TOP STORIES #65

Though Microsoft made quite a splash with its announcements at its Build conference, there are quite a few conferences and events lined up that could steal the limelight; the events coming up are.....

Apple is up next with WWDC, and Apple may very well eclipse Microsoft with it's announcements about AI. We can only wait and see. Apple is sure to try and get the world's attention, so WWDC is going to be very interesting!

Starting on Monday is Computex, the worlds biggest computing conference, where we can expect to see big announcements from AMD (Zen 5), Intel (Lunar Lake), Nvidia (5090) etc..... Expect an overdose of AI! The overdose of AI has already started with the NVIDIA Keynote (pretty cool—you should watch it), in which Jensen Huang is saying that we are truly in the middle of an Industrial Revolution.

Next up is Infocomm, which is THE show for Pro AV. Of course, FTG will have representatives at the show as AV, relating to Zoom and Teams, is a very important part of the services FTG delivers. Infocomm is a big deal for us this year as the focus of the show will be on Conferencing and Collaboration, with Teams, Zoom, and Google featuring heavily.

The previous week's TOP STORIES #64 is here.

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Hardware

Except for the NVIDIA keynote, there is no news for this week, because everything is building up for Computex where we will see AMD launch the Ryzen 5000XT CPU's, Intel hype up Lunar Lake, and of course AI will be everywhere, but it will be more about the hardware than the software.

Expect lots of news and announcements - Computex runs from Tuesday to Friday this week.

Of course AMD, Intel and NVIDIA will be trying to "over TOPS" each other - each one telling you how they are beating other with a TOPS rating exceeding the 40 minimum set by Microsoft while playing catch-up with Qualcomm.

There will be 4 Keynotes that will be worth following as well, with the first already having happened - see below.

NVIDIA Keynote

Because we live in different time zones, the NVIDIA keynote has already happened. It is truly scary to see what Jensen Huang is predicting for the next few years....... what really brings it home for me is the graph he shows about what they are achieving vs. Moore's law (timestamp 1:18:03 in the keynote). Of course, there are many perspectives on Moore's Law, but NVIDIA's view is that this old law is dead.

There is a lot to unpack from the keynote, and I'll address the important things from this and the rest of the Computex in TOP STORIES #66 when the dust (FUD) has settled after the show ends.

In the meantime, you can read NVIDIA's announcement about NIM's, but of course, there is so much more than just this one announcement.

Microsoft

May Power Platform Licensing guide

As you can see in the change log on the last page, the update to the Power Platform Licensing Guide includes a significant change: The Power Automate Hosted RPA Add-on licence has been replaced by the Power Automate Hosted Process licence.

This new licence, which does not require any prerequisites, expands on the features of the Power Automate Process licence by adding a Microsoft-hosted virtual machine and an unattended RPA bot.

You can download the latest guide here.

Please contact your Licensing account manager for help understanding the impact if you are using or intend to use the Power platform.

Azure Compute Reservations extended till further notice (whenever that is)

Microsoft initially declared in October 2022 that Azure compute Reservations acquired from 1 January 2024 onwards would not be eligible for exchange.

Subsequently, in October 2023, they introduced a grace period allowing customers until at least 1 July 2024 to exchange their Reservations for Azure Dedicated Host, Azure App Services, and Reserved Instances.

The most recent update in May 2024 extended this grace period indefinitely, which you can read about here. Microsoft has also published some example scenarios here.

Please contact your Licensing AM in FTG for advice on how you may benefit from this indefinite extension.

Windows Server 2025 Released in Public Preview

Microsoft has released the public preview of Windows Server 2025, which is available for evaluation in ISO format or via Azure images.

This release, expected to be generally available in fall, will be an LTSC release with mainstream support for five years and extended support for an additional five.

Windows Server 2025 introduces an easier update process, a pay-as-you-go subscription option, improvements to Azure Stack HCI, hotpatching, SMB over QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections), and more. Ian LeGrow head of Azure Edge + Platform highlights new features such as enhanced security, Azure hybrid capabilities, AI workload support, and Hyper-V performance improvements, making it (according to him) the most secure and innovative version to date.

Please contact your Licensing Account Manager to assist with the new licensing options for Windows Server 2025

Cloud & AI

AI improves quality of life (hearing)

Have you ever noticed that when you are in a room full of people, like at a party or business function, you just don't seem to hear the person speaking to you as well as you used to?

Well, as we age, our hearing deteriorates in different ways, but diminished hearing compared with when we were younger is pretty universal. This is known as a reduction of your "Speech Intelligibility Index", and if you are interested, you can read more about what that is here.

Now, here is a really good example of how AI can make a huge difference in your life. Imagine being able to look at someone talking, and by doing that, the "AI" will automatically filter out all other noise and even other voices, allowing you to focus on only the voice you want to hear. Imagine as a student in a classroom that is noisy, you can tune all the noise out and just hear the teacher - it can be a game changer for some students who may be hearing impaired and not even be aware of it.

Well, in probably in less than a year, your newest model airpods, or headphones will be doing what is shown here.

Waves has also developed a solution that does something similar called "SoloMode" demonstrated here. We will probably see this technology appearing in some form in AI PCs from the end of 2024 onwards as there is quite a heavy dependency on NPU computing capability.

Security

The danger of StalkerWare

These are Spyware applications that allow individuals and companies to surreptitiously spy on partners or employees.

This type of software crosses acceptable moral and ethical boundaries by being able to spy on people without their knowledge, but this gets even nastier when the companies that sell this type of software are hacked.

Here is an interesting story about software like this and the MANY reasons why anybody should not be using it.

It can backfire badly on the person that is using it to spy with when the company the person that bought the software from gets hacked.

Microsoft tracking new Ransomware

Microsoft is tracking a new North Korean group known as Moonstone Sleet which has developed it's own tools and infrastructure.

They have many ways of attacking a company, and as always it is the human element that is the weakest part of the attack strategy. You can read more about this new group here.

Pirated Office Delivers a malware Cocktail

This story of some very clever malware hidden inside a pirated install of Microsoft Office is a very good reminder that in today's world of bad guys lurking around every corner and under any rock that you stay away from anything that is even remotely dodgy.

What's up at FTG

CoPilot Readiness Workshops are available You can register for them here or here.

Copilot for Security Join BUI, (FTG’s Azure, Cloud and Security specialists) for an exclusive one-on-one demo session featuring Microsoft Security Copilot!

This is a prime opportunity for your team to experience the forefront of technology with our latest release. Dive into discussions about defining and understanding the consumption needs specific to your organisation.

Reserve your spot now! Sign up here.

NEW! FTG's BUI MonthlySecurity Blog

FTG's Azure and security division has launched a blog focused on Security - what's new, what changed and what you need to do to maintain a good security posture. The blog will be published monthly - and here is the 1st one - it's only 4mins long, and has some interesting information about:

New Recommendations in Entra ID
Entra Admin Center Updates
Conditional Access Policies Renaming
Phasing Out Legacy Identity Protection Policies

Movies

A big surprise is that Garfied may even overtake Furiosa at the box-office which could lead to us not getting another Mad Max movie - it was going to be called "Wasteland".

Now Playing: Haiku! The Dumpster Battle

Now Playing: Ezra

Now Playing: Face Deep

Now Playing: Mr & Mrs Mahi

7 June: Bad Boys: Ride or Die - This is promising to be a big release.

7 June: The Watchers (I won't!)