Two new updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot for Word: Smarter Creation and Researcher agent

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What’s New in Microsoft 365 Copilot for Word Microsoft continues to evolve its Copilot capabilities in Word, bringing powerful new features that enhance productivity and streamline workflows. Two newly announced updates are rolling out this fall: First out of the gate is the integration of the Researcher Agent, allowing great content generation within Word itself. The second update is bringing more of the search and creation capabilities we have in Chat directly into Word. These updates represent a meaningful step toward closing the functionality gap between Copilot in Word and Copilot Chat. For me, this is a most welcomed improvement, making it easier for end users to get the results they want even faster, with less friction and more flexibility. Deep Research with the New Researcher Agent in Word Not too long ago, Microsoft introduced the Researcher agent in Copilot Chat, but moving and editing that content required copy/paste and jumping between applications. With this coming update...

Reminders "finally" back in the new Outlook, and the Microsoft 365 homepage is getting two new additions

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The new Outlook for Windows has been using Windows notifications to alert users of upcoming meetings. Looking at how those notifications work, I think many would agree with me when I say they have not been as good as the Outlook notifications used to be. One thing I really missed in the Windows notifications, was the capability to set the snooze timer. But that is now history, the preview client has just released in app notifications. The "new" notification works much in the same way as the original Outlook notifications.

The Microsoft 365 homepage is getting two new additions. It can be hard to keep track of all your planner and todo tasks as you need to get into these specific applications to get an overview. But Rolling out this fall is an integration of these application into the 365 homepage. At least the planner plans and ToDo lists you are a part of will be visible, and much easier to access. This is related to Roadmap item 149272. The first roll-outs will be in September, but it could take until November for the feature to reach everyone.

The other new addition is not specific to the Microsoft 365 homepage, but rather an integration of PowerBI into Graph. Unless this feature is turned off (It will be on by default), certain information about PowerBI reports shared with a user, will show up in multiple Microsoft 365 services. The homepage is one of these services, where a user can locate and access a report he/she has access to. Read more about the sharing capability, and how to manage it here. This new capability will be rolling out in July and August