Windows 10

Windows 7, ate (8)  9 so we get 10.




Bits can be downloaded here from the Windows Insider Program. More information can be found here and here.
Windows Server 2015 or Windows Server X or Windows Server 10 can be found here.
New windows dos prompt features can be found here.

Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controllers

Have you got Windows Server 2003 domain controllers?
Have you started the migration to Windows Server 2012 R2? 
Have you added a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller into the same domain as your Windows Server 2003 domain controllers?

Houston!, you might have a problem!;

When any domain user tries to log on to their computer, the logon may fail with “unknown username or bad password”. Only local logons are successful.

Event ID: 4
Source: Kerberos
Type: Error
"The Kerberos client received a KRB_AP_ERR_MODIFIED error from the server host/myserver.domain.com.  This indicates that the password used to encrypt the Kerberos service ticket is different than that on the target server. Commonly, this is due to identically named machine accounts in the target realm (domain.com), and the client realm.   Please contact your system administrator."

Please review this article as there are lots of people having issues and there is currently NO fix!

UPDATE:  The hotfix is now available for this issue!  Get it at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2989971

Group Policy: TechED 2014 TX - Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

Microsoft Azure RemoteApp

A new service from Microsoft that delivers Windows applications from the Azure cloud. Azure RemoteApp features the high fidelity, WAN-ready user experience of RDP and RemoteFX, builds on the proven Remote Desktop Services infrastructure in Windows Server, and leverages Azure’s global scale and utility-grade reliability as a leading cloud provider, providing a finished, turn-key service that offers Windows applications as a service accessible from anywhere.

Join the preview today: http://remoteapp.azure.com

Key Features

End-user Experience
Those of you familiar with RemoteApp in Windows Server will instantly recognize the user experience in Azure RemoteApp: While the application is running remotely, it appears to the user as if it is running locally on the client device. Azure RemoteApp uses RDP, a WAN ready protocol that is resilient to network latency and loss. The applications are delivered with a high fidelity, fast and fluid user experience appropriate for a variety of interactive scenarios and content, from routine text input to multimedia.

Supported Clients
With this announcement, we are releasing a brand new Microsoft RemoteApp app for Windows, and we are also issuing updates to our Microsoft Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android to support Azure RemoteApp. We will soon add Azure RemoteApp support to our client apps for Mac, Windows Phone and Windows RT as well.

Persistent Storage for Users
Azure RemoteApp provides users with 50GB persistent storage. This storage is backed by highly reliable, fault tolerant Azure Storage and it is persistent.

Windows Server 2012R2 Session Virtualization
Azure RemoteApp builds on the Remote Desktop Services capabilities of Windows Server. Users share common underlying infrastructure through Session Virtualization, which provides for a highly efficient application hosting environment.

Office 2013 Preinstalled
Office is arguably the most important and prevalent application suite out there. During the preview, we are offering Microsoft Office 2013 ProPlus preinstalled with Azure RemoteApp.

Dynamic Scalability
Azure RemoteApp is built on Azure’s scalable fabric and extends it by providing a platform-as-a-service environment for Windows apps. This environment is dynamically scalable, expanding or shrinking capacity in real time in response to user connections. With traditional desktop virtualization deployments, capacity planning and capital expenditures are a major concern. In contrast, with Azure RemoteApp, you do not need to invest in expensive hardware and you get dynamic scalability built-in.

Global Presence
Azure RemoteApp benefits from Azure’s global network of datacenters. At preview, we are offering Azure RemoteApp in six regions: US West, US East, Western Europe, North Europe, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Two Deployment Choices: Cloud-only and Hybrid

More information can be found here;

Microsoft Azure Automation

This tutorial walks you through the steps to import and execute an Automation runbook in Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft Azure Automation provides a way for developers to automate the manual, long-running, error-prone, and frequently repeated tasks that are commonly performed in a cloud environment. You can create, monitor, manage, and deploy resources in your Azure environment using runbooks, which under the hood are Windows PowerShell Workflows. To learn more about Automation, see the Automation Overview Guide.

More information can be found here and here.

Enterprise Mode Site List Manager Tool

Enterprise Mode, a compatibility mode that runs on Internet Explorer 11, lets websites render using a modified browser configuration that’s designed to avoid the common compatibility problems associated with web apps written and tested on older versions of Internet Explorer, like Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8.

