May 2009 - Posts
On the day Microsoft released Windows 7 RC and Windows Server 2008 R2 RC they also released the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 RC.
“Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows® 7 RC enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows Server® 2008, or Windows Server® 2003, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7 RC.”
Download is available from Microsoft Download Center.
Important: Don’t forget to read the system requirements, installation instructions and configuration instructions on the client and server side before and after installing RSAT. All information is avaliable in the download page.
Enjoy!
Microsoft announced today the Release Candidate of Windows Server 2008 R2.
Windows Server 2008 R2 is the next version of Windows Server operating system from Microsoft. A Beta version of Windows Server 2008 R2 released exactly 3 month ago, and now it’s already in RC stage.
Windows Server 2008 R2 RC can be download from Microsoft Download Center.
As published with the beta release, Windows Server 2008 R2 is going to include several improvements from it’s predecessor. These improvements include the following:
Improved Web Application Platform
“Windows Server 2008 R2 includes an updated Web server role, Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5, and greater support for .NET on Server Core. The Design goals for IIS 7.5 concentrated on improvements that enable Web administrators to more easily deploy and manage Web applications, that increase both reliability and scalability. Additionally, IIS 7.5 has streamlined management capabilities and provides more ways to customize your Web serving environment….” (Read More)
Server and Desktop Virtualization
“Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the following virtualization types: Client and Server virtualization provided by Hyper-V and Presentation virtualization with Remote Desktop Services. Hyper-V virtualizes the system resources of a physical computer allowing you to provide a virtualized environment for operating systems and applications. Remote Desktop Services (formally known as Terminal Services) virtualizes a processing environment and isolates the processing from the graphics and I/O, making it possible to run an application in one location but have it be controlled in another. Presentation virtualization allows users to run a single application, or a complete desktop offering multiple applications…” (Read More)
Improved Power Management and Streamlining Management
“Windows Server 2008 R2 has new features to reduce the ongoing management of Windows Server 2008 R2 and to reduce the administrative effort for common day-to-day operational tasks. And these administrative tasks can be performed on the server or remotely…” (Read More)
Scalability and Reliability
“Windows Server 2008 R2 is capable of unprecedented workload size, dynamic scalability, and across-the-board availability and reliability. A host of new and updated features will be available, including leveraging sophisticated CPU architectures, increased operating system componentization, and improved performance and scalability for applications and services. Also, Windows Server 2008 R2 is the first Windows operating system to be offered for only 64-bit processors…” (Read More)
Better Together with Windows 7
“Windows Server 2008 R2 has many features that are designed to specifically work with client computers running Windows 7, including simplifying remote connectivity for corporate computers by using the DirectAccess feature, Secured remote connectivity for private and public computers by using a combination of the Remote Workspace, Presentation Virtualization, and Remote Desktop Services Gateway features, and Improved performance for branch offices by using the BranchCache feature…” (Read More)
For more information visit Windows Server 2008 R2 Resources, Top Reasons For Windows Server 2008 R2 and the Articles and White Papers pages.
Today, Microsoft also released Windows 7 Release Candidate and Windows Virtual PC with Virtual Windows XP/Windows XP Mode.
Read my posts about Windows 7, Windows Virtual PC and Virtual Windows XP/Windows XP Mode for more info and download links.
Virtual Windows XP or Windows XP Mode is a new free separate install feature for Windows 7 that gives you a full Windows XP environment running as a virtual machine on your Windows 7. This feature enables you to launch the applications you install on Virtual Windows XP into your Windows 7 desktop.
To get the thing working you need to download two installation files:
1. Windows Virtual PC (KB958559) – Avaliable in x86 (Windows6.1-KB958559-x86.msu) and x64 (Windows6.1-KB958559-x64.msu). This is the Windows Virtual PC Installer.
2. Virtual Windows XP – (VirtualWindowsXP.msi). This is the Virtual Windows XP installer.
All Downloads Are avaliable from Windows Virtual PC Download page.
After you install these two files (first the Windows Virtual PC and then the Virtual Windows XP), you will see new folders under Windows Virtual PC in the Start Menu: Virtual Windows XP and Virtual Windows XP Applications.
Hitting the Virtual Windows XP icon will launch, after few short steps, the Virtual Windows XP environment:
What you are probably saying right now is that this is simply a Windows XP Virtual Machine installed on Windows 7 with a virtualization application, in that case, Windows Virtual PC. Well, you are mostly right, but this Windows XP functionality is far more than a VM running on a host.
