Harold Wong's Blog Site

Just found out today that Microsoft Office 2010 Beta is now freely available to the public to download and test.  Along with Office 2010 Beta, you can also grab SharePoint 2010 Beta!

Get Office 2010 Beta here: www.microsoft.com/office2010 

Get SharePoint Server 2010 Beta here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee388573.aspx 

Harold Wong

Today is the official “Launch” day of Exchange Server 2010.  With that great news, comes other news.  The Exchange Server 2010 Bits will be available on the TechNet subscriber download site sometime today.  Also, the evaluation bits for Exchange Server 2010 and Forefront will be available for download around 10 AM PST today.  I would highly encourage you to go grab the bits and give them a try.

Exchange Server 2010 trial: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9694893

Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9694679

Since I am posting this a little early in the day, the above links may not be live just yet.  If that is the case, come back some time after 10 AM (PST).

Harold Wong

I know that there have been quite a few people who have already visited the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale since it opened on October 22, 2009.  However, I was out of town on the grand opening and have been either sick or out of town since then and have not had a chance to go visit until today.  I took the family with me for the visit today and thought I would share my thoughts and impressions.

Upon walking into the store, I was welcomed by a friendly employee with a smile on his face.  I walked around to all the different stations that were setup in the store to see what was being displayed.  There were Zunes, Dell Laptops, XBox 360 consoles, Surface consoles and more.  One of the more impressive items in the store was along the walls as you can see in the following three photos.

What you see along the walls are essentially TV monitors / computer screens that are driven by multiple Windows 7 computers.  The entire wall is essentially a nice big computer screen with lots of changing items and fluid backgrounds.  My son thought that was one of the coolest things in the entire store.

As I was walking through the store, I ran into a former team mate by the name of Talon Morris who is now the Store Trainer.  Talon was kind enough to give me (and the kids) a quick tour of the store – including the “back office”.  What I realized I didn’t take a picture of was the huge touch screen flat screen TV at the back of the store.  I definitely want that in my house!!!!!

I of course asked the question that my friends have been asking me - “What is special about the computer systems sold at the Microsoft store??”  Talon informed me that the systems here are pretty much a “plain” install.  What this means is that the systems don’t have all the wonderful “extras” that you would normally find on an OEM system.  It just has Windows 7 installed with all the drivers, Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/), Adobe Acrobat Reader and perhaps just a few more utility type programs.  The store also offers the customer the ability to apply a skin to their systems.  You can bring your own photo in and within a few minutes a skin will be printed which can be applied to the computer (nice sticker essentially).  This is a great way to really personalize the outside of your machine.  I will have to revisit the store in the future to see if I can get a skin created for my existing laptop.  I know this is not free, but even if I had to pay $20 - $30, I still think it would be totally worth it.

I was very happy with my experience at the store and found every employee that I spoke with to be very friendly and helpful.  If you live in the Valley or near the Mission Viejo location, I would highly encourage you to visit and let me know what your experience was like.

Harold Wong

On November 3, 2009, I posted the Launch slide decks for the Exchange Server 2010 Track to my SlideShare site.  I was informed by a couple of my team mates that they have posted the Launch slide decks for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 tracks to their SlideShare sites as well.

Windows 7 Decks: http://www.slideshare.net/keithcombs 

Windows Server 2008 R2 Decks: http://www.slideshare.net/chenley 

Enjoy.

Harold Wong

Mahalo!

I wanted to get the word out to the IT Pros in Honolulu, HI that there will be a TechNet Event taking place on December 7, 2009 from 1:30 PM – 5 PM at the Hawaii Prince Hotel located at 100 Holomoana Street, Honolulu Hawaii 96815.

I will be delivering a quick 45 minute presentation on Windows 7 at the Angelbeat Event in the morning (http://www.angelbeat.com/?p=260).  Following the Angelbeat event (which is free by the way), we will take a lunch break and then start the afternoon TechNet Event at 1:30 PM.

