TechNet Flash - Volume 10, Issue 12: June 11, 2008
Note from the Editor
Greetings New TechNet Flash Subscriber,
Windows Search just got better. Windows Search 4.0 is now available for download. With it you can expect better indexing performance, support for the remote query of shared index locations, per-user group policy settings, and more. To try it out, select from the following operating environments:
" Windows Search 4.0 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
" Windows Search 4.0 for Windows Server 2003
" Windows Search 4.0 for Windows Vista x64 Edition
" Windows Search 4.0 for Windows XP
" Multilingual User Interface Pack for Windows Search 4.0 for Windows XP
If you’re a fan of the Sysinternals tools, check out the beta of Sysinternals Live, a service that makes it easy for you to execute Sysinternals tools directly from the Web without hunting for and manually downloading them. Simply enter a tool’s Sysinternals Live path into Windows Explorer, or at the command prompt as \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\, or view the entire Sysinternals Live tools directory in a browser.
The SQL Server team has reached an important milestone with SQL Server 2008 Release Candidate 0. TechNet Subscribers can now download the SQL Server 2008 RC0 bits for evaluation.
Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator3.0 was released in February 2008. With the fiscal year soon coming to a close, we are going to release MAP 3.1 in early July. In response to popular demand, we are adding features like Hyper-V and security desktop assessment to this toolkit. MAP 3.1 will also offer assessment capabilities to determine whether your existing PCs have Windows Firewall turned on and whether antivirus and anti-malware software is installed. Try the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Tool (MAP) 3.1 Beta.
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Thanks for reading,
Mitch Irsfeld
Editor, TechNet Flash
Your Featured Content
Ensure that the content most relevant to you is presented in this section.
The Cross Platform Extensions Beta extends the monitoring and management capabilities of System Center Operations Manager 2007 to non-Microsoft platforms, including HP-UX, Sun Solaris, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server environments. With Operations Manager 2007 Interop Connectors Beta for HP and IBM Tivoli, Operations Manager 2007 can interoperate and share information with different enterprise management systems and help desks.
Comparing Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Hypervisor
See how Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL 5) Hypervisor compare to one another.
Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager “2” Beta 3 Now Available
Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) “2” Beta 3 is now available! This product delivers powerful self-service capabilities for end users via the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and also provides rich administrative tools and enhanced automation for IT professionals, plus Microsoft .NET connection software and WS-* based extensibility for developers. To learn more, visit the ILM “2” product page.
Video: Advanced Features in Windows Vista (10 min 45 sec)
In this video designed for IT professionals, Michael Palermo demonstrates some of the advanced features of the Windows Vista operating system. You will see how to take advantage of advanced search capabilities, how to understand the health of your PC, and how to optimize it for performance.
Video: Windows Vista Software Compatibility (22 min 11 sec)
In this video, Kyle Rosenthal shows you how to use available resources to examine the applications on your network to determine whether they are compatible with Windows Vista. He also shows you how to use the application compatibility tools to create solutions for non-compatible applications.
Webcast: Forefront Client Security Deployment (Level 300)
June 16, 1:00 PM Pacific Time
In this webcast, we install and configure Microsoft Forefront Client Security on server and client computers. We start with a short review of the hardware and software prerequisites for Forefront Client Security. After installing Forefront Client Security on the server computer and completing some post-installation configuration, we install some prerequisite software packages on the client computers before installing Forefront Client Security on these systems.
June 18, 9:30 AM Pacific Time
Get the information you need to deploy Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 in conjunction with TDM or IP PBXs by using the “standalone” and “co-existence” deployment scenarios and various options such as gateways and dual-forking. We discuss interoperability scenarios for various PBX manufacturers like Avaya, Cisco, Mitel, and Siemens.
Webcast: SQL Server Data Services Launch (Level 200)
Microsoft SQL Server Data Services (SSDS) are highly scalable, on-demand data storage and query processing Web services. Businesses use storage resources as needed when transforming large upfront capital and operations expenditures into much smaller, on-demand costs.
Download and watch four easy-to-understand sessions in which Rafal Lukawiecki helps to demystify data mining from the perception that it is complex, untested, or only for specialists. Learn what data mining and business intelligence can do for you, how to deploy, manage, and use this technology, and how to make it available to other parts of your IT environment.
Webcast: System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Life-Cycle Management (Level 300)
Wednesday, June 11, 1:00 PM Pacific Time
Learn how people, processes, and technology can help you to manage the life cycle of developing or tuning management packs in support of System Center Operations Manager 2007. In this webcast, we discuss the consideration of roles and responsibilities, the approach to managing overrides, developing custom management packs, version control, and much more.
Learn how Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 helps to ensure that computers that connect to or communicate on the network meet your organization's requirements for system health. See how the IT staff at Microsoft is able to enforce security and compliance and to target policies to specific forests and domains within Microsoft.
Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office System
Use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to customize an installation of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. The OCT is part of the Setup program and is the recommended tool for most customizations.
Parallel Extensions simplifies development by providing library-based support for introducing concurrency into applications that are written with any .NET language. It includes updates to the Task Parallel Library (TPL), which provides imperative data and task parallelism, and to Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), which provides declarative data parallelism. The all new Coordination Data Structures (CDS) provide support for work coordination and for managing shared state.
Download the Silverlight 2 Software Development Kit Beta 1
The Microsoft Silverlight 2 SDK Beta 1 contains documentation, online samples, libraries, and tools for developing Silverlight 2 applications.
Microsoft Releases Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
Discover how Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 can help you to improve productivity, manage change, compete globally, and simplify compliance.
