Microsoft has updated its Downloads Website slightly to improve flow and a better organization of the content. Now, when you click show downloads you can sort by title, release date, or popularity at the toolbar therefore eliminating the right sidebar. The individual download page content has been rearranged as well for better clarity and organization.
Goto the Microsoft Downloads Website
Microsoft Wednesday began adding code to Windows XP users' PCs that it said will reduce the time it takes future updates to download, a potential boon to those connecting to the Internet via dial-up connections.
The program, called Package Installer, has previously been part of every update downloaded and installed through the Windows Update site and the Automatic Updates service. By putting the files on each PC, Microsoft said "subsequent updates can have a significantly smaller download size."
Although the Package Installer download is currently classified only as "critical" by Microsoft, and thus optional, it will shortly be made mandatory. As soon as that happens, updates retrieved from Windows Update or through Automatic Updates will require that the files be on the local machine.
Package Installer can be downloaded manually from the Microsoft Web site or by using the Windows Update site.
The Microsoft Device Emulator 1.0 Community Preview is a standalone version of the same ARM based Device Emulator that ships as part of Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2. The standalone emulator is intended for situations when you want to demonstrate or test your application on a computer that does not have Visual Studio 2005 installed. The emulator ships with support for Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.
The new Device Emulator has a number of features that make it significantly better than its predecessor. You will find that it:
- Runs code compiled for ARM processors rather than for x86 processors. In most cases, you can run the same binaries on the emulator as you do on the device.
- Supports synchronizing with ActiveSync. You can use the Device Emulator with a full ActiveSync partnership. This feature allows you to debug applications that are syncing, or be able to use real synchronized data from within the Device Emulator.
- Provides support for more development environments. The emulator has been tested for developing and debugging applications with Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio .NET 2003, and with eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 (eVC4) SP4, all using ActiveSync. No crossover serial cable is required.
- The Device Emulator supports GAPI. You can write and debug GAPI games on the Device Emulator and expect them to work.
Goto the Microsoft Device Emulator 1.0 Community Preview
Using
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Transition Pack you can upgrade your computer running Windows Small Business Server 2003 to Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and the standard versions of the server applications. After performing this migration, you will be able to do the following:
- Transfer the operations master role to another domain controller.
- Establish trust relationships to and from another domain, or add child domains to your existing Active Directory forest.
- Move server applications to another server. After the migration, you can move the server applications off of the original server. You might choose to move one or more applications to a separate server to improve the performance of the application. For example, if you are going to add more than 75 users, moving Exchange Server 2003 to a different server can help that application to perform better with the new user load.
- Enable Terminal Server.
- Increase your maximum number of users.
- Increase the maximum number of processors supported from two to four.
After you have migrated your server:
- You will still be able to use the Windows Small Business Server tools; however, they will no longer be supported and you will not be able to reinstall or remove the tools.
- You will no longer be able to run Windows Small Business Server 2003 Setup to modify (add, remove, re-install) the server applications.
- Your business will be licensed for one copy of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and the standard versions of the server applications.
- You will have five client access licenses (CALs) for each server application. If you have more than five users, you must purchase additional CALs for each of the individual server products. For information about purchasing additional CALs, see the individual server product pages at the Microsoft Web site.
The Microsoft Solutions for Security (MSS) team has released five new security planning guides:
Beset by rampant counterfeiting across Latin America, Microsoft on Tuesday introduced a cut-rate, reduced version of Windows XP that is aimed at first-time, low-income computer users who might otherwise run pirated software.
XP Starter Edition helps users learn to use a mouse and other computer devices, but strips out networking, limits the number of programs that can open and won't work on top-level processors.
The program "is for people who want access to legal software," said Microsoft Mexico General Director Felipe Sanchez Romero. The company sees a large potential market, given that 83 percent of Mexicans don't have personal computers.(
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Situation
At Microsoft, pursuit of improvements in operational efficiencies led to the consolidation of a number of physical datacenters. The creation of a utility model concentrated many administrative and management tasks in the hands of teams of dedicated computing professionals. The success of these initiatives fostered the search for additional methods and tools to further improve efficiencies and lower costs.
