Blog

Microsoft has announced its plans to bid farewell to Business Connectivity Services (BCS) for Microsoft 365 customers in September 2024. After that date, IT admins will no longer be able to enable BCS through Settings or PowerShell commands. Business Connectivity Services is a feature that lets customers connect SharePoint solutions to external data sources like…

In a decisive move toward bolstering cybersecurity, Microsoft is permanently turning off Remote PowerShell Protocol (RPS) for Exchange Online this month. The company urges customers to move to the REST-based Exchange Online PowerShell version 3 module instead. Remote PowerShell Protocol (RPS) is a feature that allows IT admins to run PowerShell commands or scripts on…

In this article, I look at Azure VMware Solution, a Microsoft virtual machine (VM) service, verified by VMware, that runs on Microsoft Azure infrastructure. And specifically, how you can add a second layer of encryption to your datastore and ensure Microsoft cannot read or write any data within your private cloud. Data security is a…

Microsoft has released a new update for its Entra ID Protection service. The security feature is designed to let IT admins automatically remediate user risk when on-premises password changes happen in hybrid environments. Microsoft Entra ID Protection (formerly called Azure AD Identity Protection) is a security tool that allows customers to detect, investigate, and mitigate…

Happy back-to-school season Makers! This month we’re looking at some features across Canvas Apps, Power BI, and Power Automate.   One click and your Canvas App is offline ready  Built-in offline mode for canvas apps is moving from Experimental Preview to Public Preview in September 2023! Makers will be able to quickly take their canvas app…

Microsoft has detailed a roundup of new capabilities added to its Teams collaboration service in September. These updates are designed to enhance various aspects of the platform, including webinars, chat and collaboration, IT administration and security, as well as the Teams Rooms and Devices experience. First off, Microsoft has released several updates to improve the…

Microsoft announced this week plans to release the public preview of Inbound SMTP DANE with DNSSEC support for Exchange Online in 2024. The new tamper protection capabilities aim to bolster defenses against adversary-in-the-middle attacks in email communications. Specifically, Microsoft will enable two internet protocols for Exchange Online, including the DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities (DANE)…

In this episode of First Ring Daily, Brad Sams and Paul Thurrott discuss Microsoft’s attempt to sell Bing to Apple, and Google’s recent hardware announcements ahead of the company’s event next week.

Microsoft Teams continues to improve the meeting experience, and starting next month the collaboration platform is getting a new Town Halls feature with support for up to 10,000 attendees. The new virtual event experience will replace the Teams Live Events functionality, which is set to retire on September 30, 2024. With Town Halls, commercial customers…

Security researchers have discovered that hackers are now employing a new zero-point font obfuscation technique to target Microsoft Outlook users. Unlike traditional phishing emails that try to evade automated detection, this novel approach aims to deceive recipients by making emails appear more trustworthy. In a recent report published by the SANS Internet Storm Center, cybersecurity…

Microsoft Mesh integration in Teams is set to launch in public preview in October. The upcoming release should bring a wave of fresh meeting experiences to Microsoft Teams users, including avatars, 3D meeting environments, spatial audio and audio zones, interactive games, and live reactions. Microsoft Mesh is a new mixed-reality platform that was announced back…

Microsoft’s latest release, Windows Terminal 1.19 Preview, is making waves in the developer community with its array of new features, including Suggestions UI, Broadcast Input, and Web Search. Windows Terminal 1.18 is also available as a stable release with all the capabilities that were previously available in preview. Windows Terminal Preview 1.19 brings a new…