I got a question from Mike Herrity yesterday, asking me about the ways that parents can be given access to SharePoint/Learning Gateway, and explicitly whether they needed their own SharePoint licences.
As an aside: Mike Herrity is a deputy head at Twynham School down in Dorset, and is a great SharePoint user. And what I like about Mike is that he’s a prolific sharer – both his SharePoint in Education blog, and his new Netbooks in Education blog are required reading if you’d like to get ideas about what you can do in the future to support your school to build a connected learning community. Mike’s also one of the people I follow from my Twitter account
So back to the question:
“Do I need extra licences for parents to login to SharePoint for online reporting?”
“No”
Obviously, because it’s a licensing question, there’s a bit more to it, but hopefully easy to understand:
If the insitutions students are licensed for their Learning Gateway/SharePoint - eg they have bought Client Access Licences (CALs) - then we automatically extend the rights to the parents/guardians too.
You won’t be surprised to learn that we have a document called “Licensing – Parental Access” that lays all of this out (but perhaps not quite as clearly as above!), and an additional document which customers can download to keep with their licensing records:
Additionally, if a school/college/university has a School/Campus Agreement and have licensed all their students and all of their staff with CALs, then they can also automatically be granted rights for prospective students, alumni & students/staff at collaborating academic or government institutions.
We will update the Education licensing section on the website shortly (but it takes a little longer than popping up this blog post).
Questions?
Add a comment on the blog if you think that others will be interested in the answer, or drop a line to edulic@microsoft.com to get straight through to the education licensing team in the UK.
WCS05PAL: Positioning Commerce Server 2009 to Key Business Decision Makers
Presented by Steven Bergman
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 100
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Managed (Field Managed Service Partner), Microsoft Employee, Retail, Regional Solution Partner, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Developer, Exec/Owner, Implementer, Marketing, Sales, Support
Even in these challenging economic times, leading enterprises are continuing to make investments in e-commerce. This session will offer insight into positioning Commerce Server to various Business Decision Makers (BDM's), such as those in Sales, Marketing, and Merchandizing. We will highlight key Commerce Server 2009 value propositions that address your customer BDM’s e-commerce objectives in today’s economic climate
WCS06PAL: "Example From Zero" - Working With the Commerce Server 2009 Template Pack (Contemporary Site)
Presented by Scott Cairney
Thursday, July 23, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 300
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Managed (Field Managed Service Partner), Microsoft Employee, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller
Partner Role: Developer, Implementer, Sales, Support
Commerce Server 2009 helps set a new benchmark for simplicity—it comes with a new, production-ready, out-of-the-box, contemporary Web site that allows businesses to get their stores live and merchandise moving more quickly. Learn how you can use Commerce Server’s next-generation e-commerce solution to deploy and configure an e-commerce website.
You will learn how to:
- Deploy the Contemporary site using SharePoint Commerce Services
- Customize the Contemporary Site
- Use the Inline Product Property Editor (IPPE)
- BizTalk integration with Excel
DYN17PAL: Nucleus Research ERP ROI Tools
Presented by Eldita Ginger and Ian Campbell
Two Live Deliveries at:
DYN17PAL: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners - DYN17PAL
Level: 200
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Microsoft Dynamics Partner
Partner Role: Exec/Owner, Marketing, Sales
This webcast will be offered live at two separate times to accommodate various time zones and busy schedules. The presenters will cover the same topics at each session; please attend the one that best fits your schedule.
This course will review the benefits of presenting a business case and the importance of establishing credibility during the sales process. We’ll look at how to use Nucleus Research ERP ROI Tools to shorten the deal cycle and how to use the business case to identify areas of competitive benefit. We will examine when to apply metrics such as ROI, TCO, NPV, and Payback during the sales process, how to build credibility behind estimates of benefits, and how to use the business case to effectively negotiate with customers during the purchase phase.
DYN18PAL: Nucleus Research CRM ROI Tool
Presented by Michelle Kimihira and Ian Campbell
Two Live Deliveries at:
DYN17PAL: Thursday, July 23, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners - DYN18PAL
Level: 200
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Microsoft Dynamics Partner
Partner Role: Exec/Owner, Marketing, Sales
This webcast will be offered live at two separate times to accommodate various time zones and busy schedules. The presenters will cover the same topics at each session; please attend the one that best fits your schedule.
You have been trained on “Developing the Value Proposition” and understand the importance of the business case in the sales process. This course will review the benefits of presenting a business case and the importance of establishing credibility during the sales process. We’ll look at how to use Nucleus Research CRM ROI Tools to shorten the deal cycle and how to use the business case to identify areas of competitive benefit. We will examine when to apply metrics such as ROI, TCO, NPV, and Payback during the sales process, how to build credibility behind estimates of benefits, and how to use the business case to effectively negotiate with customers during the purchase phase.
