Building out an infrastructure that supports your web service or application can be expensive, complicated and time consuming. Whether you need to forecast the highest possible demand, build out the network to support your peak times, getting the right servers in place at the right time or managing and maintaining the systems, these actions require time and money to do.
The beta of the MAP Toolkit v5.5 is now available
Take a minute to learn about the exciting new features available in the MAP Toolkit v5.5 Beta and get involved in our Beta program. IT pros like you make a tremendous difference in the quality and effectiveness of the products we release and we want you to know how much we’d like you to be involved.
Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard Releases to Manufacturing
As you are reading this we are making the final steps to bring the product to the market so that you can acquire throughout our large network of partners. We are finalizing international versions, delivering the product to distribution channels and handing it off to our OEM partners so that they can begin pre-installing the software on new servers. Starting in early January, you will find SBS 2011 Standard and Premium Add-On in volume licensing, and from mid-January you will be able to download a trial copy from our website.
Designed and priced for small businesses with up to 75 users, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard delivers enterprise-class server technology in an affordable, all-in-one solution. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard not only helps to protect, access, and manage your information from virtually anywhere, but also allows your business to be more productive by providing:
First service pack beta for Visual Studio 2010 now downloadable
Microsoft is making available this week a first beta of its Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack (SP) 1 release.
On December 7, Microsoft opened the download to subscribers to its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) service. The general public will be able to get the SP1 beta on December 9. The beta includes a “go live†license, meaning Microsoft endorses use of the SP1 beta in production environments.
Announcing Silverlight 5
Silverlight 5 adds significant new features and capabilities, and enables developers to create premium media experiences and deliver rich applications across browsers, desktops and devices. In my keynote this morning we demonstrated a number of them, and highlighted both the developer productivity Silverlight 5 provides and the great new user experiences it enables. You can watch my keynote here.
A Silverlight 5 beta will be available in the first half of next year, and the final release will ship in the second half of 2011.
Link – http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/12/02/announcing-silverlight-5.aspx
Visual Basic for the Windows Phone Developer Tools RTW
Back in September, we released the CTP of Visual Basic for the Windows Phone Developer Tools. Today we’re pleased to announce the immediate availability of the RTW version of the Visual Basic add-on. You can immediately download VB support for the Windows Phone developer tools.
The big news is that you can now build and release Silverlight applications and games for Windows Phone built in Visual Basic to the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Previewing Microsoft’s Office 365
Microsoft’s Office 365, the next piece of a broader play by Microsoft to bring its suite of Office server tools and collaboration work flows onto the cloud, is expected to launch sometime next year.
The company is already in the stages of testing it with small businesses and has a list of some 60,000 organizations, which are waiting to get access. In the meantime, Microsoft is continuing to fine-tune the product and expand its testing group–both in scale and the size of the companies that are being allowed in.
Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20023761-75.html#ixzz16DN0VD00
Windows Home Server code name “Vail”– Update
When we first started designing Windows Home Sever code name “Vail” one of our initial focuses was to continue to provide effortless support for multiple internal and external hard drives. Drive Extender provided the ability to take the small hard drives many small businesses and households may have acquired, and pool them together in a simple volume. During our current testing period for our Windows Home Server code name “Vail” product, we have received feedback from partners and customers about how they use storage today and how they plan to use it moving forward.
Windows Home Server code name “Vail”– Update
When we first started designing Windows Home Sever code name “Vail†one of our initial focuses was to continue to provide effortless support for multiple internal and external hard drives. Drive Extender provided the ability to take the small hard drives many small businesses and households may have acquired, and pool them together in a simple volume. During our current testing period for our Windows Home Server code name “Vail†product, we have received feedback from partners and customers about how they use storage today and how they plan to use it moving forward.
Download Microsoft Lync Server 2010 180-Day Trial
Lyncâ„¢ Server 2010 ushers in a new connected experience transforming communication into an interaction that is more collaborative, engaging, and accessible from virtually any location with internet connectivity. A single interface unites voice, IM, audio-, video-, and web-conferencing into a richer, more contextual offering, and a single identity makes it easier and more efficient for users to find contacts, check their availability, and connect with them. Lync Server 2010 works consistently with Microsoft Office, enriching the experience of familiar applications like Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Microsoft SharePoint, and more.
Need more information? See the product details page.
Controlling Exchange ActiveSync device access using the Allow/Block/Quarantine list
In Exchange 2010 we added a feature called the Allow/Block/Quarantine list (or ABQ for short). This feature was designed to help IT organizations control which of the growing number of Exchange ActiveSync-enabled devices are allowed to connect to their Exchange Servers. With this feature, organizations can choose which devices (or families of devices) can connect using Exchange ActiveSync (and conversely, which are blocked or quarantined).
Link – http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2010/11/15/456931.aspx
Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit
A blocking tool is available for organizations that would like to temporarily prevent installation of Service Pack updates through Windows Update.
This tool can be used with:
- Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (valid for 12 months following general availability of the service pack)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (valid for 12 months following general availability of the service pack)
Microsoft delivers another beta build of next-gen Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft made available to testers this week a new beta build (2.0.522.0) of its next release of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), the company’s free anti-virus/anti-malware product for Windows.
On November 9, Microsoft began pushing out via Windows Update a “beta refresh†of that product. (One of my readers said this technically is the Release Candidate build of the new MSE, but Microsoft officials are not calling it that publicly.)
Announcing Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials
Building on the Windows Small Business Server 2011 announcements and adding to that exciting momentum – today on the Storage Server blog, Microsoft announced a new edition targeted at small business, Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials. Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials is part of the Windows Storage Server family of network attached storage appliances. It shares common features and usability with both Windows Home Server code name “Vail†and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and is optimized for:
- Server and PC backup, including file, folder and image based restore
- Centralized storage for file data and easier sharing
- Console driven administration for easier management
- Access to your data from virtually anywhere through Remote Web Access
- Network health monitoring for both Windows and Mac PC’s
- Active Directory Domain join
Hotmail security improves with full-session HTTPS encryption
Beginning today, Hotmail is providing you with the option to enhance the security of your entire Hotmail session with HTTPS data encryption (via secure socket layers, or SSL), which is currently used to help secure your Hotmail sign-in. Today’s update joins a series of other recent security updates, with which Hotmail offers advanced security safeguards to help protect your email account from hijackers and fraud.
