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Forefront Client Security beats Symantec, McAfee on VB100 test

2009-11-09T22:50:00.001+04:00

[Source: Virus Bulletin - virusbtn.com]

Forefront is in pretty good shape here, especially when you compare it with McAfee, Symantec and the likes. Forefront also did well on the VB100 list, meaning it was able to detect 100% of the WildList malware samples without any false positives.

Exchange Server 2010 now available

2009-11-09T22:10:00.001+04:00

Today, at Tech-Ed Europe in Berlin, Microsoft announced the worldwide general availability of Exchange Server 2010.

In a previous post, I explained some of the exciting new features in Exchange Server 2010.

Here are some quick facts that you should know, regardless of whether you are a customer or a partner:

Exchange Server 2010 already has over 15 million users worldwide, through our Live@Edu service.
Today, Forrester released "Total Economic Impact” study which concludes organizations can expect a payback period of less than 6 months with Exchange Server 2010.
UK-based NEC Phillips is experiencing email storage cost savings of 70% with Exchange Server 2010 [more]
US-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance is saving approximately $250,000 with Exchange Server 2010, by avoiding the cost of purchasing an independent archiving & retention system. [more]
Organizations such as Aon Corporation, Glaxo Smith Klein, Lions Gate Entertainment, McDonald’s Corporation, University of Ohio and many others are satisfied customers of Exchange Online.
Global Crossing is saying bye-bye Blackberry, and implementing Exchange Server 2010.
Subaru Canada and Nasdaq OMX are other early adopters that have benefited from Exchange Server 2010.

Exchange Server 2007 will be supported on Windows Server 2008 R2

2009-11-07T00:00:00.001+04:00

Microsoft had initially planned not to have Exchange Server 2007 supported on Windows Server 2008 R2. However, in response to feedback from customers worldwide, things have taken an interesting change--

Exchange Server 2007 will soon be fully supported on Windows Server 2008 R2!

The Microsoft Exchange Team is working on an update for Exchange Server 2007 that will enable full support for Windows Server 2008 R2. Watch the Exchange Team Blog for latest information on this update.

This is an excellent example to prove that we do listen to customers. :)

Dual booting Windows Server 2008 R2 with Windows 7 using VHD booting

2009-11-05T21:38:00.001+04:00

I wanted to run Windows Server 2008 R2 in a dual boot configuration on my Windows 7 RTM laptop – so that I can demonstrate Windows Server 2008 R2 features to partners when required.

This gave me an opportunity to use the new “Boot from VHD” feature on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Essentially, I would have Windows 7 on my laptop on one partition on the raw disk. The remaining space on the RAW disk (in my case 15 GB) will be allocated to a partition containing a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) file, that can be mounted to boot the computer off the VHD file. I will be installing Windows Server 2008 R2 on this VHD file.

Here’s how I went about doing it.

Since I did not have any unallocated space on my hard drive, I used the “shrink” option on drive C in Windows 7 (Computer Management) to get some free space – and got 15 GB unallocated as seen in the above screenshot.

Next, I popped in the Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD.

At the Welcome screen above, I press SHIFT+10 to launch the WinPE console.

Once you get the WinPE console, use DISKPART to prepare a partition for the Windows Server 2008 R2 VHD:

Type 'DISKPART’ to launch the utility
Type ‘LIST DISK’ to see the list of physical disks in your machine.
Type ‘SEL DISK 0’ assuming you have only 1 physical disk installed
Type ‘CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY’ to create a primary partition out of the free space
Type ‘FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK’ to quick-format the new partition on NTFS format
Type ‘LIST VOL’ and look at what you’ve done :-). Notice the asterisk next to the new partition (in my case, it’s Volume 3).
Type ‘ASSIGN’ to assign the next available drive letter to the selected partition.
Type ‘LIST VOL’ again to see what drive letter was assigned (in my case, it’s E)
Now for the magic: ‘CREATE VDISK FILE=E:\FILENAME.VHD MAXIMUM=15000 TYPE=EXPANDABLE’ – this creates a dynamically expandable VHD file filename.vhd on the new volume with a maximum size of 15000 MB. Keep the maximum size lesser than the size of the partition.
Notice that once you finish this command, Windows 7 detects virtual hardware “Microsoft VHD HBA” and installs it.
Type ‘SELECT VDISK FILE=E:\filename.vhd’
Type ‘ATTACH VDISK’ to attach the VHD disk.
Type ‘CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY’ to create a primary partition inside the VHD.
Quick format the partition on NTFS by issuing the ‘FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK’ command
Assign a drive letter V: on this volume ‘ASSIGN LETTER=V:’
LIST VOL to see what you’ve achieved.

