Latest News from Microsoft
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Partner Blog | Cloud & AI Platforms series part 1: Capturing the market opportunity
Across industries, organizations are racing to modernize, unify data, and embrace AI.At the center of this transformation are Microsoft partners, guiding customers through disruption and redefining what’s possible.With more than 150 million developers building on GitHub, 13 million apps running on Azure, and over 70,000 organizations innovating with Azure AI Foundry, the ecosystem is creating new ways to reimagine business processes and deliver AI-powered outcomes.
What’s New in Azure AI Foundry Fine-tuning: August 2025
The Azure AI Foundry team continues to push the boundaries of model customization with powerful updates to its fine-tuning capabilities.August brings several new features—Pause & Resume, Cross-Region Model Copying, and Reinforcement Fine Tuning (RFT) with Swagger and API Support—designed to give developers and data scientists greater control, flexibility, and efficiency in managing their fine-tuning workflows.We are introducing the Copy Models feature, allowing users to transfer checkpointed models across regions and subscriptions within the same tenant—a significant advancement for teams operating in multi-region environments.
From the frontlines: Managing common kiosk scenarios in your business
I'm Saurabh Sarkar and I've had the opportunity to collaborate with several customers on effectively managing their Windows kiosk devices to enhance productivity with Microsoft Intune.In this post, we’ll explore how to effectively utilize Intune to enhance the productivity of frontline workers in two example sectors: the airline industry and the food and beverage sector (restaurants).Self-service kiosks in airports and restaurants
No More Guesswork—Copilot Makes Azure Security Crystal Clear
As organizations migrate workloads to Azure, the need for robust security frameworks and proactive compliance strategies grows. Security Copilot, integrated with Azure, is transforming how technical teams approach these challenges, empowering users to build secure, compliant environments with greater efficiency and confidence.Below, I’ll highlight a range of security topics with sample Copilot prompts that you can use to help create a more secure and compliant environment.While Security Copilot supports secure coding by identifying vulnerabilities like SQL injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and buffer overflows, it is not a direct replacement for traditional code scanning tools, instead, it complements these tools by leveraging telemetry from integrated Microsoft services and applying AI-driven insights to prioritize risks and guide remediation.
New in Azure Marketplace: August 12-19, 2025
For this volume, 184 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.It uses AI agents for coverage assessment, cost estimation, online search, and report generation.Their Microsoft Copilot service offers a proof of concept with real use cases, testing core capabilities and enabling hands-on experience.
Announcing: Setup CD in Azure Logic Apps Standard with Deployment Center
Deployment Center - a built-in feature in Azure Logic Apps Standard - in now available, with built-in support on your VS Code projects, making it easier to deploy Logic Apps from your source control repository.Deployment Center connects your Logic Apps to your favourite source control systems—like GitHub or Azure Repos—and handles code deployments automatically, giving you the following benefits:Once the Deployment Center scripts are generated and pushed to your source control, you can connect your repository to your existing Azure Logic Apps Standard application.
Unlock the Full Potential of LLMs with POML: The Markup Language for Prompts
Most of the times, it is observed that prompts/system message for large language models (LLMs) can become unstructured and difficult to manage, especially when it is lengthy containing few shot examples.For those who have experienced this challenge, Prompt Orchestration Markup Language (POML) offers a structured solution.Next step is to create the python file that will use POML file to interact with the Language model.
Build Your AI Email Agent with Microsoft Copilot Studio
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create an AI agent that can send emails on your behalf.Communication Services: Search for "Communication Services" in the marketplace and create a new resource.If you want branching, remember the HTTP Request action has no built-in success check, you can save the response (e.g., varSendResult), add a Condition that tests varSendResult.ok == true, and on success send a confirmation and End current topic to prevent loops.
The Responses API in Azure AI Foundry is now generally available
We’re excited to announce the general availability of the Responses API in Azure AI Foundry, making it easier than ever for developers to build intelligent, tool-using agents with stateful, multi-turn conversations—all in a single API call.Now, with GA, the API is production-ready and supports the full range of popular OpenAI models, including the GPT-5 series and fine-tuned models, along with a rich set of built-in tools to accelerate development.The Responses API is now available in all supported regions and ready for production use.
Hybrid Logic Apps deployment on Rancher K3s Kubernetes cluster
K3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution, certified by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and originally developed by Rancher.This makes K3s a perfect choice for running Azure Logic Apps Standard close to your data sources (e.g., on-prem SQL Server, local file shares) without the heavy infrastructure requirements of a full Kubernetes cluster.There are 5 steps which are followed to setup the Hybrid Logic Apps including infrastructure which is illustrated in the following diagram. Most of these 5 steps are same as discussed in the Hybrid Logic Apps doc except the K3s Setup part Set up your own infrastructure for Standard logic app workflows - Azure Logic Apps |
Prevent Accidental Deletion of an Instance in Azure Postgres
Setting Deletion Protection on a new flexible server instanceAzure Resource Manager locks provide a simple but powerful safeguard to prevent accidental deletion of Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server instances.Now that you’ve learned how to apply deletion protection for both new and existing flexible server instances, we recommend reviewing your organization’s governance practices and integrating ARM locks as part of your deployment standards.
Windows 365 is now supported in Korea Central
We are pleased to announce that we have enabled Windows 365 in Korea Central.Customers can now create Cloud PCs with data stored in the Korea Central region.Korea Central can now be selected within provisioning policies when you select the South Korea geography:
Navigating Azure Certifications with Copilot and Azure Course Blueprints
That’s where Azure Course Blueprints and Copilot come in.Developing a clear roadmap for your Azure certification journey can present several challenges:Combining Copilot with Azure Course Blueprints enables more efficient preparation than using individually.
Introducing Surveys Agent, your personal survey expert
I’m excited to introduce Surveys Agent, a brand-new pre-built agent developed by Microsoft, ready to help you with survey creation from start to finish.IMPORTANT: Surveys Agent is now available to commercial users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as part of the Frontier program which gives customers early access to new Copilot innovations while they’re still in development.Surveys Agent streamlines the entire process into a simple conversational experience, making survey creation as intuitive as having a chat.
What’s New with Viva Glint Benchmarks?
We’ve streamlined the benchmark generation process and released new global benchmarks for 2025.Because most Viva Glint customers use a common set of core survey questions, Viva Glint can calculate robust benchmarks on a large number of survey items using customer data exclusively.In compliance with Microsoft data security standards, the People Science team has implemented an automated process that enables us to generate and review benchmark suites without accessing or seeing customer data directly.
Course Title Updates: What You Need to Know
We’re refining how courses and learning paths are titled to improve clarity, discoverability, and learner experience.Clear, action-oriented titles: Start with a present-tense verb + subject.Enhanced metadata: Descriptions now include general skill terms to boost SEO and discoverability.
New in Microsoft AppSource: August 12-19, 2025
For this volume, 169 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.AdLead: AdLead from Advaiya Solutions is a lead management solution integrated with Microsoft Power Pages and Microsoft Dynamics 365.Global Pty Ltd's Audit Trail for Business Central enables organizations to track, log, and review changes made to critical data within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Replication lag metric for Azure SQL DB is now in public preview
Azure SQL Database offers business continuity capabilities to recover quickly from regional disasters. Features such as active geo-replication and failover groups provide continuous replication of the data in your primary database to a secondary database in a different Azure region. In the event of a regional disruption, these features allow you to perform quick disaster recovery to your secondary database to meet your business' recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO). RTO for Azure SQL Database is typically less than 60 seconds, but RPO depends on the amount of data changes before the disruptive event that have not been replicated. Consequently, monitoring the replication lag between the primary and secondary databases is critical in ensuring your RPO goals are met.Until now, the main way to measure the replication lag between the primary and secondary databases was with the replication_lag_sec column of the dynamic management view (DMV), sys.dm_geo_replication_link_status from your primary database. With the introduction of the Replication lag metric, you can now monitor lag with respect to RPO in near real time in the Azure portal in addition to using the DMV. Replication lag is a new Azure monitor metric that is emitted at a one-minute frequency and stored up to 93 days. You can monitor the metric by adding Replication lag (preview) from your primary database in the portal as shown below:
Inference performance of Llama 3.1 8B using vLLM across various GPUs and CPUs
Following our previous evaluation of Llama 3.1 8B inference performance on Azure’s ND-H100-v5 infrastructure using vLLM, this report broadens the scope to compare inference performance across a range of GPU and CPU platforms.Using the Hugging Face inference benchmarker, we assess not only throughput and latency but also the cost-efficiency of each configuration—an increasingly critical factor for enterprise deployment.As organizations seek scalable and budget-conscious solutions for deploying large language models (LLMs), understanding the trade-offs between compute-bound and memory-bound stages of inference becomes essential.
Partner Blog | How systems integrators are scaling innovation with Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents
Imagine a workplace where AI agents don’t just support your team, they transform how tasks get done, unlocking new levels of creativity, speed, and impact.According to Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index Annual Report, nearly half of leaders say their companies are already using agents to fully automate workflows or processes across departments and functions.And behind many of them are Microsoft 365 Copilot, agentic AI, and a deep partnership with Microsoft.
ICYMI: Partner Blog | How systems integrators are scaling innovation with Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents
Imagine a workplace where AI agents don’t just support your team, they transform how tasks get done, unlocking new levels of creativity, speed, and impact.According to Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index Annual Report, nearly half of leaders say their companies are already using agents to fully automate workflows or processes across departments and functions.And behind many of them are Microsoft 365 Copilot, agentic AI, and a deep partnership with Microsoft.
Recommended Read: Securing and governing autonomous agents
My colleague Igor Sakhnov, CVP of Engineering and Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Identity, shares his thoughts on the new risks and responsibilities we're all facing with agents. Starting with the provocative question By 2026, enterprises may have more autonomous agents than human users.Igor explains why agents are a new entity type, not just a minor extension of existing identity or application governance.
MVP Champ Spotlight- Pierre Thoor
Get familiar with the hunting tables in advanced hunting and the reporting capabilities in MDO.A: We highlight MDO’s business value using the Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Overview dashboard, which provides clear, visual metrics, like threats blocked before delivery, items purged post-delivery via ZAP, and any “uncaught” threats.Take the time to understand how the features and settings really work, and share that knowledge with others.
Staying Ahead of Compliance: Keep Up with Key Insights from our Quarterly Compliance Update
As artificial intelligence (AI) and generative tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot transform how enterprises operate, the stakes for data protection, regulatory alignment, and operational resilience continue to increase.The July 2025 Quarterly Compliance Update – released at the beginning of each quarter – is designed to help CISOs, IT administrators, and compliance leaders stay ahead of emerging risks and regulatory shifts, while maximizing the value of Microsoft’s cloud and AI services.It’s a practical guide for organizations navigating the complexities of compliance in regulated industries.
Partner Case Study | Siemens
The longstanding partnership between Microsoft and Siemens—a German tech conglomerate that focuses on industrial automation—helps solve a crucial challenge facing consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail companies: fragmented processes across production.Cloud-powered lifecycle management tailored for CPG and retailAt the core of Siemens' ILM is Siemens' Teamcenter X on Azure, a cloud-based product lifecycle management (PLM) platform.
Ingesting .CSV log files from Azure Blob Storage into Microsoft Sentinel
To enhance security monitoring, compliance, and threat detection, it is important to bring this log data into a centralized security tool like Microsoft Sentinel.The main goal is to automatically collect and analyze .CSV log files stored in Azure Blob Storage using Sentinel’s advanced analytics and automation capabilities.CSV log files from Azure Blob Storage into Microsoft Sentinel is a powerful way to centralize and automate the organization’s security monitoring.
Save new files automatically to the cloud in Word for Windows
I’m excited to share an update to Microsoft Word for Windows that automatically saves new documents to the cloud.Save new files automatically to the cloud in Word for WindowsCreate a new document in Word on your Windows device and notice that AutoSave is already toggled on.
Cutting the wire without cutting the audio quality
Windows 11 and most modern Bluetooth headsets now support improved audio compression and double the sample rate for HFP, which is called “wideband” voice.LE Audio uses improved audio compression and TMAP requires headphones and earbuds to support even higher “super wideband” audio fidelity at a 32kHz sample rate while using voice.Today, we’re excited to announce a new feature in Windows 11 that allows Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio devices to play in high quality stereo while using the microphone, for a drastically improved audio experience in games and calls!
Connecting an Agent in Copilot Studio to an MCP Server
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standardized framework designed to enable seamless communication between agents and external data or tool sources.This blog provides a step-by-step guide to creating and configuring a custom connector for an MCP server and integrating it with an agent in Copilot Studio.Extend your agent with Model Context Protocol - Microsoft Copilot Studio |
Performance of Llama 3.1 8B AI Inference using vLLM on ND-H100-v5
The pace of development in large language models (LLMs) has continued to accelerate as the global AI community races toward the goal of artificial general intelligence (AGI).In this paper, we explore the capabilities of the Llama 3.1 8B model as a representative example of a modern, enterprise-ready LLM.We benchmark its inference performance on Azure’s ND-H100 v5 infrastructure using the vLLM engine and present our findings along with recommendations for enterprise deployment.
Windows Backup for Organizations is now available
This new feature allows your organization to seamlessly back up Windows 10 or Windows 11 settings and effortlessly restore them on a Microsoft Entra joined device.With Windows 10 support ending on October 14, 2025, ease your transition to Windows 11.Note: While Windows Backup for Organizations can easily help you move to Windows 11 with your settings and Microsoft Store apps already in place, there are circumstances that could prevent you from replacing Windows 10 devices before the end of support.
Reimagining work: Microsoft’s vision for the future of Desktop as a Service
In this landscape, Desktop as a Service (DaaS) is emerging as a strategic enabler, not just a technical solution.Microsoft is at the forefront of reimagining DaaS, extending beyond virtual desktops to deliver a platform for business agility, resilience, and human-centric innovation.Our Leader position in the Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for Desktop as a Service for three consecutive years, we believe, reflects our commitment to driving this evolution.
Kick off NFL season right with Microsoft Copilot
If you’re hoping to make the most out of this NFL season, consider using Microsoft Copilot!Get help drafting a winning Fantasy Football teamPlan the perfect tailgate or party
Introducing the SharePoint Showcase blog series
In Microsoft’s FY25 Q4 earnings, Satya Nadella announced that this year, customers have built over 3 million agents from SharePoint and Copilot Studio - a milestone that reflects the incredible momentum and creativity across customers.Create an agent scoped to your content.Access SharePoint agents directly in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app
Updates to Data Security specialization (formerly Information Protection and Governance)
As of 8/26/2025, the Information Protection and Governance specialization is now updated to the Data Security specialization in response to partner feedback and evolving market conditions.In addition to a new name, the specialization also features updated skilling and performance requirements.The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program has the resources you need to meet these new benchmarks and stand out to customers.
Microsoft deployment blueprint - Address oversharing concerns for your M365 Copilot deployment
Optimized deployment leverages advanced compliance and automation capabilities available in Microsoft 365 E5.This episode outlines how E5 customers can proactively secure data and enhance Copilot performance.Export top 100 sites and run SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) permission state reports and Purview DSPM for AI assessments to gain visibility into all data at risk of Copilot access (pivot on labels and sensitive information types).
Automate Your Log Analytics Workflows with AI and Logic Apps
In this post, we’ll demonstrate how to build a simple yet powerful workflow using Azure Logic Apps, Log Analytics queries, and LLMs to automate log analysis, save time, and spot issues faster.While we focus here on an example using Application Insights data with Azure OpenAI, the same approach can be applied to any Log Analytics source - whether raw logs, security events, or custom logs.With Azure Logic Apps, you can create a recurring workflow that automatically runs your Log Analytics queries, sends the summarized results to Azure OpenAI for analysis, and delivers a clear, actionable report straight to your inbox on your preferred schedule.
August update: What's new in Azure for Partners
We just shared our FY26 partner strategy at MCAPS Start for Partners—and it’s all about what’s next with AI.GPT-5 is now in Azure AI Foundry, offering top-tier reasoning for building intelligent and safe AI apps and agents.Dive into our latest blog and research to learn how Azure-native integration, autoscaling, and unified governance make Azure Databricks the best home for your data and AI workloads, and then share the information with your customers as they consider their preferred data platform.
AgentCon Southeast Asia 2025 is just around the corner!
AgentCon Southeast Asia 2025 is just around the corner!Be part of this FREE, community-powered AI event where innovation meets collaboration: 📍Dive into hands-on workshops, experience live demos, and gain expert insights on Copilot, agentic AI, and real-world applications from global tech experts.
Revolutionizing Excel: How Copilot Simplifies Cell Formulas
In this HLS Microsoft 365 Copilot Learning Session Microsoft's Darryl Rowe and Michael Gannotti discuss how Microsoft 365 Copilot simplifies cell formulas and Darryl provides two different demonstrations of the new feature. Today, Microsoft is changing the game with Copilot in Excel, an AI-powered assistant designed to make formula creation easier, faster, and more intuitive.Copilot in Excel is an intelligent assistant that leverages artificial intelligence to help users perform a wide range of tasks, including writing, editing, and troubleshooting cell formulas.
How Copilot Can Save Us Energy
Devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home are not just glorified trivia machines, they’re energy-saving ninjas when used correctly.But here’s the plot twist: these devices can also be energy vampires.With Copilot in your corner, you can harness the power of AI to make your home smarter, greener, and a little less expensive.
The Future of AI: Developing Lacuna - an agent for Revealing Quiet Assumptions in Product Design
The future of AI blog series is an evolving collection of posts from the AI Futures team in collaboration with subject matter experts across Microsoft.In this series, we explore tools and technologies that will drive the next generation of AI.I saw an opportunity to create an agent using Copilot Studio, powered by Azure AI Foundry, to investigate the assumptions that were baked into my team's product thinking.
SQL Server 2025 Preview: Now Supporting Ubuntu 24.04 and TLS 1.3
We are excited to introduce two key enhancements in the SQL Server 2025 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) for Linux: Ubuntu 24.04 and the addition of Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 support.SQL Server 2025 Preview now supports Ubuntu 24.04.How to Deploy SQL Server 2025 RC0 on Ubuntu 24.04
Generate Now! Podcast - Agentic AI Partner and Industry Conversations
James Caton sits down with Microsoft industry experts and leading global system integrators (GSIs) to explore how Agentic AI is transforming industries— from banking and healthcare to manufacturing and public sector.Each episode will feature behind-the-scenes insights, measurable impact, and the strategic thinking that’s driving Agentic AI success at scale.Subscribe and listen on all major podcast platforms.
Governing Copilot agents: Your next step starts here
For those of you navigating this shift, Rob Howard, Microsoft’s VP of Copilot Extensibility, offers a practical governance framework in his article, What IT admins need to know about governing AI agents.The article introduces three key governance pillars:Ready to securely and strategically lead your organization into the future of AI?
What’s New in Microsoft Intune: August 2025
This month's new capabilities tackle these everyday challenges with four key improvements: smarter application control, devices that manage their own patching, multi-admin approval for critical workflows, and better visibility into Apple updates.App Control for Business is now generally available with new targeting capabilities that make Managed Installer enterprise ready.Windows 11 devices now grab quality updates automatically during their out-of-box experience on Microsoft Entra-joined devices.
Announcing Public Preview for Azure Service Groups!
Service Groups are a new resource container enabling management and observability scenarios where flexibility in hierarchy and membership is needed.No, Service Groups have been designed to work in parallel with existing Azure Groups.Service Groups are tenant level so they can have membership from across the tenant.
Partner Blog | Drive impact in the era of agentic AI with new benefits and resources in FY26
As we kick off a new fiscal year, we’re renewing our commitment to enabling partners to lead in the era of agentic AI.Unlock new AI-powered benefits in FY26 Beginning in February 2026, we will roll out new and enhanced benefits designed to reflect partner feedback and enable further growth—starting with Microsoft AI and Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Skilling snack: Get started with AI in Windows
Start at the top to understand the broader implications of AI on the Windows ecosystem or jump straight to your topic of interest to learn more.Help improve productivity for users in your organization by pinning Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat to the navigation bar and downloading the Copilot Success Kit.Learn about using and managing enhanced enterprise data protection (EDP), Microsoft Entra accounts, the Copilot app, the Copilot hardware key, and more.