CSD09PAL: Windows Azure - Business Model for Partners
Presented by Eric Morse
Thursday, July 30, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 100
Partner Type: Independent Software Vendor, Regional Solution Partner, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Exec/Owner, Marketing, Sales
Join us for an overview of how Windows Azure can help drive new business. Windows Azure offers a simple, reliable, and powerful platform for the creation of new web applications and services, as well as extending or migrating existing applications to the cloud. In this session we explain how partners can go to market with Microsoft and expand their reach with Windows Azure. Find out more about cost advantages, pricing, partner offers, and how you can be successful with Microsoft for your cloud based offerings
A year ago we started conversations with OGC and Becta to refresh our licensing schemes, with a goal of adding in some more flexibility for individual customers, and responding to changes in the way that all public sector organisations use ICT. With OGC (now known as Buying Solutions) we looked at the whole of public sector excluding education. And with Becta we looked solely at education.
Across the rest of the public sector that resulted in the new Public Sector Agreement (or PSA09) which introduces more flexibility over the choice of product packages and subscription arrangements – matching up with the Chancellor’s statements in the budget that public sector organisations should review carefully the need to own assets. And Angela Eagles, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury ‘praised’ the new agreement as it could save £75m over the next five years.
“This new agreement will contribute to the Government’s efficiency targets in support of its Operational Efficiency Programme, and clearly demonstrates the huge benefits that can be achieved through collaborative procurement.”
Now it’s the turn of Education
Today, we’ve announced the outcome of our discussions with Becta, and are launching a pilot programme for a new licensing option, specifically for UK schools.
It’s a bit of a mouthful, as it is called the ‘Subscription Enrolment for Schools – UK Pilot’, so let’s call it SESP for now! It gives you a mid-way option between the Select Agreement and the School Agreement. Here’s the simple bullet points for SESP:
- It’s a subscription agreement - you pay an annual subscription, based on what you choose to license
- You can choose to either license some/all of your students, or some/all of your computers
- If you choose to license by students, you also get the rights for those students to use the same software at home free (eg if you license Office 2007, then every student can also install it on their home computer too)
- When we release new software versions, you’re automatically covered to use them (think Windows 7 & Office 2010!)
- Because it is a subscription, you’re only renting the software. So if you cancel your subscription, you have to stop using the software (or convert the licences to perpetual licences by doing something called a ‘buy-out’)
When is it likely to be helpful?
There are some clear scenarios when this could be helpful to you in a school, for example:
- If you have previously bought Select licences, and you want to upgrade some of your software (to either move towards subscription, or reduce your up-front cost). For example, you decide that to meet the Information Security guidelines from Becta, you want to install Windows 7 to get BitLocker and BitLocker To Go – to encrypt all of your laptop disks and USB memory keys.
You can use SESP to get upgrade just your teachers’ licences
- You have a current School Agreement covering all of your computers, but 20% of them don’t use Office.
You can ‘downgrade’ to SESP to only license those that do use Office. But don’t forget you’ll need to make sure the other computers have the right perpetual Windows upgrade (eg Windows Business) to run on your school network.
- You want to allow students to bring in their own laptops, but want to have the same software on them that are on your school computers, eg Windows Business to connect to the network, and Office 2007
With the student option, you are licensed for the computer the student uses, whether you own it or they do, and whether it is at home or school.
- Your IT technician is bored, and wants more paperwork to deal with.
Only joking a bit. If you have a current School Agreement, all you have to do today is count all your computers, once a year. With SESP there will be more work to record which groups are covered under which licences, so will mean more record keeping. But that’s worth it if you want to have lots of different configurations of software packages across different machines/users.
My summary table of options
Here’s my quick summary of the three main options schools now have:
| |
Select |
SESP |
School Agreement |
|
Licence Type |
Perpetual |
Subscription |
Subscription |
|
Payment |
All-up front |
Annual fee |
Annual fee |
|
How you license |
One option:
Buy each licence that you need, when you need it |
Four options:
Student – count all your students OR a ‘clearly defined’ group that you want to license
Computer – count all computers OR a ‘clearly defined’ group that you want to license |
One option:
Simply count how all your school computers, and choose what you want to license |
|
Flexibility |
Highest |
Medium |
Lowest |
|
Complexity |
Medium |
Highest |
Lowest |
|
Initial Cost
per licence |
Highest |
Lower |
Lowest |
|
Ongoing cost
per licence* |
Nil |
Same as year 1 |
Same as year 1 |
|
Automatic upgrade rights |
No
unless you also buy Software Assurance |
Yes |
Yes |
Where to find out more
You can read more about SESP (including a comprehensive 11 page FAQ document) on the UK Education website. But the real place to find out more is the education licensing expert at your current Microsoft Education Large Account Reseller. Not only will they understand the nuances, but they can also help you with the pricing.
