I make bones about the fact that I use competitive products, and that includes a MacBook Pro as one of my home computing systems. While I may use a Mac, I still need to complete work that requires Office, OCS and Remote Desktop from the Mac. As I said last year, Mac Office 2011 brings Outlook to the Mac, replacing Entourage.

This a big deal for anyone connected to an Exchange Server for business. It also brings a more feature rich experience for OCS/Unified Communications and a RDP Client that does everything the Windows Equivalent does. How do I know, I have been using the Mac Office 2011 Beta for the last number of months and loving every minute of it.

What also makes this an interesting story for Irish IT Pros is the fact our team locations for the development include Redmond, Microsoft Silicon Valley, Beijing, Dublin and Tokyo!

For more information, see the full blog post at http://blog.officeformac.com/office-for-mac-2011-hits-rtm/.

I came across this document today, emailed the link to a few friends and then thought I should share it with everyone I know. I spend a great deal of time talking to people about system management and virtualization; with Microsoft technologies that requires a good understanding of SCOM. This is a great document for people  starting out with SCOM implementations or even people experienced in the product. 100+ pages of great documentation from Microsoft Premier Field Engineers who live in the product.

Yesterday we announced the release to Beat of the SBS7 product and today we announce some great cost cautious news for the SMB customer with 10 seat or less. Microsoft Security Essentials will be available to these customers for free starting in October.

Microsoft Security Essentials is an excellent solution for your small business. It is very easy to get and very simple to use. The software requires no registration, trials or renewals and is available for download directly from Microsoft. There is also no need to have other cumbersome security programs installed on your PCs since Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection to address the on-going security needs of a genuine Windows PC, helping to protect it from viruses, spyware and other malicious threats. Perhaps best of all; however, is that Microsoft Security Essentials is designed to run quietly in the background, enabling you to continue using your PC – and running your small business – without constant interruptions.

• Microsoft Security Essentials is powered by the same core malware protection engine that drives Microsoft’s enterprise solutions.
• The antimalware engine used in Microsoft Security Essentials – and in all of Microsoft’s security products – is regularly tested by numerous organizations around the world and has consistently been certified by the industry’s leading independent certification authorities: International Computer Security Association Labs (ICSA) and West Coast Labs, VB100, and AV-Test.
• Microsoft Security Essentials uses advanced system scanning and removal technologies that employ a definitions database that details the characteristics and behaviours of known malware. Threats are collected every month from more than 600 million PCs around the world and are assessed by the Microsoft Malware Protection Center, and new signatures are written and deployed daily.

Full product Blog post here

Over pints Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus decided they would put together a concise and timely podcast each “Update Tuesday”. The object is to keep it simple by letting you know in plain non technical language what the updates are, what they resolve and why you should care.

As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail Rick directly  – rick.claus@microsoft.com

Direct Download:

Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode)

Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.

In Depth Webcast on this bulletin will take place: Wednesday, September 15th - 11:00 a.m. PST (UTC -7). (Registration link):

Bulletins discussed for September 15th, 2010:

• MS10-061 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 2347290)
• MS10-062 - Vulnerability in MPEG-4 Codec Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975558)
• MS10-063 - Vulnerability in Unicode Scripts Processor Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2320113)
• MS10-064 - Vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2315011)
• MS10-065 - Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2267960)
• MS10-066 - Vulnerability in Remote Procedure Call Could Allow Remote Code Execution (982802)
• MS10-067 - Vulnerability in WordPad Text Converters Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2259922)
• MS10-068 - Vulnerability in Local Security Authority Subsystem Service Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (983539)
• MS10-069 - Vulnerability in Windows Client/Server Runtime Subsystem Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (2121546)

cheers

The System Center team announced today that applications are now being accepted for the Configuration Manager v.Next Community Evaluation Program (CEP). The goals of this program are to accelerate product evaluations and build a community of external product evangelists.

For partners who want to efficiently manage implementation, test scenarios, discover and contribute to best practices, the CEP provides a structured approach for connecting with the product group and a community of peers. Members of the CEP community will be asked to participate through the sharing of learning's, questions and experiences.
SI Partner Program Participation

• Participation in Theme Activities
• Implementation of CM v.Next in test environment*
• Sharing of Best Practices
• Willingness to Share Experiences

*Production deployment is not required for participation in the Community Evaluation Program. Microsoft will not provide CEP participants with production support for deployment of the product in production or upgrades of subsequent product releases. CEP participants will be provided access to the Beta build of Configuration Manager v.Next that is not is not supported for production deployments.
**All applications received by September 24, 2010, will be informed of their acceptance through receipt of an invitation email to their Windows Live ID account by September 27. Late applications will be reviewed but accepted members will be asked to review any missed activities and materials independently.

Call to action
If you are an SI partner interested in applying for the Configuration Manager v.Next Community Evaluation Program (CEP), Nominate yourself by completing the Configuration Manager v.Next Community Evaluation Program

Everyone knows I love to talk SBS, this is one of my favourite Microsoft technologies because I grew up in an SBS family business. Well, it is time to get all excited again with the release today of the new beta of SBS7.

