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New Remote Desktop client released by Microsoft
Microsoft has released a new version of the Remote Desktop Client that is compatible with some of the new features of Vista. It is available for Windows XP, and 2003.
Some of the new features:
· Network Level Authentication
· Server Authentication
· Plug and Play redirection
· TS Gateway support
· Monitor Spanning
· 32-bit color and font smoothing
To install the new version you can go to windows update, or visit one of these locations that are appropriate for your version of Windows:
Windows XP
Windows XP x64
Windows 2003
Windows 2003 x64
I would suggest updating. It could be just me, but it seems to be a little bit snappier than the older version. Plus it supports the new spanning multi monitor feature that I wrote about earlier.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 29, 2006
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Epson Ink cartridges to get more expensive - soon
Printer cartridges have become a huge profit source for many companies. This is why they try so hard to keep you from buying third party ink. Printer manufacturer's have resorted to changing the container shape each time they release a new printer - to stay one step ahead of the price cutting ink vendors.
They have even have gone as far to create a special 'self destruct' chip that will kill your ink cartridge when it gets empty. This is important because the third party market needs these old carts to refill and sell back at a reduced cost.
Many of the vendors have avoided any legal means of stopping the third party market. They just see it as a cost of doing business. Epson, however, sees things differently.
Last February they filed a complaint with the U.S. International trade commission against 24 companies that manufacture, import, or distribute after-market ink cartridges for sale in the U.S. At the same time they filed suit in the Portland US District court against those same 24 companies.
Most of them have settled, or simply stopped selling, and distributing the cartridges to avoid any further litigation.
All this legal action is important. If they can keep the other ink vendors out of the market, they can sell you a printer way below cost - and then take you to the bank when you need to get ink for it.
Next time you see that really cheap Epson printer at your local computer store think twice before buying it. They want to artificially keep the price of ink as high as possible. You will never see that cost until you start using the printer.
If you only print black and white, and are looking for a low cost solution..Find an old HP Laserjet 4 on eBay. They are built like a tank, and toner cartridges only cost about $40 (US) and last about 10 times longer than any inkjet cartridge.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 29, 2006
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Google closes "Google Answers"
Google has closed their "Google Answers" program. It allowed people to submit questions for a fee, and qualified experts could answer them. The service was created to rival a similar site created by Yahoo, and was one of the first non search projects for Google.
Google says that they will stop accepting questions later this week, but they will keep the current set of questions and answers archived online.
It was an idea started by Larry Page, a Google founder. Users could submit the question with a price tag that ranged from $2 to $200. Then a group of 500 experts hand picked by Google could browse through the questions and answer them. If the answer was accepted they would receive a portion of the payment.
Too bad this idea did not work out for Google. I have found answers to tough computer and programming problems more than a few times in the archived answers area.
Looks like the pressure from free services at Yahoo, and now Microsoft with their MS Live Q & A were too much for this to be a success.
The only official explanation from Google was in this published statement: "Google is a company fueled by innovation, which to us means trying lots of new things all the time--and sometimes it means reconsidering our goals for a product"
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 29, 2006
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Longhorn Server - Last version of 32 bit windows
At the TechEd IT Forum in spain the Microsoft Senior Vice President Bob Muglia revealed to ZDNET that the next version of Windows Server (LongHorn 2007) will be the last 32 bit server operating system released by windows
He said, "We will ship 'Longhorn' in the second half of next year, and we will ship a 32-bit and a 64-bit version. That will be the last time we ship a 32-bit version. From that point, the next release, which will be roughly two years later, that product will only be available as 64-bit."
It looks like Microsoft is pretty confident that the 64 bit version of windows will take hold. I wonder if the next client version of windows will be 32 bit?
I think they are being really optimistic here. Yes, the 64 bit version of windows can run 32 bit programs in compatibility mode - but many of them do not work properly. I can't imagine the number of mission critical apps that will take years to move to the 64 bit space...even on the server side.
It will be interesting to see if they stick to this statement over the next two years.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, November 28, 2006
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Optimus Keyboard will not have color displays
Not sure if you have been following the saga of this amazing looking keyboard:
A Russian design company (Art. Lebedev Studio) developed this concept. The keys in the keyboard are individual OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) that can be programmed to display any type of graphic or text. They had numerous concept pictures on their website earlier in the year, and got a ton of attention from the Internet community in general. Here are a few of them:
Unfortunately the concept has now been watered down. They have just announced that the first version will use black and white LCDs, and not all of the keys will have individual displays. Common keys like the space bar, return, both shifts, numeric keypad, the arrow keys and some other keys of secondary importance will all have only LED backlights. Also they have cut out the programmable keys that were shown in earlier concept pictures. I have boxed out the keys that will not make it in the initial release:  The price range was in the $300 ~ $400 (US) range. The color is what really made this keyboard stand out - but I don't think they have a choice. I have calculated out the bulk price of color OLED displays and it would put their cost around the $1500 (US) range. Hopefully the prices will come down and they will be able to put out a color version in a year or two. You can see more information about it at their website
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Monday, November 27, 2006
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Dell creates PC for Vista
Microsoft and Dell partnered up to create a custom PC in celebration for Microsoft releasing Vista. I picked up these pictures from the Vista Team website over at MS
Here are the specs for the system:
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Processor
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX
- 4GB RAM Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM @ 667mhz
- 1Terabyte RAID0 SATA HDDs (2x500MB)
- 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW Double Layer Burner
- Dual TV Tuners (Analog)
- Dell 30" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor
- Full 5.1 Surround Sound
A few of them were raffled off to MS employees at the ship party. The money raised will go to the United Way charity.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 22, 2006
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Keyboard shortcuts for XP Windows Media Center
It is getting close to Thanksgiving here in the USA, so things have gotten quiet at IntelliAdmin. This is a perfect time to catch up on fun things at home. I have had a Windows Media Center machine for almost a year now and I just now have had time to start playing with it. One problem I had - I only have a keyboard that can reach to my recliner - no mouse. Even if I had a mouse it would be a pain to try to move it while I am sitting there.
