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November 28 
Get up to 30% cashback with Live Search this holiday season
Get a richer shopping experience--literally. Microsoft Live Search cashback gives you money back on thousands of products from online merchants you know and trust. All you need to do is buy products qualifying for Microsoft Live Search cashback! Here’s three simple steps to start saving: - Use Live Search to research your purchases
Simply search for products at live.com where you’ll get rich answers that allow you to find the very best product. Find user and expert reviews all in one place along with pricing comparisons that help you make the most informed purchase.
- Look for the cashback gleam
You’ll see this icon also show up directly in your Live Search results. It highlights products that qualify for Live Search cashback. Click the icon and compare the best deals and offers available.
- Start shopping and saving!
There are thousands of stores to choose from including familiar names like eBay, HP, Footlocker, Gap, Target, Barnes and Noble and many more. So, in addition to getting actual money back in your pocket, you'll be getting the best deals from stores you already know. 
Once you've finalized your purchase, you'll receive an e-mail notifying you of your cashback rewards, with directions on how to claim them. So make the most of Live Search over the holiday season to search, shop and SAVE. And stayed tuned as we release even more great Live Search features over the coming weeks. November 26  Want your own datacenter-hosted services for:
- Sharepoint Server 2007
- Exchange Server 2007
- Office Communications Server 2007
- LiveMeeting 2008
I mean, why install your own? Why not let someone else be responsible for the installation, maintenance, malware protection, power consumption, cooling requirements, bandwidth, administration, data backups, etc.? Welcome to the glorious world of Microsoft Online Services. I just got my own Online Services account with the ability to create 20 additional accounts for my “organization”. This will provide my friends, my family, and well… anyone out there with not just my own rinkydink, piddly, little home server implementation, but 100% ENTERPRISE-CLASS CLOUD SERVICES that work with Outlook, Communicator, & Internet Explorer.
…the same datacenter infrastructure that Coca Cola & Energizer uses for their corporate users.  I have to admit I’m really stoked. I don’t have to host a server in my home office and I don’t have to do anything other than let Microsoft take care of all the server upkeep. In fact, I completely understand why so many companies are rushing to look at cloud services like Microsoft Online Services. It’s basically “outsourcing for your datacenter” but with all the convenience of traditional Microsoft on-premise installations of Windows Server System products.
- INTEGRATED
Work with the same rich clients business users already know and use like Outlook & Communicator. All in one integrated experience, from virtually any device in almost any location. Synchronized identities between corporate Active Directories & Online Services makes identity management much simpler. - SECURITY
Cybertrust-certified and SAS70 approved. Integrated with Forefront Security & Exchange Hosted Services. - AVAILABILITY
Operate on distributed geo-redundant network of tier-one data centers offering 99.9% scheduled uptime guarantee, backed by service-level agreements. - MANAGEABLE
Provide the tools your company needs with without requiring upgrades, patching, or new scaling installations. Centrally administrable from a single point. TRIAL:
Interested in your own FREE 30 day trial account? Visit:
https://mocp.microsoftonline.com INFORMATION:
For more information on the Business Productivity Online Services Suite (Standard) visit:
http://www.microsoftonline.com  I probably should have done this sooner, but if you’re reading this and you’re a customer of mine that’s interested in learning Visio, you’re in luck.
I have the opportunity to send you a full copy of Visio Professional 2003 if you’d like to give it a whirl. This is a complete, not-for-resale packaged copy of the product – precisely as you see it in the photo to the left. No strings attached. Just give it an install and see how you like it. If you’re a IT Professional, an Infrastructure Architect, a Network Designer, a Database Administrator, a Active Directory administrator, a Application Developer… you’ll undoubtedly find that visualizing networks, database tables, application architectures, datacenter layouts can only best be accomplished using the world’s #1 visualization tool.  Wait… you don’t know how to use Visio 2003? No problem. I also have copies of Visio 2003 Step-by-Step. This Microsoft Press book comes with user friendly documentation on how to use the product from the ground up and it includes sample files, all the content in eBook form, and numerous other resources that you may find interesting.
