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Today is it, Windows 7 is out. As a Microsoft MVP I've been testing Windows 7 for a long time and I have been using it as my primary OS for several months. I think Microsoft has escaped the Vista demons and has a great OS to go to market with. I predict even folks who run Apple hardware and OSX will end up buying Windows 7 to run as a VM or in bootcamp and XP will start disappearing quickly from the landscape.

So to all my friends who work at Microsoft, congratulations, it is a big deal. I also am excited about Server 2008 R2 because of the some of the cool "better together" features that IT Pros will get with both products.
- Ed

Labels: Microsoft Windows 7

I work for a Cisco partner so I get lots of updates on product releases, roadmaps and all the business "justifications" of why they do what they do and how to explain that to customers. I also happen to be a Microsoft MVP and I have switched to using Windows 7 64-bit on a fulltime basis (though I can still boot into my Ubuntu install too if needed.) As someone who uses VPN alot, primarily to do remote support for clients it is incredibly frustrating to NOT have a Cisco supported 64-bit IPSec client for Windows Vista or 7.

The reason I bring this up is Cisco just sent out an announcement titled "Cisco VPN Client v5.0.6 (Windows 7 32-bit support) is now available!" - are you kidding me? That is it?

Cisco, you are hurting your install base of clients, you are NOT doing what is right for them. The statement at the end of the announcement says it all. " 64-bit support is under consideration, but is not yet EC'ed for an upcoming release. This support is available in the Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client today (SSL/DTLS). " Translation - we want you to by a new Cisco solution that works with AnyConnect, if you don't have it we will force you to migrate by not developing a 64-bit IPSec client or integrating that functionality into the AnyConnect client that does support 64-bit.

I do not understand this thinking. What about all the Routers, PIX and VPN Concentrator that are deployed that will not get replaced that do NOT support AnyConnect. Now clients are going to purchase new machines with Windows 7 64-bit and have NO capabilities to VPN back into their network with a Cisco solution (at least not without buying a new Cisco product.) The first thing to pop into my head would be is there a free VPN alternative so I don't have to do this upgrade? Alternately, there are other 3rd party IPSec clients that are supported on Windows 7 like NCP and TheGreenBow but honestly, why should an existing Cisco client have to pay for a new software client when they had one that was working!

I honestly have had more pushback about this one item in meetings than anything else lately. Cisco has corrected the cost difference between IPSec and SSL VPN for the ASA - it is time to correct this also.
- Ed

Labels: 64-bit, Cisco, Microsoft Windows 7, VPN

It has been driving me nuts for several days trying to figure out how to control when the microphone is on or off on my Lenovo T60 laptop with Windows 7 RC (I am assuming the RTM is the same.) I have been listening to a lot of online training materials the last few days and the mic has been on the whole time with no obvious way to turn it off. I finally took the time to figure it out.
You have to mouse click on the speaker icon in the task bar, then click on the speaker icon at the top of the volume adjustment graphic that pops up. That will open a new window titled Speaker Properties, you pick the Levels tab and under that is Microphone. You can adjust the level of the microphone but more importantly there is the option to mute it (you click on the speaker - yes I know, it doesn't make any sense.)
Why the microphone mute option is buried here I have no idea, you can get to the same window by right clicking the speaker icon in the taskbar and selecting Open Volume Mixer then doing the same click on the speaker but this is just as un-intuitive as what I outlined before.
Given how many folks are doing multimedia stuff today (video/screencasts/podcasts) you would think the microphone would finally get some respect and its own icon set? Guess not.
- Ed

Labels: microphone, Microsoft Windows 7

For those who are watching the happenings in Microsoft's DirectAccess solution the most interesting news as of late is from the Forefront Unified Access Gateway product group. They announced at the end of last month the availability of a UAG DirectAccess solution.
I participated in one of the Microsoft MVP LiveMeeting session on it and I think the most compelling part of using UAG for DirectAccess is the easy of provisioning the solution. They have a nice wizard driven deployment set up which I think will make getting DirectAccess up and going much easier. The nice part is that they handle setting up the NAT-PT (NAT64) and other transition tunneling needed to get the solution up and working.
I downloaded the beta and will be trying it out next week at our office. We just finished rolling out native IPv6, IPv6 routing and even got IPv6 working over Cisco DMVPN. We have Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04 all working on IPv6 and we even have our Cisco Communication Manager and IP handsets working on IPv6 now.
With the addition of the UAG DirectAccess we will have a complete solution that also integrates Microsoft OCS and MOC with our Cisco Unified Communications infrastructure. Pretty cool stuff.
- Ed

Labels: IPv6, Microsoft DirectAccess, Microsoft Windows 7

I've been lucky enough to be added as part of the Microsoft Springboard Series Technical Expert Panel or STEP program for Windows 7. I've been developing IPv6 content for people participating in the Springboard series to present to their local IT Pro User groups. Check out the Springboard series, Stephen Rose has been doing a great job getting all this content together, its a huge effort.

