(From www.askvg.com )   Imagine a situation where you need to install Windows Vista or 7 in a system but you don't have access to DVD drive. We all know Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 comes in DVDs and you'll need a DVD drive to install them...

Want a chance to win a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate when it becomes available in Oct? How about a cool Windows 7 T-shirt? Fill out this quick survey for a chance to win. Hurry, survey closes early next week. Click here to get to the survey:  http:...

This weeks post is from Carl Luberti, a Senior Support Escalation Engineer with the Internet Explorer team. To start, I wanted to address that Internet Explorer 8 has over 1300 Group Policy entries that can be configured, which is great for keeping your...

Jeremy Chapman who has contributed many pieces to this blog starts a multipart series on the benefits of using package based imaging tools. Welcome to blog number one in the series of imaging and image composition. Last week, Stephen kicked off the series...

The Windows engineering team has just published the latest version of the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.6 to support customers who are looking at moving some or all of their Windows 7 PCs to 64-bit. After you collect your users’ software inventory...

A few years ago we developed a tool called Windows Steady State to enable IT admins in shared computing environments to control configure and revert the configuration computer of computers used in schools, libraries, internet cafes, kiosks as well as...

We had so many responses from our last survey, we are doing it again. One lucky winner will get a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition when it becomes available this Oct. Find the survey here and good luck! Also, congratulations to Deirdre Wingell winner...

Joining us at MGX? My friend and coworker in Redmond, M3 Sweat (twitter- @M3sweat) offers a great post titled Surviving MGX Atlanta 2009: A few helpful hints to help you get here and get around. What have I learned? Day One Some cool first looks at Windows...

MGX or Microsoft Global eXchange is a yearly conference. It is done for the field organizations from all over the world. This year it is in Atlanta… well, somebody prefers a hot and humid locations every year… Atlanta, New Orleans, Orlando in the summer...

Over the weekend, some of you may have received an email from us reminding you that “the Windows 7 Beta expires on August 1st, 2009. In that email, we ask that if you are still on the Windows 7 Beta that you should consider moving to a “non-expired” copy...

Mark and I at the Springboard Party at TechEd Berlin

Windows 7 will be in stores beginning October 22nd Release To Manufacturing (RTM) is an important milestone on the path to GA. We anticipate that we’ll be able to make the RTM code for Windows 7 available to our partners sometime in the 2 nd half of July...

We just launch a new IT Pro campaign called “Talking About Windows”. This has been a project I have been involved with for months and something I am quite proud of. We have interviews with our top Windows 7 Engineers including Jon DeVaan, Mark Russinovich...

Welcome to blog number two in the series where we’ll look at file-based images versus sector-based images. We’ve already done the tools primer and defined the terms again in the last blog post . Now we actually get some real work done by comparing the...

By now the announcements have gone out for the Beta , been blogged about and seen in other social networking channels, so I thought I would do something a bit more in depth on this for the Springboard Blog. A little (recent) history… In Fall of 2009 there...

We are delighted to announce the world wide release of the Springboard Windows 7 Deployment Learning Portal on TechNet.  The Springboard Deployment Learning Portal is an online assessment and learning tool, designed to help IT Pros identify their...

For those of you who use the Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool , we want to let you know that the Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 blockers will expire on August 24 th 2010. After the expiration date, Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server...

    I put together a video for the Springboard site on what some of the new features in the Windows 7 Release Candidate area. I thought I would also surface it up here as well.   Enjoy!

Want a chance to learn more about Windows 7? What about RTM, Direct Access, AppLocker, Mobility, BranchCache? Then you won’t want to miss this opportunity. I will be in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Calgary speaking to IT pros on Windows 7. Bring your friends...

Over the past few months, many of you have shared with me your need to continue to be able to offer support for Internet Explorer 6 specific application while rolling out Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8 into your organization. Suggestions for walkthroughs...

This is the third and final blog in the series . In the last blog, The Pros and Cons , I covered the main benefits and underlying drawbacks of file-based and sector-based core images. I intentionally stuck to core image files (the .WIM, .V2I, .GHO, .TIB...

With the launch of App-V 4.6 happening today, I was able to catch up with Karri Alexion-Tiernan , Director of Product Management for App-V for a quick Q&A. Stephen: What problems can Microsoft application virtualization (App-V) solve for my business...

We are pleased to announce that Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) is available for immediate download to our TechNet+ and MSDN+ subscribers. If you’re not a TechNet+ subscriber, please click here to learn about the benefits of becoming one. Windows 7 RC...

You are invited to take beta exam 71-680: TS: Windows 7, Configuring. If you pass the beta exam, the exam credit will be added to your transcript and you will not need to take the exam in its released form. The 71-xxx identifier is used for registering...

There’s a new recruiting campaign going on now for Microsoft Office 2010 beta testers. According to this page on Microsoft Connect, the company is looking for participants for “Microsoft’s Office 2010 Real Life Stories program.” These participants can...