David Overton's Blog : Support and Tools, Service Pack, Security

Latest news, events and downloads in the Security world from Microsoft - Windows Server 2008, Mobile, employee habits, Antigen, IPSEC, ForeFront, NAP, XP Firewall, System Center

David Overton — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:55:40 GMT

Each month the TRM blog product this great summary of the Microsoft world in various product areas. The blog can be found here http://blogs.technet.com/trm/

News

Help your customers securely deploy Windows Server 2008 with the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide! http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=92550
Every day, adversaries attempt to invade your customers’ networks and access their servers—to bring them down, infect them with viruses, or steal information about customers or employees.
Your customers are looking to Microsoft and Windows Server® 2008 to help them address these threats. To assist customers in taking full advantage of the rich security features in Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has developed the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide.
The Windows Server 2008 Security Guide provides IT professionals with best practices, predefined security templates, and an automated deployment tool to help strengthen the security of servers running Windows Server 2008.
Supporting Your Family, Friends, and Neighbours http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287993
By Steve Riley, Senior Security Strategist, Trustworthy Computing Have you become a support professional outside of the workplace? Read this article and learn how to discuss security with your family, friends, and neighbours to better help them stay safe and secure online.
More Security and Control for Mobile Devices http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287995
Learn how to add, manage, secure, and update Windows Mobile devices like you do Windows-based laptops and PCs. Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 provides robust security features and a comprehensive device management solution that helps safeguard your corporate data, reduce the cost and complexity of mobile deployments, and centralize and simplify Windows Mobile device management.
Island Hopping: The Infectious Allure of Vendor Swag http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287996
The technique of island hopping -- penetrating a network through a weak link and then hopping around systems within that network -- has been around for years, but it continues to take on new dimensions. This article discusses the beginning steps of using a USB flash drive to attack a network and why the least privilege approach really matters.
Help Employees Develop Better Security Habits http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287997
Your biggest vulnerability is not necessarily your computers. It's your users. See how to educate them.
Get a Free Trial of Forefront Security for SharePoint http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8250906
Find out how to help protect your Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 collaboration environments with Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1, and download free trial software.
Learn About Forefront Edge Security and Get Free Trial Software http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8250907
The Forefront edge security and access products provide enhanced network edge protection and application-centric, policy-based access to corporate IT infrastructure. Find out more by visiting the Forefront edge security Web site. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8250953

Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for February, 2008
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-feb.mspx
Security Bulletin Feed http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3992479 RSS http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3992480

Events/WebCasts

Microsoft Security Webcast Series: Upcoming and On-Demand
Security Webcast Calendar http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=37910
Find security webcasts listed in an easy-to-use calendar format.
Upcoming Security Webcasts
http://www.microsoft.com/events/security/upcoming.mspx
Register for the following Webcasts on the link above
IT Manager Webcast: Dynamic IT and Security (Part 5 of 5): Data Protection (Level 200)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Information About Microsoft March Security Bulletins (Level 200)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. Pacific Time
On-Demand Security Webcasts
http://www.microsoft.com/events/security/ondemand.mspx

Documents

Help Friends and Family Prevent Identity Theft, Spyware, and Viruses http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287998
Microsoft Security at Home provides easy-to-understand guidelines to help people protect their computers, themselves, and their families.
Security Quiz http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287999
Know a friend or family member with a small business? Help them assess what they know and what they ought to know about protecting their businesses from security risks.
Virus Protection and Security Checklist http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288000
Virus protection is a two-stage process. First, you need to educate your users, and then strengthen your network's security defenses. Review this checklist to see if your employees and systems are covered.
Strong Passwords: How to Create and Use Them http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288001
This article discusses what makes a strong password, password strategies to avoid, the importance of keeping passwords secret, and how to create a strong, memorable password in six easy steps.
Password Checker http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288002
Use this tool to help you gauge the strength of your password.
Malicious Software Removal Tool http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288003
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks computers running Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software -- including Blaster, Sasser, and MyDoom. It also helps remove any infection you find. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed.
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288004
Detect computer vulnerabilities with the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, a free tool that you can download and use to scan your stand-alone or networked computers for security vulnerabilities.
Partner Security: Establish a Strategy to Protect Shared Data http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288005
Although many companies focus on the security of their internal systems, it's important to examine the external supply chain as well. Here's how to work with business partners to establish a comprehensive security strategy.
Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288006
Learn how to optimize two key encryption technologies already available to you in Windows XP and Windows Vista: the Encrypting File System (EFS) and Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Downloads

Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1
Help protect your Exchange server from viruses and other malware.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2ceb14d4-404b-4d8f-8a21-ebfc71b2e82b&DisplayLang=en
EHS Filtering Datasheet
This datasheet outlines the Filtering service from Exchange Hosted Services.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7793ba73-50c0-4e07-9cd9-211558cbd890&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Antigen 9 with SP1 Readme
The Messaging Security Suite includes Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways, and Antigen Spam Manager, and provides server-level protection against the latest e-mail threats.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7793ba73-50c0-4e07-9cd9-211558cbd890&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft IPsec Diagnostic Tool
Microsoft IPsec Diagnostic Tool assists Network administrators with troubleshooting network related failures, focusing primarily on IPsec. It is applicable on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1d4c292c-7998-42e4-8786-789c7b457881&DisplayLang=en
Security Configuration Wizard Manifest for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Security Configuration Wizard (SCW) is an attack surface reduction tool introduced with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0ab396e0-4333-4621-95fa-313230dcd946&DisplayLang=en
ILM 2007 Password Management Collection
The Password Management Collection introduces users to the Password Change Notification Service (PCNS) in ILM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ae09d2f5-8ac2-4769-ab6a-48fe35a25c63&DisplayLang=en
ILM 2007 Design Concepts
The ILM 2007 Design Concepts document set provides discussions and recommended solutions for specific challenges that are encountered during the design phase of ILM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=40a52201-a297-4c35-82e9-f0b4ca05daeb&DisplayLang=en
Office Communications Server 2007 Document: Security Guide
The security guide provide guidelines for assessing and managing security risks to your Office Communications Server 2007 deployment.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2d1ea693-25e0-43d9-8c5c-0822ef83955a&DisplayLang=en
Office 2007 Security Certificates
This download includes security certificate (.cer) files and a Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 package definition (.sms) file for the Microsoft 2007 Office system.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=590b8eb2-9eda-441b-a972-b38e17883063&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Server Security Management Console Documentation
Forefront Server Security Management Console allows administrators to easily manage Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Forefront Security for SharePoint, and Microsoft Antigen.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ae4ce23b-9e1e-455c-87a4-36167fe43107&DisplayLang=en
Internet Protocol Security Enforcement in the Network Access Protection Platform
This white paper describes the Network Access Protection (NAP) platform, how IPsec protects traffic, and how IPsec Enforcement in NAP provides system health policy enforcement for IPsec-secured communication.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=144cc69f-790f-4f52-8846-3f3b8584d7cd&DisplayLang=en
Introduction to Network Access Protection
Read this white paper for an overview of the NAP business scenarios, an outline of the components of NAP, and a description of how NAP works.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5d5e243a-23a8-479c-9f2d-37d6d79153e7&DisplayLang=en
IEEE 802.1X for Wired Networks and Internet Protocol Security with Microsoft Windows
This white paper examines and compared 802.1X for wired networks and IPsec.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d9aef757-f528-41be-a01f-99a60c9a855d&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Antigen SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Antigen SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7d00160e-4d15-4459-98a3-89f393ac008e&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5cd4e36e-2dab-44d6-990e-3b8184b1cb1b&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=125efb1e-7ff8-4cc8-934a-28fc7c7e59f0&DisplayLang=en
Protecting Your Business from Online Threats
Prescriptive advice on how businesses can protect their domains, customers, and assets
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=53903d69-9449-426b-b393-e031716a7368&DisplayLang=en
Committed to Protecting Your IT Infrastructure - Microsoft Investments In Security
Committed to Protecting Your IT Infrastructure - Microsoft Investments In Security
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e4e0d998-ba3e-4865-a4bb-09d812c0244c&DisplayLang=en
Screencast: Deploying SSTP Remote Access
This screencast provides detailed information about how you can use three computers to create a test lab with which to configure and test virtual private network (VPN) remote access with Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Vista® with Service Pack 1 (SP1).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fc4d7d3f-0376-45bf-9544-ec35329a2fc1&DisplayLang=en
Network Access Protection Platform Architecture
Read this white paper for a detailed description of the components of the NAP architecture and how it allows third-party software vendors and system integrators to create complete solutions for system health validated network access.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/4/6/946958ef-7b86-4ddc-bfdb-c7ed2af4ce51/TCPIP_Fund.pdf
Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 provides Windows Firewall, an enhanced firewall that is enabled by default. This white paper describes the methods used to deploy Windows Firewall settings in a managed environment.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/4/6/946958ef-7b86-4ddc-bfdb-c7ed2af4ce51/TCPIP_Fund.pdf
Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 provides Windows Firewall, an enhanced firewall that is enabled by default. This white paper describes the methods used to deploy Windows Firewall settings in a managed environment.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4454e0e1-61fa-447a-bdcd-499f73a637d1&DisplayLang=en
Troubleshooting Windows Firewall in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
This article describes how Windows Firewall works, the common problems with using Windows Firewall, and the set of tools used to troubleshoot Windows Firewall issues.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a7628646-131d-4617-bf68-f0532d8db131&DisplayLang=en
Network Access Protection Policies in Windows Server 2008
You configure NAP health requirements and enforcement behaviors with Network Policy Server in Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8e47649e-962c-42f8-9e6f-21c5ccdcf490&DisplayLang=en
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 System Requirements
DPM 2007 System Requirements lists the minimum DPM hardware and software requirements for the DPM server and the computers and applications it is going to protect.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=961659c7-a66c-410d-a69d-064888db05b3&DisplayLang=en
Deploying System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
Deploying DPM 2007 provides information about installing and configuring DPM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2812640f-a4a7-4ff8-b4c9-0d73b828328d&DisplayLang=en
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Operations Guide - English
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ffa07fd4-bdee-418b-a228-ed8c76c97ab4&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP IPsec Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP IPsec enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=298ff956-1e6c-4d97-a3ed-7e7ffc4bed32&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP DHCP Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP DHCP enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ac38e5bb-18ce-40cb-8e59-188f7a198897&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP 802.1X Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP 802.1X enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8a0925ee-ee06-4dfb-bba2-07605eff0608&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft DPM 2006 Management Pack
This DPM management pack for Operations Manager 2007 supports monitoring for Data Protection Manager 2006. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update 6.0.5000.16
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a3e0a46d-aad9-4ebf-9ce8-c5242d0e596c&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5cd4e36e-2dab-44d6-990e-3b8184b1cb1b&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=125efb1e-7ff8-4cc8-934a-28fc7c7e59f0&DisplayLang=en
Extended Security Update Inventory Tool
The Extended Security Update Inventory Tool is used to detect security bulletins not covered by MBSA including MS04-028, February 2005 bulletins, and future security bulletins that are exceptions to MBSA.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2c93da1d-48a0-4e5c-991f-87e08954f61b&DisplayLang=en
Deploying System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
Deploying DPM 2007 provides information about installing and configuring DPM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2812640f-a4a7-4ff8-b4c9-0d73b828328d&DisplayLang=en
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 System Requirements
DPM 2007 System Requirements lists the minimum DPM hardware and software requirements for the DPM server and the computers and applications it is going to protect.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=961659c7-a66c-410d-a69d-064888db05b3&DisplayLang=en
Backup Operations Service for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 with Data Protection Manager 2007 Datasheet
This offering helps customers to validate, envision, and plan the architecture and the design for an effective, rapid, and reliable recovery of their Office SharePoint Server farms.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d423e7dd-4029-447c-ad26-031adfa41265&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) Tool
The ISA Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool is designed for administrators who want to determine the overall health of their ISA Server computers and to diagnose current problems. The tool scans the configuration settings of the local ISA Server computer and reports issues that do not conform to the recommended best practices.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d22ec2b9-4cd3-4bb6-91ec-0829e5f84063&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP VPN Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP VPN enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=729bba00-55ad-4199-b441-378cc3d900a7&DisplayLang=en
Network Access Protection Platform Architecture
Read this white paper for a detailed description of the components of the NAP architecture and how it allows third-party software vendors and system integrators to create complete solutions for system health validated network access.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2f37651e-1749-45c3-996e-53de05d44ef7&DisplayLang=en
Introduction to Network Access Protection
Read this white paper for an overview of the NAP business scenarios, an outline of the components of NAP, and a description of how NAP works.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5d5e243a-23a8-479c-9f2d-37d6d79153e7&DisplayLang=en
Internet Protocol Security Enforcement in the Network Access Protection Platform
This white paper describes the Network Access Protection (NAP) platform, how IPsec protects traffic, and how IPsec Enforcement in NAP provides system health policy enforcement for IPsec-secured communication.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=144cc69f-790f-4f52-8846-3f3b8584d7cd&DisplayLang=en

