May 2008 - Posts
Microsoft released an update for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (KB950219) that improves Internet calendaring functionality and compatibility with Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) servers.
Overview
This update extends Outlook 2007’s support for the iCalendar standards. The update also improves Outlook 2007’s compatibility with some IMAP e-mail servers.
This update adds support for the following iCalendar features:
- Propose New Time for iCalendar Meetings: Users can now respond to a meeting invitation received in iCalendar format with a proposal for a new meeting time.
- Extended Yearly Recurrence: Supports recurrence patterns for appointments or meetings that recur every N years, where N is greater than or equal to 1.
This update also includes miscellaneous improvements to IMAP compatibility.
And here's the link to the corresponding Knowledge Base article: An update is available for Outlook 2007 that improves Internet Calendar functionality and improves compatibility with IMAP servers.
Microsoft released an updated version (v6.0.4011.0) of the Exchange Server Error Code Look-up.
Overview
Use the Error Code Lookup tool to determine error values from decimal and hexadecimal error codes in Microsoft Windows® operating systems. The tool can look up one or more values at a time. All values on the command line will be looked up in Exchange’s internal tables and presented to you. If available, informational data associated with the value or values will also be shown.
Here are a couple of examples of the output of the tool:
C:\temp\Err>err 0x8004010f
# for hex 0x8004010f / decimal -2147221233 :
ecNotFound ec.h
ecAttachNotFound ec.h
ecUnknownRecip ec.h
ecPropNotExistent ec.h
MAPI_E_NOT_FOUND mapicode.h
# 5 matches found for "0x8004010f"
C:\temp\Err>Err.exe -528
# for decimal -528 / hex 0xfffffdf0 :
JET_errMissingLogFile esent98.h
# /* Current log file missing */
# 1 matches found for "-528"
TechRepublic has a great article about this: Quickly identify problems using the Exchange Error Code Look-up tool.
I've just got this from Eileen Brown's Weblog:
TechNet Webcast: Forefront Security for Exchange Deployment Best Practices (Level 300)
Tuesday, June 03, 2008 - 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Pacific Time
Mike Chan, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032377121&Culture=en-US
MSDN Webcast: Building Asynchronous Contextual Collaboration with Exchange Web Services (Level 300)
Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Chris Mayo, Technical Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032378675&Culture=en-US
Momentum Webcast: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Mailbox Role Memory Characterization Using HP BladeSystem (Level 200)
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Stuart Ladd, System Engineer, HP
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032378658&Culture=en-US
MSDN Webcast: Behind the Scenes with Communications Server 2007, Communicator 2007, and Exchange Server 2007 (Level 300)
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Chris Mayo, Technical Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032378646&Culture=en-US
Microsoft released some cool Outlook 2007 demos. After all these months working with Outlook 2007, I'm still learning!
- Work with SharePoint calendars: Multiple calendars giving you multiple headaches? Stop juggling back and forth and start seeing your calendars all together — in Outlook 2007. When you link your calendar from a Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 site to Outlook 2007, you can view and work with the SharePoint calendar right alongside your Outlook calendar. When you make changes in one calendar, the two calendars are synchronized automatically. You can overlay the calendars to make viewing your complete schedule even easier. You can download the demo here any time you like.
- Stay on top of things with Outlook flags: Don't play catch-up — let Outlook flags help you keep up. Flags are colorful reminders for items you need to follow up on, whether tasks, messages, or contacts. Outlook 2007 offers several options for setting flags to complement the way you work. Flags can give you pop-up reminders and they also appear in the To-Do Bar, where you can easily see what actions you need to take each day. The demo shows you how to get started using flags and stay on top of your job. You can download the demo here any time you like.
- Add creativity to your e-mail: You can make your e-mail messages stand out with a few touches from the tools in Outlook 2007. Go from plain white to exciting with eye-catching features like page colors and textures, shading styles, and shapes. You can apply WordArt styles like shadows or 3-D, as well as highlighting and font colors. While you experiment with various graphic effects, you'll see instant previews of your choices in the e-mail message. Watch the demo for quick tips on adding fresh looks to your e-mail! You can download the demo here any time you like.
