Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Know Your Microsoft Execs: Meet Judson Althoff

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 13d

For those needing a refresher (or introduction), here's a bit on Microsoft's newest CEO, Judson Althoff, who now heads up the giant Microsoft commercial business: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/know-your-mi... #MSTech

He’s not a household name like Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer or Satya Nadella. But Judson Althoff — Microsoft’s latest exec to get a “CEO” title — now runs the entirety of Microsoft’s Commercial business....

October 2025 announcements - Partner Center announcements

Reposted by Directions on Microsoft

Wes Miller @getwired.com · 14d

Beginning on October 1, 2025, Microsoft will be renaming its Microsoft 365 E5 mini-suites:
- Microsoft 365 E5 Security → the Microsoft Defender Suite.
- Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance → the Microsoft Purview Suite.

//As Microsoft rebrands go, this is surprisingly well done and logical.

October 2025 announcements for Microsoft Partner Center including new capabilities, promotions, offers, markets, or changes to existing offers.

learn.microsoft.com

1 2 11

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 14d

For clarity's sake: M365 Premium is NOT M365 E7. M365 "Premium," the just announced $20 per user per month subscription aimed at ChatGPT Plus, is a new consumer bundle: www.microsoft.com/en-us/micros... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Meet Microsoft 365 Premium: Your AI and productivity powerhouse | Microsoft 365 Blog

Microsoft is taking a big step forward with major updates to our individual subscription lineup, combining the best of AI and productivity at an unbeatable price.

www.microsoft.com

Microsoft Begins Rolling Out More Model and Agent Options for M365 Copilot and Beyond

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 19d

ICYMI: Microsoft is making Anthropic’s Claude a new option in Microsoft 365 Copilot. It also is starting to make good on more of its agent promises: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsoft-be... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Microsoft is adding Anthropic’s models to Microsoft 365 Copilot, alongside the existing OpenAI models that are already at the heart of it. Microsoft is kicking off this process by adding Anthropic’s C...

Introducing Microsoft Marketplace — Thousands of solutions. Millions of customers. One Marketplace. - The Official Microsoft Blog

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 19d

Microsoft is rolling out the net phase of its app-marketplace strategy by unifying AppSource, its Agent Store and Azure Marketplace into a new unified storefront called Microsoft Marketplace: blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2025/09... #MSTech

A new breed of industry-leading company is taking shape — Frontier Firms. These organizations blend human ambition with AI-powered technology to reshape how innovation is scaled, work is orchestrated ...

blogs.microsoft.com

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 20d

Happening today at 1 pm ET

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 26d

Coming up Sept. 25, 1 PM ET: @maryjofoley.bsky.social will be hosting Directions on Microsoft's Dean Bedwell for an Ask Us Anything on Microsoft contract negotiations. Get your questions answered in real time during this LinkedIn Live event. More info: www.linkedin.com/events/micro... #MSLicensing

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 21d

No final deprecation date yet, but Microsoft is encouraging users to get off of Teams Live Events and move to Teams Town Hall. Admins should set policies to make sure Town Hall is enabled. More info in M365 Message Center MC1154302 and learn.microsoft.com/en-us/micros... #MSTech

Manage who can schedule and attend town halls in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams

Learn how to set up and manage town hall policies for IT Admins in Microsoft Teams. Learn how to manage who can schedule and attend town halls in your organization.

learn.microsoft.com

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 21d

Microsoft is adding Anthropic's Claude models as another option (beyond OpenAI's models) to M365 Copilot. Starting today, Claude will show up as an option in Researcher Agent and in Copilot Studio (with more options to come): www.microsoft.com/en-us/micros... #MSTech

Expanding model choice in Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft 365 Blog

We’re excited to announce that we’re expanding the models that power Microsoft 365 Copilot with the addition of Anthropic models.

www.microsoft.com

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 26d

Coming in Oct., new licensing changes instigated by Broadcom will force customers to bring their own licenses to VMware hosting from Microsoft and other providers: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/broadcom-ins... #MSLicensing #MSTech

Broadcom Inserts Itself into Azure VMware Solution

In late August, Broadcom announced (yet another) change to how they license VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), the suite that includes VMware vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and cloud management software. That change...

