Great writeup by Daniel Petri:

Ever have a performance problem, but don't know what performance counters to collect or how to analyze them? The PAL (Performance Analysis of Logs) tool is a new and powerful tool that reads in a performance monitor counter log (any known format) and analyzes it using complex, but known thresholds (that are provided). The tool comes out-of-the-box with some predefined thresholds defined as high according to the Microsoft consulting/development but those can be adjusted to whatever you like.

The tool generates an HTML based report which graphically charts important performance counters and throws alerts when thresholds are exceeded. The thresholds are originally based on thresholds defined by the Microsoft product teams and members of Microsoft support, but continue to be expanded by this ongoing project. This tool is not a replacement of traditional performance analysis, but it automates the analysis of performance counter logs enough to save you time.

Features

• Thresholds files for most of the major Microsoft products such as IIS, MOSS, SQL Server, BizTalk, Exchange, and Active Directory.
• An easy to use GUI interface which makes creating batch files for the PAL.vbs script.
• A GUI editor for creating or editing your own threshold files.
• Creates an HTML based report for ease of copy/pasting into other applications.
• Analyzes performance counter logs for thresholds using thresholds that change their criteria based on the computer's role or hardware specs.

Read the rest of the article (with screenshots) here: http://www.petri.co.il/analyze-windows-performance-logs.htm

Downloads are available here: http://www.codeplex.com/PAL

PAL Requirements:

Some highlights...

Windows Media Services 2008 for Windows Server 2008

This software is an optional supplement to Windows Server 2008. In Windows Server 2008, the Streaming Media Services role (which includes the latest version of Windows Media Services) and remote administration tools are not included in Server Manager. To obtain the new features and tools available in Windows Media Services for Windows Server 2008, such as the built-in WMS Cache/Proxy plug-in, you must obtain and run the appropriate Streaming Media Services role installer file on the updated platform.
These Microsoft Update Standalone Package (MSU) files install either 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) versions (as noted in the file names) of:

• Windows Media Services and the rest of the Streaming Media Services role in Server Manager, on “full” installations of Standard and Enterprise editions of Windows Server 2008
• The Streaming Media Services Server Core role, on “Server Core” installations of Standard and Enterprise editions of Windows Server 2008
• The Windows Media Services snap-in for Microsoft Management Console (MMC) on a computer that is running the Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate edition of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system

Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008

The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help corporate IT professionals customize and deploy the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 family of operation systems. The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is a set of tools and documentation that support the configuration and the deployment of Windows operating systems. By using Windows AIK, you can perform unattended Windows installations, capture Windows images with ImageX, and create Windows PE images.

Watch Michael Niehaus walk through the process here.

SCCP 2007 just RTM'd and is now freely available for all to download.  Previously, this tool was available only for TechNet Plus and MSDN Premium subscribers, but now it's available for all.

The new version adds the following new capabilities:

• Application model for Exchange Server 2007
• Extensibility with new models from Microsoft, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.  A model for System Center Operations Manager 2007 will be available soon.
• New, more powerful deployment wizards deliver unprecedented ease of use
• Support for 64-bit processor architectures
• Comprehensive reporting of disk IO and storage utilizations
• Increased flexibility in customizing server usage profiles

SharePoint Capacity Planning Tool

The SharePoint Capacity Planning Tool is a set of free models of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). The two models use the analysis and simulation features of System Center Capacity Planner 2007 (SCCP) to help you explore suitable IT infrastructure options for your SharePoint deployment, based on the SharePoint usage requirements for your organization that you provide to the tool. It can give you a head start on planning your SharePoint topology by producing a first approximation of the topology your organization needs. Architects, systems integrators, and deployment engineers will find it to be a valuable starting point for further refinements of the topology.

