The demo environment as shown above included MyHost (my laptop running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with Hyper-V Server Role) and 2 running virtual machines were APEX (the domain controller of contoso.corp) and SC (a member server with SCVMM installed) while MyHost also joined the domain.
This screencast walked through the steps to add MYHOST into the SCVMM as a host.
The screencasts of this series include:
Microsoft's User Research Group is conducting a study for SharePoint product and technology. This is a great opportunity for SharePoint IT Administrators to test out the newest version of SharePoint Designer and have a direct impact on the design. The study will be based in Redmond, WA during the week of March 9, 2009.
The research team is looking for SharePoint Administrators who:
Each participant will receive a gift item they select from a list of some of Microsoft's most popular hardware and software titles.
If you are interested please email itusable@microsoft.com and insert SharePoint Admin into the subject line.
The steps I followed to add the sidebar to Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta (R2Beta) desktop as shown below are very similar to those documented in Adding Vista Sidebar and Aero to Windows Server 2008 Desktop. There were however some changes needed.
On step 1, the document has Vista x64 code copied into Windows Server 2008. Here I copied Windows 7 x64 code into R2Beta. This should be obvious.
On step 5, running sidebar.exe in R2Beta did not bring up the sidebar. And unlike Windows 7 Beta, right-clicking the mouse on R2Beta desktop does not offer a Gadgets option to lead to the sidebar. To bring up the sidebar on R2Beta desktop at this time, one can install a saved gadget file if it is readily available. If not, first go to online Vista Gadget Gallery, download a gadget, not to install since that will fail with the error message below, but to save it to a local folder.
I simply downloaded a few gadgets and saved them in C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Shared Gadgets. I then double-clicked the saved files to install the gadgets. This loaded the sidebar to the desktop. Once the sidebar was brought up, I then customized the installed gadgets like how it’s done in Vista.
There was still some loose end. After a reboot, the sidebar would not show up on the R2Beta desktop. I rebooted a few times and the sidebar simply would not show up. I realized reloading a gadget would refresh the sidebar. So using the Task Manager I set up a task as shown on the right to run at logon time to reload a gadget, this should then bring up the sidebar every time I log on. And it worked as expected.
My objective was simple, to get the sidebar to show up on R2Beta desktop. I am not sure this is the optimal way to add the sidebar to R2Beta, and I prefer not to run a task at logon time to bring up the sidebar automatically, nevertheless it gets the job done. If anyone out there knows a better way to do this, I would really love to hear it.
is an enterprise-class server solution with a focus on the IT needs and priced to yield substantial cost savings over stand-alone products. For instance, the solution simplifies the licensing with a single server license and Client Access for all included products. To reduce complexity and improve productivity, EBS 2008 provides a unified administration console to manage an integrated IT infrastructure with the latest versions of management, messaging, and security server technologies.
With EBS 2008, basically a mid-size business can have the strength of enterprise IT on system management, security, and messaging without paying and maintaining like enterprise IT. A very interesting concept with a very practical approach, it is indeed. Here are some additional resources to learn more:
The TechNet live events of this quarter are just about to start. For IT Pro track, a team of IT Evangelists will be making a contact and delivering content to various IT Pro communities in cities throughout the U.S. starting late January:
These terms: Cloud Computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), Software-plus-Services (S+S), Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft Azure Service platform, Microsoft Business Productivity Office Suite (BPOS) can be sometimes confusing. Exactly what is Cloud Computing? Is apps accessible through clouds Cloud Computing? What do SaaS and S+S really mean to IT Pros? Session 1 will bring clarity to you in a 30-minute discussion on how these concepts complement one another, and demo how the architectural components integrate and work together to give a user an integrated experience on "connect, communicate, and collaborate with anywhere access."
Recently virtualization has been coming with a big wave and bringing IT with much momentum and excitements. Some virtualization solutions provide not only the ability to run applications, but also with deployment mechanisms. And as an IT Pro, one must recognize it is so critical now to have a system management solution in place. And any IT infrastructure projects going forward should include considerations on how to manage and integrate newly introduced resources, physical and virtualized, with existing ones in a transparent and systematic way. System management is an area that IT Pros must keep their skill up to date and not to overlook.
Session 2 offers an operational aspect on System Center Configuration Manager 2007 on deploying and managing resources as well as Network Access Protection (NAP). In 90 minutes, the scenario-based demos will give you a realistic view with insights of enterprise configuration management. Get your pen and a notebook ready, there is so much included in this session.
