TechNet Flash - Volume 10, Issue 20: October 1, 2008
Note from the Editor
Greetings and Welcome to TechNet Flash,
Have you heard that PDC2008 is the place to see the coolest new technology, and get your hands on the latest pre-beta bits - including Windows 7? Attendees will also receive a 160 GB drive of all PDC bits.
At this year’s Professional Developers Conference, October 27 - 30 in Los Angeles, attendees will get more than 20 sessions on Windows 7, and learn about new shell enhancements, best practices for Windows 7 development, and how to take advantage of new Windows 7 technology, including touch computing, new APIs for building context-aware applications, Web services in native code, and much more. We've also added PDC2008 Symposium to the event line-up, designed to help you better prepare for the challenges and opportunities that will come with increasing multi-core processing power coupled with powerful cloud-based services and platforms.
Check out the complete list of sessions, symposia and keynote speakers and register for PDC2008.
Look Who's Innovating with Microsoft's Research, Protocols and Component Technologies
More than 400 companies have already licensed technologies from Microsoft and brought new features and products to market. Most recently, Datacastleis providing IT professional solutions for data protection by licensing convergent encryption. Activated Content is protecting business assets with digital watermarking by licensing watermarking technology. And Nokia and Helio adapted Exchange ActiveSync into their own products to enable broader e-mail solutions offerings. You will find more than 35 research, protocol, and component technologies available for license from Microsoft that you can use for your development and IT projects. Check out Microsoft Intellectual Property Licensing for a list of current technologies available.
See the “How” and “Why” Behind SQL Server 2008
Fresh from the video editing studio, we are pleased to bring you a new behind-the-scenes experience from the SQL Server 2008 engineering team. The SQL Server 2008 Experience is a series of short and informal interviews with the team, and screencasts from our subsidiaries, comprising more than 500 videos. See engineering team members talk about the technologies, the features they worked on, and what they found challenging. And since the SQL Server engineering team is very large and distributed all over the world, we are able to bring you videos in 11 different languages, including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Chinese (simplified), and Chinese (traditional). The videos are grouped for IT pros, developers, and decision makers, and include some short snippets just for fun. For decision makers, the short videos showcase how our customers are using SQL Server 2008 to tackle their own challenges.
Get the SQL Server 2008 Trial.
Windows HPC Server 2008 Has RTM’d
Windows HPC Server 2008 can efficiently scale to thousands of processing cores and provides a comprehensive set of deployment, administration, and monitoring tools that are easy to deploy, manage, and integrate with your existing infrastructure. Download the newly released Windows HPC Server 2008.
Tell Us How We’re Doing
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Mitch Irsfeld
Editor, TechNet Flash
Your Featured Content
Ensure that the content most relevant to you is presented in this section.
Just Released: Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) Update
This update to ACT (version 5.0.5428.1080) includes new tools to assess application compatibility with Internet Explorer 8 and detect potential application compatibility issues caused by Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 security updates.
Windows Server Core Configurator
The Server Core Configurator enables you to quickly and easily accomplish tasks you need to do upon installation of Windows Server Core or Hyper-V Server. You can cover tasks such as activation, network and firewall settings, and Windows updates all via an easy-to-use GUI.
Virtualization Launch Case Studies
Looking for case studies of customers who have deployed Microsoft virtualization products? There are about 35 new Hyper-V/VMM case studies that have been published in tandem with the Virtualization launch on September 8.
Microsoft Launches Windows HPC Server 2008 at Leading Wall Street Event
At the 2008 High Performance on Wall Street event, U.S. Capital Markets Industry Solutions Director Craig Saint-Amour and Director of HPC Marketing Group Vince Mendillo discuss how Microsoft’s new high-performance computing server can help financial services firms uncover and analyze risk.
A Hacker's Diary: How I Hack and How You Can Stop Me
In this video, a security consultant discusses how a hacker uses buffer overflows to exploit a server and the countermeasures to protect against such attacks.
Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide Now Available for Download
The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has been working on a new guide - Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 with R2. Download the beta of the new guide now.
Webcast: SharePoint Online Application Capabilities (Level 200)
Take advantage of SharePoint Online to communicate and collaborate virtually anywhere. This webcast helps you understand the steps for configuring and managing the service.
Webcast: Deploying Forefront Client Security in the Enterprise Using Virtualization (Level 300)
October 15, 2008, 8:00 A.M. Pacific Time
The Microsoft Forefront Client Security (FCS) agent can be installed on Windows Server 2008 host and virtualized operating systems to protect against malicious threats. In addition, you can install the FCS Management Server on Hyper-V virtualized machines to consolidate management server roles. Join this TechNet webcast to learn more about deploying FCS in a virtualized environment.
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 for Your BlackBerry Smartphone
BlackBerry Client for use with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 allows you to exchange text messages with other Microsoft Office Communicator users on your BlackBerry smartphone, whether they're using a desktop computer, BlackBerry, or other mobile device.
Labcast: Desktop Deployment: Planning, Deploying, and Managing the 2007 Office System (Part 1 of 2) (Level 200)
October 7, 2008, 6:00 A.M. Pacific Time
October 7, 2008, 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time
October 14, 2008, 7:00 A.M. Pacific Time
October 14, 2008, 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time
Join part one of this two-part series to learn about new tools and technologies for deploying the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Get practical technical information and proven techniques to help simply your 2007 Office system deployment.
Labcast: Desktop Deployment: Planning, Deploying, and Managing the 2007 Office System (Part 2 of 2) (Level 200)
October 9, 2008, 5:30 A.M. Pacific Time
October 9, 2008, 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time
Join part two of this two-part series to learn about new tools and technologies for deploying the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Get practical technical information and proven techniques to help simply your 2007 Office system deployment.
