Download Threat Analysis and Modeling 3.0 Beta - With support for Windows 7, Vista, and XP.

The Beta milestone of Threat Analysis and Modeling 3.0 is live on the Microsoft Download Center and available for download. The tool is designed to allow business users to perform threat modeling and essentially to streamline application risk management. According to Microsoft, the work poured into version 3.0 is designed, on top of expanding the solution with new features, to enhance performance while reducing costs associated with threat modeling. Threat Analysis and Modeling 3.0 Beta is capable of putting together a threat model after being served with information including business requirements and application architecture, but also to deliver security artifacts on top of pointing out threats.

“TAM v3.0 release is focused on 3 main areas of the tool including: threat modeling methodology; gathering application architecture; and security guidance,” revealed Anil Kumar Venkata Revuru, senior software development engineer for Connected Information Security Group.

Customers running Threat Analysis and Modeling 3.0 Beta will be able to enjoy backward compatibility. Revuru noted that “V3.0 is completely backward compatible with v2.1 threat models. A new plug-in has been added in the import section for users to import v2.1 threat models.” At the same time, the Redmond company has taken the necessary steps to ensure that users are always running the latest version of TAM. In this respect, version 3.0 comes with an Auto Updated Client, designed to inform customers of the latest refreshes available for the threat analysis and modeling tool and to point to the downloads.

Microsoft enumerated the new features specific to version 3: “Azure based CTL store; Visio drawing surface for use cases; Intelligent TFS Sync; automated tool update detection; modified methodology to make threat modeling simpler; Composite Threats and single threat for a call; improved Automatic Threat Generation; v2.1 Import with automated countermeasure mapping; updated countermeasure structure; other minor UI and functionality tweaks.”

Threat Analysis and Modeling 3.0 Beta is available for download here.

By: Marius Oiaga

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Microsoft is attempting to kill the “Blue Edition” of Windows XP. In mid-2008 the Redmond company discontinued the availability of retail and OEM licenses of Windows XP, with the exception of copies of the operating system going onto ultra-low-cost laptops and desktops. However, XP “Blue Edition” is by no means a part of Microsoft's efforts to focus consumers and partners on Windows Vista and beyond. Killing XP “Blue Edition” is an illustrative example of the company's actions to stop the software counterfeiting phenomenon affecting its products.

According to Microsoft, “Blue Edition” is nothing more than a fabricated marketing program used to market and sell pirated copies of Windows XP. In this regard, the software giant informed that it had debuted legal actions against multiple online auctioneers worldwide, which were allegedly responsible for selling pirated copies of XP “Blue Edition” and not only via various global marketing schemes.

“Dishonest auctioneers are too often using these online auction sites to sell counterfeit and illegal copies of Microsoft software, taking advantage of unsuspecting customers around the world,” revealed David Finn, associate general counsel for Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft. “These dealers are peddling bogus products that can put customers and their personal information at serious risk.”

Microsoft has indicated that auctioneers in 12 countries around the world are now facing lawsuits for selling counterfeit software on online auction sites. A total of 63 legal actions involve lawsuits in the US (16), in Germany (12), in France (12), and in the UK (7). In addition, the software giant is also going after software counterfeiters in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand.

“By taking legal action against these and other alleged counterfeiters, Microsoft is helping ensure that consumers around the world are protected from those who sell counterfeit software over the Internet,” Finn added. “We are also continuing to arm our customers with the information they need to keep from falling victim to counterfeit software. Consumers should be aware that the so-called ‘Blue Edition’ software is nothing more than low-quality counterfeit software burned onto a CD.”

Source: http://microsoftarticles.blogspot.com

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The Windows 7 Troubleshooting Platform - Windows Vista could have used this level of advanced troubleshooting. Microsoft has kicked the troubleshooting capabilities of Windows to the next level with the introduction of Windows 7. And as early as Windows 7 pre-Beta Milestone 3 Build 6801, the Redmond company is offering a taste of the full capabilities of the operating system, capabilities that could have been life savers for Windows Vista users when the RTM build initially hit the shelves. According to the software giant, Windows 7 comes to the table with a comprehensive and extensible Troubleshooting Platform capable of identifying and resolving a wide array of problems on its own.

This mainly because the platform has a PowerShell-based mechanism at its core. Microsoft indicated that the platform was in fact a collection of components. The troubleshooting package, engine, and wizard all combine in order to deal with potential problems that the end users might come across.

"The troubleshooting pack is a collection of PowerShell scripts and relevant metadata. The troubleshooting engine launches a PowerShell runtime to execute a troubleshooting pack, and exposes a set of interfaces to control troubleshooting pack execution," Microsoft revealed. "The troubleshooting wizard provides a consistent experience across troubleshooting packs, communicating with the troubleshooting engine to troubleshoot and resolve problems that are specified in a troubleshooting pack."

As you can very well see from the image on the left, the Troubleshooting Platform is designed to deal with a range of issues spanning from the programs running on top of Windows 7 to those affecting devices, networking, printing, display, sound, performance and the Windows operating system itself.

"The Troubleshooting Platform seamlessly integrates with the Windows 7 PC Solution Center, enabling other applications to execute diagnostics in a similar manner as part of their PC management regimen. The Troubleshooting Platform is configurable by IT professionals through Group Policy for use within the enterprise, and a Windows Troubleshooting Toolkit that allows developers to author troubleshooting packs is also available," Microsoft added.
Source: http://akupunyasitus.blogspot.com/

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Windows 7 Pre-Beta Build 6801 Leaked and Available for Download - Via torrent websites. The past week, Microsoft delivered the first consistent taste of Windows 7, offering the pre-beta bits of the operating system at the Professional Developers Conference. On October 28, developers attending the event got their hands on a 160 GB drive pre-loaded with various goodies including Windows 7 Build 6801 in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. Subsequently, as it was the case with previous beta or final releases of Windows, the pre-beta bits for Windows 7 Build 6801 were leaked and made available for download via torrent websites.

Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, managed to keep Windows 7 under a translucent veil throughout the development process ahead of PDC2008. However, the conference focused on Windows 7 made the successor of Windows Vista as transparent as possible, as well as “free for all” users with a BitTorrent client. All major torrent hotspots are currently offering downloads of Windows 7 pre-beta build 6801, advertised as untouched.

The pair of Windows 7 pre-beta releases on the original 160 GB drive are: Windows 7 32-bit - 6801.0.080913-2030_Client_en-us_ULTIMATE-ULTIMATE_GB1CFRE_EN_DVD.iso and Windows 7 64-bit - 6801.0.080913-2030_Client_en-us_ULTIMATE-ULTIMATE_GB1CXFRE_EN_DVD.iso. With the pre-beta bits of the next iteration of Windows available outside of Redmond, the software giant promised that the fully fledged Beta of Windows 7 would be delivered early in 2009.

“Windows 7 will offer improved navigation, a new taskbar and a streamlined UI so that common tasks done in Windows are done easier and more quickly. You will be able to share data to all your PCs and devices in your home network or at work. With Windows 7 + Windows Live, you will be able to stay connected to the people that matter to you, and with Internet Explorer 8 you will get a faster, safer, more productive Web experience,” revealed Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management.
Source: http://akupunyasitus.blogspot.com/

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Windows 7 Direct3D 11 Features - A taste of DirectX 11 is already available for download. As of November 2008, Microsoft is delivering the first taste of DirectX 11 for Windows 7 for download. A release aimed at developers, The November 2008 DirectX Software Development Kit, brings to the table the successor of Direct3D 10.1, namely Direct3D 11. In the SDK package, the Redmond company is offering a technical preview of Direct3D 11, but also the adjacent components and tools. Backwards compatible, content developed for Direct3D 11 hardware will also be compatible with earlier products supporting Direct3D 10 and 10.1 (in Vista SP1). Via the Windows 7 Developer Guide, Microsoft provides an insight into the new features made available by Direct3D 11.

“Geometry and high-order surfaces can now be tessellated to support scalable, dynamic content in patch and subdivision surface representations. To make good use of the parallel processing power available from multiple CPU cores, multithreading increases the number of potential rendering calls per frame by distributing the application, runtime, and driver calls across multiple cores. In addition, resource creation and management has been optimized for multithreaded use, enabling more efficient dynamic texture management for streaming,” Microsoft revealed.

According to the Redmond company, version 11 is designed to deliver an evolution of the functionality of the Direct3D 10 pipeline for Windows 7. In this regard, Microsoft has positioned Windows 7 to take advantage of the next generation of GPUs and multi-core processors when it comes down to the way the operating system will handle games and 3D applications. The software giant has indicated that Direct3D 11 in Windows 7 will support: Tessellation; Compute Shaders; Multithreaded Rendering; Dynamic Shader Linkage; Windows Advanced Rasterizer (WARP); Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 11 on Direct3D 9 Hardware (D3D10 Level 9); Runtime Binaries; D3DX11; Completely Updated HLSL and Direct3D Compiler; D3D11 Reference Rasterizer and D3D11 SDK Layers.

“New general-purpose compute shaders have been created for Direct3D 11. Unlike existing shaders, these are extensions to the programmable pipeline that enable your application to do more work completely on the GPU, independent of the CPU. DrawAuto, which was introduced in Direct3D 10, has been extended to interact with a compute shader. Several improvements have been made to the high-level shading language (HLSL), such as a limited form of dynamic linkage in shaders to improve specialization complexity, and object-oriented programming constructs like classes and interfaces,” the company added.

The November 2008 DirectX Software Development Kit is available for download here.
The November 2008 DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer can be downloaded via this link.
DirectX End-User Runtimes (November 2008) is up for grabs here.
Source: http://akupunyasitus.blogspot.com/

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At the end of September 2008, Microsoft unveiled that the next versions of Visual Studio and .NET Framework would span across not only the client and server operating systems but also across services and devices. Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 are expected to drop either in late 2009 or by the first half of 2010, even though Microsoft failed to confirm a delivery deadline. As far as the next iteration of its runtime environment is concerned, Microsoft is cooking .NET Framework 4.0 while planning a synchronization with the evolution of Windows Server, namely Windows Server Dublin.

“Updates to the next versions of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) are focused on reducing complexity for developers by providing better support for Web 2.0 technologies like REST, POX and ATOM, and increasing performance and scalability in the process. In fact, early tests show these improvements to WCF and WF are, at a minimum, enabling 10X the perf and scalability - and to think we’re still fine tuning here! Second, 'Dublin' makes it easier to deploy, manage and scale these next-generation applications,” explained Steven Martin, Director, CSD Product Management Microsoft.

Windows Server "Dublin" is a collection of enhanced capabilities added to the Windows server platform which will expand to also take Internet Information Services (IIS) to the next level. The end purpose of the improvements planned for the Windows Application Server is to permit developers to handle composite applications in a much simpler way than they can today. Microsoft is in fact looking to streamline processes including installation and management as well as the scalability of composite solutions.

