Follow me on Twitter

I have regretfully decided to no longer create blog posts. This mainly due to my change in job responsibilities that actually happened some time ago. You can follow me on Twitter by following the username @iamaconsultant or visiting my Twitter page.

Hilarious new MVP Video

This is a hilarious video on how person behaves when he finds out he has just been awarded the Microsoft MVP award.

http://www.21apps.com/2007/08/what-it-like-to-be-mvp-newbee.html

I can finally talk about Office Communications Server 2007

It's been several months since I've last posted. Now that the next version of Live Communications Server is available in public beta, I can start blogging about what I've learned over the past 4 months about Office Communications Server 2007.

In December, I attend the OCS Summit. This was a exclusive event for TAP customers, Microsoft technical specialists, and a select group of LCS/OCS MVPs. The event took us through several in-depth presentations. We were able to go through setting up OCS in our own lab environment. We even got to use the telephony functionality. Lee Mackey, one of the OCS MVPs and a goof ball, took advantage of the video cameras to embarrass me.

It was a very productive week even though high winds cut power to 90% of Bellevue and several people missed their flights home. The presentation on Exchange UM integration was done using a generator to power the projector. It was great. I played Gears of War for the first time during game night which led to the purchase of my very own Xbox 360.

In March, I attend the Microsoft MVP Summit. The OCS MVPs had a wonderful opportunity to talk to the product group in several sessions. We had a lot of active dialogue on what we love about OCS and what we felt they left out. Some of our OCS MVPs were passionate about some of the telephony changes.

Before you upgrade to Office 2007 Beta 2 TR

Office 2007 beta 2 technical refresh was released today. The office client applications (word, excel, powerpoint) are an upgrade. As excited as we all are, do not upgrade to beta 2 TR until you understand a known issue in technical refresh. In the installation/deployment training live meeting, the speaker stated that due to schema changes, any office document saved in the office 2007 beta 2 format, may NOT open in the technical refresh. Yes, may NOT open.

The workaround is to open each document in the beta 2 install and save them in Office 2003 format. Then, when you install technical refresh, the documents will open. I know for our RDP project, this is a big pain in the neck. We have dozens of documents saved in 2007 format. There was no indication on whether this would be fixed for RTM. Since they are calling it a known issue, I am hopeful.

New Chicago SharePoint User Group

Much of my focus lately has been on Office 2007 RDP projects. While I'm stuck in bug hell waiting for Beta 2 TR, I ran across an email in my inbox regarding a new user group.

An old coworker of mine, Asif Rehmani, is starting a Chicago SharePoint user group. The first meeting will be at the Microsoft office in downtown Chicago on September 27. Alex Paytuvi, Microsoft SharePoint Evangelist, will be speaking. If you are interested, please RSVP:

https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=111584

Asif works for SharePoint Solutions, a SharePoint training provider. These guys build their own training curriculum. I've heard positive feedback from people I've referred to SharePoint Solutions. Their website has significant information on SharePoint including code snippets, tips, and tricks. Check it out.

SQL 2005 & Windows 2K3 R2 now Supported on LCS

Over on Tom's blog, Microsoft has announced support for LCS 2005 on SQL 2000 SP3a and later plus support for Windows 2003 R2. This is a big deal for those companies who like to consolidate multiple Microsoft application back-ends on a single SQL cluster. LCS will no longer hold you back.

Microsoft and Yahoo Bridge IM Solutions

CNET News is reporting that Microsoft and Yahoo will be releasing a beta test service tomorrow, July 13, that will connect the two services. The service allows users to sign-in to both clients with one ID. This specific products involved are Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger with Voice.