Kurt Shintaku's Blog

This isn’t a Microsoft Press book but I thought this was cool so I decided to post it.

This is a book focused on System Center Endpoint Protection 2012.  Here’s some of what you can expect:

• Get up and running with a range of common tasks accomplished with the local SCEP client
• Learn how to design a SCEP architecture
• Create an effective SCEP client deployment plan
• Perform operational tasks via the SCCM console
• Take full advantage of the SCEP dashboard
• Prepare for Disaster Recovery scenarios using SCCM
• Understand how to fully configure and automate various reporting features
• Build effective and efficient SCEP client polices
• See these skills in action with a bonus appendix chapter: a complete SCEP walk-through covering the initial install, building the client package, deployment, policy and procedures

The eBook is only $13.  Go get it.

• BOOK: System Center Endpoint Protection Cookbook now available for purchase (3rd party)
  http://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-system-center-2012-endpoint-protection-cookbook/book

The OCT is part of the Setup program and is the recommended tool for most customizations. The OCT is available only with volume licensed versions of Windows Installer-based Office 2013, Office 2010, and the 2007 Office system.

To determine whether an Office 2013 installation is a volume licensed version, check the Office 2013 installation disk to see whether it contains a folder named Admin. If the Admin folder exists, the disk is a volume license edition.

This download includes Group Policy Administrative Template files and Office Customization Tool files for use with Office 2013 applications. It also includes a \Admin folder with an Office Customization Tool, and ADMX and ADML versions of Office 2013 system Administrative Template files. For administrative template files, you may use the combination of ADMX and language-specific ADML files on computers running at least Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008.

If you plan on using the Office Customization Tool (OCT), we recommend reading the Office Customization Tool in Office 2013 documentation beforehand.

• DOWNLOAD: Office 2013 Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool (OCT)
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097.aspx

Microsoft IT is uniquely positioned to share its knowledge of the business of IT. The IT Best Practice Series courses* will cover Microsoft IT’s deployment best practices, processes, design decision making, management strategies, system architecture, and more. Microsoft Redmond subject matter experts will present their individual areas of expertise throughout the course. The courses will be engaging, experiential and include visits to key Microsoft facilities on the Redmond campus!

For course schedules and more information please email msiti at microsoft dot com.

Note: The IT Best Practice Series are fee-based courses offered by the Microsoft IT Institute about how “Microsoft does IT”. Fees may be covered under your enterprise agreements (e.g., Premier Support, Enterprise Strategy Program (ESP)).

For more information, visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/enterprise/microsoft-it/institute/default.aspx

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 service packs are cumulative updates and upgrade all editions and service levels of SQL Server 2012 to SP1. This service pack contains SQL Server 2012 Cumulative Update 1 (CU1) and Cumulative Update 2 (CU2). This download site contains the following packages and service patches for the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP1 release:

1. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP1 Update – this package contains the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 update to be applied to existing SQL Server 2012 installations.

2. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP1 Slipstream- This package provides the capability to perform new SQL Server 2012 instance installations (or SQL Server 2008/SQL Server 2008 R2 Upgrades) culminating with Service Pack 1 pre-installed. The slipstream installation package consists of a compressed self-extracting .exe and a ‘.box’ payload file that contains the original SQL Server 2012 release along with Service Pack 1. The .exe file can be directly executed, or utilized from the command prompt just as SQL Server 2012 Setup.exe would be (See Install SQL Server 2012 from the Command Prompt).

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35575

We released a massive update to BOTH SCCM 2007’s & SCCM 2012’s documentation.

The Documentation Library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library have been updated on the web and the latest content has Updated: November 1, 2012 at the top of the topic.

These updates include prerelease documentation to support System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1, updates for the release version of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, and updates for Configuration Manager 2007.

This month sees three particularly important doc updates:

• The initial publication of the Windows PowerShell cmdlets for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1. Expect more to follow.
• Information about upgrading System Center 2012 Configuration Manager to Service Pack 1 and interoperability information. Upgrade remains unsupported until Service Pack 1 releases, but we’ve included information now to help you plan.
• Some planning information for the “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) scenario that you’ve been hearing about for Service Pack 1, by using Windows Intune with Configuration Manager. Expect more “how to” information for this in our next publication. This functionality also remains unsupported until Service Pack 1 releases.

