May 2007 - David Overton's Blog

Microsoft Office Interactive Developer Map The Microsoft Office Interactive Developer Map is a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) application that helps developers visualize the different programs, servers, services, and tools that will help them build solutions. It allows them to drill down to each product and technology and learn about new features, objects, Web services, namespaces, and schemas required to extend Microsoft Office and build custom Office Business Applications (OBAs) . Source: Interactive Developer Map I have a look at this and was quite impressed with the list of resources available to you. For example - look at the link below - it is the Office Live drill down - look at all the places to get information - I checked - the sites are good! ttfn David

This is beta number two from the Live team today - Windows Live Mail. My family now use it to access our Window Live Hotmail and other e-mail accounts. Anyway, for all the gossip, hop over to their blog at Windows Live Mail . Below is what has changed (well, in fact this is less that what has changed as there is so much goodness - go to the blog to get more information) Click here to get the latest build! Here are the build specifics... Build #: 12.0.1184.0517 (just refer to it as build 1184); Languages available: English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese What’s New? Setup It’s much faster than it was in the past. Shortcuts for Windows Mail and OE will be replaced by WL Mail shortcuts. New Windows Live location in the Start Menu. Sign-In Auto-configuration of your accounts. Windows Live ID (formerly known as Passport…) signin not required. Migration of your old accounts. Now you’re in! Sleek new frame Improved shortcut buttons Compact View for folders No more visual advertisements Updates to the compose page Stationery button in the toolbar! Improved Spell-checking. Summary tab for contact info. ttfn David Technorati Tags: beta , Live , Mail

Promote your business online The Microsoft Resource Directory, listing all Microsoft partners, will be retired on 14 June, when all traffic will be redirected to the increasingly popular Solution Finder tool. This is where existing and potential customers can search for partners who offer the specific business solutions they are looking for. To be included in this partner listing, and to help increase your sale leads at no additional cost, you need to ensure your business offerings are entered in our Solutions Profiler tool. This is a great opportunity to promote your business online and it takes just a few minutes to profile your solutions. I saw this and somehow figured that a few people might need a little prompting. I have written on how easy it is to add a solution using solution finder here . ttfn David Technorati Tags: Solution Finder , Partners [updated @ 2:20pm to fix access error]

Your Office and Vista questions answered We are offering UK partners the opportunity to talk directly to one of Microsoft Europe's leading technology specialists in a series of online Q&A sessions. These sessions will seek to answer the nitty gritty questions you need to answer to transition your customers over to Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007. Book your place now. Register for 4 June Register for 5 June Register for 6 June Register for 7 June Register for 8 June ttfn David Technorati Tags: Microsoft , Vista , Office , Partners

In a recent mail it announced: The Microsoft Sales Toolkit is your source for driving sales. It is the licensing and sales 'product handbook' that will help you generate up-sell and cross-sell opportunities, giving you and your Partners information on the full portfolio of Microsoft products and services. You can find information on what the product is, how to sell it, relevant SKU numbers and FAQs. The toolkit is produced twice a year and is available as a hardcopy, to keep on your desk, or to download as a pdf, to take out with you to meet customers. Visit www.microsoft.com/uk/gearup for more details or to download the pdf version. Go get it, it might just answer one or two of those questions you have!! ttfn David Technorati tags: Gear Up , licensing , sales , Microsoft

I saw this and thought you might like to see how one ISV has joined Office Live and an Access application. Web access and rich client applications. Nice!! Here is some information about the Access 2007 application that I’ve developed for Cool As Ice, which is a leading Norfolk-based supplier of air conditioning and refrigeration here in the UK. Cool As Ice wanted a bespoke customer contact system that they could use to hold data securely yet allow their workforce to use that data on their laptops, including adding and altering data, i.e. not just a read-only copy. Access 2007’s integration with Sharepoint meant it could provide the basis for a good solution. The application holds its data in a workspace that is part of my company’s Office Live site. The choice of Office Live to provide the SharePoint part of the solution means that their data is secure and that Cool As Ice do not need to get involved in organising that part of the solution, concentrating instead on the things they do best. Backups of data are done by Office Live and of course, the Office Live Recycle Bin is there in case it is needed. If neither of these needs to be used, everything is handled in Access 2007, i.e. the normal end-user just sees Access 2007 and no web user interface. The image below shows the main screen of the application, i.e. where the main customer contact information is entered. Source: Clint Covington: Software design, Microsoft Office Access : Cool As Ice uses Office Live and Access 2007 with custom ribbon ttfn David Technorati Tags: Office Live , Access

