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Microsoft’s recent suspension of Nayara Energy’s access to its own data has ignited a storm of debate within India’s tech and policy spheres, highlighting profound risks surrounding national digital sovereignty and global cloud dependency. On July 22, 2025, Microsoft, the world’s largest software company and a linchpin of global cloud infrastructure, abruptly suspended IT services for Nayara Energy, India’s second-largest private oil refiner. The move restricted the company’s access not only...

Here’s a quick summary of the key education technology news highlights from the “THE Journal Insider Podcast Shorts” for August 1, 2025: 1. Google’s New AI Mode Features for Learning Google has introduced new AI Mode features in its Search platform. These are designed specifically to enhance learning experiences, making it easier for students and educators to leverage AI for educational purposes. 2. Shift Toward Specialized AI PCs (Intel Report) Intel has released a report detailing a...

GitHub Actions’ relentless pace of innovation shows no signs of slowing, with the latest announcement poised to reshape how developers and organizations manage workflow settings and automation environments. The recent unveiling of new REST APIs and a consequential migration of the ‘windows-latest’ image label to Windows Server 2025 underscores GitHub’s ongoing mission to refine and future-proof its DevOps ecosystem. As the platform rolls out these pivotal changes, understanding their scope...

In the rapidly evolving landscape of educational technology, recent developments from industry leaders like Google, Intel, and Microsoft are poised to significantly impact teaching and learning methodologies. These advancements encompass enhanced AI capabilities in search engines, a strategic shift towards AI-integrated personal computers (AI PCs), and critical updates to operating systems aimed at improving system efficiency and security. Google's AI Mode: Revolutionizing Educational Search...

Microsoft's recent announcement to discontinue Windows 11 SE by October 2026 marks the end of its latest endeavor to penetrate the education sector dominated by Google's Chrome OS. Launched in 2021, Windows 11 SE was designed as a streamlined, cloud-first operating system tailored for students and low-cost laptops, aiming to rival the simplicity and affordability of Chromebooks. Despite these intentions, Windows 11 SE struggled to gain significant traction in the educational market. The...

Google's recent enhancements to its AI Mode in Search are poised to revolutionize educational experiences by offering more interactive and personalized learning tools. These updates include the ability to upload and query PDFs and images, enabling students to seek detailed explanations and summaries directly from their study materials. For instance, learners can upload lecture slides or scanned handouts and ask specific questions about the content, with AI Mode cross-referencing the file...

The gravitational pull of the public cloud market is intensifying, with Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) all posting impressive year-over-year revenue gains in their latest earnings reports. Yet beneath these headline numbers lies a surprising and increasingly critical challenge: capacity constraints. Despite their immense investment in infrastructure, the Big 3 hyperscalers report that customer demand for cloud—and especially AI-driven—workloads is...

The recent earnings reports from Microsoft and Meta Platforms have underscored the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the technology sector, propelling both companies to unprecedented financial heights. This surge has not only captivated investors but also highlighted the strategic importance of AI investments in driving growth and innovation. Microsoft's Cloud and AI Expansion In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, Microsoft reported a remarkable 18% year-over-year...

After a short-lived journey that began with high hopes in 2021, Microsoft has officially sounded the death knell for Windows 11 SE, its tailored school edition aimed at low-cost classroom PCs. This move marks not just the end of an operating system variant but signals another pivot in Microsoft’s perennial struggle to stake a claim in the education technology sector—a market increasingly dominated by Google’s Chrome OS and, to some extent, Apple’s iPadOS. The Rise and Demise of Windows 11 SE...

In an industry defined by relentless innovation, eye-watering capital outlays, and corporate narratives spun around artificial intelligence, the battle for AI cloud primacy among Amazon, Microsoft, and Google has never been more intense—or more consequential. The very infrastructure that powers today’s generative models, digital assistants, and enterprise automation is itself the subject of a technological arms race. At stake is not only who dominates the cloud computing landscape in revenue...