“We will deliver a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, and 'Dublin' technologies at the Professional Developers Conference in October 2008; this will allow us to begin receiving broader feedback from customers and partners. We are committed to driving and prioritizing our development efforts based upon customer and partner feedback; the feedback from this CTP and other customer programs will help inform us as to the exact timing of our beta and RTM,” Microsoft indicated via the Dublin NET 4 Overview whitepaper.

.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is available for download here.

Source: http://microsoftarticles.blogspot.com/

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Sysinternals Update: Process Monitor 2.01 for Vista and XP But also DebugView 4.76, AccessChk 4.21, Autoruns 9.35. Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell, software architects in the Core Operating Systems Division, introduced the 2.0 major update to Process Monitor at the end of September 2008. Now, the tool has been taken one step further to version 2.01, this time just a minor refresh designed mainly to deal with a few issues associated with v2.0. The Process Monitor 2.01 release is an integral part of a larger update of the Sysinternals suite involving other three applications: Autoruns 9.35, DebugView 4.76, and AccessChk 4.21.

“Process Monitor v2.01 - this release fixes several bugs, including compatibility with Windows 2000, excessive exit delays, and adds the new networking events to the filter dialog's operations list,” explained Curtis Metz, Program Manager, Microsoft Sysinternals. Back in September, version 2.0 of Process Monitor brought real-time TCP and UDP monitoring.

Delivering network tracing capabilities to Process Monitor was Russinovich's next step in the evolution of the utility. Taking Process Monitor from version 1.0 to 2.0 involved adding new low-level capabilities, such as a stronger focus on system memory usage in addition to network tracing.

“Autoruns 9.35 - this Autoruns update adds additional autostart locations, including lsastart, s0initialization, savedumpstart, and servicecontrollerstart, and fixes several bugs,” Metz added. “DebugView 4.76 - debugview no longer truncates the last character of each line of a log file when it loads one back into the display. AccessChk 4.21 - this fixes a bug in the code that checks for malformed security descriptors that could cause spurious warnings.”

The new versions of the four updated utilities have also caused the entire Sysinternals Suite to be refreshed. As of October 16, Microsoft is serving a new release of the Sysinternals Suite now complete with all the touched-up utilities: Process Monitor 2.01, DebugView 4.76, AccessChk 4.21, Autoruns 9.35.

Process Monitor 2.01 is available for download here.
The Sysinternals Suite is available for download here.

Source: news.softpedia.com

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At the start of September 2008, Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich revealed that he was cooking a major update for Process Monitor, one of the components of the Sysinternals suite. As of September 30, version 2.0 of Process Monitor became available for download. The description of the tool authored by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell reveals that Process Monitor 2.0 is designed to integrate seamlessly with both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 2000 SP4 with Update Rollup 1, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows Vista.

“Process Monitor v2.0: this major update to Process Monitor adds real-time TCP and UDP monitoring to its existing process, thread, DLL, file system and registry monitoring. You can now see the TCP and UDP activity processes performed, including the operation (e.g. connect, send, receive), local and remote IP addresses and DNS names, and operation transfer lengths. On Windows Vista, Process Monitor also collects thread stacks for network operations,” revealed Curtis Metz, Program Manager, Microsoft Sysinternals.

Concomitantly with the new release of Process Monitor 2.0, the entire Sysinternals suite was update and is also available for download. Russinovich refreshed two additional utilitoes on top of Process Monitor 2.0, namely Sigcheck and Contig. “Sigcheck v1.54: this Sigcheck release fixes a bug in CSV output formatting. Contig v1.55: Contig now supports the -accepteula command-line switch,” Metz added.

Via Process Monitor 2.0, users will be able to monitor in real time the file system of the Windows operating system along with the platform's registry and process/thread activity. Back in early September, Russinovich promised that Process Monitor would indeed evolve with the addition of new low-level capabilities, including a more intimate focus on memory usage, while at the same time delivering network tracing to the utility.

Process Monitor 2.0 is available for download here.
The Sysinternals Suite is available for download here.

Source: news.softpedia.com

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Version 3.2 of Network Monitor is being offered as an update to v3.1, but in this regard, the utility is also nothing like the 2.x releases. Tawanda Sibanda, the lead program manager for Network Monitor indicated that Network Monitor 3.2 was produced through a consistent effort of the Netmon team that worked to integrate into the product all the feedback it had received from customers. At the same time, Netmon 3.2 delivers the inherent bug fixes as well as a necessary boost in stability. Network Monitor 3.2 is designed to support Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

“So What’s New in Network Monitor 3.2? Process Tracking: Now you can identify rogue applications sending network data! View all the processes on your machine generating network traffic (process name and PID). Use the conversation tree to view frames associated with each process. Capture engine re-architecture to improve capture rate in high-speed networks. Network Monitor 3.2 drops significantly fewer frames that Network Monitor 3.1,” revealed Sibanda.

At the explicit request of its users, Microsoft implemented the “Find conversations” capabilities. With version 3.2, frames can be easily isolated in the same network conversation, Sibanda explained. The new iteration of Netmon is capable of parsing over 300 protocols, with Microsoft ensuring a high degree of customization when it comes down to the parsers. In this context, Networtk Monitor 3.2 also offers improved parser management, as users are permitted to expand the default parsers to the full set.

