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Ahhh, nonsense! Don't you understand, Microsoft doesn't want it to be easy to install the latest version of Windows (+updates) for any user! This also makes it dificult to re-install Windows when (as it inevitably does) break!

Let's look:
1. initial XP Windows install + all updates (remember SP2 itself is 272M!) is >> 1 CD
2. How would they get a chance to run their "Windows Genuine (dis)Advantage" check?
3. How would they get a chance to force IE down your throat? For instance, another post at this same level reports:
There is a section of the Windows Update site called 'Windows Update Catalog' (http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog/en/ default.asp [microsoft.com]). It provides an easy way to download all the hotfixes for a selected Windows version and language. Very nice :).
Trying it in Mozilla gives:
Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site.
To use this site, you must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later.
To upgrade to the latest version of the browser, go to the Internet Explorer Downloads website.

Whenever it comes to customer convenience or Microsoft dominance, who wins?

There is a section of the Windows Update site called 'Windows Update Catalog' (http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog/en/ default.asp). It provides an easy way to download all the hotfixes for a selected Windows version and language. Very nice :).

While slipstreaming service packs is a common practice, you can also slipstream hotfixes. Hack when I was in IT support we used this great script to automate the process. Some of the other links I still had bookmarked may be of value to people who not only want to slipstream service packs/hotfixes but also build an unattended installation CD. In our case we installed all the apps common to our PC images (except for office) from one CD. We threw the CD in, booted from it and came back 2 1/2 hours later to find a fully installed desktop with all our standard apps. This method is superior to using Ghost or other imaging software when you have a heterogenius enviroment where PC hardware varies drastically from depertment to department or desktop to desktop.

http://www.nu2.nu/bootablecd/
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/ie/ie ak/default.mspx
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/
http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/

This last link related to a commercial software distribution enviroment but but it includes an archive of the known switches accepted by various installers to make them silent. The technique we used was to use the unattended.txt file to add a RunOnce registry entry, to regedit (to marge a secondary gegistry file containing other RunOnce entries) to be executed on the second reboot to silently install our list of apps, where the installer commands used included the switches detailed on the appDeploy website (and many other palces across the web).

There are a relatively small number of installers out there that take a relitively well known set of switches to make the installation silent (accepting all the defaults). These methods saves us thousands of man-hours in PC deployment in the two years they was in use.

--CTH

"Even if you do have a license for each computer, as far as I know, there's no way to change the registration number of a Windows install once it's been installed and a ghost image has been made."

Got sysprep?

Most of the pages you will get when you google "slipstreaming" will talk about slipstreaming service packs, but you can also slipstream individual hotfixes into windows installations. Also not that Microsoft makes avaiable for download ISO Images containing every windows critical and security update. If you really want to make a slimpstreamed install of Windows with every single hotfix possible, this will save you time searching and download the iduvidual updates.

This and this should get you started.

The essence of what you're looking for here is an unattended windows * install with hotfixes and updates streamlined. You can even go a bit further and build in additional drivers and software(JRE or AV, anyone?). In my experience as a tech, XP is the OS I find myself reload most often. One can also do unattended reloads of W98/ME/2k as well. All involve similar google searches.

If only there were a way to search the Internet and find a particular page, perhaps by keyword...

You never know, you might find the answer to your question!

Here's one. I'm sure there are others.

That is exactly how Microsoft does their programming now, it's called the Security Development Lifecycle.

You have to remember, the WMF processing code was created long before SDL existed, and when few people thought cancelling a print job could have unintended consequences.

