Microsoft Link Dump; Load #3

CC Photo Credit: by Choctopus on Flickr

That’s not just any pile of big steaming dirt Claus is delivering to your browser today;

---it’s guar-un-teed Microsoft quality link-dump!

Internet Explorer 8 Chunks

• IEBlog : Slipstreaming IE8 – Details on how IE8 can be slipstreamed into Vista and Server 2008 ImageX WIM image file builds.  It’s pretty clever stuff and very cool for ImageX fans.
• IEBlog : The IE8 IEAK – Get ready to deploy customized packages of IE8 and manage the post-deployment settings and elements.  Neat stuff if you are going to plan for a controlled release and deployment of IE8 rather than just letting Automatic Updates or the end-users do your upgrading for you.
• IEBlog : IE8 Tab Grouping – IE8 gets color tab grouping.  Lots of neat technical and implementation details on this new IE feature for IE8.
• The IE8 Smart Address Bar Part II: A Few More Features – Now MS goes and explains just how their own version of Firefox’s “Awesome bar” is expected to work.  Do we really need all these features in the address bar? I guess developers across platforms feel we do.
• What’s New for IE8 Search – Good overview of features that Firefox delivered to it’s own browser quite a bit ago.  Does Microsoft’s version deliver any improvements or innovations? You be the judge.

Organic Filler Material

• Download details: Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit – Version 5.0 released. “The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.0 contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Microsoft Windows Vista, a Windows Update, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer in your environment.”
• Network Monitor – Version 3.2 Released – Network Monitor Blog – New features include process tracking, a more efficient capture engine, find conversations, IA64 build, PCAP support, and many more juicy enhancements.
• Information about Network Monitor 3.2 in Windows Vista – KB955998 – Info and download link. It’s free, BTW…
• Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) 3.0 has been RTMd - and why you should care - the back room tech blog.  Sounds interesting.  Too bad we haven’t gone fully over to Group Policy just yet.  I’m reading it anyway to try to stay ahead of the curve!

The “Botanicals” of Compost

• The Windows Experience Blog : Microsoft Pro Photo Tools 2 Released – New metadata image editing and manipulation toy. Microsoft Professional Photography Tools download.
• The Windows Experience Blog : Microsoft Live Labs Releases Color Picker Gadget – Yeah I know, another color picker app, but hey, this one also includes creating and saving color palettes as well….
• The Windows Experience Blog : Best Windows Vista Website Contest Winner Announced.   Turns out it is Tweaking with Vishal
• Microsoft Research Image Composite Editor (ICE) – Yep this is cool. It’s an image editor that does panoramic image stitching.  Neat!  Worth a look and download if this is your thing.
• Microsoft Image Composite Editor: a powerful, user friendly panoramic image stitcher - review & download link - freewaregenius.com – Good review of the above-mentioned tool.
• Windows UX Guidelines October 08 update: ribbons, touch and pen computing – istartedsomething blog.  Highlights of neat GUI element design info from the updated Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines documentation.

Compost handling tip: Spread Evenly

• Tweaking with Vishal – Apparently a very awesome Vista tips and tricks website. Added to my RSS feed list anyway.
• How to remove administrative shares in Windows Server 2008 - KB954422
• Windows XP firewall service is enabled after installing XP SP3 - even if it was previously disabled – back room tech blog – Basically reminds us that even if you had disabled XP’s Microsoft firewall, when you install SP3 it gets enabled by default. Now you know.
• Howto: Fix Slow USB 2.0 file transfer on Windows XP  -the back room tech blog reminds us that it is possible that your USB 2.0 drives may not be optimized for performance.  Quick How-To.
• Getting it wrong about Windows Vista x64 - SuperSite Blog – Get out of the way. Looks like Paul Thurrott is taking a load of his own out to the garden to dump!  Don’t be messin with Paul and his Vista x64 knowledge, man.  I’m just saying…

Now sit back and watch those flowers bloom outside your Windows…

Looks pretty doesn’t it.  Don’t mind the smell!

--Claus