Microsoft Roadmap, messagecenter en blogs updates van 25-12-2024

Updated December 18, 2024: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

In 2023, we introduced Microsoft Teams apps that are compatible with Microsoft Outlook and the Microsoft 365 App (manifest version v1.13 or higher). Before this rollout, admin changes made in the Integrated apps section of the Microsoft 365 admin center would only affect these Teams apps in Outlook and the Microsoft 365 app. Similarly, changes made in the Teams admin center would exclusively affect Teams. Starting in June 2024, we will roll out Unified App Management to streamline the management of these apps across Teams, Outlook and the Microsoft 365 App, so they are consistently available across all supported clients.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 393931.

[When this will happen:]

This rollout will happen in two major phases. Unified App Management can apply only to tenants that have migrated to app centric management in Teams admin center, as communicated in MC688930 (Updated) Teams admin center: App centric management and changes to app permission policies (November 2023).

• Phase 1 | General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out late-January 2025 (previously mid-December 2024) and expect to complete late March 2025 (previously mid-January 2025). This phase applies to tenants with no modified settings in either the Microsoft 365 admin center (Integrated apps) or the Teams admin center for organization-wide defaults, app deployment, app availability, or block/unblock. No merge rules apply to these tenants, but after this phase, any app management setting configured in either admin centers will apply to all relevant hosts.
• Phase 2: We will update this post with a timeline and more details in March 2025. This phase is applicable to tenants with app settings that have differences between Microsoft 365 admin center (Integrated apps) and Teams admin center, and who have maintained a single app setup policy in Teams that has a modified Installed apps section.

[How this will affect your organization:]

Before this rollout, managing Teams apps that work in Outlook and the Microsoft 365 app was fragmented between the Integrated apps page in the Microsoft 365 admin center for Outlook and the Microsoft 365 app, and the Teams admin center for Teams. This sometimes resulted in different settings for the same app in the two admin centers. With Unified App Management, we will be consolidating app catalog management into a single platform. You will be able to manage apps on the Integrated apps page in the Microsoft 365 admin center or in the Teams admin center, and any changes made in either admin center will synchronize.

What you can expect

1. App catalog enhancements: Apps will start showing hosts where they are available: Teams, Outlook, or the Microsoft 365 app.
2. Organization-wide settings: App availability default settings will now apply to apps used in Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 app.
3. App installs: Apps deployed from the Integrated apps page in Microsoft 365 admin center will be preinstalled in all applicable hosts for the app. Unlike app preinstallation in the Teams App setup policy, new app installs will provide access to the preinstalled apps, similar to deploying the app for Outlook and the Microsoft 365 App. [For more details on app deployment, refer to MC795355 Microsoft Teams admin center: App centric management for app installation and changes to app setup policies (May 2024)].
4. App availability: Managing app availability will apply to all applicable app hosts.
5. App block/unblock: Blocking or unblocking apps will apply to all applicable app hosts.
6. Consolidation of existing app settings: All existing app settings will be unified between Integrated apps (MAC) and Manage apps (TAC) pages. Merge rules can be found in Manage apps that work across Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn. These changes cannot be rolled back.
7. Consolidation report: Phase 2 and 3 tenant administrators will have access to an on-demand report prior to the merging of app settings. This report is designed to help administrators assess the impact of merge rules on their tenant and make any adjustments in advance. We will update this MC post when the report is available.

[What you need to do to prepare:]

We recommend that you review app and tenant settings in the Microsoft 365 admin center and the Teams admin center. If these are managed by different departments in your organization, we recommend conducting these reviews collaboratively.

We also recommend that you review the merge rules and consider their potential impact on apps in your organization. Make any necessary adjustments to unify them in advance, if the merge rules in this message do not align with your expectations.

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before the rollout. You may want to update any relevant documentation as appropriate.

Updated December 23, 2024: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

As users search in office.com, sharepoint.com, or Microsoft Bing at Work, they will get results from Microsoft Viva Engage that they have access to. The results show up as interleaved results on the search page. This is currently limited to only question posts from public Communities, Storylines, and Answers. This new feature is available by default.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 391669.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability: We will begin rolling out late September 2024 (previously late August) and expect to complete by mid-January (previously mid-December).  

