Kurt Shintaku's Blog

As of July 30th, 2015, the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 are still a couple weeks away according to Sr Windows PM Michael Niehaus:

Still a couple of weeks for the updated RSAT tools

https://twitter.com/mniehaus/status/626849596703178757

The RSAT tools Tech Preview download is still posted but I don’t believe it works on build 10240 (the “RTW”) as it stopped working as of build 10122.

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview lets IT administrators manage Windows Server Technical Preview from a remote computer running Windows 10 Insider Preview or Windows 10 Technical Preview. It does not run on the May 2015 release of Windows 10 Insider Preview, build number 10122. An RSAT package will be available shortly after Windows 10 RTM.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=45520

I think this will be a brand new cloud addition to Dynamics CRM Online.

I’m excited to announce that Microsoft has acquired Incent Games Inc., the developer and owner of FantasySalesTeam, an innovative sales gamification platform that’s helped hundreds of companies boost sales productivity, drive revenue and improve CRM adoption through collaboration and team based competition. The benefits of this creative and popular feature will soon be available for our customers to help them incentivize their sales teams to new heights and better results.

…

Read more here:

• NEWS: Microsoft acquires FantasySalesTeam, an innovative sales gamification platform, to help organizations increase productivity
  http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2015/08/03/microsoft-acquires-fantasysalesteam-an-innovative-sales-gamification-platform-to-help-organizations-increase-productivity/
• SITE: Fantasy Sales Team
  http://www.fantasysalesteam.com/

For those working on Office 365, this is likely pretty important. 

Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 is the successor to Forefront Identity Manager 2012 R2.  It provides a variety of functions related to identity & access management and is an on-premises implementation.

• Synchronize identities between directories, databases and applications
• Self-service password, group and certificate management
• Increase admin security with policies, privileged access and roles (RBAC)

It’s designed to work out of the box with Microsoft’s cloud including:

1. Azure Active Directory and enabling synchronization between on-premises AD
2. Password reset through Azure Multi-factor Authentication
3. Dynamics grouping based on roles including serial or parallel

For more information, go to the following:

• PRODUCT SITE: Microsoft Identity Manager 2016
  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/microsoft-identity-manager/
• TECHNET: Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 Resources
  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/28754.microsoft-identity-manager-2016-resources.aspx
• CURATED LIST OF RESOURCES: Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM 2016) Resources
  http://curah.microsoft.com/454331/microsoft-identity-manager-mim-2016-resources

This is a pretty important question, answered on our Microsoft Community Answers forum. 

The net-net is you MUST upgrade via the free upgrade offer before you wipe your PC’s hard drive in order to make it possible to reinstall & activate at no cost in the future.  The free upgrade process registers your computer’s hardware footprint in the cloud so that in the future, if you wipe & reload Windows 10 on your PC, it’ll automatically reactivate on it’s own based on the consistency of your hardware.

Q: Can I clean re-install Windows 10 after upgrading?

A: Once your device upgrades to Windows 10 using the free upgrade offer and activates online automatically, an entitlement is registered to your PC’s hardware for your edition of Windows 10.  (If you go to Settings  >> Update & Security >> Activation says “Windows is activated”.)  Now you will be able to clean install (i.e. boot from media and install Windows 10) the same edition of Windows 10 seamlessly without having to enter a product key.

1. Make sure your PC is activated by going to the Settings >> Update & Security >> Activation. 
   If the activation has not completed, you can click the Activate Now button to complete the activation process.

2. Create your installation media for the appropriate edition of Windows 10 by clicking here.  (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=617364)

3. Skip entering the product key during Windows 10 Setup. Windows 10 will activate online automatically on such devices. The skip option is only available when booting from media and launching Windows 10 setup

The automatic online activation will occur seamlessly after clean installing Windows 10 if the device had previously upgraded and activated online, with the same edition of Windows 10.

You CANNOT activate Windows 10 using a Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 product key. Upgraded Windows 10 PCs do NOT use unique product keys for Activation – all upgraded Windows 10 PCs use the same generic product key that activates ONLY if you launched upgrade while booted in your Windows 7/8 system.

Keep in mind that if the hardware configuration of your Windows 10 device changes significantly (e.g. motherboard change) Windows 10 may require re-activation on the device. This is the same experience as prior versions of Windows (e.g. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1) and you’ll need to contact Support.

