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Xtravirt has release another great tool; the vSphere Client RDP Plug-in.  It works like a charm, the installation is straight forward, after firing up the vSphere client the new RDP Plug–in is available at the vSphere Client plug-in manager.

When you jump to “Home” (I still have to get used to that) you’ll find the new RDP plug-in at the Solutions and Applications section.  Here you can configure the RDP behaviour like screen size, username, domain and port. When the setup of the global setting is done, it’s time to put the plug-in to test.

Just right click one of your virtual machines and check-out the context menu, you’ll see an extra option appears called Connect over RDP. Just select the new menu option and your RDP connection will initiate.

Password – you can now set a password to be used for all connections, allowing automatic logon.
Security Warning – Security Warnings can be disabled by ticking the relevant tick box.

Download is here;  http://xtravirt.com/vsphere-client-rdp-plug-in

They have created a little Jing movie which shows the new version of the Plug-in in action.

I am pleased to announce the availability of the Remote Desktop Load Simulation Toolset.   Many customers have asked us to provide the specific number and type of servers to use for Remote Desktop Services scalability.  This is a difficult question to answer without more complete information given the variation in use cases and the impact on server loading.

To help answer that question, the RDS team created a toolset to create and measure load when using Remote Desktop Services.  We believe this toolset will also be useful for customers that wish to conduct their own scalability testing.

It’s important to note that this is one tool to help answer this question, but not the only one.  In addition to using this toolset, measuring and understanding your own environment and usage cases is very important.

The Remote Desktop Load Simulation Toolset is now available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c3f5f040-ab7b-4ec6-9ed3-1698105510ad&displaylang=en

The Technology Preview of Citrix XenApp for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 is now available for

Download here; http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1854441
(You will need a Citrix login)

New features :

More users, faster logons – Get up to 20% more users per server with XenApp on the R2 platform and faster logons with new Profile management streaming technology that improves user profile load times by up to 80%.

Seamless management integration – Role-based installation wizards, a new unified application management console, management through Active Directory group policies and support for PowerShell 2.0 help you deploy, configure and automate XenApp faster and easier than ever before.

More apps in HDX – HDX RealTime now delivers high quality audio using up to 90% less bandwidth and enables video conferencing using Microsoft Office Communicator or teleconferencing using VoIP softphones. New HDX Plug-n-Play support for Windows portable USB devices lets users connect more of the devices they need to the applications they use including point-of-sale, webcams, scanners, digital cameras and more.

Self-service application delivery – Citrix Dazzle, the first self-service “storefront” for the enterprise, gives corporate employees 24×7 access to the applications they need to work. Citrix Streaming technology with Windows service isolation and Microsoft App-V integration provide new options for delivering more applications to your users.

Complete mobility – New plug-ins as well as updated Receivers for Windows, iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile keep business moving by enabling complete mobility and freedom to access enterprise applications from anywhere.

Microsoft has issued a statement confirming that it plans to release a patch for a security vulnerability in Internet Explorer which saw Google fall victim to some targeted and sophisticated attacks recently.

George Stathakopoulos, Microsoft Security, confirmed the news in a company blog posting. “Given the significant level of attention this issue has generated, confusion about what customers can do to protect themselves and the escalating threat environment Microsoft will release a security update out-of-band for this vulnerability” said Stathakopoulos. He also added that Microsoft will share specific timing of the release tomorrow.

The vulnerability was unveiled when Google went public that they were targeted in a sophisticated cyber-attack. The breach, involving Internet Explorer 6, resulted in the theft of intellectual property. Due to the attack, and the background behind it, Google announced it will no longer be providing censored results for its Chinese Google search engine. Currently Google offers censored search results as part of an agreement with the Chinese government.

Since the news of the un-patched flaw broke, Microsoft has been on damage limitation. This week Microsoft began urging businesses and consumers to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, explaining that the security benefits are far greater than that of Internet Explorer 6. Both the French and German governments warned their populations to cease using Internet Explorer due to the un-patched flaw. Currently the flaw exists in Internet Explorer versions 6, 7 and 8 but exploit code is only available for Internet Explorer 6. The patch, when released, will protect all affected versions of Internet Explorer.

Should you stop using Internet Explorer?

Microsoft has had a torrid time over the past week as governments and customers question the security of the popular web browser, Internet Explorer.