Read this carefully and repeat after me "64-bit is the future, 64-bit is the future". If you are playing (testing) Longhorn (Windows Server 2008) then use the 64-bit version. Why, well SBS & Centro (I guess) will be 64-bit only, Windows 2008 will have a 32-bit version primarily to enable people to migrate (since it is the last version it will not be the most future proofed version IMHO). This is a great way to prepare for the future, so just do it!! "Windows Server 2008 is the last 32-bit operating system that we'll produce," Laing then pronounced. "Post-2008, we will transition to 64-bit. Many Microsoft products are becoming 64-bit only today, because they're realizing the benefits of 64-bit computing. Exchange Server 2007, Windows Compute Cluster Server, and Windows Server Virtualization are all 64-bit only today, because they give significant benefits." Source: BetaNews | Windows Server 2008 'The Last 32-bit Operating System' ttfn David Technorati tags: Cougar , x64 , Windows Server 2008 , Longhorn

I have only just seen this in my inbox, but it looks worth doing!! Do you have a ‘benny’ if you can’t find ‘owt’ in your familiar local lingo when you are writing documents and letters? To celebrate the launch of the 2007 Office system and the richness of the British language, Microsoft has partnered with the British Library to develop a series of online dictionaries made up of local dialects...and we want you to contribute! How many people talk about ‘hoying’ a ball or even taking a ‘crib’ when they have a cup of tea? With an ever increasing mobile population, Microsoft and the British library and keen to preserve local identities and heritage. Jonathan Robinson, curator of English accents and dialects at The British Library says: “Britain has a rich heritage of different accents and dialects and, contrary to popular opinion, there is still a great deal of lexical diversity across the UK - where else would you find the words ‘cob’, ‘batch’, ‘bun’, ‘barm cake’, ‘stotty cake’, ‘scuffler’ and ‘bread cake’, all meaning bread roll?” said Jonathan. “But the English language is constantly changing. Due to a complex combination of influences, local words occasionally disappear from common usage or are replaced by others which become absorbed into our everyday vocabulary.” Darren Strange, Microsoft Office 2007 product manager, will also join Jonathan in judging the contributions to the new online dictionaries. “Lots of people believe that regional dialects are dying out, but this is a popular misconception,” added Darren. “It’s the diversity of Britain’s dialects that has led us to develop the new dictionaries. So in future, your Microsoft Outlook will be able to recognise emails where you ask your ‘marra’ to get you a ‘buttie’ instead of inserting red lines beneath all the unfamiliar words,” said Darren Strange. “We wanted to give everyone the chance to adapt and personalise their software, and at the same time recognise the diversity of dialects we use here in the UK that makes us completely different to any other country...

I know I need to wear my flame proof shorts for posting this, however, Chris has done an amazing post comparing the pain, process and time of doing a mail merge in Office 2007 and Open Office. He found that something that he could do without trouble in Word was not easy to understand and ONCE ALL SETUP, still took five times longer to then just process itself. When time is money, this pays for itself in Office 2007 (or 2003 or XP :-) ) All in all, the whole process took just under fifty minutes , five times longer than it did using Microsoft Office Word 2007 although this was considerably longer on my first few attempts as I struggled to locate the functionality in OOo and how to put the whole thing together. The conclusion... The time taken to complete essential tasks therefore is extremely important. If organisational end users were to be so unproductive then staffing overheads would considerably increase. Whereas Microsoft Word 2007 handled the process with the minimum of fuss and flexibility, using OOo actually felt like a development tool at times and a throw back to the days of Word 95. I've included the comprehensive screen shots here with the aim of allowing anyone to recreate this experiment. Thankfully, this is a science project, not a business. Source: Chris Parkes: A PC is not just for Christmas... : Microsoft Office Word 2007 and OpenOffice.org 2.2.0 Mail Merge Comparison ttfn David Technorati tags: OpenOffice , Office 2007 , Mail merge

