The new Microsoft Security Vulnerability Research and Defense blog!

http://blogs.technet.com/swi/default.aspx

Want a cool sound editor (and do everything with video and sound)

Get Audacity

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Learn more about Audacity... Also check our Wiki and Forum for more information.
The latest release of Audacity is 1.3.4 (beta). Because it is a work in progress and does not yet come with complete documentation or translations into foreign languages, it is recommended for more advanced users. See New Features in 1.3 for more information about the 1.3.x beta series.
For all users, Audacity 1.2.6 is a stable release, complete and fully documented. You can have both Audacity 1.2.6 and 1.3.3 installed simultaneously.

from: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

What is FLV

FLV (Flash Video) "is a proprietary file format used to deliver video over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player (formerly known as Macromedia Flash Player) version 6, 7, 8, or 9. FLV content may also be embedded within SWF files. Notable users of the FLV format include YouTube, Google Video, Reuters.com, Yahoo! Video and MySpace.

Flash Video is viewable on most operating systems, via the widely available Adobe Flash Player and web browser plugin, or one of several third-party programs such as Media Player Classic (with the ffdshow codecs installed), MPlayer, or VLC media player.

The Adobe Flash Player is a multimedia and application player created and distributed by Adobe. It plays SWF files which can be created by the Adobe Flash Authoring tool, Adobe Flex or a number of other Adobe and third party tools. It has support for a programming language called ActionScript, which can be used to display Flash Video from an SWF file. Because the Flash Player runs as a browser plug-in, it is possible to embed Flash Video in web pages and view the video within a web browser.

Commonly FLV files contain video bit streams which are a variant of the H.263 video standard, under the name of Sorenson Spark. Flash Player 8 and newer revisions support the playback of On2 TrueMotion VP6 video bit streams. On2 VP6 can provide a higher visual quality than Sorenson Spark, especially when using lower bit rates. On the other hand it is computationally more complex and therefore will not run as well on certain older system configurations.

An optional alpha channel which represents per pixel transparency is supported by including a second simultaneous video stream which encodes the alpha channel only, dropping any chromatic information. The implementation makes the assumption that the YUV data of the main On2 VP6 video stream is always converted to RGB by the client before compositing occurs as the resulting RGB values are alpha premultiplied and clamped accordingly. This option is only available for On2 VP6 encoded video streams.

The FLV file format supports two versions of a so called 'screenshare' Codec which is an encoding format designed for screencasts. Both these formats are bitmap tile based, can be lossy by reducing color depths and are compressed using zlib. The second version is only playable in Flash Player 8 and newer.

Support for encoding FLV files is provided by an encoding tool included with Adobe's Macromedia Flash Professional 8 product, On2's Flix encoding tools, Sorenson Squeeze, FFmpeg and other third party tools.

Audio in FLV files is usually encoded as MP3. However, FLV files recorded from the user's microphone use the proprietary Nellymoser codec. There is currently no open source product available that can Decode the nellymoser codec. FLV files also support uncompressed audio or ADPCM format audio.

There are currently few players able to play the FLV format. Some available players include:
* GOM Player
* VLC media player
* MPlayer
* Perian

FLV files can be delivered in several different ways:
* As a standalone .FLV file. Although FLV files are normally delivered using a Flash player for control, the .FLV file itself is fully-functional on its own and can be played or converted to other formats from local storage such as a hard disk or a CD.

* Embedded in an SWF file using the Flash authoring tool (supported in Flash Player 6 and later). The entire file must be transferred before playback can begin. Changing the video requires rebuilding the SWF file.


* Progressive download via HTTP (supported in Flash Player 7 and later). This method uses Action Script to include an externally hosted FLV file client-side for playback. Progressive download has several advantages, including buffering, use of generic HTTP servers, and the ability to reuse a single SWF player for multiple FLV sources. Flash Player 8 includes support for random access within video files using the partial download functionality of HTTP, sometimes this is referred to as Streaming. However, unlike streaming using RTMP, HTTP "streaming" does not support real-time broadcasting. Streaming via HTTP requires a custom player and the injection of specific FLV metadata containing the exact starting position in bytes and timecode of each keyframe. Using this specific information, a custom FLV player can request any part of the FLV file starting at a specified keyframe. For example, Google Video supports progressive download and can seek to any part of the video before buffering is complete, whereas YouTube cannot.

* Streamed via RTMP to the Flash Player using the Flash Media Server (formerly called Flash Communication Server), VCS or the open source Red5 server. As of February 2007, there's only one general purpose stream recorder available for this protocol, re-encoding screencast software excluded."

Source: http://www.afterdawn.com

8 Hot Technologies for '08

Master these and move ahead in the new year.

1. Virtualization
2. Automation
3. Integration
4. Real-time collaboration
5. Web 2.0
6. Ideation
7. Consumer-oriented devices
8. Unified communications


Source: ComputerWorld
Full article: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9049299&pageNumber=1

Sharepoint Orphans Explained

A very good explanation of SharePoint Orphans.
http://blogs.technet.com/corybu/archive/2007/05/31/sharepoint-orphans-explained.aspx

to transmit around 50TBytes over a 90 day period to a single location

According to bandwidth.com:



33.6 K (Modem)

33,600 bps

4 centuries, 15 years, 22 days, 23 hrs, 9 mins

56 K (Modem)

56,000 bps

2 centuries, 49 years, 13 days, 18 hrs, 41 mins, 24 secs

64 K (DS-0)

64,000 bps

2 centuries, 17 years, 331 days, 10 hrs, 21 mins, 13 secs

128 K (ISDN)

128,000 bps

1 century, 8 years, 348 days, 5 hrs, 10 mins, 36 secs

256 K (DSL)

256,000 bps

54 years, 174 days, 2 hrs, 35 mins, 18 secs

640 K (DSL/Cable)

640,000 bps

21 years, 288 days, 15 hrs, 26 mins, 7 secs

768 K (DSL/Cable)

768,000 bps

18 years, 58 days, 51 mins, 46 secs

T1, DS-1


1.544 Mbps

9 years, 11 days, 20 hrs, 19 mins, 31 secs

T3, DS-3

44.736 Mbps

113 days, 18 hrs, 51 mins, 52 secs

OC-1

51.840 Mbps

98 days, 4 hrs, 38 mins, 6 secs

OC-3

155.520 Mbps

32 days, 17 hrs, 32 mins, 42 secs

OC-12

622.080 Mbps

8 days, 4 hrs, 23 mins, 10 secs

OC-48

2.488 Gbps

2 days, 1 hr, 6 mins, 10 secs

OC-192

10 Gbps

12 hrs, 13 mins

Did you know this about Facebook

According to the researcher, Facebook's Beacon tracked the activities of users even if they had logged off from Facebook and had declined the option of having their activities on other sites broadcast back to their friends.

