Fix released for SharePoint SP2 Trial License Conversion

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

Download the Download the Update for 2007 Microsoft Office Servers (KB971620), 32-Bit Edition package now.

Update for 2007 Microsoft Office Servers (KB971620), 64-Bit Edition

Download the Download the Update for 2007 Microsoft Office Servers (KB971620), 64-Bit Edition package now.

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:

• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Microsoft Office Project Server 2007
• Microsoft Search Server 2008
• Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express
• Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007

Source: Microsoft Download Center

Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 (Release Candidate) Released

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 Hohm – Save energy and money with the new beta

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

Download Microsoft Security Essentials Beta

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.

Source: Microsoft Security Essentials Beta Home

Last-minute design changes to Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2

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

Excel/OneNote 2010 will support simultaneous editing

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)

FCS update re-offering problem resolved

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).

Source: Forefront Client Security Support Blog

Mark your calendars: Microsoft Security Essentials beta on June 23rd

In just 4 days users will be able to download the beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials. Initially the beta will be available in English-speaking countries, Brazil and Israel.

Microsoft  Security Essentials will use the same engine as the paid Forefront Client Security. It will be available in 32- and 64-bit versions for Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Microsoft  Security Essentials will require a Genuine (validated) version of Windows.

You can also check-out the official web site.

No more MCP Certification Welcome Kits after June 30

In accordance with the Microsoft Environmental Initiative and its goals to reduce carbon footprint, Microsoft is transitioning  to digital-only Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certificates. The digital certificates are available today in PDF or XPS at https://www.mcpdigitalcert.com/.

Orders for MCP Certification Welcome Kits will discontinue on June 30, 2009. After that, if you require a paper certificate, you may order one beginning July 7, 2009, through the MCP member Web site (costs will apply).

Poor new MCPs… I still have my MCP Welcome Kit, with its ID card, pins and Bill Gates signed certificate…

Forefront Client Security update released

As Microsoft announced yesterday, an update for Forefront Client Security anti-malware client has been released today. This update fixes several issues, including a new shortcut scanning behavior that allows overriding network location link (.lnk) scanning.

Even though .lnk scanning override is included with the update, it has to be explicitly enabled by the Administrator either through the local policy or through Active Directory by using a Group Policy administrative template (ADM) file, since this option is not manageable through the Forefront Client Security management console. Detailed information on how to achieve this, alongside more information about this hotfix, is available at Microsoft Support KB971026.

The updated client requires that definition update version 1.59.3.0 or a later version is installed.

Microsoft gets Advanced+ Antivirus Certification

Since Microsoft's new antivirus seems to be the topic of the day, let’s take a look at the recent antivirus comparison reports published by av-comparatives.org.

(Microsoft Live OneCare 2.5.2900.20 has been used in the tests, even though it will stop being sold in retail by June 30th, 2009).

The following report, where Microsoft scored second behind Avira and in par with G Data, shows the pro-active on-demand detection capabilities sorted by detection rate.

Microsoft’s antivirus was the only one with the least false alarms (0-2), compared to its competitors:

Last, but not least, Microsoft Live OneCare was awarded with the Advanced+ certification, alongside NOD32 and Kaspersky.

We all hope Microsoft will do even better with the new Morro / Microsoft Security Essentials free antivirus offering, when this is released by the end of 2009.

You can read the full report at av-comparatives.org (PDF, 840KB).

Forefront Client Security (FCS) update coming to WSUS

After today’s heat about Morro / Microsoft Security Essentials (here and here), Microsoft is releasing an update to Forefront Client Security v1:

Improvements to the FCS  kernel-mode driver

A change in how the component object model (COM) is used in Software Explorers. There is an issue present, only in Windows 2000, that causes it to crash.

A change to how the FCS engine scans shortcut files(.lnk). The engine can now be configured to query the path to which the shortcut points; if the path is on the local computer it will scan the referenced location, if it is a network location it will not scan the reference

Source: WSUS Product Team Blog

Microsoft ‘Morro’ using the same engine as Forefront Client Security?

