Over the course of the day and a half that I have spent at Build, I have heard the term “Graph” probably a hundred times.  It’s hard not to get the impression that Graph is important and that this is some type of tool that gives developers and companies the ability to take their data and use it across multiple devices and multiple platforms. Using Office 365 and other cloud-based services, Microsoft Graph’s API is essentially the gateway to Azure Active Directory, Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, Planner and more.

 

Multi-Device Usability

 

The first version of Microsoft Graph had the idea of taking people and documents and connecting them together in a business workplace.  With today’s new announcements, Microsoft has significantly expanded the ability of Graph by adding devices and various applications from 1st and 3rd party application providers and then letting you mix them together however you want.

During the keynote, we saw the example of a user working on one drive and then moving somewhere else and finishing their work on another device – including a mobile phone or PC – working from the very spot they left off at.   I know a great example of this for me personally is if I am working on an application form at work and need to go home to get a copy of a document but can’t do it because if I stop then I will have to redo the whole thing.  Well, in this scenario, that would no longer be an issue.

 

Cloud-Based Clipboard

 

With the updated Microsoft Graph you also have an extremely cool cloud-based clipboard function that makes it easy to access your clips across multiple devices.  What are clips?  Just think of anything you do with “Ctrl + C” and you get the idea.  As another bonus, this new function will be integrated into SwiftKey so you access clips on your devices right through your keyboard.

 

Windows Timeline

 

Another cool feature that leverages Graph is Windows Timeline.  Using Timeline, you can go back and view everything you have done on your Windows machines – laptop or desktop – and then select what state you want to return to.  One of the key criteria for this is that your application developer will have to enable this feature through Project Rome and from there, users can see their Timeline in the Windows 10 Task View.

Neat stuff for anyone who is crossing multiple devices and works remotely, in the office or perhaps traveling on a trip.

What do you think of Microsoft Graph?