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  • Jeff Raikes (Important Exec at Microsoft) talkes about lots of things, including how Office might go in a SaaS / SwS world

    This is funny, I was discussing Software as a Service (SaaS) / Software with Service (SwS) with a few people the other day. I said that I thought Exchange and Outlook were the best examples of Software WITH Service and why SWS is better than SAAS. Lets run through a scenario, it’s OK, not brilliant, but highlights the point. Client Server – a bit like Outlook with a POP3 account and no offline functionality. Service only – Exchange without any client except Outlook Web Access – full web based access – the 07 version is great, but no offline capability and limited by what a browser can do. Software WITH Service – Outlook connected to Exchange 07 – can use on the web (OWA) can use disconnected – Outlook in Cached mode. You get the best when the two are connected and working together. To me, this is the ideal of the future – I get what I want when I want it – like now, on a train, writing this blog – I hit send, when I sync up, it will appear on my blog. Magic and the 3 hours on the train are useful catch-up time...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Mar 7 2007

  • Is it me, or is Apple using just slightly arrogant language aboutthe iPhone?

    I saw this and just decided I had to write about it. In the UK we are used to buying a phone at a cost, or for a lower to zero value with a contract. As I understand it, the iPhone will cost $499 in the states when tied to a contract. Wow, so I obviously just don’t get it as that is not up my street at all. Then I saw this and almost balked “realize that free mobile phones are worthless”. They are not free though – they are tied to a contract, so cost money each month. I found this offensive – obviously just getting sensitive in my old age. I still love my Windows Mobile phone J : Apple Expects Huge Demand for iPhones Apple's COO predicts that 10 million customers will pay at least $499 to buy an iPhone next year because they will realize most free mobile phones are worthless. I then saw this and it made me smile a little: Eight Reasons to Think Twice about Buying an iPhone With its hefty price tag, restriction to a single carrier, and departure from many traditional smartphone features, buying the iPhone requires...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Mar 7 2007
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  • Raise money for good causes by IMing

    Lots of people have blogged on this before, but we need more people doing it. Go here , follow the instructions to add to your Live Messenger and you are giving money. At the moment the organisations are US based, but I am happy to give to UNICEF, so it works for me. How to do it: i’m starts with you. When you start an i’m conversation you start giving. Download the Windows Live Messenger instant messenger service. There's no charge and it's easy to download and use. Place the text code corresponding to the cause of your choice into your Display Name. Keep having i’m conversations so you can keep funding the cause doing the work most important to you. Already have the version 8.1 of Windows Live Messenger? Start contributing using i’m Organisations you can give to are shown on the left. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Mar 7 2007
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  • Need to learn a bit about that developer thingy that goes on with Microsoft Technology? Never been "dot Netted" before (.Net to those in the know)? Now you can quietly get up and running with the Beginner Developer Learning Center

    This is shameless ripped from Beginner Developer Learning Center: Beginner Developer Learning Center Home as it looks just what some of us need. Overview Welcome to the Beginner Developer Learning Center - a centralized learning environment specifically targeted to beginning programmers. Here you'll find a rich array of learning content that starts with the very basics, and guides you through step-by-step to becoming a fully-fledged developer! No experience or programming knowledge required - so dive right in! For an overview of all the lessons available on this site, see My Learning Path . All lessons in the Beginner Developer Learning Center are organized into two development tracks: Windows Development and Web Development. Web Development Are you interested in creating dynamic web sites, or building online applications and services? Then this is the Development Track for you! Windows Development Would you like to customize your desktop with cool utilities or build fun Windows applications and PC games? Then...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Mar 7 2007
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  • Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack including Softgrid and Sys Internals - 1/2 day technical overview

    The half day overview for partners is scheduled for 28 th March in Reading at Microsoft Thames Valley Park 44SE002 - Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack: why it’s more than just Softgrid 44SE002 - Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack: why it’s more than just Softgrid Summary This event provides the background to Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack, its components, licencing, positioning, strategy and future. It includes a drilldown on the Softgrid application virtualisation technology. Recommended Audience This event is aimed primarily at technical sales staff within partner organisations delivering Microsoft desktop and infrastructur Details Register Detailed Agenda Background and context: overview and positioning of Core Infrastructure Optimisation (IO) Software Assurance (SA): range of benefits eg Desktop Deployment Planning Service Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack: positioning within SA Licencing Elements available outside SA MDOP (Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack) Technical overview of all 4 components...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Mar 7 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
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Mar 6 2007

