M365 Roundup, May 2023: Build Delivers Fabric and Windows Copilot
TL;DR
- Microsoft Fabric, announced at Build 2023, unifies Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Power BI into a single analytics platform arriving July 1, 2023.
- Windows Copilot makes Windows the first PC platform with centralized AI assistance, previewing in June 2023.
- The new Teams channels experience moves the compose box to the top and turns every post into a focusable conversation, rolling out through June 2023.
- Yammer is gone as a brand: all remaining surfaces become Viva Engage between late June and mid-July 2023.
- CSP partners who bought the free 12-month Audio Conferencing promo SKU will see renewals at $2.50 per user per month unless they move to the $0 add-on SKU.
May 2023 belonged to Microsoft Build. Fabric arrived as a unified analytics platform, Windows got its own Copilot, and back in the day-to-day tenant, Teams rebuilt its channels experience, Yammer finished becoming Viva Engage, and a CSP licensing promo quietly hit its expiration date. Here is the month, grouped by product, with rollout windows for each change.
Build 2023: the two announcements that frame the month
Microsoft Fabric unifies the analytics stack
Microsoft unveiled Fabric, an end-to-end unified analytics platform bringing together the data and analytics tools organizations need. Fabric integrates technologies like Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Power BI into a single product, aimed at letting data professionals and business users alike unlock their data and lay the foundation for the era of AI.
Full announcement: Introducing Microsoft Fabric: The data platform for the era of AI (opens in new tab). All Build announcements: Microsoft Build 2023 (opens in new tab).
Timing: July 1, 2023.
Windows Copilot brings centralized AI to the desktop
Windows becomes the first PC platform to provide centralized AI assistance. Together with Bing Chat and first- and third-party plugins, Windows Copilot is pitched at helping users complete projects and collaborate without spending energy finding, launching, and juggling multiple applications.
Full announcement: Bringing the power of AI to Windows 11 (opens in new tab). All Build announcements: Microsoft Build 2023 (opens in new tab).
Timing: preview in June 2023.
Teams: a channels rebuild and five smaller changes
The new channels experience
Teams channels get a redesign built around staying on task and engaging in real time. Rolling out:
- The compose box and recent posts move to the top of the page, making it easier to start a new post, keep up with the latest conversations, and participate with confidence that nothing was missed.
- Every post becomes a true conversation. Users can open a conversation view that makes the discussion feel like a chat, pop the post out, and keep an eye on the discussion while working on other topics.
- A streamlined information pane gathers the channel's members and pinned posts, helping new team members onboard quickly and everyone find information in the channel.
- Posts can be pinned so everyone knows what matters in the channel and can reference it quickly.
- Simplified badging makes unread activity easier to parse and focuses attention on the channels that need it most, like those with @mentions.
Timing: early June 2023, completing by mid-June 2023.
Search results inside the chat and channel view
The new in-chat and in-channel search experience lands in the right rail, putting the chat and channel list and the new search results in a single view.
Timing: early June 2023, completing by early July 2023 (previously mid-June).
Work hours and location arrive in Teams and Outlook on the web
Microsoft 365 becomes location-aware. Users can share where they are working, with the features appearing in Outlook on the web and Teams. Since users already manage and share schedules in both apps, the addition gives colleagues more context to work together effectively in hybrid setups.
Timing: early June 2023, completing by early August 2023.
Auto install approved apps (AAA)
Teams can now use activity signals to install apps an admin has already allowed for the tenant. With AAA enabled, when a user signs in to a specific SaaS app with Azure AD (in a web browser, for example), that app gets installed for the user in Teams, helping users naturally discover tools relevant to their work.
Timing: mid-May 2023, completing by early June 2023.
Two new lobby policies for webinars
Public webinars currently cannot distinguish registered users in the lobby, which means registered attendees cannot bypass it. Two new lobby options close that gap:
- Allow registered users to bypass: registered users skip the webinar lobby.
- Reject users who cannot bypass the lobby: anyone who cannot bypass is turned away.
Timing: mid-May 2023, completing by early June 2023.
Anonymous users lose meeting chat read access
Admins will be able to block anonymous users from reading the chat in internally hosted meetings, on top of the existing ability to block them from writing to it.
Timing: mid-June 2023, completing by late June 2023.