Microsoft Entra Private Access for Domain Controllers is now in Public Preview
Microsoft Entra Private Access for Active Directory Domain Controllers is now in Public Preview.As part of Microsoft’s Security Service Edge (SSE), this feature lets organizations use Conditional Access and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for internal resources that authenticate through Kerberos, managed via Global Secure Access.Microsoft Entra Private Access for Active Directory Domain Controllers enhances Zero Trust access controls for on-premises resources through the deployment of the Private Access sensor, a lightweight agent installed on domain controllers.
MSSQL Extension for VS Code: Schema Compare, Schema Designer, Local SQL Server Container GA
In version v1.35.0, we’re announcing the General Availability (GA) of Schema Designer, Schema Compare, and Local SQL Server Containers — three powerful tools that bring structure, clarity, and flexibility to your local development workflow.What’s new in MSSQL extension for VS Code v1.35The v1.35 release marks a major milestone with the general availability of Schema Designer, Schema Compare, and the Local SQL Server Container.
Enforcing Angular Unit Test Coverage in Azure DevOps Pipelines: A Step-by-Step Guide
2️⃣ Run Angular Unit Tests with Coverage Why it matters: Makes test results visible in Azure DevOps UI.By enforcing Angular unit tests in your Azure DevOps pipeline with JUnit, Cobertura, and a 70% threshold, you build a quality gate that scales with your team.
Syksyn 2025 tekniset ja myynnin Kumppanitunnit
Microsoftin tekniset ja myynnille suunnatut Kumppanitunnit järjestetään Cloud Champion -sivustolla, josta ne ovat kätevästi saatavilla tallenteina materiaaleineen pari tuntia live-lähetyksen jälkeen.Kumppanitunti on joka toinen perjantai klo 10–11 järjestettävä Microsoftin kumppaniwebinaari, joka on tarkoitettu Microsoftin kumppaneille.Microsoftin suomalaiset arkkitehdit, tuotepäälliköt, ratkaisumyyjät ja kumppanivastaavat ovat poimineet kiinnostavia ja hyödyllisiä aiheita, joita he vuorollaan esittelevät.
Learn about Binary Stream's ISV Success for Business Applications solutions in Microsoft AppSource
Microsoft ISV Success for Business Applications offers platforms, resources, and support designed to help partners develop, publish, and market business apps. Learn about offers from Binary Stream Software below:Businesses can use Subscription Billing Suite, an extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, to drive growth and streamline their financial operations.Advanced Subscription Management also enables compliance with key accounting and financial standards, like ASC 606, IFRS 15, ASC 842, and IFRS 16.
Introducing the New SharePoint Page Template Gallery
We’re excited to announce that the new SharePoint Template Gallery is now generally available for commercial customers worldwide!A rich collection of modern, out-of-the-box (OOB) templates under ‘From Microsoft’, designed to help you create polished pages and news posts with ease.Browse and select a template in the new Templates Gallery
Unlocking Regional Insights with the Location Based Capabilities REST API
Managing MySQL Flexible Server deployments across Azure regions often means navigating differences in available features, SKUs, storage options, backup retention periods, or high availability configurations. That’s where the Location-Based Capability Set – List API comes in, providing a programmatic way to retrieve up-to-date, region-specific capabilities.These PowerShell and Bash scripts help you quickly check Azure Database for MySQL capabilities in a region to prevent deployment issues and ensure reliable provisioning workflows.
Seoul AI Hub & Microsoft MVPs Empower Citizens with AI Skills — No Coding Required
Seoul AI Hub, an AI-specialized support organization under the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is dedicated to fostering the city’s AI industry ecosystem through talent development, startup incubation, and public education.In partnership with Microsoft MVPs, the hub is making AI accessible to all through the AI Frontiers Series — blending expert talks with hands-on workshops.The collaboration between Seoul AI Hub and Microsoft MVPs demonstrates the transformative power of community-led expertise.
Model Mondays S2E10: Automating Document Processing with AI
We kicked off with the top news and updates in the Azure AI ecosystem:Agent Factory Blog Series:A new 6-part blog series on designing reliable, agentic AI—exploring multi-step, collaborative agents that reflect, plan, and adapt using tool integrations and design patterns.This week’s spotlight was a hands-on exploration of document processing, featuring both Microsoft and Mistral AI experts.
Migrating Oracle Partitioned Tables to Azure PostgreSQL Without Altering Partition Keys
When migrating partitioned tables from Oracle to Azure PostgreSQL Flexible Server, many customers prefer to preserve their existing Oracle table design exactly as defined in the original DDLs. Specifically, they want to avoid altering the partition key structure, especially by not adding the partition key to any primary or unique constraints, because doing so would change the table’s original design integrity.It supports declarative partitioning in PostgreSQL while eliminating the need to modify primary or unique constraints to include the partition key.However, Azure PostgreSQL Flexible Server requires that any primary or unique constraint on a partitioned table must also include the partition key.
Key Considerations to Avoid Implicit Conversion Issues in Oracle to Azure SQL Modernization
This blog dives into the mechanics of implicit data type conversions and their impact during the post-migration performance optimization phase of heterogeneous database migrations.Drawing from our observed Engineering field patterns across diverse application architectures, this blog explores why certain platforms like ORMs, JDBC drivers, and cross-platform data models are more prone to implicit conversions than others and how they result in performance issues, break indexes, or cause query regressions.Refactor your application code to leverage strongly typed variables and parameter declarations to ensure data type consistency at the source, minimizing implicit conversions during query execution.
OneNote for Windows 10 support is ending
Today, I’d like to share an important update: Beginning October 14, OneNote for Windows 10 will reach End of Support.We recommend OneNote customers begin using the OneNote on Windows app for a more streamlined experience.OneNote for Windows 10 support is ending
Limiting Onmicrosoft Domain Usage for Sending Emails
MOERA domains for emailIf your tenant's default domain is a MOERA domain, set the default domain to a custom domain.You can use the Message Trace feature in Exchange Admin Center to retrieve the outbound traffic being sent from your tenant. By placing a wild card address in the Senders field, you can get a report with all traffic using your onmicrosoft.com domain to send.
Discover the latest security innovations at Microsoft Ignite 2025
In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, security leaders and practitioners face new challenges—and opportunities—driven by the rise of AI. At Microsoft Ignite, we will showcase end-to-end security innovations and share world class threat and regulatory intelligence to give you the advantage you need to safely adopt AI and face the rapidly changing threat landscape.Visionary insights: Hear directly from Microsoft Security leaders and industry experts on the evolving threat landscape and the role of AI in defense.San Francisco, November 17–21, 2025 Or join us online November 18–21
Streamlining Document Creation with Microsoft 365 Copilot: A Step-by-Step Workflow
Whether producing content for external customers or for those inside of your organization the use of the Researcher Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat combined with Edit in Pages to Microsoft Word and Audio overviews can save you hours, if not days of work.Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat addresses these challenges, offering a seamless workflow that leverages AI-powered capabilities to streamline document creation from initial research to final delivery.By integrating the Researcher Agent, Pages collaboration, Word distribution, and audio podcast overview into a unified workflow, Microsoft 365 Copilot dramatically reduces the time and effort required to produce high-quality documents.
Most widely used SharePoint Framework ISVs from the Store - July 2025
We are excited to see the continuous growth on the submissions of the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) solutions to the app source and on the usage of the SharePoint store for extending experiences for SharePoint, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Viva.SharePoint Framework is extensibility model for Microsoft Viva, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Microsoft 365 app and SharePoint (soon also for Copilot).It enables the same code to be used easily across the Microsoft 365 with this widely adopted tooling which uses industry standard tech with easy and automatic SSO and hosting. Usage of SPFx continues to grow steady and we have currently tens of millions of monthly active users in Microsoft 365 on custom extensibility build with SPFx.
Hotpatch readiness: Enable VBS at scale
If you're looking to bring hotpatch to your environment, there’s one key requirement to start with: virtualization-based security (VBS) must be enabled on your devices.With the hotpatching feature of Windows Autopatch, you can apply security updates to Windows without requiring a restart.Alternatively, enable VBS using this command in an elevated command prompt:
Microsoft Copilot Studio: Créer et déployer un chatbot
Copilot Studio est un outil faisant parti de Microsoft 365 qui permet de créer facilement des Chatbots.Un Agent Copilot est capable de discuter avec les utilisateurs en langage naturel.Un responsable d’un projet d’étudiant qui veut créer un assistant virtuel pour répondre aux questions fréquentes sur le projet :
Viva Amplify Just Got a Whole Lot More Expressive
At Microsoft, we believe that great communication is more than just delivering a message, it’s about creating connection, clarity, and impact. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce a set of powerful new features in Viva Amplify that give communicators even more creative control and flexibility: multi-column layouts, animated GIF support, custom themes, and custom fonts.With support for animated GIFs, you can now add energy and emotion to your communications.Viva Amplify now supports custom fonts sourced from your organization’s Brand Center, allowing you to maintain consistency across SharePoint pages and Outlook email*.
Introducing Cloud-Managed Remote Mailboxes: a Step to Last Exchange Server Retirement
In hybrid environments, mailbox attributes of directory-synchronized user accounts cannot be managed from Exchange Online by design – attempts to edit mailbox attributes in the cloud would usually be blocked because the object source of authority (SOA) is on-premises.A new Exchange Online feature (in preview) helps eliminate the need for an Exchange server for remote mailbox management, by enabling cloud-side management of directory-synchronized user remote mailbox attributes.We are excited to introduce a new feature in Exchange Online that allows administrators to manage Exchange properties of directory-synchronized users with remote mailboxes directly from the cloud.
New in Azure Marketplace: August 1-11, 2025
For this volume, 241 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.Features include unified audit dashboard, AI-driven anomaly detection, real-time monitoring, generative AI-powered report generation, policy interpretation, smart assistant for auditors, secure role-based access, and seamless integration with Microsoft 365, Azure, SharePoint, and popular data platforms.MKB (NL): Available in Dutch, Cyber Basics NIS2 is a comprehensive information security management system (ISMS) solution for cybersecurity compliance, simplifying NIS2 requirements with pre-defined policies and procedures.
Beyond Prompts: How Agentic AI is Redefining Human-AI Collaboration
Here are the high-level steps to get started with Agentic AI using only official Microsoft resources, each with a direct link to the relevant documentation:Build an Agentic Web App with Semantic Kernel or Foundry - Follow a hands-on tutorial to integrate agentic capabilities into a .NET web app using Semantic Kernel or Azure AI Foundry.I'm Juliet Rajan, a Lead Technical Trainer and passionate innovator in AI education.
Shipped! Surveys Agent now live for customers in Microsoft 365 Copilot (Frontier program)
Today, we’re excited to introduce Surveys Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot, a brand-new pre-built agent developed by Microsoft, now available through the Frontier program.Surveys Agent in BizChatSurveys Agent is now available to commercial users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as part of the Frontier program that gives customers early access to new Copilot innovations while they’re still in development.
Breaking Limits: Full-Length SQL Audit Statements Now Supported for Azure SQL DB
We’re excited to announce a major enhancement to SQL auditing in Azure SQL Database, the removal of the 4,000-character truncation limit for audit records.With this update, statements are no longer truncated.Audit logs now capture the entire content of auditable actions, ensuring complete visibility and traceability for security and compliance teams.
Event Recap - TechCon Atlanta - August 2025
We’ve just concluded an unforgettable week at the Microsoft 365, Copilot / AI & Power Platform Conference in Atlanta, GA, hosted at the Georgia World Congress Center from August 11–15, 2025.It’s a workforce, leadership, and community topic.3️⃣ The 10-10-10 guideline from author Suzy Welch, a decision-making tool my dad, Stan Cook, shared with me years ago that I still use today. Using the new Researcher Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot, I pulled stats from the 2025 PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer Report (a must read) and generated a 21-page paper in minutes.This will fuel future blogs and content on supporting women in AI-exposed roles and amplifying conversations around women’s health.
Building AI Muscle Today: Why and How Organizations Should Embrace AI Now
A 2025 McKinsey report revealed that while almost all companies have invested in AI, only about 1% feel they have achieved AI maturity.According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index 2024, 75% of knowledge workers are now using generative AI at work, a figure that nearly doubled in just six months.Yet many organizations have no clear AI strategy: 60% of leaders say their company lacks a concrete AI vision or plan.
Partner Case Study | 3Cloud
A multi-time Partner of the Year Award winner, including both the Data & AI and Healthcare & Life Sciences categories in 2024, 3Cloud has been building on Azure since 2016.Fully dedicated to Azure, the team was founded by former Microsoft colleagues and has helped more than 1,600 clients with their Azure engagements.This impressive track record made 3Cloud a natural choice when Members 1st Federal Credit Union decided they wanted to harness their data infrastructure to deliver more personalized, convenient experiences to their members.
Generating Classes with Custom Naming Conventions Using GitHub Copilot and a Custom MCP Server
To address such needs, one possible approach is to build a custom MCP server and connect it to GitHub Copilot.By building an MCP server as an ASP.NET Core application and integrating it with GitHub Copilot, you can introduce custom rules and functionality tailored to your organization’s needs.In this article, we introduced how to build your own MCP server and use it via the GitHub Copilot Agent.
Prep for fall classes and college life with Microsoft Copilot
Up your life skills with recipes and moreLiving on your own for the first time means taking on a lot of new tasks, like cooking for yourself or navigating public transit.Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!
M365 Copilot Prompt-a-thon: A Hands-On Event for Government Innovators
Join us for an immersive, in-person experience at the Microsoft Innovation Hub in Reston, VA on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM ET.Through interactive sessions, hands-on exercises, and real-world mission scenarios, you’ll learn how to transform your day-to-day operations using generative AI.Learn how to build a compelling business case for generative AI adoption in your agency.
What's New in Microsoft EDU - Back to School August 2025
Microsoft 365 LTI brings Microsoft 365 for Education capabilities for learning management systems together into a single tool and streamlined user experience.Microsoft 365 LTI is now in public preview for Instructure Canvas, Powerschool Schoology, Anthology Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, and Moodle.We recently introduced the updated Microsoft 365 Copilot app, your hub for the latest functionality and later this year in preview, for AI-powered features for educators.
New in Microsoft AppSource: August 1-11, 2025
For this volume, 209 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.Chain Partner (NL): Cyber Basics NIS2/Cybersecurity Act is an ISMS solution for NIS2 compliance designed for supply chain partners.MKB (NL): Cyber Basics NIS2/Cybersecurity Act is a comprehensive ISMS solution for cybersecurity compliance, simplifying NIS2 requirements with pre-defined policies and procedures.
Microsoft Sentinel’s New Data Lake: Cut Costs & Boost Threat Detection
Now, with the introduction of its new Data Lake architecture, Sentinel is transforming how security data is stored, accessed, and analyzed, bringing unmatched flexibility and scale to threat investigation.Unlike Microsoft Fabric OneLake, which supports analytics across the organization, Sentinel’s Data Lake is purpose-built for security.Microsoft Sentinel’s Data Lake separates storage from computing, offering scalable and cost-effective analytics and compliance.
SharePoint Pages: Introducing Sections with AI
Sections with AI works by first looking at the context of your page to offer prompt suggestions for what content you need next to offer a starting point.Figure 1: Click the "Add section using AI" section next to the '+' button between sectionsOnce you click generate, Sections with AI then leverages your sources, the knowledge and content already inside of your organization, and the content already on your page to create rich sections that go beyond just image and text.
Announcing Early Preview: BYO Remote MCP Server on Azure Functions
If you’ve already built Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers with the MCP SDKs and wished you could turn them into world class Remote MCP servers using a hyperscale, serverless platform, then this one’s for you!We’ve published samples showing how to host bring‑your-own (BYO) Remote MCP servers on Azure Functions, so you can run the servers you’ve already built with the MCP SDKs—Python, Node, and .NET—with minimal changes and full serverless goodness.If you’ve already implemented servers with the MCP SDKs (Python, Node, .NET), deploy them to Azure Functions as remote MCP servers with just one line of code change.
Optimizing Large-Scale AI Performance with Pretraining Validation on a Single Azure ND GB200 v6
The Llama3 8B model was selected as the focus of this analysis due to its relevance as a modern, open-weight large language model (LLM) architecture.Llama 3 70B is too large to fit onto the previous generations of virtual machines covered in our Azure AI Benchmarking guide, while the 3B model doesn’t fully stress the ND GB200 v6 VM.This section explains parallelism parameters (tensor, pipeline, context, data) and micro batch size to maximize the Azure virtual machine’s performance and training speed.
Optimize Large-Scale AI performance with proven Single VM pretraining validation on ND GB200 v6
The Llama3 8B model was selected as the focus of this analysis due to its relevance as a modern, open-weight large language model (LLM) architecture.Llama 3 70B is too large to fit onto the previous generations of virtual machines covered in our Azure AI Benchmarking guide, while the 3B model doesn’t fully stress the ND GB200 v6 VM.This section explains parallelism parameters (tensor, pipeline, context, data) and micro batch size to maximize the Azure virtual machine’s performance and training speed.
How do I choose the right model for my agent?
How do I choose the right model for my agent?Define the level of reasoning and adaptability your agent needs.In short: start by mapping out your agent’s needs in terms of data types, reasoning depth, control, domain, and interaction style.
August V1 Title Plan Now Available
🗂️ August V1 Title Plan Now AvailableAccess the latest Instructor-Led Training (ILT) updates anytime at: http://aka.ms/Courseware_Title_PlanMake sure you're always working from the most current version.
Course Retirement Announcement: DP-3012
The retirement is due to low demand and the availability of alternative courses that better align with current industry needs and technologies.DP-700T00: Microsoft Fabric Data EngineerThere is no direct replacement for DP-3012, but these alternatives offer robust pathways for developing data engineering and analytics skills on Microsoft platforms.
Released: August 2025 Skype for Business Server Hotfix Updates
Microsoft has released Hotfix Updates (HUs) for Skype for Business (SfB) Server that introduces support for a new security-related feature.Starting with the August 2025 Hotfix (HF), Skype for Business Server has the capability to configure a Dedicated Hybrid Application to ensure secure and reliable hybrid integration with Exchange Online.Note: For Skype for Business Server 2015, administrators must also run the add_sfbassets.ps1 script after installing the update to ensure continued functionality of the Skype Meetings Application.
Bring AI to your formulas with the COPILOT function in Excel
Today, I’m excited to introduce the new COPILOT function in Microsoft Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac, a major step forward in how you work with data that brings the power of large language models directly into the grid and makes it easier than ever to analyze text, generate content, and work faster.Bring AI to your formulas with the COPILOT function in ExcelThe new COPILOT function in Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac is here to save time and supercharge your workflows!
How The Great Copilot Journey Helps Drive Copilot Usage
Internal Microsoft pilots saw more than 23% higher daily active usageThe Great Copilot Journey is a 30-day skilling resource that helps users learn how to use Copilot, one prompt at time.We ran internal pilots of the Great Copilot Journey for Microsoft 365 Copilot with 653 participants, and here’s what we found:
Enhance Your Data Protection Strategy with Azure Elastic SAN’s Newest Backup Options
As organizations adopt Azure Elastic SAN for scalable high-performance storage, we are pleased to announce the public preview of backup support via Azure Backup and Commvault.Both the integration of Azure Backup for Elastic SAN and Commvault’s integration with Elastic SAN are in public preview and available for everyone to use.With features such as independent lifecycle backups, high-frequency restore points, and simplified management, you can confidently protect your Elastic SAN volumes from a range of data loss scenarios.
Deep Dive: DLP Incidents, Alerts & Events - Part 2
In addition to these standard details, the alert view also displays the correlation reason, which is particularly beneficial for security analysts and administrators.The details page is divided into two sections.Now that we understand incidents and alerts, let's review events.
Deep Dive: DLP Incidents, Alerts & Events - Part 1
Prior to delving into the specifics, it is essential to understand that Microsoft Defender employs correlation analytics to aggregate related alerts and automated investigations from various products into a single incident.Alert correlation and incident merging in the Microsoft Defender portal - Microsoft Defender XDR |Microsoft Defender XDR automatically names incidents, alerts, and events using attributes like activity, channel, users, detection sources, and category.
