Hello from New Hampshire š
Hi everyone, Iām Lissette. I work in enterprise HR technology and project delivery, with a strong focus on using Microsoft 365 and AI to help teams work more efficiently and scale whatās working. A lot of my dayātoāday work sits at the intersection of technology, structure, and enablement, translating complex requirements into practical solutions, and using AI and automation to accelerate delivery and reduce friction for teams. Iām here to learn from the community, share practical experiences, and exchange ideas around modern ways of working. Looking forward to learning from you all and contributing where I can. Iām especially interested in realāworld M365 practices that improve collaboration, governance, and adoption at scale.
Microsoft 365 Cloud vs Desktop Applications
I am having issues with the Microsoft 365 Professional version which supposedly should display the documents as a replica on the Cloud when edited using the Desktop version of the same application. Shown below is what a Microsoft Word document looks like side-by-side Cloud vs Desktop: It would seem that spacing and page breaks would hold properly in the Cloud version (shown on the left), but do not. My understanding is that Microsoft Office products have always had an XML base, so technically, what is produced using a Desktop version of an application should display as a replica when opened in a Cloud version of an application. However, what I am seeing is that I lose page numbering and properly spacing in my Cloud version of the same exact document which is pulled from the same exact file location. I am constantly doing double the work to create a perfect document. Are there any suggestions from Microsoft 365 support that might help remedy these formatting issues?Microsoft 365 Subscriptions
In fourth quarter of 2024, I decided to upgrade my machine and tried out a web only version (freeware) of Microsoft 365. After some time, I found out that I was not getting the qualities I needed for documentation to be presentable as Microsoft Word and Excel were not usable for print formats. I decided to buy a Microsoft 365 Business subscription (bought through my domain provider) which allowed me to use my email address attached to me and my website domain. This allowed me to also download desktop copies of Word and Excel. However, I ran into problems with old accounts colliding with my new ones..., for example, Skype for Business, Microsoft Store, and Microsoft Live would constantly appear in my installation admins. If I attempted to install them, the installation would fail and get stuck i.e, I could not remove them. Microsoft message pop-ups would state, "You cannot install this on a 'work' account." I thought to myself, "Okay, I installed my Windows OS as a "Work Account on my new machine." This made sense, because I could go to my browser on my new machine and I could go to my old laptop that had absolutely no Microsoft 365 on it and access my Office from my browser profile. My old laptop is the only machine that accepts the Windows Live email address i.e., it acts as a Windows Live access service via the 'free' outlook account to which it is attached. However, now that all these items are separated by Work or Home classification, I keep getting messages that state, "We cannot renew your Microsoft 365 account." But my Work account should not be attached to Microsoft Live accounts...should it? After all, it uses Entra ID for access and the subscription is bought through my domain vendor. Why is Microsoft Support sending me these emails? My original setup accessed Microsoft Live accounts via the web through my old laptop using my free Outlook email and looked something like the graphic below:
Secure Remote Access for Windows 11 Pro PCs with Office 365 (Easy, Cost-Effective)
I run a small business with 10 Windows 11 Pro computers, no servers. Each user has their own Office 365 subscription, using it to log into any of these 10 computers seamlessly. Now, with the team looking to work from home. I'm on the lookout for a remote control solution that's easy to set up, secure, cost-effective, and also plays nice with Macs on the client side. Remote Desktop seems like a great fit, but it appears that the computer needs to be joined to a domain for this to work. Ideally, it would be nice to not need to set up a Windows server and maintain it. I've looked into TeamViewer and similar solutions, but they do not appear to be integrated with Windows accounts. So, for example, if user A logs into a computer, and then user B starts remote controlling the same computer, user B would see what user A was doing. In this regard, Remote Desktop is better, as it only allows one user to see its stuff. Any suggestions on solutions? Thanks.Mobile Application Management for Windows (NEW)
This newly released product is now available in Public Preview, and I'm excited to share my initial impressions. MAM enables users to stay productive on any device while ensuring the security of our data. Mobile Application Management for Windows enables us to; Apply policies to corporate applications on personal devices. No enrollment required, just an Azure AD (or MEID) registration. Place restrictions such as cut/copy/print and blocking incoming or outgoing data. Integration with the Mobile Threat Defense connector to detect local health threats. Block access or wipe corporate data based on specific conditions. In this blog post, I provide a first look at the configuration and user experience of MAM for Windows. https://myronhelgering.com/first-look-at-mam-for-windows/Transitioning state data to the cloud in remote work scenarios
Ensuring reliable access to applications and corporate data is paramount in ensuring end user productivity during the current global health crisis. In addition to managing that application and data access, ensuring the preservation, and roaming of user state data, specifically applications and shell settings is crucial as that state data is often personalized and tailored to individual users. This session discusses the methods of roaming state data via the cloud instead of through on-premises technologies over VPN. Learn moreāÆ Here are links to the resources mentioned in this session: Enterprise State Roaming Overview Windows 10 Roaming Settings Reference User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) for Windows 10 overview Group Policy and MDM settings for ESR Administering UE-V with Windows PowerShell and WMI Configuring UE-V with Group Policy Objects While not mentioned specifically in this session, here are some additional resources you might find helpful: Microsoft COVID-19 response site Enabling Remote Work Microsoft Endpoint Manager remote work blog Work remotely, stay secure 2 weeks in: what weāve learned about remote work Frequently asked questions Q:āÆ Is the assumption correct that any Win32 app, once converted to MSIX, has to support Enterprise State Roaming instead of local profile storage (AppData/Roaming and UE-V combo)? A: If your application, prior to MSIX conversion was already writing data to the Known Folder %APPDATA% path, the folder is remapped during conversion to the roaming app storage path (i.e. C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\ to AppData\Local\Packages\<AppName>.AppData_<GUID>\LocalCache\Roaming\ Q:āÆ Do you see companies use both UE-V and ESR at the same time? It seems each cover different things. A: Yes. companies can leverage both at the same time for Windows 10 pending the requirements are met. Q:āÆ For a completely cloud-managed Windows client (i.e. no AD/hybrid join; pure UEM), we would need to use 2 solutions (ESR and UE-V w/cloud storage such as OneDrive) in order to get full state management? A: Yes, especially for legacy Win32 applications, including most enterprise LOB (Line-of-Business) apps, you would need to leverage UE-V. Q:āÆ For UE-V custom templates, is there a recommended size of files that shouldnāt use this solution? For example, a program that has large files like Dragon Naturally Speaking could have large files. Will large files cause performance issues? A: It is recommended to maintain settings package sizes (PKGX) no more than 2-4 MB per application otherwise, application launches, and shutdown times can be adversely affected. You can work with detailed configuration elements to optimize templates. For more information, please refer to the Application Template Schema Reference for UE-V. Q:āÆ What would be the best strategy to monitor performance for sync items, so we make sure everything runs smoothly and monitor userās performance in using UE-V, OneDrive and ESR? A: You can monitor Enterprise State Roaming sync status per-user and device in the Admin Portal. For more information, please see Enable Enterprise State Roaming in Azure Active Directory. You can use Microsoft 365 Reports to view status on OneDrive usage and sync statuses. Feedback We hope you find this session useful. We'd love your feedback and ideas for future sessions so please fill out this short survey. Thank you!
