Microsoft TechNet Ireland Blog : announcements

Event: WebsiteSpark Launch, 20th October – let’s celebrate!

endaf — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:17:00 GMT

It’s the anniversary of Microsoft’s BizSpark program and Microsoft Ireland are also launching a new initiative, WebsiteSpark, aimed primarily at web based businesses.

In the last year, over 300 companies in Ireland and Northern Ireland have benefited from business and development support from the BizSpark program. Come help us celebrate the success and growth of these organizations! You’ll also learn about the latest addition to the Spark family: WebsiteSpark.

WebsiteSpark is Microsoft’s new program to help small web design and development shops by providing them with three things essential to their success at no upfront cost:

1. Visibility through a marketplace and well as connections through marketing and business networking programs

2. Support of all kinds, from tech support and training to a network of other development shops, hosting partners, developers and designers, and

3. Tools to build products for your customers: Windows Server and IIS, SQL Server, Visual Studio, Expression and more.

More information on WebsiteSpark can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/web/websitespark/

See you at the Guinness Storehouse on October 20th for drinks, networking and a toast to sparking the economy.

What:
This events is completely free and open to anyone who wants to attend. Come along and meet new people, and make new contacts and have some fun too. The BizSpark and WebsiteSpark programs are run by Microsoft to help Startup companies with support, technology and networks.

When & Where:
From 7:00PM at The Guinness Storehouse • Dublin. See full address here and directions here.

Dress code, for people who care about such things, is whatever you like.

RSVP:
This event is absolutely free – and given the short notice of this post, you are welcome to turn up this evening without registering. Thanks, and we’ll see you there!

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Technical Overview

endaf — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:41:00 GMT

The Irish Windows User Group will be running a session focusing on OCS, aka Office Communications Server. The speaker is John McCabe, a senior engineer with CDSoft.

Mobile users and mobile computing have enabled a more flexible workforce but there is a challenge in enabling communications that are just as flexible and mobile. OCS can be used to resolve these issues. For most of us, this is an alien world and we just wouldn't know where to start. This session aims to show you how you can use OCS to resolve communications issues in your business.

About The Speaker

John McCabe works for CDSoft Limited based in Celbridge, Kildare. He has worked for over 12 years in the IT industry in various different fields ranging from telecoms, security, deployment and design. Over the last 12 months he has focused his attention on pushing Unified Communications in the Irish market place. He has presented alongside Microsoft on “Tech Days” about Unified Communications and many times in Microsoft “Envision” Centre. John has attained the 088-924 and 074-924 Voice Specialization Exams from Microsoft further complementing his UC skillset

Where And When

Registration is mandatory for attending the in-person event at Microsoft.

The event will be held in Building 1 at the Microsoft European Development Centre (EDC), South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18.

July 9th 2009

Registration: 09:00

Event: 09:00 until 12:00

Registration

To attend in person you must register.

Live Meeting

Although the best experience is to be on site for the presentation, we will be live webcasting the event using Live Meeting. You should use the installed (not the web) client.

There is no need to register for the live event if you only wish to tune into the webcast.

The URL for the meeting is: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=OCSOverview&role=attend

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Windows 7 Roadshow Presentations and Further Resources

endaf — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:42:00 GMT

Thanks for joining us at the Windows 7 Roadshow!

Please find the presentations used at the Roadshow here. I have also uploaded some useful papers which support much of the topics and features covered.

And here are some deployment aids and general Windows 7 resources you might be interested in:

· Microsoft Deployment Toolkit: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd407791.aspx

(there is a link to the beta on connect as well)

· Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx

· Windows 7 walkthrough videos: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd320282.aspx

· Windows 7 Springboard (in progress): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd361745.aspx

· USMT 4.0: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd560752(WS.10).aspx

· Windows Easy Transfer: http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsexperience/archive/2009/05/05/a-look-at-improvements-to-windows-easy-transfer-for-windows-7.aspx

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 hits RTM

will.craddock — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:27:00 GMT

Thursday May 28th saw the RTM of Operations Manager 2007 R2 being approved, which immediately initiated the next stage of the process ... getting this latest version of Microsoft's end-to-end monitoring product for IT environments and datacenters out to YOU! Read more in our overview whitepaper, What's New datasheet, or download the trial, and see customer stories and more information on our pages on Microsoft.com and TechNet.

The trial version of Operations Manager 2007 R2 RTM (build 7221) is now available via the Microsoft Download Center. General Availability of the product will be 1st July 2009, at which point new and existing customers will be able to obtain the bits from their respective customer download centers, such as MVLS.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 has an official release date!

will.craddock — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:54:00 GMT

As we toured around Ireland on the Windows 7 Tour, the single most asked question was around when was it coming out. Well……..

