Windows Vista for XP Professionals

I’ve been carrying this book (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-Vista-XP-Professionals-Updating/dp/9072389018 to buy this book!) . It’s written by Dutch MCT superstar Raymond Comvalius. In summary, this is a great book – simple  and to the point. Unlike some books, there’s very few screen shots – just lots of good straightforward text!

The book contains 8 chapters:

• Chapter 1 – Introduction
• Chapter 2 – What’s new in Vista and is not discused in the book – a nice touch!
• Chapter 3 – Deploying Vista – a good look at the deployment tools which are all new in Vista.
• Chapter 4 – Managing Vista- includes details on group policies and a look at WInRM.
• Chapter 5 – Securing Vista – explains the key new security features of VIsta including UAC, file/registry virtualization and BitLocker.
• Chapter 6 – Networking – Vista includes a bunch of new networking features, in effect a new TCP/IP stack, which are described in this chapter.
• Chapter 7 – Mobility – a look at the mobile features of Vista.
• Chapter 8 – Migration to Vista – this final chapter examines how to plan your Vista migration.

This is an excellent summary of what an IT Pro needs to know moving forward to Vista. I hope Raymond writes an update for Windows 7!

Technorati Tags: Vista,Raymond Comvalius

PowerShell Sidebar Gadget (for Vista users)

If you use Vista and you use the Sidebar, Andrew Peters has a neat gadget that hosts the PowerShell Console in your Vista Sidebar. You can download it here: http://andrewpeters.net/wp-content/uploads/PowerShellGadget.gadget.

If you are interested, you can rename the file to a .zip and see what’s inside a gadget file. The cooler bits of the gadget, though, are in a DLL.

Technorati Tags: PowerShell,Sidebar Gadget,Vista

Vista SP1 Is Released. But Is It Ready?

Over on the Windows Vista Team blog, Mike Nash has Announced the RTM of Windows Vista SP1. Really good news!! But then I re-read his post more carefully. While SP1 is "released", it may not be ready for prime time. Mike confides that "Our beta testing identified an issue with a small set of device drivers.  These drivers do not follow our guidelines for driver installation and as a result, some beta participants who were using Windows Vista and updated to Service Pack 1 reported issues with these devices."

So what was Microsoft's response? RTM it anyway.

It seems to me that Mike has just confirmed that SP1 is not really ready for release albeit with a small number of issues. Would you want to have to hope that one of these unspecified devices are ones you'll have in your corporate estate? While the number of drivers may be small,when SP1 is really ready, then I'll start looking at it. At a minimum, rather than just waffle on with marketing weasel words, where's the list of broken drivers?

There's only one reason Microsoft decided to RTM this and it's called Marketing.Next week we see the  Launch of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, along with the vaporware known hopefully as SQL Server 2008. The pressure to declare Vista SP1 as RTM prior to the big events must have been high. IMHO, it's not a good justification! SP1 is vital, in our market at least, to create some faith that Vista is ready for our customers. Now you are suggesting we need and SP1 for SP1 - what were you guys thinking?

To help Mike, on the team blog comment page, I provided an entry for the Visa SP1 FAQ:

Q: When will SP1 be released?
A: When it's ready or when marketing decides to release it.

I should probably sign this as "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" even though I don't live there.

{Later}

Looks like I'm not the only person that thinks less than positively about the release of SP1. Paul Thurrot also believes that software should be delivered when it's ready and not before.

Technorati tags: Vista, Vista SP1, Vista SP1 is broken

SecPol in Vista Home Premium - there isn't any!

As Susan Bradley has discovered is: There's no secpol in Vista Home Premium and she asks the all important question - now what. Naturally, Susan provides a neat answer - just hack the registry.

This tip will come in handy - I'm getting my wife a new computer and it'll come with Vista loaded and I want to not have to have her deal with UAC.

Thanks Susan.

Technorati: secpol, Vista, Vista Home Premium

More Updates to Windows Vista available via Windows Update this week

As reported on the Windows Vista Team Blog : New Updates to Windows Vista available via Windows Update this week, there are several new updates for Vista due out soon via Windows Update. These fixes are pre-SP1, and are being made available now.

It's great that MS is pushing out updates. Personally, I'd prefer XP SP3, but that's just me.

Technorati tags: Windows Vista

Windows Server 2008 - Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Dropped

Over on the Windows Server Division WebLog, there's an article entitled Windows Server 2008 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Update. Despite the innocuous headline, the contents reveals that Windows SharePoint is being dropped as an 'in the box' component. I find this very disappointing. But to quote Jeffrey Snover, "to ship is to choose" and I guess WSS is not ready for release yet and so has been dropped.

The claim that MS dropped this feature "to allow customers to most conveniently obtain the technology" as suggested on the blog seems somewhat wide of the mark. The most convenient way is to include the technology in the box (ala PowerShell), not make users find some web site somewhere. Presumably WSS 3.0 was just not ready.

Technorati tags: Windows Server 2008, WSS, Windows SharePoint Services, shipping means cutting features

Going To Have To Pay For Vista SP1?

