Last month, I reported that a coalition of European enterprises and community organizations, including IONOS, Nextcloud, Eurostack, XWiki, OpenProject, Soverin, Abilian, and BTactic, was getting ready to launch Euro-Office on June 9, 2025. It's a Europe-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) designed to give Microsoft Office and Google Docs a run for their money.

Euro-Office has been heavily promoted as a sovereign alternative for public authorities, education systems, and some enterprises, moving away from overreliance on US-based cloud productivity services.

However, The Document Foundation behind LibreOffice recently published an open letter, sharing its thoughts about Euro-Office just a day before its official launch. The foundation says Euro-Office has been misrepresented as the first European open-source office suite.

The company indicated that LibreOffice and StarOffice were the only genuine open-source office suites while seemingly throwing a jab at Euro-Office. "They are not a freeware clone of MS Office whose code provenance is undisclosed, nor a product that has rebranded itself out of pure opportunism to ride today’s wave of Digital Sovereignty," The Document Foundation added.

It also pointed out that Euro-Office defaults to Microsoft's OOXML document format, which it claims is designed to prevent Digital Sovereignty by maintaining content lock-in. Based on this premise, the company says that it's difficult for Euro-Office to claim to advocate open source.

Euro-Office admitted that its service will feature a user interface nearly identical to Microsoft Office, with the key distinction being that it falls under European governance rather than U.S. oversight. The move may be aimed at enticing users away from Microsoft’s ecosystem.

The Document Foundation says that Euro-Office doesn't bolster sovereignty and control but builds and strengthens "Microsoft's strategy against European Digital Sovereignty, or, if you prefer, against the freedom of European users to control and manage their own content." So far, Euro-Office's launch has ultimately raised more questions than answers.

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Microsoft isn’t called the software giant for nothing. CEO Satya Nadella has acknowledged that co‑founder Bill Gates’s“software factory vision” was instrumental in turning the company into a profitable powerhouse. But Nadella has also cautioned that this formula may no longer hold in the age of AI. Looking ahead, he signaled that Microsoft will pivot toward security, quality, and AI transformation as its core business priorities.

Windows and Office are foundational to Microsoft's ecosystem, with broad adoption worldwide and generating massive recurring revenue. But the company's Office product could be looking at a serious threat to its dominance in the space. Enter Euro-Office.

"A coalition of European enterprises and community organizations," including IONOS, Nextcloud, Eurostack, XWiki, OpenProject, Soverin, Abilian, and BTactic, is behind Euro-Office, which is a Europe-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) designed to give Microsoft Office and Google Docs a run for their money (via ZDNet).

The suite of productivity tools is set to be available for everyone early next month, on June 9. You'll be able to download Euro-Office's 1.0 release from the project's public GitHub repositories.

Perhaps more interestingly, the service is designed to have a familiar user interface that will feel right at home for any Microsoft 365 user — the only difference is that it'll now fall under European governance instead of the US. It's designed to provide a sovereign alternative for the needs of public authorities, education systems, and some enterprises, moving away from an overdependence on US-based productivity clouds.

According to IONOS CEO Achim Weiss:

"With the geo-political developments we have seen in the last year, there is a clear need for a reliable, fully Microsoft-compatible and easy to use sovereign office solution in Europe. Our joint initiative delivers a suite with an extremely familiar interface and capable of working with documents, presentations, and spreadsheets."

This isn't the first threat to Microsoft's dominance with Windows and its Office productivity tools. In April, the French government revealed that it was ditching Windows for Linux as part of the country's broader strategy to reduce its dependence on American tools.

Similarly, at the beginning of this year, France announced plans to ditch Microsoft Teams and Zoom for a domestically developed platform called Visio across its public institutions by 2027.

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Microsoft has undoubtedly doubled down on generative AI, especially after locking in a multi-billion-dollar partnership with OpenAI in 2019. While co-founder Bill Gates was skeptical about the company's initial $1 billion investment in OpenAI, primarily because of its non-profit business structure, the company has since integrated AI across its tech stack.

I recently reported that Microsoft has generated approximately $30 billion from OpenAI between 2023 and 2025, but somehow burned through $100 billion in costs from infrastructure to hosting to get there. As such, it's unclear whether the company is making bank from its big bet on AI.

Last month, Mat Velloso, a former Partner Director managing AI innovation in Windows at Microsoft, hinted at the complete opposite when he indicated that "Microsoft missed the internet wave, the mobile wave, and now it missed the AI wave" (via Windows Latest).

For context, Velloso worked at Microsoft for over 12 years as Partner Director managing AI innovation in Windows, including 4 years as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's technical advisor. He then transitioned to Google, where he led AI developer products at Google DeepMind, including the Gemini API, before his recent stint at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs as the VP of Product for the Developer Platform.

This means that the executive has worked across three of the top companies in the AI arms race, placing him in a unique position to comment on the trajectory of AI. Velloso listed several reasons highlighting why Microsoft missed its opportunity in the AI wave, including:

• You make Bing your biggest bet with AI. Not a single percentage point of user share goes up from that investment
• You bet on Copilot with AI. Not even 3% of paying users use it, even when the distribution is massive, and it's pre-deployed right in their faces
• Then you hire the wrong people and assign them to jobs they are obviously not qualified to do. It gets worse.
• Your OEMs invest on NPUs to then find out that nobody cares because not a single valuable use case was built for those in Windows/Office.
• Your GitHub, which should be thriving in the age of AI, drops below 90% SLA.

The executive's post on X gained some traction and engagement, including from Microsoft's head of communications, Frank X. Shaw. "As you may know Mat, there are times when reality is enough of an answer, and given that you worked with some of these wildly impressively long-tenured people you could just maybe say congrats for a great run and not jam into a negative frame," Shaw said, while defending the exodus of executives from the industry giant.

Velloso defended his point of view by comparing Google and Microsoft's shares. According to the executive, Google's shares skyrocketed to approximately 230% while Microsoft's remained at 0% when he moved to Google in 2024.

During Microsoft's Q3 FY26 earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella indicated that the company now has more than 20 million enterprise customers paying for Microsoft Copilot, representing a 33% increase in the platform's user base from January's 15 million.

However, Velloso claims not even 3% of paying customers use Copilot, "even when the distribution is massive, and it's pre-deployed right in their faces." This lines up with a separate report suggesting that only 3.3% of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 users who interact with Copilot Chat actually pay for it, despite Microsoft spending $37.5 billion on its AI-themed efforts in Q2 FY26.

Microsoft's AI strategy

At the beginning of the year, Microsoft promised to make Windows 11 better by improving the operating system's overall user sentiment. As part of its ongoing Windows K2 initiative to overhaul and rehabilitate the OS, Microsoft is reducing where Copilot and its integrations appear.

Simultaneously, the tech giant overhauled its Copilot management with ex-Snap Jacob Andreou now leading Copilot experiences, both consumer and commercial, as an executive vice president reporting to Nadella. This frees Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman from some of his duties, allowing him to focus on developing in-house frontier AI models while chasing down the coveted superintelligence benchmark.

Over the past few months, investors have raised concerns over Microsoft's exorbitant spending on AI, questioning its capability to establish a clear path to profitability. This is amid claims that the AI bubble is on the verge of bursting, prompting market analysts to predict that investor interest in AI might be waning and could eventually be channeled to other profitable ventures in the foreseeable future.

Interestingly, some investors claim that AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic are developing agents that could replace established productivity suites such as Microsoft 365 as Microsoft focuses on AI. Microsoft plans to double down on its AI efforts by investing up to $146 billion in infrastructure in 2026.

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Updated 19/5/2026: This article has been updated to reflect a statement from Microsoft.I heard back from Microsoft about the issue flagged by Excel users about the unremovable floating Copilot button. The company shared two resources: one on how to disable Copilot in Excel and Word, and the other talked about architecting Copilot into Office apps as part of its broader strategy to "build an AI-forward design system that supports work today, while carrying us into tomorrow."

I had my head buried behind a Windows PC as early as the Microsoft Encarta days, but I’ve never quite managed to master Microsoft Excel. However, Microsoft's strategic partnership with OpenAI and the consequent integration of generative AI across its tech stack seemingly aimed to transform the user experience from an uphill climb to a walk in the park.

While Copilot in Excel might be viewed as a game-changer, allowing users to generate and explain formulas, summarize large datasets into charts, and more, Microsoft has seemingly resorted to disrupting the app's user experience with a floating Copilot button (via Neowin).

The change has received backlash from users because there's no way to hide the button from your user interface. However, you can right-click the floating Copilot button and select the Dock option, which will only slide the button to the side of the screen "with a caret-like behavior that launches the Copilot side panel and returns the floating button if you click on it," as the outlet describes the experience.

"The icon is visually disruptive and gets in the way for those that do NOT want to use Copilot - and lots of people don't," a user lamented. "And of course, speaking of which, even uninstalling it does not work, because it just gets reinstalled in the next update. What gives? Please stop trying to force people to use your apps when they do not want to. The only thing that it does is to make them look at alternatives. I know I certainly am."

The floating Copilot button does ship with useful capabilities, including options to either conduct research or create a table. Still, users have expressed reservations about the change and requested that Microsoft return it to its original position in the toolbar at the top or include an option to hide the floating button completely, while describing it as "visually disruptive."

According to a user in Excel's dedicated feedback hub: "Please get rid of the floating copilot icon at the bottom right of my Excel screen, or give me a way to turn it off. I do not want, nor need, Copilot in any capacity. Its presence is infuriating."

"This is atrocious implementation," another user added. "I capture screenshots for validation, and this is inserting itself over the data, which already has limited space on my screen. The button also blocks clicking the scroll bar at the point it overlaps (docked and undocked), at least on MacOS 26.4.1 (25E253)."

"Putting a button over the working content was not a good move by Microsoft. There needs to be a toggle or something to move it back to the ribbon (without requiring the admin to do it for our work 365 accounts). Or just undo this change, it was completely unnecessary."

In the past, Microsoft has been on the spot for forcibly integrating Copilot across its tech stack, specifically Windows 11. It's only recently that the company decided to scale back its aggressive AI push across its operating system by reducing where Copilot buttons and menus appear as part of its broader Windows "K2" initiative, which is designed to address pain points across the operating system and improve its overall user sentiment.

It'll be interesting to see whether Microsoft listens to feedback about adding an option to hide the floating Copilot button in Excel, and how fast it acts. While the integration can be useful, Microsoft should always give users control over Copilot, allowing them to surface it when they need it.

I've reached out to Microsoft for a comment about the issue and will update this article as more information becomes available.

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Like many people, my experience with Excel is mainly surface despite it being a profoundly deep program. I've used it to keep track of expenses and to make some charts for the site, but that's about as far as my knowledge allows.

Such a complicated program understandably has a load of support dedicated to proper operation, and scrolling through the Excel section in the Microsoft 365 troubleshooting pages sends a shiver down my spine.

Why was I here looking at support pages? I was checking out a troubleshooting article titled "Excel incorrectly assumes that the year 1900 is a leap year" after reading about it on PC Gamer. How does an issue like this get a complete support page instead of a fix?

As explained in the accompanying article, Excel would almost surely break down to a point that you'd not want to use if it were ever forced to correctly consider 1900 a non-leap year.

Excel's leap year problem has ties to Lotus 1-2-3's launch in 1983

Lotus 1-2-3 launched in 1983 for IBM PCs running MS-DOS, and it quickly became a huge hit with professionals. As you might have guessed, it considered 1900 a leap year, which "caused no harm to almost all date calculations."

When Microsoft launched Excel a couple of years later as competition for Lotus 1-2-3, it, too, came with the 1900 leap year flaw. It was a matter of compatibility between the two programs, as Microsoft wanted to ensure that users could move Lotus 1-2-3 worksheets into Excel without issue.

This issue has persisted and can still be found in the most recent version of Excel for Microsoft 365.

As Microsoft explains, "it is technically possible to correct this behavior so that current versions of Microsoft Excel do not assume that 1900 is a leap year." However, it does not deem the advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.

Correcting the leap year error would cause dates to decrease by one day across "almost all dates" in worksheets and other documents. The WEEKDAY function would stop working properly. And serial date compatibility with Excel and other similar programs would also fail.

Leaving it uncorrected? Well, only the WEEKDAY function will return incorrect dates if you're working with values from before March 1, 1900.

Dealing with the Excel leap year issue in 1992

As mentioned in a Joel Spolsky post from 2006, he approached Microsoft visionary Ed Fries back in 1992 after discovering the issue right before presenting his work to Bill Gates for review.

Fries noted that this bug in Lotus was "probably an intentional one" since it had to fit in 640K of memory. As Fries explained all those years ago:

"If you ignore 1900, you can figure out if a given year is a leap year just by looking to see if the rightmost two bits are zero. That's really fast and easy. The Lotus guys probably figured it didn't matter to be wrong for those two months way in the past."

So, there you have it. The next time I think one small shortcut won't make much of a difference, I'll definitely have this story in mind.

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Microsoft is going to remove Contact Masking, a feature that allowed users to hide suggested recipients from appearing when composing emails or adding people to the Cc field.

When you typed a name or email address, Outlook would suggest contacts based on your previous interactions. If you clicked the X next to a suggested name, Outlook would “mask” that contact, preventing it from appearing as a suggestion again

Admittedly, this is a feature I did not even know existed. That is probably because I quietly left Microsoft Outlook behind, partly due to frustrations I know many others share, and moved over to Thunderbird instead. For the most part, it has been a far more enjoyable experience.

Still, as tempting as it is to throw shade, I will hold back, just a little bit anyway. Instead, let’s take a closer look at the feature Microsoft is removing, what it actually did, why it is going away, and a few other Outlook annoyances worth mentioning.

Why Microsoft is removing contact masking

On the surface, it sounds harmless enough. The problem is that the change did not just affect Outlook. Masking a contact also removed it from suggestions across other Microsoft 365 services, including Teams and Microsoft 365 Search, which is where much of the confusion began.

While users could undo hiding a contact, the option only appeared briefly after masking it. According to Microsoft, that short window added to the confusion, and there are currently no plans to replace the feature or add anything similar.

Outlook has had its fair share of missteps lately. Just last month, it became “completely unusable” for some users, and the month before that, it somehow let spam overrun Sean’s inbox, our own news writer here at Windows Central.

Contact Masking is set to be removed on March 31, 2026, for all Outlook users across desktop, mobile, and the web (via Neowin).

Did you ever use Contact Masking in Outlook?

