Microsoft news you can’t afford to miss

We have pleasure sharing a round-up of updates we believe you’ll find useful from your Microsoft investment and we hope you find the summary helpful.

Alongside the feature updates, we would like to bring your attention to a recent update regarding currency adjustments which may impact your subscription. Effective February 1, 2025, Microsoft will be adjusting prices for its Commercial Cloud services to more closely align with global levels in the Brazilian Real (BRL) and British Pound (GBP) currencies. This change is to This ensures that customers across different geographies and currencies will experience consistent pricing, reflecting the exchange rate of their local currency to the U.S. dollar (USD).

Please be aware that for GBP there is a cloud % adjustment of -5% to -6%. You can read more here and get in touch if you would like any additional information.

Exclusive updates from Microsoft Ignite:

1. AI Agents

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Microsoft are introducing agents in Microsoft 365 designed to help scale individual impact and transform business processes.

• Every SharePoint site now has an agent, so every employee can quickly tap into this massive knowledge base. You can use agents in SharePoint to quickly pull project details from a workback schedule, summarize a recent product memo, or find a document in seconds.
• The Employee Self-Service Agent in Business Chat quickly answers common policy questions and makes it easy to complete key tasks, starting with HR and IT. It can help employees understand their benefits, for instance, or request a new laptop. And it can be customized in Copilot Studio to meet the unique needs of your organization. In private preview.
• Other agents include Facilitator, which takes real-time notes in Teams meetings and chats, and Project Manager, which automates plan creation and even completes tasks in Microsoft Planner. In public preview.

Article: Introducing new agents in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Community Hub
Agents in SharePoint: Microsoft 365 Copilot l Introducing agents in SharePoint – YouTube
Snippet from Ignite: https://youtu.be/_4qsQ6OWZsM?si=41SQXGV-bv3nV_V7&t=177

2. Teams Interpreter

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
The Interpreter agent in Teams provides real-time speech-to-speech interpretation during meetings, and you can opt to have it simulate your speaking voice for a more personal and engaging experience. Public preview coming in early 2025.

Article: Use language interpretation in Microsoft Teams meetings – Microsoft Support

Snippet from Ignite: https://youtu.be/J1I-nReRTyc?si=V0fweZp7QAXDWrVR

3. Copilot Actions

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
New Copilot Actions automate everyday tasks with simple, fill-in-the-blank prompts that you can set and forget. For example, you can automatically receive a summary of your most important action items at the end of each workday, create an action to gather inputs from your team for a weekly newsletter you send each Thursday, or automate customer meeting prep with a recurring action that summarizes your last few interactions ahead of your next sync. In private preview.

Article: Introducing Microsoft Copilot actions, new agents, and tools to empower IT| Microsoft 365 Blog
Snippet from Ignite: https://youtu.be/_4qsQ6OWZsM?si=BMuayFnAjyTBn1l-&t=117

4. Copilot analytics

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Copilot Analytics is designed to empower every IT and business leader to measure adoption and business impact of Copilot and agents — with out-of-the-box experiences (Copilot Dashboard & Microsoft admin center) and customizable reporting for deeper analysis against your KPIs.

Article: Introducing Copilot Analytics to measure AI impact on your business | Microsoft Community Hub
Snippet from Ignite: https://youtu.be/_4qsQ6OWZsM?si=mfIyoprdbKmku9Vg&t=292

5. Improved windows search

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Finding the right files, including documents, settings or photos, on Copilot+ PCs just got easier. Using your own words, like “BBQ party” you can now describe things to find what you’re looking for on Windows. You no longer need to remember file names, settings locations or even worry about spelling – just type what’s in your mind to find it on a Copilot+ PC.

Article: New experiences coming to Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11 | Windows Experience Blog

6. Click to Do

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Click to Do is designed to help simplify your workflow by magically placing an interactive overlay on top of your PC screen, enabling suggested quick actions to appear over images or text. At your request, Click to Do seamlessly connects you to tools and actions to accomplish tasks, like suggesting help with Visual Search with Bing, background blur or erasing objects in Photos, removing backgrounds with Paint, and more.

Article: New experiences coming to Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11 | Windows Experience Blog

7. Recall-Now Off by Default

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Microsoft have taken the time to make Recall even more secure by default, ensuring our customers feel confident that their data is safe and secure, right from the start. Customers will now have the choice to opt-in to saving snapshots and if they do opt-in, they will use Windows Hello to confirm presence and securely unlock the Recall experience. And with the sensitive information filter, Recall will apply filters over sensitive information when highly confidential data, like credit card details or personal identification numbers, needs to stay just that – confidential.

Article: New experiences coming to Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11 | Windows Experience Blog

8. Teams super resolution

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Teams Super Resolution enhances the quality of incoming video, improving visibility of colleagues even with weak internet connections.

Video: Copilot+ PCs: Ready for the new AI era at work

9. Windows 365 Link

New Hardware

How this will affect your organization
One of the most popular releases was Microsoft’s introduction of a new PC called Windows 365 link which is a new device dedicated to Windows 365 Cloud PC connections. It is meant to act as a new thin client and is locked down by default. This device is certainly gaining a lot of initial scrutiny but can be very useful for specific workloads like hot desks and dedicated workflows that just use Microsoft 365 apps, given no other apps may be installed on the device.

