The 2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 1 is now available

Greetings folks,

as announced a few days ago the 2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 1 is available today for download. I am already downloading the SP1 which means that all the links are already working.

Take a look on the additional information and resources below.

Links for Download:
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Microsoft Office Visio 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Microsoft Office Project 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Microsoft Office Language Pack 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Overview:
By deploying the 2007 Office system SP1, home users and businesses can quickly reap benefits in the following areas:

• Stability
Using data from the Dr. Watson bug-reporting system, Microsoft fixed, at minimum, the five software bugs that most frequently caused each application in the 2007 Office system to crash. The 2007 Office system SP1 also improves the stability of server components in the 2007 Office system and compatibility with Windows Server® 2008, so companies can more confidently move forward with upgrade plans.


• Performance
The 2007 Office system SP1 improves performance in applications that are pervasive in modern offices, most notably: Microsoft Office Excel® 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007, Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2007, and Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007.


• Security
By incorporating incremental advances in security and results from application testing, the 2007 Office system SP1 offers home and office users better protection against malicious software and potential threats to privacy.

Resources
See the links below for more detailed resources about the 2007 Microsoft® Office system Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Office 2007 Resource Kit
The 2007 Microsoft Office system resource kit includes detailed information that is useful for IT administrators. To read more, please visit http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/9df1c7d2-30a9-47bb-a3b2-5166b394fbf51033.mspx.

Applications Issues Fixed in the 2007 Office System SP1

Issues fixed in the 2007 Microsoft Office Suite by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office Access™ 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office Excel® 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office OneNote® 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office Project 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

Issues fixed in Microsoft Office Word 2007 by the 2007 Office system SP1

2007 Office System SP1 Knowledge Base Articles

Description of the 2007 Microsoft Office system SP1

Description of the Microsoft Office Project 2007 SP1

Description of the Microsoft Office SharePoint® Designer 2007 SP1

Description of the Microsoft Office Visio® 2007 SP1

Description of the Microsoft Office Proofing Tools 2007 SP1

Description of the Calendar Printing Assistant for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 SP1

Description of the Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2007 SP1

Description of the Microsoft Office Visio Viewer 2007 SP1

Description of the Office 2003 Web Components SP1 for the 2007 Microsoft Office system

Description of the Office Compatibility Pack SP1

Description of the Microsoft Office Language Interface Pack 2007 SP1

Updating and Deployment Resources

Office 2007 Resource Kit

Microsoft Download Center – Office

Office Online Downloads

Office System TechCenter

Microsoft Systems Management Server

Microsoft Systems Management Server TechCenter

Patch Management Using Systems Management Server 2003

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services

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Luís Rato

Windows Server 2008 RC1 available for download

Yesterday Microsoft released the Windows Server 2008 RC1. The new release candidate 1 adds the Group Policy Preferences feature, known as PolicyMaker Standard Edition and Policy Share Manager where you can control things like internet settings, control panel preferences, drive mappings, printer or network shares, this is a big step forward to configure user settings that were not available on the predecessor product.

As we are getting more closure to the final release this is a good opportunity for enterprise customers and 3rd party developers to evaluate potential bugs and issues with the product and compatibility with their applications.

Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate Evaluation Software
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/audsel.mspx

Overview
This time-limited release of Windows Server® 2008 Release Candidate will expire on June 30, 2008. After this time, you will need to uninstall the software or upgrade to a later release or a fully-licensed version of Windows Server® 2008.This product requires a valid product key for activation within 30 days of installation..If you have received a product key via email confirmation, you may use the key with the software you download from this site or with a DVD containing Windows Server® 2008 Release Candidate.

If you have not received a product key, you can obtain one by visiting one of the following sites:
Developers
IT Professionals

Some copies of this pre-release software do not include an updated "Privacy Information for Installation Features" document. The correct document can be read online here.

You can download each version of the Windows Server 2008 RC1 on the links below:

• Windows Server 2008 Standard RC1 (x86 and x64)
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise RC1 (x86 and x64)
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter RC1 (x86 and x64)
• Windows Web Server 2008 RC1 (x86 and x64)
• Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems RC1

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Luís Rato

Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 has been released

Hi ladies and gentleman,

on 29th of November Microsoft released a most waited Service Pack, Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1. There's a lot of new features and improvements for every server role, support for a new continuous replication model (SCR), suppport for IPv6, more rich GUI management tools and much more. This is one of those Service Packs that everyone must have.


Exchange 2007 SP1 Overview:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) has been designed specifically to help meet the challenges of any business and the needs of all the different groups with a stake in the messaging system. Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is a mission-critical communications tool that enables employees to be more productive and access their information anywhere and anytime while providing a messaging system that enables rich, efficient access to e-mail, calendar items, voice mail, and contacts. For the administrator, Exchange Server 2007 SP1 provides advanced protection options against e-mail security threats, such as spam and viruses, as well as the tools to help manage internal compliance and high availability needs.

