Curious George on TechNet and more...

And it's goodbye from me, for now......

The day has come.....today is my last day before commencing maternity leave. I will be back but not sure when yet.

In the meantime, the IT Pro team remains dedicated to you, and there are several ways you can contact them:

The team - ukitpro@microsoft.com

Phil Cross - philcr@microsoft.com; www.twitter.com/philcr
Alex Ball - alexanba@microsoft.com; www.twitter.com/Alex_Ball

Congratulations to Jonathan Noble, PowerShell MVP

Congratulations to Jonathan Noble (@jonoble), who has just been announced as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, specialising in PowerShell.

Jonathan has been a really key community member and is always willing to give his opinion to the TechNet UK team. He is also a member of our Community Council and is there to voice the opinion of infrastructure specialists in the UK.

Deep Zoom Michael Jackson Tribute

A Microsoft partner, www.shoothill.com, have produced a Michael Jackson Deep Zoom for MSN, which is currently pride of place on the front of  http://uk.msn.com/

Zoom in on MJ

Still on the Windows 7 Beta? You need to move to the RC by 1st July

Starting July 1^st, the Beta will start to reboot every 2 hrs and expire Aug 1^st.

Want to download the RC? . The RC download program closes August 15th. After that, you won’t be able to get the download, but you can still install the RC and get a key if you need one. (To get a key, just go to the Downloads page and follow the instructions.)

If you’re using the Windows 7 Release Candidate, we hope you like what you see. Let us know -- go to http://input.microsoft.com and tell us what you think. You’ll be able to give feedback on various aspects of the operating system.

Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable: Windows 7 Application Compatibility: Your Questions Answered (Part 1)

Date: Thursday, June 18
Time: 11:00am Pacific Time
Location: https://ms.istreamplanet.com/springboard

Windows 7, is approaching fast and from the application standpoint is very similar to Windows Vista. We’re going to examine Windows 7 application compatibility not only from the perspective of moving from Windows Vista, but also for those coming from Windows XP. Join us to discuss the most common challenges around application compatibility when coming from a legacy operating system, why changes were made along the way, compatibility technologies inside the OS and methods for getting incompatible applications to run on Windows 7. Along the way we share tips and tricks, demonstrate free tools to analyse and fix applications and answer your specific questions about application compatibility live.

In Part 2 of this Virtual Round Table discussion (planned for later this Summer/Autumn), we’ll discuss the options and approaches for using virtualisation tools In depth to address application incompatibilities – including presentation virtualization, desktop virtualisation and application virtualization. We’ll be sending out more details and posting information to www.microsoft.com/springboard for part 2 as the dates are finalized.

As part of the “virtual” experience, you may submit your questions about Windows 7 Application Compatibility to the panel live during the event—or submit questions in advance to vrtable@microsoft.com.

The Microsoft Licence Advisor

Anything that can help with licensing can only be a good thing and this advisor answers many of the questions we are asked. This 3 step tool enables you to:

1) Quickly determine which Volume Licensing program best suits your needs

2) Select the products you need and determine the required quantities

3) View a comprehensive report showing the Volume Licensing program comparisons, products and the associated benefits as well as SKU information. The report can be printed from the browser or downloaded to Word or Excel.

Remember to select your country in the drop down box on the homepage

Microsoft Licence Advisor

Can you Bing it? Apparently, yes you can!!!

It came as quite a shock to me when Bing was announced internally.  It seemed uncharacteristically “cool”. This was supported by a piece of press coverage recently:

“So Bing is the biggest example of Microsoft’s new public face: friendly, human, interesting but even occasionally, as its changing homepage images indicate, surprising.” Matt Warman, Daily Telegraph

You’ll find it at www.bing.com and it will automatically know that you’re in the UK. Here are three of the features I think are great:

1. New Image Homepage – we’re using high definition photography (and we will soon be displaying iconic British images)

2. Best Match – the feature presents results for popular searches intuitively and this saves you clicks and gets you to your answer quicker

3. Ciao! Shopping Integration – we’re offering you the opportunity to shop directly from Bing using Ciao! product comparisons and user reviews (Ciao! is the shopping network Microsoft acquired in October -- read more about Ciao! here)

General Availability and RTM Dates for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

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 also expect to be able to make RTM code for Windows Server 2008 R2 available to our partners in this time frame as well.

