Yung Chou is a Windows 7 PC : Office

Microsoft Office Groove 2007 Workspace Replication Upon Acceptance of Invitation

yungc — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:33:00 GMT

This blog explains how a Groove 2007 client behaves differently from a Groove 3.x client on the replication of a workspace. Upon a client's acceptance of a Groove workspace invitation, the current content of the workspace is replicated via a Groove cloud...(read more)

An Invitation to Upcoming Microsoft SharePoint and Groove Usability Studies

yungc — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:42:00 GMT

Announcement Do you use SharePoint and work with Groove ? Microsoft's User Research Group is conducting series of studies for SharePoint products and technologies at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA, and is looking for participants in the Puget Sound...(read more)

Screencast: Groove Network Topology and Deployment Options

yungc — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:02:00 GMT

In this screencast, I talked about the deployment options available in Groove and how to relate Groove infrastructure, Groove and SharePoint integration, and the associated collaboration model with Microsoft's vision. To see it in full screen, doubl-click...(read more)

Groove vs. OneNote

yungc — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:38:00 GMT

I had a chance to participate in Microsoft Office System Webcast: Tips and Tricks for Groove 2007, Provide Anywhere, Anytime Access to People and Information (Level 100) delivered by Paul Cannon, Microsoft Groove Product Manager, on 09/16/2008 and help...(read more)

Selected Groove Resources

yungc — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Groove Home Page for General Info System Requirements Microsoft Office Groove 2007 User's Guide Groove Server TechCenter Downloadable Books for Office Groove 2007 - Planning, Deployment, Operations, Security, & Troubleshooting Getting Started for...(read more)

Groove Non-Managed Client

yungc — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:59:00 GMT

In Groove infrastructure, there are 2 essential servers, Groove Server 2007 Manager and Groove Server 2007 Relay. The former is where a Groove domain gets created and accounts populated (while the account configurations are actually stored in an associated SQL backend.)

For a non-managed account, i.e. one configures/activate a Groove account without a configuration code (as shown below) via internet, the account is created in a Groove Server 2007 Manager and the configuration stored in an associated SQL backend both managed by Microsoft in the clouds. There is however, as the name indicated, no management to a non-managed account once created. Logically a non-management Groove client works similar to a pre-paid cell phone. It looks and functions just like a normal phone, other than there is no service contract with a cell phone service provider and a pre-paid phone will cease functioning once the pre-paid minutes are used up. A non-managed Groove client functions just like a managed client other than it is not associated with any Groove domain from a Groove user's view. As well a non-managed client is entitled to use Microsoft public infrastructure in the clouds for 5 years once configured.

Groove Communications

yungc — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:05:00 GMT

Groove communicates with Simple Symmetric Transmission Protocol (SSTP) using 2 types of connections.

Using phone conversation as an example, when Alice calls bob, if Bob answers the call, they are directly connected. This is logically similar to a Groove-to-Groove connection between two Groove clients. If for some reason, Bob is not answering the phone; Alice will leave a message in Bob's voice message box which later can then be consumed by Bob with his pin when he connects to the voice message box. This is logically similar to a Groove-to-Relay connection for the sender to queue the message for an intended recipient at the recipient's designated Relay. To consume a message queued at the recipient's designated Relay; a recipient will employ a Groove-to-Relay connection as well. Notice Groove Relay does not initiate connections to client. It is always a Groove client initiates and connects to the client's designated Relay.

As depicted in the following slide, Groove will always try first to establish and prefer a direct, i.e. Groove-to-Groove, connection followed by Groove-to-Relay connection as needed. A Groove-to-Groove connection requires TCP 2492 open. Groove-to-Relay on the other hand uses HTTP PROXY Connect to or tunneling through port 443, if allowed, or simply HTTP port 80.

A technical overview of how Groove works is also available here.

Deployment methods for Office 2008

yungc — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:02:00 GMT

Ways to deploy retail and volume license copies of Office 2008 are different. Information on how to deploy Office 2008 is available here. Notice you cannot deploy retail versions of Office across an organization from a central location. To deploy Office 2008 centrally, your organization must have a volume license.

Office 2007 Deployment Project Plan

yungc — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:33:00 GMT

Office 2007 Deployment project template is available for download from here or

1. Download, install, and bring up Microsoft Deployment Tool Kit.

2. Go to Documentation and click Office Deployment icon.

3. Click Office Project Plan.mpp.

See you at Microsoft TechEd 2008 at Orlando, FL

yungc — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:57:00 GMT

Two sessions in the upcoming TechEd 2008, I will be presenting. Both are about employing 2007 Office System as a solution platform to solve business problems. Technical decision makers, IT leadership, solution architects, and technical consultants will all benefit from both sessions and gain insights on how Microsoft Office technologies integrate and work together as end-to-end solutions. Here’s some information:

Topic	Groove, An Enabler for Secure And Dynamic Collaboration
Description	A key factor for businesses today to gain competitiveness is the capability to quickly bring people together, securely access and analyze information, methodically build and share business intelligence, and make informed decisions accordingly. Too often, the total cost of ownership to acquire such capability becomes prohibitive while appreciating the scope of technology involved, the complexities in integrating network, communication, and data technologies, the experiences and skill sets required to develop, deploy, and maintain the system. Microsoft Office Groove 2007 is a member of the 2007 Microsoft Office System and as a cost-effective way to extend the collaboration platform beyond organizational boundaries with optionally policy-enforced security and privacy to complement SharePoint-centered collaboration solutions. This presentation gives an overview on the hybrid architecture, security, user experience, and deployment models of Groove followed by a discussion of the integration with SharePoint and InfoPath.
Track	Office and SharePoint
Level	300 - Advanced
Technologies	Microsoft Office Groove 2007, Microsoft InfoPath 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services

Topic	To Build (or Prototype) An End-to-End Collaboration Solution, A Cookbook
Description	2007 Office System including clients, servers, and services is a comprehensive platform for building business solutions. The built-in features and seamless product integrations offer information workers a point-n-click experience with zero coding needed to develop an end-to-end business solution. This presentation is to demonstrate how an information worker can build a collaboration solution by employing 2007 Office System to streamline content development, approval, and publishing processes with minimal IT support without compromising security.
Track	Office System
Level	300 - Advanced
Technologies	MOSS 2007 including Excel Services and Form Services, Office Enterprise 2007 including Excel, InfoPath, Outlook, and Groove

Look forward to meeting you all at Orlando, FL in June.