IT's all in the wrist...: July 2012

Tuesday, 31 July 2012

Outlook.com

Microsoft have released a new modern metro version of email;

Sigh up here.

Login with your Live/Hotmail account and under options/settings/Cog you can revert back to Hotmail again (for now anyway!)

Monday, 30 July 2012

Windows 8 Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT)

Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) enables IT administrators to manage Windows Server remotely. Since Windows Server 2008, RSAT has been a free download for Windows client-based operating systems. RSAT is the evolution of the Administrative Tools pack (also known as Admin Pack) that was available to manage roles on Windows Server 2003.

Currently, RSAT for Windows 8 can only be installed on Windows 8 Release Preview. When the preview period is over, you’ll be able to install RSAT only on Windows 8 Pro. RSAT for Windows 8 is designed to work best when managing roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server 2012.

Deploy RSAT here.
Download RSAT here.
Customise RSAT here.

SharePoint 2013 Blog

The SharePoint Team have now started blogging on new features.
Blog can be found here.

Saturday, 28 July 2012

Windows 8 RTM?

Rumour is .. RTM August 1st 2012.
~~Build~~ ~~8888.16384.win8_rtm.120724-1555~~
Build 9200.16384.win8_rtm.120725-1247

Friday, 27 July 2012

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Advantages of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V over VMware vSphere 5.0

In this course, we will look at the competitive advantages of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V over VMware vSphere 5. We will look specifically at Hyper-V and how it competes effectively against VMware vSphere 5 when building virtualized infrastructures.

Video Series;
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

More information is located here.

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Microsoft App-V 5.0 (Beta 2) now available

App-V 5.0 Beta 2 now supports Office 2013 Customer Preview which will now be delivered as an App-V package directly to customers. Now you can roll it out quickly and easily, providing on-demand access, co-existence with previous Office versions and integration with local applications – no Office Deployment Kit required.

In addition:

- Reporting: App-V 5.0 Beta 2 now allows you to report on virtual application inventory and utilization, helping IT departments track software assets throughout the enterprise.

- Integration with the System Center Configuration Manager 2012: With the upcoming release of Service Pack 1 for System Center Configuration Manager 2012, you will be able to manage App-V 5.0 Beta 2 virtual applications throughout their lifecycle.

- End-to-end programmability: App-V 5.0 Beta 2 adds PowerShell automation to the management server and the sequencer. For those IT Pros who prefer to get under the hood you now have complete programmability and automation for virtual application management and packaging.

More information can be found here.
Download beta here.

Saturday, 21 July 2012

Office Web Apps 2013 with SkyDrive (beta)

Office Web Apps has now been upgraded with the ~~beta~~ Office 2013 consumer preview; if you have a SkyDrive account use the following URL.

More details can be found here.

Thursday, 19 July 2012

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 (GA Release Date)

Installing Exchange 2013

Some pre-requisites are required;

Windows Server 2012
- Open Windows PowerShell.
- Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

Install-WindowsFeature AS-HTTP-Activation, Desktop-Experience, 
NET-Framework-45-Features, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, 
Web-Mgmt-Console, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Basic-Auth, 
Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth, Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Dyn-Compression, 
Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Http-Redirect, Web-Http-Tracing, 
Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console, Web-Metabase, 
Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service, Web-Net-Ext45, Web-Request-Monitor, 
Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, 
Web-WMI, Windows-Identity-Foundation

After you've installed the operating system roles and features, install the following software in the order shown:

Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit
Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack 64 bit
Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack SP1 64 bit

- You must also uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta Redistributable (x64)
- Open Control Panel > Programs and Features.
- Select Visual C++ 11 Beta Redistributable (x64) - 11.0.50531 and then click Uninstall.
- In Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta setup, click Uninstall.
- When Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta is uninstalled, click Close.