Features:

• Built-in knowledge of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Built-in knowledge of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
• Recommended topology in a Graphical User Interface
• Export topology to Visio and server configuration to Excel
• Create custom hardware

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Virtual Machine

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Virtual Machine. This demo is a one computer setup with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and associated Microsoft Dynamics CRM clients for Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
This demonstration also contains Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft Office Communications Server and client, Microsoft SharePoint services, and Microsoft PerformancePoint Server 2007. Full details about the image are included in the virtual machine itself.

That should keep you busy for a while.  What are you waiting for? Get downloading!

Good stuff! And the price ($0.00) is right :)

You can download a DVD ISO with the bits here, or the setup files here.

The Visual Studio 2008 Express Editions all-in-one DVD includes:

Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition enables developers to rapidly create Web applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. This new version enables cool fun features that build on the latest technologies including AJAX, CSS, LINQ and JavaScript IntelliSense.
Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition and Visual C# 2008 Express Edition enables developers to rapidly create Windows applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. These new versions enable cool fun features that build on the latest technologies including WPF, WCF and LINQ.
Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition is the development environment for creating native Windows applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. This new version includes an easy installation of the Windows Platform SDK.
Also included is SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and MSDN Express documentation.
For information about the different tools of the Visual Studio Express Editions visit the Visual Studio 2008 Express website. Additional resources can be found at Beginner Developer Learning Center and the Coding4Fun websites.

I have previously mentioned some free training that is available for SharePoint here: http://blogs.technet.com/seanearp/archive/2007/12/07/sharepoint-training.aspx

The one thing that was lacking, however, was training for SharePoint Designer, which is really needed to make SharePoint sing.  The combination of SharePoint, Designer, and Visual Studio will allow you to do just about anything but wash dishes.  SharePoint is really the server equivalent of Excel (it does everything!).  Unfortunately, to date there has been not as much training available on SharePoint Designer as I would like to have seen.  Fortunately, that changes today! (and as always... it's free)

Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Training Standalone Edition

Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Training Portal Edition

From the overview:

The Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Training (Standalone Edition) leads the learner step-by-step through SharePoint Designer features using easy to understand videos. Built with the SharePoint platform integration in mind and engineered to work efficiently with Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Designer will help you customize your SharePoint sites to make it an even more powerful tool for productivity. SharePoint Designer is the ideal tool for Information Workers to build composite applications, design and customize workflows and tailor SharePoint sites to their branding needs.

If you are a server administrator and want to install the Portal Edition to your Office SharePoint Server site, click here. The Portal Edition allows you to add or remove content to help your users learn about Office SharePoint Designer.

Useful for diagramming your new OCS 2007 topology!

Get them here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=543705f6-d02a-436e-8b34-5c796550022a&displaylang=en&tm

The NAP team has just released a Step-by-Step guide to setting up IPsec NAP Enforcement in a Test Lab.

This paper contains an introduction to NAP and instructions for setting up a test lab and deploying NAP with the IPsec enforcement method using two server computers and two client computers. The test lab lets you create and enforce client health requirements using NAP and IPsec.

The test lab consists of an intranet network assigned a private IP address range of 192.168.0.0/24 that is connected by a hub or switch.

In the test lab, NPS1 is on the boundary network, CLIENT1 is on the secure network, and CLIENT2 moves between the secure and restricted network, depending on its health status.

Download the rest of the guide here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=298ff956-1e6c-4d97-a3ed-7e7ffc4bed32&displaylang=en&tm

Related Resources

1. NAP Product Team blog
2. Microsoft Network Access Protection Web page
3. Network Access Protection: Frequently Asked Questions
4. Introduction to Network Access Protection white paper

Just saw this over on Brian Jones' Blog, and I'm surprised this hasn't made more of a splash on the interwebs...  Microsoft has just released the specification documentation for our binary Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file formats.  This means that if you write another office program like OpenOffice, Lotus Symphony, StarOffice, etc., you can ensure that your app can read and write the Microsoft Office Binary file formats exactly as they were intended.

