Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

DISCOUNT: Pocket PC Accessories, Upgrades & Repairs

Any of you who own Windows Mobile powered devices need accessories like "charge & sync" cables or screen protectors or want to see if you can get the memory on your device bumped up, go to http://www.pocketpctechs.com and use this discount code:  "PPCMA03" to get a 10% discount across the board.

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Posted in Offer

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

RELEASE: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack

On Tuesday, May 23rd, during Bob Muglia’s WinHEC 2006 keynote address, we announced the availability of the Scalable Networking Pack for Windows Server 2003! 

Here are some links to important resources and customer ready materials that are now available:

*NEW* Scalable Networking TechNet site
For more information about the Scalable Networking Pack, including whitepapers, datasheet, FAQs, partners and to download the bits.
http://www.microsoft.com/snp

Scalable Networking Pack Market Bulletin:
Overview of the announcement with supporting executive quotes from 12 launch partners:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/news/bulletins/snp.mspx

BobMu PressPass WinHEC Q&A:
A bunch of great mentions about the Scalable Networking Pack announcement:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/may06/05-23BobMu.mspx

Scalable Networking Pack Partner Announcements:
Five launch partners issued same day, supportive press releases:  

NetworkWorld Article:
John Fontana has already written a great article about the Scalable Networking Pack
Microsoft tweaking OS to boost networking performance, scalability
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/052306-microsoft-os-boost-performance.html?page=1

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Posted in Release

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

COMMENTARY: Windows Live Local & “Collections”

I like this thing.  I’d give it about an 8 out of 10 right now.
 
Windows Live Local’s new "collections" capability gives me the ability to create a collection of places/locations that I can keep alive as a "work in progress" on the Internet and share with others.  I can enhance the list of places and everyone will be able to get the new locations when they revisit the collection.
 
Here is my first collection.  It’s a list of Japanese Restaurants that I’ve been sharing amongst friends and co-workers.  Being that I’m Japanese and was raised with Japanese traditions and Japanese food all my life, I like to think I’m something of a authority on the topic.
 
 
I have 5 beefs with the software however, and I’ve rolled all of these up the chain.  I’d encourage you to do the same through the Feedback site:  (http://feedback.live.com/eform.aspx?productkey=wlsearchlocal&local=en-us&P2=&P4=LIVE&P6=&P9=34.041609121994426/-118.459985&searchtype=Local%20Search)
  1. Comments.
    Why is it so hard to expose comments about a location?  The creator’s comments about the location are what add value to the collection – NOT the collection of locations itself.  So what if there’s a list of geographic locations?  People will know how to get there but they won’t know why they want to go there in the first place.  Additionally, these comments should be persistent and well exposed.  I should see them when I hover over the location, or I should at least see them when I right mouse click on the location.
  2. URLs.
    Why is there no easy way to expose a URL for each location to enable people to click to jump to an online review that I’ve written or a place to find more information about the location?  This should be obvious in the same way that comments are obvious and the right-mouse menu would be the perfect place for it.
  3. New/Updated locations.
    If I update a collection, why aren’t the new items tagged as "new" – maybe even with the date/time that it was added?  My visitors need to know what’s been added since the last time they visited.  The whole point of putting this online is so that people can constantly get updated with new changes right?
  4. Zoom Out on every Addition to the Collection.
    Every time I add a new item to the collection, the map zooms out.  What a pain!
  5. Export
    How do I export my location list to something like an Excel spreadsheet?  Or an Outlook Contacts list?  Why isn’t this integration built in?
  6. Alerts.
    Why isn’t this tied into MSN Alerts?  People should be notified of when things have changed on my collection in the same way that people are notified of when my blog changes.
  7. RSS.
    Why isn’t this list an RSS feed?  This list should enable people to subscribe to it and then click on the link to see it geographically.

 

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Posted in Commentary

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

MULTIMEDIA: Free Office 2007 Training

The 2007 Office system is designed to increase individual impact, simplify collaboration, streamline business processes and content management, and improve business insight. Microsoft Learning can help you examine the new products by providing you, for a limited time, free training, e-learning, books, and skills assessments. Classroom training is also available for IT professionals and Home and Office workers.
 

