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July 21  The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Now Released!
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be available in the near future. Are you thinking about deploying these new operating systems? Get a head start with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0. Over 690,000 Microsoft customers and partners including Costco Wholesale Corporation, Continental Airlines, and Banque de Luxembourg have already downloaded and/or used this toolkit to date.
Introducing Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit
Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 is an integrated planning toolkit that makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment. This agentless and scalable toolkit has the ability to discover all computers within Active Directory and workgroup environments. It performs key functions that include hardware and device inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for migration to most major Microsoft technologies including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, SQL Server 2008, and much more. What’s New with v4.0?
Version 4.0 of the MAP Toolkit has the following new features: - Windows 7 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
- Windows Server 2008 R2 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
- Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V R2 Server Consolidation
- Integration with the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Calculator
- Inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests
- User Interface and Proposal Customization for Partner co-branding
- Enhanced SQL Instance Discovery
- Enhanced Usability and Improved Inventory Performance
Additional Features - Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V Server Consolidation
- Windows Vista Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
- Windows Server 2008 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment
- 2007 Microsoft Office Readiness Assessment
- SQL Server Instance Discovery
- Desktop Security Assessment for Anti-virus and Anti-malware Programs Installation
- Forefront Client Security/NAP Readiness Assessment
- App-V Infrastructure Readiness Assessment
- Power Savings “Green IT” Proposal
Benefits to Customers and Partners - Saves Planning or Pre-Sales Time. For most IT consultants and Microsoft Partners, a detailed network inventory and assessment of servers and desktops often takes days of manual labor. With the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, you can now conduct an environment inventory of up to 100,000 computers in a matter of hours instead of days, giving you extra time to focus on critical planning or pre-sales tasks. For IT professionals, this toolkit can significantly reduce the time it takes to gather the information necessary to make the business case for client, server, and virtualization projects.
- Provides Actionable Recommendations and Reporting. This toolkit provides valuable inventory and readiness assessment reports with environment-specific upgrade recommendations and virtualization candidate reports, making it easier for IT migration and deployment projects to get off the ground and running.
- Covers Wide Range of Scenarios--from Desktops to Servers. This toolkit offers technology assessments and planning recommendations for many Microsoft desktop and server products including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V R2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, 2007 Microsoft Office, SQL Server 2008, Forefront Client Security, Network Access Protection, Microsoft Application Virtualization (or App-V), and more.
Next Steps--How can I get Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0? Thank You!
Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Team - Solution Accelerators July 17 In fairness, I should post the other Twitter clients for Windows that I examined before sort of settling on Sobee bDule. There’s quite a few out there that aren’t dependent on you installing Adobe Air, yet another framework that you’ll have to be concerned about patching.  WPF Witty – A Windows client for Twitter (XP/Vista) leveraging WPF
Features: - View recent Twitter statuses from the people you follow (auto-refreshing)
- View recent replies to you
- View a specific user's timeline
- Update your twitter status
- View and respond to Direct Messages
- Links will open in the user's default browser
Code Specific Features - Minimize to the System Tray
- Runs in Single Instance mode
- Remembers the window settings for location and size
- Responsive UI with asynchronous calls to Twitter to prevent UI thread from locking
- Custom Styles and Resources
- Custom TwitterLib for encapsulating calls to Twitter
- Serialize to disk as XAML
- Make use of Kevin Moore's FlipTile3D (easter egg)
- Spell Checking
- New messages are displayed with yellow fade technique
- Option for always on top (Right-click the Witty Header)
- Save and store application settings
- Skins and Skinning
COMMENTARY:
This is a really nice, compact Windows WPF .NET client for Twitter that takes advantage of the Windows platform without being too heavy. It fits in the Systray and is the original WPF client for Twitter. Great tool by some of the original awesome .NET developers at Vertigo. The Windows Team Blog commented about it here:
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsexperience/archive/2007/12/26/twitter-with-friends-using-the-wpf-client-witty.aspx DOWNLOAD:
http://code.google.com/p/wittytwitter/  Blu Twitter – A .NET 3.5 based Windows Twitter client for XP/Vista/7
Features: - Unlimited tweets
With blu you can view unlimited tweets. Just keep scrolling and more tweets will be loaded and displayed automatically. - New tweets and inline replies
Click the update icon from the bottom menu and a new text entry field will appear.
