Tag Archives: microsoft
Create neat lines and shapes with ink in Word for Windows
Hi, Microsoft 365 Insiders,
Exciting update for Word for Windows users! :party_popper: We’ve brought the Draw & Hold gesture over from OneNote, and now it’s available in Word! With this feature you can easily use ink to create straight lines and neat shapes, including (new!) hearts and stars, anywhere in your document. Perfect for adding a touch of creativity to your work.
Learn how to use this feature in our latest blog by Victoria Chen, PM on the Office AI team.
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Community Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android
Hi, Microsoft 365 Insiders,
Exciting update for Word for Windows users! :party_popper: We’ve brought the Draw & Hold gesture over from OneNote, and now it’s available in Word! With this feature you can easily use ink to create straight lines and neat shapes, including (new!) hearts and stars, anywhere in your document. Perfect for adding a touch of creativity to your work.
Learn how to use this feature in our latest blog by Victoria Chen, PM on the Office AI team.
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Community Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android Read More
SharePoint links stop working for external Users
SharePoint Shared Document or Directory links stop working for external Users. Happens with several internal team members sharing links with external users. There are no expirations on the links and all settings appears to be set correctly. The links will initially work fine for users, but they seem to stop within 24 hrs. Sometimes they will start working a day later. And it doesn’t matter what folder or file is shared.
No one seems to be able to figure out what could be going on with this. This has been consistently happening over the last few months. Microsoft Support has not found an answer either.
Has anyone seen this before? Any suggestions? We are pulling out hair out on this one.
SharePoint Shared Document or Directory links stop working for external Users. Happens with several internal team members sharing links with external users. There are no expirations on the links and all settings appears to be set correctly. The links will initially work fine for users, but they seem to stop within 24 hrs. Sometimes they will start working a day later. And it doesn’t matter what folder or file is shared. No one seems to be able to figure out what could be going on with this. This has been consistently happening over the last few months. Microsoft Support has not found an answer either. Has anyone seen this before? Any suggestions? We are pulling out hair out on this one. Read More
Getting firstrow value from Lookup in ADF
I have a lookup that returns the following in ADF:
{
“firstRow”: {
“”: 1044624
},
“effectiveIntegrationRuntime”: “AutoResolveIntegrationRuntime (East US)”,
“durationInQueue”: {
“integrationRuntimeQueue”: 0
}
}
In my pipeline, I’m trying to do a Set Variable and return the value of 1044624 but I can’t seem to retrieve it. I’m getting the string value of “@activity(‘Lookup1’).output.firstRow[”]”
Using the output above, what do I put in for the value of the Set Variable in the pipeline that occurs directly after the Lookup?
I have a lookup that returns the following in ADF:{“firstRow”: {“”: 1044624},”effectiveIntegrationRuntime”: “AutoResolveIntegrationRuntime (East US)”,”durationInQueue”: {“integrationRuntimeQueue”: 0}} In my pipeline, I’m trying to do a Set Variable and return the value of 1044624 but I can’t seem to retrieve it. I’m getting the string value of “@activity(‘Lookup1’).output.firstRow[”]” Using the output above, what do I put in for the value of the Set Variable in the pipeline that occurs directly after the Lookup? Read More
Example of a business using Copilot for Microsoft 365
Discover how PKSHA benefits from using Copilot for Microsoft 365 across their teams, including customer success. This team manages dozens of weekly client calls and uses Copilot for call preparation, note-taking, and meeting recaps. One employee reported spending 3-4 hours analyzing data to prepare for a single customer call, and now can do that same work in under an hour. With the time she saves, she’s now able to be more proactive with her customers and deliver a higher quality of service.
Is anyone else using Copilot to save time and provide faster customer service? Share your use cases in the comments, we are always looking for small and medium businesses to highlight through these stories!
Discover how PKSHA benefits from using Copilot for Microsoft 365 across their teams, including customer success. This team manages dozens of weekly client calls and uses Copilot for call preparation, note-taking, and meeting recaps. One employee reported spending 3-4 hours analyzing data to prepare for a single customer call, and now can do that same work in under an hour. With the time she saves, she’s now able to be more proactive with her customers and deliver a higher quality of service.
Is anyone else using Copilot to save time and provide faster customer service? Share your use cases in the comments, we are always looking for small and medium businesses to highlight through these stories! Read More
Top Stories: August 6, 2024
Check out these stories and stay up to date.
French, Spanish, and Portuguese available from the “Language” drop down on the main menu bar.
Check out these stories and stay up to date.