You can use Internet Explorer 11 and the Enterprise Mode Site List Manager tool to add individual website domains and domain paths and to specify whether the site renders using Enterprise Mode or Standards mode.

Download here; more information here.

Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter 2.0

Microsoft® Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) is a Microsoft-supported, stand-alone solution for the information technology (IT) pro or solution provider who wants to convert virtual machines and disks from VMware hosts to Hyper-V® hosts and Windows Azure™.

MVMC can be deployed with minimal dependencies. Because MVMC provides native support for Windows PowerShell®, it enables scripting and integration with data center automation workflows such as those authored and run within Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 R2. It can also be invoked through the Windows PowerShell® command-line interface. The solution is simple to download, install, and use. In addition to the Windows PowerShell capability, MVMC provides a wizard-driven GUI to facilitate virtual machine conversion.
New Features in MVMC 2.0

MVMC 2.0 release of MVMC includes the following new features:

• Converts virtual disks that are attached to a VMware virtual machine to virtual hard disks (VHDs) that can be uploaded to Windows Azure.
• Provides native Windows PowerShell capability that enables scripting and integration into IT automation workflows.
  Note The command-line interface (CLI) in MVMC 1.0 has been replaced by Windows PowerShell in MVMC 2.0.
• Supports conversion and provisioning of Linux-based guest operating systems from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts.
• Supports conversion of offline virtual machines.
• Supports the new virtual hard disk format (VHDX) when converting and provisioning in Hyper-V in Windows Server® 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012.
• Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.1, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts Hyper-V virtual machines.
• Supports Windows Server® 2012 R2, Windows Server® 2012, and Windows® 8 as guest operating systems that you can select for conversion.

Standard MVMC Features
In addition to the new features previously identified, MVMC provides the following functionality:

• Converts and deploys virtual machines from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts on any of the following operating systems:
• Windows Server® 2012 R2
• Windows Server® 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Converts VMware virtual machines, virtual disks, and configurations for memory, virtual processor, and other virtual computing resources from the source to Hyper-V.
• Adds virtual network interface cards (NICs) to the converted virtual machine on Hyper-V.
• Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.0, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts to Hyper-V.
• Has a wizard-driven GUI, which simplifies performing virtual machine conversions.
• Uninstalls VMware Tools before online conversion (online only) to provide a clean way to migrate VMware-based virtual machines to Hyper-V.
  Important MVMC takes a snapshot of the virtual machine that you are converting before you uninstall VMware Tools, and then shuts down the source machine to preserve state during conversion. The virtual machine is restored to its previous state after the source disks that are attached to the virtual machine are successfully copied to the machine where the conversion process is run. At that point, the source machine in VMware can be turned on, if required.
  Important MVMC does not uninstall VMware Tools in an offline conversion. Instead, it disables VMware services, drivers, and programs only for Windows Server guest operating systems. For file conversions with Linux guest operating systems, VMware Tools are not disabled or uninstalled. We highly recommend that you manually uninstall VMware Tools when you convert an offline virtual machine.
• Supports Windows Server and Linux guest operating system conversion. For more details, see the section “Supported Configurations for Virtual Machine Conversion” in this guide.
• Includes Windows PowerShell capability for offline conversions of VMware-based virtual hard disks (VMDK) to a Hyper-V–based virtual hard disk file format (.vhd file).
  Note The offline disk conversion does not include driver fixes.

Download here;

Windows 8.1 Update Video’s

All about you!

Meet the new Windows.

The Desktop.

April 8th : Windows XP : End of Life : Hello, Farewell, Goodbye!

The end of an era; may the force be with you!!

Windows Server 2012 R2 Update 1

Changes included in the update

After the update is installed, the following features are present:
Internet Explorer 11 now includes an “Enterprise Mode.” This mode is available if you disable Enhanced Security Configuration and provides better compatibility for sites designed for Internet Explorer 8, along with tools to manage which web apps use it. You can specify a list of web apps to render dynamically in Enterprise Mode, avoiding compatibility problems with web apps written for older versions of Internet Explorer. For more information, see the Internet Explorer 11 FAQ for IT Pros or TechNet documentation.

The user interface includes buttons for Search and Power on the Start page. If you install the Desktop Experience feature, other changes introduced with Windows 8.1 Update will also be visible. For details, see What's new in Windows 8.1 Update and Windows RT 8.1 Update. The specific Windows 8.1 features installed when you install Desktop Experience have not changed from those in Windows Server 2012 R2 (see Desktop Experience Overview).