After a bit of searching I found a comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts that work within Media Center. Now I can change the channel while recovering from my turkey induced coma.
Here they are:
| Turn up volume | F10 | | Turn down volume | F9 | | Mute volume | F8 | | Open Messenger in Media Center | CTRL+N | | Display the Help window | F1 | | Display an additional menu of actions for a page or item that is selected | CTRL+D | | Go in and go out of windowed mode | ALT+ENTER | | Move left, right, up, or down | ARROW KEYS | | Go to the previous page | PAGE UP | | Go to the next page | PAGE DOWN | | Go to the last item in a list | END | | Go to the first item in a list | HOME | | Go back to the previous screen | BACKSPACE | | Accept the selection | ENTER | | Close Media Center | ALT+F4 | | Open Media Center or return to the Media Center Start menu | Windows Key+ALT+ENTER | | Go to the previous channel | PAGE DOWN | | Go to the next channel | PAGE UP | | Skip forward 30 second while watching TV | CTRL+F | | Skip back 7 seconds while watching TV | CTRL+B | | Fast forward live TV or recorded TV | CTRL+SHIFT+F | | Rewind live TV or recorded TV | CTRL+SHIFT+B | | Play live TV or recorded TV | CTRL+SHIFT+P | | Stop recording or stop playing a TV show | CTRL+SHIFT+S | | Pause or resume live TV or recorded TV | CTRL+P | | Record a TV show | CTRL+R | | Go to live TV | CTRL+T | | Go to the Guide | CTRL+G | | Go to Recorded TV | CTRL+O | | Go to My TV | CTRL+SHIFT+T | | Copy a CD | CTRL+R | | Fast forward a song | CTRL+SHIFT+F | | Skip to the next song | CTRL+F | | Replay an audio file or song | CTRL+B | | Stop an audio file or song | CTRL+SHIFT+S | | Pause an audio file or song | CTRL+P | | Play an audio file or song | CTRL+SHIFT+P | | Go to My Music | CTRL+M | | Skip forward | CTRL+F | | Skip back | CTRL+B | | Resume playing radio | CTRL+SHIFT+P | | Stop live radio | CTRL+SHIFT+S | | Pause or resume playing live radio | CTRL+P | | Go to Radio | CTRL+A | | Zoom a picture in full-screen mode | ENTER | | Skip forward to the next picture | RIGHT ARROW | | Skip back to the previous picture | LEFT ARROW | | Pause a slide show | CTRL+P | | Stop a slide show | CTRL+SHIFT+S | | Play a slide show | CTRL+SHIFT+P | | Go to My Pictures | CTRL+I | | Skip forward 30 seconds in a video | CTRL+F | | Skip back 7 seconds in a video | CTRL+B | | Fast forward a video | CTRL+SHIFT+F | | Rewind a video | CTRL+SHIFT+B | | Stop playing a video | CTRL+SHIFT+S | | Pause or resume a video | CTRL+P | | Play a video | CTRL+SHIFT+P | | Go to My Videos | CTRL+E | | Change the DVD subtitles selection | CTRL+U | | Change the DVD audio selection | CTRL+SHIFT+A | | Change the DVD angle | ARROW KEYS | | Skip forward or go to the next chapter | CTRL+F | | Skip back or go to the previous chapter | CTRL+B | | Fast forward | CTRL+SHIFT+F | | Rewind | CTRL+SHIFT+B | | Stop a DVD | CTRL+SHIFT+S | | Pause or resume playing a DVD | CTRL+P | | Play a DVD | CTRL+SHIFT+P | | Go to the DVD menu | CTRL+SHIFT+M | | Turn closed captioning on or off | CTRL+SHIFT+C |
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Monday, November 20, 2006
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Proof of concept seen for workstation service vulnerability
Microsoft has released advisory 928604. Since releasing patch MS06-070 last tuesday they have started to see proof of concept attack code that is available in the wild.
If you have an Internet facing Windows 2000 machine, you need to get this patch installed as soon as possible. Unpatched machine could be easily be comprised using this flaw.