Solution
Virtual Server 2005 provided Microsoft with the means to take consolidation to the logical level. The Virtual Server Utility team assumed responsibility for deployment. Internal customers were recruited for the pilot, with aggressive SLA metrics as compelling incentives.
Download the Improving IT Efficiency at Microsoft using Virtual Server 2005 Whitepaper
Windows Server 2003 R2 will include:
• Simplified Branch Server Management
• Streamlined Access Management
• Efficient Storage Management
• Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM)
• Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 2.1
• Common Log File System (CLFS)
• Configure Your Server (CYS)
• SharePoint V2 SP2
• File Server Role and File Server Management Snap-in
• Hardware Management
• Identity Management for UNIX
• Subsystem for UNIX-based applications
Bruce Cowper mentions on his weblog that someone internally (at MS) created a list of documents and resources to help you. The list containes a lot of links to whitepapers and further information about Windows Server 2003 R2. (
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We learned that host-based virtual machine solutions require a host operating system such as Microsoft Windows or RedHat Linux. Bare-metal VMs, on the other hand, run directly on the server hardware, fully utilizing all the performance your server has to offer without passing through a guest operating system.
One example of this is VMware ESX Server. The product uses a proprietary microkernel technology that runs natively on server hardware without a host operating system. This allows for significant increases in performance, scalability and availability. With all of these enhancements, don't think that VMware skimped on what we hold most important - security.(
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This update consists of previously released recommended, critical and security updates for Windows 2000, rolled into one convenient package. Installing this item provides you the same results as installing the individual updates. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
Download Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4
The Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP provides a simple and effective way to defend shared computers from untrusted users and malicious software, safeguard system resources, and enhance and simplify the user experience. The Toolkit runs on genuine copies of Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.
Shared computers are commonly found in schools, libraries, Internet and gaming cafés, community centers, and other locations. Often, non-technical personnel are asked to manage shared computers in addition to their primary responsibilities. Managing shared computers can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Without restrictions, users can change the desktop appearance, reconfigure system settings, and introduce spyware, viruses, and other harmful programs. Repairing damaged shared computers costs significant time and effort.
Download the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP (Beta)
Mark Russinovich writes on his blog:
A couple of weeks ago I came across a site in my web wandering and had a popup. This, despite the fact that I’m running either Avant Browser or Maxthon. Avant Browser and Maxthon are applications that wrap Internet Explorer (IE) with all the features considered mandatory of a modern-day web browser, including tabbed browsing, enhanced popup blocking, advertisement blocking, skinning support, and a configurable search engine. So because I’m running Windows XP SP2 I have two popup blockers at work for me: the one built into XP SP2’s version of IE and that of the browser application.
I assumed that the popup was a fluke of some kind, and because I was busy tracking down some piece of information, I dismissed it and forgot about it until a few days ago when I came across another one at a pretty popular Windows information site. Popups are not only annoyances, but they can bait unsuspecting users into visiting “drive-by-download” web sites that try and deploy malware on a system by exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities in the visitor’s browser. I decided to investigate.
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Techlog Exclusive: Microsoft has published a website with all sessions and slides from the TechEd 2005 USA convention. You can download the powerpoint slides to get a detailed impression of the session given. Couldn't attend in Orlanda and can't attend in Amsterdam in two weeks? Visit this website to read all about the sessions at hand. Use the "Search All" button to find per-sessions information and powerpoint presentation. The website also gives a link to the next year's event TechEd 2006.
TechEd 2005 Sessions & Slides
Lookout is lightning-fast search for your e-mail, files, and desktop integrated with Microsoft Outlook™. Built on top of a powerful search engine, Lookout is the only personal search engine that can search all of your e-mail from directly within Outlook -
in seconds...