Licensing can be notoriously complicated, so can I also recommend a quick read of How to get the best deal on Microsoft software, which pre-dates today’s news, but is a step-by-step guide on how to select the best licence arrangement for schools. (My most important tip is ‘Don’t buy an Open licence unless without reading it first!’)
What does SESP mean for Education Partners?
Throughout the development of SESP-UK, Becta has stressed the need for more choice and flexibility in the licensing options for schools. To this end SESP offers the choice of subscribing by counting users or devices, and also offers customers the choice to licence their whole institution or just part. SESP moves schools licensing much more towards an à la carte model. However with this flexibility comes significantly increased complexity (and, as you’ll imagine, this trade-off has been a topic of much debate with Becta). Many of you will have had feedback from customers that they wished licensing could be made simpler. Becta is aware of this and ultimately have prioritised offering greater choice and flexibility over the simplicity offered through the existing School Agreement.
The new pilot will not take away any of your customers’ existing options, and will add this SESP option as a new choice in addition to the existing licence models (School Agreement, Academic Open and Academic Select).
One of the ramifications of the complexity of SESP-UK, is that there is a need to restrict the community of partners able to sell SESP-UK to Education Large Account Resellers (EdLARs) at least for the short to medium term. We recognise that this may be less than ideal for the community of Authorised Education Resellers and so it is important that we give the rationale for this decision being reached.
The complexity of SESP is such that there is significant investment for Microsoft and partner organisations to achieve sales and operational readiness to set up SESP licensing with customers. Undertaking this task with hundreds of AERs is not practical, particularly within the context of a pilot moving into uncharted waters with respect to customer demand, operational processes and pricing. For this reason the pilot needs to be very limited in the number of partners involved; the obvious community on which to focus is the EdLARs, who each have at least one dedicated academic licensing specialist. The number of EdLARs and their typical capabilities in handling more complex licensing make this a much more viable partner community with whom to launch this pilot.
We intend to review this position 6-12 months from launch and any decision to expand the partner community able to sell SESP-UK will be made in the light of operational experience to date.
We remain committed to there being a broad community of partners to serve the wide market of UK schools, and will be keen to ensure that any successful pilots are rolled out to the widest education partner community. We strongly believe that most schools will continue to see the value of School Agreement, when they compare it to the complexities of SESP-UK, and that you will not be disadvantaged in your business.
![W7banner_thumb[2]](http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/ukeducationpartnernews/WindowsLiveWriter/FreeWindows7ReleaseCandidatedownloadwill_8282/W7banner_thumb%5B2%5D_thumb.jpg "W7banner_thumb[2]")
This isn’t specific to AERs/EdLARs, but as it hasn’t got much coverage worldwide, I thought it worth a mention. If you’ve got customers who are thinking of experimenting with Windows 7 in the summer holidays – eg testing some of their old educational software using the XP compatibility mode – then you may want to know that the free download of the Windows 7 Release Candidate will end on 15th August.
The Release Candidate (RC) is our last public release before Windows 7 is finalised and actually released as a full product. The RC version is free to use until Spring next year, and although the download won’t be available after 15th August, it will run it right up until March 2010 without interruptions.
Visit the download site to get a copy and a licence key
It’s handy if you have a customer who wants to install a copy for:
- Testing software compatibility
- Seeing whether it runs on old cronky hardware (see this if you want an idea)
- Running on one of their non-mission-critical computers whilst waiting for the final release
I’ve just heard that a number of partners have registered to attend this conference as delegates, presumably because it offers an opportunity to get up to speed with the way that SharePoint is being used in schools. As we only announced it on the Schools blog, I thought it was worth repeating here too.
Alex Pearce, from Great Barr School in Birmingham, is the UK’s only Microsoft MVP for education (MVP= Most Valued Professional), which means he has access to early product information, and worldwide communities of SharePoint specialists. A lot of what Alex does is related to his school’s Learning Gateway, and also in helping other schools in understanding the capability of what they could do with theirs. He was speaking about SharePoint Governance in Education at the EduGeek conference on it last month.
Well, now Alex has put together the “Learning Gateway Conference” on 15th July at The Belfry, near Birmingham (Yes, The Belfry). As Alex says:
It is promising to be the best education SharePoint event this year for both technical and non-technical staff. Whether you are a Network Manager, VLE Co-ordinator or Head Teacher you will find this conference an opportunity to learn from industry recognised experts speaking about the technical best practice of the Learning Gateway and how to get your staff, pupils and parents engaged and secure. In addition you'll be able to network with your peers and see how others are pushing forward their Gateway.
