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This site is my way to share my views and general business and IT information with you about Microsoft, IT solutions for ISVs, technologists and businesses, large and small.  

Microsoft

  • How amazing in Windows Home Server? We Got Served blog shows that Paul Thurrott thinks it is amazing and a sign that innovation is alive and kicking at Microsoft. And no, small businesses should still go for SBS

    I just love the extract that Terry has pulled out at Paul Thurrott Reviews Windows Home Server | We Got Served . It shows that the SBS team who produced Windows Home Server (WHS) are a very good bunch at delivering solution oriented servers. Paul Thurrott Reviews Windows Home Server Posted by: Terry Walsh If you remain to be convinced by Windows Home Server, Paul Thurrott’s review offers an enthusiastic, yet balanced view of its strengths and weaknesses… thanks for the shout-out, Paul. Overall, WHS is a wonderful solution for problems you never knew you had. But make no mistake, these are very real problems that need to be addressed, and WHS does so in spectacular fashion. I’m looking forward to what the Home Server team does next, but even now in this initial release, they’ve spun some magic. Anyone who doubts whether innovation is alive and well at Microsoft simply needs to take a look at this product. Highly recommended Some people have asked me if WHS should go into small businesses and most of the time the...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Nov 2 2007
  • Microsoft lends a tech hand to U.K. startups

    I feel very close to this team... they sit just down a bit from me :-) All good stuff, plus go to the website if you have something you think could be a candidate. Microsoft lends a tech hand to U.K. startups Microsoft's Startup Accelerator Program will help startups use software technology such as Silverlight and Live Services</WEBTEASER _extended="true"> By Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service Microsoft will assist U.K. startups in using its software technology under a program launched on Monday by CEO Steve Ballmer. The Startup Accelerator Program will include technologies such as Silverlight , Microsoft's multimedia browser plug-in, and Live Services , a group of Web-based applications. Microsoft will also offer assistance in business development, marketing, and sales. Microsoft stands to gain momentum if startup companies are successful in building applications based on its technology. The program could also put Microsoft closer to key startups with technology that Microsoft would rather...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Oct 24 2007
  • Windows is now getting too difficult to hack, so the hackers sights are moving elsewhere, but that does not mean security is now easier.

    I have heard many times how Windows is the big target for virus and phishing nasty people in general, but more and more people are showing that Windows is just too hard to hack when applications and other platforms offer so much more opportunity. From the article at eBay: Phishers getting better organized, attacking Linux Dave Cullinane, eBay's chief information and security officer said that in his previous job protecting a bank from phishers "The vast majority of the threats we saw were rootkitted Linux boxes, which was rather startling. We expected Microsoft boxes. Rootkit software covers the tracks of the attackers and can be extremely difficult to detect. According to Cullinane, none of the Linux operators whose machines had been compromised were even aware they'd been infected. Although Linux has long been considered more secure than Windows, many of the programs that run on top of Linux have known security vulnerabilities, and if an attacker were to exploit an unpatched bug on a misconfigured...
  • Improved searching of Windows Servers (2003, 2008, SBS, Windows Home Server) and Windows desktops (Vista and XP) through the Windows Search 4.0 Preview which improves local and network searching

    There is a feature that I 1st found of Windows Home Server that can be applied to SBS, Windows Server, Windows Vista / XP and any other Windows system with Windows Search 3 or 4 on it. This feature is the ability to search the other machine’s index rather than the files, meaning that you can go to a file share and search 100s of GBs of files in a couple of seconds simply by using the Vista search box. The Search V4 Preview extends this ability to more versions of Windows. That is not all it does – see the note from the Windows Vista Team Blog : Announcing the Windows Search 4.0 Preview that has some information: Windows Search 4.0 introduces several improvements I'd like to call out making search even better in Windows Vista: With Windows Search 4.0, the Windows Search Team has fixed most of the reported bugs causing a majority of distractions users have seen since Windows Vista RTM - many of those bugs were reported by you. Great improvements have been made with regards to performance .Even now as Preview...
  • Microsoft catches up with illegal software seller

