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It’s here!! The beta version of Office 2010 is now available for you to download and evaluate. Get hands-on experience with the next wave of productivity and see how you and your team get a wide range of powerful new ways to do your best work, from more places – whether you’re using a PC, phone or web browser.
http://www.microsoft.com/2010/en/
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee390818.aspx
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I found this on MS Press and thought it would be of interest…..
Looking for guidance specific to Windows 7 deployment? Check out what the industry's leading experts have to say in this free Microsoft Press eBook with selected chapters from the Windows 7 Resource Kit on Deployment Platforms, Planning, Testing Application Compatibility, to name a few. As an added bonus, you'll also get six new articles on Windows 7 from industry experts on 
migration, running Windows 7 in mixed environments, Certification, and more.
Download the new free Windows 7 eBook.
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Great news from Educause this week! Microsoft announced that new SharePoint Online-based collaboration and productivity services will be available for students as part of the Live@edu next year. These new SharePoint-based services will offer IT departments more flexibility and control to set up and manage their school’s collaboration and productivity tools in a security-enhanced environment…as well as the ability to access and manage permissions to sites, documents and content (pictures, videos) with enterprise-class control.
Separately, Blackboard plans to announce an alliance with Microsoft that will offer students and learners a streamlined access to information from their courses while navigating the Web. Under the agreement, Blackboard and Microsoft will work together to enable notifications from students’ online courses to appear in their Web browser using the Bing toolbar when new course information becomes available through the Blackboard Learn™ platform. Press release can be found here.
Finally, more universities are choosing Microsoft’s cloud computing offerings, to save schools time and money. In the past four months nearly 5,000 schools have enrolled with Live@edu joining the thousands of other institutions in more than 100 countries already providing Live@edu to tens of millions of students worldwide.
See the blog from Anthony Salcito, Microsoft VP for Education Worldwide.
Kevin
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How would you like to get an extra hour from you laptop battery?
On the Windows Partner blog, Joakim Lialias, Intel’s Microsoft relationship manager wrote yesterday that “Microsoft and Intel engineers were able to reduce power usage of a Windows 7 laptop nearly 20% over an identical laptop running Windows Vista SP2.”
What that means for you is a typical laptop will run for more than an hour longer on batteries, when running Windows 7 vs. Windows Vista.
You can read the blog post on this site - Windows Partner Blog
Kevin
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Just in time for Windows 7, we’ve announced the availability of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) (MDOP) 2007 R2.
This release adds Windows 7 support for all components, except for MED-V. MED-V will support Windows 7, in the first quarter of calendar year 2010 via MED-V 1.0 SP1.
MED-V 1.0 SP1 Beta will be available by the end of 2009.
Check out the full announcement here - MDOP Team Blog
Kevin
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Many of you have been asking about this and it’s finally available!
The Windows 7 Product Guide is now available for download. Two versions are available – PDF is 63MB and XPS is 31MB.
The first section of the guide provides information on the different SKUS, then a detailed look at the new and improved features in Windows 7. This is NOT a help and how-to guide.
The last third is designed for IT Pros, to show how to:
- Make People Productive Anywhere
- Manage Risk Through Enhanced Security & Control
- Reduce Costs by Streamlining PC Management
This guide will definitely be a helpful reference and I recommend it!
Check it out here - Windows 7 Product Guide
Kevin
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As there is a flood of interest in Windows 7 I thought I would share this helpful learning snack on Search. Windows 7 provides the concept of Libraries, an improved Search functionality and Federated Search.
In just 15 minutes you can:
- Learn how to use Libraries in Windows 7
- Learn how Search was improved
- Understand Federated Search
- Learn about Search Scopes
With Federated Search, users can search corporate Intranet sites and their desktops from one familiar interface: Windows Explorer. This is out-of-the-box functionality to search beyond the user's computer. Developers and IT professionals can enable search engines, document repositories, web applications and proprietary data stores to be searched from Windows Explorer without writing and deploying client-side code.
Enterprise Search Scopes allow IT administrators to populate links on the Start menu and in Windows Explorer. These links simplify access to the most appropriate, complete and authoritative data sources on the network. As a result, content is more discoverable.
A “Learning Snack” is an interactive presentation delivered via Microsoft Silverlight. Watch this snack:
Accessing Information in Windows 7 (15 minutes)
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/win7/snack10/default.html
For additional Windows 7 snacks, please visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/training/format-learning-snacks.aspx#win7
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With the excitement around the public release of Windows 7 this week, I’m getting lots of questions about the best way to upgrade systems from Windows XP to Windows 7. Here are the best options:
Easy Transfer – a great tool for end users to migrate their data, settings, preferences, favorites, etc. Note that there is a new version of Easy Transfer for Windows 7. It is much faster than the first version, written for Windows Vista. Easy Transfer is included on the Windows 7 DVD, but you may also download it from this web site - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-easy-transfer
USMT – User State Migration Tool – this tool is recommended for an IT Pro to use for migrating other users. USMT is part of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd671583.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=2274c6c3-bc26-45d5-a32c-f6f44f980518 – (download the video here)
http://edge.technet.com/Media/User-State-Migration-with-Windows-7/
MDT – Microsoft Deployment Toolkit –
MDT is the recommended process and set of tools for automating desktop and server deployment. You can do an automated “Light Touch” installation by using MDT and the tools included in Windows Server 2008. If you add System Center Configuration Manager to the mix, you can do a totally automated “Zero Touch” installation of Windows 7 – or any software application.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=3bd8561f-77ac-4400-a0c1-fe871c461a89
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I want to take this opportunity to let you know that the Windows in Higher Education Conference is set for April 12 – 14. We are currently working on the logistics. More details are soon to follow including a request for session recommendations and peer sessions. We will also soon be posting the Conference web site in order for you to register for the conference as well as view details of the conference such as the venue, sessions, etc. For those new to this list and Conference, you can get an idea of what to expect by reviewing previous conference details here (click on the ‘Conference’ links along the left side): http://windows-hied.org/.