“TAIPEI, Taiwan — June 2, 2009 — Microsoft is so confident with the progress made with the development of Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 that it will deliver Release to Manufacturing (RTM) code to partners for both products in the second half of July. Both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be available to the public on Oct. 22, 2009.”

For anyone who attended the great Windows Live and Digital Photographer session put on by Aidan Finn as part of TechDays Ireland will also like the announcement at the same event. Another bid to create a useful class of consumer devices is Fugoo. The Fugoo platform uses a version of Windows in conjunction with widely available Web “widgets,” which publish everything from the time and weather to currency exchange rates and horoscopes.

Fugoo’s prototype devices integrate that software functionality into home appliances to create dynamic displays in clocks, picture frames and even coffee makers.

At Computex, Fugoo is announcing that its first commercially available product, a digital picture frame launched in partnership with Pandigital in the U.S., will be available on the market this summer.

The frame is Web-enabled and can download photos from social networks or online photo services. It also allows users to download photos directly from a PC or digital camera.

See the full details of the press release at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Jun09/06-02SteveGuggenheimer.mspx.

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SQL Event in Cork on 4th June

endaf — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:32:00 GMT

Reporting Services 2008 Architecture and End User Reporting

Summary

The first part of this session is a detailed look at architectural changes to the Reporting Services 2008 product and how they might benefit your reports.

The second part of the session is a demo based walk through of the new Report Builder 2.0. Focusing on the flexibility of the Tablix Format and end user charting.

We will also be taking a sneak preview of some of the new map based reporting capabilities to be introduced in SQL 2008 R2 shortly.

Speaker: Bob Duffy

Bob Duffy is a 16 year veteran of database technologies having worked closely with many enterprise customers in Ireland and Europe around SQL Server, Business Intelligence and dot.net and chalked up over 250 successful projects. Bob is currently one of eighteen Microsoft Certified Database Architects Globally, is an active speaker for SQL Server and is on the working group for the new SQL 2008 “master” examination syllabus.

Date: 04 June 2009 19:00 - 21:00

Location: Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Cork

Register and learn more here

Excellent Exchange 2010 Session Coming Up on 12th June

endaf — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:42:00 GMT

On June 12th the Windows User Group will be running a session on Exchange 2010, also known as Exchange 14. The speaker, Nathan Winters, is an Exchange MVP, consultant and author with huge experience and a growing international reputation. As you can see from the session agenda, the world of email has evolved into a world of communications and collaboration, introducing many new technologies and offering new ways to access existing technologies with solutions for the major corporates and the small businesses. This will be an interesting session that will explain what's happening now and in the near future.

Agenda

Introduction: Nathan will discuss the history of email with a particular focus on Exchange, this sets up the rest of the presentation which is about the future of email (Microsoft Style!)
Software + Services: Whether this is the future or not, what Microsoft is doing, the BPOS suite, limitations, benefits, and customers who have used it. Nathan will also show a demo. He will touch on Exchange Lab@Edu which leads into Exchange 2010 – Approx 20 mins
Exchange 2010 will be the main section of the presentation: The basics (roles, prerequisites etc). Nathan will take a look at the aims of the product group and dive into depth around the new features related to each of the roles
A brief intro to Unified Communications: This section will give a very brief intro to Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and then end with a demo of some key work scenarios and features
Summary and Questions

Live Webcast

We will be using LiveMeeting to share this presentation live to the world! You can sign in here using this code: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=46G74S&role=attend

Please use the free installed client instead of the web client. The web client has issues regarding audio sharing.

About Nathan Winters

Nathan Winters is a Lead Consultant for Dimension Data. He is responsible for the Microsoft Exchange practice in the UK. Nathan has been working in I.T. for six years and specializes in Exchange and Office Communications Server.

Midway through 2006 Nathan founded the Microsoft Messaging and Mobility User Group UK which holds regular meetings in the UK to discuss topics related to Exchange. In April 2007 Nathan was awarded an MVP (Exchange Server) for his work with MMMUG and regular contributions to the Mark Minasi Forum. Nathan is a regular contributor to the MSExchange.org website and Nathan's other articles have been published by Penton Media (Exchange and Outlook Administrator newsletter), Microsoft (TechNet Industry Insiders) and on the MMMUG website.

Registration

Anyone wishing to attend the event should register. This event is being held in Microsoft so registration is mandatory. As usual, there is no cost associated with this event.