What do you think? Was Contact Masking a useful feature, or did it cause more problems than it solved? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to take part in the poll below:

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On February 5, 2026, five Illinois residents filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft in a federal court in Washington. The plaintiffs, including Alex Basich, Kristin Bondlow, and three others, claimed that Microsoft, through its video conferencing platform (Teams), was illegally collecting voice data in violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

The class action suit claims that the software giant illegally collected voice data through Teams' real-time transcription feature, which was shipped in 2021 and captures speakers' voices during online meetings and even assesses pitch, tone, and timbre to easily identify who made a certain comment or idea.

While this isn't necessarily illegal, Microsoft's failure to inform users about the collection of their voice data violates BIPA.

According to the plaintiffs, the company should have categorically informed users, elaborated on how the data would be used, and how long it would be stored. Perhaps more interestingly, they claimed that Microsoft would require a user's written consent to collect their voice data.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a class of Microsoft Teams users in Illinois whose biometric data was unlawfully collected through the platform’s transcription feature beginning March 1, 2021.

The class action lawsuit requests either actual damages or statutory damages of $1,000 per negligent violation, whichever is greater. If the court determines that Microsoft willfully or recklessly violated the BIPA, damages could increase to $5,000 per violation.

Elsewhere, an Austrian privacy regulator has ruled that Microsoft illegally set tracking cookies on a school‑issued device used by a child, even though the issue stemmed from how the school deployed Microsoft 365 services rather than anything Microsoft directly controlled.

Should companies face higher penalties when they intentionally misuse biometric data? Let me know in the comments.

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Over the past few months, Microsoft has introduced numerous new features to its video conferencing service, Microsoft Teams — including the ability to pin the app on top of other windows, ensuring it remains visible while you switch tasks and enhancing multitasking.

And as it now seems, the meeting tool is on course to add a long-anticipated feature. According to a spot by Neowin, Microsoft Teams users will soon have the option to hide the entire meeting control toolbar.

According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, the new feature is expected to ship to general availability in March, allowing you to reclaim screen real estate lost to the control bar during meetings. However, the feature will ship as an opt-in experience, meaning you'll need to navigate through your settings to turn it on.

It's worth noting that this feature doesn't completely scrap the control bar from the meeting interface. You can quickly bring it back to the screen by hovering your mouse over it. Alternatively, you can also press the Tab key.

Elsewhere, Microsoft Teams is expected to get more notable features in the foreseeable future, including branded reactions for organizations in video meetings, encouraging corporate emojis that promote their identity and themes.

Microsoft is also expanding People Skills on the Microsoft 365 profile card on Microsoft Teams, which will allow users to highlight their capabilities, making it easier for managers to identify the right person for a specific job.

Last year, a controversial feature shipping to Microsoft Teams raised concerns and even sparked backlash from users. It's expected to automatically update a user's location when they connect their device to an office Wi-Fi network. As a result, your manager or boss can tell whether you're working from the office.

Shortly after this concept went viral across the web, Microsoft updated how the feature works, further indicating that it's an opt-in experience, which will ship disabled by default.

I speculated that the controversial feature aligns closely with Microsoft's return-to-office plan, prompting questions about whether this is merely coincidental or a deliberate effort to intensify workplace surveillance and micromanagement. The software giant also announced that it had first pushed the feature's rollout to broad availability from December 2025 to January 2026.

As it happens, Microsoft has updated the timeline status again. Now, this Wi-Fi location tracking feature is expected to roll out to broad availability by mid-March this year (via Forbes).

The company hasn't provided an explanation for the delayed rollout of the feature. Perhaps it is using the additional time to address some of the concerns and kinks raised by users.

According to UC Today:

"On paper, auto-setting work location sounds like straightforward UX housekeeping. It’s one less field for users to maintain manually, one less friction point for already overloaded employees. In practice, it sits squarely on a fault line that tech buyers increasingly recognize: hybrid work is governed as much by trust as by tooling."

To that end, the company has emphasized the importance of user controls and guardrails. It's also worth noting that the Wi-Fi location tracking feature won't update the location after working hours. What's more, the work location will also be cleared at the end of the workday.

Do you think the Wi-Fi location tracking feature is a useful addition to Teams? Share your thoughts in the comments and cast your vote!

• Original article follows:

As you may know, Microsoft Teams has been under scrutiny for bundling Teams with Office 365, with rivals like Salesforce's Slack citing anticompetitive business practices. In 2023, the tech giant caved to antitrust pressure, forcing it to unbundle Teams from Office 365. This means users can purchase Office plans without Teams or Teams as a standalone service.

More recently, Microsoft dodged a hefty fine from the European Commission by changing the pricing of Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Both services will now be provided without Teams at a lower cost. For context, you'll have to purchase Teams as a standalone service for approximately $5.50 (€5) per user per month.

As it happens, Microsoft is currently working on a new Teams feature that will use Wi-Fi network connections to pinpoint a user's exact location. For context, Teams will automatically update a user's work location when they connect their device to an office Wi-Fi network (via TechRadar).

The feature is poised to reduce confusion at the workplace, allowing managers and employees to identify each other's location in the office. According to the Microsoft 365 roadmap post announcing the new feature, "when users connect to their organization's Wi-Fi, Teams will automatically set their work location to reflect the building they are working in."

To that end, the feature is still in the development phase, but it is expected to ship to broad availability later in December 2025. It's not yet clear what advantage this feature will serve.

It can be a productivity booster, meaning you'll no longer have to manually look for your counterparts at the office or even give them a call; you can easily pinpoint their location via Teams as long as they are connected to the office's Wi-Fi network.

On the other hand, it can also be used to identify who's not working from the office. This news comes after many organizations are rapidly ditching work-from-home and hybrid work arrangements.

In September, Microsoft announced that employees who work within 50 miles of a Microsoft office will be expected to work onsite three days per week by the end of February 2026. The company further indicated that employees work best when collaborating in person.

However, the move has raised concern among employees who claim that the mandatory return to office could be a type of stealth layoffs.

Elsewhere, Microsoft recently shipped a new feature to Microsoft's Copilot Dashboard in Viva Insights called Benchmarks. It is designed to help Copilot identify relevant data, allowing it to track AI adoption rates at your company. This allows management to keep track of how much AI you're using.

Towards the end of October, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming that the company misled approximately 2.7 million users into subscribing to a more expensive Microsoft 365 plan after hiking prices for its personal and family accounts.

The commission indicated that the software giant only presented users with two options: maintaining their subscriptions, which now include a Copilot integration for a higher price, or canceling the plan altogether.

However, the company didn't disclose a third option, which would have allowed users to maintain their Microsoft 365 plan with all classic features, excluding the Copilot AI integration, at a cheaper price.

Consequently, Microsoft responded to the claims, indicating:

More recently, the tech giant started reaching out to affected users about the omission of the third option to its Microsoft 365 plan, which allowed them to retain all the classic features without the Copilot AI integration, referring to it as “a subscription alternative that we could have communicated more clearly”.

According to Microsoft:

“In hindsight, we could have been clearer about the availability of a non-AI-enabled offering with subscribers, not just to those who opted to cancel their subscription.

In our email to subscribers [on Thursday], we expressed our regret for not being clearer about our subscription options, shared details about lower-priced alternatives that come without AI and offered a refund to eligible subscribers who wish to switch.”

Microsoft admitted that its communication fell short of its standards and stated that it plans to learn from the incident and improve its actions moving forward. But perhaps more interestingly, multiple users have indicated that their efforts to leverage Microsoft's offer to downgrade their M365 subscriptions and automatically get a refund have been botched.

"One would have hoped that Microsoft would have checked this before sending out the mass email, but here we are," an aggrieved user lamented. An attempt to downgrade to the cheaper tier with all the classic features was met by an error.

More concerningly, downgrading from Microsoft's expensive and AI-infused M365 tier to the Family Classic plan doesn't seem to be an option. Users can only reportedly downgrade to the Personal Classic Plan, which isn't a viable solution for those with family licenses.

A Microsoft spokesperson indicated that “some subscribers eligible for the refund received an incorrect link,” which subsequently caused the reported error. The representative issued an apology nd indicated that the issue was being fixed.

“An epic fail by Microsoft,” another user complained.

That said, while the ACCC's Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb welcomes Microsoft's apology and refund to the affected 2.7 million users, the commission will"continue to seek penalties, injunctions, declarations, effective consumer redress and costs in court".

FAQ

If you're running into errors trying to visit certain websites or use online services right now, you're not alone. That's because Microsoft Azure — the company's cloud computing platform that it and many other companies use for sites, programs, games, and more — has gone down, leading to widespread outages for a variety of services.

Downdetector — a site that aggregates reports of issues experienced with online services in real-time — began to signal that Azure and everything that relies on it was experiencing a severe outage on Wednesday morning, and issues with affected services remain ongoing.

Microsoft is aware of the problem and is actively working on resolving it, with updates coming at timed intervals on the firm's Azure status page.

"Starting at approximately 16:00 UTC, we began experiencing Azure Front Door issues resulting in a loss of availability of some services. In addition, customers may experience issues accessing the Azure Portal," wrote the company. "Customers can attempt to use programmatic methods (PowerShell, CLI, etc.) to access/utilize resources if they are unable to access the portal directly. We have failed the portal away from Azure Front Door (AFD) to attempt to mitigate the portal access issues and are continuing to assess the situation."

"We are actively assessing failover options of internal services from our AFD infrastructure," it continued. "Our investigation into the contributing factors and additional recovery workstreams continues."

The TL;DR? Microsoft is doing everything it can to find the root of the issue and take care of it so that Azure and everything that uses it can resume normal operation. Until that happens, though, all users can do is wait for a fix.

Some services hit by Azure's outage include the online functionality of Microsoft's own Office 365 apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook, as well as the business messaging and collaboration program Microsoft Teams, its AI assistant Microsoft Copilot, and the network of its Xbox gaming brand.

Some others are specific games such as the ever-popular Minecraft, digital services for Capital One banking, Starbucks, Costco, Xfinity, Walmart, and many other different programs and brands.

Even the launch of The Outer Worlds 2 has been affected, with many customers currently unable to purchase or install Obsidian Entertainment's new Xbox RPG as a result of the Azure troubles. Considering that The Outer Worlds 2 is one of Microsoft's biggest Xbox and Xbox Game Pass releases this year, it's quite unfortunate that its arrival has been hamstrung by this outage.

With any luck, we'll see a full resolution come sooner rather than later, though ultimately, only time will tell what happens. Microsoft is now in the process of rolling Azure services back to the "last known good state," which may or may not fix the problem. Hopefully it will.

It's worth noting that this Azure outage comes a little over a week after Amazon Web Services (AWS) went down, resulting in tons of different services, websites, and games going down in a similar manner. Azure going down hasn't affected quite as much, but even so, we've had some strong reminders of just how reliant the tools and programs we use on a day-to-day basis are on a select few platforms in recent times.

Microsoft has been under scrutiny by antitrust watchdogs after rivals, including Salesforce's Slack, cited anticompetitive business practices for bundling Teams with Office 365. Consequently, the company caved to the pressure and unbundled Teams from its suite of productivity tools, avoiding a hefty fine from the European Commission.

But as it now seems, the software giant may have bigger fish to fry after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed a lawsuit against it for allegedly misleading users of its Microsoft 365 bundle (via The Guardian).

For context, Microsoft increased the subscription price for its Microsoft 365 service by 45% for personal accounts, raising the annual cost to 179 AUD as of October 2024.

The commission submits that Microsoft willingly and deliberately misled approximately 2.7 million users into thinking that they only had two options: “to maintain their subscriptions, they must accept the integration of Copilot and pay higher prices for their plan, or, alternatively, cancel their subscription.”

According to the ACCC:

“The ACCC alleges this information provided to subscribers was false or misleading because there was an undisclosed third option, the Microsoft 365 Personal or Family Classic plans, which allowed subscribers to retain the features of their existing plan, without Copilot, at the previous lower price.”

Earlier this year, The Register reported on Microsoft's plans to raise the subscription prices for its Microsoft 365 service to include the integration of Copilot AI into the services. While Microsoft indicated that it would list a "Classic" as an alternative, however, the company didn't provide more details or its availability online.

But while recently speaking to the outlet, a Microsoft spokesperson indicated:

"Consumer trust and transparency are top priorities for Microsoft, and we are reviewing the ACCC's claim in detail. We remain committed to working constructively with the regulator and ensuring our practices meet all legal and ethical standards."

However, the ACCC's chair claims that Microsoft deliberately denied its Microsoft 365 users the opportunity to make informed decisions about their subscriptions, "which included the possibility of retaining all the features of their existing plan without Copilot and at the lower price".

FAQ

For those unaware, Microsoft Office Online Server was a self-hosted version of Microsoft’s web-based Office apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. It was designed for companies that didn’t want to rely on Microsoft’s cloud offerings and allowed organizations to host these tools in their own data centres (on-premises) while still providing users with a browser-based experience.

It was mainly used by large organizations such as government agencies and regulated industries where cloud or external data hosting wasn’t available or allowed.

Microsoft describes this change as an effort to modernize its productivity tools and focus on cloud-first offerings. In reality, it likely comes down to fewer companies using the software and Microsoft continuing to steer customers toward its cloud ecosystem.

End of support: When it’s happening and what Microsoft says

As reported on by Neowin, Support for Office Online Server ends on December 31, 2026. After that, it won’t receive any more updates, security patches, or technical support.

Without security fixes, businesses that continue using it will be at risk of data breaches or other vulnerabilities. In short, most organizations will have no choice but to move to Microsoft 365 instead.

If I put my speculation hat on for a moment, another reason behind this shift is probably AI — though that’s just an educated guess. Microsoft says the move will give users better tools, automatic updates, and access to features like Microsoft 365 Copilot.

However, some products remain unaffected for now. SharePoint Server Subscription Edition and Exchange Server will continue to receive updates — at least until Microsoft finds a way to weave AI into those as well. I kid, or at least I hope so.

In a quote from Microsoft’s blog, they say:

For organizations using SharePoint Server Subscription Edition or Exchange Server Subscription Edition, Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise and Office LTSC 2024 remain supported desktop clients for viewing and editing documents hosted on those servers.

If your organization uses Office Online Server to host Excel workbooks in Power BI Report Server, that functionality will no longer be supported. Alternatives include viewing workbooks in the Excel desktop application or migrating to the Power BI service

What this means for on-prem customers and IT departments

Companies using Microsoft’s Office Online Server will have little choice but to move to Microsoft 365. For some, that transition could take months, especially in industries where security and data control are top priorities.

