User Account Control (UAC)

Windows 7 has two new UAC settings:

• Program-based changes only: Don’t notify when the user installs software or changes settings
• Notify only: The user is only notified through a balloon message, but doesn’t have to confirm a prompt

The first one is the default setting in build 6801. Microsoft also says that the number of system applications and tasks that require elevation has been reduced. Please check out my more detailed article about Windows 7 UAC.

Action Center (new)

• Consolidates alerts from Security Center - Problem, Reports, and Solutions - Windows Defender - Windows Update - Diagnostics - Network Access Protection - Backup and Restore - Recovery - User Account Control
• A new icon in the notification area will be displayed whenever one of these apps needs attention
• Thus, fewer notifications will be displayed on the desktop

AppLocker (new)

• Restrict program execution on user desktops based on publisher signature
• Example: Allow all versions greater than 9.0 of the program Acrobat Reader to run if they are signed by the software publisher Adobe

BitLocker (improved)

• Simplified deployment: Automatic repartitioning if deployed after OS installation
• Data Recovery Agent (DRA): Single key for the whole organization that can recover data on any BitLocker-encrypted volume

BitLocker To Go (new)

• Encrypt portable storage devices
• Make data protection of removable storage devices compulsory, network-wide
• Require strong passwords or smart card via Group Policy
• Supports read-only of encrypted devices on Windows Vista and Windows XP

Windows Defender (improved)

• Now integrated with the new Action Center
• New user interface
• Better continuous monitoring

Windows Filtering Platform (improved)

• Third party firewalls can selectively turn off features of the Windows Firewall
• Third parties can add custom features to the Windows Firewall
• Multiple active firewall profiles: Allows a single set of firewall rules for remote clients and for clients physically connected to the corporate network

Support for Fingerprint Readers (new)

Logon to Windows 7 using a fingerprint reader

Smart card support (improved)

• Plug-and-play support
• Support for ECC-based smart cards

Backup and Restore (improved)

Support for backups to network shares

System Restore (improved)

• Now displays a list of programs that will be removed or added
• System restore points are available in backups

Auditing (improved)

• Configuration via Group Policy
• Audit granted or denied access to specific information
• Easier monitoring of the changes made by specific people or groups

DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) support (new)

Prevents DNS spoofing and other malicious activities

Parental Control (improved)

(Do you know what exactly has been changed here?)

If you know of a missing or dropped feature, please leave a comment below or send me a message. Of course, any other response is welcome, too. Please let me know if you described one the features in your blog or know of a more detailed source. I will add a link then.

• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part4: Networking (0)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part2: applications and functions (1)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part1: User interface (3)
• Tweets: EventSentry v2.90 - MinWin explained - Windows 7 news - Windows 3.1 retired (0)
• Remote Desktop Services - Windows Server 2008 R2 will support Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2)

Internet Explorer 8 (improved)

I will only discuss the major changes here.

• IE8 is supposed to be faster and more stable
• Rendering engine: IE8 will improve compliance with web standards; web sites can opt-in for IE7 mode for backward compatibility
• InPrivate: Makes sure that the browsing history can’t be tracked
• Accelerators: Allows you to invoke a web application by selecting an object on a web page (for example for blogging)
• Web Slices: Users can subscribe to snippets on a web page, which will be updated automatically by the browser
• SmartScreen Filter: This is the new name for the Phishing Filter. It has a new user interface, is supposed to perform faster, and has new heuristics, anti-malware support, and improved Group Policy support.
• Automatic Crash Recovery: The browser will reload the pages after a crash

Calculator (improved)

• New user interface
• Calculation history
• Unit conversion
• Calculation templates
• Date calculations
• Controls that are optimized for touch

XPS Viewer (XML Paper Specification) (improved)

• New user interface
• Relevancy-ranked XPS searched
• Thumbnails provide an interactive view of several pages at a time
• Preview XPS documents in Windows Explorer and Office

HomeGroup (new)

• Windows 7 computers can connect automatically with each other to share resources (files, printers, etc.)
• Users can decide what they want to share
• Support for Libraries
• Can be configured via Group Policy

MinWin (new)

The most comprehensive source about MinWin, the new mini kernel in Windows 7, is this interview with Mark Russinowich. Robert McLaws translated the main part for non-developers.