The binary documentation itself is available up here: http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/OfficeBinaryFormats.mspx

• Word 97-2007 Binary File Format (.doc) Specification PDF | XPS
• PowerPoint 97-2007 Binary File Format (.ppt) Specification PDF | XPS
• Excel 97-2007 Binary File Format (.xls) Specification PDF | XPS
• Office Drawing 97-2007 Binary Format Specification PDF | XPS

It's all covered under the Open Specification Promise.

One of the coolest new features of Windows Server 2008 is the new Terminal Services Gateway feature.  As always, we run our software in production at Microsoft before it is released, and TS Gateway is no exception (I'm using it as we speak!).  The Microsoft IT (MSIT) team has written up a white paper on lessons learned with their deployment.

Executive Summary

Like many large organizations, Microsoft has a geographically dispersed work force. With more than 78,000 employees in 78 countries worldwide, Microsoft faces continual challenges with making corporate information easily available to workers from remote locations and with ensuring that important internal company information is as secure as possible.

Although the vast majority of Microsoft employees have individual personal computers available from which to access company resources, the following two situations frequently occur at Microsoft:

· Staff members need to access internal company resources from home or from a remote location.

· Staff members who are involved in meetings or presentations at remote locations require quick access to internal company resources.

These resources may include any of the following:

· Documents that are located on internal servers at Microsoft.

· Internal business programs that are available only from inside the corporate network.

· Personal workstations that contain important files or programs. For example, developers at Microsoft often need to connect to their individual workstations from remote locations to access programming tools or code.

To meet these requirements, Microsoft maintains a Windows® Terminal Services environment. This environment enables staff members to log on to the Microsoft corporate network and then access terminal servers that are running various internal business applications.

With the development of Windows Server® 2008, the Microsoft Information Technology (Microsoft IT) department wanted to test the new features and functionality of the Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services component to determine whether these features could meet the requirements of a large corporate environment.

Get the rest of the White Paper here:

Now you don't have to wait a year to deploy it in production ;)  All right... it's not really breaking news.  It was planned this way, and Iain McDonald (there he is):

(image courtesy of ZDNet http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=551)

has the scoop on why the "About Windows" screen in Windows Server 2008 shows as Service Pack 1.  Explanation after the jump: http://blogs.msdn.com/iainmcdonald/archive/2008/02/15/windows-server-2008-is-called-sp1-adventures-in-doing-things-right.aspx

This is really a bit of a "duh" suggestion, but I'll bet you haven't done it yet ;)

SharePoint 2007 has a great scriptable command-line tool called stsadmin.exe, which is used to perform the SharePoint administration tasks at the command line or by using batch files or scripts. It also provides access to operations not available by using the Central Administration site, such as changing the administration port.

Where does it live?

%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\bin

So... when it comes time to change passwords, merge content databases, etc, you end up typing commands that look like:

c:\progam files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\bin\stsadmin.exe -o mergecontendbs -url http://<servername> -sourcedatabasename WSS_Content_1 -destinationdatabasename WSS_Content_2 -operation 3 -filename sites.xml

Painful, right?

If you find yourself using stsadmin on a regular basis... add the stsadmin path into your path variable.  Duh, right?

1.Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2.Click the Advanced tab.

3.Click Environment variables.

4.Find the PATH variable, and then click Edit to change its name or value.

add a semicolon (;) to the line, and without a space, add the path to the directory that holds stsadm.exe.  The default is c:\Program Files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\bin

Hit "OK" a few times, and you can now fire up a terminal and run stsadm without the preceding long path to its home directory.

The TechNet Events Team has been hard at work recording "How-To" videos covering a wide variety of Microsoft Technologies, and they are now available in a single location up on TechNet.

Click here for the main repository of TechNet How-to Videos. Here, you'll find informative "how-to" content aimed at IT professionals. These short videos focus on specific tasks and show you how to accomplish them, step-by-step, using Microsoft products and technologies. Subscribe to the RSS feed to see new content every month.