Many organizations that relied on Office Online Server did so precisely because it kept everything in-house. Moving to the cloud could mean reworking internal systems, which doesn’t happen overnight.

Microsoft suggests alternatives like Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise or Office LTSC 2024 for those who still need local editing options, but the reality is clear: the company’s long-term focus is entirely cloud driven.

For now, enterprises are being urged to start planning migrations early, because once support ends, running Office Online Server will only get riskier by the day.

Another step in Microsoft’s all-in cloud strategy

Microsoft has made it clear that the future of Office and collaboration lies firmly within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. With that shift comes a growing focus on AI-powered tools designed to boost productivity and make teamwork smoother across devices and platforms.

This move benefits Microsoft in several ways. Revenue from Microsoft 365 subscriptions is far more consistent and profitable than selling one-off licenses, and it keeps customers locked into the company’s wider ecosystem. That tighter integration across Office, Teams, and other Microsoft services strengthens the value of staying within 365 long term.

For any organization still running Office Online Server, it’s worth starting migration plans sooner rather than later. The switch won’t happen overnight, especially for businesses with complex setups or strict compliance rules.

As for pricing, Microsoft 365 currently starts at $6.00 per user per month for the Business Basic plan, which includes web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, along with business email and 1 TB of cloud storage per user.

The Business Standard plan, priced at $12.50 per user per month, adds the full desktop versions of Office apps for PC and Mac, plus advanced collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive integration.

Finally, the Business Premium plan costs $22.00 per user per month and includes everything from the Standard tier, along with enhanced security, device management features, and advanced data protection controls — making it the most comprehensive option for larger or security-conscious organizations, but at a much steeper price.

FAQ

Microsoft is pitching a recent shift of AI agents in Microsoft Teams as more than just smarter assistance. Instead, these agents are built to behave like human teammates inside familiar apps such as Teams, SharePoint, and Viva Engage. They can set up meeting agendas, keep files in order, and even step in to guide community discussions when things drift off track.

The company is also keen to underline the guardrails in place. Security, compliance, and admin controls remain front and center, hopefully giving businesses confidence that these agents won’t step outside approved boundaries.

Unlike tools such as ChatGPT or Claude, which mostly wait for prompts, Microsoft’s agents are designed to take initiative. They can chase up unfinished work, highlight items that still need decisions, and keep projects moving forward. By drawing on Microsoft Graph, they also bring in the right files, past decisions, and context to make their suggestions more useful.

Beyond meetings and project plans, these agents handle the smaller but time-consuming tasks that often pile up. They can send out reminders, generate updates, and handle routine communications so people can focus on bigger priorities.

They also keep an eye on accountability. When follow-up tasks or edits are agreed upon, the agents make sure they’re logged, assigned, and tracked through to completion. The idea is to reduce the chances of important work slipping by unnoticed.

On top of that, the agents study how teams collaborate over time. They look at meeting habits, project progress, and how shared documents are used. From this, they can suggest ways to improve workflows and help groups work together more effectively.

Milestones, the Agent Store, and what’s coming next

The Facilitator agent for Teams is now generally available, meaning anyone using Teams can access it without being limited to preview programs.

Microsoft has also launched the Agent Store back in May, a hub where organizations can find, deploy, and manage agents. The store features both Microsoft-built and partner-built options, giving businesses more flexibility in how they use the technology.

These agents aren’t cut off from one another. They can collaborate, with Microsoft pointing to examples like the Project Manager agent assigning tasks based on meeting notes captured by the Facilitator. It’s a clear step toward what it calls “multi-agent teamwork.”

Looking ahead, Microsoft is also developing an Interpreter agent for real-time translation in Teams meetings. With nine languages in testing, the feature could play a big role in global communication, and it’s an area the wider AI industry is racing to improve. This is something I personally find exciting, and it feels like many companies are doubling down on it lately, with Meta Ray-Bans Displays and Apple AirPods also offering real-time translations — though those are focused more on in-person conversations.

Whether these new agents truly transform how people work remains to be seen. Microsoft already requires its employees to use AI tools, and it’s clear AI is here to stay. These agents are simply the next step in Microsoft’s push to weave AI deeper into everyday workflows. Still, the ambition is impressive, and the idea of AI teammates could genuinely help improve productivity.

Across the government, Microsoft’s Office software is already a staple. When Trump returned to office, his administration introduced OneGov, a procurement strategy designed to consolidate IT spending through the General Services Administration (GSA). Instead of each agency negotiating its own contracts, OneGov directs them to buy through a single channel.

The idea is simple: by pooling demand, the government gains leverage to negotiate much bigger discounts. That’s exactly where Microsoft’s $6 billion savings package comes in.

Microsoft’s $6B savings package explained

Microsoft projects $3.1 billion in potential savings for agencies in the first year alone. Over the full three-year span, the total savings could top $6 billion, making it one of the biggest cost-cutting packages the government has ever secured.

These discounts aren’t permanent. They run until September 2026, and agencies must go through the GSA under OneGov to qualify. Not every office is eligible for the lower rates.

With federal spending on IT products and services sitting at around $80 billion a year — much of it on software, cloud, and cybersecurity — shaving costs represents a meaningful reduction. It also feels like a strategic play from Microsoft to deepen its role in government technology while pushing further into the competitive AI space.

What agencies get in the deal + Copilot’s free year for federal workers

Microsoft 365 is one of the main services included in the deal, with discounts on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. These are everyday apps most federal employees already use, so the savings apply to tools that are already deeply embedded in government work.

Azure’s cloud infrastructure is also covered. Agencies will see lower prices on hosting, storage, and compute services, and Microsoft is waiving its data egress fees — the charges for moving data out of Azure — which can add up quickly at scale.

The agreement also extends to Dynamics 365 business applications, used to manage case files, finances, and HR, as well as Sentinel, Microsoft’s cloud-based cybersecurity platform that helps agencies detect and respond to threats.

On top of the discounts, agencies with Microsoft 365 G5 licenses will receive a year of Copilot for free. It’s a clear signal of Microsoft’s intent to make its AI assistant a standard part of government workflows, with the hope that agencies will continue using it once the free period ends.

Why Nadella got personally involved + Microsoft’s entrenched role in federal IT

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella personally got involved in this agreement, speaking directly with Josh Gruenbaum, head of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service. His involvement shows just how important the deal is to Microsoft, especially as it pushes to get more agencies to use its AI tools.

Nadella has made it clear that AI is now at the center of Microsoft’s strategy. The goal isn’t just to compete, but to surpass rivals like Google and Amazon. Locking government agencies into Microsoft’s ecosystem gives it long-term leverage and a stronger hold on the market.

The deal also reinforces Microsoft’s position as one of the government’s most trusted partners. It goes beyond simply selling Office subscriptions, aiming instead to tie agencies into a broader suite of apps, cloud services, and AI-powered tools.

What’s the competition doing?

Microsoft isn’t the only company cutting deals with the GSA under OneGov. Adobe has offered a 70% discount on its Paperless Government Solution, available through November 2025.

Amazon and Google have also stepped in. Amazon is providing up to $1 billion in cloud-related savings, while Google has introduced a 71% discount on Google Workspace. Impressive as these are, none quite match the scale of Microsoft’s $6 billion package.

On the AI side, the discounts are even more striking. Anthropic’s Claude for Enterprise is available across all three branches of government for just $1 per agency, and OpenAI has matched that pricing with ChatGPT Enterprise. However, the deal only runs for one year.

The AI race shows no signs of slowing down. It can feel overwhelming to see AI creeping into every corner of technology, but deals like these could prove pivotal. In a few years, it will be worth looking back to see whether agreements with the government played a key role in deciding which platforms became the true leaders in AI.

Microsoft hasn't been shy about heavily integrating generative AI across its tech stack, including its wide range of Microsoft 365 productivity tools. This comes after the software giant made a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, granting it access to the ChatGPT maker's next-gen AI capabilities and intellectual property.

More recently, the company announced its plan to integrate its Copilot AI into Microsoft Excel. It's worth noting that the feature is already rolling out in phases to Beta users, which means it could ship to broad availability in the coming weeks or months.

According to Microsoft:

"It can be painful and time-consuming to wrangle data, summarize feedback, categorize information, and brainstorm ideas."

However, integrating Copilot into Microsoft Excel will allow users to use natural language prompts within a spreadsheet, making it easier to interact with the productivity tool while promoting efficiency and effectiveness.

• Summarizing text: Condense long strings or cell ranges into concise summaries.
  For example, =COPILOT("Summarize this feedback", A2:A20)
• Generating sample data: Create placeholder or example data for prototyping or demos.
  For example, =COPILOT("Five ice cream flavors")
• Classifying or tagging content: Assign categories or labels to text entries.
  For example, =COPILOT("Classify sentiment", B2:B100)
• Generate text: Create simple text content.
  For example, =COPILOT("Create a description for this product based on its specs", B2:B8)

While the new feature promises incredible productivity gains for users, Microsoft says it's not a one-size fits all solution for all your Microsoft Excel problems.

Copilot AI in Excel seems like a trivial feature at best

The new COPILOT function in Excel is touted as an incredible tool for classifying, summarizing, and generating content, but that's just about it. Microsoft has categorically warned users against leveraging its capabilities for "any task requiring accuracy or reproducibility," especially numerical calculations (via PC Gamer).

What's more, beyond the accuracy concerns, the feature's usability is capped at 100 calls per 10 minutes or 300 calls per hour. It's also worth noting that you'll not be able to leverage its next-gen capabilities to access live web data or internal business documents.

Perhaps more concerning, this cuts across financial reporting, legal documents, and other high-stakes scenarios, which are essentially the main things people use Excel for so it kind of defeats the purpose.

Microsoft Excel's COPILOT function is pretty limited, which can be attributed to generative AI's tendencies to generate wrong responses to queries, hallucinate, and misleading information.

As listed above, it's important to ensure that the data you're getting from Excel is accurate, but with AI in the fold, things are a tad complicated. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed that he is concerned about the high degree of trust people have in ChatGPT.

Microsoft is also taking extra steps to maintain your data's privacy when interacting with Copilot AI in Excel. According to the software giant:

"Your data sent through the COPILOT function is never used to train or improve the AI models. The information you input remains confidential and is used solely to generate your requested output."

However, some of these limitations could be subject to changes as the new function is still in beta, which means Microsoft could further refine the experience based on feedback from users before it ships to general availability. And finally, you'll also need a Copilot license to leverage this new tool.

The price of Microsoft 365 used to be simple to explain. But with price increases, limited time "classic" sub tiers, and deals bouncing around, things have gotten more complicated. I regularly track the best Microsoft 365 deals, and I don't think people realize just how big of a discount is available right now. StackSocial has a deal that gets you 12 months of Microsoft 365 for $59.99.

Microsoft 365 price increase

Microsoft announced a price increase for both Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family recently. It's the first time those subscriptions have gone up in price in 12 years, but subscription fatigue is real and price increases across services add up.

The Microsoft 365 price increase came shortly after the tech giant added Copilot to the service. The subscriptions will go up in price by $3 per month in the United States.

For a limited time, you can drop your plan down to the "classic" sub tier, which lowers the price back down to what it was before. Those on the classic sub tier will not have access to Copilot in Microsoft 365.

Microsoft allows you to stack Microsoft 365 subscriptions. That makes the current discount on Microsoft 365 even more valuable.

The real cost of 12 months of Microsoft 365 is $129.99 if you go through Microsoft or other retailers. StackSocial is cutting itself a bit short listing the retail price of 12 months of Microsoft 365 as $99.99, though it makes sense considering the more expensive Microsoft 365 includes Copilot. Since many users don’t want Copilot in Microsoft 365, the StackSocial deal offers excellent value. Why pay for a feature you don’t need?

Free Office vs Microsoft 365

Microsoft is testing free versions of its Office apps, making some people wonder about how much they're paying for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It's important to note that those free Office apps are only in testing and are for emerging markets, at least for now. But you may have seen "Free Office apps" trending online, so it's worth mentioning them.

The free Office apps have several limitations, which are to be expected. The free versions of the Office apps are meant for basic writing or editing. They lack features such as add-ins, advanced formatting, designer, dictation, and SmartArt.

Some users could likely get by with the limited versions of Office apps for basic editing. But the fact that free Office can only save documents to OneDrive is probably a deal breaker for many. Seeing ads in a Word document or Excel spreadsheet could also turn people away from the free Office apps.

A paid Microsoft 365 subscription, such as Microsoft 365 Personal or Microsoft 365 Family, comes with the full versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The subscription also gets you access to Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Editor, and comes with quite a bit of OneDrive cloud storage (the exact amount depends on your plan).

The free version of Office is not meant to compete with Microsoft 365. The free Office apps are in testing and intended for emerging markets, at least for the moment.

The free Microsoft 365 web apps are still the recommended way to use the Office apps for free.

Microsoft isn't exactly known for "good" branding, at least generally.

Indeed, "hit and miss" is how I'd ultimately describe Microsoft's ability to actually name things. Xbox is cool, but Xbox One, Series X|S, Xbox 360? It all began to get a bit confusing. "Surface" is cool too, but somewhere along the way, Microsoft stopped giving them numbers, so now we have the Surface Pro "11th Edition" instead of simply the Surface Pro 11 (which is what most people search for anyway). I quite like the Microsoft Edge branding too. Then there's Windows itself, which is perhaps among the most recognizable brands and products in history.

Synonymous with Windows, for the past several decades, is its suite of productivity tools known to the vast majority of the globe as "Microsoft Office." At least, it used to be. A couple of years ago, Microsoft inexplicably rebranded it to "Microsoft 365," throwing away decades of brand recognition and removing the actual function of the product from its name. It's so dumb that Microsoft itself acknowledges the dumbness, having to list Microsoft 365 as "Microsoft 365 (Office)" on various app stores, because they know how much confusion they've created with their misguided name change.

But wait, it gets worse. Say hi to "Microsoft 365 Copilot." Yep.

If you thought the first Office rebrand was dumb, Microsoft has decided to take it to the next level with Microsoft 365 Copilot

Sigh. Where to start with this one.

Microsoft is so desperate to push its ChatGPT container "Microsoft Copilot" that it has attached it to one of its only popular consumer products like some kind of vestigial limb. With this update, apps like Word, Excel, and more gain Copilot "integration," although so far, the results aren't exactly great. The ability for Copilot to actually interact with your documents in Excel is quite limited. I asked it to remove mentions of a date range I mistakenly copy and pasted in one of my spreadsheets, and it basically returned with a guide on how to press delete to remove data from cells. Word is a similar story. You can highlight text and click a button to get Copilot to re-write things for you ... but I'm not sure exactly when this would be useful.