• MinWin is fully bootable
• Requires 25-40MB of disk space
• It contains the executive systems, memory management, networking, and optional file system drivers
• Components only call down the stack, and not up
• It allows building of less bloated Windows editions that run on netbooks and other computers with limited hardware resources

Ready Boost (improved)

Allows you to concurrently use multiple flash drives.

Battery life (improved)

• Reduced background activities when the computer is idle
• Adaptive display brightness: Display brightness is reduced after a period of inactivity
• Less processing power for DVD playback
• Wake on Wireless LAN
• Smart Network Power: Power of the network adapter is turned off when cable is unplugged
• Better battery life notification
• A new power config tool

Windows Media Player (improved)

• Supports more media formats
• Improved performance
• Taskbar thumbnail (displays titles, and offers controls)
• Jump list in the Windows Start Menu and the taskbar
• Stream media to other PCs at home
• Stream media to (DLNA) v1.5-compliant digital media renderers

Media Center (improved)

• New user interface
• Broader support for global TV standards
• Share TV shows at home via TV Libraries

Sound (improved)

• New standard Bluetooth audio driver
• Automatically streams music or voice calls to the active output device
• Control volume independently for each device

Process Reflection (new)

• Crashed processes are cloned in memory
• Windows 7 tries to recover the cloned process and diagnoses the failure conditions of the original process
• It should reduce the disruption caused by diagnosis of failed process

Fault tolerant heap (new)

The new fault tolerant heap is supposed to reduce the number of crashes significantly.

Windows Live Essentials and Windows Live Services

Microsoft removed Windows apps such as Windows Mail and or Windows Photo Gallery from Windows and offers them as free downloads as a part of the Live Essentials suite. The Windows Live Services are web-based apps like Windows Live Hotmail or Windows Live Spaces. As useful as these tools are, I didn’t include them here because I think that downloadable apps and web apps shouldn’t be considered as part of the operating system.

If you know of a missing or dropped feature, please leave a comment below or send me a message. Of course, any other response is welcome too. Please, let me know if you described one of the features in your blog or know of a more detailed source. I will then add a link.

• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part4: Networking (0)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part3: Security (4)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part1: User interface (3)
• Tweets: EventSentry v2.90 - MinWin explained - Windows 7 news - Windows 3.1 retired (0)
• Remote Desktop Services - Windows Server 2008 R2 will support Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2)

This Windows 7 features list is mostly a summary of Microsoft’s Windows reviewer’s guide, which was only available for a couple of days. Perhaps this is a hint that they are already planning to drop features. It is also possible that new features will be added to the final version. Furthermore, it is quite likely that I didn’t include all known features.

However, I am planning to update this list whenever I become aware of a new or dropped feature. I will notify you about changes via Twitter and through my weekly Tweets wrap-up in this blog. Changes in the articles will be highlighted with a different color for one week. If you know of a missing or dropped feature, please leave a comment below or send me a message. Of course, any other response is welcome too.

One further note: You might find the articles in this series hard to understand at times because the text is very condensed. I will blog about the most important new features in more detail later. The main purpose of this list is to get an overview of the enhancements in Windows 7. Please, let me know if you have described one the features in your blog or know of a more detailed source. I will add a link then.

Okay, let’s get started.