And thanks to the poor security of a former employer, I know their username/password for MS's premier support. Here's the full text of that KB article:

A Windows XP SP2-based portable computer uses its battery power more quickly than you expect when a USB 2.0 device is connected
View products that this article applies to.
Confidential Article
(The information in this article is provided to you in accordance with your Confidentiality Agreement)
Partner Only ArticleArticle ID : 899179
Last Review : July 12, 2005
Revision : 1.0
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 (https://premier.microsoft.com/kb/256986/) Description of the Microsoft Windows registry
SYMPTOMS
Consider the following scenario. You install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) on a portable computer. Then, you connect a USB 2.0 device to the computer. In this scenario, the computer uses its battery power more quickly than you expect.
CAUSE
Windows XP SP2 installs a USB 2.0 driver that initializes any connected USB device. However, the USB 2.0 driver leaves the asynchronous scheduler component continuously running. This problem causes continuous instances of memory access that prevent the computer from entering the deeper Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) processor idle sleep states. These processor idle sleep states are also known as C states. For example, these include the C3 and C4 states. These sleep states are designed, in part, to save battery power. If an otherwise idle portable computer cannot enter or maintain the processor idle sleep states, the computer uses its battery power more quickly than you expect.
RESOLUTION
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk. To resolve this problem, add the EnIdleEndpointSupport entry to the USB registry key. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate, and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\USB
Note If the USB subkey does not exist, create it. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Select the Services key. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
b. Type USB in the New Key #1 box to name the new key "USB."
3. Right-click USB, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. In the New Value #1 box that appears, type EnIdleEndpointSupport, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click EnIdleEndpointSupport, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1, leave the Hexadecimal option selected, and then click OK.
7. Quit Registry Editor.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
APPLIES TO
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, when used with:
                Microsoft Windows XP Professional
                Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

The bug probably has been fixed already

The problem is the stupid Microsoft's cicle release. That kind of fixes won't ve delivered via windows update unless they're really critical, but through service pack updates. IOW: You'll have to wait until 2007 (service pack 3 planned release date I think) if you're lucky. Notice that this bug was introduced by service pack 2 BTW

They usually tell you to "contact" Microsoft through a number phone to get a patch if you want to get it earlier, something like this:

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=suppor t) Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Which is really a really stupid way of doing things for a company that claims to be number 1

The bug probably has been fixed already

The problem is the stupid Microsoft's cicle release. That kind of fixes won't ve delivered via windows update unless they're really critical, but through service pack updates. IOW: You'll have to wait until 2007 (service pack 3 planned release date I think) if you're lucky. Notice that this bug was introduced by service pack 2 BTW

They usually tell you to "contact" Microsoft through a number phone to get a patch if you want to get it earlier, something like this:

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=suppor t) Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Which is really a really stupid way of doing things for a company that claims to be number 1

A Windows XP SP2-based portable computer uses its battery power more quickly than you expect when a USB 2.0 device is connected
View products that this article applies to.

Partner Only Article Article ID : 899179
Last Review : July 12, 2005
Revision : 1.0
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 (https://premier.microsoft.com/kb/256986/) Description of the Microsoft Windows registry
SYMPTOMS
Consider the following scenario. You install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) on a portable computer. Then, you connect a USB 2.0 device to the computer. In this scenario, the computer uses its battery power more quickly than you expect.
CAUSE
Windows XP SP2 installs a USB 2.0 driver that initializes any connected USB device. However, the USB 2.0 driver leaves the asynchronous scheduler component continuously running. This problem causes continuous instances of memory access that prevent the computer from entering the deeper Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) processor idle sleep states. These processor idle sleep states are also known as C states. For example, these include the C3 and C4 states. These sleep states are designed, in part, to save battery power. If an otherwise idle portable computer cannot enter or maintain the processor idle sleep states, the computer uses its battery power more quickly than you expect.
RESOLUTION
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk. To resolve this problem, add the EnIdleEndpointSupport entry to the USB registry key. To do this, follow these steps:1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate, and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\USB
Note If the USB subkey does not exist, create it. To do this, follow these steps:a. Select the Services key. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
b. Type USB in the New Key #1 box to name the new key "USB."