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) has added the capability for an administrator to enable signing in with an alternate login ID that is an attribute of the user object in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This enables customers to adopt Azure Active Directory without modifying on-premises User Principal Names (UPNs). It also allows users to log in to the computer using an Office 365 email address instead of a UPN. This change does not affect the Active Directory schema. For more information, see Configuring Alternate Login ID.

The update includes all other updates released since Windows Server 2012 R2 was released.

SQL Server 2014 Versions (MSDN)

Windows 8.1 Update 1 & Windows 2012 R2 Update 1

Windows 8.1 with Update (multiple editions) (x64) - DVD (English)
ISO English Release Date: 4/2/2014 Details
Download 3924 MB
File Name: en_windows_8.1_with_update_x64_dvd_4065090.iso
Languages: English
SHA1: 4652DC6EBFEBE02C6A63E167C36E3FAEDFB93999

Windows Server 2012 R2 VL with Update (x64) - DVD (English)
ISO English Release Date: 4/2/2014 Details
Download 4338 MB
File Name: en_windows_server_2012_r2_vl_with_update_x64_dvd_4065221.iso
Languages: English
SHA1: D4B28F350981A7C3306DD409B172AEA10D8599AC

Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Update (x64) - (Multiple Languages)
Download 770 MB
File Name: mu_windows_8.1_windows_server_2012r2_windows_embedded_8.1industry_update_x64_4046913.zip
SHA1: 6A5CBC6FD6C1366F1041E03820FD8508FC95A4AC

Office for iPad

Microsoft Word download
Microsoft Excel download
Microsoft PowerPoint download

Q: How much does Office for iPad cost?
A: You can download the Office apps for free and read, view and present documents, spreadsheets and presentations.  To get the full editing and creation experience, you need an Office 365 subscription. Office 365 gives you always-up-to-date versions of Office across your PC, Mac and iPad, and much more.

Q: Can I try Office for iPad?
A: Yes, you can read, view and present documents, spreadsheets and presentations for free.  To get the full editing and creation experience, you can sign up for a free 30 day Office 365 trial at www.office.com/try. Then download the Office for iPad apps in the App Store.  During your trial period, you can use Office across your PC, Mac and iPad.

Q: What Office 365 subscription plans include Office for iPad?
A: Office 365 Home, Office 365 Small Business Premium, Office 365 Midsize Business, Office 365 E3 and E4 (Enterprise and Government), Office 365 Education A3 and A4, Office 365 ProPlus, and Office 365 University. The new Office 365 Personal will also qualify when it becomes available later this spring.

Q: What are the system requirements for Office for iPad?
A: You need an iPad running iOS 7.0 or later.

Anyone for DOS? Word 1.1a?

Microsoft has dusted off the source code for early versions of MS-DOS and Word for Windows and with the help of the Computer History Museum are making this source code available to the public for the first time.

The museum has done an excellent job of curating some of the most significant historical software programs in computing history. As part of this on-going project, the museum will make available two of the most widely used software programs of the 1980’s, MS DOS 1.1 and 2.0 and Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a, to help future generations of technologists better understand the roots of personal computing.

http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/microsoft-ms-dos-early-source-code
http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/microsoft-word-for-windows-1-1a-source-code

SQL Server 2014 releases April 1st

Well they could have picked a better day;
In-Memory OLTP
Windows Azure Integrated Backups
Azure Integrated AlwaysOn Availability Groups
Full matrix is here of features verses editions;

Migrating Windows SQL Cluster to another SAN?

10 easy steps .. and a few nervous twitches

(1) Make sure all cluster services are running off the same server; in my case node01 has all the luns and services etc.  On Windows 2012+ you can use drain nodes.

(2) Shutdown the Cluster.

(3) Remove old iSCSI connections and shutdown the node with no services; then shutdown the primary node.

(4) Copy the Luns to the new SAN using the migration tools provided by the SAN supplier e.g. SANCopy making sure you copy the Lun id’s and serial numbers.

(5) Disconnect the old Luns via the San Manager from node01 and node02 so that the servers cannot see the old SAN Luns.

(6) Start node01 and configure the iSCSI connections and paths to the new SAN.

(7) From the new SAN allocate the migrated Luns to node01.

(8) In node01 check disk manager for the Luns; they should say reserved?

(9) Start the Cluster and check that the services have come back online?

