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Welcome to the July edition of Mondo Cloud's Microsoft Rewind series, your monthly digest of what’s changing, improving, or retiring across Microsoft 365, Azure, Windows and Copilot. From smarter Copilot tools to critical changes in security posture and Teams experience enhancements - let’s dive in.
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Copilot Updates
Easier Ways to Work with Big Files
You can now use Copilot to help you summarise or answer questions about large documents - up to 3,000 pages. Just attach or reference the file with a quick slash (e.g. /AnnualReport2025.docx) and Copilot will do the heavy lifting. Perfect for reports, contracts or project docs you don’t want to read line by line.
Smarter Chat & Better Team Insights
Smarter prompts = better results: Copilot now organises your queries into categories like:
Ask & find (for when you're searching)
Catch up (summarising meetings or threads)
Draft & brainstorm (creating content)
Improved meeting recaps: You’ll see better summaries of your Teams meetings, with clearer highlights of what was said, action points, and who needs to do what.
Dictate your prompts in Copilot Chat (Windows & Web): Take advantage of talking directly to copilot via your Microphone making engaging with Copilot quicker and more natural.
Better Copilot Experiences in Word, Outlook, & PowerPoint
In Outlook, Copilot is more stable when using add-ins or switching mailboxes. It also won’t crash when switching between calendar and inbox anymore.
In Word, small but helpful fixes include better formatting for bullet points and smarter behaviour with comments during editing as well as preserving formatting across drafted content. (About time!)
In PowerPoint, Copilot will now behave more reliably when helping with designs and text as well being able to reference multiple files when asking Copilot to draft a new presentation.
In Excel, Copilot can now generate formulas just by typing natural language - no need to remember complex syntax. Plus, it can analyse text in your spreadsheet to highlight key themes, sentiment, and insert helpful labels.
Smarter, Safer, and More Helpful
Copilot is getting even more useful behind the scenes - from pulling answers out of structured business data to making it easier for organisations to review what Copilot has helped with. Whether you're drafting a report or catching up after a meeting, Copilot is quietly becoming your go-to assistant across Microsoft 365
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Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams Workflows - Revamped Experience
Microsoft is launching a completely redesigned Workflows experience within Microsoft Teams, rolling out to users starting August 2025. This lesser-known Teams application will help users automate repetitive tasks by describing the actions using natural language.
Create Flows Using Plain Language Describe what you want in everyday terms (e.g., “Notify me in Teams when a new file is added to the HR SharePoint folder”), and Teams automatically proposes a matching flow - no coding needed
Redesigned Template Library for Speed Quickly search and customise popular workflow templates - everything from approvals and notifications to task creation and sync scenarios - making setup faster and more intuitive.
Use Workflows in Chats, Channels & SharePoint Launch workflows directly from Teams chat windows, channel posts, or connected SharePoint lists - eliminating the need to toggle between apps
Microsoft Teams Colour Accents
Microsoft Teams is rolling out a fresh personalisation feature starting late July through August 2025, letting users choose from ten different accent colours for the desktop, web, and Mac clients. These accent colours will appear in chat bubbles, app icons, activity indicators, and more. adding a subtle but helpful visual cue, especially for people working across multiple tenants. The update is cosmetic only, no impact on functionality and requires no admin action to enable.
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Windows
Windows 11 - Quick Machine Recovery (QMR)
Quick Machine Recovery is a self-healing feature in Windows 11 (version 24H2, KB5062660) designed to automatically address critical boot failures. When Windows repeatedly fails to start, QMR triggers the Recovery Environment (WinRE) to connect to the internet, check Windows Update for known remediation patches, apply them, and restart the device, all without manual intervention.
How It Works
During a boot failure, Windows enters WinRE and automatically switches into cloud remediation if enabled.
The device connects to Microsoft, uploads diagnostics, and downloads targeted fixes from Windows Update to restore functionality.
If the cloud remediation isn’t available, standard Startup Repair is still used as a fallback.
