Key points:

• Timing: Related content retirement – December 20, 2021
• Action: review and assess impact for your organization. Customers should use the new Yammer.

How this affects your organization:

If you are using Classic Yammer instead of the new Yammer, there is a section titled Related content that is seen when opening a file stored in a community.

• The Related content section shows other documents that are attached to the same file you are viewing.

Note: After December 20, you will no longer be able to see these related files in communities when using Classic Yammer.

What you need to do to prepare:

If users in your organization are actively using the classic Yammer App, we recommend you use the new Yammer experience beginning today in your organization.

View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

On January 3rd 2022, to provide the best-in-class encryption to our customers, we will begin retiring Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions 1.0 and 1.1 and begin obligating TLS1.2 usage for the Direct Routing SIP interface.

• The move to TLS 1.2 is to ensure that our service is secure by default and in alignment with the rest of Microsoft 365 services as previously communicated (MC126199 in Dec 2017, MC128929 in Feb 2018, MC186827 in July 2019, MC218794 in July 2020, MC240160 in February 2021, and MC292797 in October 2021).

You are receiving this message because our reporting indicates that your organization is still connecting using SMTP Auth client submission via smtp.office365.com with TLS1.0 or TLS1.1 to connect to Exchange Online.

Note: If your organization has already taken steps to migrate from TLS 1.0 and 1.1, you can safely disregard this message.

How this will affect your organization:

To provide the best-in-class encryption to our customers, we will be retiring Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions 1.0 and 1.1 beginning January 3rd 2022 and will begin forcing TLS1.2 usage for the Direct Routing SIP interface.

• To avoid any service impact, please make sure that your SBCs are configured to support TLS 1.2 and are able to connect using one of the following cipher suites:
  • TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 i.e. ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384
  • TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 i.e. ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
  • TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384 i.e. ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384
  • TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256 i.e. ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256

What you need to do to prepare:

For information on how to get ready for the enforcement of TLS 1.2, please visit: Enforce TLS 1.2 for the RMS Connector

Learn more:

• Disabling TLS 1.0 and 1.1 for Microsoft 365

View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

When this will happen:

• November 8, 2021 we will disable Security Policy Advisor for tenants who have not previously deployed a policy with Security Policy Advisor.
• After January 17, 2022 we will begin automatically migrating existing customer polices from Security Policy Advisor to the Office cloud policy service. After we complete the migration, Security Policy Advisor will no longer be available to any tenants.

How this affects your organization:

As of November 8, 2021, Security Policy Advisor in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center is no longer available to accept new tenants to manage Office cloud security policies. Security Policy Advisor will be disabled for all tenants who have not previously deployed a policy with Security Policy Advisor. Existing tenants with policies deployed with Security Policy Advisor will be unaffected at this time, but we encourage existing tenants to migrate their security polices to the Office cloud policy service to avoid any disruption in policy management. For information on how to migrate your security policies, read this article.

Starting after January 17, 2022, we’ll begin automatically migrating any remaining customer polices from Security Policy Advisor to the Office cloud policy service. After we complete the migration, Security Policy Advisor will no longer be available to any tenants.

What you can do to prepare:

We recommend that customers migrate their existing cloud security policies from Security Policy Advisor to the Office cloud policy service at their earliest convenience to avoid any disruption in policy management. If you don’t migrate your own polices, we’ll automatically migrate your policies for you during the specified January migration window. We anticipate no interruption in security policies applied to your users.

Please Click Additional Information to learn more.

Additional Information
View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

• Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will be supported until January 10, 2023.
• Windows 8 reached end of support on January 12, 2016.

If you are not using the OneDrive sync app on any of these operating systems, you can safely ignore this message.

Key points:

• Timing: We will begin rollout on January 1, 2022 and expect to complete by mid-January.
• Action: review and update impacted machines as appropriate.

How this affects your organization:

If you are running the OneDrive sync app on:

• Windows 8.1, you will no longer receive feature updates but will receive security fixes until January 10, 2023.
• Windows 7 and participate in the Extended Security Update (ESU) program, you will continue to receive critical and important security updates (as defined by the Microsoft Security Response Center) until January 10, 2023.
• Windows 8, you will no longer receive updates or fixes as Windows 8 is no longer supported.

Note: Extended Security Updates do not include new features, customer-requested non-security updates, or design change requests.

What you need to do to prepare:

To ensure a smooth transition we recommend that you upgrade machines appropriately. Machines running on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 should be upgraded to Windows 10 or Windows 11 for the best experience.