As you can remember, one of Windows Vista problems when it was just RTM, was application compatibility. It took some time for applications to support Windows Vista and it was probably one of the reasons that it took a while for Vista to go into mainstream… Now, after they learned the lesson, Microsoft provide a free Windows XP environment for Windows 7 that lets you publish the applications you install on Virtual Windows XP into your Windows 7 desktop.
The reason for this is that Microsoft wants the migration to Windows 7 will be easier and quicker for both home and business users who are running application that are only supported on Windows XP or for users who need to run multiple versions of the same application simultaneously.
Here are few examples:
You can run both Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 8 (IE6 is actually installed on Virtual Windows XP, IE8 is on Windows 7):
Or, even more cool thing is running different versions of the same application in different languages, like I did with Word 2007 (in English, installed on Windows 7) and Word 2003 (in Hebrew, installed on Virtual Windows XP):
Another cool thins is that you get the notifications from the Virtual Windows XP to your Windows 7, like the one I got with the Antivirus not installed:
So, how it works?
Basically, when you install an application and you choose to install it to All Users, the application is automatically published to your Windows 7 under Virtual Windows XP Application folder in the Start Menu. So if I install Office 2003 in Virtual Windows XP it will look like that in Windows 7 Start Menu:
With Internet Explorer 6, which is already installed in Virtual Windows XP, I simply dragged Internet Explorer shortcut icon to the All Users Programs folder. If you check the settings of Virtual Windows XP, you will see it is configured to Auto Publish Virtual Applications and it also mentioned that dragging a shortcut to the Start Menu, will publish the application to Windows 7 desktop.
Dragging the Internet Explorer icon to the All Users folder did work, but dragging Paint, Calculator and other built-in application didn’t do the trick, maybe just for, still investigating…
Another application I tested, was CheckPoint VPN Client – Secure Remote. As for today, there is no x64 version of Secure Remote. I’m running Windows 7 RC x64 so it’s a bit of a problem. After I installed Secure Remote in Virtual Windows XP, I got a shortcut under Virtual Windows XP Applications and I was able to configure and connect to a site from Windows 7:
I thought for a minute that I can launch Remote Desktop from Windows 7 and connect to a server residing at the site I connected to, but unfortunately it didn’t work and I was not able to publish Remote Desktop from Virtual Windows XP to Windows 7… :(
According to Microsoft Windows Virtual PC Page, (Under Support > Requirements) you will see that Virtual Applications feature is also supported on Windows Vista (Enterprise and Ultimate) and Windows 7 (Enterprise and Ultimate). Didn’t test it yet…
So, Virtual Windows XP is still in his dippers, but I’m pretty sure that this new feature will be fully functional and will have a lot more capabilities when Windows 7 goes RTM.
For more information about Virtual Windows XP you should read the following posts:
Rafael Rivera’s Blog - Secret No More: Revealing Windows XP Mode for Windows 7
Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows - Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 Preview
Have Fun!
Today, along with the release of Windows 7 Release Candidate, Microsoft released a new beta version of its virtualization product for end-users - Windows Virtual PC.
Windows Virtual PC, version 6.1 (for now..), will replace Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (SP1), the current virtualization product for end-users. Among other things, Virtual Windows XP supports USB and Printers redirection, Folder Integration between host and guest, Seamless Applications and more.
Download, features and support information of Windows Virtual PC and Virtual Windows XP, is avaliable at Microsoft Windows Virtual PC Download Page.
To make the story short, here are some facts.
Windows Virtual PC now integrates with Windows Explorer, there is no console like Virtual PC 2007. As you can see in the screenshots below, to create a new virtual machine or change a virtual machine settings, just press the Virtual Machines icon in the Start Menu and after the window opens, press the buttons at the top of the Virtual Machines window to create a new virtual machine or change the settings of existing one.
