Microsoft to Release Vista Fixes in 2008

Microsoft to Release Vista Fixes in 2008

Microsoft Corp. said it will release a major package of updates and fixes for the Windows Vista operating system in the first half of 2008.

The company said a ''beta'' test version of Service Pack 1 will be released ''in a few weeks to a moderate sized audience.'' The SP1 beta includes updates Microsoft has already made to the operating system it started selling to consumers at the end of January.

The service pack fixes some common problems that cause computers to crash or freeze, Microsoft said, including compatibility problems with some newer graphics cards, external monitors and printer drivers. Microsoft said it also fixed some problems users had with putting their PCs to sleep and waking them up again.

The company said SP1 is also expected to improve battery performance, increase the speed of copying files and help Internet Explorer run faster on Vista.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker said SP1 also brings several security improvements.

Microsoft said it expects to release Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, Vista's predecessor, in the first half of 2008 as well, but in a statement added that it ''should not significantly change the Windows XP experience.''

In the past, some of Microsoft's business clients used the release of a service pack as a sign that a new operating system was stable enough to install. Analysts have said Vista seems more reliable out of the box than past versions of Windows, and that businesses need not wait for the service pack.

Microsoft and Security

Microsoft Security products?

No longer an oxymoron!

Yesterday, I was at the Microsoft Forefront and System Center launch event in Beverly Hills, California, where Microsoft demoed both products to an impressed audience.
If you had any doubts that Microsoft was deadly serious about security, you had better erase them. Immediately!

Microsoft introduced the Forefront line of products (and an attendant roadmap) that was remarkable for the breadth of area covered, from the client to the server to the network edge.
Remarkable, in that while the poducts in the suite are based on existing products and then some, the suite offers an end-to-end product line, a boon to network administrators.
Forefront Client security is a new product that ties in neatly with the Forefront Security for Exchange Server, which is the current evolution of the Antigen product line Microsoft purchased a while ago. Antigen for SharePoint has also evolved, becoming Forefront Security for SharePoint. ISA Server 2006 and Intelligent Application Gateway 2007 make up the Edge protection server/device.

This is a welcome development.

The close integration of this family of software products is welcome, and since Forefront allows you the use of whatever scanning engine(s) you want, extends the ability IT managers have to protect their current security investments.

We have been in the Forefront Client Security beta since September, and are looking forward to testing this new suite of products in a live environment.

For the IT manager and for solution providers, I feel this is a product that must be investigated thoroughly for addition to one’s security offerings.

What do you think of Microsoft being in Security? Am I being naïve or unduly optimistic? Are you trying it out?

You can always email me your tips and tricks at