Archive for Uncategorized
February 5, 2008 at 9:44 am ·
Filed under Uncategorized, PR, MicroLife, Releases, Vista
It’s here! It’s finally here! *small victory lap for the team* It’s been long anticipated, and for the last 3 years a team of 5000 people have been working on it, testing, retesting, double-checking and triple-checking… but yesterday they all checked off their scorecards, and Server 2008 is ready to be manufactured! Swee-heet! Windows Server 2008 has an array of new features and technologies that are too numerous to list completely, but some of the highlights are:
- Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 – next gen web and app platform
- Server Core – key roles, low footprint, no GUI
- Terminal Services Gateway – access your apps without a RAS client
- Network Access Protection – keep network safe from un-healthy clients
- PowerShell - powerful scripting tools for admins
- Failover Clustering – improved cluster management, security, and stability
- Next Generation Net Stack – fast and reliable
- Server Manager – setup & manage server roles and features in one place
- Read-Only Domain Controller – safe branch office DCs
- Hyper-V Beta – server virtualization. Hyper-V RTM in 180 days
And so, here we are. Fully ready for heavy duty. It’s gonna be fun! –> read more about the RTM release of Server2008 in the official press release.
SP1, Service Pack 1 for Vista is one of the most complex releases shipped by the Windows teams. This is the first time that a primary Client SP and a major Server release were jointly developed and released at the same time. Delivering a high quality SP1 has been the core focus for dedicated teams the past 15+ months. It’s been a long journey for some of them, but looking at what’s being delivered this is something we (as Microsofties) can be proud of. SP1 is a high quality release that addresses the user’s need for better key performance, reliability and compatibility issues while experiencing highly reliable setup experience. As far as I’ve tested this myself, I can only say it’s really a progress. I love working for this company, where so many people put their shoulders under a project and then come up with a good thing like this. I’m proud to be part of this family.
Key points of SP1:
- SP1 addresses many key customer frustrations including quality, infrastructure optimization, and adds support for new technologies and standards. SP1 further advances application and device compatibility, removing barriers for many customers.
- Today, customers have 10 times the number of certified for Vista Applications to choose from (from 254 at launch to over 2500 today).
- 98 out of 100 of the top selling applications of December 2007 are compatible with Windows Vista. Over 150 enterprise applications such as antivirus and VPN software have been updated to work with Windows Vista.
- 78,000 devices and components are supported by drivers on Windows Update, up from 34,000 in November 2006
As for the Belux state of deployment of Vista, it has been announced last week that we have reached the threshold of 1 million PC’s on Windows Vista in Belgium & Luxembourg. This impressive number has been fueled by exceptionally strong PC shipments (preloaded with Windows Vista) towards consumers and small businesses during the last 12 months. On top of these new PC shipments we are starting to see the first migrations towards Windows Vista in the Mid Market and Enterprise customer base (see www.microsoft.be/cases for the NMBS/SNCB reference case)
October 19, 2007 at 2:58 pm ·
Filed under Uncategorized, MicroLife, Video, Live Services, Demo
So… On October 10th at the Innovation Day in Utrecht, The Netherlands, I had the opportunity to demo all day long to all the people that stopped by at the Microsoft booth at the fair. Besides demos of SeaDragon, Photosynth, HD View, Home Server or Windows Mobile 6, I got another chance to play with the Roundtable a little. I did a little more than a dozen of short demos that day, but I had the most fun with Windows Live Services for Nokia devices. Yes indeederydoo! Fun on a Nokia, with Windows Live. Here’s how that goes:
There’s 4 services that are integrated in the Nokia OS, after you download the install files in the downloads folder. Watch the demo below to see how that works.
1. Live Contacts
Once you sign in for the first time your Live Contacts is auto-magically synchronized within the address book of the Nokia device. As well as names, addresses, email and the other usual stuff. Pretty unique is that the online presence and status of your contacts show up within the phone list. So now from within the device address book you can find whoever you want to communicate with and leverage the presence/status to determine the best way to reach them.
2. Windows Live Messenger
At sign-in you can change your online picture and your status. Once online you obviously can browse your messenger contacts and take part in multiple conversations as you would expect. The services integrate features from within the phone, so when you are within a conversation you can send a voice clip, file or picture - either from the gallery or snap one with the camera
3. Windows Live Hotmail
Your Hotmail gets loaded into a separate folder within the client. Because the emails are downloaded they are available when you are offline. Right now your email isn’t synchronized auto-magically, but its a simple process to goto options, select sync etc. When you are composing an email, just like messenger the phone features are integrated so that you can insert a picture, voice clip, video or other phone right into the email message.
4. Windows Live Spaces
Not surprisingly there is good Spaces support. On Nokia devices there is an application called ‘online share’ which comes with plugins for Flickr and Vox and now there is Spaces support too. There is a simple process to activate the service by adding your Live ID and once that is done the Gallery is now Live enabled. It’s super easy, select the photo you want, goto options, open online service and it will promote you to add a title and text and the the image is load up to your blog.
