MS Watch

Nokia and Windows

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:27:00 +0000

Yesterday Nokia’s new CEO Stephen Elop(formerly of Microsoft) just sent out a fairly devastating internal memo to all Nokia employees. Elop suggested that his company is “standing on a burning platform” and must “change [its] behavior,” suggesting that the adoption of a non-homegrown platform like Android or Windows Phone 7 is a more realistic possibility than ever before.

Observers have been wondering what Nokia’s next step will be following its CEO’s Burning Platform memo yesterday. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported this morning that Nokia is in talks with Microsoft to license the latter’s Windows Phone 7 operating system for use in its devices and that a deal may be announced at an event in London tomorrow. The company has also been in talks for several months with Google about its Android OS, which seem not to have panned out.
A Financial Chronicle interview yesterday with Microsoft India’s new Managing Director, Amit Chatterjee, on the Indian launch of Windows Phone 7 included an interesting tidbit :
“While HTC has already launched a couple of devices to support the Windows 7 phone, Microsoft is likely to join forces with Nokia for exploring the Indian market”
Similar rumors have been flying for a while, but the most recent set seem unusually intense, and Nokia-Microsoft deal might make a lot of sense now. Nokia continues to produce class-leading hardware but has seen its smartphone OS efforts (Symbian and MeeGo) founder in light of strong competition from Apple iOS and Google Android.

Microsoft, once a strong smartphone player with its Windows Mobile OS, has completely rebooted its phone OS with a new offering, Windows Phone 7, that offers an entirely new UI paradigm and smooth experience but has a lot of catching up to do in market share. While Google’s Gundotra was seemingly quick to dismiss the potential of such a deal, a combination of Nokia’s hardware prowess and global retail presence (especially in emerging markets) with Microsoft’s slick new OS could form a strong mobile competitor for Google and Apple.

Microsoft Windows Essential Business Server 2008: EBS and System Center

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:46:00 +0000

SBS 2008 and EBS 2008, previously known by their respective codenames of Cougar and Centro, are important because they are based on the all new server technologies that include Windows Server 2008 and Exchange Server 2007. Additionally, both products use System Center Essentials as a primary management platform and require 64-bit CPUs. SBS 2008 is a single-server solution for up to 75 desktops, with an optional second SQL server, which can run a 32-bit OS.
System Center Essentials 2007 SP1 is installed automatically on the first server that is built, the Management Server. The Essentials EBS instance is modified from a default Essentials by adding management packs for Exchange 2007, Forefront Server Security (for Exchange 2007), and Forefront TMG (former codename ISA Server Nitrogen). There is also an EBS management pack that we’ll take a closer look at in a moment. Essentials agents are automatically deployed to the Security and Messaging servers, and the Essentials product features are pre-configured during the EBS install.

Read more here

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release to Automatic Updates

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:45:00 +0000

Microsoft is committed to providing quality products to customers. As part of this commitment, we would like to remind you that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will be released to Automatic Updates shortly. The third service pack to Windows XP includes the previously released updates and hotfixes to Windows XP, creating a new baseline for servicing.

Optional Actions

If you wish to prevent users from installing Windows XP SP3 through Automatic Updates, Microsoft recommends you take one or more of the following steps:

1. Download and deploy the Windows Service Pack Blocker Kit. The Blocker Toolkit is available in the Microsoft Download Center.

2. Deploy an update management solution that provides full control over the updates you deploy to computers in your network (Compare Update Management Solutions). IT Administrators using an update management solution should use their product’s standard features, rather than the Blocker Toolkit, to control SP1 distribution.

Source- MSDN Blog

Language Portal Search Tool - Bidirectional Search Enabled!

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:07:00 +0000

The Language Portal Search Tool now offers bidirectional search functionality. Up to this month, search was only possible from English to target language. Going forward, it is also possible to look up English terms entering a target term into the search text box. When using target to English search, the name of the target language needs to be selected in the drop down list entitled "Language" (same as for English to target search). Then check the checkbox "Reverse search direction".

Step-by-step description of reverse search:

1. In the search text box, enter a non-English IT term, for example "klicken" (the German term for English "click").

2. In the language drop down list, select the language affiliated with the non-English search term (in this case, "German").