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 26d

New podcast now available. Directions on Microsoft Senior Consultant Steve Kelley shares his Microsoft contract escalation dos, don'ts, (and a few war stories) with @maryjofoley.bsky.social: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/mic... #MSLicensing

A Copilot Chat in Every Pot

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 26d

Coming up Sept. 25, 1 PM ET: @maryjofoley.bsky.social will be hosting Directions on Microsoft's Dean Bedwell for an Ask Us Anything on Microsoft contract negotiations. Get your questions answered in real time during this LinkedIn Live event. More info: www.linkedin.com/events/micro... #MSLicensing

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 27d

Copilot Chat is coming to almost all Microsoft 365 commercial subscribers -- even those without a full M365 Copilot license. What will this mean to you? www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/a-copilot-ch... #MSTech

This week, Microsoft announced it is rolling out Copilot Chat and web-grounded agents to the major Office applications. Given the naming confusion around the Copilot brand, the significance of this m...

Deployment overview for the Microsoft 365 Copilot app

1 1

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · 27d

ICYMI: Starting in Oct., the Microsoft 365 Copilot app will be automatically installed on Windows devices that have Microsoft 365 desktop apps, unless administrators opt out: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/copilo... #MSTech

Enterprise and company IT Admins can use this guide to manage the deployment of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app to devices in their organization.

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft Is Fixing its Copilot Branding and Pricing (A Bit)

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Sep 10

Microsoft is rebranding and repricing some of the products it had been selling as individual Copilots beginning in Oct. 2025: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsoft-is... #MSLicensing #MSTech

Microsoft is rebranding and repricing some of the products it had been selling as individual Copilots beginning in Oct. 2025. Microsoft is renaming its Sales, Service and Finance Copilots, as it anno...

Introducing Cloud-Managed Remote Mailboxes: a Step to Last Exchange Server Retirement | Microsoft Community Hub

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Sep 8

New podcast now available. PwC Principal James Farhat joins Directions analyst @barryb.bsky.social and @maryjofoley.bsky.social to discuss lessons from the field around Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/ent... #MSTech

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Aug 26

Starting Nov. 1, Microsoft is dropping the programmatic discounts that were baked into its volume-licensing agreements. But price hikes are just one result. Directions' lead negotiator Dean Bedwell explains all to @maryjofoley.bsky.social: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/get... #MSLicensing

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Aug 22

What are open-source language models and what do they mean for enterprise usage and applications? Directions on Microsoft analyst @barryb.bsky.social takes a look: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/cio-talk-wha... #MSTech

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Aug 22

Preview now available of a new (not so simple) Exchange Online feature -- cloud managed remote mailboxes -- that Microsoft says will get customers 'a step closer' to being able to remove their last Exchange on-prem server: techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/exchang... #MSTech

We are excited to announced a feature that enables cloud management of email properties for users with remote mailboxes.  

techcommunity.microsoft.com

Microsoft Is Dropping EA Volume Discounts Starting in November 2025

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Aug 14

Heads up, Microsoft volume licensing customers

Microsoft Is Dropping its Built-In EA Volume Discounts on Online Services Starting in November 2025: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsoft-is... #MSLicensing

Microsoft has been working to move more customers off Enterprise Agreement (EA) volume licenses for the past few years. But it is really stepping up the war on the volume discounts on which these cust...

1 4 5

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Aug 8

Is there still a place for no/low-code tools like those in Microsoft's Power Platform with the rise of generative AI and GitHub Copilot? The New Stack's Darryl Taft joins Directions Rob Sanfilippo and @maryjofoley.bsky.social to debate the topic: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/is-...

Retirement of Microsoft Lens - Microsoft Support

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Aug 8

Microsoft is dropping its Lens document-scanning app for iOS and Android devices starting Sept. 15, 2025. It recommends users switch to the M365 Copilot app, which includes built-in scanning (but does not include all existing Lens features): support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/... #MSTech

Learn about the retirement of Microsoft Lens and how to use Microsoft 365 Copilot as an alternative.

support.microsoft.com

Standalone Copilot in Power BI will be turned on by default in September

Directions on Microsoft @directionsonmicrosoft.com · Aug 7

Starting Sept. 5, Microsoft plans to turn on Copilot in Power BI (also known as "chat with your data") by default for all tenants where Copilot already has been turned on. Admins can opt out of they aren't ready. Details: powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/t... #MSTech

Starting on or after September 1, 2025, the standalone Copilot experience will be enabled by default for all tenants where Copilot has already been turned on. You can opt-out of this automatic rollout...

powerbi.microsoft.com