(Microsoft Office System Quick Reference eBook, Insider’s Guide to Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 eBook, Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition, eBook—10,000+ entries!, Introducing the Tablet PC eBook, Complete STEP BY STEP eBook, Skill-building practice files) If you’re interested and you’re a customer of mine, you know how to contact me. And please – email me from your work address/domain. The war is on! With both phones now available: - Verizon/Samsung Omnia i900
- Verizon/HTC Touch Pro
… the only question remaining is… hmm… which one? 
http://omnia.samsungmobile.com/
So far I’ve heard rave reviews of the 5 megapixel camera on the Omnia both internally and externally. On the downside, there will only be a 8GB option available through Verizon. The Omnia while it technically can come in a 16GB option from the manufacturer (Samsung), isn’t being made available in this larger size from Verizon. There is a MicroSD slot in which you can install an 8GB Micro SD card for a total of 16GB of storage however so that’s cool. 
http://www.htc.com/www/product/touchpro/overview.html
On the other hand, the Touch Pro’s got that slideout keyboard. And a 3.2 megapixel camera. And a TV out capability that allows you to cable your device to a TV to immediately watch movies and cached content on a larger screen. Sweet. Purchased can be orchestrated through Verizon customer care at 800-922-0204. Comparing the Verizon Omnia vs the Verizon HTC Touch Pro Review: 
Have you been looking for free online Sharepoint Server 2008 training for your end users or co-workers? Microsoft partner MindSharp offers a lot of deep dives for Sharepoint, but what people may or may not know is that they also offer FREE training online. This is perfect for new SharePoint administrators or end-users. Here’s a list of courses available in the near future: All times Central (GMT -0600) unless noted otherwise For more information:
https://www.mindsharp.com/Default.aspx?top=TRAINING&left=FREE%20LIVE%20MEETINGS November 24  Looking or SCCM 2007 support for the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool to patch your “standby” Virtual Machines in Hyper-V?
We are pleased to announce the availability of the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.0, now with support for Hyper-V technology. Go here to get this new Solution Accelerator: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc501231.aspx The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.0 helps organizations maintain virtual machines that are stored offline in a Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager library. While stored, virtual machines do not receive operating system updates. The tool provides a way to keep offline virtual machines up-to-date so that bringing a virtual machine online does not introduce vulnerabilities into the organization’s IT infrastructure. The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool combines the Windows Workflow programming model with the Windows PowerShell™ interface to bring groups of virtual machines online just long enough for them to receive updates from either System Center Configuration Manager 2007 or Windows Server Update Services. As soon as the virtual machines are up-to-date, the tool returns them to the offline state in the Virtual Machine Manager library. This Solution Accelerator includes the following file components: - Brief Overview. Available online only on Microsoft TechNet. Summary for business and technical managers that briefly explains how this Solution Accelerator can fit into an organization’s IT infrastructure management strategy.
- OfflineVMServicing_x64 and OfflineVMServicing_x86. Setup files for the tool, for 64 bit and 32 bit versions of Windows Server® 2003.
- Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool Getting Started Guide. Provides information about how the tool works, explains prerequisites for the tool, and describes how to install and configure the tool.
- Offline_VM_Servicing_Tool_2.0_Release_Notes.rtf. Notes provide information about this release, describe known issues in the tool, and include feedback instructions.
- Offline_Virtual_Machine_Servicing_Tool_Help. Help file for the tool. Provides instructions for using the tool.
Changes in this Version
Version 2.0 of the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool provides full backward compatibility with version 1.0. When this tool is installed it checks the installed version of Virtual Machine Manager and determines what components are needed. Certain functionality will only be available if Virtual Machine Manager 2008 is installed. In addition to products supported by version 1.0, this version provides support for Hyper-V technology, Virtual Machine Manager 2008, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2, Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1, Windows Server® 2008 for installing the tool and Windows Server virtualized client operating system. Overview of the Solution
The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.0 is built on Windows Workflow Foundation and the Windows PowerShellTM interface to manage the workflow of updating large numbers of offline virtual machines according to their individual needs. To do this, the tool works with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) and software update management systems (at present, either WSUS or System Center Configuration Manager). The tool uses "servicing jobs" to manage the update operations based on lists of existing virtual machines stored in VMM. Using Windows Workflow Foundation technology, a servicing job runs snippets of PowerShell scripts to work with virtual machines. For each virtual machine, the servicing job: - "Wakes" the virtual machine (deploys it to a host and starts it).
