Microsoft

Scheduled August bulletin release day, Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)

Preliminary information, subject to change.

As part of our regularly scheduled bulletin release, we’re currently planning to release:

• Seven Microsoft Security Bulletins with maximum severity of Critical, and five with maximum severity of Important. These updates may require a restart and will be detectable using the newly released version of the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

As we do each month, we’ll be releasing an updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool.

And finally, we are planning to release high-priority, non-security updates on Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) as well as high-priority, non-security updates on Microsoft Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). You can get additional information, in the “Other Information” section of the Advanced Notification.

Also, please do register for next week’s TechNet Monthly Security Bulletin webcast. This month’s will be on Wednesday August 13, 2008 at 11 AM Pacific time. We’ll be reviewing the bulletins during the call and then taking your questions live on the air and providing answers to them from our panel of subject matter experts.

You can register for the webcast here:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032374631&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

TechNet

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TechNet Plus Blog

“The following list summarizes the features and improvements in the new UI:”

• The “twitchy” fly-out menu with the strange mouse behavior is gone. RIP.

• The product list is still categorized. This was the most commonly requested organization structure.

• The table of contents has been flattened from three levels to two so finding products will be easier.

• The list of products can be narrowed easily by using the search filter.

• You can find products by using the filtered search or by browsing the table of contents.

• You can now search on part of a product name, e.g. “2007,” or on the name of an edition, e.g. “Ultimate.”

• If a file contains more than one product edition, the names of the editions are listed in plain view.

• File downloading, key related tasks, and product information are provided on the same page so you will no longer have to navigate from one page where you search for a product to another where you download files and claim keys. And if you encounter an error on the site, you’ll no longer be taken to a separate error page.

• File downloading, key related tasks, and relevant information are now displayed in a single row so you’ll no longer have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find product keys.

• Download sizes are displayed prominently so you can see how big the file is before you initiate the download.

• You can now sort product files by the date they were updated, or by their availability based on your subscription level.

• The site will “remember” your last settings for media type, e.g. “DVD,” and architecture, e.g. “x86.” If no files match your settings, the site will automatically suggest less-restrictive settings.

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A press release from Microsoft states:

REDMOND, Wash. — July 28, 2008 — At the ninth annual Microsoft Research Faculty Summit today, leaders from Microsoft Research outlined their vision for how Microsoft Corp. and academics can collaborate on research projects to develop technological breakthroughs that will define computing and scientific research in the years ahead.

Speaking to more than 400 faculty members from leading research institutions worldwide, Tony Hey, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s External Research Division, emphasized the role his group plays not only in supporting specific collaborative research projects, but also in improving the process of research and its role in the innovation ecosystem, including developing and supporting efforts in open access, open tools, open technology and interoperability. Toward that end, Hey announced a set of free software tools aimed at allowing researchers to seamlessly publish, preserve and share data throughout the entire scholarly communication life cycle. He also discussed collaborative initiatives intended to unlock the potential of multicore computing.

The following tools are freely available now:

• Add-ins. The Article Authoring Add-in for Word 2007 enables metadata to be captured at the authoring stage to preserve document structure and semantic information throughout the publishing process, which is essential for enabling search, discovery and analysis in subsequent stages of the life cycle. The Creative Commons Add-in for Office 2007 allows authors to embed Creative Commons licenses directly into an Office document (Word, Excel or PowerPoint) by linking to the Creative Commons site via a Web service.

• The Microsoft e-Journal Service. This offering provides a hosted, full-service solution that facilitates easy self-publishing of online-only journals to facilitate the availability of conference proceedings and small and medium-sized journals.

• Research Output Repository Platform. This platform helps capture and leverage semantic relationships among academic objects — such as papers, lectures, presentations and video — to greatly facilitate access to these items in exciting new ways.

• The Research Information Centre. In close partnership with the British Library, this collaborative workspace will be hosted via Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and will allow researchers to collaborate throughout the entire research project workflow, from seeking research funding to searching and collecting information, as well as managing data, papers and other research objects throughout the research process.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/jul08/07-28SoftwareToolsPR.mspx

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Previous Certifiedbug: The Microsoft MVP Program, how it works

Toby Richards, General Manager for Community Support Services and the MVP Program at Microsoft, is interviewed by Ken Levy discussing the current state of the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professionals) community and the roadmap for the MVP program and MVP summit.

