Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Did you know Windows 10 has a voice-to-text solution built into it?

It can be used to dictate content into things like email through Outlook, Word, OneNote or any note-taking solution.  And it comes for free with Windows 10.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. In the search box of Windows 10, type speech recognition
2. Select Windows Speech Recognition.
3. Follow the instructions to train the tool using your voice. (This will take a few minutes, requiring you to speak a variety of sample sentences.)

Windows 10 builds a voice profile during training to recognize your voice. The more you use it, the better it will understand you.

If you’re interested in knowing what the speech commands are, go to this Support article for a reference:

• Windows Speech Recognition commands
  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12427/windows-speech-recognition-commands

We have a single page that provides a series of whitepapers for the person interested in Azure Active Directory’s offerings.  Updated as of Feb 24, 2017, this is the latest content available for most things Azure AD.

Here’s the topics:
(Note: “Azure AD seamless sign-in” is actually a 7-part series of whitepapers)

1. Towards Identity as a Service (IDaaS) – Use cloud power to solve cloud era challenges
2. Active Directory from the on-premises to the cloud (updated)
3. An overview of Azure AD
4. An overview of Azure AD B2C
5. Introducing Azure AD B2B collaboration
6. Azure AD & Windows 10: Better together for Work or School
7. Azure AD/Office 365 seamless sign-in
8. Azure AD/Office 365 single sign-on with Shibboleth 2
9. Leverage Multi-Factor Authentication with Azure AD
10. Leverage Multi-Factor Authentication Server on your premises
11. Leverage Azure AD for modern Business Applications

Get the whitepapers here from this one page:

• DOWNLOAD: Active Directory from on-premises to the cloud – Azure AD whitepapers (59.0MB)
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36391

Microsoft recently discontinued the older versions of Office viewers. Microsoft will not provide hotfix, service pack, or security update support for these products. The discontinued Office viewers are as follows: 

• Word Viewer 97/2002
• Word Viewer 2003
• Excel Viewer 97/2000
• Excel Viewer 2003
• PowerPoint Viewer 97/2000/2002
• PowerPoint Viewer 2003

To obtain the latest supported versions of the Office viewers, go to the following Microsoft websites: 

• PowerPoint Viewer
• Word Viewer
• Excel Viewer
• Visio 2010: Visio Viewer

Note: Office viewers must be updated to a supported service pack level in order to remain in support. Use the following table to obtain applicable service pack information. 

For more info:

• SUPPORT: Supported versions of the Office viewers
  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/979860/supported-versions-of-the-office-viewers

This month, we released ten new Windows 10 virtual labs so that IT pros can get direct hands-on experience with Windows as a Service (WaaS), Windows security technologies, and new deployment scenarios before doing a full-scale rollout in the organizations.

What is a virtual lab?
Virtual labs let IT pros try-out common Windows 10 tasks using a cloud-based private virtual machine environment. Each lab features a series of instructions, and access to one or more virtual machines, with no additional software or setup required.

Labs available today:

• Deploy and manage Windows as a Service
• Deploy Windows Information Protection
• Deploy Device Guard
• Deploy Credential Guard
• Enable and secure a remote workforce by joining Windows 10 to Azure Active Directory
• Simplify Windows 10 deployment by using provisioning packages
• Upgrade in place to Windows 10 by using MDT and Configuration Manager
• Customize the Windows 10 Start menu and taskbar during deployment
• Set up Windows Store for Business to deploy apps in your enterprise
• Use Internet Explorer Enterprise Mode to fix compatibility issues

For your convenience, we’ve created a single landing page for these labs on the Windows IT Center – https://aka.ms/w10virtuallabs – and we’ll be adding new labs in the months to come.

On April 22, 2017, 198 User Groups (and counting) around the world will throw Azure meetups to help people learn & discover Microsoft Azure.

Anyone wanting to learn or teach about Azure and Microsoft cloud computing should attend.  The Global Azure Bootcamp event web site is located here:

• https://global.azurebootcamp.net/

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EVENTS:
Here’s the locations in Southern California:

CODE Mag Azure Bootcamp
(Los Angeles, CA)

• LOCATION:
  Microsoft Los Angeles Offices
  13031 W Jefferson Blvd #200
  Los Angeles, CA 90094
• DATE/TIME:
  Saturday, April 22, 2017, from 9:30AM – 4:30PM with a 1 hour lunch break. Free food and drinks will be provided.
• REGISTRATION:
  http://www.codemag.com/signup/54768042-fd57-4496-8045-68f575a57531
• EVENT WEB PAGE:
  http://www.codemag.com/Training/Detail/54768042-fd57-4496-8045-68f575a57531

SoCal Microsoft Azure User Group – Azure Bootcamp
(Orange, CA)

• LOCATION:
  Santiago Canyon College
  8045 E. Chapman Ave
  Orange, CA
• DATE/TIME:
  Sat, April 22, 2017
  8:00 AM – 5:30 PM PDT
  (Add to Calendar)
• REGISTRATION:
  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/global-azure-bootcamp-2017-socal-tickets-31662063083#tickets
• EVENT WEB PAGE:
  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/global-azure-bootcamp-2017-socal-tickets-31662063083

Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft’s technical professionals conference takes place September 25–29, 2017 in Orlando, FL. 

The conference always sell out.  This year’s registration period opens March 28.  If you want to get registered immediately to ensure your attendance, save the date through the link below.

