theMSgeek

Hotmail is making it easier for you to stay up-to-date and be productive on your phone. Starting today, you can get your email, calendar, and contacts pushed automatically to your phone using Exchange ActiveSync (EAS).

EAS keeps everything in sync between your phone and Hotmail, so whatever you do on your phone, like delete an email, add an appointment, or update one of your contacts with a new number, will also be reflected on the web, and vice-versa. If you use an email client on your PC that already syncs with Hotmail, like Outlook with the Outlook Connector or Windows Live Mail, what you do on your phone will show up there as well, delivering a seamless experience for managing your stuff between your PC email client, your browser, and your phone. 

Settings

Server / URL m.hotmail.com

Username Enter full email address, for example: someone@example.com

Domain  Leave this blank

SSL Enable this

CertificateAccept the SSL certificate when prompted

Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks All can be enabled (see the Solution Center article for exceptions on some phones)

For more information go here

Today we are happy to announce the first official Bing for Mobile Android App available to Verizon customers.  You can now download the free Bing App from your Verizon Wireless Android phones’ Marketplace. 

The app homepage features the Bing image of the day, complete with clickable hotspots that you can explore and discover related trivia.  Did you miss one of the latest images? Don’t worry; you can still swipe through up to 7 days’ worth of Bing images.

Are you a visual person? Try the image search feature that has endless scrolling results (Tip: this also works for any search result).  Then easily swipe through image previews and click straight through to the image host site.

Full Story at Bing Community

All summer long we’ve given you some great reasons to purchase a new PC and make the move to Windows 7, an operating system loved by a whopping 94% of folks who use it! Here’s one more: starting October 3 in the U.S., Windows 7 Family Pack will be available for purchase at participating retailers and online at the Microsoft Store.

Purchasing the Windows 7 Family Pack gives you three upgrade licenses of Windows 7 Home Premium for the low price of $149.99. To take advantage of Family Pack, you’ll need a PC running a genuine copy of either Windows Vista or Windows XP that is capable of running Windows 7. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor can tell you which features and editions of Windows 7 will run on your computer(s).

For those of you who don’t live in the U.S., Family Pack may be coming your way too. It goes on sale in Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia and many other markets on or after Oct. 22 (Windows 7’s 1 year anniversary!)

Source: WindowsTeamBlog

The Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) will release new improvements in November, 2010. We have reached out to many partners and customers around the world through Live Meetings, interviews, hands-on usability studies, forums, and events to gather input and feedback on how to improve the VLSC.  We take this feedback seriously and are continually incorporating suggestions into the VLSC.

Improvements coming in November include:

• Offline access to licensing and relationship summaries.
• Enhancements to the Add Open License functionality. Introduced in April 2010, the Add Open functionality allows resellers to act on behalf of their Open License end customers to manage their licenses and provide downloads and keys. Changes will include:
  • Resellers will be granted automatic access to the Authorization/License in the VLSC if their business e-mail address is included on the Open order form as the reseller.
    • You may remember my earlier post about being sure to provide the correct contact information for your customer AND your correct information as the reseller when placing Volume License orders.  If you are not providing your email address as the reseller in the “Reseller address” field when placing your Open License orders with your Microsoft Authorized Distributor, be sure to start doing so right now.
  • Customers can request that reseller access be denied through a 1-click link on an e-mail notification.

Source

Help unblock OS deployments by redelivering blocking users’ old Windows environments, applications and browsers seamlessly in Windows 7 using automated physical-to-virtual migration

P2V Migration for Software Assurance uses the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Sysinternals Disk2VHD to convert a user’s existing Windows XP or newer client environment to a virtual hard disk then automates the delivery of an updated and personalized Windows 7 operating system containing a virtual machine with the user’s previous Windows environment, applications and Web browser. The user’s previous virtual desktop retains its existing management components, domain membership and policies. The process also publishes applications and the browser for the user to access them seamlessly within Windows 7’s start menu.

How it Works

Starting Windows environment with Windows XP SP3 or newer. Environment is personalized with applications not compatible with Windows 7.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 initiates fully-automated migration to Windows 7. Process includes P2V conversion of the running OS using Sysinternals Disk2VHD.

Windows 7 migration complete. Windows 7 contains the previous operating system in its entirety within a virtual machine.

Standalone application and Internet Explorer links published from virtual machine to native Windows 7 start menu.

Incompatible application from previous operating system is launched seamlessly within Windows 7 using RemoteApp integration and Virtual PC.

Even the most skilled IT shops, with resources to work through application compatibility challenges, often find a few users blocking roll-outs to entire sites or larger numbers of users due to:

• Compatibility of specialized, region or user-specific applications, browser customizations or USB device drivers.
• Missing installation files or media to install applications or drivers for testing or redelivery.
• Critical users who cannot risk losing any functionality of their current desktop environments and require a working backup before moving to Windows 7.

These types of issues make it difficult to completely replace existing systems with Windows 7 without causing user disruption. Allowing users to retain their current desktop environments while moving to Windows 7 can smooth the transition while mitigating or delaying investments required for making applications and hardware natively compatible with Windows 7.

Download P2V Migration for Software Assurance now:
P2V Migration for Software Assurance beta (https://connect.microsoft.com/site14/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=30989)

Note: Physical-to-virtual hard drive migration of a Windows installation is a valid operation for customers with Software Assurance and full retail copies of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Software Assurance provides users valuable benefits. Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 installed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) using OEM versions of these products may not be transferred to a virtual hard drive in accordance with Microsoft licensing terms.

Customer Benefits

Help Reduce Windows 7 Deployment Times: The ability to perform P2V conversion of Windows XP or newer 32-bit systems as part of Windows 7 and/or 64-bit deployment means that IT organizations do not need to wait as long to get value from Windows 7. IT organizations will deliver the new Windows 7 operating system builds while preserving the old environments of a limited set of users that would otherwise delay production deployment.
Extend the Timeframe to Mitigate Application Compatibility: Using this solution, targeted users can have access to their previous set of applications, just in case something was not provisioned as part of the Windows 7 deployment. Accessing previous applications is also easy for end users, as those applications are published to the Windows 7 start menu.

Users can Access Incompatible Legacy OS Applications: Using this solution, targeted users can have access to their previous set of applications, just in case something was not provisioned as part of the Windows 7 deployment. Accessing previous applications is also easy for end users, as those applications are published to the Windows 7 start menu.

How does P2V Migration compare to Windows XP Mode or MED-V?

Windows XP Mode: Windows XP Mode is not optimized for managed desktop environments. The operating system included in Windows XP Mode cannot be customized easily without manual effort. The time spent recreating a user’s previous environment can easily take several hours per computer and it is not guaranteed that software installation media exists for every application on the previous system.

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V): Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) removes the barriers to Windows upgrades by resolving application incompatibility with Windows Vista or Windows 7. MED-V enables administrative control over the distribution and management of Virtual PC images, thereby ensuring that those images are up-to-date and compliant with regulations. P2V Migration is targeted at specific deployment-blocking users with specialized requirements or conditions where a standardized virtual environment delivered with MED-V will not suffice.

Download P2V Migration (https://connect.microsoft.com/site14/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=30989)

Tell us what you think! Send your feedback and questions to the SAT team.

For If you are not already a member of the MDT beta program, click link below to join:

http://connect.microsoft.com/site14/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=1646&InvitationID=P2VM-C49K-PQHR