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“Georgia?” No!  GA means General Availability !  It’s like RTM, but better.  We’ve been talking about Windows Azure virtual machines, and using Azure as “Infrastructure-as-a-Service” (IaaS) for many months now.  We’ve been promoting the heck out of the 90-day free trial of Windows...

Back in October of last year, in Part 5 of our “ 31 Days of our Favorite Things ” series, I wrote about Hyper-V Replica .  “With Hyper-V Replica you can easily create and maintain an off-line copy – a replica – of a virtual machine on a separate virtualization host.  This means, for example...

You may ask, “How easy is it to set up a cluster of virtualization hosts for Hyper-V virtual machine high availability?” “How easy is it to set up a cluster of virtualization hosts for Hyper-V virtual machine high availability?” I’m glad you asked. Short answer: Very Longer answer: Let’s let my friend...

In this episode, Sr. Product Manager Michael Niehaus and I are back for Part 2 of our Deploying Windows 8 series, where we dive deeper into some of the more advanced tools to support more complex Windows 8 deployment scenarios . Download the Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation today and test your applications...

In this episode of “Reimagining Windows”, I welcome Sr. Product Manager Michael Niehaus to the show.  We discuss the tools, technologies, tips and tricks that are available to enable the efficient deployment of Windows 8 onto new or existing hardware.  Tune in for part 1 of our discussion as...

Near you, that is, if you live in any of the most major cities in the United States. Our team of 11 Technical Evangelists (IT Pro Evangelists) are once again on the road and delivering live, FREE IT Camps for you! We’re bringing you three very compelling topics: What’s new in...

It’s the end of February, and the end of what I hope you will agree was a very satisfying series of 19 “ Migration and Deployment ” articles by my teammates and me – the U.S. based IT Pro Technology Evangelists. “So what’s the last topic?” I’m glad you asked.  Now that you know (or have the resources...

In this episode I welcome back Sr. Technical Product Manager Martin Booth for Part 2 of our System Center 2012 SP1 for Windows 8 series.  We discuss device support improvements made in Configuration Manager as well as improvements to support user mobility. Enjoy! Download the Windows 8 Enterprise...

“Hey Kevin, I’m responsible for applying company policies around applications.  If we deploy an internal Windows 8 app, or use a purchased App from the Store, how do I apply updates or roll out upgrades for the new style applications?” That’s an excellent question.  And it’s one that my friend...

Did you know, with the right policy and certificate in place, that you can deploy Windows 8 applications very easily?  In fact, once the pieces are in place, it’s as easy as running a script or launching an install from a file share. “Basically as easy as most all older Windows applications, without...

We’re in the home stretch! It’s the last week in February, and we only have a few more days of our “ Migration and Deployment ” series of articles left. And wrapping out our final four, we’re going to tackle the topic of Windows 8 applications. What options do we have, and...

I’m pretty sure that if you have been following my (or any of my teammates) blogs recently, you know a little something about Windows Azure . You probably also know that you can get a free 90-day trial of Windows Azure very easily, with no obligation. The benefit of that is that it becomes very...

In February of 2013, the US-based IT Pro Technology Evangelists wrote up 20 articles in our 19-part series, “ Migration and Deployment ”. “Huh? 20 of 19?” Well.. I provided a series introduction in part 0. (Don’t computer people always start counting at zero?) But...

System Center 2012 App Controller is a component and part of the self-service portal solution in System Center 2012 SP1 . By connecting to System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) servers, Windows Azure subscriptions, and 3rd-party host services, App Controller offers a vehicle that enables...

As you may remember, last month my team blogged an entire month on using Windows Azure as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS – pronounced “EYE-yazz”) in our “ 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud ” series. As part 12 of our 19-part " Migration and Deployment ” Series...

One of the issues some of you will have to address when moving from Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 will be the migration of your virtualized machines onto the newer Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 . The good news is that you won’t have to re-build or recreate machine configurations...

In today’s episode, I  welcome Sr. Technical Product Manager Martin Booth to the show.  We discuss enterprise management and how System Center 2012 SP1 Configuration Manager can help deploy, work with, manage and secure Windows 8 .  In Part 1 of this discussion, Martin and I chat about...

How fast? “Yeah? How fast is it?” Before I answer that question, I need to briefly define what the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol is, for those might be unfamiliar with it. SMB is the old reliable networked file system protocol. It is the protocol in use when you access file...

Part 8 of our 19 part “ Migration and Deployment ” series is specifically about the Windows Server 2012 Migration Tools . “Why would I need those?” Well, as I’m sure you know, it’s not just about a server operating system. It’s about what that server does...

“Can I upgrade to Windows Server 2012 ?” Yes. But it depends. “On what?” On what you’re upgrading from, and what your hardware supports. But even if you don’t do an upgrade in place, a migration is completely do-able with the right tools. “Expensive...

As a part of our “ Migration and Deployment ” series this month, this week we’re discussing these topics in the context of Windows Server 2012 . And in Part 6, one of my friends from the East Region – Bob Hunt – is giving us the lowdown on what Windows Server 2012 requires...

In part 2 and part 3 of our blog series, “ Migration and Deployment ”, we discussed and showed you how to use various tools to install a new instance of Windows 8 on new hardware. But that doesn’t take into account what most people will want to do: Migrate their files and their configuration...

System Center 2012 SP1 Configuration Manager is a powerful business-class tool for deploying applications, updates, and operating systems. And with SP1, it’s all set to do deployments of Windows 8 . So in this Part 3 of our “ Migration and Deployment ” series, my friend Keith Mayer...

Today in part 2 of our “ Migration and Deployment ” series, we discuss the free tools that can make it very easy for you to deploy Windows 8 (and Windows Server 2012 , although we’re focusing today on Windows 8) in a small to mid-sized business environment. There are two toolsets...

Welcome to part 1 of our “ Migration and Deployment ” series, today delivered by my friend from Arizona, Harold Wong . In his article today, Harold describes what hardware is required for installing Windows 8 , and what additional capabilities may be required to support certain functionality...