Microsoft Security Essentials (or ‘Morro’ as it has been know until today), the new free anti-virus offering by Microsoft, seems to be using the same engine and definitions as those provided by Microsoft’s business client security offering, Microsoft Forefront Client Security.

The comparison of screenshots speaks for itself:

(Screenshot from Ars Technica)

Apart from the Client version, which has been augmented to 2.0.xxxx for Morro – to be in par with the next version of Forefront Client Security 2.0 that will be part of the Stirling platform, all other definition versions are the same. Notably, Microsoft provides multiple updates of its definitions daily through Microsoft Update.

Microsoft provides the option to enterprises who have licensed Forefront Client Security in a per-user licensing model to provide the Client Security agent to employees at no additional cost for protecting home computers.

By releasing Morro by the end of 2009, Microsoft will further extend the coverage of their anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware offering to home users as well.

Microsoft Security Essentials is the official name for ‘Morro’

Microsoft Security Essentials will be made available in September according to sources familiar with Microsoft's plans. Microsoft has officially stated that Microsoft Security Essentials would be available by the end of 2009 at the latest. The company has been trialing internal versions since June 1.

Source: Neowin.net

Morro (new Microsoft Anti-virus) screenshots leaked

A Windows enthusiast blog on Tuesday posted what it says are leaked screenshots of Microsoft's upcoming free security software, code-named "Morro," which is due for public beta release soon, as we have already reported before.

The Neowin.net blog has three screenshots that it says it obtained from an anonymous source. The software is reportedly being tested internally at Microsoft.

Meanwhile, CNET News' sister site ZDNet is reporting that Morro will be almost entirely cloud-based.

"Instead of scanning every file or network packet as they arrive into the computer from the Web or an external device, it creates a virtual tunnel between your incoming Internet pipe at the back of your computer to a Morro data center, which scans every byte and packet for malware," writes Zack Whittaker on the iGeneration blog.

Source: Morro screenshots reportedly leaked; Will it be cloud-based? | Security - CNET News

Windows 7 Login Screen Background Rotator

The Login Screen Rotator utility for Windows 7 lets you pick up to 10 logon screen backgrounds which it will then display randomly each time you login. All you have to do is browse for the files you want to use then click “Enable Settings and Exit.” If you ever want to revert back to the default screen, you can use the utility called "Remove files and settings.exe" which is included with the download.

Source: Channel 10

Bing Wallpapers

Continuing our report on new cool wallpapers, a few (unofficial) Bing wallpapers have seen the light of the Web :-).

You can get them here.

New Windows 7 Wallpaper in Windows 7 Build 7232

A new Windows 7 Wallpaper from Windows 7 Build 7232 has been leaked to the web. I don’t post it here but it looks really nice!!!

You can get it at UX Evangelist’s blog.

Combine two ADSL lines? Now possible with Forefront TMG (ISA Server)

One of the most requested features for ISA Server 2006 has been the ability to combine two DSL lines, mainly in order to be able to leverage both ADSL lines (load balancing) and have redundancy (failover backup) as well.

This scenario is possible with Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG), the new version of ISA Server currently in Beta 3. Using the capability called ISP redundancy which basically, enables utilizing two ISP links for external connectivity, either for traffic load balancing or as a failover backup.

You can download Forefront TMG Beta 3 in both Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition from Microsoft Download Center.

More information about basic setup steps, configuration, monitoring and some caveats and tips and tricks is available at the Forefront TMG (ISA Server) Product Team Blog.

Source: Technet Blogs

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Forefront TMG,ADSL

explicit.bing.net

After Microsoft’s recent criticism of turning bing.com to a porn portal, Microsoft has moved into serving potentially explicit images and video content from a separate single domain, explicit.bing.net. This is invisible to the end customer, but allows for filtering of that content by domain which makes it much easier for customers at all levels to block this content regardless of what the SafeSearch settings might be. This makes it much easier for companies to use filtering software to block unwanted content if SafeSearch has been turned off.

Additionally, Bing will begin returning source url information in the query string for images and video content so that companies who already use this method of filtering will be able to catch explicit content on Bing along with everything else they are already blocking for their customers.

