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Windows Server 2008 R2 & Windows 7 Service Pack 1


Windows Server 2008 R2 introduced many new features over and above Server 2008, and now we hear that Service Pack 1 (SP1) will extend that even further.

Memory Over Commit:

This feature, or rather the lack of it, caused quite a few comments from the VMWare side of the virtualization world as they had it and Hyper-V didn’t.

Basically it allows you to assign more RAM to your Virtual Machines than you physically have available for example:

A physical host with 4GB RAM

4 VM’s each allocated 2 GB RAM

So a total of 8GB assigned with only 4GB available…what the what?! How can this work?!

Although machines will crash if the physical memory isn’t available, it reality it’s very rare for machines to use anywhere near the amount of RAM they have. It does still carry risks though so it isn’t for everyone!

Remote FX

Do you remember when Microsoft bought Calista around the start of 2008? They were a startup who:

“set out to create technology that allows remote workers to enjoy the same rich user experience over a network as with a locally executing desktop”

This includes:

  • Full Fidelity Video
  • Silverlight Support
  • 3D Graphics
  • Windows Aero

Based on this technology, Microsoft are introducing “RemoteFX” with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, although there are keen to point out that this is:

“not a new standalone product from Microsoft. Rather, it describes a set of RDP technologies – most prominently graphics virtualization and the use of advanced codes – that are being added”

This will allow remote users/VDI users to have an experience much closer to that of a full desktop PC.

One thing to note is that:

If you want to use RemoteFX with a Windows 7 VM, it must be running on Hyper-V…so no VMWare!

Microsoft have always very closely with Citrix and now it’s been announced that Citrix will be integrating RemoteFX into their XenDesktop and HDX products.

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Windows XP Mode: No more hardware virtualization


Microsoft introduced XP Mode with Windows 7 and it was great; a way to run XP only applications inside the new Operating System. However, there was one big caveat…it only worked on machines with processors that supported “Hardware Assisted Virtualization” (HAV) AKA Intel-VT/AMD-V…and these CPU’s aren’t all that prevalent (something my post here looked at). Many end users found it tricky to work out if their machine supported this technology and a huge number of people, both home users and small businesses, found they were unable to take advantage of this new innovation.

Well not any more!!!

Microsoft have re-written the XP Mode engine, allowing the need for HAV to be removed 🙂 This means that anyone running a genuine copy of Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate can now use XP Mode regardless of their hardware, opening it up to countless (probably 1000’s) more people.

This is a great move by Microsoft, extending the great work they’ve done with XP Mode to the masses and surely furthering Windows 7 adoption among home users and small businesses too.

You can download the update to remove the requirements below:

32-bit

64-bit

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Windows 7 Cram Live Meeting


If you saw the Windows 7 Exam Cram session that was running on March 11th but missed the actual event (like me), the recording is now available online here:

https://www112.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/view?id=DC031110&pw=webcast

So if you’re working towards some Windows 7 exams (at least 70-680 & 70-685) or would like to but not sure where to start, head over there and get started…I will be ASAP!

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Internet Explorer 9


Internet Explorer 9 is here! Well, a Developer preview build has been released at MIX 10 and it looks pretty freakin’ awesome!

  • Full HTML 5 Support…even video!
  • Rounded Corners
  • Background Compiled Javascript
  • Much improved (although not perfect) ACID 3 score
  • IE9 is the first browser to provide fully hardware-accelerated SVG support

These, and more, are already part of IE9 🙂

Head over to:

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/

to find out more and download the current build of IE9, although it’s not a complete browser. There is no address bar and no back button (!), it’s a very early way of letting us all have a look at the goodness that is on it’s way.

An important point I’ve just seen in the FAQ is that:

“One of the best features of Platform Preview is that it installs side-by-side with earlier versions of Internet Explorer and any other browser(s) on your computer”

which means it should be completely safe to install it on your machine. I’ve got it on mine and it works great…

Look-Rounded Borders!

image

Asteroids in the browser?

image

Yes!

Acid Test:

“Acid3 is a test page from the Web Standards Project that checks how well a web browser follows certain selected elements from web standards, especially relating to the Document Object Model (DOM) and JavaScript.” (from Wikipedia)

Current browsers that pass Acid 3 are:

Google Chrome

Apple Safari

Opera

while Internet Explorer 8 gets:

image

Internet Explorer 9 currently gets:

image

So much better…but still a way to go. I assume that Microsoft will get it to 100 by the time it ships?

