"You don't know what you got till it's gone," says the song. But in the case of using apps on Windows 11, it's more accurate to say you don't know what you've lost until you use an app that isn't bloated. It's not as catchy, but it's a stark reminder of the web-focused reality that is Windows 11.

I'm not an artist, at least not one that draws or paints. So I mainly use the drawing capabilities of Windows 11 to take notes or sketch things down. In news that will surprise no one who reads my content regularly, I often use a whiteboard app to draw American football plays for my team.

Until now, I've used Microsoft Whiteboard. The app has a nice set of features such as support for shapes and images. It also syncs to the web, which sounds nice at first but has a major drawback. Because of the nature of Microsoft Whiteboard, it eats a massive amount of RAM, even if you're just using it for a quick sketch.

When sitting idle on a blank canvas, Microsoft Whiteboard uses between 330MB and 450MB at any given moment on my PC. My system has more RAM than I generally use, so I usually don't feel the squeeze, but I was still shocked to see the difference between Microsoft Whiteboard and the third-party Whiteboard app "Markerpad."

I first discovered Markerpad on the Surface subreddit. The app's developer highlighted some new features and changes to the app recently.

"I built [an app] called Markerpad. It's a native, offline whiteboard app designed especially for Surface and its pens, but of course it works on all Windows devices," said the developer. "The app is 100% native to windows, which means it's extra quick to launch and the drawing experience is smooth too."

Launching Markerpad was a blast to the past of the days of native applications. So many apps on Windows are web apps or rely heavily on the web, so splash screens and loading time are the norm. Markerpad launches instantly, which is both refreshing and frustrating.

Having a native, offline whiteboard app is lovely. A lot of my sketches are one-offs that I either erase or send a screenshot of once.

What's frustrating is that Markerpad reminded me what it's like to use a native app that's slick and smooth.

I understand the two whiteboard apps cover different niches — connecting to the web will use some system resources. But my guess is that many would happily use a native version of Microsoft Whiteboard that could sync on demand rather than constantly eating up RAM.

Markerpad loads so quickly and is so lightweight that it's difficult to jump back to Microsoft Whiteboard. I look forward to the app being developed further to gain features such as textboxes, PDF import/export, and shape recognition.

Does Windows 11 feel too web‑heavy to you, or is this just me noticing the cracks? Share your experience below.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

What you need to know

• Microsoft has several features in the works for Whiteboard, many of which add new options for embedding content.
• Microsoft Whiteboard will soon support embedding online videos through links, sharing clickable links, and adding comments.
• All of the new features appear on the Microsoft 365 roadmap and are currently scheduled to ship before the end of 2022, though that's subject to change.

Microsoft Whiteboard creates a shareable infinite canvas that can be shared between colleagues and coworkers. Microsoft has improved and revamped the app over time and has several changes on the way for 2022. The new features appear on the Microsoft 365 roadmap and were first spotted by Neowin.

Most of the upcoming features will sound familiar to those that regularly use Microsoft 365, such as the ability to add comments and attribute content to specific users. Microsoft Whiteboard will also gain the option to follow a person's viewpoint as they move around the digital canvas.

The ability to embed videos by inputting a URL is also on the way, which should make it much easier to share content. Clickable link support will also be added in the near future.

Here are the summaries of each of the Microsoft 365 roadmap entries currently slated for 2022 release:

• Users can insert a video URL and have the video appear directly on the canvas.
• URLs inserted into Whiteboard will become clickable links.
• Participants in Teams and on Web can see who added content to the board.
• The ability to add comments on a whiteboard to aid in discussion with board participants. This will include a comments pane to see all comments on a given whiteboard.
• Users will have the ability to invite users on a whiteboard during a Teams meeting to follow their viewpoint as they navigate and interact with the canvas.
• Users will have the ability to save whiteboards as a template, and will be able to share that template with other individual users.
• Adding a timer to Whiteboard to help enable users to run timed activities, such as a timed brainstorm.

The new features hav current release goals ranging from September 2022 through December 2022, but those are all soft goals. The Microsoft 365 roadmap provides a rough outline for what is on the way, not firm release dates.

Updated November 19, 2021 at 10:07 AM: This post has been updated with a statement from the head of product over Microsoft Whiteboard.

What you need to know

• Microsoft will roll back its Whiteboard app to its previous version following negative feedback.
• A WebView version of Whiteboard came out near the end of September 2021.
• Whiteboard users complained about latency issues, removed features, and other problems with the new version of the app.

Microsoft released a new version of its Whiteboard application based on WebView in September 2021. The switch was made to provide a unified experience across different devices and platforms and presumably to simplify the development of the app. Unfortunately for Microsoft, many people were unhappy with the new version of Whiteboard. Following negative feedback, Microsoft will revert the Windows version of Whiteboard to its previous version.

Several Reddit threads appeared with users complaining about the WebView version of Whiteboard. Fans shared frustration caused by latency, removed functionality, and stability issues.

"The old Whiteboard already had performance issues, the new app is actually completely unusable. It's astounding," said hologei. Others echoed similar sentiments.

"I've been on a training course with work this week and the instructor used Microsoft Whiteboard on the first day," shared covmatty1.

"Before the second day his laptop updated, and he was just screwed! Less features, more taps to change pen colours etc, and that was when the thing actually loaded! New boards would take a minute to open, if the app didn't just error completely and not create them. He had to resort to using Paint!"

Mathivathan Vhallatharasu, Microsoft's senior project manager over Whiteboard, shared that Microsoft will revert Whiteboard on Windows to its previous version.

Ian Mikutel, the head of product over Microsoft Whiteboard, shared the following statement on Twitter.

The old Whiteboard app should be available on Windows again in less than one week, according to Vhallatharasu.

What you need to know

• A new version of Microsoft Whiteboard is rolling out to Windows and iOS.
• The updated Whiteboard supports inserting documents and includes over 40 templates.
• Microsoft recently added support for personal accounts for the Android and web versions of Whiteboard.

