If you read Jeff Kunins' post a few weeks ago about the growth of Windows Live Messenger in the last decade, you already know that Messenger's growth has been pretty phenomenal. With such growth comes passionate feedback from customers, and a unique set of challenges around supporting those customers with a reliable service. My name is Russ Arun, and I'm a Group Program Manager for Windows Live, focusing on the server side of Messenger. In building the Messenger service we've always focused on these core principles:
Scale - making it easy to support more customers using a set pattern
Reliability - making the system redundant where needed
Efficiency - delivering the best service for the least cost
In this post, I’d...
Vista News
All the latest Windows Vista and Tech news.
In the last post I started the planning process, but we are far from finished. We’ve basically outlined what we want and quality bars, but we haven’t actually mapped out the test cases, pilot phases or built a timeline yet. Let’s start by looking at test cases for the pilot.
Initial Testing for the Pilot
As this is just a pilot, you should not expect to be testing with the full rigor of a production deployment. That said, the more committed you are to actually deploying the operating system you are piloting, you could argue that testing as much as possible in early pilot phases will pay off in the long run, resulting in less testing for the production deployment. Your test cases should cover the following primary categories...
Lately, folks have been talking a bit about HDMI. HDMI is a special type of connection designed to deliver digital content from one device to another audio or video device through a single connection. That content can be standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD) movies or something as simple as MP3 music. HDMI is a completely digital connection, as it transmits uncompressed digital data. It is a standard that is replacing the old-style analog connections such as S-Video and VGA. A common use for HDMI today is connecting devices like a PC or an Xbox 360 to a HDTV.
As I had been seeing a lot of talk about HDMI, I realized that HDMI is very common today in Windows PCs. In looking at the PCs I currently have in my office and at...
There’s a new Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) available from Microsoft to help administrators manage Multiple Activation Key (MAK) activation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The way MAK activation works is that the key must be installed on the end system (there are a number of ways to do this - see our latest TechNet Webcast for more details and demos) and then that system is activated with the Microsoft-hosted activation and validation services either online or over the phone. If you are activating one system with MAK, the effort required is minimal. However, if you want to MAK activate multiple systems or transition between activation methods (i.e. MAK to KMS, KMS to MAK, etc.) it gets a bit more complicated. VAMT...
Vista SP1 vs SP2
A nice battery of tests done to see the inpact (if any ((there doesnt appear to be any lol)) ) of SP2 on overall system performance
Continuing the series with our guest blogger, Jeremy Chapman.
As with any IT project, the first part of planning is about building a plan. There are several things you’ll want to accomplish with a pilot and depending on your organization, the importance of each validation area will vary. I think of the pilot as trying to achieve the following key tasks
Technology validation. This not only validates the desktop environment you are delivering, but also how you deliver it. This covers everything from inventorying current users’ desktops, to imaging, applications and deployment technologies.
Process validation. Process validation is ultimately for ensuring that you have covered all bases for the project and implementation...
Also this Friday, Genuine Windows’ Joe Williams will be appearing live on This Week in Law, a weekly online interview show hosted by Denise Howell. Joe will be discussing the recent Windows Activation Technologies Update for Windows 7.
Date/Time: Friday, February 26, 2010 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Location: Online webcast or IRC channel
Hope you can tune in!
- Jodi
More...
IT professionals – there’s another TechNet activation issues planned for this Friday:
Title: TechNet Webcast: Troubleshooting Activation Issues with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
Overview: Product activation is a critical part of Windows operating system deployment. Do you know how to ensure that your Key Management Service (KMS) is working before deploying? What about troubleshooting issues with activation? In this webcast, we focus on resolving some of the most common issues with Windows product activation in enterprise environments. Join us to learn the steps for troubleshooting the most common product activation and validation issues. We provide proactive guidance and the latest updates on Volume Activation for the...
Back in October 2009 we talked about upcoming dates for end of support for certain Windows XP and Windows Vista versions. Those dates are getting closer and this is the time to remind customers running these versions that there is a need to take an action.
