Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Microsoft Office Outlook

This download installs Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Microsoft Office Outlook and the related Release Notes (Read me).
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Outlook enables access to the same data through Outlook as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Outlook with Offline Access allows data to be taken offline.

Download here

Win a trip to Macau by creating a video about Software-plus-Services!

Help us spread the word about Software-plus-Services. All you need is a video camera, refer to the script and lots of creativity. Click here to find out more! Terms and Conditions apply!

Exciting prizes to be given away:
+ Receive a limited-edition S+S contest t-shirt with every video submission. You'll also receive a Microsoft LifeCam to thank you for your effort. (Please note that only 1 t-shirt and 1 LifeCam will be awarded per video entry, regardless of the number of people who participated in the video.)
+ Up to 10 of the most viewed videos get air time at Tech-Ed SEA 2008 in Kuala Lumpur this August.
+ The winner will jet off to Macau, where you can celebrate your win in style with a weekend at The Venetian Resort Hotel.

Microsoft Language Portal is Live!

The Microsoft Language Portal is live in 11 languages! The site contains information, resources and tools that will hopefully be of use for you.  Here are some of the top features:

• A search tool that allows you to search for English terms and shipped software strings in more than 90 languages
• More than 30 style guides are available on the site for you to download for free
• A feedback tool for you to use to give us your feedback on any term used in any of our products and technologies
• Information on our terminology processes
• Information on upcoming events and interesting terms

You may access the site in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian) or Russian.

Microsoft Language Portal is designed to enable individuals and communities around the world to interact with each other and with Microsoft’s language specialists on matters related to computer terminology. As a products and solutions provider, Microsoft is constantly striving for excellence and the highest level of customer satisfaction. Your feedback is crucial for us to ensure that the terminology we use in our products worldwide meets and exceeds your expectations.

Citigroup: Microsoft likely to raise bid for Yahoo

Microsoft will most likely increase its initial $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, according to a Citigroup Investment Research analyst.

"We believe that a Yahoo sale to Microsoft -- at a price higher than the initial $31 [per share] bid -- is the most likely outcome," said analyst Mark Mahaney in a research note Monday.

Yahoo's board of directors rejected Microsoft's initial offer saying it undervalued the company.

Mahaney added that the limited combined market share of the two companies would also allow the deal to get the thumbs up from governmental regulators.

Citigroup also raised its price target on Yahoo's stock to $34 from $31, saying that the new target price reflected its belief that Microsoft would increase its bid for the company.

"We think the strategic value of Yahoo to Microsoft is very significant," Mahaney said.

Mahaney said Microsoft is unlikely to walk away from the deal because it has yet to make significant inroads in the area of online advertising, especially against market leader Google, despite efforts to do so for the past three to four years. The only way Microsoft could compete with Google would be to acquire Yahoo, the analyst said.

Mahaney said Yahoo is aggressively pursuing other alternatives to Microsoft's unsolicited takeover bid, although he doesn't see any competing bidders for the company.

Source: www.infoworld.com

Microsoft admits it knew about, didn't patch, bugs

Microsoft Corp.'s security team today acknowledged that it knew of bugs in its Jet Database Engine as far back as 2005 but did not patch the problems because it thought it had blocked the obvious attack vectors.

A researcher at Symantec Corp. said Microsoft should have fixed the flaws years ago.

In a post to the Microsoft Security Research Center (MSRC) blog late Monday afternoon, Mike Reavey, the MSRC's operations manager, admitted that outside researchers had notified Microsoft in 2005 and 2007 of separate bugs in Jet, a Windows component that provides data access to applications such as Microsoft Access and Visual Basic.

Source- Computerworld

Microsoft May Bring Office Suite to the iPhone

Among the most requested software for the iPhone is a suite of applications to allow users to work with Microsoft Office files. One company that's considering developing this is at once the most surprising and the most obvious: Microsoft itself.

A team of Microsoft developers is currently testing the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) with an eye toward making a version of Office, according to Fortune. The company is a long way away from making any commitments, though.