In Exchange Server 2007 SP1, several new features and improvements will extend the Anywhere Access capabilities of Exchange Server 2007 to help make employees more productive on whatever device they’re using, provide additional Operational Efficiency tools for administrators seeking a streamlined management and deployment experience, and enable advanced Built-in Protection for more robust high availability and compliance scenarios.

Improvements in Exchange Server 2007 SP1 include:

Anywhere Access
• Integrated Exchange Unified Messaging functionality with Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.
• Outlook Web Access additions, including public folder access, S/MIME support, personal distribution lists, and mailbox rules editor.
• Webready document viewer supports Microsoft Office 2007 documents in addition to Microsoft Office 2003 documents.
• Extended language support in Outlook Web Access with Arabic and Korean spell checking.

Operational Efficiency
• Support for Windows Server 2008 deployments, including benefits in flexible clustering, native virtualization, advanced networking, and simplified management.
• Additional tools in the Exchange Management Console, including public folder management and configuration options for clustering and POP/IMAP access.
• Improvements to the Exchange Management Shell syntax and import-export PST in the move-mailbox command.
• Wider variety of web services for application development, including public folder access, delegate management, and folder level permissions.

Built-in Protection
• Addition of Standby Continuous Replication (SCR) for site resilient high availability deployments.
• Extended Exchange ActiveSync policies for mobile policy enforcement.
• Information rights management pre-licensing by the Hub Transport role.
• Secure Real Time Protocol (SRTP) support in the Unified Messaging role.
• Support for IPv6 when using Windows Server 2008.

You can find all the Exchange 2007 SP1 documentation and resources on the following links:

• Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 Download
• What's New in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
• Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 Release Notes
• Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 UM Language Packs
• Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 SDK
• Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 documentation
• How to Upgrade to Exchange 2007 SP1
• Upgrading Clustered Mailbox Servers to Exchange 2007 SP1

[KEY NOTES]
1. Need to Upgrade Forefront Security for Exchange to SP1 before installing the Exchange 2007 SP1

Do bear in mind that the Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 release notes mention that you cannot use the Exchange 2007 SP1 with the product Forefront Security for Exchange RTM. You should upgrade the ForeFront Security for Exchange to SP1 before upgrading Exchange 2007 to SP1.
The Exchange 2007 SP1 pre-installation check will verify this and stop the installation process if the Forefront Security for Exchange RTM is found.

Forefront Security for Exchange SP1 is available on the link below:

Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1 Release Notes

2. You cannot manage Exchange 2007 Clustered Mailbox Servers from Windows Vista RTM

At the moment, Exchange 2007 SP1 adds support to use the Exchange 2007 Management Tools on Windows 2008 RTM and Windows Vista RTM with one exception, you will not be able to manage Exchange 2007 Clustered Mailbox Servers from Windows Vista RTM machines.
It is expected that in a forthcoming Administration Tools for Windows Vista (I believe that it will be included in Windows Vista SP1) you will be able to manage Exchange 2007 Clustered Mailbox Servers (Failover Clustering: RSAT-Clustering).

You can check this information on the technet article Upgrading Clustered Mailbox Servers to Exchange 2007 SP1.

Managing Clustered Mailbox Servers Running Exchange 2007 RTM or Exchange 2007 SP1

You can use the Exchange 2007 RTM version of the Exchange management tools (the Exchange Management Console and the Exchange Management Shell) to manage clustered mailbox servers running Exchange 2007 RTM from a computer running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP.

You can use the Exchange 2007 SP1 version of the Exchange management tools to manage clustered mailbox servers running Exchange 2007 SP1 from a computer running Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP. Remote management of clustered mailbox servers using Windows Vista is currently not possible. Remote management from Windows Vista may be possible in a forthcoming Administration Tools Pack for Windows Vista. You can manage stand-alone computers running Exchange 2007 SP1 from Windows Vista.
Because the Cluster service does not allow you to use the cluster management tools for remote administration of failover clusters across different operating systems, you can't use the Exchange management tools for remote administration of failover clusters across different operating systems. For example, you cannot:

• Manage a clustered mailbox server running on Windows Server 2008 from a computer running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP.
• Manage a clustered mailbox server running on Windows Server 2003 from a computer running Windows Server 2008.

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Luís Rato

Exchange 2007 Virtualization supportability

Greetings everybody,

Today's post is regarding Exchange 2007 Virtualization supportability for Microsoft and non-Microsoft hardware Virtualization.

In a way that Virtualization is taking over server boxes and changing the Datacenter paradigm, many architects and system administrators come across with some design doubts. Can we virtualize Exchange 2007 or not?

I am afraid that this is not the answer you were waiting for, but I have to say that at the moment you just can't use hardware virtualization for the supported version of Exchange 2007 (64-bit). You may use hardware virtualization on Exchange 2007 32-bit for testing on a lab environment.

Here is the full explanation from the Technet article Exchange Server 2007: Platforms, Editions, and Versions for Exchange 2007 virtualization supportability with Microsoft Virtual Server and Microsoft Virtual PC.

