Mike Bazarewsky: Stuff I want to post

A small reminder about Microsoft CMS 2002 SP2

Because it's Thanksgiving, it seemed like a good day to break the SA web site for a short time to install some security patches and update Microsoft Content Management Server.  As I had previously mentioned, Content Management Server SP2 is out.  This includes ASP.NET 2.0 support.  So, I figured, this was a good chance to get our site to ASP.NET 2.0, clean up some minor HTML problems in our template pages, and so on.

Well, I did the .NET Framework 2.0 Redistributable x86 installation on our web server, then switched the CMS web site to ASP.NET 2.0 via the IIS Manager. 

I next updated the site to be a VS 2005 project, removed the old application project directory from the production server, and brought it over from the devel0ment server.

I then had to run the CMS Site Manager to manage some resources, and this is when the big problem came up.  I tried to run the Site Manager, and when I tried to log in to the application, this came up:

The Microsoft Content Management Server proxy component is not correctly installed.

Luckily, after some misfires, the Usenet archive at groups.google.com gave me the answer, courtesy of Stefan, who I linked to in the SP2 post:

One additional hint: check if J# redistributable is installed for all .NET framework versions installed on your box.

This was in fact the problem.  CMS originally had Java components which were ported to .NET via J#, so the J# runtime is needed.  Thus, when I added 2.0 to the machine, I had to add the J# Redistributable 2.0 as well.  I did that, and the problem was solved.  In retrospect, this was a clear requirement, and it may even be a documented one, but for whatever reason it hadn't clicked for me.

Browser vendors agree to common-functionality security features

In what must be a first, four major browser developer teams (can't say "companies" as it would be inaccurate) have agreed to implement a new set of security features, including special SSL "super certificates" and new support for determining that a pop-up window is in fact a pop-up window and not some kind of spoofed UI dialog from the OS.  This is very good - the latter more than the former, but they both are positive developments.  More about these new browser security features is available at ArsTechnica, and I'm assuming other sites will start showing it soon.  (For some reason, Slashdot is behind the curve here....)

[Edit 8:45 pm - I screwed up; Slashdot actually had it yesterday, and somehow I missed it.]

Backing up a virtual server

While cleaning up my Inbox (3620 items right now!), I found a note reminding me of Virtual PC Guy's blog entry with a simple script to back up a virtual server.  I'm documenting it mainly to have a reference for it before I delete the mail, as well as to make sure readers know about it :)

IE Developer Toolbar updated

 I had previously mentioned the IE Developer Toolbar beta.  Well, the beta has been refreshed - not Beta 2 yet, more like a CTP.  I found it on MSDN Subscriber Downloads, which means I can't link to it, but I'm guessing this Halloween release is the same one.

Content Management Server 2002 SP2 released

Microsoft has released Content Management Server 2002 Service Pack 2.  The service pack adds:

• Visual Studio 2005 support for CMS development.  Service Pack 1a gave us Visual Studio .NET 2003 support, while RTM was Visual Studio .NET 2002.  This keeps the product current.
• SQL Server 2005 support.  This is very nice for us internally, and probably for many SQL early-adopter types.
• x64 Windows support.  I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it - buying a server that is not x64 nowadays is just plain stupid.

Stefan Goßner has a list of KB articles related to SP2 on his blog.  He also has a couple of glitches discussed regarding the development tools and SQL Server 2005 migration.  Finally, he has a nice set of postings on ASP.NET 2.0 support.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 has RTM'd, and boy, it is cheap!

This is quite unbelievable.  Virtual Server 2005 R2 has been released.... and the price is pretty amazing.  During the beta period for what was then known as SP1, when the change to R2 was announced, there was much complaining about the fact that customers would have to buy R2.  Well, Microsoft has made the prices such that anyone making those arguments is doing so simply to whine, because the pricing is crazy cheap... http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2005/11/15/493174.aspx has it, although I had seen it at the main Virtual Server site already earlier today: $99 for Standard, $199 for Enterprise.  That's right, for less than the cost of Windows XP, or Office 2003, or even Streets and Trips 2006 with GPS, you can have Virtual Server 2005 R2 Standard Edition.

