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Windows Mobile Smackdown

Aubrey — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:58:42 GMT

I've been following Jason Langridge's blog for some time now, and it was great to get to finally meet him at TechEd this year. I went to a few of the sessions he was conducting, one being "Windows Mobile Smackdown", which is a public version of the event that they have internally at Microsoft.

Jason has been kind enough to post up the list of things he demo'd in that session, such as:

Celio Redfly - http://celiocorp.com - A cool PDA Extender

Windows Mobile 6.1 - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/6-1

Zumobi - http://www.zumobi.com - a great new interface for Windows Mobile

Check out his post for the full list. And check out the video too. You've likely heard that Microsoft is big on eating their own dogfood, well, in that video, some of them do, literally, to win Windows Mobile swag.

New Exchange Troubleshooting Tool

Aubrey — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:00:26 GMT

For those of you wanting to test out a new Microsoft tool for Exchange issue diagnosis, go to https://testexchangeconnectivity.com. As the presenter emphatically emphasized at TechEd today, this tool is a prototype and has not been run through the normal battery of security tests. If you want to use this tool, create an account and mailbox specifically for testing purposes, and delete it once you have completed testing. DO NOT use your own Exchange mailbox or any other "production" mailbox with this tool. That being said, check it out, it looks pretty cool.

TechEd Exchange Backup Announcement

Aubrey — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:39:02 GMT

Those of you who have deployed Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008 may be aware of an issue involving the backup software that Microsoft includes with Windows Server 2008 where it no longer supports streaming ESE backups. So unless you're using a 3rd party product, you're not able to back up your Exchange servers. Microsoft today announced that they are working on an Exchange-provided VSS-based plugin to Windows Server Backup that will enable the ability to back up your Exchange servers.

If this problem affects you, or you're holding off deploying until a fix is ready, Microsoft says it will be available some time this summer.

HTC Diamond On Display Starting Tomorrow

Aubrey — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:19:14 GMT

For those of you at TechEd who are into Windows Mobile, Microsoft is having a few HTC Diamonds Fed Ex'd in for tomorrow. There will be one on display at the WinMo showcase and at least one for use during Theater sessions in the Yellow areas. Of course, that's if the info I received from the WinMo guys is correct.

UPDATE: Stopped by and saw the Diamond. The TouchFlo scrolling was REALLY slow, and I wasn't the only one who noticed.

LiveBlogging The TechEd IT Pro Keynote

Aubrey — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:34:38 GMT

8: 35 Right now, African-style drums and dancing. Audience not as enthusiastic about shaking their maracas as the girl on stage would like. Glad I'm sitting in the press room.

8:40 Bob Muglia takes the stage

No more time stamps during this post, too distracting

Discussion of how Microsoft software (Groove and SharePoint) helped out with Katrina relief efforts

Dynamic IT - Employing new solutions and technologies to boost the agility and speed of their IT Systems

Identity Lifecycle Management Beta 3 Demo - I haven't used it, but it looks pretty nice, automation of creating new users, setting up mailbox, add to groups, etc.

Web Services - Demo of SOA Interoperability with .NET 3.5

Virtualization is a transformational technology for IT. When properly deployed and managed, virtualization creates IT systems that are highly efficient and cost-effective

Hyper-V on schedule to release within 180 days of Windows Server 2008 RTM, Muglia says it benchmarks well against VMWare ESX and in some cases out performs it

Moving on to application virtualization and modeling, demo of Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, built on top of PowerShell. Moving a VM from one host to another really simple, took about 10 seconds, can also do VMotion moves of VMWare VMs

Moving on to application virtualization and SoftGrid. I've used SoftGrid, it's pretty sweet. Version 4.5 coming this summer.

Demo of Kidaro, which will be included in MDOP

Demo of Microsoft Online Services - Enterprise apps hosted by Microsoft like Exchange

Demo of SQL Server 2008 data compression and policy-based management

Keynote over - not bad, Muglia did a pretty good job keeping it going

Cluster-Funk

Aubrey — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:22:33 GMT

Double Take software is again throwing their customer appreciation party during TechEd. This year they are having it at Margaritaville and they're calling it Cluster-Funk in Paradise. You have to register to attend, and you can do that here.

Microsoft All-Star Community PIT STOP

Aubrey — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:55:45 GMT

Trikah just posted the details for the Pit Stop party for MCPs, MCTs, and MVPs during the IT Pro week of TechEd. You can register here using the following codes:

TechNet Plus subscribers use code TECHNET

MCP/MCTs use code MCPMCT

MVPs use code MVP

Make sure to have your membership number handy, you'll need it to register.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that only the first 1000 people to register will get an invite, so if you want to go, you should register el pronto.

Install Vista On Your iPhone

Aubrey — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:06:43 GMT

Well, sort of. There's a new theme for the iPhone called Vista Perfection 2.0, and it will give your iPhone the visual appeal of a Vista desktop.

The installation instructions sound pretty convoluted, but the end result looks pretty sweet. I think I'll install it on our iPhone loaner, because hey, who wouldn't want Vista on their iPhone?

Windows Mobile 7 Sneak Peek

Aubrey — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:59:53 GMT

Speaking of Live Mesh, in one of Microsoft's promos for it, there is a sneak peek of what looks to be an HTC Touch Dual running Windows Mobile 7. Take a look, it's about 32 seconds in:

BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool Available For Download

Aubrey — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:05:42 GMT

BitLocker is a great feature to have to keep your data safe, but if you don't partition your drive correctly before the OS install, you won't be able to install it, because you need an unencrypted partition to boot from. This tool will create another volume to boot from so that you can get BitLocker set up.

Previously this tool was only available by calling in on a KB article, but now Microsoft has made it freely available without the hassle of having to call and ask for it. You can get it here.

