Finally after a long wait (time hardly matters), the Center of Expertise is ready! I’ve got 4 amazing dudes working with me and they’re specialists in various technologies: Name Specialization Amr Ammar UC & Exchange TSP Ashraf Mansour SharePoint & Office TSP Ibrahim Sedky UC & Exchange SSP...

And now that we’ve decided to say goodbye to Money, we’re giving everyone free access to this product via our download site. Here’s the link to the deluxe version of this app: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=60302e1e-207e-4710-ac80-d19c22e47488

I had a chat with a colleague who wanted to understand more about how IT impacts environment, specifically around Microsoft’s Unified Communications story. I picked around our internet site a bit and dug this up: Reduced Environmental Impact Reduce the amount of fuel required for travel on airplanes...

While looking through some slides, I came across the term, REST, with regards to accessing SharePoint. So I fired up bing and typed REST feeling stupid, because what would I get but something like a physics definition, or perhaps something related to relaxation… well, the search engine appears to be...

Hi all, I was just reading through Stefan’s blog and I can’t recommend it highly enough! It’s got a lot of detail for people willing to upgrade and good technical coverage of SharePoint 2010. I can’t even hope to keep up with him :) So, I’ll do the next best thing. I’ll put the RSS of his latest postings...

Hi All, I just got this email sharing the top MEA bloggers – well, actually, it’s the most visited blogs in MEA. We listen and you are voting with your clicks about the content you value. Here are my colleagues who’re also on the list: TechNet http://blogs.technet.com/ mbaher http://blogs.technet.com...

Hi there! Twice a year we are conducting survey among our users and customers – so called Global Relationship Survey. And this is not a type of survey that everybody just fills and the results go nowhere. *All* Microsoft planns further activities based on feedback we are getting from you . It’s not hard...

Came across an email by Kirk and loved the signature: Kirk Evans Architect Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/kaevans Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kaevans LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kaevans Download SharePoint and Office 2010 – http://www.microsoft.com/2010 Case...

Firstly, thanks to several of my friends who suggested that I get onboard with Twitter . It’s been a couple of weeks that I got started and the learning’s been phenomenal. At first the idea seemed absurd. Why would I subject myself to updating twitter and submitting my status every day?! Or bother to...

I had a friend ask me about this. I’m terrible with AD, but I promised to look it up. Tried searching loads. Bing, Google.. no go. Oddly then I was looking through some mail and I read this summary of latest blog updates @ Microsoft. I’ve referred to this service in previous posts. So, I found this great...

Reading some through mails today I came across a link to this excellent article on OneNote. I’ve been working on OneNote as a GTD app with Outlook – similar to David. But it seems David’s done a lot more to get things done! Here’s his post: http://blogs.msdn.com/david_rasmussen/archive/2006/06/14/630885...

Recently I had a customer demo to deliver for SharePoint 2007. I had the VM checked out and needed to set it up the evening before the demo. So I fired up my virtual PC app. Surprise, surprise! Windows 7 does not support VPC! Panic mode sets in and I’ve got all pistons firing – how do I recover this...

Ok, so I noticed the box around running apps. Subtle, but cool – I guess since I was confused, I was paying attention. I haven’t noted any other blogs or reviews on this. So, how am I feeling? I like the libraries feature. What is it? Simply, I can organize and arrange my folders as I like them on the...

I wish you all a very happy new year. Keeping up with all the MS blogs and bloggers can be hard. If you’re facing this challenge. Here’s a great way to resolve it. http://blogs.technet.com/blogms/

I was playing Rise of Legends over the last few days. After a late night session the day before, I woke up to find that my DVD drive had disappeared. It was physically present, but for some reason it just wouldn't play a movie, a cd and certainly not the game. Flabbergasted, I looked at the Device Manager...

Almost forgot to write about Audacity . If you're into podcasting – of the audio sort – then you can surely use this free tool. I was somewhat overwhelmed by it at first, but after locating the Record button, I felt a lot better. Generally most of the podcasting software will record in WAV or other...

http://officelabs.com Check out he website to find some interesting tools and ideas that we're trying out. Concept testing is what this site is all about.  The projects you find here are not products or beta versions. They don't even pretend to be complete product ideas. They are the equivalent...

More positive news from the Open Standards front – we've got the Open Specifications Promise from MS dated 2006 and it looks like we also have freed up the Office binary formats – so you don't need to move to Office 2007 formats to rest easy that your documents will be openable a thousand years from...

I met Mike Gannotti in Seattle in July last year. He presented at a small team gathering and told us of the work he'd done around Knowledge Centers. That idea stuck with me and here's the complete series he's posted on getting them up and running. Have a look at the first: http://sharepoint.microsoft...

If you often spend your full day working on your machine and wonder where your time went, then here's something that may help! http://www.workingprogram.com/qlockwork.html

I've heard a few of you ask about AJAX in MOSS 2007. Yeah, OOB MOSS doesn't support the ASP.NET AJAX framework, so here's an interesting bit of reading for you – thanks to Jose , whose post, I picked it from: AJAX is not a specific technology but a set of technologies, mostly related to using client...

I've had customers asking me about Interop with Java and SharePoint. This bit below should help us respond to them. If you haven't seen/heard about it, I'd like to refer you to the following: .NET and Java/J2EE Interoperability: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700845.aspx Integrating with...

I recently got asked by a customer about Building Groove Apps, so I dug around and found some relevant resources. Here's the info for you: Groove Databridge: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/office/grooveserver/2007/guide/GDBAG_01.mspx?mfr=true Groove Developer Portal: http://msdn2.microsoft...

Almost every other customer wanted this information during my visits. I expect you'll find that your more enlightened customers will love these resources. Use it in your discussions and also to enhance your own understanding of SharePoint usage. Previously Released: Compliance features in the 2007...

From Paul Andrew's Post: http://blogs.msdn.com/pandrew/archive/2007/02/25/Microsoft-provides-BPEL-2.0-in-WF-_2D00_-BPEL-for-Windows-Workflow-Foundation-March-CTP.aspx   In March 2007 Microsoft plans to release a CTP of a set of BPEL activities for Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). This will be called...