theMSgeek

The Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool (OCAT ) provides a quick and easy method to analyze your Microsoft Office Outlook profile for common configurations that may cause problems in Outlook. This can be very useful for busy Help Desk personnel when end-users call for help with Outlook or when you want to identify possible issues with Outlook proactively.

The Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool provides a detailed report of your current Outlook profile. This report includes many parameters about your profile, and it highlights any known problems that are found in your profile. For any problems that are listed in the report, you are provided a link to a Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article that describes a possible fix for the problem. If you are a Help Desk professional, you can also export the report to a file. Then, the report can be viewed in the Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool on another client computer where the tool is installed.

We have said that Windows 8 is a complete reimagination of the Windows operating system. Nothing has been left unexplored, including the Windows logo, to evaluate how it held up to modern PC sensibilities. The Windows logo is a strong and widely recognized mark but when we stepped back and analyzed it, we realized an evolution of our logo would better reflect our Metro style design principles and we also felt there was an opportunity to reconnect with some of the powerful characteristics of previous incarnations.

It’s a window… not a flag

Microsoft and Windows are all about putting technology in people’s hands to empower them to find their own perspectives. And that is what the new logo was meant to be. We did less of a re-design and more to return it to its original meaning and bringing Windows back to its roots – reimagining the Windows logo as just that – a window.

Let’s look back at a few of the versions along the way.

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The Kinect for Windows SDK enables developers to create applications that support gesture and voice recognition, using Kinect sensor technology on computers running Windows 7, Windows 8 developer preview (desktop apps only), and Windows Embedded-based devices.

The Kinect for Windows SDK includes the following:

• Drivers for using Kinect sensor devices on a computer running Windows 7 or Windows 8 developer preview (desktop apps only)
• Application programming interfaces (APIs) and device interfaces, along with technical documentation
• Source code samples

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Today, we’re excited that the Office team is making OneNote for Android available in 57 markets worldwide with easy access to your notes on SkyDrive. The app also offers key OneNote features like checklists, image capture, table editing and support for hyperlinks. Please note that not all Android devices are created equal. You currently need to have a device running Android 2.3 or higher and with access to Android Market to use OneNote for Android.

If you have an Android device, we also encourage you to try other apps from partners built using SkyDrive APIs. For example with Browser for SkyDrive or Cloud Explorer for SkyDrive, you can view, access and upload documents or photos on your Android phone. Portfolio for SkyDrive lets you organize and upload photos from your Android phone in batches to SkyDrive. If you want to add SkyDrive support to your app, site or device, please visit our developer center.

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On February 29, Microsoft will finally release the Consumer Preview, a partly-finished beta, to the entire world. It’s announcing the preview at an event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The venue is interesting, since MWC is all about (duh) mobile devices. Earlier this month, a video leaked explaining how the next version of Windows Phone will interact with Windows 8, and share a lot of common technology as well. Expect to see some of that interaction at the show.

Here’s the invite:

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Following the release of System Center 2012 Release Candidate, Microsoft is pleased to announce the availability of the Release Candidate of the Orchestrator Integration Packs for the following System Center 2012 components:

• System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager
• System Center 2012 Operations Manager
• System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager
• System Center 2012 Service Manager

In addition, Release Candidate Orchestrator Integration Packs are also available for the following legacy System Center products:

• System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2
• System Center Service Manager 2010
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2
• System Center Data Protection Manager 2010
• System Center Configuration Manager 2007

All of the above listed Integration Packs allow customers and partners to gain better automation and integration across their datacenter and private cloud environments by standardizing IT process and systems activities to drive greater consistency and improve operational ROI.

The Release Candidate Integration Pack download is available here.

System Requirements:

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008 R2

System Center 2012 Component Support: System Center 2012 RC Orchestrator must be installed prior to installing the System Center 2012 RC Integration Packs.

Recommended Configuration for System Center 2012 RC Orchestrator:

• RAM – minimum 1GB recommended 2GB
• Disk space minimum 200MB
• CPU Dual Core or better
• SQL Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• NET 4.0 if you are installing Web features

Installation Instructions:

System Center 2012 RC Orchestrator Integration Packs

• Double click on System_Center_2012_Orchestrator_Integration_Packs_RC.EXE
• Follow the on screen prompts to extract the Integration Packs

After you extract the Integration Pack files, you must register them with the System Center 2012 RC Orchestrator management server and then deploy it to Runbook Servers and Runbook Designers. Get instructions on how to install Integration Packs here.

Related Resources:

• Integration Pack Installation Instructions
• System Center 2012
• Integration Pack Guide

Good news—the Windows Phone Marketplace for apps and games is opening for business today in five new spots—Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru and the Philippines.

If you live in one of these countries, tapping on the Marketplace tile will soon (it might a few hours for all the lights to come on) put loads of great apps and games at your fingertips. One important caveat: Your phone will need to have Windows Phone 7.5 installed to access the new stores. (Look here for update instructions.)

If you’re a developer and want to make sure your app lands in one of these new stores, make sure to check out Todd Brix’s post today on the Developer Blog.

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This update contains hotfixes for issues that were fixed after the release of SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1.

Note The build of this cumulative update package is known as build 10.50.2796.0.

Important notes about this cumulative update package\

• SQL Server 2008 hotfixes are now multilingual. Therefore, the cumulative update package is not specific to one language and applies to all supported languages.
• One cumulative update package includes all the component packages. However, the cumulative update package updates only those components that are installed on the system

Request a download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2633146

This morning, we reached an important development milestone: the beginning of the “Office 15″ Technical Preview Program. Office 15 is the codename for the next generation of the Microsoft Office products and services, and the Technical Preview is the first time we share our work with a select group of customers under non-disclosure agreements. These customers play a key role in our development process by testing early builds and providing feedback, which we incorporate into the final release.

At this early point in our development cycle, I’m not able to share too much about Office 15, but I can tell you Office 15 is the most ambitious undertaking yet for the Office Division. With Office 15, for the first time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio. Quite simply, Office 15 will help people work, collaborate, and communicate smarter and faster than ever before.

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The Cloud Services Management Pack is now available for download. It contains:

1) Model extensions for the SCSM CMDB to store additional types of data which are useful for managing a private cloud.

2) Views so that the cloud-related data can be easily viewed in the Configuration Items workspace in the SCSM console.

3) Service request templates for common scenarios related to private cloud management such as provisioning/deprovisioning VMs, allocating capacity pools, creating new projects, and so on.

4) Request offerings based on the service request templates that can be published to the Service Catalog on the self-service portal.

5) Automated workflows in SCSM to automatically fulfill some of the requests.

6) Runbooks for Orchestrator to automatically fulfill other types of requests which need to be executed on other System Center components such as Virtual Machine Manager

Go here to download:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=231143

A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that calculates WAN bandwidth requirements for a Lync Server deployment based on administrator-specified user profiles and network information.

With the Lync Server 2010 Bandwidth Calculator, you can enter information about your users and the Lync Server features that you want to deploy, and the calculator will determine bandwidth requirements for the WAN that connects sites in your deployment.