Over the last weekend, Microsoft started rolling out a new Groove Music app update in the Windows Insider program's Fast Ring, bringing some long rumored features to its users. The update is available only to PC users for now and has the version number 10.1702.1261.0.
Author: Roman Linev
Long time news writer, Microsoft ecosystem fan, Android user. Loves Japanese culture, photography and his cats. You can also follow Roman on Twitter.
Outlook Mail and Calendar update for Windows Insiders adds meeting scheduling
Microsoft has started rolling out an update for Outlook Mail and Calendar apps for Windows Insider Program fast ring members on Windows 10. The new update, version 17.8241.40785.0, contains the usual bug fixes and improvements but also introduces a meeting scheduling feature.
WhatsApp for Windows Phone updated with new UI features
WhatsApp for Windows Phones is still an old app built originally for Windows Phone 8, which means it's a Silverlight app and may be discontinued in the next Windows 10 Mobile release. However this fact isn't stopping the devs from bringing more features to the current version of the app. A few days ago, WhatsApp for Windows Phone received another update, version 2.17.204.0, which brings some additions that were in testing in the beta version of the app.
Windows 10 Mobile will stay in feature2 branch, no new features planned
After once again separating Windows 10 Mobile development from the main development branch of Windows 10, Microsoft hasn't clearly stated its future plans for the mobile OS, leaving most of its users concerned. During the Windows Insider monthly webcast on Microsoft Mixer, company employees shared a bit of information about current plans for the platform.
Office 365 apps are now available in the Windows Store for Windows 10 S
Microsoft has started shipping all of its Surface Laptop pre-orders a few days ago and made it available for purchase in select countries. That also means Windows 10 S, the edition that runs only apps from the Windows Store, is now available publicly for the first time ever. Of course, Microsoft had to offer a way to use its own desktop apps and services on that edition too so the company has finally published Office 365 applications into its own Windows Store.
Microsoft will stream its E3 Xbox event in 4K
Microsoft is holding another Xbox-related conference on June 11, 2017 during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2017. This event will be focused on project Scorpio, Microsoft's next Xbox iteration which is set to be released this holiday season. Of course, there will be some games and service announcements, but the biggest focus during the event will be on the console itself.
Skype dead on Windows RT, Phone and TVs starting July 2017
After announcing that Skype for Linux will be retired in favor of the newly developed, completely different Skype beta client for Linux, Microsoft has also announced that some Skype clients for the Windows platform will stop working on July 1, 2017. This will impact Skype users on Windows Phone (8 and 8.1) and Windows RT devices, as well as TVs and users of the Skype Messaging app integration in Windows 10 Mobile.
Microsoft will ditch Silverlight in Windows 10 Mobile
Microsoft is once again working on rebooting its mobile platform and putting more efforts than ever into building the next iteration of its Windows Mobile OS. While its still unclear how it's going to end up looking on the outside, on the inside Microsoft is working on bringing more consistency with the desktop version of Windows 10 with its composable shell project. Of course, bringing the Mobile version on par with the desktop one will require even more under-the-hood changes. One of them, according to recent reports, will be the dropping of Silverlight app support on the mobile platform completely.
Groove Music updated with Fluent Design
Around a month ago, Microsoft introduced its vision for the future of user interface design in the next upgrade to Windows 10. Right after that, the company started to add more and more of its Fluent UX elements to its own first-party apps, including Calculator, Maps, Store and Grove Music. However, most of the UI improvements were only available to users participating in the Windows Insider program and using newer OS builds.
Telegram Desktop gets picture-in-picture support and more
Right now, Telegram Messenger is more popular than it ever has been. With the recent release of the Telegram Desktop client in the Windows Store, more and more users over the world find it a convenient alternative to WhatsApp, Viber or Facebook Messenger. The team behind it is also working hard on adding more and more features to all versions of the clients, including the Windows app. And the recent update to the app brings some features worth mentioning.
