Blog

On this episode of First Ring Daily, Brad Sams and Paul Thurrott discuss the various ARM-powered Copilot+ PCs on the market and how their exclusive AI features aren’t really making a difference as of today.

Microsoft has announced the public preview of a new optimization architecture for Microsoft Teams on virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This preview is now accessible to Teams users on Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, and Citrix DaaS, as well as Virtual Apps and Desktops for Windows endpoints. This new VDI solution for Microsoft Teams has been…

Microsoft has released a new update that introduces guest/external sharing support for its Loop app. This new feature enhances collaboration by allowing users to share workspaces, pages, and components with external collaborators. “Workspaces can only be shared with users that have an existing guest account in your tenant. If Business-to-business Invitation Manager is enabled, users…

Are you looking to improve the security of your Active Directory environment? Learn how to set up the PingCastle Community Pack and strengthen your network defenses. What is PingCastle? PingCastle is a free, open-sourced tool designed to assess the security level of your Active Directory environment quickly. It’s based on a methodology focusing on risk…

Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Copilot for Security threat intelligence (TI) embedded experience in the Defender XDR portal. The new AI-powered tool is designed to contextualize and summarize intelligence from Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence (MDTI) and threat analytics. The new Microsoft Copilot for Security TI embedded experience enables customers to access and…

Microsoft has announced that its new Teams client is now available as a progressive web app (PWA) for both Windows and Mac devices. Starting today, web users can install the new Microsoft Teams PWA directly from their browser’s address bar. In this new Teams web client, Microsoft has replaced the resource-heavy Electron framework and the…

The European Commission has issued new antitrust charges against Microsoft concerning the bundling of Microsoft Teams with Office 365/Microsoft 365 commercial subscriptions. This move follows the EC’s preliminary findings from an antitrust investigation that started back in July 2023. “In particular, the Commission is concerned that Microsoft may have granted Teams a distribution advantage by…

Microsoft will soon rename its existing Outlook for Windows app to “Outlook (classic),” starting with customers using version 2407 or later. This rebranding aims to clearly distinguish the classic app from the new Outlook for Windows client. Microsoft announced in a message on the Microsoft 365 admin center that this change will only affect the…

Microsoft Intune is set to introduce a new Remove apps and configuration (RAC) feature next month. The new troubleshooting tool allows IT admins to quickly diagnose and resolve issues by temporarily removing apps and configurations from managed mobile devices. “Before RAC, removing settings involved excluding devices from policy assignments or removing users from groups, and…

Last week, the Biden administration declared a ban on all US sales of Kaspersky antivirus software starting in July, citing national security concerns. Kaspersky will also be prohibited from issuing updates and security patches for its products beginning in October. According to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Russian government…

Microsoft is getting ready to retire its SharePoint News connector service next month. The company recommends customers to switch to more advanced tools to continue receiving SharePoint team site news notifications in Microsoft Teams. The SharePoint News Connector allows customers to integrate SharePoint news updates directly into Microsoft Teams channels. Currently, IT admins need to…

In this episode of First Ring Daily, Brad Sams and Paul Thurrott discuss the first Copilot+ PCs being off to a good start and Apple remaining very competitive thanks to vertical integration.