Mailbag: Hi Mom! (Issue #12)
Greetings all – Mike Hildebrand, Mike Kline and a few others here with some musings for an out of sorts "Monday Mailbag."
It's the end of an era…
Last week, Windows Server 2003 reached its "End of Extended Support" date (July 14, 2015). Hopefully, you have mostly fond memories of it; I know I do.
As one era comes to an end, another begins …
We're getting closer and closer to Windows 10 launch day and I, for one, am super excited. Gabe Aul has some insights for you about build 10240 on the Windows Insider blog
In preparation for Windows 10 launch day on July 29, get ready to "Upgrade your World"
Q – I can't get enough Windows 10 technical details. Where can I find out more?
A – The Windows 10 Hardware Developer site has a lot of excellent technical depth and it's not only for devs. For example, anyone interested in Start menu customization? There is a ton of information there.
Q – We use Key Management Service (KMS) for product activation. What's the skinny on activating Windows 10 clients via KMS?
A - If your KMS host is running on Windows Server 2012/R2, you'll need to apply a hotfix to your KMS host to support Windows 10 activation
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3058168
- A similar patch for KMS on Windows Server 2008 R2 is in the works but not sure on the ETA
Q – My mom continues to call me every few days, usually around 5:30 a.m. ("I didn't wake you up, did I?") with questions about her "specially reserved" free copy of Windows 10. Can I just send her a link with answers to all of her questions?
A – Not sure we can state that it has "all the answers" to your mom's questions but these FAQ resources are pretty darn helpful.
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-faq
- https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/frequently-asked-questions-windows-10/5c0b9368-a9e8-4238-b1e4-45f4b7ed2fb9
As the OS train of progress moves on down the tracks, so does our list of authors …
Mark Morowczynski, one of the founders of this blog and the current leader of the band, will be heading to Redmond, where he talked his way into a gig with the Azure AD Product Group. He's leaving PFE and Chicago behind him and while the Windy City will be a little less windy without him, he will still be twitting/tweeting/twitching - https://twitter.com/markmorow - and look for him to start making noise over on the AAD blog https://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/ . We all wish him well on the next phase of his career and we'll miss his ballyhoo and harassment contributions.
As we reflected back on our writers and the body of work here, we felt we should take a moment to recognize other contributors who have also climbed aboard the train to somewhere else:
- Doug Symalla – one of the founders
- Marty Lucas
- Jake Mowrer
- Jeff Stokes
- Joao Botto
- Milad Aslaner
- Anyone else who slipped out the back door
Cheers and Happy Monday!