Microsoft has released Exchange Server 2010 today:
I know many of you are already underway with your Exchange 2010 deployments and many more will be starting today. The Exchange Server 2010 bits are available for download now.
Source: Microsoft Exchange Team
From the official Windows Live Sync blog, regarding the Windows Live Sync mandatory update:
If your computer was already running Windows 7 before this update, you’ll have to go to the Sync website to add your computer back to all the folders you’re syncing. We know this is a hassle and we apologize for this inconvenience. You’ll also see that your computer shows up on the Sync website with a new name—you can safely go ahead and delete the old computer from the website. Rest assured that your files and folders are safe.
Source: Windows Live Sync outage and client update - Windows Live
As we notified you a few days ago, Microsoft has released an updated version of Windows Live Sync (14.0.8089.0726 for Windows). This is a mandatory update, meaning that users must install it if they want to connect to the service.
Update (2009/10/14): There is a known issue with Windows 7.
Please read this before installing the update.
A mandatory update for Windows Live Sync, that fixes a serious compatibility problem with Windows Easy Transfer will be released on Thursday, October 22nd.
Windows Live Sync users will need to go to the Sync website to install an update in order to be able to sign in to Windows Live Sync. Users will not be able to use Sync until they install the update.
Source: Windows Live Sync Official Blog
Wzor.net has published screenshots of a private Office 2010 build (Office 2010 Beta 2 build?).
Looking through the screenshots, it is not hard to notice that there seem to be new icons for Office 2010:
Source: Wzor.net
Watch this video, providing insight into SharePoint Workspace 2010 (new version of Office Groove):
See What's New in Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010 (Formerly Microsoft Office Groove)
SharePoint Workspace 2010 provides important new key features:
· SharePoint Workspace: A new workspace type that allows you to setup a synchronization relationship with all of the supported lists and libraries from a SharePoint site. The workspace contains site content available for you to read and edit while you are offline, and will automatically synchronize with SharePoint when you’re back online. New lists and libraries will automatically appear in the workspace when they are created (or customized) from SharePoint. You can take all of your favorite SharePoint sites with library/list content with you when you’re on the go.
· SharePoint Document Library Support: SharePoint Workspaces support the common SharePoint document library variants, and provide enhanced capabilities directly within the client, like: check-in and check-out, multiple content types including folders, drag and drop for document creation and organization including from Outlook or Windows Explorer, version history, and metadata/property support. Within these libraries, Microsoft Office documents gain all sorts of new capabilities including co-authoring, automatic merging, differential sync, and more.
· SharePoint List Support: SharePoint Workspaces can contain most standard SharePoint list types, including Discussion, Announcements, Links, and custom lists. Form previewing and editing is provided through Microsoft InfoPath 2010 technology.
· Virtual Lists through Business Connectivity Services (BCS): Pull down and work with your content from LOB applications or other external sources.
· Views: Both public and private views of lists and libraries are supported.
· Read & Unread, and Alert Customization: You will be notified when content changes or there are new additions to a SharePoint site that you are synchronizing through unread icons and our notification UI. These notifications can be customized to adapt to your information needs, on a per-workspace or list/library basis.
· Content Selection: Select individual libraries or lists for synchronization. Easy one-click setup directly from the default SharePoint browser UI. Recommended sites are shown during workspace creation, including those published by your SharePoint administrator.
· Broad Connectivity: Our synchronization with SharePoint supports numerous connectivity options, including Windows domain authentication, Forms-Based authentication, SSL configurations, and Alternative Access Mappings - for internal, extranet, and Internet scenarios.
· Ribbon: Office 2007 pioneered this new way of working within your application, and we’ve adopted it as well. It has been designed to optimize our key scenarios while ensuring consistency across cross-product scenarios.
· Office Backstage: This new feature of Office 2010 provides a new view to increase the discoverability and usability for the contextual work that happens beyond the workspace.
· Cutting-Edge Collaborative Authoring: SharePoint Workspaces support seamless collaborative authoring sessions for Word and PowerPoint documents that are hosted in SharePoint document libraries.
· Instantly Find Documents, Lists, Attachments, and More: Your local documents and lists are easier to find and organize than ever before. Workspaces are automatically indexed and available through the familiar Windows Search user interface.
· Access Workspace Documents Directly from Office Applications: Offline documents can be opened or saved from Office applications through integration with the Windows Explorer. Navigate local folders like they were part of your Windows drive.
