Since February 14, 2023, Extended Security Updates (ESU) are available for Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 environments on Azure. Organizations that need additional time to upgrade and modernize their Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 environments on Azure can obtain an additional year
Effective April 1, 2023, prices for Azure services in Euro increase by 11 percent to more closely align to Azure pricing in US dollars. Even after this adjustment, customers buying in Euro will continue to find Azure offerings highly competitive. Microsoft periodically assesses its
Effective January 24, 2023, Microsoft Indirect Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers can manage their billing account directly in the Azure Management Portal, and effective February 20, 2023, comparable features are no longer available in the Azure Enterprise Portal. For the announcement article with links to
In 2023, a list of Microsoft products will retire according to a schedule. Upon retirement, there will be no new security updates, non-security updates, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates. The retiring products, governed by the Modern Policy, in
Effective December 1, 2022, Microsoft Azure DevOps Server 2022 is available. Azure DevOps supports collaborative features and set of processes that bring together developers, project managers, and contributors to develop software. You can work in the cloud using Azure DevOps Services or on-premises using
Effective October 12, 2022, Microsoft Azure Savings Plan for Compute is available. Microsoft Azure Savings Plan for Compute enables customers to take advantage of better pricing across a range of Azure compute services by committing to spend a fixed hourly amount for one or
Effective October 12, 2022, Microsoft Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB) is available for Azure Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) and Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS). AHB for Azure Stack HCI is a new benefit for customers with Windows Server Datacenter licenses with Software Assurance (SA) purchased through
Effective May 31, 2022, Microsoft Azure Cost Management and Billing became Microsoft Cost Management. Microsoft Cost Management is an Azure tool that lets you monitor, allocate, and optimize cloud costs with transparency, accuracy, and efficiency. Microsoft Cost Management continues to focus on transparency and
Microsoft Purview: the new combination of Microsoft 365 Compliance and Azure Purview Effective April 19, 2022, Microsoft Purview replaces product names of formerly Microsoft 365 Compliance and Azure Purview. This change was made to consolidate data governance, compliance, and risk management capabilities under a
Effective August 7, 2025, Microsoft has started rolling out GPT-5, the latest generative AI model from OpenAI, in Microsoft Copilot Chat. This update introduces new capabilities for users with and without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, including enhanced reasoning, faster responses, and improved access to work-related data. What is
Organizations in government, defense, and regulated industries often face a difficult trade-off: modern cloud capabilities vs. full control over data. That is why, on August 5, 2025, Microsoft has introduced the Sovereign Private Cloud, an integrated solution combining Azure Local and Microsoft 365 Local. With Microsoft Sovereign Private Cloud, you
Effective August 1, 2025, Microsoft 365 Unattended Licenses are now a prerequisite for Windows 365 Enterprise. This update aims to unblock automation scenarios and achieve parity with Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). What Changed? Since August 1, 2025: If you use Windows 365 Enterprise for unattended or bot-driven processes, you