Tweets can only be a fixed number of characters per message. blu displays how many characters you have left using large numbers behind your tweet so you know when you're about to run out of space.
And replying to a tweet couldn't be easier: just click the reply icon and the tweet you're replying to will flip, revealing a entry field. Direct messages and re-tweets work the same way. - See the full conversation
Here's another great feature in blu. You get a tweet, but it's a reply to something you said earlier and you can't quite remember what it was you said.
Usually, there isn't a good way to see the first part of your conversation, but with blu, simply click on the arrow before the username and voila! Your tweet will flip in-place revealing the first part of your conversation. - Tiny url integration
That's right. We've added tiny url support. Simply type or paste a link into the update bubble and blu will convert it for you. No extra buttons, no extra box.
Want to expand your link? Just click the 'plus' icon and blu will roll-back to the full url. COMMENTARY:
This is just a frickin’ sexy client and really demonstrates what people can do when they put their mind to designing a nice WPF .NET 3.5 application. I keep going back and forth between this and bDule. I’m not totally convinced that this isn’t the client for me given that Twitter is more important to me than Facebook. DOWNLOAD:
http://www.thirteen23.com/experiences/desktop/blu/# (10.4MB)  Twitteroo – A simple Windows .NET Twitter client
Features: Update your Twitter status from your Desktop URL shortening via rurl.org Double-click a status to message that user directly Twitter notifications View your Friends timeline or the Public timeline Clickable links from status messages Refreshes automatically or manually Set refresh time and notification transparency Support for international characters in status messages Browse to Twitter user page or personal websites Customize Twitteroo font size Set transparency for main Twitteroo window and notifications Optional sound notification when new tweets arrive Profile icon caching for faster Tweeting Bite-sized cookies made from real Twitter COMMENTARY:
This is the classic .NET based Twitter client from 2 years ago. Development on it seems to have halted in favor of some of the newer clients however it remains the single thinnest Twitter clients that are native to Windows at a mere 400k. DOWNLOAD:
http://rareedge.com/twitteroo/ Love… this… client! This is a really cool piece of software and it doesn’t require the installation of Adobe AIR. Instead, it leverages .NET 3.0 & Silverlight v3.0 and it’s totally free.  It’s basically a “social aggregator” that’s under development that currently provides you with search lists, multiple Twitter account views, access to your Facebook page, and more. It’s Alpha code so it’s still in development but I’m really liking this client and how it’s progressing.
Technobuzz did a better write up of it than I have, so check out their site:
http://www.technobuzz.net/bdule-twitter-facebook-client-windows-7-vista-xp/ DOWNLOAD:
http://www.sobees.com/bdule "It was the greatest single phone call that I've ever taken in business."
- Microsoft COO Kevin Turner, on when Apple’s Legal Dept called him to pull Microsoft’s Laptop Hunter TV ads What’s he talking about, you ask? Here’s the entire quote, as taken from The Worldwide Partner Conference Transcript:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/elop/07-15-09WPC2009.mspx
(Video available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/wwpc/Default.aspx @ 1hr 51min)  “And so we've been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, hey, what are you looking to spend? “Oh, I'm looking to spend less than $1,000.” Well we'll give you $1,000. Go in and look and see what you can buy. And they come out and they just show them. Those are completely unscripted commercials.
And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey -- this is a true story -- saying, "Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices." They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business. (Applause.) I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, "Is this a joke? Who are you?" Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we're just going to keep running them and running them and running them. This is out of last Sunday's paper, the Apple tax. It's getting out. And when we put Windows 7 in there, which we've got coming out in October, what an incredible opportunity for us to fight back. And it feels really good to be on the offensive here. And we know we've got plenty of work to do. We don't have it all figured out. But I want you to know, ladies and gentlemen, we're doing stuff and we're in the game and continuing to take some of these hard market share opportunities head on and compete because it's a test of will, as I said.” And it looks like this didn’t escape the media either: July 16  I don’t really need to explain what this is do I?
Alright. For those looking for clarification, it’s a touch enabled client for Twitter. Capacbilities include, as taken by the Swiss DPE team post: - Show the 25 most recent Tweets in a “ScatterView” control, making each Tweet a movable and resizable object on the Surface.
- Automatically detect the presence of a TwitPic picture linked in a Tweet and display the picture’s thumbnail attached to the tweet it belongs to.
- Mark Mentions (of the person currently logged in) by coloring the Tweet window blue.
