Database, Analytics, and AI/ML

New! Maia 200 Aims to Lower AI Inference Costs February 5, 2026 The new generation of Microsoft custom AI silicon offers better price/performance for large-scale inference. It’s...more SQL Server 2016/2017 Database Migration: So Many Choices January 26, 2026 Organizations should develop plans to migrate off SQL Server 2016/2017 before the end of Extended support.  Migrating the database is likely the largest task but is manageable and less...more Microsoft IQ: Look at the Details, Not the Branding January 24, 2026 Microsoft IQ is a marketing term, not a product. It encompasses a combination of new...more Work IQ Models Work for Microsoft 365 Copilot January 22, 2026 Work IQ is the latest service to analyze Microsoft 365 tenant data for work patterns...more M365 Copilot Adds Choice (and Risk) with Anthropic’s Claude January 20, 2026 Microsoft has partnered with Anthropic, adding its Claude models to Microsoft 365 Copilot (M365 Copilot)....more Top Reasons to Use SQL Server 2025 and a Few Reasons to Avoid It January 14, 2026 SQL Server 2025 reached general availability in Nov. 2025 and offers compelling changes that should...more Foundry Gets New Name, Anthropic Models January 12, 2026 Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft’s Web-based tool for professional developers building AI-powered applications and agents, is...more Visual Studio 2026 Smooths AI Integration, First of Annual Releases Updated: January 11, 2026 Visual Studio 2026, Microsoft’s flagship development product, became generally available in Nov. 2025, and major...more Executive Focus: Valuing M365 Copilot   January 6, 2026 Assessing the ROI of M365 Copilot is difficult; but AI could soon be like e-mail—a...more SQL Server 2016/2017 Migration Strategy: Risks and Opportunities January 5, 2026 SQL Server 2016 and 2017 are leaving Extended support (in July 2026 and Oct. 2027,...more Power BI Report Server: Licensing Changes Offer Potential Cost Savings December 15, 2025 Power BI Report Server licensing rules changed with SQL Server 2025, offering potential cost savings....more Azure Copilot Agents Simplify Azure Operation, Optimization December 14, 2025 The Azure portal has had a Copilot for more than a year, but it has...more How Microsoft’s New Agent Pricing Option Affects Costs Updated: December 5, 2025 A new upfront purchasing option for agents provides discounts over pay-as-you-go billing. The new option...more Understanding Pay as You Go Billing for M365 Copilot “Lite” Agents December 4, 2025 Pay as you go (PAYG) billing for M365 Copilot services, which include M365 Copilot Chat...more Goodbye SQL Server Reporting Services and Hello Power BI Report Server December 1, 2025 SQL Server 2025 (released in Nov. 2025) will not include Reporting Services (SSRS), its long-standing reporting...more The Microsoftification of GitHub Updated: November 30, 2025 Microsoft organizational changes suggest that GitHub will receive more direct Microsoft control and oversight. The...more

GitHub Copilot Tier Comparison June 3, 2025 Navigating Microsoft’s Copilots Updated: May 11, 2025

  Product Reference Microsoft 365 Copilot New M365 Copilot features and Anthropic. Copilot Chat is moved to its own Product entry.   Product Reference Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat M365 Copilot Chat (unlicensed) is separated from M365 Copilot (licensed)   Licensing Reference Copilot Studio Copilot Studio provides makers (also known as citizen developers) with low-code tools to build agents...more   Product Reference Microsoft Foundry Microsoft Foundry is a Web-based development tool for professional developers to create, test, and deploy...more   Product Reference DocumentDB Azure DocumentDB offers a highly compatible MongoDB service using the open-standard DocumentDB platform that runs...more   Product Reference AI Services Azure AI Services are a collection of cloud services enabling developers to add specific artificial...more   Product Reference Cache for Redis Roadmap for Cache for Redis, an in-memory caching service that stores copies of application data...more   Product Reference Managed Redis Azure Managed Redis is an Azure-hosted, Microsoft-managed caching service built on Redis software. Redis is...more   Product Reference Fabric Overview Microsoft Fabric is a data and analytics cloud service that simplifies the deployment and use...more   Product Reference Data Explorer Azure Data Explorer is a cloud service that helps query and analyze large-scale data streams,...more   Product Reference Event Hubs Azure Event Hubs provides a brokering service for streaming data that is compatible with Apache...more   Product Reference OneLake OneLake is the core data management component in Microsoft Fabric. It can host and query...more   Product Reference Fabric Data Warehouse Fabric Data Warehouse, one of the main Fabric experiences, provides a SQL-based database solution where...more   Product Reference Fabric Data Factory Fabric Data Factory, one of the main Fabric experiences, is used for creating data integration...more   Product Reference Power BI Power BI, a part of Microsoft Fabric, is Microsoft’s primary data visualization offering. It contains...more   Product Reference Fabric Data Engineering Fabric Data Engineering, one of the main Fabric experiences, provides an environment where data engineers...more

Database, Analytics, and AI/ML Roadmap

Copilot   Fabric