Source: Bing Community

Technorati Tags: Bing,Microsoft

SMS for Windows Live

This new service by Windows Live allows you to:

• Update your personal message
• Check your Windows Live Calendar
• Invite people to join your network
• Get contact info for people in your Windows Live contact list

To use these services, first you’ll need to register your mobile number with Windows Live and then you’ll just send a text message (SMS) with a “command” to a shortcode:

• If you’re in the US and your mobile operator is AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, or Nextel, your shortcode is MyLive or 695483.
• If you’re in the UK and your mobile operator is Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, O2, or Virgin, your shortcode is 88804.

Standard SMS messaging costs apply in both the US and UK. So your mobile operator will charge your normal rate for each text message you send and receive. There’s no additional charge from Microsoft.

Read more at source.

Technorati Tags: windows live,sms,microsoft

How to Get RSS feeds for any Bing Search

Although you may not see an RSS icon appear when you do a search on the new search engine, Bing.com, the feeds are there if you want them. As with the old search engine at Live.com, getting a feed for any search result is as simple as adding an extra parameter to the end of your search results URL.

To do so, first just do a search as usual for whatever topic you want the feed for. Then, up in the address bar, append “&format=rss” (without the quotes, of course) to the end of the URL.

Source: Channel 10

Technorati Tags: microsoft,bing

Microsoft Translator Instant Answers Now On Bing

Instant translation is another way that Bing helps you complete tasks faster by presenting better organized and more relevant content.

What to expect?

Example query: translate I love you

Bing returns:

Example query: translate I love you to Japanese

Bing returns:

Example query: how do you say apple juice in Spanish

Bing returns:

Source: Microsoft Translator Official Team Blog

Technorati Tags: bing,microsoft translator

Windows 7 Boot from VHD blue-screens?

Native-boot virtual hard disks (VHD) is a new feature of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (we assume the majority of this blog’s readers have already tried this). However, there are cases that after successfully creating the VHD, at boot time the computer displays a blue screen (BSoD).

This blue screen is very likely to occur if the following conditions apply:

1. You have created a Dynamically Expanding VHD (this is the default option, unless you specify the type option at create vdisk time – see below)
2. There is not enough disk space available on the physical disk that hosts the VHD, assuming the vdisk has been expanded to its maximum size: this might sound weird but Windows 7 needs to know that there is available space in case the VHD needs to expand to its maximum

For example, in case you have 100GB available in the drive where the VHD is hosted, you will not be able to boot if the default VHD creation options have been used; this is because Windows will check to see if 120GB (default VHD maximum size) of free space is available. The result will be that Windows boot will blue-screen.

How can I override this behavior?

The simplest way to get over this is by providing the type and maximum arguments during VHD creation. For detailed steps on how you can achieve this, please read this article.

How to boot from VHD in Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2

Booting from a Native-Boot Virtual Hard Disk (Boot from VHD) is one of the hottest features of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

You can follow the steps below in order to create a new Windows installation that will boot directly from a VHD:

• Boot from the Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD to start a new Windows installation
• At the first installation dialog press Shift-F10 to start a command prompt
• At the command prompt type diskpart
• At the diskpart prompt type create vdisk file=c:\windows.vhd type=fixed maximum=30720 (this will create a fixed VHD of 30GBs, assuming there is this space available on the physical host disk)
• Now run select vdisk file=c:\windows.vhd
• Run attach vdisk
• Exit diskpart by running exit
• Continue the Windows installation. Ignore any warnings, such as “cannot boot from this partition”, that may appear

In case you are unlucky enough to get a blue screen during boot time, make sure you read this article to work-around it.

What’s new in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, available in CTP this summer, will provide the following benefits:

Capitalize on Hardware Innovation

Increase in the number of logical processors supported from 64 up to 256.  This will provide customers with more choices for obtaining single system scalability with high performance.

Optimize Hardware Resources

Dashboard viewpoints provide insight into utilization and policy violations to help identify consolidation opportunities, maximize investments and maintain healthy systems.

Manage Efficiently at Scale

Through new extensions in SQL Server Management Studio, organizations will gain insights into their growing applications and databases and help ensure higher service levels through policies and dashboard viewpoints.

