M365 Roundup, June 2023: Windows Mail and Calendar Get an Expiration Date

The quiet headline of June 2023 is a retirement notice: the Mail and Calendar apps that ship with Windows are going away, replaced by the new Outlook by the end of 2024. Around that, Intune had a strong month, with driver update management hitting general availability and MAM for Edge on Windows entering preview, while Teams shipped a stack of smaller improvements from CarPlay calling to a dark-mode admin center. The full list, grouped by product, with rollout windows.

Outlook: the end of Windows Mail and Calendar#

By the end of next year, Microsoft will replace the Mail and Calendar apps in Windows with the new Outlook for Windows. After the change lands at the end of 2024:

• Users with a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription that includes the Microsoft 365 desktop apps can use the new Outlook for Windows.
• Users without such a subscription will need to manage their email and calendar in Outlook on the web.
• The new Outlook for Windows will work with any personal email account (Outlook.com, Gmail, and others), even without a subscription.

For MSPs, the planning note is the licensing split: customers on Exchange-only or kiosk-style plans without desktop apps lose their built-in Windows mail client and land on the web experience.

Intune: a strong month for endpoint management#

MAM for Edge on Windows reaches public preview#

Using MAM, Microsoft Edge for Business gives users secure access to organizational data on personal Windows devices with a customizable experience. The capability combines app protection policies (APP), Windows Defender client threat defense, and Conditional Access, all anchored to Azure AD identity, to verify unmanaged devices are healthy before granting data access. The payoff: better data protection on personal Windows machines without requiring full device enrollment.

Timing: public preview available as of June 2023.

Driver and firmware updates, managed from Intune#

Requires Windows Enterprise E3 or E5.

For organizations holding an Enterprise license, this removes the manual work of downloading, repackaging, and deploying drivers with generic tools. Driver update management policies and reports are built on the Windows Update for Business deployment service, bringing intelligent servicing, trusted quality, more granular controls, optional drivers and firmware, detailed reporting, and the ability for Windows Autopatch to create driver policies.

More info: https://aka.ms/DriversAndFirmwareIntune (opens in new tab)

Timing: general availability June 26, 2023.

Machine-learning recommendations inside Security Baselines#

Intune is adding tailored insights powered by machine learning models that help choose the right settings from Security Baselines, based on best practices similar organizations have adopted. Navigate to Endpoint security > Security baselines; while creating and editing, the insights appear as a light bulb in the workflow.

Timing: TBD as of June 2023.

Teams: seven changes, from CarPlay to dark mode#

Compact chat list#

Compact mode gains hidden message previews in the chat list. The condensed design keeps messages more private, fits more chats on screen, and makes the list easier to navigate, rolling out across Teams Desktop and Web. Simplified badging also makes unread activity easier to spot and keeps focus on channels that need attention, like those with @mentions.

To use it: Settings > General tab > Chat density > Compact.

Timing: early June 2023, completing by late June 2023.

Speed dial and call history on Apple CarPlay#

Users can call their speed dial contacts and return recent calls through Teams on Apple CarPlay after connecting an iPhone to a supported vehicle.

Timing: mid-July 2023, completing by early August 2023.

Reserve a room by scanning a QR code on Teams Panels#

Teams Panels will support booking a room via QR code: scan the code on the scheduling panel with an Android or iOS phone, and book the room now, for the future, or attach it to an existing meeting through the Teams mobile app.

The flow:

• Scan the QR code with a mobile phone.
• In the Teams app, choose Schedule a new meeting or Reserve for existing meeting.
• For a new meeting, the room is auto-added as the location and the user fills in the rest of the details.
• For an existing meeting happening between now and midnight the next day, the user sees whether the room is available or booked at those times and reserves with one click.

Timing: early August 2023, completing by early September 2023.

Header search goes GA in the Teams admin center#

Header Search now covers a wide range of entities, including Teams, Users, Policies, Settings, and Documentation, so admins can search across all of them from one box in the Teams admin center. Search history is also accessible, making previous searches easy to revisit.

Timing: late June 2023, completing by mid-July 2023.

Copy links to group chat messages#

Group chat members can create and share links to specific messages within the chat, improving how information gets referenced and organized. Links only work for members already in the chat.

Timing: early July 2023, completing by end of August 2023.

Attach OneDrive files from Teams mobile#

Teams mobile chat and channels on iOS and Android gain OneDrive file upload, plus a Recent section for attaching the most-used files up front. To upload, tap the + icon in any chat or channel message while composing, then the paperclip icon.

Timing: late June 2023, completing by mid-July 2023.

Dark mode for the Teams admin center#

Administrators get a toggle at the top right of the Teams admin center dashboard to switch between light and dark mode.

Timing: early June 2023, completing by end of June 2023.