With the employment of virtualization, deploying and managing virtual machines is a topic with much visibility. To increase ROI and reduce TCO of a virtualization solution, in addition to virtualizing resources, the management of a virtualization solutions (such as requesting, configuring, deploying, patching, and revoking virtual machines) must be implemented with minimal impact upon and maximal integration with and applicability to IT resources already put in place. This is also why Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 has become such an essential component to realize the benefits of a virtualization solution. Session 3 is 90 minutes packed with demos of SCVMM 2008 and walks through various scenarios on managing Microsoft and non-Microsoft virtual machines with a consistent user experience and your already developed Windows skills.
Notice the slide decks are soon to be released, then they can be downloaded from TechNet Event resource page.
So are you ready to be a rock, and not to roll? Come, join us.
This series was delivered by a team of IT Pro Evangelists including: Kevin Remde, Matt Hester, Chris Avis, Chris Henley, and Yung Chou a while ago. Still the information is relevant to get yourself well informed on the technologies, the solutions, and how to get your IT environment strategically aligned and integrated with virtualization. To facilitate learning Microsoft virtualization technologies, I have also made a number of free eBooks and posters available including Windows Server 2008 R2, Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions, Active Directory and Hyper-V. Additionally, there are also free trainings of virtualization technologies and software evaluation copies of System Center 2012 available.
Session List
Regardless your role and responsibilities, session 1 TechNet Webcast: Virtualization in a Nutshell is the one you absolutely do not want to miss. This session gives you an overview of all Microsoft virtualization solutions, so you get the big picture and know the context of a solution. You will know “Why virtualize?” and “Why Microsoft?” This session is to advance and facilitate your understanding on virtualization in general, and help you recognizing a virtualization opportunity when it presents itself.
Technorati Tags: webcast ,virtualization Windows Live Tags: webcast ,virtualization WordPress Tags: webcast ,virtualization
(This is a reposting with validated links of a previously published post at http://aka.ms/yungchou)
There are 4 levels of UAC warning form “Always notify” to “Never notify” configurable in a Windows 7 client. A set level determines when UAC will warn the current user on a change made by a program or by the user oneself while an elevated privilege is required for making the change. The Windows 7 client UI is very user friendly and informative. Linked help file as well as recommendations highlighted with the icon, , and relevant to each level are readily available. This new UI makes it easier to understand and configure UAC, and improve the user experience. The following screen captures showing the user experience of configuring UAC were taken from Windows 7 Client Build 7000, i.e. the Beta code. Notice the user experience of UAC settings in Windows Server 2008 R2 is identical with that in Windows 7 client.
For those who are interested in Windows 7, Steve Ballmer’s announcement of the availability of Windows 7 Beta and Windows Live, and a Windows 7 demo delivered in Consumer Electronics Show 2009 are great to review.
The default setting is to warn only when programs try to make changes to the computer.
This book, by Mitch Tulloch with the Microsoft Virtualization team, is for IT professionals who want to learn more about Microsoft virtualization and virtualization-enabling technologies. It convers many areas of virtualization solutions including: Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Application Virtualization, Presentation Virtualization (Terminal Services), Desktop Virtualization, etc. You can download the book here.
Current economic downturn confronts us with a tremendous impact and unfavorable trend on worldwide IT budget and spending as discussed in Simple Savvy Savings - 9 ideas to make anyone a Cost Cutting Hero by Tom Pisello, CEO, Alinean, Inc. More than ever companies are now looking for every opportunity to further cut costs and maintain competitiveness during these times of global economic instability. Nevertheless, the adversity also presents a very opportunity for us to accelerate and transform IT into a more mature, better managed, and highly optimized settings. And there are methodology, tools as shown below, and case studies to help us get started the processes.
This cost savings analysis tool examines IT infrastructure and platform to identify cost savings opportunities focusing on:
The tool generates a report with specific project recommendations that can be implemented to generate high-impact costs savings with minimal investment.The results can be refined to match specific details of the IT environment and local currency. The calculation is based on research by IDC, Forrester, WiPro and Alinean and the results include recommendations to projects which can be implemented to generate high-impact cost savings with minimal investment.
The Optimization Self-Assessment Tool on the other hand derives optimization score, peer comparison, and value assessment for your organization. The tool generates a comprehensive report that can serve as an actionable roadmap and incentive for optimizing your IT infrastructure and platform.