Again, it only affects Windows 2000 - but I know many of you are still running Windows 2000 servers, and workstations. Get those machines patched!
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Saturday, November 18, 2006
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Slow down Vista animation using the shift key.
Here is an interesting feature that is hidden within Vista. By creating this registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM
And then create the value: AnimationsShiftKey (DWORD) and setting it to 1
You can slow down windows animations by pressing the shift key. This is the the animation you see when minimizing, maximizing or closing the window.
This only works if you have the aero interface turned on.
Here is a program that will set the key for you.
Download it here - As always we promise that the download does not contain any spyware, adware, or viruses. Only freeware goodness!
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Friday, November 17, 2006
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Vista SP1, and LongHorn Server to be shipped at the same time
Microsoft plans to ship the new Longhorn server and Vista Service Pack 1 at the same time next year. Microsoft plans to release one more CTP (Community Technology Preview) of longhorn later this year, one in early 2007, and a final Beta 3 in the middle of 2007.
Rumors that the new server would be officially named "Vista Server" have been shot down by Microsoft. Bob Muglia, Senior VP at Microsoft said: "No. Longhorn is not going to be renamed Vista Server. We will announce the official name when we release Beta 3, which is on track for the first half of 2007."
It is also speculated that they may name it Windows Server 2007, this would keep in line with their previous server products.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, November 16, 2006
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IE 7 Will turn green for good sites
Around the end of January 2007 IE 7 will start showing a green address bar for sites that the browser detects as 'safe'.
The browser determines a site is 'safe' if it uses an extended validation SSL certificate.
Only SSL (Secure Socket Layer) sites that use the extended validation (EV) SSL certificate will be displayed in green. The certificate authorities Verisign (including Thawte and GeoTrust), CyberTrust, Entrust, GoDaddy, QuoVadis, XRamp, SecureTrust and DigiCert have said they will sell the new certificates.
I have not seen any prices yet for these, but part of me feels like I am being extorted for more money. As it is certificates are not cheap. I would imagine the new and improved EV SSL certs will cost twice as much.
It is not like you have a choice either - who wants a big fat message that pops up when customers visit your shopping cart "This website may not be safe!"
It will be interesting to see if Firefox supports this new type of certificate. Either way, if you host, or support those who host a SSL website you might want to start looking into these new certificates.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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Vista Remote Desktop Client Supports Multiple Monitors
Here is a cool feature I just discovered in Vista. The remote desktop client can support multiple monitors.
You can access these features using the command line in a few ways:
If you know the dimensions that you want, you can specify the height and width:
mstsc /w:2048 /h:768 /v:(servername)
or if you want mstsc.exe to figure-out the dimensions:
mstsc /span /v:(servername)
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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Vista Windows Update to include drivers
I was reading some blog postings over at Microsoft and some interesting stats were posted about automatic updates:
20% of them were done manually
80% Were automatically installed
Of that 80%, 34% were done via scheduled install, and 46% of them were installed at system shutdown.
The more interesting part is that applications like Office 2007 will be part of the automatic update process, and so will drivers. Yep drivers.
Here is an excerpt from the post
Also for the first time, with Windows Vista, we are using Automatic Updates to help you get drivers that may be missing from your system. While Windows Update has been used to distribute device drivers for some time, with Automatic Updates in Windows Vista, if you choose the recommended setting for Automatic Updates (download and install important and recommended updates), every time that the machine is scanned by Automatic Updates, it will look to see if there are any devices that either donÂt have a device driver installed for them or for which a generic driver was used. If a specific (non-generic) driver is now available, then it will be downloaded and automatically installed. As is the case with Windows XP, if you were using a driver that was known to have problems for a lot of customers, when a better driver is available, Automatic Updates will download the newer driver and automatically replace it.
To me this is a little scary. Drivers in an automatic update? Hmm. Not sure if I like this idea. I have already had my bad experiences with the Windows XP driver updates that were recommended, and later caused blue screen headaches.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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Six major patches released from Microsoft today
It is patch Tuesday again, and Microsoft has released six major patches. Most noteably is the fix for the XML component that is used within all versions of IE, including 7.0. The vulnerability would enable an attacker to create a specially crafted website that could install malicious software on your system - and only Symantec had a signature for this last time I wrote about it.
Here are the list of patches released today:
· Microsoft Windows (MS06-066)
· maximum severity rating of Important
· Vulnerabilities in Client Service for NetWare Could Allow Remote Code Execution
· Microsoft Windows (MS06-067)
· maximum severity rating of Critical
· Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer.
· Microsoft Windows (MS06-068)
· maximum severity rating of Critical
· Vulnerability in Microsoft Agent Could Allow Remote Code Execution.
· Microsoft Windows (MS06-069)
· maximum severity rating of Critical
· Vulnerabilities in Macromedia Flash Player from Adobe Could Allow Remote Code Execution.
· Microsoft Windows (MS06-070)
· maximum severity rating of Critical
· Vulnerability in Workstation Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution
· Microsoft XML Core Services (MS06-071)
· maximum severity rating of Critical
· Vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution .
Make sure you get those updates. They are just one part of your defense strategy.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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How to disable "There are unused icons on your desktop"
Microsoft releases XP wireless update
Not sure if this one is going to be put out in automatic updates, but this new wireless hotfix for XP SP2 from Microsoft has some nice additions:
Changes for nonbroadcast networks
In Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Wireless Auto Configuration tries to match preferred wireless networks to wireless networks that broadcast their network name. If no network matches a preferred wireless network, Wireless Auto Configuration sends probe requests to determine whether the preferred networks are nonbroadcast networks. In this manner, a Windows XP wireless client advertises its list of preferred wireless networks. An observer may monitor these probe requests and configure a wireless network by using a name that matches a preferred wireless network. If the wireless network is not secured, this network could enable unauthorized connections to the computer.
The Wireless Client Update lets you configure wireless networks as broadcast networks or as nonbroadcast networks. Additionally, Wireless Auto Configuration sends probe requests only for nonbroadcast networks.
When you configure wireless networks in Windows XP, you can specify a wireless network as nonbroadcast by using the Connections tab in the properties dialog box of the wireless network. On a computer that is running Windows Vista or that is running Microsoft Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn," you can also specify a wireless network as nonbroadcast by using the Wireless Network (IEEE 802.11) Policies node of Computer Configuration Group Policy.
Changes in parking behavior
On a computer that is running Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Wireless Auto Configuration may create a random wireless network name and put the wireless network adapter in infrastructure mode. This operation is known as parking the wireless network adapter. In this situation, the wireless adapter is not connected to any wireless network. However, the wireless adapter continues to scan for preferred wireless networks every 60 seconds.
Some wireless network adapter drivers may interpret this parking operation as a request to connect to a wireless network. Therefore, these drivers may send probe requests in search of a network that has the random name. Because the parking operation passes no security configuration the driver, the random wireless network might be an open system-authenticated wireless network that uses no encryption. An observer could monitor these probe requests and establish a connection with a parked Windows XP wireless client.
On a computer that has the Wireless Client Update installed, the request to park the wireless network adapter includes a security configuration that uses a random encryption key. This security configuration uses the most secure encryption method that the wireless network adapter supports. If the wireless network adapter supports WPA2, the security configuration uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption together with a 128-bit encryption key. If the wireless network adapter supports WPA but does not support WPA2, the security configuration uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) encryption together with a 128-bit encryption key. If the wireless network adapter supports Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) but does not support WPA2 or WPA, the security configuration uses WEP encryption together with a 128-bit encryption key.
Changes for ad hoc networks
On a computer that does not have the Wireless Client Update installed, Wireless Auto Configuration automatically tries to connect to all the wireless networks in the preferred networks list that have previously been connected to. If no infrastructure mode networks are present, Wireless Auto Configuration sends probe requests to try to connect to the first ad hoc wireless network in the preferred networks list. An observer could monitor these probe requests and establish an unsecured connection with a Windows wireless client.
On a computer that has the Wireless Client Update installed, Wireless Auto Configuration does not send probe requests to connect to newly created ad hoc wireless networks in the preferred networks list. Because many ad hoc wireless networks are created for temporary wireless connectivity, you must use the Choose a Wireless Network dialog box to manually initiate a connection to an ad hoc mode wireless network.
It can be download from Microsoft here
Just make sure you thoroughly test it before doing any widespread deployment.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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CompUSA to start selling Vista, and Office 2007 starting November 30th
It seems that CompUSA here in the states has struck an exclusive deal with Microsoft to start selling Office 2007, and Vista on November 30th. This is two months before any other retailer will have it on their shelves.
There is a catch. In the press release sent out by Microsoft today it is clear that this is only for the business edition, and at least 5 licenses must be purchased. “We know that more than 50 percent of small businesses shop for software at retail stores. Our expanded relationship with CompUSA enables those businesses looking to purchase five or more licenses to more easily take advantage of our Open Business and Open Value offerings. These offerings also enable small businesses to purchase Windows Vista Business and Office Small Business 2007 on Nov. 30, ahead of the general availability in late January,” said Cindy Bates, general manager of the U.S. Small Business Group at Microsoft. “We think this new offering with CompUSA provides a simplified and affordable process for small businesses to purchase technology. It’s part of our ongoing commitment to make the right solutions available to our small-business customers across their full range of requirements.” Additionally, the customer must speak to a CompUSA representative to purchase the licenses.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Monday, November 13, 2006
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Sysinternals website opened at Microsoft
I am sure many of you have used at least one of the utilities made by Sysinternals (http://www.sysinternals.com). They have some of the best windows administration utilities on the net. A few months ago they were bought out by Microsoft, and many worried it spelled the end to the free programs that they produced.
