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Blogs

  • Office 2007 and Office System events from Technet team and others

    Exchange 16 May 2007, Reading: Overview of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 At this session we will discuss how Exchange gives administrators more control, provides 'anywhere access' to your inbox, and in-built security and protection mechanisms. We'll also cover the new Exchange Management Console, and look at how Windows PowerShell, the new administrative interface, provides a rich command-line experience. We will finish with a look at the significant client-side improvements and transport rules. SharePoint 25 April 2007, Reading: Planning and Deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Part 1 Find out what SharePoint Server 2007 has to offer. At this session we will present the concepts of topology, server roles and network conditions. We'll also provide an overview of administration features, introduce the three-tier administration model and explain various security topics. Third-party Events 8 February 2007, Microsoft TVP, Reading: SharePoint User Group The first main SUGUK meeting this year is probably...
  • Using Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) to share documents and ensure everyone is up to date by using Outlook shared attachments

    So we have great documents, but as soon as often they are shares, they get out of date. Examples of this are price lists product information shared resources list To get over this we are going to look at Document Workspaces in CompanyWeb and Office 2003. Let’s start at the beginning, no matter what I tell people, they do not like going to a web site to load, upload a file etc. Also, setting user permissions is a nightmare and they might even just start passing round usernames and passwords. The most obvious answer for most people is to use e-mail. The very process of creating an e-mail with an attachment and marking it as a live attachment creates a document workspace. It is secured to only those people that the e-mail goes to and the document knows where it came from, so will try ot update the site or get updates from the site when saved and loaded. This ensures that any document sent this way, or using a document work group will auto-update. Documents stored on SharePoint sites like to auto update. Each time...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Jun 13 2006
  • SQL 2005 updates - SP1 - worth having for the new management console

    SQL 2005 only seems like it poped out the door a week ago and already we have SP1. Having said that, it arrived in November 2005 and there were a couple of things that people wanted, but we could not ship in time. One was a management console for the repalcement to the free MSDE - this is now part of SP1. Details on how to impletment SP1 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/sp1.mspx . The press release with all the details is located at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/apr06/04-19SQLExpands06PR.mspx , but the key points are: SP1 delivers on this vision in the following ways: SP1 delivers production-ready Database Mirroring functionality for continuous availability. This complements the existing Always On Technologies in SQL Server 2005 such as failover clustering, database snapshots, snapshot isolation and log shipping. Since launch, Database Mirroring has been extensively tested by Microsoft and its thriving customer community to help ensure that it provides the high availability necessary...
  • Check if your machine is ready for Vista with the Get Ready tool – Vista Ready or capable PC specs

    You will be hearing more from me around Windows Vista and Office 2007 over the coming months. Until the beta ships, one of the first things you might want to do is to find out if yours and your customers systems are likely to have any problems running Vista. People often ask what the minimum specs are for running Vista and there are really three ways to think on this: What can run Vista, provide access to search and new UI features All of the above, plus the 3D and transparency graphics Take advantage of all of the features possible To take advantage of the nice graphics, you will need at least 64MB of speedy graphics memory (but my 2yr old laptop with a Radeon 7600 does this fine) and a graphics card that the manufacturer states will be available with both a WDDM graphics driver and will support “Glass” For the other features, you will need to have technology such as TPM 1.2 or above for the BitLocker technology or SideShow technology to enable applications that run on other hardware alongside your PC. This defines...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, May 18 2006
  • Off Topic - How not to retain customers - Someone wants to cancel their AOL subscription

    I just had tto post this. Microsoft sometimes gets a bit of a kicking about support, but things like the Official SBS podcast , changes to search on our http://support.microsoft.com site, people like me and even the huge SBS community have changed most peoples experience with our support. When I say this, you just have to laugh in amazement as to what was going through this guys mind? http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=5ff445af-bf5c-4c3c-9424-ff467ea97a87&f=rssimbot_us_default ttfn David
  • Bill Gates one regret in life - from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

    Someone posted about a speech Bill gave and while it is worth reading / watching the whole thing, one thing stood out - his regret and how it is now a focus for his life and money: Bill Gates - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation But taking a serious look back… I do have one big regret. I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world—the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair. I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences. But humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries—but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity—reducing inequity is the highest human achievement. I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Feb 7 2008
  • What is the Demo Showcase and how do you use it?