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

TOOLS: Microsoft Standard User Analyzer

The Standard User Analyzer helps developers and IT professionals diagnose issues that would prevent a program from running properly without administrator privileges. On Windows Vista, even administrators run most programs with standard user privileges by default, so it is important to ensure that your application does not have administrator access as a dependency.
 
Using the Standard User Analyzer to test your application can identify the following administrator dependencies and return the results in a graphical interface:
 
• File access
• Registry access
• INI files
• Token issues
• Security privileges
• Name space issues
• Other issues
 
This tool also complements the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0. ACT 5.0 will include a User Account Control agent that you can deploy to user desktops to identify applications that require administer privileges. The Standard User Analyzer is designed to be run on the developer or tester’s workstation to test and troubleshoot a specific application. Issues identified with the Standard User Analyzer can also be entered into you ACT 5.0 database so you can track the application compatibility across your environment.

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

BOOKS: “Windows Vista Product Guide”… now in Word .DOC format & downloadable from Microsoft.com

The "Windows Vista Product Guide", aka "The Book of Windows Vista" has been rereleased in Word .DOC format.  It’s 60MB in size but it doesn’t requires you to install WinFX to read it, like it did before when it was posted in .XPS format. 
 
It goes through every feature of Windows Vista and covers both the consumer and the Enterprise side of the house.
 
 

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

RELEASE: Microsoft Soccer/Football Scoreboard

Follow your favorite teams and players during the FIFA World Cup tournament with Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard. This fun program allows you to access all the latest tournament news and information with the click of a button! Live game data allow you to monitor your favorite teams progress in real-time. Want more? Check out your team’s fixture (schedule), standing, and news as they advance through the tournament. If you are a soccer fan, don’t miss a minute of the action. Download Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard today!
 
Customize your experience with RSS
Do you have a favorite web news feed? Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard acts as a RSS reader. Enter your favorite sports-related RSS feed into the application and watch it display the news headlines all on its own.
 
All times local
The Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard displays all dates and times according to your Windows XP’s time zone setting. No more calculating start times only to find out you are off by an hour or more.
 
Available in multiple languages
Microsoft Football Scoreboard is available in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, and Ukrainian.
 

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | May 24, 2006

RELEASE: Windows Live Local releases New Version!

Tonight, we launched the new version of Windows Live Local, introducing features like user collections and integration with Windows Live Favorites, real-time traffic in 35 US metros, expansion into UK and Canada, and loads of other new features that our user have been asking for. 
 
Check it out:  http://local.live.com
 
New features:
 
User Collections
 
Collections are a major evolutionary step for our scratchpad.  They allow users to not only add business listings or custom pushpins to their scratchpad, but to save multiple different collections to the cloud using their Windows Live ID and share those collections with friends, family, colleagues, or the internet community as a whole.  Try it out—create a collection of your favorite places to eat when on the road, historic theaters where you grew up, strange oddities like giant yarn balls and frying pans in the Midwest, or whatever else strikes your fancy.  Share the links with your IM buddies, over email, or blog them to Spaces.  
 
And when you do try out collections, make sure to upload a few to www.PassThePOI.com. 
 
Traffic
 
With support for about three dozen metro areas in the US, our partnership with Traffic.com provides our users with additional tools to enhance the mapping and directions experience.  Flow data shows a quick visual representation of current traffic conditions across a wide area, making it easy to spot and avoid trouble spots.  Incident and construction information adds more detail, giving users a better idea what might be causing a delay so they can judge how long it might last.
 
International Support
 
In this release, we have added support for Canada and the UK with maps, routing, address find support, local search, and more.  We have expanded bird’s eye for the first time outside the US by adding a variety of locations in the UK.  We will continue to add bird’s eye with the goal of covering at minimum 80% of the US and western European populations within 2 years, plus much more I am sure.
 
With this release, we also added support for city to city routing across most of western Europe, Australia and other regions.
 
