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Tomorrow, Microsoft will release its second functional update to Windows Home Server (WHS, see my review), called Power Pack 2 (PP2). PP2 follows WHS PP1 (see my review), of course, which shipped last July. Like that release, PP2 is a combination of new features as well as the types of bug fixes and other updates that we’ve come to expect from Service Packs (SP2). But unlike PP1, PP2 isn’t a major release. Instead, it focuses on a few key improvements. I’ve been testing various versions of PP2 since late 2008 on my product home server, and it’s a testament to this release that it’s never caused any issues at all.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/server/whs_pp2.asp

Here’s a behind the scenes look at the design of the Aero Snap feature in Windows 7.  We thought it would be fun to take a look at the overall design process of the feature and the tools and techniques used.  This feature poses a unique design challenge in that you just use the feature without any user-interface specifically to invoke it.  As with all features this is a collaboration across all of our engineering disciplines.  For this post, Stephan Hoefnagels, a Senior UX designer, presents the design perspective.  –Steven (P.S., keep an eye out on the Microsoft MIX conference this week!)

In Managing Windows windows and Follow-up: Managing Windows windows we talked about, and you shared, some interesting window management scenarios that we might address in Windows 7. We also touched on some data around typical configurations, as well as goals that guide our thinking in this area.

In this post we’d like to have a closer look at the Aero Snap feature that many of you have already been able to experience in our PDC builds, and of course the Beta. We’ll briefly describe the feature itself, but mostly we’d like to invite you to take a behind-the-scenes peek at our design process so far, and share our iterations, challenges and considerations.

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/03/17/designing-aero-snap.aspx

You learn the most interesting things when you poke around in some of the arcane files that are included with Windows 7 beta releases. In the most recent build of Windows 7 that I’ve been able to examine, I’ve confirmed that Microsoft plans to release its next version of Office in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. That’s a detail that my colleague Mary Jo Foley didn’t discover in her December 2008 rundown of what we know about Office 14

The clues to an upcoming x64 Office release are hidden in an obscure XML file used by the Windows Easy Transfer utility, which transfers settings for Windows and selected applications from an old PC to a new one. In the official beta release of Windows 7 (finalized in December 2008), Migwiz.xml includes the same list of applications found in Windows Vista. But in post-beta builds, this file has been updated to include more modern programs.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=742

Expression Web SuperPreview for Internet Explorer is a stand-alone visual debugging tool that makes it faster and easier to migrate your sites from Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 7 or 8. With Expression Web SuperPreview for Internet Explorer, you can ensure that your Web sites work correctly in Internet Explorer 8 while also maintaining compatibility with earlier versions of Internet Explorer.
Expression Web SuperPreview for Internet Explorer shows your web pages rendered in Internet Explorer 6 and either Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8, depending on which version you have installed on your machine. You can view the pages side by side or as an onion-skin overlay and use rulers, guides and zoom/pan tools to precisely identify differences in layout. You can even compare your page comp to how the targeted browsers render the page.

Download – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8E6AC106-525D-45D0-84DB-DCCFF3FAE677&displaylang=en

I’ve recounted the history of Internet Explorer (IE) so many times, it’s hardly worth the effort at this point. Suffice to say that Microsoft’s browser has seen times both boom and bust, alternating between periods of great innovation and sad stagnation.

From a technical standpoint, from a user experience standpoint, we’re in a far more positive era now than we were in the early 2000s, when IE was left to wither as new competitors like Firefox arrived, sniping at IE’s usage share and adding functionality at a rapid clip.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/live/ie8.asp

Today on Day 2 of MIX09, Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch during his keynote this morning in Las Vegas announced the availability of the final release of Internet Explorer 8 to download and install on their PCs.

Click here to download Internet Explorer 8!

Internet Explorer 8 is available for the following Windows releases: Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista (RTM), SP1 and SP2.

The Remote Desktop Client in Windows 7 is equipped with new features and enhancements via Remote Desktop Protocol 7 (RDP). The most interesting enhancement is the support for Desktop Composition, full Aero glass effect.

Below are the features introduced in Windows 7 Remote Desktop Client

• Windows 7 Aero support
• Direct 2D & Direct 3D 10.1 application support
• True multi-monitor support

Full Article –http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/03/16/windows-7-rdp-changes-improve-virtual-desktop-performance

Windows Mobile has many things it could be doing better, and updates are near the top of the list. Currently, you have to get your update from your manufacturer (HTC, LG, etc.), but it looks like Microsoft might be changing that with Windows Mobile 7. The idea is to cut out the middle-man, so that users can get updates straight from Microsoft just as they do with Windows. In a March 12 job posting on Microsoft Careers, Microsoft explains that it is looking for a Principal Development Manager. Here’s the part that’s most important from the job description (emphasis mine):

Full Article – http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/03/will-windows-mobile-7-fix-updating.ars

Suddenly, new Windows 7 builds are coming at a rapid clip and, more notably, are leaking much more quickly. In the past, we’d see builds that were a month or more old at the time. But the most recent leak, of build 7057, is just a week old. Progress!