The iPhone currently allows users to view Word documents that come in as email attachments, but a version of Microsoft Office would allow these documents to be edited, too.

Source- Brighthand

Microsoft Quietly Launches Interoperability Forum

When Microsoft laid out its broad commitment to more openness last month, one of the concrete steps it said it would take was the opening of the Interoperability Forum to allow customers around the world to have an open dialogue on how Microsoft products could work better with those of other vendors. That forum is now online, albeit empty and unannounced.

One of the four interoperability principles Microsoft announced last month was a pledge to more openly engage customers, partners, and third-party vendors in conversation about the company's direction. The company announced that it would be holding a series of events, hosting online content, and directly engaging people online to create a deeper conversation about how Microsoft should be integrating and interoperating with third-party products.

The Interoperability Forum is one of those new ventures, though its presence isn't the most out in the open. Hosted on Microsoft's MSDN Forums, the Interoperability Forum has thus far seen only posts from Microsoft, with no community involvement whatsoever. In order to get to the forum, which appears to have launched March 19, those interested have to know where to look on Microsoft's own interoperability Web site, and then have to click through several screens to get to the actual forum.

Microsoft's forum has three areas: interoperability conversations, technical interoperability scenarios, and achieving interoperability through standards. The first aims to facilitate general conversation, the next to discuss and resolve technical issues related to interoperability, and the third to talk about how Microsoft should adhere to industry standards.

There are other places where Microsoft has begun a dialogue about interoperability, such as Port 25, a Microsoft blog that focuses on Microsoft's involvement in and engagement with the open source community. The company has also set up more formal ventures with top customers and partners to determine where interoperability is most important, including a group of top CIOs and CTOs called the Interoperability Customer Executive Council and a similar group of software vendors called the Interop Vendor Alliance.

Source- InformationWeek

Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 3.5

The Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 3.5 is the revised version of the original Microsoft Security Risk Self-Assessment Tool (MSRSAT), released in 2004 and the Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 2.0 released in 2006. Security issues have evolved since 2004 so additional questions and answers were needed to ensure you had a comprehensive toolset to become more aware of the evolving security threat landscape that could impact your organization.
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.
There are three assessments that define the Microsoft Security Assessment Tool:

• Business Risk Profile Assessment
• Defense in Depth Assessment (UPDATED)
• Mid-Market Security Core Infrastructure Operations Assessment (NEW)

The questions identified in the survey portion of the tool and the associated answers are derived from commonly accepted best practices around security, both general and specific. The questions and the recommendations that the tool offers are based on standards such as ISO 17799 and NIST-800.x, as well as recommendations and prescriptive guidance from Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group and additional security resources valued in the industry.

Download Here

Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista SP1

Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) enables IT administrators to remotely manage roles and features in Windows Server 2008 from a computer running Windows Vista with SP1. It includes support for remote management of computers running either a Server Core installation or the full installation option of Windows Server 2008. It provides similar functionality to Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack.

• Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista SP1 32-bit Edition (KB941314)
• Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista SP1 64-bit Edition (KB941314)

Entrepreneurs and Experts Reveal Big Ideas at Microsoft’s Small Business Summit 2008

Microsoft Corp. today kicked off its third annual Microsoft Small Business Summit, broadcasting live from Microsoft Studios to an expected crowd of 200,000 online participants nationwide. Over the next four days, more than 50 entrepreneurs and industry experts will define ways in which small-business owners can work smarter by revealing the latest trends and best practices for those who wear the many hats of the self-employed. Cindy Bates, general manager for U.S. Small Business at Microsoft, opened the event by acknowledging how Microsoft is working with customers to continually deliver innovation to the small-business community.

“Since the inception of the Small Business Summit, in 2006, we have delivered more than 20 products and services specifically designed to empower small-business owners,” Bates said. “Recognizing that companies with 50 or fewer employees may have limited IT resources, we look to deliver customer-driven innovation and solutions that enable self-employed people at any stage of growth to focus on running their small business. Today marks another milestone of our efforts to work with small-business owners to bring the right solutions to market with the upcoming availability of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) on the Microsoft Response Point phone system.”