· New Contact Card with Integrated Presence: Office Communicator streamlines communication by allowing you to utilize its capabilities within the SharePoint Workspace application. Communicator presence is displayed directly in the Groove workspace member pane.
· Standard Office Features: We included numerous other features that are consistent with Office 2010 applications like: a 64-bit native client; support for IPv6 networking; Single Sign-On authentication; new language support including full IME, mirroring, and complex scripts; native integration with standard management tools like Active Directory; continuous help publishing through Office Online; and much more.
Source: MSDN Blogs
Microsoft has added a new category to WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) for the recently RTM’ed Exchange 2010.
The problem is simple and every user of PowerPoint has faced it at least once:
Read a PowerPoint presentation in Normal View or watch it as a Slide Show?
If you read it in the Normal view, you will see the notes but it will be missing animation and rich media.
If you choose the Slide Show, you’ll see animation and transitions, but miss the slide notes. In addition, complex slide animations are often unintelligible unless viewed in the full screen Slide Show.
In order to solve this, PowerPoint Web App’s default view preserves animations and allows the viewing of slide notes. So the PowerPoint Web App’s default view is a new reading-optimized view, with the following components:
Quick access to the Edit and Slide Show views
A resizable window – with Silverlight installed the presentation will automatically resize to fit the window dimensions
Slide transitions, object and text animation, live in the browser. Animation timings honor their original settings, and animations set to advance on click work just as you’d expect
Additional controls to allow faster “browsing” and locating slides within the deck
A notes pane
Read more at the PowerPoint Team Blog.
Get an early look at the new experience coming to MSDN by checking out the Visual Basic Developer Center preview. This is the new design for all MSDN sites. The Library and Forums tabs are not integrated with this preview site. As this is a preview, there are still doing some final fine-tuning of the design.
See more at the New Visual Basic Developer Center.
According to the WSUS blog “Very soon, the "Visual Studio" product family will be renamed to "Developer Tools, Runtimes, and Redistributables".
Microsoft plans to distribute various developer-related products through Windows Server Update Services, including Report Viewer 2005 and Report Viewer 2008.
Any updates for Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio 2008 will be available under this new category.
Source: TechNet Blogs
Microsoft has released an evaluation edition of Windows 7 that anyone can use free for 90 days. According to the publisher:
This download helps you evaluate the new features of Windows 7, Windows 7 has better ways to find and manage files—like Jump Lists and improved taskbar previews—to help you speed through everyday tasks. It's designed for faster and more reliable performance, so your PC just works the way you want it to. With 64-bit support, you can take full advantage of the latest powerful PCs. And great features like HomeGroup, Windows Media Center, and Windows Touch make new things possible. For more information about Windows 7, please go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/.
This download is available to customers running genuine Microsoft Windows.
Source: Microsoft Downloads Center
Microsoft has released the Release Candidate (RC) version of Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010. This is the final public release prior to our RTM (release to manufacturing) and even though no new major features were introduced in the Release Candidate, there are several important improvements about security, reliability, performance, telemetry integration and overall solution completeness.
You can install Forefront TMG 2010 RC today and upgrade to a licensed version once available without changing the configuration of your deployment.
The download of Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 RC is available from here.
My personal favorite feature of Forefront TMG is the ability to combine two ADSL lines (“ISP Redundancy”, as it’s officially called).
Microsoft has released the RTM versions of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. They are currently available on TechNet and MSDN, with public downloads available soon.
Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 makes it easy to install and run many of your Windows XP productivity applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC. It utilizes virtualization technology such as Windows Virtual PC to provide a Virtual Windows XP environment for Windows 7.
Windows XP Mode provides a 32-bit Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (SP3) environment pre-loaded on a virtual hard disk.
Note:
Windows Virtual PC is the latest Microsoft virtualization technology that allows you to run many productivity applications on a virtual Windows environment, with a single click, directly from a Windows 7-based PC.
Note:
For more information about Windows Virtual PC, please visit the Windows Virtual PC website.
Windows Virtual PC supports the following 32 bit Guest Operating systems : Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) Professional, Windows Vista Enterprise Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Enterprise.