Toby took over this role in early 2008, and he is responsible for programs that identify, award and enable community influencers around the world, creating deeper relationships and richer feedback opportunities that improve Microsoft products and services. Also discussed in the interview is online support strategies and how MVPs help users and developers who are not MVPs. For more information, go to the MVP Program Web site.

Interview

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Am I hearing some of you say, “finally!”

Power Pack 1 includes several new features and fixes,

• x64 support for home computers running Windows Vista

• Home Server Shared Folder backup

• Improved remote access experience

• Improvements to power consumption and performance

• Localised products for Japan and China

Windows Home Server Release Documentation

Power Pack 1 also delivers a fix for the data corruption bug.

We Got Served
Windows Home Server Team Blog

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Scheduled July bulletin release day, Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)

Preliminary information, subject to change.

• As part of our regularly scheduled bulletin release, we’re currently planning to release:Four Microsoft Security Bulletins rated as Important. These updates may require a restart and will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

As we do each month, the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool will be updated.

We are also planning to release high-priority, non-security updates on Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) as well as high-priority, non-security updates on Microsoft Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). For additional information, please see the Other Information section of the Advanced Notification.

Finally, in late July, we’ll also be releasing KB946928 which updates the infrastructure of the Windows Update client itself. For more information on this update, please visit the Microsoft Update blog.

As always, we’ll be holding the July edition of the monthly security bulletin webcast on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 11 a.m., Pacific Standard Time. We will review this month’s release and take your questions live on-air with answers from our panel of experts. As a friendly reminder, if you can’t make the live webcast, you can listen to it on-demand as well. You can register for the webcast here:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032374629&Culture=en-US

TechNet

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Monday June 30th, 2008, sales of XP will discontinue. Bill Veghte, a Microsoft senior Vice President wrote an open letter to customers on the transition from XP to Vista.

With the June 30, 2008, “end of sales” date for Windows XP approaching, many people have asked me if they will still be able to get support for Windows XP. The answer is an emphatic “yes, you will continue to be supported.” We recently released Service Pack 3 for Windows XP and we will continue to provide security updates and other critical updates for Windows XP until April, 2014. Our ongoing support for Windows XP is the result of our recognition that people keep their Windows-based PCs for many years and a reflection of our commitment to provide the highest level of support for all our customers.

The other question people ask is whether they will be able to buy PCs with Windows XP after June 30. The answer again is “yes.” It’s true that we will stop selling Windows XP as a retail packaged product and stop licensing it directly to major PC manufacturers. But customers who still need Windows XP will be able to get it. For example:

Re: An Update on the Windows Roadmap

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Microsoft released the following security bulletins today:

• MS08-030 - Vulnerability in Bluetooth Stack Could Allow Remote Code Execution (951376) - Critical

• MS08-031 - Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (950759) - Critical

• MS08-032 - Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits (950760) - Important

• MS08-033 - Vulnerabilities in DirectX Could Allow Remote Code Execution (951698) - Critical

• MS08-034 - Vulnerability in WINS Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (948745) - Moderate

• MS08-035 - Vulnerability in Active Directory Could Allow Denial of Service (953235) - Moderate

• MS08-036 - Vulnerabilities in Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) Could Allow Denial of Service (950762) - Moderate

TechNet

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Scheduled June bulletin release day, Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)

Preliminary information, subject to change.

• Three Microsoft Security Bulletins rated Critical, three Important, and one Moderate. These updates may require a restart and will be detectable using the newly released version of the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

As we do each month, the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool will be updated.

Finally, we are planning to release high-priority, non-security updates on Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) as well as high-priority, non-security updates on Microsoft Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). For additional information, please see the Other Information section of the Advanced Notification.

As always, we’ll be holding the June edition of the monthly security bulletin webcast on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 11 a.m., Pacific Standard Time. We will review this month’s release and take your questions live on-air with answers from our panel of experts. As a friendly reminder, if you can’t make the live webcast, you can listen to it on-demand as well.

You can register for the webcast here:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032357225&Culture=en-US

TechNet

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