What is it like building an operating system for the world? Microsoft Windows Insider chief, Dona Sarkar talks about how diversity helps in the development of the Windows operating system. Sharing how the development team builds an operating system that works for emerging markets like Africa thriving on diversity.
Dona was talking to Mark Smith (nz365guy), about Building a Tech Community: Windows Insider Program on his podacst.
Knowing how people use tech in the world is how we grow and build better products.
Dona Sarkar
Lessons from Nigeria that shaped Windows 10 for emerging markets
Dona talks passionately about how she appreciates diversity in a corporate team. “I appreciate diversity of experience and diversity of background really helps. What people who are diverse bring to the table is open mindedness.”
As someone who helps in building a global product, she says she will have only a specific point of view sitting in Redmond. “I think we need a global thinking. How do people use tech all around the world. What more should we build and invest in.”
Knowing how people use tech in the world is how we[Microsoft] grow and build better products, Dona says.
About three years ago we realized we know very little about how to build a windows that works well in emerging markets. Especially for places where electricity and good wifi is not a given.
So we choose Lagos, Nigeria because there’s are a hundred and eighty million people there. They love technology, they use it all the time but the infrastructure is not quite as reliable as it might be in Redmond.
When we were there i was trying to install insider builds, have skype calls and podcast and it was challenging. We had rolling blackouts everyday, wifi was extremely slow and spotty. The expense of having wireless connectivity is way higher.
We realized having the ability to have longer battery life is extremely important. Having devices that work on cellular like our Windows on ARM PCs is extremely important compared to always relying on wifi. The ability to have a windows download size that’s not 3GB but maybe 2GB is extremely important.
Dona and the Windows development team are making Windows better with the help of a diverse Insider community. A community of people across the world who help test pre-relase Windows builds and provide feedback.
Windows #Insiders4Good East Africa Fellow Caleb Ndaka is changing his world.
“You’ll see him sometimes, walking village to village in rural Kenya, 5 laptops strapped to his back.” This how Caleb Ndaka conceived Kids Comp Camp. An organization serving remote communities with accessible computer training to empower them to discover new opportunities in technology.
“You’ll see him sometimes, walking village to village in rural Kenya, 5 laptops strapped to his back. Years ago, when he was in college in Nairobi, Kenya, Caleb Ndaka and his friends decided they wanted to help those who were less fortunate. They went to a school in a village with no access to computers and spent a few days training students on computer basics. The students were awestruck by these lessons and able to quickly pick up the skills. Caleb was surprised to see such fast progress and realized he could have a real impact on his country with this work. That was the day Caleb’s business Kids Comp Camp was born.”
East Africa Windows Insiders4Good Fellow
from Left Dona Sarkar, Caleb, Constance, Gomolemo, Michael at Microsoft Build 2019
In 2017 Microsoft asked East Africans with brilliant ideas creating solutions to critical social and economic challenges, to apply for a fellowship program. The Insiders4Good Fellowship. It had been tried in Nigeria and Microsoft was scaling the program up to East African countries. A six-month program that will up open opportunities to the selected entrepreneurs.
Caleb’s Kids Comp Camp was one of 20 ideas selected from entries received from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. As a fellow Caleb received training to develop his business and technology concept, hardware, software, tailored mentorship and support from Microsoft.
So far, Kids Comp Camp has reached over nine thousand
students with 90% being first time users of a computer. It has also evolved to
include training small rural businesses on how to leverage technology to grow.
https://youtu.be/ULZK7biKgnQ
Microsoft Build 2019
Caleb at Microsoft Build 2019
Caleb Ndaka joined other Windows Insiders at Microsoft Build this year. Where he made a presentation about the journey and impact of Kids Comp Camp during the Windows Insiders session. These Insiders, Microsoft says are supporting their local communities and bringing us feedback to build products and services for everyone. Click to read about his journey and experience at Microsoft Build 2019.
Dona Sarkar, head of the Windows Insider Program at Microsoft was a panel speaker at the Ghana Digital Roadmap Conference. She joined other panelist in discussing Automation, E-Government services and Data at the event held in Accra, Ghana.
the only way digital transformation can happen is for universities, private sector and the government to work together
Sharing her thoughts on Digital Transformation she said all the stakeholders will have to work together. “The only way digital transformation can happen is for universities, private sector and the government to work together.”
Ghana has one of the highest literacy rates in the world and an average age of 18, she shared. “You have tremendous benefits over the west. You are mobile first and most of your youth have never lived in a world without technology.”
Think like a Tech Company
I recommend you(the government) think like a tech company and behave like one. That means put young people to work she said. The more you think like a tech company the faster you are going to innovate. Do small experiments.
Why are we not putting the youth to work she asked?
