Posts by Joaoferreira

Hands-On tek Turns 14!

What do these two boxes have in common? One says FrontPage 98, the other says SharePoint 2001. At first glance, they look like relics from a different eras, but they share a story that shaped my career.

Today, Hands-On tek turns 14 years old. Fourteen years ago, I was sitting in a master class about Android development, when I decided to start a blog. I had no idea that decision would lead me here. Every year, I’ve marked this anniversary by telling stories about the blog or about myself. This year, I want to take you even further back, before the blog, before my career, back to when I was 12.

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By João Ferreira Jan 10, 2026 Events 2 Comments

Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 52)

The last week of 2025 was pretty quiet for Microsoft 365 updates, but it still managed to deliver one of my favorite features of the year, the new SharePoint and Microsoft Lists agent for Copilot. I’ve been waiting
for something like this, and it’s great to see it finally land.

I took a few weeks off to enjoy the holidays with my family. This year, we decided to escape the cold up north and headed to Uruguay for some summer sun. Even while I was away, I couldn’t resist putting together my early recap of the top 5 features of the year.

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By João Ferreira Jan 2, 2026 Pulse 0 Comments

What’s new for Copilot – December 2025

December was a quieter month than usual for Copilot, but that does not mean there is a lack of updates. In fact, there are dozens of improvements to explore. For this post, I am highlighting three key features that stand out for their impact on usability and productivity.

The first is the new GPT-5 Mode Selector, which introduces Auto, Quick response, and Think deeper options. Copilot now defaults to GPT-5, and users can choose the mode that best fits their workflow. Your selection persists across chats, making it easier to control the depth and speed of responses.

Another improvement is the ability to RSVP to meetings directly in Copilot chat. You can now accept, decline, mark tentative, follow, or remove canceled meetings without leaving the chat experience. Finally, Copilot is upgrading its image generation capabilities by replacing GPT-4o with OpenAI’s GPT-Image-1.5 model, it delivers better quality, speed, and accuracy for image generation without altering compliance or admin settings.

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By João Ferreira Jan 2, 2026 Copilot 0 Comments

Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 51)

The last weeks of the year often feel slower as holiday festivities take center stage, but this Christmas week brings some real gifts for SharePoint administrators. In this edition, we’re highlighting two important updates that can make a big difference in governance and security. First, the Site Attestation Policy is now generally available. This feature allows SharePoint admins to require site owners to periodically verify site ownership, membership, and sharing settings. It’s designed to help reduce compliance risks and prevent oversharing. The policy is off by default, so it requires admin setup, and it comes with configurable enforcement actions to ensure accountability.

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By João Ferreira Dec 23, 2025 Pulse 0 Comments

Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 50)

As we get closer to the end of the year, things are slowing down and that’s completely normal. With fewer updates coming through, this is the perfect time to pause, reflect, and start planning for what’s ahead.

While you’re doing that, I want to share something exciting. There’s a silent revolution happening in SharePoint that’s about to transform intranets and finally solve the problem of stale content. If you create content for your organization, check out my article on what’s changing and why it matters.

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By João Ferreira Dec 15, 2025 Pulse 0 Comments

Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 49)

This week’s pulse update is packed with all the important updates from November for SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft Viva. There’s a lot to catch up on, especially after all the exciting announcements from Microsoft Ignite and the European SharePoint Conference over the past few weeks.

This week, I want to highlight something that could really impact your custom SharePoint Framework solutions: new Content Security Policies coming to SharePoint Online. If your solutions aren’t built properly or if you’re still relying on the custom script editor web part, these changes could break certain functionality.

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By João Ferreira Dec 9, 2025 Pulse 0 Comments

What’s new for Copilot – November 2025

November 2025 was Ignite month, and that means a ton of new features rolled out across Microsoft Copilot. As always, it’s tough to pick just a few highlights, but some really shine this month.

One of the stars is the People Agent, now in preview. Figuring out who’s who and how they fit into the org chart is always a challenge, especially in large, global organizations. The People Agent makes it so much easier by surfacing insights from emails, chats, meetings, and documents. It’s a huge help for meeting prep and just understanding how everyone fits together.

Another personal favorite is Copilot’s new scheduling capability. Now you can just ask Copilot to set up meetings directly from your chat. No more back and forth trying to find a time that works for everyone. Copilot checks schedules and gives you the available slots. It’s a lifesaver for avoiding those human-error moments.

And on the chat side, there’s now a GPT-5 model selector. Sometimes you don’t need super deep reasoning for quick questions, and now you can pick the right level for what you

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By João Ferreira Dec 9, 2025 Copilot 0 Comments

Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 48)

This past week was one of the calmest of the year—probably because the holiday season is kicking off. Still, there are relevant updates you should know about, and I picked two to bring to your attention from last week.

Forget the calendar gymnastics. Just tell Copilot who you want to meet with and when, and it will check everyone’s availability, propose time slots, and make scheduling painless. No more time‑zone headaches or digging through ten calendars for one slot. This is a game‑changer for me.

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By João Ferreira Dec 2, 2025 Pulse 0 Comments

Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 47)

Last week was packed! Microsoft Ignite dropped a flood of Microsoft 365 announcements, and honestly, it might have been the busiest week of the year. No surprise, AI and Copilot were front and center, and there’s still plenty to digest. I’ll be unpacking more over the next few weeks.

For now, I want to highlight two SharePoint updates that can really help with intranet adoption: SharePoint Page Agent and the new FAQs web part. If outdated content has been slowing you down, these tools make it easier than ever to keep things fresh and engaging!

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By João Ferreira Nov 25, 2025 Pulse 0 Comments

Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 46)

Ignite week is on. Microsoft is in San Francisco and we’re about to see a crazy amount of Microsoft 365 updates dropping fast. Before the floodgates open, here’s a quick warm‑up with my highlights from last week.

My SharePoint highlights (you know this is a dear topic for me):

• Branding governance via PowerShell — Tenant admins can now centrally manage site branding. Enforce enterprise themes, block custom branding on selected sites, and audit changes. Consistency and governance finally come together without manual policing.

• Official dark themes for SharePoint — Two Microsoft-designed dark themes land out of the box. Accessible, comfortable in low-light, and consistent with Microsoft’s design system. A simple win for look + usability.



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By João Ferreira Nov 17, 2025 Pulse 0 Comments