Microsoft just added no-cost Microsoft Exchange Labs e-mail for students and alumni to its Live@edu online communication and collaboration applications tailored for educational institutions.

Live@edu with Exchange Labs gives students and alumni access to a reliable and security-enhanced e-mail experience similar to what they may use in the workplace, while university IT administrators can benefit from additional security features and simplified deployment. By bringing proven technologies to current education systems, Microsoft is helping IT administrators build closely connected infrastructures and create exceptional experiences for students and educators.

Live@edu now offers institutions the option of giving their students and alumni an Exchange Labs inbox. Live@edu offers the following benefits to universities and students:

·         Reliable communications. Universities can provide students with hosted e-mail, featuring up to 10 GB inboxes and 20 MB attachments. Students can also access their e-mail, contacts and calendar from Outlook Web Access and Microsoft Office Outlook, as well as from Web-enabled mobile phones, similar to what they may experience in the work force.

·         Building blocks for collaboration. Additional Live@edu services that can be used for on-campus collaboration include shared calendars with free/busy lookup between students, student directories with administrative control to create distribution lists, and the ability to add faculty and staff who are using Exchange on-premise to student directories.

·         Additional security. Live@edu with Exchange Labs also now allows message tracking to confirm urgent e-mail was delivered, and content filtering, which gives administrators the ability to block e-mail with objectionable content.

·         Institution identity. Schools can deepen the relationship with students and alumni through an e-mail inbox with the school’s logo, a custom theme created by the institution and a school-branded e-mail address that students can keep after they graduate.

View the online press release

More information about Microsoft Live@edu

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

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I recently research this topic for a customer starting to use the latest Microsoft Deployment tool. The confusion comes from the seemingly conflicting statements on Microsoft.com as to whether Microsoft Deployment supports Office 2003.

“This release of BDD supports deployment of the 2007 Office system, but drops support for Microsoft Office 2003.  Office 2003 deployment guidance is now available separately.”

“Microsoft Deployment Solution Accelerator, which is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007, delivers end-to-end guidance for the efficient planning, building, testing, and deployment of Windows operating systems, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and Microsoft Office 2003.”

What was dropped from the tool is the guidance for deploying Office 2003.  The tool itself can still be used to deploy Office 2003 and many other applications as well.

NetWare to Windows Server 2003 Migration Planning Guide

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/sfnmig.mspx

Interoperability and Migration Center

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/migrate/default.mspx

Migrate from Novell

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/facts/solutions/migratenovell.mspx

Windows Services for NetWare 5.03

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sfn/default.mspx

Virtual Lab: Migrating NetWare to Windows Server 2003

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/traincert/virtuallab/nwmigrate.mspx

Resources for Interoperability and Migration of NetWare and Windows

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/migrate/novell/benefits.mspx

Webcast: Novell to Windows Migration (Level 100)

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032262431&EventCategory=5&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Webcast: Migrating from Novell Infrastructure to Microsoft Windows Server System (Level 200)

http://www.microsoft.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?CMTYSvcSource=MSCOMMedia&Params=%7eCMTYDataSvcParams%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ID%22+Value%3d%221032282132%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ProviderID%22+Value%3d%22A6B43178-497C-4225-BA42-DF595171F04C%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22lang%22+Value%3d%22en%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22cr%22+Value%3d%22US%22%2f%5e%7esParams%5e%7e%2fsParams%5e%7e%2fCMTYDataSvcParams%5e

Webcast: Novell Netware and Windows Server 2003 Migration and Interoperability (Level 200)

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032268767&EventCategory=3&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Webcast: Active Directory Inside Out (Part 6 of 11)—Interoperability and Migration from Novell Directory Services (Level 200)

Security Guidance Center

http://www.microsoft.com/security/guidance

TechNet Security Center

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/default.mspx

US Security Summit Content

http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/securitysummit/presentations/default.mspx

Patterns & Practice Guides

http://msdn.microsoft.com/practices/

TechNet Security Briefings

http://www.microsoft.com/events/security/default.mspx

Join us for special TechNet Security Briefings to connect with Microsoft security experts to discuss what you can do to help better protect your infrastructure against the latest security threats.

Microsoft Security Response Center Blog

http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/

E-Learning: Security

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/catalog/security.aspx

Clinic 2801: Microsoft Security Guidance Training I

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=58798

This online clinic provides students with introductory knowledge and skills essential for the design and implementation of a secure computing environment. It also provides students with prescriptive guidance on security update management and best practices for implementing security on Microsoft Windows server and client computers.

Clinic 2802: Microsoft Security Guidance Training II

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=53057

This online clinic builds on existing knowledge of server and client security and provides students with the knowledge and skills to apply best practices to implement perimeter and network defenses and enhance security for applications and Microsoft Windows Server System components.

