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Unified Access Gateway 2010 SP3 Released
Microsoft this week issued Service Pack 3 for its Forefront Unified Access Gateway 2010 (UAG 2010) product, adding support for newer Microsoft client and server solutions.
The new service pack for systems running Windows Server 2008 R2 editions can be downloaded here. It's required to have Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Service Pack 2 in place to use SP3. The new SP3 release can only be installed if IT pros have previously installed Service Pack 2 for UAG 2010. Microsoft warns that SP3 isn't a cumulative release, which is why UAG 2010 SP2 needs to be in place beforehand.
SP3 notably lets Microsoft's UAG 2010 reverse-proxy and access control solution work with Windows 8 and Windows RT clients, including adding support for Internet Explorer 10. For instance, the Mail app in Windows 8 can connect with Exchange servers with the new service pack in place. SP3 also adds support for the Remote Desktop Connection 8.0 feature of Windows 8, according to Microsoft's announcement. This support is also extended to Remote Desktop Connection 8.0 running on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 clients, as described here.
Most Office 2013 applications are supported with the new service pack. The list includes Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook. Missing from the list is OneNote, and there was no explanation provided for the omission in Microsoft's announcement. The TechNet library description lacked details.
On the server side, SP3 adds publishing support for Exchange 2013 and SharePoint 2013. The Exchange 2013 publishing bottleneck was one of the main factors driving this service pack release, according to earlier comments by Microsoft's Exchange engineering team.
Microsoft also added support for Windows Phone 8 devices in the new service pack. Lastly, there are about 15 bug fixes included in SP3, addressing various customer-reported issues.
Microsoft had said back in November that SP3 for UAG 2010 would include support for DirectAccess connections. That may be so, but the details weren't described in Microsoft's announcement. Microsoft opened a forum page here to answer any UAG 2010 SP3 questions.
In September, Microsoft gave notice that it was discontinuing some of its Forefront enterprise security products. However, the Unified Access Gateway product wasn't on that list and is continuing to be sold.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.