(10) Repeat steps (6) and (7) on node02 and verify that both nodes are now showing in Failover Cluster Manager.

MSDN SharePoint Server 2013 with SP1 & Project Server 2013 with SP1

SharePoint Server 2013 with SP1 (x64) - DVD (English)
ISO English Release Date: 2/28/2014
Download 2692 MB
File Name: en_sharepoint_server_2013_with_sp1_x64_dvd_3823428.iso
Languages: English
SHA1: 9C29CF62E151D362FB02FBF07AEB0440C52DF555

Project Server 2013 with SP1 (x64) - DVD (English)
ISO English Release Date: 2/28/2014
Download 128 MB
File Name: en_project_server_2013_with_sp1_x64_dvd_3833124.iso
Languages: English
SHA1: 3F760EC428045F02BE50C9E372DF51CE14765F7B

SharePoint Server 2013 Service Pack 1

The following file is available for download from Microsoft Download Center:
Download the Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Service Pack 1 package

The following workbook is available for download. This workbook lists the issues that are fixed by this service pack.
Download the Microsoft Office and SharePoint 2013 Service Pack 1 Changes.xlsx package

More information can be found here;

List of all Service Pack 1 (SP1) updates for Microsoft Office 2013 and related desktop products

Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817430 Description of Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office 2013 Language Pack Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817427 Description of Microsoft Office 2013 Language Pack Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Project 2013 Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817433 Description of Microsoft Project 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Visio 2013 Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817443 Description of Microsoft Visio 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Visio 2013 Viewer Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817444 Description of Microsoft Visio 2013 Viewer Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2013 Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817441 Description of Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office Proofing Tools 2013 Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817435 Description of Microsoft Office Proofing Tools 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office Language Interface Pack 2013 Service Pack 1
See the KB article at the right side.
2817428 Description of Microsoft Office Language Interface Pack 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office ScreenTip Language 2013 Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
Download the 64-bit update now.
2817436 Description of Microsoft Office ScreenTip Language 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Office Audit and Control Management Server 2013 Service Pack 1
Download the 32-bit update now.
2863865 Description of Microsoft Office Audit and Control Management Server 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Office 2013 SP1

Office 2013 SP1. Covers these applications:

Access
Excel
InfoPath
Lync
OneDrive for Business (formerly SkyDrive Pro)
OneNote
Outlook
PowerPoint
Publisher
Word

More information can be found here; download here x32 x64.

Exchange 2013 SP1

Security and Compliance

SP1 provides enhancements improving security and compliance capabilities in Exchange Server 2013. This includes improvements in the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) feature and the return of S/MIME encryption for Outlook Web App users.

• DLP Policy Tips in Outlook Web App – DLP Policy Tips are now enabled for Outlook Web App (OWA) and OWA for Devices. These are the same Policy Tips available in Outlook 2013. DLP Policy Tips appear when a user attempts to send a message containing sensitive data that matches a DLP policy. Learn more about DLP Policy Tips.
• DLP Document Fingerprinting – DLP policies already allow you to detect sensitive information such as financial or personal data. DLP Document Fingerprinting expands this capability to detect forms used in your organization. For example, you can create a document fingerprint based on your organization’s patent request form to identify when users are sending that form, and then use DLP actions to properly control dissemination of the content. Learn more about DLP Document Fingerprinting.
• DLP sensitive information types for new regions – SP1 provides an expanded set of standard DLP sensitive information types covering an increased set of regions. SP1 adds region support for Poland, Finland and Taiwan. Learn more about the DLP sensitive information types available.
• S/MIME support for OWA – SP1 also reintroduces the S/MIME feature in OWA, enabling OWA users to send and receive signed and encrypted email. Signed messages allow the recipient to verify that the message came from the specified sender and contains the only the content from the sender. This capability is supported when using OWA with Internet Explorer 9 or later. Learn more about S/MIME in Exchange 2013.
  

 

Architecture & Administration

These improvements help Exchange meet our customer requirements and stay in step with the latest platforms.

• Windows Server 2012 R2 support – Exchange 2013 SP1 adds Windows Server 2012 R2 as a supported operating system and Active Directory environment for both domain and forest functional levels. For the complete configuration support information refer to the Exchange Server Supportability Matrix. This matrix includes details regarding Windows Server 2012 R2 support information about earlier versions of Exchange.
• Exchange Admin Center Cmdlet Logging – The Exchange 2010 Management Console includes PowerShell cmdlet logging functionality. Listening to your feedback, we’re happy to announce that this functionality is now included in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC). The logging feature enables you to capture and review the recent (up to 500) commands executed in the EAC user interface while the logging window is open. Logging is invoked from the EAC help menu and continues logging while the logging window remains open.
  

