In Vista/Longhorn server, the file system (NTFS) will start supporting a new filesystem object (examples of existing filesystem objects are files, folders etc.). This new object is a symbolic link. Think of a symbolic link as a pointer to another file system object (it can be a file, folder, shortcut or another symbolic link). So then you ask how is that different from a short-cut (the .lnk file)? Well, a shortcut will only work when used from within the Windows shell, it is a construct of the shell, and other apps don’t understand short-cuts. To other apps, short-cuts look just like a file. With symbolic links, this concept is taken and is implemented within the file system. Apps when they open a symbolic link will now open the target by default (i.e. what the link points to), unless they explicitly ask for the symbolic link itself to be opened. Note symbolic links are an NTFS feature.
Now why is this relevant to the SMB2 protocol? This is because, for symbolic links to behave correctly, they should be interpreted on the client side of a file sharing protocol (otherwise this can lead to security holes). SMB2 understands the concept of symbolic links and evaluates the links on the client. This is the support that is added in SMB2.0.
(see also the
Techlog article about symbolic links in current Windows versions)
Microsoft will add a "Save As" function in its upcoming Microsoft Office 12 for publishing the developer's own electronic document format, XPS, another move in a competitive campaign against Adobe.
XPS (XML Paper Specification), which has been codenamed "Metro," is Microsoft's answer to Adobe's PDF: an electronic document format that can be printed without needing the actual application which created it.
Office 12 applications -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, Visio, OneNote, and InfoPath -- will include a Save As XPS option, said Jeff Bell, a program manager on the Office development team, in a blog written late Thursday. "This Office feature provides a one-way export from Office client applications to an application- and platform-independent, paginated format," wrote Bell.
To view, and print, an XPS document, users will need a viewer utility, which Microsoft itself will produce for Windows Vista and an unknown number of earlier editions of the Windows OS. "Directly or through partners, [viewers will be produced] for a range of other platforms," added Bell.
Windows "Monad" Shell is a new interactive command-line and task-based scripting technology in Windows that enables administrators to more efficiently and securely automate and control system management tasks on both desktops and servers. "Monad" Shell provides powerful task-based control (via built-in command line tools and utilities) and a powerful scripting language that enables comprehensive scripted control of the Windows operating system and applications. The key features of Monad include:
- Simplified command-based navigation of the operating system (including drives, startup files, and registry).
- Command extensibility that allows administrators to quickly write scripts, customize commands, and author their own shell tools.
- Powerful object manipulation capabilities (objects can be directly manipulated or pipelined to other tools or databases).
- Direct control of system data (without the need to perform error-prone text parsing and object lookup).
- Powerful aliasing and output formatting capabilities.
- Support for existing scripts and command line tools
Download Windows
The Sysinternals web site provides you with advanced utilities, technical information, and source code related to Windows NT/2000/XP/2K3 and Windows 9x, Windows Me internals that you won't find anywhere else. Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell alone write and update everything here. We welcome all suggestions and comments.
Autoruns v8.31
Another Autoruns update adds print monitor DLLs and Explorer column handlers - both of which have been used by real malware - and dramatically improves scan times when image verification is selected.
RootkitRevealer 1.56
This version adds support for NTFS volumes with cluster sizes larger than 4 KB.
Robert Petruska produced a wonderful bunch of Windows GUIs for simplifying some VMware command line tasks:
- VMware DiskMount GUI
VMware DiskMount GUI is a windows GUI front-end for VMware's drive mapper
- VMware DiskManager GUI
VMware DiskManager GUI is a windows GUI front-end for VMware's diskmanager
- Virtual DiskFactory
Virtual DiskFactory is a windows GUI front-end for VMware's diskmanager, with many advanced functions
- VDK GUI
VDK GUI is a windows GUI front-end for Ken Kato's VDK
Download the GUIs
Update: for Kato's VDK another GUI is available: Jacopo Lazzari's
Virtual Drive Manager
If you were unable to attend the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2005 (PDC05) in Los Angeles this year, never fear; 209 breakout sessions, panels, and symposia are now available online. Each session includes a video of the presenter, a navigable index of the content, the PowerPoint presentation itself, and video of any demos. We'll be hosting this content for free, for anyone, for six full months.
And, due to popular blogger and e-mail demand, you can also download each session individually for offline viewing. Just click the Download Presentation link that appears beneath the session information (full session zip files average around 150MB each).
