• Microsoft Said to Finish Windows 8 in Summer, release date in October 
• What’s Coming In Microsoft Outlook 15 
• Microsoft makes tweaks to Office Web Apps with Office 15 
• Add a “Show Start” shortcut to your Windows 8 desktop
• Android 4.0 on ASUS Eee PC X101 Netbook
• Amazon uses nearly half a million servers to power EC2, researcher estimates Any doubts who the cloud leader is?

Do you favor a clean Windows install or an upgrade? In this post, I introduce the new streamlined Windows 8 upgrade process and, in particular, the Windows 8 Web Setup.

Most IT professionals recommend a clean new install when it comes to upgrading Windows. However, the Windows 8 upgrade process has been significantly streamlined—which is why Microsoft calls it, well, “Streamlined Setup.” The questions are whether the new features of this Streamlined Setup will change the view of IT pros and whether direct upgrades from Windows 7 to Windows 8 will become the norm.

Windows 8 upgrade – Streamlined and Advanced Setup

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• New free VMware management tool: Veeam ONE Free Edition 
• Exploit code published for RDP worm hole; Does Microsoft have a leak?
• Reward offered for Windows RDP exploit If you didn’t update your Windows system yet, you better hurry up!

• Free ebook: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012  Added to the 4sysops list of free admin books: 
• IT jobs look up  Hmm still no layoffs because of the cloud? Some analysts must have been wrong. 
• Building Windows 8: Web browsing in Windows 8 Consumer Preview with IE10 
• Windows Server “8” – Taking Server Application Storage to Windows File Shares
• Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 2 Public Beta Released
• System Center 2012 CTP for Windows Server “8” Beta support now available
• New VDI Management Capabilities in Windows Server “8″ Beta Overview
• First communication using neutrinos Internet connections through the earth’s core?
• Microsoft Security Essentials still most popular security protection program in the US

• Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool 4.6 available for download 
• Microsoft: ‘We urge you to promptly apply this security update’
• The NEW Windows Server “8” Beta Hyper-V Component Architecture Poster is available … Its FREE 
• Microsoft chops Office 365 enterprise prices by 20 percent 
• Building Windows 8: Web browsing in Windows 8 Consumer Preview with IE10 
• IT managers say they are eagerly awaiting Windows 8-based tablets due out this fall
• Microsoft releases Windows 8 Device Center beta

If you didn't start testing Windows 8 yet, then this guide is a must-read. This text is also a must-read if you already played with Windows 8 and started whining because everything is so different and strange.

As expected, there is lots of buzz about Windows 8. Not surprisingly, many are complaining about the huge changes in the user interface. Considering the large user base of Windows, there are always some people who don’t like the changes and some who do like them. The ones who don’t are usually louder.

Windows 8 Lock Screen

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• More Microsoft SQL Server 2012 downloads 
• Windows Server “8” Beta – Hyper-V Replica (synchronous replication of Hyper-V VMs) 
• Rocking the Windows Server “8” Administrative Experience

• Getting around in Windows 8
• Gartner Says PC Shipments Will Grow 4.4 Percent in 2012 Welcome to the post PC world!

• Download SQL Server 2012 Evaluation  SQL Server 2012 is also on TechNet and MSDN
• Download SQL Server 2012 Feature Pack
• Veeam: Win a free pass to VMworld or TechEd 2012 
• Microsoft Office 15 features and improvements
• Windows 8 Hyper-V: Scalability video It appears the video doesn’t work in Chrome

• Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2012 
• Download SQL Server 2012 Express 
• Download Internet Information Services (IIS) 8.0 Express Beta
• Discover what´s new in Windows 8 Active Directory (demo)
• What’s in Windows Server 8 for the IT Pro – a demo tour
• Microsoft Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool (OCAT) Detects potential sources of problems in Outlook
• Amazon cuts cloud prices 
• Win 8 may top IPad 3 for businesses (ultrabooks with tablet support) Forrester has read my post

• Hyper-V Server “8” Beta available for download 
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview: The Netbook Experience Seems Windows 8 performs better than Windows 7
• Survey: UK Lags US in Using the Cloud to Combat Spam
• Here’s how Windows 8 will allow administrators to sideload and manage apps
• Updating Integration Services in Windows Server “8”
• Microsoft: Our Cloud Efforts Will Generate 14 Million Jobs By 2015

This post contains five Windows 8 Consumer Preview videos which I liked. Pretty much impressive.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview keynote at Mobile World Congress 2012

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• Microsoft: 1 million Windows 8 Consumer Preview downloads in day one 
• Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 RC1 available 
• Microsoft opens doors to Metro app store for Windows 8
• Windows 8 ARM: no remote management for businesses
• Windows 8 Consumer preview initial user reactions
• Officially, Galaxy S II Is the Best Smartphone in the World  Gosh, and you are still so proud of your iPhone

• Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview
• Download Windows Server “8″ Beta 
• Download RSAT for Windows 8
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview Product Guide for Business
• There are now quite a few Windows 8 related downloads on TechNet Plus

The blogosphere thirsts after every little bit of Windows 8 news. Every new wallpaper or secret app list is a sensation. And of course, with today's release of the Consumer Preview, the blogosphere will go crazy. This reminds me of the hype during the Vista alpha and beta phases. And you probably remember what happened afterwards. However, Windows 8 has more in common with Microsoft's biggest success, Windows 95.

When the first reports started to trickle in, that 10-year-old web cams and quite a few Windows 3.11 programs somehow didn’t appreciate Windows Vista, the blogosphere verdict quickly swung back to the other extreme. Claiming that Vista is a mess was the best way to show the world that you are really a geek. Even PC blog stars like Chris Pirillo suddenly claimed that Macs are much cooler anyway and drew big applause from the nerd community. I also met quite a few people who didn’t have the slightest idea about IT, Windows, or computers in general but who told me stone-faced and in geek parlance that Microsoft really messed up this time. I mean, everyone knew that, right?

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