The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit team is pleased to announce that MAP 7.0 Beta is now available for download.

Get ready for the private cloud with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0 Beta. This update adds several new private cloud planning scenarios that help you build for the future with agility and focus while lowering the cost of delivering IT. Download the MAP Toolkit 7.0 Beta and begin your cloud transformation today!

New capabilities allow you to:

·         Understand your readiness to deploy Windows in your environment with hardware and device readiness assessment

·         Determine Windows Server 2012 Beta readiness

·         Investigate how Windows Server and System Center can manage your heterogeneous environment through VMware migration and Linux server virtualization assessments

·         Size your desktop virtualization needs for both Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and session-based virtualization using Remote Desktop Services

·         Ready your information platform for the cloud with the SQL Server 2012 discovery and migration assessment

·         Evaluate your licensing needs with usage tracking for Lync 2010, active users and devices, SQL Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012

Determine Windows readiness

MAP 7.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT environment for your Windows deployment. This feature evaluates your existing hardware against the recommended system requirements for Windows. It provides recommendations detailing which machines meet the requirements and which machines may require hardware upgrades. 

Key benefits include:

·         Assessment report and summary proposal to help you to understand the scope and benefits of a Windows deployment.

·         Inventory of desktop computers, deployed operating systems, and applications.

Assess Windows Server 2012 Beta readiness

MAP 7.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT infrastructure for a Windows Server 2012 Beta deployment. This feature includes detailed and actionable recommendations indicating the machines that meet Windows Server 2012 Beta system requirements and which may require hardware updates. A comprehensive inventory of servers, operating systems, workloads, devices, and server roles is included to help in your planning efforts.

Virtualize your Linux servers on Hyper-V

MAP 7.0 Beta extends its server virtualization scenario to include Linux operating systems. Now, MAP enables you to gather performance data for Linux-based physical and virtual machines and use that information to perform virtualization and private cloud planning analysis for both Windows and Linux-based machines within the Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track scenario.

Key features allow you to:

·         Incorporate non-Windows machines into your virtualization planning.

·         View consolidation guidance and validated configurations with preconfigured Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures, including computing power, network, and storage architectures.

·         Get a quick analysis of server consolidation on Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures to help accelerate your planning of physical to virtual (P2V) migration to Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.

·         Review recommended guidance and next steps using Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.

For a comprehensive list of features and benefits, click here.

Next steps:

·         Join the beta.

·         Download the current version of the MAP Toolkit.

·         Send your comments to the MAP Team.

·         Learn moreabout MAP.

We are very excited to welcome you to the Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter Beta Program and appreciate your interest and participation in the program. Click here to download the solution accelerator. If you have additional questions or feedback about the solution accelerator, please send an email to MVMCDISC@microsoft.com. You can also visit the MVMC TechNet forum for participating in discussions and getting additional support.

About This Solution Accelerator

The Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) provides a Microsoft-supported, freely available, standalone solution for converting VMware virtual machines (VMs) and VMware virtual disks (VMDKs) to Hyper-V virtual machines and Hyper-V virtual hard disks (VHDs). MVMC supports converting virtual machines using the following guest operating systems:

• Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows 7

System Requirements

The Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter converts VMware virtual machines created with:

• VMware vSphere 4.1
• VMware vSphere 5.0

To virtual machines for:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V
• Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1

Details

The Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter:

• Provides a quick, low-risk option for VMware customers to evaluate Hyper-V
• Converts the virtual disks and the VMware VMs configuration, such as memory, virtual processor, and other machine settings from the source
• Uninstalls the VMware tools on the source VM and installs the Hyper-V Integration Services as appropriate
• Includes an easy-to-use wizard-driven GUI simplifying VM conversion
• Supports offline conversions of VMware virtual hard disks (VMDK) to a Hyper-V based virtual hard disk file format (VHD)

• Includes a scriptable Command Line Interfaces (CLI) for performing machine conversion and offline disk conversion which integrates with datacenter automation workflows, such as those authored and executed within System Center Orchestrator. The command line can also be invoked through PowerShell.

For program details visit Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter Beta now available!

As you are all aware Hyper-V is Microsoft’s Virtualization platform and we use VHD as the file format for installing operating systems. VHD stands for Virtual Hard Disk. Windows Server 2012 features new file format known as VHDX.

You can read more about it over here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831446.aspx 

As enterprise workloads for virtual environments grow in size and in performance demands, virtual hard disk (VHD) formats need to accommodate them. Hyper-V in Windows Server “8” Beta introduces a new version of the VHD format called VHDX, which is designed to handle current and future workloads.