As always with our documentation, we write for the intended release version of the product, which might not match a prerelease version of Configuration Manager that you have for testing.

…

Read more about “What’s New in the Documentation Library for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, November 2012” at the SCCM blog:

• POST: Announcement: Configuration Manager Documentation Library Update for November 2012
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/configmgrteam/archive/2012/11/30/announcement-configuration-manager-documentation-library-update-for-november-2012.aspx

See the Office 2013 clean, new look. The features that you know and use are still there—together with some new ones that are big time savers. To get started with Office 2013, see the following resources:

• Self paced Office training
• Office 2013 Quick Start Guides
• Training on Office.com
• What’s new in Office 2013
• Office Touch Guide

DOWNLOAD: End user training resources for Office 2013
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj871004.aspx

Need more information about Office 365 ProPlus?  What makes it different?  How you deploy it?  See below:

Office 365 ProPlus uses several technologies, from application streaming to services, to deliver new user and administrative experiences to support Office as a Service. Office 365 ProPlus allows users to quickly begin to use Office applications on computers that are running at least Windows 7, before the complete product is downloaded. The users’ files and personalized settings follow them from one computer to another.

Office 365 combines the Office 365 ProPlus client suite, Project Pro for Office 365, and Visio Pro for Office 365 together with cloud versions of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online. The delivery technology for Office 365 ProPlus is known as Click-to-Run. This is a Microsoft streaming and virtualization technology which reduces the time that is required to install Office and allows users to run another version of Office on the same computer.

Traditional Windows Installer-based enterprise deployments of Office may take a year to deploy in production environments. By using Office 365 ProPlus, you can help minimize downtime while you conduct testing. Click-to-Run supports side-by-side installations of Office which means that you won’t have to uninstall earlier versions of Office to test Office 2013. This enables users to test the new Office version without having to uninstall their current version. We recommend that you use side-by-side installations only as part of your Office testing and pilots before you deploy it, and not as a long-term solution for your production environment. When you start deployment to production, you should uninstall, or have users uninstall, the earlier versions of Office that are installed on their computers.

The following table summarizes the content that is available to help you plan and deploy Click-to-Run Office client products.

…

Read more at:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj839718.aspx

The SQL Analysis & PowerPivot folks have been busy.

Over recent months, we had a lot of fun creating a Microsoft BI poster for SQL Pass and SharePoint Conference.  The poster shows the most important technologies in the Microsoft BI stack at a glance, arranged in various layers from the data sources all the way up to the client applications and developer tools.  This poster was very popular at the conferences, and the great news is that you can now also download a PDF version of this poster from the Microsoft Download Center.

DOWNLOAD: Microsoft “Business Intelligence at a Glance” Poster
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=271656

The first Update for Visual Studio 2012 and Team Foundation Server is now out. This includes new features in four main areas:

• Windows Development
• SharePoint Development
• Agile Teams
• Continuous Quality

Soma’s put a great summary together so take a look at that for the details and it’s available now for download.

• DOWNLOAD: Visual Studio 2012 Update 1
  http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-visual-studio-2012-update

The Born to Learn folks have done it again, this time with a certification infographic that provides a roadmap for folks looking to move ahead on Windows Server.

Windows Server 2012: Your Path to Success

Our debut infographic steps through your journey to Windows Server 2012 certification. Get started with free resources to help you learn the basics about Windows Server 2012. Then, select the certification path for your experience. As you move along the path, choose the type of training that fits your learning style and schedule and prepare for your first—or next—exam to reach your certification and career goal. 

Windows Server Certification and Career Paths

• DOWNLOAD: Infographic on Windows Server Certification and Career Paths
  http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-components-userfiles/00-00-02-91-93-Attached%20Files/2476.msl_5F00_certificationpaths_5F00_final_5F00_5.png