Below are all of the latest feature updates coming to Microsoft 365
Automated Security Assessments mapped to the CIS Controls
I am excited to announce the soft-launch of an automated tool, CloudCapsule, I’ve been working on over the past year that automates your M365 security assessments against the CIS Controls. I started CloudCapsule because I saw the need to streamline the assessments of Microsoft 365 tenants to a trusted standard like the CIS Controls. My goal is to help rise the tide of security in the space and enable MSPs with a tool that allows them to achieve better security while also helping them understand the why behind the policy configurations being put into place.
The tool not only performs automated evidence collection for the CIS Controls but it also detects tenant misconfiguration against security best practices. You can run a free assessment against a tenant so check it out! (Please note it does not work against M365 dev tenants)
Microsoft Teams
1. New microphone volume indicator for users
How this will affect your organization
A new Mic volume indicator on the user bar in Teams meetings. This feature will provide users with real-time visual feedback on their audio levels in the meeting, eliminating the need to ask, “Can you hear me?”
When will this happen:
mid-April 2025 (previously late March) and expect to complete by late April 2025.
2. Access chats while sharing a screen
How this will affect your organization
After this rollout, a compact view of the meeting chat (visible to presenter only) will open when the presenter selects the Chat icon on the presenter toolbar:
When will this happen:
mid-May 2025 (previously mid-April) and expect to complete by early June 2025 (previously late May).
3. Share files faster in Chat and channels
How this will affect your organization
Users will be able to share a file from a Chat conversation, a Chat Shared tab, or a channel post to 1:1 chats, group chats, or channels with fewer clicks.
When will this happen:
mid-April 2025 (previously early Aprill) and expect to complete by early May 2025 (previously late April).
4. Meeting participants can request collaborative annotation sessions
How this will affect your organization
After the rollout, meeting participants who are not sharing their screens will have the ability to request an annotation session. This request will be sent to the presenter sharing their screen who can choose to accept or deny it:
When will this happen:
mid-April 2025 and expect to complete by early May 2025.
5. Microsoft Skype interoperability with Microsoft Teams will retire
How this will affect your organization
We will retire Microsoft Skype interoperability from Microsoft Teams on May 1, 2025. Teams users will no longer be able to communicate with Skype accounts after this change is implemented.
6. Scheduled message delivery in channels
How this will affect your organization
Similar to delaying the delivery of chat messages in Teams and emails in Outlook, you can now manually select the future date and time for a channel message to be published. To schedule a channel post or a message reply, click on the plus icon and select schedule message from the menu. This will open the date picker, where you can choose the desired publishing time.
When will this happen:
GA
7. Teams admin center highlights additional security and compliance information available for apps
How this will affect your organization
n the security and compliance tab, users can find information on an app’s security and compliance posture to help them make more informed decisions about which apps they choose to trust. Information may include things such as assessments for data security, vulnerability scanning, Service Organization Controls (SOC), Payment Card Industry (PCI), and more.
When will this happen:
late February 2025 and expect to complete by early April 2025 (previously mid-March).
8. Client health dashboards in Teams admin center
How this will affect your organization
IT Administrators can now monitor the health of Microsoft Teams desktop clients for Windows and Mac through the new ‘Teams client health’ page in the Teams admin center.
- This page provides actionable insights into client health metrics, such as crashes, launch failures, and update failures. It also enables better monitoring of Teams client version adoption and updates.
- Administrators have detailed data on top issues, insights, and tools to quickly address client health problems.
- Administrators can monitor version adoption, version health, and get granular details about devices and users with the latest client versions.
- Administrators can see the recency of client versions and proactively address issues that prevent automatic updates to the most secure Teams client version.
When will this happen:
Late March 2025 and expect to complete by late April 2025.
9. Queues app to add Monitor, Whisper, Barge, and Takeover
How this will affect your organization
For Microsoft Teams, in the Queues app, authorized users will be able to enter into a monitoring session for private coaching. They can listen to customer calls, whisper to the agents for private messages, and barge into or takeover the call.
When will this happen:
Late April 2025 and expect to complete by early May 2025.
Microsoft Outlook
1. Outlook Newsletters
How this will affect your organization
After this rollout, users in your organization using the new Outlook for Windows and Outlook for the Web can create professional and engaging email newsletters with a variety of rich elements and leverage built-in tools to manage reader engagement. Readers can discover and subscribe to newsletters that interest them using the new Explore page in the Outlook Newsletters module, accessible in the left-side navigation menu.