Clinic 2803: Microsoft Security Guidance Training III

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=58114

This online clinic builds on existing knowledge of server and client security and provides students with the knowledge and skills to apply security best practices for Microsoft Exchange Server and to use Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 to improve security at the network perimeter.

Clinic 2804: Microsoft Security Guidance Training IV

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=62977

This online clinic provides students with prescriptive guidance that builds on their knowledge of security essentials to help them improve security for their infrastructures.

Clinic 2808: Microsoft Security Guidance Training V

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=70422

This clinic builds on existing knowledge of server and client security and provides students with the knowledge and skills to apply best practices to securing Microsoft Exchange Server clients, protecting e-mail and data content, securing services and critical accounts, and securing administrative accounts and remote access using smart cards.

Clinic 2855: Managing Security Enhancements in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=70980

 This online clinic will show systems administrators and system engineers how to implement, deploy, support, and configure Windows Server 2003 SP1 security enhancements. It will provide in-depth information on the security changes in SP1 over previous versions.

Clinic 2807: Microsoft Security Guidance Training for Developers II

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=67120

This clinic discusses best practices for building security into the design, development, testing, and deployment phases of the software development life cycle. It is targeted towards individual with at least one to two years of programming experience.

Clinic 2806: Microsoft Security Guidance Training for Developers

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=55493

This online clinic provides students with knowledge and skills essential for the creation of applications with enhanced security. Students will learn about the need for implementing security at every stage of the development process and best practices for applying security principles.

The product manager release additional information today about Internet Explorer 7.0 download via WSUS.

IE7 for English clients will be available for WSUS server synchronization from Microsoft Update starting Wednesday, November 1, 2006.  This release will be available in other languages over the next few months. IE7.0 will be classified as an Update Rollup for WSUS servers and will be approximately 15MB in size.    IE7.0 will be available for Windows XP SP2, Windows XP 64-bit Edition, and Windows Server 2003 SP1 systems.

* An important note:  IE7.0 will not be available to SUS 1.0 or SUS 1.0/SP1 servers, which will be at the end of their support lifecycle on December 6, 2006.

Additional Resources:

WSUS team blog

http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/

WSUS TechCenter

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/wsus

IE 7.0

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

Automatic Updates distribution of IE 7.0

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/updatemanagement/windowsupdate/ie7announcement.mspx

Testing and deploying IE7.0, download the IE 7.0 Readiness Toolkit

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=D13EE10D-2718-47F1-AA86-1E32D526383D&displaylang=en

Windows Live Academic is a new addition to the Windows Live Search family of services that allows users to search through academic information. Currently, users can search content in academic journals in the fields of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Physics.

Today, Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server 2003.  This service pack is available immediately and is free to download in nine server languages.

To learn more about the benefits of deploying Service Pack 2, please visit the Exchange Server web site.  There you can learn how Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 has made dramatic progress in meeting the needs of IT administrators who seek higher levels of security and better mailbox fundamentals. 

In addition, Service Pack 2 offers a vastly improved experience in both managing and using mobile email.  This improved experience benefits from the tight integration with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0.  Mobile Operators will be releasing these new devices into the market over the next several months.

Looking at a new strategic plan for your business?  In this article, Eric Sink, of SourceGear, examines the decision process for starting a new software product company.  I found the article insightful when it comes to starting a new business or a new project for an existing business.  He makes four points: know thyself, have a failure plan, choose your product, and make the numbers add up. Find the complete article at Microsoft's ISV Community Center. I particularly like the section on vertical markets. Sink explains

"In marketing we use the terms "horizontal" and "vertical" to describe two different kinds of products and market segments:

1. A horizontal product has very broad appeal. It can be applied across a wide variety of businesses. Microsoft Excel is a horizontal product. Almost everybody in every possible field uses Excel.
2. A vertical product is one that is specifically designed for a single market segment or niche. Dental office management software is a vertical product. Nobody outside dentistry uses it.

In the '80s and '90s, small ISVs could realistically enter a horizontal product market. But today, as the software industry has matured, it is far more difficult to compete with the big companies for the attention of mainstream customers. Horizontal product markets are filled with the wrong kind of competition for you.  The competitors you want are in the vertical markets. These markets are safe from the big companies like Microsoft."

Stay competitive, get trained. Whether you are looking to add new skills or enhance your current ones, Microsoft offers you the most comprehensive training that enables you to build technical solutions and stay competitive today and in the future.

Education Seminars

http://www.microsoft.com/education/seminars.mspx

Microsoft is committed to helping government organizations get the best return on their technology investments. That's why Microsoft is providing free training to help you learn how to maximize the investment you have made in Microsoft products and services.

