The Viewfinder

September 2024 Microsoft Licensing News

WHAT'S HAPPENING: Copilot for Microsoft 365 Wave 2 announcements
WHEN: September 16, 2024

Microsoft has announced the following as part of their Microsoft 365 Wave 2 Launch:

  • To better align and differentiate with other Copilot products, Microsoft renamed “Copilot for Microsoft 365” to “Microsoft 365 Copilot”, with an associated update to its description and logo.
  • Copilot Pages has been released. This is a dynamic, persistent canvas integrated into Copilot chat, designed to facilitate multiplayer AI collaboration. It allows users to turn insightful Copilot responses into durable, editable content that can be shared with teams for further collaboration. This is available to Microsoft 365 Copilot customers as of September 2024, and in the coming weeks, will also be released to those using free Microsoft Copilot customers, when signed in with an Entra account.
  • Copilot agents and agent builder enter preview as of early October. Copilot agents are AI assistants designed to automate and execute various business processes, enhancing productivity and efficiency within an organization. With the new agent builder experience in Copilot Studio, users will be able to create, manage, and deploy custom Copilot agents.
  • Copilots within the Microsoft 365 Apps have been enhanced in Word, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, and Excel, in which "Copilot in Excel with Python" is now in public preview.

 


 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: Release of Python in Excel
WHEN: September 16, 2024

Python is Excel is now generally available to Enterprise and Business users running the Current Channel on Windows, starting with Version 2407 (Build 17830.20128), and Monthly Enterprise Channel on Windows, starting with Version 2408 (Build 17928.20216). Python in Excel is used to process data in Excel with Python code. You type Python directly into a cell, the Python calculations run in the Microsoft cloud, and your results are returned to the worksheet. For access to additional Python in Excel features, like premium compute and more calculation mode options, there is a Python for Excel Add On available for sale.

 


 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: Self-Service purchase feature available for Copilot
WHEN: October 7, 2024

Microsoft has launched self-service purchasing for end users who are assigned Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, and Premium business suites. These users will be able to select the "Add Copilot to your Microsoft plan" button that appears on the Microsoft 365 Copilot product page and Compare All Microsoft 365 Plans webpages.

Self-service purchasing via Buy Online will be enabled by default at the time of launch. The end user who buys the subscription through self-service purchase is the person who is billed and who is responsible for payment based on the terms and pricing of the purchase. For information on managing or disabling this feature, please visit this link.

 


 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: Office 2024 Released
WHEN: October 1, 2024

Microsoft Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) 2024 is now generally available and includes new features such as several new functions in Excel, improved accessibility, better session recovery in Word, new capabilities in Access, and a new and more modern design. Per Microsoft's Fixed Lifecycle Policy, Office LTSC 2024 will be supported for five years.

 


 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: Windows 11 LTSC 2024 Released
WHEN: October 1, 2024

Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024 is now available, providing customers with access to an option for special-purpose devices and environments, such as manufacturing, healthcare systems or other environments that require longer term device update stability. Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024 will be supported for five years. (Note: Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 is also available now and has a 10-year support lifecycle.)

 


 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: System Center 2025 Release and Price Increase
WHEN: November 1, 2024

System Center 2025 will available as of November 1, 2024, and with this release, customers will notice a price increase of 10%. It will continue to be sold under the same per core licensing model as previous releases, with server and client management licenses and editions being differentiated by virtualization rights only.

 


 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: Support for Office 2016 and 2019 Ending in One Year
WHEN: October 14, 2025

As a reminder, support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 will end in one year (October 2025). After that date no further updates, security fixes, or technical support will be available for these versions of Office. Microsoft recommends upgrading to a newer version of Office, whether that’s subscription based Microsoft 365 Apps or Office LTSC 2024 (for scenarios that require a fully disconnected solution

No comments found.
Anonymous User

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *