I just got back from a nice family vacation to Florida (Orlando & Cocoa Beach). The weather was fabulous with daytime highs in the 70-80F range vs. 10-20F here in Kansas City. We also got to see a Space Shuttle launch, which has always been on my 'bucket list'. Of course, the week I decide to unplug is also the week Microsoft decides to release Windows 2008, Vista SP1 and WSUS 3.0 SP1. Oh well - Josh and Aubrey have done a great job picking up the slack. So from the 'Better Late than Never' department, here are my thoughts on recent Microsoft developments:
WSUS 3.0 SP1 RTM
Microsoft released WSUS 3.0 SP1 on 2/8/2008. This release fixes a few bugs, adds some minor features, and most importantly adds Windows Server 2008 as a supported platform. In fact, sometime in the next few weeks/months there will be an update to the Server Manager UI in Windows Server 2008 that allows direct integration with WSUS. I covered WSUS 3.0 SP1 back in November, 2007 when the product achieved Release Candidate status. Very little changed since November, so you can refer back to my previous post for details (including Server Manager integration screen shots).
So far the only upgrade issues I've read about are related to long (12+ character) e-mail notification passwords. The current work-around is to shorten the password... upgrade to WSUS 3.0 SP1... then reset the password to the desired length. Yes, this is a pain... but it won't impact everyone and it isn't a show-stopper. I'll post more info after working with the RTM code for a few days.
Windows Server 2008
After a long and thorough development/test cycle Windows Server 2008 was finalized on 2/4/2008. I'm pumped about Win2008... and not just because I'm in the consulting business. ;)
God willing, I'll blog more about Win2008 over the next few weeks/months. I'm also part of the Heroes Happen {here} campaign and will be hosting several user group meetings on Win2008. In the meantime here are my 'Top 5' new/improved features:
- Active Directory (Read-only DCs, granular password policies, DFS-R for SYSVOL, improved auditing)
- Server Core (as Iain McDonald likes to say, "The Wow Stops Now")
- Terminal Services (TS RemoteApp, TS Easy Print, TS Session Broker, TS Web Access)
- Failover Clustering (improved setup, ability to span IP subnets, NetBIOS dependency eliminated)
- Security Improvements (new TCP/IP stack, NAP, firewall enabled by default, BitLocker, etc.)
I'm not sure about the Volume Licensing download site - but Connect and MSDN/TechNet users can download the RTM bits now.
Windows Vista SP1
As expected Windows Vista SP1 hit RTM alongside Win2008. Marketing-speak aside... this is a major upgrade to Vista RTM and not simply a collection of security/bug fixes. If you need proof, check Mark Russinovich's blog post on file copy improvements. However, Vista SP1 won't usher in a new wave of UI changes either. To use a car analogy... think of Vista SP1 as a manufacturer recall to replace the engine. The car looks the same, but it runs a heck of a lot better and faster. Microsoft is hopeful that SP1 address most issues preventing large organizations from deploying Vista. It won't quiet the 'Resurrect Windows XP' crowd... but then again, nothing will.
Want to get your hands on Vista SP1? If you're a beta tester with access to Connect... have at it. The RTM code was uploaded over the weekend (stand-alone, ISO and WU script). As for the rest of you... check out this blog post from Mike Nash regarding external availability. Patience, grasshopper. I've done one successful upgrade so far - my home Media Center machine. Will hit a few more this week and report back if I run into problems. Happy upgrading!