Short Takes Daily: What went on in the world of Microsoft on Monday, August 24, 2015

Today in the news: Happy 20th birthday to Windows 95; your smartphone will soon be a 3D scanner; good luck waiting for a cumulative changelog of Windows 10 updates; your identical twin won't be able to fool Windows Hello.

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Windows 95 started up 20 years ago today -- Windows 95 was the initial introduction of the Start Menu, Taskbar and long files names among many innovative features. Many believe Internet Explorer 1.0 was released with Windows 95 but it actually arrived later in the Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 add-on.

Cortana Android beta goes public in US -- Richard Hay has been using the Cortana beta — he's been impressed by the mobility of the experience on his Android phone.

The demise of detailed info about Windows 10 Cumulative Updates -- If you are holding your breath hoping that Microsoft will soon provide detailed change lists of updates and fixes? Time to exhale.

Windows 10 Tip: Project Your Screen is Now Connect -- Do you miss the ability to wirelessly push your screen and audio to a remote screen or monitor? Here's how to do it in Windows 10.

Symantec Offers Fix Tool for Windows 10 Screen Flickers -- The company has provided detailed steps on how to accomplish the Safe Mode boot, apply a special Screen_Fix.exe tool, and then reinstall Norton Antivirus.

Microsoft Band just $149.99 on Amazon -- The fire sale for Windows products continues apace.

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News on other sites ...

MobileFusion: Research project turns regular mobile phone into 3D scanner — MobileFushion can photograph objects and in doing so, scan them to a point where they can be used for things like 3D printing and augmented reality video games.

Microsoft officially brings Cortana to Android, but without some key features — The digital assistant won't have access to your apps, it can't change your phone's settings, nor can it be activated with "Hey, Cortana." But it can fulfill simple data queries.

Windows 10 Has a Secret Start Menu. Here’s How to Open It. — Says David Pogue: "If you right-click the Start button, you get this: Direct access to some of the most useful parts of Windows — like Control Panel, File Explorer, Search, and Task Manager. No more swiping, tapping, and searching for the stuff you really need."

Two decades later: How Windows 95 changed our relationship with computers — Windows 95 helped unlock the power of computing for non-technical users by allowing separate accounts for each family member, linking computer users to the World Wide Web and trying to set up a sense of place in a digital world.

First Docker, now Mesos: Windows broadens its support in containers — This partnership will provide yet another way for Microsoft to get customers to deploy Linux workloads in Azure, and it shows that Microsoft is serious about competing in the containerized computing space.

Windows Hello: can identical twins fool Microsoft and Intel? — Short answer? No.

Deeper integration between Office documents and Outlook for iOS — Reports Microsoft, "Outlook for iOS now opens Office documents sent as attachments directly in their respective apps, replacing the simple viewers we previously used. We’ve also streamlined the steps required to collaborate on files sent as attachments."