🚀Microsoft Copilot – Free vs. Licensed vs. Copilot Studio (Complete Guide)

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming workplace productivity. Microsoft’s Copilot ecosystem is at the heart of this shift, but there’s often confusion around what’s included in the free trial, what the $30/user/month license unlocks, and what extra value Copilot Studio brings to the table.

📊 Free Copilot Trial vs. Paid Microsoft 365 Copilot

 

Feature / Aspect	Free Copilot Chat (Trial)	Licensed M365 Copilot ($30/user/month)
Cost	Free (with M365 subscription)	$30/user/month (~₹2495 + GST)
Expiry	Limited trial, features may expire	No expiry – licensed with full features
Integration	Standalone chat only	Embedded in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Loop, Edge
Org Data Access	Manual file uploads	Automatic via Microsoft Graph (emails, docs, chats, SharePoint, OneDrive)
Custom AI / Agents	Not included	Copilot Studio for workflows & AI copilots
Security & Compliance	Basic login only	Enterprise-grade security, governance, auditing
Premium Connectors	Not available	Supported via Power Platform (Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, etc.)
Productivity Impact	Limited	Significant – saves 25–37 mins per user/day (trials)

 

🏢 Usage Scenarios Across Departments

• Sales: Pipeline summaries, Salesforce insights, auto-proposals.

• HR: Draft policies, onboarding guides, summarize employee feedback.

• Finance: Automate reports, budget forecasting, Excel reconciliation.

• IT: Incident summaries, knowledge base drafting, ServiceNow integrations.

• General: Meeting notes, email drafting, content creation across apps.

💼 Sales Enablement

• Pull opportunity pipeline data directly into Teams.

• Draft personalized proposals in Word using CRM + Excel inputs.

• Generate PowerPoint decks from long reports or competitor analysis.

• Summarize customer meetings and create action plans instantly.

🔗 Premium Connectors (e.g., Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow)

• Free trial does not support external systems.
• Licensed Copilot + Copilot Studio enable integration with premium connectors via Power Automate and Power Platform.
• Example:
   - Query Salesforce directly from Teams Copilot.
   - Generate Word/Excel reports from SAP budgets.
   - Create custom AI copilots that connect to ServiceNow tickets.
👉 Note: Premium connectors require additional licensing (per-user or per-flow).

🚫 What’s Not Possible in Free Copilot Trial

• No integration with Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams.

• No access to organization data (manual file uploads only).

• No Copilot Studio or automation workflows.

• No premium connectors like Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow.

• No enterprise-grade compliance/auditing.

• Limited impact – mostly for Q&A and research pilots.

✅ What Becomes Possible with Licensed Copilot

• Seamless integration across all Microsoft 365 apps.

• Contextual insights via Microsoft Graph (emails, meetings, docs).

• Cross-app intelligence (Word ↔ Excel ↔ Outlook ↔ Teams).

• Governance & analytics for IT and business leaders.

• Copilot Studio access → build workflows, custom copilots, plugins.

• Salesforce/SAP integration via Power Platform connectors.

🔹 Copilot Studio – Going Beyond

• Create custom copilots (e.g., Procurement Copilot, HR Copilot, Finance Copilot).

• Connect external data (SAP, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, APIs).

• Build workflows with Power Automate.

• Accept image/file inputs (e.g., upload invoice → extract details → push to SAP).

• Deploy across Teams, web, mobile, or apps.

• Set role-based access, governance, and analytics.

🏷️ Example – Procurement Copilot

Suppose you create a Procurement Copilot that fetches vendor data from SAP, pulls budget info from Excel, and accesses contract details from SharePoint.

Deployment:
• You can publish it org-wide.
• If only M365 data is used (Excel, SharePoint) → all E3 users can use it.
• If premium connectors (SAP/SFDC) are used → end-users also need premium licenses, or you must enable per-flow licensing.

📌 Licensing Decision Flowchart (Salesforce Example)

• With Salesforce connector → Premium license required.
• Without Salesforce (M365 only) → E3 users OK.

📝 Final Takeaways

• Free Copilot = exploration, pilots, file Q&A.

• Licensed Copilot ($30) = true productivity engine across all M365 apps + enterprise compliance.

• Copilot Studio = design your own copilots, workflows, plugins, and connect to external systems like Salesforce/SAP.

• Leadership Insight: Start with licensed Copilot for productivity. Layer in Copilot Studio to create business-specific copilots (Procurement, Sales, HR, Finance). Use per-flow premium licensing to minimize connector costs for large user bases.


