[m365weekly] #71

☁️What’s on my mind

Watching the screenshots of the Teams meetings on the official Microsoft website, I always wonder how it is possible, that the commercials for the latest Windows, Office, Microsoft 365 products, and so on, all have people laughing and enjoying themselves. Yes, I know, it is marketing.

But still … in my years-long experience as a systems engineer, I have always noticed the exact opposite. Users are frustrated by their computers, and not happy and satisfied.

What do you think? Are you one of those that are mostly happy to work on a computer or one of those frustrated ones? Hit reply and drop me a few lines.

Have a really great day.
Matic Z.

[FEATURED STORY] HOW TO START?

No one is born with a wealth of knowledge. We all need to be constantly educating ourselves. Someone recently asked me if I knew where he could get a basic knowledge of Microsoft cloud technologies.
You do not even have to look very far. Microsoft has some very handy educational programs that are free. And YouTube is a treasure trove of knowledge.

Exam MS-900: Microsoft 365 Fundamentals. Here you’ll get all the materials you need to pass the Microsoft 365 Fundamentals exam. Even if you don’t go to take the exam, there is a lot of knowledge to be gained.

Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals. Similar to above, but for Azure. All the modules you need to master the fundamentals.

I wish you a successful learning experience.

☁️Productivity & Modern Workplace

Improve your meetings with these recent tricks Teams can do! What’s new? Easier to mute your microphone, hide your own video, manage notifications, there were some changes to presenting mode and more. And there’s a cameo in Powerpoint. For the moment, those in the Insider program can try it out.

Phished? What To Do (and What Not To Do) in Exchange 365. It happens to the best and the brightest. Some very helpful tips on how to keep calm and protect yourself.

Microsoft Loop for 1-on-1 meetings and collaboration. Some people wonder in which case loop components are useful at all. In this article, Darrell presents one possible scenario for use in 1-on-1 meetings.

Microsoft’s Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera Arrives to Help with Hybrid Work. The hybrid way of working also requires special hardware, at least in meeting rooms. The new Microsoft camera, which is more than suitable for use with Teams rooms, brings some interesting innovations.

Introducing Portal Apps in Power AppsIntroducing Portal Apps in Power Apps. Power Apps has three types of apps. One of them is the Portal app. In this article, you can read how to get started with these websites that present data from Dataverse.

How to Insert Symbols and Special Characters in Microsoft Word. As always, there are several ways, but the one presented in this article is practically the easiest.


☁️Sysadmin Stuff

Shared Channels in Microsoft Teams are much more than external collaboration. Shared Channels have been announced for some time. And it’s not yet clear when all of us sysadmins will be able to switch on this feature, which we all have high expectations of. What will this functionality bring to organizations that want to work more closely together? The article on the link provides some examples.

How to properly configure Microsoft 365 Group email settings. Why do some users receive Group Outlook emails while others do not? In this blog post, Gregory explains how to properly configure Microsoft 365 Group email settings.

Managing mailbox storage with Outlook on the Web. Outlook on the web (OWA) not only includes an analysis of how you are consuming your mailbox space but also tools to clean up that space.

Exchange Online Tenant to Tenant migration with free Microsoft methods! Less complex tenant-to-tenant migrations can also be done for free with tools that Microsoft has built into the ecosystem itself. Very good step-by-step guide.


☁️Security & Data Governance

Microsoft Defender for servers – the benefits and features. The much-anticipated Defender for Servers (Plan 1 and Plan2) are coming soon. Finally! And don’t let the “for Cloud” mentioned in this official documentation confuse you: you’ll also be able to install it on on-premise servers.

Basic Authentication: End of an Era. As of 1 October this year, the era of basic authentication is truly coming to an end. Will it be the end of the world or an opportunity to take the world of IT security to the next level?

What Generation Z can teach us about cybersecurity. Although technology offers a high level of protection for online identities, it is, as always, the human factor that decides whether all these possibilities are exploited. But even if young people are to a certain extent apathetic about protecting their online identity, we can see some shifts in Generation Z that show that the world is moving in the right direction after all.


☁️Noteworthy (long)reads

Moving the Blog to Azure App Service. The curious case of moving a blog from WordPress to Azure Web Services.

What We Lost – Rands in Repose. A good article to reflect on where we have ended in the Corona crisis. Why are we tired after a whole day of virtual meetings? You need face-to-face contact to be able to read all non-verbal communication. In a virtual meeting, this is not the case.


DATES TO KEEP IN MIND

June 14, 2022 – Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 10 – End of Support.

April 11, 2023 – Exchange Server 2013, Microsoft Office 2013 – End of Support.


☁️Classifieds

The Sample. A whole new way of discovering interesting email newsletters. Sign up and you will get sample newsletters based on the interests that you’ve tagged.


☁️On a Less Serious Note


☁️ Last but not least …

Here are a few things you can do if you enjoyed reading this newsletter:

Did someone forward this email? Sign up for the weekly newsletter here.