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Microsoft Windows Cloud


Microsoft Windows “Cloud” was mentioned by MS CEO Steve Ballmer at their S+S (Software Plus Services) seminar in London today.

“We need a new operating system designed for the cloud and we will introduce one in about four weeks, we’ll even have a name to give you by then. But let’s just call it for the purposes of today ‘Windows Cloud’,” said Ballmer.

More info will be revealed at the PDC, which takes place the end of this month in LA.

More info can be found at:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/steve_ballmer_windows_cloud/

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Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 released


Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 has been released.

“What are you talking about? It’s been out for months!” you say…nearly but not quite.

This is the standalone Hyper-V server, so while it includes the core parts of the kernel as related to Hyper-V, there are no other roles available for installation. This is a pure Hypervisor that site on bare metal, and allows you to run up to 192 VM’s on a single machine!!

It doesn’t have much of a GUI (Graphical User Interface)-bit of an old school vibe but hey, that’s cool! Also, you can manage it from a Windows Server 2008 installation or indeed a Vista SP1 machine with the Remote Server Admin Tools Pack installed.

Microsoft expect the main uses for this product to be:

  • Test and Development
  • Basic Server Consolidation
  • Branch Office Consolidation
  • Hosted Desktop Virtualization (VDI)

    • You can download HYper-V Server 2008 here

    and

    More info can be found over at Matt “VirtualBoy” McSpirit’s blog here

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    Microsoft Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008


    Microsoft Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008 is set to be released on 12//11/08 (12th November), along with Small Business Server (SBS) 2008.

    What is it?

    Windows Essential Business Server 2008 provides a unified Administration Console to manage an integrated IT infrastructure with the latest versions of management, messaging, and security server technologies.

    EBS 2008 is aimed at medium sized businesses and the aim is that it will make your infrastructure more efficeint, cost effective and easier to manage. There are 2 version of EBS 2008..

    Standard Edition includes:

    • 3 x Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
    • 1 x Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
    • 1 x Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007
    • 1Yr subscription to Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange
    • 1Yr subscription to Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Medium Business Edition

    The Premium Edition includes all the above as well as:

    • 1 x Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (making a total of 4)
    • 1 x SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition

    From a licensing point of view, EBS allows up to 300 users and there is a single Client Access Licence (CAL) that gives access to all the included programmes.

    Licensing:

    There are two types of CAL for EBS 2008. Standard CALs for all users/devices connecting to any part of the EBS network and Premium CALS for any users/devices connecting to the PREMIUM features of EBS (so SQL Server).

    Another change is that CALs will be available individually as well as in 5, 20 & 50 packs. The ability to purchase CALs on their own makes it more cost effective when adding new members of staff.

    One thing to note is that you are NOT able to downgrade the components of EBS 2008 to previous versions. To this end, Microsoft have made SQL 2005 available as an EBS 20008 component to prevent any possible issues with customized Line-Of-Business (LOB) applications. This will last for approx. 1 year.

    EBS 2008 aims to make medium sized businesses more efficient and cost effective, and helps to reduce the workload for system administrators. The inclusion of System Center Essentials means that admins will be able to track assets, install patches and updates, deploy software packages and more all from the EBS Central Admin Console.

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    Microsoft Office 14 (2009/2010)


    Microsoft Office 14, the next version of the Office Suite, is set to include the monitoring & analytics component of Performance Point Server..making Business Intelligence easily accessible to a huge number of people.

    The release date was originally thought to be 1st half 2009 but it now looks more likely to be the 2nd half..maybe even Q1 2010.

    There isn’t a huge amount of information on Office 14 available but enhanced Enterprise Content Management, tighter Unified Communications integration and security all seem likely to be included.

    If I hear anything else I’ll let you know..if you’re one of the lucky beta testers-let me know your thoughts!

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    Microsoft Office Sharepoint 2007 Licensing


    As a follow on to my MOSS 2007 post, here’s some information on the various versions and how they are licensed…hope it helps!

    The main and most common edition is:

    Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007: This is licenced with a single server version and then 2 editions of Client Access Licences (CAL)-Standard and Enterprise. It is the CALs that determine which features are avilable to the users and they are “additive” meaning you must have both the Standard AND Enterprise CALs to receive the Enterprise features, which include:

    • Line of Business Data Search
    • Business process and forms capabilities (such as Web-based Microsoft Office InfoPath forms)
    • Business intelligence capabilities (including report center sites, the ability to build interactive dashboards, and Excel Services)

     Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Internet sites: This version is licensed per server only and is used for running extranets and internet sites. This means it cannot be accessed by internal employees “creating, sharing, or collaborating on content which is for internal use only”. As there are no CALs required, this edition includes the functionality of both the Standard AND Enterprise editions.

    Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007: This licensed via the Server/CAL model so each client accessing the server needs a CAL.

    Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 for Internet sites: As with MOSS 2007, this is per server licensing only, cannot be used for internal only projects and includes full Enterprise functionality.

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