Learning to Fly - Mika's Blog

Microsoft has revised its "core" security guides.

Windows Server 2003 Security Guide
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=14846
now integrates info on Service Pack 1 and Security Configuration Wizard. Three scenarios have been slightly modified and are now called Legacy Client (LC), Enterprise Client (EC), and Specialized Security – Limited Functionality (SSLF). The version history (from ReleaseNotes.txt):
v2.0 Released: December 27, 2005
v1.3 Released: January 22, 2004
v1.2 Released: August 14, 2003
v1.1 Released: April 28, 2003
v1.0 Originally Released: April 24, 2003

Threats and Countermeasures Guide
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=15160
From ReleaseNotes.txt: “Multiple changes to most of the chapters to reflect the new settings that are included in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 2.” The version history (from ReleaseNotes.txt):
v2.0 Released: December 27, 2005
v1.2 Released: January 22, 2004
v1.1 Released: August 14, 2003
v1.0 Originally Released: April 24, 2003

The last one was updated already earlier:

Windows XP Security Guide
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=14840
Content quite heavily revised. The version history (from ReleaseNotes.txt):
v2.1 Released: October 20, 2005
v2.0 Released: August 25, 2004
v1.5 Released: January 22, 2004
v1.0 Originally Released: May 22, 2003

As I write this, I'm happily downloading the new December CTP build of Vista and Longhorn. Should be here (or actually in Helsinki) by morning... :)

Since msmvps.com is now running on Community Server, I thought it's about the time to get my act together again... I started by changing the display skin - partially since the one that I used before the upgrade wasn't available ;)

Autumn has been great! A lot of things have happened the absolute best being the MVP Summit in Redmond at the end of September. It was my second time on Microsoft campus and definitely better than the first! (The first was a pre-conference two-day MSF course of Windows 2000 MCT Technology Week in 2000). It was great to meet all those great and active fellow MVPs whose books, messages, postings and articles I've seen over the years. I learnt quite a bit about new technologies to come. It was also great to see the amount of effort and dedication Microsoft is putting into MVP programme :)

On Tuesday of that week I participated (Windows Server 2003) R2 September Tour with some 40 other beta testers. We met with a number of program groups and probably had some contribution to the final product. R2 RTM'd (was released to manufacturing) on an easy day for me to remember - the 6th of December, which happens to be our (Finland) Independence Day. R2 beta programme was the best I've ever participated! Now, we've only yet to get the Volume Licensing versions. I've talked and presented on R2 on various events during the autumn. Centralized print management, new distributed file system and file server management with new filtering, quotas and reporting are certainly going to implemented in most R2 deployments. Active Directory Federation Service (ADFS) is conceptually the most difficult R2 technology to grasp but it also enables some interesting scenarions for web applications between organizations. BTW, you can get the Windows Server 2003 R2 Administration Tools Pack with the following administration tools

• Print Management
• File Server Resource Manager (which includes Distributed File System)
• Identity Management for Unix
• MMC 3.0