Copilot has its uses for sure, just as ChatGPT does. I think Microsoft's current implementations of Copilot are underwhelming, but we're not here to review Copilot right now. What we are debating is the virtue of attaching the branding of a platform that consumers have, thus far, shown very little interest in, onto a product that is designed for very specific tasks. It would be like naming Office "Microsoft Office Clippy" back when that feature was invented and implemented.

Microsoft 365 itself was an absurdist idea, throwing away decades of cultural muscle memory for what feels like an ideological effort rather than one based on good sense. Calling it Microsoft 365 Copilot, before Copilot is even really a thing, again strikes me as completely odd. It comes from the same corporate overthinking as the "Copilot+ PC" branding, which so far, consumers have wholesale rejected. It comes from the same pointless exercise as rebranding globally-recognized news aggregate "MSN" over to "Microsoft Start," only to revert back after a few months.

Who, or what is driving these crazy branding choices?

I'm not sure who makes these decisions at Microsoft, but they are all crazy

Copilot isn't ready for the prime time in my view, operating as a basic web wrapper for ChatGPT with painfully limited system-level integration, features, and capabilities. By rushing ahead and putting a spotlight on Copilot today, Microsoft risks "Copilot" becoming synonymous with uselessness much like Bing itself, while spreading the pain onto products and services that are otherwise actually good.

I'm sure that some day Microsoft Copilot might actually be a thing people actively care about, but it hardly offers any differentiation from ChatGPT today, owing to a lack of innovation from Microsoft itself. There's no real reason to use Microsoft Copilot over ChatGPT today, and Microsoft has so far struggled to address that. Copilot's integration into Word and Excel are underwhelming, and Copilot+ PC features like Windows Recall had to be recalled, as Microsoft trips over itself trying to keep pace with competitor platforms.

RELATED: Why Microsoft won't be the company that mainstreams consumer AI

The rebrand of Microsoft Office was dumb to start with, trampling on a legacy spanning decades. The second rebrand attaching Copilot is even more dumb, and follows the Copilot+ PC thought process of firmly putting the cart several miles before the horse. Copilot hasn't earned the right to be showcased alongside a technological cultural milestones like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word. At least today, it doesn't do anything that ChatGPT doesn't do, save for having slightly more censorship.

The only rebrand to Copilot that might make sense is dropping it onto Bing. Bing is synonymous with low quality now (fairly or not), rebranding the search engine to "Copilot.com" would align more with what Microsoft is doing with search anyway potentially. "Ask Copilot" has a better ring to it than "Bing it." Bing has nothing to lose in terms of consumer trust, but attaching Copilot to existing globally recognized and globally loved existing brands just feels like a fool's errand.

Microsoft's penchant for rushing ahead with frequent and thoughtless branding exercises risks creating negative connotations while painting itself as a company that has no clue what it's actually doing. As of writing, "Office 365" still has double the amount of search traffic as "Microsoft 365." Microsoft 365 Copilot has virtually none.

What you need to know

• Microsoft services have been impacted by a global outage, reportedly caused by bugs affecting Crowdstrike.
• Crowdstrike has posted that the issue has been identified and isolated, and a fix has been deployed but many services need to restart and are stuck in a boot loop.
• Azure has been effected along with Microsoft 365 apps. Microsoft's 'fix' for this instructs users to restart multiple times, "as many as 15," to restore service.

It's been a wild morning for services dependent on Microsoft, with widespread global IT outages some reporters are referring to as a "digital pandemic." Planes have been grounded, bank account access frozen and even 911 operators affected by the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

The mass outage, caused by an issue with security software Crowdstrike, has reportedly been "identified and isolated" with a fix deployed. Still, for the fix to work, many services must reboot. The old "turn it off and on again" will save us, and if it doesn't, don't worry—Microsoft says just do it 15 times. Yes, really. Azure servers are affected, and consequently, Microsoft 365 apps, with the website's most recent update, instruct users to reboot as many times as it takes to get the fix working. 

Additionally, those on Windows 11 who are also affected now have a fix, as we've detailed in our new "How to fix CrowdStrike Blue Screen error on Windows 11" guide.

You can read the full update on Microsoft's website, but this is the part we found particularly amusing.

"We have received reports of successful recovery from some customers attempting multiple Virtual Machine restart operations on affected Virtual Machines. Customers can attempt to do so as follows:

• Using the Azure Portal - attempting 'Restart' on affected VMs
• Using the Azure CLI or Azure Shell (https://shell.azure.com)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/vm?view=azure-cli-latest#az-vm-restart

We've received feedback from customers that several reboots (as many as 15 have been reported) may be required, but overall feedback is that reboots are an effective troubleshooting step at this stage."

Other solutions suggested by Microsoft are "forcing an unexpected reboot. See, the driver hooks the function by patching the system call table, so it's not safe to unload it unless another thread's about to jump in and do its stuff, and you don't want to end up in the middle of invalid memory."  Or maybe that entire quote is from The IT Crowd, but the part about rebooting 15 times is actually real. If it works, it works! 

Chaos around the world

Crowdstrike is a cybersecurity firm based in the US that uses cloud-based AI and machine learning to prevent cyber attacks. It's used by government agencies, airports, and banks, amongst many others, and the update to its Falcon Sensor software has caused chaos with Windows, Microsoft 365, Amazon, and even Instagram. Microsoft has since suffered a separate outage due to the configuration change in the back end of Azure's settings, which has been fixed, but you may need to go through many restarts to see an improvement. What's most worrying is how easy it's been for this to happen. With so many systems across the world all dependent on the same software, turning it "off and on again" isn't as simple as it sounds.

Meanwhile, not everyone is unhappy about the outages, and some workers have been celebrating the early Friday finish a lack of working IT equipment has gifted them. Or alternatively, being annoyed that their laptops are working amongst the chaos.

This is a developing story and we're keeping tabs on it. Keep an eye on on our coverage for new updates, statements, and more. 

What you need to know

• Microsoft services have been impacted by a global outage, reportedly caused by bugs affecting Crowdstrike.
• Microsoft says it has fixed its Azure servers and that its services should be restored soon.
• Corporate employees have shared their joy about taking a "breather" from work during the outage throughout social media.

Earlier today, reports surfaced across social media platforms citing an outage affecting Microsoft, including its computing and networking services across the US. This has left its customers between a rock and a hard place.

Microsoft is investigating the issue, but cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike is reportedly to blame for the global outage. The Redmond giant has seemingly repaired its Azure servers and says its Microsoft 365 services will be restored gradually. In the interim, "CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts."

While experts refer to the issue as the "biggest IT outage the world has ever seen," not everyone is upset about it. Before I clocked in at work, a friend sent me an iMessage with an image attachment of a Blue-Screen-of-Death (BSOD) and asked me whether I'd faced a similar challenge. 

My first thought was to check X (formerly Twitter) for any updates on the issue. Instantly, a message from my colleague popped up in my notifications, confirming that Microsoft services were facing a global outage. Windows and CloudStrike were also trending on my X timeline. 

But what's CloudStrike? It's a "is a cybersecurity company based in the US. Its main focus is helping companies manage their Internet security, including protecting them from data breaches and sophisticated attacks deployed by hackers."

While the global outage persists, employees across various organizations using Microsoft services have gotten a free pass from work (at least until the services are restored) and potentially a 3-day weekend. The same friend who alerted me about the outage just called to ask if we could hop onto our weekly EA FC 2024 tournament on Xbox a bit earlier today. However, it's unlikely that online gaming is available. 

Billionaire and X owner (formerly Twitter) Elon Musk also used the opportunity to throw jabs at Microsoft while referring to the global outage as the "Biggest IT fail ever." He also gloated about X remaining fully functional despite the outage affecting Microsoft’s services.

While most employees leveraging Microsoft services across most sectors are taking it easy, international airports are issuing hand-written boarding passes to travelers. The outage has negatively impacted traveling schedules.

For IT workers, it could mean dropping weekend plans and having their heads buried in computer screens for the next 72 hours, trying to figure out the cause of the outage and working on a fix.

On the other hand, the global outage of Microsoft services has been well-received by journalists.

Linux users are using the global outage to throw jabs at Microsoft services users. Microsoft's Windows currently holds a huge chunk of the operating market share compared to Linux. However, the Redmond giant's aggressive ad campaigns in Windows 11 coupled with its stringent system requirements for the OS, causing multiple users to transition to Linux.

Some of our readers have also had pretty interesting insight and opinions about the global outage. With one sharing an image on our X account indicating, "Hackers need to step up their game and delete everyone's loans, bad credit, and mortgages."

Another user correlated the outage to Microsoft disbanding its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team. "Maybe just reinstate the DEI department, see if that works?" the user added.

This is a developing story and we're keeping tabs on it. Keep tabs on our coverage for new updates, statements, and more. 

What you need to know

• Microsoft is adding a new way to interact with recently used Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on iOS.
• You can access recently used files directly from the home screen through the new Recent Files widgets for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iOS.
• The feature is rolling out to Microsoft Insiders but is expected to ship to broad availability soon.

Microsoft has announced a new and easier way to interact with recently used Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on iOS. You access recently used files directly from the home screen via the Recent Files widgets for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iOS.

Users can either view or open recently accessed files by adding the Recent Files widgets for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to the home screen on their iPhone or iPad.  It's worth noting the Recent Files widget is available in different sizes (small, medium, and large) to accommodate your needs based on the device you're using. 

What's more, you can use the widget to launch the app's home page by tapping anywhere on the widget outside the file cards. It's worth noting that the feature is rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders running iOS Version 2.85 (Build 24042818) or later.

It's possible that you might not be able to access the new feature immediately, as it's rolling out in waves. Microsoft uses this precautionary measure to ensure everything runs smoothly before shipping a feature to broad availability. 

What you need to know

• Losing unsaved files in Microsoft Word can be a pain, especially if you hadn't enabled the autosave option or synced Office 365 to the cloud as backup.
• There's a cool trick that can help you retrieve lost and unsaved Word documents by searching for .asd in the File Explorer under My/This PC.
• It's a great alternative if you fail to retrieve the unsaved Word file via Word's in-built the Document Recovery or Recover Unsaved Documents methods.

Throughout my school-going years, losing assignments was one of my biggest phobias. I know I'm not the only one who's lost important and time-sensitive work while using Microsoft Word. 

There are several ways that you can use to retrieve unsaved Word documents, including Word's Document Recovery feature or its Recover Unsaved Documents option. 9 out of 10 times, both of these methods usually work (even if you lose a bit of progress at times). But sometimes, these efforts might be rendered futile. It's especially worse if you've not enabled the autosave feature.

Interestingly, while scrolling through X(formerly Twitter) I stumbled on a cool tip from the @cooltechtipz page to help out with this specific issue:

"If you accidentally close a Word file without saving, no autosave either. Just search .asd into the File Explorer under My/This PC. The document will be there, Windows has your back!"

While this trick isn't new, it seems to have caught many users (including me) by surprise going by the reactions on the post. To retrieve unsaved Word documents, click on the Start icon on your Windows 11 taskbar and enter .asd in the search bar. Voila! You'll now have access to the lost and unsaved Word document, saving you time and resources that would've been spent doing the project all over again.

Once you find any Word file with the .asd extension, head back to Microsoft Word and click on the File option at the top and select the Open and Browse tabs. Next, select the All files option in the drop-down menu to find the unsaved .asd file.

What you need to know

• Google has published a new security report centered on Microsoft's cascade of security failures. 
• The report pinpoints Microsoft's lack of security and risk management, coupled with failures to correct misleading and inaccurate public statements.
• Google recommends its Workspace suite as a better and more secure alternative. 

Microsoft has been in the spotlight for the past few months due to security issues, allowing bad actors to compromise its systems and access private information and credentials belonging to government officials. The company CEO Satya Nadella recently indicated, "Security underpins every layer of the tech stack, and it's our No. 1 priority. We are doubling down on this very important work, putting security above all else, before all other features and investments."

The pitch silence from government officials and major stakeholders on Microsoft's cascade of security failures has raised eyebrows, leading most to believe an overreliance on Microsoft's cloud computing services is compelling government officials to be lenient on the company's security failures. 

As it turns out, there's "a more secure alternative In the wake of significant cybersecurity incidents with Microsoft" details Google in a recently published security report. 

The security paper discusses Microsoft's pattern of security issues, including how hackers managed to breach its systems and an in-depth analysis of the incidents to determine whether they were just "accidents."

Over the past two months, Microsoft has suffered two major cyberattacks. The first incident was instigated by the hacker group Midnight Blizzard, which managed to gain access to confidential emails between Microsoft and its clients. The most recent encounter involves the Russian hacker group Nobelium, which briefly granted them access to emails belonging to top Microsoft executives.

In a separate report, the Cyber Safety Review Board analyzed the incident where the Chinese state-sponsored hacking group Storm-0558 managed to compromise Microsoft's systems and gain access to government officials' emails. The board details that Microsoft could have prevented the attack from even happening, but its security culture falls short and "requires an overhaul."

While Microsoft was able to mitigate the issue, President Biden commissioned a US cybersecurity advisory panel to look into the matter. Senator Ron Wyden penned a letter to the board asking the board to investigate whether Microsoft played any hand in cybersecurity malpractice by the Chinese hackers.

Microsoft recently laid out new, elaborate measures it plays to employ to address some of these security concerns, including accelerated response and remediation time. The company also announced its plans to hold top executives accountable for cybersecurity by tying a portion of their compensation packages to meeting security goals and metrics.

According to Google:

"While no organization is immune to being the target of highly sophisticated adversaries, there is a clear pattern of evidence that suggests Microsoft is unable to keep their systems and therefore their customers’ data safe."

The Redmond giant has been under fire for not providing a specific timeline when it fully mitigates these security threats, with some running for over 5 months. Its failure to provide a detailed account highlighting how hackers managed to compromise its systems is raising more questions than answers.

Google plugs itself as the better security alternative

While Google has categorically indicated that it doesn't have any malice outlining Microsoft's security failures, it has raised a critical point questioning the tech giant's security systems to keep hackers like Storm-0558 it can't explain how the hacker group managed to access the 2016 MSA key. 

It also raised important points about Microsoft's lack of security and risk management, coupled with failures to correct misleading and inaccurate public statements. 

