Category: Uncategorized

Categories
Uncategorized

Your questions: What’s all this about the Leap Second, and how does it affect the Microsoft Windows OS and other products?

First off, Happy Canada Day. (eh? 😉

Lots of talk today about the ‘Leap second bug’ that caused various site and software crashes (see this post via CNET)…

“The addition of a leap second to the Coordinated Universal Time at midnight Greenwich Mean Time last night appears to have caused site disruptions for a handful of popular Web sites and software platforms.

“The adjustment, which was made by International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, was necessary to keep atomic clocks in line with the Earth’s ever-changing speed of rotation. Dozens of leap seconds have been added since their introduction in 1972.”

Once again, The Extra Second was too much for some sites. Sounds like a new James Patterson crime novel. Or perhaps a new thriller from our own Mark Russinovich… I prefer his writing more these days anyway.

As I noted a couple of years ago, you’ll find more documenting the impact of a leap second in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 909614, How the Windows Time service treats a leap second (as Michael Kaplan noted in his most excellent post)… 

“In short, W32Time does not account for a leap second being dependent on the NTP server. Most applications and services may be unaffected, but sysadmins and IT professionals should know that the leap second is not addressed until the next time sync following the official addition/ subtraction of the leap second.  Consumers really have nothing to worry about save questioning whether or not the time is accurate as broadcast during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve when the crystal ball drops in Times Square.

“Info on syncing clocks to absolute time, please see KB 816042, How to configure an authoritative time server in Windows Server 2003, and KB 884776, How to configure the Windows Time service against a large time offset.

“General information on the Windows Time Service is also available in the team blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/w32time/default.aspx.  More articles/ information in which you may be interested:

IIRC, the concept of a leap second is actually in question, and an ITU working group is evaluating whether or not the process of adding/subtracting leap seconds should be discontinued.

 

Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, leap second, DST.

Bookmark and Share

Also available via http://bit.ly/MMZoIg

Categories
Uncategorized

Much ado about something (important): World IPv6 Launch 2012 is June 6

A long time between posts, but starting up again with a note on IPv6.

Last year, I posted about Microsoft Bing and Xbox.com Support World IPv6 Day. This year, we welcome World IPv6 Launch (which kicks off tomorrow) as we once again work with other members of the Internet Society (ISOC) on promoting this next step in the progression of the Internet, Microsoft will participate in World IPv6 Day. (For more information on IPv6, you can Bing it: http://www.bing.com/search?q=ipv6)  If you read this blog, you already know that the transition to IPv6 is not the End of the World. No, Really.

So, ahead of World IPv6 Launch, here’s the post from Chris Palmer form the Windows Networking team on IPv6 improvements to Windows 8: http://win8.ms/ipv6…

Microsoft, along with other technology companies, has been working on the deployment of IPv6 to ensure that end-users continue to have high-quality Internet access, despite the performance and connectivity limitations brought about by IPv4 address exhaustion.

The most immediate benefit of IPv6 is that it provides more than 3×1038 IP addresses, enough for every person to have billions of addresses all to themselves, or enough to give every atom in the universe a unique address. This will allow the Internet to grow and evolve. IPv6 also provides for many security and performance improvements, like built-in support for IPsec. (What happened to IPv5, you ask? Bing can help you find out why it’s being “skipped.”)

Upgrading the entire Internet to IPv6 isn’t something that can be done instantly. It has taken many years to get to where we are today, and we still have many years of work to do. Currently, around 1% of devices can connect to the Internet using only IPv6.

As noted, the entire Internet is gradually shifting to IPv6, representing a foundational shift in every Internet experience. Microsoft is taking this transition very seriously, and working to ensure there is no interruption of service for our users as IPv6 is widely deployed. Since IPv6 was fully introduced in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista, Microsoft has been working to support this next generation Internet protocol.

Most consumers and computer users won’t see any a major impact today: your current IPv4 address, as well as the applications and services you use today over IPv4 will likely be unaffected and continue to work, as Internet service providers (ISPs) and your network administrators will support your connection to the Internet. The tables below provide a summary view of the IPv6 support status of various services and products from Microsoft. Where available, links to more information about the support state of the products have been included. Consumers with IPv6 Internet capabilities – with both a device that supports IPv6 (like a Windows 7 PC) and support from your Internet provider – will automatically utilize IPv6 when connected to participating website. While the protocols are different, the browsing experiences of IPv4 and IPv6 are identical.

For IT professionals and technical users, additional information about server products is available through our Common Engineering Criteria (CEC). A set of engineering requirements are outlined for our Server products as part of the CEC program, which includes support for IPv6.

