Microsoft and Netflix help diversity by offering more parental leave

There are a few ways to increase the number of women working at tech companies. Intel is offering referral bonuses, for example, while other firms are trying more inclusive hiring policies. However, many companies don’t do much to accommodate motherhood — how are you supposed to feel welcome when you might have to take unpaid time off (or worse, quit) just to raise your newborn child? Microsoft and Netflix are clearly aware of that problem, though, as they’re boosting the level of paid parental leave offered to both mothers and fathers.

As of November 1st, Microsoft will up the amount of paid parental leave from 8 weeks to 12, with mothers getting both an additional 8 weeks after birth as well as more opportunities to use short-term disability benefits near their due dates. You can split that 12-week period into two, and return to work on a “half-time” basis if you’re not yet ready to jump in with both feet. Netflix, meanwhile, is promising “unlimited” parental leave in the first year after birth or an adoption. You can not only take off as much time as you need, but dictate your schedule. Want a brief stint of full-time work, or a few months part-time? You’re set.

It’s too soon to tell how well these measures will help an industry where women face numerous other challenges, such as an educational culture that tends to discourage women engineers. With that said, the moves should help mitigate (and sometimes eliminate) the child-or-career dilemma that frequently crops up in the tech world, where the relentless pace and frequent overtime can make it very hard to have a family life. This doesn’t do much to create time for your kid later on, but it at least gives you a chance to settle in to your parental role before making big decisions about your working hours.

[Image credit: Alamy]

Filed under:
Misc, Microsoft

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Source:
Official Microsoft Blog, Netflix Blog

Tags: children, diversity, maternityleave, microsoft, netflix, parentalleave, parents, paternityleave, women

Microsoft’s Sway presentation app hits Windows 10, leaves preview

Sway, Microsoft’s app for building well-designed presentations on the web, is beginning to seem like more than just a mere experiment. Today, Microsoft announced that it’s bringing the app out of preview mode (the company’s designation for a beta test), and it’s launching a dedicated Sway app for Windows 10. On top of that, Sway is also one of the services Microsoft has integrated into Docs, its new online document sharing service. That’s a surprising amount of progress for an app that initially seemed like a less capable PowerPoint for the web. In a nutshell, Sway lets you create stylized presentations that are easily viewable across phones, tablets and computers. Much like Edge, the company’s new Windows 10 browser, it’s as if Microsoft went back to the drawing board and came up with a new type of presentation app for our multi-device age. In many ways, it’s also like a modern Content Management Service like those offered by Squarespace and Medium, allowing you to just plug in content and get a beautiful final product.

The Sway Windows 10 app should make it easier for users of the new OS to build and manage their projects, though Microsoft reps were clear that Sway isn’t moving away from its focus on the web. The online Sway editor can do everything that the Windows 10 and iOS apps do, and it also has the benefit of being accessible by any platform with a web browser. Sway’s new integration with Docs also gives you one place to share all of your presentations (you can also embed them right into any web page).

https://sway.com/s/nLa7rrYhdCmzRyQd/embed

Sure, you could make a stylish web page or a well-designed presentation in plenty of other apps, but Sway’s big draw is its ease of use. You can take photos, video and notes from a Windows 10 or iOS device (an Android app is coming soon) and plug them into a Sway presentation later on. Microsoft also added the ability to co-edit Sways with others, based on user feedback. Early testers include teachers who’ve used Sway for building class lessons, artists using it for their personal portfolios and musicians like Daria Musk, who documented the creation of a song on the service (embedded above).

Now that it’s out of preview, Office 365 users in 213 markets will get access to Sway. But you don’t need to be an Office user to use it — you can sign up at Sway.com to start building presentations. While hardcore Powerpoint users probably won’t be giving up their slide decks anytime soon, Sway is a sign that Microsoft is at least trying to keep pace with the changing technological landscape.

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Microsoft

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Tags: microsoft, presentations, Sway

Images of Microsoft’s next flagship Lumia prototype leak out

If you’ve been hankering for some powerful new Lumia hardware, feast your eyes on the first images of a prototype of Microsoft’s upcoming flagship phone, courtesy of a (soon to be fired) leaker on the WPXAP forums. For the past few years, Microsoft has focused more on delivering mid-range and low-end Lumia devices, the few markets where Windows Phone has managed to find a foothold. But, based on current rumors, the company is expected to launch a new Lumia 950 flagship later this year, along with a Lumia 950 XL phablet. The above image gives us our closest look yet at one of the new devices (there’s some debate as to whether it’s the 5.2-inch 950 or the 5.7-inch 950 XL), and, well, it looks just like a Lumia design.

Like many prototypes, it’s covered in a protective case, so the final version might end up looking a bit different. We also see a shot of a USB-C connector for charging, and, not surprisingly, it appears the phone carries one of Nokia’s 20-megapixel PureView cameras. According to Windows Central, the new flagship Lumias will be powered by Snapdragon 808 processors and will sport 3GB of RAM. While it made sense for Microsoft to wait for the launch of Windows 10 to deliver new flagships, it’ll be interesting to see if it can actually make consumers pay attention to its high-end phones this time around.

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Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

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Via:
WindowsCentral

Source:
WPXAP

Tags: Lumia950, microsoft, mobilepostcross

Microsoft’s document sharing service, Docs, is available to everyone

Sure, you can technically use OneDrive and other cloud services to share your Office files, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were a dedicated site for that? Apparently, Microsoft agrees — it quietly launched the public beta for Docs, a dedicated website (this was previously a Facebook-only service) that simplifies sharing your Office files, PDFs and Sway presentations. Think of it as a parallel to offerings like SlideShare or Scribd, where the focus is more on preserving the formatting of your work than anything else. You can comment on and download documents, but you’ll have to turn to other tools to collaborate on that upcoming report. You only need a Microsoft account to give Docs a spin, so it won’t hurt to sign up.

Filed under:
Internet, Microsoft

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Via:
Myce, Microsoft-News

Source:
Microsoft Docs

Tags: docs, excel, internet, microsoft, office, powerpoint, sharing, sway, web, word