Just a quick one - I was playing around with SQL2005 on my Longhorn server and I could not connect from a remote machine - Ahh I thought, the firewall is in the way, but it turned out I had to do 3 or 4 things to get things working. The Microsoft KB article that pointed to the light was How to configure SQL Server 2005 to allow remote connections which covers how to enable the firewall for the 2 programs you need and so on. When you try to connect to an instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 from a remote computer, you may receive an error message. This problem may occur when you use any program to connect to SQL Server. For example, you receive the following error message when you use the SQLCMD utility to connect to SQL Server: Sqlcmd: Error: Microsoft SQL Native Client: An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. This problem may occur when SQL Server 2005 is not configured to accept remote connections. By default, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition do not allow remote connections. To configure SQL Server 2005 to allow remote connections, complete all the following steps: Enable remote connections on the instance of SQL Server that you want to connect to from a remote computer. Turn on the SQL Server Browser service. Configure the firewall to allow network traffic that is related to SQL Server and to the SQL Server Browser service. Well, the above is all well and good, but we also need to remember that in a Vista and Longhorn setup the "admin" accounts do not have admin control over the database, so you may well also need to run the SQL 2005 Surface Area tool that enables you to add administrators I also found I had to enable network connections by going to the SQL Server Configuration Manager and enabling TCP connections on my IP v4 network. ttfn David Technorati tags: SQL , Vista , Longhorn...

I was recently asked how to get a trial of SBS. You can't download one, but as a customer you can order one here. Note that if you go to the international pages you might have to scroll around a bit to find the right bit of information. If you are a partner and wish to give them to use them with your customers then you only need one copy as you can re-use the key we provide you and you can get it from the Partner Marketplace For customers: Trial Software Kit for Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 North America – Order your CD package here. Other Locations – The SBS 2003 R2 Trial is not generally available outside North America. Please select your country from the SBS Worldwide page to determine whether the trial software is available in your location. For Partners: Partner MarketPlace - eg Market - Partners - Microsoft UK You searched for items of collateral related to the Small Business Server (SBS) group. To add items to your order, select a quantity from the drop down box. Description Type Audience Price Quantity Gear Up Sales Toolkit The Microsoft Gear Up Sales Toolkit is the licensing and sales 'product encyclopaedia' that will help you generate up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Marketing Kit Sales £0.00 Selling to Small Business Guide This guide explains Microsoft's approach to the Small Business market, and offers advice to Partners on how to maximise their sales and marketing efforts to this audience. Partner Guide Sales £0.00 Windows SBS 2003 R2 Integrated server solution for small businesses Evaluation Software All £0.00 ttfn David Technorati tags: Evaluation , SBS 2003

Over the past months I have had people say to me something like: "I have a customer who wants to use the Action Pack, what can I tell them as to why it is wrong" "I know someone who is abusing the action pack by selling it to customers" "I think someone is listed locally as a partner and should not be" I think this customer does not qualify or how do I tell people what is required to use the Action Pack So here is how we can help. To qualifty for the action pack you must (from https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/program/managemembership/actionpack/mapslicensing ) Who can subscribe to the Microsoft Action Pack? The Microsoft Action Pack Subscription is available exclusively to consultants, value-added resellers, value-added providers, system integrators, developers, system builders, hosts and service providers who are enroled as Microsoft Partner Programme Registered Members and who distribute or influence their customers’ acquisition of Microsoft software and Microsoft-based solutions. To become a partner, you need to look at the guide - https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/program/managemembership/actionpack/40005166 Who is Eligible to Join the Microsoft Partner Programme? The Microsoft Partner Programme is designed only for businesses whose primary function is to sell, service, support, or build solutions on the Microsoft platform or to provide solutions based on Microsoft products and technologies to independent third-party customers. Examples of qualifying businesses are: consulting services providers, independent software vendors (ISVs), independent hardware vendors, large account resellers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), support providers, system integrators, system builders, training providers, value-added resellers and value-added providers who sell more than 75 per cent of their products and services to customers outside their own company. Examples of non-qualifying entities are non-profit organisations, academic institutions, students, government offices and businesses whose...

