Microsoft Clipchamp

Clipchamp is a tool to help users to create professional-looking videos, and Microsoft announce that it will be available to users with Microsoft 365 E3/E5 or Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium licences starting at the end of August 2023.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3YvSik1, and the product pages here https://bit.ly/443U3WL and here https://bit.ly/3Soihc5, confirming which plans will have access, and that Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers already have Clipchamp included.

Windows Autopatch

Microsoft announce the General Availability of Windows Autopatch – a cloud service that automates updates for Windows, Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Edge and Teams.

It’s included with Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3/E5/VDA licences, and customers also need to be licensed for Azure Active Directory Premium and Microsoft Intune to take advantage of the service.

You can find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3vcQMWq, and a useful FAQ here: https://bit.ly/3S7o1o9.

Universal Print is generally available

Microsoft announce that Universal Print is generally available.

This is a software-as-a-service printing solution that runs entirely on Microsoft Azure and eliminates the need to maintain traditional on-premises print servers or install printer drivers.

Customers with Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5, or Microsoft 365 F3, E3, E5 or Business Premium licences are already licensed for Universal Print, or there are standalone Universal Print licences available.

Each licence includes 5 print jobs per month which are pooled at the tenant level, and if additional capacity is needed there are Add-ons available providing a further 500 print jobs per month.

Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/30hyRy6, and a useful page on the licensing here: http://bit.ly/38kUiD0.

VDA Add-on for Microsoft 365 E3/E5

A VDA Add-on for Microsoft 365 E3/E5 is added to page 57 of the March 2020 Product Terms

This Subscription Licence allows Microsoft 365 E3/E5 users to access a Windows Enterprise Virtual Desktop Infrastructure on dedicated servers when the users don’t have a primary device with a Qualifying Operating System – for example, users whose primary device is a thin client or a Mac. Note that these licences are only available to customers buying through an Enterprise Agreement.

Find the current Product Terms document here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.

Windows 7 and Office 2010 End of Support FAQ

There’s an updated (July 2019) Windows 7 and Office 2010 End of Support FAQ. Use it to answer questions such as: which programs are the Extended Security Updates available in (currently EA/EAS/EES, but CSP too by the end of 2019); who’s eligible for free ESUs (EA/EAS customers with active Windows E5 or Microsoft 365 E5/E5 Security subscriptions); and in which Windows environments is Office 365 ProPlus supported (it depends, see pages 12/13).

Find this document, as usual, here: http://bitly/MSLicensingGuides.

Update on Microsoft 365 From SA rights

Microsoft announce that they will not now remove the special Office Professional Plus installation rights that customers are currently entitled to with Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 From SA licences. The current rights are detailed on page 54 of the May 2019 Product Terms, and this announcement confirms that the rights are here to stay rather than being removed after 1st August 2019: http://bit.ly/2W7q4PN.

Comparing Microsoft 365 Plans

For a detailed comparison of what’s in each of the Microsoft 365 E3, E5 and F1 plans, this site is useful: http://bit.ly/2t8ckU2.

It’s right up-to-date with the recent inclusion of MyAnalytics in all plans, the merging of Office 365 Cloud App Security into Microsoft Cloud App Security, and the combining of Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection and Threat Intelligence into Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Plan 2.

Changes to Office 365 E5 Components

There are some changes to Office 365 E5 components announced by Microsoft. First of all, there’s a new component – Office 365 Advanced Compliance – which is available as a standalone plan or included in Office 365 E5. This now gathers together Office 365 Advanced eDiscovery and Customer Lockbox (previously available as standalone plans) and the brand-new Office 365 Advanced Data Compliance functionality which, as Microsoft puts it: “applies machine learning to help customers find and retain important data while eliminating trivial, redundant and obsolete data that could cause risk if compromised.”

Then there’s the new Office 365 Threat Intelligence functionality, also available as a standalone plan or as a component of Office 365 E5. And what’s this? Well, there’s a dashboard to help customers understand the threat landscape for their organisation, and integration with other Office 365 security features to provide an analysis that includes the top targeted users, malware frequency, as well as security recommendations related to a particular organisation.

Find the Microsoft announcement with plenty of links to other information here: http://bit.ly/2nYhPBe.

Microsoft Volume License Newsletter

The September 2016 Microsoft Volume License Newsletter is out and it focusses on some of the recent changes to Windows 10 Enterprise licensing. How many do you know?

Well, Windows 10 Enterprise with SA has been renamed to Windows 10 Enterprise E3, and there’s a new E5 edition available which includes Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection. All licences are available as user or device licences and there are Add-ons if you need to move between the models.

Read it and subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/2bQQzit.

September 2016 Hosting and Cloud Newsletter

This useful newsletter has three items of licensing interest this month – let’s take a look.

First of all there’s confirmation that Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 will be available in October 2016, with Service Providers being able to download the products from 17 October. The licensing model changes to Core licences and there’s a requirement for a minimum of 8 Core licences per processor. The virtualisation rules are pretty much the same as for 2012 R2: license all the cores with Datacenter edition for unlimited virtualisation, and license all cores with Standard edition for the rights to run a single VM.

Then there’s confirmation that Windows 10 Enterprise E3 is available in the CSP program from 1 September 2016. Licensed users may install the software on up to 5 devices but they will not have access to any virtualisation rights or Software Assurance benefits. Note that qualifying licences of Windows 10 Pro and above are required.

And finally, you’ll want to put 29 September in your diary for the quarterly licensing briefing from the Microsoft SPLA team. The agenda is set to cover the detail of licensing Windows 10 Enterprise E3 through CSP, and Windows Server and System Center 2016 through SPLA. Register for the Cloud Channel Network to attend: http://bit.ly/2c3U8nd or, if you’re already a member, add the event to your calendar here: http://bit.ly/2bPvwOt.

Sign up for this free monthly newsletter here: http://bit.ly/1iVEvxV.