• SAVE THE DATE/ADD TO CALENDAR:
  https://ignite.microsoft.com/Images/Registration%20opens%20for%20Microsoft%20Ignite.ics
• EVENT SITE:
  https://ignite.microsoft.com/
• LAST YEAR’S RECORDED SESSIONS:
  https://myignite.microsoft.com/videos 
• PRICING OPTIONS:
  https://ignite.microsoft.com/Pricing

Do any of the following Office 365 topics look interesting to you?

• Provisioning and Configuring Office 365
• Office 365 Fundamentals
• Deploying Office 365 ProPlus 
• Introduction to Office 365 APIs
• Understanding and Troubleshooting Office 365 End User Performance Issues

If you’re ready to learn how to harness Office 365 to get the most secure Office for your business, you’re in the right place.

These learning opportunities can help you get started quickly—from product exploration to deep training and certification.

If you’d like to see all the webcast recordings, check them out at this page:

• Office 365 Training
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/office365-training.aspx

We are excited to announce a new online event that will take place next month, Microsoft Data Amp.

Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President for Cloud + Enterprise, and Joseph Sirosh, Corporate Vice President, Data Group, will share exciting new announcements around the investments we are making in machine learning, artificial intelligence and intelligent apps.

Additionally, we will also release dozens of new on-demand, technical sessions to help you get the most out of your data.

DATE:
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
8:00AM-10:00AM PST

WHERE:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/data-amp

REGISTRATION:
https://info.microsoft.com/microsoft-data-amp-early-access-register.html

ADD TO CALENDAR:
https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE1zGhP

To learn more about Microsoft Teams and how it works, join our Ask Us Anything session on the Microsoft Tech Community on March 22, 2017 at 9 a.m. PDT (UTC-8).

The Microsoft Teams Product Group & Engineers will be on-hand to answer questions as they come in.

• Location of Microsoft Teams AMA Group (on March 22nd, 9AM PST)
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams-AMA/bd-p/MicrosoftTeamsAMA
• Add Teams AMA to your Calendar
  https://myeventurl.azurewebsites.net/Events/Details/193

Today, we released Microsoft Teams, an amazing new solution for Office 365 subscribers that makes collaboration easy.

WHAT IS MICROSOFT TEAMS?
Microsoft Teams is a “digital workspace”.  It addresses 4 key areas of need:

• Chat for today’s teams
• Hub for teamwork
• Customization options
• Security teams trust

WHO IS LICENSED FOR MICROSOFT TEAMS?
For Businesses & Enterprises, Microsoft Teams is available for customers with subscriptions for:

• Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium
• Microsoft Office 365 Business Essentials
• Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise E1
• Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise E3
• Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise E5

WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE THE PREVIEW? 
Changes since the March 1st release of the Preview are documented in this Microsoft Support article here:

• Release notes for Microsoft Teams
  https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Release-notes-for-Microsoft-Teams-d7092a6d-c896-424c-b362-a472d5f105de?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US&fromAR=1

WHERE DO I FIND OUT MORE?
There’s a number of places to go:

• Microsoft Teams Global Announcement
  (Featuring Microsoft CVP Office, Kirk Koenigsbauer – 3/14/17 Live Recording)
  https://resources.office.com/ww-landing-lets-talk-the-art-of-teams-online-event.html?LCID=EN-US
• Microsoft IT: Getting your team started with Microsoft Teams
  (How Microsoft provisions & uses Teams internally)
• https://www.microsoft.com/itshowcase/Article/Content/868/Getting-your-team-started-with-Microsoft-Teams
• (.PDF)https://itshowcasecontent.blob.core.windows.net/pdffiles/Getting_your_team_started_with_Microsoft_Teams.pdf
• Microsoft Teams TechCommunity Forums
  (See Teams announcements & join the Teams using community discussions)
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams/ct-p/MicrosoftTeams
• Microsoft Teams Product Page
  The product page for Teams is located off of Office.com.
  https://products.office.com/en-US/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software
• Microsoft Teams UserVoice Feedback
  The product group maintains a UserVoice page to take feedback from users of Microsoft Teams.
  https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/555103-public
• Microsoft Teams on Twitter
  Suphatra Rufo, Community Program Manager for Microsoft Teams, runs the UserVoice site and has a Twitter feed that she responds to.
  http://www.twitter.com/skprufo
• Microsoft Teams Developer Platform
  Interested in developing for Teams or building a connector?
  https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=841838
• Help for Microsoft Teams
  Need help for Microsoft Teams for end users? For Administrators?
  https://support.office.com/en-us/teams

TRAINING & REFERENCES FOR TEAMS?
Here’s a few references & trainings for Microsoft Teams, that we’ve produced:

• Microsoft Teams Online Training (Customer Immersion Experience)
  https://kurtsh.com/2017/01/19/training-microsoft-teams-online-training-jan-25-feb-1-feb-8/
• Admin Guides for your new Microsoft Teams (& other Resources)
  https://kurtsh.com/2016/11/04/info-admin-guide-for-your-new-microsoft-teams-other-resources/
• When to use Microsoft Teams (versus other Office 365 collaboration tools)
  https://kurtsh.com/2016/11/04/info-when-to-use-microsoft-teams-versus-other-office-365-collaboration-tools/
• Integrating Visual Studio Team Services with Microsoft Teams
  https://kurtsh.com/2017/01/27/info-integrating-visual-studio-team-services-with-microsoft-teams/

Read the announcement here:

• ANNOUNCEMENT: Microsoft Teams rolls out to Office 365 customers worldwide
  https://blogs.office.com/2017/03/14/microsoft-teams-rolls-out-to-office-365-customers-worldwide/