French, Spanish, and Portuguese available from the “Language” drop down on the main menu bar. Read More
Get Device Inventory list using graph/powershell/cli
Hello,
I am currently in the process of onboarding a set of Windows and Linux servers into Defender for Servers.
I am trying to figure out how I can pull the Device Inventory list located under Microsoft Defender -> Assets -> Device Inventory programmatically.
I tried Get-MgDeviceManagementManagedDevice but this only returns the devices in Intune which does not include the servers.
Thanks
Hello,I am currently in the process of onboarding a set of Windows and Linux servers into Defender for Servers. I am trying to figure out how I can pull the Device Inventory list located under Microsoft Defender -> Assets -> Device Inventory programmatically.I tried Get-MgDeviceManagementManagedDevice but this only returns the devices in Intune which does not include the servers.Thanks Read More
if formula from another sheet?
i need to pull information from a cell on another sheet (sheet 2) onto sheet 1 based on criteria from another range of cells on sheet 2. i tried to do an if formula but i couldn’t quite figure it out.
i need to pull information from a cell on another sheet (sheet 2) onto sheet 1 based on criteria from another range of cells on sheet 2. i tried to do an if formula but i couldn’t quite figure it out. Read More
New Outlook – Moving a Folder between other folders
Hi all. I am new and apologize if this has been asked (I looked but could not find this issue exactly). I just switched to New Outlook and it appears that I can’t manually rearrange subfolders within a parent folder. When I click-drag, I only see the visual feedback for moving it INTO another folder. In Old Outlook, I could see visual feedback of a line BETWEEN other folders as well, and I could drop it on the line to effectively change the sort order manually. Am I missing something?
Hi all. I am new and apologize if this has been asked (I looked but could not find this issue exactly). I just switched to New Outlook and it appears that I can’t manually rearrange subfolders within a parent folder. When I click-drag, I only see the visual feedback for moving it INTO another folder. In Old Outlook, I could see visual feedback of a line BETWEEN other folders as well, and I could drop it on the line to effectively change the sort order manually. Am I missing something? Read More
New Blog | Microsoft Defender for Cloud – Monthly News – August 2024
By Yura Lee
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Monthly news
August 2024 Edition
This is our monthly “What’s new” blog post, summarizing product updates and various new assets we released over the past month. In this edition, we are looking at all the goodness from July 2024.
Read the full post here: Microsoft Defender for Cloud – Monthly News – August 2024
By Yura Lee
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Monthly news
August 2024 Edition
This is our monthly “What’s new” blog post, summarizing product updates and various new assets we released over the past month. In this edition, we are looking at all the goodness from July 2024.
Read the full post here: Microsoft Defender for Cloud – Monthly News – August 2024 Read More
Scheduled news page showing in Teams before being published in SharePoint
We are finding that our scheduled news posts in SharePoint online are appearing in Viva Connections before the publish date/time in SharePoint. Is there a way to prevent this early posting?
We are finding that our scheduled news posts in SharePoint online are appearing in Viva Connections before the publish date/time in SharePoint. Is there a way to prevent this early posting? Read More
Help with sorting data!
I have customer last name in column A, first name in column b. But then I have all the accounts numbers associated with each name going horizontally across all the way to some column BG. How can bring the account numbers under each associated name?
Example
Smith John 12344 12355 12556 12666 12777
Doe Jane. 12345 12345 12345
What I want –
Smith John
12344
12355
12556
12666
12777
Doe Jane
12345
12345
12345
I have customer last name in column A, first name in column b. But then I have all the accounts numbers associated with each name going horizontally across all the way to some column BG. How can bring the account numbers under each associated name? ExampleSmith John 12344 12355 12556 12666 12777Doe Jane. 12345 12345 12345 What I want -Smith John 1234412355125561266612777Doe Jane123451234512345 Read More
Unlocking the Power of AI: The Art and Science of Prompt Engineering
As we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), one skill has emerged as a critical component in harnessing the true potential of AI systems: Prompt Engineering. Generative AI, powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) series, has revolutionized the way we create content—be it text, images, audio, or even code. At the heart of this transformation lies the art of crafting and optimizing prompts to elicit consistent and high-quality responses from these models.
What is Prompt Engineering?
Prompt Engineering is the process of designing and refining text inputs (prompts) to achieve specific application objectives with AI models. Think of it as a two-step journey:
Designing the Initial Prompt: Creating the initial input for the model to achieve the desired result.
Refining the Prompt: Continuously adjusting the prompt to enhance the quality of the responses.
