Read more here: 0x800CCC0E

Regards

Marc Liron – Microsoft MVP

http://blog.marcliron.com/windows-7/upgrading-a-5-year-old-laptop-to-windows-7

Regards

Marc Liron – Microsoft MVP

Claim YOUR Fortnightly copy of my FREE Windows Newsletter covering:

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 , Microsoft Office and Windows Live Services – Sign-up TODAY

http://www.marctalkstech.com/

Kind Regards

Marc Liron – Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com
http://blog.marcliron.com

————————————————

Dear Marc Liron,

Congratulations!

We are pleased to present you with the 2009 Microsoft MVP Award!

This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others.

The Microsoft MVP Award provides us the unique opportunity to celebrate and honor your significant contributions and say “Thank you for your technical leadership.”

Toby Richards
General Manager
Community Support Services

————————————————

I have been given this award now in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and now for 2009.

You can discover more about the Microsoft MVP Award here:

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Most_Valuable_Professional

Kind Regards

Marc Liron MVP
www.marcliron.com

http://social.answers.microsoft.com

…and they have made me an official Moderator of the forums

Regards

Marc Liron – Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

Windows Search 4.0 helps you find and preview documents, e-mail messages, music files, photos, and other items on the computer.

The search engine in Windows Search 4.0 is a Microsoft Windows service that is also used by programs such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Office OneNote 2007.

You can use this search engine to index a program’s content and to obtain instant results when you search in a particular program.

Windows Search 4.0 includes the following improvements:

# Support for indexing encrypted documents of local file systems
# Reduced affect on Microsoft Exchange when you index e-mail in online mode, and there is no local cache (.ost)
# Support for indexing online delegate mailboxes
# Support for client-to-client remote query to shared indexed locations
# Improved indexing performance
# Faster previewer updates for Windows XP
# Per-user Group Policy settings
# Windows software updates for Watson errors
# Support for the new enterprise Group Policy objects

Windows Search 4.0 supports the following operating systems:

# 32-bit versions of Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
# 64-bit versions of Windows Vista with SP1
# 32-bit versions of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or a later version
# 64-bit versions of Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or a later version
# 32-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 with SP2
# 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 with SP2
# Windows Server 2008
# Windows Home Server

Microsoft plan to release Windows Search 4.0 this week via Windows Update and Automatic Updates.

Enjoy!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

.

When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed.

The tool creates a log file named mrt.log in the %WINDIR%\debug folder.

There is also a x64 version of Malicious Software Removal Tool.

This tool is not a replacement for an anti-virus product. To help protect your computer, you should use an anti-virus product.

Microsoft will release an updated version of this tool on the second Tuesday of each month. New versions will be made available through Windows Update and the Malicious Software Removal Tool Web site on Microsoft.com.

To have the newest versions automatically delivered and installed as soon as they are released, set the Automatic Updates feature to Automatic. The version of this tool delivered by Windows Update runs on your computer once a month, in the background.

If an infection is found, the tool will display a status report the next time you start your computer. If you would like to run this tool more than once a month, run the version that is available from Malicious Software Removal Tool Web site.

Please review the KB890830 article for the list of malicious software that the current version of the tool is capable of removing as well as usage instructions.

Also, please be aware that this tool reports anonymous information back to Microsoft in the event that an infection is found or an error is encountered. The above KB article contains information on how to disable this functionality and what specific information is sent to Microsoft.

Here are the links:

The KB890830 Article

The Malicious Software Removal Tool Website

Enjoy!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

.

Windows Installer provides a standard foundation for installing and uninstalling software. Software manufacturers can create the setup of their products to use Windows Installer to help make software installation, maintenance, and uninstallation straightforward and easy.

Windows Installer 4.5 is now available as a redistributable system component for the following operating systems:

# Windows Server 2008, 32-bit editions
# Windows Server 2008, 64-bit editions
# Windows Server 2008, Itanium-based editions
# Windows Vista
# Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)
# Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
# Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
# Windows Server 2003 SP1
# Windows Server SP2

This post describes all the new and improved features of Windows Installer 4.5.

