The COVID-19 outbreak has postponed the Tokyo Olympics, scrubbed all university sports and silenced usa president campaign rallies, so it really should not any surprise that the turmoil has also upended plans Ms once had set in comparable stone.

But because of the work-at-home mandate set by many companies, Microsoft has faced various other pressures by dint from the place as the maker associated with Windows and Office, 2 technology cornerstones of modern companies.

Along with rivals Google plus Apple, Microsoft was one of the primary U. S. firms to deliver employees home, one of the first to begin tearing up calendars. Considering that early March, it’s produced a score and more adjustments to product timelines, released deals specific to work-at-home or the pandemic, and used action to shutter shops and symposiums.

Computerworld has gathered some of the many modifications Microsoft’s made – think of this as being an one-stop-shop for the changes that many affect customers, enterprise most importantly – and we’ll keep add to the catalog as long as the particular disruption lasts.

Bookmark this site, come back soon and often. We’re going try to keep it as clean as possible.

Delays plus new dates

SQL Server cumulative improvements are pushed back per month

On April twenty one, Microsoft said it would test their limits the releases of forthcoming SQL Server updates with a month.

“Starting in May 2020, Microsoft will delay the discharge date for all mainstream backed SQL Server Cumulative Up-dates (CUs) out by 30 days, ” the company noted in the increasing list of servicing changes   prompted by the outbreak.

SQL Server’s CUs are usually delivered on an unusual timetable. Each edition of the data source software receives monthly CUs for the first 12 months right after release, after which the speed slows to quarterly for that following four years. (The two parts, one year in addition four years, make up the software’s half-decade of “Mainstream” assistance. )

The one-month push-back means that the next SQL Machine CUs will be:

• SQL Server 2019 CU 5 on June sixteen
• SQL Machine 2016 SP2 CU thirteen on June 16
• SQL Server 2017 CU 21 on This summer 21

Windows 10 1809 will get six more months

On April 14, Microsof company added Windows 10 1809 to the support extension listing, giving customers running Home windows 10 Home and Home windows 10 Pro – plus niche operating systems like Home windows 10 Pro Education plus Windows 10 Pro to get Workstations – six a lot more months of support. Instead of having support expire Might 12, those users associated with 1809 will have until November. 10 to upgrade to some newer version.

While Home windows 10 Home and Professional customers will end up with a complete of 24 months of assistance for 1809, those operating Windows 10 Enterprise or even Windows 10 Education can receive their standard thirty months, the support life-span for those operating systems of each improve marked as yy09 within Microsoft’s numeric format. Home windows 10 Enterprise and Training 1809 exhausts support upon May 11, 2021.

Server-side stuff receives additional support, too

Microsof company has also stretched out support for a number of server titles because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SharePoint Server the year 2010 (and the less popular SharePoint Foundation 2010 plus Project Server 2010) obtained six (surprise) more several weeks of support. Originally started leave support on April. 13, the new ending time will be April 13, 2021.

Windows Server version 1809 had its support extended by the same amount of time and also to the same final date because Windows 10 1809. Home windows Server 1809, which first showed a year and a half ago, can receive security updates via Nov. 10.

Microsoft provided the same treatment to Construction Manager 1810, pushing the support cutoff from Might 27 to Dec. 1 )

Windows 10 1709 retirement deadline extended

In mid-March, Microsoft added 6 months to the support lifecycle associated with Windows 10 Enterprise 1709 and Windows 10 Schooling 1709 , telling clients that it would provide security improvements until Oct. 13. The initial drop-dead date had been 04 14.

The extension pushed the particular support lifecycle from thirty months to a total associated with 36 months, the longest actually for a Windows 10 improve.

Third- and fourth-week Windows non-security updates stop in May

Microsoft can quit serving all optional non-security releases — those designated as C and Deb updates, released during the third and 4th weeks of each month, correspondingly – as of May. The main reason: “We are prioritizing the focus on security updates, inch the company said in 03.

The stoppage will apply at all versions of Home windows and Windows Server, from your newest (Windows 10 1909) to the oldest (Windows Machine 2008 R2).

