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No, that’s Albany as in the subscription service beta, not upstate New York

The question I was asked as I was making my sandwich at an onsite conference…

“So, you work with the product groups… what’s happening in Albany today?”

No, that should be “What is Albany?”

See the news here on the Beta launch of New All-in-One Service for Consumers, as told by Group Product Manager Bryson Gordon on Microsoft PressPass today…

“… Albany” is the codename for a new all-in-one subscription service of essential software and services consumers told us were most important to them. We’ve pulled together the productivity tools people need to organize their lives, security to help keep their personal information safe and online services that make it easy for them to keep in touch with friends and family, and folded them all into a single service that also ensures the user’s PC is running the latest security and productivity software.

“With just a few clicks, “Albany” subscribers will be able install the whole package, which includes Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, giving them the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for their personal and school projects; Windows Live OneCare to help keep viruses at bay and their computer fast and healthy; and Windows Live Mail, Messenger and Photo Gallery so they can connect and share with others. Albany also installs the Microsoft Office Live Workspace connector on the Microsoft Office toolbar, so users can save documents to their own dedicated online workspace and invite friends and classmates to collaborate and share.

“Additionally, with “Albany” consumers get the latest versions of Microsoft Office Home and Student and Windows Live OneCare as they’re released. Combined with ongoing security updates, consumers can have the peace of mind that they have protection from the most recent security threats and that their PC is running at its peak.

“The beta program we’re announcing today spans a broad cross-section of users and is an integral part of bringing a new service to market.”

As Ina Fried said in her blog today…

“Microsoft is planning to introduce a limited beta version of Albany in the coming days, with the aim of launching the product commercially sometime later this year, Gordon said. The company still hasn’t decided on how much it will charge or how the product will be sold, he said.

“In talking about the product, Microsoft did not refer to Google Docs by name, but I have said a subscription product might be Microsoft’s way of trying to find a more palatable way of charging for Office amid stepped-up competition from free and online rivals.

“By tying the Office subscription to OneCare, Microsoft is linking the purchase to one of the few areas where consumers have shown a willingness to pay for software–security. In this way, Microsoft can make the pitch to those buying security software that, for some extra dollars, they can always have the latest version of Office as well.”

Also of interest on CNet News…

Tags: Microsoft, OneCare, Office, Saas.

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Windows XP Home for ULCPCs available until 2010

I read the news today, oh boy…


In case you missed it, Microsoft announced that the availability of Windows XP Home will be extended worldwide in support of “an emerging, new class of mobile personal computers commonly known as ultra-low-cost PCs, or ULCPCs.”



This will Windows XP Home for ULCPCs will be available until the later of June 30, 2010, or one year after general availability of the next version of Windows.


 Tags: Microsoft, Windows XP, ULCPC, Windows.

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Your questions: “What’s going on in Iraq next week on daylight saving time?”

A popular question over the last few days…



“What is going on in Iraq next week on daylight saving time?”


As I noted earlier, it looks like Iraq will not observe daylight saving time this year.  The change is currently scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2008. To this point, we haven’t has not been able to officially verify this change, but we’ve spun up resources over the last few weeks to provide guidance, updates and documentation for customers and partners, initially here on the DST & TZ blog and now on a permanent page, Iraq Daylight Saving Time changes, off of the Microsoft DST & TZ site.


What should you do?


In most cases, for consumers and small businesses, probably nothing.


Unless you live in the affected region and actively use Iraq’s Baghdad (Arabic) time zone on your Windows desktop and server operating systems, you probably won’t see or feel any impact. 


If you do use the Baghdad time zone, we recommend that you read the recommended steps on the Iraq Daylight Saving Time changes page.  And please don’t manually adjust the machine’s clock if you do use the Baghdad time zone.  This will cause adverse effects on your environment and it is not supported by Microsoft.  (To read more about why this is a bad idea, see “For DST, do I just adjust my clock in the control panel?”)


Enterprise and multinational customers with a presence in Iraq (or if you schedule meetings via Outlook with customers in the region using the time zone) should review the Iraq Daylight Saving Time changes page, and follow the product group guidance provided – on the page you’ll find a summary of the current status of impacted products and estimated dates when hotfixes will be available.


For details on setting up RSS feeds for these pages, see my post on getting RSS feed updates.


