(Updated) Microsoft Teams: The new streamlined Chat and Channels experience

MC920179 | January 5 – Microsoft Teams has updated its Chat and Channels experience to streamline conversations and manage messages more effectively. This includes a new combined view for chats, teams, and channels, custom sections for organization, and new filters and @mention views. Rollout begins mid-November 2024, with general availability by early February 2025. Education tenants will receive a separate update.
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Exposure Management Recommendations Retirement

MC971037 | January 3 – Certain SSPM recommendations from Exposure Management in the Defender portal will be retired to ensure accurate security posture representation. This will start in mid-February 2025 and complete by mid-March 2025. The retirement includes various recommendations, and no action is needed to prepare for this change.
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Upcoming changes to Defender for Identity activities and alerts in Defender for Cloud Apps experiences

MC940078 | December 31 – Defender for Identity activities and alerts will retire from Defender for Cloud Apps and move to Microsoft Defender XDR services. This change starts in late January 2025 and completes in early March 2025. Users must prepare by creating new custom detections and updating resources accordingly.
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Microsoft Viva Engage: Private unlisted groups in external networks will retire and be deleted in January 2025

MC867664 | December 30 – Private unlisted groups in external networks on Microsoft Viva Engage will be retired on January 13, 2025, and deleted on February 10, 2025. Users must convert these groups to listed to retain them and their data.
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Dynamics 365 Field Service – Enhance Copilot experiences in the web app

MC971695 | January 3 – We are announcing the Enhance Copilot experiences in the web app feature for Dynamics 365 Field Service. This feature introduces usability improvements for Copilot in Field Service to help your team of technicians, dispatchers, and service managers adopt and use these capabilities in their existing workflows. This feature will reach general availability on February 3, 2025.How does this affect me?Once enabled for general availability, your users can tap into enhanced Copilot…
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Microsoft Purview | Data Lifecycle Management: New secure workflow to bypass legal holds and retention policies

MC971035 | January 3 – Microsoft Purview introduces a new feature for data governance administrators to permanently delete sensitive content from Exchange mailboxes, bypassing legal holds and retention policies. This feature is part of Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 392838 and will roll out in early February 2025. It includes multiple approvals and auditing for security.
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Microsoft Teams: SMS for calling plans

MC971033 | January 3 – Microsoft Teams will introduce SMS chat in calling plans for U.S. and Canada customers, enabling them to send and receive SMS in Teams. This feature will be available on various Teams platforms and is expected to roll out in mid to late February 2025. Admins must enable SMS for users.
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Microsoft Teams: New recording policies for town halls and webinars

MC971032 | January 3 – Microsoft Teams is introducing new recording policies for town halls and webinars, allowing separate control of event behavior. This update, referenced by Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 473887, will roll out from mid to late February 2025. Organizations should prepare by updating recording policies using PowerShell commands.
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Microsoft Teams: New transcription policies for town halls and webinars

MC971031 | January 3 – New transcription policies for Microsoft Teams town halls and webinars will allow finer control and won’t follow the current Teams meeting transcription policies. They will be configurable in the Teams admin center or with PowerShell commands after mid-February 2025. Admins should prepare by updating policy values accordingly.
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Microsoft Viva Engage: New features for Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption community

MC971030 | January 3 – New features are coming to Microsoft Viva Engage for the Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption community, including recommendations for similar questions and answers, and the ability for admins to apply adoption features to different communities. Rollout begins January 2025 with no required action for admins to prepare.
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Power Platform admin center – GA of Convert Owner team to Access team and Reassign team records announcement

MC970892 | January 2 – Starting on January 15, 2025, the Converting Owner team to Access team and reassigning Team’s records feature will be made available in the Power Platform admin center (PPAC). How does this affect me? Previously, converting the owner team to an access team and reassigning team’s records could be performed in the Dataverse legacy Web client. Administrators can now perform these functions in PPAC by navigating to Environment > Settings > Users + Permissions >…
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Power Automate – Transform scripting using AI driven natural language

MC970214 | January 1 – We are introducing AI-powered natural language scripting for Power Automate, which simplifies the process of generating code. This feature will be accessible to users starting January 31, 2025. How does this affect me? This feature enables users to articulate their desired scripts in natural language, with AI subsequently generating the corresponding code automatically. This functionality streamlines automation workflows and minimizes the time and effort involved in coding…
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Power Apps – Advanced Settings redirection to the Power Platform Environment Settings app

MC970172 | January 1 – We are announcing the Use the Power Platform Environment Settings app feature for Power Apps. This feature replaces the legacy, web client experience and provides a single, unified experience for application developers to create settings for their applications. This feature will reach general availability on January 31, 2025.How does this affect me?As part of the initial release of this feature, existing links for advanced…
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Power Automate – Connect your own virtual network with hosted machine group

MC970128 | January 1 – We are announcing the connect your own virtual network with hosted machine group feature for Power Automate for Desktop. This feature will enable users to run desktop flows using a hosted machine group connected to their own virtual network (VNet) to execute RPA jobs that require access to on-premises networks. This feature will reach general availability on January 31, 2025.How does this affect me?Users can now seamlessly integrate a hosted machine group (HMG) with their own…
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Power Automate – Updated Browse Connectors/Actions pane in Cloud flows

MC970118 | January 1 – The updated Browse Connectors/Actions pane in Cloud flows designer for Power Automate is being released. This update will allow users to search for and select connectors/actions they frequently use in Cloud flows more quickly and efficiently. This feature is expected to be generally available by January 30, 2024.How does this affect me?Following the release of this feature, you will be able to:Favorite any connector/action so that they show up in the Add action pane…
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Power Automate – Use Copilot to analyze automation activity