If you or someone you know is running Windows Vista with no services packs installed (also known as Windows Vista RTM or SP0), please use Windows Update to install the latest service pack available – Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (note you’ll need to install Service Pack 1 first). We also recommend checking out our latest Windows release – Windows 7. On April 13th, 2010, Windows Vista RTM will reach the end of support.
And on July 13th, 2010, all versions of Windows 2000 and...
Back in November, we officially announced a new Windows product called Windows MultiPoint Server 2010. Today we are launching Windows MultiPoint Server around the world. Windows MultiPoint Server is available for purchase through OEMs and Microsoft Academic Volume Licensing (VL) customers on March 1, for schools and educational institutions (mainly for use in classrooms, labs and libraries).
Windows MultiPoint Server, based off Windows Server 2008 R2, is designed to enable multiple people (students) to share access to a single host PC through a “station” simultaneously. A station is a device that connects to a host PC running Windows MultiPoint Server via USB and connects to a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Windows MultiPoint Server...
This week we recently released a new version of MDOP that includes six virtualization and management tools for Windows desktops. Along with the new App-v 4.6, we have also released the MED-V v1 SP1 Release Candidate, with support for Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit for download. It’s final release is expected on April 2010 as mentioned in the MDOP blog announcement earlier this week.
I had the opportunity to sit and chat with Ran Oelgiesser, Sr. Product Manager for MED-V and have him answer some of the common questions about MED-V:
Stephen: Why would I look to use MED-V?
Ran: When you upgrade from Windows XP (or even Windows 2000) to Windows 7, you need to map and test all your business applications. It’s not a secret that some...
Did you know that it is estimated that every 14 days, a language disappears? I didn’t know this. It is unfortunate and sad to hear a language, something that is so important to a culture, can disappear so quickly. And when a language disappears, it can take with it centuries of history. Today, UNESCO celebrates International Mother Language Day 2010, and we are taking part. Through the Microsoft Local Language Program (LLP), we want to try and preserve local languages and promote cultural identity as well as helping technology reach more people around the world.
In honor of International Mother Language Day, we are announcing 59 new Language Interface Packs (LIPs) that will be available for Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 that...
Over the weekend, a widespread phishing scam hit Twitter where users were lured in through bad links via Direct Messages that ultimately let spammers take over their Twitter account. Once the spammers take over a person’s Twitter account, they send out mass Direct Messages to all of that person’s friends on Twitter. Some of you may have been impacted by this, and I know some of my friends were as I received some of these spam Direct Messages from this phishing scam. If you receive a Direct Message from someone that has the message of “lol, this is you” that offers a link to a website called “bzpharm” – do not click the link. Email the person that sent you that Direct Message and let them know their account has been hacked and that they...
Many small business owners know the benefits of having a server in the office, but cannot always justify the price of one or the additional IT cost that goes along with it. So what is the other option if owners want the benefits, but not the cost? Windows Home Server of course! Windows Home Server is a perfect fit for Small and Home Offices and comes at a much lower cost than other larger servers. Feature sets of Windows Home Server such as user permissions, expandable storage, remote access, and data protection are something that a business should not live without.
Last year in our 2009 user survey, we learned that the number of home-based businesses using Windows Home Server nearly tripled in the last year. This seems to indicate...
After writing my previous blog post about how Windows Home Server and Zune worked together, I received an interesting e-mail with a great question. “What does Windows Home Server provide with Zune that Windows Media Center could not do on its own?” I realized at that moment, some readers are not fully aware of the full Windows Home Server feature set – especially when you integrate your Windows Home Server with other Microsoft products.
Windows Home Server provides a lot of added benefits to the Windows Home Server + Zune + Windows Media Center scenario. Let’s first talk about what Windows Media Center and Zune are capable of.
Windows Media Center is a beautiful interface found inside consumer Windows 7, Vista, and XP SKUs that...
