Microsoft ExpertZone

expertzone.microsoft.com

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Halo and Master Chief have evolved to become a must-have in every gamer’s collection. Now, our favorite Spartan is getting the ultimate tribute in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Take a look back at each of Master Chief’s toughest missions and get the scoop on all the new features and extras that will be waiting for you. Head over to the ExpertZone Blog to learn more and for a chance to win your copy of Halo 4.

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Thank you to everyone for participating in the Office Superheroes Contest that ran on the ExpertZone Facebook Page from May 5 to June 29! While we tally the final results and reward our remaining prizes, including ten new Dell Venue Pro Tablets for our grand prize winners, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the heroic responses that we received the past few weeks (a few of our favorites recapped here and here).

We also saw a trend in your answers! Here are four main superpowers of Office 365, with tips submitted by Office Superheroes, to help you win the sale:

Teleportation: Access Office apps anywhere, anytime with Office 365

Telepathy: Collaborate with the team in real-time using Office Online

Superhuman strength: Harness those bigger than life ideas with the power of OneNote

Invulnerability: Develop immunity to data overload with 1TB of extra storage on OneDrive

We want to know—what’s your Office superpower? Comment on the EZ Blog to be entered to win one of ten mini-prize packs, each of which include: an Office water bottle, lanyard, and USB drive, plus other Microsoft swag.

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Congrats to all the proud new owners of the Surface Pro 3! The Surface team, with feedback from customers and fans, came up with a few recommendations of awesome apps and games to start enjoying your new device today. Would you add anything to this list?

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The Surface Pen is surprisingly fun to use; not only does the heavy aluminum pen feel like an actual pen—it acts like one, too. And in addition to using the Surface Pen to draw and take notes in apps, you can use it like a mouse. Here are some Surface Pen basics:

Pressure-sensitive pen tip: In apps that support pen pressure, applying pressure thickens the line.

Pen buttons: Give you the ability to erase text or a drawing with the first button, and with the second button, quick access to right-click menus. To erase, press and hold the first button and touch the screen with the pen tip, moving it over the text or drawing you want to erase, then release the pen button. To access the right-click menu, press and hold the second button, touch the screen with the pen tip, then release the pen button. You can also press and hold the pen tip on the screen to bring up the right-click menu.

One click to OneNote: Click the pen cap to launch a new OneNote page.

Flicks: Flicks are quick pen strokes that you can use to navigate and perform shortcuts on your Surface. You can customize flicks to do what you want.

Basics aside, what makes Surface Pen any different from other stylus experiences? Head to ExpertZone to find out.

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When it’s a laptop, though, it runs full-blown Windows. You know: the desktop, the taskbar, the Recycle Bin, overlapping windows, the works. It can run the 4 million Windows programs — full-blown software like Photoshop, Quicken, iTunes — that the iPad can only look at and drool.

Smart, Versatile Surface Pro 3 Can Do It All... - David Pogue, Yahoo! Tech

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OneNote Program Manager Nicole loves the color purple, her family, and working on the team that created the magical experiences in this video. How you plan to use OneNote on your Surface Pro 3—tell us what you think in the comments below. Happy clicking!

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You spoke and we listened.

Starting June 30, 2014, the points you earn for engaging in activities on ExpertZone will no longer have an expiration date. Now you can rack up points to purchase rewards or increase your leaderboard ranking … and they’ll stick around until you spend them, whether that’s six months later or six years.

Q: Why are we changing the policy?

A: You asked! (Also, it’s outdated.)

Q: Will expired points be returned?

A: No. We can’t give expired points back, but we can stop the points that would have normally expired from doing so in the future.

Q: When does this policy go into effect?

A: Effectively immediately, you will no longer lose the points earned on ExpertZone.

Q: Does this affect the points structure that determines how Retail Pros gain/maintain their level in ExpertZone?

A: Not at this time.

Q: What are you doing to improve rewards so they’re more exciting?

A: This is top of mind for us! We’re exploring different possibilities that will allow us to update Rewards more frequently with things that you can get super excited about. Stay tuned!

Get the scoop on EZ Blog.

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Right on the heels of the Surface Pro 3 launch, we thought it would be a great time to review the device before you go out to see it face-to-face. You know, remind you about its brilliant multi-position kickstand or the 12-inch glossy display with 2160 x 1440 resolution. No big deal.

But seriously, the Surface Pro 3 has been in the hands of reviewers for a few weeks now, and we really don’t have to work too hard to sing its praises—everyone else is doing it for us!

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Windows has the apps that work the way you do. Glance at updates on the go with Live Tiles, multitask by snapping up to four apps side-by-side, and move with ease across phone, tablet and PC. What apps are most important to you?

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Surface Pro 3 is in stores today! The tablet that can replace your laptop is now on sale at retail stores, online, and through authorized resellers in Canada and the United States.

Corporate VP Panos Panay has been using the Surface as his main machine for months now and shares his favorite features, including the multi-position kickstand, optically bonded screen, and of course, the new Surface Pen.

