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February 27
Canvas for OneNote 2007 allows you to navigate and edit notebooks in a new way by providing a high-level canvas-view of all your content. The prototype lets you zoom and pan around; view and organize content in new ways; add new pages right where you want them; and even locate pages in a timeline view. (Thanks Nathan)
- Discover the many ways that Canvas for OneNote can help you identify and find the content, pages, and sections you're looking for.
- See how adding, moving, and editing notebook pages and sections from a canvas view can help you get all your content right where you want it.
- Watch how easy it can be to browse your notebook, organize content to fit the way you work, and find what you're looking for using the Activity View and various visual cues.
February 26
Cisco has released "Global Internet Speed Test" (GIST), which helps you quickly understand the “gist” of what your network speed can deliver at any given time. Users can submit their test location enabling the global user community to learn the places with the fastest speeds and compare cellular and wif-fi speeds with Blackberry and iPhone users around the world. (Thanks Jason)
GIST User Speed Classifications:
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Web 2.0 Grade: surf the web and collaborate, you’re on a solid wave (150 – 449 kbps)
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Music Grade: download/listen to your favorite tunes, you’ve got the bandwidth (450 – 749 kbps)
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Video Grade: get your popcorn—it’s showtime, you’re in the fast lane (750+ kbps)
February 25
AuthenTec is providing participants in the Windows 7 beta program software that supports the use of AuthenTec fingerprint sensors in Windows 7-based PCs. AuthenTec fingerprint sensors have enhanced security and convenience features such as password replacement, fast user switching, application quick launch and file/folder encryption with the simple swipe of the finger. (Thanks Paula)
February 24
Microsoft has released software updates to address common application compatibility issues in Windows 7 Beta. This update will NOT appear through Windows Automatic Updates (Support: KB967062)
UPDATE: This update did appear on automatic updates the following day! Huh? Sorry.
Microsoft has updated their Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista 64 SP1 which enables IT administrators to remotely manage roles and features in Windows Server 2008 (Support: KB94131)
February 22
As a Microsoft MVP, I'm continually asked (teased?) about Microsoft's software "monopoly" -- I explain that while I believe they've leveraged their large user base to “bully” some vendors . . . Microsoft has ALWAYS been about creating an infrastructure that is open for 3rd party hardware manufacturers, software developers, industry standards and all types of small vendors. Microsoft is (usually) anything but a monopoly.
I personally feel that Apple is a good example of a monopoly. Apple controls their hardware, software and iTunes store. Apple does not allow other hardware manufacturers to create compatible computers. You can't run their operaing system on other hardware (even though it will!). There are no MP3 players that directly works with iTunes, nor are you "allowed" to write native applications for their iPhone.
Today and tomorrow’s monopolistic worry is Google. Most people naively see Google as simply a "search engine" company, not realizing Google's ownership (and tracking) via the many other websites they visit.
Thankfully, I'm very pleased to read that President Obama's pick for U.S. Antitrust Chief agrees. (^_^)
February 21
Celebrating Microsoft Press' 25the Anniversary, they have released the "Windows Vista Resource Kit, Second Edition" - In-depth, comprehensive, and fully updated for Service Pack 1, this Resource Kit delivers the information you need to administer Windows Vista. (or you still can purchase it for $69.99)
February 20
A critical vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 and earlier versions. This vulnerability would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this issue is being exploited.
Adobe expects an update by March 11th.
McAfee has a bit more information -- but the advice here is to be VERY careful when opening up PDF files for the next few weeks! It was a sad day at work as we said goodby to our Free FM radio network (Adam Carolla, Tom Leykis, Tim Conway Jr., Frosty Heidi & Frank)
While you can still grab some podcasts for posterity -- it's not clear "for how long?" (so do it now!)
That said, our new radio network is AMP Radio playing "Top 40" music -- please stay tuned for some very exciting "social-networking" announcments!
Soon to be used 97.1 URLs?
Click Here for All Free Los Angeles CBS Radio Streams
However, versions of these games have also been available freely from Microsoft for years!
Free (off-line) Game Demos from "Bicycle"
Free On-Line Games from MSN:
Microsoft has released free online Live Services Jumpstart Training:
Live Services Jumpstart Training are level 300-400 in-depth technical sessions, hands-on labs and informal Q&As presented by Microsoft’s top engineers and web development experts. Through this virtual event site, you can continue to access this training, including presentations and session recordings, on demand. (Thanks Katrien)
February 18 One of my favorite bloggers, Dan Cunningham, has updated his Workstation Migration Assistant to help deploy Windows 7.
