According to a TechNet article about deploying Windows Vista in enterprise environments, there will be a version of Windows Vista released that is bundled with Microsoft's Virtual PC application that can be used for application compatibility. There is no word on if the Virtual PC engine will be integrated more deeply into the operating system to allow for faster performance of virtual machines.
From the Article,
"Some versions of Windows Vista even include a version of Microsoft Virtual PC to enable users to run a different operating system in a window on their computer."(continue at source)
Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Programme has been cracked only days after the software giant activated the antipiracy scheme. Since the service went live on Monday (25 July), Windows users wishing to receive software updates from the Microsoft Download Centre or from Windows Update were obliged to join the WGA authentication program.
Users are prompted to download an ActiveX control that checks the authenticity of their Windows software and, if Windows is validated, stores a download key on the PC for future verification. But hackers have developed a simple one line hack which turns off the trigger for the key check, allowing users to get around the requirement to verify their serial number before using Windows Update.
(
continue at source)
Microsoft teased financial analysts and others attending the annual Financial Analyst Meeting in Redmond on Thursday about more Office 12 deliverables in the pipeline. Information Worker Vice President Jeff Raikes told attendees that Microsoft was working on "new server products that some people haven't even written rumors about yet."
Partners have said Microsoft is working on a host of new Office 12 server SKUs (including Excel and InfoPath servers), but Microsoft has declined to comment on those reports. Microsoft did demonstrate yet again the ability to host its InfoPath electronic-forms application on a server. But this time, officials said they were showing InfoPath 12 hosted on a SharePoint server, not the rumored InfoPath Forms Server.
Working in customer support for HP Services, one of the world's biggest computer support companies, I've seen some pretty messed-up Active Directory (AD) designs in my time. In many cases, the design disaster was the work of the nefarious "consultant" who was conveniently unreachable once the network was broke.
But even if the AD architect was available, a perception problem exists that can hamper efforts to repair the damage: Some believe that once the AD design is complete and implemented, it's set in stone. That's false: Although it can take significant time, effort and money, implementing a new design is usually possible and sometimes required, if the root cause of the problem is the design itself.(
continue at source)
This document is a high-level user's guide for information technology (IT) professionals who are building and deploying desktops by using the Beta 1 release of Microsoft Windows Vista delivered as part of the Beta 1 program. It is not intended to be a detailed process-oriented guide but rather a high-level introduction to some of the new features and capabilities of the next release of Windows. For more detailed information about this release, see the release notes in the Readme.htm file in the root directory of the Windows Vista DVD.
The Windows Vista operating system is designed to help users become confident in using their PC, help them find creative ways to easily find information they need to do their work, and make them better connected to systems, information, and people. For IT professionals, Windows Vista will be the easiest Windows ever to deploy, secure, and manage.
With Windows Vista, Microsoft is making significant investments in the areas of security, deployment, and desktop management.To become familiar with Windows Vista, complete the following steps after you have completed the installation process. Enjoy!(
continue at source)
Windows Vista deployment is based on disk imaging, and the operating system will come with a built-in disk-imaging tool: XImage
XImage itself is a rather straightforward program. It's a simple, command-line drive utility that you run from the command prompt or from Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE). In other words, you interact with XImage the same way you interact with Xcopy.(
continue at source)
(more)
Microsoft made available to beta testers on Wednesday two slightly different test versions of Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0, the next version of the company's Web browser.
Microsoft included IE 7.0 bits in the Beta 1 build of Windows Vista that the company began distributing, via download, to beta testers on Wednesday. It also released a separate beta of IE 7.0 that currently will run on Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 2 machines only. (Ultimately that standalone beta will run on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional x64 systems, too.)
Microsoft made the standalone IE 7.0 Beta 1 version available only to the same set of testers that are part of the Vista beta program.(
continue at source)
Longhorn Client became Vista last week. Avalon becomes "Windows Presentation Foundation" and Indigo becomes "Windows Communication Foundation".
Windows Presentation Foundation: The framework and engine for unification
Windows Presentation Foundation (formerly code named Avalon) is Microsoft’s unified presentation subsystem for Windows, consists of a display engine and a managed-code framework. Windows Presentation Foundation unifies how Windows creates, displays, and manipulates documents, media, and the user interface, enabling developers and designers to create visually stunning, personalized user experiences that improve the application connection with the customer.
Windows Communication Foundation: Taking Web services to the next level
Windows Communication Foundation (formerly code name “Indigo”) is a Web services technology and unified API that helps developers and organizations overcome the challenges of building connected systems both within and beyond the enterprise. It provides developers with a highly productive framework for building secure, reliable, and interoperable Web services. Windows Communication Foundation extends the .NET Framework 2.0 with additional functionality, enabling the more than 6 million Visual Studio developers worldwide to build connected systems using the programming languages they already know. This results in less complexity for developers, fewer components to be managed by IT professionals, reduced training for both—and ultimately, significant cost savings for the organization.
While Vista Beta 1 is stealing most of the headlines this week, Microsoft also is delivering simultaneously on Wednesday to a select group of private testers the first beta of its Longhorn Server product.
Microsoft has not yet decided on a final name for the next version of its Windows Server operating system (other than the fact that it won't be Vista), according to company officials.
But what the company has decided upon is the set of core Longhorn foundation technologies and application programming interfaces for Longhorn Server components. Those elements will comprise the first Longhorn Server beta release.(
continue at source)
Paul Thurrot has posted a Windows Vista Beta 1 Review on his Winsupersite.
