Microsoft is launching a new communities feature exclusively to Teams free users, who can now use its collaboration platform to create a space for groups to share ideas, organize events, share photos, and more.
Communities in Teams could help boost the appeal of Teams among consumers, beyond Teams' traditional enterprise user base. Teams communities is aimed squarely at consumers, available to anyone with a Microsoft account and the Teams free iOS and Android apps. It will be coming to desktop soon, according to Microsoft.
Anyone who has a Skype, OneDrive, Outlook.com, or Xbox Live account has a Microsoft account (you can also setup a Microsoft account with third-party email addresses such as Gmail). Users do need to be signed in with one account and then can access Teams communities via the Home tab. Those who normally use a work or school account need to switch to a personal Microsoft account to use the feature.
Also: Microsoft Teams: These are the latest features Microsoft added in the last month
The Teams communities feature sounds a lot like what people tend to use Facebook groups for, blended with group communications capabilities that people use on WhatsApp groups. It will be interesting to see whether, with these capabilities in a single app, Teams communities takes off among consumers and smaller businesses or groups that likely already use Facebook groups for events and WhatsApp groups for communications.
Teams' free communities offers the usual chat, call and file-sharing capabilities, while group-related capabilities include: posting messages to everyone in the group; organizing events and adding them to a community calendar for all to see; share and store documents for a group activity; and filter content to access photos, videos, events, and links.
Microsoft hopes Teams communities will be adopted by recreational sports teams, various committees, parent-teacher associations, small businesses, and more.
In January, Microsoft reported Teams had surpassed 270 million monthly active users. It hasn't provided an update on user numbers since then, but in the mean time has been trying to grow user numbers by adding consumer features, such as integrating the Teams Chat button into the Windows 11 taskbar.
The communities feature could go a long way to improving Teams user numbers beyond the enterprise users who've had Teams available with Office 365 – and now Microsoft 365 – since 2017.
Users can create a community in Teams for free with Microsoft's suggested community types on the home screen, as well as adding a group picture or branding for the community. The group admin can invite members via an email, a phone number, a link, or a QR code. Next year, Microsoft will offer access to SignUpGenius in Teams, a feature to help recruit volunteers, coordinate events, and manage signups.
Microsoft says it has reached a 10-year agreement with Nintendo to make Call of Duty available on Nintendo consoles for the first time if the Activision Blizzard acquisition closes. The deal is similar in length to what Microsoft has offered Sony, and the Xbox maker has also committed to continue to offer new versions of Call of Duty on Steam at the same time they launch on Xbox.
The deal is clearly designed to put pressure on Sony to accept a similar offer, just days after Microsoft president Brad Smith said “Sony has emerged as the loudest objector” to Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition and that “it’s as excited about this deal as Blockbuster was about the rise of Netflix.”
Microsoft confirmed earlier this week that it had offered Sony a 10-year contract to make each new Call of Duty release available on PlayStation the same day as it launches on Xbox. It’s a concession that has been hinted at in recent weeks, as regulators increase their scrutiny of Microsoft’s plan to acquire Activision Blizzard. “Any day Sony wants to sit down and talk, we’ll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well,” said Smith on Twitter shortly after the Nintendo deal announcement.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced the Nintendo and Valve commitments late on Tuesday night, just ahead of a closed door meeting at the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday. Microsoft president Brad Smith and other company executives are expected to meet with FTC chair Lina Khan and other commissioners today, according to a Bloomberg report.
Recent reports have suggested that the FTC is preparing a potential legal challenge to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal from happening. Microsoft is also facing regulatory scrutiny from the EU and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The software maker has pushed back on the CMA’s concerns though, describing them as “misplaced” and accusing the regulator of adopting “Sony’s complaints without considering the potential harm to consumers.”
Sony has been making it clear to regulators that it’s concerned about the future of Call of Duty, and a public back and forth between Microsoft and Sony, mixed with regulators airing their concerns has led to a recent 10-year commitment to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony labeled Microsoft’s initial offer to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for “several more years” beyond an existing marketing deal as “inadequate on many levels.” Sony hasn’t responded publicly to Microsoft’s latest 10-year offer.
The length of the deal doesn’t mean Call of Duty will suddenly disappear from PlayStation or even Nintendo consoles after 10 years. “It’s not about at some point I pull the rug underneath PlayStation 7’s legs and it’s ‘ahaha you just didn’t write the contract long enough,’” said Spencer in a recent Verge interview. “There’s no contract that could be written that says forever.”