Unlocking Summer Productivity: 3 Microsoft 365 Features SMBs Should Be Using Right Now
Loop is collaborative workspace app designed for teams to co-create and organize content.These pages can then be shared across Teams, Outlook, and other Microsoft 365 apps as links or embedded Loop components.Microsoft OneNote: Streamline Task Management
更新プログラム適用後、bcp.exe の出力メッセージが英語になる
SQL Server の更新プログラムを適用後、日本語リソースファイルを再配置します。As a result, the Japanese resource file for the ODBC driver is deleted during the update process.After applying the SQL Server update, relocate the Japanese resource file.
Simplify networking and enhance security with Azure Virtual WAN and Fortinet in Azure Marketplace
In this guest blog post, Srija Reddy Allam, a cloud security architect at Fortinet, explores how Azure Virtual WAN simplifies networking and how integrating FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall, available in Azure Marketplace, enhances security and performance for seamless, scalable connectivity across distributed environments.To streamline connectivity across hybrid and cloud environments, many enterprises are turning to cloud-native networking models, such as Azure Virtual WAN (VWAN).Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) in Azure Marketplace offers a wide range of capabilities, including advanced networking, SD-WAN, IPsec, and SSL VPN functionalities, alongside robust security features such as intrusion prevention and detection, antivirus, web and video filtering, SSL inspection, and more.
GPT-5: The 7 new features enabling real world use cases
GPT-5 was trained with a focus on features that provide value to real world use cases.In this article we will cover the key innovations in GPT-5 and provides practical examples of these differences in action.We will cover the below 7 new features, that will help accelerate your real world adoption of GenAI:
Introducing new SharePoint Site Header & Footer Enhancements
To better align with modern design standards and evolving customer expectations, we’re excited to introduce a refreshed and more customizable visual experience for the SharePoint site header and footer.When will this feature be available?General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Rollout begins late August 2025 and completes by mid of September 2025.
How to Use Custom Models with Foundry Local: A Beginner's Guide
Foundry Local is a user-friendly tool that helps you run small AI language models directly on your Windows or Mac computer.Microsoft Olive is like a smart assistant that helps convert AI models for you.This command takes you to the "models folder" - think of it as the app store for your AI models.
From mission to impact: Why Surface is the trusted choice for nonprofits
Across continents and causes, nonprofits are redefining what it means to serve—and technology is quietly powering this transformation behind the scenes.Nonprofits have always been on the front lines of change, but their work today is more dynamic—and more digital—than ever.With trusted security, mobility built in, and powerful AI at the ready, nonprofits can focus on what they do best: creating lasting change.
September Calendar IS HERE!
🚀✨ Another month, another exciting calendar from the Microsoft Hero ✨🚀From 🌍 different time zones, and 🌟 diverse topics, we’re bringing incredible sessions designed for everyone, whether you’re just starting your journey or already an expert in Microsoft and the cloud.This month, we’ve packed the calendar with amazing speakers from across the globe 🌐 who will be sharing their invaluable knowledge and real-world experiences. 🙌💡 Join our live sessions, learn from inspiring experts, and take a step closer to transforming your career, boosting your skills, and making an impact in your organization.⏰ Just like last month, we’re covering multiple time zones, from Australia 🇦🇺, to Europe 🇪🇺, to the Americas 🌎, so no matter where you are, there’s a session waiting for you!👉 Don’t miss out, register today, get ready, and let’s grow together from Zero to Hero! 💪🚀Santhoshkumar Anandakrishnan Mastering Azure Networking Services to Protect Your ApplicationsSeptember 4, 2025 11:00 AM CETSeptember 4, 2025 07:00 PM AEST Arafat TehsinA deep dive into Agentic AI with Semantic KernelSeptember 9, 2025 11:00 AM CETSeptember 9, 2025 07:00 PM AESTKim BergNavigating the Azure AI seasSeptember 13, 2025 06:00 PM CETAndrew O'YoungData Security Considerations for M365 CopilotSeptember 16, 2025 11:00 AM CETSeptember 16, 2025 07:00 PM AESTPam DeGraffenreidStart Smart with AI Builder: Prompts, Power Platform, and Pro TipsSeptember 20, 2025 06:00 PM CETAnthony PorterAutomating Sentinel Triage with Microsoft Security CopilotSeptember 29, 2025 09:00 AM CETSeptember 29, 2025 05:00 PM AEST
Supercharge Your App Service Apps with AI Foundry Agents Connected to MCP servers
The integration of AI into web applications has reached a new milestone with the introduction of Model Context Protocol (MCP) support in Azure AI Foundry Agent Service.This powerful new feature allows developers to extend the capabilities of their Azure AI Foundry agents by connecting them to tools hosted on remote MCP servers—and the best part?In this blog post, we'll explore how this new functionality works, demonstrate a practical implementation, and show you how to get started with your own MCP-enabled applications on App Service.
Microsoft Security Exposure Management Ninja Training
This blog post has a curation of many Microsoft security exposure management (MSEM) resources, organized in a format that can help you to go from absolutely no knowledge in MSEM, to designing and implementing different scenarios.You can use this blog post as a training roadmap to ramp up your knowledge in MSEM. Microsoft Security Exposure Management empowers customers to:
Welcome to the Microsoft Defender Experts Ninja Hub!
Microsoft Defender Experts for XDRMicrosoft Defender Experts for XDR is a managed extended detection and response (MXDR) service that triages, investigates, and responds to incidents for you to help stop cyberattackers and prevent future compromise.The documentation links below provide more information on the service, requirements, and FAQs:
Deepening our Partnership with Mistral AI on Azure AI Foundry
We’re excited to mark a new chapter in our collaboration with Mistral AI, a leading European AI innovator, with the launch of Mistral Document AI in Azure AI Foundry Models.This marks the first in a series of Mistral models coming to Azure as a serverless API, giving customers seamless access to Mistral’s cutting-edge capabilities, fully hosted, managed, and integrated into the Foundry ecosystem.Mistral Document AI is built with a multimodal approach that combines vision and language understanding, it interprets documents with contextual intelligence and delivers structured outputs that reflect the original layout—tables remain tables, headings remain headings, and images are preserved alongside the text.”
Building AI Agents with Ease: Function Calling in VS Code AI Toolkit
Function calling is a powerful technique that allows Large Language Models (LLMs) to go beyond their static training data and interact with real-world, dynamic information sources like databases and APIs.The process of Tool/Function calling typically involves two main components: a client application and the LLM.# To authenticate with the model you will need to generate a personal access token (PAT) in your GitHub settings.
Deploying OpenAI’s First Open-Source Model on Azure AKS with KAITO
OpenAI recently released GPT-OSS, its first open-source large language model.Microsoft Azure’s AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service) paired with KAITO (Kubernetes AI Toolchain Operator) provides a powerful, scalable environment for deploying such models.In this tutorial, we’ll walk through deploying the openai/gpt-oss-20B model on Azure’s Standard_NV36ads_A10_v5 GPU instances using vLLM for fast inference — all running on AKS via KAITO.
Empowering.Cloud Community Update – September 2025
The latest Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 expert community briefings, podcasts and upcoming community events for September 2025.Gregory explains how Logitech's Zone Wireless 2 and Zone 305 became the first two Microsoft-certified headsets that work without dongles, eliminating a long-standing pain point for users.Join Microsoft MVPs Zoe Wilson and Kevin McDonnell for the monthly Copilot Fireside Chat series!
Using Entra ID Authentication with Arc-Enabled SQL Server in a .NET Windows Forms Application
This code connects to an Azure SQL Database using a connection string and an access token obtained through MSAL authentication.Configure Azure Arc SQL Server to use Entra ID authenticationBy following the steps outlined in this guide, developers can ensure secure and efficient connections between their .NET Windows Forms applications and Arc-enabled SQL Server instances using Entra ID authentication.
Higher log rate for business critical service tier in Azure SQL MI
We are thrilled to publish this article dedicated to a significant improvement for Azure SQL Managed Instance: customers using the business critical service tier on premium series hardware can now benefit from a much higher log rate.This update brings improved transaction processing, faster data recovery, and expanded scalability - empowering mission-critical operations in the cloud.With the new enhancement from June 2025, the per-vCore log rate for the Business Critical service tier on premium series hardware has been substantially improved - from 4.5 MiB/s to 12 MiB/s – extending the log rate benefit to instances running on up to 20 vCores.
One MCP Server, Two Transports: STDIO and HTTP
What if a single MCP server supports both STDIO and HTTP, controlled by a simple switch?This post shows how to build a single MCP server that supports both transports, selected at runtime with a --http switch, using the .NET builder pattern.All server apps in the repo support both STDIO and HTTP via the switch.
Gpresult Like Tool For Intune
I had to troubleshoot a lot of Intune policies lately and I used a variety of tools for that.At the end, I built my own script to have a result which looks similar to what “GPresult /h” creates for on-premises group polices.The script is inspired by the following article: https://doitpshway.com/get-a-better-intune-policy-report-part-2 by Ondrej Sebela.It follows a similar approach, but without any module dependencies and fewer output options, as my script only generates an HTML page.What started as a script is now a module which might have more functions in the future.Feel free to read any of my other articles here: https://aka.ms/JonasOhmsenBlogsUse parameter “-MDMDiagReportPath” to load MDM report data captured on a remote machine.Simply generate MDM report data, either with the MdmDiagnosticsTool.exe, via the settings app or via Intune.
Announcing the Text PII August preview model release in Azure AI language
Azure AI Language is excited to announce a new preview model release for the PII (Personally Identifiable Information) redaction service, which includes support for more entities and languages, addressing customer-sourced scenarios and international use cases.Tier 1 language support for DateOfBirth entity: expanding upon the original English-only support earlier this year, we’ve added support for all Tier 1 languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, and DutchAI quality improvements for financial entities, reducing false positives/negatives
Send signals from Micronaut applications to Azure Monitor through zero-code instrumentation
Add the GraalVM Maven plugin and enable the use of GraalVM Reachability Metadata obtained from the above dependency.Now, run the application using the Tracing Agent and create the necessary configuration files.(1) Azure Monitor (Application Insights)
Send signals from Micronaut native image applications to Azure Monitor
We found information on how to send logs and metrics to Azure Monitor in the Micronaut documentation and guides, but we need to know how to send traces.Their query is, in short, Spring Boot provides Spring Boot Starter and Quarkus provides Quarkus as dependencies, but does Micronaut do the same?3) Enable Azure Monitor Agent in Azure Container Environment to send data using the OpenTelemetry protocol (OTLP).
Send logs from Micronaut native image applications to Azure Monitor
Add the GraalVM Maven plugin and enable the use of GraalVM Reachability Metadata obtained from the above dependency.Then, run the application using the Tracing Agent to generate the necessary configuration files.We should specify the timing of class initialization (build time or runtime), the command line options for the native-image tool (the same command line options work in Maven/Gradle plugin), and the JVM arguments in the native-image.properties file.
Send traces from Micronaut native image applications to Azure Monitor
Add the GraalVM Maven plugin and enable the use of GraalVM Reachability Metadata obtained from the above dependency.We should specify the timing of class initialization (build time or runtime), the command line options for the native-image tool (the same command line options work in Maven/Gradle plugin), and the JVM arguments in the native-image.properties file.Send metrics from Micronaut native image applications to Azure Monitor |
Send metrics/traces/logs from Micronaut native image applications to Azure Monitor
We found information on how to send logs and metrics to Azure Monitor in the Micronaut documentation and guides, but we need to know how to send traces.Their query is, in short, Spring Boot provides Spring Boot Starter and Quarkus provides Quarkus as dependencies, but does Micronaut do the same?3) Enable Azure Monitor Agent in Azure Container Environment to send data using the OpenTelemetry protocol (OTLP).
Send metrics from Micronaut native image applications to Azure Monitor
Create a Micronaut Application to Collect Metrics and Monitor Them on Azure Monitor Metricshttps://graal.cloud/gdk/gdk-modules/metrics/micronaut-metrics-azure/Add the GraalVM Maven plugin and enable the use of GraalVM Reachability Metadata obtained from the above dependency.Then, run the application using the Tracing Agent to generate the necessary configuration files.
SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc is now generally available in the US Government Virginia region
With Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server, U.S. government agencies and organizations can manage SQL Server instances outside of Azure from the Azure Government portal, in a secure and compliant manner.Arc-enabled SQL Server resources in US government Virginia can be onboarded and viewed in the Azure Government portal just like any Azure resource, giving you a single pane of glass to monitor and organize your SQL Server estate in the Gov cloud.The availability of Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server in the US Gov Virginia region marks an important milestone for hybrid data management in Government. If you’re an Azure Government user managing SQL Server instances, we invite you to try out Arc enabled SQL Server in US Government in Viginia region.
Unveiling the Next Generation of Table Structure Recognition
While the promise of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) in document understanding is vast, our research in table parsing has revealed a critical insight: for tasks requiring precision in data alignment, such as correctly associating data cells with their respective row and column headers, classical computer vision techniques currently offer superior performance.Therefore, Azure Document Intelligence (DI) and Content Understanding (CU) leverages an even more robust and proven computer vision algorithms to ensure the foundational accuracy and consistency that enterprises demand.Figure 1: Vision LLMs struggle to accurately recognize table structure, even in simple tables.
Update To API Management Workspaces Breaking Changes: Built-in Gateway & Tiers Support
If your API Management service uses preview workspaces on the built-in gateway and meets the tier-based limits below, those workspaces will continue to function as-is and will automatically transition to general availability once built-in gateway support is fully announced.We introduced the requirement for workspace gateways to improve reliability and scalability in large, federated API environments.In addition to workspaces support on the built-in gateway described in the section above, Premium and Premium v2 services will continue to support deploying workspaces with workspace gateways.
The new Planner for the web is now available to customers in GCC High
We are thrilled to share that we have started rolling out the new Microsoft Planner for the web to customers in GCC High! The ability to access all your plans, projects and to do lists in a single placeExperiencing premium capabilities in the new Planner for the web
The new Planner web is now available to customers in GCC High
We are thrilled to share that we have started rolling out the new Microsoft Planner for the web to customers in GCC High! The ability to access all your plans, projects and to do lists in a single placeExperiencing premium capabilities in the new Planner for the web
Arc-enabled SQL Server is now generally available in the US Government Virginia region
With Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server, U.S. government agencies and organizations can manage SQL Server instances outside of Azure from the Azure Government portal, in a secure and compliant manner.Arc-enabled SQL Server resources in US government Virginia can be onboarded and viewed in the Azure Government portal just like any Azure resource, giving you a single pane of glass to monitor and organize your SQL Server estate in the Gov cloud.The availability of Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server in the US Gov Virginia region marks an important milestone for hybrid data management in Government. If you’re an Azure Government user managing SQL Server instances, we invite you to try out Arc enabled SQL Server in US Government in Viginia region.
Expanding Global Reach and Enhancing Observability with Oracle Database@Azure
Oracle Database@Azure expands to Germany North – now available in 23 regions worldwide Oracle Database@Azure is now available in 23 Azure regions globally – the most of any hyperscaler.Exadata customers using Oracle Database@Azure now have more ways to monitor and manage their environment with enhanced observability for Exadata logs and events with Azure Monitor and Microsoft Sentinel.
Expanding Global Reach and Enhanced Observability with Oracle Database@Azure
Oracle Database@Azure expands to Germany North – now available in 23 regions worldwide Oracle Database@Azure is now available in 23 Azure regions globally – the most of any hyperscaler.Exadata customers using Oracle Database@Azure now have more ways to monitor and manage their environment with enhanced observability for Exadata logs and events with Azure Monitor and Microsoft Sentinel.
Investigating M365 Copilot Activity with Sentinel & Defender XDR
Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI is a Microsoft Purview capability designed to help organizations discover, secure, and apply compliance controls for AI usage across your enterprise.In this blog, we will explore how Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR can help security teams operationalize DSPM for AI.You can perform Advanced Hunting of Microsoft 365 Copilot data through CloudAppEvents.
Lower costs and boost flexibility with Azure Files provisioned v2
To bring this flexibility to your hands, we introduced the provisioned v2 model for the HDD (standard) media tier in 2024.Today, we are excited to announce that we're extending the provisioned v2 model to the SSD (premium) media tier.Provisioned v2 is designed to give you more control, better performance alignment, and significant cost savings across a wide range of customer scenarios - by decoupling performance from capacity, lowering the minimum share size to 32 GiB, and increasing the maximum share size to 256 TiB.
Unlocking Flexibility with Azure Files Provisioned V2
In this episode of E2E:10-Minute Drill, host Pierre Roman sits down with Will Gries, Principal PM in Azure Storage, to explore the newly released Azure Files Provisioned V2 billing model.This model introduces a game-changing approach to cloud file storage by allowing users to provision storage, IOPS, and throughput independently—a major leap forward in flexibility and cost optimization.High Performance on Demand: Each file share can now scale up to 50,000 IOPS and 5 GiB/sec throughput, and support up to 256 TiB of data in a single share.
Announcing MSGraph Provider Public Preview and the Microsoft Terraform VSCode Extension
We are thrilled to announce two exciting developments in the Microsoft ecosystem for Terraform infrastructure-as-code (IaC) practitioners: the public preview of the Terraform Microsoft Graph (MSGraph) provider and the release of the Microsoft Terraform Visual Studio Code (VSCode) extension.The new official Microsoft Terraform extension for Visual Studio Code consolidates AzureRM, AzAPI, and MSGraph VSCode support into a single powerful extension.The extension supports exporting Azure resources as Terraform code, as well as IntelliSense, syntax highlighting, and code sample generation.
Join us October 8th for the 3rd Annual OneDrive Digital Event!
We’re thrilled to announce “Copilot + OneDrive — Intelligence in every click, inspiration in every memory” our upcoming digital event on October 8th, 2025!Following up on last year’s successful event, our third-annual OneDrive event will shine the light on OneDrive’s latest advancements in AI – showing how every click can be smarter and every memory more inspiring.The team will demonstrate how Copilot turns your files from static content into actionable insights – improving how you share and collaborate on documents.🗣️After the showcase, stick around for a live chat-based Q&A session.
New microphone volume indicator in Teams
I’m excited to let you know about a new feature in Microsoft Teams that alerts you to your microphone’s volume during meetings.New microphone volume indicator in TeamsThe new microphone volume indicator for Microsoft Teams on Windows and Mac provides you with real-time visual feedback on your audio levels, minimizing interruptions and enhancing your confidence and effectiveness in meetings.
How Microsoft Defender Experts uses AI to cut through the noise
AI-based incident classification allows us to filter noise up front without compromising on detecting real threats.Instead, our AI is powered by insights from hundreds of thousands of real investigations conducted by Defender Experts security analysts.If you're a security leader struggling with alert overload, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR, Microsoft’s MXDR (managed extended detection and response) service, can deliver around the clock, expert-led protection.
Data, AI, and Opportunity: Why Microsoft Partners Should Attend the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference 2025
The Microsoft Fabric Community Conference (FabCon) is happening September 15–18, 2025, at the Austria Center in beautiful Vienna. If you're a Microsoft partner, this is a key opportunity to participate in one of the most important events in data and AI strategy.Whether you're leading solution execution or developing apps, Fabric presents a powerful unified data platform for AI transformation—and this conference is where you'll learn how to capitalize on it.Purchase a 4-day pass including our Partner Day on September 15 to learn how Microsoft partners play a central role in bringing Fabric to life for our customers, and get access to the use cases, tools, and co-sell opportunities you need to succeed.
New AI capabilities available for Government environments
Today, we are excited to announce the general availability of new AI-powered capabilities for our U.S. Government cloud customers, including Microsoft 365 Copilot for the Office 365 Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level 5 (IL5) environment and Copilot Studio agent builder for Office 365 Government Community Cloud (GCC) environment.M365 Copilot now generally available in Office 365 DoD (IL5) environmentStarting this month, with purchase of the M365 Copilot licenses, users in the Office 365 DoD (IL5) environment will now have access to integrated Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences.
Closing the loop: Interactive write-back from Power BI to Azure Databricks
We're excited to announce that the Azure Databricks connector for Power Platform is now Generally Available.A key functionality unlocked by this connector is the ability to write data back from Power BI to Azure Databricks.With this connector, users can now read from and write to Azure Databricks data warehouses in real time, all from within familiar interfaces — no custom connectors, no data duplication, and no loss of governance.