Featured Topic: Windows Server

Windows Server 2008 Initial Configuration
In this video, Keith Combs shows you the initial configuration tasks that need to be completed once you install Windows Server 2008.

Windows Server 2008 Virtualization
In this video, Keith Combs discusses a general overview of Windows Server 2008 Virtualization including how you create and manage virtual machines.

Granular Password Setting
In this video, Chris Henley shows you a new feature in Windows Server 2008 Active Directory that allows you to set additional password policies beyond the domain settings.

Server Core Role Installation
In this video, Keith Combs demonstrates how to install roles and features associated with the core installation option.

Windows Server 2008 Server Manager
Join Chris Henley as he provides a look into Windows Server 2008 Server Manager which consolidates tools into a single interface to allow you to more effectively administrate and manage your server.

Server Core
In this video, Keith Combs describes why to consider the core installation option from a technical overview perspective.

Server Core Hyper-V Prerequisites
Join Keith Combs as he shows prerequisites to think about when you install Windows Server 2008 Server Core.

Server Core Networking
In this video, Keith Combs goes through a demonstration of Windows Server 2008 - Core Installation Option, where he configures a virtual machine and shows you how to establish baseline network connectivity.

Server Core Activation
In this video, Keith Combs continues his demonstration of Windows Server 2008 - Core Installation Option, where he configures a virtual machine and shows you activation.

Server Core - Domain Join
In this video, Keith Combs continues his demonstration of Windows Server 2008 - Core Installation Option, where he configures a virtual machine and shows you how to join this virtual machine to the Contoso.com domain.

Featured Topic: Terminal Services

Terminal Services - Overview
In this video, Matt Hester gives you a general overview of the new features available with Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services.

Terminal Services - Gateway Server
In this video, Matt Hester talks about terminal services gateway service, which enables a secure scenario and authorize remote users to connect to resources on another network.

Terminal Services - Remote Apps
In this video, Matt Hester talks about the remote app. capabilities inside terminal server, that allow us to share out apps across the different areas in our environment.

Terminal Services - Gateway Server Monitoring
In this video, Matt Hester talks about terminal service gateway monitoring capabilities, specifically around the auditing events.

Terminal Services - Web Access
In this video, Matt Hester talks about remote app. capabilities built into Windows Server 2008 terminal services, specifically the terminal services web access component.

Terminal Services - Gateway Server and NAP
In this video, Matt Hester talks about enhancing security within the terminal services gateway server, called the network access policy services.

From the SharePoint Blog:

A new SharePoint Deployment Essentials Guide made up of content from the previous SharePoint Governance Checklist PLUS additional materials explained hereafter just became available online.  Physical copies of this guide are planned to be made available at the upcoming SharePoint Conference 2008, Tech Ed 2008, and internally at TechReady6 optionally available on MSMarket with ID 098-108909 for employees.

This guide was designed to provide the "cliff notes" to deployment. 

1. Differences between WSS 3.0, SharePoint Server Standard and SharePoint Server Enterprise editions
2. Bulletted Sample SharePoint Server Deployment Plan
3. Checklists for IA, Taxonomy, Training, PM and Ops including sample SLAs and roles, Dev considerations, Infra, Dev and Test env, DR and HA and applicable descriptions (on the back) including a master page wireframe
4. Deployment Roles Diagram
5. Containment Hierarchy
6. Common Physical Toplogies
7. Intranet Governance Model (Pyramid)
8. 10 Steps to a succesful deployment
9. Deployment Flow Chart Role Swimlanes
10. Links and Additional Resources

Good Stuff!  Download and print this handy reference.

And it is all about SharePoint and OCS baby!

