Microsoft Office 365 News 04-23-2020: Word for the Web Review Mode, Teams Updates and More

In Microsoft Office 365 news this week, Word for the web gets a new review mode to avoid unintentional edits, Teams gets video layout updates to allow users to see more meeting attendees simultaneously, and more.

New Features

• • Word for the web review mode
    • What’s happening: Users will soon have the option to share Word for the web documents in Review mode, which avoids unintentional edits by only allowing viewers to leave tracked changes or comments.

• • Rich-text editor (RTE) for SharePoint
    • What’s happening: Microsoft will soon implement a new RTE for editing multi-line text fields in a SharePoint list or library.

• • More participants viewable in Teams meetings
    • What’s happening: Microsoft is updating the video layout in Teams meetings so that the number of attendees visible simultaneously will increase from four to nine. The supplier plans to continue working to increase this number further.
    • Rollout start: Late April 2020
    • Rollout finish: Early May 2020

Updated Features

• • Command Bar changes for Power Automate
    • What’s happening: Microsoft is rolling out changes to the Command Bar in OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online in order to group automation features together. The supplier is also changing the branding to reflect the renaming of Flow to Power Automate.
    • Rollout finish: End of April 2020

• • Update to Yammer Conversations web part for SharePoint
    • What’s happening: Microsoft is changing the Yammer Conversations web part for SharePoint to reflect a new Yammer experience. Any SharePoint pages leveraging the current Yammer Conversations web part will switch to showing the improved experience.

• • Office 365 ProPlus updates available
    • What’s happening: Microsoft has issued updates to the Office 365 ProPlus Monthly Channel, Semi-Annual Channel and Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted).

• • Outlook for iOS and Android updates
    • What’s happening: Microsoft is implementing updates to separate work and personal experiences in Outlook for iOS and Android. The supplier is also enacting support for S/MIME with automated certificate delivery for Outlook for Android.

Announcements

• • OneDrive for Business Activity column retirement
    • What’s happening: Microsoft will soon get rid of the Activity column in OneDrive and Share Libraries, after concluding that the feature doesn’t deliver the intended value.

• • Changes to provisioning experience for new environments
    • What’s happening: Currently, there are two options for provisioning new environments: the Dynamics 365 admin center and the Power Platform admin center. Because of the confusion caused by two entry points, Microsoft is working toward a single provisioning point via the Power Platform admin center.

• • Various Teams meeting and chat UX improvements
    • What’s happening: Microsoft has announced various updates to improve the user experience in Teams, including the following:
      • The ability to download a participant report in meetings (rollout date: Early May 2020)
      • Audio sharing from the presenter’s device during live events (rollout date: End of April 2020)
      • Screen sharing from chat (rollout date: Early May 2020)

• • Extended rollout timeline for OneDrive Sync Version History
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced the rollout of the ability to use the Mac Finder or File Explorer to view and restore previous versions of files directly in the desktop. The implementation timeline has been updated to deliver the best possible experience.
    • Rollout finish: Mid-May 2020 (previously April 2020)

• • Extended rollout timeline for Microsoft Teams Tags
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced the rollout of tags in Teams to allow for more targeted communication. In order to ensure the best possible experience, the supplier has adjusted the rollout timeline.
    • Rollout finish: End of June 2020 (previously March 2020)

• • Extended rollout timeline for Secure by Default
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced the implementation of a phase in Secure by Default impacting domains that fail authentication, even though they’re implicitly permitted via anti-spam policy. The supplier has updated the rollout timeline to ensure the best experience.
    • Rollout finish: Mid-May 2020 (previously April 2020)

• • Unlimited Teams Priority Notifications availability extended
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously indicated that unlimited Priority Notifications in Teams would be available through April 1, 2020. The supplier has extended that availability to July 1, 2020. After that, licensed users can send Priority Notifications in line with their subscription terms.

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