Plan for and deploy Windows 8‏

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Plan for and Deploy Windows 8 in the Enterprise  Find key resources to help you plan, deploy, secure, and manage Windows 8 in an enterprise environment. Download Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation Software  The Windows 8 Enterprise 90-day evaluation is designed specifically to help IT professionals test their software and hardware on the final version of Windows 8 Enterprise. See the Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation FAQ. Free E-book: Introducing Windows 8: An Overview for IT Professionals(Final Edition)  Based on final, released-to-manufacturing (RTM) software, this book introduces new features and capabilities, with scenario-based insights demonstrating how to plan for, implement, and maintain Windows 8 in an enterprise environment. Your Featured Content TechNet Magazine: Identify Your Unique Windows 8 Adoption Path Windows 8 can fit into your infrastructure regardless of which Windows OS you're using now or where you are in your migration plans. Windows 8 Jump Start: Windows 8 Deployment Learn how to simplify planning and deployment - and ease your migration from earlier versions of the Windows operating system. Download the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) is the recommended process and toolset for automating desktop and server deployment. It reduces deployment time and standardizes desktop and server images, along with offering improved security and ongoing configuration management. Video: Windows 8 - Designed for Businesses (Episode 2) Technical Evangelist Kevin Remde hosts Senior Marketing Manager for the Windows Commercial Team, Hye Jun, to discuss how Windows 8 benefits businesses. Tune in to learn how Windows 8 delivers the perfect blend of devices and experiences your users require and the enterprise-grade solutions businesses need.   Explore Free Windows 8 Courses on MVA New Windows 8 courses are coming to Microsoft Virtual Academy, beginning with "Exploring Windows 8" - which provides an overview of BitLocker, Hyper-V client, and managing client access to the Windows Store. More courses on planning and preparing for Windows 8, deploying Windows 8, and operating and managing a secure Windows 8 environment are coming soon. Download the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 8 The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) is a collection of tools that you can use to customize, assess, and deploy Windows operating systems to new computers. Basic Windows Deployment Step-By-Step Guide This guide uses the tools included in the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit, including Windows System Image Manager, the Deployment Imaging Servicing and Management tool, and Windows Pre-installation Environment. New from Microsoft Press:Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012  Written by Mitch Tulloch, this book helps enterprise administrators build their skills for deploying and managing Windows Server 2012 core services. Readers develop their real-world skills and maximize their on-the-job performance via the book's many lessons, exercises, and suggested practices. Use this guide as an additional learning resource to help them prepare for Microsoft Certification exam 70-410, Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012.

