Upgrading Active Directory Domains to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 AD DS Domains

This guide explains the process for upgrading Active Directory domains to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, how to upgrade the operating system of domain controllers, and how to add domain controllers that run Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to an existing domain.

Upgrading your network operating system requires minimal network configuration and typically has a low impact on user operations. The upgrade process is straightforward, efficient, and allows your organization to take advantage of the improved security that is offered by the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. This guide covers the process for upgrading domains and domain controllers, and how to add new domain controllers to existing Active Directory domains. It includes details about how to run Adprep.exe and resolve known issues and errors if they arise.

Download details Upgrading Active Directory Domains to Windows Server 2008

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IE 9: Surfing on the GPU with D2D

The IE team is busy working on the next version of the world’s most popular browser. IE 8 is the most widely used browser on Windows. IE 9 is currently in the oven and the IE team is ready to talk about what they’re working on. Here, IE GM Dean Hachamovitch leads us through the halls of IE (literarally) and takes us to meet graphics developer Christian Fortini and test lead Anjali Parikh. They’re taking IE to a new level with all graphic rendering taking place on the GPU via the DirectX technology D2D. So, IE 9 will take advantage of the power of the GPU for all page rendering and, further, enable web developers to exploit this power in ways they already understand (CSS, DHTML, JavaScript). The increase in performance and smooth rendering is stunning as you will see in the demos that are part of this conversation. This is incredible news for web developers and web surfers. IE 9, surfing the GPU! Oh yeah.

Be sure to check out interviews on IE 9’s new JS engine and the importance of testing to achieving interoperable standards.

Video @ Channel 9

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Internet Explorer 9 First News

At PDC, Microsoft talked about what the next version of its browser will bring to the world. IE9 will contain a new emphasis on performance and graphics, and should make the browser far more competitive with its competitors.

The first information about the next version of Microsoft’s Web browser was revealed at PDC on Wednesday. The announcement described three main areas of improvement: JavaScript, Web standards, and graphics technology. IE9 will contain a new, significantly faster JavaScript engine, it will have richer support for Web standards like CSS 3, and it will use the new Direct2D and DirectWrite technology for its graphics and text rendering.

Rendering the webpage in IE8 is performed predominantly on the CPU. Direct2D is a new Windows API that uses hardware Direct3D acceleration to accelerate 2D graphics, available in Windows 7 and as a patch for Windows Vista. Through the use of Direct2D, IE9 will perform all graphics rendering on the GPU, providing quicker page rendering, faster, smoother animation, and high quality image scaling. For graphically intensive applications like Google Maps, this should result in better performance and an improved user experience.

JavaScript performance has become an increasingly important concern for Web applications. As Web apps have become more capable and more fully-featured, JavaScript engines have had an ever-greater burden placed on them. Whereas once they might only run a few dozen of lines on a page, today’s rich applications (Google Apps or the Office Web Apps, say) now run tens or hundreds of kilobytes of scripting on every page. To meet these needs, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome have all seen a lot of development effort on their scripting engines to speed up these usage scenarios.

Though IE’s JavaScript engine has got faster—the widely used SunSpider benchmark takes about half the time to run in IE8 as it does in IE7—it still lags behind other browsers quite considerably. IE9 is getting a brand-new engine that should take IE’s JavaScript performance to the proverbial next level. Technical descriptions of the new engine made it sound quite similar to the V8 engine used in Chrome; the new IE9 JavaScript engine will compile JavaScript into native code, just like in V8, and the technique it will use to speed up the object-oriented nature of JavaScript also sounded similar to the approach V8 takes.

See more @ IE Blog

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Download Office 2010 Professional Beta

Office 2010 Professional Beta is finally available for download to everyone!
Just navigate to download page, register and get your copy (32 or 64 bit) with your key.

PS already downloaded :)

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Deploying Windows Firewall and IPsec Policies: Step-by-Step Guide

This step-by-step guide illustrates how to deploy Active Directory® Group Policy objects (GPOs) to configure Windows Firewall with Advanced Security in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008. Although you can configure a single server locally by using Group Policy Management tools directly on the server, that method is not consistent or efficient when you have many computers to configure. When you have multiple computers to manage, create and edit GPOs, and then apply those GPOs to the computers in your organization. Common scenarios, including firewall rule deployment, server and domain isolation, and IPsec tunnel mode configuration are discussed.

