Kurt Shintaku's Blog

<taken from Windows Vista blog>

Hi, Mike Nash here. In late October I announced the Beta  of Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 – beginning with a small group of Technology Adoption Program customers. This week we’re opening up the beta to a broader audience. Starting today, MSDN and TechNet subscribers will have access to the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta to begin testing.  

Beginning Thursday Dec. 4^th, we will be making the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta available to everyone through a Customer Preview Program (CPP). The CPP will launch on TechNet and be available to anyone interested in trying out this service pack. The CPP is intended for technology enthusiasts, developers, and IT Pros who would like to test Service Pack 2 in their environments and with their applications prior to final release. For most customers, our best advice would be to wait until the final release prior to installing this service pack.

For those of you who choose to test this service pack, we encourage you to install the beta as soon as you can; your feedback will help us to ship a solid and stable service pack for Windows Vista.

Windows Vista SP2 builds on the solid foundation of Windows Vista SP1, and represents our ongoing commitment to Windows Vista today. Windows Vista SP2 includes all of the updates that have been delivered since the release of Windows Vista SP1, and incorporates improvements discovered through automated feedback from the Customer Experience Improvement Program (where users voluntarily opt-in to sending Microsoft error reports from their systems).  In addition to these updates, SP2 also includes support for new types of hardware and emerging standards that will grow in importance in the coming months. For specific changes in Windows Vista SP2 – see my previous post on Windows Vista SP2 or check out the notable changes document.

Your feedback from testing will help us deliver the highest quality release possible. As of today, we are tracking to ship Windows Vista SP2 in the first half of 2009.

Several months ago, I created a post that explained how to license Windows properly in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure configurations because often times customers aren’t told by their virtualization vendor that corporations aren’t permitted to “just move their Windows desktop license over to the server”.  (Funny how they intentionally lead customers down this road without ever mentioning the Windows licensing implications – I just ran into another yesterday and it was real eye opener for the IT dept)

I repeat from my original post:
Customers do NOT natively have the right to run Windows 2000/XP/Vista on virtual machine servers in VDI configurations.

How to License Windows client OS’s for VDI:
In order to properly license your company for Windows 2000/XP/Vista desktop operating systems to run on virtual machine servers, you have one of the following options:

OPTION 1:
Option 1 requires three licenses:

1. Windows Client OS Licensing per Virtual Machine
   This is the standard Windows license purchased from a typical Volume License agreement with Microsoft.  Most people forget this however this Windows OS license is actually an ‘upgrade’ license.  It ‘upgrades’ a Windows OEM license typically purchased with a desktop PC to the Enterprise deployable version found on Volume Licensing media.
2. Windows Software Assurance subscription
   This is an annual subscription license applied to each virtual desktop and is usually something around 10% of the license cost.  It provides a dozen or so benefits to customers including the ability to upgrade to any new releases of Windows released during the period of the subscription, as well as the right to downgrade to any supported release of Windows.  Companies with Enterprise Agreements usually have Windows Client Software Assurance subscriptions for their desktop OS licensing.
   In most agreements, the licensing for both the Client OS & Software Assurance are put together in a single-priced package called "Windows Vista Business English Upg/SA Pack MVL w/VisEnterprise".
3. Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) Subscription for customers with Software Assurance
   (Win VisEnt CentralDsktpSA English Monthly Subscription MVL Per Device)
   This is a monthly subscription that is applied per access device for a virtualized desktop environment.  The access device is typically a ‘thin client’ but may include home PCs and other workstations that will access the virtualized desktops hosted on a server.

The subscription license is paid per access device/month.  Just a reminder:  The name of this subscription is a misnomer; it applies to ANY Windows version and not just Windows Vista.

OPTION 2:
Option 2 requires just 1 license:

1. Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) Subscription for customers without Software Assurance
   (Win VisEnt CentralDsktp English Monthly Subscription MVL Per Device)
   This is again a monthly subscription that is applied per access device for a virtualized desktop environment.  Again, the access device is typically a ‘thin client’ but may include home PCs and other workstations that will access the virtualized desktops hosted on a server.
   Recall that with this option, once the subscription lapses, the customer does not own any licenses of any Client OS.  Usage rights to Windows expires as soon as the subscription agreements ceases.  The license is more expensive than VECD for SA customers, and is again licensed per access device/month.

