usage is growing on mobile. According to Edge’s Play Store listing, the browser’s mobile app has been installed over 10m times and has 4.5 stars based on 453k user reviews. Apple’s App Store doesn’t provide the same detailed install data that the Play Store does but Edge for iOS is ranked #18 in utilities and has a 4.6 rating based on more than 78k user reviews.

A recent report from Windows Central says that Microsoft is reportedly planning to consolidate its Android efforts into a single division to offer tighter integration between Google’s mobile operating system and Windows 11. While the move is likely more geared towards having Android apps run better on Windows, the software giant’s renewed interest in Android could see it double down on Edge’s mobile app for the platform.

Looking for alternatives? These are the best browsers on the market today

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 5, 2022
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As part of Microsoft’s latest presentation on the future of hybrid work, the tech giant revealed that Windows 11 is getting a much-requested improvement to touch controls in the form of additional touch snap layouts.

Available across touch-enabled devices running Windows 11 after Microsoft's productivity event, the new touch-snap layouts will allow users to better organize their desktop for multitasking and productivity, saving them from the plight of rummaging through tabs and different windows to find the information they are looking for.

Accessed by dragging a window or app to the center of the top of your display, Windows 11’s snap layouts offer a substantial improvement in ease of use over Windows 10’s drag-and-drop snap assist feature which often lacked precision.

Currently, when accessing Windows 11’s snap layouts you will be given a choice of four different layouts you can choose from, or six if you have got a larger display. While this selection has been somewhat limited in the past, Microsoft now expanding its touch snap offerings means that you should not have to resort to manually organizing your windows if there is not already a snap layout that takes your fancy.

Analysis: a welcome blessing for power users

As multiple monitor setups are rarely an option for touch-enabled devices, such as the Microsoft Surface, the addition of more touch snap options is a godsend to Windows power users who want to eke out every bit of productivity they can from their devices.

While new snapping options in Windows 11 are undoubtedly a good thing for organising your information, users will likely still find themselves limited by the size of their device rather than the number of windows that it is physically possible to cram on there.

Since snapping four windows onto a Surface Go’s 10-inch display is already too much information to handle, we can only hope that Microsoft has carefully considered the snap layouts that users might actually want to use on their touch compatible devices.

We have not yet got our hands on the expanded suite of touch snap layouts just yet, but we are certainly hoping that more horizontal snapping options are included as currently, those are sorely lacking as it is vertical or bust.

Our pick of the best Windows laptops in 2022 so far

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 4, 2022
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Using Microsoft Teams on Mozilla Firefox could soon be a much nicer experience after a number of key features were announced to be finally coming to the browser.

The company has said it is working on bringing what it called “improved meeting support” for Teams users looking to work with the Firefox browser.

This includes full audio and screensharing support for any Microsoft Teams meetings carried out in Firefox, which up until now has struggled to allow users to utilize the video conferencing tool to its full strength.

Microsoft Teams and Firefox

In the Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, the update is still said to be in development, however the company says it should roll out by the end of April, meaning users should not have to wait too long.

Firefox had been one of a number of browsers unable to fully support Microsoft Teams calls, alongside the likes of Safari and Internet Explorer.

Anyone attempting to join a Teams meeting using Firefox would be directed towards downloading the software's desktop client, a somewhat more lengthy process that could make you late for a call.

Although some users of these browsers may have been able to join a Microsoft Teams call, they would have had to deal with a potential lack of video or audio, as well as lacking desktop, window and app sharing.

> There will soon be no escape from Microsoft Teams, even in the office

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Teams or any other competitor

> We're all much more dependent on Teams than we want to believe

When available, Microsoft says the upgraded experience will be available to all Teams users in the Firefox browser across the world. The latest data suggests Teams has racked up more than 270 million monthly active users (MAUs), up from fewer than 50 million daily active users before the pandemic began.

Microsoft Teams has enjoyed a regular schedule of updates and upgrades in recent months as the company looks to ensure its platform remains on top of its game.

The news follows a similar recent update from the company revealing that Microsoft Teams apps will soon be available on Office.com and the Office for Windows app as the company looks to further expand the reach of its video conferencing service. This should help improve the user experience for Teams customers around the world, meaning there’s no longer a need to switch between platforms to use specific apps.

Stay in touch with the best online collaboration tools on the market right now

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 4, 2022
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Using Microsoft Teams on Mozilla Firefox could soon be a much nicer experience after a number of key features were announced to be finally coming to the browser.

The company has said it is working on bringing what it called “improved meeting support” for Teams users looking to work with the Firefox browser.

Microsoft Teams and Firefox

In the Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, the update is still said to be in development, however the company says it should roll out by the end of April, meaning users should not have to wait too long.

