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Important: Test Base for Microsoft 365 will transition to end-of-life (EOL) on May 31, 2024. We're committed to working closely with Test Base customers to provide support and guidance to make the transition as smooth as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, or need assistance, please submit a support request. |
We’re excited to share the new capabilities that make it easier to validate your applications against Windows 11 in a Microsoft-managed test environment. These capabilities benefit application validation for all organizations, but particularly benefit IT professionals who need to validate business critical applications as they plan for a Windows 11 deployment. Get ready to validate your business-critical applications against Windows 11 with Test Base for Microsoft 365, Windows E3/E5, and Microsoft 365 E3/E5 plans!
Special benefits for Windows Enterprise customers
Starting today, organizations that have Windows Enterprise E3 and E5, and Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 plans will get a one-time allotment of 500 hours (equivalent of $4,000) of Test Base without expiration under your tenant. Our data shows that the average E3 and E5 customers will be able to validate most, if not all, apps for migration to Windows 11 within 500 hours of usage. This substantially increases the value of the E3 and E5 plans and provides the enterprise customers with a path to confidently move to Windows 11. This is a great opportunity for organizations to leverage the features and capabilities of Test Base to ensure compatibility and performance of your business-critical applications with Windows updates and accelerate your Windows 11 deployment.
Additional features available today
Thanks to the feedback we've received from IT professionals, developers, and the Test Base community, the following new features are available:
Test matrixes to validate your apps for Windows 11, version 23H2
Windows 11, version 23H2, also known as the Windows 11 2023 Update, is now available through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Windows Update for Business. Various test matrixes are supported in Test Base to validate your application readiness in the way you prefer:
- If you’re still on the journey to migrate to Windows 11, version 23H2, you can set up an in-place upgrade test to ensure the business-critical app compatibility during and after your migration. For a step by step guide, see Test your application with in-place upgrade.
- If you’re already on Windows 11, version 23H2and would like to set up a long-term worry-free testing plan against monthly security updates, Security update tests against Windows 11 23H2 are also supported in Test Base. For guidance, see Test against Windows monthly security updates.
- If you’re developing apps which have dependencies on Windows 11 23H2 new features, you can sign up for updates on Windows 11, version 23H2 features. See Test against Windows new features for guidance.
To better mimic your actual deployment environment, we also allow you to test from your own image or set up Intune enrollment tests.
Intune enrollment (public preview)
Hearing that many of you are using Intune to manage your organization’s OS updates and application patches, we now allow you to enroll a testing VM under your own Intune tenant to better mimic your real case application deployment process.
You can find this new service under the portal menu Package catalog > New package > Enroll from Intune.
For more onboarding guidance, please see Validate applications from your own Intune tenant.
Near real-time test results
Test Base now offers near real-time (NRT) test results, which give you essential test results on your test run as soon as the test is done, which is much faster than the previous service level agreements (SLA). NRT test results help you improve your testing process and product quality by enabling you to make quicker decisions and take smarter actions.
Test configuration
Users can fine-tune different elements of the testing environment to meet the diverse nature of their testing requirements. With this release, you now have the option to schedule your tests to run when there’s a new Windows update, which is the current default, or choose a daily, weekly, or monthly cadence. Furthermore, configurations can be shared across packages, providing you with enhanced flexibility in managing multiple packages.
You have the option to immediately execute tests by using the run-on-request feature in the Test Configuration menu. With this feature, multiple packages and tests can be triggered on request by a single click.
This feature will be generally available by the first week of December 2023.
Test Base Chat (public preview)
After announcing private preview in September, we improved the Test Base Chat experience based on your feedback. With new feedback buttons, you can easily rate the quality and relevance of Test Base Chat’s responses by clicking on the thumb up or thumb down icons. This will help us to improve Test Base Chat’s performance and accuracy, and also to tailor it to your preferences and expectations. To learn more about Test Base Chat and its features, please visit the Test Base Chat documentation.
Explore the latest in Test Base in more depth
For a closer look at Test Base for Microsoft 365 – include demos of the capabilities discussed in this post – RSVP (and add to calendar) for our Microsoft Technical Takeoff session, Windows 11 migration and app validation made easy with Test Base and post any questions you may have. We’ll answer your questions live during the session and throughout Tech Takeoff week!
Join the Test Base Community
Not yet using Test Base for Microsoft 365? Sign up for Test Base today to validate your application(s). For a tutorial, see Test your application on Test Base and make sure to join our Test Base for Microsoft 365 community to get future Test Base updates or share your experiences and ideas with our team.
Developers and IT pros: please check our GitHub community microsoft/testbase: Samples and Tools for Test Base for M365.
Contact us at testbasepreview@microsoft.com if you have any feedback, questions, or need support from us!
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