Windows XP

Can I haz IE9 on XP?

No.

What the What?

“Internet Explorer 9’s GPU-powered graphics take advantage of new technologies available in Windows 7 and back-ported only to Windows Vista. These technologies depend on advancements in the display driver model introduced first in Windows Vista”

Oh…ok…can I haz Windows 7 pleez?!

This is another reason for people to move from the creaking, aging and frankly not very good anymore platform of Windows XP. IE9 is going to be faster, flashier, sexier and better and will seriously enhance and improve people’s interactions with the web…both in terms of enjoyment and enhanced productivity…maybe this will be the thing that pushes people to take the leap onto Windows 7? Here’s hoping!

HTML 5 Video

Although Microsoft showed HTML 5 video working during the MIX 10 keynote, it’s not currently available in the Platform Preview. However, it is coming and, as MS are updating the build every 8 weeks, it won’t be too long until we see it.

Javascript Rendering

On the Webkit SunSpider Javascript Performance test, IE9 posts better results that Firefox 3.6:

Bar graph of Webkit SunSpider Javascript Benchmark results

 

and is getting very close to the super speeds of Opera. With many months until shipping we should see IE9 rise even further up the ranks.

Dean Hachamovitch (General Manager, Internet Explorer) has got a great blog post all about IE 9 here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2010/03/16/html5-hardware-accelerated-first-ie9-platform-preview-available-for-developers.aspx

Thoughts:

From what I’ve heard from MIX and via Twitter, what I’ve seen using the Platform Preview and what I’ve read on the MSDN blogs…this is going to fit in really well with Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 Series…it’s going to be brilliant and put MS back at the top.

So go and download the preview, check it out and keep tuned 🙂

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Windows Phone Developer Training Kits


Windows Phone 7 Series is a little bit closer after today’s MIX 10 keynote and Microsoft are doing a great job of making sure that WP7 developers have got everything they need to get started putting the iPhone to shame making great apps 🙂

They have put together a training kit for developers which includes 4 Hands On Labs:

Hello Phone:

As with the classic “Hello World” app, this is a way to introduce you to the tools needed to build Silverlight apps for Windows Phones.

Building Your First Windows Phone Application:

This teaches you to create a simple puzzle game using the basic building blocks, and includes some phone-specific features.

new4

Windows Phone Navigation & Controls:

This focuses on on Windows Phone’s layout and switching between different screens.

Game Development with XNA Framework:

This lab helps you build a simple XMA game using Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone.

You can see the online kit here or download a local copy here.

To download the Windows Phone Developer Tools, hit this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2338b5d1-79d8-46af-b828-380b0f854203&displaylang=en

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Windows Phone 7 Series Development Tools


Today saw the start of MIX 10, Microsoft’s 3 day conference for web designers and developers, and it was all about Windows Phone 7 Series aka WP7 (or Windows Mobile 7 as you might call it).

They announced the availability of a comprehensive set of free tools to support developing Silverlight apps on WP7. This can be download from:

WP7 Developer Kit

and includes previews of:

· Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone

· Windows Phone 7 Series add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC1

· XNA Game Studio 4.0

· Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator for application testing

· Expression Blend for Windows Phone CTP (available as a separate download).

I’m not a developer, although I often wish I was, and this is one of those times! Go get it and make some brilliant apps that will bring me, and countless others, back to the WinMo fold 🙂

An alternative download link is:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2338b5d1-79d8-46af-b828-380b0f854203&displaylang=en

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BPOS Exchange Online Extra Storage discontinued


Just a quick post to cover the fact that the Exchange Online Extra Storage SKU (TRA-00018 ) for BPOS is being discontinued.

The default mailbox size is being increased from 5GB to 25GB and, as this is the maximum storage a user can have, there’s simply no need to have the extra storage SKU.

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Microsoft Select Licensing Discontinued


Microsoft Select Licensing is being discontinued and July 1st 2011 is the official “End of Sales” date”.

Microsoft have many licensing schemes and Select has been a long running and quite popular one, aimed ostensibly at business of 250+ machines. A huge number of business in the upper end of the mid market and the Enterprise sectors have a Select contract, either standalone or tagged onto an Enterprise Agreement.