Aero Desktop (improved)

• Aero Peek: A specific open window or all open windows can be made transparent
• Aero Snaps: Open windows can be snapped to screen borders
• Aero Shake: Desktop items can be minimized or maximized by shaking them
• Maximize a window by dragging its border to the top of the screen
• Dragging the bottom border expands the window vertically
• Dragging two windows to opposite sides will resize them to fill half of the screen

Windows Taskbar (the Superbar) (improved)

• Graphic thumbnails for open windows
• Switch between multiple windows by just hovering over the taskbar thumbnail
• Icons are big enough to be selected easily with the new touch feature
• Applications can use the taskbar to provide information (a progress bar for example)

Libraries (new)

• Libraries are containers similar to folders, but their content is based on file properties such as file type, pictures by date taken, or music by genre
• There are default libraries (documents, music, pictures, etc.) and one can create personalized libraries
• Libraries can contain files, not network shares, which are indexed by Windows Search

Jump lists (improved)

• Jump lists are automatically populated links in the Start Menu to frequently accessed sources (apps, documents, etc.)
• Taskbar items, the Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player will have them too, allowing you to jump directly to a certain task of a program

Windows Sidebar (improved)

• Is no longer a sidebar
• Gadgets are now placed on the desktop
• Gadgets are resizable
• Aero Peek lets you see gadgets behind open windows

Windows Explorer (improved)

• New user interface (have to find out more)
• New copy engine: fewer prompts, shows file names being copied, more reliable

Scenic Ribbon (new)

• Paint and WordPad now have a ribbon similar to the one in Office 2007
• Third-party developers can integrate ribbons into their apps

Start Menu Search (improved)

• Searches in Libraries (also external files)
• Search results are grouped according to Libraries
• System administrator can define up to five external search destinations
• Search will be executed on the server

Windows Search 4 (improved)

• Input recommendations based on previous searches
• Dynamic filters to narrow down results
• New relevance algorithm
• Word highlighting in results
• Search Federation: search external resources (servers, Sharepoint, Web sites (OpenSearch))

Tablet PC enhancements (improved)

• Supposed to have improved handwriting recognition
• Supports handwritten math expressions
• Personalized custom dictionaries, and supports new languages

Sticky Notes (improved)

• Ink support
• Paste support
• Note colors
• Resize possible

Accessibility (improved)

• Improved speech recognition
• Magnifier (whole desktop or portion of the screen)
• Accessibility support tools for developers

Windows Touch (new)

• Windows 7 can be controlled by touching the screen
• It also supports multi-touch allowing you to use more than one finger

Other desktop enhancements (improved)

• More styles
• Region specific styles
• Multilingual browsing no longer requires font installation, language-based fonts

• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part4: Networking (0)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part3: Security (4)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part2: applications and functions (1)
• Tweets: EventSentry v2.90 - MinWin explained - Windows 7 news - Windows 3.1 retired (0)
• Remote Desktop Services - Windows Server 2008 R2 will support Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2)

• Private cloud computing for large companies - Next is cloud computing for SMBs, then cloud computing on mobile phones.
• Larry Ellison about cloud computing: “Maybe I’m an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about.” I think I am an idiot, too.
• Microsoft Office Web Applications FAQ - Big mistake: Silverlight is not required.
• White paper: Microsoft Office SharePoint Online - 24 pages
• White paper: Microsoft Exchange Online Standard - 19 pages
• Windows Server 2008 R2 will be 64-bit only. Think about what this means for terminal services! Good point by Brian Madden
• Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 have been released.
• Install IIS, PHP, and MySQL on Server Core - Why not Apache?
• Windows 7 and Vista boot up a little faster than Windows XP. This was also my impression.
• MS confirms Windows 7 sped up for 2009 launch - Targeting is one thing, releasing another.
• MS Deploy tool: Deploy IIS web sites using Windows Installer (MSI)
• Ever Wonder Why Hyper-V’s Release Trails Windows Servers’ Release? I didn’t, but it is interesting to know anyway.
• Adian Finn shares some interesting experiences with VMM 2008 and Hyper-V

• Microsoft Azure Services Platform - a short introduction and its significance for Windows admins (0)
• What Windows Azure is and what it is not (1)