  • Vista is a sizable segment of the community that visit my SBS site

    I thought this was worth mentioning - I just pulled up the stats for my UKSBSGUY.com site to discover that Vista is doing nicely - nice to see partners moving to the Operating System and using it. Windows XP - 68% Vista - 23% Windows 2000 - 3% Windows NT - 2% (is that really still out there) Mac Intel - 1% Linux - 1% Mac OS - 1% Windows 98 - 1% (well 0.55%)
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Mar 5 2007

  • Win £15,000 for a UK charity with a good design

    In a nutshell, DesignIT is about recognising the IT community for its innovation and demonstrating how it can be used to benefit a charity in the UK. Feedback from IT professionals shows that while their practical nut-and-bolts contributions are clear, the creativity applied is often less appreciated. In order to highlight the elegance and finesse that underlies the best system solutions and prove that a creative use of technology can really change people's lives, Microsoft have teamed up with Computing , the leading business technology magazine, to invite IT professionals to meet this challenge. To find out more: www.microsoft.com/uk/designit
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Mar 5 2007
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  • Sales tools, campaigns, downloads and brochures for Selling the Small Business PC (running Vista and Office 2007)

    Kerry in the Small Business team sent me this mail, so I thought I would forward it on. It is worth knowing that items from the stock shop are often free, including P&P. I’m getting lots of questions about what is available to partners to use to support the small business PC campaign. Details have been included in the campaign updates – but I understand the volume of email we all receive, so hopefully this will be more specific to your needs. We have the following produced and available: Item Details Where to get it! Campaign Builder This campaign promotes our latest product releases specifically for small businesses, Windows Vista™ Business and Microsoft® Office Small Business 2007 promoting how it’s going to transform the way they do business. Aimed at the small business owner/manager, it highlights how Windows Vista™ Business and Microsoft® Office Small Business 2007 introduces powerful new technologies that empower them and their employees to do so much more with their PC. Ultimately, helping them collaborate...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Mar 5 2007

  • How to speed up displaying other peoples calendar in Outlook 2007

    If you have Exchange in use then Outlook 2007 may well have the caching of people's calendars turned on. This means that when you open a calendar you have to wait for the cache to populate, which can slow things down a bit sometimes. This is how to turn it back to how it was with Outlook 2003. 1. Go to the Tools Menu and select Account Settings 2. Select your Exchange Account and press the change button 3. Press the more settings button 4. Select the 2nd tab (Advanced) 5. Un-tick the "Download shared folders" option. Note that this will stop cached Sharepoint folders from downloading into Outlook too. 6. Press OK until all options are saved. ttfn David Technorati tags: Outlook 2007 , calendar , Office 2007 performance
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Mar 4 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

  • Infopath training

    There are then a number of labs online - http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb251751.aspx covering Lab 1: Publishing an InfoPath 2007 Form Template to a Server Running InfoPath Forms Services Lab 2: Deploying and Managing InfoPath 2007 Forms Lab 3: Integrating InfoPath 2007 with the Data Connection Library Lab 4: Enabling Digital Signatures in InfoPath 2007 Form Templates Lab 5: Importing Word Forms into InfoPath 2007 Lab 6: Using InfoPath 2007 E-mail Forms Lab 7: Restricting Permissions to InfoPath 2007 Forms and Form Templates Lab 8: Using the InfoPath 2007 Object Model and Visual Studio Tools for Applications Lab 9: Designing InfoPath 2007 Forms for Mobile Web Browsers Lab 10: Creating and Inserting InfoPath 2007 Template Parts Lab 11: Integrating InfoPath 2007 Forms in Web Sites Using Visual Studio Lab 12: Using SharePoint Server Workflows with InfoPath 2007 To use these labs you need a number of downloads found at InfoPath 2007 Sample: Training Labs . ttfn David Technorati tags: Infopath , Training...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Mar 4 2007

  • Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 60 day trial (download)

    Microsoft Office system - Office Small Business 2007 English 60 Day trial (Not to US - [ed - makes a change for it to be excluding US rather than only US]) (download it) Source: Microsoft Office Online Technorati tags: Office 2007 , Office Small Business , Office Live , Trial
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Mar 4 2007

  • What to use to replace FrontPage (Expression Web or SharePoint Design) and get a free trial