    I have a mate at work, Chris, who has always been a good and clever egg the whole time I have known him. He is also very passionate about partners getting the right level of support as well as liking Stoke City, but something's just have to be forgiven. One thing he has got a bee in his bonnet about this year is the Demo Showcase, which we will be using for all our demos going forward for a while. If you have been to an ignite tour, that was based on an early version of the Showcase DVD set. Chris has been a prolific blogger on the subject - this is a great tool for you to use, so look at: Whoever heard of the Demo Showcase for the People Ready Business? The Demo Showcase Line Up What Does the Demo Showcase Look Like (Physically)? What Does the Demo Showcase Look Like (in Reality?) The Demo Showcase Team Tactics ttfn David
  • This consumer operating systems stuff is harder than 1st thought – Red Hat and Novell no longer targeting consumers with desktop Linux

    I saw this and it made me smile – looks like building a desktop OS for consumers is harder than people thought :-) And I thought consumers were more willing to put in time to fiddle too, so that makes the enterprise play even less likely for me!! Red Hat skips consumer Linux desktop Red Hat has no plans to create a traditional desktop product for the consumer market, but will continue to place its bets on a desktop for commercial markets. "We are focused on infrastructure software for the enterprise market, and to that market we are offering the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop," said Michael Chen, vice president of corporate marketing at Red Hat. "You need a different support ecosystem and applications for the consumer desktop," Chen added. Among the company's desktop goals for 2008 and 2009 is to ensure that its desktop products complement its server and middleware products, Red Hat said in a company blog post Wednesday. Red Hat's strategy is similar to that of Novell , which is currently...
  • Microsoft Security products - Forefront and the next version codename Stirling

    I have grabbed these security tit-bits from Technet this month and thought I would share them with you. Expect to be playing with Forefront in one form or another with a year, so might as well see what it does now :-) Microsoft Unveils Next-Generation Forefront Business Security Solution Codename "Stirling" http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6951832 Announced this month, the new Microsoft Forefront solution, codename "Stirling," is a single product that will deliver unified security management and reporting with comprehensive, coordinated protection across client, server applications, and network edge. "Stirling" acts as a distributed system, sharing and correlating information to identify complex threats, and dynamically responding to protect the organization. Microsoft Forefront Client Security 120-Day Trial Is Available http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6959785 Microsoft Forefront Client Security 120-day trial version is available for evaluation, a security solution that helps protect...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Jul 8 2007
  • Do you want to write code for Windows Home Server? Do you want intellisense to make it easier?

    I came across this and thought I would share it. Microsoft have released the SDK for Windows Home Server, but you don't get intellisense with it. The SDK can be found at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa496121.aspx . HomeServerControls Documentation for Developers If intellisense, public classes and methods mean absolutely anything to you, then Brendan Grant is your man. Due to the lack of intellisense documentation, he has compiled an XML file and an accompanying help file explaining what some of the public classes and methods exposed by HomeServerControls do. More information and the downloads are on Brendan’s blog and also on the accompanying thread on the Windows Home Server forums. HomeServerControls Documentation for Developers « MS Windows Home Server ttfn David Technorati Tags: Developer , Windows Home Server , Intellisense
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Sep 25 2007
  • Read between the lines of the recent Google/Yahoo/Microsoft announcements

    I saw this and had to share ... just a little too much truth in them I think :-) The Google Strategy Will Backfire We forget that Google is still a very young company. But they just reminded us ... Continue Parsing Yahoo!: What Makes You Think We're Desperate? Given its grim outlook as a stand-alone company, Yahoo! suppresses its glee as it steps into play ... Continue Parsing Google: Don't Trust the Old Bully, Just the New One Parsing Google: Only benevolent giants like us should be able to buys things ... Continue Parsing Microsoft, the New Champion of Choice Protecting the existence of alternatives to a dominant player used to seem like a bad idea in Redmond. Suddenly, Microsoft is using the language it has fought against for so many years ... Continue Spin Blog - Business Spin by Jack Flack - Portfolio.com ttfn David Technorati Tags: Google , Yahoo , Microsoft , Marketing , Spin
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 4 2008
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  • Some Technical Longhorn documentation

