Here's a free eBook on Windows Server 2012, which has been out there for a while now.

But if like me you are just now preparing for your certifications then its a great resource.

You can grab your self a copy in one of these formats:

PDF - Introducing Windows Server 2012 RTM Edition - PDF ebook

EPUB – Introducing Windows Server 2012 RTM Edition – ePub format

MOBI – Introducing Windows Server 2012 RTM Edition – MOBI format (for Kindle)

PS: its also available for free at the Kindle Store for Android, iPhone and Windows Phone

There's nothing like sitting at the couch watching TV and having a tablet or a smartphone on one hand where you can RDP your VM's and launch a live migration to an SMB file share :)

Well I've trying out some apps on Android and iPhone (still waiting on my WP8 phone) and here are my recomendations:

Android:

2x Client

Clean interface, simple connection settings, really enoyed it.

iPhone:

Remote Desktop

Also simple to connect, very fluid to navigate.

Too bad it has ads and the screen doesnt rotate automatically when you rotate your iPhone.

This post is just a quick note to let you know about a great post by Harold Wong that describes in a simple way and in just a few easy to follow steps how to create a bootable Windows 8 VHD.

The whole process is valid for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 or higher hosts and although the original post describes how to create a Windows 8 bootable VHD, the process is pretty much the for Windows Server 2012.

So go ahead and visit the post here.

Enjoy!

Creating a new PowerShell session to administer remotely your Office 365 domains and users couldn't be easier.

And Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) makes it even easier since you can write and save your scripts using a single Windows-based graphic user interface.

To connect remotely to Office 365 just launch a new PowerShell command prompt and execute the following commands:

$LiveCred = Get-Credential

$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://ps.outlook.com/powershell/ -Credential $LiveCred -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection

Import-PSSession $Session

Once you're done, just close the session using the following command:

Remove-PSSession $Session

Alternatively just use the attached script on PowerShell ISE.

It's the end of a year filled of dreams, disillusions and hope.

Some dreams will change, disillusions will be part of the past but not forgotten and hope is renewed.

Happy 2013 everyone!!

Here's a great and free resource for anyone wanting to take the MCSA certification path:

https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com

The MVA or Microsoft Virtual Academy has some very interesting videos and self assessment tests that will complement your study.

I advise you to start with the Windows Server 2012 Technical overview.

https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/windows-server-2012-technical-overview

Highly recomended!

I had to do it!

Microsoft has cleverly designed an intuitive and easy to use interface for touch sensitive devices.

However, I must disagree completly on keeping the same philosophy when it comes to desktops and laptops wihtout a touchscreen.

In my view, the OS should detect the presence of the touchscreen and use the correct UI.

Because quite simply, its terrible to use the W8/Metro interface with a keyboard and mouse setup.

Fortunately there are some companies out there that got this.

For instance Stardock, the very well known Software company in the Windows Mobile era thanks to their Pocket Blinds skinning software, have come up with Start8 which is beautifully made as you can see.

Ahhhh, its nice to have that familiar look and feel all over again!

OH! And it works great on Windows Server 2012!

The path to certification is long and requires time and a lot of work.

But the first setps are already done:

Install Windows Server 2012 Evaluation on my T61p, and then get some VHD's running on it.

Lets see how well it will handle the abuse!

From my last post on this blog...

The main reason was that working as a Vendor for Microsoft Portugal left me litle time and space to make interesting posts.

But now I'm back and with a different perspective and contents.

This translates my transtition from being focused on mobile solutions to the begining of a new stage in my career where I am going after an MCSA certification.

A lot will happen  in the mean time and I hope to keep a track on my progress here, so stay sharp!

LP, which stands for Lync for Phone, is a Windows Phone 7 client for Lync which has been developed by Michael Olesen, a fellow Microsoft colleague Mikkel Bach Nielsen and  his wife Irit on their free time.

According to Michael, LP as already been submitted to the Marketplace and will be a free download!

You can check out a video of LP working with the Lync desktop client here.

For more information visit Michael’s blog.

Here is the screaming example of what Microsoft meant about gaming on the 3 screens: RC-AirSim is a game that can be found on the PC, the XBOX 360 and in Windows Phone 7.

The game is pretty much the same on all 3 screens, and I dare saying that on Windows Phone 7 it runs better than on my PC :)

Also the XBOX experience is very good, and you can notice some effects enhancements like some particles coming from the plane.

So far I’ve purchased the XBOX version, and its only too bad you have to pay for a license for each platform and that you cant just buy one license to have the game for all three platforms.

In the future, one might expect to play your favorite game anywhere you are, and hopefully you will only have purchase it once.

