Server and Tools Business News Bytes blog

TechEd Europe 2009 starts Monday, November 9th

2009-11-06T22:55:00Z

On Monday, Microsoft kicks-off TechEd EMEA 2009 in Berlin, Germany. To help you track news coming from across Microsoft please visit the TechEd Global Press Room.

The TechEd Europe 2009 keynote with Stephen Elop, President of Microsoft Business Division, and Robert Wahbe, Corporate Vice President of the Server and Tools, will discuss the state of IT and the new generation of business solutions that help customers reach their full business potential. It will be streamed live at 3:30 pm CET/6:30 a.m. PDT on November 9^th here.

Immediately following the keynote, there will be an Executive Q&A. The webcast will feature Chris Capossela, Senior Vice President of the Information Worker Product Management Group, Bob Kelly, Corporate Vice President of Server and Tools Marketing and Tami Reller, Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Windows & Windows Live.

Follow the news on Twitter @TechEd_Europe or #TEE09

Get Ready for TechEd Europe 2009

2009-11-05T16:13:00Z

TechEd Europe 2009 is just a few days away - one of the world’s leading IT Pro and Developer education and networking events. We hope to see you at TechEd Europe 2009, but if you are not able to make it to Berlin, we would like to invite you to watch Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division, and Robert Wahbe, corporate vice president of the Server and Tools Marketing Group, give the keynote address live online at 6:30 a.m. Pacific/9:30 a.m. Eastern/3:30 p.m. GMT.

Immediately following the keynote speech, join Microsoft executives in a post-keynote speech videoconference to discuss the latest news and technologies including Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

o There will be time to ask questions following a brief introduction.

o Submit questions during the teleconference or submit them at any time leading up to or during the teleconference by tweeting with the Twitter hashtag, #TEE09.

Please visit the Microsoft Tech•Ed Global Pressroom to access live streaming of the keynote speech and participate in the post-keynote speech Q&A with Microsoft executives.

Developer News Updates

2009-10-19T18:19:00Z

Today, Microsoft announced one of the most significant updates to its developer offerings and roadmap vision in years. Today's announcements include:

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 availability - Available to MSDN subscribers today! General availability will follow on October 21^st. To download the beta, visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/default.aspx.
Launch date for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 - The official launch will take place on March 22^nd, 2010.
Visual Studio 2010 packaging and licensing details - Microsoft is announcing a new, streamlined packaging lineup and licensing options for Visual Studio 2010 and MSDN. This includes an "Ultimate Offer" to help customers upgrade to the latest developer tools. For more information on the new packaging and licensing of Visual Studio 2010, visit http://Microsoft.com/VisualStudio.
MSDN redesign; Microsoft's premier developer network - Microsoft is unveiling a drastically improved MSDN, which includes new benefits for all MSDN subscribers. Visit MSDN to see the new improvements!

For more information about this news, visit Microsoft Press Pass or view the fact sheet. In addition, check out today's blog post from S. "Soma" Somasegar for added context on the news.

Project “Gemini” Name Revealed

2009-10-19T17:29:00Z

At the Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas today, Microsoft announced the official name of Project “Gemini,” now Microsoft SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel. PowerPivot for Excel helps drive timely and informed business decisions by empowering end users to access, integrate and analyze massive amounts of data on the desktop and share information using the familiar Microsoft Excel tools.

In addition, PowerPivot provides IT departments the ability to monitor and manage user generated solutions by integrating seamlessly with Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. With PowerPivot for Excel, users and IT departments can:

· Integrate massive amounts of data on the desktop from virtually any source

· Perform lightning-fast calculations and analysis on large data volumes

· Share and collaborate on user generated analysis through integration with SharePoint

· Monitor and manage user generated applications

With powerful analysis capabilities delivered through agile and familiar tools like Excel and SharePoint, organizations can expect faster end-user adoption, lower training time and reduced costs. For more information on PowerPivot for Excel, visit http://www.powerpivot.com.

Provide a Better Web Site Experience with Faster Response Times

2009-10-14T22:15:00Z

Today, Microsoft announced the beta release of IIS Application Warm-Up – an extension for IIS 7.5 that enables IT Professionals to improve the responsiveness of their Web sites by loading the Web applications before the first request arrives. By proactively loading and initializing all the dependencies such as database connections, compilation of ASP.NET code, and loading of modules, IT Professionals can ensure their Web sites are responsive at all times even if their Web sites use a custom request pipeline or if the Application Pool is recycled.