Microsoft has just announced that Exchange Server 2010 has been released to manufacturing. According to the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog:
We are happy to announce that Exchange 2010 is Code Complete! Our senior leadership team has signed off on the final code, and it has been sent to our early adopters for one final look before its public release. This Release to Manufacturing (RTM) milestone means we are on our way to general availability and the launch at Tech·Ed Europe 2009 in early November
Source: Microsoft Exchange Team Blog
Microsoft has just released Beta 2 of “Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint”:
Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint helps prevents users from uploading or downloading documents containing malware, out-of-policy content, or sensitive information to SharePoint libraries. Using multiple anti-malware scanning engines from industry-leading security partners combined with file and keyword filtering, Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint provides comprehensive protection against the latest threats. The product integrates with SharePoint technologies to provide high performance, easily customized protection optimized for SharePoint collaboration environments
The download, which is 115.9 MB in size, can be found here.
Source: Microsoft Download Center
If you are using Windows 7, then Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant 6.5 is a must-have for enabling Windows 7 applications to deliver great features like sharing documents, pictures, music, and video.
Through the online provider, the Sign-in Assistant helps a Windows 7 application running on one computer identify and communicate with other computers that are associated with the same Windows Live ID. Just by linking your Windows Live ID to the user account on each Windows 7 computer you own, you enable those computers to identify each other and work together more easily than has been possible in the past.
Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant 6.5 can be downloaded in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors.
Microsoft has just released the beta version of the third generation of System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM), previously called “DPM v3” or “Zinger”.
DPM 2010 Beta is Microsoft’s backup and recovery solution for Windows customers in four significant areas (note: partial features list):
1. Continuous data protection of Windows application and file servers to seamlessly integrated disk, tape, and cloud—with support for:
Windows Server from 2003 through 2008 R2
SQL Server 2000 through 2008
Exchange Server 2003 through 2010
SharePoint Server 2003 through 2010. SharePoint enhancements such as automatic protection of new content databases and no need for a recovery farm for Office “14” servers
2. Robust and flexible protection and recovery for the following Microsoft virtualization environments:
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2
Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V
Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V
Hyper-V Server 2008 and 2008 R2
3. Industry-leading Windows client protection:
Protection of Windows XP through Windows 7
Centralized policy management from DPM 2010, but backups occur while laptops are online or offline by managing policies within the local VSS client/backup tools
Restores can also be done while online or offline—from the local repository or the DPM media
4. Scalability, reliability, and manageability:
Up to 100 servers, 1000 laptops, or 2000 databases protected by a single DPM server
Significant auto-protection, auto-healing, and reduced alerting for a more “fire and forget” experience
You can download Data Protection Manager 2010 beta from DPM 2010 Beta site.
Microsoft has just released the beta version of System Center Essentials 2010. This is the second version of the product, which is heavily based on Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) but provides additional features for midsize businesses.
One of the new features in this release is the ability to automatically distinguish between physical and virtual servers and manage them accordingly.
Microsoft® System Center Essentials 2010 provides IT professionals in mid-sized organizations, a unified physical and virtual management experience. It enables you to better secure, update, monitor, and troubleshoot from a single console, so you can efficiently and proactively manage your IT environment.
What’s new in System Center Essentials 2010
Watch this video (11:13) from Tech-Ed 2009, containing a live product demo.
In order to download the beta (819.2 MB - 4851.1 MB) you need to register first.
The Essentials 2010 Beta can be evaluated for 180 days and allows for management of up to 50 servers and 500 client computers.
As we reported a few days ago, Microsoft has made available for download the “Release Candidate 0” (RC0) of Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG).
Forefront UAG RC0 provides a number of new features, including support for migration from Forefront UAG Beta 2.
Even though Forefront UAG requires Windows Server 2008 R2, the UAG RC0 requires the Release Candidate edition of Windows 2008 R2.
Update: Forefront UAG RC0 can be installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM, the reference to the RC version is probably wrong. This is also confirmed at the System Requirements page of Forefront UAG RC0:
Forefront UAG can be installed on computers running Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (RTM release) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (RTM release) operating systems.
More information about Forefront UAG as follows:
Source: Microsoft Download Center
As LiveSino is reporting, Microsoft Office 2010 will support direct document storage / sharing with Windows Live SkyDrive, as presented by the screenshot below (notice that this screenshot is not from the official Technical Preview Microsoft released to Office 2010 testers).
Source: LiveSino
Forefront Unified Access Gateway, the upcoming Microsoft product for secure remote access and application publishing, has reached its Release Candidate 0 milestone and will be available for download in the next few days.