A new version of Microsoft Whiteboard is rolling out to Windows and iOS. The update unifies the user experience of Whiteboard across devices and brings several new features to the service. Whiteboard now supports new shapes, more reactions, and over 40 templates. The update is rolling out gradually, and it should be completed by December 2021.

Templates allow people to start collaborating quickly. When people's workflow follows a similar structure from day-to-day, they can create a template. This saves time as they don't have to manually set up the Whiteboard app each time they use it.

Earlier this year, we spoke with Ian Mikutel, principal product manager of Whiteboard, about the new Whiteboard experience. Mikutel shared how Microsoft came up with the idea for templates and how the product evolved to surpass physical whiteboards in many ways. He also highlighted the benefit of inserting documents into Whiteboard, "a lot of users just love the fact that I can drop a PowerPoint slide, I can pretty soon [put] a Fluid table that has the same data … It's actually putting multiple content types right next to each other."

Microsoft also recently added support for personal Microsoft accounts on the Android and web versions of Whiteboard.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard just got a big update that adds features and refreshes the app's user interface (UI).
• New sticky notes, inking tools, reactions, and more are now available.
• Users on the web, Teams, and Android get all this new content now. Windows and iOS get everything in October.

Microsoft Whiteboard fans, good news: MS just delivered a big content drop containing all sorts of goodies for Whiteboard, including a UI overhaul and a bevy of new features.

The visual collaboration tool now features improved functionality to back up its clean aesthetic, meaning it'll be easier to locate what functions you want when you want them. The mobile layout has also been touched up to ensure you have the maximum amount of screen real estate available to you whenever possible.

The new Whiteboard update also comes jam-packed with over 40 fresh Whiteboard templates optimized for brainstorming, problem-solving, and more. A dozen new note grids and sticky notes are also on offer, featuring new color options with which to liven up your whiteboarding activities.

You can now also react in Whiteboard, in the event you just want to plop a gold star or rainbow on someone's content to communicate that they're doing a good job.

New pen and highlighter color choices are in the app as well. These aren't just your standard blues or greens; there are also wacky options in there such as "galaxy ink." And on the ink topic, you can now have Whiteboard make arrows and straight lines for you (Microsoft knows it's hard for some people to draw those).

But that's not all. "When inking on the new Surface Pro 8 or Surface Studio laptop running Windows 11, with the new Surface Slim Pen 2, you can now feel slight vibrations that make writing and drawing feel more realistic," Microsoft says in its blog post announcing the Whiteboard updates. "Pens, highlighters, and laser pointers will all have a unique continuous vibration as you move your pen across the canvas, giving you a more natural inking experience."

If you want an app to test out the haptics on your new Surface Slim Pen 2, you know where to go.

Last month Microsoft announced several new features for its Whiteboard application to improve collaboration. We covered the features from a general mechanical perspective when they were announced, but I wanted to take a deeper dive into Whiteboard and how it's evolved. I spoke with Ian Mikutel, principal product manager of Whiteboard, about how the app has transitioned from a replication of a physical whiteboard into its own unique platform that works across some of the best Windows apps.

Replicating a physical whiteboard

As you'd expect, the first goal of Microsoft Whiteboard was to mimic a physical whiteboard as much as possible. To meet that goal, the app had to have low latency and provide the basic functionality of a physical medium. People use whiteboards to brainstorm, share ideas, and allow different people to write on the same surface.

A big part of bringing the same feel of a physical whiteboard into the digital space was to reduce latency and lag.

"If you start to have any lag, it just doesn't feel like the energy you get when you're standing next to somebody at a real analog board," Mikutel said.

Letting people ink and create on a Whiteboard was the first goal, but Mikutel emphasizes that people can use the platform in other ways.

Surpassing a physical whiteboard

Due to its digital design, Microsoft Whiteboard gained features over time that you couldn't replicate on a physical whiteboard, including embedding rich content, syncing across devices, and people being able to work within the same space without bumping into each other. Mikutel explains that it's still a challenge to get people to think of Whiteboard as more than a physical whiteboard facsimile.

While physical whiteboards work only with ink, Microsoft built its Whiteboard app to allow different types of input. Mikutel says that Whiteboard delivers "ink for everyone," regardless of whether they have a digital pen or a device that supports a stylus.

To improve inking with non-pen devices, the Whiteboard team added features such as auto smooth, which makes ink written or drawn with a mouse more legible.

"If you have a keyboard or a mouse or a trackpad, you're actually gonna have a really great fun experience and productive experience," Mikutel promises.

People can also embed rich content within Whiteboard, opening doors to entirely different workflows than what you'd be able to do on a physical whiteboard. Whiteboard will take a giant leap in this area with the rollout of Fluid components.

Working across Microsoft 365

Fluid components allow people to create content and carry it across Microsoft 365. For example, you could create a spreadsheet in Excel and then bring it over into Word, Whiteboard, or other apps. They're Lego-like pieces that you can pop into place across Microsoft 365 apps. Mikutel explains how Whiteboard is a natural place for these types of components.

"A lot of users just love the fact that I can drop a PowerPoint slide, I can pretty soon [put] a Fluid table that has the same data … It's actually putting multiple content types right next to each other."

While most devices can multitask, Mikutel illustrates how splitting the content up isn't as fluid:

"I need to have a PDF, a webpage, a spreadsheet. Now all of a sudden, you just split your screen into like five apps, right? ... You can't annotate in between them like you can do in Whiteboard."

Microsoft will roll out support for Fluid components over to Whiteboard, Outlook, and OneNote in the near future.

Getting to work more quickly

As Whiteboard developed, it became clear that people wanted to use it for a variety of situations and workflows. Mikutel says that one of the top priorities for people was jumping into work quickly. Templates are a new feature for Whiteboard that allows people to trim down the startup time for meetings.

"[Templates help people] tremendously because you're able to essentially preset your whiteboard for a scenario that you know you're going to use," Mikutel said.

