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Download – Office 2016 IT Pro and Developer Preview

Today Microsoft announced the publicly-available preview of Office 2016.

The download is available by signing up for the Office 2016 Preview program on the Microsoft Connect site.

Note: You will need a Windows Live ID / Microsoft Account to sign up.

After logging into the Connect site you’ll fill out a self-nomination survey. Fill that out and then you’ll have access to the four files for the March 2015 preview:

  • Admin_OfficePreview.zip (2.27 MB)
  • Office 2016 Preview What’s Next.docx (687 KB)
  • Installation Guide for Office 2016 Preview – Business (External).docx (138 KB)
  • Known Issues for Preview – February Refresh – Business External.docx (24 KB)

Where’s the ISO?

There is no spoon.

The ZIP file contains a tiny Setup.exe file (2.42 MB) that leverages XML and BAT files to stream the installation bits to your PC in the background:

Office 2016 Preview setup screen

As you can see from the screenshot above, the bits are available in x86 ands x64 flavors.

Here are the new programs:

Office 2016 Preview

As you can also see, this *is* beta / preview level software.

Excel 2016 fail-o-rama

And if you click the Help button, the support site is *also* in beta:

Help site fail-o-rama

So – word to the wise, don’t install this in production.

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Windows 10 Technical Preview Download

Windows 10 Technical Preview (desktop version) and Windows Server Technical Preview (server version) hit the web today.

What do the versions look like currently?

 

WINDOWS 10 TECHNICAL PREVIEW (DESKTOP / TABLET)
Build: 9841
Current availability: MSDN, TechNet, and public preview –
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-download

Public Preview

  • x86: WindowsTechnicalPreview-x86-EN-US.iso (2.93 GB)
  • x64: WindowsTechnicalPreview-x64-EN-US.iso (3.81 GB)

MSDN & TechNet

  • Windows Technical Preview (x86) – DVD
    en_windows_technical_preview_x86_dvd_5552509.iso
    Size: 3,009 MB
  • Windows Technical Preview (x64) – DVD
    en_windows_technical_preview_x64_dvd_5552500.iso
    Size: 3,911 MB
  • Windows Technical Preview for Enterprise (x86) – DVD
    en_windows_technical_preview_for_enterprise_x86_dvd_5554091.iso
    Size 2,913 MB
  • Windows Technical Preview for Enterprise (x64) – DVD
    en_windows_technical_preview_for_enterprise_x64_dvd_5554079.iso
    Size 3,797 MB

Windows 10 Technical Preview screen shot:

Windows 10 Technical Preview screen shot

 

WINDOWS SERVER TECHNICAL PREVIEW (SERVER)
Build: 9841
Current availability: MSDN & TechNet Subscribers

MSDN & TechNet

  • Windows Server Technical Preview (x64) – DVD
    en_windows_server_technical_preview_x64_dvd_5554304.iso
    Size: 4,210 MB
  • Microsoft Hyper-V Server Technical Preview (x64) – DVD
    en_microsoft_hyper-v_server_technical_preview_x64_dvd_5554305.iso
    Size: 1,903 MB
  • Windows Server Datacenter Technical Preview (x64) – VHD
    en_windows_server_datacenter_technical_preview_x64_vhd_5554157.vhd
    Size: 7,661 MB

Windows Server Technical Preview screen shot:

Windows Server Technical Preview

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

  • Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
  • RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
  • Free hard disk space: 16 GB
  • Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver
  • A Microsoft account and Internet access (not required for Server Preview)

NOTES

  • I intentionally installed the 64-bit version with only 1 GB of RAM to see if a warning was thrown – no warnings.
  • Both OSes were installed as Generation 2 virtual machines as guest VMs on Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Both VMs have 127GB dynamic VHDX files
  • The technical preview expires April 15, 2015 (Upgrade reminders start on April 1, 2015)
  • The version of PowerShell in the Server preview is 5.0.9841.0

image

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Download – Windows Server 2012 R2 Test Lab Guide

Whitepaper - Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview Test Lab GuideTitle: Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview Test Lab Guide
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 7/17/2013
Filename: Win2012_R2_Preview_TLG.docx
File size: 199 KB
Pages: 33
Price: FREE
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:

This Microsoft Test Lab Guide (TLG) provides you with step-by-step instructions to create the Windows Base Configuration test lab, using computers running Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview.

With the resulting test lab environment, you can build test labs based on other Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview-based TLGs from Microsoft, TLG extensions in the TechNet Wiki, or a test lab of your own design that can include Microsoft or non-Microsoft products.

  • For a test lab based on physical computers, you can image the drives for future test labs.
  • For a test lab based on virtual machines, you can create snapshots of the base configuration virtual machines.

This enables you to easily return to the base configuration test lab, where most of the routine infrastructure and networking services have already been configured, so that you can focus on building a test lab for the product, technology, or solution of interest.