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Ready to show off your Windows apps-titude? Earn your Windows Apps Achievement badge today! Learn how to use and demo Windows built-in and third party apps in sales conversations with customers: Learning Hub.

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Windows Store has a wide selection of music apps—and they’re not just for listening. There are a ton of apps for making music, too. Here’s a sampling of sweet music apps to demo for customers:

edjing: This challenging yet satisfyingly professional app is beyond addicting. It accesses your music library and then displays each track according to BPM (beats per minute). You choose similar paced songs for the two turntables, then transition between them using the crossfader. There’s a lot more to it, but in short: this is the ultimate Touch experience.

Music Maker Jam: While the edjing app takes practice, Music Maker Jam offers instant gratification. Easily combine professionally produced loops, add the instruments to get the sound you want, then adjust the key and the tempo or add some spectacular effects in realtime. (Dubstep, Rock, Jazz, and Tech House come free; other styles are available for purchase.)

Songza: Search music based on genre, activities, decades, or mood. So whether you’re Coding or Shopping at a Vintage Store, feeling Rowdy or Visceral, seeking Vocal Jazz or Underground Rap, or you simply want to kick it with some ‘60s International tunes (these are all real categories), Songza’s commercial-free playlists will rock you.

Xbox Music: Play and manage music from your personal collection, or browse and buy songs from Xbox Music. You can also instantly stream millions of songs free (or get an Xbox Music Pass for unlimited access to music across all your devices). Read our in-depth review.

iHeartRadio: Listen to thousands of real radio stations from around the country, playing pop, country, hip-hop and R&B, rock, talk, news, and sports. There are also plenty of custom stations.

Have you completed the new Windows Apps Achievement Assessment? Answer ten questions, learn how to talk about apps with customers, and earn yourself a groovin’ 1500 points!

Which music apps do you love? How do you tell customers about them? Share on the EZ Blog.

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There’s still time to enter the Office Superheroes contest on our ExpertZone Facebook Page!

Winners will be notified by email, but here are some of our favorite entries.

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Summer is here! It’s the perfect time to help customers shed those winter layers and lighten loads with slim, lightweight Windows 8.1 tablets with 8-inch screens.

  These portable devices are meant to be taken anywhere—but don’t let their small stature fool you! 8-inch tablets still pack a productivity punch, with long battery life, large storage capacity, and plenty of ports. They're also compatible with a range of accessories, like full-size keyboards, screens, and styluses.

We’ve chosen four of our favorite tablet recommendations for summer escapes—all backed by powerful processors and preloaded with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013.

  Which tablets are you recommending this summer? Share on the ExpertZone Blog for a chance to win a summer prize pack.

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Retail All-Stars Around the World: Meet Chris from Canada

Make a stopover in Ottawa, Canada with us today to meet Chris, our newest ExpertZone Retail All-Star! We recently had the opportunity to jump on Skype with Chris to find out more about his passion for technology, and how he works with customers to better understand how he can best pair them with the products they need. Plus, Chris fills us in on what it means to be an All-Star and how to succeed in the industry.

We hear you’re good with the people. What’s your best customer story?

Highlight A customer with arthritis recently came into the store and needed a new keyboard that would add comfort to their usage. I explained that my mother suffered from arthritis as well and mentioned that I had purchased her a Microsoft keyboard that I thought might be what she was looking for. I suggested the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 7000 set as the soft pad would help with wrist strain, as well as the ergonomic shape, and slight curve to the keys would make it a lot more comfortable to use. She took my advice and returned a month later to thank me for my suggestion as she truly appreciated it. It was the perfect fit.

When it comes to your buddies in store, how do you keep each other on your toes?

Highlight We enjoy some friendly competition in our store. We challenge each other to see who can complete the most quizzes, with the highest score, on both the ExpertZone Learning Hub and other training sites. This helps all of us increase our product knowledge and build our sense of community within our store, and the rest of our company.

Ok, All-Star. What's your advice and tips of the trade for other retail sales pros to succeed in this industry?

My advice is to always try to keep up to date on current technology news. Whether it's by using ExpertZone, reading technology blogs or following tech experts on Twitter or Facebook. Keeping an eye out for new information will help you from looking "outdated" to the "bleeding edge" customers. But with that in mind, remember not everyone is a tech wiz. Feel out your customer from the start to see at what level you should speak to them. If they're an expert, techno-babble away! But if they're a beginner, don't talk down to them.

Join the #EZAllStar Conversation

Don't forget to use social media to show off the awesome things you're doing at your store. Just tag your pics or video with hashtag #EZAllStar. We just might share it with the rest of the community!

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Windows is heading to COMPUTEX TAIPEI next week!

Over the past year, the Windows team has worked hard to offer new devices at a broader range of price points. The end result is that more people—across consumer and business—can access all the awesomeness that Windows 8.1 and Office 365 at a really affordable price.

Stay tuned for more info as these new devices get announced by our hardware partners over the coming weeks!

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Know Windows Phone? Play Windows Phone Facts Trivia and earn the chance to WIN one of 5,000+ great prizes. If you sell phones at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon, you’re eligible to enter.

  See the prizes and get started at http://aka.ms/wptrivia!