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. Refreshed view of all your teams and channels page
How this will affect your organization
Before this rollout, Team owners and members can hover on the team name on the left side of Teams, select the three dots, and go to Manage team to individually manage the team and its channels. Team owners and members can see all the teams they belong to from the Your teams page. Selecting a team on the Manage teams page takes Team owners and members to the team’s General channel.
After this rollout:
- Team owners and members will be able to view their teams from the Your teams page, and access channels in each team. To navigate to the Your teams page, select Your teams and channels from the three dots in the top right corner of the left panel.
When will this happen:
mid-October 2024 and expect to complete by late October 2024.
2. Add location to your presence signal
How this will affect your organization
In Microsoft Teams, you can add a location to your presence signal to indicate when you’re in the office or a particular office building using Microsoft Places building lookup.
When will this happen:
early November 2024 and expect to complete by mid-November 2024.
3. Volume ratio setting for meeting participants using language interpretation
How this will affect your organization
In Microsoft Teams, meeting participants who use language interpretation will be able to control the volume ratio between the original meeting audio and the interpretation audio after they select the language to listen to in the meeting.
If a meeting organizer has enabled language interpretation when setting up the meeting, participants will be asked which language they want to listen when they first join the meeting, or they can go to the More menu > Language and speech > Language interpretation to choose a language:
When will this happen:
mid-November 2024 (previously mid-October) and expect to complete by late November 2024 (previously late October).
4.Voice isolation will be available for macOS desktops
How this will affect your organization
Before this rollout, Teams users on macOS desktops are not able to access the Teams voice isolation feature.
After this rollout, to use this feature, admins must enable the enrollUserOverride policy and the Voice isolation feature policy in the Teams admin center. Users will need to enroll their voice profile in Teams Settings on the Recognition tab to enable the voice isolation feature to have better audio input quality.
When will this happen:
mid-October 2024 and expect to complete by late October 2024.
5. Image viewing improvements in chat
How this will affect your organization
When there are multiple images within a chat, users will now be able to view and cycle through the images. The images are deep linked to take the user to the specific time in the chat the image was provided.
When will this happen:
mid-September 2024 and expect to complete by mid-October 2024.
6. Block a user for your organization
How this will affect your organization
Admins can now set up a list of users that are blocked from collaborating with their organization. If a user is added to the block list, your organization will not be able to have 1:1 and group chats with these users. If chats already exist before a user is added to the block list, the blocked user will be removed from the chat.
This feature is turned off by default.
When will this happen:
early November 2024 (previously late October) and expect to complete by mid-November 2024 (previously early November).
7. Increase in meeting passcodes length for added security
How this will affect your organization
Given the recent global security threats on online meetings, Microsoft Teams is taking steps to make your meetings more secure. We are increasing the minimum length of the meeting passcodes from 6 characters to 8 characters. The nature of the passcodes will remain the same, consisting of letters and numbers. This update will not impact any usage of Teams meetings within your organization, as typically users will click on meeting links or on the meetings on their calendars. Only the users – within or outside of your organization – who join the meetings with a Meeting ID and passcode will be impacted by this change. They will have to enter a longer passcode after this update rolls out.
When will this happen:
early November 2024 and expect to complete by mid-November 2024.
Microsoft Outlook
1. Drag emails into the Calendar icon in the app bar to create an event
How this will affect your organization
This update allows users to drag and drop emails into the Calendar icon on the left app bar of Microsoft Outlook to create an event.
When will this happen?
late October 2024 and expect to complete by late November 2024.
2.”Online Archive” feature for iOS and Android
How this will affect your organization
Coming soon for Microsoft Outlook for iOS and Android: Online archive mailboxes is a feature that offers users advanced archiving capabilities in the Mailbox archive. An Outlook online archive mailbox can store older email messages where they won’t occupy space in the user’s primary mailbox. This specialized mailbox appears with your other mailbox folders in Outlook. After this rollout, if you have enabled Mailbox archive for your users, the Online Archive mailbox will appear in the folder list, which users can access by tapping their profile in the top left of their screen.
When will this happen?
late September 2024 and expect to complete by late October 2024.
Microsoft OneDrive
1. New prompt to confirm deletion of shared items and updated prompt for local mass item deletions
How this will affect your organization
Before this rollout, users are able to delete shared items in File Explorer without being asked to confirm the deletion. Users are prompted to confirm deletion before they mass delete local items, which might have included shared items.