Likely to be even more damaging was another disclosure Monday afternoon that Beacon's tracking did not stop with just those of Facebook users. Rather, it tracks activities from all users in its third-party partner sites, including IP address data of people who never signed up with Facebook or those who deactivate their accounts

Office Developer Conference 2008 vs. SharePoint Conference 2008

End User SharePoint SharePoint Site and Blog

http://www.endusersharepoint.com/
-- resourcesful even to IT Pros and experts

SQL 2005 Virtual Labs

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb499681.aspx

Here is a list of SQL 2005 Virtual labs. It is easy to use and setup.

Customizing MOSS 2007 My Sites within the enterprise

A good read for those with requirements to customize mySite in SharePoint 2007.

MS IT Usage and Storage Reporting Tool Released to Codeplex

Network Bandwidth Utilization for the various OpsMgr 2007 Roles

http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/archive/2007/10/22/network-bandwidth-utilization-for-the-various-opsmgr-2007-roles.aspx

A good read.

Microsoft Popfly goes to public Beta, and SharePoint users can join in on the fun, too!

Microsoft's online mashup tool, Popfly can be used within a SharePoint environment.

Microsoft Powers Up Web 2.0 With Innovative Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Partners

Announcing Community Kit for SharePoint: Windows Live Authentication!

Managing Enterprise Metadata with Content Types and Search

Announcing Community Kit for SharePoint: Virtual Earth Maps on SharePoint

Office SharePoint Server Deployment Plan sample

Ever wished you just had a sample project plan that you could then modify for your own use?

System Center Operations Manger 2007 Service Pack 1 release plan

The Operations Manager team is making good progress on readying the first Service Pack for the OpsMgr 2007 product. The high level themes of this service pack are:
· Address critical customer initiated issues including roll-up of all hotfixes
· Make the product easier to support
· Make the product easier to use
· Make the product easier to deploy

The first opportunity for our customers to utilize SP1 will be coming up in early November when the Release Candidate version of SP1 will be made available. This Release Candidate (RC) has undergone extensive testing for quality, stability and performance. We will be making this RC publically available and encourage customers to make use of it for all their environments, except for production environments where pre-release code is not appropriate.


The reasons the product team is making the RC of the Service Pack generally available are:
· To give customers evaluating OpsMgr 2007 advance access to the SP to aid in their evaluation and proof of concept deployments
· To give current OpsMgr 2007 customers that may have hotfixes in their environment an opportunity to test the Service Pack and provide feedback on it
· Ultimately to make sure that the final RTM release of the Service Pack is of the highest possible quality.

Release Candidate details:
· This will be publicly available release. In early November 2007, a link from our home page on www.microsoft.com/opsmgr will help customers find the SP once it is posted.
· This release will be supported. Support options include:
o Newsgroups – there will be a dedicated SP1 newsgroup
o Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) – you can use your standard support options to get support on this edition
o While CSS support is fully available, the product team is not pledging to provide Hotfixes on the RC, rather hotfix candidates would be incorporated into the final RTM version.
o Support for the RC will end 30 days after the RTM version is released.
· This release is fully upgradable to the final RTM version of the Service Pack.
Final RTM details:
· To provide for sufficient time to get feedback on the Release Candidate the final (RTM) release of the Service Pack 1 release is targeted for mid-February 2008.
· This version of the Service Pack will be able to be applied to upgrade the originally released RTM version of Operations Manager 2007 and it will also upgrade Operations Manager 2007 running the Release Candidate of SP1.
More details on what is fixed and enhanced in SP1 will accompany the Release Candidate version along with instructions on how to upgrade your deployment.yes we

TechNet System Center Operations Manager 2007 Tools and Utilities Page is liv

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/bb625978.aspx

UPDATED: Microsoft Ships PerformancePoint Server 2007

rhRead about Performance Point 2007. How it relates to Office Suite and BI strategy in Microsoft and Analysis Services and Reporting Servcies

http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?editorialsid=9055

Product Home Page
http://www.microsoft.com/business/performancepoint/

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Resource Kit tools released to the download center

The first set of resource kit tools for Operations Manager 2007 have been released to the download center. They will be soon referenced from the TechNet TechCenter for OpsMgr too (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/default.aspx)

Customizable Everyday Productivity Education (EPE) content developed by Microsoft IT for end user training

These simple, easy-to-use customizable job aids were created by Microsoft's internal IT group to help employees get started with learning more about using a technology or product effectively, selecting the right product or service, or reviewing best practices.

New Changes in SP1 Setup, Ops Manager 2007

Starting with OpsMgr 2007 SP1 build 6222 a new wizard is added at the end of RMS setup that will walk you through backing up your encryption keys. This procedure is important because in case of a disaster when customers rebuild their environment they will need the encryption keys to reattach their databases and access the run as accounts\profiles that have been encrypted with this key. In RTM, this was a command line tool and many customers did not recognize the importance of this step. Therefore, for SP1 we have made this a part of our setup.

at TechEd South East Asia 2007

My first session for today was about choosing the correct SQL 2005 Server Edition. There is a lot more to choosing the correct edition of SQL 2005 compared to database size, or no of CPUs supported or number of user connections.

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Update

Brief Description
The Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Management Pack update is an update to the previously released System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007. This update addresses few enhancements, updated content for rules and monitors and bug fixes.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=09f74984-7e9d-42ef-8b38-ad770b084363&displaylang=en

new Microsoft SilverLight research site.

http://www.tafiti.com/

OpsMgr 2007 Alerts on Your Mobile Device!

from the myITforum.com forums:

I find it amazing that after working with System Center Operations Manager 2007 for the past year, training all the other Microsoft partners on it, reading countless volumes of whitepapers and guides on OpsMgr, that in all that time I’ve not once seen or heard a single thing about the Mobile Console.

What? There’s a mobile console? Yup! You bet your arse there is.

Just fire up your web browser and connect to your standard OpsMgr Web Console. Now, add /mobile to the end of the URL. You’ll have mobilized alerts with associated knowledge and response actions. All within the palm of your hand! Supply this URL on your Windows Mobile device and go hit the local pub. If anything goes wrong, you’ll be alerted.

SQL Internals Viewer

SQL Internals Viewer is a free tool for looking at how the SQL Server Storage Engine structures, allocates, and organises data internally. It can be downloaded from www.sqlinternalsviewer.com.

Good read (and picture) of SQL 2005 Symmetric Encryption

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/mcoles/sql2005symmetricencryption.asp

Creating a Custom User Site Provisioning Solution with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

The white paper and code sample for Creating a Custom User Site Provisioning Solution with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is now live.

The products and technologies in this solution include SharePoint, BDC, InfoPath, Forms Server, SharePoint Designer, Workflow and VSTO.

Major Update to the MOSS and WSS Downloadable SDKs (8/22/2007)

The sharepoint team blog posted/announced a major update to the MOSS and WSS Software Development Kit (SDK) downloads.

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/08/22/just-published-major-update-to-the-moss-and-wss-downloadable-sdks-8-22-2007.aspx

Finally a tool to create an Application Definition for BDC in MOSS 2007.