 

User Experience

We know the user experience is crucial to running a great messaging platform. SP1 provides continued enhancements to help your users work smarter.

• Enhanced text editor for OWA - OWA now uses the same rich text editor as SharePoint, thereby improving the user experience, and enabling several new formatting and composition capabilities that you expect from modern Web application - more pasting options, rich previews to linked content, and the ability to create and modify tables.

More information can be found here; release notes here; download here.

As always please read comments prior to install!

Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3 Update Rollup 5

Issues that the update rollup resolves:

Update Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3 resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

- 2887459 Public folder expiry time is set incorrectly in Exchange Server 2010 SP3
- 2892257 Email items are lost when you move items between shared folders by using EWS delegate access
- 2897935 "Cannot save the object '\FolderName'" error when you replicate Exchange Server 2010 public folders
- 2898908 EdgeTransport.exe crashes if the From field is empty in an email message
- 2903831 Only a single character is allowed in the disclaimer content in ECP
- 2904459 RPC Client Access service crashes if you add "Signed By" or "Send From" column in Outlook online mode
- 2913413 RPC Client Access service crashes with an exception in Exchange Server 2010
- 2913999 Meeting request body and instructions are lost in delegate's auto-forwarded meeting request
- 2916836 EdgeTransport.exe crashes when a transport rule sends a rejection message to an empty address
- 2919513 Memory leak or memory corruption occurs in Exchange Server 2010
- 2924971 RPC Client Access service stops when you select an inactive search folder in Outlook 2007 in an Exchange Server 2010 SP3 environment
- 2926057 EdgeTransport.exe crashes if seek operation failed in Exchange Server 2010
- 2927856 Incorrect recurring meeting if disclaimer transport rule is enabled in Exchange Server 2010

More information can be found here; download here.

Blue anyone? Microsoft Windows 8.1 2014 MSU

More information can be found here;

FILE: Windows8.1-KB2919442-x86.msu
SIZE: 4,769,616 byte
SHA1: ACA709165CB071A5A111F9915BBF2A696B8D3989
MD5: 4E4C25FE3FDB735B9D5FA7D764B57D68
CRC: 3409F3B2

FILE: Windows8.1-KB2919355-x86.msu
SIZE: 263,777,520 byte
SHA1: 03DF6CDA755932359C5A8F624892A2381A49DF05
MD5: E0D563C71FFA62BD91BD836419CBA227
CRC: 6D0146C1

*Disclaimer and zero responsibility!  You are on your own!

Microsoft names new CEO Satya Nadella

Personally I think this is a great choice.

Bill Gates is now Founder and Technology Advisor (no longer Chairman of the board).

Board of Directors and Senior Leaders.

From: Satya Nadella
To: All Employees
Date: Feb. 4, 2014
Subject: RE: Satya Nadella – Microsoft’s New CEO

Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day at Microsoft, 22 years ago. Like you, I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I believed Microsoft was the best company in the world. I saw then how clearly we empower people to do magical things with our creations and ultimately make the world a better place. I knew there was no better company to join if I wanted to make a difference. This is the very same inspiration that continues to drive me today.

It is an incredible honor for me to lead and serve this great company of ours. Steve and Bill have taken it from an idea to one of the greatest and most universally admired companies in the world. I’ve been fortunate to work closely with both Bill and Steve in my different roles at Microsoft, and as I step in as CEO, I’ve asked Bill to devote additional time to the company, focused on technology and products. I’m also looking forward to working with John Thompson as our new Chairman of the Board.

While we have seen great success, we are hungry to do more. Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation. This is a critical time for the industry and for Microsoft. Make no mistake, we are headed for greater places — as technology evolves and we evolve with and ahead of it. Our job is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and cloud-first world.

As we start a new phase of our journey together, I wanted to share some background on myself and what inspires and motivates me.

Who am I?
I am 46. I’ve been married for 22 years and we have 3 kids. And like anyone else, a lot of what I do and how I think has been shaped by my family and my overall life experiences. Many who know me say I am also defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning. I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things. So family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge all define me.