3. Right-click USB, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. In the New Value #1 box that appears, type EnIdleEndpointSupport, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click EnIdleEndpointSupport, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1, leave the Hexadecimal option selected, and then click OK.
7. Quit Registry Editor.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

APPLIES TO
  Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, when used with:
        Microsoft Windows XP Professional
        Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

  Top of Page

Keywords: kbtshoot kbbug kbnofix kbprb KB899179

Re comment on documentaries, I agree, When I was a young girl (8), seeing on TV the Apollo Race to the moon captivated my interest in engineering . In the UK we now have the excellent BBC "Horizon" and all the Discovery channels.I particularly like "Wings", as it also covers the human interest side as well as the inventions. Now I'm a mother, my 11 year daughter has a balanced range of interests but is rather hooked on Astronomy. (BTW I don't work for the Media, and don't want to, I prefer the quiet life in a research lab behind a computer).
Lyndsay Williams
http://research.microsoft.com/users/lyn/

As a programmer, I can attest to OpenGL being a God-send.

It's a graphics API.

Not only are programmers intimately familiar with the technology

I've not written a DirectX driver. I've not written an OpenGL driver either. I'm still somehow intimately familiar with bits of both APIs.

Direct3D, OTOH, tends to follow Microsoft's practices of hiding what's really going on behind the scenes.

Yeah, it would be a shame if they wrote some exhaustive documentation about it and had some support newsgroups that helped programmers with any problems.

It's been a little while since I've bothered with Direct3D

Congratulations for having a strong opinion about a technology that you do not use.

There are different requirements for enterprise use than for personal use. I will try to help out a bit for those in the corporate world. For example, SpyBot and Ad-Aware are only free for personal use. Because of this, IT shops are not supposed to use this without buying a license. So what should an underfunded IT department use?

Anti-Virus: Yeah, it's usually not great for catching spyware, but the latest versions of all vendors should at least slow down some of it. In our organization, we have several different versions of Norton Anti-Virus, from 7.x to 10.0. So if one PC has lots of problems with spyware, putting version 10.0 on there helps fight it automatically.

Microsoft Anti-Spyware: This is a pretty good tool for unmanaged environments. It is better than Ad-Aware or SpyBot, from my experience. I am not sure of the licensing, however, since we don't use it here.

Autoruns and Process Explorer: These are fantastic products that you can use at work for free, as long as you always download it from www.sysinternals.com when you put them on a PC. Autoruns will give way too much information about what starts up and what has hooks into the OS. To the average user, this can be overwhelming and even dangerous, so make sure you know what you're doing when you remove something. Process Explorer is a great tool for seeing what is running. It is miles better than Task Manager that ships with Windows. It shows you what hooks into what processes and will even allow you to pause a running application!

StartupList and HijackThis: These two programs will help you figure out what kind of nasty stuff you might have running. I am not aware of the licensing issues with these, as I usually use Autoruns instead.

APT, APM, and TaskMan+: These three tools are process explorer type utilities. However, with APT and APM, you can unload a certain DLL file. This is very useful if you have a dll that you can't delete and that keeps regenerating all of the other junk you just removed. Simply unload the DLL from anything it is hooked into and then you can delete everything. TaskMan+ lets you kill almost any process, including services. Best of all, these products are licensed without restriction.

I hope these help. Sorry I can't write more but I'm at work fighting off the bad stuff myself ;)

VLC and MPlayer are the primary media players that have the wizardly bits to make use of windows binary codecs, and perhaps we'll see some of that same wizardry applied to MacOS X on Intel sometime soon, but there are no true cross-platform solutions to playing windows media files.

Well, there's WMP 9 for OS X. It is a Microsoft product, though.

Setting up WMA in MPlayer doesn't look difficult at all as long as you're running on x86.

What profit? Third question at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/s oftware/faq.mspx

Q. How much does the beta of Windows AntiSpyware cost? How much will the final release cost?

A. Windows AntiSpyware (Beta), subsequent beta versions, and the final release version will each be available at no additional charge for currently licensed Windows customers. Customers will be required to validate that their version of Windows is genuine.