- 3 ways to share your Outlook Calendar with others: Sharing calendars can make it easier to collaborate with people both inside and outside your company. This demo shows you three ways that Outlook 2007 offers for sharing your calendar. If your company uses Microsoft Exchange Server, you can share your calendar within the organization by using that feature. You can also send a snapshot of your calendar in e-mail to people outside your company. And you can publish your calendar on the Microsoft Office Online Web site and restrict how much detail is shown and who can access it. You can download the demo here any time you like.
- Take inches off your workspace with the updated Navigation Pane: Are you using the Outlook 2007 Navigation Pane as your communications launching pad — where you can get to your most important folders and views with just a click or two? This demo shows you how to change the size of the pane to free up more space, customize the buttons and icons so you see what you want first, and arrange the folders for your convenience. You'll also see how easily you can change the organization whenever you want. Watch the demo and see how to make the Navigation Pane work better for you. You can download the demo here any time you like.
Microsoft is definitely committed to promoting its online services.
The Microsoft Online Migration Toolkit is composed by planning materials to help your organization migrate from on-premise Microsoft Exchange Servers to Exchange Online. The toolkit includes sample migration planning materials including: project plan, communication plan, tracking spreadsheet, procedures, e-mail templates, Known Issues and FAQ.
Here's an excerpt from the Migration Project Checklist:
Planning
- Identify migration project manager.
- Build migration project team.
- Build migration Support team.
- Develop migration project plan.
- Develop migration procedures.
- Develop migration communication plan.
- Develop migration tracking process.
Pre-Migration
- Configure Microsoft® Online for your organization.
- Establish e-mail coexistence.
- Establish directory synchronization.
- Validate your migration plan and procedures.
- Communicate.
- Qualify people for migration.
- Identify and track people to be migrated.
- Users perform Before Migration procedures.
Migration Day
- Activate the Microsoft Online accounts.
- Migrate mailbox content.
- Perform post migration validation.
- Send Welcome communication.
Post Migration
- Users perform After Migration procedures.
- Users complete post-migration survey.
- Delete local Microsoft Exchange Server mailboxes.
- Enable incoming e-mail.
Microsoft expects half of Exchange inboxes to be hosted in five years.
Slipstick Systems was founded in 1994 by Sue Mosher, an Outlook MVP, and it's now run by Diane Poremsky, also an Outlook MVP.
Back in 1996, they decided to create the Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter, devoted to Microsoft Exchange Server. You can subscribe it through their home page and you can read all the back issues from the very first issue (April, 1996).
Do you know what were the highlights back in August 1996?
- Where has Sue been?
- Windows NT 4.0 released
- Exchange Service Pack 2 released*
- Exchange Deployment Conference
- Technet tools for Exchange
- The Boldon James Microsoft Exchange Client Auto Correlator
- Address export client extension
- Exchange on the Digital Bookshelf
- Internet Mail (and News) and Exchange
*This SP was for Exchange 4.5!!!
Do you know Scriptomatic, the utility that writes WMI scripts for you? Well, there's a new version, Windows PowerShell Scriptomatic, that has the same functionality, but uses PowerShell as the output.
Now you can start using WMI to manage Exchange more often.
Overview
A new utility that writes Windows PowerShell scripts that harness the power of WMI (Windows Instrumentation Management) for use in system management and administration. This tool was created by Microsoft consultant and author Ed Wilson.
System Requirements
- Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows XP
- Requires Windows PowerShell 1.0 or later to run the scripts created by the Scriptomatic.
Microsoft released version 3 of the Quick Reference for Outlook Voice Access.
Brief Description
This download contains a quick reference sheet that can be used when navigating the menu system found in Outlook Voice Access.
Overview