The issues began when Google went public that they were targeted in a sophisticated cyber-attack. The breach, involving Internet Explorer 6, resulted in the theft of intellectual property. Due to the attack, and the background behind it, Google announced it will no longer be providing censored results for its Chinese Google search engine. Currently Google offers censored search results as part of an agreement with the Chinese government.

The news created waves across the world and last week Microsoft admitted that an un-patched Internet Explorer 6 vulnerability was one of the vectors used in the targeted attacks against Google. To many the news wasn’t surprising. Internet Explorer 6, released in August 2001, is over eight years old. It has been subject to a number of high profile vulnerabilities over the years. The alternatives that exist in the marketplace today are not only much more improved in terms of features and standards support, but crucially, offer a greater safety net for online browsing. If you’re still using Internet Explorer 6 then quite frankly, you’re mad.

Ed Bott wrote, shortly after the admission by Microsoft, that any IT pro allowing IE6 use in a corporate setting is “guilty of malpractice” and I couldn’t agree more. However, unfortunately in a corporate setting it’s not always as easy as hitting an upgrade button. Most corporate infrastructure is based on a global directory, email and intranet websites as the core ways of communication between employees. Updating and maintaining internal only (intranet) websites is always a challenge for corporations as many will have been left untouched for years with code specific to aged Internet Explorer versions. Websites is only the beginning; there are also custom applications and systems that utilize Internet Explorer that could be incompatible with Microsoft’s latest versions.

This week Microsoft began urging businesses and consumers to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, explaining that the security benefits are far greater than that of Internet Explorer 6. However, for corporations and web designers there’s a continued reminder that for many years Microsoft ignored emerging and defined web standards in Internet Explorer, especially in version 6. Developers originally griped about the lack of standards support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) after the introduction of Internet Explorer 6 in 2001. At the time the software giant dominated the browser marketplace and many would argue its actions slowed down web development. Flash forward to 2010 and it’s a whole different ball game. Microsoft’s market share is slowly ebbing away thanks to competitive and promising offerings from both Mozilla and Google. Microsoft improved its web standards support in Internet Explorer 7 and 8 and now it plans to extend that with 9, due later this year. But is it too little too late?

The question of whether to stop using Internet Explorer is one that many businesses and consumers are likely asking this week. Both the French and German governments warned their populations to cease using Internet Explorer due to the un-patched flaw. Currently the flaw exists in Internet Explorer versions 6, 7 and 8 but exploit code is only available for Internet Explorer 6. The reason IE 7 and 8 are both unaffected for now is due to the increased security of the software. Internet Explorer 7 introduced a phishing filter, protected mode to run the browser in a sandbox at low level security rights (vista only) and improved management of ActiveX controls. Microsoft improved security in IE8 by running the browser frame and tabs in separate processes and per-site ActiveX controls. Both IE 7 and 8 also include support for Data Execution Prevention (DEP) that prevents buffer overflow attacks.

So do these attacks mean you should stop using Internet Explorer? Simply put, no. Although it’s true that a vulnerability exists, Microsoft is currently working on a patch to resolve this as soon as possible. If you’re still running Internet Explorer 6 then it’s definitely time to upgrade. Neowin spoke to Cliff Evans, head of security and privacy for Microsoft in the UK yesterday. Evans urged consumers and businesses to “look at this vulnerability in a broader context and think about what the risk is.” He argued that although the vulnerability exists, it’s highly unlikely that the average business or consumer would be targeted by the type of attack Google experienced. Evans insisted that “normal organisations have little to fear” over the recent attacks and that Microsoft recommends all businesses and consumers upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, especially if they are currently using 6. I questioned Evans over corporations who may be stuck on Internet Explorer 6 for compatibility reasons but he urged them to look at their upgrade plans again. According to data from Net Applications (December 09), as a percentage of Internet Explorer use, IE6 maintains 36.57% and IE8 36.27%. Internet Explorer 7 lags behind with 27.11%. With Internet Explorer 6 still the most popular of all Internet Explorer variants, Microsoft is going to have a tough time convincing people to upgrade. Evans would not commit to a release date for the fix but said it was more likely that it would be distributed as an out of band patch shortly or as part of Microsoft’s monthly “patch Tuesday” which is due on February 9.

Source: http://www.neowin.net/

If you’ve got servers still running Windows 2000 Server in your enterprise, your robot will be blaring this warning ever more urgently the closer we get to July 13, 2010.  That’s the end-of-support date for the Windows 2000 Server platform. Servers still running Windows 2000 after this date will be doing so without security hotfixes, patches or service packs. But there is more,

There are two important events that will happen to the support policy for Windows 2000 after June 30th of this year.