The availability this summer of a free feature update, Service Pack 1 (SP1), to Microsoft Response Point phone systems will enable U.S. small businesses to take advantage of VoIP. With Response Point SP1, small-business owners will have the flexibility to easily transition from traditional analog service to digital voice service, and within a few mouse clicks, can help improve their communications and cut business costs. According to small-business research firm Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc., a small business with 10 to19 employees can save an average of $8,000 in the first year by purchasing an IP-based phone system such as Response Point.

 

More info can be found here

Microsoft Continues to Innovate Rapidly With Service Pack Release for Small-Business Phone System

U.S. small businesses can soon take advantage of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone service on Microsoft Response Point phone systems to improve their business communications. Today at the third annual Microsoft Small Business Summit, Microsoft Corp. announced it will release a feature update, Service Pack 1 (SP1), to its Microsoft Response Point phone system software this summer, available free via a simple download.

“Small businesses rely heavily on the phone to communicate with customers and want a solution that allows them to reliably reach as many customers as possible at a low cost,” said Xuedong Huang, general manager for Response Point at Microsoft. “Response Point SP1 will make it easy to transition from traditional analog service to the promise of digital voice services.”

Response Point SP1 will enable small businesses to easily supplement their existing phone service with VoIP services. As customers become more comfortable with the reliability and quality of service offered by VoIP, they can seamlessly move from analog to VoIP without needing telephony expertise.

Recognizing that small businesses have ebbs and flows in employee hiring, SP1 will take advantage of the flexibility of VoIP to allow small businesses to scale much more rapidly and cost-effectively than with traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) lines. If IP service is in place, using a simple VoIP account setup wizard in the Response Point Administrator, a small business can connect with Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs) to add new VoIP phone numbers in a matter of minutes. The process to install traditional analog lines can take days or even weeks. According to small-business research firm Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc., a small business with 10 to 19 employees can save an average of $8,000 in the first year by purchasing an IP-based phone system such as Response Point.

 

More info can be found here

Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Service Provider Edition (KB 944373)

Microsoft has released Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 3.0 Service Provider Edition and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 client for Outlook Service Provider Edition.
For more information about this release, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 944373:
Update Rollup 2 is available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Service Provider Edition
To maintain parity between the client and server components of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Service Provider Edition, this update rollup includes packages for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Server Service Provider Edition and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 client for Outlook Service Provider Edition.

 

You can download it here

Need Vista SP1 help? Call Redmond toll-free

Microsoft is providing free phone support for Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 users — whether they get their SP1 from Microsoft or via a PC maker or other retailer — through March 2009.

There’s got to be a catch, right?

Surprisingly, the caveats are relatively minor. The help is specifically for SP1 installation and compatibility issues. And the offer stands through March 18, 2009.

According to M3 Sweatt, the Chief of Staff for Windows Core Operating System Division (COSD), the offer of free SP1 help is not unprecedented. Microsoft has provided free support for previous Windows service pack installations.

Sweatt blogged on March 24 about the procedure those needing help should follow:

“If you call in for support, listen carefully to the options on the line as you wait and navigate for support. When you speak with an operator, be sure to tell the customer support agent that you would like support related to the installation of Service Pack one (or ‘SP1′) of Windows Vista. I’ve also seen the wait time drop from 30 minutes for individual chat support to less than 10 just in the last few minutes.”

The toll-free call-in number in the U.S. for Vista SP1 help is (866)-234-6020.

Microsoft made Vista SP1 available to a broader set of customers last week, by making the collection of Vista fixes and features available on Windows Update, the Microsoft Download Center and via retailers like Amazon.com. Microsoft is set to push Vista SP1 to users via its Automatic Update mechanism in mid-April.

 

Source: blogs.zdnet.com

C2: Microsoft's take on FriendFeed?

