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Thursday, September 30, 2004

MSN Messenger 7.0 Revealed

News of the next version of MSN Messenger is showing up on NeoWin.

MSN Messenger is clearly progressing in this early look at 7.0. You now have the ability to sign in as busy/away/offline etc which will please a lot of people. 3 Degrees is finally encorporated into MSN Messenger (something I had been writing about for more than a year). The interface is cleaner, smarter and the features are great!

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Microsoft Physics Illustrator for Tablet PC

Bring your drawings to life with the Physics Illustrator, a motion simulator for the Tablet PC. Simply draw two-dimensional bodies, connect them in various ways and apply forces, then watch as animation makes the bodies move, collide, and interact.

I'm still waiting for Microsoft to send me a Tablet PC for extended trail use. Yet if anyone's used this program or has a link to a review, use the comment link below.

Microsoft Download

More Windows Mobile links

Over at Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger

Scoble posted a link to this Microsoft Smartphone FAQ site with many useful links and tips to get the most out of your Microsoft Smartphone.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Windows Mobile Video

Found this over at Channel 9

Here Ori Amiga shows off all the devices that he has hanging out in his office (someone has to test Visual Studio and make sure it works great with all the devices).

He explains what's different between SmartPhones and PocketPCs. Over the next week he'll show you some cool new features in Visual Studio that'll help you build apps designed for these mobile devices.

It's a shame they didn't show my smartphone, which they make reference of in the video when they talk about the candy bar form factor.

New Longhorn Concept Videos

Microsoft have had some Longhorn videos up for viewing for a while now. Yet in the last few days they updated the list with the following:

Telecoms Video : "In this demo, Carter depicts a Longhorn call center application that coordinates internal and external Web Services to assist a stranded motorist."

Government Video :"Describe[s] how Accela helps cities set the bar for next-generation Emergency Response Services. Government agencies, citizens, and businesses collaborate efficiently to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies by taking advantage of the advanced data, communications, and visualization capabilities in Windows. This video covers technology to be delivered in 2005, as well as demonstrating platform advances coming in Longhorn in 2006.


Video listing

Also for additional information on the upcoming (eventually) client Windows Operating System codenamed Longhorn visit the Blogs here.

Friday, September 24, 2004

FREE Microsoft Calculator Plus

Found this on Microsoft Download Center

This application allows you to complete many different types of conversions; it
also includes all the mathematical functions offered in Microsoft Calculator.


Not sure about the user interface, yet you can change this back to the classic setting (VIEW > CLASSIC VIEW) much like Windows XP. The other strange thing about this program is the menu path to change to classic view. I can't think of any other Microsoft application that doubles up on the wording in the menu path. But for its price you can't complain.

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Good look at the new Portable Media Center

I really like the creative device and MediaPlayer 10. Also it's great news that Microsoft have opened the Media Center up and allowed new TV tuner cards to be added to whitebox machines. I also think Chris's idea of having the device as an independent recorder sounds like a good idea yet I think the Xbox Extender boxs should do the trick.

The only thing missing from the device which is a bit of a let down is that they do not incorporate the Microsoft Voice Command software which I use everyday on my Pocket PC to query my music via voice when driving to work. The Voice Command software on the Pocket PC could possibly be the best application for the Windows Mobile platform. Considering that the Portable Media Center and the Pocket PC are almost identical in regard to sepcs I can't see any reason why this marriage would not work out perfectly.

Channel9

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

FREE Microsoft Time Zone

I don't recall finding out about this application when it was released. Very nice program though and well priced! Found the link over at Jason McConnell's blog

Microsoft Download

Interview with Martin Taylor - Microsoft's Linux strategist

Found Part 2 for this interview on ActiveWin yet they did not link to part 1 :-( Yet after a quick stop off at google found the originial. See it here.

No more ActiveX for Microsoft Chat

Over at NeoWin.net they have an article about Microsoft dropping the ActiveX method for the chat sessions they have. Currently the control cannot be used behind most company firewalls. Yet the new method would not doubt be using ASP.NET to provide a rich user experience. Yet unfortunately this new setup does not play nice with FireFox (or Mozilla).

Windows XP Chat Zone.

Outlook's 1-Minute Rule

This is a great idea for anyone who uses Outlook 2003

Set Outlook to send emails 1 minute after you press the Send button. Just in case! - You might also want to add a rule that if the email is flagged as Important than this delay is not used.

http://blogs.msdn.com/csris/archive/2004/09/20/232229.aspx

Thanks Charles

Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool

Thanks Gerod Serafin for this...

The Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool automatically examines an Exchange Server deployment and determines if the configuration is set according to Microsoft best practices. You can install the tool on a client computer that is running Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1. With the proper network access, the tool can examine all your Active Directory directory service and Exchange servers


Windows Server System

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Active Directory Step by Step Guides

Source: Brian Redmond's Weblog
These guides step through the fundamentals of the Windows Server 2003 operating system, with emphasis on features enabled by Active Directory. Learn about
common scenarios, including desktop and server management, the Group Policy Management Console, and using Active Directory to strengthen security. Whether you support a small, medium, or large enterprise, these guides help you take advantage of Active Directory's key benefits: increased operational efficiency, improved security, and enhanced productivity.


Microsoft Download

Cheap ADV

Yes you may have noticed I'm grabbing most of these links from my other site IT News Log.com which at the moment has less news and more and more tech tidbits. This should change with the introduction of MS Inbox.

IT News Log.com Your IT news source! (NOT your MS Inbox site for Microsoft links and tidbits!)

Microsoft Research: User Interface Prototypes

Found this on ActiveWin and remmebr seeing this on Channel9 - here
Daniel C. Robbins is a 3D User Interface Designer working at Microsoft Research. His current projects include visual presentation of large information spaces and scenarios for intelligent environments.

Microsoft Research UI Prototypes ActiveWin


Outlook 2003 Add-In for Video Email?

Found this on jacobcy's WebLog -

The download page states that this Outlook 2003 Add-In has been around since December 2003, so I'm a bit peeved that nobody shared this with me sooner than today, but I intend to make use of this new feature (already installed it) as soon as I get back to Chicago. I wish I had the foresight to bring a webcam with me to my MSDN Events this week :-(


Outlook 2003 Add-In for Video Email?

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Tools

The Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP are intended for use by Microsoft support personnel and experienced users to assist in diagnosing and resolving computer problems. For individual tool descriptions, see the Windows Support Tools documentation (Suptools.chm).

The Windows Support Tools for Windows XP can be installed only on a computer that is running the Windows XP operating system. The Windows Support Tools for Windows XP cannot be used to upgrade Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000 Support Tools installed on Windows NT or Windows 2000.

Microsoft Download

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