Templates have preset layouts with different types of content. Mikutel and I discussed a hypothetical situation in which we make a template for the American football team I coach. In this scenario, I use Whiteboard to review our game film. I could have a template that shows video embeds of our plays, PDFs of our play designs for comparison, and Excel spreadsheets with statistics for analytics.

I could then work with all of these side by side with inking and collaboration. Since I'd use this setup for each week's film review, I wouldn't have to spend time setting it up. Instead, I could just jump right into what we'd like to get done.

You can already use Templates in preview in the Windows 10 Whiteboard app, but they'll roll out to general availability in the future.

Becoming a 'must-have' app

With more hybrid and remote work becoming the norm, tech like Microsoft Whiteboard will become common. Physical whiteboards aren't going away, but they have limits, especially in a world affected by a global pandemic. Remote working forced organizations to look for solutions.

"COVID hits, and it becomes a must-have for almost literally, and I'm not exaggerating this, every organization," Mikutel says. "Even more than it must have, it was kind of like we wish we had already adopted it yesterday or pre COVID because then we would have had people used to it."

I ran into a similar situation when Microsoft Teams helped save my American football team. Life took us into the digital space, and then we saw how it provided options that weren't available before.

Whiteboard is on a similar journey to Teams and many other remote working applications. What started as a replica of a physical medium is becoming a robust tool that works with other services and that provides a unique experience. In a way, calling it Whiteboard doesn't really do it justice anymore.

What you need to know

• Microsoft will soon release a new Whiteboard experience that focuses on collaboration.
• The new Whiteboard experience will roll out this summer.
• You'll also be able to use the new Whiteboard experience on Surface Hub starting this fall.

Microsoft announced several new features aimed at hybrid working today. This summer, Microsoft's Whiteboard will receive a new experience that makes it easier to collaborate. As part of the new experience, Whiteboard will have new templates that should help people get started faster and to work together more efficiently.

The new Whiteboard experience includes new cursors that help identify participants, the ability to use reactions, and a laser pointer. Microsoft is also improving the Whiteboard experience for people using a mouse and keyboard rather than a stylus.

Additionally, Whiteboard will soon support Fluid components, which allow elements to be edited in real-time across various apps. For example, a spreadsheet could be edited in Word by one person and Excel by another person at the same time. Fluid components also make it easier to work separately as well, as they allow workflows to extend across apps. We discuss them in more detail in our coverage of Fluid components coming to Teams meetings, OneDrive, OneNote, and Whiteboard.

This fall, the new Whiteboard experience will also be available on the Surface Hub.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard recently gained new options for inking, highlighting, and sticky notes.
• The app now has 15 new ink colors and six new thicknesses, as well as a new highlighter tool.
• The new colors and options are available on Whiteboard for Teams, the web, and Android.

Microsoft Whiteboard just got a lot more colorful, thanks to a recent update. The app now has 15 new ink colors and six new thicknesses, a new highlighter tool, and 10 new sticky note colors and textures. The new colors and options are available on Microsoft Whiteboard for the web, Android, and Microsoft Teams.

Ian Mikutel, head of product, Microsoft Whiteboard for Teams & Surface, shared the update on Twitter recently. Mikutel also shared some closeups of the new color options in action.

The update should make collaborating and taking notes within the app more visually appealing and make it easier to differentiate between different types of content. For example, you can now color coordinate sticky notes or highlight different types of content with specific colors.

The Android version of Whiteboard is still in public preview and limited to work and education customers. Microsoft's Ankit Gulati shared on Twitter that the company plans to open it up to more customers in the future.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard is now available on Android in preview.
• The app lets you collaborate with others on a virtual whiteboard.
• Some people are having trouble signing into the preview app.

Microsoft Whiteboard allows you to collaborate through the cloud on a shared virtual whiteboard. It works with touch, pen, and is already available on the web, Windows 10, and iOS. You can also use Microsoft Whiteboard directly within Microsoft Teams. Now, you can also test out Microsoft Whiteboard on Android (via OnMSFT). The app is in preview, so you can expect some bugs and issues, but we're now closer to having it across all major platforms.

Here's the description of Microsoft Whiteboard preview from its Google Play Store listing:

Right now, some people are having issues signing into the app. When I tried to use the app, it prompted me to use a school or work account, so there's a chance that personal accounts aren't supported right now. It could also just be an issue with the app as it's in preview at the moment. You can use a personal account on the other versions of Microsoft Whiteboard, so that shouldn't be an issue in the future.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard received some new features and improvements in Teams and on the web today.
• You can now use sticky notes and text objects on the web and in Teams.
• These features come alongside a complete rebuild of the Whiteboard web app that improves performance.

Microsoft unveiled some big improvements to Whiteboard on the web and for Teams that brings it closer in line with its app cousins. Included are two new features, along with a complete rebuild of the web app that brings improved performance. The rebuilt web app should also mean Microsoft is faster in bringing new features to it.

First up, Teams now includes sticky notes in Teams and on the web. You can use these to "quickly add ideas and feedback to the canvas," Microsoft says. These are accessible through the toolbar or with a right-click on the canvas.

Beyond sticky notes, text objects are now available in Whiteboard for Teams and the web. Like sticky notes, you can add text objects through the toolbar or a right-click on the canvas. Objects can also now be moved to reorganize ideas on the fly.

Finally, Microsoft says it has completely rebuilt the Whiteboard web app to make it faster to use. The rebuilt app also means Microsoft can bring more features and capabilities to Teams and the web.

Microsoft Whiteboard is available across Windows 10, iOS, the web, and within Microsoft Teams.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard on the web now supports viewing more documents uploaded from the Windows 10 app.
• The web app of Microsoft Whiteboard can now see PDFs, Word documents, and PowerPoint documents added through the Windows 10 app.
• Microsoft Whiteboard is available on Windows 10, iOS, and the web.

