All posts tagged Uncategorized

After years of repeated denials, Google has finally acknowledged that it is, indeed, building an operating system for PCs.

I think it’s good for customers, PC makers, software makers and even for Microsoft that Google is getting into the operating-system game. After more than two decades, Microsoft has only one real competitor in the desktop OS space: Apple. That’s not enough. Competition is good. It keeps prices down and true innovation up.

However,  after reading the very few Chrome OS details that Google smartly dropped a couple of weeks before Microsoft is expected to announce the release to manufacturing of Windows 7, I’ve got a few doubts…. And quite a few more than the huge number of Google fanboys and girls who seem to forget for all its product debuts, Google hasn’t had any home runs other than search.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=3268

After years of repeated denials, Google has finally acknowledged that it is, indeed, building an operating system for PCs.

I think it’s good for customers, PC makers, software makers and even for Microsoft that Google is getting into the operating-system game. After more than two decades, Microsoft has only one real competitor in the desktop OS space: Apple. That’s not enough. Competition is good. It keeps prices down and true innovation up.

However,  after reading the very few Chrome OS details that Google smartly dropped a couple of weeks before Microsoft is expected to announce the release to manufacturing of Windows 7, I’ve got a few doubts…. And quite a few more than the huge number of Google fanboys and girls who seem to forget for all its product debuts, Google hasn’t had any home runs other than search.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=3268

Just between you and me, I’ve heard that one could obtain copies of Windows 7, including builds newer than the public betas, from some not-so-sanctioned sources. Of course I would know very little about how this works, but I understand that there is a process of verifying the integrity of files to ensure files are as described and have not been tampered with, however not everyone does this.

Leading up to the inevitable leak of the Windows 7 RTM build like a bottle of champagne shaken once too many times, I wanted to make this process of verifying file hashes even simpler by making it easy and convenient to generate and compare the hashes. With the help of Sven Groot, we came up with this little applet for your Windows 7 ISO verifying pleasure.

Full Article – http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090706/windows-7-iso-verifier/

It may be a while before we know whether Microsoft’s decision to offer special “E” versions of Windows 7 in Europe–that is, versions of Windows 7 that do not include Internet Explorer–is crazy like a fox or just plain crazy. But there’s little doubt that the software giant’s answer to the increasingly irrational antitrust regulators in the EU is inventive. Rather than kowtow to the EU’s demands that it bundle competing web browsers in Windows 7 via a so-called ballot screen, Microsoft simply removed the source of the problem. In the Windows 7 E Editions, which will be provided to all of its customers in the EU, Internet Explorer simply isn’t included. And you can’t add it back via Programs and Features as you can in versions of Windows 7 that will be sold elsewhere around the world.

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

I’ve been writing about remote display protocols for over six years now. In that time I’ve written about performance, user experience, bandwidth, and latency. I’ve written about the importance of the display protocol in a desktop replacement environment, where real users will use the protocol every minute of every day. And of course I’ve played with all the various protocols in the lab.

But there’s one thing I’ve never done: I’ve never actually used a remote display protocol for my daily job, every minute of every day. Since joining TechTarget last November, I’ve started working in an office (my choice!) and using a real desktop computer. I still tend to travel a lot, but I would guess that I still spend probably 60-70% of my time working at this desk:

Full Article – http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/brianmadden/archive/2009/07/02/is-standard-rdp-7-ready-for-everyday-desktop-replacement-i-m-on-a-mission-to-find-out.aspx

Through our sources close to Microsoft, we can now confirm that the Windows 7 RTM build that will be chosen over the next few days will be officially announced on July 13th, 2009, the same day as the WPC09 (Worldwide Partner Conference) will take place in New Orleans.

As I just mentioned, Microsoft is still in the process of testing and choosing from the RTM candidate builds as they need to ensure that all show-stopper bugs present in the OS have been eradicated to ensure as much of a smooth, bug-free release as possible. TechNet, MSDN, and other partner connections will be getting their hands on the RTM build shortly after, if not on the same day.

Full Article – http://geeksmack.net/microsoft/438-confirmed-windows-7-to-rtm-july-13th.html

Microsoft released the File Server Migration Toolkit version 1.2 (FSMT 1.2), which will help you migrate file shares from computers running Windows NT 4.0 Server, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Storage Server 2008 to computers running Windows 2003 Server, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Storage Server 2008. You can use it to consolidate multiple file servers or simply to migrate files between servers.

This is an update to the previous FSMT 1.1 that fixes an issue with Windows Server 2003 clusters. This version has also been tested with the Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate (full support for Windows Server 2008 R2 is expected and will become official after tests with the final release, which should be out later this year).

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/archive/2009/06/30/microsoft-file-server-migration-toolkit-1-2-available-as-a-free-download.aspx

We are happy to announce that Hotmail customers in the US, Canada, and Brazil can now add other e-mail accounts to Hotmail!* No need to sign into multiple services to check all your messages on the web. Instead, you can see any POP-enabled e-mail account (including Yahoo! Mail (Plus), AOL Mail, and Gmail) right from your Hotmail account. You can put all of your messages together in your inbox or each e-mail account in its own folder, your choice.

Full Article – http://mailcall.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!CC9301187A51FE33!51039.entry

If you are like us, we are always on the cutting edge (what do you expect – we work for Microsoft ) and because of this we have to often find unusual methods to work around the fact that OEM’s are not always “up to speed” and releasing installers and such that are for operating systems that are still in beta.

Because of this, many of you might find yourself scratching your head when you attempt to update your client or server hardware using the OEMs installation file (*.msi or *.exe).  In this post, I want to share a couple of examples of where I was able to successfully get around this using a pretty “unknown” piece of functionality in Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2.

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/chrad/archive/2009/07/01/using-windows-7-server-2008-r2-s-compatibility-mode.aspx

If you are like us, we are always on the cutting edge (what do you expect – we work for Microsoft ) and because of this we have to often find unusual methods to work around the fact that OEM’s are not always “up to speed” and releasing installers and such that are for operating systems that are still in beta.

Because of this, many of you might find yourself scratching your head when you attempt to update your client or server hardware using the OEMs installation file (*.msi or *.exe).  In this post, I want to share a couple of examples of where I was able to successfully get around this using a pretty “unknown” piece of functionality in Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2.

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/chrad/archive/2009/07/01/using-windows-7-server-2008-r2-s-compatibility-mode.aspx

Microsoft is surveying potential customers as to what it should name its forthcoming Office Web Applications suite.

As LiveSide.Net is reporting, among the handful of Office Web Apps brand names under consideration are Microsoft Ensemble, Microsoft Optro, Microsoft ArcLight, Microsoft Offsite and Microsoft Equipt. (Yes, they are in the midst of killing off the current Equipt subscription service. But why let an already trademarked name go to waste?)

Microsoft also is sharing a bit more positioning information about the forthcoming suite of Web-hosted Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote apps that it is expected to release to a wider group of testers in mid-July, as part of the Office 2010 Community Technology Preview.

Full Article – http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=3205

So, I was digging around in a recently leaked build of Windows 7 Home Premium and ran across a very interesting clause in the Microsoft Software License Terms which hints towards the possibility that Microsoft are going to be offering a family pack licensing plan which covers up to three computers in your household if you purchase a special “family pack” of Windows 7 Home Premium:

2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.
a. One Copy per Computer. Except as allowed in Section 2 (b) below, you may install one copy of the software on one computer. That computer is the “licensed computer.”

Full Article – http://www.kristankenney.com/2009/07/02/windows-7-home-premium-to-include-family-pack-licensing/

TechRadar has come up with a very useful list of 12 hot (and free) apps to power up Windows 7 which covers all sorts of great tweaks and addins inlcuding:

1. EnhanceMySe7en – which seems to have almost every tweak available in one package
2. Standalone Stack – rather cool looking tiled stack of items within a folder
3. LogonStudio – easily change he windows boot screen
4. Sysinternals on technet – where you can find utilities to help you manage, troubleshoot and diagnose Windows systems and applications
5. Notepad++ – notepad but lots more

plus 7 others.

With the proliferation of IP devices on the enterprise network, network services like DHCP are expected to deliver on ever increasing load while maintaining low response times. DHCP Server in Windows Server 2008 R2 has been enhanced and tested to deliver far higher levels of performance and scalability than in previous releases of Windows. The cornerstone of the performance improvement in the DHCP server in the latest release has been aggressive caching of the lease records in database.

Full Article – http://blogs.technet.com/teamdhcp/archive/2009/06/29/dhcp-server-performance-in-windows-server-2008-r2.aspx

With new web-based instant messaging (IM) now available in Windows Live Hotmail worldwide, we are preparing to retire MSN Web Messenger. The old MSN Web Messenger experience will end on June 30, 2009.

With Hotmail’s new web-based IM, you can chat from your Hotmail inbox or contact list, instead of going to MSN Web Messenger (http://webmessenger.msn.com/). Go directly to the Windows Live People page (also known as “your contact list”) at http://people.live.com and sign into Messenger (orange arrow in the picture below) to continue instant messaging on the web with your Messenger friends.

Full Article – http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!2F7EB29B42641D59!41191.entry#comment