Please spread word of the event to anyone you think may be interested.

Windows 7 Release Candidate and Windows XP Mode

will.craddock — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:55:00 GMT

There has been many rumours in the past few weeks around the release date for Windows 7 RC (Release Candidate). Last night the Windows Team made an announcement on their blog that should be good news to everyone who has been testing Windows 7 .

“I’m pleased to share that the RC is on track for April 30th for download by MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Broader, public availability will begin on May 5th.”

One of the new features that will be part of the Release Candidate review process is Windows XP Mode. Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7. Windows XP Mode provides you with the flexibility to run many older productivity applications on a Windows 7 based PC.

All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode which is a virtual Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC. The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7. Microsoft will be soon releasing the beta of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate.

I had the opportunity to see this in action recently and it is absolutely amazing. On one of my past sites we were limited by the browser that could be installed on desktops due to compatibility issues with the JD Edwards. With Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode we would have been able to have an IE6 Icon on the desktop for the JDE client while still taking advantage of Windows 7 and IE8 for daily computing needs. This will help remove most of the application compatibility issues that limited the adoption of Windows Vista in small, medium and enterprise environments.

One interesting addition for VirtualPC under Windows 7 is the ability to control interaction between the parent and child host and USB devices. Anyone who has used virtual technology of any kind has struggled with using USB key drives, USB hard drives, etc. With this release you can select which running OS (VM) has control over the USB device, and change these allocations on the fly. Additionally, you are able to see the hard drives attached to the parent from within the VM, and just interact with them directly.

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7). XPM works much like today's Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.

If you have a TechNet subscription, next week the FUN will begin. If not, then consider one as it truly is an IT Pro’s best friend for testing or wait for the public release on May 5th.

Let the RC testing begin!

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Windows 7 Security Enhancements

endaf — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:28:00 GMT

You may have heard that Windows 7 includes new features and enhancements to help improve security. But what are they specifically and how will they make your Windows clients safer? TechNet Magazine’s An Introduction to Security in Windows 7 provides a great overview of the most significant security enhancements and features, from the new Biometric Framework and AppLocker to improvements for BitLocker and UAC.

Also worth checking out in the May issue of TechNet Magazine, is an article on PKI Enhancements in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. This article looks at Server Consolidation, Improved Existing Scenarios, Software + Services and Strong Authentication.

Tech Days: Galway March10, Cork March12 (7pm-9.30pm)

endaf — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:29:00 GMT

Tech Days, a joint effort between Microsoft and the IT Pro community, is bringing exceptional up-to-date technical content to Galway and Cork. Register and learn more about these evening events @ http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/technet/techdays.aspx

Galway will cover Windows 7 and Client Deployment Tools, a session for the 'accidental' (or involuntary) DBAs and a great Integrated BI Solutions session.

Cork will look at Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (Live Migration!) as well as excellent technical demos and best practice sharing on Unified Comms and SharePoint.

There is no cost for attending the event and what's more, the TechNet team have sweeeeet prizes for give-away on the evenings: an Xbox elite and two TechNet Plus Subscriptions in each city.

Enda

Microsoft Community Tech Days

ieitpro — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:47:00 GMT

The countdown is on for MS Community Tech Days!...only two weeks until Galway and Cork at the time of posting this (Galway 10th and Cork 12th March). Blindingly good technical content to be caught! Learn more and register @ http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/technet/techdays.aspx.

Tech Days are a collaborative effort between Microsoft and the IT Pro community to re-deliver the highlights of Tech Ed Conference to IT Pros across Ireland. Register now to avoid disappointment! The core content will focus on Infrastructure, BI and Unified Comms & Collaboration. Most of the sessions will be delivered by a combination of Microsoft and Community technical presenters and we promise they will involve as much time spent demoing the technology, as possible.

March will see the four-city tour stop for evening events in Galway and Cork, with full day events in Dublin and Belfast. Our special guest speaker in Galway, Dublin and Belfast is Rhonda Layfield, who was voted one of the best technical presenters @ Tech Ed Europe and North America. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to get up-to speed on the latest Microsoft technology (technical level 300) at no cost! We hope to see you there. Learn more and register here.

We are also running ‘Microsoft @ Home’ sessions in Dublin and Belfast in March, the timing of which line up nicely with the Tech Days. These sessions will look at Home Networking, Windows 7, Securing your Home and Digital Photography. So if you’re someone who has even thought about, using your Xbox 360 as a media extender for example, then you’ll certainly like this session. Learn more and register here.

