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Microsoft has announced that the “Azure VM Regional to Zonal Move” feature is now generally available for commercial customers. This new capability enables seamless transitions of virtual machines (VMs) from regional to zonal configurations within the same region. “This capability allows you to move your existing regional VMs into availability zones that were not available…

I passed my first exam and achieved my initial Microsoft certification status in September of 1999 – Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). Are Microsoft certifications worth it? Did passing it and many more certifications for Microsoft products assist me in my job duties as an IT Pro? And do the benefits outweigh the costs (money, time,…

The new Microsoft Outlook for Windows client that launched in public preview last year will become generally available for commercial customers on August 1. The company announced today on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center that this milestone won’t impact existing customers who continue to use the classic Outlook desktop application. Compared to the UWP Mail…

Microsoft’s AI-powered speaker recognition technology is now available for all Teams Rooms on Windows devices. The company announced yesterday that this feature is no longer limited to Microsoft Teams Rooms equipped with intelligent speakers. Microsoft highlighted several advantages of the speaker recognition capability in Teams Rooms on Windows devices. This feature leverages voice isolation to…

Microsoft has released the July 2024 Patch Tuesday updates for all supported versions of Windows 11 and Windows 10. This month, Microsoft fixed 142 security vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, and other components, and users can also expect the usual bug fixes and quality improvements. Microsoft has rolled out a couple of new features, improvements, and…

Microsoft is reminding customers that it will end support for multiple editions of Windows 11, versions 21H2 and 22H2, in 90 days. The company will officially end mainstream support on October 8, 2024, and after that date, it will no longer provide security patches and bug fixes for these versions of the operating system. Windows…

Microsoft has introduced a new Connection Reliability tab in Azure Virtual Desktop Insights. This feature empowers administrators to closely monitor and enhance the connection stability between users and Azure Virtual Desktop host pools. Azure Virtual Desktop Insights is a dashboard that helps IT professionals understand their Azure Virtual Desktop environments. It offers key metrics like…

Microsoft has announced that its Microsoft 365 apps now support OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.4 by default. The latest version brings a host of new features and improvements to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that are already supported by the Open Office XML format. In Microsoft Word, users can now insert tables within shapes. Additionally, ODT files…

In this episode of First Ring Daily, Paul Thurrott discusses his experience using the Qualcomm-powered Surface Laptop 7 and how this first generation of Copilot+ PCs is making Windows on ARM exciting again.

Microsoft has recently announced the public preview of its Entra PowerShell module, a new command-line tool designed for IT administrators. This module enables the programmatic management and automation of Microsoft Entra resources, streamlining administrative tasks and enhancing efficiency. The new Microsoft Entra PowerShell module is built on and fully interoperable with the Microsoft Graph PowerShell…

Microsoft is set to deprecate the Office 365 connectors feature in Microsoft Teams. The company encourages customers to transition to Power Automate workflows for enhanced functionality and security. Office 365 connectors in Microsoft Teams facilitate seamless integration between third-party services and Teams channels. These connectors allow users to receive real-time updates from popular services like…

Microsoft has released a new issuer hints feature in public preview for Entra certificate-based authentication (CBA). Additionally, several other capabilities, including username bindings and advanced Conditional Access options, have reached general availability, offering users greater flexibility and control over their authentication processes. What is Microsoft Entra certificate-based authentication (CBA)? Microsoft Entra certificate-based authentication is a…