When will this happen:
early August 2025 and expect to complete by early September 2025.
2. Delivery and read receipts for iOS and Android
How this will affect your organization
Users will be able to request delivery receipts and read receipts while composing an email. Users will also easily be able to respond to requests for read receipts on emails they receive and set preferences for future read receipts.
When will this happen:
mid-March 2025 and expect to complete by mid-April 2025.
Microsoft OneDrive
1. Protect PDF with Password on OneDrive for web
How this will affect your organization
- Before this rollout: Users cannot setup passwords to protect their PDF files.
- After this rollout: Users can set a User Password to protect the PDF from being opened by non-authorized users or set Owner Password to grant certain operations like printing, copying, or modifying the content.
Users will be able to use the password protection function by following these steps in OneDrive for web:
- Open the PDF file, click the Set password button on the upper left toolbar.
- User Password can be set under Security. With this password, the user can open the PDF.
- Owner Password can be set under Protection. By selecting different permission levels, together with the permission password, the user having this password will be able to perform relevant actions such as print, copy, or modify contents.
When will this happen:
mid-March 2025 and expect to complete by late March 2025.
Microsoft Entra ID
1. QR Code Authentication
How this will affect your organization
Announcing the public preview of QR code authentication in Microsoft Entra ID. This new feature is designed to make signing in faster and easier for frontline workers.
Frontline workers have consistently expressed the need for simpler ways to sign in. One of the major pain points they face is the cumbersome process of signing in to apps on shared devices. Our solution addresses two key needs:
- Quick access to essential applications on shared work devices
- Simple and secure authentication without the need for usernames and passwords
QR code authentication in Microsoft Entra ID enables faster, easier, and secure sign-in to apps on shared devices by eliminating the need to remember and type in usernames and passwords.
Full Announcement: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft-entra-blog/simplify-frontline-workers%E2%80%99-sign-in-experience-with-qr-code-authentication/3822034
2. New Microsoft-managed policies
How this will affect your organization
Rollout of two new Microsoft-managed Conditional Access polices designed to limit device code flow and legacy authentication flows.
Starting in February 2025, we’ll begin rolling out these new policies. The policies will initially be created in report-only mode, allowing you to review their impact before they’re enforced. Once created, you ‘ll have at least 45 days to evaluate and configure the policies before they’re automatically moved to the “On” state.
Full Announcement: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft-entra-blog/new-microsoft-managed-policies-to-raise-your-identity-security-posture/4286758
Microsoft Intune
1. Hotpatch eligibility and prerequisites
How this will affect your organization
The Hotpatch feature is currently in public preview. We welcome users to test and use Hotpatch in production environments, as well as provide us their feedback. Enrollment to Hotpatch updates begins at the Intune admin center.
All devices must meet the following prerequisites:
- Operating system: Devices must be running Windows 11 24H2, specifically the January 2025 Windows monthly security update – KB5050009 (OS Build 26100.2894) (baseline).
- Virtualization-Based Security (VBS): This must be enabled to ensure secure installation of Hotpatch updates. For details, see Memory integrity and VBS enablement.
Arm64 devices only: Disable compiled hybrid PE usage (CHPE), by making the following changes.
- Edit the Windows registry: Path HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
- DWORD key value: HotPatchRestrictions = 1
- You must restart the computer after you set this registry key. Once set, you do not need to set it again because it will persist. See the documentation in the Additional Information section for additional details.
Microsoft Copilot
1. Upcoming Changes for M365 Copilot Chat with Link Safety
How this will affect your organization
M365 Copilot Chat that will enhance security and user experience, following:
- Integration with SafeLinks:
- M365 Copilot Chat will integrate with SafeLinks in Defender for Office 365 to provide time-of-click URL protection for the hyperlinks included in its chat responses.
- This change applies to users with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 or Plan 2 service plans. No policy configuration is needed within the SafeLinks policy.
- Within Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Security Center, URL protection report will show the relevant summary and trend views for threats detected and actions taken on URL clicks.
- Native Time-of-Click URL Reputation Check:
- For users without SafeLinks protection (which is available as part of Microsoft Defender for Office 365), M365 Copilot Chat will natively enable time-of-click URL reputation check for the hyperlinks returned in its chat responses.
- Hyperlink Redaction Changes:
- M365 Copilot Chat will no longer redact hyperlinks in its chat responses if they are found in the grounding data used to generate the responses.
