The following dates are 99% firm, but please remember the Windows product teams always reserve the right to make last minute changes.

Finally, the prescriptive guidance has been updated on TechNet and IT Springboard, so mark these dates on your calendar and start making your deployment plans!

August 7, 2009

Volume License customers with an existing Software Assurance license will be able to download Windows 7 RTM in English via the Microsoft Volume License Service (MVLS) website. Specifically look for the Windows 7 Enterprise Edition image in the “Software Assurance” benefits section of the site. For more information checkout the Windows Team blog posting.

August 11, 2009

Windows Server 2003 KMS Update & New KMS Host Key will need to be installed on the existing KMS host for Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to activate. Once activated, the KMS host will be able to activate all products (depending on the KMS key that is used).

Microsoft Support Article 968915 has detailed information on installing the Key Management Service (KMS) 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and for later versions of Windows Server 2003. KMS 1.2 provides support for the following KMS client installations:

• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows 7
• Windows Vista and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2)

According to the Volume Activation Planning Guide, the KMS service does not require a dedicated server. The KMS service can be co-hosted with other services, such as Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain controllers and read-only domain controllers (RODCs). KMS hosts can also run on physical computers or virtual machines that are running any supported Windows operating system, including Windows Server 2003. Although a KMS host that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 can activate any Windows operating system that supports Volume Activation, a KMS host that is running Windows 7 can activate only computers running Windows 7 and Windows Vista clients. A single KMS host can support unlimited numbers of KMS clients; however, Microsoft recommends deploying a minimum of two KMS hosts for failover. Most organizations can use as few as two KMS hosts for their entire infrastructure. Each KMS key can be installed on up to six KMS hosts, which can be physical computers or virtual machines. After activating a KMS host, the same host can be reactivated up to nine more times with the same key.

Additionally, the following KMS updates are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the Update for Windows Server 2003 x86 Edition package now.

Download the Update for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition package now.

August 14, 2009

IT Professionals with TechNet Subscriptions and Developers with MSDN Subscriptions will be able to download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM in English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish. For more information you should checkout the Windows Server blog posting.

August 19, 2009

Volume License customers, with an existing Software Assurance license, can download Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM via the Volume License Service Center.

August 25, 2009

KMS Update for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 is expected to be available via Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services.  Service Pack 2 will need to be installed on the KMS host systems as a prerequisite. KB968912 will eventually cover this release, and it will be published on or before the release of this update.

September 1, 2009

Volume License customers without a SA license will be able to purchase Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 through Volume Licensing as we announced last week at the Worldwide Partner Conference.

Since the release early this week, there has been some news about perceived content filtering problems with Bing and I’d like to provide you some information to cut through all the hyperbole and get to the facts.   The fact is, Bing uses the same query string parameter content filter override that all major search providers’ use and this functionality will ensure that the content filtering settings you select for Bing are always enforced.  Microsoft recently did a blog post on this and related topics.

Here is some more information that should help to clear up any misperceptions about the ability to block objectionable content on Bing.

Most content filtering software works by appending a query string parameter to the outbound request to enforce content control.  This method works with all major search engines, including Bing, however this capability in Bing is unpublicized and thus not well known and sometimes unimplemented by content control vendors.  As a result, content control vendors often recommend blocking all access to Bing.com.  Microsoft is conducting outreach to the content control vendors to inform them of our safe search enforcement capabilities.

How does safe search work for Bing?

1. The default setting is set to “Moderate” which automatically blocks access to all adult image and video content. Users can change their setting to “Strict” if they choose. Bing’s “Strict” safe search setting is the most rigorous of the major search engines.

2. The setting is maintained in a client side cookie.  A user must proactively change their safe search settings from STRICT or MODERATE to OFF in order to access adult content.

3. Admins can always override the users client side setting by appending the parameter “&adlt=strict” to all queries to the bing.com domain.  This will set the safe search setting to “Strict” and block all adult content, including text results. 

Some examples (so everyone doesn’t have to search for adult content to prove it)

1. If in Bing you set safe search to OFF and search for “<insert adult search term>” the result is…unfiltered content relevant to the search terms.

2. If in Bing you set safe search to STRICT and search for “<insert adult search term>” the result is, no results.  There is an option for the user to change their safe search setting, but this can be override by the query string parameter as shown in scenario #3.

3. If in Bing you set safe search to OFF and search for “<insert adult search term>”, with the added query string parameter”&adlt=strict” you get no results, the same as scenario #1.

Windows Server 2008 R2 will also be broadly available about the same time as the Windows 7 “General Availability” date of October 22, 2009.

