Microsoft shares six essential Copilot learning opportunities for everyone

Microsoft has unveiled six essential learning resources aimed at helping users leverage Copilot's AI capabilities, making it easier for everyone from beginners to seasoned pros to harness the power of artificial intelligence in their workflows. These free resources cover various aspects of Copilot technology, including foundational concepts, productivity tips, and hands-on experiences with AI-powered tools. With a strong focus on accessibility and practical knowledge, these courses are part of Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to democratize AI education and empower users to integrate these advanced tools seamlessly into their daily tasks.

Check these tailored learning opportunities:

• Craft effective prompts for Microsoft 365 Copilot: Learn to write clear, concise prompts that drive precise results across your go-to Microsoft 365 apps.

• Master prompt engineering techniques: Refine Copilot’s output with techniques for building and adjusting prompts effectively.

• Microsoft 365 Copilot use cases: Discover how Copilot can empower specific tasks in your role, helping you work smarter, not harder.

• Data, privacy, and security essentials: Gain insights into privacy, compliance, and GDPR standards for Copilot, ensuring a secure user experience.

• Maximize Copilot across platforms: Get the most out of Copilot with dedicated learning for Microsoft 365, MS Teams, Dynamics 365, and more.

• Advance your skills in prompt engineering: Upgrade your proficiency with Copilot by diving into advanced prompt engineering strategies.

Find the learning opportunities links here.

Microsoft ends new registrations for Azure DevOps OAuth apps

Starting February 3, 2025, Microsoft will no longer accept new registrations for Azure DevOps OAuth apps. marking the first step in its plan to end the Azure DevOps OAuth platform. This marks the first step in Microsoft’s plan to gradually phase out the Azure DevOps OAuth platform, urging developers to transition to the more modern and secure Entra OAuth solution.

Here’s what developers need to know:

• Transition to Microsoft Identity: Microsoft recommends migrating to the Microsoft Identity platform via a new Entra app.

• Existing apps supported: Current Azure DevOps OAuth apps will function until the official end-of-life.

• Final security updates: Expect multiple client secrets, a secret rotation API, and a default secret lifespan of 60 days.

• Prepare for change: Developers are encouraged to start transitioning their apps to accept Entra tokens for continued functionality and improved security.

Microsoft releases October 2024 update of Power Automate for desktop

Microsoft's October 2024 update for Power Automate for Desktop brings significant enhancements aimed at boosting productivity and streamlining automation. Key upgrades include improved enhanced connectors, new data extraction actions, and an optimized work queue experience. These features make it easier for users to build efficient workflows, integrating automation seamlessly into daily business tasks.

Quick overview of what’s new in Power Automate for desktop:

• Expanded connectors: Discover a wider selection of connectors for desktop flows in preview with the new Connectors tab.

• Enhanced web automation: Now supports Citrix and RDP sessions, allowing you to create seamless flows even in remote machine environments.

• Efficient data extraction: The new Extract Data from Table feature makes it easy to extract tables and data grids from your target applications.

• Improved work queue actions: Two new actions—Add Multiple Work Queue Items and Get Work Queue Items by Filter—make processing tasks faster and more flexible.

Download the latest Power Automate for desktop here.

Microsoft releases new certification for Microsoft Fabric engineers

Microsoft has introduced a new certification for data engineers specializing in Microsoft Fabric. The Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate validates expertise in data loading patterns, architectures, and orchestration processes, with a beta exam currently available at a discounted rate for a limited time​.

New certification exam key info:

• Audience: Experts in data loading patterns, architectures, and orchestration processes.

• Exam: DP-700 - Implementing Data Engineering Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric.

• Focus areas: Ingesting and transforming data, securing and managing analytics solutions, and optimizing performance.

• Skills needed: Proficiency in SQL, PySpark, KQL, and collaboration with analytics teams.

• Offer: First 300 test-takers before November 12, 2024 get an 80% discount.

Get the certification here.

Microsoft brings AI-first business process to organizations with autonomous agents

Microsoft's latest announcement introduces autonomous agents for Dynamics 365, designed to streamline business processes. These AI-driven agents enable organizations to automate tasks, reduce inefficiencies, and improve decision-making. By embedding these agents into daily workflows, businesses can accelerate operations and focus on strategic goals. This new integration highlights Microsoft’s continued innovation in business automation, offering users more control and productivity across sectors.

Autonomous agents’ features and capabilities:

• Autonomous agents seamlessly execute and orchestrate tasks on behalf of individuals, teams, or entire functions.

• 10 new autonomous agents in Microsoft Dynamics 365 are designed to boost capacity across sales, service, finance, and supply chain teams.

• Sales: Sales Qualification Agent prioritizes leads and crafts personalized sales emails, allowing sellers to focus on higher-value activities.

• Operations: Supplier Communications Agent autonomously handles supplier collaborations and proactively manages potential delays.