Besides Spybot and Adaware, I use the following programs:
SpywareBlaster - Prevents Spyware from being installed
Microsoft AntiSpyware - Completly free, and has nice active protection. Have a 'special' versions of Windows, use an alternate download source.

With respect to Viruses, please read the following article: Mega Antivirus Test.
Summed up: AVG sucks, Anti-Vir finds the most virus, Kaspersky 5 finds most unique stuff, and Kaspersky's online scan owns everything.

Also I'd recommend using a NAT. All of this is prevention/reactive stuff, though I think the Hijack This + Google is the best for nasty stuff, as mentioned.

That was a good point. I know Microsoft is using formal methods as part of their SLAM project to test software, I wonder if Apple is doing something along these lines. Formal methods have proved to be a fantastic resource for producing logically-sound software (e.g., no unescapable while loops). It would be interesting to know if other companies are conducting similar efforts.

And for the record, I'm writing this from my iBook. I'm a happy Mac user and a long-time UNIX user, but that does not keep me from recognising value in Microsoft's efforts towards improving their products.

Not patching and telling how to disable is better than creating a "patch" that installs a crapload of new software and takes 250 MB on its own without telling how to fix. Oh, but MS would never do that.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/business/5/ default.mspx/

Prior art! http://research.microsoft.com/~mbj/Smiley/Smiley.h tml

I guess you aren't familar with Microsoft Game Studios huh?

Titles for Windows:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/default.aspx

Titles for Xbox:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/xbox/default.aspx

Given that those are some of the most popular games currently on the market, I think your rather mistaken in this. I say this as someone who usually spends an undue amount of time insulting MS.

I guess you aren't familar with Microsoft Game Studios huh?

Titles for Windows:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/default.aspx

Titles for Xbox:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/xbox/default.aspx

Given that those are some of the most popular games currently on the market, I think your rather mistaken in this. I say this as someone who usually spends an undue amount of time insulting MS.

Try reading this:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/c/7/9c793 b76-9eec-4081-98ef-f1d0ebfffe9d/LinuxWindowsSecuri ty.pdf

Enjoy

IE is decoupled from the OS in the same way Mozilla is decoupled from the OS, assuming you define OS as "kernel." IE is part of the shell, though. Removing IE would break a lot of the existing shell.

IE is part of Windows in the same way Konqueror is part of KDE. (Wow, a lot of other people came up with that while I wrote this! :)) If you removed Konqueror from KDE - actually, I'm not really sure how that would ripple, but the concept is the same. I think Konqueror handles the desktop in the same way Nautilus runs the GNOME desktop and IE runs the Windows desktop. (That is, it is the application that draws the desktop background and all the pretty icons on the desktop.) Removing it would cause problems with Windows applications because it's assumed to be part of the platform.

In the case of the Linux desktops, you could probably hack something together that would work without those components. Arguably you could in Windows too, I guess, by having the Task Manager open (since it allows you to run programs by filename). But Windows is designed as a distribution to use IE as the main shell program. If you kill IE in Windows (go to Task Manager, find "explorer.exe", and kill it - or just crash it, there are plenty of ways to do it), you lose the desktop, the Start menu, and the taskbar. IE is the shell that most people interact with. (It's worth pointing out that "iexplore.exe" is a stub program that essentially just runs "explorer.exe".)

However, even though IE is the shell, it's not MSHTML. (Confused yet?) IE actually hosts MSHTML as an ActiveX control. (Yes, OLE is still around - it's now ActiveX.) So in that sense, the HTML component is decoupled from the shell as you'd expect. However, MSHTML currently gets used to draw the desktop (remember Active Desktop?) and the file view in Windows Explorer. (Google "desktop.ini" for information on how to muck with the HTML displayed in folder views.) Arguably they could separate the two, and recreate the file browser without the HTML rendering capabilities.