Revo Uninstaller

Uninstaller

What I like about this Uninstaller is that it gives you further information about an application. Via the context menu of an application’s icon you search it in Google, and view the publishers’ about, help, and update information if it is available. The main purpose of Revo Uninstaller is certainly to completely remove an application. The Windows Uninstall applet only starts the uninstall routine that comes with the application. Often it leaves folders, files and registry entries behind. It is one of the main reasons why a Windows installation becomes slower over time. The more junk you have on your system, the slower it will become. Revo Uninstaller analyzes the applications before it starts the application’s built-in uninstaller. After the application has been uninstalled, Revo Uninstaller will scan the computer to find leftover folders, files and registry entries. It will then display them in a hierarchical tree where you can select the ones you want to remove.

Hunter Mode

This is my favorite feature of Revo Uninstaller. Usually when you have to clean someone else’s computer, you will find countless icons on the desktop. In Hunter Mode you can just drag and drop the Revo Uninstaller Icon and the application’s icon to uninstall the application. Thus, you don’t have to search for the corresponding entry in the Uninstaller applet. The context menu also allows you to disable autostarting for this application, kill and delete its process, open the containing folder, and search in Google for information about this application.

Auto Run Manager

This tool also displays autostarting applications. It is no match for Autoruns, but it can be useful if you just want to check whether an application has autostarting components.

Junk Files Cleaner

The Junk Files Cleaner finds all unnecessary files on the computer. It scans for file extensions such as .tmp, .old or .$$$. The options menu allows you to add your own extensions. You can also exclude specific folders. There are already some pre-defined folders which are better left untouched.

Windows Tools

The Windows Tools Panel just displays links to built-in Windows apps that are useful when it comes to cleaning a PC. These tools are System Restore, Disk Fragmenter, Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, etc.

Browser Cleaner

The Browser Cleaners can remove information like history of visited web sites, the address bar history, cookies, etc. Revo Uninstaller supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Netscape.

Microsoft Office Cleaner

The MS Office Cleaner helps you to get rid of the document history of Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and FrontPage.

Windows Cleaner

Windows logs uncounted amounts of information. The Windows Cleaner allows you to remove information such as Recent Documents History, Start Menu Run History, the Find File History, “Regedit” Last Opened Key History, and more.

Evidence Remover

After you finished uninstalling all programs and remove all history information, it might make sense to use the Evidence Remover. It scans for files that have been deleted and erases them forever. This will make sure that files can’t be restored via the Recycle Bin or undelete utilities.

Unrecoverable Delete

Unrecoverable Delete is a similar tool. The difference from Evidence Remover is that it lets you choose the files and folders that you want to erase to make them unrecoverable.

Do you know another good uninstaller tool? Please, share your wisdom.

Revo Uninstaller

Please click here to rate this tool.

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• Convert Windows Server 2008 to Windows Workstation 2008? (9)

There are several organizations which provide such information on the Web. But the advantage of IPNetInfo is that it can query all of them, which can save you some time. These are the organizations to which IPNetInfo sends requests: ARIN, RIPE, APNIC, LACNIC and AfriNIC.

Another nice feature of IPNetInfo is that you can enter multiple IP addresses. If you see in your log files that the attacks came from multiple sources, you can just paste all suspicious IP addresses to IPNetInfo and it will present the information for all of them in a table. It is also possible to just paste the header of an email message to IPNetInfo’s input field. This makes it easy to find out more about the origin of a SPAM mail.

The information you can get includes the owner of the IP address, the country/state name, IP addresses range, contact information (address, phone, fax, and email), and more.

Good luck with your hacker hunting.

IPNetInfo

Please click here to rate this tool.

