Operating Systems

Microsoft roadmap 2008

Microsoft Subnet — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:32:19 -0400

This is rare. Blogger Long Zheng, whose blog is always full of humor and interesting tidbits, managed to get a hold of Microsoft’s 2008 Roadmap Powerpoint slide. He posted it in full. The slide was flashed at attendees of the Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference in Denver and it lists the 56 products that Microsoft is promising to release next year.

Here it the list. The red asterisks indicate the products that Zheng says he is particularly interested in.

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Software Assurance and a case of denial

Microsoft Subnet — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:54:08 -0400

Microsoft insists that Software Assurance is achieving record renewal rates from enterprise customers, reports VNUnet.com. This despite the fact that IT execs consistently say that Microsoft’s Software Assurance plan is less than appealing. For instance, one Network World reader wrote: “Why should anyone be surprised that Microsoft's Software Assurance does not save them money? The only thing that the program assures is the steady flow of money into Microsoft coffers.”

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A list o’ fixes for Vista

Microsoft Subnet — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:45:31 -0400

After Mary Jo Foley linked to a list of fixes from another site, the list disappeared, she reports. So she’s posted that list on her own blog for safekeeping. The list notes about two dozen upgrades in Vista Performance and Reliability Pack and Vista Compatibility and Reliability Pack. These include fixes for issues with shared printers, the login screen, Memory Manager and so on. Read more.

RE: Microsoft trying to get code open-source certification

Microsoft Subnet — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:44:02 -0400

Microsoft wants the open source community to give it a stamp of approval for its own method of open licensing. During a keynote speech at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Ore., on Thursday, Bill Hilf, Microsoft's general manager of platform strategy, said that the software vendor is submitting its so-called shared source licenses to the Open Source Initiative for certification as true open-source licenses. Read more. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/072707-microsoft-trying-to-get-code.html

RE: Windows Vista sales hit 60 million

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:01:18 -0400

BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN STUFFED UP OUR COLLECTIVE NOSES! IT HAS NOT BEEN BY CHOICE BILL GATES! I've already replaced 2 BRAND NEW Vista crap computers with XP equipped from DELL! Thank God DELL has the brains to continue selling a 1/2 respectable OS without putting up with the BLOAT of Vista. Re: Windows Vista sales hit 60 million.

Linux, Microsoft and VMware

westside guy — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:21:46 -0400

I'm not sure how "the deal" is supposed to have somehow magically enabled one to run Windows in a VM on top of Linux. Re: Linux gains despite and because of Microsoft. Like many other people, I was using VMware to do this years ago - long before Novell and Microsoft were even talking. Tools like ESX server, VMware server, and even VMware Workstation have had this capability - without Microsoft or Novell's "help".

RE: What will Windows 7 look like?

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:43:47 -0400

"Analysts said Microsoft probably is keeping tight-lipped about what Windows 7 will look like because at this point, company engineers and executives don't even know." Re: What will Windows 7 look like? Well, yes, of course. Leopard isn't actually out yet. Once it's out, in October, we'll have a pretty good idea what Windows 7 will look like. John Davis

Windows Rally Technologies

John.Obeto — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:56:28 -0400

In my review here of the Buffalo Nfiniti Wireless-N router & Access Point, I briefly touched upon Windows Rally™, a series of technological advancements built into Windows Vista which are geared towards simplifying network connectivity and giving users, and managers, what is now known universally (and affectionately) as the Windows Vista Experience.

From the review:

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A few products shy of a rollout

Microsoft Subnet — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:39:53 -0400

It's scheduled to be the biggest enterprise product launch ever for Microsoft. But... what exactly is being launched?

FullArmor Workflow Studio

John.Obeto — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:24:30 -0400

This product provides a graphical interface to PowerShell.

In the words of FullArmor:

Workflow Studio is a new platform that enables simple yet enterprise-scale data center and business process automation through the power of Windows PowerShell and the flexibility of Windows Workflow Foundation. Through a graphical workflow designer, you can build full automation of your business and/or IT processes including user account management, server and application provisioning, security enforcement and automation, disaster recovery automation, and routine and emergency maintenance on data center resources.

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RE: Mac worm author receives death threats

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:56:16 -0400

In the next Mac vs. PC commercial, that friendly Mac guy is going to take out a switchblade and repeatedly stab the pudgy PC guy. Re: Mac worm author receives death threats.

RE: Gates pushes hometown to Linux

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:46:43 -0400

This is great, a big slap in the face to Gates. I have worked with both Windows and Linux and I can honestly say Linux is much better than Windows and Linux is free!

Windows Vista SP1: The Official Word...

John.Obeto — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:35:23 -0400

... as imparted to me/us a few minutes ago.

“There will be a Windows Vista service pack and our current expectation is that a beta will be made available sometime this year. Service packs are part of the traditional software lifecycle — they’re something we do for all Microsoft products as part of our commitment to continuous improvement, and providing early test builds is a standard practice that helps us incorporate customer feedback and improve the overall quality of the product.

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RE: Enter to win a book on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:18:14 -0400

Good stuff

TPM - Should You Trust It?

Mark Kadrich — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:31:53 -0400

An interesting note came across my email last week that really got my attention. For those of you that know me, I'm an endpoint security bigot and quite proud of it. But I'm not so proud that I don't constantly question the effectiveness of the tools or my solutions. When something pops up that reduces the security of a solution I like to know about it. So it was with the Black Hat USA 2007 briefing entitled "TPMkit: Breaking the Legend of Trusted Computing Group's Trusted Platform Module and Vista (Bitlocker)". Although I was greatly disappointed when I read that the presentation had been cancelled, I was more curious then anything else. I had to ask myself why was something as important as this being cancelled?

Being naturally suspicious, this lead to more questions.

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RE: How to transfer Mac OS X external USB drive to Windows machine

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:30:38 -0400

if you need to move from OS to OS format the drive with a file system that they can all read.

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Windows Server 2008 release date: February 27

Microsoft Subnet — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:31:36 -0400

At Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference today, COO Kevin Turner announced the worldwide ship date for Windows Server 2008: February 27. Microsoft will simultaneously release SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio Server 2008 at the same time. Read more.

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0 released

John.Obeto — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:51:33 -0400

Microsoft Windows Vista Hardware Assessment v2.0, or WVHAT v2.0 was released earlier today.

Baldwin Ng, PM on the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment team has details about this version here.

In my post here, I touched on the availability of Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, a free tool from Microsoft that allows IT managers an incredibly detailed inventory of corporate (Windows) client computing assets, both hardware, and installed software.

I have been testing the gold bits (this just-released version) of WVHAT 2.0 for the past several days and I have a preliminary review and some pictures at SmallBizVista.com

It goes without saying that I believe that this is a tool which should feature prominently in your Windows Vista migration plans.

How is your hardware inventorying coming along? Let us know here or email me at John.Obeto@AbsoluteVista.com

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RE: Google argues for right to comment on Microsoft case

Ricardo — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:18:16 -0400

"complained to the plaintiffs and state attorney generals late last year that Microsoft's desktop search" ----- are they generals or attorneys? Attorneys, therefore the plural is "attorneys general".

Vista Service Pack could be released next week

Microsoft Subnet — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 11:37:36 -0400

Bink.nu is reporting that Beta 1 of Vista SP1 will be released sometime next week. This info comes from unnamed Microsoft sources. The general sense, from all the talk regarding Google’s complaint about how Vista handled its search engine choices, was that the beta would not be released until year end, pushing back the final until 2008. If the beta is released the week of July 16, Bink.nu says that the production version will be out in November, 2007.

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