Will Craddock's Technology Adventure in Ireland

You say good bye and I say hello…

2009-02-22T01:07:56Z

I had a conversation with Dave Northey and Enda Flynn a few weeks back about creating a single Irish technical blog. This is how the Canadian TechNet team works and it proved effective to me as one of their regular customers, supporters, and guest bloggers.

As a result, we are consolidating the much followed blog by my friend Dave Northey, as well as Enda’s and mine into a single location for all to read. We also be updating the look of the blog, starting to add some video blogs and podcasts and making an effort to deliver content relative to your jobs as IT Pro’s. This should provide for a better experience, greater reach and to cut down on the cross posts and duplicate effort.

As such, I will be shutting down this blog and starting to make all posts to the newly consolidated TechNet Ireland IT Pro Blog.

Come on over and enjoy the information, humor and occasionally important tidbit.

Will

Upcoming Microsoft Ireland TechNet Tour

2009-02-19T22:52:52Z

Event Description:
‘Tech Days’ are a collaborative effort between Microsoft and the IT Pro community to re-deliver the highlights of Tech Ed Conference to IT Pros across Ireland. Most of the sessions will be delivered by a combination of Microsoft and Community technical presenters and will involve as much time spent demo the technology, as possible. The content delivered will be technical level 300. March will see the four-city tour stop for evening events in Galway and Cork, with full day events in Dublin and Belfast.
Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to get up-to speed on the latest Microsoft technology at no cost! We hope to see you there.
Enda, Dave and Will.

Microsoft Community Tech Days for IT Professionals
Galway, 10th March (Days Hotel Galway, Dublin Road, Galway City East, Map and directions)
7pm-9.30pm
Cost: Free
Register Here

Agenda

1. An Introduction to Windows 7 and Quick Overview of Client Deployment Tools

2. The Accidental DBA

3. SQL Server Reporting Services

Microsoft Community Tech Days for IT Professionals
Cork, 12th March (Rochestown Park Hotel, Rochestown Road, Cork, Map and Directions)
7pm-9.30pm
Cost: Free
Register Here

Agenda

1. Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 working Great Together and WS 2008 R2 Virtualisation (Live Migration is here!)

2. SharePoint - The Implementation Journey..from WSS to MOSS

3. Unified Communications - Using it Today and Preparing for the Future

Microsoft Community Tech Days for IT Professionals
Dublin, 24th March (Venue tbc)
Cost: Free
Infrastructure Morning (9.30am – 1pm)
Register Here

Agenda

1. Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 working Great Together and WS 2008 R2 Virtualisation (Live Migration is here!)

2. An Introduction to Windows 7 and Quick Overview of Client Deployment Tools

3. Virtualising Windows Essential Server Solutions (SBS &EBS)

Unified Communications and Collaboration Afternoon (2.30pm – 6pm)
Register Here
Agenda

1. SharePoint - The Implementation Journey..from WSS to MOSS

2. Unified Communications - Using it Today and Preparing for the Future

Microsoft Community Tech Days for IT Professionals
Belfast, 26th March (Venue tbc)
Cost: Free
Infrastructure Morning (9.30am – 1pm)
Register Here

Agenda

1. Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 working Great Together and WS 2008 R2 Virtualisation (Live Migration is here!)

2. An Introduction to Windows 7 and Quick Overview of Client Deployment Tools

3. Virtualising Windows Essential Server Solutions (SBS &EBS)

Database and Business Intelligence Afternoon (2.30pm – 6pm)
Register Here

Agenda

1. The Accidental DBA

2. SQL Server Reporting Services

3. Integrated BI Solutions with SQL Server 2008, SharePoint Server 2007 (including scorecarding, dashboarding and analytics) & Excel 2007

(including scorecarding, dashboarding and analytics) & Excel 2007

MS @ Home Evenings Event Description:
Placeholder for content

Microsoft @ Home Evening, for IT Professionals
Event Description:

This session will be an overview of the connected technologies of Windows 7, Windows Home Server and Xbox to provide a secure, shared and media rich home computing experience. We will demonstrate parental controls, media tagging, shared media, centralized backup and the extensibility of Home Server and the community that surrounds this product. We will also look at how the web plays a part in this experience through remote web access and a personalized website address for sharing photos and home videos in home server.
Dublin, 23rd March, 7pm-9.30pm (Venue tbc). Register Here
Belfast, 25th March, 7pm-9.30pm (Venue tbc).Register Here
Cost: Free

Agenda

1. Digital Photography

2. Home Server & Media Extender

3. Securing Your Home Network

Windows 7 Deployment Tools Beta

2009-01-27T15:48:35Z

There has been a lot of posts around the Beta offering of Windows 7, and the message has been taken up with over 2.5 million downloads and counting. From an IT Pro perspective the great new interface and some of the additional features are fantastic but what I am concerned about is deployment. How will I be able to role out Windows 7 to all my users without running from desk to desk doing an install or using the old “Ghost” method for every system model I have.

Microsoft have had a number of tools available for the deployment of OS’s, System Center Configuration Manager being the main tool but this may not be the right tool for all organizations due to size or budget.

The Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) is a tool to help IT pros create and deploy Windows images to new hardware. The Windows AIK is a collection of tools and documentation that help you automate Windows OS deployments with a high degree of flexibility—allowing you to configure many deployment options, which is helpful in highly customized environments. Tools such as the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT—discussed below) and products like System Center Configuration Manager use components of Windows AIK to create system images and automate their installation. This latest release of Windows AIK is designed to work with Windows 7 images, and supports the new Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool that is part of Windows 7. The User State Migration Tool (USMT 4.0) is now installed as part of Windows AIK, to help streamline and simplify the migration of user accounts, files, OS settings and application settings. You can download the latest Windows AIK here.

The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Beta is also now available as an open beta on Connect. MDT 2010 is the fourth generation deployment Solution Accelerator from Microsoft. Along with detailed guidance, MDT 2010 provides unified tools and processes for desktop and server deployments from a common deployment console, delivering standardized images across both your server and client infrastructure. MDT 2010 also supports Hard Link Migrations using USMT 4.0 for refresh scenarios, which will reduce your user state back-up and restore time. MDT 2010 supports deployment of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, in addition to supporting Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2003.
Check out other Solution Accelerators at www.microsoft.com/solutionaccelerators, and visit the Springboard Series on TechNet for more information and guidance on Windows technology adoption!

PerformancePoint 2007 to become part of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise

2009-01-24T14:16:31Z

I read this morning some very interesting news over on Kurt Shintaku's Blog. Be out of the office for a few days and you can really miss some big happenings. Kurt has been one of my favorite Microsoft bloggers for a couple of years as he covers a very wide range of interesting news and technology

NEWS:

Announcement:
Microsoft is announcing an update to its Microsoft Business Intelligence roadmap. Microsoft’s strategy is to deliver BI to everyone in the organization through the broadly adopted tools of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and Microsoft Office Excel, and built on the scalable Microsoft SQL Server BI platform.

Based on customer feedback, we are moving the scorecard, dashboard, and analytic functionality from Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server into Office SharePoint Server Enterprise, making these capabilities available throughout the organization at a lower TCO.

In mid 2009, we will release PerformancePoint Server 2007 “service pack 3” which will include updates to the current product’s planning module. Thereafter, customers should not expect further investment in standalone versions of PerformancePoint Server. However, ongoing support of our planning customers is a high priority. These changes enable customers to deploy a complete BI solution with existing investments in SharePoint Server, SQL Server, and Excel, the most widely used analysis and planning tool in market today.