VHDX has a much larger storage capacity than the older VHD format. It also provides data corruption protection during power failures and optimizes structural alignments of dynamic and differencing disks to prevent performance degradation on new, large-sector physical disks.

The main new features of the VHDX format are:

• Support for virtual hard disk storage capacity of up to 64 TB.
• Protection against data corruption during power failures by logging updates to the VHDX metadata structures.
• Improved alignment of the virtual hard disk format to work well on large sector disks.

The VHDX format also provides the following features:

• Larger block sizes for dynamic and differencing disks, which allows these disks to attune to the needs of the workload.
• A 4-KB logical sector virtual disk that allows for increased performance when used by applications and workloads that are designed for 4-KB sectors.
• The ability to store custom metadata about the file that the user might want to record, such as operating system version or patches applied.
• Efficiency in representing data (also known as “trim”), which results in smaller file size and allows the underlying physical storage device to reclaim unused space. (Trim requires physical disks directly attached to a virtual machine or SCSI disks, and trim-compatible hardware.)

Now you may say if we have so many benefits to VHDX then what about existing VHD files. Well, you can use exiting VHD files in Windows Server 2012 for Virtualization.

HOWEVER THE INTERESTING QUESTION WOULD BE “HOW CAN I CONVERT MY VHD FILE TO VHDX FORMAT TO GET ALL THE BENEFITS?”

Well, we use the Hyper-V Manager to Edit the Virtual Hard Disk. Here is how we do that.

First open Hyper-V Manager & Click on Edit Disk

Now, on the Wizard click on Next and then on the next screen locate the .VHD file.

In the Choose Action box select the necessary action. In this case you can perform following actions Compact, Convert & Expand. Select Convert & click Next.

Note: If you want to expand the VHD file select Expand & click Next, that will help you extend the VHD file up to 2 TB.

Select VHDX file format & click Next

In the next box Choose Disk Type, select Dynamically expanding & click Next.

In the Configure Disk, specify the file name & click Next.

After seeing the Summary, click on Finish.

After that it will show you the following box stating Editing the virtual disk.

After few minutes (or based upon the actual VHD file size) you will see the new VHDX file will be ready to use. Enjoy.

Happy Virtualization

This specification describes the VHDX virtual hard disk format that provides a disk-in-a-file abstraction. This specification assumes that you are familiar with hard disk technologies, including how hard disks interface with the operating system or a virtual machine and understand how data is accessed and laid out on the physical medium. This specification is released under the Microsoft Open Source Promise (OSP) initiative to help guide development of VHDX virtual hard disk format implementations that are compatible with those provided by Microsoft.

DOWNLOAD HERE

The latest version of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit—version 2012— is now available for download.

Visit the Download Center to download MDT 2012.

Deploy Windows 7, Office 2010, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Server “8” Beta and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the newly released Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012. MDT 2012 is the newest version of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, a Solution Accelerator for operating system and application deployment. MDT is the recommended process and toolset for automating Windows 7 and Office 365 deployments.

The Solution Accelerators Team added new features to MDT 2012 that include the ability for users to initiate and customize their own deployments using System Center Configuration Manager 2012, key enhancements in Windows 7 driver support, and much more.

MDT 2012 will provide new benefits such as:

· Comprehensive tools and guidance to efficiently manage large-scale deployments of Microsoft Office 2010.

· An enhanced User-Driven Installation (UDI) deployment method that utilizes System Center Configuration Manager 2012. UDI lets end users initiate and customize an OS deployment on their PCs—via an easy-to-use wizard.

· Ease Lite Touch installation with new capabilities to check on the status of currently running deployments.

· This release provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview in a lab environment.

These features, combined with many bug fixes and other improvements, make MDT 2012 more reliable and flexible than ever.

Support for Configuration Manager 2012: MDT 2012 provides support for Configuration Manager 2012 releases. MDT 2012 fully leverages the capabilities provided by Configuration Manager 2012 for OS deployment. Users now also have the ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012.

Customize deployment questions: For System Center Configuration Manager customers, MDT 2012 provides an improved, extensible wizard and designer for customizing deployment questions.

Ease Lite Touch installation: The Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) is now integrated with Lite Touch Installation, providing remote control and diagnostics. New monitoring capabilities are available to check on the status of currently running deployments. LTI now has an improved deployment wizard user experience. Enhanced partitioning support ensures that deployments work regardless of the current structure.

