3/1/09 Update - View the press release: 1,500 Global Tech Professionals Take Center Stage at 2009 Microsoft MVP Global Summit
All of us who write for the Office Resource Kit are looking forward to meeting MVPs at this year's MVP Summit! We will have a table at the "Ask the content experts" session Monday morning, so please stop by if you're attending. We'll have model posters for you to review at our table--you'll see a few hanging up along the back wall, too. Rumor has it that we'll be passing out some information-packed CDs. Also, be sure to check the MVP Global Summit Blog regularly--it's packed with great information about places to visit and things to do around Seattle.
Looks like a lot of you on Twitter are already here or on your way--welcome to a perfect day in Seattle! (We get a few of those every year.) We'll have a few #mvp09 tweets (our team account is @MSOfficeResKit). Those of you who tweeted from Florida: I have a friend who moved here from Florida who assures me that it's not the rain that takes getting used to, it's the socks with sandals thing.
- Andrea Weiss, @andreaweiss
Thank-you everyone for your feedback. I'm now posting the most recent draft copy of this article. The final copy of the article will be published in the 2007 Office Resource Kit on Microsoft TechNet, located here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303401.aspx.
Deploying the 2007 Office system by using System Center Configuration Manager 2007
February 2009 – Draft Copy
Summary
This article provides detailed technical guidance on the processes and procedures when using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 to deploy the 2007 Microsoft Office system in a medium to large enterprise corporate environment. This article includes the following sections:
· Overview
· Introduction to the deployment process
· Deploying the 2007 Office system in a test environment
· Resources for deploying the infrastructure
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is the solution to comprehensively assess, deploy, and update your servers, clients, and devices across physical, virtual, distributed, and mobile environments. This article provides detailed technical guidance for specifically deploying the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
Although this article illustrates the test network environment used for helping to describe the process of deploying the 2007 Office system by using Configuration Manager 2007, it does not provide information about how to set up the test network infrastructure, such as the Active Directory directory service, Microsoft SQL Server, and System Center Configuration Manager. However, it does provide links for setting up a similar network infrastructure. This information is located in the last section of this article, “Resources for deploying the infrastructure.”
The target audience for this article is IT professionals. These IT professionals could include network managers, consultants, and IT managers who work for or with medium to large enterprises.
Prior knowledge and experience will help users understand and apply the information in this article, particularly experience in the following areas:
· Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 or Configuration Manager 2007
· Office Customization Tool (OCT)
· 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft Office 2003, or Microsoft Office XP
Once you have your supporting infrastructure in place for Configuration Manager 2007, the process for deploying the 2007 Office system involves creating and defining five primary areas:
· Collections
· Packages
· Programs
· Distribution points
· Advertisements
Collections Collections are groups of Configuration Manager 2007 resources, such as users, user groups, or computers, against which a software deployment is targeted. For additional overview information about collections, see “Collections Overview” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680321.aspx.
Packages A package is the set of installation source files that Configuration Manager 2007 manages and distributes for software deployment. Some of the information included within the package is the distribution points and programs. For additional overview information about packages, see “About Packages” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680855.aspx.
Programs Programs are part of the package configuration in Configuration Manager 2007. They contain any command-line switches and additional parameters to be run from the designated package source files, such as “Setup.exe”. For additional overview information about programs, see “About Programs” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632775.aspx.
Distribution points Distribution points are Configuration Manager 2007 site systems that store designated packages for deployment to Configuration Manager 2007 clients. When the Configuration Manager 2007 client receives and processes a relevant advertisement, the client then contacts a distribution point to download the package and start the installation process. For additional overview information about distribution points, see “About Distribution Points” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680614.aspx.
Advertisements Advertisements tie packages and programs together with collections, enabling administrators to target software deployment of specific or customized applications to collections of computers or users. An advertisement specifies a package and program, and the collection to which it will be advertised or deployed. For additional overview information about advertisements, see “About Advertisements” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb694110.aspx.
This section provides a diagram and description of the test network environment for the Configuration Manager 2007 infrastructure. It also includes procedural information of the steps for deploying 2007 Microsoft Office Enterprise by using Configuration Manager 2007.
The test network environment for this article is shown in the following illustration.
All of the servers (A, B, and C) are running Windows Server 2008 and are members of the same domain (CPANDL.COM), including the client computers (D), which are running Windows Vista Enterprise. The applications and roles that each server is running, and the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for each client computer, are listed as follows:
A. Active Directory, DNS, DHCP <DC.CPANDL.COM>
B. SQL Server 2008 <SQLSRV.CPANDL.COM>
C. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 (management point, distribution point) <SCCM.CPANDL.COM>
D. Windows Vista Enterprise, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 client <WVC01.CPANDL.COM>
Although in this simple test network environment the site server is performing multiple site system roles (such as management point and distribution point) simultaneously, this configuration is not recommended for production sites that have large numbers of resources.
In this example, deployment scenario detailed information is provided for deploying 2007 Office Enterprise in the previously defined Configuration Manager 2007 test environment. By following these steps, you can use Configuration Manager 2007 to deploy a silent installation of the 2007 Office system, where the users do not interact with the installation process.
Note: In a production environment to minimize the load on your network, you can use Configuration Manager 2007 to deploy (precache) the local installation source of the 2007 Office system separately, before you deploy Office. Precaching allows most of the installation activity to occur on the local computer instead of over the network. Precaching also allows you to coordinate the upgrade to the new version. You can distribute the local installation source to groups of users over time and then schedule a simultaneous installation throughout the organization without over-taxing the network. For more information, see “Precache the local installation source for the 2007 Office system” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179231.aspx.
In this example, the first step is to create a customization file for the silent installation of the 2007 Office system.
In the 2007 Office system, Setup controls the entire installation, including processes that Windows Installer handled in previous Office versions. Customizing the default behavior of Setup allows you to control the process. In this example, you customize the installation for a silent installation of the 2007 Office system.