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/

Sharepoint

A Smart Approach to Gathering Data in the Enterprise

Information is one of the most important assets in an enterprise. But it can be a challenge to manage the mountain of data being gathered through e-mail, Web-based forms, surveys, and other mechanisms. Here’s a look at how the Microsoft Office system can help you integrate systems and make data more accessible.
Keith Deshaies

Building a Powerful Survey Infrastructure

Gathering and analyzing data is an essential part of business, but you need tools that will allow independent teams to collect the data they need, when they need it. Find out how you can use WSS 3.0, MOSS 2007, and InfoPath 2007 to build a complete and flexible survey solution that can be used throughout the enterprise.
Jim Bradley

Standardize Data Management with Custom Content Types

The vast number of disparate documents and other content items stored throughout a large organization can make it difficult to manage documents, their associated metadata, and their behaviors in a centralized and reusable way. Take a look at how you can use content types in SharePoint 2007 to simplify content management across the enterprise.
Pav Cherny

Office Communications Server

How Presence Powers OCS 2007

Office Communications Server 2007 uses information about user availability to route communications to the most appropriate place—whether it’s sending a voice call, a video conference, an e-mail message, or an IM. See how the OCS 2007 system uses presence to connect endpoints.
Rajesh Ramanathan

Plan Your OCS 2007 Voice Deployment

Integrating Office Communications Server 2007 with an existing PBX system can be a challenging task. You need to select an integration scenario, understand call routing, know how to configure user settings, deal with number plans, and more. But don’t worry. This overview will show you what you need to know.
Jochen Kunert and Rui Maximo

High Performance Computing

An Introduction to Windows Compute Cluster Server

Rather than relying on large specialized systems, high performance computing uses clusters of smaller, standard systems. Spreading the workload in this fashion offers an economical solution for solving complex problems quickly. Explore the compute cluster functionality and support provided by Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003.
John Kelbley and Doug Lindsey

Microsoft Office

Deploy the 2007 Office System with Terminal Services

The 2007 Microsoft Office system includes design changes you must be aware of before deploying it in your Terminal Services server farm. This article gives you an overview of the changes.
James D. Silliman

Now that Windows Server 2008 has RTM'd, and you are preparing to roll it out in your environment (even if it is just a lab or test environment), the following guide will help you get the most out of the OS, both as you choose the hardware, and as you tweak the OS to meet your particular workload.

This document describes important tuning parameters and settings that can result in improved performance for the Windows Server 2008 operating system. Each setting and its potential effect are described to help you make an informed judgment about its relevance to your system, workload, and performance goals.

This information applies for the Windows Server 2008 operating system.

Included in this paper:

•Performance Tuning for Server Hardware

•Performance Tuning for Networking Subsystem

•Performance Tuning for Storage Subsystem

•Performance Tuning for Web Servers

•Performance Tuning for File Servers

•Performance Tuning for Active Directory Servers

•Performance Tuning for Terminal Server

•Performance Tuning for Terminal Server Gateway

•Performance Tuning for File Server Workload (NetBench)

•Performance Tuning for Network Workload (NTttcp)

•Performance Tuning for Terminal Server Knowledge Worker Workload

•Performance Tuning for SAP Sales and Distribution Two-Tier Workload

Get it here: Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2008

So... if you are not firing up your newsreader over the weekend, you are too late ;) I LOVE LOVE LOVE Guitar Hero (and Rock Band for that matter), and am downloading this as we speak.  The free download is a promo for the upcoming Guitar Hero®: Aerosmith® game.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be the first music-based game to feature a single band, and gamers will be able to experience Aerosmith's GRAMMY® winning career, from their first gig to becoming rock royalty.

Alright... you can tell by the number of ® and ™s in this post that I copied liberally from the press release.  I hate it when people do that ;)  The press release does include a quote from Steve Tyler with a few words that I probably wouldn't repeat to my kids, so go check it out.

I wasn't able to find out a whole lot about the game itself at its website, other than the fact that you can preorder it. It will probably have an animated guy with a big mouth, Joe Perry, and some rockin' tunes.  I wonder if Liv Tyler will show up at all ;)

Alright... not the sexiest acronym, but the new Branch Infrastructure Implementation Solution - BIIS (formerly the Branch Office Infrastructure Solution, or BOIS) has been released, with great information on all of the decisions and design criteria that go into architecting a Branch Office/geographically distributed site solution.  Everything from backup, to malware defense, to DNS, DHCP, File/Print, Monitoring, the works.  Great Stuff!