E-Learning from Microsoft

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/

If you learn best independently, Official Microsoft E-Learning Courses provide a simple and effective way for you to learn at your own pace and on your own schedule. Take e-learning courses to improve your skills, prepare for a project or an exam, or earn certifications. Most e-learning courses include hands-on virtual labs.

E-Reference Libraries

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mls/eref/default.mspx

Microsoft E-Reference Libraries gather the best technical information available on Microsoft products and technologies in an easy-to-use format. The four library packages—Helpdesk Support, IT Professional, Developer, and Technical E-Reference Combo—all include a powerful search engine that enables just-in-time access to critical information for fast and efficient problem solving.

Microsoft Press Books

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/books/

Find books from Microsoft Press that will enable you to get the most from Microsoft tools, technologies, and programs.

WEBCASTS

Live Webcasts

http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/administrativetipsandtricks.mspx

In today’s fast-paced environment, administrative assistants are faced with new challenges. Learn tips to beat information overload and collaborate with your team using Microsoft Office 2003. During this series, we discuss steps you can take today to better manage Outlook, including email and calendars. Also, learn new ways to manage documents and meeting notes, coordinate schedules, and support your team. Whether you are new to Microsoft Office 2003 or ready to use its more advanced features, these webcasts will help you work smarter and increase productivity.

Product Support Webcasts

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh%3BRID%3Bwebcst&style=toc

On Demand Webcasts

http://www.microsoft.com/usa/webcasts/ondemand

Watch recently recorded training webcasts.

IN-PERSON

Microsoft Events Portal

http://www.microsoft.com/events/inperson/default.mspx

MSDN Events

http://www.msdnevents.com/

Learn insider tips and tricks for working with Microsoft tools and technologies, see live code demos, and share ideas with your peers at thee free, half-day events delivered by Microsoft technical specialists.

TechNet Briefings

http://www.technetbriefings.com/

Hear directly from Microsoft technology specialists who implement our products and technologies every day.

TechNet Security Briefings

http://www.microsoft.com/events/security/default.mspx

Join us for special TechNet Security Briefings to connect with Microsoft security experts to discuss what you can do to help better protect your infrastructure against the latest security threats.

ARCHIVES FOR IT

Education Industry

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/itsolutions/education/default.mspx

Here you’ll find how-to information to evaluate, deploy, maintain, and support Microsoft technology in a learning environment.

Resource Kits

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/reskits/rktmain.mspx

Almost every product site has links to technical and business resources; however, you get easy access to product resource kits and guides here.

TechNet Archive

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/default.mspx

Welcome to the TechNet Archive. We've created this Archive area so that we can continue to make available older content that is still of interest to some of our users. This allows us to streamline the content offerings on the site and keep it focused on the newest, most relevant content.

.NET Shows and Archive

http://msdn.microsoft.com/theshow/Archive.asp

The goal of the .NET Show is to cover technologies that are important to a broad range of Windows and Web programmers.

Expert Zone Columns Archive

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/archive.mspx

Looking for an article you saw on the site last week (or last month)? Every column that has appeared on the Expert Zone is listed here, in chronological order.

Media Advice Archive

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/mediaadvice/archive.mspx

Archived Media Advice columns are grouped by technology. Click the links to the archived columns to browse questions and answers. Answers refer to the latest versions of Windows Media software, unless otherwise noted.

The first day of school for my children is less than a month away.  I know this not because I looked at the calendar, but rather because my children have started to bemoan their pending fate.

On the upside, today Microsoft posted several free template solutions on their SharePoint Services site including one for Classroom Management.  I installed the template on my test server and was up and running on my existing SharePoint installation in about 5 minutes.  There are two templates included: a basic and a customizable one.  The basic template includes repositories for a syllabus, lecture materials, assignments, calendar, and just about everything else an instructor needs to organize their class work.

In order to install the template you must have Administrator Rights to both the root of the Windows SharePoint Server and to the server box that it lives on.

After unpacking the file you download from the Web in to a folder on the server machine. Navigate to your top-level Windows SharePoint Services Site.

Click on Site Settings at the top of the page, and go to Site Administration under the Administration section.

Under the Site Collection Galleries section, click on the Manage Site Template Gallery, and choose Upload Template and browse to the location where you unpacked the site template. . Give the template a title and description.

Now in order to create a site using the template you just installed to the gallery, you must navigate again to your Windows SharePoint Services Site. Click Create on the top link bar, and scroll to the bottom of the page and select Sites and Workspaces.

Give your site a title, description and URL, and click Create. This might seem out of order, but next you will select the template you just installed from the list of available templates. Presto! You have a new classroom site!