The Office Customization Tool (OCT) is used to create a Setup customization file (MSP file). Setup applies this file when Office is installed on the computers.
Note: It is also possible to use the Config.xml file to configure a silent installation of the 2007 Office system. For more information about using Config.xml, see “Configure a silent install of the 2007 Office system with Config.xml” located at the following link: http://blogs.technet.com/office_resource_kit/archive/2009/01/29/configure-a-silent-install-of-the-2007-office-system-with-config-xml.aspx.
To customize Office Setup, you use the command line setup.exe /admin to start the Office Customization Tool. In this example, using Configuration Manager 2007 to deploy the 2007 Office system, at a command prompt you run setup.exe /admin from the package source directory, \\SCCM\Office2007\Enterprise.
To ensure that the 2007 Office system is silently installed, you need to modify and configure the settings as follows:
On the Licensing and user interface dialog box, set the Display Level to None, which will then enable the Suppress modal check box. Verify that the Completion notice and No Cancel options are not selected. Enter a valid 25-character volume license key in the Product Key box located under Licensing and user interface. Select the I accept the terms in the License Agreement check box.
Save and name the newly created MSP file and place it in the \Updates folder for the 2007 Office system on the computer that contains the package source directory, which in this example is \\SCCM\Office2007\Enterprise\Updates\CustomFileOffice2007SilentInstall.MSP.
For additional information about how to customize the default behavior of Setup for the 2007 Office system, see “Customize Setup before installing the 2007 Office system” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179121.aspx.
This section provides the details for using direct membership rules to create a collection in Configuration Manager 2007. This allows for selecting the computer resources of the targeted computers.
For additional information about the membership rules, including both query and direct, see “About Membership Rules” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680821.aspx.
To create a collection, in the Configuration Manager Console, navigate to System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database / Computer Management / Collections.
Right-click Collections, and then click New Collection. On the General dialog box of the New Collection Wizard, enter a name for the collection. In this example, it is named “Target-Computers”.
On the Membership Rules dialog box, click the computer icon, which opens the Create Direct Membership Rule Wizard. Click Next.
On the Search for Resources dialog box, click the Resource class drop-down menu and select System Resource. Then, click the Attribute name drop-down menu and select Name. In the Value field enter %, and then click Next.
On the Collection Limiting dialog box, click the Browse button, select All Windows Workstation or Professional Systems, click OK, and then click Next.
On the Select Resources dialog box, select the check box for each of the targeted computer resources. In this example, TestComputer01 and TestComputer02 were selected. Click Next, and then on the Finished dialog box, click Finish. On the Membership Rules dialog box of the New Collection Wizard, click Next.
On the Advertisements dialog box, for now, do not assign an advertisement because it is not yet created. Click Next. On the Security dialog box, accept the defaults, click Next, and then click Close.
The next step is to prepare the source directory for the package.
For more information about collections, see “Collections in Configuration Manager” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb693730.aspx.
The package source folder contains all the files and subdirectories needed to run the programs in a package. In this example, the source directory is \\SCCM\Office2007\Enterprise, which contains a copy of the 2007 Office Enterprise installation CD.
Note: It is possible to reduce the size of the package file created by Configuration Manager 2007, by removing any additional files that are not needed (such as other programs within the Office suite that will not be deployed).
For information about multiple language deployments, see “Customize and deploy multiple language versions of the 2007 Office system” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd162397.aspx.
For more information about package source directories, see “How to Set Up a Package Source Directory” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb633067.aspx.
The next step is to create a package, which will contain the specified parameters for installing the program, in this case the 2007 Office system, and the location from where the package will be distributed, known as the distribution point, to the managed Configuration Manager 2007 clients. In this example, the steps are provided for creating a package manually. Once the package has been created, you will create a distribution point for the package and a program that contains the setup and installation parameters for the 2007 Office system.
Note: Information for creating a package is included in this article to illustrate the process. Nevertheless, it is possible to import a package definition file such as one for the 2007 Office system located at the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=590B8EB2-9EDA-441B-A972-B38E17883063&displaylang=en. You can use these files to automatically create the package details. To do so, right-click Packages, click New, and then click Package From Definition. You can then browse to the folder that contains the package definition file and select the relevant .sms file.
To create a package, in the Configuration Manager Console, navigate to System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database / Computer Management / Software Distribution / Packages.
Right-click Packages, point to New, and then click Package.
On the General dialog box of the New Package Wizard, enter the Name, Version, Manufacturer, and Language. For example, Office, 2007, Microsoft, English (US).
On the Data Source dialog box, select This package contains source files. Click the Set button, and then enter the path for the location of the source files in the Source directory field. For this example, select the source directory location of the local drive, such as C:\Office2007\Enterprise, which contains a copy of the 2007 Office Enterprise installation CD.
Click OK, and then continue to click Next and accept the default settings on all of the following dialog boxes: Data Access, Distribution Settings, Reporting, and Security. On the Wizard Completed dialog box, click Close.
The package, in this example named Microsoft Office 2007 English (US), is now created. The next step is to create a Configuration Manager 2007 program, which will contain the setup and install parameters for the 2007 Office system.
To create a program for the Office 2007 package, right-click Programs, point to New, and then click Program.
On the General dialog box, enter a name for the package in the Name field, which in this example is named Office 2007 silent installation. In the Command line field, in this example type setup.exe. Because the customization file, CustomFileOffice2007SilentInstall.MSP, was placed in the \Updates folder, a command line option is not needed to reference its location. For more information, see “Setup command-line options for the 2007 Office system” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178956.aspx. In the Run field, click the drop-down menu and select Hidden. In the After running field, verify the default of No action required is selected. Click Next and accept the defaults on the Requirements dialog box.