When will this happen?
late March 2025 and expect to complete by late May 2025.
2. Microsoft Teams: Facilitator agent takes notes in meetings and chat
How this will affect your organization
The Facilitator agent can take notes during your Teams meetings and chats. The Facilitator synthesizes key information from the conversations, so users can catch up quickly. In meetings, the Facilitator allows everyone to co-author real-time notes and collaborate seamlessly.
After this rollout, the Facilitator app will be on by default unless all apps are blocked by your organization. As an admin, you control whether Facilitator will be available to your entire organization or to a certain group of users. Learn more: Set up Facilitator in Microsoft Teams for collaborative AI notes – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
When will this happen?
early April 2025 and expect to complete by late April 2025.
3. Change to Copilot Settings in Outlook
How this will affect your organization
Starting in March 2025, Outlook will introduce a new setting that allows users to hide Copilot entry points (e.g., “Summarize this email”) from the app.
4. Microsoft 365 Copilot Actions in Targeted Release
How this will affect your organization
Copilot Actions provides a user-friendly way to automate and delegate common IW tasks within Microsoft 365 to Copilot. Actions combine Copilot prompts and conversations, triggers (events like file modifications or schedules like daily reminders), and user defined rules to generate artifacts.
When will this happen?
early March 2025.
5. Microsoft Outlook: Prioritize my Inbox by Microsoft 365 Copilot
How this will affect your organization
When this change happens, users in your tenant with Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses will be able to opt-in to Prioritize my inbox and enable it on their mailbox.
Prioritize will appear in the Copilot dropdown in the top corner of Outlook email. If selected by users, a set-up wizard will appear walking them through enabling this feature.
Prioritize only works on your main inbox not in folders.
Prioritize my inbox does not work on other mailboxes (shared or group).
The feature will be opt-in, users will have to specifically request the feature and go through a wizard to opt-in. For now, you can’t choose which of your users get Prioritize, it will be available on a first-come/first-serve basis while we continue to roll out broadly.
When will this happen?
April 2025 to new Outlook for Windows and web in English.
6. Microsoft Copilot Studio – Add SharePoint as a knowledge source
How this will affect your organization
We are announcing the SharePoint as a knowledge source for generative answers feature. When a user asks a question and the agent doesn’t have a topic to use for an answer, this feature allows the agent to search the SharePoint URL and all subpaths, and generative answers will summarize this content into a targeted response
When will this happen?
GA Feb 28th
Microsoft Admin
1.Deprecation of WSUS driver synchronization
How this will affect your organization
If you’re using driver synchronization updates via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), prepare for change. This service is scheduled for deprecation on April 18, 2025. If you use WSUS to synchronize driver updates, consider transitioning to cloud-based driver services. Starting on April 18, 2025, you’ll be able to use other means, such as Device Driver Packages, to import updates from the Microsoft Update catalog.
Additional information:
- Read the original deprecation announcement at Deprecation of WSUS driver synchronization.
- Learn about Device Driver Packages as an available solution for on-premises contexts.
- Learn about Windows driver update management in Microsoft Intune.
2. Microsoft Purview | Data Lifecycle Management: Retention based on “last accessed” for OneDrive and SharePoint files
How this will affect your organization
Admins will be able to apply a retention policy or retention label in Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft SharePoint for files that have not been accessed by anyone in your organization for a specified period of time.
When will this happen:
mid-March 2025 and expect to complete by late March 2025.
3. Coming soon: Quality updates during the out-of-box experience
How this will affect your organization
Soon, you’ll get an improved out-of-box experience (OOBE) of new Windows 11 devices. By mid-2025, a new policy will allow you to choose whether new Windows 11 devices on version 22H2 and higher get the latest applicable quality update during the OOBE. You’ll be able to configure the setting via Windows Autopilot and Windows Autopilot device preparation as a mobile device management (MDM) policy and a Group Policy.
4. New Microsoft Outlook for Windows usage report for Microsoft 365 apps
How this will affect your organization
A new Outlook for Windows migration progress report to track the adoption and usage of the new Microsoft Outlook for Windows in your organization. The report provides detailed metrics on the number of active users who have transitioned from classic Outlook for Windows to new Outlook for Windows, to support the rollout of the new Outlook and phase out the classic version.
When will this happen?
early March 2025 and expect to complete by late March 2025.