Q&A:

What will happen to PerformancePoint Server?
PerformancePoint Server 2007 will no longer be a standalone item on the Microsoft price list as of April 1, 2009. For organizations interested in PerformancePoint Server, it can be obtained by purchasing SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise CAL with Software Assurance. In the future, the monitoring and analytics capabilities will be included in the next release of SharePoint Server and will be available to SharePoint Enterprise CAL customers. Customers with rights to PerformancePoint Server SP3 will be able to download it mid 2009 (please contact your account manager for details). Performance management is a critical component of business intelligence and Microsoft will continue marketing and R&D investment in this area in future product releases.
What about from now until SharePoint ‘v-next’?
How will I obtain the current PerformancePoint monitoring and analytics functionality for broad BI deployment?
From the date of this announcement, PerformancePoint Server will be a license entitlement for SharePoint Server 2007 E-CAL customers with Software Assurance only. The technical requirement to use PerformancePoint planning will continue to be SQL Server Enterprise Edition. Customers will be able to use BI throughout their entire organizations simply by deploying SQL Server, SharePoint Server, and Excel.
What about support for existing PerformancePoint Server planning customers?
Customer care is our primary focus during this transition. We will keep our commitments to deliver improved planning capabilities in PerformancePoint Server 2007 SP3 in mid 2009 that addresses many of the features and functionality required by our customers to leverage in their planning projects. We will continue to support all PerformancePoint customers per our existing support policy. For further details on this policy visit: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=12922.
What about legacy products such as ProClarity and Business Scorecard Manager?
ProClarity Analytics Server is part of PerformancePoint Server 2007. ProClarity Desktop Pro is a separate product and is not connected with PerformancePoint licenses, with or without SA. Business Scorecard Manager (BSM) is a downgrade right of PerformancePoint Server 2007. The core ProClarity capabilities that made that product successful will migrate to SharePoint and Excel over the coming releases. As for Business Scorecard Manager and ProClarity Desktop Pro, we don’t anticipate any further customer demand for this.
Will customers still be able to purchase PerformancePoint Server if they require more licenses for an existing deployment?
No, not as a standalone product. If customers require additional PerformancePoint Server 2007 CALs, they should purchase SharePoint Server 2007 E-CALs with Software Assurance to be entitled to PerformancePoint Server 2007 CALs.
If I have additional questions, who do I contact?
If you have additional questions, please first work with your Microsoft account team. If you have additional questions following that, you can contact PerformancePoint Server Roadmap Announce team pps_an@microsoft.com.

Last Day for Windows 7 Public Beta Downloads Extended

2009-01-24T13:58:13Z

Brandon LeBlanc of the windows 7 team posted a notice last night regarding the the Windows 7 Beta. Here is an excerpt:

First off: thank you for your interest in beta testing Windows 7! As we near January 24th, we wanted to update everyone again on the next steps for the Windows 7 Beta. The amount of feedback we have received has been amazing and continues to pour in. We are at a point where we have more than enough beta testers and feedback coming in to meet our engineering needs, so we are beginning to plan the end of general availability for Windows 7 Beta.

Starting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.

February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.

February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn’t finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.

MSDN and TechNet Subscribers will continue to have access to the Windows 7 Beta bits throughout the Windows 7 Beta phase. The above dates do not apply to MSDN and TechNet Subscribers

See the full article on the Windows 7 Blog.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Update Rollup 1

2009-01-20T13:54:38Z

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Update Rollup 1 releases yesterday. This rollup package addresses the following issues in Windows Small Business Server 2008.

Issue 1

The Security tab in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Console incorrectly reports the spyware and malware status of Windows Vista Service Pack 1-based clients that are joined to a domain. Specifically, some security applications are reported as incompatible in the antivirus and malware status that is reported.

Issue 2

The Internet Address Management Wizard exits unexpectedly when you register a domain name. This issue occurs when you select GoDaddy.com as the provider, and then you click Register Now

How to obtain this update

This update will be available from the Microsoft Update Web site:

http://update.microsoft.com

Licensing Change Notification: Access Windows Server 2003 in Hyper-V hosted on Windows Server 2008 without Windows Server 2008 CALs

2009-01-19T15:57:29Z

This is a reposting of a blog posting from Eric Ligman regarding the Friday announcement of changes to the licensing of widows CAL’s in Virtualization scenarios.

Today we are announcing an exciting change in our licensing policy regarding Windows Server 2008 CALs to better support clients looking to take advantage of the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V technology to host a Windows Server 2003 environment.