[How this will affect your organization:]

Below is an example of search results (available to all users):

[What you need to do to prepare:]

This rollout will happen automatically with no admin action required. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation as appropriate.

Updated December 23, 2024: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

To help increase productivity while working online, web links from Azure Active Directory (AAD) accounts and Microsoft (MSA) accounts in the new Outlook for Windows app will open in Microsoft Edge in a single view showing the opened link side-by-side with the email it came from.

We’re adding this to the new Outlook for windows to have a consistent experience across our applications. If you have previously managed this change for the classic Outlook for Windows (MC545904, MC548092, MC541626) or for Teams (MC669480), your configuration will also apply to the new Outlook for Windows. If you wish to maintain this configuration across all three apps, no action is required.

Note: This does not change the default browser setting in Windows.

[When will this affect your organization:]

We will begin rolling out in late July 2024 and expect to complete by mid-January 2025 (previously mid-December). 

[How this will affect your organization:]

Web links from emails in the new Outlook for Windows app will open side-by-side with the email in Microsoft Edge so users can easily reference the link and email without switching back and forth between apps. Links will open in Microsoft Edge even if it is not the system default browser in Windows.

• Only links set to open via a web browser are affected. Links that are set to open in a client app or within Outlook itself will continue to do so.
• This initial release to the new Outlook for Windows application will only enable links reading pane’s message body content
• User experiences will vary by policy configuration; please see the next section.
• Web links from all accounts in the Outlook for Windows app will open in Microsoft Edge.

[What you need to do to prepare:]

To manage this change, you will need to configure the Choose which browser opens web links policy, which is available today, using the Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365 (formerly the Office Cloud Policy Service) and Administrative Templates for Microsoft 365 Apps.

• To open web links from the Outlook for Windows app using the system default browser (current default behavior): Enable the policy and select System default browser from the policy options.
  • Users will not be able to disable or change this setting.
• To open web links from the Outlook for Windows app using Microsoft Edge (future default behavior): Enable the policy and select Microsoft Edge from the policy options.
  • Users will not be able to disable or change this setting.
  • Users will receive a notification of this change on the first occurrence.
• To allow users to manage the change: Disable the policy or leave the policy unconfigured. Please note that the future default behavior for web links will be to open in Microsoft Edge.
  • Users will see a notification informing them of this change on the first occurrence. This notification provides users with the option to accept the change/learn more, or to disable the change.
  • The user’s selection will also apply to the experience in the classic Outlook for Windows and Teams.
  • Users may manage this setting at any time in the new Outlook for Windows app via Settings > General > Files and links > Open hyperlinks from Outlook in.
  • If there is an existing user preference set in the classic Outlook for Windows, the new Outlook for Windows will respect it. If the user only sets a preference to use the system default browser in Teams, the new Outlook for Windows will open the links in Microsoft Edge informing them of this change on the first occurrence and users can accept the change/learn more, or to disable the change.

If your organization uses a Microsoft 365 for business plan, your users will need to manage this change individually through the Outlook settings menu: Settings > General > Files and links > Open hyperlinks from Outlook in.

Example of the user notification experience

Read more about how we’re improving the experience between Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Edge with this feature in: Web links from Outlook and Teams open in Microsoft Edge in side-by-side view – Outlook | Microsoft Learn.

Updated December 23, 2024: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

Coming soon: A control that allows users to control if web search queries are sent to Microsoft Bing when using Microsoft Copilot.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out mid-January 2025 (previously mid-December) and expect to complete by late February 2025 (previously late January).

[How this will affect your organization:]

Users can disable or enable web searches with the new control, which is accessible from the three-dot overflow menu:

If the user disables web search, they will be notified that Copilot responses won’t include the latest date from the web:

If an admin has disabled web search in Copilot using either optional connected experiences or the new Allow web search in Copilot policy (available November 2024 as communicated October 2024 in MC910984 Manage web searches in Copilot separately from optional connected experiences with new policy) in the Microsoft 365 admin center, the user control will remain disabled after this rollout and users will not be able to enable web search using the control.

If web search is not disabled by the admin, users can use the control in the three-dot menu to enable or disable web search as desired.

This change is on by default and available to users.

[What you need to do to prepare:]

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before or after the rollout. Review your current configuration to determine the impact for your organization. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.

Learn more about controlling web search queries in Copilot: Data, privacy, and security for web queries in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft Learn