Not to worry. Microsoft opened the sysinternals website within the last few days, and it can be reached here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx
They have everything that was at the old website, including the blue screen of death screensaver. Check it out. They have some really good utilities over there.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Monday, November 13, 2006
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AntiVirus currently supported by Vista
Found a list of anti-virus products that are supported by Vista (From the Microsoft website). I am sure Symantec, and McAfee will eventually show up on this list, but it sure is interesting that the two top anti-virus vendors are not on this list
 | Free Trial Subscription from CA
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 | Free Trial Subscription from F-Secure
F-Secure Corporation helps protect individuals and businesses against computer viruses and other threats coming through the Internet or mobile networks. Our award-winning solutions include antivirus, desktop firewall with intrusion prevention and network encryption. Our key strength is the speed of response to new threats. For businesses our solutions feature centralized management. |  | Free Trial Subscription from GRISOFT
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Free Trial Subscription from Trend Micro
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Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Monday, November 13, 2006
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Automatic Login to Windows XP, and Vista
Once and a while I have the need for Windows to automatically login after a reboot. For example, I have a Windows XP Media center machine, and I have a few custom cleanup and compression programs that run as desktop applications - so they don't run if the machine is rebooted while I am gone.
This is a real bummer if I am on vacation, and by the time I come back it does not have enough room to record my favorite programs.
Automatic logins are not for everyone. Using this feature in windows leaves your password in the registry un-encrypted. You need to think carefully before you do it.
To force windows to login you need to drill down to this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
In that key there are four values that are important:
AutoAdminLogon - A string value. Yes a string value. That is set to 0 or 1. If the value is 1, then the next time windows boots it will attempt to login with the credentials provided in the values shown below.
DefaultUserName - Username used to automatically login with.
DefaultPassword - Password used to automatically login with. Careful here. This is left in the registry unencrypted and easily read by anyone with an administrator account
DefaultDomainName - The domain name used when automatically logging in. Set to the name of the current computer name if the machine is not joined to a domain.
Personally, I have gotten tired of drilling down to these registry settings every time I want to make a machine automatically login, so I had one of our programmers whip out a quick app that will do it for us.
Click Here to download it - and as always, no spyware, adware...Just freeware goodness.
Oh yea, make sure you run it as administrator, and it does work with 2000, XP and Vista.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Sunday, November 12, 2006
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Cool Vista Feature - Use your USB key to improve performance
While I am not busy ripping the new license terms apart I have been testing out everything I can within Vista, mostly to get our applications up to speed before the November 30th release. I found a cool feature when you go to the properties of a USB drive:
It allows you to reserve part of the USB drive for improving system performance. Nice. Now the programmer in me wants to know more. I did some googling and research. The feature is called ReadyBoost(tm).
Their marketing pages for Vista have more information about it. I will pull out the important parts for you:
Windows Vista introduces a new concept in adding memory to a system. Windows ReadyBoost lets users use a removable flash memory device, such as a USB thumb drive, to improve system performance without opening the box. Windows ReadyBoost can improve system performance because it can retrieve data kept on the flash memory more quickly than it can retrieve data kept on the hard disk, decreasing the time you need to wait for your PC to respond. Combined with SuperFetch technology, this can help drive impressive improvements in system responsiveness.
Hmm. First thought that comes to my mind is what happens when I pull the drive out. Blue screens? I tried it out and it seems to handle it with no problems. The next part from MS explains:
Windows ReadyBoost technology is reliable and provides protection of the data stored on your device. You can remove the memory device at any time without any loss of data or negative impact to the system; however, if you remove the device, your performance returns to the level you experienced without the device. Additionally, data on the removable memory device is encrypted to help prevent inappropriate access to data when the device is removed.
Very cool. With higher speed external interfaces, and bigger portable memory this could be a viable solution for the average Joe.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, November 09, 2006
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Microsoft requires corporate customers to activate licenses
I was digging through some Vista Documents on the MS website. I came across this interesting document:
Software Protection WP.doc
It lays out the software protection within Vista, and the supposed reasons for it. They try really hard not to say the truth: We automatically assume you are a thief, and have no respect for you as a customer.
Don't get me wrong. Like I have said before. I am not a MS bashing zealot. I like their products. But...the activation scheme reminds me of when I worked at a well known toy store here in the US (Man that was a long time ago) - They would check my toolbox every night for stolen items. (They did this for all bike builders). It made me feel like dirt for just going into work.
The alarming part is that it will now be required for *all* versions of Vista. No reprieve for volume license keys. This means even large corporations with thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of machines will now have the windows activation hammer hanging over their heads.
This is another reason why I think the corporate adoption of Vista will take much longer than Microsoft expects. They are creating the same situation they had with Windows 98.
Windows 98 usage lingered on for years and years. People were happy with that version of windows, and saw no reason to upgrade. That time it had nothing to do with licensing. Just the perceived pain of switching. Lots of trouble for some programs, and devices switching to 2000, or XP since it was a whole new platform. Only until they were forced by lack of support, and lack of patches did the masses start abandoning it.
What if they make that pain so great this time that it is less painful to switch to a completely different alternative like Mac OSX? Nahh. That won't happen. Unless the Mac can run windows applications natively. I remember hearing a rumor that the next version of OSX will do exactly that.
