Posted by: kurtsh | December 15, 2005

BETA: So what’s this “Windows Live” stuff about anyway?

What is Windows Live?
Your online world gets better when everything works simply and effortlessly together. That’s the basic idea behind Windows Live. So the things you care about – your friends, the latest information, your e-mails, powerful search, your PC files, everything – comes together in one place. This is a brand new Internet experience designed to put you in control. And this is just the beginning – you’ll see many more new services in the coming months.
 
What is Windows Live Ideas?
Windows Live Ideas (the page you’re looking at right now) is where you can check out the very latest Windows Live products—so new that they’re not even finished yet. So give them a try and then tell us exactly what you think. And don’t hold back. We need your help to make these products the best they can be.
 
Check it out:  http://ideas.live.com/
 

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

NEWS: WSJ – AOL in negotiations to drop Google for MSN Search

"The Journal said that, under negotiations between Time Warner and Microsoft, AOL would drop Google as its main Internet search provider and switch to Microsoft’s MSN service.
Under their current agreement, Google derived about 11 percent of its first-half revenue from AOL, which also generates substantial revenue from the contract.
The Journal said Microsoft and Time Warner are also negotiating to create a joint advertising sales force to sell online ads across both the AOL unit and Microsoft’s MSN. Both services would remain under the control of their current owners, according to the report. "

Wall Street Journal:

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=10497265&src=eDialog/GetContent

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Posted in Computers and Internet

Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

NEWS: Orange County Choppers uses Microsoft Technologies

Check this video out.  Orange County Choppers proudly runs on Microsoft Technology.

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Posted in Multimedia

Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

BETA: “Bots” for MSN Messenger

Bots for MSN Messenger are computers that answer questions that you send to them via MSN Messenger.  For example: 
 
"Ask Encarta" through MSN Messenger
Ever wanted to ask Encarta a question and have it look it up for you?
…add encarta@conversagent.com to your contact list in MSN Messenger.
 
This is called "Encarta Instant Answers" and it allows you to ask questions of Encarta like “What’s the answer to life, the universe, and everything?” and other off-the-wall questions.  It’s often even sarcastic and funny and it will even point you to the appropriate online reference in Encarta by extending the MSN Messenger window.  (Remember that this is a beta and it’s not totally there yet so it doesn’t answer some basic questions yet however it’s a work in progress so don’t go being too critical of it just yet.)
 
 
"SmarterChild" through MSN Messenger

Add smarterchild@hotmail.com. 
News, weather, (some) sports, dictionary, thesaurus.  Need questions answered?  Check out Smarterchild.  This is a little harder to use because it’s constantly busy.

 

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

NEWS: “Java? It’s So Nineties.”

BusinessWeek article that was just published:

————————–
Sun’s groundbreaking programming language vaulted to popularity with Web developers. But now it’s losing ground to a raft of upstart

Reports by Evans Data Corp., which does annual surveys of the activities of software developers, show Java use is slipping as LAMP and Microsoft’s (MSFT) .NET technology gain traction. In North America, the percentage of developers who use Java as one of their principal programming languages declined to 47.9 in Evans’ fall survey, vs. 51.4% in the fall of 2002. The same surveys show that while Java use is climbing in Asia, it’s on the decline in Europe.

Meanwhile, .NET usage increased to 54.1% from 40.3% in the same period in North America, and exceeded Java use in Europe and Asia. In a different survey series, the use of PHP in North America grew to 36.1% this fall, from 26% in the fall of 2003. It grew almost as quickly in Europe and Asia. "There’s more competition out there," says Evans President John Andrews. "These other technologies are catching hold. They’re biting away at [Java’s] share."

Read the article http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051213_042973.htm

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

OFFER: How to get Partner Consulting services on Microsoft’s dime

Did you know that if you purchase Office 2003 Professional or Project 2003 Professional in quantity, you have the opportunity to receive up to $30,000 or $40,000 respectively in partner consulting services?
 