A rumour, to be sure, but are Vista users going To Have To Pay For Vista SP1?. Now this may just be a "pay P&P to get the DVD" deal in which case that's perfectly reasonable. But if MS plans to chare more than simple costs involved in shipping then I'd expect a pretty huge backlash. I'm about to buy a new Dell box for my wife, and this would make a difference to my choice of OS (fortunately Dell still provides XP which is perfectly fine for the intended use).

Technorati tags: vista, Vista SP1, Microsoft

Some Nice Vista (and XP) Wallpapers

 I just found this page - it contains some nice Vista Wallpaper. Of course you can use them for XP or Server too!

Technorati tags: wallpaper, vista, XP

VIsta Policy Based QOS

QOS - Quality Of Service - is a networking feature that provides for protection of bandwidth, e.g. to ensure you have enough bandwidth to stream a video without dropout. Vista provides policies to enable you to prioritise network traffic by configuring Policy-based Quality of Service (QoS).

See http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=59030735-8fde-47c7-aa96-d4108f779f20&DisplayLang=en for more details on how to implement QOS with Vista (and Longhorn!).

 

Technorati tags: Vista, QOS, quality of service, Windows networking

Help in Vista Now Available

In an article I posted last December, I bemoaned the lack of WinHlp32.exe in Vista. At that time the updated Winhlp32.exe was not available. This was described in KB 917607.

Re-visiting the KB - and an updated version of WinHlp32 is now available.  This provides a version of WInHlp32.exe for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista. Installing the update brings back support for older Windows help files.

Technorati tags: winhelp, windows vista, vista, help

More on SMTP on Vista

In a blog article posted recently, I pointed out that the SMTP service had been removed from Vista.  In an article in one of the IIS Team blogs,  Bill explains this as follows: "The SMTP server has always fit under the 'IIS' umbrella, but wasn't actually owned by the IIS team.  The folks that owned it have decided to no longer ship it in Vista (the Windows client SKU) and instead are only shipping it in Longhorn Server."

So a team decided just to not ship it. Nice to know that this was a conscious decision. Sadly, it's yet another regression from XP, and one more reason to stick with XP on my laptop. For me,  and others, a better answer would have been for IIS to take ownership of the SMTP service.

 

Technorati tags: Vista, SMTP, Longhorn, IIS, IIS 7

SMTP In Vista (or not)

I'm dual booting my laptop between Vista and our corporate Windows XP SP2 build. On my XP build, I've installed the SMTP service to enable me to send mail on the road. I've had some problems with my existing supplier, and I was looking for a better answer and there it was as part of XP. I installed the SMTP service, and after a bit of configuration, I have it setup to send mail and not to act as a relay agent. This is working great.

I then booted back to Vista after several days using XP, and went to add the SMTP service to my Vista install. But It's not there! The service was removed in Vista's version of IIS 7.

In the meantime, I've found a replacement, a nice shareware SMTP service that works under Vista. This is the 1st SMTP Server, a shareware program. It works free for 30 days, then dies with the ongoing license costing US$49.

The package is small to download (1.2MB for the zipped version) and the installation is trivial.  See the 1st SMTP Server home page for more info on the product.

Once installed, the working  set is around 9.2mb at start, but it grows. The initial handle count also seems quite high (116) and it grows too. Not sure if this is handle or memory leaks, or  just a program getting started. I'll watch the performance over the next day or two. 

It's a shame that the SMTP feature was dropped from Vista. Maybe MS will consider adding it back in SP1. Although by that time, I'll have licensed the 1st SMTP server!

 

Technorati tags: Vista, SMTP, 1st SMTP Server, Windows XP, IIS 7

PowerShell for Vista Ships

As announced on the PowerShell Team blog, PowerShell V1.0 has shipped for Vista.  Horray!

 

Technorati tags: Vista, Windows Vista, PowerShell

Vista and Drivers

As many IT Pros know, with Vista comes new drivers - and for many devices there are no new drivers. Well not yet anyway - updated drivers will come in due course. Well, for the most part - I'm certain some vendors will simply not bother, in effect dropping support for older hardware.

Radarsync has put up a really useful Vista Drivers page, which lists the latest Vista drivers and provides direct links to downloads. They are offering this as a free service to the community.

Bookmarked!

Technorati tags: Windows Vista, Vista, Vista drivers, drivers

Windows Vista Ultimate - Limited Numbered Signature Edition

Engadget reports that Microsoft is releasing a limited edition version of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. The cool thing about this - it's signed by Bill Gates. Allegedly anyway - I agree with Engadget that the "signature" is probably just a signature print).

There are only 20,000 copies being produced - this may end up a collector's item. Unfortunately, Engadget doesn't give a link to buy it!

 

Technorati tags: Windows Vista, Ultimate Edition, Limited Numbered Signature Edition

Vista Content Protection - MS Responds

Late last year, Peter Gutmann, a researcher from New Zealand, published a pretty scathing article, entitled A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection. One of his conclusions is that "Overall, Vista's content-protection functionality seems like an astonishingly short-sighted piece of engineering, concentrating entirely on content protection with no consideration given to the enormous repercussions of the measures employed". 

