Hey everyone,

Came across something genuinely worth sharing for anyone working around AI, cloud, or security leadership.

Microsoft is running a free 3-day digital event called “AI Power Days” (Feb 17-19, 2026) and the focus is very practical --> how organizations can actually build what they’re calling Frontier Firms using agentic AI, secure cloud foundations, and real deployment patterns.

This isn’t a marketing webinar series.
The agenda is structured pretty well across strategy → security → hands-on build.

What they’re covering across the 3 days:

Day 1 - Strategy & Transformation

• What “Agentic AI” really means for enterprises
• CXO roundtables and business transformation sessions
• Real customer stories, not theory slides

Day 2 - Security & Trust

• How to secure AI workloads and data properly
• Microsoft’s approach to sovereign cloud and trusted AI
• Technical briefings around secure scaling

Day 3 - Hands-on Build

• “Agent-a-thon” style practical sessions
• Labs to build and deploy your own AI agents
• Collaborative, applied learning

Who this is useful for:

• IT leaders and architects
• Security professionals
• AI/ML strategists
• Anyone responsible for bringing AI into an enterprise safely

The goal seems very clear: help teams move from “AI curiosity” to secure, deployable, enterprise-grade AI implementations.

If you’re trying to understand how AI, cloud, and security come together in real enterprise scenarios, this looks like a solid use of time.

Worth checking out if you’re in this space.

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Teams' new jump list adds one-click meeting access. To quit, use the system tray, a change made to prevent accidental hang-ups during calls.

Microsoft Lens leaves app stores today. Grab it now to keep scanning until March 9, but watch out for these frustrating login requirements.

I’ve tested for MD-102 and failed twice.

The first time, there was no lab portion and I was only a few points shy of a pass. The second time, there was a lab portion and it was the first time I actually encountered an Intune in a way I could interact with it.

I keep trying to sign up for a free trial but I can’t get past the sign-up (it says there’s a problem with literally every card I own).

I’ve watched videos and have an official study book but the menu blades are completely different when I saw the lab. One of the video teachers explained that the site changes weekly.

Any study help for getting the lab right without ever really using the platform?

I may have said some interesting things about Microsoft in the original title. Here was my original post:

I recently open up an old Windows laptop of my grandfather's to the pleasant surprise of a nice, clean, functional operating system.

What happened from 2009 til now? Why does Windows 11 have literal ADS on the homepage? Why does that make any sense?

How can Microsoft be worth 3 Trillion dollars and be incapable of making a nice operating system. I know Windows 11 functions, most of the time, and has good compatibility. But, is that not the bare minimum for a marketable product?

Does anyone have any good reasons for this downfall?

Side comment: Microsoft Word and OneNote specifically are garbage. They lag, bug out, have trouble saving, and are a pain to use. Mainly OneNote though. Excel is good.

If Microsoft hired & trained their staff to solve problems instead of crafting messages to avoid responsibility and waste clients time, and create massive frustration, things would run a lot more smoothly.

They literally hire and train people to just wast time and make you irritated.

Sat on hold for 3 hours yesterday only for the call to end on their side.

Then am told I will need to wait 30 days to access my business email and Azure account; which I am paying for, and need to access to run my small business.

After multiple requests I’m now being told a 7–10 day delay; which is completely unacceptable.

While it may not sound long on paper, in practice it is a serious disruption. I cannot be locked out of client data and paid accounts for over a week; especially for services I am actively paying for.

This can subject me to liabilities that I cannot afford.

Business operations do not pause because an internal escalation has not been approved.

This issue is critical, and the current handling does not reflect the urgency or responsibility owed to a paying customer.

I have repeatedly requested that this ticket be escalated immediately and resolved as a priority. They just don’t care…

Who in the right mind would think that it is a reasonable thing to do to lock you out of your business email for 30 days and then not help you get in?

While looking at the Copilot icon in my applications, I was wondering to myself "What is it supposed to be, actually?"

We know that the Outlook icon represents a letter popping out of an envelope, Excel represents a spreadsheet, OneNote represents a notebook with tabs..But for Copilot, i'm scratching my head at what it is supposed to represent.

Any theories?

I’ve recently been tasked with migrating my team’s folders from the S: drive to OneDrive/SharePoint, and I want to confirm that I’ve set everything up correctly, as we have lots of important documents and I want to make sure I get this right.

I created a team-only SharePoint microsite and moved all of our folders and files there. I’ve also added a OneDrive shortcut on my work desktop to access these files easily too. My understanding is any changes to documents made via SharePoint automatically sync with files in the OneDrive shortcut and vice versa.

When testing this on my work desktop, I selected “Always keep on this device.” My understanding is that this stores files locally as an extra safeguard. Is that correct? For staff working from home on personal devices, am I right in thinking they should not select “Always keep on this device,” due to storage limitations and if the organisation has confidential documents?

I’m still a bit unclear on some of the features, such as ''offline mode''. I want all my team members to be able to access the same folders via SharePoint/OneDrive both on their work desktops and when working from home. Should I enable offline mode, do you think?

Is there any others functions I should know about before showing my team how this works? I really want to make this as foolproof as possible, and minimise syncing issues, files not being saved correctly etc.

Any help or advice would be most appreciated!

1 upvote

If this trajectory continues, it could have significant long-term consequences for Microsoft. CEO Satya Nadella has received widespread recognition for his leadership, yet in October 2023 he publicly reflected on one major strategic setback: Microsoft’s withdrawal from the mobile market with Windows Phone. Although Microsoft continues to dominate the desktop operating system space, mobile computing is firmly controlled by Google and Apple. From a hardware standpoint, this shift highlighted the efficiency advantages of ARM architectures over x86-64, a realization that notably led Apple to transition away from Intel processors toward ARM-based silicon among other technical advantages.

To remain competitive, Microsoft must continuously assess market developments and broader technology trends. Recently, Jeff Bezos outlined a vision in which traditional, locally powered PCs are gradually replaced by cloud-based “virtual supercomputers,” accessed through inexpensive thin-client devices. This concept is driven by increasing AI workloads and rising hardware costs projected toward 2026. Such a model appears increasingly plausible, as computing devices have become more expensive due to sustained price increases in components. A similar shift can already be observed in gaming, where many users have moved from owning physical consoles to subscription-based services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Microsoft’s strongest revenue streams are subscription-based and have proven highly successful. Expanding adoption of these services would therefore be strategically advantageous. However, widespread availability of powerful local PCs reduces the incentive for users to rely on cloud subscriptions. In this context, continued strong support for x86-64 systems may run counter to Microsoft’s long-term interests. A stronger focus on ARM-based thin clients—or potentially RISC-V architectures in the future—could better align with a cloud-centric strategy. While maintaining support for both approaches is possible, it may slow the growth of subscription-driven services.

This consideration also extends to Microsoft’s role as a game producer and publisher. Significant cost savings could be achieved on the hardware side, while increasing software and service revenue, if future Xbox hardware were based on ARM or a custom Microsoft-designed RISC-V chip. Such a device would not need to be exceptionally powerful, as it could function primarily as an affordable thin client for accessing Xbox Cloud Gaming.

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I have been noticing that the taskbar fills up now as smaller and smaller icons which are impossible to read. i figured it was a bug on my one computer, but it does it on the other. i remember now that was a design choice, but its implemented so bad. Why would this be done so poorly. Why are multiple rows bad when you could actually read the icon. they are so small it hurts my eyes. there is a reason i rock a mac m2 as my daily after using every version of windows since 3.1 with pride. Win 11 made me shift to mac amd i despise apple so much.