Microsoft 365 updates on new Copilot capabilities

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Microsoft has announced a set of upcoming enhancements that continue to expand the value of Copilot across Microsoft 365. These updates introduce new ways for users to manage collaboration and meeting experiences with less context switching and more control. As always, timelines may shift as development progresses. I have provided the official reference IDs and documentation links for your convenience. Schedule meetings directly from Copilot Chat The first update introduces a new capability that allows users to schedule meetings directly from Copilot chat. This feature reached general availability worldwide with rollout completed by late January 2026. It enables users to find available times, book rooms, draft agendas, and send invitations entirely within the chat experience, reducing the need to move between applications and helping streamline everyday workflow. The feature is on by default, requires no administrator configuration, and respects all existing calendar and meeting polici...

Microsoft has started to disable Basic Authentication (affecting Teams and Exchange Online)

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 Microsoft is serious about removing the Basic Authentication protocols from their services. The change was announced back in 2019, but has been delayed a couple of times. Earlier this fall Microsoft announced there would be on further delays, and that preparations for the change should be made.

Earlier this week I was notified about the coming change to my tenant through the Admin Message Center. 14 days from now, basic authentication will no longer be available to me: 

"14 days from today we're going to turn off Basic Authentication for POP3, IMAP4, Remote PowerShell, Exchange Web Services, Offline Address Book, MAPI, RPC and Exchange ActiveSync protocol in your tenant, and will also disable SMTP AUTH completely. Note: Based on our telemetry, no users in your tenant are currently using Basic Authentication with those protocols and so we expect there to be no impact to you."

This coming change can have a major impact on many organizations. As a consultant I am engaged in multiple companies facing the challenge of preparing for this change. It might seem trivial, but most organization have over time implemented many services that are using basic authentication without being aware of them. The best way of preparing for this is by starting to go through your sign-in logs in Azure AD and identify any user who use basic Authentication. Some of the things I have noticed are using basic authentication are: Many services reading calendar information (like switchboard integrations), printer services, old mobile devices (often up to date, but wrong configuration), Microsoft Teams Rooms not set up for modern authentication, 3rd party and self developed applications.

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