Microsoft Support & Discussions

Microsoft is making available to testers preview versions of its Windows Server 8, Visual Studio 2012 tool suite and other new toolkits this week at the Build developers conference. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott This week on What The Tech: Paul Thurrott checks in from the Microsoft Build Conference. Paul shows off the first Windows 8 tablet from Samsung. Is it going to be an iPad killer? If so, what does it mean for Android tablets? Andrew and Paul also discuss Skydrive integration in Windows. Andrew asks Paul about how the Metro UI will work for power users that may not need, nor want the interface. And when can we expect to see Windows 8 launch to the public? Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Here’s a quick screenshot gallery showing off the process of installing the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Here are some screenshots of the new PC repair tools available in Windows 8. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Here are some screenshots of the new Refresh Your PC capability in Windows 8. Source: Win Super Site

We’re live blogging the Day 2 keynote from the Microsoft Build developers conference in Anaheim, Cali. Join us at 9 am PT and chime in with your comments. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott On the second day of its inaugural BUILD Conference, Microsoft will detail the next major version of its server OS, Windows Server 8. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Today, Microsoft holds day two of its BUILD Conference with a keynote address that will unveil Windows Server 8 and its cloud strategy. I’m live blogging the event with fellow bloggers Ed Bott, Mary Jo Foley, Kip Kniskern, Rafael Rivera, Paul Thurrott, Tom Warren, Long Zheng. Join in! The event begins at 9:00 am PT/12 pm ET. Source: Win Super Site

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.1 (September 13, 2011): Added update link and package information for the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (pplwfe) (KB2560890) update. This is an informational change only. There were no changes to the security update files or detection logic. Summary: This security update resolves five privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft SharePoint and Windows SharePoint Services. The most severe vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if a user clicked on a specially crafted URL or visited a specially crafted We…

By Paul Thurrott As the author of several books about Microsoft platforms--Windows Phone 7 Secrets most recently, and of course the coming Windows 8 Secrets--I’m very concerned about documenting both the features of these platforms--applications, services, and so on--but also the terminology that Microsoft uses to describe them. These things have names, and need to be referenced properly. Here’s an early peek at where I’m at. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott So we already knew that a Windows 8-esque, Metro-style UI was coming to the Xbox 360 this fall as part of a new Dashboard update. But Microsoft is also working to move that UI back to Windows 8, in the form of Xbox LIVE for Windows 8. This is a replacement for today’s awful Games for Windows LIVE interface, of course, but ... man. Does it look nice. Source: Win Super Site

With the new IE10 engine included in the Windows Developer Preview, developers can work with more HTML5 technologies to build touch-friendly and beautiful interactive Web applications. This video shows some of the touch-friendly HTML5 technologies in the third IE10 Platform Preview, included with the Windows Developer Preview. Windows 8 includes one HTML5 browsing engine that powers two browsing experiences: the new Metro style browser and IE10 on the desktop. The common HTML5 engine provides strong support for Web standards and a consistently fast, safe, and powerful Web programming model for both browser experiences as well as for Metro style applications.…

Here’s our live blog of the Day 1 keynote from Microsoft’s Windows 8 developer conference in Anaheim, Calif. Join in and comment along with us! Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft’s Windows 8 developer conference kicks off on September 13. Here’s a cheat sheet of what we now know and don’t going into the four-day confab. Source: All About Microsoft

Silverlight and .Net are not dead (yet). But Metro is really the future for Windows 8, Microsoft is telling developers on the opening day of Build. Source: All About Microsoft

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.0 (September 13, 2011): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves five privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. Installing and configuring Office File Validation (OFV) to prevent the opening of suspicious files blocks the…

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.0 (September 13, 2011): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a legitimate rich text format file (.rtf), text file (.txt), or Word document (.doc) that is located in the same network directory as a specially crafted dynamic link library (DLL) file. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with ad…

Severity Rating: Important Revision Note: V1.0 (September 13, 2011): Bulletin published. Summary: This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS). The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if a user received a specially crafted WINS replication packet on an affected system running the WINS service. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit this vulnerability. Read Bulletin