The Enterprise Learning Framework (ELF) is a tool that helps institutions develop a training and communication plan for employees during Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system deployment. The tool identifies the most relevant learning topics on Windows Online Help and Office Online for different stages of deployment and different types of users; then it produces an email describing resources you can send users.

With the Enterprise Learning Framework you can:

•                    Minimize concern by preparing employees for deployment and raising awareness of the new versions’ benefits

•                    Minimize disruption on deployment day by getting employees up to speed with a short list of "must know" topics

•                    Select tips-and-tricks and other productivity topics to help employees get the most from Windows Vista and the 2007 Office release after deployment

The content is very customizable to target certain applications, mobile users and security topics.

Sign up for Tech-Ed North America 2008 by April 18, and you'll save $200 off your registration fee.

Tech-Ed North America 2008 is your opportunity to learn about the latest tools and technologies from the Microsoft experts and industry leaders who know them best.

This year, dive deep into Microsoft technologies through more than 1,000 learning opportunities specifically designed to help you meet your challenges. Don't miss the keynotes, Bill Gates at Tech-Ed Developers, or Bob Muglia at Tech-Ed IT Professionals.

Connect with over 250 industry partners in the Partner Expo. Get valuable hands-on training in the Technical Learning Center. And increase your knowledge of Microsoft technology through 16 Technical Tracks for Developers and 20 Technical Tracks for IT Professionals.

A common customer request is for a tool to help guide network designers with their implementation strategies.  Network Managers want to see a blueprint for ALL devices and software – both operating system and application layers.  That type of help from Microsoft comes in two forms: high-level guidance and product specific guidance.

First, the Windows Server System Reference Architecture (WSSRA) is a detailed reference architecture, tested and proven in labs, that yields valuable implementation guidance for meeting the requirements of an enterprise. Customers can use this guidance to build highly available, secure, scalable, manageable, and reliable enterprise infrastructure. By following the recommendations in the WSSRA documentation, an organization can quickly and efficiently plan, build, and operate an infrastructure to support its long-term business needs.

The Microsoft Technology Blueprint for Primary and Secondary Schools is a high-level blueprint document that aligns educational objectives to the core technology infrastructure that schools require to support these objectives. Although titled for use in K12, I found many of the chapters hold good advice for even higher education institutions.  The document also includes links to many case studies.

Still high-level (but product specific) is the Microsoft Exchange Service Management Guide which applies Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) principles and specific prescriptive guidance for managing Microsoft Exchange in a mission-critical setting. The guidance will help you implement process and team best practices within the context of the MOF Process Model.  There are such guides for most of Microsoft's server products.  These guides are great for project management, but typically do not cover actual architecture.

For specific how-to architecture the TechNet Library holds a wealth of information. A good search parameter on the TechNet site is “solution accelerators”.  Solution Accelerators are created by the Microsoft product groups and can take many forms.  For example, the Solution Accelerator for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server includes an External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint, How Microsoft Moves ITIL V3 from Concept to Practice, Infrastructure Planning and Design, Microsoft Assessment and Planning, SharePoint Asset Inventory Tool Executive Overview, SharePoint Capacity Planning Tool, SharePoint Monitoring Toolkit Executive Overview and even a link to the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide.

We know that many of you are anxious to get your hands on the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RTM bits. And to that end, we have some good news. We are pleased to announce that – while broad RTW availability is still scheduled for March – the SP1 Update RTM bits are available now to TechNet subscribers.  If you are subscriber, please visit TechNet Plus Subscriptions and sign in to access Top Subscriber Downloads.  Check out Things to know before you download Windows Vista SP1 for more information, and for updated details on all aspects of Windows Vista SP1, stop by the Windows Vista TechCenter.

Also available now, the very latest build of SP3 for Windows XP includes all previously released updates for the operating system, similar to previous service packs.  It also includes previously released updates to the latest versions of some system components, as well as functionality for improved compatibility with Windows Vista.  The application to enable the XP SP3 RC2 download can be found at the Microsoft Download Center.  Running this application on a machine with Windows XP Service Pack 2 will enable Windows Update to offer XP SP3 RC2 to that machine.  More information regarding XP SP3 can be found on the Windows XP TechCenter.

In conclusion, culture, politics, requirements, existing technologies, and audience all are important factors to consider.  Governance is the foundation to implement a consistent and useful content and document management strategy.  The particulars of Higher Education are not as important as having a vessel to mandate a consistent user experience for all. Understanding the 5 pillars to good content and document management are universally important to any sector in the world using SharePoint. Here are a couple links to Microsoft’s Governance Homepage and a public link to a good Resource Guide for Education.

Download the new Office system Tips & Tricks Windows Vista sidebar gadget from the Windows Live Gallery today.  By clicking on the gadget itself this convenient new tool delivers a new Office system productivity tip seven days a week, 365 Days a year!  

Note:  The Windows Vista gadget is optimized for the latest Office system release, but most tips also work with the previous version.

Also check out our new basic and advanced 90 minute videos delivered by our superstar Tips & Tricks presenters Evan Archilla and Chris Bertelson.

Microsoft created this web site to show how connecting people with each other and with information can drive new ways of communicating and collaborating.  Our goal is to enable learning without limits – anytime, in any place, and at any pace.

The Test Drive web site has two focus areas: Teaching and Learning (instructional) and Management and Administration (technology).

As an instructor, this site will help you discover new ways of connecting your learning communities.