Why is Prompt Engineering Important?
To understand the significance of Prompt Engineering, we need to delve into three key concepts:
Tokenization: The method by which the model perceives the prompt.
Base LLMs: The process through which the foundational model handles the prompt.
Instruction-Tuned LLMs: The way the model understands and executes tasks.
Key Reasons for the Importance of Prompt Engineering
Stochastic Nature of Model Responses: AI responses are inherently variable. The same prompt can produce different outcomes depending on the model or even at different times with the same model. Effective prompt engineering can reduce these variations by establishing more precise guidelines.
Mitigating Fabrications: Since models are trained on large yet finite datasets, they can sometimes generate inaccurate or fictitious responses. Prompt engineering techniques can help detect and address these fabrications by, for instance, requesting citations or reasoning from the AI.
Adapting to Model Capabilities: Newer models offer enhanced capabilities but also come with unique quirks and trade-offs in terms of cost and complexity. Prompt engineering helps create best practices that accommodate these model-specific characteristics, ensuring a scalable and efficient workflow.
Elements of a Prompt
A well-crafted prompt comprises several elements:
Context: Background information that sets the stage for the task.
Instructions: Clear directives guiding the AI on what to do.
Exemplary Input: Examples that illustrate the task.
Primary Content: The main input data for which a response is sought.
Output Indicator: Signals indicating the desired output format.
Each element plays a vital role in guiding the AI system to perform specific tasks, such as providing a sentiment analysis for an input sentence.
Techniques in Prompt Engineering
Prompt Engineering employs a variety of techniques, each suited to different scenarios:
Zero-Shot Learning: The model generates responses without specific examples, relying solely on pre-training data. This is useful when labeled data is impractical or unavailable.
Few-Shot Learning: Providing the model with a few examples to help it understand and perform a specific task. This is beneficial when limited data is available or quick adaptation to new tasks is needed.
System Messages and Roles: Pre-set instructions that guide the AI’s responses, ensuring consistency and alignment with user goals. Assigning specific roles to the AI allows it to simulate different personas and provide contextually relevant responses.
Conclusion
Prompt Engineering is a rapidly evolving field within AI that offers innovative ways to interact with AI systems. It represents a significant advancement in our ability to harness the power of AI, providing us with tools to achieve more accurate, reliable, and contextually appropriate responses. As we continue to explore and refine the techniques of Prompt Engineering, we are not only enhancing the capabilities of AI systems but also paving the way for more seamless human-AI collaboration.
The importance of Prompt Engineering cannot be overstated. It helps mitigate the inherent variability and potential inaccuracies in AI responses, ensures adaptability across different model capabilities, and unlocks new applications and use cases. By mastering this skill, we move closer to realizing the full potential of AI, making it an indispensable part of our technological future.
So, whether you’re an AI researcher, a developer, or simply an enthusiast, delving into the intricacies of Prompt Engineering is a worthwhile endeavor. It’s a testament to the incredible progress we’ve made in AI research and a glimpse into the exciting future that lies ahead. As we continue to refine our understanding and techniques, the possibilities are boundless, and the journey is just beginning.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Partner Blog | Access the latest Microsoft Cloud and AI innovation with evolved partner benefits
Staying at the forefront of technology innovation is essential for our partners, and we’re here to ensure you have the tools and support to do just that. As part of this ongoing commitment, we are evolving the benefits packages offered through the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program.
Last January, we launched three new distinct benefits packages: Partner Launch Benefits, Partner Success Core Benefits, and Partner Success Expanded Benefits. These packages are purpose-built to meet the varied needs of our partners at different stages of growth and are designed to help take your business to the next level. They complement Solutions Partner and ISV Success core and expanded benefits already available for partners. More details on what is included in these benefits packages is available on the partner website, including total retail value of the packages: Partner Launch Benefits (USD13,000+), Partner Success Core Benefits (USD62,000+), and Partner Success Expanded Benefits (USD390,000+).
Now, I’m thrilled to announce that starting January 22, 2025, we are adding over 20 in-demand product licenses to our benefits packages. This includes game-changing Microsoft Copilot products, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Microsoft GitHub.
Don’t miss out—access select partner benefits packages, Solutions Partner designations, or specializations today to be among the first to enjoy these new benefits as soon as they launch in January 2025.
Continue reading here
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Outlook synchronazation problem
I have a synchronazationproblem in classic outlook. In the conflicsfolder i get al lot of messages concerning one and the same problem over and over again.
