All set for a big launch wave!

Microsoft is going to make one of the biggest launch waves in history with an assortment of new product releases.

The launch wave will begin with the release of Windows 7 on October 22, 2009, and the shipping of Windows Server 2008 R2.

The coming months will also see the launch of Microsoft Office 2010, and the next versions of Exchange Server, Windows Mobile, and SharePoint Server.

The most dynamic change common to the new versions of all these products, is the vision that these products can be hosted on-premises, hosted by partners, or “in the cloud” – which helps create more value for customers and partners alike, especially in a tough economic environment.

Free OCS Public IM connectivity for Windows Live Messenger

Microsoft has made licensing changes on the Public  instant-messaging (IM) connectivity supported by Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS).

Live Communications Server Public IM Connectivity (LCS PIC) license has been renamed to “Office Communications Server Public IM Connectivity (OCS PIC). Those with certain OCS Client Access Licenses (CALs) will no longer require Public IM connectivity licenses to federate with Windows Live — but still will require them to federate with AOL and Yahoo.

Windows Live Federation offers users the option to add Windows Live Contacts (MSN/Hotmail contacts) to their Office Communicator contact lists, view presence status and chat with those contacts.

The licensing change took effect on July 1, 2009.

Microsoft Maren

You can now type real Arabic through English, even if you do not have an Arabic keyboard or if you are unfamiliar with one.

Check out Microsoft Maren, a free download for you, from Microsoft Egypt.

 

Exchange Server support on Snow Leopard

In the upcoming OS X update from Apple, users will be able to connect directly to Exchange Server without having to install additional applications such as Microsoft Entourage.

Users simply enter their Exchange email address and password and the OS will automatically sync the email, contacts, calendar, to-do items, notes etc with Exchange Server.

Release Candidate for SCVMM 2008 R2 available

The Release Candidate (RC) for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 is now available for download on Microsoft Connect.

The major new features included with SCVMM 2008 R2 are:

• Storage Migration: Enables migration of a VM’s storage while VM is running both within same host (with no downtime) and across other hosts (with minimum downtime).
• Live Migration Queuing: By default Windows Server 2008 R2 can do only one Live Migration at a time. SCVMM 2008 R2 allows queuing of simultaneous live migration requests and retrying later on.
• Rapid Provisioning: Allows administrators to use new SAN technologies to clone a LUN containing a VHD and present it to the host. Saves a lot of time, as the network copy (BITS) is not required.
• Host compatibility Checks: Deep compatibility tests for testing hardware compatibility are included, which allows testing to be done before attempting migration (and subsequently failing). Also includes features that will make the VM compatible with the new host before migration.
• Support for 3rd party Clustered File Systems (CFS): Support for third party clustered files systems similar to Microsoft’s Cluster Shared Volume (CSV). Example: Melo from Sanbolic
• Support for Veritas Volume Manager: SCVMM 2008 R2 now recognizes Veritas Volume Manager disks as cluster disk resources.

Happy virtualization!

The Arrival of Abdullah

It is with pleasure that I announce that the almighty has blessed us with a baby boy. Abdullah Ehsan ibn Shijaz was born on June 4, 2009 at 12:40 AM in Muscat, Oman.

‘Abdullāh (عبد الله), in Arabic, means servant of God. Humility before God is an essential value in Islam, hence Abdullah is a preferred male name among Muslims.

Ehsān (Arabic: احسان), is an Arabic term meaning perfection or excellence, which is related to the word "goodness" (الحسن‎). It is a matter of taking one's inner faith (eeman) and showing it in both deed and action, a sense of social responsibility borne from religious convictions.

In Islam, Ehsan is the Muslim responsibility to obtain perfection, or excellence, in worship, such that Muslims try to worship God as if they see Him, and although they cannot see Him (due to the belief that Allah is not made of materials), they undoubtedly believe that He is constantly watching over them. That definition comes from the hadith (known as the Hadith of Gabriel) in which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) states, "[Ehsan is] to worship God as though you see Him, and if you cannot see Him, then indeed He sees you." (Al-Bukhari and Al-Muslim).

Bing – the new “decision” engine from Microsoft

Microsoft today unveiled Bing, a new Decision Engine. Bing takes users beyond ordinary search – in helping them make faster, more informed decisions.

The world doesn’t need another search engine – what it needs is a decision engine!