Pricing:
I’ve recently learned of a drop in the price of VECD.  Here are the numbers as I understand it, (no guarantees around this so talk to your account executive/LAR) but to put it into English – customers looking to purchase "VECD for devices with Windows licenses and Software Assurance", will have pricing around ~$2/month/device.  Customers with devices like thin clients that don’t have Windows licenses and Software Assurance will have pricing around $10/month/device.  The pricing waterfall depends on the contract size that your organization has with Microsoft.

For more information, visit the following resources:

• Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/enterprise/benefits/licensing.mspx

The System Center Operations Manager team is excited to announce the availability of the Operations Manager 2007 R2 Beta, which is ready for you to download through Microsoft Connect today!

As announced and demonstrated by Brad Anderson at TechEd EMEA 2008 earlier this month, Operations Manager 2007 R2 will deliver key new capabilities including cross-platform monitoring, service-level tracking, new and updated monitor templates (including process, OLE DB, NT Service, and Unix/Linux log file), and much more!

Downloading the Operations Manager 2007 R2 Beta

• If you registered for the Cross Cross Platform Extensions Beta, you can download the R2 Beta through that same program.
• Those new to the Betas should self-subscribe to the Operations Manager 2007 R2 Beta Connect program, which will automatically register you and give you access to the beta download, documentation and support newsgroups.

About Operations Manager 2007 R2

Operations Manager 2007 R2 introduces key new and enhanced functionality, including:

•  Enhanced application performance and availability across heterogeneous platforms
  • Delivers monitoring across Windows, Linux and Unix servers–all through a single console.
  • Extends end to end monitoring of distributed applications to any workload running on Windows, Unix and Linux platforms.
  • Maximize availability of virtual workloads with integration with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008.

•  Improved management of applications in the data center
  • Delivers on the scale requirements of URL monitoring of your business.
  • Meet agreed service levels with enhanced reporting showing application performance and availability.
  • More efficient problem identification and action to resolve issues.

•  Increased speed of access to information and functionality to drive management
  • Faster console load times for views and results.
  • Simplified identification and download of new and updated Management Packs through an integrated wizard.
  • Faster identification of where Management Pack settings have been tuned using the new overrides summary view.
  • Simplified notification setup and management.
  • Improved and simplified management pack authoring experience.

The Operations Manager 2007 R2 beta integrates the functionality delivered with the Cross Platform Extensions Beta, which was originally made available at MMS 2008 in April.  Work also continues on the Interoperability Connectors (which enable the sharing of information between Operations Manager and other management systems), and new betas of these will become available in December through the Operations Manager R2 Connect program (we will announce through this blog and to those signed up to the R2 Beta accordingly).

More details can be found in this What’s New & Improved in Operations Manager R2 Overview, or in the documentation found within the R2 Beta Connect program.  Additionally, the Operations Manager 2007 R2 page on TechNet will be updated later today with additional information and links to the download.

Support for the Operations Manager 2007 R2 Beta can be found through the following:

• For general questions on the Operations Manager 2007 R2 beta, please use the existing newsgroups at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/bb839593.aspx
• For questions relating to Cross Platform and the Interoperability Connectors, we are excited to launch the new forums available at:
  • Cross Platform Monitoring – http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=604&SiteID=17
  • Interoperability Connectors – http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=605&SiteID=17

We look forward to your evaluating this exciting new beta release, and hearing your feedback on the Operations Manager 2007 R2 beta.

Best regards,

Sacha Dawes (on behalf of the System Center Operations Manager team)
Sr. Technical Product Manager
System Center

I’m pleased to announce that the new beta of System Center Service Manger is now available. This beta includes the updated infrastructure components that will both deliver the performance we are targeting for the release and support our objective of delivering an IT service desk that is tightly integrated with the rest of the System Center product family.

How to Get the Bits:
You can access the beta on Microsoft Connect, where you will first need to fill out a nomination survey. Once you’ve completed the survey, you will see the Service Manager beta connections page, which provides links and instructions for downloading.

