Tech journalist and Windows expert Paul Thurrott discusses the end of life for Windows 10, potential extension of support, Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and speculation about Windows 12. The conversation covers Microsoft's data collection policies, AI technology shift, and the evolution of Windows in the cloud era, including subscription services and work separation using cloud instances. Speculation on Microsoft's future plans and the potential for a paid, ad-free version of Windows.

Machine learning models need updating - what's the reliable way to do it? While in Romania, Richard sat down with Annie Talvasto to talk about her work helping to build DevOps practices around machine learning: Building repeatable processes for data ingestions, cleaning, organization, model building, and deployment. The challenges are the arrays of skilled people needed to operate and evaluate the pipeline - it takes domain experts to know if the machine learning results are accurate and valuable. Tooling can help, but it is only in the early days. If your organization is keen to get machine learning into the company, you need to do some careful planning!LinksJupyter NotebookPandasMLFlowAzure Machine LearningRecorded April 20, 2024

Jef Kazimer from Microsoft talks about identity governance with Entra, covering identity lifecycle, device cycles, and how Entra's tooling streamlines identity changes. They discuss Entra's capabilities in permission management, entitlement management, and identity lifecycle workflows. The conversation highlights the importance of effective identity governance in maintaining security standards.

How does artificial intelligence fit in with SQL Server? At the Microsoft Fabric Conference in Las Vegas, Richard sat down with Muazma Fahid and Bob Ward to discuss the AI developments in SQL Server. Muazma talks about SQL Server as a crucial source of data for building machine learning models and the new features added to make SQL Server a key store for vector data and other elements of machine learning. There's also Copilot for Azure SQL Data to help with diagnostics in your databases and to use natural language to write queries - it SQL Server Natural Language Query all over again, but certainly better than ever. LinksResponsible AI PracticesPhi-2Retrieval Augmented GenerationCopilot for Azure SQL DataJSON in SQL ServerRegEx in SQL Serversp_invoke_external_rest_endpointSQL AIRecorded March 27, 2024

Sydney Smith discusses PowerShell 7.4, highlighting successful delivery of PSResourceGet and PSReadline. They examine sysadmins sticking with PowerShell 5.1, emphasizing that PowerShell 7 has feature parity and new features enhancing quality and security.

How can GitHub Copilot help you? Richard chats with Damian Brady at NDC Sydney about the power of GitHub Copilot to help you understand and write the bits of code you need - whether you're using PowerShell, understanding a RegEx expression, or trying to get a Bash prompt right. GitHub Copilot and help to explain the code you've got, even across workspaces - so you can find all the scripts that changes might impact. And if you think it's time to rewrite some old scripts into more modern languages, GitHub Copilot can help with that, too!LinksGitHub Copilot for BusinessGitHub DependabotGitHub Code ScanningGitHub Copilot in the CLIRecorded February 14, 2024

As Artificial Intelligence enters our organizations, how do we secure them? While at NDC in Sydney, Richard sat down with Sarah Young to discuss the challenges of securing these new technologies. Sarah talks a bit about the fundamentals - in the end, AI technology is just more software and needs all the same authentication and authorization that other apps need. However, there are some unique aspects and potential exploits that you can address through tooling and education. We're all learning these new AI technologies and how to apply them in our organizations - training is essential!LinksAzure OpenAI ServiceSystem Message Framework and Template Recommendations for Large Language ModelsMicrosoft PurviewMicrosoft EntraNot with a Bug, But with a StickerRecorded February 14, 2024

How can Microsoft Copilot for Security help you? While at NDC in Sydney, Richard chatted with George Coldham about Microsoft Copilot for Security - combining GPT-4 with information about Microsoft security products and your organization's resources in Azure to provide guidance and insight into making your company more secure. George talks about how it's early days for this copilot - and it's only in preview so far. Bringing together the vast array of security products that Microsoft makes, Microsoft Copilot for Security brings the ability of Large Language Models to summarize data to help you understand where the organization's security vulnerabilities exist and how to address them. You want to get in on this preview!LinksMicrosoft Copilot for SecurityUnified Security Operations PlatformMicrosoft SentinelMicrosoft Security Portals and Admin CentersMicrosoft Defender for EndpointMicrosoft Defender for CloudMicrosoft EntraMicrosoft PurviewMicrosoft PrivaKusto Query LanguageMicrosoft Defender Threat IntelligenceRecorded February 13, 2024

April Edwards discusses how GitHub can assist sysadmins and organizations with workflow management using GitHub Actions, automating tasks, improving traceability, and enhancing efficiency. The podcast explores the evolution of GitHub beyond coding, onboarding automation, development environment setup with Dev Containers, transitioning to GitHub Actions, secure configurations in Azure, and exploring GitHub Co-pilot in PowerShell development.

Steve Buchanan discusses transitioning from a SysAdmin to a Platform Engineer, focusing on building resilient platforms using tools like Chaos Studio and Kubernetes. The conversation explores the evolution of technologies, automation in deployment processes, and the role of AI in enhancing platform engineering.