Reference links:

Licensing & Cost Model: Copilot Studio & Microsoft 365 Copilot

• Copilot Studio Licensing & Pricing
  Details around subscription models, message packs, and pay-as-you-go pricing.
  Microsoft Learn+11Microsoft Learn+11Microsoft Learn+11

• Copilot Studio Licensing Requirements & Capabilities
  Explains standalone vs. Teams plan, premium connector support, and deployment options.
  Microsoft Learn+6Microsoft Learn+6Microsoft Learn+6

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Licensing Overview
  Add-on license prerequisites for business and enterprise plans.
  Microsoft Learn+15Microsoft Learn+15Microsoft Learn+15

• Cost Considerations for Copilot Extensibility
  Guidance on licensing implications for external data and custom agents.
  Microsoft Learn+8Microsoft Learn+8Microsoft Learn+8

---

Connector & Extensibility Details

• Premium & Custom Connectors in Copilot Studio
  Breakdown of standard vs. premium vs. custom connectors and their use.
  Microsoft Learn+13Microsoft Learn+13Microsoft Learn+13Microsoft Learn+2Microsoft Learn+2

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Extensibility FAQ
  Clarifies when premium connectors are needed and how Copilot licenses intersect with extensibility.
  Microsoft Learn+12Microsoft Learn+12Microsoft Learn+12Microsoft Learn+2Microsoft Learn+2

---

Features, Architecture & Deployment

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Technical Overview
  Architecture, Microsoft Graph context, supported apps, and capabilities overview.
  Microsoft Learn+1

• Feature Comparison: Copilot Chat, Search, Notebooks, and Pages
  Overview of what's included in Microsoft 365 Copilot features like Chat, Agents, Pages, Notebooks, and Search.
  Microsoft Learn+4Microsoft Learn+4Microsoft Learn+4

• Which Copilot Is Right for Your Organization?
  Helps admins and leaders decide between Copilot Chat, M365 Copilot, and other options.
  Microsoft Learn+15Microsoft Learn+15Microsoft Learn+15

---

Licensing Context & Governance

• Copilot Licensing in Managed Environments
  Explains how Managed Environments treat app flows as premium assets and the licensing impact on both makers and users.
  Microsoft Learn+4Microsoft Learn+4Microsoft Learn+4

How to Deploy Your HTML Website on a Linux Server (Apache + SFTP)

Launching a simple HTML website on your own Linux server is easier than you might think. Whether you're sharing a static landing page or integrating HTML into a backend system like Flask, here’s a complete hands-on guide you can follow.

🔥 Method 1 — Deploying Directly to Apache Web Server

Apache by default serves files from the directory: 
/var/www/html

Step-1: Create/Verify the HTML Folder

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html
cd /var/www/html

Step-2: Upload Your HTML File

Use SFTP tools like FileZilla, WinSCP, or sftp command-line to copy cortex.html (or your HTML file) from your local machine to /var/www/html.
💡 You may need folder permissions from your server admin.

Step-3: (Optional) Create/Edit HTML Directly in Server

sudo vim /var/www/html/cortex.html

Common Vim commands:
:wq  Save and exit
:q!  Exit without saving
:w   Save only (don’t exit)

Step-4: Set Correct Permissions

sudo chmod 644 /var/www/html/cortex.html
sudo chmod 644 /var/www/html/index.html

Step-5: Fix File Naming (optional)

sudo mv /var/www/html/Cortex.html /var/www/html/cortex.html

Step-6: Confirm Apache DocumentRoot

DocumentRoot "/var/www/html"

Step-7: Restart Apache

sudo systemctl restart httpd      # CentOS/RHEL
sudo systemctl restart apache2    # Ubuntu/Debian

Your page should now load at:
http://<server-ip>/ or http://<server-ip>/cortex.html


Method 2 — Serve HTML Inside a Flask App on Custom Port (81)

Sometimes, we want to deploy HTML via a Flask application running behind Apache on a different port, e.g. 81.

Folder Structure

/var/www/flaskapp/
└── templates/
    ├── index.html
    └── se.html   <- (optional subpage)

Step-1: Copy the HTML into Flask Template

sudo cp /var/www/html/cortex.html /var/www/flaskapp/templates/index.html

Step-2: Add Apache VirtualHost for Port 81

<VirtualHost *:81>
    ServerName yourdomain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/flaskapp
    WSGIScriptAlias / /var/www/flaskapp/flaskapp.wsgi
</VirtualHost>

Step-3: Restart Apache

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Open in browser:
http://<server-ip>:81/

Updating HTML Pages Later

Upload new version using SFTP to /var/www/ and then run:

sudo cp /var/www/cortexV3.html /var/www/flaskapp/templates/index.html
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Adding New Pages

sudo cp /var/www/cortexV4.html /var/www/flaskapp/templates/se.html
sudo chmod 644 /var/www/flaskapp/templates/se.html
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Open page at: http://<server-ip>:81/se

Summary

Task                   Command (Linux)
Create HTML folder     sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html
Upload via SFTP        Use FileZilla/WinSCP or sftp
Edit file              vim /var/www/html/filename.html
Set permission         sudo chmod 644 file.html
Restart Apache         sudo systemctl restart httpd
Copy to Flask app      sudo cp source destination

Final Thoughts

With just a handful of commands and SFTP access, you can deploy static HTML pages directly with Apache or plug them into a Python-based Flask app running on a custom port. This manual method gives you full control over your deployment — perfect for learning, testing, or lightweight production websites.

