In Vista and Windows Server Code Name “Longhorn” there is a new version of the RDP Client available. There is also a download available for Windows XP Sp2 or Windows 2003 Server SP1 so you can take advantage of the new features in the RDP Client.

More info: KB925876

An overview of the available features in Exchange 2007 Standard Edition and the Enterprise Edition:

For more info : http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/preview/edition_compare.mspx

I found a nice tool on Windows Vista. It’s called the Windows Snipping Tool. And what does it do? If you want a partial screenshot or just a small part of an active window, you can select just that part with the new tool. Very handy I might say…

When I downloaded Windows Live Writer I thought, well..this is a Microsoft application and my website is non-Microsoft (Wordpress). So..not compatible probably. But what did I see?! After a very short installation and no configuration at all (besides saying where my website is), I can now add posts to my website much easier.

This free application is available for download and is free and easy to use…

Microsoft just released the new Network Monitor 3.0. It’s available for 32-bits and 64-bits platforms. This tool is very usefull when troubleshooting network related issues and you want to see what’s happening on your network (sniffing….). And you may not believe this, but it’s free!

Some features are:

Download is available at : http://connect.microsoft.com/

Yesterday I installed WSUS 3.0 Beta 2 on my Windows 2003 Sp1 server (Windows Server Update Services).

The first things I needed to do, was to install:

• MMC 3.0 (Microsoft Management Console 3.0)
• DotNet FrameWork 2.0

Then I installed WSUS 3.0. The installation was nagging me about that WSUS was still installed on the system, so I removed WSUS (without removing the database). Why didn’t they make an upgrade?? I started the installation process again and everything was fluently installed. After checking the MMC I saw everything was still there, all updates, computers groups etc.

I will be posting some screenshots later, on how to install WSUS 3.0. Some nice features available in WSUS 3.0:

• Management Interface with an MMC and not with a web interface
• Possibility to clean up old updates to free up some diskspace (I got 2,5 GB of diskspace back)
• Automatically approve updates based on category (for example Defender Updates)
• Better reports
• Many more features…

Now I’ll just wait for the next security updates of Microsoft, so I can see everything is still working…

As I saw in Barcelona during the opening of TechEd IT-forum 2006 with Bob Muglia , Microsoft released PowerShell 1.0. I must say I was impressed with the demonstration that was given by Jeffrey Snover. Some new cool features where shown of IIS 7 (OutPutCaching).

And the Chalk and Talk of the Exchange Team and Powershell…I was amazed at the great functionality and ease of use. The way commands can easily be pipelined. At least…as far as I can see at this moment. I’ll be downloading PowerShell 1.0 for some good testing…

Microsoft has released the Windows 2003 Service Pack 2 Release Candidate (that’s a mouthfull). They’ve made some good updates and features available in SP2 like:

• MMC 3.0
• Windows Deployment Services (WDS)
• etc.

Thusfar I believe there are not many issues with SP2 (at least that’s what the Server Team says). I’ll be waiting for the official release…

More information: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx

As of today, my computer is running the new Windows Vista operating system. I must say it’s much faster than the Beta2. Most of the drivers were recognized by the OS, only have a slight problem with my Radeon 9600 videocard. Hope I can find a solution for that one quick.

And ofcourse the new OS would not be complete without the new Office. So, finally have a totally new workplace here…

Yes, Windows Vista has been made available for download on MSDN, at least the x86 English download. For TechNet Plus subscribers x86 & x64 are made available.

Happy downloading…