Build Apps in Minutes with Copilot Cowork – Quick Start Guide

Microsoft is bringing app creation deeper into Copilot. Starting now (I have been playing around with this over the past few days), app building is arriving in Copilot Cowork and, over the next couple of weeks, Copilot Studio. This will give people the ability to create business apps simply by describe what they need, how they want it to look and function.

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AI Capability Is Accelerating – But Cyber Risk Is Accelerating Faster

Lots of news in the AI space from Anthropic and OpenAI this week which took another leap with new models from both OpenAI and Anthropic and a new Collective Cyber Defence initiative which also hit the tech and news headlines, marking a clear shift in the industry's approach and concerns around Cyber Security in their AI era. In short, we are no longer just talking about new AI models, chatbots or productivity assistants - we are talking about…

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How to Create interactive slides in PowerPoint with Copilot

Microsoft is bringing the ability to create interactive slides to PowerPoint via a new Copilot skill and it's really powerful. The "Create Interactive Slides" skill is currently rolling out to users for organisations enrolled in the frontier preview, which will then come to other users "later". This new "skill" can turn ideas, concepts, timelines, information sources, comparisons, and data into full-slide interactive visuals, stories, quizzes etc.

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Stop AI Slop: A Practical 60:40 Copilot Workflow for great content

A couple of times over the past week, I have opened presentation from colleagues that looked perfect at first glance - clean slides, polished language, concise bullets. But as you read deeper, it quickly becomes obvious that they were more AI than human. Lots of content but no real "so what", nothing that really felt like the author had actually thought about the problem, content or message and a bit like "so what is this telling me".

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How Cowork’s Effort Levels Work

Microsoft has introduced "Effort Levels" in Copilot Cowork which are rolling out to organisations enrolled in the "Frontier preview" before they go to GA to everyone. This is one of the most important updates to Copilot Cowork of late giving users more choice over how agentic AI behaves and therefore costs to use. The question is does it go far enough?

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Microsoft Begins Rollout of Its Unified Copilot “Super” App

Microsoft is beginning the rollout of Its Unified Copilot App – A Single AI Experience Across Every Platform that will brings all Copilot experiences together including chat, agents, Cowork etc. As part of this, consumer and work interfaces are also being unified along with a new / refined logo and branding!! The update merges the consumer Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences into a single app simply called Copilot, designed to work consistently across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the web.

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How to Create and use Skills in PowerPoint

What are Skills in PowerPoint? Copilot Skills in PowerPoint are reusable instruction-based capabilities that extend what Copilot can do inside PowerPoint. You can think of them as specialist playbooks rather than new AI models or specific agents. A skill gives Copilot additional guidance on how to perform a specific task, such as creating an executive summary slide, restructuring content, or applying a consistent presentation design approach.

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Create dynamic web-pages and dashboards from SharePoint Lists

The capabilities across Microsoft 365 Copilot keeping improving on a weekly basis at the moment, and what is great to see is the continued investment in the core M365 Copilot experiences. In this blog we will do a walk-though of how to create live, visually appealing and on-brand interactive dashboard data based on SharePoint lists. What is even better is you can use Copilot to do all the work and heavy lifting for you without writing a single line of code, HTML or python.

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Future of Microsoft Surface: What we know and what we want

Then this month (July 2026), Microsoft published their latest Inside Windows Q&A which gave us a fresh, candid look at what’s happening inside the Windows and Devices team at Microsoft - and more importantly, what’s coming next for Surface. As someone who’s been deep in the Surface ecosystem since 2012 (and now has far too many devices scattered across the house), this latest Q&A hit me in a good way and echo's much of the feedback insiders, partners and MVPs have been channeling for a few year...

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ClaudeOpus 5 now available in Copilot

Claude Opus 5 has now started to roll out to the model selector in Microsoft Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Chat, Copilot Cowork, and Copilot Studio. Claude Opus 5 is the newest model in the Anthropic Opus family. It's designed for every day work where you need enhanced reasoning and complex, multi-step work. This model improves on Opus 4.8 across long horizon reasoning, agentic coding, professional and knowledge work.