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Top Stories   Plan for and deploy Windows Server 2012     Free ebook: Introducing Windows Server 2012 (RTM Edition)     Download Windows Server 2012 trial software   TECHNET SPONSORS: GOVERLAN, AND LINKTEK   •  Goverlan v7 vs. Dameware v9, who won? Free 60-day trial   •  Data migration should not equal "data loss" Editor's Note Mitch Irsfeld TechNet Flash Editor Going from why to how The response has been an overwhelming thumbs-up on the benefits of upgrading to Windows Server 2012. It's now time to focus on how to get there with a set of resources to help you plan for and deploy Windows Server 2012.  Since the launch, Windows Server 2012 has received very favorable reactions, including this Windows Server 2012 review from ZDNet, in which author Simon Bisson concludes, "It's not often that we describe a server operating system as a must-have upgrade, but if ever there was one, this is it." Read more   Your Featured Content
	What's new for Group Policy in Windows Server 2012 Darren Mar-Elia explores the new capabilities that make Group Policy your best friend for enterprise-class configuration management. TechNet Radio: Taking a look at Windows Server 2012 Technical Evangelist Tommy Patterson welcomes Infrastructure Engineer Mike Dragone to the show to discuss Mike's review of Windows Server 2012. Tune in as they discuss some of Mike's favorite features, what makes Windows Server 2012 stand out from other offerings, and how it's meeting many IT challenges. Deploy Hyper-V Replica This topic in the TechNet Library will guide you through making basic decisions about setting up Hyper-V Replica, configuring Replica, starting replication, and dealing with both planned and unplanned failover activities. Video: Active Directory Domain Services in Windows Server 2012 Watch this demo of the new and enhanced features that make the Active Directory easier to deploy through the support of virtualization and cloning, easier to manage with the Active Directory Administrative Center, and an updated Active Directory PowerShell and much more. Video: Create virtual machines in minutes with Windows Azure From SQL to MongoDB and everything in between: Watch this short video to find out how Windows Azure Virtual Machines makes it really easy and possible to do. Learn more with the Windows Azure 90-day free trial.		ZDNet: Windows Server 2012 RTM review "Microsoft is looking ahead to a future of private and public clouds, where information is everything, and users can access it however they want. Is Microsoft's latest server OS up to the job?" Hyper-V overview This topic in the TechNet Library describes practical uses for the Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2012 and the new functionality compared to previous versions of Hyper-V. TechNet Radio: What's new in Hyper-V for Windows Server 2012 John Weston welcomes Microsoft MVP Mitch Garvis to the show to dissect what's new in Hyper-V for Windows Server 2012 and how it compares to VMware. TechNet Radio: Automating and managing tasks in Windows Azure with PowerShell Blain Barton welcomes fellow Technical Evangelist Brian Hitney to the show to discuss how you can use PowerShell to automate and manage tasks and processes in your Windows Azure Virtual Machines and Cloud Services. Tune in as Brian demos a simple scenario where he creates an Azure storage account, ties it into a new service and deploys it from staging to production all by using Windows PowerShell. TechNet Radio: What's new in Windows Phone 8 Lex Thomas welcomes Director of Technical Sales, Jeffrey Strasser to the show to discuss the latest features found in Windows Phone 8. Tune in to learn about the new user interface, ease of use, security, NFC and wireless charging, streaming music, and more.

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A look inside the new Office‏

Top Stories  Download Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 Try Windows 8 with Internet Explorer 10 Download Visio Professional 2013 Download Project Professional 2013 Download Project Server 2013 Your Featured Content Video: Windows 8 - enabling flexible workstyles (episode 1) Episode one of this series features Jane Boulware, General Manager of the U.S. Windows Client team, discussing the unique value Windows 8 offers to businesses. Over the next few months, this series will provide step-by-step scenarios to help you plan for and deploy Windows 8 in your enterprise. IPD Guide for System Center 2012 - Operations Manager now available This guide outlines the infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Operations Manager. It guides you through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. You'll find easy-to-follow steps on identification and design of the required management groups, helping you to optimize the management infrastructure. Scale to a maximum of 64 virtual processors with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V With Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V your virtual machines can scale to up to 64 virtual processors with 1TB of RAM (vs. max 4 processors and 64GB RAM in Windows Server 2008 R2). The increased capacity helps you meet the scaling requirements of online transaction processing databases and online transaction analysis solutions.Download the Windows Server 2012 Evaluation. Scenario: Personal sites (My Sites) in SharePoint Server 2013 Visit this new scenario page for resources to learn how to plan for, implement, and use personal sites (My Sites) in SharePoint Server 2013. TechNet Radio: Private cloud principles (part 1) Technical Evangelist Kevin Remde welcomes Principal Knowledge Engineer Tom Shinder and Senior Technical Writer Yuri Diogenes as they kick off their five-part series on Microsoft private cloud solutions for IT managers. Tune in for part one as they discuss basic private cloud principles and what it means for businesses. TechNet Radio: Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter and Hyper-V Virtual Switch overview Harold Wong welcomes Principal Program Manager Jeff Woolsey to the show to discuss the Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter as well as the Extensible Virtual Switch for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012, and how to manage and implement various extensibility points in your environment. Video: How Microsoft IT saves storage costs by using Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012 includes a new feature called data deduplication, which involves finding and removing duplication within data without compromising its fidelity or integrity. The goal is to store more data in less space and redundant copies of the data are replaced by a reference to the single copy. Download theevaluation version of Windows Server 2012 to test this and other scenarios. White paper: Maintaining business continuity of virtualized environments with Hyper-V Replica Read this white paper to learn how you can use a built-in solution to configure virtual machines to be replicated to a second server running Hyper-V. Download the free full product version of Hyper-V Server 2012.