Ghana … most advanced airport, … yet I had to stand in line to fill a form, … that took the longest time.
Giving an example Dona said; Ghana has one of the most advanced airport i have ever seen. I’ve been to 80 countries.
From the moment we landed, It took 15 minutes through customs and security, it was insane. Yet i had to stand in line to fill a form, that took the longest time. There’s no need for a form. You already know all about me. I had to get a visa, it was a complex process.
Government, Co-Create with the youth
She encouraged the government to co-create with the youth. Your youth is the greatest asset you have she said. Don’t teach computer science the way you teach english or maths. Don’t teach it from books and then take test. That doesn’t mean anything. Instead have their graduation project be solve a local problem. Have them be project based, then you’ll know your youth are learning, growing and understand the value of the technology.
No Tech Talent in Africa?
Sharing her view on the (Jumia) no tech talent conversation in Africa, Dona said, i couldn’t disagree more. It is an incorrect statement. This is why i say that. The hires from the Africa continent are our(Microsoft) strongest engineers. That’s speaking as one who hires from across the globe.
The talent from Africa is the most innovate and by far looking to solve real problems because they have to. They are trying to solve real problems like how do you have clean water, reduce maternal mortality. It is not just coding skills, it is the desire to do the right thing. So i think it is two parts.
The only problem i’ve seen on the continet and true in Asia and South America is gate keepers shared Dona Sakar. People in position of authority who belive peolpe need to earn their way to a place where they are allowed to solve problems. In Silicon Valley there are no gate keepers, that is the culture.
Celebrate home grown CEO’s
Give young people hard problems to solve she told the government leaders present. One thing we must do is story tell and Hero make these things. Dona couldn’t stress this more, “Celebrate home grown CEO’s“.
Ghana Digital Roadmap Conference is a conversation platform to review Ghana’s aging ICT policy through digitization, for an accelerated development. The theme of the event is Moving Ghana Beyond Aid; Expanding The Local Digital Economy.
The Ghana government says this is in line with its digital opportunities program. To generate ideas developing a digital strategy and an implementation plan to establish Ghana as the leader in ICT innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2023.
I had the pleasure present some thoughts on #DigitalInclusion to the Ministers & leaders in Accra at @mocghana. I did manage to convince @MBawumia, the VP of Ghana to take a selfie and HOPEFULLY convinced him to invite students into his committees and co-create programs with them pic.twitter.com/hBPuY4qlnA
Learn about the new tweaks and features to expect in the coming Windows 10 RS5 update
Microsoft’s Windows Insider team are putting finishing touches to the current preview builds in testing. The latest Windows 10 Insider Preview build 17751 released, no longer has the build watermark on the desktop. This means we are almost at the finish line, where it gets generally available to the public. Microsoft also announced at IFA Berlin trade show that the current Windows 10 RS5 build will officially be known as the October 2018 Update. So we start counting down to its release.
At Microsoft Build this year Microsoft talked about its vision and strategy for its platforms including Windows. The fusion of Windows and Office in the Microsoft 365 platform. Some of these features Microsoft says are necessary as our world grows into a multi-sense and multi-device world. These features in as much as try to help you save time and be productive have the new sense of Microsoft. Meeting customers where they are and connecting customers PC experiences with their phones.
Let’s take a look at what has been in testing for a while and Microsoft’s plans with it. Earlier we highlighted Mixed Reality Flashlight, New Emoji’s in a post. If I haven’t included a feature you know of and like, kindly share that with us in the comments. I’ll update post with it. Thank you.
What’s new in Windows 10 RS5, October 2018 Update
Your phone
This feature was announced and demoed at Build 2018 as “your phone” and looks pretty helpful. It helps connect your phone to your PC. Making it easy to access the contents of your phone. Easy access to notifications, text messages, photos, etc. using your PC instead of picking up your phone to do this.
No matter your device, iOS or Android, “Your phone app helps you to link your phone to your PC. Surf the web on your phone, then send the webpage instantly to your computer to pick up where you left off to continue what you’re doing–read, watch, or browse with all the benefits of a bigger screen.
“There’s a new way to connect your phone to your PC with Windows 10 that enables instant access to text messages, photos, and notifications. Imagine being able to quickly drag and drop your phone’s photos into a document on your PC in one swift movement – without having to take your phone out of your pocket. Today, this experience allows you to link your phone to your PC. Surf the web on your phone, then send the webpage instantly to your PC to pick up where you left off to continue what you’re doing–read, watch, or browse with all the benefits of a bigger screen. With a linked phone, continuing on your PC is one share away“.
Skype for Windows 10
There have been calls for changes in Skype ever since ever. Some felt it wasn’t lite enough to use etc.. Then other messengers came on the block like WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber etc. Skype lost most of their users. I don’t want to say skype was business focused. Looks like Skype finally has a friendly consumer version. Try it when the update rolls out if you haven’t already in the preview and come tell me what you think.