Secure Deployments: MDT 2012 offers integration with the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM) tool to ensure a secure Windows deployment from the start.

Reliability and flexibility: Existing MDT users will find more reliability and flexibility with the many small enhancements and bug fixes and a smooth and simple upgrade process.

Support for Windows 8: MDT 2012 provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows Server “8” Beta in a lab environment.

Next steps:

· Download MDT 2012.

· Send your comments to the MDT Team.

· Learn more about the MDT.

Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) is a reinvented certification for today’s technology solutions

Microsoft has reinvented its certification program by building a broader and deeper set of technology solutions skills validation, starting with cloud-enabled solution skills. As one of the most recognized and respected certification programs, Microsoft is charting the path for IT Professionals and Developers to keep their skills relevant as new technology solutions are released.

Reinvented, Not Just Renamed

Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) emphasizes solutions

Microsoft has reinvented its certifications to validate the skill sets needed to develop, deploy, and maintain Microsoft technology solutions. These certifications recognize IT Pros and Developers who have skill sets that run both broad and deep. Certifications are available at three skill levels:

Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA)

The Associate level is the prerequisite certification necessary to get your Expert level certification.  This certification validates the core skills you need to get your 1st job in IT. 

Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) &
Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD)

The Expert level is Microsoft’s flagship set of certifications validating that your skills are relevant in the constantly changing tech environment. The Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) is the destination for established IT Professionals who have expertise working with Microsoft technology solutions.  The Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) is the destination for established Developers who have expertise developing solutions with Microsoft tools.

Microsoft Certified Solutions Master (MCSM)

After you have achieved your Expert level certification, Master is the next destination.  This certification is for the select few who wish to further differentiate themselves from their peers and achieve the highest level of skills validation.

The Cloud Changes Everything

Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) helps bridge the new cloud computing talent gap

The need for cloud computing skills has been pushing the market for months. Solution providers are seeking cloud-ready employees to bring their businesses to the next level. The cloud computing market is evolving at such a pace that while the number of job postings is skyrocketing, the talent isn't there to fill the positions.

In the past 20 years, Microsoft Certifications have been THE tool to address the skills gap. To be relevant, certifications need to continue to be the tool needed and recognized in the market.

That’s why Microsoft has reinvented its certification program—to certify a deeper set of skills that are mapped to the Cloud and to real-world business contexts. Rather than testing only on a component of a technology, IT Professionals and Developers are now tested on more advanced skills and a deeper understanding of the technology.

New Certifications Are Available Now

Private Cloud and SQL lead the Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) reinvention

 We’ve posted a lot more information about the reinvented program and the first new certifications: Private Cloud MCSE, Database MCSE & Business Intelligence MCSE:

Microsoft Certification overview page: http://aka.ms/MSCerts

Microsoft Certification overview video: http://aka.ms/MSCertsVideo

MCSE information page: http://aka.ms/MCSE

MCSE video on YouTube: http://aka.ms/MCSEvideo

MCSE Private Cloud: http://aka.ms/MCSEpvcloud

MCSE Data Platform: http://aka.ms/MCSEDP

MCSE Business Intelligence: http://aka.ms/MCSEBI

You may also wish to encourage your readers to take advantage of a new 2-for-1 exam offer from Prometric:

Prometric 2-for-1 offer: http://aka.ms/Prometric241

IF you have Lenovo machine & running Windows 8 onto it then probably you will be happy to see the post title. YES, that’s right Lenovo has released Windows 8 Drivers for Lenovo machines.

Visit here to download the drivers for your machine http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=HT072084

Note: The Windows 8 Beta Support Program provides beta quality BIOS, utilities and drivers intended for testing purposes only

We are pleased to announce that the beta versions of Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 5.0 and a new MDOP product Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) are now available for download from
Microsoft Connect.

UE-V is an enterprise-scale user state virtualization solution that delivers a user’s personal Windows experience across devices, is simple for IT to deploy, and easily integrates with existing management tools.

Some of the main features of UE-V are:

• Users retain their application experience without having to reconfigure applications when they log in from a different Windows instance - regardless of whether it is a rich desktop or virtual desktop session.
• Automatically delivers a personal experience to Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 8 based devices, giving users the flexibility to work from anywhere.
• If a user accidently applies unwanted changes, IT can simply roll back to the initial state.
• Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft desktop virtualization products to roam the user experience in heterogeneous environments.