Windows Installer 4.5 is a minor update to Windows Installer 4.0. Windows Installer 4.0 was released in November 2006. Windows Installer 4.5 contains new and improved features and addresses some issues in Windows Installer 4.0. All the packages and updates that you can apply to Windows Installer 4.0, to Windows Installer 3.x, and to Windows Installer 2.0 are fully supported in Windows Installer 4.5.

New and improved features in Windows Installer 4.5:

The following new and improved features have been implemented in Windows Installer 4.5.
# Multiple package transaction

In a multiple package transaction, you can create a single transaction from multiple packages. In a multiple package transaction, a chainer is used to dynamically include packages in the transaction. If one or more of the packages do not install as expected, you can roll back the installation.

# Embedded UI handler

You can embed a custom user interface (UI) handler in the Windows Installer package. This makes a custom UI easier to integrate. You can also invoke an embedded UI handler from the Add or Remove Programs item in Control Panel. Or, you can invoke an embedded UI handler during a Windows Installer repair process.

# Embedded chainer

You can use the embedded chainer to add packages to a multiple package transaction. You can use an embedded chainer to enable installation events across multiple packages. For example, you can enable install-on-demand events, repair events, and uninstall events across multiple packages.

#Update supersedence resiliency

This feature lets you correct for changes in the FeatureComponent table during supersedence.

# Shared component patching resiliency during uninstall

This feature makes sure that the most recent version of a component is available to all products.

# Custom action execution on update uninstall

This feature lets an update add or change a custom action so that the custom action is called when an update is uninstalled.

Download the installer for all versions of Windows here:

Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable package

Enjoy!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

.

PART 1:

The 81 page guide starts off by explaining what formulas and functions are, then moves onto dealing with typical errors you may encounter and how to remedy them. Then finally shows you how to confidently use 20 of the most essential formulas! (For example SUM, IF, SIGN, SUMIF, AVERAGE, FLOOR and COUNT to name a few)

PART 2:

The 51 page guide picks up the pace and takes you through more advanced formulas and functions that every Microsoft Excel power user NEEDS to know!

One major highlight is the training on how to use “nested IF statements” – you won’t find training like this elsewhere very easily!!!

More here:

http://www.marctalkstech.com/excel-formula-function-guide.html

Kind Regards

Marc Liron – Microsoft MVP

On the 3rd July 2008 Microsoft announced that it has a update to its Windows Update infrastructure and has a planned gradual rollout, for later this month, of its Windows Update client.

This new Windows Update client rollout will occur automatically to any system configured to either: receive updates “automatically” or “notify” customers that new updates are available for download.

As you may already know Windows Update is designed to help consumers keep their systems up-to-date and to ensure ongoing service and reliability and smooth operation of its software. Microsoft frequently updates and enhances the Windows Update client to maintain and improve its quality of service.

The update to the Windows Update client, due late July 2008, will NOT make any changes to the way Windows Update looks or feels on the Windows PC.

It is solely aimed at improving:

#1 – The length of time it takes Windows Update to scan for updates
#2 – The speed in which signature updates will be delivered

This Windows Update Client Applies To:

• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Enterprise
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Windows Vista Starter
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition
• Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit Edition
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
• Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
• Windows Vista Business 64-bit Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for Itanium-Based Systems
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

The following material may be of further assistance:

Additional Recourses:

Information for network administrators about how to obtain the latest Windows Update Agent:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;946928

Windows Update FAQ:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/windowsupdate/default.mspx

Microsoft Update Product Team Blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/mu/

I hope this information was useful!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron – Microsoft MVP

Source: www.updatexp.com

It will also push current CEO Steve Ballmer, into the spotlight in what is proably the most challenging period in the Seattle based company’s history.

“Microsoft has to think about some radical changes within the organisation to not just fix the online business, but start innovating in some of the other ones,” said Sid Parakh, an analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen.

At a May 2008 gathering of chief executive officers at Microsoft’s headquarters, Gates outlined how he hoped to translate the work once done within the singular confines of his brain into the sort of group projects that could be managed with the company’s own collaboration software.

“We’ve created a thing we called quests, where we divided our types of customers down, and we got the best thinkers on these things, both the very practical people who are with the customers, the engineers who write the code, and the researchers who may be more unbound in terms of their timeframe and imagination, and put them together,” Gates said.

