Microsoft has updated its Downloads Website slightly to improve flow and a better organization of the content. Now, when you click show downloads you can sort by title, release date, or popularity at the toolbar therefore eliminating the right sidebar. The individual download page content has been rearranged as well for better clarity and organization.
Goto the Microsoft Downloads Website
Microsoft Wednesday began adding code to Windows XP users' PCs that it said will reduce the time it takes future updates to download, a potential boon to those connecting to the Internet via dial-up connections.
The program, called Package Installer, has previously been part of every update downloaded and installed through the Windows Update site and the Automatic Updates service. By putting the files on each PC, Microsoft said "subsequent updates can have a significantly smaller download size."
Although the Package Installer download is currently classified only as "critical" by Microsoft, and thus optional, it will shortly be made mandatory. As soon as that happens, updates retrieved from Windows Update or through Automatic Updates will require that the files be on the local machine.
Package Installer can be downloaded manually from the Microsoft Web site or by using the Windows Update site.
The Microsoft Device Emulator 1.0 Community Preview is a standalone version of the same ARM based Device Emulator that ships as part of Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2. The standalone emulator is intended for situations when you want to demonstrate or test your application on a computer that does not have Visual Studio 2005 installed. The emulator ships with support for Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.
The new Device Emulator has a number of features that make it significantly better than its predecessor. You will find that it:
- Runs code compiled for ARM processors rather than for x86 processors. In most cases, you can run the same binaries on the emulator as you do on the device.
- Supports synchronizing with ActiveSync. You can use the Device Emulator with a full ActiveSync partnership. This feature allows you to debug applications that are syncing, or be able to use real synchronized data from within the Device Emulator.
- Provides support for more development environments. The emulator has been tested for developing and debugging applications with Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio .NET 2003, and with eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 (eVC4) SP4, all using ActiveSync. No crossover serial cable is required.
- The Device Emulator supports GAPI. You can write and debug GAPI games on the Device Emulator and expect them to work.
Goto the Microsoft Device Emulator 1.0 Community Preview
Using
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Transition Pack you can upgrade your computer running Windows Small Business Server 2003 to Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and the standard versions of the server applications. After performing this migration, you will be able to do the following:
- Transfer the operations master role to another domain controller.
- Establish trust relationships to and from another domain, or add child domains to your existing Active Directory forest.
- Move server applications to another server. After the migration, you can move the server applications off of the original server. You might choose to move one or more applications to a separate server to improve the performance of the application. For example, if you are going to add more than 75 users, moving Exchange Server 2003 to a different server can help that application to perform better with the new user load.
- Enable Terminal Server.
- Increase your maximum number of users.
- Increase the maximum number of processors supported from two to four.
After you have migrated your server:
- You will still be able to use the Windows Small Business Server tools; however, they will no longer be supported and you will not be able to reinstall or remove the tools.
- You will no longer be able to run Windows Small Business Server 2003 Setup to modify (add, remove, re-install) the server applications.
- Your business will be licensed for one copy of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and the standard versions of the server applications.
- You will have five client access licenses (CALs) for each server application. If you have more than five users, you must purchase additional CALs for each of the individual server products. For information about purchasing additional CALs, see the individual server product pages at the Microsoft Web site.
The Microsoft Solutions for Security (MSS) team has released five new security planning guides:
Beset by rampant counterfeiting across Latin America, Microsoft on Tuesday introduced a cut-rate, reduced version of Windows XP that is aimed at first-time, low-income computer users who might otherwise run pirated software.
XP Starter Edition helps users learn to use a mouse and other computer devices, but strips out networking, limits the number of programs that can open and won't work on top-level processors.
The program "is for people who want access to legal software," said Microsoft Mexico General Director Felipe Sanchez Romero. The company sees a large potential market, given that 83 percent of Mexicans don't have personal computers.(
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Situation
At Microsoft, pursuit of improvements in operational efficiencies led to the consolidation of a number of physical datacenters. The creation of a utility model concentrated many administrative and management tasks in the hands of teams of dedicated computing professionals. The success of these initiatives fostered the search for additional methods and tools to further improve efficiencies and lower costs.
Solution
Virtual Server 2005 provided Microsoft with the means to take consolidation to the logical level. The Virtual Server Utility team assumed responsibility for deployment. Internal customers were recruited for the pilot, with aggressive SLA metrics as compelling incentives.
Download the Improving IT Efficiency at Microsoft using Virtual Server 2005 Whitepaper
Windows Server 2003 R2 will include:
• Simplified Branch Server Management
• Streamlined Access Management
• Efficient Storage Management
• Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM)
• Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 2.1
• Common Log File System (CLFS)
• Configure Your Server (CYS)
• SharePoint V2 SP2
• File Server Role and File Server Management Snap-in
• Hardware Management
• Identity Management for UNIX
• Subsystem for UNIX-based applications
Bruce Cowper mentions on his weblog that someone internally (at MS) created a list of documents and resources to help you. The list containes a lot of links to whitepapers and further information about Windows Server 2003 R2. (
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We learned that host-based virtual machine solutions require a host operating system such as Microsoft Windows or RedHat Linux. Bare-metal VMs, on the other hand, run directly on the server hardware, fully utilizing all the performance your server has to offer without passing through a guest operating system.
One example of this is VMware ESX Server. The product uses a proprietary microkernel technology that runs natively on server hardware without a host operating system. This allows for significant increases in performance, scalability and availability. With all of these enhancements, don't think that VMware skimped on what we hold most important - security.(
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This update consists of previously released recommended, critical and security updates for Windows 2000, rolled into one convenient package. Installing this item provides you the same results as installing the individual updates. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
Download Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4
The Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP provides a simple and effective way to defend shared computers from untrusted users and malicious software, safeguard system resources, and enhance and simplify the user experience. The Toolkit runs on genuine copies of Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.
Shared computers are commonly found in schools, libraries, Internet and gaming cafés, community centers, and other locations. Often, non-technical personnel are asked to manage shared computers in addition to their primary responsibilities. Managing shared computers can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Without restrictions, users can change the desktop appearance, reconfigure system settings, and introduce spyware, viruses, and other harmful programs. Repairing damaged shared computers costs significant time and effort.