    I’ve been asked in the past why Microsoft didn’t take more action against rogue software resellers. We do and you will have seen adverts about this recently, but I saw this and thought I would share. My advice – if the price looks too good to be true, it is. Microsoft catches up with ITAC owner Barry Omesuh receives custodial sentence and could be forced to sell properties to pay £2.5m fine for parallel importing Written by Kayleigh Bateman CRN , 27 Jan 2009 Software giant Microsoft has claimed a "major victory" in its long-running piracy battle with now defunct Manchester based sub-distributor ITAC. ITAC managing director Barry Omesuh was given a total of seven custodial sentences at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, ranging between one and nine months and to be served concurrently, and also ordered to pay £2.5m in damages. Included in the court order was a grant to Microsoft enabling it to sell Omesuh's properties in order to pay his debts. Despite ITAC having...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Jan 28 2009
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  • Use and learn about Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 in Virtual Labs

    Windows Vista: Virtual Lab Express In this 30-minute Virtual Lab Express, you will configure new security features in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista. You can also watch our live and on-demand Windows Vista TechNet webcasts . 2007 Microsoft Office System: Virtual Lab Express Get a quick, hands-on overview of the 2007 Office system. In just 30 minutes, familiarise yourself with the new Ribbon bar, use the mini-toolbar and see how you can take advantage of Live Preview and the Gallery in the Office 2007 user interface. Also, watch our live and on-demand Office 2007 system webcasts for IT professionals and download Office system podcasts . Exchange Server 2007: Virtual Lab Express Get a quick, hands-on overview of Exchange Server 2007. In just 30 minutes, familiarise yourself with the Exchange Management Console and Outlook Web Access, and work with compliance and records management rules. Also, watch our live and on-demand Exchange Server webcasts and download Exchange Server podcasts . Technorati...
  • Microsoft code name "Acropolis" - Build WPF enabled applications simply with reusable modules, workflow and theming of your application

    I saw this and had to share.&#xA0; In the samples on the site it includes a RSS reader, Outlook tool and more! Welcome to Acropolis The Microsoft code name &#x201C;Acropolis&#x201D; Community Technology Preview is a set of components and tools that make it easier for developers to build and manage modular, business focused, client .NET applications. Acropolis is part of the &#x201C;.NET Client Futures&#x201D; wave of releases, our preview of upcoming technologies for Windows client development. Acropolis builds on the rich capabilities of Microsoft Windows and the .NET Framework, including Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), by providing tools and pre-built components that help developers quickly assemble applications from loosely-coupled parts and services. With Acropolis you will be able to: Quickly create WPF enabled user experiences for your client applications. Build client applications from reusable, connectable, modules that allow you to easily create complex, business-focused applications...
  • IIS and SSL troubleshooting tools from Microsoft

    WFetch 1.4 A tool aimed at helping resolve problems where the browser is unable to connect to a Web site. SSL Diagnostics Version 1.1 (x64) Download this troubleshooting tool for Internet Information Services (IIS). SSL Diagnostics Version 1.1 (x86) Download this troubleshooting tool for Internet Information Services (IIS). Technorati tags: IIS , support tools , SSL , browser
  • Where to start to build products that integrate with Microsoft Office

    I came across the OBA (Office Business Applications) web site www.OBACentral.com which has lots of information about nearly 200 OBA solutions. While there is a getting started and "on ramp" information on the site, I found the MSDN site ( Office Integration ) which I like almost as much. Given the prevalence of the Office Platform, assuming it is there and building on it can make life much easier!! Office Integration Need to integrate two or more Office products? Need to integrate Office products with other Microsoft products and technologies? Want to learn about designing and building applications using the Microsoft Office System? This section of the portal provides pointers to resources that will help you build real-world business solutions. Office Business Applications The 2007 Microsoft Office system provides a comprehensive set of servers, clients, and tools to make it easier for enterprises, software vendors and developers to build and deploy a new class of business applications called Office...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Nov 1 2007
  • Webinar: Overcoming the challenges of a Dispersed Workforce Apps, Data and Security

    British Computer Society on delivering solutions for remote working during the Covid Pandemic.

