Sitting on the desk of Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft’s senior vice president of the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, and the man most directly responsible for Windows development, is a document titled “Shipping Seven.” I haven’t seen it, and I don’t have a copy of it. Sinofsky, of course, would like to keep it a secret: He’s among the cagiest of Microsoft executives, and no particular fan of mine. Previously responsible for Microsoft’s dominant Office group, Sinofsky has a can-do reputation, a man who can ship product on time in a very regimented fashion. After the multi-year delays that plagued Windows Vista, it’s no wonder that he was picked to head Windows development going forward.

Full Article – http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/win7_shipping.asp

The Windows SDK provides support for development with Win32/64 and .NET Framework programming models. The Windows SDK has replaced the PSDK. Windows SDK is the name for Windows Vista and later OS SDKs that include all content found in recent PSDKs plus content for the .NET Framework. The Platform SDK or PSDK is the name for the OS SDK prior to Windows Vista. PSDKs don’t include content for the .NET Framework programming model.

I, like many before me, have downloaded the Windows SDK, installed it, and moved on to more pressing problems. Other than digging into header files, I had rarely looked at what else might be included. As the builder of the SDK, I now have a vested interest in what is delivered with the SDK, and I thought I’d share some of the interesting jewels I’ve found.

Full Article – http://blogs.msdn.com/windowssdk/archive/2008/01/26/windows-sdk-hidden-gems-part-1.aspx

Complete guide to Change or Add Logo and Support Information to your Windows Vista Laptop/PC.

How Did They Do That?

Did you Ever wonder How famous Laptop/PC manufacturer’s such as DELL, HP, SONY, FUJITSU, ASUS, ACER, LENOVO and others put their Logo and information to your Computer?

This is the guide!

Full Article – http://unlockforus.blogspot.com/2008/01/branding-your-windows-vista-computer.html

With a major launch event next month serving as an unmovable anchor for Microsoft at this point, the ancillary launches for Vista Service Pack 1 and XP SP3 would probably raise suspicion if they were delayed.

A group of 15,000 private beta testers received what’s being called “RC Refresh 2” of the release candidate for Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Microsoft confirmed to BetaNews this morning. Numbers for the actual release candidate or the beta number, judging from Microsoft’s recent correspondence with us, are no longer being used, which could lead some to believe that this may not be the final “refresh” coming down the pike.

Full Article – http://www.betanews.com/article/Vista_SP1_on_schedule_for_March_RTM/1201280378

With a major launch event next month serving as an unmovable anchor for Microsoft at this point, the ancillary launches for Vista Service Pack 1 and XP SP3 would probably raise suspicion if they were delayed.

A group of 15,000 private beta testers received what’s being called “RC Refresh 2” of the release candidate for Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Microsoft confirmed to BetaNews this morning. Numbers for the actual release candidate or the beta number, judging from Microsoft’s recent correspondence with us, are no longer being used, which could lead some to believe that this may not be the final “refresh” coming down the pike.

Full Article – http://www.betanews.com/article/Vista_SP1_on_schedule_for_March_RTM/1201280378

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