News & Insights.
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Defender Threat Intelligence Standalone Reaches End of Life August 1
The MDTI standalone SKU retires on August 1, 2026. Its capabilities remain available at no cost in the Defender portal, and CSP customers receive a credit memo.
Microsoft 365 Business With Copilot: Permanent SKUs at $23.50 and $32
Business Standard with Copilot and Business Premium with Copilot became generally available on July 1 as durable SKUs, replacing a run of promotional bundles.
The July 1 Increase Is Live: What Changed on Your Invoice
The Microsoft 365 pricing update is in effect. Here is how to read your first post-increase invoice and what to do if the numbers are not what you expected.
Azure Linux Enters Public Preview: A Distribution With No OS Licence Cost
Microsoft's cloud-optimized Linux distribution is now in public preview, eliminating OS licensing cost for Azure VMs, containers and cloud-native workloads.
Work IQ Hits GA: Custom Agents Now Need Pay-As-You-Go Enabled
The Work IQ API reached general availability on June 16 with consumption billing and no per-user licence. Custom agents using it will fail without pay-as-you-go configured.
Copilot Cowork Reaches GA and Billing Moves to Copilot Credits
Copilot Cowork went generally available on June 16 with usage-based billing. Consumption pricing changes how AI cost has to be governed — before the first invoice, not after.
Agent 365 Now Requires E5, Business Premium, or the Defender and Purview Suites
Effective June 1, 2026, new Agent 365 purchases carry a licensing prerequisite. If your agent plans assumed a standalone purchase on top of E3, they need revising.
Build 2026: Microsoft Commits to an Agent-First Platform
Microsoft IQ, the MAI model family and Project Solara point at the same conclusion — the unit of work in the Microsoft stack is shifting from the prompt to the agent.
Renewal Timing: How to Lock Current Microsoft Pricing Before July 1
Existing customers keep current pricing until renewal. That one clause turns the next five weeks into the most valuable negotiating window of the year.
Windows Enterprise Per Device Rises 30%: The Quietest Increase in the Table
Windows E3, Windows E5 and per-device Windows Enterprise all move on July 1, 2026. The per-device SKU carries a 30% increase that shared-device estates cannot ignore.
The “Without Teams” SKUs Are Now the Expensive Choice
Suites sold without Teams receive proportionally larger increases in July 2026. If you unbundled Teams to save money, the arithmetic has inverted.
Service Accounts Are Your MFA Blind Spot. Here Is How to Close It.
Microsoft's MFA mandate has no exemption for service accounts running as users. Migrating them to workload identities is the only durable fix — and it is a security win independent of the mandate.