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Ben's blog (link below) has an announcement on the availability of Beta 2 for Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. Included improvements are:
- AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) compatibility
- Intel Virtualization Technology (IVT) compatibility
- Volume Shadow Copy Service support
- Offline VHD mounting
- Active Directory integration using service connection points
- Host Clustering technical white paper
Link to Virtual PC Guy's WebLog : Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 BETA2 is available for download!
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I was very glad to read a post today from James O'Neill's blog on Virtual PC 2007. Coincidentally enough, I had just loaded Virtual PC 2004 on Windows Vista build 5536 and was wondering to myself if a new version was ever going to see the light of day. Well fear not! While there is no news on the beta or a release date (other than the "2007" moniker) there is documentation. This gives me hope! Improvements are:
· Optimized for Windows Vista. The virtualization architecture has been optimized for Windows Vista to provide improvements in performance, system resource usage, and stability.
· Improved performance based on Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2. Virtual PC 2007 leverages the performance improvements introduced in Virtual Server 2005 R2.
· Provides support for 64-bit host operating systems. You can run Virtual PC 2007 on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista. This means you can run 16-bit operating systems (such as Windows 98 SE) which are not supported natively on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista.
· Provides support for sound devices in Windows Vista guest operating systems. Virtualized sound device drivers are available to Windows Vista guest operating systems. This allows Windows Vista guest operating systems to play sounds through the host operating system sound devices. Other guest operating systems will continue to have sound support as it exists in Virtual PC 2004 today
tags: WindowsVista, Vista, VirtualPC, Virtualization
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The November meeting of the Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group has been tentatively scheduled for the 16th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Max Technical Training's southern Dayton facility. A map and directions can be found here. A more detailed post with a schedule of the speakers will be posted as the event gets closer and everyone has confirmed their participation. Of course we will have food, drink and some choice door prizes. I am also hoping to have some things from O'Reilly books for the group as well to participate in. Suggestions are always welcome here.
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Looking for some Vista compliant AV to run while you test out the latest OS? Most testers had been using the Avast product - and it supposedly doesn't work under the latest build. I cannot get McAfee's Enterprise 8.5i to work either. You are then left with three choices of note:
- Norton Anti-virus has an enterprise beta version (if you can get a copy)
- Trend Micro has a version of PC-Cillin
- And the below link to Computer Associates EZ trust (free for one year) trial
Link to Computer Associates Product Solutions
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I installed Windows Vista build 5536 on Friday and I have been blown away. I know everyone's experience, like mileage, varies. However - having installed all the previous builds this is the first one that has me thinking they may make their projected ship date. Here is a report after kicking the tires for four days:
- The speed is very nice. I have not yet had an instance of Vista just "taking a break" and spinning its wheels for a couple of minutes. Everything I have thrown at it has executed crisply and quickly. Note: I am only running basic "Information Worker" apps: Office 2007, LiveWriter, RSS Bandit. OneNote 2007, Visio 2007 and FireFox.
- My memory usage is greatly improved. In previous builds I was consuming anywhere between 700-800mb on boot with no apps loaded. Now I am consuming 849mb out of 1gb with all of the above apps running and Vista is not slowing, pausing or acting like a dog. My hardware is a Dell Latitude D620 1.85 Ghz Core Duo with integrated Intel 945GM Express Chipset. My Windows Experience rating is a 2.2 (everything is a 4.1 or higher with the exception of graphics and gaming graphics which are a 2.1 and 2.2).
- Aero Glass now works. I read this was available in beta 2, but I couldn't get it to work. Upon first boot with this version, within about 60 seconds, Windows Update had trotted out and grabbed the latest WDDM driver for me. I re-ran my Windows Experience benchmark and then enabled Aero. Viola! It is amazing. I truly think you need to run in Aero to "get" how good Vista is. Should you upgrade your hardware and OS to get a cool new ALT+TAB way of switching apps? No. But everything together in a nice fluid package greatly enhances the overall experience.
- More application compatibility. The list of apps that I use every day that do not work with Vista is down to two: McAfee AV and Nortel's Contivity VPN client. I am told the VPN client now works with the latest Contivity build, we just have to get it configured with our hardware token information. We'll see! The latest version of McAfee (8.5i) which is supposedly compatible gives me the BSOD each time it goes to start up the realtime monitoring. If I disable this service, of course, all is well. Of course, all is unprotected too!
- The visual fit and finish is near perfect. There are few to no "legacy" visual effects anymore. I have been looking around here and there and so far it all looks great. More widescreen wallpapers please!
I cant wait to see what continued improvements RC1 brings - rumored to be available shortly after Labor Day. Hopefully the Office team can get it together and get their Beta 2 technical refresh released by then and we can work the latest releases from Vista and Office.
tags: WindowsVista, Vista, 5536
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Microsoft has put up a website where you can pre-order copies of Vista RC1 for evaluation. There is a $9.95 charge for shipping and handling.
Register for your copy of the Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) Evaluation and Resource Kit
With the Windows Vista RC1 Kit, you will not only get the refreshed versions of the same great experiences you had with the Windows Vista Beta 2 Evaluation and Resource Kit, you will also get some new features, tools and resources to evaluate including:
- Software and tools
- Documentation and guidance
- Resources and information
- Monitored newsgroup support for your Windows Vista RC1 evaluation experience
There is a US$9.95* cost for this kit to cover shipping and handling to U.S. addresses. Express delivery and shipping to non-U.S. addresses are available for an additional charge.