In addition, “in the upcoming months, we plan to place all our Windows parsers on the Microsoft open-source CodePlex site and allow the community to modify and contribute parsers. This version of Network Monitor seamlessly integrates new parser packages. [Network Monitor 3.2 also delivers] Network Monitor API: Create your own applications that capture, parse and analyze network traffic! More extensive documentation of the API and NPL. Access the documentation from Help > NPL and API Documentation. IA64 builds. PCAP capture file support. ContainsBin Plug-in: Search frames for arbitrary byte sequences or strings,” Sibanda added.

Microsoft Network Monitor 3.2 RTM is available for download here.
By: Marius Oiaga

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Microsoft is not only “raising the volume” on the references related to the upcoming Windows 7 Beta development milestone, but it is also no longer drastically limiting the amount of shared information on the next iteration of the Windows client. With Windows 7 specifics planned to be fully detailed in under two months, the Redmond giant has offered another taste of what is in store for the operating system. The successor of Windows Vista will sport an evolved User Account Control, complete with Software Restriction Policies version 2, a new Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit as well as a fresh Windows 7-based Surface software development kit.

According to what the company has already revealed, Windows 7 will come to the table with next-generation graphics infrastructure, touch computing capabilities, energy consumption optimizations and a new networking application programming interface designed to permit developers to build web services in native code. But the evolution of Windows 7 will span across all areas of the operating system including virtualization, security, search, networking, management, deployment etc. A sneak peek at what will be available in Windows 7 is offered through the agendas of the TechEd 2008 EMEA and PDC 2008 conferences.

At the beginning of this week the Redmond company has announced new Windows 7 tools and features, with the promise to deliver additional details at the upcoming TechEd EMEA 2008 and the Professional Developer Conference 2008. For PDC2008, the number of Windows 7 sessions has grown to 5 with the addition of the Developing for Microsoft Surface presentation (Presenter: Brad Carpenter).

“This session introduces the newly available Surface SDK that forms the basis of the Windows 7 multi-touch programming model. In addition, learn about the unique attributes of Surface computing and then dive into the core controls like ScatterView and vision-system tagging. Learn how you can become a part of the expanding partner ecosystem for Surface computing and leverage your existing investments in Windows Presentation Foundation and Microsoft Visual Studio,” reads the abstract of the session.

But while Microsoft has promised that PDC2008 will offer a comprehensive insight into Windows 7, for the time being it is TechEd 2008 EMEA that has all the “juicy details.” For TechEd EMEA 2008 there are no less than 11 sessions announced, recently adding four to the original 7, namely Windows 7 Security, User Account Control (UAC) and Software Restriction Policies v2 (SRP); Windows 7 Fundamentals; Windows 7 Networking: Branch Offices and Get Involved - Building the Next-Generation Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit for Virtualization, Windows 7, and more.

“Windows 7 networking features support distributed enterprises. In this session we will discuss the networking features of Windows 7, explore their usage scenarios and understand how to manage them in an enterprise environment. Interactive Sessions are designed as an opportunity for dialogue between presenter(s) and audience. Please come prepared with questions on the session's topic to discuss with the presenter(s). Interactive Sessions will have less use of PowerPoint push out to the audience and more discussion,” reads the abstract for the Windows 7 Networking: Branch Offices session presented by Devrim Iyigun (Okurgan), Sandeep Singhal.

Microsoft's Steve Hiskey will focus on the new User Account Control in Windows 7, as well as the version 2 of Software Restriction Policies and their respective evolution from what is available today in Windows Vista SP1. Baldwin Ng, senior product manager, Microsoft Solution Accelerators, will present the next-gen Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit which will be tailored to Windows 7.

“Windows 7 Fundamentals - This session will define Windows Fundamentals, discussing Microsoft's focus on Fundamentals for Windows 7 and provide an overview of the Platform, Tools, Telemetry investments and broader ecosystem outreach efforts designed to ensure Windows 7 ships with the highest level of quality,” indicates the abstract of the Windows 7 Fundamentals session presented by Erik Lustig.
By: Marius Oiaga

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Four months since Windows Vista SP1 was released to manufacturing, the driver incompatibility issues affecting the implementation of the service pack are still unresolved. Vista SP1 RTM'd on February 4, 2008 along with Windows Server 2008. At that time, Microsoft informed that it was postponing the general availability of the release in order to give hardware developers a chance to adapt a set of problematic drivers which failed to integrate properly with the service pack. As a result, Vista SP1 didn't drop via the Download Center and Windows Update until March 18. But it looks that the extra time Microsoft provided hardware manufacturers to get their drivers playing well with Vista SP1, a source of obvious end user frustration, failed to deliver an actual result.

On June 5, Microsoft explained that Vista SP1 was still not being delivered to some machines running Vista RTM but featuring problematic hardware device drivers. The Redmond company continues not to serve SP1 through Windows Update or Automatic Updates for Vista copies which include a small set of device drivers causing functionality issues following the implementation of the service pack. With a few exceptions, the list is identical to what Microsoft published back in February.

Obviously, since the Redmond giant has put its evangelism wheels in motion, the hardware manufacturers did provide updated versions of the drivers. However, the problematic items were not tweaked to play well with Windows Vista SP1. In this context, the best course of action is to make sure that you have the latest versions of the device drivers available installed prior to deploying Vista SP1 in case the service pack is not delivered through WU or AU.