First, support for both IE 5.01 SP3 and IE 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 SP3 will expire. Users running IE 5.01 or IE 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 should upgrade to Windows 2000 SP4 in order to continue to receive security updates.

Second, Windows 2000 SP4 moves from mainstream to extended support. The key difference between mainstream support and extended support which I think is most relevant to this audience is this quote from the lifecycle site: “Microsoft will not accept requests for warranty support, design changes, or new features during the Extended support phase.” We will of course continue to keep our Windows 2000 SP4 customers secure with security updates through the life of Windows 2000 (through 2010). There are a few other differences between the two support models which you can read about at the lifecycle site. You may also want to read my previous post about Windows’ lifecycle.

It should be no surprise that we do not plan on releasing IE7 for Windows 2000. One reason is where we are in the Windows 2000 lifecycle. Another is that some of the security work in IE7 relies on operating system functionality in XPSP2 that is non-trivial to port back to Windows 2000.

Please note that these lifecycle changes are only for IE on Windows 2000. For questions about other versions of IE (IE for PocketPC, IE for Mac), please consult the lifecycle site for the latest expiration dates.

That said, migrating servers is no one’s idea of a party. If you’re worried about your migration project generating migraines, make sure you leverage all the resources Microsoft is making available to Windows 2000 Server end of lifers:

Your first stop should be the Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center, a new site loaded with migration planning and technical tools. Check out the Windows Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Paths as well as the Windows Server Migration Tools, the Assessment and Planning Toolkit and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. The site also has great guidance on migration planning as well as technical guidance on migrating specific server roles.

Look for more tools and guidance around Windows 2000 Server end of life in the coming months, both here and on www.microsoft.com/windowsserver.

Source; http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2010/01/14/windows-2000-server-approaching-end-of-life.aspx

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2009/11/19/announcing-app-v-4-6-rc-and-integration-with-office-2010-beta.aspx

First of all, we are excited to announce the availability of App-V 4.6 RC! In August we announced the App-V 4.6 Beta. Since then we have taken in lots of customer feedback and continue to refine the App-V 4.6 release so that we can deliver a great product!  We invite you to check out the RC release by registering and downloading the App-V 4.6 RC release via Microsoft Connect, where you can also submit feedback directly to the team.

We’re not done though, in addition we’d like to share some great news and also announce our integration with Office 2010 Beta:

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta, Ready to be Sequenced With the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Deployment Kit for App-V

As you know the Office team just completed a major milestone Microsoft Office 2010 Beta, congrats to the team!  Throughout the process of building Office 2010 the App-V and Office teams have been working very closely to make sequencing Office 2010 Beta possible with App-V 4.6 RC!  We have taken the feedback and requests from post-Office 2007 and App-V 4.5 releases, and have been hard at work implementing a solid integration experience for Office when App-V 4.6 releases in H1 2010.

So what’s Different when using Microsoft Office 2010 Beta and App-V 4.6 RC together?

Office 2010 has introduced a new piracy protection initiative, the Software Protection Platform (SPP) service.  This service uses a machine’s hardware characteristics and product key to activate the installation, which is performed during the first Office application launch.

Since the Office 2010 product activation is linked to the hardware on which Office is originally installed, customers who wish to deploy Office 2010 using App-V must physically install the SPP service on the sequencer machine before beginning the sequencing process – and on any client machines that will stream and run Office 2010.

Our engineering teams have collaborated to address the top customer issues that people were running into when virtualizing past versions of Office.   As a result, Office 2010 has a much more integrated user experience.  The Office 2010 integration delivers key productivity enhancements and a seamless user experience by enabling the following::

· Microsoft SharePoint Integration – You can open, edit, and save Microsoft Office documents using Microsoft SharePoint.

· Microsoft Outlook Fast Search – You can use Microsoft Windows Desktop Search to find specific messages in your inbox.

· MAPI Proxy – You can connect to your inbox using Microsoft Outlook Send To functionality.

· Microsoft Office Document Indexing – You can index your documents so that you can use Microsoft Windows Search to locate files.

· Virtual Mail Control Panel icon – You can use the Email icon in Control Panel to perform advance mail configuration.

· URL protocol handler – You can configure links in the browser and specify the appropriate associated Microsoft Office application.

· Send to Microsoft OneNote Printer driver – You can print documents to Microsoft OneNote.

