Thursday, April 30, 2009

Available: MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 SP1

MSDN Library provides access to essential programming information, including technical reference documentations, white papers, software development kits and code samples necessary to develop web services and applications. This is an updated version of the MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 and this library contains Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 documentation.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Available: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with Service Pack 2

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services helps teams share and manage information and documents in a Web site. WSS is a versatile technology that organizations and business units of all sizes can use to increase the efficiency of business processes and improve team productivity. With tools for collaboration that help people stay connected across organizational and geographic boundaries, Windows SharePoint Services gives people access to information they need.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Internet Explorer 8 Language Packs for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

The Internet Explorer 8 Language Pack installs language specific resource files, allowing users to view the user interface (UI) of Internet Explorer 8 in a different supported language. Individual language packs are available for the following languages: Arabic, Bosnian (Cyrillic), Bosnian (Latin), Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Hong Kong), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Cyrillic), Serbian (Latin), Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese. To use these language packs, you must install the matching OS language pack on Windows before proceeding.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Available: Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5

The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.5 contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Windows 7, Windows Vista®, a Windows Update, or a new version of Windows® Internet Explorer® in your environment. ACT 5.5 helps customers understand their application compatibility situation by identifying which applications are compatible with the Windows 7 RC and Windows Vista® operating system and which require further testing. Per Microsoft, ACT helps customers lower their costs for application compatibility testing, prioritize their applications, and deploy Windows more quickly

Monday, April 20, 2009

WSUS: Users not prompted or notified for reboot after updates installation

A group policy setting can suppress any notification for required reboot avoiding the system to never reboot (possible) neither notify the user for a reboot. This can affect corporate systems where users typically are not actively involved in cycled update patching and generally hate for any patching involving reboot. This article will discuss different group policy settings that can impact either a computer or a user’s configuration for setting Automatic Windows Update for the system.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Available: SQL Server 2008 Express Edition SP1

SQL Server 2008 Express is a free edition of SQL Server that is ideal for learning and building desktop and small server applications, and for redistribution by ISVs. It is a powerful and reliable data management system that delivers a rich set of features, data protection, and performance for embedded application clients, light Web applications, and local data stores. Designed for easy deployment and rapid prototyping, SQL Server 2008 Express is available at no cost, and you are free to redistribute it with applications. It is designed to integrate seamlessly with your other server infrastructure investments.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Microsoft security updates for April 2009

Here are the new security updates, click on hyperlinks for details and downloads. If you are a home user, Microsoft recommends using Windows Update to download and install all updates for greater security and flexibility. 

  • MS09-009 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Office (KB 968557)
  • MS09-010 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office (KB 960477)
  • MS09-011 - addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 961373)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Free Microsoft Press E-Book: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008
by Peter DeBetta, Greg Low, and Mark Whitehorn
ISBN: 9780735625587

Learn about major new features in SQL Server 2008 including security, administration, and performance.

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008:
Chapter 1: Security and Administration
Chapter 2: Performance
Chapter 3: Type System
Chapter 4: Programmability
Chapter 5: Storage
Chapter 6: Enhancements for High Availability
Chapter 7: Business Intelligence Enhancements

Want a free Microsoft Certification Exam? Here’s your chance.

Through June 30 2009, you can take Microsoft Certification exam for free, if you are a student. The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certifications enable professionals to target specific technologies and to distinguish themselves by demonstrating in-depth knowledge and expertise in their specialized technologies. An MCTS is consistently capable of implementing, building, troubleshooting, and debugging a particular Microsoft technology.