Vista and NTFS Ownership
I thought I'd mention a problem I had with my new Vista installation.
I have a separate partion for my data, so when I upgrade to Vista I didn't do a clean format of the entire drive, but just did a clean install of Vista. Works great!
Team Foundation Services == NT Option Pack?
Url: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx...
I am attempting to install Team Foundation Server (Workgroup Edition) on a server of mine. I've been simply amazed at the exact instructions that are required to get it installed (including what order to install SQL Server 2005, IIS, WSS, etc.) The last time it was so difficult to install something was the notorious "NT Option Pack" with Site Server and other IIS additions.
Microsoft Furlough's 1,000 Contractors?
Url: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12921149/
According to this MSNBC article,
Vista Beta 2 - First Impressions
Url: http://microsoft.com/vista
After fighting everyone else to download the Beta 2, I got Vista Beta 2 installed on my tablet pc last night. My impressions so far:
Vista Beta and Battery Life
Url: http://news.com.com/Vista+beta+sucks+up+battery...
In this news.com article, they explore a problem I wondered about when I first saw Avalon two years ago. I am hoping that MS will make this better during optimization. I had heard that the Avalon team was hoping that battery life and mobile GPU's wouild be better when Avalon shipped. Not surprisingly, the battery life of laptops is essentially the same as it was two years ago (IMHO), though Mobile GPU's may be better.
10!
Url: http://on10.net/
I just saw this new Microsoft viral site. Not confident about the content yet, but I love some of the look and feel and I am apt to steal some of the ideas (I love the collapsable topics, inline commenting, and popup log in).
33 Editions of Vista?
Url: http://www.bbspot.com/News/2006/03/windows-vist...
Not really, but this is my favorite from the list:
iPod Packaging Parody confirmed from inside MS
Url: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3609953...
Here is a video on Google Video of what MS would do to the iPod packaging. Funny thing, it was confirmed today that the video was created *inside* MS! Hopefully as a lesson on what *not* to do ;)
MS to Charge for Office 2007 Beta?
Url: http://news.com.com/Microsoft+to+charge+for+Off...
It looks like Microsoft is going to start charging for the Office 2007 Beta (only $1.50 but that's not the point). This seems asinine to me. Microsoft is getting feedback and a huge testbed as well as buy-in from early adopters, so they should be able to eat the download costs. I've always understood the fee for the DVD/CD packages, but for the download?
Paul Thurrott, WGA and Pirated Versions of Windows
Url: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wga.asp
Back on July 20th, Paul Therrott wrote a long blog entry explaining his experience with WGA (I stopped it from installing so I didn't try to work with it). His big problem was that WGA reported that his version was pirated. I think he (and most of us) assumed that WGA was not working correctly.
Vista 5366
Url: http://microsoft.com/vista
I spent the weekend downloading and upgrading my main XP box with this pre-RC1 test build. Yes, I said upgrading XP! The good news is that is build is very very good. Not perfect, but very good! I am able to use it as my main box.
Realtime Taskbar Previews in Vista
I really like the realtime (or near real-time) preview of the windows on the Taskbar in Vista. Check it out:
Vista Conversion Complete....And Abandoned
I spent the majority of yesterday moving my primary laptop to Vista. I got a new 100G/7200RPM drive, so I decided to chew up some of the space with a dual boot. I got to late last night (about 6am) when I decided it was a dead proposition and I needed to revert to my XP SP2 desktop. Good news is that a majority of the software I loaded on Vista worked without a hitch. At the end of the day it came to that a few critical pieces of software weren't Vista-ready.
Getting Vista installed was a snap and with the exception of the touchpad driver, everything worked flawlessly (and after installing the XP touchpad driver I was good to go).
The Windows Genuine Advantage Deception
Url: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?page_id=3170
I know this has been all over the blogosphere by now, but I wanted to make sure people knew about Windows Genuine Advantage being snuck into Windows Update. Here is a ZDNet article that walks through Windows Update to show how deceptive the install is. I am disappointed in Microsoft over installing this tool via Windows Update. While I don't work for Microsoft, I am a fan of what they do in general.
Microsoft Requiring SQL Server Express Sucks...
I have been attempting to try out some new software from Microsoft (including Glidepath and Visual Studio Database Edition). Both of these require SQL Server Express installed. Problem is that I install a Developer Edition of SQL Server 2005 (as well as 2000) because it is more feature friendly than SQL Server Express. Why does Microsoft insist I have a third Database server? Why can't it prompt me to tell it what database to use, or at least attempt to find SQL Server 2005 as the default instance on the current machine? Just stoopid in my opinion. It's keeping me from trying out and possibly exhaulting these new interesting projects.
"There I said it..."
WinInternals (and SysInternals) now owned by Microsoft
Url: http://www.winternals.com/Faq.aspx
While I am happy for Mark Russinovich and his people, I hope this doesn't mean the end to free access to SysInternals. What do you think?
Vista Still Has Some *OLD* Code
I was setting up my new laptop with Vista today and it looks like everything is finally installed, except my fonts. So I opened the Font folder and picked, "Add New Font". This is what I saw:
Is Windows Vista the new Windows ME?
This blog post may seem to be a clever way of increasing my web traffic but the fact is that I am growing frustrated with the adoption of Vista and Microsoft's general under-delivering on Vista.
The big caveat is this: I use Vista and really like it. I don't have any real problems (no driver issues) and I find that gaming performance close enough to XP that I can't tell the difference. In addition, I like the new UX sheen of Vista...so why do I ask if its the new Windows ME?
New CTP's from Microsoft...
Over the past week there have been a flurry of new projects coming out of Microsoft, mostly in the form of CTP's. I've been downloading like crazy and will likely be discussing my experience with them in the coming week. In case you missed any of them:
I expect that with the release of the EF Beta 3 means Astoria is coming soon. I'll let you know when it drops! Time to start digging in.
Is Aero Killing Your Batteries?
Url: http://news.com.com/Vista%20draining%20laptop%2...
I wasn't surprised to see thsi story on CNet as I wondered whether this would be the case as far back as 2003:
Free T-Mobile Hotspot Subscription for Vista Users
Url: http://hotspot.t-mobile.com/vista
I am in between meetings near the Microsoft Campus today and wanted a coffee so I headed to a nearby Starbucks. I wanted to check my e-mail, ut I had given up my T-Mobile account (at $40/month) because there is so much free wireless in my neighborhood. I wrestled with spending $10 for a day pass just to check e-mail when I noticed that Vista users would get a free trial to T-Mobile hotspots.
TechEd Europe!
How I wish I were there. Evidently the Yukon Public Beta and the VS.NET 2005 Beta will be available. Get them while they're hot!
For all attendees, skip the Heiniken Museum...you're gonna want to remember this convention! TechEd will be very “lekker” this year.
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