Identify your goal, find out where you stand, and make an informed decision. We must start the process now.
Reference: Microsoft virtualization cost saving whitepaper, the ROI tool and training
The referenced white paper presents case studies of Microsoft customers including:
and examines how virtualization technology simplifies their IT infrastructure, streamlines IT processes, and ultimately reduces the total cost of ownership. Also included is information based on Microsoft's experience as below:
In my view, strategies in general to relatively quickly reduce IT infrastructure and support costs with virtualization solutions are, not in a particular order, to:
To transform existing IT into a hybrid environment mixed with physical and virtualized computing resources, server virtualization (i.e. server consolidation) often is where it starts. Running multiple instances in a single physical machine is not a new concept and many of us have already experienced with some host virtualization solutions like Virtual PC and Virtual Server.
To realize what your organization can benefit from Microsoft virtualization solutions,
Essentially, first identify your best candidates for server consolidation with this free downloadable tool, Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator. With its agent-less inventory, performance data gathering, and auto-generated proposal and report generation capabilities, MAP lets you conduct network-wide readiness assessments so you can quickly and efficiently determine the right servers to target for Hyper-V. After determined how many servers to consolidate, you can use the free Microsoft HyperGreen Tool to figure out how much energy you’ll save and the environmental impact of those savings. Simply plug in the number of servers you are going to consolidate, and HyperGreen generates a report detailing your reductions in kilowatts, money and CO2 emissions. And use the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Tool to estimate your return on investment in Microsoft virtualization solutions, including server, desktop and management. As our customers have shown, the results can be transformational.
In the TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Solutions for Windows Vista Management (Level 300), I will demo a number of capabilities for managing Vista desktops and Windows environment in general. Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) 3.0 is one of the 5 components in Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance (MDOP) 2008 R2. AGPM enables the change-approval workflow of Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and is something I thought worth a special introduction here. Meanwhile I am also developing a screencast and will publish it here soon.
AGPM is to help customers better manage GPOs, particularly those with complex information technology (IT) environments. A robust delegation model, role-based administration, and change-request approval provide granular administrative control as described in the overview whitepaper and shown below. For example, you can delegate Reviewer, Editor, and Approver roles to other administrators — even administrators who do not have access to production GPOs. The Editor role can edit GPOs but not deploy them; the Approver role can deploy GPO changes. AGPM also helps reduce the risk of widespread failures. You can use AGPM to edit GPOs offline, outside of the production environment, and then audit changes and easily find differences between GPO versions. In addition, AGPM supports effective change control by providing version tracking, history capture, and quick rollback of deployed GPO changes. It also supports a management workflow by allowing you to create GPO template libraries and send GPO change e-mail notifications. Step-by-Step and Operations Guides of AGM 3.0 are also readily available.
For those who are interested in finding more, MDOP 2008 R2 was RTM in September of 2008. Here are demos, more demos, and FAQ. Subscribers can download MDOP 2008 R2 from the TechNet and MSDN subscription sites. The availability of the components is as follows through Microsoft Volume Licensing Service (MVLS):
The official MDOP blog is the channel to get the latest.
This blog explains how a Groove 2007 client behaves differently from a Groove 3.x client on the replication of a workspace.
Upon a client's acceptance of a Groove workspace invitation, the current content of the workspace is replicated via a Groove cloud to the client's end. I am referring a Groove cloud as the network infrastructure required to establish Groove connectivity between two Groove clients either directly or with Groove Server Relay. This is when every workspace member gets an initial copy of a workspace replicated to ones local Groove device when first joining a workspace. Where a new workspace member to acquire an initial copy of a workspace in Groove 2007 is different form that in Groove 3.x however.
Groove 2007 has a flexible scheme of workspace replication. (See the Groove 2007 protocol slide.) All the members who were online at the time when a workspace invitation was created can carry out workspace replication. For instance, let's assume when Alice created a workspace invitation using Groove 2007 both Bob and Chuck were online as well. Alice subsequently sent the invitation to Dee via Groove infrastructure as show in the screen capture. In this scenario, when Dee accepts the workspace invitation sent from Alice, either one of the three (namely Alice, Bob, and Chuck) can carry out the workspace replication to Dee's Groove device since all 3 were online when the invitation was created. In other words, after sent out the invitation, if Alice becomes offline, the replication can still proceed with a connection between Bob and Dee, or Chuck and Dee if available. When Bob or Chuck is sending a copy of the workspace to Dee, a Groove alert will appear on the sending Groove device indicating a workspace is being sent on Alice's behalf. Notice the invitation needs to be sent via Groove infrastructure. In other words, one who is invited has a Groove identity already (so the invited's public key is readily available), also the invitation must not require confirmation so no user intervention is necessary and all operations can be fully automated. From Groove PKI's perspective, these requirements make sense and are obvious.