3. Select the check-box "Reverse search direction".

4. Click on the "Search" icon.

The search tool will now display the English term(s) and strings associated with German "klicken".

Source- Technet Blog

Windows SteadyState 2.5

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Windows® SteadyState™ 2.5 is now available on Windows XP and Windows Vista. Whether you manage computers in a school computer lab or an Internet café, a library, or even in your home, Windows SteadyState helps make it easy for you to keep your computers running the way you want them to, no matter who uses them.
Windows SteadyState runs on genuine copies of Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, and Windows Vista Starter. And, Windows SteadyState is offered free of charge to Windows Genuine Advantage customers!
SteadyState Helps Make it Easier to Manage Your Shared Computers Shared computers are commonly found in schools, Internet and gaming cafés, libraries, and community centers. It is increasingly common for owners, teachers, or non-technical personnel to manage shared computers in addition to their many other responsibilities.
Managing shared computers can be difficult, technically challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. And what’s more, without system restrictions and protections, users can inadvertently change the desktop appearance, reconfigure system settings, and introduce unwanted software, viruses, and other harmful programs. Repairing damaged shared computers can require significant time and effort.
User privacy is also an issue for shared computer environments. Shared computers often use shared user accounts that make Internet history, saved documents, and cached Web pages available to subsequent users.
Windows SteadyState provides a more effective way to help defend shared computers from changes by untrusted users and unwanted software installations. It can also help safeguard system resources.
Windows SteadyState Features Windows SteadyState includes the following features to help you manage your shared computers:

Getting Started – Provides the initial steps to help you during your first time use of Windows SteadyState.
Windows Disk Protection – Help protect the Windows partition, which contains the Windows operating system and other programs, from being modified without administrator approval.Windows SteadyState allows you to set Windows Disk Protection to remove all changes upon restart, to remove changes at a certain date and time, or to not remove changes at all. If you choose to use Windows Disk Protection to remove changes, any changes made by shared users when they are logged on to the computer are removed when the computer is restarted
User Restrictions and Settings – The user restrictions and settings can help to enhance and simplify the user experience. Restrict user access to programs, settings, Start menu items, and options in Windows. You can also lock shared user accounts to prevent changes from being retained from one session to the next.
User Account Manager – Create and delete user accounts. You can use Windows SteadyState to create user accounts on alternative drives that will retain user data and settings even when Windows Disk Protection is turned on. You can also import and export user settings from one computer to another—saving valuable time and resources.
Computer Restrictions – Control security settings, privacy settings, and more, such as preventing users from creating and storing folders in drive C and from opening Microsoft Office documents from Internet Explorer®.
Schedule Software Updates – Update your shared computer with the latest software and security updates when it is convenient for you and your shared users.

Download here

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Microsoft Office Outlook

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:05:00 +0000

This download installs Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Microsoft Office Outlook and the related Release Notes (Read me).
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Outlook enables access to the same data through Outlook as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Outlook with Offline Access allows data to be taken offline.

Download here

Windows Sysinternals Updates: ZoomIt v2.10, Process Monitor v1.34, BgInfo v4.13

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:39:00 +0000

ZoomIt v2.10: Includes a zoom-out effect when you exit zoom mode and enables you to specify a background bitmap for the break timer.

Process Monitor v1.34: This update adds the ability to filter on result values.

BgInfo v4.13: Now displays correct version information for Windows Server 2008.

Source- Windows Sysinternals blog

Windows 7 Will Not Inherent the Incompatibility Issues of Vista

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:38:00 +0000

Microsoft is hard at work aiming to prevent the Windows 7 apple proverbially falling close to the Windows Vista tree. In fact, Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President, Online Services & Windows Business Group, promised that that incompatibility issues would not be among the legacy that Vista leaves for Windows 7. Otherwise, the next version of the Windows client will inherent the vast majority of the architecture of its predecessor, most importantly the core of Vista. But, in addition to the kernel, Windows 7 will also feature the same graphics and audio subsystems