• Service: Customer Knowledge Management Agent continuously updates knowledge articles by analyzing case insights and ensuring teams have the latest information.

Microsoft makes Power BI Admin Monitoring Workspace available to key government cloud platforms

Microsoft made Power BI Admin Monitoring Workspace available to several U.S. government cloud environments, including Government Cloud Community (GCC), GCC High, Department of Defense (DoD), US National Security (USNAT, USSEC), and Mooncake. These platforms are part of the specialized Power BI service available under Microsoft 365 Government plans, distinct from the commercial version. This new feature strengthens data oversight and governance for agencies using these secure government cloud infrastructures.

Power BI Admin Monitoring Workspace features:

• Gain access to pre-built Power BI reports and semantic models for tracking tenant-level inventory and audit activities over the past 30 days.

• Seamlessly access metadata and audit logs, empowering Tenant Admins to make more informed administrative decisions.

• Leverage the built-in semantic models to customize reports tailored to organization's needs.

• Manage access to key content within the Admin Monitoring Workspace, including workspaces, reports, and semantic models.

Copilot Studio brings autonomous agents new capabilities to public preview at Microsoft Ignite 2024

Microsoft is set to unveil a groundbreaking set of capabilities at Microsoft Ignite 2024, enabling businesses and organizations to build autonomous agents through Copilot Studio in public preview. These agents are crafted to understand the intricacies of individual workflows and act proactively on behalf of users, providing comprehensive support across various roles, teams, and functions. By allowing agents to operate independently, initiate events, and automate complex business tasks, Copilot Studio aims to transform the workplace with enhanced efficiency and productivity.

Copilot Studio’s new agents capabilities:

• Autonomous agents can now understand your work, acting on your behalf across roles, teams, and functions, streamlining operations like never before.

• These agents can be configured to trigger actions without human input, whether it's hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.

• Gain full transparency with the ability to view the logic behind each agent's actions, including key steps and systems involved.

• Activity tab will soon provide a comprehensive log of past agent runs for added transparency and accountability.

• Enterprise-grade security ensures your agents are protected with encryption, data loss prevention, and more.

Microsoft makes Azure Cobalt 100-based Virtual Machines generally available

Microsoft has announced the general availability of its new Azure Cobalt 100-based Virtual Machines, powered by the company's first 64-bit Arm-based Azure Cobalt 100 CPU. This launch represents a significant step forward in Microsoft's efforts to innovate and enhance its cloud infrastructure, with optimizations and customizations applied at every level—from silicon and servers to services. With these enhancements, businesses can expect improved performance, greater efficiency, and more scalable solutions for their cloud workloads.

Azure Cobalt 100-based Virtual Machines features:

• Designed in-house to optimize Azure's cloud infrastructure with an end-to-end systems approach.

• Includes Dpsv6, Dplsv6, and memory-optimized Epsv6 series—ideal for scale-out and cloud-native Linux workloads.

• Delivers top-tier performance, outpacing previous generations of Azure Arm-based VMs.

• Now available in 14 regions, including Canada Central and Central US, with more on the way.

Power Platform enhances pipelines in Power Apps with new updates for Admins and Makers

Power Platform has introduced new updates to its pipelines feature in Power Apps, bringing enhancements designed to benefit both Admins and Makers. With this latest release, Admins can now enable Makers to seamlessly discover their custom host instead of the default tenant-wide platform host when navigating to Pipelines. This update simplifies the process by removing the need for Admins to manually set up a custom host and link it to Makers' development environments. Associating new development environments with the default custom host is now more streamlined than ever.

Pipelines in Power Apps feature summary:

• Easily associate new development environments by deploying through a pipeline in the host.

• Provide an environment ID under Advanced Settings to enable pipelines in unlinked environments.

• Admins can control pipeline creation by assigning the "Deployment pipeline default" role.

• Copilot-generated deployment notes are now available in 20 languages, including Chinese, Czech, and Danish.

• All pipeline-deployed solutions are now accessible in the solution import experience.

Power BI October 2024 feature summary

Power BI's latest release introduces a range of enhanced features, with a strong focus on improved visualization and reporting capabilities. These updates are specifically designed to elevate data insights, empowering Power BI users to make more informed decisions with greater clarity and precision.

Power BI’s latest features:

• Copilot-powered report creation: Build more insightful and transparent reports with Copilot, now available in public preview.

• Smarter DAX queries: Quick Measure Suggestions have evolved into Microsoft Fabric Copilot, making it easier to write DAX queries with precision.

• Enhanced combo charts: Visual calculations in combo charts just got better, with field parameters now supported in preview mode.

• Data-bound Azure Maps: Seamlessly integrate reference layers with your business data for a smoother mapping experience.

• Visual storytelling boost: Enjoy improved rendering of columns, bars, ribbons, lines, area charts, and markers for more impactful visuals.

Check the full list here: