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New Windows Scheduled Task Will Launch Office Apps Faster

2 months 3 weeks ago
Microsoft plans to roll out a new Windows scheduled task in May that launches automatically to help Microsoft Office apps load faster. From a report: The company says the "Startup Boost" task will launch in the background on logon, with the roll-out to start in mid-May and worldwide general availability to be reached by late May 2025. On systems where it's toggled on, users will see new Office Startup Boost and Office Startup Boost Logon tasks in the Windows Task Scheduler, which will ensure that Office apps can preload "performance enhancements." "We are introducing a new Startup Boost task from the Microsoft Office installer to optimize performance and load-time of experiences within Office applications," Microsoft says on the Microsoft 365 message center. "After the system performs the task, the app remains in a paused state until the app launches and the sequence resumes, or the system removes the app from memory to reclaim resources. The system can perform this task for an app after a device reboot and periodically as system conditions allow."

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Satya Nadella Says DeepSeek Is the New Bar For Microsoft's AI Success

2 months 3 weeks ago
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has told employees that DeepSeek's R1 AI model has set "the new bar" for his company's AI ambitions, citing the startup's ability to reach the top of app store rankings. "What's most impressive about DeepSeek is that it's a great reminder of what 200 people can do when they come together with one thought and one play," The Verge cited Nadella as saying. "Most importantly, not just leaving it there as a research project or an open source project, but to turn it into a product that was number one in the App Store. That's the new bar to me," he added. Microsoft quickly deployed DeepSeek's R1 on its Azure platform in January. The AI model gained recognition for its optimization below Nvidia's CUDA layer, enabling greater efficiency.

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Dems dub Trump cuts to chip export controls a 'gift' to Xi and Putin

2 months 3 weeks ago
Concerns over whether Bureau of Industry and Security, which maintains entity list, would be able to do its job

Keeping critical tech out of the hands of US adversaries is about to get harder for the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) with the Trump administration seemingly poised to slash its already meager budget by $20 million.…

Brandon Vigliarolo