The seismic shift occurring in the cloud computing landscape is driven primarily by artificial intelligence, reshaping not just the market dynamics among major providers but also the approach investors must take as they weigh future opportunities. Amazon Web Services (AWS), long regarded as the juggernaut of cloud infrastructure, is now embroiled in a high-stakes contest for supremacy as AI moves from a technological frontier to the very backbone of business operations. With Microsoft Azure...

Microsoft Excel users are entering a new era of productivity this August, as fresh features arrive across Windows, Mac, and the web—moving the world’s leading spreadsheet platform ever closer to a seamless, modern, and highly collaborative experience. These updates, mainly available to Microsoft 365 subscribers and early-access Insider program participants, focus on three pillars: automation, compatibility, and workflow enhancement. With Excel’s position as an industry standard continually...

The evolution of phishing campaigns in the cloud era has introduced a new breed of attacks that are increasingly hard to spot, even for seasoned security professionals. Among these, a recent campaign targeting Microsoft 365 logins stands out for its cunning use of Microsoft OAuth applications and sophisticated adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) tactics to bypass multifactor authentication (MFA) protections. As businesses continue to embrace cloud services, understanding and defending against...

In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, email remains a primary vector for attacks such as phishing, malware, and business email compromise (BEC). To bolster defenses, organizations often deploy a combination of native security solutions and third-party tools. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) has emerged as a robust native solution, while Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) vendors offer specialized, cloud-native protections. This article delves into the comparative...

Microsoft Corporation remains one of the world’s most influential technology giants, not merely due to its software legacy but also because of its massive and dynamic global workforce. As of June 30, 2024, Microsoft employed 228,000 individuals worldwide—a 3.17% increase from the previous year, representing the culmination of a multi-year growth pattern occasionally interrupted by targeted contractions and strategic pivots. This article explores Microsoft’s workforce trends, key statistics...

After a lengthy absence from active development, one of Windows 11’s most intriguing accessibility experiments—the mouse pointer crosshair—has quietly resurfaced in pre-release builds, reigniting both curiosity and debate within the enthusiast community. While the feature’s veil of secrecy persists in Microsoft’s official channels, knowledgable users and power tinkerers can experience the crosshair cursor right now, either through feature-unlocking utilities or via the excellent open-source...

Amazon’s latest quarterly earnings report sent a tremor through the equity markets, sending shares tumbling 7 percent in a day—an outsize reaction powered less by the e-commerce giant’s core business performance and more by clouds—specifically, the state of its cloud computing division. Despite Amazon Web Services (AWS) driving 60 percent of Amazon’s operating profit, its 17.5% revenue growth in Q2 unmistakably lagged behind those of archrivals Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, who clocked...

Microsoft Excel users are enjoying a wave of innovation as August 2025 ushers in five noteworthy features designed to supercharge productivity, bolster data integrity, and bridge long-standing gaps across platforms. From automation and compatibility improvements to sweeping enhancements in data connectivity and visualization, these updates are more than incremental—they mark a strategic leap for the global powerhouse spreadsheet application. This feature delves into each new capability...

Microsoft’s ongoing tension with antitrust authorities worldwide has landed its latest act on a new stage: Brazil. This time, it’s the Norwegian browser maker Opera shining a spotlight on competition practices amid the soaring stakes of the browser war and the gold rush toward artificial intelligence. At the heart of the matter is an age-old complaint—one that has haunted Microsoft since the heyday of Internet Explorer, now repackaged for a new era dominated by Windows 11, AI-driven...

Phishing campaigns continue to evolve, adapting to security systems and adopting new tactics to dupe even vigilant users. Recent findings have uncovered a sophisticated Microsoft MFA phishing scheme that leverages the OAuth authorization framework—specifically, Microsoft OAuth applications—to bypass multilayered account protections and harvest credentials from corporate Microsoft 365 accounts. This campaign, detailed by cybersecurity researchers at Proofpoint, underscores both the ingenuity...