In The Know - Charles Van Heusen's Weblog

Windows Defender - It's Live, Available for Download and FREE!

Windows Defender is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected and minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive. Now with 2 free support incidents for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

If you are running Beta 2 you should upgrade to the final release of Windows Defender since Beta 2 will expire on December 31^st, 2006.

As part of our commitment to deliver world class software, we will begin delivering localized versions of Windows Defender. German and  Japanese will come out in the next few weeks, followed by French, Spanish etc. leading up to over 20 localized versions of Windows Defender.

Download Defender NOW!

Here are some of the great features customers will enjoy:

• A redesigned and simplified user interface – Incorporating feedback from our customers, the Windows Defender UI has been redesigned to make common tasks easier to accomplish with a warning system that adapts alert levels according to the severity of a threat so that it is less intrusive overall, but still ensures the user does not miss the most urgent alerts.
• Improved detection and removal – Based on a new engine, Windows Defender is able to detect and remove more threats posed by spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Real Time Protection has also been enhanced to better monitor key points in the operating system for changes.
• Protection for all users – Windows Defender can be run by all users on a computer with or without administrative privileges. This ensures that all users on a computer are protected by Windows Defender.
• Support for 64-bit platforms, accessibility and localization - Windows Defender supports accessibility and 64-bit platforms. Microsoft will release localized versions including German and Japanese soon after the availability of the English versions.
• Delta definition updates - Windows Defender now downloads smaller delta definition updates when possible which reduces the time required to download and install definition updates. Customers can expect shorter download times when updating their definition updates.
• Free Limited Support - As a part of our commitment to the security of our customers, free support for installation, configuration, definition update, detection and removal errors will be available for a limited time after download and installation.
• WGA enforcement - There are significant risks to running non-genuine Windows. Only genuine Windows customers can receive product downloads, Windows updates and special offers. Windows Defender will validate that your copy of Windows is genuine before installation. Furthermore, Windows Defender will only remove Severe threats for machines that are not genuine. Low, Medium and High threats will be detected, but not removed unless your copy of Windows is genuine

Microsoft Expression Web - Learn it, Sell it.

Learn how to sell Expression Web

Learn more about Microsoft's new offering for professional Web Designers, Expression Web.  You'll learn more about the product features, its target audiences (i.e., Web Designers, Web Developers, FrontPage customers), how to sell it, when it will be available, and more.  You'll also see a 20 minute demonstration of the tool after the powerpoint presentation.   

Date

Time

Dur

Event Title

Presenter

Status

Abstract Registration Link

10/18/2006

1:00 PM

60 min

Introduction to Expression Web

Jon Byrum

On-Demand

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004739

11/8/2006

1:00 PM

60 min

Selling Expression Web - New Offerings for Creative Professionals

Jon Byrum

Live

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004768

11/22/2006

9:00 AM

60 min

Selling Expression Web - New Offerings for Creative Professionals

Jon Byrum

Live

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004769

12/6/2006

9:00 AM

60 min

Selling Expression Web - New Offerings for Creative Professionals

Jon Byrum

Live

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004770

12/19/2006

1:00 PM

60 min

Selling Expression Web - New Offerings for Creative Professionals

Jon Byrum

LiveBottom of Form

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004771

Windows Vista Licensing - Did it change, Did they miss Mark?

While in Odessa, Texas delivering a TS2 event, I was asked about Windows Vista Licesning and if there had been significant changes to the licensing due to immense amount of piracy that takes place throughout the world with Windows XP.

In previous conversations the previous week I'd overheard a conversation between Partners regarding this very topic and one of them raised a concern that you would be limited to the number of reinstallations under Vista before you had to purchase an additional copy.

When this was brought up at the TS2 event, I mentioned that I'd heard of this concern in previous conversation and I informed them I wanted to research it before I provided a response.  The first thing I did was email our PR person on our team as well as emailing a couple internal Vista product team folks for some clarification.  While one person provided links to sites that were as vague as a response you would expect from a politican, the other person provided a direct link to information regarding Vista Activation, which contained the following information"

How many times can I install Windows on my computer before I have to activate Windows again?

You can reinstall Windows on the same computer as many times as you want because activation pairs the Windows product key with information about your computer’s hardware. If you make a significant hardware change, you might have to activate Windows again.

For those of you who don't want to take my word for it, you can read  it for yourself at the following site:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/62088be6-3538-46a6-99fb-05e74aeb48b51033.mspx

The key thing to keep in mind is this applies to reinstallation on the same hardware with Full Packaged Product (FPP).  If you buy OEM (Orignal Equipment Manafacturer) copies, the license is tied to that specific hardware.  If you or the customer decised to do a major upgrades Example (change out system boards for preference, not warranty), a new copy would need to be purchased.  Whereas, if a system was replaced say 30-45 days after it was setup because of a component failure, the OEM Operating System could be reinstalled on that system without worry of needing to purchase a new copy.

I know Microsoft licensing can be more confusing than trying to figure out your income taxes at times, so I hope this helps clear up at least one part of it.

CRM 3 Release 2 is on its way!!

