Tag Archives: Azure Services

Annual local currency price updates

Microsoft announce that local currency price updates will now occur once a year, rather than twice.

These exchange rate fluctuations against the US dollar affect all Microsoft Online Services apart from Azure, and will now take place every January, starting in 2027. Microsoft will provide advance notice of these changes each November.

Have you seen our Exchange Rate Price Plotter? Our subscriber-exclusive tool helps you track future and historical exchange rate changes, all in one place: https://bit.ly/ExchangeRatePlotter. Read the details of the announcement here: https://bit.ly/4gxoDlB.

Azure FAQs

Microsoft have updated their Azure FAQs.

The latest version introduces 12 new questions focused on the Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). These cover how Azure Marketplace purchases, refunds, and agreement migrations count towards your MACC spending commitment. Microsoft update the FAQs on their website, but we capture every version as a PDF so you can track changes over time. Subscribers can view these snapshots alongside easy website access in our Licensing Guides Gallery: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. Alternatively, grab a copy of the latest guide here: https://bit.ly/4gaypbn

Changes to the Azure Reservation exchange policy

Back in October 2022 Microsoft announced that there would be changes to the exchange policy for Azure Reservations. That change has been postponed repeatedly until now.

At the end of July 2026 there was an announcement that from 1 February, 2027 Reservations purchased for any service supported by one of the Azure Savings Plans would no longer be eligible to be exchanged. If you’ve got an existing Reservation then you can exchange it one more time after 1 February, 2027.

Find the announcement with some useful examples here: https://bit.ly/3RtHaVX.  

Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition hotpatching

Microsoft have extended the hotpatching support date for Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition to October 2027.

Hotpatching lets you install updates faster and with less disruption by keeping your workloads running without a reboot. Whilst the end of Mainstream Support date of 13 October 2026 remains unchanged for the Azure Edition of Windows Server 2022 Datacenter, hotpatching support now extends a full year beyond that date.

Find out more about hotpatching here: https://bit.ly/4fdFVlg and view the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3T1vV7C.

Azure FAQs

Microsoft have updated their Azure FAQs.

A major section on Azure Local has been added, with 15 new questions outlining its use cases, hardware and deployment configurations, and billing and operational policies.

Subscribers can find the current and historical versions of this FAQs website with our PDF captures in the Licensing Guides Gallery. We also provide the full details of “What’s New” and of course, what’s wrong, with our “Cautionary Notes” that help you navigate any stumbling blocks. In the meantime, find a copy here: https://bit.ly/4aSbkIK.

Microsoft Discovery

Microsoft announce the GA of Microsoft Discovery, a brand-new AI platform designed to build and govern agentic workflows for complex scientific and engineering research. It helps researchers coordinate specialised Agents, connect to data, and speed up breakthroughs.

Licensing-wise, it uses Azure resources billed via the standard Pay-As-You-Go route, but there’s also a new billing unit called “User Messages” to track billable Agent actions. To help estimate costs, Microsoft explain that one User Message equals ten backend operations and costs $0.20.

The complementary Discovery App is in preview for smaller teams and students letting you start small before scaling up to the larger computing power of the cloud-hosted Microsoft Discovery services. The App runs locally as a desktop application consuming GitHub Copilot Credits, and thus users do need to be licensed for GitHub Copilot.

Find the announcement article here: https://bit.ly/3Sa7NiC, useful billing information here: https://bit.ly/3TpR7nC, and an interesting case study here: https://bit.ly/4p7cnKJ.

Azure FAQs

Microsoft have updated the Azure FAQs.

The revised document includes a chunky new section at the end, all about Azure Local. A set of 15 new questions details its use cases, hardware and deployment configuration options, and billing and operational policies.

Whilst the live Microsoft website only displays the current version of these FAQs, we track and preserve all changes to the various online licensing guidance. If you’re a subscriber, you can always check out the details of what’s new (and what’s wrong!) in our Licensing Guides Gallery: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. In the meantime, find the latest capture here: https://bit.ly/4aSbkIK.

Azure Purchasing Models Licensing Guide

There’s a new Azure Purchasing Models Licensing Guide available. Designed to make it easier to understand the different purchasing choices, it’s a great idea for a guide, but slightly misses the mark, with mixed up terms, sections, and incorrect facts throughout. We’re now documenting these “Cautionary Notes” in our Licensing Guides Gallery for subscribers, so you can grab the guide and see these details all in one place. Check out these new features here: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery, or find a direct link to the guide here: https://bit.ly/49ZMTJw.

Understanding the right purchasing options in Azure is a really useful topic, and it’s inspired our training next month – watch this space!

Azure Customer Solution Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (September 2025) Azure Customer Solution Licensing Guide – a document which is designed to explain some of the rules and scenarios around creating and selling a solution in Azure. Historically it’s been targeted at organisations that Microsoft call ISVs, but that term’s been updated to SDC – a Software Development Company – and that’s probably the most significant edit in this updated document.

Keep your Licensing Guide stash up to date by grabbing this guide here: https://bit.ly/46LkFzk.

Hotpatching for Windows Server 2025 GA

Microsoft announce that hotpatching for Windows Server 2025 is generally available as a subscription service from 16 July, 2025, costing $1.50 per CPU core per month. This new way of installing updates that doesn’t require a reboot after installation has been available for the Azure Edition of Windows Server Datacenter, but is now available to servers running outside of Azure, as long as they’re connected to Azure Arc.

Find the announcement article here: https://bit.ly/44B2vQY.