Some of the new features in the App-V 5.0 Beta are:

• Flexible virtualization choices let virtual applications work more like traditionally installed applications, allowing local and virtual applications to communicate and enabling control of which virtual applications can share environments.
• There’s no dedicated drive letter required, and no 4 gigabyte maximum package size. It’s easy for IT to work with and take action on App-V diagnostic information because App-V logs Windows events instead of separate log files.
• Easy and efficient to use in VDI environments, allowing IT to make the best use of expensive disk resources without changing the way they get their jobs done.
• Web-based management makes it easy for busy IT professionals to get their work done while away from their desk.
• Rich PowerShell scripting allows IT to automate repetitive tasks and to integrate App-V with existing processes.

For details visit http://blogs.technet.com/b/mdop/archive/2012/04/04/microsoft-user-experience-virtualization-and-microsoft-application-virtualization-5-0-betas-now-available.aspx 

Also, Windows for your Business Blog

Hello Technology Professionals,

First of all THANK YOU for attending TechEd India 2012. We have released sessions recordings for you to watch them online.

For session recordings visit http://www.istream.com/news/show/570/

For TechEd India 2012 visit http://india.msteched.com

Hello IT Professionals,

Here are the resources for my session on “Top 10 Must Have Desktop Deployment Tools for IT Professionals”

DOWNLOAD TOOLS

The Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows® 7
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5753

The Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) Supplement for Windows® 7 SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5188

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=7826

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.6
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=7352

Microsoft Application Verifier
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c4a25ab9-649d-4a1b-b4a7-c9d8b095df18&DisplayLang=en

Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=11936

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Update 1
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&=tm&id=25175

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Beta
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=217606

Windows Deployment Services: What's New
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd348499(v=WS.10).aspx

Infrastructure Planning and Design
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=732

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.2 (for IT Professionals)
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=7558

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/mdop/default.aspx

SESSION RESOURCES - TechNet Library

Microsoft Solution Accelerators
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/bb545941

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) Version 5.6
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722055(WS.10).aspx

Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349343(WS.10).aspx

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx

Product Activation Using Volume Activation Management Tool 2.0
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff686878.aspx

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee376932.aspx

THANK YOU

This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server “8” Beta. This Hyper-V poster focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering, and scalability. You can find previously published posters here: • Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 Hyper-V Component Architecture • Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture • Windows Server 2008 R2 Feature Component Poster • Windows Server 2008 Component Posters

DOWNLOAD HERE

You can download Windows Server “8” Beta here – http://aka.ms/ws8beta

Hello IT Professionals,

If you are interested in evaluating new System Center 2012 Product, try the new TechNet Virtual Labs. Following are the new labs added to TechNet Virtual Labs – System Center section.

For accessing these new virtual labs visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/systemcenter/om/bb539977?ocid=aff-n-in-loc--aa

THANK YOU IT PROFESSIONALS for joining us on the second series of Microsoft IT Camps. As said before this time we are covering Microsoft Private Cloud solutions powered by System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

As promised, I am sharing all the Private Cloud Resources including the slides we presented during the event.

Following are the slides presented during our event. For complete event agenda & topics you can visit http://www.microsoft.com/india/events/itcamps/event_agenda.aspx 

We covered following topics during Microsoft IT Camp – Mumbai.

Understanding the Microsoft Private Cloud
Microsoft System Center 2012 Overview
Configure and Deploy the Infrastructure Components
Configure and Deploy the Private Cloud Infrastructure
Configure and Deploy the Service Layer
Configure and Deploy the Applications and VM’s

DOWNLOAD THE SLIDE DECKS

DOWNLOAD SYSTEM CENTER 2012 http://aka.ms/sc2012rc

DOWNLOAD Windows Server “8” BETA http://aka.ms/ws8beta

Windows Server is the leading server operating system that powers many of the worlds' largest datacenters, enables small businesses around the world, and delivers value to organizations of all sizes in between. Building on this legacy, Windows Server "8" delivers hundreds of new features and enhancements for transforming virtualization and cloud computing to help you reduce IT costs and deliver more business value. Within Windows Server "8" you will find exciting innovations in areas of virtualization, networking, storage, user experience, and a transition to Windows PowerShell® to take scripting to a whole new level.

This is quite possibly the most significant release of Windows Server ever. As Jonathan Hassell in a Computerworld article remarks, Windows Server "8" "takes your breath away."

