Its taken a while to get WordPress to complete the blog update to the latest version but we are now back on line.
Power Apps April release wave 1 2022 for Model-driven apps
March 12th, 2022 by Stephen Jones No comments »The Power Apps April release wave 1 for Model-driven apps is now available for you to take advantage of. In this release wave you can take advantage of cohesive and modern experiences while collaborating with team members in Power Apps.
Collaboration with colleagues and task productivity is more important than ever before for business users. These are two main focuses of the Wave 1 release, and we have several features you can opt into in order to streamline productivity.
Task productivity updates include:
- Modern Power Apps grid and view pages have been enhanced and will be auto enabled during this wave
Opt-In Updates:
- Modern Advanced Find allows users to access any table and use advanced filters to explore data
- Users can be alerted to key items to address, which makes them more likely to be successful leveraging In App Notifications
Collaboration opt-in updates include:
- See colleagues who are currently working on the record and easily start chats with them
- See on-line status of colleagues in-app and easily start chats with them via improved people card
- Easily share links to records with colleagues
Task Productivity
Power Apps grid
Model-driven apps are first to feature the new Power Apps grid, a new read-only grid control, both inside the view page and inside forms (sub-grids). The new grid control follows Microsoft Accessibility Standard and will be auto enabled as part of this wave release.
In addition to improved performance, the new control supports:
- Remembering grid view settings across the session
- Ability to resize columns
- Ability to reorder columns (via column options UI)
The grid view page in Model-driven apps now features column options settings that let app users customize which columns are shown in the grid. Additional text make sit easy for your end users to discover this capability.
With this feature, users can:
- Add new columns, from current or related tables.
- Remove columns.
- Change the order of columns in the grid
When the grid is auto enabled with this release, the classic jump bar experience is disabled by default, but can be enabled. Infinite scrolling will be an option in future waves. To opt out of the new Power Apps read-only grid control, the Power Platform Admin Center to toggle the “Enable the modern-read only grid experience” switch under the “Grids and views” section.
Modern Advanced Find
With modern advanced find, you can access any table in a model-driven app through search and use advanced filters to explore the data easily. The new view management experience will provide you with options to share views so you can collaborate with your team easily. Managing views is simpler with personalization options to build your own set of views.
In App Notifications are Generally Available starting in April 2022
The in-app notification feature that was announced for public preview July 2021 with Model-driven app adds in-app notifications will reach general availability in April 2022. A maker can opt-in to this feature using the modern app designer preview. Open the settings > Upcoming features and then enable “In-app notifications”.
Multiplayer App Collaboration
Co-presence in records and Owner field online presence
Now you can see who’s currently working on a record including their online status. You can also start a chat or send them an email and take collaboration to the next level. This feature is currently available on the Account, Case, Opportunity, and Contact tables.
Avatar and on-line availability of colleagues is immediately obvious in the UI with the new persona card shown in the form owner field, lookups and grids. Click on the avatar to expose the improved contact card to start a chat or email.
Easy record sharing
Share records as easy as Office documents. Use the new share button to email a link or copy the link and share it with someone else. A link to the record can only be shared with users who have permissions to access the record currently, but we are working on expanding this in the future.
Get started today by opting your environment into the 2022 April Release Wave 1, learn how ( https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/opt-in-early-access-updates ).
Attackers compromising Microsoft Teams
February 19th, 2022 by Stephen Jones No comments »Security researchers at Avanan, a cyber security company warns that attackers are compromising Microsoft Teams accounts to slip into chats and to spread malicious programs to participants in the conversation.
Since January, hackers have accessed compromised accounts and shared executable files titled ‘User Centric’.
The file is a Trojan malware that can eventually take control of a user’s computer should a user click on it. The virus is usually hidden as an attachment in an email or a free-to-download file, then transfers onto the user’s device
Most users trust Microsoft Teams implicitly. However, Microsoft Teams is used both by professionals working from home for sharing files, or with invited external users, so users may click on files attachments with less regard to question the authenticity.
Microsoft Teams surpassed 270 million monthly active users last month. The number of daily active users of Microsoft Teams have almost doubled the past year, increasing from 75 million users in April 2020 to 145 million as of the second quarter of 2021.
