Mark Dormer

It looks like the upgrade went well.

Not that any downtime bothers me, as you can see from my posting regularity.

Microsoft has finally publically released the specifications for the Word, Excel and Powerpoint and Office Drawing formats (97-2007)

Previously you had to write to Microsoft to obtain them.

http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/officebinaryformats.mspx

Microsoft Word

Word 97-2007 Binary File Format (.doc) Specification PDF | XPS

Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint 97-2007 Binary File Format (.ppt) Specification PDF | XPS

Microsoft Excel

Excel 97-2007 Binary File Format (.xls) Specification PDF | XPS

Excel 2007 Binary File Format (.xlsb) Specification PDF | XPS

Office Drawing

Office Drawing 97-2007 Binary Format Specification PDF | XPS

We’d like to let you know about a community lead event taking place in the Sydney Microsoft Office on the weekend of November 3 & 4. The event has been organised by Australian Office- Access MVP, Graham Seach, and is being hosted at the Microsoft Sydney Office at North Ryde.   We would like to encourage attendance of staff working as Office Developers. It’s a free event afterall…

Office DevCon is a community-driven event aimed squarely at Microsoft Office developers and power-users. It allows people with interests across the Microsoft Office platform to come together in one location to network and hear expert presenters speak on a wide range of advanced Office-related topics.

The purpose of this event is to help you take your knowledge and skills to the next level by learning advanced topics from Microsoft and industry experts from around the world.

Seating is strictly limited, so please be quick to secure a seat at this technical, Microsoft Office Developer event.

So this is what I got last night (30/08/2007) via Automatic Updates

Update for Windows Vista (KB938194)

Update type: Recommended

This update resolves some compatibility and reliability issues in Windows Vista. By applying this update, you can achieve better reliability and hardware compatibility in various scenarios. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

More information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938194

Update for Windows Vista (KB933360)

Update type: Important

Installing this update enables your computer to automatically adjust the computer clock on the correct date in 2007 due to revised Daylight Saving Time laws in many countries. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

More information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933360

Update for Windows Vista (KB938952)

Update type: Recommended

Install this update to resolve a display issue that occurs during language pack installation and when accessing the Regional and Language Options control panel. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

More information: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=938952

Update for Windows Vista (KB939165)

Update type: Recommended

This update configures the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program to improve the quality of software information sent to Microsoft. This information is used to help improve the features you use most often. Participation in the program is voluntary and no information collected is used to identify or contact you. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

More information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939165

Update for Windows Vista (KB939159)

Update type: Important

Install this update to resolve an issue in the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS). After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

More information: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=96415

Help and Support:

http://support.microsoft.com

Windows Vista, 32-bit versions

Download the 941090 package now.

Windows Vista, 64-bit versions

Download the 941090 package now.

Update for Windows Vista, 32-bit versions
Download the 938979 package now.

Update for Windows Vista, 64-bit versions
Download the 938979 package now.

According to a press release it will released in Q1 2008.

From the Windows Vista Team blog 

Microsoft's efforts to provide the best Windows experience ever in Windows Vista did not end with its launch. This white paper describes the ways Microsoft strives to continuously improve Windows Vista. It then introduces Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) and describes how the service pack will fit into the ongoing improvement process.

You can download the XPS version of the Windows Vista SP1 Beta Whitepaper here from our Public Windows Live SkyDrive folder:

http://cid-bbb1ef94681f0a70.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/The%20Windows%20Vista%20Team%20Blog/Windows%20Vista%20Service%20Pack%201%20Whitepaper%20August%202007%20FINAL.xps 

So I went to whitepages.com today and got drive by malware trying to load.

Looks like making money is more important to them than helping me find a number.

I chose cancel then it claims it is analysing my drive and finding porn. Amazing technology as the hard disk wasn't being accessed.

Clicking on No has the same effect as clicking on Yes.

We will cancel the download and OneCare pops up a warning

They should call themselves dvrivebydrivecleaner.com.

I see Sandi has been aware of this for awhile.

So I finally gave in and installed Vista and Office 2007 on my work machine. I loaded it onto my Tablet PC just before TechEd.

I used the betas of all other MS OS's long before they were shipped as my day to day work machines. I just couldn't do it with Vista. I couldn't afford the downtime trying to find simple things that were in unexpected locations. Change for change sakes it seems to me.

I notice it is slower than XP. UAC drives me mad, yet I haven't disabled it. IE7 seems to take along time to load simple pages.

Before you ask it is a P4 3.2GHz with 1GB of RAM. You would think it is up to the task.

Office 2007 is a productivity nightmare. I still haven't figured out how to put page of pages into the footer of a word document yet.

I can't think of anything worse than deploying this to my users. I'll spend the next year doing nothing but answering Word 2007 questions.

I realise it is going to take some time to get used to it. I will try to keep an open mind and use it for 30 days and then see what I think.

I am going to put a desktop out in the office with Vista and Office 2007 and get the users to try it. I think they will have some interesting things to say about it.

[Added]

Wow, I just realised I can access this from Word 2007 and post, edit etc. OK something in it's favor

If your in Sydney, Australia next Tuesday we have been lucky enough to get Steve Riley from Microsoft giving us a talk on "Attack trends and techniques".