Built on Windows Server® 2008 R2, this exciting new edition of the all-in-one solution server for small businesses will include Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 SP1, Microsoft SharePoint® Foundation 2010, and Windows Software Update Services. with SBS7, small businesses gain the freedom to securely access all of their communications from virtually any Web-browser or mobile device -- getting more done wherever they are with the integrated Exchange Server 2010 and Microsoft Outlook® Web Access (OWA) capabilities. SBS7 Customers will also have the opportunity to view, edit, and share Microsoft Office documents online with SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Microsoft Office Web Apps. As the online companion to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and my favourite OneNote, Office Web Apps gives users the freedom to access documents from virtually anywhere. The value proposition of the bundle is getting better

Together with Windows SBS code name “Aurora”, available to download here since August the 16th, SBS7 is dedicated to providing small business customers with a highly manageable, low complexity solution to help cut costs, save time and be more efficient. SBS7 offers on premise email and collaboration suite functionalities that Aurora’s customers can add through online services.

To learn more about Windows Small Business Server “7”, you can visit our SBS site.

The preview release is available on our Connect site and can be downloaded now. If you haven’t already signed up for the preview, you can visit our Connect site and get signed up. We have also setup a Connect feedback form to capture your reaction to the product, bugs and suggestions as well as a newsgroup where you can discuss the preview with other beta testers.

Microsoft Gold Certified partner Prodata are running a two-day training on MDX with Analysis Services and it promises to meet the high standards they have set with great trainings like ‘SQL Immersion’. Find out more here.

This level 300 course is targeted at BI Developers who have at least three months experience of working with SQL Server Analysis Services. The course assumes no previous knowledge of MDX. Attendees will learn how to implement many common types of calculations and queries.

Over the course of two intense days, Analysis Services guru, Chris Webb will work with participants in a hands-on class-room set up. Places on the course are limited to 20 to ensure that participants derive the maximum benefit from the course through hands on labs and exercises. The agenda is found @ http://www.prodata.ie/events/mdx2010.aspx.

Cost: €1,299

Dates: 16th and 17th September 2010

Venue: BT Training Centre, Dublin 1

Are there admin tasks you’d like to automate, but not sure how?  Do you want to learn Windows Powershell, but aren’t sure where to start?  
Send us your questions by emailing (aeshen@microsoft.com ) by Wednesday, September 15^th , then join us for our LIVE TechNet webcast where we show how to use Windows Powershell to make your life easier.
Click here to register for the event!
____________________________________________

Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM Dublin (10:00 AM Pacific Time)
Event Overview:

This one-hour webcast is geared towards IT professionals who do not have a strong coding or scripting background. We help you to understand the basics of Windows PowerShell, including parsing, piping, getting help, using variables and operators, and flow control. By the end of this session, you should understand enough to create simple commands and be comfortable enough to explore Windows PowerShell on your own.
Presenter: Peter Lammers, Lead Developer, Aeshen
Peter Lammers, lead developer at Aeshen, is an IT professional with a 17-year background in troubleshooting, training, modifying and supporting software applications, network administration, troubleshooting, and server and desktop support.

About Aeshen:

For over ten years Aeshen has been working with some of the biggest names in technology. In addition to our work with HP and Cisco we are preferred vendors for Microsoft and Intel in our core disciplines of web and application development, training and education, and QA services. This is in addition to the traditional types of deliverables we’ve historically done; developer and IT Pro focused content such as value props and marketing collateral, demos (online demos, click-through demos), labs, whitepapers, decks, and interactive vignettes for marketing and training.

For more information, visit http://www.aeshen.com/

cheers

Microsoft Research is constantly experimenting with how to make our products and peoples interactions with software and computers better. I saw this add in for Outlook and thought many people could take advantage of the features it provides. Information Rights Management in the cheap.

NoReplyAll Outlook Add-In

The primary function of this add-in is to add a couple of buttons to the Outlook ribbon to prevent people from replying to all the recipients of your message or forwarding it. The add-in uses a facility built into Outlook and Exchange that is more lightweight than information-rights management but is not exposed in the existing UI. The add-in also includes a check for common email errors, such as omitting attachments or subject lines.

I had the opportunity to spend the day today with the Ireland Windows User Group as they put on a day long event with local MVPs (Aidan Finn and John McCabe) and a guest UK MVP (Nathan Winters). IT was an energizing experience to have a room of 100 like minded people totally engaged in the presentations, asking questions and networking. One of the conversation points on the day was around building community and how online communities can and should be part of this process.

Microsoft has had an online community for IT Pros for the last 3 years. TechNet is the source for all the technical information on Microsoft products and  http://edge.technet.com is the social connector for IT Pros. Almost 3 years ago to the day the Edge team launched the site – a community portal for IT professionals. Since then Edge has grown into a vibrant community with over 2m unique visitors per month. IT pros from all over the globe find relevant information about Microsoft solutions and a large variety of other topics. Visitors receive help and guidance with Microsoft products, find solutions for common IT problems and learn about industry trends. Today they re-launch the site on a new platform with almost 3,000 videos, screencasts, podcasts and other content on the portal.

If you have not visited Edge before, I recommend taking a visit. See what the forums offer and get involved.