So What Now?

Microsoft said two years ago that Gates, who started the company with high school friend Paul Allen in 1975, would end his day-to-day role to spend more time on the charitable foundation he runs with his wife, Melinda French Gates.

Gates will remain chairman, coming in one day a week to work on projects with Craig Mundie and Ray Ozzie, who inherit his software strategy responsibilities.

“I don’t ever see Bill stepping 100 percent away from Microsoft,” said Scott Di Valerio, a former vice president who resigned in October. “He’s part of the core of Microsoft, and I think Microsoft is part of Bill’s overall core.”

So, what now for Microsoft? Clearly, the new team has to get a firm grip on the company’s web 2.0 aspirations if it’s going to remain relevant in the Google age.

Expect to see serious investment in cloud computing, and even the introduction of a free, browser-based version of Office that will compete directly with Google’s offering.

…new days ahead!

Regards

Marc Liron – Microsoft MVP

My PC requires the proper Codec (MPEG-2) to play DVDs in my laptop using any media player (just not windows media player). A CODEC is a combination of COder-DECoder. When media is written to DVD or CD, using some special algorithms, it will be encoded in to a specific compressed format. This encoding also decides the quality of the media. At the time you play the disc, this encoded media cannot be played as it is. It should be decoded on your computer before it can be played back on the screen. There the Codecs come in to picture.

Some players automatically download the codecs from websites to play the media, and some don’t. In my case, windows media player 11 has never been able to download a codec to play a DVD successfully, and this is by design.

Initially I struggled a bit to find out what to install in order to run my DVD movies in Windows Media Player 11. Then I found out about the DVD plugin for windows media payer and wrote a page about them over at my website www.updatexp.com

The article is here: Windows Media Player 11 DVD Decoder

I have installed the XP and Vista plugins and voila ! Now I can enjoy my movies…

So if you are not able to view DVD movies, do not re-install your windows XP many times, instead go and install a proper codec from the above website.

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
http://www.squidoo.com/windowsmediaplayerdvd

More details in this article: DVD Player For Windows Media

Enjoy!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
Marc Liron Blog

Find out why 140,000 techies have flocked to Las Vegas and gain access to the pre-keynote speech by Bill Gates.

http://www.updatexp.com/ces-2008.html

Many of the products on display here over the next 4 days will be in the shops for you to purchase in 2008.

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP 2008
www.marctalkstech.com

However this one will come with a built-in HD-DVD player, 320Gb hard drive and Wi-Fi.

I guess we will have to wait and see if any announcement is made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which begins on January 7.

Microsoft has yet to make any official announcement.

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marctalkstech.com

If you are not sure of what the Microsoft MVP award is then read here:

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpawardintro

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

Here is the list:

http://www.updatexp.com/microsoft-2008.html

When you have read the article I would love to know your thoughts!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marctalkstech.com

Technology pundit, Steven Bink, has posted his thoughts on what will be coming from the Redmond software giant in 2008:

http://bink.nu/news/what-to-expect-from-microsoft-in-2008.aspx

In addition, checkout John Battelle’s Searchblog early in 2008. He posts an annual summary of where things are going in the next year ahaead – and you just know there will be a prediction about Microsoft!

http://battellemedia.com

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP

The new service is called Live Search Webmaster Tools and has been publically available since the 15th November 2007. Prior to that it was in a private beta for 3 months.

Live Search Webmaster Center is a convenient portal, consolidating all of Microsoft’s information and services for webmasters in one easy-to-remember URL:

http://webmaster.live.com

SO WHAT DOES IT DO?

Microsoft’s aim is providing “key data” on what coverage etc a site has in Live Search and to make it as easy as possible for a webmaster to access this important data.

An easy way to make sure your site is going to work well with Live Search.

Both Google and Yahoo have similar tools for webmasters and now Microsoft is joining the club by providing them, and just like the other two big players Microsoft’s’ webmaster tools are specific to their own search engine.

