Microsoft Windows Server / Desktop Resources, News, Support, and Analysis - RSS

Relink VMware ThinApp 4.5 packages for use with View 5 + PCoIP+Smartcard options

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:45:00 0500

If you happen to run into a customer with some 4.5 or older ThinApp packages, you will have some issues when you installed the VMware view agent 5 with smartcard PCoIP options enabled....

System Center 2012 Licensing Primer

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:44:00 0500

You may have read the news that Microsoft is making major changes in the 2012 release of the System Center product lineup. First up is a name change for each product. Whereas each product used to be called something along the lines of System Center Data Protection Manager 2012, Microsoft is now re-branding these products to tie them even closer to the System Center brand. The aforementioned product, for example, is now named System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager....

Microsoft's Windows 8 Tablet Apps Will Leverage Sensors in Big Way

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:45:00 0500

Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 will appear on both traditional PCs and tablets. However, as the company gears up to release the operating system's beta in February, followed by the final version sometime in the second half of 2012, it's increasingly clear that tablet functionality is a prime concern?a sea change from Windows 7, an OS whose interoperability with tablets often felt like an afterthought....

An argument against the new secure boot feature in Windows 8

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:13:00 0500

In a recent post on ZDNet, Ed Bott defends Microsoft's decision to integrate Windows 8 more tightly with hardware platforms through locked-down boot loaders that are difficult to circumvent. Ed's argument is well researched and presented, but it fails to ask the most important question of all. What is gained by requiring ARM-based Windows 8 devices to support a "secure boot" locked boot loader? What does Microsoft gain from this policy and what are the gains for end users?...

F5 Networks 'Fixes' Data Center Security

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:03:00 0500

Arguing that multiple point appliances intended to secure a network only add to complexity without providing the intended protection, F5 Networks is introducing what it calls a Data Center Firewall to combine multiple security solutions into one appliance. The appliance, called BIG-IP model 11050 and carrying a starting price of $129,995, delivers such security features as dynamic threat defense, DDoS protection, protocol security, SSL termination and a network firewall....

Will Windows 8 Really Matter?

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:48:00 0500

Microsoft is on track to deliver Windows 8 this year, likely some time in the last quarter. As always with new Windows releases, we can expect mega-hype and a blanketing of the airwaves, print, and Internet with countless millions of dollars in Microsoft marketing and advertising....

First Look: Deploying Private Clouds With System Center 2012

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:28:00 0500

Earlier this month, I spent a couple of days at a Microsoft Private Cloud Reviewer Workshop in Redmond, Wash., focused on System Center 2012. Final product availability hasn't been announced yet, but Microsoft has already issued this suite of management tools in release candidate form for public testing. The suite can be downloaded at Microsoft's evaluation portal here....

How to Access Windows 2K8 Server via PCoIP

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:40:00 0500

Did you ever want to access Windows 2K8 Servers within VMware View using PCoIP? This configuration is not supported by VMware, only Terminal Services. Below you will find a step-by-step guide on how to connect Windows 2k8 R2 servers to VMware View using PCoIP.The use cases for this type of configurations are many; ranging from creating manual pools to allow administrators to access jump boxes, to provision Windows 2K8 desktops to users (I do not recommend that from a MS licensing perspective).I...

First Look: Windows 8 Breaks New Ground

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:16:00 0500

The first public beta for Windows 8 is expected to be released in February, but we've been testing pre-beta code in our lab. Our overall impression is that Windows 8 represents an aggressive effort by Microsoft to deliver a single OS that runs just about everywhere and takes on all of Microsoft's key rivals....

Windows 8 Promises 1-Second Wi-Fi Connections

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:25:00 0500

While dropped Wi-Fi links can be frustrating, what can be even more aggravating is the process of trying to reconnect a PC or mobile device to a network after the signal is lost or when the host machine is resuming from standby. To reduce some of that pain, Microsoft says it's building technologies into Windows 8 that will get users onto a Wi-Fi network in as little as one second....