After this rollout, when users are running OneDrive and OneDrive is not paused, and users are about to delete shared items or mass delete local items (more than 200 items by default) in File Explorer, users will be asked to confirm the deletion of shared items in a new prompt or the deletion of mass items in an updated prompt in File Explorer:
When will this happen?
mid-September 2024 and expect to complete by early October 2024.
Microsoft Entra ID
1. Enable multifactor authentication for your tenant before October 15, 2024
How this will affect your organization
Starting on or after October 15, 2024, to further increase security, Microsoft will require admins to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) when signing into the Microsoft Azure portal, Microsoft Entra admin center, and Microsoft Intune admin center.
Full Announcement: MFA enforcement for Microsoft Entra admin center sign-in coming soon – Microsoft Community Hub
Microsoft Intune
1. New alerts for Windows updates in Microsoft Intune
How this will affect your organization
You can now better find and troubleshoot devices that aren’t reporting Windows update progress in Microsoft Intune reports. It might not have been evident before, but devices that aren’t sending diagnostic data to Microsoft can’t show detailed device status in the deployment process.
Two new alerts will give you better insights into these issues: DeviceDiagnosticDataNotReceived and MinimumOSBuildNotMet. You can find them integrated into Intune reporting just as they are in Windows Update for Business reports and Log Analytics. Let’s learn what these alerts mean, where to find them, and how to troubleshoot and remediate the underlying issues.
Full Article: New alerts for Windows updates in Microsoft Intune – Windows IT Pro Blog
When will this happen?
GA
2. Device hardware inventory is coming soon to Microsoft Intune
How this will affect your organization
The enhanced device inventory capabilities for Windows devices will provide key information to help IT pros answer these questions more efficiently.
As we expand the service, robust inventory capabilities will help answer questions vital to understanding your environment, targeting devices, making business decisions, and maintaining data security. Here are a few examples:
- Do your devices have TPM 2.0?
- Are your devices ready to update from Windows 10 to Windows 11?
- Are device batteries nearing end-of-life and can you schedule service to maintain productivity?
Full Article: Device hardware inventory is coming soon to Microsoft Intune – Microsoft Intune Blog
When will this happen?
TBD
3. Intune expands OEM integration in partner portal
How this will affect your organization
Starting in October, a link from the Intune admin center to the Dell Management Portal will provide streamlined access to Dell-specific Windows device management features. The Dell Management Portal will provide:
- Secure device management. Recover unique, per-device credentials including current and previous BIOS passwords as well as BitLocker recovery keys.
- Fleet management. Access device hardware, OS, and storage information in addition to per-device assigned-user information including name and contact.
- Application management. Securely access the latest version of select Dell enterprise applications to upload to Intune for deployment and get update status of those apps. Available at launch:
- Dell Command | Monitor
- Dell Command | End Point Configure for Microsoft Intune
- Dell Command | Update
- Dell Support Assist for Business PCs
- Dell Trusted Device
- Device reporting. Review updates, which are provided every 30 minutes.
Full Article: Intune expands OEM integration in partner portal – Microsoft Intune Blog
When will this happen?
October 2024
4. Windows enrollment will include quality updates during OOBE
How this will affect your organization
With this new experience, all devices running Windows 11, version 22H2 or later that are enrolled with a mobile device management (MDM) solution, such as Microsoft Intune, will automatically download and install quality updates during the OOBE.
When will this happen?
TBD
Microsoft 365 Apps
1. The new Microsoft Planner for the web
How this will affect your organization
With this rollout, we will update the existing web version of Planner to the new Planner. The new Planner for the web will match Planner in Teams to enable your users to seamlessly switch between Teams and web.
The new Microsoft Planner for the web (https://planner.cloud.microsoft) brings together the simplicity of Microsoft To Do, the collaboration of Planner, the power of Microsoft Project, and the intelligence of Copilot for Microsoft 365 into a simple, scalable solution that spans individual task management to professional project management.
When will this happen?
mid-October 2024 and expect to complete by late November 2024.
Microsoft Copilot
1. Copilot Pages
How this will affect your organization
Pages takes ephemeral AI-generated content and makes it durable, so you can edit it, add to it, and share it with others. You and your team can work collaboratively in a page with Copilot, seeing everyone’s work in real time and iterating with Copilot like a partner, adding more content from your data, files, and the web to your Page.
When will this happen?
