Microsoft regularly implements changes to its education licenses that will impact license structure, storage capacities, features, and access to the Office suite at George Mason. To help prepare for changes, ITS analyzes the current environment to better understand the impact and will update this page as new information becomes available.
Important things to note:
- Many of the changes implemented by Microsoft are done on a rolling basis and are not applied to all accounts in our environment at the same time, but rather over weeks to months
- Some changes are applied to specific license types and not all users
- Microsoft frequently releases services and features into our environment that ITS may reconfigure for a better user experience and improved
Upcoming Events
Legacy Outlook for Mac Retirement
Starting October 2026, the legacy Outlook for Mac desktop client will cease working with Exchange Online. Users will need to switch to the New Outlook for Mac desktop client or Outlook on the Web (OWA) to check their email with the Mac OS
Exchange Web Services (EWS) Retirement
Microsoft will begin retiring Exchange Web Services (EWS) in October 2026, with full retirement completed by April 2027. Applications that rely on EWS to connect to Exchange Online may experience service disruptions through to the final retirement in April 2027. Mac Mail (Apple Mail for Mac) is one of the most widely used applications that relies on EWS. Microsoft is working with Apple to support the transition; however, functionality remains dependent on Apple providing the necessary updates. If you are a Mac Mail user and experience issues using the application, we recommend you switch to either the Outlook for Mac desktop client or Outlook on the Web (OWA) until Mac Mail is updated.
SharePoint OTP Retirement (Changes in how permissions are granted)
Microsoft is changing how sharing permissions are granted in SharePoint, MS Teams, and OneDrive by deprecating the SharePoint OTP (one-time passcode) permissions process and moving to a more secure sharing process. ITS is expecting this transition to have low impact, as the transition process started in May of this year. However, if MS Teams, SharePoint site owners, or OneDrive account holders receive reports of external members having lost access to their shared space, they will need to remove and re-add them for the external user to regain access.
Completed Changes
- April 2026: Users required to switch from Classic Outlook to the new Modern Outlook
- July 2025: MS Teams (Classic) deprecated and no longer available for use
- June 2025: Anonymous Links that are generated in OneDrive will automatically expire after 180 days
- May 2025: SharePoint Workspaces storage quota set at 100GB for newly generated workspaces
- March 2025: MS Teams (Classic) removed from managed systems
- July 2024: A1 Plus license retired
- February 2024: OneDrive storage for A1 users decreased from 1 TB to 100 GB
Get Support
If you require assistance or have questions, contact ITS Support at 703-993-8870 or its.gmu.edu/chat.