as Windows Vista, context in which existing hardware and software products will continue to be compatible.
"You've let us know you don't want to face the kinds of incompatibility challenges with the next version of Windows you might have experienced early with Windows Vista. As a result, our approach with Windows 7 is to build off the same core architecture as Windows Vista so the investments you and our partners have made in Windows Vista will continue to pay off with Windows 7. Our goal is to ensure the migration process from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is straightforward," Veghte stated.
This is, in fact, Microsoft's vision: Windows Vista will be a transition operating system, streamlining the migration to Windows 7. Officially planned for availability within three years since Vista hit the shelves on January 30, 2007, Windows 7 is heading for a more realistic launch date at the end of 2009, but ahead of the holiday season.

Source: Softpedia

IE8 Beta 1 June Security Update Now Available on Windows Update

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:33:00 +0000

Today the IE team released the IE June Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Developers on Windows Update. For detailed information on the contents of this update, please see the following documentation:

IE Blog Post: IE June Security Update Now Available
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 950759

If you are using IE8 Beta 1 for Developers, we encourage you to download this security update through Windows Update or the Microsoft Download Center today.

Source- IE Blog

Microsoft Environment :: Innovating to Improve Our Planet

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:33:00 +0000

The website talks about the role of technology in our environment. Something, I have always thought is how can software help improve the planet, well folks I got my answers here:

Innovating to Improve Our Planet

I went over to the site found a wealth of great information on the types of impact that software can have. Personally I really liked the short video highlighting the Energy Efficiency Best Practices in Microsoft Data Center Operations. So if you had a data center in Ireland, how would you cool the facility? Check the video out to learn more! I also liked the article titled Microsoft "Tiny Web Services" Connect Household Appliances to Save Energy. How much code could you get if you only had 48 kilobytes for storing code? Interesting stuff from the folks in research!

Take a look at the site, and let me know what you think!

Source- Technet Blog

Free Podcasting Kit for SharePoint 2007

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:32:00 +0000

A few days ago, the Podcasting Kit for SharePoint was released on CodePlex (our open source project hosting web site). And, for colleges, it’s an opportunity to move into a multimedia, web 2.0 world in a more controlled way.

Up until now, many of the ways that people have used podcasting, and many other web 2.0 technologies, has led to a fragmentation of information – with podcasts being hosted on lots of different sites, and made available through different routes. This has led to some colleges losing control over their own resources & intellectual property, or not being able to control who has access to resources. Not everybody wants to publish all of their materials straight onto the Internet for anybody else to download/distribute!

The Podcasting Kit for SharePoint is a solution which allows you to retain control over information, and still make it widely available to those who have the right to it. By basing your podcasting system on SharePoint, you link it to your college’s user management through Active Directory – which means that you’re not creating yet another data store/identity list, and users can be given access to resources according to their role etc

You can provide a facility for all of the college staff (and students?) to distribute audio and video podcasts, and directly integrate that into the rest of your ICT infrastructure painlessly. Most colleges in the UK are use Moodle for their VLE, and by deploying Moodle on SharePoint, you not only have single identity and access management, you can also integrate solutions such as these within the same environment.

The features of the Podcasting Kit for SharePoint are:

Listen and watch audio/video podcasts, anywhere on your PC or mobile device or MP3 player

Share content by allowing users to produce their own audio/video podcasts and publish them themselves.

Easily find the most relevant content using the five star rating system, tag cloud, search engine and comments

Get automatic podcast updates by subscribing to RSS feeds fully compatible with podcasting devices

Simple RSS feed based on a defined podcast series
Simple RSS feed based on a person
Dynamic RSS feed based on search results

Play podcasts in real-time using Silverlight

Retrieve instant usage metrics with the ability to track the number of podcasts downloaded and/or viewed, instant feedback via rating system and comments, and subscribers via the RSS feed

Access the richness of SharePoint to extend the solution: workflow, community sub-sites, access rights, editorial etc

Customize the look and feel to match your own university’s style

This release is the beta, which we don’t recommend deploying it to production systems, and the full release is in September.

You can find out more, and download the kit from CodePlex. There’s also a short presentation which runs through the kit, available as a download.

