Month: September 2024

Microsoft 365 explained: Office 365, rebranded and expanded

September 12, 2024 /

Microsoft 365 arrived to much fanfare at its launch in July 2017, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella promising a “fundamental departure” in how the company thinks about product creation. Seven years on, Microsoft 365 has become Microsoft’s core brand for workplace productivity software, having largely replaced Office 365 in this regard.

In that time, the breadth of apps and features in Microsoft 365 has grown, with new additions such as Lists, Loop, and various Viva apps available alongside Copilot, Microsoft’s generative AI assistant. The (at times perplexing) range of licensing options has also broadened, and many new features require extra fees over and above standard subscription costs.

“Microsoft would say it’s the foundation for modern work — it’s the centerpiece of their modern work business unit,” said Jason Wong, Gartner distinguished VP analyst and lead analyst for Microsoft. “Microsoft 365 is really a way to make the Office products more strategic as a set of technologies to empower ‘work hub’ activities.”

In this article:

  • What is Microsoft 365?
  • How many versions of M365 does Microsoft sell?
  • Can enterprise customers buy the M365 components separately?
  • What add-ons are available for M365?
  • How are M365 sales doing?
  • What are some of the newest M365 features?
  • What’s next for M365?
  • A Microsoft 365 glossary

What is Microsoft 365?

At its most basic, Microsoft 365 (M365) is a collection of Microsoft software and services sold as a subscription. Loosely, the term refers to a licensed suite of Microsoft productivity apps for document creation, collaboration, communication, and more, sometimes bundled with Windows and a variety of security and management tools. All M365 subscriptions include some version of the core Office apps: Word (document editing), Excel (spreadsheets), PowerPoint (presentations), and Outlook (email). But beyond that, the specific set of software and services included with each M365 plan varies wildly.

Since it’s sold as a subscription, Microsoft 365 incurs monthly or annual fees for each user. As long as the subscription is maintained, all software updates and upgrades, including new features, are included at no extra charge. Because that software is continuously refreshed, it is always supported by Microsoft. But if a customer stops paying for the subscription, the software eventually stops working.

Most apps in the Microsoft 365 suite are available as desktop applications you can install on Windows or macOS, mobile apps for Android or iOS, and web apps you use in a browser. Some of the more recent apps are web only, and some M365 subscriptions don’t include the desktop versions of the apps — all of which adds to the confusion over what Microsoft 365 means.

To understand how we got here, let’s take a step back and see how Microsoft 365 came to be.

It all begins with Microsoft’s decades-old Office suite. When it was introduced in 1988, Office packaged together the company’s three main productivity apps: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Over the years, Outlook, OneNote, and numerous other apps were added to the suite. Throughout the ’90s and ’00s, the Office suite was sold as “perpetually licensed” desktop software: you paid for the software once and didn’t pay again until you upgraded to a newer version of the suite, which was typically released every three years or so. You also didn’t get any new features until you upgraded to a new version of the suite, and eventually Microsoft would stop supporting the older software with security patches.

In 2010, the company introduced Office 365, a subscription version of Office for enterprises that incorporated Microsoft services such as Exchange and SharePoint. In subsequent years, Office 365 plans became available for smaller businesses and consumers, and the suite continued to expand, with notable additions including OneDrive, Teams, and Power BI. You can still buy the perpetually licensed version of Office — the current version is Office 2021, with Office 2024 coming in October — but the subscription model gradually overtook it in popularity.

Related: Microsoft 365 vs. Office 2021: How to choose

The Microsoft 365 subscription was introduced in 2017 as a higher-level offering for business and enterprise customers that bundled Office 365 with Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security, a suite of security and management tools. At that time, Office 365 subscriptions without those additions were still available for business and enterprise customers, and all consumer subscriptions still used the Office 365 moniker.

So far, so good. Then Microsoft muddied the waters in 2020 by slapping the Microsoft 365 branding on most of its Office 365 plans. At the enterprise level, the original Microsoft 365/Office 365 branding distinction remains: M365 plans include Windows, O365 plans don’t. But all small business and consumer plans are now called Microsoft 365, even though they don’t include Windows.

So when you hear “Microsoft 365,” you know it means a set of Microsoft’s popular productivity apps and services, but it could be anything from a small group of web-based apps for consumers to a soup-to-nuts enterprise package that includes licenses for Windows and a laundry list of Office apps on desktop, mobile, and web, plus an array of advanced storage, security, and management tools. (See the glossary at the end of this story for quick definitions of the product names for apps and services included with M365 plans.)

How many versions of M365 does Microsoft sell?

More than one and fewer than a score. The primary options are:

Microsoft 365 Enterprise: Available in E3 and E5 configurations for firms subscribing more than 300 employees in a plan. The E3 plan ($34/user/month) includes user licenses for Windows 11 Enterprise and a long list of Office apps on desktop, mobile, and web; services such as Exchange, SharePoint, and OneDrive; 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage; and core security and identity management tools. The E5 plan ($55/user/month) adds advanced security, compliance, and analytics tools.

(All prices are shown in US dollars; prices may vary in other countries.)

Office 365 Enterprise: No, these technically aren’t Microsoft 365 plans, but organizations with more than 300 users should be aware that they are still available (for now, at least). Available in E1, E3, and E5 configurations with costs ranging from $8/user/month to $36/user/month, these plans are similar to the M365 Enterprise subscriptions but do not include Windows licenses.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, and Premium: Suitable for small and midsize companies, the plans have a hard limit of 300 seats and cost from $6/user/month to $22/user/month. The Basic level includes only the web and mobile versions of Office apps, along with 1TB of OneDrive storage and key business services including SharePoint and Exchange. The Standard plan adds the desktop apps and a few additional apps such as Clipchamp and Loop. The Premium package includes advanced security and access management features. Unlike the enterprise M365 plans, these small-business plans currently include Teams, Microsoft’s chat and videoconferencing app.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business and Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise: The “just the apps” version of Microsoft 365 for small businesses ($8.25/user/month) includes the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook desktop apps and 1TB of OneDrive storage. The enterprise version ($12/user/month) includes several more Office apps and enterprise-grade security, management, and compliance tools.

Microsoft 365 F1 and F3: Targeted at frontline workers — the employees who ring up sales, take calls, or work on factory floors or in the field — these less-expensive bundles (from $2/user/month to $8/user/month, depending on whether Teams is included) offer enterprise-grade security but rely on web-based and mobile apps.

Microsoft 365 Education, Microsoft 365 Government, Microsoft 365 Nonprofit: Various subscription plans with varying blends of Windows 11, Office apps, and associated tools at prices suitable for each market (including a donated license for nonprofits). Government plans, for example, offer several compliance levels to meet regulatory requirements.

Microsoft 365 Family, Personal, Basic, and Free: These consumer plans range from free (really!) to $100 per year. The free tier demonstrates just how much the company has diluted its Microsoft 365 brand: it’s limited to a handful of web and mobile apps, includes just 5GB of cloud storage, and uses an ad-supported version of Outlook. The Basic plan adds more storage and an ad-free version of Outlook, while the Personal plan offers the desktop Office apps 1TB of cloud storage. The Family plan is meant for up to six users and offers 6TB of cloud storage.

For help using Microsoft 365 apps, see our extensive collection of M365 tutorials.

Can enterprise customers buy the M365 components separately?

Yes. Microsoft continues to sell Windows 11 Enterprise E3 and E5, Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS), and services such as Exchange Online and SharePoint Online à la carte. And the aforementioned Office 365 and Microsoft Apps for Enterprise plans offer subsets of the complete M365 Enterprise packages.

Buying all the contents of a Microsoft 365 subscription separately is almost always more expensive — just as buying each issue of a magazine (remember magazines?) individually is more expensive than a subscription. But the option may be attractive to customers who don’t want to commit to all things Microsoft.

As an example, EMS E5, the priciest plan for that part of the M365 bundle, runs more than $16 per user per month. In some cases, organizations can purchase the individual parts of just that leg of M365. Again, citing EMS E5, customers can buy bits separately, such as Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and Intune.

What add-ons are available for M365?

There are many.

Following an EU antitrust investigation, Microsoft no longer includes its collaboration app Teams in enterprise Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscriptions for new business customers. Microsoft initially unbundled Teams from its Office suites in the EU, then subsequently opted to remove Teams from M365 and O365 bundles for customers globally too. This means enterprise customers must pay an additional $5.25/user/month for Teams Enterprise.

(Teams is still included with M365 Business, Education, Government, and Nonprofit plans, and M365 F1 and F3 customers can choose between plans with Teams bundled or omitted.)

That’s just one example: there’s a large and growing list of optional paid M365 apps and features, many of which are not included in even the most expensive E5 subscription tier. These add-ons can quickly bump up monthly costs.

