Last chance ….
At the 31st of January these special Windows 8 related offers are ending:
This means that the Windows 8 (Pro) upgrade will be much more expensive:
http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2013/01/18/update-on-windows-8-pricing.aspx
On the Microsoft Store it looks like it’s current upgrade price of 30 euros will become 280 euros.
So even if you don’t need/want Windows 8 yet, it might be worth considering to just buy it right now.
For more information, including how to perform a clean install when you’ve bough the upgrade, please check my previous post.
Tags: Free, Microsoft, Upgrade Offer, UpgradeOffer, Windows, Windows 8, Windows 8 Media Center Pack, Windows Media Center, Windows Media Center Pack
Summary of what Windows To Go (WTG) is
In short, Windows To Go is a Windows 8 Enterprise feature that allows you to boot and run Windows 8 from a USB flash drive (USB stick).
Potential reasons and scenarios for using Windows To Go
There are many potential reasons and scenarios for using Windows To Go, but here are some of them from the top of my head:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Apple, BitLocker, boot, boot from usb, Bring Your Own Device, BYOD, dual boot, dualboot, encryption, Enterprise, flexible workspace, flexible workspace environment, Hyper-V, hyper-v server, mac, Microsoft, personalized desktop, removable, removable disk, SanDisk, SanDisk Extreme, Server 2012, test, USB, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, usb boot, USB Flash Drive, USB stick, Windows, Windows 8, Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012, Windows To Go, WTG
In yesterday’s post I described that for my purposes it was still necessary to run VMware Workstation sometimes despite having Client Hyper-V installed on my Windows 8 machine.
What you have to keep in mind though, is that you’re already running a hypervisor when you have Client Hyper-V installed in Windows 8. Installing and running VMware Workstation might cause problems. So unfortunately you cannot run them at the same time. This is also true for other virtualization products like by example virtualbox.
As a workaround you can either uninstall or (temporarily) disable Hyper-V. When you want to switch between Hyper-V and VMware Workstation it is ofcourse best to just temporarily disable Hyper-V.
In this forum post, a couple of methods are described to (temporarily) disable Hyper-V. It includes creating a seperate boot menu entry to boot with Hyper-V disabled and modifying the setting either through registry or a command. All methods do require a reboot however.
PS:
- This kind of configuration is ofcourse not supported and should only be used for testing purposes in non production environments.
- Depending on both your hardware and what your planning to do, you might also want to consider:
- Running VMware ESXi from a USB stick
- Running Windows 8 from a USB stick with Windows To Go (WTG).
- It should also work on Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 and up, but I haven’t tested it.
Tags: Citrix, Citrix XenServer, Client Hyper-V, ESXi, home lab, Hyper-V, Hyper-V 3.0, hypervisor, Microsoft, multiple hypervisors, nested esxi, nested hypervisor, Server 2012, test lab, virtualbox, virtualization, VMware, VMware ESXi, VMware ESXi 5.1, VMware Fusion, VMware vSphere, VMware vSphere 5.1, VMware Workstation, VMware Workstation 9, Windows, Windows 2012 Server, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows To Go, workstation, WTG, XenServer
On a regular basis Microsoft and its partners host Free IT Camps. In the past I’ve blogged about them because I really think they’re a good way to quickly get up-to-date on products and technologies. Besides that it’s also a good way to get to know other people.
On the Microsoft Events website you can see which future events are available and not just IT Camps events.
Also should you not be able to attend an IT Camp, for Server 2012 you can also use IT Camps On-Demand.
Tags: Event, Events, Free, IT Camp, IT Camps, IT Camps On-Demand, Learning, Microsoft, Microsoft Events, Microsoft IT Camp, Microsoft IT Camps, MS IT Camp, MS IT Camps, study
Last sunday I warned about a major vulnerability in Java.
It wasn’t expected that Java would come have an update available this quickly, but it is good that they did. So be sure to update to Java 7 Update 11 : http://java.com
Tags: Apple, chrome, Cisco, firefox, Google, google chrome, IE, Internet Explorer, Intrusion Prevention System, IPS, IPS signature, Java, Microsoft, Microsoft IE, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, mozilla firefox, MS IE, Oracle, OS X, plug-in, plug-ins, plugin, plugins, security, security issue, Signature, US-CERT, vulnerability, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows XP
[EDIT 14-01-2013]
Oracle release Java 7 Update 11 to fix this security issue. Be sure to update: http://java.com/
[EDIT]
Normally when I read about security vulnerabilities, I don’t really get a sense of urgency.
With the current Java vulnerability however, I do feel like people have to act quick because there are so many respected companies and even countries actively taking action:
Apparently this vulnerability is actively being exploited already and Oracle hasn’t released a Java fix yet. You might want to consider a combination of the options below:
Personally I like the way FireFox is handling the issue because it blocks by default, but allows users to easily override this behavior for specific sites. Also I’m getting quite fed up with all these Java security vulnerabilities lately 😦
I’d like to know what you’ll be doing. Have you or are you going to disable Java ? Which methods will you use ? Why ?