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Security, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, ISA, ForeFront, SharePoint, IIS, Firewall

Office 2007 SP1 is here and it does more than just update the desktop - SharePoint gets AJAX for example

David Overton — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:05:00 GMT

I'm sure you have heard that the Office 2007 Service Pack is here. Darren Strange has documented what is in it and how to get it at Office 2007 sp1 ready for download today and OfficeRocker! : More detail about sp1. In answer to Susanne's post at here, hopefully this post has some more info in it

One of the little things he puts that I like is:

Some other factoids about sp1

There are roughly 2500 fixes in SP1. This an average size for a service pack, but the issues fixed are very important to our customers.
Almost 20% of those fixes are direct result of customer requests.
Over 500 of those fixes focused on security.
There are a total of 24 different releases in 38 languages. There are 683 distinct packages. All have released simultaneously today.

If you get the whitepaper then you would be keen to see the information below. Notice that SharePoint amongst other things a developer update to support Ajax and that other server products (Groove and Project Server) are also updated.

Stability

Microsoft continues to improve its software products by listening to customers and acting on customer requests. With the 2007 Microsoft® Office system Service Pack 1 (SP1), Microsoft demonstrates this commitment by fixing at least the top five software bugs in each application that caused crashes, resulting in an even more stable product. The 2007 Office system SP1 also addresses many minor annoyances and distracting problems that users had to contend with in the initial release. Many of these minor usability and stability fixes are in response to customer requests as well. The following section lists summaries of some of the most notable stability improvements delivered with the 2007 Office system SP1.
Access 2007

For third-party applications that use Data Access Object code to synchronize replicated information in a Microsoft Office Access™ 2007 database, Office Access 2007 no longer returns a run-time error that causes the application to close or time out.
Communicator 2007

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 now presents more accurate presence information and does so with consistent visual cues.

The icons used to display presence are modified so that users who are red-green colourblind can determine people’s presence status.
Office Communicator 2007 no longer causes presence icons to flicker when multiple people appear simultaneously.
Presence information in Office Communicator 2007 and other Microsoft Office applications is consistent in all scenarios.
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 no longer starts in the background along with Office Communicator 2007.

Excel 2007

Several stability, general usability, and compatibility improvements have been incorporated into Microsoft Office Excel® 2007.

Office Excel 2007 no longer stops responding in some instances when opening a workbook containing calculations.
Office Excel 2007 workbooks that are saved in Page Break Preview mode and opened in Microsoft Office Excel 2003 no longer produce an error when switched to Normal view.
When inputting calculations that should result in numbers 65,534 through 65,536, Office Excel 2007 no longer returns the display error of 100,001.
Office Excel 2007 now retains custom colours on shapes in Excel 2003 worksheets.
Office Excel 2007 no longer misplaces or wraps labels in charts when the workbook is reopened.

Groove 2007

For Microsoft Office Groove® 2007, issues surrounding the activation of new and previously retired accounts have been resolved.

Office Groove 2007 no longer places a 60-day limit on retired accounts that are stored in backup files.
When the auto-activation feature is turned on and invited users open an invitation file (.grv), they are no longer prompted for an activation key or notified of an unconfigured account.