The shortcut keys in Windows Virtual PC are like in Microsoft Hyper-V. For Ctrl+Alt+Del use Ctrl+Alt+End and to release the cursor use Ctrl+Alt+Left Arrow. If you already have Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (SP1) installed, be aware that the installation of Windows Virtual PC will not start and you will get a warning stating that you need to uninstall Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 before installing Windows Virtual PC. After doing so and installing Windows Virtual PC (More info about the installer later in this post), to add your existing VM’s, simply double click the VMC file. Windows Virtual PC will automatically create a backup of your existing VMC file and than create a new one for Windows Virtual PC. When the guest OS starts, you will probably get the following warning about Integration Features:
The reason for this is that your VM most likely have ‘Virtual Machine Additions’ installed', so in the mean time, press continue and after the OS is up, uninstall VN Additions and then Enable Integration Components from the Tools menu. From the Integration Components installation wizard you can see that they are only supported on Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows 7:
From my experience, Integration Components are also partially working on Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP1. After Integration Components are installed on Windows 2003 R2 SP2 or 2008 SP1, when you start the VM it will pop a the following screen on startup:
Entering the credentials will automatically log you in, and Integration Components will work. If not, simply click on the Tools menu and choose Enable Integration Features:
a beat tricky, but works…
According to Microsoft Windows Virtual PC Page, these are the PC Requirements for Windows Virtual PC:
• 1 GHz 32bit or 64bit processor or better
• CPU w/ AMD-VTM or Intel® VT features turned on
• 2 GB of memory recommended
• Additional 15GB of hard disk space per virtual Windows environment recommended
That was just in a nut shell…
The real cool part that worth go into detail is Virtual Windows XP.
Check out my blog later for a review of Virtual Windows XP.
Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) is publicly available for download!
Few days earlier (30/4/09), Microsoft released Windows 7 RC to TechNet/MSDN subscribers, other MS freaks probably got the release a week or two before using “Other” download site….
The RC build, as anticipated, is 7100 and the ISO’s can be download after a quick registration from Windows 7 Release Candidate Customer Preview Program Page.
You can also use the following direct download links (no registration), thanks to Windows Seven Forums
X86 - Windows 7 RC (Build 7100) x86
X64 - Windows 7 RC (Build 7100) x64
For those of you who are not familiar with windows 7 yet, here are some links for start -
Microsoft Windows 7 Page - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx
What’s new - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/whats-new.aspx
For IT Pro’s - Windows 7 Feature Walkthroughs - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd320282.aspx
Engineering Windows 7 Blog - http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/default.aspx
Windows 7 Team Blog - http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/default.aspx
A few month ago, when Windows 7 was still in Beta stage, I published a post regarding Windows 7 Tweaks. If you are one of those tweakers, you should read this post too.
Stay tuned for more information about Windows 7 soon…
While writing a post about Windows Virtual PC and Virtual Windows XP (will be published later today), I noticed something weird at the Microsoft Windows Virtual PC page.
If you take a closer look at the desktop you’ll see that the desktop icons and taskbar are not really Windows icons and taskbar…. (click the images for larger size):
I believe Microsoft could spend some more time on these graphics (especially when advertising a new technology) so they won’t look like “other” operating system…
:-)
NetApplications, a company running the MarketShare site, reported earlier today that Linux usage share on client devices has surpassed 1% for the first time in their tracking.
According to MarketShare “Linux has been successful primarily as a server operating system, but client usage share has not kept pace with server share. Linux has reached this important milestone on the client as Linux-based systems have become more functional, easier to use, and pre-installed on computers from vendors like Dell.”
Although Windows usage is decreasing (91.58%, April 2008 / 87.90%, April 2009) it seems that Microsoft shouldn’t worry about Linux yet. The increasing usage of Mac OS is likely more worrying…
In the Browsers area, things are a bit different…
As for April 2009, Internet Explorer is leading with 66.10%, about 8% less than the same time last year (74.83%) while Firefox with 22.48%,about 5% more than the the same time last year (17.76%).
April 2009 April 2008
Recently, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8, which presented lot of improvements from it’s predecessors, hopefully for Microsoft, it will stop the decreasing use of Internet Explorer.
In a few days (5/5/09), Windows 7 Release Candidate will be publicly avaliable for download.
In the mean time, Microsoft released an 11 minutes video describing Windows 7 RC features and improvements from the beta.
The video talks about the new User Account Control (UAC) improvements, new Winkey shortcuts, Jumplists and application integration with Jumplists (like Live Messenger, Office products, Windows Media Player… ), Themes and…. a new virtualization technology - Virtual Windows XP Mode.
Virtual Windows XP Mode is a new separate install feature (at the moment…) which gives you a full Windows XP environment running as a virtual machine on your Windows 7. This feature enables you to launch the applications you install in the Virtual Windows XP on your Windows 7 desktop. For example, you can run both Internet Explorer 8 (which is built-in in Windows 7) and Internet Explorer 6 (which is built-in in Virtual Windows XP) or Office 2007 and Office 2003.
More about Virtual Windows XP Mode soon…
The video can be download from Microsoft Download Site.
Enjoy!