    ...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Aug 5 2020
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  • The best event at Microsofts World Wide Partner Conference - about you and the community, presented by the community - Mark Taylor, Susanne Dansey and Tom Crosby

    This years World Wide Partner Conference should be a storming success - yes, I will be attending for the 1st time and presenting, but that is not why. Why, you ask, well probably one of the most important sessions for those who work in the Small Business market is going to be the sessons on the community. And one of the best will be presented by 3 fine community members in the UK. These people do not work for Microsoft and the community they represent is not owned by Microsoft, but we walk the same path helping eachother out because it has benefit to our business to do so, The short answer is to be there, at the Small Business Symposium on Monday 10th July. Look for the Community presentation by these three. You will learn what has powered the UK & Irish communities both in terms of their success and the individual partner success. They have broadened their relationships beyond just Microsoft and are having real impact with other vendors such as HP, CA etc. Finally, they will deliver a one-two on resources...
  • David and others, slightly drunk, speaking poetry on the South Bank

    This is just a silly post, but thought I would share: Of course, not wanting to do it alone, many others also joined in. Did I mention that we were standing on our chairs at a bar under the bridge with a lot of confused people around us? - Matt Brady was very animated in his performance - Stephie shows us that the Scottish have romantic hearts - Danny picked the shortest poem. but picked on people as "characters" - Steve Clayton decided to do a duet with Stephanie who found it all a bit too much
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Sep 12 2007
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  • New build of Vista SP1 RC Preview to load and rumour that Vista SP1 Confirmed for February 15

    I've been running Vista SP1 builds for a while and I like them. I don't like the process of changing builds which is "simply" a case of uninstalling the old build, letting it reboot twice, updating the registry, doing find updates in windows update, reboot, do it again, reboot, do it again, wait 15 mins, do it again, then let it install for a chunk of time, reboot twice more. Now, you won't have this fun when the "real" update comes out, but us testers simply enjoy this process!! To get the latest preview go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=529d992a-d69e-4c73-9213-7a7f3852c0ca&DisplayLang=en Vista SP1 Confirmed for February 15 – XP SP3 Too? Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is just around the corner. Despite the fact that Microsoft continues to point to the first quarter of 2008 as the deadline for the delivery of Vista's first service pack, it appears that the refresh will drop as early as next month. According to the Redmond company, Vista SP1 is...
  • Office Live beta in the UK and how it works & competes with SBS 2003

    I have been behind on my blogging (have you noticed)? I was at the Bristol SBS group Christmas dinner (did I say thanks yet to Richard and Mark?) and we got to discussing Office Live. So first off, as to what Live is, why not go and have a look at Eileen Browns blog on it and then lets get down to the discussion points. They were: Who really wants this type of solution? Does Live compete with SBS? Can I make money out of Live If someone has Live, can I sell them SBS too? If someone has Live, can I "upgrade" them from this to SBS? So lets answer these is order: Who really wants this type of solution? Well, there are loads of small businesses out there that want a web site, some more professional e-mail addresses than simply "[email protected]" (don't try mailing this address, if it exists, then they won't like it, but more likely it will not). Office Live will give them a website of http://www.somecompany.com e-mail addresses that at "@somecompany.com" and a simple way to build the site - for...
  • Simple Office / Excel information to share with customers