I will be delivering three of the twelve sessions from the IT Pro New Efficiency Launch.  I chose to deliver the Overview sessions from each of the three tracks (Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010) since they cover all of the key components.  The descriptions of the three sessions are as follows:

Introducing Windows 7 and the Windows Optimized Desktop

Today’s knowledge workers expect to be able to access data and applications from anywhere and from a wide array of PCs. This challenges IT Professionals, who are responsible for protecting sensitive data and reducing costs.  The Windows® Optimized Desktop—Windows 7 Enterprise and Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack—can help relieve this tension between end users and IT Professionals by providing the tools to balance the needs of both groups. This session will provide an overview of the Windows Optimized Desktop and the key features that help:

• Make people productive anywhere
• Manage risks through enhanced security and control
• Reduce costs by streamlining PC management

What's in Windows Server 2008 R2 for IT Administrators: A Technical Overview 

Come learn about the great new features in Windows Server 2008 R2 with a focus on the benefits for IT Administrators.  This session will cover many new features included in Windows Server 2008 R2 that improve the cost of ownership and IT administrator improvements.  The overview session will cover the Best Practice Analyzer (BPA), Active Directory, Windows PowerShell, Power Management, Group Policy enhancements, Scalability, Server Core enhancements  and new Remote Desktop Services features and capabilities.

Introducing Exchange Server 2010

This session offers an overview of Exchange Server 2010, the cornerstone of Microsoft's unified communications solution, and demonstrates how this latest release helps achieve new levels of reliability and performance, by delivering features that help simplify administration, protect communications, and delight users.  The session will highlight key innovations and enhancements made in Exchange 2010 across three product investment areas: "Flexible and Reliable", "Anywhere Access", and "Protection and Compliance". We will also touch on high-level options around migration from previous releases of Exchange, and illustrate the significant "Software + Services" opportunities delivered with Exchange Online.

To register for the event, please go here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032430135&Culture=en-US.  If you know of a friend that would be interested but does not follow my blog, please pass this along so we can have a packed house.  Thanks and I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Harold Wong

I just made a separate post for the Exchange Connections in Las Vegas next week.  This post is for the Windows Connections that is running at the same time.  Over the past few years, I’ve been delivering sessions on Exchange or OCS at the Exchange Connections in Las Vegas (and Orlando), but since we are “Launching” Exchange Server 2010 at the conference this year, the Exchange Product Group is out in force to deliver the Exchange sessions.

Luckily, I did still get asked to help out with Connections, but with the Windows side of it.  I will be delivering 4 sessions this year along with my team mates, Chris Henley and Chris Avis.  We will be speaking on “Microsoft Day”, November 10, 2009.  The schedule is as follows:

The three of us will also be doing booth duty on November 11th and 12th so we will be around for the entire conference.  Just like with the Exchange Connections event, there will be great speakers (such as Steve Riley and Jeremy Moskowitz) delivering great sessions around Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 on November 11th and 12th as well.

I know there are still openings if you haven’t registered, but are interested.  Here is the registration link if you are interested: http://www.devconnections.com/shows/FALL2009WIN/registration.asp?s=139.

I hope to see you there.  Please do stop by and say hello.

Harold Wong

Doh!!!  I totally forgot to blog the fact that the upcoming Exchange Connections Event will be taking place in Las Vegas, NV from November 9 – 12, 2009: http://www.winconnections.com/default.asp.

Rajesh Jha, Corporate Vice President of Exchange, will be one of the keynote speakers at the event.  The Exchange team will be truly launching Exchange Server 2010 at this event since the product went RTM in early October.  If all goes well, the bits should be available by the time the keynote is delivered on November 9th or shortly thereafter.

Kristian Andaker, Jason Mayans, Jeremy White, Ross Smith, David Claux and Ankur Kothari from the Exchange Product Group will be delivering the key sessions on “Microsoft Day” (November 10, 2009).

Of course there will also be a bunch of other great sessions on Exchange 2010 and OCS 2007 R2 delivered on November 11 and 12 by industry experts / MVPs such as Lee Mackey, Jim McBee and William Lefkowitz to name a few.  As far as I know, there are still seats available, so go register now if you are interested: http://www.devconnections.com/shows/FALL2009EXCH/registration.asp?s=140.

Harold Wong

I know I’m a little late getting this post out, but I figured I would wait until I delivered all the launch events on the West Coast so I can do one big follow up post.  For those who attended my first event in Denver on September 24th, I’m very sorry.  For those who attended in Burbank on October 28th, this is fairly timely.

Following are the few Exchange Server 2010 Questions that I did not have a definitive answer for during the first few events.

Question 1: Now that all Outlook (MAPI) clients connect to the Client Access Server (CAS), how does this work with Outlook 2007 and 2003 clients?

Answer 1: All CAS servers have a new RPC Client Access Service which serves as the MAPI endpoint for internal Outlook clients to connect for Mailbox access.  If clients are accessing Public Folders, they will still connect directly to the Mailbox Server that is hosting the Public Folders.  This is true for all Outlook clients.  I’m sure some of you have already noticed that I am calling out Outlook 2007 and 2003 specifically and not mentioning any of the older ones.  The reason for this is that we only “officially” support Outlook 2003 and 2007 since the older ones are now out of the official support window.