Download the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP (Beta)
Mark Russinovich writes on his blog:
A couple of weeks ago I came across a site in my web wandering and had a popup. This, despite the fact that I’m running either Avant Browser or Maxthon. Avant Browser and Maxthon are applications that wrap Internet Explorer (IE) with all the features considered mandatory of a modern-day web browser, including tabbed browsing, enhanced popup blocking, advertisement blocking, skinning support, and a configurable search engine. So because I’m running Windows XP SP2 I have two popup blockers at work for me: the one built into XP SP2’s version of IE and that of the browser application.
I assumed that the popup was a fluke of some kind, and because I was busy tracking down some piece of information, I dismissed it and forgot about it until a few days ago when I came across another one at a pretty popular Windows information site. Popups are not only annoyances, but they can bait unsuspecting users into visiting “drive-by-download” web sites that try and deploy malware on a system by exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities in the visitor’s browser. I decided to investigate.
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Techlog Exclusive: Microsoft has published a website with all sessions and slides from the TechEd 2005 USA convention. You can download the powerpoint slides to get a detailed impression of the session given. Couldn't attend in Orlanda and can't attend in Amsterdam in two weeks? Visit this website to read all about the sessions at hand. Use the "Search All" button to find per-sessions information and powerpoint presentation. The website also gives a link to the next year's event TechEd 2006.
TechEd 2005 Sessions & Slides
Lookout is lightning-fast search for your e-mail, files, and desktop integrated with Microsoft Outlook™. Built on top of a powerful search engine, Lookout is the only personal search engine that can search all of your e-mail from directly within Outlook -
in seconds...
Lookout seems to work faster according to some posts on blogs. The developers at Lookout say they are not investing in lookout anymore, but Lookout will still be available. You'll be seeing advances mostly only within the MSN product line.
One of the main things which MSN does today which Lookout does not is incremental indexing. So instead of updating just every hour and rebuilding every week, the index stays in sync. This means that the index is always fresh.
Another main feature is that it supports indexing of a lot more file types. Lookout hits the 80/20 rule pretty well, but the MSN product goes much deeper.
Download Lookout v1.2
Microsoft has announced that the next version of Windows will include RSS support, and not just in its browser. Also, in a break from its reputation of keeping its IP strictly controlled, the company also announced that it is releasing its Simple List Extensions to RSS under a Creative Commons license, mirroring the license under which the RSS 2.0 spec was issued.
The argument is that RSS, while useful and gaining popularity, is currently hampered by limitations. The extensions are designed to enhance RSS as a data delivery vehicle and list-handling platform in two fundamental ways, according to the company.(
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Coming from Kevin Schofield's Weblog:
Last week MSR Cambridge held a press day, in which we talked about a number of our research projects, ranging from proofs of the 4-color theorem to new kinds of user interfaces. One of the projects we discussed was Avalanche, an early research effort looking at peer-to-peer (aka P2P) distribution networks.
The funny thing about putting on an open house for the press, is that you can't always predict what the one thing is that everyone will want to write about. This time, it turns out that it was Avalanche. Why? One word: BitTorrent. (
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Microsoft has made good on its promise for the mid-2005 availability of the new Microsoft Update service. Microsoft Update replaces the existing Windows Update and provides updates and patches for everything that Windows Update did, plus adds update services for several other Microsoft applications, all at one Web site.
Available from
here, Microsoft Update is a handy service for Windows users as well as users of other Microsoft products. High-priority updates for regularly updated Microsoft applications (currently Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange Server, and Microsoft SQL Server) will now receive the same treatment as updates for the base OS. Microsoft Update works with Automatic Updates and will use the updating methodology that you've enabled for Automatic Updates. Therefore, be sure to configure Automatic Updates to at least download updates and alert you, if not automatically install them.
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Microsoft Update
Today is Kenneth's birthday, he's turning 30. Kenneth is Techlog's most valued member, as he posts the most articles per day. Kenneth has really upgraded Techlog as he managed to make us member of The Hive community and member of the Windows XP expert community. Please send him an
email or leave a comment.
Happy birthday, Kenneth!
Tekmaven writes: "I was randomly browsing Flickr, and I typed in "microsoft" as a tag to search. I was amazed to find IE7 pictures running on Longhorn that were uploaded today! I found the images on Niall Kennedy's Flickr Images. According to his website, Niall is a community manager at Technorati."
Internet Explorer 7 |
RSS Subscriptions |
RSS Display
Steve Dodson writes: "Just a few minutes ago, we released the latest build of Windows Antispyware to the public. This build will resolve issues which will make using this product better for users. Starting today, users will start to see the automatic update mechanism fire off and advise users know they have a new update available. Some of the big improvements are:"
Software expiration will be extended to December 31, 2005.
Alerts Moving Quickly Across the Screen : Messages which move quickly off the screen when the start bar is not docked horizontally are also fixed. Users who dock their start bar on the sides of their screen will now be able to read messages generated from Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (beta). This issue is what we dubbed the “Flying Toast Issue” and one which I was passionate about getting fixed in this refresh build.
Support for Long Descriptions: Users of older builds only have access to the short descriptions which ship as part of the signatures. These short descriptions only provide limited information about potentially unwanted software. Long descriptions in build 613 will help users by giving them more information about the potentially unwanted software detected on their PCs.
Improved Winsock LSP removal mechanism: In some cases, removing spyware LSPs, or can disrupt network functionality. Through enhancements made in this beta refresh, we’ve lessened the chance that this problem will occur.
Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
Syskey.exe is a tool available in Windows Server 2003 ,Windows 2000 and XP to encrypt the contents of the SAM Accounts Database.
Windows 2000,2003,XP requires the encryption of password hashes when those are stored on the machine. the encryption key is stored locally on the machine and it randomly generated by the system.
Syskey.exe enables you to move the key out of the machine by storing it on a floppy disk or by asking a startup password.(
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Microsoft Tech·Ed 2005 Europe is the best way to stay current on today's and soon-to-be launched technologies. Featuring in-depth sessions on the latest versions of Microsoft's key products – you will be able to see products in action, talk to the experts who designed them and stay ahead of the curve.