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TechNet virtual labs are now available for Antigen, Microsoft's latest security acquisition. The brand was recently released and updated to version 9.0 as part of the Microsoft ForeFront umbrella. There is also a beta version available for Exchange 2007 server. I found the lab to be well constructed, hitting all the needed areas for a good understanding of how Antigen can be configured in an Exchange environment. Highly recommended if you have a spare hour to learn more about this product. And if you plan on deploying or evaluating Antigen in your environment then this lab is a must for learning a lot in a little bit of time!
Link to TechNet Virtual Lab: Antigen
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As I start to ramp up the advertising and collaboration around the Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group I have been approached about an interesting idea. For those unaware of the Southern Ohio geography, Cincinnati anchors the southern border with Kentucky and then approximately 45 minutes north is the smaller city of Dayton. The space between Dayton and Cincinnati has almost been completely developed, and some suggest Dayton could just be a suburb of Cincinnati someday.
The Microsoft offices were we meet are located in Mason, Ohio on Cincinnati's northern border. It is only slightly closer to Cincinnati than it is to Dayton.
The response and membership in the user group has been much greater from residents of Dayton than from residents of Cincinnati. I have been asked by a few people about moving the group\meetings to Dayton. I thought about alternating them, but I have a feeling that when in Cincinnati attendance from the Dayton residents will be sparse and when in Dayton attendance from the Cincinnati folks will be sparse.
I have also thought about having the meetings in each city once a month back-to-back. So, for instance, Dayton would be in September and Cincinnati would be in October. I wanted to keep the content the same but this becomes unrealistic as speakers usually aren't available two months in a row!
I am open to suggestions if anyone has a good operating model or has delt with this issue in the past.
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SUS 1.0 will no longer synchronize or provide new updates after December 6, 2006.
Link to Software Update Services
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I read with great interest today some specs on the new Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 R2. Anyone who administers an Exchange messaging system knows the value of something called "Single Instance Storage." Simply put, if I send an email to 50 people, there is not 50 copies of the email taking up space in the mail store. There is one copy with pointers to it from all the other mailboxes. Now imagine applying this principle to file servers. Those 50 people that got that email save the attachment to their home drives. 50 x 300kb instantly disappears from your free drive space.
With Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 there is a service called the SIS Groveler. When it finds duplicate files on the NTFS volume it reports them to the SIS filter driver. SIS links are then created that point to one master copy that has been moved to the "common store." When a user wants to access the file they are transparently re-directed to the copy in the common store. If the user then modifies the file, the altered copy is left where the user saves it and the link to the original copy is deleted.
The groveler service runs in background mode during free cycles, but can be run at maximum capacity in foreground mode by using the sisadmin.exe tool.
Of course, if the common store is lost, then the common data is lost for all users so some care will have to be taken with it.
There is a great paper here which goes in to more detail.
Link to Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 Home
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I decided to give Windows Live Writer a try after hearing reading some good things about it. I have been using BlogJet for awhile and am very happy with it. In fact, Dmitry was a little upset that a bunch of Live Writer's features had seemed to have been pulled from BlogJet. And I can see why he is upset. I think his tool was just beginning to gain traction and take off and now Microsoft has released a free tool that is - for the most part - comparable to BlogJet. I would be upset if I was him as well! This is a dilemma I see more and more. Microsoft can afford to develop these simple tools and give them away. And I don't agree they are "ripping off" BlogJet - these are features any good Blogging tool should have.
One thing LW doesn't have that I like about BlogJet is the ability to post to "groups." I post to more than one blog and this feature is very handy. I think I don't like about BlogJet though is its spell checker. It is horrible IMO and I always have 5-6 annoying "misspellings" in every post. I was heartened to see that LW is open and has an SDK available. In fact, three great plug-ins are already available: Insert Flickr image, Insert tags and What I am listening to.
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I love pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words. It is amazing how easily and more quickly technical concepts can be explained with a picture. Here are some great transport diagrams for two new roles in Exchange Server 2007. Hub and Edge Transport roles. From the Exchange Blog.
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Rod Trent wrote today “Charles Cooper Shows He Simply Writes for Page Views.” He asked readers to read the latest CC post and provide their views. I did. And I agree. How easy is it to write an inflammatory article about Microsoft’s record with vulnerabilities and patch release schedule? I can only imagine the article he would right if no patch had been released. I love this quote especially:
“Defenders will argue that it's unfair to demand perfection from Microsoft; that software is an imperfect art. And besides, they add, is the Mac operating system or Linux bulletproof? Clearly, the answer is no. But the number of security holes turning up in either operating system is a fraction of what turns up in the Windows world.”
Duh. Only a fraction of the world used Linux or Macs in comparison with computers running the Microsoft OS. I cannot believe people still attempt to make this comparison. If 75% of the world ran Linux you can bet their exploits and vulnerabilities, and consequently, their patch releases, would be through the roof! Give me a break!
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After you have created a *.wim image file using ImageX you may want to take advantage of the tools ability to mount the image file. Since the image file format is file-based (and not bit-based like Symantec’s Ghost) you can mount it as read-only or read-write. Files can easily be extracted from it or added to it. No more needing to image a workstation, modify it, and then re-image it back when you want to make a change. New driver? Add it. new DLL? Add it. Simple as that.
However, before you can mount the whatever.wim file, you need to install the WIM Image Filter driver, which is wimfltr.sys. For now unfortunately, this is only available from the Windows Vista Automated Install Kit (WAIK) which is only available to the technical beta testers – not to the public yet. Hopefully this will change soon as Vista nears RC1.
The syntax for an image mount is:
imagex /mount (read only) /mountrw (read-write) [path to .wim file] [image number within the wim file] [mount path]
So, for example: imagex /mount f:\images\desktopimage.wim 2 c:\mounted
To install wimfltr.sys right-click on the file and select install. Reboot.