![clip_image001[5]](http://blogs.msdn.com/blogfiles/ukeducationpartnernews/WindowsLiveWriter/LearningGatewayConferenceon15thJulyinBir_10D7F/clip_image001%5B5%5D_thumb.jpg "clip_image001[5]")
Whether you are running your own Learning Gateway or using a hosted solution such as LP+, Shirelands Learning Gateway or RM Kaleidos, you will find any one of the sessions useful to enhance your environment for all.
For more details of what the conference covers and who should go please see the track overviews.
Visit the website: http://www.learninggatewayconference.co.uk
The conference costs £150, and given the range of speakers and subjects, I think that it shouldn’t be too difficult to sell the day to the senior management team. (Just print out the Agenda from the site, and take it to the meeting). Especially as the government’s online reporting, learning platform and e-portfolio deadlines start rushing towards us.
A common question from customers is ‘What is Microsoft doing to support games based learning?’ Well here’s a good answer – Kodu Game Lab
It’s Time! Get Creative with Microsoft Research’s New Xbox LIVE Community Game “Kodu Game Lab” Have you ever wanted to create your own video game? Now is the time to put your imagination to the test. Microsoft Research’s new game lab “Kodu Game Lab” launches on Xbox LIVE Community Games today, giving aspiring game makers of all ages the chance to bring their own game creations to Xbox 360. For just 400 MS Points, or $5, anyone with a passion for game creation can harness the magic of programming and game development at every level.
Built using Microsoft’s XNA Games Studio, “Kodu Game Lab” is a pick-up-and-create toolset where any aspiring game creators can build their own unique world using a simple image-based creator menu that makes game-making easier than ever. With almost 200 different programming features to choose from, and the ability to share games with anyone on your Friends List, the opportunities are endless.
In addition to a simple image-based user menu, “Kodu Game Lab” enables game creation using only an Xbox 360 controller, right from the comfort of your couch. “Kodu Game Lab” comes equipped with a bridge and path builder, a terrain editor to build unique playgrounds, co-op gameplay for up to four players and 20 different characters with a range of abilities.
What’s more, “Kodu Game Lab” keeps minds active by developing logic, problem-solving and creative thinking skills since it was originally designed as a learning tool for kids.
“As a programmer, I wanted to help create something that unlocked the magic of Xbox 360 in the same way that I was able to unlock my computer as a child and bring my imagination to life through games,” Lead “Kodu Game Lab” Programmer Matthew MacLaurin said. “We had such success with bringing ‘Kodu Game Lab’ into classrooms and after-school programs that we wanted to offer it to any wannabe programmer or creator through the Xbox LIVE Community Games Channel.”
Just in time for summer, “Kodu Game Lab” finds its home among some of the freshest, most diverse and creatively independent games showcased on Xbox LIVE. Get ready to create!
http://gamerscoreblog.com/press/archive/2009/06/30/kodu99884.aspx
http://creators.xna.com/en-US/news/kodugamelab
http://creators.xna.com/en-US/spotlight/kodugamelab
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025855024c
More detailed information about “Kodu Game Lab” and Community Games can be found by visiting: http://creators.xna.com.
For screenshots, please visit:
http://creators.xna.com/press
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| | | As you may already know, Tech·Ed Europe 2009 is the premier Microsoft gathering of IT professionals and developers in Europe. It's an amazing opportunity for you to learn, share, and network. Tech·Ed Europe 2009 will be focused into a single week for both the developer and IT professional communities. The change in format back to a combined event is based on feedback from both our developer and IT professional audiences who in this time of economic uncertainty prefer a single week activity. And here's the best part: as a technology insider we can help you save money on registration. The earlier you sign up...the more you save!! 
