Frustrations with the New Planner Update
I was looking forward to the new Planner update, but instead of improvements, I’m seeing several changes that have negatively impacted my team’s workflow. Here are the main issues: "Assigned to Me" View: Previously, this view acted as a personal Planner automatically grouped by buckets, which was really helpful. Now, it’s been replaced with a simple list view, and the "Schedule" view for personal tasks has also been removed. Copying Plans: In the previous version, we could copy a plan and retain all the tags we'd created. Now, when copying a plan, the tasks no longer retain these tags, and when attempting to reassign them, the tags aren’t available in the copied plan. These changes have made it more challenging for us to manage tasks effectively. Is there any way to revert to the previous version of Planner or enable these features again?
Revert to old Planner?
As of today, the new Planner version has been rolled out for our organisation. MS Planner is pretty much the most important tool for our project management. With the update, we can no longer copy plans without deleting all tags. In our organisation, the tags assign the responsible department to the respective tasks. This makes them extremely important. "Template Plan": Plan after we did a copy&paste: Even the Tags have to be renamed: Is there a way to revert to the old Planner? Is Microsoft aware of this problem? Kind Regards JonathanEvolving Stretch Clustering for Azure Local
Stretched clusters in Azure Local, version 22H2 (formerly Azure Stack HCI, version 22H2) entail a specific technical implementation of storage replication that spans a cluster across two sites. Azure Local, version 23H2 has evolved from a cloud-connected operating system to an Arc-enabled solution with Arc Resource Bridge, Arc VM, and AKS enabled by Azure Arc. Azure Local, version 23H2 expands the requirements for multi-site scenarios beyond the OS layer, while Stretched clusters do not encompass the entire solution stack. Based on customer feedback, the new Azure Local release will replace the Stretched clusters defined in version 22H2 with new high availability and disaster recovery options. For Short Distance Rack Aware Cluster is a new cluster option which spans two separate racks or rooms within the same Layer-2 network at a single location, such as a manufacturing plant or a campus. Each rack functions as a local availability zone across layers from OS to Arc management including Arc VMs and AKS enabled by Azure Arc, providing fault isolation and workload placement within the cluster. The solution is configured with one storage pool to reduce additional storage replication and enhance storage efficiency. This solution delivers the same Azure deployment and management experience as a standard cluster. This setup is suitable for edge locations and can scale up to 8 nodes, with 4 nodes in each rack. Rack Aware Cluster is currently in private preview and is slated to public preview and general release in 2025. For Long Distance Azure Site Recovery can be used to replicate on-premises Azure Local virtual machines into Azure and protect business-critical workloads. This allows Azure cloud to serve as a disaster recovery site, enabling critical VMs to be failed over to Azure in case of a local cluster disaster, and then failed back to the on-premises cluster when it becomes operational again. If you cannot fail over certain workloads to cloud and require long distance of disaster recovery, like in two different cities, you can leverage Hyper-V Replica to replicate Arc VMs to the secondary site. Those VMs will become Hyper-V VMs on the secondary site, they will become Arc VMs once they fail back to the original cluster on the first site. Additional Options beyond Azure Local If the above solutions in Azure Local do not cover your needs, you can fully customize your solution with Windows Server 2025 which introduces several advanced hybrid cloud capabilities designed to enhance operational flexibility and connectivity across various environments. Additionally, it offers various replication technologies like Hyper-V Replica, Storage Replica and external SAN replication that enable the development of tailored datacenter disaster recovery solutions. Learn more from the Windows Server 2025 now generally available, with advanced security, improved performance, and cloud agility - Microsoft Windows Server Blog What to do with existing Stretched clusters on version 22H2 Stretched clusters and Storage Replica are not supported in Azure Local, version 23H2 and beyond. However, version 22H2 stretched clusters can stay in supported state in version 23H2 by performing the first step of operating system upgrade as shown in the following diagram to 23H2 OS. The second step of the solution upgrade to Azure Local is not applicable to stretched clusters. This provides extra time to assess the most suitable future solution for your needs. Please refer to the About Azure Local upgrade to version 23H2 - Azure Local | Microsoft Learn for more information on the 23H2 upgrade. Refer the blog on Upgrade from Azure Stack HCI, version 22H2 to Azure Local | Microsoft Community Hub. Conclusion We are excited to be bringing Rack Aware Clusters and Azure Site Recovery to Azure Local. These high availability and disaster recovery options allow customers to address various scenarios with a modern cloud experience and simplified management.New Feature: Built in Picture in Picture mode (PIP) is added to Microsoft Edge Global Media Controls
Microsoft Edge Canary Version 82.0.442.0 (Official build) canary (64-bit) The flags you need to enable: edge://flags/ 1. Global Media Controls Picture-in-Picture Enables Picture-in-Picture controls in the Global Media Controls UI. Requires #global-media-controls to also be enabled. – Mac, Windows #global-media-controls-picture-in-picture 2. Global Media Controls Enables the Global Media Controls UI in the toolbar. – Mac, Windows #global-media-controls Microsoft Edge browser now has support for Picture in Picture mode built in. it works in all websites playing video. this is another example for Twitch the PIP pop up video can be dragged to anywhere on the screen and it will stay on top of other applicationsAnnouncing General Availability: Windows Server Management enabled by Azure Arc
Windows Server Management enabled by Azure Arc offers customers with Windows Server licenses that have active Software Assurances or Windows Server licenses that are active subscription licenses the following key benefits: Azure Update Manager Azure Change Tracking and Inventory Azure Machine Configuration Windows Admin Center in Azure for Arc Remote Support Network HUD Best Practices Assessment Azure Site Recovery (Configuration Only) Upon attestation, customers receive access to the following at no additional cost beyond associated networking, compute, storage, and log ingestion charges. These same capabilities are also available for customers enrolled in Windows Server 2025 Pay as you Go licensing enabled by Azure Arc. Learn more at Windows Server Management enabled by Azure Arc - Azure Arc | Microsoft Learn or watch Video: Free Azure Services for Non-Azure Windows Servers Covered by SA Powered by Azure Arc! To get started, connect your servers to Azure Arc, attest for these benefits, and deploy management services as you modernize to Azure's AI-enabled set of server management capabilities across your hybrid, multi-cloud, and edge infrastructure![Feature Suggestion] Show update history in Edge
Please show the update history in edge://settings/help lots of spaces left there, it helps to keep track of installed updates on the local machine. only show update history after Edge is installed on the system, not from the beginning of the time. Firefox has this and it's very helpful, specially for insider channel. I only want to see the time and the version number of previously installed updates on my system. you can add a scroll bar to the right side to scroll down/up when the history rows are too many to fit that area. Like this:Azure Best Practices delivered to machines anywhere with new Azure Arc and Automanage integration.
Tired of manually onboarding and configuring Azure services for your Arc-enabled servers? With Azure Automanage Machine Best Practices, you can point, click, set, and forget to extend Azure security, monitoring, and governance services to servers anywhere.Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes is now Generally Available!
We are excited to bring Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes to general availability at our Spring Ignite event. Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes enables you to attach any CNCF-conformant Kubernetes cluster to Azure for management. Your clusters can run anywhere, and if they have connectivity to Azure, onboarding is as easy as deploying the Azure Arc cluster agents using the Azure CLI extension.NEW feature: Edge now Officially supports Chrome Themes in the latest Update
Microsoft Edge Version 82.0.444.0 (Official build) canary (64-bit) You need to Enable this flag: edge://flags/ Allow installation of external store themes Turn this on to allow themes from external web stores to be installed in Microsoft Edge. – Mac, Windows #edge-allow-store-extension-themes