After the IPv6 content I will likely move on to a quick guide for Direct Access. Direct Access requires Windows Server 2008R2 and remember that Server 2008R2 is 64bit only.

I also just finished chatting with Charley Wen with Microsoft on all things related to QoS within Windows. It will be interesting seeing what solutions Microsoft comes up with for Server and Hyper-V that account for QoS and virtual switch infrastructure.

I am also betting that the RC for Windows7 and Server2008R2 will be out next week. I need to get stuff built out and I would like to use the RC's if possible.
- Ed

Labels: IPv6, Microsoft Windows 7

I wasn't sure if I was going to attend the Microsoft MVP Summit this year. After the MVP program decided to remove the Windows Server - Networking category I didn't think I had much reason to attend and honestly was expecting to not be renewed because of the category going away.
I am now very happy I changed my mind and I attended. It seems that my new category of Enterprise Security felt that it was important to add networking sessions back to the mix.
A ton of folks from the MS Networking Team showed up! From Sandeep Singhal, Sean Siler, Dave Thaler, Ravi Rao, Tyler Barton, Devrim Asli Iyigun, Mahesh Prakriya, to Joseph Davies - thanks to you all for taking the time and effort to listen to my feedback and opinion about networking and what Microsoft is doing right and wrong.
So, without violating my NDA what was I most excited about from the event? Honestly, it is things that were already on my radar (NDA or not) - specifically Direct Access, Branch Cache and IPv6. I think any Enterprise that is running AD and has a large mobile workforce will adopt Direct Access just to make remote support of that mobile workforce easier, there is literally nothing the end user has to do at all (well, you have to turn the computer on and have some sort of Internet connection) to make it work and the initial scaling numbers I have heard put it on par with a typical traditional VPN deployment. Just as many Enterprises have adopted rpc over http/s for Outlook to Exchange the next natural step is to adopt a paradigm that allows ALL corporate applications the same flexibility and access that Outlook and Exchange currently have today - that solution is Direct Access.
Microsoft is pushing more advanced services into both Windows Server 2008R2 and Windows 7 - Branch Cache is one of these services and one that makes a lot of sense for folks to use (big and small IT shops will win with this one - and it is free to turn it on - how cool is that). It does not replace WAN accelerations devices (though with the changes in Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Server 2008 networking you could argue you might not need the acceleration part) but specifically targets the caching of file content. Given the cost point and relative easy of deployment I think it will have a good adoption rate.
Finally, IPv6 - there are several solutions in both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008R2 that just won't work without IPv6. There is no getting around it and you need to start learning it - period. In Windows 7 there is HomeGroup and for Windows Server 2008R2 if you want Direct Access you will need to get up to speed on IPv6. There are more subtle IPv6 items but those two alone should make folks stand up and notice.
- Ed

Labels: Branch Cache, Direct Access, IPv6, Microsoft DirectAccess, Microsoft MVP, Microsoft Windows 7

I am finally getting around to posting about a cool new tool in Windows 7, it's called Problem Step Recorder. Just pull up a command window and type psr or execute it from the run option on the start menu.
It will not replace a remote desktop solution for help desk support people but I can see this as being very useful for remote works who can't get a system working properly or can't describe what the problem is accurately - which is about 70% of the problem in most cases.
I am also completely set to head up to Redmond for the Microsoft MVP Summit. Looking forward to hearing all about Direct Access, changes in the Advanced Firewall in Windows 7 and other cool networking changes.
- Ed

Labels: Microsoft MVP, Microsoft Windows 7

I downloaded Windows 7 beta when it was made available to Microsoft MVP's. I need to still get it loaded up and working since the two times I tried to load it as a VM it failed horribly. I've gotten to play with some colleagues Windows 7 machines and I must admit they have gotten it working much faster then Vista. I think we will see Microsoft roll out Windows 7 by June or July, they got so little traction with Vista it just makes sense to get 7 out the door asap and then rollout a fast release patch after that.

Labels: Microsoft Windows 7