Category: Microsoft

This category is for anything Microsoft related-so you’ll probably find that msot posts end up in here!

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Windows 7 Beta Release Date


It seems that Microsoft are pointing us towards a January 2009 release date for the Windows 7 beta, rather than December 2008 as originally thought.

**Update-it seems we have dates for when the beta will be available here.

According to the Register, MS have updated their sites to show that event attendees won’t receive a physical copy of theĀ  beta in their hands until an event on 13/01/09. If you’re at an event before then, you will get teh beta DVD mailed to you later.

Despite this, ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley thinks we could be on for a December 17th release..who will be proved right? I’m very excited about getting my hands on a proper beta of Windows 7 so the sooner the better I say!

**Update** Yesterday (16/12/08) Microsoft sent invitations to select “beta tech testers” giving them early access to Windows 7 Beta 1. The note from MS contained the line “While (the Windows 7) beta will not be available until early 2009…” so a general release date in January is nearly confirmed.

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Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2


Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Betais now available to people with MSDN and/or Technet subscriptions to begin testing.

Then from December 4th, the Customer Preview Program will launch via Technet hereĀ for testing by all, though Microsoft recommend it’s forĀ “enthusiasts, developers, and IT Pros” šŸ™‚

SP2 will wrap up all the updates released since SP1 and include improvements from Customer Experience Improvement Programme too. For more information on specific changes with Vista SP2, check out Mike Nash’s blog post hereĀ and/or check out the Notable Changes document.

Thanks to Gizmodo for the following list of changes & improvements:

Emerging Hardware Support

ā€¢SP2 contains Blue tooth 2.1 feature pack supporting the most recent specification for Blue tooth technology
ā€¢Ability to record data on Blu-Ray media,
ā€¢Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration to Windows Vista SP2,
ā€¢exFAT file system now supports UTC timestamps, which enables correct file synchronization across time zones.
ā€¢SP2 provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD/CCID. new form factor support ā€“example USB form factor as opposed to PCMCIA).
ā€¢Support for the new VIA 64-bit CPU
Security

ā€¢SP2 includes all previously released security updates, and builds on the proven security benefits of Windows Vista
ā€¢Secure Development Lifecycle process updates, where we identify the root cause of each security bulletin and improve our internal tools to eliminate code patterns that could lead to future vulnerabilities
ā€¢Reliability
ā€¢SP2 addresses previously released reliability updates, as well as addressing crashes, caused by Microsoft code, discovered since the launch of SP1
Performance

ā€¢Resume performance when Wi-Fi connection is no longer available after resume from sleep
ā€¢Inclusion of Windows Search 4 for improved indexing performance, improved relevancy in search, broader indexing scenario inclusion, as well as new Group Policy integration for Windows Search,
ā€¢Improvements to the RSS feeds sidebar gadget to improve update performance and responsiveness
Application Compatibility

ā€¢It is our goal that applications that run on the Windows Vista Operating System today and are written using public APIs will continue to work as designed on Windows Vista SP2.
ā€¢Previously released Application Compatibility updates are included in Windows Vista SP2.
ā€¢Spysweeper and ZoneAlarm now working with POP3 email accounts
Administration and Support Improvements

ā€¢Customers installing .net framework 3.5 service pack 1 will notice shorter download and installation times with Vista service pack 2 or Windows 2008 service pack 2 already installed,
ā€¢Service Pack Clean up tool (Compcln.exe): This tool helps restore the hard disk space by permanently deleting the previous versions of the files (RTM & SP1) that are being serviced by Service Pack 2.
ā€¢Single installer for both Vista & Server 2008
ā€¢Ability to detect an incompatible driver and block service pack installation or warn users of any loss of functionality
ā€¢Better error handling and providing more descriptive error messages where possible
ā€¢Better manageability through logging in system event log
ā€¢Componentization for Serviceability of the installer
Some Specific Fixes/Additions Include:

ā€¢Inclusion of Hyper-V
ā€¢Event logging support in SPC
ā€¢DNS Server now listens over ISATAP address
ā€¢Fixes DRM issues from WMP upgrades
ā€¢Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless
ā€¢Reduction of resources required for sidebar gadgets
ā€¢Improved power settings for WS08

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Microsoft Research Projects


Microsoft Research Labs have brought us some great things over the years-the 2 big ones at the minute being the Microsoft Surface table and also the Roundtable Video Conferencing Device, but that isn’t all. NetworkWorld have got an article on “10 Microsoft Research Projects” but I’m just going to take a look at theĀ one that really interests me:

Code Name Pictionaire:

I hadn’t seen anything about this one before but it looks pretty cool, like a cousin of the Surface more than anything. You can type directly onto it via standard keyboard, write on it via an interactive whiteboard, manipulate images using multi-touch, play videos and more. You could have, for example, 16 people all armed with keyboardsĀ sitting around it collaborating on an article, thesis, new song or whatever you can imagine really.

