(upbeat music)
- Hello, I'm Arthur.
- And I'm Candace.
- And we're hosts for What's New with Microsoft 365.
And today, we're gonna talk about what's new in January.
So this month, we're focusing on new tools
for firstline workers and managers,
new experiences across Office apps, and more.
Let's get started.
If you haven't already heard,
the new Microsoft Edge is finally here.
- Yay!
- Let's check in with Vivian,
who will share more about the news.
- I'm here with Eric.
And he's a PMM that worked very closely
on the rollout of the new Edge browser that's now available.
Eric, thanks so much for joining us today.
- Thanks for having me, Vivian.
- I know there's a ton going on with the new Edge.
And it's no secret that this is built
on open-source software in Chromium.
But what can you tell us about
the new major features available?
- We have a lot of great new features
for the new Microsoft Edge.
We're really optimizing for performance,
a lotta security by Microsoft, simple management tools,
but then also new productivity tools for the web.
So some of those,
particularly for end users and organizations,
are things like the Enterprise new tab page.
So on your new tab page,
you can actually fully customize it.
And you can connect it to your Office 365 account.
When you do that, you then get to see shared files.
You get to see pinned sites,
frequent sites with your organization.
And really, it's kind of this portal for productivity
for you when you're at work.
One of the other things that we have going
in the new Microsoft Edge is Microsoft Search in Bing.
So this is a way for you to actually search your Internet
just using the Bing search engine.
So you can go ahead and type in the Bing search bar
or on the Enterprise new tab page,
and you can get access to your Internet's files, sites,
people, even floor plans at your organization.
So it's a really contained experience
that's right there alongside the web results.
- I love the idea of the Internet
just being simply built into your browser.
That's super convenient.
- It's really great. We like to refer to it
as kind of being able to search the Internet
right alongside the Internet.
Just as easy. - That's perfect.
So we got the new Enterprise tab page,
we have Microsoft Search in Bing.
But what about privacy?
What can you share about new privacy enhancements
in the browser?
- So privacy was something that we really thought about
when developing the new Microsoft Edge.
And so we have something called tracking prevention,
which is a brand new feature for the browser.
You can access this by clicking the little lock icon
up in the address bar.
And then you can manage it from there
in three different ways.
There's a strict setting.
There is a balanced setting.
And then there's also the basic setting.
And balanced and tracking default in general
is on by default.
So this really prevents you from having trackers from sites
that you maybe haven't visited
from following you around as you surf the web.
And additionally, IT admins can even set that
through Group Policy, so that they know
while their information workers are browsing,
they are staying protected.
- That's really great that the new browser really offers
that degree of control
just because IT admins are really gonna be the ones
that know what's best for their organization.
- Exactly.
- Is there anything else
you'd like to add about the new Edge?
- One of our big new features for the commercial audience
is something called the Internet Explorer Mode.
So something we heard repeatedly from customers
is that they would have their end users actually
using two different browsers to do different things.
So whether you're accessing kinda modern-day websites,
you use one browser, and then you wanted to go
to a legacy site or app from within your organization,
you had to use something else.
So what we did is we actually created this IE Mode
within the new Microsoft Edge,
so that our end users would have access
to both these legacy sites and apps
and modern websites right within the same window.
They don't have to leave.
- That's great.
It sounds like a really thoughtful way
to kinda help ease people in the transition between the two.
- It's been really great so far.
We've had a lotta great traction.
- And then finally, if an IT admin is ready
to deploy the new browser, what do they need to do next?
- So IT admins can download offline installers today
from our commercial website.
So that's gonna be microsoft.com/edge/business.
And they can also download policy files as well.
Once they download, they can set up a pilot
within their organization, so they can test it
and configure it to their own environment
and then eventually deploy more broadly at scale.
- Thanks so much, Eric, for joining us on the show today.
And congrats to you and your team on this huge achievement.
- Thank you so much.
Go ahead and download.
- Thanks for the insights, Vivian.
So Eric also called out another new Edge feature,
multiple profiles, which lets you toggle between your work
and person profiles to help keep your browsing separate,
which is actually very helpful.
- Yeah, it is very helpful,
especially when you're sharing a computer with somebody.
- Yes.
- Keeping your profile, personal profile
and your work profile separate.
- Yeah. - That's pretty cool.
And also in the interview, we talked about
the new Bing search experience.
With the new and improved Microsoft Search,
we'll give you contextually relevant results
no matter where you are.
Whether you're in Edge, Word, or even SharePoint,
just click the search box and instantly see answers and info
from apps and people that are relevant to you.
- Oh, I kinda like that. (laughs)
It knows me now.
(both laughing)
So we're gonna shift over to data residency in Switzerland.
It's a new year, and that means a new data center region
across the globe.
Office 365 customers in Switzerland
can now have their data stored in an in-country data center.
This provides our Swiss customers
with trusted cloud services
that help them meet local compliance
and policy requirements.
It will also help organizations
with data residency requires meet their obligations.
So let's move on to Microsoft Online Services Terms.
Earlier this month,
we published our updated Microsoft Online Services Terms,
which outline more privacy transparency
for our commercial cloud customers.
These changes provide more transparency
on data processing in the cloud
and increases Microsoft's data protection responsibility.
So as of today, the updated terms are now available
to all of our global commercial customers.
And now it's time to talk about the end of an era,
as in the end of support for Windows 7.
- Oh, Windows 7.
- Can you believe Windows 7 came out 10 years ago?
- I can't, no.
- What were you doing?
- So 10 years ago,
I worked as a customer support for a computer company.