Learn for yourself by downloading the beta today to check out all of the things that Windows Server "8" can do for you.

The next release of Windows Server, Windows Server "8", offers businesses and hosting providers a scalable, dynamic, and multitenant-aware, cloud-optimized infrastructure. It securely connects across premises and allows IT Professionals to respond to business needs faster and more efficiently. Windows Server:

• Takes you beyond virtualization
• Delivers the power of many servers with the simplicity of one
• Opens the door to every app on any cloud
• Enables the modern workstyle

Need more information? See the product details page.

Register for Download and Guided Evaluation

Register to access technical product resources—such as forums, solution accelerators, white papers and webcasts—at the Windows Server "8" Beta Resource Page.

Review Microsoft Windows Server "8" Beta system requirements

Register for evaluation

Download and install full-featured software for a limited-time trial

Receive two (2) emails with resources to guide you and notification when the next release is available

Use blogs and forums to share tips

Download the 64-bit ISO

GET STARTED NOW

Download the VHD (English Only)

GET STARTED NOW

Available in:

• 64-bit ISO and VHD editions
• ISO available in these languages: Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese

DOWNLOAD MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER “8” BETA

MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER “8” BETA DATASHEET

MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER “8” OVERVIEW

HAPPY VIRTUALIZATION !!

BARCELONA, Spain — Feb. 29, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview — the next milestone of the Windows operating system. This latest preview will be made available for download starting today at http://preview.windows.com. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world’s most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year. The Developer Preview received more than 3 million downloads.

“With Windows 8, we reimagined the different ways people interact with their PC and how to make everything feel like a natural extension of the device, whether using a Windows 8 tablet, laptop or all-in-one,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft. “The Windows 8 Consumer Preview brings a no-compromises approach to using your PC.”

At a Windows 8 Consumer Preview event in Barcelona that was attended by partners from Europe and around the world, the company shared some key new updates in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

• Broad range of product changes and improvements. Since the Developer Preview in September, designed to preview the programming platform, Windows 8 has progressed across every dimension. From completing the user experience for touch, keyboard and mouse to refining the development platform, the Consumer Preview improves performance, quality and reliability across all subsystems. With the added features, it represents a more complete view of the capabilities of Windows 8.

• Windows Store with new apps. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview marks the beta opening of the Windows Store, which is filled with a variety of new Metro style apps from both third-party developers and Microsoft. During the Consumer Preview, these apps are available to try and experience at no cost to users. The Windows Store will offer personalized recommendations, and Windows 8 gives users the ability to take their apps and settings with them across multiple PCs, making it easy to discover and try new apps while offering developers the greatest opportunity of any platform.

• Connecting to the cloud across Windows-based PCs and Windows Phone. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers seamless integration with the content people care about across their devices. An optional additional sign-on with a Microsoft account provides access to a host of features, including the ability to roam all settings, use cloud storage, communicate with email, calendar and contacts, and connect to a broad range of services. Your connection to the cloud works across your Windows-based PCs and your Windows Phones.

• Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 5. The best way to experience the Web on Windows is with Internet Explorer 10. The browser has been re-imagined to create a new experience designed specifically for Windows 8 devices. It provides an edge-to-edge user interface that is all about less browser and more Web. Fast and fluid, Internet Explorer is hardware-accelerated to enable Web performance.

• Preview of new hardware capabilities. At the event, Microsoft also showcased Windows 8 running on a wide range of new x86- and ARM-based reference hardware. This hardware will be available to select developers for trial and testing as previously announced.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available worldwide for download in English, French, German, Japanese and simplified Chinese languages. More information about Windows 8 and how to download the Consumer Preview is available at http://preview.windows.com or http://windowsteamblog.com.

For details visit http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2012/feb12/02-29Windows8CPPR.mspx

DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 8 CONSUMER PREVIEW

BUILD WINDOWS 8 BLOG: Welcome to Windows 8 – The Consumer Preview

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Product Guide for Business

HAPPY DOWNLOADING !!

In this post I will update on TechEd India Agenda & Voting Sessions. As you all aware, we are working on to the upcoming Microsoft TechEd India Event. We have been hearing lot of queries around the topics/sessions to be covered in the TechEd.

We have published agenda for 3 Days. Some part of the agenda will be published after Windows “8” Consumer Preview availability.

We have included many topics for IT PROFESSIONALS & DEVELOPERS for Voting. You can visit http://india.msteched.com and vote for your favorite topic.