Improved margins in OneNote for Android and iOS
I’m excited to share that we’ve addressed a long-standing formatting request for mobile users: Pages created on Android and iOS now have cleaner, more consistent margins when viewed in OneNote on Windows, for Mac, and for the web.Improved margins in OneNote for Android and iOSThe mobile margin fix is available to OneNote users running:
Viva Engage Public Content is Now Available in Microsoft 365 Copilot
So, we’ve made public information from across Viva Engage available in Microsoft 365 Copilot — starting with Q&A and now including discussion posts.This includes public discussion posts from public communities, events, Answers and Storylines.Try out some of these prompts in Copilot:
Leaving the key under the doormat: How Microsoft Defender uses AI to spot exposed credentials
Microsoft Defender can now help eliminate this vulnerability with a new, AI-powered posture alert that uses layers of intelligence to spot exposed credentials.Understanding free text fields in identity systems:Within identity systems like Active Directory (AD) and Microsoft Entra ID, free text fields are customizable attributes that allow administrators to store unstructured or semi-structured data.
What's new in OneNote for EDU - Back to School 2025
New Microsoft 365 LTI 1.3 integration – Streamlined LMS access to Class Notebook, Assignments, Reflect, and more1. Enable the Class Notebook Toolbar natively in OneNote on Windows and for MacLastly, a call to action for passionate educators: if you love getting early access to new features or want to provide direct feedback to the OneNote and Class Notebook team, consider joining the Education Insiders Program (EIP).
Model Mondays S2E9: Models for AI Agents
GPT-5 and GPT-OSS Models Now in Azure AI Foundry: Azure AI Foundry now supports OpenAI’s GPT-5 lineup (including GPT-5, GPT-5 Mini, and GPT-5 Nano) and the new open-weight GPT-OSS models (120B, 20B).That's why we have the Azure AI Developer Community.I'm Sharda, a Gold Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador interested in cloud and AI.
Red-teaming a RAG app with the Azure AI Evaluation SDK
Fortunately, Microsoft released an automated Red Teaming agent, part of the azure-ai-evaluations Python package.The agent uses an adversarial LLM, housed safely inside an Azure AI Foundry project such that it can't be used for other purposes, in order to generate unsafe questions across various categories.My RAG-on-PostgreSQL sample application answers questions about products from a database representing a fictional outdoors store.
SAP Sybase ASE to Azure SQL Migration using SSMA and BCP Overview
Enterprises upgrading legacy databases often face challenges in migrating complex schemas and efficiently transferring large volumes of data.Transitioning from SAP ASE (Sybase ASE) to Azure SQL Database is a common strategy to take advantage of enhanced features, improved scalability, and seamless integration with Microsoft services.SQL Server Migration Assistant for SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise (SSMA) Automates migration from SAP ASE to SQL Server, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance. While SSMA provides a complete end-to-end migration solution, the custom BCP script (ASEtoSQLdataloadusingbcp.sh) enhances this process by enabling parallel data transfers, making it especially effective for migrating large databases with minimal downtime.
Logic Apps Community Day 2025
The Logic Apps Community Day is a free event driven by Microsoft, for anyone who wants to learn more about Logic Apps and how it can help to solve real life integration problems.The call for papers are open until September 7, 2025 - 11:00 PM (PST).Click on the image below to submit your session to Logic Apps Community Day 2025!
Access announces removal of Salesforce ODBC driver in October 2025
MS Access 2016 (and newer) ships a licensed Salesforce ODBC driver from InsightSoftware that will lose sustaining support after June 30th, 2026.Because we can no longer provide security updates for the driver, we'll be removing it from the product in October.Once you purchase and install the driver, Access can connect to your Salesforce external data source.
MSLE Newsletter - August 2025
As we begin a new school year, we’re excited to welcome you to the new MSLE Community on Tech Community—your central hub for program updates, refreshed onboarding content, support from Community Managers, upcoming events, and more.Additionally, if you haven’t already, be sure to register your courses for the new academic year!🚀 Community Colleges collaborate to create a National Applied AI Consortium to develop AI skills with Microsoft certifications
Exciting News: Azure AI Blogs Have Come Together in the New Azure AI Foundry Blog
To streamline your experience, several Azure AI Tech Community blogs have been consolidated into a single destination—the Azure AI Foundry Blog. The Azure AI technical blogs – including the AI Platform Blog, Azure AI Services Blog, and Azure Machine Learning Blog – are now part of the new Azure AI Foundry Blog.To continue receiving the latest Azure AI updates, please re-subscribe to the Azure AI Foundry Blog.
Exciting News: Azure AI Blogs Have Come Together in the New Azure AI Foundry Blog
To streamline your experience, several Azure AI Tech Community blogs have been consolidated into a single destination—the Azure AI Foundry Blog.Multiple Azure AI blogs have merged into one. The Azure AI technical blogs – including the AI Platform Blog, Azure AI Services Blog, and Azure Machine Learning Blog – are now part of the new Azure AI Foundry Blog.
Exciting News: Azure AI Blogs Have Come Together in the New Azure AI Foundry Blog
To streamline your experience, several Azure AI Tech Community blogs have been consolidated into a single destination—the Azure AI Foundry Blog.Multiple Azure AI blogs have merged into one. The Azure AI technical blogs – including the AI Platform Blog, Azure AI Services Blog, and Azure Machine Learning Blog – are now part of the new Azure AI Foundry Blog.
OneDrive Office Hours | August 2025
Join the OneDrive product team live each month on our monthly OneDrive Customer Office Hours to hear what's top of mind, get insights into roadmap updates, and dig into a special topic.Each call includes live Q&A where you'll have a chance to ask the OneDrive product team any question about OneDrive - The home of your files. This month's special topic: "Doc Libs: What's new & what's next" with Lincoln DeMaris!
Partner Blog | Driving business impact through skilling
As Nicole Dezen emphasized in her MCAPS Start for Partners 2025 recap, success in this era is rooted in clarity, consistency, and capability—and you.This month, we’re spotlighting what’s new in partner skilling, how AI-powered enablement is driving measurable impact, and what steps you can take next to stay ahead.Partner Skilling Hub: What’s new and how to drive impact
BitUnlocker: Leveraging Windows Recovery to Extract BitLocker Secrets
To enable BitLocker recovery, significant design changes were implemented in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).In this blog post, we will share the research journey: we will begin with an overview of the WinRE architecture, followed by a retrospective analysis of the attack surfaces exposed with the introduction of BitLocker.We will reveal how we identified new vulnerabilities and developed exploits, enabling us to bypass BitLocker and extract the protected data.
From Traditional Security to AI-Driven Cyber Resilience: Microsoft’s Approach to Securing AI
AI is changing the way organizations work.Cybersecurity leaders are starting to see that AI security is not just another layer of defense.It is becoming essential to building trust, ensuring resilience, and maintaining business continuity.
Building an AI Receptionist: A Hands-On Demo with Azure Communication Services and OpenAI
In this post, we'll show you how to build an AI receptionist that does just that, using Azure Communication Services and Azure OpenAI.We'll guide you through a hands-on demo that uses a simulated but realistic calendar for reliable confirmations and rescheduling, and show you how to make it production-ready.Watch the video demo to see the app in action with live code explanations.
Azure Linux with OS Guard: Immutable Container Host with Code Integrity and Open Source Transparency
Azure Linux is the Linux OS Microsoft trusts for its Linux fleet.Built from the ground up for cloud-native workloads, Azure Linux is optimized for performance, reliability, and security.We’re excited to announce that Azure Linux with OS Guard will be available soon as an official OS SKU on AKS.
Analyze images with Python in Excel
I’m Ndeyanta Jallow, a Product Manager on the Excel team.I’m excited to announce a powerful new Python capability in Microsoft Excel for Windows, Excel for Mac, and Excel for the web: images as input.Analyze images with Python in Excel
Announcing Extended Support for Azure Database for MySQL
As part of our ongoing commitment to customer success and operational continuity, we are introducing Extended Support for Azure Database for MySQL as a paid offering designed to help customers continue running workloads on older MySQL versions with confidence, even after community support ends.We initially planned to retire support for MySQL 5.7 in Azure by September 2025, aligning with the community’s end-of-life (EOL) timeline.The pricing for Extended Support will be announced by Q3 2025 and will be available via the Azure pricing calculator at that time.
Encryption in Microsoft Teams: June 2025
With over 320 million monthly active users, Teams hosts sensitive conversations, file sharing, and collaborative work, necessitating a thorough understanding of how Teams protects data in transit and at rest.Encryption is essential for protecting sensitive communications and helping to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.Microsoft Teams employs multiple layers of encryption to protect different types of data throughout the communication process.
Microsoft Finland - Software Developing Companies monthly community series.
Microsoft Finlandin järjestämä Software Development monthly Community series on webinaarisarja, joka tarjoaa ohjelmistotaloille ajankohtaista tietoa, konkreettisia esimerkkejä ja strategisia näkemyksiä siitä, miten yhteistyö Microsoftin kanssa voi vauhdittaa kasvua ja avata uusia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia.Microsoft Software Developing Companies monthly community webinars -webinaarisarja järjestetään Cloud Champion -sivustolla, josta webinaarit ovat kätevästi saatavilla tallenteina pari tuntia live-lähetyksen jälkeen.Tässä webinaarissa tutustumme siihen, miten Azure AI Foundry tarjoaa kehittäjille ja tuoteomistajille työkalut autonomisten agenttien rakentamiseen – mahdollistaen monimutkaisten prosessien automatisoinnin ja uudenlaisen asiakasarvon tuottamisen.
Build lightweight AI Apps on Azure App Service with gpt-oss-20b
OpenAI recently introduced gpt-oss as an open-weight language model that delivers strong real-world performance at low cost.In this post, we’ll walk through a complete sample that uses gpt-oss-20b as a sidecar container running alongside a Python Flask app on Azure App Service.Our main app is a simple Python Flask service that connects to the model running in the sidecar.
Apptividad and CoreView offer transactable partner solutions in Azure Marketplace
Microsoft partners like Apptividad and CoreView deliver transact-capable offers, which allow you to purchase directly from Azure Marketplace.CoreView ONE - The Governance Platform for Microsoft 365: CoreView ONE delivers comprehensive security, governance, and administration by unifying visibility, control, and policy enforcement across your Microsoft 365 ecosystem.The platform integrates with hybrid environments, enabling centralized management and reporting for both cloud and on-premises systems.
GPT-5: Will it RAG?
OpenAI released the GPT-5 model family last week, with an emphasis on accurate tool calling and reduced hallucinations.Q: What are the coverage limitations of the Northwind Standard plan regarding clinical trials?I share my evaluations on our sample RAG app as a way to share general learnings on model differences, but I encourage every developer to evaluate these models for your specific domain, alongside domain experts that can reason about the correctness of the answers.
How Microsoft Semantic Kernel Transforms Proven Workflows into Intelligent Agents
Unlike traditional LLM integrations where you send a prompt and receive text, Semantic Kernel acts as an AI orchestration layer that bridges natural language with your existing codebase.Instead of replacing her proven workflows with unpredictable AI generation, we'll show how Microsoft Semantic Kernel transforms her existing script into an intelligent agent that preserves her business logic while adding natural language control.Let's see how Semantic Kernel solves Kemi's workflow problem by transforming her existing script into an intelligent agent that preserves her business logic while adding natural language orchestration.
Azure App Testing: Playwright Workspaces for Local-to-Cloud Test Runs
Azure App Testing centralizes functional and performance testing for your apps.With Playwright Workspaces, you can author, execute, and analyze browser tests at scale, both locally and in the cloud, with shared reporting and parallel, cloud-hosted browsers.Open your Playwright Workspace to author and run tests locally or on cloud-hosted browsers, and view results in “Test runs.”
Microsoft 365 Champion community break in August
This is a reminder that the program takes a break in August, and community calls will resume on September 23, 2025.Our September call will dive into what community tools are included in a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, and how to use Microsoft Viva Engage for Copilot adoption.In the meantime, the new calendar reminders for September 2025-July 2026 are available to download on the Champions-only resource page - you'll find the link in the welcome email when you joined the Champion program or in the last newsletter from July.
🚀 General Availability: Enhanced Data Mapper Experience in Logic Apps (Standard)
We’re excited to announce the General Availability (GA) of the redesigned Data Mapper UX in the Azure Logic Apps (Standard) extension for Visual Studio Code.This release marks a major milestone in our journey to modernize and streamline data transformation workflows for integration developer.The new UX, previously available in public preview, is now the default experience in the Logic Apps Standard extension.
Azure Logic App AI-Powered Monitoring Solution: Automate, Analyze, and Act on Your Azure Data
Enter the Azure Logic App AI-Powered Monitoring Solution—an intelligent, serverless pipeline that leverages Azure Logic Apps and Azure OpenAI to automate monitoring, analyze data, and deliver comprehensive reports right to your inbox.The Azure Logic App AI-Powered Monitoring Solution creates an automated pipeline that:Analyzes data with AI using the Azure OpenAI GPT-4o model.
Security Update for SQL Server 2022 RTM CU20
The Security Update for SQL Server 2022 RTM CU20 is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2022 RTM CUs, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Security Update for SQL Server 2022 RTM GDR
The Security Update for SQL Server 2022 RTM GDR is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2022 RTM, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Security Update for SQL Server 2019 RTM CU32
The Security Update for SQL Server 2019 RTM CU32 is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2019 RTM CUs, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Security Update for SQL Server 2019 RTM GDR
The Security Update for SQL Server 2019 RTM GDR is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2019 RTM, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Security Update for SQL Server 2017 RTM CU31
The Security Update for SQL Server 2017 RTM CU31 is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2017 RTM CUs, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Security Update for SQL Server 2017 RTM GDR
The Security Update for SQL Server 2017 RTM GDR is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2017 RTM, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Security Update for SQL Server 2016 SP3 Azure Connect Feature Pack
The Security Update for SQL Server 2016 SP3 Azure Connect Feature Pack is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2016 SP3 Azure Connect Feature Pack, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Security Update for SQL Server 2016 SP3 GDR
The Security Update for SQL Server 2016 SP3 GDR is now available for download at the Microsoft Download Center and Microsoft Update Catalog sites.This package cumulatively includes all previous security fixes for SQL Server 2016 SP3, plus it includes the new security fixes detailed in the KB Article.Latest Updates for Microsoft SQL Server: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/sql/releases/download-and-install-latest-updates
Supercharge Data Intelligence: Build Teams App with Azure Databricks Genie & Azure AI Agent Service
We'll guide you through leveraging the integration between Azure Databricks and Azure AI Foundry to build a Python-based Teams app that consumes Genie APIs using the secure On-Behalf-Of (OBO) authentication flow.The Sample Solution: Python Teams App for Genie APIsConnect Teams to Azure Databricks Genie via Azure AI Foundry using OBO (On-Behalf-Of) authentication.
Major Update to MB-800: A New Chapter for Business Central Learners
We’re excited to announce a major update to the MB-800T00: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant learning experience, scheduled for August 29, 2025.Manage business solutions with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralThis update adds four brand-new modules designed to deepen learners’ understanding of financial operations and platform integration within Dynamics 365 Business Central:
Released: August 2025 Exchange Server Security Updates
Microsoft has released Security Updates (SUs) for vulnerabilities found in:Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE)Exchange Server 2019
Build the Future of AI-Driven Apps with SharePoint Embedded
SharePoint Embedded is your foundation for next-gen AI apps.Dive in with live demos, hands-on content, and direct access to the product team across three key events.SharePoint Embedded is a headless, API-only platform that lets you build custom, AI-powered apps on top of the same secure and compliant content services that power Microsoft 365.
Pull print is now available in Universal Print
We are excited to share that Universal Print anywhere, the feature that brings "pull print" functionality to Universal Print, reached general availability.We are excited to announce that Universal Print anywhere, a new feature that enables users to print securely from any location and retrieve their documents at any printer—a capability known as "pull print"—has reached general availability.Universal Print anywhere is ready for production deployments across Microsoft 365 organizations.
Partner Case Study | Adastra
Operating in six states and specializing in catering to Hispanic communities under banners such as Los Altos Ranch Market, Cardenas Markets, El Rancho Supermercado, and Tony’s Fresh Market, the company found itself growing fast.Enter Adastra, a data analytics and IT consulting company and Microsoft partner with a proven track record in analytics, business intelligence, AI, and process automation.To maintain high quality standards and customer satisfaction across various geographic locations and customer segments throughout the acquisition process, Heritage Grocers Group recognized the need to better understand their customer data.
Microsoft Global Hackathon 2025: MVPs Driving Innovation Across Communities
The Microsoft Global Hackathon is back the week of September 15, 2025, bringing together thousands of Microsoft employees and select external contributors to dream big, team up, and build solutions that make a difference.Hosted by The Microsoft Garage, this multi-day gathering is the largest private hackathon in the world - a place where creativity, curiosity, and community collide.In 2024, more than 71,000 people participated across 75+ venues worldwide - spanning every role, team, and geography at Microsoft.
Azure PostgreSQL Extended Support: Stay Secure at Every Stage of Your Upgrade
To help, we’re introducing Extended Support for Azure Database for PostgreSQL as a paid offering.It keeps your workloads secure and supported, even after your PostgreSQL version reaches community end-of-life (EOL).Extended Support for Azure Database for PostgreSQL will be a paid offering starting April 2026.
Public Preview: Auto agent upgrade for Azure Arc-enabled servers
We are excited to announce the Public Preview of Auto Agent Upgrade for Azure Arc-enabled servers.Once enabled, your Connected Machine agents will automatically upgrade to the latest supported version without requiring manual intervention or scripting.Auto Agent Upgrade is built into the Connected Machine agent and can be enabled via Azure CLI or PowerShell by setting the enableAutomaticUpgrade property to true.
Now Generally Available: Platform SSO for macOS with Microsoft Entra ID
We’re pleased to announce the General Availability (GA) of Microsoft’s support for Platform Single Sign-On (Platform SSO) for macOS, providing enterprise environments with an integrated, secure, and improved single sign-on experience on Apple devices.Platform SSO is an advanced feature integrated into macOS and supported by Microsoft Enterprise SSO plug-in.This functionality enables users to authenticate on their Mac with their Microsoft Entra ID credentials, providing seamless single sign-on across applications and browsers, while minimizing repeated prompts and reducing authentication fatigue.
How Azure Storage Powers AI Workloads: Behind the Scenes with OpenAI, Blobfuse & More
In the latest episode of E2E: 10-minute Drill, I sat down with Vamshi from the Azure Storage team to explore how Azure Blob Storage is fueling the AI revolution.From training massive foundation models like ChatGPT to enabling enterprise-grade AI solutions.Microsoft’s collaboration with OpenAI has led to innovations like Azure Scaled Accounts and Blobfuse2, now available to all Azure customers.
Microsoft deployment blueprint - Address oversharing concerns for your M365 Copilot deployment
In regulated industries, internal oversharing can compromise data integrity and Copilot effectiveness.This episode defines what “Foundational” means for Microsoft 365 E3 customers and outlines actionable steps to mitigate oversharing risks during Copilot deployment.Foundational deployment focuses on establishing baseline protections using native Microsoft 365 E3 capabilities.
Private Pod Subnets in AKS Without Overlay Networking
Azure CNI Pod SubnetThe alternative to using the Azure CNI Overlay is to use the Azure CNI Pod Subnet.When you deploy a setup using Azure CNI Pod Subnet, all the subnets in the vNet are configured with routes and can talk to each other.
New in Azure Marketplace: July 23-31, 2025
For this volume, 201 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.WinWire’s Automated Data Ingestion and Data Quality (AIDQ) solution is built to solve these challenges.Designed natively for Azure Databricks using Spark, Delta Lake, and Unity Catalog, AIDQ automates data onboarding and enforces quality at scale through a metadata-driven framework.
🎉Malware scanning add-on is now generally available in Azure Gov Secret and Top-Secret clouds
Microsoft Defender for Storage now includes malware scanning for Azure Government Secret and Top Clouds.This update aligns cloud storage protection features across both commercial and government cloud services.👟Enable malware scanning in Defender for Storage
SQL Server on Linux Now Supports cgroup v2
If you’re running SQL Server on Linux, here’s some great news - cgroup v2 is now supported in SQL Server 2025 preview and SQL Server 2022 CU 20.But, With the release of SQL Server 2025 preview and SQL Server 2022 CU 20, the memory limits are now correctly enforced.With the introduction of cgroup v2 support in SQL Server 2025 and SQL Server 2022 CU 20, Linux-based deployments gain a powerful tool for smarter resource management.
