The company announced updates to OneDrive, Microsoft Stream, and Microsoft Lists while bringing Copilot to SharePoint. Credit: Brijith Vijayan / Getty Images / Microsoft Microsoft has announced a host of new updates for SharePoint and OneDrive, including a refresh of OneDrive, Microsoft Lists, and Microsoft Steam, in addition to an integration with the company’s generative AI application, Copilot, which will enable users to create new types of SharePoint content more easily. The OneDrive refresh has resulted in a visual and functional upgrade for the storage offering, designed to help users quickly find files and keep content automatically organized depending on whether it’s a shared file, who collaborated on it, and if it’s tied to a meeting. Users will also be able to filter by file type, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files. The file-sharing experience has also been simplified while an improved copy link process now provides clear on-screen confirmation that the link has been copied. New enhancements to Microsoft Lists include updated forms for information collection inside and outside your organization, alongside performance enhancements and updated user experiences, including new filters, item groupings, and the ability to see who’s working inside the list in real time. Microsoft has also updated Microsoft Stream, so the web player now includes improved features such as transcripts, captions, chapters, sharing, background noise suppression, variable speed playback, and analytics, while the new video-focused page templates support the publication of professional content from SharePoint and Microsoft Stream. Custom templates with built-in automation will also soon be available to Microsoft Lists users. Introducing Copilot to SharePoint Having previously integrated Copilot with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Viva, the generative AI technology is now being introduced to help SharePoint users build more compelling and engaging SharePoint sites and pages. Copilot will boost SharePoint in four key ways, including providing simpler authoring, content creation, deeper engagement, and flexibility. Users will be able to use natural language and AI to author SharePoint pages and collaborate with others in real time, while also creating visually striking sites and pages with images and videos, branding and theming, typography, layouts, and animations. Furthermore, new integrations for SharePoint into email, Teams, and Microsoft Viva will allow users to collaborate inside the platforms they frequently work on and measure the impact of content, and tailor SharePoint sites to specific workflows and integrate them with custom applications. “The future of SharePoint brings powerful, intuitive, and expressive experiences with fewer manual steps and the help of AI,” said Jeff Tapper, in a blog post announcing the news. “The vision aims to unleash millions of site owners, news authors, page creators, and portal administrators to write, brand, publish, and share content with ease.” Related content news analysis Apple earnings: About that iPhone 'slump' in China Based on information from Thursday's earnings report, it seems that data pointing to an iPhone slump in China were over-baked. By Jonny Evans May 03, 2024 9 mins iMac iPhone Apple news Microsoft begins to phase out ‘classic’ Teams Microsoft is encouraging Teams customers to move to the new, faster version of the collaboration app; the older version will be switched off next year. By Matthew Finnegan May 03, 2024 3 mins Microsoft Teams Collaboration Software Productivity Software news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe