Microsoft announced the next Office version at Microsoft Ignite this week. The new Office 2019 contains the well-known Office apps like Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as the Office server products such as Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business. Previews of the new products will start shipping mid-year 2018, the final release will be late 2018.

The SharePoint Server 2019 on-premises version is built on

The second day of Microsoft Ignite 2017 was packed with many exciting Office 365, SharePoint and OneDrive announcements. A sum-up of the most relevant news and announcements in a summary below.

News and Annoucements of Day 1

 
SharePoint Server 2019
Office 2019 has been announced, containing Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) and the server products (Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business). The means the next SharePoint on-premises version is on its way. Previews of the new products will start shipping mid-year 2018.

The first day of Microsoft Ignite 2017 is over. To keep track of all the updates I summarized the news and announcements below.

News and Annoucements of Day 2

 
Calling features in Microsoft Teams
All communications features will be moved into the Microsoft Teams client. Teams will become the core communications client for Office 365 users and replaces the Skype for Business client “over time”. New calling features, inbound and outbound calls to PSTN numbers, call transfer, hold, voicemail and audio conferencing will be added to Microsoft Teams.

Good morning Microsoft Ignite attendees! Today thousands of IT Professionals from across the world are listening the latest news and product updates in Orlando, FL. The Microsoft Ignite is Microsoft’s biggest IT Pro conference with over 1600 sessions. To find and attend the most relevant sessions is quite a challenge. To support you in this process I’ve curated a list with the top 10 sessions from my point of view. It’s all about the Modern Workplace including Office 365, Azure AD, SharePoint, Teams and many more.

 
Microsoft 365: Unlock creativity and empower teamwork in the modern workplace
Jeff Teper, Ron Markezich
Session Code: GS09

Provide digital tools that enable people in your organization to do their best work. Learn about the latest innovations in Microsoft Office 365, including SharePoint, Teams, Visio, Yammer, and more. Corporate Vice Presidents Ron Markezich and Jeff Teper give you an inside look at the latest collaboration tools and use cases, a peek around the corner at what’s coming soon, exciting demos, and what other customers are doing to bring creativity and teamwork to life in the modern workplace.

Another amazing year as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) is over. One of the highlights was the MVP Summit at the Microsoft headquarters which I could attend for the second time. Beside this I organized several community events under the label of the SharePointCommunity.ch and was one of the co-organizers of the first SharePoint Saturday in Zurich. And last but not least I flooded the social media platforms with posts about SharePoint, Office 365 and Azure.

Under thousands of SharePoint blogs feedspot has selected the “Top 50 Sharepoint Blogs and Websites for SharePoint Administrators, Architects, Developers and Business users”. According to feedspot these blogs are ranked based on following criteria:

• Google reputation and Google search ranking
• Influence and popularity on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites
• Quality and consistency of posts
• Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review

Below you may find the build numbers, descriptions, KB article links and direct download links for all SharePoint Server 2013, SharePoint Foundation 2013, Project Server 2013 and Office Web Apps Server 2013 versions/updates.

Jump to SharePoint 2016 build numbers and CUs

Microsoft announced to prevent the creation of new Access-based apps in SharePoint Online starting in June 2017 and will shut down any remaining apps by April 2018. Therefore you should no longer use Access Services for new apps in Office 365. Microsoft added a new feature to export existing data to a SharePoint list. Recommended replacements for Access Services are PowerApps and Microsoft Flow.

What’s happening to Access Services in SharePoint Server on-premises?

Weeks before the European SharePoint conference (Nov 14-17, 2016) had started the European SharePoint community was asked to vote for their top European SharePoint influencers. During last Wednesdays ESPC award night, the 4th annual announcement of the top 25 European SharePoint influencers took place in the Vienna Hofburg Imperial Palace. The Hofburg Palace is the former imperial palace, of which a part is used by the President of Austria as residence and workplace today.

Here’s acollection of the ‘must see’ SharePoint, Office 365 and Azure sessions at Microsoft Ignite 2016 (so far). Enjoy the videos!

UPDATED LIST

Explore Microsoft SharePoint Server 2016 and beyond
Troy Starr, Bill Baer