In Groove 3.x, on the other hand, a client upon accepting an invitation will acquire a copy of the workspace from the one who created the invitation. (See the Groove v.3 protocol slide.)Consider the scenario. If Peter created a workspace invitation using Groove v3.x and sent the invitation to Rita. Peter's copy of the workspace becomes the source of the content to be replicated to Rita's Groove device once Rita accepts the invitation. If Peter is offline when the invitation is processed by Rita, Groove can not proceed with the workspace replication since the source of the content (i.e. the local copy of workspace associated with an invitation, here Peter's copy) is not available.
Notice there are triggers to default the workspace replication behaviors back to those in Groove v.3 . Some are briefly discussed earlier. Sending an invitation as a (grv) file, inviting via email, inviting to a v3.x workspace, and requiring acceptance confirmation are among those.
Groove is a highly integrated solution and understanding the fundamentals is essential to appreciate how and oftentimes why Groove works in a particular way. For those who are interested, there is much readily available information included in my Groove resource page and some previous postings.
Many of you attended my TechNet events have asked me about getting the sample scripts I used in the PowerShell session. Kevin Remde, one of our best presenters in the TechNet Team, has contributed and shared pertinent information including event resources pages and our PowerShell demo scripts. I have now made them available as a download. Here's how you can try them:
Use get-command to list out all the cmdlets, get-help with -full switch to get the examples in the help file. And get-member to review all the methods and attributes of an object.
Please notice these sample scripts include cmdlets may change the state of a Windows computer including stopping necessary services, so run them at your own risk. To mitigate the risk, use the –whatif to examine the effect and -confirm for getting prompted before the execution of a cmdlet. Neither Yung Chou, nor Microsoft assumes any responsibility for damage caused by using them in any computing environment, including on a production machine.
Check out my TechNet Event Resource page with a list of resources relevant to the PowerShell session. Additionally, for Getting Started Guide and Quick Reference, get the Windows PowerShell 1.0 Documentation Pack. To use PowerShell for IIS administration, install IIS 7.0 PowerShell Provider. Also readily available for download are Sample Windows PowerShell scripts in Script Center Script Repository and free books of PowerShell workshops by Frank Koch in Microsoft Switzerland.
This is a follow-up on Keith Combs' posting, Setting up your laptop to run SCVMM 2008. I have a demo environment configured with working Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.5 and Presentation Virtualization (i.e. Terminal Services) solutions. Now with SCVMM added, I can demo the management of IT infrastructure with physical and virtual computing resources, which is in my view the most critical piece of a virtualization solution.
Here's how I did it. My Lenovo T61P expanded with 8 GB RAM was installed with Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V enabled. In Hyper-V Manager, I have already had a demo environment, contoso.corp, with a number of virtual machines (VMs) in place. I added to the domain a VM running Windows Server 2008, and installed SCVMM 2008 Server and Admin Console in the VM. I then joined the parent partition to the contoso domain. At this point, there were two options to add the parent partition in SCVMM 2008:
Notice if the host is to be added as one on a perimeter network, install SCVMM local agent on the parent partition and created a security file for encryption. The security file needs accessible from SCVMM admin console. I tried both and in either way, once my parent partition had been added as a host, all VMs running on the parent partition including the VM running SCVMM became manageable from SCVMM Admin Console. In essence, SCVMM was on a child partition while managing the Hyper-V parent (or root) partition in my laptop. Very interesting configuration, it is indeed.
Notice I made no additional effort in optimizing the performance or hardening the security. My objective here is to realize the capabilities with minimal operational requirements. Below I have documented the screenflows and will probably do a screencast later on this as well.
Very straightforward processes and uneventful operations, I consider these installations are. Understanding the architecture is perhaps much more pertinent for prototyping this solution. Basically, run Hyper-V in the laptop and SCVMM in a VM. Join the parent partition to the domain where SCVMM is in. Install SCVMM local agent on the parent partition and from SCVMM admin console add the parent partition as a host in perimeter. Here want to thank Keith sine his posting saved me some research time.