Forefront UAG integrates Windows Server 2008 R2 DirectAccess to allow seamless connectivity to corporate networks regardless of location. It will also make use of functionality of Forefront TMG, the new version of ISA Server 2006, which will feature the ability to combine ADSL lines.
Here's the shortlist of some highlights you'll find in Forefront UAG RC0:
· Publishing Exchange – Added Web Services to the out-of-the-box publishing experience, with full support for NTLM and Kerberos authentication.
· Remote Desktop - Support for Remote Desktop publishing and single sign-on through the UAG portal.
· SCOM - The UAG management pack monitors health aspects of critical components of UAG & DirectAccess services, enables centralized viewing of important UAG events and alerts on the SCOM console, and supports array-level views for easier monitoring of complex deployments.
· Simpler array management - Now it's even simpler to deploy and manage your array from the Forefront UAG management console.
· Import/Export - Use the new import/export capability to backup your configuration. You can even export an array configuration and import it into a standalone machine.
Additional features of Forefront UAG can be found at the product’s web site.
Stay tuned for more information as soon as the RC0 is released.
Source: TechNet Blogs
Just after I published my previous post on Windows Live SkyDrive Office Web Applications Technical Preview, I logged in to my SkyDrive and ta-da! I had received my invitation:
Even though the ‘Learn More’ did not work, it takes you to http://g.live.com/8seskydrive/LearnMorePreview.
In order to join the program, I had to accept a Supplement to Microsoft Service Agreement (which was surprisingly less than expected):
After accepting the invitation, I was automatically forwarded to the home page of SkyDrive:
but with new capabilities:
Unfortunately, you cannot create new documents in this Technical Preview but this feature will eventually be available during the beta timeframe:
If you weren’t lucky enough to receive an invitation today, sign up for early notification about Office 2010 Beta to know when you can try it out too.
Stay tuned for more!
Even though “starting today, a select group of SkyDrive customers will be invited to try out a technical preview of the online versions of Microsoft Office Excel, Word and PowerPoint, also known as the Office Web Apps, integrated right inside their Windows Live SkyDrive experience” (source: Windows Live Wire), you can see a demo of the Excel Web App, Powerpoint Web App, Word Web App, and their sharing capabilities right away:
Source: TechNet Edge
A Windows 7 Federated Search Connector for Bing allows users to easily search Bing from within Windows 7:
To use it simply;
Source: MSDN Blogs
Microsoft is “pleased to announce the immediate availability of the release candidate of MDT 2010. This release contains numerous bug fixes since MDT 2010 Beta 2. MDT 2010 RC has been tested and will work with Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM as well as all previously supported operating systems”.
New in MDT 2010
Improvements in MDT 2010 will allow you to:
MDT 2010 RC can be downloaded from Microsoft Connect (9.49 MB). In case you are not a member, you need to sign-up first.
The final (RTW) release of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 will be available in September 2009.
Source: The Windows Blog
In order to be in par with the Exchange Server 2010 Release Candidate release, Microsoft has made available for download the new version of Forefront Security 2010 for Exchange Server:
Microsoft Forefront Security 2010 for Exchange Server provides fast and effective protection against malware and spam by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners. It also integrates with Forefront Online Security for Exchange to provide the defense-in-depth benefits of hosted and on-premise filtering in a single solution.
Source: Microsoft Download Center
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Release Candidate has just been released at the TechNet Evaluation Center:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 RC helps you achieve new levels of reliability and performance by delivering features that simplify your administration, protect your communications, and delight your users by meeting their demands for greater business mobility. And when you download the latest software, you're automatically registered to access valuable product resources assembled in one convenient location.
Please review the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 system requirements before you proceed. Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration.
Source: TechNet Evaluation Center
As Microsoft prepares for the upcoming Beta of Office 2010 this fall, some Technical Preview feedback has already been incorporated into new interim builds.
Microsoft has released some screenshots from a pre-beta build, focusing on the Backstage View UI changes.
| Technical Preview: | Beta (coming later this fall): |
Continue to the source to see more.
The August CTP of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (formerly known as SQL Server Code-Named “Kilimanjaro”) will be available to the general public on Wednesday, August 12th. If you are an MSDN or TechNet Plus subscriber, you can access the download today:
SQL Server 2008 R2 expands on the value delivered in SQL Server 2008 by providing a wealth of new features and capabilities that can benefit your entire organization. Our newest SQL Server version is designed to improve IT efficiency with new and enhanced management capabilities, capitalize on hardware innovation, and empower business users to access, integrate, analyze and share information using familiar business intelligence tools.