• FREE: FREEping - quick and dirty monitoring (0)
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• FREE: AdapterWatch - comprehensive info about network adapters (0)
• FREE: 3D Traceroute - displays traceroute information in 3D (1)

Even though Infoworld tries to keep the Windows-slapping business alive, I somehow doubt that the media will bash Windows 7 because their readers are already tired of this topic. Perhaps more important is that the user experience of Windows 7 will be better. The most significant improvement in Vista is the new security model. It was also one of the main reasons why the Vista-bashing wave started rolling in. It caused numerous compatibility issues, which resulted in user frustration - the perfect breeding ground for the anti-Vista meme virus. Since Microsoft did most of the dirty work in Vista, they can focus again on new end-user-related features, which makes the media happy because they have something to write about.

However, from a technical point of view, things probably won’t really change with the release of Windows 7. It will certainly not be more compatible with Windows XP than Vista. Windows 7 is just Windows Vista with quite a few additional features. Most media sources write that Windows 7 won’t cause new compatibility problems, but I am not convinced. The fact that Microsoft made some major changes to the Windows kernel makes me suspicious. So, we will only know more about compatibility when Microsoft releases a public beta of Windows 7. Furthermore, there are still many compatibility issues with Vista. Read this revealing article at apc about Vista driver woes. These problems won’t go away with Windows 7.

Microsoft is quite aware of the fact that hardware and software compatibility was the main reason for Vista’s marketing disaster. It is obvious that they are working hard not to repeat the mistake. They are pushing third parties to do their homework, too. The fact that there will only be one compatible-with-Windows 7 logo demonstrates this. But this is only what we see on the surface. The other question is whether Microsoft’s efforts will be successful.

I think the only mistake Microsoft made with Vista was that they underestimated the size of their own ecosystem. Vista’s beta’s phase was extremely long, and so they expected that all third parties would have had enough time to adapt their drivers and applications. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. The number of third parties is certainly much bigger than when Windows XP was released. There will always be hardware and software vendors who can’t match Microsoft’s pace. Thus, the only way will be to introduce compatibility affecting innovations in smaller doses. I think this is what we will see now with Windows 7. Perhaps that is another reason why Windows 7 will be coming out much earlier than expected. Five years between two major OS releases is much too long nowadays.

It also sets high expectations and increases the tension in the Windows community, which makes it more likely that it will be perceived as a failure if there are no real “wow features”. Smaller release intervals give the media less time to decide whether they should bash or praise a new operating system because they will be too busy speculating about new features and release dates. Once the user feedback comes in, the next version is already on track, which makes it boring to bash the old one. One of the reasons why Vista bashing stopped in the media is because everyone is now focused on Windows 7.

• Forrester survey: Already 8.8 percent of enterprise users have Vista installed (10)
• Vista’s adoption rate is faster than Windows XP’s - The latest Gartner forecast - What is wrong with our media? (9)
• Windows XP vs. Windows Vista - Future proofing (5)
• Is Vista less secure than Windows 2000? How the Vista bashing industry works (4)
• Windows Vista vs. Windows XP - Systems Management (2)

TRK comes as an ISO file which you have to burn to a CD. It is also possible to boot from a USB stick. After booting, you have several options for how to start TRK. Most of them are related to possible driver problems you might experience once you start TRK. You can also test the system memory here before TRK starts.

In most cases, the default settings are the best choice. I tried TRK under VMware Workstation 6, and encountered only one minor driver issue. TRK didn’t support my German keyboard. This is not a big deal if you are familiar with the English keyboard mapping. However, I think, this indicates that driver problems might be one of TRK’s weaknesses.

Once TRK has been loaded, you will find yourself on a Linux prompt. Hence, you have no other choice than to consult the documentation. You can do that by entering “trkhelp”. Most of the commands are quite easy to handle; you don’t have to be a Linux expert. However, basic Linux knowledge is sometimes required.

These are the main tools of TRK:

Mountallfs

This tool scans all local storage devices and mounts their filesystems. Once you have access to your Windows installation’s filesystem, you can work with Linux commands like cp or rm to make changes. You can also use the text editor vi, but Windows users will probably prefer pico.