Compared to the installation routine for Windows XP, Windows Vista Beta 1's Setup has been drastically simplified. I installed the beta in two ways on a number of different machines: As a clean install on a new partition, starting from Windows XP and as a clean install as the only OS on the machine, booting from the Setup DVD. And yes, you read that right: Windows Vista 1 Beta 1, in either x86 or x64 form, comes only on DVD. In both cases, Setup only prompts you for a few simple items and then does its thing. An upgrade install (where you upgrade from XP to Vista) does not appear to be available in Beta 1.(continue at source)
Indigo and Avalon are the codenames for two strategic developer technologies that Microsoft plans to ship in 2006 as part of the Windows "Longhorn" operating system. In addition, Microsoft is making these technologies available on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The WinFX Runtime Components Beta1 enables developers to continue experimenting with early builds of these technologies, get acquainted with the development experience, and provide Microsoft with feedback.
Indigo is the codename for Microsoft’s unified programming model for building connected systems. It extends the .NET Framework 2.0 with additional APIs for building secure, reliable, transacted Web services that interoperate with non-Microsoft platforms and integrate with existing investments. By combining the functionality of existing Microsoft distributed application technologies (ASMX, .NET Remoting, .NET Enterprise Services, Web Services Enhancements, and System.Messaging), Indigo delivers a single development framework that improves developer productivity and reduces organizations’ time to market.
Avalon is the code name for Microsoft's unified presentation subsystem for Windows. It consists of a display engine and a managed-code framework. Avalon unifies how Windows creates, displays, and manipulates documents, media, and user interface. This enables developers and designers to create visually-stunning, differentiated user experiences that improve customer connection. When delivered, Avalon will become Microsoft's strategic user interface (UI) technology.
Download Microsoft® Pre-Release Software WinFX Runtime Components Beta1
In preparing for the imminent Beta 1 release of Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7.0, Microsoft posted to the Web new information about new features expected in the pending product releases.
Vista Beta 1 will include an audit feature that will allow an administrator to monitor the system and create a security log, according to the privacy documentation. It also will include a built-in Microsoft's Rights Management Services (RMS) client. RMS is Microsoft's software that acts as a DRM system for applications software, primarily Microsoft Office.
A new Speech Recognizer feature due to be built into Vista will provide "speech recognition within Windows and any applications that choose to use it," according to the documentation. "Speech recognition by the Microsoft Speech Recognizer will increase in accuracy by learning how a person uses the language, i.e. the words they like to use, the way they use grammar, and the frequency distribution of words."(
continue at source)
Winbeta reports that Windows Vista Beta 1 will be released tomorrow.
Build 5112 is expected to be announced as the build of choice to hold the Beta 1 badge of honour. Although rumors being what they are the fat lady has not sung yet, there is still the possibility of another build.
This will reveal to the world simultaneously the progress Microsoft has made in it's successor to Windows XP as well as a first look glimpse at Internet Explorer 7.
Speculation is rife that Microsoft has pulled out all the stops to make this beta compatible with as much hardware as possible and has included a plethora of drivers. One suggestion was that 50%+ of the new build will be purely drivers.
Given that minimal drivers exist in the 831MB build of 5048 from WinHec we would estimate the beta build has the possibility of being larger than 2GB in size. Certainly this is a huge increase in size compared to the previous publicly tested build, 5048 from Microsoft's WinHec conference in April.(
continue at source)
Microsoft Corp. today announced the transition of the Windows® Genuine Advantage (WGA) pilot to a version 1.0 launch with worldwide availability. WGA is part of Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to protecting its customers from software counterfeiting and to helping support partners through education, engineering, and enforcement of policies and laws. WGA, designed to differentiate the value of genuine Windows-based software from counterfeit software, enables customers to enjoy the capabilities they expect, provides them with confidence that their software is authentic, and delivers ongoing system improvements, including approximately $450 in software offerings available only to genuine users.
According to the Business Software Alliance, unlicensed and pirated software costs software vendors and national economies billions of dollars every year. Customers, businesses and resellers continually ask Microsoft for help in mitigating the threat posed by pirates. (
continue at source)
Windows System Resource Manager is a free product that comes with Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or DataCenter – both of which you can run a cluster on today.
Here are a few features of WSRM:
- Set CPU and memory allocation policies on applications. This includes selecting processes to be managed, and setting resource usage targets or limits.
- Manage CPU utilization (percent CPU in use).
- Limit the process working set size (physical resident pages in use).
- Manage committed memory (pagefile usage).
- Apply policies to users or groups on a Terminal Services application server.
- Apply policies on a date/time schedule.
- Generate, store, view, and export resource utilization accounting records for management, service level agreement (SLA) tracking, and charge-back purposes.
Recently Microsoft released a white paper on how to configure and use Windows System Resource Manager to manage Clusters.
Download the Using WSRM and Scripts to Manage Clusters whitepaper
The Windows 2000 Authorization Manager Runtime is a Windows 2000 Server version of the Windows Server 2003 Authorization Manager Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) API.
Windows Server 2003 family operating systems introduced the Authorization Manager RBAC framework which includes the Authorization Manager API and Role-based MMC snap-in Administration UI (Authorization Manager Snap-in UI is only available on Windows Server 2003 family operating systems and on the Windows Server 2003 Administration Pack for Windows XP.)
