As we worked towards the recent release of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, the IE team focused hard on performance. As part of our effort to improve IE, our investigations have revealed several add-on performance problems. In this post, I want to share some of the common themes that we have discovered.

First, I would like to thank those of you who have provided feedback on this blog, in the IE Beta NewsGroup, and around the web. The Internet Explorer team has been working hard on performance in IE8 and it is great to see the results of some of our early investments. We still have room (and plans) to improve, but for now you can find out more about the performance improvements in IE8 Beta1 from our developer whitepapers.

If you are new to the world of developing IE add-ons and want some background material, here are a few great links to get you started:

• Building Browser Helper Objects with Visual Studio 2005
• Building Stable Browser Extensions
• Add-on Development

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/04/04/designing-for-add-on-performance.aspx

Windows Live OneCare 2.0 was released back in mid-November and, ever since, we haven’t heard much from the Windows Live OneCare team. That should change soon, as LiveSide has noticed a 2.5 English-only public beta signup page. Hopefully the official blog entry will appear soon, since at press time a changelog was nowhere to be found. When it becomes available, though, you can expect this post to be updated accordingly.

Full Article – http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/04/03/windows-live-onecare-2-5-public-beta-begins

Microsoft on Thursday issued five critical security bulletins and three important ones for all flavors of Windows, Internet Explorer and Office. Vista and Windows Server 2008 are affected by four of the five critical bulletins.

In its patch day advance notification for its Tuesday update, Microsoft issued five critical bulletins to address remote code execution vulnerabilities. Microsoft said it will patch critical flaws in Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 (SPs 1 and 2), IE 6 and 7 and Office XP SP3, 2003 and 2007 Microsoft Office System among others.

Details of these vulnerabilities will be disclosed on Tuesday.

Among the three important vulnerabilities, the affected software includes Windows Server 2003 and 2008, Vista and Vista SP1 and Visio 2002, 2003 and 2007.

Microsoft has issued 25 security bulletins so far this year.

Adobe Systems has shared the first scrap of information about its next version of Photoshop, CS4, and it’s a doozy: there will be a 64-bit version of the photo-editing software, but only for Windows and not for Mac OS X.

Adobe generally keeps features in the Windows and Mac versions at a level of parity, but that wasn’t possible this time around because of a change Apple made last year to the Mac’s programming underpinnings, John Nack, Adobe’s product manager for Photoshop, said in an interview.

Full Article – http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9909725-39.html?tag=nefd.lede

Q&A: Michael Dix, General Manager of Windows Client Product Management, discusses Microsoft’s commitment to deliver Windows to customers for a new category of devices known as ultra low-cost personal computers (ULCPCs).

REDMOND, Wash., –April 3, 2008 – Today Microsoft announced the worldwide extension of the availability of Windows XP Home for an emerging, new class of mobile personal computers commonly known as ultra-low-cost PCs, or ULCPCs. Windows XP Home for ULCPCs will be available until the later of June 30, 2010, or one year after general availability of the next version of Windows.

Full Article – http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/apr08/04-03xpeos.mspx

Yesterday, our friends on the Windows Mobile Team have announced Windows Mobile 6.1 at CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas. Windows Mobile Program Manager Mel Sampat made the announcement on the Windows Mobile Team Blog which also includes information on devices and carriers that will get upgrades to Windows Mobile 6.1. Keep your eyes on their blog for more Windows Mobile 6.1 information in the near future. You can also watch Microsoft President of Entertainment and Devices Division Robbie Bach’s CTIA Keynote from CTIA Wireless 2008 by clicking here!

Full Article – http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsexperience/archive/2008/04/01/experiencing-the-goodness-that-is-windows-mobile-6-1.aspx

Power Pack 1 for Windows Home Server (WHS) is much like a service pack for any another Microsoft operating system, except that its main focus is to bring new features to the consumer, in addition to the usual bug fixes. One such bug fix that will now be included in the first major update to WHS is for the rather serious file corruption problem that affects a growing list of software.

After 342 replies were made to a topic discussing Power Pack 1’s shipping status, Microsoft has decided to listen to its customers by delaying the shipping of the update and merging the file corruption patch with it. Previously, the software giant was planning to release the two separately; the Power Pack would come first since the code for it had already been finalized for a while now. It is a bit unsettling that a problem that affects a minority of users is delaying a Power Pack, but then again, Microsoft can afford such decisions with new products that need to maintain quality levels on every update.

The bug fix was previously slated for a June 2008 release, so it can be expected that Power Pack 1 will hit sometime around then. The WHS team has announced that it expects private (hardware and software Partners, Microsoft MVPs, Windows Home Server Insiders, and Microsoft Employees) testing to start in April with public beta testing following in May. If you’re interested in the public beta, register now and wait for the notification e-mail. Hopefully the testing won’t cause further delays to the final PP1 release.

The old idea where Microsoft bases an operating system on central pillars? It’s back, and with a complete refocus of priorities. Looking back, the original pillars of Longhorn were Avalon (WPF), Indigo (WCF), and WinFS, as well as the pseudo-pillar which was referred to as “Fundamentals.”

No longer does Microsoft’s basis for an operating system focus on key architectural developments such as the various frameworks of yore. Now, it seems, pillars are at least tentatively being redefined as design and usability concepts upon which to build the operating system.

Over the next five days, I’m going to spend some time on AeroXP presenting to you the separate pillars upon which the Windows® 7 experience (and indeed, Windows® 7 as a whole) will be built. What you’ll see are the five pillars of Windows® 7 and the specific scenarios which the Windows team plans to enhance. Wherever possible, I’ll enhance the scenario depictions with visual aids (read: screenshots). The first pillar is after the jump.

Full Article – http://www.aeroxp.org/index.php?categoryid=23&p2_articleid=164

The old idea where Microsoft bases an operating system on central pillars? It’s back, and with a complete refocus of priorities. Looking back, the original pillars of Longhorn were Avalon (WPF), Indigo (WCF), and WinFS, as well as the pseudo-pillar which was referred to as “Fundamentals.”

No longer does Microsoft’s basis for an operating system focus on key architectural developments such as the various frameworks of yore. Now, it seems, pillars are at least tentatively being redefined as design and usability concepts upon which to build the operating system.

Over the next five days, I’m going to spend some time on AeroXP presenting to you the separate pillars upon which the Windows® 7 experience (and indeed, Windows® 7 as a whole) will be built. What you’ll see are the five pillars of Windows® 7 and the specific scenarios which the Windows team plans to enhance. Wherever possible, I’ll enhance the scenario depictions with visual aids (read: screenshots). The first pillar is after the jump.

Full Article – http://www.aeroxp.org/index.php?categoryid=23&p2_articleid=164

In a seemingly off-the-cuff announcement at IDF today, Intel announced it will be launching solid-state hard disks (SSDs) based on its NAND flash-memory technology.

The devices are designed to replace traditional mechanical hard disk drives. Rumours on the subject have been circulating for a while but the sudden confirmation of their existence is a big surprise.

Full Article – http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/183714/intels-shock-entry-into-hard-disks.html

Creating_and_Deploying_Active_Directory_Rights_Management_Services_Templates_Step-by-Step_Guide.doc

Deploying Active Directory Rights Management Services in a Multiple Forest Environment Step-by-Step Guide.doc

Deploying Active Directory Rights Management Services in an Extranet Step-by-Step Guide.doc

Deploying Active Directory Rights Management Services with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Step-By-Step Guide.doc

Deploying an Active Directory Rights Management Services Licensing-only Cluster Step-by-Step Guide.doc

Deploying SSTP Remote Access Step by Step Guide.doc

Removing Active Directory Rights Management Services Step-by-Step Guide.doc

Server Manager Scenarios Step-by-Step Guide.doc

Server_Core_Installation_Option_of_Windows_Server_2008_Step-By-Step_Guide.doc

Step_by_Step_Guide_to_Customizing_TS_Web_Access_by_Using_Windows_SharePoint_Services.doc

Step-by-Step Guide for Configuring a Two-Node File Server Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008.doc

Step-by-Step Guide for Configuring a Two-Node Print Server Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008.doc

Step-by-Step Guide for File Server Resource Manager in Windows Server 2008.doc

Step-by-Step Guide for Storage Manager for SANs in Windows Server 2008.doc

Step-by-Step Guide to Deploying Policies for Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.doc

Step-by-Step_Guide_for_Configuring_Network_Load_Balancing_with_Terminal_Services_in_Windows_Server_2008.doc

Step-by-Step_Guide_for_Windows_Deployment_Services_in_Windows_Server_2008.doc

Using Identity Federation with Active Directory Rights Management Services Step-by-Step Guide.doc

Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Design Guide.doc

Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Certificate Services Step-By-Step Guide.doc

Windows Server 2008 Foundation Network Guide.doc

Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guide for DNS in Small Networks.doc

Windows Server 2008 TS Gateway Server Step-By-Step Setup Guide.doc

Windows_ Server_Active_Directory_Rights_Management_Services_Step-by-Step_Guide.doc

Windows_Server_2008_Terminal_Services_RemoteApp_Step-by-Step_Guide.doc

Windows_Server_2008_TS_Licensing_Step-By-Step_Setup_Guide.doc

Windows_Server_2008_TS_Session_Broker_Load_Balancing_Step-By-Step_Guide.doc

Download Links – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=518d870c-fa3e-4f6a-97f5-acaf31de6dce&DisplayLang=en

LAS VEGAS — April 1, 2008 — AT&T (NYSE: T) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced a collaborative alliance that will transform the way consumers shop for mobile devices. AT&T will become the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device recognition technology. Microsoft Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft. Beginning April 17, customers can experience Microsoft Surface in select AT&T retail locations, including stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. Based on the success and learning from these initial pilot deployments, plans for further expansion across AT&T’s 2,200 U.S. retail stores will be determined.

Full Article – http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/apr08/04-01SurfaceRetailPR.mspx

LAS VEGAS — April 1, 2008 — AT&T (NYSE: T) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced a collaborative alliance that will transform the way consumers shop for mobile devices. AT&T will become the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device recognition technology. Microsoft Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft. Beginning April 17, customers can experience Microsoft Surface in select AT&T retail locations, including stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. Based on the success and learning from these initial pilot deployments, plans for further expansion across AT&T’s 2,200 U.S. retail stores will be determined.

Full Article – http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/apr08/04-01SurfaceRetailPR.mspx

Windows XP Embedded is a modular version of Windows XP Pro that comes with specific tools to create the OS, and Embedded features that enable scenarios specific to the Embedded area. So the first thing you have to do to build a first Windows XP Embedded is to get the list of peripherals installed on the hardware you are targeting. This can be done using a tool called Target Analyzer. This tool can be run from DOS, Windows or WinPE.

OK, here we are with a virgin hardware (no OS, no DOS, and HD or Flash not even formatted), no floppy disk reader (that could have been useful to boot a DOS from a floppy and run the Target Analyzer tool from there).

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/obloch/archive/2008/04/01/windows-xp-embedded-usb-starting-point.aspx

Mac users have long gloated that the Mac OS is safer than Windows. The gloating should stop: There’s plenty of recent evidence that Vista is, in fact, a safer operating system than Mac OS X.

The most public piece of evidence is the recent “Pwn to Own” challenge, in which security pros were issued the challenge of trying to break into three laptops, a Mac, a PC laptop running Vista SP1, and a laptop running Ubuntu.

Full Article – http://blogs.computerworld.com/why_windows_is_safer_than_the_mac