Volume 1 and 2 were pre-existing Windows 7 volumes
Volume 3 (E:) is the disk that we created to store the VHD file
Volume 4 (V:) is the virtual disk inside the virtual machine (uses space on E:)

Type EXIT DISKPART to close the utility and close the WinPE session.

Next, continue with the Windows Server 2008 R2 installation from Windows 7. Do not choose the upgrade option, choose the New Installation option.

Choose to install Windows on the partition you just created.

When installation is complete, and you restart your computer, a boot loader menu appears, where you can choose to boot Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

ScreenCast: Encrypting USB flash drives in Windows 7

2009-11-03T15:50:00.001+04:00

Windows 7 comes with a cool new feature called ‘BitLocker To Go’, which is a disk encryption mechanism to protect USB flash drives.

USB flash drives are becoming ever so common thanks to their small size, ease of use and low cost. Users often carry critical or sensitive data on USB drives and carry it outside the organization. A lost USB drive containing sensitive could mean unimaginable implications for the organization, and this is where BitLocker To Go can help.

In this screencast, I demonstrate how you can encrypt a USB Flash Drive using Windows 7. I recommend you watch it in High Definition (HD) mode.

Uploading Photos & Videos to Facebook from Windows

2009-11-02T17:18:00.001+04:00

I came across the LiveUpload to Facebook tool on Codeplex today. This great tool helps you upload photos directly from Windows Live Photo Gallery or Windows Live Movie Maker.

Windows live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker are two free tools that are part of the Windows Essentials download.

Which Microsoft applications can I virtualize?

2009-10-24T21:29:00.001+04:00

For a list of Microsoft servers and products that are tested and supported in virtualized environments, see the Microsoft KB article 957006.

Be sure to bookmark this article, as the page is regularly revised as new products are supported. As of writing this post, the page is at Revision 10.0.

Video Blog: Windows 7 performance on older computers

2009-10-23T21:18:00.000+04:00

A few weeks ago, I installed Windows 7 Ultimate Edition RTM on my brother’s Acer Aspire 5571 laptop, which is at least 3 years old and has an Intel 1.6 GHz processor, just 1 GB of RAM, and initially came preloaded with Windows XP.

Not only did the machine boot up amazingly fast, it also enabled the Windows Aero theme and the performance was great!

Check out the video:

This is my first video blog. The video was composed on Windows Live Movie Maker using a Microsoft LifeCam VX 6000. Please post your feedback!

Windows 7 Launch

2009-10-23T18:58:00.001+04:00

Windows 7 was launched worldwide yesterday. I had explained new features of Windows 7 in previous posts.

Microsoft Qatar is the platinum sponsor of this year’s Made in USA exhibition in Doha, Qatar (Oct 21-23 2009). We had a booth at the exhibition where we showcased Windows 7, Windows Phone, xbox 360 and some Microsoft Hardware.

RSAT tools for Windows 7

2009-10-14T13:23:00.001+04:00

A commenter asked me today about the Windows Server 2008 RSAT tools not working on Windows 7. The answer is simple – there is a different build of the RSAT tools for Windows 7 available as a free download here.

Feeling lucky?

2009-10-14T06:30:00.001+04:00

Type “Im not feeling lucky” in Google and hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button.

Microsoft @GITEX 2009

2009-10-13T00:52:00.001+04:00

Join us at this year’s GITEX 2009 from October 18-22 at Hall 7, Stand B7-1, (Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre) for an exclusive preview of our latest technologies. This year’s Microsoft stand hosts 21 partner and Microsoft pods demonstrating latest products and solutions.