InfoPath 2007 and InfoPath Forms Server

Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 benefits from a more consistent user experience, especially with online forms.

When users input data into an Office InfoPath 2007 form using a Web browser, the saved changes are now retained after closing and reopening the form.
Font size no longer increases when pasting from one rich text box in Office InfoPath 2007 to another.

Outlook 2007

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 benefits from a number of fixes and enhancements that make the popular messaging client more stable and easier to use.

Office Outlook 2007 no longer closes unexpectedly when the junk e-mail rule is set to null.
Body content in HTML-formatted e-mail messages now appears properly in the preview pane or when the message is opened.
Items moved from an offline folder file (.ost) to a personal folder file (.pst) now display properly in the preview pane.
In search folders, Office Outlook 2007 now shows the accurate count for unread items that are hidden.
When scheduling a resource such as a meeting room in meeting requests, the public free/busy information for the resource is now complete and visible in Office Outlook 2007.
When users forward plain-text e-mail messages with attachments, the body text is now retained.
If the Mailbox Cleanup wizard starts while the user is dragging a message into a folder, Office Outlook 2007 no longer closes unexpectedly.

PowerPoint 2007

Fixes in Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2007 make the presentation application even more reliable, especially when used in conjunction with Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access, Web sites that use forms authentication, or event macros.

Users who have started an event macro in Office PowerPoint 2007 can now advance slides by right-clicking and then choosing Next or Previous.
When users try to open a presentation in Office PowerPoint 2007 from a Web site using forms authentication, the presentation will now appear properly.
Users can now open presentations in Office PowerPoint 2007 from e-mail attachments in Office Outlook Web Access.
Office PowerPoint 2007 no longer crashes when the user programmatically accesses the parent property of the Hyperlinks Collection Object in the Office PowerPoint 2007 object model.
Text formatting now behaves similarly to previous versions of PowerPoint, where new text retains the formatting of the deleted text instead of using the formatting of the character to the left.

Project 2007 and Project Server 2007

The 2007 Office system SP1 eliminates instances when either Microsoft Office Project 2007 or the accompanying Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 crashes due to a software error.

Office Project 2007 no longer crashes when users click to view Windows account or Details in the Resources Information dialog box and then perform any other action.
Office Project 2007 does not produce an error message when a link from one task accesses a task in a different project stored on Office Project Server 2007. This error only occurred when the linked project was renamed.
Microsoft Office Project Web Access now makes task IDs available and allows users to enter a work estimate when creating a new task.

SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 has improved manageability and compatibility.

Office SharePoint Server 2007 now has the ability to be installed on Windows Server 2008 providing compatibility and support.
ASP.NET AJAX has compatibility and support with Office SharePoint Server 2007 including examples for customer web parts build the AJAX 1.0 Control Toolkit and the AJAX 1.0 Extensions for ASP.NET (KB 941955)
New manageability with STSADM commands for consolidating or repartitioning your content databases, renaming host named site collections, and the ability to scope the people picker to a specific active directory organizational unit.
Advanced search results now include results with spaces in file names.
The View by Modified Date function now works correctly in search results.
Office SharePoint Server 2007 is now able to crawl case-sensitive Web content on computers not running the Windows® operating system.
Office SharePoint Server 2007 can now index a public folder on a Microsoft Exchange Server with a backslash in the subject.

Visio 2007

Microsoft Office Visio® 2007 now properly redraws shapes when users apply a dynamic connector that is part of a group of shapes in Office Visio 2007.
Word 2007

By taking care of several small stability and usability details, Microsoft Office Word 2007 is a more useful and reliable tool for everyday document creation tasks.

With Office Word 2007, users can now open and edit embedded objects that contain other embedded objects.
When using smart documents in Office Word 2007, the Document Actions task pane no longer disappears when moving the pointer into the Reviewing pane. Additionally, task panes opened earlier no longer appear unexpectedly.
Office Word 2007 properly creates and updates a table of contents in unprotected sections of documents that also contain sections protected for forms.
Office Word 2007 no longer prints an extra page when users choose a printer with the duplex option enabled.