Copilot for M365 is one such example; the AI assistant costs an extra $30/user/month on top of enterprise and small-business M365 subscriptions. Other add-ons include custom app builder Power Apps Premium ($20/user/month for less than 2,000 seats; $12/user/month for more) and analytics tool Power BI Premium ($20/user/month).

There’s also a Teams add-on package, Teams Premium, which provides access to several features not included in the core app for an additional $10/user/month (currently on offer for $7/user/month). This includes live caption translations, custom branding in Teams meeting “lobbies,” AI-generated tasks and notes, end-to-end encryption for group calls, and more.

Microsoft has also introduced premium add-on packages branded as “suites.”

Take Microsoft Viva, for instance, the set of employee experience applications that includes Viva Learning, Viva Engage, Viva Connections, Viva Glint, and more. While certain features of each Viva are available within most enterprise M365 subscriptions, others can be purchased individually (Viva Glint, for example) or via one of three Viva add-on bundle tiers. Viva Suite is the most comprehensive of these, with access to all the Viva features for an extra $12/user/month.

Entra Suite, a collection of identity and access tools, and Intune Suite for endpoint management and security are other examples of bundled add-ons available for additional monthly fees.

Such is the range of optional extras now available that rumors abound that Microsoft is gearing up introduce a new licensing tier — presumably called E7 — that would make all or most of these additional features available for a single monthly fee. Analysts at Directions on Microsoft have written about this on multiple occasions.

Whether or not Microsoft introduces an E7 tier, “we are clearly headed to a place where Microsoft expects customers to buy services above and beyond even Microsoft 365 E5,” said Wesley Miller, research analyst at Directions on Microsoft.

How are M365 sales doing?

It’s hard to say exactly, since the definition of Microsoft 365 is so nebulous and Microsoft itself doesn’t distinguish between M365 and O365 subscriptions in its sales and customer adoption figures.

At a high level, the best indication is that there are now more than 400 million paid Office 365 seats globally; that’s according to the most recent figures announced in Microsoft’s Q2 FY24 earnings in January this year. It’s not clear what proportion are M365 customers specifically.

As a rough comparison, Google’s Workspace software suite, M365’s closest competitor, has 10 million “paying customers,” the company said in August last year. These stats may include paid consumer as well as business subscriptions, and it’s not clear if “paying customers” refers to individual seats or whole companies.

Microsoft does provide some figures around commercial adoption of M365 and O365 that offer at least a glimpse into how the suites are faring in the business world. For instance, the company announced last year that 11 million small to medium businesses are using M365, and there have been some notable enterprise customer deals in the past year or so — Microsoft pointed to oil and gas firm BP and financial services giant ING Bank as two E5 customer wins in its Q2 FY24 results, for example, while Amazon reportedly agreed to a $1 billion deal last year for one million M365 licenses over a five-year period.

Convincing customers to move to the highest E5 tier is central to Microsoft’s revenue growth plans for M365. “We see Microsoft heavily pushing E5 upon renewal to sell more security and governance and other features,” said Gartner’s Wong. “Growing revenue means moving clients to these higher-value, higher-cost bundles.”

Miller from Directions on Microsoft agreed. “Microsoft is adding new features to lots of services this year — but most require licensing a higher tier for all users than most orgs are used to or may be comfortable [with],” he said.

The number of paid Office 365 commercial seats rose 7% year on year, according to Microsoft’s Q4 FY24 financial results in August, with Office 365 commercial revenues up 13% year on year during this time. Again, it’s not clear what portion of these are O365 vs. M365 customers, or what portion are enterprise vs. small business.

It’s also possible to gauge how some of the other components of M365 are faring. The EMS installed base is up to 281 million, said Microsoft CFO Amy Hood in the Q4 investor call. And Windows 11 adoption continues to grow, accounting for around 31% of Windows desktops globally, according to StatCounter, though it’s still some way off Windows 10 adoption (65%).

Although Gartner notes business clients’ interest in other productivity suites besides Microsoft 365 — Google Workspace in particular — M365 is “a dominant player” in the market, said Wong, with an entrenched position in the enterprise, thanks in part to its legacy of on-premises Office use.

It’s not just Google, of course. Microsoft faces competition from a variety of sources: Slack, Zoom, Notion, Zoho, and a variety of others offer alternatives to M365, either rivalling individual M365 apps, or — as is increasingly the case — broadening their product sets with a view of becoming the main hub for digital work at customer organizations.

That doesn’t necessarily affect Microsoft, though — businesses will often deploy multiple tools to cater to various parts of their workforce. “Usually it’s not either/or,” said Wong. “For a lot of these tools, it’s coexistence rather than displacement.”

What are some of the newest M365 features?

The integration of Copilot across M365 apps has undoubtedly been the major focus for Microsoft in the past couple of years. It’s rare to see a product news update on the Microsoft 365 blog that doesn’t reference the AI assistant in some way.

Recent features additions include a new Team Copilot that provides AI assistance in group meetings and makes suggestions for task management; Copilot Studio for customizing Copilots in M365; access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo model; and the general availability of Microsoft’s Designer AI image generator.

Other new apps and features include Mesh immersive meetings for Teams, Places for hybrid work coordination, and a UI refresh for the Loop collaboration app.

What’s next for M365?

Whether or not Microsoft will add a new licensing tier that offers access to the various premium M365 add-ons remains to be seen. As Directions on Microsoft analysts have noted, it may be more lucrative for Microsoft to continue with its current approach. But with so many new features available outside of E5 subscriptions, it’s likely that speculation along these lines will continue.

As for M365 products, given Microsoft’s huge investment in integrating Copilot across the app suite, it seems fair to assume that the AI assistant will continue to be at the center of the company’s plans for some time. That’s despite question marks that remain over the scale of business and employee interest in Copilot for M365, the propensity for the AI assistant to hallucinate, and how businesses can deploy the AI assistant without compromising sensitive data.

“The question is: can they make Copilot the center of activity like they make Teams or Outlook the center of activity?” said Wong. “How can Copilot be the orchestrator, the starting point for organizations that want to interact with AI and genAI workloads? That will really be the key.”

A Microsoft 365 glossary

Browsing through M365 plans and add-ons turns up a bewildering list of included apps and services. Here’s a very brief guide to what the main product names mean.

Core M365 apps and services

  • Word: word processing app
  • Excel: spreadsheet app
  • PowerPoint: presentation app
  • Outlook: email, calendar, and contacts app
  • OneNote: notes app
  • Teams: group chat and video meeting app (not included with enterprise plans)
  • OneDrive: cloud storage with versions available for both individuals and corporate users
  • SharePoint: business/enterprise platform for shared content, sites, and apps
  • Exchange: hosting/management service for business/enterprise email, calendar, and contacts
  • Windows: desktop operating system (included only with M365 E3 and E5 plans)

Additional M365 apps and services (not included with all plans)

  • Access: database creation app (Windows only)
  • Bookings: appointment scheduling and management app
  • Clipchamp: video editing app
  • Delve: search app for M365 (will be discontinued Dec. 16, 2024)
  • Forms: survey and form creation app
  • Lists: spreadsheet/work tracking app
  • Loop: shared workspace app
  • Publisher: desktop publishing app (Windows only, will be discontinued Oct. 2026)
  • Planner: work management app
  • Power Apps: low-code development platform
  • Power Automate: workflow automation app
  • Power BI Pro: analytics and data visualization app
  • Stream: enterprise video streaming and sharing platform
  • Sway: publishing app for presentations, reports, newsletters
  • Teams Phone: enterprise telephony service for Microsoft Teams (requires additional monthly fee per user)
  • To Do: task management app
  • Visio: diagram and vector graphics app
  • Viva Amplify: employee communication management app
  • Viva Connections: intranet app
  • Viva Engage (formerly Yammer): enterprise social network app
  • Viva Glint: organization-wide employee feedback/survey app
  • Viva Goals: objective setting and tracking app
  • Viva Insights: productivity and wellbeing analytics app
  • Viva Learning: learning and development app
  • Viva Pulse: self-service employee feedback app for team leads

Security and management tools (not included with all plans)

  • Defender: set of enterprise security apps and services, or a security app for consumers
  • Entra: set of enterprise identity and access management tools, includes Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory)
  • Intune: set of enterprise endpoint management tools
  • Priva: set of enterprise data privacy management tools
  • Purview: set of enterprise data governance, security, risk, and compliance tools

This article was originally published in May 2018 and updated in September 2024.

How iOS 18 can help you at work

September 11, 2024 /

Beyond the Writing Tools coming in Apple Intelligence, significantly faster processors, and the luxurious look of the iPhone 16 Pro models, there was little of explicit interest for enterprise users at Apple’s Monday product launch. Sure, the new iPhones are better in a multitude of ways, but it’s the platform — in this case, iOS 18 — that remains the key selling point for business professionals.