When working outside your secure corporate network on your own device you still need an antivirus program that scans and inspects files for malicious content.
Sr its an email or inside Microsoft Teams if are get sent a file, then before clicking on it make sure you carefully read the name of the file and file extension , and the details of who sent it . Contact your workplace’s IT department if you receive any strange files.
If you need to improv your security then ask Synergy Software Systems about Microsoft Defender and other tools like Kasperksy. Data security and data privacy is of increasing concern , and compliance with legislation is increasingly import for example for data privacy.
With Microsoft Defender for Oce 365 you are also protected within SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams. ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams helps detect and block existing files that are identified as malicious in team sites and document libraries by locking them and preventing users from accessing such files.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security/business/threat-protection/office-365-defender
call: 0097143365589
New Commerce experience – ask Synergy Software Systems
February 15th, 2022 by Stephen Jones No comments »Microsoft is making major changes in its approach to its licensing. The wide-reaching changes are coming in under the title of the new commerce experience.
While many organisations will be focused on how this will impact on their Microsoft 365 and Office 365 licensing, changes have the potential to impact the pricing of Dynamics 365 and Power Platform for organisations.
What Is The New Commerce Experience?
The new commerce experience is an attempt, Microsoft says, to simplify its many licensing models.
Subscription licensing for Microsoft products has now existed for over a decade. Over this time, both the supplier model and licensing structures have sprawled as more and more products have been brought in to the model. As such, the new commerce experience is said to offer “a consistent, simplified, and flexible purchase experience for customers and partners”.
The new commerce experience is already in place for Azure services. However, the application of this approach to wider licensing will come at an additional cost to some organisations
Changes To Partner Models
In terms of the provision of licensing, most organisations purchase licensing from organisations linked to the Cloud Solution Provider programme (CSP). But in fact, there are actually six partner licence supply models at present.
This will now be folded into just three retail models:
Breadth motion – Designed for the SME market, this will span the bulk of the current CSP model.
Enterprise motion – Large organisations will now be able to purchase licensing from a Microsoft account manager.
Self-service motion – For organisations wishing to purchase their own licences.
These changes will simplify the overly complex partner model, though some partners will now find their enterprise customers will now transact with Microsoft directly.
Customer Licensing Subscriptions
For customers, the new commerce experience will see the emergence of three subscription models:
Monthly subscription:
- Under this model, seats can be increased or decreased each month to meet the organisation’s needs.
- However, the flexibility of this model will carry a 20% price premium.
- Organisations would also not be protected from any future licence price rises.
12-month subscription:
Under this option, organisations commit to licences on a 12-month term.
Licences can’t be cancelled after the first 72 hours, and can only be terminated at the end of the 12 month term.
Licence numbers can be increased during the 12-month term (with pro-rata billing), but not decreased.
Organisations will not be exposed to price rises during their 12-month term.
36-month subscription:
This option commits customers to a 36-month term, with cancellation only available in the first 72 hours. Licences will be able to be reassigned, however.
Licence numbers can be increased on a pro-rata rate during the term, but not decreased.
Organisations will receive price protection from cost increases for the full 36-months.
Organisations will be able to mix and match licensing based on their requirements. However, the changes will mean that any organisation previously trying to operate on a flexible model will have to pay more for the benefit.
When Will The New Commerce Experience Come Into Effect?
Organisations can purchase licences from the new commerce experience now, but the new model will come into full effect from March 2022.
Any licencing purchased at or after this time is subject to the new model.
Any existing Microsoft licences will move over to the new model at their point of expiry. This is expected to be complete by February 2023.
In addition to the NCE, there will be a price increase that will take effect from 1st March 2022 for the following licences:
- Office 365 Business Basic – 20%
- Office 365 Business Premium – 10%
- Office 365 E1 – 25%
- Office 365 E3 – 15%
- Office 365 E5 – 8.5%
- Microsoft 365 E3 – 12.5%
Microsoft is offering a 5% discount for annual Microsoft 365 commitments. The annual discount will be available until the end of March 2022. Committing to your licences before the end of March 2022 will not only allow you to benefit from the discount, but also avoid the price increase.