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Microsoft Zune is better than the iPod


Microsoft Zune is better than the iPod. That might seem like a bold statement but this postĀ from Jeff Blankenburg shows that it is true, at least in my opinion.

I’ve wanted a Zune for a long time and the reasons listed by Jeff just make me want one even more! I’ve got an iPod but I’ve not been 100% happy with it for some time and being something of a Microsoft “fanboy”-the Zune seems like the way to go if only they’d make them available here in the UK. I really don’t see why they’re restricted to the US and Canada…if anyone’s got any ideas or info-please let me know šŸ™‚

There are numerous reasons over at Jeff’s blogĀ but here are the ones that really impress me:

1) It comes with FM Radio. Now in itself this is pretty cool as it’s sometimes good to have the radio on rather than just mp3’s, but the thing that puts it above and beyond is the “Add to Cart” option. With this, if you hear a track on the radio that you want, press the button and it downloads it from the Zune Marketplace! I think this feature should be pushed much harder as it’s unlike anything else I’ve seen…many a time I mean to get a song of iTunes later but forget-this solves it! Or you hear a song on the radio but didn’t catch the title or artist name to search for it later?-this solves it!

2) The Zune Pass. This gives you subscription based access to the entire Zune Marketplace for $15 a month, so you can listen to any of the tracks as many times as you want in that month AND you can keep 10 songs a month permanently, making it great value. Making itĀ AWESOME value is that you can use 1 Zune Pass to fill 3 Zunes so most households will need just the one! You’ll just have to share the 10 “For keeps” songs between you… šŸ˜‰

I really wish that they were available over here. When I was in Texas earlier this year I was very tempted to pick one up then, but as far as I can see there are various parts that won’t work over here such as the Zune Marketplace and I guess the Download from Radio won’t be configured with UK data either. This means at the minute it isn’t really a viable choice for me…

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Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Comparison


Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 still has the usual 2 versions of the server product, but it now also comes with two versions of CALs, Std and Enterprise. Here I hope to highlight the main differences between the 2 servers editions and also explain why there are more CALs, how they differ and when you’ll need them.

Exchange Server 2007 comes in both Standard and Enterprise versions, as did previous versions of the product. Standard is aimed at the small to medium business while Enterprise is for the largerĀ companies that need the increased functionality.

Exchange Server 2007 Edition Offerings

Feature

Standard Edition

Enterprise Edition

Storage Group Support

5 storage groups

50 storage groups

Database Support

5 databases

50 databases

Database Storage Limit

16 TB per database

16 TB per database

Single Copy Clusters

Not supported

Supported

Local Continuous Replication

Supported

Supported

Cluster Continuous Replication

Not supported

Supported

Standby Continuous Replication ***

Supported

Supported

***Offered via Service Pack 1

As you can see, the Enterprise Edition is aimed at the higher end companies who have many thousands of users and/or require high levels of redundancy via the clustering options.

The CALs also come in Standard and Enteprise Editions, but they can be used with either server version so you can have Std Server with Enterprise CALs, an Enterprise Server with Standard CALs or a mixture of the two.

The Standard CAL(surprisingly!) offers the standard functionality you’d expect from Microsoft Exchange- access to email, shared calendars and Outlook Web Access (OWA).

The Enterprise CAL is anĀ additive meaning it mustĀ sit on top ofĀ an already purchased Standard CAL. The Enterprise CAL offers extra features including Unified Communications and ForeFrontĀ Security. A full comparison can be found here.

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Microsoft Project Edition Comparison


Microsoft Project is a very popular, industry wide Project Planning tool that comes in 2 basic forms, Standard Edt and Professional Edt. As withĀ most Microsoft products, there are various differences between the 2 versions that can make all the difference when deciding which one to buy for you & your company.

One of the main differences is collaboration. Standard is a stand alone product for Project Managers that do not need to collaborate and work with others on projects; while Project Pro allows people to collaborate across enterprises via Project Server (which is a separate product).

The Microsoft Comparison ChartĀ shows the features of the different versions (including Web Access) side by side to help make your decision a little easier.

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Microsoft Live Mesh


Microsoft Live Mesh was a big part of the PDC announcements at the start of November, and although it’s still in beta, I think it’s going to become very useful to a lot of people; especially once you can add mobile devices to the mesh.

