Recently in Microsoft Category
I was tooling around with my Brother's home computer over the holidays, and noticed that there may have been a good bit of malware installed (thank you BearShare!).
I was about to run a scan using Symantec, then my other brother piped up and said:
Why don't you use Windows OneCare? It's online and free!
I was confused, befuddled, and intrigued! There's a free scanning tool from Microsoft? And my little bro' knew about it and I didn't? Something isn't right with the world.
Turns out it's quite useful and pretty effective; check it out:
Just ran into this announcement/blogpost on CNet's Newsblog (when did a blog entry start qualifying as an announcement?).
Looks like SQL Server 2008 has been delayed until the second-half of 2008! What does this mean for us? Well, it means we can hopefully delay the inexorable thrust to getting the latest and greatest database technologies in-house, and actually develop really mature standards around the existing and in-production database platforms that we have running.
The SQL Admins might have a better statement on that front, but basically, we're still in the throes of a migration from SQL 2000 to SQL 2005, so thinking of how to migrate from 2005 to 2008 seems quixotic.
Here's a link to Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 Product Overview. While I'm a little removed from the compelling developer/application-centric features of the SQL-sphere, as a Sysadmin, I'm liking the sound of the: Resource Governor, backup and database compression, and transparent data encryption.
What new features in SQL 2008 are you looking forward to the most?
Saw an interesting article up on the Windows IT Pro website about Microsoft and Dell partnering with (PRODUCT)RED [via WikiPedia], which you may be more familiar with on the consumer products sides of things, with retailers like the Gap and Motorola licensing the (PRODUCT)RED brand as a way of raising money for various African continent humanitarian initiatives.
Probably the most visible aspect of the brand is emphasis on HIV/AIDS policies and practices (one of Product Red's main principles).
Dell will be releasing a RED-branded hardware, and Microsoft will include a RED-branded version of Vista Ultimate, available only on that RED-branded Dell hardware.
As a former Student Health Educator at the University, I'm keenly sensitive to the issues surrounding the spread, prevention, and education of HIV/AIDS on College campuses. But, the pandemic of this horrific disease in the developing world (and in underserved populations in our own cities), means to me that there is so much left to do.
Hopefully, this announcement from Microsoft and Dell is just the vanguard of a legion of another partnerships with mega-corporations we all know and love.
Who knows? Is a (PRODUCT)RED Wharton Lab, 100% comprised of these Dell computers in our near future?
Read more about the (PRODUCT)RED announcement from Microsoft and Dell and maybe purchase a computer or two to support the cause [Windows IT Pro] [Dell].
