This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: FastTrack Blog articles.
On September 6th, Microsoft announced two new resources to help our customers shift to the modern desktop – Desktop Analytics and Desktop App Assure. As the FastTrack lead for application compatibility, I’ve spent the last 12 months speaking with many customers who are rolling out the modern desktop – Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus. I’ve learned first-hand that application compatibility is always top of mind, particularly as our customers move to the Windows 10 and O365 ProPlus update cadence. Although many customers consider Windows 10 to be highly compatible with existing applications, IT Pros are always on the lookout for information and support that boost their confidence as they upgrade their Windows devices.
We hear you loud and clear: your applications need to work on all supported versions of Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus. In response to your feedback, I’m pleased to build on the September 6th announcement and share details about our new service from Microsoft FastTrack: Desktop App Assure.
Windows 10 is the most compatible Windows operating system ever. Through millions of data points from customer diagnostics, and the Windows Insider validation process, we’ve found that 99 percent of apps are compatible with new Windows 10 versions. You should generally expect that most applications that work on Windows 7 will continue to work on Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus. But if you encounter application compatibility issues as you deploy Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus, or with a subsequent feature update, Desktop App Assure will help you fix them at no additional cost to your eligible subscription (150+ seats).
Our Desktop App Assure service is here to:
- Assist customers in remediating custom developed line-of-business applications
- Engage 3rd party software vendors to help remediate their Windows 10 applications and issue support statements for Windows-as-a-Service
- Address issues found in Microsoft first-party products (including Office macros & add-ins)
Desktop App Assure availability
Desktop App Assure will be in Preview in North America (English only) starting October 1st with global language support beginning February 1st, 2019. Get started today:
- Identify and validate Windows 10 applications and Office 365 ProPlus macros and add-ins that are essential to your business operations. Leverage Windows Analytics Upgrade Readiness and the Office 365 ProPlus Readiness Toolkit.
- After October 1st for North American customers, submit a request for help through the FastTrack Portal.
Learning from our global customers
We’ve had the opportunity to work with many customers as we piloted our service in recent months. We’ve gained insights into how Microsoft can enhance our tools, products and the Windows operating system to improve application compatibility. We’ve also learned how customers can reduce the burden of application testing by trying a few quick, but easy to forget troubleshooting steps before they embark on weeks of troubleshooting apps that appear not to work on Windows 10. Chris Jackson, a friend of our program, shared these learnings in a recent blog post. We will continue to share our learnings, product improvements and tips and tricks through Chris’ blog. I encourage you to share your feedback and most common compatibility concerns with us so that we can provide the information that is most helpful to you.
These are exciting times for me and the Desktop App Assure team and we look forward to working with many of you in the coming months. Beginning October 1st, you can find out more about Desktop App Assure at https://aka.ms/DesktopAppAssure. I’ll also share news related to the service and improvements we’re making based on our learnings via my Twitter page and Chris Jackson’s blog.
Attending Ignite?
Join our session BRK 2225: Speeding your way to the modern desktop with FastTrack where my colleagues and I will share information related to deploying the modern desktop with FastTrack, including more details about the Desktop App Assure service. I’d love to learn more about your needs, get your feedback on Desktop App Assure, and discuss how we can help your organization.