To discuss your renewals or licensing options call us: 0097143365589
SQL Server 2012 end of life approaches
February 14th, 2022 by Stephen Jones No comments »Extended support ends July 22. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-sql-server-2012
Time to start planning your SQL Server 2017 and 2019 migrations, or to move to Azure, or to consider Extended Security updates.
Also consider migrating your erp or finance systems to the cloud or the latest on-premise release.
If your SQL server is an older version, then it is likely that you are also on an older versions of Windows server e.g. Windows 12 which is also nearing end of life and the options are similar to SQL 2012.
To discuss options call Synergy Software Systems 009714 3365589
U.A.E. to introduce Corporate Tax – 2023 -ask Synergy Software Systems
February 2nd, 2022 by Stephen Jones No comments »Background
The UAE has long positions itself as a place where foreign investors are welcome and where incomes are tax free. Low taxes and a friendly business environment helped to transform the 50-year-old nation.
The UAE faces steep competition from neighboring Saudi Arabia, which is working overtime to attract businesses and families to relocate to the kingdom
The UAE’s Finance Ministry said that it will aunch corporate tax in line with worldwide efforts to combat tax evasion and to meet issues posed by the global economy’s digitization,
The ministry also stated that the measure will prepare for the implementation of a worldwide minimum tax rate, which will apply a different corporate tax rate to large multinationals that meet certain conditions.
It was announced on Jan 31 that for the first time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will establish a federal corporate tax of 9% on profits on business profits on June 1, 2023,
- Businesses engaged in the extraction of natural resources will be exempt from the UAE CT as such businesses shall continue to be subject to Emirate level taxation
- The UAE CT shall be a Federal level corporate taxation. Thus, all UAE businesses, corporations and entities engaged in and licensed to undertaken commercial activities shall be subject to the UAE CT.
- Corporate tax will be payable on the profits of UAE businesses as reported in their financial statements prepared in accordance with internationally acceptable accounting standards “with minimal exceptions and adjustments”,
- The corporate tax will not apply to personal income from employment, real estate and other investments, nor to income earned from a business licensed outside the UAE.
Introduction of Transfer Pricing
Under the CT regime, UAE businesses will be required to comply with transfer pricing rules and documentation requirements as set out in the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines
Free Zone Businesses
Free zone businesses will be within the scope of UAE CT and required both to register and to file a CT return.
Those businesses will however continue to benefit from CT holidays / 0% taxation while they comply with all regulatory requirements and do not conduct business in mainland UAE.
Multinationals
The press release and FAQs indicate that there will be a different tax rate for large multinationals that meet the criteria under ‘Pillar Two’ of the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project (i.e. those that have consolidated global revenues above EUR 750m).
Tax basis
The Federal Tax Authority will be responsible for the administration, collection, and enforcement of CT.
Where a business is resident for CT purposes will be determined either based on the place of incorporation / registration (legal seat), or the place of effective management and control of the business.
To help small firms and entrepreneurs, the ministry further stated that the new system entails:
- a basic statutory tax rate of 9%,
- a 0% rate for taxable profits up to 375,000 dirhams, ( about $102,107.50 . )
CT will be payable on the accounting net profit reported in the financial statements of the business, with minimal exceptions and adjustments.
Tax losses incurred from the CT effective date can be carried forward to offset taxable income in future financial periods.
No UAE CT will apply to:
- Employment income, income from real estate, income from savings, investment returns and other income earned by individuals in their personal capacity that is not attributable to a UAE trade or business;
- Dividends, capital gains and other investment returns earned by foreign investors.
Exemption from UAE CT will be available for:
- Capital gains and dividends earned from qualifying shareholdings;
- Qualifying intra-group transactions and restructurings.
Domestic and cross border payments of interest, dividends, royalties and other payments will not attract a withholding tax in the UAE.
UAE CT will have to be filed electronically once for each financial period but without a requirement for advance UAE CT payments on the basis of provisional tax returns.
The tax scheme will allow UAE business groups to be taxed as a single entity or to apply for relief amid losses or restructuring. UAE group companies can form a tax group and file a single tax return for the entire group, and transfer tax losses to other members of the group.