View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

	Aligning OneDrive sync on Windows support with Windows OS lifecycle policy
	Act by: December 31
	MC296615 | November 5 – Beginning January 1, 2022, we will be aligning the OneDrive Desktop application (sync app) support lifecycle with the Windows support lifecycle. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will be supported until January 10, 2023.Windows 8 reached end of support on January 12, 2016.If you are not using the OneDrive sync app on any of these operating systems, you can safely ignore this message.
	View more
	(Updated) Power BI app for Microsoft Teams automatic installation and availability for government customers
	MC288054 | November 4 – Updated November 04, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.Users will soon find it easier to find and share reports in Teams and they’ll be able to receive notifications when content is shared to them. Messaging extension will support search, link unfurling, and inserting cards into messages. Two changes are planned: Power BI will be automatically installed for users in your organization when they use the Power BI service in a web browser and have a…
	View more
	Chat with users with Teams personal accounts
	MC296208 | November 3 – Chat with Teams will extend collaboration support by enabling Teams users to chat with team members outside their work network with a Teams personal account. Customers will be able to invite any Teams user to chat using an email address or phone number, and remain within the security and compliance policies of their organization.Will rollout on web, desktop and mobile.
	View more
	Upcoming API Retirements in Exchange Web Services for Exchange Online
	Act by: March 31
	MC296195 | November 3 – Today we are announcing the deprecation of the 25 least used APIs of EWS for Exchange Online (as determined by the call volume into the service).We are retiring these APIs to begin the process of reducing the surface area of the EWS protocol for maintenance and security purposes. After the retirement, support will end for these APIs.In the coming months we will send Message Center posts to tenants we can see are using these low volume, and now deprecated APIs.We will also remove the ability to…
	View more
	Office.com updates
	MC295863 | November 2 – We’re updating the Office.com and Office app for Windows experiences. These updates make it even easier to find all the content associated with you, access your apps and templates in one place, take action quickly, and understand what work needs your attention. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 85662
	View more
	Content type sync enhancements
	MC295852 | November 2 – In July, we announced (MC271079) the rollout of a new sync mechanism for Syntex and SharePoint content types and the subsequent phasing out of the old mechanism. This new mechanism is now fully released to all customers.
	View more
	Classic EAC retirement: Mail flow features
	MC295841 | November 2 – As a follow-up to the classic Exchange admin center (EAC) retirement announcement (MC283874 – Sept), we want to let Exchange Online customers know that we will be retiring the mail flow features from the classic EAC beginning in early December 2021.You are receiving this message because our reporting indicates one or more users in your organization are using the classic EAC.Mail flow features that we are retiring from the classic EAC include:Message TraceRemote domainsAccepted domainsConnectors
	View more
	Service Communications API retirement
	MC295521 | November 1 – As previously announced in (MC275573 – Aug), the legacy version of the Service Communications API will be retired on December 17th, 2021. The new service communications API in Microsoft Graph replaces the legacy version of the API and provides access to Message center and Service health posts for your tenant.When this will happen: The new API is now broadly available and the legacy version of the Service Communications API will be retired on December 17th 2021.
	View more