Fileserver

The tool behind Fileserver is Samba, the famous Linux implementation of Microsoft’s SMB/CIFS networking protocol. Fileserver allows you to access the filesystem remotely from a Windows box. This way you can change the files of your patient remotely with your familiar Windows tools.

Viruscan

Some viruses can only be removed when the operating system isn’t running, because they replicate faster than the antivirus software can kill them. TRK comes with four different scan engines: Clamav, F-prot, Grisoft AVG, and BitDefender Scanner. This is certainly a nice feature because it increases your chances of coping with new malware. All scanners can be updated online, directly from the TRK command prompt.

Winpass

This tool allows you to reset any user’s password without knowing the administrator password. Note that if you didn’t export private keys, you won’t be able to access EFS encrypted files anymore. This is always the case with tools that reset the password while Windows is offline. You should also be careful when you disable syskey, because all local passwords will become invalid. Read the manual carefully!

Regedit

TRK comes with a command-line based registry editor. For example, the ls command lists all keys, and with the cd command, you can navigate to a subkey. This is certainly a very inconvenient way to edit the registry.

Clonexp

Clonexp can create an image of an NTFS partition and copy it to another computer. This can be useful if you want to create a backup of your disk before you start messing with it.

Ntfsundeleteall

The name of this tool speaks for itself. Undelete only works if the files haven’t been overwritten yet by Windows. If you have ever accidentally deleted important files which you can’t recover via the Windows Recycle Bin, I recommend pulling the power plug of your computer immediately, and then trying to undelete them with a tool like TRK while Windows is offline.

TRK is certainly a useful tool if you are not afraid of Linux. However, it is not really a match for MSDaRT. Microsoft’s solution is not only easier to use, it also offers more tools to recover a Windows installation. But the Trinity Rescue Kit has one essential feature that MSDaRT lacks. It is free!

Trinity Rescue Kit

Please click here to rate this tool.

• FREE: Revo Uninstaller - free PCs from junk (3)
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Microsoft has officially retired Windows 3.1 - What a pity! It is lightening fast and not as bloated as XP.

• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part4: Networking (0)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part3: Security (4)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part2: applications and functions (1)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part1: User interface (3)
• Remote Desktop Services - Windows Server 2008 R2 will support Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2)

I had to install a new patch (SP Servicing Stack Update, KB955430) before SP2 showed up in Windows Update. The download size of Service Pack 2 was 297.5MB for each OS. I wonder if there will only be one setup file for both operating systems. I started both downloads at the same time on the same physical host, but the one for Server 2008 required only half the time. My guess is that Server updates have priority. I didn’t experience any problems after the installation. However, I only played a little with my test machines. I wouldn’t dare install a pre-beta on a productive system.

If you look at the new features below, it is quite obvious that this service pack is mostly a collection of previously available updates. Microsoft says that it also improves reliability and compatibility. I guess all of Microsoft’s windows developers are now busy with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. All the new features they are working on will only be available next year when these new Windows versions come out. Nonetheless, it is necessary to release a service pack in advance because it simplifies the deployment of new OS installations.

New features of Vista SP2

• Windows Search 4.0
• Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack
• Support for ICCD/CCID smart cards
• Ability to record data onto Blu-Ray media natively
• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration
• exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones
• New VIA 64-bit CPU support
• Print server and spooler performance improvements for printers
• Application compatibility updates

New features of Windows Server 2008 SP2

• Hyper-V RTM included
• Backward compatibility with Terminal Services licensing keys
• Improved manageability features with DFS/FRS console and Storage Resource Manager
• Print server and spooler performance improvements for printers
• Improved error reporting in DFSR to help identify incorrectly configured deployments which lead to failed replication
• Improved power profile

• Tweets: Windows Installer 4.5 - Forefront + NAP - RODC compatibility - Security Assessment Tool 3.5 (0)
• Windows Vista vs. Windows XP - Systems Management (2)
• FREE: Compatibility Administrator - Configure legacy apps for Vista (6)
• Poll results: When will your organization deploy Vista? (0)
• Windows Server 2008 step-by-step guides - Don’t waste your time (3)

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

It was only a matter of time until Microsoft would enter the VDI market. It is growing faster than server virtualization and might change our IT infrastructure more than any other virtualization technology.

