He has some very well thought out points on the challenges facing technology based businesses today and wants you to be involved in how we can overcome these challenges together.

Feedback is being collected and will be shared to subscribers of the newsletters, so don’t miss out on the conversation.

Business has been nice and steady, working with the new OS’s, etc. keeping my time filled for the most part. Blogging has been on the back burner forever.

I’ll be working on cleaning everything up, updating WordPress, Theme, etc. and see how it goes from there.

I did finally get the wife’s site, Sindi Is: transferred over to a blogging platform and got some of her older stuff up. It’s up to her to get the rest of her art ready for upload so her site should be filling up quickly.

Here we go!

No, not the Lady Vols, the Men’s Team!

What a great job Coach Bruce Pearl has performed in Knoxville these past few years, bringing the Vols to their first ever #1 ranking, with a gutty 66-62 win over Tiger High on their court.

Now it’s time to finish out their first SEC Title in 41 years, then begin their March Madness run for the National Title.

I say, it’s great to be a Tennessee Vol! Go Vols!

I also can’t forget to give a plug to the best Tennessee related forum on the ‘net, Vol Nation. Many thanks to vol_freak for giving us a place to gather.

Update: Video of Vols returning home in the middle of the night to a large crowd at Thompson Boling Arena. Kudos to uTsPooNy.

Still shots of the return trip, courtesy of VolMike98.

Tags: Tennessee Volunteers Basketball Tiger High Memphis State Bruce Pearl #1

And if you’re talking initial install, then the different CAL prices simply becomes one more option that needs explaining.

That’s where the train goes off the rails.

Shortly after his post, Sean Daniel posts that yes, there will be separate versions of the CAL’s. It would have been nice if they had just kept it simple like SBS 2003 CAL’s.

There is a change in the way Client Access Licenses (CALs) work. Standard edition will have Standard CALs and Premium will have Premium CALs

One can only hope there is an easy upgrade path between Standard and Premium CAL’s. I hope Microsoft gets it right.

Tags: Microsoft SBS 2008 Standard SBS 2008 Premium CAL

From The Official SBS Blog

Today Microsoft is announcing the Windows Essential Server Solutions family of products.  The family includes Windows Small Business Server 2008, formerly known as code name "Cougar" and Windows Essential Business Server 2008, formerly known as code name "Centro".

Windows Small Business Server 2008 is built upon Windows Server 2008 and includes:

• Windows Exchange Server 2007
• Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
• Enhanced Remote Web Workplace
• One-year trial subscription to Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server Small Business Edition
• One-year trial subscription to the new Windows Live OneCare for Server

SBS 2008 Premium also includes SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 to run on a second server.

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 is built upon Windows Server 2008 and includes:

• Exchange Server 2007
• Forefront Security for Exchange Server
• System Center Essentials 2007
• Next version of Internet Security and Acceleration Server

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Premium Edition includes SQL Server 2008 technology.

Of interest, is the trial subscriptions to Forefront Security for Exchange and OneCare for Server. I hadn’t seen those mentioned in any of the talk covering what SBS 2008 would include, so it comes as quite a surprise to me. What better way to get people to make the swap than to include a free year with each purchase. I imagine most consultants already have their preferred vendors in place (ExchangeDefender, Symantec/Trend, etc.) so it will be interesting to see the uptake on ForeFront and OneCare.

I do like the addition of Server 2008 into the SBS 2008 Premium product as more and more clients are hopping on the Terminal Services wagon with great enthusiasm. I know the majority of the small business owners I’ve pitched to, have had the "yes" look when I cover the fact that they would be able to work from home. When I see that look, even though they may not say yes then, I can pretty much guarantee a call back within a few days with the go-ahead. Inclusion of Server 2008 is a great move imho as long as the price point is within tolerance.

Of course, both products are 64-bit only, which for me, comes at a great time for the clients I have are due for a new server this year anyway. This will make the new hardware sell easier since they need new hardware for the new OS.

Official Press Release

Tags: Microsoft Small Business Server 2008 Essential Business Server 2008 Server 2008 ForeFront OneCare

Security Cadets have revealed there is a new variant of the Storm Trojan making it’s rounds through the tubes.

