June 2007 - David Overton's Blog

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...

Congratulations to Susanne on her impending job move. She is the best UK SMB Girl out there :-) She often keeps Microsoft straight with her views and I will always be grateful for her honest conversation and being a good friend. Anyway, as always you can go to her blog, but here is an extract. Note, she is still the UK SMB Girl and not just a Westcoast employee, so remember to treat her as a person and not just a support line for Westcoast. But you can’t take SMB out of the girl! July is going to be a busy time for me, I’m off to the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference to speak at the Small Business Symposium (hope to see you there!) and I’m also off to pastures new in terms of my career. After being with Readycrest for seven years (well really since I was 13 when the sales office was my bedroom!) I’m taking a change in career and will be working with Westcoast Distribution as their Microsoft Channel Development Manager with a specific focus on the SBSC community. I’m not going to talk much more about Westcoast...

I saw this and thought it was another reason why you need to be prepared for Vista and Office 2007. Among small and mid-sized enterprises 47 percent of them plan to upgrade to Microsoft’s Vista operating system in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a Cowen & Co. survey. The survey, which is done in conjunction with CRN magazine , also found that 78 percent of small and mid-sized businesses will adopt Vista by the second quarter of 2008. Simply put, the small fry will lead the charge when it comes to the Vista upgrade cycle. Cowen analyst Walter Pritchard said in a research note that his firm’s most recent survey is above the adoption rates predicted in February. In February, 43 percent of small businesses indicated they would adopt Vista by the end of 2007. » Survey: SMBs more aggressive with Vista upgrade plans | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com ttfn David Technorati Tags: Vista , Small Business

SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition FIX: Failed assertion message in the Errorlog file when you perform various operations in SQL Server 2005: "Failed Assertion = 'fFalse' Attempt to access expired blob handle (3)" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=933766 FIX: SQL Server 2005 does not reclaim the disk space that is allocated to the temporary table if the stored procedure is stopped http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=931843 The Batch Requests/sec counter of the SQL Statistics performance object increases one time for each RPC in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=936637 List of known issues when you install SQL Server 2005 on Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=936302 How to use Windows Management Instrumentation in SQL Server 2005 to change the account of the SQL Server service or the password of the SQL Server service programmatically http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=936492 A user who is not a member of a required role...

I have a Media Center, Home Server, Xbox, Xbox 360, SBS and other machines in my house. The under TV box hides the Xbox and Media Center, the 360 is in the bedroom and the home server (& SBS box) are in the study. I learnt a long time ago that IF I wanted something like Home Server in the living space I needed it to look good. This is one example of what looking cool might be. There is obviously much more to Home Server, so visit the blog if this is a new area for you. More Hockey Puck Photos Heh. Joel just sent me a couple more pics of the "hockey puck". This thing is so amazingly cool that I just have to rant some more about it. First, we commissioned Carbon Design , a local design firm, to dream up some really cool home server form factors about 2 years ago. After a couple of iterations we narrowed it down to 3 ideas: the cube, the slate, and the hockey puck. Carbon built us a few foam models of each of these as well as a bunch of cool looking renderings. These served us well for while as tools...

The Home Server team have made a shout out to a UK blogger who has lots of Add-ins and How-Two's for Home Server. Worth a peak!! Terry Walsh, some dude from the UK who has a blog ( We Got Served ) all about Windows Home Server, has been doing great things for the community. He's got a list of Add-ins , a bunch of How-Tos , and some great descriptions of the technology of Windows Home Server. Windows Home Server Blog : Couldn't have said it better myself ttfn David Technorati Tags: Home Server , Add-ins , Developer

Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are listed below. To be nice to the Partner team I have not included 4 & 5, so you will have to go to the link to get them. Having said that, don't forget that we have a team of people who can answer your licensing questions - not treating you as end users, but treating you as partners. Top 5 Licensing Questions I've had a chat Lisa Michigan from our licensing team, and I asked her what the top five licensing questions were asked to the Ask Partner hotline last month. Here are the questions with the answers! How useful... What downgrade rights does Windows Vista Business have? We have received this question countless times. We are able to answer this question quickly and accurately based on the OEM Vista Business Microsoft Software Licence Terms which state OEM Vista Business can be downgraded to Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Professional 64-Bit Edition and Windows XP Tablet-PC Edition. What media and key can I use when downgrading? Many partners and customers are aware that...

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...

Hello, remember that "longhorny" thing coming later this year? Well it just got another step closer, however the run is that you have to be a TechNet, MSDN or Connect member to get it. Some points to re-iterate - this is the LAST 32-server OS from Microsoft - Windows Server 2008 R2 will be 64-bit (like Cougar) only. You will have to go away and learn about this server to become familiar with Cougar, so at the very least plan to learn it, if not before release, soon after otherwise you will have to learn even more when Cougar releases - and that will be plenty! I picked up this item from Network World that might help a bit. This is the first CTP since Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 was released in April. Microsoft officials say 200,000 copies of Beta 3 have been downloaded . With the new CTP, Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 is now an installation option under the Server Core feature of the server. Server Core is made up of the Windows kernel and a set of infrastructure “roles,” which install only the...

To follow up on the SCE information - please note that once a webcast has run it is normally available for "on demand" viewing. Manage the IT Environment of Your Mid-Sized Business More Efficiently Discover Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007, the new unified IT management solution specifically designed for mid-sized businesses. In this webcast, we provide an overview of System Center Essentials 2007 and demonstrate how it enables IT professionals to manage their IT environments proactively by simplifying tasks and automating complex tasks from a single console. Learn how the built-in troubleshooting and asset inventory can help you save time and increase productivity while maximizing the availability of a secure IT environment. Presenter: Pete Zerger, Consulting Practice Partner, AKOS Technology Services http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032336459&CountryCode=US Managing a Microsoft Infrastructure Meet availability and performance requirements...

If you are still undecided in the Open XML debate, or decided but want tools to make it easier then hop over to James blog and have a look at Views on Windows Vista : Open XML gets an SDK : Yesterday Microsoft announced a SDK (Software Development Kit) for SDK which allows developers to create code which works well with the Open XML thanks to the libraries, samples and documentation provided by the SDK. You can download the SDK here . If you now think that having this as a standard is a good idea, please go to here to add your vote. ttfn David Technorati tags: open XML , Office 2007 , Office System

I wrote about this the other day, that Windows Server 2008 (Longhorn) will be the last 32-bit Server product from Microsoft however some people have taken Bill Laing's comments to include Windows Client (i.e. Vista v.Next). Here is the official low down. Bill Laing, a General Manager in the Microsoft Windows Server Division, has been quoted as saying that Windows Server 2008 will be the last 32-bit operating system. Bill is a server guy and indeed Windows Server 2008 is the last 32-bit server operating system – all future operating systems for server hardware from Microsoft beyond Windows Server 2008 will be 64-bit. A few folks took Bill’s comments on Windows Server and applied them to Windows Client deriving that Windows Vista would be the last 32-bit operating system. That is an incorrect extension. While Windows Vista includes both 32-bit and 64-bit and there is a growing community of drivers for 64-bit Windows Vista we have not decided when Windows Client will follow Windows Server and become 64-bit only...