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Download the new Exchange and SharePoint RTM bits‏

Top Stories   TechNet Feature: Support evolving work styles with the new Exchange Try out a full-featured, 64-bit, evaluation copy of Exchange Server 2013 and see how to tailor your solution based on your organization's needs, whether it's online, on-premises, or a hybrid of the two. Find out what's new in Exchange 2013 and try the Exchange 2013 Ignite interactive guided labs.     Evaluate Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Download the SharePoint Server 2013 trial and find resources to assist your evaluation, such as deployment overview and options, tools and add-ons, technical diagrams, and more.     Download Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP1 trial SQL Server 2012 extends organizations beyond the database with a cloud-ready information platform. Get mission critical confidence, insight, and cloud deployment on your terms. Download now and receive resources from the experts.   TECHNET SPONSORS: SOLARWINDS, AND VEEAM SOFTWARE   •  The quest is over - easy server monitoring is here   •  More ways to WOW Editor's Note Nina Ruchirat TechNet Flash Editor Download the new Exchange and SharePoint RTM bits The editor’s note for this edition is penned by Nina Ruchirat, senior content project manager in the Office Content Publishing group, to fill you in on new resources for the new collaboration tools, Exchange 2013 and SharePoint 2013. The public preview release of the new Exchange was announced July 2012, and the release to manufacturing (RTM) build milestone was announced October 11. As of November 1, the full 64-bit Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Evaluation is now available as a trial download....Read more   Your Featured Content Supporting Linux, UNIX and Mac clients with System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 Keith Mayer and Wally Mead continue their System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 series with a look at the latest support features for Linux/Unix and Macintosh clients. Tune in as they discuss and demo for us how to install and manage ConfigManager on these systems, as well as how to prepare your environment, and manage and deploy applications and distribute software. Download Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 8.0 Beta MAP 8.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT infrastructure for Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Office 2013 and Office 365 deployments. To community leaders and speakers: Announcing the Microsoft Technical Communities (MSTC) program The aim of MSTC - which replaces User Group Support Services (UGSS) - is to help community leaders and speakers connect to Microsoft and their peers while supporting community efforts with funding, technical content and access to a wide range of value-added assets. Sign up today and begin realizing the benefits of MSTC. Learn how to create and deploy a website Read this informative how-to guide to see how easy it is to create a website using the Windows Azure Management Portal. After you create a website, you have a number of options for deploying it. To use this feature and other new Windows Azure capabilities, sign up for the free preview. Evaluate Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Microsoft Lync 2013 is an enterprise-ready unified communications platform. Try it now to connect people everywhere as part of their everyday productivity experience. The Edge Show interprets //build for IT professionals Get a recap of the October //build event with this special episode of the Edge Show recorded on November 5, 2012. You'll get an interpretation of the event's key messages and insights on the Windows 8 launch and Windows Server 2012. Learn how to optimize your IT infrastructure with Windows Server 2012 Learn how enhanced manageability can improve your workflows with free online training from Microsoft Virtual Academy. Then get hands-on by testing full-featured virtualization and cloud solutions on your hardware with Windows Server 2012 Evaluation. White paper: Maximize your storage with Windows Server 2012 High storage costs are often one of the biggest cost drivers in a datacenter. This new white paper discusses how Windows Server 2012 can deliver enterprise-class storage availability, flexibility and performance at a fraction of the cost.

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