Download the Windows 2000 Authorization Manager Runtime (more)
A Windows service provides functionality to the operating system and user accounts regardless of whether anyone is logged into a system. Windows XP comes with around four dozen services enabled by default, including ones that many people consider superfluous like Remote Registry, Alerter, and SSDP Discovery (Universal Plug and Play). A question many Windows administrators commonly have is therefore, which services can I safely disable? What if I told you that for at least basic functionality like Web surfing and application execution, Windows doesn’t need any services? In fact, you can also do those things without system processes like Winlogon.exe, the interactive logon manager, and Lsass, the local security authority subsystem.
The following steps, which you must follow carefully to achieve a minimal Windows system, were derived by Dave Solomon through experimentation, and when he discovered that Windows was usable without all the core system processes we were dumbfounded. After figuring this out he and I polled senior Windows experts like the vice president of the Core Operating Systems Division, the technical lead of the Virtual PC team, and a lead Windows security architect to see if they thought that Windows would function at all, much less if Internet Explorer would work, without the support of Winlogon, Lsass, and services, and the unanimous answer was ‘no’. Even after we showed them the demonstration I’m about to share with you they all thought that we’d staged some kind of trick.(continue at source)
One feature coming to Windows Vista is Virtual Folders, but what are they exactly?
Virtual Folders enable you to see your files in a way that's independent of the physical hierarchy. These new kind of folders use file properties (metadata) such as author, keyword, and project name to automatically generate and update different views of your files on the fly.
For example, Longhorn ships with an Authors Virtual Folder that quickly looks at the author property of every file on your PC, and then displays those files within the Authors Virtual Folder in neat "Stacks" by author. Regardless of where your documents are stored physically, Longhorn examines the author property (and other properties) of all of the files and organizes them for you accordingly. Because Virtual Folders are based on properties not location, you can view all of your files organized by project, by client, or in lots of other ways just by clicking another Virtual Folder. It's fast, flexible, automatic, and easy.
(more)
Microsoft has released a beta version of Virtual Earth, a web-based application that combines local search with maps and aerial photography.
MSN has offered satellite imagery with maps with its local search results for quite some time. What's different with the new MSN Virtual Earth is that, like Google Earth, the display is focused primarily around maps and aerial views. You can zoom in and out of maps or images, and drag the images around within the display.
The basic search interface is similar to MSN local search, with "what" and "where" forms to specify what you're searching for. Text results for searches are displayed in floating popup windows on the left side of the display.
Clicking on a search result opens an information box on the map or satellite image you're currently viewing. There's also a "scratch pad" that allows you capture the name, address and description of search results you find useful as a list or itinerary. You can review these notes later, or email them to someone else. (
continue at source)
Goto the MS Virtual Earth Website
Microsoft on Friday told BetaNews it had no plans to use the "Vista" moniker for its next generation Windows Server product line, despite choosing the name for its Longhorn client. For now, Microsoft will continue using Longhorn Server for a Beta 1 release, which is due in the coming weeks.
"While we are not announcing the name for Longhorn Server at this time, we can tell you that the current plan is to follow the existing naming convention of Windows Server 2003," a Microsoft spokesperson told BetaNews. Windows Vista was announced Friday, alongside a video promoting the name.(
continue at source)
The name was reported by
Activewin and other newssites earlier but now it's official:
Today Microsoft Corp. announced the official name of its next-generation Windows® client operating system, formerly code-named “Longhorn.”
"Windows Vista"
Watch the "Longhorn" naming announcement video.
Goto the Windows Vista Webpage
Microsoft Mail Beta is Microsoft's brand new web mail service. The product is being built from the ground up based on input and feedback from customers. Microsoft is inviting people from the MSN Messenger beta to join the beta of their brand new web mail service. Testers will be part of the first group outside of the product team to experience the Mail Beta.
A hotmail account is required and is moved over to the new beta automatically. It includes 2GB of space, includes a rich text editor, protection from "phishing" scams and a new easier layout.(
continue at source)
During the Faculty Summit Live on the 18th and 19th of July Ken Hinckley and Johnson Apacible demonstrated the Smartphlow for Smartphone feature.
Smartphlow for Smartphone provides traffic predictions via a Smartphone by analyzing traffic data, weather, holidays and major events, and accidents, and using that information to make predictions. Clock icons predict how long it will take until a traffic jam dissipates, an exclamation-point icon notifies the user of surprise traffic jams, and the 1-9 numeric keys can be used to zoom into portions of a regional map.
During the Faculty Summit Live on the 18th and 19th of July Susan Dumais of the MS research team demonstrated the 'Stuff i've seen' feature currently being developed to enhance personalized search.
Stuff I’ve Seen enhances information discovery with access to previously viewed information. It delivers rich client information by analyzing a computer index, previous queries, Web pages visited, and e-mail received.
This tremendously improves privacy, Dumais said, because the information is stored on the client. The system uses information gathered during the course of normal computing work.
In her demo, Dumais showed a pair of side-by-side search panes with a Web/Personal slider along the top. With the slider all the way to the left, Web side, the results were identical, but when the slider was moved to the right, the results in the right-hand pane became increasingly personalized, based on similarity to desktop search results. The richer the model, the better, Dumais said. We’re trying to tackle the question of improving the search experience for you.
Even though NTFS permissions have been around for over ten years, in Terminal Server and Citrix environments it’s vital that you truly understand how they work and how they should be applied.
Many people wonder whether the default NTFS permissions are adequate or whether they should apply more customized permissions. While the answer is always “it depends,” this article will provide some background information you’ll need to understand to be able to make design decisions about NTFS permissions in your environment.(
continue at source)
When installing a terminal server, the very first configuration option is an important security decision. The person installing terminal server is given a choice about “permissions compatibility.” For Windows 2000, this decision is presented as “Permissions compatible with Windows 2000 Users” or “Permissions compatible with Terminal Server 4.0 Users.”
Windows 2003 presents the choice as “Full Security” or “Relaxed Security.” This decision lays the foundation of the rest of your NTFS security strategy. It even has the potential to override your own NTFS settings, so understanding it is very important.(
continue at source)
There are several steps you will have to do if you have to restore your Exchange Server 2003 System to alternate hardware. This is very often a task if your old Exchange Server box crashed and you did not have a chance to get the same or very similar hardware back.
The goal now will be restoring your Exchange Server 2003 System on new hardware that is not the same as the old. Within this article we will get a drill-down on how this works and what steps and tasks need to be done to make things run properly.(
continue at source)
Microsoft plans to integrate rootkit detection technology from its Strider Ghostbuster research project into future versions of the Windows AntiSpyware application, Ziff Davis Internet News has learned.
Strider Ghostbuster, a prototype tool developed by Microsoft Corp.'s Cybersecurity and Systems Management Research Group, provides a straightforward way to detect Windows rootkits by comparing scan results between a clean system and one that may potentially be compromised.
Details of Microsoft's plans remain scarce, but sources say the company has grown increasingly worried about the threat from stealth rootkits.
The integration is unlikely to happen in time for the next Windows AntiSpyware beta refresh. (
continue at source)
Microsoft released for download on Monday evening another Beta 1 release of its Windows AntiSpyware product.
Microsoft officially announced its plans to field a Microsoft-branded anti-spyware product (code-named "Atlanta") in January, following its purchase of Giant Software in December, 2004. The anti-spyware beta supports Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
Microsoft released the first beta (Build number 1.0.501) of Windows AntiSpyware on January 6. Since then, the company has made available regular beta refreshes of the product. In June, Microsoft released an interim beta refresh at the same time as it extended the Windows AntiSpyware beta expiration date to December 31, 2005.(
continue at source)
For the past several years, Microsoft has been promising that Longhorn would deliver some substantial security, reliability and performance improvements.
But until the worldwide partner conference in Minneapolis in mid-July, company officials had not quantified the benefits that Longhorn—the version of the Windows client operating system, due in 2006—would deliver.
Amy Stephan, a senior product manager with the Windows client unit, outlined some of the various Longhorn "fundamentals," including systems management and deployment features, which Microsoft is readying.
Stephan told conference attendees that Longhorn will:
- launch applications 15 percent faster than Windows XP does
- boot PCs 50 percent faster than they boot currently and will allow PCs to resume from standby in two seconds
- allow users to patch systems with 50 percent fewer reboots required
- reduce the number of system images required by 50 percent
- enable companies to migrate users 75 percent faster than they can with existing versions of Windows.
(
continue at source)
This is very cool. With this tool you can extend your normal Windows XP desktop to your connected PocketPC! And you don't even have to install anything on your PocketPC, just some software on your XP machine. I tried it and it works like a charm. Just install the software, connect your PocketPC to your Windows XP machine. Then go to the display settings on XP and extend the XP desktop to the newly available screen: your PocketPC screen ! There are some settings you can change: the resolution from 240x320 up to 768x1024, portait or landscape mode, colordepth from 6 bit to 16 bit. Now to find some usefull application for this... maybe some monitoring utilities. You can download a demo of the tool
here.
(continue at source)
With Longhorn, Microsoft will begin pushing opium. Well, technically it’s OPM. However, opium might be a good option for those livid that the video content being sent to their pristine 24-inch Dell LCD monitors is purposefully being “fuzzied” (more on that later).
So what is OPM? The successor to Microsoft’s rarely-mentioned COPP (Certified Output Protection Protocol), PVP-OPM (Protected Video Path – Output Protection Management) is the first play in Microsoft’s game plan to ensure that protected content stays protected. PVP-OPM performs two main functions. First, it detects the capabilities of the display devices attached to the computer. For instance, does the DVI LCD monitor that you’re using have HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection)? Second, it manages what, if anything, gets sent to those devices.(
continue at source)
In a global initiative aimed at nudging users to shift to genuine Windows software, Microsoft will kick off its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program from July 26.
With this initiative in place, users of Windows OS, attempting to download new updates such as drivers and other applications from the MS download centre, would be asked to validate their software online by feeding a unique product key that can be found on the certificate of authenticity that comes with every piece of genuine software.
Once validated, the user would get access to premium content on the download centre. The activation code or the product key used to identify a genuine user of Windows cannot be used by bulk users for downloads.
Users of pirated software unable to validate would be given an option to buy genuine Windows XP and install it onto the PC for a price cheaper than the retail version or off-the-shelf box.
When Microsoft (Profile, Products, Articles) releases the first beta of its Longhorn version of Windows, it will include a nearly complete version of the product's Web services-based communication framework, code-named Indigo, a Microsoft product manager confirmed this week.