All of the sessions include downloadable PowerPoint presentations, and many of them also include materials (code samples, Visual Studio solutions, papers, etc.).(
continue at source)
Goto the PDC05 Sessions Online
There has been a lot of noise in the past few weeks from companies like IBM, Citrix, and VMware pushing the idea of providing desktops to users in the form of virtual machine-based remote Windows XP desktops instead of the "traditional" way of publishing a desktop session on a Terminal Server or Citrix Presentation Server.
Citrix, IBM, and VMware used the momentum around VMworld to announce their view of the virtualized desktop world, calling it "IBM Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure." If you didn't read the press release, here's the short version:
IBM Servers [Blades or xSeries] + VMware Workstation + Citrix Application Delivery = Virtual "desktops" for users that are cheaper than regular desktops.(
continue at source)
Ryan Paul at Ars Technica provides an in-depth, 13 page review of the new Microsoft Command Shell (Monad). (The beta release can be downloaded for free from Microsoft.) From the conclusion: 'Despite my initial skepticism, I am deeply impressed with MSH technology, and I am legitimately excited about the future of the Windows command line.'
Read the full article
VMware Player can be used to run any precreated virtual machine by VMware Workstation, GSX Server and ESX Server (and even Microsoft Virtual PC and Virtual Server VMs).
First of all you need a virtual machine configuration file (something .vmx), where every virtual hardware aspect is defined (from memory size to how many ethernet NICs are available).
You can google around and find many of them or your can grab this one from virtualization.info:
livecd.vmx
Now you need to edit it (Notepad is enough) to map your LiveCD ISO on the virtual CDRom: just search for livecd.iso and replace with your ISO name.
Save the edited .vmx file and you are ready to launch it with VMware Player! (Continue at source)
In a multi domain forest, some strange behaviour occurs when you investigate the group membership of accounts and groups. Normally you would request the properties of an account or group and look at the 'Member of' tab to see which groups the user or group is a member of.
Beware: This tab doesn't show you the memberships of the user in Global and Domain Local groups in other domains in the Forest, here's why:
The group properties displayed in the AD Users and Computers MMC console shows you the contents of attributes associated with the group object in AD. Group membership is contained in an attribute called Member. To ensure internal consistency for Group members, AD uses a trick taken from double entry accounting. Double entry accounting means that each link is stored twice, once as a forward link and once as a backward link.
(more)
ProcessorFeatures is a no-frills applet that uses the Windows IsProcessorFeaturePresent API to determine if the processor and Windows supports various features such as No-Execute pages, Physical Address Extensions (PAE), and a real-time cycle counter. Its primary purpose is to identify system's running the PAE version of the kernel and that support no-execute buffer overflow protection.
Read article at Sysinternals
Download ProcessorFeatures v1.0
VMware Player is free software that enables PC users to easily run any virtual machine on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player runs virtual machines created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server or ESX Server and also supports Microsoft virtual machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disk formats.
- VMware Player can be used by anyone to run virtual machines on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player makes it quick and easy to take advantage of the security, flexibility, and portability of virtual machines.
- VMware Player can be used by anyone to run a virtual machine shared by a colleague or friend. For example, customer support and development teams can share a customer scenario encapsulated within a virtual machine.
- VMware Player is ideal for safely evaluating pre-built application environments, beta software, or other software distributed in virtual machines. With VMware Player, anyone can easily experience the benefits of preconfigured products rapidly without any installation or configuration hassles. Pre-built applications from leading software vendors are available from the VMware VMTN Virtual Machine Center
Download VMware Player
Add even better protection, reliability, and easier administration as well as improved mobile messaging to your Exchange Server 2003 messaging environment when used with compatible devices.
SP2 is a cumulative update that enhances your Exchange Server 2003 messaging environment with:
• Mobile e-mail improvements
• Better protection against spam
• Mailbox advancements
Download Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server
The first thing we heard in regard to IE security is that Microsoft is taking a “big picture” look at the threat environment, recognizing that a single application – the Web browser – has multiple usages (on the intranet, on extranets, and on the Internet) that require different levels of security. That concept has long been exemplified by IE’s use of security zones, and the zone feature carries over to IE 7.0 but with some major improvements that give administrators (in the corporate environment) and users (in the home and small business environments) more granular control over browser behavior that impacts security. At the same time, many security features will be more transparent to end users.
One important priority is that IE’s new features will be turned off by default if there is any possible security risk involved in implementing them. It’s a simple idea, and part of the “secure by default” leg of Microsoft’s trustworthy computing “SD3” (Secure by Design, Secure by Default and Secure in Deployment) position.
