Microsoft to reveal more Windows 8 Enterprise details at CeBIT conference next week | The Verge March 2, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in BlogoSphere, Microsoft, Platforms & EcoSystems, The Verge, Windows.Tags: Apple, Bohn, CeBIT, computer, conference, diagram, Dieter, ecosystem, Enterprise, event, fact, February, Hanover, machine, manner, March, Microsoft, Read, Spaces, storage, theme, users, Verge, week, Windows
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By Dieter Bohnon February 29, 2012 11:00 am
During today’s Windows 8 keynote, Microsoft showed off a previously-known Enterprise features like Windows To Go, which allows a computer to boot into Windows 8 off of a USB stick. Microsoft also demoed "Storage Spaces," which allows a Windows 8 machine to act as a hard drive array, providing simple, massive storage to any computer on the network. It seems as though there’s yet more to Windows 8 Enterprise that the company has yet to reveal, but more will be revealed next week at the CeBIT conference in Hanover. The conference begins on March 6th and The Verge will be there to bring you all the details from the next Windows 8 event.
Microsoft also emphasized that enterprise users will benefit from the fact that Windows 8 offers the same experience on all manner of devices, from very small to very large and powerful. It’s a theme that the company hit on consistently throughout the entire keynote, and very likely going to be one of the big talking points when it comes time to directly compete with Apple’s iPad ecosystem.
Read More…Microsoft to reveal more Windows 8 Enterprise details at CeBIT conference next week | The Verge
That’s a great diagram showing how the ecosystem has reach in many spaces.
Windows NT Security Systems March 2, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Archives, Security, Technologies.Tags: administrators, authentication, Blue, Book, Capabilities, card, certification, combination, Compliance, computer, criteria, Defense, degrees, Department, device, Discretionary, entities, evaluation, evaluations, example, government, guidelines, identification, information, Internet, layers, life, machine, Microsoft, Object, Orange, owner, password, presentation, printers, products, Read, requirements, resources, Safe, specifications, system, Systems, task, TCSEC, user, Windows
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Windows NT Security Systems
The starting point for strong Internet security is the operating system of any machine connected to it. Fortunately for the organizations using IIS 4.0, strong levels of security were built into the core of Windows NT in order to meet and exceed certifiable security standards, i.e. the C2 security guidelines required by the U.S. Department of Defense’s evaluation criteria. Windows NT security contrasts sharply with the thin and weak security layers that are bolted on to the top of some other operating systems.
Compliance with the C2 security standard was originally only required for government organizations. However, many commercial organizations are demanding the same level of security, and they recognize the value that such standards offer. The main requirements for C2 compliance are:
- User identification and authentication. Before gaining access to the systems, a user must prove their identity. This is typically done by providing a user-id / password combination, for example by entering the details via a keyboard or by the presentation of a device such as a smart card which stores such information.
- Discretionary access control. Each object within the system, for example files, printers and processes, must have an owner—who can grant or restrict access to the resources at various degrees of granularity.
- Auditing Capabilities. The system must provide the ability to log all user actions and object access, and include enough information to identify the user that performed any operation. Such information must only be accessible by system administrators.
- Safe Object reuse. The system must guarantee that any discarded or deleted object cannot be accessed, either accidentally or deliberately, by other entities.
- System integrity. The system must protect resources belonging to one entity, from being interfered with by another entity.
The C2 guidelines are applicable to standalone systems, and are specified in the document Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC). Fortunately, to make life simpler, this is often referred to as the Orange Book, thanks to the color of its cover. Other specifications that expand on the Orange Book include the Red Book for networking, and the Blue Book for subsystems.
Obtaining C2 certification is a long and complex task, and Microsoft are pushing hard for complete certification. Windows NT has passed the Orange Book certification process (for a standalone PC, not connected to a network) and is on the DOD’s official list of evaluated products. At the time of writing, Windows NT 4.0 is undergoing Red and Blue book evaluations.
Read More…Windows NT Security Systems
WinInfo Short Takes: March 2, 2012 March 2, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Apple, BlogoSphere, Google, Paul Thurrott, Platforms & EcoSystems.Tags: Android, Apple, Azure, Comes, Consumer, corporations, Desktop, Flash, Fortune, Google, Ignorant, Love, March, Microsoft, news, OnLive, Partner, People, person, photos, policy, Preview, privacy, Read, Short, States, Takes, Unbelievable, users, Windows, WinInfo
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An often irreverent look at this week’s other news, including Microsoft’s amazingly successful launch of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Azure falls for the oldest trick in the book, Google’s privacy policy change goes live and the world moves on, AT&T starts throttling more people, OnLive Desktop heads to Android, iPhone and Android lets apps steal your photos, and US users admire Apple and Google because they don’t know what these companies are really doing.
News Flash: People are Ignorant When it Comes to Love
And speaking of Apple and Google, these two wildly out of control corporations just topped Fortune’s list of the most admired companies in the United States, proving once again that the public has absolutely no idea what Apple and Google are really doing. Unbelievable.