The email is as follows in Dutch:
Deleting this email doesn’t solve the problem. As mentioned it keeps coming back. Any suggestions how to solve this problem are very welcome.
Regards,
Johan van den Born
I have a synchronazationproblem in classic outlook. In the conflicsfolder i get al lot of messages concerning one and the same problem over and over again.The email is as follows in Dutch: Deleting this email doesn’t solve the problem. As mentioned it keeps coming back. Any suggestions how to solve this problem are very welcome.Regards,Johan van den Born Read More
Deprecation of SQL Trace and SQL Server Profiler?
I saw this on LinkedIn. Is it true and where can we get more info? Gracias
SQL Trace and SQL Server Profiler are deprecated. The Trace namespace that contains the Microsoft SQL Server Trace and Replay objects are also deprecated.”
We’ve all seen the warning above. Use Extended Events instead.
Profiler and SQL Server Trace are hard tools to replace. Especially when you’ve been using them for years. And learned how to use them well enough to not bring down a production server in the middle of the day.
I saw this on LinkedIn. Is it true and where can we get more info? Gracias SQL Trace and SQL Server Profiler are deprecated. The Trace namespace that contains the Microsoft SQL Server Trace and Replay objects are also deprecated.”We’ve all seen the warning above. Use Extended Events instead.Profiler and SQL Server Trace are hard tools to replace. Especially when you’ve been using them for years. And learned how to use them well enough to not bring down a production server in the middle of the day. Read More
CloudCasa for Azure Arc
Azure Arc is a platform that helps users build and develop their applications by extending Azure to their datacenters, edge, or even to multicloud environments. It helps simplify the governance and management experience by delivering the consistency of Azure platform. For the Azure Arc platform, we decided to launch a new ISV program that will enable our partners to validate their applications. We are currently in the process of engaging with more partners to validate their solutions so that we can publish this on the marketplace for Arc enabled Kubernetes. Catalogic has released their first marketplace item for Azure Arc that is available today!
CloudCasa is a Kubernetes backup, recovery, disaster recovery, and migration service for development and production environments whether on-premise, in the cloud or at the edge. CloudCasa is a strong and simple Kubernetes backup-as-a-service solution that integrates with Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Blob Storage. This has been validated and published to . The latest version adds new migration and replication workflows to simplify key Kubernetes use cases such as migrating on-premises clusters to cloud. This includes all Kubernetes distributions and managed services including EKS, GKE, and Red Hat OpenShift. The premium service plans allow you to back up your persistent volumes to your own object storage, including Azure Blob Storage.
To try out CloudCasa, please follow the instructions posted here: Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This instruction set will share how to create your extension on Azure Arc to perform the backup of your cluster. As we look to continue to expand our ISV validation program, be on the lookout for more blogs on the new ISVs that are being published to the Azure Arc marketplace.
Thank you!
Siddique Juman
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Partner Case Study Series | Spotii
Payment platform and Microsoft services bolster retail in the Middle East
Azure services enable sentiment analysis, monitoring insights, and more
Based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Spotii empowers the GCC retail community with its focus on technology, trust, and inclusion. Spotii joined the Microsoft ecosystem through the Microsoft for Startups program in February, and since going live to the public in April, more than 100 merchants, ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to enterprises, have committed to Spotii’s service. Spotii’s plugin, available on Microsoft AppSource, easily integrates into Magento, WooCommerce, Shopify, and other e-commerce platforms.
Additionally, Spotii’s development team can support custom integrations as well as in-store functionality.
Spotii uses Azure Kubernetes Service to host its web and data apps. Its web app depends on Azure Database for PostgreSQL to store its data. Azure Monitor Log Analytics allows Spotii to monitor its apps. Helpful insights, such as tracing error messages in the log, are provided by Azure Kubernetes Service. Spotii uses the optical character recognition capabilities of Azure Cognitive Services to extract user information from a submitted ID image. Text analytics and sentiment analysis are Azure Cognitive Services tools that Spotii uses to evaluate customer feedback when scraping Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social media sites.
Continue reading here
**Explore all case studies or submit your own**
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Optimizations for windowed games makes my PC shut down
Hi everyone,
Many people have suggested that I turn on the following setting to improve my gaming experience however this setting has resulted in nothing but pain.
When I turn this setting on everything is fine until I try to tab in between my different monitors a few times (I have a 1440p, 60hz main monitor and two other 1080p, 60hz monitors, games are normally ran on my 1440p monitor). If I go from my game to one of my other monitors, and then back to my game in somewhat casual but quick succession my system will power down and restart.
