Looking for a Microsoft partner in Qatar? Use PinPoint.

by Shijaz Abdulla on 19.10.2011 at 14:34

The Microsoft PinPoint website is now available in Qatar.

You can now locate Microsot partners that can fulfill your specific technology needs by using the Microsoft Pinpoint portal – our comprehensive online partner directory. To identify a list of partners, please visit the Qatar Pinpoint site and click on the relevant ‘Competency’ or ‘Business Need’ from the left navigation bar. Please let me know if I can assist with anything further.

You can also read reviews about the partners and leave your own comments about partners you have tried.

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Threat Management Gateway Service Pack 2 now available

by Shijaz Abdulla on 10.10.2011 at 21:31

Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Service Pack 2 is now available for download.

The service pack includes the following new functionality and feature improvements:

New Reports

  • The new Site Activity report displays a report showing the data transfer between users and specific websites for any user.

Error Pages

  • A new look and feel has been created for error pages.
  • Error pages can be more easily customized and can include embedded objects.

Kerberos Authentication

  • You can now use Kerberos authentication when you deploy an array using network load balancing (NLB).

To read the release notes, see the Forefront TMG Release Notes (SP2).

Office 365 trial for Qatar-based customers

by Shijaz Abdulla on 09.10.2011 at 05:47

We are happy to inform you that the Office 365 trial is now available for Qatar customers. To access Office 365 in Qatar, visit www.office365.com.qa

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The passing of Steve Jobs

by Shijaz Abdulla on 06.10.2011 at 16:38

“Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

“The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honour.”

— Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman

“I want to express my deepest condolences at the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary. My heart goes out to his family, everyone at Apple and everyone who has been touched by his work.”

– Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

Top Community Honor goes to QDS employee

by Shijaz Abdulla on 25.09.2011 at 16:02

Wajahat Abbas, Service Manager at Qatar Datamation Systems (QDS) has been awarded the Microsoft Community recognition award.

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“Community Recognition Award” is an award rewarded to those who are contributing to Microsoft development community within the region as a speaker, trainer and mentor.
 
Wajahat received this award from Microsoft Pakistan on his continues service to Microsoft development communities. He is also a Judge for Microsoft Image Cup Pakistan since 2007. He was also Microsoft Official trainer for SharePoint 2010 Ignite and a founder member of INETA Pakistan committee.
 
He was the SharePoint Speaker for Microsoft Open Door Pakistan 2010.
 
Wajahat is currently working as a Service Manager at QDS. He is an experienced SharePoint consultant and through his consulting and training, he helps clients in Middle East, Pakistan & East African region. He has closely worked with Microsoft consulting services as a contingent consultant. He was also Microsoft MVP for 3 consecutive years. He has around 10 years of IT industry experience.

How to install Windows 8 on Acer Iconia tab W500

by Shijaz Abdulla on 20.09.2011 at 23:05

Credit goes to fellow techie Ahmed Ali Ibrahim of Qatar for his inputs.

Here’s how we installed Windows 8 Developer Preview on an Acer Iconia tab W500.

  1. Extract the 32-bit Windows 8 Developer Preview ISO and copy the files to a USB thumb drive.
  2. Shutdown the tablet.
  3. Connect a USB keyboard to the tablet.
  4. Press and hold down the Windows button and the Power button, when the machine starts, press F2. This will display the BIOS setup.
  5. Change the boot order to boot from the USB HDD. WP_000069
  6. Save changes and exit BIOS setup, plug in the USB thumb drive, and restart the computer. You can disconnect the keyboard at this point.
  7. The computer boots into Windows 8 setup from the USB drive. DSC_0545DSC_0547DSC_0549
  8. Windows 8 automatically installs all the drivers, except for the Bluetooth and the G-Sensor. You can download these drivers from the Acer website. You also need to download the “Device Control” application from the Acer website (it is listed under applications). The screen rotation will not work both the G-Sensor driver and the Device Control application are not installed.DSC_0550

If you had installed the 64-bit version of Windows 8 Developer Preview, the G-sensor will not work as the driver on the Acer website is only for 32-bit versions of Windows.

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Watching YouTube videos on Internet Explorer in Windows 8 Metro UI

by Shijaz Abdulla on 20.09.2011 at 22:37

Windows 8 Developer Preview was made available last week and it came with Internet Explorer 10. Internet Explorer 10 can be started within the Metro UI and also in the desktop mode.

However, when started in the Metro UI, Adobe Flash plugin is unavailable and hence you cannot play YouTube videos. There is a workaround for this as Internet Explorer supports the next generation HTML5 capabilities.

YouTube now offers an HTML5 trial on their website. All you need to do is to activate the HTML5 trial using your YouTube account. To activate HTML5 trial, go to www.youtube.com/html5 .

Once you opt-in for HTML5 on YouTube, you can start watching YouTube videos on IE10 in Metro mode.

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Windows 8 Developer Preview now available

by Shijaz Abdulla on 14.09.2011 at 13:40

Visit www.buildwindows.com to view Steve Sinofsky’s keynote at Anaheim, California and to download the Developer Preview.

 

From the official Windows 8 blog:

Windows 8 represents a reimagining of Windows from the chipset to the experience. Since this is a week focused on developers, we also detailed the bold underpinnings of the re-imagination of the Windows platform, tools, and APIs. We will show off the opportunity to build applications for all of the customers of Windows 8, no matter what type of PC they have—from tablets to laptops to convertibles to desktops. We will show the brand new tools that allow you to code Metro style applications in HTML5/JavaScript, C/C++, and/or C#/XAML. The investments you have made as developers in all of these languages carry forward for Windows 8, which lets you choose how to best make use of the Windows 8 system services. We talked about Windows 8 being a no-compromise OS for end-users, and it is also a no-compromise platform for developers.

Many are interested in Windows 8 for ARM processors. Everything we showcased today at BUILD also runs on the ARM-based Windows PCs being created by ARM partners and PC manufacturers. Windows 8 running on ARM will ultimately be available with ARM-based hardware that you can purchase. ARM requires a deeper level of integrated engineering between hardware and software, as each ARM device is unique, and Windows allows this uniqueness to shine through. The new development tools enable you to start today to build Metro style applications that will seamlessly run on x86 (32 and 64 bit) or ARM architectures. Even if you use native C/C++ code, these tools will enable Metro style apps to target specific hardware if you choose. As new PCs become available for testing, PC manufacturers will develop seed programs for developers.

I’ll be posting screenshots soon Smile

Lync for Mac 2011 is now RTM

by Shijaz Abdulla on 14.09.2011 at 13:30

Mac users will soon have a Lync client,  starting October 2011. . From the updated contact cards to the ability to set up Lync conferences from Outlook 2011 for Mac to enterprise voice features, Lync for Mac 2011 offers Mac users integrated functionality for presence, instant messaging, conferencing and voice and is designed to work with both Lync Server 2010 and Lync Online.

Lync for Mac 2011 is available to customers as a part of the Office for Mac 2011 Volume Licensing SKU or through many of Microsoft’s Licensing programs. Customers can also purchase the application as a standalone volume licensing SKU.

Windows 8 boots in 8 seconds

by Shijaz Abdulla on 09.09.2011 at 22:45

Microsoft today demonstrated Windows 8 booting up in a mind-boggling 8 seconds!

The extremely fast boot up time is a great indication of overall system performance with the upcoming version of Windows, the most widely used operating system on the planet. The key difference here between Windows 7 and Windows 8 is that the kernel session is now placed into hibernate mode instead of being closed down, even if the user shuts down the computer.

Enjoy this video!

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