A new page under Settings > System > Recovery > Quick machine recovery gives users and admins the ability to toggle the feature, configure retry intervals, and monitor recovery attempts.
Built as part of Microsoft’s Windows Resiliency Initiative, QMR is a direct response to large-scale incidents like the 2024 CrowdStrike update failure. It helps ensure organisations can rapidly recover from widespread boot failures in a controlled, scalable way.
Windows 11 25H2
Microsoft rolled out the first build of Windows 11, version 25H2 to the Windows Insider programme on 27 June 2025, with general availability set for the second half of 2025 - likely September or October.
Upgrading to 25H2 will be fast and smooth for the majority where regular patching is taking place so there’s nothing to worry about as an everyday user. There will be a host of new features that will be made available once the upgrade takes place, stay tuned and we’ll run a review once the update makes its way to production.
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Microsoft Intune
LAPS for MacOS
Microsoft’s Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) has expanded to support macOS devices via Intune, bringing parity with the Windows experience for secure local admin account management. This allows IT teams to automate the rotation of local administrator passwords on enrolled macOS endpoints, storing them securely in Microsoft Entra ID and making them accessible only to authorised personnel.
Hotpatching for 64-bit ARM Devices
Hotpatching - Microsoft’s feature for applying security updates without requiring a reboot - is now available for Windows 11 version 24H2 devices running on 64-bit ARM architecture. This allows more enterprise environments to maintain security and uptime with minimal disruption.
As well as this the Intune now has devices filters specifically for ARM devices meaning you can safely target the correct devices without worrying about devices getting settings & apps they shouldn’t.
Custom Device Clean up Options per Platform
Microsoft has made it easier to keep your device list clean and up to date. You can now set different clean-up rules for each platform—Windows, iOS/iPadOS, macOS, and Android so your organisation can manage inactive or outdated devices more precisely. Plus, a new update to the Audit logs means IT teams can see exactly which devices have been cleaned up and why, helping keep things tidy while maintaining full visibility.
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Microsoft 365 Admin
Token Protection Available for Entra ID P1 Licenses
Microsoft has now made Token Protection available for organisations with Entra ID P1 licences, not just P2. This marks a step forward in securing enterprise identity, reducing the entry requirements for smaller businesses or those using Business Premium subscriptions.
What Is Token Protection - and why does it matter?
When you sign in to Microsoft 365 apps like Outlook or Teams, your device gets a "refresh token" that lets you stay signed in without entering your password every time. But if someone manages to steal that token - say through malware, a phishing attack, or by copying files from your device - they could potentially use it to access your account from somewhere else, without needing your password.
Token Protection stops that from happening. It locks the token to your specific device, so even if a hacker steals it, it won’t work anywhere else. It’s like a digital key that only fits one lock - your own device.
Improved Mail Bombing Detection
Microsoft Defender for 365 now automatically detects and blocks email bombing - a type of attack where malicious actors flood your email inbox with thousands of messages within minutes. These attacks can drop critical alerts into the noise or use the chaos to set up follow-up scams (e.g., pretending to be IT support calling you).
How It Works
Microsoft now automatically detects when your inbox is being flooded with hundreds or thousands of emails in a short time - known as an email bomb. When this happens:
It quietly filters the bulk of those messages into your Junk folder
It keeps your important senders safe, so real emails aren’t lost
No setup or action needed, it’s already turned on for everyone
Why It Matters
Email bombing can overwhelm your inbox and hide real alerts, sometimes as part of a bigger scam. This new protection helps stop that chaos before it starts, keeping your inbox clean and your focus where it should be.
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Do any of these updates spark your curiosity?
If you’re interested in any of these exciting Microsoft updates and want to see how they can improve your organisation’s productivity, security, management, or overall efficiency, don’t hesitate to Get in touch!
Our Microsoft experts are here to guide you through these new features and help you make the most out of them. Let’s work together to ensure your business is ahead of the curve!
0800 640 4258