Announcement
Do you use SharePoint and work with Groove? Microsoft's User Research Group is conducting series of studies for SharePoint products and technologies at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA, and is looking for participants in the Puget Sound area.
The research team is looking for individuals who use SharePoint at least twice a week and have experience working with Groove. Each participant will receive a gift item they select from a list of some of Microsoft's most popular hardware and software titles.
If you are interested please email itusable@microsoft.com with your name phone number and insert Groove into the subject line.
Microsoft User Research focuses on how people interact with hardware and software products; the information and feedback gathered is translated directly into product design improvements.
Designers take all the research and insight gathered in order to discern whether the product does, or does not do, what people expect and how it can be improved upon. Past participants have enjoyed these studies; finding them to be unique and informative by meeting with Microsoft product development teams and being directly involved with a product development process.
As stated in Microsoft Windows Server product roadmap, a server release update is expected 2 years after a major release. Windows Server 2008 was released in 2008. So the next server release update should be in by 2010 as Windows Server 2008 R2 (or Release 2) and a reviewers guide is available. In Microsoft product release cycle, an update release integrates the previous major release with the latest service pack, selected feature packs, and new functionality. And because an update release is based on the previous major release, customers can incorporate it into their environment without any additional testing beyond what would be required for a typical service pack. Any additional functionality provided by an update would be optional and thus not affect application compatibility or require customers to recertify or retest applications.
In Windows Server 2008 R2, Terminal Services is renamed to Remote Desktop Services (RDS). RDS introduces the new Remote Desktop Connection Broker – an expansion of the Session Broker in Windows Server 2008 – which provides the administrator with a unified experience for setting up user access to both Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and traditional session-based remote desktops. Together with Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager, the Remote Desktop Connection Broker enables a VDI solution. The Remote Desktop Connection Broker it complements shared RDS infrastructure components in Windows Server 2008, such as Remote Desktop Web Access or Remote Desktop Gateway. Windows Server 2008 R2 also introduces a series of platform enhancements for remote desktop users – such as support for multiple physical monitors, redirection of multimedia and 3D content, including Vista Aero, and enhanced, bi-directional audio support. To follow the development of RDS, this Team Blog is good place to start.
This renaming is not just about getting a new name for Terminal Services, a technology we have been using for a long time. This is more about fundamentally validating, aligning, and integrating Terminal Services with emerging paradigm like virtualization infrastructure as shown below.
We know it is critical to have a management solution in place while introducing and transforming existing IT infrastructure into a heterogeneous environment in which physical and virtualized computing resources including data, storage, application, servers, desktops, networks, and peripherals are managed seamlessly and transparently. Terminal Services is Presentation Virtualzation and we should and need to manage it just like other virtualiztion solutions.
John Baker is one of the IT Evangelists in our team. He is a seasoned IT Pro with a wealth of knowledge in Windows infrastructure and a recognized expert in Group Policy and System Center family solutions. For many of us been in his events, we know we always learn something new from him while also getting a good laugh. A 12-part screencast fever on Windows Vista which he is just starting is a great supplement to the book, Windows Vista Step by Step and a quick way to review the fundamentals of Vista and establish a baseline understanding of Windows Operating System as well.
One key benefits of Virtualization is the ability to offer more with less. Many of us first visualized virtualization through previously called server consolidation and now Server Virtualization, by running multiple server incidences on a single physical machine. The case studies of business values and infrastructure optimization brought by virtualization are well documented and available and not repeated here. What I personally see IT Pros must also keep in mind is in production not all resources can and will be virtualized. Even in a highly virtualized infrastructure, there are and will be still some physical machines needed to create the environment for all virtualized resources to run with. Without a physical world, virtualization has no meaning. Physical and virtual resources are to co-exist to make either distinguishable from each other. Going forward, we should expect and will have a heterogeneous infrastructure mixed with physical and virtualized computing resources. The essence of virtualization therefore is not just about those virtualized, but the ability to transparently manage resources regardless if they are virtualized or not. I encourage those who are serious in carrying out infrastructure optimization by virtualization to pay close attention to the development of System Center family of solutions, and particularly System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 to gain a holistic and strategic view of managing virtualization.
One key focus of an App-V solution is the ability to run multiple versions of application software within the same OS instance without the concern of conflicts among those versions. To quickly prove the concept, I prototyped a solution with 2 virtual machines based on Hyper-V. Here are the configurations:
Notice the above configurations are simply what I used for rapid prototyping to demonstrate the capabilities. They are not recommendations, nor best practices.