    I asked my mate James Akrigg what to do for all those people who use FrontPage 2003 today to edit web pages and wish to progress - here is his response: If I am not modifying SharePoint sites then I would suggest Expression Web .. I have been using this for creating simple sites and creating Vista gadgets. It’s bang up-to-date with all things webified And so if you do have SharePoint then use SharePoint Designer .. without a doubt... At first glance Expression Web and SharePoint Designer look very similar.. but there are some subtle differences, the good news is that it is very easy to use both applications. For more information on SharePoint Designer go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointdesigner/FX100487631033.aspx . You can get a free trial at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BAA3AD86-BFC1-4BD4-9812-D9E710D44F42&displaylang=en For more information on Expression Web go to http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/expression-web/default.mspx . You can get a free trial...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sat, Mar 3 2007

  • Building Office Live applications - this is where you need to start

    I had a partner ask me about Office Live today, so these are the places you need to start: 1) Client SDK - Windows Live ID Client 1.0 SDK in Alpha 2) Web Based Info - http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/showpost.aspx?postid=924592&siteid=1 and http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905514.aspx 3) Windows SharePoint v3 APIs - Working with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Web Services (what is supported from WSSv3 and what is blocked) 4) Some important sections: How to: Integrate Access 2007 and Excel 2007 with Office Live How to: Integrate Office Live with other Office 2007 applications Chris's unofficial Office Live developer blog That is it for now - the client SDK is key - you can build rich client applications and then share data via the OfficeLive web. nice. ttfn David Technorati tags: Office Live , Live , Saas , Software as a service , software with service
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Mar 2 2007

  • If you have upgraded your SBS WSSv2 Companyweb site to WSS v3, there is hope to fix it

    Technorati tags: WSS , Companyweb , Windows SharePoint Services , SBS 2003 R2 , sbs 2003 I have seen two entries on this today that need flagging. The 1st is the re-iteration by Susan Bradley that everything works baring e-mail in a WSS v3 site - providing you are not upgrading a WSSv2 site on SBS. Side-by-side installs work with this exception. It is still vital that you read this document before you do the upgrade. However, I have had several people mail me asking how to recover. I asked the same question inside Microsoft and was told that a potential solution has been documented in a blog - http://blogs.technet.com/edwalt/archive/2006/11/29/removing-wss-3-0-companyweb-upgrade-restoring-wss-2-0-on-sbs-2003.aspx . This is almost certainly great news for those who ruin their site. There is a word of warning - you need a backup of your WSS v3 companyweb database. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Mar 1 2007

  • Great tools for Internet Explorer: Spell check, Open last closed tab, Auto refresh and more (IE7 Add-ons)

    I love IE7, but it is by no means the perfect browser. Along with every other browser out there it can be heavily customised. Here are the ones I use myself. There are loads at http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/category.aspx?bcatid=834&tabid=1 ieSpell (this is also the spell checker used on the blog site when you are adding something - perhaps into the forums) IESpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell-checks text-input boxes on a Web page. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of Web-based text entry (Web mail, forums, blogs, diaries). Even if your Web application already includes spell-checking functionality, this utility is faster than a server-side solution. Plus, you get to store and use your personal word list across all your applications instead of having to maintain separate ones on each application. Version 2.5.1 build 106 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes. InlineSearch Inline Search v 1.4.3 (cf. ChangeLog ) is an extremely useful...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Feb 28 2007

  • Using Windows Vista and Outlook 2007 in a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network

    [updated 28th Feb 2007 - 07:47 with correct link for Outlook 2007 and Windows XP] Use this document to join computers that are running Windows Vista to your Windows Small Business Server 2003 network using the "Update for Windows Small Business Server 2003: Windows Vista and Outlook 2007 compatibility (KB 926505). http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=46E95C56-1A4C-45BD-8D69-5F41FF8F1F22&displaylang=en File Name: SBSVista_Conceptual.doc Date Published: 2/8/2007 Download Size: 265 KB The “Update for Windows Small Business Server 2003: Vista and Outlook 2007 compatibility (KB 926505)” adds support for the Client Deployment tools in Windows Small Business Server (Windows SBS), and it resolves compatibility issues for running Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 in a Windows SBS network. Use this document to join computers running Windows Vista and Outlook 2007 in your Windows SBS network. You might also want to look at: · Vista and Office 2007 FAQs · Related Knowledge Base Articles KB 926505...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Feb 28 2007

  • Outlook 2007 POP3 performance issues and potential fixes - Roundtrip Solutions Blog

