Microsoft gives thumbs up to Intel’s latest graphics drivers for Surface Pro 4, Book

Back in June, Intel released new drivers for its integrated graphics installed in a number of its Core, Core M, Pentium, Celeron, and Xeon E3-1500M v5 family of processors (pdf). Intel said the new driver set fixed numerous problems causing hangs, crashes, and graphical corruptions previously experienced in applications and PC games. Now Microsoft has given these new Intel HD Graphics drivers the green light to be used on its Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 devices.
In other words, Microsoft is behaving like a true notebook OEM. Although AMD, Nvidia, and Intel continuously release fresh new drivers to the general public, that doesn’t mean they’re compatible with notebook hardware configurations. Notebook components generally can’t be swapped out save for the hard drive and memory, so everything mounted inside needs to work in harmony. OEMs typically customize all drivers to insure that hardware does just that, but the updates are extremely low or seemingly non-existent.

$200 Microsoft Band 2 deal rebooted, Surface Pro 4 also discounted by $100

Microsoft doesn’t seem to care too much about the year’s fast-approaching biggest celebration of love, but it’s not going to let George Washington’s birthday go unnoticed, offering a slew of Presidents Day discounts on some of the company’s hottest gadgets.

Through February 20, the Microsoft Band 2 will again be available at $200 a pop stateside, in your choice of sizes, 50 bucks being taken off the cross-platform wearable’s list price for the first time in a couple of months.

How to get older programs to scale on HiDPI displays in Windows 10

One of the most annoying things about high pixel density displays on Windows is how tiny some user interface elements can be when you load older programs that were designed for the standard 72 pixels per inch pixel density that most displays have used for many decades. When Apple started using high-DPI (HiDPI) displays with many more smaller pixels crammed into the same area, they implemented a work-around in the operating system that would automatically pixel-double old programs that were not updated to adjust themselves automatically to the higher pixel density. That works pretty well except of course some interface elements might look pixelated or jaggy, but at least you can see them and understand what they are.

Microsoft Word Flow keyboard on iOS has arced, one-handed config

It’s been more than three years in the making and only now is it getting out to the public. Microsoft has been researching how to craft an entire on-screen smartphone keyboard fit for one-thumb use. The company sent out invitations for beta testers to try out the Word Flow keyboard on iOS just last week.

We now have snaps of what’s going on with that refined setup. Windows 10 Mobile and select Android OEM skins feature keyboards with compacted keys biased to one side of the screen, but this takes things to a natural level of thumb arcing. Word suggestions follow that arc, too.

Android peeps will eventually also get the Word Flow keyboard.

MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO 4 REVIEW

The original Surface Pro was bulky. Its battery was limited. The keyboard was annoying, the display wasn’t great, and performance was just okay. It was expensive. Worst of all, it was forced to run Windows 8, an awkward operating system poorly suited for dedicated touchscreen use.
Yet, for all its faults, the Surface Pro was also revolutionary.
If Microsoft was as stodgy as its reputation suggests, it would’ve given up on the Pro and set its sights on some other pie-in-the-sky project. Instead, it hunkered down, analyzed the problem, and tried again. And again. And again. After just two and a half years we’re now on the fourth iteration. On average, a new Pro has arrived every eight months.

Xbox One gets a permanent price drop, 1 TB internal storage, and an improved controller

Microsoft has confirmed rumors we reported last week that the Xbox One is getting an upgrade at this upcoming E3. As various leaks suggested, the newest version of the console will come with a 1 TB internal hard drive, doubling the baseline storage capacity of previous models. The new console (also sporting a classy, matte finish) will be available on June 16 for $400. For a limited time that will also include a bundled copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which definitively compiles the first four main entries in Bungie’s genre-defining first-person shooting franchise.

The new Windows Phone 10 preview includes Project Spartan and a ton of new apps

Things are looking up for Windows Phone, at least on the software side. Revamped Office applications will come to Microsoft’s tenacious smartphone OS soon, and Android app compatibility may very well be on the way. But dovetailing with those developments is the inarguably more exciting Windows Phone 10 Technical Preview, Microsoft’s very first beta for mobile. The program, which launched in February, has seen new firmware release at a steady clip, but the version released today is a step above. As detailed on the official Windows blog, Build 10051 includes Project Spartan and a bevy of refreshed apps, among them Mail, Calendar, Phone, Messaging, and People.
Project Spartan, for the uninitiated, is Microsoft’s ambitious reimagining of the default Windows browser. Positioned as a definitive replacement for Internet Explorer, it trades the company’s legacy skins and rendering engines with a modernized framework that will eventually support extensions, Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana, and a paired-down “reading mode” interface. This is the first we’ve seen of Project Spartan on mobile, and it seems a lot like its desktop counterpart — the streamlined UI carries over, as does the bookmarking Reading List feature. It isn’t replacing IE11 just yet — it’ll exist alongside the older browser for now — but Microsoft suggests pinning it to your Start Screen from the All Apps list for faster access.

While Microsoft’s Kinect sensor has never been an enormous hit among gamers, it has enjoyed much more popularity in other, more scientific areas. Now Microsoft has announced that, although the sensor will no longer be sold for Windows, developers don’t have to worry about its availability for the platform.
The past year has seen Microsoft consolidating many of its products and services, and this is another step in that direction. While the Kinect for Xbox One is popular with developers, the recent introduction of the Kinect Adapter has removed the need to sell a separate, Windows-only version. The adapter allows a Kinect for Xbox One to be connected to Windows 8 and 8.1 devices exactly as a Kinect for Windows v2 sensor would.

Windows 10: release date, price, news and features

Update: Following the January 21 event, check out our post-event chats with Microsoft execs, like CEO Satya Nadella sharing his thoughts on the nitty gritty of Windows 10, which you can read below. Plus, it looks like the next major Technical Preview build is just around the corner:

Why Satya Nadella wants you to love Windows 10
Read our interview with Terry Myerson to discover the fate of IE, RT and MSRP
With Windows 8 and now Windows 8.1, Microsoft tried – not entirely successfully – to make tablets part of a continuum that goes from number-crunching workstations and high-end gaming rigs through all-in-one touchscreen media systems and thin-and light notebooks down to slender touch tablets.

The general consensus is that it still has a long way to go to produce a unified OS. Recently, Microsoft publicly made the first steps to doing just that, with Windows 10. Skipping the Windows 9 name entirely, the Redmond, Wash. firm aims to step into the next generation of computing with the right foot forward.