New Xbox Video Online By Microsoft

With the launch of the new Xbox Video online, Microsoft has been able to expand its video streaming media service from Windows 8.1 PCs and Xbox One and has handed the responsibility onto the web. All of this got done way ahead of the release of the new Windows Phone. In the new site consumption of content bought earlier is supported and all you have to do is log into your account. You can buy the new media at the webstore, which can then be played back into your PC.

There are some drawbacks however in this new web version. Microsoft alleges that these complications could have a significant impact on the release of the smartphone.

Picture quality is one of the biggest issues in the service; “HD Quality playback is not currently supported on the Web and Windows Phone.” Microsoft have issued a warning saying that if you try to purchase a HD movie or TV show then, “Your purchase will play in SD quality. Xbox Video on Windows 8.1 and Xbox One supports HD quality playback.”

The lack of full HD resolution support in the service is very unfortunate considering that this feature has not yet been introduced in the Windows Phone so far. Only the Nokia Lumia 1520 with its 6-inch panel posses 1920 x 1080 display making it perfect for playing media in highr solution and clarity.

Irrespective of this, it is sad that Microsoft did not capitalize on working with a standard definition. Only plus point is that bandwidth consumption will remain low. In either case Microsoft has lost the battle a bit too quickly considering that purchases of both iTunes on iOS and Google Play on Android, with full HD support while Xbox Video does not even have options to switch between different quality levels.

However, Microsoft still has a big window of opportunity to make changes. As the company still says “currently supported” about its SD limitation there is still hope for improvement. Broader access to content on both Xbox One or Windows 8.1 are also places for improvement. To know more you can check up on the Microsoft support page. You could also post your queries on the Microsoft support page about the new Xbox Video online service. Those looking to access these streams must have a Silverlight plug-in on their browsers. Keep checking for more news.

Microsoft Joins Hands With Acando To Launch An IT Initiative For Students

Over the years, Microsoft has shown some interest in engaging in various activities for different social causes. A few months ago, they decided to join hands with Acando GmbH to support students who are looking to start a career in IT. Acando GmbH is a reputed management and IT consultancy firm.

The collaborative programme will help students develop their IT skills such as software developing and programming. Microsoft believes that moulding the young talents today would be a great investment for IT innovations tomorrow. The collaborative event is called ‘Showtime: Microsoft Dynamics CRM in Practice’. The event was held at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences on December 12, 2013. More seminars and workshops would soon follow.

Acando GmbH has collaborated with Microsoft in the development of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Moreover, it has been encouraging students, who take special interest in Microsoft support technologies with their projects and IT education. During the past 10 years, Acando has held several conferences for students who have done project works on Microsoft technologies. This led to the idea of co-operation for knowledge transfer. The Redmond based software giant was ready to come on board, resulting in Showtime: Microsoft Dynamics CRM in Practice.

More about the ‘Showtime: Microsoft Dynamics CRM in Practice’ event

The core aims of ‘Showtime: Microsoft Dynamics CRM in Practice’ are to provide students with CRM projects, to instil technological knowledge in students and to offer relevant IT courses via Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance program. Microsoft plans to offer the program to about 50 business informatics students initially. The number of students who can avail the program will be extended in the coming years. Acando GmbH Team Manager Tim Bardenhagen said in a statement, "Career entry is possible either by developing individual business solutions or in project management."

In the wake of Microsoft’s decision to offer students IT oriented programs in collaboration with Acando, several firms in various parts of the world have expressed their interest in collaborating with such Microsoft support programs. Let us hope that the Redmond based software giant would come up with more such programmes in other parts of the world in the future.

Hope you found the information provided in this article useful. For more information, visit the official website of Microsoft corporation or Acando GmbH online.

Disabling Programs On Windows

You might have installed a few programs on your computer that you no longer require, and be facing problems uninstalling them. Uninstalling a program requires the program to have all its files present. You should also be sure that the files of the program haven’t become corrupt. You might have removed some program, but it still shows errors messages when you turn on your computer. Some don’t get completely uninstalled, and show errors every time the computer starts.
To counter these applications starting up by themselves you can disable them from running when the computer starts, or you can just disable them when they run and cause errors. Microsoft Windows has some built in features that allow you to disable programs from automatically starting. Windows uses the System configuration utility for achieving this task. Windows is also capable of stopping processes that have been already started on your computer. Microsoft support has detailed help regarding how to make use of the Task Manager to handle this.
You can use the Task Manager to kill a process that has already been started. To get to the task manager you can right click on the taskbar and select Task Manager or press the Ctrl, Alt and Del keys simultaneously. This launches the Task Manager. In the Task Manager Windows go to the processes tab and select the process that you want to kill. Once you have selected the process click on End Process to kill the process.
You can prevent the programs from starting automatically on startup.

