I checked today with the Microsoft Action Pack Regional Service Center for the Unites States on what the availability of Windows 8 will be for US Partners who have current Action Pack subscriptions. We will be getting usage rights for 10 licenses of Windows 8 Professional. Available August 20, 2012. Also check out release dates here on the Windows Team Blog (thanks to Brandon LeBlanc): http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/08/01/windows-8-has-reached-the-rtm-milestone

If you are in the greater Seattle area, join us as we discuss the recent announcements around the Small Business Specialist Community, Small Business Server 2011, and Windows Server 2012 Essentials. http://www.pssbs.org/meetings/july-19-2012-pssbs-meeting/

If you are a Microsoft Partner currently working with Windows Small Business Server 2003, SBS 2008, or SBS 2011, be sure to tune in to this Wednesday morning at 8:00 AM PDT, July 18, 2012. Details are below: During Microsoft WPC 2012 in Toronto, Microsoft announced the release of Windows Server 2012 Essentials edition beta. On July 18th, 2012 at 8:00 am US Pacific Time join Lucy Ellis (HP) and David Fabritius (Microsoft) for a live webcast that will cover Microsoft Windows S erver 2012 Essentials

Where's the SmartStart disc? That's what I was asking myself when unpacking a new HP ML350 G8 destined for one of our client sites. The answer was found in the Setup Poster PDF on the documentation CD. HP has taken the SmartStart media to a whole new level and now accomplishes the same tasks and more through their new Intelligent Provisioning. To quote from the HP PDF: Intelligent Provisioning Several packaging changes have taken place with HP ProLiant Gen8 servers: SmartStart CDs and the

There is now a version 2 of the hotfix that was originally available under Microsoft KB 2524478 (The network location profile changes from "Domain" to "Public" in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2). If you had installed the first version of it as we did on our production WMS Servers, then you'll want to first uninstall the original Windows6.1-KB2524478-x64 before installing the new Windows6.1-KB2524478-v2-x64 "v2" version of it. If you are wondering why you

Microsoft has announced price drops for their Office 365 accounts ranging from 11-24% (and 92% drop in price per GB of SharePoint storage). Check out the blog post at http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft_office_365_blog/archive/2012/03/14/new-lower-prices-for-office-365.aspx According to Justin Bowers with Microsoft, key things to know are: · This is go forward pricing for new customers. Customers that are under contract will still pay the same rate that their contract states. Upon renewal

2012 Security Predictions- Corey Nachreiner, Director Security Strategy, CISSP 2011 proved to be a memorable year for information security. The security analysts at WatchGuard cannot remember a year with such newsworthy security incidents and discoveries as 2011 delivered. With disastrous breaches, like those suffered by Epsilon, RSA, and Sony, to amazingly advanced malware, like TDL-4 and Duqu, 2011 was an unforgettable year for security practitioners - one that we hope to never see the likes of

If your inbound PPTP VPN and Remote Desktop / Terminal Services are failing recently, if you are a Qwest/CenturyLink DSL customer, check the firmware version of your device. Model Number: PK5000 Firmware Version: QAP002-3.60.3.0.9.9-PK5000 According to the conversation I had with CenturyLink support this evening, a recent firmware update (the version listed above) is breaking PPTP VPN, and in my case, also our inbound TS sessions. CenturyLink is currently working with Actiontec to resolve. The workaround

Join us at Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters for the “home-field” event of the SMB MVP Worldwide Roadshow. This is one you will not want to miss! We’ve joined forces with our friends to the south in Portland, The Technology Wizards ( www.technologywizards.com ), to bring in nine Microsoft MVPs for two power-packed days, Friday in Portland, and Saturday in Redmond. For the Redmond event, arrive at 9 AM for coffee and pastries and a chance to mingle with the MVPs before our 10

NO MEETING THIS MONTH (June 16, 2011). I'm going to be up in Vancouver, BC for the SMB MVP Roadshow . We will be back to Lincoln Square July 21st with Spamsoap and a Saas Security presentation by them. Redmond's SMB MVP Roadshow is going to be a larger one day event on Saturday, September 17, 2011. Will have details and registration information for that event soon. Thanks, Steve