Question 2: With Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft stopped supporting Single Label Domains.  Do we plan to support Single Label Domains in Exchange Server 2010?

Answer 2: With Exchange Server 2007 SP1, we supported Single Label Domains (again).  We have tested SLDs in Exchange Server 2010 and I expect we will officially support them.  That has not been announced (that I’m aware of) nor have I found a TechNet article on it yet, but I suspect it is forthcoming.

Question 3:  Do we need to have Outlook 2010 to use the new Database Availability Groups (DAG) feature?

Answer 3:  No.  Since internal Outlook clients now connect to the CAS, even current (and older) clients will be able to connect to their Mailbox in the event of a failover since the CAS is “proxying” the connection.

Of course, there were the Frequently Asked Questions that I received in almost every city and was able to answer.  I thought I would include those here as well.

Question:  To access the Online Archive Mailbox in Exchange Server 2010, do I have to use Outlook 2010?

Answer:  Currently, you can use Outlook Web App (OWA) or Outlook 2010 (Beta).  Outlook 2007 and earlier clients cannot access the Online Archive Mailbox.

Question:  To use DAGs, what version of Windows Server do I need?

Answer:  You will need to have the Enterprise Edition of Windows Server since DAGs does depend on the Cluster Service of Windows and that is only in the Enterprise Edition of Windows Server.

Question:  Can an Exchange 2007 Server be part of the DAG?

Answer:  No.  DAGs are new to Exchange Server 2010 and requires Exchange Server 2010 so only Exchange 2010 servers can be a member of the DAG.  Exchange 2007 and earlier do not “understand” what a DAG is and how to participate.

Question:  Since OWA now has the IM client “built in”, does that mean that Exchange Server 2010 provides IM capabilities on the Server side like Exchange 2000 did?

Answer:  No.  The OWA client has the code integrated in to connect to an Office Communications Server (OCS) infrastructure for IM access.  We did not build IM capabilities into Exchange Server 2010 – you still need to deploy OCS as well to use that client side feature.

Question:  With DAGs, do I still have to backup my Exchange servers?

Answer:  For this question, I am giving my opinion which may or may not be the same as Microsoft’s.  YES, I would still perform backups of the Exchange databases.  You may have 16 copies of the database, but all 16 copies will be the “same”.  What happens if your CFO “accidentally” deletes some email from 3 months ago and you have the deleted item retention window set to 30 days???  How are you going to “recover” that?  Now, if the company policy states that you are only able to recover back 30 days, then I guess you are safe, but most executives I know don’t like those types of answers.  So you decide.

Question:  How does Licensing work?

Answer:  Purchase the edition of Exchange Server for the features on the server.  Example: You need more than 5 databases on the server, then you would need Exchange Server 2010 Enterprise Edition.  You will ALWAYS need an Exchange Standard Client Access License (CAL) for every user that uses Exchange.  You will add the Enterprise CAL for each user that uses Enterprise level features (such as, but not limited to, Unified Messaging, Online Archive, Per Mailbox Journaling, etc.).  Example: You have 100 users who access Exchange for email and calendaring.  Of those 100, 50 also use UM and Online Archive.  You will need to purchase 100 Standard CALs plus 50 Enterprise CALs.  The Edition of the CAL has nothing to do with the edition of the Server.  For more details, you really should contact a Microsoft licensing person / expert as I am not a Licensing guru at all.

Lastly, I received two non technical questions on a frequent basis as well.  I am listing those two here with their respective answers.

Question 1:  Will the slides be available for download and if so, what is the link?

Answer 1:  I just recently posted the 4 decks on Slide Share and blogged it here: http://blogs.technet.com/haroldwong/archive/2009/11/01/exchange-server-2010-launch-slides-on-slideshare.aspx

Yes, I’m going to make you look at that blog post as well.  :-)

Question 2:  I received the 32 bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate, can I please get a 64 bit copy instead?

Answer 2:  If you have a TechNet or MSDN subscription, then you have access to the 64 bit ISO and can use that.  Otherwise, we did indeed give out a 32 bit version in EVERY launch city so you are not alone.  If I could turn back the wheel of time and had known the giveaway would be 32 bit, I would have spoken up and told them to provide a choice.  Unfortunately, my time machine is no longer working so that is not an option.  Please look at it in a positive light.  You did get a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate – albeit 32 bit.