We’ve been using it within Microsoft for the last 9 months, and it has demonstrated (1) how robust it is and (2) how much it improves communication between a community of 150,000+ people! I use the RSS feature on my mobile phone to keep up to date with any new podcasts published with the “education” tag.

And because it’s all on CodePlex, the community is already working on other projects to enhance it – like a very smart-looking mobile phone client to enhance the user experience.

Source- MSDN Blog

Livestation launches NEW beta 1.0.76.7

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Livestation is a free software application that provides a range of live news television channels and radio stations that can be received on a computer anywhere with a basic broadband connection. You can watch television on your desktop, or on your laptop, at home, at work, on the move, or in a hotel room, provided you have a broadband internet connection or wireless access.
Livestation allows you to receive live TV and radio news from the world’s leading broadcasters on your PC, via a multi-channel interactive application on the desktop giving you a unique window on the world’s news. You can watch Livestation full screen or minimised to fit in the corner of your screen, enabling you to carry on with other tasks while also keeping an eye on the news. You can flick between channels, just as you would on your TV set.
Livestation is legal, safe, free and comes with no strings attached.
Current features include:
- High quality live audio and video
- Channel selection and programme guide
- Programme information overlay
- Ability to scale player window from 50% to 200%
- Always on top window setting
- Full screen playback option
- Volume control and mute.
Other functions, including support for subtitles and audio description, and many other interactive features, will be added in future releases.
What's new in Livestation 1.0.76.7:
- Personalise your player with your own channels(stream bookmarks).
- Bookmark your own channels, tag them, search for them
- Watch your own channels in Livestation.
- Twitter integration [view full changelog]
Minimum requirements:
* Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista
* Internet Explorer 6+
* 1.5 Ghz processor
* A network of at least 800 kbps.
* Microsoft Silverlight
* Free registration: Publisher's website
Notes: This is a pre-release version of the Livestation player which may not include all the final features and may have faults or flaws. Please only install and use this version of the Livestation player if you are comfortable using pre-release software.
Livestation is available for download at this address
Link: Livestation Home Page
View: Source & Screenshots

Virtual Earth Imagery Release - June, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:31:00 +0000

20TB of new imagery....laughable compared to last the 69TB+ from May's Virtual Earth Imagery Release; then again, when's the last time you transferred 20TB of data? :)

Here's the list for June:

Orthos (Microsoft UltraCam)

Announcing Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Release Candidate Availability!

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:29:00 +0000

A new release candidate for Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) is now available!! Along with building new features, the team has been working hard to bring the product into compliance with Microsoft shipping standards. TAP customers will be expanding their deployments to thousands of production users with this release to help validate the product’s full feature set, as well as performance and scalability. Major highlights include:

· HTTP streaming. We now support streaming virtual applications from an IIS server (v6 or v7). This will provide dramatic performance and scalability improvements for customers with large App-V deployments.

· Re-designed Sequencer. Simplifies the process and reduces the complexity of creating virtual application packages. There is now a single wizard for creating a new package and advanced settings have been put into an optional screen.

· Dynamic Suite Composition (DSC) for MSI packages allows the flexibility to control virtual application interaction. Administrators wanting to consolidate virtual environments, and enable faster, easier administration, can use the product’s Dynamic Suite Composition, which sequences and manages packages for middleware applications separately from the main application.

· Seamless integration with SCCM 2007 R2. Allows customers to easily deploy virtual applications through the SCCM 2007 R2 infrastructure and scale their deployments.

· Client cache improvements. The maximum size of the client cache has been increased to 1 TB.

· Improved Manageability. Integration and support for VSS writer, MOM Pack, ADM template

· Accessibility. The product is now Section 508 compliant, bringing App-V in line with other Microsoft products.

With this release we will also deliver:

· The Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Planning and Deployment Guide

· Upgrading to Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 FAQ

The RC Candidate is available publicly via Microsoft Connect - http://connect.microsoft.com
For more information please visit - http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/softgrid/default.mspx
App-V Blog (Full Announcement) - http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/default.aspx

Source- MSDN Blog

Win a trip to Macau by creating a video about Software-plus-Services!

