On 21-22 January 2009, Microsoft is hosting a free two day technical workshop covering the specifics of how Oracle applications interact with SQL Server, as well as how to architect a scalable and highly available solution.
The applications covered include Siebel, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards.

The workshop will be presented by Frank McBath, a well know speaker, from the Microsoft-Oracle Center of Excellence in the USA.

To Register for the workshop, email Sue Meyer with the subject heading "Registration – SQL Server Workshop"

The security of our Customers and Partners is for Microsoft Switzerland of primary concern. We wish to support our Customers in their IT Infrastructure operations, so today Wednesday 17 December 2008, around 19:00 Swiss Time, we will be announcing an extraordinary security update.

This update affects all supported versions of Internet Explorer.

Detailed information will be released around 19:00 Swiss time. Such types of extraordinary security updates are only issued in very rare circumstances. In a short period of time, the number of attacks against the product has made it necessary to issue this update. It is highly recommended that this security update is applied as quickly as possible to your computer environment, including personal computers at home. The update will be available via Microsoft Update and can be automatically installed.

As soon as this attack became known to Microsoft, experts in the Development Teams started to develop a fix. Ensuring maximum quality, as well as the support of all languages that our product is available in, required a broad and prompt response to this situation. We are continuously updating the relevant web sites with information on the status and deployment of this update.

The following sites are currently publishing information for this update:

English:

• Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-078 – Critical
• The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)
• Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification
• Security Vulnerability Research & Defense

At the point in time of the Security Update being released, Microsoft Switzerland will be issuing further information via e-mail to customer.

Microsoft Schweiz GmbH

[Edit: 22:00 – Links MS08-078 de, fr, en]

Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2005 has been Released. It is build # 9.00.4035

SP3 is based on all the fixes up to, and including, SQL Server 2005 SP2 with Cumulative Update 9, plus a few additional features (What's New in SQL Server 2005 SP3)

To see what fixes are included in SP3, see KB 955706

• Download SQL Server 2005 SP3 (for Enterprise, Enterprise Evaluation, Standard, Workgroup, Developer Editions)
• Download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP3
• Download SQL Server 2005 Feature Pack Refresh – December 2008
• Download SQL Server 2005 Books Online – December 2008

At the same time, Cumulative Update 11 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 has been released. It is build # 9.0.3301

CU 11 includes all the fixes released since Service Pack 2, excluding the new features introduced in SP3

• Download SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 Cumulative Update 11

At the same time, Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 has been released.

CU 1 includes all the fixes released in Service Pack 2 CU 10 and CU 11 (SP3 is based on Service Pack 2 CU 9)

• Download SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update 1 (Note: it is KB 959195, not KB 960828 as listed in some places)

Confused?

So we released SP3 which includes fixes up to CU 9, plus a few new features, and at the same time we released CU 11 for SP2 and CU 1 for SP3

CU 1 for SP3 brings SP3 to the same fix level as CU 11 for SP 2. CU 10/11 is intended to be used in situations where a hotfix is needed for an issue, but SP3 has not been approved for deployment in your organization.

So there are your options:

• Install CU 11 for SP 2, but without the new features shipped with SP3
• Install SP 3, but be on the level of CU 9 for SP2, but with the new features shipped with SP3
• Install SP 3 and CU 1 for SP 3 and have all the new features, and all the latest fixes. If you already installed CU 10 or CU 11 for SP2, then installed SP3, you must apply CU 1 for SP3 to have all the CU 10 and CU 11 for SP2 fixes, else you loose out on those fixes.

Cumulative Updates will continue to be issued for SP 2, until SP 2 exits support. A CU package does not replace a service pack and it’s installation is optional, and a CU is not offered through Windows/Microsoft Update or WSUS (Windows Server Update Services)

Service Packs are offered through Windows/Microsoft Update and WSUS.

The beta version of BizTalk Server 2009 has been released on the Microsoft Connect Site

Primarily, the new features include:

• Web service registry capabilities with support for UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration) Version 3.0
• Support of current Microsoft Platform Technologies (.NET Framework 3.5 SP1; Visual Studio 2008 SP1; Windows Server 2008 and Windows 2008’s Hyper-V Virtualization and Windows 2008’s multi-site failover clustering; and SQL Server 2008)
• RFID support for key industry standards (including LLRP, TDT, TDS, WS Discovery and partial EPCIS support)
• Enhanced service enablement of “edge” devices through BizTalk RFID Mobile
• Enhanced service enablement of applications (through new and enhanced adapters for LOB applications, databases, and legacy/host systems)
• Enhanced interoperability and connectivity support for industry protocols (like SWIFT, EDI, AS2 etc)
• Developer productivity enhancements (support for Team Foundation Server, debugging support for BizTalk Maps (XSLT), pipeline components and XLANG Orchestrations, and enables support for unit testing via Visual Studio Test)
• SOA patterns and best practices guidance to assist our customer’s implementations (ESB guidance)

RTM of the final product is expected during the 1st half of 2009. The Roadmap for BizTalk is available here.

The Offline Virtual Machine Service Tool 2.0 provides a way to automate the process of updating virtual machines running on virtual servers and Hyper-V with the latest operating system updates.

The tool uses “servicing jobs” to manage the update operations based on lists of existing virtual machines stored in VMM

Using Windows Workflow Foundation technology, a servicing job runs snippets of PowerShell scripts to work with virtual machines. For each virtual machine, the servicing job:

• “Wakes” the virtual machine (deploys it to a host and starts it).
• Triggers the appropriate software update cycle (Configuration Manager or WSUS).
• Shuts down the updated virtual machine and returns it to the library.

The tool works with Windows Task Scheduler to determine when to run the servicing job.