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Teams Facilitator gets Overhauled

Announced at InfoComm in June 26, Microsoft has confirmed that you will soon be able to invoke Facilitator by voice in Teams Rooms, speak naturally to the room to join a meeting or ask for help, and it answers out loud. This is the beginning of ambient AI in meeting spaces - something Microsoft has been signalling for months. This is a feature Cisco Webex Rooms have had for a while so great to see this come to native Teams Rooms too.

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GPT5.6 now available across Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft announced today that GPT-5.6 is now rolling out to Copilot experiences across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Copilot Chat, and of course Copilot Cowork. GPT‑5.6 is OpenAI’s latest flagship model series, which delivers more useful work from every token (and Copilot Credit), with stronger performance and on demand capability for the most complex tasks. In their blog, Microsoft say that Copilot…

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Fable 5 and Sonnet 5 now available In Copilot Cowork

After the US Government suspended access (globally) to Anthropic Fable 5 last month, just after release, these blocks have now been lifted, and Claude Fable 5 is now back (optional) to use in preview inside Microsoft Cowork. At the sametime, Anthropic Sonnet 5 (which is an upgrade to 4.6) is now live too. These appear in the model selectors inside Cowork and are also available across Microsoft Copilot Studio and Foundry.

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CRN XCHANGE 26 – the 6 Trends Shaping our Volatile New Normal

This week, along with around 80 other solution provider/MSPs, I have been attending CRN XCHANGE EMEA at the Hauge in the Netherlands. During the keynote CRN shared insights from their extensive UK and EMEA research on the ongoing forces shaping and changing the IT channel right now. What caught my attention the most wasn't just the individual trends, but how they interlock and are accelerated by one inescapable reality - …

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New Surface Laptop and Pro powered by Snapdragon X2

Microsoft has expanded the Surface for Business portfolio with new devices powered by Snapdragon® X2 Series processors – including the Surface Pro for Business (12th edition) and Surface Laptop for Business (8th edition). Commercial availability begins 14 July.

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Microsoft 365 Copilot Organisation‑wide Prompt are Coming and Why it Matters

One of the most impactful updates arriving in Microsoft 365 Copilot in July 2026 is the ability for organisations to publish org / department level curated prompts directly into Microsoft 365 Copilot. "How do we standardise prompts so everyone uses Copilot the right way?" Until now, users have been able to share their own prompts with other people but there's been no central reporrosrory of organisation curated prompts to help with enterprise adoption and "good practice" …

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Microsoft Cowork Commercials – What you need to know

Yesterday afternoon (16th June 2026), Microsoft Cowork moved from being in a "free to use" preview to General Availability - with an "confirmed price tag". This marks the move from Microsoft Copilot into Agentic Productivity and is far more than just another Copilot Feature. Cowork, marks a pivotal move from early experimentation with AI agents to scalable, real-world customer adoption where it is able to carry high-quality, multi-step reasoning and task execution using the best AI models from leading vendors wrapped into the safety and security of Microsoft 365 eco system.

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Anthropic suspends Fable & Mythos access under US Gov orders – what this means for Microsoft 365 Copilot

Anthropic has announced that access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models has been suspended with immediate effect following a US government export‑control directive. This is not a soft restriction or a partial limitation – it is an explicit, mandatory shutdown of direct access to these models for all US people and nationals. 🔗 Official announcement from Anthropic:  …

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Anthropic Claude Fable 5 available in Microsoft 365 Copilot

Anthropic has unveiled Claude Fable 5, its most capable general‑availability model to date. What is more Microsoft has already moved to bring it into Microsoft 365 Copilot as an opt in preview model choice. It's rolling out now but must be enabled before you can use it... This is another clear signal that Copilot is becoming a true multi‑model AI platform, giving organisations more choice and more capability as work becomes increasingly complex and multi‑step.

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New “Goals” skill for Copilot Cowork:

Microsoft has quietly added a new "Goals" skill to Copilot Cowork, and it is one that changes how you think about multi‑step work... Whilst not an away on agent like Scout, the new /goal skill gives Cowork a standing objective to work toward, rather than a single prompt to respond to. It is simple in concept but significant in impact.

