Saturday, June 30, 2007

Application LifeCycle Management

"A 10 minute video guide to how software applications are developed" - Business Perspective

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Windows Installer 4.5 Beta Accepting Nominations

Nominations are being accepted for Windows Installer 4.5 Beta. Windows Installer Team claims that the Windows Installer 4.5 beta will deliver new functionality for multiple package products and for servicing complex products. Windows Installer 4.5 will pull down level the features from the OS version independent features in the Windows Installer 4.0 release that shipped only in Windows Vista and will ship in Windows Server 2008. Windows Installer 4.5 is expected to ship as a redistributable down level to Windows XP SP2 and up.
The draft white paper "Agility Trends in Package Software" is posted at Microsoft Connect.  The draft is a part of the information offered to the tools vendors on the Live Meeting call last month, Robert Flaming expands.

A complete set of Windows Installer 4.5 beta documents are expected to be available on July, Binary Download of the product to be available on August 07.

Sign-Up for Beta Nominations

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Windows SteadyState is now available

Windows SteadyState was formerly known as Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP. Whether you manage computers in a school computer lab or an Internet cafe, a library, or even in your home, Windows SteadyState helps make it easy for you to keep your computers running the way you want them to, no matter who uses them. Windows SteadyState is easier to download, set up, use, and maintain than Shared Computer Toolkit.
Windows SteadyState runs on genuine copies of Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.

Download & More Details

Friday, June 15, 2007

Windows Installer 4.1 & Vista SP1 - How Close ?

It appears a new version of Windows Installer 4.1 is on the horizon. On May 04, Windows Installer Team at Microsoft posted Invitation to Windows Installer Tools Vendors for a Live Meeting Event at their blog web site saying, "At this event we'll discuss the next step for the Windows Installer so you can consider the fit to your plans". Couple of days ago at MSDN pages for Windows Installer, I found the following:

Windows Installer 4.1 updates Windows Installer 4.0 without adding any new features and is available in Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. [Link]

So when can we expect the new version of Windows Installer 4.1 to be available (also obviously as a redistributable upgrade to current Windows Installer 4.0 on Vista)? Microsoft hasn't issued a press release with that pronouncement. Instead, it notified its Technology Adoption Partner testers of it via an e-mail regarding the imminent start of the Vista SP1 testing program where they mention:

The Technology Adoption Program (TAP) is looking for customers and partners actively test and provide feedback on Windows Vista SP1 to help us prepare for its release in the second half of CY07.

There will definitely be sessions as like Webcasts, blogs, documentation's etc from Windows Installer Team at Microsoft about the new release, I will keep them posted as soon as I find more details. For now, either subscribe for RSS feeds or bookmark this site.

Versions of Windows Installer & Downloads

Sunday, June 10, 2007

New Windows Installer KB Articles relating to Vista (929710, 929467)

    1. Windows Installer custom action code must be compatible with Data Execution Prevention in Windows Vista

    2. Notification message when you remove or repair a program in Windows Vista: "An unidentified program wants to access your computer"

    These articles were discussed earlier by Windows Installer Team as future candidates to be included at Microsoft Knowledge Base. As the team explains, a future scheduled to be published Knowledge Base article titled "ElevationShield will not show during maintenance mode on a Windows Installer native UI PushButton control" is already on it's queue.