- Send Tweets using the Surface on-screen keyboard.
- Auto-Refresh automatically every minute, marking new Tweets with a star icon. Updating is asynchronous and not blocking the user interface.
DOWNLOAD:
http://blogs.msdn.com/swiss_dpe_team/archive/2009/07/16/
welcome-to-surfacetwitter-a-multi-touch-twitter-client-for-the-microsoft-surface.aspx  This was a pleasant surprise.
It turns out that Bill Gates was as fascinated by Richard Feynman as much as I and thousands of others have been, but a man of his resources took his fascination to another level: He bought the rights to the lectures so that they could be shared on the Internet with everyone. For FREE. PROJECT TUVA
The effort to publish these on the Internet for public access was called Project TUVA. You simply access a web site that is Silverlight driven & developed by Microsoft Research to enable the playback, and you’re on your way.  The Silverlight driven software provides subtitles, a realtime timeline, and reference links that point to “extras” that people can see.
One of the coolest features of the software is it’s ability to call up other web applications. For example, at the 39 &40 minute mark, the first lecture pulls up content from the Worldwide Telescope, a project Microsoft put together leveraging research Microsoft published at http://www.worldwidetelescope.com. The first 4 minutes is hilarious… and that’s just Feynman’s introduction: ”I could tell you about the time he learned Spanish… in preparation for a trip to Brazil.” BTW: If you find this interesting, if not entertaining, I’d encourage you to take a look at these books… my primers to the genius of Professor Feynman: LINKS July 01 Here’s a few notes about Microsoft Hohm.  What is Microsoft Hohm?
Microsoft Hohm is a free online beta application that helps you save energy and money. With Microsoft Hohm you can better understand your home energy usage, get recommendations to conserve energy and start saving. As with any recommendation engine, Hohm will provide increasingly more accurate and relevant suggestions for energy conservation as its users contribute home energy input and feedback. One of the objectives during our beta period is to refine our tool and further increase the value our product can offer to you.
Microsoft Hohm uses advanced analytics licensed from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy to give you personalized energy saving recommendations. These recommendations are tailored based on your specific household circumstances including home attributes and use of appliances and systems. You will also be able to compare your energy usage to that of others in your area. In this beta version, the Microsoft Hohm team will learn from its users and communities and will make improvements to the site and analytics. Microsoft Hohm helps utilities to better serve their customers by providing clear insight into their energy consumption, allowing them to make more informed decisions to save energy and money. How does Microsoft Hohm work?
After signing up for Microsoft Hohm with your Windows Live ID and postal code, you simply enter some information about your home (e.g., occupants, appliances and systems) and receive your energy report with personalized recommendations. The more information you provide, the more accurate and relevant the recommendations will be. As a default, Hohm will base its recommendations on local and national averages. Alternatively, if you are a customer of a Hohm-partnered utility company you can choose to automatically upload your energy usage data into the application in the near future. The recommendations will be refined as the beta application evolves with feedback from users, their communities and the energy industry. 
On average, how much money will Microsoft Hohm help me save on my energy bill?
The financial savings varies widely based on the information you provide on your Microsoft Hohm profile, the characteristics of your household and the changes you implement. Customers are encouraged to run the Hohm application to determine the potential savings for their household. Note that this beta version of Hohm will be evolving over time, so initial recommendations may not optimal.
How can I get Microsoft Hohm? Hohm is an online Microsoft application available at no cost to anyone in the United States with Internet access and a modern Internet browser (e.g., Internet Explorer 7 or later, Firefox, Safari). It can be accessed from the Microsoft Hohm Web site, www.microsoft-hohm.com. Who is Microsoft Hohm for? Who do you expect will find it useful?
Microsoft Hohm is for residential consumers of energy wanting to save money and reduce their impact on the environment. We hope to hear your story on how you are saving and what you would like to see next. For more information go to our website at www.microsoft-hohm.com. WARNING: If you’ve been using Windows Live Movie Maker Beta, you’ll need to install a software update in order to keep it working. The current Movie Maker beta will stop working on June 30, 2009 and with the beta extension software update, you won’t be able to continue to use it. If you attempt to run Windows Live Movie Maker without applying the download you’ll get this dialog box: 
The download is less than 3MB. The official release of Windows Live Movie Maker is expected to release later as part of Windows Live Essentials. (http://download.live.com/)
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