Windows Server 2008 R2 will also be broadly available about the same time as the Windows 7 GA date of Oct 22.

Find out more here:

Windows Server Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/

Windows Team Blog: http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/06/02/the-date-for-general-availability-ga-of-windows-7-is.aspx

The Road to Windows 7

Having literally just upgraded from Windows 7 beta to RC, which was a thoroughly pain-free and easy experience. Microsoft IT ran some excellent “Installation Fairs” where they had people on hand to assist us through the process. What’s even better is that although we had to do a back-up (as back-up) the actual installation was done using an image that transferred all our existing data over anyway. I am pleased to report that all was present and is working not only fine, but even better than before

An significant milestone for me, is also that Live Writer now works. I have been having absolute nightmares with just getting it to load but since moving to RC, these have disappeared :)

To the point then….Alex (twitter.com/Alex_Ball) has worked beyond belief to get a series of Windows 7 videos recorded to cover the key points of RC

To fully prepare you for deployment, they have been releasing two videos every week in which our experts James O’Neill and Jamie Burgess will give you the information you need on user experience, enterprise, deployment, productivity, application compatibility and security

• Join us on the Road to Windows 7, plus you can sign up to the feed to see when the new videos will be released.
• Download the RC
• You can also win on your journey to Windows 7 – you can get your hands on a Windows Vista Notebook or one of 300 goody bags containing your own release candidate disc of the new Windows 7 and a T-shirt. Enter the draw now for your chance to win

IT Professional Top Licensing FAQs May 2009

Q) Can I downgrade Microsoft Windows Vista Business or Ultimate purchased pre-installed on a new PC?
A) As an end user you have the right to downgrade as set out in your Software Licence Terms.

Example: You’re buying a new computer system and it needs to run the same operating system as your existing 10 systems — Windows XP Professional. Pre-installed Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate both include downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional.

You need to source your own media which should be a legally licensed version (bought as either boxed or pre-installed software, or through a Volume Licensing agreement). You don’t need to have one set of Windows XP Professional media for each PC you are downgrading because you have legitimate full operating system licences for Windows Vista Business/Ultimate, which gives you the right to downgrade. You can then run Windows XP Professional until you are ready to upgrade the system to Windows Vista Business/Ultimate—when you would already be licensed.

When you downgrade Windows Vista Business and Ultimate as set out in your Software Licence Terms and you use both Windows XP media and the associated product key that was previously activated you need to activate via the phone only, 0800 0188 354, Once confirmed that you have a valid Vista Business or Ultimate licence, the Customer Service Representative will help you activate your software.

Q) How do I license Microsoft Office for use over Terminal Services?
A) You need a licence for each device that remotely accesses the application stored on the Terminal Server. As pre-installed
and boxed software licences don’t generally permit network use, Volume Licensing is the correct option. The licence used on the device which is doing the accessing must match the suite/edition, components, language, and version that is installed on the server.  For more information please click here.

 Q) Can I reimage my PCs with a single Microsoft Windows Vista image?
A) Yes. If you bought under a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement, you can use Volume Licensing media to create a standard software image across multiple licensed devices. It doesn’t matter whether those devices are licensed under Volume Licensing, or if they’re running pre-installed or boxed software, but they must be licensed for Windows Vista Business or Ultimate. For more information click here.

Q) I am looking to deploy technology that allows multiple users to use a single device at the same time. Can I use a single Microsoft Windows licence for this? 
A) No. The software licence terms for the Windows desktop operating system don’t allow multiple users to access or use a licensed copy of the software simultaneously.

·         Use models where multiple users simultaneously access a single licensed copy of the Windows operating system are considered mis-licensed

·         Current licensing terms specify that each PC or device must have a unique licence to run  Windows Vista or Windows XP

More information can be found here.

Q) I am using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 to manage my servers. How do I know if I need an Enterprise Management Licence (ML)?
A) A Standard ML is required when you are only managing basic server workload* and basic operating system utilities.

*Basic Server Workloads

§  Basic Operating System Utilities. System Resource Manager, Password Change Notification, Baseline Security Analyser, Reliability and Availability Services.