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| With more than 600 learning opportunities, Tech·Ed Europe 2009 provides the environment for IT professionals to maximise their business potential and get the edge as a strategic driver of change. Be a part of something big. Don't miss the chance to gain the knowledge of the latest technologies, network with technical experts from Microsoft, partners and the community, as well as sharing experiences with peers See the website for more information: www.microsoft.com/europe/teched/ We look forward to welcoming you in Berlin The UK IT Professional team
ukitpro@microsoft.com
www.twitter.com/asktechnetuk | 
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WCS05PAL: BDM - Commerce Server 2009 Value Propositions and Positioning
Presented by Steven Bergman
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 100
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Managed (Field Managed Service Partner), Microsoft Employee, Retail, Regional Solution Partner, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Developer, Exec/Owner, Implementer, Marketing, Sales, Support
Even in these challenging economic times, leading enterprises are continuing to make investments in e-commerce. This session will offer insight into positioning Commerce Server to various Business Decision Makers (BDM's), such as those in Sales, Marketing, and Merchandizing. We will highlight key Commerce Server 2009 value propositions that address your customer BDM’s e-commerce objectives in today’s economic climate
WCS06PAL: "Example From Zero" - Working With the Commerce Server 2009 Template Pack (Contemporary Site)
Presented by Scott Cairney, Lynnette McLaughlin and Arlene Hall
Thursday, July 23, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 300
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Managed (Field Managed Service Partner), Microsoft Employee, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller
Partner Role: Developer, Implementer, Sales, Support
Commerce Server 2009 helps set a new benchmark for simplicity—it comes with a new, production-ready, out-of-the-box, contemporary Web site that allows businesses to get their stores live and merchandise moving more quickly. Learn how you can use Commerce Server’s next-generation e-commerce solution to deploy and configure an e-commerce website.
You will learn how to:
- Deploy the Contemporary site using SharePoint Commerce Services
- Customize the Contemporary Site
- Use the Inline Product Property Editor (IPPE)
- BizTalk integration with Excel
FOR44PAL: Update on Forefront Security for Exchange Server, SharePoint and Antigen 9 Service Pack Releases
Presented by Mike Chan
Monday, June 29, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 200
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, CPLS, Direct Market Reseller, Distributor, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Managed (Field Managed Service Partner), Microsoft Employee, Original Equipment Manufacturer, Regional Solution Partner, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Developer, Exec/Owner, Implementer, Marketing, Sales, Support
Join us in learning about the upcoming service pack releases with Forefront Security for Exchange Server, SharePoint and Antigen 9. Included with deploying the service packs are important changes to the products that will be officially communicated to customers on July 1, 2009. This session will educate you on what you need to know prior to customers communications being released so that you will be able to adequately address any issues or concerns your customers may have.
WVC42PAL: Trigger Start Services
Presented by Vikram Singh
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
9:00-10:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 300
Partner Type: Direct Market Reseller, Large Account Reseller, Original Equipment Manufacturer, Retail, Regional Solution Partner, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Exec/Owner, Implementer, Marketing, Sales, Support
A number of services were changed to only start when required, or triggered to do so by an event (such as a device being plugged in). This capability is called Trigger Start Services. This session covers the infrastructure and investments made to enable the “Trigger Start Services” feature in Windows 7, its advantages, and overview of how Microsoft’s partners can take advantage of it.
Announcements:
Now available for download - Infrastructure Planning & Design (IPD) guide for DPM 2007 SP1
The DPM Team has been working with the Microsoft Solution Accelerators group to develop this IPD, which goes into beta this week. Open Beta for IPD Guide-Now Available for Download and tell us what you think.
This guide leads the reader through the process of planning a Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 SP1 infrastructure. Work through the infrastructure design process in a logical, sequential order. This IPD guide enables the reader to quickly identify what types of data will be protected, what the recovery goals are, and the protection strategy to achieve those goals. Other benefits of using this guide include best practice design guidance from the product group and an optimized infrastructure to best meet the business requirements.
Please tell us what you think! Download the beta guide and send us your honest feedback. We appreciate your input and will work to make each guide as helpful and useful as possible.
Get the beta IPD by visiting the Connect Web site at https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=1587&InvitationID=TPMB-Q7QK-HF4H&SiteID=14
We've been getting questions about the educational benefits of Windows 7 and why customers should consider upgrading. In conjunction with the OEM team Ray Fleming (thanks Ray) has developed a presentation which partners can use to explain Windows 7 benefits to education customers. There is also a document explaining the different Windows 7 versions and the features/benefits contained within each ...... there's a snapshot below.
The documents are available from my SkyDrive at: http://cid-2fbbe67743d5177d.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Windows%207
Windows 7 Features Comparison
|
Features |
Home Premium |
Professional |
Ultimate |
Enterprise |
|
Retail and OEM Licensing |
Volume Licensing |
|
32-Bit and 64-Bit Versions |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Physical Processor Support (Core Processor Support) |
2 (Unlimited) |
2 (Unlimited) |
2 (Unlimited) |
2 (Unlimited) |
|
Create and Join a Home Group |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Tablet PC Functionality |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Multiple Monitor Support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Document Libraries |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Fast User Switching |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows Search |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows Mobility Center |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows Aero, Taskbar, & Jump Lists |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Live Thumbnail Previews |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Multi-Touch |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Premium Games Included |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows Media Center |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Create & Play DVDs |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Device Stage |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Action Center |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Encrypting File System |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Location Aware Printing |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Remote Desktop Host |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Domain Join & Group Policy Controls |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Windows XP Mode |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
AppLockerTM |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
BitLockerTM & BitLocker to GoTM |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
BranchCacheTM |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
DirectAccessTM |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (SUA) |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Enterprise Search Scopes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Multilingual User Interface Language Packs (MUI) |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
License Rights for 4 Windows Virtual Machines |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Virtual Hard Disk Booting |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Volume Activation |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
License Rights for Network Booting of Windows |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
Note: Starter and Home Basic were not included in the comparison chart above due to their limited applicability to enterprise users.