Microsoft’s new security philosophy is all about defense in depth, or multi-layered security, and they’ve made an effort to make the new security features proactive instead of relying on patching problems as they arise. Toward that end, they’ve made fundamental architectural changes to the browser software to address anticipated future threats.(
continue at source)
Microsoft has made available what could be the final beta of
Windows Server 2003 R2, which is slated to ship by the end of the year.
The server operating system release candidate, which is typically a final beta before general availability of the software, was made available for download from Microsoft's Web site.
Windows Server 2003 R2 release candidate 1 (RC1) is built on Windows Server 2003 SP1 and is actually the second release candidate. The first was RC0, which was released August 30. The first public beta was made available in May.
Key to R2 is an identity technology called Active Directory Federation Services. ADFS is one of the final pieces of Microsoft's identity management platform and it also represents the company's first implementation of the WS-Federation protocol it developed with IBM. Microsoft has positioned WS-Federation as the linchpin for integrating security infrastructures between companies.
Also part of R2 is branch office support so servers can be remotely managed from a central location, integration of Services for Unix into the core operating system, new storage management features, support for .Net Framework 2.0, and enhancements to the Windows SharePoint Services collaboration technology.(
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Paul Thurrot posted his review of the Windows Vista Community Technology Preview 2 (build 5231).
Like its predecessor, build 5231 doesn't feature the fit and finish or build quality one might expect from a true beta release. It's seriously performance challenged, and has issues with many hardware devices and applications. But it does come with a number of new features, including--for the first time--a fully functioning version of Windows Media Player (WMP) 11, the Vista version of Media Center, a new Network Center, and other features that weren't available in previous builds. For this reason, build 5231 is eminently interesting, and a marked improvement over build 5219, despite its many flaws. No, you won't want to run this puppy as your full-time OS. But it's still worth a look.(
continue at source)
Microsoft is poised to release to testers the second Community Technology Preview (CTP) release of Windows Vista, paving the way for a second full-fledged beta, which is now expected in December.
Among the new features which could find their way into the updated build are a number of Internet Explorer 7.0 enhancements; the resurrected "Sidebar" task pane; Windows Media Player 11.0; and new networking functionality.
Robert McLaws, president of Interscape Technologies, said that Microsoft released CTP 2 of Vista on Thursday night. "Build 5231 (aka Windows Vista October CTP), compiled on Oct 4, 2005, was posted to the Connect website a short while ago," McLaws said.
Other beta testers said they did not see the CTP 2 on Microsoft's private Connect testers' site. But Windows expert Ed Bott clarified that the new CTP 2 build was apparently made available to members of Microsoft's Technical Adoption Program (TAP) elite beta-test program, and not to all Connect members.(
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This program will install a collection of software utilities intended to assist Windows XP Media Center PC OEMs and device driver developers in evaluating readiness for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
A set of tools to evaluate readiness of Windows XP Media Center Edition PCs and troubleshoot video quality issues. The Media Center Diagnostics Kit includes tools that allow users to explore PC configuration settings, test for a variety of video playback capabilities and evaluate video quality for color and grayscale accuracy.
Download Windows XP Media Center Diagnostics Kit v3.0
A Microsoft patch meant to fix critical security flaws in Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 is causing trouble for some users, the company said Friday.
The patch was released Tuesday to fix four Windows flaws, including one that experts predict will be exploited by a worm in the coming days. The flaw, tagged "critical" by Microsoft, lies in a Windows component for transaction processing called the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator, or MSDTC.
Installing the patch can cause serious problems, Microsoft said in an advisory posted to its Web site Friday. The patch could lock users out of their PC, prevent the Windows Firewall from starting, block certain applications from running or installing, and empty the network connections folder, among other things, the software maker said.
The trouble appears to occur only when default permission settings on a Windows directory have been changed, according to Microsoft. The software maker has received "limited reports" of problems from customers but is still investigating the issue, a representative said.
To resolve any problems caused by the MS05-051 patch, users should restore the default permissions for the Windows folder and the COM+ catalog. A guide is
available on the Microsoft Web site, and steps start with changing the permissions on the "registration" folder in the Windows directory. (Continue at source)
Fears are growing of a new Windows worm after security companies reported that exploit code is already circulating for three Microsoft patches released on Tuesday.
Within 24 hours of the patches coming out Symantec's DeepSight Threat Management System issued an alert over patch MS05-051. The security firm has issued a signature for its intrusion detection systems.
"The DeepSight Threat Analyst Team has created the signature to detect attempts to bind to the MSDTC RPC interface," said Symantec in a statement. "It has been successfully tested against a client communicating with the interface. "
At the same time, security testing firm Immunity announced that it had developed exploit code for three Microsoft patches.