Fix Broken Migrations with AI Powered Debugging in VS Code Using GitHub Copilot
What if you could simply describe the error or broken state, and AI could fix your migration in seconds?Use GitHub Copilot to describe and fix broken migrations with natural languageGibsonAI with GitHub Copilot:
MDVM Guidance for CVE-2025-53786: Exchange Hybrid Privilege Escalation
CVE-2025-53786 is an Elevation of Privilege (EoP) flaw in hybrid Microsoft Exchange Server deployments.Attackers with administrative rights on an on-premises Exchange Server can exploit the shared service principal trust to gain control of the connected Exchange Online environment.CVE-2025-53786 is a high-impact vulnerability in the hybrid trust model.
Modernizing legacy Java project using GitHub Copilot App Modernization upgrade for Java
The GitHub Copilot App Modernization – Upgrade for Java is an AI-powered solution designed to streamline the modernization of legacy Java applications.This tool is available as a Visual Studio Code extension and leverages GitHub Copilot to perform the following tasks:We hope this walkthrough demonstrates how the GitHub Copilot App Modernization – Upgrade for Java can save time and eliminate the tedious work of upgrading legacy code.
A Deep Dive into Spark UI for Job Optimization
The Spark UI (User Interface) stands as an indispensable tool, offering a detailed, web-based dashboard that provides real-time and historical insights into your Spark applications.This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of accessing, navigating, and interpreting the Spark UI, empowering you to translate its rich data into concrete strategies for optimizing your Spark jobs.This Mermaid mindmap visually organizes the key concepts related to analyzing the Spark UI and optimizing Spark jobs, covering accessing the UI, understanding its various tabs, specific optimization strategies, and overarching best practices for continuous improvement.
Building Application with gpt-oss-20b with AI Toolkit
Enterprises and developers can now deploy these models on edge devices without relying on cloud APIs, enabling local deployment.The AI Toolkit for VS Code extension provides developers with a complete development workflow—from model testing and local deployment to building intelligent agent applications—creating a comprehensive AI application development workflow.OpenAI has released gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, the first open-weight language models since GPT-2.
What’s new in Microsoft Security Copilot
Improve IT efficiency with Copilot in Microsoft Intune – now generally availableSecurity Copilot in Microsoft Entra now brings AI-assisted investigation and identity management directly into the Entra admin center.The Phishing Triage Agent in Microsoft Defender is now in public preview, bringing autonomous, AI-powered threat detection to your SOC workflows.
New pen tools and Draw tab customization in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows
I want to highlight some exciting new tools and customization options for doing digital inking and handwriting in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows.New pen tools and Draw tab customization in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for WindowsOpen the Draw tab in a new or existing file in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint for Windows.
Explain Formulas with Copilot—Now on the Grid
The new Explain Formula feature turns Copilot into your inline assistant, delivering clear, step-by-step breakdowns directly on the grid, right next to your data, no need to switch context or open the chat pane.When you select a formula cell, Copilot can now explain what that formula does using a dedicated card shown in the grid. Just click the 👍 or 👎 at the bottom of the Copilot response to share your thoughts.
Viva Engage Email Sender Domain Update
As part of the final phase of the Yammer to Viva Engage rebranding, we are updating the email sender domains used for all Viva Engage communications.The rollout of the new email sender domains will occur in phases over several months starting in late August 2025:Safe Senders and Allow Lists: To proactively prevent any Viva Engage notifications from being misclassified as junk email and treated as external, consider adding the new domain to your organization’s safe sender lists.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud expands U.S. Gov Cloud support for CSPM and server security
U.S. government organizations face unique security and compliance challenges as they migrate essential workloads to the cloud.To help meet these needs, Microsoft Defender for Cloud has expanded support in the Government Cloud with Defender cloud security posture management (CSPM) and Defender for Servers Plan 2. This expansion helps strengthen security posture with advanced threat protection, vulnerability management, and contextual risk insights across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.Defender for Servers provides continuous, automated threat protection, vulnerability management, and compliance monitoring across all server environments, enabling agencies to safeguard their infrastructure and maintain a strong security posture.
Enhancing business continuity: Windows 365 Reserve is now in limited public preview!
Following our June 18 disclosure, we are excited to announce that the limited public preview of Windows 365 Reserve is now live —offering secure and on-demand Cloud PC access from anywhere when you need it most.Windows 365 Reserve is a standalone, Windows 365 offering that provides temporary, secure, and dedicated Cloud PC access when a user's primary PC is unavailable, granting users up to 10 days of Cloud PC access per year.Once licenses have been purchased for the organization’s tenant, admins create a provisioning policy for their Windows 365 Reserve licenses.
What’s New in Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
New and upcoming enhancements will improve how legal and compliance teams manage cases, streamline workflows, and reduce operational friction.The new “Retry failed locations” feature introduces a simple, automated way to reprocess those issues without restarting the entire job.We recently introduced a new case-level Data Sources view in Purview eDiscovery, allowing data sources to be reused in searches and holds within a case.
Paste text only in OneNote on Windows, for Mac, and for the web
Paste text only in OneNote on Windows, for Mac, and for the webThe ability to paste text only was highly requested by many of you, and I’m thrilled to announce this popular shortcut is now supported in OneNote on Windows, OneNote for Mac, and OneNote for the web.Place your cursor where you want the content to go in OneNote, then right-click and select Paste Options > Keep Text Only, or select Paste > Paste Options > Keep Text Only in the Home tab.
Creating an AI Policy Analysis Copilot
In April 2025, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released over 10,000 public comments in response to its AI Action Plan.In the second post, we built a knowledge graph using Microsoft’s GraphRAG to connect ideas and uncover deeper insights. Across this three-part series, I’ve taken 10,000+ public comments on the White House AI Action Plan and turned them into actionable insight.
Navigating AI Adoption: Legal Considerations Every Organization Should Know
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a cornerstone of modern enterprise innovation, organizations face a critical challenge: how to harness its power responsibly.Microsoft’s white paper, Legal Considerations for Organizational AI Adoption, offers a comprehensive guide for legal and privacy professionals seeking to enable AI adoption while safeguarding compliance, security, and trust.The paper opens with a clear message: successful AI adoption isn’t just about technical capability—it’s about embedding privacy, security, and legal compliance into every step.
Microsoft Purview: The Ultimate AI Data Security Solution
As generative AI tools like Microsoft Copilot become embedded in everyday workflows, the need for clear governance and robust data protection is more urgent than ever.Through this blog post, let's explore how Microsoft Purview can help organizations stay ahead of securing AI interactions without slowing down innovation.By using Microsoft Purview’s compliance manager, organizations can assess and manage regulatory compliance risks associated with AI usage.
Protect against SharePoint CVE-2025-53770 with Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Microsoft recently disclosed CVE-2025-53770, a critical vulnerability affecting on-premises SharePoint Server versions 2016, 2019, 2010, 2013, and Subscription Edition (SE).The vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE) by chaining two separate CVEs:If exploited, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to bypass authentication, extract cryptographic keys, and execute arbitrary C# code on the server.
Finding the Right Page number in PDFs with AI Search
Associating search results with page numbers enables:3.Using Azure AI Search Indexer with OCR and ImageActionAzure AI Search allows you to extract page-level data by configuring the indexer with:
Cloud forensics: Prepare for the worst -implement security baselines for forensic readiness in Azure
Preparing your Azure environment for forensic readinessCase study: Forensic investigation disrupted due to lack of forensic readiness in Azure[ ] Use Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries in Sentinel to investigate and correlate incidents.
Issuing Custom Claims Using Directory Extension Attributes in Microsoft Entra ID
In some scenarios, organizations may need to pass custom data about users like internal identifiers or sponsorship info to applications during SSO.Microsoft Entra ID supports this using directory extension attributes, which can be registered and referenced in claims.This blog outlines how to register and use custom directory extension attributes in an Enterprise Application and configure them to issue claims conditionally based on group membership.Directory extension attributes are a powerful way to issue dynamic claims in Microsoft Entra ID.
GPT-5 Family of Models & GPT OSS Are Now Available in AI Toolkit for VS Code
This release introduces full support for:OpenAI’s open-source models (GPT OSS) via Azure AI Foundry and ONNX RuntimeThe GPT-5 model family is now fully integrated into AI Toolkit and available via GitHub, Azure AI Foundry, or OpenAI.
Announcing a New Microsoft Security Virtual Training Day
We’re thrilled to announce a brand-new opportunity for learning and growth: Microsoft Virtual Training Day: Strength Cloud Security with Microsoft Defender for Cloud!Learn how to increase cloud security using Microsoft Defender for Cloud and how to deploy security across your DevOps workflows.Microsoft Virtual Training Days offer a host of benefits:
Simplifying Outbound Connectivity Troubleshooting in AKS with Connectivity Analysis (Preview)
Troubleshooting outbound connectivity issues in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) can be daunting.To simplify the network troubleshooting process, we're excited to announce the Connectivity Analysis feature for AKS, now available in Public Preview.This feature leverages the same underlying engine as the Azure Virtual Network Verifier (VNV) tool, and is now purpose-built for AKS scenarios and fully integrated into the AKS Portal experience.
Get the most out of OneDrive with these little-known features!
Instead, in OneDrive, select a folder, select Request Files, and then send the link to contributors so that they can upload their files without seeing anyone else’s content.Click ... next to any file you want to edit in a desktop app, and select Open > Open in app.Control your digital footprint by setting expiration dates on shared links
Listen to an audio overview of a document with Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word
I’m Vishnu Gogula, a Product Manager on the Office AI team.I’m excited to announce a new Microsoft 365 Copilot feature in Word for Windows and Word for the web that allows you to generate and listen to an audio overview of any document.Listen to an audio overview of a document with Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word
What's New in Microsoft EDU webinar - August 2025
Join us on Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 for our latest "What's New in Microsoft EDU" webinar!These 30-minute webinars are put on by the Microsoft Education Product Management group and happen once per month, this month both 8:00am Pacific Time and 4:00pm Pacific time to cover as many global time zones as possible around the world. And don’t worry – we’ll be recording these and posting on our Microsoft Education YouTube channel in the new “What’s New in Microsoft EDU” playlist, so you’ll always to able to watch later or share with others!Here is our August 2025 webinar agenda:
The Future of AI: An Intern's Adventure Improving Usability with Agents
The Future of AI blog series is an evolving collection of posts from the AI Futures team in collaboration with subject matter experts across Microsoft.As an intern on the Azure AI Foundry Product Team, I have the privilege of working on a project called the "model operation agent"—an internal proof-of-concept agent that transforms complex model management into a guided, conversational experience.In this blog, I will walk through the capabilities of the "model operation agent" and demonstrate its functionality.
The Future of AI: An Intern's Adventure Improving Usability with Agents
The Future of AI blog series is an evolving collection of posts from the AI Futures team in collaboration with subject matter experts across Microsoft.As an intern on the Azure AI Foundry Product Team, I have the privilege of working on a project called the "model operation agent"—an internal proof-of-concept agent that transforms complex model management into a guided, conversational experience.In this blog, I will walk through the capabilities of the "model operation agent" and demonstrate its functionality.
Azure App Service Domain module for Terraform
You can create a custom domain name in Azure using the `App Service Domain` service, either through the Azure Portal or the Azure CLI.In this implementation, we demonstrate how to create a custom domain name in Azure using Terraform, leveraging the Azure App Service Domain via the AzApi provider.You just need to have a resource group, a public DNS Zone and then you can add the App Service Domain.
Highlights from MCAPS Start for Partners 2025
We’re seeing strong momentum and tangible value across customer segments with Microsoft’s AI platform—particularly through Copilot and intelligent agents. 🚀 Explore the latest partner innovations and announcements from MCAPS Start for Partners: https://aka.ms/MCAPSHighlights2025
Security baseline for Microsoft Edge version 139
We have reviewed the settings in Microsoft Edge version 139 and updated our guidance with the addition of one setting and the removal of one setting.A new Microsoft Edge security baseline package was just released to the Download Center.Microsoft Edge version 139 introduces 6 new computer settings and 6 new user settings.
GPT-5 in Microsoft 365 Copilot available today!
We’re excited to announce that GPT‑5—OpenAI’s best AI system to-date—is rolling out today in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Studio across the world.GPT-5 is a significant leap in intelligence and becomes even more powerful when applied to work.Bringing GPT-5 to Copilot on the day of its release is part of our commitment to make OpenAI’s latest models available to customers in Microsoft 365 Copilot within 30 days.
Available today: GPT-5 in Microsoft 365 Copilot
We’re excited to announce that GPT‑5—OpenAI’s best AI system to-date—is rolling out today in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Studio across the world.GPT-5 is a significant leap in intelligence and becomes even more powerful when applied to work.Bringing GPT-5 to Copilot on the day of its release is part of our commitment to make OpenAI’s latest models available to customers in Microsoft 365 Copilot within 30 days.
Uncover shadow AI, block threats, and protect data with Microsoft Entra Internet Access
Security teams now face growing blind spots: encrypted traffic obscures visibility, unsanctioned AI usage introduces compliance concerns, and traditional controls often stop at sanctioned apps, leaving a wide perimeter of unmanaged exposure.To close this gap, Microsoft Entra Internet Access introduces three new capabilities:Microsoft Entra Internet Access now offers Application Insights and Analytics, leveraging the app catalog experience in Defender for Apps, to enable your security team to monitor generative AI and cloud app usage across the organization in real time.
Help Shape the Microsoft Ignite Security Roundtable: Take Our Quick Survey
As we prepare for Microsoft Ignite, we’re building a focused, practitioner-led security roundtable and we want your input to ensure it reflects the most relevant and pressing topics in the field.We invite you to take a short survey and share the security topics, trends, and technical questions you want to see covered.Your input will directly influence the structure and substance of the Ignite Security Roundtable.
Azure AI Translation Preprocessing Workflow
Yet, many organizations struggle with inconsistent results, API errors, and high costs when using machine translation services.The Azure AI Translation Preprocessing Workflow is a purpose-built solution designed to bridge the gap between raw document inputs and high-quality machine translation outcomes.Developed in response to real-world enterprise challenges, this service automates the preprocessing of multilingual documents, ensuring they meet Azure AI Translate’s strict formatting and content standards.
Becoming Frontier: AI, agents and how communicators can lead the way
At the center of this transformation wave in the next 12 -18 months will be the concept of the “Frontier Firm”.At the heart of becoming Frontier are four pillars that can guide how AI delivers real value in our organizations, and for communications: In this upcoming webinar, we’ll dive deeper into each of these pillars of AI transformation in the frontier firm and explore how Microsoft is embracing them to reshape communications - from the tools we use to the culture we build.
GPT-5 in Azure AI Foundry: The future of AI apps and agents starts here
OpenAI’s GPT-5 is available today in Azure AI Foundry. GPT-5 adds advanced capabilities to support agentic workflows, complex code synthesis, and safer, more flexible integrations.Unified reasoning + chat for end-to-end problem solving
Introducing Azure App Testing: Scalable End-to-end App Validation
Azure App Testing enables developers and QA teams to run large-scale functional and performance tests to pinpoint issues in their applications, across frameworks like Playwright, JMeter, or Locust.It brings together two powerful testing capabilities—Azure Load Testing and Microsoft Playwright Testing—into a single hub in the Azure Portal, providing a consistent experience for resource provisioning, access control, and consolidated billing.With Azure App Testing, developer and QA teams can provision, manage, and pay for both Load Testing and Playwright Workspaces under a single umbrella.
Transforming Dynamics 365 Customer Data with Azure Maps | Inogic Guest Post
As Microsoft’s native geospatial platform, Azure Maps delivers enterprise-grade capabilities such as mapping, geocoding, routing, and spatial analytics directly into your Dynamics 365 environment, making location insights native, seamless, and powerful.Developed by Inogic and available on Microsoft AppSource, Maplytics is a Microsoft-certified, geo-analytical app designed to seamlessly integrate Azure Maps and Bing Maps with Dynamics 365, Power Apps, Dataverse, and Power Pages.Maplytics offers a comprehensive suite of advanced features built on Azure Maps and Bing Maps for Enterprise, including:
Understanding foundation model changes in Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft regularly enhances the underlying AI models that power Microsoft 365 Copilot.Customers do not need to make changes to their environment to account for new model changes.Microsoft regularly updates the underlying AI models to improve the performance, reasoning, and multimodal capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Copilot Chat, and agents.
What’s new in FinOps toolkit 12 – July 2025
That’s why the FinOps toolkit 12 release introduces a new Summary page in the Cost summary report, designed specifically to provide a high-level, executive-friendly view of cost drivers across your environment.To ensure compatibility with the latest features and improvements in Microsoft Cost Management, the FinOps toolkit PowerShell commands for Cost Management exports were all updated to default to the latest GA API version, 2025-03-01.To support this momentum, I’m also working on a set of premium services designed to help organizations deploy, customize, and scale the FinOps toolkit with confidence.
Multi-tenant endpoint security policies distribution is now in Public Preview
We’re excited to announce a key milestone in Defender’s multi-tenant management journey—Microsoft Defender for Endpoint security policies can now be distributed across multiple tenants from the Defender multi-tenant portal.Content distribution is a powerful Defender feature that enables scalable management of content across tenants.With this capability, you can create content distribution profiles in the multi-tenant portal that allow you to seamlessly replicate existing content—such as custom detection rules and now, endpoint security policies—from a source tenant to designated target tenants.
Cloud Update Reaches General Availability: Transforming Microsoft 365 Apps Management
The wait is over: the Cloud Update feature is now generally available (GA) in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center, ushering in a new era for update management.Designed to simplify and modernize how organizations handle Microsoft 365 Apps updates, Cloud Update is already making waves with its ease of use and impressive results in keeping environments current and secure.One of the perennial challenges for IT admins is maintaining a high update currency rate—making sure that as many devices as possible are running the latest, most secure, and feature-rich versions of Microsoft 365 Apps. Cloud Update sets a new standard here, enabling organizations to achieve higher currency rates than legacy management solutions.
Nail back-to-school planning with Microsoft Copilot
Consider leveraging Microsoft Copilot to organize your schedule, check items off those to-do lists, and start the school year calm, cool, and collected!Complete your school supplies checklistWith a new school year on the horizon, it’s time to get the supplies list and purchase the “must have’s” and the “nice to have’s.”
Create your own Bicep Local Extension using .NET
Bicep Local Deploy can be used to author Bicep files which use Bicep extensions that are designed to run fully locally, without the need for an Azure connection.This quick start guide provides guidance for creating your own Bicep Local Extension using .NET.This guide assumes you have the .NET 9 SDK installed locally, and the Bicep 0.37.4 (or higher) CLI and VSCode extension installed.
Model Mondays S2E8: On-Device & Local AI
Generate a technical blog post for Model Mondays S2E8 based on the transcript and episode details.Join us as we talk to Mona Whalin about the Azure AI Foundry Agent Catalog – open-source samples you can explore to accelerate your agent development by integration into projects.That's why we have the Azure AI Developer Community.
Monthly news - August 2025
Microsoft Defender XDRMonthly news - August 2025 EditionThis is our monthly "What's new" blog post, summarizing product updates and various new assets we released over the past month across our Defender products.We announced a significant expansion of Microsoft Sentinel’s capabilities through the introduction of Sentinel data lake, now rolling out in public preview.
QTip: Maintenance plan for performance issues demo
In update statistics and rebuild indexes there is not status of the process it means you will not see % of the process you will see an update when process is finished.-- This will update all the statistics on all the tables in your database.-- This will rebuild all the indexes on all the tables in your database.
New data lake in Microsoft Sentinel
-Microsoft Sentinel, our industry-leading SIEM, now has a brand-new unified data lake, and this changes everything.-Our new data lake takes an open-format approach to bring all your security data together, centrally leveraging our expanding set of connectors, and you can even mirror data from on-premises and non-Microsoft cloud data sources at hyperscale without migrating it.-This means you can now bring in high-volume, low fidelity, and long-term data, like firewall logs, that previously were not practical to keep, so that you now have the data to discover low and slow attacks happening under the radar, as attackers take weeks to months before striking, and disrupt them with Microsoft Sentinel’s built-in threat intelligence, automation, and AI, all in one single solution.
