We’re a little over halfway done with the Interop Road Show I helped create. Last week Matt Hester did a simulcast of the live event from Chicago. Although he did a great job, I wanted to capture the demos with Camtasia v6.0.2 and provide some high quality audio and video of the demos, so here they are. A Party of Protocols There are a number of ways to invite Linux, UNIX, and OS X to the Windows Server Active Directory party. The operating systems we use today will interoperate in many ways because

On Wednesday May 6th, we’ll be broadcasting the Interop Road Show .  Actually it’s going to be a bit of a simulcast.  Matt Hester will be in Downers Grove, IL doing a live delivery of the sessions, and we’ll pick up the audio and demonstrations via the magic of Microsoft LiveMeeting. In addition to having Matt present the sessions, we’ll also have Kevin Remde and Shawn Travers onsite helping to manage the questions and get Matt’s attention.  And that’s not all.  I’ll also be helping

Some of you have attended the Interop Road Show events we are currently delivering across the USA.  At those events you have seen us install Apache, MySQL, PHP, Drupal and Wordpress on Windows Server 2008.  Astute observation will reveal some of the installs and tweaks aren’t particularly easy, and especially prone to error in front of a live audience. Want to do it the easy way? Introducing the Web Platform Installer ( Web PI ).  There are a couple of versions available.  The

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

Session 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

Don’t forget we just started the Microsoft Interop Road Show and there are events in Dallas and Houston this week. The event in Dallas is actually at our office in Las Colinas, Texas (also known as Irving). Confused? Don’t be. See all of the information at http://www.technetevents.com/interop/index.htm . Irving Registration Link http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032406100 Houston Registration Link http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?Culture=en-US&EventID=103240610

Remember when you jumped from dial-up to DSL or a cable modem?  You know what I mean.  Those technology jumps that just make you smile really wide?  Well, I have news for you.  There’s another one coming that is going to rock your world.  It’s called DirectAccess and although I am not particularly fond of the name, the name is accurate. What is DirectAccess? Simply put, it’s direct access to your corporate network across an automatically established tunnel.  There’s

Is your IT Infrastructure fully dedicated to just one technology solution? Chances are you work in a heterogeneous environment that includes a variety of technologies from Microsoft®, Linux, MySQL and Apple. Integration becomes vital in order for your core business applications to maintain business flow and efficiency. How do you achieve identity integration? Run Open Source Software (OSS) on Windows Server® 2008? Ever wanted to leverage the power of SQL with your PHP applications? Session 1: Windows

Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Beta is prerelease code offered to the public through our Customer Preview Program. Please see the Windows Server SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Customer Preview Program page on TechNet/MSDN for additional details, documentation, and forums. Windows Server 2008 SP2 CPP TechNet technology area Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista SP2 Beta apply to people, organizations, and technical enthusiasts who are comfortable evaluating prerelease software. This prerelease software

WARNING – this is a progressive download video. It is not streamed. Therefore the entire 400MB video is downloaded and played if you click the big START button above. What’d you expect for 60 minutes of video? If you want to download the video and play it offline, right mouse click the following URL and then use the SAVE AS function to save it locally to your hard drive. Get it @ http://msinetpub.vo.llnwd.net/d1/keithcombs/videos/SpringboardPerformance.wmv

There’s an acronym from the past for you. Run Time Improvements (RTI). I am always looking for ways to squeeze another speed improvement out of Windows Vista . In fact, a few weeks ago I made some changes to my Dell Latitude D820 and it made a very real difference in how the machine performed. Before I list out all of the stuff below, keep in mind I am willing to sacrifice some features for the sake of overall system performance. I’m usually looking for all of the horsepower out of my machine for

Every time I go back and review the list of step-by-step guides for Windows Server 2008 I am surprised to see it get bigger and bigger.  This evening is no exception.  Get any of the following guides @ http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=518d870c-fa3e-4f6a-97f5-acaf31de6dce&DisplayLang=en#filelist .   Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guides Creating_and_Deploying_Active_Directory_Rights_Management_Services_Templates_Step-by-Step_Guide.doc Deploying Active Directory

Join Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich and a panel of IT professionals and security MVPs as they discuss Windows Vista deployment, security configurations, challenges and real-world solutions. Ask your questions live during the event or email them in advance to vrtable@microsoft.com . Register today to join the discussion in June. This event will be broadcast live on this site, at 9:00am Pacific Standard Time, June 18, 2008, available on demand shortly after its conclusion. Register @ https://ms.istreamplanet.com/springboard/Default.as

I’m glad to see some positive press on Windows Vista. Security is a tough business and when you’re on the desktops of millions of computers, everything is magnified to the Nth degree. A couple of recent articles and postings are getting a lot of attention. See “ Vista's Despised UAC Nails Rootkits, Tests Find ” by John E. Dunn. This of course got picked up on the popular site Neowin. Since a lot of you aren’t yet running Windows Vista , here’s a quick refresh on the tech. In Windows Vista, there

We're a little less than halfway through the series we started on Windows Server 2008.  So far, nine of the 24 parts are available for on demand viewing.  Here are the links to the on demand parts that are available, and the sign up links for some of the upcoming sessions. On-Demand Webcasts TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Windows Server 2008 (Part 01 of 24): Overview (Level 200) TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Windows Server 2008 (Part 02 of 24): Server Virtualization with Hyper-V Features and

Windows Group Policy is a topic that is relatively timeless. For those of you looking for some fundamental information, don't forget the fourteen part series we did a while back. It's a good starting place. We are planning an update to the series so hang tight until then. In the mean time, here are the on demand webcast links for the series. TechNet Webcast: Group Policy Fundamentals (Part 01 of 14): Introduction to Group Policy (Level 200) TechNet Webcast: Group Policy Fundamentals (Part 02 of 14):

Session 1 | What's New in Windows Server 2008 Download PowerPoint Presentation Session 2 | Virtualization and Your Infrastructure Download PowerPoint Presentation Session 3 | Securing Your IT Infrastructure with Windows Server 2008 Download PowerPoint Presentation Session 4 | Exploring Windows Server 2008 Web and Application Technologies Download PowerPoint Presentation

Still undecided about Windows Vista? Join Mark Russinovich and a panel of experts at 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time, March 5th for a live, interactive discussion on adopting Windows Vista into a desktop infrastructure. The panel will feature leading third-party Windows Vista adoption subject-matter experts including Mark Minasi , author of Administering Windows Vista Security: The Big Surprises ; Tony Bradley , foremost security expert and Microsoft Enterprise Security MVP; and Jerry Honeycutt , author,

As you'll recall, there was a really nice book about Windows Vista and explored all of the features in the desktop operating system.  Wouldn't it be nice if such a book existed for Windows Server 2008?  Your wish is my command. Unfortunately the title of the book isn't near as sexy as "The Book of Longhorn".  Instead the real book is called, " Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008 ".  Got that?  ZZZzzzzzzzzz.