Windows 7, Vista and XP - David Overton's Blog

The time has come, IE7 has shipped out the door, is available from http://www.microsoft.com/ie and will start coming down via Auto Updates on Windows PCs in a couple of weeks. ttfn David

I saw this and because IE is coming soon, thought you might like to read this! IE7 Installation and Anti-Malware Applications A few people have asked why we recommend temporarily disabling anti-virus or anti-spyware applications (which I’ll refer to together as anti-malware) prior to installing IE7, so here’s a little insight to the situation. Along with copying IE7 files to your system, IE7’s setup writes a large number of registry keys. A common way anti-malware applications protect your computer is by preventing writes to certain registry keys used by IE. Any registry key write that fails during setup will cause setup to fail and rollback changes. We work around the problem in most instances by checking permissions at the beginning of setup, but many anti-malware programs monitor the key rather than change permissions. Therefore, setup thinks it has access when it starts, but then fails when it later attempts to write the key. The majority of users likely haven’t seen any such problems even with anti-malware...

I like Vijay - he never lets me get away with cutting corners and has an honest perspective on many things. His personal review of what Exchange, Vista and Office will bring to the world is refreshing because he can say he has been there!! Vista vs Linux October 13, 2006 on 6:51 pm | In Linux , Vista | As Vista nears the business launch date of November 2006 the articles doing a comparison are appearing thick and fast. Firstly, let me say I’m an advocate of Open Source and what it has brought to the world. It’s given us some great solutions and powers the heart of the internet as we know it and companies like Google have built their business on it. That’s not a bad achievement! However, Microsoft has a formidable offering to both consumers and businesses alike. This offering is only getting stronger through EVO (Exchange Server 2007, Vista and Office 2007) and issues such as the WGA debacle and delays in Vista aren’t going to make the impact of these new technologies any less dramatic. Source: iQubed Blog » Vista...

There was me ranting on security yesterday and then I spot this post by Susan that says it all Link to E-Bitz - SBS MVP the Official Blog of the SBS "Diva" : Now remind me again why it's a bad thing to exclude other vendors from the Kernel? enjoy David

I saw a link to this on the Windows Vista Magazine site , so here is the link to a great list of what did and did not work with Vista RC1 - I am sure this will get updated for RC2 and RTM. Windows Vista Software Compatibility List From IeXwiki Windows Vista RC 1 Software Compatibility List

I almost feel that I don't need to publish this, but even though the next round of patches is just a day away, you need to think about this one too. MS06-055: Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language could allow remote code execution View products that this article applies to. Article ID: 925486 Microsoft has released security bulletin MS06-055. The security bulletin contains all the relevant information about the security update. This information includes file manifest information and deployment options. To view the complete security bulletin, visit one of the following Microsoft Web sites: IT professionals: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-055.mspx Source: MS06-055: Vulnerability in Vector Markup Language could allow remote code execution ttfn David

CNET News.com's Charles Cooper says recent upset over Vista should put a rest to that lingering question . By Charles Cooper In the increasingly Google-YouTube-Web 2.0 age we inhabit, it's become fashionable to dismiss Windows as a relic. I always love these sorts or articles - before I even opened it up I knew what the answer was "no way is Windows Vista irrelevant". It is obvious to me. Sooo many partners, customers, ISVs all have their businesses wrapped up in Windows, even those who are opposing some of the changes. If Windows were not here, how would all those tools vendors sell their products for clients, if the clients were just web terms. How would people work on the move when disconnected (or in the UK - on a train)? So, of course Vista is relevant - people may have views as to how it applies to them, but that is true of anything. What is true is that it offers a great set of features that enhances both business and personal users. Of course, if you have a view, feel free to comment on the blog. ttfn...

Jonathan Goodyear Marks IIS7 as the "Difference" in Windows Vista There are many cool features in Windows Vista that might make one developer happy over another. For President of ASPSoft Jonathan Goodyear, though, it is clear he sees ... http://forums.iis.net/1392889/ShowThread.aspx#1392889 Shipped! RC1 Out-the-Door! Learn from the all-new Updated IIS7 Articles Windows Vista Release Candidate (RC) 1 is out the door with a fresh new build of IIS7. This is an exciting time for the IIS team as we draw near the full release i ... http://forums.iis.net/1391795/ShowThread.aspx#1391795

this is a really quick tip - if you press the CTRL key when pressing Alt-Tab or Windows key-tab, which brings up the task picker and flip-3d screens, then the screens will not disappear as soon as you let go of the keys. You can now use your mouse to pick a task or scroll through the windows on flip 3d. ttfn David

Lots of information here, so go grab a seat, watch the videos and get the info. Expect this to be updated over time too. Click picture for details Ttfn David

I noticed these two magic keystroke links at the Windows Vista™ Magazine blog site, but I thought I would add another. How to shutdown with the keyboard: Ctrl+Esc, Right, Right, Right, u Ctrl+Esc will open the start menu, which can also be done by pressing the Windows-key ttfn David

I obviously work closely with small business partners and a thread at the SBSBPI.co.uk website got me thinking. The question that was asked is why is Windows XP, which has always been a great product, suddenly a "bad" product, so much so that people need to buy a new operating system, Windows Vista . To answer this, lets look at a few things - is Windows XP bad - nope, it is an excellent operating system, but it has a design that was delivered 5 years ago, with a major security overhaul with XP SP2. SP2 was a good security fix, but it still left the onus on the user to understand the risks they were taking. From a user interface point of view, people have got used the XP interface - well, except for you die hard folks who only use the classic interface, get with the program - use a mouse and the non-classic control panel - you know you can do it!! Windows XP is then supplemented by Defender, 3rd party anti-virus products, anti-spam, filters, toolbars, search and other powertoys to lift it to a "desirable"...