For more information or to download, please visit the IIS Application Warm-Up page.

Forefront Update

2009-10-08T19:01:00Z

Today Microsoft is announcing a schedule and strategy update for Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010, a component of the upcoming Forefront Protection Suite (previously codenamed “Stirling.”)

Microsoft is delaying the release of Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 - anti-malware for Windows desktops and servers - until the second half of 2010. Based on customer feedback and market trends, Microsoft has made the strategic decision to build Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) on System Center Configuration Manager, Microsoft’s solution to comprehensively assess, deploy, and update servers, clients, and devices. This approach better aligns with customers’ client management and security infrastructure, helping simplify deployment and reduce costs.

Please visit the Forefront Team Blog for more information about this announcement and the release timing of other Forefront products.

IT Pro survey illustrates that Microsoft provides a path to success for consultants and solution providers.

2009-10-08T01:49:00Z

Microsoft recently conducted an online survey of 2000 IT professionals about if, how and why they use solution providers (IT consultants, resellers, system integrators and hosted service providers.) The results verify what Microsoft’s been hearing from partners and customers: IT departments want strategic solution providers that truly help drive business results - what we often refer to as "trusted advisors" - and they want their solution providers to align closely with Microsoft.

Check out the Windows Server Division Weblog for more information about the survey results.

System Center Service Manager Beta 2 Now Available

2009-10-07T21:07:00Z

Today, Microsoft announced the release of System Center Service Manager Beta 2, with over 300 customers participating in the product’s Rapid Deployment Program. In their early evaluations, these customers have seen how through the power of Service Manager’s integrated platform they can easily adapt and automate IT Service Management best practices.

Other Service Manager benefits:

· Service Manager will provide built-in processes based on industry best practices for incident and problem resolution, and change control. Through its configuration management database and process integration, Service Manager will automatically connect knowledge, workflow and information from System Center Operations Manager, System Center Configuration Manager and Active Directory.

· Service Manager will reduce support costs and improve responsiveness to end users through the self-service portal for provisioning and self-help, and through easy-to-use templates and rule-driven notifications to effectively and quickly guide IT professionals.

· Service Manager will optimize resources to align to an organization’s business goals and adapt to the ever-changing business requirements. Using SQL reporting services, Service Manager will support informed and cost-effective decision making. Through Service Manager’s integration with Desired Configuration Management (DCM) a core feature of System Center Configuration Manager 2007, customers will be able to support end-to-end configuration compliance.

For more information on this beta release, please visit the System Center Service Manager website: http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/en/us/service-manager.aspx

Red Hat and Microsoft Expand Virtualization Interoperability Options

2009-10-07T18:01:00Z

Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that customers can now deploy fully supported virtualization environments that combine Microsoft Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. In response to customer demand for interoperability in their IT environments, Red Hat and Microsoft have completed testing and validation for mutual customers using server virtualization. Joint support from Red Hat and Microsoft for these configurations is available today.

For more information about today’s announcement, please visit the Virtualization Team Blog.

Microsoft Security Essentials Available Today

2009-09-29T19:55:00Z

Microsoft Security Essentials, the new no-cost, anti-malware service that helps protect consumers against viruses, spyware and other malicious software, is available today. It requires no registration, trials or renewals and will be available for download directly from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials.

For more information about this release check out the Forefront Team Blog.

New Efficiency Launch Event

2009-09-29T18:43:00Z

Today Microsoft is hosting a customer event for commercial customers in San Francisco. The morning will consist of a panel of customers deploying Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010, a presentation by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and an open pavilion for commercial partners.

You will be able to watch the keynote via a live webcast here beginning at 9 a.m. (PDT) and can read Steve Ballmer’s new efficiency memo here.

Read more about today’s event on the Windows 7 and Windows Server team blogs.

Six Ways to Help Customers Extend their Web Sites

2009-09-24T20:05:00Z

Today, Microsoft announced updates to six important IIS Extensions:

· IIS Application Request Routing 2.0 RC adds support to enhance disk based cache and cache proxy for content delivery networks while increasing Web application reliability and scalability through rule-based routing and load balancing of HTTP server requests.