Make sure to inform your loved ones and friends to be wary of any e-mails they receive with the following (but not limited to) subject lines.

Improving the Windows Vista experience for you and your customers

Microsoft is constantly looking for ways to improve our programs and products to help Partners sustain business profitability for long-term success.
Guided by the valuable suggestions and feedback from our partners, we have been working hard to improve Microsoft Windows Vista, culminating in the upcoming Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). We’ve also heard concerns about how we have supported Partners with Windows Vista and have identified ways to improve the Partner experience.
Here’s what you can expect from us over the next few months:

• Delivery of Microsoft Windows Vista Business with SP1 via a Special Action Pack shipment to Partners worldwide soon after SP1 RTM. The kit will include full-install licence keys (not upgrade) in regions where Partners have not already received them, to make it easier for you to deploy the final release of Windows Vista Business SP1 for internal use.

• One full-install licence key for Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 for internal use, so you can learn more about this product’s benefits and features for customers who need a single PC to fulfil their work, travel and entertainment needs. We plan for this software to be delivered in your regular Action Pack quarterly update (April/May 2008).

• A comprehensive set of readiness resources to enable you to sell and support Windows Vista solutions for your small or mid-sized business customers as Windows Vista momentum builds with the release of SP1.

• Exciting incentives and promotions that reward you for learning, using and selling Windows Vista.

This change to the Action Pack is something that Action Pack subscribers have been wanting for the past year when Vista Business Upgrade was included in the Action Pack. This will cut the installation time in half by giving us a full version OS versus the Upgrade, which required us to install, then upgrade that installation to be able to activate with the Key provided. Having SP1 integrated within the DVD will be another welcome addition.

I, for one, will be happy to finally be able to install Ultimate on my laptop for the added security of Bitlocker.

Are you looking forward to the Action Pack changes as well?

Tags: Microsoft Microsoft Partner Action Pack Vista Vista SP1 Vista Business

As Robert covers in the article, the base XPSOne sells for $1299, which includes a $200 rebate, Microsoft Works and Vista Home Premium. The Red offering comes with Office 2007 Home & Student, Vista Ultimate and the Red branding (Custom paint, Desktop background and Gadgets). If you were to configure the base XPSOne the same, you would end up with the same price as the Red (sans rebate). The catch is, you can’t get Ultimate on a base XPSOne, so if you wanted to get Ultimate on an XPSOne, you would have to purchase the Ultimate upgrade alone and do it yourself. Once you throw in the $80 contribution to Red, you’ll find that Dell isn’t turning as big a profit as it could have. Ripoff indeed!

Engadget completely failed to do thorough fact checking and jumped on the story in an attempt to whip it’s Apple fanbase into a frenzy (they did succeed in that manner) by discrediting Dell’s and Microsoft’s contribution to the Red project. I guess this is keeping in line with Apple’s marketing agenda of creating FUD towards Microsoft products in an attempt to drive sales, so kudos to Engadget for staying inline with the Mothership’s directives.

This new Red XPSOne could also be an in for small businesses wanting the XPSOne, but couldn’t before due to no Domain Join capabilities. Get a snazzy unit, join it to your domain, and contribute to Red all at the same time. From the article:

It’s not like this all-in-one desktop will ever step foot inside of an enterprise cubicle.

Hint: There are other business classes than Enterprise.

We’ll see if they post a retraction, but I seriously doubt it as the author of the article, Thomas Ricker, is on a crusade to discredit this new offering.

Update: Anne Camden from Dell responded on the Engadget post, Comments page 3

Tags: Microsoft Dell Engadget Windows-Now Robert McLaws Red XPSOne Agenda

Microsoft Corp. today announced second quarter records for revenue, operating income and diluted earnings per share of $16.37 billion, $6.48 billion and $0.50, respectively. Compared to the year ago period, these figures represent growth of 30%, 87% and 92% for revenue, operating income and diluted earnings per share, respectively.