For more information on these great new products check out these team blogs.

Windows Server Blog

Windows Team Blog

Microsoft has just released a great new search service called Bing.

Here’s some cool things you can try:

BETTER RESULTS

• Get hard to find information, like customer service numbers, with authoritative results.
• Save time with a 5 day weather forecast for your location.
• Find instant real time traffic for your area.

ORGANIZED RESULTS

• Categorized search results with the Explorer Pane and Quick Tabs help you find relevant information more quickly.

ACCOMPLISH KEY TASKS

• Simplify shopping online, compare and read reviews with Opinion Ranking, and save with cashback.
• Simplify airline travel and find out if now is the right time to buy your ticket.

There you will find an overview of the optimization  models, industry specific information, and training.  Microsoft also publishes several analysis whitepapers as well like IDC’s Optimizing Infrastructure whitepaper titled “The Relationship Between IT Labor Costs and Best Practices for Managing the Windows Desktop”

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 will be the next version of the Windows Server operating system from Microsoft. Building on the features and capabilities of the current Windows Server 2008 release version, Windows Server 2008 R2 allows you to create organization solutions that are easier to plan, deploy, and manage than previous versions of Windows Server.

Developing upon the increased security, reliability, and performance provided by Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 extends connectivity and control to local and remote resources. This means your organizations can benefit from reduced costs and increased efficiencies gained through enhanced management and control over resources across the enterprise.

Download the Release Candidate

This webcast provides best practices for the usage of Hyper-V virtualization as a platform for SAP installations. While virtualization is an important technology for increasing flexibility and improving the cost structure of SAP landscapes, the requirements in performance and availability of SAP applications typically depend on appropriate information for planning, sizing and design of SAP infrastructures.  The presentation will cover the aspects of performance and sizing, infrastructure design (like storage, network, and high availability), operational aspects and monitoring and licensing questions of SAP Web Application Server on Hyper-V. Based on the provided information, attendees can plan infrastructures for SAP on Hyper-V and assess the technologies for running SAP applications in a virtualized environment.

Hyper-V and SAP Implementation Best Practices

• Previously unreleased fixes that were made specifically for this service pack.
• All of the Public Updates, Security Updates, Cumulative Updates, and Hot Fixes released through February 2009.

In addition to general product fixes, this includes improvements in stability, performance, and security. You can find out more information in Knowledge Base Article 953195, where product-specific changes are described. Technical details about the 2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 2 (SP2) releases are published in 970357.

Before installing this service pack, you are strongly encouraged to read 953195, which describes some big improvements introduced by SP2, and also calls out some important information that you should be aware of before installing.

Supported Operating Systems:

• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1
• Windows XP Service Pack 3

Service Pack 2 will update the following:

• Microsoft Office Basic 2007
• Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
• Microsoft Office Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
• Microsoft Office Small Business 2007
• Microsoft Office Small Business Management 2007
• Microsoft Office Standard 2007
• Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007
• Microsoft Office Access 2007
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007
• Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
• Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
• Microsoft Office Groove 2007

If you attempt to install this update and get a message saying that the update failed, please refer to Knowledge Base Article 968173. It describes a set of requirements and other issues that may cause the installation to fail, and gives instructions on how to fix them.

If you have other Office products installed, please be sure to update them as well. A full list of SP2 releases for Office products is available in the Knowledge Base Article 968170.

Service Pack 2 is the first service pack to support uninstall of client patches through both the command line and the use of the Microsoft Service Pack Uninstall Tool. The Service Pack Uninstall Tool is available as a separate download. For more information about this tool, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 954914.

Administrators working in managed environments can find complete resources for deploying Office updates in an organization on the 2007 Office Resource Kit site. And for more details about what is included in the service pack; you are urged to read Knowledge Base Article 953195.

Forefront Security for Office Communication Server (FSOCS) provides fast and effective protection against IM-based malware for OCS 2007 and OCS 2007 R2 environments by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners. FSOCS also helps reduce corporate liability by blocking instant messages containing inappropriate content. This release includes:

• 64bit support
• Support for OCS 2007 R2
• Support for OCS 2007 Enterprise Edition server roles
• Integration with OCS 2007 Access Edge role to protect corporate IM from external public IM threats
• Localization in 11 languages

Like other Forefront server security products, FSOCS provides superior detection of the latest threats when compared to single engine solutions by using our multiple engine scanning technology. FSOCS has also been featured in a few of the OCS 2007 R2 virtual launch sessions that you should check out. Lastly, we are making available some new content including a new demo walk though, case studies, and a datasheet.