Category: 1054

Microsoft released the Windows 8.1 Preview today, as part of the announcements made during //Build/ 2013 and TechEd Europe 2013. While in the past with Preview releases of Windows, you would be stuck waiting for deployment, management and customization tools, this release is a complete package from day 1

Undoubtedly, you have seen the announcements made by Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President of Program Management in Microsoft’s Windows Server and System Center Group (WSSC), during the TechEd North America 2012 Keynote. During this keynote, among other things, he announced the General Availability of the Preview for Windows Server 2012 R2.

It’s never been easier to install pre-release versions of Windows and Windows Server, then with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Downloadable ISO files were abundant and could be used for virtual machines on all major virtualization platforms, ISO files could be burned with a built-in tool in the previous version of Windows (Windows 7) … Continue reading "How to determine the Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 version on your USB Install Media or DVD"

With the release of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, many people are eager to download and install the latest and greatest Operating Systems from Redmond. For people who have deployed one of the pre-release versions of Windows 8, Windows Server 8 and Windows Server 2012, the big question now is which version they are … Continue reading "Determining your Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 version"

A lot of servers and clients, nowadays, are no longer equipped with an optical drive. While this leaves room for extra drives and allows for smaller form factors, it can be a hurdle when you try and install the Operating Systems of your dreams (in this case: Windows 8) to the device of your dreams.

Not everyone likes the chilly climate of the server room or the mesmerizing humming of racks, stuffed with server hardware. For these pseudo-admins, Microsoft releases remote management tools. (They work wonders for managing Server Core installations, too!) The latest incarnation was released two weeks ago and works with Windows 7.

One of the new and interesting features in the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), mentioned a few days ago, is the ability to utilize a virtual Windows XP with Service Pack 3 environment for application compatibility. This feature is called Windows 7 XP Mode and builds on Windows Virtual PC 7. The new Virtual PC … Continue reading "How to install Windows XP Mode for Application Compatibility"

One of the most exciting new features in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability to live migrate virtual machines between nodes of a Failover Cluster. In contrast to Windows Server 2008’s Hyper-V this enables admins to failover virtual machines without noticeable downtime.

Microsoft products cover a multitude of technologies, and thus are managed by a multitude of management attitudes, vision and scenarios. In the past Microsoft products lacked a common vision on management, but Microsoft is slowly changing this.

As you might recall Hyper-V Server 2008 is a further Hyper-V optimized version of a Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008, Standard Edition  (technically). Hyper-V Server is also Microsofts free stand-alone server virtualization product. When comparing Hyper-V Server 2008 to ESXi 3.5, it’s interesting to note the feature gap between the two products. Especially … Continue reading "The Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Surprise"