Read More….WinInfo Short Takes: March 2, 2012
I find it’s amazing how the general person says Apple or Google is the best and most of them can’t even give you an exact reason why. I might be a Microsoft Partner, but I’m not a total fan boy. They make plenty their own mistakes over the years, but at least they take responsibility.
Windows 8 vs. iPad: feature by feature | The Verge March 2, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Apple, BlogoSphere, iOS, Microsoft, Microsoft, Platforms & EcoSystems, Software, The Verge, Windows, Windows 8.Tags: aspect, author, Charms, Consumer, didn, Explorer, Full, Gestures, interaction, interface, Internet, iPad, life, Many, Metro, Microsoft, Overview, paradigm, Paul, Preview, role, Start, SuperSite, Thurott, user, Verge, Windows
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Microsoft’s Windows 8 Consumer Preview was made available to download yesterday, giving everyone a chance to experience the company’s most revolutionary change in user interface since Windows 95. The interaction paradigm has shifted from a mouse-centric desktop to a touch-friendly, highly visual Metro style UI. The old Start orb has been retired and replaced by a Charms bar, which is brought to life with an inward swipe from the right. A swipe from the top down dismisses the app you’re in and returns you to the home screen, and the left and bottom edges also have actions associated with them. Gestures play a very significant role in Windows 8, but they’re only one aspect of a truly gargantuan list of changes……
Windows 8 vs. iPad: feature by feature | The Verge
Disappointing review they really didn’t show off features that Windows 8 had and that the iPad didn’t. The features were ones compared to the limited iPad set. For example the author failed to point out you can easily switch to a Full Internet explorer from the Metro Internet Explorer. For a full detailed overview of Windows 8 CP feature see Paul Thurott’s SuperSite for Windows, www.winsupersite.com. Many of his articles are linked here.
Expiring Office 365 Passwords – Tony Redmond’s Exchange Unwashed Blog March 1, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Office 365, Services, Solutions, Troubleshooting & Knowledge Bases.Tags: account, Assistant, basis, Blog, BPOS, computer, Connect, December, deployments, differences, domains, enterprises, environments, Exchange, expiration, Framework, haven, Microsoft, Module, MsOlService, MsOlUser, MSOnline, MSOnlineUserPasswordNeverExpire, Office, Online, Open, password, PasswordNeverExpires, Passwords, Plan, Plans, policies, policy, PowerShell, professionals, recommendation, Redmond, Services, session, settings, Sign, tenant, Tony, True, user, UserID, UserPrincipalName, users, version, Windows
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Expiring Office 365 Passwords – Tony Redmond’s Exchange Unwashed Blog
Tony Redmond’s Exchange Unwashed
by Tony Redmond
When I wrote about the differences between Office 365 Plans P and E and the choice that small businesses make when they decide which plan to use, I omitted to discuss the question of password policies. For users of Plan P (for professionals and small businesses), the policy is simple: your password never expires – at least, I thought that this was the case until Monday, December 12, when my password expired! More on this below.
However, for users of Plan E (for enterprises), passwords have always automatically expired after 90 days. This is the standard policy applied across all Office 365 tenant domains that use Plan E and is in line with the general Microsoft security recommendation for Windows deployments to change user account passwords on a frequent basis
Updating everyone’s password expiration is a simple matter if you are familiar with PowerShell. Essentially, the steps are:
- Log onto a computer (Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2) that has Version 3.5.1 of the .NET Framework, the latest version of the Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant, and the Microsoft Online Services Module for PowerShell installed.
- Open the Microsoft Online Services Module for PowerShell and run the Connect-MsOlService command to connect to Office 365. It’s also possible to fire up a regular PowerShell session and import the MSOnline module so that you have access to the commands that you need to manipulate Office 365 accounts.
- If you want to update just one user, run the command Set-MsOlUser –UserPrincipalName UserID –PasswordNeverExpires $True
- If you want to change the password expiration for everyone, run Get-MsOlUser to return the complete set of user objects and pipe them to Set-MsOlUser
- Get-MsOlUser | Set-MsOlUser –PasswordNeverExpires $True
BPOS includes a cmdlet called Set-MSOnlineUserPasswordNeverExpire to do the same job. I haven’t seen this in Office 365 yet, but maybe I have been looking in the wrong place! In passing, I note that moving users from BPOS to Office 365 might require a review of account settings such as password expiration to ensure that users have the same experience in both environments.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview: All Apps Comes Of Age March 1, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in BlogoSphere, Microsoft, Paul Thurrott, Software, Windows 8.Tags: Accessories, Also, Apps, Comes, Consumer, Developer, device, improvements, interface, items, letter, Microsoft, Note, Office, presentation, Preview, Start, system, user, Windows, WINKEY
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Windows 8 Consumer Preview: All Apps Comes Of Age
If you’re familiar with Windows Phone, you know that this system presents a dual view user experience, with a primary screen called the Start screen that is filled with pinned tiles and a secondary screen called All Apps that lists every single app installed on the device. In the Windows 8 Developer Preview, however, only the Start screen was readily available. To get to All Apps, curiously, you needed to instantiate a search.
Guess what just got a lot easier?