I was talking to Adrian from EJC.IT yesterday (a great Small Business partner) and one comment that was made was that I sometimes post lots of entries and knowing which one to read if only one was to be read was hard. So, I have decided to create the " If you only read one post today " tag for those blog entries that fall into the category. Obviously this is one as it is the 1st one and tells you about it :-) [updated 11:33 on 23/05/2007] The URL to get just these posts is http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/If+you+only+read+one+post+today/default.aspx and the RSS feed for this is http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/rss.aspx?Tags=If+you+only+read+one+post+today&AndTags=1 ttfn David Technorati Tags: If you only read one post today

I have looked at many system crashed and often ended up concluding that RAM is at fault (random causes of BSODs is a very good pointer to this). It now appears that single bit errors is being considered as a major system failing. obviously, when spec'ing a server or computer perhaps you should consider ECC RAM as a standard to improve reliability. For about four years Microsoft has been collecting data through its Online Crash Analysis (OCA) tool that reports system crashes to a Microsoft Web site. About 18 months ago it began sharing OCA data and the white paper with systems and chip makers. According to one source, the report said single-bit error rates in DRAM are now among the top ten causes of systems failures Source: EETimes.com - Microsoft says PCs may need DRAM upgrade Technorati Tags: BSODs , ECC RAM

My trusty old SBS box that was a re-purposed server from somewhere else with old (very) cpus etc is crying at me lots. I've moved the databased elsewhere, but it won't be enough, so a new machine has been ordered. I hope to be able to put it together in the next day or two, however until it happens, the performance of the site will still stink a bit and might just hang every-so-often :-( Please bear with us, we hope to have normal transmission resumed as soon as possible

I saw this and was amazed twice - 1st that PC World magazine allowed their independence to be so badly tarnished and then 2nd the actual article that they wanted to print. Have a look at the story at http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130994/article.html or the what happened story below: A Nod to Journalistic Integrity Is Seen in an Editor’s Return Heidi Schumann for The New York Times Harry McCracken was reinstated as the editor in chief of PC World after a disputed article about Apple was posted on the publication’s Web site. Source: A Nod to Journalistic Integrity Is Seen in an Editor’s Return - New York Times ttfn David Technorati Tags: apple , PC World

I've said it before and I will say it again, the next version of SBS will be based on Longhorn - you need to go and get knowledgeable if you want to be good with SBS Cougar. Test-Drive Windows Server "Longhorn" Join a Virtual Lab to try out new and improved features and functionality in the upcoming Windows Server "Longhorn" release, including management, network protection, and improvements to Terminal Services. The site then has the following options: Step into a New Windows Server “Longhorn” Virtual Lab for Free It's simple-no complex setup or installation is required to try out Windows Server “Longhorn”. You get a downloadable manual and a 90-minute block of time for each module. You can sign up for additional 90-minute blocks anytime. Managing Windows Longhorn Server and Windows Vista using Group Policy Managing Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn Network Bandwidth with Policy-based Quality of Service Windows Server Longhorn Beta 2 Server Core Windows Server Longhorn Beta 2 Server Manager Microsoft Windows Server "Longhorn" Beta 2 Terminal Services Gateway and Remote Programs ttfn David Technorati Tags: Longhorn , Training

23 May 2007, London: Web Administration Summit: An In-depth Look at Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 in Windows Server "Longhorn" Windows Server "Longhorn" delivers Microsoft's most powerful pipeline of web technology around the latest version of Internet Information Services (IIS). Far from a simple version upgrade, IIS version 7.0 is an extensible platform for more reliably and securely hosting Web applications and services that are easy to manage at scale. IIS 7.0 is a major enhancement to earlier versions, offering for the first time a componentized architecture with full extensibility, a single integrated pipeline for all IIS and ASP.NET processing, and a comprehensive administration tool to support powerful diagnostics and delegated management. This comprehensive one-day seminar will introduce you to many of the key improvements in IIS 7, including administration, security and troubleshooting. 12 June 2007, Reading: Overview of Windows Server codename "Longhorn" The new Windows Server operating system, code named "Longhorn", is in the beta phase, with many of the final features and components present and functional. In this session we'll look at some of the core operating system features and how they enhance productivity and performance, and at the new security improvements. We'll also discuss a new feature called Network Access Protection and explain its uses. Finally, we will look at the significant changes and improvements in Terminal Services over previous versions of Windows. ttfn David Technorati Tags: Longhorn , Event