Back in the day there was a company that was #1 in the network server world. They too got crazy with licensing. Hmm. Novell? Anyone remember how MS pounded Novell? How did they do it? I watched it happen while working as a network consultant back in the early 90s. Windows NT was highly inferior, but it cost less and the licensing was extremely lax. It allowed the techs to easily install and test it on computers at home. Novell was so damn expensive, and the licensing was so harsh it was difficult to even get approval to have one for learning, and testing. I believe this single point is what drove the adoption of NT. Microsoft has forgotten this. They do it at their own peril.
Look at the pricing lately for windows? I could build a new computer for less than a full version of Ultimate.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, November 09, 2006
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Microsoft makes Vista gold
Microsoft released vista to Manufacturing on Wednesday, and confirmed the consumer release of January 30th for the consumer edition of the operating system.
This starts the initial step to getting the software on store shelves by the release date. This means that any bugs found now will need to be fixed in a service pack, or patch.
Jim Allchin a co-president of the Microsoft Windows division re-iterated the previous statements by Microsoft that OEMs and other business would receive Vista by November 30th.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 08, 2006
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Microsoft can issue Domain Names
In an interesting twist to all of the new things Microsoft is working on they are now becoming an ICANN accredited registrar.
You can see them now on the ICANN list - It is really long so you might need to use your browsers search feature to find it down the list.
This means that they can register domains in the .com, .net, .org, .info, .name, and .info top level domains. It still remains to be seen how they will integrate this into their new product offerings, but we have seen some indication of their moves with their P2P service built into Vista. And the free domain name registration that they offer to Office Live users.
Microsoft said in a statement on Tuesday that the accreditation "will be helpful and educational for us as policies evolve and we introduce new and improved Internet-based services to our customers."
"Becoming an ICANN-accredited registrar is just one of many ways we can improve our customers' online and search experience," the statement said.
On the same note, Google is a domain name registrar. It seems they use this as a means to determine when domain names have changed hands, and adjust search rankings. It is possible Microsoft is using it for the same reason.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 08, 2006
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XML flaw for IE still goes unpatched
A serious flaw in the ActiveX XMLHTTP component within IE is still active, and without a patch from Microsoft. This includes the latest from Microsoft, IE 7.
Microsoft released an advisory on Friday From the website, here are some of the mitigating factors:
- In a Web-based attack scenario, an attacker would have to host a Web site that contains a Web page that is used to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious Web site. Instead, an attacker would have to persuade them to visit the Web site, typically by getting them to click a link that takes them to the attacker's Web site.
- An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the logged on user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
- The Restricted sites zone helps reduce attacks that could try to exploit this vulnerability by preventing Active Scripting from being used when reading HTML e-mail messages. However, if a user clicks a link in an e-mail message, they could still be vulnerable to this issue through the Web-based attack scenario.
- By default, Outlook Express 6, Outlook 2002, and Outlook 2003 open HTML e-mail messages in the Restricted sites zone. Additionally, Outlook 2000 opens HTML e-mail messages in the Restricted sites zone if the Outlook E-mail Security Update has been installed. Outlook Express 5.5 Service Pack 2 opens HTML e-mail messages in the Restricted sites zone if Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-018 has been installed.
- By default, Internet Explorer on Windows Server 2003 runs in a restricted mode that is known as Enhanced Security Configuration. This mode mitigates this vulnerability because ActiveX and Active Scripting are disabled by default.
Notice that one of these factors is to run as a restricted user. A good reason to run IE using our free reduced permissions tool at all times. I can't imagine how many flaws there are that Microsoft, and the anti-virus companies are not aware of. Running with reduced permissions decreases your risk significantly.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, November 07, 2006
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Microsoft starts virtual hard drive program
Microsoft has started its virtual hard drive program. It allows potential customers to demo software without the pain of installation. From the Microsoft website:
"Using the power of virtual machines, you can now quickly evaluate Microsoft and partner solutions through a series of pre-configured Virtual Hard Disks (VHD). You can download the VHDs and evaluate them for free in your own environment without the need for dedicated servers or complex installations. Start now by selecting a lab from the VHD catalog below."
The website that was unveiled to the world yesterday: http://www.microsoft.com/vhd (November 6th 2006) Has downloads for Windows 2003 R2, Exchange Server 2007, and SQL Server 2005
The great part about the VHD program is that you can easily determine what will work for you without getting your hands dirty. No extra servers to setup, just download and run in a virtual session.
On the flip side of that argument I hope this does not encourage Microsoft to drop their 180 day trial program. Sometimes a virtual machine does not give you enough information to determine what works right for your organization.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, November 07, 2006
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Microsoft has confirmed Nov 30th release for Office 2007
Microsoft has confirmed today that the latest version of the Office suite will be delivered to corporate customers on November 30th
"We've crossed the development finish line, and the team deserves to celebrate," said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. "The 2007 Microsoft Office system RTM completes the most significant improvements to the products in more than a decade. It's rewarding to be able to send this release off to our customers and help them take the next big leap forward in productivity"
It will be very interesting to see the true response from the corporate world. One of the biggest changes in Office 2007 is the user interface. Even seasoned IT professionals that I have spoken with have had trouble navigating the new Office, which begs the question: How will the average user deal with a complete upheaval of the interface?