In a statement to Kotaku, Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell made it clear that such a deal to keep Call of Duty on Steam isn’t necessary:
Microsoft offered and even sent us a draft agreement for a long-term Call of Duty commitment but it wasn’t necessary for us because a) we’re not believers in requiring any partner to have an agreement that locks them to shipping games on Steam into the distant future b) Phil and the games team at Microsoft have always followed through on what they told us they would do so we trust their intentions and c) we think Microsoft has all the motivation they need to be on the platforms and devices where Call of Duty customers want to be.
The Defense Department on Wednesday announced that the Pentagon is divvying up $9 billion in cloud contracts between Google, Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon.
The contracts were awarded to the four tech companies to help build out the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, or JWCC, which will streamline cloud computing for the US military across the globe. The companies are tasked with creating cloud networks that will "provide enterprise cloud capabilities for the Defense Department at all three security classifications: unclassified, secret and top secret," the department said earlier this year.
Dividing the contracts between four companies helps the Pentagon avoid having to rely on a single company for all of its cloud computing needs, which mitigates the risk of any potential network disruptions or outages. Previously, the Pentagon faced legal challenges in 2019 from Amazon and Oracle after awarding Microsoft a $10 billion contract for its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud, or JEDI, but ultimately canceled the contract.
"The purpose of this contract is to provide the Department of Defense with enterprise-wide, globally available cloud services across all security domains and classification levels," the Defense Department said in a statement. The contracts are expected to last until June 2028.
The ways in which we interact with one another have certainly shifted over the last few years. Thanks to technology, we have the ability to work from almost anywhere and minimize nonessential face-to-face appointments. But some things haven’t changed in a hybrid world: our need for human connection and community.
Today, we’re excited to announce communities in Microsoft Teams—a new experience that enables people to come together, connect, share, and collaborate. Whether your group is a recreational sports team, event planning committee, parent-teacher association, or even a small business, this new experience gives groups of all kinds a digital space to stay connected before, during, and after gatherings. Communities is currently rolling out in the free version of Microsoft Teams.1
In addition to everything you can already do in Microsoft Teams—including sending chats, calling people, and sharing photos or files—you can now create a space for community groups to come together, organize, and share ideas.
Easily bring together your communities in one place.
With this new community experience, you’ll be able to:
It’s easy to get started. Simply create a community with our suggested community types on the home screen.2 You can also add branding elements like a group picture for your community. Then, invite group members through their email address or phone number, or by sharing a link or QR code so they can join directly.3
You’ll be able to easily manage the online community, too. Community owners have the ability to manage settings, set community guidelines, and moderate content by adding or removing participants and posts as needed to help community members feel safe.
Communities in Teams includes a new events experience for organizing virtual, hybrid, or in-person events. For instance, you can add new events or meetings to your community calendar, invite guests, track attendance, and follow up with attendees through direct private chats. When it comes to online events, you can easily add dial-in details and a link so your participants can join seamlessly. And for in-person events, you can add a location and provide attendees precise directions with a visual map.
Hybrid and virtual guests can join events from any device through audio or video. And features such as adding an event cover image, together mode, and screen sharing can help you foster a sense of unity and engagement during meetings—no matter where everyone’s located.
Today, we’re pleased to announce that we’re working with organizations such as the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO); USA Hockey; California School for the Deaf, Riverside; Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras); and AISECT.
In 2023, people can access SignUpGenius within Teams to recruit volunteers, coordinate events, and manage a variety of sign ups. SignUpGenius is a leading solution within the Lumaverse Technologies platform, which empowers people to change the world together by simplifying scheduling, volunteer and member management, event planning, and fundraising.
We look forward to partnering with more organizations and communities in 2023 and beyond as we continue to build out new and exciting experiences in Teams.
A tight-knit small business with a dedicated following can function similarly to a community group. Help nurture and support these more friendly working relationships by enabling your team and customers to come together in shared spaces online.
With communities in Teams, your small business can move seamlessly from customer calls to team events and everything in between. You can create a virtual community group with diehard customers to announce a new sale, or just as easily create a Carpool Community for coworkers who want to share a ride to the office.
Whatever you need to collaborate on, communities in Teams allows you to create different places and organize groups to meet, chat, share, and plan—together.
The new community experience empowers communities to come together to achieve more—whether you’re a virtual, hybrid, or in-person community, Teams can help you connect simply and securely. Communities in Teams is available for all iOS and Android customers using the free version of Microsoft Teams.1 It’s also coming soon to desktop.