As a reminder, the objectives of Service Manager are to deliver an IT service desk that provides:

• Built in service management best practices
• Simple customization and extensibility
• Common platform and workflows across System Center

You can download a whitepaper outlining the vision for Service Manager here.
(http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/b/3/eb3a6c98-ff24-4801-88af-95990dc6bd35/SystemCenter_ServiceManager_WhitePaper.pdf)

Key capabilities available for testing in this beta release include:

• Administrative tasks such creating users and groups
• Change management activities such as creating and monitoring the progress of requests
• Creating and viewing configuration items (CIs)
• Editing incident notification templates or workflows
• Create incidents and editing the incident (and problem) workflow
• Integration with System Center Configuration Manager

We’re excited to make this beta available publically and will be delivering a second beta in the middle of 2009. Until then I hope you enjoy this important step on the journey to expand the System Center family to include a strong Service Desk capability

Visit the Connect site to download and start trying out Service Manager today.

LINK: 
https://connect.microsoft.com/SelfNomination.aspx?ProgramID=2733&pageType=1&SiteID=446

In my quest for discounting around Technet I stumbled on the following:

1. 15% off New Technet Plus Subscriptions – Code:  TMSAM15
2. $100 discount New Technet Plus Direct Subscriptions (essentially 15% off) – Code:  TMSAM03
3. $70 discount off new Technet Plus subscriptions – Code:  TNPV07

Check out what the Technet Plus subscription gives you:

• Full-version software for evaluation – without time limits – including Microsoft operating systems, servers, and Office System software.
• Pre-release versions of Microsoft operating systems, servers and business applications.
• Complete access to a technical information library including knowledge base articles, resource kits, technical training, and security updates.
• Two (2) technical support calls and a 20% discount on additional phone support incidents to help you quickly resolve mission-critical technical issues.
• Unlimited managed newsgroup support and online concierge chat to provide the extra assistance you need to be successful.
• A free subscription to TechNet Magazine with hands-on information for the IT Professional.

Wow.  This is a good tool.  And it’s free. 

If any of you are interested in a “Facebook” application for Windows Mobile, look no further than Skybook by Magnifoca. (It’s been renamed from it’s original name, “Snap2Face”)  I don’t know how these folks are making money but they’ve written one helluva Facebook app.  I’m told that if you’re one of those maniacs that has 500 friends <smirk> then the tool will kinda break. 

(I myself don’t accept random friend requests and only have a few people to date – even though I don’t really do anything with Facebook – so I personally don’t have this upper bound limit problem but I can see how some people might.)

But nonetheless, it allows you to:

• update your photo and your status
• view your friends photos and status
• receive notifications about new wall posts, messages, pokes, or friend requests
• send pokes, mails, friend requests, and write on other people’s walls
• upload photos you’ve taken with your Windows Mobile
• view photos in your albums and your friend’s albums
• view your inbox, pokes, friend requests, and your “wall”
• sync your friend’s profile to your Pocket Outlook contacts
• search Facebook for people in your Pocket Outlook contacts

Oh, and did I mention it was free?

DOWNLOAD:
http://www.magnifoca.com/index.html

Between this and the Facebook Vista Gadget from Vokidas, you have virtually everything you could want in terms of providing Facebook functionality on the desktop and on your Windows Mobile.

(Funny that I’m this jazzed about applications that work with Facebook.  I don’t even use it that much.)

Got this in my inbox today.  No sense rewriting it.  See for yourself.

————

Dear FolderShare user,

We’re contacting you to let you know what’s next for FolderShare, and to make you aware of some important changes.
In December, we plan to announce a product called Windows Live Sync. You can think of it as FolderShare 2.0. It’s going to look familiar and offer the same great features, plus:

• More folders and files—sync up to 20 folders with 20,000 files each.
• Integration with Windows Live ID—no more extra sign-in stuff to remember.
• Integration with the Recycle Bin—no more separate Trash folder to fiddle with.
• Unicode support—sync files in other languages.

A huge part of Sync’s success story depends on FolderShare users like you. When Sync releases, FolderShare goes into retirement. That means your FolderShare software will stop working and will ask you to upgrade to Sync. Once you do, Sync will automatically rebuild your personal folders. We expect a lot of new users when Sync is released, so if you can’t sign in right away, please give it a little time.

Here’s the part you need to pay attention to:  Sync will not be able to rebuild your shared libraries. If you have a lot of shared libraries, you should hop over to the FolderShare website while it’s still available and copy all that information. You’ll need it to rebuild your shared libraries in Sync.

Thanks for being a FolderShare user! We’re excited about delivering an even better file-synchronization experience to customers like you. We hope you’ll come along as we move forward with Windows Live Sync.

