02/01/2005
February 2005 - Microsoft's $11 Billion Man
Jeff Raikes expounds on Office, Software Assurance and the work life of the future. Plus: Instant Messaging goes enterprise; what users think of SP2; and 10 essential rules for patch management.
In-Depth
A private IM environment may be just the answer to give your company all the benefits of IM while mitigating the inherent security risks.
Rollout pain aside, users laud the long overdue enhancements that
SP2 brings to IE, along with new GPOs, RPC lockdown and more.
The more work you put in up front, the easier it will be to get and stay current when the patches hit.
Jeff Raikes, head of Microsoft's Information Worker unit, expounds on Office, Software Assurance and the changing nature of life at work.
The Group Policy Management Console can be a powerful troubleshooting too—if you know how to use it.
Product Reviews
True Image Server for Windows can take away your worries about accurate and efficient server recovery.
Worried about trojans and viruses sneaking in with downloaded files? DownloadSecurity can help you stop them at the gate.
GPAnywhere gives you more flexibility to manage Group Policy, even on older or remote machines, with or without Active Directory.
Barney's Rubble
Bill Gates' worthy contributions, eBay's pass on Passport and what the announcement of the Mac mini might mean for Microsoft.
Beta Man
Our Beta Man offers an early look at what Windows Server 2003 SP1 will bring.
Letters to Redmond
Readers comment on January's Chief Concerns and Windows Insider columns.
Mr. Script
Simplify your administrative life with HTAs.
Security Advisor
Misconceptions of encryption keep us from obtaining the full range of benefits it offers.
Ten
What's in a name? A whole lot more than some people anticipate.
Windows Insider
You might want to take a few precautionary steps prior to initiating ADPREP.
News
From the business wires this week: free online spyware detection, a mobile Exchange management tool, WinZip for Outlook, and more.
Growing ranks of those with MCSE: Security offers some proof that security remains hot.
More competency exams available for Microsoft software licensing experts.
From the business wires this week: compliance and auditing tools, a security and antitheft tracking solution, and more.
Two can take Microsoft's Exam 70-270 for the price of single exam; available for limited time.
From the business wires this week: an Oracle plug-in for .NET, a VPN client, a LAN management solution and more.
Consider yourself a scripting expert? Prove it with this certification.
From the business wires this week: AD tools; antispam solutions; tape appliances that compress, encrypt and sign data; and more.
Microsoft's Learning Group to introduce simulations to MCP exams; new question type already available in Windows Server 2003 core exams.
Moves by HP and Microsoft force the 64-bit chip further into a high-end niche.
Lieberman Software brings in an MCT to boost the tech knowledge of its sales force.
A Q&A with CEO John Curtis