From the overview:

Windows Server 2008 includes several enhancements to the base operating system plus powerful new functionalities that make it valuable in a branch office environment. These include:

- Mitigated Security Risks: The Read-Only Domain Controller is a powerful new feature that enables organizations provide their remote branch office with local authentication servers, without having to increase security exposure to their Domain Database. The RoDC also provides a read-only copy of the DNS and receives uni-directional updates from the Central Office DataCentre. BitLocker technology provides hardware-based encryption for data on branch office server. The Server Core installation option helps significantly decrease the servers’ surface area of exposure and management overheads by reducing the operating system footprint.
- Improved Network Performance: Windows Server 2008 offers several new or improved network technologies that will improve the efficiency of WAN communications. The new TCPIP Stack and the Server Message Block (SMB 2.0) is redesigned for networking environments especially when connecting branch offices. The Distributed File System Replication service (DFSR) is a multi-master replication engine that increases data availability and gives users in remote sites fast, reliable access to files
- Improved Deployment and Administration: New management tools like the Server Manager Console provide a single, unified console for managing a server's configuration and system information, displaying server status, identifying problems with server role configuration, and managing all roles installed on the server.
BIIS provides an understanding of the complex issues that affect branch infrastructure planning and design. This solution was designed using a modular approach that will support future releases and add-on guides to support core as well as extended branch infrastructure services. The service guides that are available with this release focus specifically on key Windows Server 2008 role services. Future releases will present a selection of “extended” services to detail branch infrastructure focused on solutions for roles and products such as Hyper-V, System Center Configuration Manager, and Forefront Client Security. This guidance helps IT Service designers and architects minimize the branch office design and implementation costs and provide the most efficient and effective management possible, while still providing the desired user experience for staff in branch offices.

There are three parts to this download, that should be downloaded and used in the following order:

1) BIIS Getting Started Guide: This guide provides an introduction to the full BIIS solution, and is the starting point for IT Professionals who are using BIIS to plan and deploy their branch infrastructure.
2) BIIS Architecture Guide: This guide introduces a method of designing a service-based branch infrastructure design, and explains how to look at the specific requirements of the branch office within the larger context of an organization's IT services.
3) BIIS Service Design Guides: These guides provide implementation guidance for the foundation services for a branch office. These include base client services, base management services, DHCP, directory services, name resolution services, and file and print services.

Get the guides here: Branch Infrastructure Implementation Solution for Windows Server 2008

Great report from the internal IT group here at Microsoft on how our Intranet portal was designed and hosted on SharePoint Server 2007.  I can attest that it is the place to find information within Microsoft, no matter where it may reside...

Read more here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc184928.aspx

Saw this over on the Got Zune blog... it looks like we are giving away a Zune a day.  All you have to do is send an email to winazune@live.com with "Go Zune" in the subject line.

More information here, and official rules here.

  GREAT post by Michael Howard over on the SDL blog about the hyperbole that usually crops up on <cough>/.</cough> whenever Jeff Jones posts his vulnerability analysis report.

• "This is FUD"
• "Yeah, but it's not an apples to apples comparison"
• "How can you believe this guy? He works for Microsoft!"
• "What would Microsoft know about security?"
• "For his next trick..."
• "That chart really hits home the fact that statistics can be used to prove any side of any argument"
• "Of course he says Windows is the best, that's what he's paid to do."
• "Counting vulnerabilities is a natural way to measure security. If you're a retard."
• "The other big reason linux is more secure is many black hats LOVE open source principles"
• "Can someone please slap MSoft in the teeth"
• "I can't actually remember a time when my mac needed a patch to fix a security hole."

