Microsoft has introduced Azure App Testing, a new Azure Portal hub that consolidates Azure Load Testing and Playwright Workspaces to run large-scale performance and end-to-end web tests. The service supports JMeter and Locust for load, plus cross-browser Playwright runs, and centralizes provisioning, access control and billing. It adds AI-assisted test creation and troubleshooting to speed defect discovery. Existing Azure Load Testing resources continue to work with the same pricing, while users of Microsoft Playwright Testing (preview) are guided to migrate to Playwright Workspaces.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 08/08/20250 comments
Microsoft has launched two new VM sizes -- E128 and E192 -- in the Azure Esv6 and Edsv6 families, now generally available in select regions as of August 1, 2025. These new instances use the 5th‑Gen Intel Xeon Platinum 8573C ("Emerald Rapids") processor and support both diskless and NVMe‑backed disk configurations. They offer up to 192 vCPUs, 1,832 GiB of memory, 200 Gbps network bandwidth, and Intel Total Memory Encryption (TME) for enhanced data protection..
These VMs deliver up to 30 percent better performance than the earlier Ev5 generation and triple the IOPS on local NVMe storage for low‑latency, memory‑intensive workloads such as in‑memory analytics, large OLTP/OLAP database systems, and caching layers, according to the company.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 08/04/20250 comments
Microsoft has launched a redesigned Viva Insights web application, now combining the Copilot Dashboard with advanced reporting tools into a unified experience. The streamlined interface gives leaders, analysts and delegates seamless access to strategic Copilot analytics and the ability to publish custom reports.
Microsoft also introduced a Power BI report in public preview for tracking adoption and business impact of Copilot Studio agents. In addition, a new Learning Culture report offers HR teams insight into how employees engage with Viva Learning, enabling measurement of learning usage across departments.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 07/25/20250 comments
Microsoft Fabric will phase out Default Semantic Models by the end of December 2025. Beginning August 8, 2025, new warehouses, lakehouses, SQL databases and mirrored databases will no longer automatically generate these models. Existing default semantic models will be converted into standard ones, detached from their original assets and requiring manual management.
The change reflects Microsoft’s emphasis on governance, accountability and traceability. InfoWorld analysts note that the shift aligns with broader enterprise demands for curated semantic layers, improved audit trails and stronger data governance practices across hyperscalers.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 07/23/20250 comments
Microsoft this week announced the general availability of Geo‑Replication for Azure Event Hubs Premium and Dedicated tiers, enabling fully managed cross‑region replication of event data and metadata, with support for synchronous or asynchronous consistency.
The feature includes private networking, customer‑managed key encryption, Event Hubs Capture, and enhanced replica health visibility. These additions empower enterprise IT teams to manage regional failovers proactively during planned maintenance or unexpected outages.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 07/17/20250 comments
Microsoft’s June 2025 Microsoft 365 Copilot release introduced several enterprise-focused features, including new admin analytics, contextual support and customizable agents. Admins can now monitor usage with prompt categorization, track unified meeting recaps and manage AI agent access and spending limits directly from the Copilot admin center.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 07/10/20250 comments
Microsoft last month introduced a new Entra ID feature to authenticate AI agents. Called Agent ID, the feature assigns unique identities to AI agents, enabling organizations to manage their authentication, authorization and lifecycle similarly to human users. For instance, they can apply Conditional Access policies and activity monitoring to AI agents.
The June Entra ID update also included news of a forthcoming public preview for expanded passkey (FIDO2) authentication methods. Expected in November 2025, this enhancement will allow administrators to configure passkey policies at a group level and accept any WebAuthn-compliant security key when "Enforce attestation" is disabled.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 07/02/20250 comments
Microsoft has introduced several improvements to its Purview platform to bolster data security in the context of AI integration. These updates focus on improving visibility into sensitive data, extending protection across various data flows, and automating incident response processes.
A significant addition is the general availability of Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), which offers continuous assessment of an organization's data landscape. DSPM provides contextual insights into sensitive data usage and recommends targeted controls to mitigate risks. The platform now incorporates signals from email exfiltration and user activities in browsers and networks, enhancing its ability to identify potential security weaknesses.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 06/26/20250 comments
Microsoft has rolled out its redesigned Copilot Hub within the Power Platform Admin Center, focusing on enhancing enterprise oversight of AI tools like Copilot Studio, Power Apps, Power Pages and Power Automate.
This update, launched earlier this month, addresses key administrative concerns by centralizing settings, offering detailed usage analytics, and providing clearer insights into AI-related expenditures. A notable addition is the "Settings" page, which consolidates configurations across various Power Platform products. Administrators can now manage global settings, including Bing Search integration and data movement policies, alongside product-specific configurations.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 06/25/20250 comments
Microsoft this week
launched the public preview
of Organizational Templates in Azure Logic Apps. These templates let enterprises define reusable workflow patterns -- including connectors, parameters and internal API hooks -- scoped exclusively to their own Azure tenant. A new UI lets users build templates directly from existing workflows, without manual packaging. Templates can be published in test or production modes, aiding staged releases, and can be downloaded for potential contribution to Microsoft's public GitHub repository.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 06/24/20250 comments
Microsoft has made its modern External Networks feature for Viva Engage generally available to all customers. These networks, powered by Microsoft Entra and Microsoft 365 Native Mode, offer secure collaboration spaces -- complete with federated authentication, eDiscovery, permission controls and file sharing -- for partners, vendors and consultants. The shift aligns with Microsoft’s recent June 1 deadline for flat‑out migration from legacy systems.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 06/23/20250 comments
Microsoft is rolling out a private preview of Windows 365 Cloud Apps, a feature that allows IT teams to stream individual Windows applications to users without provisioning full Cloud PCs for everyone. This functionality is available for organizations using Windows 365 Frontline licenses in shared mode, delivered through Microsoft Intune via a new "app‑only" provisioning policy.
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Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 06/18/20250 comments