Astalavista Microsoft; Welcome Google...Wow

Google continues to poach from Microsoft — that's not really news. But it's relatively rare to see Microsoft employees using their Microsoft-sponsored TechNet blog space to diss Microsoft on the way out the door.

David Bennett, a member of the Windows parental controls team, decided to do just that, however. In a post dated April 9, Bennett expressed his anger over recent Microsoft reorgs affecting his team: Bennett blogged:

"I just accepted a position to work at Google up in Kirkland, so still in Seattle. I will be starting there on the 30th of April, so not long now. My first week will be down in Mountain View doing a orientation thingy. So those people down in San Francisco, be nice to meet up again.

"I think this will be a good change and a fun job, I was a little peeved without how Microsoft dealt with the team I was on, I did the parental controls feature of vista which has got some of the best airplay/talk about of any of the features associated with vista. In response Microsoft reorged us first into a group that hated us and then into a group that had nothing to do with Parental Controls and broke the whole team up. I liked working with the old group of people and I liked the feature, I don't like where I am now or the product I am working on.

"Hopefully I will end up working on the Google TV product, which would be fun."

Don't let the door hit you on your way out….

Microsoft Windows Vista Platform

Windows Vista is a line of graphical operating systems used on personal computers, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media centers. Prior to its announcement on July 22, 2005, Windows Vista was known by its codename "Longhorn".[1] Development was completed on November 8, 2006; over the following three months it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers, business customers, and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released worldwide to the general public,[2] and was made available for purchase and downloading from Microsoft's web site.[3] The release of Windows Vista comes more than five years after the introduction of its predecessor, Windows XP, making it the longest time span between two releases of Microsoft Windows.

Windows Vista contains hundreds of new features; some of the most significant include an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed Windows Aero, improved searching features, new multimedia creation tools such as Windows DVD Maker, and completely redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems. Vista also aims to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network using peer-to-peer technology, making it easier to share files and digital media between computers and devices. For developers, Vista includes version 3.0 of the .NET Framework, which aims to make it significantly easier for developers to write high-quality applications than with the traditional Windows API.

Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista, however, has been to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system.[4] One common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors has been their commonly exploited security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility to malware, viruses and buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced in early 2002 a company-wide 'Trustworthy Computing initiative' which aims to incorporate security work into every aspect of software development at the company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion.[5]

Windows Vista has been the target of a number of negative assessments by various groups. Criticism of Windows Vista has included protracted development time, more restrictive licensing terms, the inclusion of a number of new Digital Rights Management technologies aimed at restricting the copying of protected digital media, and the usability of other new features such as User Account Control.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

For some time after the release of Exchange 2003, Microsoft's future plans for the product were not known. Edge Services, an add-on for the main product, was to have been released sometime in 2005 but was dropped. The new version, Exchange 2007, was released on DVD in late 2006 to business customers as part of Microsoft's rollout wave of new products. It includes voice mail integration, better search and support for Web services, better filtering options, and a new Outlook Web Access interface.
Exchange 2007 will run on 64-bit x64 version of Windows only, pointing out the substantial performance benefits that 64-bit computing brings to the product. This limitation applies to supported production environments only; a 32-bit trial version is available for download and testing. However, companies currently running Exchange on 32-bit hardware will be forced to replace or migrate hardware if they wish to upgrade to the new version. Even those companies that are currently running Exchange on 64-bit capable hardware will still need to upgrade their server operating system simultaneously with the Exchange 2007 upgrade.
The first beta of Exchange 2007 (then named "Exchange 12") was released in December 2005 to a very limited number of beta testers. A wider beta was made available via TechNet Plus and MSDN subscriptions in March 2006 according to the Microsoft Exchange team blog,
On April 25, 2006, Microsoft announced that the next version of Exchange would be called Exchange Server 2007. More details about Exchange Server 2007 can be found at the Exchange Preview Website. This site has information about this version of Exchange and outlines key improvements:Protection: anti-spam, antivirus, compliance, clustering with data replication, improved security and encryptionImproved Information Worker Access: improved calendaring, unified messaging, improved mobility, improved web accessImproved IT Experience: 64-bit performance & scalability, command-line shell & simplified GUI, improved deployment, role separation, simplified routing"Exchange Management Shell": a new command-line shell and scripting language for system administration (based on the Windows PowerShell scripting language -- formerly called "Monad" -- developed for Windows Vista). Shell users can perform every task that can be performed in the Exchange graphical user interface plus additional tasks, and can program often-used or complex tasks into "scripts" that can be saved, shared, and re-used."Unified Messaging" that lets users receive voice mail, e-mail, and faxes in their mailboxes, and lets them access their mailboxes from cell phones and other wireless devices. Voice commands can be given to control and listen to e-mail over the phone (and also send some basic messages, like "I'll be late")Removed the database maximum size limit. Database size is now limited by hardware capability and the window for backups and maintenance.Increased the maximum number of storage groups and mail databases per server, to 5 each for Standard Edition (from 1 each in Exchange 2003 Standard), and to 50 each for Enterprise Edition (from 4 groups and 20 databases in Exchange 2003 Enterprise).