Workstation Migration Assistant is a visual wrapper for the User State Migration Tool 4 (USMT4), designed to simplify the capture / restore process for your end-users. (Support: TechNet)
NOTE: User State Migration Tool 4 (included in the WAIK) migrates user files & settings during deployments of Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7. USMT4 captures files & settings from the source computer and then migrates them to a new Windows installation. ( Windows 7 Compatible, Windows 7 USMT Tips)
February 15
Recite is a search preview technology for your voice that runs on Windows Mobile devices. With Recite, you use your voice to easily store, search and retrieve the things you want to remember, where and when you need them.
Recite’s voice search makes it easy to retrieve your stored thoughts and notes by using voice pattern matching. It analyzes the patterns in your speech and finds matches between two recordings -- the notes you stored on your phone, and the search you do using your voice. With Recite you can store thousands of spoken notes, and then later retrieve the notes you want based on a match with your search term(s). This is different from speech recognition, which has to accurately convert spoken words to application-readable input. (Thanks bgauth)
NOTE: Microsoft Recite is available as a free technology preview beginning February 16, 2009.
Autoruns for Windows 7 - See what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots and you login. Autoruns also shows you the full list of Registry and file locations where applications can configure auto-start settings.
February 14
Microsoft's Windows International Team is looking for beta testers for their Spanish verion of Windows 7 Ultimate.
Also Include:
- Full Name
- E-Mail Passport (Windows Live or Hotmail account)
- Address (Country, city, street and number, postal code if applicable)
- Explain in a few lines: "Why you want to join the program and how it might help."
February 13
Previously only available to Microsoft's "connect" beta testers; the Windows Media Center Software Development Kit for Windows 7 Beta is now available for everyone else! (Thanks Charlie)
Windows Media Center Software Development Kit for Windows 7 Beta is designed to help developers create applications and software components that take advantage of features provided by Windows 7 Media Center.
February 12
While the HP TouchSmart All-in-One PC (IQ500 series & IQ800 series) drivers are available from Windows Update; you'll need to manually download and install the drivers.
Windows 7 Manageability Overview - Windows 7 introduces a number of manageability improvements that can reduce total cost of ownership by helping to increase automation, improve user productivity, and provide flexible administrative control to meet compliance requirements. This paper provides an overview of each of these improvements.
Overview of the Overview: IT professionals are often responsible for repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Windows 7’s comprehensive scripting abilities enhance the productivity of IT professionals by automating those tasks, which reduces errors while improving administrative efficiency:
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Microsoft Windows PowerShell 2.0 enables IT professionals to easily create and run scripts on a local PC or on remote PCs across the network. Complex tasks or repetitive management and troubleshooting tasks are automated.
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Group Policy scripting enables IT professionals to manage Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and registry-based settings in an automated manner, thus improving the efficiency and accuracy of GPO management.
In addition to its powerful scripting capabilities, Windows 7 includes several features that improve user productivity and reduce costs:
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Built-in Windows Troubleshooting Packs enable end-users to solve many common problems on their own, and IT professionals can create custom Troubleshooting Packs, thus extending this capability to internal applications.
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Improvements to the System Restore tool inform users of applications that might be affected when returning Windows to an earlier state.
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The new Problem Steps Recorder enables users to record screenshots, click-by-click, that reproduce a problem so IT can troubleshoot solutions.
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Improvements to the Resource Monitor and Reliability Monitor enable IT professionals to more quickly diagnose performance, compatibility, and resource limitation problems
For IT departments to address their ever-increasing security needs and meet compliance requirements, Windows 7 also supports the following features:
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AppLocker enables IT professionals to more flexibly set policy on which applications and scripts users can run or install, providing a more secure and manageable desktop.
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Auditing improvements enable IT professionals to use Group Policy to configure more comprehensive auditing of files and registry access.
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Administrators can require users to encrypt removable storage devices with BitLocker To Go via Group Policy.
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Group Policy Preferences define the default configuration, which users can change, and provide centralized management of mapped network drives, scheduled tasks, and other Windows components that are not Group Policy-aware.
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DirectAccess seamlessly connects mobile computers to the internal network, allowing IT professionals to manage them if the user has an Internet connection
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