Tag: Windows Server
October 22, 2008 by
Jason
The Security Development Lifecycle is in no way synonymous with Microsoft’s entire span of efforts designed to bulletproof its software products and consumer environments. An illustrative example of this is the Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 4.0. Built as the evolution of Microsoft Security Risk Self-Assessment Tool (MSRSAT) dating back to 2004 and that of the Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 2.0 dropped in 2006, the Security Assessment Tool 4.0 is a free download which will integrate seamlessly with Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 in order to evaluate the level of risk in an IT infrastructure and provide the necessary best practices data and guidance.
“The tool employs a holistic approach to measuring your security posture by covering topics across people, process, and technology. Findings are coupled with prescriptive guidance and recommended mitigation efforts, including links to more information for additional industry guidance. These resources may assist you in keeping you aware of specific tools and methods that can help change the security posture of your IT environment. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP, windows vista | No Comments »
October 19, 2008 by
Jason The Visual Round Trip Analyzer was initially an internal Microsoft tool, which the Redmond company is now offering as a free download. Designed as a webpage performance visualizer and analyzer, according to the software company, Visual Round Trip Analyzer runs on top of Network Monitor 3.2 and is set up to offer a comprehensive perspective over the download of a specific webpage. The Redmond giant indicated that VRTA comes with support for Windows Vista RTM and SP1, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and Windows Server 2008.
“The Visual Round Trip Analyzer tool helps web developers and testers visualize the download of their page, identify best practices and changes that improve performance. The Round-Trip between the client and server(s) is the single biggest impact to web page performance - much greater than server response time. VRTA examines the communications protocol, identifying the causes of excessive round-trips, and recommending solutions,” Microsoft informed. Read More»
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October 09, 2008 by
Jason Microsoft has made a new release of the Windows operating system available for download for free. The Redmond company is offering the gold bits of the next iteration of its Windows embedded platform via the Download Center as of October 8, 2008. Windows Embedded Standard 2009 was packaged as WES2009Eval.iso, an offering aimed exclusively for test driving. The evaluation edition of Windows Embedded Standard 2009 is designed to offer a taste of what the embedded version of the Windows platform has to offer for a total of 120 days.
“Windows Embedded Standard 2009 delivers the power, familiarity, and reliability of the Windows operating system in componentized form, helping device makers easily create smart connected devices requiring rich applications, services, and end-user experiences,” Microsoft revealed in the product’s description.
The first Community Technology Preview of Windows Embedded Standard 2009 went live on Microsoft Connect at the start of June 2008. At that time, the Redmond giant pointed to the third quarter of this year for the general availability of the RTM version of Windows Embedded Standard 2009. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | No Comments »
Microsoft is indeed starting to deliver an increasing volume of details related to the upcoming Windows 7 client and Windows 7 Server releases, but the end of 2009/ the debut of 2010 is still not even on the horizon, and neither are the next iterations of the Windows platforms.
And with Windows XP available only on ultra-low-cost desktops and laptops and via downgrade rights, the focus falls entirely on the Windows Vista platform, now with Service Pack 1. But even Vista SP1 needs additional work, and the latest evolution involves a newly released reliability and performance update straight from Microsoft. And since Vista SP1 shares its core and codebase with Windows Server 2008, the update is also available for the latest version of the Windows Server operating system.
“This update resolves issues that may affect some Windows Vista SP1-based or Windows Server 2008-based computers. These issues have been reported by customers who use the Error Reporting service or Microsoft Customer Support Services. This update improves the performance, stability, and reliability of Windows Vista SP1 and of Windows Server 2008 in various scenarios,” Microsoft informed. Read More»
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Windows Vista, both the RTM and Service Pack 1 versions, can lose installed drivers in scenarios in which the computer is started via the Last Known Good Configuration feature. According to Microsoft not only Vista RTM/SP1 is affected, but also Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1. Machines booted with the Last Known Good Configuration feature can have some .inf files removed from the %windir%\inf folder. In this context, the operating systems will also lose the installed drivers associated with the .inf files.
“These .inf files correspond to the drivers that are included with Windows. If you try to install a new device that uses an .inf file that has been deleted, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: “Driver not found.” If you try to reinstall the same version of driver that was originally serviced, the devices that use that .inf file may not work correctly,” Microsoft informed.
