Saturday, September 30, 2006

2007 European SharePoint Conference


At the 2007 SharePoint Conference in Berlin, Microsoft and selected partners will introduce you to leading-edge solutions enabled by SharePoint Server 2007.

In over 50 lectures, round tables and industry-specific user reports spread over three days, we will show you how to:
  • easily create, manage and monitor content and processes across the entire enterprise
  • ensure 24x7 access to all business-critical information, find specific information quickly, and make well-informed decisions accordingly
  • further improve communication and collaboration among your employees, customers and suppliers.
... all that from your familiar office environment!

Date: Feb. 12 - 14, 2007
Location : Berlin
Venue : Estrel Convention Center

Reduced fee for early registration: EU599.00 per person until 15.12.2006


Update: The site is built using MOSS 2007 - nice demonstration of multi-language and forms services (hit the Reservation button)

Friday, September 29, 2006

Forefront Security for SharePoint - download


Test the new features and functionality for protecting Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 from viruses, unwanted files and inappropriate content.

Download Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint
PressPass: Microsoft Launches Forefront Security for SharePoint Beta

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Halo Wars Trailer


Trailer:


'Halo Wars' is the next big real-time strategy game from Ensemble Studios, creators of Age of Empires. Designed exclusively for the Xbox 360, 'Halo Wars' allows you to take charge of the human UNSC armies and see the Halo universe from a totally new perspective.

Zune launch details


Microsoft have announced that the Zune digital media player and online service will be available to consumers in the U.S. on Nov. 14, 2006.

The Zune will retail for $249.99 U.S and a Zune Pass subscription gives consumers access to millions of songs for $14.99 per month.

Press Release - with specifications, list of accessories and pre-loaded content.

Bug in Google Maps


Interesting bug :-)

XBOX X06


Microsoft have announced at the X06 event in Barcelona a comprehensive list of new XBOX 360 / Windows games arriving for the Christmas season plus news the HD-DVD add-on for the XBOX 360 will be available mid-November at a cost of 129.99 GBP. The package will come with the XBOX 360 Universal Media Remote and - for a limited time only - a copy of 'King Kong' on HD-DVD.

Also announced was the partnership between Academy Award-winning writer, director and producer Peter Jackson, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Fran Walsh, and Microsoft Game Studios ... they will create two new interactive entertainment series exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.

The first series will be a collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next great chapter in the 'Halo' universe. The second series will be an entirely original property targeted at bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment. In addition, Microsoft Game Studios will partner with Jackson and Walsh to establish Wingnut Interactive, a studio dedicated to the creation of world-class interactive entertainment.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

IE7 Search Discovery


If you are using IE7 and accessing this blog directly - you will notice that the drop down arrow in the Toolbar Search Box (in the top right) has lit up orange to flag that it has discovered a new search provider i.e. the search of this blog. From here you can add the discovered search provider so its accessible at anytime.



If you look in the source of the HTML page you will see the link item :

link title="Mark Harrison blog" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" rel="search" href="http://markharrison.co.uk/blog/Mark_Harrison_Blog_Search.xml"

The href points to a file that was generated using the IE7 Search Provider builder

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

IE7 Search Provider builder


You can use this page to easily add a new search provider to your list of available IE7 search providers:

IE7 Search Provider builder

Why OpenXML ?


Brian Jones explains why Microsoft didn't adopt ODF as the XML format for Office 2007 but instead created OpenXML.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Server-Enforced Policy via Information Rights Management


The Information Rights Management capabilities in Office 2003 enables a digital envelope to be put around an e-mail or Office document that limits what people can do with it (e.g. edit, copy, print, forward), when the document expires, whether the software needs to check back with the SharePoint server for the latest updates, etc.

In SharePoint Server 2007, there will be server integration with Windows Rights Management Services and the extensibility to integrate with alternative rights management systems so that policies you set on SharePoint Document Libraries on the server will be enforced even after the content has left the site.

From the ECM Blog ...

Once IRM capabilities are enabled on a SharePoint farm, list administrators can specify IRM settings on each list, document library, or InfoPath form library using the following Information Rights Management Settings page:



As you can see, a list administrator can specify a bunch of IRM settings on the document library.

When a user downloads a document from an IRM-enabled library or views the contents of a document inside her browser, SharePoint creates a rights managed version of the file and gives this copy of the document to the downloader. The downloader's IRM rights to the file match her role on the SharePoint library. So, if the downloader only has the Viewer role on the document in SharePoint, she'll have the View right in the downloaded copy. In essence, IRM rights are 'sticky' or persistent SharePoint permissions that stay with the document after it has left the server.