To help customers facilitate this process, we have created the Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V (Beta). The Deployment Kit contains both the required SPP licensing component and Office 2010 integration features.

And what’s even more exciting, you can get your hands on it now.

How Do I Sequence Microsoft Office 2010 Beta for App-V 4.6 RC?

1. Download Office 2010 Beta here

2. Download the Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V (Beta)

3. Download App-V 4.6 RC on Microsoft Connect

4. Read the App-V recipe for sequencing Office 2010 Beta on Microsoft Connect.

For detailed information on whether your environment meets the requirements of Office 2010 and App-V 4.6 RC, please refer to the App-V recipe.

Please note: We are providing a recipe to support the sequencing and testing of these pre-release products on Microsoft Connect.  Please provide feedback via Microsoft Connect, by choosing FEEDBACK once logged into the App-V 4.6 Program.

We look forward to hearing about your App-V 4.6 RC and Office 2010 experience!

Source; http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/12/10/Offline-Virtual-Machine-Servicing-Tool-v2.1-.aspx

Virtualization affects how we plan, build, deploy, operate, and service workloads. Customers are creating large libraries of virtual machines containing various configurations. The patch-state of these virtual machines are not always known. Ensuring that offline virtual machines are properly patched and won’t become vulnerable the instant they come online is critical.

I am therefore very pleased to state that the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool v2.1 has now been released!

Congratulations to the Solution Accelerator team for this release!

The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1 has free, tested guidance and automated tools to help customers keep their virtualized machines updated, without introducing vulnerabilities into their IT infrastructure.

The tool combines the Windows Workflow programming model with the Windows PowerShell interface to automatically bring groups of virtual machines online, service them with the latest security updates, and return them to an offline state.

What’s New?

Release 2.1 is a direct response to customer and Microsoft field requests to support the R2 wave. Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1 now supports the following products:
· Hyper-V-R2
· VMM 2008 R2
· SCCM 2007 SP2
· WSUS 3.0 SP2
· OVMST 2.1 also supports updates to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machines.

Download here; Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool  2.1
More info; http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc501231.aspx

One of the options that has been taken out of Exchange 2010 is the Document Access in Outlook Web App (OWA). Though it isn’t heavily used by most of the medium to large companies, it is useful for smaller companies to access files when the staff are out of the office.

Let me explain with screenshots. Below is OWA 2007 and the last link (Documents) is what we are taking about here. This is used to access files on the internal file servers from outside the network, ofcourse depending upon the access configured by the administrator.

But, what about Outlook Web App (OWA) in 2010?  There is no Document Access in the new web access interface. You can see it at the screenshot.

OWA Virtual directory still have forms for managing remote server, with allow and block list for servers.
Microsoft state that the feature introduced in Exchange 2007 where by – documents in file shares on the network local to the exchange server can be accessed (read-only) via the documents interface in OWA – is available in 2010.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb430754(EXCHG.140).aspx

However the OWA interface does not include the documents section that 2007 did so despite the EMC having the options to enable and configure this, there does not appear to be any way to access it through the interface…

Microsoft has discontinued this feature, with a view to to use SharePoint. For now…. I hope!

VMware and Microsoft are ramping up their virtualization games with relatively new releases. Scott Lowe compares and contrasts some of the major features in vSphere and Hyper-V R2.

Source: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=1820

Microsoft was late to the virtualization game, but the company has made gains against its primary competitor in the virtualization marketplace, VMware. In recent months, both companies released major updates to their respective hypervisors: Microsoft’s Hyper-V R2 and VMware’s vSphere. In this look at the hypervisor products from both companies, I’ll compare and contrast some of the products’ more common features and capabilities. I do not, however, make recommendations about which product might be right for your organization.

Table A compares items in four editions of vSphere and three available editions of Hyper-V R2. Below the table, I explain each of the comparison items. (Product note: With the release of vSphere, VMware has released an Enterprise Plus edition of its hypervisor product. Enterprise Plus provides an expanded set of capabilities that were not present in older product versions. Customers have to upgrade from Enterprise to Enterprise Plus in order to obtain these capabilities.)

Table A

(continue reading…)

This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key technologies in Windows Server 2008 R2. It focuses on Active Directory Domain Services, Hyper-V, Internet Information Services, Remote Desktop Services (including Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)), BranchCache, and DirectAccess technologies. In addition, updates to core file services and server management are illustrated. You can use this poster in conjunction with the previously published Windows Server 2008 Component Posters.