(Taken from:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/can-i-clean-re-install-windows-10-after-upgrading/f59fb5bd-21a5-4010-8a39-7b975611b73b?auth=1)

Grab this tool for future use:

• DOWNLOAD: Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=617364

“Can we change the way we learn?”

Many teachers have already incorporated Minecraft into their curriculum as the game actually aligns with common core in many areas.

But what can be done to use Minecraft uniformly amongst educators to provide them with a baseline for making Minecraft a fun and valuable part of children’s schooling.

Here’s a new effort around Minecraft in Education:

Check out the new initiative here:

• HOME: Minecraft in Education
  http://education.minecraft.net/
• Sign up for Updates
  http://education.minecraft.net/
  #introUC2XjBkW16jGLGSEF9vo4PDA
• Blog:
  http://minecrafteducation.tumblr.com/
• Facebook:
  https://www.facebook.com/MinecraftEducation
• Twitter:
  https://twitter.com/playcraftlearn
• YouTube Channel
  https://www.youtube.com/channel/
  UC2XjBkW16jGLGSEF9vo4PDA

Jacqueline Beauchere, chief online safety officer, Microsoft, disclosed a new online reporting webpage from Microsoft to enable victims of revenge porn to request the removal of their images from Bing search results, or from images shared on Microsoft OneDrive or Xbox.

Revenge porn – explicit images shared online without a victim’s consent – is a growing online safety problem with significant consequences for its victims.

Read about Microsoft’s effort to help put victims back in control of their images and their privacy here:

• BLOG: Revenge Porn Putting Victims Back in Control
  http://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2015/07/22/revenge-porn-putting-victims-back-in-control/
• SITE: Microsoft Image Removal Request Form
  https://support.microsoft.com/getsupport?oaspworkflow=start_1.0.0.0
  &wfname=capsub&productkey=RevengePorn

We announced 6 primary editions of Windows 10 that will be coming with the release of the product.

• Windows 10 Home:  Consumer desktops
• Windows 10 Mobile:  Smartphones & small tablets
• Windows 10 Pro:  Small business desktops
• Windows 10 Enterprise: Medium & large business/corporate desktops
• Windows 10 Education:  School desktops 
  • Windows 10 Enterprise but tuned for schools
  • Available only via Academic Volume Licensing
• Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise:  Smartphones & small tablets

Read more here:

• Introducing Windows 10 Editions 
  http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/05/13/introducing-windows-10-editions/

——————

Resources:

• Looking for technical resources?
  Windows 10 helps you reduce the complexity and cost of IT management with new identity and device management choices as well as continued investments in the things you depend on today.
  https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/cc468658.aspx
• Looking for Developer resources?
  Getting started on Windows 10 is easier than you think; the tools are free, the code samples are solid, and you can start building and running Universal Apps for Windows 10 today.
  http://dev.windows.com/

Interested in knowing what edition of Windows 10 is right for you? 

We have a nice multipage chart that lists out the features of Windows 10 in the following editions:

• Home
• Professional
• Enterprise
• Education

To download the chart:

• DOWNLOAD: “Compare Windows 10 Editions” Table http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/8/F/D8F1AEEB-C8FC-4D48-BEBC-DE018B0CD3E5/Windows%2010%20Compare%20Editions.pdf

Office 2010 end of mainstream support is Oct 10, 2015.  What this means is that it is not fully supported on Office 365.  Office 365 Supports N and N-1 versions of Clients in Mainstream Support. 

• Office 365 system requirements – For the best experience using Office 365, we recommend that you always use the latest browsers, Office clients, and apps. We also recommend that you install software updates when they become available.
• Office 365 is designed to work with the following software:
• The current or immediately previous version of Internet Explorer or Firefox, or the latest version of Chrome or Safari.
• Any version of Microsoft Office in mainstream support.
• Although Microsoft does not recommend that you connect to Office 365 by using older browsers and clients, we provide limited support so long as that software is supported by its manufacturer.

Mainstream Support is the first phase of the product support lifecycle.  At the supported service pack level, Mainstream Support includes:

• Incident support (no-charge incident support, paid incident support, support charged on an hourly basis, support for warranty claims)
• Security update support
• The ability to request non-security hotfixes

After January 12, 2016, only the most recent version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates.  

