Maria's blog

How did MS deploy Windows 7 internally?

I’ve been running Windows 7 since Beta stages and as soon as the product was finished most people in Microsoft moved from Vista. Are you interested in understanding how Microsoft deployed Windows 7 to around 100.000 people worldwide? On Microsoft IT Showcase you find many examples of how we internally are using our own technology. There are white papers, videos, web casts etc and one of the recent web casts (now available on demand) are Deploying Microsoft Windows 7.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta available for download

Later this year we will release the first Service Pack to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Already now you can try out the first public Beta to see what the Service Pack will bring. Remember that this Beta is not supported by Microsoft so don’t install this on your production machine :-)

Read more about requirements and download the Beta here

Online events on Cloud for IT Pros

Starting June 4th, our evangelism team in Australia will do a series of online events around IT Pro and Cloud and what it all means. It’s at 1 pm Australia time and if you can’t attend live they will be available for download afterwards.

Windows Azure and the IT Pro Discussion
Friday 4 June 2010 1:00 PM Australia (East)
Speaker – Greg Willis, Architect Evangelist Microsoft Australia

Windows Intune - Simplifying how businesses manage and secure PCs using Windows cloud services and Windows 7
Friday 11 June 2010 1:00 PM Australia (East)
Speaker – John Pritchard, Technology Specialist Microsoft Australia

Microsoft Online services – the underlying technology and roadmap
Friday 18 June 2010 1:00 PM Australia (East)
Speaker – Lee Hickin, Senior Technology Specialist Microsoft Australia

Starting the Private Cloud Journey with the Dynamic Infrastructure Toolkit for System Centre
Friday 25 June 2010 1:00 PM Australia (East)
Speaker – Gareth James, Senior Consultant Microsoft Australia

Find more details about each session here

Office 2010 is ready!

On Friday we announced that Office 2010 has been Released To Manufacturing (RTM), which means it’s ready and you will be able to get your hands on it soon! You can learn more about Office 2010, Sharepoint 2010 and the other products in this suite at the Office Productivity site. From May 12th (13th Asia time) you can tune in to the online Launch Event

Get up to date on “the Cloud”

I found a great resource on Cloud Services, explaining all the different choices you have around Private Cloud, Public Cloud, SaaS, Iaas etc. Make sure you’re up to speed on all this by downloading this brochure. You can also watch videos, web casts and read what this means for you as an IT Pro on our Cloud Services web

Microsoft IT – how do we run our own infrastructure?

Have you heard of Microsoft IT Showcase? This is a set of content (articles, videos and web casts) that shows how we internally plan , deploys and manages our infrastructure. Some of the latest ones that could be of interest are:

Security Monitoring on the Microsoft Enterprise Network: The Microsoft Enterprise Network is one of the world's largest and most prominent networks. Learn how Microsoft monitors the security of its network and responds to malware and suspected intrusions or policy violations.

Virtualization Moves Data Center Functionality to the Branch Office: Do WAN access issues and costs keep you from providing the datacenter services in branch offices that benefit your corporate users? Learn how Microsoft IT uses Windows Server 2008 R2 and virtualization to deliver datacenter functionality to branch offices. Services at the branch office level include file and print management, offline folder redirection, operating systems and application distribution, and patch management. This has significantly improved service availability, lowered management costs, and reduced servers.

The Showcase team also have their own topic area on TechNet EDGE , take the chance to watch and comment on videos.

Exchange 2010 helps Malaysian company with email problems

While on the topic of Exchange Server 2010 in my previous post, I came across a case study from Malaysia that I recommend you to have a look at. The Plastic Centre Group provides packaging solutions for everything from soap and personal care, to cooking oil, household, agriculture and lubricants.

They have around 90 people working in the sales office and they were previously using an open source application on Linux Server for their email solution. They experienced issues around storage and the lack of spam filter resulted in each person spending on average 30 minutes (!!!) per day cleaning their inboxes from spam.

The solution was to move to Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook 2007 and from start to finish the implementation took 60 days, that includes both software and hardware changes.

“Two of the main reasons we are switching to Microsoft are the huge support structure that a company like Microsoft can offer, and the ease of use of its solutions” comments Sng, adding that he had spent more than a year learning the Linux system when he first joined the Plastic Centre Group.