The code has only been shared with trusted partners and is intended as proof-of-concept only. Nevertheless its quick creation has worried many in the industry. (Continue at source)
If you missed yesterdays webcast exploring the three key areas of the upcoming Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2: Branch Office, Storage Management and Active Directory Federation Services, it is available "on demand" to listen at your leisure. If you're new to Windows Server 2003 R2, this provides an excellent overview.
It covers how Windows Server 2003 R2 extends Windows Server 2003, providing the most efficient way to manage and control access to local and remote resources while easily integrating into your existing Windows Server 2003 environment and how it enables new scenarios including simplified branch server management, efficient storage management and streamlined collaboration with partners.
Windows Server 2003 R2 builds upon the increased security, reliability and performance that came with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1.
Click here to register and view the webcast
Coming from Brian Madden:
We learned a few weeks ago that Longhorn Terminal Services will have seamless windows, published applications, a web interface, an SSL gateway, and several other technologies that previously required Citrix. So what value will Citrix add with Presentation Server when Longhorn is released? This is what they directly addressed by announcing Constellation. In fact, Citrix even went so far as to say that the Longhorn Server platform transition will “create more opportunity for us to virtualize applications.”
Before we look at features, it’s important to mention that Constellation is the codename of a set of upcoming technologies. It is not a product per se. Some of these features may be part of Presentation Server and some may be standalone or add-on products. That determination will not be made until these technologies are closer to their release dates.
(
continue at source)
Microsoft Office Outlook Live (or MOOL for short) is a subscription based service offered by Microsoft that combines MSN's Hotmail Plus service and Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 so that you can have the freedom of having a fully flexible and functional e-mail client, without the responsibility of managing an e-mail server.
Microsoft's popular Outlook 2003 client application can be used and with special connector software, you can have a good e-mail solution in minutes. (
continue at source)
Yesterday Microsoft released the Microsoft Management Console 3.0 Pre-Release(Based on Windows Server 2003 R2 RC0).
MMC 3.0 (formerly MMC 2.1) ships as a component in Windows Server 2003 R2 and Windows Vista, and continues to be the host for a variety of OS and 3rd party admin tools. In order to make use of the MMC 3.0 Pre-Release you also have to install .Net Framework 2.0.
Download Microsoft Management Console 3.0 Pre-Release (RC0)
Activewin posted on their website some screenshot of the latest build of Office 12. Screenshots are of Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, Access, Infopath and Powerpoint. In Word, you can now see Word referred to as "Word 2006."
Check them out!
Office 12 Screenshots from Activewin
One analyst wonders how the firm will convince customers to move to the newer OS if such visible chunks of Vista are available in older wares. A feature mimicking Apple's "widgets" scheduled to appear in Microsoft's Windows Vista will also show in the current Windows XP operating system, a Vista product manager said.
According to Sean Alexander, a group product manager with the Redmond, Wash.-based developer, the so-called "gadgets" in Vista will be produced for Windows XP as well. "Gadgets will be available on XP -- officially," he wrote on his blog. (
continue at source)
Microsoft Corp. is about to give Media Center PCs a new point of view.
The Redmond, Wash., software giant is expected to unveil on Friday an update for its Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system that will boost the computers' abilities to tap online entertainment such as movies, access e-mail and even let users go shopping via the special user interface, designed to allow easy access to multimedia.
The new features, which will come as part of a rollup or collection of updates dubbed Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition, will expand the capabilities of Media Center PCs and shift their focus from showing photos and videos to on-demand online entertainment and content services, provided by big-name outlets such as MTV.
Even the least expensive desktop Media Center models, which sell for as little as $599 and come without TV tuners or high-end graphics, are expected to be able to tap the new features.
Price has played a major role in the increase in shipments of Media Center PCs seen of late. Manufacturers began offering the operating system in under-$1,000 desktops earlier this year, leading to huge year-over-year leaps in Media Center sales at retail in the United States, analysts said. (
continue at source)
Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have reached a deal to make their two instant messaging programs work together, in a partnership that could provide a challenge to market leader America online, people familiar with the situation said.
The deal was expected to be announced early on Wednesday, the two sources told the Associated Press.
One of the sources works closely with Microsoft and has been involved in company discussions. The other is familiar with the deal. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
The agreement would allow users of both services to send and receive messages, regardless of which system they were using. (
continue at source)
On the website of Steven Bink there is a interesting post concerning 'how many versions of Windows Vista/Longhorn Server will be released'. The versions were
found by Raphael from Extended64.com by decoding an XML file provided with the Vista Beta.