How to Convert Outlook MSG Files to XML with a Simple Web App

 Outlook MSG files are commonly used to store individual email messages, including metadata, body content, and attachments. However, working with MSG files directly can be challenging when you need to integrate or process email data in other systems.

In this guide, we will build a Python-based web application that allows users to:
✔ Upload Outlook MSG files
✔ Convert them into structured XML format
✔ Download the XML file
✔ With a clean HTML interface

---

✅ Why Convert MSG to XML?

• Data Interoperability: XML is widely supported for system integrations.

• Structured Format: Easily extract sender, recipients, body, and attachments in a standard schema.

• Automation: Helps migrate email content into other tools like CRMs, ERP systems, or custom applications.

---

✅ Tools and Libraries Used

• Python 3.x

• Flask – lightweight web framework

• extract-msg – library to read .msg files

• HTML + CSS – for a simple and responsive UI

Install the dependencies:

pip install flask extract-msg

✅ Project Structure

msg-to-xml/

│

├── app.py              # Flask backend

├── templates/

│    └── index.html     # Upload & download UI

└── uploads/            # Temporary storage

✅ Step 1: Build the Backend (Flask)

Here’s the complete app.py code:

from flask import Flask, render_template, request, send_file

import os

import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

import extract_msg

app = Flask(__name__)

UPLOAD_FOLDER = 'uploads'

os.makedirs(UPLOAD_FOLDER, exist_ok=True)

@app.route('/', methods=['GET', 'POST'])

def index():

    if request.method == 'POST':

        if 'file' not in request.files:

            return "No file part"

        file = request.files['file']

        if file.filename == '':

            return "No selected file"

        if file:

            file_path = os.path.join(UPLOAD_FOLDER, file.filename)

            file.save(file_path)

            # Convert MSG to XML

            xml_path = convert_msg_to_xml(file_path)

            return send_file(xml_path, as_attachment=True)

    return render_template('index.html')

def convert_msg_to_xml(msg_path):

    msg = extract_msg.Message(msg_path)

    root = ET.Element("Email")

    ET.SubElement(root, "Subject").text = msg.subject or ''

    ET.SubElement(root, "Sender").text = msg.sender or ''

    ET.SubElement(root, "Date").text = str(msg.date) if msg.date else ''

    ET.SubElement(root, "Body").text = msg.body or ''

    # Recipients

    recipients = ET.SubElement(root, "Recipients")

    for r in msg.recipients:

        try:

            recipient_text = f"{r.name} <{r.email}>"

        except:

            recipient_text = str(r)

        ET.SubElement(recipients, "Recipient").text = recipient_text

    # Attachments metadata

    attachments = ET.SubElement(root, "Attachments")

    for att in msg.attachments:

        att_elem = ET.SubElement(attachments, "Attachment")

        ET.SubElement(att_elem, "Filename").text = att.longFilename or att.shortFilename or ''

        ET.SubElement(att_elem, "Size").text = str(len(att.data)) if att.data else '0'

    tree = ET.ElementTree(root)

    xml_filename = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(msg_path))[0] + ".xml"

    xml_path = os.path.join(UPLOAD_FOLDER, xml_filename)

    tree.write(xml_path, encoding="utf-8", xml_declaration=True)

    return xml_path

if __name__ == '__main__':

    app.run(debug=True)

✅ Step 2: Create the HTML UI

Save this as templates/index.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

<meta charset="UTF-8">

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

<title>MSG to XML Converter</title>

<style>

    body { font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background: #f4f6f9; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; height: 100vh; }

    .container { background: #fff; padding: 30px; border-radius: 12px; box-shadow: 0 4px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); text-align: center; width: 400px; }

    h1 { color: #333; margin-bottom: 20px; }

    input[type="file"] { display: block; margin: 20px auto; }

    button { background: #007BFF; color: white; border: none; padding: 10px 20px; border-radius: 8px; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; }

    button:hover { background: #0056b3; }

</style>

</head>

<body>

<div class="container">

    <h1>MSG to XML Converter</h1>

    <form method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">

        <input type="file" name="file" accept=".msg" required>

        <button type="submit">Convert & Download XML</button>

    </form>

</div>

</body>

</html>

✅ Step 3: Run the App

python app.py

Open your browser and go to:
👉 http://127.0.0.1:5000

✅ Output Example

The generated XML file will look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<Email>

    <Subject>Test Email</Subject>

    <Sender>sender@example.com</Sender>

    <Date>2025-07-23 12:30:00</Date>

    <Body>Hello, this is a test email.</Body>

    <Recipients>

        <Recipient>John Doe &lt;john@example.com&gt;</Recipient>

    </Recipients>

    <Attachments>

        <Attachment>

            <Filename>document.pdf</Filename>

            <Size>12345</Size>

        </Attachment>

    </Attachments>

</Email>

✅ Next Enhancements

You can add more features:

• Include attachments in Base64 inside XML

• HTML preview before downloading

• Support multiple file upload and batch conversion

• Add a progress bar with drag & drop upload

✔ Final Thoughts

This lightweight Flask app is a simple and efficient way to transform Outlook MSG files into XML, making email data more accessible for integration and analysis.