Firefox had been one of a number of browsers unable to fully support Microsoft Teams calls, alongside the likes of Safari and Internet Explorer.

Anyone attempting to join a Teams meeting using Firefox would be directed towards downloading the software's desktop client, a somewhat more lengthy process that could make you late for a call.

> There will soon be no escape from Microsoft Teams, even in the office

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Teams or any other competitor

> We're all much more dependent on Teams than we want to believe

Microsoft Teams has enjoyed a regular schedule of updates and upgrades in recent months as the company looks to ensure its platform remains on top of its game.

Stay in touch with the best online collaboration tools on the market right now

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 3, 2022
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The explosive growth seen by Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system over the past few months is beginning to slow, new figures suggest.

The latest report from AdDuplex shows that Windows 11 user numbers are levelling out, perhaps suggesting Microsoft needs to up its game with some new updates or additions to the platform soon.

For the month of March 2022, Windows 11 took just 0.1% market share from other editions of Microsoft's software, accounting for 19.4% of the overall usage, with a further 0.6% using a Windows 11 Insider build.

Windows 11 upgrade

The numbers show that, despite Microsoft's push to get users to upgrade to Windows 11, its previous edition is still holding strong for many consumers.

Of the 80% using Windows 10, the larger proportion were found to be using the two most recent update families. Windows 10 N21U (21H2), released in November 2021, had 28.5% of the overall market, with its slightly older sibling, Windows 10 M21U (21H1), released in March 2021, taking 26.5% of the share.

The remaining 25% was made up of various older builds dating back to 2018, indicating that Microsoft does still have some work to do in order to get a large number of users upgraded to its latest editions.

AdDuplex takes its figures from 5,000 Windows Store apps, so may not be entirely representative of the true market share, but the figures do appear to corroborate recent findings from Microsoft itself.

> Microsoft quietly reverses one of the most outrageous Windows 11 changes

> Windows 11 Pro will soon force you to make a Microsoft account

> How to download and install Windows 11 right now

The company recently shared that 1.4 billion devices are running both Windows 10 and Windows 11, although it didn't reveal specific numbers for either build.

This has posed a problem for some business users however, as recent research found that as many as a third of work laptops or PCs don't meet the minimum requirements to run Windows 11, with the lack of TPM 2.0 the main culprit.

The report from Riverbed added 19.45% of devices will need a storage upgrade, 11% will need to be upgraded to TPM 2.0 and 8% will need to be upgraded with UEFI – with 12% of work PCs needing to be replaced entirely.

Looking for a powerful machine to get the most out of Windows 11? We’ve rounded up the best mobile workstations around

Via OnMSFT

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 1, 2022
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Embarrassing spelling and grammar mistakes will soon be a thing of the past in Microsoft Edge as Microsoft is now rolling out a built-in grammar editor for its browser.

Microsoft Editor is the software giant’s Grammarly competitor and while it’s normally accessed via a browser extension, the company has now decided to directly integrate it into Edge.

Just like with other writing software, Microsoft Editor provides users with both grammar and punctuation corrections and suggestions as they write. In Edge, Editor will be available in over 20 languages but the writing tool will only provide feedback on the main language used in the browser.

In addition to its existing features, Microsoft has said that it will soon begin rolling out text predictions in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese in Editor in order to help users not only write better but also faster.

Web Select

Besides its new Microsoft Editor integration, Microsoft is also bringing another new feature to Edge called web select though it was initially known as smart copy when it was first announced two years ago.

Web select makes it easier to select formatted content like tables, images and text on the web. The feature allows users to quickly select entire paragraphs in their original formatting or copy only the cells they want to in a table. From here, you can then paste content with its original formatting into a Word document or into OneNote to reference later.

> Microsoft's Grammarly rival is coming to Word for Mac

> Google Docs will now practically write your documents for you

> This Microsoft Edge update is a dream for all you clumsy typists

While web select will likely be a useful feature for Edge users, it has certainly taken quite a while to arrive in Microsoft’s browser. The company first began testing the feature all the way back in November of 2020.

It’s worth noting that web select isn’t the same as web capture which allows users to take screenshots of webpages and annotate them before sharing or saving them.

In order to try out Microsoft Editor and web select in Microsoft Edge, you first need to make sure you're running the latest version of Microsoft’s browser. To check if you are, you can click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the browser and choose Help & feedback and then About Microsoft Edge.

Looking for alternatives? These are the best browsers on the market right now

Via XDA

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 1, 2022
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Microsoft has announced that Teams applications are now available outside of the collaboration platform for the first time.

In a blog post, the company revealed that members of the Targeted Release early access program can now use a small number of Microsoft Teams apps from within email service Outlook and Office.com.

