Will Craddock's Technology Adventure in Ireland : Windows Vista

Upcoming Microsoft Ireland TechNet Tour

will.craddock — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:52:52 GMT

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

will.craddock — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:40:05 GMT

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

Fix it for me blog on Microsoft TechNet

will.craddock — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:58:45 GMT

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

Windows Vista SP2 and Server 2008 SP2 available for download

will.craddock — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:44:46 GMT

Earlier today I blogged about the virtues of a TechNet Plus subscription and I have to add one more reason to subscribe. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows/dd262148(en-us).aspx

Service Pack 2 for Vista and Server 2008 are now available as part of the Customer Preview Program on TechNet. This Service Pack will be the first to introduce a single installer for both the desktop client and server products, a model that will be adopted from this release forward.

As announced on the Windows Vista Team Blog, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Beta will be made available to a small group of Technology Adoption Program customers at the end of October. No final date has been set for release.
In addition to previously released updates since the launch of Windows Vista SP1, Windows Vista SP2 contains changes focused on supporting new types of hardware and adding support for several emerging standards:

Windows Vista SP2 adds Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches.
Windows Vista SP2 contains the Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology.
Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista.
Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration.
Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.

Here are some resources on Windows Vista from TechNet Springboard:
How (and Why) to Get Going on Windows Vista Adoption
Deployment Stories and Case Studies
Five Ways Windows Vista Makes Deployment Easier
Answers to Common Deployment Questions

Detailed Features List:

Emerging Hardware Support

• SP2 contains Blue tooth 2.1 feature pack supporting the most recent specification for Blue tooth technology

• Ability to record data on Blu-Ray media,

• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration to Windows Vista SP2,

• exFAT file system now supports UTC timestamps, which enables correct file synchronization across time zones.

• SP2 provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD/CCID. new form factor support --example USB form factor as opposed to PCMCIA).

• Support for the new VIA 64-bit CPU

Security

• SP2 includes all previously released security updates, and builds on the proven security benefits of Windows Vista

• Secure Development Lifecycle process updates, where we identify the root cause of each security bulletin and improve our internal tools to eliminate code patterns that could lead to future vulnerabilities

• Reliability

• SP2 addresses previously released reliability updates, as well as addressing crashes, caused by Microsoft code, discovered since the launch of SP1

Performance

• Resume performance when Wi-Fi connection is no longer available after resume from sleep

• Inclusion of Windows Search 4 for improved indexing performance, improved relevancy in search, broader indexing scenario inclusion, as well as new Group Policy integration for Windows Search,

• Improvements to the RSS feeds sidebar gadget to improve update performance and responsiveness,

Application Compatibility

• It is our goal that applications that run on the Windows Vista Operating System today and are written using public APIs will continue to work as designed on Windows Vista SP2.

• Previously released Application Compatibility updates are included in Windows Vista SP2.

• Spysweeper and ZoneAlarm now working with POP3 email accounts

Administration and Support Improvements

• Customers installing .net framework 3.5 service pack 1 will notice shorter download and installation times with Vista service pack 2 or Windows 2008 service pack 2 already installed,

• Service Pack Clean up tool (Compcln.exe): This tool helps restore the hard disk space by permanently deleting the previous versions of the files (RTM & SP1) that are being serviced by Service Pack 2.

• Single installer for both Vista & Server 2008

• Ability to detect an incompatible driver and block service pack installation or warn users of any loss of functionality

• Better error handling and providing more descriptive error messages where possible

• Better manageability through logging in system event log

• Componentization for Serviceability of the installer

Some Specific Fixes/Additions Include:

· Inclusion of Hyper-V

· Event logging support in SPC

· DNS Server now listens over ISATAP address

· Fixes DRM issues from WMP upgrades

· Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless

· Reduction of resources required for sidebar gadgets

· Improved power settings for WS08

TechNet Subscription Discounts

will.craddock — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:01:59 GMT

In my role here at Microsoft I make presentations to customers and partners alike every day of the week. One of the things that strikes me in these is the limited number of people who are taking advantage of TechNet Plus subscriptions.

In my last number of roles within different organizations I have always ensured I had budget allocated to have a TechNet subscription, in fact I had a personal TechNet and MSDN subscription for the last year. The reason is simple....value. For a very insignificant price I have access to full versions of Microsoft software for the desktop and server for me to test with. In today's virtualized world, having access to Exchange, Server 2008, OCS, SharePoint, etc to install into a lab and test with no time bombs associated is invaluable. You also have access to Office 2007, Vista in its various versions to test with these server technologies. I am a person who learns by doing, and for the less than the price of Office 2007 I am able to install, play and learn with all the technology I can consume. That is value.

I came across the following discounts today and wanted to spread the information regarding them. TechNet Plus is ordered online through the TechNet site and are payable in US Dollars. Subscription is either online only or with media at differing prices and are good for 1 calendar year from date of purchase, so please take a look and find what is right for you.

These are 3 different discount offerings that I have seen are below:

15% off New TechNet Plus Subscriptions – Code: TMSAM15
$100 discount New TechNet Plus Direct Subscriptions (essentially 15% off) – Code: TMSAM03
$70 discount off new TechNet Plus subscriptions – Code: TNPV07

Check out what the TechNet Plus subscription gives you:

Full-version software for evaluation - without time limits – including Microsoft operating systems, servers, and Office System software.
Pre-release versions of Microsoft operating systems, servers and business applications.
Complete access to a technical information library including knowledge base articles, resource kits, technical training, and security updates.
Two (2) technical support calls and a 20% discount on additional phone support incidents to help you quickly resolve mission-critical technical issues.
Unlimited managed newsgroup support and online concierge chat to provide the extra assistance you need to be successful.
A free subscription to TechNet Magazine with hands-on information for the IT Professional.

Windows Overview...today and future with some of the big names

will.craddock — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:32:13 GMT

If you are up for a late afternoon through the evening LiveMeeting (if you are based in Ireland!) on the Windows platform, the this is the session for you!

Event Overview

On December the 12^th (Friday) we are hosting a Windows FireStarter! If you are a Developer or an IT Pro you’d definitely not want to miss this event.

Just like all other FireStarter Events, we will be recording and making the entire content available for download post event. All the sessions in this event are presented to you by some Excellent Microsoft Speakers who are Subject Matter Experts.

Take a look at the agenda below:

Agenda:

	Session Name	Speaker
8:15 – 8:30	Kick off	Mithun Dhar
8:30 – 9:30	Keynote/Why Vista!	Chris Henley
9:30 – 10:45	The Case of the Unexplained	Mark Russinovich
10:45 – 11:00	Break
11:00 – 12:15	Building Differentiated UI Applications Using Composite WPF	Glenn Block, Bob Brumfield & David Hill
12:15 – 1:00	Lunch
1:00 – 2:00	Best Practices for Developing for Windows for Windows Standard User	Crispin Cowan
2:00 – 3:00	Windows Security and Bitlocker	Byron Hynes
3:00 – 3:15	Break
3:15 – 4:00	(Windows 7 + Windows Server 2008 R2) Teaser Session	Byron Hynes
4:00 – 5:00	Windows for everyone!	TBA

We are bummed that you cannot attend this meeting in person! We’ll strive to make sure that you have as good an experience when you attend Online.

To participate in this event via Live Meeting, here’s what you’ll need to do:

When: December 12^th 2008 8:30 AM- 5:00 PM PACIFIC

The Live Meeting Space won’t be active till 8:00 AM on December 12^th

Computer Audio
To use computer audio, you need speakers and microphone, or a headset. Questions can be asked via the Q&A panel in Live Meeting.