Kurt Shintaku's Blog

With the release of Office 2010, we will be announcing a new product, “Sharepoint Workspace 2010”. 

Some may recognize the product’s functionality as being roughly similar to Groove 2007 which we are retiring.  Effectively Groove is getting a new name however there will be some dramatic improvements to the product’s ability to integrate and provide offline access to both Sharepoint content as well as other content stores.

• SharePoint Workspace will provide easy access to SharePoint content (or content from any server that implements the publicly documented protocols) in an effort to provide a seamless online/offline experience.
• SharePoint Workspace 2010 will be easier to deploy and easier to manage, and it supports a new set of scenarios to help Office and SharePoint users be more productive.  It will also make it easier for IT folks to implement a consistent information strategy based on SharePoint technology throughout the organization.
• There will be changes in the way the product is delivered, as well – e.g. SharePoint Workspace (and OneNote, for that matter) will be added to the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 release.  Keep an eye peeled for further announcements from Microsoft on new product plans for Office.

If any of you are still running Office 2000, be aware that Microsoft Office 2000 leaves extended support on July 14, 2009.  What this means is that put bluntly:

• No further security patches will be created for Office 2000, unless you’re a Microsoft Premier Support customer that’s purchased a ‘custom support agreement’ with Microsoft. 
  (Don’t get any ideas BTW – these agreements are far north of $100k+ for a single year of post end-of-life support.  I’ve only seen one of these ever purchased by a customer in my 14 years at Microsoft.)
• Office 2000 patches published on or before July 14, 2009 will remain on the Download Center. For more information, please see the Office 2000 Lifecycle policy.

NO MORE “OFFICE UPDATE” WEB SITE
Additionally, starting August 1, 2009, Microsoft will discontinue support for the Office Update website.  Customers can access the equivalent functionality of the Office Update site via Microsoft Update. 

This move will allow us to provide a more simplified and consistent experience for users across Microsoft products.  At the same time we will also discontinue the Office Inventory Tool.  The July Office Inventory Tool will remain available for download on the Download Center, but it will not be updated after August 1, 2009.  We recommend that IT admins who use the Office Inventory Tool switch to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) for deploying Office updates within their corporate network.

To continue getting the latest updates for Microsoft Office products, use Microsoft Update.  For more information see the Office Update FAQ.

The OpenXML Document Viewer project idea came from the discussions with the participants of the Document Interoperability Initiative (DII) workshops (in particular last year’s Cambridge event). The point was to find a way to simply be able to view Open XML files as HTML. Following up, Microsoft provided funding to start the Open XML Viewer project, an open source project developed by MindTree Limited. The first beta version was unveiled at the last DII in Brussels, giving a first peak of the viewer (see a demo here).

Today I’m excited to announce the version 1.0 of Open XML Document Viewer. It provides direct translation for Open XML Documents (.DOCX) to HTML, enabling access to the information in the Open XML format from any platform with a Web browser. The project, which already includes a plug-in for Firefox IE7 and IE8 and now also offers a plug-in for Opera, allows users to view Open XML documents (.DOCX) within the browser on Windows and Linux platforms without the need to install Microsoft Office or other productivity products.

(And before you ask, yes, it works with Firefox 3.x)

The core of the project is the Translation Engine that does most of the work, meaning opening the .DOCX document, reading, mapping and transforming to HTML. The Translation engine is exposed as a client side browser plug-in with support for Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer, and as a cross platform command line translator for use in server side applications.

The result is a translator that enables Open XML document (.DOCX) visibility within browser applications without the use of any of the usual office productivity or word processing applications, across multiple platforms and environments, as either a server side application or as a client side end user solution. Developers, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Solutions Integrators & Mobile Solution providers can use these tools to enable their customers to view Open XML documents on heterogeneous platforms and browser applications. Be sure to check out the Demo web site. It showcases server side document processing scenarios that represent very typical use cases.

We’re very excited with this new version and look forward to your feedback.

