Search results matching tags 'group policy', 'security', 'internet explorer', and 'Networking'

Windows Client Road Show Featuring Windows 7, R2 and Internet Explorer 8

Keith Combs — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Spring brings not only rain and flowers (you know, April shows and May flowers), it also brings our spring technical events. And this time our technical events are taking on a slightly different form.

Okay, to be completely honest, we are still calling the sessions ArcReady (our event for architects and those who want to become architects), MSDN Events Unleashed (for the developer), and the new TechNet Events Unleashed (for the IT Professional). But we are also doing something different for the spring event series: there's a single, connected theme running throughout all events.

And what is that theme, you ask? It's all things next generation Windows client, featuring Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8!

ArcReady – Brain Food for the Architect
The client (or presentation) tier of our applications is taking on an increasingly important role. Users are expecting more compelling user interfaces, but they also want more functionality from their applications. In this ArcReady we examine how to design and deliver well architected client applications that will be easy to maintain and extend.

Topic 1: Trends and Patterns on the Client Tier
In our first topic we will take a vendor and platform neutral look at some of the trends and emerging technologies that can be used on the client tier. We will look at techniques like Mashups, technologies like Natural User Interfaces (NUI) and the increasing importance of the mobile platform. We will also look at some common patterns that can be used in the architecture of the client tier.

Topic 2: Applying Microsoft Technology on the Client Tier
In our second topic we will take some look at how we can use Microsoft technologies to create well architected and compelling client applications. We will look at technologies like Silverlight and WPF that can be used to create compelling clients. We will also look at technologies that can be used to make your applications more extensible for future development. We will also examine some architectural guidance developed by the Microsoft Patterns and Practices group.

MSDN Events Unleashed – Get Your Dev On
Internet Explorer 8 recently released to the web, and with that release comes a wide range of new capabilities that developers can exploit. Of even more impact to developers everywhere is the upcoming release of Windows 7, also bringing with it several new capabilities for consumers and developers.

Topic 1: Internet Explorer 8 for Developers
The Windows Internet Explorer 8 browser makes it easier to explore and interact with the web. Did you know that there will be a new standards mode by default? While it can easily be turned off, knowing the potential to impact this may have on many sites that have been crafted around various features in past versions is a good idea. Attend this session to learn which current practices you need to change and how the new standards mode affects your development techniques and your existing sites. We review tools that are built into Internet Explorer 8 to help developers debug and create Web pages. We also discuss Web Slices, Accelerators, and Search Suggestion – all of which are key new features in this latest release.

Topic 2: Developing on Microsoft Windows 7
Building applications that are easy to use, visually appealing, and offer high performance is a challenge that developers face every day. Innovative applications can greatly improve the user experience, empowering companies to differentiate their services and solutions. However, developers are increasingly asked to do more in less time, while also optimizing the power and performance requirements of their applications. The Windows 7 platform makes it easy for developers to create engaging, user-friendly applications by providing familiar tools and rich development features that allow them to take advantage of the latest PC capabilities. In this session we will explore the new Taskbar and Jump Lists, the Scenic Ribbon, file management with Libraries, and Windows Web Services among many other enhancements to the new operating system.

TechNet Events Unleashed – Supporting the Backbone of the Industry
Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, and Internet Explorer 8 represent both a wave of change and disruption to IT operations as well as an opportunity for IT professionals to have a big impact on their organizations.

Topic 1: Windows Server 2008 R2 – Optimize Your Time
Get a jump start on your peers with Windows Server 2008 R2 by joining us for this no nonsense technical session, where we will discuss the critical improvements in the next version of Windows Server. Some have argued that, given the impressive scope of new functionality in Windows Server 2008 R2, it should not be an “R2” release, but rather should be given a completely new name. They point to features such as Direct Access, Branch Caching, Live Migration, Powershell 2.0, and VDI that will help you cut down on the amount of time you spend doing mundane tasks, reduce end user frustration and support headaches, and give your mobile workforce a competitive edge through ubiquitous access to company data. There’s a good chance that by attending this session you’ll find a way to save time and money with Windows Server 2008 R2, and so you’ll get the time you spend with us back many times over.

Topic 2: Windows 7 – Maximize Your Potential
In designing Windows 7, the engineering team had a clear focus on what we call ‘the fundamentals': performance, application compatibility, device compatibility, reliability, security and battery life. Early reviews of Windows 7 seem to indicate that the choice to focus on the fundamentals is resonating well with many users and professionals. And, IT professionals will further benefit from the enhancements to manageability and security. You’ll also learn how your investments in testing and evaluating Windows Vista will pay off in the transition to Windows 7. Come see firsthand what all the buzz is about in this demo-intensive session where we explore the UI improvements, performance gains, and manageability enhancements in the next client operating system from Microsoft.

