Get the Skills. Keep the Kindle!

Receive the new generation Kindle Wi-Fi, preinstalled with Microsoft Official Course content and a Microsoft certification voucher when you enroll in a participating Microsoft Boot Camps from Unitek Education

THE SKILLS AND TOOLS YOU NEED TO SUCCEED.

In just one to six days, a Unitek Boot Camp provides the benefit of a live instructor a Microsoft Certified Trainer and classroom learning that is immediately practical and applicable on the job. Microsoft Certification takes training one step further as it validates your skills and helps you become more marketable as an IT professional or developer.

ANYTIME, ANYWHERE ACCESS TO COURSE MATERIAL.

Take learning content with you on a new Kindle, an ideal delivery tool for digital content. This offer is available for some of the most popular Microsoft Boot Camps exclusively from Microsoft Learning Partners, Unitek Education. When you attend classroom training, you will receive your Kindle pre-installed with the digital version of Microsoft Official Courseware plus a certification voucher to drive immediate exam delivery. Unitek Education’s Boot Camps will help prepare you to earn your next certification. With digital Microsoft Official Courses, you have the flexibility to consume course materials wherever you are, on most any device. It’s a cost-effective alternative to costly books and no CD installation is required.

VALUE OF CERTIFICATION

By earning a Microsoft Certification, you gain relevant skills that employers respect and you get the opportunity to connect with a global community of other certified professionals. The Microsoft Certification Program also provides you with access to valuable Microsoft resources and benefits, such as access to the member website, career-building tools, and training. Explore the benefits of certification—and start your journey toward your ideal career.

Participating Boot Camps:

• MCTS and MCITP: Exchange Server 2010 Boot Camp – 6 Days
• MCTS: Configuring Office SharePoint Server 2010 Boot Camp – 5 Days

    

4670 Auto Mall Parkway, Fremont, CA 94538 | www.Unitek.com/training | 1-888-825-6273

Free Microsoft Official Course Lessons on TechNet

The first in a series of Microsoft Official Course samplers on TechNet! First up: “Installing, Configuring, and Managing Windows XP Mode,” excerpted from Course 10324, Implementing and Managing Microsoft Desktop Virtualization.

If you’ve never taken a Microsoft Official Course from one of our Learning Solutions Partners, this is a great way to evaluate our courseware. Each month, we’ll publish at least one lesson from a featured course. You’ll need to take the full course from our partners in order to benefit from the expert instruction from our Microsoft Certified Trainers and the extensive hands-on lab opportunities, but this is a full excerpt from the student workbook.

Microsoft Learning Product Releases for July 18-31

1.       Microsoft Official Courses (MOC) are instructor-led training courses offered by our Certified Partners.  Not all classes will be offered by all partners.  Find a training center through Class Locator and see if they will be offering the course you need.

2.       Community Courses (CC) are instructor-led training courses offered by our Certified Partners wherein the content is authored by our learning community.

3.       General Availability for MOC and CC is dependent on our Certified Partners, but the earliest is Orderable Date + 7 days.

4.       Products with no link currently don’t have a URL – search for the course in the training catalog

 Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Title	Type	RTM (MCT Availability)	Orderable Date (MPN Availability)	General Availability
Deploying Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Configuring Mailbox Servers in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Managing Recipient Objects in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Managing Client Access in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Configuring Message Transport in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Implementing Messaging Security in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Implementing High Availability in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Implementing Backup and Recovery in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Configuring Messaging Policy and Compliance for Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Maintaining Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Deploying Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Managing Mailbox Servers and Recipients in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Managing Client Access in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Managing Message Transport and Security in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Implementing High Availability and Disaster Recovery in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Configuring Messaging Policy and Compliance in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Introduction to Planning an Exchange Server 2010 Deployment	E-Learning			7/23
Planning the Exchange Server 2010 Infrastructure Environment	E-Learning			7/23
Planning and Deploying Client Access Services in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Planning and Deploying Message Transport in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Planning and Deploying Mailbox Services in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Planning and Deploying Messaging Security in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Planning and Deploying Messaging Compliance in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Planning and Deploying High Availability in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Planning and Implementing Disaster Recovery in Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Transitioning to Exchange Server 2010	E-Learning			7/23
Configuring, Managing and Troubleshooting Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 (German, Japanese, French)	MOC	7/30	8/16 (Japanese, French), 8/30 (German)	8/23 (Japanese, French), 9/6 (German)

 

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Title	Type	RTM (MCT Availability)	Orderable Date (MPN Availability)	General Availability
What’s New in Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010 for IT Professionals	E-Learning			7/21
TS: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Configuring (German, French, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil))	Exam			7/27, 9/30 (Portuguese(Brazil))