A Microsoft partner familiar with Indigo's product development cycle told the IDG News Service at the recent Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) that engineers working on Indigo, which Microsoft promises will simplify the creation of Web services, had nearly finished their work.
"They're not doing a lot of work with new features at this point," said Andrew Brust, chief of new technology at Citigate Cunningham, a New York-based consulting company and Microsoft partner. (
continue at source)
With the Beta 1 release of Longhorn now just weeks away, it is time to start talking about two little-known features that will particularly appeal to modders and power gamers. These are good signs that Microsoft is getting serious about these audiences; they demonstrate the broad positive impact of actually having game developers on Microsoft's staff.
The first and most comprehensive of the two features is a tool called the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSat). This is essentially a benchmarking tool designed into Windows, which generates scores based on system performance. It will analyze the graphics subsystem, the processor, the memory, the hard drive and other critical components of the system and calculate a total score. This score can be used to compare your system performance to that of any other Longhorn system.
The system also retains individual and incredibly granular scores on each and every subsystem, and will instruct software components to activate, modify their own settings, or turn themselves off in order to optimize the software for the hardware. This means that, unlike any previous operating system, Longhorn will attempt to adjust its own parameters automatically, to make the most of the performance potential of your hardware. (
continue at source)
Coming from Paul Thurrott:
According to my sources at Microsoft, the software giant has set its sights on July 27, 2005 as the release date for Longhorn Beta 1, though obviously that date could slip if the company is unable to hit internal bug requirements. The current escrow build for Longhorn Beta 1 is 5101, a few builds older than build 5103, the current internal build in the Beta 1 fork.
As reported previously, Microsoft recently forked the Longhorn build process to segregate Beta 1 code check-ins from the post-Beta 1 (or what we can think of as the Beta 2) code path. Recent leaks of Longhorn builds are from the Beta 2 code path, but we can expect them to be quickly eclipsed by the Beta 1 code base as Microsoft makes that milestone widely available.
As far as the Beta 1 schedule goes, Microsoft's test teams are required to complete testing by July 22, but they need to achieve the "0 active bug" designation in order to ship Beta 1. On Monday, there were 123 active bugs in the Beta 1 fork. That number had dropped to 86 by Tuesday.
Microsoft issued three critical security patches on its July patching day Tuesday, including the fix for a dangerous problem in the JVIEW Profiler for which Microsoft issued a kill bit last week.
The other security bulletins also dealt with critical remote code execution vulnerabilities. One involved Microsoft Word (MS05-035). The other stems from a problem in the Microsoft Color Management Module (MS05-036).
The JVIEW Profiler fix (MS05-037) was a quick turnaround for a full-fledged patch, given that Microsoft first acknowledged the problem in a security advisory June 30 and had rushed out a download last week for neutralizing the problem through a registry change. The patch in the security bulletin repackages the kill bit, and users who have already applied the kill bit don't need to the new patch.(
continue at source)
Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 (VPC) is a software virtualization tool that lets you run multiple guest operating systems within virtual machines on a single computer running Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000 Professional as a host operating system. Ricky Magalhaes covered installing Virtual PC in two previous articles on WindowsNetworking.com that are found
here and
here.
This article looks at how to enhance the performance of virtual machines running on Microsoft’s Virtual PC platform.(
continue at source)
Microsoft sent invites to a small number of testers over the weekend, announcing the imminent arrival of the much-anticipated first beta release of Longhorn. Beta 1 will be available for download in the coming weeks, giving users the first real look at the next-generation Windows release.
The release of Beta 1 is arguably the first major milestone in Microsoft's Longhorn vision, which also entails upcoming releases of its server products and Office System. Longhorn Server is expected to reach beta alongside the client release - a first for Microsoft.(
continue at source)
Goto the Longhorn 5203 Screenshots Gallery at
JCXP.net
When Office 12 comes down the pike in a year or so, it will have a new look and feel aimed at exposing a user's favorite features.
Specifically, Microsoft is working on a "ribbon" concept in which the user would get a different strip or ribbon of icons depending on the task at hand—whether it's a simple note, a fancy document, a graphical presentation, multimedia or a spreadsheet, said a source familiar with the plans. That ribbon would expose only the tools relevant to the current job.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates alluded to this work, without using the "R word," at the company's CEO Summit in May. To ease the creation of professional-looking documents, he said: "We're making some changes in our user interface in Office to expose, make it easy to find the functionality, make it far more visual, [so] that you get all the power that's there in the tool."(
continue at source)
Microsoft's delayed Longhorn operating system appears to be taking a page from the Unix management book by curbing user's administration rights. Mike Nash, Microsoft's security business and technology unit corporate vice president, has said Longhorn would accord end-users certain rights and privileges apparently ending the concept that everyone using their PC is also the PC's administrator.
Speaking at Microsoft's Worldwide partner conference on Sunday, Nash indicated the architectural change is part of a move to improve security of desktop systems by limiting the ability for end-users to install applications or for malware to take control of a machine, turning it into a zombie. The move mirrors techniques used in versions of Unix and Linux to create more limited variations of "the God user" or root account. This account provides a single user with total control of, and access to, an entire system's resources.
The GSX Server 3.2 maintenance release adds support for new operating systems including 64-bit Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition hosts as well as performance improvements and bug fixes.