- Triggers the appropriate software update cycle (Configuration Manager or WSUS).
- Shuts down the updated virtual machine and returns it to the library.
The tool works with Windows Task Scheduler to determine when to run the servicing job. VIDEO DEMO:
For an online video demonstration of this Solution Accelerator:
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=8b4ff511-feba-4741-9595-09836ddcae7a DOWNLOAD:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8408ECF5-7AFE-47EC-A697-EB433027DF73&displaylang=en DOCUMENTATION:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc501231.aspx MORE SOLUTION ACCELERATORS ON TECHNET:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/default.aspxNovember 19  Last night around 2:00AM, we released the 2008 Dashboard Update a.k.a. New Xbox Experience to the rest of the United States. (I should know… I waited to upgrade all the XBox 360’s throughout my home!)
Check out some of the features that make the New Xbox Experience so groundbreaking: - Dashboard: The New Xbox Experience delivers a stunning, easy-to-navigate interface that displays rich cover art for your games and entertainment content.
- Avatars: Show your style with a customized, animated Avatar with hundreds of choices for hair style, clothes, and accessories. Your Avatar can host a LIVE Party, participate in a game, or just chat with friends.
- Marketplace on Xbox.Com: It's easy to buy and download games, demos, and trailers to your console from the newly redesigned Xbox LIVE Marketplace through Xbox.com
- Community Games: For the first time in the history of console gaming, the Community Games channel on Xbox LIVE will include hundreds of creatively diverse games developed by the community.
 Friends Channel: In Friends Channel, keep your social scene active, finding friends, issuing challenges, and texting or voice chatting with friends. - Parties: Parties take the celebration online, connecting up to eight friends in one hot venue to catch up on chat, share photos real-time, and entertain friends across town or around the world.
- Themes: Themes in the New Xbox Experience can take over more than just the background of the Dashboard. You can see your friends' avatars in different themed environments on the Friends Channel.
- Guide Button: The New Xbox Experience includes an improved Xbox 360 Guide Button functionality for even faster navigation for your Xbox 360.
- Play from Hard Drive: This Feature allows you to copy most Xbox 360 games to your hard drive, cutting load times considerably (original disc still required to play).
 U.S. only
- Netflix: Xbox 360 is the only game console to offer instant streaming of over 10,000 videos from Netflix, with approximately 300 titles in HD. A large online library of more than 15,000 on-demand high-definition TV shows and movies will be available from global partners such as Constantin, Disney, MGM, NBC Universal, and Warner Bros. Entertainment. (For U.S. Customers only. Gold member subscription and Netflix Unlimited subscription required.)
DOWNLOAD: “New Xbox Experience Reviewer’s Guide”
http://www.xbox.com/NR/rdonlyres/D5499B6E-0C7D-4518-B728-3C107BF3ADF6/0/NewXboxExperienceReviewersGuide.pdf HOW TO UPGRADE:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/nxe/ DETAILS:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemupdates/default.htm FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/nxe/faq.htm Available only for the month of November, Microsoft Press is making available this book of the month.  Windows Server® 2008 Networking and Network Access Protection (NAP)
by Joseph Davies and Tony Northrup with the Microsoft Networking Team
ISBN: 9780735624221
Get the official resource for deploying, administering, and troubleshooting Windows Server 2008 networking and Network Access Protection (NAP) technologies. For more information or to buy the print version of this title, visit the Microsoft Learning website . REGISTER & DOWNLOAD:
http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urws8un4p7
(Click File-Save in Internet Explorer to save the document once it’s loaded into the browser) -------------- Additionally, this other book is also available for the month of November as well.  Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Fundamentals
By Stanislav Pavlov and Pavel Belevsky
ISBN: 9780735626256
This book examines the architecture, built-in programming tools, drivers, and build process, and shows how to take advantage of the Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Software Development Kit (SDK). For more information or to buy the print version of this title, visit the Microsoft Learning website . REGISTER & DOWNLOAD:
http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urrs4gt63d
(Click File-Save in Internet Explorer to save the document once it’s loaded into the browser) Microsoft Press is releasing the eBook version for “Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008” for free to everyone that registers for the download. Here’s a quick description:  Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008
by Peter DeBetta, Greg Low, and Mark Whitehorn
ISBN: 9780735625587
Learn about major new features in SQL Server 2008 including security, administration, and performance. Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008:
Chapter 1: Security and Administration
Chapter 2: Performance
Chapter 3: Type System
Chapter 4: Programmability
Chapter 5: Storage
Chapter 6: Enhancements for High Availability
Chapter 7: Business Intelligence Enhancements REGISTER & DOWNLOAD:
http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urss1q2we6
(Click File-SaveAs to save document to desktop)  Yep. Zune Firmware 3.1 has released for all versions of Zune devices. 30GB, 80GB, 120GB, 4GB flash, 8GB flash, and 16GB flash.
Technically, the Zune Desktop software should automatically detect that a new rev is available, but I’m told that it won’t necessarily detect & deliver the firmware to your device immediately. I suspect this is the Zune teams way of parsing out the delivery to people slowly so that there isn’t a massive crush on the download servers of people trying to download 131MB of software. Details at http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2008/11/18/zune-3-1-update-your-zune.aspx.  New features & changes:
- Friendly user interface changes to Zune Social
- Like-minded Listeners matches you with others with similar music tastes
- Stability & performance improvements to both Zune Desktop client and Zune Device Firmware.
- Improved/fixed playcount reporting
- Improved/fixed content synchronization
- Texas Hold ‘em update - Adds a multiplayer mode and some new single player difficulty levels
- New gamesCheckers, Sudoku and Space Battle
DOWNLOAD:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ecc2d7ee-bf20-416d-bb44-f6b7cccae253&DisplayLang=en 
Tech▪Ed 2009 North America
Tech▪Ed Developer and IT Professional Conference: May 11-15, 2009
Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA ![clip_image001[7]](http://blufiles.storage.msn.com/y1pqm0uOSbkEK6lNevz2J1Yt9T-hAqUryE82hQNDBXcQ953zGIEW4j-70vsMU4BVado9D5YFj014-cxXt8oVt11LA?PARTNER=WRITER "clip_image001[7]") Have you heard the news? Tech·Ed North America 2009 is moving back to a single week covering both audiences. This change in format was based on feedback from you our developer and IT professional communities and our desire to constantly look for the best, most efficient opportunity to serve your distinct needs. We are excited to celebrate our seventeenth year as the best technical education and networking event in the industry.
Registration opens December 10th, 2008. Sign up for the newsletter so you can take advantage of our special holiday rate. For more information: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/events/teched/default.aspx   Come join us at the Microsoft Management Summit 2009 and learn about the latest IT Management Solutions from Microsoft
The Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) is the premier event of the year for IT Professionals, offering deep technical information and training on the latest IT management solutions from Microsoft. In this tenth-anniversary year, MMS 2009 will be bigger and better than ever. In addition to executive keynotes, Microsoft experts and industry leaders will present more than 100 technical sessions, all packed with demos. MMS 2009 will feature more than 9,000 Hands-on Lab places during the week, most led by experts providing a guided tour of the latest technologies. MMS 2009 will offer face-to-face access to Microsoft and industry experts through a variety of networking opportunities and in the MMS 2009 Expo, where over 60 sponsors and exhibitors will showcase their latest products and services. This year’s event will be held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Special room rates have been negotiated at the hotel for conference attendees, details of which are available on the Registration Overview page. For more information: http://mms-2009.com/ November 18  Today, we announced that Windows Live OneCare will no longer be sold and instead, Microsoft will be providing free of charge, a Microsoft Antivirus/Anti-spyware/Anti-malware software & service solution currently codenamed “Morro”.
This will effectively provide antivirus, antispyware, and antimalware protection to ANYONE running a genuine copy of Windows worldwide. WHY?