Neither Exchange 2007 nor Exchange 2007 SP1 is supported in production in a virtual environment. However, as stated previously, Microsoft Virtual Server is a good environment for training, labs, and demos. Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2007 SP1 are supported in production environments using only the 64-bit version of Exchange 2007, and currently neither Microsoft Virtual Server nor Microsoft Virtual PC supports 64-bit guest systems. Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2007 SP1 are also not supported in production in a virtual environment using virtualization software that is not Microsoft software. For details about the Microsoft support policy for third-party virtualization software, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 897615, Support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. The first 64-bit guest support is expected to be included with Hypervisor, which is an add-in for Windows Server 2008 from Microsoft that is scheduled to ship within 180 days of Windows Server 2008. Note that this is within 180 days, meaning it could ship the same day as Windows Server 2008, or it could ship 180 days after Windows Server 2008 ships. For more information about Microsoft virtualization plans, see the Microsoft Machine Virtualization Roadmap Chat Transcript.


Regarding the support policy for Exchange 2007 for non-Microsoft virtualization, the kb article 897615- Support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software addresses that situation which also applies to all other Microsoft products.

Supportability for non-Premier customers running non-Microsoft hardware virtualization: Microsoft does not test or support Microsoft software running together with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. For Microsoft customers who do not have a Premier-level support agreement, Microsoft will require that the issue to be reproduced independently from the non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. Where the issue is confirmed to be unrelated to the non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software, Microsoft will support its software in a manner that is consistent with support provided when that software is not running together with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software.

Supportability for Premier customers running non-Microsoft hardware virtualization:
For Microsoft Premier-level support customers running non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software from vendors with which Microsoft does not have an established support relationship that covers virtualization solutions, Microsoft will use commercially reasonable efforts to investigate potential issues with Microsoft software running together with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. As part of that investigation, Microsoft may require the issue to be reproduced independently from the non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. Where issues are confirmed to be unrelated to the non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software, Microsoft will support its software in a manner that is consistent with support provided when that software is not running together with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software.

Supportability for customers running non-Microsoft hardware virtualization from vendors with a joint support relationship:
Microsoft will jointly support certain non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software from vendors with which Microsoft has established a support relationship that covers virtualization solutions. This joint support will include coordinating with the vendor to investigate support issues. As part of the investigation, Microsoft may require the issue to be reproduced independently from the non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software. Where issues are confirmed to be unrelated to the non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software, Microsoft will support its software in a manner that is consistent with support provided when that software is not running together with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software.

For a complete list of vendors that Microsoft has established a joint support relationship for non-Microsoft hardware virtualization check the kb article 944987 - Support partners for non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software.

At the moment the only company listed is Novel, Inc. but it is subject to change.

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Luís Rato

New Windows Live products and services + MSN Portugal

Today Microsoft marked a big step forward with the launch of the new generation of Windows Live.

This release brought for the first time an integrated suite of Windows Live products and services at the same time, making it easy for customers to connect and share anywhere.

Windows Live represents a great upgrade for the Windows experience that 1 billion people around the world enjoy every day. The integrated approach combined with the power of software plus services create a compelling reason for customers to choose Windows Live. One experience that really shines in this release is photos – capturing, managing, and most importantly, sharing photos.

Try this new release by visiting http://www.windowslive.com/ and start using Windows Live to share photos, communicate with your friends and family, as well as help protect your PCs and your family while on-line.

Here are just a few of the great new capabilities in this release of Windows Live:

· Now you can post your photos to Flickr in addition to Windows Live Spaces directly from inside Windows Live Photo Gallery
· Going on vacation and want to let your friends and family know? Set up a vacation auto-reply in Windows Live Hotmail
· Use the unified contacts for all your communications in Windows Live, including pictures and gleam notifications in Windows Live Messenger to keep up with updates from your contacts on Windows Live Spaces
· Automatically rotate and group your photos by time when you import them using Windows Live Photo Gallery
· Windows Live Writer lets you work off-line and easily add maps, videos, pictures, and more to your blog
· Keep all your e-mail in one place using Windows Live Mail
· Use Windows Live OneCare Family Safety to keep track of your what children are doing on-line
· Set up your events, manage invitations, and collect photos from everyone using Windows Live Events

I am also proud to annouce that today Microsoft launched the MSN Portugal (http://pt.msn.com). Great news for the Portuguese community.

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Luís Rato

Troubleshoot Active Directory Client applications ADInsight v1.0

Hi guys,

just to announce that Microsoft released ADInsight v1.0. This is another tool from sysinternals that does real-time monitoring to troubleshoot Active Directory client applications during client-server communication.

It is a nice tool to solve issues with Windows authentication, Exchange, DNS, and other problems.

Check for more details and download on the link below:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/adinsight.mspx

Here are some more useful tools in their latest version:

PsExec v1.90: This version of PsExec, a command-line tool for executing programs locally and remotely, significantly improves handling of arguments passed to the specified application by not modifying spacing or quotation marks. It also fixes a number of minor bugs, including ones related to running programs in alternate terminal server sessions.

Process Explorer v11.04: This update fixes a memory leak in the threads tab.

ADExplorer v1.01: This release of ADExplorer, an Active Directory browser/editor, fixes a number of minor issues.