Here is the list:
Windows Vista Starter
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB
Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - VL Binding Service
Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - VLGeneric
Windows Vista Pro Std/SB/Ent - DMAK
Windows Vista Pro Standard/SB - OEM
Windows Vista Pro Standard N
Windows Vista Starter Digital Boost - OEM
Windows Vista Home Basic - OEM
Windows Vista Home Premium - OEM
Windows Vista Ultimate - OEM
Windows Vista Home Basic N
Longhorn Enterprise Server (ADS)
Longhorn Enterprise Server - IA64
Longhorn Enterprise Server - OEM
Longhorn Standard Server
Longhorn Datacenter Server
(
continue at source)
With the Live Meeting Add-in Pack, you can perform conferencing tasks directly from Microsoft Office Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Visio, as well as from Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Office Communicator 2005.
The Live Meeting Add-In Pack consists of three distinct add-ins: the Live Meeting Add-in for Outlook, the Office Collaboration Add-in, and the Live Meeting add-in for Instant Messaging, each which offer unique features. (Continue at source)
Download Live Meeting 2005 Add-in Pack
Microsoft Corp. is simplifying the licensing for Windows Server System products that are used in virtual machine environments as it continues to try to drive customers toward self-managing dynamic systems. The Redmond, Wash., software giant will announce on Monday that it has decided to shift away from charging Windows Server System users licensing fees at installation and is instead moving to a model where users pay at the time of consumption. This change will be reflected in its volume licensing program effective Dec. 1.
Microsoft sees this licensing simplification and the addition of new user rights as critical to driving forward its Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI), its vision and technology road map for reducing the cost of managing and securing enterprise systems.
"This is an end-to-end strategy and not a point strategy. Microsoft believes that customers are looking for ways to adopt virtualization on the route to dynamic systems, and so our strategy is the Dynamic Systems Initiative, with dynamic systems the end game. And the way customers get there is very important," Bob Kelly, general manager of infrastructure server marketing at Microsoft, told eWEEK. (Continue at source)
A STORY stating that the Beast of Redmond had developed a technology which enabled DVDs to be played only once was much vilified on the Net. Some claimed it was a pure hoax. But the story's originator - The Business - has named now named its source.
Step forward one Alistair Baker, md with Microsoft in the UK. He claims that Microsoft's DRM software now gives the owner of content "total control over how it is viewed". That could mean that not only could the content be viewed only once but that the content could also have an expiry date and/or time of day.
Why would anyone want to introduce one-play DVDs, you might ask? To sell new hardware, of course. Baker describes the typical playing device as a "new DVD player from manufacturers like Toshiba supporting high-definition DVD and running Windows CE."(
continue at source)
Get ready for a huge Microsoft Patch Tuesday next week. The Microsoft Security Response Center is preparing nine security bulletins, according to its Thursday night advance notification e-mail.
It's not clear from the wording of the notification how many of the bulletins will address critical issues. Microsoft lumped the bulletins into two groups -- eight bulletins affecting Windows and one bulletin affecting both Windows and Microsoft Exchange. Of the eight Windows bulletins, the notification e-mail says, "The highest Maximum Severity rating for these is Critical." The Windows-Exchange vulnerability has a maximum severity rating of "important."
Due to problems found in testing or other issues, the MSRC sometimes releases a different number of bulletins on Patch Tuesday than it anticipates in the notification that goes out the previous Thursday.(
continue at source)
Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner 2006 (Beta) helps size and plan deployments of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 by providing you with the tools and guidance to deploy efficiently while planning for the future by allowing for "what-if" analyses in the following ways:
• Proactive performance planning: Helping an organization meet their service level goals consistently, now and in the future.
• Infrastructure planning and optimization: Plan for IT purchases to optimize cost.
• Help to ensure success of Microsoft Exchange 2003 and MOM 2005 deployments: Use to plan correct amount of infrastructure needed for a new application to meet service level goals.
• Performance analysis and predictive reporting: Automatically report performance trends and bottlenecks to manage current and future performance issues.
Download the System Center Capacity Planner 2006 Beta
On this website you can sign-up for the beta of the new Microsoft Mail. Microsoft mail beta features a clean new look, more storage, and other features.