When signed in with a Microsoft account, you can access communities in Teams through the Home tab in the mobile app. To switch between accounts, tap on your profile picture and add your Microsoft account.4
To create a community, click on Home to get started. If you already use Microsoft Teams for work or school on mobile, simply switch accounts. There’s no need to download another app, and no data is shared with your employer.
1Communities is available in Microsoft Teams (free), Teams Essentials when you sign in with a Microsoft account, Microsoft 365 Personal, and Microsoft 365 Family.
2Learn more about creating a community in Teams.
3Learn more about sharing and joining a community.
4Learn more about a Microsoft account.
Newcomers to Microsoft Excel on Windows and beyond are often overwhelmed by the vast quantity of tools and menus available. Fear not!
Below we have a list of 10 useful tips and tools to enable you to create the spreadsheet you need (or spice up an existing sheet). Now you can wow your project team, or just make managing your personal budget clear and concise, with these simple but effective tips.
When first creating your Excel spreadsheet, you may find it very time-consuming to enter all your data. But Excel is equipped with features to help speed up the process. If entering a series of information, Excel can recognize this and autofill the data in ascending or descending order as required.
For example, if your column is a list of subsequent dates, enter the first date and left click on the small square in the bottom right corner of the cell. Still holding down your mouse button, simply drag downwards and Excel will follow the date sequence for as many cells as you drag, filling in the rest of the dates. This can save precious minutes (or even hours over the course of the year).
If your cells are handling currency, dates or even time, Excel can adapt and treat them as such. By right clicking on a cell (or group of cells) and clicking on ‘Format Cells’ you can apply a different format of your liking. This saves you having to manually type symbols such as $ or % depending on the type of formatting you pick, as well as keeping the data format consistent and tidy. This can also help ensure that your math formulae make sense, for example when adding or subtracting time. There are dozens of options available, so you should be able to find something to suit your needs.
Excel spreadsheets are great for tracking actions to manage deadlines. Thankfully, the tech wizards over at Microsoft have included a simple formula to let your spreadsheet automatically populate the current date. If you type the formula “=TODAY()” into a cell, it will always show the current date. Open your Excel sheet tomorrow and it will automatically update, and so on. This can be used as a reference point for other cells to help keep track of deadlines. The above example shows a cell with ‘Today’ followed by a list of action deadlines. Just have the deadlines subtract the date from ‘Today’ and you can easily work out how much time you have left on your project deadlines.
Sometimes when you want to autofill, you might want to keep some of the data consistent. By adding a dollar sign ‘$’ to a formula, it makes the data absolute (always the same). Keeping with the above example, when we look at the ‘Days remaining’ formula, we want to keep the ‘Today’ data absolute. So, we simply add a dollar sign ‘$’ in front of the data we want to keep locked in — it will always apply to the number/letter directly to the right of the $. When we then drag to autofill, it will change the data without a $, so the B5 will become B6 but C2 will remain unchanged.
If you are dragging horizontally instead of vertically, just add the $ in front of the column letter. So C2 would become $C2 (or $C$2 if you want to keep both).
This nifty feature allows you to set rules to make cells change their appearance depending on their contents. You may want values to stand out if they are over budget, or within a certain time frame. To do so, click on the Conditional Formatting option on the Excel toolbar:
There are plenty of pre-set options to choose from, like highlighting the top 10 values, data above or below a set value or within a date range. Or, if you’re feeling brave, you can easily create your own set of rules, even changing cells which contain certain text.
In the below example, I have created conditional formatting to change dates within the next week to amber or overdue actions to red, adding a visual aspect help prioritize actions.
With this feature, you can help minimize potential errors in your Excel spreadsheet. Data validation allows you to limit the types of data that can be entered into a cell. The Data Validation menu can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Data’ toolbar tab, then finding the ‘Data Validation’ button:
From here you can set rules to prevent the input of the wrong type of data, by specifying only dates, numbers, etcetera, or my personal favorite; creating a list of acceptable data entries which can then be selected from a dropdown list when you click on these cells. Data Validation even allows you to set your own error message if the wrong data is entered!
Have you ever spent what feels like forever making your spreadsheet look like an aesthetic masterpiece, only to add new bland and boring cells and feel like you’re back to square one?
Fear not, Excel has a built-in feature called the Format Painter which does exactly what it says. You can easily copy and paste your formatting from one part of your spreadsheet to another (including any number formatting or conditional formatting you might have added).