On the Environment dialog box, click the Program can run drop-down box and select Whether or not a user is logged on. This will enable Run with administrative rights for the Run mode. Leave the default for Drive mode to Runs with UNC name, and then click Next.
On the Advanced dialog box, select the check box for Suppress program notifications, and then click Next.
NOTE: If you want users to be aware of the installation by way of a notification on their desktop computer, do not select Suppress program notifications.
On the Windows Installer dialog box, click Import and browse to the directory that contains the EnterpriseWW.msi file, which in this example is \\SCCM\Office2007\Enterprise\Enterprise.WW\EnterpriseWW.msi. After selecting the MSI file, the Windows Installer product code and Windows Installer file fields are populated with the corresponding information associated with the selected MSI file. Click Next and accept the default values on the MOM Maintenance Mode dialog box.
To view the Summary dialog box, click Next. To finish the process of creating the new program, click Next, which will then display the Wizard Completed dialog box. To exit from the New Program Wizard, click Close.
You will now select a distribution point for the package.
To use a server as a distribution point for providing packages to distribute packages to your client computers, you must first designate a site system as a distribution point. In this example, the single site server, named SCCM, was initially configured as both a management point and a distribution point.
To select a distribution point for the newly created package Microsoft Office 2007 English (US), right-click Distribution Points, click New Distribution Points, click Next, and then click the check box for the distribution point (in this example, SCCM). Click Next. Upon completion of the New Distribution Points Wizard, click Close.
The next step is to advertise the package, Microsoft Office 2007 English (US), which now contains both the Configuration Manager 2007 distribution point and program information for deploying a silent installation of the 2007 Office system. Before advertising the package, first verify that it was installed on the distribution point.
For more information about how to verify the status of a package, see “How to View the Status of a Package” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632466.aspx.
To create an advertisement, right-click Advertisements, point to New, and then click Advertisement. On the General dialog box of the New Advertisement Wizard, in Name field, enter Office 2007 . Click the Browse button for the Package field, and click on the package you want to advertise, which in this example is Microsoft Office 2007 English (US), and then click OK. Click the Browse button for the Collection field, click on the collection, which in this example is Target-Computers, click OK, and then click Next.
On the Schedule dialog box, enter the date and time in the Advertisement start time fields for when the advertisement will be available, and then click the asterisk button for Mandatory Assignments.
On the Assignment Schedule dialog box, click the Schedule button and enter the same date and time that you previously entered in the Advertisement start time fields on the Schedule dialog box. To return to the Schedule dialog box, click OK.
On the Schedule dialog box, select the check boxes for Enable Wake On LAN, Ignore maintenance windows when running program, and Allow system restart outside maintenance windows, and then click Next.
Note: In your production environment, there might be policies in place that would require different selections than previously listed for the assignment schedule. For information about these options, see “Advertisement Name Properties: Schedule Tab” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb694016.aspx.
Accept the default values on the Distribution Points, Interaction, Security, and Summary dialog boxes. Upon successful completion of the New Advertisement Wizard, click Close on the Wizard Completed dialog box.
The package will now be advertised to the targeted collection and the silent installation of the 2007 Office system will begin.
For information about how to monitor the status of the advertisement, see “How to View the Status of an Advertisement” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632740.aspx.
For information about Office system installation error codes, see “Error codes for 2007 Office system installations” located at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd347468.aspx.
Resources to assist in understanding and configuring an infrastructure to test the deployment of the 2007 Office system by using Configuration Manager 2007 are included in this section.
“Active Directory Domain Services for Windows Server 2008” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd378891.aspx)
“Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guide for DNS in Small Networks” (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=518d870c-fa3e-4f6a-97f5-acaf31de6dce&DisplayLang=en)
“DNS Server” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732997.aspx)
“DHCP Server” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc896553.aspx)
“Installing SQL Server 2008 (SQL Server Video)” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd299415.aspx)
“SQL Server 2008 Security Overview for Database Administrators” (http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/wp-sql-2008-security.aspx)
“System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 POC Installation Guidelines” (http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/archive/2007/10/30/system-center-configuration-manager-sccm-2007-poc-installation-guidelines.aspx)
“Configuration Manager Single Site Planning and Deployment” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680961.aspx)
“Planning and Deploying Clients for Configuration Manager 2007” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680373.aspx)
“Setup reference for the 2007 Office system” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179099.aspx)
“How to obtain a volume license key for enterprise editions of Office 2007 and Office 2003” (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828378)
Ok, you can use Help|About (in previous versions, anyway--in Office 2007, you click the Office Button, then Program-Name Options, then Resources, then About) to find out what version of Office 2007 you're running. However, this can be misleading, because hotfixes or public updates can contain fixes that are provided in the latest service pack, and these may or may not change the version number in the About Microsoft Program_Name dialog box.
For a more reliable evaluation, do one of the following:
C:\Program Files \Microsoft Office\Office12 for Office programsC:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12 for the Mso.dll file The original release and service packs of the 2007 Office programs have the following executable file names and version numbers: Office 2007 product File name Original release version SP1 version 2007 Microsoft Office suite Mso.dll 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6213.1000 Microsoft Office Access 2007 Msaccess.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Excel.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6214.1000 Microsoft Office Groove 2007 Groove.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007 InfoPath.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6214.1000 Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 OneNote.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Outlook.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6212.1000 Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 PowerPnt.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office Project 2007 WinProj.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 Mspub.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Spdesign.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office Word 2007 WinWord.exe 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000 Microsoft Office Visio 2007 VisLib.dll 12.0.4518.1014 12.0.6211.1000
C:\Program Files \Microsoft Office\Office12 for Office programsC:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12 for the Mso.dll file
The original release and service packs of the 2007 Office programs have the following executable file names and version numbers:
Office 2007 product
File name
Original release version
SP1 version
2007 Microsoft Office suite
Mso.dll
12.0.4518.1014
12.0.6213.1000
Microsoft Office Access 2007
Msaccess.exe
12.0.6211.1000
Microsoft Office Excel 2007
Excel.exe
12.0.6214.1000
Microsoft Office Groove 2007
Groove.exe
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
InfoPath.exe
Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
OneNote.exe
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
Outlook.exe
12.0.6212.1000
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
PowerPnt.exe
Microsoft Office Project 2007
WinProj.exe
Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
Mspub.exe
Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
Spdesign.exe
Microsoft Office Word 2007
WinWord.exe
Microsoft Office Visio 2007
VisLib.dll
For more information, see KB928116 (Office 2007), KB821549 (Office 2003), KB291331 (Office XP), and KB255275 (Office 2000).