Microsoft maintains the Microsoft IPv6 information site on TechNet to provide more information on this new IP. There you can read more about how we’ve already built IPv6 support into the latest versions of Microsoft Windows, including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and even in older versions such as Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and even Windows XP and Windows CE .NET. We offer overviews of IPv6, technical information, deployment and developer resources, including an overview of Teredo, the Microsoft platform that provides IPv6 connectivity across the current IPv4 Internet.

So, consumers, sit back and relax, knowing that (likely) your Internet Service Providers and Mobile Operators are hard at work to ensure that you have a seamless transition to IPv6. I know many IT Professionals and developers already have plans and efforts already to make to move to IPv6 (some are already there). For the ones who haven’t: get a plan in place lickity split and get a move on. Your customers and users are counting on it.

You can also read bout the next iteration in my post on IPv6 SP1. 😉

Tags: Windows, Microsoft, IPv6, IPv4

Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share

Also available via

Categories
Uncategorized

Advisory: Armenia will not observe daylight saving time in 2012

If you read this blog regularly, you’ll recall that Armenia proposed changes to their stand on daylight saving time…

We now have confirmed reports that similar to the move in Russia, that Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine won’t fall back but also stay permanently on summer time on October 30. (There have been some initial rumours about other countries following Russia’s lead and considering cancelling Daylight saving time too. We will also provide details on these changes as they come up and are ratified and enacted into law.)

Today we confirmed that Armenia has cancelled DST starting in 2012, as noted in this blog post advisory…

In an attempt to improve the country’s economy, the government of Armenia has cancelled Daylight Saving Time. This will result in the country staying on permanent ‘winter time’ and not moving an hour ahead on Sunday, March 25th 2012.

Since the new date published by the government is different from what was defined in the previous years, Windows-based computers will not correctly interpret the time after March 25th 2012.

Microsoft will not be issuing an update for Windows at this time to address this change. The recommendation is to move to an alternate time zone: Russian Standard Time [DisplayName: “(UTC+04:00) Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd” ]

The time zone Caucasus Standard Time [DisplayName: “(UTC+04:00) Yerevan”] will be updated in the next cycle of cumulative time zone update for Windows (next planned is August 2012).

Essentially the recommendation is that customers in Armenia to move to an alternate time zone: one alternate time zone recommendation is “Russian Standard Time” DisplayName: (UTC +4:00) Moscow, St Petersburg, Volgograd) in Windows.

We don’t plan to issue a hotfix or update at this time for Windows, but plan to include and revise the native time zone for Armenia in the next release of Windows cumulative time zone updates, planned for August 2012.

We’ll continue to watch the developments and changes around the world. As noted previously, we do provide some guidance on http://www.microsoft.com/time, that in order to achieve more seamless transitions to new DST and time zones policies, Microsoft requests that governments provide the following:

  • Ample advance notice (1 year or more) of the planned change.
  • Official published confirmation of planned changes to DST or time zones.
  • Concentrated efforts on promoting the change to the affected citizens.

Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, RSS,DST, Armenia

Also available via http://bit.ly/GJRtuG

Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share

Categories
Uncategorized

How do I survive SXSW in Austin? By “attending” virtually

As you may know – and some may even be reading this from the great state of Texas – the South by South West (SxSW) festival kicked off in Austin.

Unlike a few of my friends, and contrary to my thoughts in 2011, I won’t be there this year. There are some great reasons to attend SXSW, I know that from many of my friends who’ve made the pilgrimage to Texas (and March can be a very nice time in Austin).

Once again, I was asked not once, not twice but a half dozen times in the last day for various restaurant or event recommendations for SXSW – which last time I compiled into some helpful hints. But I decided not to make the trek this year, and appears I’m in good company.

Of course, reading Gene Marks’ post on Forbes.com, I have to disagree with some assessments…

"For example, we sell Microsoft products. I know…they were also a sponsor at SXSW. But who are we kidding? Those guys are so…yesterday."

Really? I beg to differ. But that’s for a different post.

One of the reasons I’m not at SXSW is that, just like CES, it’s become quite large. And with so many people there covering it live (just search the Twitter hashtag #sxsw) I get much of what I want from it on line. Lots of news coverage is available (here via Bing and via Bing’s SXSW news feed) and from many prolific tweeters – you can see recent public updates on Bing.

Here’s some advice:

The 7 Best Ways To Follow #SXSW From Home via Jon Dube, Contributor at Forbes…

"More than a dozen talks will be live-streaming on the SXSW site, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman on Saturday morning, AOL founder Steve Case on Sunday morning and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on Monday afternoon. You can find a complete list of the talks and links to the live streams here."

SXSW Social Viewer: Check it out here.