Additional updates

	(Updated) Refreshed Microsoft Whiteboard client experience coming soon
	MC279627 | November 5 – Updated November 05, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.Microsoft Whiteboard is being updated to provide a new, unified experience across all devices, whether you’re on a large screen or a mobile phone. We’ve already shipped new, highly requested features to our web app, Android app and Teams clients, and there’s more on the way. As part of this new experience, we will also be updating our native applications on Windows 10, Surface Hub and iOS to…
	View more
	Announcing continuous compliance assessments in the Microsoft 365 compliance center
	MC296437 | November 4 – We’re enhancing Compliance Manager’s automated testing and evidence generation functionality, and enabling additional improvement actions and solutions for automated testing. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 72222.
	View more
	(Updated) Real-time messaging protocol (RTMP) Streaming Support to Custom Endpoints
	MC268726 | November 4 – Updated November 04, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience. Microsoft Teams will support the ability for your users to stream their Teams meetings and webinars to large audiences through real-time messaging protocol (RTMP) including endpoints outside your organization.This feature will rollout on desktop and Mac. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 83562.
	View more
	(Updated) Updated timing changes: Whiteboard on OneDrive for Business
	MC282992 | November 4 – Updated November 04, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.Update: We want to inform you that the timing has shifted for the Microsoft Whiteboard move to OneDrive for Business storage which will integrate seamlessly across the suite, so you can create, share, discover, and manage whiteboards as easily as any Office document.Previously (April – MC253185), the opt-in period was set to complete in September and setting to default-on would complete in…
	View more
	(Updated) Dynamic e911 for US WFH users
	MC280290 | November 4 – Updated November 04, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.Dynamic e911 provides the ability to dynamically detect a Teams user’s location for emergency calling. Today, e911 is available for users in admin configured locations on enterprise networks only. With this new feature, we will extend the capability to users working remotely from other dynamic locations.This is rolling out on Teams desktop, web and mobile.Note: The release of this feature supports…
	View more
	Multi-language Teams meeting invite control
	MC296205 | November 3 – Multi-language Teams meeting invite control enables administrators to configure the join information languages in meeting invitations. Controlled by a new policy parameter, this feature allows the administrator to set up to two languages to replace the user preferred language when creating new Teams meeting invitations across all email platforms. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 81521.
	View more
	Expanded reactions in Microsoft Teams
	MC296204 | November 3 – This update will expand available reactions by allowing users to apply any emoji as a reaction to chat messages. Users will be able to pick from >800 Teams emojis to express themselves the way they want.This will be available for Teams desktop apps (Windows and Mac), Teams mobile (Android and iOS), and Teams on the web. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 88080.
	View more
	Q&A in Teams, now in Public Preview
	MC296194 | November 3 – The Q&A app for Teams meetings and webinars is now available for public preview. By including Q&A in any Teams Meeting or Webinar, event organizers add the ability for attendees to have a focused, structured conversation where they can ask questions and engage in the discussion with the rich social Q&A features that they know and love. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 84027.
	View more
	(Updated) Planner tasks storage location update
	MC289682 | November 3 – Updated November 03, 2021: We apologize for any confusion the last update may have caused. We are proceeding with this rollout and the rollout timeline has been updated below.We are pleased to roll this out after the delay (MC229058 – May ’21). Starting in mid-October 2021, a copy of some Planner tasks will be stored in a user’s Exchange mailbox. All Planner tasks will continue to be stored in the Planner Service.
	View more
	Scheduler Recurring Meetings
	MC295855 | November 2 – Ask your virtual assistant to schedule dynamic recurring meetings using natural language. Right within Outlook, customers will be able to email their virtual assistant and request to schedule meetings at a frequency of their choosing. Scheduler’s dynamic recurring meetings are meant to work around the user’s busy schedule. Traditional recurring meetings in Outlook have fixed schedules that occur at the same time. Recurring meetings scheduled by Scheduler behave differently. To keep your future…
	View more
	In Development for Microsoft Intune is now available
	MC295850 | November 2 – The In development for Microsoft Intunepage in our documentation has been updated. Additionally, as part of Microsoft Ignite, several new features are being announced as in development or public preview, see this recap for a summary or read more at the links below.How does this affect me?The In development page provides a list of features in upcoming releases of Microsoft Intune to assist in your readiness and planning. The list has now been updated. You’ll start seeing these changes in the…
	View more
	Compliance Manager: New assessment templates for Azure and Dynamics 365 (preview) plus Zero Trust controls (GA)
	MC295821 | November 2 – As announced at Ignite, we’re introducing new assessment templates and controls to help you extend compliance beyond Microsoft 365 and better meet compliance requirements with a Zero Trust approach.
	View more
	(Updated) Power Apps can now display images from Microsoft Lists
	MC257468 | November 2 – Updated November 02, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience. Power Apps image controls can now display images that are stored in image columns in Microsoft Lists. Images can be displayed in four sizes: small, medium, large, or full.This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 81986
	View more
	(Updated) Sharing Links for Microsoft Lists is now available!
	MC256837 | November 2 – Updated November 02, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience. This release will allow users to now share Microsoft Lists using the same sharing links that they have been using for files and folders. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 81965
	View more
	(Updated) Azure B2B Integration with SharePoint Online is now Generally Available
	MC256838 | November 2 – Updated November 02, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience. Azure B2B Integration with SharePoint Online and OneDrive is now generally available.This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 81955
	View more
	(Updated) Private drafts for SharePoint pages and news
	MC291100 | November 2 – Updated November 02, 2021: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.This new feature will provide users the ability to create private drafts for pages and news posts. A private draft will be visible to only the page author, the people the author chooses to share it with, and site admins. Users will be able to create and edit content that’s not ready for others to see except the people with whom users want to collaborate. This message is associated with Microsoft…
	View more

To view all announcements, sign in to Microsoft 365 admin center

Will rollout on web, desktop and mobile.

Key Points:

• Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 88381
• Timing: begin roll out in early December and expect to complete in mid-December
• Control: Admin control via PowerShell and Teams admin center
• Action: Review and assess for your organization.