Join us at http://www.codeplex.com/OpenXMLViewer

MORE INFO:
http://blogs.msdn.com/interoperability/archive/2009/05/17/openxml-document-viewer-v1-released-viewing-docx-files-as-html.aspx

FEATURE LIST/PROJECT SITE:
http://www.openxmlviewer.com

Well, the other shoe dropped.  After months of psuedo-marketing leaks and rumors…

• Microsoft Announces the Expansion of the Zune Entertainment Service to New Platform and Markets; Confirms New Zune HD Portable Media Player
  http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/
  2009/may09/05-26ZuneHDPR.mspx

What’s New?
Simply put, Zune’s shipping with a bunch of new platform defining capabilities encompassed in what purports to be Zune 4.0 software:

• Access to the LARGEST video on-demand service in the world.  Bigger than iTunes, Comcast, DirecTV, CinemaNOW, Hulu… Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace!
• Touch screen interface leveraging capacitive touch instead of resistive touch – the way studies have shown consumers prefer to interact with touch interfaces
• 720p video output over HDMI for viewing on bigger screens
• HD radio receiver to provide digital quality local over-the-air broadcasts
• OLED 480×272 display, full screen browser, WiFi connectivity

When?
This fall!  For those of you looking for something OTHER than an iPod, you’re gonna love the Zune HD.

As a big Microsoft Xbox Live Marketplace user as well as a big Zune user, I’m really excited to see what they haven’t revealed.  Because this was already a huge announcement.

And I know there’s things they haven’t announced yet. [grin]

 
We’re pleased to announce the launch of the very first TechNet Virtual Conference taking place on 19 June 2009.

• Register now for the UK’s first TechNet Virtual Conference
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/dd819085.aspx

We understand that time and budget pressures make attending events difficult – so to help both you and the environment we decided to take the TechNet Conference virtual. Now you can keep up to date with all the latest Microsoft insights and product developments from the comfort of your own desk.

The good news is that registration is FREE.  The bad news is that this is a United Kingdom production, meaning there’s a time difference where they’re ahead 8 hours.  (This means that technically, the even starts at 1:30AM Pacific Time on June 19th.  Yeah – I know.  I hope it’s being recorded too.)

Virtual Keynote Featuring Mark Russinovich… and more!
We are also really pleased to announce an exclusive keynote featuring Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Technical Fellow specializing in the Windows platform.

Additionally, to accomodate the needs of both IT Professionals as well as IT Decision Makers and Licensing Specialists, we are presenting TWO tracks:  One for IT Professionals, another for IT Management.

Technical presentation topics will include:

• Windows 7 Deployment and Management
• Windows Server 2008 R2 – 10 things to make life easier for IT Pros
• Do More with Less Using Windows PowerShell™ 2.0
• Desktop Deployment at Microsoft
• Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack – how to improve efficiencies
• An overview of Office Communications Server R2 and Voice Capabilities
• Trials and Tribulations of SharePoint implementation
• Data Protection Manager – the one stop shop for protecting your critical data

Management presentation topics will include:

• Windows 7 Deployment and Management
• How IT will change over the next 10 years and why you should care
• Growing the Business and Managing costs at Microsoft – An Insider’s View
• Server Licensing Changes in a Virtual World
• SLIM: Sustainable Lifecycle and Innovation Management
• Millennial Worker – The new world of business

Register now!
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9666808

Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 mark the next generation of developer tools from Microsoft. Designed to satisfy the latest requirements of developers, Visual Studio delivers key innovations in the following areas:

• Enabling emerging trends
  Every year the industry develops new technologies and new trends. With Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft delivers tooling and framework support for the latest innovations in application architecture, development, and deployment.
• Inspiring developer delight
  Ever since the first release of Visual Studio, Microsoft has set the bar for developer productivity and flexibility. Visual Studio 2010 continues the tradition by significantly improving the experience for all software development roles.
• Riding the next generation platform wave
  Microsoft continues to invest in the market-leading operating system, productivity applications, and server platforms to deliver increasing customer value. With Visual Studio 2010, customers will have the tooling support that is required to create amazing solutions around these technologies.

For downloads or more information:

• DOWNLOAD:  Experience the Visual Studio 2010 beta now on MSDN
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/default.aspx?pv=18:370
• DOWNLOAD: Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 1 – Web Installer
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=75cbcbcd-b0e8-40ea-adae-85714e8984e3&displaylang=en
• DOWNLOAD:  Visual Studio 2010 Team System Beta 1 – Web Installer
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=147407
• INFO:  Visual Studio 2010 Product Page
  http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/products/2010/default.mspx

Join RSA and Microsoft For a Complimentary Lunch Seminar:

An Integrated Approach to Information Protection:
Automating Rights Management with Data Loss Prevention

If you are charged with safeguarding sensitive information, please join RSA and Microsoft to discuss advancements in information protection throughout the infrastructure based on content, context,
and identity.