If you’re buying Office 2003 Professional:  https://www.microsoftincentives.com/OfficePro/
If you’re buying Project 2003 Professional:  https://microsoftincentives.com/EPMOffer/
 
(For my Small Biz friends – this falls under your category as well.  Check this offer out for customers that purchase Office 2003 Small Business Edition or Windows Small Business Server 2003: 

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Posted in Offer

Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

RELEASE: User Profile Hive Cleanup service Version 1.6d

The User Profile Hive Cleanup service helps to ensure user sessions are completely terminated when a user logs off. System processes and applications occasionally maintain connections to registry keys in the user profile after a user logs off. In those cases the user session is prevented from completely ending. This can result in problems when using Roaming User Profiles in a server environment or when using locked profiles as implemented through the Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP.

On Windows 2000 you can benefit from this service if the application event log shows event id 1000 where the message text indicates that the profile is not unloading and that the error is "Access is denied". On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 either event ids 1517 and 1524 indicate the same profile unload problem.

To accomplish this the service monitors for logged off users that still have registry hives loaded. When that happens the service determines which application have handles opened to the hives and releases them. It logs the application name and what registry keys were left open. After this the system finishes unloading the profile.

 

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

RELEASE: Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 SP2a

Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 SP2a is a replacement for Project Server 2003 SP2. SP2a contains all fixes released in SP2 and addresses an additional fix described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 909947: The Enterprise Outline code lookup tables don’t appear correct after you install Microsoft Office Project Server 2003 Service Pack 2. If you have previously installed Project Server SP2, SP2a replaces that update. Project Server 2003 SP2a will install even if Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 have already been installed on your computer.

Project Server 2003 Service Pack 2a contains significant security enhancements, as well as stability and performance improvements. Some of the fixes included with SP2a have been previously released as separate updates. This service pack combines them into one update.

This service pack also includes these updates previously released for Project Server 2003:

– Project Server 2003 Service Pack 1

 

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

NEWS: Ray Ozzie on Collaboration

 
Ray Ozzie – Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer and the father of Lotus Notes as well as Microsoft’s Groove collaboration technology – shares his thoughts on collaboration moving forward and why collaboration is hard… and even reflects on his previous assessments on the state of collaboration.  (http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/02/08/26/020826opcurve.html)
 

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 14, 2005

NEWS: “Where to Get an Xbox 360”

“Where can I get an Xbox 360?” is a question that just about everyone has on their mind nowadays.  As you know the new console was launched on Tuesday, November 22nd.  People lined up at local retail stores more that 24 hours in advance in hopes of being one of the first to have the newest and coolest toy.  Most of those who were brave enough to face the elements and crowds were rewarded with an Xbox, but those of us who decided to wait a day or two for the chaos to subside have been faced with empty shelves and “out of stock” notices since then.  Why hasn’t the retail channel been re-supplied?  When will I be able to get my hands on a 360?  Read on and I’ll try to shed some light on the mystery of the missing Xbox 360…

The first thing to understand is that the Xbox 360 is an amazingly complicated piece of hardware.  It consists of thousands of parts from hundreds of manufacturers –  putting all of these together has resulted in what is probably one of the most impressive supply-chain management projects of our time.  Rumor has it that another factory to build these consoles will go online next year, but until then it appears that our ability to pump new units out quickly is limited.

The second thing to consider is that, contrary to the original Xbox launch, we launched the Xbox world-wide simultaneously.  This means that the units that were built before launch were shipped around the world vs. just the US like last time.  This has also limited our ability to re-stock US retail channels.

While the Xbox team is being very, very quiet about details they have stated that new units will be on their way to retail stores continuously from here on out.  That means if you keep checking your local Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, CompUSA, etc. you may get lucky in the very near future.  Also in the rumor mill is that Best Buy will be advertising the 360 in their Sunday circular on December 18th, and as a result has been stockpiling supplies until then.  Finally, there are a few tools that have been built to make easy for you and me to stay informed of what online retail sites have availability.  Take a look at:

Xbox Sighting Tool – http://www.thexboxfiles.com

Xbox Tracker – http://xbox360tracker.com/

Good luck, and happy hunting! 

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Posted in Computers and Internet

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