New APIs
 
With this release, we have also updated the Virtual Earth Map Control with support for driving directions, geo-coding, instant mashups with Windows Live Local collections, and more. See http://blogs.msdn.com/virtualearth/archive/2006/05/23/596729.aspx for more info on the API.

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Posted in Release

Posted by: kurtsh | May 24, 2006

RELEASE: Windows Live Local Add-in for Outlook

Today, we announced the online availability of Windows Live Local for Microsoft Outlook, a free downloadable software add-in for Outlook that will incorporate information from Windows Live Local, including maps, driving directions and travel times into the Outlook calendar appointments.
 
Windows Live Local for Outlook enables you to add maps and directions to your Outlook meeting requests, calculate the travel distance between your start location and your appointment location, adjust your meeting departure time based on the estimated travel time, store custom locations, as well as print the map and step-by-step driving directions to take with you on the road.
 
 
 

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Posted in Beta

Posted by: kurtsh | May 24, 2006

NEWS: WinHEC part 3 – “Virtual Server R2 SP1”

Q: Will Virtual Server continue to exist after the arrival of Windows Server virtualization?  If so, what role would it have? 
A: Yes, Virtual Server will still be a supported product. Windows Server virtualization will run only on x64 systems which are IVT and AMD-V enabled. For customers who want to virtualize on 32 bit systems, Virtual Server is still a very attractive product.
 
Q: Why did you make Virtual Server free?  Was it a response to competition from VMware and Xen?
A: Resource management has always been part of the operating system, and over the years customers have been able to obtain this functionality as an integrated part of their operating system platform.  As Microsoft releases its Windows Server virtualization technology in the Windows Server “Longhorn” timeframe, customers will be receiving the benefits of virtualization as part of the Windows Server operating system.  Today’s price change makes it easier for customers to access and experience the benefits of virtualization technology.  Customers creating virtual machines with Virtual Server 2005 in the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format will have an easy migration to the Windows Server virtualization.
 
Today Microsoft allows customers to run up to four virtual operating systems on one physical server [Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition] at no additional cost. Within two years virtualization will part of Windows Server “Longhorn” and customers will be able to run an unlimited number of virtual operating systems on one physical server [Windows Server “Longhorn” Datacenter Edition]. Given the market trends, customers should think twice before spending thousands of dollars for a virtualization product that may be free, and be part of a fully supported Microsoft solution in less than two years.
 
Q: Why didn’t you make Virtual Server a free product in the first place?
A: When we launched Virtual Server 2005 it was very early in the evolution of virtual machine technology.  Test/Dev, server consolidation, disaster recovery, application re-hosting provide customers running x86 servers with great value.  Certainly Virtual Server customers are still realizing benefits today.  Since then this nascent market has changed.  Customers have told us they want a smooth migration from today’s virtual machine technology to tomorrow’s virtualization technology within the OS (e.g., Windows Server virtualization), and we’re providing that smooth migration in the form of pricing, technology and licensing
 
Q: Please clarify your product support policy for Linux running on Virtual Server.
A: Our support has three components:
1.      A customer running a qualified Linux guest may get product support when calling normal support channels for Virtual Server 2005 R2;
2.      Microsoft will maintain a list of qualified Linux distributions that are considered “supported”; and
3.      Microsoft will release virtual machine add-ins for the Linux distributions that improve the customer experience when running Linux operating systems in Virtual Server 2005 R2.
 
Microsoft is committed to ensuring a good customer experience when running supported Linux operating systems in Virtual Server 2005 R2.  Therefore, we have set up a product support model for these configurations that is consistent with the way that customers get support for Virtual Server 2005.  Technical support calls will be provided through the traditional channels (Premier and Professional), and will be limited to interop issues and the virtual machine add-ins.  Customers who report issues will be routed to a dedicated team that is specially trained to troubleshoot issues related to Linux guests.
 
Q: Does adding Linux support in Virtual Server R2 this mean you’re making peace with Linux?
A: We added Linux support to Virtual Server recently based on customer feedback—we understand that our Enterprise customers have a critical need for interoperability in their datacenter environments, and we’re intent on doing a high-quality job of servicing that need.
 