Here’s a rundown of some of the ways iOS 18 will help users get more done.

For many, iPhone 16 is a software story

We now know Apple will introduce iOS 18, the software that runs Apple’s devices and supports iPhones, on Monday, Sept. 16. When it does, it will also ship an iOS 17.7 update for customers who don’t yet want to upgrade to the new mobile operating system. 

With interest in Apple Intelligence running high (even though it won’t arrive til later this fall), enterprise purchasers should note the products removed from sale as Apple introduced its new iPhones. These include the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 13. (The company still sells the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 15, and iPhone 15 Plus.) It’s likely Apple will add additional models (such as the iPhone XR) to its vintage and discontinued products list in the coming months.

This is a fairly standard cadence, but it is important to note that only the iPhone 15 Pro devices and iPhone 16 range will run Apple Intelligence. Apple usually provides service and parts for five to seven years, but the move to Apple Intelligence means some users (including enterprise customers) will find they must invest in more recent devices to use it.

They might want to bite the hardware bullet. Apple Intelligence provides several useful business tools, including powerful writing tools and contextual intelligence applied in useful ways (in Mail or Calendar, for example) to help busy professionals stay on top of things. Some may choose to use these tools on other Apple devices, as they are just as useful on a Mac. 

Otherwise, iOS 18 provides a grab bag of enterprise-useful improvements that don’t require the latest hardware. As it usually does, Apple has tweaked a feast of items across its operating system, and published a PDF containing 250 of these improvements.

Better for calls

While many younger employees may prefer messaging, phone calls remain critical in business, and iOS 18 has a range of improvements that can help:

Available for the iPhone 12 or newer, live audio transcription makes it possible to record audio within Notes or during a Phone app call from within the app. When you record a call, a warning message will let others know you are doing so. The conversation will be automatically transcribed and made searchable.

You can also search call history, dial smarter, and switch SIM cards more easily. If you use AirPods Pro you’ll benefit from much improved voice isolation through advanced computational audio. Finally, if you use messages for business communications, you can now also schedule messages as well as emails for despatch at a certain time. And RCS is now supported.

Better for missed calls

It would be nice if operators would expedite support for Live Voicemail. When you miss a call, this generates a real-time transcription of the message someone is leaving you as they speak – you can physically see it on your iPhone screen. It helps you stay focused while remaining responsive to important communications.

With iOS 18, Live Voicemail will gain support for additional languages and countries, including English (UK, Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Puerto Rico), Spanish (US, Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Mandarin (China, Taiwan, Macao), Cantonese (China, Hong Kong, Macao), and Portuguese (Brazil).

Cross-platform password management

The new Passwords app essentially revamps a service already available on iOS, surfacing it to make it easier. The app will sync and be made available across all your devices, including Windows systems. Combined with MDM tools, this facilitates provisioning, while maintaining the secure end-to-end encryption for which Apple is famous. The Passwords app makes it easy to search for the right account, while passwords will automatically be added to the app. Developers also gain an automatic passkey upgrade API to create a passkey when someone signs in to your app to let then know the passkey was saved.

Because some apps need to be secret

One feature that might be useful to some business users lets you lock and hide apps. A locked app gains an additional verification step that requires a passcode, FaceID or TouchID authorization before it can be opened. That’s good, but for enterprise app developers it’s important to note that information from a locked app cannot then be surfaced for use elsewhere on the system, including in search. You can also hide apps from view.

What time was I meant to be where?

While Apple Intelligence promises some excellent contextual AI features, Apple has also looked to the basics of its Calendar app. This now provides a redesigned month view to help you achieve a better overview of what’s coming up. Integration between Calendar and Reminders has also improved, so you can create Reminder app interactions from inside Calendar. This small but significant improvement should help dramatically reduce the number of missed appointments.   

A Lock Screen that works for you

While users might enjoy swapping out the flashlight or Camera app triggers from the Lock Screen for other apps, developers will want to tweak their apps for easier use from that screen using Apple’s new Controls API. App Intents will enable Siri to handle many more actions, so your enterprise warehousing app might end up being fully voice-controlled, for example, enabled by a single tap on that Lock Screen button.

Please follow me on LinkedIn, Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill group on MeWe.

What does Qualcomm’s interest in buying Intel’s chip design business mean for the future of PCs?

September 11, 2024 /

Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, and Apple have been in a fierce battle for domination of the chip market for AI PCs, which are touted as the future of computing.

Further ramping up competition in this fiery landscape, Qualcomm has reportedly explored buying portions of Intel’s design business, most notably client PC design, as Intel looks to spin off units ahead of an upcoming board meeting, anonymous sources told Reuters.

While it is said to have been considering an acquisition for months, Qualcomm has not formally approached Intel, the sources said.

“If Qualcomm makes this move, it could mark a significant shift in the balance of power in the PC chip market, potentially setting the stage for a more competitive landscape driven by AI-focused innovation,” said Scott Dylan, founder of NexaTech Ventures.

It would ultimately be a win for Qualcomm’s strategy to diversify beyond mobile chipsets, he added, “but it may also signal Intel’s retreat from its once-dominant position in the semiconductor market.”

Moving beyond a ‘saturated’ smartphone market

Qualcomm is most known for its smartphone chips, serving some of the biggest names in the market, such as Samsung, but it has continued to push hard into the chip market for AI PCs, and is taking direct aim at Intel as the company continues to struggle. Unlike Intel and AMD, with their x86-based architectures, Qualcomm offers ARM-powered chips, which are said to have better power efficiency and battery life — somewhere between 18 and 20 hours.

The company recently announced its PC processor, Snapdragon X Plus 8-core, which it said is designed for PCs as inexpensive as $700. It also entered into an exclusive partnership with Microsoft, with the computer giant’s Copilot+ PCs featuring Qualcomm’s X Series chips. Intel and AMD are not yet featured in these PCs.

“That gives Qualcomm a couple quarters of lead,” said Mario Morales, IDC’s group VP for enabling technologies and semiconductors. Still, he emphasized, “Qualcomm has an early lead, but it’s a long race.”

In an interview with CNBC, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said that the PC market is changing “fundamentally” due to the convergence of AI and desktop devices, and also because people expect the same performance from their computers as they get from their phones.

The company is probing the space because the smartphone market has become so saturated, Morales explained. Qualcomm is dominant in that market and is seeking out areas for growth and diversification. AI PCs are becoming increasingly important and “you cannot be a key semiconductor player and not get into the space,” said Morales.

Intel continues to struggle

Just last week, Intel announced its Core Ultra 200V line of processors, formerly Lunar Lake, to help keep Qualcomm and AMD at bay and maintain its share of PC chips and the laptop market. The processor line is designed to meet Microsoft’s requirements for powering a Copilot+ PC. Microsoft has said Core Ultra 200V, as well as AMD’s Ryzen AI 300, will likely be able to run apps on the PC as early as November.

“That way they can be AI PCs, not just AI-enabled,” Morales explained.

However, Intel’s stock is approaching record lows, and it has reduced staff by 15% and paused dividend payments. Its CEO, Pat Gelsinger, and other top execs are looking to trim operations, which could include the sale of its programmable chip unit, Altera. Morales explained that Intel has also recently gone through restructuring, splitting its design and products business from its manufacturing business.

“This is why you’re seeing the rumors going, because of that split,” said Morales.

Battery life has been a significant hurdle for Intel’s laptop chips, but in testing, the company said the Core Ultra 200V performs better than both Qualcomm’s and AMD’s chips. Intel calls the series the “latest evolution of AI PCs.”

ARM taking aim at x86

x86 (the architecture used by Intel and AMD) is the standard in the PC space today, comprising about 90% of the market (the remaining 10% is ARM-based), Morales explained. With this architecture, most components have separate chips (controllers), allowing them to be changed without impacting connectivity or the larger platform.

ARM (Qualcomm’s architecture), in contrast, does not have a separate CPU. The benefits of this architecture are lower power consumption and a longer battery life. This is “pretty compelling,” said Morales. However, x86 architecture has supported the PC market for decades.

“ARM Is still fairly new,” Morales explained. “What separates x86 from ARM is that legacy; x86 architecture will continue to play an important role in data centers and PCs.”

Yes, there have been gains for ARM, he noted, but those have so far been minimal. The architecture is “more pervasive” in other markets, including networking, storage, and embedded technologies.

It’s unclear what Qualcomm’s intentions would be around architecture: Should it acquire parts of Intel’s design business, would it seek to dominate both ARM and x86, or attempt to stifle the latter?

Morales, for his part, said: “Both architectures could have a position in the market. That’s been the case for the last few years.”

A fundamental pivot in the semiconductor space

Morales pointed out that Intel has a “very strong play in the enterprise. That enterprise play is what Qualcomm lacks today,” he said.