And, R2 includes clustering support on host and guest (so you can do something like patch the host without killing the guests by rolling them over, or you can survive a host crash, or .....), as well as x64 host support, improved performance, PXE support, and on and on.  It's pretty clear that in many ways this gets Virtual Server up to VMWare in terms of capabilities.  (Some things are missing - for example, VMotion moves VM's (somewhat) faster, and on the high-end product you don't need an OS underneath, and you can run x64 guests in the Workstation product.  But, jeeze, it's $99!)

This also makes Virtual Server 2005 R2 Standard Edition less expensive than Virtual PC, which seems like an odd situation.  I have to believe that the price of Virtual PC will be dropping. 

Windows Desktop Search for the Enterprise

I have not yet had time to look at this myself, but there's now a version of Windows Desktop Search which is targeted at the enterprise level, including SharePoint searches (WSS and SPS).  Bink pointed me at the press release, which in turn gets you to the download link.  One thing I'm not clear on is exactly how the MSN Search toolbar (which I currently use) fits in with this.  I need to pull the new tool down, which needs MSN Search to handle Outlook integration, and see how they work together.

Exchange BPA 2.5 available

Go get the current Exchange BPA now that the download link is finally fixed!  (If you are running it already, it should update itself.)

 

Exchange 12 will be 64-bit only!

Wow - x64 is becoming more and more important.  Check this out:

E12 will be exclusive to 64 Bit

As announced at ITForum today, you can read the press release regarding 64 Bit here:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/nov05/11-15ITForum05UmbrellaPR.mspx

posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 12:10 PM by mfugatt

This is from http://blogs.technet.com/mfugatt/archive/2005/11/15/414509.aspx, which is a reliable source.  Also see Bink at http://bink.nu/Article5344.bink.

This means that you have no excuse to not buy x64 at this point.

The most often used Word 2003 command is...

Jensen Harris, on the Microsoft Office 12 UI team, had a post on Monday, November 7, where he gave the top five most-used Word 2003 commands, in order, based on the voluntary Customer Experience Improvement program.  They are:

Top 5 Most-Used Commands in Microsoft Word 2003

1. Paste
2. Save
3. Copy
4. Undo
5. Bold

Read the post for more good information, like the most important toolbar button in the application.  Very cool stuff, and it makes the Customer Experience Improvement program a worthwhile tool.

Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions will be free! (sort of)

Microsoft has announced that the Express Editions of Visual Studio 2005 will not be $49, but instead will be free, if you download it before next November.  This can be seen on an MSDN blog posting, and it includes no-registration-needed ISO downloads.

Also, there are already statements about when SP1 for VS 2003 and VS 2005 will be available, which is to say, surprisingly soon.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 Beta Program closes

The beta program for Virtual Server 2005 R2 has closed.  This implies the release is very close.  There is also a post on the Virtual PC Guy's WebLog that suggests this as well:

In the lead up to the release of Virtual Server 2005 R2 there are now two new interesting whitepapers available off of the Microsoft download center:

This is a good thing.  R2 adds x64 host support, clustering support, and many other features.

 

Dell talking about how good IBM servers are against HP!?!?!?

OK, I admit, I sometimes work in a very strange industry.  It's very unusual in other industries to talk about how great your competition is... when you have nothing to go against it.  But in this case, it had the effect of showing a lot of things.  According to The Register, in a recent conference call, Dell talked up how a dual-core Intel system is finally beating an dual-core Opteron system... which would be somewhat big news, since AMD clearly is making a better processor nowadays.  They created the x64 instruction set stolen by Intel, and have consistently had their backsides handed to them in benchmark after benchmark.  However, there is a now a specific case of an Intel-based server beating an AMD-based server.  But, if you read the article, you'll see that (1) the Intel system won't ship until March, 2006 (2) the HP system is the next release of the shipping, reliable, trusted DL585, with the release shipping in a week, and (3) the Intel system Dell is very proud of is in fact an IBM system, because Dell has nothing to offer in the category remotely close to the performance (let alone price/performance) of either system.

How very interesting.

Makes me very happy we strongly recommend the Proliant line across the board.