I remember helping companies make the switch from Office 98 to Office XP, and it took weeks (Sometimes months) to get these users to re-learn, and get back to the same level of productivity. That change was slight. I can't imagine the support nightmare after a deployment of Office 2007.
I would expect it will take many years before we see widespread adoption of Office 2007.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Monday, November 06, 2006
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Microsoft Delays IE 7 Automatic push for Japan
I read something interesting over at the MSDN blogs at Microsoft. They are delaying the automatic push for IE 7 in Japan for more than three months.
Now here is an interesting response to the wave of anger from users inside and outside of Japan:
I just wanted let people know regarding the delay of Auto Updates for Japanese IE7. It has nothing to do with economic development in the entire Asia or technical difficulties of IE7 itself. The real reason is that, according to surveys by Microsoft, a lot of Japanese business users wanted to wait for IE7 for six months to be distributed via Auto Updates so that they could avoid possible technical conflicts between their existing systems and IE7 despite Blocker Toolkit. I mean those business users wanted some window period.
This does not mean that Japanese have to wait to download and install Japanese IE7 until April or May, 2007. Those who want to use it can manually download its final version already.
Hmm. Business users asked them to wait. I am not a MS bashing zealot or anything like that, but it would seem that the same number of North American business IT folks had the same feelings - but Microsoft ignored them. I know this for a fact since we have had a record number of downloads of our IE 7 blocking tool
Something is fishy about this. If I were the paranoid type I would start to wonder what the real motive for the automatic push of IE 7 really was. It really is starting to look like it has zero to do with security, and much more to do with getting a step ahead of FireFox.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Saturday, November 04, 2006
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Mac version of VMWare begins beta program
Looks like you can sign up for the public beta for VMWare on Intel MacOSX now.
They have a form you can fill out with your name and email address. You will be contacted via email when they are ready for you to start beta testing.
If you have never used it before, VMWare is software that allows you to run multiple operating systems at a time, each of them in a window running like any other application. It has been a great tool for developement since it lets you setup many different configurations, and simply start them up for testing.
For example, I currently run Windows XP Professional, but I have numerous VMWare sessions that include Windows 2000, 2003, Vista, and even Windows NT 4.0. I can fire any one of those up at any time and test our applications against them. All without ever setting up another computer.
The question that still remains - will Apple ever allow the day where I could install Mac OSX in a Windows VMWare session? Hmm. Only time will tell.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Friday, November 03, 2006
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Microsoft Vista party dates released
Microsoft has unleashed their Vista release tour dates and places for the US. They are planning on visiting 15 different cities. The first one will be in New York on the 16th.
Key launch events are planned in 7 cities in January:
Phoenix (Jan. 17)
Tampa, Fla. (Jan. 18)
Boston (Jan. 24)
Los Angeles (Jan. 26)
Washington, D.C. (Jan. 30)
Francisco (Jan. 30)
The rest of the launch events will be held in February:
Minneapolis (Feb. 1)
Chicago (Feb. 7)
Atlanta (Feb. 8)
Houston (Feb. 13)
Detroit (Feb. 13)
Philadelphia (Feb. 15)
Dallas (Feb. 21)
Seattle (Feb 26)
One thing is for sure. I don't think Microsoft will ever re-capture the buzz and excitement that surrounded the Windows 95 (Code named Chicago at the time) release.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Friday, November 03, 2006
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Clearcut breakdown of Windows Vista Versions
The number of versions Microsoft has for Vista is Maddening. From a users perspective yes, and as a developer it makes our job much harder. It is very difficult to determine the features of each version from Microsoft's Website
After much searching, and looking through Microsoft documents I have determined a good breakdown of the major features that can be turned on or off based on the version you purchase.
There are five different versions of Vista that you are likely to encounter in the field (There are more but chances are you won't see them, or they are just missing Windows Media Player 11):
Windows Home Vista Basic
Windows Home Vista Premium
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Ultimate
Basic, Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate include:
-Microsoft SafeDocs (An advanced backup utility)
-Upgradeable from Windows XP
-SNMP Support
-ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)
Premium, and Ultimate include:
-Media Center (TV Recording, and Viewing)
-Games
-DVD Authoring
Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate include:
-Scheduled Backups
-Network Backups
-Aero glass (Cool visual effects)
-Tablet PC Functionality
-Encrypted File System
Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate include:
-Shadow Copy (Allows backup of files that are in use)
-Remote Desktop
-Web Server
-Fax Client
-Offline Folders
-Ability to Join a domain
Enterprise Only:
-Unix Subsystem
-Secure Startup (Full volume encryption)
-Single Session Virtual PC (I believe this is to ease backward compatibility)
-Multi-Language User Interface
So it looks like we will still get administrative headaches when one of the owners, or one of your customer's saves money by purchasing the Home edition of Vista. Oops can't join a domain.
Can't tell you how many times someone I know purchased machines with XP Home edition pre-installed only to end up having to buy XP Pro later.
