Developers can now add real-time analytics to Azure Digital Twins

ScaleOut Software is extending its Digital Twin Streaming Service to add real-time analytics to Azure Digital Twins.

The company’s Digital Twin Streaming Service is used for deploying digital twins on a highly scalable, in-memory computing platform in the cloud.

Several real-time components have been added as part of the new integration with Azure Digital Twins. For example, rather than require the use of Azure’s serverless functions, the new extensions enable...

Thomas Dohmke will be GitHub’s new CEO

Thomas Dohmke is taking over from Nat Friedman to become GitHub’s new CEO.

Dohmke co-founded HockeyApp – a service to help distribute beta versions of apps and get analytics and crash reports – in 2011, to solve some of his paint points as a developer.

He took this passion for solving pain points to GitHub in 2018 after leading Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub alongside Friedman.

In a blog post, Dohmke wrote:

“Leading the home for all...

Microsoft: Universal Windows Platform is finally being sunset

Thomas Fennel, Principal Program Lead at Microsoft, clarified this week that Universal Windows Platform (UWP) is finally being sunset.

In an announcement on the GitHub repo for the Windows App SDK, Fennel says that UWP will only receive “bug, reliability, and security fixes,” and won’t be receiving new features. In other words, it’s being deprecated.

This won’t be of any surprise to just about, well, anyone, but Microsoft has skirted around what’s happening...

Gitpod unveils OpenVSCode, a cloud-based IDE ‘free from Microsoft’s control’

Gitpod has unveiled OpenVSCode, an open-source project that makes the IDE accessible in the browser “free from Microsoft’s control”.

Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is free, open-source, and is one of the world’s most popular IDEs. VS Code supports the development of mobile, desktop, and web applications and games using languages including Python, C++, Node.JS, ASP.Net, and more.

A browser-based version of VS Code was launched as part of GitHub...

Windows 11’s app store supports Android apps, enables devs to keep 100% of profits

Microsoft has unveiled Windows 11 along with a new app store that supports Android apps and enables devs to keep all of their profits.

Windows’ built-in app store has never exactly been a huge success when compared to those of Apple and Google. Microsoft has made several attempts over the years to give its app store a jumpstart – including giving developers up to a 95 percent cut of profits instead of the 70 percent that has long been the industry norm – but it’s never...

Xbox sets out its vision to bring ‘gaming to everyone’

Ahead of its E3 2021 showcase with recent acquisition Bethesda, the Xbox team has set out its vision to bring “gaming to everyone”.

Enabling everyone to enjoy gaming has become an increased focus for Xbox in recent years – whether that’s through delivering groundbreaking accessibility devices and features to help those with limited mobility, a cheaper console with next-gen performance, new finance options like All Access, or the flexibility to play anywhere with cloud...

BUILD 2021: WSL now supports GUI apps, Project Reunion and Windows Terminal receive updates, Visual Studio and .NET 6 get new previews

Microsoft has used the first day of its annual BUILD conference to announce a swathe of updates to its Windows development products.

The first announcement is that support for GUI apps when using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is rolling out as of this week.

A preview of the functionality has been available since last month and is designed to allow developers to run their favourite Linux tools, utilities, and apps directly in Windows 10. Last week, Google announced...

Microsoft announces its own LTS build of OpenJDK

Microsoft has announced the preview of its own build of OpenJDK, a free and open-source implementation of the Java SE platform.

The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is a long-term support (LTS) distribution that includes binaries for Java 11, based on OpenJDK 11.0.10+9, on x64 server and desktop environments on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

In a blog post, Microsoft wrote:

“Microsoft deploys over 500,000 Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) internally – excluding all Azure...

Game developers can have the accessibility of their titles checked by Xbox

Microsoft is launching a new initiative which enables game developers to send their PC and Xbox titles in to be analysed by accessibility experts.

“Where issues are found, they are noted with reproduction steps, screenshots, and other information to help the developer understand what aspect of a given experience may be challenging for certain gamers with disabilities,” explained Brannon Zahand, senior program manager of gaming accessibility at Xbox.

Xbox has been on...

Microsoft: Over 1,000 developers contributed to SolarWinds hack

According to Microsoft’s analysis of the devastating SolarWinds hack, over 1,000 developers were involved.

The attack was described as “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen,” by Microsoft president Brad Smith on US show 60 Minutes.

SolarWinds develops software to help businesses manage their networks, systems, and IT infrastructure. The company’s Orion solution is used by ~33,000 public and private sector customers.

In...