Since we will all have to learn Longhorn for the next version of SBS, here is a place to start Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" – Learning Portal Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" is the next-generation Windows Server operating system that helps IT professionals maximize control over their infrastructure with increased security, reliability, and flexibility. E-Learning training Collection 5934: Introducing Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" (Beta 3) — Free for a limited time! This online learning collection of five clinics introduces the new features and functionality in Windows Server "Longhorn." The courses cover server virtualization, security and policy management, branch office management, centralized application access, and server management. You can take the entire collection or just the courses that interest you. • Clinic 5936: Introducing Security and Policy Management in Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" (Beta 3) • Clinic 5937: Introducing Branch Office Management in Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" (Beta 3) • Clinic 5938: Introducing Centralized Application Access in Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" (Beta 3) • Clinic 5939: Introducing Server Management in Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" (Beta 3) Coming soon Over the next few months, even more training content will become available, including discounted books and free sample chapters from Microsoft Press, additional e-learning offerings, and classroom training delivered by Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions. Source: Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" – Learning Portal

I saw this and the whole article is well worth a read - a good Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday read to smile. I Shacked Up with Windows Vista Joe Wilcox Last week, Vista and I started living together again , and Tiger moved into an apartment across the hall. I like Vista, but she's sometimes a tough companion. Tiger and Vista are both attractive, but my new roomie is just so much more pleasing to look at—and she likes to do fun stuff that's quite different from the cat woman. Over the weekend we did the Vongo together and hung out at the Yahoo Music club. Tiger wouldn't do either. Vista also is much more social. She loves to nudge her friends and hang out at social clubs MySpace and Live Spaces . She's quite particular about her social calendar , too. Source: Microsoft Watch - Vista - I Shacked Up with Windows Vista ttfn David Technorati tags: Vista business value , MAC

I saw this was released and thought I had to share it - finally a resource will logo'd ready and community opinion on application compatibility for Vista. It states: Welcome to the Windows Vista Application Readiness Beta site! The central place to find and share information about software that runs on the Windows Vista platform. Browse through a comprehensive listing of applications that have a Windows Vista Logo or are Ready for Windows Vista, See comments on compatibility that the community has contributed and The url is easy to remember with www.windowsvista.com/appreadiness . As a quick sample you have the following: Browse by Application A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ( Browse by Company ) Or the "new" sections: NEW! Community Submitted Applications Application App Version Company Comments Status Cosmocall 4.5.0 Build 3201 Cosmocom ( www.cosmocom.com ) Not working on Windows Vista Incompatible with Windows Vista Harvst V. 7 patch 3 Computer Associates (All Fusion) Waiting for release of patch for Vista Incompatible with Windows Vista Majestic Chess unknown Sierra Currently there is only one version on the market. It appears as if Sierra is no longer making this game. Is there a way to get some shim to install the game? Incompatible with Windows Vista fishscape v .001 fishes Doesn't play well on Vista. Incompatible with Windows Vista NEW! ISV Supported Windows Vista Applications Application App Version Company Status Oracle Database 10g 10.2.0.3 Oracle Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office 2.0.0 Microsoft Corporation Garmin Training Center 3.2.3 3.2.3 Garmin International VectorWorks 12.5.1 12.5.1 Nemetschek North America FileMaker Pro 9 9.0.1 FileMaker, Inc. ttfn David Technorati tags: Vista business value , Application Compatibility