Announcing the Microsoft Business Data Catalog Definition Editor for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

New Management Toolkit (Management Pack) for SharePoint 2007.

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/08/17/announcing-the-availability-of-the-sharepoint-manageability-toolkit-beta.aspx

Forefront Security for SharePoint SP1 Available Now

This is the posting at the SharePoint Team BLOG about the availability of SP1 (Service Pack 1) of Forefront Security for SharePoint, not to be confused with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 or Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP1 which will be released at a later date.

Finally a complete guide in white paper for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services - Installation and Configuration Guide for SharePoint Integration

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/08/02/microsoft-sql-server-reporting-services-installation-and-configuration-guide-for-sharepoint-integration-mode.aspx

Check out the white paper at http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/attachment/4194088.ashx

Implementing Enterprise Search with MOSS 2007 Search: Whte Paper

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itshowcase/content/deployingsearchtwp.mspx.

A custom web part available for anonymous comment in MOSS 2007 running Windows Integrated Security

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/08/06/anonymous-comment-feature-for-sharepoint-blog-now-available-on-codeplex.aspx

Professional Development Plans

This is a very good read on how to make time to professionally develop yourself and your career.

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/awarren/3134.asp

A MUST read.

Off line patching...WSUS Offline

http://www.vulnerabilityassessment.co.uk/ctupdate.htm

From a forum
"
This tool will allow you to run on a machine downloading every day, building an ISO.
This way you always have an up-to-date CD-image at hand when you need it.

The tool uses the same CAB-file as MBSA and you can manually add extra hotfixes.
"

i am on runasradio.com

Catch me in my interview (PODCAST style) hosted by Richard Campbell from Dotnet Rocks.

OpsMgr 2007 Management Packs released last night

The Microsoft Forefront Server Security for Exchange 10.0 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 has released to the Web and is available via http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=147d908c-9dc4-4f90-81b2-ee0764300be2&DisplayLang=en

This MP has a dependency upon the recent released backward compatibility MP update 6.0.5000.12 (or higher).

The Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 has released to the Web and is available via http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=95fece79-65b6-41ad-bc52-f34ad19a6eba&DisplayLang=en

This MP has a dependency upon the recent released backward compatibility MP update 6.0.5000.12 (or higher).

The Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 has released for OpsMgr2007 and is available via http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cdb22a60-f65c-4412-8d00-4b168193eee3&DisplayLang=en

This MP has a dependency upon the recently released backward compatibility MP version 6.0.5000.12, or higher.


The Windows NLB MP for OpsMgr07 has released and is available from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=78d8c93a-bae6-4c5d-90af-b0bf2ce12998&DisplayLang=en

This MP has a dependency upon the recently released backward compatibility MP version 6.0.5000.12, or higher.

The Microsoft Forefront Server Security for SharePoint 10.x Management Pack (version 6.0.5000.0) for Operations Manager 2007 has been released to the Web. This MP has a dependency upon the recent released backward compatibility MP update 6.0.5000.12 (or higher).

Download is available here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=47ffc540-1858-4d80-adee-e1cdb1a46090&DisplayLang=en

Boris' Toolbelt

Check out some of the work Boris has been doing.

http://blogs.msdn.com/boris_yanushpolsky/
http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/default.aspx

Microsoft Webcast on August 15th: Creating a Global Human Resources System Foundation with SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Webcast on August 15th: Creating a Global Human Resources System Foundation with SharePoint Server 2007

Here is the link to register:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032346073&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Contact Us: Hotfix Request Web Submission Form

Did you guys know about this?

https://support.microsoft.com/contactus2/emailcontact.aspx?scid=sw;en;1410&WS=hotfix

Tomorrow's TechNet Webcast:

System Center Operations Manager 2007: Install and MP Migration

http://www.myitforum.com/forums/calendar.asp?eventID=38&caldate=2007-08-01

All WebCasts for August (a couple more OpsMgr in the mix):

http://www.myitforum.com/forums/calendar.asp?calendarID=1&calDate=2007-08-01

Tons of New SharePoint Content Now Live on MSDN

From the official blog of the SharePoint Product Group

Interesting read: Enterprise Powershell: Creating Mailboxes in Exchange 2003

Summary:
This articles focus on the increasingly popular Powershell command line shell and scripting language that runs on existing and future Microsoft infrastructure environments. We'll presume you are familiar with Powershell and have it installed and tested on your systems. If not, we encourage you to read an introductory article that will get you up to speed quickly.

A post on Scaling to Extremely Large Lists and Performant Access Methods

Reskit Tools for Ops Mgr

In the next couple of week, TechCenter download site will be releasing Reskit tools in a series of reskit tool for OpsManager

1. AD Integration sample. This is a sample script that can be used to automate the process of periodically querying a customer CMDB SQL DB and populating/updating a security group that can be used to assign agents to Management Groups and Management Servers via AD Integration. This simplifies the AD integration configuration in MOM since it is just a simple LDAP query for each Management Server to include all members of the security group.

2. Data Warehouse grooming policy adjustment tool. This is a command line utility that can be used to adjust the data retention settings for individual datasets in the Data Warehouse (there’s currently no UI for this in the product).

3. Effective Configuration Viewer. This is a basic GUI tool that allows the user to select an ME and view rules and monitors being implemented after all overrides have been applied.

4. MOMClean. Command line tool to remove MOM components for servers and clients when they can’t be removed in the normal ways.

5. Ops Mgr Inventory tool. This is primarily intended for use by CSS to capture customer MOM configuration when diagnosing problems.

6. Sample Ops Mgr Vista Gadget.
7. AEM Validation tool. This is a command line tool that injects a specific fault into a process in order to test end-to-end functionality of AEM.

8. AEM Reporting MP. This MP will map known generic errors to specific applications for more meaningful AEM reporting.

9. PowerShell script to set action account on groups of agents.

Using Non-Standard Port for SQL Server

Make sure customers know about and read this document below.

Do What every it takes, but stress the importance of having ready the doc and implemented a backup of the root management servers encryption key.

Operations Manager 2007 Backup and Recover Guide.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/default.aspx

Root Management Server
The Root Management Server is the central point of configuration management and overall health monitoring of the entire managed environment. This is the first Management Server installed for a Management Group. The most important component of the Root Management Server that must be backed up is the Root Management Server encryption key, which holds all the Run As Account information defined in the Management Group.

Note: Without a backup of this key, you would need to re-enter your entire Run As Accounts if you need to rebuild the Root Management Server.

From: Marten

New InfoPath content on the web

My Speaker IDOL Video from TechEd USA 2007, Orlando is online

The video clips from the Speaker Idol finals to the http://www.virtualteched.com/ web site – you’ll find a link to your clip at the top of the left News & Happenings column (the videos are also posted on the Video Highlights page).

Scroll down look for me as one of the finalist.