However, most of this is really a moot point. The majority of times IE is used as an infection vector is when IE is being used as an Internet browser. (The others have to do with the folder view "previewing" certain files, an annoying habit that Nautilus shares. At one point there was a buffer overflow in the ID3 handler, allowing a malicious MP3 to infect you simply by selecting it.) Removing it from the shell wouldn't help much, since it's the use of it as a browser that gets most people. In that respect, switching to Firefox is usually enough to protect you from IE's flaws.

I ran across this... documentation from MS for all the originally undocumented Win32 API pieces used by MS software (dated 2001).

... for those who didn't RTFA: Sparkle and Acrylic. Registration required!

... for those who didn't RTFA: Sparkle and Acrylic. Registration required!

That's actually not correct in two senses, read again the article

Firstly, Microsoft has given the code to many governments in their Government Security Program, some in Europe. So that is not what is happening now.

Secondly, they're not selling code to governments. They are selling code to competitors.

Because of monopoly issues, Microsoft was forced to disclose complete and accurate interface information to allow non-Microsoft workgroup servers to receive full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers. The European Commission/courts/... did not force them to licence the source. However, the European Commission deems the disclosure of Microsoft's documentation so far insufficient.

Microsoft's press announcement even states that Microsoft goes beyond the EU decision with this voluntary move to licence (for a price) Windows source code to for the technologies covered by the European Commission's Decision of March 2004.

In the Business Week article, Microsoft's chief counsel Brad Smith warns that which "open source advocates will not be allowed to publish for free". This probably means one will have to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to see the source, and who knows what will be in there. And as already mentioned, we also don't know the licence fee yet.

I don't know what changes here... governments have had access to the Windows source for a couple of years now under the terms of MIcrosoft's Government Security Program.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/Li censing/GSP.mspx

This isn't a big deal.
Microsoft has already licensed Windows source code to over 100 universities, listed here:
http://research.microsoft.com/collaboration/univer sity/ntsrclicensees.aspx

More details:
http://research.microsoft.com/collaboration/univer sity/NTSrcLicInfo.aspx

This isn't a big deal.
Microsoft has already licensed Windows source code to over 100 universities, listed here:
http://research.microsoft.com/collaboration/univer sity/ntsrclicensees.aspx

More details:
http://research.microsoft.com/collaboration/univer sity/NTSrcLicInfo.aspx

Actually, Microsoft is already licensing the Windows source code. However the significance of the new event is, they will not be choosing the licensor (at least not as much as before).

For a list of microsoft shared source licencing programs look at http://www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/Li censing/default.mspx. You'll see that the top item mentions "access to Microsoft Windows® source code for internal development and support purpose". And as far as I know there are already many utility producers (Symantec, WinInternals, etc) that can access NTFS source codes.

Anyways do not keep your hopes too high. As you can see there are many shared source licenses (some are even like BSD), however Windows is not becoming "Open Source" soon.

Actually, Microsoft is already licensing the Windows source code. However the significance of the new event is, they will not be choosing the licensor (at least not as much as before).

For a list of microsoft shared source licencing programs look at http://www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/Li censing/default.mspx. You'll see that the top item mentions "access to Microsoft Windows® source code for internal development and support purpose". And as far as I know there are already many utility producers (Symantec, WinInternals, etc) that can access NTFS source codes.

Anyways do not keep your hopes too high. As you can see there are many shared source licenses (some are even like BSD), however Windows is not becoming "Open Source" soon.

That's never stopped Microsoft before. Look at the graveyard of all the companies who made some niche product that was smashed when MS included it as a feature in Windows. (It didn't always work as well, but it was there and killed the niche.) The real money in TTS isn't for individual computers, but for large services and such. (Which is a shame because there's a lot of emergent SOHO apps that could use cheap but good TTS and VR.)