DebugView v4.72: DebugView, a real-time debug output monitor, has several minor bug fixes.

Process Monitor v1.26: This release of Process Monitor contains minor bug fixes

BgInfo v4.12: Improved reporting of CPU cores and logical processors for multi-core and multi-proc machines.

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Luís Rato

Whats new in Exchange 2007 SP1

Hi there,

Many people is still asking about what is new in Exchange 2007 SP1, so here is the link to answer that.

Check out the article 'What's New in Exchange Server 2007 SP1' on Technet':
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb676323.aspx

Topics covered on this article:

• New deployment options
• Client access role improvements
• Improvements in Transport
• Mailbox server role improvements
• High availability
• Unified messaging server role improvements
• Development improvements

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Luís Rato

Microsoft Sharepoint resources

Hi Ladies & Gentleman,

just to share with you a couple of Microsoft Sharepoint Technology related resources. I hope you find this learning material useful.

TechNet:

o MOSS 2007 Tech Center

Product Evaluation
• What's New for IT Professionals
• Supplemental Documentation
• Understanding Workflow

Planning and Architecture
• Plan Overall Design
• Plan Site and Content Security
• Design Logical Architecture

Deployment
• Install SharePoint Server 2007 in a Server Farm Environment
• Deployment Worksheets
• Upgrade

Design and Build Sites
• Page Design Roadmap
• Workflow Roadmap
• Business Intelligence Roadmap

Operations
• Administration
• Backup and Restore
• Enterprise Search

Security and Protection
• Roadmap to Security Content

Technical Reference
• Stsadm.exe Command-Line Tool
• Setup.exe Command-Line Reference
• Config.xml Reference

For developer information, see the SharePoint Server Developer Portal on MSDN.
Site administrator documentation is available on Office Online.

o Capacity Planning for WSS

In this article:
• Key characteristics
• Test environment
• Usage profile
• Recommendations

This performance and capacity planning scenario incorporates a single Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 farm used for collaboration and document management in an enterprise environment.

o Newly published content for Windows SharePoint Services

o Newly published content for Office SharePoint Server 2007

MSDN:

o SharePoint Server 2007 Developer Portal

o SharePoint Team Blog

Training & Exams:
o Sharepoint end user training kit

The initial release of the kit includes training content for SharePoint's collaboration capabilities and is available at no cost.

Use Learning Manager on Microsoft.com to find more recommended resources

o Exam 70-541: Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 - Application Development

The following list includes the topic areas covered on this exam. The percentage indicates the portion of the exam that addresses a particular skill.

• Deploying Windows SharePoint Services and Custom Components (14%)
• Creating Site and Feature Provisioning Components (20%)
• Creating Metadata and Workflow Provisioning Components (15%)
• Developing Windows SharePoint Services Components by Using the .NET Framework (17%)
• Manipulating Site Content by Using the API (20%)
• Manipulating Site Configuration by Using the API (14%)

o Exam 70-542: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 - Application Development

The following list includes the topic areas covered on this exam. The percentage indicates the portion of the exam that addresses a particular skill.

• Managing Enterprise Content (15 percent)
• Creating Business Intelligence Solutions by Using Office SharePoint Server 2007 (15 percent)
• Integrating Business Data with Office SharePoint Server 2007 by Using the Business Data Catalog (BDC)
(15 percent)
• Accessing Office SharePoint Server Application Platform Services (14 percent)
• Searching Data by Using the Search Service (17 percent)
• Targeting Content Based on Audience Membership (13 percent)
• Customizing Functionality by Using Profiles (11 percent)

o Exam 70-630: Configuring Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

A typical candidate for this exam has a minimum of one year of experience in configuring Office SharePoint Server and related technologies. In addition this exam will assume that the candidate is proficient in configuring the following technologies.

• Internet Information Server Administration, and Configuration
• General Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Administration
• General Knowledge Networking Infrastructure services, including TCP/IP, and Clustering
• General Knowledge of Office SharePoint Server 2007
• General understanding of .NET 2.0 as it relates to SharePoint Server 2007
• General Understanding Internet Security and Acceleration Server
• Network Load-balancing for applications
• Administering SQL Server 2000 or 2005 for Office SharePoint Server 2007
• General Security knowledge as it relates to Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Back-up Restoration of data

o Exam 70-631: Configuring Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

A typical candidate for this exam has a minimum of one year of experience in configuring Windows SharePoint related technologies. In addition this exam will assume that the candidate is proficient in configuring the following technologies.

• Web administration/Internet Information Services 6.0
• General Windows Server 2003 directory administration
• General networking infrastructure
• General knowledge of Windows SharePoint Server 2007
• General understanding of Microsoft .NET 2.0 as it relates to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
• General understanding of Internet Security and Acceleration Server
• Network load-balancing for applications
• Administering SQL Server 2000 or 2005 for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
• General security/authentication practices
• Back-up/restoration of data

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Luís Rato

Microsoft Security Paradigm Shift

There’s a lot to talk about security but my focus today will be regarding the shift of the Microsoft Security Paradigm.