- Andrea Weiss
Well, I guess you learn something new every day if you don't watch it. I just stumbled across this KB article that tells you to press CTRL+SHIFT+I when you get an error message in an Office 2007 program. Doing this makes an alert ID appear at the bottom right of the error message. You can then search on this alert ID at support.microsoft.com to help diagnose and fix the error.
Handily enough, I walked in this morning to find this error message in an open instance of Word, and pressed CTRL+SHIFT+I. Voila, an alert ID appeared on the bottom right:
A search for "200802" on support.microsoft.com revealed that this was likely due to security updates. Closing and restarting Word fixed the problem.
- Andrea
Whew, the title for this was just too long to use for this post, so here's the whole thing:
Momentum Webcast: Improving Visibility into Organizational Performance (Part 1 of 4): Delivering Business Intelligence Capabilities with PerformancePoint Server 2007 (Level 100)
According to the event description, this Webcast covers not only PerformancePoint, but other solutions, as well--ones you might already have. Here's the full description:
The key to successful performance management is based on bringing together people, processes, and technology in a way that allows an organization to align around its strategic goals and objectives, promoting agility in its decision making. In this four-part webcast series, we take a deep look into performance management solutions to help you gain an understanding of their role in your organization. You also hear from a Microsoft expert about how you can improve performance management using many of the solutions you already own.
Presenter: Andy Kamlet, Director of Technical Product Management for Business Intelligence, Microsoft Corporation.
Andy Kamlet is the director of technical product management for business intelligence at Microsoft. He is responsible for leading the product management initiatives related to Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, including the product positioning and messaging, the product road map, market research, competitive intelligence, and the customer technology adoption and enterprise adoption programs. Andy began working for Microsoft in 2001 when the company acquired FRx Software Corporation where he was vice president of marketing and sales. At FRx, Andy was responsible for product strategy, channel sales, product management, product marketing, and marketing communications. Andy's career has focused on software and technology services marketing to support a wide variety of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, retail, health care, and technology infrastructure. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Drake University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Colorado.
Deployment in a nutshell is often asked.
How do we deploy? What is the easiest way to deploy?
We recently published a series of four home grown videos for your viewing pleasure. These videos were designed to help you understand the benefits of Office 2007 and the ways to deploy Microsoft Office 2007.
Video 1 : Introduction to the Microsoft Office 2007 Product
The purpose of these videos is to introduce you to Microsoft Office 2007, to describe all the benefits and the changes that have happened since Office 2003 and the previous versions of Office. We look into the deployment management services and how they work, how they can be employed in your organizations and also to help you articulate the benefits of Office 2007 to your organization.
Video 2: Introducting Microsoft Office 2007
Introducing Microsoft Office 2007 looks into both end user benefits and also benefits to the IT administrator. You’ll find some good tips and tricks there for both using Office and deploying Office within your organizations.
Video 3: Microsoft Office Deployment
This second video is an in depth look into Microsoft Office 2007 Deployment management, how you can deploy it, how you can manage it, how you can make the best use of all the new Office features within the organization.
Video 4: Migrating to Microsoft Office 2007
Migrating to Office 2007 goes over all the things you need to think of with the new file formats, the new user interface, whether you need to focus on document migration, macros, or add ins and solutions.
Video 5: Introduction to the Microsoft Office and Virtualization
An Introduction to new Virtualization technologies and how they can be used to deploy and manage Microsoft Office 2007.
Check them out and let us know what you think!
What is the difference between using an Office Viewer and using the Office Compatibility Pack ? Then what is Office Compatibility Mode?
Simply put - Office Viewers can be downloaded to open, view and print Office 2000/XP/2003 files. So if you are working on a document and decide to email a copy of it to someone who does not have Office at all? The answer for them is an Office Viewer.
But what if you are working in the latest Office 2007 release and decide to share your document with another colleague who hasn’t set up their box with the newest version yet? They are still working in an older release. What to do? Well, there are two options:
You can use Save As to save the document to a 97-2003 version. On first save, Compatibility Mode will alert you of any items that won’t render properly in earlier versions, if any, and block incompatible functions in the future.
Or…
You can have the person working in XP/2003 download the free Office Compatibility pack in order to open, edit and save the file.
Office Compatibility Mode automatically starts when you use Office 2007 and open a document created in a previous version of Office.
The Office Compatibility Pack contains viewers and converters so that people working in Office XP/2003 can open, edit and save files in the Office 2007 file formats.
A few things to note are the enhanced features that might not operate the same in Office 2007 when opened in an earlier version. Check out some of those features for Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
For a detailed list of features impacted by compatibility mode, check out the following article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178998.aspx
Have you been working with the Office Migration Planning Manager (OMPM) and running into an issue where ther date accessed was changing?
There is a new OMPM download that can be found http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960405
With this new hotfix to the OMPM Tool, you can now have the option to run with a new syntax that will not change your date field - " /d "
Have you been checking out the articles on TechNet? Perhaps you left a comment, had a question, or simply were hoping for something to be added to answer a particular scenario you experienced.
Our team looks at those and addresses the issues - but we dont have a direct way of contacting the individual to let them know, unless there is an email address left in the comment.