Directive that would have disabled Fundamental Authentication in Exchange Online delayed to ’21

Within September 2019, Microsoft informed customers using Exchange On the web – a key component of Workplace 365 – that it would certainly turn off Basic Authentication for many separate services and methods, including Exchange ActiveSync, IMAP and POP, on April. 13, 2020. ( Basic Authentication is the simple yet acquainted username + password design; it is less secure through attack than Modern Authentication , which usually typically includes a multi-factor authentication (MFA) backup, such as delivering a security code to the customer’s smartphone. )

That Microsof company commandment has been postponed to “the second half of 2021. inch (Microsoft stated it would declare a precise day “when we have a better knowledge of the impact of the [COVID-19 crisis] situation. inch

Edge will assistance TLS 1 . 0 plus 1 . 1 until This summer

Rather than follow through on the multi-vendor pledge to drop assistance for these obsolete encryption methods in early 2020, Microsoft instead offered them a limited reprieve . Edge will ban TLS 1 . 0 and 1 ) 1 “no sooner” compared to Edge 84, slated to produce around July 1 .

The particular not-dead-yet Internet Explorer (IE) as well as the legacy Edge are in order to disable the protocols automatically as of Sept. 8.

Certifications’ retirement deferred in order to January 2021

Close to the end of March, Ms bowed to a rising wave of users’ demands they have more time to finish their function toward numerous certifications the organization was going to retire this summer.

Within February, Microsoft announced that all “remaining exams related to Microsoft Certified Solutions Connect (MCSA), Microsoft Certified Options Developer (MCSD) [and] Microsoft Certified Options Expert (MCSE) will stop working on June 30, 2020. ”

The retirements had been part of an overhaul associated with Microsoft’s certification programs that will emphasized role-based training compared to product-based certifications of just before.

A user-generated petition sought more time for people to complete exams for which they’d place time and money into preparation. After the COVID-19 pandemic went worldwide, test centers were shuttered and training classes terminated, making it impossible to complete almost everything by the deadline.

Microsoft arranged the new retirement date because Jan. 31, 2021.

The new deals

Free advice on servicing Home windows 10 remotely

Ms will start something it’s known as “office hours” on Wed, April 22, where the experts and engineers will certainly stand by to answer queries from IT admins about handling Windows 10 for remote control workers. The hour-long program will take place between 8-9 the. m. PT at this digital location .

At least 2 other dates – 04 28, 4-5 p. meters. PT and May 6 8-9 a. m. PT : have already been scheduled.

More information regarding the office hours deal are usually offered here .

Groups set free

Ms launched free Teams at the begining of March as one of its very first responses to the developing outbreak. Restrictions apply, naturally, yet they’re not onerous. Sign up begins here .

Businesses may also get everyone in the business onto Teams for free. The particular “Microsoft Teams Exploratory” plan lets employees without Groups but with an Azure Energetic Directory-managed email address request the Teams license. (The demand must be initiated by the consumer; it cannot be claimed simply by an IT administrator for an user. ) The no-charge license will be good till the company’s next enterprise contract anniversary or subscription revival that falls in or even after January 2021.

More info, including how administrators may manage the Teams permit, can be found in this support document .

Free Office 365 E1

In Mar, Microsoft rolled out a totally free offer for Office 365 E1 “in response to the particular increased need for employees to work with home (WFH) in response to the particular COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. inch Interested businesses must use their current Microsoft accounts representative – if they have one particular – or failing that will, with a Microsoft reseller. (Customers can search here for a reseller if they may not now working with one particular. )

The offer offers an E1 license for up to 6 months. The subscription plan, which usually costs $8 per consumer per month when purchased with an annual basis, is the lowest-priced Office 365 Enterprise strategy and includes web-based applications (Word, Excel and so on) rather than the more capable desktop computer applications. It also includes cloud-based email, cloud storage plus Teams, the so-hot-it’s-on-fire movie conferencing/meeting software.

At that will price, the offer will be worth around $50 per consumer.

More information is available here .

(A plan analogous to E1, but for U. S. federal government agencies and offices, G1, can also be trialed free of charge meant for six months. Those details are usually accessible here . )

Drastic actions

Build 2020 goes just-digital, all Microsoft events adhere to suit

Microsoft’s yearly developers conference, originally to happen in Seattle, was maintained the calendar but proceeded to go digital-only in March, whenever Washington state was the Oughout. S. viral hotspot. At the begining of April, the company said that all its events through the finish of June 2021 will be “digital-first, ” although such as many organizations, simultaneously guaranteed that it would “continue to judge the situation” and go back to a pre-COVID approach “when the situation allows. ”

Closed all retail

Microsoft shuttered its stores – the bulk of the 80-plus locations are in the Oughout. S. – in mid-March. “All Microsoft Store places are currently closed until more notice, ” the company stated on its location portal .

The company has offered virtual training courses to replace the particular in-store training sessions it experienced run earlier. Not surprisingly, the workshops is one called “Microsoft Teams Training for Business : Master working at home with Ms Teams. “