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A website has posted some screenhots of Windows 7.

http://www.thinknext.net/archives/2124

Hello there. Bob Drake here to discuss how Windows Server 2008 “Read Only Domain Controllers” (RODC’s) authenticate users differently from the way Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 standard domain controllers do. The “Read Only Domain Controller” is new to Windows Server 2008 and allows for the installation of a domain controller to accommodate common scenarios where users are authenticating over a wide area network (WAN) or there is a physical security concern for the domain controller, such as installations at branch office locations. Another new feature to Windows Server 2008 RODC’s is “Password Replication Policy” and depending on how they are configured determines how an RODC authenticates a user.

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2008/01/18/understanding-read-only-domain-controller-authentication.aspx

Hello there. Bob Drake here to discuss how Windows Server 2008 “Read Only Domain Controllers” (RODC’s) authenticate users differently from the way Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 standard domain controllers do. The “Read Only Domain Controller” is new to Windows Server 2008 and allows for the installation of a domain controller to accommodate common scenarios where users are authenticating over a wide area network (WAN) or there is a physical security concern for the domain controller, such as installations at branch office locations. Another new feature to Windows Server 2008 RODC’s is “Password Replication Policy” and depending on how they are configured determines how an RODC authenticates a user.

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2008/01/18/understanding-read-only-domain-controller-authentication.aspx

Microsoft has been turning up the volume on its green initiatives across the company, as of late. I recently stumbled onto yet another one: DiskEnergy.

DiskEnergy is a Microsoft Research project headquartered at the company’s Cambridge, U.K. research facility. So far, there’s very little public information about it. But here’s a description of what’s in the works, courtesy of the Microsoft Research site:

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1119

Microsoft has been turning up the volume on its green initiatives across the company, as of late. I recently stumbled onto yet another one: DiskEnergy.

DiskEnergy is a Microsoft Research project headquartered at the company’s Cambridge, U.K. research facility. So far, there’s very little public information about it. But here’s a description of what’s in the works, courtesy of the Microsoft Research site:

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1119

So they asked me to write for a blog. Well, I’m new here, and what can a new guy write about? The basics! But the target audience for this blog is not the faint of heart, so, let’s start with a NEW basic thing for everybody: “Creating a Cluster in Windows Server 2008”.

First a small introduction:

Clustering is available in Windows Server® 2008 Enterprise and Windows Server® 2008 Datacenter editions. The improvements to failover clusters (formerly known as server clusters) are aimed at simplifying clusters, making them more secure, and enhancing cluster stability. Cluster setup and management are easier with the new MMC Snap-In management interface, and complexity is reduced by providing the user with a simple interface to create, manage and use their failover cluster. Setup is more straightforward, with fewer steps and less configuration. Also, Cluster setup is fully scriptable so that you can automate your deployment. Security and networking in clusters have been improved, as has the way a failover cluster communicates with storage.

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/archive/2008/01/18/7151154.aspx

From a marketing perspective, multicore processors are an easy sell. Two brains are better than one. Four brains are better than two. You get the idea.

The challenge is that a whole lot of computer software has been designed to take advantage of ever-faster brains, not a computer packed full of them. It’s a particular challenge for desktop and mobile computers. On the server and supercomputing side, the notion of parallel computing has been around for some time.

In the PC world, software makers have been scrambling to find new ways of thinking as Moore’s law is quickly taking the chip world into a realm where there may be dozens or hundreds of processing units, or cores, on a single chip. In its latest attempt to figure out what to do with all those cores, Microsoft said Friday it is setting up a joint research center in Barcelona with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

The BSC-Microsoft research center “will focus on the way microprocessors and software for the mobile and desktop market segments will be designed and interact over the next 10 years and beyond,” Microsoft said in a statement. “The advent of many- and multi-core processor computing architectures will make it possible to deliver enormous computational power on a single chip, with profound implications for the way software is developed.”

The center will look at new approaches to software design.

“To optimize the designs and interactions of multicore processors and software, we need to start from parallel programming,” Barcelona Supercomputing Center director Mateo Valero said in a statement. “The way to deal with this multicore architecture challenge is to bring together computer architects and programming language experts.”