First drag your mouse around the format you wish to copy, then in the top left corner of the screen, look for the Format Painter button. Clicking this will copy the format, which you can then simply click on to the cells you wish to apply it to.
Pro tip — double click the Format Painter icon if you wish to apply the same format multiple times or to different areas.
So, you’ve created a huge Excel spreadsheet with loads and loads of useful information. Now you can’t find what you’re looking for. With Excel's sort and filter features, you can easily reorganize your data to show you exactly what you need to see. To get started, highlight the top row of the columns you wish to include, then find the Sort & Filter button on your toolbar:
This applies a drop-down menu to each column header, which you can then click through and sort your data by ascending/descending based on values or alphabetically.
You can also click the filters to hide specified data, whilst keeping it matched up with its relevant rows. In the below example I have selected to only display my incomplete actions from my tracker to allow me to focus on what I still need to do. I then filtered by least time remaining:
It is useful to notice that the drop-down arrow on the column header changes to indicate that either a sort or filter has been applied (this is useful for tracking down your hidden data when you need to get it back).
One of the most powerful tools available in Microsoft Excel is the ability to pull your data into a simple yet professional graph at the click of a button. This can make even the most mundane data look interesting and makes it much easier to spot trends in your data.
To create a graph, simply select the data you wish to include, then click on the Recommended Charts button on the ‘Insert’ toolbar tab.
This will provide you with a chart or graph which best suits the data you have provided, from bar graphs to pie charts or even the more advanced Pareto graphs. Once you become more familiar with the basics you can even play around with adding trend lines or multiple data sets to the same graph to enhance your presentations ever further.
Save, save, and save again. It really can’t be stated enough. The most important tip on this list is to frequently save your Excel spreadsheet. We’ve all been there before… One minute you’re pumping out figures at the speed of light, producing the best results you’ve ever seen, then in the next moment it's all gone. It could be a dead laptop battery, a network error or the dreaded ‘Not responding’ message — we’ve all lost work before. The larger and more feature rich your Excel spreadsheet becomes, the higher the chance of it crashing as it crunches your numbers and draws your graphs. Often this is recovered, at least partially, by Microsoft document recovery, but you don’t want to take that risk.
Follow these 10 beginners’ tips and you’ll be the envy of the office at your next presentation, with your all singing and dancing Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Excel, but with a little time and practice they will become second nature and you will be ready for more advanced features to make your life easier and your data smarter.
Mastering Excel using our expert guide, or the rest of Microsoft's industry-leading productivity suite, is made easier with Office 365, and all-in-one subscription service with everything you need to... excel.
Microsoft Teams is now useful for organizing more than just your company meetings. Microsoft has introduced a communities feature on Android and iOS that effectively offers an alternative to Facebook groups for more personal uses — think of your softball team, a carpooling group or the local parent-teacher association. You can chat and make video calls, of course, but you can also arrange events, post messages and share documents.
As on Facebook, owners can moderate communities by setting rules and removing people or content. You can create both virtual and real-world events. If someone wants to join, you can invite them through email, phone numbers or scannable QR codes.
Communities in Teams are only available on mobile for now, but Microsoft says they'll reach the desktop "soon" and that you only need the free app. In 2023, Microsoft will offer access to SignUpGenius to help you coordinate fundraisers and other good causes by helping you enlist volunteers and otherwise planning events.
The community hub expansion may seem odd, but it reflects a gradual shift away from Teams' original role as a pure workplace collaboration tool and more as a general-purpose chat and socialization app. It became free for personal use last year, and recently received casual games to help break the ice with colleagues. This newest addition ventures even farther afield — Microsoft isn't really creating a social network, but it is hoping to take over some of those duties.
Everyone likes to save money whenever possible but it isn’t always easy to do.
Right now we can help you save money on some of Microsoft’s very best releases — and all you need to do is enter our discount code.
That discount code, RM30, will get you some insane prices on everything from Windows 10 to Office 2021 Pro. But don’t forget that these kinds of deals rarely last for long — be sure to act now if you don’t want to wind up overpaying on some of the best software Microsoft has to offer.
And with that said, let’s get into the reason you’re really here — those deals!
Windows & Office Deals:
And remember that those deals aren’t going to last for long so act now — and enter that discount code, too!
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To help push its Activision buy out through, Microsoft has entered an agreement to release future Call Of Duty games on Nintendo Switch.
The main point of contention surrounding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard remains the Call Of Duty franchise and the idea of it potentially becoming exclusive to the Xbox platform.