“With this enhancement, apps built for Teams not only run everywhere Teams runs, but also in more of the places that users spend their time in Microsoft 365,” Microsoft explained.

Microsoft Teams apps

Since the start of the pandemic, Microsoft has fought to establish Teams as the central hub for working. The objective was to give workers access to all the tools they need in one place, by integrating a variety of first- and third-party services into the platform.

And the strategy appears to have paid dividends. The latest data suggests Teams has racked up more than 270 million monthly active users (MAUs), up from fewer than 50 million daily active users before the pandemic began.

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Microsoft Teams or any other rival

> We're all much more dependent on Teams than we want to believe

> Meet the CEO beating Teams and Zoom at their own game

However, Microsoft has now shifted its approach to focus more closely on creating fluid experiences that streamline the transition between various Microsoft 365 services. The introduction of Teams applications to other Microsoft platforms can be seen as part of this process.

At first, there will only be a handful of Microsoft Teams apps available outside the regular client; some from Microsoft itself (e.g. Power BI) and some from third-party vendors like Zoho and Mural. And these apps will also only be available to a small number of users in preview.

However, the company has promised to double down on the program, with a raft of Teams apps migrating to other Microsoft spaces in the months to come.

Microsoft says IT administrators can control which “enhanced Teams apps” are available to employees from within the regular Teams admin center.

Complete your remote working setup with the best business webcams on the market

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 1, 2022
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Microsoft has announced that Teams applications are now available outside of the collaboration platform for the first time.

In a blog post, the company revealed that members of the Targeted Release early access program can now use a small number of Microsoft Teams apps from within email service Outlook and Office.com.

“With this enhancement, apps built for Teams not only run everywhere Teams runs, but also in more of the places that users spend their time in Microsoft 365,” Microsoft explained.

Microsoft Teams apps

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Microsoft Teams or any other rival

> We're all much more dependent on Teams than we want to believe

> Meet the CEO beating Teams and Zoom at their own game

However, the company has promised to double down on the program, with a raft of Teams apps migrating to other Microsoft spaces in the months to come.

Microsoft says IT administrators can control which “enhanced Teams apps” are available to employees from within the regular Teams admin center.

Complete your remote working setup with the best business webcams on the market

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

March 31, 2022
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Keeping control of all your most-needed tabs and windows in Microsoft Edge could soon be a whole lot easier.

Spotted by Redditor Leopeva64-2, one of the most recent Edge Canary builds saw a mention of Workspaces, a feature allowing users to group together their tabs and windows within the browser.

The finding was particularly curious as the feature was previously thought to be dead in the water, with no mention of Workspaces in Microsoft Edge since its initial reveal back in April 2021.

Microsoft Edge Workspaces

The Edge Canary build included the option to create and edit new and existing Workspaces as part of the browser's Appearance settings. Although the button to toggle these features didn't appear to be available, its presence suggests the tool will be arriving soon.

Workspaces looked to operate alongside Microsoft's existing Collections tool, but instead of the latter's ability to save individual tabs, the new addition would let users name certain tabs or windows, as well as customizing them with a certain color to categorize.

It would also allow users to keep groups of work and personal browser tabs separate, with each Workspace containing multiple tabs, meaning that even if you close an Edge window without deleting a workspace, it will remain available the next time you launch the browser.

For now, the feature seems limited to Canary builds, but given the progress, could possibly appear in a new version of Microsoft Edge soon.

> Microsoft Edge is about to give you an excellent new way to procrastinate

> Browser wars: Microsoft Edge is beginning to steal users from Google Chrome

> Microsoft Edge will let you embrace multiple identities at once

The launch would be the latest in a long line of features aimed at making Microsoft Edge easier to use for customers everywhere. Recently, Microsoft announced its Task Manager tool will now be able to display exactly what Microsoft Edge processes are using what amount of memory on your device – displaying a list of processes under the browser, including specific tabs, extensions and subframes – and will now be able to select any of these to close individually.

Edge is also set to soon get a new Performance Detector feature which will help browser users debug performance issues caused by common problems such as running multiple windows or tabs, as well as any issues caused by unnecessary tabs or the use of extensions that may be hogging bandwidth.

Looking for a better way to stay in touch? Here’s the best online collaboration tools around

Via OnMSFT

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

March 31, 2022
No Comments

Keeping control of all your most-needed tabs and windows in Microsoft Edge could soon be a whole lot easier.

Spotted by Redditor Leopeva64-2, one of the most recent Edge Canary builds saw a mention of Workspaces, a feature allowing users to group together their tabs and windows within the browser.

The finding was particularly curious as the feature was previously thought to be dead in the water, with no mention of Workspaces in Microsoft Edge since its initial reveal back in April 2021.