For screenshots of these thingies, please visit Phil Holden’s blog [you’ll see I stole borrowed most of the words above from there too. He just said it so well :-) Thanks Phil !]
And as for the demo of how this thing goes, I had the chance to meet up with Kris Hoet, whose device I borrowed to demo in Utrecht last week. I geared up the cam and let Kris have is way to show off the goodies.
Video: Windows Live Services For Nokia
Devices that are supported:
- Nokia N73, N80i, N95, N76 and the N93i (full integration)
- E90, E65 and E61i (without Spaces due to ‘No Nokia Online Share Client’)
Countries to date (more to be announced, so watch Phil’s blog):
- Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands,
Norway, Spain, U.K., Sweden, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia
August 8, 2007 at 1:36 pm ·
Filed under Uncategorized
Last night I woke up and it was still dark outside. I usually don’t wake up early. I was staring at my ceiling and saw the last fractions of a dream replay. I was a little boy, standing out in the fields and looking up to the sky. At the horizon I saw a light, an ignition of a rocket that was launched into the black, starfilled sky. I saw a beautiful stripe of light go up and make a bow as it went further and further away from me.
I went to sleep again and woke up later this morning, started doing some e-mails and such. Then I got a phone call from a colleague to inform me that David Boschmans had passed away last night. David was the guy that wheeled me in at Microsoft. He was my mentor, my trusted colleague and friend. We shared dreams and hopes. His insights and advice will always guide me.
I could never have dreamt of getting a better mentor.
I’m lucky to have met him. I feel lucky, even when I’m typing this and tears drip on my typing hands. David, My Dearest David. I will never ever forget you. I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you so damn much. There is no explanation possible for all the why’s I’m feeling, no person that can fill the empty gap you leave behind.
May God watch over your family and take care of them. Sweet dreams, David.
June 25, 2007 at 2:01 am ·
Filed under Uncategorized
It’s been a bit quiet lately on this blog, I know, but there were so many things to be done. So many things have happened and I was working late so much that I never got around to blogging anymore. I was too tired or too busy. I’ll give you one of the reasons why: I’ve been part of a great team around Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, the world’s premier student technology competition. The Imagine Cup is one way Microsoft is encouraging young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference in the world – today. Now in its fifth year, the Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real world issues. I’ve been assigned the very cool role to launch the Imagine Cup into Second Life, the virtual world.
The island I’ve used is the one of on10.net. I terra-shaped it and together with the guys of 3D agency Nazooka, it’s been turned into a little paradise. Before you start nagging about Microsoft buying its way into Second Life: no we didn’t. One of the most precious things I’ve looked out for is that we didn’t hire a super deluxe building agency that would design everything custom from the plants you see to the chairs you sit on. Being part of this community for over a year now, I thought it would be very not-done to build just another island without contributing to the community. So every tree you see, every piece of furniture… we bought it all at in-world merchants and stores so we’d support them. For our launch event, I booked Natalie Moody, one of SL’s most precious live singers, for three performances. The concerts will be accessible to all citizens, obviously free of charge. Afterwards, if all goes well, live DJ’s will take the stage and party with those who’re there until deep into the night. The launch event will run from 8.30 PM the 28th until evening the 29th, to cover most of the timezones.
The walkthrough is pretty simple, the island is shaped up like a clock. Every zone hosts 2 teams and in every zone you get some information about which team is being featured and you can see a clip about their project on the video players. There’s a pebble path between the trees that goes around the entire island and if you follow that you visit each zone. But because we’re dealing with a ‘younger’ audience, we’ve put a skydive drop zone in every section as well, and a launch pad in the middle of the island. This way you can explore the things differently and pick random zones to experience the project.
Nazooka scripted a lot of things for us, they did some cool building as well and I’m glad we opted for them as a partner. We’ll get a lot of stats and things will run pretty smooth too. When the campaign is over, I’ll share some stats as soon as I get them.
The Xbox team if offering 3 consoles and 30 games as prizes, and on the island is a note about how you can sign up to try and win one. If everything goes right, the Visual Studio team will be hiding some easter eggs too, but I’m not so well informed about this part of the campaign, so I can’t really say much more about it. I had a great time setting this up, and to me it was a very cool experience. If you want to visit the island too, look for it in the search under ‘places’ with ‘on10′ as a keyword. Until the official launch, we won’t brand it Imagine Cup yet.
Here are some snapshots of the location:
So, right now I’m off to Barcelona for an offsite and on the way home I have to stop in Paris to help out on the launch event the 28th. Don’t know if I can make it to blog, but I’ll try.
February 15, 2007 at 11:50 pm ·
Filed under Uncategorized
test - yeeeey back online !!!