Hyper-V

Virtual desktops will run on a Hyper-V host. This will certainly push Hyper-V adoption.

Remote Desktop Connection Broker

The Connection Broker will replace the Windows Server 2008 Session Broker. Whereas the Session Broker allows users to reconnect to a specific server in a load-balanced terminal server farm, the Connection Broker will manage presentation virtualization (terminal services) and desktop virtualization connections.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)

The article doesn’t mention it explicitly, but I think that VMM will also support VDI. However, it is not clear if one will require VMM in order to use VDI. The Windows Server Division Weblog wrote: “Together with Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager, the Remote Desktop Connection Broker enables a VDI solution for low-complexity, departmental environments, and a platform for partners who are delivering rich, extensible solutions where heterogeneous client support is a prerequisite, and when enhanced management and scalability is a requirement.”

APIs

The Remote Desktop Connection Broker will include “extensive” APIs which allow third party vendors to add management and scalability features. My guess is that ISVs will offer management tools that will focus on VDI. Since VMM is also intended for managing virtualized servers it might not be the best choice for virtual desktop administration.

Persistent and pooled VMs

The connection broker will support two kinds of virtual desktops. With persistent or permanent VMs, each user will have a dedicated desktop. Similar to a physical desktop, all changes will be permanent. By contrast, all changes on pooled VMs will be deleted once the user logs off. However, it is possible to provide user-specific settings with roaming profiles. The main advantage of pooled VMs is that they – supposedly — require less storage capacity. Since profiles won’t be stored on the virtual desktop, they will need more bandwidth if user-specific settings are needed.

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) will get quite a few new features. The list at Bink.nu is quite impressive. I will only discuss the most important ones:

Multimedia Redirection

I think that the bad multimedia support in RDP (and ICA) is one of the main reasons why many organizations didn’t deploy terminal services solutions. The quality of sound and video in a terminal server session is lousy and it consumes huge amount of bandwidth. Redirecting multimedia content to the client, in order to render the content there, seems to be the only solution to this problem. However, I think that this technology will not be easy for admins to handle.

Aero Glass support

I believe that this is also an important feature - but not because Aero Glass really improves productivity. Rather, it’s an important feature more for a “psychological” reason: users who are already used to it will miss it in a remote desktop session. To improve acceptance of remote desktops it is essential that users are not able to distinguish between remote and local.

Remote Desktop & Application feed

It appears that Windows 7 will have a new Remote App & Desktop Connection control panel. As I understand this feature, it will allow users to launch remote applications from their desktops. This would be an alternative to the TS Web Access feature of Windows Server 2008.

Seamless integration with Windows 7

I think that this feature is related to the one above. Windows Server 2008 introduced the RemoteApp feature. It allows users to launch a single application on a Terminal Server. To deploy these apps, one has to work with MSI files or TS Web Access. It seems that this will be easier with Windows 7 and Windows Sever 2008.

There are many more new RDP features. Most of them will improve user experience and simplify the deployment of remote applications. I will write more about it as soon as I have tried them myself.

Microsoft has already extended Terminal Services considerably in Windows Server 2008. It appears that the changes in Windows Server 2008 R2 will be even more important. The new VDI support is certainly a milestone in Microsoft’s virtualization strategy. Together with Virtual PC, Hyper-V, App-V and VMM they will offer a complete virtualization infrastructure.

• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part4: Networking (0)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part3: Security (4)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part2: applications and functions (1)
• Windows 7 new features - the complete list - Part1: User interface (3)
• Tweets: EventSentry v2.90 - MinWin explained - Windows 7 news - Windows 3.1 retired (0)

The four services of the Azure Services Platform are: Windows Azure, .NET Services, SQL Services, and Live Services.