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Download – Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview

Update: 2013-06-25

Public (non-TechNet/MSDN subscribers) links for the preview versions are now live for everyone. Here are the public download links:

This just in; the following betas are available for download for subscribers of TechNet and MSDN: http://www.ittsystems.com/best-free-tftp-servers-windows/

  • Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Beta (3938 MB)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials Beta (3736 MB)
  • Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 Beta (1769 MB)

Here are the file sizes and SHA1 values.

Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Preview:

TechNet download of Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Beta

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials Preview:

MSDN download of Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials Beta

Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 Preview:

MSDN download of Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 Beta

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Download – Windows Multipoint Server 2012 Beta

imageTitle: Windows MultiPoint Server 2012 Public Beta
File name: EN-US_WMS_PREM_InstallDVD.iso
Date Published: 07/16/2012
Language: English
File size: 3.4 GB
Version: 1.0
Download: https://connect.microsoft.com/wms/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=45153

Description: WMS 2012 Public Beta English ISO
Available in English, Brazilian Portuguese & Spanish

Note: To download this public beta you need to access the Microsoft Connect site.

Go to https://connect.microsoft.com/directory, look for the “WMS 2012 Public Beta” and click on Join.

WMS 2012 Public Beta

Additional Resources:

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Download – Windows Server 2012 Essentials Beta

Windows Server 2012Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re already heard that the Windows Server 2012 Essentials product has been announced and that the beta is now available for public download and trial. The code name was “SBS8”, spotted in a TechEd 2012 North America presentation (WSV04) description on June 14, 2012.

Quite simply, this product is the successor to what we have traditionally known as SBS. If you’re familiar with the SBS products of the past, think of this as SBS 2011 Essentials redux. In other words, no more on-premise Exchange baked in, no WSUS, no SharePoint, 25-user max, no CALs to buy, and client backup included. There are some important changes though, including a metro interface, storage spaces and  ‘transmog’ (more on that below).

There has been plenty of gnashing of teeth, people saying they knew it was coming, and every other emotion under the sun. Everybody has their own needs and own feelings about the change, and that doesn’t make anyone right or anyone else wrong. As lawyers are always fond of saying, “it is what it is.”

So, with that said, here is the link to download the beta and get your learn on.

ISOTitle: Windows Server 2012 Beta Essentials
File name: WindowsServer2012Essentials-Beta-English-Install.iso
Date Published: 07/11/2012
Language: English
File size: 4.0 GB
Version: 1.0
Download:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30327

Overview

Windows Server 2012 Beta Essentials (formerly Windows Small Business Server Essentials) is a flexible, affordable, and easy-to-use server solution designed and priced for small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices that helps them reduce costs and be more productive.

Windows Server 2012 Beta Essentials enables small businesses to protect, centralize, organize and access their applications and information from almost anywhere using virtually any device. Additionally, Essentials has the ability to grow as your business grows, providing an elastic solution that allows you to purchase and then perform an in-place conversion (called a ‘transmog’) to Windows Server 2012 Standard if your business needs change over time.

System Requirements

  • CPU: 64-bit 1.4 GHz single core or 1.3 GHz multi-core (minimum) to 3.1 GHz multi-core (recommended) or faster processor.
  • Memory: 2 (minimum) to 8 (recommended) GB RAM or more
  • Disk: 160G disk space
  • Client OS: Windows 7, Windows 8, Mac OS X version 10.5 to 10.7

More Information

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Whitepaper – Migrating SBS 2003 to 2011 Essentials

Whitepaper title: Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials
File name: A_Migrate2003.doc
Date Published: 04/27/2011
Language: English
File size: 422 KB
Pages: 44
Version: 11.04.25
Download URL: Click here

Description:

This guide explains how to install Windows SBS 2011 Essentials in migration mode on a new server, and then migrate the settings and data from the old server that is running Windows Small Business Server 2003 to the new server that is running Windows SBS 2011 Essentials. This guide also helps you demote and remove your old server from the network after you finish the migration process.

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Videos – IE 8 First Look

There was some talk Wednesday night at Fox & Hound about Internet Explorer 8, and I wanted to share these videos for those interested in seeing what’s new and cool.

MIX video:

First Look at IE8 Activities and WebSlices

Channel 10 video:

First Look: Internet Explorer 8

Download: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Vista & Server 2008

Note – This is a developer’s edition, so make sure you’re playing with it on a demo or VPC machine, not in a production environment.

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Cougar – Screen Shot of SBS 2008

If you haven’t seen what Cougar (SBS 2008) looks like yet, Ron Grattopp (TS2 Presenter extraordinaire) posted a picture of it on his blog last week.

Here’s a copy of the Cougar screenshot:

SBS_2008_Cougar_UI_preview

Looks a lot like Windows Home Server, doesn’t it 😉

Thanks for the screen shot Ron!

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