Irina Alexandris

TechNet Flash: Easing the path to virtualization

I don't know about other users here, but this is good news for me and my environment. See highlighted below.

Note from the Editor

Just Released
Windows Small Business Server 2008 has been released to manufacturing. As announced on the Small Business Server blog, both SBS Standard and Premium have RTM’d, and will be widely available by our November 12 launch. Stay tuned for more information about the launch.

Also just released, the Service Level Dashboard for Operations Manager 2007 v1.1 is an updated Solution Accelerator with new reports and an attractive graphical display of the service level compliance of your line-of-business (LOB) applications.

Easing the Path to Virtualization
Microsoft recently updated its software licensing terms for 41 server applications, and updated its technical support policy for 31 server applications so that customers can receive technical support when deploying those applications on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Hyper-V Server, or any validated third-party virtualization platform.

With the new licensing terms, Microsoft is waiving its previous 90-day reassignment rule, allowing customers to reassign licenses from one server to another within a server farm as frequently as needed. For scenarios around how the licensing terms might work for you, check out the Virtualization Team blog.

With the new support policies, customers get the same level of product support in a virtualized environment that they are accustomed to with non-virtual environments. To enable this support policy, Microsoft launched the Server Virtualization Validation Program in June 2008. The program is open to any software vendor to test and validate its virtualization software to run Windows Server 2008 and previous versions of Windows Server. More information is available on the Microsoft Support Web site.

And don’t forget, on September 8, Microsoft will launch its new virtualization products. Register to attend the launch event in Bellevue, WA and receive a free Microsoft Virtualization evaluation software kit.

Speaking of evaluations, Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 is now available. Download IE8 Beta 2 and get access to the IE Deployment Guide and the Application Compatibility Toolkit. Why should an IT pro care about IE8 Beta 2? Watch an interview / screencast / demo on TechNet Edge and find out, or read the InformationWeek article to find out about the new security features.

A quick note on a couple new additions to your TechNet Flash this issue: On the right rail we are now highlighting TechNet Magazine content from the current issue. You will now find links to premium technical content in this location in every newsletter. We also have a new IT Management section with higher-level content that couples the technology and business considerations of IT planning.

And finally, read about the upcoming availability of the new social bookmarking application for the TechNet, MSDN, and Expression sites in the ComputerWorld article Microsoft Details Plans for New Social Bookmarking Tool. Then try out the Social Bookmarks Preview for yourself. For more on how Microsoft is opening up its technical sites to the community, read John Martin’s blog.

Mitch Irsfeld
Editor, TechNet Flash

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