Nick MacKechnie

Hi All, Please find attached the listings of new or updated downloads for the week ending 25 th July 2008.  Key ones include: Infrastructure Development & Operations • Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) User's Guide for Windows Vista ...

Hi All, Please find attached the listings of new or updated downloads for the week ending 18 th July 2008.  Key ones include: Infrastructure Development & Operations • Microsoft Exchange Server Jetstress Tool (64 bit / 32bit) • Implementing System...

Hi All, As we’re gearing for the release of SQL Server 2008, please be aware of the page in the Setup process where one chooses Collation.  In the SQL 2008 setup, the collation is on a second tab, on the same page where one sets up the service accounts...

We are pleased to announce the availability of the Service Level Dashboard Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 for download on TechNet . IT departments need ever more sophisticated tools to monitor the performance and availability of line-of...

Hi All, Here’s some “gotcha’s” that you might want to consider while testing XPSP3 in the lab before rolling out to your enterprise: 1. An incorrect time stamp is displayed on a Windows XP Service Pack 3-based computer that uses the Jerusalem time zone...

Hi All, The environment is high on the agenda of many corporate board rooms. With this in mind and with IT services highlighted as a contributor to the company carbon footprint it seemed relevant to highlight the Microsoft website devoted to this subject...

Hi All, We had some customers ask what they should exclude in terms antivirus for Operations Manager 2007, I was passed this information from a colleage. 1. The database server could be treated similar to normal SQL servers. Guidelines for configuring...

Hi All, The Microsoft virtualization products that includes Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V , System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 , and Microsoft Application Virtualization (formerly SoftGrid) starts with a press briefing September 8. ...

This morning we released to web three new important updates that affect SharePoint Server 2007 , Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 , Project Server 2007 , Search Server 2008 , Search Server 2008 Express and Project Professional 2007 . The Infrastructure...

Hi All, For those of you running Exchange 2007, please be aware that there are a few issues doing the rounds at the moment when installing the latest set of “Update Rollups” that are currently available. These are Update Rollup 7 for Exchange 2007 RTM...

MOF 4.0 applies service management concepts to the tasks and challenges IT professionals face every day. The guidance it provides puts IT pros in the spotlight—it speaks to their needs and provides them with job aids to help them make sound decisions...

Hi All, Do you want to learn more about Windows Server 2008, but are short on time? Learning Snacks are short, interactive presentations about popular Windows Server 2008 topics and have been created by Microsoft Learning experts. Introducing Branch...

Hi All, Please find attached the listings of new or updated downloads for the week ending 11th July 2008.  Key ones include: Infrastructure Development & Operations • Office Communications Server 2007 Document: Supportability Guide • Service...

We are very excited to announce that the ‘Rollup Update’ for System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 is now available. There are new workloads to be protected, as well as new features in this update, including: Windows Server 2008 support Run DPM2007...

Hi All, Yesterday we released an update to accommodate daylight saving time (DST) changes in several countries. We recommend that customers deploy the most current Windows cumulative time zone update to guarantee the consistency of the time zone...

“Zermatt” is a .NET developer framework and SDK that helps developers build claims-aware applications to address today’s application security requirements using a simplified model that is open and extensible, can improve security, and boosts productivity...

Hi All, Download information for Update Rollup 3 for Exchange 2007 SP1 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=63E7F26C-92A8-4264-882D-F96B348C96AB&displaylang=en http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949870 Download information...

Microsoft IT Showcase is pleased to announce the publication of Virtualization Strategy Provides Tools, Processes, and Compliance Capabilities to Enhance Business Support and Drive Adoption, which discusses how Microsoft IT indentified virtualization...

Hi All, Microsoft is committed to providing quality products to customers. As part of this commitment, we would like to remind you that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will be released to Automatic Updates shortly. The third service pack to Windows...

Hi All, We just shipped the Composite Application Guidance for WPF formerly known as “Prism”. The Composite Application Guidance for WPF is designed to help you more easily build enterprise-level Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) client applications...

This provides a list of supported server and client guest operating systems supported within a Hyper-V virtual machine as of June 2008. Please note that this list is subject to change. For the latest public version, please see KB article 954958 here:...

Hi All, Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, hypervisor-based server virtualization technology, allows you to make the best use of your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server worklaods as separate virtual machines (VMs) running on a single...

Hi All, The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The guides in this series help clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, with each...

Officially released on 30-June-2008 to the general public, this tool could be very useful to you to perform hardware inventory, compatibility analysis and readiness reporting on our newest products. If you are interested in assessing your IT infrastructure...