    I think it is credit where credit is due here. The community is slowly resolving the issues we are seeing with Office 2007. I have asked John to log a call with Microsoft so that we can track the issues internally, get bugs issued and get fixes out there. Because any fix we produce has to go through threat modeling and regression testing, we rarely release them with haste unless they are impacting a significant number of users or are a security threat. However, John has documented many of the problems and solutions, so it is worth a look Problem with Outlook 2007 - Email Receive is Broken! 19 February 2007 As people start to use Outlook 2007, there is an alarming pattern starting to emerge regarding performance issues when receiving POP3 email. Even the smallest and most trivial of emails can take ages to download and be available, ranging from 30 seconds to minutes. During this time, Outlook and Windows can become slow to respond or become completely unresponsive, usually returning to normal when the send/receive...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 26 2007

  • Easy way to learn Vista, while also learning how to demo it

    Many of you have Windows Vista, but now need to understand what you can do with it. Rather than reading one of the nice big books, you could go look at the www.windowsvistamagazine.co.uk and read all the great info there. You could also go and look at the training available on the Microsoft Partner site. Finally, you could go and get all the tools you need to build a demo system, including the "scripts" for home and business use and then work through them - it will not take more than an hour to work through them, but by the end of it you will know most of the interesting features of both products. Windows Vista for Partners - Your DRT - the site includes: Step 1. Before getting started, learn what it takes to create your own DRT. Download and review the Windows Vista Demo Setup Guide . Step 2. Gain access to the latest tools for DRT development. Download the zip file , which contains Sample documents Demo files Sample applications Management shortcuts Step 3. Need a little direction on how to set up your demo...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sat, Feb 24 2007

  • Microsoft, BT hook up for hosted apps | Tech News on ZDNet

    Given the recent good moves forward with Office Live (UK web site - http://www.officelive.co.uk , partners getting excited - Tim Long , bCentral information on the products and 5 amazing case studies ) I thought I would share this further advancement in the online world. There will always be a place for the small business products that rely on physical servers, but the business by Vlad and many others shows us that the SaaS (Software as a Service and Software AND Service) work well for a business model. The difference between SAAS and SaS, IMHO, is one is rich in both client and web based tools, the other is ONLY rich when connected. Take Exchange and Outlook - Outlook is a great client when connected to Exchange. OWA is a great client too, however Outlook's offline ability is what sets it apart. You can get get great online and offline experiences with SaS. Microsoft and BT are to launch an online marketplace for hosted applications, with small-business customers as the target. The BT Applications Marketplace...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sat, Feb 24 2007

  • Partner Training - Selling Vista and Office to small businesses - Better Together: Microsoft Office 2007 & Windows Vista For The Small Business

    I’m working my way through mails on the train, saw this, so decided to quickly post it through while on the move. Enjoy The course will help Microsoft partners understand more their small business clients, their pains and their goals; and why 2007 Microsoft Office Small Business and Windows Vista Business are essential products to their businesses. It will also help the partner become more familiar with the overall features, functions, and benefits of 2007 Microsoft Office and Windows Vista as they pertain to their Small Business clients. https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/register.aspx?publisher=3&courseid=1871 ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Feb 21 2007

  • System Builders - Partner training on the OPK for Windows Vista and Office 2007

    This course looks into the new OEM Pre-installation Kit (OPK) for Windows Vista and 2007 Office. It explains to system builders OPK's functions and benefits; how it is deployed; what are some of its terms and requirements; as well as the tools and resources offered. https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/register.aspx?publisher=3&courseid=1875 ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Feb 21 2007

  • Partner Training - Introduction to Microsoft Partner Program & Windows and Office Genuine Advantage

    This course will help the partner look at this year’s Microsoft Partner Program and how it’s more focused than ever on embracing more of your success, making it easier to differentiate your business and simplifying how you do business with Microsoft. We will also be looking at how Piracy interferes with this great opportunity for new sales and services with Windows Vista and Office 2007. https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/register.aspx?publisher=3&courseid=1876 Ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Feb 21 2007

  • Why the blue badge will not help you find prospects, but might help you turn them into customers

    I'm going to start with a contentious statement "The Blue Badge is the best scheme in the world for IT partners serving the small business sector". The second thing is that it is not a sales campaign to get people to buy from you. It is a quality assurance and community system. We have been having a bit of a discussion internally today about the "blue badge" - you know, the SBSC logo. This discussion is a little UK focused as some of the features and benefits are UK focused. The discussion was triggered by the questioning blog by Tim Long who wants to see the community do more to promote the benefits of the blue badge. We know this can work - in the US some members put together a radio show and those of you who know Harry Brelsford will remember that he played the commercial they did at many of the events. The simple truth that SBSC is a flag for partners to rally around and build communities, not a flag for prospects to rally around. The people in SBSC have something that sets them apart from the pack, but does...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Feb 21 2007
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