Download VMWare GSX Server 3.2
View the Release Notes of VMWare GSX Server 3.2
Microsoft has announced in a security bulletin on its website that it expects to release three software patches on Tuesday 12 July.
The software vendor will address two vulnerabilities in Windows, at least one of which is rated with the most severe classification of 'critical'. The Office productivity suite will get one patch which is also rated 'critical'.
Microsoft is also slated to unveil an update for Office that is not security related but is nonetheless ranked 'high priority'.(
continue at source)
Microsoft is offering a new solution for business data backup at a price that it hopes companies will not be able to refuse. To protect 1 terrabyte of data, it would only cost the user $5,000 versus ten times that amount for competing backup services. A beta of the software first debuted last September.
The backup solution will be disk-based rather than tape-based as most are today.
Microsoft announced on Friday that within the next month it plans to release the Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager, which will allow companies to replace their tape backup systems with a less expensive hard-disk based solution. DPM will also allow the end user to retrieve files on their own, eliminating the need for IT personnel to assist users in data recovery. (
continue at source)
On Friday afternoon, Microsoft began sending out invitations for private beta test for Longhorn, the next major version of Windows. The Longhorn beta includes both the client and server versions of the product, according to the invite, as well as related development tools for those programmers who elect to participate. Additionally, testers can optionally beta test Internet Explorer (IE) 7 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
"The next version of Windows, Code-Name 'Longhorn,' promises to be the most secure and intuitive Windows release to date," the invite reads. "It delivers on the promise of allowing people to use their computers more effectively and confidently to achieve their goals and pursue their passions. It offers new tools to help protect the integrity of your system and your information, easier ways to find, visualize and organize your information, and provides better integration across applications, devices and systems."(continue at source)
Longhorn Beta 1 is still a few weeks away from release. And Office 12 Beta 1 isn't slated to debut until this fall. But that isn't stopping Microsoft from peeling back the covers on some of the new features slated for the pair of products due to ship in the latter half of 2006.
At the annual worldwide partner conference on Friday, Microsoft showed off a new Longhorn feature, called Meeting Space, and what seems to be the InfoPath Forms Server expected to be part of the Office 12 family. Microsoft Windows client executives put through its paces a recent pre-beta build of Longhorn, number 5086.
Microsoft distributed build 5086 to selected Technology Adoption Program partners last week, according to sources.
While Windows officials did not discuss what has changed between the alpha build Microsoft released this spring at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (Build 5048) and 5086, they did demonstrate a feature known as "Meeting Space" that officials are touting as one of the major new Longhorn components.(
continue at source)
Is Microsoft toning down its aggressive anti-Linux campaign, or is the software giant realizing that playing nice can have the same effect?
While the answer is unclear, Microsoft Corp. surprised many of the attendees at its annual worldwide partner show here this weekend by allowing a third party to present a "hands-on lab" that allowed attendees to play with a range of Linux desktop software.
Titled "Linux and Open Source: Understanding the Competitive Challenge," and run by Don Johnson, an electrical engineer from Techstream Inc., the lab let attendees, many of whom were not familiar with Linux, experiment with KDE (K Desktop Environment) as well as see the Apache Web server in action.(
continue at source)
Today at the Microsoft® Worldwide Partner Conference 2005, Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business and Technology Unit at Microsoft Corp, updated Microsoft's partners on the progress the company has made on security since the October 2003 Partner Conference. Nash discussed Microsoft's approach to security and detailed progress made in the areas of technology investments, prescriptive guidance and industry leadership. Nash also encouraged customers and partners to adopt Microsoft's newest technologies and security offerings.
"It has been almost two years since Steve Ballmer addressed this audience making a companywide commitment that Microsoft would make security a top priority, and we have been focused on delivering on that commitment," said Nash. "We've taken the feedback we've received from customers and partners and turned that into action, making notable strides developing more secure products, and delivering essential guidance and tools to help customers be more secure."(
continue at source)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company will likely deliver managed services as well as MCS service products in the future.
At his keynote wrapping up the annual partner conference in Minneapolis Sunday morning, Ballmer said Microsoft has not made any final decisions on its plan but will likely sell a mixture of managed services over the Internet, including desktop management services, and MCS services information as a product.
He also told thousands of partners in the audience -- many of whom make money selling managed services and consulting services to their customers -- that they need to move to other value added opportunities in the next decade regardless of Microsoft's moves because such services are increasingly becoming commoditized. (
continue at source)
Speaking at Microsoft's TechEd conference in Amsterdam on Tuesday, Microsoft's chief security advisor, Detlef Eckert, said that Microsoft will charge for the anti-virus protection from its Sybari acquisition. It also reported that only one in three US users of Windows XP has so far installed Service Pack 2, which gives greatly enhanced protection from Internet threats. It said that part of its anti-spyware offering will remain free, but the pricing policy for the other part of the anti-spyware package is still unclear. Comment: These announcements confirm that Microsoft's security crusade is an evolutionary, not a revolutionary, process. They also confirm that anti-trust considerations are the ultimate arbiter of decisions in Seattle.
Microsoft has said that users who have paid the appropriate licence fees for its products are entitled to a safe user experience on the Internet. It has backed this promise with a wealth of free security enhancements in Windows and some of its other products, with improved patch delivery mechanisms, and with some free anti-spyware software. But it is hard to reconcile the exclusion of anti-virus software from this package with these high ideals.
(more)
Microsoft has updated a security advisory, offering users a way to become immune against a highly critical flaw in Internet Explorer.