With companies starting to evaluate the switch to Vista in expectations of SP1 hitting the tubes, and Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 just around the corner, things are looking good for Microsoft overall. Not too shabby for a company that was supposedly on the skids per some Internet communities when Vista uptake didn’t skyrocket on release.

Predictions for the 3rd quarter and FY07 follow:

Microsoft management offers the following guidance for the quarter ending March 31, 2008:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $14.3 billion to $14.6 billion.

• Operating income is expected to be in the range of $5.6 billion to $5.7 billion.

• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.43 to $0.45.

Management offers the following guidance for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2008:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $59.9 billion to $60.5 billion.

• Operating income is expected to be in the range of $24.2 billion to $24.4 billion.

• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.85 to $1.88.

Tags: Microsoft 2nd Quarter Vista Server 2008 Visual Basic 2008 SQL Server 2008 Record

For those that have been following his releases, he has also performed these analyses at 90 days and 6 months. I hadn’t started this blog for the 90 day report, but you can find the 6-month take here.

Once again, Jeff has covered the numbers of each corresponding OS regarding patches, vulnerabilities, patch cycles, etc. in this report as he did previously. For those that are quick to jump on his title of Security Strategy Director in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group, take this into account.

Is there anything in this analysis which will prove one piece of software is “more secure” than another? No, that is not my intention. This report is a vulnerability analysis, which may provide some elements that could be part of a broader security analysis. I fundamentally believe that security and non-security features need to be built upon a foundation of good engineering and solid security quality if they are to perform as we expect and not be misused to the detriment of security.

As you can see from the graphs below, taken from his report which is downloadable on his blog post, Vista has had an excellent track record compared to it’s predecessor, Windows XP, as well as competing products RHEL 4 (RHEL 5 has not been on the market for 1 year), OS X 10.4 (Leopard again, less than 1 year), and Ubuntu 6.06.

Now, before anyone jumps on the fact that the Linux variants install components not related to the OS security itself (Open Office, dev tools, etc.) which open up other security risks, Jeff has taken those out of his analysis.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that Microsoft has taken their Security model to a whole different level than previous incarnations of their OS, and any security expert, regardless of OS preference should be happy with the reduced threats in Vista.

Of course, some Apple supporters have now subscribed to the mindset that Vista isn’t widely used and therefore subjected to less attacks. Hypocritical much?

Several of my clients, all Small Businesses, have started to inquire when they would be able to move to Vista now that they have been using it at home for a few months and are wanting to budget in upgrade costs for the OS move. Unfortunately, most run LOB apps that aren’t compatible with Vista just yet, and one that has moved to online versions of their LOB app has moved to Vista. Eventually, 3rd part vendors will get there! This lends support to the notion that SMB’s are deploying Vista faster than their big brethren. Once SP1 is released, and the verdict is out, we should be seeing Vista numbers start to rise yet again, making things more secure overall.

Thoughts?!

Tags: Microsoft Vista Security 1 Year Vulnerability Report XP Ubuntu Red Hat Patch Vulnerability Linux Apple

But wait, a lot of people say at this point, why isn’t this a problem for Firefox, or Safari, or any other browser? The answer is that developers of many sites had worked around many of the shortcomings or outright errors in IE6, and now expected IE7 to work just like IE6. Web developers expected us, for example, to maintain our model for how content overflows its box, even in “standards mode,” even though it didn’t follow the specification – because they’d already made their content work with our model. In many cases, these sites would have worked better if they had served IE7 the same content and stylesheets they were serving when visited with a non-IE browser, but they had “fixed their content” for IE. Sites didn’t work, and users experienced problems.

I, personally, never experienced any issues with IE7 rendering any sites that I visited. Were these websites not changing what was served depending on what browser visited them? According to the above, I’d say yes. Did web developers overthink themselves when the switch was made to IE7? I don’t know that one for positive, but if the above quote manages to hold up true, well..

I think my biggest annoyance during the whole IE7 outrage from web developers, was those that decided they weren’t going to serve any of their content to IE users and told me I had to use Firefox. Well, in those cases, I just found the information elsewhere. I don’t see the logic in cutting off roughly 70% of the browser users just because you were too lazy to code your site correctly.