SQL Server 2008: Access Your Data Any Place, Any Time
Join these webcasts, download podcasts, or take part in virtual labs to discover how you can best prepare your data for a data-mining project. We explore how you can work with advanced features for manageability, such as dynamic management views, and we examine the reporting enhancements that let you quickly and easily generate the reports your organization needs.
Silverlight 2 provides a framework that makes building rich Web applications much easier. Get the latest information from the Silverlight community site.
Customers who purchase at least 10 licenses of Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007 or Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 through a new or true-up Enterprise Agreement or Select License Agreement with Microsoft Software Assurance can earn up to 15% back on the estimated retail price in Microsoft partner subsidy funds. These funds can be used toward purchasing future hardware, software or services from their Microsoft Partner of choice.
Register Now for the SQL Server 2008 Roadshow
November 12 - Philadelphia, PA
November 20 - Lawrenceville, GA
Learn more about the new enhanced capabilities of SQL Server 2008. Explore security and database management, how to best manage your data, and what’s new in business intelligence. Don’t miss this half-day event that will give you a better understanding of what SQL 2008 has to offer and how you can best put it to use at your company. Roadshows run from 8:00 A.M. - 12:00 noon.
IT Management
Internet Explorer 8 Helps Improve Network Management and Deployment
Slipstream installation enables the deployment of Internet Explorer 8 and customizations as part of an operating system image, eliminating the need to install the browser separately. Building a desktop image with Vista and slipstreaming Internet Explorer 8 takes 15 minutes as opposed to anywhere from 2 to 3 hours using XP and Internet Explorer 7.
Licensing Information and Pricing to Help with Your Upcoming Project Budget?
The Microsoft License Advisor is an easy-to-use online tool that can help you find and select Microsoft products, choose the right volume licensing program, quantify Software Assurance benefits, and determine estimated retail pricing (ERP) based on your software needs.
Usability Study: IT Administrators Wanted
Microsoft main campus, Redmond, WA
Let us know what you would like to see in the next version of Windows Server during a two-hour study session. To sign up, e-mail us with Windows Server in the subject line.
Evaluation Center Updates
Get the Free Windows HPC Server 2008 Trial
Get the free Windows HPC Server 2008 trial by visiting the TechNet Evaluation Center or the Microsoft Download Center.
Scripting for IT Pros
Hey Scripting Guy...
" How Do I Write to Excel Without Using Excel?
" How Do I Read from Excel Without Using Excel?
" How Do I Find Information About the Network Adapter Cards on My Computer?
See previous comics in the TechNet Flash Web-based archive.
Support and Troubleshooting
How-to Articles
" How to remove administrative shares in Windows Server 2008
Hotfixes
" MS07-005: Vulnerability in Step-by-Step Interactive Training could allow remote code execution
Knowledge Base Articles
See a selection of new Knowledge Base articles on the TechNet Web site. KB articles feature an Article Translations box in the right column. You can select a language from the drop-down list and read the article in the selected language.
Featured Downloads
URL Rewriter for IIS 7.0 Release Candidate Now Available
URL Rewriter for IIS 7.0 is an IIS extension that provides a rule-based rewriting mechanism for changing request URLs before they get processed by the Web server. The extension is used to express URL rewriting logic that can use regular expressions or wildcards and can make rewriting decisions based on HTTP headers and server variables. URL Rewriter also has functionality to perform redirects, send custom responses, or abort requests based on the logic expressed in the rewrite rules. Download the x64 version or the x86 version.
Upcoming Webcasts
October 14, 2008, 9:30 A.M. Pacific Time
Learn about Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express along with our portfolio of Enterprise Search Solutions that integrate with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and find the right search solution you need to increase business productivity.
How Microsoft Does Deployment Planning for BitLocker Drive Encryption for Windows Vista
October 9, 2008, 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time
To increase data security on PCs, the Microsoft Information Security team is deploying functionality within Windows Vista called BitLocker Drive Encryption, a new hardware-enhanced security feature in the Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate operating systems that provides better off-line data protection.
Security
Video: Mark Russinovich on Windows Security Boundaries
Learn what constitutes a security boundary, take a tour through core Windows technologies, and gain insight into defining boundaries.
Watch Episode 1 of The Security Show: Cybercrime
Join host Kai Axford as he interviews a Federal cybercrime agent while getting the audience involved in the action.
Stay Ahead of Your Security Challenges with Our Suite of Security Solution Accelerators
It’s a collection of free, authoritative tools and guidance to help you quickly and efficiently assess, protect and manage your security infrastructure
On Demand
Webcast: Introduction to the Microsoft Core Infrastructure Optimization Model (Level 100)
Learn about the benefits of infrastructure optimization, how it can help you gain greater value from your IT investments, and how it can enable your IT staff to contribute effectively to your company's overall business performance.
Windows Server 2008: Web, Virtualization, Security, and a Solid Foundation
Explore the world of server virtualization through a series of webcasts that show how you can use virtualization technology with Windows Server 2008 to increase the quality of key services in your organization while improving hardware utilization, lowering power consumption, and decreasing physical space requirements.
Virtual Labs
Enabling Federation for Live Communications Server 2005 Standard Edition
This lab will demonstrate the steps necessary to enable federation for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 Standard Edition in a lab environment in a multiple forest topology.
Enabling Remote Access for Live Communications Server 2005 Standard Edition
This lab will demonstrate the steps necessary to enable Remote Access for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 Standard Edition in a lab environment.
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