Day 1| Monday October 19th 2009| 10:00am - 11:30am
SMB panel debates: Understanding risk and combating threats by David Maskell, Security Solution Specialist, Microsoft Gulf

Day 2| Tuesday October 20th 2009| 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Business meets IT: Knowing your customers and keeping them by Ahmad Salama, CRM Solution Specialist, Microsoft Gulf

Day 3| Wednesday October 21st 2009| 10:00am - 11:30am
SMB Panel debates: Integrating consumer technologies at work by Stuart Simms, Mobile Communication BG Lead, Microsoft MEA

Day 4| Thursday October 22nd 2009| 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Business meets IT: Government 2.0: IT in the public sector by Ahmad Salama, CRM Solution Specialist, Microsoft Gulf

Day 5| Thursday October 22nd 2009| 1:00pm - 1:45pm
Developer Day: Microsoft Technologies by Anton Delsink, Developer Tools Evangelist, Microsoft Gulf

Vendor Theaters

Visit Microsoft @ the Vendor theaters on Wednesday and Thursday October 21 & 22 respectively; located at the Consumer Electronics Hall at the Trade Center, running a series of sessions around Windows 7, Windows Phone, Windows Live and XBOX.

Exchange Server 2010 gets green light

2009-10-13T00:31:00.001+04:00

Microsoft released to manufacturing (RTM) Exchange Server 2010 last Thursday. The full release/public availability is scheduled for next month during TechEd.

Now would be a good time to have a quick recap on some of the new features in Exchange Server 2010:

Change in Permissions Model:

ADMINISTRATORS can define extremely broad or extremely granular permissions, and can manage permissions by adding or removing users to role groups.

USERS can change their own personal information, contact information, join or leave a distribution group/mailing lists, etc on their own, if the administrator has allowed it.
New Admin features:

You can now remotely manage Exchange 2010 servers over the network using Windows PowerShell thanks to the Windows Management Framework.

Administrator audit logging allows logging of all administrator actions for later review.
IRM integration with Active Directory Rights Management Service (AD RMS)
Cool new transport features, including MailTips (example below):
New High Availability (HA) features:

- Failover clusters invisible to the administrator,
- Ability to create a cluster without on an existing installation without having to uninstall Exchange,
- Ability to co-exist other roles on mailbox clusters to ensure overall availability of transport and client access roles.
- Each mailbox server can have as many as 100 databases, and each database can have up to 16 copies
- Online Move Mailbox operations supported
- Database Availability Groups
- Shadow Redundancy feature provides redundancy for messages while in transit.
New Outlook Web App (previously Outlook Web Access) features

Search folders

Ability to set categories from Outlook Web App

Grouping message threads (Conversation view): This saves time, and helps you delete or move a whole thread in just one quick step.

Chat integration in Outlook Web App

Side-by-side calendar view in Outlook Web App:

and many more new features.

Unified Messaging & text messaging enhancements
I will cover these in another post.
Client Throttling
Ensures that users don’t choke the system intentionally/unintentionally by enforcing client connection bandwidth limits.

Exchange Server 2010 also gives organizations the flexibility to host their email servers on-premises, or through a hosted services provider or have a mix of both.

Windows Phone launched

2009-10-07T16:36:00.001+04:00

Windows Phone, the next generation Windows Mobile was released worldwide yesterday. While the previous versions of Windows Mobile were focused on business applications, the new focus is on Work AND Play.

The new Windows phone will keep you connected to your business e-mail, calendar and contacts, as well as help you stay in touch with friends and family with voice, messaging, photo and video sharing, and social networking. Key new features for Windows phone include:

New touch user experience
Hi-tech browser – lets you view pages just as you would view them on a PC – and lets you do the same things that you could do on a PC!
Support for Exchange Server 2010 and integrated Windows Live Mail client
Microsoft MyPhone – a new service that lets you do automatic backups and online access to your phone contacts, calendar, SMS messages, photos, favorites, etc. The premium option of MyPhone also helps you find, lock or erase a lost/stolen Windows Phone device.

A word on upgrades:

Certain models running Windows Mobile 6.1 can be upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.5. For an up-to-date list of devices that can be upgraded, see the Windows Phone website.

Tech-Ed 2010 in Dubai!

2009-10-06T13:56:00.001+04:00

The next Tech-Ed Middle East is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from March 1-3, 2010.

Tech-Ed is Microsoft’s premier technical education and networking conference where you can connect one-on-one with Microsoft insiders and IT peers, get your toughest questions answered and hear expert advice - right from the source!

