Skype for Business Online - End of Life - July 31, 2021
Today Microsoft announced that Skype for Business Online will be retiring on July 31, 2021. Though we didn’t know the exact date until today, we have been preparing for this for the past year and are ready to support you however we can as we work together to help you make this transition. We knew this was coming, we have been preparing for this for the past year, now we know the official date. We hope this does not come as a shock to you as MS Teams has taken center stage for Intelligent Communication and Modern Collaboration and Microsoft as an organization is not going to support Skype for Business (SfB) online in the long term. All of our investments and feature enhancements have been in Teams and Teams will continue to receive these investments for the future.Azure Monitor for Windows Virtual Desktop is generally available!
Today, we are thrilled to announce that Azure Monitor for Windows Virtual Desktop is now generally available! Building on top of Azure Monitor, Windows Virtual Desktop Insights provides IT administrators with a 360° view of their environment’s health. With Azure Monitor for Windows Virtual Desktop, you can find and troubleshoot problems in the deployment, view the status and health of host pools, diagnose user feedback and understand resource utilization. General availability comes with many improvements, including the following: Improved data collection and new guidance to help you optimize for cost Updated setup experience with easier UI, expanded support for VM set-up, automated Windows Event Log setup, and more Relocated Windows Virtual Desktop agent warnings and errors at the top of the Host Diagnostics page to help you prioritize issues with the highest impact Accessibility enhancements Workbook versioning: GA release is Version 1.0.0 For our existing users- if you used Azure Monitor for Windows Virtual Desktop in public preview, we have made some updates to our guidance and default configuration to help reduce your Azure Monitor Log Analytics cost in GA. If you haven’t already, you must take action to implement these revised recommendations. See our blog post for instructions. We are incredibly excited about this major milestone and are looking forward to continuing to provide updates and expand scenario support in our monitoring journey. As always, we welcome your comments and feedback below! Best, Logan Silliman Learn more about Azure Monitor for Windows Virtual Desktop: Get started with Using Azure Monitor for Windows Virtual Desktop Estimate and manage your Log Analytics storage costs with Estimate Azure Monitor costs Review terms and concepts in our glossary If you encounter a problem, check out our troubleshooting guide for helpThe 2023 brand new Surface Product Line-up
We launched new Surface devices powered by Windows 11, enabling high-impact work through innovative design, industry-leading performance, on-the-go connectivity, and chip-to-cloud security. Click here to read the announcement! :right_arrow: Introducing new Surface devices that take the Windows PC into the next era of computing | Microsoft Devices BlogAnnouncing the Microsoft Tech Community!
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of the Microsoft Tech Community, bringing multiple communities together in one central location to support discussions and best practice sharing across a variety of Microsoft products and services. The Microsoft Tech Community is an evolution of the Office 365 Network, growing to support new Azure; Windows Server, and SQL Server Communities and in future many more communities. The URL of the new community will change soon to http://techcommunity.microsoft.com and redirects will be in place for any existing URL on the http://network.office.com domain. In today's announcement, not only will you see new communities added but you will also see the following features: New Navigation Menu that reflects all of your favorite spaces, making it easier for you to navigate from space to space. Spaces can be discussions, blogs or idea exchanges and when favorited will appear here. Microsoft Ignite Community page launched: https://network.office.com/t5/Microsoft-Ignite-Conversations/bd-p/IgniteCommunity Discussions about Microsoft Ignite are happening here: https://network.office.com/t5/Microsoft-Ignite-Conversations/bd-p/IgniteCommunity Coming soon: Discussion threads for each session! Make sure you favorite the Microsoft Ignite Content space to stay up to date on the latest sessions! You can find the Microsoft Ignite Community Page via the new navigation menu under 'Events'. In our roadmap, this Events landing page will house more than just Microsoft Ignite but in the lead-up to the September event all our events efforts will be focused on Microsoft Ignite. New styling applied to Avatars. Colored rings indicate different community roles: 'Red' = a MTC (Microsoft Tech Community) Community Manager 'Blue' = a Microsoft Employee 'Green' = a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) Profile Hovercards activated when hovering over a member's avatar so you can easily see which organization they belong to and what their activity is on the MTC A 'Follow' button will be applied soon and we are working on a 'People' section to help you manage your networks and feeds from the people you follow in the MTC Toggle between Blogs and Discussions in Communities: While we don't have blogs everywhere in the community yet, we are supporting the concept of blogs in the community. This will be where Microsoft Product Experts will be sharing product news, insight into how Microsoft products work and best practices they've observed. 