Why should I download the CTP?
Books Online for SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP August 2009 is publicly available (SQLServerR2BOLAug2009.msi, 154.8 MB)
Source: TechNet Evaluation Center
The wait is over for TechNet and MSDN Subscribers as well as ISVs (Independent software vendor) and IHVs (Independent hardware vendor) who can as of now download Windows 7 RTM.
A screenshot of TechNet Downloads hosting Windows 7 RTM:
Starting in early September, 2009, you won’t be able to create new events using Windows Live Events. You’ll still be able to access and edit your existing events until 2010, and we encourage you to save your photos and files from your existing events before then. In 2010 you will no longer be able to get to any of your old events, and you won’t be able to download and save old event photos and videos.
You can use Windows Live Calendar to create, plan, and manage events and invite friends and family all from one place—and you don’t need to wait for Windows Live Events to retire! You can check out these step–by-step instructions to see how easy it is to create an event in Calendar.
Source: Windows Live Wire
The Microsoft® MapPoint® Add-In for SQL Server gives you the power to visualize and manipulate your spatial data - stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2008—on a MapPoint map. To use the Add-in you need SQL Server 2008, MapPoint 2009, and the MapPoint Add-in for SQL Server.
For the first time, natively, you can connect to your SQL Server 2008 spatial database right from MapPoint and pull in the respective fields, filtering data to be visualized in MapPoint 2009.
The MapPoint Add-In for SQL Server can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft Downloads Center.
Source: Bing Community
In a surprise move, Microsoft will offer a complimentary, for personal-use only copy of Windows 7 Ultimate to beta testers:
To show our appreciation, members of the invitation-only Windows 7 Technical Beta Program will be eligible for a free, final copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. For more information on how to take advantage of this, refer to Paul’s post in the .Beta_Program newsgroup for details.
Beta testers will have the options to either download the English ISO on August 6th, 2009 – the same day as ISVs, IHVs, TechNet & MSDN Subscribers or opt-in for an actual copy in its retail packaging, when available.
Source: Windows Team Blog
The July CTP of the Windows Azure SDK and Tools was just released. Download them here.
What’s new in the Windows Azure SDK?
According to the deal:
The Microsoft - Yahoo! deal is intended to “improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry”.
Even though Windows 7 RTM (7600.16385) is not yet available to everyone except to OEMs, Softpedia has released a screenshots gallery of Windows 7 RTM. You can watch all 123 screenshots at source.
Source: Softpedia
After announcing the Windows 7 RTM Availability, Microsoft has announced the availability dates of Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM:
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009: OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) will receive Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in English and all Language Packs. The remaining languages will be available around August 11th.
Friday, August 14th, 2009: ISV (Independent software vendor), IHV (Independent hardware vendor), MSDN & TechNet Subscribers will be able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish on August 14th and all remaining languages starting August 21st.
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009: Microsoft Partner Program Gold/Certified Partners will be able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM through the Microsoft Partner Program (MPP) Portal on August 19th. Volume License (VL) customer with an existing Software Assurance (SA) license, will be able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM on August 19th via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC).
Thursday, August 20th, 2009: you can download the 180 day evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 R2 from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/try-it.aspx
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009: Microsoft Action Pack Subscribers will be able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM starting August 23rd.
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009: Volume License (VL) customers without Software Assurance (SA) agreements will be able to purchase Windows Server 2008 R2 through Volume Licensing on September 1st
Monday, September 14th, 2009: Windows Server 2008 R2 will be available in the retail channel on September 14th
Click here for a calendar view or import this calendar (ICS).
Source: TechNet Blogs
As it was expected:
Today (July 22nd, 2009) after all the validation checks were met, we signed off and declared build 7600 as RTM.
OEMs are expected to receive the RTM build as early as Friday, July 24th.
Windows Server 2008 R2 has also been Released to Manufacturing, as announced.
Source: The Windows Blog
Microsoft has announced the availability dates of Windows 7 RTM build:
Friday, July 24th, 2009: OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) will receive Windows 7 RTM.
Thursday August 6th, 2009: ISVs (Independent software vendor), IHVs (Independent hardware vendor)and owners of TechNet and MSDN Subscriptions will be able of downloading Windows 7 RTM in English.