    Windows Longhorn Beta 3 Microsoft have unveiled the first publicly available test version of Windows Server, code-named “Longhorn” as Beta 3. The release allows people to evaluate the increased control, flexibility and protection and is available for download today at http://www.microsoft.com/getbeta3 . Please note this public beta is not supported for use in a production environment. The final version of Windows Server “Longhorn” is on track for release to manufacturing in the second half of 2007. http://www.microsoft.com/getbeta3 Windows Server "Longhorn": Server Core Organisations need their servers to be running effectively for as much time as possible. Windows Server "Longhorn" Server Core helps organisations to achieve this goal. Now, administrators can choose to install Windows Server "Longhorn" with only core server functionality and without any extra overhead. By reducing the roles that can be performed by the server, and removing the graphic user interface (GUI), the organisation...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Apr 30 2007
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  • FoxPro Service Pack beta

    Many years ago I used to do database development and my preferred environment was FoxPro. Well, were now on version 9 and the latest service pack is in beta. Have a play, but think how you can move to Access or SQL in the future. Microsoft Visual FoxPro 9.0 Service Pack 2 and "Sedna" - Beta This download contains the BETA release for Microsoft Visual FoxPro 9.0 SP2 and the "Sedna" add-ons. This release has two parts: The Sedna Beta download contains six components: VistaDialogs4COM, Upsizing Wizard, Data Explorer, NET4COM, MY for VFP and VS 2005 Extension for VFP. The VFP 9.0 SP2 Beta download contains a patch that can be applied to VFP 9.0 or VFP 9.0 SP1. In addition to fixes to the core product, this patch contains significant enhancements to the Reporting features. Note that the SP2 patch can only be applied to VFP 9.0 or VFP 9.0 SP1. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=05A0E7C9-43C1-417F-8810-AE7D7C66BAC8&displaylang=en ttfn David Technorati Tags: Foxpro , beta...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Aug 20 2007
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  • Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Technet information inc Cluster Edition information, AD Explorer, IIS7, Scenario feedback for Windows Server 2008

    Windows Server 2003 (including Cluster Edition) HPC Grid-Computing White Paper This paper explains the benefits of integrating Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 with Platform Computing's LSF grid-enabled solution, and describes the architecture and configuration of this integrated high-performance computing (HPC) solution. HPC Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Solution Brief FLUENT 6.3 running on the Windows Compute Cluster Server operating system yields a cost-effective parallel processing solution for CFD analysis. FLUENT 6.3 users running simulations on Windows can exploit the larger memory address space provided by 64-bit systems to run more detailed FLUENT simulations. CCS 2003 Partner White Papers Learn more about compute clusters, today's applications, and options available to you from CCS Partners. Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator Version 2.04 This is the latest version of the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator. The Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator enables connection of a Windows 2000, Windows...
  • If you want to get UK dialect words into the Microsoft dictionary then send the words asap (by 31st May)

    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...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, May 29 2007
  • Bad links now fixed

    Sooo many of you clicked the links in the posts from the last two days, but got an OWA screen that I had to go back and edit about 16 posts. All fixed now - thanks to Rob for pointing it out. ttfn David
  • How to get delivery problems examined by Microsoft for Windows Live Hotmail

    This is a really quick post, but sometimes people talk about delivery problems with Windows Live Hotmail and want to know if the problem is with Hotmail or some other part of the system. There is a team who can help with deliverability issues and will investigate these issues after a small amount of self checks (is the power turned on, do you have internet access, are the Hotmail servers working correctly etc). To get access to this team you need to fill out a form that can be found by going to http://postmaster.live.com/Troubleshooting.aspx and following the link to contact support under the " “Sender services, tools, and issue submission" section. As you can see from the image on the left, there are a number of items you can get help with. thanks David Technorati Tags: Hotmail , Windows Live Hotmail , troubleshooting
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Jul 16 2007
  • Windows Vista for beginners - new Vista Wallpaper collection by Hamad Darwish

    I found this great site - http://www.vista4beginners.com - which has some interesting content - first up, some great new wallpapers for Vista - which are great Vistas. Vista Wallpapers Collection Fri, 03/02/2007 - 11:46 — admin Today we are very pleased to announce that our site is hosting a great collection of Windows Vista wallpapers that did not make the cut into the final Vista Collection. The author of these great wallpapers is Hamad Darwish - a talented young man from Kuwait with a passion for photography. Read more Source: Windows Vista for beginners | Windows Vista made simple Technorati tags: Windows Vista , Vista , Wallpaper
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Mar 4 2007
  • Office Rocker!'s Office Live - Live interview with Tim Kimber (including the BT deal)

    If you have never heard of Office Live, go read the whole interview. If you have heard of it, but don't see the value, go read the interview to see what BT are doing with it. If you do not know about the BT and Microsoft Office Live deal.... I think you get the idea - it is not long, but will make you think for a bit about business models. Office Live - Live interview As Office Live comes out of beta, I thought it would be good to catch up on the latest news. Today I'm joined by Mr Office Live himself - Tim Kimber to tell us more: Hi Tim, perhaps you'd like to introduce yourself and what you do? I'm the Office Live Business & Marketing lead for Microsoft UK. Office Live is a set of web services for Small Businesses to help them get online and start promoting their companies how long has Office Live been available in the UK - is it still in beta? We launched the beta of Office Live in the UK on 21st November 2006, so we've been in market for around 6 months. We came out of beta on 23rd May...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Jun 15 2007
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  • The IW Center - podcasts on the office system

    I was looking for a trickle of information that includes videos and podcasts on the technologies around Office 2007 and the Office System. The IW Center is just the right place to get this info - worh a look. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Aug 15 2006
  • World's first IT support professional - just made me laugh

    [updated with a URL rather than embedded object] I got this mailed to me at work and just p**sed myself laughing - even my good lady thought this was fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMa3QBqf3t4 ttfn David Technorati Tags: Fun , Support , IT Support
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Apr 27 2007
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  • Help us to shape next-generation 64-bit technology - from Microsoft Partner Newsletter

    Help us to shape next-generation 64-bit technology We are shipping a private beta of our upcoming 64-bit server for medium-size businesses, codenamed 'Centro', and we're looking for partners to test the technology and give us feedback. The server, which is an x64-only version of Longhorn targeted at smaller enterprises, will integrate Exchange 2007, System Centre Essentials, SQL Server 2005 and ISA Server. To sign up to the beta programme, go to http://connect.microsoft.com/ , click on 'Invitations' (in the left-hand navigation) and sign in with your Windows Live ID (Passport ID). Then enter the following invite ID; Extr-GHBC-JCJM. You will be asked to take a short survey. When you have completed the survey you will receive an email from [email protected] . If you don't already trust this address, please add it to your trusted email addresses. More information on the beta programme More information on Centro Technorati tags: Centro , Beta , Exchange 2007 , System Center Essentials , SQL Server 2005
  • Office 2007 blog worth reading - information resources and what will change between now and the release

    Hello again, I have now been running Beta 2 of Office 2007 for a while and still love the product. It is still toooooo memory hungry - don't try running it on a 256MB machine, but it is still a product I constantly find myself missing when I have to go back to older versions. Search and the new UI are both godsends, as is the ability to make something more visually impactful. OK, so the blogs - there is this guy Jensen Harris - his blog is amazing. I would just like to point out two of his posts. The 1st includes a bunch of links for information - go get them if you want to know more about Office: http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/05/24/605678.aspx - snippet of most interest: Office User Interface Video Tour : This is a live action movie in which Julie Larson-Green and I give you a quick tour of the UI and some of the thinking that went into it. The build we were using for the video is a lot older than Beta 2, so you might notice some rough spots. Nonetheless, a number of people have said that they found...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Jun 18 2006
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  • Virtual Earth and Silverlight enable you to hunt aliens in many places

    This little mashup of Microsoft technologies just shows how things are going to change in the future. You can shoot aliens at any location that has birds eye view (In the UK that includes ( Wembley Stadium , Blackpool Tower , Millennium Dome and Brighton Pier ) http://www.andybeaulieu.com/silverlight/DestroyAll/Default.html?latitude=40.689059&longitude=-74.04455 ttfn David Technorati Tags: Local.live.com , silverlight
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Jul 2 2007
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  • Fantastic looking MiniPC's from Engadget - SA800 is stacked and ready to roll

    As is always the case, saw this and thought I would pass it on. Oh modular box of silicon affection, how we love thee. The latest -- the SA800 -- from MiniPC (Japan) is a DIY house of fun packing up to a Core 2 Duo T7600, 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 memory, 2.5-inch 40GB SATA disk, and an Intel 945GT chipset. Want more disk, no problem, stack a 3.5-incher in an extra slab above. Better video with HDMI-out or optical drives? Yup, they've got a stackable component for that and more. Have it your way starting early July in Japan. MiniPC's SA800 is stacked and ready to roll Posted Jun 29th 2007 8:57AM by Thomas Ricker Filed under: Desktops MiniPC's SA800 is stacked and ready to roll - Engadget ttfn David Technorati Tags: MiniPC , SA800 , Stacked
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Jun 29 2007
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