Harold Wong

For all those who attended my Exchange Server 2010 Sessions during the West Coast Launch Tour, I received approval to post my slide decks to SlideShare.  My main SlideShare page is: www.slideshare.net/harold.wong.

The links to the individual presentations are below:

Introducing Exchange Server 2010

Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging

Exchange Server 2010 High Availability

Exchange Server 2010 Archiving and Retention

Let me know if you have any questions.

Harold Wong

We are in the middle of our New Efficiency Launch of Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 / Exchange Server 2010.  Since it just isn’t possible to hit every city in the US (or around the world), I realize not everyone was able to make it to the event and get the great information.

If you are interested in viewing the sessions but don’t live in one of the cities where we are delivering the content live, I have GREAT news for you.  On October 26th, 2009, we are streaming the sessions live from San Diego all across the world.  To get more information about this Streaming session, please visit: http://www.thenewefficiency.com/live.

If you click the “Save the date 10/26” box on the right, you will get the option to put the meeting on your calendar.  To actually hit the live stream site use the first option along the right - “Visit the Virtual Experience”.  Unless I’m missing something, there is no need to register to participate.  Keep in mind that San Diego is on Pacific Standard Time and the first Developer session starts at 9 AM (PST).  Enjoy!!!

Harold Wong

On September 4th, Paul Thurrott referenced one of my blog entries and even titled his article as “Wong Was Wrong”.  Normally, I wouldn’t take much issue with things like this, but in this case, I have to say that Paul was WRONG.  Let me explain this further.

On July 8, 2009, I made the following post: http://blogs.technet.com/haroldwong/archive/2009/07/08/can-i-do-an-in-place-upgrade-from-windows-7-release-candidate-to-release-code.aspx where I talked about whether it was possible to perform an in-place upgrade from Windows 7 Release Candidate to Windows 7 RTM.  There were comments posted to that blog in which I responded to with answers.  On July 16th, I responded to a question about what was required to use the Windows 7 Upgrade Media.  Based on a misunderstanding on my part, I provided an incorrect answer.

On July 22, 2009, I made another post to clarify a few more items around my original July 8th post: http://blogs.technet.com/haroldwong/archive/2009/07/22/update-in-place-upgrade-from-windows-7-rc-to-windows-7-rtm.aspx.  If you look at Item 7, I admitted that I was wrong in posting my original answer and that the final official answer had not been posted and made public yet.

Ultimately, I was incorrect in my original post and in that respect Paul was correct in stating that I was wrong.  However, if he had taken the time to look at my posts in his “research”, he would have seen that I retracted my original answer and made it clear that I was also waiting for official guidance from the Windows 7 team.  For Paul to cite my original blog post without mentioning my second blog post is totally inaccurate and a misrepresentation of information.  I totally understand that I am not always correct and am willing to admit my mistakes when I make them (and I did within 6 days when I realized my mistake).

Since Paul’s Weekly 121 came out on September 4th, he evidently had access to both of my posts but only chose to reference the one where I gave the wrong answer and did not reference the one where I retracted it.  I just want to set the record straight here.

On September 24th, the Windows Team came out with the official guidance on the Upgrade process in this post: http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/pages/moving-to-windows-7-faq.aspx.

Here’s the snippet from that post that addresses this situation (with the key paragraph in blue and bold) …

Question: What versions of Windows 7 will I see and be able to buy in stores (and online)?

There will be two types of Windows 7 versions (also known as licenses) sold in both in stores and online in most of the world:

• "Upgrade": "Upgrade" versions of Windows 7 require Windows XP or Windows Vista to be installed on your computer. The Windows 7 setup process will look for a previous version of Windows on the computer during installation and if a previous version is not found, activation will not complete successfully using the Product Key for the upgrade license. There are no differences in functionality between the "Upgrade" and the "Full" version.
• "Full": "Full" versions of Windows 7 are also available (they do not say "upgrade" on the box). This version is for people that don't have Windows XP or Windows Vista installed on their PC. These can be also used to upgrade from Windows Vista or Windows XP to Windows 7, but they typically cost more than the upgrade versions.

Question: What is the difference between the Upgrade and Full version of Windows 7 and which one should I buy?

Upgrade versions require Windows XP or Windows Vista to be running on your computer before installing Windows 7. Full versions of Windows 7 don't require a previous version of Windows to be running on your computer. Both upgrade and full versions contain the same features. If you want to format your hard drive when installing Windows 7, you will need the full version. In general, choose the full version of Windows 7 if you don't have a previous version of Windows on your PC. Choose the upgrade version if you have Windows XP or Windows Vista on your PC.