Learn, how Microsoft Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) and RSA Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Suite are working together to help customers discover, protect and securely share sensitive information both within and across company boundaries with an integrated approach to data security.

Reduce risk & exposure with the knowledge that your information remains an asset and never becomes a liability!

Seminar topics for discussion will include:

• The Microsoft and RSA groundbreaking partnership – future ready to support RSA DLP enabled Microsoft products
• Challenges, strategies and solutions – top criteria to consider as you evaluate DLP solutions
• Case study – gain valuable insight into Microsoft’s own Data Loss Prevention deployment
• Building a DLP implementation plan – best practices to help you develop a solid implementation plan

Date & Location
June 18 – 11:00 am -2:00 pm
Irvine, CA
(Lunch Served)

Watch the RSA DLP Suite in Action!

Register

(http://info.rsasecurity.com/EventRegistration.asp?ID=Event_S_DLP_Seminar_West_Q209)

Space is limited. Register today to reserve your seat.
For more information on RSA and Microsoft solutions:
http://www.rsa.com/dlp and http://www.microsoft.com/ida

We posted Service Pack 2 for our current 6.0 operating systems to Microsoft Download site as previously mentioned.

• RELEASE: Windows Vista Service Pack 2 & Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 RTMs
  http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DA410C7F7E038D!5164.entry

There’s a heck of lot more information in the links below but apparently the thing getting the most play has been the fact that people that removed components of the operating system using an Internet based tool called vLite are effectively hosed.

• Error message when you try to install Windows Vista Service Pack 2: "One or more system components that the service pack requires are missing"
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968279

Basically, if you’re lazy, here’s the long and short of the “workaround”:  Reinstall by doing an in-place upgrade.  It’s either that or wipe and reload.  Next time don’t mess with the installer.

• LINK:  Microsoft Update Product Team Blog
  Get ready for Vista and Win2k8 SP2!
  Just a heads up to prepare for Windows Vista  and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2. It will be available in the coming weeks on the Download Center (DLC) and also through Windows Update and WSUS.  On April 28th, we announced the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) of Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.  SP2 includes all updates that were released since SP1. It also includes support for new types of hardware and other technology improvements. For more information on the changes with SP2, see the notable changes document on TechNet.
  http://blogs.technet.com/mu/archive/2009/05/20/get-ready-for-vista-and-win2k8-sp2.aspx
• DOWNLOAD:  Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 – Five Language Standalone (KB948465)
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=a4dd31d5-f907-4406-9012-a5c3199ea2b3
• DOWNLOAD:  Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 – Five Language Standalone for x64-based systems (KB948465)
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=656c9d4a-55ec-4972-a0d7-b1a6fedf51a7&DisplayLang=en
• DOWNLOAD:  Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 – Five Language Standalone DVD ISO (KB948465)
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=9f073285-b6ef-4297-85ce-f4463d06d6cb

Watch movies and TV shows whenever you want with Netflix in Windows Media Center.* More than 12,000 movies and TV episodes are instantly available to your PC—and you still get access to more than 100,000 DVD titles by mail.

All you need is a Netflix membership, a high-speed Internet connection, and a Windows Vista Home Premium or
Ultimate-based PC.

It’s easy. Here’s how to get started.

• Launch Windows Media Center in Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate. Do you have it?
• Go to Netflix in the TV and Movies section of Windows Media Center.
• If you’re a Netflix member, enter your credentials and start watching. Otherwise, sign up for the FREE 14-day trial.
• Browse the library and add titles to your instant queue.
• Start watching.

LINK:  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-media-center/netflix.aspx

(Works great when you manage your queue from your Windows Mobile device too:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/totalaccess/software/software/netflix.mspx)

[UPDATED 5/28/09 FOR “DAY 3" POST]

Wanna read some vendor-to-vendor drama? 