Sincerely,
The Windows Live Sync (formerly FolderShare) team

Get up to 30% cashback with Live Search this holiday season

Get a richer shopping experience–literally. Microsoft Live Search cashback gives you money back on thousands of products from online merchants you know and trust. All you need to do is buy products qualifying for Microsoft Live Search cashback! Here’s three simple steps to start saving:

• Use Live Search to research your purchases
  Simply search for products at live.com where you’ll get rich answers that allow you to find the very best product. Find user and expert reviews all in one place along with pricing comparisons that help you make the most informed purchase.
• Look for the cashback gleam
  You’ll see this icon also show up directly in your Live Search results. It highlights products that qualify for Live Search cashback. Click the icon and compare the best deals and offers available.
• Start shopping and saving!
  There are thousands of stores to choose from including familiar names like eBay, HP, Footlocker, Gap, Target, Barnes and Noble and many more. So, in addition to getting actual money back in your pocket, you’ll be getting the best deals from stores you already know.

Once you’ve finalized your purchase, you’ll receive an e-mail notifying you of your cashback rewards, with directions on how to claim them.

So make the most of Live Search over the holiday season to search, shop and SAVE. And stayed tuned as we release even more great Live Search features  over the coming weeks.

Want your own datacenter-hosted services for:

• Sharepoint Server 2007
• Exchange Server 2007
• Office Communications Server 2007
• LiveMeeting 2008

I mean, why install your own?  Why not let someone else be responsible for the installation, maintenance, malware protection, power consumption, cooling requirements, bandwidth, administration, data backups, etc.?

Welcome to the glorious world of Microsoft Online Services.

I just got my own Online Services account with the ability to create 20 additional accounts for my “organization”.   This will provide my friends, my family, and well… anyone out there with not just my own rinkydink, piddly, little home server implementation, but 100% ENTERPRISE-CLASS CLOUD SERVICES that work with Outlook, Communicator, & Internet Explorer. 

…the same datacenter infrastructure that Coca Cola & Energizer uses for their corporate users.

I have to admit I’m really stoked.  I don’t have to host a server in my home office and I don’t have to do anything other than let Microsoft take care of all the server upkeep.  In fact, I completely understand why so many companies are rushing to look at cloud services like Microsoft Online Services.  It’s basically “outsourcing for your datacenter” but with all the convenience of traditional Microsoft on-premise installations of Windows Server System products.

• INTEGRATED
  Work with the same rich clients business users already know and use like Outlook & Communicator. All in one integrated experience, from virtually any device in almost any location.  Synchronized identities between corporate Active Directories & Online Services makes identity management much simpler.
• SECURITY
  Cybertrust-certified and SAS70 approved.  Integrated with Forefront Security & Exchange Hosted Services.
• AVAILABILITY
  Operate on distributed geo-redundant network of tier-one data centers offering 99.9% scheduled uptime guarantee, backed by service-level agreements.
• MANAGEABLE
  Provide the tools your company needs with without requiring upgrades, patching, or new scaling installations.  Centrally administrable from a single point.

TRIAL:
Interested in your own FREE 30 day trial account?  Visit:
https://mocp.microsoftonline.com

INFORMATION:
For more information on the Business Productivity Online Services Suite (Standard) visit:
http://www.microsoftonline.com

I probably should have done this sooner,  but if you’re reading this and you’re a customer of mine that’s interested in learning Visio, you’re in luck.

I have the opportunity to send you a full copy of Visio Professional 2003 if you’d like to give it a whirl.  This is a complete, not-for-resale packaged copy of the product – precisely as you see it in the photo to the left.  No strings attached.  Just give it an install and see how you like it. 

If you’re a IT Professional, an Infrastructure Architect, a Network Designer, a Database Administrator, a Active Directory administrator, a Application Developer… you’ll undoubtedly find that visualizing networks, database tables, application architectures, datacenter layouts can only best be accomplished using the world’s #1 visualization tool.

Wait… you don’t know how to use Visio 2003?  No problem.  I also have copies of Visio 2003 Step-by-Step.  This Microsoft Press book comes with user friendly documentation on how to use the product from the ground up and it includes sample files, all the content in eBook form, and numerous other resources that you may find interesting.

(Microsoft Office System Quick Reference eBook, Insider’s Guide to Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 eBook, Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition, eBook—10,000+ entries!, Introducing the Tablet PC eBook, Complete STEP BY STEP eBook, Skill-building practice files)

If you’re interested and you’re a customer of mine, you know how to contact me.  And please – email me from your work address/domain.