Announcing System Center Remote Operations Manager 2007

System Center Remote Operations Manager 2007 is the final name for the managed service solution that uses Operations Manager 2007 to provide remote managed services to many SMB customers who each have a System Center Essentials 2007 server installed at their premises.

Must-have Windows utilities for 20 essential tasks

From file management to encryption to system maintenance tools, these handy applications will help you do your job and keep your PC humming happily

Remote Operations Manager Deployment Guide

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=33D66740-8F86-4AE5-9146-E8E180503384&displaylang=en

TechEd Video: IIS7 Hosting and Server Core

A new video has been posted up on the Virtual TechEd site called the IIS7 Customer Experience, featuring Mario Juarez, Eric Woersching, Jess Coburn and Carlos Caneja. WMV Video: IIS7 Customer Experience ...
http://blogs.iis.net/bills/archive/2007/06/15/teched-video-iis7-hosting-and-server-core.aspx

Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Microsoft SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2008, the next release of Microsoft SQL Server, provides a comprehensive data platform that is more secure, reliable, manageable and scalable for your mission critical applications, while enabling developers to create new applications that can store and consume any type of data on any device, and enabling all your users to make informed decisions with relevant insights.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/futureversion/default.mspx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/F/2/BF24C54E-5635-4C79-AFB4-0C3F840E79F4/SQLServer2008_Datasheet_Final.pdf

Using SQL Server Table-Valued User-defined Functions with Exchange Web Services
The SQL Server Tables and Exchange Web Services sample takes advantage of two powerful new features in SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange: table-valued user-defined functions, and Exchange Web Services. Table-valued user-defined functions in SQL Server return a table, much like a SQL Server view, but provide for much more powerful logic. Exchange Web Services in Exchange 2007 provides access to Exchange store items and information, such as message, contact, task, and calendar items and availability information. When you combine these technologies, you have a formidable new way to integrate, search, and analyze your Microsoft Exchange messaging data by using the full power of SQL Server, and to combine that messaging data with virtually any other data managed by, or available from, SQL Server.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/bb483139.aspx

I Know What You Did Last Logon: Monitoring Software, Spyware, and Privacy

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6951838
This white paper from the Microsoft Antimalware Team explores the technical methods used by both hardware- and software-based key loggers, how keystroke loggers are integrated with specific malware threats, the user experience associated with various key loggers installed, and the social and legal appropriateness of various use scenarios.

Password Checker

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6951842
Online accounts, computer files, personal information, and company information are more secure when you use strong passwords to help protect them. Offer this tool to your co-workers to help them gauge the strength of their passwords.

Understand the Server Core Option for Installing Windows Server 2008

The Server Core installation option of the Windows Server 2008 operating system is a new option for installing Windows Server 2008. A Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running specific server roles that reduces the maintenance and management requirements and the attack surface for those server roles. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7004421

Windows Server 2008: A Technical Overview

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6951833
Learn about the new features and functionality of Windows Server 2008. Windows Server 2008 provides powerful improvements to networking, advanced security features, remote application access, centralized server role management, performance and reliability monitoring tools, failover clustering, deployment, and the file system.

News

The Operations Manager 2007 Design Guide Is Now Available
Download this guide here...
Operations Manager 2007 Design Guide

Watch & Download Podcasts and Videos from Microsoft Management Summit 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=201533

Downloads
Try the new System Centre Operational Manager 2007 Virtual Labs
See how Operations Manager 2007 helps you ease operations and improve your planning capabilities.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/traincert/virtuallab/systemcenter.mspx
System Center Operations Manager 2007 Technical Walkthrough
Want to get a better understanding of how to architect, deploy, administer, and operate Operations Manager 2007? Walk through this online course designed to help you get ramped up on using Operations Manager 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/opsmgr/evaluation/techwalk/index.html

Planning a MOM 2005 Deployment? Read the Core Infrastructure Optimization Implementer Resource Guide
Find out how server monitoring and control practices using MOM 2005 fit in the all-up Infrastructure Optimization Model to help optimize your core infrastructure and service management.
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=87113&clcid=0x409


Events/WebCasts
Deploying System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (Level 200)
Monday, July 2, 2007 1:00 P.M.–2:30 P.M. Pacific Time
While Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is very similar to Microsoft Systems Management Server in many regards, there are a few new issues you need to take into consideration when planning for and deploying System Center Configuration Manager 2007 effectively. In this session, we cover the prerequisites, in addition to the new setup process, site systems, and client deployment methods that you need to know about to execute a successful deployment. Presenter: Wally Mead, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Register Here

TechNet Webcast: Deploying System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Clients (Level 300)
Friday, July 6, 2007 1:00 P.M.–2:30 P.M. Pacific Time
Successfully implementing Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager requires detailed planning, and it is important to understand that planning process. While System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is very similar to Microsoft Systems Management Server, there are a few new issues you need to take into consideration when planning for and deploying System Center Configuration Manager 2007 clients effectively. Once deployment of the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 site is complete, it is necessary to prepare the infrastructure for deploying and upgrading clients. In this session, we cover the various methods of deploying clients in System Center Configuration Manager 2007. We discuss the prerequisites, in addition to the new client deployment methods that you need to know about to execute a successful deployment. Presenter: Wally Mead, Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Register Here

TechNet Webcast: Monitoring with System Center Operations Manager 2007 (Level 200)
Monday, July 9, 2007 1:00 P.M.–2:30 P.M. Pacific Time
In this session, we discuss the new features and benefits of monitoring in Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007. We begin by reviewing how monitoring is done in Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, and then we look at some monitoring fundamentals in System Center Operations Manager 2007. We also explore the new diagnostic and recovery functionality included in System Center Operations Manager 2007. We conclude this session by describing how groups and overrides work in System Center Operations Manager 2007.Presenter: John Weston, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
Register Here

TechNet Webcast: Security and Enterprise Features of System Center Operations Manager 2007 (Level 200)
Monday, July 16, 2007 11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time
In this session, we provide an overview of the new features in Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and describe how they can help satisfy key security and enterprise scenarios. Join us as we explore the following topics in System Center Operations Manager 2007:
· Core infrastructure optimization (IO).
· Upfront, built-in security design.
· Your security monitoring tool.
· Advances in enterprise capabilities.
Presenter: John Baker, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
Register Here

TechNet Webcast: System Center Operations Manager 2007 Technical Overview (Level 200)
Monday, July 23, 2007 11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time
In this webcast, we look at the next version of the Microsoft management product, Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007. There are a number of the enhancements from Microsoft Operations Manager 2005; we cover many of these, including a basic description of the installation process. We follow that up with a look at some of the new monitoring features. We also describe the new security and enterprise features, before exploring the new client monitoring and reporting functionalities. This session is designed to provide a high-level overview of each of the new functional areas and the enhanced feature set in System Center Operations Manager 2007. Our intent is not to dive into great depth for any one feature area, but rather to introduce each feature and refer you to a more in-depth presentation on each area.Presenter: John Baker, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
Register Here

Solution Accelerators

Did you know Microsoft had a website dedicated to Solution Accelerators?