Topic 3: Internet Explorer 8 – Get Excited About the Browser Again
Internet Explorer is currently the most widely used browser in business, and while we’ve seen nice incremental improvements to IE in recent history, we haven’t seen as many truly earth shattering changes. Well, many agree that the next release of IE, Internet Explorer 8, provides the most compelling upgrade to IE in many years. In a typical day, users spend 2 hours or more per day in the browser, so significant improvements here can have tremendous impact on productivity and the way we work. The browser needs to be thought of in the same terms as an operating system—it has to be rich, robust, interoperable, easy to use and secure. Internet Explorer 8 is a browser that meets these needs and more for users, enterprises, IT professionals and developers alike. Come learn how the new improvements, too numerous to mention here, are driving many to get excited about the browser again.

Event Schedule
Here is a quick summary of the events scheduled this spring, starting in late April and concluding in mid-June.

ArcReady	MSDN Events Unleashed	TechNet Events Unleashed
Waukesha, WI – April 28, 2009 at 9:00am	Waukesha, WI – April 28, 2009 at 1:00pm	Waukesha, WI – April 28, 2009 at 3:10pm
Austin, TX – April 28, 2009 at 9:00am	Austin, TX – April 28, 2009 at 1:00pm	Austin, TX – April 28, 2009 at 3:10pm
Bloomington, MN – April 30, 2009 at 9:00am	Bloomington, MN – April 30, 2009 at 1:00pm	Bloomington, MN – April 30, 2009 at 3:10pm
Cleveland, OH – April 30, 2009 at 9:00am	Cleveland, OH – April 30, 2009 at 1:00pm	Cleveland, OH – April 30, 2009 at 3:10pm
Indianapolis, IN – May 4, 2009 at 9:00am	Indianapolis, IN – May 4, 2009 at 1:00pm	Indianapolis, IN – May 4, 2009 at 3:10pm
Chicago, IL – May 5, 2009 at 9:00am	Chicago, IL – May 5, 2009 at 1:00pm	Chicago, IL – May 5, 2009 at 3:10pm
Columbus, OH – May 12, 2009 at 9:00am	Columbus, OH – May 12, 2009 at 1:00pm	Columbus, OH – May 12, 2009 at 3:10pm
Houston, TX – May 12, 2009 at 9:00am	Houston, TX – May 12, 2009 at 1:00pm	Houston, TX – May 12, 2009 at 3:10pm
Mason, OH – May 14, 2009 at 9:00am	Mason, OH – May 14, 2009 at 1:00pm	Mason, OH – May 14, 2009 at 3:10pm
Overland Park, KS – May 14, 2009 at 9:00am	Overland Park, KS – May 14, 2009 at 1:00pm	Overland Park, KS – May 14, 2009 at 3:10pm
Dallas, TX – May 19, 2009 at 9:00am	Dallas, TX – May 19, 2009 at 1:00pm	Dallas, TX – May 19, 2009 at 3:10pm
Southfield, MI – May 20, 2009 at 9:00am	Southfield, MI – May 20, 2009 at 1:00pm	Southfield, MI – May 20, 2009 at 3:10pm
Downers Grove, IL – May 20, 2009 at 9:00am	Downers Grove, IL – May 20, 2009 at 1:00pm	Downers Grove, IL – May 20, 2009 at 3:10pm
St. Louis, MO – May 21, 2009 at 9:00am	St. Louis, MO – May 21, 2009 at 1:00pm	St. Louis, MO – May 21, 2009 at 3:10pm
Nashville, TN – June 11, 2009 at 9:00am	Nashville, TN – June 11, 2009 at 1:00pm	Nashville, TN – June 11, 2009 at 3:10pm
Knoxville, TN – June 12, 2009 at 9:00am	Knoxville, TN – June 12, 2009 at 1:00pm	Knoxville, TN – June 12, 2009 at 3:10pm

Technorati Tags: ArcReady,MSDN Events Unleashed,TechNet Events Unleashed,Windows 7,Internet Explorer 8

Watching the TechED 2006 action poolside

Keith Combs — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 07:00:00 GMT

Get your frozen margarita, dual core laptop and favorite rubber ducky and head to the pool. Might as well since this year you’ll be able to watch and listen to the festivities on the http://VirtualTechEd.com website. It’ll be interesting to see how much of the show, seminars and “social” events are actually broadcast.

