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Badomero Schoulund

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Aug 2, 2024, 10:00:40 PM8/2/24

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One of the benefits of Microsoft 365 Apps is that Microsoft provides new (and updated) features for Office apps, such as Excel and Word, regularly. You can control how often the users in your organization get these new features by specifying the update channel.

In addition to new features, update channels provide, as needed, security and non-security updates regularly, every month. Non-security updates provide fixes for known issues and provide stability or performance improvements for Office.

We recommend Current Channel, because it provides your users with the newest Office features as soon as they're ready. If you need more predictability of when these new Office features are released each month, we recommend Monthly Enterprise Channel. In those cases where you've select devices that require extensive testing before receiving new features, we recommend Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.

But, we realize that there are multiple factors that determine which update channel you select for your deployment of Microsoft 365 Apps. For example, network bandwidth utilization, end-user training and support, line-of-business applications, and other organizational requirements.

We recommend Current Channel, because it provides your users with the newest Office features as soon as they're ready. Current Channel usually receives new features at least once a month, but there's no set schedule for when those updates are released.

Current Channel also receives other updates during the month, which include security and non-security updates. There's no set schedule for these updates, but in general there are two or three releases each month, including one on the second Tuesday of the month.

New, or updated, features for Current Channel usually are released every month. There's no set schedule for when a feature update for Current Channel occurs. A feature update for Current Channel is made available only when various release criteria are met, including criteria related to stability and performance.

You should deploy Current Channel (Preview) to a small, representative sample of users in your organization. This small sample can help you identify any possible issues for your organization before those new features are released more broadly to your users that have Current Channel.

We also encourage you to use Current Channel (Preview) so that you can identify any possible issues that you want us to fix before that version is released to Current Channel. This approach can help reduce the number of non-security updates that are needed for Current Channel.

If needed, security updates for Current Channel are released on the second Tuesday of the month.Security updates are cumulative. The most current release of Current Channel includes the security updates from previous releases of Current Channel.

Non-security updates can be released at other times. For example, to fix an issue with a new feature that was recently released. In general, Current Channel can get two or three updates per month that contain only non-security updates.

Any given version of Current Channel is supported only until the next version of Current Channel is released, which is usually every month. For example, Version 2004 is supported until Version 2005 is released. To see which version of Current Channel is currently supported, refer to the table at the top of Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps.

Introduce the latest Monthly Enterprise Channel features within your organization by having a select group of users download and use the new version as soon as it's available on the Office CDN. Following this initial release, gradually deploy the new version across your entire organization. Over the span of several days, Office automatically recognizes and accesses the latest version from the Office CDN.

If you plan to use Current Channel for previews, its new features could differ from the features in the next Monthly Enterprise Channel update. Current Channel features aren't always the same features in the upcoming update for Monthly Enterprise Channel. The difference is because Current Channel might have new features. These features are first available to a few users and are rolled out gradually. Monthly Enterprise Channel only contains features that are rolled out in Current Channel. Therefore, a new feature that's available in Current Channel might not be available in Monthly Enterprise Channel for several months, because the feature is still being rolled out in Current Channel.

If needed, non-security updates for Monthly Enterprise Channel are provided on the second Tuesday of the month. Non-security updates provide fixes for known issues and provide stability or performance improvements for Office.

To ensure a seamless experience with Copilot's rapidly evolving AI capabilities, updates could be introduced to Monthly Enterprise Channel ahead of the usual timeline. This proactive approach is all about enhancing the quality of Copilot features within Microsoft 365. For consistent quality, these updates are deployed only after a full rollout in Current Channel.Updates deployed to Monthly Enterprise Channel in this manner are documented like any other update in the release notes.

Any given version of Monthly Enterprise Channel is supported for two months. For example, the version of Monthly Enterprise Channel that is released on the second Tuesday of August is supported until the second Tuesday of October.

At any given time, there are always two versions of Monthly Enterprise Channel that are supported. To see which versions of Monthly Enterprise Channel are currently supported, refer to the table at the top of Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps.

Updates to Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel are released on the second Tuesday of the month. In January and July, the monthly update can include feature, security, and non-security updates. In other months, the update can include security and non-security updates.

Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview) is released with new features twice a year, on the second Tuesday in March and September. This schedule provides you with four months before those same new features are released in Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel. Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview) also receives, if needed, security and non-security updates every month, on the second Tuesday of the month.

You should deploy Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview) to a small, representative sample of users in your organization. This approach can help you identify any possible issues for your organization before the new features are released more broadly to your users on Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.

We recommend using Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview). This approach allows you to identify and report any potential issues. We can then address these concerns in the four months prior to the version's release on Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel. Once a version is released to Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel, the approval process for non-security updates becomes even more rigorous.

If needed, non-security updates for Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel are provided on the second Tuesday of the month. Non-security updates provide fixes for known issues and provide stability or performance improvements for Office.

Any given version of Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel is supported for 14 months. The new Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel version released in January receives support until March of the next year. Similarly, the version released in July is supported until September of the following year.

At any given time, there are always two versions of Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel that are supported. To see which versions of Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel are currently supported, refer to the table at the top of Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps.

Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel offers extended support to give organizations more time and flexibility. The extended support is especially helpful for thoroughly testing devices before implementing new Office features. For example, in those cases where organizations have to comply with specific regulatory, governmental, or other organizational requirements. The longer support duration gives these organizations the ability to deploy new features only once a year if needed.

Not all devices in your organization have to be configured with the same update channel. For example, IT staff and application developers might be on Current Channel (Preview), so that they can try out upcoming new Office features, while the rest of the organization is on Monthly Enterprise Channel. When you implement various update channels in your organization, consider that different user groups might have access to distinct features based on their update channel. This variation in features can make collaboration between groups more challenging.

The default update channel for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and Microsoft 365 Apps for business is Current Channel. This channel is also the default for the subscription versions of the Project and Visio desktop apps.

You can use the Office Deployment Tool and specify the Channel attribute in your configuration file. There's a Channel attribute available in the Add element and in the Updates element. For more information, see Configuration options for the Office Deployment Tool.

You can download the Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) and enable the Update Channel policy setting. When you enable the policy setting, you can select the appropriate update channel from a drop-down list. You can find this policy setting under Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2016 (Machine)\Updates.

If you allow your users to install Office for themselves from the portal, you can specify which update channel they install. To do that, sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center with your admin account, go to Show all > Settings > Org settings > Services > Microsoft 365 installation options, and then choose the appropriate update channel for your users. This setting applies to all users in your tenant and only applies to users that install Office for themselves from the portal.