Redmond Magazine

What's New

• An IT Pro's Guide to Virtualization and Windows 7

  As companies prepare to migrate to Windows 7, IT professionals can implement new virtualization capabilities provided in the new desktop operating system. We offer a primer on the various options now available.

• RemoteFX Enhances the RDS User Experience

  RemoteFX represents a significant update to the graphics-processing capabilities of the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) core Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

• SharePoint 2010 Workflows: Going with the Flow

  Using workflows in SharePoint 2010 is a good way to automate complex business processes.

• Microsoft PowerPivot: Making Excel Analytics Work

  A new component in SQL Server 2008 R2 gives users the autonomy to set up business intelligence functionality in Excel without taking control of the process away from IT.

• Diskeeper V-locity 2: Server Virtualization Defrag

  The defragmentation software for server virtualization offers useful features and unique value.

• PolicyPak for Windows 7: Convenient Configuration

  PolicyPak gives IT pros the power to automate application configuration with minimum hassle and maximum results.

• What Is Microsoft's Next Billion-Dollar Business?

  Whether you're in the camp that believes that Microsoft is too dependent on its cash cows or the one that thinks that Microsoft is spreading itself too thin, it's worth considering which product will be the next billion-dollar baby in Redmond.

• Moving to Hybrid IT: Integrating Cloud Technologies

  Software as a Service (SaaS). Hosted services. "The Cloud." These are terms that have been flying around the IT industry more and more frequently of late, and if you haven't been paying attention, it's time to start.

• GFI Puts on Sunbelt

  Two of my favorite third-party vendors are GFI and Sunbelt Software. Both have guts and personality, and now they have double of both as GFI is buying Sunbelt.

• IT Software Audits Gone Bad: Beware the BSA

  Software piracy is big business and bad for IT as a whole, so someone has to police it. But when the piracy police overstep their bounds, companies suffer needlessly. Here, Redmond explores the most harrowing tales of software audits and how companies should respond if the piracy cops come knocking.

• Q&A: Microsoft CIO Tony Scott

  Exec oversees "dog-fooding" of Redmond's new technology and migration to the cloud.

• Security Acquisitions Sizzle IT-Enterprise Community

  Plus: A new IBM study ranks the vulnerability rate of vendors.

• Windows 95 Reaches Its 15th Birthday

  This week marks Windows 95's birthday, with the venerable operating system turning 15 years old.

• Holed Up in the Library

  A flaw with curious name, "binary planting," grows out of iTunes on Windows. There's a workaround for that.

• IE Turns 15: The Birth and Life (So Far) of Internet Explorer

  This month, Internet Explorer turns 15 years old. Happy birthday, IE!

• Summer Winds Blow In Record Number of Security Fixes

  Plus: Adobe readies Reader patch; Google engineer may get formal recognition for Windows flaws.

• Microsoft Cures LNK Flaw with Early Patch

  Microsoft releases fix early due to exploits out in the wild. Plus: Microsoft, Adobe team up on flaw research; IE 8 privacy controls handling debated.

• Does Your Company Have Intelligence?

  B.I. projects can be complex and expensive, but there are increasing options for smaller shops -- with big payoffs.

• A Nice Break

  The accidental death of Doug's blackberry gives him the chance to take a real vacation -- for three days.

• New Advice for Building Your IT Team

  Why generalists are gaining favor in cash-strapped IT departments.

• Redmond's Living Dead: Microsoft's 8 Most Popular 'Zombie Products'

  These roducts aren't really alive, but they're not quite extinct, either. They're the walking dead of Microsoft product lines, and it's best to avoid them -- if you can.

• Review Round-Up: Data Protection and Recovery Products

  Backup software has come a long way in recent years. We compare four products that should prove useful, particularly for small to midsize enterprises.

• Bill Gates Is Gone, and He's Not Coming Back

  Even if Steve Ballmer is going to be replaced (doubtful), it won't be by Bill.

• Microsoft Shifts on Responsible Disclosure

  Amped up 'responsible disclosure' gets toned down to 'coordinated vulnerability disclosure.' Plus: Redmond won't pay for bugs, and hacking has its own rewards.

• Green IT: Going Green -- Does Your Company Care?

  Take a good look at your organizations’ priorities and policies, and you may discover you’re going green just by trying to save some green.