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First post for this thread, basically I'm at a MS event all about Windows 8 and will try to post stuff I find valuable to this thread as I go. If anyone has any questions they want asked I'll see if I can slot them in.
Will post as many of the PowerPoints as I am able.
Bitlocker only encrypts the sections that are written to then does the empty sections in the background unlike 7 that does the whole lot in one long go.
Group policy is apparently more able to apply on the fly rather than just at logon and startup.
8 Pro has bitlocker
8 Enterprise is needed for Branchcache and DirectAccess.
Proceedings were halted for an impromptu firedrill brought to us by the H&S Nazis from 45 Queen St.
Apparently there was a touch version of Windows 3.11, who knew.
Here are the first two slideshows:
Attachment 17222
Attachment 17223
No questions yet? I'm surprised.
Apparently there are ways to have metro reset and to define how it shows up the first time, I'm hanging out for that :)
They are apparently working on something for kiosk type operation, in other words making it remotely bearable for a network.
No backup in Windows 8, do have file history, per file automated backup, can point to a network location or external media, still works on a time basis rather than on write. Full image backup they recommend imagex. File history is not on by default but is configurable by GPO. Even does it offline and caches for when it is back online with the backup location.
Attachment 17224
Storage Spaces, virtualised storage so you can pool a bunch of drives, you can even choose to add mirroring all under a combined space. This feature is included in Server 2012 as well but with less UI.
Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 do not yet share the same store but they are working on it, it is apparently on it's way.
Intermission: Food was alright muffins, fruit kebabs and bacon and egg wrap segments with inedible string.
Attachment 17225
Infrastructure prep:
Metro store apps does not support WPAD, needs to be done differently (expansion to come hopefully)
Windows 8 KMS is stored in Server 2012 AD removing the need for a separate KMS server and infrastructure.
SCCM2007 won't do Win8 which makes coexistence with older infrastructures difficult, 7 and 8 work well together though. 8 needs SCCM 2012 SP1.
There will be a checklist from MS of infrastructure steps to support it released eventually.
Windows ADK for deployment stuff:
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/inst...id=TOCjn66z061
- one of the tools can moniter sites users go to for compatibility.
MDT 2012 Update 1 is the necessary MDT for 8.
Interesting Quote: 'Users are smarter that you think they are' :) - oh the stories which disprove that.
The USMT now just marks the areas where documents are so it does not have to copy it off to do the upgrade making it stupidly quicker. (only 7 to 8, uses hardlinks, only works with standard image and no platform change so x64 to x64)
There will no longer be service packs... not for 8 or 2012 or any of the newer ones. In place upgrades will be more common and easier, feeds into the Windows Blue idea, yearly new OS with no app breakage etc.
New WinPE4 makes imaging faster, even using MDT2012 Update one, apparently takes image time for a 2GB image from 15min down to 10min. Apparently 40% improvement even with old images.
Deploy without decrypting, ie nuking over a bitlocker install it can keep the encryption on from 7 through an upgrade to 8. (MDT feature)
PE4 supports UEFI. UEFI only supports FAT32 so 4GB file limits, this means splitting WIMs if using a basic single partition USB key.
Boot logos, the Windows one is replaced by the vendor logo grabbed from UEFI so that the vendors were happy, W8 certified machines needed to post within 2 seconds or four with a magnetic disk, this wound up the vendors hence persisting their logo through so they could advertise longer without increasing boot time and making OEMs unhappy.
I have to say that paying attention to EduGeek has meant that I knew more than half of this stuff before showing up.
Sysprep kills off any metro apps when it is run, they also disappear when going Windows2Go.
Single instance storage for metro apps but availability is handled by a certificate which is per user.
Provisioning is pushing apps via MDT, up to 24 apps as part of autoattend.xml to sideload, you can control their position on the start screen. Is as part of image.
Sideload through Intune, SCCM, EnterpriseStore (codeplex).
Sideloading dev keys only last for 30 days and apps sideloaded that way stop working after that time. Enterprise comes with it though as part of SA so with a schools agreement and x86 tablets you're golden.
UEFI uses GPT, unlimited partitions, supports both 32 and 64 bit but not both on the same hardware, it does not use BCD, that is stored in the UEFI. By default there are four partitions WinRE, system, MSR and Windows. Again boot only happens off a FAT volume, the MSR which just had a basic bootloader.
LUNCH!!!
Got a voucher to choose where to eat within a block - sweet.
A few questions for you @SYNACK... :)
- A lot of new Windows 8 laptops come with Atom Z2760 CPUs which are 32-bit only. How long does Microsoft expect to produce 32-bit editions of Windows for?
- With BYOD becoming more popular, why are some features restricted the Enterprise edition of Windows? A good example is Direct Access.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SYNACK
- Will there be a way for end-users to download an ISO of their OS with the updates already integrated i.e. Windows 8 RTM plus Windows "Blue"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SYNACK
- In the future, will it be possible to boot Windows PE over HTTP like you can with iPXE? This would make it significantly faster.
The answer was, as long as there is demand, about a third of the market is still 32bit and the new slates using the Atom chipsets are all 32bit so for the foreseeable future so as not to shoot themselves in the foot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthur
The features like DirectAccess are considered domain features as you need to be connected to the domain to use them, they are mostly partitioned like that - with only a little saleing on top (my view).Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthur
Probably yes, they are working a lot on the inplace upgrade method so an upgrade is as simple as a patch so Blue would be a downloadable thing that could either upgrade or install but this is not entirely clear yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthur
Unknown, apparently there has been some playing around with that but no clear indication of if and when was given.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthur
Windows Intune - 20GB of Asure storage for your Apps, can manage Windows RT, iOS and Android. Uses built in management tools in iOS, ActiveSync hooks in Android and installable clients for older desktop OSs. Pushes Corporate App Portal to phones, can push iOS apps.
Intune up to v4, two updates a year, subscription based.
Aucklands Internet is still rubbish, one room of 40 PCs doing low level RDP is too much for it :(
Windows2Go demonstration:
Password on stick, DirectAccess and old laptop = work PC.
Mounts with local drive offline to keep dodgyness off work images.
Windows Store disabled by default as you only get 5 device licences for metro apps
Tollerant to the key being pulled out, will pause for 60 seconds and shutdown if it is not put back in to the same port.
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Hyper-V only checks for SLAT when it is first installed.
Hyper-V for Pro upwards
http://companystore.codeplex.com - easy sideloading.
Windows RT cursor does not flash because it messes with the ARM tick clock, supports multifactor auth, remoteapp, SSL VPN etc.
Well the day rapped up at about 4:30 with question time and some messing about with some Surface RT devices and a Surface Pro.
I did like the RT, very polished and robust, that camera perspective stuff is really cool, the xbox controller integration is quite cool too. The Pro was impressive but a bit fat and heavy for my liking. The type cover was very nice and the touch cover was cool but I was not too sure about the fabric texture of it, I'm sure I could get used to it but it was a bit rough. Very responsive though.
Throughout the devices performed well even while connected to the projector.
I'm still in contact with the presenter about the options to deploy Metro apps and layouts and will post back any extra information I get.
I think the AppsFolderLayout.bin file controls the layout...Quote:
Originally Posted by SYNACK
www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-8/102949-managing-start-screen.html#post888443
Btw, thanks for posting the links to the slides. :)
Thanks, I added the remaining slides that I had access toQuote:
Originally Posted by Arthur
The event description was here https://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/E...2541112&flag=3