Friday, August 7th, 2009: Volume License (VL) customers with an existing Software Assurance (SA) agreements will be able of downloading Windows 7 RTM in English via the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). The rest of the languages for Windows 7 RTM should be available within a couple of weeks after that.
Sunday, August 16th, 2009: Microsoft Partner Program (MSPP) Gold/Certified Partners will be able of downloading Windows 7 RTM in English through the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) Portal. By October 1st, the remaining languages will become available to download.
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009: Microsoft ActionPack Subscribers will be able of downloading Windows 7 RTM in English through the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) Portal. By October 1st, the remaining languages will become available to download.
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009: Volume License (VL) customers without Software Assurance (SA) agreements will be able of purchasing Windows 7 through Volume Licensing.
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009: Windows 7 will be in retail stores and shipping on new PCs. If you pre-ordered Windows 7, it should be delivered sometime around the October 22nd timeframe (depends on the retailer).
Click here for a calendar view or import this calendar (ICS).
Source: Windows Blog
Microsoft has just launched the Silverlight 3 and Expression 3 launch “experience” site, where you can:
Microsoft has rebranded the SQL Services that make part of the Azure platform.
Effective immediately, SQL Services will be called Microsoft SQL Azure, and SQL Data Services will be Microsoft SQL Azure Database.
Confused? Well, in order to make sure that everything is understood correctly:
Microsoft SQL Azure is a building block of the Azure platform, delivering on the Microsoft Data Platform vision of extending the SQL Server capabilities to the cloud as web-based services, enabling you to store structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Microsoft SQL Azure will deliver a rich set of integrated services that enable you to perform relational queries, search, reporting, analytics, integration and synchronize data with mobile users, remote offices and business partners. More information about Microsoft SQL Azure is available on Microsoft.com.
Microsoft SQL Azure Database, a component of the SQL Azure “platform”, is a cloud-based relational database platform built on SQL Server technologies. With SQL Azure Database, you can easily provision and deploy relational database solutions to the cloud, and take advantage of a globally distributed data center that provides enterprise-class availability, scalability, and security with the benefits of built-in data protection, self-healing and disaster recovery. More information about Microsoft SQL Azure Database is available on Microsoft.com.
Microsoft is expected to release a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Azure Database very soon, at the Worldwide Partners Conference 2009 (WPC09), July 13-16 in New Orleans.
Stay tuned to this blog for more information about SQL Azure, WPC, Microsoft Technologies and more.
Source: Technet Blogs
If you have ever tried to configure a Windows Server Core deployment, you will find SConfig is a very useful configuration utility:
We are pleased to announce that in Windows Server 2008 R2, there's an easy to use CLI, SCONFIG. SCONFIG dramatically eases server configuration for Windows Server 2008 R2 core deployments. With SCONFIG, you can easily set your system up, get it on the network so you can easily manage the server remotely.
- Rename your computer? Press 2 and you will be prompted to type in the computer name.
- Domain join? Press 1 and you'll be prompted for name & password.
Simple and fast.
With SCONFIG you can easily have a Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core deployment setup in minutes. I should also mention that SCONFIG is also localized in almost 20 languages.
Tasks include:
- Domain join
- Rename Computer
- Configure Remote (Enable management via Server Manager, & PowerShell including properly configuring the firewall.)
- Configuring Windows Update
- Enabling Remote Desktop (in case you want to login remotely.)
- Configuring Networking (static vs. DHCP and for multiple NICs)
All you have to do is type sconfig at the command line.
Source: Windows Virtualization Team Blog
Hot off the press:
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.
Do you think Windows has just got a serious competitor?
Source: Official Google Blog
Microsoft has released a new diagnostic tool for network:
The Microsoft IT Environment Health Scanner is a diagnostic tool that is designed for administrators of small or medium-sized networks (recommended up to 20 servers and up to 500 client computers) who want to assess the overall health of their network infrastructure. The tool identifies common problems that can prevent your network environment from functioning properly as well as problems that can interfere with infrastructure upgrades, deployments, and migration.