[updated 16:42 9th May 2007 with url for MS Support of this] [updated 9:45 22nd July 2007 with url to fix for install dialog coming up with word] I was recently asked in Office 2003 and Office 2007 can co-exist on the same system. The answer is yes, except for Outlook which as in previous versions get a little precious if this is attempted (it will not let you do this, btw). You can choose to have them both installed to the same drive or one to an external hard drive, it does not matter. The key option is when installing Office 2007 is to customise the options and select to NOT uninstall the previous versions. When you install both copies of Office to be installed on 1 machine that switching between Word 2003 and Word 2007 will result in an install dialog box coming up. See How to get rid of the installer / configuration dialog when running Office 2007 and Office 2003 on the same system - for Vista and other versions of Windows to fix this. For more support information, look at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928091 which details the install order and any key requirements Thanks David

I did a quick scan and it seems that this month Office is the main target of updates, along with one critical one for Windows Server (for DNS RPC attack) and one for IE7. Worth a quick download and install :-) I also got this in the mail today: Apple QuickTime 7.x must be upgraded to 7.1.5 or higher. On the security updates: Microsoft is releasing the following new security bulletins for newly discovered vulnerabilities: Bulletin Number Maximum Severity Affected Products Impact MS07-023 Critical Microsoft Excel (all currently supported versions) Remote Code Execution MS07-024 Critical Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 (Mac) Remote Code Execution MS07-025 Critical Microsoft Office (all currently supported versions) Remote Code Execution MS07-026 Critical Microsoft Exchange (all current versions) Remote Code Execution MS07-027 Critical Internet Explorer - all current versions on all currently supported versions of Microsoft Windows Remote Code Execution MS07-028 Critical CAPICOM, BizTalk Server Remote Code Execution MS07-029 Critical Windows 2000 (server), Windows Server 2003 Remote Code Execution Summaries for these new security bulletins may be found at the following pages: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms07-May.mspx Customers are advised to review the information in the bulletins, test and deploy the updates immediately in their environments, if applicable. Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool Microsoft is releasing an updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Windows Update (WU) and the Download Center. Note that this tool will NOT be distributed using Software Update Services (SUS). Information on the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool can be located here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=40573 High-Priority Non-Security Updates on Microsoft Update (MU), Windows Update (WU), Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Software Update Services (SUS) Microsoft is also releasing High-Priority...

I was asked this by someone today and thought I would show you the differences BCM Contact General Page followed by the Outlook Contact General Page: There are lots of differences, but the big ones are: Information Source - where did it come from, how did you get this contact and which account started it. Classification - Is this a lead and is the person still "active". Also who is managing this person, what their credit rating is and whether there is a payment issue BCM Details Page followed by the Outlook Details Page: A host of job related information and then a section for personal information about the person, plus a huge comments section. There is also the communication preferences piece and the ability to suppress mailings (do not call, do not e-mail, do not fax, do not mail (write to on paper)). Finally the BCM (only) History Page: Some of this information can be automatically generated, so for example, the e-mail items can be auto generated whenever you mail, or they mail you. ttfn David Technorati Tags: BCM , Business Contact Manager , Contact

I've talked about this before, but thought it was worth pointing people to this Installing a Self-Signed Certificate as a Trusted Root CA in Windows Vista [Today's post comes to us courtesy of Wayne McIntyre] In order for RPC over Http to work you must have a Trusted CA Root Certificate installed and configured. In a situation where you are using a self-signed cert you will need to install the certificate into the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store. 1. Connect to your OWA site by going to https://host.domainname.com/exchange FOR THE REST OF THE INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK TO THE SOURCE BELOW Source: The Official SBS Blog : Installing a Self-Signed Certificate as a Trusted Root CA in Windows Vista ttfn David Technorati Tags: Vista , Certificate , SBS

I found this and thought people might find it useful to see what our research showed us about the regions around the UK. The background is given as: Microsoft UK recently carried out online research, in conjunction with You.Gov to find out where in Britain most small businesses were being formed and to see if there was any correlation between geographies and the types of vertical sectors that dominated the small business landscape . It also sought to identify how successful small businesses were developing their business and their employees, and where they were investing money to help it succeed further. This site highlights the key findings for each of the UK regions excluding Northern Ireland (regions defined by Government Office). If you go to http://regionalhotspots.co.uk/default.htm and hover over the icons on the map you can learn more. ttfn David

