Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0 Now Available

Get ready for Windows Server 2012 with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0. The latest version of the MAP Toolkit adds several new planning scenarios that help you build for the future with agility and focus while lowering the cost of delivering IT. Download MAP 7.0 and begin planning your server deployments today!

New capabilities allow you to:

· Understand your readiness to deploy Windows Server 2012 in your environment

· Determine Windows 8 readiness. For more info, see this blog post.

· Investigate how Windows Server and System Center can manage your heterogeneous environment through VMware migration and Linux server virtualization assessments

· Size your desktop virtualization needs for both Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and session-based virtualization using Remote Desktop Services. For more information, see these blog posts.

· Ready your information platform for the cloud with the SQL Server 2012 discovery and migration assessment. For more info, see this blog post.

· Evaluate your licensing needs with usage tracking for Lync 2010, active users and devices, SQL Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012. For more information, see this blog post.

Download MAP 7.0 now from
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?&id=7826

Office 2013 Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool

This download includes Group Policy Administrative Template (ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool (OPAX/OPAL) files for Microsoft Office 2013.

This download includes Group Policy Administrative Template files and Office Customization Tool files for use with Office 2013 applications. It also includes an \Admin folder with an Office Customization Tool, and ADMX and ADML versions of Office 2013 system Administrative Template files. For administrative template files, you may use the combination of ADMX and language-specific ADML files on computers running at least Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008.

For the latest information about policy settings, please refer to the Microsoft Excel 2013 workbook, Office2013GroupPolicyAndOCTSettings_Reference.xls

admintemplates_32bit.exe

admintemplates_64bit.exe

iOS 6.0.1 update available including Exchange Meetings Bug Fix

There is a update released for IOS 6,Update 6.0.1 and it includes a bug fix for an important ActiveSync issue affecting meetings. If you’ve not heard about this issue, you can read more about it here and on the Exchange Team Blog here.

The fixes included in this release include a few other fixes, but nothing mentioning the AutoDiscover issues present in iOS 6:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1606

The RTM versions of Exchange 2013, Lync 2013 and Office 2013 are now available on MSDN and Technet

Exchange 2013, Lync 2013 and Office 2013 RTM is now available for download on MSDN/Technet!!! Whoot!!!!!! Open-mouthed smile Open-mouthed smile Open-mouthed smile

MSDN Links:
Lync Server 2013 (x64) – DVD (English)
Exchange Server 2013 (x64) – DVD (Multilanguage)
Office Web Apps 2013 (x64) – DVD (English)
Office Professional Plus 2013 (x64) – DVD (English)
Office Professional Plus 2013 (x86) – DVD (English)
SharePoint Server 2013 (x64) – DVD (English)
Visio Professional 2013 (x64) – (English)
Visio Professional 2013 (x86) – (English)
Project Professional 2013 (x64) – (English)
Project Professional 2013 (x86) – (English)

IOS6 and Exchange Issue’s

If you’ve been following the Exchange and Apple-related news lately, you can’t have failed to hear about a number of bugs in the new iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch OS, iOS 6.
What’s the problem, then? Well, in iOS the two most widely reported ones relate to:

  • AutoDiscover – It doesn’t work unless the Email Address and UPN match.
  • Meeting Requests – The iOS device loses track of the organizer and replaces the device user as the organizer instead, allowing the device user to update or cancel meetings other people have asked them to attend. For more info, see KB 2768774

Another method you might want to consider is to find those iOS 6 users within your organization and tell them about the issue. It might not be practical in all situations, but with the help of the script below (which will also report future and previous versions) you’ll be able to see what the task in hand looks like.