Download here as PDF: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=64a5cc28-f8a1-4b30-a4a2-455c65bda8d7

Office 2010 Pro: http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/default.aspx

64-bit Client Installation of Office 2010

Describes and illustrates the 64-bit client installation of Office 2010.

Microsoft Office Web Apps (Beta)

Microsoft Office Web Apps are new web-based tools that extend the Microsoft Office 2010 experience to your browser. Office Web Apps enable you to view, do light editing, and share your Office documents from virtually anywhere. With these online companions to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote you’ll always have the tools you need, wherever you are.

Project 2010 Reference: Software Development Kit

The Microsoft Project 2010 (Beta) SDK contains documentation, code samples, “How to” articles, and programming references to help customize and integrate the Project 2010 clients and Project Server 2010 with other applications for enterprise project management.

Download details FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Beta

For organizations looking to help users find information and expertise quickly and easily through a search capability able to address their most challenging needs – includes all the search features and integration capabilities of SharePoint Server 2010, plus a more engaging and conversational search experience, use of context to provide specific search experiences for different needs (such as departments or geographies), advanced content processing capabilities that create metadata and add structure to unstructured content, and deep platform flexibility, scalability, and extensibility. For use with SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Edition.

Download details FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint Internet Sites Beta

For customers looking to offer engaging and conversational search experiences on websites using SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites – this product also adds powerful content processing that enhances the meaning and structure of your information, along with deep platform flexibility and search scalability. For use with SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise Edition.

Download details SharePoint Foundation 2010

This download contains an installable version of Windows SharePoint Services 2010 Beta, that can be used to assess and test the new functionality in this release.

Download details Access Database Engine 2010

This download will install a set of components that can be used by non-Microsoft Office applications to read data from and write data to 2010 Office system files such as Microsoft Access 2010 (mdb and accdb) files and Microsoft Excel 2010 (xls, xlsx, and xlsb) files. Connectivity to text files is also supported.
ODBC and OLEDB drivers are installed for application developers to use in developing their applications with connectivity to Office file formats.

Download details Visio 2010 (Beta) Viewer

The Visio 2010 (Beta) Viewer allows anyone to view Visio drawings and diagrams (created with Visio 5.0, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, or 2010) inside their Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later Web browser.

Download details Visio 2010 (Beta) Software Development Kit

The Microsoft Office Visio 2010 (Beta) Software Development Kit (SDK) contains the latest documentation, samples, header files, libraries and tools that you need to develop custom solutions for Microsoft Office Visio 2010 (Beta).

Download details Microsoft Project Professional 2010 Beta x64

Microsoft Project Professional 2010 Beta gives you powerful, visually enhanced ways to successfully manage and deliver a wide range of projects. Easier and more intuitive, Project Professional 2010 Beta provides flexible choices to simplify planning, collaboration and resource management.

Download details Microsoft Project Professional 2010 Beta 32 bit

Download details Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 Beta

Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 provides contact management, sales, marketing and project management for the small business or small team.

Download details Office 2010 (Beta) Administrative Templates and OCT

This download includes updated Group Policy Administrative Template and Office Customization Tool OPA files; an updated Office Customization Tool; and ADMX and ADML versions of the Administrative Template files.

Office 2010 KMS Host License Pack

Volume editions of Microsoft Office 2010 client products require activation. Key Management Service (KMS) is a local volume activation method. To activate your Office 2010 client installations with KMS, you will need to set up a KMS host.

SharePoint 2010 Products Beta MP

A System Center Management Pack for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products Beta (the product are: SharePoint Server 2010, Project Server 2010, Search Server 2010).

SharePoint Foundation 2010 (Beta) MP

A System Center Management Pack for Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 Beta.

Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010 Beta

Beta release of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 (Beta) Filter Packs

Microsoft Office 2010 (Beta) Filter Packs

Access 2010 Beta Download: Access Runtime

The Microsoft Office Access 2010 Runtime enables you to distribute Access 2010 applications to users who do not have the full version of Access 2010 installed on their computers.

Microsoft Visio 2010 Beta

This download contains the Microsoft Visio 2010 Beta release.

SharePoint Server for Internet Sites Enterprise 2010 Beta

This is a Beta version of SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise that enables extranet and internet sites using the full power of SharePoint Server 2010, the business collaboration platform for the Enterprise and the Web.

Microsoft Visio 2010 Beta

This download contains the Microsoft Visio 2010 Beta release.