Enhance Collaboration Across Development and IT

Streamline Application Lifecycle Management through integration with Visual Studio. A new project type enables a single unit of management for packaging database schema with application requirements. This ensures higher quality application development while also accelerating deployments, moves, and changes over time.

Improve the Quality of Your Data

Centralized approach to defining, deploying, and managing master data can ensure reporting consistency across systems and deliver faster more accurate results across the enterprise.

Manage User-Generated Analytical Applications

Comprehensive management thru Microsoft SharePoint 2010 gives IT the ability to manage and secure all BI assets, thus freeing the original authors to focus on the priorities of the business.

SharePoint 2010 Management Console

• Provides a single, comprehensive management tool through Microsoft SharePoint 2010 that gives IT administrators the ability to set server policies and monitor Self Service BI activities

• IT can manage and secure all BI assets, freeing the original authors to focus on business priorities

• Dashboard views to monitor access and utilization of analyses and reports as well as track patterns of hardware usage to help ensure the right security privileges are applied and user generated solutions are continuously available, up-to-date, and secured

Report with Ease

Decrease time and costs developing reports by giving users the ability to design their own queries, reports and charts through powerful and intuitive authoring and ad hoc reporting capabilities.

Get More Out of Your Data

New support for geospatial visualization can produce new insights and discoveries when geospatial data is combined with corporate data for reporting and analysis.

Build Robust Analytical Applications

With the in-memory analytics add-in for Microsoft Excel 2010, business users can quickly access, analyze and summarize vast amounts of data directly in Excel without the assistance of the IT department.

Consolidate Your Data

New “data mash up” capabilities will simplify time consuming data gathering and consolidation tasks.  Integrate data from multiple sources, including corporate databases and external sources, using powerful tools within Microsoft Excel.

Share and Collaborate with Confidence

New collaboration tools make it easy to share analytic applications and reports through Microsoft Office SharePoint, where they are refreshed automatically, maintained, and made accessible to others.

Source: Microsoft.com

SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP Registration now open

During the summer of 2009, Microsoft will offer a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Server 2008 R2.  Users can sign up now to receive an email notification of the availability of the CTP.

Source: Microsoft.com

Microsoft new free anti-virus "Morro" to be unveiled soon

According to the Reuters, Microsoft will soon unveil "Morro", a new anti-virus offering targeted at home users. The new software, which will be offered in beta, is currently being tested internally by Microsoft employees. No specific date has currently been announced (why don’t you subscribe to our feed to learn it first when Morro is released).

 

Microsoft has said that Morro will offer basic features for fighting a wide range of viruses, which would likely make it comparable to low-end consumer products from Symantec and McAfee that cost about $40 per year.

 

Three years ago, Microsoft entered that market with Live OneCare, which turned out to be a commercial flop. It announced plans in November to kill that product suite, saying it would launch the free Morro service by the end of 2009.

Source: Reuters

Download Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 R2 - June 2009 CTP

Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 R2 - June 2009 CTP is the first pre-release of the next version of Commerce Server. This pre-release version is not feature complete.

What's New in Commerce Server 2009 "R2"

API. Ability to update products and categories via the Commerce Foundation Services API. Authorization is not available in the CTP, thus any caller can update products or categories currently.

Business Administration Toolbar. Displayed on the NTLM site, the Silverlight 3-based administrative toolbar provides a point of extensibility that allows developers to create custom Silverlight "plug-ins" to be run from the toolbar. The toolbar supports multiple tabs for ease of organizing tools.

Cross Sell/Up Sell Relationship Manager. Used to manage cross sell and up sell relationships for a product or category. Launched from the Business Administration Toolbar (active when on a category or product page), the user can select products and/or categories to be displayed as cross sell or up-sell items.

Commerce Foundation Services. The ability to run Commerce Foundation Services as a service and thus make requests to Commerce Server in a distributed server environment. There are new configuration sections and elements to support this as described in the core documentation. Note that distributed Commerce Server is not supported out-of-the-box in the default contemporary site in this release.

Security Note: In a distributed Commerce Server environment, the ability to define secured access to Commerce Server assets via the Commerce Foundation Services will be required. Commerce Foundation Services security is not yet available in this CTP release but is planned for upcoming releases.