Foreign tax credits will be available for taxation incurred by UAE businesses on income earned outside the UAE’s corporate tax to avoid double taxation.
The UAE CT regime should remain one of the most competitive in the world. The UAE will offer the most competitive CT regime in the region, with Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar imposing CT at rates between 10% to 35% (Bahrain currently does not have a broad based CT regime).
The introduction of a UAE CT regime would enable the UAE to adopt and implement the OECD BEPS 2.0 measures to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the global economy, and the introduction of a global minimum tax rate for large multinationals.
What next?
The relevant legislation for the CT regime is currently being finalised and will be subsequently promulgated. Once promulgated, the UAE CT Law will provide more details and guidance on several critical aspects.
Further information is expected to be made available by mid-2022, to give UAE businesses at least 12 months to get ready.
Key considerations for UAE businesses
To prepare for the new corporate tax (CT) profile of the UAE consider an internal working team and whether auditor discussions are needed
Consider the application and impact of the new UAE CT Law on :
- UAE entity(ies) and/or operations
- Revenue booked under Mainland UAE versus Free Trade Zone setups
- Economic substance profile and/or CbCR filings
- Group structure
- Inter-company transactions
- Investment/Holding structures
- Be prepared to adopt new tax and transfer pricing compliances (where applicable).
- Consider impact on share price and ability to raise finance
- Review IT systems and their configuration to support taxation, and budget for any external consulting resource to e.g. create filing returns reports, or to amend existing reports e.g. TB, cash flow.
- Consider whether there needs to be any changes to policies and training for the finance team.
- Consider a dry run pilot in a test system to ensure that you can produce timely accurate reports in the correct format.
(Most Dubai stocks fell in the Middle East on February 1 after the United Arab Emirates unveiled that it will be taxing corporate earnings from next year.
Moody’s said: “the introduction of the 9% federal corporate tax is broadly credit negative for domestic UAE corporates because it will reduce their operating cash flows.”)
Server 2016 Service Pack 3.
January 29th, 2022 by Stephen Jones No comments »2016 was the last version of SQL to have Service Packs, since then Microsoft only ships Cumulative Updates.
Previously Microsoft has used a ‘last Service Pack’ when it closes off support for a version.
Long term support is only available for the last Service Pack for a product.
2016 SP2 only gets support until October 11, 2022, whereas support for the new SP3 will continue to 2026.
This makes support simpler for Microsoft which doesn’t have to deal with a wide variety of builds for older versions (is 2016 really that much older?) – “If you want help, then you need to be on build 13.0.6300.2.”
So apart from the fixes (see the KB article), the key point takeaway is that for long term support, ensure to patch all of your 2016 instances very soon. Its likely this will be the last SQL Server patch you’ll ever have to apply unless there is a critical security threat.
SQL Server 2016 isn’t dead , but Microsoft is already thinking about its retirement party and the gold watch for its services.
Teams meetings with chat bubbles
January 3rd, 2022 by Stephen Jones No comments »With covid omicron rampaging across the globe wishing you all a Happy New Year sounds a somewhat hollow message. So let me pass on some good news.
Microsoft is working on a new update for Teams, for users to see both the messages in chat and the participants in a video call at the same time.
Last year Microsoft , added chat bubbles so that users don’t miss private messages sent during a video call. Similar to WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, chat bubbles display a floating notification on your screen.
You may not find don’t this is an improvement if it distracts you from the important content discussed in the meeting. It forces you to constantly look around the screen to find and quickly the chat bubbles as they appear and before they disappear.
To turn off the chat bubbles and return to the previous behavior of opening the chat pane, click on the three dots in the control bar to open the menu. Click on the Don’t show chat bubbles item to turn off chat bubbles, see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkR8T8pZfyU)
Using chat bubbles is a personal choice and it doesn’t replace the regular chat window. Microsoft says that chat bubbles make chat more central to a conversation, but it really depends on the type of meeting, the topic being discussed, and the number of participants
Microsoft is now planning to make chat bubbles available for group chats so that everyone can simaltaneously see the conversations happening via text as well as the participants in a video call .
Microsoft soft Teams rooms i was previously called Skype Rooms. With a Teams Rooms display set up in a meeting or conference room, the in-person attendees can focus on one screen rather than have to each stare down at their individual laptop.
