Microsoft 365 Copilot is now available in GCC-High

Microsoft announce that Microsoft 365 Copilot is now available in GCC-High. This follows availability for GCC in December 2024 and for DoD in August 2025. Federal agencies in GCC-High who purchase via the OneGov agreement with Microsoft announced in September 2025 can take advantage of significant discounts, including the opportunity for Microsoft 365 G5 users to use Microsoft 365 Copilot at no additional cost for up to 12 months.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/4apTUno.

Visual Studio 2026 Update Channels

Microsoft have made changes to the Update Channels for Visual Studio 2026. The new Insiders Channel replaces the long-standing Preview Channel as the way to give developers early access to upcoming features, and the Stable Channel gives access to validated, production-ready features every month. In addition, each year, in November, the product will update to the next annual version. So, for example, in November 2026 Visual Studio 2026 will update in place to Visual Studio 2027. At the same time, Microsoft will offer a Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) edition for the prior annual release where you’ll get a static feature set for a year with security updates. Note that if you’re using Visual Studio 2026 Professional, you’ll need to purchase a new annual version each year.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3M14nM9.

Dragon Copilot licensing news

The Dragon Copilot portfolio expands with the December availability of the Dragon Copilot Nursing User SL for nurses in the US, and the news that a solution for radiologists is currently in preview.

You can find the nursing announcement here: https://bit.ly/4pz20yg, the radiologists announcement here: https://bit.ly/3XvZpcC, and the updated Dragon Copilot Licensing Guidance website here: https://bit.ly/48aRZSe.

GA of Windows 365 Reserve

Microsoft announce that Windows 365 Reserve is generally available. This flavour of Windows 365 is a solution that gives licensed users instant access to a temporary, pre-configured Cloud PC when their primary physical device is unavailable – perhaps through theft or damage. Each Windows 365 user licence gives access to 10 days of Cloud PC usage during the 1-year licence term.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/48uRvFm, and some useful Learn documentation here: https://bit.ly/4pGDSdh.

Changes to Business Apps storage capacity

Microsoft have made two changes to storage capacity for the Business Apps from December 2025. Firstly, there are increases in the default Dataverse Database capacities for Power Platform and Dynamics 365 products – 10 GB for Power Platform, and 20 GB for Dynamics 365. And secondly, there’s simplification for the storage capacity used by the ERP apps. Historically, there have been separate Dataverse and Operations capacity entitlements which were capped separately. Now, the entitlements are pooled, and the storage capacity can be used for either Dataverse or Operations.

Find a useful Microsoft article explaining all here: https://bit.ly/3XXatQg.

Modern Work Plan Comparison

The December 2025 Modern Work Plan Comparison documents are now available. Key updates include the addition of Security Compute Units to Microsoft 365 E5 (see our blog post: https://bit.ly/4oUwHgS), the availability of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business as an Add-on to SMB licences, and a correction regarding Office 365 A1 being a valid prerequisite for the Defender Suite and Purview Suite. Separate PDFs for enterprise, SMB, US government, and education sectors can be accessed in our new, searchable Licensing Guides Gallery: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery, exclusive to our subscribers. Non-subscribers can find them in the usual place here: https://bit.ly/4hn2hS2.

If you’re a partner looking for the Excel version, please email info@licensingschool.co.uk from your work email address and we’ll send it over.

Copilot Studio Licensing Guide

There’s a new (December 2025) Copilot Studio Licensing Guide available. The only major update this month is the increase in the default Dataverse Database capacity included with a Copilot Studio licence, which has tripled from 5 GB to 15 GB, reflected in the capacity entitlements table on page 10.

Add the Guide to your collection here: https://bit.ly/3XUTA8Q.

GA of Windows 365 Cloud Apps

Microsoft announce that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now generally available. This Windows 365 feature enables administrators to give users access to individual apps hosted on a Cloud PC without requiring a dedicated Cloud PC for every user. From a licensing perspective, Windows 365 Cloud Apps run on Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PCs in Shared Mode, and thus Windows 365 Frontline licenses are required to use Cloud Apps.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/4iLgZmx.

Fabric SKU Estimator

All Microsoft Fabric workloads consume the same Fabric Capacity Units, and there’s a Fabric SKU Estimator tool in public preview. Its aim is to help customers to identify the appropriate Fabric Capacity Unit SKU for their needs, based on their data requirements, usage patterns, and workload combinations.

Find the tool here: https://bit.ly/4pi1SDm, and there’s a useful page in the Learn documentation here: https://bit.ly/4ibpUO3 that demonstrates how the Fabric SKU Estimator might be used via a comprehensive sample scenario.

2025 – a year in the life of Licensing School

In the twelve months of 2025, Licensing School gave to you…965 LicenseVerse updates, 90+ new LicenseVerse pages, 140+ Licensing Guides, 84 live training courses, and 41 exams. Perhaps not as catchy as The Twelve Days of Christmas song, but much more useful we think! We’ve worked hard to keep our promise to you that we will help keep you up to date with licensing changes, learn about licensing, demonstrate your knowledge, and find all licensing information in one place. Thank you from the whole Licensing School team for being loyal followers and subscribers. Watch this space for bigger and better things next year!

If you’re not a subscriber and want to hear more about what you’re missing, please contact us on info@licensingschool.co.uk.