If you have any questions/queries, feel free to reach out to me.

For more details visit http://india.msteched.com

UPDATE:

We have updated new set of topics for IT Professional & Developers. Feel free to go ahead and vote.

Redesigning the Windows Logo

Complete article here http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/02/17/redesigning-the-windows-logo.aspx

Today, I received the following update for my HTC Mozart.,

Some of the enhancements in this update are as follows..

Update 7.10.8107.79

On-screen keyboard. Fixes an issue to prevent the keyboard from disappearing during typing.

Email. Fixes a Google mail syncing issue.

Location. Fixes a location access issue. With this fix, the Me feature in the People Hub sends anonymous information about nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers to Microsoft only if you agree to allow the Check In function to access and use location information.

Security. Revokes digital certificates from DigiCert Sdn Bhd to address an encryption issue.

Email threads. Fixes an email issue related to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. With this fix, when you reply to or forward a message, the original message is now included in your response.

Voicemail. Fixes a voicemail notification display issue that occurs on some European and Asian networks under certain conditions.

For details visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/basics/update-history.aspx

The Integration Pack for HP Lights-Out (iLO) and Onboard Administrator (OA) is an add-on for System Center 2012 Orchestrator that enables you to automate HP iLO and OA commands.

The Integration Pack for HP Lights-Out (iLO) and Onboard Administrator (OA) is an add-on for System Center 2012 Orchestrator that enables you to automate HP iLO and OA commands.
Feature Summary
This integration pack adds the HP iLO and OA category to the Activities pane in the Runbook Designer. This category contains the following activities:

• Run iLO Command
• Run OA Command

DOWNLOAD HERE

In my last blog post we announced Microsoft TechEd India 2012. The event is scheduled to kick off on 21st March 2012.

In this post, as we are progressing towards the preparation of TechEd India 2012, we would like to highlight some of the key technologies that are going to be covered during TechEd India 2012 Event.

INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES

Windows 8 Client ^New
Windows Server 8 ^New
System Center 2012 ^New
Enterprise Security
SQL Server 2012 ^New
Unified Communications
Messaging & Collaboration
Office 365

DEVELOPER TECHNOLOGIES

Windows 8 Client ^New
Web Development
Visual Studio 11 ^New
Windows Azure
Windows Phone ^New
SQL Server 2012 ^New

As you see we are working together to deliver the best TechEd experience to all the IT Professionals & Developers across. We have refreshed the content for this TechEd covering all the latest technologies by Microsoft.

In my upcoming posts I will cover some more details about Technical Tracks, TechEd Registration, Twitter Hash tags & more. Keep visiting to find more details & I look forward seeing you at TechEd. You can register for TechEd by visiting http://aka.ms/teched

If you have any questions/queries feel free to reach out to me on aviraj@microsoft.com & twitter @aviraj111

For more details visit http://india.msteched.com/

Regards,
Aviraj Ajgekar
Technology Evangelist

PUG Community TechDays (IT Pro Track) Jan 2012

This Community is planned for IT Professionals. Look forward to meet all the IT Professionals.

Agenda

Session 01: 10:00 AM-11:15 AM

System Center 2012 Technical Overview. - by Aviraj Ajgekar

Whether you’re a Datacenter Administrator or an Application Owner, System Center 2012 will provide powerful new capabilities to help you deploy, configure and manage your heterogeneous infrastructure and distributed applications. In this session Aviraj will demonstrate how can you manage your datacenter & build private cloud using System Center 2012. At the same time he will explain what makes it easier than ever to deliver IT as a service to your business or organization.

Session 02: 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM

Building Microsoft Private Cloud. - by Abhishek Pradhan

We will take a deep dive on products and capabilities for the Microsoft Cloud Platform ranging from diverse Private & Public Clouds to Hybrid Cloud environments. We will take a deep dive into the Cloud Framework, its key capabilities & constituents, the essential building blocks for a Cloud environment and similar products in the Cloud space. We will also take a look at Service Management from a cloud perspective and the intricacies involved.

Session 03: 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Microsoft Private Cloud Security Overview. - by Ninad Doshi

This session will look at common Iaas Private cloud security concerns that decision makers have, and how Microsoft solution addresses them. We will discuss Security & compliance in a Microsoft private cloud, including security update management and orchestration, proactive monitoring of infrastructure, malware and network protection and monitoring.

To attend & for more details visit http://www.puneusergroup.org/pug-meet-jan-2012.aspx