  

Microsoft Office 2010

Title	Type	RTM (MCT Availability)	Orderable Date (MPN Availability)	General Availability
Beginner Skills in Microsoft® Outlook® 2010 (Italian, French)	MOC	7/19	8/2	8/9
What’s New in Microsoft® Office® 2010	MOC	7/28	8/11	8/18
Beginner Skills in Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2010 (Spanish, Japanese)	MOC	7/28	8/11	8/18
Beginner Skills in Microsoft® Outlook® 2010 (German)	MOC	7/28	8/11	8/18
Beginner Skills in Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2010 (German)	MOC	7/28	8/11	8/18
Skills Training in Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2010	MOC	7/29	8/12	8/19
Beginner Skills Training in Microsoft® Visio® 2010	MOC	7/29	8/12	8/19
Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2010 Part 1 – Setting up a New Site	MOC	7/29	8/12	8/19
Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2010 Part 2 – Workflows	MOC	7/29	8/12	8/19
Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2010 Part 3 – Content Types	MOC	7/29	8/12	8/19
Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2010 Part 4 – Integrating Business Data	MOC	7/29	8/12	8/19
What’s New in Microsoft® Access® 2010 (German, Spanish, Japanese)	E-Learning			Now
What’s New in Microsoft® Publisher 2010 (German, Spanish, Japanese)	E-Learning			Now
What’s New in Microsoft® Visio® 2010 (German, Spanish, Japanese)	E-Learning			Now
Skills Training in Microsoft® Outlook® 2010 (German, Spanish, Japanese)	E-Learning			7/28
Skills Training in Microsoft® Word 2010 (German, Spanish, Japanese)	E-Learning			7/28
Skills Training in Microsoft® Excel® 2010 (Spanish)	E-Learning			7/28

 

 Microsoft Essential Business Server

Title	Type	RTM (MCT Availability)	Orderable Date (MPN Availability)	General Availability
Configuring, Implementing, and Managing Windows® Essential Business Server 2008	E-Learning			7/28

 

 Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Title	Type	RTM (MCT Availability)	Orderable Date (MPN Availability)	General Availability
Implementing and Managing Microsoft® Server Virtualization	MOC	7/20	8/3	8/10
Fundamentals of Windows Server® 2008 Network and Applications Infrastructure (Spanish)	MOC	7/30	8/13	8/20
Configuring and Troubleshooting Windows Server® 2008 Active Directory® Domain Services (Spanish)	MOC	7/30	8/13	8/20
Configuring and Troubleshooting Internet Information Services in Windows Server® 2008 (Spanish)	MOC	7/30	8/13	8/20

Source: Born to Learn

Reminder: End of Support for Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000 Server and Professional on July 13, 2010

Support (including new security updates) ends July 13, 2010 for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows 2000 Server and Professional. Migration to the latest OS or installation of the current service pack is recommended.

Downloads for Windows Developers

Essential Windows 7 Downloads

	Windows SDKA set of tools, code samples, documentation, compilers, headers, and libraries that can be used to create applications that run on Microsoft Windows operating systems using native (Win32) or managed (.NET Framework) programming models.
	Windows API Code Pack for the .NET FrameworkA source code library that can be used to access some new Windows 7 features and some features of previous versions of Windows from managed code.
	Windows 7 Developer Guide A description of the developer-focused features and technologies of the Windows 7 operating system.
	Windows 7 Training KitPresentations, hands-on labs, and demos designed to help you learn how to build applications that are compatible with and shine on Windows 7.
	Visual Studio 2010 beta 1The next generation of developer tools from Microsoft, designed to satisfy the latest requirements of developers.
	Windows Driver KitA set of headers, libraries, build tools, build environments, code samples, documentation, and other tools that can be used to create drivers and kernel software.

Essential Vista and XP Downloads

	Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008An update that includes all previously released updates since Service Pack 1, supports new types of hardware, and adds support for several emerging standards.
	Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation PackageIncludes all previously released updates for the operating system and a small number of new functionalities, for downloading and installing on multiple computers on a network.

Resource Handout and Slides from Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 TechNet Unleashed Events can now be found online

Session 1) Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7

Session 2) Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 DirectAccess

Session 3) Windows Server 2008 R2 RDS and VDI

Resource Handout (word Doc)

Windows Virtual PC RC Released along with Windows XP Mode RC

What is Windows Virtual PC?

Windows Virtual PC (RC) is the latest Microsoft virtualization technology that allows you to run many productivity applications on a virtual Windows environment, with a single click, directly from a Windows 7-based PC.
For more information about Windows Virtual PC, please visit the Windows Virtual PC website.
Windows Virtual PC supports the following Host and Guest Operating systems

• Host: Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Enterprise.