It’s highly unlikely that these rumors will come to fruition, he forecast — but if Qualcomm is eyeing Intel, it would more likely be interested in the company’s data center and networking segments than its design units.

In any case, it could signal a “broader strategic pivot” taking place in the semiconductor space, said Dylan.

“This move isn’t just about Qualcomm bolstering its existing portfolio; it’s a sign that the market is moving towards a more fragmented and specialized approach to chip design,” he said, pointing out that Intel’s struggles to generate cash and the 8% decline in its PC client business indicate that its PC division isn’t as central to its future as it once was.

“Qualcomm could potentially accelerate its move into the PC space, especially in AI-driven computing, which both companies are eyeing as the next frontier,” Dylan said.

Microsoft starts to force update Windows 11 computers to 23H2

September 11, 2024 /

Computers running an older version of Windows 11 will soon receive a forced update to version 23H2, according to Bleeping Computer.

Support for Windows 11 22H2 ends Oct. 8, and Microsoft argues users need to update to a newer version to gain access to important security fixes. By moving to Windows 11 version 23H2, users get continued access to support and monthly updates, Microsoft said in a message on the Microsoft 365 message center.

Also coming this fall: Windows 11 version 24H2.

Will potential security gaps derail Microsoft’s Copilot?

September 11, 2024 /

Microsoft has bet big on Copilot, the generative AI (genAI) assistant it’s integrating into nearly its entire product line, notably Microsoft 365. The company believes businesses of all sizes will buy into the productivity gains the tool might deliver — and in so doing, deliver billions of dollars to Microsoft’s bottom line. 

As evidence, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently said sales of Copilot for Microsoft 365 were up 60% in the last quarter alone and that the number of Copilot for Microsoft 365 customers with more than 10,000 seats doubled in that same period.

Copilot for Microsoft 365, he said, “is on a growth rate that’s faster than any other previous generation of software we launched” for the office suite.

That’s certainly good news for Microsoft. But there may be bumps in the road ahead. Researchers and analysts are warning about a variety of serious Copilot security problems, especially for enterprises that use it in concert with Microsoft 365. Gartner has weighed in with its own security warnings and at least one researcher says companies are already shying away from buying Copilot because of it. 

Are the security woes overstated, or does Microsoft have a real problem on its hands? 

Here’s what companies need to keep in mind as they eye deployment.

Data access: Copilot for Microsoft 365’s main problem

Many of the potentially serious security issues with Copilot start with what kind of access the genAI tool is given to corporate data, and how that access can be misused by hackers, or even by people within a company. 

Ivan Fioravanti, co-founder and CTO for CoreView, which focuses on Microsoft 365 management configuration and security, notes in a blog post that when a company installs Copilot for Microsoft 365, it gets the same permissions model for data access already in place for Microsoft 365. That model, he says, is designed to ensure “only authorized users can interact with sensitive information.”

However, there are security gaps enterprises could easily miss. Fioravanti warns that risky Copilot configuration settings could be enabled by default. These settings can give Copilot “access to sensitive data without appropriate safeguards in place. Default settings could allow Copilot to interact with external plugins and access web content, introducing new attack surfaces.”

Beyond that, Copilot reporting tools are insufficient “to identify potential areas of concern, such as users accessing sensitive data inappropriately,” he warns. “…Copilot can inadvertently expose existing security gaps, making it easier for users to discover and share information they shouldn’t have access to.” 

Overall, he concludes, “Copilot’s broad access to data across Microsoft 365 creates additional security risks. If a user’s account is compromised, an attacker could leverage Copilot to extract confidential information. The AI models powering Copilot also present potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited.”

Fioravanti is not alone in his concerns. Gartner points out many of the same issues. And it adds one more: Copilot “has inherent risks of being susceptible to prompt injection attacks, generating undesired output including hallucinations, toxic content or copyright-protected materials.”

Prompt injection attacks, can do even worse than that. A hacker who gains access to Copilot for Microsoft 365 could use prompts to find private company data and steal it. A prompt injection attack could also create and execute malicious code without detection. And it could allow hackers to impersonate someone in a company with high-level access to sensitive information and use that information for nefarious purposes.

Are companies already shying away?

There’s some evidence companies may well already be avoiding Copilot for Microsoft 365 because of potential security woes.

Jack Berkowitz, chief data officer of the security firm Securiti, warns that in large companies with complex permissions rules, employees often have access to information that should be off limits because of “conflicting authorizations or conflicting access to data.” Copilot makes it easier for hackers to get that information because they only need prompts to find it.

Berkowitz argues that security problems associated with Copilot are causing companies to pause their use of the product. “A few weeks ago,” he says, “we hosted a little dinner in New York, and we just asked this question of 20-plus CDOs [chief data officers] in New York City of the biggest companies, ‘Hey, is this an issue?’ 

“And the resounding response was, ‘Yeah, it’s a real mess.'”

According to Berkowitz, half of the businesses at the dinner had cut back or halted a Copilot for Microsoft 365 implementation because of security fears.

What’s next?

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is so new that it’s difficult at this point to tell whether the security concerns are overstated or understated and whether they’re actually making companies leery of adopting it. 

But Microsoft needs to address the issue quickly. The US House of Representatives has banned congressional staffers from using it because the Office of Cybersecurity has said it poses a risk of leaking sensitive government data. (That mirrors the warning from Gartner.) 

As I’ve written before, Microsoft doesn’t have a stellar record when it comes to security. This time around, it has to get security right. The company is the world leader in AI. Security woes could change that. 

Microsoft is working on an AI suite aimed at government agencies, and is apparently taking security into account. That’s a good initial step. But it’s only a small one. If it doesn’t quickly fix Copilot’s AI security issues, it could find itself a laggard in field, not the world leader. 

The dueling realities of Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold

September 11, 2024 /

For the past several days, I’ve been living in The Future™.

Well, okay — I guess it depends which version of The Future™ you want to use:

  • There’s the hardware-centric definition we here in the land o’ Android have been eyeing for a while now, in which unusual phone forms (allegedly) guide us to staggering new levels of superhuman productivity.
  • And then there’s the more recent software-centric vision of The Future™, where all sorts of heavily hyped AI sorcery (supposedly) sends us soaring to previously unimaginable heights.

Technically, I’ve been dwelling in both of those domains. But only one of them actually matters. (Sorry, AI sorcery.)

It’s all part of the wild adventure of living with Google’s shiny new Pixel 9 Pro Fold phone — better known to Android aficionados as the Pixel Fold 2, following last year’s first-ever foray into folding Pixel waters.

In case you don’t come to these quarters often, lemme tell ya: I’ve got a relatively unusual perspective on this relatively unusual Pixel experience. I’ve used Pixels since the very first model, way back in the prehistoric era of 2016, and I toted around an assortment of other Android devices before that (including more than my fair share of Google-made Nexus goodies). I spent tons of time with the first-gen Pixel Fold last year and had been living with the other new Pixel 9 devices prior to moving into this fresh new Fold — provided to me as a loaner from Google — two weeks ago.

And this latest folding Pixel journey, my fellow gadget explorer, has been a particularly enlightening experience — for two curiously competing reasons I find myself struggling to square.

[Got a Pixel? Any Pixel? Check out my free Pixel Academy e-course to find all sorts of useful new stuff your phone can do for you — no matter which specific Pixel you’ve got in your paws!]

Let me explain.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold reality #1: The productivity power-up

First up is the positive side of using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold — and my goodness, is it a big one.

I won’t beat around the bush: This phone is fantastic. It’s a true treat to use, and once you get past the adjustment of working with such a different type of device, you’re bound to fall in love with the form and the many advantages it affords you.

What makes the Pixel 9 Pro Fold so exceptional is actually amusingly ironic — and that’s the fact that, for the most part, it feels more or less like using any regular ol’ Pixel.

In a sharp and immediately noticeable contrast to last year’s first-gen Pixel Fold (and an even more dramatic contrast to the most popular U.S. foldables of the moment, made by Samsung), using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in most day-to-day contexts really isn’t all that different from using its Pixel 9 Pro XL sibling. You have the same best-in-class, unmuddled Android software (and the same unmatched promise of timely and reliable ongoing updates for a full seven years to come) along with all the same Pixel-exclusive additions — everything from the game-changing Pixel calling features to the newer Call Notes system and the spectacular system-wide screenshot-connected reminder setup (which you can emulate on any Android device but in a far less simple and seamless way).

And, critically, the phone is almost identical in size to its non-folding counterpart — all the way down to the screen on its outer surface. This is in large part due to the refinements Google made from the first-gen Pixel Fold to this current model, which brought it from being a rather short and squat (and more than a little chunky) square fella to boasting a far more typical-feeling elongated rectangle form.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Google Pixel Fold
Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold, at left, with the much squatter first-gen Pixel Fold behind it.

