Microsoft posted a screenshot of some new Exchange2007 options which made me laugh. Well worth a visit to check out this tool and read the comments too.

Microsoft have for some time made available virtual images of XP with IE6 and IE7 available. With the new beta version of IE8 now available for testing, the download page for IE on XP and Vista has been updated.  You can also try the various IE’s in Vista too.  Note that all the downloads will expire at the end of June 2008 (but new ones will probably be available to download before then.)  Apparently IE8 won’t access Microsoft Update pages unless you run in IE7 emulation and restart your browser.

Most people have probably used the Microsoft knowledge base but did you know that Microsoft Certified Partners (anyone who has passed a Microsoft exam) has access to an internal database that may have more information and articles? As long as you are already certified and have a LiveID then you can access the Microsoft Partner Level Knowledge Base.

Since it is a new year I was updating things in my iCal on my mac. I got to wondering if there was a way to subscribe to iCalendars (RFC 2445) shared calendars. Not import but actually subscribe so they stay up to date. I found an open source project called Remote Calendars. The latest version is v6.3 on May 19, 2007. So its fairly current. If you are a windows users and want to subscribe to iCalendars you can give it a try.

I just wish more groups used iCal feeds for their schedules. I was looking up our local library to see what they offered for computer classes and see if it was something I could volunteer to help with. The schedule is on the web page only and as a PDF flier.

Alternately if you are not an outlook user, there is always Mozilla Sunbird. It is a free calendar program that supports iCal subscriptions.

Links Mentioned:
Remote Calendars iCal for MS Outlook 2003 & 2007
Mozilla Sunbird
iCal Share – Lots of Publically Shared Calendar feeds
RFC 2445 – Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification

I was browsing the Sunday sales flier for a not so best purchase price establishment. $129 for their team of specialists to “protect your new pc.” Gets you Antivirus, antispyware, installation and a so called speed and performance boost. Ok. Let’s start with antivirus. AVG is FREE for home users. Antispyware? How about Microsoft Defender and occasionally run Adaware, again both are FREE. Top that with setting up your system for OpenDNS and you can block phishing, adult content etc. How much? You guessed it, FREE again. Lastly. Speed and performance boost?!? Are they kidding? On a new pc what are they going to do, remove all the crapware that comes on the pc while replacing it with some half junky bloatware AV package they love to sell in their ads? Any IT person with experience knows the two “classic” AV packages nearly rate as viruses themselves in what they do to Windows stability and performance. Do yourself a favor. Apply the $129 toward a nice iPod Nano, subscribe to some podcasts and use these free solutions instead. Don’t forget going into add/remove programs and removing all that crapware is free too with a few mouse clicks.

Links Mentioned:
AVG Antivirus
Microsoft Defender – Antispyware
Adaware – Antispyware
OpenDNS – help block phishing, adult content etc for free.
Previous FiT Post on OpenDNS

Did you know that Microsoft have some free online training courses for Office 2003 and 2007? The Office Training Homepage helpfully shows you popular and new courses – worth checking out and referring your end users to.  If you have Software Assurance then there are additional courses available too under the Microsoft e-learning scheme. To access these courses you will need to request access from the person who administers your Microsoft Licensing. In my experience, getting the e-learning access for my users took about 4 weeks or repeated emails and phone calls with Microsoft before someone could fix the system to allow my users in, but the content was worth it.

Microsoft’s SteadyState 2.5 is now in Beta and supports Vista. Admittedly the application is in Beta but for those of you who need the ability to lock down a pc so that any changes made by users get removed on reboot, then SteadyState is well worth investigating. This application was last mentioned back in July, but the new version has recently been released.