I've been hit up a lot about CRM functionality and compatibility with 2007 Office and Vista at several TS2 events since August and I am happy to share some new information with you pertaining the release of Release 2 of CRM version 3.  First of all, the CRM v3 R2 client will be compatible with 2007 Office and Vista.  For those of you looking to make the jump to the new platform, please keep this in mind when you and your customers are planning your deployment.

Today I received a corporate communication regarding the release availablility and I got the OK to share it with you so here you go:

Here is an update on the V3 R2 release from the Senior Director of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Product Management team –

“Earlier this month we shared with you our excitement about having completed the development work for “Microsoft CRM V3 R2” (see http://blogs.msdn.com/crm/archive/2006/10/03/Microsoft-CRM-v3-R2-ships.aspx ).

We know that you are of course eager to get your hands on this release which will make the Small Business Edition of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 work with Small Business Server 2003 R2. As you can probably imagine – the teams that produce the actual physical media (CDs) are currently fully booked with manufacturing of bits for Office 2007 and for Windows Vista and we have therefore had to find “alternative” ways to get this work in your hands.

We have updated the download available on Microsoft Downloads to fully include the slipstream release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM…. If you download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7d418781-69ad-422d-92fa-87fdb2538e2c&DisplayLang=en  you will get the slipstream release.

In addition we have also made the re-release available on MSDN - there’s no direct URL to the download page as it’s unique for all subscribers. Instructions to the download are therefore:

1. Go to MSDN Subscriber Downloads at http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/  .

2. Sign into your MSDN Subscription benefits with the Windows Live ID (Passport) that is associated with your MSDN Subscription.

3. Once you're signed in, from the left-hand menu, navigate to Microsoft Dynamics | Customer Relationship Management (CRM) | CRM 3.0 | English | Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Professional Edition - Disc 1 (or Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Small Business Edition - Disc 1).

The version that is available via the above sites immediately is the English version – Our localization team has informed us about the schedule below for localized versions. We will make the localized versions available for download within a few days after theirscheduled completion dates.

A slipstream release also means that we basically will go through an update of our inventory of CDs as soon as we get the new CDs from our manufacturing facilities. If you are regularly working with the Small Business Edition of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 it will be a good idea to download the re-release as soon as it is available for download so you have it on hand in case you need it.

We also know that several of you are looking for availability dates of the updated client we are working on – the client is basically a version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 that releases all the synergies between Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, Office 2007 and Windows Vista – internally we refer to this as our V3C release. We currently have this running in our own internal environments and we also occasionally show it externally at events – It is pretty cool! As soon as we have the full details available in terms of availability dates we will share them with you – as for the above – we will make it available via download as soon as completed and we will also have a detailed plan in terms of availability of localized versions of it at that time.

Upgrade FREE to Windows Vista and Microsoft Office Small Business 2007

Attention Small Business Specialist Partners!!!! 

MONEY MAKING OPPORTUNITY ALERT!!!

This is a killer new site that is promoting Open Value licensing, specifically the SA upgrades to Vista and Office and of course the icing on the cake to help you get in front of the prospective customer is a FREE assessment based upon the SB Tech Assessment Toolkit.

Check out the details of the promotion and start looking for ways to market your business around it.

www.upgradethedesktop.com

Blogging Hiatus

If you've been wondering why you haven't seen any new posts from me in a couple months, well, its not because of a lack of topics that's for sure.  It's the fact that I've been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest!

Ever since we went to the World Wide Partner Conference in Boston back in July, we've been running at 110% around here.

The conference was great, but the Small Business Symposium was the biggest hit for me.  Then I blinked my eyes and it was time for the SMBNation conference. 

After attending both conferences, it was apparent about the changes taking place in the partner world.  If you are not offering managed services, you better reevaluate your business model because you are going to be left behind by the partners that are making the jump.

There are several books out there on the topic to help you start a managed services practice. from Karl's book "Service Agreements for the IT Consultant",on creating contracts to Chris' book, "The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice – What Every SMB IT Service Provider Should Know…"! which is a Managed Services 101 book, but it has a hefty price tag associated with it.  After reading it, I'd say its worth the investment especially for those of you just starting out.

I'm still waiting for Matt Makovicz to get his rear in gear and write his book on building the managed service practice.  After all, he's the one that got a lot of this started back in 2004, when his company got the illustrious Certified Partner of the Year award at WWPC for his Managed Services Practice.

He delivered one of the best sessions on managed services I've had the opportunity to attend a year ago at SMBNation 2005 and teased everyone with the idea of a book, now we need him to follow through on that offer.  (Yes, Matt I'm calling you out.  Its time for you to pay up for those Red Sox tickets we used this summer).

I've talked him into starting a blog site off of the TS2community.com site and its up and running, now its time for blogging 101 for Matt to help him get in the writing mindset so keep your eye out for some posts from him in the near future.  If you got as much out of his presentation either in Seattle or on the webcast he delivered with me last December, send me an email so I can pass it along to him to help get him movitated.

Well, I gotta get back to working on the Vista and Office Launch content.  Its approaching quickly so I hope everyone is as excited about the new products and the opportunities the present for us in the years ahead.

If you need a copy of Vista RC1, I still have a few disks left so email me and I will try to get them in the mail this week.  I've got about 15 of them going out today and there are still about 20 left in my stash.