• Guest: Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) Professional, Windows Vista Enterprise Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista Business Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Enterprise.

Note: Virtual application feature not supported on Windows Vista Business Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows 7 Professional SKU’s
Note: Upgrade from Windows Virtual PC Beta to Windows Virtual PC RC is not supported. Uninstall Windows Virtual PC Beta and Windows XP Mode Beta, before installing this RC release. Click here for more information.

What are the System Requirements?

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7

Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Enterprise.
Note: Windows Virtual PC Beta requires Windows 7 RC.

• Processor: Processor capable of hardware virtualization, with AMD-V™ or Intel® VT turned on in the BIOS.

• Memory: 2GB of memory recommended.

• Hard disk requirement: 20MB hard disk space for installing Windows Virtual PC. Additional 15GB of hard disk space per virtual Windows environment recommended.

How can I install Windows Virtual PC RC if I have already installed Windows Virtual PC BETA?

Instructions

Windows Virtual PC installation:
• Uninstall Windows Virtual PC Beta and Windows XP Mode Beta (if applicable) before you install the RC release. Click here for more information.
• To uninstall Windows Virtual PC, start Windows 7 Control Panel and navigate to ‘Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features’. Choose “View Installed Updates” from the sidebar and uninstall ‘Windows Virtual PC (KB958559)’. Reboot your system to complete un-installation.
• Based on the architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) of your computer, download the appropriate update package (Windows6.1-KB958559-x86.msu or Windows6.1-KB958559-x64.msu).
• Double click on the update package (Windows6.1-KB958559-x86.msu or Windows6.1-KB958559-x64.msu) and follow the instructions. Reboot your system to complete installation.

DOWNLOAD HERE

 

Windows XP Mode RC

What is Windows XP Mode?

Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 makes it easy to install and run many of your Windows XP productivity applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC. It utilizes virtualization technology such as Windows Virtual PC to provide a Virtual Windows XP environment for Windows 7.
Windows XP Mode provides a 32-bit Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (SP3) environment pre-loaded on a virtual hard disk. Client virtualization software, like Windows Virtual PC is a pre-requisite to use Windows XP Mode.
Note: Upgrade from Windows XP Mode Beta to Windows XP Mode RC is not supported. Uninstall Windows XP Mode Beta and Windows Virtual PC Beta (if applicable) before installing this RC release. Click here for more information.

What are the System Requirements?

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7

Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, or Windows 7 Enterprise.
Note: Windows XP Mode RC is supported only on Windows 7 RC build

• Hard disk requirement: 2GB for installing Windows XP Mode. Additional 15GB of hard disk space for the virtual Windows environment.

Note: You can use Windows Virtual PC to run Windows XP Mode on your computer. Windows Virtual PC requires processor capable of hardware virtualization, with AMD-V™ or Intel® VT turned on in the BIOS.

How can I install Windows XP Mode RC if I have already installed Windows XP Mode BETA?

Windows XP Mode RC installation:

• Uninstall Windows XP Mode Beta. Before you uninstall Windows XP Mode Beta, save all data in Windows XP Mode to a computer drive. Note that all files related to Windows XP Mode Beta cannot be used after you install Windows XP Mode RC. Click here to learn more.

• Download the Windows XP Mode installer.

• Double click on the installer and follow the instructions to complete the installation.

Note:
We recommend that you save a copy of the Windows XP Mode installer for future, to restore the Windows XP Mode environment. For example, you could burn the installer to DVD or save it to a backup media. If the files installed by Windows XP Mode gets corrupted or deleted, you will get an error while trying to start Windows XP Mode. You can then try reinstalling the Windows XP Mode using the installer that you have saved.

Download Here

10 reasons why Windows 7′s XP Mode is a big deal

Date: August 3rd, 2009

Author: Brien Posey

One of the most exciting Windows 7 features is Windows XP Mode. It uses a brand new version of Virtual PC to provide seamless access to Windows XP applications, either through a virtual Windows XP desktop or directly through the Windows 7 desktop. Here’s a look at some of the benefits XP Mode offers.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: It solves compatibility problems

The biggest beef that most IT folks seem to have with Windows Vista is its notorious hardware and software compatibility problems. Windows 7’s Windows XP mode allows you to run Windows XP applications without worrying about application compatibility.

2: It provides a much needed upgrade to Virtual PC

Virtual PC has been around for a long time, and although it has improved from one version to the next, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Among the improvements in the new version is the ability to access the computer’s physical hard drives (including the host operating system’s volumes) through a virtual machine.

