If you're a browser-based user of Office 365 you'll see some changes. Microsoft has given the online version of their productivity suite a spruce up, refreshing the application launcher and improving the search tool. There's a also a task-based tool that suggests which tool to use to best complete a particular job

Mac: Microsoft's experimental projects division has released a toolbar utility for Mac-based Office 365 users that lets you access your OneDrive files, make video calls, and see your next appointments.

Skype for Business is joining the Microsoft Teams family, as the company marches forth on their quest to crack the enterprise collaboration nut. While Skype may have started life as a way to disrupt the traditional telco business, it's become a key tool for businesses wanting to connect distributed teams.

Owners of Microsoft's Surface Laptop, released in June, have a little more time to upgrade from the included Windows 10 S to the full-featured Windows 10 Pro operating system.

For those looking for data visualisation solutions that aren't Plotly or something similar, PowerBI is a neat little app that can assist not only with data vis, but making your presentations interactive.

I screenshot stuff. A lot. And it was only last week that I realised I'd been doing it all wrong.

Microsoft has issued a support note for Office users, saying that Office 2011 for Mac will not be supported if you upgrade to macOS 10.13, which is better known as High Sierra.

A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft pushed out a firmware upgrade for the Surface Pro 3. At the time, the release notes were a little thin on details but newly released notes deliver some happy news. The three year old device now supports the latest Type Covers.

Speech recognition systems are assessed using a standard test called Switchboard - a collection of recorded telephone conversations. Microsoft has achieved a 5.1 human parity word error rate rate on this test using new machine learning techniques, putting their software on par with human transcribers who are concentrating hard on recognising and translating audio.

This July, we asked for software tips from the 2017 Microsoft Office National Champions, a set of charming teens who are officially the best at using PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. The Verge recently followed these teens to the World Championship in California, where they tested their Office skills in a contest that out-nerds the spelling bee.

Microsoft is partnering with Canberra Data Centres to add two new regions to their Azure footprint. The new regions will be dedicated to Australian federal, state and local government, New Zealand government, and their partners in order to overcome concerns of government agencies using public infrastructure for managing Unclassified and Protected government data.

The folks at Redmond can't help themselves. When Windows 10 was announced, it seemed Microsoft was going to finally simplify the number of different Windows SKUs. But, over the last couple of years we've landed so many I'm struggling to find a definitive, current list. Late last week, another was added to the mix; Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.

Last week, Consumer Reports gave Microsoft a pasting over the reliability of the Surface Pro and Surface Book computers. It's easy to see why given no fewer than a quarter of devices needed a repair within two years of purchase according to Consumer Reports. Microsoft, as expected, has mounted a defence but it's not very strong.

Consumer Reports is a US-based not for profit service that gives people recommendations on whether consumer products are worth buying and live up to vendor claims. Getting a tick from them is a big deal, especially in US markets. And a black mark can be a massive cause for concern which is why there will be a bunch of people at Microsoft HQ panicking at Consumer Reports' dumping the Surface from its recommended product list.

Microsoft's further blurring the distinction between local and cloud storage with a file-syncing feature letting you treat online files like offline ones.

Anyone handling the personal information of an EU citizen needs to get their head around the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Under these new laws that take effect in May 2018, companies will face stiff penalties if they breach rules designed to hand control of PII back to citizens. Microsoft says the Creators Update is compliant with the GDPR.

If you're living on the edge and running the Fast ring preview releases of Windows 10 for PC and mobile an update is available today. A bunch of features and enhancements have arrived including enhancements to everyone's favourite tool for downloading Chrome - Microsoft Edge - as well as a new Eye Control feature.

Some sleuthing by German website WinFuture has found a listing from an iPad Touch Cover on documentation relating to the shipment of devices with Lithium Ion batteries. Microsoft released the Touch Cover as an option for some early Surface devices but eventually dropped it in favour of the more popular, and better to type with, Type Cover. Does this listing signal that Microsoft is looking to enter the iPad accessory business?

It isn't hard to go from reading an article on your phone to reading it on your laptop. All you need to do is remember where you found it, right? But searching for something you already have in front of you is redundant, especially since companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple all have ways to take what's on your phone and bring it to your desktop in an instant. Chances are, with a few settings tweaks, you can enable the feature right now.