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Windows 8 for the IT Pro: The New Plumbing

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Hi folks, Ned coming to you from the secret underground redoubt, where the cable is out, the wife is at grad school, and the dogs are napping as autumn finally reaches North Carolina. image

I’m not a fan of blog posts that only aggregate links and don’t offer original thought. Today I make an exception, as the first official bits of Windows 8 have hit the street. Like all Windows pre-releases, you notice two immediate problems:

  1. The consumer content overwhelms the IT Professional content.
  2. The Internet is a public toilet of misunderstanding, opinions masquerading as facts, and general ignorance.

Nothing wrong with the first point; we’re outnumbered at least a thousand to one, so it’s natural for advertising to target the majority. The second point I can’t abide by; I despise misinformation.

Nothing has changed with my NDA - I cannot discuss Windows 8 in detail, speak of the future, or otherwise get myself fired. Nevertheless, I can point you to accurate content that’s useful to an IT Professional craving more than just the new touchscreen shell for tablets. My links talk a little Windows Server and show features that Mom won’t be using.

So, in vague order and with no regard to the features being Directory Services or not, here are the goods. Some are movies and PowerPoint slides, some are text. Some are Microsoft and some are not. Many are buried in the //Build site. I added some exposition to each link so I don’t feel so dirty.

Enjoy, it’s going to be a busy decade.

Intro (good for basic familiarity)

Security & Active Directory

Interestingly, no mainstream websites have discovered many of the AD changes visible in the server preview build, or at least, not written about them. Aha! Here they come, thanks for the tip Sean:

Virtualization, Networking, & High Availability

Deployment & Performance

Remember, everything is subject to change and refers only to the Developer Preview release from the //Build conference; Windows 8 isn’t even in beta yet. Grab the client or server and see for yourself.

And no matter what link you click, I don’t recommend reading the comments. See point 2.

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Where do you want me to put this Internet?

Ned “bowl o’ links” Pyle

Comments

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2011
    When is the NDA lifted?

  • Anonymous
    September 17, 2011
    That's good stuff Sean, not sure why Bing and Google failed me when I was groveling for articles to vet. Those are good too Mike. Keep looking, it's not quite Core. <yoda voice>  there is another </yoda voice> Dunno Rich.

  • Anonymous
    September 18, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 18, 2011
    And since server is now released (to MSDN subscribers and I think TechNet, sympathetically - at least, I can access the download through the MSDN site even though I have only a TechNet subscription) and I am seeing some chatter where people have noticed this publically: Open a PowerShell console and run: Add-WindowsFeature AD-Domain-Services get-command -module addsdeployment You'll see one of the biggest changes. Server Manager+ isn't just a new GUI, it's a front-end to something new for the first time in 12 years.

  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
    On the client end I wonder if you can finally extend (or have 2...) the taskbar onto a second monitor.  I've got 4, and the icons fill the tray fast.  I wonder if the 'start up' folder in the start menu will be coming back in a real way...I know I'm dropping 'Explorer' in there!

  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
    Voila! static.arstechnica.com/.../MultiMonitor.png arstechnica.com/.../hands-on-with-windows-8-a-tablet-operating-system-for-the-pc-age.ars "Only in fact, it works a bit better, at least for users of multimonitor systems. The inability to span the taskbar across multiple monitors has long been a source of frustration for multimonitor users. In Windows 8, 16 years after the taskbar first hit our computers, we'll finally be able to span the taskbar across multiple screens, without needing third party applications or special drivers.

  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
    Secure Data Access and Compliance anyone?  :) channel9.msdn.com/.../SAC-973F     (starting at 56:30 in video) Can't wait for more AD and general server stuff to come out...

  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 19, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    September 20, 2011
    No sweat gallwapa. Thanks, Santhosh. :)

  • Anonymous
    September 21, 2011
    Ok, it's been a few days... has the NDA been lifted yet?   No? ...ok, how about now?   :D

  • Anonymous
    September 21, 2011
    You'll know when it is. :) I am fixin' to bust with all the new things I want to talk about, but can't.