The key to why this move was made lies in the last word in that sentence: “Worldwide’. THe fact is that most developing countries like China don’t have the ability to subscribe to security services that have a annual payment model. Because malware is a worldwide problem, Microsoft is making this service free to eliminate this obstacle and ensure everyone gets access to malware protection. IS “MORRO” JUST “FREE ONECARE”?
No, “Morro” is not OneCare. It will be tuned for low-bandwidth, less powerful PCs to reach & secure as many people as possible. WHEN?
Second half of 2009. More information:  This is a really interesting comparison.
The guys at Ripten published lists of the games that have sold 1 million or more units for each console, first with Playstation 3 and next with Xbox 360. Here’s their list for the Xbox 360, with the ‘millions of units sold’ next to each title. I’ve highlighted my personal favorites. I’m perplexed at how this list is missing Ninja Gaiden 2 and Valve’s Orange Box but being that this list is apparently missing a few titles…: Halo 3, Microsoft — 8.4 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision — 6.6 Grand Theft Auto IV, Take-Two Interactive — 6.2 Gears Of War, Microsoft — 5.3 Forza Motorsport 2, Microsoft — 4.1 Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft — 4.0 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, RedOctane — 3.5 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, 2K Games — 2.6 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Activision — 2.5 Madden NFL 08, Electronic Arts — 2.4 Guitar Hero II, RedOctane — 2.3 Call of Duty 2, Activision — 2.2 Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Ubisoft — 2.2 Tom Clancy Rainbow Six: Vegas, Ubisoft — 2.2 Call of Duty 3, Activision — 2.1 Gears of War 2, Microsoft — 2.1 Mass Effect, Microsoft — 2.1 BioShock, 2K Games — 2.0 Saints Row, THQ — 1.9 Rock Band, MTV Games — 1.9 Madden NFL 07, Electronic Arts — 1.8 Fight Night Round 3, Electronic Arts — 1.8 Dead Rising, Capcom — 1.8 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Ubisoft — 1.7 Lost Planet, Capcom — 1.7 Viva Pinata, Microsoft — 1.6 Need for Speed ProStreet, Electronic Arts — 1.5 Crackdown, Microsoft — 1.5 Fable II, Microsoft — 1.5 Project Gotham Racing 3, Microsoft — 1.5 Need for Speed Most Wanted, Electronic Arts — 1.5 FIFA 08, Electronic Arts — 1.4 Perfect Dark Zero, Microsoft — 1.4 Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, Ubisoft — 1.4 Need for Speed Carbon, Electronic Arts — 1.4 Army of Two, Electronic Arts — 1.4 WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008, THQ — 1.3 Madden NFL 09, Electronic Arts — 1.3 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, LucasArts — 1.2 Tom Clancy Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Ubisoft — 1.2 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Eidos Interactive — 1.1 Devil May Cry 4, Capcom — 1.1 Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Konami — 1.1 Project Gotham Racing 4, Microsoft — 1.1 Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Konami — 1.1 Dead or Alive 4, Tecmo — 1.0 The Simpsons Game, Electronic Arts — 1.0There are lots of add-ins specifically for Visio 2007. If you’re interested in diagramming topology or schema, this is the tool to do it in.  Exchange Server 2007 Visio Add-in
The Microsoft® Office Visio® 2007 Professional Add-In makes it easy for Exchange administrators to visualize, explore, and communicate complex information. Instead of viewing single user data, administrators can create data-connected Visio diagrams that display data at a glance and dramatically increase productivity. You can diagram a Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 site topology, including sites, servers, and connections for an organization.
http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=547
Disk Space  Monitoring Add-in
(aka Near Real Time Server Storage Monitoring)
Microsoft Visio 2007 Add-in for Near Real Time Monitoring (NRTM) of Disk Space uses the new Data Graphics feature of Microsoft® Office Visio® 2007 Professional to display the results of server monitoring. This add-in auto generates diagrams from Microsoft® Office Excel® or Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager 2007 as a data source. Let’s you decide on optimal threshold values for disk space and then monitors your hardware for disk space using WMI or Ops manager in near real time.
http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=61 
Folder Access Rights Map Add-in
Folder Access Rights Map helps you see a shared folder's setting conditions at a glance. It outputs the configurations and the Folder Access Rights of the shared folders on your file server to Microsoft Office Visio or Excel.