Router Service. This service can be configured to forward messages from a browser client to the Commerce Foundation Services operating in a distributed environment. The Routing Service implements a security boundary in Commerce Server applications where Commerce Server assets are installed in an enterprise behind security firewalls and not in Internet facing servers. The Routing Service exposes a service endpoint to handle client Commerce Server requests, and is also documented in the Commerce Server core documentation.

New default contemporary site. The out-of-the-box Default Site in Commerce Server 2009 is replaced with the default contemporary site. This updated default contemporary site gives you a more streamlined and appealing out-of-the-box shopping site to work from.

Business Tools Extensibility Kit. Formerly known as the Partner SDK, the Business Tools Extensibility Kit includes the source code for the Business Management Applications

You can download this at Microsoft Download Center.

Source: Microsoft Download Center

Download System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 RC

Microsoft has just released the Release Candidate (RC) of System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008. The RC version includes six (6) new features since the beta version released earlier this year:

• Storage Migration
• Queuing of Live migrations
• Rapid Provisioning
• Host compatibility checks
• Support for 3rd party CFS
• Support for Veritas Volume Manager

In order to download the RC you need to first register with the Beta Program by filling-in a short survey at Microsoft Connect.

Source: Technet Blogs

Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio May 2009 CTP

Microsoft has released an updated version of Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio.

Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio extend Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1 to enable the creation, building, debugging, running and packaging of scalable web applications and services on Windows Azure.

New for the May 2009 CTP:

• Support for Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1
• Update for Visual Studio 2008
• Improved integration with the Development Fabric and Storage services to improve the reliability of debug and run of Cloud Services from Visual Studio
• Enhanced robustness and stability

You can download the CTP from Microsoft Download Center.

Source: Microsoft Download Center

Technorati Tags: microsoft,windows azure,visual studio

Test hosted Exchange 2010 Beta

Intermedia, a hosting services provider, is offering free testing of Exchange Server 2010 Beta.

Testing Exchange 2010 as a hosted service will provide you with the new version of Outlook Web Access (OWA).

This offer is available through September 2009. In order to participate you have to complete the application form available here.

Source: Intermedia

Technorati Tags: microsoft,exchange 2010

New Backup Features in Windows Server 2008 R2

The RC version of Windows Server 2008 R2 includes a set of new backup features, such as:

• The ability to backup System State as a separate job as well as the ability to do incremental System State backups.
• The ability to exclude specific file types, file folders, and specific files instead of having to backup an entire volume.
• The ability to backup to a volume or a network share instead of requiring a dedicated disk for backups.

For more information on Windows Server Backup in R2, take a hop over to the Windows Server 2008 R2 Tech Center on TechNet.

Source: TechNet Edge

Technorati Tags: windows server 2008 r2,microsoft

Download Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 CTP2

Microsoft Sync Framework is a comprehensive synchronization platform that enables collaboration and offline scenarios for applications, services, and devices. Using Microsoft Sync Framework, developers can build applications that synchronize data from any source using any protocol over any network.

Sync Framework Overview
Microsoft Sync Framework provides a synchronization platform that caters to the following scenarios, in which data needs to be synchronized between multiple data sources:

• A number of users are collaborating and need to be able to access and update a set of data.
• A user wants to access and update his or her data in multiple locations – on a desktop, on a device, using a Web browser, etc.
• A user wants to download data from a server or service and take that data offline to a client store. The data can then be accessed and updated by the user even when not connected to the server or service.

Microsoft Sync Framework makes no assumptions about how data is stored or transmitted. Sync Framework places no restrictions on the type of data sources that can be synchronized, the protocol and network that are used to communicate with each data source , or the type of synchronization topology that is used. A data source can be synchronized with any other data source in any order; full peer-to-peer synchronization topologies are supported.
In order to cater to any data source, Sync Framework uses a provider model, with each sync provider being responsible for synchronizing a particular type of data source (or replica). Sync Framework is used to author providers and is used to perform the actual synchronization between the providers.
As well as enabling providers to be authored, Sync Framework includes several built-in providers:

• Database synchronization providers (referred to as Sync Services for ADO.NET in previous releases) are used to synchronize databases for offline and collaborative scenarios.
• File synchronization provider (referred to as Sync Services for File Systems in previous releases) is used to synchronize files and folders in an NTFS or FAT file system.
• Web feed synchronization components (referred to as Sync Services for FeedSync in previous releases) are used to synchronize RSS and Atom feeds with data in a local store.