Here is the list of Vista SP1 problematic drivers as of June 5, 2008. (Please check the hardware vendors official websites for updated versions of the following device drivers tailored to Windows Vista SP1)

"Audio drivers
Realtek AC'97
• For x86-based computers: Alcxwdm.sys - version 6.0.1.6242 or earlier
• For x64-based computers: Alcwdm64.sys - version 6.0.1.6242 or earlier
IDT/SigmaTel
• For x86-based computers: Sthda.cat - published 12/17/07 or earlier
• For x64-based computers: Sthda64.cat - published 12/17/07 or earlier
IDT/SigmaTel
• For x86-based computers: Stwrt.cat - published 12/17/07 or earlier
• For x64-based computers: Stwrt64.cat - published 12/17/07 or earlier
Creative Audigy
• For x86-based and x64-based computers: P17.sys – versions earlier than 5.12.1.2004
Conexant HD Audio
• For x86-based computers: Chdart.sys - version 4.32.0.0 or earlier
• For x64-based computers: Chdart64.sys - version 4.32.0.0 or earlier

Display drivers
Intel Display
• For x86-based computers: Igdkmd32.sys – versions between and including driver 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403
• For x64-based computers: Igdkmd64.sys – versions between and including driver 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403

Other drivers
• Texas Instruments Smart Card Controller with the GTIPCI21.sys driver file – version 1.0.1.19 or earlier
• Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 with the Watcher.exe application – version 3.4.0.9 or earlier

Symantec software driver for Symantec Endpoint Protection and for Symantec Network Access Control clients
• For x86-based computers: Wgx.sys – versions 11.0.1000.1091 or earlier
• For x64-based computers: Wgx64.sys – versions 11.0.1000.1091 or earlier

Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo LA 1703 Notebooks that have a BIOS release date of March 14, 2008 or earlier."

Source: microsoftarticles.blogspot.com

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Ever had the feeling that Microsoft is scrambling to salvage what little it still can out of Windows Vista? While continuously claiming that its latest Windows client is not a failure, and pointing to the 140 million licenses sold as of March 2008, the Redmond company seems keen on demonstrating that it can pull the operating system out of the sinking sands of public opinion. In this regard, Service Pack 1 is indeed used as a floating device, but a tad of marketing on the side can't possibly hurt, can it? The focus for the time being, as far as Microsoft is concerned, is business users. Traditionally slow to upgrade to a new Windows release, corporate clients are now looking at Windows XP SP3 and Windows 7 as alternatives to Vista upgrades. The software giant is working to push Vista SP1 down their throats even if XP SP3 continues to work, and despite the proximity of Windows 7.

"This one is for all you IT professionals out there. A lot of you are probably having discussions inside your company about when to deploy Windows Vista, or you've deployed it and want to know which of the new capabilities can have the biggest impact on your business. To help in your evaluations we've released a new white paper, The Business Value of Windows Vista: Five Reasons to Deploy Now. This document summarizes the top enterprise features, latest customer case studies, and research on the capabilities of Windows Vista all in one place," revealed Christopher Flores, Director Windows Communications.

Still, in order to catalyze upgrades to Windows Vista, now with Service Pack 1, Microsoft employs the same set of arguments currently associated with a failed Wow. The company places the focus on increased security, mobility, productivity, reduced TCO, and streamlined deployment. The only new addition to this equation is Service Pack 1. The fact of the matter is that all these arguments are just as valid for Windows Vista RTM. And yet, business users have failed to crowd to the latest Windows operating system, choosing to stick with Windows XP and, in some cases, even with Windows 2000. If SP1 doesn't do it for them, certainly a list of five upgrade reasons, however elaborate or true, will not spark Vista upgrade fiestas across enterprises.

Here is the complete list provided by Flores, for Vista SP1:
"1. Improves the Security of PCs and Confidential Data. Windows Vista Enterprise had 20% fewer security vulnerabilities than Windows XP SP2 did in 2007-and it includes BitLocker Drive Encryption to help protect your confidential data.

2. Unlocks the Potential of Today's Mobile PCs. Windows Mobility Center helps users quickly access key mobility settings all in one place and research shows that Windows Vista can help customers save as much as $251 per mobile PC, per year.

3. Makes You and Your People More Productive. Find the information you need on your computer and reduce time spent searching for information by up to 42%.

4. Speeds ROI with Rapid Deployment and Migration. New imaging technologies and free deployment tools make the process of deploying Windows Vista easier than with any previous version.

5. Reduces Support and Management Costs. The costs saving can come from multiple places including reduced help desk calls, less time spent on image maintenance, or a lower energy bill."

Source: microsoftarticles.blogspot.com

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Windows Vista Is Ready - For your business, claims Microsoft. Microsoft released Windows Vista to corporate customers in November 2006 and to the general public in January 2007. But it wasn't until 2008 that Windows Vista was actually ready for businesses. It took Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management, over a year and a half to acknowledge that the Redmond company had failed to hit the sweet spot with its latest Windows client from the get go, and that it had to work throughout 2007 to perfect it. In this context, the release of Service Pack 1 is a milestone synonymous with Vista's readiness for business adoption.

Nash stressed that an investment in Vista SP1 makes sense even in scenarios of companies dealing with a limited budget to manage their IT infrastructure not only for the favorable cost/benefit factor, but also for the fact that migrating to the new operating system would prove a good idea even after Windows 7 drops on the market.

"Investments [in security and reliability] often meant changing the way that applications and drivers run on Windows, and they impacted the initial performance and compatibility of systems. Many people saw the value of the work we had done on things like data protection, search, mobility, and deployment - but there was a tradeoff between those benefits and device and application compatibility," Nash explained.