I’ve started using it since I got a new laptop, as I now tend to blog on that while sitting on the sofa rather than than slightly uncomfortable chair for the desktop. There were a number of files such as pictures, drafts of posts etc that were held locally on the PC, so I’d be halfway through a post on the laptop and suddenly need to boot up the other PC too…annoying and bad for the environment!

Now I simply add all the files to a folder in my Mesh and I can access them from either machine…nice šŸ™‚

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Can Ray Ozzie Save the House that Bill Built?


Can Ray Ozzie Save the House that Bill Built? That’s the question that Wired are asking in their new issue, which can be found here.

I think he can and, perhaps more importantly, I think Microsoft was very close to actually needing to be saved. I’ve been a fan of the Redmond giant for a good few years, always defending them against (mostly) unfounded criticism but in the run up to, and the fall out from, Vista- I started to wonder if we were witnessing the beginning…not of the end but perhaps of the stunting of growth and the start of stagnation. I was less interested in what Microsoft was doing, less annoyed when people furthered the lies and mis-conceptions, less pro-active in promoting them and their products which wasn’t good, as I’m the MS Evangelist internally for my company!

Then I went to the Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston (July 2008) and things were different. The keynotes were energetic, more web 2.0ish (without seeming contrived), more exciting. The speakers and the content made me believe in Microsoft again, made me believe that Microsoft could help my business, that Microsoft were still innovative, that Microsoft were looking ahead, that Microsoft could still excite me-personally & professionally, that good things were going to come.

Software+Services was a key theme of this year’s WPC and was the icing on the “get Rich excited” cake…the fact that Microsoft had embraced this “disruption” early on and clearly put a lot of time, money & effort into their plans and making sure they could execute them, really inspired me. I took the online assessment and signed us up straight after the keynote and couldn’t wait to get started!

I didn’t realise then that Ray Ozzie was behind S+S, but now-I really do credit him with re-igniting my belief in Microsoft as a company, as an industry leader, as an innovator.

He might not be as Iconic, but he’s going to be very nearly as important as Bill…if you look up you can see it in the clouds…

Thanks to Steve Clayton for pointing me to the article, you can see his thoughts on it here.

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Microsoft Office 2007 Edition Comparison


With the current 2007 release, there are a number of different versions of Microsoft Office. They all contain different products and they all come with different price tags so making sure you pick the right one is definitely important.

The full comparison chart for the different versions of Office can be found hereĀ but I’m going to cover the main differences below.

What are the different editions?

There are 5 separate version of Microsoft Office 2007 and these are:

The first thing to note is that ALL the versions include Word, Powerpoint & Excel. If those three applications are all you need, then Standard is the best edition for you as it is the cheapest*, and Standard also includes Outlook, as do all the version other than Home & Student. (*This is assuming you’re licensing this within a Corporate environment, as Home & Student isn’t valid for business use.)

  • Access is only available with Pro & Ultimate.
  • OneNote is included only with Home & Student and Ultimate.
  • Small Business includes Accounting Express.
  • Groove & InfoPath are included with Ultimate only.
  • Office Home & Student allows for installation on up to 3 devices in the same household via retail, but not OEM (pre-installed).

Applications such as Access, OneNote, InfoPath, Outlook and Groove can all be purchased separately to work alongside an existing office installation. So for example, you could buy Office Standard and then get OneNote separately.

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Microsoft Live OneCare to be killed off


It seems that OneCare, Microsoft’s subscription basedĀ anti-malware/backup/management tool is on it’s way out, according to ArsTechnica.

It seems that as of 30/06/09 (June 30th 2009), retail sales of subscriptions will halt and OneCare will subsequently be replaced by codename “Morro”, a real-time solely anti-malware solution that will be provided Free of Charge.

I get the impression that a lot of people were unhappy with OneCare, so will this make things better?

Mary Jo Foley has a postĀ about the above with more details and also reveals that Microsoft’s “Equipt” package (a version of Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live OneCare and some extras)Ā has been killed off, to the point that MS are recalling existing stock from Circuit City in the US and PC World here in the UK. Microsoft are offering customers a pro-rated refund as well as allowing them to keep Office Home & Student Edition as a perpetual licence.

Ina Fried over at CnetĀ has got a quote from the Group Product Manager Bryson Gordon:

“It was a very difficult decision for us to shut down Equipt but the fact of the matter is there is this higher order need (to offer free antivirus software)……the decision to end-of-life Equipt was not in any way based with sales performance”.

He went on to say:

“What we really are going to turn our attention to is other places where we can build a software plus service offering of Office like we sold on a subscription basis”

which would tie into Microsoft’s newly re-vitalised S+S plans.

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