Currently customers can choose between Select & Select Plus but, from July 1st 2011, only Select Plus will be available.

What about existing customers?

After July 1st 2011, no new Select agreements will be available however,

“Customers will not be required to migrate existing Select agreements, and renewals will continue to be available”

so this isn’t going to be a huge upheaval for current Select customers.

What is Select Plus?

Select Plus was introduced to offer customers more choice and flexibility as well as offer improved cost savings:

· Improved customer insight with single cross-company purchasing with customer ID

· Administrative cost savings due to evergreen agreement term

· Reduced complexity with automatic tiered pricing

What’s the point?

One of the big differences is that Select Plus gives you a full 36 months of Software Assurance coverage from the time you purchase the licence rather than up until the end of the agreement. This will mean that customers see a greater ROI and also reduce licensing complexity. Under current Select licensing, one must take into account the position through the contract at which the purchase is being made and purchase the correct licence:

  • 3 years remaining
  • 2 years remaining
  • 1 year remaining

and each has a different price.

A common objection from Financial Directors/Finance Dept’s is that Software Assurance costs are not pro-rated through the year, for example:

A new contract is started on 01/01/2010 and Windows Server Std licences with 3 years SA are purchased for £1200*.

6 months later, the customer needs to acquire another of the same licences…and it still costs £1200*. This is a sore point for many people!

Often the result of the above is customers delaying projects until the next year of their contact. So rather than spending £12000 on deploying 10 Windows Servers they will push the project back 3-3 months and spend maybe £10,400 on the project instead. While this will save them money in the short term, there are of course costs associated with delaying projects and not benefitting from the increased productivity etc that the project would deliver.

Microsoft have clearly decided that Select Plus is the way forward although, in my experience, there hasn’t been as much uptake as expected. There will be people who aren’t happy with this (as always) but I think, in general, this will be a positive move for Microsoft’s customers.

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Office 2010 Release Dates & Free Upgrade


It’s announced, buy/activate Office 2007 from today and you get a free upgrade to Office 2010!

How?

To qualify simply:

  • Purchase Office 2007, or a new PC with Office 2007, and activate it between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010.
  • Have, or create a Windows Live ID.
  • Redeem your Tech Guarantee before October 31, 2010 by visiting www.office.com/techg

    • When will I, will I…get Office 2010?

    We have an answer on this too!

    Office, Sharepoint, Visio and Project 2010 will all RTM (Release To Manufacturing) next month (April) and the products will launch on:

    Business = May 12th

    Consumers = June (sometime)

    This is great news for businesses and end users as Office 2010 is a HUGE improvement over previous versions…even 2007!

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    Microsoft EBS is no more


    Microsoft EBS (Essential Business Server) has been discontinued. The team said today (March 5th) on their blog:

    “Since the launch of EBS, several changes have occurred that drove our decision to streamline our server product portfolio. First, midsize businesses are rapidly turning to technologies such as management, virtualization and cloud computing as a means to cut costs, improve efficiency, and increase competitiveness. Those capabilities are already available through other offerings, including Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft System Center and the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).”

    I’m not particularly surprised at all about this as we’ve seen very low levels of interest in this product over the last year or so. It was relatively attractive if you were setting up a completely new company that was straight away 75+ users and would run totally self sufficiently, but that isn’t something that happens very often!

    As far as I can see, SMB’s of 75-300 users, especially nowadays, are less likely to go for a “one size fits all, here’s a package-go install it” style. The skills sets of mid market IT techs are much broader and deeper than in the past…often comparable to that of much bigger Enterprises. I don’t think “The Cloud” is being adopted as much might be suggested, but it is certainly a road that many SMB’s are looking at travelling down in the future.

    There are some people on Twitter that love EBS and will no doubt be sad to see this go (you know who you are!) but I think, on the whole, this is a product death that few will mourn. In fact, it may well pass most people completely by as EBS wasn’t even that well known!

    What happens next?

    There won’t be an EBS 2010 but customers will continue to get:

    Mainstream Support

    Extended Support

    Service Pack support

    for the current EBS product.

    image

    Promo

    From June 30th – December 31st there is a promo running which allows current EBS owners to get the individual component parts free of charge so:

    Windows Server 2008 Std

    Exchange Server 2007 Std

    System Center Essentials 2007

    The EBS site is here and Mary Jo’s article is here.

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