Microsoft today announced a variety of enhancements coming to Microsoft 365 to lend a hand to IT professionals. But the biggest two bits of news to come out of today's reveals are that Windows Virtual Desktop is now in public preview, and Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), which was formerly known as Windows Defender ATP, is expanding to Mac devices.
With Windows Virtual Desktop in public preview, IT professionals will be able to quickly "deploy and scale" Windows desktop and apps on Azure. "Windows Virtual Desktop is the only service that delivers simplified management, multi-session Windows 10, optimizations for Office 365 ProPlus, and support for Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environments in a shared public cloud," Microsoft said in its announcement.
For IT professionals working with Macs as part of their managed devices, you'll now be able to take advantage of Microsoft Defender ATP. According to Microsoft, the expansion to Mac devices was the main impetus behind the service's name change, swapping the Windows moniker for Microsoft.
Here's the full rundown of what's new today:
- Windows Virtual Desktop is now in public preview, providing the best virtualized Microsoft 365 experience across devices.
- Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) now supports Mac, extending Microsoft 365 advanced endpoint security across platforms.
- The new Microsoft Threat and Vulnerability Management (TVM) capability in Microsoft Defender ATP will help detect, assess, and prioritize threats across endpoints.
- Office 365 ProPlus will now include the Microsoft Teams app, enabling a new way to work.
- We're reducing the time it takes to apply Windows 10 feature updates, making it easier to deploy and service Windows 10.
- We're enhancing Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune with new insights and deployment options to make it easier to manage your devices across platforms.
- Microsoft 365 admin center is now generally available.
For more, you can check out Microsoft's full blog post.