In 2009, a state-linked threat actor carried out Operation Aurora. Out of the companies under scrutiny, only Google confirmed that bad actors had managed to compromise its systems, allowing them to access several Gmail accounts. 

Google says this incident has helped it learn the importance of transparency when it comes to critical security issues. 

At the end of the day, Google is tooting its own horn with its "suite of secure, online tools from Google Workspace."

What you need to know

• Microsoft has changed the default paste option in Word for Windows.
• The default paste option was previously set to Keep Source Formatting but has been changed to Merge Formatting.
• Microsoft says user feedback prompted this change, but users can navigate to the settings to restore the previous setup if they prefer it.
• The new default paste option change isn't available for web and Mac users.

If you've been a longtime Word user, you must be familiar with its annoying default paste option, which retains the source formatting. It not only consumes a lot of time but also interrupts the flow of your work. Copying and pasting is one of Word's top user actions.

However, a new Word update has finally fixed this annoying issue. According to Microsoft:

"We’ve heard from many of you that the current Keep Source Formatting default setting is not meeting your needs, and you would prefer for the default option to be Merge Formatting when pasting from other programs."

This much-needed change is available for Word for Windows users running Version 2405 (Build 17624.20000) or later. Additionally, this neat change is shipping exclusively to Windows users. It's not available for web and Mac users.

It's worth noting that Merge Formatting is now set as the default paste option on Word, though you can change it back by navigating File > Options > Advanced > Cut, copy, and paste in the settings and selecting the Pasting from other program option on the drop-down menu. Finally, select the Keep Source Formatting option. 

In case you missed it, the Merge Formatting option has been available in Word via the pasting menu. This was also complemented by the Ctrl + Shift + V keyboard shortcut that lets users paste content on Word without formatting.

This news comes months after Microsoft finally decided to change the default font for its Office apps from Calibri to Aptos. The change was received with mixed feelings, but luckily, users can revert to Calibri. It's worth noting that Microsoft has renamed the old Office theme Office Theme 2013 – 2022.

What you need to know

• Microsoft has announced that it will cut support for its classic Teams client on July 1, 2024, and recommends transitioning to the new Teams app.
• Users running the classic Teams client on unsupported operating systems won't access it after October 23, 2024.
• The Teams classic client will be blocked on supported operating systems on July 1, 2025.

It's official now! Microsoft will end support for its classic Teams client on July 1, 2024, in favor of its new Teams app, which boasts better performance speeds and consumes 50% less memory.

Microsoft was initially slated to automatically upgrade Teams classic users to the new Teams app after March 31, 2024. However, it extended the client's lifeline, giving users ample time to transition to the new Teams app. With the classic client set to hit its end-of-support in the next two months, Teams classic users are encouraged to transition soon.

After July 1, Microsoft won't ship any updates, security patches, or new features to the classic Teams client. This decision doesn't mean that users who fail to make the transition won't be able to use or access the platform. You'll still have access to the platform, but it'll now feature a notification indicating the classic client is no longer supported.

Microsoft has indicated that users running the classic Teams client on unsupported operating systems, including Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and MacOS Sierra 10.12, will receive notifications from August indicating that the app won't work after October 23, 2024. However, according to a spot by Neowin, users will still be able to access the web version.

Teams classic client is expected to continue running on supported Windows and MacOS operating systems until July 1, 2025.

A bright but different future for Teams ahead?

Microsoft surpassed 320 million active monthly users on Teams in September 2023, and the platform continues to grow and evolve. However, its future remains uncertain, especially after the EU antitrust watchdog forced Microsoft to unbundle Teams from its Office 365 services over anti-competitive practices. This decision was despite the company separating its services in the European Economic Area and Switzerland last year.

While commenting on Microsoft unbundling Teams from Office 365, Steve Weber, professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information:

"Until the regulators have their foot on their neck, they're going to hold on to that business strategy for as long as they possibly can. Kicking the can down the road, then they can keep doing this again and again and again. And that's why I feel people like me are trying to stand up and say we need to find better ways to stop this sooner rather; than like trying to close the barn door three days after the horses run away."

Microsoft will now provide Teams as a standalone service for new customers for $5.25, whereas the Office package without Teams will range between $7.75 and $54.75. Strangely, while the reorganization of Microsoft's Office 365 service happened, a new report emerged indicating the company was moving some of its staffers from the Teams Chat app to help with Copilot AI projects.

What you need to know

• Microsoft added new features to Teams in March, including a noise suppression feature to improve communication during meetings and a Community Bot.
• The Community Bot can send automated welcome messages to new members, share important information, ask new members to introduce themselves, and more.
• You can also add the website link for your community in the description for more visibility.

Microsoft has had a busy March, shipping new features to its video conferencing and productivity tool, Microsoft Teams. As is the norm, the company has shared a detailed blog post highlighting all the neat features shipped to the platform.

Teams features a Community Bot for personal use

Right off the bat, Teams now features a Community Bot. Community owners can leverage the feature to send automated welcome messages to new members. 

Additionally, it can be used to share important information, ask new members to introduce themselves, and more. This will help save time and resources that would have otherwise been wasted handling recurring and redundant tasks. 

Microsoft is also adding a new provision that lets Teams users include a website link for their community in the description. 

Better clarity during virtual meetings

Microsoft Teams also ships with a noise suppression feature. As the name feature suggests, it'll help Teams users block unwanted noise during meetings. This will ensure the flow of communication between attendees. 

The feature ships with three modes: Low, Auto, and, High. By default, the feature is set to Auto mode. It'll automatically adjust the intensity of blocking unwanted noise from your surroundings when attending the virtual meeting. Alternatively, you can select the High mode, which will suppress any background noise, thus enhancing the clarity of your voice.  

What you need to know

• Microsoft has unbundled Teams from Office 365 globally after Slack filed a complaint with the EU Commission, citing anti-competitive practices.
• The company separated the services in the European Economic Area and Switzerland last year, but it seems it was enough for the competitors.
• Teams will now be available for new customers only as a standalone app for $5.25, whereas Office packages without Teams will range between $7.75 and $54.75.

Microsoft Teams is arguably one of the best video conferencing and productivity apps, with over 320 million active monthly users as of December 2023. One of the main reasons it has been widely adopted across companies and organizations is because Microsoft bundles it with Microsoft Office.

But this doesn't seem to sit well with competitors in the same sphere, like Salesforce-owned Slack, which filed a complaint against Microsoft at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the bundling of both services as "anti-competitive practices."

Microsoft unbundled Teams from Office in the Economic Area and Switzerland on October 1, 2023. Now, the company has announced that it is unbundling Teams from Office worldwide (via Reuters).

According to a Microsoft spokesman while commenting on the matter:

"To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally. Doing so also addresses feedback from the European Commission by providing multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardise their purchasing across geographies."

Last December, the EU Commission issued Microsoft's competitors questionnaires to understand if the move to unbundle Microsoft Teams from Microsoft Office in the Economic Area and Switzerland addressed their concerns. While the EU's next move was left to speculation at the time, it's now apparent that Microsoft's competitors weren't satisfied by the unbundling of Teams from Office in the Economic Area and Switzerland.

What's next for Teams and Office?

Microsoft Teams will be unbundled from the Office service effective April 1, 2024. Existing customers will continue to enjoy their current licensing deal that bundles Teams with Office. They also have the option to renew the deal, update, or switch to new offers. 

As for new customers, Teams will only be available as a standalone app for $5.25, while Office packages without Teams will range between $7.75 and $54.75.

According to Reuters' source, Microsoft unbundling Teams from its Office package might not be enough to get the anti-trust watchdog off its back. We'll keep a close eye on the situation as it unfolds and keep you updated. 

MORE ON MICROSOFT TEAMS

• Microsoft Teams gets infused with a host of AI-powered features including Copilot
• Microsoft unveils unified Teams app for Windows 11
• Microsoft Teams (classic) gets an extended lifeline despite the new client reaching feature parity

The Spring sales are in full force this week, but it's important to not get carried away by the promise of discounts and purchase stuff that's really worth the money, regardless of if it's on sale or not. Shockingly, one of the most prolific and widely used software packages is at an all-time low right now as far as big third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy go. If you're looking for the best Microsoft apps like Word, Excel and Powerpoint, and you don't want to be chained to the regular license fees that come with the subscription model, Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021 is the buy for you. For a limited time, you can bag it for only $99 at Amazon, and have access to the best productivity apps for life for one simple payment. 

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• Logitech MX Master 2S mouse | was $63.99 now £59.99 at Newegg
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• Up to $100 off Titan Evo gaming chairs at Secretlab
• Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini Desktop | was $849.99 now $749.99 at Best Buy
  

What's the difference between Office Home & Student 2021 and Microsoft 365?

Microsoft Office prices aren't as straightforward as they should be at first glance, and they feed into the eternal debate on the benefits of subscriptions versus one-time payments.

Microsoft Office 2021 — the OG of productivity. With a single purchase, you gain perpetual ownership of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Install and update on one computer, without the recurring expenses. While there's no automatic upgrade to future versions, this standalone purchase model suits many users just fine.

However, Office 2021 lacks the cloud and AI-driven features found in subscription-based Office 365. Services like cloud saving and 1TB of OneDrive storage are not included. Yet, it shines in offline usability, allowing you to work seamlessly without an internet connection—a perk not shared by subscription counterparts which need you to be online every 31 days to reactivate. 

For those wary of adding another monthly charge to their bill roster, Office 2021's one-time payment model offers an alternative. It's a sensible choice for home users seeking a traditional experience without ongoing subscription commitments. Plus, if you primarily operate on a single device and don't require advanced features, the upfront cost may be a preferable investment over continuous payments.

If you really want to compare all of the available versions thoroughly, our resident Microsoft software expert Mauro has a guide to Office 2021 vs. Microsoft 365 for any and all questions.

What you need to know

• Microsoft has pushed the end of availability for Teams classic from March 31, 2024, to July 1, 2024.
• The company says this will give admins ample time to address any issues they might have encountered while transitioning to the new Teams app.
• The new Teams client shipped to general availability in October 2023 and has already reached full feature parity for almost all features compared to the classic version of the app.

Microsoft shipped its new Teams app to broad availability last year in October. As you might already know, the new client is two times faster and consumes 50% less memory when compared to the classic version. It also promises a smooth transition between chats and channels (up to 1.7 times faster).

The tech firm made it easy for users to switch between the new Teams app and the classic version. You can change the entire user experience of your Teams app by clicking on a toggle. 

However, the company announced in November that it would automatically upgrade users from the classic version to the new Teams app after March 31, 2024. This move was received with mixed feelings, with the vast majority blatantly expressing their preference for the classic version of Teams over the new client.

Luckily, Microsoft has seemingly listened to the users' outcry expressed across social media platforms and has extended the end of availability for its classic Microsoft Teams client.

When is the end of availability for classic Teams client?

Microsoft was initially set to automatically upgrade Teams classic users to the new Teams app after March 31, 2024, but it has pushed its end of availability to July 1, 2024.

While making the announcement, Microsoft indicated:

"We're aware of the concerns around our timeline. Classic Teams users who have encountered issues moving to new Teams or who don't meet the prerequisites to upgrade will still have access to the classic Teams client until July 01 2024 at the earliest. This will give admins more time to address any issues encountered during this process."

Microsoft recommends transitioning to the new Teams app as it has already hit feature parity with the Teams 'classic.' Moving forward, the company will only add new features to the new Teams app. 

As of December 2023, Microsoft had surpassed 320 million active monthly users on Teams. Perhaps the launch of the new Teams client had something to do with this spike, similar to when Microsoft Copilot contributed to the growth of Bing's user base.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Teams ships with a beauty app from cosmetics company Maybelline.
• The app lets users apply any of its 12 different looks and styles before joining or during a meeting.
• The beauty app leverages AI capabilities to identify "over 70 points of the user's face to create a "virtual map" that enables the seamless application of the digital filters."

With more organizations and companies leaning more toward hybrid and remote work (especially since the COVID-19 pandemic), the dependence and reliance on online meeting and messaging apps like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, and more is at an all-time high.

Admittedly, the companies behind these platforms have been doing their bit and shipping new features and updates ever so often to make the work-from-home experience seamless, effective, and efficient. Microsoft is meticulous at this, as it ships new features to Microsoft Teams (free) and Teams Premium every month. As it happens, the company shipped new features and improvements to the tool in January. 

We already know the benefits that come with hybrid roles, including convenience, comfort, and more. A company running its operations remotely heavily relies on apps like Microsoft Teams to foster effective communication through meetings and messages. Therefore, there's an implied importance to keep up appearances during these calls.

It can be difficult to achieve this if there's some sort of laxity bundled with your daily workload, which at times may prevent some from having time for the extra effort to begin with. But worry not. I'd honestly forgotten about the Maybelline app in Microsoft Teams until I recently stumbled on a TikTok video highlighting it. 

According to Microsoft:

"The Maybelline Beauty app in Teams uses AI-powered functionality enabled by Modiface, an augmented reality technology for the beauty industry owned by Maybelline's parent company L'Oreal. Modiface AI identifies over 70 points of the user's face to create a "virtual map" that enables the seamless application of the digital filters."

It builds on Microsoft Teams' virtual meeting experience and has been available for a hot minute. We first talked about the Maybelline app shipping to Microsoft Teams last year in July and how it allows users to express themselves within a meeting using 12 different looks.

How to use the Maybelline app while in a Teams meeting

1. First, join the meeting and click on the Video effects option.
2. Next, select More Video Effects, scroll down the right pane, and click on Maybelline under the Filters category.
3. Scroll down the view all and pick your favorite look
4. Finally, hit the Join Now button.

You can also apply these filters even if you're already in an ongoing meeting. To do so, simply follow the steps outlined below:

1. Click More at the top of your meeting screen and select Video Effects.
2. Scroll down in the right pane and select Maybelline under the Filters category.
3. Next, scroll down to view all and select your favorite look
4. Finally, click Preview to see your selected look without others viewing yet, then click on the Apply button to turn on your favorite look.

Microsoft has doubled down on its efforts to improve the virtual meeting experience on Teams, having recently shipped Microsoft Mesh to broad availability. It essentially makes a virtual and immersive meeting in a 3D space feel like a real-life experience. Did you know about the Maybelline app in Teams, and will you be using it during your online meetings? Also, if you've been using it, what's your experience so far? 

What you need to know

• Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased by 15% driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 17%
• With innovations in Copilot, Teams, and other commercial products Office365 users have increased. 
• Microsoft's push to innovate its commercial productivity offering with AI seems to be paying off. 