Lookout seems to work faster according to some posts on blogs. The developers at Lookout say they are not investing in lookout anymore, but Lookout will still be available. You'll be seeing advances mostly only within the MSN product line.
One of the main things which MSN does today which Lookout does not is incremental indexing. So instead of updating just every hour and rebuilding every week, the index stays in sync. This means that the index is always fresh.
Another main feature is that it supports indexing of a lot more file types. Lookout hits the 80/20 rule pretty well, but the MSN product goes much deeper.
Download Lookout v1.2
Microsoft has announced that the next version of Windows will include RSS support, and not just in its browser. Also, in a break from its reputation of keeping its IP strictly controlled, the company also announced that it is releasing its Simple List Extensions to RSS under a Creative Commons license, mirroring the license under which the RSS 2.0 spec was issued.
The argument is that RSS, while useful and gaining popularity, is currently hampered by limitations. The extensions are designed to enhance RSS as a data delivery vehicle and list-handling platform in two fundamental ways, according to the company.(
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Coming from Kevin Schofield's Weblog:
Last week MSR Cambridge held a press day, in which we talked about a number of our research projects, ranging from proofs of the 4-color theorem to new kinds of user interfaces. One of the projects we discussed was Avalanche, an early research effort looking at peer-to-peer (aka P2P) distribution networks.
The funny thing about putting on an open house for the press, is that you can't always predict what the one thing is that everyone will want to write about. This time, it turns out that it was Avalanche. Why? One word: BitTorrent. (
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Microsoft has made good on its promise for the mid-2005 availability of the new Microsoft Update service. Microsoft Update replaces the existing Windows Update and provides updates and patches for everything that Windows Update did, plus adds update services for several other Microsoft applications, all at one Web site.
Available from
here, Microsoft Update is a handy service for Windows users as well as users of other Microsoft products. High-priority updates for regularly updated Microsoft applications (currently Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange Server, and Microsoft SQL Server) will now receive the same treatment as updates for the base OS. Microsoft Update works with Automatic Updates and will use the updating methodology that you've enabled for Automatic Updates. Therefore, be sure to configure Automatic Updates to at least download updates and alert you, if not automatically install them.
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Microsoft Update
Today is Kenneth's birthday, he's turning 30. Kenneth is Techlog's most valued member, as he posts the most articles per day. Kenneth has really upgraded Techlog as he managed to make us member of The Hive community and member of the Windows XP expert community. Please send him an
email or leave a comment.
Happy birthday, Kenneth!
Tekmaven writes: "I was randomly browsing Flickr, and I typed in "microsoft" as a tag to search. I was amazed to find IE7 pictures running on Longhorn that were uploaded today! I found the images on Niall Kennedy's Flickr Images. According to his website, Niall is a community manager at Technorati."
Internet Explorer 7 |
RSS Subscriptions |
RSS Display
Steve Dodson writes: "Just a few minutes ago, we released the latest build of Windows Antispyware to the public. This build will resolve issues which will make using this product better for users. Starting today, users will start to see the automatic update mechanism fire off and advise users know they have a new update available. Some of the big improvements are:"
Software expiration will be extended to December 31, 2005.
Alerts Moving Quickly Across the Screen : Messages which move quickly off the screen when the start bar is not docked horizontally are also fixed. Users who dock their start bar on the sides of their screen will now be able to read messages generated from Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (beta). This issue is what we dubbed the “Flying Toast Issue” and one which I was passionate about getting fixed in this refresh build.
Support for Long Descriptions: Users of older builds only have access to the short descriptions which ship as part of the signatures. These short descriptions only provide limited information about potentially unwanted software. Long descriptions in build 613 will help users by giving them more information about the potentially unwanted software detected on their PCs.
Improved Winsock LSP removal mechanism: In some cases, removing spyware LSPs, or can disrupt network functionality. Through enhancements made in this beta refresh, we’ve lessened the chance that this problem will occur.
Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
Syskey.exe is a tool available in Windows Server 2003 ,Windows 2000 and XP to encrypt the contents of the SAM Accounts Database.