With chat bubbles on a Teams Room display, remote workers will also be able to add to the conversation in a meeting room and attendees will see their messages in chat alongside a meeting’s video feed.
This new feature is set to roll out in April of next year and will l be a welcome addition for organizations that have implemented hybrid work practices.
Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Wave 1 December 2021
December 18th, 2021 by Stephen Jones No comments »This version has a build number of 10.0.1037 and is available as follows:
- Preview of release: October 2021
- General availability of release (self-update): December 2021
- General availability of release (auto-update): January 2022
This month’s release contains the following exciting new features in Dynamics 365 for Finance & Supply Chain Management for these apps: Finance, Supply Chain Management, Guides, and Project Operations.
Add payment breakdown on lease payments
Break down lease payments by contract payment types on payment schedule lines to provide greater insight.
Lease impairment enhancements
Display the new asset balance and financial entry from the lease impairment process in the right-of-use asset impairment dialog before posting the right-of-use asset impairment
Adjust posting date automatically during invoice posting
A parameter that lets the system change the posting date automatically according to your business needs
This will reduce the number of manual steps that accounts payable clerks must complete when it’s necessary to adjust the posting date on multiple vendor invoices and that will reduces manual errors.
Open vendor transaction report
Provides quick access to detailed information about the open transactions for each vendor as of a specific date.
Reverse posted bank statements
Enables the Reverse Statement option in the header of the bank statement
Revert to simple bank reconciliation from advanced bank reconciliation
This feature lets you disable the advanced bank reconciliation functionality for specific bank accounts, which may reduce the complexity of bank reconciliation for some bank accounts.
Unmatch all bank statements and transactions
This feature lets you unmatch all the statements and transactions in one step which enhances efficiency and saves time for users
Define a default state/province for each country/region in the address setup for the global address book
When a default state/province is set, it will be the default value entered in state/province fields when you create a new county or city record for that country/region
Configurable business documents – specific destinations via printer management settings in the reports
Enables the setup and edit of business document-specific destinations by using the print management user interface in the Electronic Reporting (ER) framework use named Electronic Reporting destinations. More types of business documents can now be generated in Finance when using the Electronic Reporting framework
SCM
Enhanced manufacturing execution workloads on scale units
You can now begin work on production and batch orders and report these as finished using the warehouse app, without requiring a round trip to the hub
Setup rules that automatically consume the planned amount of material for each production order
Effective April 2021, Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations – Warehousing (the warehouse app) is deprecated and won’t be supported after April 2022.
It is now replaced by the Warehouse Management mobile app, which was released with version 10.0.17 of Supply Chain Management. The new app is a complete replacement but uses same underlying framework, which makes migration easy. If needed, the two apps can be used side-by-side to help users gradually adjust as they learn to use the new app.
Pause tasks in the Warehouse Management mobile app
Users can now temporarily pause their current task and then can safely return to where they left off. This increases the efficiency of warehouse workers by allowing them to stop their current task to perform another more important one, and then return to the original task without losing any information
Enhanced production floor execution interface for process manufacturing
- This feature provides a state-of-the-art and intuitive user experience for process manufacturers and manufacturers that need to report on batch orders
- Use the production floor execution interface to report progress on batch orders, including reporting on co-products and by-products
Manufacturing execution systems integration
Data exchange is fully automated and near real time, which keeps data current in both systems and eliminates the need for manual data entry. This offers manufacturers a fast path to realizing their Industry 4.0 ambitions by making it faster and easier to integrate Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management with common manufacturing execution systems.
Planning Optimization support for priority-based planning
Priority driven MRP support for Planning Optimization
Enhancements
The following table lists the feature enhancements that are new for this release. Each of these enhancements provides an incremental improvement to an existing feature. Because they are only enhancements, they aren’t listed in the release plan. However, to ensure that these enhancements won’t conflict with your existing customizations or preferences, each of them is turned off by default (unless otherwise noted).