Sync Framework 2.0
Sync Framework 2.0 expands on the capabilities offered by Sync Framework 1.0:

• Adds features that cater to new scenarios or scenarios that were difficult to support.
• Reduces the amount of work required to develop providers.
• Supports more data sources with new built-in providers.

The major new features included in this CTP (CTP2) are:

• New database providers (SqlSyncProvider and SqlCeSyncProvider): Enable hub-and-spoke and peer-to-peer synchronization for SQL Server, SQL Server Express, and SQL Server Compact. Sync Framework automatically creates all of the commands that are required to communicate with each database. You do not have to write synchronization queries as you do with other providers. The providers support: flexible initialization options; batching of changes based on data size; and maintenance tasks, such as metadata cleanup and server database restore.
• Custom filters: Enable a filtered replica to store item data only for items that are in the filter, such as a media storage replica that stores only songs that are rated as three stars or better. As the rating on a song changes, an item might move in or out of the filter. A filter-tracking replica is another replica in the community that can identify which items are in the filter and which have moved in or out of the filter recently. A filter-tracking replica may store item data for items that are not in the filter. Sync Framework supports efficient synchronization between filtered replicas and filter-tracking replicas, and maintains all of the necessary metadata.
• Improved conflict handling: Sync Framework added several features in this release that make it easier to handle conflicts.
  • Constraint conflict handling: Sync Framework now supports constraint conflicts, which are conflicts that violate constraints that are put on items or change units, such as the relationship of folders or the location of identically named data within a file system. A destination provider can report a constraint conflict to Sync Framework, and use Sync Framework components to resolve the conflict and determine how to apply the resolution to the destination replica.
  • Conflict logging: Sync Framework defines a set of conflict log interfaces and provides components that help manage conflicts in the log. Sync Framework also provides an in-memory implementation of the conflict log interfaces for replicas that do not contain a conflict log. It can be useful to save conflicts in a log so that they can be processed separately from the synchronization session, such as when a user needs to review conflicts and decide how to resolve them.
  • Last-writer-wins conflict resolution: An application might want to resolve concurrency conflicts (in which an item is updated by more than one replica) by keeping the most recently made change, regardless of where the change was made. Sync Framework supports this resolution option by enabling an application to retrieve the time a change was made on the source and destination replicas. The application can then compare the two times and apply the last change.
  • Improved simple provider conflict handling: Simple providers include a new set of conflict handling interfaces that make it easier to specify resolution actions for concurrency and constraint conflicts.
• Data conversion between providers: In some scenarios, synchronization providers synchronize the same type of data (such as sales data), but the data format that each provider requires is different. To address this scenario, Sync Framework enables you to implement interfaces that convert data to the format that each provider requires. In addition to data conversion APIs that can be used for any type of custom provider, Sync Framework also includes conversion APIs specifically for the file synchronization provider.
• Change application service: Sync Framework includes a change applier implementation that most applications use to apply changes to a replica. In this CTP, Sync Framework introduces the change application service, which performs the same actions as the change applier, but in a more granular way. A destination provider that requires greater flexibility than the standard change applier can use the change application service to perform only the set of actions that are required.

Source: Microsoft Downloads Center

Technorati Tags: microsoft,sync framework

Interactive Stsadm Technical Reference for SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 includes the Stsadm tool for command-line administration of SharePoint Server 2007 servers and sites.

Microsoft has just released an interactive STSADM application that lets you easily browse & search through STSADM commands and options. Continue to Technet to use the interactive application (based on Silverlight).

Source: Technet

Technorati Tags: microsoft,sharepoint,stsadm

Download Bing Ring Tones (MP3)

Microsoft has released three BingTones, Bing-branded ringtones for your mobile device.