Microsoft's most recent earnings report just released and was full of great news for the company while a lot of other tech companies are struggling to break even. While the Copilot integration into Office365 is still in its early stages, and there have been small changes to many of Microsoft's commercial products that have improved productivity. With Microsoft's decision to put Copilot into everything, Microsoft has been betting it all and while the actual implementation isn't very far along, it seems that enterprises are seeing the writing on the wall and starting to gravitate towards Office365 products. 

While it's hard to quantify what 400 million paid users mean without being able to compare it to other similar commercial productivity suites, it does seem to be a large amount of growth for Microsoft. The company continues to soar ahead as it recently became the most valuable company in the U.S. 

Is Microsoft's Copilot plan paying off?

There isn't much to celebrate here unless you are a Microsoft shareholder, that being said it's good to see a company that makes products we love continue to diversify its portfolio and push for growth by actual innovation rather than drastic price increases. It's great that Microsoft has 400 million paid users for its commercial Office365 products. It shows that corporations continue to invest in productivity and believe in the AI future that Copilot is promising. 

As the above quote talks about, many companies are moving to invest in Office 365, and it seems to be on the back of Copilot and Teams improvements. 

While Microsoft has been getting raked through the coals for the recent layoffs of 1900 employees from the gaming division, it looks like it has weathered that storm, and the earnings reports shed further light on the need for those layoffs. It is fantastic to see each division in Microsoft able to carry its weight while other large corporations have substantial loss leaders being carried by one division.

Will AI continue to push growth for Microsoft?

The future looks bright for Microsoft as it continues its push to be the leader in AI. We recently discussed how Microsoft is looking to differentiate itself from OpenAI's ChatGPT so that it might be able to survive if all of the lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft don't go their way. Suppose Microsoft can weather the legal storm headed its way due to copyright infringement, as well as the moral and ethical issues that came up last week with explicit AI images of Taylor Swift popping up online. In that case, Microsoft has a winner on its hands.

I don't think AI has had that watershed moment yet that makes it irresistible to the mainstream. However, from a productivity standpoint, it can benefit small tasks, especially programming. 

If Microsoft can find that one use case that makes Copilot a necessary part of daily life for the entire globe, then Microsoft shareholders will have even more reason to celebrate than they do today. 

What you need to know

• Microsoft Mesh is now widely available on the Teams desktop client and Meta Quest headsets.
• Microsoft Mesh makes a virtual and immersive meeting in a 3D space feel like a real-life experience. 
• You'll need specific Microsoft licenses to access and use Microsoft Mesh.

Last year, Microsoft announced its plans to ship Immersive spaces in Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Mesh to general availability in January 2024. And it just delivered on this long-awaited promise, as Microsoft Mesh is now generally available on Microsoft Teams and Meta Quest VR headsets.

As more organizations continue to pick up hybrid work, Microsoft Mesh will help make this experience better with immersive 3D meetings that mimic and replicate in-person meetings in a virtual space. 

According to Microsoft:

"Mesh in Teams elevates engagement in Teams meetings with ready-made 3D immersive spaces crafted to suit your needs, whether it's a team social gathering, brainstorming session, or a round-table discussion."

The immersive 3D meetings are complimented with spatial audio alongside Teams features like live reactions to enhance further engagement among meeting attendees. It's worth noting that your admin must enable Immersive spaces in Teams via the Teams admin center first. From this point, you can quickly join an immersive space in Teams by navigating through the settings, selecting the View menu option while on a Teams meeting call, and then selecting Immersive space.

What can I do with Microsoft Mesh?

Microsoft Mesh will allow users to create custom immersive spaces that align with their needs, including training, guided tours, employee events, and more. What's more, Teams users can customize an immersive event or the Mesh toolkit to leverage the power of Unity for a fully customizable experience using the no-code editor.

However, you'll need either one of the following Microsoft licenses to access Microsoft Mesh: 

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic for $6 per user per month
• Microsoft Teams Essentials license for $4 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard for $12.50 per user per month
• Microsoft 365 E3/E5 plans

Additionally, the Mesh app is already available in the Meta Quest app store for users who'd like to use Microsoft Mesh on the Meta Quest headsets.

Microsoft Office is an essential evil whether you're a student tackling coursework or just staring down at the spreadsheet trying to manage your life admin, and unfortunately to get the full benefits of the suite of programs and cloud saving, you need to get a subscription for it. Thankfully Antonline is here to ease the pain on our pockets with a seriously huge discount on the personal 1-year subscription, and even throwing in a year's Nord VPN subscription getting you everything you need for $38. If you need it for up to 6 people you can easily convert it to a family subscription for 9 months.

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Microsoft Office 365 Personal Subscription is a steal on its own

Even if you aren't interested in the VPN this deal is worth it in spades. The Office 365 Personal subscription alone is essential in both work and personal projects. With this deal, you'll have a year's access to powerful software, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and access to all your documents on the cloud from any of your devices.

Office Online is of course free for the web-based programs, but you cannot use the programs offline and you won't get the extra features like macros and advanced formatting that a subscription affords you.

This deal is a great opportunity to extend your current subscription or embark on a new one, especially if you've been grappling with third-party apps or relying on Google Docs to manage tasks without the superior offerings of Office products.

If it's been a while since you've used Office, now is an ideal moment to reacquaint yourself, as Microsoft is dedicated to putting their Copilot AI across the board. Enhanced functionalities in writing, editing, drafting, and tailoring tone, voice, and text for your target audience are promised with Copilot integration. These enhancements make this the perfect time to re-immerse yourself in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. They've just launched a Copilot Pro subscription if you want to experiment with this.

As for Nord VPN, i use this myself daily for work. Being based in the UK and writing for a US-centric audience means I need to regularly browse US websites and see prices and delivery details for items, much easier with a VPN. Not only that, I can access a much larger Netflix outside of the UK. There are more reasons to get one than just online privacy, and this is one of the most user-friendly VPNs out there. Getting both for only $38 is a surefire hot deal and I'd snap it up now before the price goes back up! 

What you need to know

• Microsoft Office 365 ships with a wide array of productivity tools including Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and more.
• Ordinarily, you'll need to log in to your account to access these platforms from the homepage on the app.
• A user has uncovered several domains that can be used to direct a user to new Microsoft Office documents rather than having to navigate through the app to create them.  

Over the past few years, Microsoft Office 365 has increasingly gained traction amongst most organizations and employees. The suite provides users with access to a wide array of productivity tools including, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, and more.

To access these platforms and incorporate them into your workflow, you'll first need to download the Microsoft 365 app from the Microsoft Store. Admittedly, the process can be daunting as there are several versions available in the store. But the main difference between them is how many people can share your access once you get the subscription. This explains the simultaneous availability of the Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family.

Usually, the user would be required to navigate through the Microsoft Office app on their PC to access the productivity tools. While the process is pretty straightforward, WalkingCat on X (formerly Twitter) has uncovered a cool new way to access these platforms instantaneously. 

The user indicated that it's possible to create new Microsoft 365 documents by visiting the domains listed below:

• word.new
• excel.new
• powerpoint.new
• docx.new
• pptx.new
• ppt.new

Microsoft 365 keeps getting better and easier to use

Right off the bat, Office 365 is widely available across multiple platforms including Mac, iOS, Android, and more. A huge misconception most people have is that the platform is limited to Windows users only. 

Per my analysis, clicking on either one of the domains listed above will automatically be redirected to log in to your Microsoft Account. As a bit of background, I have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription, so upon entering my login credentials, I was immediately directed to a new Microsoft Word document.

While it might seem like a simple and easy trick that doesn't bring a huge difference to the whole process, it essentially helps users save time. And as we all know, that extra minute counts, especially when on a tight deadline. 

What are your thoughts on these new shortcuts that help you access Microsoft Office documents easily? Let us know in the comments.

What you need to know

• Microsoft recently announced that Microsoft Teams is being used by over 320 million active monthly users worldwide.
• This is after the company shipped its new Teams app to broad availability for Windows and Mac.
• The company boasts that the new app is two times faster and consumes 50% less disk space when compared to the classic app.
• This news comes amid pressure from its rivals and the EU Commission to unbundle Microsoft Teams from Microsoft Office.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic a few years back, many organizations embraced the work-from-home approach and hybrid work to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus. This resulted in an increased demand for video-conferencing and communications platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, and more. 

Microsoft seized this opportunity and has been pushing updates as well as nifty features to the platform ever since. The company recently announced that Microsoft Teams has achieved a major milestone. According to a spot by Neowin, the video-conferencing tool is being used by over 320 million active monthly users worldwide.

This news comes shortly after Microsoft shipped its new Teams app to general availability for Windows and Mac users. The company boasts that the new app is two times faster and consumes 50% less disk space when compared to the classic app. It also features Copilot in Teams, an AI-powered designed to enhance user experience by summarizing meetings. 

While users can still access the classic version of the app, Microsoft intends to transition them to the new app in the next few months as the classic app is set to be retired by the end of June 2024. 

What's more, the new Teams app now features almost all the capabilities you love from the classic version. While announcing the broad availability of the app, Microsoft's product lead, Anupam Pattnaik stated:

"New Teams now has full feature parity for almost all features, including custom line-of-business apps, third-party apps, breakout rooms, 7x7 video, call queues, PSTN calling, contextual search in chats and channels, cross-post a channel conversation, and more. We have focused on providing high-quality performance and enhancing the basics in areas such as reliability, security, and IT management to make sure that new Teams meet the evolving requirements of your organization."

Microsoft is shipping new features exclusively to the new Teams app and urges users still running the classic version of the app to make the transition to access these neat features.

Microsoft Teams unbundling from Office 

During the pandemic, Salesforce-owned Slack filed a complaint accusing Microsoft of engaging in anti-competitive practices by bundling Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office. Microsoft responded to the claims by unbundling Teams from Office in the Economic Area and Switzerland, effective October 1, 2023.

The company set the price for Microsoft Teams as a standalone service at €5 per month or €60 per year. But this doesn't seem enough to quench its rival's thirst. A recent report indicated that the EU Commission issued questionnaires to Microsoft's rivals asking whether the company's move to unbundle Microsoft Teams from Microsoft Office addressed their concerns.

It's still unclear what the commission's next move will be after analyzing the questionnaires. But speculations indicate that it'll use the data to build a statement of objections, which will be sent to Microsoft early next year.

Elsewhere, the commissions also asked Microsoft to provide it with detailed and comprehensive feedback from potential customers, citing how their business would run while leveraging Microsoft services bundled with the pricing of products with and without Microsoft Teams. 

Office could potentially lose its unique selling point if Microsoft is pressured to unbundle Microsoft Teams from the service entirely. Most people are inclined towards Microsoft Office because it comes as a package, granting users access to a host of productivity tools.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft unbundling Teams from Office? Let us know in the comments.

What you need to know

• A new report highlights that the EU commission recently issued questionnaires to Microsoft's rivals asking whether the company's move to unbundle Microsoft Teams from Microsoft Office addressed their concerns.
• In 2020, Slack filed a complaint against Microsoft to the EU regulators over anti-competitive practices, mainly for bundling Teams and Office.
• Microsoft tried to beat these allegations by unbundling both services in the Economic Area and Switzerland, effective October 1, 2023.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, when most organizations were picking hybrid work, Salesforce-owned Slack filed a complaint accusing Microsoft of engaging in anti-competitive practices by bundling Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office. In August this year, Microsoft made a significant announcement citing that it was gearing up to unbundle both services in the Economic Area and Switzerland, effective October 1, 2023.

And now, according to a spot by Reuters, EU regulators recently asked Microsoft's rivals whether the company's move to unbundle Teams from Office was enough to address their concerns. 

Slack believes that Microsoft is consciously burying Microsoft Teams' cost behind the bundle. But the company has since disclosed the service's standalone price, which stands at €5 per month or €60 per year.

It is reported that the EU regulators used a questionnaire to gather this information, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. First, the commission wanted to understand and determine how easy it'd be for users to switch to other competitors if network effects curb existing or new competitors from penetrating the market. Next up, the EU also wanted to determine the likelihood for users to transition from cloud products to on-premise solutions. 

The source further disclosed that this might imply that the EU regulators will collect information from Microsoft's rivals to build a statement of objections, which will be sent to Microsoft next year.

Finally, the commission also wanted Microsoft's rivals to furnish them with detailed and comprehensive feedback from potential customers, citing how their business would run while leveraging Microsoft services bundled with the pricing of products with and without Microsoft Teams. 

Do you think Microsoft's move to unbundle Teams from Office will be enough to address its rival's concerns? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Microsoft Office is a staple for every student and business professional, and right now, you can get Microsoft 365 for a discount through the BestBuy membership program. BestBuy is a great place to order items. You can usually order online and pick it up in two hours. Returns are also hassle-free, easy, and instant. 

Moreover, Best Buy memberships can get free two-day shipping, more significant discounts, and a generous 60-day return window. Don't know about how that works? Read our My Best Buy memberships explained: Plus and Total price, rewards, and more for more info! Pick up a membership to save on Microsoft 365 for the holidays. 

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• ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 + Game Pass Ultimate | $1,599.99 $1,199.99 at Best Buy
• Lenovo LOQ Tower + Game Pass Ultimate | from $1,029.99 $649.99 at Lenovo
• UK: Xbox Gift Card (£50) | £43.99 at CDKeys

What's the difference between Office Home & Student 2021 and Microsoft 365?

The number of deals and perks BestBuy Plus and Total members have enjoyed over the last week has been insane. From more significant discounts on items to having early access to deals. If you haven't picked up a BestBuy Plus or Total Membership, it's a great time, and you can learn all about it from our My Best Buy memberships explained: Plus and Total price, rewards, and more. 

Whether you're looking for a personal or family Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-off purchase of Office 2021, BestBuy has deals on them right now. It is a great time to extend your current subscription or start up a new one if you have been struggling with a 3rd party app or Google Docs to try to manage without the superior Office products. 

If you haven't used Office in a while, Microsoft is committed to integrating their Copilot AI into everything. Microsoft says that writing, editing, drafting, adjusting tone, voice, and text for an intended audience will all be easier with Copilot integration. These integrations should continue rolling out over the next year, so now is the perfect time to hop back into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. 

If you aren't interested in a subscription and need Office to write up some capstone papers for school or a memo to your boss about why going back to the office would be the greatest travesty since the replacing of David Tennant as Doctor Who after only 3 seasons, then Office 2021 will work great for you.