Jon’s SXSW DAILY, with popular SXSW stories daily. You can view the paper here and sign up to get daily updates via email.

Panels: As Jon notes, many panels aren’t streamed, but you can get live feeds from folks in the sessions on Twitter as each has its own hashtag. You can browse all of the panels and find the hashtags by clicking through to the details for each here.

Twitter feeds to follow at SXSW:

SXSW ‏ Official user of the SXSW Music, Film and Interactive Conferences and Festivals

SXSW PartyList! The Party List for #SXSW Email us: SXSWPartyList@gmail.com

@livefromsxsw – has lots of info

@CNNSXSW CNN News will be there in force with news and stories.

Jennifer over at rsvpster.com has a list of who to follow "to find out what’s going on all over Austin during (and before) South By begins is to load up your twitter feed to be sure you’re following the most South-by savvy users." Of particular interest:

@sxshhh: Our friends over at @sxshhh are creating a spreadsheet of events/parties for SXSW ’12

@SouthByFreeNoms: Real talk: I hate the term ‘noms’ for food. Real talk: despite the name, this is one of the best users to follow during SX – always on it with the free food, which comes in handy mid-day Thursday when you just want a free taco.

Following your favorite blogs/venues always helps with keeping up with chaos. Our favorites: @MohawkAustin, @BeautyBarAustin, @CheerUpCharlies.

 

Tags: articles, what I read, blogs, SXSW, Microsoft, travel tips.

Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share

This post is also available via http://bit.ly/y0GdX0

Categories
Uncategorized

Another look at the PC of tomorrow, in your pocket with Windows To Go

A couple of months ago, I opined about what will the PC might look like in five years, and offered a view of my son’s possible Windows PC in 2016…

“The icing on this hardware cake will be the additional power outside the box. Given he’ll be connected to the most powerful servers on the planet anywhere and everywhere, the cloud will provide the real computing horsepower he needs to handle heavy computer lifting.

“So I’ll stick with my wager: off hours, my son’s primary technology consumption and communication device will be a phone… with his two PCs and cloud storage allowing him to express his creativity and manage his life. (What the phone will look like is anyone’s guess, but I do like where we’re going with the Windows Phone form factor – eventually I’ll be able to replace the contents of my slim wallet with my phone, but I’m not sure we’ll get there by 2016.)”

Today, I wanted to add to that list, primarily looked at from a consumer point of view, with a bent towards enterprises, given the announcements today on the Windows blog and live at CeBIT supporting an even smaller, more portable and affordable form factor: a USB drive.

My friend Erwin Visser from the Windows org noted how enterprise customers will be able to leverage Windows To Go, which provides a Windows 8 desktop on an external USB drive…

“… that a user can boot from any PC available at work, at home, or just about any location, with or without connectivity. It’s like having your secure corporate PC in your pocket. And this means employees will be able to do things like travel light without sacrificing productivity, IT organizations can support the “Bring Your Own PC” trend, and businesses can give contingent staff access to the corporate environment without compromising security.

“Every time I talk with customers about Windows To Go, a new scenario comes up, like how it will be helpful in situations like working from home or vacation and disaster recovery, and we expect it will be highly valuable for certain industries like military or education. I’m excited to hear how Windows To Go will be used within your organization because I truly believe it will give businesses an array of new possibilities in mobile productivity.”

Imagine besides having your phone, also having a secure corporate PC in your pocket, with the same security and management you have on your corporate Windows 7 PC today. At today’s prices – roughly $1/GB – users will have affordable yet robust systems with a huge amount of storage space, further enabled with cloud connectivity, processing and storage, all on a small form factor that operates just about anywhere.

Ars Technica wrote about Windows To Go today with a step-by-step guide on creating your own Windows 8 “mobile” alternative…

“In theory, Windows to Go could give administrators a way of creating a verified, locked-down image of the Windows 8 OS that can be given to wandering users, temporary off-site contractors, or telecommuters to allow them to connect to the corporate network with confidence from their own (or someone else’s) computer.

“So is this a potential solution for enterprises? Since this works with any USB-mountable storage, it’s certainly one way to deal with the whole bring-your-own-device conundrum companies are now facing in various ways. It would allow employees and contractors to use the hardware of their choice (as long as it’s up to the task). And by using administrative tools to do system policies and Active Directory lockdown, it’s possible to prevent users from exfiltrating data to their own systems, or infect the corporate network with the viruses they’ve downloaded to their own systems.”

Today I carry a couple of password protected USB drives (using as I noted here with Bitlocker To Go) with the files I need on the go. It won’t be long until I have the entire computer experience in my pocket.

Tags: Windows, Windows 8, Windows 7, Microsoft.

Also available via http://bit.ly/yzBIvp

Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share