Windows 2000,2003,XP requires the encryption of password hashes when those are stored on the machine. the encryption key is stored locally on the machine and it randomly generated by the system.
Syskey.exe enables you to move the key out of the machine by storing it on a floppy disk or by asking a startup password.(
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Microsoft Tech·Ed 2005 Europe is the best way to stay current on today's and soon-to-be launched technologies. Featuring in-depth sessions on the latest versions of Microsoft's key products – you will be able to see products in action, talk to the experts who designed them and stay ahead of the curve.
This year, Techlog will be reporting live from TechEd 2005 Europe in Amsterdam on the latest Microsoft news. Two of our crew will be attending and updating Techlog daily on exciting new Microsoft technologies. If you want to meet, please leave a comment and we'll get together. -- Maarten Goet
Microsoft TechEd 2005 Europe
One of the goals for Active Directory was to get away from the 'only one writeable copy' Primary Domain Controller concept we had in NT, and make it so that AD changes could be made on any DC and they would get replicated around. A great idea, except there are a couple of things that really do need to have a single instance, to avoid data corruption or duplication. These roles are called FSMO's :Flexible Single Master Operations. You can read more about what they actually are and what they do
here. When you first run dcpromo.exe to build your domain, all 5 FSMO roles will be assigned to the first DC that you install. For a small domain, that's fine, but there are situations where it makes sense, and may even be necessary, to move some or all of the roles.
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FSMO Placement Overview
"The Exchange Web Client" was the first web email client produced by Microsoft. It had an interesting green and black color scheme but it did most of the basic needs for doing messaging. We didn't have enough time to add calendaring support in the first version. What we did in this first version was the first step in what has now become a new way of building web applications. OWA was born out of the sheer will of my friend Bob Gering when he decided we should look exactly like Outlook. We started changing our frameset design, colors and graphics to look and feel like Outlook. It was this desire to look, act and feel like Outlook that caused us to move web applications forward in a new evolutionary path.
Traditional web applications constantly refresh the document for just about every action. During Exchange 5.5 development in 1996/97 we used hidden frames to communicate to the server when sending messages so we wouldn't clear the user's document. However, we still had many frames updating during navigation of the mailbox. We also developed a Java applet for the date picker control in the calendar view to augment the user experience since DHTML on the current browsers at that time was just about non-existent. In the end we found that the applet did not meet our performance needs because virtual machine initialization was too expensive. OWA 5.5 had richer support than prior versions but it still lacked the type of experience that users get in a win32 application but it did work on just about every browser under the sun.
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Microsoft is sparing no expense to spread the Least-privileged User Account security gospel ahead of next year's Longhorn launch, but a little-known fact—especially among IT administrators and end users—is that the technology is already available in the Windows operating system.
The LUA principle, also known as non-admin or minimum rights, is accepted within software security circles as a key to reducing damage from malicious hacker attacks, but on Windows systems, although the option is available, experts say end-user adoption remains "frighteningly low." "To the average user, the notion of non-admin is abstract and obscure," said Michael Howard, a senior security program manager in Microsoft Corp.'s security business and technology unit. "Most users just don't know they can set up least-privilege accounts in Windows today, and that's just a sad reality."
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Collector's item only? The fatalistic name--Windows XP N, with "N" standing for "not with media player"--may have jinxed sales of Microsoft's Microsoft new operating system.
As roundly predicted, there have been few takers for the company's downgraded software. The package, proffered as part of the software leviathan's protracted antitrust tussle with the European Union, was released to distributors last Wednesday in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Computer distributors and manufacturers have barely batted an eyelid, probably because it would mean consumers would still need to download their chosen media player from the Internet. The package will be available to the public in the next few weeks.