The flaw causes Internet Explorer to crash or could allow hackers to take over control of a user's system by placing specially created code on a website, according to Sec-Consult which first reported the flaw. It affects current versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer on fully patched systems.
Security website Secunia gave the flaw its highest 'extremely critical' ranking.(
continue at source)
Microsoft's forthcoming Longhorn operating system places great emphasis on locking down PCs to prevent unauthorised access to hardware and software, the software giant revealed today.
According to Detlef Echert, Microsoft's chief security advisor in Europe, there are several key elements designed to boost security in its next OS.
Hardware locking via a dedicated chip is combined with "hardening" of the OS to restrict how memory can be accessed.(
continue at source)
Microsoft has detailed its forthcoming privacy and security plans, which include enhancements to Internet Explorer 7 and the addition of digital rights management software into applications at document level.
Despite earlier plans not to do a browser update until Longhorn's release in 2006, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates confirmed that code for IE 7 will be available this summer in beta and in full by Christmas.
The browser will incorporate antivirus technology from recently acquired Sybari, and enhanced anti-phishing software.
"Anti-phishing will definitely be built in to IE 7," said Brendon Lynch, senior privacy strategist at Microsoft.(
continue at source)
Microsoft is planning to make RFID applications and tag-readers compatible with Windows.
According to Scott Woodgate, group product manager of business processes for Microsoft, the company is trying to integrate RFID programs with the operating system and make the majority of devices work with plug-and-play functionality.
Woodgate told silicon.com: "RFID has not been widely adopted because of the cost of devices and implementation of management. One of the things we're doing is working on standards-based and non-standards-based RFID readers. There's a whole host of them out there and they'll work on Windows as plug-and-play devices."
RFID tags broadcast unique identifier signals over a radio frequency, which means their movement can be tracked over long ranges.(
continue at source)
Taranna is the Microsoft internal code name for a web site that's under development that will replace the current Betaplace portal, the Windows Beta portal, and the JDP portal with a single site combining the best features of all of them. Later versions will then be able to expand that functionality to make communication and feedback on MS pre-release products that much easier.
The Taranna team even has got a blog which will provide more info about this upcoming website, so keep an eye on this one.
Visit the Taranna Team Blog
Aero is the new Windows user experience. Aero is primarily the name for Longhorn’s User Experience. The final look of Longhorn has been said to be called the final Aero UI. No one really knows (apart from those in Microsoft Design) what the Aero UI will look like once Longhorn ships but by Beta 2 we should have a strong idea.
For the past few years Longhorn builds have had titbits of tempting Aero and Glass treats. These came in the form of DWM effects (Originally called DCE, Desktop Composition Engine) and also in the form of basic Glass effects. These small bits of Aero are only a taster of what we shall experience when Longhorn ships. The other bits of Aero and Glass we have seen are at Microsoft conferences such as WinHEC and PDC. This is where Aero has really shone so far in the public eye.
The only big Aero Demo so far was at WinHEC a couple of years ago, here they produced a Aero UI mock-up which showed off many ideas from Microsoft’s Design teams on how the Longhorn Aero UI should look. (
continue at source)
Andrew Lees' opening keynote session at TechEd Europe 2005, "Ready for Business," discussed how Microsoft innovations across the board address productivity and security challenges from three viewpoints in an organization: Developer, IT Pro, and Information Worker. Lees' presentation was interspersed with a number of interesting demos, as well as a cute, episodic theatrical dialogue between archetypal employees that represented the 3 aforementioned perspectives.
Lees' timesplit was weighted in favour of developer productivity, with initial commentary on: 64-bit computing providing a "bump in Moore's Law," the coming release of Windows Server 2k3 R2 providing branch management and Active Directory Federation Services, and the Corporate Cluster Edition, which will allow tasks to be distributed around a cluster of computers; virtualization, with Virtual Server 2005 today and moving forward to "Hypervisor" virtualization capabilities built into Longhorn.
(more)
At its foremost technology show in Europe, Tech•Ed 2005 Europe, Microsoft Corp. today announced a range of new offerings that enable easier interoperability with Microsoft® Active Directory®. The new offerings include the Active Directory Interoperability Programme, which features the Active Directory Password Change Notification Service for use by independent software vendors (ISVs); a new third-party-developed OpenLDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) Management Agent for Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 (MIIS); and new third-party support for Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS).
“Microsoft has made a long-term commitment to making interoperability even easier for customers,” said Kim Saunders, director of Interoperability Programs. “By building on our current interoperability technologies in Active Directory and partnering with key ISVs, Microsoft is providing the technologies, technical information and support that will make it even easier for customers to use Active Directory with their non-Windows® systems and applications, and for ISVs to build products that work well with Active Directory.”(
continue at source)
Today at Tech•Ed 2005 Europe, Microsoft Corp. continued to disclose details surrounding the launch of Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005, Visual Studio® 2005 and BizTalk® Server 2006. As part of his keynote address, Andy Lees, corporate vice president of Server and Tools Marketing and Solutions, announced that these products would launch on Monday, Nov. 7 in San Francisco.
As part of the announcement, Microsoft revealed that throughout November there would be more than 90 launch events spanning 50 countries. The worldwide launch of SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006 offers significant advancements in interoperability, developer productivity and mission-critical support. The launch furthers Microsoft’s commitment to delivering the next-generation platform for connected systems to advance business decision-making through greater insight, visibility and alignment across software development and business processes.