• Hyper-V Winning Daily; VMware FUD Reaching New Heights
  Out on the web, there’s an "anonymous" video purporting to show a Hyper-V crash. When I heard, I was surprised and immediately wanted to know more. I haven’t heard of any such incidents with Hyper-V and the Hyper-V R1 release has been incredibly stable and reliable. So, what did I find?

  Not much. Where are the details? There are no facts provided. What Hyper-V build was this? The beta? What was the configuration being tested? Who posted this? Why didn’t they contact Microsoft support? I mean there’s literally no data other than a defamatory statement at the beginning of the video implying that Hyper-V had something to do with some downtime at TechNet/MSDN. The SQL team and Operations responded to this days ago. In short, Hyper-V had nothing to do with the outage.
  So, why would someone create such a video? Let’s dig a little deeper. The poster, who doesn’t appear on the video, doesn’t state what company he works for or provide any context. Gee, I wonder where he works?
  …<drum roll please>…
  Introducing Scott Drummonds, VMware Product Marketing.
  http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/05/09/hyper-v-winning-daily-vmware-fud-reaching-new-heights.aspx

• Day Two of the Scot Drummond VMware FUD Fiasco
  Scott is still missing the most basic of information. What version of Hyper-V was this? Was this the version included with Windows Server 2008? If so, that’s the beta. Did you apply the RTM update? Did you use the final shipping Integration Components in the guests? Did you include the Linux Integration Components for the Linux guests?
  The way this information is dribbling out indicates a lack of methodology and systematic testing. Apparently, VMware has no problem ignoring these precepts when it suits them.
  http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/05/09/day-two-of-the-scott-drummond-vmware-fud-fiasco.aspx
  
• VMware FUD Fiasco Part 3…
  [VMWare Benchmarking guy Bruce Herndon claims the VMware’s YouTube was a mistake.]
  Why did TWO WEEKS PASS with next to no details about the video?
  Why, in the meantime, has VMware Sales Staff been contacting customers and would be customers telling them to "check out this video"?
  Why have your senior architects been Twittering to "check out this video on You Tube"?
  Why is this video still public?
  http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/05/17/vmware-fud-fiasco-part-3.aspx

For some secondary commentary on this back and forth between us and this VMware Product Manager:

• Slinging the Youtube Mud
  Hyper-V doesn’t just randomly crash on "consolidated workloads". Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes with the product can tell you that. I can make VM’s crash left and right on ESX if I set it up the right (wrong) way as well. Does that mean I should post up a video proclaiming ESX is only fit for crashing VM’s on a consolidated workload?
  http://virtualizationreview.com/Blogs/Mental-Ward/2009/05/Slinging-the-YouTube-Mud.aspx
• Thoughts on Uses of Youtube and Virtualization
  Drummonds confesses he made the post and gives some blather about using two virtual disks (in VMware IDE performance isn’t much good, so they run the test from SCSI disks. In Hyper-V IDE performance matches SCSI yet they wanted to run the test from SCSI disks, which conveys a degree of ignorance of hyper-V and a lack of scientific method – what effect does doubling the number of disks  have on the validity of the tests ?).
  http://blogs.technet.com/jamesone/archive/2009/05/10/thoughts-on-uses-of-youtube-and-virtualization.aspx

One person posted the following comment on VMware’s video relative to some efforts we’ve made:

“While there was some attempts to blast the quality of the Microsoft "FUD’ video production…it was not factually incorrect from a marketing stand point. VMWare’s video on the other hand is a complete staged hoax. His blog entry response shows a complete lack of understanding of Hyper-V or creating any valid test criteria. With Hyper-V you can use multi proc with Hyper-V and SUSE distros (and Windows 2003+). This takes advantage of the non-emulated VMBus architecture of Hyper-V. Simply put, VMWare can never overcome the limitation of their design and now rely on the gospel of "memory over commit" as their key value to the primarily windows shops. Trust me, memory is cheap! As a Microsoft focused partner, I definitely have my bias. IMHO, customers who have mixed 50/50 Linux should use VMWare because Hyper-V’s support for Linux has been slow. Most of the companies who needed that feature set have probably already bought it already. However, for the 90% of customers who don’t need to spend 30k a year in VMware support contracts to run a 98% Windows infrastructure…Hyper-V will run it faster, cheaper, and better support from a single vendor.”