Currently, in Live Search Webmaster Tools a webmaster can:

# View the Top 5 pages on their website according to Live Search

# Access the top 10 out going links that are performing the best in Live Search

# Access the top 10 incoming links that are performing the best in Live Search

# See if any site pages are blocked in the index.

# Validate a robots.txt file (very handy!)

# Type in a keyword and see if any of their site pages are listed under that keyword in Live.Com and if they are, when those pages were last crawled by the MSN bot.

…I have a screenshot available here of my control panel:

http://www.marctalkstech.com/images/live-webmaster.gif

SITE MAPS:

Microsoft has a Sitemap ping service available. You can either notify the Live Search crawler if you change an existing sitemap, or add a new one. Simply use this web address format:

http://webmaster.live.com/ping.aspx?siteMap=[Your sitemap web address]

OR, you can submit a sitemap directly by logging into your Live Webmaster account.

LIVE WEBMASTER TOOLS – THE FUTURE:

We are promised “tons more features” are coming that will allow webmasters to measure their performance and see if they are being successful.

Going forward Microsoft plans to add new features to Live Webmaster that are also new to the search industry as well! But they are keeping these plans under wraps at the moment.

In a recent interview at PubCon Las Vegas 2007, Jeremiah Andrick, Program Manager – Live Webmaster Team, was quoted as saying:

“… the approach we want to take is provide value ad for our customers by creating some tools that are definitely unique, that step out of the path that both Yahoo and Google, the other competitors are taking in terms of engaging with webmasters.”

In the same interview he went on to say “…as a team we want to provide some transparency with live search a kind of central point for customers to access the Microsoft environment.”

When asked on the feedback so far Nathan Buggia, Lead Program Manager – Live Webmaster Team, was quoted as saying:

“…the other feedback we get is they want more and they want it now, the tools that are around now in the industry are still in their infancy so they would like a lot more automation, a lot more data and how to make it actionable.”

You have always been able to manually submit your websites via the following URL:

http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx

But for the savvy webmaster logging into their account at the Live Search Webmaster Center, is the way forward.

And there is also peer support available via the Webmaster forum:

http://forums.microsoft.com/webmaster/default.aspx?siteid=79

Don’t forget that there are other ways for Microsoft to drive traffic to your website:

Books: http://publisher.live.com
Business Listings: https://llc.local.live.com/ListingCenter.aspx
Product Information: http://productupload.live.com
Videos: http://soapbox.msn.com

Now go forth an use this information!

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

FREE Windows Newsletter – Subscribe TODAY!

The Marc Talks Tech Newsletter

An unrivalled selection of articles, tips, videos and news related to Windows Vista / XP / Office & Windows Live services…

Grab YOUR copy TODAY

A popular choice – and for a good reason!

One of the most important changes of the last 30 years is that digital technology has transformed almost everyone into an information worker.

In almost every job now, people use software and work with information to enable their organisation to operate more effectively.

That’s true for everyone from the retail store worker who uses a handheld scanner to track inventory to the chief executive who uses business intelligence software to analyse critical market trends.

So if you look at how progress is made and where competitive advantage is created, there’s no doubt that the ability to use software tools effectively is critical to succeeding in today’s global knowledge economy.

A solid working knowledge of productivity software and other IT tools has become a basic foundation for success in virtually any career.

Beyond that, however, I don’t think you can overemphasise the importance of having a good background in maths and science.

If you look at the most interesting things that have emerged in the last decade – whether it is cool things like portable music devices and video games or more practical things like smart phones and medical technology – they all come from the realm of science and engineering.

The power of software

Today and in the future, many of the jobs with the greatest impact will be related to software, whether it is developing software working for a company like Microsoft or helping other organisations use information technology tools to be successful.

Communication skills and the ability to work well with different types of people are very important too.

A lot of people assume that creating software is purely a solitary activity where you sit in an office with the door closed all day and write lots of code.

This isn’t true at all.

Software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs.

I also place a high value on having a passion for ongoing learning. When I was pretty young, I picked up the habit of reading lots of books.

It’s great to read widely about a broad range of subjects. Of course today, it’s far easier to go online and find information about any topic that interests you.

Having that kind of curiosity about the world helps anyone succeed, no matter what kind of work they decide to pursue.

