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        Microsoft Test Drives Conditional Access for macOS 
        
        
        
			- By Kurt Mackie
- August 24, 2017
Microsoft this week launched a preview of "conditional  access"  restrictions for devices based on  Apple's macOS operating  system.
According to an announcement Wednesday by  Alex Simons, director  of program management for the Microsoft Identity Division, the preview was recently added to Azure Active Directory (AD) and  the Microsoft Intune mobile management service.
Conditional access restrictions are imposed through policy  settings. For instance, network access by a device might get blocked if it lacks  the latest software patches. IT pros can set up such policies using the Intune blade  of the  Azure management portal. They can then specify the specific  requirements for devices to meet to ensure compliance.
The preview will only work if "the Intune Company  Portal app" is installed, Microsoft's announcement clarified. Devices need  to be running macOS 10.11 or greater to use the feature. The conditional access  policies will work with Office 2016 for macOS applications (namely, Excel, OneNote,  Outlook, PowerPoint and Word) that are at version 15.34 or greater. The policies  are only supported with the Apple Safari browser.
Microsoft has had its conditional access scheme in place for  Intune and Azure AD for various operating system platforms for a while. However,  for some reason, macOS support had lagged. It was "one of the most  frequently requested" items mentioned by customers, Simons indicated.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
            
        
        
                
                    About the Author
                    
                
                    
                    Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.