Towers Perrin and Microsoft Unveil High-Performance Computing Solution for Financial Modeling
Towers Perrin Press Release (May 21, 2008).
New Security Features in Windows Mobile 6.1
Learn about the rich feature sets in the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system that create powerful, convenient management for IT professionals and that offer business advantages such as increased productivity.
Try Microsoft Expression Web 2
Expression Web 2 gives you all the tools you need to produce high-quality, standards-based Web sites. Built-in support for today’s Web standards, sophisticated CSS-based layout and formatting, and integration with either Microsoft ASP.NET or PHP means you can design, develop, and maintain exceptional sites with a lot less time and effort.
New England SQL Server User Group (NESQL)
Join NESQL on June 12 for its monthly meeting.
San Luis Obispo Society for Technical Communication (SLO STC)
Join SLO STC on June 23 for its monthly meeting.
North Texas PC Users Group, Inc. (NTPCUG)
Join NTPCUG on June 14 for its monthly meeting.
Join BDPA on June 16 for its monthly meeting.
Join TW-SBS on June 17 for its monthly meeting.
Information Technology Professionals of South Carolina (ITPSC)
Join ITPSC on June 17 for its monthly meeting.
Join Evansville on June 17 for its monthly meeting.
West Michigan NT User Group (WMNTUG)
Join WMNTUG on June 18 for its monthly meeting.
BDPA - Philadelphia (BDPA-Philly)
Join BDPA-Philly on June 18 for its monthly meeting.
Western New York .NET User Group (WNYDNUG)
Join WNYDNUG on June 18 for its monthly meeting.
Southern New England Network Users Group (SneNUG)
Join SneNUG on June 18 for its monthly meeting.
ISSA - Sacramento Valley Chapter (ISSA-SVC)
Join ISSA-SVC on June 19 for its monthly meeting.
Evaluation Center Updates
Evaluate Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 SP1
Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 makes it possible for large enterprises and upper mid-market organizations to improve their entity’s performance by integrating monitoring, analysis, and planning capabilities into one comprehensive solution. Register to download the free 180-day trial software and receive valuable resources that have been assembled to address the challenges specific to each stage of evaluation.
Try Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
Move to voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) without replacing your PBX hardware. Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 help you to bridge the gap between telephony and computing to deliver real-time messaging, voice, and conferencing to the desktop environment.
Scripting for IT Pros
Hey Scripting Guy...
" How Can I Search For a Specific Style in a Folder Full of Microsoft Word Documents?
" How Can I Move Files Based on Their Three-Part File Name?
" How Can I Report Back File Dates Using Labels Like Today, Yesterday, and Last Week?
See previous comics in the TechNet Flash Web-based archive.
Support and Troubleshooting
How-to Articles
" How to disable Active Directory diagnostics logging in the Programlog.txt file in Antigen
Hotfixes
Knowledge Base Articles
" Availability of the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 management tools for Hyper-V Release Candidate 1
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
Evaluate the Latest Windows HPC Server 2008
The Microsoft High Performance Computing (HPC) team is pleased to announce the release of Beta 2 of the Microsoft HPC Pack. While Beta 1 was a preview, Beta 2 contains all of the product's features. You'll find performance and scalability improvements, usability improvements, stability improvements, and features that have been completed.
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 Now Available
The Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) release supports Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008, integrates support for Intel’s vPro technology, and provides an update to the Asset Intelligence capability initially shipped in Configuration Manager.
This gadget makes it easier to find help for Microsoft System Center products because it uses Live Search macros to search specific sites instead of the entire Web. Search results are only returned from sites that are known to contain helpful information about System Center products.
Upcoming Webcasts
How Microsoft IT Deployed Live Meeting Service Portal (Level 300)
June 17, 9:30 AM Pacific Time
Learn how Microsoft is delivering on the Software + Service vision by integrating server-based technology with a hosted service. Using the Microsoft Office Live Meeting Service Portal as an example, you will learn how Microsoft IT handles the Active Directory service, security, and other issues related to deploying applications in the cloud.
Security
Try Forefront Security for Office Communications Server Beta
Microsoft Forefront Security for Office Communications Server provides fast and effective protection against IM-based malware by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners. It also helps to reduce corporate liability by blocking IM messages that contain inappropriate content.
Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for June 2008
Download the June security updates, including updates for Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer.
On Demand
Managing Windows Server 2008 with Server Manager (Level 200)
In this webcast, we demonstrate the configuration and management capabilities of Server Manager and discuss how Server Manager takes advantage of the model-based management infrastructure provided by the SML environment. We also introduce some new features of Server Manager including integration of the Windows Server virtualization role and Remote Server Administration Tools.
Podcast Series: The Evolution of Open Source and Microsoft Open Source Strategy
The Microsoft Director of Linux Interoperability, Tom Hanrahan, and Wharton's Kevin Werbach discuss the changing landscape of open source development.
Windows Hyper-V compared to Linux Hypervisor
This screencast looks at methods of creating new virtual computers in each operating environment and looks at the management tools and additional resources for each product.
Virtual Labs
Deploying Forefront Client Security in Large Enterprises
This lab’s objective is to help you gain familiarity with installing the Enterprise Manager server component of Forefront Client Security and with configuring and deploying downlevel components. It also provides an overview of the Enterprise Manager interface, and provides tips for troubleshooting the Enterprise Manager.
Ten Cool Windows PowerShell Scripts
After completing this lab, you will be better able to quickly create administration scripts with Windows Server 2008.
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