"We don't see any interest at all in the product for the consumer," Lionel Jarlan, a computer buyer at France's Fnac department store, was quoted as saying in The Associated Press.(
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Around November, Hotmail and MSN will flag as potential spam those messages that do not have the tag to verify the sender, Craig Spiezle, a director in the technology care and safety group at the software maker said Wednesday. The move is meant to spur adoption of Sender ID, he said.
Sender ID is a specification for verifying the authenticity of e-mail by ensuring the validity of the server from which the e-mail came. While the purpose of curbing junk mail may be laudable, the debate on how to stop the tide of junk mail is still ongoing. According to Microsoft, up to 90 percent of e-mail is spam.
Critics say Sender ID, which includes technology developed by Microsoft, is not an accepted standard and has many shortcomings. Also, there are technologies that compete with Sender ID,such as Yahoo's DomainKeys.
"We think Microsoft is trying to strong-arm the industry into the adoption of an incomplete and not accepted standard," said Dave Rand, chief technologist for Internet content security at security software company Trend Micro.(
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Microsoft is slated to release to the Web in the next day or two a beta refresh of its Microsoft AntiSpyware product.
Some testers reported on Wednesday that they had downloaded a new beta version of Microsoft AntiSpyware (version number 1.0.613). They also reported that Microsoft had extended the beta-expiration date for the product from July 31, 2005, to December 31, 2005.
Microsoft officials confirmed that Microsoft had extended the beta period until the end of the year. Officials also acknowledged that the company has been testing on a selective basis the beta refresh number 1.0.613. (The current beta version number is 1.0.509.)
The pending refresh is not Beta 2, however, Microsoft executives said. Beta 2 will be released "some time later this year," they said.(
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Bangalore-based researcher, Debasis Mohanty has reportedly cracked Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) through an "easy-to-exploit" weakness in the software. WGA is an anti-piracy program that keeps a tab on consumers to check whether they are running legitimate, licensed copies of Windows XP.
Mohanty published a detailed proof of concept (PoC) on how Microsoft WGA validation check can be defeated and any Microsoft product with the WGA validation feature can be run and installed on machines running a pirated copy of Windows XP.
To bypass the WGA validation check, one could run "GenuineCheck.exe" file on a machine running a copy of an authentic Windows XP for generating a key code. This key code could then be used to circumvent the WGA check on the machine running a pirated copy of Win XP.
Microsoft has reportedly confirmed Mohanty's claims but attempted to downplay it saying that it represented very little threat. Also in its reply to Mohanty's mail specified that the generated code is partly made up of a timestamp, which would prevent use after a short period. (
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Security software is becoming as riddled with holes as some of the products it is supposed to protect, according to new figures from the Yankee Group. The number of vulnerabilities found in security applications has risen sharply for the third year in a row and now outnumbers those identified in all Microsoft products, according to the research firm.
In 2004, researchers uncovered 60 vulnerabilities in security software, up from 31 in 2003, according to the study. In May of this year, researchers had already turned up 23 security bugs, compared with 22 bugs in Microsoft applications. The figures through May 2005 are up 50 percent over the same period last year, Yankee Group said. The figures were reported by Business Week
A Microsoft spokesperson gave Tom's Hardware Guide some initial background information regarding technologies to be represented in Longhorn Server.
Another spokesperson offered a clarification to this list, stating it would not necessarily reflect the feature set of Beta 1, but would reflect the final release edition of the new server edition of Windows, whenever that may be released.
The features list provided includes Network Access Protection, a new policy compliance platform currently being tested for Windows Server 2003. In addition, the list presented additional points which the new system will address. This list includes "streamlined and task-oriented management" including event logging, image-based setup, and a scalable Web application platform; "increased infrastructure robustness" including Network Access protection and a so-called "transactional file system and registry;" and "enhanced end user productivity," including enhancements to Terminal Server, collaboration, and cross-organizational rights management. (
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Want to know more about x64 then read this article:
Until now the Intel-processor server marketplace has been largely a 32-bit arena. Certainly systems with Intel Itanium 2 and AMD Opteron processors running Windows (Itanium) or Linux offer 64-bit processing, but mainstream computing has remained 32-bit. With the release of Windows Server 2003, x64 Edition, this is likely to begin to change. This new operating system from Microsoft has the opportunity to convince customers that a smooth migration from 32-bit to 64-bit is possible and will provide benefits in terms of performance and scalability. This is especially the case with enterprise customers, where the current 4 GB direct memory addressability limitation of 32-bit is already having an impact.