“The launch of SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006 will truly be a global launch. We will kick off the availability of these products in San Francisco and carry it through Europe and the rest of the world in the following days and weeks,” Lees said. “These products mark a new generation of platforms for connected systems, and are not only designed to work better together, but will enable customers to better connect with existing systems, trading partners, customers and employees.”(
continue at source)
Microsoft released details of the long-awaited update to its customer relationship management software on Tuesday, adding a slew of new tools and making the system available via the on-demand applications delivery model.
The unveiling of the new applications set, which will be known as Microsoft CRM 3.0, is being made in conjunction with the software giant's Tech Ed 2005 conference in Europe and its Worldwide Partner Conference 2005 in the United States, both of which are being held later this week.
Though the package has been given the 3.0 product designation, the applications are only the second major release of Microsoft's CRM applications to come to market. Microsoft introduced its first CRM system in January 2003 and has repeatedly delayed the release of its new version since that time.(
continue at source)
Network administrators have the challenge of ensuring that computers that connect to a private network are healthy. For example, healthy computers have the correct security software installed (such as antivirus protection), the current operating system updates, and the correct configuration (such as host-based firewalls enabled). This challenge is made daunting by the portable nature of laptop computers that can roam to various Internet hotspots and other private networks and the use of remote access connections made from home computers. If a connecting computer is not healthy, it can expose the private network to attacks by malicious software such as network-level viruses and worms. There is no built-in feature of current versions of Microsoft® Windows® that allows network administrators to do the following:
• Centrally configure a set of policies that specify system health.
• Verify system health before allowing access to the private network or to private network resources.
• Isolate unhealthy computers on a restricted network containing resources to return the unhealthy computer to a healthy state.
The Network Access Protection (NAP) platform for Windows Server™ codenamed "Longhorn" provides components and an infrastructure that help administrators validate and enforce compliance with policies for network access. Administrators can create solutions for validating computers that connect to their networks, provide needed updates or access to needed resources, and restrict the network access of computers that do not comply. The validation and enforcement features of NAP can be integrated with software from other vendors or with custom programs.(
continue at source)
The new Terminal Services client (version 2600 and newer, 5.1.2600.x) introduces quite a few new capabilities. A major client-side convenience is that connection settings can be saved in an RDP file which can then be easily edited, copied, and distributed. One of the usefull settings not found in the GUI is the 'Connect to Console' option, which is available in the MMC version of the RDP client (part of adminpak.msi).
Unfortunately, the parameters are not nearly as well documented as the ActiveX control parameters yet. (
continue at source)
On Friday, June 24, 2005, Microsoft announced that it was adding deep platform support for a technology called RSS to Longhorn. RSS, or Real Simple Syndication, is an XML data format that's used to publish Web content to which people can subscribe. RSS solves a problem that Microsoft and Netscape tried to solve a decade ago with so-called "push" technologies: Rather than force people to manually navigate to Web sites to see when content has been updated, they should be able to subscribe to that content and receive notifications when updates are made.
On his Supersite for Windows, Paul Thurrott gives his view on the upcoming Longhorn RSS features. (
continue at source)
All production Windows networks need to have resources (folders, files, documents, spreadsheets, etc) made available from servers so users on the network can access them. The way this is done is through the use of shared folders configured on the servers which house the resources. The concept of shared folders has not changed over the generations of Windows operating systems and versions, but the protection of the resources has slightly changed.
Whether you are new to the concept of shared folders or an expert, this article will take an in-depth look at the pitfalls and suggested methods on how to protect the resources that are shared from servers to users on the network.(
continue at source)
Microsoft has given you a tool that you can use for monitoring network traffic. Appropriately, the tool is called Network Monitor. There are actually two different versions of Network Monitor that ship with Microsoft products. The version that comes with Windows Server 2003 is the watered down version. It is very similar to the full version, except that it only allows you to analyze traffic sent to or from the server that Network Monitor is running on. The full version of Network Monitor is included with SMS Server. It allows you to monitor any machine on your network and to determine which users are consuming the most bandwidth. You can also use the SMS version of Network Monitor to determine which protocols are using the most bandwidth on the network, locate network routers, and resolve device names into MAC addresses.
Another feature that is left out of the Windows version of Network Monitor is the ability to capture, edit, and retransmit a packet. This functionality is used by hackers when performing a replay attack. The idea behind a replay attack is that a hacker can capture some sensitive piece of information, such as an authentication packet. Later, if the hacker wants to log on as someone else, they can edit the packet to change the source address and then retransmit it. The actual process is a little more complicated than that, but not much.(
continue at source)
In response to direct customer need for a streamlined method of identifying common security misconfigurations, Microsoft has developed the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA).
Version 2.0 of MBSA includes a graphical and command line interface that can perform local or remote scans of Windows systems. MBSA runs on Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows XP systems and will scan for common security misconfigurations in the following products: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Internet Information Server (IIS) 5.0, and 6.0, SQL Server 7.0 and 2000, Internet Explorer (IE) 5.01 and later, and Office 2000, 2002 and 2003.
MBSA also scans for missing security updates, update rollups and service packs published to Microsoft Update.
Download the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer v2.0
| 26 Jul '05 - 19:09 | kenneth van surksum | 
no comments | news source ~ Windows Server Clustering Blog 