As an IT administrator, you will be able to see first-hand how SharePoint and Exchange can be used to develop a learning community within an institution.

Your computer requires the Citrix Web Client to connect to the Education Test Drive, and you will be prompted to install this browser plug-in when you visit the site.  Once the plug-in is installed, the Test Drive environment will open in a separate browser window.

When the system is ready, choose a program tutorial from the Tutorial Menu that appears. Each tutorial includes exercises to guide you through some of the features of the Education site. You can work through the tutorial at your own pace, or experiment with the programs and features that interest you.

Join us for this webcast on Microsoft Unified Communications (UC) to learn how Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 work together to provide a full spectrum of rich voice communications tools. Voice over IP (VoIP) is the next generation of voice communications. By enabling communications over your IP network and integrating these capabilities with everyday applications like e-mail, calendaring, voice mail, instant messaging (IM), and Web conferencing, you can provide your school with a streamlined communications experience. Attend this session to learn about the capabilities of Microsoft voice communication tools and also to get an overview of how our software takes advantage of your existing telephony hardware infrastructure to obtain these capabilities.

If your institution is looking to transform your current telephony/voice communications systems, this is a webcast you will not want to miss!

The first annual Microsoft High Performance Computing Summit is taking place Monday, November 12th, 2007 at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Nevada:

•  HPC Industry Trends
• What affect the growth in HPC usage will have on specific areas of research
• Windows benchmarks posted to the latest Top 500 list
• Experiences shared by those that are currently using centralized and distributed Windows HPC infrastructure
• A preview of Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server v2

Information and Registration

Here are two programs where you can request Microsoft software for eligible nonprofit organizations.

Unlimited Potential Software Donations

Microsoft donates the latest software technology to eligible nonprofit organizations around the world. Microsoft's software donations are demand-driven, based on the requests of individual nonprofits to meet their organizational needs.  Software donations are often an integral part of a community-based technology training program. By providing access to the latest business and productivity applications, nonprofit organizations can help underserved individuals develop valuable skills for today's workplace. 

How it Works:

How to Obtain Donated Software

Review Eligibility Criteria and Learn How to Apply

First review the program guidelines to determine if your organization meets the eligibility criteria. Microsoft accepts funding proposals from eligible organizations through Microsoft subsidiary offices located around the world. Funding decisions are made in March and October of each year. 

Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) Program

What Is the MAR Program? The Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) program was created to increase the number of usable PCs available to nonprofits, schools, and low-income families across the globe by reducing the cost of software to refurbishers. The MAR program also benefits the environment by giving new life to a significant number of computers that may otherwise be destined for landfills. The MAR Americas program provides a range of Microsoft software to PC refurbishers in North America. The MAR Program is a partnership between Microsoft and TechSoup.

The MAR program authorizes eligible refurbishers to install the following software applications on refurbished (used) computers for eligible recipients:

·         Windows 2000 is available for all computers through the program.

·         Windows XP is available for computers that were previously installed with Windows XP.

·         Microsoft Works 7.0 is available for all computers through the program.

·         Microsoft Office XP Standard is available for computers supplied to eligible charitable organizations and other Microsoft specially approved recipients, but not for eligible academic recipients.

To be a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher, you must:

·         Supply 20 or more computers per year to charities, schools, or families.

·         Be a commercial, nonprofit, school, college, or government-based refurbisher.

·         Be located in any of the countries of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean (with the exception of Cuba).

Microsoft has recently addressed an issue in Excel 2007 and Excel Services in Office SharePoint Server 2007 through the following hotfixes:

·         Excel 2007 hotfix package: October 3, 2007 (KB 943075)

·         Excel Services in Office SharePoint Server 2007 hotfix package: October 3, 2007 (KB 943076)

The hotfixes are available to download at the links above and will be included in the Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and in an upcoming Public Update (release dates are currently unavailable).  We encourage you to install these updates as soon as possible.  

Who is affected?

All customers and users of Excel 2007 and Excel Services in Office SharePoint Server 2007 are affected. Versions prior to Excel 2007 are not affected.

What is the issue?

The Excel team was made aware of an issue with the display of calculation result numbers within the ranges of 65534.99999999995 to 65535 and 65535.99999999995 to 65536. (Try entering = 850*77.1 into a cell.)  Investigation into these reports determined that many calculations resulting in a number within these ranges actually displayed the incorrect value 100,000. This is not due to a calculation error but a flaw with the display of this calculation.  The hotfixes as described in KB 943075 and KB 943076 will address this issue.

With almost 300 security and privacy settings, the 2007 Microsoft Office release is the most secure version of Microsoft Office ever.  To help customers quickly and easily deploy security configurations for Office across their institutions, Microsoft is developing the “2007 Microsoft Office Security Guide”.

When completed in Q4 of 2007, the guide will provide your IT staff with best practices and automated tools to help strengthen the security of computers running the 2007 Microsoft Office release on either Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2.

Based on extensive, real-world experience from customers, government agencies, and Microsoft security experts; the 2007 Microsoft Office Security Guide lets you choose from two thoroughly tested baseline security configurations.

Customers can easily tailor the configuration they choose, modifying security settings to accommodate their unique needs. And the included Group Policy tool will help your staff automatically deploy the security settings they choose—in minutes, instead of hours or days.

The Beta version of the guide is now available. To join the Beta program, visit the Microsoft Connect site and look for the “2007 Microsoft Office Security Guide” at the top of the list under “Available Connections”.