So for those of you with the latest Access questions/comments, here they are!
Q - How do you open an Access 2003 database using Access 2007, when the Access 2003 database has workgroup security enabled. Since Access 2007 comes with no workgroup administrator, how can you join the workgroup to open the 2003 database?
A - You can still run the administrator, it just isn't on the Ribbon. Check out What happened to user-level security?
Q - When are linked tables better or worse than .ADP?
A - Everything you wanted to know about ADP's ("Access projects") is here,
Stay tuned for more updates coming your way....
One of my favorite Microsoft sites to browse through is the IT Showcase by our own IT department (MS IT). On Friday, MS IT published a new download you might find useful, Creating a Systemized Approach to Regulatory Compliance at Microsoft, which contains two whitepapers on how Microsoft is streamlining regulatory compliance.
All companies face legal and regulatory challenges in information security, privacy, reliability, and business integrity. These often require major changes to systems and processes that can be expensive and time-consuming. To deal with the complexity of such compliance programs as SOX, HIPAA, and PCI, Microsoft needed to develop an overall regulatory compliance framework that could address current regulations as well as support future regulations. The goal was to create a long-term, holistic strategy for compliance rather than creating ad-hoc processes and tools to address specific requirements.
Microsoft ended up merging some regulatory controls across multiple compliance programs to avoid duplication of efforts, and created processes for ensuring accountability. These are some of the best practices identified in the two whitepapers:
Be sure to read both whitepapers in this download for more best practices!
Each of the Security Compliance Management Toolkits includes the following components:
AddInSpy is a diagnostic tool that detects all registered Microsoft Office add-ins on a computer and reports information about the add-ins. The tool works with all versions of Microsoft Office applications that support COM add-ins, as well as all types of COM add-ins. The tool is available as a free (unsupported) download on the MSDN Code Gallery at http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/AddInSpy/.
The tool is intended to be used while developing add-ins for 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft Office XP, or Microsoft Office 2000. You can also use it to troubleshoot issues with deployed add-ins. AS, a scriptable console version of the add-in scanner is also available.
The requirements for AddInSpy include:
· Microsoft .NET CLR 2.0 and Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.
· AddInSpy and AS do not require administrative privileges to run.
· On computers running Windows Vista, AddInSpy and AS work with user account control either on or off.
· AddInSpy and AS are both 32-bit applications. They run on either 32-bit or 64-bit editions of Windows. The first release of the tool targets 32-bit Office, and will not work with 64-bit Office.
The following table lists the options for configuring the scan. These options are located on the command bar at the top of the AddInSpy window.
Option
Description
Hosts
Lists the Microsoft Office host applications for which you can perform the scan.
You can select any Microsoft Office host application that supports COM add-ins, that is: Microsoft Office Access, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office FrontPage, Microsoft Office InfoPath, Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, Microsoft Office Project, Microsoft Office Publisher, Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer, Microsoft Office Visio or Microsoft Office Word.
Scans
Provides a list of scan types.
You can specify whether AddInSpy should scan the HKCU and/or HKLM registry hives; add-ins registered to remote locations (UNC and HTTP); extensibility interfaces implemented in managed add-ins; extensibility interfaces implemented in native add-ins; the disabled items list for this user for each selected application; and Office Outlook custom form regions registered against each add-in.
Note that scanning remote add-ins may be slow, especially if the network connection is slow. Also, if the network or remote location cannot be found, this is reported as an error in the Status description field.
Refresh
Performs a complete scan or re-scan, using the current settings.
Forces an immediate re-scans when any of the other options are changed.
Report
Provides a list of information to output to the report: either computer and user context information or add-in information, or both.
Produces a report to a file on disk.
Help
Displays a Help document in a Web browser window.
Note that for this to work, the file AddInSpy.mht must be in the same folder as AddInSpy.exe.
The status bar at the bottom of the AddInSpy main window displays the context information. This information includes the computer name, the current user’s domain user-name, the operating system version and service pack number, and the status of the VSTO_SUPPRESSDISPLAYALERTS and VSTO_LOGALERTS environment variables. Note that the Refresh feature also refreshes the computer and user information, but environment variables are not refreshed during the process run.
AS is the scriptable console version of the add-in scanner and offers the same options as AddInSpy. To perform a scan with AS, you specify command line arguments for the options you want to include in the scan, and a report is produced automatically. The following table lists the commands.
Abbreviation
hosts
H
The comma-separated list following this option specifies the Microsoft Office application hosts to include in the scan. The following values are allowed in this list:
· Office Access
· Office Excel
· Office InfoPath
· Office Outlook
· Office PowerPoint
· Office Project
· Office Publisher
· Office SharePointDesigner (note no space)
· Office Visio
· Office Word
report
R
The comma-separated list following this option specifies the types of data to include in the report. The following values are allowed in this list:
· context
· addins
scans
S
The comma-separated list following this option specifies the types of scan to perform. The following values are allowed in this list:
· HKCU
· HKLM
· Remote
· ManagedInterfaces
· NativeInterfaces
· DisabledItems
· FormRegions
output
O
The single argument following this option specifies the filename to use for the scan report. This may be a simple filename, in which case it is saved to the current directory or, it can be a fully-qualified path.
If no output option is provided, the report defaults to a file name made up from the IP address of the computer and the current user’s user/domain name (for example, baad.f00d.beef.f00f.fefe%10_andrew@MYDOMAIN.xml). It is placed on the current user’s desktop.
For detailed information about using AddInSpy, to see examples and learn about known issues and limitations, see Using AddinSpy and AS Diagnostic Tools for Microsoft Office Add-ins (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc984533.aspx).