What you need to know

• Microsoft is depreciating Defender Application Guard for Office, impacting Windows Security Isolation APIs.
• The feature is essentially designed to help protect users from falling victim to malicious attacks deployed by hackers.
• The company recommends that users transition to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint attack surface reduction rules, Protected View, and Windows Defender Application Control.

Microsoft recently announced its plans to deprecate Defender Application Guard for Office, impacting Windows Security Isolation APIs. As an alternative, the company recommends that users consider "transitioning to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint attack surface reduction rules along with Protected View and Windows Defender Application Control."

What is the Defender Application Guard for Office and how does it work?

For those unfamiliar with the Defender Application Guard for Office, it's a feature designed to help protect users from falling victim to malicious attacks deployed by hackers. It leverages the hardware isolation approach to identify and obliterate sophisticated and deceitful ploys that attackers use.

What's more, its capabilities can be used across multiple Microsoft services, including Microsoft Edge as well as Microsoft Office. As highlighted by Microsoft:

"For Microsoft Edge, Application Guard helps to isolate enterprise-defined untrusted sites, protecting your company while your employees browse the Internet. As an enterprise administrator, you define what is among trusted web sites, cloud resources, and internal networks. Everything not on your list is considered untrusted. If an employee goes to an untrusted site through either Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge opens the site in an isolated Hyper-V-enabled container."

RELATED: Microsoft 365 browser extension to shut down despite 10 million downloads

As for Microsoft Office, the feature helps prevent untrusted Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files from accessing trusted resources. The Defender Application Guard for Office ships with an isolated Hyper-V-enabled container where it opens the untrusted files; this way, the host operating system remains safe from attacks.

Hackers are using more sophisticated tactics

Last month, we reported on a Microsoft study highlighting how hackers are leveraging sophisticated AI-powered techniques to make their attacks more lethal and undetectable.

It remains unclear if users are equipped with modern solutions and tools that will help them keep such attacks at bay. But whatever the case, it's apparent that generative AI is on the rise, and more people are jumping into the fray and finding loopholes to use the technology to cause harm. However, President Biden issued an Executive Order that put guardrails in place to help govern AI and prevent it from spiraling out of control.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft depreciating this security feature? Let me know in the comments.

If you're looking for the best Microsoft apps like Word, Excel and Powerpoint, you've probably already groaned out loud when looking at the license prices. They're not cheap, but they're essential for work and school. That being said, you don't have to add yet another notch to your subscription belt and hand over the keys to your wallet to Microsoft on a regular basis. You can simply purchase Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021 for a one-off payment of $109.99 at Best Buy right now. Saving you a cool $40.

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What's the difference between Office Home & Student 2021 and Microsoft 365?

So, you've navigated the labyrinth of Microsoft Office prices and stumbled upon the eternal debate: subscription vs. one-time payment. Allow us to shed some light on this battle for your digital soul.

Microsoft Office 2021 — the OG of productivity. A single purchase grants you perpetual ownership of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Install and update on one computer, but no free rides to the next version. You can't update it later, but this is fine for most users. What Office 2021 doesn't come with, is the cloud- and AI-based features or services like cloud saving and 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage.

That being said, a benefit of Office 2021 is that you can continue to use the apps without an internet connection. Although you can also use the apps with a Microsoft 365 subscription without a connection, you must get online every 31 days to reactivate. 

The Microsoft Home and Student 2021 deal makes sense for home users if you do not mind the upfront cost and want a more traditional experience. It may also be a good choice if you plan to use the apps on one device, don't need additional features, or don't want to have yet another subscription to add to Netflix, Amazon, Adobe, and the like. 

With this option, a singular license guards access for one device running Windows 11, 10, or macOS, though the apps can also find a home on your mobile device with somewhat restricted functionality.

A caveat: Office 2021's compatibility lies solely with Windows 11, 10, or the trio of the latest macOS versions. 

Best Cyber Monday Deals for Microsoft 365 if you need it

What you need to know

• Microsoft is currently holding its annual developer conference, Ignite 2023.
• The company has announced that it'll ship Immersive spaces in Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Mesh to general availability in January 2024.
• A host of neat features are also coming to the immersive spaces experience, including 3D environments and interactive games.
• Through the Mesh editor, event organizers will now be able to customize their immersive experiences to align with the specific needs of an event.
• However, you'll need to be a Teams Premium user to customize immersive spaces in Mesh.

In the past couple of months, Microsoft has doubled down on its efforts to enhance and improve Microsoft Teams' user experience. And today, during its annual Ignite 2023 tech conference, the company announced that it's gearing up to make Immersive spaces in Microsoft Teams generally available in January 2024.

Immersive spaces for Microsoft Teams is a new experience powered by Microsoft Mesh, currently in preview designed to let people interact with each other inside virtual areas. What's more, support for spatial audio and the ability to walk around adds a realistic appeal to the experience.

Key features to look out for in immersive spaces in Teams

Right off the bat, users will have the ability to select an avatar previously built for standard 2D Teams meetings or create a new one. Moreover, Microsoft is now making it easier for users to customize the avatars to ensure that they resemble the user's appearance, style, or even mood of the day.

Immersive spaces for Microsoft Teams will also feature 3D environments. Users will have a wide array of options to select from based on the purpose and needs of the meeting. From social gatherings to corporate meetings, there's something for everyone.

Next, users will have the capability to select where they want to sit during a meeting. This feature is in place to help users foster connections with other meeting attendees.

Microsoft is also enhancing communication capabilities in Immersive spaces in Microsoft Teams with spatial audio and audio zones. The feature will help ensure that communication flows effectively throughout the meeting, ensuring that meeting attendees don't talk over each other.

And to break monotony, Microsoft is integrating interactive activities into the experience. This way, users will be able to engage and play interactive games within the immersive spaces, including spaces to roast marshmallows, throw beanbags, answer icebreaker questions and more.

Finally, live reactions will be incorporated into the experience to enhance enagagement between the meeting attendees and the presenter. You'll be able to send live reactions like hearts, thumbs up or clap during these sessions. 

Microsoft Mesh is shipping to broad availability in January 2024

Alongside Immersive spaces in Microsoft Teams shipping to general availability, Microsoft Mesh (which is also in preview) will be shipping to broad availability in January 2024. 

According to Microsoft:

"With Mesh, users will be able to create custom immersive spaces tailored to specific business needs, such as employee events, trainings, guided tours and internal product showcases. Using a no-code editor, customers will be able to easily customize an immersive event or the Mesh toolkit to leverage the power of Unity for fully customizable experience." 

Additionally, users will now have the capability to customize their immersive experiences to align with the specific needs of their event without necessarily having to write a line of code, thanks to the Mesh editor.

Event creators can now prepare for meetings easily since they'll now have access to a wide array of "ready-to-use immersive spaces." What's more, it's possible to customize this spaces using images and videos. According to Microsoft, users can save the customizations as a template for future use. 

With the aim of creating a more interactive experience, event organizers can engage attendees in a Q&A session by enabling them to raise hands and ask follow-up questions. The best part about this addition, is that the event organizers will see the hands raised in order, and when called upon to make their query, they'll be seen and heard by everyone that's part of the event. Only Teams Premium users will have the capability to customize immersive spaces in Mesh. 

Are you a Teams Premium user? Let us know in the comments.

Admittedly, Office 365 isn't the most thrilling deal I write about each day, but it's something I consider an essential subscription — a necessity just like the weekly grocery bills and energy expenses. Word, OneNote, Excel, and OneDrive have become integral parts of my daily life, and I require seamless access to them on all my devices. Normally, an official 12-month subscription would set you back $69.99. So, imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this incredible deal on Antonline, offering the full 12-month subscription for only $29.99. But that's not all; it's bundled together with the Watch Dogs Legion Digital Deluxe edition for Xbox. It's time to gear up for both your gaming adventure and your productivity journey, as this epic deal is simply too good to pass up.

Let's break it down: That's a whopping $109.99 in savings if you look at the combined value of these items at MSRP.  These two digital gems are normally a hefty $139.98. But thanks to this mind-blowing offer, you can grab both for less than a dinner for two at your favorite restaurant. 

Microsoft Office 365 Personal Subscription is a steal on its own

Even if you aren't a hardcore gamer, this deal is worth it in spades. The Office 365 Personal subscription alone is a game-changer in the world of productivity. With it, you'll unlock a treasure trove of powerful software, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more, to supercharge your work and personal projects.

From crafting your resume to crushing your next big presentation. Stay organized, collaborate seamlessly, and take your documents wherever you go (my personal favorite feature). I check each month for Office 365 deals and the cheapest you could find the Office 365 Personal Subscription recently, was for $42.99 at Walmart. But now, it's yours for just $29.99 as part of this incredible bundle.

Office Online is of course free for the web-based programs, but you cannot use the programs offline and you won't get the extra features like macros and advanced formatting that a subscription affords you. 

Watch Dogs Legion 

If you're an Xbox gamer, Watch Dogs Legion Digital being included in this package should interest you. Watch Dogs Legion was a bit of a departure from the usual Ubisoft formula (and that's a very good thing) and has a fun mechanic where you can play as anyone it's world of near-future London. The game is set in a near-future London that is under a techno-fascist police state, and you have to recruit and play as different characters to fight back.

It's an intense story, unabashadely political but layered with humor and satire. You can read more about it in our full Watch Dogs Legion review, but even if it's not your cup of tea you can regift it and just purchase this bundle for Office 365 alone. 

Not the deal you want, but the deal you need 

Most Windows users use these programs daily, and we will take a discount wherever we can get it, and this is a cracking one. The deal is available for a limited time through Antonline. It's your chance to score big on both productivity and entertainment.

Do remember if you purchase this deal to turn off auto-renew in your settings to avoid being charged full price for Office 365 at the end of the 12-month period, because of course, by then you can come back to us to find the best price. 

What you need to know

• Microsoft is bringing a new experience to Teams called Town Halls.
• The new experience is designed to host large-scale events inside organizations.
• Town Halls is expected to ship to general availability for commercial customers on October 5, 2024. 
• Microsoft is set to replace Microsoft Teams Live Events with the new experience by September 30, 2024. 
• Both Office and Microsoft 365 customers will have access to the new experience, but only Team Premium customers will have exclusive access to its advanced features. 
• Microsoft Mesh is also expected to roll out to Teams users in public preview in October.

Microsoft recently announced its plans to bring a new experience to Teams dubbed Town Halls. It's a virtual event experience designed to "host and deliver large-scale, internal events to create connections across an organization." 

Consequently, the company will retire Microsoft Teams Live Events, which is quite similar to Town Halls but built on "a different platform than the familiar Teams meeting experience" we're used to. The Town Halls feature will be broadly available for commercial customers later this week on October 5, while the Live Events experience is set to retire next year by September 30.

The company has affirmed its commitment to improving the experience of virtual events on Teams by integrating Live Events' capabilities into the platform's meetings, ultimately creating a unified experience for users.

As highlighted by Microsoft in the blog post:

"Town halls will provide a one-to-many format with advanced production capabilities and a structured approach for attendee engagement. With town halls, customers can host various types of internal as well as external events including company-wide town halls, all hands, global team meetings, internal broadcasts, fireside chats, and more. Town halls in Microsoft Teams enable customers to extend their reach to scale their message and connect with audiences around the world; create professionally produced, studio-quality events that deliver a more dynamic experience; and structure and manage audience engagement to maximize participation and maintain focus on the event."

The new experience will be available for Office and Microsoft 365 customers. However, only Teams Premium customers will have access to its advanced features. You can check out the new, advanced, and expanded Town Hall features in Microsoft's blog post.

Microsoft Mesh ships to public preview 

Town Halls isn't the only feature on its way to Microsoft Teams. Last week, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Mesh will be rolling out to Teams users in public preview this month. While the company didn't indicate the exact date users should expect this feature to ship, it highlighted that it would be initially available on PC and Meta Quest VR devices. It added that the experience would be "richer and more immersive" when using the latter.

What you need to know

• Hackers are leveraging a new phishing campaign dubbed 'DarkGate Loader' to compromise Microsoft Teams accounts.
• The technique is designed to dupe unsuspecting users into downloading and opening .ZIP files marked 'Changes to the vacation schedule' onto their devices.
• The disguised download process uses Windows cURL, and the pre-compiled script makes it harder to spot the malware since the code is hidden.

Hackers are leveraging sophisticated techniques to dupe and lure unsuspecting users into their malicious attacks. Toward the end of August, Truesec's research team started investigating a new process dubbed 'DarkGate Loader.'

This phishing campaign sends seemingly harmless messages to Microsoft Teams users. The hackers used compromised Office 365 accounts to send messages with harmful attachments to unsuspecting users to trick them into downloading and opening ZIP files marked 'Changes to the vacation schedule.'

Be aware that clicking on this ZIP file automatically initiates a download process from a SharePoint URL containing an LNK file disguised as a PDF document (via TechRadar.) 

Trusec highlighted the hijacked accounts used by the hackers: "Akkaravit Tattamanas" (63090101@my.buu.ac.th) and "ABNER DAVID RIVERA ROJAS" (adriverar@unadvirtual.edu.co), sending malicious VBScript lurking inside the LNK file which in turn deploys the malware known as DarkGate Loader.

The sophisticated campaign leveraged by the hackers makes it extremely difficult for users to detect foul play since the download process of the ZIP files makes use of a SharePoint URL. Moreover, the pre-compiled script makes it harder to detect the malware since the code is hidden in the middle of the file.

According to the research firm, the script can also identify whether the target user has Sophos, a popular antivirus, installed on their endpoinIfhat it's not installed, the additional code is unmasked, and shellcode is launched, which leverages a technique dubbed 'stacked strings' to construct the DarkGate executable and load it in the system memory.

It's not the only Teams-related scam, as a group of Russian hackers named Midnight Blizzard recently leveraged a new exploit that affected under 40 organizations in August. The hackers used previously compromised Microsoft 365 tenants belonging to small business owners to create new domains that purport to be technical support entities. However, Microsoft has since mitigated the issue and is currently investigating the attack's impact.

For now, you should remain vigilant to unexpected messages and alert your administrator if you identify this infected file.

What you need to know

• Microsoft debuted a new gaming widget in the Xbox Game Bar called Microsoft Teams Play Together.
• It's designed to provide users with a platform where they can interact with other users via chat or video and even allows them to share their screens while playing games.
• You'll need a personal Microsoft account to access the platform's offerings.

The Xbox Game Bar on Windows 11 is a powerful tool for gamers. It includes a variety of built-in features for screen recording, monitoring performance, and more. It can also be enhanced with widgets. The latest widget, Microsoft Teams Play Together, brings video calling and screen sharing right into the Xbox Game Bar.