Download from Microsoft

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Office 2010 Beta Available


Office 2010 Beta is now available for public testing!
Get your copy at OfficeBeta

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Windows 7 as a WiFi AccessPoint

So I am at the airport and my laptop has built in mobile broadband and I have a cheap roaming subscription. Now I would like to do Internet connected stuff on my iPhone too, but that roaming data is ridiculusly priced. Now with WIndows 7 you can share your internet connection (nothing new) but you can make it an access point!

With the the drivers that came with Windows 7 for the Intel Wifi card, Windows also installs the Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter:

To configure it use the network shell command NETSH in Administrator elevated Command Prompt:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=BinkLaptop key=ChangeMe09

This configures a Wireless Lan network with SSID “BinkLaptop” and protected with the key “ChangeMe09”

Next enable Internet sharing on your internet connected network card, in my case that is the Wirelless Broadband modem card. Select the virtual Wifi as home networking connection:

Disable all but IP

Next start the hosted network:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Voila! That’s it

Now connect your phone or other WiFi enabled device to your Windows 7 Laptop Access Point

Thanks to Bink.nu

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SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise November CTP Download

SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP has numerous new and enhanced features. This document provides the information you need to fully take advantage of these features.

For Analysis Services, numerous enhancements have been added to the PowerPivot field list. These include automatic relationship detection when columns from unrelated tables are used in a PivotTable; support for searching fields by name; and support for named sets. Targeted support for additional data sources has also been added.

For the Database Engine, manageability enhancements have been made. These include the ability to connect to SQL Azure; data-tier application upgrades; enhanced functionality for SQL Server Utility features; and deprecation of the VIA protocol. For Reporting Services, SharePoint integration has several new features. Additional enhancements include shared datasets and cache refresh plans; new data visualization report items; enhancements to Reporting Services features that were included in previous releases of SQL Server 2008; Business Intelligence Development Studio support for SQL Server 2008 reports and report server objects; and a new Web Service endpoint that can support management operations of the report server in both native mode and SharePoint integrated mode.

For Service Broker, you now have the option to turn poison message handling on and off.
Master Data Services is a new component. You use Master Data Services to manage your organization’s master data, and to maintain a record of that data.

Download SQL Server 2008 R2
See a “What’s new” document

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Exchange 2010 is Available

Reasons to try:

  • Reduced deployment cost

    Exchange Server 2010 helps you reduce costs by addressing common infrastructure requirements such as backup, e-mail archiving, mobile e-mail access, and voice mail with no need for third-party tools.

  • Simplified high availability and disaster recovery

    Exchange Server 2010 introduces a simplified approach to high availability and disaster recovery to help you achieve new levels of reliability and reduce the complexity of delivering business continuity.

  • Easier administration and decreased dependence on the help desk

    Exchange Server 2010 provides new self-service capabilities to help users perform common tasks without calling the help desk.

  • Greater mobility and flexible access

    Exchange Server 2010 offers an enhanced universal inbox experience, which provides your users with access to all of their business communications from a single location.

  • Decreased inbox overload and increased productivity

    Exchange Server 2010 adds new productivity features which help your users organize and prioritize the communications in their inboxes efficiently.

  • Transformed voice mail

    With Exchange Server 2010, users can receive their voice mail messages in their inbox with text preview.

  • Simplified compliance

    Exchange Server 2010 delivers new integrated archiving functionality to help simplify compliance and discovery.

  • Safeguards for sensitive information

    With centrally managed and enforced information protection and control capabilities, Exchange Server 2010 makes it easy to encrypt, control, and moderate your company’s communications.

  • Reduced risk of malware and spam

    Exchange Server 2010 actively helps protect your communications through built-in defenses against junk e-mail and support for an array of third party security products.

Download or try it here

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Pre-register for SharePoint 2010 Beta

Pre-register today and get notified when SharePoint 2010 Beta becomes available in November.
Find out how this integrated suite of server capabilities can help your organization by providing comprehensive content management and enterprise search, accelerating shared business processes, and facilitating information-sharing across boundaries for better business insight.
http://sharepoint2010.microsoft.com/try-it/Pages/Trial.aspx

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