Here is Steves Topic:

Attack trends and techniques

The bad guys just keep getting better! They're constantly changing their tactics and inventing new techniques to cause you harm, damage your data, and make your resources unavailable. Why do they do this? What motivates someone to -- let's call it what it is -- commit computer-related crimes? How have they changed and improved? What kinds of attacks are popular now and why are they so effective? What might we expect to see in the future? Steve Riley will help you understand the latest in attack trends and techniques, so that you can plan appropriately and implement effective processes and technologies to mitigate their threats.

Full Details

Australian University students can get a Office 2007 Ultimate for $75 or $25 for a 12 month sub.

All you need is an email address at one of the universities. I wonder how they will stop the uni staff from taking up the offer?

Check it out at http://www.itsnotcheating.com.au/

 The list of eligible universities

I came across this at Evan Dodds blog.

It is a rollup of all the Exchange 2007 Systems Management posts from You had me at EHLO.

Quite handy!

OK, I have been slack with my blog the last few months. This was by choice rather than pure laziness. Sometimes you just need to walk away for awhile. After a hard year I decided to give myself a break.

I didn't blog, answer newsgroup or forum posts, attend any user groups or most of the other stuff I usually do. I kept a lazy eye on a few email lists I am a member of but by and large most of the posts in them are unread. I didn't read any blogs or computer related stuff either. I even turned my mobile phone off most of the time.  

Sometimes our connected world is just plain tiring, not to mention boring!

You know, when I was 20, I didn't have a phone, a computer, a PDA. I certainly didn't feel underprivileged. I never felt pressed for time. I did things until they were finished and then thought about what to do next. Yes, that involved a lot of drinking and partying ;-) Work was something to do to make a buck but not to be taken seriously. 

Anyway, I feel like I have the energy to get back into now and more pertinently, the desire. I wonder if that will last after the birth of our 2nd child in around a month's time? aaaahhh the phones ringing...later.

I guess I lied in my last post. I did write a blog post, just didn't publish it. This is from mid December.

Oh well, I haven't had much of an online presence in the last few months. The initial reason was moving house, but then I realised I was actually enjoying not reading newsgroups, answering questions, beta testing, reading the feeds, keeping up with the new tech....yada yada.

In all honesty I was bored, stuck in a rut. Wake up, check PC, read mail, read groups, read RSS, fiddle with some new tool/idea, go to work, read mail, read groups, read RSS, fiddle with some new tool/idea, go home, read mail, read groups, read RSS, fiddle with some new tool/idea....ad nauseum

I suppose it was inevitable. It's just not that exciting or interesting. Another new site/idea, another new mp3/vid player, a new methodology, Web 2.0....yawn. It seems like those making the running are all touts for some product. Maybe I need to treat it like work and take holidays from it every year!

For someone who has spent the last 12 years virtually living in it, it has been a good thing to walk away. Taking a step back I can see it isn't really that important.

That's what I like about this life. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want. No ones forcing you to do stuff.

Well TechEd 2006 in Sydney has come and gone, leaving me with an overload of information and not enough time to try an implement most of it before I forget what I saw.

Which is why it was nice to score a set of DVD's from the Boston Teched. I can watch these at my leisure, well whilst beating up non working ISA servers anyway.

I have a very interesting ISA 2006 server here on the bench at the moment. It will allow me to view every website in the world bar one. No matter what I try I can't get to www.google.com.au or any other google site for thast matter. Yes I tried .com and .co.uk and still no joy.

My first thought was MS is blocking them for a joke. Had someone put a rule in their to kill google? Of course I knew that wouldn't be the case, the lawsuits would be enormous. After a hour or two I just scrubbed it and reapplied the rules fresh. I can now get to google. Well I suppose it is still Beta but that was rather strange.

Yeah so back to TechEd 2006. It was the largest ever and the first time Australia has had more attendees that New Zealand. Now thats just downright weird, considering our relative sizes. I did a few shifts in the HOL's and spent most of my time on the MVP booth getting photographs taken with visitor's. (They got a prize for having their photo taken with an MVP). It was good to catch up with the usual suspects and have a few days off from my migration project at work.

The first Release Candidate of IE7 is now available. Have fun, the site seems to be getting hammered at present.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.mspx

I just saw this posted over at BetaNews
Whether it proves to be true I guess we will have to wait and see.
I really hope it is false and they continue to offer the product.

Actually if Microsoft withdraw it I will be disgusted.

I can still download it from the MS site at present.
Microsoft Private Folder 1.0

The main points I have seen raised are;

IT Administrators fear users will hide stuff from them and/or forget the password and lose access to files.
Parents are concerned the kids might hide stuff in them.

The so called IT Admins should know better. I suspect they are completely inept if they fear this program. C'mon, you control what gets installed on your network, don't you?

Parents, are you aware that your kids could and have been doing this forever. There are countless tools available to do it. Ever heard of zip files, yes, they can be password protected. There is no point listing them all, you can google them if you wish.

As to whether people forget their password and lose access. Big deal, you use it, you lose it, you are responsible. Why blame someone else or expect them to solve it. It is quite clear that this is what would happen.

I have been asked about this feature thousands of times over the last 10 years. Just try a google groups search and see how many posts on this topic are there. Obviously people want it. So let them have it.