The new edition of the TechNet ON feature package focuses on convergence of client and security management, and now with Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 integrated with System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 and R3, you have a single, unified view your threat landscape and desktop infrastructure.
More to come,
Mitch
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Four Microsoft Lync systems engineers are Live on reddit answering questions. Ask them anything about Microsoft Lync. Give them your feedback on Lync Server 2010. See what others are asking.
Join the conversation
The new edition of TechNet ON is designed to help you keep your Windows servers in top condition and make your job of managing and maintaining Windows servers, well… less of a job. And the first thing that job shouldn’t is a reactive manual exercise in frustration. We’ve collected the management and maintenance tools and the guidance to help you address issues before they become problems.
Microsoft has released the latest Security Bulletin for December 2010.
For more information about the bulletin advance notification service, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification.
For information about how to receive automatic notifications whenever Microsoft security bulletins are issued, visit Microsoft Technical Security Notifications.
Microsoft is hosting a webcast to address customer questions on these bulletins on December 15, 2010, at 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada). Register now for the December Security Bulletin Webcast. After this date, this webcast is available on-demand. For more information, see Microsoft Security Bulletin Summaries and Webcasts.
You can now register to download the 120-day trial or the virtual hard drive 180-day trial of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1.
You can also review the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 system requirements or Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 VHD system requirements.
Two limited Community Technology Previews will be available before the end of 2010: The SQL Azure Reporting CTP and the SQL Azure Data Sync CTP 2.
SQL Azure Reporting enables developers to enhance their applications by embedding cloud based reports on information stored in a SQL Azure database, and author reports using familiar SQL Server Reporting Services tools and then use these reports in their applications which may be on-premises or in the cloud.
The update to SQL Azure Data Sync enables synchronization between on-premises SQL Server and SQL Azure, giving customers greater flexibility in building solutions that span on-premises and the cloud.
Sign up for the CTPs via Microsoft Connect.
Microsoft yesterday announced Silverlight 5. With beta availability scheduled for the first half of 2011, the next release of Silverlight sports more than 40 new features, including support for running Silverlight applications with desktop features in the browser and dramatic video quality and performance improvements.
Key media and UI improvements include:
Silverlight 5 was announced during a day-long Firestarter event. You can view the Silverlight Firestarter webcast on demand.
For more detail on the upcoming release, see Scott Guthrie’s blog.
For the month of December, Microsoft is offering a free four-day online training program to help you make the transition to the cloud. The program is four hours per day for each of the four days. Find the dates and times for your region and register here.
The sessions are geared for technical decision makers who have at least an intermediate knowledge of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or later and Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007 or later, along with a basic technical understanding of cloud services. See the Practice Accelerator prerequisites.
For more on the Practice Accelerator for Cloud Services, see the US SMB&D TS2 Team Blog post.
December 1, 2010, 9:00 AM Pacific Time -- In this webcast you will see several demos of the new features introduced in the Windows Azure November 2010 Release (DPE110CAL), including Virtual Machine Role and Elevated Privileges which can make it easier to move existing applications to the cloud, Windows Azure Connect which can enable you to connect on-premises systems to the cloud, and core enhancements such as a new Windows Azure platform portal experience.
Register for the Webcast.
For more on the new enhancements, and information about the new Windows Azure SDK 1.3, check out the Windows Azure Team Blog.
Microsoft yesterday released an update for Windows Internet Explorer 9 Beta. This update improves the reliability of Internet Explorer 9 Beta in various scenarios.
For more on what’s in the update and to download the update package, view this knowledge base article.
Microsoft yesterday released the latest preview of Internet Explorer 9, featuring dramatic performance gains in its Chakra JavaScript engine.
Since first demonstrated at PDC in 2009, Chakra in Internet Explorer has increased JavaScript performance by 345 percent according to WebKit SunSpider. The Exploring IE blog has much on the JavaScript engine and the performance gains, and includes a test drive demo.
Since the beta launch in September, Internet Explorer 9 beta has had more than 13 million downloads.
Download Internet Explorer 9
Download the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 trial and see how Lync delivers a connected experience that transforms communication into more collaborative, engaging and accessible interaction from virtually anywhere your users may be.
With Lync Server 2010 and the Lync 2010 client application, users benefit from a single user interface that unites voice, IM, audio-, video-, and web-conferencing that is more efficient for users and works consistently with familiar Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft Word, Outlook, and SharePoint.
Be sure to check out the new design on the TechNet home page. Last week, we described the upcoming changes and they are now live on TechNet. The new page enables us to update more content, more often. And speaking of new content, the new edition of TechNet ON, “Building BI into Your Organization,” is now available in the new design.
A new study (download PDF) by Microsoft, Accenture and WSP Environment & Energy, shows that, for large deployments, Microsoft’s cloud solutions can reduce energy use and carbon emissions by more than 30 percent when compared to their corresponding Microsoft business applications installed on-premise.
The study compared the energy use and carbon emissions per user for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM with their cloud-based equivalents: Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
Microsoft has delivered the community technology previews of new and enhanced services for Windows Azure AppFabric, our cloud middleware platform for developing, deploying and managing business applications. In addition, we also announced the SQL Azure Reporting CTP, and updates to SQL Azure Data Sync.
Get more information here.
While Windows 7 last month celebrated its first year with more than 240 million licenses, another big milestone looms: It was 25 years ago this month that Microsoft unveiled its first operating system with a graphical user interface, called Windows. And (gulp!) I was there, as a member of the press, properly impressed by how it looked on those monochrome CRT displays. Heck, you didn’t even need a mouse to use it.
Windows, you wear it well. How many computer products have been around for 25 years?