The downloader is the only user with access to the downloaded copy of the file, so you can think of this copy as a temporary permission contract between the downloader and the server. This helps ensure that SharePoint is the central collaboration point for the document.

When the downloader uploads the file back to the library, rights management is removed and the document is stored unencrypted on the server. This allows the content in rights managed libraries to be searched and avoids the problems associated with long term storage of encrypted content. Don't worry though; SharePoint ensures that search results are properly filtered so that users can only see items that they have permissions to at least view.

More


IRM relies on Microsoft Windows Rights Management Service (RMS) technology in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 ... for more information visit the Windows RMS Web site.

Zune ... community


Zune communites are kicking off - here are some ive spotted ...

Zune ... social networking




The Zune provides a social networking / music sharing system with WIFI enabling you to share a song with a neighbour for three days or three plays, which ever comes first.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Adding MOSS Search to IE7


The following registry file can be used to add MOSS search to the list of IE7 search providers ... so you can access it from the top right search box.

(Rename xxxx with the name of your MOSS machine)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\Intranet]
"DisplayName"="Search Intranet"
"URL"=http://xxxx/searchcenter/pages/search_results.aspx?k={searchTerms}&s=Intranet

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\People]
"DisplayName"="Search people"
"URL"="http://xxxx/searchcenter/pages/people_results.aspx?k={searchTerms}"
Save the contents to a text file and rename to a .REG suffix. Then double click the file to invoke it.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Nokia to put Microsoft search on cellphones


Nokia today announced that it has reached an agreement with Microsoft to integrate Live Search capabilities into its Mobile Search platform, thus enabling consumers access to Live Search directly from their Nokia N-series multimedia computers and other compatible Nokia S60 devices. Live Search will provide advanced web search results in 14 languages to enable on-the-go access to the information and content consumers want most.

More

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Microsoft Faceted Search


Try this http://rwsm.directtaps.net/

From Paula Hane ...

Unlike the upgrade to Live.com, which, according to a Microsoft spokesperson, just uses algorithms that mine previously submitted queries to the engine, the new and unannounced search system brings faceted search to a Microsoft application. Try it yourself at http://rwsm.directtaps.net. The Microsoft project, called Search Results Clustering (SRC), currently offers a search beta and downloadable toolbar.

What Microsoft is doing is called text mining. This is jargon for discovering people, places, things, and other facts from text. These facts are then organized so a user can point and click on a category and see the related information.

Implementing text mining in SharePoint will bring text analytics to a far wider market of business users than text analytics has previously enjoyed.

More

XMLAW - SharePoint for the Legal sector


The Enterprise Portal System is the only end-to-end SharePoint portal/search solution for the legal industry providing integrated intranets, extranets, and enterprise search.

Video - Web CM in MOSS 2007


From Ted Pattison Gorilla Training ... a developer-oriented video to learn about Web content management in Office SharePoint Server 2007

Download

X06 - unlock the secrets of XBOX 360


X06 is the gaming event of the year, where gaming experts from around the world come together to make headlines. Expect breaking news, new game announcements, maybe even the odd unveiling.

Once you're on XBOX Live Gold you can visit Marketplace ... the only place to get the latest news from X06. You'll be able to download demos and trailers and find out about next year's biggest titles. And during 20-29 September 2006 Xbox Live Gold will be free for all.



At the Tokyo Games Show this week, Microsoft took the opportunity to elaborate on details of the Japanese launch of its XBOX HD-DVD player add-on, which will arrive on November 17th at 19,800 Yen (one might hope but this translates to just GBP90!).

Microsoft TechEd: IT Forum 2006


Microsoft TechEd: IT Forum is the premier, all-in-one Microsoft EMEA conference focusing on the needs of IT professionals.

Early bird discount ends 29 Sept 2006.

Microsoft TechEd: Developers 2006


Microsoft TechEd: Developers is the premier, all-in-one Microsoft EMEA conference focusing on the needs of developers.

Early bird discount ends 29 Sept 2006.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Internet Computer Names - PNRP


From Noah Horton ...

Have you ever wanted to be able to find and connect to your computer across the Internet, but did not want the complexity and cost of buying a domain name and using Dynamic DNS? With Windows Vista, you can use Internet Computer Naming.

More

Is there a central server? The cool answer is that no, there is no central server. The whole service is peer to peer based on a technology called PNRP ... basically, every machine knows about a few other machines basically at random. Those machines know a few others, who know a few others, etc. When I want to resolve someone else's name, I can use all of those relationships to track down the machine publishing the name I want.

