What's new for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition - March 2023

[Bill Baer]

In this article:

Updates to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition

Support policy changes for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition

Antimalware Scan Interface integration with SharePoint Server 2019

SharePoint Server 2013 End of Support

Looking forward

When we launched SharePoint Server Subscription Edition in November 2021, we shared our vision of a server built for continuous innovation, which emphasized the specific needs of our on-premises customers including new features to help simplify management, improve your security posture, and streamline your upgrade from earlier versions of SharePoint Server.

To take our first step on this journey, in September 2022 we introduced new features aligned to this vision including the ability to opt-in to early release rings that accelerate the time to innovation for our customers.

In keeping with our commitment to make SharePoint Server Subscription Edition the foundation for our evolution of SharePoint Server, today we’re delighted to share the next step on this journey: the new 23H1 feature update for SharePoint, built on these same principles as the 22H2 feature update.

Infrastructure Improvements

Unified patches

We heard your feedback and we’re making it easier to manage SharePoint Server.  To simplify the process for updating your SharePoint Server Subscription Edition environments, we’re introducing a single update each month for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, starting with the March 2023 public update. This unified update combines all of the improvements that would have previously been released in separate STS and WSSLOC updates. The single uber updates are cumulative, so you only need to install the latest update to get all of the latest improvements for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.

No STS or WSSLOC updates will be released for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition after the February 2023 public updates.

Support for SharePoint Framework (SPFx) version 1.5.1

To expand the customization scenarios that SharePoint Server Subscription Edition supports, the 23H1 feature update adds support for SharePoint Framework (SPFx) version 1.5.1. With the SharePoint Framework, you can use modern web technologies and tools in your preferred development environment to build productive experiences and apps that are responsive and mobile-ready. This is the first step on a long-term journey to continue investing in SharePoint Framework for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.

For more information, see SharePoint Framework development with SharePoint Server 2019 & SharePoint Server SE.

New PowerShell cmdlets for variations feature

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Version 23H1 introduces 4 new PowerShell cmdlets that will replace the functionality of the "stsadm.exe -o variationsfixuptool" command. Those cmdlets are:

• Deploy-SPVariation -Identity <SPWebPipeBind> [-Recurse] [-Label <String>] 
• Repair-SPVariation -Identity <SPWebPipeBind> [-Recurse] [-Label <String>] 
• Test-SPVariation -Identity <SPWebPipeBind> [-Recurse] [-Label <String>] 
• Get-SPVariationJob -Identity <SPWebPipeBind> 

SharePoint Server recompiled with Visual C++ 2022

As the long-term foundation for SharePoint Server, we continue to invest in keeping SharePoint Server Subscription Edition updated with modern technologies. To that end, we've recompiled SharePoint Server Subscription Edition with the newest Visual C++ compiler: Visual C++ 2022. This will ensure SharePoint Server Subscription Edition can take advantage of the latest capabilities available from Visual C++.  The 23H1 feature update will automatically install the Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2015-2022 to support the recompiled binaries.

Private key management in certificate management

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition introduced a new certificate management feature that allows SharePoint farm administrators to directly manage the deployment and lifecycle of SSL/TLS certificates in their SharePoint Server farms. The certificate management feature applied a standard set of permissions to the private keys of these certificates regardless of their use cases.

To better support least privileges scenarios and minimize the permissions given to these private keys, SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Version 23H1 applies more granular and sophisticated permission management for these private keys. The permissions will be based on the certificate assignments and will be dynamically updated when the certificate assignments change.

Support for wildcard host header bindings

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Version 23H1 adds support for specifying a wildcard host header binding for a web application. This will allow you to specify different wildcard bindings across multiple web applications that can share the same TCP port such as "*.external.example.com" and "*.internal.example.com". You can then provision host-named site collections in the first web application using the *.external.example.com DNS naming scheme (such as site1.external.example.com, site2.external.example.com, etc.) and other host-named site collections in the second web application using the *.internal.example.com DNS naming scheme (such as site1.internal.example.com, site2.internal.example.com, etc.).