Solution Accelerators provide:
Prescriptive guidance and automation for cross-product integration
Proven tools and content so you can plan, build, deploy, and operate with confidence

Interoperability TechCenter for MOSS 2007 goes live!

Have you ever wondered how to connect MOSS 2007 to ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle Financials, or Siebel? Do you want to know how to setup Search to crawl Lotus Notes data sources? Wondering what WSRP and iViews are? Well, wonder no more! Check out the new SharePoint Interoperability website on Technet at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/interopmigration/bb544954.aspx.

Two extremely useful (and free!) SharePoint addons have updated commercial offerings

http://www.telerik.com/products/sharepoint/overview.aspx.
http://www.colligo.com/products/sharepoint/contributor_home.asp.

I am presenting at TechEd South East Asia 2007 in Kuala Lumpur

Here are my breakout session. I think this is my 3rd or 4th year presenting at TechEd SEA.


Session : Choosing the Right Edition of Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Track : EDM
Synopsis : SQL Server 2005 is available in a number of editions to best match the demands of business applications. But, one of the common mistakes is choosing the wrong edition of SQL Server to support your business. In this session, you can learn about the differences between various editions of SQL Server along with a detailed description of the exclusive features in each edition. This session provides practical usage scenarios and benefits of each edition along with demos. Learn how to choose the right edition of SQL Server to support you data requirements; whether it is a small personal database, a large enterprise application, a scalable solution or a mobile application.


Session : Why Upgrade to SQL Server 2005
Track : EDM
Synopsis : Do you know what benefits you can deliver to your organization just by upgrading to the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database engine? Attend this session to find out. Even if you do not use any of the new features in SQL Server 2005, such as database mirroring and table partitioning, or writing stored procedures in Microsoft .NET languages, you can still reap great benefits. This session introduces the many new features in SQL Server 2005 that you can utilize, without rewriting your applications or undertaking any new development efforts. We provide many examples where you can improve your system's performance, concurrency, and availability simply by upgrading.


Session : ISA 2006 – Publishing Exchange 2007 and SharePoint 2007 using ISA 2006 new Features.
Track : OFC
Synopsis : Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 is the security gateway that helps protect your mission-critical applications from Internet-based threats. ISA Server enables your business to do more, with secure access to Microsoft applications and data. Secure your Microsoft application infrastructure by protecting your corporate applications, services, and data across all network layers with stateful packet inspection, application-layer filtering, and comprehensive publishing tools.

http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/techedsea2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 VHD (i.e. Virtual Machine) now available for download!

The virtual machine includes a copy of the MOSS 2007 Product Evaluation Guide (right on the Windows Desktop) and is configured so that the functional walkthrough at the end of the Eval Guide works hand-in-hand with it. That's just brilliant!

Community Kit for SharePoint 2.0 Pre-Release announcement

This CKS 2.0 Pre-Release contains the following:
Enhanced Blog Edition Beta 1
Enhanced Wiki Edition Alpha
ChatterBox AJAX Beta
Tag Cloud

Prescan.exe Download and Information.

Overview
Before you can upgrade to Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, you must run the Prescan.exe utility against your existing Web sites. This pre-upgrade scan tool scans your sites and reports issues, allowing you to fix any errors before you perform an upgrade. If you have not successfully run this tool and you attempt to upgrade your environment, when you attempt to run the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration wizard, the wizard will exit and prompt you to run the tool. We highly recommend that the server administrator run the pre-upgrade scan tool before the upgrade and resolve any problems that can be resolved before scheduling the upgrade.

Latest updates in documentation:

· Operations Manager 2007 Design Guide is now available at http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/4/d/74deff5e-449f-4a6b-91dd-ffbc117869a2/OpsMgr2007_DesignGuid.doc

· MP guides now include: SharePoint Portal Server, Information Worker, and SharePoint Services. Authoring guidance is also included. See the “Management Pack Guides” section below. For the latest list of 2007 MPs and guidance go to http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/mom/catalog/catalog.aspx?vs=2007

Bill Gate's speech at Harvard

I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries.

It took me decades to find out.

Hands On Labs from MMS 2007 are live on TechNet

System Center Operations Manager 2007: Advanced Topics Virtual Lab
TechNet
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6949282

System Center Operations Manager 2007: Introduction Virtual Lab
TechNet
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6949283

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Technical Walkthrough

Want to get a better understanding of how to architect, deploy, administer, and operate Operations Manager 2007? Walk through this online course designed to help you get ramped on using Operations Manager 2007.

All about Ops Manager and MOM

MOM 2005
The Windows Server Base Operating System MP 05.0.3500.0010 finally re-released and is available via the download site! http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e553062f-bd85-4772-8037-8b91f457b710&DisplayLang=en

Operations Manager 2007
First hotfixes released to resolve the following issues have been released
1) Reporting setup fails in a disjointed namespace has been released, and the KB article is still awaiting publication. KB article reference is 936481.
2) Memory leak in the backwards compatibility script module which affects converted MP’s. KB article is still awaiting publication. KB article reference is 935896. (Hotfix also applies to Essentials)

Need to know
If a customer upgrades from Operations Manager 2007 RC2 to EVAL RTM, and then attempts to run the Licensing wizard to upgrade to the volume license, the upgrade will fail with the error “The Licensing Wziard was unable to successfully apply the license. Please check the log for more details”.
A private hotfix is available and should only supplied to customers who did install RC2->EVAL RTM. An internal KB article will be available shortly detailing the location of an updated Licensing Wizard which will correct the problem. If you should have a customer experience the problem in the mean time, please contact me.

The following MP’s have now released:
Microsoft Print Service Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=35d1fece-867b-4a0c-8642-57e84e327018&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Windows File Replication Service 2000/2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6f5f8e56-6a35-4909-bb8f-968ee95a8f17&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Windows Group Policy 2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=52459150-85bd-4acb-90be-2ee5df18e1a8&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003 DHCP Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2694e87c-76e0-417b-ad0f-5897e46fff88&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e7bfee42-2d3c-4810-97f8-4d89d7428a5f&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6803aa1d-0578-4d7d-bc2f-9600f0440d92&DisplayLang=en
All rely upon the following backward compatibility MP update to be applied first:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=655cdd06-861e-4342-99b2-8a81e09f6546&DisplayLang=en


Essentials 2007
Hotfix for Essentials install failure when installing Reporting feature where the DNS suffix is differs from the domain FQDN. KB article reference http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=937831
Note: A secondary problem has been found with customers experiencing the same issue attempting to install Essentials using a remote database server. A QFE request is currently active (MOM Escalation 3164)

The following documentation for Essentials has now been released to the Web
Operations Guide http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=dbf51282-1784-4b9f-abd1-e2b5cb12f1a8&DisplayLang=en
Migration Guide http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9a7d0a52-4380-46a8-ba80-729ae2cc8cba&DisplayLang=en

Some cool virtual labs for ITPros

Windows Server 2008 Virtual Labs
Come experience the next major release of Windows Server. Test-drive new and improved features and functionality in the Windows Server 2008 release, including management, network protection, and improvements to Terminal Services. New labs will continue to be added and updated to the series so check back frequently.

