Microsoft Windows and all that goes with it
Now, one week after Windows 7, you can download Windows Server 2008 R2 but only if you are MSDN subscriber. Others will need to wait a little more.
For those who like freebies, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 will be available very soon.
As for control freaks, Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 are available also. This should fulfill all your management dreams.
If you ever stumble upon problems with MX records (like I did), nslookup may be your friend.
Basic command is easy:
nslookup -q=MX jmedved.com
Server: ***
Address: ***
Non-authoritative answer:
jmedved.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail.jmedved.com
jmedved.com MX preference = 21, mail exchanger = mail2.jmedved.com
jmedved.com nameserver = ns2.mojsite.com
jmedved.com nameserver = ns1.mojsite.com
mail2.jmedved.com internet address = 89.201.164.205
mail.jmedved.com internet address = 89.201.164.205
ns1.mojsite.com internet address = 89.201.164.100
ns2.mojsite.com internet address = 69.41.243.243This will print information from your default DNS server, but since DNS information is not propagated immediately, you may wish to check what appropriate server has to say. Just append name of DNS server in charge for given domain (nameserver field) to existing command:
nslookup -q=MX jmedved.com ns1.mojsite.com
Server: ***
Address: ***
Non-authoritative answer:
jmedved.com MX preference = 20, mail exchanger = alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
jmedved.com MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx2.googlemail.com
jmedved.com MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx3.googlemail.com
jmedved.com MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx4.googlemail.com
jmedved.com MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx5.googlemail.com
jmedved.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = aspmx.l.google.com
jmedved.com MX preference = 20, mail exchanger = alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
jmedved.com nameserver = ns1.mojsite.com
jmedved.com nameserver = ns2.mojsite.com
aspmx4.googlemail.com internet address = 209.85.219.1
aspmx5.googlemail.com internet address = 74.125.45.27
aspmx.l.google.com internet address = 209.85.220.30
alt1.aspmx.l.google.com internet address = 209.85.216.97
alt2.aspmx.l.google.com internet address = 209.85.199.27
aspmx2.googlemail.com internet address = 209.85.135.27
aspmx3.googlemail.com internet address = 209.85.199.27
ns2.mojsite.com internet address = 69.41.243.243
ns1.mojsite.com internet address = 89.201.164.100That gives you information fresh from the source.
You may wish to check information from all DNS servers for your site. It can happen that only primary DNS is updated with new information while secondary one has old one. This can lead to hard-to-track bugs since everything works properly but occasionally (when secondary DNS is queries) everything goes awry.
I am in love with my Windows 7 installation, but I do have occasional need to go into dark alleys of system administration. With Hyper-V as a bait, it is really hard to resist.
In order to keep everything simple, I don’t have dedicated partition for it. I just create VHD file and install into it. It behaves like normal installation, but without all hassle with disk repartitioning.
I also found that quickest way to do this is filling VHD directly from install CD. After that, I just copy already existing boot loader entry and change it a little.
After installing Windows Server 2008 R2 in this manner and additional installation of Hyper-V role, everything seemed fine. Creating virtual machine went without a hitch. Only when I tried to start it, I got “The application encountered an error while attempting to change the state of ‘Test’”. Third line held a issues “The virtual machine could not be started because hypervisor is not running.”. Looking into details, there was one possible cause that applied here - incorrect boot configuration.
Underlying problem was that I copied Windows 7 boot loader configuration as base for my Windows Server 2008 R2. Configurations are quite similar except for one crucial detail - there is no hypervisorlaunchtype value name in Windows 7. This is not a big problem once and there is simple command to take care of it:
bcdedit /set "{identifier}" hypervisorlaunchtype "auto"
The operation completed successfully.Identifier is of course guid of Windows Server 2008 R2 boot loader (you can find it out with bcdedit /v). If you want to change currently running instance, you can omit identifier altogether.
After one reboot, virtual machine starts without problems.
Windows 7 is available for download if you happen to be MSDN or TechNet subscriber. His friends Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 will be also there in few days.
When Release Candidate went out, servers were under such load that even requesting a key was painfully slow. I hope that download servers will hold-on this time.
P.S. I will miss the betta fish.
Those interested in Windows XP Mode can now play with newest version. It is still not final, but release candidate is a big step. Small outline of what exactly was changed you can see at Windows 7 Team Blog.
I will wait for final Windows 7 RTM before I install it so I can only hope that Virtual PC got back all it’s “mojo” from old days. Try it your self at Virtual PC web pages.
Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 will have one ability not found in any edition of Windows - it will be able to boot from flash media.
While this doesn’t mean much now, in long run OEMs will start selling servers with Hyper-V already inside. It seems to me that it will be very hard to get server without it. It will be free for OEM and I can imagine quite a few customers actually sticking with it.
Hopefully we are not too far from day when Windows will boot from USB.
P.S. This seems to me as attack toward embedded VMware ESXi. Critics would say that Microsoft waited for cheap 32 GB flash modules. :)
While common folks need to wait in order to get Windows 7 RTM bits, pirates do not have the same problem. It all started with leaked RTM torrents within days of completion (even RTM candidates were leaked). Circle now completes with cracked version (courtesy of Lenovo OEM key).
And do not forget that all this is happening before even MSDN subscribers got their copy. It seems to me that pirates have better distribution channels than Microsoft. :)
[2009-08-03: Microsoft will block that particular OEM key, but let’s face it, new key is just around corner…]
Finally it is known. Earliest date you can get Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) will be August 6th. This date is for those fortunate enough to be MSDN or TechNet subscriber.
Mere mortals will need to wait until October 22nd.
[2009-07-22: Windows 7 has reached RTM status.]
I do like Windows 7, but I still have few computers that for various issues (mostly driver availability) must work under Windows XP. Just to have fun, I decided to install Windows XP Media Center Edition this time.
Image of MCE is little bit bigger and it occupies two CDs. There is no DVD image so you are force to insert second one in appropriate moment. What came to me as surprise is that it requires Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 to be inserted as third disk.
First attempt was just to cancel that dialog and that left me with unusable operating system since half of programs went missing.
For second attempt I just took Service Pack 2 from Internet and gave it to installation. It worked until next file was required and that file could not be found. That left me puzzled since that file was on CD1. I gave him CD1 and OS was installed. When I tried to apply SP3, everything just froze.
In third attempt, when asked for SP2 CD, I just returned first disk back in. I was surprised that installation didn’t mind and everything was installed perfectly. Even subsequent installation of service pack 3 went without problems.
Why did this happen? My guess is that slip-streaming is to be blamed. On original disks, everything was arranged in proper order but when service pack was slip-streamed (MCE comes with SP2), all updated files were arranged on first disk. Nobody bothered to re-arrange it and that caused need to reuse CD1. Installation itself knew only that it needs SP2 files and nobody bothered to change prompt to something more useful like “Please insert first disk again”.
Today I downloaded and decided to check Microsoft Office 2010 technical preview. While is too early to say anything about improvements in applications (I just installed it), there is one peculiar thing I noticed.
When installing Microsoft Visio you can go to customize screen to be presented with choice of installing Microsoft Outlook (trial) by default.
Why on earth would somebody install Outlook (selected by default) just because he is installing Visio?
I have no idea.