    This is a fab tool - for example, the page has: Inside Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Stop the Press -Microsoft Office Excel 2007 - making working with numbers easier than ever! Where minutes are kept and hours are wasted Well-planned and organised meetings can be very useful. However, not all meetings leave attendees feeling like their time has been well spent! ttfn David Technorati Tags: Excel , Tips
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Jan 24 2008
  • Time constraints if you want to upgrade Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) Premium SP1 - SBS 2003 Premium ISA 2004 CD must be ordered before 31st December 2007

    I saw this and having had a few people who could not order, or have not ordered yet, this is about as loud as I can make it!!! From The Official SBS Blog : Upgrading Existing Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) Installations to SBS 2003 SP1 - GET IT BEFORE THE END OF 2007 OR DON'T GET ISA 2004!!! SBS 2003 Premium customers may order an SP1 Premium CD3 which contains the ISA 2004 technologies. The site above has direct links for ordering: North America: Order your Premium Edition CD3 online . If you encounter problems during your ordering process, please contact a customer service representative at 1-800-360-7561. Europe/Middle East/Africa: Order your Premium Edition CD3 online . If you encounter problems during your ordering process, please contact a customer service representative at [email protected] . ttfn David Technorati tags: SBS 2003 SP1
  • Is Microsoft finally getting back a "cool" rap - Popfly, Silverlight, Home Server, Surface?

    Again, I saw this on the home Server blog and thought it was worth sharing. Not the information about Surface or Home Server - I have commented on those before, but the fact that people are finally saying these products are cool: Unless you've been hiding in a cave somewhere (or just maybe working really hard this week) you've probably caught some of the incredible buzz for Microsoft Surface , unveiled at the Wall Street Journal's D conference this week. USA Today tech columnist Andrew Kantor says Surface is the "second product in a row ( following Windows Home Server ) to 'just work,' a la Apple." Kantor wrote about Home Server last week, too: "Even if you only have a single computer in your home, dedicating an older machine as a WHS is a good idea simply for the protection against hard disk failure and the ability to pool your drives." ZDNet bloggers Dan Farber and and Larry Dignan also connect Home Server to Surface, saying the two could complement each other. What do...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Jun 13 2007
  • SQL Security and SQL on Vista / Windows Server 2008

    Security Tip of the Month: User Account Control and SQL Server http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7243604 By Devendra Tiwari, Microsoft SQL Server Product Team User Account Control (UAC), a new feature in Windows Vista that helps administrators manage their use of elevated privileges, affects Microsoft SQL Server in terms of connectivity (SQL Server login) and in limiting access to resources on the administrators' access control list (ACL). This article discusses the impact of UAC on SQL Server and presents tips on how to run SQL Server applications securely in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. SQL Server 2005 Security Overview for Database Administrators http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7243606 This paper covers some of the most important new security features in SQL Server 2005. It tells you how, as an administrator, you can install SQL Server securely and keep it that way even as applications and users make use of the data stored within. Security Considerations for SQL Server http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid...
  • Microsoft Gets Gartner's Business Intelligence Top Ranking -- Business Intelligence

    Remember that BI starts with data in Excel and then includes SQL and builds from there. One of the nice things is that BI is now accessible to any business that wants to analyse their business. Now all that is needed is the understanding of what questions do I want to ask and what data do I have that can help me!! Microsoft Gets Gartner's Business Intelligence Top Ranking The company makes a surprise leap ahead of Business Objects and Cognos in its ability to execute on BI products and pricing. Business Objects and Cognos have long been considered the leaders in business intelligence platforms. But in a surprising new report, Gartner ranks Microsoft ahead of those companies in its ability to execute. Gartner's "magic quadrants" are typically annual market evaluations that place software vendors in one of four quadrants within a square: niche players, visionaries, challengers, and leaders. Specific placement within a quadrant depends on a vendor's ability to execute, which moves them upward...
  • How to change where SQL Server looks for it’s master datafiles (master.mdf)