How this will affect your organization:

With this update Teams users in your organization will be able to start a 1:1 or a group chat with Teams users who are using their personal accounts and vice-versa. IT Admins will have the option to enable/disable this at a tenant and individual user level with two possible controls:

1. Control to enable or disable the entire functionality. If disabled neither users in your organization and users in their personal accounts will be able to chat with each other.
2. Control to define if Teams users with a personal account can start a chat or add users from your organization to a chat. If disabled, only users in your organization will be able to start a chat or add users with their personal accounts.

Note: Settings will rollout default on.

What you need to do to prepare:

If you would like to opt-out from this functionality you would be able to do so via the Teams admin portal under the External Access section. Optionally you could use PowerShell commands to opt-out all users or individual users from this functionality.

Settings to update:

Tenant level: CsTenantFederationConfiguration

• AllowTeamsConsumer
• AllowTeamsConsumerInbound

User level: CsExternalAccessPolicy

• EnableTeamsConsumerAccess
• EnableTeamsConsumerInbound

View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

We are retiring these APIs to begin the process of reducing the surface area of the EWS protocol for maintenance and security purposes. After the retirement, support will end for these APIs.

In the coming months we will send Message Center posts to tenants we can see are using these low volume, and now deprecated APIs.

We will also remove the ability to register new apps in Azure with EWS permissions starting September 30, 2022. Apps registered before this date, any API not mentioned in this, or subsequent announcements, will not be impacted.

Over the last few years, we have invested heavily in Microsoft Graph to enable developers to access the rich data available in Microsoft 365. Microsoft Graph, along with OAuth 2.0, provides increased security and seamless integration with other Microsoft cloud services.

Key points

• Timing: Late March, 2022
• Action: We strongly urge you and our ecosystem partners that access Exchange Online data to migrate to Microsoft Graph APIs.

How this will affect your organization:

We will introduce sunset headers in the response for these APIs that are marked for retirement. As per our retirement policy, we will decommission these APIs by March 31, 2022.

Note: This set of retirement is the first in a series of steps we will take as we sunset EWS for Exchange Online. Over time, we will identify additional APIs for deprecation when and where we see adequate parity with Microsoft Graph APIs.

The list of APIs that will be retired is available here.

Learn more:

• Upcoming API Retirements in Exchange Web Services for Exchange Online

View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

When this will happen:

The new API is now broadly available and the legacy version of the Service Communications API will be retired on December 17th 2021.

How this will affect your organization:

Any users, applications or tools using the legacy Service Communications API endpoint via https://manage.office.com will no longer be able to pull service health or message center communications when this change goes into effect on December 17th 2021.

What you need to do to prepare:

Instead of using the legacy Service Communications API, we recommend using the new Service Health and Communications Graph API.

Please click Additional Information to learn more about the new Service Health and Communications Graph API.

Additional Information
View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

• Microsoft 365 Lists content is personalized to the individual user>

Note: The new Microsoft 365 Lists entry point cannot be disabled or customized.

Key points:

• Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 85641.
• Timing:
  • Targeted release: will begin rolling out in late November and is expected to be complete in early December.
  • Standard: will begin rolling out in early January and is expect to be complete in mid-January 2022.

• Roll-out: tenant level
• Action: Action: review and assess

How this will affect your organization:

This new feature will allow users to be able to easily access and view Microsoft 365 Lists from the SharePoint app bar that have been followed and viewed often. In the Lists panel, users will be able to select the label to navigate to the Microsoft 365 Lists app. Additionally, users will be able to select the breadcrumb where they’ll navigate to the SharePoint site where the List is located.

• Lists that belong to an individual person and have not been shared with others will not be accessible.

What you need to do to prepare: You do not need to do anything to prepare. M365 Lists cannot be disabled or customized. If you have not already enabled and customized global navigation in the SharePoint app bar, it’s highly recommended that you do to take advantage of the best navigational experience for end users.

Learn more:

• Use the new SharePoint app bar and set up global navigation
• Microsoft Lists help & learning

View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

Note: Effective November 1, 2021, the following versions of Outlook for Windows (starting with Outlook 2007, in a phased rollout), will not be able to connect with Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services.

• Additional Apps and Versions have been added since last communication.

Key Points:

• Major: Retirement
• Timing: November 1, 2021
• Action: Ensure Outlook for Windows client are updated accordingly

How this will affect your organization:

Versions that are newer than minimum version requirements listed above, but are not the currently supported version, may experience connectivity issues.

To see a list of the currently supported versions, visit Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps (listed by date) (for Microsoft 365 Apps) or Latest updates for versions of Office that use Windows Installer (MSI) (see “Latest Public Update” for Office 2013 and 2016).

Supported versions of Outlook for Windows in Office and Microsoft 365 will continue to connect to Microsoft 365 services as expected.

What you need to do to prepare:

We recommend that all users upgrade to the supported versions of Office and Microsoft 365 Apps.

View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center