This new paper from Microsoft details the Forefront Security for Exchange beta. From the site: Forefront Security for Exchange protects organizations against the latest threats by managing multiple antivirus scan engines at multiple layers throughout the e-mail infrastructure. This approach allows Forefront for Exchange to minimize the average window of exposure for emerging e-mail threats by providing continual signature updates from multiple antivirus labs around the world. Forefront also protects ......

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Tentatively scheduled for 2007:

1. January 11th in Dayton and
2. February 2nd in Cincinnati.

There will be some more information on the website in the next day or so. Stay tuned as I am trying to get some great speakers in for these two meetings! And happy holidays to everyone!

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Remote Desktop Connection (Terminal Services Client 6.0) for Windows XP (KB925876) Remote Desktop Connection (Terminal Services Client 6.0) provides a way to use any new Terminal Services features introduced in Microsoft Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows Server Code Name “Longhorn” from a computer running Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 ......

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A big thank you to the presenters at the November Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group meeting! Matt Hester from Microsoft presented on Exchange 2007 and Windows Vista. It was great to get some more information on unified messaging which is possibly the most requested topic where Exchange 2007 is concerned. We also heard from Tim Brunner on Symantec's Enterprise Vault product and how it helps medium to large organizations with compliance and retention. Our next meeting will be in January and you can ......

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I have been running Windows Vista RTM since it was released to MSDN a little under a week ago. So far, it has been bliss. Nothing major, or even close to major has made me want to switch back to XP. I have had to make some adjustments, but most have been the fault of those who have not made their software compatible (cough Zune) or who have compatible version coming out shortly. But I digress . . . I filled up my 20 GB C: partition pretty quickly once I migrated all of my data over. And there sat ......

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Microsoft has finally released the RC (release candidate - read still beta and not for production) of service pack two for Windows Server 2003. From the website: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) delivers on Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative and illustrates Microsoft's commitment to continually create software products with enhanced security, increased reliability, and simplified administration. Windows Server 2003 SP2 builds upon the impressive track record of the award-winning ......

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Disclaimer: I am a die-hard Ohio State Buckeyes fan. Everyone in the country who loves college football is talking about this and yet, I feel compelled to put my two cents in. It is most likely due to this being the day before Thanksgiving - who wants to actually work? I wont recount every argument I have heard on ESPN, ESPN Radio and in the press. There is a good summary of all the salient points here. Plus, I really agree with his reasons for not having the rematch. If the unthinkable happened ......

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Now that I have made the switch to Windows Vista full time I have had to re-think my RSS reader. I originally switched to RSS Bandit after being a long time FeedDemon user one day when FeedDemon pushed me over the edge with its activation. I work as a consultant and systems engineer and I love to beta test software and generally experiment. As such, I rebuild my laptop often. One to many times as far as FeedDemon was concerned. The first time it happened their support team was quick to clean it up. ......

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From Microsoft Downloads: How does a large enterprise plan and implement the migration of its existing 32-bit messaging system to the 64-bit platform? In this podcast, find out how Microsoft IT was able to take advantage of 64-bit architecture to fully deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 in its production environment. Hear engineers from the Microsoft IT messaging team describe how they were able to overcome some of the toughest performance bottlenecks in the Microsoft messaging systems. Learn ......

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I know, I ranted on the Zune already, but how the heck did the Zune team overlook building in some kick-butt pod\blogcast management and subscription tools in to the Zune player and software? It seems glaringly apparent to me that the only qualification for being on the team for this device was a love of obscure indie music and the color brown. Pod\blogcasts are no longer cutting edge, but a must-have, especially for an IT Pro looking for a device that can help him consume job-relevant content in ......

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So a lot of us ran out to Circuit City, Target, CompUSA, etc. to get our hands on Microsoft’s latest portable media offering – the super-hyped Zune. Zune has been in production, publicly, for at least the past 8 months. Even longer behind the scenes I am sure. At the same time Microsoft has also been feverishly developing and testing in preparation for release the latest incarnation of its desktop operating system – Windows Vista. Common sense would tell you that somewhere in that time span someone ......

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Not too long ago there was only one blogging tool that I felt great about – BlogJet. I used it for a long time and was very happy. There wasn’t anything I was especially displeased with. Then some more blogging tools made their way on to my radar. From Microsoft. Generally, I will give any product from Microsoft a shot. I use a Microsoft OS. I am a (largely) Microsoft-centric systems engineer and technical manager. The first was during the beta testing of the Microsoft Office System 2007. My favorite ......

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Check it out here.

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Here is a list of the available editions and features, as well as CAL information for the next version of Exchange. To be released on November 30, 2007.

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Another virtual hard disk (.vhd) image from Microsoft which contains the following: A VPC hard disk image containing a pre-activated Windows XP SP2, IE6 and the IE7 Readiness Toolkit. Personally I love this new approach and hope Microsoft keeps on going! I had to do some research and testing on ADAM (Active Directory Application Mode) yesterday and the canned Windows Server 2003 R2 image was the perfect pre-made environment in which to do this! Zero prep time was needed since I had already downloaded ......

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From Paul Donnelly, part of the Microsoft Vista Product Team to Windows Vista beta testers: I'm excited to announce that we have completed final testing and this morning declared build 6000.16386 as Microsoft Windows Vista. The feedback and collective voice of this community has helped shaped this version of Windows like no other. We would like to extend our thanks to all of you for your help is building the highest quality, most secure, most reliable version of Windows yet! Update: http://windowsvistablog.com... ......

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Microsoft Download has now posted a number of virtual hard drive (.VHD) images pre-installed with Windows Server products like Exchange 2007, SQL 2005, ISA Server 2006 and Windows Server 2003 R2. This is a brilliant move IMO as it removes one of the biggest barriers to testing software in a virtual environment: the time it takes to install and set up the environment. I am curious to see the licensing and expiry around these images, but again, IMO, this is clearly a move in the right direction and ......

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Office 2007 has gone golden. Read about it here.

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I didn't want to announce this previously as I wasn't sure if it was intended to be publicly unleashed yet. However, seeing as how it is advertised in the latest TechNet Flash email newsletter I am sure I can share now! Here is the blurb from the newsletter: Are you interested in knowing what your peers are saying about Microsoft Office 2007? Do you want to see the feedback on the new Windows Vista license changes? Or maybe you have a new script you'd like to share with a larger group of IT pros. ......

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Exchange Server 2007: A Quick Hands-on Overview in an Online Virtual Lab Express

In this 30-minute Virtual Lab Express, you will familiarize yourself with the Exchange Management Console and Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access, and work with compliance and records management rules.

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