Bing is a powerful new search service that will help you make faster, more informed decisions when searching online. Bing saves you time, improves your search success, and reduces the numbers of pages and clicks to complete complex tasks and help you make decisions.
So what are we trying to accomplish with Bing? We wanted to peel away the layers standing between a user and information. We wanted to remove the element of luck so often required to find what you’re looking for the first time around. And we wanted to help users harness that information and take it to the next level: making informed decisions. While all major search engines can return general results, there are three main areas where Bing is better.
BETTER RESULTS: Only about 25% of queries are satisfied on the first click. Bing is designed to reduce searching time and all the back and forth of searching. It gives you better results faster.
- Get hard to find information, like customer service numbers, with authoritative results.
- Save time with a 5 day weather forecast for your location.
- Find instant real time traffic for your area.
ORGANIZED RESULTS: Categorized search results with the Explorer Pane and Quick Tabs help you find relevant information more quickly. This helps reduce information overload by organizing the millions of links and anticipating your search refinements. You can’t go back once you’ve tried it.
ACCOMPLISH KEY TASKS: Bing is designed to help you with the 40% of queries that involve key decisions and tasks, such as shopping, travel, or local intent. Bing has powerful tools such as filters, Opinion Ranking, Price Predictor, and cashback to help you make important decisions.
- Simplify shopping online, compare and read reviews with Opinion Ranking, and save with cashback.
- Simplify airline travel and find out if now is the right time to buy your ticket.
Content Filtering
We have received feedback from a number of customers and web filtering vendors about content filtering and enforcement concerns with Bing. Microsoft is committed to providing you with industry leading content filtering and enforcement capabilities and has taken action to address these recent concerns. Our goal is for you, and the firewall and parental control partners you rely on, to fully leverage Bing safe search (or to apply your own custom filtering logic) to meet your needs for web content filtering.
Today, one popular method that content filtering software use is to insert a parameter into the outbound query string to over ride any client side setting and enforce content control. This is a method supported by all major search engines including Bing; however our capability was not clearly publicized and was also not consistently implemented by content control software vendors. The result was that some customers concerned about search safety opted to completely block Bing in their environments.
In addition to safe search enforcement, customers and partners also need a variety of means to filter or block objectionable images and video. Microsoft worked on improving our capabilities in this area based on customer and partner feedback and today, Bing content filtering and enforcement capabilities match or exceed industry best practice. However, success with search safety also involves content filtering partner solutions and we are conducting outreach to these content control vendors, while continuing to improve our capabilities based on feedback.
So how does content filtering and enforcement work with Bing? Here’s a summary of what we are doing to provide a safe search experience with Bing:
Bing Safe Search Setting and Enforcement
- The default safe search setting is set to “Moderate” which automatically blocks access to explicit image and video content.
- The setting is maintained in a client side cookie and a user must proactively change their safe search settings from “Strict” or “Moderate” to “Off” in order to access explicit images or video. However, even if a user changes their setting, admins can always override the users client side setting by appending the parameter “&adlt=strict” (case sensitive) to all queries to the bing.com domain. This will set the safe search setting to “Strict” and block explicit content, including text results. An example of this is http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=adulttermgoeshere&adlt=strict
Explicit Image and Video Domain and URL Based Content Blocking
- Image and video thumbnails (e.g. the static image thumbnails as well as the video thumbnails) have the source URL appended to the end of the thumbnail URL so that customer and web filter vendors have the information they needed to filter using their own logic/criteria. E.g. http://ts2.explicit.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=974382499649&id=12ae77a7fed979b0502840bedacd2552&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.explicitsite.com%2fexplicit-picturegoeshere.jpg
- Bing returns all explicit images and videos from a specific domain. Customers can block either *.explicit.bing.net (assuming wildcards work with your solution) or the following four sub-domains to prevent bing.com from displaying images, videos or even thumbnails of content we suspect is explicit because of the nature of its source site or metadata. Images, videos and thumbnails for non-explicit content will still work.
