Microsoft is updating how Windows signs its own software and warns that some third-party applications may stop working even when Windows still trusts the signature. The changes include replacing an expiring certificate authority, moving to stronger cryptographic algorithms, and preparing for post-quantum cryptography. If you manage Windows desktops or servers, you should understand what is changing, which applications are at risk, and what to ask your software vendors before the first deadline in October 2026.

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Microsoft is retiring Exchange Web Services (EWS), the older SOAP-based API that applications use to read and write mailbox data in Exchange Online. During the transition window—from phased disablement in October 2026 until full retirement on April 1, 2027—EWSAllowedAppIDs is the temporary gatekeeper: a tenant-wide list of Microsoft Entra application IDs (the client IDs of app registrations) that may still call EWS when you set EwsEnabled to $true. Only listed apps keep access while you migrate; after April 2027, the list no longer matters because EWS is blocked outright. This article shows how to test that gate before you depend on it.

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Microsoft published service release 2608 for Intune during the week of August 25, 2026. The update adds Windows remote support without a logged-on user, new settings catalog policies, a redesigned single-device page in the admin center, and expanded Android and Apple management. Linux endpoint security gains audit mode and memory scan controls, and assignment filters can now target devices by operating system version. This article summarizes what changed and what you need to plan for in your tenant.

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Microsoft published the WindowsBackupAdmin 1.0.0 module on 19 August 2026. The module wraps Microsoft Graph beta windowsSetting APIs so you can view, export, and delete Windows settings backup data without building Graph requests yourself. Microsoft Graph is the REST interface Microsoft 365 uses for tenant data. These scripts do not back up files, disks, or mailboxes. They only manage the cloud copy of Windows user settings and backup profiles.

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Google’s Gemini Enterprise AI stack combines the Gemini Enterprise app, Gemini agents, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, Gemini Code Assist, CodeMender, the Gemini API, Gemini models, Spark, and Apigee, with MCP and A2A providing standardized ways for agents to connect to tools and each other. These are separate products and protocols rather than one installable platform: some provide models or AI applications, while others support development, automation, API management, or agent communication.

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Microsoft published its August 2026 Microsoft Entra roundup on 10 August 2026. The generally available items cover Windows single sign-on (SSO) prompt control, Exchange Online attribute writeback through Microsoft Entra Cloud Sync, Lifecycle Workflows testing and cancellation, and optional email during External ID sign-up. Three capabilities remain in public preview: Active Directory device sync with Cloud Sync, automated cleanup of guest accounts that have no sponsor, and Group Policy Object (GPO) backups in Microsoft Entra Domain Services. Lifecycle Workflows, Cloud Sync, and Domain Services are Entra features for joiner-mover-leaver automation, hybrid directory synchronization, and a managed Active Directory domain in Azure.

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Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, and Business Premium now include an extra 50 GB of primary Exchange Online mailbox storage, raising the supported limit from 50 GB to 100 GB. The primary mailbox is the user's active inbox, calendar, and contacts. Microsoft delivers the increase as a licensing change through a new service plan, a named capability inside the product license, rather than as a new mailbox type. The packaging rollout started in June 2026 and continues through September 2026. You should verify the result per user, because not every mailbox in a tenant receives the extra quota at the same time.

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Windows 11 Task Manager can show per-process NPU and GPU neural engine usage, helping you determine whether an AI app runs on dedicated AI hardware or falls back to the CPU. Microsoft introduced the optional columns in updates KB5089573 and KB5094126 for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. Availability remains a gradual rollout on eligible devices.

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Microsoft Sentinel now attaches User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) insights to records from the UEBA behaviors layer. UEBA is a machine-learning feature that builds a baseline of typical activity for users, hosts, IP addresses, and applications, then flags activity that does not match that baseline. The behaviors layer groups raw security logs into structured summaries of who did what to whom. Microsoft added those findings to each behavior and expanded UEBA coverage to selected firewall, proxy, and cloud sources. The anomalies-on-behaviors capability is in preview and is available only for Microsoft Sentinel in the Microsoft Defender portal.

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Matthew Berman highlights six open-source AI projects spanning local model training, agent workflows, team collaboration, browser automation, and image-to-3D generation. The list emphasizes tools that can run locally or be self-hosted, giving organizations more control over data, models, and infrastructure.

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KB5120998 in the Windows 11 Release Preview channel removes the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) utility from Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. With this update, WMIC is gone from those builds, and you cannot add it back. Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), the service that exposes hardware and operating system data, remains in Windows. Microsoft's documented replacement for typical wmic queries is the PowerShell cmdlet Get-CimInstance.

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AI can help you patch faster. It can also help you make the wrong call faster.

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