IE9 will support now-released, open-source VP8 video codec

IE9 will support now-released, open-source VP8 video codec: "Three weeks ago, Microsoft said Internet Explorer 9 would be supporting just one codec for HTML5 video. Apparently not, because on Wednesday Microsoft said IE9 will support another."

Hotmail: The Next Generation

Hotmail: The Next Generation: "The Windows Live team previewed the next version of Hotmail Monday. This release has a foundation on saving time. Attachments, for example, often take you away from your inbox, they require you to wait for a new application or new window to open, one at a time. Hotmail will allow you to see a Silverlight Gallery of attached images or even linked images from Flickr and SmugMug. They have made it possible to send up to 200 photos @ 50MB each in a single email using Windows Live SkyDrive. Hotmail will open Office attachments using the new Office Web Apps right in your inbox, and even links to Hulu and YouTube will play within the email.



Another new feature is the ability to sweep your email removing unwanted mail. This goes beyond spam and into 'graymail', which is mail that you requested, but you really don't care about. You can also sweep you Gmail and Yahoo! mail accounts.



There are many more features, be sure to check out the Windows Team Blog for more. Our good mate Nic Fillingham will be connecting with the Windows Live team when they get back for a video, so if you have questions please leave them here."

Windows PowerShell Quick Reference

Windows PowerShell Quick Reference: "

An updated version of Windows PowerShell Quick Reference is now available for download from Microsoft, having been released the past month. Live on the Microsoft Download Center since April 20th, 2010, the Windows PowerShell Quick Reference is, as the name implies, a free resource offered by the Redmond company to simplify the work of IT [...]



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IE9 Platform Preview 3 Comes with HTML5

IE9 Platform Preview 3 Comes with HTML5: "

In the week that preceded the launch of Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 2, Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer general manager, started a very interesting discussion about video codecs for HTML5 in the context of IE8’s successor. However, version 1.9.7.7.66.6000 of Windows Internet Explorer Platform Preview doesn’t feature support for HTML5 < video > just yet.
The [...]



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Office 2010 RTM Filter Packs for Windows 7

Office 2010 RTM Filter Packs for Windows 7: "

A small utility offered for free by Microsoft could prove immensely helpful in scenarios in which users are searching for information inside Office documents on certain platforms. The Office 2010 Filter Packs went live on the Microsoft Download Center last week, and are currently up for grabs, enabling customers to enhance the default search capabilities [...]



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Webmail: Is It Ever Too Late to Switch?

Webmail: Is It Ever Too Late to Switch?: "

The upcoming Hotmail upgrade looks like it’ll be the first Web-based mail client since Yahoo’s 2005 makeover with enough tangible benefits to make the idea of switching from another service worth contemplating, at least. Which got me to thinking: Do very many people really jump from one Webmail client to another these days?

Hotmail uses technology from TrueSwitch to import mail and contacts, so it should be possible for a Gmail user (for instance) to transition to Hotmail without too much in the way of technical challenges. Or you can use techniques such as POP access or forwarding to get e-mail from your old service into Hotmail without having to give up the old address.

But switching e-mail providers isn’t just about technology. Once you’re comfortable with one service, you can get really comfortable–even if another service offers features you’d benefit from. And the new Hotmail presents a particularly interesting dilemma: It’s got a bunch of worthwhile tools not present in Gmail…but lacks some of Gmail’s handiest features, too, such as one-click archiving of messages.

Then there’s the whole issue of the domain that sits at the end of your e-mail address. There was a time–it was way back in the 1990s–when a Hotmail e-mail address was kind of hip. Today? It’s decidedly downmarket, although perhaps the quality of the new version will help its reputation.

Me, I like the virtues of Web-based mail, but I’m not crazy about tying my online identity to any Webmail company. So for several years, I’ve used an address at harrymccracken.com for personal stuff and one at technologizer.com for work. The first one just gets forwarded to Gmail, so I could simply redirect it to a Hotmail account without much fuss. But my work account takes advantage of Google Apps’ ability to give you Gmail for your own domain–a feature that the more totally consumer-focused Hotmail lack.

And just to complicate matters further, I’ve been spending most of my time lately in the e-mail/social network aggregator Threadsy. Judged purely as an e-mail client, it’s far more basic than Gmail and Hotmail, but I like the way it weaves multiple e-mail accounts, Facebook, and Twitter together.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that I remain intrigued by the Hotmail upgrade, but don’t have any immediate plans to pull up stakes and make it my primary e-mail provider.

And here’s a silly little poll:

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Why Phaeton Automotive Chose Exchange 2010 - After Going Google

Why Phaeton Automotive Chose Exchange 2010 - After Going Google: "

At EHLO, we love customer success stories about Exchange! How Exchange, Outlook and Office make users' lives better, improve productivity, and make work fun is what excites us. Today's post is the first in a series of customer testimonials we bring you to highlight what we're hearing about Exchange 2010 from our customers. In this post, Jonathan Pisarczyk shares his thoughts about why Phaeton Automotive chose Exchange 2010 and how that decision has changed his company.

Phaeton Automotive Group operates seven successful dealerships in southern Ontario, Canada. Having excellent customer service and being able to leverage technology were key differentiators for us.

Since we have multiple locations, our employees relied heavily on email for communication. We typically used our cell phones to check voice and email messages and we knew we needed a more streamlined approach for messaging that integrated both of these functions regardless of location.

We'd been using Google Apps to manage employee messaging and collaboration needs but wanted better security and privacy. Google Apps was inadequate in meeting business needs. It didn't allow single sign-on service, user migration and couldn't help us centrally manage multiple domains.

Ultimately we determined that an in-house messaging platform would be best suited to our needs and switched to Exchange 2010. It helped us reduce communication costs while allowing staff to be more productive. It also provided greater flexibility in the way we managed our messaging environment. For example, with just a few clicks, Outlook automatically sets up a new user in a matter of minutes. This type of automation has saved our IT department a significant amount of time.

In addition to greater efficiencies we also gained significant cost savings. When we replaced Google Apps with Exchange 2010, we saved the company $18,000. Employees can now receive their voice messages in their inboxes, and manage those voice messages just as they do e-mail with Outlook and Outlook Web Access.

The ability to have employees securely access all their communications - e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging - from their PC, phone or browser is a big advantage. Now, voice mail is delivered into users' mailboxes just like email, which enables staff to use Outlook Web Access on their laptops or Outlook Voice Access through their phone to listen to voice mail when they're not in the office.

Having Exchange 2010 has enabled our IT department to support more mission critical business functions with the certainty that our employees have the tools they need to be more successful.

"