TechNet Flash Feed

Silverlight 4 Beta ready for developers

Yesterday, at the Professional Developer’s Conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced a developer release of Silverlight 4 Beta. It is intended for software developers only, with no “go-live” licensing available and the end-user runtime of Silverlight 4 is not available. Check out what’s new in the Silverlight 4 Beta, and make sure you get the tools needed to make the beta experience productive.

More to come,

Mitch

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The 2010 Betas are available

You can now download the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 beta releases.

Here the list of new available betas:

·       Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta

·       SharePoint Server 2010 Beta

·       Microsoft Visio 2010 beta

·       Microsoft FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint beta

·       Microsoft Project Professional 2010 Beta

·       Microsoft Project Server 2010 Beta

In addition, check out these resources to aid your evaluation and plan your deployment:

·       Learn about Volume Activation in 2010

·       See the New SharePoint Server 2010 Features and Functionality

·       Video Modules to Help IT Pros Get Started with SharePoint Server 2010

More to come,

Mitch

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Compose you R2 Haiku and win big

Enter to win a home entertainment system by composing a Haiku for Windows Server 2008 R2. Clear your mind and find the Zen of Windows Sever 2008 R2. Put it in a Haiku and enter for your chance at a Sony entertainment system with Xbox 360 Elite. Go here to enter and then check out the gallery of Haiku entries to vote on your favorites.

More to come,

Mitch

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Open Beta for IPD Guide Now Available for Download

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team is working on a new guide: Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway. Get the beta by visiting the Connect Web site.

This IPD guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are key to a successful implementation of Forefront Unified Access Gateway (Forefront UAG). The reader is guided through the logical three-step process of selecting the Forefront UAG features required, determining the number of instances, and designing the infrastructure. If access logging is required, the guide leads the reader through selecting and designing the most appropriate data store.

Tell us what you think. Download the beta guide and send us your honest feedback at IPDfdbk@microsoft.com. We appreciate your input and will work to make each guide as helpful and useful as possible.

More to come,

Mitch

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Access the new Exchange Server 2010 Deployment Assistant

Based on customer feedback, and the desire to streamline the deployment experience, the Microsoft Exchange team created a tool that generates customized instructions based on your deployment scenario. Access the Exchange Server 2010 Deployment Assistant, and answer a small set of questions to get a set of instructions tailored to your particular environment.

In this version of the Deployment Assistant, content is available for customers upgrading from Exchange 2003. Additional upgrade scenarios will be available in early 2010 (upgrading from Exchange Server 2007, or a mixed Exchange Server 2003/2007 environment for example). The team will also work on the integration of cross-premise scenarios.

More to come,

Mitch

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SQL Server 2008 R2 November Community Technology Preview now ready

Download the SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP and check out several capabilities that will enable your organization to scale database operations, improve IT and developer efficiency, and enable highly scalable and well-managed business intelligence on a self-service basis for your users. 

More to come,

Mitch

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Latest Security Intelligence Report Shows Resurgence in Worm Attacks

Review the latest Security Intelligence Report (SIRv7) to find deeper analysis and recommendations based on data input from over 450 million computers worldwide to help you successfully plan and manage protection technologies.

More to come,

Mitch

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TechNet subscribers get SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP bits

TechNet Plus subscribers can now access the SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP. Stay tuned as the download is scheduled for public availability on Wednesday, November 11. Not a TechNet subscriber? Get your subscription here.

More to come,

Mitch

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Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server Released

Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server is now available and you’ll find new resources here. You can also download an eval version of Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server. Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server provides fast and effective protection against malware and spam by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners.

More to come,

Mitch

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Get Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and see the new Exchange TechCenter

At Tech•Ed Europe 2009 in Germany, Microsoft announced the worldwide availability of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.  IT pros can now download an evaluation version of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and be automatically registered to access helpful product resources. TechNet also launched the new Exchange TechCenter with added resources for testing, deploying and managing Exchange Server 2010, including new videos and webcasts.

More to come,

Mitch

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New Microsoft Business Intelligence Resource Center now live on TechNet

The new BI Resource Center went live this morning. It’s a great place to find all the technical resources for IT pros, including how-to videos, blogs, forums, events tutorials and help content.

More to come,

Mitch

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New TechCenter for Project Server 2010

Check out the new library content, downloadable models, forums and videos in the newly launched Project Server TechCenter. You’ll find resources for determining your hardware and software requirements for Project Server 2010, and links to training and support. Check back often as new content is added.

More to come,

Mitch

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Download Antigen 8 for SharePoint Service Pack 1 and Antigen 8 for IM Service Pack 1

The Forefront Server team announced that Antigen 8 for SharePoint Service Pack 1 and Antigen 8 for IM Service Pack 1 are now available for download.  It is important for customers to upgrade to these service pack releases before the AV engine mix is changed on December 1, 2009. Previous builds of the product will still function after December 1, but only one engine will be updating.

The service packs can be downloaded from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center by opening the “Servers” group and finding the corresponding Forefront Server product.  Antigen 8 for SharePoint SP1 (part number X16-09934) can be found under “Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 3”.  Antigen 8 for IM SP1 (part number X16-09863) can be found under “Forefront Security for Office Communications Server”.

More to come,

Mitch

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New release of Windows Client Monitoring Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 now available

The Windows Client Monitoring Management Pack has been updated with bug fixes for Vista MP and support for monitoring Windows 7. It can detect, diagnose, and resolve hardware and software problems pertaining for computers running Windows Client 2000, XP, Vista, or Windows 7 operating systems.

Information and analysis on the issues that the system detected are collected by the MPs through an agent on the client machine, and sent to OpsMgr where this data is converted into health state, alerts (if need be) and processed for business critical and aggregate reports. The MP gives a clear picture of catastrophic failures in your mission critical machines, trend-based alerts of significant changes to computer groups, in-depth views of health of individual machines, and reports that provide a landscape view of the health of all monitored clients.

Download the Windows Client 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 Operating System Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007

More to come,

Mitch

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Download the new IDP Guide for DirectAccess

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released the new IPD Guide for DirectAccess. This guide provides guidance for designing a DirectAccess infrastructure in an easy-to-follow, four-step process that explains the infrastructure required for clients to be connected from the Internet to resources on the corporate network, whether or not the organization has begun deploying IPv6.

The four key steps covered in the design process for DirectAccess include:

• Aligning the project scope with the business requirements
• Determining whether IPv6, Teredo, 6to4, and IP-HTTPS connectivity will be supported for Internet-based clients
• Assessing the need for IPv6/IPv4 network address translation service and ISATAP for internal communication
• Determining the number and placement of servers, the certificate services requirements, and location of CRL distribution points

Download the IPD Guide for DirectAccess

More to come,

Mitch

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