Full Article – http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9853724-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

The OS formerly known as Longhorn is ready to run. Should you jump on or get the hell out of its way? We’ve launched a new type of Rolling Review to find out how Windows Server 2008 stacks up.

Let’s face facts: The Windows Server 2008 Los Angeles launch gala will be a requiem for 32-bit computing. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s claim that more than half of server downloads are now of the 64-bit variety confirms that IT is looking to wring full advantage of the 64-bit-capable processors pervasively deployed in enterprise data centers. But is smashing through the 4-Gbyte RAM barrier all we have to look forward to, or will additions and improvements–including Network Access Protection, high availability, virtualization, Server Core, PowerShell, SMB 2.0, IIS7, a completely rewritten IP stack, and an updated version of Terminal Services–live up to their billing?

Full Article – http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205801265

Several weeks ago, a user from notebookforums.com reported concern about voltage. That post prompted other stories from folks like Engadget and Slashdot. About a week later, Mike, who’s one of our Customer Advocate team members, responded in the thread confirming that there’s no safety hazard with the reported tingling that some notebook users are commenting on. In a follow-up, he posted another update that confirmed that the issue does not harm internal components of a notebook.

Full Article – http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/04/24/8522.aspx

Several weeks ago, a user from notebookforums.com reported concern about voltage. That post prompted other stories from folks like Engadget and Slashdot. About a week later, Mike, who’s one of our Customer Advocate team members, responded in the thread confirming that there’s no safety hazard with the reported tingling that some notebook users are commenting on. In a follow-up, he posted another update that confirmed that the issue does not harm internal components of a notebook.

Full Article – http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/04/24/8522.aspx

The Windows Server 2008 MSDN Development Center has launched. This site is actively being updated to reflect the latest developer news on Windows Server 2008 as well to include links to all the greatest resources you can find out there. So if you haven’t already, make sure to stop by and see what is going on. The site includes links to the application compatibility cookbook, access to the latest release candidate, product overviews, a developer training kit, and Jason Olson’s Windows Server feature of the week and much more.

Full Post – http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde/archive/2008/01/18/windows-server-2008-now-on-msdn.aspx

Back in 16-bit Windows, the registry was a very different beast. Originally, the only registry hive was HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, and the only things it was used for were COM object registration and file type registration. (Prior to the registry, file type registration was done in WIN.INI, and the only verb you could register for was “open”.) The registry was stored in a single file, REG.DAT, which could not exceed 64KB in size.

Full Post – http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2008/01/17/7137438.aspx

It’s been a while since we last heard some actual news about Seven. Microsoft has been quiet about it, not risking to make the same mistakes as they did with Vista, resulting in the admittedly boring 2007 we’ve had on the Windows side.
Things seem to be ready to get active again pretty soon though, with the news that got out today that Microsoft has hit its first milestone into Seven’s development and distributed a build to selected partners!
The build is said to be able to handle a mixed setup with different graphics cards from different manufacturers, and to include an updated version of Media Center. Not included in this build, but confirmed features for the final version include a stripped down kernel called MinWin, and touch screen features.
Along with hitting this step, Microsoft has revised its roadmap to show it’s ahead of schedule with Seven, which is now set to be out in the second half of 2009 rather than 2010 as previously announced.

Microsoft seems to be preparing to release an unusual “Vista Plus Pack” on February 15th. Based on the provided box art, the Plus Pack appears to be a collection of four casual games that are “Enhanced for Windows Vista”. The listing for the software was found on Future Shop’s online catalog by MadDoggyca in our forums. Details below:

Full Article – http://winbeta.org/comments.php?id=13579

Microsoft’s implementation of commenting in Active Directory has always amazed me. In Windows Server 2003, everywhere you look you find wizards and tabs and configuration screens with a location for adding comments. It seems like every little setting in Active Directory could tell its own story through its attached comments.

Full Post – http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid1_gci1293745,00.html?track=sy540&asrc=RSS_RSS-11_540