MC969523 | December 31 – We are announcing the use Copilot to analyze automation activity feature for Power Automate. This feature will allows users to use natural language to ask copilots about past flow runs, machines and other related data. It will provide advanced operational visibility, without the need to build and deploy custom reports with a predefined set of queries and reports. This feature will reach general availability on January 31, 2025.How does this affect me?Administrators, CoE…
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Power Automate – Streamline workflow creation with the next best action

MC969477 | December 31 – We are announcing the streamline workflow creation with the next best action feature for Power Automate for desktop. This feature will provide you with the next best action for your workflow creation by continually analyzing your workflow and suggesting the most appropriate action. By leveraging this feature, you can automate repetitive tasks more quickly and efficiently. This feature will reach general availability on January 31, 2025.How does this affect me?The next best…
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(Updated) Microsoft Secure Score: Changing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint recommendation

MC941863 | December 31 – Microsoft is updating the Secure Score action for Defender for Endpoint to better reflect security posture, retiring the SCID-2020 recommendation. Rollout starts January 2025, with no admin action needed. The related recommendation will be removed from the UI, and scores will be adjusted accordingly.
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Microsoft Purview | Communication Compliance: Detect workplace safety concerns in user-reported Microsoft Teams messages

MC969453 | December 31 – Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance now flags potential workplace safety issues in user-reported Teams messages, displaying severity and classifier name. Rollout began mid-November 2024 and completes by late December 2024. This update is automatic and adds a severity column and content safety classifiers banner. No admin action is required before the rollout.
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Microsoft Copilot in the Microsoft 365 admin centers

MC969450 | December 31 – Microsoft 365 Copilot will be generally available in the admin center by late March 2025, enhancing productivity with AI for routine tasks, insights, and maximizing Microsoft 365 investments. It respects RBAC and requires no configuration changes by admins. A pre-built admin agent will also be introduced.
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(Updated) Microsoft Purview | Information Protection: Auto-labeling policies will support “Fingerprint based SIT”

MC920308 | December 31 – Auto-labeling policies in Microsoft Purview | Information Protection will soon support Fingerprint based SIT. Rollout will start late November 2024 and finish by mid-January 2025. This update allows admins to automatically label files and emails with Fingerprint based SIT, which will be on by default.
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Power Automate – Use Copilot to ask Power Automate product questions

MC969397 | December 31 – We are announcing the Use Copilot to ask Power Automate product questions feature for Power Automate. This feature allows users to ask questions about cloud flow and desktop flow activity, work queues, and Power Automate features. This feature will reach general availability on January 31, 2025.How does this affect me?This feature allows Copilot within automation center to analyze automation activity, view work queue performance, and provide answers to common questions about…
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Power Automate – Use Copilot to analyze work queue data

MC969385 | December 31 – We are announcing the Use Copilot to analyze work queue data feature for Power Automate. This feature enables Copilot to answer questions about work queue statuses and handling times. This feature will reach general availability on January 31, 2025.How does this affect me?This feature allows Copilot within automation center to ask questions about cloud flow and desktop flow activity, work queues, and Power Automate features.What do I need to do to…
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Power Automate – Use Copilot to analyze desktop flow runs

MC969381 | December 31 – We are announcing the Use Copilot to analyze desktop flow runs feature for Power Automate. This feature allows users to ask questions about cloud flow and desktop flow activity, work queues, and Power Automate features. This feature will reach general availability on January 31, 2025.How does this affect me?This feature allows Copilot within automation center to answer questions about desktop flow run history and view Copilot’s insightful analysis of desktop flow run…
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(Updated) Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance: Enrich triage with Insider Risk Management context

MC878431 | December 30 – The Microsoft Purview compliance portal is updated to integrate Insider Risk Management alerts within Communication Compliance triage flows, enhancing compliance risk assessment. Rollout begins mid-November 2024 for Public Preview and mid-December 2024 for General Availability. Organizations must enable Data sharing in IRM settings to prepare.
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Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat: Improved Context IQ menu for better Copilot results

MC950899 | December 30 – The Context IQ menu for Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat is improved, with a rollout starting in January 2025. It allows users to search and attach data sources directly in BizChat, enhancing the user experience with more reliable and intuitive interactions. No admin action is required before the rollout.
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(Updated) Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Edge links on MacOS will seamlessly open

MC910981 | December 30 – Microsoft Teams on MacOS will soon open Microsoft Edge links seamlessly, matching the authenticated profile for a better browsing experience. Rollout begins late October 2024 and completes by late January 2025. Admins can configure this feature in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center. No admin action is required before the rollout.
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Power Automate – Run two desktop flows in parallel on the same machine

MC968899 | December 30 – We are announcing the run two desktop flows in parallel on the same machine feature for Power Automate Desktop. This feature allows you to run a child desktop flow in parallel with its parent flow. This feature addresses unexpected popups in the target application that can block parent flows. By running a child flow in parallel, you can monitor and manage these popups and ensure parent flow efficiency. This feature will reach general availability on January 15, 2024.How does this…
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Power Automate – Process simulations for the Power Automate Process Mining desktop app

MC968699 | December 30 – We are excited to introduce the Process Simulations feature for the Power Automate Process Mining desktop application. This new feature enables users to create simulation scenarios to effectively validate business hypotheses. It will be generally available from January 31, 2025. How does this affect me? Simulation results offer a summary of global KPIs per process and detailed insights to analyze the impact of each activity. This feature will allow users to model the…
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