The Microsoft 365 Developer Program has long been a great resource for developers building solutions on the Microsoft 365 platform. Today, we’re thrilled to share some exciting updates that make onboarding easier, environments more capable for Microsoft 365 Copilot developers, and development even faster.

Enhancements to subscription and tenant management

• Automated onboarding for ISV & MAICPP partners: We’ve streamlined and automated the onboarding experience for eligible MAICPP and ISV partners! Now, developers can request their developer sandbox directly from the Microsoft 365 Developer Program portal using their corporate email ID. Eligible members will see ‘Set up E5 subscription’ right on their dashboard to request the sandbox, no manual steps required. This makes getting started faster and smoother than before.

• Support for Microsoft 365 Copilot license purchases: All new Developer Program eligible members will receive sandboxes that support add on license purchases including Microsoft 365 Copilot directly within their environment, with rollout planned around Microsoft Ignite 2025 (November 18-21). This means developers can now experiment, build, and test Microsoft 365 Copilot extensions in a real, production-like setup. They will have full flexibility to configure their tenant, connect data sources, and bring their Copilot scenarios to life, all within the Developer Program sandbox. Once the initial rollout is complete, later this year, existing program members will also be able to get access to commercially enabled sandboxes.

More enhancements coming soon

• Visual Studio subscription linking: In response to your feedback, we’re introducing a new self-service capability that lets developers link a new Visual Studio subscription to their existing Developer Program tenant. This is especially useful if your previous visual studio subscription has expired. This will prevent your sandbox from being deleted and ensure uninterrupted access to your environment.

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Starter Pack: We’re also excited to announce a new Starter Pack, designed to help you build your first Microsoft 365 Copilot extension, in matter of some minutes. The starter pack will automatically install all the prerequisites needed for Microsoft 365 Copilot extensibility development, giving you a ready-to-use environment and saving valuable setup time.

What’s next?

Thank you for your continued engagement and feedback, it’s helping us shape the next chapter of the Microsoft 365 Developer Program. We are just getting started on this journey and your feedback continues to be welcome to ensure relevance of our investments. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to add comments below and we will get back to them as soon as possible.