    I’ve found myself moving datafiles around or backing up to new locations before enough that I need to change SQL to point to the new locations before it will start for me to do further work.  The process to get it up and running is to find the SQL instance in the registry and change 3 values. The magical location is: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10. <instance> \MSSQLServer\Parameters” Under here you will file 3 arguments.  Notice the double backslashes “\\” which is required for each single backslash you want.  For example, for my site, I have changed them from the default instance pointers to: "SQLArg0"="-dD:\\databases\\Community Server\\master.mdf" "SQLArg1"="-eD:\\databases\\Community Server\\ERRORLOG" "SQLArg2"="-lD:\\database_logs\\Community Server\\mastlog.ldf" Change these to the location of your datafiles.  The “-d” is for the master database datafile, “–e” for the Error Log and finally...
  • UK Managing Director Leaves the UK bound for Microsoft Corp - welcome to Gordon Frazer from South Africa

    Today we had a bit of a kick of for FY07 (Financial Year 07 in Microsoft) and a review of FY 06. We had a healthy year with excellent growth (this is no way a prediction of the MS Company results) and we also did a bit of sweeping a few things out. It has been speculated for a little while that Alistair Baker would be moving on and today we had it confirmed. As of 31st July, the new MD of MS UK will be Gordon Frazer from the South African Sub. He did seem like a very positive and fired up person, so I think this will be nothing but goodness, as will having another Brit in the power halls at MS in the States. For the press release, have a look at http://www.microsoft.com/uk/press/content/presscentre/releases/2006/07/PR03662.mspx ttfn David
  • Citrix, HP and Brian Madden seem to think "Citrix Access Essentials is actually cool now!"

    I've been doing some work with Citrix and I've started to see a bit on an alignment come together for the small business arena. There are still areas where just a few users on terminal services is just fine - ala the white paper ( SBS 2003, Virtual Server and / or Terminal Services and why use virtualisation and the risks to consider ), but for those who need better management, have more users, heavier applications or poor comms then the Citrix solution is good. Even Brian Madden was impressed and if you read all of his blog article then you will see it took a long time to impress him The next day I sat down with her at iForum. She sat across the table, smiled, leaned in, and asked point-blank why I have been ignoring CAE. Apparently she’d changed positions within Citrix, and whatever it is she’s doing now, she’s very passionate about CAE. I leaned back in my chair, took a sip of Coke, closed my eyes and exhaled, saying, “Vicky, there is nothing at all about CAE that is even remotely interesting.” “That...
  • Microsoft Small Business Specialists Community Managed Newsgroups

    This is so important I just had to blog on it. As a SBSC member you now have access to a superb support organisation to answer your questions. No longer do you have to rely on me being there for you (as I have not been for the last couple of weeks). To get there, go to Microsoft Small Business Specialists Community Managed Newsgroups and go through the sign-in process. You can ask questions on any Microsoft Technology and someone from the community or Microsoft will be able to help, and often in a very speedy way. Give it a try - you will be amazed and it might just save your bacon one night in front of a server. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Sep 5 2006
  • SQL Server documentation (Reporting Services, XML in 2008, Spatial Data, Security for DBAs, Consolidation, Synchronisation, Compact Edition books, Scale out Analysis Services)

    From the TRM Blog at November 2007 - Technical Rollup Mail - SQL Reporting Services in SQL Server 2008 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services provides a complete server-based platform that is designed to support a wide variety of reporting needs including managed enterprise reporting, ad-hoc reporting, embedded reporting, and web based reporting to enable organizations to deliver relevant information where needed across the entire enterprise. Reporting Services 2008 provides the tools and features necessary to author a variety of richly formatted reports from a wide range of data sources and provides a comprehensive set of familiar tools used to manage and secure an enterprise reporting solution. Reports are processed and delivered quickly and effectively, enabling users to either receive reports automatically through subscriptions, to access reports from a central report repository on an ad-hoc basis, or to consume reports in context of their business processes through reports directly embedded into their...
  • Find out a bit about small businesses in the UK from the UK Small Business Regional Hotspots web page

    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
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, May 4 2007
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