Today, January 26 at 12pm PT, Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) was released to tech and consumer enthusiasts in a total of 25 languages. The goals of this announcement are to drive global excitement, strengthen long-term confidence in Internet Explorer and help drive demand for Internet Explorer 8. RC1 will include a number of bug fixes, user experience improvement and enhanced security, performance and compatibility.
Nigel Mulholland, MD of Microsoft partner Nitec, discusses Vista performance - 'warts and all' - with TechNet's Dave Northey.
After an initial bumpy ride with Vista, Nitec are now happily running the operating system in-house and strongly recommending it to their customers.
View the video interview here.
Virtualisation is on practically every IT Pro's agenda these days. This is why there’s a wealth of Microsoft Virtualisation events training available over the coming months.
First up..Maxima Ireland, with support from Microsoft and Citrix, are hosting a Virtualisation seminar in Sandyford, Dublin on the 29th of January. Email the event owner to register or for further information.
For more than 18 years, Microsoft and Citrix have offered customers solutions to deliver Windows-based applications using Citrix Presentation Server™ running on Terminal Services. Both companies are now co-marketing new client computing offerings with the next generation of Citrix Presentation Server and the Citrix XenDesktop™ products, both based on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Optimized Desktop solutions, and managed by Microsoft System Center. With these solutions, customers can build an array of flexible, low-cost and manageable client computing options for different types of enterprise users.
The agenda for the seminar is as follows:
Outside of Dublin (Belfast and Cork)..Free TechNet Events: Virtualisation Unplugged Who should attend: IT Managers, IT ProfessionalsSummary: Virtualisation Unplugged is a full day technical session with Microsoft experts to discover a complete set of virtualisation tools from desktop to datacentre that will improve business continuity and maximise ROI. The day will cover loads of technologies including Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V, System Centre Virtual Machine Manager, Terminal Services and Application Virtualisation.James O'Neill, Virtualisation expert from the Microsoft UK, has had great success touring all over the UK delivering this seminar and we are delighted to bring him to Ireland to deliver two 'Virtualisation Unplugged' tour dates here. Date: 3rd February, 4th FebruaryLocation: Belfast (3rd) - Register Here!Cork, (4th) - Register Here!Cost: Free Event
Finally, the Windows 7 Beta is available for public download! I am about to download it myself and I have heard lots of positive reports from my colleagues, so I’m very encouraged!
Windows 7 Beta Has Officially Launched! After much anticipation, Microsoft has now made Windows 7 Beta available for evaluation and testing to IT professionals! For TechNet subscribers, you can download Windows 7 Beta today here. Since January 9th, the beta is open to all IT professionals on the Springboard Series for Windows 7.
In fact the Springboard Series website is a real gem and you can find loads more IT Pro resources on Windows 7 like Windows 7: A First Look for IT Pros, Windows 7 Feature Walkthroughs, Mark Russinovich Goes Inside Windows 7 as well as great resources and information on Windows Vista.
Here's some more interesting footage from TechEd that I missed before...
Mark Russinovich, technical follow, about Windows 7, WS08 R2, virtualization and Vista. It's about 8 minutes long. You can watch Mark's interview here.
In this interview from Microsoft Tech-Ed EMEA 2008 in Barcelona, author and Microsoft technical fellow Mark Russinovich sits down with SearchWinIT.com senior news director Margie Semilof to discuss several topics that are on the horizon for Windows administrators, such as cloud computing, client virtualization, and the release of Windows 7 Server. He also provides insight on the fate of WinFS, what's new with Sysinternals and the controversy surrounding Windows Vista.
This is great cross-training on SQL for Oracle DBAs! In fact, I think the content would be of use for all DBAs and the trainer is top class.
It is a half day of training taking place in Dublin the afternoon of January 22nd. See here for details and how to register.
The objective of this training is to give an experienced Oracle DBA a basis for understanding SQL Server and an understanding of the key differences between SQL Server and Oracle together with a basic knowledge of how to administer an installation of SQL Server.
Agenda
Register now
Please Note: Event starts at 1.30pm, Lunch will be provided from 1pm
Speaker Bio
You may remember I posted Vista 'learning snacks' last month - well now they're available for Windows Server 2008 and Virtualisation too! They're actually really good! See here.
Learning Snacks are short, interactive presentations about popular topics created by Microsoft Learning experts. Each Snack is delivered by using innovative Microsoft Silverlight technology and includes various media, such as animations and recorded demos. At the end of each free presentation, you can view more Snacks, learn more about the topic, or visit a related Web site.
Happy New Year! My new years resolution is to blog more in 2009, so here's a reflection on Microsoft's headline moments from 2008 to get the ball rolling! Click here to see the full article.
1. Bye, Bye Bill
2. To Yahoo Or Not To Yahoo
3. Vista Gets Better, But Criticism Remains
4. Windows 7 Curtains Lift
5. Windows Server 2008's Good Reviews
6. Virtualization, Virtualization, And More Virtualization
7. Microsoft Jumps Into The Cloud
8. Baby Steps With Open Source And Open Standards
9. Internet Explorer's Overhaul
10. The SharePoint Phenomenon