M365 – Know the latest releases / updates / release history of M365 apps

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Today new M365 concept, new learning 🙂

Background : In our organization we have huge user base and we are using M365 intranet and office apps. Requirement came from our management that for some purpose they want to know the latest release details of office apps

Following is the table showing latest versions and respective release date

Channel	Version	Build	Release date	Version supported until
Current Channel	2105	14026.20246	May 24, 2021	Version 2106 is released
Monthly Enterprise Channel	2103	13901.20516	May 11, 2021	July 13, 2021
Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)	2102	13801.20638	May 11, 2021	September 14, 2021

Latest release and updates of M365 apps (Word, Excel, Teams) depends on Update channel option selected

How to know the update channel of our Tenant:

1. Open the Admin app

OR Login to M365 admin portal – https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home and navigate to SharePoint admin center

• From admin center – navigate to Settings >> Org settings page as

• We will be redirected to “Settings” page as –  https://admin.microsoft.com/#/Settings/Services

• Click on “Office installation options” right panel will open as shown in below fig

• Security updates are monthly released – on second Tuesday of every month

Following are few details about update channels:

• Current Channel
  • It provides newest office features as soon as they are ready
  • Current Channel usually receives new features at least once a month, but there is no set schedule for when those updates are released
  • A feature update for Current Channel is made available only when various release criteria are met, including criteria related to stability and performance
  • Latest release till today: 24 May 2021 – release notes are available on – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/current-channel
  • Support duration for current channel: 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

• Monthly Enterprise Channel
  • With this channel organization want to provide new office features every month, but only one update per month
  • Updates are released on second Tuesday of every month
  • Latest release till today: 11 May 2021 – release notes are available on – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/monthly-enterprise-channel
  • Support duration for current channel:  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

• Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel
  • Microsoft recommends this channel only when there is specific reason for organization to update or to have new features only twice in year
  • Microsoft also recommends we should deploy Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview) to a small, representative sample of users in your organization. This will help us to identify any possible issues for your organization before those new features are released more broadly to all users that have Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel
  • Updates to Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel are released on the second Tuesday of the month
  • Latest release till today: 11 May 2021
  • Support duration for current channel: Any given version of Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel is supported for fourteen months. At any given time, there are always two versions of Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel that are supported. Example – new version of Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel that is released in January is supported until March of the following year, and the July release is supported until September of the following year

Note: Microsoft recommends “Current Channel”, since it provides newest features as soon as they are ready

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