· IIS Search Engine Optimization Toolkit Beta2 helps Web developers, hosting providers, and Web server administrators to improve their Web site’s relevance in search results by recommending how to make the site content more search engine-friendly.

· IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 RC adds support for outbound response rewriting while enabling Web administrators to create powerful rules to implement URLs that are easier for users to remember and easier for search engines to find.

· IIS Web Deployment Tool RTW simplifies the migration, management, and deployment of IIS Web servers, Web applications, and Web sites.

· IIS Database Manager RTW allows you to easily manage your local and remote databases from within IIS Manager.

· Coming soon, IIS Media Services 3.0 RTW, an integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform, combines all IIS media extensions - including IIS Live Smooth Streaming - and delivers true HD (720p+) streaming for users and real-time logging to measure media investments.

Microsoft also announced three significant enhancements to the overall Microsoft Web Platform:

· The new Microsoft® WebsiteSpark™ program makes it easy for Web professionals to get the software and support needed and a marketplace to grow their business on the Microsoft Web Platform.

· The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 RTW provides developers with a simplified, ‘one click’ installation of technologies in the Web stack – including IIS Extensions, amplifying ease of use and reducing complexity.

· The Windows Web Application Gallery provides access to over 20 popular, free, and ready to install Web apps to build Web sites and Web applications that run on Windows.

Download Six Updated IIS Extensions here or visit the Official Microsoft IIS Extensions site for more information.

Microsoft Ignites New Opportunities for Web Professionals with the WebsiteSpark Program

2009-09-24T18:20:00Z

Today in Amsterdam, Microsoft is making a couple of exciting announcements about the Web platform. First, Microsoft announced the launch of the WebsiteSpark Program, a new program designed to help business development for Web professionals. As the latest program in the ‘Spark’ family, including BizSpark and DreamSpark, the WebsiteSpark Program provides eligible Web professionals with design and development software licenses, server production licenses and free training and support, with no up-front costs.

Second, Microsoft also announced the Release to Web of the Web Platform Installer 2.0 and the Windows Web Application Gallery 2.0. This new release provides developers with a simplified installation of Microsoft products and technologies that reduces download complexity, and includes new additions such as IIS Media Pack, Windows Azure SDK, and more. Coupled with the App Gallery, developers can also access dozens of free, open-code and ready-to-install applications to help build their Web sites. Today more than 20 apps are available from both Microsoft and the broader community, including WordPress, SugarCRM and DotNetNuke.

To learn more about the WebsiteSpark Program, including who is eligible, visit http://www.microsoft.com/web/websitespark or http://www.websitespark.com. You can also download Web Platform Installer 2.0 and Windows Web Application Gallery at http://www.microsoft.com/web.

Microsoft and Intel announce Silverlight for Moblin

2009-09-23T21:40:00Z

Furthering Microsoft’s commitment to deliver interactive, high quality user experiences with Silverlight to not only your computer, but a range of devices and platforms, Microsoft and Intel announced this morning their plans to work together to bring support for Silverlight 3 to Intel’s Atom-based Mobile Internet Devices (MID). The agreement, announced at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, will enable OEMs to port Silverlight 3 to these Atom-based MIDs which will run Windows 7 and Moblin, an open source, Linux-based operating system targeted at Atom-based devices.

Now consumers will be able enjoy the highest quality application and video experiences they’ve come to expect from Silverlight on the Web, on a variety of platforms and Atom-based devices. Not only does this help developers reach a broader audience with their Silverlight applications, it also demonstrates Microsoft’s continued commitment to Silverlight’s cross-platform, cross-browser, and cross-device promise.

For more information check out the Silverlight Team blog and the press release from Intel.

Microsoft announces latest Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 customer value findings; features to come in MDOP 2009 R2 late October

2009-09-14T18:49:00Z

As part of its efforts to help customers evaluate their existing IT infrastructures and begin readying themselves for deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft announced today that it will be releasing the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2009 R2 in late October, as well as detailed the features that will be in that version.

Some customers—like Baker Tilly, Getronics, Convergent Computing and Continental Airlines—have already come forward to share the business TCO value they’ve experienced when using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

To learn more about today’s news, please visit the Windows 7 team blog or the Windows Server team blog. Additionally, you can follow us on Twitter via the #Windows tag.