MS has actually gone backwards on TTS, because the L&H TruVoice American English engine that comes SAPI4 and MS Agent sounds much better than Mike, Mary and Sam. Of course, Lernout & Hauspie managed to graveyard themselves. MS has been stagnant on TTS since 1998, but hopefully they're doing more than just shipping a newly tweaked voice for Vista.

Hmm... what the hell :-). Slashdot me with some resumes and save me some recruitment costs. I think it's obvious we are in the same mindset.

Training is not that expensive with CBT technologies and a VirtualPC lab (although I prefer VMWare ;-). My budget allocation for this is about $20,000 for this year. May not sound like much, but I know how to get good training within a reasonable budget not decided by non-technical accountants.

The trouble for me is that there is just so much training available that it is quite staggering. Most of you do not realize just how much free training is available for Microsoft Partners - we get free MS Courseware, technology demonstration kits (COMPLETE virtual PC labs, optimally preconfigured by Microsoft so you don't have to), Partner-exclusive content. Heck, keeping up with free Microsoft training is a full-time job, and I am not kidding.

I can buy a 14-hr eCourse for about $300 and have you people be certified in something very valuable. I can get a Microsoft Dynamics Foundation course for $200 that will give you basics of just about every ERP app that Microsoft has.

If you work for a Microsoft Partner, ask to get your account associated with your organization, and head over to http://partner.microsoft.com/ - you'll be quite surprised at what's available to you.

Those amounts are far less than most of you are paid in a day, so the "training cost is too high" is simply bogus. I don't like to pay the typical full cost of instructor-led training, but we do get nice deals from Microsoft that make it quite affordable sometimes.

My requirements?

1. A ton of expertise in [CRM, Great Plains, Exchange, RMS, SBS, Active directory, Disaster recovery, Clustering, Geoclustering] or [Solution sales in excess of $3MM/year, Business needs analysis for 6-figure projects] or [desire for an internship at a fixed monthly rate for someone who wants to get to this level and who is already certified].
2. Willingness to be certified within 30 days of hire, and yes I can cover that cost if you are productive immediately.
3. I do not support offshoring US economy and some of our work is of sensitive nature, so you must reside inside US, although that exact place of residence can be anywhere. Hmm... that all-elusive telecommuting opportunity for rural recluses?

If the environment is bad, the person will leave anyway. If what I offer is enticing enough, you'll stay with the company. I have a plan in mind for some golden handcuffs that is not yet final, but I hate it when companies do not share.

We work very closely with Microsoft and the immediate goal for 2006 is to become the #1 source for Microsoft Exchange expertise. There are other areas that we are pursuing, primarily the Microsoft Dynamics expertise.

Oh yeah, I believe in maximizing opportunity for everyone. If you happen to become a salesperson, you'll get paid what they get paid as far as their commission goes in addition to regular technical salary.

Nope, this is not a sarcastic post. Send me an e-mail and we'll talk [sd-resume [at] crashproofsolutions [dot] com]. I am really looking for some sales leads so I can afford to hire quite a few of you for a dream job. :-)

• Fix this problem: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; en-us;177378 Documenting a design flaw does not make it any less of a design flaw.

They did :)

It supports advanced scripting and 3D display.

....and it was discontinued in 2000.

It was better, but no one knew about it, so it died.

Hey, lets make a desktop replacement, we'll call it Microsoft Bob!

*checks date of post* *checks calendar* Um, Vista has been in beta for a few months.

Links to the downloads (since the links in the article are dead):
For Sparkle: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22 &p=3&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId= &u=%2Fdownloads%2Fdetails.aspx%3FFamilyID%3Ded9f5f b2-4cfc-4d2c-9af8-580d644e3d1d%26DisplayLang%3Den
For Acrylic: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22 &p=4&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId= &u=%2Fdownloads%2Fdetails.aspx%3FFamilyID%3Decd88d 39-b9fc-4816-8dae-60444b7c81e7%26DisplayLang%3Den

I looked at Acrylic a couple months back and was very underwhelmed. Perhaps it's better in this version or I should have bought a tablet to interact with it properly. Anyway, download the apps for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

As a snide aside, when is MS gonna roll out their KB URL scheme across their entire site? 'Cause those are some damn ugly addresses if I do say so myself.

