Steve's TS2 Insider

OK... I'm not fond of using this forum for one-way advertising, but I've only got 31 people registered for my June TS2 event near Scranton, PA!

Partners - Learn new ways to drive your business at June TS2 events!

Attend an upcoming TS2 event to learn more about Windows Server 2008, Small Business Server 2008, and the Partner opportunities in Software + Services. We’re also presenting a special IW Practice Builder event in select cities to help you learn about the IWS competency, and how it can help drive your business and additional revenue. Register using the links below, and be sure to visit  www.MicrosoftTS2.com to meet the TS2 team, view webcasts, and for more in-depth event information!

I look forward to seeing ALL of you there!

And for any event that I'm hosting that exceeds 60 registrants, I'll do an extra 30 minute session on Response Point on a live system! (This offer is only good for events I'm hosting in Wilmington, Scranton, King of Prussia, and Rockville)

And for those of you who would like to hear more about Dynamics CRM, we wanted to spread the word about 4 Dynamics Pilot events that the MSAM Dynamics team will be hosting in June. These CRM Sales Briefing events are targeted at Partners who are currently selling the MS stack and Dynamics Partners who are not currently selling CRM.

· 6/17/08 – Cincinnati, OH

· 6/19/08 – Pensacola, FL

· 6/24/08 – King of Prussia, PA

· 6/26/08 – Colorado Springs, CO

Q: (from Maryse)

We purchased the software OEM server 2008 and we would like to downgrade to 2003.

A:

Here is the official word:

“Microsoft grants the rights to use any prior version of Windows Server 2008, regardless of which channel was used to acquire the license.”

And here is the web site that includes the aforementioned quote:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/downgrade-rights.aspx

But, of course, my question would be "Why would you want to downgrade?" ;)

Q: (from Canada Licensing Bootcamp)

If I purchase Windows Vista Business Upgrades with SA, I get Vista Enterprise

At the end of my SA agreement, I choose not to renew SA

What happens to my Vista? Do I get to keep using the Enterprise features (Bitlocker, MUI, virtual OS licenses, etc) or do I have to reinstall/downgrade to Vista Business.

Q: (from Andrew Wolfe)

When a customer gets Vista Enterprise through SA they get a perpetual right to the OS upgrade at that point.  If they stop SA they get no new version right but they can continue to run what they own.  This is covered in the SA section of the Product List. You can find the product list here:

http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/userights/PL.aspx

"Software Assurance customers with a perpetual license for Windows Vista Business, will have a perpetual right to use Windows Vista Enterprise on the SA covered device. (a customer can continue using Windows Vista Enterprise on this device, even after their SA coverage has expired for that device)."

Q: (from Kim)

He said there is a quick Microsoft program designed for XP that does just that."

A:

The technology is called Windows Steady State and is designed as a free add-on for Windows XP. It locks the configuration down via a profile that you can customize and move from one computer to another. In addition, it comes with some predefined profiles included a “single task” profile that forces the execution of only one program even if you try to stop that program.

Steady State also locks the drive so accidental  downloads of viruses or installation of applications can be wiped out with a simple reboot. But also permits a small windows for receiving updates from Microsoft Windows Update.

Here is the URL for Steady State:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx

(this technology was originally called the Shared Computer Toolkit)

Q: (from David)

Is it possible to save an Excel file as HTML without the proprietary CSS implementation? I only want HTML element and TABLE tags, and stripping out the Office-generated code is getting to be a huge time drain. In advance, thanks!

A:

From the Start menu, click Save As, Other Formats

From the Save as type dropdown list select Web Page

On the Save: select the Selection: Sheet radio button

Click the Publish... button

Click the Publish button again

Q: (from Don)

I have been trying to update the PACS (Philadelphia Area Computer Society) entry at the MS Mindshare site for some time.  Most of the links at the Mindshare section are bad.  This is one that works:  http://www.microsoft.com/mindshare/about.mspx.  Some time back I sent an email to MS customer service that was never answered.  I've tried waiting for the web site to be fixed but it seems to have been orphaned.

Could you give me an address for someone that could either remedy the problem or tell me about the future of the Mindshare program?

A:

It appears that we have moved the Mindshare site externally; it was always run by an outside vendor.

From our Community site:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/usergroups/default.mspx

Where Mindshare is listed:

Mindshare User Groups

Mindshare connects you, as a user group leader or group member, to the best resources for learning and presenting on various Microsoft technologies. Whether your interest is software or hardware, online services or networking, operating systems or applications, the Mindshare User Group Experience connects you to resources that are relevant and worth sharing. To access a set of robust online services to help you manage your offline user group activities as well as get direct access to content built specifically for your events, register on Mindshare today!

I don’t know if you have tried to contact this group, but their site seems to be completely functional; I don’t know why we still have remnants of our site and have left them in a dysfunctional state. I’ll try to get that cleaned up.

Q: (from James)

Thank you for your very informative presentation about Windows Server 2008 Tuesday.

Can you provide me the link to the slides?

Can you also provide information on “Sky Drive”?

A:

Here is a link to the presentation:

http://cid-9dc1b9c3c6b95b61.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/LET%20Better%20Together/LET%20W2K8%20|0%20Vista%20with%20MSPU.pptx

There, you will also see information on how to sign up for your own SkyDrive.