This year, Techlog will be reporting live from TechEd 2005 Europe in Amsterdam on the latest Microsoft news. Two of our crew will be attending and updating Techlog daily on exciting new Microsoft technologies. If you want to meet, please leave a comment and we'll get together. -- Maarten Goet
Microsoft TechEd 2005 Europe
One of the goals for Active Directory was to get away from the 'only one writeable copy' Primary Domain Controller concept we had in NT, and make it so that AD changes could be made on any DC and they would get replicated around. A great idea, except there are a couple of things that really do need to have a single instance, to avoid data corruption or duplication. These roles are called FSMO's :Flexible Single Master Operations. You can read more about what they actually are and what they do
here. When you first run dcpromo.exe to build your domain, all 5 FSMO roles will be assigned to the first DC that you install. For a small domain, that's fine, but there are situations where it makes sense, and may even be necessary, to move some or all of the roles.
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FSMO Placement Overview
"The Exchange Web Client" was the first web email client produced by Microsoft. It had an interesting green and black color scheme but it did most of the basic needs for doing messaging. We didn't have enough time to add calendaring support in the first version. What we did in this first version was the first step in what has now become a new way of building web applications. OWA was born out of the sheer will of my friend Bob Gering when he decided we should look exactly like Outlook. We started changing our frameset design, colors and graphics to look and feel like Outlook. It was this desire to look, act and feel like Outlook that caused us to move web applications forward in a new evolutionary path.
Traditional web applications constantly refresh the document for just about every action. During Exchange 5.5 development in 1996/97 we used hidden frames to communicate to the server when sending messages so we wouldn't clear the user's document. However, we still had many frames updating during navigation of the mailbox. We also developed a Java applet for the date picker control in the calendar view to augment the user experience since DHTML on the current browsers at that time was just about non-existent. In the end we found that the applet did not meet our performance needs because virtual machine initialization was too expensive. OWA 5.5 had richer support than prior versions but it still lacked the type of experience that users get in a win32 application but it did work on just about every browser under the sun.
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Microsoft is sparing no expense to spread the Least-privileged User Account security gospel ahead of next year's Longhorn launch, but a little-known fact—especially among IT administrators and end users—is that the technology is already available in the Windows operating system.
The LUA principle, also known as non-admin or minimum rights, is accepted within software security circles as a key to reducing damage from malicious hacker attacks, but on Windows systems, although the option is available, experts say end-user adoption remains "frighteningly low." "To the average user, the notion of non-admin is abstract and obscure," said Michael Howard, a senior security program manager in Microsoft Corp.'s security business and technology unit. "Most users just don't know they can set up least-privilege accounts in Windows today, and that's just a sad reality."
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Collector's item only? The fatalistic name--Windows XP N, with "N" standing for "not with media player"--may have jinxed sales of Microsoft's Microsoft new operating system.
As roundly predicted, there have been few takers for the company's downgraded software. The package, proffered as part of the software leviathan's protracted antitrust tussle with the European Union, was released to distributors last Wednesday in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Computer distributors and manufacturers have barely batted an eyelid, probably because it would mean consumers would still need to download their chosen media player from the Internet. The package will be available to the public in the next few weeks.
"We don't see any interest at all in the product for the consumer," Lionel Jarlan, a computer buyer at France's Fnac department store, was quoted as saying in The Associated Press.(
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Around November, Hotmail and MSN will flag as potential spam those messages that do not have the tag to verify the sender, Craig Spiezle, a director in the technology care and safety group at the software maker said Wednesday. The move is meant to spur adoption of Sender ID, he said.
Sender ID is a specification for verifying the authenticity of e-mail by ensuring the validity of the server from which the e-mail came. While the purpose of curbing junk mail may be laudable, the debate on how to stop the tide of junk mail is still ongoing. According to Microsoft, up to 90 percent of e-mail is spam.
Critics say Sender ID, which includes technology developed by Microsoft, is not an accepted standard and has many shortcomings. Also, there are technologies that compete with Sender ID,such as Yahoo's DomainKeys.
"We think Microsoft is trying to strong-arm the industry into the adoption of an incomplete and not accepted standard," said Dave Rand, chief technologist for Internet content security at security software company Trend Micro.(
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Microsoft is slated to release to the Web in the next day or two a beta refresh of its Microsoft AntiSpyware product.
Some testers reported on Wednesday that they had downloaded a new beta version of Microsoft AntiSpyware (version number 1.0.613). They also reported that Microsoft had extended the beta-expiration date for the product from July 31, 2005, to December 31, 2005.
Microsoft officials confirmed that Microsoft had extended the beta period until the end of the year. Officials also acknowledged that the company has been testing on a selective basis the beta refresh number 1.0.613. (The current beta version number is 1.0.509.)
The pending refresh is not Beta 2, however, Microsoft executives said. Beta 2 will be released "some time later this year," they said.(
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Bangalore-based researcher, Debasis Mohanty has reportedly cracked Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) through an "easy-to-exploit" weakness in the software. WGA is an anti-piracy program that keeps a tab on consumers to check whether they are running legitimate, licensed copies of Windows XP.
Mohanty published a detailed proof of concept (PoC) on how Microsoft WGA validation check can be defeated and any Microsoft product with the WGA validation feature can be run and installed on machines running a pirated copy of Windows XP.
To bypass the WGA validation check, one could run "GenuineCheck.exe" file on a machine running a copy of an authentic Windows XP for generating a key code. This key code could then be used to circumvent the WGA check on the machine running a pirated copy of Win XP.
Microsoft has reportedly confirmed Mohanty's claims but attempted to downplay it saying that it represented very little threat. Also in its reply to Mohanty's mail specified that the generated code is partly made up of a timestamp, which would prevent use after a short period. (
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Security software is becoming as riddled with holes as some of the products it is supposed to protect, according to new figures from the Yankee Group. The number of vulnerabilities found in security applications has risen sharply for the third year in a row and now outnumbers those identified in all Microsoft products, according to the research firm.
In 2004, researchers uncovered 60 vulnerabilities in security software, up from 31 in 2003, according to the study. In May of this year, researchers had already turned up 23 security bugs, compared with 22 bugs in Microsoft applications. The figures through May 2005 are up 50 percent over the same period last year, Yankee Group said. The figures were reported by Business Week
A Microsoft spokesperson gave Tom's Hardware Guide some initial background information regarding technologies to be represented in Longhorn Server.