A few years ago I spoke to some senior technical people from a large financial organization about software security. After visiting Microsoft they were off to visit another operating system vendor. I won't name names. The financial company was very interested in our early results, and they were encouraged by what they saw because of the SDL. I asked the most senior guy in the room to ask the other company one very simple question, "What are they doing to improve the security of their product? And by that I mean, what are they doing to reduce the chance security vulnerabilities will creep into the product in the first place? And they cannot use the word ‘Microsoft' in the reply." Two weeks later, the guy phoned me and said...

You'll need to read the rest of the post to find out what he said, but I guarantee the post is worth a read: http://blogs.msdn.com/sdl/archive/2008/02/21/the-first-step-on-the-road-to-more-secure-software-is-admitting-you-have-a-problem.aspx

If your co-worker knew something about you... that you forgot to put deodorant on, or that you had toilet paper stuck to your shoe, or that your habit of sending angry incoherent emails before you had consumed your morning coffee was about to become a career limiting move...

Would you like them to tell you?

You would, right?

So here's the catch... if you would like your friends or co-workers to give you feedback when they notice an area of opportunity for you; you have the responsibility to do the same for your friends.  Be honest, but respectful.  Find the right time and place (generally constructive feedback should be done in private), and let the person know your candid feedback.  Once they have received it, they get to choose what they do with it, but you have given them the gift of knowing where they stand.  As Wikipedia says,

"In organizations, feedback is a process of sharing observations, concerns and suggestions between persons or divisions of the organization with an intention of improving both personal and organizational performance."

In other words, given correctly, feedback is a very good thing. By FAR the best advice I have read on holding these tough conversations is in a great book called Crucial Conversations, which discusses several ways that you can make it safe to talk about almost anything, and to reach a pool of shared meaning.  I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough.

How does this relate to Microsoft?  You've probably noticed something that we aren't doing as well as we should have.  Maybe you've written one of those "Zune Sucks" blog posts or "Micro$haft Sux!!! Only TOOLZ uze Vista!" posts on /. or Digg.  That's okay.  As Penny Arcade points out in their Greater Internet F-wad Theory (sorry, this is a family-safe blog), a normal person, plus anonymity and an audience is just asking for trouble.  It's really easy to think of us as the Borg. 

But guess what?  We're not.  Microsoft is made up of some of the smartest, most creative, intelligent, and hardworking people I have ever worked with.  If we left of your favorite feature in the latest release of Product X, It's not because we all got together and said: "Hey!  I know it would make Steve's life a lot easier if we just added a widget button in the print dialogue box.  It would only take a day or so to code it, but I really don't like the guy.  Let's leave that feature out just to spite him!" Features are prioritized based off of a number of criteria, balancing feature requests with customer impact, with a desire to ship software on a (semi) regular basis. 

Windows Server 2008 doesn't come with the Vista Sidebar.  Would you have been happy if W2K8 didn't release until April, and ran slower (but you could see a pretty slideshow on the side of your server desktop)?  Probably not.  If we added support for Windows NT4 into Exchange 2007, it would certainly not have shipped when it did as the Development and Test burden would have increased significantly.  If we had built Windows Home Server on top of Windows Server 2008 for the first release... guess what?  It wouldn't have shipped yet.  As we are often reminded, "Shipping is a feature too". By prioritizing features, we are able to ship on time, get your feedback, and incorporate it into the next version.  If we try to boil the ocean and fit everyone's favorite feature into the project, you end up with Vista's too-long development cycle, where nobody is happy at the end.

So how do you let us know what those important features are so that we can plan them into the next version?

Several ways.

First... you can always email feedback@microsoft.com. Yup, that's an actual address, and real humans read the feedback and shoot it off to the appropriate team.  Be constructive in your feedback... don't just tell us that Vista sucks, let us know how it is not meeting your needs, and what we could do next time to make it better. Some teams (such as Zune) have dedicated feedback sites.  Just search the Internet for "Product X Feedback" and see what you find.