Until a few years ago when someone talked about Microsoft Security to a crowd we could hear back a few laughs, so basically it became like a joke.We all know the security issues on Microsoft products until 2004, worms and virus like ‘Melissa’ (March 26, 1999), ‘I love you’ (May 4, 2000), ‘Code Red’ (July 13, 2001), ‘Blaster’ (August 13, 2003), and ‘Sasser’ (April 30, 2004) were easily spread over all computers connected to internet and corporate networks.

At that time networks were flooded with traffic generated by worms, desktop computers and servers got offline or completely shutdown, people lost data, corporate IT teams were busy as hell trying to clean out virus and worms from computers, servers and networks, this was not only chaotic it was an IT Armageddon.

Users lost their trust in Microsoft products and this was something unacceptable for everybody, not only for you but even for Microsoft.
It was the right time for the MS Chairman to ask something like - Why to develop new products and features if customers do not trust Microsoft products?

Yes, it was true, something needed to be done!

Today the MS products security is much, much better, either way is still not perfect but we all know that there's no such thing as perfect security. The whole reason for this is because a lot of things have changed inside Microsoft and it did represent a turnover on this matter, what I can call of the shift of Microsoft Security paradigm.

Today Microsoft is on the top of security for Operating systems, applications, business solutions and this is not joke for you guys.
You might ask about - What happened? What has changed?
There is one simple and broad answer for that, Trustworthy computing!

So what the heck is Trustworthy computing???
"Five year ago, Microsoft committed to Trustworthy Computing. Today, that commitment is a core company tenet. We mark the five year milestone with an examination of our progress to date and an affirmation of the promise of Trustworthy Computing: to provide secure, private, and reliable computing experiences for everyone based on sound business practices."

Ok, ok, it sounds like marketing stuff, so let’s start digging into this.

The big announcement of the commitment to improve security at Microsoft arose on 15th of January of 2002 when BillG sent out an email to all Full Time employees showing is vision about the new priority on Microsoft, and guess what… it was regarding Security.

And why security?
BillG: “In the past, we've made our software and services more compelling for users by adding new features and functionality, and by making our platform richly extensible. We've done a terrific job at that, but all those great features won't matter unless customers trust our software.
So now, when we face a choice between adding features and resolving security issues, we need to choose security.
…we must develop technologies and policies that help businesses better manage ever larger networks of PCs, servers and other intelligent devices, knowing that their critical business systems are safe from harm. Systems will have to become self-managing and inherently resilient. We need to prepare now for the kind of software that will make this happen, and we must be the kind of company that people can rely on to deliver it.
This priority touches on all the software work we do. By delivering on Trustworthy Computing, customers will get dramatically more value out of our advances than they have in the past. The challenge here is one that Microsoft is uniquely suited to solve.”

This is when Trustworthy computing came out of the box with 4 key elements such as Security, Privacy, Reliability and Business practices.

Security: “The security of our customers' computers and networks is a top priority, and we are committed to building software and services to better help protect our customers and the industry. Our approach to security includes both technological and social aspects.”

Privacy: “We believe that people have the right to not receive unwanted communications. We also believe that people need to be able to trust that their personal information is used appropriately—and that any use of that information provides specific value to them.”

Reliability: “We are committed to improving the quality of the technologies, products, and processes that customers need for systems that are reliable and that perform as intended and expected.”

Business practices: “We strive to maintain the highest standards in our business conduct, to ensure integrity and transparency in all of our business practices, and to address society's ethical, legal, and commercial expectations.”

If you want to learn more about Trustworthy Computing follow the link below:
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/default.mspx


So, I think that it is the right time to ask about what was the reflex of Trustworthy Computing concept since 2002 in what Microsoft has done and is doing.
I will try to cover the essentials about this in the following lines.

New tools like Windows Live One care or Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool have been provided to help customers with Security and Privacy. But the major improvements were not only based on tools, it was also the code. Yes, the code!

Microsoft developers are anchored to a process named Security Development LifeCycle (SDL) and automated tools that help to identify programming mistakes and security flaws on the code.
The SDL and some other processes contributed to reduce the number of security-related design, coding defects, and to reduce the severity of any defects that are left.



A pure example of this is Windows Vista. It was the first Microsoft Operating System developed end-to-end with SDL and the results are out there, it is simply the most secure, privacy-enhancing and reliable OS ever shipped by Microsoft. I will show you the facts and results of Windows Vista security improvements right away.

If you want to do a deep dive on Security Development LifeCycle (SDL) I advise you to read the Michael Howard's article "A Look Inside the Security Development Lifecycle at Microsoft". http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/05/11/SDL/default.aspx

About Michael Howard:
Michael Howard is a senior security program manager at Microsoft focusing on secure process improvement and best practice. He is the coauthor of 19 Deadly Sins of Software Security (McGraw-Hill Osborne, 2005) and Processes to Produce Secure Software (Dept. of Homeland Security National Cyber Security Division).

