Windows 10: Modern desktop servicing 2018 review for Windows 10 and Office 365

Brink · Dec 19, 2018

2018 was a pivotal year for the modern desktop and the servicing transformation journey we have been taking with you and your organization. With that in mind, I thought it would be good to look back and recap the progress that has been made, highlight significant events, and provide insight into what 2019 has in store.

If 2017 was the year consumers made the move to Windows 10, 2018 was the year commercial customers really began that transition in earnest. Based on the conversations we saw in community forums, on social media, and at events, Windows 10 and Office 365 servicing was certainly top of mind for many of you this past year. I would like to thank each of you for the opportunities we had to discuss digital transformation with Windows 10 and Office servicing. It was great to witness and experience the interest and enthusiasm, and to listen to your feedback, suggestions, and asks. I learn more each time I have an opportunity to talk directly with you, and it’s the best part of my job.

Between Microsoft Inspire and Microsoft Ignite, we had 11 sessions related to Windows as a service, each attended by 500-2,500 attendees. That was in addition to the 140 days I spent on the road, meeting with nearly 1,000 customers and partners to talk about Windows 10 and the change management process it enables. To all of those I had the chance to encounter, thank you for your time, the great questions, and suggestions.

Product progress

Since Windows 10 first shipped, and the Windows as a service model was introduced, we have heard you talk about three common concerns: application compatibility, end user interruption, and network bandwidth impact. I’m happy to report that, in 2018, we made significant progress in addressing each of these concerns.

Concern #1: Application compatibility

Based on experiences with previous Windows upgrades (e.g. Windows XP to Windows 7), and with the associated application platform and API changes as well as UI and interaction model changes, application compatibility was a top of mind concern for many of you, and a rational one at that.

With Windows 10, we focused on application compatibility as a top priority from day one, and we are seeing that in practice today with 99% of applications just working—not only when moving from Windows 7 to Windows 10, but also with our twice-yearly Windows 10 feature updates. I continue to get asked about and hear concerns about app compat, but almost never do I actually hear of actual blockers, other than third-party security products that have not adhered to publicly supported APIs.

In 2018, we took this dedication to application compatibility one step further with the new Desktop App Assure program. For the rare instance where you encounter an application compatibility issue with an update, Microsoft is now offering you assistance to resolve the issue at no cost.

Concern #2: End user interruption

The more frequent servicing cadence for Windows 10 allows us to ship improvements and innovation more quickly in response to user feedback and requests. Improvements not only include new end-user capabilities, stability, and security, but improvements to the update technology itself, both in terms of size and speed.

With the first releases of Windows 10, feature updates could take up to two hours to complete, during which time the device was not available to the user. With each subsequent release, we worked to improve the update technology and performance, and ultimately reduce this interruption. Earlier this year, with Windows 10, version 1803, we delivered improvements up to 63%, with an average offline time of only 30 minutes for all devices, and less than 15 minutes for SSD-equipped devices.

Fun Fact: Our telemetry shows a U.S.-based PC updated from Windows 10, version 1709 (i.e. the Fall Creators Update) to Windows 10, version 1803 (i.e. the April 2018 Update) in just over three minutes!

The update experience for a device is based on the release currently on the device, not the release it is targeting with the update. As a result, the statistics I mentioned above are based on moving from version 1709 to version 1803. The update experience will continue to get faster as you move from version 1803 to version 1809. If you are still on an older version, you will need to complete a longer update, and, thus, more time will be required. From there; however, you should see this level of performance and experience. For more details, see We’re listening to you — feature update improvements.

Concern #3: Network bandwidth impact

The third concern with regards to Windows and Office servicing was bandwidth consumption and update package sizes. Here again, we have delivered substantial improvements.

The monthly cumulative updates are typically 1.2 GB in size. If a device is serviced each month, most of the cumulative update is already on the device and, thus, is not needed or used. Windows 10 has built-in functionality to optimize the download to get just the newest bits specifically needed by a given device. This is known as Express Updates.

Express Updates, which have been supported in System Center Configuration Manager since version 1703, can substantially reduce monthly bandwidth usage, anywhere from 120 MB to 1.2 GB per device.

Figure 1. Monthly update size options

By enabling and using Delivery Optimization, the effective size of monthly updates is reduced even further to only 40 MB per device, or the equivalent of about 20 minutes' worth of my email volume! Not only does it reduce the network load for Windows 10 updates, it can also be used to reduce bandwidth consumption for Office and Microsoft Store updates as well.

You can use Windows Analytics Update Compliance to help your organization measure where you’re at, and fine tune to maximize the savings. For more information on this, see Measuring Delivery Optimization and its impact to your network.