Validate Updates Early by Staggering Maintenance in Azure PostgreSQL
This article shows how to leverage System-Managed Windows (SMW) and Custom Maintenance Windows (CMW)** to patch Dev/UAT servers first and defer production updates by a week.Azure offers two types of maintenance scheduling for PostgreSQL flexible server:💡 Tip: Use Azure Service Health alerts to stay on top of maintenance notifications.
Partner Case Study | CoreView
Save the Children's IT team navigates complex administration across 65 countries, 25,000 individuals, and 30 unique IT setups, with 19 sharing a Microsoft 365 tenant.In the heart of a transformative period, the organization encountered a critical issue: A simple misconfiguration by an employee altered a local email setting globally, inadvertently disrupting email access for 20,000 users.This incident underscored the complexities and risks inherent in managing a global IT system and highlighted the urgent need for a more refined, secure, and efficient management solution.
Announcing GA of Bicep templates support for Microsoft Entra ID resources
We're thrilled to announce that Bicep templates for Microsoft Entra ID resources is generally available from July 29th, 2025.Bicep templates bring declarative infrastructure as code (IaC) capabilities to Microsoft Graph resources.Azure Resource Manager and Bicep templates allow you to declare Microsoft Azure resources in files and deploy those resources into your infrastructure.
Mastering Agent Governance in Microsoft 365
The "Mastering Agent Governance in Microsoft 365" series is based on the Administering and Governing Agents whitepaper published by Microsoft and designed to educate IT leaders, compliance officers, and decision-makers about the importance of governance for AI agents in Microsoft 365, particularly in highly regulated industries like Healthcare and Life Sciences (HLS).The six-episode series cover the growing role of agents, the risks of unmanaged agents, and the strategic importance of governance frameworks.A practical roadmap for responsible AI adoption in regulated industries
Determine Onboarding Methods in Defender for Endpoint - Part 1
Onboarding devices in Defender for Endpoint using a GPO is a method that is perfect for on-premises only devices.The reason for this is, if you mix your Endpoint security policies with another GPO that might be applying security settings to your devices, it will make your troubleshooting process more difficult because you will have to focus on two different areas to troubleshoot and depending on the number of settings you have defined in the GPO you are using for both, it can be prone to errors.Normally, organizations that have a well-established implementation of MCM prefer to use this platform because the device collections where they keep organized their devices by operating system and the task sequences to provision devices in an automated way has been used and maintained by the organization for a long time and it becomes second nature to use the platform to onboard your devices in Defender for Endpoint using a well-known method for MCM administrators.
What's New in Excel (July 2025)
Welcome to the July 2025 update.The new Get Data dialog for Power Query brings together search and recommendations in a streamlined layout to help you quickly locate the right data source to bring data from.Power Query refresh & data source settings for authenticated data sourcesYou can now refresh the Power Query queries in your workbook that source data from a selection of authenticated data sources.
Azure Automation: General Availability of PowerShell 7.4, Python 3.10 runbooks, Runtime Environment
General Availability of PowerShell 7.4 and Python 3.10 runtime versions.Support for Azure CLI commands in PowerShell runbooks (GA).Run your automation on the latest, supported runtime versions and improve security, performance, and compatibility with the broader Azure ecosystem.
Develop Custom Engine Agent to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat with pro-code
There are some great articles that explain how to integrate an MCP server built on Azure with a declarative agent created using Microsoft Copilot Studio.While debugging the ASP.NET Core part we just walked through in the source code, it also launches the Agent Playground from the other project.Next, create a development tunnel to allow external access to the project you will run in debug mode.
راهنمای کامل راهاندازی، همگامسازی یکپارچه فایلها بین سرورهای داخلی و آژور
:سرویس همگامسازی فایل آژوریکی از سرویسهای قدرتمند مایکروسافت در حوزهی ذخیرهسازی ابری است که به سازمانها امکان میدهد فایل سرورهای محلی خود را بدون نیاز به مهاجرت کامل به ابر، با فضای ذخیرهسازی آژور همگامسازی کنند. این سرویس به ویژه برای کسبوکارهایی که به زیرساخت داخلی خود متکی هستند، ولی میخواهند از مزایای مقیاسپذیری، امنیت و قابلیت اطمینان فضای ابری نیز بهرهمند شوند، طراحی شده است:ادامه مطلبAzure File sync on Microsoft MSFarsi Community
Azure راهنمای کامل راهاندازی، همگامسازی یکپارچه فایلها بین سرورهای داخلی و
:سرویس همگامسازی فایل آژوریکی از سرویسهای قدرتمند مایکروسافت در حوزهی ذخیرهسازی ابری است که به سازمانها امکان میدهد فایل سرورهای محلی خود را بدون نیاز به مهاجرت کامل به ابر، با فضای ذخیرهسازی آژور همگامسازی کنند. این سرویس به ویژه برای کسبوکارهایی که به زیرساخت داخلی خود متکی هستند، ولی میخواهند از مزایای مقیاسپذیری، امنیت و قابلیت اطمینان فضای ابری نیز بهرهمند شوند، طراحی شده است:ادامه مطلبAzure File sync |Microsoft MSFarsi Community
How do I A/B test different versions of my agent?
Each post answers a real question from the community with simple, practical guidance to help you build smarter agents.With agent versioning in the AI Toolkit, you can explore new prompts, models, or tools without breaking what already works.To take full advantage of versioning, let’s create a second version of the Movie Recommendation agent with a different system prompt that states how to format the model response.
Connectivity options between Hub-and-Spoke and Azure Virtual WAN
The goal of this article is to expand on additional options that can help customers to migrate to their existing Hub and Spoke topology to Azure Virtual WAN.In this scenario, spokes vNet originally connected to vNet Hub are migrated to the vHub while maintaining existing peering with the vNet Hub but with the Use Remote Gateway configuration disabled.This article outlined four strategies for migrating from Hub and Spoke networking to Azure Virtual WAN—ExpressRoute hair pinning, VPN or SD-WAN virtual tunnels, vNet peering with vHub connections, and transit virtual networks for decentralized vNets—highlighting their pros, cons, and administrative considerations.
Agentless code scanning for GitHub and Azure DevOps (preview)
Agentless code scanning customization options in the Defender for Cloud portalBut Defender for Cloud also supports in-pipeline scanning using Microsoft Security DevOps (MSDO) command line application for Azure DevOps or GitHub Action.Learn more in the Defender for Cloud in the Field episode on agentless code scanning
Immersive events in Microsoft Teams, a new way to host interactive and engaging virtual events
To solve this, we’re integrating immersive capabilities directly into Microsoft Teams, bringing a new powerful event solution that enables teams to create engaging, virtual event experiences using the familiar tools you already know and trust.Introducing immersive events in Teams, customizable 3D event experiences without complexityToday, we are excited to announce the public preview availability of immersive events in Teams.
Messaging Connect: Global SMS Coverage Now Available in Azure Communication Services
We’re excited to announce the public preview of Messaging Connect, a new partner-led program that brings global SMS coverage to Azure Communication Services—starting with Infobip, one of the world’s leading communication providers.This launch is made possible through a strategic partnership with Infobip, a global communications platform with direct connections to 800+ carriers across more than 190 countries and territories.Messaging Connect is now in public preview with Infobip as the first integrated partner.
Oracle Database@Azure: New Services, More Regions & Enhanced Security for Faster Innovation
These include the public preview of the Base Database Service, expanded availability in key global regions, enhanced networking capabilities now generally available, and support for new deployment options with Exadata on Exascale.We’re excited to announce that Oracle Base Database Service is now in public preview on Oracle [email protected]’re excited to announce that Oracle Database@Azure now supports storing Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) keys in Azure Key Vault (AKV)—a significant milestone for organizations seeking full control over their encryption strategy.
Teams immersive, a new way to host interactive and engaging virtual events
To solve this, we’re integrating immersive capabilities directly into Microsoft Teams, bringing a new powerful event solution that enables teams to create engaging, virtual event experiences using the familiar tools you already know and trust.Introducing Teams immersive, customizable 3D event experiences without the complexityToday, we are excited to announce the public preview availability of immersive events in Teams.
Coming to OneNote: Merge Table Cells and Paste Text Only
You can now merge table cells in OneNote!The ability to Merge Table Cells is now available to all OneNote Insiders on supported platforms.Paste Text Only shortcut in OneNote
Zero Trust and Cloud-Native Windows
Microsoft Intune provides a strong foundation for managing Windows devices in line with Zero Trust principles.Cloud-native endpoint management for Windows devices, or cloud-native Windows, refers to Windows devices that are Entra-joined and Intune-managed — a foundational shift from traditional, on-premises models.Cloud-native Windows ensures that devices are seamlessly integrated into modern security frameworks, enabling adaptive access controls and real-time compliance checks.
AI Security Essentials: What Companies Worry About and How Microsoft Helps
These include security and privacy, regulatory compliance, ethical factors, and compatibility with existing IT systems.Additionally, Microsoft Priva integrates seamlessly with Purview to apply sensitivity labels and data loss prevention (DLP) policies, classify sensitive information types (SITs) such as Social Security numbers, health records, and financial data, and enforce encryption and access controls across devices and applications.AI Security Posture Management (AI-SPM) in Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Deprecation of native public folder migrations to service from very old versions of Exchange
We are deprecating support for public folder migrations from Exchange Server 2010 and older versions to Exchange Online to reduce reliance on older systems and improve long-term service reliability.Public folder migrations from these on premises versions to Exchange Online (Public Folders and Microsoft 365 Groups) will be blocked starting October 1st, 2025.Customers migrating public folders from Exchange Server 2010 and older to Exchange Online can continue to use Microsoft migration tools until October 1st, 2025, but should complete their public folder migration by this date.
Upgrade to Windows 11 with Windows Autopatch groups
Have you tried Windows Autopatch groups for the gradual rollout of Windows feature updates?Windows Autopatch offers the fastest, safest way to upgrade to Windows 11—built for phased, controlled rollouts that align with IT priorities. With Windows 10 support ending on October 14, 2025, some organizations must still decide whether to enroll in Extended Security Updates or move forward with upgrading to Windows 11. For those ready to upgrade, here is a proven step-by-step approach using Windows Autopatch groups.Before creating Windows Autopatch groups, use the Windows 11 readiness report to evaluate the readiness of your devices based on CPU, TPM, RAM, and app compatibility. The report will help you easily:
Windows 11 cloud-native migration with Microsoft Intune
Have Windows 10 domain-joined and co-managed devices, but ready to migrate to Windows 11 and cloud-native management with Microsoft Intune.To facilitate a smooth upgrade to Windows 11, first check that all your Windows 10 devices are on the latest supported release (Windows 10, version 22H2) and have all updates installed.Migrating to Windows 11 and Microsoft Intune from Windows 10 domain-joined and co-managed environments positions your organization for future success.
Windows Server 2025 Software Defined Datacenter: Networking Deployment Series (3/6)
Welcome to part three of our Networking Deployment Series for Windows Server 2025.In this deployment series, we look at Contoso Medical Center’s journey deploying and harnessing the power of Windows Server 2025 Software Defined Datacenter (SDDC) to build a next-generation environment for your VMs and applications.Now, with Windows Server 2025, Contoso can deploy Network Controller— the brains of SDN—on Windows Failover Cluster, unlocking the ability to run SDN production workloads in under 10 minutes, no VMs to patch, and so long as the hosts are patched, Network Controller is patched.
Navigating modern economic dissonance with prescriptive analytics from Board in Azure Marketplace
Has consumer sentiment been collapsing?According to the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index, the answer is yes—despite a notable rebound in June.While consumer pessimism dominates headlines, the deeper issue is the proliferation of contradictory economic data.
Managed Identity support for Azure Key Vault in SQL Server running on Linux
We are happy to announce that, you can now use Managed Identity to authenticate to Azure Key Vault from SQL Server running on Azure VM (Linux) available from SQL Server 2022 CU18 onwards. This blog will walk you through the process of using a user-assigned managed identity to access Azure Key Vault and configure Transparent Data Encryption(TDE) for a SQL database.Using managed identity to access Azure Key Vault in SQL Server running on an Azure Linux VM boosts security, streamlines key management, and supports compliance.
Creating Intelligent Video Summaries and Avatar Videos with Azure AI Services
Imagine a world where every second of your organization’s video content whether it’s a crucial training session, a product demo, or an expert-led seminar becomes instantly accessible, searchable, and actionable.Join me as we dive into the future of intelligent video analytics, where Microsoft Azure’s cutting-edge AI transforms raw footage into powerful knowledge assets.Traditional video content management faces several critical limitations:
Securing Containerized Applications with Application Gateway for Containers and Azure WAF
Azure Application Gateway for Containers is a modern, Kubernetes-native Layer 7 load balancer designed to manage ingress traffic for containerized applications running in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).Application Gateway for Containers is the evolution of the Application Gateway Ingress Controller (AGIC), and introduces a new control and data plane architecture, enabling near-instant updates to routes, probes, and backend pods.Azure Application Gateway for Containers paired with Web Application Firewall (WAF) offers a powerful, flexible, and Kubernetes-native approach to securing microservices at the edge.
Introducing API Management Support in the Azure SRE Agent
In May, the Azure SRE Agent was introduced - an AI-powered Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) assistant built to help customers identify, diagnose, and resolve issues across their Azure environments faster and with less manual effort. Today, we’re excited to highlight how the SRE Agent now extends these capabilities to Azure API Management (APIM) , delivering deep operational visibility, guided troubleshooting, and intelligent remediation for customers running critical APIs at scale.The SRE Agent continuously monitors the overall health of your API Management service.
Azure Support Slack Bot on Azure Container Apps: Production-ready guide
Launch a secure, scalable Slack bot for Azure support tickets in minutes — no secrets in code, no manual admin steps, and fully aligned with modern cloud-native best practices.It’s not just a cool demo — it’s a production-ready blueprint for any digital native team that wants to integrate Slack with Azure support in a secure, automated, and developer-friendly way.After updating your Slack App Manifest with the production URL, Slack will attempt to verify the new endpoint.
Take Notes Automatically in In-Person Meetings with Microsoft Teams Mobile App & Facilitator Agent
Now you can make that happen, right from your phone, with the Microsoft Teams mobile app and the Facilitator agent.Open the Teams app on your phoneSelect "Take notes with Facilitator"
Keep data updated with PivotTable Auto Refresh in Excel
I’m so excited to share with you a long-awaited PivotTable feature in Microsoft Excel for Windows and Mac: PivotTable Auto Refresh!Keep data updated with PivotTable Auto Refresh in ExcelAuto Refresh is on by default for new PivotTables.
🚨 Azure Service Health Built-In Policy (Preview) – Now Available!
Up until now there has been no native scalable solution to provide consistent notifications across Azure subscriptions for Service Health events.We’re excited to announce the release of Azure Service Health Built-In Policy (Preview), a new built-in Azure Policy designed to simplify and scale the deployment of Service Health alerts across your Azure environment.This policy enables customers to automatically deploy Service Health alerts across subscriptions, ensuring consistent visibility into platform-level issues that may impact workloads.
Microsoft Fabric آشنایی با
.مایکروسافت فبریک یک راهحل تحلیلی همهجانبه برای شرکتها است که همه چیز از جابجایی داده تا علم داده، تجزیه و تحلیل بلادرنگ و هوش تجاری را پوشش میدهد تجزیه و تحلیل مقیاس پذیر می تواند پیچیده، تکه تکه و گران باشد. با مایکروسافت فبریک، لازم نیست تمام وقت خود را صرف ترکیب خدمات مختلف از فروشندگان مختلف کنید. در عوض، میتوانید از یک محصول واحد استفاده کنید که به راحتی قابل درک، راهاندازی، ایجاد و مدیریت است. فبریک تجربیات و ابزارهای بهینه شده برای افراد را در یک رابط کاربری یکپارچه ارائه می دهد:ادامه مطلبآشنایی-با-مایکروسافت-فبریک
Azure ExpressRoute Direct: A Comprehensive Overview
Azure ExpressRoute allows you to extend your on-premises network into the Microsoft cloud over a private connection made possible through a connectivity provider.ExpressRoute allows you to create a connection between your on-premises network and the Microsoft cloud in four different ways, CloudExchange Colocation, Point-to-point Ethernet Connection, Any-to-any (IPVPN) Connection, and ExpressRoute Direct.Once your ExpressRoute circuit is created and VLAN connectivity is established, the next crucial step involves setting up BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) sessions between your network and Microsoft's infrastructure.
Draft and deploy - Azure Firewall policy changes [Preview]
Azure Firewall, Microsoft’s fully managed, cloud-native service, offers robust security capabilities including stateful packet inspection, advanced threat prevention, autoscaling, and centralized policy enforcement across distributed Azure environments.To further simplify policy administration, the recently introduced draft and deploy feature enables security teams to safely edit firewall policies in a staging environment and apply those changes atomically.The following CLI commands could be used to update the policy draft.
Strategic Solutions for Seamless Integration of Third-Party SaaS
Developers are expected to build architectures that connect easily with third-party platforms, but too often, core systems are designed in isolation.The real challenge is integrating them with internal systems such as Demand Planning, Offer Management, and Employee Central.This blog post outlines a strategy centered around two foundational components: an Integration and Orchestration Layer, and a Messaging Platform.
News to Know - Volume 2, Edition 5, July 2025
To help you get the most out of the Viva Glint product, this July 2025 newsletter is full of need-to-knows which coincide with the last three months of platform deployments and enhancements. Now available for all tenants, Microsoft 365 global admins can control Copilot in Viva Glint availability for your organization, groups, or users in the Microsoft 365 admin center.Throughout the summer, the People Science team will be publishing a monthly blog series on new trends and insights related to People Success.
Two Powerful Ways to Create Surveys with Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
In this post, we’ll explore two effective methods for building surveys directly within Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: using the “Create a form” feature and leveraging the innovative Survey Agent.1. Creating Surveys with “Create a Form” in Microsoft 365 Copilot ChatMicrosoft 365 Copilot Chat offers flexible and intelligent options for survey creation.
Effortless Video Sharing in Microsoft 365: Unlocking the Power of SharePoint Media Libraries
Microsoft 365 offers a robust set of tools for storing, managing, and sharing videos, making it easy to distribute engaging content across your organization.Sharing Videos from SharePoint Media LibrariesMicrosoft 365 and SharePoint make video sharing intuitive, secure, and versatile.
Bring Auxiliary Logs to the next level
That’s why we’re excited to announce a series of major advancements to Auxiliary Logs, the Azure Monitor plan that is designed for high volume logs, making it more cost-effective and improving the tools for use.Auxiliary Logs works in tandem with all other Azure Monitor tools including the more powerful Basic and Analytics Logs plans.Public Preview of KQL Transformations for Auxiliary Logs
New Surface Laptop 5G for Business, Copilot+ PC
As the first Surface Laptop to feature 5G, it enables enterprise-ready AI features for deeper insights, productivity boosts, and powerful local inferencing wherever work happens.Surface Laptop 5G supports both physical Nano and eSIM for flexibility to connect from anywhere.This is the first Surface Copilot+ PC to support Intel with 5G and it comes with a choice of Intel Core Ultra 5 and 7 processors.
Microsoft AI Security Story: Protection Across the Platform
Although, as organizations leverage AI to enhance productivity and decision-making, risk associated with AI vulnerabilities, data exposure, attacks, and misuse have become increasing targeted.Understanding these challenges, Microsoft has approached AI security with a platform architecture approach.We discuss Microsoft’s robust AI security story, highlighting the platform approach.
Defender for Storage: Malware Scan Error Message Update
Starting August 2025, Defender for Storage will update the format of error messages returned by malware scanning.The new messages will retain the SAM2592XX: codes, but use clearer, standardized wording and will no longer appear in quotes.The updated error message format for Defender for Storage malware scans will begin with high-level states such as Scan failed or Not scanned.
What’s new in Microsoft Intune: July 2025
This month we made Local Admin Password Solution (LAPS) integration generally available for macOS automated device enrollment.The IT help desk admin retrieves the password from Intune, completes their tasks, rotates the password, and returns the device without compromising security.The timing of this new capability is particularly important because Apple announced at WWDC that MDM software updates will be deprecated with the Apple OS 26 releases in 2025.
