Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The most recent release of Windows 10 (1703) brings with it several key new policies to control the Windows Delivery Optimization (DO) service.

<taken from blog post “Latest Windows 10 Delivery Optimization Policies (17063)” from 2Pint Software>

DO is the Windows 10 download, caching and Peer-to-Peer technology that is responsible for handling Windows Store and Windows Update downloads. As announces at MS Ignite – it will eventually handle InTune, Office 365 and ConfigMgr content too. Think of it as the new BranchCache and BITS rolled into one.

As we all know – getting the Peer-to-Peer story right is a tricky one, and the existing DO Policies in Windows 10 only go some way to providing the options and granularity of control that’s required by Enterprise customers in order to cater for every possible scenario out there. This release provides a whole host of new stuff that gives you fantastic options in controlling and tuning DO for any occasion. Here’s the rundown of the new stuff…

Read about all the switches & policy fields you can set to provide a more optimized solution to maintain Windows 10.

• 2PINT: Latest Windows 10 Delivery Optimization Policies (17063)
  https://2pintsoftware.com/latest-windows-10-do-policies/

Here are the official documentation articles about these configuration settings:

• Configure Delivery Optimization for Windows 10 updates
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/waas-delivery-optimization
• Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 10 Creators Update (1703)
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55080
• Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (1709)
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56121

To kick off the new year ahead of Data Privacy Day we are giving our Windows Insiders an early preview of the Windows Diagnostic Data Viewer coming in our next release of Windows. Our commitment is to be fully transparent on the diagnostic data collected from your Windows devices, how it is used, and to provide you with increased control over that data. This is all part of our commitment to increase your trust and confidence in our products and services.

…

We’ve updated the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard with a new Activity History page which provides a clear and easy to navigate way to see the data that is saved with your Microsoft account. The Microsoft Privacy Dashboard allows you to manage your data and change what data is collected by adjusting the privacy settings on your device or browser at any time.

And in the coming months, we’ll also bring additional features that will allow you to:

• View and manage media consumption data, as well as product and service activity on the Activity History page
• Export for any of the data you see on the dashboard
• Delete specific items to allow for greater individual control

Read more about this announcement on the Windows blog:

• Microsoft introduces new privacy tools ahead of Data Privacy Day
  https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/01/24/microsoft-introduces-new-privacy-tools-ahead-of-data-privacy-day/#TEGJ0MzyfWTXPG7k.97

Have you ever wondered which you should use to deploy OS updates & software packages to locations with low-to-marginal bandwidth:  Windows BranchCache or SCCM Peer Cache?

Yves Perrenoud, Microsoft Premier Field Engineer, wrote a great comparison between the two distributed update solutions, including a chart to goes through the differences between the two with regard to:

• Usage scenarios
• Sharing technology
• Cache
• WinPE support
• Discovery

Check out the full post here:

• SCCM SUPPORT BLOG: Branch Cache vs. Peer Cache
  https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/swisspfe/2018/01/25/branch-cache-vs-peer-cache/

What if we told you Project Online Desktop Client is now integrated with Microsoft Planner?

We are pleased to announce the release of the integration between the Project Online Desktop Client and Microsoft Planner. Starting September 2017, Project users will be able to connect Project tasks to Planner plans. The feature will be available in the September update for Project Online Professional and Premium customers.

This feature release is in response to our customers, who have asked for a way to connect tasks in Project to plans in Planner. We have found that, as project management processes extend across all parts of an organization, there is an opportunity to link the work done by disparate teams and drive greater cross-team alignment. This integration allows teams that manage their work in Project Online to better streamline work with teams that use Planner.

With the integration, task owners can track granular task details in a lightweight tool. Project Managers retain control over the project’s work breakdown structure and can easily view the detailed work being done against a task.

This capability may also be used to reduce complexity of project plans in Project keeping it simple for the project manager to control a smaller number of tasks while task owners can further breakdown the tasks in Planner.

How does it work?

Step 1: Create a Planner plan.

…

Read more about this exciting new feature for Project Online at the Project Support blog:

• Streamline cross-team work with the newly integrated Project Online Desktop Client and Microsoft Planner
  https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/projectsupport/2017/10/05/streamline-cross-team-work-with-the-newly-integrated-project-online-desktop-client-and-microsoft-planner/

Don’t miss an opportunity to "Ask Microsoft Anything" (AMA) about Microsoft Edge on Tuesday, January 30th, 2018.