Beginning January 12, 2016, the following operating systems and browser version combinations will be supported:

Windows Platform	Internet Explorer Version
Windows Vista SP2	Internet Explorer 9
Windows Server 2008 SP2	Internet Explorer 9
Windows 7 SP1	Internet Explorer 11
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1	Internet Explorer 11
Windows 8.1	Internet Explorer 11
Windows Server 2012	Internet Explorer 10
Windows Server 2012 R2	Internet Explorer 11

OFFICE 365 & INTERNET EXPLORER SUPPORT

• Office 365 Supports N and N-1 versions of browsers in Mainstream Support
  For the best experience using Office 365, we recommend that you always use the latest browsers, Office clients, and apps. We also recommend that you install software updates when they become available.

Office 365 is designed to work with the following software:

• The current or immediately previous version of Internet Explorer or Firefox, or the latest version of Chrome or Safari.
• Any version of Microsoft Office in mainstream support.

Although Microsoft does not recommend that you connect to Office 365 by using older browsers and clients, we provide limited support so long as that software is supported by its manufacturer.

USING ENTERPRISE MODE FOR INTERNET EXPLORER 11 (EMIE)

• To prepare enterprises for the January 12, 2016 date for IE 11 and Windows 10, Microsoft implemented Enterprise Mode for Internet Explorer 11 (EMIE) to assist with backward compatibility and to provide a seamless end-user experience.  EMIE helps Enterprises transition to IE 11 and stay up-to-date regardless of which versions of Internet Explorer are running in your environment  – achieving ever green status with Microsoft Browsers.  IE 11 is the last version of Microsoft’s  Internet Explorer, Windows 10 builds upon IE 11 and EMIE in Windows 7 SP1 and 8.1 – and overtime -  transitions everyone to “Edge” – Microsoft’s next generation Modern Browser.  The expected browsing experience from the end user perspective is seamless – as swapping of compatibility modes is automatic and allows users to browse the web normally.   The original EMIE functionality provided in April, 2014 introduced compatibility for enterprises on Internet Explorer 8.  In November, EMIE was expanded to include  additional document mode capabilities for IE 10, 9, 8, 7, and 5.  EMIE will not fix every site, but should provide backward compatibility for most.

  Below is an example of a typical process (with links to documentation) followed by Enterprise IT to identify “broken sites”, determine which can be “viewed” with EMIE, those sites that must be remediate, and achieve seamless integrated browsing for their end-users with IE 11:

• As EMIE’s use (or not) is determined by IT, EMIE is turned off by default and may be turned on and centrally controlled by IT through Group Policies and Registry Settings.  (See, How to Turn on Enterprise Mode for IE 11 (EMIE))
• Develop testing strategy based on Internet Explorer versions within Enterprise.
  • If your enterprise primarily uses Internet Explorer 8, start testing using Enterprise Mode.
  • If your enterprise primarily uses Internet Explorer 9 or Internet Explorer 10, start testing using the various document modes
  • If your enterprise uses Internet Explorer 8 and other versions, use both Enterprise Mode and document modes to effectively move to Internet Explorer 11.
• Identify Sites that can be fixed with EMIE.

• Select representative users (i.e., Business Units, Task Workers, IT Pros, etc.)

• Turn on local user control – use the Let users turn on and use Enterprise Mode from the Tools menu setting, located in the Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer category path. After you turn this setting on, Test users can turn on Enterprise Mode locally, from the Internet Explorer Tools menu.

• Gather “local override “data from users by logging the information (including URL and mode selected by the end-user) to a centralized list.  For more information on logging/data collection, see Set up Enterprise Mode logging and data collection

• For sites that cannot be viewed via EMIE, determine alternative remediation.
• For sites that can be viewed via EMIE, use tool-based management for site lists (list of sites to be viewed via EMIE).
• These tools provides the ability to capture individual website domains and domain paths and specify if the site renders using a modified browser configuration that’s designed to avoid the common compatibility problems.
• Corporate IT controls which sites and paths are rendered in Enterprise Mode via a centrally-managed XML list or group of lists. For example, www.contoso.com/travel can be set to use Enterprise Mode, while www.contoso.com/erp may be set to use modern “Edge” standards mode.
• For overview, see Fix web compatibility issues using document modes and the Enterprise Mode site list
• For more information on managing EMIE Site Lists, see Enterprise Mode Site List Manager
• For more information on schema guidance (example, how to accomplish similar functionality to “wildcards” within the site list without using wildcards), see Schema Guidance for Enterprise Mode for IE (EMIE)
• For more information on  creating and using a site list, see Add multiple sites to the Enterprise Mode site list using a file and Enterprise Mode Site List Manager
• For more information on IE 11 compatibility and document modes, see Document modes and compatibility with Internet Explorer 11