§  Storage/File/Print Servers. Print or file-sharing servers that run file transfer protocol (FTP), network file system (NFS), and Windows file sharing (SMB or CIFS).

§  Networking Servers. DHCP, DNS, WINS, or Radius servers. DHCP servers dynamically assign TCP/IP addresses and communication options, such as default gateways, subnet masks and routing tables. Naming servers, such as DNS and WINS, map TCP/IP addresses to friendly intranet- or internet-published names. RADIUS authenticates and monitors machine credentials to control the client network access privileges.

If you’re managing any server workloads or applications other than those listed above, you need an Enterprise Server Management Licence.  For more information click here.

Software Assurance Benefits for Volume Licensing Agreements

As much as I tried, there just wasn't any way of making the title of this post more exciting, however it is worth reading nonetheless

The UK licensing team has done a good job of trying to make it much simpler to see what Software Assurance benefits you actually get per volume licensing agreement. Many people assume Software Assurance is just about securing the next version of a product, but it has so many more benefits beyond this, including training and time with partners. These go right through from the plan, deploy, use, maintain and transition phase

There are 2 versions depending on the size of organisation you belong to:

Less than 250 PCs
More than 250 PCs

TechNet Conference goes Virtual on June 19th

Download Windows 7 Release Candidate now

The Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) is now available to download for everyone, and is available until June 2009 to download.

Download the RC

So what’s new in the RC?  Check out this video explaining some of the enhancements introduced since the Beta release.

If you are considering deploying Windows 7 in an enterprise, try downloading Windows Server 2008 R2 to test out the ‘better together’ features such as Branch Cache.

Support for the RC is via the Windows 7 TechNet forums: Have questions? Need answers? Visit our Windows 7 Forums.

Important note to Windows 7 Beta users: The Windows 7 Beta will expire on August 1, 2009 so you must rebuild your PC with either Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) or another valid version of Windows before July 1, 2009. You will receive a warning two weeks prior to July 1; after this date, your PC will reboot every two hours.

New resources for IT pros:

With the release of the Windows 7 there are also some new resources on the Windows 7 TechCentre. As well as the resources to guide you through your exploration of Windows 7, there is also now support on Piloting and Deploying Windows 7 and Managing Windows 7.

The new site  contains helpful information including:

• Demonstration: Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7
• How to Start a Windows 7 Pilot Deployment
• Windows 7 Manageability Overview

TalkingAboutWindows.com—where IT pros can hear the “back stories” from the leading engineers for Windows 7, discussing how and why they made the critical decisions and tradeoffs they did; along with videos of IT pros discussing Windows 7 in their environment

The UK Community Council

Over the past few months, the UK TechNet team has been working on a little project which has just been launched called the “UK Community Council”.

The purpose of this is to work with a number of IT professionals out on the field to get their viewpoint on the issues and challenges they face on a daily basis, as well as give them the chance to be the voice of their job role to ask questions of Microsoft

The areas that I have been looking after are IT managers and infrastructure specialists. I have 4 fantastic chaps who have agreed to be part of this and in the newsletter last week we announced the project and the new community faces. You can see them all here

Tony Sutcliff, one of the IT manager community representatives, wrote his first article that was included in the TechNet Newsletter last week and it is great to see some of the readers identifying or discussing the issues he raised on his blog 

Make sure you keep an eye out for more community council members being added to the team page (soon to be added is a desktop specialist, IT generalist and security-focussed member), and talk to them

When and where can you get hold of Windows 7 RC?

If you have access to MSDN or TechNet Plus, you will be able to start downloading the Windows 7 RC from the 30th April, using your subscriber site.

From 5th May everyone will be able to download via the customer preview program. As with the Beta, the Windows 7 RC Customer Preview Program is a broad public program that offers the RC free to anyone who wants to download it. It will be available at least through June 30, 2009, with no limits on the number of downloads or product keys available.

There is also some great content for those exploring Windows 7 on the Windows Client TechCenter.

Heads up! The Windows 7 Beta will expire on August 1, 2009 so be prepared to rebuild your PC with either the Release Candidate (RC) or another valid version of Windows before July 1, 2009. You will receive a warning two weeks prior to July 1; after this date, the PC will begin shutting down every two hours.