Exchange Online: hybrid work signals and phishing reports
Work hours and location setup in Outlook on the web
Users can configure their work hours and location (WHL) in Outlook on the web, specifying remote and in-office days, different working hours per day, or multiple work slots within a day. If the organization uses Teams, the configured location also shows on the user's Teams profile card.
Timing: late May 2023, completing by early June 2023.
Report suspicious messages from shared and delegate mailboxes
End users gain the built-in Report button in Outlook on the web for messages in shared mailboxes and delegate mailboxes, closing a long-standing gap in phishing reporting coverage.
Timing: mid-May 2023, completing by early June 2023.
Viva: the Yammer name retires
All Yammer surfaces are being transformed into Viva Engage. Users will see the new branding across the remaining surfaces, including the website, integrations, SharePoint, the Progressive Web App (PWA), embed, email notifications, and the email digest.
Timing: late June 2023, completing by mid-July 2023.
OneDrive: a rebuilt sharing dialog
The Sharing control is being completely revamped so users can focus on who they are sharing with and how. The link scope always shows at the bottom of the dialog and can be modified at the top right under the settings gear before sharing. The copy link section returns a quick success toast when the link lands on the clipboard, and sharing to Outlook remains available in the top menu for users who enabled it.
The companion Manage Access view lists everyone who has gained access to a file, supports searching for an individual or group, and allows drilling into group or link details to manage access with more control.
Timing: mid-June 2023 (previously early June), completing by mid-July 2023 (previously late June).
For CSP partners: the Audio Conferencing promo runs out
Action required. A promotion running since October 2020 gave CSP partners free Audio Conferencing for 12 months; it ended in June 2022. At the end of each customer's 12 months, partners who purchased the promo SKU (Product ID CFQ7TTC0LHSL) will see subscriptions renew at the nonpromotional price of $2.50 USD per user per month.
The alternative: a supplemental $0 add-on SKU (Product ID CFQ7TTC0JXCZ) that includes Audio Conferencing with unlimited toll dial-in minutes, 60 dial-out minutes per user per month to United States and Canada numbers pooled at the tenant level regardless of tenant location, and Operator Connect Conferencing. Partners who want it need to purchase the new SKU.
The original SKU still has a case: it includes unlimited toll dial-in, 60 pooled dial-out minutes per user per month to Zone A countries (opens in new tab), and Operator Connect Conferencing. Customers who need dial-out beyond the United States and Canada should consider staying on it at the nonpromotional price.
Frequently asked questions
What should CSP partners do about the expiring Audio Conferencing promotion?
Partners can purchase the supplemental $0 add-on SKU (Product ID CFQ7TTC0JXCZ), which includes unlimited toll dial-in, 60 dial-out minutes per user per month to US and Canada numbers pooled at the tenant level, and Operator Connect Conferencing. Customers needing dial-out beyond the US and Canada should consider keeping the original SKU at the nonpromotional price, since it covers Zone A countries.
What changes with the new OneDrive sharing control?
The redesigned dialog keeps the link scope visible at the bottom, moves scope changes under the settings gear, confirms copied links with a success toast, and adds a full view of everyone with access to a file, including drill-down into groups and links and the ability to manage access.
New defaults land every month. Catch what moved.
Each Microsoft wave nudges settings you already signed off on. CloudCapsule rechecks 250+ controls per tenant in about 60 seconds, so May's changes never become next quarter's drift.
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Written by
Nick Ross
CEO · Microsoft MVP · Founder, T-Minus 365
Nick is not just a CEO, he's a respected thought leader and influencer in the MSP space. Tens of thousands of MSPs learn through his YouTube channel, T-Minus365. Nick has been honored as a three-time Microsoft MVP for his educational content; his expertise and influence are the backbone of our mission, ensuring that you are in the best hands when it comes to security.
Nick joined Pax8 in 2017, where he would ultimately oversee product management for PSA and Microsoft integrations. Following his tenure at Pax8, Nick has continued to demonstrate his leadership prowess as an executive at various MSPs, culminating in his most recent role at Sourcepass.
Nick holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from Florida State University, as well as a Minor Degree in Entrepreneurship. In his free time, Nick is an avid hiker, reader, and fitness-junkie.