Another spokesperson offered a clarification to this list, stating it would not necessarily reflect the feature set of Beta 1, but would reflect the final release edition of the new server edition of Windows, whenever that may be released.
The features list provided includes Network Access Protection, a new policy compliance platform currently being tested for Windows Server 2003. In addition, the list presented additional points which the new system will address. This list includes "streamlined and task-oriented management" including event logging, image-based setup, and a scalable Web application platform; "increased infrastructure robustness" including Network Access protection and a so-called "transactional file system and registry;" and "enhanced end user productivity," including enhancements to Terminal Server, collaboration, and cross-organizational rights management. (
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Want to know more about x64 then read this article:
Until now the Intel-processor server marketplace has been largely a 32-bit arena. Certainly systems with Intel Itanium 2 and AMD Opteron processors running Windows (Itanium) or Linux offer 64-bit processing, but mainstream computing has remained 32-bit. With the release of Windows Server 2003, x64 Edition, this is likely to begin to change. This new operating system from Microsoft has the opportunity to convince customers that a smooth migration from 32-bit to 64-bit is possible and will provide benefits in terms of performance and scalability. This is especially the case with enterprise customers, where the current 4 GB direct memory addressability limitation of 32-bit is already having an impact.
This redpaper introduces Windows Server 2003, x64 Edition, the 64-bit processors from Intel and AMD that support it, and the xSeries servers it will run on. We describe what 64-bit computing means, and the technology behind the processors. We also introduce the xSeries product line that include the Intel EM64T processor. We also describe how the new Windows operating system is different from its 32-bit counterpart. And finally, we discuss the migration options available to customers and developers.
Download the Introducing Windows Server x64 on IBM xSeries Servers redpaper
While it's great that newer digital cameras can take beautiful 5-, 6-, or 7-megapixel pictures, e-mailing such large photo files can clog up your recipient's Inbox. Resizing pictures before you e-mail them—or even before you burn them to a CD—is made simpler using a free Windows XP download called the Image Resizer, which is one of the many handy tools that make up the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP.
You can also use the Image Resizer to resize photos so they'll fit on a compatible cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or Portable Media Center so you can enjoy your photos while on the go. Using the Image Resizer is easy, and it will preserve your original photos for other uses you may have in the future.
Continue on how to resize digital pictures quickly
Microsoft Corp. today announced the completion of its acquisition of Sybari Software Inc. Originally announced Feb. 8, the acquisition of Sybari adds a critical security component to Microsoft’s efforts to help enterprise customers become more secure. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, Sybari will continue to offer enterprise protection products for the Microsoft® Windows® platform.
“Customers have told us they want powerful security solutions for the enterprise to help protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business & Technology Unit at Microsoft. “Sybari’s award-winning and innovative products coupled with its strong industry partnerships and deep integration with such products as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 will deliver immediate value to Microsoft customers.” (
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A blocking tool is available for organizations that have Automatic Updates (AU) enabled on their servers to ensure prompt delivery of critical updates, but would like to temporarily disable delivery of the Windows Server 2003 SP1 automatic update through AU that is set to take place starting July 26, 2005.
The blocking tool will also prevent the Windows Server 2003 SP1 is offered through Windows Update and Microsoft Update.
Please note that the mechanism to temporarily disable delivery of Windows Server 2003 SP1 will be available till March 30, 2006.
At the end of this period, Windows Server 2003 SP1 will be delivered to all Windows Server 2003 servers.
This toolkit contains three components:
- A Microsoft-signed executable
- A script
- An ADM template
More information on this toolkit at the Windows Server 2003 SP 1 site
Goto the FAQ
Microsoft is readying a Web-based version of its Office Communicator instant-messaging client, company officials said on Tuesday.
Think Outlook Web Access, if you are looking for an example of a similar Microsoft app. The first private beta of the new IM app will go to testers on July 15; the final is due out before the end of this year, the Softies say.(
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Coming from Scott Hanselman's weblog:
Everyone collects utilities, and most folks have a list of a few that they feel are indispensable. Here's mine. Each has a distinct purpose, and I probably touch each at least a few times a week. For me, util means utilitarian and it means don't clutter my tray. If it saves me time, and seamlessly integrates with my life, it's the bomb.
Here are most of the contents of my C:/UTILS folder. These are all well loved and used. I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't use them constantly.
Goto Scott Hanselman's Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List
Once you’ve planned and deployed Group Policy and optimized its performance, things should work as expected if you’ve done your homework properly. But what if Group Policy doesn’t work as you expect it to? What if certain users or computers don’t receive the policy settings intended for them? Then you need to haul out your arsenal of Group Policy troubleshooting tools and try to find out what’s gone wrong.
This article outlines some common mistakes made in implementing Group Policy and how to troubleshoot Group Policy processing issues.(
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Microsoft's MSN plans to launch today a test version of a local-search function that integrates mapping and satellite image technology to help consumers pinpoint nearby stores and other locales.
MSN Virtual Earth, which Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates previewed in May, adds new tools to a search feature called Near Me that lets people get search results tailored to a geographic location.
The new tools will show results from city- and region-specific White Pages and Yellow Pages directory information. For example, a local search on "auto mechanics" will display listings of nearby mechanics, repair shops and towing companies. Each result will be shown as a numbered pin on a corresponding map from Microsoft MapPoint Web Service, and aerial images from TerraServer-USA will appear when available.(
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Microsoft have been steadily testing an update for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
The update which will RTM in August is expected to include support for the upcoming Xbox 360 and the following:
- Native digital cable
- Content Protection
- Improve burning (DRM, network, Hi-def, DVD-RAM)
- MCX on WinCE clients (Babylon, TV2 as stretch goal)
- Playback reliability
- Running 3rd party apps out of proc
- Address top usability issues
- Platform Security
- Additional languages and locales
The update is currently being beta tested and is at Beta 2 stage. A release candidate 0 is expected to be released late July with an RTM following on August 12th for English, French, German, Korean and Japanese versions. Dutch, Italian and Simplified Chinese versions are expected to follow 2 weeks later.
With the inclusion of Windows Firewall in Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server™ 2003 Service Pack 1 and the growing use of Internet Protocol security (IPsec) in organization intranets, information technology (IT) professionals need to know how unicast Internet Protocol (IP) packets are processed by the TCP/IP protocol and its associated components in Windows. Detailed knowledge of the IP packet processing path can make it easier to understand how to configure and troubleshoot packet processing and filtering components.