Signup for Microsoft Mail Beta
Steven Bink reports that Microsoft has issued a statement in their newsgroups regarding the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Preview hosted on the Hotfix:
"It is just a collection of hotfixes and other updates we have released. It will not update your Windows XP system to SP3. It also contains a number of private hotfixes that are usually only issued to users with a specific identifiable problem. The hotfixes are not as rigorously tested at public released ones this is why we ask you to call PSS to get them so we can track you and provide further assistance such as new versions of the fixes etc as they become available.
Just installing all the "privates" on your PC may make you machine LESS stable and will also put you out of support from Microsoft or an OEM as you are installing incorrectly issued private hotfixes. Frankly this "package" should be avoid and you should continue to use Windows Update and the download site to get the most up-to-date and correctly issued Microsoft fixes and patches."
(more)
A senior Microsoft official in the United Kingdom confirmed this week that no computer manufacturers took up the option to install Windows XP N, the operating system Microsoft created in response to the European Commission decision against it.
Windows XP N is a version of Windows that is unbundled from Windows Media Player. The EC decision prohibited Microsoft from charging more for the stripped-down operating system -- Microsoft listed the product for the same price as the full version of Windows XP.
In addition to confirming that no computer manufacturers had adopted the product since its launch four years ago, Microsoft's UK managing director Alistair Baker acknowledged that retailers were also unenthusiastic about stocking the new version of Windows. (Continue at source)
A hotfix was posted to the Microsoft Download Center on Friday for users who ran into trouble with Serial Bus Protocol 2 devices after installing Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Serial Bus Protocol 2 (SBP-2) devices include IEEE 1394 devices. Common devices that connect to IEEE 1394 ports include digital camcorders and Apple iPods.
In this case, several problems arose for some Windows XP SP2 users after connecting an SBP-2 device to the computer, including:
- The SBP-2 device stopped responding or did not work.
- The SBP-2 device was not displayed in Device Manager.
- IEEE 1394 devices that were already connected to the computer stopped responding or did not work.
Microsoft moved a step closer to becoming a key player in the Internet security business with the announcement Thursday of a new enterprise-class anti-spyware product featuring technology to thwart viruses, worms and kernel rootkits. The new offering, dubbed Microsoft Client Protection, will go into limited beta before year-end with a full rollout expected in 2006. Details on pricing and licensing are being kept under wraps.
The announcement, which came during a meeting between chief executive Steve Ballmer and business partners in Munich, Germany, is the culmination of a year-long push by the world's largest software maker to take on entrenched security vendors in the anti-virus/anti-spyware business. Chairman Bill Gates first signaled the company's plans at the RSA Security confab in February and, since then, Microsoft has released a beta of Windows OneCare, a subscription-based service that bundles anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall protection and PC cleanup tools.
(more)
Microsoft has unveiled plans for a range of new corporate security services and products aimed at providing better virus, spam and spyware protection for businesses.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer and Microsoft's corporate VP of security, Mike Nash, unveiled the new products in Munich this morning.
A subscription-based Client Protection service will provide a management console that IT managers can use for reports and alerts on spyware, viruses and other forms of malware on their corporate networks. An early beta version of the service will be made available to some customers later this year.
Client Protection is similar to the Windows OneCare security service Microsoft is developing for consumer customers.
Nash said: "To help our customers combat the evolving threats and to have those rights protected, we are taking a holistic approach to security that includes developing new technology, partnering with the industry and keeping customers as educated as possible about how to stay ahead of the latest threats facing them."(
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Google has confirmed that it will launch free spreadsheet and word-processing software online and take on Microsoft in one of its biggest markets.Under the deal, Google will allow web users to access Sun's OpenOffice from a toolbar.
The other day, when Sun's Scott McNealy and his former employee now Google chief Eric Schmidt met up, Sun was wary about doing that.
When asked point blank, McNealy said it was something to be investigated. However Sun's Australian spokesman Paul O'Connor was a little more forthright about the deal which he said was "huge".
He bubbled that the deal was a wake-up call for Microsoft.
"At the moment most people are used to having to pay for software packages, but at the end of the day, the value is in the content and services – not in the software itself," he said.(
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The European Commission on Wednesday called on Neil Barrett, a former computer hacker who is now an expert on fraud, to monitor whether Microsoft is complying with orders to change the way it operates in Europe.
Barrett, a British author, professor and witness in criminal cases against hackers, was named monitoring trustee to the commission. In the paid position, Barrett is likely to play a role in the enforcement of orders for Microsoft to share source code for its server software with competitors and provide a version of Windows that does not include its Windows Media Player software.
The European case is a major front in the legal battle pitting the intellectual property rights of commercial software makers like Microsoft against developers of open-source software, who say having fewer copyright hurdles would benefit innovation.
