Windows 7 Resource Kit

For my job, I got a copy of the Windows 7 Resource Kit. I am going to start to delve into the book and get all my deployment kinks out of the way. Additionally I hope to learn more about security and power shell 2.0. I don't really know what to expect from this book. Its a Microsoft Press offering. I have read books from Microsoft Press before. Some of these books are terrible, while others are great. Of course I suppose it all depends on how technical and useable you want your books to be.

I for one am very happy with Windows 7 so far. I've been using Windows 7 since December I think. At this point I have no major complaints. Although I think the sysprep process could've been made a little easier. I mean you went from a plain text file or technically an inf file in XP to this XML monstrosity. Of course I can't complain, because now that I've been working with it I appreciate its complexity. It is extremely granular and you can almost preconfigure every system and profile setting, making it much easier to deploy systems. Of course I've only used it for 7 deployments. I have yet to pre configure a Windows Server 2008 R2 system, mostly because we have so few servers running that OS. Thus far most everything is still running various forms of Windows 2003 and unfortunately some servers are running Windows 2000. Anyway, I digress.

Back to the book. Microsoft, not including the index this thing is over 1600 pages in length. Granted its littered with illustrations, but give me a break. This could've been split into a multi volume work, or the page size could've been larger, like an 8.5" by 11". Of course thats just me griping. I am sure by the time I read through this the spine will be thoroughly cracked and there will be many dog eared pages. I am also looking forward to using the included CD. I undersstand it has example powershell scripts and even an e-book copy. Now if only I could get an e-book reader, but seriously I still prefer paper to screen.

Anyway, as I read on I might post some stuff I find useful or informative and of course any and everything I think is wrong or don't understand. Of course that may lead to way too many posts. We'll see.

My plan is to go through section 1 tonight, section 2 tomorrow, section 3 on Saturday and section 4 on Sunday. This is pretty ambitious, but I've got some free time. Of course realistically lets say I'll finish the whole thing by the end of the month. That sounds more likely. We'll see.

Microsoft Blesses LGPL, Joins Apache Foundation

As told on Slashdot:

Penguinisto writes "According to a somewhat jaw-dropping story in The Register, it appears that Microsoft has performed a trifecta of geek-scaring feats: They have joined the Apache Software Foundation as a Platinum member(at $100K USD a year), submitted LGPL-licensed patches for ADOdb, and have pledged to expand their Open Specifications Promise by adding to the list more than 100 protocols for interoperability between its Windows Server and the Windows client. While I sincerely doubt they'll release Vista under a GPL license anytime soon, this is certainly an unexpected series of moves on their part, and could possibly lead to more OSS (as opposed to 'Shared Source') interactivity between what is arguably Linux' greatest adversary and the Open Source community." (We mentioned the announced support for the Apache Foundation earlier today, as well.)

Well, what an odd turn of events.

Microsoft + Yahoo! = Microhoo?

So, apparently Microsoft wants to initiate a takeover of Yahoo! with Cash and stock options for some $44.6 BILLION.

From the article:
"We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, in a press release Friday.

I just don't know. I mean I know Google is a threat to both of these two, but are things so bad? I didn't think they were. This is weird.

Windows Error Reporting

Now, honestly could this be the least helpful message ever?

I think so.

Microsoft Expression Web

It really doesn't look that bad, and it certainly looks better than Frontpage 2003. However, I must say I notice some similarities. Either way, it looks more, shall we say Professional.

Just thought I'd share my opinion

=W=