Office Communications Server 2007 Public Beta Virtual Labs
Experience Office Communications Server 2007 through this series of Virtual Labs. Take a hands-on walk through topics such as installing, deploying, configuring, and enabling users in Office Communications Server 2007.

System Center Virtual Labs
Take part in these Virtual Labs and experience how the Microsoft System Center family of leading IT management solutions helps you proactively plan, deploy, manage, and optimize your IT environment.

Windows Live Writer Beta 2 - (an off line blogging tool) - (with SharePoint 2007 support!) now available

The Windows Live Writer team just announced the availability of Beta 2 of their excellent offline blog writing tool, which now has support for the blog functionality in WSS 3.0 and consequently MOSS 2007. I’ve been using a pre-Beta 2 build of the tool to write and post blog entries here (a Community Server based blog) as well as my own blog (a MOSS based blog) for a few weeks now, and it has worked very well.

HTTP security filter - Exchange Publishing

Steven Hope, formerly with Microsoft Consulting Services, put together a fantastic document on how to configure the HTTP security filter for a number of Exchange Publishing Scenarios. You can find that document at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/isa/2004/plan/firewall-exchange2003.mspx

I was made to think ISA Server must never be a domain member for security reason.

Until i had to configure a complex ISA 2006 with SharePoint and Exchange publishing.
Read Debunking the Myth that the ISA Firewall Should Not be a Domain Member and you will change you mind too.

A quick guide to locking down the SMTP Virtual Server in Exchange 2003

Stop Spam From the Inside by Locking Down SMTP

I was having this issue in one of the exchange servers i was working. Saw this huge amount of outgoing message queues.

Verified that the content was was only of bad emails outgoing, i then decided to wipe out all the pending email files (.eml) in "C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Mailroot\vsi 1\Queue". You need to stop the SMTP Virtual Server before you do this.

/Gill

SEA 2007 is coming in Sept

Tech•Ed SEA 2007, Microsoft’s premier & largest annual conference in the South East Asia region, focuses on newly released products such as of Microsoft Office along with content about upcoming releases such as Windows Server code name "Longhorn". For four days in September, you can get technical training, information and resources to help you build, deploy, secure, mobilize, and manage solutions.

Tech•Ed SEA 2007 features:

• More than 120 breakout sessions
This year’s event will feature even more speakers from Microsoft Corporation allowing you to hear about your favorite technologies from the sources who develop them. Create a personal learning program from 6 technical tracks with more than 120 breakout sessions.
•
• Hands-on experiences
Tech•Ed offers opportunities to evaluate products both from Microsoft and from 250 of our most important industry partners. Additionally, based on attendee feedback from last year, we will be more than doubling the number of Instructor Led Lab sessions as well as introducing a whole host of new self-paced Hands On Lab content.
•
• Networking with your peers
Walking around Tech•Ed are more than 2,000 minds just like yours. 2,000 IT pros and developers to meet. 2,000 opinions to consider. Add to the mix Microsoft product team members and industry gurus and you will immediately see why a Tech•Ed crowd is like no other.
•
Tech•Ed is a one-of-a-kind experience!

Good SharePoint Upgrade Articles and Posts

HP Whitepaper on SharePoint Server Performance

This is a good read for performance tuning a SharePoint. It written by HP using HP hardware, but it gives you a very good idea of how to capacity and performance tune your MOSS 2007 architecture.

A good guide to improving performance of MOSS 2007 via caching.

How can I make my web site faster with caching ?
http://blogs.msdn.com/ecm/archive/2006/11/08/how-to-make-your-moss-2007-web-site-faster-with-caching.aspx

Role-Based Templates for SharePoint My Sites

What are Role-Based Templates for SharePoint My Sites?

Every job role is unique and demanding. As people work to drive business outcomes, they have to balance the complexities of interacting with multiple systems, tracking goals, and relating to surrounding processes. IT organizations have been seeking role-based solutions that can provide information workers with common interfaces to access priority information.
Role-Based Templates for SharePoint My Sites are custom templates, designed for Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the My Site functionality, and tailored to

Deploying Windows Rights Management Services with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Step-by-Step Guide

Brief Description
Deploying Windows Rights Management Services with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Step-By-Step Guide provides instructions for deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 in a Microsoft Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) with Service Pack 2 environment.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7bab2321-71e6-4cf2-8bcd-0880e0d1cda3&DisplayLang=en

How to run host podcasting on SharePoint 2007

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/05/14/people-ready-podcasting-at-the-asia-pacific-sharepoint-conference.aspx

From the SharePoint Team Blog: Top 17 case studies for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and several new MOSS-based web sites

Really good reference for MOSS 2007 implementations.
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/05/03/top-17-case-studies-for-microsoft-office-sharepoint-server-2007-and-several-new-moss-based-web-sites.aspx

New Exchange 2007 whitepapers

Going 64-bit with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Admin/Management Overview

Confidentiality/Secure Messaging

How to lockdown an Internet facing MOSS-based web site

Great information from the SharePoint team blog.
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/05/10/how-to-lockdown-an-internet-facing-moss-based-web-site.aspx

RTW of the SMS2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007

Here is the RTW of the SMS2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BDCA74EE-D493-4F68-BDDD-AC7EE38D8745&displaylang=en


The Public RTW of the English SMS 2003 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007.

SharePoint Governance and Manageability

What is SharePoint Governance and Manageability?
This workspace is designed for governance and manageability samples and tools designed to help IT Professionals.

Lookout for the following tools:

Microsoft IT Site Delete Capture 1.0
Site Life Cycle Management
Sample Auditing Configuration Solution Deployment Package

More Governance Content:
SharePoint Governance posts on Joel's Blog
Manageability and Governance Post
Key Governance Considerations
Information Policies and Auditing Post
Information Architecture Post
Logical Architecture Samples

Rememeber the orginal document Fair, Good, Better, Best about OFFICE and SharePoint integration

Well, Lawrence Lui has a updated version one now:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E0D05A69-F67B-4D37-961E-2DB3C4065CB9&displaylang=en

Infrastructor Optimization Links

Thanks to Johnwe's SharePoint WebLog

IDC Core Infrastructure Optimization White Papers
The relationship between IT labor costs and best practices for managing the Windows desktop
The relationship between IT labor costs and best practices for identity and access management with Active Directory

Windows Server Best Practices (TBD)
The relationship between IT labor costs and best practices for Systems Management Server

Messaging and Collaboration Best Practices (TBD)
Developing an IO Strategy (TBD)
Analysis of the business value of Windows Vista

Microsoft White Papers
Infrastructure Optimization: Driving Down the Costs of the Business Desktop

LAUNCH EVENT: "YOU'RE IN CONTROL"

It is here, the launch event event to see how you can use Microsoft System Center and Microsoft Forefront to manage and secure your IT infrastructure and turn it into a strategic asset that enables agility within your organization.

