Microsoft Higher Education - Mid-Atlantic

Please contact me oryour respective Account Technology Specialist if you are attendingTechEd IT Pro week.  We are hosting our 5th annual higher educationcustomer networking event (code for a party). 

TechEd is the premier annual customerconference from Microsoft. For two weeks in June, customers get technicaltraining, information, and resources to help build, deploy, secure, mobilize,and manage solutions based on the full range of existing and upcoming Microsoftproducts.   Attendees experience a sense of community and excitementunparalleled the rest of the year.   Higher Education EnterpriseSales fosters that sense of community with a customer gathering each year.

KMS version 1.1 for Windows Server 2003 provides thefollowing key features:

·        A single KMS host which supports volume licenseeditions of both Windows Vista RTM/SP1 and Windows Server 2008

·        Running KMS version 1.1 in a Windows Server 2003virtual machine.

KMS v1.1 for Windows Server 2003 is now available on theMicrosoft Download Center at:

X86 (EN-US) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=82964

X64 (EN-US) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83041

Other languages will be available by March 31, 2008

For more information on Volume Activation 2.0, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet/volumeactivation/

I’m excited to announce that we have officially launched Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008.  This launch represents a major milestone on the road to Dynamic IT,Microsoft’s initiative to help customers optimize their people,processes, and technology and in turn, position IT as a strategic asset for the business.

There will be several “regional” launch events over the next couple months.  The following link provides more information about these upcoming events in your area:

http://www.microsoft.com/heroeshappenhere/events/default.mspx

SystemCenter Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 is now available:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ede38d83-32d1-46fb-8b6d-78fa1dcb3e85&DisplayLang=en

Operations Manager 2007 SP1 addresses critical customer-initiatedissues, including improved deployment, performance, reporting, and enhanced support. 

Highlighting some of the key new features and enhancements:

• New capability to export Operations Manager 2007 diagrams to Microsoft Visio VDX file format.
• New ability to publish reports to multiple locations, such as Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Web sites.
• Improved performance and reliability across the product, such as when working with alerts, overrides, and searches.
• Enhanced “advanced search” by improved the ability to search across monitors and rules by their overrides.
• Simplifying the creation of new management packs by allowing users to copy views from existing management packs to an unsealed management pack.
• New ability view performance data through the Operations Manager Web console, and setup filters for desired performance counters to ease searching and navigation.
• New discoveries and views added to the Audit Collection Services (ACS), along with new monitors and alerts to track the health of ACS collectors.
• Enhanced backup and recovery with the introduction of an easier-to-use Secure Storage Backup Wizard.
• … and much, much more!! 

On February 12, 2008 Microsoftwill release the Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availabilityupdate to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) marked as an Update Rolluppackage. Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability Update is acomplete installation package that will upgrade machines running InternetExplorer 6 to Windows Internet Explorer 7. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 940767 contains moreinformation on the Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and AvailabilityUpdate.

Description of the WindowsInternet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability Update

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940767/

Customers who have configuredWSUS to "auto-approve" Update Rollup packages – which is notthe default configuration – will automatically upgrade machines runningInternet Explorer 6 to Windows Internet Explorer 7 after February 12, 2008 andconsequently, may want to read KB 946202 to manage how and when this update is installed.

Windows Internet Explorer 7 tobe distributed via WSUS February 12, 2008; May require administrator action tomanage the rollout

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946202/en-us

Customers will need to take actionif:

·        They use WSUS to manage updates in their organization.

·        They have Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)-based computers orWindows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1)-based computers that have InternetExplorer 6 installed.

·        They do not want to upgrade Internet Explorer 6 machines toWindows Internet Explorer 7 at this time.

·        They have configured WSUS to auto-approve Update Rollups forinstallation.

This information onlyapplies to distribution via WSUS.  Most territories already receiveInternet Explorer 7 through automatic update.  Also, the InternetExplorer 7 Blocker Toolkit only applies to distribution via automaticupdate so customers who use WSUS and have previously deployed the blockertoolkit will want to read KB 946202.

“Postponingthe Windows Internet Explorer 7 Deployment

If you have configured WSUS toautomatically approve Update Rollups, but you do not want to automaticallyinstall Windows Internet Explorer 7 via WSUS when it is released on February12, 2008, you will need to disable this auto-approval rule before February 12,2008. Once the rule is disabled, you can synchronize the Windows InternetExplorer 7 package to your WSUS server by using the steps outlined below. Oncethe Windows Internet Explorer 7 package has been synchronized to the server, itwill not be automatically approved when you switch your auto-approval rule backon.”

Note This does not apply to Windows Vista because WindowsInternet Explorer 7 is a component of Windows Vista

Microsoft OfficeSharePoint Conference 2008 March 3 - 6

Microsoftwill host its largest ever Microsoft Office SharePoint Conference at the WashingtonState Trade and Convention Center in Seattle, WA.  The four-day conferencewill be attended by an audience of over 3,000 business and IT professionals.

Theconference will provide the best information, demos, and material on thecurrent release of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies.

EarlyBird Special

Ifyou’re one of the first 1,000 people to register you’llautomatically receive a $300 discount off the regular registration cost of$1,100!  This discount is strictly limited to the first 1,000 registrants– act quickly and save over 25%!

This is an all access pass that covers your full attendance at the conference.It includes all evening events, daily conference meals,attendance to all sessions and to the exhibit hall.

Visit http://www.mssharepointconference.com/pages/default.aspxto find out more information

I wanted to be sure you are aware that Microsoft has recently addressed anissue in Excel 2007 and Excel Services in Office SharePoint Server 2007 throughthe following hotfixes:

1.     Excel 2007 hotfix package: October 3,2007 (KB 943075)

2.     Excel Services in Office SharePointServer 2007 hotfix package: October 3, 2007 (KB 943076)

The hotfixes are available to downloadat the links above and will be included in the Microsoft Office 2007 ServicePack 1 (SP1) and in an upcoming Public Update (release dates are currentlyunavailable).  We encourage you to install these updates as soon aspossible.  

Who is affected?

All customers and users of Excel 2007and Excel Services in Office SharePoint Server 2007 are affected. Versionsprior to Excel 2007 are not affected.

What is the issue?

The Excel team was made aware of anissue with the display of calculation result numbers within the ranges of65534.99999999995 to 65535 and 65535.99999999995 to 65536. (Try entering =850*77.1 into a cell.)  Investigation into these reports determined thatmany calculations resulting in a number within these ranges actually displayedthe incorrect value 100,000. This is not due to a calculation error but a flawwith the display of this calculation.  The hotfixes as described in KB 943075 and KB 943076 will address thisissue.