Now it is time to show you some facts about the Microsoft improvements under the Security surface. As I told you before the Windows Vista was the first Operating System developed end-to-end with SDL. More than a half a year has passed since Windows Vista is out for business and consumers, it is enough to get some good pointers about the results of SDL.

One good way to prove the excellent results of SDL is by looking for the vulnerability indicators of Windows Vista and compare it to its predecessor Windows XP and other competitors. This is not an easy task to do and there’s a lot of information to collect and compare.

I will not drain my brains with this because one guy has already done it. His name is Jeff Jones and he has gathered vulnerability indicators about the first 6 months of availability for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 WS, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Desktop, Novell SUSE Linux Enteprise Desktop 10, Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and did a comparison of all.




These graphs are a really good picture of how SDL contributed to reduce drastically the number of vulnerabilities in Windows Vista. This process is not exclusive for Vista it was extended to all other Microsoft software.

Check in detail the Windows Vista 6 Month Vulnerability report on the link below:
http://www.csoonline.com/pdf/6_Month_Vista_Vuln_Report.pdf

About Jeff Jones:
Jeff Jones is a Security Strategy Director in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group. In this role, Jeff draws upon his security experience to work with enterprise CSOs and Microsoft's internal security teams to drive practical and measurable security improvements into Microsoft process and products.

And what about tomorrow? There is any possibility to occur a new Security Paradigm shift and regress to what it was before?

Well… I don’t know, no one can predict the tomorrow’s challenges on security, even thou I really doubt that Microsoft will not be at least one step ahead from other competitors.
There’s something we shall not forget, as a teenager Bill had a vision that every business and household would have a computer, it was some kind of bizarre at that time but he made it possible in our today’s world. Regarding security he thinks that Computing should be as secure and reliable as Telephony or Water services and we should have the same principle of Trust, which means we simple don’t care about it in a daily basis.

His ability to see beyond the current models of thinking is what avoided a paralysis in the Microsoft security paradigm shift and is what turns a vision into reality.

R-Tape Loading error,
Luís Rato

Four new Windows Vista updates have been released

Greetings,

Prior to the Windows Vista SP1 release, on 1st and 2nd of October 2007 Microsoft released four new Windows Vista updates that will address some USB core components issues (kb941600), compability, performance and stability issues (kb941649), Windows Media Center issues (kb941229) and Windows Media Player 11.

Similar patchs for Windows Vista have been released in the past (posted in August on this blog) to address some other compability, performance and reliability issues.

Here are some details about the issues that are addressed on each update:

KB 941600 - Cumulative update rollup for USB core components in Windows Vista

This rollup package addresses the following issues:

• When the computer resumes from a suspend state or from a hibernation state, the computer stops responding. Additionally, you receive a "0x9F" stop message on a blue screen.
• The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state.
• The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state when you use a VIA controller.
• The computer stops responding when you use an AuthenTec USB fingerprint reader. Additionally, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen or a "0x9F" Stop error on a blue screen.
• The computer stops responding when you use a USB Bluetooth audio device.
• The computer takes a long time to resume from a suspend state or from a hibernation state when you use an Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) controller.
• The computer stops responding when you remove a USB device. Additionally, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen.
• When a computer resumes from a suspend state or from a hibernation state multiple times, you receive a "0xFE" Stop error on a blue screen.


KB 941649 - An update is available that improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista

Improvements included on this update:

• It extends the battery life for mobile devices.
• It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).
• It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.
• It improves the stability of Internet Explorer when you open a Web page.
• It improves the stability of wireless network services.
• It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.
• It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.
• It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.

This update also resolves the following issues in Windows Vista:
• A compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.
• A reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations.

KB 941229 - October 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista

This cumulative update resolves the following issues:

• Several issues that are related to the Media Center Extensibility Platform
• An issue that affects digital cable card components when you use Scientific Atlanta cable cards
• Interaction issues that occur between Media Center PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 when Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender.
• Autolaunch issues that occur with video CD (VCD) media

KB 941651 - Windows Media Player 11 Update for Windows Vista

This is a reliability update. Install this update to improve the reliability of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista in certain scenarios.


R-Tape Loading error,
Luís Rato

Windows Server 2008 RC0 is now available

Hi folks,


the so waited Windows Server 2008 RC0 is now available for download. This release includes the first public release of Windows Server virtualization (codenamed Viridian).

Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility and reliability of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.

Download Here:
Windows Server 2008 RC0 Standard Edition
Windows Server 2008 RC0 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 RC0 Enterprise
Windows Web Server 2008 RC0

NOTE: This product requires a valid product key for activation, and expires on April 7, 2008. (Support: ReadMe & Release Notes)

Additional Resources:
Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guides
Windows Server 2008 Security Guide
Windows Server 2008 Technical Library
Windows Server 2008 Technical Overviews

Other useful links:
Windows Team blog
TechNet Tech Library
Free e-learning
Product information


You can either download on the link below a VHD image of WIndows Server 2008 beta 3 for use with Virtual Server 2005 R2 :
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9aa65956-4a13-46a3-9711-82939a041792&displaylang=en

Just to remember you that Windows Server 2008 will be launched jointly with Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 on Feb. 27, 2008.