The next place to leave feedback is on our TechNet and MSDN blogs.  Most product teams have a blog, and we really do read the comments.   If you have a comment on Internet Explorer 8, go leave a comment on the Internet Explorer Team Blog.  Exchange? Head over to You Had Me At EHLO. Windows Vista? They've got a blog too (Windows Vista Blog).  We probably won't reply to every comment you post (we need some time to do actual coding), but they will get read.

Even better, head over to the Microsoft Connect site and sign up for betas.  This is where the product teams host their pre-release software (both public and private), and you can file bugs and provide feedback that goes directly into our internal systems.  For example, right now the Solution Accelerator team is refreshing the Microsoft Operations Framework to integrate MSF and to include guidance on planning and governance.  Really good stuff.  They would LOVE to have feedback from the field as to how we can make this guidance better. Sign up (instructions here) and let us know how we can make it meaningful to you.

If none of these feedback mechanisms work for you, feel free to leave a comment in my blog or shoot me an email.  As long as your feedback is specific and constructive, I promise that I will get it off to the right people. :)

Good stuff! I recently attended some training with the Consultants that are featured in the videos below, and they really know their stuff. Not to mention the Sean Approved Price™ of free J

Link to the TechNet Source here: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/f27b1c10-aa0f-421b-8c8f-0ed52be863d71033.mspx

Watch lectures delivered by experts in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and download and read supporting white papers.

Ever wondered what kind of sessions go on at TechEd, Microsoft Management Summit (MMS), OCS Ignite, IT Forum, WinHEC, etc?  The following site has a ton of videos from these events:

http://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/default.aspx

Watch Mark Russinovich, Steve Riley, Iain McDonald, and some other great presenters go deep in these sessions.  Enjoy!

A new themed search engine (along the lines of Ms. Dewey) powered by Live Search.  Check out http://www.leftvsright.com.  Pretty funny!

I am working on a degree in Business Administration from Washington State University, and am taking a world history course as one of my general education requirements.  It really is a rather basic course, and my homework consists of writing a few paragraphs to regurgitate the assigned readings.  The problem is...

History is SO. DAMN. INTERESTING!

And Wikipedia does not help...

All those blue-highlighted hyperlinks are ever so much more addictive than Crack.  Combine that with a right-click and "open in new tab", and you can spend an entire weekend reading about Genghis Khan... ooohh.... Mongol Empire... aaaahhh... Trebuchet... mmmm... Edward Longshanks... Crusades! Constantinople!! Ottoman Empire!

Don't even get me started on the history of Religion, the Middle East, Russia, Europe, Mesopotamia, or Alexander the Great. RRRGGHHH!!!

Must. Finish. Homework.

<sigh...>

For fun, leave some of your favorite Wikipedia paths to distraction in the comments :)

My mother recently had a milestone birthday (she would kill me if I mentioned which one), so I started researching digital photo frames, and finally settled on a brand that I had never heard of before, but that was the top recommendation of Consumer Reports.  It is always a crapshoot ordering photo frames or TV's from the internet where you can not view the quality in advance, but I felt pretty safe with the CR recommendation.  The box arrived from B&H yesterday, and I spent today loading it up with photos. 

The photo frame I picked up was the SmartParts SP8EM, and the quality is absolutely awesome.  For some reason, the manufacturer does not have a direct link to more information, but you can find it easily at: http://smartpartsproducts.com/content/index.php.  This particular model has an 8" LCD at 800x600, and supports the alphabet of flash media (Secure Digital (SD); MultiMedia Card (MMC); Extreme Digital (xD); MemoryStick (MS); Compact Flash (CF)).

The quality of the pictures is absolutely stunning, and stands head and shoulders above the Kodak frame I bought just a few months ago.  It looks absolutely great, and my mom loves having pictures of the grandkids in a beautiful frame.  SmartParts frames get the Sean Seal of Approval :)

(No, I did not get compensation for this review, and have no financial interest in the company, just a happy customer)