Microsoft Whiteboard recently gained the ability to view more documents in its web app. People can now see PDFs, Word documents, and PowerPoint documents within the web app that were added through the Windows 10 app. This change makes the web version of Microsoft Whiteboard more useful, which is handy for anyone that can't use a native app or prefers to use the web app. Ian Mikutel, the Senior Project Lead in charge of Microsoft Whiteboard, shared the news on Twitter.

Microsoft Whiteboard allows several people to collaborate on a shared virtual whiteboard. It syncs in real-time and allows people to work together from different devices. Microsoft Whiteboard is currently available on Windows 10, iOS, and the web. Android tablets don't have a native application but can use the web app.

To use the web app for Microsoft Whiteboard, you need to sign in with a work or school Office 365 account. The Windows 10 and iOS apps work with personal, work, and school accounts.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard is now avaialble on the web and within Microsoft Teams.
• People can now access Microsoft Whiteboard through office.com or whiteboard.microsoft.com.
• Whiteboards created with Microsoft Teams meetings can be referred to after a meeting ends.

Microsoft announced the general availability of Microsoft Whiteboard for the web and within Microsoft Teams. Now, people can easily collaborate with people using Microsoft Whiteboard regardless of what device they're using or if they have an app installed. Microsoft announced the feature during Ignite 2019.

People can now use Microsoft through office.com or whiteboard.microsoft.com. The web version of Microsoft Whiteboard does not have all of the same features as Microsoft's Whiteboard applications. Instead, it focuses on inking in real-time. Microsoft's techcommunity post announcing Whiteboard's availability states, "We are starting from an experience that is focused on real-time inking but are committed to bringing additional functionality from our native apps over time."

Microsoft Whiteboard is also an option for collaboration within Microsoft Teams. People can select Microsoft Whiteboard from the share option within Microsoft Teams and begin working together. The created whiteboard is available to all users within a meeting. After a meeting concludes, a whiteboard tab is available, allowing meeting attendees to refer back to the whiteboard.

Cheap PC accessories we love

Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience.

Anker 4 port USB 3.0 hub ($10 at Amazon)

Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3.0 Type A ports.

Ikea Fixa Cable Management System ($11 at Amazon)

This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean setup. It's simple and functional.

NZXT Puck ($20 at Amazon)

This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It's great for hanging accessories like headsets.

What you need to know

• The Microsoft Whiteboard app for iOS now sports templates.
• The feature lets you get a jumpstart on brainstorming sessions.
• Templates are available as a preview, and they're rolling out now with the latest Whiteboard for iOS update.

Microsoft has released a small update for the Whiteboard app on iOS, which brings with it a handy new feature: templates. Now, when you open the app to get started brainstorming, you can apply different collaborative templates to the canvas.

At launch, there are ten templates to choose from, all of which can help you get started faster with different activities. Here's a look:

• Brainstorming
• Kanban
• Retrospective
• Effective meeting
• WOT
• Project Planning
• Project Milestones
• Problem Solving
• KWL
• Weekly Planner

To get started with templates, you have to press the "+" symbol at the bottom of your whiteboard. From there, you select "Template" and you'll be presented with the full list of available templates. Choosing one will add the associated template elements to your whiteboard.

This feature is currently listed as a preview, so it's likely you'll hit some snags when using it. Still, it's a useful addition that should make working with teams or planning your next moves a little easier.

What you need to know

• Office for the web has several new features that improve presenting content to others.
• Presenter Coach, Inking in PowerPoint for the web, and 3-D models will help users portray their ideas.
• Many new features are available in preview for some platforms but will roll out more broadly in the near future.

Office for the web has several new features that help users portray and present their ideas. The new features are outlined in a new Microsoft 365 post and include Presenter Coach in PowerPoint for the web, Inking in Office for the web, and templates for Microsoft Whiteboard. Several of the new features are available now in public preview but will be rolled out across more platforms in the near future.

Presenter Coach helps users improve their PowerPoint presentations on the web. It uses AI to help presenters improve their speaking by giving on-screen feedback in real-time. It gives presenters feedback on pacing, language, and filler words. At the end of a presentation, Presenter Coach provides a report that helps users know where they can improve. Presenter Coach is in public preview now for users of PowerPoint on the web.

Microsoft has also added several new inking features to Office for the web. Users can now ink on PowerPoint for the web and annotate presentations in real-time. PowerPoint on the web now also supports Ink Replay. This feature allows users to have ink appear step by step to illustrate a point. Ink Replay and annotating slide shows on PowerPoint on the web are available for Office Insiders on both Windows and Mac devices.

Microsoft also announced the ability to use templates on Microsoft Whiteboard. Additionally, users can use new 3-D models inside PowerPoint for the web to help illustrate presentations. The new 3-D models are available now for Office 365 subscribers on Windows.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard added support for over 40 additional languages.
• The app allows users to work together across platforms on a digital whiteboard.
• The app is available for free on Windows 10 and iOS.

Microsoft Whiteboard gained support for over 40 additional languages through its most recent update (via MSPU). Microsoft Whiteboard is a digital canvas that allows users to collaborate across devices and platforms. Now, with the most recent update, users can also collaborate across languages.

The app supports pen and touch and has built-in tools such as a shape recognition tool to make taking notes easier. Microsoft Whiteboard is available for free on both Windows 10 and iOS.

What you need to know

• A fresh batch of updates is now available for Microsoft Whiteboard on Windows 10.
• A large portion of the update focuses on the toolbar, which can now be snapped to different parts of the app.
• There's also a refreshed accessibility checker, along with the ability for EDU users to mute people from the People Picker.

Microsoft Whiteboard has picked up a fresh batch of features on Windows 10. New to the app is the ability to snap the toolbar to different parts of the screen, a refreshed accessibility checker to make sure your brainstorming sessions are legible for everyone, and the option to mute people from the People Picker.