Why? Simple… A number of trends, including consolidation and high availability, are driving more deployments and evaluations of Hyper-V. Based on feedback from our customers, we are updating our licensing policies to address these new scenarios enabled by virtualization.

Prior to this change, if your physical server environment was running Windows Server 2003, you need matching version CALs for all users (i.e. Windows Server 2003 CALs). However, if you move your physical Windows Server 2003 Operating System Environments (OSE) to run as virtual machines hosted by Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 CALs are required. This is per the current use rights. With this change in our licensing policy that we are announcing today, Windows Server 2008 CALs are no longer required if you are using Windows Server 2008 solely as a virtualization host. The only exception to this is if you are running Windows Server 2008 virtual machines, which would require Windows Server 2008 CALs.

With the change, no Windows Server 2008 CALs are required if Windows Server 2008 is being used only to:

run hardware virtualization software
provide hardware virtualization services
run software to manage and service operating system environments on the licensed server

To help demonstrate the effect of the licensing change, I have included three scenarios below and the resulting requirements:

Scenario 1: Customer deploying Windows Server 2008 workloads
- There is no change in licensing or CAL requirements.
- This is irrespective of whether the customer deploys Windows Server 2008 workloads (other than Hyper-V in a physical or virtual environment.
Scenario 2: Customer only deploys Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V to consolidate Windows Server 2003
- Windows Server 2008 CALs are no longer required
- Customer will still need CALs for the appropriate Windows Server edition (Windows Server 2003 in this example)
Scenario 3: Customer deploys Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V to consolidate Windows Server 2003 but also has Windows Server 2008 deployments
- Windows Server 2008 CAL requirements will apply for the Windows Server 2008 deployment
- A CAL for a particular version of Windows Server allows the user/device to access all instances of that version of Windows Server (and prior versions) across the organization

Here is one question I wanted to be sure and answer for you up front, since I anticipate it might come up:

Q: Is Software Assurance a prerequisite for taking advantage of the new licensing rules?
A: No. Any Volume Licensing customer may take advantage of these new rules, whether they have Software Assurance on their licenses or not.

If you would like more in depth information on this change, please read the updated Volume Licensing Brief that we are posting on this.

Microsoft Virtualization Webcasts

2009-01-16T15:10:52Z

Microsoft will be hosting a series of 300 level webcasts over the coming 10 weeks on the Microsoft Virtualization Solution, from the Desktop to the Datacenter. If you have any interest at all in virtualization (and if you’re an IT Pro how could you not!) then these sessions will be of great value to you.

All of the sessions can be viewed at

http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/windowsserver2008.aspx?tab=webcasts&id=42531

You can sign up to participate in the LiveMeeting's or download the content for review at your own leisure anytime after the meetings.

On the same page you can click on the Virtual Labs link to try Windows Server 2008 and experience how it will affect your daily routine. These virtual labs give you a chance to test drive the new features of Windows Server 2008, which include improvements to management, network protection, and Terminal Services. Sign up for a free 90-minute block of time, download a manual, and step through a lab today.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta Available too!

2009-01-13T00:55:42Z

With all the news about the release of the first public look at Windows 7 something might have slipped past you and that was the release of Windows Server 2008 R2. As you might imagine there are quite a few upgrades and improvements and there is a great four page document that covers the Top 10 IT Pro Tasks Made Easier with Server 2008 R2 as well as a PowerPoint that gives a Windows Server 2008 R2 Overview and finally a Windows Server 2008 R2 Reviewers Guide that covers off everything new and different.

Probably the biggest changes, or at least the most important ones in my mind being a virtualization guy, are those related to Hyper-V 2.0. I get asked every week about QuickMigration vs. VMotion and the associated downtime with with a Quick Migration vs. a VMotion migration. Well Hyper-V 2.0 now supports Live Migration which provides seemless migration of VMs between hosts in a cluster with no loss of connectivity, no downtime! Finally I can answer that question, now all I need is the hardware to demo it!