With Folder Access Rights Map, you can:
- Obtain shared folders from the Active Directory, list them and select them individually.
- Specify the number of layers in the folder hierarchy for output to Microsoft Office Visio or Excel.
- Display the setting conditions of shared access or NTFS access.
- Visually retrieve and display a folder which has a designated account.
http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=586 Active Directory Topology Diagrammer Add-in
With the Active Directory Topology Diagrammer tool, you can read your Active Directory structure through Microsoft ActiveX® Data Objects (ADO). The Active Directory Topology Diagrammer tool automates Microsoft® Office Visio® 2007 Professional to draw a diagram of the Active Directory Domain topology, your Active Directory Site topology, your OU structure or your current Exchange 200X Server Organization.
http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=538 
 Server Virtualization Add-In for Visio 2007 Pro
With over 70% of server hardware being under-utilized, this very valuable tool can draw a clear picture of your hardware utilization. This tool auto-generates the diagram of your rack and provides clear server details from a linked Excel template. Analyze your racks and servers using WMI or get the utilization data over time using the Operations Manager connection.
Use the virtualization button to see the before and after detailed diagram of your racks. See clearly where you have the opportunity to save on space and power.
http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=546
 SQL Server Add-In
The SQL Assessment Add-In for Microsoft® Office Visio® 2007 Professional is a tool for IT administrators who need to continually interact with users during SQL server installations in any IT infrastructure.
This add-in takes the input of SQL configuration prerequisites from users for SQL Server installations and shows them in a clear, easy to read diagram. The tool also allows you to see whether you can update your server configurations to the latest version of Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008
Baseline Security Analyzer Add-in
This Microsoft® Office Visio® 2007 Professional Add-In for Microsoft® Baseline Security Analyzer
http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=59 Software Upgrade Assessment Add-in
Visio Add-in for Software Upgrades will help the IT/Datacenter Administrators and manager to assess the hardware and software installations on the Servers and user computers/laptops.
Use this valuable Add-in to assess your client and server infrastructure easily and simply using Visio 2007. Evaluate what hardware on the client side you can upgrade to the latest versions of Windows Vista of on Microsoft Office 2007. Assess your server infrastructure to check and see which versions of Windows server 2008 or SQL server 2008 you can run on your current infrastructure. All of this in an easy to use and understand Visio 2007 diagram which is automatically generated from and Excel template. Save time and money using this simple client and server assessment Add-in for Visio 2007.
http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2 November 17  Recently there’s been a few external postings made about Office web applications, above and beyond the Press release that was published in October, that people should be aware of:
- Snapshots of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote as Online Applications:
http://workspace.officelive.com/FAQ
/thumbnails
For those of you wondering, this is relevant because it’s the first public snapshots of Excel and Powerpoint. Previously the PR release only included screenshots of Word-in-a-browser and OneNote-in-a-browser.
 On10’s Q&A on Office web applications:
http://www.on10.net/blogs/
sarahintampa/Microsoft-Office-Web-Applications-Your-Burning-Questions-Answered
Color me intrigued. None of the information on this page is available in the “customer ready” documentation we have on Office web applications so my only assumption is that Sarah interviewed someone from the Office Product Management team who disclosed this stuff.
