The week at Microsoft • The registry

Roundup Aside from rumors surrounding Windows 10 licenses suddenly downgraded following an Insider compilation update, last week Row-Level Security was integrated into Azure warehouses, reserving Alexa's reservoirs. are installed on Cortana's lawn and Microsoft is prepared to give up support for older versions of Xcode.

Line-level security in the Azure SQL data warehouse

The DBAs might have been forgiven for thinking that it was already a thing. After all, SQL Server 2016 had already introduced line-level security (RLS) to determine which users had access to which data without the client application becoming more aware. The Azure SQL database from Azure also acquired this feature in 2015.

Do not worry anymore, warehouse fans, RLS is now generally available for Azure SQL Data Warehouse, which means that it's no longer necessary to manually filter rows via views or, worse yet , the rules of the logic of application. Assuming that your SQL or Azure Active Directory roles are logically configured, and that you do not group each user in a group of administrators to handle a mysterious rights bug.

Microsoft believes that the feature will be useful in scenarios such as a health care provider allowing nurses to see only the records of their patients or a multiple tenant application imposing a logical separation of data.

Alas, only filter predicates are supported – so the feature will only filter SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE operations to exclude rows that do not satisfy the predicate. The block predicates "will be published soon", according to Microsoft, somewhat limiting the utility of the feature.

Alexa insinuates in the Windows 10 store

Already on some Lenovo computers, the vaguely sinister personal assistant of Amazon has become available to all Windows 10 users this week, further increasing the pressure on Microsoft's personal assistant, Cortana.

Cortana was already a little moved by the loss of the vice president responsible for the unloved technology and now faces the competition of a standalone Alexa application.

True, the level of Windows 10 integration is much deeper for Cortana. However, for PCs with "hands-free" access, Alexa can be woken up with a keyword and behave as if your PC has become, for example, an echo.

For users who do not have the chance to have compatible hardware, just click a button in the Alexa app to start listening to the Amazon assistant.

Most of Alexa's skills and features are supported, giving you access to smart home devices as well as the shopping list that the retailer would love to use. Alas, computer-specific features are not supported, as is video, communications, or Spotify. Amazon claims, however, that features for PC users will be added in 2019.

The long-awaited integration between Cortana and Alexa is finally available since August. This will become less relevant as Amazon extends its tentacles further into the Windows world. At least for British, American and German users.

Crazy Kaizala

Almost lost in the rumor surrounding Microsoft's Skype messaging platform, Kaizala, the software giant WhatsApp, quietly announced that it was preparing to become globalized.

The application allows users to connect with just a phone number (you know it well?) And can accommodate groups of up to one million users. With Office 365, users can set up surveys, polls, and workflows and evaluate results with the help of Power BI.

The platform was launched in 2016 as a garage project before participating in the 2017 Preview event of Future Decoded in India. It is now available in 28 markets, as an Office 365 or standalone component (or via Google and Apple app stores), but you will need the Pro version to perform useful tasks, such as creating public groups.

The Pro version should begin to be deployed worldwide "over time", providing Microsoft users with another communications platform to add to users such as Skype and Teams.

Older Xcode Banned from Visual Studio App Center

Microsoft supports previous versions of Xcode 8 from its continuous integration infrastructure, Visual Studio App Center. Xcode 8 first appeared in 2016 and Microsoft allows version 8.3.3 to extend beyond the announced November 28 deadline.

Since the platform supports Xcode 10 (and Microsoft made a lot of noise about the launch day support for iOS 12), Redmond estimates that it's time that less than one percent users of its pipeline remain hooked to the old make the move.

And if programmers do not understand it, old good old Microsoft will automatically upgrade to 8.3.3 for them. ®