They are available for download at the Microsoft Download Center (download size: 630 KB zipped).

Technorati Tags: Bing,Microsoft

Photosynth Gets a Whole New Look and a Few Improvements

(from the Photosynth Blog)

Along with a lot of little bug fixes, tweaks and general improvements we launched some pretty major visual updates to the website to help improve your experience with us.  Also, with the revamp of the site design we did some work to improve our site search to help you find the great synths you’re looking for.

Site Design Update

Our green Photosynth theme has been with our team since the beginning and we didn’t want to lose it completely, but we did realize that as our pages got longer with more useful community content we needed to improve the design to help make that content easier to read.  The darker background and colors also help the great photos in your synths shine the most on the page.  Have a look around the site with the new design and let us know your thoughts.

Comments & Geotags on Tradecards

We added the comment count and geotag icon to tradecards across the site to help you see what synths have been located on the map and what synths are being actively discussed... or where you can be the first to leave a comment.

New Homepage with Fresh Content

Our new homepage has a full viewer on it so visitors can directly explore one of our latest favorite synths.  Along with showcasing this one spectacular synth in the viewer we’re also highlighting 6 other great synths.  We’ll be updating these regularly, so check back often to see what’s new and if one of your synths has been featured.

 

Improved Search

We improved the search on our site to allow you to sort the results not just by the best keyword match, but also by synth quality, popularity, date and author. Give the new search a try!

 

Initial Synth Visibility Setting

The point cloud gets a lot of love, but sometimes we know you might not want it to show by default when your synth loads... and sometimes that’s all you want to show!  We’ve added a setting to the Synth Editing panel to allow you to set the initial visibility to include the images & points, images only or points only.  You can get to this setting by logging in and viewing any of your own synths.  There is a Edit Synth & Highlights button that will take you to the edit page when clicked.

Source: Photosynth Blog

Technorati Tags: microsoft,photosynth

Windows 7 RTM in 6 weeks!

Since the General Availability of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be in October 22nd, Release To Manufacturing (RTM) code is anticipated to be available to partners sometime in the 2^nd half of July.

It will likely be made available earlier to TechNet/MSDN subscribers, or customers with some sort of Volume License agreement with Microsoft.

Source: Windows Team Blog, Technet Edge

Technorati Tags: windows 7

How to create RSS-enabled Windows 7 themes

Even though this has been around for a long time, Windows 7 supports the creation of RSS-enabled themes.

Enthusiasts can create a theme where the desktop background slide show points to an RSS photo feed. For example, my sister lives across the country and we only see each other about once a year. An easy way for me to keep her up to date on my family is to send her a Windows 7 theme which points to my RSS photo feed. When I upload new photos they will appear on her desktop automatically.

Because there are a few different ways to create an RSS photo feed, the process to include an RSS photo feed in a Windows 7 theme will only work if your RSS photo feed links to the high resolution photos using the “enclosures” method. The feed should only reference picture formats such as JPEG or PNG. Due to this limitation themes must be created manually when including an RSS photo feed.

So, to create one of these themes you can follow these steps:

1. Download the template from MSDN.
2. Open the template using Notepad.
3. Replace {themename} with the name you want to appear in the Personalization Control Panel themes gallery.
4. Replace {rssfeedurl} with the full path to your compatible RSS photo feed.
5. Save the changes as a file with the “.theme” extension.

It is ready for you to share! Send the file via email, etc. to your friends and family.

Source: Engineering Windows 7

Technorati Tags: microsoft,windows 7

Windows 7 to launch October 22

According to CNET, Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that it is planning for Windows 7 to hit retail shelves and start showing up on new PCs on October 22.

To reach that milestone, Microsoft plans to wrap up development of the operating system by the middle or end of next month, Senior Vice President Bill Veghte said in an interview.

Microsoft also confirmed, without giving details, that it plans to offer some sort of "technology guarantee" giving those who buy Vista machines close to the Windows 7 launch a free or discounted copy of the new operating system. As with past similar programs, details on pricing will be up to individual computer makers, although Microsoft did say the upgrade program will apply to Vista Home Premium and higher-priced editions (meaning not Windows Vista Basic).