This redpaper introduces Windows Server 2003, x64 Edition, the 64-bit processors from Intel and AMD that support it, and the xSeries servers it will run on. We describe what 64-bit computing means, and the technology behind the processors. We also introduce the xSeries product line that include the Intel EM64T processor. We also describe how the new Windows operating system is different from its 32-bit counterpart. And finally, we discuss the migration options available to customers and developers.
Download the Introducing Windows Server x64 on IBM xSeries Servers redpaper
While it's great that newer digital cameras can take beautiful 5-, 6-, or 7-megapixel pictures, e-mailing such large photo files can clog up your recipient's Inbox. Resizing pictures before you e-mail them—or even before you burn them to a CD—is made simpler using a free Windows XP download called the Image Resizer, which is one of the many handy tools that make up the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP.
You can also use the Image Resizer to resize photos so they'll fit on a compatible cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or Portable Media Center so you can enjoy your photos while on the go. Using the Image Resizer is easy, and it will preserve your original photos for other uses you may have in the future.
Continue on how to resize digital pictures quickly
Microsoft Corp. today announced the completion of its acquisition of Sybari Software Inc. Originally announced Feb. 8, the acquisition of Sybari adds a critical security component to Microsoft’s efforts to help enterprise customers become more secure. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, Sybari will continue to offer enterprise protection products for the Microsoft® Windows® platform.
“Customers have told us they want powerful security solutions for the enterprise to help protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business & Technology Unit at Microsoft. “Sybari’s award-winning and innovative products coupled with its strong industry partnerships and deep integration with such products as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 will deliver immediate value to Microsoft customers.” (
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A blocking tool is available for organizations that have Automatic Updates (AU) enabled on their servers to ensure prompt delivery of critical updates, but would like to temporarily disable delivery of the Windows Server 2003 SP1 automatic update through AU that is set to take place starting July 26, 2005.
The blocking tool will also prevent the Windows Server 2003 SP1 is offered through Windows Update and Microsoft Update.
Please note that the mechanism to temporarily disable delivery of Windows Server 2003 SP1 will be available till March 30, 2006.
At the end of this period, Windows Server 2003 SP1 will be delivered to all Windows Server 2003 servers.
This toolkit contains three components:
- A Microsoft-signed executable
- A script
- An ADM template
More information on this toolkit at the Windows Server 2003 SP 1 site
Goto the FAQ
Microsoft is readying a Web-based version of its Office Communicator instant-messaging client, company officials said on Tuesday.
Think Outlook Web Access, if you are looking for an example of a similar Microsoft app. The first private beta of the new IM app will go to testers on July 15; the final is due out before the end of this year, the Softies say.(
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Coming from Scott Hanselman's weblog:
Everyone collects utilities, and most folks have a list of a few that they feel are indispensable. Here's mine. Each has a distinct purpose, and I probably touch each at least a few times a week. For me, util means utilitarian and it means don't clutter my tray. If it saves me time, and seamlessly integrates with my life, it's the bomb.
Here are most of the contents of my C:/UTILS folder. These are all well loved and used. I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't use them constantly.
Goto Scott Hanselman's Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List
Once you’ve planned and deployed Group Policy and optimized its performance, things should work as expected if you’ve done your homework properly. But what if Group Policy doesn’t work as you expect it to? What if certain users or computers don’t receive the policy settings intended for them? Then you need to haul out your arsenal of Group Policy troubleshooting tools and try to find out what’s gone wrong.
This article outlines some common mistakes made in implementing Group Policy and how to troubleshoot Group Policy processing issues.(
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