This article describes the following:
• The basic architecture of the TCP/IP protocol for IP version 4 and the additional components that process packets.
• The packet processing path for unicast traffic sent, received, and forwarded by Windows-based computers.
(
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Microsoft will deliver its Windows Server 2003, Compute Cluster Edition, for high-performance grid computing in two pieces to offer customers maximum flexibility in deployment, a senior Microsoft product manager says.
Originally conceived as a single server product, with integrated tools for managing and monitoring teams of parallel server nodes, the Compute Cluster Edition has evolved into a server operating system CD and a separate CD of tools. The two CDs will be sold separately.
The operating system, originally called Windows Server 2003 HPC Edition, will retain its current name of Windows Server 2003, Compute Cluster Edition. For now, the tools CD is called the Compute Cluster Pack.
A two CD approach will give customers deployment flexibility, says Greg Rankich, senior product manager for high-performance computing at Microsoft. "The second CD will run on [Windows Server 2003], Standard Edition and [Windows Server 2003], Enterprise Edition," Rankich says. "The flip side is there's going to be people who want to run CCE but don't want to run our middleware."(
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The royalty-free license under which Microsoft plans to make its upcoming new Office Open XML Formats widely available is incompatible with the GNU General Public License and will thus prevent many free and open-source software projects from using the formats, community officials say.
In addition, a leading patent official is calling into question the validity and enforceability of the Microsoft Corp. license and suggesting that free and open-source software developers need not comply with its conditions.
Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., first released its Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas in late 2003. Office officials said earlier this month that they planned to make the new XML file formats the default in Office 12, due next year, available to anyone under a royalty-free license.(
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MSN is in the process of revamping the MSN shopping portal, hoping to better compete with Google's Froogle, eBay and Amazon.com, as well as comparison-shopping sites such as BizRate and Yahoo's Shopping.
Jim Barr, General Manager of MSN Shopping & Marketplaces, said Microsoft's goal is to make its shopping site more convenient and complete.
"Our ability to expose our shopping experience across the entire MSN Network is a strong advantage for our merchants and our consumers," Barr told Microsoft Watch.(
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After nearly nine months, the Monad team has released Beta 1 of the Microsoft Command Shell. Although initially promised for release at the end of the month, the Monad team has worked hard to release Beta1 to BetaPlace ahead of schedule!
To download the new bits, please visit BetaPlace at:
http://beta.microsoft.com and use Guestid: mshPDC (case sensitive)
Researchers at Microsoft's (Profile, Products, Articles) Cambridge, England, labs are developing a file-sharing technology that they say could make it easier to distribute big files such as films, television programs and software applications to end-users over the Internet.
Code-named Avalanche, the technology is similar to existing peer-to-peer (P-to-P) file swapping systems such as BitTorrent's, in the sense that large files can be divided into many smaller pieces to ease their distribution. End users request the file parts from other users' hard drives and reassemble them to create the original file.
Such systems can scale well to serve millions of users, and reduce the bandwidth and computing costs of sending content directly to users from central servers. Some have also irritated publishers who complain the services are used to share copyright works illegally.(
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Microsoft is continuing to drop new clues about what users can expect in Longhorn Server, the version of its Windows Server product slated to ship in 2007, and beyond.
During an online Web chat on Wednesday, Windows Server Senior Vice President Bob Muglia touched on everything from a possible new home version of Windows Server, to the future of Active Directory.
Muglia reconfirmed that Longhorn Server Beta 1 will ship this summer, around the same time as Longhorn client Beta 1. And based on a comment from one of the Microsoft chat moderators, it sounds as if the current plan is to have code in testers' hands by August. (
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The most misleading thing about Group Policy is its name—Group Policy is simply not a way of applying policies to groups! Instead, Group Policy is applied to individual user accounts and computer accounts by linking Group Policy Objects (GPOs), which are collections of policy settings, to Active Directory containers (usually OUs but also domains and sites) where these user and computer accounts reside.
So the newbie’s question concerning Group Policy is usually, “How can I get this GPO to apply to this group?” The answer to this question is: by implementing security filtering.(
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Microsoft has released a new tool designed to help enterprises detect updates provided with the Microsoft Security Bulletins released June 14, 2005. This tool is a command line scanning tool built for the sole purpose of helping customers determine systems that may need security updates provided with the released bulletins. Customers will be able to script running the tool from a command line interface, and process the results using an XML output file. Detailed documentation will be provided with the tool to ensure customers can leverage it quickly.
Download the Standalone version of the Enterprise Update Scan tool
There will also be a version of the tool that SMS customers can obtain that offers an integrated experience for SMS administrators from the
SMS Web Site.
The Services and Service Accounts Security Planning Guide is designed to be an important resource when organizations plan their strategy to run services more securely under the Microsoft® Windows Server 2003™ and Windows® XP operating systems. It addresses the common problem of Windows services that are set to run with highest possible privileges, which an attacker could compromise to gain full and unrestricted access to the computer or domain, or even to the entire forest. It describes ways to identify services that can run with lesser privileges, and explains how to downgrade those privileges methodically.
This guide can help organizations assess their existing services infrastructure and make some important planning decisions in relation to future service deployments.
Goto the The Services and Service Accounts Security Planning Guide
You may have visited
google's cheat sheet, which gives an overview on how you should format your search queries for optimal results. Nancy Blachman even made an longer list of google search features.
Goto the Advanced search guide for Google.
Bob Roudebush has posted some really cool articles about new functionality in VMWare Workstation 5. The new functionalities include:
Virtual Machine Teams, a designated group of virtual machines, and the private networks that connect them.
Screen Captures and Movies, usefull if putting together instructional videos or doing training
Snapshots, you can now take a series of point-in-time snapshots of your virtual machine and switch between those multiple configurations at-will.
Clones ,which allow you to duplicate virtual machines in a easy way
The next version of Microsoft's much criticized Internet Explorer browser is being built to resist hijacking attempts by spyware and other malicious software, according to a Microsoft developer.
Rob Franco, lead program manager for IE Security at Microsoft, wrote in a blog entry on Thursday that Internet Explorer 7 for Longhorn will contain a feature called "low rights IE." The feature essentially removes administrator rights, so that the system will not allow unknown applications, such as spyware and other potentially dangerous code, to be installed without express permission from the user.
