All About Microsoft posted a news story that Microsoft will start pushing Internet Explorer (IE) 8 to business users via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) on August 25

"Microsoft already began pushing IE 8 to users via Windows Update and Automatic Update in April.

If WSUS admins aren’t ready/willing for IE 8 to install across PCs in their organizations, they should turn off auto-approve for the IE rollup, the IE team is advising."

>> Microsoft to push IE 8 to more business users in August

I just setup a new news category for Windows 7 related news. You can access it here and over RSS here.

Daniel Escapa posted another way to sign up for the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview program

"I am sure many of you saw Office 2010 the Movie (http://www.office2010themovie.com/) where they are showing a short trailer promoting the upcoming Office 2010 Technical Preview. On that site you can also sign up to be a customer who can beta test the technical preview. When this came out I was super jazzed about this and then today I found out another way that people can get part of the technical preview! So I had to share with all of you.

There is another Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview program which is focused on consumers, students and home users. If you are one of these people and would like to try out the Office 2010 Technical Preview please go here: http://connect.microsoft.com/office/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=3304&InvitationID=C2R-HKRJ-CMDH."

>> Sign up to try Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview

Microsoft has released Microsoft Security Essentials Beta

"Microsoft is offering it's free anti-virus product, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) to 75,000 lucky people today.

The company is offering the product via a beta program and will likely extend the cap of 75,000 downloads depending on demand. MSE is Microsoft's free anti-virus and anti-spyware product that is set to replace Microsoft's paid Windows Live OneCare subscription service which is being withdrawn a week today."

>> Microsoft Security Essentials Beta released

All about Microsoft reports that Microsoft ready to launch beta of its free Morro antivirus offering

"Last fall, Microsoft announced its intentions to deliver a free replacement for its OneCare antivirus/anti-malware product for Windows PC consumers. Since then, company officials repeatedly have refused to provide any more info on Morro’s status (beyond the promised Q2/Q3 2009 launch date)."

>> Microsoft ready to launch beta of its free Morro antivirus offering

Ars Technica posted a news story that Microsoft offers a free TechNet Plus subscription as part of a pilot program

"A Microsoft TechNet Plus subscription is aimed at IT Professionals who want full-version Microsoft software, beta software, professional support incidents, managed newsgroup support, a technical information library, Microsoft eLearning courses, online concierge chat, the TechNet Magazine, and many other resources for evaluating, deploying, and maintaining Microsoft software. The subscription normally goes for $349 (download-only) or for $599 (download and DVD shipments). You want it free though, right? No problem: Canada link, US link, and UK link."

>> Free TechNet Plus subscription

SuperSite for Windows posted a preview on Bing, the next generation Windows Live Search engine

"Microsoft today revealed that its next generation Windows Live Search engine will be branded as Bing, confirming widespread rumors. The service, which is being tested under the codename "Kumo," will replace Windows Live Search later this year, Microsoft says. A public beta is expected June 3.

Of course, Microsoft's search engine has never done particularly well in the market against entrenched competitors like Google and Yahoo!. So the software giant is recasting Bing as a "decision engine" rather than a general search engine, a service that help people make decisions with more confidence. And Microsoft has settled on a number of popular but more complex search types that it says will differentiate it from the competition. These include shopping, travel, news, health, maps, images and video."

>> Bing Preview

Being Manan takes a look at the new features in Microsoft Office 2010

"Though I had a feeling that 2010 wasn’t going to be an upgrade to Office like what Windows 7 is to the Windows family. Having said that, Office 2010 Technical Preview does show some promising upgrades. In between giving my exams I did find some time to play around with the leaked version of Office 2010 & found some improvements over Office 2007. One of the biggest additions to Office 2010 will be it’s online collaboration capabilities I wrote about & we have some proof of that in the current Preview build. Here are some noticeable improvements in the technical Preview build"

>> Office 2010: New Features

Microsoft has released Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1

"It’s the next gen of next-gen applications. Download the Visual Studio 2010 Professional and Team System Betas and see for yourself how they’ve been designed inside and out to give you every advantage in creating groundbreaking applications — faster and easier than ever."

>> Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1

Neowin posted Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview screenshots

"Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview has officially been leaked onto the internet. Showing the first look at the technical preview of the next big version of Microsoft Office.

Available in both 32-bit and 64-bit, possibly available on the same disc on launch, the newest Office release fits smoothly into Microsoft next big operating system, Windows 7. The ribbon is commonly used across all the Office applications to give users a better and easier navigation."

>> Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview screenshots

Neowin published a news story that Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview leaked to the Internet

"Not long ago you'll remember the official announcement from Microsoft, stating that you can sign up for the Office 2010 Technical Preview which is due for a release in July. It appears people on the less moral side of the law have declared, "No!" to Microsoft, and decided to take matters into their own hands. We've received various tips from around our very own forums that this upcoming piece of software, which is still around about a month and a half away, has been leaked onto the Internet."

>> Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview leaks

SuperSite for Windows posted a news story that Microsoft released fully integrated Windows Vista/Server 2008 with SP2 ISOs to MSDN/TechNet subscribers

"After first posting only the standalone (and, annoyingly, multi-platform) version of Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 to MSDN and TechNet, it looks like Microsoft has finally posted integrated versions of the product. That is, you can now download ISOs for discs of fully integrated copies of Windows Vista with SP2 and Windows Server 2008 with SP2 from both MSDN and TechNet."

>> Microsoft posts fully integrated Windows Vista/Server 2008 with SP2 ISOs

Microsoft's Reed Shaffner posted some info on the upcoming MS Office 2010

"So while we aren't ready to start demoing and sharing all of the features quite yet, we have heard the feedback loud and clear that requirements for running our software needs to be available ASAP (you will see if you look here that our server products have released similar information). To that end, this post will cover the preliminary system requirements for Office 2010.

1. Office 2010 will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
2. Office 2010 will run on Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
3. You don't need to replace hardware that is capable of running 2007, it will support Office 2010. Like Windows 7 has demonstrated, we realize that taking advantage of the hardware you already own is just as important as supporting all the new technology coming out.

Below, we have tried to cover some of the common questions that we are anticipating on this topic. If we missed something please let us know in the comments. Anything that we can share at this point, we will. "

>> Office 2010 Info

Neowin reports that Microsoft has opened the sign-up pages for the Office 2010 Technical Preview

"A quick update here for those interested, the Twitter account for Office 2010 (it's the official one, at least according to the movie website) has stated that, "Office 2010 will include Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks integrated right into Word. That's just a hint of what's to come!""

>> Sign up for the Office 2010 Technical Preview, due in July

Microsoft has released Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate

"Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 is a stand-alone product that provides a reliable and optimized virtualization solution enabling organizations to improve server utilization and reduce costs. With the addition of new features such as live migration and expanded processor and memory support for host systems, it allows organizations to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server and is a good solution for organizations who are consolidating servers as well as for development and test environments.

By having the ability to plug into existing IT infrastructures Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 enables companies to reduce costs, improve utilization and provision new servers. It allows IT professionals to leverage existing patching, provisioning, management and support tools and processes. IT Professionals can continue to leverage their individual skills and the collective knowledge of Microsoft tools, minimizing the learning curve to manage Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2. In addition, with Microsoft providing comprehensive support for Microsoft applications and heterogeneous guest operating systems support, customers can virtualize with confidence and peace of mind. "

>> Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 RC

Paul Thurrott reports that Microsoft begins work on Internet Explorer 9

"We have added a new feedback form on Connect designed specifically to handle improvements for the next version of Internet Explorer. This includes not just feature requests, but all types of feedback including issues that currently exist in IE. Please continue to rate the submissions since we will look at the top rated reports first.

Please be patient with the resolution of the reports you submit as we are in the research phase for the next version of IE. To shed some light on the status of your submissions, we’ll use a new field, Review Status, which will indicate whether we have reviewed the issue or not."

>> Microsoft begins work on Internet Explorer 9

SuperSite for Windows takes a look at the updated version of Windows XP Mode, which is available for MSDN/TechNet subscribers

"As promised, on Thursday, April 30, 2009, Microsoft made the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC, see my review) available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. But it also made an updated (but not yet rebranded) version of XP Mode for Windows 7 and Windows Virtual PC available via the same distribution points. Since Rafael and I gained access to the first external build of XP Mode (then as in this beta called Virtual Windows XP, or VXP), we've been eager to see a more updated version. So what do we see here?"

>> Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC Beta

Within Windows published part 2 of their Windows XP Mode Internals series

"As mentioned in that boring overview yesterday, Windows XP Mode (XPM) utilizes some key RDP (6.1+) technologies to enable seamless virtual application use in Windows 7. More specifically, Remote Applications and Application Publishing.

For those not Terminal Services wizards, these technologies may sound new. Application Publishing enables you to “install” an application on a client machine – at least as far as the user is concerned. Shortcuts and file-type associations are set up, just as a local installation would, but when the application is invoked it’s started on a server somewhere within your infrastructure. The Remote Applications piece then kicks in and draws the client UI in a very convincing manner."

>> Windows XP Mode Internals – Part 2 (Application Publishing Magic)

Mary-Jo Foley published a news story that Microsoft started a public test of a new Twitter-like notification service called Vine

"The Vine service initially was developed by the Windows Live team, post Hurricane Katrina. I heard a bit about the service back in June 2008, after which the service — like a number of Windows Live properties — seemed to just disappear. It turns out the concept was passed over to Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie’s division and incubated like other technologies in Microsoft’s Start Up Business Accelerator group. “Eventually, products and services started in the accelerator will transition into one of Microsoft’s existing business divisions,” a spokesperson said."

>> Microsoft to begin public test of Twitter-like notification service

Paul Thurrott posted a quick guide about slipstream Office 2007 with SP2

"While Microsoft made big promises for Windows Vista slipstreaming (and then failed mightily), it really came through with Office 2007: All you need to do is extract the updates from the service pack and then copy them to the Updates folder in the Office install folder structure. (And then optionally burn it to disc, though I just keep it up on a network share.) And because Office service packs are cumulative, you only need the latest service pack."

>> Slipstream Office 2007 with SP2