Aidan Finn, IT Pro

That’s the first thing I asked myself when I heard about the ADMX migrator.  Simply put, it’s the new version of Group Policy ADM templates but in an XML format.  Jeremy Moskowitz (consultant, speaker, trainer, author and AD whiz) briefly describes the new format for Vista and "Longhorn" in a recent newsletter.

Seeing as Office 2007 is now available via MSVL, MSDN and TechNet, I thought I’d post a reminder that I have documented the custom installation process via System Center Configuration Manager 2007.  This document was written while I still worked for 4sol.  The process of preparing your installation point is the same as it would be for SMS 2003/2003 R2 and Group Policy so check it out if you need to deploy Office 2007.  The process is different from the process we used with Office 2003 but it’s not totally alien and it is probably a bit easier to use.

This document was based on a beta release of Office 2007.  It will also be applicable to the other Office 2007 products such as Visio 2007, InfoPath 2007, etc, which also went RTM along with the core Office 2007 product.

I didn’t post anything earlier today because I wanted this one to be pretty clear and mistake free.  I read some contradicting articles online about the fate of good old Software Update Services.  The first post I read state it’s end of life had been extended.  I was then fluting about on microsoft.com and noticed an article about imminent end of life for SUS.  I’d tend to believe a MS source before an independant one, especially on MS support issues, so I was confused.

Before I go any further, lets get SUS/WSUS versions out of the way.  SUS was the first of the Microsoft solution for updating Microsoft products.  It only updated Windows operating systems, 2000, XP and 2003.  Internally, it is known as SUS 1.0.  It’s successor was Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and internally it is known as WSUS 2.0.  WSUS 2.0 supported an extendible catalogue and thus is capable of supporting Windows, Office, SQL Server, Exchange, Forefront Client Security, etc.  WSUS 2.0 also feature better reporting, group targetting and granular control of updates.  WSUS 3.0 is currently in beta.  It supports the extendible catalogue but adds other features such as delegated reporting, even more granualr control of updates, multiple group membership for targetting and a more flixible download architecture.  I’ve documented the current beta release of WSUS 3.0.

This evening I checked the WSUS team blog.  They’ve cleared up the end of life issue of SUS 1.0.  It was due to end but due to customer demand, support for SUS 1.0 has been extended until July 10th, 2007.

It should be noted that SUS 1.0 can only be upgraded via a migration process to WSUS 2.0.  WSUS 2.0 can be "inplace upgraded" to WSUS 3.0.  So, anyone holding on to SUS 1.0 will litely need to consider either going through a 2 step upgrade to get to the latest release next year or just do a rip and replace.

I’ve just done a manual upgrade of my Office 2003 installation to Office 2007 RTM, the first thing I downloaded from my TechNet subscription.  It was painless.  I’m a little wary of downloading the Desktop Search functionality that Outlook 2007 wants me to download.  Maybe I’ll get around to that at some point … after taking a system restore point 🙂  So far, so good.  Rumour is that Vista will be out tomorrow, probably later in the day.  That’ll be next on the upgrade agenda.

The following updates will be available from Microsoft Update in the following few hours.  As usual, you should test them before deploying onto a production environment.

Critical

• MS06-067: This update resolves vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer that could allow remote code execution – Internet Explorer
• MS06-068: This update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft Agent that could allow remote code execution – Windows
• MS06-069: This update resolves vulnerabilities in Macromedia Flash Player, from Adobe, that could allow remote code execution – Windows
• MS06-070: This update resolves a vulnerability in Workstation Service that could allow remote code execution Windows
• MS06-071: This update resolves a vulnerability in Microsoft XML Core Services that could allow remote code execution – Windows

Important

• MS06-066: This update resolves vulnerabilities in the Client Service for NetWare that could allow remote code execution. The Client Service for NetWare is not installed by default on any affected operating system version – Windows

As you may know, CPU manufacturers reached the limits of known physics by making CPU’s faster and faster.  They couldn’t scale up any more so it was time to scale out.  The result of hitting this wall was to add an extra core to the CPU, giving us dual core processors that have been shipping in PC’s and servers for a while now.  Today, Intel launched their first quad core CPU.  That’s basically 4 processing engines in one CPU.  Intel has posted loads on information on this new technology on their website.

A quad core will appear to your operating system as 4 CPU’s.  Microsoft don’t license per core so that won’t be a problem.  Where you will have licensing issues is where vendors license per core.  I’m fairly sure IBM do this with Lotus Domino … but hey … Notes Sucks!

I can’t claim to be a CPU guru.  Where I see this CPU really being useful is in systems where number crunching is vital, e.g. VM hypervisors, hefty simultation systems, etc.

The ADMX Migrator is an MMC snap in for converting existing group policy ADM templates to ADMX which is the XML equivilent for Windows Vista and Windows "Longhorn".  It’s available for download now.

ADMX offers:

• Multilanguage support.
• An optional centralised data store (maybe the one in the Desktop Opimisation Pack?).
• Version Control.

You can find out more about ADMX on the Microsoft website.