Server Side
On the DC, I installed App-V 4.5 Management Server and imported all already sequenced applications. (See Figure 1.) Security groups for each sequenced applications were created in Active Directory Users and Computers as well. (See Figure 2.) When testing, I would add a test account into a target security group, for instance appvOffice97, followed by logging in the client machine to verify the connectivity and application streaming. The process is not complicated at all. However it is very easy to make operational mistakes and practice does very much so make perfect here.
Figure 1. App-V Management Server Console with Sequenced Applications Already Imported
Figure 2. Security Groups for Accessing Sequenced Applications
Client Side
On the domain Vista SP1 desktop, I logged in as local admin to install the App-V 4.5 client and verify the connectivity. App-V 4.5 by default uses port 322 to stream and there were times I used telnet to make sure the port is open. Make sure to set up Windows Firewall accordingly. when connectivity had been verified, I then switched user and logged in using a test account. By default, App-V refreshes during use login time. This can be customize on the server under Provider Policies of the App-V Management Server console. Once logged in, all authorized App-V applications are listed in the client console. (See Figure 3.)
Figure 3. Sample List of Applications to Authorized User offered by App-V Client
How to sequence an application and import it into App-V Management Server is beyond the scope of this posting and to be demonstrated in upcoming screencasts. Here Figure 4 and Figure 5 show the user experience when multiple versions of Office suite were deployed using App-V to the desktop. Some may prefer to place the icons on the desktop or in folders with specific heading, etc. These settings are customizable in the osd file of a sequenced application.
Figure 4. Multiple Versions of Office Suite Deployed by App-V 4.5 to Vista Desktop
Figure 5. Running Access 97 and Access 2000 Deployed by App-V 4.5
©2008 Microsoft
This post is to provide a quick reference of the installation flow of Microsoft System Center Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.5 Management Server. The steps to configure the server, import applications, and validate the settings are not included in this post and to be discussed in a screencast currently in development and soon to be published in this blog. The presented screen flow was captured during an installation of an App-V Management Server on a Windows Server 2008 Enterprise version with a machine name, App-V, and a local instance of Microsoft SQL 2005 SP2 on a virtual machine based on Hyper-V.
For those who have previously worked on SoftGrid 4.x infrastructure, the installation of App-V Management Server appears very familiar and uneventful. The RTSPS port shown in screen 10 is by default set to 322. If you are putting in place a brand new virtualization infrastructure, do take time to review the 4.5 documentation and plan it out. Particularly the content location where the App-V packages are placed as shown in screen 13. Once the packages are put in place and working, it is error prone and can be tedious to validate the content location in all packages, should the content location be later changed.
To get the latest information of Microsoft Application Virtualization, reference the following:
Yes, the official name of the next version of Windows is now “Windows 7” as announced in Mike Nash’s post on the Windows Vista Team Blog. More details are to be available at the upcoming PDC 2008 and WinHEC 2008. In both shows, a pre-beta "developer only release" is to eb shared with attendees. Going forward, information of Windows 7 once available will be posted in the Springboard Series which is also a great resource on Windows Vista and desktop management.
To place a translator on your web page, add the following code
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/TranslatePageLink.aspx?pl=en"></script>
You can set it to English to Chinese, Chinese to English, or German to Chinese just for the kick and see what happens. This translator feature will be included in upcoming IE8. With this feature, you will be able to read headlines in Paris, for instance, or foreign literature work easier.
I kind of like my new Chinese name. As it is obvious there is still much heuristic to be done to improve the translation.
http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=AddIn&a=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.technet.com%2Fyungchou%2Fdefault.aspx
Silverlight 2.0 has been just been released. Here's a teleconference playback. Silverlight 2 delivers a wide range of new features and tools that enable designers and developers to better collaborate while creating more accessible, more discoverable and more secure user experiences.
Personally I have seen so much richness brought to my Web experience by Silverlight. For content deliveries, I have been using it to publish screencasts and the sound and video just have so much better performance and quality. If you have not already experienced Silverlight, you need to check out tafiti which uses both Microsoft Silverlight and Live Search to deliver richer experiences on the Web and explore the increasing specialization of search. It is a very interesting concept and experiment.
Yung Chou on Hybrid Cloud - Site Home - TechNet Blogs