Enda

Inaugural SharePoint User Group Meeting in Shannon

ieitpro — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:13:00 GMT

Great news for those of you over in the mid-West of Ireland! On March 3^rd, Westpark Business Centre will host the inaugural Shannon SharePoint User Group Meeting. The breakfast event will run from 8am until 10.30am and has some terrific speakers representing both multinational technology firms and local technology partners.

See below for the agenda and how you can register.

When: 3^rd March, 8.00-10.30am

Where: Westpark Shannon Ltd, 4000 Atlantic Avenue in Shannon (061 479111).

Email nforan@central-solutions.com to register for this event.

07:45 Registration & Complimentary Breakfast.

08:30 Introduction & Welcome.

08:40 Introduction to SharePoint: A brief overview of SharePoint, Quick wins with SharePoint, 5 ways to save money with SharePoint and a real life case study. Daragh Morrissey - Senior Microsoft Services Consultant.

09:10 Case Study by Central Solutions Ltd: Demonstration of SharePoint in managing cost centres, facilitating collaboration, managing projects and deploying intranets/extranets. Paul Conheady, Central Solutions.

09.30 Experiences with SharePoint: Dell's perspective on the use of SharePoint for cost savings and information management. Kieran Fitzgerald, Dell.

09.45 A User’s Perspective: Collaboration, Team and Project Management. Rick Dunphy, Intel.

10:00 Panel Discussion / Q&A.

10:30 Close

Enda

Internet Explorer 8 RC1 Released!

ieitpro — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:36:00 GMT

Today, January 26 at 12pm PT, Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) was released to tech and consumer enthusiasts in a total of 25 languages. The goals of this announcement are to drive global excitement, strengthen long-term confidence in Internet Explorer and help drive demand for Internet Explorer 8. RC1 will include a number of bug fixes, user experience improvement and enhanced security, performance and compatibility.

Free Virtualisation Events in Dublin, Belfast and Cork!

ieitpro — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:07:00 GMT

Virtualisation is on practically every IT Pro's agenda these days. This is why there’s a wealth of Microsoft Virtualisation events training available over the coming months.

First up..Maxima Ireland, with support from Microsoft and Citrix, are hosting a Virtualisation seminar in Sandyford, Dublin on the 29^th of January. Email the event owner to register or for further information.

For more than 18 years, Microsoft and Citrix have offered customers solutions to deliver Windows-based applications using Citrix Presentation Server™ running on Terminal Services. Both companies are now co-marketing new client computing offerings with the next generation of Citrix Presentation Server and the Citrix XenDesktop™ products, both based on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Optimized Desktop solutions, and managed by Microsoft System Center. With these solutions, customers can build an array of flexible, low-cost and manageable client computing options for different types of enterprise users.

The agenda for the seminar is as follows:

Making the Business Case for Virtualisation
Citrix/Microsoft Dynamic Delivery Centre
Citrix/Microsoft Lifecycle Management

Outside of Dublin (Belfast and Cork)..Free TechNet Events: Virtualisation Unplugged

Who should attend: IT Managers, IT Professionals

Summary: Virtualisation Unplugged is a full day technical session with Microsoft experts to discover a complete set of virtualisation tools from desktop to datacentre that will improve business continuity and maximise ROI. The day will cover loads of technologies including Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V, System Centre Virtual Machine Manager, Terminal Services and Application Virtualisation.

James O'Neill, Virtualisation expert from the Microsoft UK, has had great success touring all over the UK delivering this seminar and we are delighted to bring him to Ireland to deliver two 'Virtualisation Unplugged' tour dates here. Date: 3rd February, 4th February
Location:
Belfast (3rd) - Register Here!
Cork, (4th) - Register Here!
Cost: Free Event

Come and get the Windows 7 Beta!

ieitpro — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:20:00 GMT

Finally, the Windows 7 Beta is available for public download! I am about to download it myself and I have heard lots of positive reports from my colleagues, so I’m very encouraged!

Windows 7 Beta Has Officially Launched! After much anticipation, Microsoft has now made Windows 7 Beta available for evaluation and testing to IT professionals! For TechNet subscribers, you can download Windows 7 Beta today here. Since January 9th, the beta is open to all IT professionals on the Springboard Series for Windows 7.

In fact the Springboard Series website is a real gem and you can find loads more IT Pro resources on Windows 7 like Windows 7: A First Look for IT Pros, Windows 7 Feature Walkthroughs, Mark Russinovich Goes Inside Windows 7 as well as great resources and information on Windows Vista.