As with the previous few leaked builds I’ve seen, there are numerous small changes this time around. The Setup wallpaper has been changed. There are new default icons in the Start Menu, and a new padlock icon overlay appears on protected folders. Again, there are new Themes, and some new wallpapers. There are also new user account images for the first time. There’s probably more, but I’ve barely had time to run a quick lap around this version of the OS. If there’s more, I’ll be sure to write it up.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_7057.asp

About a month ago we reported that Microsoft was rolling out free POP3 access to Windows Live Hotmail customers in select markets. For the vast majority, including myself, the updates had yet to hit their accounts. Well the wait is over, the Windows Live Hotmail team has officially announced that POP3 access for all Windows Live Hotmail accounts has now rolled out to every customer.
Here are the settings to access your e-mail messages via POP3:
POP server: pop3.live.com (Port 995)
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example [email protected]
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com (Port 25 or 587)
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes

Windows 7 includes a nearly-hidden feature called Guest Mode that is primarily aimed at shared consumer PCs that need to be returned to their original running state after being used by a child or guest. The feature can be enabled on individual user accounts; when user logs off or the PC reboots, those accounts are wiped clean and returned to their original configuration. Guest Mode is useful for small classrooms, libraries, and other shared computing scenarios, but is really designed for home use, where parents may want to configure the feature for their children.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/ff_pcsafeguard.asp

In this blog post, we’ll cover the basics of the Distributed File System (DFS) in Windows Server 2008, which offers users simplified access to a set of file shares and helps administrators easily maintain the file server infrastructure behind those file shares, including options for load sharing, replication and site awareness.

Many File Servers and File Shares

It’s a common scenario. Over time, a company ends up with a large number of file servers that were created at different times and by different teams. The users are left to figure out where their files are stored, mapping many drives to file shares and learning complex UNC paths like \\server23\ffiles and \\finance.asia.company.com\spreadsheets and even something like \\10.1.23.45\scratch. To complicate things further, when an old file server is replaced, paths are broken and mapped drives stop working. It can be challenging.

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2009/03/09/the-basics-of-the-windows-server-2008-distributed-file-system-dfs.aspx

Microsoft on Wednesday is offering up more details on its would-be rival to the iPhone’s app store.

The software maker said it will charge developers $99 a year, plus $99 for each application they submit to get an app into the Windows Marketplace store. Through the end of this year, though, developers who register will be able to submit five applications at no additional charge.

The software maker defended the charge: “Microsoft will run a rigorous certification process to ensure that the end user’s experience is optimal, and that the device and network resources aren’t used in a malicious way,” a Microsoft representative said in a statement. “This process has a significant cost and Microsoft believes $99 is an acceptable cost of doing business for (software developers) looking to get in front of millions of customers.”

Full Article – http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10193205-56.html

Like I’m sure many of you, I have a lab full of virtual machines.  I can’t imagine what would happen to my productivity if I had a system crash and all of those virtual systems vanished at the same time.  The answer?  backup those virtual systems.  How is the question.  It would be quite a manual process to power down and backup each system one by one.  With the introduction of Hyper-V as a core OS component I couldn’t help but believe there would be some way in the core OS to handle the backup job required.  Fortunately, my believe seems to be correct. 

Using the built in Windows backup it is fully possible to backup your Hyper-V systems – even if they are in the running state.  Windows backup will realize they are in the running state and take appropriate action before backing them up.  I’m still testing with this and I haven’t actually tried a restore (so I shouldn’t probably be writing this until I do!) but what I have so far looks like it’s doing the job. Here’s how to set it up.

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/steverac/archive/2009/03/08/backing-up-hyper-v-virtual-machines.aspx

While NT-based versions of Windows have supported per-folder encryption functionality via the Encrypting File System (EFS) for years, Windows Vista was the first to introduce full-disk encryption in the form of BitLocker. Now, in Windows 7, Microsoft has enhanced BitLocker with the ability to protect removable storage devices, such as USB-based hard drives, flash devices, and other media. This functionality is called BitLocker To Go, and while the technology is aimed squarely at enterprises, it’s quite useful for almost any Windows 7 user.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/ff_bltg.asp