Read the full case study here to understand their cost savings and increase in both productivity and mobility.

Exchange 2010 web cast series

Last month a series of webcasts covering Exchange Server 2010 was kicked off. Some of them, like “Introducing Exchange Server 2010” is now available on demand and some is still scheduled to happen throughout February and March. Check out the full list on the Exchange Web.

On this site you also find “How Do I?” videos, short demos showing a specific scenario, like 3 parts around Migrating from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010.

Download the Eval version of Exchange 2010 now and experience the product yourself.

Still running the Windows 7 RC? Expiration is getting closer…

On March 1st, the Release Candidate of Windows 7 will start to shut down every two hours until the expiration date June 1st. If you’re still not ready to move to a released version of Windows 7 you can install the 90-day trial. We recommend a clean install to replace the Release Candidate.

Check of the Windows Blog for more information on how to move from Windows 7 RC, together with technical resources on deployment.

Security Bulletin for IE6 vulnerability is released

Referring to my blog post a few days ago, a Security update for this vulnerability in IE6 is now released. More information about Bulletin MS10-002 here and you can also watch a on-demand web cast here

Running IE6? Upgrade today to prevent attacks!

If you’re still running IE6 it’s definitely time to upgrade. Last week some exploits targeting Internet Explorer 6 were made public and we also released a Security Advisor describing this; Microsoft Security Advisor 979352. Later versions of IE are not effected because of the improved security features. Here is an official statement from us:

Microsoft is aware of public exploit code released that impacts customers using Internet Explorer 6. Customers using Internet Explorer 8 are not affected by currently known attacks and exploits due to the improved security protections in IE8. We recommend that all customers immediately upgrade to Internet Explorer 8.  Customers should also consider applying the workarounds and mitigations provided in the Security Advisory.

Internet Explorer 8 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/ie

Microsoft teams are continuing to work around the clock on an update and we will take appropriate action to protect customers when the update has met the quality bar for broad distribution. That may include releasing the update out-of-band.

More information including the Microsoft Security Advisory 979352 and enhanced security features available in Internet Explorer 8 are available at: Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) blog.

You also find some information comparing how this affects browsers and platform in this blog post.

Windows 7 Application Compatibility list for IT Pros

Do you want to know what applications are compatible with Windows 7, which ones are not and which ones you need updates for? You can now download a list with the products that have met the Windows 7 Logo Program testing. Since this changes constantly, you can always get the latest information on the Windows 7 Compatibility Center

Exchange Server 2010

Yesterday at TechEd Berlin we announced that Exchange Server 2010 has reached RTM status! Learn more about Exchange 2010 at the Exchange website, here you can also download a Trial version, watch a Web Cast or do a Virtual Lab. Exchange Server is also a part of our New Efficiency Virtual Launch

To read what others has to say, check of our News and Reviews

The New Efficiency is here!

A few hours ago we kicked of the Virtual Launch event for “The New Efficiency” with a keynote session from Steve Ballmer. I was sleeping so didn’t catch it live but of course it was recorded for you to watch whenever it suites you. Except for the keynote, there are tons of other sessions divided in themes such as Discover The Optimized Desktop, Learn More About The Optimized Server, Considers Unified Communications and Explore Business Ready Security. Each theme has several sessions with a recorded presentation, possibility to download slides or transcript and also links to more content.

There is also a partner section where you can watch presentations, find information and connect with them.

I really like this format of learning and with all the available content you can keep busy for several days!

Free software, training and support for Web professionals

Last week, we announced a program for Web Professionals called WebsiteSpark. This is targeted to Web development and design companies with up to 10 employees and will give you a lot of good stuff:

· Microsoft Web design and development tools , including three licenses of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, two licenses of  Microsoft Expression Web 3, and one license of Microsoft Expression Studio 3.

· Four processor licenses for production usage of Microsoft Windows Web Server 2008 or R2 (when available) and  four processor licenses for production usage of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Web Edition.

· A third-party premium Website control panel (DotNetPanel).

Participating companies will also receive the following professional support and training:

· Two technical support incidents per company.

· Access to community support through connections with Network Partners, Hosting Partners and peers with complementary services and technologies.

· Unlimited access to technical managed newsgroups on MSDN.

· Unlimited program support for non-technical issues.

Find more information at the WebsiteSpark web or follow the conversation on Twitter