Why am I here?
I am here for the same reason I think most people join Microsoft — to change the world through technology that empowers people to do amazing things. I know it can sound hyperbolic — and yet it’s true. We have done it, we’re doing it today, and we are the team that will do it again.

I believe over the next decade computing will become even more ubiquitous and intelligence will become ambient. The coevolution of software and new hardware form factors will intermediate and digitize — many of the things we do and experience in business, life and our world. This will be made possible by an ever-growing network of connected devices, incredible computing capacity from the cloud, insights from big data, and intelligence from machine learning.

This is a software-powered world.
It will better connect us to our friends and families and help us see, express, and share our world in ways never before possible. It will enable businesses to engage customers in more meaningful ways.

I am here because we have unparalleled capability to make an impact.

Why are we here?
In our early history, our mission was about the PC on every desk and home, a goal we have mostly achieved in the developed world. Today we’re focused on a broader range of devices. While the deal is not yet complete, we will welcome to our family Nokia devices and services and the new mobile capabilities they bring us.

As we look forward, we must zero in on what Microsoft can uniquely contribute to the world. The opportunity ahead will require us to reimagine a lot of what we have done in the past for a mobile and cloud-first world, and do new things.

We are the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices and services that truly empower every individual and every organization. We are the only company with history and continued focus in building platforms and ecosystems that create broad opportunity.

Qi Lu captured it well in a recent meeting when he said that Microsoft uniquely empowers people to "do more." This doesn’t mean that we need to do more things, but that the work we do empowers the world to do more of what they care about — get stuff done, have fun, communicate and accomplish great things. This is the core of who we are, and driving this core value in all that we do — be it the cloud or device experiences — is why we are here.

What do we do next?
To paraphrase a quote from Oscar Wilde — we need to believe in the impossible and remove the improbable.

This starts with clarity of purpose and sense of mission that will lead us to imagine the impossible and deliver it. We need to prioritize innovation that is centered on our core value of empowering users and organizations to “do more.” We have picked a set of high-value activities as part of our One Microsoft strategy. And with every service and device launch going forward we need to bring more innovation to bear around these scenarios.

Next, every one of us needs to do our best work, lead and help drive cultural change. We sometimes underestimate what we each can do to make things happen and overestimate what others need to do to move us forward. We must change this.

Finally, I truly believe that each of us must find meaning in our work. The best work happens when you know that it's not just work, but something that will improve other people's lives. This is the opportunity that drives each of us at this company.

Many companies aspire to change the world. But very few have all the elements required: talent, resources, and perseverance. Microsoft has proven that it has all three in abundance. And as the new CEO, I can’t ask for a better foundation.

Let’s build on this foundation together.

Satya

Goodbye InfoPath …

In an effort to streamline our investments and deliver a more integrated Office forms user experience, we’re retiring InfoPath and investing in new forms technology across SharePoint, Access, and Word. This means that InfoPath 2013 is the last release of the desktop client, and InfoPath Forms Services in SharePoint Server 2013 is the last release of InfoPath Forms Services. The InfoPath Forms Services technology within Office 365 will be maintained and it will function until further notice.

If you’re an InfoPath customer, we want to reassure you that we’re working on migration guidance in parallel as we’re building our next generation of forms technology. Until we have more detailed technology roadmap and guidance to share with you, we encourage you to continue using InfoPath tools. We also want to remind you that the InfoPath 2013 desktop client and InfoPath Forms Services for SharePoint Server 2013 will continue to be supported through 2023 as part of our Lifecycle support policy.

More information can be found here;

gatesletter.com

OneDrive .. to rule them all?

SkyDrive will be renamed to OneDrive.

More information can be found here;

Visual Studio 2013 Update 1

This update is the latest in a cumulative series of feature additions and bug fixes for Visual Studio 2013.

Download update here; more information here.

Windows Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager now available

Windows Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager Service protects your on-premise applications by orchestrating the protection and recovery of Hyper-V Virtual Machines running in a private cloud (i.e. System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1/R2 ) to a secondary location.

More information can be found here;

Windows 8.1 Sample Apps

Sample pack includes all the app code examples developed and updated for Windows 8.1. The sample pack provides a convenient way to download all the samples at once. The samples in this sample pack are available in C#, Visual Basic, C++, and JavaScript.

Note  These samples require Windows 8.1 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2013. They do not compile in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8.

Samples can be downloaded here.