The Redmond company is offering no less than five updates designed to tackle these specific issues. The releases have been available for download since the end of the past week, and are tailored to both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Vista RTM/SP1, but also to the x86, x64 and Itanium-based Systems variants of Windows Server 2008. The updates will bring the platforms out of the inconsistent status generated by starting the computer with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. Read More»
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In the first half of June 2008, when they gave a taste of the new features cooking for Internet Explorer 8 which are planned for integration starting with Beta 2, Jane Maliouta - IE Program Manager and James Pratt - IE Product Manager pointed out that IE8 would come with slipstream support by default. This is valid as early as the Beta 1 Build of Internet Explorer 8, but only with Windows Vista RTM, Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Microsoft has left Windows XP SP3 out of the IE8 slipstream equation, this is nothing new for XP, as slipstreaming was also not supported even with Internet Explorer 7.
“With IE8 and Windows Vista, you are able to integrate IE8 into the image file of the original operating system in about 15 minutes. No more booting the OS image, manually installing IE and re-capturing the image. The slipstreaming support also extends to IE8 cumulative updates and language packages. Slipstreaming IE8 into an OS image will only be supported on Vista and Windows Server 2008 platforms. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 do not currently offer a solution for slipstreaming Windows components, which are built using update.exe,” Maliouta revealed. Read More»
Posted in Internet, Windows XP, windows vista | No Comments »
TCP/IP, an acronym for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, is a suite of protocols supported by Microsoft with the Windows family of platforms. Essentially, through its components, TCP/IP is used for communications on both private networks and on the Internet. As far as the world wide web is concerned, the most common aspects of TCP/IP are IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) and IPv6. The Redmond company is offering extensive documentation on TCP/IP as it is supported in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 and Window XP. TCP/IP Fundamentals for Microsoft Windows is available for download.
“This online book is a structured, introductory approach to the basic concepts and principles of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite, how the most important protocols function, and their basic configuration in the Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 families of operating systems,” revealed Keith Combs, Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist, citing an excerpt of the documentation’s description. Read More»
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At the beginning of May, security company PC Tools revealed that Windows Vista “is not so immune.” And in this attempt to wrap the obvious together with statistics from a limited pool of users and serve the result as a revelation, the security outfit went on to claim that “Windows Vista is more susceptible to malware than the eight year old Windows 2000 operating system, and only 37% more secure than Windows XP”. Apparently, PC Tolls had detected 639 unique threats per 1,000 Vista machines, in comparison to just 586 for Windows 2000, 478 for Windows Server 2003, and 1,021 for XP. The conclusion is, of course, nothing short of obvious and was stated as clear as possible, with a challenge to Vista’s malware immunity.
Now, the fact is that citing data from over 450 million computers, in respect to PC Tools’ just 1.4 million machines, Microsoft disputed the findings, and continued to claim that Windows Vista is the safest Windows operating system on the market. Microsoft has repeated this refrain since Vista was launched, and provided ample proof, from the data collected through the Malicious Software Removal Tool to vulnerability counting games involving the main platforms. Read More»
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The second Community Technology Preview of Windows PowerShell V2 is now available for download. Designed as the successor of Windows PowerShell 1.0, Windows PowerShell V2 CTP2 also marks a consistent evolution in comparison with the initial Community Technology Preview release. As such, it delivers new features, along with extended usability. In this manner, Microsoft offers a more mature command line shell and scripting language that enables an increased level of control over Windows environments, leading to a jump in productivity. The CTP will integrate seamlessly with Windows Server 2003 SP2; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista SP1; Windows XP SP2.
“This release adds a plethora of new features. PowerShell remoting now allows a one-to-one interactive experience. Thought about partitioning and organizing PowerShell scripts? Use modules to create self-contained and reusable units. Read More»
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Microsoft has updated and re-released Windows NT Backup on March 27, 2008, making it available as a free download. The move comes as the utility needs to keep up the pace with the evolution of the latest Windows client and server operating systems. Microsoft released both Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1 to manufacturing on February 4, 2008. Windows Server 2008 was launched officially at the end of the past month, while Vista SP1 was released to the general public on March 18.
Version 1.0 of Windows NT Backup dropped on March 27 is tailored to both Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. The utility is designed to enable users of Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 to restore backups that were created on the previous versions of the operating systems, namely Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. In the move from XP and Windows Server 2003, Microsoft has evolved the backup infrastructure of the two platforms. Read More»
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