On tap for IE8, is 3 different "modes".

Aaron Gustafson, one of the members of the WaSP-Microsoft Task Force wrote an article detailing where we ended up that was posted on A List Apart today; I highly recommend reading it for a different perspective. I’ll summarize, though, that:

1. “Quirks mode” remains the same, and compatible with current content.
2. “Standards mode” remains the same as IE7, and compatible with current content.
3. If you (the page developer) really want the best standards support IE8 can give, you can get it by inserting a simple <meta> element. Aaron gives more details on this in his article.

So, if you want to use the newer IE8 standards support, all it will take is a <meta> tag adjustment to your content page, which will allow you to pick and choose which pages use it.

I’m sure we’ll hear more as IE8 marches closer to release, so make sure to head over and read up if browser stuff is your cup o’ tea.

Tags: Microsoft Internet Explorer IE6 IE7 IE8 WaSP-Microsoft Task Force

Their latest conquest was against tOSU (yeah, that team that has trouble with the SEC). Towards the end of that game, with tOSU out of timeouts and a break in the action, Coach Matta called an impromptu huddle to discuss the inbounds play. JaJuan Smith and Wayne Chism, seeing this take place, took advantage of the situation and decided to listen in to what was being designed. Coach Matta, not wanting his plans revealed, took it upon himself to push JaJuan out of the huddle. Chism actually made it into the center of the huddle and if you watch towards the end of the video, you can see him calling out who they’re inbounding it to. Good stuff and great heads-up thinking by Smith and Chism.

Video courtesy of ukvols via this Vol Nation forum thread.

Anyway, if a player were to have physical contact on that nature with the opposing coach, there would surely be a suspension coming in short order. I don’t see why Matta can get off scott-free when doing the same thing.

Ohh, and congratulations to the Vols who are ranked #3 in the AP poll this week, their highest ranking ever.

Tags: Tennessee Volunteers Basketball tOSU Buckeyes Matta Push AP Poll

It’ll be interesting to see how they can turn something that could be construed as non-humorous by the majority of the population, into a comic that can elicit laughter. I’m sure the IT community will be able to find humor regardless.

They already have one comic up, which is basically the introduction of what the site’s focus will be. I’ll be looking forward to see how this turns out as the entries start rolling in.

Check it out or submit your own story!

Tags: Microsoft Seagate Comic Heroes happen here

Head on over to Heroes Happen Here and get yourself registered to attend the launch event for Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. The event is being held in Honolulu, HI on April 30th for those of us in the islands. You mainlanders will have to go to the above site to see when yours takes place.

There are several different tracks planned:

1. Data Platform IT Pro
2. Developer
3. Infrastructure IT Pro
4. Partner
5. Technology or Business Decision Maker

I’ve signed up for the Partner Track, for which they don’t have a synopsis laid out for yet. Hopefully they get that updated within the next few weeks so I have an idea of what to expect going in.

I enjoyed last year’s Vista/Office 2007 launch event as well as the TS2 Seminar held a little while back, so I’m anxious to see how this one turns out. I’d like to see them sneak in some info on SBS 2008 "Cougar" as well.

Charles Van Heusen of the TS2 team has a write-up on SBS 2008 "Cougar" to fill in the gaps a little more to help tide us over until more information is released.

Hope to see you there!

Tags: Microsoft Server 2008 Visual Studio 2008 SQL Server 2008 Launch Event SBS 2008 "Cougar"

After digging through numerous Live Search results, I stumbled across a link to this tip on JSI in one of the results.

Knowing how Google is now weighting recent posts/page updates to move to the top of the results, I’m re-posting the procedure to make it easier to find for anyone searching for a working solution. I hope this saves at least one person a large chunk of time.

1. Create a new policy in GPMC by right-clicking your domain and pressing New. Name the policy No Internet.

2. Right-click No Internet and press Enforced to check it.

3. Select No Internet in the left-hand pane, select Authenticated Users under Security Filtering and press Remove, and OK to prevent the policy from applying.

