Archive for February, 2009
Microsoft App-V Support for the Windows 7 Beta
Our MDOP customers have told us that they want to see Windows 7 Support for Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) so that they can move ahead with their application testing for enterprise deployments of Windows 7 early on. We heard you loud and clear. Today we are announcing the availability of App-V 4.5 CU1 with support for the Windows 7 Beta.
All subscribers of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) can head on over to Microsoft Connect and register to download the update. This release will have access to the new technology for free as part of their current licenses.
For more information, see this blog post over on the MDOP Blog which also includes roadmap information around App-V 4.6.
MDOP is part of the Windows Optimized Desktop. A few weeks ago, Gavriella Schuster highlighted the value of the Windows Optimized Desktop for businesses and announced specifics for the Windows 7 Enterprise SKU, which is an Optimized Desktop offering. For further guidance of Windows Deployments in your environment, see Gavriella’s blog post on the Windows for your Business Blog here.
Source- Windows Team Blog
Download Microsoft Response Point 1.0 Service Pack 2
Microsoft® Response Point™ 1.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2) introduces new-and-improved features that expand your voice service choices, empower the administrator to better manage the system, and enhance the phone system experience for everyday users and callers.
In Service Pack 2, Response Point adds "digital service" to the list of flexible voice service options to help balance the voice and data communication demands of your growing small business. Digital service is transmitted through an enterprise-grade hard-wire connection. "T1" (in the U.S.), "E1" (in Europe),"PRI," or "ISDN" service providers will run a special cable into your office building, similar to the cabling installed by a telco. Digital service lines normally have up to 24 rotating channels that can deliver voice and data packets to phone system components. Using Response Point Administrator, you can configure the digital gateway device required for this voice service. Some digital service providers may offer fractional digital service, which means you purchase only a portion of the circuit that may have only 8 available channels instead of 24.
Response Point Administrator gives you more control over how you manage the system. In this service pack, you can schedule the Automated Receptionist to handle calls after-hours, on holidays, and during business closures; enable access to a virtual private network (VPN), giving employees in remote locations secured access to the resources on the local area network (LAN); configure hybrid gateway devices that have both FXO and FXS ports, or that can be used for either analog or digital service; reduce speech misrecognition, often caused by background noise and variable service requirements, when you change the channel that detects the DTMF touch tones on your phones.
Response Point Assistant improves the overall experience for everyday users and callers. In this service pack, you can control how you receive 2-way intercom calls and 1-way pages, and play a call-forwarding announcement (or not) for people when they contact you.
Additional SP2 features include automatic parked-call return, which ensures that no callers are left waiting in park longer than 3 minutes; support for VoIP gateway devices that can help improve service quality; and customizable URLs in call notification windows.
Microsoft v. TomTom: Patent Infringement Action
Microsoft Corp. today filed a patent infringement action against TomTom NV and Tom Tom, Inc., and issued the following statement from Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing:
“Microsoft has filed an action today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and in the International Trade Commission (ITC), against TomTom NV and TomTom Inc. for infringement of Microsoft patents. We have taken this action after attempting for more than a year to engage in licensing discussions with TomTom.
“We have an established intellectual property licensing program, and the patents involved in this case, relating to innovations in car navigation technology and other computing functionality, have been licensed by many others. In situations such as this, when a reasonable business agreement cannot be reached, we have no choice but to pursue legal action to protect our innovations and our partners who license them. Other companies that utilize Microsoft patents have licensed and we are asking TomTom to do the same.
Source- Microsoft Press Release
Announcing the Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 RC
This week we are announcing that Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 has hit an important milestone in development: Release Candidate (RC).
Starting today, the RC of SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 will be available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers to test prior to final release. In the very near future, we will be making the RC broadly available for anyone to download and test. You can expect another blog post from me when that happens.
SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 include updates that have been delivered since the release of SP1, as well as support for new types of hardware and emerging standards. As we’ve described since we first talked about SP2, we’ve taken your feedback into account when developing SP2. Specifically, we expect SP2 to continue the security benefits of both products and simplify deployment for our customers.
For an outline of changes in SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, check out the notable changes document.
We are planning to release SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 in the second quarter of 2009.
Source- Windows Team Blog
Windows 7:Some Changes Since Beta for the RC(Build 7033)
It should be no surprise but the Release Candidate for Windows 7 will have quite a few changes, many under the hood so to speak but also many visible. Some have asked if the featureset is "frozen" then what will we change–we change a lot of things in the beta based on feedback and we try to do so in a systematic manner with the focus on the goals for the release. The goal of having a fully functional Beta was to make sure we received reliable feedback and not a lot of "hey this doesn’t work at all" sorts of reports. This has allowed us to really focus on delivering a refined RC where the changes we made are all the reflection of feedback we have received.
The post made on the Engineering Windows 7 blog is long enough,so we arent going to post the whole thing here,just check the new enhancements and addition to Windows 7 RC on the E7 Blog.
One thing to note is that the last image is of Windows 7 Build 7033 (We doesn’t had any information about it earlier) which is indeed pretty old the latest build is Build 7047, so we are hoping to see some more new features in the upcoming builds
NEW Office Live features and functionality
First of all, Office Live WorkSpace has added language support for Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Serbia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Latvia, and Slovenia to use the localised service.
WorkSpaces also get long-awaited FOLDERS, full cut/copy/paste and file storage is being increased to a very respectable 5GB
There’s also a brand new Community and Support site at http://ask.officelive.com/workspace/
For Office live Small Business, several new features have been added to enhance ease of use :
- Custom colour selector – choose exactly the colours you want in the website templates, even match them to your company logo.
- Custom page zone resizing – new zone templates have been added, along with the ability to resize each zone to your exact needs.
- Custom backgrounds – apply custom colours, colour gradients and even images to your entire site or to individual web pages.
- PayPal button module – sell items from your website, securely accessing your PayPal account directly from within the Office Live Small Business Web Site design tool.
Last but not least, there’s also a new Community and Support site for Office live Small Business at http://ask.officelive.com/smallbusiness/
Source- MSDN Blog
New Server Joining the Windows server family
You may have heard that earlier today Steve Ballmer referenced we are working on an addition to the Windows server Family named Foundation Server.
While we don’t have any details to share now, we are very excited about the opportunity this entry-level server will bring to our customers and partners.
Look for more information coming in the next few months!
Source- Windows Server Blog
Windows Mobile 7 coming next year, says Ballmer
Microsoft has had an conference call earlier today, and Steve Ballmer spoke about Windows Mobile as one of its 7 big businesses.
According to Ballmer, Microsoft has been ramping up expenditure in the Windows Mobile segment over the last few years, and at $900 million per year, Windows Mobile is close to 4% of Microsoft’s operating expenditure and has 2000 employees (RIM has 2900). This still however leaves Windows Mobile as a “somewhat unprofitable” Microsoft business, and with Windows Mobile currently 3rd place in market share behind Symbian and RIM.
Ballmer re-affirmed his oft-repeated statement that Microsoft will not be making a Microsoft Phone, saying it was committed to the licensing model. There was however a plan to extend revenue-generating opportunities to services.
One statement of note regarding Windows Live was that Microsoft was hamstrung in bundling Live services with the PC due to their Consent Decree from Anti-trust ruling against them nearly a decade ago, and one does wonder how this ruling continues to prevent obvious integration opportunities which would make Windows Mobile and the various services around it a much more powerful solution than it is now.
Source- wmpoweruser.com