Monad is currently in development. A preview is available for those who are interested. This is an early preview of the Microsoft's command-line shell and scripting language. Monad is new Windows component that is planned for release with Windows codename: Longhorn. The preview can be installed from Monad download page and supporting documentation is included within the download. Monad Beta will be available for download on June 21st. To get Monad Beta:
1. Go to http://beta.microsoft.com
2. Login using guestid mshPDC
3. You will get information how to download
Key Features of Msh:
- MSH – Microsoft Shell
- Focused on automation & scripting
- Focused on power users and administrators
Provides:
- Interactive shell
- Cmdlets
- Utilities
- Scripting language
- Remote scripting (*not currently implemented)
- Foundation for Task-Based management
The Hive is the only place on the Web created exclusively for online community leaders interested in Microsoft® Windows products.
The Hive beta is your exclusive place on the Web to:
- Connect with other community leaders in an exclusive environment.
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- Win Sweet Stuff just for participating.
Techlog is one of the sponsors of the hive, and really looks forward on connecting with al the other great MS related community leaders.
Click here to go to the hive
Microsoft Corp.'s "Longhorn" server will be a far more configurable system than past Windows releases, allowing customers to change the server's setup on the fly by selecting which components to load.
The Longhorn server release, due to ship in 2007, will focus on a number of areas, including system configuration, management and health. It will also bring improvements in file and terminal services and on the application front, Muglia said.
Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., has been working on a new error-reporting feature known as Crimson, which reports on system health. Windows Server 2003 does not have clear models that define different health and transition points of a system as it moves from operating normally to becoming nonresponsive, Muglia said. That will be addressed in Longhorn.(
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If you don’t take Group Policy into consideration before you start creating your domains, OUs and sites, you may end up having to employ so-called “advanced” Group Policy features like Block Inheritance, Enforced, or Loopback to make your Group Policy implementation do what you want it to do, and using these features makes troubleshooting more difficult later on.
A well-designed Group Policy implementation however can usually get along fine without having to use any of these “advanced” features (apart from the use of security filtering and occasionally WMI filters) and the result is a simple GPO structure that is easy to understand and troubleshoot.(
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Eileen Brown writes: "
Gerod's blog alerted me to the fact that SP2 IMF includes a blocking mechanism for phishing.
"
Updated and integrated Exchange Intelligent Message Filter. Based on the same patented SmartScreen filtering technology developed by Microsoft Research and now incorporated in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, MSN Internet Software and Services, and MSN Hotmail, SP2 will incorporate the latest data and updates to the Exchange Intelligent Message Filter. Improvements to this filter ensure a continued focus on identifying spam and reducing false positives. These updates include new capabilities in the fight against spam including blocking phishing schemes. Phishing schemes attempt through deception to fraudulently solicit sensitive personal information by masquerading as legitimate Web sites."
Eileen Brown's Weblog
ORLANDO -- Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Server division, yesterday offered an update on the company's long-term vision for its server operating system, as well as related software products. Muglia discussed Microsoft's plans to change its Virtual Server product from a separately sold product to an operating system feature in the time frame of the next Windows Server release, code-named Longhorn.
At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in April, Microsoft said it was leaning toward the elimination of future versions of Virtual Server. Can you flesh out any more details on the plans? Today, we have a product called Virtual Server that sits on top of Windows and provides virtualization capabilities. In the future, we're going to build the hypervisor and the virtualization stack into Windows. So while it's a whole new set of technologies, much, if not all, of what Virtual Server does today goes into the operating system. It becomes an operating system feature. At the same time, we're building a whole set of management services that will exist under System Center. I do think that this is going to be a new product.
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KC Lemson writes: "Terry mentioned this in his post earlier this week, but I think this video is so cool that I want to call it out separately. This is from the SteveB keynote at Tech-Ed and shows off some of the kickass new mobility features in Exchange 2003 SP2, Direct Push and Remote Wipe. Plus it's even mildly amusing, always a plus."
"The team is having a great time reading all of the great press and blog posts about people's reactions to the SP2 announcements. Over the next few weeks you'll see more posts on here about SP2, and we'd love to hear what you think of what you read, so please let us know by leaving a comment."
SP2 Mobility Video:
300 Kb |
2 Mb |
5 Mb
Operating system Windows XP crashes when large pictures are displayed by certain browsers. The bugs seems to be browser independant. By scaling a picture's width and height to 9999999 pixels, the operating system crashes writes Heise Online. The bug has been reported since 3 may on the Full Disclosure-mailinglist en has impact on Firefox 1.0.4, Opera 8 and Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 2. Other alternative browser reportedly also show the problem. The bug seems to behave differently on each system, some completely and totally freeze, while others freeze for a short while. Anyone who wants to see it with their own eyes can go
here, but you are warned. Microsoft was unable to give comment on this bug.
(more) (german)
Coming from John Howard:
I know from the presentations, customer meetings and emails I get, many of you are running NT4 server as a guest under Virtual Server 2005. While NT4 itself as a guest is supported, remember that this doesn't increase the supportability of the NT4 OS itself. That's for another day, and I'll get a spade and start shovelling now if anyone want's to have a groan about that
However, here's a useful tip if you find that NT4 doesn't power off automatically if you instigate the shutdown through Virtual Server (it should work OK if you use the start/shutdown command). You need to enable the NT APM/Legacy support. Note that this was a deliberate step by the development team for Virtual Server to ensure that undo disks were flushed correctly. I don't have the exact specifics of the problem, but this is planned behaviour.
To resolve, you will need the hal.dll.softex.dll that's provided, but not installed, from SP4. Note you officially need SP6A anyway to run NT under Virtual Server so that shouldn't be a problem. Run through the following steps:
Rename the x:\winnt\system32\hal.dll to x:\winnt\system32\hal.dll.sav
Copy the hal.dll.softex to x:\winnt\system32\hal.dll
Set the following registry key to 1: HKEY_LOCAL_COMPUTER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\PowerdownAfterShutdown
Reboot
Binary Delta Compression (BDC) technology helps reduce the download size of software update packages for Windows operating systems. BDC works by compressing and downloading only the differences between old files and new files, thereby creating smaller software update packages that require less time and network bandwidth to install. Files downloaded from later versions of Microsoft Windows Update also support the use of the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), which asynchronously transfers update files, preserves the responsiveness of other network applications, and automatically resumes file transfers after restarts or network disconnects.