Here's a full rundown of what's new:

• Toolbar Location: You can change your toolbar location to left, right, or bottom using the settings menu.
• Tool Tips: Hover over or press and hold on buttons in the toolbar or context menus to see a description of their functionality.
• Accessibility Checker: There's a full refresh of the accessibility checker which should make it much easier to ensure that your content is understandable for everyone.
• First Run Experience: We've updated the teaching animations that play when you first install the app to reflect all the growth Whiteboard has had in the last year.
• EDU: Read-Only Mode: Control the classroom with the new ability to mute particular individuals from the People Picker menu, reducing distraction without embarrassing the student or interrupting the flow of a lesson.

This update follows a similar update that recently rolled out to the iOS version of the app, which also focued on moving the toolbar and the addition of an accessibility checker.

Whiteboard users can check out all of these features now by grabbing the latest version of the app from the Microsoft Store.

Portable (and affordable) power accessories we love

Each and every one of these charging gadgets will keep your favorite gear and gadgets going for longer, and none of them costs more than $30.

VisionTek 8,000 mAh micro-USB power bank ($13 at Dell)

This compact dual-output powerbank can speedily recharge any and all your devices, thanks to a two-amp "fast charge feature," using its micro-USB out port. Its simple design includes an LED indicator, and it costs about as much as a single ticket to the movies.

Panasonic eneloop AA batteries (From $13 at Dell)

Panasonic's rechargeable batteries are among the best available, and just a couple of them will keep your favorite remote, mice or other peripherals powered up when you need them. They're also eco. And the company's affordable charger fits and charges both AA and AAA batteries at the same time.

Belkin Qi Wireless Charging Pad ($30 at Dell)

This unobtrusive Qi wireless charging pad looks good (and kind of like a UFO …) and easily charges all your Qi-compatible device up to 5W. Its LED indicator lights up when you're charging. And it costs just $30.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard on iOS now lets you change where the toolbar is docked.
• It also now supports tool tips to help you understand what tools can do.
• You can also check the accessibility of your whiteboard following the update.

Microsoft Whiteboard for iOS received an update recently that adds a few new features. First, you can now change if your toolbar is located on the left, right, or bottom of the app. Second, the app now has tool tips that help you understand the functionality of various tools. Finally, Whiteboard for iOS now has an accessibility checker to help you ensure that your whiteboard is easy to understand.

Microsoft Whiteboard is a digital canvas that can sync across various devices. It works with pen and touch and can be used to sync a virtual whiteboard with coworkers, friends, and colleagues. It has built-in tools, including a shape recognition tool to aid in note creation.

The core functionality of the app is that it syncs in real-time and allows you to collaborate with anyone instantly.

Portable (and affordable) power accessories we love

Each and every one of these charging gadgets will keep your favorite gear and gadgets going for longer, and none of them costs more than $30.

VisionTek 8,000 mAh micro-USB power bank ($13 at Dell)

This compact dual-output powerbank can speedily recharge any and all your devices, thanks to a two-amp "fast charge feature," using its micro-USB out port. Its simple design includes an LED indicator, and it costs about as much as a single ticket to the movies.

Panasonic eneloop AA batteries (From $13 at Dell)

Panasonic's rechargeable batteries are among the best available, and just a couple of them will keep your favorite remote, mice or other peripherals powered up when you need them. They're also eco. And the company's affordable charger fits and charges both AA and AAA batteries at the same time.

Belkin Qi Wireless Charging Pad ($30 at Dell)

This unobtrusive Qi wireless charging pad looks good (and kind of like a UFO …) and easily charges all your Qi-compatible device up to 5W. Its LED indicator lights up when you're charging. And it costs just $30.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Whiteboard for education gains six new features.
• The new features focus on inclusion and collaboration.
• This is yet another education update during a streak of updates from Microsoft.

Microsoft Whiteboard for education received a series of updates that focus on inclusion and collaboration. They aim to increase engagement, reduce distraction, and improve accessibility.

The first addition is the ability to add reactions to content on Microsoft Whiteboard. Students and teachers can give a thumbs up to content on the digital whiteboard from Windows 10 and iOS devices. The service also gained a space-themed EDU sticker pack on iOS and Windows 10.

Send to Teams allows students and teachers to share boards that they've created. Boards that are shared remain viewable and allow collaboration between participants.

Two new features focus on accessibility and delivering content to students. Microsoft's Immersive Reader has tools including focus mode, parts of speech identification, and a Picture dictionary which help improve reading comprehension. Additionally, students can use the Follow-along feature (currently in preview), which automatically follows and zooms in on the portion of the whiteboard that a contributor is actively using.

To minimize distractions, teachers can mute individuals using the Read-only mode, which prevents students from adding distracting content.

Microsoft is on a bit of a streak when it comes to updates regarding education apps and services. Minecraft Education Edition, OneNote, and several other Microsoft services have received updates recently to help students and educators.

Cheap PC accessories we love

Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience.

Anker 4 port USB 3.0 hub ($10 at Amazon)

Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3.0 Type A ports.

Ikea Fixa Cable Management System ($11 at Amazon)

This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean setup. It's simple and functional.

NZXT Puck ($20 at Amazon)

This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It's great for hanging accessories like headsets.

Microsoft Teams and Whiteboard are cozying up as part of a slew of features announced by Microsoft today. When you're in a Teams meeting, anyone will now be able to instantly open Whiteboard within the meeting to begin collaboratively inking with other participants in real time.

From Microsoft:

Whiteboard in Team meetings is currently available in preview on desktop and the web, but mobile support is coming soon. You can learn more about turning Whiteboard on in Microsoft Teams at Microsoft's support site.

In addition to Whiteboard's arrival, Teams is in line for a bunch of other new features. Live captions for meetings are in the works, and should be available in preview for English soon, Microsoft says. Users will also be able to take advantage of secure private channels and information barriers to help prevent conflicts of interest and keep information secure. Both features are expected later this year.

The "Meetings" app in Teams is also set to be replaced by a new "Calendar" app in April. The refreshed app will let you go forward and backward in time to view any past or future meetings. You'll also be able to view your calendar by Day, Work week, and Week views, as well as join, RSVP, edit, and cancel meetings with a click.