Coming Soon To An iPhone Near You

Aubrey — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:08:52 GMT

As I suspected, back at the time of this post, Apple has licensed ActiveSync, and it will be available on the iPhone when the 2.0 software update becomes available, which should be some time in June.

Also, since that last post, I've gotten quite a bit of time to actually use an iPhone and I have to say that I really like it, but as I see it, there are two things wrong with the phone as it exists right now. First is the lack of ActiveSync, which won't be an issue in about three months. The second is that you can only attach it to AT&T's crappy EDGE network. Granted, they did try to beef it up in the run up to the iPhone release, but at best you're still probably only going to get about 80k down, which is pretty slow when compared to 3G networks. When iPhone 2.0 comes out with HSDPA and ActiveSync, I will seriously consider purchasing one.

Mogul Users, Get Your Rev-A On

Aubrey — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:04:14 GMT

HTC and Sprint have made an updated ROM available for the Mogul. What comes with that? Here's what you can expect:

1. Adds EV-DO Rev.A functionality for faster download and upload speeds when transmitting data wherever EV-DO Rev. A coverage is available.

2. Adds advanced GPS functionality including the software for Sprint Navigation.

3. Adds a Task Manager to the Today screen for easier access and management of Running Programs.

4. Improves Bluetooth performance including usage with Phone As Modem and wireless stereo headsets.

5. Corrects an issue where Windows Live Messenger content may be erased when the device power cycles.

Get it while it's hot!

Windows Vista SP1 Initial Thoughts

Aubrey — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:16:57 GMT

In my opinion, it's a huge step backwards. Here are some issues I have had with/since installing SP1:

It took two hours to install
Most programs run are running slower than before the service pack, and I frequently get the (Not Responding) in the title bar of many applications now
Plugging in an iPhone to a USB port disables my USB mouse and keyboard, which is extremely annoying
The acctinfo.dll plugin from the Server 2003 resource kit for AD Users and Computers no longer works
With the processor usage only at 2-5%, it sometimes takes 15-20 seconds for the All Programs, Control Panel, or Administrative Tools menus to expand
I see the same behavior right-clicking on shared network files
After the install, I had to reinstall Windows Live Messenger, but I am using a beta version, so that won't affect most people
Despite the lengthy explanations on why file copy will be so much better in SP1, I'm not seeing it. In fact, I see a huge decline in network performance. There are a few UNC shares that I connect to frequently that have 300 or more subdirectories. Opening these became so slow, I decided to time it. Before SP1, opening the share and being able to see all the subdirectories used to take about 5-10 seconds. After installing SP1, it now takes about 58 seconds.
Initial boot and program loads are unbearably slow, so I decided to time this too. From a cold boot, it took 2:30 to get to a login screen. Discounting the two seconds or so it took to type in my username and password, it was then another 1:30 before I saw my desktop. Immediately upon seeing the desktop, I ran Outlook. It took another 3:45 until my cached emails were visible. Another 1:15 after that, my sidebar showed up, and about :30 after that, my new emails showed up. And that was just to open Outlook. I have eight programs I always start up after login that I use to do the bulk of my daily work. From a cold boot until they were all open and usable was just over 17 minutes. That is just ridiculous.
Vista still corrupts files I save to network shares, such as the Documents, Pictures, Favorites, and Desktop folders that I have mapped to a server. It's very frustrating to click on a favorite in IE, only to discover that Vista has corrupted it, and it no longer opens, and you have to hunt down the URL again. Which isn't nearly as frustrating as importing pictures from a camera to your PC only to discovery that Vista has corrupted them. Especially if you've opted for the delete pictures after importing option.
Turn Windows features on or off - Has anyone needed to enable Telnet or some other feature using this app? It could easily be called Turn Windows features on or off then get in your car and head to the nearest Starbucks for awhile.

I have been running Vista since it went gold, and on my home machine, where I'm only running one or two apps at a time, it's quite usable and interfaces well with my Xbox 360. However, in an Enterprise setting, it's just not getting the job done for me. I really wanted it to, but it just isn't. And SP1 has made things even worse. Managing network shares and the files in them is a slow, painful nightmare. Not to mention the fact that when I need to do something as mundane as run Terminal Services Administrator or manage a cluster, I still have to go to an XP machine, or a 2003 server. Vista will be able to manage Windows Server 2008 much better, but it will be years until all the servers here, or anywhere else for that matter, have been upgraded, and frankly I just can't wait that long.

Perhaps not everyone will experience the problems I'm having, but I'm guessing a good many will. Many other admins I know have told me their companies have the same "no Vista" policy that mine has (well, except for me, I'm "testing" it), and frankly, I fully agree, it just wasn't ready to ship and still isn't over a year later. Hell, even Bill Gates hints at it, without really saying it. Maybe things will get better with SP2, but I'm not holding my breath at this point.

Now I just have to decide whether to just uninstall SP1, or bite the bullet, wipe my machine, and reinstall XP.

UPDATE: I've decided to bite the bullet and reinstall. But not XP, I'm going to try a reinstall of Vista with SP1 integrated and see how that goes. When I'm done, I'll post up the results.

Speaking Of Nails In The Coffin...

Aubrey — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:10:39 GMT

It's official, the format war is over. Toshiba has announced that they are throwing in the towel.

Another Nail In The Coffin

Aubrey — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:29:19 GMT

I just received this from Netflix:

As you may have heard, most of the major movie studios have recently decided to release their high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. In order to provide the best selection of high-definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well.

Sigh. I guess that Xbox 360 HD-DVD player I bought just a few months ago will be a collector's item soon. As will my HD-DVD movies. It's looking more and more like Sony's got the winning format this time around.