Today I am reading a press release out of Redmond, where Microsoft claims to have created a "Telco 2.0 Vision".

The platform is based on some known and new technologies, including the updated IPTV framework called Microsoft Mediaroom, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Microsoft Solution for Enhanced VoIP Services, Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, Hosted Microsoft Dynamics for CRM solution, Microsoft Solution for Managed PC, Microsoft Connected Services Framework and Microsoft Connected Services Sandbox.

What caught my attention was the "Microsoft Solution for Managed PC". I never heard of that one before, and just reading the name I had an idea of what would be coming: a way for IPSs to provide a connection with hardware they could manage.


And sure enough, this is what I read on the official Microsoft Solution for Managed PC page:

Many communications solutions provide state-of-the-art hardware at subsidized prices linked to monthly service contracts. Now, Microsoft brings the same strategy to broadband service providers. The Microsoft Solution for Managed PC allows broadband service providers to deliver a compelling new offering: a state-of-the-art computer packaged with broadband service, PC health and security software at a completely new, more affordable price point.

With the Microsoft Solution for Managed PC, broadband service providers can increase revenue, gain market share, and even create new, deeper relationships with their customers by streamlining problem resolution. What’s more, the affordability of the Managed PC solution means that service providers can reach more consumers and small businesses than ever before and the flexibility of the solution allows them to address specific sub-segments with targeted offerings.

It sounds good, right? But it seems that for you or your company to get just the right PC for your needs, you would have to subject its management to a third party.

This would be akin to having your PC as an appliance (which it is), pretty much like those cable TV set top boxes, or those satellite boxes. With not much freedom of choice:

The Managed PC comes complete with security protection that provides an all-in-one PC care solution featuring firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, back-up capabilities, and parental controls to further simplify PC ownership for first-time users. With the Solution for Managed PC (SMPC) security products, service providers can improve the user experience for both consumer and small business customers by automatically scanning the Managed PC for common network, printing, or communication malfunctions, reducing the expense and inconvenience of computer downtime.

This should surely reduce the number of people affected by phishing scams, trojan software and botnets. But do you trust your ISP to decide what's better for you or your needs? What about those cases where some security software deleted entire e-mail repositories, or made PCs a paper weight?

Can you imagine if all the users on an ISP go down at the same time?

Not much "Personal" left in the Computer (PC) it seens. Welcome to the Nanny Internet.

There are two ways of disabling the requirement for Signed Drivers on Microsoft Windows Vista 64 bit. One is through a command line issuing the command bcdedit /set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS.

The other way (which can be dangerous because it's so easy), is by using the VistaBootPro software. This software is a GUI for the bcdedit command. In their latest version there's a checkbox that performs the same as the command listed before:

It happens, if you have a 14 month old baby around the house, a home office and the door is open:

I might have to start planning to move my home server to the cupboard...

The guys at mindscape have been busy bringing Backgroundmotion to life, a community website for users of Microsoft Windows Vista Dreamscene with a twist for developers in general.

Windows DreamScene is a feature of Windows Vista Ultimate that allows users to set a movie as their desktop background.

Backgroundmotion users will be able to upload their Windows Media Video files to share, while other users can download the media. As a technology showcase the preview functionality uses the new Microsoft Silverlight to stream the content so people can watch the movies before downloading.


Other usual social features are there, including rating and tags.

Originally the concept was created by two of the Microsoft New Zealand staff, who envisioned a community resource as well as a fully functioning site which could be used for learning. And that's why the entire Backgroundmotion source code is available for download from the Codeplex, so developers can learn how to utilise the technology platform.

Mindscape built the site over 3 weeks, following it up with a series of technical presentations around New Zealand.

The Microsoft Windows Home Server Release Candidate is available now. It's a great software, based on the Windows Server platform and providing peace of mind for home users with multiple Window-based computers in your network. It also allows lots of Add-ins.

The platform provides automatic backup, shared space for media (pictures, video, music), streaming services and more, including remote access gateway to all computers in your home network.

Partners such as HP will release turn key server solutions ready to install at home. If you are a DYI type of person you only need a keyboard, mouse and monitor to install the software and after that it will run without these peripherals - everything can be remotely managed.

I tried running Hamachi on my test server and it worked really well, so you can even use it for some home networking over the Internet.

All good. That is if you don't have 64 bit OS running at home. In many post in the official Windows Home Server forum, Microsoft employees have announced that Windows Vista 64 bit support could be something in v1, but don't expect this to be actually released until v2.

What a shame. During the International CES 2007 Bill Gates told us (a small private group of website owners) how Microsoft wanted to make a "transparent" transition to 64 bit computing platforms. I think some in the Windows Home Server forgot to read the memo.

If you are running Virtual Server, good news: Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 has just been released. Download it now.

You will need to shutdown any running virtual machines, and stop the current virtual server in the Services applet. The upgrade is quick and you can then restart your server.

We all know Microsoft likes those very long names, such as Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Phone Edition. But how did they manage to come with something short as "Windows Server 2008"?

Watch it and find out:



Courtesy of thelazyadmin.com.

Mix 07 is not even cold yet, and Microsoft has already announced the dates for Mix 08. Everything will happen in Las Vegas (again), 5 - 7 March 2008.

In 2006 we saw Internet Explorer 7. Silverlight (and a lot more) was announced at Mix 07. What will we see in Mix 2008?

Better subscribe to their RSS feeds to keep an eye on registration information.

A few years ago I was in Redmond, attending a Microsoft conference for web site owners and had the opportunity to see the Microsoft Digital Home. This was around 2004 and we all signed NDAs before steping inside.

One of the things we saw in a demo was this amazing table top in the kitchen where you could drop groceries and have recipes displayed automatically - using the "material" on hand. you could interact with the table top touching or simply placing objects on it.


Today Microsoft has announced Microsoft Surface. It is an evolution of that table top I saw a few years back, with much more functionality.

The idea is to have every day objects that we can interact with, and interact with each other. At a high level, Surface uses cameras to sense objects, hand gestures and touch. This user input is then processed and the result is displayed on the surface using rear projection.

Surface computing, which Microsoft has been working on for a number of years, features four key attributes:

• Direct interaction. Users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands, interacting with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.
 
• Multi-touch. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger like a typical touch-screen, but up to dozens of items at once.
 
• Multi-user. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.
 
• Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content. 
 

Whatever you are doing now, make some time to watch the videos on the Microsoft Surface website. There's a video review on On10 as well.

More and more drivers for Microsoft Windows Vista are coming out. If you have an imation Disc Stakka you can now download the official driver and application from Opdicom.


I need to purchase a second unit, since my first one is already up to the 100 CDs/DVDs limit.