Throughout 2007, Microsoft hammered away at the operating system in order to soften all the rough corners, struggles which culminated with the release of Vista SP1. At the same time, the company's evangelism efforts paid off, as the hardware and software ecosystem became increasingly tailored to Vista SP1. According to Nash, this is the right time to give Windows Vista, now with SP1, another try.

"It is my firm belief that Windows Vista is ready for your business. If I ran an IT organization, I would first test and remediate my applications on Windows Vista. Then I would make sure that all new machines had 2 GB of RAM and run Windows Vista Enterprise Service Pack 1. For existing machines, with modern processors and less than 2 GB of RAM, I would consider upgrading the memory, BIOS and drivers, and then loading Windows Vista Enterprise SP1," Nash revealed.

Source: microsoftarticles.blogspot.com

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To NTFS or not to NTFS—that is the question. But unlike the deeper questions of life, this one isn't really all that hard to answer. For most users running Windows XP, NTFS is the obvious choice. It's more powerful and offers security advantages not found in the other file systems. But let's go over the differences among the files systems so we're all clear about the choice. There are essentially three different file systems available in Windows XP: FAT16, short for File Allocation Table, FAT32, and NTFS, short for NT File System.

FAT16
The FAT16 file system was introduced way back with MS–DOS in 1981, and it's showing its age. It was designed originally to handle files on a floppy drive, and has had minor modifications over the years so it can handle hard disks, and even file names longer than the original limitation of 8.3 characters, but it's still the lowest common denominator. The biggest advantage of FAT16 is that it is compatible across a wide variety of operating systems, including Windows 95/98/Me, OS/2, Linux, and some versions of UNIX. The biggest problem of FAT16 is that it has a fixed maximum number of clusters per partition, so as hard disks get bigger and bigger, the size of each cluster has to get larger. In a 2–GB partition, each cluster is 32 kilobytes, meaning that even the smallest file on the partition will take up 32 KB of space. FAT16 also doesn't support compression, encryption, or advanced security using access control lists.

FAT32
The FAT32 file system, originally introduced in Windows 95 Service Pack 2, is really just an extension of the original FAT16 file system that provides for a much larger number of clusters per partition. As such, it greatly improves the overall disk utilization when compared to a FAT16 file system. However, FAT32 shares all of the other limitations of FAT16, and adds an important additional limitation—many operating systems that can recognize FAT16 will not work with FAT32—most notably Windows NT, but also Linux and UNIX as well. Now this isn't a problem if you're running FAT32 on a Windows XP computer and sharing your drive out to other computers on your network—they don't need to know (and generally don't really care) what your underlying file system is.

The Advantages of NTFS
The NTFS file system, introduced with first version of Windows NT, is a completely different file system from FAT. It provides for greatly increased security, file–by–file compression, quotas, and even encryption. It is the default file system for new installations of Windows XP, and if you're doing an upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you'll be asked if you want to convert your existing file systems to NTFS. Don't worry. If you've already upgraded to Windows XP and didn't do the conversion then, it's not a problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point. Just remember that you can't easily go back to FAT or FAT32 (without reformatting the drive or partition), not that I think you'll want to.

The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've booted a computer from a floppy disk. For this reason, many system administrators, myself included, used to recommend that users format at least a small partition at the beginning of their main hard disk as FAT. This partition provided a place to store emergency recovery tools or special drivers needed for reinstallation, and was a mechanism for digging yourself out of the hole you'd just dug into. But with the enhanced recovery abilities built into Windows XP (more on that in a future column), I don't think it's necessary or desirable to create that initial FAT partition.

When to Use FAT or FAT32
If you're running more than one operating system on a single computer, you will definitely need to format some of your volumes as FAT. Any programs or data that need to be accessed by more than one operating system on that computer should be stored on a FAT16 or possibly FAT32 volume. But keep in mind that you have no security for data on a FAT16 or FAT32 volume—any one with access to the computer can read, change, or even delete any file that is stored on a FAT16 or FAT32 partition. In many cases, this is even possible over a network. So do not store sensitive files on drives or partitions formatted with FAT file systems.

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Run Native Linux Applications in Windows Vista - Via Ulteo Virtual Desktop. Binaries tailored specifically to the open source Linux operating system can coexist on the same desktop with Windows Vista and Windows XP programs via Ulteo Virtual Desktop. Essentially, the promise of the Ulteo Virtual Desktop is to deliver Linux applications on Windows via the Ulteo panel. The virtualized environment will permit end users to run native Linux solutions right on the Windows Vista desktop, and integration complete down to the level of sharing the Windows Aero graphical user interface.

"At the moment, you will find a selection of applications that include: Firefox web browser enabled with Flash & Java, the full OpenOffice.org office suite that can deal with your MS Office documents KPdf to deal with your PDF documents, Kopete: the multi-Instant Messaging software that supports MSN and other protocols, Skype, Thunderbird + Enigmail, Gimp and Digikam to manage your pictures and Inkscape and Scribus to create great graphics and newspapers," reads a fragment of Ulteo's description.

But most importantly, Ulteo permits users to seamlessly add and remove layers of applications, from desktop items to gaming products, with development solutions planned to be added in the future. By any measure, Ulteo is a virtualized Linux operating system, but not in the sens of traditional virtualization software. This allows Ulteo to provide a level of performance which is very similar to a genuine Linux platform. The secret behind this is the fact that Ulteo is based on the coLinux port of the Linux operating system to Windows.

