Introducing Windows 8 : An Overview for IT Professionals ( Free book )

Interested in knowing about the latest Windows for clients , you can do it fast , free and directly from the source , as Microsoft press have released a free preview from Introducing Windows 8 ® An Overview for
IT Professionals .

.ISO mount option is not available on Windows 8 anymore !

For those who had installed Windows 8 , you may noticed that there is an option to mount an ISO image right out of the box with OS itself , see below :

As I installed a third party application for CD/DVD burning application such as ImgBurn on my Windows 8 the mount option for ISO’s was no longer available !!

After a little bit of investigation , I found that all you need to do to get it back is to set the default program for opening such files ( ISO images ) , as below :

• Right click on an ISO file , Choose “Open with” then click “Choose default program”

.Net Framework 3.5 requires alternate source path when installing on Windows Server 2012 !!

Recently , I was working on installing a new Windows Server 2012 and as soon as I tried to do .Net framework 3.5 installation with Server manager ( as below ) , I got a notification for .Net framework 3.5 installation asking for specifying alternate source path for installation package(s).

I noticed a link at the bottom “Specify an alternate source path” , upon clicking a window opened explaining the situation and allow giving of the alternate source path .

Error “FX:{6FBE5D92-C65A-41DC-AEBF-09D8845F68A1}” launching VAMT 3.0 installed on Windows Server 2008 R2

As I was installing Volume Activation Management Tool ( VAMT ) for Windows 8 activation and as soon as installation finished , I  went to open the console for VAMT 3.0 when I crashed with FX:{6FBE5D92-C65A-41DC-AEBF-09D8845F68A1} , as shown below :

Windows 8 activation with VAMT – Part II

In a previous post I showed that Volume Activation Management Tool which can be used for Windows 8 activation is now a part of what called Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit ( ADK ) .

In this one , I will show to you can perform installation of VAMT , so you can use it for Windows 8 activation .

First of all , download ADK installation file for Windows 8 from Here

Once completed , start the installer adksetup.exe and proceed as follow :

• You can go with either options below ( for me I will go with Install )
  • Install : To perform direct installation of the required feature(s) on the local system and hence streams required components download
  • Download : To download the required components to do installation on another system

Windows 8 activation with VAMT – Part I

Few days ago, I was working with our company Windows 8 Enterprise Key as we are going to perform OS upgrade for our internal PCs. I went to test our Volume License Key with the nifty Volume Activation Management Tool 2.0 ( VAMT ) , but whenever I tried to add our key to the tool I got the error message as below ( Invalid character in the product key ) , you can test it yourself with the N character :

So my workmate Ramy – our System Center guy - said “Maybe there are a new VAMT version for Windows 8 ?” . At this stage I started to check on TechNet to look for a new version of VAMT when I found the follow :

With the release of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 , Microsoft released The Windows® Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) which contains all of the tools that you need to customize, assess, and deploy Windows operating systems to new computers.

Windows 8 activation !!!!!

As windows 8 is RTM , I decided to download a copy from my TechNet subscription to install it on my notebook .

After successful download and installation – without any request for product key insertion !! , I went to system properties to set product key / activate my OS .

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0

As Windows Server 2012 / Windows 8 are coming soon ( RTM by August 2012 ) , I received an email from Microsoft announcing that Microsoft has released the new version ( 7.0 ) of  Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit , which provides organizations with tools to assess readiness for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) 7.0 provides you with the capabilities that allows you to :

Microsoft unveils the new Office 2013 Customer Preview ( aka Office 15 )

Today , Steve Ballmer ( Microsoft Corp. CEO ) unveiled the customer preview of the new Microsoft Office.

Office 2013 was designed to be at its best on Windows 8 :

• Touch everywhere : Office responds to touch as naturally as it does to keyboard and mouse. Swipe your finger across the screen or pinch and zoom to read your documents and presentations. Author new content and access features with the touch of a finger.

• Inking : Use a stylus to create content, take notes and access features. Handwrite email responses and convert them automatically to text. Use your stylus as a laser pointer when presenting. Color your content and erase your mistakes with ease.

System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 CTP2 is here

This Community Technology Preview (“CTP2”) enables System Center customers to jointly evaluate System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate. CTP2 includes updates and enhancements to the following System Center 2012 components:

• Virtual Machine Manager
  • Improved Support for Network Virtualization
  • Extend the VMM console with Add-ins
  • Support for Windows Standards-Based Storage Management Service, thin provisioning of logical units and discovery of SAS storage
  • Ability to convert VHD to VHDX, use VHDX as base Operating System image
• Configuration Manager
  • Support for Windows 8
  • Support for Mac OS clients
  • Support for Linux and Unix servers
• Data Protection Manager
  • Improved backup performance of Hyper-V over CSV 2.0
  • Protection for Hyper-V over remote SMB share
  • Protection for Windows Server 2012 de-duplicated volumes
  • Uninterrupted protection for VM live migration
• App Controller
  • Service Provider Foundation API to create and operate Virtual Machines
  • Support for Azure VM; migrate VHDs from VMM to Windows Azure, manage from on-premise System Center
• Operations Manager
  • Support for IIS 8
  • Monitoring of WCF, MVC and .NET NT services
  • Azure SDK support
• Orchestrator
  • Additional support for Integration Packs, including 3rd party
  • Manage VMM self-service User Roles
  • Manage multiple VMM ‘stamps’ (scale units), aggregate results from multiple stamps
  • Integration with App Controller to consume Hosted clouds
• Service Manager
  • Apply price sheets to VMM clouds
  • Create chargeback reports
  • Pivot by cost center, VMM clouds, Price sheets
• Server App-V
  • Support for applications that create scheduled tasks during packaging
  • Create virtual application packages from applications installed remotely on native server

You can download it from here . In addition , you can get technical documentation from here

Windows 8 ( RP ) and Windows Server 2012 ( RC ) are here !

 At Japan's Developers Day conference, Steven Sinofsky announced that the Windows 8 Release Preview (build 8400) will be available by first week of June . By now Windows 8 Release Preview ( RP ) and Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate ( RC ) are available for download.

• Windows 8 - Release Preview ( RP ) 

This is our Microsoft’s pre-release, and includes Windows 8, Internet Explorer 10, new Windows 8 apps for connecting to Hotmail, SkyDrive, and Messenger (and many more), and hundreds of new and updated apps in the Windows Store.

Here below some of the newly improved aspects ( abstracted from Steven Sinofsky’s post at Building Windows 8 blog ) :

Windows Server “8” Beta Hyper-V Component Architecture Poster

Provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server “8” Beta aka Windows Server 2012 - and focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering, and scalability.

You can download this poster here.

If you’re interested in learning more on Hyper-V in Windows 8, check some of the links below.  This version of  Hyper-V is my favorite part of Windows Server 8 !

Readings

• Understand and Troubleshoot Hyper-V Replica in Windows Server "8" Beta
• How does Storage Migration actually work?

Videos

• Windows 8 Hyper-V: Availability Video
• Windows 8 Hyper-V: Scalability Video
• Hyper-V Cmdlets in Windows Server 8 Demo Video
• Windows Server 8 Extensible Switch in Hyper-V interview with Bob Combs

Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows Server 8 [ Windows Server 2012 ]

Group policy is one of the most important aspects for all IT admins ; Lately Microsoft Group Policy team released Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows Server "8" Beta and Windows "8" Consumer Preview spreadsheet ; This spreadsheet lists the policy settings for computer and user configurations included in the Administrative template files (admx/adml) delivered with Windows Server® "8" Beta. The policy settings included in this spreadsheet cover Windows "8" Consumer Preview, Windows Server "8" Beta, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista with SP1, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP2 or earlier service packs, Windows XP Professional with SP2 or earlier service packs, and Windows 2000 with SP5 or earlier service packs. These files are used to expose policy settings when you edit Group Policy objects (GPOs) using the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). 

You can use the filtering capabilities included in this spreadsheet to view a specific subset of data based on one value or a combination of values that are available in one or more of the columns. In addition, you can click Custom in the drop-down list of any of the column headings to add additional filtering criteria within that column. To view a specific subset of data, click the drop-down arrow in the column heading of cells that contain the value or combination of values on which you want to filter, and then click the desired value in the drop-down list. For example, to view a subset of policy settings that are available for Windows Server 8 Beta in the Administrative Template worksheet, click the drop-down arrow next to Supported On, and then click At least Microsoft Windows Server 8 Beta.

What's New for Windows Server "8" Beta and Windows "8" Consumer Preview? 

The spreadsheet contains three columns that provide more information about each policy setting's behavior related to reboots, logoffs, and schema extensions. These columns are the following: 

• Reboot Required: A "Yes" in this column means Windows requires a restart before it applies the described policy setting.
• Logoff Required: A "Yes" in this column means Windows requires the user to log off and log on again before it applies the described policy setting.
• Active Directory Schema or Domain Requirements: A "Yes" in this column means you extend your Active Directory Schema before deploying this policy setting.

You can get it directly from here

Windows 8 is the official name !

Yesterday , Brandon LeBlanc announced on Blogging Windows that Windows 8 is the official product name for the next x86/64 editions of Windows.

Windows 8 will be available in four flavors ( edition ) covers all users | corporate needs , which are :

• Windows 8 : The basic edition that are suitable for most users  
• Windows 8 Pro : A higher version that includes domain joining capability , BitLocker and BitLocker To Go ,Boot from VHD , Client Hyper-V & more ..
• Windows RT ( Real Time ) : a new edition which will only be available as pre-installed on PCs and tablets powered by ARM processors and will help enable new thin and lightweight form factors with impressive battery life.
• Windows 8 Enterprise : it will include all features available for Windows 8 Pro plus features for IT organization that enable PC management and deployment, advanced security, virtualization, new mobility scenarios, and much more..