Tags: Apple, chrome, Cisco, firefox, Google, google chrome, IE, Internet Explorer, Intrusion Prevention System, IPS, IPS signature, Java, Microsoft, Microsoft IE, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, mozilla firefox, MS IE, Oracle, OS X, plug-in, plug-ins, plugin, plugins, security, security issue, Signature, US-CERT, vulnerability, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows XP
[EDIT] 09-04-2013 : As described in my blog post, this script has become unnecessary for most people. This is because Microsoft to allow almost every Flash site by default. [EDIT]
[EDIT] 13-01-2013 : Apparently for Windows RT, the script doesn’t seem to be working yet. Unfortunately I have no Windows RT to troubleshoot and resolve the issue. [EDIT]
Windows 8 and Windows RT include support for Flash in Internet Explorer 10.
In Windows 8 there are however two version of Internet Explorer 10 that handle flash websites differently. First there’s Internet Explorer 10 Desktop, which is similar as the Internet Explorer you’ve been used to with previous versions of Windows. Then there’s also Internet Explorer 10 (non Desktop), which is the Internet Explorer in the new modern/Windows interface (Metro) that is full screen.
Internet Explorer 10 Desktop allows Flash for all websites. Internet Explorer 10 (Metro) only allows Flash for websites that have been whitelisted.
Especially for Windows tablets, Flash support can be a selling point because most other tablets don’t have Flash support. It is however confusing for regular consumers that not all their websites will work. By example a friend of mine who’s a hairdresser, uses http://www.kapperssite.nl to show her customers hair models and their haircuts. The site is however completely in Flash and that it is not working by default is very annoying.
The websites that have been whitelisted are defined in your local appdate folder. By example: “C:\Users\Bjorn\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\iecompatdata.xml”. This file also contains information about websites and which compatibility mode should be used for each. The segment between <flash> and </flash> contains the websites that have been whitelisted for flash. You can manually modify this file as described here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1961793
Basic steps include:
- Modifying the iecompatdata.xml to add the websites you want to whitelist for Flash. Wildcards don’t work unfortunately.
- Open Internet Explorer 10 Desktop, press ALT, Tools, “Compatibility View setting”. Then Disable “Download updated compatibility lists from Microsoft”. This way Microsoft won’t overwrite the updates you’ve made in step 1.
- Delete the IE10 browser history. The disadvantage of this method however is, that you won’t be taking advantage of future compatibility updates because you’ve disabled the update functionality. Leaving it enabled however means that you you would have to keep re-adding sites you want to whitelist for Flash.
As a workaround, I’ve created this script that will automatically perform these tasks:
- Disable “Download updated compatibility lists from Microsoft”
- Close all internet explorer processes.
- Download the latest iecompatdata.xml to the appropriate folder. Currently the latest version is: https://iecvlist.microsoft.com/ie10/201206/iecompatviewlist.xml
The script however will dynamically look for the latest versions by modifying the date in the url.
- Combine the data from the latest iecompatdata.xml with websites you want to whitelist for Flash (specified in “C:\Users\Bjorn\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\flashsitestoadd.txt).
- Backup the original iecompatdata.xml and store the modified iecompatdata.xml
- Clear the Internet Explorer browsing history.
Because automatic downloading of updated compatibility lists has been disabled, I advise to schedule the script to run on a regular basis (by example monthly). For instructions read this blog post: http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2012/08/11/weekend-scripter-use-the-windows-task-scheduler-to-run-a-windows-powershell-script.aspx Keep in mind that this will clear your Internet Explorer browsing history though.
Tags: automation, Compatibility list, Flash, Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 10, Powershell, Script, Scripting, Whitelist, Windows, Windows 8, Windows RT
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) courses and exams are aimed at people new to specific IT areas of expertises. Previously these exams were available only to academic students, faculty, and staff. Now, anyone can take these exams.
Exams available at this moment are:
- Exam 98-349: Windows Operating System Fundamentals
- Exam 98-365: Windows Server Administration Fundamentals
- Exam 98-366: Networking Fundamentals
- Exam 98-367: Security Fundamentals
- Exam 98-364: Database Fundamentals
- Exam 98-361: Software Development Fundamentals
- Exam 98-362: Windows Development Fundamentals
- Exam 98-363: Web Development Fundamentals
- Exam 98-372: .NET Fundamentals
- Exam 98-375: HTML5 App Development Fundamentals
More information about MTA can be found here.
Also to stay up-to-date regarding Microsoft learning and certification news, be sure to follow developments on the Born To Learn blog.
Tags: Born To Learn, certification, ICT, Microsoft, Microsoft Technology Associate, MTA
Tweakers is hosting the AppRace 2012 together with Microsoft. If you have the skills and time to build it, be sure to sign up for the AppRace. The best 5 apps are being rewarded with a Windows 8 RT device and the winner also gets a ticket for TechDays.
Today (December 6th) the kick-off will be at 18:30 CET. There will also be a live stream available if you’re curious about the event.
Tags: application, application development, AppRace, AppRace 2012, coding, ICT, kickoff, kickoff event, live stream, livestream, Metro App, Microsoft, Modern App, programming, Windows, Windows 8, Windows 8 RT, windows app, Windows store
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