There is also some great new features for the mobile worker and those in the branch office. With Windows Server 2008 R2 we will be introducing Branch Side Caching, BranchCache reduces the bandwidth consumed by users for intranet based HTTP and SMB traffic and improves end user experience by serving frequently accessed content from within the branch office network. BranchCache is a part of the Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Client and works with security technology such as SSL and IPSEC.

DirectAccess is a new feature in Windows® 7 and Windows Server® 2008 R2 that gives users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access. Think RPC over HTTPS for Outlook for all corporate applications. This is truly moving towards the fully connected mobile user, securely working from anywhere with an internet connection.

Oh I almost forgot, for those of you using Microsoft Hyper-V Server, there is an R2 version of that as well that adds the same support and new features as above but also adds Windows Server Failover Clustering to the mix allowing you to add high availability and Live Migration capabilities to your free Hyper-V Server deployments!

You can grad the Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta here and be sure to also check out the Virtualization Team Blog for more.

Credit to my friend Rodney Buike, IT Pro Advisor in Canada for some of the info in this post.

Windows 7

2009-01-09T20:40:05Z

The public beta for Windows 7 is available today! I have included some information and links for those looking to test the new windows OS in a NON-PRODUCTION environment.

The Beta is your chance to help us with feedback that targets the fundamentals—the “quality bar” that we are setting for Windows 7 on security, reliability and performance. If you are interested in getting even more involved, the Windows Feedback Program is your chance to directly influence future versions of the Windows operating system. This program is limited to the first 500 IT professionals to sign up, so don’t delay!

A major focus of Windows 7, from an IT professional perspective, has been to improve overall PC manageability, security, and end user and IT productivity—especially given the more mobile and distributed work environments that we see today. You will find key advancements that will impact you and your end users every day—such as accessing information and network resources across the enterprise; implementing security and compliance policies, and automating the management of physical and virtual PCs. For a more in-depth view of Windows 7 and how it will impact your day-to-day work, take a look at the feature articles on the Springboard Series, "First Look at Windows 7 for IT Professionals," and "Ten Things IT Professionals Should Know About Windows 7.” Or, for even more background on the fundamentals, visit the Engineering Windows 7 blog.

Visit the Springboard Series for Windows 7 to register for the Windows 7 Beta^—and access rich content including video walkthroughs—in your local blogs, newsletters, and websites.

* This is a limited Beta program available to the first 2.5 million people who download the bits. This limit does not apply to TechNet/MSDN subscribers.

February 12^th Virtual Roundtable with Mark Russinovich

Please join Mark Russinovich and a panel of subject matter experts on Thursday, February 12^th at 11:00AM Pacific Time for a live discussion of what's in store for IT pros with Windows® 7. Learn about the evolution of features like Group Policy, BitLocker™ To Go, DirectAccess, BranchCache™, and Software Restriction then get tips on troubleshooting, deployment, and application compatibility. Bring your questions—Mark and the panel will answer as many as they can during the hour-long event, then publish the rest in a Q&A after the event.

Visit https://ms.istreamplanet.com/springboard to add the event to your calendar.

One thing of note, I had this conversation with Dave Northey this morning and it is an important one to have. While the download for this and every other OS is provided as an ISO, that does not mean you need to burn a DVD to install it. I recommend going to a bootable USB key for 2 reasons. It is faster to install from (15 minutes for Windows 7 last night on my Tablet) and it is more environmentally friendly as those DVD’s don’t end up in the landfill.

For those that don’t know how to make a bootable USB key, here is the recipe:

Creating a bootable USB device:

Start\run\diskpart.exe

DISKPART> list disk

Select the USB device from the list and substitute the disk number below

when necessary

DISKPART> select disk 1

DISKPART> clean

DISKPART> create partition primary

DISKPART> select partition 1

DISKPART> active

DISKPART> format fs=fat32

DISKPART> assign

DISKPART> exit

xcopy X:\*.* /s/e/f Y:\

where X:\ is your mounted image or physical DVD and Y:\ is your USB device

Now all you need to do is plug the device into your target box's USB slot and boot it. This may require hitting F12 to load the one-time boot menu and selecting the USB Key.

cheers

Will

Home Server, the IT Pro’s best friend

2009-01-08T16:11:38Z

During my interview process with Microsoft I endured a number interviews and in every single one I was asked the same question “What is your favorite Microsoft product?” Much to every persons chagrin I answered Windows Home Server. In my opinion this one of the best products Microsoft has released in the last 5 years and it has been completely under marketed.