When run from a computer with the proper network access, the tool takes a few minutes to scan your IT environment, perform more than 100 separate checks, and collect and analyze information about the following:
- Configuration of sites and subnets in Active Directory
- Replication of Active Directory, the file system, and SYSVOL shared folders
- Name resolution by the Domain Name System (DNS)
- Configuration of the network adapters of all domain controllers, DNS servers, and e-mail servers running Microsoft Exchange Server
- Health of the domain controllers
- Configuration of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) for all domain controllers
If a problem is found, the tool describes the problem, indicates the severity, and links you to guidance at the Microsoft Web site (such as a Knowledge Base article) to help you resolve the problem. You can save or print a report for later review. The tool does not change anything on your computer or your network.
The Microsoft IT Environment Health Scanner can be downloaded here.
Source: Microsoft Download Center
Microsoft Silverlight 3 and Expression 3 will be unveiled at a virtual launch event on July 10, 2009. Attend the event at www.seethelight.com on July 10 to watch the keynote sessions and see new in-depth sessions.
Stroll through the customer and partner pavilions in the Exhibition Hall or stop by 'The Visual Kitchen' TV show and watch the chefs as they dish up digital designs and development entrees as part of this exclusively produced online experience.
The Office Project Team is looking for beta testers for the upcoming Project 2010 Technical Preview beta program, scheduled to launch within the next few weeks. According to their announcement:
We are taking nominations to participate in the Office 2010 Technical Beta program. We expect availability of our first beta release, known as Technical Preview, in the month of July. The team is excited to get feedback from our community that will help us make this a great release. Here is your opportunity to nominate yourself to participate in the program (space is limited). If you are interested in beta testing Project, please complete the following nomination form (you will need to log into Microsoft Connect with a Live ID).
Source: MSDN Blogs
Microsoft has released the bi-monthly (June ‘09) Cumulative Updates for MOSS and WSS3.0.
Fixes for MOSS
Notes: An “uber-package” for MOSS has not been released yet. Either install all MOSS fixes or wait for the single-install package. “Language specific” fixes have to be installed for each language installed on your system.
| KB972569 Global http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;972569 |
| Issues resolved: In Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, you start an out-of-the-box approval workflow and set a due date. As soon as the due date passes, you edit the workflow and then delete the due date. Immediately a task overdue e-mail is sent out to the approvers with the original due date. The approvers continue to receive a task overdue e-mail (referencing the original due date) weekly until the workflow is canceled, a future due date is set or the workflow is approved. |
| KB970948 Global http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;970948 |
| Issues resolved:
stsadm.exe -o setproperty -url http://portal/MySiteURL -pn "richtexteditorshortcutenabled" -pv "no"
|
| KB970947 Language specific http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;970947 |
Issues resolved: Consider the following scenario:
In this scenario, the text that is associated with the smart tags is removed |
| KB972562 Language specific http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;972562 |
Issues resolved: In a slide library, you have a slide that contains more than two commas in the file name. When you click Copy Slide to Presentation, PowerPoint 2007 does not start. Additionally, there is no error message. |
| KB972564 Forms Server Global http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;972564 |
Issues resolved: Consider the following scenario.
In this scenario, the Web page that the URL points to is open in the control instead of in a new Internet Explorer window. Note This problem does not occur in the ordinary control. |
Fixes for WSS
Notes: no information about the actual fixes has been released yet
KB971538 uber package
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;971538
KB970946 Global
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;970946
Source: MSDN Blogs
Microsoft has released new service packs for Forefront products.
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 2: Help protect your Exchange server from viruses and other malware.
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 3: Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 3 helps business protect their Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 collaboration environments by eliminating documents containing malicious code, confidential information, and inappropriate content.
How would it feel to have your photo published on the Bing.com home page for a day?
Now you can do it by entering the Facebook contest. But hurry up, the contest will be available until July 16th, 2009.
The winning photo will be used on Monday August 3rd. 2009.
Contest rules can be found here.
Best luck to the participants! However, my personal favorite photo has already been published on Bing.
Source: Channel 10
If you haven’t already nominated yourself for the upcoming Office 2010 Technical Beta Program, don’t let the opportunity slip out. The SharePoint Workspace (ex-Groove) Team is looking for beta testers:
We’re pleased to announce that the SharePoint Workspace (Groove) team is taking nominations to participate in the Office 2010 Technical Beta program.
We expect to release our Technical Preview in the month of July. The team is excited to get feedback from our community in order to help make this a great release. Here is your opportunity to nominate yourself to participate in the program.
Space is limited, so if you are interested in beta-testing SharePoint Workspace 2010, please complete the following nomination form (you will need to log into Microsoft Connect with a Live ID). We look forward to hearing from you.