- ts1.explicit.bing.net
- ts2.explicit.bing.net
- ts3.explicit.bing.net
- ts4.explicit.bing.net
With these capabilities, customers and web filtering vendors have all the tools needed to provide and enforce a safe search experience. Thank you to everyone who shared feedback with us on this matter which helped us to quickly develop a solution and get it into production.
To learn more and take a tour, please visit http://www.discoverbing.com OR give it a spin for yourself at http://www.bing.com and tell us what you think. If your experience is good, make Bing your default search by following the instructions here. Bing and Decide!
IDA17PAL: Microsoft Forefront Identity and Security Solutions: Sales Training for Partners
Presented by Joel Sloss
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
8:30-9:30am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 200
Partner Type: CPLS, Direct Market Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Microsoft Employee, System Builder, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Architect, Exec/Owner, Implementer, Sales
This session will help set the stage for your success in reselling, recommending, implementing, and servicing Microsoft Forefront identity and security solutions, as well as help you understand the opportunities and benefits of attaching Forefront technologies to Microsoft platform infrastructure:
- Enable new cost-cutting business scenarios by deploying integrated identity and security solutions
- Extend the life of existing infrastructure and increase ROI through interoperability
- Improve, accelerate, and strengthen network resources for more efficient IT
Training session goals:
- Module 1—Defining Attach: Learn how establishing a security partnership with Microsoft will directly benefit your business, and see what "Attach" delivers to you and your customers.
- Module 2—Selling: Learn the who, what, how, and why of integrating Forefront solutions into your infrastructure sales/services business processes.
- Module 3—Resources and Support: Learn about the tools and resources available to help you capture part of this growing revenue opportunity.
SQL76PAL: Emerge Stronger with Business Intelligence & SQL Server 2008
Presented by Bryan Von Axelson
Thursday, June 11, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 100
Partner Type: Value Added Reseller; Systems Integrator
Partner Role: Sales
Please join us as we present the partner opportunities on SQL and BI, specifically tailored for the current economic climate. You’ll learn how to Emerge Stronger from the economic downturn by focusing on SQL 2008 upgrades and by helping your customers reduce costs and take advantage of existing systems and data. You’ll learn about how to grow your services business with comprehensive IT offerings and the tangible benefits on BI today. Finally, we’ll close by reviewing all of the available sales and technical resources we’re offering to help you enact these strategies right away.
VEN19PAL: Sell More System Center Virtual Machine Manager and BEAT VMWare with Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V
Presented by Jim Schwartz, Gordon Mangione and Tyler Carter
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
8:00-9:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 200
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, CPLS, Direct Market Reseller, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Microsoft Employee, Regional Solution Partner, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Exec/Owner, Marketing, Sales
This session features a joint presentation by Citrix and Microsoft representatives, explaining in detail how to identify and close sales opportunities that combine Citrix Essentials for Microsoft Hyper-V together with the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V offering.
Attendees of this session will leave with:
• A clear understanding of the primary use cases for implementing Citrix and Microsoft virtualization offerings together
• An understanding of the key components of a typical deal and how to use Essentials for Hyper-V to expand the overall deal size
• Knowledge of how Essentials for Hyper-V integrates with System Center VMM and other Microsoft management tools
+ Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V Channel Promotions
WVC42PAL: Trigger Start Services
Presented by Vikram Singh and Chittur Subbaraman
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
9:00-10:00am Pacific Time
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 300
Partner Type: Direct Market Reseller, Large Account Reseller, Original Equipment Manufacturer, Retail, Regional Solution Partner, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Exec/Owner, Implementer, Marketing, Sales, Support
A number of services were changed to only start when required, or triggered to do so by an event (such as a device being plugged in). This capability is called Trigger Start Services. This session covers the infrastructure and investments made to enable the “Trigger Start Services” feature in Windows 7, its advantages, and overview of how Microsoft’s partners can take advantage of it.
WVC60AL: Demoing Windows 7 in the Enterprise
Presented by Jason Leznek
WVC60AL: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time
Click here to calculate your local time
PLC Registration Link for Partners - WVC60AL
Level: 200
Partner Type: Authorized Education Reseller, CPLS, Direct Market Reseller, Distributor, Enterprise Software Advisor, Independent Software Vendor, Large Account Reseller, Managed (Field Managed Service Partner), Microsoft Employee, Original Equipment Manufacturer, Retail, Regional Solution Partner, System Builder, Systems Integrator, Value Added Reseller, Value Added Provider
Partner Role: Exec/Owner, Marketing, Sales, Support
This webcast will be offered live at two separate times to accommodate various time zones and busy schedules. The presenters will cover the same topics at each session; please attend the one that best fits your schedule.