Microsoft has now responded in an article on the Vista Team Blog site, entitled Windows Vista Content Protection - Twenty Questions (and Answers). Written by Dave Marsh of Microsoft, this article aims "to address some of the other points raised in the paper". While Marsh's piece does try to attach Guttman's comment, it confirms other points. For example, MS acknowledges that DRM increases  CPU usage  by stating"the use of additional CPU cycles is inevitable".

Also inevitable is the reaction to Marsh's piece - one comment on the Vista blog suggests "This essay has essentially CONFIRMED every horrible charge leveled at Vista by Gutmann".

 

Technorati tags: Vista, Content Protection, DRM, Peter Gutmann, Microsoft

Windows Vista Ultimate Extras Revealed

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Bill Gates showed off Microsoft's upcoming Ultimate Extras as part of his keynote. Ultimate Extras are some additional programs for users of Vista Ultimate edition. MS has three Ultimate Extras ready for release on Windows Vista's general availability date (end Jan 2007). These extras are:

• Windows DreamScene:  This Ultimate Extra allows you to to use a video as your desktop background. DreamScene then loops through this video as your desktop background. There's a nice waterfall video  and you can even use your own videos.  the downside is that this uses a huge amount of CPU and can be distracting.
• BitLocker and EFS Enhancements:   This includes a tool called the Secure Online Key Backup that you can use to store your BitLocker recovery password on a secure MS web site.
• Texas Hold'em Poker Game:  This is not a bad version of Texas Hold'em. You can not, however, play online with other users.  

Ultimate Extras are slated for release on 30 January with more Extras coming.  MS has created the Windows Ultimate Web site for updates and information on current and upcoming Windows Vista Ultimate Extras.

 

 

Technorati tags: Windows Vista, Vista Ultimate, Ultimate Extras, DreamScene, Texas Hold'em, BitLocker and EFS enhancements

Vista Content Protection - A cost or a benefit?

I've been reading an interesting paper by Peter Gutman entitled  A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection. It is a somewhat depressing read. I'm not sure how much of this paper is accurate but Chris Samuel has some support for Gutman's analysis. The comments on Bruce Schneier's blog are aslo pretty interesting.

No doubt, someone from MS will be along to defend Vista's content protection features. I look forward to seeing  how this issue play out.

 

Technorati tags: Vista, Content Protection, Vista content protection broken

Vista is WinHlp-less.

I just discovered KB article KB 917607.  Windows help is a help program that's been around a long time. It enables access to  help files stored on older .hlp file format.

Unfortunately, says the KB article, WinHlp no longer "meets Microsoft Standards" (although the particular standards are not mentioned). For this reason, it has been removed from Vista. Worse, the KB states that venders are prohibited from distributing the help application.  So if you have an application that works fine under XP and uses the older .HLP file format for help - the help will not work under Vista. Worse, MS is prohibiting the application vendor from helping you.

But as I read on, users will be able to download a version of the WinHlp code. One small thing: according  to the KB  article, this application is not ready yet and will be provided some time in early 2007.  Or so the KB article claims.

 I think of all those older corporate apps using older help files that will now not seamlessly work  on Vista. Is MS trying to stop businesses from upgrading to Vista? This is more proof, if proof is actually needed, that Vista was released before it's ready.

Roll on SP1!

Technorati tags: Microsoft, Vista, Windows Help, Vista is not ready for corporate use, Vista SP1

Running PowerShell in Vista as an Admin

I've documented previously how to get PowerShell to run on Vista. It's a simple hack, but as I've said before, it's unsupported. But it works and I'm using this approach on my laptop, which is now running Vista. I also have a shortcut to PowerShell in  my quick launch window to the right of the Start button.

One thing I discovered is that, like all programs, Vista runs PowerShell sans privileges. Thus when I opened PowerShell to look at the BCDEDIT program, I found BCDEDIT simply gave me the error:

The boot configuration data store could not be opened.
Access is denied.

The reason is UAC. Under Vista, PowerShell is running, by default, without admin rights, thus I get the access denied error. Some will argue that this is a good thing, but as the admin,I want to run PowerShell as an admin! But I do appreciate MS looking after me, but I know what I'm doing . UAC is a great feature, but it does not learn. Why should some programmer in Redmond decide what I need to be protected from? I've only been using MS products for 25 years, and in all that time, have never come across the malware Redmond wants to protect me from. But enough of the anti-UAC rant.

The solution to this problem is simple - just adjust the shortcut that starts PowerShell. Right click the shortcut, and select properties. On the Compatibility tab, at the bottom, select "Run this program as an administrator". I'm unclear why MS decided to  put this option on the Compatibility tab but I suppose some Program Manager thought it a good idea.

The only downside is that each time you run PowerShell, you get the dreaded black screen and get asked for permission to run PowerShell as admin. Additionally, although it may be a byproduct of the hack I used to get PowerShell running - Vista can't identify the publisher. It suggests the program is "unidentified" - a feature I hope MS will get fixed when they eventually release PowerShell for Vista.

 

Technorati tags: Microsoft, Vista, UAC, UAC sucks, PowerShell, Windows PowerShell, BCDEDIT