Category Archives: Uncategorized

Office 2021 personal editions available

Office Home & Student 2021 and Office Home & Business 2021 are now available. These are the perpetually licensed editions of the next version of Office, priced at $149.99 and $249.99 respectively.

The Home & Business edition includes everything in the Home & Student edition as well as Outlook for the PC/Mac and commercial use rights. Unlike their Office LTSC 2021 business counterparts, these editions include Teams and some collaboration tools too.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3ArUlbr.

Office LTSC 2021 is generally available

Microsoft announce that the next versions of the “traditional” Office products are available. This includes Office LTSC Professional Plus/Standard/Standard for Mac 2021, Project Standard/Professional 2021, and Visio Standard/Professional 2021.

You can find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3iyCkSy, and useful deployment information here: https://bit.ly/3msgQaW.

Management Group scope for Azure Reservations

When you purchase an Azure Reservation you choose a scope for it which defines where it may be used: within a specific Resource Group, a specific Subscription, or all Subscriptions. A Management Group is a group of Azure Subscriptions and Microsoft announce this as a new option for the scope of a Reservation.

Find the announcement on the public preview here: https://bit.ly/3iqyA5i and more information on Reservation scopes generally here: https://bit.ly/3ouf6AU.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (September 2021) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide. There aren’t major changes and you can find a full list of the tweaks that have been made in the Change Log on page 58. If the Guides and Remote Assist mixed reality products are of interest you might want to take a look at pages 19 and 24 where additional tables have been added to show the functionality that could be used by users in different roles.

Find this updated guide here: https://bit.ly/3BNqLxV.

Windows 11

Microsoft announce that Windows 11 will start to become available on 5 October, 2021, and that it is now available in preview on Azure Virtual Desktop.

Find the availability announcement with 11 highlights of Windows 11 here: https://bit.ly/3yBK8YG, and information on the different Windows 11 images available for AVD here: https://bit.ly/2WVl0PM.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 1

Microsoft announce that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint will be renamed Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 with a subset of functionality being made available as a Plan 1. The new Plan 1 will be available later in 2021 as a standalone licence, and the capabilities will also be added to Microsoft 365 E3/A3 licences.

Find the full announcement with more details here: https://bit.ly/3DCezSs.

Windows Server 2022

Microsoft announce the General Availability of Windows Server 2022 from 1 September, 2021 and confirm that only Long-Term Servicing Channel releases will be available.

Find the announcement article with an overview of new features here: https://bit.ly/3gOj82c, and details on servicing models with end of support dates for existing Semi-Annual Channel releases here: https://bit.ly/3geb76r.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (August 2021) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide.

There are two main updates: firstly for the changes to the licensing of Dynamics 365 Marketing with the availability of packs for Additional Interactions, and secondly for the launch of Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management. Find out more about the changes to Marketing on our blog here: https://bit.ly/384voab, and information on Intelligent Order Management here: https://bit.ly/3j7zp3W.

Get the updated Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide here: https://bit.ly/3rQpN08.

Dynamics 365 Marketing Customer Journey Orchestration

Microsoft announce the General Availability of Customer Journey Orchestration capabilities in Dynamics 365 Marketing, with the aim of helping organizations to create deeper relationships with their customers through more meaningful interactions. This gives rise to a change in the licensing of Dynamics 365 Marketing. Previously centred entirely around Marketing contacts, there are now allocations for interactions included (10 for each Marketing contact licensed per month), with Additional Interactions packs available.

Find the Customer Journey Orchestration GA announcement here: https://bit.ly/3j5PF5k, and information on pricing and official definitions for Marketing contacts and interactions here: https://bit.ly/384JQyL.