Article: Windows 365 Link—the first Cloud PC device – Windows IT Pro Blog
Video: : (30) Introducing Windows 365 Link – YouTube
Hot Take: Microsoft’s New Computer Stinks

10. Windows 365 Frontline shared mode

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Windows 365 Frontline is expanding its capabilities with the public preview of “shared mode.” The new mode offers organizations even more options by providing Cloud PC access to multiple users with a non-personalized desktop experience, while simplifying the management experience for IT admins and improving end-user productivity.

Article: Windows 365 Frontline shared mode now in public preview – Windows IT Pro BlogWindows 365 Frontline shared mode now in public preview – Windows IT Pro Blog
Video: : https://youtu.be/PdyXqDjdE3I

11. MAM for Windows 365 and AVD

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Windows App now supports Mobile application management (MAM) for iOS and Android. Now in preview, MAM enhances device redirection and strengthens security on unmanaged or externally managed devices. It allows organizations to define device security criteria and customize access, supporting BYOD scenarios.

Article: Microsoft Ignite 2024: Embracing the future of Windows at work | Windows Experience Blog
Video: : Windows App: Your gateway to Windows on any device

12. Windows Resiliency Initiative

New Initiative

How this will affect your organization
This comes as a targeted response to the Crowdstrike incident earlier this year that took down over 8.5 million Windows PCs and servers.

TLDR on the proposed changes with this initiative:

Quick Machine Recovery ❤️ => Enables IT admins to execute targets fixes from Windows Update on PCs, even when machines are unable to boot and without needing physical access to the PC.

Microsoft Virus Initiative (MVI) evolving partnership ⏲ => Partners in this initiative (including crowdsrike) will adopt Safe Deployment Practices, which means that all security product updates must be gradual, leverage deployment rings, as well as monitoring to ensure any negative impact from updates is kept to a minimum.

Running anti-virus processing outside kernel mode 🐞 => will enable anti-virus products on Windows to provide a high level of security while minimizing reliability risks, as crashes outside kernel mode will only affect the anti-virus application, and not all of Windows. AV solutions can run in user mode just as apps do

Check out more info here: https://lnkd.in/gbEP2GFd
Video: https://youtu.be/3YiB2OvK6sY?si=8cXMdt1_RPsFSAg2&t=2165

13. Hot Patch in Windows

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Today we announce the public preview of hotpatch updates for Windows 11 Enterprise, version 24H2. With hotpatch updates, you can quickly take measures to help protect your organization from the evolving landscape of cyberattacks, while minimizing user disruptions. Hotpatching represents a significant advancement in our journey to help make you and everyone who uses Windows more secure and productive.

Check out more info here: Hotpatch for client comes to Windows 11 – Windows IT Pro Blog
Video: https://youtu.be/3YiB2OvK6sY?si=fW31ilT1FE3TtEAc&t=2192

14. Administrator protection

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Currently in preview, is a new solution where users have the security of standard user permissions by default, but can still easily make system changes, including app installation, on their PCs when needed. With administrator protection, if a system change requires administrator rights, like some app installations, the user is prompted to securely authorize the change using Windows Hello. Windows creates a temporary isolated admin token to get the job done. This temporary token is immediately destroyed once the task is complete, ensuring that admin privileges do not persist.

Check out more info here: Windows security and resiliency: Protecting your business | Windows Experience Blog

15. Zero Day Quest-new in-person hacking event

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Microsoft announced that it’s expanding its bug bounty programs with Zero Day Quest, a new hacking event focusing on cloud and AI products and platforms. This new hacking event will be the largest of its kind, with an additional $4 million in potential awards

Check out more info here: Microsoft launches Zero Day Quest hacking event with $4 million in rewards
Ignite Snippet: https://youtu.be/3YiB2OvK6sY?si=kvRaYsHxMduM9fiu&t=595

16. Personal Data Encryption

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Personal Data Encryption for known folders is a new Windows 11 Enterprise capability using Windows Hello authentication to help protect files stored in the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders. Protection is indicated by the lock icon on the file. With Personal Data Encryption enabled, a device administrator won’t be able to view file content, as the files remain encrypted until you authenticate with Windows Hello. An IT admin, using Microsoft Intune (or another management tool) can select all or a subset of these folders to apply Personal Data Encryption. It integrates with OneDrive and SharePoint on Microsoft 365 to allow for easy collaboration.

Only available for Windows 11 Enterprise OS currently.

Check out more info here: Personal Data Encryption | Microsoft Learn

17. New Edge Management Policies in Lighthouse

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
We’re excited to announce that additional Edge for Business policies will be coming to Lighthouse, making it even easier for partners to manage and secure their customers’ web browsers.

These new policies include customization abilities, such as adding organization branding; enhanced security features, such as password monitoring and generation; and other configurations, such as allowing Copilot to access page content and allowing single sign-on.