An update to the ORK article "Add or remove languages after deploying the 2007 Office system" will be published March 5th. In the meantime, what follows is a preview of the changes. Why the change? Adding a language by modifying an existing Office 2007 installation is no longer recommended - and that is because it doesn't consistently work. So instead, you'll want to add languages by treating them as a separate product - which means you edit the language pack's config.xml file and run the language pack Setup. Also I've added a separate section for remove as per user request or um...complaints. That is pretty much the same process as was indicated before. If you added the language pack with the Office Setup you can remove the same way (with Office Setup and config.xml). If you added the language as a separate product, you remove it the same way (with the language pack Setup and config.xml). Specific instructions below! Holler if anything is unclear.
- Cat
Deploy language packs
If you deployed multiple 2007 Office system release products in your organization and you need to add more language support, you can deploy language packs as separate products. In this case, Setup installs language-specific elements for every product in the 2007 Office system. No matter which products users have installed, users can access the additional language versions.
For this deployment method to work, there must be at least one 2007 Office system product installed on the computer that you are deploying to.
When you deploy language packs separately, you must consider the amount of disk space that is required on users' computers. For example, the English language pack requires 600 MB for both the language pack and the installation files that are stored in the local installation source. The Japanese language pack requires 1,000 MB.
1. Copy all the files and folders in the new language pack from the source media to a location on the network. If you are using a Multilanguage Pack, you can copy just the files and folders for the languages that you want to install. When you are prompted to overwrite Setup files, click No.
You must complete the following steps for each language that you want to install.
2. In the core product folder for the language pack that you are installing, locate the Config.xml file.
For example, if you are installing the Russian language pack, find the Config.xml file in the OMUI.ru-ru folder.
3. Open Config.xml in a text editor, such as Notepad.
4. Find the <Display> element. Uncomment the line by deleting the opening <!-- and closing --> tags.
5. Set the value of the Level to “basic” or “none”, CompletionNotice to “yes”, SuppressModal to “yes”, and AcceptEula to “yes”.
The line should look like this:
Copy Code
<Display Level="basic" CompletionNotice="yes" SuppressModal="yes" AcceptEula="yes" />
6. Find the <AddLanguage> element. Uncomment the line by deleting the opening <!-- and closing --> tags.
7. Set the value of the Id attribute to the language tag that corresponds to the language that you want to install.
For example, to add the Russian language version, the line should look like this:
<AddLanguage Id="ru-ru" />
8. Save the Config.xml file. Run the language pack Setup from the root of the network installation point for the Multilanguage Pack or Single Language Pack (SLP), and specify the path of your modified Config.xml file on the command line. For example:
\\server\share\Office12\SLP\Setup.exe /Config \\server\share\Office12\SLP\RU\OMUI.ru-ru\Config.xml
where Office12\SLP is the root of the network installation point for the language packs and RU is the language folder name.
You must complete the previous steps for each language that you want to install.
Language-specific elements for Microsoft Office Project 2007 and Microsoft Office Visio 2007 are installed separately. In each language pack, the core product folder for Office Project 2007 is PMUI.ll-cc. The core product folder for Office Visio 2007 is VisMUI.ll-cc.
For information about how to create a network installation point with multiple languages, see Customize and deploy multiple language versions of the 2007 Office system.
For a complete list of language tags, see Language identifiers in the 2007 Office system.
To deploy these languages for new 2007 Office system installations, see Specify which languages to install and re-create any existing customization MSP files. A static list of the products contained in the installation source is built only during the initial creation of a customization patch. If you later add more languages to the installation source, the existing patch is not updated to reflect this change.
Remove language packs
The steps to remove language packs are similar to the deployment of language packs. Instead of using the <AddLanguage> tag, use the <RemoveLanguage> tag.
You must complete the following steps for each language that you want to remove.
1. If the language was deployed with the Office product (not as a separate product), locate the Config.xml file in the core product folder for the product that you are updating.
For example, if you are removing languages from an installation of Microsoft Office Standard 2007, find the Config.xml file in the Standard.WW folder.
Otherwise, locate the Config.xml file in the core product folder for the language pack that you are removing.
For example, if you are removing the Russian language pack, find the Config.xml file in the OMUI.ru-ru folder.
2. Open Config.xml in a text editor, such as Notepad.
3. Find the <Display> element. Uncomment the line by deleting the opening <!-- and closing --> tags.
4. Set the value of the Level to “basic” or “none”, CompletionNotice to “yes”, SuppressModal to “yes”, and AcceptEula to “yes”.
5. Find the <AddLanguage> element. If it is in the file, comment out the line by adding opening <!-- and closing --> tags around the element.
<!-- <AddLanguage Id="ru-ru" /> -->
6. Add the <RemoveLanguage> element.
7. Set the value of the Id attribute to the language tag that corresponds to the language that you want to remove.
For example, to remove the Russian language version, the line should look like this:
<RemoveLanguage Id="ru-ru" />
8. Save the Config.xml file.
9. If you edited the Config.xml file in the core product folder, run Setup.exe and specify the path of your modified Config.xml file.
You must use a fully qualified path. For example:
\\server\share\Office12\Setup.exe /Config\\server\share\Office12\Standard.WW\Config.xml
where Office12 is the root of the network installation point.
Otherwise, run the language pack Setup from the root of the network installation point for the Multilanguage Pack or Single Language Pack (SLP), and specify the path of your modified Config.xml file on the command line. For example:
You must complete the previous steps for each language that you want to remove.
The following cumulative update was released on December 16, 2008. For more information, see Cumulative update packages for the 2007 Microsoft Office core suite applications and for 2007 Microsoft Office servers: December 16, 2008 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960709).