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
- Open Windows PowerShell.
- Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

Import-Module ServerManager

Add-WindowsFeature Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework, NET-HTTP-Activation,
RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Web-Server, WAS-Process-Model,
Web-Asp-Net, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth,
Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Dyn-Compression, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging,
Web-Http-Redirect, Web-Http-Tracing, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter,
Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console, Web-Metabase, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service,
Web-Net-Ext, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression,
Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI

After you've installed the operating system roles and features, install the following software in the order shown:

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 RC
Windows Management Framework 3.0
Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit
Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack 64 bit
Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack SP1 64 bit
Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB974405 (Windows Identity Foundation)
Knowledge Base article KB2619234 (Enable the Association Cookie/GUID that is used by RPC over HTTP to also be used at the RPC layer in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2)
Knowledge Base article KB2533623 (Insecure library loading could allow remote code execution)

For Exchange 2013 Preview, you must also do the following in the order shown:

Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta Redistributable (x64) This task must be done after you've installed UCMA, but before you run Exchange 2013 Preview Setup. To uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta Redistributable (x64), do the following:

- Open Control Panel > Programs and Features.
- Select Visual C++ 11 Beta Redistributable (x64) - 11.0.50531 and then click Uninstall.
- In Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta setup, click Uninstall.
-When Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta is uninstalled, click Close.

For more information, see Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta Redistributable (x64)

Register ASP.NET with .NET Framework 4.5 in Internet Information Services (IIS) This must be done after you've completed the process described earlier in “Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta Redistributable (x64)”, but before you run Exchange 2013 Preview Setup. To register ASP.NET with .NET Framework 4.5 in IIS, do the following:

Open a Windows Command Prompt.
Run the following command:

%SystemDrive%\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe -ir –enable

then;

IISReset

Exchange 2013 Prerequisites

Exchange 2013 Exchange Administration Center (EAC)

Some screen shots of the Exchange 2013 Admin Center.

Login Screen.

Main EAC View.

Mailbox Details.

Permissions.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP).

Compliance.

Inline Apps.

Mail Flow.

Mobile Devices.

Public Folders.

Databases.

Database Limits.

Database Availability Groups.

Virtual Directories.

Hybrid (On / Off Premise).

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

Exchange 2013 OWA

Some screen shots of Exchange 2013 OWA

OWA Login Screen.

Offline Mode.

Offline Mode Options.

Sending a new email is inline (or pop out).

Email Options.

Themes.

GAL search.

Calendar.

Calendar Sharing.

People / Contacts.

Tasks.

Administrator Options.

More Administrator Options.

Exchange 2013 Help Screen.

Exchange 2013 Administration Center

More information can be found at TechNet Exchange Administration Center (EAC)

The Exchange Administration Center (EAC) is the web-based management console in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Preview that allows for ease of use and is optimized for on-premises, online, or hybrid Exchange deployments. The EAC replaces the Exchange Management Console (EMC) and the Exchange Control Panel (ECP), which were the two interfaces that were used to manage Exchange Server 2010.

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Preview

SharePoint 2013 Preview Site

Put social to work: Share ideas, discover answers and keep track of what your colleagues are working with new social features throughout SharePoint.

Share your stuff: Publish content to SharePoint from any Office application and share with people inside and outside your organization in a few simple clicks.

Take SharePoint on the go: Share documents, update your activity feed and keep in touch with your colleagues from your mobile phone or tablet.

Keep projects on track: Organize all your projects and tasks to get visibility into upcoming deliverables across SharePoint, Outlook and Microsoft Project.

Keep your team connected: Set up a new team site in minutes track meeting notes and bring together all your team's email and documents in one place.

Store and sync your docs: Sync your content in SharePoint to your desktop with SkyDrive Pro, so docs are just a mouse click away, even if you're offline.

Find experts you never knew existed: Connect with people across your organization and easily discover interests, past projects and documents they've worked on.

Discover insights and answers: Turn raw data into gorgeous interactive reports with Excel 2013 and publish to SharePoint to share insights with the people you work with.

Find what you're looking for: Customize and narrow your search to deliver more relevant results, and get recommendations on people and documents to follow.

Download SharePoint 2013 Preview

Monday, 16 July 2012

Microsoft Exchange 2013 Preview

What's New in Exchange 2013 Preview

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Preview brings a new rich set of technologies, features, and services to the Exchange Server product line. Its goal is to support people and organizations as their work habits evolve from a communication focus to a collaboration focus. At the same time, Exchange Server 2013 Preview helps lower the total cost of ownership whether you deploy Exchange 2013 Preview on-premises or provision your mailboxes in the cloud. New features and functionality in Exchange 2013 Preview are designed to do the following:

Support a multigenerational workforce Social integration and making it easier to find people is important to users. Smart Search learns from users' communication and collaboration behaviour to enhance and prioritize search results in Exchange. Also, with Exchange 2013 Preview, users can merge contacts from multiple sources to provide a single view of a person, by linking contact information pulled from multiple locations.
Provide an engaging experience Microsoft Outlook 2013 Preview and Microsoft Office Outlook Web App have a fresh new look. Outlook Web App emphasizes a streamlined user interface that also supports the use of touch, enhancing the mobile device experience with Exchange.
Integrate with SharePoint and Lync Exchange 2013 Preview offers greater integration with Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Preview and Microsoft Lync 2013 Preview through site mailboxes and In-Place eDiscovery.
Help meet evolving compliance needs Compliance and eDiscovery are challenging for many organizations. Exchange 2013 Preview helps you to find and search data not only in Exchange, but across your organization. With improved search and indexing, you can search across Exchange 2013 Preview, Lync 2013 Preview, SharePoint 2013 Preview, and Windows file servers.
Provide a resilient solution Exchange 2013 Preview builds upon the Exchange Server 2010 architecture and has been redesigned for simplicity of scale, hardware utilization, and failure isolation.

Download Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Preview
Exchange Server 2013 TechNet Documentation

Lync 2013 Preview

Multiparty HD video and content sharing

Video gallery: The video gallery simultaneously displays up to five different participants’ videos, identifies the active speaker, and associates names with faces. HD photos represent all additional meeting participants.

H.264 SVC support: Lync uses open standards, including H.264 SVC, to enable HD video conferencing across a range of devices.

Presenter controls: Lead meetings professionally with presenter controls that are accessible but don’t distract, and that are designed to optimize for the type of meeting, audience size, and the content and/or video sources available to participants.

Optimized for an immersive Windows 8 experience: Reimagined for Windows 8, Lync provides fast, natural, hands-on control of communications across the entire range of Windows 8 devices and architectures.

Lync Web App: Both PC and Mac users can now join a Lync Meeting from a browser and enjoy the rich Lync Meeting experience, including multiparty HD video, voice over IP (VoIP), instant messaging, and desktop, application, and PowerPoint sharing.

Lync Mobile: Lync Mobile enables communication with anyone, no matter where you are. Send an IM, make a Lync call, or even join a Lync Meeting with just one touch—from a Windows Phone, or an iOS or Android device. Stay productive on the go with voice and video over IP, PowerPoint sharing, and more collaboration capabilities.

Federation with Skype: Connect with anyone on Skype, which enables rich communications among hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Extension of Lync presence, instant messaging, and peer-to-peer voice capabilities to Skype users: Extend your reach by connecting Lync users with Skype users. Lync-to-Skype federation opens a new communications door for enterprises searching for inventive and differentiated opportunities for new customer acquisition, customer retention, and business-to-consumer communications.

Preview web site available here.

Download Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Preview

Microsoft Office 2013 (Consumer Preview)

Video Launch on Monday July 16th.

Official Office 2013 Web Site.
Office Next Blog

Word 2013 Preview

New Read Mode Text reflows automatically in columns to make it easier to read.

Object Zoom When you view tables, charts, images, or online videos, a finger tap or mouse click lets you see the detail. When you’re done, another tap or click returns them to their original size.

Resume Reading Word automatically bookmarks your last-visited spot. Enjoy your reading, take a breather, and then pick up where you left off—even on a different PC or tablet.

Reply Comment Place comments next to the text you’re discussing so it’s easy to track the conversation.

Simplified Sharing Your documents are saved online to SkyDrive or SharePoint by default. Send everyone a link to the same file, along with their viewing and editing permissions, and be assured that everyone sees the latest version.*

Present Online Share your document with others even if they don’t have Word. Send them a link, and as you read through the document on your screen, they can follow along in their browsers.

Alignment Guides Align charts, photos, and diagrams with your text for a polished, professional look. Handy guides pop into place when you need them and disappear when you’re done.

Live Layout Text reflows instantly as you drag a photo, video, or shape to its new position. Release the mouse button, and your object and surrounding text stay where you want them.

PDF Reflow Open a PDF in Word, and its paragraphs, lists, tables, and other content act just like Word content.

Excel 2013 Preview

Recommended Pivot Table Excel summarizes your data with previews of various pivot-table options, letting you select the option that tells your story best.

Flash Fill Here’s the easy way to reformat and rearrange your data. Excel learns and recognizes your pattern and auto-completes the remaining data, with no formulas or macros required.