Nonetheless, it’s interesting information for people that are interested in looking at this paradigm for Office computing. November 16 [I stole this off of Robert McLaw’s site from one of the comments that was posted]  An easy way to download the .MSI installation files for Windows Live product betas is to download and install the Windows Live products to a 32-bit machine and navigate to:
%systemroot%\System32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Application Data\WindowsLiveInstaller\MsiSources Copy the .msi files to a data stick and run the .msi files on the PC you want to install this on. This can be useful in particular for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista x64 installations which can in fact run these Windows Live products but the vaunted “unified installer” for Windows Live products won’t work on these. (Incidentally, I found it hilarious that the Windows Experience blog actually celebrated the release of the unified installer, while it was hailed as a royal pain in the tuckus by much of the online community, resulting in more obscurity & confusion by the end users using it instead of the transparency and ease-of-use that was supposedly the objective. <shakes head>) Identify the product you’re interested in by the following names in the directory: - Windows Live Writer
Install_{1F973A7F-3FE4-4D11-A9A2-E869C2899A7D}.msi - Windows Live Messenger
Install_{508CE775-4BA4-4748-82DF-FE28DA9F03B0}.msi - Windows Live Sign-In Assistant
Install_{CB5EA99C-8A5B-49F2-9A1A-2EF78BE4DB41}.msi - Windows Live Mail
Install_{EDB619FD-4E71-403C-8E99-DFC9CF9DD345}.msi - Windows Live Toolbar
Install_{C6876FE6-A314-4628-B0D7-F3EE5E35C4B4}.msi - Windows Live Photo Gallery
Install_{AA436FBD-2595-479B-8DDE-E9C36F50D99D}.msi For those unaware of Office Live Workspace (http://workspace.officelive.com/), it’s a FREE document storage & productivity workspace that allows not only convenient online uploads & downloads of documents for storage “in the cloud” but also secure online collaboration between other people that want to access and edit these documents with you. Sign up if you haven’t already. Well, as you would suspect, the recently announced Office Web Applications (web-based versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote) are likely to appear side by side with Office Live Workspace providing smooth integration with documents store in the Office Live repositories. So, if you want to stay plugged in, it’d probably be best to get used to Office Live Workspace and understand how it works with the existing Office 2003/2007 application suites.  To better integrate your Microsoft Office Live Workspace documents with the Microsoft Office programs on your computer, install the Office Live Update, a collection of plug ins and software updates for both Windows as well as Office.
The add ins allow you to access your workspaces directly from Office Word, Office Excel, and Office PowerPoint. The Office Live Add-in installs a new toolbar in Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003 and new menu options in the 2007 Microsoft Office system. (The picture to the right depicts the add-in’s appearance in Office 2007. For more information read the following: INSTRUCTIONS:
Improve integration between Office Live Workspace and Microsoft Office programs
http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview.aspx?AssetID=HA102257761033&QueryID=TzCDWNSnd&respos
=4&rt=2&ns=OFLV20&lcid=1033&pid=CH102255811033 To get the Office Live Update, visit the following link: DOWNLOAD:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=91FE0002-EB00-434B-8726-27911326D2B2&displaylang=en November 13  Did you miss the Microsoft Professional Developer’s Conference 2008 here in Los Angeles? Catch the content LIVE at the MSDN Developer Conference. Register Today!
We’re bringing the PDC to you! For just $99 you’ll get the best of the PDC in your own backyard and hear all of the exciting announcements around the Azure Services Platform and Windows 7. Other sessions include the latest developments in .NET, Silverlight, Surface, Parallel Programming, Live Mesh, and more. Register today to stay current in an ever-competitive job market, enhance your skills and gain access to the next generation of tools and technology.
-
Experience the Azure Services Platform
Create applications that seamlessly bridge PC, Web, and phone -
Be among the first to see Windows 7
See the latest advances in Multi-Touch Application Development -
Take your .NET skills to the next level
See sessions on WPF 4.0, Silverlight 2, ASP.NET 4.0, Parallel Programming, Live Mesh and more
The Cost? Just $99. And, did we mention that attendees will get some cool giveaways? Here’s the agenda: Azure Services Platform: Client & Presentation: Tools, Languages, and Framework: Events are located all over the nation. In particular:  Holy cow. This suite of tools will undoubtedly be invaluable to those not familiar with them. Some of these tools have historically be available in one form or another since Softgrid 4.0 (since renamed to App-V) however they’re now supported and available for download freely off of Microsoft.com for v4.5.
For a more through overview of each of these tools, click on the above. They will direct you to the Softgrid blog’s respective post on each tool. LINK: App-V Resource Kit Announcement
http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/11/03/application-virtualization-4-5-resource-kit-tools-now-available.aspx
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