Source: CNET News

Technorati Tags: Windows 7,Microsoft

Full Body Motion Control for the Xbox with “Project Natal”

As we previously reported on May 25th, at the E3 Expo, Microsoft unveiled “Project Natal” which is a whole new way to interact with your Xbox 360. Like Nintendo’s Wii, Natal lets you control a game using motion, but unlike the Wii – very unlike it, in fact –  you don’t hold any sort of controllers or sensors in order to do so.

Instead, the bar that sits above or below your TV has a camera, sensors, and a microphone within its casing. In other words, it can see you and your movements. It even does facial and voice recognition and lets you swipe through screens by moving your hands (how “Minority Report” is that!).

Watch video below!!!

Source: Channel 10

Technorati Tags: xbox,xbox 360

1-800-Bing-411

 

Alongside the launch of the new search engine Bing, another free service called Bing 411 also debuted. As you may have guessed by its name, the service lets you call a phone number and get free 411 information (available in the U.S. only). Just like the standard, paid 411 service, you begin your call by saying your city and state and then you tell Bing 411 what business listing or other information you’re looking for. The service will attempt to locate the information and then it will connect you or you can choose to receive a text message instead.

To try Bing 411 yourself, call 1-800-Bing-411 (1-800-246-4411) for free

Source: Channel 10

Technorati Tags: microsoft,bing,411

No Hotmail with Outlook Express after September 1st

If you are using Microsoft Office Outlook, Outlook Express, or Entourage to view your Windows Live Hotmail, the DAV protocol retirement may affect you. Microsoft is changing the way these programs access Hotmail e-mail which will require you to take action. We’ll be sending a note to customers who are likely affected to remind them to take action.

To continue to receive e-mail from your Hotmail account in your mail program, please select one of the alternative solutions below before September 1, 2009. After this date, new e-mail can only be delivered to your mail programs through the following alternative solutions. However, you can continue to view your e-mail via the web at http://mail.live.com or http://www.hotmail.com.

If you use Microsoft Office Outlook to view Hotmail, you can download Office Outlook Connector for free to continue accessing your Hotmail within Outlook 2003 or 2007. If you’re using Outlook 2002, you will need to change the settings in your Outlook program. Click here to learn more.

If you use Outlook Express to view Hotmail, you can choose to download Windows Live Mail (recommended) for free or change the settings on your program to access your Hotmail within Outlook Express. Click here to learn more about your options.

If you use Entourage to view Hotmail, you will need to change the settings in your program to continue receiving Hotmail messages in Entourage. Click here to learn more.

Source: Windows Live Blog

Technorati Tags: outlook express,microsoft,hotmail

Add Bing to Internet Explorer Search Bar

Internet Explorer (IE) 7 or 8 users can get the new Bing search helper add-on from ieaddons.com.

The add-on provides search suggestions, as in the screenshot above.

Technorati Tags: microsoft,bing

Announcing Bing Travel!

Live Search Farecast has joined forces with MSN Travel to become Bing Travel, one of the largest travel destinations on the Web. Preview us today.

Bing is built to help you cut through the clutter of the Web and connect with the information you need to make better decisions.

Comparison shopping for travel. Shop flights and hotels from hundreds of providers for destinations worldwide. Our planning tools will allow you to decide when and where to travel. Our Price Predictor will tell you when’s the right time to buy airline tickets, and our hotel Rate Indicator will show you where to stay.

When it's time to take a trip, Bing is the only site you need. In addition to Bing Travel, Bing Shopping is where you can start your search for everything from a new camera to a new wardrobe for your trip. Bing Local will help you decide which restaurants to visit, and Bing Health will answer your questions about staying well while you're on the road.

Source: Kumo Travel Communications (notice the screenshot below)

Technorati Tags: microsoft,bing,bing travel

Bing.com launches in multiple geographies

Bing.com – Microsoft’s rebranded search decision engine has launched today in multiple countries.

The screenshot above is from the Greek version of Bing.com, depicting the beautiful island of Santorini (planning for vacation there?).

The first impressions of Bing look very promising.

Technorati Tags: bing,santorini