For updated information, join the tech-ed mailing list, or visit www.teched.ae. Don’t forget to mark your calendars.

The World of UC

2009-10-05T18:04:00.001+04:00

Check out this web site – www.ucworld.com

The site gives great insight to the business value of UC, and how to realize the financial benefits of simply having better connected people.

There are tons of demos, videos and other resources explaining how UC can be used to save costs and increase productivity alongwith the business case and technical considerations.

UCWorld is also a peer-to-peer community dedicated to Unified Communications. You can discuss and debate on UC right off this website.

I Thought We Weren’t Supposed to Change Settings in the Registry?

2009-10-04T22:34:00.001+04:00

Following is an excerpt taken from a Microsoft Technet article written by the Scripting Guys. It’s about the Windows Registry and I found it rather amusing:

As you probably know, Microsoft has a sort of love-hate relationship with the registry. The registry is the configuration database for Windows and Windows applications, and many options can only be set by manually changing a value in the registry. For example, if you’ve ever read a Microsoft Knowledge Base article, you’ve likely seen a sentence similar to this:

To correct this problem, change the following value in the registry.

Now that’s fine, except that this sentence is invariably followed by a disclaimer similar to this one:

Warning: Don’t ever change a value in the registry. Ever. We know we just told you to do that, but would you jump off a cliff if we told you to? Don’t ever change a value in the registry. Don’t even say the word registry. We know a guy once who said the word registry, and three days later he was hit by a bus. True story. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t even have a registry on your computer. If you suspect that you do have a registry on your computer, call us and a trained professional will be dispatched to your office to remove the registry immediately. If you accidentally touch the registry, wash your hands with soap and water and call a doctor. Do not swallow the registry or get it in your eyes!

Now, to be honest, some of those fears are a bit exaggerated, and the disclaimer is there largely for legal reasons (remember, this is the day and age when you can order hot coffee in a restaurant and then sue the restaurant when the coffee they give you turns out to be, well, hot). If you do it correctly, changing the registry is perfectly harmless. At the same time, however, it’s true that there are certain values in the registry that should never be changed. In fact, changing them can pretty much wipe your computer out, once and for all. It’s like working on the bomb squad: if you snip the right wire, the bomb is defused and everything is fine. But if you snip the wrong one—Boom! You just created Microsoft Bob!

Um, not that we’re saying Microsoft Bob was a bomb or anything.

Webinar on Cloud Computing

2009-09-27T09:11:00.001+04:00

A Gartner webinar exclusively for Microsoft Partners is being held today with David Mitchell Smith at 8AM (PST) [Doha Time: 7:00 PM today]

The webinar will be delivered over LiveMeeting. Please contact me if you need the login information and pass code.

This webinar is a presentation by Gartner’s premier cloud computing analyst and is a sample feature of the types of presentations that will be made available to participants in the Gartner Analyst Relations for the Channel (ARC) pilot initiative.

ARC Sign-up websites:
GARTNER: http://www.gartner.com/tech/products/microsoft-partner-site.jsp

More information on David Mitchell Smith's research can be found at www.gartner.com.

Google outage

2009-09-24T19:10:00.001+04:00

24-Sep-2009, 6:03 PM (Kuwait, Riyadh, Bahrain, Doha)

Looks like Google is having a partial outage. Gmail users report getting the error that “Gmail is temporarily unable to access your Contacts. You may experience issues while this persists”.

Google talk is totally unusable, the contact list is empty.

Many organizations use Google Apps services for their corporate web, email and messaging online services - I wonder if they are affected.

The New Efficiency – Virtual Launch

2009-09-24T17:00:00.001+04:00

Attention Partners!

On September 29th at 9 am (PST) [Sept 29, 7:00 PM Doha Time] log on to www.thenewefficiency.com for a kick-off discussion on “The New Efficiency” live from San Francisco as a part of Microsoft’s Virtual Launch Event.

Join in the conversation during this must-see event and see top technology leaders and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, debate the role of IT during this economic reset. Can cost savings, productivity and innovation come together to drive business growth? Get a closer look at how real companies are justifying IT investments across desktop, server, network and beyond. You’ll also find sessions related to new releases of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft Forefront, Microsoft System Center, and Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.