JR Raphael, IDG

Make no mistake about it: That outer display is almost certainly how you’ll be interacting with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold most of the time. I’d say it’s at least 95%, for me — maybe even more, on some days. And from that perspective, using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is virtually no different from using any other current Pixel. (That’s a good thing!)

Where the Fold differs from those other Pixels, of course, is with the extra option it gives you to unfold it and enjoy the spacious 8″ tablet that awaits within. That’ll likely make up a small minority of your time using the device, but when the right sorts of moments arise, you’d better believe that matters.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Google Pixel Fold (open)
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold atop last year’s Pixel Fold, in their fully opened forms.

JR Raphael, IDG

In short, that possibility strips away many of the standard limitations of using a phone-sized device and gives you a more desktop-like computing experience — which, suffice it to say, can be a massive asset when it comes to work-oriented, productivity-centric tasks.

For instance:

  • You can view two apps side by side, on-screen together and at their full regular sizes, and then interact with ’em at the same time — even dragging and dropping text or images between ’em in certain scenarios.
    • I’ve used this to do things like look at a note in Google Keep while working on a related email or document — or glance through a web page while simultaneously working with an email or document.
  • You can also summon a splendid floating taskbar that makes it delightfully easy to switch between apps and multitask when in that folded-out form. This was my favorite part of the original Pixel Fold experience, and it remains every bit as much of a highlight in this new second-gen version of the device.
    • The taskbar not only lets you move between apps with ease — it also empowers you to tap into that so often underutilized Android split-screen system that’s especially advantageous in this larger-screen environment. All you’ve gotta do is press and hold any icon from that area and then drag it up into either side of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s screen to open the app alongside whatever else you were already using.
srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=289%2C300&quality=50&strip=all 289w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=162%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 162w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=81%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 81w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=463%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 463w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=347%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 347w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=241%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 241w" width="600" height="622" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px">
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s taskbar makes Android-based multitasking easier than ever.

JR Raphael, IDG

It’s smart, simple, and almost painfully sensible. My only complaint is that the same option isn’t available on the Fold’s outer display — or on any other regularly sized Android phone, where it’d be every bit as useful and appreciated.

Beyond those types of tasks, the Fold’s inner display is nice for moments when you simply want to lean back and have more space for anything you’re doing — be it reading on the web or within an app, catching up on newsletters inside your inbox, or scrolling through photos in your gallery collection. It’s also a pleasant way to view videos in a larger size or view videos while you’re simultaneously working on something in an almost laptop-like setup.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold split screen
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, unfolded — now, that’s what you call mobile multitasking.

JR Raphael, IDG

Again, this isn’t stuff you’re likely to be doing all the time or even necessarily often. But when the need or desire arises, it really is a welcome advantage to be able to pop your phone open and make the most of that added space — and since the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is otherwise so similar to a standard smartphone experience, it’s an advantage you can enjoy without too many downsides (something that certainly hasn’t been the case with most foldables up ’til now).

That being said, you do give some things up in order to gain that advantage — and that’s where those dueling realities come into play.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold reality #2: The back-to-normal relief

For all the positives of living with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold — and there absolutely are a lot of ’em! — I’ve gotta be honest: I’ve found myself slightly relieved when I move back to the regular Pixel 9 Pro XL after an extended period of relying entirely on the Fold in my day-to-day escapades.

In some ways, it’s a difficult sensation to quantify. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold really is just barely thicker than the regular Pixel 9 models. By all counts, the practical impact should be negligible.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold next to the more traditional Pixel 9 Pro XL.

JR Raphael, IDG

And yet, there’s a definite difference in what it’s like to hold, carry, and use the Fold compared to the more traditional Pixel 9 model. It’s heavier. It feels different in your hand. And its outer display — the one you look at most often — isn’t quite as spacious, sharp, or pleasant on the eyes as what you get with the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
Two Pixel 9 Pro phones — two very different forms and experiences, despite their similarities.

JR Raphael, IDG

It’s a subtle distinction, without a doubt. But it’s one I very much find myself noticing in going back and forth between the devices.

Beyond that, you also sacrifice a certain amount of camera quality with the Fold compared to the regular Pixel 9 Pro. I wouldn’t let yourself get weighed down with the nitty-gritty of the numbers behind the technology, but the Fold’s camera setup is definitely a slight step down from what the other Pixel 9 Pro models are a-packin’.

That being said, I don’t think it’ll be much of a realistic issue for most people — outside of anyone who’s extremely focused on the nuances of camera quality or who’s putting photos under the microscope to seek out and study the differences.

Here, for example, are some photos I took on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold during a quick trip to Chicago last week. They’re straight from the phone’s camera, without any editing or post-capture adjustments. The final photo uses the Fold’s telephoto lens for some serious zooming action. (Bonus points if you can identify the band!)

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera (1)
Downtown Chicago at dusk, as captured on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

JR Raphael, IDG

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera (2)
A darker nighttime shot taken on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

JR Raphael, IDG

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera (3)
Challenging concert lighting, photographed on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

JR Raphael, IDG

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera (4)
Extreme zooming action, courtesy of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s telephoto lens.

JR Raphael, IDG

So, yeah: The image quality here is generally quite solid, and I really don’t think most folks will be left wanting for anything when it comes to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s photo prowess.

But still, there’s no denying it’s a step behind the regular Pixel 9 Pro when you tune in closely to the details. And the same can be said for the phone’s front-facing selfie cameras, which are significantly behind the regular 9 Pro’s upgraded lenses in that area.

Beyond that, the Fold model of the Pixel 9 Pro omits the thermometer built into the other Pixel 9 Pro models — an element that seemed silly when it first debuted with last year’s Pixel 8 series but that’s since grown into a genuinely useful addition and something I very much value, now that it supports actual human temperature-taking (hello, my fellow parents!).

And, of course, the Pixel 9 Pro comes at a literal cost — $700 more than you’d pay for the base-level regular 9 Pro XL model, at $1,800 compared to $1,100 for the Pixel 9 Pro XL (which is most similar in size; if you went with the smaller Pixel 9 Pro, you’d be looking at $1,000 instead).

Last but not least, while I certainly haven’t had any causes for concern in my limited time with the phone so far, there’s no getting around the fact that a folding screen raises more questions around durability than what you’d face with a standard phone display — and while the technology has already come a long way in its relatively short existence, it stands to reason that a folding phone may (a) be more likely to fail or incur damage during the time that you’re using it and (b) have a shorter lifespan in general, compared to a phone with fewer moving parts and a non-bending screen.

Again, I’ve seen no real cause for concern so far, and reports from the first-gen Pixel Fold over the past year are encouraging. But I’d be remiss not to at least mention this as a factor to keep in mind when considering the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and how it might (or might not) fit into your life, particularly if you plan to hang onto the thing for more than a few years.

So, how do we put these competing views together — and is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold the right phone for you?

I wish I had an easy universal answer. But ultimately, it all comes down to your personal priorities and what sort of smartphone experience you’re looking to have. Specifically…

The Pixel 9: To Fold or not to Fold?

If someone were asking me if they should buy the Pixel 9 Pro Fold today, I would give them three key nuggets to chew over:

  1. The Fold truly is a fantastic phone.
  2. It offers up an experience like no other, with all the standard Google Pixel advantages and some useful, interesting, and extraordinarily enjoyable new twists provided by the thoughtful folding form. No exaggeration: It’ll be the most fun and exciting phone you’ve purchased in ages, and especially if you find yourself tending to work-related tidbits on the go throughout your days, it’ll make your life easier in some very meaningful ways.
  3. It’ll also, however, cost you — both in terms of the extra dollars you’ll pay for the privilege of owning such a cutting-edge device and as far as the minor but not entirely insignificant sacrifices you’ll make when it comes to factors like comfort, camera and display quality, and the presence of an on-demand thermometer (if that holds any manner of appeal for you).

All in all, then, I’d say this:

  • For most high-end phone buyers right now, the Pixel 9 Pro or Pixel 9 Pro XL is the real sweet spot — with a phenomenal all-around experience and a balance of cost and convenience. Those are the go-to devices I’d suggest most people looking for a premium, best-in-class Android experience consider most closely (with the preference for a smaller or larger phone being the only real difference between ’em).
  • But for anyone who likes the idea of having a tablet-like add-on and all the associated productivity perks that gives you — even just for the five to 10% of the time that you’re realistically likely to be taking advantage of ’em — the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is an awesome option that you won’t regret investing in, provided you can justify the cost and aren’t overly bothered by the drawbacks.
  • And finally, for anyone who already owns a first-gen Pixel Fold, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is 100% worth the upgrade. It’s thinner, lighter, and even more usable in both its folded-up form and its folded-out configuration — thanks to those larger screens in both places. It sports some substantial upgrades in the areas of performance and charging (though, annoyingly, changes to its internal design mean it won’t work with Google’s previous Pixel Stand wireless chargers). And it comes with the now-standard seven-year Pixel software upgrade promise, whereas the first-gen Pixel Fold was at the tail end of the three-year upgrade guarantee era.