The AMA will take place from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM Pacific Time in the Microsoft Edge AMA space and we will have several members of the engineering and product teams on hand to answer your questions and listen to your feedback about how can we improve Microsoft Edge to make it work better for your organization.

• EVENT: Microsoft Edge “Ask Microsoft Anything” – January 30th, 2018, 9-10AM PST
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Edge-AMA/bd-p/MicrosoftEdgeAMA

With our developer guide, you’ll see how our comprehensive set of app platform services fit your needs, helping you navigate the architectural approaches and most common design patterns you face when building modern applications. And because Azure is constantly evolving, sign up to be notified of updates to the guide to ensure you make the most of any new Azure service.

In this developer’s guide, you’ll discover how to:

• Get started by using what you know
  Whatever tools and skills you use to create or edit your applications in your on-premises environment, you can use with Azure—from existing IDEs and editors to open-source programming languages and frameworks.
• Create more intelligent apps
  Easily embed natural and contextual interaction within your applications through machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities—from enhanced search functionality to facial recognition to bot services.
• Manage app security, identity, and access
  Security and privacy are built into the Azure platform. Use a range of capabilities to help protect your services and data in the cloud, from authenticating users to encrypting data.
• Choose how and where to deploy
  Plan better, code together, and ship faster with Azure. Use the same containers, serverless computing, and Azure services to easily build, test, and deploy applications in the cloud or on-premises—you’re in control.

Download the free guide here:

• DOWNLOAD: The Developer’s Guide to Microsoft Azure – SECOND EDITION (PDF, 3.2MB, 62pgs)
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/campaigns/developer-guide/?wt.mc_id=AID625426_QSG_SCL_218640

Did you know that there are live Azure training webcasts & online seminars being delivered every month at no cost?

Most of the time, these Azure centric training events are delivered by the Azure engineering teams that are responsible for the very technologies being presented.

Included in these are the MONTHLY free online trainings on Azure Active Directory, which include webinars on:

• Getting Ready for Azure AD
• Secure Your Identities with Azure Multi Factor Authentication
• Manage Your Enterprise Applications with Azure AD
• Azure AD Identity Protection and Privileged Access Management
• Intro to Azure AD B2C: Make it easy for your customers to securely Sign In and Sign Up to your applications
• Accessing Your Organization’s Internal Applications via Azure AD App Proxy
• Streamlining Password management Using Azure AD
• Azure AD Connect Health

This is where you will find updated dates/times for this series:

• Azure Active Directory Premium Customer Training Webinars
  https://aka.ms/aadwebinars

For these and other Azure training topics, visit:

• Microsoft Azure Events
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/community/events/?EventType=webinar

To learn & prepare for Azure, sign up, risk free, for $200 in credit to use any service in Microsoft Azure:

• Microsoft Azure FREE offer
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/

Got OneDrive for Business? Self-service file recovery is here!

The new “File Restore” is a complete self-service recovery solution, allowing for files to be easily recovered, whether they were accidentally deleted or corrupted after a malware infection.

Files can be recovered to their state within any second in the last 30 days. That allows granular control over rolling back to the specific version of a file you need, even if it has been compromised in some way.

Read more about the new feature on the announcement page here:

• OneDrive Blog: “Announcing New OneDrive for Business feature: Files Restore”
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/OneDrive-Blog/Announcing-New-OneDrive-for-Business-feature-Files-Restore/ba-p/147436

The January update build of Office for Mac 2016 contains the following new features. Items are linked to help content when available.

We officially changed from 15.x builds to 16.x builds for Office 2016 for both subscription and perpetual license customers. Customers who are on 15.x builds should upgrade to 16.x builds as soon as possible to continue to receive security patches and hotfixes for Office 2016.

With this release, Co-Authoring is now available on the Mac.

Availability

Office Insiders Slow channel went live on January 8, 2018 with Version 16.9.0 (Build 18010702)

Production channel went live on January 18, 2018 with Version 16.9.0 (Build 18011602)

Documentation

This release contains these Security Updates documented in the following articles:

• CVE-2018-0792: Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
• CVE-2018-0794: Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
• CVE-2018-0793: Microsoft Outlook Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Release notes, What’s New and update history articles for Office 2016 for Mac.

• Update history for Office 2016 for Mac
• Release Notes for Office 2016 for Mac
• What’s new in Office 365 – Latest updates for Mac

The following content is available to customers.

• Office Insiders Program
• How to Opt-In or Opt-Out of the Office Insider Program for Office 2016 for Mac
• What’s new for Office Insiders – Latest updates for Mac

The following user assistance content is updated each month with descriptions of new features.