"Ulteo Virtual Desktop requires a PC (x86-based) with a modern 32-bit CPU and at least 512MB RAM. At least 4 GB of free HD space is required. A PDF reader is needed. For a better experience, we recommend a DualCore CPU and 1GB RAM. Ulteo Virtual Desktop has been tested successfully on Windows XP and Windows Vista (32-bit only for now)," Ulteo makers added.

Source: news.softpedia.com

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Future Microsoft security products could make use of an additional operating system running on top of Windows in order to protect the underlying platform from malware. A new patent from the Redmond company titled: "System and method for proactive computer virus protection," authored by Adrian Marinescu was awarded on May 20, 2008, describing a solution that is a step forward from the reactive antivirus approach. Proactive technology is currently implemented into all modern top security products available on the market, and as such objections might be raised to Microsoft owning a patent.

However, the Redmond company's patent specifically refers to delivering a dispensable, virtualized operating environment designed to masquerade the actual operating system in order to simulate the execution of potentially malicious code and determining from the behavior whether it is malware or not. The virtualized operating system which would run on top of Windows would be completely isolated from the platform in case the simulated executable is actually malware.

"In accordance with the invention, a virtual operating environment for simulating the execution of programs to determine if the programs are malware is created. The virtual operating environment confines potential malware so that the systems of the host operating environment will not be adversely effected during simulation. As a program is being simulated, a set of behavior signatures is generated. The collected behavior signatures are suitable for analysis to determine if the program is malware," is explained in the description of the invention.

Microsoft has failed to inform whether the solution is a standalone product or integrated into its security offerings. The system described in the patent is tailored to Win 32 operating systems, but according to Microsoft, it can be easily extended onto other platforms which also make API calls. There are, of course, two major issues with this patent. First, members of the security market are bound to object to Microsoft owning a patent on proactive detection. Second, modern malware authors generally take precautions in writing malicious code that checks whether it is running in a virtualized operating.

"Components of the virtual operating environment include an interface, a virtual processing unit, API handling routines, an Input/Output emulator, a loader, a stack data structure, and a memory management unit that manages a virtual address space. These components perform operations similar to a real operating system that receives API calls including but not limited to generating events so that stub DLLs may be loaded into memory, employing a memory management unit to map physical locations in memory to a virtual address space, and allowing potential malware to generate Input/Output (hereinafter 'I/O') when making API calls. The present invention generates computer-executable instructions that are only capable of being filtered by the provided virtual operating environment," reads an excerpt of the patent.

Source: news.softpedia.com

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Microsoft is consistent down to perfection in avoiding to reveal any details related to the evolution of Internet Explorer 8. The successor of IE7, which debuted into its first public testing phase at the start of March at MIX08, is built under the leadership of Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group. In this context, the translucency strategy for product development, which is Sinofsky's tactic for gaging all details about upcoming products, affects not only Windows operating systems and the Windows Live platform, but also Internet Explorer, specifically IE8.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 has been available for download as a release focused on web content developers and designers since March 5, 2008. Following the launch of the first beta, Microsoft indicated repeatedly that there would be additional testing milestones for the next iteration of IE. At the same time, IE8 Beta 2 was promised for the summer of this year, a version tailored to end users this time, rather than on developers.

Questions about the upcoming Beta for IE8, as well as for the final version of the browser have become nothing short of a refrain for the IE team. And so have Microsoft's answers. During April's Windows Internet Explorer 8 Expert Zone Chat, Eric Lawrence, IE Security Program Manager, explained that a date for the delivery of IE8 Beta 2 was not set in stone.

"Beta-2 will be available later this year. Sorry, I don't have a precise date available," Lawrence stated, adding that the same is valid for the general availability of the browser. "We haven't announced a release date thus far. We're all working hard and very eager to ship a great browser as soon as we can."

Little has changed between April and May as far as details on the next stages in the development of IE8 are concerned. Answering a question about the next build of the browser, a member of the IE feedback and release team had this to say: "We'll have another Beta sometime later this year. Thank you for using Beta 1!"

In addition, John Hrvatin, program manager for developer tools and script engine integration revealed that "IE8 Beta 1 was developer-focused, but we've been listening to input on how to improve the overall browser's appearance and customization that we'll incorporate in future releases." Lawrence emphasized that Microsoft is yet to announce the complete feature set of IE8, and that future releases will build on top of IE8 Beta 1.

Source: news.softpedia.com

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Even though SP1 for Windows Vista was released to manufacturing in February 2008, and the gold bits of the service pack began being available to the general public in March, Microsoft is still issuing updates for the RTM version of its latest Windows client. It is the case of a compatibility and reliability update for Vista RTM, re-released on May 21, 2008, well after Microsoft wrapped up with Service Pack 1.

"This update resolves some compatibility issues and reliability issues in Windows Vista. By applying this update, you can achieve better reliability and hardware compatibility in various scenarios," reads Microsoft's description of KB938194 which is offered in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions for the respective editions of Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

In the fall of 2007, the Redmond company issued two Vista compatibility, performance and reliability update packs that were essentially bits of the first service pack, but offered to Vista RTM users almost half a year ahead of SP1 via Windows Update. Following the availability of SP1, Microsoft informed that there are users who cannot implement the service pack due to a variety of issues, but mainly incompatibility problems. For them, the KB938979 and KB938194 update packages were reissued. Users of Windows Vista SP1 need neither of the packs.