Microsoft isn’t usually the first (or second or third) company that folks associate with social networking. But maybe the Redmondians, or at least the researchers on the Microsoft Research C2 team, aren’t as unsociable as some assume.
Microsoft showed off earlier this month at its TechFest research fair a handful of new social-computing projects. One of these, codenamed “C2,” shares some similarities with the FriendFeed social-network-data aggregation service — and seemingly is on the fast track to become part of Microsoft’s Windows Live client for mobile devices.
C2 was named for “Circle 2,” a company that a couple of Softies were planning to start after they quit Microsoft. Instead of leaving, the researchers ended up defecting from the Windows desktop search team — the old “Casino” group — to Microsoft Research’s social computing team.
Microsoft researcher Steve Ickman described C2 — which Microsoft Research launched in November 2007 — as a “social-aggregation toolkit.” It is designed to work across desktop, mobile and Web clients. C2 aggregates data — friends, call history and more — from Windows Live Spaces, FaceBook, MySpace, Flickr, users’ email and other sources.
Ickman said he’d found a way to scrape and synthesize this data using identity-matching algoritms in a way that didn’t run afoul of the terms of service of these various sites. The C2 data is currently weighted heavily toward a user’s Live Contacts, but also picks up profile information from non-Microsoft sites, Ickman explained.
Microsoft is set to begin trials within the company of C2 in April, Ickman said. On a banner in the C2 booth at the TechFest product fair, I noticed that the researchers were advertising that C2 would “ship with product teams,” specifically “Catalyst” and WMT (Windows Media Toolkit, I’m guessing). When I asked Ickman what C2 was, he said he couldn’t comment. But after asking around, I found out “Catalyst” is the codename for “Windows Live for Mobile,” the set of Windows Live services that run on Windows Mobile smartphones.
(Microsoft Research technologies tend to find their way into commercial products this way: The research teams show off their developments at TechFest fairs and other meetings to Microsoft’s product groups. If and when the product teams bite, the research projects begin winding their way along the commercialization track.)
Microsoft’s social-computing group showed off a couple of other social-networking research projects at TechFest, too, including a plug-in for Outlook, codenamed “Salsa,” that would combine public and private feed information with e-mail to put more of a human face on contact data; and an internal Wiki, known as “Micropedia,” that currently catalogs all the people and projects at Microsoft. (Wouldn’t that be a Microsoft watcher’s goldmine!)
There aren’t any external links on Microsoft’s C2 that I could find to shed more light on how and when this research technology could find its way into the broader marketplace. But stay tuned.
Meanwhile, do you think Microsoft consumer customers would be interested in social-networking wares from the company? What about Microsoft’s business users?
Source: Mary Jo Foley

Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Monthly Update (February 2008)

This is a set of updates for Windows Embedded CE released during the period of February 1 - February 29, 2008. These Microsoft Windows Embedded CE updates are fixes for Windows Embedded CE operating system problems you run into during the development and maintenance of your custom platform. To qualify for consideration for an update, a problem needs to cause an excessive amount of work and not have a reasonable workaround.
For complete details regarding the updates in this release, please download the Windows Embedded CE 6.0_Update_080229_2008M02 file below.

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows CE

• Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 is required to be installed prior to installing this rollup.
  There will be no additional updates available for Windows Embedded CE 6.0. Customers must install Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 to be able to install future updates.
  The following must be installed in order to create a supported Windows Embedded CE 6.0 development environment:
  1. Visual Studio 2005
  2. Visual Studio 2005 SP1
  3. Visual Studio 2005 SP1 Update for Vista (if applicable)
  4. Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Platform Builder
  5. Windows Embedded CE 6.0 SP1 (required if PB 6.0 Tools have been installed)
  6. Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2
  7. Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Cumulative Product Update Rollup 12/31/2007
  NOTE: Do NOT install older update packages after Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 Update Rollup 2007 has been installed.
  Update packages released prior to R2 Product Rollup 2007 will not be available for download starting 03/15/2008.
• 75 MB of disk space required to download, install, and operate per processor

Download here

IIS7 - Administration Pack - technical preview released

Here are the links to download the new IIS7 admin pack - technical preview version:

Administration Pack for IIS 7.0 (x86)

Administration Pack for IIS 7.0 (x64)

This comes with a lot of features which would make life simpler for the web administrators.