Performance

Many of the improvements delivered in the 2007 Microsoft® Office system Service Pack 1 (SP1) boost application and search performance. The service pack includes performance enhancements for some of the most commonly used applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system, such as Microsoft Office Access™ 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007. Additionally, users that rely on server components for the 2007 Office system and the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) will see a significant performance increase.
General Performance Fixes

Applications in the 2007 Office system work more effectively with the Japanese IME released by Microsoft, especially when inputting Japanese characters and converting those characters to kanji. In addition, computers that simultaneously run the Japanese IME and a security solution no longer use up to 100 percent of CPU resources.
Access 2007

Project files (.adp) no longer run slower than expected when opened in Microsoft Office Access 2007.
Outlook 2007

Improved performance in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 eliminates frustrating delays when opening large mailbox files and frees office workers to focus on important business tasks. The 2007 Office system SP1 makes it easier to open large offline folder files (.ost) and personal folder files (.pst) that are located directly on the user’s machine.
Project 2007 and Project Server 2007

When adding multiple values to a lookup table in Microsoft Office Project 2007, the application no longer searches for duplicate values in a way that unexpectedly slows performance. Also, users can now quickly retrieve lists of projects from a Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 database.
SharePoint Server 2007

With the 2007 Office system SP1, the performance of Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 improves general server activities and search functionality. An Office SharePoint Server that experiences heavy use no longer slows when a Microsoft .NET Framework hotfix (greater or equal to build 2.0.50727.832) is installed. The service pack also helps reduce the lag time before the start of a document library crawl during a document search in SharePoint.
Security

The 2007 Microsoft® Office system was built from the ground up, with security and privacy as driving design considerations. The 2007 Microsoft Office system Service Pack 1 incrementally improves security in the 2007 Office release by incorporating the latest security research and responding to ongoing application testing results. Individual application fixes that protect people’s privacy complement these improvements to baseline security.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: If you only read one post today, Office 2007, Office System, SharePoint Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services, Service Pack, Service Pack 1, Outlook 2007, Project 2007, Word 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Excel 2007, Access 2007, Groove, Communicator 2007

Vlad Mazek - "What is service management" and "how to avoid being hit by a truck when it is most inconvenient"

David Overton — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 01:14:00 GMT

I love Vlad's straight talking. If you get a chance read the whole of the blog entry Vlad Mazek - Vladville Blog » Blog Archive » Windows Server 2003 SP2 EEULA & CYA because as far as I am concerned he is preaching to the converted.

I will stand by my view that Service Packs are tested as much as possible, but you need to do your own validation (see Who should test software and service packs - I think vendors,customers and partners - others thi) to ensure that your application vendor is also happy to support their products on that service pack. If you only have MS products, check the release notes AND SUPPORT.MICROSOFT.COM as both may well have important information.

I've extracted part of Vlads process to avoid a bloody head - read his post for more as people like Susan Bradley wishes she had :-)

However, a part of me wonders just how heavy the rock was. You know, the one that he was under since Microsoft started releasing service packs. As painful as the above is to read, and as painful as this process has been for him, this outlines the fundamental lack of respect for change management we have in the IT industry.
First, where is the full backup of the server that this was done on. At the very least this would have allowed him to take the server back to the last known good configuration.
Second, where is the test system on which he checked Act 6.0 for compatibility?
Third, never change more than one thing. If you installed the Service Pack and it broke things, do not proceed to install drivers (that likely have not been tested with the said service pack) and do more exotic changes.
Fourth, test, test, test, test. Forget about the stuff you should have done before you patched, too late to setup a test vm, too late to do a full backup, too late to check the app vendor for advisories related to the patch, too late. You’re patched, there is a whole new world on your network. Isn’t the first thing to check all the workstations and rerun MBSA, performance testing, reset the performance counter on both server and workstations, build new baselines, etc? If not, why?
Perparing for a Service Pack
There are a few simple things you can do to minimize your chances of a 35 hour support call:

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Service Packs, Support, Change Management, SP2, SBS 2003, SBS 2003 R2