Open-source advocates criticized the choice of Barrett, noting that Microsoft itself had proposed him as well as other candidates the commission had considered for the job.(
continue at source)
Even as the SQL Server 2005 launch takes place in San Francisco Nov. 7, Microsoft will be quietly giving developers and ISVs inside details on the next version of its other major back-end server -- Exchange.
Microsoft will host an Exchange "12" Developer Conference at its Redmond, Wash. campus on Nov. 7 and 8, the Microsoft Exchange team said in a blog posting on Tuesday afternoon.
"The conference will provide selected ISVs with an early look at the “E12” investment areas and will provide you with an early look at the “E12” development roadmap, describe the characteristic of new investments we are making in Exchange 12, and provide an opportunity for you to see first hand what new features and development environments that will be optimized in “E12,” KC Lemson, a program manager with the Exchange Server team, wrote in the blog.(
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With the first beta for Microsoft Corp.'s upcoming Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Solution barely out the door, the development team is already thinking seriously about features and functionality designed to make the next version of the product even easier to use and manage than its Linux competitor.
The feature-complete beta for Compute Cluster Solution, a 64-bit operating system for industry-standard x64 processors, was released late last month. The product is designed to address the HPC (high-performance computing) needs of Microsoft's enterprise and corporate customers, particularly at the departmental and workgroup levels.(
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Microsoft Corp. and Motorola Inc. today announced an alliance to provide marketing and development support to deliver next-generation software applications to law enforcement, first responder and criminal justice customers. Motorola will offer mission-critical software applications built on the Microsoft® platform, including the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Windows Server System™.
These integrated applications are designed to provide a complete rapid, seamless incident management solution that enables first responders to quickly and efficiently handle incident information and accurately record, store and retrieve department records. Motorola’s current NetRMS™ Records Management System and Motorola Computer Aided Dispatch Software will immediately take advantage of this agreement. Motorola will develop justice, public safety and public service applications using Visual Studio® .NET 2003 and Microsoft Windows Server System software, including Microsoft SQL Server™, Microsoft BizTalk® Server and Web services built on the .NET Framework. (Continue at source)
On tuesday Microsoft launched a new subsite called 'Learning Paths for Security'
It provides training resources for you to get good at security.
Every month there willl be a new theme. This month it's "Internal Threats: Mitigate the Risks in Your Environment", and included are TechNet Webcasts, Virtual labs, whitepapers, e-learning. Many different ways for you to learn about the latest/greatest ways to get you secure. The content is broken out by stage, with Plan, Prevent, Detect, Respond, to make it easier for you to find what you need. The content is also tagged on level, from basic, to intermediate, to advanced level knowledge.
Goto the Learning Paths for Security website
Sun Microsystems and Google announced an initiative Tuesday to further collaboration between the Java creator and the search engine Goliath.
But while the announcement was apparently intended to show solidarity in the face of Microsoft, it seemed to be more of a dog-and-pony show that was full of promises and short on details.
The most significant detail to emerge from the highly-touted press conference and Webcast live from Mountain View, Calif.’s Computer History Museum is that Sun will include the Google Toolbar as an option with its Java Runtime Environment (JRE) downloads.
Beyond that, the two companies plan a multi-year “strategic” collaboration to further promote and enhance Google’s offerings as well as Sun’s Java technologies, the OpenOffice.org productivity applications suite, and Sun’s OpenSolaris operating system efforts.(
continue at source)
Alessandro Perilli yesterday attended the Microsoft Virtualization Roadmap webcast and made a nice summary of what was discussed in this webcast. In brief:
This year we can expect just the Virtual Server 2005 R2 RTM with serveral features:
- great performance improvement in memory handling and CPU usage
- Clustering for hosts (DAS, SAN and iSCSI supported), hosts failover, VMs migration between hosts (the downtime will depend on the network speed).
- Hosts clustering will be available for free as separate download.