For more information about the 2007 Office suite bugs and to request the hotfix downloads, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Hotfix package name
Knowledge Base article number
Product
OMPM
956137 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956137/ ) Description of the Office Migration Planning Manager (OMPM) hotfix package (Offscan.exe): October 28, 2008
OCT
958651 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958651/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package: October 28, 2008
project.msp
959381 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959381/ ) Description of the Project 2007 hotfix package: November 12, 2008
Project
ifswfe.msp
959382 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959382/ ) Description of the Forms Server 2007 hotfix package: November 11, 2008
InfoPath
ime32.msp, ime64.msp (Japanese)
959636 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959636/ ) Description of the Input Method Editor (Japanese) 2007 hotfix package (Ime32-ja-jp.msp, Ime64-ja-jp.msp): December 16, 2008
Input Method Editor
coreserver.msp
959637 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959637/ ) Description of the SharePoint Server 2007 hotfix package (Coreserver.msp): December 16, 2008
MOSS/Search
ipeditor.msp, infopath.msp
959638 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959638/ ) Description of the InfoPath 2007 hotfix package (Infopath.msp): December 16, 2008
959639 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959639/ ) Description of the Forms Server 2007 hotfix package (Ifswfe.msp): December 16, 2008
excel.msp, xlconv.msp, oartconv.msp, oart.msp
959640 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959640/ ) Description of the Excel 2007 hotfix package (Excel.msp, Xlconv.msp, Oartconv.msp, Oart.msp): December 16, 2008
Excel and Graphics
excel.msp, xlconv.msp, xlview.msp
959641 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959641/ ) Description of the Excel 2007 hotfix package (Excel.msp, Xlconv.msp, Xlview.msp): December 16, 2008
Excel Viewer
Outlook.msp
959642 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959642/ ) Description of the Outlook 2007 hotfix package (Mso.msp,Outlook.msp): December 16, 2008
Outlook
Project.msp
959643 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959643/ ) Description of the Project 2007 hotfix package (Project.msp): December 16, 2008
sts.msp
959644 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959644/ ) Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 hotfix package (Sts.msp): December 16, 2008
WSS
Word.msp
959645 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959645/ ) Description of the Word 2007 hotfix package (Word.msp, Wordconv.msp): December 16, 2008
Word
mso.msp
959647 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959647/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Mso.msp): December 16, 2008
Office Core
WSS uber-package
960010 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960010/ ) Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 cumulative update package (WSS server-package): December 16, 2008
MOSS uber-package
960011 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960011/ ) Description of the SharePoint Server 2007 cumulative update package (MOSS server-package): December 16, 2008
MOSS
960053 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960053/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Mso.msp): November 19, 2008
access.msp
960307 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960307/ ) Description of the Access 2007 hotfix package (Access.msp): December 16, 2008
Access
mstore.msp
960308 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960308/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Mstore.msp): December 16, 2008
AWS
oart.msp, oartconv.msp
960310 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960310/ ) Description of the 2007 Office hotfix package (Oart.msp, Oartconv.msp): December 16, 2008
Graphics
SPD.msp
960311 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960311/ ) Description of the SharePoint Designer 2007 hotfix package (Spd.msp): December 16, 2008
SharePoint Designer
PowerPoint.msp
960312 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960312/ ) Description of the PowerPoint 2007 hotfix package (PowerPoint.msp): December 16, 2008
PowerPoint
pjsrvapp.msp, pjsrvwfe.msp
960313 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960313/ ) Description of the Project Server 2007 hotfix package (Pjsrvapp.msp, Pjsrvwfe.msp): December 16, 2008
Project Server
WSSmui.msp
960314 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960314/ ) Description of the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 hotfix package (Wssmui.msp): December 16, 2008
960404 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960404/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (OCT): December 16, 2008
960405 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960405/ ) Description of the Office Migration Planning Manager hotfix package (OMPM): December 16, 2008
ime32.msp, ime64.msp (Korean)
960497 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960497/ ) Description of the Input Method Editor (Korean) 2007 hotfix package (Ime32-ko-kr.msp, Ime64-ko-kr.msp): Decemeber 16, 2008
msdaipp.msp
960498 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960498/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (msdaipp.msp): December 16, 2008
ipeditor.msp, infopath.msp, powerpoint.msp, mso.msp
960499 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960499/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Infopath.msp, Ipeditor.msp, Mso.msp, Powerpoint.msp): December 16, 2008
nlgmsproof.msp, proof.msp (German)
960500 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960500/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Nlgmsproof.msp, Proof-de-de.msp): December 16, 2008
Proofing Tools
cpao.msp
960501 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960501/ ) Description of the Outlook 2007 hotfix package (Cpao.msp): December 16, 2008
Outlook Calendar Printing Assistant
offfiltx.msp, onifilter.msp, visfilter.msp
960502 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960502/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Offfiltx.msp, Onifilter.msp, Visfilter.msp): December 16, 2008
iFilter Pack
xmleditverb.msp
960534 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960534/ ) Description of the 2007 Office system hotfix package (Xmleditverb.msp): December 16, 2008
outlook.msp, mso.msp
960535 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960535/ ) Description of the Outlook 2007 hotfix package (Mso.msp, Outlook.msp): December 16, 2008
960930 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960930/ ) Description of the Word 2007 hotfix package (Wordconv.msp): December 16, 2008
Updated Microsoft Office protocol documentation is available for download. It provides detailed technical specifications for Microsoft proprietary protocols (including extensions to industry-standard or other published protocols) that are used by Microsoft Office 2007 to communicate with other Microsoft products.
The documentation is designed to describe each protocol in detail as it is used by Microsoft Office. Each protocol specification documents the technical requirements, limitations, dependencies, and Microsoft-specific protocol behavior.
The documentation also includes a set of companion overview and reference documents that supplement the technical specifications with conceptual background, overviews of inter-protocol relationships and interactions, and technical reference information.
The documentation contains:
Overview documents
Protocol documents for Microsoft Office
Reference documents
You can also view the documentation online on MSDN and participate in the Open Specifications forum.
Twitter: @MSOfficeResKitFacebook: Office Resource Kit page
Today Microsoft just released the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. It checks your computer for malicious software, such as Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom (for a full list, see KB 890830, and helps to remove it. Updated versions of the tool will be released on the second Tuesday of each month.