SharePoint Server for Internet Sites Enterprise 2010 Beta

This is a Beta version of SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise that enables extranet and internet sites using the full power of SharePoint Server 2010, the business collaboration platform for the Enterprise and the Web.

SharePoint Server 2010 Beta

This is a Beta version of SharePoint Server 2010, the business collaboration platform for the Enterprise and the Web.

SharePoint Server 2010 Beta

This is a Beta version of SharePoint Server 2010, the business collaboration platform for the Enterprise and the Web.

Search Server 2010 Express Beta

This is a Beta version of Search Server 2010 Express.

SharePoint Designer 2010 Beta

This is a Beta version of SharePoint Designer 2010, the tool of choice for the rapid development of SharePoint applications.

SharePoint Designer 2010 Beta

This is a Beta version of SharePoint Designer 2010, the tool of choice for the rapid development of SharePoint applications.

Microsoft Project Server 2010 Beta

Project Server 2010 Beta ensures organizations select and deliver the right projects, while gaining greater visibility and control of resources leading to improved productivity and better business performance.

Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 allows employees to safely and productively use the Internet without worrying about malware and other threats. Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 is available for download in both Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition.

Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 allows employees to safely and productively use the Internet without worrying about malware and other threats. It provides multiple protection capabilities including URL filtering*, antimalware inspection*, intrusion prevention, application- and network-layer firewall, and HTTP/HTTPS inspection – that are integrated into a unified, easy to manage gateway, reducing the cost and complexity of Web security. Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 is available for download in both Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition.
*Requires Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Protection Service.

Download details Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010

Microsoft has release the beta versions of Office & Sharepoint 2010 on technet and MSDN

Microsoft Office 2010 will become available in a x86 and x64 version. Sharepoint 2010 will only be available in x64 version only.

Microsoft is planning to release the  Microsoft Office 2010 products in Q1 next year (2010).

More information about the Office 2010 products on http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/

Following quickly on the heels of the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 launches (they have PowerShell 2.0 built in), Microsoft has released version 2.0 for all flavors of Windows since XP:

Windows Management Framework, which includes Windows PowerShell 2.0, WinRM 2.0, and BITS 4.0, was officially released to the world this morning. By providing a consistent management interface across the various flavors of Windows, we are making our platform that much more attractive to deploy. IT Professionals can now easily manage their Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 machines through PowerShell remoting – that’s a huge win!

PowerShell v2 has finally been released for ‘legacy’ OSes (Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008)! I’m saying legacy OSes because the latest OSes are Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. You could also say the out-of-band releases have been released. This happened somewhere in the end of October 2009.

If you are having a hard time finding those, that’s because it is in included in the Windows Management Framework.

The Windows Management Framework includes:

• Windows Remote Management (WinRM) v2.0
• Windows PowerShell v2.0
• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) v4.0

Read more about it here.

Windows Management Framework Core (WinRM 2.0 and Windows PowerShell 2.0)

• Download the Windows Management Framework Core for Windows Server 2008 package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=863e7d01-fb1b-4d3e-b07d-766a0a2def0b)
• Download the Windows Management Framework Core for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=d37e25cf-db05-4b23-a852-cdf865d81b82)
• Download the Windows Management Framework Core for Windows Server 2003 package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=f002462b-c8f2-417a-92a3-287f5f81407e)
• Download the Windows Management Framework Core for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=909bbcf1-bd78-4e03-8c83-69434717e551)
• Download the Windows Management Framework Core for Windows Vista package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=f2fa1227-9a34-4e29-aa03-62f5c00e16f2)
• Download the Windows Management Framework Core for Windows Vista x64-based systems package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=0f73efa2-f8d6-45f3-a8f8-5cdc205b119a)
• Download the Windows Management Framework Core for Windows XP package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=60cb5b6c-6532-45e0-ab0f-a94ae9ababf5)

Windows Management Framework BITS (BITS 4.0)

• Download the Windows Management Framework BITS for Windows Server 2008 package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=e77925a9-58a2-428b-bb4f-714d49d0b889)
• Download the Windows Management Framework BITS for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=e749f4cd-74db-404a-bc30-765137cd3804)
• Download the Windows Management Framework BITS for Windows Vista package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=d7ae9660-bb13-4f0c-816b-85de3980ec1b)
• Download the Windows Management Framework BITS for Windows Vista x64-based systems package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=173c8a2d-b264-49ca-8d35-b6f234cbdaeb)