'Favorite' Blog spaces to power your feed in your Home Page. We have temporarily taken the Community Ideas section offline while we are working on some bug fixes. While you wait you can use the Community Discussion space to share feedback on the new community. Once Community Ideas are back online we'll be making an announcement in the Community Info Center. Coming soon: 'More Resources' links in the right hand rail of Communities Continuing to refine threading and whitespace in conversations for desktop and on mobile Ability to 'Follow' users via a button on their hovercard 'People' section (more on this soon) More Blogs & More Communities! The following fixes to bugs have been applied: Notification alert is now back on your Avatar via the Profile Menu To fix this bug we had to revert back to our original larger Profile Menu. We are investigating ways to make this profile menu smaller Community Spaces tiles are now wider to support longer Space names Removed the 'Sign In' text next to the Avatar placeholder image to support a better mobile experience Known bugs and issues we are working on fixing: @mentions not working on all browsers Line breaks in Firefox and on iOS in incorrect places Styling of the hyperlinks in the notifications feed Replies, Likes and Views Icons not appearing in IE 11 and IE 9 browsers Please continue to share your feedback in the new Microsoft Tech Community. We are scheduled to shut down the Office 365 Network on Yammer on September 15 (read announcement here). If you have questions about the future of groups that exist on the Yammer network and unable to find them on the new Microsoft Tech Community, please let us know via the Community Discussion space. Thank you for your input so far, we will continue to make updates to features of the MTC and the best way to stay informed is by favouriting the Community Announcements space to power your feed.Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition Available on Azure
As part of Azure Automanage, new scenarios and capabilities unlock with Automanage for Windows Server and its Azure IaaS virtual machines running Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition. The first three are Hotpatch (Preview), SMB over QUIC, and Extended Network for Azure. We update Windows Server Azure Edition machines annually with new features and we update Automanage for Windows Server continuously to make operating those features easy and reliable. Learn more about everything that’s new. Hotpatch (Preview): update without rebooting With many organizations moving to a zero-trust security model, you can now deploy security updates without having to frequently reboot your Windows Server virtual machine. Hotpatching reduces the need to schedule security updates because you can deploy updates as soon as they become available. The hotpatch preview is now available on the GA release of Windows Server 2022 Azure Edition (server core). Follow these steps to participate in the hotpatch preview. SMB over QUIC: securely access file servers A common challenge has been securely accessing file servers remotely over an untrusted network and without a VPN when you’re on a mobile device or working remotely. Now, generally available—SMB over QUIC. SMB over QUIC introduces an alternative to the TCP network transport, providing secure, reliable connectivity to edge file servers over untrusted networks like the internet. It doesn't stop there though: Automanage machine best practices (preview) for Windows Server also includes SMB over QUIC management. QUIC uses certificates to provide its encryption and organizations often struggle to maintain complex public key infrastructures. Automanage machine best practices ensure that certificates do not expire without warning and that SMB over QUIC stays enabled for maximum continuity of service. Extended Network: preserve on-premises IP addresses When you migrate to Azure, there are some virtual machines that cannot change their IP address. Now generally available is an extended network for Azure, which allows you to migrate Windows Server workloads to Azure while preserving the original IP address. Automanage resources Automanage blogs in Azure Governance and Management and Windows Admin Center on Tech community Automanage announcements at Ignite Automanage for Windows Server on docs Automanage on Azure.com
Introducing Avatars: Seeking Valuable Feedback from the Tech Community!
Greetings, tech enthusiasts! We are thrilled to announce the latest development in our virtual world: Avatars! Our team has been hard at work to bring this exciting feature to life, and we're eager to share it with all of you. Avatars have the potential to revolutionize the way we interact and engage within virtual environments, and we believe your input can make a significant impact on their further development. Before we dive into the details, I invite you to visit the following link to explore and experience our brand new Avatars: Microsoft Mesh: Transforming how people come together in the modern workplace - Microsoft Community Hub and YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/fSKBHOWOcSM Avatars are designed to enhance your virtual presence and provide a more immersive and personalized experience. They allow you to create a digital representation of yourself, complete with customizable features, clothing, accessories, and even unique animations. By using Avatars, we aim to bridge the gap between the physical and virtual worlds, enabling you to express yourself more authentically and connect with others on a deeper level. Now, we need your expertise and insights to refine and improve this exciting feature. As members of the tech community, your feedback is invaluable in shaping the future of Avatars. Here are a few key questions we'd love to hear your thoughts on: User Interface and Customization: How intuitive is the process of creating and customizing Avatars? Are there any improvements or additional options you'd like to suggest? Realism vs. Creativity: What balance should we strike between realistic representations and allowing users to explore imaginative and unique Avatar designs? Should there be limitations, and if so, what kind. Social Interaction and Integration: How can we enhance social interactions through Avatars? Are there any integration possibilities with existing communication platforms or social media networks that you would like to explore? Please feel free to share any other thoughts, ideas, or concerns you may have regarding Avatars. Your feedback will help us shape the next phase of development and make Avatars an incredible addition to our virtual world. We appreciate your time and dedication to the tech community, and we're excited to hear your opinions. Together, let's create a virtual environment that truly reflects and celebrates each individual's uniqueness.