For more on what's coming to Teams, you can check out Microsoft's full blog post for more.

Microsoft kicked off its week at the Bett technology conference in London with a new lineup of affordable classroom hardware and Microsoft Teams features, but it's not done yet. In a blog post today, the Redmond tech giant announced that its collaborative Whiteboard for EDU app is now available worldwide, alongside a quick recap of a number of updates to its learning tools that have rolled out over that past several months.

The base Whiteboard app app has seen a number of improvements since its launch last year, but Microsoft is making a big push for its utility in classrooms. Teachers and students can use the app to work collaboratively on brainstorming sessions and projects. But the EDU edition also includes some more classroom-focused features, including the ability to export boards directly to OneNote Class Notebooks, new background colors for boards, and handwriting recognition to make inking more legible.

Microsoft Whiteboard for EDU can be accessed by downloading the Whiteboard app for Windows 10 or iPad and signing in with your Office 365 for Education account.

See at Microsoft

Microsoft has been quick to iterate on Whiteboard since the collaboration app launched earlier this year, and its latest update is bringing even more big features to the fore. Rolling out now on Windows 10 and iOS, the latest Whiteboard update adds new pen color and thickness settings, background colors, and, finally, the option to add text with a keyboard.

All told, the app now includes 10 new pen colors and three more pen thicknesses, which should make it easier to dial in the correct details for your ideas. And you'll now be able to make those ideas pop out more on the digital page thanks to the option to choose one of nine board colors.

Speaking of backgrounds, you can also now add grid lines to your work, from a selection of eight types. Both background colors and grid lines are accessible from the settings menu on any of your boards.

Lastly, Whiteboard is evolving a bit from its inking roots, allowing for text entry from a keyboard.

Here's the official look at all of what's new:

• Customize your ink color and thickness with new pen colors and thickness levels.
• Change your board background color and gridline pattern. Includes the option for a top-requested black background to reduce eye strain!
• Type text directly on your board to let those without pen or touch contribute more easily.
• Various usability and bug fixes.

These updates come less than a month after Microsoft revealed Whiteboard for EDU, a version of the app meant for the classroom with a set of features to match. Whiteboard for EDU is also seeing a boost today, launching on iPad.

For more, you can check out all of what's new with the latest version of Microsoft Whiteboard, available from the Microsoft Store and App Store.

• See at Microsoft
• See at App Store

Microsoft last week revealed that it's gearing up to bring its Whiteboard collaboration app to the classroom, and now it's time to start testing it. Students and teachers can now try the freeform inking app on Windows 10 in preview with several added features built for the classroom.

For the most part, the Whitebaord for EDU preview will work like the standard app, giving students and teachers a place to work together and brainstorm. On top of the standard Whiteboard experience, however, Microsoft has added new features, like the option to export boards to OneNote Class Notebooks, new background colors for each board, and different line styles for writing and graphing.

Whiteboard EDU also adds handwriting recognition to make your inking more legible. It can also take a picture of pictures and notes you draw with pen or market and convert them to digital ink.

Whiteboard for EDU is available to check out in preview on Windows 10 now. Just download the Whiteboard app, sign in with your Office 365 for Education account, and turn on "Education Preview" from the settings menu. Next up is iPad, which Microsoft says will get the EDU preview next week.

See at Microsoft

Four months on from its launch on Windows 10, Microsoft Whiteboard is now setting its sights on the classroom. Microsoft today announced Whiteboard for EDU, a new push to bring the collaborative freeform inking app to teachers and students with a set of added features built with students in mind.

Whiteboard for EDU will work just as the standard Whiteboard app does, allowing students and teachers to work together on an open canvas to brainstorm ideas and work on projects in real time. But where the EDU edition excels is with a new set of classroom-focused features, including the ability to export boards directly to OneNote Class Notebooks. The background color for each board can also be changed to a new blackboard mode, and different line styles can be added for writing and graphing.

Whiteboard for EDU will also be able to recognize handwriting and automatically convert the ink to be more legible. Perhaps most impressively, you'll also be able to convert pictures of analog notes you've taken to digital ink with a new feature called "Ink Grab."

Microsoft says that Whiteboard for EDU will launch "soon" on Windows 10 and iPad, but there's no specific release date yet. For more, you can follow the Whiteboard for EDU Facebook group to be notified when it goes live.

Today's Whiteboard news also comes alongside another major education push from Minecraft, which this week officially launched its Code Builder update. Once you've downloaded the update, Minecraft: Education Edition can be used to teach kids how to code within the blocky world of Minecraft.

Microsoft today rolled out the first major update to its Whiteboard collaboration app for iPhone and iPad since its initial launch in September. Several new features are coming along for the ride in this update, bringing a hand-drawn effect for recognized shapes, an Accessibility Checker to make sure your whiteboard is easy to read for everyone, and the ability to lock images to the background.

Here's the rundown of all of what's new:

• Lock any image to the whiteboard background and never worry about accidentally erasing, moving or having to recreate template-like content again.
• Make sure your whiteboard is easy for people of all abilities to read and edit with a new Accessibility Checker.
• Access improved sticky note editing experience. Just double tap to add text & let your ideas flow fast.
• Your recognized shapes and tables now have a hand-drawn effect applied to them to help you impress your peers with your penmanship.
• When opening a whiteboard, we now show you a fancy loading animation to help pass the time (and so you don't sit wondering if anything is happening).
• A sprinkling of usability, performance and bug fixes to make your whiteboarding experience a bit more polished.

Microsoft Whiteboard is a digital collaboration tool built to support brainstorming sessions for individuals and teams. You can either ink with or type with a keyboard to jot down and flesh out ideas, and images can be easily added to each board. Extra smarts, such as shape recognition and the ability to automatically recognize and format a table, are tagging along here as well.

