Windows News
The latest Windows News coverage — news, analysis, and updates from the WindowsNews.AI desk.
VLCM read-only deadline July 24: A Windows admin’s step-by-step guide to securing media and keys
Microsoft has confirmed that its Volume Licensing Contract Management (VLCM) portal will become read-only for customers on non-Enterprise Agreement programs starting July 24, 2026. The change, which...
Microsoft 365 Copilot Surpasses 20 Million Paid Seats — What That Milestone Means for Windows Users
Microsoft 365 Copilot has crossed 20 million paid seats, the company confirmed during its fiscal Q3 2026 earnings call on April 29, marking a sharp acceleration in enterprise AI adoption. Google’s...
Microsoft’s 26H2 Experiment Adds Cloud Rebuild, But Your Recovery Key Is the Real Lifeline
Microsoft delivered an experimental Windows 11 26H2 build on July 6, 2026, packing a new Cloud rebuild option directly into the Windows Recovery Environment. It is a powerful escape hatch that can...
Windows 10 Office Users Face Feature Freeze by August 2026: Critical Dates and Actions
Microsoft 365 applications on Windows 10 will stop receiving new features, Copilot enhancements, and collaboration improvements starting in August 2026, though security patches will continue through...
Azure Batch’s Windows Server 2016 End Date Is January 12, 2027—GPU Pools Get an Even Tighter Clock
Microsoft has drawn a line under Windows Server 2016 in Azure Batch: every pool relying on the aging operating system must be replaced by January 12, 2027, the date extended support ends. But for...
Microsoft’s 45% Copilot Price Hike Heads to Court: What Your Subscription Renewal Won’t Tell You
Microsoft is gearing up for a landmark court battle in Australia over the way it introduced a steep price increase to millions of Microsoft 365 subscribers—and the alternative plan it kept out of...
NVIDIA's Earth-2 and DeepMind's GraphCast: The AI Weather Models That Could Change Your Windows Workloads
On July 15, an AOL analysis confirmed what many in the AI industry have been whispering: "world models" are no longer just a research curiosity. With NVIDIA's Earth-2 simulating local weather...
Microsoft 365 Copilot Now Offers a 30-Day Deferred Update Window — Here’s How to Use It Without Slowing Everything Down
Microsoft has quietly rolled out a new, audience-based release model for Microsoft 365 Copilot that gives administrators a 30-day buffer to prepare for major updates — but only if they use it with...
Microsoft Teams Forces External Meeting Bots to Seek Your Permission Before Joining
Microsoft has closed a long-standing blind spot in Teams meetings. The company is rolling out new admin controls that require manual approval for any external AI bot attempting to join a video...
Microsoft Teams Now Flags Unusual External Contacts—Here’s How to Use the Report
Microsoft has quietly added a behavioral report to the Teams admin center that promises to help IT staff spot when an outside domain suddenly starts reaching out to too many people inside the...
Microsoft to Retire Exchange Online EWS: Start Hunting for Your Hidden Dependencies Now
Microsoft has begun phasing out Exchange Web Services (EWS) in Exchange Online, and the clock is ticking for thousands of organizations that still rely on the legacy protocol to keep critical...
Windows App SDK 2.3.1 Lands with AI Video Upscaling, Smarter App Storage – What You Need to Know
Microsoft shipped Windows App SDK 2.3.1 on July 16, 2026, a stable update that bundles two consequential features first introduced in the June 2.2 release: real-time AI video upscaling and a...