I have just got my new mobile phone and I thought I would update the BCM client - a quick trip to http://download.microsoft.com (link takes you to these results) led me to these results below. I think the ones shown are key for many people. Results for - "business contact manager" Title Release Date Popularity Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager: Prevent error message about version mismatch when certain Office 2007 applications are launched Prevents error message about version mismatch when you start certain Office 2007 applications on a computer that is running Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager 5/1/2007 #963 Outlook 2007 or 2003 with Business Contact Manager Add-in: Business Contacts for Pocket PC This release is an add-in that allows you to synchronize your business contacts and a subset of your communication history to your Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC. 4/25/2007 #536 Business Contact Manager Database Admin Tool Users of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007 may want to install the Business Contact Manager database on a remote server which is not running Office 2007. This tool, when run on a server, allows users to create, share and administer databases for use with Business Contact Manager. 3/29/2007 #1705 Outlook 2007 Document: Deploying Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager in a Remote Database Configuration Learn about installing and configuring a Business Contact Manager for Outlook database by using Microsoft SQL Server 2005. 3/21/2007 #2390 Service Pack 4 for Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager Update and Small Business Accounting This service pack provides the latest updates to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager Update to enable application compatibility with Windows Vista, and to allow compatibility with Office Accounting 2007. 3/5/2007 #124 Office Live Contact Map This download will install a sample code mashup for Microsoft Office Live which is designed to map the addresses of all contacts included in an Office...

I thought you should be aware of this WSUS 3.0 on SBS White Paper Released [Today's post comes to us courtesy of Chris Puckett] WSUS 3.0 has released. You can download it here . For information on installing WSUS 3.0 on your SBS 2003 SP1 or R2 server, check out the Installing WSUS 3.0 on SBS 2003 whitepaper. The issue blogged in February 2007 regarding Vista updates not synching in SBS 2003 R2 has been fixed in WSUS 3.0. If you experienced performance issues like high cpu usage by svchost, a UI hang and long scan times, the new new WUA client included with WSUS 3.0 addresses these issues in combination with the MSI update in KB 927891 . It’s important to note that the new client is only a partial solution for the svchost/msi issue and clients must have both KB 927891 and the new 3.0 client installed for a full solution. Source: The Official SBS Blog : WSUS 3.0 on SBS White Paper Released Having looked at the whitepaper it seems it covers the following areas: Install WSUS v3 on 2003 SBS SP1 and R2 (when to press cancel) Upgrading Windows Small Business Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 to Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 while running Windows Server Update Services 3.0 (uninstall WSUS 1st and then re-install the database) Uninstalling and reinstalling Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 components on a server that is running WSUS 3.0 (uninstall WSUS 1st and then re-install the database) ttfn David Technorati tags: SBS 2003 , SBS 2003 R2 , WSUS v3

Collaboration Discover tools for managing information and collaborating with others. · Collaboration Selection Guide SharePoint · Collaborating with SharePoint Server 2007 Overview · SharePoint Server 2007 Sites & Workspaces Selection Guide · SharePoint Server 2007 Document Collaboration Get Started · SharePoint Server 2007 Team Sites Get Started · Customizing a SharePoint Server 2007 Site Get Started · SharePoint Server 2007 Web Parts Learn More · SharePoint Server 2007 Meeting Workspaces Get Started · SharePoint Server 2007 My Sites Get Started · SharePoint Server 2007 Site Access and Storage Learn More · SharePoint Server 2007 Surveys Get Started · Outlook 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007 Integration Overview · Outlook 2007 and SharePoint Server 2007 Integration Get Started · Using InfoPath 2007 Forms on a SharePoint Server 2007 Site ttfn David Technorati tags: Office 2007 , Collaboration , Job Aids

I have had someone ask me about POP3 mail and Outlook 2007 wiht Yahoo mail, so here is a walk through. Go to the tools menu and select Account Settings. press New selected the top option filled in my details and clicked next let it finish processing job done Going back to Account settings screen I see that the settings are not quite the same as the details at http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/original/mailplus/pop/pop-36.html Clicking More Settings the last tab needed some changing from the screen on the left to the screen on the right that is it - SSL based login and e-mail working ttfn David Technorati tags: yahoo mail , Outlook 2007