Bill Gates is chairman, chief software architect and one of the founders of Microsoft, the world’s largest software company. From July 2008 he will end his day-to-day involvement in the company and focus on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its global health and education work.

Simple use the: Windows Media Player DVD XPack from Corel!

The DVD XPack instantly adds DVD playback to Windows Media Player on a Windows XP computer.

It Installs the same theatre-quality video and audio decoders proven by over 45 million users of WinDVD – the world’s leading software DVD player.

Why Use It? BECAUSE:

It’s FAST, cheap, no-fuss use and Microsoft approved!

www.watch-dvds-in-wmp.com

I have been using this plug-in for several years now and have never had a problem with it!

Enjoy!

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

“Why?”, you ask. “Because you’ve just read this!” No different than the many times you’ve looked at your watch, and then someone else asks you what time it is; you can’t remember, so you look again.

Unremarkably, the same applies when it comes to being more safe online. This past year you bought a brand new state of the art, 2g of RAM, 600g hard drive that will hold more stuff than you or I could ever fill up in a lifetime. It’s loaded with free anti-spam, anti-virus software and everything is going very well, so well in fact that you don’t update your software (Windows Vista has ‘updates’ turned on by default, so unless you mess with it, you’re okay ), run a periodic anti-malware scan, and the wireless is working fine so need to check that.

You’ve read about the Government’s GetSafeOnline.org campaign (www.GetSafeOnline.org) that e-Bay, Microsoft, HSBC, Home office, SOCA, and others participate in, you’ve seen the constant news articles about loss or theft of data from the largest of companies and government agencies (and if you’re a victim of HMRC ‘datagate’, you have every right to be angry) but hey, you’ve not been affected . . . why do anything. Victims of online crime… not me, happens only to those people who go to the ‘wrong sites’ . . .who tried to make it thru the doors for gosh sakes, they should have known better.

Not so fast Mr ItAin’tGonnaHappenToMe. That ‘other person’ is going to be you if you don’t take a few moments to make sure your operating system and software are up to date, that your firewall is turned on (both are already done for you if you are operating Windows Vista) your anti-spam and anti-virus software are installed and updated (don’t forget to renew your subscription to the anti-malware software if it is about to expire).

Organized criminals are ‘green’, ‘socially conscious agnostics’, they want what is best for you – NOT!! Just like machines, THEY DON’T CARE who you are, where you grew up, what kind of accent you have, whether you’re beautiful (or like me, a face made for radio); they operate without regard to your sex or religious affiliations – I call them “THE EQUALIZERS”. They want what is yours – from your bank account, your identity, or even a bit of your bandwidth – oh yes, they can quite happily use your computer while you do and you may not ever know.

As we approach the Holidays, don’t let the Grinch of Christmas Past ruin your holidays online. Possibly, ‘just because you read this’, you will take a moment and run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool , will visit www.GetSafeOnline.org , or possibly even give the most important cyber gift of all – a trip to the wild side, www.WindowsMarketplace.com (click on Security Downloads) for free anti-malware.

It will take you a few minutes; but a few minutes now might just save you months of hassle down the road. Do you really want to be calling your credit card companies, bank, credit agency, DVLA, DWP, on New Years Eve. Or worse, worry whether someone will be showing up at your doorstep because you couldn’t be bothered to spend a measly 10 minutes with your kids to talk to them about social networking sites (oh yea, they just told their friends on their Facebook site when you were going to be away). . . and you didn’t tell them how to prevent outsiders from accessing their pages. Nor did you tell them in no uncertain terms that even when they close their site everything they put on the Internet IS THERE FOREVER. Oh yes, some make it thru the doors, most don’t . . .when will THEY learn.

I wish you a very happy holiday season – and a safe online journey.

Edward P Gibson
Chief Security Advisor
Microsoft Ltd-UK

The US software giant aims to marry the 12-year-old, UK owned until now, company’s location and mapping technology with its wide range of digital products and services.

Microsoft said that Multimap will complement offerings such as Virtual Earth, Live Search, Windows Live services, MSN and its new $6.5bn (£3.2bn) acquisition aQuantive.

The acquisition of Multimap is an attempt by Microsoft to compete with Google, whose Google Maps and Earth tools dominate the global online mapping and location market.