Q: What was recently announced with regard to Virtual Server SP1?
A: We announced on April 28th, 2006 that Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 is available as a free public beta; see www.microsoft.com/virtualserver. General availability is expected in calendar Q1 2007. 
 
Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 adds support for hardware-assisted virtualization and improved backup services and compatibility.  SP1 will support the hardware virtualization capabilities developed by AMD and Intel. By supporting both AMD Virtualization and Intel Virtualization Technology, customers will be provided better interoperability, strengthened isolation to prevent corruption of one virtual machine from affecting others on the same system, and improved performance for non-Windows guest operating systems.
 
Other features of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 include:
Volume Shadow Service, which provides customers with improved support for backup and disaster recovery. Instead of backing up each virtual machine individually, customers will be able to backup just physical machines that will in turn backup all the virtual machines on that physical host.
Active Directory integration and management
Included Host Clustering technical white paper and the VB script needed to enable this feature
 
We’ll have two betas of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. This process enables us to better manage the beta program and work with third-party backup vendors. Beta 2 is scheduled for Q4 of this year.
 
Q: What’s delivered in Beta 1 versus Beta 2 of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1?
A: Beta 1 of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 includes:
Intel Virtualization Technology compatibility
Host Clustering technical white paper and the VB script
 
Beta 2 includes the features of Beta 1 plus:
AMD Virtualization Technology compatibility
Active Directory integration and management features
Volume Shadow Service
 
Q: What does hardware-assisted virtualization provide for the customers?
A: Hardware-assisted virtualization provides Microsoft with a new execution mode in the processor dedicated to virtualization.  This additional hardware capability simplifies the virtual machine monitor, the lowest layer of Virtual Server to provide a more robust and secure solution.  By supporting both AMD Virtualization and Intel VT, customers will be provided better interoperability, strengthened isolation to prevent corruption of one virtual machine from affecting others on the same system, and improved performance for non-Windows guest operating systems.
 
Microsoft also is collaborating with Intel on the design and specification of Intel Virtualization for Directed I/O (Intel VT-d). Intel VT-d helps improve the reliability, flexibility and performance of I/O in a virtualized environment. The VT-d hardware foundation combined with future versions of the Windows Server virtualization will help provide customers with increased scalability and higher-performance I/O by enabling direct assignment of devices to virtual machines.
 
Similarly, Microsoft is working closely with AMD to help open the way for a new class of innovation, such as AMD’s I/O virtualization technology, making IT systems not only more cost-effective, but also more secure, manageable, and interoperable.
 
Q: I ran a Windows NT guest OS within Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack beta 1 on an AMD Virtualization-enabled server and it performed well.  But when I ran [any of the 9 supported Linux guest OSes] I didn’t see the performance or capabilities expected. Why is that?
A: We’ll have two betas of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. Beta 1, currently available, supports Intel VT and other features.  Beta 2, which is scheduled to be available in Q4, supports the features of Beta 1, as well as AMD Virtualization and other new features.
 
AMD Virtualization is scheduled to be available with the release of the AMD Opteron processor socket 1207 in Q3 2006. Availability of beta 2 of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 is dependent on the availability of socket 1207, as well as necessary time for Microsoft internal testing.  We’ll update customers and partners if this schedule changes.
 
Q: Microsoft has mentioned the importance of security and management for virtualized environments. What are you developing and delivering in these areas?
A: We’re increasing our investments in the Microsoft System Center family of products to address resource optimization and virtual machine lifecycle management. Effective management of virtualized applications and resources is essential to customers. Microsoft already provides tools — such as Visual Studio 2005 Team System, Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 and Systems Management Server 2003 — to develop, deploy, monitor and update applications that work in both physical and virtual environments. In addition, Microsoft is investing in enhanced security measures, to appear in Windows Server “Longhorn,” that are designed to provide higher security as well as richer and more dynamic platform integrity and identity solutions. 
 

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