To have the newest versions automatically delivered and installed as soon as they are released, set Automatic Updates to Automatic. The version of this tool delivered by Windows Update runs on your computer once a month in the background. If it finds an infection, the tool will display a status report the next time you start your computer.
Note that this is not a substitute for anti-virus software, which you should also have installed on your computer.
When I ran the tool, it finished with this message:
Clicking on View detailed results of the scan brought up a list of malware, and if you click on one of them, it brings up a description from Microsoft's malware protection site:
Hi all, as of last weekend, we have a Twitter account for our team, and boy, has it taken off! Please follow us on Twitter @MSOfficeResKit and we'll follow you back. You can tweet any posts you like here by clicking Tweet This on the left, below our rather long list of tags. It will automatically create a link with tinyurl.com for you.
Andrea
[Updated to include MS09-002 on February 15, 2009]
The following security updates were released on February 10, 2009. For more information and to download updates, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for February 2009.
Bulletin Number
Affected Software
Rating
MS09-002
Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (961260)
Windows XP Professional, Internet Explorer 7.0, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008
Critical
MS09-003
Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Could Allow Remote Code Execution (959239)
Exchange 2000 Server, Exchange Server 2003, Exchange Server 2007
MS09-004
Vulnerability in Microsoft SQL Server Could Allow Remote Code Execution (959420)
Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2000, Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE), SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
Important
MS09-005
Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Visio Could Allow Remote Code Execution (957634)
Visio 2002, Visio 2003, Visio 2007
To see the webcast for these updates, click here (scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, 2009 11:00 AM Pacific Time). The webcast is scheduled to last approximately 90 minutes.
Keith Wilson, Executive and Senior Consultant, Project Management Practice, Inc. demonstrates how Microsoft Office Project 2007 helps you manage scope creep during the implementation of a project by communicating the impact that changes have on the triple constraints of cost, time, and scope. He shows you how to use Project 2007 to easily create custom views complete with tables, filters, and groups that immediately show the impact of change.
Register for this webcast here. It is scheduled for Monday, February 16, 2009 10:00 AM Pacific Time. If you miss the original webcast, be sure to visit the site again to view it on demand.
Keith Wilson is an executive at Project Management Practice, Inc., where he has worked since 1986. Keith has more than 20 years of management and consulting experience that includes project management, training, marketing, strategic alliances, and business planning across many industries. He has managed complex, multimillion dollar projects and provided in-depth business analysis to industries ranging from high tech to retail. Keith holds a master's degree in business administration, a bachelor of commerce degree, and is a certified trainer in FranklinCovey Project Management.
John Sheehan, Architect of Microsoft's Application Virtualization (SoftGrid) technology, goes deep into its architecture and engineering in this video on Channel 9. This is more of a 400-level discussion. For introductory information, see the Application Virtualization site or the Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Trial Guides.
Applications are normally installed directly into an operating system. Because they write to shared system files, applications can often conflict with each other, usually due to DLL or registry overwrites. Microsoft's Application Virtualization creates application-specific copies of all shared resources, so there aren't any changes to files or registry settings on the local machine.
In case this is your first experience with Channel 9, I highly recommend poking around on the site for awhile. Channel 9 is a conversation place for Microsoft and customers to talk in an honest and open atmosphere.
Microsoft's support team just started their new automated Fix it solutions in their KB articles. Now when you come across a KB article with one of these guys on it (I call him Joe), you can click the button, and a script fixes the problem for you. If you want to do it yourself, you can still follow the instructions in the article. They're also adding Fix it to Windows Error Reporting, so that, where possible, instead of just sending a report to Microsoft, the issue will be solved automatically.
They started out with just a few, but they're adding new ones all the time (check out their blog for the whole list--78 posts in January alone). Be sure to join their group on Facebook, too!
Earlier this week, Microsoft released the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP), the evolved version of the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool. MAP is an inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can simplify your migration to the following: Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 (formerly SoftGrid), Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Online Services, Forefront/NAP.
MAP is agentless, so you don't have to install software agents on all your computers before using it. You can use it in small, medium, or large environments.
MAP's hardware assessment looks at the installed hardware and determines if migration is recommended. If it isn't recommended, the reports tell you why not.
MAP's device assessment looks at the devices installed on a computer and reports availability of drivers for those devices. Device assessment is provided for both Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista migration scenarios.
If you're interested in server consolidation and virtualization through technologies such as Hyper-V or Virtual Server 2005 R2, MAP helps to gather performance metrics and generate server consolidation recommendations that identify the candidates for server virtualization and how the physical servers might be placed in a virtualized environment.
MAP generates reports containing both summary and detailed assessment results in both Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word documents. Reports are generated for the following:
Hi all, just a quick note to tell you about a new site on TechNet, Reduce IT Costs with the Microsoft Office System. This site includes useful articles, case studies, white papers, and external resources to help you weather the economy and reduce enterprise IT costs.
You can find out how Unified Communications can save your company millions per year, learn more about virtualizing your environment, and reduce costs by standardizing PCs and security.
Also, be sure to visit the new IT Business Value Blog, where the article ROI is Dead - Long Live ROI! offers some interesting insights on just what variables should factor into the ROI equation.
The Office User Assistance team has done an awesome job of gathering and producing tips & tricks that can help your users learn how to perform both easy and complex tasks on their Office Tips & Tricks Web site. These come in the form of many helpful videos as well as written instructions. You can even sign up to have Office tips delivered by e-mail monthly here (note--this page directs you to the sign-up page, where you'll need to register in order to receive the e-mails).
Here are a few of my favorites--at least ones I've used recently because...well, let's just say sometimes I'm a little bit Excel-challenged:
It's definitely worth perusing this site to find videos that you think might be useful to link to from training sites or Web pages that you create for your users.