For Windows 10 feature updates, when using the servicing update method, the update size has been reduced to around 1.8 GB in size, yet another reason why I encourage your organization to transition to servicing updates, which you can configure in Configuration Manager.

Looking ahead to 2019

For most of you, 2019 will continue the digital transformation journey you have already started, as you move from project to process and migrate to a servicing approach based on diagnostic data and analytics. By giving you new insights and visibility into the experience and devices of end users, we hope to help you be more proactive, delivering better services and focusing your investments.

For some of you, January 14th, 2020 is just around the corner, and 2019 will be the year to finally say good bye to Windows 7. In either case, we will continue to invest in improving Windows 10 and Office as well as the tools, documentation, and programs that support them. We look forward to supporting and working with you, and our partner ecosystem, to help your organization move forward.

Looking to learn more about Windows as a service and stay apprised of the latest news around servicing and delivery? Be sure to check out our newly revamped Windows as a service gateway page on docs.microsoft.com. Also, be sure to check out our new Microsoft 365 Modern Desktop podcast, which can be found here.
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Source: Modern desktop servicing: the year in review - Microsoft Tech Community - 304395

:)

Douglas Clelland · Dec 19, 2018

Cortana & Office 365 Integration

We are trying to integrate Cortana with our Office 365 subscription, but it never works. Here are the steps we have done:

Turned on Cortona in the Office 365 Admin portal

We are using Windows 10 1703 – connected Office 365 service to Cortana

Did the same on windows 10 mobile with no luck, Cortana says its connected to Office 365, but sees no data and we are getting zero errors

We went rough office 365 support first and tried all fo their suggestions, they kicked us over to Windows support which is currently closed.

We are on v1703 with all updates in place, it does not work on Windows 10 desktop or mobile

any ideas? I can give you all steps 365 support had us run through if that will be helpful

Thank you

Doug

Ahhzz · Dec 19, 2018

Office 2019

Only supported on Win10. Sorry, 8.1 users, only 4 years old, gotta go.

Microsoft Office 2019 will only work on Windows 10

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com...-to-office-and-windows-servicing-and-support/

Spoiler Office 2019
Last year at Ignite, we announced Office 2019 – the next perpetual version of Office that includes apps (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, and Skype for Business) and servers (including Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business). Today we’re pleased to share the following updates:

Office 2019 will ship in H2 of 2018. Previews of the new apps and servers will start shipping in the second quarter of 2018.

Office 2019 apps will be supported on:

Any supported Windows 10 SAC release

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2018

The next LTSC release of Windows Server

The Office 2019 client apps will be released with Click-to-Run installation technology only. We will not provide MSI as a deployment methodology for Office 2019 clients. We will continue to provide MSI for Office Server products.

Brink · Dec 19, 2018

Changes to Office and Windows servicing and support

As part of our ongoing commitment to help our enterprise customers with their deployment and maintenance of Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus, today I join my colleague Jared Spataro in sharing news about servicing and support changes.

Delivering a secure and productive modern workplace is a top priority for many of our commercial customers, and we’re committed to help. Last July, we took a big step forward in this journey with the introduction of Microsoft 365, a new product suite that brings together Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security. Many customers are in the process of moving to one or more of these products, and they’ve asked us to clarify a few key points to help them with their upgrades. Today – two years before the end of extended support for Windows 7 and Office 2010 (January and October 2020, respectively) – we’re announcing servicing extensions for Windows 10, changes to the Office 365 ProPlus system requirements, and new details on the next perpetual release of Office and Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release of Windows.

Servicing extensions for Windows 10

Windows 10 is being adopted rapidly by organizations of all sizes, and as customers deploy the product they are implementing a modern servicing methodology we refer to as Windows as a service.

Many customers – including MARS, Independence Blue Cross, and Accenture – have made significant progress in moving to Windows as a Service, but some have requested an extension to the standard 18 months of support for Windows 10 releases. To help these customers, we are announcing an additional six months of servicing for the Enterprise and Education editions of Windows 10, versions 1607, 1703, and 1709. (Additional servicing for Windows 10, version 1511 was announced in November.) This extension will be offered via normal channels. The chart below outlines the impact of these extensions for each of the last four Windows 10 releases.