Partners can also submit questions for Steve Ballmer, a handful of which will be addressed during the Live session!

What to expect:

The New Efficiency defined: The new efficiency is where cost savings, innovation and productivity come together through IT to deliver operational improvements while amplifying the impact of your people

Global CIO of FORD discussing Windows 7 as part of their Digital program initiative along with application virtualization with App-V - Ford are primarily an Exchange customer but have a great desktop story too
Managing Director of Continental Airlines – discussing cost savings, productivity and innovation – achieved through Windows 7 and also Server virtualization (Hyper V)
CVP of Brand Sheraton – discussing business innovation with Windows 7 to drive up brand equity and loyalty
Vice president and general manager, Intel – as a customer discussing strong internal Windows 7 uptake and tangible cost savings, productivity savings

Mark your calendars; watch it live; submit questions in advance. Don’t miss it!

Partner Focus

2009-09-24T12:27:00.001+04:00

My job at Microsoft mainly involves working with partners. I meet with or speak to at least one person from the partner ecosystem almost every day and that’s where I work and play – that’s where my passion lies.

My blog has always been a representation of what I do and believe and I have always considered making it more partner-focused.

The focus on technology, news and information for customers, Microsoft enthusiasts, and odd things from life will still continue. I’m just adding a partner component to it.

Who’s a Microsoft partner? Read up.

A word to Partners:

I suggest you subscribe to my RSS feed using Outlook/IE. If you’re using Internet Explorer, you should see an RSS button on the toolbar that lets you do this. You can also subscribe to this blog by email.

Please make sure you read and understand the disclaimer at the bottom of this page. Let me know if you have any questions.

Reliance Communications: The Scam of the Millennium

2009-09-22T00:57:00.001+04:00

More than five years ago, when I was a student in India, I had acquired a home broadband connection from Reliance Communications. They offered a ‘fixed wireless terminal’ (FWT) solution which made use of their mobile wireless network to give internet access to homes without the need for any cables or ‘landlines’.

As I remember, neither the upload nor the download speed was anywhere close to what they promised. In other words, the Reliance broadband service sucked big time.

But wait - that’s not the reason for this post.

Back in 2004, I terminated their connection because I was leaving the country in search of a job in the Gulf. As per their termination process, I went to the Reliance Infocomm office in Kannur, Kerala (the one at Thavakkara, near Police Club - “Nikshan Associates”), and asked for a complete, final bill. I paid it down to the last rupee, got a receipt for my payment and surrendered the equipment (the FWT) back to them.

I proceeded to Bahrain and got employed there.

More than 6 months later, I got calls from my friends in India stating that they were repeatedly getting harassed by Reliance Infocomm recovery agents/debt collectors. They complained to me that these goons from Reliance kept calling them up telling them that I owe Reliance an amount of money in ‘unsettled bills’ and went to the extent of threatening my friends, who were never involved in this matter.

Either their entire billing system is flawed, and they are just too stupid – Or, this is a gimmick to penalize subscribers who terminated their pathetic service.

In other words, this was:

Breach of, (if not absence of) a Privacy Policy
Unsolicited communication to my friends who had nothing to do with reliance
Unjustified act of personal insult/disrepute to me

My friends gave me the phone number of a lady who was repeatedly bothering them. I called up this lady (in Ernakulam) and gave her a piece of my mind. I told her the story about my termination of the line, and how I settled bills and returned the equipment. She apologized and promised that she will not call any more of my friends.

I also wrote to customercare@relianceinfo.com about this disappointing experience – they merely replied that they forwarded my complaint to Kerala team and there was no response after that from anyone – despite repeated follow-ups.

Now, in 2009, more than 5 years after terminating my connection, I got a Lawyer Notice from P.R. Radhakrishnan & Associates, who happen to be their ‘legal’ associates. The Lawyer letter (produced below), in Malayalam language, states (threatens) that I owe Reliance Communications Rs. 2563.34(less than 54 USD) and if I don’t pay up, they’ll take me to court!

Well, can you beat that?

How many of you keep receipts for your paid telephone bills for a period of 5 years? Well, I don’t. And Reliance somehow guessed that – this means I have absolutely no proof to show in court - so they have taken me for a ride.