Microsoft has reportedly spent $50 Million dollars on this strategic purchase.

Sharon Baylay, general manager of the Online Services Group at Microsoft, said: “This acquisition will play a significant role in the future growth of our search business”.

Jeff Kelisky, the Multimap chief executive, said: “Partnering with Microsoft gives us a world of new opportunities to build our mapping services into new technologies and applications.”

…and so Microsoft and Google continue to purchase smaller companies for their continued growth!

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.instantvista.com

The Windows Home Server team has also commissioned a new book that will actually be selling on Amazon, Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House?

Take a look at the Windows Home Server blog to read more about it:

http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/archive/2007/11/30/home-computer-home-network-home-server.aspx

The Stay at Home Server web site is actually pretty funny:

http://www.stayathomeserver.com

Enjoy!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

As soon as more is forthcoming I will post it here.

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

…well when this email arrived in my inbox it certainly had my instant INTEREST!

Microsoft are now advertising for a Product Manager (PM) for “building a next-generation photo and video sharing service…”

Here is the blurb from their website posted on the 11/09/2007:

“Come make Windows Live the best place to share your digital memories! Heard of Flickr? YouTube? How about. Mac? This role will work across the new Windows Live division with teams like Spaces, SkyDrive, Messenger and Hotmail to construct a winning strategy for Microsoft in photo and video sharing. This role involves leading the team to design the strategy then build and implement a winning solution that will be loved by millions of customers. This feature team is building a next-generation photo and video sharing service that will compete with flickr, smugmug and other photo web solutions today. This is a “v1” opportunity.”

“This role requires a strong PM with several product cycles of consumer experience. Successful candidates will have strong strategic thinking, outstanding cross team leadership and a proven track record of shipping. The right candidate for this position has an entrepreneurial streak – and functions well as part of a team. The ideal candidate has experience shipping consumer web solutions.”

…can’t wait to see what they have planned!

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

.

“Digital devices and content are everywhere in our day-to-day lives and they are more important all the time,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “With the launch of Windows Home Server, Microsoft and its partners are creating a new consumer product category that will help people keep their digital media safe and make it easier for them to enjoy it with friends and family.”

Windows Home Server is a “stay-at-home” server that delivers the benefits of powerful server technology used by many people at work within a simple, easy-to-use solution for the home. It automatically backs up Windows XP-based and Windows Vista-based home computers each night, provides a central place to organize digital documents and media, and includes a free Windows Live Internet address to access the home server from virtually anywhere and share content with friends and family. It also monitors the health and security status of home computers and can stream media to other devices in the home, such as Xbox 360, allowing people to enjoy digital music, photos and videos on their television.

The HP MediaSmart Server, powered by the AMD LIVE! solution, was designed for the Windows Home Server platform. It provides consumers with easy, more secure access to all their movies, photos, music and documents through any broadband Internet-connected PC. The product also includes HP Photo Webshare software for consumers to easily and more securely share photos with select friends and family. The MediaSmart Server is offered in a 500GB version for $599 (U.S.) and a 1TB model for $749 (U.S.).*

“As more and more entertainment content goes digital, people increasingly want a simple way to access, store and enjoy the wide range of photos, personal videos, music and films they enjoy at home. HP and Microsoft have worked closely to bring to market a powerful, breakthrough solution for today’s digital lifestyle that lets people personalize the how, when and where of entertainment,” said John Orcutt, senior vice president of the Managed Home Business at HP.

More information at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcteachestech.com

.

A Microsoft tradition for 25 years, the giving campaign is a dedicated season of employee involvement and contributions that takes place each October. Microsoft employees donate to thousands of nonprofit organizations working to improve lives. In addition, Microsoft matches U.S. employee donations, dollar for dollar, up to $12,000 per person per year.

This year, employee donations and Microsoft’s matching contributions of cash and software totaled over $72 million, exceeding last year’s tally of $63 million.