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:28:00 +0000

Help us spread the word about Software-plus-Services. All you need is a video camera, refer to the script and lots of creativity. Click here to find out more! Terms and Conditions apply!

Exciting prizes to be given away:
+ Receive a limited-edition S+S contest t-shirt with every video submission. You'll also receive a Microsoft LifeCam to thank you for your effort. (Please note that only 1 t-shirt and 1 LifeCam will be awarded per video entry, regardless of the number of people who participated in the video.)
+ Up to 10 of the most viewed videos get air time at Tech-Ed SEA 2008 in Kuala Lumpur this August.
+ The winner will jet off to Macau, where you can celebrate your win in style with a weekend at The Venetian Resort Hotel.

June 2008 Security Updates are Now Available

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:27:00 +0000

The June 2008 Windows XP Embedded Security Updates are now available on the Mobile & Embedded Communications Extranet (ECE) for Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded Service Pack 2, Feature Pack 2007, and/or Update Rollup 1.0.

June 2008 Windows XP Embedded Security Updates

The June 2008 Windows XP Embedded Security Updates are cumulative and include updates for the Desktop QFE Installer (DQI) Tool and the Component Database.

The following updates are included in this release – please see the ECE for more details:

For Windows XP Embedded with SP2, Feature Pack 2007, and/or Update Rollup 1.0:

· KB 950749 Vulnerability in Microsoft Jet Database Engine (Jet) Could Allow Remote Code Execution.

· KB 951376 Vulnerability in Bluetooth Stack Could Allow Remote Code Execution.

· KB 950759 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer.

· KB 950760 Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits.

· KB 951698 Vulnerabilities in DirectX Could Allow Remote Code Execution.

· KB 950762 Vulnerabilities in Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) Could Allow Denial of Service.

The June 2008 Windows XP Embedded Security Updates are available here at the ECE:

Source-MSDN Blog

When Will PowerShell V2 Ship?

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:26:00 +0000

By far, the most frequently asked question at TechEd 2008 was, "When will PowerShell V2 Ship?". We are expressly prohibited from answering that question and I know that that can be frustrating. I can say this:

We are now feature complete with V2. History has shown that when we reach this stage of development, it takes us a year, plus or minus a quarter, before it is generally available.

Let me be quick to add that past performance is NOT an guarantee of future performance. At the end of the day, we have an extensive quality process and the community lets us know when it is ready to ship.

The second most frequently asked question was, "When is the next CTP?". We have not booked a plan for that yet. That said, people have observed that we have often tried to coordinate important things with IT Forum in Nov.

Source: PowerShell Blog

Microsoft Forefront Codename "Stirling" VHD

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:26:00 +0000

The Microsoft VHD Test Drive Program provides customers with an enhanced server-based software evaluation experience that’s faster, better supported and more flexible. You can now access the entire catalog of pre-configured Microsoft and partner products and solutions in the VHD format and start evaluating and testing today from www.microsoft.com/vhd.
Forefront codename “Stirling” is an integrated security system that delivers comprehensive, coordinated protection across endpoints, messaging and collaboration servers, and the network edge that is easier to manage and control.
By delivering simplified management and providing critical visibility into threats, vulnerabilities, and configuration risks, “Stirling” helps you reduce costs and achieve greater insight into your enterprise security state.
This fully functional pre-configured VHD provides you with a trial software that will automatically expire after 30 days.
This is a preconfigured virtual machine contained within the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format. A virtualization product that supports the VHD format is required to use this virtual machine. Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Virtual Server are provided for free and can be used with these VHD based virtual machines. Please refer to the system requirements section for more details.

Download Here

Language Interface Packs for Office 2007 are available for Basque, Galician, Malay, Bengali

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:25:00 +0000

We talked about the Tatar Language Interface Pack (LIP) for Office 2007 a few weeks ago. Since then, other LIPs for Office 2007 have been released. LIPs enable users to work in a localized environment and traditionally include a spell-checker for that language. So if you are looking for spellers for Basque (700,000 speakers), Galician (3 million speakers), Malay (7 million speakers), or Bengali (released last week, 230 million speakers), or if you want to see your UI in one of these languages, check out the Microsoft Local Language Program web site or click on the name of the language in this sentence to freely download the corresponding LIP with its speller.

