From a new ability to pause and resume workloads in Azure to intelligent cameras designed to make meetings more inclusive and immersive, here’s the key highlights you need to know.
Whether you watched the Microsoft Build conference or not, you’ve likely heard of a bunch of new features and updates to your favorite platforms, including Microsoft Azure and teams. But even if you caught the action live, there were so many new features announced that it’s easy to forget what applies to you and makes a real difference to your work.
All new features and updates share the goal of making it easier for devs to create native apps, migrate to Azure (and other platforms), and provide seamless integration and increased collaboration to remote and hybrid workers.
So, this article is a round-up of the very best announcements from the 2022 Microsoft Build conference, helping you stay in the loop of new updates so that you don’t fall behind the curve.
Key highlights from Microsoft Build 2022
There were a ton of exciting new announcements, updates, and features communicated at the latest Microsoft Build conference, but key highlights you should pay attention to include:
- New updates to Microsoft Azure
- Azure container apps are now readily available
- Dev Box for developers was announced
- A new set of tools for Microsoft Teams
- The introduction of Microsoft store Ads
- New insights into Microsoft Metaverse
- Build websites with little to no code
- Project Volterra
Keep reading to find out more about each highlight, including what’s new, how it affects you, and exciting new information about the metaverse (we promise, it’s pretty cool!).
New updates to Microsoft Azure
First up, everyone's favorite cloud computing service, Microsoft Azure, has received two new updates.
This includes a preview of Azure OpenAI service (a new product designed to help devs build intelligent apps for use cases such as code generation, writing assistance, and better understanding unstructured data).
Within the second update, users will benefit from “cognitive services.” This service is a summary feature to help developers interpret and discover key information from documents without having to read and decipher the whole thing - this loops back to Microsoft’s goal of making native app construction easier, and these are certainly the right steps on that footpath.
Furthermore, users can now group virtual machines and services to dedicate more resources to any given task. There’s also a new pause and resume function in Azure to help companies expend fewer resources during non-peak periods - a feature that many users have been asking for a while now.
Azure container apps are now readily available
Azure container apps are now readily available, providing seamless serverless containers for microservices and containerized applications.
Example scenarios and uses include event driving processing, deploying API endpoints, hosting background processing applications, and autoscaling apps based on any KEDA-supported scale trigger.
Dev Box for developers was announced
Dev Box is a set of new tools that Microsoft have designed with the purpose of reducing onboarding time and developer difficulty when switching between tasks.
The new Dev Box tools provide self-service cloud workstations, all of which are pre-configured and ready to go. This should provide seamless integration between hybrid environments, allowing devs to jump between projects with ease.
A new set of tools for Microsoft Teams
It’s not just Azure that’s getting new updates - there’s also a new set of tools for Microsoft teams. Microsoft is paying more attention to teams thanks to the increase in remote and hybrid workplaces.
But what’s new? Microsoft has introduced a live share tool, allowing developers to annotate, edit, and share content via screen share in meetings. This new update promotes collaborative work - a great addition to hybrid companies.
The introduction of Microsoft store Ads
Microsoft store Ads are a new feature enabling developers to grow their business and showcase their product directly to their customers. Whether you have a corporate wellness app or free to play game, it’ll be much easier to be discovered in the Microsoft store.
Store Ads will work like any other typical Ad campaign - the pilot program will begin shortly, and developers can sign up using Microsoft Advertising.
New insights into Microsoft Metaverse
While the Metaverse may not be accessible just yet, it will provide an exciting new opportunity for business.
Effectively, users will be able to communicate and hold meetings through the Metaverse, as if they were in the same room - you can present with another team member from different locations, and new intelligent cameras can be used in meeting rooms for a truly immersive experience.
Businesses can effectively model, automate, simulate, and predicate changes within their industry. You can also apply new training methods with little to no risk.
This is only the beginning of what will be a massive shift in the remote and hybrid workforce and how we interact with each other daily, in fact. Companies will benefit from automation using AI, mesh, and other Microsoft tools.
Watch the full Satya Nadella 2022 Build keynote discussing the Metaverse.
Build websites with little to no code
You can now build a website with little to no code, thanks to a new feature known as “power pages” - part of the Microsoft Power platform.
Power pages allow designers, creatives, and others to create pages and beautiful websites with ease, with little to no coding background or knowledge.
The tool integrates with Visual Studio, GitHub, and Azure DevOps, allowing you to gain full control of your website design, look, and function. Microsoft Dataverse (a new function) also enables users to collect and share business information with site visitors securely, increasing security and allowing you to build trust with your audience.
Project Volterra
No, it’s not a thunderbirds mission (sadly) - project Volterra is a partnership between Microsoft and Qualcomm, a new dev kit that will allow developers to build advised AI apps, capable of processing accelerated workloads.
The Dev kit will be a PC, a similar size to the Mac mini, built for in-neural processing. The announcement is fresh out of the box, so we know very little about the project. But we can expect an intelligent, AI-supported set of tools that will hopefully streamline the development process further.
To Sum Up
The Microsoft Build conference has provided us with a ton of exciting new updates and features to look forward to.
With new changes to Azure, Teams, and a bunch of new tools, there’s loads for you to play around with. Maybe you’ll build a website with no code, perhaps you’ll start integrating the new share and collaborate feature in meetings, or maybe you’ll begin picturing what your Metaverse avatar will look like.
To read all of the new updates announced at the Microsoft Build 2022 conference, you can jump to the Microsoft book of news.
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