Later September 2024
2. Copilot agents in SharePoint
How this will affect your organization
Creating a Copilot agent in SharePoint is a simple starting point for users looking to use AI tools tailored for their particular needs. Make Copilot your own. Use it to collaborate with others using the same relevant knowledge base and make critical decisions efficiently, or to spend less time consuming information so you can focus on more meaningful work. And you can create these agents right from where you’re already working in SharePoint.
When will this happen?
Early October
3. Copilot in Excel With Python
How this will affect your organization
Now using Copilot in Excel with Python, you can conduct advanced analysis that was previously out of reach. You can use natural language to describe the analysis you want to perform, and Copilot will automatically generate, explain, and insert Python code into your Excel spreadsheet. Copilot in Excel with Python also renders stunning visuals that were previously not possible or were difficult to create. Unique visuals like heatmaps, pairplots, multiplots, and violin plots help you understand and communicate your analysis. Read more here >
More information:
- What’s New in Excel (September 2024) – Microsoft Community Hub
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2: Pages, Python in Excel, and agents | Microsoft 365 Blog
When will this happen?
Public Preview
4. Copilot in Outlook: Prioritize My Inbox
How this will affect your organization
We all struggle with email overload. Now, with Prioritize my inbox, Copilot in Outlook helps you quickly get to the messages that matter, analyzing your inbox based on both the content of your email and the context of your role—like who you report to and the email threads where you’ve been responsive.
When will this happen?
Late 2024
5. Copilot in PowerPoint: Narrative Builder
How this will affect your organization
No one goes from an idea to a polished presentation in a single prompt. Now generally available, Narrative builder in Microsoft PowerPoint helps you work with Copilot like a partner, iterating together to build a great first draft in minutes while keeping you in control of the creative process. Copilot uses your prompt to build an outline with topics that you can edit and refine to create a first draft of your presentation. Soon, you’ll be able to add files to the outline to ground your topics. And with Brand manager, Copilot can leverage your company’s branded template, so your presentations are enterprise-ready and on-brand
When will this happen?
GA
6. 15% off Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) promotion available worldwide.
How this will affect your organization
On September 1, 2024, Microsoft launched the Getting Started with Copilot for Microsoft 365 promotion, which provides CSP partners 15% off the net partner price for all new customer subscriptions between 10 and 300 Copilot licenses.
- Promotional period: September 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024
September 2024 announcements – Partner Center announcements | Microsoft Learn
7. Introducing web search query transparency for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot
How this will affect your organization
Web search query citations for users (generally available in October) will include the exact web search queries derived from the user’s prompt in the linked citation section of the Copilot response, helping users understand what search queries, along with the sites searched (available today), were used to enhance the response.
Web search query logging (generally available in Q4) will enable admins to perform search, audit, and eDiscovery on the exact web search queries Copilot derived from the user’s prompt. Admins can already perform these actions for prompts and responses and will be able to use their familiar tools to extend those actions to search queries.*
More information:
When will this happen?
October 2024
8. Changes coming to the Copilot experience for Windows
How this will affect your organization
Moving forward, users with work or school accounts will access Microsoft Copilot through the Microsoft 365 app. If your organization hasn’t enabled Copilot in Windows (in preview), your existing preferences will be respected. Neither the Microsoft Copilot app nor the Microsoft 365 app are pinned to the taskbar.
If you had previously activated Copilot in Windows (in preview) for your workforce, to provide the best Copilot experience for your employees moving forward, we won’t automatically pin the Microsoft 365 app to the taskbar in Windows. Rather, we’ll ensure that you have control over how you enable the Copilot experience within your organization.
When will this happen?
Changes will be rolled out to managed PCs starting with the optional nonsecurity preview release on September 24, 2024, and following with the monthly security update release on October 8 for all supported versions of Windows 11.
Microsoft SharePoint
1. Governing data for GenAI with SharePoint Advanced Management
How this will affect your organization
SharePoint Advanced Management (Add-On License) is a suite of features designed to help simplify data governance and hygiene in Microsoft 365, enhancing both your security posture and your Copilot experience.
Today we’re pleased to announce several new features to help customers keep sensitive data secure and prep for generative AI by identifying overshared content, enabling AI focused access controls, and enabling easier removal of irrelevant content.
- permission state report
- AI driven semantic matching of sites
- Site ownership policy
- Restricted Content Discovery
- Restricted Site Creation
- Inactive SharePoint sites policy
- Data Access Governance report on content shared with ‘Everyone except external users’ in last 28 days
When will this happen?
Sku GA at $3/u/m. Feature availability varies. Check out the post for more: Governing data for GenAI with SharePoint Advanced Management – Microsoft Community Hub