Alpesh Nakar's Blog

This is the list of official Microsoft twitter accounts that I have found on on10.net

Thank you Sarah.

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Zune Lyrics is a plug-in for Zune Software which automatically fetches lyrics of the song currently being played in Zune Software from lyricwiki.org. Built using WPF, it uses the registry data stored by Zune – Now Playing to detect the current song.
You can find Zune – Now Playing at http://znp.codeplex.com

Download the zip file and run Setup.exe. Follow the instructions to install Zune Lyrics on your system. Run Zune Lyrics from your desktop or Programs Menu

The DAISY Consortium and Microsoft Corporation announced the latest release of Save as DAISY, a free, open source add-in for Microsoft Office Word. With the integration of DAISY Pipeline Lite, Save as DAISY add-in Version 2 produces a full DAISY multimedia publication with synchronized text and MP3 audio, enabling users to transform Word documents into accessible multimedia formats for people unable to read print due to a visual, physical, perceptual, developmental, cognitive, or learning disability.

"It really is a fantastic piece of software", confirmed Kate Randall from Vision Australia’s Community Information Access department. Michael Hingson, the President of The Hingson Group, believes that the "DAISY navigation system is one of the most significant developments to be made available since the development of Braille. DAISY allows people who are blind to move around recorded and electronic documents easily and seamlessly in a way so far only available to sighted readers."

Source | Save as MP3 from Word?

Microsoft Exchange® Server 2010 Beta helps IT Professionals achieve new levels of reliability with greater flexibility, enhanced user experiences, and increased protection for business communications.

• Flexible and reliable – Exchange Server 2010 gives you the flexibility to tailor your deployment based on your company’s unique needs and a simplified way to keep e-mail continuously available for your users.
• Anywhere access – Exchange Server 2010 helps your users get more done by giving them the freedom to securely access all their communications – e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, and more – from virtually any platform, Web browser, or device.
• Protection and compliance – Exchange Server 2010 delivers integrated information loss prevention, and compliance tools aimed at helping you simplify the process of protecting your company’s communications and meeting regulatory requirements.

This software is intended for evaluation purposes only. You must accept the license terms before you are authorized to use this software. There is no product support for this trial software. You are welcome to participate in the forums to share your trial experiences with others and to ask for advice.

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista 64-bit Editions Service Pack 1

• Operating System for Installing Management Tools: The 64-bit editions of Microsoft® Windows Vista® SP1 or later, or Windows Server® 2008.
• PC – x64 architecture-based computer with Intel processor that supports Intel 64 architecture (formerly known as Intel EM64T) or AMD processor that supports the AMD64 platform

Additional requirements to run Exchange Server 2010 Beta

• Memory – Minimum of 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM per server plus 5 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended for each mailbox
• Disk space
  • At least 1.2 GB on the drive used for installation
  • An additional 500 MB of available disk space for each Unified Messaging (UM) language pack that you plan to install
  • 200 MB of available disk space on the system drive
• Drive – DVD-ROM drive, local or network accessible
• File format – Disk partitions formatted as NTFS file systems
• Monitor – Screen resolution 800 x 600 pixels or higher

Exchange Server 2010 Beta Prerequisites
If these required prerequisites are not already installed, the Exchange Server 2010 Beta setup process will prompt and provide links to the installation locations; Internet access will be required if the prerequisites are not already installed or available on a local network.

• Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5
• Windows PowerShell v2
• Windows Remote Management

Expiration Notice
This time-limited, free beta version of Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 will end 360 days after installation.

Source

I had blogged about IE8 Downloads and related content when IE RTW (released to web).

IE team blog on MSDN wants you to prepare for automatic download of IE8.

From the source:

Starting on or about the third week of April, users still running IE6 or IE7 on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 will get will get a notification through Automatic Update about IE8. This rollout will start with a narrow audience and expand over time to the entire user base. On Windows XP and Server 2003, the update will be High-Priority. On Windows Vista and Server 2008 it will be Important.

IE8 will not automatically install on machines. Users must opt-in to install IE8. Users will see a Welcome screen that offers choices: Ask later, install now, or don’t install.

If an organization uses Automatic Update to keep Windows up-to-date but wants to manage its own deployment of IE8, a free Blocker Toolkit is available that will block automatic delivery of IE8.  This blocker toolkit was released in January 2009 and has no expiration date.  For more information, please review the information for IT administrators at the Windows Update/Microsoft Update site on TechNet, as well as the Blocker Toolkit FAQ.  Organizations that wish to block the distribution of IE8 should have their blocking in place by the week of April 20^th.

Organizations that use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Systems Management Server (SMS) can deploy IE8 in the same manner as they would deploy any other update.  We will release IE8 to WSUS in July 2009; it will be classified as an Update Rollup and must be approved to install on groups of clients within the organization.

Source

IE8 has been RTM and you can download for different platforms per links under. In this post you will find all IE8 related links that I have copied from various sources to bring everything in one place.

//Start//

Technology Overview

 

Windows Internet Explorer 8 includes a host of new features, enhancements, and other improvements driven from real world scenarios and customer desires that puts the Web at your service. This document will give you more information and examples on how to create rich user experiences and make sure your Web sites are ready for Windows Internet Explorer 8.

 

Download

 

Download IE8 for different platforms

 

 

 

Techniques for Preinstalling IE8

 

This document provides information and instructions necessary for IT Professionals to preinstall the Windows® Internet Explorer® 8 Internet browser, as well as any additional Internet components on earlier operating systems that are supported. Also, this document provides a list of unattend settings that can be used to automate configuration and deployment of Internet Explorer 8.

 

Download

 

IE8 Administration Kit

 

The Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) 8 simplifies the creation, deployment and management of customized Internet Explorer 8 packages. IEAK 8 can be used to configure the out-of-box Internet Explorer 8 experience or to manage user settings after Internet Explorer 8 deployment.

 

Download

 

Visit the IEAK 8 site on TechNet for more information on the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) 8.

 

Windows IE8 FAQ for Business

 

This FAQ answers common enterprise customer questions about Windows Internet E
xplorer 8

Download

 

 

Windows Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility View List

 

This download consists of a list of sites that are most likely to be displayed better in Compatibility View in Windows Internet Explorer 8.

 

This list will be periodically updated and automatically downloaded to Internet Explorer 8 users who have opted-in to use Compatibility View updates from Microsoft. For more information on Compatibility View list updates, please see – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960321.

 

Download

 

What’s compatibilty view and why should you care? I’d recommend you read this blog post introducing compatibility view. 

 

If you are a web site designer, you may want to check out this KB from Microsoft. This will help you if your site does not render correctly in IE8. This will definitely help SharePoint branding gurus

 

 

Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 8

 

The Internet Explorer 8 Blocker Toolkit enables IT Administrators to disable automatic delivery of Internet Explorer 8 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates and the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites.

 

Download

 

 //End//

 

Microsoft unleashed a few interesting web services and related applications this week.

1. Windows Live Writer 2008 Final Version | Download | New Features of WLW 2008

2. Have you got your @live.com Windows ID?

3. Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express

4. Microsoft Sync Framework

5. Windows Live Events (Need Windows Live ID, go to step 2)

6. Windows Live Calendar (Need Windows Live ID, go to step 2)

I have signed up for all of these. Have you? I have not downloaded 3 and 4 though.