Windows Azure

As I outlined yesterday, the term “Windows Azure” is a bit misleading. Essentially, Windows Azure is a cloud-based Web platform. Even though it is running on Windows Server 2008, it is not a cloud-based Windows edition. Perhaps this might change though. David Chappell mentioned that Microsoft might support unmanaged code on Windows Azure in the future. Perhaps this is a hint that non- web-related applications will one day run on Windows Azure. Then it could be possible that we can move our complete Windows backend to Microsoft’s datacenters.

.NET Services

.NET Services is not really a new service. Microsoft just renamed the BizTalk Services, which were introduced a year ago. Perhaps they renamed it because many confused it with the BizTalk Server. I guess that many will confuse it now with Windows Azure because they are both related to .NET. The main difference is that Windows Azure is for hosting .NET applications whereas the .NET Services offer cloud-based infrastructure that helps integrate external applications. These applications can be cloud-based, i.e. they could run on Windows Azure, but they could also be on-premise applications, that is, apps running on your own servers. The .NET Services consist of three components: Access Control, Service Bus, and Workflow. Access Control is for identity federation (facilitates single sign-on), the Service Bus exposes application’s services on the Internet (makes them accessible via an URI), and Workflow implements the logic that coordinates the interaction of the applications. These components can be used by software vendors for their own applications.

SQL Services

The SQL Services were formerly called SQL Server Data Service (SSDS). Basically, it is a cloud-based service offering data storage capabilities. It is based on Microsoft SQL Server, but it only offers a subset of its data types and it is exposed as a web service, which means that it can be accessed over HTTP using the SOAP and REST protocols. “Cloud-based” means that Microsoft doesn’t just offer SQL Servers in its datacenters for rent. Users of this service would rather rent data storage. That is, you don’t have to manage the DBMS yourself. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about things like storage capacity, scalability, availability etc. Like .NET services, SQL Services can be used by software vendors for their own applications.

Live Services

The Live Services encompass Microsoft’s Internet applications such as Hotmail, Live Messenger, or Live Search. These services, or more specifically the data behind these services, can be accessed by applications via the so-called Live Operating Environment. For example, a software vendor could offer a VOIP application, which accesses the user’s Live contacts to retrieve their phone number. As with all the other services of the Azure platform, HTTP is the only protocol supported.

Thus, one can say that the Azure Services Platform is Web-based. However, contrary to some other cloud service providers, it is not solely browser-based. Furthermore, Microsoft is not trying to replace on-premise computing like Google. Microsoft mostly targets ISVs (independent software vendors) with Azure, who will provide new kinds of applications that will run partly in the cloud and partly on conventional servers and desktops. Microsoft’s marketing dubbed this approach, already for quite some time as S+S (Software + Service) as opposed to SaaS (Software as a Service). With Azure, it becomes clearer what S+S really is. It is not just that they want to continue selling software licenses. Microsoft brings to bear its huge Windows ecosystem. Microsoft alone might not be able to stop the Googles and Amazons, but together with an armada of ISVs who will develop for Azure and for Windows, it is quite likely that Microsoft will extend its dominance to the cloud.

For Windows admins, this means that the complexity of their environments will grow significantly within the next few years. You will have to manage software that runs on computers within your organization and also software that runs in third-party datacenters. In addition, you have to make sure that they interact properly. Contrary to many others, I believe that cloud computing will require more IT staff in most organizations, not less. Cloud computing certainly will rationalize IT tremendously. However, IT became more effective since Konrad Zuse invented the first computer almost 70 years ago. Ever since, the number of IT pros has been growing. The reason for this is that more effective computer technology always made new kinds of applications possible. This extended the complexity of IT, which increased the need for IT pros. I believe that this also applies to cloud computing. Within the next few years, we will move some of ours apps to the cloud, some will stay in our server rooms and completely new kinds of applications will be invented.

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