Windows 8 is Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It's an all-new touch interface. It's a new Windows for new devices. Windows 8 helps businesses unleash the full power of their people, enabling users to be ready and productive practically anywhere while...

Progress towards the release of the next version of Windows continues, and we just recently announced that the next milestone is in early June – Release Candidate for Windows Server, Release Preview for Windows 8 The final product will be delivered later this calendar year. More info: http://blogs.technet...

Come and get an overview of the new features and capabilities of Internet Explorer 8. IE8 has plenty of exciting new features for web developers, consumers and IT Professionals. Leading the charge is a brand new rendering engine engineered from the ground up that renders websites stringently using today...

We’re excited to release IE8 Beta 2 today for public download. You can find it at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8 . Please try it out! You’ll find versions for 32- and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008. While Beta 1 was for developers, we think that...

An official source of Windows 7 information - Steven Sinofsky and Jon DeVaan have started a new blog called Engineering Windows 7 .  If you’re interested in Windows 7, you should probably add this blog to your RSS reader. Not a lot of detailed information there yet, but expect many more posts as...

We have received a lot of feedback from customers about the need for the Remote Desktop Connection client 6.1 to be made available as a standalone install for Windows XP SP2 to ease deployments of Windows 2008 Terminal Services. In response to this feedback, we have released the Remote Desktop Connection...

Just announced this morning, the Windows Live SkyDrive service is now available in New Zealand (as well as 37 other countries around the world)   And now also has five times more space than was previously available — 5GB of free online storage for your favourite documents, pictures, and other...

Overnight Microsoft announced availability dates for several key product updates including Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista, Service Pack 3 for Windows XP and the release to manufacturing of Windows Server 2008. Together these releases are a good example of Microsoft’s commitment to continually improving...

A law change earlier this year extended Daylight Savings which will now start one week earlier (2:00 A.M. on the 30th September 2007) and will end two weeks later than in the past (3:00 A.M. on 6th April 2008). This change will have a significant impact on a number of areas of your IT infrastructure...

Now that the Microsoft New Zealand 2007 Technical Briefing's are over, the slide decks are available for download Check them out here from the MSNZ Events site My Vista Deployment deck is still jumping through hoops getting uploaded onto the site, in the meantime you can get it from here (this...

The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, met with Microsoft’s senior executives at the company’s headquarters in Redmond. The group exchanged a broad range of ideas around technology solutions designed to create opportunities for New Zealand’s continued economic development and growth...

We have a handful of seats available for some Windows Vista training, this week in Auckland and next week in Wellington. Read on for details, BTW this is free: You are invited to come along to one of a very limited number of two day interactive technical briefing and discussion sessions to be held at...

Well thanks to out timezone New Zealand was the first country to officially launch Windows Vista and Office 2007 My colleague Nigel Parker was up in Auckland and the main event at midnight last night. See the cool video he put together here The rest of the Microsoft crew is down in Wellington...

The 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is about to start in Las Vegas at the moment. Bill Gates is doing a keynote this afternoon NZ time and its available as a live stream, or ondemand tomorrow. If you're watching live this afternoon, its on from 330PM to 5PM NZ time, today Monday...

Windows Vista and 2007 Office System sales and technical readiness. Coming to a region in New Zealand near you during October The Reseller Roadshow is a half day event running from 1pm-6pm and will cover sales and technical training for these exciting new products. It’s a must-see for every...

TUG Meeting Tomorrow The next meeting of the Tablet PC User Group will be held on August 3rd. This is a little later than it should be but we wanted to get the best speakers for the topics. We are over half way through the year now and suddenly Office 2007 and Windows Vista are not very far away. Both...

Windows Vista Beta 2 is now available for IT professionals and developers with MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. In the coming weeks, Microsoft will start the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program (CPP) for developers and IT professionals who are not members of the subscription services. The Windows...

The Tech Ed 2006 Early Bird Registration launches TODAY at www.microsoft.co.nz/teched I'm organising the Windows Client track across both New Zealand & Australia, and will be back shortly with the draft list of sessions we are looking to run. Will be a good mix of infrastructure and developer...

The Connect ’06 Technical Training Sessions are coming to Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland during May: Wellington – 11th May – Intercontinental Christchurch – 17th May – Grand Chancellor Auckland – 22nd May – Sky City Agenda, registration and more info at www.microsoft.co.nz/techsessions...

Its been quiet around here, I've been on a long overdue holiday, overseas :) But I'm back now rested, relaxed and firing on all cylinders: IE7 beta2 releases to the web and is now downloadable (including the real Beta 2 of IE7 for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows XP 64-bit) http...

A new Mobile PC form factor. Full Windows functionality with an enhanced touch screen, pen and keyboard input. UMPCs combine the power of the Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system and other innovative new technologies from Microsoft and its partners, making them more mobile and simpler...

Its available for download now Existing beta1 users should be getting software notification upgrade prompts shortly. Enjoy the fast upgrade experience from Microsoft AntiSpyware beta1, and no reboots required :) Checkout the FAQ http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/about...

IE7 Beta2 preview is now available for download from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/ This beta2 release is primarily for Devs and ITPros (application compatibility and website compat testing) See the IE website for an IT Pro checklist http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/itprochecklist...

Ambient Design release ArtRage 2 download it from http://artrage.com/artragedown.html Made in New Zealand (out 'west' in Waitakere to be exact) These are the guys that won first place in Microsoft’s ‘Does Your App Think In Ink’ contest for Tablet PC applications (2004). ArtRage 2.0 is a fun...

I have a bunch of invites available if anyone wants to try out Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger 8) Just use the contact link above to send me an email, be sure to send your Passport account details through so I can do the invite. Checkout the Windows Live Messenger blog for the inside word...