Monthly Archives: October 2015

Microsoft Hosting and CSP Newsletter

The September 2015 Microsoft Hosting and Cloud Service Provider Newsletter is out.

There are three things of particular note; firstly, the launch of a new SPLA contract (SPLA 2016) on 1 December 2015 – the old contract may be used up to 1 March 2016. Then there’s a new format for the SPUR starting on 1 December 2015 where it will also start to be published monthly, and finally, if you’re interested in the Cloud Solution Provider program then there are workshops all around the world you can register for: http://bit.ly/1L4ENPf.

Sign up for the newsletter here: http://bit.ly/1iVEvxV.

Windows 10 Activation

This is a useful page on the different ways that Windows 10 can be activated, ranging from the new “digital entitlement” when you’ve used the free upgrade to Windows 10, to the traditional product keys required when Windows 10 is purchased through a Volume Licensing agreement.

There’s also help on what to do when you need to activate after reinstalling Windows 10 or when you’ve made a hardware configuration change.

Read all about it here: http://bit.ly/1JMzIEG.

Windows 10 Servicing Options

There’s a jolly useful article published by Microsoft on the different servicing options for Windows 10. If you still haven’t got to grips with Current Branch, Current Branch for Business, and Long Term Servicing Branch then this article is worth a read: http://bit.ly/1OcDI7B.

There’s confirmation that Feature Upgrades will be published 2 or 3 times a year, and Service Updates (security fixes) will continue to be published monthly on Update (Patch) Tuesday. It’s also worth noting that all new releases, of either type, are cumulative so that installing them brings a device completely up to date.

Exchange Server 2016 Announced

Microsoft announce Exchange Server 2016 and are describing this release as “forged in the cloud” – in other words, the features that are already in Exchange Online have now arrived in the on-premises product.

Exchange Server 2016 is also added to the October 2015 Product Terms document and there are no changes to the licensing.

Read the announcement article for an overview of the new features here: http://bit.ly/1Gn43tl.

Get Licensing Ready Updates

Today (1st October) the two English portals in GLR, UK English and US English, have been consolidated into one new English portal.

All exam passes in both languages have been transferred to the new portal, and you’ll find that your GLR experience is otherwise unchanged. End of an era for us UK-Englishers!

Take your exams (in English or one of the many other languages) here: https://getlicensingready.com.

Project 2016 Availability Announced

Microsoft announce availability of Project 2016 (30 Sept 2015).

What exactly is “Project 2016” though? Well, this Microsoft article (http://bit.ly/1WA5wFN) explains that there are updates to Project Professional (the traditional device-licensed client), Project Pro for Office 365 (its user-licensed counterpart) and Project Online (the hosted Enterprise Project Management solution), but that we’ll have to wait for equivalent features for on-premises EPM with the launch of Project Server 2016 in the spring of 2016.

The article is worth a look to get an idea of the sort of features being added.

Office Online Server in Preview

Office Web Apps Server was launched in 2012 to provide browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote running on a standalone on-premises server. The Web Apps later changed their name to Office Online and now the server follows suit – Office Online Server (OOS) is now in preview as the successor to Office Web Apps Server, but there’s no word yet on whether the licensing changes.

Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/1YKdwpX.

Office 365 Import Service

The Office 365 Import Service is in preview. Essentially, this service is used to move PST files to Office 365 mailboxes and/or to import data files to SharePoint Online. Customers use the preparation tool to get their content ready and then can choose to upload data over the network or, for large amounts of data, to copy it to hard drives and ship them to Microsoft.

The service is free at the moment but will turn into a chargeable Office 365 service later. See the announcement here: http://bit.ly/1LXn0EH or this TechNet article for more details: http://bit.ly/1MUooOi.