- 64bit architecture support for hosts (while guests will stay on 32bit virtual architecture until Longhorn timeframe)
- PXE boot support for virtual network interfaces
- Linux support
- Win2003 SP1 and WinXP SP2 support
On the 1H 2006 a new Virtual Server version will hit the beta, scheduled for RTM on 2H 2006:
- Faster Linux VMs
- AMD and Intel virtualization technologies support (mainly providing better performances for 3rd parties VMs)
At the Longhorn Server timeframe (nothing more specific) a new virtualization technology will appear with the planned features:
- hypervisor technology with microkernel approach (virtualization device drivers will not stay in the hypervisor)
- integrated in every Longhorn Server version (will not require a dedicated OS edition)
- AMD and Intel virtualization technologies support (mainly providing better performances for 3rd parties VMs)
- one Parent (containing the virtualization stack) and multiple dependants Child virtual partitions
- 64 and 32bit guests
- multiprocessing support (up to 4 CPUs) for guests
- mixed virtualized and emulated devices
- Child partitions live snapshots (by Volume Shadow Service integration)
At the same time a new wave of virtualization management tools will be released:
enterprise leveraged support for thousands of physical and virtual machines (
continue at source)
If you are an Enterprise IT Pro who is installing or supporting Windows SBS 2003 for the first time or who just wants to know more about it, this paper is for you!
This paper begins with a brief survey of the Windows SBS 2003 design philosophy. It then continues with the Top 10 must-know facts that Enterprise IT Pros unfamiliar with Windows SBS often miss, it highlights the Top 10 cool features of Windows SBS, and then it concludes with a quick look at some of the standard scenarios that you’re likely to find in many Windows SBS installations.
Download the paper.
The documents included are:
- The "Getting Started" guide, an 80-page introduction to using the shell and the MSH language supported by the Windows "Monad" Shell (GettingStarted.doc).
- A single-page summary of the MSH language, formatted as a tri-fold (LanguageQuickReferenceTriFold.doc).
- A quick-start guide to tracing in the Windows "Monad" Shell (TracingQuickStart.doc).
- The three Hands-On Labs from the 2005 Professional Developers Conference: "Monad Scripting" (MonadScripting-HandsOnLab.doc), "Building Monad Cmdlets" (BuildingMonadCmdlets-HandsOnLab.doc) and "Creating Monad Providers" (CreatingMonadProviders-HandsOnLab.doc).
Download Monad Documentation Pack
THE NEXT VERSION of the Vole's highly anticipated operating system is expected in November. It won't speed up introduction of this system but it at least means that we are one step closer to the Q4 2006 introduction.
New beta version of Longhorn aka Vista will have its graphic component a little bit readier than before as it's already time to start working on a user interface and the gaming part of the API. Both Nvidia and ATI are working on Vista drivers, and once this operating system is out, people will be able to see that last year's decision by ATI to start using frameworks was not a bad idea after all.
All Vista drivers will need frameworks, as this is something what Microsoft demanded, it was not a choice, it was an order.
Graphic companies have to start playing with Aero glass and all the other Mac OS looking visual effect features in Vista and therefore the Beta will get them even more functionality and bug fixes as well. (Continue at source)
This page is a the place where you will find the tools created by Techlog members. More tools to come in the near future, so watch this space!
MakeShortcuts
MakeShortcuts is a simple straight forward tool that creates shortcuts in the Windows Start Menu based on an INI file.
Read Techlog article about Makeshortcuts
Direct download
DropMyRights GUI
GUI version of the Microsoft DropMyRights tool. This tool allows you to run Windows as an administrator and access Internet data safely by dropping unnecessary administrative privileges when using any tool to access the Internet.
Read Techlog article about DropMyRights GUI
Direct download
The tools on this web site are provided "as is" without any warranties of any kind either express or implied. The authors cannot be held responsible for any damages done by the tools.
We are proud to announce the availability of VMware Workstation 5.5 Release Candidate, the latest version of VMware's desktop application for software developers/testers and IT professionals. We have taken an exceptional product and improved it with new features and capabilities that increase individual productivity and flexibility, and let users work with new types of software. Now we want to know what you think of it! As a beta tester, you can provide us with real-world testing and product feedback that will ensure the final release provides the functionality and quality that you expect from VMware Workstation. Note: When the final version of Workstation 5.5 is released, it will be made available to current Workstation 5.0 customers as a FREE, electronic update that can be downloaded from the VMware web site. New support for select host & guest operating systems and hardware - 32 and 64 bit Workstation 5.5 offers new host and guest operating system support for the latest distributions from Microsoft, Red Hat, SUSE, Sun Solaris x86, FreeBSD and more. Workstation 5.5 also offers support for new processors from Intel and AMD. Read the details on supported operating systems and processors.
Download VMware Workstation 5.5 Release Candidate
"Microsoft announced today at the MVP summit that Office 12, the next version of Microsoft Office, will have native support for the PDF document format. Support will be built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, OneNote, Visio, and InfoPath." From the article: "Currently, on our OfficeOnline site, we are seeing over 30,000 searches per week for PDF support. That makes a pretty easy decision"
Direct link to Brian Jones Blog
