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Mike here. Windows Vista made numerous changes with how user profiles work. In fact, the changes are too numerous to describe here (you can read more about the changes with user profiles in the Managing Roaming User Data Deployment Guide (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73435). However, the policy settings for user profiles from earlier versions of Windows remain and Windows Vista introduces five new policy settings.

Four of the five new policy settings for user profiles exist under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\User Profiles (the remaining policy setting uses the same path under User Configuration). These five policy settings apply only to computers running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista, however; these policy settings can co-exist in GPO’s applicable to clients earlier than Windows Vista. Operating systems other than Windows Vista ignore the policy settings. Let me begin with the policy settings under the computer configuration and then close with the single user setting.

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2008/06/17/user-profile-policies-in-windows-server-2008-and-windows-vista.aspx

REDMOND, Wash. — June 17, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the acquisition of Navic Networks, a leading provider of television advertising solutions. Navic’s technologies include sophisticated campaign management tools that use relevant data to optimize the delivery and placement of targeted interactive television media and through Admira provide a unified ad network for targeting audiences across television advertising inventory. With the addition of Navic solutions, Microsoft’s comprehensive advertising platform will be able to facilitate enhanced digital advertising across online and offline environments.

Full Article – http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/jun08/06-17TVAdSolutionsPR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases

Later today Mozilla will launch Firexfox 3.

Mozilla is hoping to set a new world record for the most downloaded program in 24 hours.

keep checking www.firefox.com for the download link.

And to think Microsoft used to be popular with the developer crowd…

Not anymore. A recent report from Evans Data shows fewer than one in 10 software developers writing applications for Windows Vista this year. Eight percent. This is perhaps made even worse by the corresponding data that shows 49 percent of developers writing applications for Windows XP.

Such appreciation for history is not likely to warm the cockles of Microsoft’s heart, especially when Linux is getting lots of love from developers (13 percent writing apps for it this year and 15.5 percent in 2009). The Mac? I don’t have any equivalent data via Evans Data. But the Mac OS has rocketed by 380 percent as a targeted development platform, Evans Data told Computerworld.

Full Article – http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9969231-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=NewsBlog

And to think Microsoft used to be popular with the developer crowd…

Not anymore. A recent report from Evans Data shows fewer than one in 10 software developers writing applications for Windows Vista this year. Eight percent. This is perhaps made even worse by the corresponding data that shows 49 percent of developers writing applications for Windows XP.

Such appreciation for history is not likely to warm the cockles of Microsoft’s heart, especially when Linux is getting lots of love from developers (13 percent writing apps for it this year and 15.5 percent in 2009). The Mac? I don’t have any equivalent data via Evans Data. But the Mac OS has rocketed by 380 percent as a targeted development platform, Evans Data told Computerworld.

Full Article – http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9969231-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=NewsBlog

As of 30 June, large PC makers will no longer be able to sell Windows XP-based PCs on mainstream notebooks and desktops. Retailers will also have only until their current supply is exhausted to sell boxed copies of the operating system.

Despite a brief “Save XP” movement (and continued criticism of Windows Vista from many corners), Microsoft is not going to change the deadline, which is now just two weeks away.

Full Article – http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Windows-XP-The-end-is-nigh/0,130061733,339289884,00.htm?omnRef=http://www.google.com/reader/view/

It’s been over a year and a half since the Mozilla Corporation shipped its last major Web browser update, Firefox 2 (see my review). For cloud computing companies like Mozilla, that amount of time is an eon, and equivalent in many ways to the amount of time Microsoft took to ship Windows Vista. But one thing that hasn’t changed for Firefox since the first version shipped in November 2004 is that this impressive browser is still the one to beat. Microsoft can make a lot of noise about Internet Explorer 8 (see my preview) and Apple can muddy the waters with its unnecessary (and dishonestly distributed) Safari browser. None of it matters. When it comes to Web browsers, there’s Firefox and then there’s everything else.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/firefox3.asp

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Internet Explorer 8 is set to be Microsoft’s most standards compliant browser ever. After originally stating that IE8 would default to the same noncompliant behavior exhibited by IE7, Microsoft relented and plumped for standard-by-default. The first beta of IE8 was released in March and it did indeed default to standards compliance. Web developers have been clamouring for standards compliance for a long time; IE is a long way behind the competition, requiring considerable hacks and workarounds to get pages working properly. IE8 should make things a lot better—but it will still fall far short of the standards set by Firefox, Safari, and Opera. Some of these problems are technical, but others are cultural. Where the other browser developers are open and communicative, Microsoft is still leaving web developers in the dark.

Full Article – http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080615-microsoft-to-developers-fix-your-broken-web-pages-for-ie8.html

For more than 30 years he has roamed among us, a strange hybrid of Napoleon Dynamite and Vlad the Impaler. Nerdy yet ruthless, brilliant yet hobbled by blind spots regarding his company’s failings, Bill Gates leaves an indelible mark on everything digital. Yet on June 27, he’ll step down from his day-to-day duties at Microsoft to devote himself to philanthropic activities.

With snark in our hearts, we humbly offer ten of the most memorable moments of Bill’s career, with suggestions for suitable career moves he might consider if he decides to follow the logical path indicated by each milestone.

Full Article – http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,147036-pg,1/article.html

Most of the attention to the recent Google/Yahoo partnership has focused on the two companies’ search advertising plans, but the deal has implications for instant messaging, too. “In addition,” reads the companies’ press release, “Yahoo and Google agreed to enable interoperability between their respective instant messaging services, bringing easier and broader communication to users.”
So far, exactly what that means is anyone’s guess. But the IM market could certainly benefit from a little more interoperability. Despite the fact that IM use is on the rise among home users and businesses alike, each separate IM network remains a walled garden, independent of all the others. Getting them to work together — similar to how e-mail works — would benefit everyone.

Full Article – http://reseller.co.nz/reseller.nsf/opin/772AC4F2E6040AE3CC25746A001432C2

Mark your calendar, wrap a ribbon around your finger or write a little sticky yellow note. Download Day will start on June 17, 2008.

Mark your calendar, wrap a ribbon around your finger or write a little sticky yellow note. Download Day will start on June 17, 2008.

An overview of Windows Home Server Power Pack has been published on the WinSuperSite.

Link – http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/whs_pp1_rc_screens.asp

While Apple’s long-expected iPhone 3G (see my preview) garnered most of the attention earlier this week in the aftermath of the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2008 keynote address on Monday, an ancillary product announcement is potentially as significant. That announcement concerns a new, or at least upgraded enough to be considered new, online service called MobileMe. Shipping next month for iPhone, Windows, and Mac users, MobileMe is important because it represents Apple’s first serious cloud computing endeavor. And because it seeks to elegantly bridge the gap between iPhones and Windows-based PCs (or, for a smaller audience, between iPhones and Macs), MobileMe could prove to be a popular option for iPhone users looking for something more sophisticated than the iTunes-based syncing capabilities that Apple introduced last year.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/mobileme_preview.asp