Links to the downloads (since the links in the article are dead):
For Sparkle: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22 &p=3&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId= &u=%2Fdownloads%2Fdetails.aspx%3FFamilyID%3Ded9f5f b2-4cfc-4d2c-9af8-580d644e3d1d%26DisplayLang%3Den
For Acrylic: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22 &p=4&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId= &u=%2Fdownloads%2Fdetails.aspx%3FFamilyID%3Decd88d 39-b9fc-4816-8dae-60444b7c81e7%26DisplayLang%3Den

I looked at Acrylic a couple months back and was very underwhelmed. Perhaps it's better in this version or I should have bought a tablet to interact with it properly. Anyway, download the apps for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

As a snide aside, when is MS gonna roll out their KB URL scheme across their entire site? 'Cause those are some damn ugly addresses if I do say so myself.

Wrong! You don't need Vista to run it. WPF (Avalon) will also run on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Here are the system requirements

You can download the bits now and play around with it. .

Bill

Wrong! You don't need Vista to run it. WPF (Avalon) will also run on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Here are the system requirements

You can download the bits now and play around with it. .

Bill

This is Acrylic

The link he has labeled as acrylic is Sparkle, as best I can tell. Unless it gets fixed since my posting :)

Also, on Server 2003 you can extend Group Policy with an ADM that will let you disable USB.

Microsoft's How-To: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=555 324

• Implement document.importNode() Workaround: Create your own importNode implementation.
• Support setting of opposite side CSS positioning properties at the same time, i.e., setting "left" and "right or "top" and "bottom" properties on same element. Workaround: Use IE's proprietary "CSS expressions feature" to dynamically calculate width/height of elements (just make sure you account for padding).
• Fix this problem: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; en-us;177378 Documenting a design flaw does not make it any less of a design flaw. Workaround: render IFRAMEs behind z-indexed DIVs that must obscure select field elements. Unfortunately this does not work in combination with PNG transparency (using DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader hack of course).
• Fix other problems with SELECT element, e.g., the fact that it is not possible to add a ListBox-style select to a document using DOM manipulation. Workaround: Create your own DHTML listbox implementation.
• Fix bug where the presence of a vertical scrollbar adjacent to a 100% wide table inside of a CSS positioned element results in a horizontal scrollbar due to incorrect width calculations. Workaround: Limit tables to 95% wide when rendering IE (dirty hack IMHO).
• Fix issue where 100% wide textareas expand to be a bit wider (creating a horizontal scrollbar) once text is entered. This also only occurs if the text area resides in a CSS positioned DIV. Workaround: Don't use percent widths on textareas.
• Correctly monitor the DOM for updates and repaint appropriately. Currently there are cases where IE will not repaint the screen even though the DOM has changed, requiring the developer to perform additional DOM manipulations just to trigger a repaint. Workaround: "Tickle" properties of other elements in DOM that are known to cause update, i.e., set value to something different, then set it back. This problem shows up very rarely but can be very annoying when it does. This solution is even uglier than the problem.
• Fix this completely insane bug (scroll down to a few paragraphs or search for the text "worst bug ever in Internet Explorer 6." Workaround: Fix described in blog entry.
• And last but definitely not least, simply bring the performance up to a level relative to Firefox/Opera/Konqueror/Safari, especially when dealing with reasonably complex and interactive DOMs. Workaround: Keep your DOM as simple as possible (which is obviously a good idea anyway, but nevertheless can sometimes prevent the development of certain AJAX components from being practical.

Microsoft even has a special program to assist you!