Time to start getting ready to support Vista. It will be out in the public's hands on November 30th.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, November 02, 2006
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Vista given a release date
Microsoft has set November 30th as the offical release date for Vista, and its Office 2007 line (Including Exchange 2007). The November date is for business customers, and the full consumer release of Vista will be January 30th 2007.
One interesting factoid is that the build number will jump to 6000 on this final release. This is to reflect the fact that Vista is the 6th major release of the Windows operating system.
You will pay more for Vista too. Here is the pricing we have from Microsoft so far:
Windows Vista Home Basic $99.95 (Upgd) $199.00 (Full)
Windows Vista Home Premium $159.00 (Upgd) $239.00 (Full)
Windows Vista Business $199.00 (Upgd) $299.00 (Full)
Windows Vista Ultimate $259.00 (Upgd) $399.00 (Full)
I still have not been able to determine what version(s) of windows you may upgrade from. Go here to get a list of the features that each version of Vista offers.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, November 02, 2006
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How to change the Remote Desktop Listening Port
Remote Desktop is a great feature built into Windows. Sometimes it is nice to have it listen on a different port. I like to get my Remote Desktop to listen on port 443. This is because many hotels, and cafe wireless networks block all ports except 80, and 443. These are the two ports used when surfing the web.
443 is the important one. Since these networks assume that it is encrypted web traffic they usually do not attempt to do any filtering, or caching. Making it a perfect transport for Remote Desktop.
The first important thing to remember is that you can't change to a port that is already in use. If you are hosting a webserver on the same machine, you will need to make sure that there are no secure sites (Ones listening on 443). Otherwise you will have a conflict - either the remote desktop service, or the webserver service will have problems starting. It just depends on which service starts first.
So no secure sites. Checked. Now lets see what we need to do to change our listening port. We need to dive into the registry to make our change (Free program to do it for you later in article if you hate doing that)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp
There is a dword value named PortNumber
Update this value with the new port you would like to listen on. In our case it is 443
And reboot.
If you hate messing with the registry we have a program that will do it for you, and even change it on computers across your lan:
Download it from here
Now that you have rebooted how do you connect at the new port?
Easy. Open the remote desktop client and type [hostname:portnumber]
So if we wanted to connect to host.mydomain.com on port 443 it would look like this:
Now you can get to your machine from almost any network.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 01, 2006
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Windows Vista License limits benchmarks
I was curious about the new licensing terms for Windows Vista.
Actually I was looking through it to see what type of terms they had for hardware changes, but I stumbled on something even more interesting:
MICROSOFT .NET BENCHMARK TESTING. The software includes one or more components of the .NET Framework 3.0 (“.NET Components”). You may conduct internal benchmark testing of those components. You may disclose the results of any benchmark test of those components, provided that you comply with the conditions set forth at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=66406.
Notwithstanding any other agreement you may have with Microsoft, if you disclose such benchmark test results, Microsoft shall have the right to disclose the results of benchmark tests it conducts of your products that compete with the applicable .NET Component, provided it complies with the same conditions set forth at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=66406.
What is disturbing about this addition to the license is that it can limit the amount of benchmarking information that people are willing to publish. Microsoft may change the conditions of the license at any time by simply changing the content at that destination URL. Why not include the full terms within the license?
Yes it is for .NET 3.0 and not Vista exclusively, but currently .NET 3.0 is only available on Vista. It is unfortunate that Microsoft would attempt to restrict the flow of information in this regard, but not surprising.
On the flip side I quietly wonder to myself about the need, or usefulness of benchmarks. It has been a long time since I really looked at one with any seriousness.
Still I would like to know if say - Vista with .NET is faster than Java crunching the same numbers. This type of license puts enough legal fear into the more reputable websites to just stay away from the issue.
If anyone is interested in some serious bed time reading. The Vista license can be downloaded in PDF format from here
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 01, 2006
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Apple releases new version of boot camp
Apple has released a new version of Boot Camp. Boot Camp is the software that allows you to install Windows XP on an Intel based Macintosh computer. The software is still beta, and the previous version was much better, but still had some big issues. If my mac went to sleep it slept forever, I could not use my USB based Modem I purchased with it, and I have had many issues with the keyboard. What I mean by that is I could not even perform a CTRL-ALT-DEL without getting a third party app that would map other keys for me.
Some of the fixes include:
-Support for the latest Intel-based Macintosh computers
-Easier partitioning using presets for popular sizes
-Ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk
-Support for built-in iSight cameras
-Support for built-in microphones
-Support for the Apple USB Modem
-Trackpad scrolling and right-click support on Apple Laptops
-Improved Apple keyboard support including Delete, PrintScreen, NumLock, and ScrollLock keys
-Improved International Apple keyboard support
To make it work for your Mac, you need to make sure you have an Intel based mac that is running Tiger 10.4.6 or later, 10 GB of free space and a disk with a valid version of Windows XP SP2.
I also would highly suggest backing everything up if you are moving from an older version. That's what I am doing right now before attempting the upgrade. I will post the results of my upgrade here.
The Boot Camp software is available here
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, November 01, 2006
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