Megh Neupane

Ben Armstrong, a Program Manager on the core virtualization team at Microsoft recently posted a blog with powershell and vbscript examples that will allow an administrator to boot up virtual machines (built with Windows Virtual PC) directly via scripting. He argues it will provide the following benefits:

• Automated testing
• Patch deployment
• Faster launch

Read his blog to view and download the scripts.

Microsoft is offering a free eBook covering its prominent virtualization technologies that include -

• Server Virtualization (Hyper-V, Server 2008 Virtualization, Virtual Machine Manager 2008)
• Application Virtualization (App-V)
• Desktop Virtualization (Enterprise Desktop Virtualization and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure)
• Presentation Virtualization (Terminal Services)
• Profile Virtualization (Roaming Profiles, Folder Redirection, Offline Files)

Read more…

Since its debut in November 9 2004, on July 30th 2009, Firefox reached one billion downloads recorded through spread Firefox download center. Firefox holds a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. Posted on Mozilla’s Blog, this coming Monday, www.onebillionplusyou.com will go live and act as a hub of information concerning the billionth download of Firefox.

In less than a week after Windows 7 was Released to Manufacturing (RTM), leading news sites are reporting the Windows 7 activation process being hacked and now possible to activate the licensing of the operating system with illegal licensing mechanism. According to pcworld, theregister, cnet and more, the hacked file makes use of a flaw in the OEM distribution of Windows 7 and will pass Windows Genuine Advantage Validation. Well, that didn’t take long to surface the news media and it’s very assumable that Microsoft will now come up with some identification/blocking mechanism of the OEM tweak!

BBC is reporting that large parts of West Africa are struggling to get back online following damage to an undersea cable. The fault has caused severe problems in Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria. The blackout is thought to have been caused by damage to the SAT-3 cable which runs from Portugal and Spain to South Africa, via West Africa. Around 70% of Nigeria’s bandwidth was cut, causing severe problems for its banking sector, government and mobile phone networks.

Read the in-depth news coverage @ BBC Technology Webpage

RTM indicates the code is now signed off and available for mass production for mass distribution, that just happened to Windows 7 today. The Operating System is the latest client OS from Microsoft with promises of security, feasibility, productivity and more, ever!  Windows 7 is an upcoming version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs and media center PCs. Windows 7 has general retail availability set for October 22, 2009, less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7′s server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, is slated for release at the same time.

Microsoft said it’s planning to introduce a Windows 7 family pack that will allow buyers of the Home Premium version to install the operating system on up to three computers with a single purchase.

"We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs," wrote Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft’s in-house Windows blogger, in a post Tuesday. "I’m happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs," wrote LeBlanc. A pricing outline for the family pack has not been finalized or published yet.

Windows 7 RTM’ed today and is expected to be generally available on Oct. 22nd.

RTM, Release to Manufacturing, indicates the code is now signed off and available for mass production for mass distribution, that just happened to Windows Server 2008 R2, as it happened to Windows 7, both today. Some of the new features available at this release has been highlighted at Windows Server 2008 team’s blog.

Windows Server 2008 is the most recent release of Microsoft Windows’ server line of operating systems. Released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008 and officially released on February 27, 2008, it is the successor to Windows Server 2003, released nearly five years earlier. Like Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 is built on Windows NT 6.0.