Bing is specifically designed to build on the benefits of today’s search engines but begins to move beyond this experience with a new approach to user experience and intuitive tools to help customers make better decisions, focusing initially on four key vertical areas:

• making a purchase decision,
• planning a trip,
• researching a health condition, or
• finding a local business.

Bing goes one step beyond a search engine – it’s a decision engine – meant to help users make decisions based on search.

For more info on Bing, read the press release. Bing will available for the public at www.bing.com from June 3. Check out the video below:

Bing - A better way to search

GPS birds might crash in 2010

A report from the GAO (Government Accountability Office) states that GPS systems may start failing from early next year due to a number of reasons, including lack of maintenance of satellites.

Fewer satellites, not replacing older satellites, and the rapid growth in the use of GPS devices are among the reasons listed.

GPS is being used by trucking and shipping companies to track exact location of their vessels. Emergency 911 services use GPS to track responders. Commercial airline pilots use GPS systems to get people safely to their destinations. Militaries use GPS on guided weapons to reach the correct target. Imagine if one of these things went horribly wrong!

Besides that, thousands of motorists around the world (like me) use GPS systems to find the way around town! Imagine your GPS device blacking out after getting you stranded in the middle of nowhere…

See also: Lost in the desert – with a GPS!

Windows 7 Beta: Shutdowns begin from July 1

Windows 7 Beta will begin bi-hourly shutdowns starting from July 1, 2009. The Beta will completely expire on August 1, 2009.

Windows 7 Beta users should do a clean install of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), which will expire on June 1, 2010. Bi-hourly shutdowns of the RC will start on March 1, 2010.

Attention: Important Information on SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 2

We at Microsoft take product quality seriously and make every effort to avoid and resolve issues that adversely impact our customers.  Unfortunately, a bug with MOSS 2o07 Service Pack 2 (SP2) has been discovered that affects all customers that have deployed it for SharePoint Server 2007.

During the installation of SP2, a product expiration date is improperly activated. This means SharePoint will expire as though it was a trial installation 180 days after SP2 is deployed. The activation of the expiration date will not affect the normal function of SharePoint up until the expiration date passes. Furthermore, product expiration 180 days after SP2 installation will not affect customer’s data, configuration or application code but will render SharePoint inaccessible for end-users.

Microsoft is working to release a hotfix to automatically fix this issue. A manual work-around is currently available and involves customers re-entering their Product ID number (PID) on the Convert License Type page in Central Administration.  For more information and detailed steps please read this KB article.

Microsoft wishes to assure their customers that this issue does not impact data integrity or their SharePoint deployment in any other way.

The team apologizes for any inconvenience this issue may cause you.

Q &A

Which products are affected by this?
Applying Service Pack 2 to any of the following products will result in this issue: Office SharePoint Server 2007, Project Server 2007, Form Server 2007, Search Server 2008 and Search Server 2008 Express.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is not affected by this issue.

What can I do to fix it?
To work around this issue customers will need to re-enter their Product ID numbers (PID) on the Convert License Type page in Central Administration.  Please see this KB article for detailed steps.

Customers can also wait for the hotfix (available for free from http://support.microsoft.com) to resolve this issue.

Product ID numbers (PIDs) can be retrieved by logging into the Volume Licensing Service Center.

Note: For Search Server 2008 Express the only way to resolve this issue is to apply the hotfix.

What is Microsoft doing to fix it?
Microsoft is working on a hotfix and public update for the product. We will update this blog post with details and a link to the hotfix as soon as it is available.

Do I need to update all of the servers in my farm?
No. The Product ID number only needs to be entered once.

What if I haven’t installed SP2 yet but want to? What should I do?
You can continue to plan for and install Service Pack 2 for SharePoint Server 2007 with the additional step of re-entering your Product ID number after the installation is complete by following the instructions in this KB article. (The KB link is not currently active, it will be available within the next 48hrs)

Does this issue impact anything else?
The issue only activates the product expiration date. The activation of the expiration date does not affect the normal function of SharePoint up until the expiration date passes, at which point SharePoint will be inaccessible for end-users. This issue does not affect customer’s data, configuration or application code.

I can’t find/don’t know my original PID, where can I find it?
Product ID numbers (PIDs) can be retrieved by logging into the Volume Licensing Service Center.