Ultimately, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is such an unusual kind of device that it’s impossible to say it’s the right phone for everyone. It just isn’t that kind of device — and, in a sense, it isn’t meant to be a phone for everyone, by design.

But it’s a remarkable product through and through and a business-ready, productivity-boosting powerhouse you’ll absolutely appreciate — if the idea of a refined phone-tablet combo feels like the right fit for you.

Don’t let yourself miss an ounce of Pixel magic. Come start my free Pixel Academy e-course to discover tons of fresh hidden features and time-saving tricks for whatever Pixel phone you’re using!

8 ways to protect your Windows laptop’s battery health

September 11, 2024 /

Your laptop’s battery life will always decrease over time. That’s just how Lithium-ion batteries work — their health declines with age.

To keep your Windows laptop ready for long workdays, road trips, and other assorted tasks, you’ll need to take some steps to preserve battery health. They’re simple, but you have to know where to look and how to begin. (Windows really buries this stuff!)

You can find plenty of tips for getting more battery life from your Windows PC. But battery health is different — and it’s easy to overlook. As battery health declines, your laptop’s battery becomes less effective, and you won’t get as much time between charges.

By preserving battery health, you’ll keep the battery life it came with for longer — and avoid costly and inconvenient battery replacements.

Looking for more useful Windows tips and tricks? My free Windows Intelligence newsletter delivers all the best Windows tips straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get free in-depth Windows Field Guides just for subscribing!

Windows battery health step #1: Avoid extreme temperatures

Hot and cold temperatures are bad for a laptop battery — or any battery. Heat is especially bad and extreme heat can permanently damage a battery, reducing its health and life span. With that in mind, avoid leaving your laptop in a hot car while out and about on business travel. The temperature inside a car can quickly get much hotter than the outside temperature. Direct sunlight is also bad for a laptop — especially on a hot summer day.

Laptop manufacturers generally say the ideal temperature ranges are between 50 degrees and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. A laptop that spends a significant amount of time outside these ranges — especially above 95 degrees Fahrenheit — will cause extra wear on the battery.

Windows battery health step #2: Use Smart Charging

Your laptop’s battery health could decline more quickly if you keep it at 100% charge — for example, if you keep it plugged in all the time. Hardware manufacturers recommend charging batteries to somewhere between 60% and 80% rather than leaving them fully charged all the time.

The latest Windows 11 PCs include a feature called “Smart Charging.” When activated, Windows will charge your laptop’s battery only to a lower level, below 100%. This should keep the battery healthier.

Different laptops have different ways of activating this feature (and you might find something similar in the manufacturer-provided settings app on older laptops, too). Look for a battery-related setting that controls the level a laptop charges to before stopping. 

On a Microsoft Surface PC, for example, you’ll find this setting within the Surface app.

Battery status
Your laptop manufacturer’s preinstalled software may offer a way to tweak the maximum charge level.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

If your laptop doesn’t have an easy way to avoid charging to 100%, just charge it up and move on with your life. There’s no sense in continually trying to keep your laptop at 80% by unplugging it and plugging it back in. That’s no way to live!

Modern smartphones have features like this, too — check out Adaptive charging on a Pixel phone, for example.

Windows battery health step #3: Don’t go to 0

While Lithium-ion batteries don’t enjoy being at 100% battery for long periods of time, they also shouldn’t be stored at 0% battery. A fully drained battery is bad for any battery’s health.

It’s a good idea to charge your laptop before it hits the 0% mark. (The same goes for any other device, too, including smartphones and tablets.) Windows will suspend itself when it gets down to a low battery level, so it shouldn’t hit 0% battery in normal use.

It’s not the end of the world if the battery hits 0% once in a while — it’s not even the end of the world if your PC laptop hits 0% battery and you forget to charge it for a week. But it’s not ideal. And, if you store the laptop and let its battery fall to 0% and stay there for months, that will absolutely degrade the battery’s health.

Windows battery health step #4: Unplug on occasion

Even if you always use your laptop plugged in, it’s a good idea to unplug it occasionally. Let its battery drain some — not all the way, but a decent amount — before you charge it.

Here’s Microsoft’s official recommendation:

To help extend battery life and performance, try to keep the battery level between 20% and 80% several times a week instead of using your device for only a short amount of time, and then plugging it in to recharge the battery.

This will likely happen naturally as you use your laptop. So, if the system’s always plugged in, it’s worthfi letting the battery drain and then recharge every now and then.

Windows battery health step #5: Remove the battery (if you can!)

Most modern Windows laptops no longer have easily removable batteries. But, if your laptop does have a user-removable battery, you can unplug the battery to get more life from it if you’re just using your laptop while it’s plugged in.

This is especially true on heavy-duty workstation (or even gaming) laptops that generate a lot of heat. If you unplug the battery and get it away from the heat, it should last longer. 

Windows battery health step #6: Store smartly

If you won’t be using your laptop for a while (or you’ve unplugged the battery and set it aside), you should take care when storing the battery.

Remember: Laptop batteries don’t like being at 100% battery for a long period of time, and they definitely don’t like being at 0% battery, either. To preserve the battery as much as possible, drain it to 50% or so and then power it off before storing it. (Be sure to store it in a moderate environment, too — since extreme heat, cold, and humidity are bad.)

The battery’s power level will decline over time in extended storage, so you might want to pull the system out of storage and charge it back to 50% every six months or so. If you leave it alone for a few years, you might come back to a 0% battery. And, again, if it’s been at 0% for a while, that’s bad.

Windows battery health step #7: Watch for warning signs

A particularly unhealthy battery can physically swell or expand. With so many Windows laptops containing internal batteries, you might notice that part of your laptop’s chassis is swelling or sticking out.

If a swollen battery is punctured or damaged, it could catch fire. If you ever find yourself facing a device with a swollen battery, you shouldn’t charge or use it — and you should be careful not to puncture or otherwise damage the battery. That’s what’s really dangerous. (Don’t expose it to extreme heat, either.)

Also, don’t throw the battery in the trash, as it could catch fire. Take swollen batteries to electronics recycling centers where they can be disposed of safely.

Windows battery health step #8: Give yourself a checkup

Want to know how healthy your current battery is? Windows has a way of telling you — but Microsoft buries it. To generate a battery health report, open the Start menu, search for “Command,” and launch the Command Prompt shortcut.

Type the following command at the prompt, and then press Enter:

powercfg /batteryreport

You’ll see a message saying the report was saved. It will likely be in C:\Users\YOUR NAME\.

Powercfg battery report
Run the powercfg /batteryreport command at the command prompt to discover battery health status.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Open a File Explorer window, browse to that folder, and double-click the “batteryreport.html” file you find there.

Look under “Installed batteries” in the report. There are two lines that matter here:

  • Design capacity: This is the capacity the battery originally had.
  • Full charge capacity: This is the capacity the battery currently has.

In the screenshot below, my laptop’s battery has a design capacity of 90,005 mWh and a full charge capacity of 87,658 mWh. In other words, this example laptop has 97% of its original battery capacity — it’s still healthy!

Installed batteries
The “Installed batteries” section of the report shows information about your laptop’s battery.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Final word: Don’t sweat it too much

Now that you understand the best practices, here’s the most important piece of advice: Don’t worry about achieving perfection. And don’t sweat the small stuff.

You’re going to use your laptop how you need to. Perhaps you live in a hot place and it’s unavoidable that the laptop spends some time above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Perhaps you use your laptop at a desk plugged in all the time and you don’t really care whether the battery degrades a bit faster — you just don’t want to think about it.

That’s fine. You can always replace the battery if you need to, though it will cost you. And if you treat your laptop battery well, it might be time to replace the entire laptop by the time you start thinking about getting a battery replacement.

If I had to highlight the most important piece of advice, I’d say watch out for heat in particular: A laptop left in a burning-hot car frequently will definitely see its battery life decline much more quickly than it would otherwise. (And of course, watch out for any swollen batteries!)

Get even more Windows insights, tips, and tricks with my Windows Intelligence newsletter — three things to try every Friday. Plus, get free Windows 11 and 10 Field Guides (a $10 value) as a special welcome bonus!

Microsoft cheat sheets: Dive into Windows and Office apps

September 10, 2024 /

Need to get up to speed on the latest features in Excel? Wrestling with an old version of Word? Finding your way around Windows 11 or looking to get more out of Windows 10? Computerworld’s cheat sheets are easy-to-use guides to help you navigate Microsoft’s core productivity software.