If you want to turn any of these features on or off, you must do so in feature management, where they are listed using the names shown in the Feature name in feature management column of the following table.
| FEATURE ENHANCEMENTS INCLUDED IN THIS RELEASE | ||
| Module | Feature name in feature management | More information |
| Asset management | Offset accounts for expenses in work order journals | This feature lets you specify an offset account for each expense listed in a work order journal. You might typically associate a vendor account with each expense, but other account types are also supported. It adds two new columns (Offset account type and Offset account) to the Expense FastTab on the Work order journal page. |
| Cost management | Create related vouchers for standard cost rounding revaluations | When an inventory financial posting (such as a sales order invoice or inventory transaction) is made, this feature causes the system to create a separate voucher for any related standard cost rounding revaluations and attach it to the financial posting voucher as a related voucher. Without this feature, the system records standard cost rounding revaluations on the same voucher posting. That behavior can sometimes cause conflicting date information, because the revaluations use the session or system date, whereas financial postings use the posting date. |
| Master planning | Azure Machine Learning Service for demand forecasting | This feature enables the Azure Machine Learning Service to generate demand forecasts based on historical data. For more information, see Demand forecasting setup. |
| Procurement and sourcing | Clean up purchase-order update history | This feature lets you clean up temporary historical records related to purchase-order updates. It adds a new button called Clean up purchase update history to the Action Pane on the All purchase orders page. This feature is enabled by default. |
| Production control | (Preview) Auto-picking of warehouse enabled materials for auto-posted picking lists | This feature lets you auto-pick and resolve inventory dimensions for auto-posted, derived, and backflushed picking list journals. |
| Production control | Validate expiration of raw materials against planned consumption date | This feature changes how batch expiration dates are validated when reserving a batch of raw material to be used during production. When this feature is enabled, the batch expiration date is validated against the planned consumption date (the raw material date), as established on the production BOM line or batch order formula line. When this feature is disabled, the batch expiration date is validated against the planned delivery date of the production or batch order (as previously). |
| Sales and marketing | Clean up sales update history based on age | This feature lets you set the maximum age of records to keep when running the Sales update history cleanup periodic task. Older records will be deleted. This is useful for when you set the task to run periodically because the age is always calculated relative to the date the task is run. Without this feature, you can only set a specific date for the oldest records to keep. |
| Sales and marketing | Improve “Top 100” customers report performance | This feature improves the performance of the Top 100 customers report by always running the report across all customers (which is its intended use) rather than by allowing custom queries. When this feature is enabled, all Records to include settings are disabled in the Top 100 report dialog. |
| Warehouse management | Scale unit support for release to warehouse of outbound orders | When this feature is enabled, outbound orders can be released from the hub directly to the scale unit where the orders will be fulfilled. |
In Feb2022 we can expect v 10.24
| New Feature area | Feature | More information | Enabled by |
| Distributed hybrid topology | Enhanced warehouse execution workloads on scale units | Warehouse management workloads for cloud and edge scale units | Enabled by default. |
| Planning | Planning Optimization support for reorder margin and issue margin | Safety margins | Enabled by default. |
Enhancements
| Module | Feature name in feature management | More information |
| Production control | On-demand material availability check for production orders | This feature makes it faster to open the Production orders to release page, which is available from the Production floor management workspace. Without this feature, the system automatically checks whether materials are available for all listed production orders as soon as you open the page, which can take significant time if you have a large number of orders. When this feature is enabled, the system instead provides a toolbar button, which you can use to initiate the materials check only for selected orders and when needed. |
| Production control | (Preview) Register material consumption on the production floor execution interface (non-WMS) | This feature enables workers to use the production floor execution interface to register material consumption, batch numbers, and serial numbers. This feature only supports items that are not enabled to use advanced warehouse processes (WMS). Support for WMS-enabled items is scheduled for a future release. Some manufacturers, especially those within the process industries, need to explicitly register the amount of material consumed for each batch or production order. For example, workers might use a scale to weigh the amount of material consumed as they work. To ensure full material traceability, these organizations also need to register which batch numbers were consumed when producing each product. |
| Production control | Report as finished on warehouse management workload for the cloud and edge scale unit | This feature lets workers use the Warehouse Management mobile app to report a production or batch order as finished when the app is running against a warehouse management workload on a cloud or edge scale unit. For more information, see Report as finished and putaway on a scale unit. |
| Production control | Start production order on warehouse management workload for the cloud and edge scale unit | This feature enables workers to use the Warehouse Management mobile app to start a production or batch order when the app is running against a warehouse management workload on a cloud or edge scale unit. |
| Warehouse management | New load planning workbench pages | Enables two new load planning workbench pages: Inbound load planning workbench and Outbound load planning workbench. |
Windows 10 version 21H2, -the “November 2021 Update -Generally Available
November 30th, 2021 by Stephen Jones No comments »This marks the start of a new update release cadence for the Windows 10 operating system. The new OS can be accessed on eligible devices by “seeking” it through the Windows Update service
. Windows 10 systems running version 2004 or later can undergo a fast “in-place upgrade” in which the underlying OS bits get automatically replaced.