I would recommend tuning into the opening keynote on 6/11 at 7pm EST. We’ll have Ray Ozzie, Bob Muglia and Chris Capossela showing off some kewl stuff. Maybe they’ll do some of those kewl virtualization demos, or something fascinating from Windows Vista. It sure would be kewl if they did a BDD of Halo 3 to 1000 workstations and waiting TechEd gamers. Now that my friends is business desktop deployment. Time to get down to business fragging.

And yes, this is a current shot of the homepage at virtualteched.com from my patio. The laptop is on battery so the brightness is a bit low and obviously the exposure is set for the background, not the black Lenovo Thinkpad T60 in the foreground. The picture doesn’t do the pool justice but as you’ll recall, it’s big enough for a few of your friends. Sorry, you can’t see the “refreshments” just to the left of the laptop. Gotta go work on on some important business.

Got a phat internet connection? Download Windows Vista Beta 2 now!!!

Keith Combs — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 07:00:00 GMT

So I missed the date by a few hours, but you can help us bring the internet to it’s knees by downloading Windows Vista Beta 2 today!!! Ok, depending on your connection, maybe not today but hopefully shortly there after. After the download is complete burn the .iso image to DVD and you’ll have a shiny new operating system to test.

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx and decide if you want to order the DVD kit or download the bits right now.

As you can see, this is a rather large download so you’ll need to be patient with it. It might make more sense for you to simply order the DVD. The price will vary by region but to give you an idea, it’s $6 for the DVD, $4 for shipping and some taxes for me here in sunny 100 degree Texas. That’s slightly over $10 if you want to conserve bandwidth.

UPDATE: Well, we’ll hardly bring the internet to its knees when we get these. I was going through the process of trying the download for myself (so I could share your pain), and I got the lovely message to the right (click the thumb for better detail).

You can’t really read it, but it has bad news. I basically says our data center is a bit busy right now.

Now I’m really going to try to download the whole thing to see how long it takes. With my 15meg connection, it should take about an hour. Place yer bets.

It's back !!! - The Book of Windows Vista - download now

Keith Combs — Wed, 24 May 2006 07:00:00 GMT

As you’ll recall, I posted a preliminary version of the Windows Vista Product Guide (also known as “The Book of Windows Vista”) a few weeks ago. It was in .xps form and initial feedback was very good. However, in order to view and print the must have information, you needed to install WinFX. XPS is the XML Paper Specification. Well, we got some good critical feedback and guess what, we listened.

Now, you can download this puppy in Microsoft word or XPS format. Careful though, it’s not your daddies download. It’s 60MB of rich knowledge transfer. It’s a comprehensive view of the feature set in Windows Vista. There are consumer oriented chapters. There are chapters devoted to the IT Pro feature set.

You’ll need to decide if you are going be eco friendly or not. Use it in “digital” form or send it to your trusty duplex printer. Either way, I think you’ll enjoy this guide as you take your journeys to the wonderful world that is Windows Vista.

It’s my understanding this will also be printed and sold in a hard back format. I think it would make a nice edition in my library. Maybe I can get Brian or Jim to autograph one for me. Now that would really be kewl.

UPDATE 5/25/2006: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=bbc16ebf-4823-4a12-afe1-5b40b2ad3725&DisplayLang=en contains the links to the .xps and .doc versions.

Enjoy my friends!!!

Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC) - love it?

Keith Combs — Thu, 18 May 2006 07:00:00 GMT

There has been a raging debate inside and outside of Microsoft about the new security feature in Windows Vista called UAC. UAC stands for User Account Control. The debate has raged mostly about the effectiveness of the feature. Do a search on www.live.com for vista uac and you’ll see what I mean. The mainstream press has even decided this topic is worthy of “debate”.

By effectiveness, I mean that most of the negative articles mention that your are prompted so often for elevation consent, that you become a drone hitting the enter key without really looking closely at why you are being prompted.

Let’s get one thing straight about the feature set… you can control this. In the snip I have posted, you can see the policies that are available that control the behavior of this feature.

The policies can be set and controlled locally via secpol.msc, or via a Windows Active Directory Group Policy. In the snip above, you can see I took a harsh stance on the policies for my machine. I’m currently running a Windows Vista Beta 2 release candidate and have been running with these policies for over three weeks.

Keep in mind Windows Vista is in development. You get to tell us what is the right balance of security and control. Windows Vista Beta 2 is almost ready. Install it and try it for yourself. Post feedback to the UAC blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/uac/archive/2006/01/22/516066.aspx where they’ve outlined the settings and their meanings.

See the Step-By-Step at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/0d75f774-8514-4c9e-ac08-4c21f5c6c2d9.mspx

See http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/security/uacppr.mspx for more information.

See the Application Compatibility article at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/deploy/appcompat/acshims.mspx. This is a very nice resource and you should devote some time to reading that article (recently updated).