April 9, 2024
Microsoft Licensing News
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Support for Office 2016 and 2019 clients connecting to Microsoft 365 services has ended
WHEN: October 10, 2023
As of October 10, 2023, you can no longer connect to Microsoft 365 services using Office 2016/2019 clients.
Customers using these versions of Office may experience performance or reliability issues when accessing Microsoft 365 services.
- Improvements to Microsoft 365 services will no longer be tested against Office 2016 and Office 2019. As a result, users could experience performance or reliability issues even if they can connect these versions of Office to Microsoft 365.
- Microsoft will not actively block these clients from connecting to Microsoft 365 services as long as they are in extended support and are kept up to date.
Customers affected by these End of Support (EOS) milestones should transition to a supported Office version to prevent potential security, compliance, and productivity risks. Microsoft recommends moving to Microsoft 365 Apps (available through plans such as Microsoft 365 E3). For devices that aren’t ready to move the cloud, Office Long-Term Servicing Channel 2021 (LTSC) is available as an alternative solution. This version of Office was designed for devices that can’t accept feature updates or connect to the Internet. Note that only Mainstream Support applies to Office LTSC 2021 and support ends on October 13, 2026.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Microsoft Build of OpenJDK 21 announced
WHEN: September 28, 2023
The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK 21 binaries are now available for download.
The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is a no-cost distribution of OpenJDK that's open source and available for free for anyone to deploy anywhere. It includes Long-Term Support (LTS) binaries for Java 11 and Java 17 on x64 server and desktop environments on macOS, Linux, and Windows, AArch64/ARM64 on Linux and Windows, binaries for macOS on Apple Silicon (AArch64/M1), and musl libc compiled binaries for Alpine Linux on x64.
For download packages and installers, see Download the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Grace period being granted for changes to Azure Reservations Exchange Policy
WHEN: July 1, 2024
As previously announced in August 2023, Microsoft had made some changes to their Azure reservation exchange policy that were originally going to take effect on January 1, 2024.
While this policy’s start date remains January 1, 2024, but a grace period is now being granted. Customers will now have until at least July 1, 2024, to exchange your Azure compute reservations. Compute reservations purchased prior to the end of the grace period will reserve the right to exchange one more time after the grace period ends.
This applies to Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances, Azure Dedicated Host reservations, and Azure App Services reservations.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Azure Container Apps is now eligible for Azure savings plan discounts.
WHEN: October 2, 2023
Azure Container Apps are now eligible for Azure savings plan for compute. All Azure Container Apps regions and plans are now eligible to receive 15% savings (1 year commitment) and 17% savings (3 year commitment) when compared to PAYG rates.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: New Viva plans & features introduced
WHEN: October 2023
“Viva Employee Communications and Communities” and” Viva Workplace Analytics and Employee Feedback” are the newest (per user) licenses. See what is included in these suites here: Employee Experience Platform Plans and Pricing | Microsoft Viva
Additionally, Viva Amplify is now GA as of 10/10/2023. Viva Amplify is the newest addition to the Viva Suite, which customers can leverage for centralized campaign management, multi-channel publishing, and reporting capabilities to empower corporate communicators to connect with every employee effortlessly.
Copilot in Viva Goals is now in private preview (see: Drive Mission and Alignment with Copilot in Viva Goals and Goal Customization in Private Preview Now - Microsoft Community Hub) and Skills in Viva will enter private preview by the end of 2023 and will be included in the Microsoft Viva suite (Introducing Skills in Microsoft Viva, a new AI-powered service to grow and manage talent | Microsoft 365 Blog)
Pricing and Releases News
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Broadcom acquisition of VMWare
WHEN: November 22, 2023
Broadcom has announced the successful acquisition of VMware, as of November 22, 2023
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Flexera announces intention to acquire Snow Software
WHEN: November 28, 2023
According to press release, Flexera has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Snow Software. This acquisition is expected to broaden Flexera’s portfolio for technology value optimization. Snow Software is a leader in Software Asset Management (SAM) and Cloud Spend Management solutions, and the acquisition is expected to enhance Flexera’s capabilities in these areas.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Release of Oracle Java 21
WHEN: October 2023
On September 28, 2021, Oracle announced the release of Java 21. This release includes new features and enhancements that improve developer productivity, security, and performance. Additionally, Oracle has extended its support roadmap for Java, offering long term support for Java 21 for at least 8 years. Based on customer feedback and use in the Java ecosystem, Oracle has also announced that long term support for Java 11 has been extended through at least January 2032, providing at least eight more years of support and updates from Oracle.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Logitech P710e Speakerphone End of Life
WHEN: December 31, 2023
Logitech has announced that the P710e Speakerphone will reach its End of Life (EOL) on December 31, 2023 or while supplies last. After this date, the product will no longer be available for purchase. Customers are advised to place any last orders with their provider, as availability will vary by region and country. Logitech recommends transitioning to the Logi Dock as an alternative.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Acronis Detection and Response End of Service Announced
WHEN: December 31, 2023
Acronis has announced that it will stop supporting its Detection and Response product on December 31, 2023. The product was no longer available for purchase after October 1, 2023. Existing customers using Acronis Detection and Response will continue to benefit from the product’s functionalities until the end of support date. After that, Acronis recommends corporate customers to leverage Acronis EDR for Acronis Cyber Protect’s cloud deployments to address increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity risks.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Sophos Firewall v20 released
WHEN: November 2023
Sophos has released version 20 of its Firewall product in November 2023. This new version is available as a free upgrade to all licensed Sophos Firewall users. Sophos Firewall v20 brings new features and enhancements to provide better security and performance for its users.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Ivanti Cherwell Service Manager end of life announced
WHEN: December 31, 2026
Ivanti has announced that Cherwell Service Manager will reach its End of Life (EOL) on December 31, 2026. After this date, the product will no longer be available for purchase or support. Customers are advised to plan for a transition to an alternative solution before the end of support date.