Category: Windows Desktop

We all know how annoying it is that important configuration items are being hidden behind layers of GUI in Windows, e.g. how long did it take you to first find TCP properties in Vista?  I’ve been using “NCPA.CPL” to get there quickly for the last couple of months.  Here’s a list of them that was posted after I had networking issues on Win7 Beta during a presentation at Minasi Forum 2009 yesterday – Explorer crashed, I had to reboot and the wifi network I had been on wasn’t appearing in the available list.

Rhonda Layfield for NCPA.CPL.  Don’t you just hate how long it takes to get to the window where you can adjust your NIC properties in Windows Vista or Windows 7?  It’s these little things that potentially turns IT pro’s against a product.  Rhonda has a great shortcut: just run NCPA.CPL from “Start – Run” and you’re brought right there.  Even create a shortcut if you need to get in there often enough.

Michael Niehaus will “be presenting a webcast" today "to the broad Microsoft partner community, talking about how MDT 2010 can be used to help customers deploy Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.  Since this is a partner-focused session, it’s not intended to be a general-purpose session”.  It’s on at 10:00 – 11:00 am PST. 

The invitation key from Michael’s blog is 26FA4B.

Rhonda Layfield, the “queen of OS deployment” and deployment MVP, is putting together a new site.  Rhonda has managed to make sense of things like the BDD and is globally respected for her expertise on this subject (and many others).  Keep and eye on the site: Rhonda has big plans for some very cool content.

Internet Explorer 8 will soon be available for automatic installation by Automatic Updates or WSUS.  You can prevent or stop the auto deployment of IE8 by using the toolkit that Microsoft has published.

BTW, you don’t need to use this if you manage your environment’s updates using WSUS or ConfigMgr.  You can selectively disable the IE updates using those products’ management suites.

For an IT Pro, Internet Explorer is often as important as Microsoft Office.  It’s a critical tool that’s used for business applications, more so now with the emergence of Software-as-a-Service based on .NET and Silverlight applications.

Microsoft published a bunch of articles last night on how to manage, configure and deploy Internet Explorer 8:

• Windows Internet Explorer 8 Technology Overview for Enterprise and IT Pros: Learn more about the new technology and developer features in Windows Internet Explorer 8
• Windows Internet Explorer 8 FAQ for Business: This FAQ answers common enterprise customer questions about Windows Internet Explorer 8
• Internet Explorer Administration Kit 8: 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.
• 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.
• Techniques for Pre-Installing Internet Explorer 8: This document provides information and instructions necessary for IT Professionals to preinstall Internet Explorer 8, as well as any additional Internet components on earlier supported operating systems.
• Internet Explorer 8 Language Packs for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008: Download the latest version of Internet Explorer 8 Language Packs.

Of these, the compatibility view list seems to be the most important:

“Windows Internet Explorer 8 is Microsoft’s latest web browser. Unlike previous versions, Internet Explorer 8 renders content in the most standards-compliant way possible. This means that web pages will be displayed in Internet Explorer 8’s standards mode by default. Through product feedback channels, our users have indicated that, during the beta period, some websites may not have been compatible with Internet Explorer 8 in its default, standards-based mode. As a result, these domains have been added to a list of sites that, for the short-term, are most likely to be displayed better in Compatibility View. All Internet Explorer 8 users are given the choice to use this list, and the subset that chooses to do so will see each listed domain automatically displayed in Compatibility View, without additional user interaction or notice. The sites on this list have high traffic volume (in their regions), and having a compatible website ensures a significant number of Internet Explorer 8 users will have a great experience. 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 here”.

I haven’t found any specifics on how the compatibility update list gets onto computers.  It appears like it will be a definition update that will be distributed via Automatic Updates/WSUS/ConfigMgr.  I don’t see anything specific in the WSUS product categories relating to definition updates for IE8 yet.

Microsoft has released a set of IP Pro Guides to accompany the beta release of Windows 7.

There’s a post on MSDN about the changes coming in the release candidate for Windows 7.  Yes, it said “the Release Candidate for Windows 7”.  Maybe it will be RTM earlier than expected?

At the Windows User Group last night, one of the MS Ireland guys had an Acer “Atom” net book with 1GB RAM.  It was running Windows 7 pretty well.  I’d probably still recommend 2GB RAM but it did appear pretty good.

Dave Northey from MS Ireland showed BranchCache working with a pre-beta build.  His normal demo laptop died earlier that day and despite running on sub standard h/w he go the point across.  It isn’t actually block based like I had thought.  It is file based.  It will still improve things drastically but leaves a window open for alternative branch office solutions.

NeoWin is reporting that IE8 has been RTM within Microsoft.  It’ll allegedly be released to the public on Feb on the web after a TechNet/MSDN release.  No signs of any dates being mentioned yet.  I suspect there’ll be a major ramp up to prepare for the bandwidth hit.  I also suspect there will be automatic installation blockers released for those who want to prevent IE8 from being downloaded by automatic updates.  This has been done in the past.

I’ve been using IE8 RC1 on Vista SP1 and on Windows 7 Beta 1.  I like that each tab is now a separate executable.  If a tab crashes then it automatically restarts.  It’s noticeable that a lot of sites aren’t IE compatible and you have to enable the “compatibility view” to make them render properly, e.g. GMail.