Microsoft published a new guide about the security settings in Windows Server 2008. This Technet article gives an overview and the guide itself can be downloaded here. What makes this guide so useful is not only the 214 page security guide (plus a 76 page appendix about security related Group Policy settings). Most interesting are the Excel files that come with the guide.

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Aaron has a nice post about the command line interface of Server Manager in Windows Server 2008. I have been blogging about the graphical interface of Server Manager a while back. I somehow forgot to mention that Server Manager has a command line version. So I am taking this chance to make up for my omission, although the main intent of this post is to express my view about the value of these new command line capabilities of Vista and Server 2008 in general.

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So so, Windows Server 2008 is being launched today. I wonder, what exactly could be meant by this? I mean, I have been working with Server 2008 RTM already for some days now and I downloaded it from an official Microsoft website. Note that I don’t belong to those privileged Microsoft customers who have access to their products before the common people. So again, what is Microsoft launching today?

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Josh from the InfiniteAdmin blog has an interesting post about solid state disk (SSD) encryption. He raised doubts that drive encryption tools such as TrueCrypt are secure enough if applied to SSDs. Like memory sticks SSDs are flash drives that usually work with NAND technology. Therefore, these concerns also apply to USB sticks.

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Update: I posted a small guide of how to solve problems with Service Sack 1 for Windows Vista

Vista SP1 is officially only available for enterprise customers, but the reports about problems caused by this service pack are piling up. This post contains a list of all SP1 issues I am aware of.

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Paul Thurrott published a new review about Vista SP1. I covered many of the things he said in several posts here on 4sysops. But his article gives a good overview about the changes in Vista SP1. Actually, it is more of an assessment where Vista stands today. It might be of help for those who are hesitant to deploy Vista or not.

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Windows XP SP3 RC2 is now available as a public download via Windows Update. Even though I know that this SP isn’t really exciting I was curious enough to install it today. As before one has to run a little exe which changes some registry keys. The difference this time was that SP showed up in Windows Update shortly afterwards. Last time, I had to wait a day or so. Download was pretty fast, too. Perhaps that is a sign that nobody is really interested in it?

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes from ZDnet ran a comprehensive performance test comparing Windows Vista SP1 with Windows XP SP2. He only tested file copy related tasks, though. Now, guess which OS is faster? Good guess! Anyway, it is interesting to see the exact difference because it allows you to estimate in what way a move to Vista might affect performance. However, in one sense all these performance tests are pointless.

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At first, I thought, it is some kind of joke. But then I read it on several sites and even on a Microsoft blog. Windows Server 2008 SP1 is released. Yeah right, it was released together with Windows Server 2008 RTM. The good thing is we don’t have to wait so long for this SP as we waited for Vista SP1. The bad thing is I am deeply confused as to what is going on at Microsoft at the moment.

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I think every second Microsoft blog I’ve read today is broadcasting the news. Vista SP1 is now available on MSDN and Technet Plus. If you skim over these blogs you’ll make out some deep breaths. Finally, Microsoft’s high-ups understood that RTM nowadays means download availability. I’d like to add that it is also available for Volume License customers. Home users still have to wait though, but the more tech savvy ones will find their way to get this service pack, anyhow.

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TrueCrypt 5 is available for some days now. Today, I found time to have a look at the new version of my favorite free encryption tool. The most noteworthy new feature certainly is its ability to encrypt system drives/partitions. Until now TrueCrypt was only an alternative to the Encrypting Files System (EFS) under Windows. Now, Truecrypt 5 also competes with Vista’s Bitlocker. In this post, I explore the pros and cons of both crypto tools.

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Windows Server 2008 RTM has been out out for some days now. I suppose only the adventurous are running it already in a productive environment. Even if you’re not planning to deploy Windows Server 2008 in the near future, I recommend having a look at its new features now. Who knows, maybe there are one or two features that might convince you to install Microsoft’s latest server OS earlier than planned.

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It seems as if Microsoft is impressed by the enormous critique they got for the delay regarding the release of Vista SP1. There are reports that the English version of SP1 will be available for Volume Licensing customers at the end of week. Later this month MSDN and Technet Plus subscribers will be allowed installing this precious service pack. If you don’t want to wait you can download it right now via BitTorrent. You should just be careful not to download an altered version containing malware. I will explain in this post how.

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WSUS 3.0 SP1 RTM has been released. This time it is not just a “fake release” like that of Vista SP1. You can really download it! Another question is if you really need this service pack. I tried to find out what the new features of WSUS 3.0 SP1 are.

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