Service Update: July 2009 Release Availability, Features Announced
The Microsoft Online Services Service Update for July 2009 will begin deployment into production data centers on July 7 and is scheduled to be available to all customers by mid-July; updates to the release deployment status will be posted to the comment section of this blog post.
No scheduled downtime is planned for the Microsoft Online Administration Center or the availability of the services in the Business Productivity Online Suite. Downtime is expected for the Microsoft Online Customer Portal, which will affect an organization's ability to set up trials, buy subscriptions, and modify their subscriptions. Watch this Team Blog for additional information on planned downtime.
The following features are included in this Service Update for July 2009:
Increase for SharePoint Online File Uploads. The maximum file size for documents uploaded to SharePoint Online increases from 50MB to 250MB.
More Live Meeting Attendees. Meetings hosted in Live Meeting Standard can accommodate up to 250 attendees, an increase from 15 attendees per meeting. This change applies to all users of Live Meeting Standard, including those that own Live Meeting licenses as part of their Business Productivity Online Suite. The upgrade will be available for new customers after July 13; existing Live Meeting customers will be upgraded by August 13.
Microsoft Online Services Trials for India. India becomes the newest market for Microsoft Online Services and the Business Productivity Online Suite. Trial accounts will be available to organizations in India with this service update. Commercial availability is targeted for Fall 2009.
Quick Trials. The process for getting a Microsoft Online Services trial is significantly streamlined. With updates to the Microsoft Online Customer Portal, user actions required to set up a trial account are reduced by 75 percent and better integration with Live ID authentication.
Worldwide User Provisioning. Administrators can assign user licenses to worldwide users, an important addition for multi-national organizations with users in numerous countries. Previously, administrators could only assign user licenses to users located in countries where Microsoft Online Services are marketed and sold. Users located in a country where use of Microsoft products is prohibited or restricted, however, still cannot be provisioned. Customers and Partners should consult with their Microsoft contact for additional information on these prohibitions and restrictions.
