Microsoft to release service update for Intune this month, includes Windows 10 optimizations

Microsoft's Intune Team recently announced its intention to roll out the latest service update for the company's Intune management solution within the next two weeks.

The new service update for Intune will largely consist of management optimizations for Windows 10, with improvements being made specifically to support the new features that are native and unique to the operating system, such as the Health Attestation Service and Microsoft Passport. The update will also enable administrators to remotely perform complete data wipes on Windows 10 desktops enrolled with the service.

Microsoft's Health Attestation Service—unveiled during Microsoft's 2015 Windows Hardware Engineering Community—relies on the attestation feature of the Trusted Platform Module and enables administrators to assess the trustworthiness of configurations (e.g., BitLocker status) before granting access to corporate resources. The January 2016 update for Intune will enable administrators to enforce Attestation Service device compliance and view data collected by the service from within the Intune console itself.

The January 2016 update for Intune will also enable administrators to enforce policies related to Microsoft's 'Passport for Work' feature; administrators will be able to configure specific authentication methods that may be used to sign-in to devices enrolled with the management service.

Windows is not the only platform that will be receiving management improvements, as Microsoft intends to roll out new offerings for the management of enrolled Android and iOS devices. Intune will include a new option to configure the Smart Lock feature included in Android 5 (Lollipop), and iOS users will be able to select their own e-mail app—instead of the default—when sending diagnostic reports.

Microsoft projects that the latest service update for Intune will be made available between January 6 and January 14.

Source: Microsoft