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Cisco Live 2026 | Cloud Control, Cisco IQ, and AI‑Driven Networking

Last week was Cisco Live US which ran over a few days. As expected, the theme was very my Agentic AI and how Cisco are positioning themselves to be the infrastructure needed for organisations to embrace this next technology shift. What was announced, what does it mean and why does it matter for Cisco, for their customers and for their partners?

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Microsoft Becomes a Full‑Stack AI Company – Their 7 MIA Models

At Microsoft Build this week (June 2nd to June 4th) Microsoft dropped seven new MAI models, and it’s the clearest signal yet that they’re no longer just OpenAI’s biggest partner and a big Anthropic partner - they are (and now have) building their own frontier stack optimised from the silicon (Azure Data Center hardware to Copilot Plus PCs) to Cloud and new quantum computing chips that are optimised for and tuned for their own Microsoft AI (MAI) reasoning models.

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Microsoft Scout Explained

Microsoft has introduced Scout, the first of a new class of AI experiences called Autopilots. Announced during the Build 2026 keynote Microsoft say this is "the First Autopilot Agent in the Copilot Ecosystem" What is Microsoft Scout? Scout marks a major evolution in Microsoft’s AI strategy - moving from conversational assistance to long‑running, autonomous agents that operate across your digital world....

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Surface Laptop Ultra – A worthy MacBook Pro Rival?

Microsoft (yesterday May 31st) has unveiled the Surface Laptop Ultra, its first true MacBook Pro competitor of the Apple Silicon era – and arguably the most ambitious Surface device they have built in a long time. Complete with Microsoft Sizzle video, this device will be available to buy from Autumn 2026, and it is the first time Microsoft has gone all‑in on a workstation‑class laptop specifically designed for creators, developers, and AI Platform builders who have outgrown traditional ultra portables and 2-in-1s but don't want a chunky custom build desktop.

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Will we see “ClawCopilot” at Build?

There’s a quiet but very real tension building ahead of Microsoft Build this year (which starts tomorrow, 2nd June). Build will be keynoted by Satya Nadella and the big question everyob is asking is "will Microsoft be walking onto stage and announcing their own OpenClaw/ClawPilot/CoClaw offering. Now, I must stress, there is nothing yet announced but if you look at the noise and where the market is, this could be a dress rehearsal for exactly that moment...

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The new Microsoft 365 Copilot Experience

Microsoft has begun rolling out a redesigned Copilot experience across Microsoft 365, introducing a more consistent interface, clearer grounding signals, and a sharper separation between Copilot Chat and Copilot for Microsoft 365. The update is part of Microsoft’s wider effort to make Copilot feel like a native layer across the suite rather than a collection of app‑specific variations. A More Unified Copilot Experience…

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Claude Opus 4.8 now Available in Microsoft 365 Copilot

On day one of it's release, Microsoft has now rolled out support for Claude Opus 4.8 across Microsoft 365 Copilot for most commercial customers. This latest version of Opus is available across Researcher, Copilot Chat, Cowork, Edit with in Office Apps and Copilot Studio, GitHub Copilot and Foundry. Claude Opus 4.8 improvements According to Anthropic, Opus 4.8 is positioned as a more capable, more reliable, and more agent‑ready model where they highlight improvements in:

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Big Copilot Notebooks Update brings new Visuals, Smarter Inputs, and a new Unified Workspace

Microsoft has released another significant set of enhancements to Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebooks, continuing the rapid evolution of what is becoming one of the most capable reasoning and planning tools inside Microsoft 365. This month’s updates focus on visual thinking, multi‑modal inputs, and a more unified workspace experience across the Copilot app and OneNote. If you’re new to Copilot Notebooks…

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Surface Pro 12 and Laptop 8 Business – what you need to know

Microsoft has unveiled the Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 8. These are targeted at commercial / business users and whilst form factors stick with the current design, they pack new upgrade features including like built in privacy screens (which are app based), improved displays, and haptic trackpads across both ranges. These devices come at a time where chip and memory prices are at an all time higher meaning these devices start at premium pricing, but on par with other premium devices.

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