We are keeping the registration fee the same - $150/attendee. As far as other specifics, we are planning those as we speak so please stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, mark your calendars for WinHED Conference 2010. I hope to see you there!
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Just in case you are not familiar with the Windows 7 Training Kit, on 8/6, in tandem with the release of Windows 7 to MSDN subscribers, we released an update to our Windows 7 Training Kit. This is the most comprehensive release to date; including 14 different modules, with a total of 32 different labs. We also updated the kit’s look and feel like to our new Windows Channel 9 site; the kit now includes links to videos, and additional resources.
Make sure you download the Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers
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I want to pass this along as so many of you are either investigating or planning to deploy Windows 7:
Get ready to deploy Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the final release of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010
Click here to download MDT now. (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=159061)
As you prepare to deploy Windows® 7 and Windows Server® 2008 R2, get a jump start with Microsoft® Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010. Leverage this Solution Accelerator to achieve efficient, cost-effective deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
MDT is the recommended process and toolset to automate desktop and server deployment. MDT provides you with the following benefits:
- Unified tools and processes required for desktop and server deployment in a common deployment console and collection of guidance.
- Reduced deployment time and standardized desktop and server images, along with improved security and ongoing configuration management.
- Fully automated Zero Touch Installation deployments by leveraging System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 Release Candidate and Windows deployment tools. For those without a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 infrastructure, MDT leverages Windows deployment tools for Lite Touch Installation deployments.
MDT 2010 includes new features such as flexible driver management, optimized user interface workflow, and Windows PowerShellTM command line interface to help simplify deployment and make your job easier. Deploy faster and more easily with MDT 2010.
New in MDT 2010
Improvements in MDT 2010 allow you to:
- Access deployment shares from anywhere on the network and replicate files and settings across organizational boundaries or sites.
- Organize and manage drivers, operating systems, applications, packages, and task sequences with an improved UI.
- Automate UI functionality using the new Windows PowerShell command line interface.
Next steps
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Join Steve Ballmer in a live panel discussion with senior industry leaders to discuss the “The New Efficiency” live from San Francisco. See top technology leaders from across the industry debate the role of IT during this economic reset in this must-see launch event.
The event is September 29 from noon – 1:30pm ET. www.TheNewEfficiency.com
Can cost savings, productivity and innovation come together?
We hope you will see for yourself how:
· Windows® 7 can help you raise productivity, reduce management costs as part of the Windows Optimized Desktop, and manage risks through enhanced security and control.
· Windows Server® 2008 R2 enables dynamic provisioning and management of virtual workloads, reduces energy costs, and combines with Windows 7 to make branch offices more cost-effective and remote workers more productive.
· Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 can simplify administration and deployment of messaging, improve archiving capabilities, and extend your messaging across multiple access points.
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The Exchange Server team has been busy! Last week, we announced the availability of Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server 2007. SP2 includes new auditing, backup and directory tools.
Read about the steps required to install SP2 here
SP2 for Exchange 2007 will also be required in order for the server to coexist with the upcoming Exchange Server 2010; which leads me to the second significant announcement….
We’re also excited to let you know that the Release Candidate for Exchange Server 2010 is available for you to evaluate. There are several options for you to get your hands on it – download it, download a pre-configured VHD, or try Microsoft Exchange Online.
A product overview is available here and you can download the release candidate from this site
Stay tuned for additional information as it becomes available and let me know if you have questions/comments.
Kevin
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I saw this posting on techradar news and thought it was worth sharing. They provide a nice summary of 18 cool things in Windows 7 that are not in Vista. It’s a great highlight of what’s new – check it out!
http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/18-cool-things-windows-7-does-that-vista-doesn-t-628892?artc_pg=1
Kevin
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The System Center team announced this week that Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 has been released to manufacturing (RTM). This release brings support for managing W08 R2 Hyper-V clusters which includes support for Live Migration, better usability for clusters in general, ‘hot add’ storage support, and of course support to manage VMWare vSphere 4 environments. General Availability is October 1 and 180-day evaluation is available now here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=292de23c-845c-4d08-8d65-b4b8cbc8397b&displaylang=en.
We encourage everyone to explore the new System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 and its new features.
VMM 2008 R2 Features
VMM 2008 R2 now manages many of the great new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 RC Hyper-V including:
- Live Migration -- for moving virtual machines between hosts with no downtime
- Additional enhanced migration support for SAN migration in and out of clusters
- Multiple virtual machines per LUN using Clustered Share Volumes
- Hot add of virtual machine storage
To learn more about the new features and capabilities of VMM2008 R2, please attend our upcoming TechNet session ‘Technical Overview of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2’.
Presented by our Technical Product Manager Kenon Owens, it will be chock full of new and cool VMM 2008 R2 items. Go here to register for this Wednesday, September 09, 2009 (1:00 PM ET) event.