For the steps for “Upgrading” from Windows XP to Windows 7, there is a great article here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7.

Harold Wong

I’m sorry that I’m a bit behind in posting my follow up from the TechNet Events that I delivered in Southern California from September 9th through 11th.

I had only three questions that came up during the presentations and they are as follows:

1. What happens to the Program Files directory if you perform a Custom (Advanced) Install of Windows 7?
2. How do you configure the additional settings associated with AD Recycle Bin in Windows Server 2008 R2?
3. Attendee mentioned that at her company, they were able to perform an in-place upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7.  Everyone wanted to know if this was indeed possible so I promised to test it out myself and report back.

Answer 1:

If you perform a Custom (Advanced) Install of Windows 7, the previous copy of the Windows directory will be renamed to Windows.Old and the Program Files directory is deleted.

Answer 2:

First, something went wrong with my demo on the AD Recycle Bin in San Diego so I figured I would put together a quick (15 minute) screen cast on AD Recycle Bin.  In this screen cast, I walk through the steps required to enable the AD Recycle Bin as well as how to configure the Tombstone setting for the Recycle Bin.  I also show the use of Powershell commands to undelete multiple items.

Answer 3:

I tested this scenario using Windows XP Pro SP3 installed in a Virtual Machine on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V as well as Windows XP Pro SP3 installed natively on physical hardware.  I tested using the 32 bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise.  The steps that I took are outlined below.

• While logged in as administrator on Windows XP, inserted the Windows 7 DVD.
• Presented with 2 installation options:

• I chose Upgrade and was presented with a Compatibility Report screen stating that it is not possible to directly upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. 

• Rebooted the Virtual Machine and booted directly to the Windows 7 DVD Setup. 
• Again, I was presented with the two different installation options and chose the Upgrade Option.  Just as before, I was presented with a Compatibility Report stating this option is not available in my current situation.

While I was doing the testing from Hyper-V, I used the Expression Encoder 3 Screen Capture utility to create a quick screencast for your viewing pleasure as well.  I am including that right here.

The official details for moving to Windows 7 from Windows XP or Windows Vista can be found on the Windows Team Blog.  I am including the two specific blog entries from the Windows Team Blog as well as the Step by Step Guide on the Windows 7 Site.

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/09/24/moving-to-windows-7.aspx

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/pages/moving-to-windows-7-faq.aspx

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7

Please read through these carefully and in its entirety to get a full understanding of what is and is not supported.

Harold Wong

For those of you who live in the Atlanta area and are interested in attending a free seminar from Microsoft, please read on.

My compatriots in the East Region are holding an all day Firestarter Event in Atlanta, GA at the Microsoft Office.  John Baker and Yung Chou will be delivering the sessions.  For more information and the registration link,

Event Overview

Windows® 7 introduces some fantastic new technologies to streamline your business, enhance security and save you money. We’ll start this Windows Firestarter event from the users point of view and have a fun and lively introduction to some of the new features in Windows 7.   Next we’ll move onto DirectAccess and show how remote users can connect seamlessly to the corporate network, giving them virtually the same experience as being in the office, all of this without VPN!  We’ll then move on and learn how to protect your drives and data with BitLocker™ and show how Windows 7 extends this protection to USB drives with BitLocker-To-Go™.  Finally we’ll round off the day with an in-depth look at how to automate your deployments of Windows 7 with System Center Configuration Manager.  This information packed, demo intensive day will kick-start your Windows 7 knowledge and get you well on the way to being prepared for deploying Windows 7!  

Click on link to register for the IN-PERSON event in Alpharetta.

Harold Wong

I have finished uploading the Power Point Deck from the TechNet Events that took place in Irvine, Los Angeles and San Diego on September 9th – 11th, 2009.  It is located on Slide Share so you can go ahead and grab it from there.  The direct link to the deck is: http://www.slideshare.net/harold.wong/q1-southern-california-session-slides.  If you have any questions regarding the content, please feel free to contact me.  Thanks!!!

Harold Wong

I just found out yesterday that beta exam 71-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring is now available.  This beta exam is available to take between August 31, 2009 and September 14, 2009.  You can start registering for the exam now.  If you pass the exam in beta, you will not have to retake it when it releases.

You must register at least 24 hours prior to taking the exam.
Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: E14J
As I have found out with previous beta exams, the seats allotments will fill up real fast, so don’t delay if you want to take it.

To register in North America, please call: Prometric: (800) 755-EXAM (800-755-3926)

I will be calling later this morning to schedule myself so good luck.

Harold Wong