Office Web Apps is very cool and useful, and I was trying it from my home PC first opening and editing an Excel document and then opening and not being able to edit a Word document.

I found this odd, since I could edit just fine Excel spreadsheets, so why wouldn’t Word docs be editable just as well?

It seems I needed to activate the Office Web Apps Feature on the Site Collection Administration and then on the Site Collection Features.

I have been implement a SharePoint 2010 server coupled with an UAG ForeFront server in order to use the Sharepoint functionality in Windows Phone 7.

With that out of the way I am now trying to create some mobile forms, to see how it would look and feel on WP7, but first I wanted to create a list based on an Excel spreadsheet but SharePoint just kept giving me this error:

“This workbook cannot be opened because it is not stored in an Excel Services Application trusted location”

Luckily after a quick search I found myself at SharepointEduTech, which had exactly the solution for my problem:

Since I am using an SSL connection to access Sharepoint through UAG, I needed to add the “https://” location on the Excel Services Application.

To change this just navigate to your Central Administration site, then select “Manage Service Applications”, find and click on “Excel Services Application” and then under “Trusted File Locations” add a new trusted file location.

Here is a quick video of a great game I found today on Marketplace.

Its fun and addictive!

More info here.

XMaps has been available at the marketplace for some time as a paid version, and now you have the free version.

Although its not the best (by far) “navigation software” on the market it is almost unique for the Windows Phone 7 platform which doesn’t have a universal navigation software, paid or free.

Unfortunately due to the limited API’s and control over the OS the software fails in a few aspects and could be improved in others, but its worth taking it for a test drive.

The problems I noticed where:

• Won’t prevent device from auto-locking (OS side shortcoming)
• No voice directions
• No re-routing in case you take a wrong turn

If the developer could just get the last two and MS allow the application to supersede the automatic locking of the device, it would make a pretty darn good free mobile navigation software.

When trying to install Exchange Server 2010 SP1, the Setup would always throw out this error:

Mailbox Role
Failed

Error:
The following error was generated when "$error.Clear();
buildToBuildUpgrade-ExsetdataAtom -AtomName SystemAttendant -DomainController $RoleDomainController" was run: "An error occurred with error code '3221685221' and message 'Overlapped I/O operation is in progress.'.".

It had to do with the Windows Firewall being turned off.

On this server the Firewall wouldn’t work and also seemed to have “lost” a registry entry, this was why it would not load the Windows Firewall Snap-in.

Here is the registry fix for this problem:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-CA/smallbusinessserver/thread/565793d3-a1f4-4912-b52f-b7d08c1ee736

After importing the registry entry from another server, and after I restarted the server, I was able to turn on the Firewall and then install Exchange SP1 without any problem!

A big special thanks to Ben from Microsoft for pointing me out on the right direction!

If you’re like me, always messing around with VM’s and server configs, etc., than you might have reached a point where you had to demote your Exchange Server from the DC role.

After this your Exchange installation might start giving out some annoying errors like this:

So, being tired of this, I did some research and found this piece of valuable information over at Chris and Robin’s Blog:

The fix for me was not the highlighted one in that thread, but Adam Miceli's comment:
"Delete this file: c:\users\<specific user>\appdata\roaming\microsoft\mmc\Exchange Management Console"

This COMPLETELY worked and we no longer receive the above errors.

It worked for me and and al is back to its normal state.

We already know that Windows Phone 7 is a great phone for productivity.

But how about using it with the assets you have in your company such as CRM’s, ERP’s or even getting BI metrics?

Well I have recently found a few applications that help you do just that on your Windows Phone 7:

· PushBI – This great application will get your Kpi’s metrics from a Sharepoint Server with PushBI’s software and show them to you in very rich and easy way. The server side of PushBI will allow further customization of the reports generated.

link: http://www.pushbi.com/

 

· CoreSuite Mobile – This app connects to your SAP Business One solution and shows you your costumer data, a series of reports and performance dashboards.

link:  http://www.coresuite.com/

 

· 2Imaze – Allows you to access CRM information from your SAP solution.

link: http://www.2imaze.com/

 

· Resco Mobile CRM – This application will connect to your Microsoft Dynamics CRM and show important customer information, and can be easily customized using Resco Mobile CRM Studio.

link: http://www.resco.net/

Al these solutions can be downloaded for free from the Marketplace and tested, since they all have sample data that will give you a look and feel of each solution.

It seems that US developers are in for a new years treat. According to the App Hub site, if you develop and publish successfully two Windows Phone 7 games or apps you will be eligible for a $99 rebate which represents your annual subscription cost.

Not bad, right? But how about for developers living outside the US?