I will be presenting the session on System Center at 2:30pm - 3:15pm.

Below is the event details and the url to the event site: http://www.microsoft.com/singapore/technet/takecontrol/default.mspx

EVENT DETAILS
9 May 2007, 8am - 5:30pm

OMB Auditorium,
Level 7,
One Marina Boulevard,
Singapore 018989

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Latest insights from technology experts
• Valuable resources and software trial versions to evaluate yourself
• PLUS, A SNEAK PREVIEW OF WINDOWS LONGHORN SERVER IN ACTION!

ALL THIS AND MORE!
• Stand to win an Xbox 360 in our lucky draw!
• Free evaluation CD of Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager 2007
• Free CD of Windows "Longhorn" Server Beta 3
• And an exclusive TechNet mystery gift for all!

Screencast for MOSS 2007: A fantastic way to learn about MOSS 2007.

Here are some examples..

Building ASP.NET Web Parts for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Create an ASP.NET Web Part project from scratch and get it up and running within a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site.

Creating a Custom Page Layout with SharePoint Server 2007
Create a custom page layout using the Web Content Management features of SharePoint Server 2007.

Creating and Testing Features with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Use Visual Studio to create a custom feature and an associated assembly DLL.

Creating and Using Content Types in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Create user-defined content types using inheritance, and then configure a document library to use these content types.

Creating and Using Event Handlers in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Create a list item receiver class to handle both synchronous events as well as asynchronous events.

Creating and Using Site Columns in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Create and reuse site columns across the sites within a site collection.

Creating Custom Document Information Panels
Discover the integration that exists between Document Information Panels and content types in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

Creating Custom Task Panes in Visual Studio Tools for Office "v3" June CTP
Create an add-in for Excel 2007 and then customize the application-level custom task pane.

Creating Custom Workflows with the SharePoint Designer 2007
Build a custom workflow using the SharePoint Designer wizard.

Creating Windows SharePoint Services Sites with Support for Wikis and Blogs
Leverage the new built-in features for creating sites with blogs and wikis.

Customizing a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site with the SharePoint Designer 2007
Understand the difference between page templates and page instances, and then learn how to customize your pages.

Customizing the Ribbon with Visual Studio Tools for Office "v3" June CTP
Create an add-in for PowerPoint 2007 to customize and modify the ribbon.

Extending the Office 2007 UI with a Custom Ribbon
Create a shared add-in with Visual Studio 2005 that extends the new user interface with a custom ribbon.

Extending the Office 2007 UI with a Custom Task Pane
Create a shared add-in with Visual Studio 2005 that extends the new user interface with a custom task pane.

Generating Office Documents using the New Open XML File Formats
Generate, read, and modify documents without going through the object model of the hosting Office application.

Getting Up and Running with Excel Services
Configure Excel Services so that you can publish an Excel spreadsheet to a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site.

Mapping between MCMS 2002 and MOSS 2007, especially for developers

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa830819.aspx#cmso12formcms2002_channelsvssites

Community Kit for SharePoint (CKS) 2.0

Check out this initiative based on the SharePoint platform. Read more

Steve Pietrek’s SharePoint Weblog

Steve has abundance of links to SharePoint resources.

Update on availability of non-English SKUs and Language Packs for MOSS 2007

STSADM operations published

One of the commands you would need during migration from SPS 2003 /WSS 2.0 to MOSS 2007/ WSS 3.0. Also when moving to a new db source in the same version. Especially during the content db migration.
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/04/13/stsadm-operations-published.aspx

Useful and (free!) SharePoint "Features" available at CodePlex.com

DoD 5015.2 certification for MOSS 2007

Microsoft is working on a Records Center Add-on Pack for Office SharePoint Server which will provide the additional functionality to meet the DoD 5015.2 criteria. The add-on pack will be freely available to all customers with Office SharePoint Server 2007, so anyone can take advantage of the new features.
Microsoft is slotted to take the DoD 5015.2 certification test on May 14, 2007 and we plan to release the add-on pack shortly after the certification process is complete.

Windows 2003 SP2 is here.

2003 SP2 Main Page:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2.mspx

How to Build a SharePoint Development Machine

Just awesome.

http://weblogs.asp.net/erobillard/archive/2007/02/23/build-a-sharepoint-development-machine.aspx

All sorts of download about SharePoint 2007, Designer, InfoPath, WSS

2007 Office System Video: Windows SharePoint Services Platform. Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions that give you the comprehensive baseline needed
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d621566fd-a3d8-4628-a2cb-538cc173509f%26DisplayLang%3den

2007 Office System Video: Enterprise Content Management. Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions about the new, extensible content management
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=2&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d562b9b75-55b7-4f5d-afe4-1f78c8b7fc6d%26DisplayLang%3den

2007 Office System Video: Portals. Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions about customizing search capabilities, building custom portal interfaces, providing personalized views, and aggregating connections to line-of-business data.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=3&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d5ec4193a-8061-4fd8-8ca4-574540049fe9%26DisplayLang%3den

Improved Business Analytics Solution Enables Faster Decision MakingMicrosoft deployed an internal application called Rhythm of the Business (ROB) to help some 3,400 of its financial analysts and top executives around the world support the company’s global sales and marketing strategies with up-to-date reports on progress against key business metrics.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=4&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9b7c110f-284b-4c34-97eb-450482588b4d&DisplayLang=en

Streamlining Records Management Using SharePoint Server 2007 WorkflowLearn how the
LCA Corporate Records Management team at Microsoft used Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office InfoPath 2007 to create an efficient inventory tracking solution.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=5&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3de120ae9b-750b-4f1d-ab98-9c10c48cc52e%26DisplayLang%3den

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Templates: Solution Accelerator Upgraded Version 2.0. The solution accelerator for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 provides guidance and tools to enable IT Professionals to successfully upgrade their Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 custom sites and templates.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=6&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d35ebf87f-bf98-4e6f-9987-e861533e3a8d%26DisplayLang%3den

Upgrade Toolkit for Windows SharePoint Services Sites and Templates. Guidance and tools to enable IT Pros to upgrade custom Windows® SharePoint® Services 2.0 sites and templates to function in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 environments.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=20&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3da70bd8f8-a0f0-4d00-9010-8e40b7c98f68%26DisplayLang%3den

