What's new in Microsoft news? Your daily download starts here

Hello, and welcome to a new experiment in providing you with tools you can use to work smarter, not harder. One of the most daunting aspects of being an IT pro or developer in this day and age is dealing with the constant flood of news and information. Let this be your daily filter for Microsoft news — we'll round up what you need to know every weekday.

And if you have a source you think we should be keeping an eye on, please do not hesitate to let me know.

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Of course, the biggest news today is the opening of Microsoft Build. The keynote is going on as I type this, so it'll be fun to see how it compares to all the "What to expect" pieces. Here are the predictions for what keynote attendees can learn:

— A demonstration of the the HoloLens headset, as well as some announcements about the apps the HoloLens will support and how Microsoft expects the augmented-reality headset to work with a modern computing environment. 

— A release date for Windows 10, as well as target dates for Windows 10 on the Xbox One and the Lumia phone.

— An announcement from Windows head Terry Myers on tools that will let mobile app developers transfer their work from Android to Windows.

— Related to the above: a dedicated app to connect iOS and Android devices with Windows 10.

You can watch the keynote live-streaming here. If you can't take the time during your workday, GeekWire is posting live keynote updates.

We'll post a keynote/announcement wrap-up later today. Stay tuned.

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As for what's actually come out of the show so far? Microsoft released its first full preview of the .NET Core runtime for Linux and Mac OS X. The push to play nice with OS X and Linux continued with the release of lightweight code editor Visual Studio Code, a new product in the Visual Studio family that's available for developers on the Windows, OS X and Linux platforms.

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There's more to Build than the keynote — there are also the sessions. InfoWorld's Paul Krill takes a look at the session list and concludes that this year's emphasis will be on the universal Windows app concept, i.e. an app you can write once and have immediately usable on the whole Windows 10 ecosystem -- desktop PCs, laptops, Xboxes, tablets, smartphones, wearables, etc.

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And on a lighter note:  Halo 5: Guardians players can look forward to puzzling out who's who, as the latest poster reveals two teams of Spartans, one led by Master Chief and the other by new  character Spartan Locke. They've got approximately six months to unravel everyone's identity, as Halo 5: Guardians goes on sale October 27.