4. Using Group Policy to implement Internet Explorer settings, navigate to User Configuration / Windows Settings / Internet Explorer Maintenance in the No Internet policy.

2. Right-click Internet Explorer Maintenance and press Preference Mode.

NOTE: If a policy is already defined, you must press Reset Browser Settings, which will reset any Internet Explorer Maintenance Group Policy, before you press Preference Mode.

3. Navigate through Connections and double-click Proxy Settings (Preference Mode).

4. Check Enable proxy Settings, Use the same proxy server for all addresses, and Do not use proxy server for local (intranet) addresses. (The box above this checkbox is where you set exceptions for your internal network)

5. Type 127.0.0.1 into Address of proxy and 80 into Port.

6. Press OK.

7. Close the No Internet group Policy.

NOTE: To prevent a user from changing their proxy settings, implement Disable changing proxy settings or Disable the Connections page in the No Internet policy.

To prevent a user from accessing the internet:

1. Select the No Internet group Policy under your domain and press Add under Security Filtering.

2. Use the Advanced dialog to locate and select the user, pressing OK.

3. Press OK.

4. If the user is logged on, force the policy to update.

Of course, the optimal solution would have been a firewall at the point of entry, but solutions within the client’s limitations are sometimes part of what we do.

Tags: Microsoft SBS 2003 Internet Group Policy

I just wanted to wish those that read and subscribe to the RSS feed a Happy New Year’s for 2008!

I’ve posted a few times regarding my fiance and her videos for Tori Amos. Well, we’ve finally decided on a date and a place to finally tie the knot!

You can check out our Wedding Page on Live Spaces if you’re curious.

Michelle (moniker Mab) and I met in 1999 and moved toward a relationship on 2000. Within the year, we had moved in together and have been together ever since. She is the artsy side to balance my techie side and vice versa. In our formative years, we were frequent attendees of a few gothic/industrial nightclubs here in Honolulu. We still attend, her more than I (damn work and research) and she has always been involved in performance Art troupes (Iona Pear and Cherry Blossom Cabaret(currently) (Mabsy) to name a few). I can’t even begin to imagine where I’d be without her by my side these past 7-8 years. She has been amazingly supportive of my late-night work schedule as I begin my second year of consulting for Small Businesses here in Hawaii and shifting into the Managed Services world of support. I really couldn’t ask for more to be honest. She does have a comic called Sindi Is: that hasn’t been updated in forever, although she has many new pieces to add. I’ll eventually get her comic to a blog format as it’ll be easier for her to update on her own.

I just wanted to share this great news with my friends and regular readers.

Tags: Wedding James Michelle Cherry Blossom Cabarert Iona Pear

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are set to return to their evening shows on Jan. 7th, without their writers who are still on strike.

I was just talking to my fiance the other evening regarding the matter, stating that "if they’re as funny and witty as they make themselves out to be, then they should be able to have a 30 minute show without the aid of writers." Now, I understand the amount of subjects they cover in a 30 minute show is quite a bit, and I imagine ad-libbing for that long on a 30 minute show will probably test their comedic genius. I see it as a chance for some classic TV moments personally. Both have had some pretty classic slips even with writers and teleprompters, so I foresee some form of craziness going down on cable TV when they go back on the air.

Anyone else missed the back-to-back duo?

Tags: The Daily Show Colbert Report Jon Stewart Stephen Colbert Writer’s Strike

Tags: Tori Amos Video Puppet Christmas

I finally purchased an XBox 360 2 weeks ago after much deliberation. I can say I got lucky and managed to grab one of the new Falcon XBox consoles. 65nm CPU, better cooling, lower power consumption, etc. If you’ve purchased one recently and not sure if you got a new one or not, check out this thread on the XBox forums to determine what you have.

I am absolutely loving it, as it replaced my aging PS2. The Dashboard update in the first week of December added some video loving, so now I can stream my Bleach anime episodes from my PC to our TV. Pure bliss.

If anyone knows of some other sites that interact/track/etc. with the 360, drop me a link in the comments please!

Tags: Microsoft XBox 360 Dashboard Update Falcon