The TechNet Australia Blog : Beta

Get your hands on Exchange 2010 Beta today

Deeps — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:54:11 GMT

Exchange 2010 is part of the next wave of Microsoft Office-related products and is the first server in a new generation of Microsoft server technology built from the ground up to work on-premises and as an online service. This release of Exchange 2010 introduces a new integrated e-mail archive and features to help reduce costs and improve the user experience. A public beta of the server is available for download starting today at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/exchange/2010/default.aspx.

Exchange Server 2010 will become available in the second half of 2009. Microsoft Office 2010 and related products will enter technical preview in the third quarter of 2009 and become available in the first half of 2010.

TechNet Edge - Announcing Exchange 2010 Beta

TechNet Edge - What's new in Unified Messaging in Exchange 2010?

Exchange 2010 will help organizations reduce costs, protect communications and delight e-mail users with capabilities to do the following:

Lower costs with more flexible deployment and management options. Exchange 2010 provides organizations with the same enterprise-grade capabilities whether deployed on-premises or as a service from Microsoft or partners — or as a mix of both. Further, for customers deploying the server, the new release simplifies the way organizations provide always-on communications and disaster recovery, meaning administrators spend less time managing their e-mail system. Exchange 2010 further improves performance running on lower-cost direct-attached storage, enabling organizations to dramatically reduce storage costs by up to 85 percent without sacrificing performance or reliability.
Protect information and meet compliance requirements with the new e-mail archive. As e-mail volume grows, companies must address increasing compliance, legal and e-discovery concerns, but today, according to Osterman Research, only 28 percent of organizations currently archive their e-mail content (Osterman Research, 2008). Exchange 2010 introduces an integrated e-mail archive. The new solution makes it easier to store and query e-mail across the organization using the Exchange software that organizations already know and use.
Improve user productivity with the ultimate inbox experience. Basex Inc. recently estimated that the average number of corporate e-mail messages received per person per day is expected to reach more than 93 by 2010. In addition, businesses lose $650 billion annually in productivity due to unnecessary interruptions including those from e-mail (Basex, 2008). Exchange 2010, together with Microsoft Outlook 2010, will give people more control over their communications with features such as these:

MailTips. Warn users before they commit an e-mail faux pas such as sending mail to large distribution groups, to recipients who are out of the office or to recipients outside the organization, helping protect against information leaks and reduce unnecessary e-mail messages.
Voice Mail Preview. See text previews of voice mail directly in Outlook.
Ignore Conversation. This e-mail “mute button” allows people to remove themselves from an irrelevant e-mail string, reducing unwanted e-mail and runaway reply-all threads.
Conversation View. Combine related e-mail messages in a single conversation to reduce inbox clutter.
Call Answering Rules. Create customized “Press 1 for …” call-routing menus with Exchange voice mail.
Consistent Experience. Use Outlook on the PC, a mobile phone or a browser for the same experience with enhancements in Outlook Mobile and Outlook Web Access.

Windows Server 2008 Online Resources

Deeps — Thu, 17 May 2007 07:42:00 GMT

Here are some Online Resources for Windows Server 2008 (the artist formerly known as Longhorn).

Webcasts
TechNet Webcast: Achieving High Availability with Windows Server “Longhorn” Clustering (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Internet Information Services 7.0 in Windows Server "Longhorn" (Level 300)
TechNet Webcast: Technical Overview of Windows Server "Longhorn" (Part 2 of 2) (Level 300)
TechNet Webcast: Windows Deployment Services Overview (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Next-Generation Networking with Windows Server “Longhorn (Level 200)
More On-Demand Webcasts

Virtual Labs
Managing Windows Server "Longhorn" and Windows Vista using Group Policy
Managing Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" Network Bandwidth with Policy-based Quality of Service
Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2 Server Core
Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2 Server Manager
Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2 Terminal Services Gateway and Remote Programs

Podcasts
TechNet Radio - Behind the Scenes on Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 3
TechNet Webcast: Achieving High Availability with Windows Server “Longhorn” Clustering (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Introduction to Terminal Services in Windows Server Code-Named "Longhorn" (Level 300)
TechNet Webcast: Windows Server "Longhorn" and Windows Vista: Better Together (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Overview of Networking in Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" (Level 200)

Chats
An Introduction to Windows Server "Longhorn"
Identity and Access Technology and Windows Server "Longhorn"
Network Policy Server in Longhorn
Windows PowerShell, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 and Windows Server “Longhorn”

Enjoy!

Windows Vista: Beta 2, RC1, and RC2 Set to Expire

Deeps — Thu, 03 May 2007 02:56:00 GMT

On May 31, the pre-release versions of Windows Vista (Beta 2, RC1, and RC2) will expire. Starting April 24, those who are still running a pre-release version of Windows Vista will receive multiple notifications about the expiration so that they will have ample time to back up data and migrate their PCs to the final version of Windows Vista. It is strongly recommended that customers running any of these pre-release versions of Windows Vista migrate their PCs to the final version of Windows Vista or another operating system prior to May 31. For more information Click Here.

Get Longhorn Beta 3 today

Deeps — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:35:00 GMT

Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 3 is ready. Get it today or learn more about it.

Register to get notified when "Longhorn" Server Beta will be ready

Deeps — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 06:07:00 GMT

Windows Server "Longhorn" Server beta is coming soon. To receive an e-mail notifying you about the beta version availability, pre-register now.

For more information about Longhorn click here

Take part in the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Beta Program

Deeps — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 05:38:00 GMT

The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment is an assessment and inventory tool designed to help customers and partners quickly assess their PCs’ readiness for Windows Vista upgrades network-wide with a single networked PC. It is designed to remotely connect to PCs on a network, assess their hardware and device compatibility with Windows Vista, and automatically create a comprehensive report with assessment results and upgrade recommendations for each PC. The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment does not require the installation of any software agents on PCs to perform the assessment.

The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment will provide the following information in two output documents in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel:

•	Deployment Blockers: Devices and BIOS versions that are not compatible with Windows Vista.
•	Windows Vista Experience: Windows Vista experience based on currently available system resources.
•	Upgrade Recommendations: Specific recommendations for upgrading PC hardware to improve the Windows Vista experience.

We invite you to join our Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Beta Program where you can review and test the beta releases and provide detailed feedback to our development team. More information on this process will be made available to you after you sign up for the beta release.

To participate in the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Beta Program:

•	You will need to sign in using a valid Windows Live ID.
•	If you have not previously registered with Microsoft Connect, you are required to register.

Join the beta program today at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=75215

View an on-demand TechNet webcast on this topic at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=80447&clcid=0x409