According to Microsoft, KB938194 will resolve the following problems:
"The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off.
• There are stability issues with some graphics processing units (GPUs). These issues could cause GPUs to stop responding (hang).
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active."


Source: news.softpedia.com

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Feature Comparison: XP SP3 Professional vs. Vista SP1 - Courtesy of Microsoft. Call it a sign of desperation, a new attempt to blow some wind in the sails of its latest platform, or a reaction to the proverbial last drop, but Microsoft is delivering its own perspective in terms of the comparison between its two Windows clients sharing the vast majority of the operating system market. Just ahead of the availability cut-off date for Windows XP through the OEM and retail channels, the Redmond company has "come out gunning" in a move designed to settle once and for good the XP vs. Vista face-off. And what better way for Microsoft to do this but with a Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 vs. Windows Vista Service Pack 1 comparison? Microsoft's point of view of Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3 is focused on Vista's advances in areas such as security, management, deployment, mobility, and productivity. And believe or not, but Microsoft is doing it all for its customers, in order to help them adjust their expectations.

"During the past year, Microsoft and its ecosystem have made great progress in improving the overall quality and performance of Windows Vista, making the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) release a key milestone for broad enterprise deployments of Windows Vista. Microsoft recommends that all business customers who have not started to evaluate Windows Vista should start deployment planning and piloting Windows Vista with SP1. Windows Vista offers customers unique value from increased security and data protection to improved mobility and productivity to capabilities that customers can use to optimize desktop infrastructures and reduce management costs," reads a fragment of the Redmond company's Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3 feature comparison whitepaper available for download here.

In the same month that Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Vista to the general public, March 2008, the company touted in passing the 140 million sold licenses milestone. At the same time, internal Microsoft concerns surfaced of how customers, especially in the corporate environments, were failing to embrace Vista. The vast majority of new Vista users acquired the operating system preloaded on new machines instead of dropping XP for the "newer model."

What Microsoft is seeing is that customers who are not upgrading their hardware infrastructure are also sticking with Windows XP instead of making the jump to Vista. Unless users buy new computers, they are not upgrading to Windows Vista at all. For the Redmond company, this means that customers will most likely update Windows XP to Service Pack 3, available as of May 6, and ride the operating system for all it’s got until the next version of Windows, labeled Windows 7, drops, sometime in the 2009 - 2010 timeframe. Even though XP Sp3 is still very much Windows, and Microsoft will be able to at least conserve its share of the operating system market, inexistent Vista upgrades translate to lost business for the Client division. Not a dramatic loss, as over 80% of the Client revenue comes from sales of OEM machines with Windows pre-loaded, but sufficient so that Microsoft would perform its very own XP SP3 vs. Vista SP1 comparison. At the same time, customers that are sticking with Windows XP on older hardware instead of upgrading their IT infrastructure and migrating to Vista are the ones really hurting Microsoft.

"Microsoft knows that many customers will adopt Windows Vista gradually, through hardware refreshes (i.e., attrition). During hardware refresh, customers will co-manage Windows Vista and Windows XP. Enhancements to Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3), such as Network Access Protection (NAP), make it easier for customers to more securely integrate both operating systems into their environments. During the transition, using Windows XP with SP3 will help ensure that client computers still running the Windows XP operating system have the most recent security and software updates," Microsoft added.

The Windows XP SP3 vs. Vista SP1 feature comparison covers a few areas of the operating systems from security to management, deployment, mobility, productivity and focuses on items such as: Security Development Lifecycle (SDL); Defense in depth; Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption; Windows Firewall; Internet Explorer 7 Protected Mode; ActiveX Installer Service; Group Policy; Standard user accounts; Reliability and diagnostics; Event management; Task scheduling; Image-based setup (IBS); Deployment, compatibility, and asset-inventory tools; Windows Setup; Worldwide single-image deployment; Windows Mobility Center; Sync Center; Offline files; Network Projection; Secure Sockets Tunnel Protocol (SSTP); Power management; Wireless networking; Search and User interface and navigation.


Source: news.softpedia.com

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Fake Windows XP Security Center in the Wild - Beware of Adware/XP-Shield
Back in the past, we saw a huge number of rogue anti-spyware technology which did nothing than to misinform users and trick them into buying unneeded security solutions. Today, a similar scam has been reported by security company Panda Software but, in comparison with the previous attacks, this one relies on a Windows function closely related to security. The Adware/XP-Shield poses as a Windows security center which usually informs you about the status of the security applications on the Windows workstations.

However, this piece of malware misinforms users that their computers are infected and, just like many other rogue anti-spyware products, it asks them to buy a certain security product. Only that buying the product does nothing to the computer because all the attackers want is to actually steal your money.

Once installed on the computer, the malware displays pop-up windows every once in a while, notifying users about the existence of an infection. If the user chooses to continue "unprotected", the application stays in the background and minimizes the window to System Tray.

"It is possible that while we are visiting different websites, several popups are displayed informing us that our system is infected or that our computer is not working properly and in order to solve these problems they recommend us to purchase a certain program. Be careful with this type of software, which will not really solve the problem and will make you lose money," it is mentioned in the Panda Software security advisory.

The malware can be easily identified by the name of the executable files, XPShieldSetup.exe, and by the fact that it drops a shortcut on the Desktop and in the Start menu. The infection only affected the Windows machines, including here Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows ME and Windows 98.


Source: news.softpedia.com

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