- Oh! - And I would help people
pull apart their hard drives
and put new ones over the phone.
It was kind of challenging actually.
- Okay, I was doing something way less cool.
(both laughing)
I was in my senior year musical
(laughs) at school. - Oh, wow.
- So I have nothing cool
to say (laughs) about that. (Arthur laughing)
- What musical did you do?
- We were working on "Grease."
- Ooh, "Grease."
- Yeah, we also did "High School Musical," the musical.
(both laughing)
So that dates me, but-- - Yeah.
(both laughing)
- Let's move on to what we're doing
to help customers with this transition.
So we're gonna throw it on over to Vivian
to give us some more details.
- I'm here with James, and he's a senior PMM
who works on Windows and Office deployment.
And we're gonna talk about end of support
for Windows 7 today,
which is the end of an era as we know it.
So what does end of support mean for our customers?
- So end of support for Windows 7 means
that if you have any technical issues with Windows 7,
you'll no longer receive any support on those.
Additionally, Microsoft won't be releasing
any software updates or any security updates
or fixes for Windows 7.
- What is Microsoft doing
to help customers make the transition to Windows 10?
- Look, so while your Windows 7 device will still work,
it is as at a greater risk of malware and viruses.
So what we recommend in order to stay safe and secure
is to move to Windows 10.
And if you're a customer with over 150 licenses,
you can use the FastTrack benefit,
which will enable you to get a Microsoft representative
that will help you unblock any of the issues that you have
to move towards Windows 10.
Additionally, we also have a Desktop App Assure program.
And that program helps customers
with any application compatibility concerns.
So any app compat issues with Windows 10,
with Office 365 ProPlus, or Microsoft Edge,
we can help unblock those for in-house applications.
- Those are some really great resources
to help people get started.
And for our customers who are not quite ready
to make that jump, what options are available to them?
- So for customers that really want to move forward
but haven't quite made it there
because they might be on their journey, we offer two things.
So firstly, we have the Windows 7 Extended Security Updates.
So we will provide critical
and important security fixes for Windows 7
as defined by our Microsoft Security Response Center.
And for those customers that can take advantage
of virtualization, we have our Windows Virtual Desktop,
which is Windows 7 running on Azure.
And that's really helpful for customers
that potentially have legacy hardware,
and they can take advantage of virtualization
that will enable them
to get those Extended Security Updates as well.
- That's great that we have all bases covered
in this transition period.
Is there anything you want to add?
- The only thing I would say is that Office 2010
is going out of support on the 13th of October 2020.
So if you haven't started thinking about moving away
from it, now is the time.
- It's good to always be looking ahead.
Thanks so much for joining us today.
- Thanks for having me.
- Thanks, Vivian, and that's great reminder
about Office 2010 reaching end of support in October.
This is something we'll cover more in detail
later this year.
So let's move on to preview news next.
For customers who work in retail and use Teams,
there's a new push-to-talk experience
that lets you deliver clear, secure voice exchanges
over the cloud.
It basically turns the smartphone or tablet that you use
on the job into a legit walkie-talkie.
There are some mobile devices
that integrate with this feature directly.
And if you have it,
you can use your phone just like a walkie-talkie.
Walkie Talkie will be available in private preview in Teams
in the first half of this year.
- I'm kind of excited to try that out.
(both laughing)
So we've already covered the new
and improved search experience.
But we're also adding new features
specifically for enterprises.
With Microsoft Graph connectors,
your organization can index third-party data
to appear in your Microsoft Search results.
These connectors expand the type of content sources
that search your Microsoft 365 apps
and the broader Microsoft ecosystem.
We're also announcing capabilities
to set up custom verticals, add your own refiners,
and use adaptive cards to create your own visualization
in office.com and SharePoint.
And finally, we've enabled developers
to use the SharePoint framework to customize the appearance
and develop applications on top of Microsoft Search.
- Also new for firstline workers in Teams,
one-time SMS codes that lets your team sign
into all of their Microsoft 365 and custom apps in one go.
And to compliment that,
a shared device sign-out lets your team sign out
of all of their apps on shared devices with one click.
This helps keep your customer data protected
while making that sign out experience a snap.
These features will roll out to customers later this year.
- So one of the biggest challenges
with providing digital tools to firstline workers
is managing their identities in apps.
The new delegated user management feature
in Teams lets firstline managers approve password resets
and allows employees to use their cell phones
for SMS sign-in through single, customizable portal.
And now that Azure AD's user provisioning integrates
with SAP SuccessFactors, it's now easier to onboard
and manage identities at scale across any application.
Finally, off-shift access controls lets IT admins
limit employee access to the Teams app
on their personal devices outside of working hours.
So these updates will roll out in the next couple of months.
- Ever wish you can read captions
during a live presentation?
That's exactly what PowerPoint for the web wants to deliver.
With Live Presentations, this new inclusive experience
lets audience members turn on live captioning
in 60 languages, navigate between slides to catch details,
or send reactions to the presenter, all in real time.
Live Presentations will be coming soon
to PowerPoint for the web next month.
And that's the end of our show.
- It's already over for the month of January.
- Yeah, I was having so much fun.
- (laughs) I am too.
And I always love going back to my coworkers
and giving them the intel on everything.
- Right?
(both laughing)
- But please be sure to like and subscribe
and comment down below.
We love reading your comments.
- Yeah and ring for bell for notifications.
- Yes.
And I guess we'll see you next time.
- We'll see ya next time, bye.
- Bye.
(upbeat music)
So now that you've watched this video,
don't forget to check out the Microsoft 365 Blog
that has a little more detail about what we went over today.