In addition, update installations that use the latest version of the Microsoft Software Update Services (SUS) client no longer require Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) server but can download updates from any server that supports HTTP 1.1, thereby reducing server traffic. Together, BDC and BITS can help streamline the process for downloading critical and security updates.
Download the Binary Delta Compressing articles
Yet another piece of technology originally expected to surface in Longhorn looks as if it won't make it into the product.
The latest element to get the ax is "Monad," aka the Microsoft Shell (MSH) that Microsoft has touted as its alternative to the scripting shells that Unix and Linux programmers know and love.
Microsoft officials have described Monad as the scripting shell for Longhorn and have made public beta versions of the technology available to testers for a couple of years.(
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Longhorn, the code name for the next version of Windows now being built by Microsoft, is the most powerful, most reliable, most secure version of Windows ever. It delivers on the promise of allowing people to use their computers more easily and confidently to achieve their goals and pursue their passions.
This Web site describes current aspirations, scenarios, and advancements being considered for the family of future Microsoft Windows client operating system offerings, code-named Longhorn. There is no guarantee, implied or otherwise, concerning final Longhorn release features or attributes. This statement of the Longhorn aspirations was last updated April 25, 2005.
Visit the Microsoft Windows Longhorn Website
Tabbed browsing has come to Microsoft. Although version 7 of Internet Explorer has not been released (yet), Microsoft has included tabbed browsing in an update to its MSN Search Toolbar for Internet Explorer which was made publicly available today.
The tabbed browsing feature in the new 2.5 version of the MSN toolbar will enable users "to quickly access, manage and save commonly visited sites into automatic 'routines' of Web pages that can all be opened simultaneously," according to an MSN Fact Sheet.
It goes on to explain that the new tabbed browsing feature will also enable users to launch MSN Search results in new background tabs.(
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Microsoft Corp has announced the launch timetable for two new versions of its operating software, codenamed Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional N, brought in to comply with last year's EU antitrust ruling.
The two new versions will be without the Windows Media Player, as required by the European Commission's March 2004 ruling against the company.
The products will be available to computer manufacturers on June 15 in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and will be available to other distribution channels from July 1, the group said.
The remaining language versions -- Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish -- will be available on July 1 and to other distribution channels on July 15. (
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Microsoft execs at Tech Ed showed off some of the new technologies, including remote differential compression and IPSec, that will be at the heart of Windows Server 2003 R2, due to ship by the end of this year. Microsoft brass are also talking (in fairly vague terms) about some of the technologies slated to be part of Longhorn Server, due in 2007 and Longhorn Server R2, due out before the end of the decade.(
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Microsoft gave more details Tuesday on its plans to launch Windows-based "hypervisor" software for running multiple operating systems.
Bob Muglia, senior vice president in the Windows Server Division, said at Microsoft's Tech Ed conference here that the software will be "built directly in Windows and will allow companies to virtualize multiple operating systems."
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer first mentioned the hypervisor plans in April at the company's Management Summit conference. Such software lets multiple operating systems run on the same computer, a feature that's useful for consolidating servers in order to save money, and for extracting as much work as possible from a single system.(
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Microsoft Senior Vice President Paul Flessner sent the following letter out to testers today detailing product details and release dates of SQL Server 2005, BizTalk Server 2006, and Visual Studio 2005.
"It is official - the countdown to launch has begun! During my Tech.Ed keynote this morning, I announced that SQL Server(TM) 2005, Visual Studio® 2005 and BizTalk® Server 2006 will launch the week of November 7. This will be the biggest launch ever for these products, and we're very excited to deliver them to you. Some of you might be surprised to see that BizTalk Server 2006 has been added to the list of products that will make their debut in November, but from an integrated experience perspective this is an important addition. Many customers already benefit from the integrated development environment of BizTalk Server built on Visual Studio to quickly integrate and automate business processes that span applications, systems and trading partners. By integrating Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006, we hope to change the way you think about and use application infrastructure with your connected systems..."
The Security Monitoring and Attack Detection Planning Guide is designed to help organizations plan a security monitoring and attack detection system based on Windows Security Event logs. It highlights how to interpret the events and which events indicate the possibility that an attack is in progress.
Download the Security Monitoring and Attack Detection Planning Guide
You win some, you lose some. Despite Apple's attention-grabbing announcement, Microsoft today revealed plans to offer software upgrades to allow Outlook users access to corporate e-mail via their mobile devices, a move directly targeted at taking over market share from industry leader Research In Motion and its Blackberry handheld device.
"We heard from our customers they want a simple and easy way to give their employees access to mobile messaging. The thing that has been the complicating factor until now is expensive middleware. We offer it as an upgrade. It's free," said Suzan DelBene, responsible for marketing Mobile devices at Microsoft.
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Microsoft Corp. yesterday detailed a series of compromises that appear, for now, to have avoided a costly standoff with European antitrust officials.
One major disagreement, involving open-source software, still needs to be resolved in the long run. But the European Commission said it was satisfied enough with the company's response to proceed to the next step -- a "market test" in which others in the industry will weigh in on the new plan for leveling the playing field between Microsoft and its rivals in the computer server market.
The detente follows weeks of intensive negotiations and warnings that the European Commission could impose additional fines of up to $5 million a day -- beyond the more than $600 million fine the company has already paid -- if Microsoft didn't comply fully with the commission's March 2004 antitrust ruling.(
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On the website of '
Slider' there is an article about Application Isolation Environments.
One of the new features of Citrix Presentation Server 4.0.
An application consists of numerous parts that normally would spread across your system like C:\Program Files; C:\Windows; C:\Windows\System32 and let’s not forget the registry in Current_User and Local_Machine hives. What AIE does is redirect the Files and Registry of an application installation to an “Isolation Environment”, which is managed through the Presentation Server Management Console. Then when an application is run AIE makes the application believe it’s running from the location you entered at installation time like C:\Program Files\%appname% while the complete application code is actually in C:\ProgramFiles\Citrix\AIE\%appname%. For the registry it’s a little bit different. The redirection is not on the file system but in the registry. So an application installation would normally create settings in a Registry Key like HKLM\Software\%vendorname% and HKCU\Software\%vendorname% but it’s now redirected to HKLM\Citrix\AIE\%vendorname% and HKCU\Citrix\AIE\%vendorname%. But again it makes the application believe it’s Registry Keys are in HKLM\Software\%vendorname% and HKCU\Software\AIE\%vendorname%.