 

Source- <rakkimk runat="server" />

Microsoft-Onkyo sign deal

Microsoft Corp. said it's reached a deal with Onkyo Corp. that allows the Tokyo company to use the computer giant's technology in home entertainment devices.

The Redmond company (NASDAQ: MSFT) didn't say how much Onkyo is paying as part of the deal.

The patent cross-licensing agreement will allow Onkyo to use Microsoft's technology in consumer audiovisual, electronics, personal computing, and home theater custom installation markets.

Source- Business Journal

Windows Installer 4.5 Beta 2 Now Available!

I am pleased to announce that Windows Installer 4.5 Beta 2 is now available from the Microsoft Connect site. If you have not signed up for the beta yet, please do - we are listed as "Windows Installer 4.5" under the "Available Connections" section of the site. If you have already joined the beta, please head back to the Connect site and download the updated bits, tools and documentation.

This is our last planned beta release before we ship, so your feedback at this stage is especially important!

Thanks.

- Tyler

PS: Due to some unfortunate timing, the Microsoft Connect team will be rolling out a new version of the Connect site on Saturday, March 22nd and the site will not be available from 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM (PDT). If you have issues accessing the beta program afterward, please leave a comment on this thread so we can follow-up on any issues. 

 

source- Windows Installer Team Blog

Business Desktop Deployment 2007 update released

The Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) is best-practice guidance for desktop deployment. BDD is targeted at companies that want to reduce deployment time, effort, and cost by increasing the level of automation. It allows administrators to deploy desktops with Zero Touch and Lite Touch interaction at the target PCs. This solution also helps organizations move to a managed environment with standardized desktop images.
BDD 2007 is offered in two versions to support Solution Accelerator component installation on x64 or x86 hosts. Select the version that corresponds with your host hardware type. Both versions of BDD 2007 support deployment of x86 and x64 client operating systems.
This release includes updates to support Windows Vista SP1 in addition to previously supported platforms.
To view this solution online at TechNet, click here.
Also available for download are two white papers, "Quick Start for BDD 2007" and "Windows Vista Deployment Tools Overview." The quick-start guide helps you quickly learn to use BDD to perform a basic Windows Vista installation. The tools overview describes the deployment tools for Windows Vista.

Download it at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=112440

Wave 2008 Launch - Virtual Launch Site Live!

Watch the launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 from your living room

In addition to the launch event on 19^th March in Birmingham, for the first time ever in the UK, we are also pleased to announce the “Virtual Launch Experience”. This gives you the opportunity to watch the Steve Ballmer keynote, view over 15 breakout sessions, visit Microsoft product and community stands, as well as sponsors stands. Along the way you can collect collateral for your virtual backpack, take advantage of the show promotions or have a leisurely browse. Remember when you are on the Virtual Launch Experience to enter the competition as there will be 1000 winners who will each receive a promotional product pack

For anyone who couldn't make the 2008 Wave Launch up in Birmingham on the 19th March, this is a great opportunity to access all the information, sessions etc, in a really cool way.  In the VLE, you'll find:

• Keynote address by Steve Ballmer
• An interactive 3D Silverlight event guide
• Microsoft product and sponsor booths, rich with videos, presentations, brochures, and special offers
• Community exhibitors that allow you to connect with the companies and groups
• Breakout sessions for deep diving into the 2008 Launch Wave technologies
• A virtual backpack to store and download exhibitor content
• A unified event interface to effortlessly navigate your virtual experience

Best of all, it's a rich Internet application, designed and built with Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Studio, hosted on Windows Server 2008 accessing SQL Server 2008, and presented in Microsoft Silverlight.  Cool!

To get to the Virtual Launch Experience go to www.microsoft.com/virtualevents/uk

Source- Technet Blog