PlexUK

Microsoft Search Engine Optimization Toolkit

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) describes techniques that are used by webmasters to improve their websiteâ€™s visibility in search engines. SEO is usually divided into onpage and offpage SEO. The former dealing with factors that can be directly be influenced by the webmaster on the domain or website that is optimized (e.g. the title or url) and the latter dealing with factors on other websites (e.g. links).

Search engine algorithms have become sophisticated over the years and some changes can have great impact on a websiteâ€™s visibility in the search engines. Most SEO tools assist the webmaster in this regard by analyzing the contents of the website and relevant ranking factors to propose improvements to influence a websiteâ€™s rankings in the search engines.

Link – http://www.ghacks.net/2009/12/27/microsoft-search-engine-optimization-toolkit/

Windows 7 and MinWin

Windows 7 has introduced many new and improved features not only on the user experience side but also at the kernel level. If you are curious of what changes have been made at the Windows kernel level, you can find great insights from Mark Russinovichâ€™s PDC09 session on â€œWindows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Kernel Changesâ€.

Link – http://blogs.msdn.com/zxue/archive/2009/12/23/windows-7-and-minwin.aspx

Ban on sales of Microsoft Word upheld

Microsoft has failed in its attempt to dismiss a court case that would stop it selling Word.

The software giant appealed against a ruling which found it infringed a patent owned by Canadian company i4i.
With the failure of the appeal Microsoft must now pay i4i damages of $290m (Â£182m) and comply with an injunction ending the sales of some versions of Word.

Link – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8427474.stm

Firefox for mobile ‘days away’ from launch

The first mobile phone version of the popular web browser Firefox is "days away" from launch, the head of the project has told the BBC.

The browser, codenamed Fennec, will initially be available for Nokia’s N900 phone, followed by other handsets.

It is currently going through final testing and could be released before the end of the year, said Jay Sullivan at Mozilla, the group behind Firefox.

The open-source browser will be able to synchronise with the desktop version.

Link – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8425906.stm

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta period extended

In October, we shipped Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. Since then, we have received a lot of helpful, constructive feedback from you all. Thank you.

A lot of you have given us very positive feedback on the new capabilities of VS 2010 and .NET Framework 4 and are very happy with the breadth of value that we are poised to deliver in this release.

Link – http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2009/12/17/visual-studio-2010-and-net-framework-4-beta-period-extended.aspx

Bing Ringtones

Bing isn’t just a search engine, it’s a decision engine. Download these Bing-branded ringtones to your mobile device, then make www.bing.com your new default search engine today.

Link – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=043c49db-e33b-4603-a699-9f1fba8e9245

RemoteApp for Hyper-V

oday, we want to talk about a little known feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 that could be described as RemoteApp for Hyper-V. Like Microsoft RemoteApp, it allows users to access a specific hosted application remotely, as opposed to the entire desktop. With RemoteApp, the application runs in the context of a server session; however, RemoteApp for Hyper-V enables remote access to an application running in a Hyper-V VM.

Link – http://blogs.msdn.com/rds/archive/2009/12/15/remoteapp-for-hyper-v.aspx

Top 10 reasons Office 2010 is good for schools

Iâ€™ve been using Office 2010 for a few months now, and over time Iâ€™ve realised that there is a lot of clever stuff hidden inside this new version.

When I say â€œhiddenâ€, I mean that in a positive way. One of the big things with Office 2010 is that there are a huge number of things which donâ€™t change â€“ things like the Ribbon menu and all of the new file formats which arrived with Office 2007. The benefit of this is that it is easier for users to migrate, but as a user, it has meant itâ€™s taken me a little while to find the things which are very new.

One of the underlying things is that all of the applications work much more effectively in an Internet connected world â€“ and use that to improve usersâ€™ ability to save and share information.

Link – http://blogs.msdn.com/ukschools/archive/2009/12/15/top-10-reasons-office-2010-is-good-for-schools.aspx

Building setup and deployment packages in VS 2010

Developing and refining your code is an important part of building your application. Once itâ€™s built, you need to deploy that before your customers can start seeing the benefits of using the application. For many applications, the most reliable way to deploy is to build a setup project that packages your applicationâ€™s components into an easily installable package with a familiar interface for your customers.

Link – http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2009/12/14/building-setup-and-deployment-packages-in-vs-2010.aspx

Citrix XenApp for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2

As Microsoft introduces Windows Server 2008 R2, Citrix expects to release a final version of XenApp on Windows Server R2 in the first half of 2010. But you won’t have to wait that long. This fall, Citrix will release a Tech Preview version of XenApp for Windows Server 2008 R2 to showcase our complete application virtualization technology suite and deliver powerful solutions for our joint customers.

Link – http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1854441

Announcing Outlook Live Release 4!

It doesnâ€™t feel like long ago that I was sat in my summer clothes telling you all about R3 of Outlook Live â€“ and yet here we are, 6 months later, pretending not to eat too many mince pies and talking about Outlook Live R4.

You wonâ€™t see a huge user experience change from R3 to R4, but there are a lot of new features and more enhanced admin tools for you to explore. Hereâ€™s a selection of some of the finer stocking-fillers that are new in Release 4:

Link – http://blogs.msdn.com/ukliveatedu/archive/2009/12/14/announcing-outlook-live-release-4.aspx

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010 resolves issues that were found in Exchange Server 2010 since the software was released. This update rollup is highly recommended for all Exchange Server 2010 customers.

Link – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=371add31-d7a0-4c8b-8325-a6fced2d05e6&displaylang=en

How we designed the default background in Windows 7

Channel 9â€™s Larry Larsen pinged me earlier today to let me know of a video they just posted to Channel 9 on the default background in Windows 7. Larry was able to talk to Denise Trabona who is a Senior UX (User Experience) Lead on the Windows Design and Research Team. Denise shares insight into how we went about designing the default background see on Windows 7 desktops (the default) and also the logon screen. If youâ€™re someone interested in UI and the thought processes behind how and why we make things look the way they do in Windows, this video is just for you.

Link http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/12/06/how-we-designed-the-default-background-in-windows-7.aspx

Windows XP with SP2 and Windows Vista RTM End of Support Information

Let your customers know that Microsoft support for the Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Vista Release to Manufacturing (RTM) operating systems will end July 13, 2010. Help them plan system and operating system deployments to ensure that they maintain access to Microsoft support and updates.

Link – Windows XP with SP2 and Windows Vista RTM End of Support Information