Editor's Note - April 2000

  • Article

tim

The Puzzler Is Back!

And this time you could win a BMW! You've waited patiently, and now it's here - the best Puzzler to date, in our collective opinion. Take a look at the opportunities and prizes in what we affectionately refer to as Round 6:

  • If you miss a week in this round, no problem. You can still answer the previous weeks' questions.

  • It was such a pleasure to meet so many of you at the Windows 2000 launch that we're playing the Puzzler at several conferences. There will be three special conference rounds at Windows World Spring 2000 in Chicago, Networld + Interop Spring 2000 in Las Vegas, and TechEd 2000 in Orlando. If you're going to these conferences, be sure to stop by the TechNet booth to say hello and play.

    (And yes, at the booth we will give away those famous Microsoft TechNet pens that light up so you can write in the dark.)

  • If you answer all four questions correctly, you will be entered into a drawing for the first place prize: a trip to the TechEd 2000 Conference in Orlando, Florida, including round trip airfare and a stay at the Walt Disney World Swan or Walt Disney World Dolphin.

  • First place winners from the online and conference rounds then compete at the TechEd conference in a live game show, dubbed the TechNet Puzzler Game Show Challenge, for the grand prize -- a 2001 BMW Z3 Roadster from BMW of North America.

New Security Checklists and Tools

We're aware of how top-of-mind security is for you, your employers, and your customers. To make the latest security information available and easy to find, we've launched a new portal page and reorganized the other pages. Give it a test drive. Start at https://www.microsoft.com/security/ and time how long it takes to find the latest security bulletins. You'll also want to check out the new security tools and checklists we've posted to assist in your proactive security efforts. They're at /technet/security/tools/default.mspx.

TechNet Flash in HTML

Hundreds of thousands of you love the TechNet Flash, our free bi-weekly newsletter chock-full of the latest links to tech information. While we're fond of the plain-text format, and could wax nostalgic for a moment here, we've built an HTML version for your convenience. You can continue to receive the plain-text version or opt for the HTML version. They both contain the same news and information.

The HTML Flash will be available in mid April. It includes our site's search bar across the top, and a hot table of contents so you can jump to the sections that interest you most. And we've designed it to be compact, no more than 50 to 100K.

To subscribe to the free TechNet Flash, go to https://www.microsoft.com/technet/abouttn/subscriptions/flash_register.mspx. To update your preferences and receive the Flash in HTML format, please visit this URL and update your profile: https://www.microsoft.com/technet/abouttn/Subscriptions/flash_register.mspx.

As always, let me know your thoughts and ideas on how we can continue to make TechNet even better.

Tim McBride
Group Manager
Microsoft TechNet

Illustrated portrait by Elizabeth Anderson, MSN Staff