CAML Viewer 2007 : released on Codeplex


From Stramit ... SharePoint 2007 CAML Viewer

Alternative PDF viewer - Foxit download


Now open PDFs fast ... Foxit Reader (free).

Update - version 2.0 is available

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Brown ?


Since when was Brown a hot color ?

Microsoft's Zune Delivers Connected Music and Entertainment Experience

Zune Specifications :
  • 30 GB hard drive
  • FM radio
  • 7.6cm screen
  • 320x240 resolution
  • 802.11 wireless
  • Available in black, white and brown

Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta


Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta (also known as 'Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Second Edition Beta' or 'VSTO 2005 SE Beta') is an add-on to Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 that enables you to build application-level add-ins for the 2007 Microsoft Office system as well as the Microsoft Office 2003 Editions.
Download

Groove 2007 SDK Beta2TR download


The Groove 2007 SDK (Beta) contains documentation, WSDL, and sample code for applications that use Groove Web Services. In addition, the SDK contains developer documentation for the Groove 2007 Forms and Groove 2007 InfoPath Forms tools.

MOSS 2007 / WSS v3 SDK Beta2TR downloads


Updated version of SharePoint Server 2007: Software Development Kit for Beta 2 Technical Refresh.

TheSDK is a preliminary release for solution providers, independent software vendors, value-added resellers, and other developers to learn about the new SharePoint Server 2007 enterprise application and platform. It features conceptual and 'How to' articles, sample code, and preliminary programming references. The Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (Beta) SDK will be updated for the released version of SharePoint Server 2007.

Two download files are provided for the SharePoint Server 2007 (Beta) SDK:

  • OSS2007SDK.exe contains a compiled HTML Help file, OSSSDK2007.chm, which contains conceptual topics and a Class Library and Web Service Reference.
  • OSSSDKSamples.exe contains the following sample projects that relate to topics in the SDK: Business Data Catalog metadata samples, Custom Single Sign-On Provider, SampleWebService, and Custom Filter Web Parts. The sample projects use Microsoft Visual C# and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.


In addition - the WSS SDK Beta2TR is available. One download file WSS3SDK.exe contains the compiled HTML Help file WSS3SDK.chm (conceptual topics and managed code reference).


Update: RTM documents: http://markharrison.co.uk/blog/2006/11/moss-2007-sdk.htm

Friday, September 15, 2006

Office Server Beta 2 Tech Refresh downloads


From the SharePoint Team blog ...

UK SharePoint Sept 06 events


Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 - What's new
6:30PM September 20, 2006 - TVP, Reading
Speaker- Nick Swan: MVP for Sharepoint Portal.

SharePoint User Group meeting
6:30PM September 28, 2006 - London

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Live Search is Live


The beta tags have come off the Live Search service.

What's new in Live Search

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Metalogix Migration Manager Live Meeting


Angus is hosting a Metalogix Migration Manager Live Meeting (Wednesday 13 Sept 2006)

Update: The recording of the live meeting is now available from here.

Webcasts Web CM in MOSS 2007


Andrew Connell is doing a series of Web CM webcasts ...
More

Friday, September 08, 2006

Save as PDF / XPS Downloads


These downloads allow you to export and save to the PDF and XPS formats in eight 2007 Microsoft Office programs. It also allows you to send as e-mail attachment in the PDF and XPS formats in a subset of these programs.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Microsoft Expression Downloads


Express Web has now reached beta 1 :

Graphic Designer
Interactive Designer Web Designer

PlayStation 3 Euro launch ...


... delayed http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5319190.stm

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 - Beta 2 Tech Refresh Download




Microsoft have announced that they are renaming Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting as Microsoft Office Accounting.

Beta2 Tech Refresh Download

Windows Live Writer Plugins


Windows Live Writer Plugins ... everything to make WLW even easier and better

Monday, September 04, 2006

r.a.d.controls for SharePoint 2003 beta


Telerik have just rolled out the beta for r.a.d.controls for SharePoint 2003

Download

MOSS 2007 is next on their agenda

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 - Release Candidate download


.NET 3.0 Release Candidate is now available and contains Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Workflow Foundation and Windows Cardspace.

Download

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Windows Vista RC1 Is Complete


From Windows Vista Team Blog ...

Platforms and Services Co-President Jim Allchin has just now posted an announcement that RC1 is complete on the TechBeta/TAP site.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Knowledge Network for Sharepoint Server 2007


Channel 9 Video ... the Knowledge Network team take us on a tour of the KN add-on for Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Knowledge Network is a new add-on for Office SharePoint Server 2007 that many people don't know about yet. It automates the discovery and sharing of undocumented knowledge and relationships, enabling you to quickly locate who knows whom and who knows what within your constantly changing organization.