Windows 7 was designed to help enterprise customers enable their users to be productive anywhere, manage risks through enhanced security and control, and reduce costs by streamlining PC management. There are many demos designed to show your customers the features and technologies that enable this, and you can show them using the Windows Demo Toolkit (WDT). This session will walk through the demos and answer questions on how to best present them.
This is a live event designed especially for Microsoft Partners. The event will be delivered online using Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 and the audio broadcast over the Internet. It is open to all Certified and Gold Certified partners free of charge.
This is the agenda:
Topic: How DPM Helps Customers Protect Their Data Better
Date and Time:16 June 2009 3.30 PM – 5.00 PM GMT
Agenda:
- What is SCDPM (System Center Data Protection Manager) 2007
- What workloads can DPM Protect
- How does DPM protect Data
- Virtualization Protection
- Disaster Recovery
- Licensing Model
Audience: Technical Presales/Sales, Marketing, Service, Management
How to register:
To join these events, please fill in the details below and reply to us at tsare@microsoft.com. Please include “DPM 2007 Readiness Events: June 2009 – Partner ID: «PartnerID»” in the subject line. We will respond to your email at the earliest.
Please include the following details
Partner ID: «PartnerID»
Program Level: «TierLevel»
Attendee Name(s): (You can have multiple people attend the session. Please provide us with the names/email addresses as it is required for registration purposes).
E-mail Address:
Phone Number:
Decrease Your Customer's Power Consumption with Windows 7
Discover how the Windows 7 operating system can help your customer decrease power consumption across the enterprise. Download this white paper to learn about the power management enhancements in Windows 7, including improvements that reduce power consumption, enhance user experiences, and enable greater enterprise power management. Plus, see how diagnostic tools give IT professionals and others the ability to better manage and troubleshoot power management issues and extend the battery life for PCs.
What have people been saying about Windows 7 RC?
Jeremy Kaplan of PC Magazine wrote:
“Bottom line is that Windows 7 Release Candidate is more polished than the beta; seems to be better optimized for operating speed, responsiveness and improves user experience.”
Windows have taken the solution to speed, responsiveness and user experience to a whole new level. This has been one of the main focus’s during the redevelopment of Windows and it will now start up, shut down, resume from standby, and respond quicker. You’ll have fewer interruptions and can recover more quickly from problems when they do occur because Windows 7 will help you fix them when you want. You’ll see fewer notifications and icons popping up because Action Center consolidates alerts from 10 Windows features, including Security Center and Windows Defender. To learn more about this and other new features of Windows 7, please visit http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/Whats-Coming-Windows-7.
Matt Buchanan from Gizmodo digs the new Windows 7 RC backgrounds:
“Yes, these are just a handful of the ridiculously awesome backgrounds packed inside Windows 7.”
We couldn’t agree more! But if that weren’t enough, you can go online and download some more “ridiculously awesome backgrounds” by visiting http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/Windows7/Personalize
Last week I wrote a pile of blog posts on Windows 7 for the schools blog – and you may find some of them useful for starting to get to grips with the way that Windows 7 will impact education users.
Traditionally, in the UK, the data shows that the education market has often been one of the first to adopt new operating systems (yes, that was counter-intuitive to me too, until I saw the research data), and I have come across many network managers who have installed Windows 7 Beta/RC onto a spare laptop (and in some cases, onto their main laptop).
The blog posts are:
In a review meeting with a partner during the week we also had a discussion about Windows 7 and netbooks. It was driven by the debate about whether the Windows 7 Starter edition limit of running only 3 simultaneous applications was enough for educational use. This was specifically in the context of netbook computers (the only ones likely to be supplied with the Starter edition), and even more specifically within the Home Access Programme – where it is likely that there will be extreme cost pressures on the providers.
Well, if only I’d known then what was announced on Friday on the Windows blog. The Windows team have said that Windows 7 Starter edition will be available globally on netbooks (not just in developing markets) and they have removed the 3 application limit.
I reckon the impact of this is that early next year, when the Home Access Programme moves to mainstream roll-out from it’s pilot, all of these home computers will be running Windows 7. That’s much better than today, where the family is sometimes walking out of the store with a netbook running Windows XP.
Thinking as a consumer, I would still be likely to want to buy an upgrade from Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium, even if it’s only to be able to change my desktop background (see the spec details for Windows 7 Starter)
Companies considering moving their IT operations to the Microsoft cloud are understandably concerned about security, privacy, reliability, and operational controls. To assist customers and partners in addressing these concerns, the Global Foundation Services’ and BPOS’ teams have provided the following bill of materials (BOM) resources:
· White Paper - Securing Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure
· White Paper - Security in Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite
· GFS Security Team Blog on Securing Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure (blog site)
More information will be released in the next few weeks, so watch this space.