Recommended Charts Let Excel recommend the charts that best illustrate your data’s patterns. Quickly preview your chart and graph options, and then pick the option that works best.

Quick Analysis Lens Discover a variety of ways to represent your data visually. When you like what you see, apply formatting, sparklines, charts, and tables with a single click.

Chart Formatting Control Fine-tune your charts quickly and easily. Change the title, layout, and other chart elements—all from a new and more interactive interface.

Simplified Sharing Your workbooks are saved online to SkyDrive or SharePoint by default.* Send everyone a link to the same file, along with their viewing and editing permissions, and be assured that everyone sees the latest version.

Post to Social Network Share selected portions of your spreadsheets on the web by simply embedding them on your social network pages.

Present Online Share your workbooks and collaborate with others via a Lync conversation or meeting. You can also allow others to take control of your workbook.

Outlook 2013 Preview

Exchange ActiveSync Support Connect Outlook with Exchange ActiveSync, and you’ll receive push-based email, appointments, and contacts via the most popular email servers and services.

Navigation Bar Continue to enjoy quick and convenient ways to open your email, calendar, contacts, and tasks.

Social Connectors Get the very latest updates automatically from people in the social networks you rely on most—LinkedIn, Facebook, and others.

Peeks Grab a quick glance at your schedule, an appointment, or details about someone you’re emailing—without having to rearrange windows or lose your train of thought.

People Card Seamlessly integrate multiple contacts into a single view, while presenting social context and removing needless duplication.

Share Your Calendar Make your calendar available for others to view, so that scheduling meetings and responding to meeting invitations is easier and more convenient for everyone.

Weather Bar View the forecast right in Outlook, and let the coming weather inform how you plan your day’s schedule or your next trip.

Search Quickly find email, attachments, calendar appointments, and contacts through improved search.

Fast Filters and Context Commands With a single click, instantly see what’s on your calendar today, next week, or next month. Filter, arrange, and work with your email in a number of intuitive ways.

MSDN Download Available.

Office Professional Plus 2013 Preview (x86)
Release Date: 7/16/2012
625 MB
File Name: en_office_professional_plus_2013_preview_x86_887709.exe

Office Professional Plus 2013 Preview (x64)
Release Date: 7/16/2012
703 MB
File Name: en_office_professional_plus_2013_preview_x64_887710.exe
SHA1: C802D1067CF2230B01241638433A6E10A5953B8F

Friday, 13 July 2012

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (videos)

Learn how to use;
- Application Virtualisation (App-V)
- Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM)
- Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT)
- Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring (MBAM)

MDOP Videos can be located here;

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Windows Server 2012 Beta Essentials

Windows Home Server 2011 is dead, Long live Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

Q: Will there be a next version of Windows Home Server?

A: No. Windows Home Server has seen its greatest success in small office/home office (SOHO) environments and among the technology enthusiast community. For this reason, Microsoft is combining the features that were previously only found in Windows Home Server, such as support for DLNA-compliant devices and media streaming, into Windows Server 2012 Beta Essentials and focusing our efforts into making Windows Server 2012 Beta Essentials the ideal first server operating system for both small business and home use—offering an intuitive
administration experience, elastic and resilient storage features with Storage Spaces, and robust data protection for the server and client computers.

More information can be found here.

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Z-Hire Employee Provisioning App

Z-Hire automates the IT account creation process for Exchange mailbox, Active Directory, Lync accounts and Office 365 cloud deployments. With just a click of the button, your Exchange mailbox, and Active directory and Lync accounts will be created simultaneously.

Z-Hire Employee Provisioning App

Friday, 6 July 2012

Windows Server 2012 Editions

A new simplified licensing model going forward;

*Plus HPC will now be an add-on to your licensed Windows Server 2012
** No more Home Server

Windows Server 2012 Licensing Data Sheet

Tuesday, 3 July 2012

Lync 2010 Jump Start (Free Training)

Microsoft have just released the following “Free” Lync 2010 Jump Start training videos which in my opinion are very good.

Main Site is located …

Video Content is located …

Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (Free Training)

Microsoft have just released the following “Free” Windows Server 2012 Jump Start training videos which in my opinion are very good.

Main Site is located …

Video Content is located …

Other Jump Start Videos for {Office 365, Cloud 101 etc.} can be found here