Microsoft lists out some of the changes it has made to the application.
Best in class calling experience – We’ve added several new calling features to make Skype’s calling experience even better than before: Flexible group call canvas – Customize your group call experience and decide who appears in the main call canvas. Simply drag and drop people between call canvas and the overflow ribbon to select who you want to focus on. Take snapshots – Use snapshots to capture images of important moments within a call. Snapshots makes sure you never forget important memories like your grandkid’s funny antics or crucial information like the content that’s been screen shared during a meeting. Easily start screen sharing – We’ve made sharing your screen during calls even easier. Look for the ability to share your screen with the top level call controls. New layout – Based on your feedback, we’ve made your contacts easier to access and view. Customizable themes – Choose a color and theme for your Skype client through or application settings. And much more – Improvements to our media gallery, notifications panel, and @mentions experience and more!
A modern Snipping experience
The Snipping tool has a big boost. It’s way easier using shortcuts to launch application and get going. The new capabilities with the Sketch app makes editing and transforming the snip even better.
One of the loudest things we heard is that you want to be able to quickly snip & share a screenshot. We’re making it happen! WIN + Shift + S will now bring up a snipping toolbar – snip a rectangle, something a bit more freeform, or full screen and it will go straight to your clipboard. If that’s all you need, you can take it from there. Want more, though? Immediately after taking a snip you’ll now get a notification that will take you and your snip to the Screen Sketch app where you can annotate and share away!
Press Print Screen. You heard it right, just one button! It’s not enabled by default – go to Keyboard Settings – you’ll see a new option that says “Use the Print Screen key to launch screen snipping”. Opening Settings and searching for “print screen” will take you to the right page. Press the quick action button in Action Center. Called “Screen snip” – it should be there as soon as you upgrade, but if not you can always enable it via Notifications & Actions Settings.
New Clipboard experience
Copy paste – it’s something we all do, probably multiple times a day. But what do you do if you need to copy the same few things again and again? How do you copy content across your devices? Today we’re addressing that and taking the clipboard to the next level – simply press WIN+V and you’ll be presented with our brand-new clipboard experience!
Not only can you can paste from the clipboard history, but you can also pin the items you find yourself using all the time. This history is roamed using the same technology which powers Timeline and Sets, which means you can access your clipboard across any PC with this build of Windows or higher. Our new settings page for enabling this experience is under Settings > System > Clipboard – please try this out and share feedback! This link will open the Feedback Hub to where you can tell us about your experience and what you’d like to see next.
SwiftKey intelligence comes to Windows
If you’ve been a windows 10 mobile user you’ll be used to the swift key. This feature is finally enabled in tablet mode on Windows 10.
SwiftKey will now power the typing experience on Windows when using the touch keyboard to write in English (United States), English (United Kingdom), French (France), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Spanish (Spain), Portuguese (Brazil), or Russian.
These are just a few of the amazing updates coming in Windows 10 RS5 or should I say Windows 10 October 2018 Update.
Dark theme in file explorer (above), more fluent designs across the operating system and applications. Microsoft Edge improvements, Xbox and game mode features etc. Share your favourite new feature with us.
UPDATE : So i saw somewhere in the feedback hub people requesting your phone gets changed to my phone. It got answered and closed but well in the final push out it remained Your Phone.
Participate in the Windows Insiders Insiders2Campus contest and win a trip to Microsoft Headquarters in Seattle, Washington
Microsoft will select 10 people and give them a week long VIP experience around their head quarters in Redmond. Participate in the contest for a chance to be part of this experience.
Microsoft says “We’re bringing 10 winners of the Insiders2Campus contest to MSFT for a VIP experience with sneak peeks into what we’re working on. Insiders2Campus is a contest designed to show our biggest fans how much we care by bringing them to Microsoft headquarters for an exclusive Insider experience.“
Watch the winners of the last Insider2Campus contest tour the Microsoft HQ.
Here’s How to participate in the Insider2Campus contest
To qualify for the contest and be eligible;
You’ll have to participate in at least one Windows 10 (Redstone 5) Bug Bash
Download the latestWindows 10 Insider Preview or Windows Server Insider Preview build at the time of one of the bug bashes listed below.
Bug Bash #1, June 22 – July 1, 2018 (this is already past, so you only have next bug bash left)
Bug Bash #2, July 27 – August 5, 2018
Go to the Feedback Hub. Click on the Quests section and complete at least one quest.
Go to the Feedback section of the Feedback Hub and log at least one piece of feedback relating to the Insider Preview build that you downloaded during the Bug Bash dates.