Azure Virtual Desktop metadata database now available in Korea Central
We’re pleased to announce that the Azure Virtual Desktop metadata database is now available in the Korea Central region.By extending regional availability, we continue to enhance Azure Virtual Desktop’s performance, support data residency, and meet compliance requirements across more markets.Get started with configuring your Azure Virtual Desktop environment in Korea Central, visit the Data Locations for Azure Virtual Desktop documentation to learn more.
Provide a Flat Network Scaling Solution to AKS - Azure CNI Pod Subnet - Static Block Allocation
We are excited to announce the general availability of Azure CNI Pod Subnet - Static Block Allocation – a networking solution that transforms how you scale Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters! This long-awaited feature is now here, providing enterprise-grade flat networking for clusters in unprecedented capacity.Azure CNI Pod Subnet - Static Block Allocation revolutionizes AKS networking by expanding cluster capacity from 65K to 1M pods – a game-changing 15x increase that eliminates traditional scaling barriers. Azure CNI Pod Subnet - Static Block Allocation enables VNet-routed IP addresses that can scale to over 1M pods, providing the simplicity and low latency of a flat network.
Safer Drivers, Stronger Devices
At Surface, we are improving the security and reliability of Surface devices and drivers and raising the security bar for the entire Windows ecosystem by embracing Rust, a modern programming language designed with memory safety at its core.The impact of the Rust Windows Drivers platformwindows-drivers-rs is a Microsoft open-source project focused on enabling Windows driver development using the Rust programming language.
Automate bulk metadata updates in Microsoft Purview Data Map using Azure Functions and AI
Automate and streamline bulk metadata updates in Microsoft Purview Data Map using serverless Azure Functions.Purview API with Secure AccessMetadata updates are processed in bulk using the REST API, authorized by a Managed Identity token.By combining Azure Functions, Microsoft Purview REST API, and Managed Identity, you can build a secure, scalable, and automated solution for bulk metadata updates.
Smart AI integration with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) ... part 3B
A discussion on Model Context Protocol:Part 3 - A demo of MCP — including how to configure it so anyone can run itThe Coding Agent is an autonomous, AI-powered software development agent integrated into GitHub.
What's new in Viva Insights
We’re excited to announce a variety of new features for Viva Insights, which include a unified experience for accessing the Copilot Dashboard and advanced analysis tools in the new Viva Insights web app, and newly available Power BI reports for measuring Copilot Studio agents adoption and impact and employee learning.With the public preview launch of the Copilot Studio agents report, customers can now understand the adoption and impact of custom agents built using Microsoft Copilot Studio, and measure agent-driven productivity gains and user satisfaction.That’s why we’re excited to introduce the Learning Culture report in Viva Insights—a new Power BI template designed to help HR professionals and business leaders measure and foster a culture of continuous learning across their organizations.
Dream it. See it. Ship it.
Spark empowers developers, builders, and dreamers —— to build and ship intelligent apps from prototype to production using natural language, visual controls, targeted edits, or code.It’s deeply integrated into the GitHub platform and Microsoft ecosystem, enabling users to build quickly and securely.Build your way: Use natural language, visual editing controls, or code with GitHub Copilot code completions at your fingertips to iterate on your ideas.
MSSQL Extension for VS Code: Agent Mode Updates, Colored Connections, and Schema Designer updates
In version v1.34.0, we’ve focused this release on deepening GitHub Copilot Agent Mode, improving connection clarity through color-coded indicators, making local container workflows more flexible, enhancing the Schema Designer, and solving bugs across the experience.What’s new in MSSQL extension for VS Code v1.34You can now assign custom colors to your connections and instantly recognize them in the VS Code status bar.
Microsoft Connected Cache is now generally available
We are proud to announce the general availability of Microsoft Connected Cache on July 23, 2025, to Enterprise and Education organizations.Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education is available to all organizations with Windows Enterprise (E3, E5, and F3) or Windows Education (A3 and A5) entitlements, or a more comprehensive Microsoft 365 subscription.Connected Cache complements Delivery Optimization peer-to-peer as a dedicated software caching solution that can be deployed within your network.
ICYMI | Stand out in the marketplace with a Microsoft Copilot specialization
The Microsoft Copilot specialization showcases your expertise providing consulting and professional services around Copilot.The Microsoft Copilot specialization demonstrates your experience and capabilities with Copilot, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, Copilot Studio, and agents.Explore AI Advisory Services for Microsoft Copilot.
Stand out in the marketplace with a Microsoft Copilot specialization
The Microsoft Copilot specialization demonstrates your experience and capabilities with Copilot, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat, Copilot Studio, and agents.Explore AI Advisory Services for Microsoft Copilot. If your organization has already attained one or more of these designations, please review the Microsoft Copilot specialization criteria—which include performance metrics, skilling requirements, and customer references—and begin to work toward meeting them.
Announcing Microsoft 365 Copilot Search General Availability: A new era of search with Copilot
Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot Search, available as a dedicated module within the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, accessible across desktop, web, and mobile platforms.Microsoft 365 Copilot Search leverages the power of artificial intelligence to simplify and accelerate your search for valuable insights when you need information in a pinch.Microsoft 365 Copilot Search is available through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.
RDP Multipath is now generally available for Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365
We’re excited to announce the General Availability (GA) of RDP Multipath for both Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and Windows 365.This new feature dynamically evaluates multiple network paths between your physical device and Cloud PC or session host to help to maintain seamless connectivity and minimize the risk of disconnections.RDP Multipath is being rolled out in phases across Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365. Until the rollout is complete, the feature may not be available across all connections. Each phase is guided by quality benchmarks to ensure a stable and reliable experience as deployment expands.
Always-On Diagnostics for Endpoint DLP
Always-on Diagnostics for Endpoint DLP is our answer, and it's now available in public preview for Windows Endpoints.Always-on Diagnostics represents a fundamental shift from reactive troubleshooting to proactive intelligence.Always-on Diagnostics is available in public preview for all Microsoft Endpoint DLP customers.
The Future of AI: Optimize Your Site for Agents - It's Cool to be a Tool
Below we outline recent best practices, including how Microsoft’s NLWeb project fits in, and other emerging standards to make your site "agent-ready."NLWeb essentially lets you turn your website into a conversational AI app.Conversational Interface for Your Site: NLWeb allows you to deploy a natural language query interface on top of your site’s data.
Frontline Fridays Session 5: Turbocharging your employee home experience through customization
This session will spotlight the Employee Home Experience—a personalized, mobile-first dashboard in Microsoft Teams that brings together everything your frontline teams need in one place: tasks, news, announcements, and company resources.See how the Home Experience, powered by Viva Connections makes frontline employee experience seamless through a ‘Day in the life of a store associate.Companies like American Airlines, Domino’s, Conagra, and BASF are already transforming their frontline experience with Teams—boosting connectivity, streamlining operations, and increasing engagement.
Workspaces Are Now Generally Available In Azure API Management Premium v2
We’re excited to announce the general availability of workspaces and workspace gateways in the Premium v2 tier of Azure API Management!Premium v2 tier remains in preview at the time of this announcement.Workspaces enable management and governance of APIs at scale.
Dynamics 365 آشنایی با
داینامیکس 365 مجموعهای از برنامههای تجاری هوشمند است که کارایی عملیاتی برتر و تجربیات مشتری را به دست میآورد که به کسبوکارها امکان میدهد بدون افزایش هزینهها، چابکتر شوند و پیچیدگی را کاهش دهند. به شما کمک میکند کل کسب و کار خود را اداره کنید و از طریق بینشهای پیشبینیکننده و مبتنی بر هوش مصنوعی، نتایج بهتری ارائه دهید. برنامههای داینامیکس 365 برای کار با یکدیگر – و با سیستمهای موجود شما – برای راهحلی جامع ساخته شدهاند که کل تجارت شما را به هم متصل میکند. بنابراین شما با هر مشتری ارتباط برقرار می کنید:ادامه مطلبآشنایی با Dynamics 365 – MSFarsi |Microsoft MSFarsi Community
Agentic AI research-methodology - part 1
In this blog we provide a practical guide for transitioning agentic AI projects from research to production.In part one we will explore how to effectively design agentic AI systems - AI agents that can reason over and generate unstructured data - by emphasizing the importance of clearly defining the problem and understanding why AI is needed.Agentic AI: a paradigm where autonomous agents, powered by large language models (LLMs), collaborate to reason over unstructured data and generate meaningful outcomes.
Call Function App from Azure Data Factory with Managed Identity Authentication
Integrating Azure Function Apps into your Azure Data Factory (ADF) workflows is a common practice.To enhance security beyond the use of function API keys, leveraging managed identity authentication is strongly recommended.Given the fact that many existing guides were outdated with recent updates to Azure services, this article provides a comprehensive, up-to-date walkthrough on configuring managed identity in ADF to securely call Function Apps.
Capture Java Thread Dump from Kudu console on Windows App Service
In Azure App Service, we provide ability to capture Java thread dump of your Java application by using "Diagnostic & Solve Problem".We can do the same by capturing the thread dump from kudu console in Windows App Service.Now you can find and download the java thread dump files from the same folder.
🌟 Community Spotlight – Nicola Delfino
In this edition of Community Spotlight, we're highlighting some outstanding contributions from the Microsoft communities.Nicola has created and been maintaining a Hub and Spoke playground repository.nicolgit/hub-and-spoke-playgroundA collection of BICEP/ARM templates that deploys on Azure a hub & spoke net topology aligned with Microsoft Enterprise scale landing zone ref architecture to use as a playground for testing and studying.
Hello? Computer? Conversational Interfaces are the Key, not the Keyboard
Generative AI tools like Microsoft Copilot and other advanced chat-based AIs are not just products.They’re a profound shift in how we interact with information.From Point-and-Click to Just Ask
Introducing the Improved Search Job Experience in Azure Monitor Log Analytics
A search job is an asynchronous query that runs on any data in your Log Analytics workspace, including data from the long-term retention, making the results available for further queries in a new Analytics table within your workspace.To efficiently search massive datasets, Search Job divides queries into smaller time-based segments, processes them in parallel, and returns the results. With the new Search Job experience, scanning through massive volumes of logs is now fast, simple, and intuitive.
Identities with Custom ID: A Simpler, Smarter Way to Manage Communication Users
Azure Communication Services (ACS) now solves that with Identities with Custom IDs.This new feature allows developers to associate ACS-generated identities with custom application-defined identifiers (like emails or usernames).These custom identifiers make it easy to recognize and reuse an ACS user identity across multiple sessions — enabling smoother experiences, stronger data consistency, and more intelligent engagement across the entire customer journey.
Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance now available as an add-on for Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium is our comprehensive productivity and security solution designed for small and medium-sized businesses (up to 300 users).We’re excited to announce that starting late August 2025, Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers will be eligible to purchase Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance as an add-on, bringing enterprise-grade capabilities to Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers, helping small and medium-sized businesses manage risk, protect sensitive data, and simplify compliance, all within a unified Microsoft experience. E5 Compliance is available for purchase as an add-on to Microsoft 365 Business Premium in late August 2025.
Azure VMware Solution now available in Spain Central
We are pleased to announce that Azure VMware Solution is now available in Spain Central.Now in 35 Azure regions, Azure VMware Solution empowers you to seamlessly extend or migrate existing VMware workloads to Azure without the cost, effort or risk of re-architecting applications or retooling operations. We recently announced the VMware Rapid Migration Plan, where Microsoft provides a comprehensive set of licensing benefits and programs to give you price protection and savings as you migrate to Azure VMware Solution.
From Individual Voices to Collective Insight
In April 2025, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released over 10,000 public comments in response to its AI Action Plan.These comments—ranging from a few words to over 40,000—offer a rare and powerful snapshot of how Americans feel about the future of artificial intelligence.In my final Blog Post, I’ll show how to bring these insights to life for end users—embedding them into Microsoft 365 Copilot as a custom agent that empowers policy analysts to explore, query, and act on public feedback in real time.
Resilience in action for Windows devices
Windows 11, version 24H2 (KB5062660), introduces two major advancements that strengthen system resilience and minimize downtime: a redesigned user experience for unexpected restarts and the general availability of quick machine recovery.With Windows 11, version 24H2, we’re introducing a more streamlined user interface for unexpected restarts that’s more than just a color change.The new UI for unexpected restarts is now generally available for all devices on Windows 11, 24H2.
Boost mobile productivity with Surface Laptop 5G for Business and Surface Copilot+ PCs
This blog focuses on the technical capabilities that make these devices ready for business and highlights how Surface is evolving to meet the needs of commercial customers.Surface Laptop 5G for Business brings together support for fast, reliable 5G, built-in AI acceleration, and modern management in a sleek Copilot+ PC designed for work on the move.Surface Laptop 5G features Microsoft’s first custom-designed 5G module, delivering exceptional RF performance in an ultra-compact form factor. It features six 5G antennas with an integrated Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna, including Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, Baidu, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), and Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC). The antennas were implemented using advanced tunable architecture in the metal chassis, incorporating innovative matching topology that ensures efficient impedance matching across a wide frequency spectrum.
Partner Case Study | JJ Foodservice
JJ Foodservice, one of the UK’s largest foodservice wholesalers, teamed up with Appvia to modernize infrastructure, improve agility, and expand cloud capabilities with a scalable, secure Azure foundation.This London-based cloud-native consultancy and Microsoft Solutions Partner has been helping organizations navigate these challenges since becoming a Microsoft partner in 2020.Together, Appvia and JJ Foodservice delivered a full-scale Azure migration in just six weeks, creating a secure foundation for growth and unlocking long-term value across the business.
Limitless learning, one location: The Microsoft Partner Skilling Hub is here
The Skilling Hub is a unified platform that brings together all GPS partner skilling resources—Microsoft Titan Skilling Academy, LevelUp, GPS Skilling Hub, SureStep, AI Partner Training Days, and regional events—into one seamless experience.This centralized, global learning portal is designed to help partner sales professionals boost their skills and close more deals through structured, role-based training.Launched on June 1, 2025, its first module, “Sales Titan: Threat Protection,” focuses on Microsoft 365 E5 Security and offers on-demand training, certifications, and resources to support confident customer conversations.
Bits of wisdom from a year of Talking Postgres
In this post you’ll get highlights from the past 13 episodes of Talking Postgres, shared in reverse chronological order.Podcast listening in the US has grown from 170 million hours a week in 2015 to over 770 million hours per week in 2025.In this episode, Peter Farkas shared the origin story of FerretDB, an open source MongoDB alternative that first became an idea at 16,000 feet at the Himalayan K2 base camp.
Responding to the Absence of Change in Change-Driven Systems
Drasi, an open-source Data Change Processing Platform, simplifies the creation of change-driven systems because it provides a consistent way of thinking about, detecting, and reacting to change.Central to Drasi is the Continuous Query Pattern, implemented using the openCypher graph query language.Drasi revolutionizes this process with the Continuous Query Pattern and powerful functions like "trueFor" and "trueLater", enabling developers to build responsive, scalable systems with ease.
New in Excel for the web: Power Query Refresh & Data Source Settings for authenticated data sources
We’ve reached yet another milestone in Excel for the web: Power Query Refresh is now generally available for queries sourcing data from selected authenticated data sources.As we released the ability to refresh Power Query data from anonymous data sources (link), it was only a matter of time until we added the ability to refresh Power Query data from authenticated data sources, which are the majority of data sources used, and require users to enter credentials.You can now view and manage data source credentials for the Power Query queries in your workbook using Data Source Settings:
MDTI is Converging into Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR
In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, organizations need threat intelligence (TI) that is woven seamlessly into every step of their security operations—delivered exactly when and where it matters most.That’s why Microsoft is converging Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence (MDTI) directly into Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel, which will provide world-class, real-time TI within a unified SecOps experience at no additional cost.The convergence of MDTI value into Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR will take place over the course of several months and be completed by the first half of next year.
Introducing Microsoft Sentinel data lake
Microsoft Sentinel data lake enables a fully managed, cloud-native, data lake that is purposefully designed for security, right inside Sentinel.Built on a modern lake architecture and powered by Azure, Sentinel data lake simplifies security data management, eliminates security data silos, and enables cost-effective long-term security data retention with the ability to run multiple forms of analytics on a single copy of that data.Additionally, as part of the public preview, we are also releasing a new Sentinel Visual Studio Code extension that enables security teams to easily connect to the same data lake data and use Python notebooks, as well as spark and ML libraries to deeply analyze lake data for anomalies.
New in Microsoft AppSource: July 1-10, 2025
For this volume, 309 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.This extension adds three new API queries to the General Ledger Entries table, exposing fields like vendor name and customer name for advanced reporting.Review Management from FM IT ApS is an extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central that streamlines your review collection process by automatically sending personalized email invitations to your customers after a successful sale.
Microsoft Sentinel data lake pricing (preview)
This article describes the pricing for the new Microsoft Sentinel data lake billed components in preview.See What is Microsoft Sentinel data lake (preview) to learn more about the data lake, or the Microsoft Sentinel pricing page for an overview of Microsoft Sentinel pricing.Starting August 4, 2025, refer to the Microsoft Sentinel pricing page for current pricing within your relevant region.
Towards Robust Evaluation of Multi-Agent Systems in Clinical Settings
To address this, we present a modular evaluation framework for the Healthcare Agent Orchestrator, designed to support fine-grained, clinical grounded assessment across both deployed clinical workflows and simulated scenarios.Central to our framework is TBFact, a domain specific factuality metric that evaluates agent outputs based on three key criteria: factual inclusion, factual distortion, and factual omission.Poor tolerance to lomustine is reported, but specific side effects are not listed in the reference summary.
What models can I use for free while prototyping?
Each post answers a real question from the community with simple, practical guidance to help you build smarter agents.These models are maintained by the GitHub team and run entirely on GitHub’s infrastructure, so you don’t need to bring your own API key or worry about usage fees.Run a Local Model
Building Enterprise-Grade Deep Research Agents In-House: Architecture and Implementation
As generative AI adoption accelerates, more professionals are recognizing the limitations of basic Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).Therefore, this article focuses on the approach of building a custom orchestrator in-house and introduces methods for internalizing Deep Research capabilities.This research systematically reviews the latest trends, system architectures, and results of five Japanese companies (NEC, Panasonic Connect, Fujitsu, KDDI, and Panasonic Holdings) that have published official case studies involving the use of Azure AI/OpenAI Service with multi-agent collaboration.
Important Changes to App Service Managed Certificates: Is Your Certificate Affected?
As part of an upcoming industry-wide change, DigiCert, the Certificate Authority (CA) for Azure App Service Managed Certificates (ASMC), is required to migrate to a new validation platform to meet multi-perspective issuance corroboration (MPIC) requirements. However, if you need to limit access to your app, then you must acquire your own SSL certificate and add it to your site.Action: Add a custom domain to your app and point the custom domain to your *.trafficmanager.net domain.
EOL of Azure Linux 2.0 on Azure Kubernetes Service enabled by Azure Arc
Azure Linux 2.0 will reach its End of Life (EOL) in July 2025Starting with the Azure Local 2507 release, Azure Kubernetes Service enabled by Azure Arc will ship Azure Linux 3.0 images for all supported Kubernetes versions. This change applies to all AKS enabled by Azure Arc deployments, as we have used Azure Linux 2.0 as the base image in the past.Approximately every three years Azure Linux releases a new version of its operating system with upgrades to major components.
SC-401 Evolves: Secure AI with Microsoft Purview
A major update is coming to SC-401T00: Information Security Administrator on August 8.The current learning path “Protect data in AI environments with Microsoft Purview” will be retired and replaced with a newly structured path titled:"Secure AI interactions and environments with Microsoft Purview"
Save your spot for the FY26 Partner Power Hour webinar series happening soon!
Get ready to elevate your FY26 go-to-market (GTM) strategies with the Microsoft Partner Power Hour—a three-part, interactive webinar series.Each session is designed to deliver real-world strategies you can immediately apply to drive results.Register anyway—recordings of each webinar will be available on demand.
Discover Azure Accelerate: Fuel transformation across the cloud and AI journey
Azure Accelerate is a unified offering within the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program.It brings together Azure Migrate and Modernize, Azure Innovate, and Cloud Accelerate Factory and is built on the foundation of Azure Essentials.* Eligible partners can register for the August 5 webinar, “Solution and Services Assessments with Dr Migrate” to learn more about how to utilize this key resource.