Source- MSDN Blog

Response Point SP1 RTM'ed today

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:40:00 +0000

When we started RP, our vision was simple: to provide a telephony solution so easy to use that every small business customer can set it up like connecting a printer to the PC. Today, we are moving one step closer to realize our vision by releasing to manufactoring Response Point Service Pack 1. Our OEM partners will bring SP1 to market next month.

SP1 not only improved RP 1.0's performance/quality but also added some very cool features such as VOIP gateway, Click to Call, and Call Presence etc. Never before was PBX this easy to manage.

I'd love to get your feedback as you upgrade to SP1 in the coming weeks. We'd love to incoporate your feedback into RP 2.0, which we have started working on.

Source- Technet Blog

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2008 Extensions, Version 1.2

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:37:00 +0000

Tools for developing custom SharePoint applications: Visual Studio project templates for Web Parts, site definitions, and list definitions; and a stand-alone utility program, the SharePoint Solution Generator. Please also download the User Guide and Samples listed in Related Resources.
The User Guide for this tool can be found here: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2005 Extensions User Guide, Version 1.1
The 1.1 version can be found here for Visual Studio 2005 support: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2005 Extensions, Version 1.1
Version 1.2 of the Visual Studio 2008 Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services contains the following tools to aid developers in building SharePoint applications:
Visual Studio 2008 Project Templates

Web Part
Team Site Definition
Blank Site Definition
List Definition
Empty SharePoint Project

Visual Studio 2008 Item Templates (items that can be added into an existing project)

Web Part
Custom Field
List Definition (with optional Event Receiver)
Content Type (with optional Event Receiver
Module
List Instance
List Event Handler
Template

SharePoint Solution Generator

This stand-alone program generates a Site Definition project from an existing SharePoint site. The program enables developers to use the browser and Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer to customize the content of their sites before creating code by using Visual Studio.

Download Here

PDC Announcements of Interest for Developers Working on adCenter API

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:36:00 +0000

I just got some info about the Microsoft PDC this fall. adCenter API Developers might be interested.

http://www.microsoftpdc.com/

PDC is about the future and is the event to attend. Just read what Jon Box says, "In my opinion, if I was going to choose one technical event to attend in any year, my first choice will always be the PDC. That's where I became aware of DCOM and ASP, before they came out. That was the year when I first saw Don Box. [more...] Others agree. Follow Andrew Connell as he blogs his way to the PDC. Technical Fellow Brian Harry has announced that the VSTS product team will be talking about what is coming in the Team System release code named "Rosario" and evangelists have flooded the net with posts about Rosario and Brian Randell's pre-con. William H. Salazar posted similar news and joined Brian Keller as they pointed out Brian Randell's . [more...] The news is out. PDC2008 is happening. The buzz can be found on blogs by Jason Olson and Doug Holland. Jason Olson's announcement about Open Space drew the attention of Open Space originator Harrison Owen and Jack Martin Leith commented, "For those who want evidence that Open Space has moved from the fringes to the mainstream, this must surely be it.". [more...] And, two more shameless self-promotion plugs for the Show Off contest came from Brian Keller and Dan Fernandez. Rumor has it they have some great posters and blog bling coming out soon.