Whiteboard is available for free on the App Store and for Windows 10, as well as on the web on the web in preview for commercial users. In either case, you'll have to have a Microsoft Account or Office 365 account to get started.

• See at App Store
• See at Microsoft

Two months after first launching on Windows 10, Microsoft's Whiteboard collaboration app is expanding its horizons to iOS and the web. The iOS version is generally available starting today, while the web app is available as a preview.

Whiteboard is a tool built for team members to collaborate on a digital canvas, whether in-person or remotely. Inking and keyboard support are on board here for jotting down notes and idea, but you can also use Whiteboard to flesh out your brainstorming sessions with images. The app also sports some extra smarts, such as shape recognition and the ability to automatically recognize when you're making a table.

Once you're done with a Whiteboard session, it'll be saved to the cloud and remain accessible for additional edits on any platform.

Whiteboard is available for free now on the App Store for devices on iOS 9 or later. Meanwhile, the web app will be available at whiteboard.microsoft.com{.nofollow} for commercial users in preview once IT administrators enable it. In either case, you'll need a Microsoft Account or Office 365 account to get started.

• See at App Store
• See at Microsoft

Ahead of its Inspire partner conference next week, Microsoft has launched its Whiteboard collaboration app out of preview. The freeform inking app is now generally available on Windows 10, and it will be "coming soon" to iOS and on the web.

Microsoft Whiteboard allows team members to collaborate on a blank digital canvas, both in person and remotely. In addition to basic inking and keyboard support for writing out notes and ideas, Whiteboard includes the ability to add and manipulate images, shape recognition, and more. The app can also automatically recognize when you're making a table, allowing collaborators to easily keep their ideas organized.

After a brainstorming session is over, whiteboards can be saved and shared via the Microsoft cloud for team members to reference at any time.

Whiteboard's exit from preview follows an update released last week that brought more polish to the experience, including a new startup experience and icons.

Whiteboard is available now for all Windows 10 users, and collaboration features are accessible to Office 365 commercial customers and anyone with a personal Microsoft account. Microsoft says that collaboration across multiple Office 365 tenants is planned for a future release.

See at Microsoft Store

Though it was launched back in December, Microsoft's freeform inking and collaboration app, Whiteboard, is still in preview as the company continues to iterate on the experience. With its latest update, Whiteboard now includes a fresh welcome experience for introducing users to the app's features, along with a new set of icons and other interface tweaks (via Windows Blog Italia).

The biggest addition is the welcome screen, which serves as an introductory experience of sorts. Upon launching the app, new users will now see a splash screen with a "Get started" button. After clicking through, you'll see a quick overview of what the Whiteboard app can do, including guides on the inking experience.

The other changes are much more minor in scope, but serve to shore up the experience of using the app. There are new icons on the bottom toolbar and some features have been consolidated there. Meanwhile, the settings cog now appears in the upper-right portion of the app, and there are refreshed animations throughout the app.

Whiteboard first hit public preview in December, and is free for anyone to try. However, if you want to collaborate with others, at least one person must have an Office 365 personal, work, or school account.

See at Microsoft Store

Updated December 6, 2017: Whiteboard is now live and available to download from the Microsoft Store.

Earlier in 2017, announced alongside the new Surface Pro, Microsoft debuted Whiteboard, a collaborative digital inking app for Windows 10. After some time in the oven with private beta testers, Microsoft has announced Whiteboard is now available in public preview.

Whiteboard is, at its core, a collaboration app. It allows colleagues and teams to quickly iterate on ideas with, as its name would imply, the digital equivalent of a whiteboard, whether working from the same room or remotely on several devices. While working together, you can keep up with the changes that other users are making in real-time, whether they're adding images, diagrams, or sticky notes. Focused on pen and touch input, the app comes with a slew of built-in inking tools, including rulers and various pen styles. Whiteboard can also take recognize freeform drawings, turning them into standard shapes, Microsoft says.

During private beta testing, Microsoft says it saw a number of teams use Whiteboard to collaborate on product designs, engineering plans, and remote brainstorming sessions. Now that it's in public preview, more users and organizations will be able to test the app out ahead of its full, official launch.

According to Microsoft, the Microsoft Whiteboard Preview is currently rolling out to all English versions of Windows 10, with additional languages to come in the months ahead. Whiteboard is free for anyone on Windows 10, but at least one person with an Office 365 personal, work, or school account is required for multi-party collaboration. Microsoft Whiteboard will also eventually replace the native whiteboard app running on Surface Hub, but both can be installed alongside one another during the preview period.

See at Microsoft

Back in May, Microsoft unveiled a new app in the works called Whiteboard, a digital collaborative canvas with a few interesting tricks up its sleeve. The last time we played with Whiteboard, we mostly got to try out the collaborative element of the app, which allows you to share the same canvas with several other people and ink at the same time. The app has a few other features too, which we'll be showing you today.

Microsoft is pushing digital ink more and more with Windows 10 these days. The Creators Update and Fall Creators Update are updates dedicated to creators, and include several pen features and enhancements. The upcoming Whiteboard app isn't part of the OS, but it does include several Windows Ink related functions including different pens, a virtual ruler and more. The app will also show up in Windows Ink too once installed as a recent app, allowing you to get to it quickly and easily.

The apps UI is very simple. It's designed in such a way to be familiar and approachable from the get-go. Along the bottom is where most of the UI resides. At the bottom left, we have our navigation options, including the ability to undo and redo, zoom in and out and clear the canvas. At the bottom middle, we can see all of our pen options, which can be easily switched between by sampling tapping on a pen. And at the bottom right, we have our additional app features that we'll be diving into in this article.

The rest of the app is a blank white canvas that can be inked on. The app literally puts inking front and center; there's no faffing around with welcome screens and annoying popups. You launch the app, and are encouraged to begin inking right away. It positions itself much like a real whiteboard, where all you've got to work with is a blank space. This is the same thing here, and it's very clever. So, being an app that mimics whiteboards, this app is being targeted at teachers and students, so it has a few helpful enhancements for those markets.