I did a simple search online, and found that there were hundreds of other people in various parts of India, who have fallen to similar scams from this seemingly ‘reputable’ telco giant.

Now, its not the $54 that I’m worried about it. It’s the harassment that they did to me and my friends, and the well-orchestrated scam that they are systematically carrying out.

Reliance Communications knows for sure that virtually nobody keeps records of paid phone bills for 5 years, and they are bent on penalizing subscribers who don’t take crappy service for long.

Now what do I do?

I live in a different region of the world, and my time just isn’t worth fighting a battle in an Indian court for $54 with no proof in my defense. The letter suggests that I make an ‘out of court’ settlement by paying the bill for Reliance + “legal fees” for their intimidating legal goons. That’s exactly what I’m doing now – let them go to hell with it. A cousin in India will meet them to settle the unfair dues, although not without a stinker.

This is not about $54. Multiply $54 with all customers that Reliance Communications have conned. This is how they make some extra revenue. And ‘P.R. Radhakrishnan & Associates’ is probably making a handsome amount out of this scam too, Rs. 750 legal fees for sending each letter, is not bad. :-)

At the end of the day, I am a victim. The innocent consumer is the victim.

I’m writing this firsthand to let all Indian internet users know that Reliance Infocomm has a track record for such systematic malpractices waged against the dignity of self-respecting individuals – in short, they are a huge scam. So, if you are an unsatisfied Reliance broadband customer (which you would most likely be), and you want to terminate their service, make sure you keep a record of all your payments to them for at least 6 – 10 years. Also ask them to give you a ‘no dues’ certificate and keep it safe, especially if your payments are usually large amounts. Do it so that you have sufficient proof to defend yourself in court, when they take you to court 5 years down the line.

If you already got a Lawyer Notice, fight for truth - if you have the proof - or at least make it known to the world. You can post your comments/experiences below by clicking on ‘Comments’.

Here’s the Lawyer Notice I received:

Reliance: Kar Lo Duniya MITTI mein!

Trip to Atlanta, GA

2009-09-17T03:51:00.001+04:00

I was in Atlanta, GA for about a week in July this year for MGX, an internal event for Microsoft employees.

I had been to the World of Coke Museum, the Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Park and around the city.

Though late, I thought I’d share a few pictures from the trip.

World of Coca-Cola

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Centennial Olympic Park

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Georgia Aquarium

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More Atlanta pictures

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On the Friday of that week, I went to Al Farooq Masjid in Atlanta for the Friday prayers and was amazed by the local Muslim community. It was a slightly different experience, compared to masjids in the Middle East (especially the baggage security check at the entrance!) At the end of the Friday prayers, I remember there was also a Janazah prayer for a person who had expired in that community.

On 26th July I took the flight back home. I enjoyed the entire trip, and it was an truly interesting experience.

Google suggests…

2009-09-16T17:25:00.001+04:00

Inspired by an article in the Telegraph, I decided to give Google another chance:

Yes, I understand that these suggestions are generated based on indexed content, but what the hell, let’s poke some fun.

1. I c…

Great, can you do that with no helmet too?

2. I like to d…

I’d say you are!

3. I like to g….

Watch out!

4. This one's a favorite. My po…

A colorful suggestion indeed!

5. My ur…

6. Can you goo..

Uh - I think I’m already doing that?!

7. It doesn’t have good things to say about you – or your dog!

8. Yahoo is…

Yes, it might.

9. They still don’t like us.

Synchronizing folders?!? Of all bad things…

10. I haven….

You’re absolutely right – I’d rather bing.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post! :)

Red Hat hypervisor tools to run on Windows only!

2009-09-09T06:34:00.001+04:00

I read with interest a report on ZDNet this morning that the open source company Red Hat will initially offer its hypervisor management tools for Windows systems only.

According to the report, the company based its decision on the fact that Windows still leads as the operating system of choice for desktops.

A strange move this, especially from a company that usually takes the GPL (GNU Public license) route.

It is interesting to note that while Red Hat and VMware offer hypervisor management software only for their own respective hypervisors, Microsoft’s System Center suite offers hypervisor management for BOTH Hyper-V and VMware, physical machine management, virtual machine management, and application (workload) management – all integrated in a common platform – the System Center suite.