Support tip: Changes to Google Play strong integrity for Android 13 or above
Google recently implemented changes in May 2025 which require Android 13 or above devices to need hardware-backed security signals and a security patch released in the past 12 months to meet the strong integrity verdict.However, Microsoft Intune will also enforce the strong integrity requirements by September 30, 2025.By configuring the setting Schedule (days after noncompliance), also known as a ‘grace period’, devices which don’t meet the minimum patch level won’t be blocked immediately.
Strengthen identity threat detection and response with linkable token identifiers
We’re announcing the general availability of linkable token identifiers, which let you trace a user’s session across workloads from a specific authentication event.In Microsoft Defender XDR (shown here), authentication requests can now be linked with Microsoft Graph actions, allowing SOCs to trace malicious activity through session IDs.Track and investigate identity activities with linkable identifiers in Microsoft Entra |
CMMC and the Shared Responsibility in the Cloud
The Department of Defense's (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program officially went into effect on December 16, 2024, and it kicked off with a bang.Similarly, if you have an implementation documented in your SSP but you cannot demonstrate that control is in place in accordance with the assessment methodology, you will not pass.As a CMMC Advisor and Lead CCA at Redspin, a Microsoft partner and Authorized C3PAO, Robert helps defense contractors prepare for and achieve CMMC certification—enabling them to win and maintain Department of Defense contracts.
Take your presentation skills to the next level with these 7 lesser-known PowerPoint features
Use Cameo to embed a live camera feed of yourself directly into your slides.On the Slide Show tab, select Rehearse with Coach, and follow the prompts.Just highlight your bullet list, select Home > Convert to SmartArt, and pick a layout that fits your message - like a process, cycle, or hierarchy.
Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace Before It’s Too Late
In this second blog in the People Success Elements series, we continue to dive deeper into the modern work experience and let survey responses from over 6.8M employees across more than 235 companies from 2022 – 2025 reveal why worker trust has waned and – importantly – how leaders can earn it back.The challenges faced by company leadership today are daunting , and stakeholder confidence in executive teams’ ability to handle them is reportedly at an all-time low1.Only 24% of employees say they trust senior leadership1.
Introducing Teams Q&A export API on Microsoft Graph Beta
We are thrilled to announce the availability of the Teams Q&A Export API in Microsoft Graph Beta: Use the Microsoft Graph API to work with Microsoft Teams. It enables programmatic access to Q&A content across Microsoft Teams meetings, webinars, and town halls, addressing a key need for data portability and cross-platform interoperability of question & answer (Q&A) conversations messages for a tenant.The new Export API, the API returns a just-in-time snapshot of all Q&A activity in JSON format.
Try a Microsoft Build demo search app with LLM functions from Azure Marketplace partner Elastic
After presenting their example app’s search system architecture, they then demonstrated the app, which uses only Azure and Elasticsearch to create a real estate property hybrid search app.The example app combines the vector database-powered search engine of Elasticsearch with Azure OpenAI and Azure Maps to create a search app that can find properties, within the example dataset, from user queries that are super specific or super vague.The .NET Blazor example app uses a RAG-based search architecture in which Elastic is the grounding data source combined with Azure OpenAI as the LLM chat service that handles search orchestration.
Creating a Slurm Job Submission App in Open OnDemand with Copilot Agent
In this blog post, we'll explore how to use Copilot Agent in Visual Studio Code (VSCode) to build an Open OnDemand application that submits Slurm jobs in a CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm (CCWS) environment.To create an Open OnDemand app that submits Slurm jobs in a CCWS environment, you can use Copilot Agent in VSCode to streamline the development process.By combining the power of Copilot Agent in VSCode with Open OnDemand and CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm, you can build user-friendly HPC applications that streamline job submission and resource management.
Customising Node-Level Configuration in AKS
When you deploy AKS, you deploy the control plan, which is managed by Microsoft, and one or more node pools, which contain the worker nodes used to run your Kubernetes workloads.However, there are some scenarios where you do need to make changes to the underlying node configuration to be able to handle the workloads you need to run.Elasticsearch has a requirement where it needs to increase the limit on mmap count, due to the way it uses "mmapfs" for storing indices.
Critical SharePoint Exploits Exposed: MDVM Response and Protection Strategy
MDVM is aware of active attacks targeting on-premises SharePoint Server customers:In this blog post, we will show you how to effectively manage these CVEs if your organization is affected by it.By combining rapid patching, AMSI enforcement, double MachineKey rotation, and MDVM’s exposure insights, defenders can drastically reduce the blast radius of these SharePoint attacks.
Troubleshoot Az Module within Logic App Standard
If your powershell script depends on Az Module, then the logic app will try to download and install the Az Module within the runtimeIn some cases, when the logic app is VNET integrated (has NSG, or routed to Virtual Appliance), or hosted within internal ASE, the logic app will be unable to reach the needed Powershell endpoints, and the download would fail, and the action would fail with below errorTo resolve this, assure that the NSG, Firewall, or Virtual appliance allows the logic app to reach the mentioned endpoints.,
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) Live Response and Performance Script.
While performance analyzer is run locally on the system to collect Microsoft Defender Anti-Virus performance details , in this document we are describing on running the performance analyzer from MDE Live Response console.The following PowerShell script records Microsoft Defender performance for 60 seconds and saves the output to a temporary file:This document outlines the use of MDE Live Response and PowerShell scripting for performance diagnostics.
آشنایی با مایکروسافت پاور پلتفرم
کسب و کارهای مدرن بر اساس داده ها کار می کنند. روزانه، کاربران وظایفی مانند وارد کردن زمان خود برای حقوق و دستمزد، انجام وظایف بر مبنای فرآیندهای موجود، یا استفاده از دادهها برای تصمیمگیریهای مربوط به کسبوکار را انجام میدهند. در دنیای مبتنی بر فناوری ما، کاربران میتوانند به اطلاعات دست یابند و با دادهها تعامل داشته باشند، در حالی که وظایف شغلی ساده یا تکراری را خودکار میکنندمایکروسافت پاور پلتفرم به کسب و کارها امکان میدهد راهحلهایی متناسب ایجاد کنند و در عین حال به آنان قدرت میدهد تا فناوری های سفارشیسازی شده را متحد کنند تا به همه افراد سازمان کمک شده و کسبوکار را با بینشی مبتنی بر داده هدایت کنند:ادامه مطلبآشنایی با مایکروسافت پاور پلتفرم – MSFarsi |Microsoft MSFarsi Community
Autonomous Visual Studio Code Desktop Automation using Computer Use Agent & PyAutoGUI
The system replicates a developer's workflow by autonomously launching VS Code, configuring the environment, and generating code via GitHub Copilot Agent mode.Limitations:With pyautogui, the App on which the automation needs to be done has to be on the foreground.It cannot choose a particular app from amongst other apps on the Desktop to monitor the visual state.
Inter-Hub Connectivity Using Azure Route Server
As your Azure footprint grows with a hub-and-spoke topology, managing User-Defined Routes (UDRs) for inter-hub connectivity can quickly become complex and error-prone.In this article, we’ll explore how Azure Route Server (ARS) can help streamline inter-hub routing by dynamically learning and advertising routes between hubs, reducing manual overhead and improving scalability.The baseline architecture includes two Hub VNets, each peered with their respective local spoke VNets as well as with the other Hub VNet for inter-hub connectivity.
Understanding Apple enrollment methods in Microsoft Intune
Microsoft Intune, together with Microsoft Entra ID, facilitates a secure, streamlined process for registering and enrolling devices to access your organization’s resources.This blog aims to provide an overview of Microsoft Intune’s enrollment methods for Apple devices to help you make informed decisions about device management.Based on customer feedback, Intune introduced a faster and more intuitive version of device enrollment with the Intune Company Portal called web enrollment in 2023.
AI for Operations - Copilot Agent Integration
The original framework introduced several Logic App and Function App patterns for SQL BPA, Update Manager, Cost Management, Anomaly Detection, and Smart Doc creation.In this article we add two Copilot Studio Agents, packaged in the GitHub repository Microsoft Azure AI for Operation Framework, designed to be deployed in a dedicated subscription (e.g., OpenAI-CoreIntegration):Feel free to clone the GitHub repo, adapt the topics to your tag taxonomy or FinOps dashboard structure, and let us know in the comments how Copilot Agents are transforming your operational workflows and...
Announcing the HLS Copilot Nuggets LinkedIn Group: Your Go-To Spot for Quick Microsoft Copilot Tips!
We’re thrilled to announce the public launch of the HLS Copilot Nuggets LinkedIn group—a brand-new community space created just for you.The HLS Copilot Nuggets group is all about sharing quick, practical, and easy-to-digest content focused on Microsoft 365 Copilot.Why Join the HLS Copilot Nuggets Group?
Microsoft at Black Hat USA 2025: A Unified Approach to Modern Cyber Defense
Start your Black Hat journey early with the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast They explore what it takes to secure one of the world’s most high-profile cybersecurity conferences, what the Black Hat Network Operations Center (NOC) sees in real time, and how defenders can apply those lessons to their own environments.Microsoft security experts Ram Shankar Siva Kumar (founder of the AI Red Team) and Craig Nelson (Microsoft Red Team) will explore how traditional and AI red teams work side by side to proactively test Microsoft’s products, platforms, and AI systems.
Empowering Rich Media Content Editing with Microsoft Copilot: Streamlining Video and Audio Workflows
In today’s digital-first workplace, the ability to efficiently create, edit, and manage rich media content—such as videos and audio recordings—is critical for organizational learning and communication.Microsoft 365 offers a robust suite of tools and integrations, including the powerful Microsoft 365 Copilot, to streamline these processes.This blog post explores how Microsoft 365 enables easy editing of rich media, highlights the integration between SharePoint, Microsoft Stream, and Clipchamp, and explains how Copilot elevates media editing and access experiences.
From social engineering to rogue VMs: The emerging tradecraft in human-directed ransomware attacks
Read this blog to learn about this emerging attack technique as well as how Defender Experts can help protect your organization.The use of rogue virtual machines in active intrusions represents a significant evolution in attacker tradecraft.To learn more about how our human-led managed security services can help you stay ahead of similar emerging threats, please visit Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR, our managed extended detection and response (MXDR) service, and Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting (included in Defender Experts for XDR), our managed threat hunting service.
Deep Dive on Availability Zones in Azure App Service
While this information is documented in the App Service Resiliency Microsoft Learn Docs, in this blog post I will try and walk you through some essential aspects of enabling Availability Zones in Azure App Service.Deploy your App Service plan in a new resource group: Using a new resource group will ensure your new plan is put on a different scale unit than your existing plan(s) that may not currently have zones.Enable zone redundancy on the ASE first;
Take Control of Your Azure VMware Solution Maintenance Schedule
We’re thrilled to introduce Self-Service Scheduling for planned maintenance events in Azure VMware Solution. Step 3 - From the Maintenance page, check the "Maintenance ready" status for each item and use the "Reschedule" link to change the upgrade date and time.Self-Service Maintenance Scheduling is now in Public Preview, use this instead of opening a service request to change your Azure VMware Solution planned maintenance.
New in Azure Marketplace: June 24-30, 2025
For this volume, 251 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.It automates responses, syncs with more than 5,000 apps, and streamlines workflows for SMBs, departments, and individuals.Trusted by Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, it provides secure video storage, content analysis, closed captions, and multilingual translation.
آشنایی با مایکروسافت ۳۶۵
مایکروسافت ۳۶۵ چیست؟مایکروسافت ۳۶۵ یک پلت فرم بهره وری مبتنی بر ابر است. این برنامه بهترین برنامه های بهره وری را از آفیس ۳۶۵ با مدیریت پیشرفته دستگاه، امنیت هوشمند و خدمات آنلاین نوآورانه گرد هم می آورد. مایکروسافت ۳۶۵ می تواند به شما و سازمان شما در هر اندازه ای کمک کند. ابزارهای مایکروسافت ۳۶۵ به افزایش بهره وری، همکاری و ارتباطات ایمن در بسیاری از دستگاه ها کمک می کند، چه در خانه، چه در سازمان یا در حال حرکت باشید. مایکروسافت ۳۶۵ تجربه ای قابل اعتماد، ایمن و مدرن را برای همه تضمین می کند. مایکروسافت ۳۶۵ طراحی شده است تا به شما کمک کند با برنامههای نوآورانه، به سرویسهای ابری هوشمند و امنیتی در سطح جهانی دست یابید:ادامه مطلب آشنایی با مایکروسافت 365 – MSFarsi |Microsoft MSFarsi Community
Discover and Assess Kubernetes Clusters using Azure AI Agents and Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Chainlit is an open-source framework to quickly build chat UIs for LLM applications.To enable intelligent Kubernetes exploration via MCP, you need a server that translates Kubernetes APIs into tools exposed to the LLM agent.> Discover all workloads, services, and resources in the microservices-demo-dev namespace of the cluster and generate a detailed discovery report and save it to a file.
New database migration experience for SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc – Public Preview
We’re excited to announce a new database migration experience for SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc - now in public preview.This experience is designed to simplify and accelerate SQL Server migration journey to Azure SQL Managed Instance offering a unified, end-to-end workflow directly within the Azure portal.Provide feedback on database migrations for SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc to the product group
Scaling Azure Functions & PaaS - Concurrency, Async, Messaging. Insights from Python Log Analysis
Use try/except around the main logic to catch errors: If an exception is thrown in your async function and not handled, the Azure Functions host will log it and mark the execution as failed.This is an advanced technique and most Azure Functions won’t need it, but it can be useful if you have a long-running async task that you don’t want to tie up the main function’s loop (or if you need to work around limitations in the Python Functions runtime’s event loop).Scaling out the function app: Ensure your Azure Function app’s plan is capable of scaling to meet the queue demand.
DP-3028 Labs Delayed — Trainer Files Releasing Tomorrow
We’d like to inform you that while the DP-3028: Implement Generative AI Engineering with Azure Databricks ILT trainer files will be released tomorrow, the labs will not be included in this release.The labs are scheduled for release next Friday.Thank you for your understanding and continued support. If you have any questions, please reach out to your Authorized Lab Hoster (ALH).
Using Copilot in Fabric with Confidence: Data Security, Compliance & Governance with DSPM for AI
Enter Microsoft Purview’s Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI—a unified solution that empowers enterprises to monitor, protect, and govern AI interactions across Microsoft and third-party platforms.This blog explores how Purview DSPM for AI integrates with Fabric Power BI Copilot to deliver robust data protection and governance and provides a step-by-step guide to enable this integration.The PAYG model applies to a broader set of Purview capabilities—including Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance, eDiscovery, and other data security and governance solutions—based on copilot for Power BI usage volume or complexity.
Microsoft at TechCon Atlanta - 2025 - Event Guide
Join us in Atlanta for the Microsoft 365, Copilot / AI & Power Platform Conference.Microsoft Global Community Initiative MeetupMark your calendar for August 11–15, 2025 and come make Atlanta part of your tech story.
Geo-Replication is Here! Now generally available for Event Hubs Premium & Dedicated
Today, we are thrilled to announce the General Availability of the Geo-replication feature for Azure Event Hubs, now available in both Premium and Dedicated tiers.The Geo-replication feature allows you to replicate your Event Hubs data across multiple regions either synchronously or asynchronously, ensuring that your data remains accessible in the event of maintenance activities, regional degradation, or a regional outage.Learn more about geo-replication concepts and the pricing model and try out this quickstart to learn how to setup geo-replication for your premium and dedicated tier namespaces.
Announcing the preview of Software Defined Networking (SDN) on Azure Local
Starting in Azure Local version 2506, we’re excited to announce the Public Preview of Software Defined Networking (SDN) on Azure Local using the Azure Arc resource bridge.This release introduces cloud-native networking capabilities for access control at the network layer, utilizing Network Security Groups (NSGs) on Azure Local.Key highlights in this release are:1- Centralized network management: Manage Logical networks, network interfaces, and NSGs through the Azure control plane – whether your preference is the Azure Portal, Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI), or Azure Resource Manager templates.2- Fine-grained traffic control: Safeguard your edge workloads with policy-driven access controls by applying inbound and outbound allow/deny rules on NSGs, just as you would in Azure.3- Seamless hybrid consistency: Reduce operational friction and accelerate your IT staff’s ramp-up on advanced networking skills by using the same familiar tools and constructs across both Azure public cloud and Azure Local.Software Defined Networking (SDN) forms the backbone of delivering Azure-style networking on-premises.
Join Us for an AMA on Improving Your MCP Servers with Azure API Management
Expose Azure API Management instances as MCP servers, enabling remote access to your APIs using AI combined with Model Context Protocol.By integrating MCP with Azure API Management, developers can expose tools to their AI agents while enforcing consistent policies and security standards.Before the event, check out the documentation to learn how to Expose a REST API in API Management as an MCP server, view the Build and protect MCPs faster with governance in Azure API Manager session from Build 2025, or explore the AI-Gateway labs on GitHub and learn how to use APIM and MCP in the MCP for Beginners course.
Microsoft Purview Powering Data Security and Compliance for Security Copilot
Microsoft Purview, combined with Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI, empowers security and compliance teams to manage these risks across Security Copilot interactions.For these alerts, you will find a User Activity scatter plot that provides insights into the activities preceding and following the user's engagement with a risky prompt in Security Copilot.Learn how Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI provides data security and compliance protections for Copilots and other generative AI apps |
Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace Before It’s Too Late
In this second blog in the People Success Elements series, we continue to dive deeper into the modern work experience and let survey responses from over 6.8M employees across more than 235 companies from 2022 – 2025 reveal why worker trust has waned and – importantly – how leaders can earn it back.The challenges faced by company leadership today are daunting , and stakeholder confidence in executive teams’ ability to handle them is reportedly at an all-time low1.Only 24% of employees say they trust senior leadership1.
The Adecco Group’s AI skill-building strategy powers talent, client impact
The company recognizes a clear need to skill up for and adopt AI pervasively.Recruiters have increased productivity by 63%, the company’s AI-driven CV Maker has generated more than 200,000 résumés, and 30,000 employees have completed responsible AI training.Microsoft 365 Copilot has helped the company to streamline internal operations, particularly in recruitment and administrative tasks, freeing time for more strategic work.
New in Microsoft AppSource: June 24-30, 2025
For this volume, 138 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live.See details of the new offers below:LiveRoute SmartDesk AI Agent: The LiveRoute SmartDesk AI Agent revolutionizes employee support with a centralized assistant that integrates with Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and web platforms.
Ota haltuun uudet Solution Area Playbookit ja kasvata liiketoimintaasi!
Tervetuloa tutustumaan Microsoftin uusien FY26-ratkaisualueiden mukaisiin kumppaneiden Solution Area Playbookeihin, jotka on suunniteltu auttamaan sinua kasvattamaan liiketoimintaasi ja hyödyntämään tekoälyn voimaa.Näiden oppaiden avulla voit kehittää liiketoimintaasi ja hyödyntää Microsoftin tarjoamia investointeja.AI Business Solutions: Tutustu tekoälyratkaisujen liiketoimintamahdollisuuksiin ja kumppaneiden go-to-market-strategioihin.
Model Mondays S2:E5 – Fine Tuning & Distillation with Dave Voutila
Model Mondays is a weekly series designed to help you build your Azure AI Foundry Model IQ, one week at a time.Dave Voutila showed how Azure AI Foundry makes it easy to fine-tune existing models and use distillation techniques without needing deep ML expertise.Connect with other developers and learn together:
Protecting Cloud Storage in the Age of AI
In this blog, we’ll explore how Defender for Cloud helps to safeguard customer’s most valuable data by helping them to start secure and stay secure.Imagine your cloud storage as a high-tech museum, housing priceless artifacts—your sensitive data, customer records, and AI training sets.In the same way, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Storage Security helps Azure storage customers to start secure and stay secure when it comes to protecting their cloud storage.
Microsoft is headed to VMware Explore 2025 in Las Vegas
This year Microsoft will have several break-out sessions on a variety of topics where you will discover how Microsoft can streamline your VMware workloads’ migration to the cloud.Learn how to maximize your existing on-premises investments and fast path your applications into an AI-innovation platform.Learn how transitioning from on-premises to Azure will give your business a competitive edge.