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Luís Rato

Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3 has been released

Hi guys,

for those who don't already know, Office 2003 Service Pack 3 has been released a few days ago.

With Office 2003 service pack 3 your Office suite will work better with Windows Vista, you will be able to exchange files with Office 2007 system, it includes security updates that have been released separately and has stability improvements based on Microsoft product support feedback and Microsoft online crash analysis.


This service pack has major security changes as well to harden the Office suite and reduce the attack surface and possible threats.
Some of these changes can be found on the add-ins, ActiveX controls and COM add-ins that use the QueryInterface() method. When an Office 2003 program is started some tests are performed to validate response of the QueryInterface() method and if the test fails the functionalities may be reduced or even blocked.

Follow the link below for additional details about add-ins, ActiveX controls and COM:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938814

Also to improve security the Office 2003 Service Pack 3 integrates two tools that were already released during this year such as MOICE (Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment) and File Block.

"When MOICE and File Block are used together they are an effective mitigation strategy for customers when the threat of attack using certain Office types exists. This enables customers to continue using Microsoft Office with a high degree of assurance that the files being opened are considered safe and will not infect users with malicious software."

About MOICE:
"The Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment (MOICE) uses the 2007 Microsoft Office system converters to convert Office 2003 binary documents to the newer Office open XML format. The Conversion process helps protect customers by converting the Office 2003 binary file format to the Office open XML format in an isolated environment. In summary, MOICE provides a mechanism for customers to pre-process potentially unsafe Office 2003 binary documents, by virtue of the conversions process it provides customers with a greater degree of certainty that the document can be considered safe."

About File Block:
"The File Block Functionality for Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system allows administrators to restrict via registry and Group Policy specific Office file types that can or cannot be opened when using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Blocking specific Office file types allows administrators to temporarily deny users the ability to open certain files, such as when a threat of attack from a given Office file type exists."

For complete details about MOICE and File Block check the security advisory 937696 on the link below:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/937696.mspx


Because there are a few changes on the default behavior of Office applications to improve the security were some features are now disabled by default and the COM access is more restricted, before any mass deployment in your corporate environment or any critical workstation, you should test and validate on lab the compatibility with any custom components that use Add-ins for business applications or workflows.

For a complete list of changes on the default behavior of Office applications just check the Office 2003 service Pack 3 download link.

Links to download the Service Pack 3 of Office 2003 suite, applications and viewers:

Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Proofing Tools
Visio 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Project 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
OneNote 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Outlook Live 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Word Viewer 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Excel Viewer 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)


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Luís Rato

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Office Communications Server 20007 is available since 29th of August and you can now download the trial version at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/bb684921.aspx.


Introduction
Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 is the first Microsoft product to combine enterprise-ready IM (instant messaging), presence, conferencing, and VoIP (Voice over IP) telephony in a fully integrated unified communications solution. Office Communications Server 2007 provides richer presence capabilities, enhanced support for group IM, and improved deployment and management than its predecessor, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 SP1. To existing features, such as federation and public IM connectivity, Office Communications Server 2007 includes real-time conferencing hosted on servers inside your organization’s firewall and a full-featured, software-powered VoIP solution that can stand on its own or integrate easily with an existing PBX infrastructure.
Like Live Communications Server 2005, Office Communications Server 2007 is available in two editions, Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition:

·Standard Edition.
Hosts all server components, as well as the database for storing user and conference information, on a single computer. Standard Edition provides full functionality for small organizations.

·Enterprise Edition.
Separates server functionality from data storage to achieve higher capacity and availability. An Enterprise Edition pool typically consists of two or more Front End Servers, which are fronted by a hardware load balancer and connected to a Back-End Database. (It is also possible to deploy a single Front End Server without a load balancer.) Optionally, certain conferencing components can be deployed on separate computers for higher capacity and availability. Enterprise Edition is appropriate for medium, large, and very large organizations.

Both editions support the full suite of IM, presence, conferencing, and VoIP features.


Check the link below for complete details about Office Communications Server 2007 Technical Overview:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=09b218ea-6ff6-4679-a117-9767ab98990a&displaylang=en

Office Communications Server 2007 Reference Architecture


Please see the following links for information about planning, deployment, migration, operations and support regarding Office Communications Server 2007.

Office Communications Server 2007 Downloads
Office Communications Server Technical Library


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Luís Rato

AD Explorer - Advanced Active Directory viewer and editor

Greetings everybody!

Microsoft has released Active Directory Explorer (AD Explorer) which is a very cool tool to view and edit Active Directory Objects and attributes.
There are already a few tools that we are familiar with, like LDP.exe and ADSIEDIT.MSC (Windows Support Tools).


LDP is the oldest one, with a difficult interface but is very powerful to do some special tasks like cleaning lingering objects in Windows 2000 AD, all the old school guys love it and use it almost every time.

ADSIEDIT is another Active Directory viewer and editor, with an easier interface where you can navigate through the Domain, Configuration or Schema AD partitions.