It’s also available for IT pros in the usual places, namely, “Windows Server Update Services (including Configuration Manager), Windows Update for Business and the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC),”
Microsoft is promising one reboot to activate the new OS because of the use of “enablement packages” implemented with Windows 10 version 2004 and later versions. New OS bits are already present on machines (in a dormant state) with the enablement package approach.
New Features
Windows 10 version 21H2 has some improvements, that include:
- The addition of virtual private network APIs for the Universal Windows Platform, which facilitate the use of “common web-based authentication schemes.”
- Wi-Fi 6 support with “Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 Hash-to-Element protocol (WPA3 H2E),” which promises “better protection from Wi-Fi side-channel attacks that could steal Wi-Fi passwords and other sensitive information,” particularly from home networks.
- Mobile device management (MDM) parity with Group Policy settings, with 1,400 added MDM settings.
- Universal Print support for 1GB print jobs per individual user, plus integration with OneDrive for Web, as well as Excel for Web (happening at “end of 2021”).
- Automatic provisioning of apps for Azure Virtual Desktop users, with copy and paste capabilities between “remote and local apps.”
Windows 10 version 21H2 delivers security updates to other Microsoft products. The list includes the “Windows AI Platform, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Apps, Windows Cryptography, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Kernel, Windows Media, Windows Office Media, and Windows Virtualization.”
A major perk for IT pros, though, is the switch to a once-per-year feature update model, which starts with Windows 10 version 21H2 to usher in a new “service channel” change of a once-per-year feature update release cycle, with the update arriving in the second half of a particular year. Microsoft’s next Windows 10 feature update release is planned for release in H2 2022. There will not be an H1 2022 OS release.
Microsoft had been releasing Windows 10 feature updates twice per year, in the spring and fall. A feature update is a completely new version of the Windows operating system. When Windows 11 was released, Microsoft switched to once-per-year feature updates for that OS, and it’s now doing the same thing for Windows 10. The old “sem-iannual channel” term used to describe Windows 10 feature updates is now dropped. Microsoft refers to this release of Windows 10 version 21H2 as a “general availability channel” release.
Support for Windows 10 Version 21H2 Editions
Despite the switch to a once-per-year release model with Windows 10 version 21H2, nothing is changed for how long a feature update will be supported before requiring an upgrade. Microsoft varies the support length based on the Windows 10 edition that’s used. Windows 10 Home and Pro editions will be supported on the November 2021 Update for 18 months, while Enterprise and Education edition users will have 30 months of support. Those support terms didn’t change with this release.
The Windows 10 version 2004 is nearing its end-of-support phase, – Dec. 14, 2021 and when support ends, security updates from Microsoft don’t arrive. The support clock, started (Nov. 11) for Windows 10 version 21H2, Microsoft’s announcement.
General Availability Channel Release
Microsoft recommends that organizations initiate “targeted” deployments of Windows 10 version 21H2 before performing an organization-wide OS rollout. In the past, Microsoft referred to targeted Windows 10 OS releases, which were designed for testing purposes. A targeted release came before a general availability commercial release. Lots of organizations waited for the general availability release to start their OS testing, which wasn’t optimal from Microsoft’s standpoint. Microsoft dropped that targeted nomenclature long ago and started using weirder terms, like “commercial preview.” -even more confusing. Circumstances are clearer now with the Windows 10 version 21H2 general availability channel release stamp. which implies commercial release.