Here’s a one-stop resource where you can find in-depth stories on several generations of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook for Windows, focusing on what’s new in each major release. We’ve also got guides for Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, OneNote, Loop, Whiteboard, Forms, Visio, Planner, and Windows itself.

Microsoft’s subscription-based office suite, called Microsoft 365 or Office 365 depending on your version, is continually updated with new features, so we periodically update the cheat sheets for the “365” versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other apps in the suite. But we’re willing to bet that many companies and individuals will stay on older versions of the non-subscription software (Office 2019, for example) for some time to come, so we’ve got cheat sheets for several older generations of those products as well.

Windows and Office tutorials and tips

Windows 10 and 11

Windows 11 cheat sheet

To a great extent, Windows 11 looks and works like Windows 10, but there are several minor differences that take some getting used to. We cover all the important changes here, including new three- and four-finger gestures for touchscreen users in our lists of shortcuts and gestures for Windows 11.

Windows 10 cheat sheet

Windows 10 is continually improving with major feature updates every spring and fall. Get to know the interface and key features, and don’t miss our list of handy gestures and shortcuts for Windows 10. (Current for the Windows 10 version 22H2.)

Microsoft OneDrive cheat sheet: Using OneDrive in Windows

If you have Windows 10 or 11, you have OneDrive. Here’s how to back up, sync and share files in OneDrive and OneDrive for Business on the Windows desktop.

More tips for Windows 10 and 11

Microsoft 365/Office 365 apps

Updated! Microsoft Loop cheat sheet

Microsoft’s new Loop app provides shared workspaces where teams can collaborate. Our cheat sheet shows you how to use the Loop app.

Updated! How to use Loop components in Microsoft 365 apps

What makes Loop particularly useful is the ability to collaborate on content snippets called Loop components across multiple Microsoft 365 apps. Here’s how to use Loop components in Outlook, Teams, and other M365 apps.

13 tips to get the most out of Microsoft Whiteboard

For Microsoft 365 users, it’s worth adding Microsoft Whiteboard to your collaboration playbook. Here’s how your team can make the most of this digital whiteboard tool.

Word for Office 365/Microsoft 365 cheat sheet

Learn to use the best features introduced in Microsoft Word for Office 365/Microsoft 365 in Windows since 2015. This story covers all the features introduced in Word 2016, 2019, and 2021, plus several more exclusive to Office 365/Microsoft 365 subscribers. It also includes a quick-reference Ribbon guide for download.

Related:

Excel for Office 365/Microsoft 365 cheat sheet

Learn about all the features introduced in Excel 2016, 2019, and 2021, plus several more exclusive to Office 365/Microsoft 365 subscribers. There’s also a quick-reference Ribbon guide for download.

Related:

PowerPoint for Office 365/Microsoft 365 cheat sheet

Microsoft introduced several highly useful features in PowerPoint 2016 and 2019, and it continually rolls out more for users with Office 365/Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Find out how to make the most of the new features.

Related:

Outlook for Office 365/Microsoft 365 cheat sheet

Discover all the major features introduced in PowerPoint 2016 and 2019, plus more exclusively for Office 365/Microsoft 365 subscribers — including a simplified Ribbon that shows only the most commonly used commands.

Related:

Microsoft OneDrive cheat sheet: Using OneDrive for Web

OneDrive for Web lets you save, access, share, and manage your files in the cloud using your favorite browser — and it has a host of new features that aren’t available in OneDrive on the desktop. Learn how to use its new interface for a big productivity boost.

Microsoft Teams cheat sheet: How to get started

Microsoft’s answer to Slack and Zoom, Teams provides group messaging, voice and video calls, and useful integrations with other Microsoft 365 apps. Here’s how to get set up in Teams and find your way around.

Related:

Microsoft OneNote cheat sheet

Part of Microsoft’s Office suite and built into Windows 10 and 11, OneNote is a robust note-taking app that is also available as a free standalone product. Here’s how to get up and running with OneNote.

Microsoft Forms cheat sheet: How to get started

Online forms help you conduct research, collect feedback, test knowledge, and more. Here’s how to use Microsoft Forms to create surveys, feedback forms, quizzes, and other interactive forms.

Microsoft Visio cheat sheet: How to get started

Visio in Microsoft 365 is an excellent tool for creating custom diagrams to illustrate concepts that are difficult to explain through text. Here’s how to use it.

Microsoft Planner cheat sheet

Planner gives Office 365/Microsoft 365 users a built-in task-management tool that small teams can use to track plans, tasks, and progress. Here’s our guide to using Planner on its own and within Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Flow: A beginner’s guide

Flow (recently renamed Power Automate) lets you create automated workflows across apps and services that send notifications, ask for and offer approvals, and handle rote tasks automatically — with no coding required. Learn how to get started with this powerful tool.

SharePoint Online cheat sheet

Learn how to find your way around SharePoint Online (the Office 365 version of SharePoint), create sites, share and manage documents, work with calendars, integrate with Outlook and more. Then go beyond the basics in 5 tips for working with SharePoint Online.

More tips for Office 365/Microsoft 365/Office Online

Office 2016 and 2019

Word 2016 and 2019 cheat sheet

Learn how to use Word’s live collaborative editing features, Tell Me and Smart Lookup, and the new Translator pane in Word 2019. Also included is a list of handy keyboard shortcuts for Word 2016 and 2019. If you just want to know where to find various commands on the Ribbon, download our Word 2016 and 2019 Ribbon quick reference.

Excel 2016 and 2019 cheat sheet

Now updated for Excel 2019, our guide covers several useful chart types introduced in Excel 2016 and Excel 2019 for Windows, as well as how to use several impressive new data analysis tools. We’ve also got a list of handy keyboard shortcuts in Excel, as well as the Excel 2016 and 2019 Ribbon quick reference.

PowerPoint 2016 and 2019 cheat sheet

Like Word and Excel, PowerPoint 2016 and PowerPoint 2019 for Windows offer Tell Me, Smart Lookup, live collaborative editing and a slew of new chart types. We cover all that plus some handy features introduced in PowerPoint 2019 — not to mention our list of keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint and the PowerPoint 2016 and 2019 Ribbon quick reference.

Outlook 2016 and 2019 cheat sheet

Outlook 2016 for Windows has been enhanced with Smart Lookup, Tell Me, and features to help you find files you want to attach and keep a tidy inbox. And don’t miss our list of keyboard shortcuts for Outlook 2016 and 2019 and the Outlook 2016 and 2019 Ribbon quick reference.

Office 2013

Word 2013 cheat sheet

Among the major features introduced in Word 2013 are a Start screen, a Design tab, Read Mode, and OneDrive sync. Our guide covers how to use them all and provides handy keyboard shortcuts for Word 2013. There’s also a Word 2013 Ribbon quick reference.

SharePoint 2013 cheat sheet

Learn the basics of navigating and using a SharePoint site, where to go to find some of the customization options, and 5 advanced SharePoint 2013 tips.

Office 2010

Word 2010 cheat sheet

Learn how to use Word 2010’s Navigation pane, image editing tools, text effects and other new features. Also see the list of handy keyboard shortcuts for Word 2010 and our Word 2010 Ribbon quick reference charts.

Excel 2010 cheat sheet

Excel 2010 introduces Sparklines, Slicers, and other enhancements to PivotTables and PivotCharts. Find out how to use those, along with keyboard shortcuts for Excel 2010 and our quick reference for finding your favorite commands on the Excel 2010 Ribbon.

PowerPoint 2010 cheat sheet

Learn how to use PowerPoint 2010’s multimedia editing tools, sharing options and other handy features. As usual, we’ve got keyboard shortcuts for PowerPoint 2010 and a guide to finding old PowerPoint 2003 commands on the PowerPoint 2010 Ribbon.

Outlook 2010 cheat sheet

The Ribbon was only half-present in Outlook 2007, but in Outlook 2010 it’s ubiquitous. Other notable changes include Conversation View to group email messages, Schedule View for scheduling meetings, and an enhanced search function. We show you how to use them all, provide some handy keyboard shortcuts for Outlook 2010 and detail where old Outlook 2003 commands are located in Outlook 2010.

SharePoint 2010 cheat sheet

Unlike earlier versions of SharePoint, SharePoint 2010 is based on the Ribbon interface. Here’s how to find your way around and get started with a SharePoint site.

Windows 8

Windows 8 cheat sheet

Not many people are still using this nightmare of an operating system, which radically overhauled the classic Windows interface in an attempt to make it more like a mobile OS. But just in case, here’s help finding your way around.

Apple loses $14B as Europe claws back tax

September 10, 2024 /

Apple’s iPhone 16 launch on Monday generated plenty of attention, but it didn’t quite blunt the edge of the $14.4 billion European Commission (EC) tax hammer that finally fell against the company and can no longer be appealed.