Source- Adcenter Community

Microsoft Confirms Windows 7 for 2010

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:32:00 +0000

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 7 is right on track for release in 2010. Concomitantly with the leaked details associated with Windows 7 Milestone 1 dropped by the Redmond company to select partners in January 2008, a potential timetable for the availability of the successor of Windows Vista was also made public. According to the leaked information on the next iteration of the Windows platform, having just reached M1, the final version of Windows 7 was to be wrapped up the end of 2009.
Officially, the Redmond company has only been saying that Windows 7 development would take an estimated three-year timeframe. However, Microsoft always failed to specify the moment when the three-year timeframe started. The debut of Windows 7 development was indeed connected with the release of Windows Vista, but this aspect only contributed to the confusion because the latest Windows client was launched to businesses in November 2006 and to the general public in January 2007. So in this context, the finalization of Windows 7 could just as easily be aimed for the end of 2009, as well as 2010.
Well, this is no longer the case. Microsoft explained that it would deliver Windows 7 three years after the consumers launch of Vista. "We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and development is scoped to three years from Windows Vista Consumer GA. The specific release date will be determined once the company meets its quality bar for release," a Microsoft spokesperson revealed to Softpedia via email.
Windows Vista Consumer GA means nothing more than the general availability of the operating system. In this regard, Microsoft has merely reconfirmed what it has in fact said since mid 2007, that Windows 7 is planned for 2010. Recently, the Redmond company has delivered a build of Windows 7 for review to the U.S. antitrust regulators. This was made public via the "Joint status report on Microsoft's compliance with the final judgments."
I contacted Microsoft and asked whether the new version of Windows 7 was still M1 or if the company has reached Milestone 2 (M2). The leaked timetable for Windows 7 had M1 set to expire in March, and M2 to be delivered in March/April. Outside of the confirmation quoted above, Microsoft did not comment on Windows 7 M1, M2 or the potential antitrust issues that would be generated by the connecting of Windows 7 with Windows Live Wave 3.
News Source: Softpedia

Microsoft To Release XP SP3 Next Week

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 05:30:00 +0000

Now that Windows Vista service pack 1 has been released, all eyes have shifted to Microsoft's plans for Windows XP service pack 3, the final package of updates for the trusty OS. And, according to at least one source, Microsoft will roll out XP SP3 next Monday. As of Wednesday afternoon Pacific time, the BitTorrent search engine Mininova listed a 568.73 MB Windows XP Professional SP3 5503 file available for download. The file, which had 112 seeds and 417 leeches, had been downloaded 2083 times since it was posted Tuesday, according to the listing.
According to the file description notes, Microsoft will release the final version of XP SP3 on March 24, but the 5503 test build passes all Windows Genuine Advantage checks and is able to download Windows updates that previous XP SP3 builds weren't able to, which suggests that it could, in fact, be the final RTM build. When Microsoft released Vista SP1 in February, the final RTM code was identical to the Vista SP1 Release Candidate (RC) 1 Refresh 2 test build that was released to a group of 15,000 testers two weeks earlier.
A Microsoft spokesperson, perhaps weary from the months-long barrage of Vista SP1 related inquiries, said the final version of XP SP3 is still on target to be released the first half of calendar year 2008, and the XP SP3 5503 build was a minor interim build released to address one specific issue for a subset of private beta testers.

News source: CRN

IE8 Beta 1 For Developers Now Available in Chinese (Simplified) and German

noreply@blogger.com (edede) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:29:00 +0000

The IE team is pleased to announce the availability of Chinese (Simplified) and German versions of Windows Internet Explorer Beta 1 for Developers. The two languages released today are fully localized versions of the IE8 English Beta 1, released March 5, 2008. They carry with them the same improved CSS 2.1 support, better scripting performance, and other features and improvements that the English beta 1 developer release contains.

Download links:

Supported Platforms:

This release is supported on the same platforms as the previous IE8 Beta 1 English release. Here are the supported operating systems:

Windows Vista
Windows Vista SP1 (final version only - Currently available to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers and Volume License customers)
Windows XP SP2
Windows XP SP3 (RC2 candidate - Build 3311 or higher)
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Windows Server 2003 SP2
Windows Server 2008 (final version only)

For install guidelines, please see the "How to Install the German or The Chinese (Simplified) Builds of Internet Explorer" section of the Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 release notes here.

Please note that each international version may only be installed on its native language operating system or on English versions of the operating system with the native language’s Multi-language User Interface (MUI) installed. You can learn more about Multi-language User Interfaces (MUI) here.

We value your expertise and look forward to hearing your feedback on this Developer Beta release! Online support is available through the IE Beta Newsgroup and you can sign up through MS Connect to vote on IE8 Beta bugs. You can report a webpage problem and also request to be added to the IE Technical Beta Program by following instructions found at the bottom of the IE8 Beta Feedback blog post.

Source- IEBlog