3: It offers USB Support

Another much needed improvement to Virtual PC (which Windows XP Mode depends on) is that it now offers USB support. It has previously been impossible to access USB devices from within a virtual machine.

4: It’s a way to modernize Windows XP

I know that there are those who would disagree with me, but Windows XP hasn’t aged well. First introduced in 2001, Windows XP is quickly becoming outdated. Windows XP Mode provides enables you to run Windows XP inside a modern operating system, which helps it take advantage of some of the improvements that have been made to things like hardware support and security. Windows XP itself hasn’t changed, but because Windows XP Mode is dependent on the host operating system, it can reap some of these benefits.

5: It ensures long-term technical support

Microsoft’s continued support for Windows XP has been questionable for quite some time now. Every time Microsoft gets ready to pull the plug on main stream technical support, they give in to pressure from customers and extend the support period. It’s great that Microsoft has been so accommodating, but nobody knows how long that will last. Having Windows XP Mode built into Windows 7 helps ensure that Windows XP support will be available for many years to come.

6: Microsoft has made a commitment to XP

For the last several years, Microsoft has urged customers to adopt Windows Vista, but most of Microsoft’s corporate customers have chosen to continue using Windows XP. By including Windows XP mode in Windows 7, Microsoft has finally acknowledged the importance of Windows XP to its customers and given diehard XP fans a real solution that will allow them to move forward without giving up the OS they’ve depended on for almost a decade.

7: It offers seamless integration

One of my favorite things about Windows XP Mode is that it’s completely seamless. Sure, you can work within a full-blown Windows XP virtual machine, but you don’t have to. In fact, if you close the Windows XP virtual machine, you can access your Windows XP applications directly through the Windows 7 start menu and run those applications seamlessly alongside applications that are installed directly on Windows 7.

8: It’s a first

This is the first time Microsoft has ever given us this type of support for an older product. Exchange 2000 included a copy of Exchange 5.5, but that was only included as part of the migration path for Exchange 5.0 users. Microsoft wasn’t expecting customers to actually use both products. Making Windows XP part of the Windows 7 operating system is unprecedented.

9: It opens the door to lightweight operating systems

Windows has always had a bad reputation for being excessively bloated. One of the reasons for the bloat is that most versions of Windows have included a significant amount of code to provide backward compatibility with the previous version. By relying on virtualization to provide this compatibility, Microsoft may be able to greatly reduce the size of the core operating system in Windows 8.

10: Future plug-ins are possible

The way Microsoft has connected Windows XP to Windows 7 through virtualization opens the door to future operating system plug-ins. Don’t be surprised if Windows 8 gives you the ability to pick and choose the legacy operating systems you want to support. Microsoft could end up offering virtualization plug-ins that will allow it to support Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Using this method would allow customers to pick the type of backward compatibility they need without having to install any unnecessary legacy code.

Source: TechRepublic

Windows Virtual PC RC and Windows XP Mode RC available for download

Back in May, I posted about a Live Meeting we were presenting about Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode.  This was a very popular webcast and Windows XP mode is one feature of Windows 7 that is getting a lot of attention.  Now, we are very happy to announce that the Windows XP Mode Release Candidate is now available for download.

You can access the download of Windows Virtual PC RC and Windows XP Mode RC here.

Windows XP Mode is specially designed for small and medium-sized businesses to help ease the migration process to Windows 7 by providing additional compatibility for their older productivity applications. The newly updated Windows XP Mode now works with the RC and RTM versions of the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise SKUs.

So what’s new in the RC version of Windows XP Mode?  Based on feedback from the Windows XP Mode beta, we’ve made several improvements to the usability of Windows XP Mode for small and medium-sized business users:

• You can now attach USB devices to Windows XP Mode applications directly from the Windows 7 task-bar. This means your USB devices, such as printers and flash drives, are available to applications running in Windows XP Mode, without the need to go into full screen mode.
• You can now access Windows XP Mode applications with a “jump-list”. Right click on the Windows XP Mode applications from the Windows 7 task bar to select and open most recently used files.
• You now have the flexibility of customizing where Windows XP Mode differencing disk files are stored.
• You can now disable drive sharing between Windows XP Mode and Windows 7 if you do not need that feature.
• The initial setup now includes a new user tutorial about how to use Windows XP Mode.

If you are interested, you can read even more about the new RC release, as well as comments from Partners and customers about Windows XP Mode in this post by the Windows 7 Team.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Source: (Eric’s Blog)  http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2009/08/05/9858070.aspx

Comparing Windows 7 with Vista & XP