Use the script as follows:

.\Export-iOSDeviceStatistics.ps1 -OutputCSVFile .\output.csv

You’ll see output about iOS devices shown in the PowerShell session:

image

And the resulting CSV file can be opened in Microsoft Excel, or your favourite CSV editor:

image

Download the script from the Technet Gallery

Special thanks to Steve Goodman

Exchange 2013 RTM Help File

Exchange

 

For those interested, e.g. you’re planning for or about to implement Exchange 2013 or just want to look up something: the Exchange 2013 RTM help file has been made available for download . Note that the help file is still incomplete, so I expect it gets updated in the upcoming period.

It comes in a Hybrid as well as an On Premise version; you can get them here

Free E-book: Introducing Windows 8 for IT Professionals

Augusto Alvarez Wrote a nice e-book “Introducing Windows 8, an overview for IT Professionals” (preview version).

This book has some quite important topics that every IT guy which is considering implement Windows 8 in their company should read it carefully. Here’s a short summary for the topics included (I’m just naming a few; the entire list is available in the download):

  1. 1. Overview
  2. 2. Experiencing Windows 8
  3. 3. Windows 8 for IT Pros
    • Customizing and configuring Windows 8
    • Client Hyper-V
    • Redesign NTFS
    • PowerShell 3.0
  4. 4. Preparing for Deployment
    • Windows 8 SKUs
    • Application compatibility
    • User state migration
    • Windows To Go
  5. 5. Deploying Windows 8
    • Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit
    • Deployment and Imaging
    • User state migration tool
    • MDT 2012 Update 1
    • e. SCCM 2012 with SP1
    • f. Desktop Virtualization
  6. 6. Delivering Windows Apps
  7. 7. Windows 8 Recovery
    • DaRT
  8. 8. Windows 8 Management
    • Group Policy Improvements
    • Windows Intune
    • Mobile device support
  9. 9. Windows 8 Security
  10. 10. Internet Explorer 10
  11. 11. Windows 8 virtualization
    • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
    • Application Virtualization
    • User State virtualization

I did not read it completely, but for what I’ve seen so far the content is not fully detailed with step-by-steps but contains valuable information and guidance that must be read it if you are implementing / managing Windows 8.

Exchange 2010 SP2 Management Tools on Windows 8 RTM

Some day’s ago I installed Windows 8 Enterprise x64 RTM on my Work pc.
So I wanted Exchange 2010 Management Tools on my PC.

I found the following topic: Exchange 2010 Management tools

This worked for me Smile

  1. Install the .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Feature
  2. Install the IIS 6 Management Console Feature
  3. Install the IIS Metabase and IIS 6 Configuration Compatibility Feature
  4. Modify the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion registry key from “6.2” to “6.1” as stated above
  5. DO NOT Close REGEDIT
  6. Create a MMC with the Exchange Tools on it and I saved it under c:\Windows 8 RTM Exchange 2010 SP2\ExchangeAdmin.msc 
  7. Create a Bat File
  8. set __COMPAT_LAYER=RUNASINVOKER
    set COMPLUS_Version=v2.0.50727
    c:\Windows 8 RTM Exchange 2010 SP2\ExchangeAdmin.msc

    Now you can Manage Exchange 2010 from a Windows 8 pc. I found no issues till now. Beware this is not supported by Microsoft!!!!!

     

Free E-book Deployment guide for Office 2013

 
This book supports a preliminary release of Microsoft Office 2013 and provides deployment instructions for Office 2013. The audiences for this book include application specialists, line-of-business application specialists, and IT administrators who are ready to deploy Office 2013.

Deployment-guide-for-Office-2013.pdf

Deployment-guide-for-Office-2013.doc

Deployment-guide-for-Office-2013.epub

Deployment-guide-for-Office-2013.mobi

Re-released Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007 update rollups

The Exchange Team re-released the following Rollup Updates. These updates address an issue in which digital signatures on files produced and signed by Microsoft will expire prematurely, as described in Microsoft Security Advisory 2749655.

The re-released Exchange 2010 SP2 RU4 includes the following additional fix:

2756987 Only one result is returned after you click “view all results” in Outlook 2010 or in Outlook 2013 in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

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