The folks over at MSPowerUser spotted the Microsoft Store listing for Microsoft Teams Play Together that's now live.

"Xbox Game Bar and Microsoft Teams (free) partnered together so you and your friends have a place to hang out while watching and playing games. You'll have to create or sign into your personal Microsoft account to get the Teams Play Together widget," reads the app's description.

"Screenshare your gameplay via Teams while playing on a Windows 11 PC, and keep the conversation going with video calls which you’ll see via the Game Bar’s video overlay."

Essentially, Microsoft Teams Play Together provides users with a platform where they can interact via chat or video when gaming.

What's more, users have the capability to engage others by inviting them to watch. However, it's worth noting that you must create or sign in to your personal Microsoft account to access the new entry, as highlighted in the app's description in the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft listed the following as the main offerings that ship with the widget:

• See videos of friends overlaid on top of game
• Generate and share a link with anyone on any device
• Up to 20 people can join your call
• Continue the conversation post-call via chat

You can also check out Microsoft's FAQ page for Play Together in Microsoft Teams for additional information. 

What you need to know

• The European Commission will investigate if Microsoft breached EU competition rules by bundling together Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365.
• Slack filed a complaint against Microsoft to the EU in 2020 about Teams being bundled with Office 365 and Microsoft 365.
• If the European Commission finds that Microsoft has created an unfair advantage by abusing its market dominance in productivity, the tech giant may have to unbundle Teams and Microsoft 365.

Microsoft is once again on the receiving end of the European Union looking into the tech giant's business practices. Fresh on the heels of the European Commission approving Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard, the same governing body has opened a formal investigation into Microsoft's bundling of Teams and Microsoft 365 and Office 365.

The investigation centers on the fact that online communication platforms have become essential in this day and age, and that Microsoft may have created an unfair advantage by bundling Microsoft Teams with Microsoft 365 and Office 365.

Reports of this investigation emerged earlier this month, but the European Commission made it official today, July 27, 2023.

"Remote communication and collaboration tools like Teams have become indispensable for many businesses in Europe," said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy.

"We must therefore ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive, and companies are free to choose the products that best meet their needs. This is why we are investigating whether Microsoft’s tying of its productivity suites with Teams may be in breach of EU competition rules."

Slack, which has gone back-and-forth on whether it's a competitor to Microsoft Teams, filed a complaint with the EU about Microsoft in 2020.

The European Commission expressed concern that "Microsoft may be abusing and defending its market position in productivity software by restricting competition in the European Economic Area (‘EEA') for communication and collaboration products."

Specifically, the investigation will focus on if Teams has a "distribution advantage" by being bundled with Microsoft 365 and Office 365. It will also look at if Teams has worse interoperability with competing productivity suites.

Microsoft responded to the situation:

"We respect the European Commission’s work on this case and take our own responsibilities very seriously,” said Microsoft spokesperson Robin Koch to The Verge.

“We will continue to cooperate with the Commission and remain committed to finding solutions that will address its concerns.”

The European Commission emphasized that opening a formal investigation does not "prejudge its outcome," so there's a chance that Microsoft won't have to make any changes. But if the EU rules that Microsoft has breached competition rules, Microsoft may have to unbundle Teams from Microsoft 365 and take other actions to even the playing field.

Windows Central take

Generally speaking, the purpose of anticompetitive legislation is to prevent companies with dominance in one sector from abusing their position to gain an unfair advantage in another sector. There's an argument to be made that Microsoft is doing just that.

Microsoft 365 and Office 365 are commonplace in a wide range of organizations. Microsoft has spent decades building up its productivity suite, and it has largely succeeded. There are competing platforms from Google, Salesforce, and others, but Microsoft dominates the market and the mind of the public when it comes to productivity apps.

By bundling Microsoft 365 with the already ever-present Office 365 and Microsoft 365, Microsoft has a much easier distribution path than its competitors.

The main question, at least in my mind, is if Teams and the rest of Microsoft 365 are actually part of different sectors at all. When it comes to personal use, a communication app and a productivity suite seem rather separate, but that's not the case in an enterprise space.

Microsoft 365 is an interconnected web of applications that all aim to improve productivity. Is a conference call through Teams genuinely a different sector than Microsoft Word if members of that call are collaborating through Microsoft Word during the call?

It's unclear if the European Commission will look into that aspect of the situation. The governing body seems to have drawn a line between communication apps and productivity suites.

"The Commission is concerned that Microsoft may be abusing and defending its market position in productivity software by restricting competition in the European Economic Area (‘EEA') for communication and collaboration products," said the commission in its statement today.

If the European Commission goes into the investigation with that thought process, I foresee Microsoft having to make some changes to how it delivers Teams and Microsoft 365 to companies.

What you need to know

• Microsoft is launching the New Maybelline Beauty App in Microsoft Teams, which is designed to enhance the meeting experience for users.
• The app features 12 unique looks.
• Teams users can apply the changes before or during a meeting.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a paradigm shift in how people work. Most organizations transitioned to hybrid work, forcing them to rely heavily on third-party tools to ensure their businesses remain afloat. This increased the demand and use of video conferencing platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and more.

Over time, these platforms have been enhanced significantly to accommodate users' needs. Microsoft Teams, in particular, has been redesigned completely with a new version, Microsoft Teams 2.0, launched in preview in March 2023.

The meeting feature is extremely important in Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft has not been shy about enhancing the experience even further with neat features like Together mode, a profanity filter, and even the most recent addition, Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Building on this premise, Microsoft has debuted a new app in Teams dubbed the New Maybelline Beauty App. The app allows users to "adjust their personal style quickly and easily from within a Teams meeting." It features a ton of different styles that you can select and use during the meeting.

The app is in place to "represent a broad and diverse population." As such, Teams users will now have access to 12 unique looks that they can incorporate into their meeting experience in Teams. The looks feature different makeup colors and blur effects that you can preview before settling on the one that best suits you.

"The Maybelline Beauty app in Teams uses AI-powered functionality enabled by Modiface, an augmented reality technology for the beauty industry owned by Maybelline parent company L'Oreal," said Microsoft.

"Modiface AI identifies over 70 points of the users face to create a “virtual map” that enables the seamless application of the digital filters."

You might not be able to access the app in Teams immediately since Microsoft launched it in preview. However, it should be rolling out to more users in the next few weeks.

Teams users can leverage the application's capabilities before or during a meeting. Here are the steps you need to take before joining a meeting as highlighted by Microsoft:

1. Click on “Join meeting”
2. Click “Video Effects”
3. Then “More Video Effects”
4. Scroll down in the right pane and select “Maybelline” under the “Filters” category
5. Scroll down to view all and select your favorite look
6. Click “Join now”

You can also apply the unique looks during a meeting by following these steps:

1. Click “More…” at the top of your meeting screen
2. Click “Video Effects”
3. Scroll down in the right pane and select "Maybelline” under the “Filters” category
4. Scroll down to view all and select your favorite look
5. Click “Preview” to see your selected look without others viewing yet or “Apply” to turn on your favorite look

What you need to know

• The Aptos font is currently rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders.
• Users can still revert to the old Office theme, though it has been renamed to Office Theme 2013 – 2022.
• The new font won't affect existing documents.
• The feature is designed to make content more accessible.
• You can still use Calabri as your default font.

Last week, Microsoft announced that it would change the default font for its Office apps from Calibri to Aptos (Bierstadt). And while the company only indicated that the change would be implemented "over the next few months," it's already rolling out to Insiders.

The refreshed Office theme sports a new default font, color palette, style, and line weights to bring a modern and accessible experience. It's also worth noting that Aptos includes variants such as narrow, serif, and monospace.

Moreover, Microsoft also incorporated a new set of default colors that blend with Office apps based on "researched popular color palettes and design trends." The company also indicated that the new addition will help users to make their content more accessible. The new colors can also be used to customize charts, lists, and shapes. 

Another notable difference that can be spotted in the refreshed Office theme is the increased default outline weights and enhanced consistency between shapes and lines. The new theme also features better contrast.

Once this change rolls out, you'll notice the subtle change in the default style of Word documents and Outlook emails. The change is designed to enhance readability while simultaneously promoting professionalism. It will also make navigation easier.

The change will roll out to users automatically. As such, you'll not be required to make any configurations to access the new theme. However, the new font won't be applied to your existing documents. 

Users that prefer the previous Office theme can still use it, though Microsoft has renamed it to Office Theme 2013 – 2022. Likewise, users can still revert to the older style formatting.

The feature is currently rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders running:

• Win32: Version 2308 (Build 16701.20000) or later
• Mac: Version 16.76 (Build 23070400) or later
• Android: Version 16.0.16701.20000 or later

It will be rolling out to iOS users soon.

What you need to know

• Microsoft started rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot to Teams, but only users with access to the Microsoft 365 Copilot early access program can use it now.
• The tool can generate real-time summaries of meetings and messages, thus enhancing productivity and effective communication.
• It will cost $30 per user per month on top of the already existing Microsoft 365 commercial subscriptions.
• Microsoft should ship the experience to wide availability soon.

Microsoft has finally started rolling out the long-awaited AI-powered experience, Microsoft 365 Copilot, to Teams users. The company announced the experience in March, highlighting that it's designed to leverage AI capabilities to gather insightful information from data integrated from Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365 apps like Excel, Teams, and more.

If you're part of the Microsoft 365 Copilot early access program, the experience should be rolling out to you in Teams. This means it'll be limited to approximately 600 customers, though Microsoft should be shipping the experience to general availability in the future (via The Verge).

With the experience making its way to Microsoft's video-conferencing platform, Teams, users can leverage the tool's offerings while making calls and even sending out chat messages.

The AI-powered tool will be able to summarize calls in real time and capture important details shared by meeting attendees. Additionally, the tool can also capture feedback provided and suggest the next steps that can be taken. In turn, this information can be factored in and used in the future to address concerns raised.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot experience is also making its way to Teams Chat, and like in Teams phone calls, it can also be used to highlight key points from your messages. With the imminent growth of hybrid work, more organizations are embracing platforms like Teams, Slack, and more. 

And with multiple people working across different time zones, keeping up with all the information shared while you were offline may be difficult. 

Luckily, this no longer has to be the case, as the tool can generate a quick summary of all the information shared while you were away, thus bringing you up to speed with everything.  More importantly, users can leverage the tool's capabilities to highlight key information from chat threads, which can be used to create a list or table.

As we earlier reported, Teams users will incur an additional $30 per user per month charge, which is separate from the already existing Microsoft 365 commercial subscriptions.

In other news, Microsoft recently announced that Visual Search is rolling out to Bing Chat, thus enriching the search experience since users can now use images to conduct their searches. 

What you need to know

• Microsoft is changing the default font for its Office apps to Aptos.
• The implementation of this change will take place over the next few months.
• You can still change the font to your preferred choice via the settings.

After what might have seemed like an eternity, Microsoft has finally decided to switch things up across its Office apps by changing the default font. As you might recall, the company kickstarted this process in 2021 by presenting five potential options that it deemed suitable to replace the outdated Calibri as the default font.

Since then, Microsoft has been collecting feedback from its clients. Aptos turned out to be a fan-favorite amongst most of Microsoft's clients, and it'll now be the default font for its productivity apps. 

"Similar to mid-20th-century Swiss typography, Aptos is a sans serif. Also referred to as Grotesque or Gothic, sans serif often have simple letterforms, even strokes, and they’re easily readable," Microsoft's principal program manager, Si Daniels indicated in the blog post.

"Aptos, made of varying geometric shapes, is bold, well-defined, directive, and constrained. It articulates many different languages and tones. Stem ends are clean cut. Subtle circular squares within the letters’ contours allow higher legibility, especially at small sizes."

World-renowned designer, Steve Matteson, is behind Aptos. You might remember him from the original Windows TrueType core fonts. He's also the creator of Segoe, the font used by Microsoft on Windows to date. Aptos is derived from the creator's favorite unincorporated town in Santa Cruz, California.

Microsoft has indicated that this marks the final phase of this change. Aptos is now rolling out across Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel. It will ultimately replace Calibri as the new default font "over the next few months."

Notably, if you preferred Grandview, Seaford, Skeena, or Tenorite to Aptos (Bierstadt), they'll still be available in the drop-down picker. As for Calibri, it won't be gone entirely. Like its predecessors, Times Roman and Arial, Calibri will remain pre-pinned at the top of the new font menu. This will only apply to the web at first.

The company has indicated that the implementation of this change is part of this broader plan that it intends to incorporate into Microsoft 365. Its goal is to make the platform "more expressive and inclusive."

"We can’t wait for Aptos to be readily available since it was crafted to embody the many aspects of the human experience," says Microsoft.

What you need to know

• Microsoft is making it easier for users to preview videos from Stream (on SharePoint) within OneNote.
• The video streaming experience is exclusively rolling out to OneNote for Windows.
• You must be running version 2306 (Build 16701.10000) or later to access the feature.

Last month, Microsoft highlighted its plan to bring Stream's video streaming experience to OneNote. The company's objective is to let users preview videos from Stream (on SharePoint) in OneNote.

Previously, users had to navigate between multiple apps while trying to preview videos in OneNote which made the process tedious and daunting. Fortunately, Microsoft recently started rolling out the experience to Insiders.

"We have enhanced your video experience by enabling you to play Stream (on SharePoint) videos directly within OneNote. You no longer need to switch to another application. This seamless integration allows you to stay focused on your notes and maintain your productivity without any interruptions," said Daniel Beade, Microsoft's Product Manager on the OneNote team, in the blog post.

For those not conversant with Stream (on SharePoint), it's basically an "intelligent enterprise video experience" designed to help users record, upload, discover, share, and manage videos. 

The platform standouts because it integrates with apps across Microsoft 365, and now OneNote is joining the wave. As such, users will now be able to leverage its capabilities within OneNote.

Users will not be required to make any special configurations to access the experience in OneNote. You can copy and paste the URL of the Stream on SharePoint video you want onto OneNote.

The experience is currently rolling out to Insiders running version 2306 (Build 16701.10000) or later. And as usual, Microsoft rolls out these features in phases. Therefore, you might not be able to access the feature immediately. 

It's also worth noting that the feature is rolling out exclusively to OneNote on Windows users. As such, if you're running OneNote for Windows 10, this feature won't be available.

In other news, Microsoft recently added the option to use superscript and subscript in OneNote for iPad. The feature will allow users to seamlessly incorporate footnotes and type equations into their notes.