Best of Microsoft — March 2026

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    Article
    Avatar of collectionsCollections·10w

    Office.eu launches in The Hague as a European alternative to Microsoft 365

    Office.eu has launched in The Hague as a European-owned cloud productivity suite built on Nextcloud Hub and Collabora Online (LibreOffice-based). It targets users seeking an alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, with all data hosted on Hetzner servers in Europe and outside US Cloud Act jurisdiction. The platform includes migration tools and is rolling out by invitation, with a broader European launch planned for Q2 2026. It arrives amid growing EU digital sovereignty momentum, with 27 member states signing a sovereignty declaration and sovereign cloud spending forecast to triple to $23 billion by 2027. Nearly 15,000 early access applicants signed up before launch.

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    Article
    Avatar of collectionsCollections·10w

    Microsoft's new AI agents for .NET and Azure modernization: what they actually do

    Microsoft has released two AI agentic tools in public preview targeting application and infrastructure modernization. The `modernize-dotnet` GitHub Copilot custom agent extends .NET modernization workflows to VS Code, CLI, and GitHub, supporting ASP.NET Core, Blazor, Azure Functions, WPF, and more. It follows an assess-plan-execute model and supports custom skills for internal migration patterns. The Azure Copilot migration agent automates discovery, assessment, planning, and deployment for servers, VMs, and databases, aiming to bridge infrastructure and developer workflows. Microsoft claims up to 70% reduction in modernization effort from early customers, though independent validation is lacking. A zero-cost Cloud Accelerate Factory program pairs these tools with expert guidance. Both agents are designed to complement each other but are still in public preview.

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    Video
    Avatar of tiffintechTiff In Tech·10w

    Microsoft Bought a Nuclear Power Plant for AI

    Microsoft is reopening Three Mile Island to power its AI data centers, signaling a broader industry shift from algorithmic optimization to energy infrastructure. Big tech companies are hitting an 'energy wall' as data center power consumption is set to double, with GPU clusters rendered useless by grid capacity limits. The FERC issued a 2025 ruling allowing data centers to draw up to 900 MW directly from nuclear plants while sharing only 100 MW with the public grid. Companies are betting on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) — factory-built, truck-deliverable units using advanced fuels like TRISO pebbles and molten salt cooling — placed directly next to server farms. The DOE is pushing 'nuclear AI campuses' that co-locate enrichment, SMRs, data centers, and waste reprocessing. For developers, this means new considerations: energy efficiency metrics (joules per token), carbon-aware batch scheduling via cloud APIs, and a resurgence of Rust and C++ for efficiency gains at scale.

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    Article
    Avatar of itsfossIt's Foss·12w

    Microsoft Locks Down Discord Server Over “Microslop” Posts

    Microsoft's official Copilot Discord server was locked down after users flooded it with the term 'Microslop,' a nickname reflecting frustration over Microsoft's aggressive AI integration into Windows, Office, and GitHub. The word was quietly added to the server's auto-moderation blocklist, but users quickly found workarounds. Microsoft officially blamed spammers for the lockdown, framing it as protection against harmful content rather than acknowledging user discontent with its AI strategy.

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