In the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Microsoft has fixed All Apps, making it much easier to access and, as important, making it even more useful than the similar feature in Windows Phone.
To access All Apps from the Start screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the new App Bar and then tap the All Apps button. (With the keyboard, you can tap WINKEY + Z. Or, with a mouse, just right-click the Start screen.)
The new All Apps interface, shown below, includes a few improvements, too.
First, as you install new applications, the All Apps screen will segregate each of the app’s various executables into groups so that they’re together. As you can see above, there are groups for internal items (Windows Accessories) as well as applications that were installe separately by the user (Microsoft Office).
Also, the presentation is denser than it was in the Developer Preview, providing more apps onscreen at once.
Microsoft tells me, however, that one more change is coming. What’s missing, currently, is a way to easily get back to where you just were. So between the Consumer Preview an RTM, Microsoft will add an App Bar to the interface with a button to go back.
Note that you can still search for apps as before, and that’s true whether you’re in the Start screen or the All Apps view. To start a search, simply start typing any letter.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Windows Key Keyboard Shortcuts March 1, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in BlogoSphere, Microsoft, Paul Thurrott, Software, Windows 8.Tags: alphabet, beginners, Consumer, Here, Keyboard, letter, Microsoft, Preview, Shortcuts, system, users, Windows
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Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Windows Key Keyboard Shortcuts
With the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Microsoft has completely overhauled the system of keyboard shortcuts that utilize the ubiquitous Windows Key, and as you’ll soon discover, virtually ever letter in the alphabet is now assigned to some function. This change is in keeping with the company’s desire to make Windows 8 highly usable not just by beginners with touchscreen-based devices, but also by more experienced users on traditional PCs.
Here’s the complete list of Windows Key keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8. Unless otherwise noted, each is attained by tapping and holding down the Windows Key on your keyboard while striking another character…….
Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Developer Tools March 1, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in Beta, BlogoSphere, Downloads Links, Paul Thurrott.Tags: APIs, Basic, Beta, Click, Consumer, Developer, developers, development, editions, environment, Foundation, Here, installation, Last, Metro, Microsoft, Note, platform, Premium, Preview, Professional, Server, standpoint, Studio, team, Test, tools, Ultimate, user, version, versions, Visual, Windows
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Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Developer Tools
Microsoft included a pre-release version of Visual Studio 11 in the Windows 8 Developer Preview, of course, giving developers the tools they needed to get started on Metro-style app development. But with the Consumer Preview, these tools are available as a separate Beta download.
Last week, Microsoft provided a sneak peek of Visual Studio 11, though it didn’t speak much about Windows 8 developer issues specifically. I can tell you, however, that the Windows 8 platform–the Metro-based environment–was finalized about two months ago, so the versions of the APIs and platform we see now with the Consumer Preview is pretty close to complete. Too, the Visual Studio 11 Beta is close to final from a user experience standpoint.
So before we discuss anything else, you’ll want to get that download (and installation) going.
Click HERE to download the Visual Studio 11 Beta
(Note that the Beta will include separate downloads of Visual Studio 11 Ultimate, Premium, Professional, Test Professional, Team Foundation Server, Express for Windows 8, Express for Web, and Team Foundation Server Express. Visual C++, Visual C#, and Visual Basic Express editions are not available for this release.)………
Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Windows 8 App Previews March 1, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in BlogoSphere, Paul Thurrott.Tags: Apps, BUILD, coincidence, Consumer, Developer, developers, Essentials, event, example, fact, Live, Many, Metro, Microsoft, Pinball, platform, Preview, Previews, Rather, Solitaire, system, testers, versions, Windows
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Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Windows 8 App Previews
There’s been some confusion about the apps that are included with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Many of these apps resemble Metro-style versions of apps that Microsoft currently includes in Windows Live Essentials, and that’s not a coincidence, as they too "complete" the Windows 8 experience. But they’re included only to provide testers with this more complete experience. They’re not part of Windows. Rather, most of these apps will ship with Windows 8 on most new PCs, and will be available separately, and for free, from the Windows Store.
So what’s an App Preview? According to Microsoft, its own internal apps developers began work on these apps at about the same time that external developers received the Developer Preview code at BUILD. And with the underlying Windows 8 platform only complete for about two months, these apps are not as far along as is the OS. So they’re branded as App Previews to differentiate them from the underlying system, which is more robust and mature.
To be clear, not all of the apps included with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview are App Previews. For example, the two included games, Pinball FX2 and Solitaire, are not. I think the naming here is telling, though, and not just for the fact that each app is incomplete.
In any event, here’s a quick rundown of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview App Previews…….
With Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Microsoft Silences the Critics March 2, 2012
Posted by John Ruby in BlogoSphere, Microsoft, Paul Thurrott, Software, Windows 8.Tags: Apple, backers, Baig, Beta, column, commentator, computer, Consumer, Critics, David, handful, Internet, Journal, Lytro, Microsoft, Mossberg, Pogue, Preview, promoter, Silences, Silicon, Street, threshold, Times, topics, Valley, version, Wait, Wall, Walt, week, Windows, York
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With Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Microsoft Silences the Critics