Check out more info here: Ignite 2024: Transform your workday with the latest Edge for Business features – Microsoft Edge Blog

18. Edge: Scareware Blocker

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Scareware is a type of scam that takes over the entire browser screen, creating a sense of urgency and panic that pressures people to act quickly, potentially granting the scammer remote access to their computer. To combat such scams, Edge is introducing new, no-cost capabilities to help identify scareware in real-time to help make the internet a safer place both inside and outside of work. Scareware blocker uses machine learning (ML) to identify these scams. Upon finding a potential danger, it displays a warning to alert users. If the user identifies the website as safe, they are still in control and can continue to the page.

Check out more info here: Ignite 2024: Transform your workday with the latest Edge for Business features – Microsoft Edge Blog
Video: Microsoft Edge for Business: Scareware blocker

19. Edge: Deploy encrypted shared passwords

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
There’s a known security gap that you may have been tolerating out of necessity—a common password shared across a set of users. Whether it’s a team accessing the same data repository or managing common social media accounts, passwords are often passed around in emails, chats, and even on paper. This risky practice can lead to unapproved users gaining access and serious downstream consequences.

Secure password deployment in the Edge management service can help put an end to this. It enables you to deploy encrypted shared passwords to a set of users, allowing them to log into websites seamlessly without ever seeing the actual passwords, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and enhancing your organization’s overall security posture.
Secure password deployment will be available in preview in the coming months for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3, and E5 subscriptions.

Check out more info here: Ignite 2024: Transform your workday with the latest Edge for Business features – Microsoft Edge Blog
Video: https://youtu.be/Kuql1W5mZHs?si=IZ4fO8LSpyHACqWC&t=249

Teams Updates

1. Microsoft Places

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Microsoft introduced the general availability of one of its newest apps called Places, that integrates with Microsoft Team and Copilot. Places intelligently allows you to coordinate your hybrid team to make the most of in-office days, modernize how employees make connections, and optimize space management with occupancy and utilization data. It has features like recommended in office days, management of room bookings, presence signals to allows users to maximize their in office time together. Places does require a Teams premium license and a copilot license for some of the features.

When will this happen:
GA

2. Copilot File Summary in Chat

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
With new file summaries in 1:1 and group chats in Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot can quickly summarize content from Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and PDFs, so you can understand the main points without opening the file.

When will this happen:
Public preview in early 2025

3. Storyline integrated in Teams

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Storyline in Teams empowers leaders to share communications with an entire company, and simplifies the ways you and your colleagues share and connect. This can be seen as a social media design in Teams where users can post and follow “stories” and can be followed individually.

When will this happen:
Public preview in early 2025

4. Loop workspace in a channel

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
You will be able to add a Loop workspace tab to standard channels enabling your team to brainstorm, co-create, collect, and organize content—together in real-time.

When will this happen:
GA early 2025

5. The new chat & channels experience

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
This new experience in Teams combines chats and channel collaboration into a single navigation for users to seamlessly move across communications

When will this happen:
Available now in Public Preview

6. Active meeting protection notifications of sensitive screenshared content

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
When a presenter is screen sharing content, active meeting protection automatically detects some types of information that are potentially sensitive, such as social security numbers and credit card numbers, and alerts both the presenter and the meeting organizer to prevent unintentional sharing

When will this happen:
Public preview in early 2025

7. Support for SMS text notifications to attendees in Microsoft Bookings app

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
Microsoft Bookings users can now send SMS notifications for both customer-scheduled and staff-scheduled appointments, enhancing communication between organizations and customers.

When will this happen:
GA, requires Teams Premium

8. Email verification for external participants to join Teams meetings

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
This allows meeting organizers with a Teams Premium license to require external participants to verify their email addresses with a one-time passcode (OTP) before joining the meeting.

When will this happen:
GA in Early 2025

9. New admin policy to prevent bots from joining Teams meetings

New Feature

How this will affect your organization
We’re introducing a new policy in Teams admin center that allows admins to block unwanted bots from joining meetings. The policy consists of two parts for optimal meeting security. First, admins can use the ‘External Access’ setting in Teams admin center to block known bot domains. Second, admins can enable a CAPTCHA-based human verification test and apply it to anonymous and non-federated users. Once set, any anonymous user that attempts to join the meeting will be required to pass the CAPTCHA test before proceeding.

When will this happen:
GA

Microsoft Admin

1. Update to security defaults

Feature Update

How this will affect your organization
We’re removing the option to skip multifactor authentication (MFA) registration for 14 days when security defaults are enabled. This means all users will be required to register for MFA on their first login after security defaults are turned on. This will help reduce the risk of account compromise during the 14-day window, as MFA can block over 99.2% of identity-based attacks. This change affects newly created tenants starting on December 2nd, 2024 and will be rolled out to existing tenants starting in January 2025.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/identity/update-to-security-defaults/4044868

2. Flexible billing for Microsoft 365 Copilot

New Billing Model

How this will affect your organization
In response to customer and partner feedback for more flexible payment options, on December 1, 2024, we’re going to introduce a new monthly billing plan for annual subscriptions of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Service on the new commerce platform. This new monthly billing option for annual subscriptions will be priced 5% higher than the annual billing (upfront payment) option for annual subscription plans for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Services.