Microsoft 365: /Build Week
Microsoft Build 2021: Build It and They Will Come
Microsoft Build is happening once again this year. Just like Microsoft Build 2020, the Build conference will be a virtual event that anyone can attend. This is the event where Microsoft usually focuses on developers, announcing new tools and APIs that help make apps for all of its products, including the Microsoft Surface PCs.
Microsoft Build 2021 is happening May 25 - 27 and will be a free virtual event. This event s usually where Microsoft announces new developer tools, services, and other announcements around building apps and services for Windows, Azure, Teams, and more.
The official speaker lineup includes:
- Satya Nadella – CEO Microsoft
- Amanda Silver – CVP of Product, Developer Tools
- Donovan Brown – Partner Program Manager
- Kayla Cinnamon – Program Manager
- Scott Gutherie – EVP, Cloud and AI Group
- Leslie Richardson – Program Manager II VS and .Net
- Scott Hanselman – Partner Program Manager
- Jeff Teper – CVP – Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint
- Anna Hoffman – Data & Applied Scientist
- Rajesh Jha – EVP, Experiences + Devi
- Kevin Scott - CTO
Microsoft Build 2021 registration is officially open
Microsoft Teams for Family
Microsoft has launched the personal version of Microsoft Teams. This version is available for free personal use with friends and family. The service itself is almost identical to the Microsoft Teams that businesses use, and it will allow people to chat, video call, and share calendars, locations, and files easily.
Microsoft is also continuing to offer everyone free 24-hour video calls that it introduced in the preview version back in November. You’ll be able to meet up with up to 300 people in video calls that can last for 24 hours. Microsoft will eventually enforce limits of 60 minutes for group calls of up to 100 people after the pandemic but keep 24 hours for 1:1 calls.
Microsoft Teams: Custom Together Mode
Last year, Microsoft announced a new Together Mode for its Teams collaboration platform. This has been a welcome feature for virtual meeting, but it did not allow for custom backgrounds, and user could only choose from pre-set background settings.
Now, Microsoft has announced that coming in June, users will now be able to create their own “immersive” scenes for meetings. This feature will allow anyone with skills to build their own scenes and improve the overall meeting experience. Creators, developers and professionals can create their immersive scenes and go beyond simply video conferencing in their organization.