Why you might ask would an enterprise server person think so highly of a little 10 user home server…well the simple fact is as an IT Pro I support my family, friends and acquaintances for any and all computer related problems. A home server in any of these homes saves me calls, trips over and in the worst case provides me with a way to remote in and resolve the issue. The reality is that there is more than 1 computer in a very large number of houses today and that just increases the complexity of file sharing, managing all the pictures, music, videos, etc and the every popular possibility of a hard drive failure or worse.

Your music, photos, videos and other media are part of your life - but they're scattered over multiple computers, disk drives, CDs, DVDs, and MP3 players...Macs and iPods too. The Home Server centralizes all your files, from all your home computers, in one place so you can grab them anywhere you have an internet connection and share how you want.

There has been a number of companies with hardware offerings with the Microsoft Home Server as the OS and you do have the option of building one yourself. I personally really like the HP Home Servers and they just got a whole bunch better with 2 new releases.

Grab your files

Get more from your digital life
The HP MediaSmart Server is your new entertainment hub. It automatically centralizes your digital media and enables you to enjoy it from anywhere you have an internet connection!

The HP Media Collector lets you consolidate your Windows PC media files and libraries (including iTunes® music libraries and playlists) on the server. You can even remotely stream your music and photos from your server to any Internet-connected computer for access while you are at home or away.

You can extend your digital media experiences by conveniently streaming your favorite music, videos, and photos from your HP MediaSmart Server to PCs, Macs, gaming consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation®3), and TVs on your home network.(*) Now you can quickly and easily enjoy them on the big-screen.

* Digital Media Receiver (UPnP) required for streaming to home stereo system or TV

Share your files

Centralize your digital life
By bringing all your family's photo, music and video libraries together, from all the computers in your house, the HP MediaSmart Server provides you with a media solution for both PCs and Macs.

Forget files scattered across multiple computers and devices in your home. Your whole family can quickly access them from any internet-connected PC or Mac on your network.

Free your photos and music
Streamline the way you manage and publish your photos to photo sharing sites such as Snapfish and Picasa Web Albums. You can even upload to your favorite social media site such as Facebook using any Internet-connected computer.

Enjoy your music collection from anywhere in your home or across the world from any internet connected PC or Mac.

Protect your files

Easily backup and protect your digital memories
What's the point of keeping your media together if you can't keep them safe? The HP MediaSmart Server backs up your files easily and automatically - you don't even have to think about it.

The server automatically backs up and protects the content on your computers, whether they run Windows XP or Vista and even Macintosh computers running Mac OS X Leopard using Apple's Time Machine.

Search and Rescue
Recovering lost files or even an entire hard disk is no problem, even in the event of a hardware or software failure. In addition, you can designate folders to be automatically copied onto multiple hard drives, or to an online backup service such as Amazon S3, for additional layers of redundant protection. That way you can know your content is stored.

A Solution for PC and Mac Households

The HP MediaSmart Server automatically backs up both Windows PCs running Microsoft's Windows Home Server Backup and Apple Macs using Apple's Time Machine software.

The initial configuration of the HP MediaSmart Server requires a Windows-based system, but after installing the Control Center for Mac OS, you can:

Use Mac OS X Time Machine™ to backup files to the server
Access shared folders on the server using the Control Center
Access the HP Photo Publisher to publish photos on the HP MediaSmart Server or a number of popular photo sharing sites
Serve up iTunes music-any computer on the network that runs iTunes can access an iTunes shared library on the HP MediaSmart Server

One of the great things about home server is the community that has build up around it. There are a number of great blog sites dedicated to the product, Microsoft has a series of MVP’s specifically around Home Server (including a friend of mine from back in Canada in Graham Jones who runs the Vancouver Technology User Group). There are also a large number of add-on's for the Home Server that have been developed for the community.