The AIE feature can be used in two ways. You can Install and then Run an application in AIE. And you can Run a “normally” installed application in an AIE. For both ways you first need to create an AIE.(
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off the company's annual TechEd Conference on Monday, telling an audience of nearly 12,000 that IT has taken a central role in the success of many modern companies. He also said that Microsoft would be making moves in the future to help people leverage technology to make a bigger impact in their business.
"We're all here because we share a vision of how technology can enhance business performance and help people do great new things," Ballmer told the audience. "Microsoft's job is to help realize this vision by arming IT professionals and developers with the right tools, best-of-breed products and an unparalleled computing platform."
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced several upcmoning enhancements to Windows Mobile 5.0 on Monday, which the company hopes will put it on more equal footing with services offered by Research in Motion. With the update, Outlook Mobile will now be able to sync directly to Exchange Server without any additional software or equipment.
Windows Mobile 5.0 launched last month at Mobile & Embedded DevCon 2005 in Las Vegas. The release introduced persistent memory, which will retain data even in the event of battery depletion, as well as better security features to ensure that the recent spread of smartphone viruses do not make their way into Windows Mobile devices.
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On some hardware, Virtual guest machines have a very annoying habit of causing the built-in speaker on the host beeping under certain circumstances, such as on popup dialogs. This very thing happened to me this weekend as I've installed yet another virtual machine, but on a server I'd never virtualised before which runs in my loft. While this isn't annoying to me, the bigger problem is that the server is almost directly above one of my kids noses when he's trying to get to sleep. His bed is one of those raised up "bunk" type beds. Hence, his nose is some 2ft from the ceiling, and the server itself is only another 1ft up from there. Hence, me working away remotely does get very annoying for him.
The solution is simple - stopping the "beep" service and it's fully documented in the knowledgebase under
KB 838671 - How to turn off the beep sound in a virtual machine under Virtual Server 2005. Essentially there are three ways, through the registry; stopping the beep service through "sc config beep"; and net stop beep.
Microsoft Corp.'s proposal to European Union regulators for resolving its outstanding antitrust issues does not provide key concessions requested by open-source software projects, European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said on Monday.
The revelation is a blow to the developers behind projects such as Linux and Samba, which use open source or "free software" licenses. Such projects currently say they are excluded from measures imposed by the European Commission last year that are meant to restore competition in the workgroup server market. The commission ruled last year that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in the operating system market to extend its dominance to servers. One of the remedies imposed at the time—and brought into effect after a court ruling in December—required Microsoft to license server communications protocols to competitors.
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German computer magazine C'T claims that by changing only 2 bytes from the file setupreg.hiv in Windows's XP Home kit, users can get access to certain functions only avalaible in Windows XP Professional, such as Remote Desktop, User management and enhanced security features.
C'T writes in its latest print issue (in German only) that you need to copy the root directory and the i386 directory of the WindowsXP CD to your harddisk, extract the Bootsector of your WindowsXP CD and change only 2 bytes in i386Setupreg.hiv by using Regedit. In fact all you have to do is edit the binary key "default" and change "01" to "00" and "02" to "00" in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEHomekeyControlSet001Servicessetupdd, C'T claims.
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You can now register for and download Windows Server Update Services. See for yourself how easy it is to have full control over the software that you distribute to computers in your network. Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) enables information technology administrators to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates to Microsoft Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP operating systems. By using Windows Server Update Services, you can fully manage the distribution of updates that are released through Microsoft Update to computers in your network.
Download Windows Server Update Services
Microsoft's Tech Ed conference next week will be a showcase for a raft of new server products from the Redmond software giant that aren't quite soup yet.
While Microsoft is set to reveal its specific RTM (release-to-manufacturing) target dates for Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 at the conference, neither product is ready to roll yet. The dates won't be "Dec. 32," as one source close to Microsoft quipped. Instead, they will be sometime this fall, much earlier than the "end of year 2005" targets most company watchers have been projecting.
Microsoft also is expected to highlight new releases of its BizTalk Server integration product; its mainframe-connectivity-focused Host Integration Server; and its forthcoming Commerce Server updates, according to various Microsoft bloggers and other sources. (
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On the Website of Brian Madden, there is an article describing all kinds of free tools which can be used in Terminal Server environments. It contains links to most of the tools Brian Madden uses in his daily work, like for example the sysinternals tools and resource hacker.
There are some really usefull resources in this article, so go and visit it right away. (
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Microsoft launched a preview of their latest aggregator last night. In addition to having a slick new look, the site has search results integration, stock and weather modules, and a search history. The URL to the new aggregator can be found after you solve a puzzle at http://www.start.com/3 (don't worry MSN Search's Instant Answers are available to help). Have fun playing with the new site.
Visit the Start.com website
Several sources here have insisted that not only is Microsoft highly unlikely to get its up and coming Longhorn OS out by Yuletide next year, it may not manage to deliver the real McCoy until four or five months later.
This is likely to infuriate the usual collection of hardware vendors.
And system integrators are likely to be hacked off as well, because Microsoft expects them to roll out a Longhorn logo system towards the end of this year.
Perhaps Microsoft is hoping that other governments in the world will roll out a COA (certificate of authenticity) law like apparently the US has, which was signed into law on Christmas Eve at 23:23.
What that means is you can't transfer a machine or give one away without peeling the certificate of authenticity off.
In a move to bring better interoperability to users, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) announced that it is adopting the industry-standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) technology for the default file formats in the next version of Office, currently code-named "Office 12."
The new file formats, called Microsoft Office Open XML Formats, will become the defaults for the "Office 12" versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, which are expected to be released in the second half of 2006.
To ensure that developers have the information they need to deliver Office-based technologies using the new file formats, Microsoft will begin discussing details about the new XML file formats at the Microsoft TechEd 2005 conference next week in Orlando.(
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