• Go to the System configuration utility. Go to the System Configuration Utility by going to the Start Menu and click the Run option. 
• In the Run utility enter msconfig and press Enter to launch the System Configuration Utility Window. 
• Go to the Startup tab here. Locate the program that you want to disable. Click the checkbox next to the program that you want to disable. Only programs that have checked boxes will run on startup. 
• Click on the OK button to apply your changes. You can restart your computer to apply the changes to it. Once your computer has been restarted it would start to reflect all changes that you have made and the applications that you don’t want would no longer start.

I hope these tips helped you solve your problem. If you continue to have any more problems with Windows please contact Microsoft support. They would help you resolve your problem, and give you a good solution for it.

Configuring Outlook Express With Email

Outlook express is an email client which works on the Windows platform. You can use this software to retrieve your email from the internet servers, and display it on your computer. To access your email directly from your computer, you must know a few details about your account. The username and password are the most important details. After that come the POP or IMAP email server settings, and ports. Sometime Outlook automatically configures these ports and servers. Other times you have to manually set Outlook to point to those servers. To find what you should set them to, go to the help section of your webmail and find out the Email server settings and port numbers. You can either go to Outlook express help to find out how to configure your email or you can read on.

To configure Microsoft Outlook Express with your email

• Open up Microsoft Outlook Express, go to the Tools menu; in the dropdown menu you will find Accounts. Click on it. 
• This will reveal an Internet Accounts Window, Here go to the Mail tab and click on the Add button. From the dropdown menu select Mail. 
• In the Internet Connect Wizard go to the display name field and add the name that should be displayed on your email and click on Next. Go to the email address field and enter your email address there. It should also include the ‘@’ symbol as well as the part after the ‘@’ symbol. 
• In the Email Server Name window select either POP3 or IMAP. In the Account Type again select POP3 or IMAP. Use the settings that you have from your webmail service to fill the fields. Click Next. 
• In the Account Names and Passwords field fill in your email account address and the password. You may have to retype your password to confirm it. Click Finish. 
• Now go to the Internet Accounts window and select the account that you just created, and click Properties. In the Properties window, click the Server tab and select My Server requires authentication. 
• Use the same settings as the incoming mail server is selected. Click on the Advanced tab and ensure the Outgoing as well as Incoming server settings are correctly set. Click OK.

If you have followed the above steps correctly then you would have configure Outlook Express to send and receive mails from your account. For more Outlook express help please contact Microsoft support.

How To Fix Windows XP Issues

It is quite disturbing to have frequent system errors while you are doing something important on your computer. There could be many reasons why your computer displays error messages. A corrupted system file, a hardware failure, or an application error, could be the reason behind this. When something unexpected happens, Windows lets you know about it by displaying error messages, or a blue screen. Sometimes you might be required to do a bit of troubleshooting in order to fix the problems on your Windows machine. Here are a few Microsoft support tips to help fix the problems while using a Windows XP computer.

Troubleshooting steps for fixing Windows XP problems

• Many problems related to your Windows XP machine can be easily solved by going to the Advanced Boot Options screen on your computer. To go to this screen, press the F8 key while the computer starts up. This will take you to the “Advanced Boot Options” screen. From this screen, choose the Use the last known configuration that worked option. Selecting this option will let your computer load with the last successful system startup settings. This often fixes many Windows XP issues, including the software related “blue screen” error.
• Another method is to get into the Safe Mode and try to troubleshoot the computer. Many sever problems in Windows XP can be successfully solved using this step. Press the F8 key on your keyboard when the computer starts up, and select Safe Mode from the Advanced Boot Options screen. In Safe Mode, Windows will load only the minimum required features and options. Most networking and performance settings will be disabled in the Safe Mode. Go to the “System Registry”, and make necessary changes to the registry directory. Once you have made the required changes, restart the computer in order to effect the changes. Start your computer in the Normal Mode. Check to see if the problem persists.

Safe Mode lets you troubleshoot and fix the problems without affecting the system stability and performance. Windows XP has long been known for its trouble-free performance, and user-friendly interface. However, like any other computer, problems can occur during the course of its use. You can never expect to have a perfect computer, which is completely free of troubles. Get assistance from Microsoft Support Center in case you have problems fixing your Windows XP machine.