Month: March 2010

Today, Microsoft is announcing Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Detailed information regarding SP1 will be released over the next several months; but today Windows Server 2008 R2 is announcing that SP1 will deliver two important new features that directly affect Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

Dynamic memory is an enhancement to Hyper-V in R2 and allows IT administrators to pool all the memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as necessary. That means based on changes in workload, your VMs will be able to receive new memory allocations without a service interruption. For a deeper look at Dynamic Memory check here.

RemoteFX is the latest addition to Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack. Using this new feature in Windows Server 2008 R2, you’ll be able to deliver an even richer and more user-transparent desktop virtualization experience. RemoteFX functions independently of any graphics stack and supports any screen content, including rich content like Silverlight or Flash. Because it uses virtualized graphics resources, RemoteFX works on a wide array of target devices, which means you can deploy it over both thick and thin client hosts and a wide variety of network configurations. For some more information on RemoteFX check here.

MED-V also has an RC version of its upcoming MED-V v1 SP1 release available for download.  The official announcement for that is on the MED-V blog at

http://blogs.technet.com/medv/archive/2010/02/22/med-v-1-0-sp1-release-candidate-is-available-for-immediate-download.aspx

The download is from Microsoft connect and self registration is required. 

Video:Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) V1 SP1 User Experience This screencast demonstrates running a MED-V workspace using a V1 SP1 client in the Windows 7 environment. In V1 SP1, MED-V continues to employ Virtual PC 2007 as the virtualization vehicle to run a MED-V workspace, and it does not require hardware-assisted virtualization

To better understand desktop virtualization and MED-V, additional information is available below:

• Concept of Desktop Virtualization
• Screencast: Mad About MED-V Part 1 of 4, Concept and Architecture
• Screencast: Mad About MED-V Part 2 of 4, User Experience
• MED-V Quick Start Guide
• http://www.med-v.net/

See the video here

IT Pro Evangelists show how to create virtual machines, use VHD Native Boot as the running operating system, run Windows XP apps from a Windows 7 PC, and manage the virtual infrastructure.

http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/thrive.aspx?tab=Videos&seriesid=152&webcastid=12813

Part 1: Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V

http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/thrive.aspx?tab=Videos&seriesid=152&webcastid=12814

Part 2: VHD Native Boot

http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/thrive.aspx?tab=Videos&seriesid=152&webcastid=12815

Part 3: Windows XP Mode

http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/thrive.aspx?tab=Videos&seriesid=152&webcastid=12816

Part 4: System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Here some resources for you to use

Application Virtualization Administrative Template

Use the Application Virtualization Administrative Template to administer Application Virtualization client settings via Preferences

Application Virtualization Dynamic Suite Composition Tool

Use this tool to edit the Open Software Descriptor (.osd) file associated with a virtual application package to create the inter-package dependencies

Application Virtualization Application Listing Tool

Use this tool to display a list of virtualized applications that are currently running

Application Virtualization SFT Parser Tool

Use this tool to extract information from SFT files

SQL Server 2008 R2 offers an impressive array of capabilities for developers that build upon key innovations introduced in SQL Server 2008. The SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Training Kit is ideal for developers who want to understand how to take advantage of the key improvements introduced in SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 in their applications, as well as for developers who are new to SQL Server. The training kit is brought to you by Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism.
Overview and Benefits
The training kit offers the following benefits:

• Learn how to build applications that exploit the unique features and capabilities of SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2.
• Provides a comprehensive set of videos, presentations, demos and hands-on labs
• Contains new content for developers who are new to SQL Server.
• Contains new content for SQL Server 2008 R2.
• Contains all of the existing content from the SQL Server 2008 Developer Training Kit.
• Easy to download and install.

Intended Audience
The training kit is designed for the following technical roles:

• Developers who build applications for the Microsoft platform.
• Microsoft evangelists, technical specialists and consultants.

Contents
The training kit includes the following content:

• Presentations (11)
  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Overview Part I – SQL Server 2008 Review
  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Overview Part II – Introducing SQL Server 2008 R2
  • SQL Server 2008: Filestream
  • SQL Server 2008: Spatial
  • SQL Server 2008: T-SQL
  • SQL Server 2008: Date and Time Types
  • SQL Server 2008: SQLCLR
  • SQL Server 2008: Reporting Services
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Introducing Application and Multi-Server Management with SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Working with Data Tier Application Projects in Visual Studio 2010
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Managing Change in Data Tier Application Projects with Visual Studio 2010 and SQL Server 2008 R2
• Demos (17)
  • SQL Server 2008: AdventureWorks Racing All-Up Demo
  • SQL Server 2008: Spatial Demo
  • SQL Server 2008: Spatial Types
  • SQL Server 2008: Introduction to Filestream
  • SQL Server 2008: SQL CLR Nullable Types
  • SQL Server 2008: Programming with Filestream
  • SQL Server 2008: Reporting Services Web Application Integration
  • SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Date and Time Support
  • SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Table-Valued Parameters
  • SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Row Constructors
  • SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Grouping Sets
  • SQL Server 2008: T-SQL Merge
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Creating a Utility Control Point
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Enrolling a Managed Instance
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Creating Data-Tier Applications
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Data-Tier Application Deployment
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Managing Change in Data Tier Application Projects in Visual Studio 2010
• Hands-on Labs (10)
  • SQL Server 2008: How to build your first Web Application with SQL Server and ASP.NET
  • SQL Server 2008: Using Spatial Data in TSQL
  • SQL Server 2008: Using Spatial Data in Managed Code
  • SQL Server 2008: Using SQL CLR in SQL Server 2008
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Introduction to PowerPivot
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Introduction to Reporting Services Improvements
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Introduction to StreamInsight and Complex Event Processing
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Introduction to Data-tier Applications
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Creating and Deploying a Data-Tier Application
  • SQL Server 2008 R2: Managing Change in Data-Tier Application Projects in Visual Studio 2010
• Videos (17)
  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Overview Part I – SQL Server 2008 Review
  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Update for Developers Overview Part II – Introducing SQL Server 2008 R2
  • Introducing SQL Server 2008 R2 StreamInsight
  • Demo: Real Time Analytics with SQL Server 2008 R2 StreamInsight
  • Introducing SQL Server 2008 R2 Application and Multi-Server Management
  • Introducing SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services
  • Introduction To SQL Server 2008 R2 StreamInsight and Complex Event Processing
  • Introducing PowerPivot for Excel 2010 and SharePoint 2010
  • Presentation: Introducing Application and Multi-Server Management with SQL Server 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2010
  • Demo: Creating a Utility Control Point
  • Demo: Enrolling a Managed Instance
  • Presentation: Working with Data Tier Application Projects in Visual Studio 2010
  • Demo: Creating Data-Tier Applications
  • Demo: Data-Tier Application Deployment
  • Presentation: Managing Change in Data Tier Application Projects with Visual Studio 2010 and SQL Server 2008 R2 (Part I)
  • Presentation: Managing Change in Data Tier Application Projects with Visual Studio 2010 and SQL Server 2008 R2 (Part II)
  • Demo: Managing Change in Data Tier Application Projects in Visual Studio 2010

Get this free training here

Looking for guidance specific to Windows 7 deployment? Check out what the industry’s leading experts have to say in this free Microsoft Press eBook with selected chapters from the Windows 7 Resource Kit on Deployment Platforms, Planning, Testing Application Compatibility, to name a few.  As an added bonus,  you’ll also get six new articles on Windows 7 from industry experts on migration, running Windows 7 in mixed environments, Certification and more.

Get it here

Don’t fall for phony phone tech support

Here’s another form of Internet fraud that combines a variety of other common scams—social engineering, fake security software, and phishing.

Cybercriminals have started calling people on the telephone, claiming to be from Microsoft, and offering to help solve their computer problems. Once cybercriminals have gained a victim’s trust, they can do one or more of the following:

• Trick people into installing malicious software on their computer.

• Take control of a victim’s computer remotely and adjust settings in order to leave the computer vulnerable.

• Request credit card information so that cybercriminals can bill for the phony services.

Microsoft will not make unsolicited phone calls to help you with your computer. If you receive a phone call like this, hang up.

If you think you might be a victim of fraud, you can report it. For more information, see What to do if you’ve responded to a phishing scam.

For more information about how to recognize a phishing scam, see Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently.

Notice this is a reposted from this site

Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.6 RTM and Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) SP1 RC are now available with the release of the Managed Desktop Optimization Pack 2010

In Remote Desktop Services deployments, application conflicts can lead to silos of remote desktop session host servers. To avoid application conflicts, applications typically must undergo significant testing to determine which applications will collide and, therefore, must be separated and run on different session host silos—a time-consuming and costly process. Separating out multiple remote desktop session hosts to accommodate specific applications routinely results in servers being underutilized because each one is locked into a specific configuration, capable of serving only a limited set of non-conflicting applications. Often, 20 servers are required to support 1,000 users.
Microsoft Application Virtualization for Remote Desktop Services 4.6 helps consolidate remote desktop session host servers by offering the following features and benefits:

• Reduce app-to-app and multi-user application conflicts and hence the need for regression testing
• Accelerate application deployment by reducing the deployment risk
• Simplify profile management
• App-V for RDS 4.6 now supports 64-bit operating systems.

Download App-V 4.6

At MIX  it was announced how to build games and apps for the Windows phone, developers at the conference are being introduced to the Windows Phone 7 Series development tools and given a tour of the platform, which uses both XNA Game Studio and Silverlight.

Announce was  the availability of Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, which is specifically designed for building Windows Phone applications and is now available free in a single download at www.developer.windowsphone.com. Visual Studio 2010 Express includes an emulator that will allow developers to build and test their applications directly on their PCs in a virtualized Windows Phone 7 OS environment. That means developers won’t need the phone hardware to get started at building phone apps.