[table][tr][td]Release[/td] [td]Release date[/td] [td]End of support[/td] [td]End of additional servicing for Enterprise, Education[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Windows 10, version 1511[/td] [td]November 10, 2015[/td] [td]October 10, 2017[/td] [td]April 10, 2018[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Windows 10, version 1607[/td] [td]August 2, 2016[/td] [td]April 10, 2018[/td] [td]October 9, 2018[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Windows 10, version 1703[/td] [td]April 5, 2017[/td] [td]October 9, 2018[/td] [td]April 9, 2019[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Windows 10, version 1709[/td] [td]October 17, 2017[/td] [td]April 9, 2019[/td] [td]October 8, 2019[/td] [/tr] [/table]

We will also offer additional paid servicing options for Windows 10 Enterprise and Education releases starting with Windows 10 version 1607. For more information, contact your Microsoft account team.

Updates on the Office 365 ProPlus system requirements

Office 365 ProPlus delivers cloud-connected and always up-to-date versions of the Office desktop apps. To ensure that customers get the most secure and efficiently managed experience from ProPlus and Windows 10 together, we are providing updates on the Windows system requirements for Office 365 ProPlus.

To clarify our current support practices for ProPlus running on Windows 10, ProPlus will not be supported on Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) versions that are no longer being serviced.

Effective January 14, 2020, ProPlus will no longer be supported on the following versions of Windows. This will ensure that both Office and Windows receive regular, coordinated updates to provide the most secure environment with the latest capabilities.

Any Windows 10 LTSC release

Windows Server 2016 and older

Windows 8.1 and older

We recognize that some of our customers deliver Office to their users via Remote Desktop and VDI. Later this year, Microsoft will deliver new Remote Desktop and desktop virtualization capabilities within the SAC release cadence of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows Server. Join the Windows Server Insider program to get early access to these capabilities.

To learn more about these updates, visit the support page. And to ask the experts, visit the Office Apps Tech Community page.

New details on the next perpetual release of Office and LTSC release of Windows 10

We recognize that some customers aren’t ready to move to the cloud and will instead choose to deploy on-premises or hybrid architectures. For those customers, we’re announcing new details on the next perpetual release of Office and LTSC release of Windows 10.

Office 2019

Last year at Ignite, we announced Office 2019 – the next perpetual version of Office that includes apps (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, and Skype for Business) and servers (including Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business). Today we’re pleased to share the following updates:

Office 2019 will ship in H2 of 2018. Previews of the new apps and servers will start shipping in the second quarter of 2018.

Office 2019 apps will be supported on:

Any supported Windows 10 SAC release

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2018

The next LTSC release of Windows Server

The Office 2019 client apps will be released with Click-to-Run installation technology only. We will not provide MSI as a deployment methodology for Office 2019 clients. We will continue to provide MSI for Office Server products.

Modern software not only provides new features to help people do their best work, but also new, more efficient manageability solutions and more comprehensive approaches to security. Software that is more than a decade old, and hasn’t benefited from this innovation, is difficult to secure and inherently less productive. As the pace of change accelerates, it has become imperative to move our software to a more modern cadence. In the past, perpetual versions of Office were released under the Microsoft Fixed Lifecycle Policy, with a term of 5 years of standard support and 5 years of extended support. Office 2019 will ship under a separate term with a reduced extended support period:

Office 2019 will provide 5 years of mainstream support and approximately 2 years of extended support. This is an exception to our Fixed Lifecycle Policy to align with the support period for Office 2016. Extended support will end 10/14/2025.

There is no change to the support term for existing versions of Office.

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2018

The next LTSC release, Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2018, will be available in the fall of 2018. In keeping with the previous Long-Term Servicing Channel releases, this release will have the same features as the Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel release made available at the same time – with the usual exceptions (including apps that are often updated with additional functionality, including the in-box apps, Microsoft Edge, and Cortana). This new release will also add support for the latest generations of processors, per the standard silicon support policy. This release of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC will be released under our fixed lifecycle policy with a term of 5 years of mainstream support and 5 years of extended support.

At Microsoft, we’re committed to helping our commercial customers deliver a secure and productive modern workplace – and that means helping them get current and stay current on Office and Windows. Many customers are already in the process of planning their upgrades, and today’s announcements address feedback we’ve heard from them over the last few months. Servicing extensions for Windows 10 will help customers who need a little extra time to implement Windows as a service; changes to the Office 365 ProPlus system requirements provide clarity for new ProPlus deployments; and Office 2019 and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2018 will give customers who aren’t yet ready to move to the cloud a valuable set of new security and productivity features.
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Source: Changes to Office and Windows servicing and support Windows for IT Pros

Windows 10: Modern desktop servicing 2018 review for Windows 10 and Office 365

Modern desktop servicing 2018 review for Windows 10 and Office 365

Modern desktop servicing 2018 review for Windows 10 and Office 365

Modern desktop servicing 2018 review for Windows 10 and Office 365

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