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Microsoft has launched Ephemeral OS Disk support in public preview for Azure Virtual Desktop. This new feature is part of its Enhanced Host Pool Management initiative aimed at streamlining deployment and boosting performance. An Ephemeral OS Disk stores the operating system directly on the VM’s local storage rather than in Azure-managed storage. This setup is…

In this episode of First Ring Daily, Brad Sams and Paul Thurrott discuss the new “Hey Copilot” wake word and new agentic experiences Microsoft is bringing to Windows 11.

Microsoft has disrupted a highly sophisticated ransomware campaign launched by Vanilla Tempest, which used fake Microsoft Teams installers and fraudulently signed malware to target victims. This takedown, involving the revocation of over 200 malicious certificates, highlights the growing threat of SEO poisoning. Vanilla Tempest, also known as VICE SPIDER or Vice Society, is a cybercriminal…

Cybercriminals have escalated their tactics with Whisper 2FA, a sophisticated phishing kit that’s already been used in nearly a million attacks against Microsoft 365 users — stealing credentials and intercepting MFA in real time by imitating trusted brands. The Whisper 2FA phishing kit was discovered and named by Barracuda’s threat analysts, who began tracking its…

Microsoft announced today several new Copilot and agentic experiences for Windows 11 PCs. These new features are designed to evolve Windows 11 into an AI-powered platform with Copilot, which enables natural interaction through voice, vision, and action. “Today, we’re taking an exciting step forward with a new wave of updates that make every Windows 11…

With the introduction of Sudo for Windows, Microsoft has brought a familiar Linux privilege escalation tool to Windows users. It enables administrators and power users to execute commands with elevated permissions without switching contexts, streamlining workflows, and enhancing security. This article examines how Windows Sudo operates, its advantages, configuration options, and its comparison to traditional…

Today’s IT leaders are asked to do more with less: keep environments secure, ensure compliance across jurisdictions, support hybrid work, and free up time for transformation projects. Yet their teams still get dragged into low-value requests that chip away at capacity. One of the most overlooked examples? The corporate email signature. At first glance, it…

Microsoft has confirmed a new bug disrupting Active Directory (AD) synchronization on Windows Server 2025. The problem specifically affects on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) environments using DirSync for synchronization. Active Directory directory synchronization (DirSync) is a tool that was used to replicate user identities, passwords, and other directory data from an on-premises Active…

Microsoft has released the October 2025 Patch Tuesday Updates for all supported versions of Windows 11. This month, the company has addressed 175 new CVEs in Windows, Office, Azure, Hyper-V, GitHub, Exchange Server, BitLocker, and other components. Microsoft is reminding customers that this week’s Patch Tuesday also marked the end of support for Windows 10….

Microsoft is giving organizations a new way to measure their AI progress with the Benchmarks feature in the Copilot Dashboard within Viva Insights. This tool lets leaders compare their Copilot adoption and engagement rates against anonymized data from other companies. Microsoft notes that many organizations using Microsoft 365 Copilot struggle to assess how well they…

Microsoft is officially retiring Windows 10 today, marking the end of nearly a decade of updates and support for one of its most widely used operating systems. First launched in July 2015, Windows 10 now reaches the end of free support for its Home, Pro, and Enterprise editions. After October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no…

Microsoft has rolled out a new update that introduces external identity support in public preview for Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 users. The feature enables organizations to securely invite external users into their Entra ID tenant to access virtual desktop resources. What is an external identity? An external identity refers to a user account…