You will recall that on the 23rd October we released the out-of-band update MS08-067. Deployment of this update has been high, but a worm, Worm:Win32/Conficker, has been detected across the world with increasing frequency. If you have not done so already, please protect yourself by installing the update MS08-067 as soon as possible - both on home machines and in the office.
Please do not hold off on installing the update for fear of issues with it – the Microsoft Security Teams are unaware of a single case, which when investigated, was a regression issue with MS08-067.
Please see more information on Microsoft Security Response Center blog, the Microsoft Malware Protection Center blog, or via our encyclopaedia write up. Microsoft continues to encourage customers to install MS08-067 immediately to protect their systems from possible exploitation. For customers who believe they have been affected and want to scan their computers, Microsoft recommends using its free full scanning service. Microsoft will continue to monitor the situation and will post updates when necessary.
Your chance to see the SBS 2008 server-side setup process, learn more about the pre-requisite step of configuring your router\firewall.
6pm December 7th, location tbc. Please register to receive updates. You must be logged in to register for this event.
There is a 5euro charge for this event; all money raised is to be given to charity, decided by attendees. To register click the lick, become a member of the site and register for the event here: http://www.partneroutreach.com/Events/tabid/54/ctl/Details/Mid/373/ItemID/4/Default.aspx?selecteddate=12/7/2008
Presenting - Hound Dog, N-Able, and Microsoft System Center Essentials. Places are limited for this event, so please register early. To register click the link and login: http://www.sbsireland.com/Events/tabid/55/ModuleID/514/ItemID/37/mctl/EventDetails/Default.aspx?selecteddate=12/11/2008
11th December (Dublin 5.30pm-8.30pm):
Incredible!!...lightning does actually strike twice! Kimberly Tripp is visiting Ireland for the second time in three months and Niall Flanagan was not going to let an opportunity like this pass the SQL Server Ireland User Group. Those of you who attended her presentation last September will appreciate why she is constantly called out as the world's #1 speaker in SQL Server today. See the presentation abstract here.
6pm-8pm Dec 4th, Microsoft Atrium - Block B, Carmanhall Road, Sandyford Industrial EstateRegister here (you will have to sign up to the user group first - free of course)
SBS 2008 is an affordable, integrated solution - 'all-in-one' suite of business technologies tailored to small businesses' specific needs.
Learn more at www.microsoft.ie/sbs or the TechNet SBS blog.
Clcik here to download the free SBS 2008 trial
Windows Essential Business Server 2008 is an integrated and affordable solution that offers the Microsoft software midsize businesses require - preconfigured, integrated and manageable from a unified administration console, and at a significant discount compared to standalone products.
Click here to download trial version
Wahoooo!...Last night saw the inaugural meeting of the SharePoint User Group in Ireland and it got off to a flying start! The meeting took place in Sandyford in Dublin and the introdcutory topic was 'Setting up a MOSS Farm'. Stephen Cummins (local SharePoint User Group Lead and SharePoint MVP) presented for the kick-off sesion but attendees from customers, partners and MS all contributed to open discussion.
You can expect to see SharePoint UG meetings taking place in Dublin on a monthly basis, the next topic is planned to be 'SharePoint Governance'. A meeting is also planned for Belfast on January 16th and watch this space (or http://www.sugie.org/) also for details of a meeting taking palce in Munster.
Here's some of the useful resources that were mentioned by the Microsoft Consultants last night (thanks Aidan and Donal):
þ Patterns and Practices SharePoint Guidance: http://www.codeplex.com/spg
þ Best Practices Resources Center: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb736746.aspx
þ Governance Resource Center: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb507202.aspx
þ Interactive Road Map: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/bb497969.aspx
þ Application Templates for WSS 3.0 (Fab 40): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/bb407286.aspx
þ The same Fantastic 40 but deployed on a MOSS site so potential users can try them before downloading: http://www.wssdemo.com/application/default.aspx
Now to Tech Ed...over 5,000 IT Professionals were at this annual conference, a small portion of whom were Irish! The keynote delivered by Brad Anderson, focused on the key to a 'Dynamic Enterprise in Changing Business Conditions' - this was ok...there were far more interesting and entertaining topics and speakers to follow during the week.Lucky for you if you didn't attend the conference, you can actually catch the highlights on video @ http://www.microsoft.com/emea/teched2008/itpro/. Some of the conference topline announcements worth mentioning are:. New Windows Server 2008 R2 features: Live Migration; Branch Cache; DirectAccess; and Remote Desktop Services (RDS) - the new name for Terminal Services. . System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 beta. . Integrated Identity and Security Solutions - Identity Lifecycle Manager 2 RC and Intelligent Access Gateway SP2 (including virtualization appliance).. "Dublin" - codename for a set of extensions to the Windows Server application server. "Dublin" will be delivered as a separate out-of-band release, downloadable for use by Windows Server customers; the first Customer Technology Preview (CTP) was delivered at last week's Microsoft Professional Developer's Conference in October 2008.My personal highlights were any of the sessions delivered by Mark Minasi (mostly Vista sessions) or Mark Russinovich - watch out for the session entitled 'The Case of the Unexplained'. These guys were brilliant presenters and actually managed to entertain as well as teach! I also hear Steve Riley's sessions earlier in the week were amazing. Again, check out the video highlights @ http://www.microsoft.com/emea/teched2008/itpro/
For those of you particularly interested in Windows Server 2008, System Centre 2007 and Virtualisation – local Microsoft MVP Aidan Finn (System Center Configuration Manager 2007) did a stand-up job on blogging on the key infrastructure sessions during the week.
See http://joeelway.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart&partqs=cat%3dTechEd%2bEMEA%2bIT%2bPro