If you have not looked at this product, I suggest you do so. There is a 120 day free trial version you can order and test or you can download a copy from TechNet if you are a subscriber. I have tested it in the past running as virtual machine on my home testing server. You can even install the home server client on a domain joined machine to allow you to access the shared music, photos, etc at home and to allow you to make a back up of your documents, etc. Powerful stuff for every home.

Microsoft Home Server Reviewers Guide

Windows Home Server Getting Started Guide

Windows 7 Available through TechNet and MSDN

2009-01-08T15:02:47Z

Interest in Windows 7 is high to say the least. Since PDC when the first public pre-beta views of the new Windows OS were released there has been endless blog postings and screenshots of the product. Well now you too can participate in the lead up to one of the most highly anticipated releases in Microsoft’s history.

Over the last few moths I have been evangelizing the value of a TechNet subscription (or MSDN is you are a developer). Well, the value has again been proven as you can download the Beta release of Windows 7 today!

I will say it again, a TechNet Plus subscription provides amazing value in being able to evaluate MS software without any time restrictions. Plus, you also get a couple of free support incidents worth the price of the subscription.

Windows 7 is available on Subscriber Downloads right now!! Not only that, you can also download Windows Server 2008 R2 beta as well so that you can test out both the client and server piece of the next version of Windows. In case you're wondering, yes, it is downloading to my machine as I write this post.

I'll keep you informed on more details and links on Windows 7 as they become available. In the meantime, if you are a TechNet Plus subscriber, download it, install it on a test machine (don't use it in production, please) and let me know what you think by posting a comment on the blog or sending me an email at wilbour.craddock@microsoft.com.

SBS 2008 on US TV Morning Show

2009-01-07T02:10:30Z

I saw this over on Sean Daniel’s blog and thought I would share the video. Sean has one of the best SBS blogs on the planet, if your not subscribing, you should be! Any who, here is the lowdown on the video clip.

Small Business Server was mentioned, as well as Windows Mobile and a Dell PowerEdge Server. The technology is used to take the office paperless, making the office more cost effective by reducing paper usage, cutting back on the number of running electronic equipments and saving on gas moving people around by enabling remote access. The video talks about it all!

CES on This Week in Vegas

2009-01-05T19:00:05Z

This is a big week for the geek in me, the Consumer Electronics Show is on in Vegas this week. This is the ultimate candy shop for all things electronic, including the newest releases of laptops, TV's, audio equipment, automotive technology, gadgets and anything else that requires a battery or power of some type! The show has in the past included an opening keynote address from Bill Gates, that has included some infamous predictions, statements and demos….but this year the Microsoft presentation will be handed by Steve Ballmer. Can’t wait to see what the news will be, how it will be presented and received.

Instead of going over the thousands of new items that are being introduced, I will point you to the ultimate bloggers for all things gadget and technical….Engadget. Check their site or subscribe to the RSS feed as I do to keep up on fact, fiction and rumours on a daily basis. This is a very active feed, and one with some cool information….expect 20-30 posts a day at least!

Consider it a public service announcement :)

cheers

-W

Fix it for me blog on Microsoft TechNet

2009-01-02T20:58:45Z

I just happened to find this new blog posting in the TechNet Blogs feed:

Have you ever come across a Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article or been presented with a Windows Error Reporting (WER) solution and asked yourself, why can't Microsoft just fix this for me? Today KB articles and WER solutions provide you with a list of steps that can be followed to resolve your issue. However, tomorrow looks much different and we hope it helps you resolve any issues you have with our products faster and easier.

Our team's purpose is to automate the steps in Microsoft KB articles and Windows Error Reporting (WER) solutions so you can click a button and have the issue resolved.

I was hoping that maybe they came out with some cool new technology that let you run a script to fix these issues, but alas, it’s just a standard Windows Installer MSI file that modifies the registry or runs a script or whatever. But it’s still incredibly useful for non-techies who don’t need to know or care about the Registry.

Check out the the FixIt4Me blog to see what solutions for common problems are listed and hopefully the feed provide you help whenever a new article is published.

-W