Yes, there have been a few refinements to Windows since then. One of the ways Microsoft, and the community, continues to improve is in making Windows easier to deploy, and you’ve no doubt heard by now that enterprise deployments of Windows 7 are more streamlined than ever before. I have to believe that is due, at least in part, to the advanced, task-specific tools and resources from Microsoft, not to mention the guidance and best practices which have surfaced in the greater Windows community.
In the latest edition of TechNet ON, we’ve compiled a number of great articles that explain the use of these resources and tools. For a quick run-through of the resources, check out Jeremy Chapman’s Best of compilation of Windows 7 deployment resources.
To familiarize yourself with the new tools and techniques, TechNet Magazine has several new articles, including Joshua Hoffman’s Modern Guide to Desktop Deployment and his Windows Deployment Resource Guide, which explains the differences among the various deployment tools. And for a great how-to piece, Greg Shield’s “Geek of All Trades” column takes you through Windows 7 Deployment in 7 Easy Steps.
There is a wealth of great guidance in this edition and, of course, links to the tools themselves with specific how-to content for each tool.
And finally, we brought back a fan-favorite, the free eBook Deploying Windows 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine.
We know that many of you are still working toward your enterprise deployment of Windows 7 and hope this package serves as a one-stop resource.
Here’s to the next 25 years of innovation,
The newly launched SharePoint Online Planning and Administration resource center provides key resources for planning, administration and operation of SharePoint Online, a cloud-based service that helps businesses provide collaboration, business intelligence and information management capabilities.
Rather than install and deploy SharePoint Server 2010 on premises, businesses can subscribe to SharePoint Online to provide employees with the collaboration, business intelligence, and information management capabilities available.
New to TechNet, the Updates for Project Server 2010 page provides resources for IT professionals who are responsible for installing software updates on Project Server 2010.
Software updates are a subset of an upgrade, so the software update deployment cycle that is used for upgrading SharePoint 2010 farms and servers also applies to deploying software updates for Project Server 2010. See Software updates overview in the technical library for more information.
The new TechNet ON package, featuring resources and new articles for SQL Server 2008 R2 migration and management, is now live on TechNet. If you are still deciding whether an upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2 is the right move for your organization, we’ve put together a set of articles and resources to help evaluate its capabilities, including a look at moving workloads to the cloud with SQL Azure. If you are planning a deployment, there are many scenarios during an upgrade where you’ll want to migrate a SQL Server installation. We've collected a series of articles and resources that describe the processes and tools to make the task easier.
Created by the group that developed the Windows 7 certification exam, the Windows 7 Deployment Learning Portal offers a free online assessment that covers key areas of the deployment process such as preparing for deployment, configuring a Windows 7 image, migration, compatibility testing. Receive personalized recommendations on how to increase your knowledge and prepare for certification.
Microsoft today unveiled Office 365, a new service that brings your familiar Office software together with SharePoint, Exchange and Lync in the cloud. Available worldwide next year, Office 365 will replace the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), Office Live Small Business and Live@edu services. Starting today, we are opening a limited Office 365 beta program.
Office 365 will be offered initially in three versions: Office 365 for small businesses that are looking for cloud-based productivity tools without the IT hassles; Office 365 for enterprises that want to move their productivity tools to the cloud, while staying in control of their IT services; and Office 365 for educational institutions looking to save money and give students access to familiar productivity tools.
Learn more and sign up for the beta.
Windows 7 Deployment Firestarter
November 2 – New York
November 4 – Iselin NJ
Each Session is 9:00 AM-5:00 PM (Welcome 8:30 AM)
Windows 7 gives IT professionals more tools to streamline deployment and reduce or eliminate impact to users. Join your Microsoft IT Evangelists for this free, full-day Firestarter event and hear firsthand how to upgrade from Windows XP and solve your application compatibility issues. After lunch (included), learn about finding, testing, and fixing applications on Windows 7 with the Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.6 and end the day with some advanced deployment scenarios using the MDT 2010.
Seating is limited – register today to reserve your seat.
TechNet SharePoint 2010 Firestarter
November 3 – Ft. Lauderdale FL
9:00 AM-5:00 PM (Welcome 8:30 AM)
SharePoint 2010 delivers a powerful, easy-to-deploy infrastructure that can help you make your company more productive. Flexible deployment options let you customize the system so that people can do their jobs effectively in a secure environment. Plus, with centralized administration and management features, you can be confident knowing that you maintain control over a system that is ready to respond to any business need.
Join us for this free, full-day event and learn about SharePoint 2010’s new features, upgrade path, deployment options, Office Web Apps, and maintenance and virtualization.
For those of you still running the beta version of Microsoft Office 2010, you have until Halloween, October 21, 2010 until the beta expires.
If you want to install the released version of Office 2010, you will have to uninstall the beta software first. Find which Office 2010 suite is right for you.
If you didn't get to fully test-drive all of the Office 2010 programs you wanted, you can still take extra time to evaluate the Office 2010 products before committing to a purchase. Visit Office.com and download one of our fully functional 60-day trial versions. They're free and place no restrictions on any of the features.
Check out the Microsoft Office Blog for more on your options.
TechNet Flash subscribers received an incorrect subject line for the current newsletter, dated October 6, 2010. The subject line should have read SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 released.
Microsoft announced that Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011, its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed for midsize project-driven organizations, will be generally available in the second quarter of 2011 in English in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. This significant update features the familiar Microsoft Office look and feel and role-specific dashboards that give people a comprehensive view across their organizations. This helps reduce the time required for people to learn how to use it and allows them to focus on the information that matters most to them. Other new productivity-enhancing features include Quick Query, which provides more than 50 predesigned search options to find information faster, and the ability to Quick Send documents.
Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 further extends existing IT investments by supporting integration with Microsoft Project Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM through Web Services.