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Template: GroupBoard Workspace 2007. The GroupBoard Workspace template for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 creates a space for a group or team to connect and share information in a collaborative environment, improving team efficiency and productivity.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=21&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d4030d847-31bc-43ea-90ec-111b546d5411%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Trial Version for Developers. This is the x86 release version of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Trial for Standard and Enterprise editions.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=22&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d3e9af02d-174c-44b5-93fa-2b6db14efe6e%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Office Audio File: Interview with Tom Rizzo about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. These audio files contain an interview with Director of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Tom Rizzo about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=25&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d3c84231f-722d-48d4-a071-df19a72bbbf4%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Office Audio File: Interview with Jerome Thiebaud about Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007. These audio files contain an interview with Senior Product Manager Jerome Thiebaud about Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=26&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d21b49283-e20c-4ba4-8c48-0ecbc6709c09%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Office Audio File: Interview with Manish Sharma about records management.These audio files contain an interview with Senior Product Manager Manish Sharma about records management using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=27&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d1de5949a-53fc-4081-ba1d-99c7c0913b8d%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint 10.0 MOM 2005 MP.The Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint Management Pack monitors SharePoint Servers for virus and worm activity.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=28&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d749bcfbe-acdd-40f9-a173-c60c94cb385a%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Forefront Security For SharePointHelp protect your Microsoft SharePoint server from viruses and other malware.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=29&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3de06453b8-b2dd-4177-969c-2f89aa841e11%26DisplayLang%3den

SharePoint Server 2007 Management VideoSharePoint Server 2007 Management Video
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=30&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d575a2ed7-45e7-43d2-8b8b-754b8980bead%26DisplayLang%3den

SharePoint Server 2007 Post-Installation Configuration VideoSharePoint Server 2007 Post-Installation Configuration Video
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=31&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3dbeaf2aa6-58af-4c9d-8713-84ea4bbc36b7%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Forefront Security For SharePoint Readme. Help protect your Microsoft SharePoint server from viruses and other malware.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=32&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d7ca0c2b7-3596-4622-bdcb-2b6defb0dcd9%26DisplayLang%3den

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager 2005. The Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Management Pack monitors the health and state of Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=33&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3ddb1cadf7-1a12-40f5-8eb5-820c343e48ca%26DisplayLang%3den

InfoPath 2007 Tool: 64-bit Server Upgrade and Migration Tool for Microsoft Office InfoPathThis tool allows a 64-bit Microsoft SharePoint farm administrator to change hard-coded URLs in InfoPath form templates, Universal Data Connection (UDC) files, and content types for specific scenarios.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=34&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d8684ebe4-4363-455c-b48c-00c12985fc52%26DisplayLang%3den

InfoPath 2007 Tool: Server Upgrade and Migration Tool for Microsoft Office InfoPath.This tool allows a SharePoint farm administrator to change hard-coded URLs in InfoPath form templates, Universal Data Connection (UDC) files, and content types for specific scenarios.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=35&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3db8683a1c-cf4b-4d81-9234-38542f8d5039%26DisplayLang%3den

Thanks to Alpesh Nakars' Blogosphere for the information

Fantastic 40

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sharepoint/wssapps/templates/default.mspx

Note:
Site admin templates are custom templates that are easy for any SharePoint site administrator to install into the template gallery without requiring server administration access.

Server admin templates were created as site definitions, enabling tighter integration and enhanced functionality within the Windows SharePoint Services platform. They require a server administrator to install.

How to: Create a customer Windows Workflow Activity and make it available in SharePoint Designer

Really good article.
http://www.sharepointblogs.com/tbaginski/archive/2007/03/08/HOW-TO_3A00_-Create-a-custom-Windows-Workflow-Activity-and-make-it-available-in-SharePoint-Designer.aspx

Using Mobile access on SharePoint 2007

Out-Of-The-Box SharePoint 2007 support mobile access on all pages of SharePoint sites. A normal SharePoint access URL would be:http://mosspractice/default.aspx. To use mobile access, type a "m" at the end of the URL as: http://mosspractice/m/.

Here is a screen shot of normal and mobile access.

Installing The PDF Ifilter In SharePoint and Registering the PDF Icon

Most common question asked about putting pdf on SharePoint 2007.
Here Michael Gannotti's blog post on the topic.

Researcher charts new, more dangerous Oracle attack

The flaw could increase the dangers for unpatched systems.

SCE/OM live videos

These aren’t on the TechNet pages yet, but they will be in a few days. Couple on SCE as well.


(OM)
http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0701/28666/Device_Management.asx

(OM)
http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0701/28666/My_Workspace.asx
http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0701/28666/The_Monitoring_Space.asx

(SCE)
http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0701/28666/Using_Updates_Space.asx
http://www.microsoft.com/winme/0701/28666/Importing_3rd_Party_Updates.asx

/Gill

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2: Extending the Functionality of Your SQL Server 2005 System

Download SQL Server 2005 SP2

Download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP2

Download the Updated SQL Server 2005 Books Online
--> Well books online.

Download SQL Server 2005 Feature Pack (February 2007)
--> The Feature Pack is a collection of standalone install packages that provide additional value for SQL Server 2005. It includes: latest versions of redistributable components for SQL Server 2005, latest versions of add-on providers for SQL Server 2005, latest versions of backward compatibility components for SQL Server 2005

Download Updated Samples and Sample Databases
--> 100 over new samples for all SQL 2005 services (Database Engine, including administration, data access, Full-Text Search, Common Language Runtime (CLR) integration, Server Management Objects (SMO), Service Broker, XML, Analysis Services, Integration Services, Notification Services, Reporting Services, Replication

Download SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies ---> this download allows you to run complete reporting functions within a SharePoint site. No need for report center site that is provided by SRS 2005 installation.
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/02/19/microsoft-sql-server-2005-sp2-reporting-services-integration-with-wss-3-0-and-moss-2007.aspx


Download SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007
--> Provides Excel and Visio add-in for Data Mining and Table Analysis

Two SharePoint must haves announced on the SharePoint Team Blog

The first is a cross browser compatible replacement for the rich text editor in MOSS 2007 that was mentioned on the SharePoint Team blog about 6 weeks ago.

The second is an offline reader for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 sites, which is highly recommend for staying up to date with frequently updated sites such as the SharePoint Community Portal.

They are both available for free!

SQL Server on VM

In case you are wondering about running production SQL Servers on a VM (VMWare or Microsoft's Virtual Server), here is a good blog post.
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rick_heiges/archive/2007/02/16/sql-server-on-vm.aspx

With all the DST issues with Calendering..

Here is a good read about DTS basis.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2068994,00.html

Enterprise Search and Integrating SharePoint Server Search and Windows Desktop Search

Some interesting read at the SharePoint Team Blog and other SharePoint Blogs on SharePoint Search, Desktop Search and Internet Search.

Tips to Enable SharePoint Intranet Search using Windows Desktop Search 3.0 RTW
http://blogs.msdn.com/joelo/archive/2006/12/08/tips-to-enable-sharepoint-intranet-search-using-windows-desktop-search-3-0-rtw.aspx

Microsoft Enterprise Search 101: Technology and SKU breakdown
http://blogs.msdn.com/arpans/archive/2006/07/29/682715.aspx

Difference Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search, Standard vs. Enterprise, and between the MOSS 2007 Standard and Enterprise editions (search focused)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointsearch/FX102063541033.aspx