“You’ve done a good thing with this giving, because it is inconceivable that we can adequately address these challenges without a strong economy, an effective government and a more viable civil society,” said Clinton. “People have to step into the breach. Benjamin Franklin understood that 40 years before the Declaration of Independence when he organized America’s first volunteer fire department. When you gave all this money — over $70 million this year — you were the 21st century’s great volunteer fire department, and I thank you.”

Microsoft encourages employees to be involved in their communities through a unique volunteer program that matches each volunteer hour with a cash donation of $17 to the charity. As part of this program in 2007, Microsoft U.S. employees volunteered 129,665 hours to nonprofits, and the company matched more than $2.2 million.

“Microsoft’s mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. One way we fulfill our mission is by developing innovative software that transforms the way people learn, work and communicate,” Ballmer said. “Another way is by using our resources and expertise to help expand social and economic opportunities in communities around the world. Our employees share those values, and this year’s giving effort was just phenomenal.”

In addition to employee contributions in fiscal year 2007, Microsoft directly donated $68 million in cash and $331 million in software to nonprofits worldwide.

Since 1983, Microsoft and its employees have given more than $2.9 billion in cash, services and software to nonprofits around the world through localized, company-sponsored giving and volunteer campaigns.

The company fosters a culture of volunteerism and philanthropy that encourages its 70,000 employees to make a difference.

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcteachestech.com

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Adobe started it with PostScript and, later, PDF. Older Windows versions used the EMF — Enhanced MetaFile format. However, the continuous advances in printing technology challenged Microsoft to design a new format: XPS — the XML Paper Specification format.

XPS is an XML-based document description language, similar in principle to Adobe’s PS (PostScript).

XPS can be used to completely describe a document, both in terms how it is to be printed, and in terms of what has to be printed (i.e. the actual content). An XPS file is a ZIP archive of an XML (or, to be more precise for the tech-minded, XAML) file. XML is a special language itself, which has been preferred because it is well-established and easy to use by computer programs.

By using XML, XPS can describe the document in a resolution-independent, vector-based manner. In other words, this means that every part of the document (even individual letters and small images) are stored so that they will not lose any quality when the image is enlarged or shrunk. As a consequence, your XPS documents will look just as well on a business card-sized paper and on an A3 poster.

Furthermore, XPS has a number of special facilities which make it especially appealing to those who work with graphics-intensive documents. Besides support for gradients or transparency, XPS also supports the Windows Color System management technology. As a consequence, there will be no loss of color quality and no color change when viewing XPS documents on different systems — a problem EMF was particularly vulnerable to.

Windows Vista makes use of XPS in two ways. First of all, XPS is intended as a document viewing format, using the free Microsoft XPS Viewer that ships with Vista. The XPS Viewer allows you to view any XPS file, but this is not where the real strength of XPS comes from. XPS can also be used as a print format, meaning that printers can use XPS to describe documents internally.

The prerequisite for this is that XPS must be able to describe anything that can ever be printed. As a consequence, XPS can be used for anything. It is not a format specialized for text documents, like Word’s .doc format — but can effectively be used for books, posters, flyers, diagrams, circuit schematics, house plans or raster images like screenshots or paintings.

Therefore, XPS is a very effective file exchange format.

Since XPS can render any type of data, and is tightly integrated with Vista, users can exchange XPS files, with the guarantee that they will look the same on any system. Since XPS is standard, a file printed in XPS format on a Windows computer will look the same on another system, even if the program that generated it is not installed. Every program can generate an XPS file by printing to a special, simulated printer. This appears like a regular printer in the printers list, but internally, Windows uses it to generate an XPS file.

XPS is rapidly being adopted by several major companies, including Sharp and HP. Therefore, it is safe to expect that it will soon be a widespread format.

The free XPS viewer is also available, as a download for Windows XP SP2 computers, from the main Microsoft website.

Give it a try…

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marctalkstech.com

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Source: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/xps/default.mspx

However, Dell’s chief executive has today predicted that most of his company’s business customers will migrate to Vista by 2009.

Michael S. Dell

He is quoted as saying:

“We have a number [of business customers] who have gone to Vista, and almost all are planning to go to Vista: some in 2008, and some in 2009. As they take on new IT deployments with new hardware features, Vista will be much better supported.”

…so some good news for Microsoft from one of its major partners!

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marcliron.com

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