Both Sony and some regulators believe doing so would provide Microsoft an unfair advantage, considering how popular the series is. So, Microsoft has repeatedly tried to assure them that it has every intention of keeping it available on PlayStation.
Recently, it was reported that Microsoft plans to formally commit to releasing Call Of Duty games on PlayStation for another 10 years, and now it’s publicly made the same promise for the Nintendo Switch.
The idea of bringing the series to Nintendo’s platform was always on the cards, with Microsoft expressing interest not long after it announced the Activision buy out.
It’s not something that’s been discussed since, but the subject has come back up now as Microsoft attempt to curry favour with regulators and push the Activision deal through.
‘Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call Of Duty to Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King,’ tweeted Xbox boss Phil Spencer in the early hours of the morning.
‘Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play.’
He added that the series will release on Steam simultaneously with the Xbox versions. Basically, Spencer is insisting that, if anything, the Call Of Duty games will become more widely available under Microsoft.
Microsoft president Brad Smith also commented on the offer, reiterating the company’s statement of how the deal will benefit everyone, not just Microsoft.
‘Any day Sony wants to sit down and talk, we’ll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well,’ he added.
Nobody, including Nintendo, is likely to be all that interested in having Call Of Duty on the Switch, but the offer is all part of Microsoft’s attempt to make the acquisition seem as benign as possible.
While there have been some Call Of Duty titles that released for Nintendo platforms, Activision and Nintendo seemed to provide up on the idea after 2013’s Call Of Duty: Ghosts, with all subsequent games sticking to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
However, the commitment could prove important for Nintendo’s next console, after the Switch, assuming it’s significantly more powerful.
For as much money as the Call Of Duty franchise makes, the Switch has performed extremely well without it. As of August, it became the fifth best-selling console of all time and is expected to eventually overtake the original Game Boy and the PlayStation 4.
Even with Microsoft’s offer, it remains unclear if regulators will let the deal through. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is still conducting its second investigation and while it’s been reported that the US Federal Trade Commission will approve the acquisition, it’s yet to make a formal statement.
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Microsoft Teams launched a new “Communities” feature on Android and iOS devices, the company announced today. Users can now create and organize groups with their recreational sports club, event planning committee, parent-teacher association or any other group in their community. The feature gives users access to group calendars, event scheduling, meetings, document/photo sharing, video calls and chat.
The Communities feature in Teams includes a “new events experience” that allows users to add events to their community calendar, as well as invite guests, track attendance and chat with attendees through direct private messenger, the company wrote in its official blog. Plus, Microsoft Teams will launch SignUpGenius in 2023 to help users coordinate fundraisers, plan events, enlist volunteers and more.
As of today, Communities is now rolling out in the free version of Microsoft Teams. At launch, it’s available on mobile only; however, the company noted it would arrive on desktop soon.
The feature can be found through the Home tab within the Teams mobile app. Users select “Create new community” and then “Create from scratch.” The user then chooses an emoji or a picture for their community, as well as a name, description and set of guidelines.
Users must have a Microsoft account to join, and members can invite others to the group by sending a link or showing a QR code.
The launch of Communities indicates that Microsoft Teams may be looking to find more opportunities for growth behind being only a workplace collaboration and productivity tool, to compete more directly with social apps, like Facebook, Discord, Twitter and WhatsApp, as well as with Slack, which also markets itself to consumers.
The feature also comes a year after Microsoft tried to acquire Discord for a reported $10 billion. Discord ended the talks with the company in April 2021, wrote The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft has tried other ways to get more consumers to use the Teams app, such as a new social gaming functionality, “Games for Work,” animated avatars and AI-powered recaps.
If you're not conversant with Microsoft To Do, it is an app that can help you increase your productivity by helping you remember the tasks you need to accomplish each day. Building upon this premise, Microsoft has announced that it is adding support auto population of tasks due today in the My Day list.
How does this feature work? Well, it automatically populates your tasks in My Day on their due dates. This is an important and useful addition to the app because it will assist users to stay on track and plan their days accordingly. It is also more efficient and effective compared to the previous approach where users needed to add the tasks manually in My Day.
If you want to make use of this feature, simply launch the app and click on the My Day list. You'll then be able to view a list that contains all of your tasks due today. This is inclusive of any tasks that were previously added to your lists and are due today.
Microsoft has stated that it has rolled out this feature to 5% of its audience already. The feature is expected to hit general availability in the coming weeks. If you are just learning about Microsoft To Do, be sure to check out our expert guide that will help you get started.
Via: Microsoft