And a tip for those that read posts to the end: the easiest way to get yourself nominated is by selecting the ‘individual’ option at the respective question.
As we reported before, Service Pack 2 of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 converts the license to a 180-day trial installation.
Microsoft has just released a fix for this problem; the fix resolves the problem that causes Office Server products to expire 180 days after Service Pack 2 is installed.
Update for 2007 Microsoft Office Servers (KB971620), 32-Bit Edition
Update for 2007 Microsoft Office Servers (KB971620), 64-Bit Edition
For information about how to deploy this update, please see the Microsoft TechNet article on deploying server updates: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263467.aspx.
This update applies to the following products:
Source: Microsoft Download Center
The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 (Web PI) is a free tool that makes it simple to download, install and keep up-to-date with the latest components of the Microsoft Web Platform, including Internet Information Services (IIS), SQL Server Express, .NET Framework and Visual Web Developer. In addition, install popular open source ASP.NET and PHP web apps with the Web PI.
You can download it directly from here.
Source: Microsoft Downloads Center
Microsoft is launching a new free online application that helps people save energy and money through better understanding of home energy usage.
Microsoft Hohm will provide recommendations to users, in order to conserve energy.
Hohm is based on the Windows Azure cloud operating system.
For those wondering what Hohm means, it is pun of “Ohm” and “Home”; Ohm (Ω) is defined as “the resistance between two points of a conductor when a constant potential difference of 1 volt, applied to these points, produces in the conductor a current of 1 ampere, the conductor not being the seat of any electromotive force” (source: Wikipedia).
In order to use the application, you have to register for the beta at http://www.microsoft-hohm.com/.
Source: Microsoft Hohm
Microsoft has just made available the awaited ‘Microsoft Security Essentials’ (Morro) beta.
Click the image above (it will take you to Microsoft Connect) to register and download the beta.
More information about the product can be found at the official Microsoft site.
Aiming at enhancing the quality and robustness of the round-the-corner final release of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft has done some changes related to RDP7, the new version of the Remote Desktop protocol.
Remote Desktop will eventually use host resources for DirectX 10.1 / DXGI 1.1 and Direct 2D applications, taking into advantage the enhanced bitmap acceleration capabilities in R2. Pre-release versions of Window 7 used client resources to render these types of applications.
GDI applications, media with Windows Media Player, and Aero Glass will continue using the client-side rendering for remote scenarios.
Even though this design change may impact the utilization of CPU and GPU resources on the host side for certain use cases, it provides a consistent approach to remoting multiple types of rich (2D and 3D) content across a broad range of rich and thin client devices.
Source: Terminal Services Team Blog
As we are preparing for the Technical Preview of Office 2010, additional information has started emerging from various sources.
One of the most interesting scenarios of the new Office 2010 is the ability to simultaneously edit Excel 2010 or OneNote 2010 files along with your colleagues.
This feature is not actually new for OneNote, since OneNote 2003 / 2007 provides the “Shared Session” feature that lets teams of (as many as you like) people access a shared set of notes at the same time by automatically synchronizing everyone's changes to the notebook.
It is not yet clear if simultaneous editing in Office 201o will be implemented in the same way; sure is that Google Docs provides this feature for a long time, allowing up to ten people to work on the same document.
Word 2010 will not support simultaneous editing; even though we don’t know why, I am sure a lot of people will be disappointed to find out about this since such a collaborative scenario would be a killer feature for Office 2010.
Don’t forget that you can still apply for Office 2010 Beta. Find more information here.
(Image source: on10.net)
It seems like the WSUS team continues to face problems publishing updates.
This time, an update released for Forefront Client Security installed successfully without issues but afterwards another FCS update of previous version (1.0.1703.0) would be offered to the client. If the Client Update for Microsoft Forefront Client Security (1.0.1703.0) package attempted to install, it would fail as there would already be a later version of the FCS Antimalware engine on the system.
Consequently, the KB971026 update would be continually offered and continually fail to install.
Microsoft has re-released the (older) Client Update for Microsoft Forefront Client Security (1.0.1703.0) package. WSUS Administrators should sync their servers to get the updated metadata.
The issue did not affect home users running Forefront Client Security as part of an enterprise benefit, since Microsoft Update did not seem to face the problem (or was very quickly fixed).