At Microsoft, product teams are moving to a semi-annual update cadence, following the Windows regular cadence for publishing newly legislated DST rules and time zone updates. Annual “Cumulative DST and Time Zone Updates” will be released in November/ December for the coming calendar year, and we’ll also provide for a semi-annual update in the July/August timeframe when needed.  For each, the window closes for additional updates a few months (generally four to six) prior to the release date.  Our goal is that sysadmins and IT Pros can plan on rolling out and installing/ deploying these cumulative update roll-ups as they are published.

<soapbox>


I have to recommend that in order to achieve more seamless transitions to new DST rules and time zones, governments should provide 1) official confirmations of planned changes to DST and time zones, and 2) provide ample advance notice and concentrated efforts on promoting the change to the affected citizens is a requirement.  If you look at how Australia approached their upcoming change in April (more details are available here), the national government allowed eight months or so between the announcement and the actual change.  And as noted on the Australia Eastern & Central 2008 Daylight Saving Changes page (managed by the irrepressible Hugh Jones), the Aussies set up the official Australian Government Time web site to educate end users. 


</soapbox>


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, RSS, DST, Iraq.


Also available at http://bit.ly/bipS8Y.

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Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack Now Available on Xbox Live for Free

Just as I (finally!) near the point of completing Halo 3 on Heroic, I learn that the add-on Heroic map set is available for free.  (Full disclosure: my nine-year-old has already whooped me by completing the last level in Halo 3 at the highest level… and he was able to master the nuances of the game far faster than dear old dad. 😉

Yesterday, the downloadable maps were made available for free, giving players new battle zones on Halo 3.  The Heroic map pack is available through Xbox Live Marketplace.  An overview of the map pack is available here.

More info is noted in various news articles online including this coverage on Ars Technica…

For those people who forget what three maps were included, here’s a quick run down: 

Standoff. Standoff is a big-ish symmetrical map—great for Team Slayer, excellent for Objective games and big enough for a couple of vehicles.

Rat’s Nest. Rat’s Nest is a massive level set in the corridors and tunnels of a Human Base near Kilimanjaro… it’s a giant Oval, kind of like an underground NASCAR track, with lots of vehicles …

Foundry. Foundry is a unique map designed from the outset to be the most customizable Halo 3 Forge map ever created. It’s a large Warehouse….

The next map pack bundle, the Legendary Map Pack, should be available in mid April, likely for 800 Microsoft points.

Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Halo 3

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Advisory: Iraq may not observe daylight saving time this year

As I initially reported, we now have it on reasonable authority that Iraq will not switch to daylight saving time as they have in the past, and as noted online and on the Hot Topics for Daylight Saving Time changes site.  As we have more information, we will post it to the Hot Topics page. It appears that this change will go ahead, but unfortunately there’s no official notice on a government site that confirms this information… 

imageMicrosoft has created guidance and is creating specific product hotfixes (where applicable) in response to news reports that indicate Iraq will not recognize or utilize daylight saving time in 2008.  IT professionals and systems administrators should review their systems and installations, and determine is any users or systems will be impacted by this potential change not to use DST in Iraq this year. 

Chances are that your system will not be impacted unless you are using the Baghdad time zone: if you are, then your local time setting and appointments may be off if in fact the country decides not to use DST this year.  I’ve learned that there are customers in the region who use the Kuwait and Riyadh time zone setting, which has the same offset at Baghdad and does not observe DST in 2008.  And many other customers use GMT or Zulu time, and as such would not be affected by the change. 

Microsoft recognizes this as a potential change and provides guidance to customers and partners should they have systems that may be impacted by this change in Iraq, as noted in this technical-guidance post on the Microsoft Daylight Saving Time & Time Zone FAQs Blog.

ADVISORY: Potential DST Change in Iraq – Technical Guidance

Background – Iraq Daylight Saving Time changes for 2008

Microsoft has learned of a possible change to the observance of Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Iraq that could impact customers using the Baghdad time zone which is also called the Arabic time zone (GMT +03:00).  We have unofficial reports that the Ministry of Iraq has decided that the country will no longer observe DST as they have in prior years, which has historically taken effect on April 1, 2008.  This may impact customers and partners in the region who use the Baghdad time zone, including military facilities and other entities engaged in business in or with the region.  We are actively working with members of the military and US government agencies to confirm the change.  At this time it appears that the change is likely but that could be reversed at any time.

Current status of required updates

The product groups are actively engaged and working on building the updates required to lead our affected customers through the coming change…. 

For a summary of the current status of affected products and estimated dates when hotfixes, see in this technical-guidance post. 

For more updates, check out this post on how to get updates to DST and time zone updates and alerts.

Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, RSS, DST, Iraq.