This concerns an EC decision in 2016 when the courts found Ireland had unlawfully provided Apple with state aid in the form of tax breaks. Apple has fought the decision — CEO Tim Cook once called it “total political crap” — but finally lost that battle Sept. 10. 

Apple’s Irish twist

The case relates to the way Apple was taxed in Ireland between 1991 to 2014.  Basically, Ireland enabled Apple to sell products across Europe, record those profits in Ireland, and then send those profits to head offices that existed only on paper, leaving almost no taxable profit in Ireland.

In a statement, the Court of Justice said: “Ireland granted Apple unlawful aid, which Ireland is required to recover.” During that time, the court decided Apple benefited from state aid as a result of those tax arrangements to the tune of $14 billion, which the company must now pay back. 

An Apple representative offered some pushback: “This case has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we are required to pay it to. We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate and there has never been a special deal.”

“As a result of the allocation method endorsed in the tax rulings, Apple only paid an effective corporate tax rate that declined from 1% in 2003 to 0.005% in 2014 on the profits of Apple Sales International,” the European Commission explained when the case first hit court eight years ago.

It’s important to note that while Apple and Ireland agreed to the arrangement, Europe argued the deal did not match economic reality and constituted unlawful state aid. 

A complex web of tax arrangements

One way to understand the complicated arrangement is like this:

  • Apple had two entities incorporated but not tax resident in Ireland — Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe.
  • These two companies held the rights to use Apple’s intellectual property to sell and manufacture Apple products outside the US under a “cost-sharing” agreement with Apple Inc.
  • Ireland agreed that the two firms were required to make annual payments to Apple towards R&D, which meant (figuratively) that boat loads of cash went to the head offices of the two companies — offices that existed only on paper. 
  • To put some perspective around this, Apple Sales International recorded profits of $22 billion in 2011, but under the terms of the tax arrangements it had been given in Ireland only €50 million was subject to tax. 

That quantity of cash constituted around half of Apple’s R&D spending during that time and meant the vast majority of Apple’s European profits were effectively untaxed, or — as Apple prefers to put it — were taxed in the wrong jurisdiction. 

$3,000 each

Apple isn’t happy about the outcome of the case. “We are disappointed with today’s decision,” the company said. “There has never been a special deal.”

Apple was required to hand the cash over to an independent third-party-administered escrow account in 2016. That account now holds around €14 billion. With a population of 5.2 million, the cash hoard is the equivalent of €2,692 (about $3,000) for every man, woman, and child in Ireland. 

According to local reports, Ireland’s Tánaiste Micheál Martin says the money cannot be used for day-to-day spending and that his government will now consider “how to use these funds in the best interests of the Irish people.”

Apple isn’t the only big tech firm in the crosshairs. At a cost of $2.7 billion, Google also lost its final appeal against a European Union penalty for giving its own shopping recommendations an illegal advantage over rivals in search results.

Please follow me on LinkedIn, Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill group on MeWe.

US and India partner to strengthen semiconductor supply chain

September 10, 2024 /

In a significant step towards reshaping the global semiconductor ecosystem, the US Department of State has partnered with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, to explore collaborative opportunities.

This partnership is part of the US’s broader strategic initiative under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, created by the CHIPS Act of 2022, and aims to secure a more resilient, diversified, and sustainable global semiconductor supply chain.

The ITSI fund has a coffer of $500 million to be used or invested for a period of five years with $100 million a year to improve the semiconductor ecosystem across the US government’s partner states.

“This partnership will help create a more resilient, secure, and sustainable global semiconductor value chain,” the US State Department said in a statement.

The initial phase of this partnership includes a comprehensive assessment of India’s existing semiconductor ecosystem and regulatory framework, as well as workforce and infrastructure needs. 

“State anticipates that key Indian stakeholders, such as state governments, educational institutions, research centers, and private companies, will participate in this analysis steered by the India Semiconductor Mission,” the statement added. “The insights gained from the assessment will serve as the basis for potential future joint initiatives to strengthen and grow this critical sector.”

“This agreement is an important step in developing the semiconductor ecosystem in India,” said Pareekh Jain, CEO of Pareekh Consulting. “The US is the largest end market of semiconductors and many large semiconductor companies are based in the US. Almost all US semiconductor companies have R&D and design centers in India. Some companies including Micron have also started manufacturing in India.”

The partnership between the US and India is a step towards diversification of the global semiconductor supply chain over the long term, said Akshat Vaid, partner at Everest Group. “Currently, the industry is highly concentrated in a few dominant regions including Taiwan, and South Korea; China, even though faced with multiple regulatory hurdles, has also started to rise in prominence.”

A critical global supply chain at stake

With the ongoing global digital transformation, semiconductors have emerged as the backbone of industries spanning from automotive to healthcare. The pandemic laid bare the fragility of the semiconductor supply chain, triggering global shortages that disrupted industries across the board.

This new collaboration between the US and India is seen as a critical move to address such vulnerabilities by enhancing production capabilities, ensuring diversification, and reducing dependence on a few key markets.

The CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) Act, enacted in 2022, allocated $500 million through the ITSI Fund over five years to bolster semiconductor security and innovation. By joining forces with India — a nation making strides in semiconductor manufacturing — this partnership reflects the US’s commitment to building a secure, global tech infrastructure.

In this context this US India partnership will further accelerate semiconductor investment in India by US companies both in design and manufacturing, added Jain. “These companies could even be eligible for funding later from the CHIPS Act which could further boost to investment.”

India’s semiconductor ambitions

For India, this collaboration presents an opportunity to accelerate its ambitions of becoming a global semiconductor hub. With the ISM taking the lead, the partnership will initially focus on assessing India’s semiconductor ecosystem — evaluating existing capabilities, regulatory frameworks, and the infrastructure required for future growth.

India, which is already a significant player in the IT and services sector, has been working to expand its presence in high-tech manufacturing, including semiconductor production.

The partnership offers a much-needed boost as India works to develop a semiconductor value chain capable of competing with global leaders such as Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Additionally, India’s growing talent pool in STEM fields offers a solid foundation to build upon, particularly as the partnership looks to address workforce needs.

“India is also growing semiconductor end market and US companies will like to have more share of the piece and local investments in India with favorable tax incentives will help them achieve this,” Jain noted.

A strategic win for both nations

This move is not just about securing the supply chain — but also about geopolitics. Both the US and India stand to benefit economically and strategically from a strengthened semiconductor alliance.

For the US, diversifying its semiconductor sourcing is critical as it seeks to mitigate the risks posed by supply chain bottlenecks, particularly those stemming from geopolitical tensions in Taiwan and China. By bringing India into the fold, the US can create new avenues for semiconductor production and innovation, reducing the over-reliance on traditional hubs like Taiwan.

“By strengthening its relationship with India — a global leader in technology services — the US can reduce risks associated with dependency on a limited number of countries,” Vaid pointed out.

“This diversification,” Vaid added, “is essential for improving the resilience and stability of the global supply chain. Although India still has considerable progress to make to become a major player in the semiconductor industry, the US-India partnership could provide the necessary technology transfer, investment, and expertise to help India develop its domestic semiconductor capabilities.”

For India, partnering with a tech leader like the US aligns with its “Make in India” initiative, which is designed to encourage domestic manufacturing and innovation. If successful, the country could not only establish itself as a global semiconductor player but also strengthen its position in the broader tech and electronics ecosystem.

“Semiconductor is a strategic focus for both the US and India and government-level agreements and cooperation will make investments by US semiconductor companies risk-free unlike what happened in China,” Jain said.

Future possibilities and challenges

While the partnership holds significant promise, it’s not without challenges. India’s semiconductor ecosystem, while growing, lacks the scale and advanced fabrication capabilities of its counterparts in East Asia.

Closing this gap will require heavy investment in infrastructure, regulatory reform, and a skilled workforce. The partnership’s initial phase — a comprehensive assessment of India’s semiconductor landscape—will be crucial in identifying these gaps and building the roadmap for future growth.

“The challenges India faces in becoming a global semiconductor hub are investment, willingness of global companies to invest in India and competition from other global locations in Asia and Europe etc,” Jain said. “This US-India cooperation can help in both investment and willingness and the increasing attractiveness of India for US companies compared to other locations.”

India lacks high-volume advanced fabs and associated specialized infrastructure (clean rooms for instance), and this partnership can potentially lead to technology transfer and investments to help establish state-of-the-art fabs, said Nishant Udupa, practice director at Everest Group.

“Besides,” Udupa said, “India faces a shortage of specialized skills in semiconductor manufacturing and this collaboration can drive training and knowledge-sharing initiatives to build a skilled talent pool.” Additionally, given collaboration at a policy level, India should be able to learn from US best practices to streamline processes and comply with global standards, Udupa said.