Shape Recognition

For example, the app has something called Ink to Shape. This is a super smart "shape recognition" tech that attempts to figure out what shapes you're drawing and make them more accurate. In the Whiteboard app, you can draw a square, and that square might not be a perfect square. With Ink to Shape, the app will automatically correct the square for you, making the perfect square which you can then alter further. It's an instant process, with the recognition software applying the perfect shape immediately after you take your pen away from the screen.

The shape recognition works with lots of shapes, including squares, triangles, circles, oval, parallelogram and more. If you can think of a shape, the app will likely be able to recognize it. This shape recognition is great for people like teachers, who may be teaching angles to a group of students in a school. With the Whiteboard app, a teacher can quickly and easily draw out perfect shapes without spending any extra time with a ruler making sure each shape is perfect.

The reason I bring up angles as an example is because once the shape has been drawn, the app will also be able to display the angles of the particular shape you've drawn, and will allow you to manually adjust them too. For example, if I draw a square, I can also draw a mini right angle in any of the shapes corners, and that will make the app display the current angles. I can then manipulate those angles into any degree that I like.

Impressive Skills

Shape and angle recognition isn't the only clever thing this app can do either. It also has the ability to automatically draw out graphs when doing equations. All I need to do is enter in my equation, and the app will do the rest of the work. I don't have to waste time drawing out the table and plotting in all the equations. I simply enter the equation into the equations box, and the Whiteboard app will draw out the rest and allow me to insert it into my digital canvas. It's really very clever.

Finally, and this one is more for fun than anything, the app has built-in Bing image search. If I need to insert an image of something, I don't have to leave the app to do so. All I need to do is hit the search icon, write in what image I'm looking for, and then hit the insert button on that image. In about three seconds, I can have an image directly placed in my canvas for drawing on or annotating. It's super quick and convenient, and again saves time.

As I mentioned above, the app also supports digital collaboration. We've already done a hands on with this feature, which you can check out here.

So overall, the Whiteboard app is a fully featured digital canvas with a few useful tricks up its sleeve. I can see why it's being targeted at the education market too, as a lot of its features are incredibly useful for teachers who are presenting to a class of students. The Whiteboard app will be coming later this year to the Windows Store.

Digital collaboration is everywhere these days. Whether you use Microsoft Office, Google Docs, or something else entirely, you've probably tried out virtual collaboration with others in a single document at the same time. Virtual collaboration with several others via keyboards is one thing, but imagine being able to do it with digital pens?

Well, with Microsoft's new app called Whiteboard, you can do exactly that. Announced alongside the new Surface Pro, Microsoft Whiteboard is an app coming later this year for Surface (and eventually third-party, pen-enabled devices) that allows multiple users to collaborate virtually on a digital canvas with a pen.

Microsoft invited us to its headquarters during the Build conference to go hands on with the new Surface Pro and an early, pre-release version of the Whiteboard app. Keep in mind that considering this is a prerelease build of the Whiteboard app, there are likely bugs that will be fixed and things that will change before launch later this year.

Hands-on with Microsoft Whiteboard

In short, the new Whiteboard app is a simple, clean app that makes it easy to collaborate with multiple other people virtually using the digital pen. The app works across all Surface devices, including the Surface Studio, Surface Book, Surface Laptop and of course Surface Pro. You launch the app, invite the people you wish to collaborate with, and away you go.

Microsoft has done a lot of work in making the virtual collaboration feel almost seamless, as if collaborators are actually there with you in the room. The digital ink flows smoothly from all participants and shows up almost instantly after the virtual collaborator has started drawing or writing on their screen. You can see in our hands-on video just how quickly the digital ink shows up virtually on other people's displays.

• All the details on the brand new Surface Pen

The app provides useful tooltips and pop-ups to let you know who's writing what, too, so you can track progress without getting confused. In the top right, you can see everyone in the current inking session, and you will see colors pulsate behind their profile picture whenever they're interacting with the digital canvas.

As this is an Ink-based app, it features all the same bells and whistles or Microsoft's other Ink-based apps, including the virtual ruler, and several different pen types and sizes. You can even use your finger for ink if you don't have a digital pen with you, which is great in that inevitable scenario where you've forgotten your pen at home.

One way to describe the is "online multiplayer inking," just like in a video game. You can now join your friends or colleagues in a digital inking session, where you can all draw simultaneously on the same canvas and see each other's work in real time.

Microsoft tells us the Whiteboard app will be available later this year, so we're guessing it'll launch alongside the Fall Creators Update. The app is designed for Surface, and although Microsoft isn't guaranteeing the app will work on third party devices, there's technically no reason why it couldn't.

Microsoft is currently developing a new Windows 10 PC app, Microsoft Whiteboard, that's being created for the education market. It will be designed to give students and teachers a way to create and collaborate on ideas.

In a post on Microsoft in Education blog{.nofollow}, the company revealed the features of the upcoming Whiteboard app:

• Write and draw naturally – Multiple people can write on Whiteboard at the same time with a digital pen or using their own fingers. Whiteboard is also designed for the big screen which means getting around feels natural on large, interactive whiteboards when connected with a Windows 10 PC.
• Bring doodles, sketches, and ideas to life – Handwriting and shape recognition is built-in which makes drawing basic shapes and angles a breeze.
• Create interactive lessons on the big screen – Whiteboard makes it easy to pull in web content, videos, and content from your own library and place them front and center helping keep students engaged.
• Share and collaborate in real time – Connect Whiteboard with a Collaboration space in OneNote Class Notebook to share content with a whole class and make changes together in real time from the devices you already use. Creating assignments is easy too. With a quick gesture, any text or content can be made into an assignment in Microsoft Classroom. Assignments flow into the learning management system (LMS) you already use when connected with School Data Sync. Students can also access assignments from Microsoft Classroom web and mobile apps.

Microsoft Whiteboard is expected to be released for free in the Windows Store later in 2016.