When this happens there is no error. No GPU driver timeout. No crash dump. Not even a single event in Event Viewer (one would expect errors there but there is none, not even information level events)
This issue also has persisted through multiple full OS re-imaging from a new boot media which lends me to think that it might be hardware or system configuration related.
My system has the following specifications:
Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (OS Build 22631.3880)
Ryzen 5 3600 (not overclocked, PBO not enabled, running on default out of box settings, up to date chipset drivers)
Radeon RX 6700 XT (not overclocked, running on default out of box settings, up to date drivers)
X570 Chipset motherboard (ASUS x570 Pro, BIOS is of the latest release)
Corsair RM 850x 850W (80 Plus Gold certified)
Please note that I have also verified that I am neither thermal throttling nor am I getting anywhere near high temps under full system stress test. My peak temperatures are less than 80C on both GPU and CPU.
I have validated the CPU, Memory and GPU through a lot of benchmarks and stress testing. No errors from them and all of them passed every test.
Has anyone else ran into this issue and is there a solution?
I’ve scoured the internet for a solution but I was unable to find one.. all I find is posts saying how great this option is and how to turn it on.
Hi everyone,Many people have suggested that I turn on the following setting to improve my gaming experience however this setting has resulted in nothing but pain.When I turn this setting on everything is fine until I try to tab in between my different monitors a few times (I have a 1440p, 60hz main monitor and two other 1080p, 60hz monitors, games are normally ran on my 1440p monitor). If I go from my game to one of my other monitors, and then back to my game in somewhat casual but quick succession my system will power down and restart.When this happens there is no error. No GPU driver timeout. No crash dump. Not even a single event in Event Viewer (one would expect errors there but there is none, not even information level events)This issue also has persisted through multiple full OS re-imaging from a new boot media which lends me to think that it might be hardware or system configuration related.My system has the following specifications:Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (OS Build 22631.3880)Ryzen 5 3600 (not overclocked, PBO not enabled, running on default out of box settings, up to date chipset drivers)Radeon RX 6700 XT (not overclocked, running on default out of box settings, up to date drivers)X570 Chipset motherboard (ASUS x570 Pro, BIOS is of the latest release)Corsair RM 850x 850W (80 Plus Gold certified)Please note that I have also verified that I am neither thermal throttling nor am I getting anywhere near high temps under full system stress test. My peak temperatures are less than 80C on both GPU and CPU.I have validated the CPU, Memory and GPU through a lot of benchmarks and stress testing. No errors from them and all of them passed every test.Has anyone else ran into this issue and is there a solution?I’ve scoured the internet for a solution but I was unable to find one.. all I find is posts saying how great this option is and how to turn it on. Read More
Multiple choice – searching any part of the text
Hi there,
I am new to Sharepoint, and trying to figure something out that I assume is simple.
I have a column in an item form that is multiple choice, with many options.
When a user is creating a new item, and are choosing an option in this column, I’d like them to be able to start typing any part of the choice, and have it come up.
By default, it searches only in the exact order you type, and you have to correctly type the first letters of the choice.
For example:
For the option “Computer Services 107” – If they start typing Com, or Ser, or 107, I’d like it to jump to this option. Currently, unless they type Com – nothing comes up.
Possible?
Thanks,
Amber
Hi there,I am new to Sharepoint, and trying to figure something out that I assume is simple. I have a column in an item form that is multiple choice, with many options. When a user is creating a new item, and are choosing an option in this column, I’d like them to be able to start typing any part of the choice, and have it come up.By default, it searches only in the exact order you type, and you have to correctly type the first letters of the choice. For example:For the option “Computer Services 107” – If they start typing Com, or Ser, or 107, I’d like it to jump to this option. Currently, unless they type Com – nothing comes up. Possible? Thanks,Amber Read More
Every other row is blank when downloading .csv files
When viewing .csv files with Notepad, everything looks great.
However, when I open these files, every other row is blank including the header row.
Is the problem on my end with various format selections, or the party sending me these files with, perhaps, and extra line feed tacked onto the end of each record?
Getting rid of every other blank line is manually time consuming and should not be there in the first place.
Thank you for any suggestions.
When viewing .csv files with Notepad, everything looks great.However, when I open these files, every other row is blank including the header row.Is the problem on my end with various format selections, or the party sending me these files with, perhaps, and extra line feed tacked onto the end of each record?Getting rid of every other blank line is manually time consuming and should not be there in the first place.Thank you for any suggestions. Read More