Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Starting with the July 14, 2026 Extended Security Update period for SQL Server 2016, migrating a workload to an Azure VM no longer provides free access to Extended Security Updates for SQL Server 2016. See the following documentation:

• Changes to SQL Server 2016 ESUs
  Starting with SQL Server 2016 (13.x), migrating your workload to SQL Server on Azure VMs no longer provides free access to ESUs for SQL Server 2016 (13.x) instances.
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/end-of-support/sql-server-extended-security-updates?view=sql-server-ver17&tabs=sql-vm#changes-to-sql-server-2016-esus
• Changes to SQL Server 2016 ESUs
  Starting with SQL Server 2016 (13.x), ESUs are available through a paid subscription. Migrating to SQL Server on Azure VMs no longer provides free access to ESUs for SQL Server 2016 (13.x) instances.
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/extended-security-updates-sql-vm

Retroactive billing for “missed months” of Extended Security Updates
Additionally, customers that enroll in Extended Security Updates after the end of support date for the product, they will be billed a one-time upfront charge for the months they missed after the end of support date, with billing coming in at the end of the month. For example, if a SQL Server 2016 customer enrolls in January 2027, they will receive a one-time back-bill for July, August, September, October, November, and December 2026 during their first month. See the following documentation:

• Back-billing for sign-ups after the end of support dates
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/sql-server-extended-security-updates#back-billing-for-sign-ups-after-the-end-of-support-dates

If you’re looking to tune the costs of your Azure bill, these are a number of techniques to minimize the monthly usage costs your organization pays. Review the following video:

00:54 – Savings with Azure Hybrid Benefit
02:18 – Constrained vCPU options
03:30 – Commitment-based savings plans
05:03 – Savings plans and reserved instances
06:12 – Microsoft Cost Management
06:44 – Budget limits and automation runbooks
08:57 – Azure VM Scale Sets
11:24 – Storage cost management

References:

• Guidance for Azure cost savings at https://aka.ms/Azure-DMWL 
• More on Azure Hybrid Benefit at https://aka.ms/HybridBenefit 
• Sample scripts for budget automation at https://aka.ms/ACMrunbook 
• Best practices for tagging at https://aka.ms/costmgmt/videos

For “Frontier” Microsoft 365 Copilot customers, Microsoft is adding Grok models from SpaceXAI for use with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint – with the intent to roll out model availability broader across other scenarios as we evaluate usage patterns by customers.

Key points:

• The models require Frontier Program enrollment by the user or the organization in order to use them. If you don’t know what this is, you’re not going to see these models.
• The model’s availability is disabled by default – and controlled using the same type of subprocessor “switch” as used for Anthropic Claude.
• The model is only available in Word, Excel & PowerPoint. Availability for “general” Copilot Chat & other scenarios, is pending evaluation of use cases.
• As a subprocessor, SpaceXAI Grok models when used in this scenario, adhere to the same data privacy & security commitments as documented in the Microsoft Product Terms & Data Protection Addendum, and covered by Microsoft’s Enterprise Data Protection.
• Usage of the models requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license,

(Note: Do not confuse this announcement with the article on learn.microsoft.com entitled, “Connect to SpaceXAI models“. This is an older post written for enabling Grok for use with Copilot Studio developers and has existed for more than 6 months. This did not use Grok as a subprocessor and was basically saying “use at your own risk”.)

For those keeping score, Microsoft 365 Copilot has:

• Open AI-hosted
• Anthropic subprocessor-based
• Open AI subprocessor-based

And now:

• SpaceXAI subprocessor-based

Read more at:

• Expanding model choice in Copilot with Grok
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft-copilot-blog/expanding-model-choice-in-copilot-with-grok/4555749

Okay, so you’ve heard of PowerToys. But did you know that there’s a configuration component of Windows 11’s settings called Advanced Windows Settings that, like PowerToys, is independently developed & updated via the Microsoft Store (or GitHub)?

Advanced Windows Settings requires Windows 11 21H2 (build 22000) or later & provides additional functionality to the Advanced page inside Windows settings. The Advanced settings page in Windows (formerly known as For Developers) brings together settings that help developers and power users be more productive. Open it directly via System > Advanced in Windows Settings.

(It includes one of my favorite hidden features of Windows, “End Task”. which enables “end task” menu item from the taskbar by rick clicking on it.)

• DOWNLOAD: Install the Advanced Windows Settings directly from the Microsoft Store:
  https://aka.ms/WindowsAdvancedSettings
• DOCUMENTATION: Review the documentation for Windows Advanced Settings here:
  https://aka.ms/WindowsAdvancedSettingsDocs
• CONTRIBUTE: This is an open source project and we welcome community participation. To participate, please visit https://github.com/microsoft/windowsAdvancedSettings

This month, we’re launching the “AI at Work Webinar: Copilot, Apps, and Agents“.
(Part of the “Microsoft 365 Copilot Roadmap: What’s New & Available” webinar series)

If there’s one thing we hear a lot, it’s that it feels like there’s a new feature, agent, or announcement every month, and finding the time to stay on top of it all isn’t easy.

That’s where this new webinar comes in. Each month, we’ll bring together updates from across Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Dynamics 365, and other AI-powered experiences into one place, making it easier to stay on top of what’s new, what’s coming next, and why it matters.

What you can expect each month:

• Updates across Copilot, Copilot Studio, Dynamics 365, and agents
• What’s coming next and why it matters
• Demos of the latest features available
• Live Q&A with experts to answer your questions

Hope to see you there!

• 📅 Aug. 25 | 9:00AM – 10:00AM PT
• 🔗 Register: http://aka.ms/copilotroadmap/webinar
  (https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=3651815289)

When evaluating Microsoft cloud services for alignment with US government regulatory compliance, it’s useful to have an online reference to understand how Microsoft categorizes the services it audits & what the opportunity for compliance is that Microsoft offers on a per-regulatory & per-service category level.

For example, for State & Local Government, Microsoft 365 GCC offers the opportunity for compliance with regulations such as:

• FBI CJIS – Law Enforcement, Justice
• IRS Tax 1075 – Finance, Tax
• FedRAMP Mod/High- Public Utilities (Power, Water)
• NERC/CIP – Public Utilities (Power)

Richard Wakeman, US Public Sector Specialist (Federal & Defense Industry Base) maintains online documentation year after year on Microsoft’s aggregate cloud services alignment with State & Local Government compliance requirements:

This article is the second of a series in the Microsoft Tech Community Public Sector Blog and touches on several key principles for compliance, including data residency versus data sovereignty.  For the first article in the series, please refer to History of Microsoft Cloud Service Offerings leading to the US Sovereign Cloud for Government.  To keep this article concise, I will refrain from repeating content from the first. I recommend that you review the first article if you are unfamiliar with the architectural relationships between Azure, Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365.In this article, we will focus on each of the US-based cloud offerings from Microsoft and compare the differences in compliance, including the compendium of common factors customers may use to decide which of our offerings align with current and future requirements in demonstrating compliance with US Government regulations and underlying cybersecurity frameworks.

Read the article in its entirety at:

• Understanding Compliance Between Commercial, Government, DoD & Secret Offerings
  https://aka.ms/MSGovCompliance