Information Worker Improvements

Expanded usage of modern sharing dialog

In earlier releases of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, using sharing functionality in lists, document libraries, pages, or site contents would trigger the classic sharing dialog, even when using the modern view in a modern Team site or Communication site.

To deliver a more intuitive sharing experience, these sharing entry points have been updated to use SharePoint’s modern sharing dialog. The modern sharing dialog is also a more accessible experience.

Column totals in modern list views

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Version 23H1 adds support for displaying column totals in modern list views just like in classic list views. This option can be enabled in the "save view” feature.

Enhanced Quick Chart web part

Using the Quick Chart web part, you can add simple, basic charts to your page. Enter your data points or get data from a list or library, add labels, pick your chart type (column or pie), and publish.  In earlier versions of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition users were unable to connect the Quick Chart web part to a list or library within the site to consume its data.

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Version 23H1 enhances the Quick Chart modern web part by adding a "Get data from a list or library on this site" option. Users can now configure the Quick Chart web part to consume data from a list or library within the site.

For more information, see Use the Quick Chart web part.

Improved file picker

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition Version 23H1 improves the modern file picker used by the Quick Links and File Viewer web parts. The Quick Links web part file picker can now support more file types such as PDF, TXT, MP4, M4V, MP3, OGG, and WAV. The File Viewer web part file picker can now support PDF files.

To learn more about the 23H1 feature update for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition refer to https://learn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/what-s-new/new-and-improved-features-in-sharepoint-server-sub....

New product servicing policy for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition

As SharePoint Server Subscription Edition evolves with the new continuous release model, our product servicing policy also evolves with it. Starting in January 2023, each public update for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition will be supported for one year after its release date (until the second Tuesday of the same month in the following year). All previous builds of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, including the original RTM release, will be supported until December 12, 2023.

Customers must run a supported build of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition to be considered supported, which includes the ability for Microsoft Support to offer technical support. Customers will need to install a public update at least once a year, although since each public update contains important security and functionality improvements, we encourage customers to stay up to date with each public update release.

For more information, see Updated Product Servicing Policy for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.

Antimalware Scan Interface integration comes to SharePoint Server 2019

Our 22H2 feature update for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition first introduced Windows Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) integration to SharePoint Server. This important security improvement helps protect customers from attacks against SharePoint Server by scanning incoming web requests to detect and block potentially malicious requests.

Given the increased cybersecurity threats on-premises customers face, Microsoft is expanding this protection to earlier versions of SharePoint Server as well. This feature will be available to SharePoint Server 2019 customers starting with the March 2023 public update for SharePoint Server 2019. This feature will also become available to SharePoint Server 2016 customers later this year.

For more information about Windows Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) and how to enable it, see Configure AMSI integration with SharePoint Server.

SharePoint 2013 reaches end of support on April 11, 2023

Can you believe it’s been 10 years since the launch of SharePoint 2013? So much has changed in the industry since then, from the rise of cloud computing to the promise of AI. As the last on-premises release before SharePoint Online became the mainstream SharePoint experience, SharePoint 2013 has served as an important part of the collaboration and productivity story for so many customers.

As a final reminder for those customers who haven’t migrated to SharePoint Online or upgraded to a newer version of SharePoint Server yet, SharePoint 2013 will reach end of support on April 11, 2023. That’s just one month away! You can find more guidance about your options to move off of SharePoint 2013 at Upgrading from SharePoint 2013.

Looking forward

For those customers who are currently using SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2019, now is a great time to start thinking about the future as both products will reach end of support in July 2026. SharePoint Online is our premier SharePoint experience and should be the default path forward for most customers. There are great tools to help you migrate your SharePoint on-premises environments to SharePoint Online such as our SharePoint Migration Tool.

But if you still have a long-term need for an on-premises presence, we encourage you to start evaluating SharePoint Server Subscription Edition now. Thanks to its “N - 2” upgrade support, you can easily upgrade to it directly from either SharePoint Server 2016 or SharePoint Server 2019.

As you can see from today’s announcements, Microsoft continues to stand behind our SharePoint Server customers wherever they are on their journey to the cloud. We’re excited about the improvements we’re bringing to the on-premises experience and hope you are too. We also look forward to the next feature update for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, coming in the second half of this year.