However both these tools had one limitation, you were unable to easily look at the Active Directory objects attributes, you always had to double click or open its properties to look inside the object attributes. The AD Explorer has some new features that every AD Administrator will love.

Just take a look for details below:

Introduction
Active Directory Explorer (AD Explorer) is an advanced Active Directory (AD) viewer and editor. You can use AD Explorer to easily navigate an AD database, define favorite locations, view object properties and attributes without having to open dialog boxes, edit permissions, view an object's schema, and execute sophisticated searches that you can save and re-execute.

AD Explorer also includes the ability to save snapshots of an AD database for off-line viewing and comparisons. When you load a saved snapshot, you can navigate and explorer it as you would a live database. If you have two snapshots of an AD database you can use AD Explorer's comparison functionality to see what objects, attributes and security permissions changed between them.
AD Explorer works on Windows 2000 and higher.




You can download AD Explorer on the following link:
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/AdExplorer.zip

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Luís Rato

Virtual Hard Disk conversion tools

Hi folks,

I have been out for 3 weeks in Bellevue, Redmond and Seattle and since I came back I spent all my time with family and with loads of work, which means no much time for blogging stuff.

As a start I would like to talk about some useful tools for those who deal frequently with Virtualization environments. I am certain that some of you have been on a situation where you wanted to use a VMWare Virtual Hard disk on Microsoft Virtual Server of Microsoft Virtual PC and you were unable to do it.

There are a few free tools that you can download to help you out with Virtual Hard Disk format conversion.


TOOL TO CONVERT VMWARE VIRTUAL HARD DISK TO MICROSOFT VIRTUAL HARD DISKS (VHD):

WinImage:

WinImage is a shareware tool that allows you to convert VMware virtual hard disks (VMDKs) to Virtual PC / Virtual Server virtual hard disks (VHDs).

Features:
· Create a disk image from a removable drive (like USB drive), CD-ROM, floppy;
· Extract file(s) from a disk image;
· Create empty disk images;
· Inject files and directories into an existing disk image;
· Change a disk image format;
· Defragment a disk image;
· A powerful "Batch assistant" mode that lets you automate many operations;
· And many more!

WinImage is shareware. You may evaluate it for a trial period of 30 days. After 30 days, if you wish to continue using WinImage, you need to register. Click here to download WinImage.

Download the WinImage tool from the Link below:
http://www.winimage.com/download.htm

TOOL TO CONVERT MICROSOFT VIRTUAL HARD DISKS (VHD) TO VMWARE VIRTUAL HARD DISK:

VMWare Converter:
Use the intuitive wizard-driven interface of VMware Converter to convert your physical machines to virtual machines. VMware Converter quickly converts Microsoft Windows based physical machines and third party image formats to VMware virtual machines. It also converts virtual machines between VMware platforms. Automate and simplify physical to virtual machine conversions as well as conversions between virtual machine formats with VMware Converter.

VMware Converter can be run on a wide variety of hardware and supports most commonly used versions of the Microsoft Windows operating systems. With this robust, enterprise class migration tool you can:

· Quickly and reliably convert local and remote physical machines into virtual machines without any disruption or downtime;
· Complete multiple conversions simultaneously with a centralized management console and an intuitive conversion wizard;
· Convert other virtual machine formats such as Microsoft Virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Server or backup images of physical machines such as Symantec -Backup Exec LiveState Recovery or Ghost 9 to VMware virtual machines;
· Restore VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) images of virtual machines to running virtual machines;
· Clone and backup physical machines to virtual machines as part of your disaster recovery plan;

Download the VMWare Converter tool from the Link below: http://www.vmware.com/download/converter/

R-Tape Loading Error,
Luís Rato

Windows Vista Compability Reliability (kb938194) and Performance Reliability Updates (kb938979) had been released

Hi folks,

great news today for all Microsoft Windows Vista users. You may already noticed some performance, compatibility and reliability issues during your Windows Vista utilization.

Common issues like long delays while you copy or move files, compatibility with some NVIDIA cards, resume a computer from hibernation and many more can now be fixed with two updates that Microsoft released today.
I do recommend that you apply these fixes on your Windows Vista computer.


Check for details and download the updates from the links below:

An update is available that improves the compatibility and reliability of Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938194/en-us

This update resolves some compatibility issues and reliability issues in Windows Vista. By applying this update, you can achieve better reliability and hardware compatibility in various scenarios.

This update resolves the following issues:

• The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer's power button.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.
• A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active.

An update is available that improves the performance and reliability of Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938979/en-us

This update resolves issues that may affect some Windows Vista-based computers. These issues have been reported by customers who are using the Error Reporting service or Microsoft Customer Support Services.

This update resolves the following issues on a Windows Vista-based computer:

• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully. This problem occurs if the network printer is hosted by a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
• When you copy or move a large file, the "estimated time remaining" takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
• When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file. This problem occurs if the RAW image is from any of the following digital SLR camera models:
•Canon EOS 1D
•Canon EOS 1DS
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs.

R-Tape Loading Error,
Luís Rato