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Change log

Changes from Microsoft in May 2026

12 changes

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May 2026

Pricing(2)

  1. Microsoft Marketplace: SaaS billing can start at purchase with auto activation

    PricingMicrosoft Marketplace

    Publishers can start your subscription the moment you buy, even if setup comes later. Auto activation is on by default for new plans, off for existing ones, and also covers private offers.

    • Microsoft Marketplace
    #Microsoft’s announcement

  2. Microsoft 365 E3 (Switzerland): three-year term at three times the one-year price from 1 June 2026

    PricingMicrosoft 365 E3

    You now pay three times the one-year price for the prepaid three-year SKU, on new purchases and renewals. The 1 July 2026 Microsoft 365 E3 price change still applies to both terms.

    #Microsoft’s announcement

Licensing(3)

  1. Microsoft 365 Copilot: three-year CSP term available from 100 licences since 1 May 2026

    LicensingMicrosoft 365 Copilot

    You can now commit to Microsoft 365 Copilot for three years, as you already could with Microsoft 365 E3 and E5.

    #Microsoft’s announcement

  2. Microsoft Marketplace: revised Terms of Use apply automatically from 27 May 2026

    LicensingMicrosoft Marketplace

    You do not need to sign or accept anything.

    • Microsoft Marketplace
    #Microsoft’s announcement

  3. CSP: subscriptions with auto-renew off roll into a paid extended service term from 4 May 2026

    Licensing

    It applies to subscriptions bought or renewed from 1 April 2025. Choose renew or cancel before the end date to avoid it; cancelling ends your access to the service.

    #Microsoft’s announcement

Products & features(4)

  1. Microsoft 365 Copilot: Frontier program adds Cowork, Critique, Council and agentic Outlook

    Products & featuresMicrosoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Cowork +3 +2

    Cowork runs multistep tasks in the background, Critique and Council work inside Researcher, and Copilot in Outlook has handled inbox and calendar work since 27 April. Legal Agent in Word is for US customers only.

    #Microsoft’s announcement

  2. Microsoft Security Store: in Microsoft Entra and Microsoft Purview; Advisor now generally available

    Products & featuresMicrosoft Security Store, Microsoft Entra +2 +1

    Your identity, data protection and compliance teams find, compare and deploy partner security solutions where they already work. The Advisor adds natural-language search and side-by-side comparison.

    • Microsoft Security Store
    • Microsoft Entra
    • Microsoft Purview
    #Microsoft’s announcement

  3. Azure Database for PostgreSQL: AI-assisted Oracle migration arrives in Visual Studio Code

    Products & featuresAzure Database for PostgreSQL, Visual Studio Code +1

    The PostgreSQL extension helps you convert Oracle schemas and application code, cutting manual migration work.

    • Azure Database for PostgreSQL
    • Visual Studio Code
    #Microsoft’s announcement

  4. Microsoft 365 E7 and Microsoft Agent 365: generally available and listed on the CSP price list

    Products & featuresMicrosoft 365 E7, Microsoft Agent 365 +1

    Microsoft 365 E7 bundles Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Agent 365 and Microsoft Entra Suite with advanced Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Purview features. With Agent 365 you observe, govern and secure Microsoft and third-party AI agents.

    #Microsoft’s announcement

Retirements(2)

  1. Windows 365 Business with Windows Hybrid Benefit: new sales stop on 1 May 2026

    RetirementsWindows 365 Business

    Existing subscriptions keep working and can renew. There is no automatic move to non-WHB SKUs and no in-place migration, so switching means a manual migration.

    • Windows 365 Business
    #Microsoft’s announcement

  2. Azure Reserved VM Instances: older series can't be bought or renewed from 1 July 2026

    RetirementsAzure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances

    One-year terms end for Av2, Amv2, Bv1, D, Ds, Dv2, Dsv2, F, Fs, Fsv2, G, Gs, Ls and Lsv2; one- and three-year terms for Dv3, Dsv3, Ev3 and Esv3. Existing reservations run to term, then usage is billed pay-as-you-go.

    • Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances
    #Microsoft’s announcement

Security(1)

  1. Windows Secure Boot: 2011 certificates run out in June and October 2026

    SecurityWindows 11, Windows 10 +2 +1

    Many devices on supported Windows versions update automatically. On Windows Server and some devices you need to install the new certificates, for example with Microsoft Intune, Group Policy or registry keys.

    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows Server
    #Microsoft’s announcement

  1. Microsoft 365 roadmap: 107 features planned for general availability this month: 62 launched, 25 rolling out, 20 in development

    Most features: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) (32) · Microsoft Teams (26) · Outlook (25) · Microsoft Purview (8) · Microsoft 365 app (7)

    Open the Microsoft 365 roadmap

Source: Microsoft Partner Center announcements, May 2026

What next?

Model it for your organisationEnter your headcount and see the cost at Microsoft’s Swiss list prices, with a check for gaps and overlaps.Open the licence modeller →Find a Swiss IT partner162 Swiss IT partners that sell Microsoft licences. Filter by canton, language and product.Browse IT partners →

ClearSource summarises Microsoft’s announcements in its own words and links each one to the original. Announcements that only concern Microsoft’s partners (partner programmes, tools, incentives) are left out. Prices are Microsoft’s public list prices for Switzerland in CHF, excl. VAT.