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Volume 9, Issue 11     
In This Issue:

  12 critical features of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
  10 essential third-party security apps for Windows 7
  Windows 7 tricks: 20 top tips and tweaks
  Five ways to improve Web site uptime
  Flash flaw puts most sites, users at risk, researchers say
  Business interruptus: Prep now to avoid H1N1 flu outages later
  Windows 7 for less: Where to find discounts
  How to attract (and keep) users
  LinkedIn for BlackBerry: Details and images
  Inside ERP budgets: How IT is slicing, dicing
  Priceless! The 25 funniest vintage tech ads
  Busting common myths around application virtualization
  Taking a hybrid approach to security virtualization
  Confessions of a Virtualization-aholic: Get on Board, People!
  Data analysis overload?
  Ultimate mobile deathmatch: iPhone vs. BlackBerry vs. Droid vs. Pre
  Inside the posh pads of tech's elite

If you enjoy this newsletter, read more in our Archive and Explore more Topics and Events.

12 critical features of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Microsoft announced the worldwide launch of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, the newest version of its messaging and collaboration platform, during the opening day of the Tech-Ed Europe 2009 conference in Berlin on Nov. 9. As part of its theme of "the new efficiency," Microsoft is highlighting several new features with Exchange Server 2010 designed to streamline the voicemail and e-mail process for end users, giving them the ability to control conversations and store information more efficiently. Microsoft claims that companies using Exchange Server 2010 will save 70 percent in total cost of ownership over previous versions of the platform. Whether or not that prediction pans out, some of its features will almost certainly make communication and storage more efficient for users...
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10 essential third-party security apps for Windows 7

Now that users have their hands on Windows 7, it's time to secure it. They could always use solutions from Microsoft, like Security Essentials, but in many cases, third-party applications do a much better job of ensuring a system is kept secure. Third-party security apps for Windows 7 can be free or paid. In either case, users can find effective security applications to keep their data more secure. However, it's important to remember that some apps are more effective than others and that in no way can all of these applications keep the user's data totally secure. But the first step is to find the security app that works best for the user’s needs. This eWEEK slide show looks at 10 third-party applications that will make Windows 7 more secure...
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Windows 7 tricks: 20 top tips and tweaks

Getting to know Windows 7? Here are 20 ways to get around the interface and make it act the way you want.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story was written when Windows 7 was still in beta. Now that the final version has been released, we've overhauled the story, updating some tips, eliminating others that are no longer relevant, and adding seven new tips. Look for the to find the new tips.


Just got your hands on Windows 7 and want to bend it to your will? No problem. We've got plenty of tips, hacks and secrets to keep you busy for a long time, including automatically opening Windows Explorer to a folder of your choice, speeding up taskbar thumbnails, finding hidden desktop themes, forcing User Account Control to act the way you'd like, keeping your Explorer searches secret from others, and more. So check out these tips. If you like them, we'll keep more coming...
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Five ways to improve Web site uptime

You can't fix the Internet, but you can tap these tools to decrease downtime for your organization's Web site. When the site GDGT.com went live this past summer, Ryan Block was expecting a lot of interest. Prior to launch, the former Engadget.com editor in chief had built up momentum for the site -- which allows everyday users to write gadget reviews -- by informing bloggers and online publications. "We were excited but wary, because there's always an x factor," says Block. "We did weeks of performance and load testing, but lab testing will always differ from real-world usage, and we knew there would still be issues here and there that we wouldn't find until thousands of people were actually using the site." Indeed, on Aug. 4, GDGT went live -- and a few hours later Block was forced to post a message explaining that the site was not available because of unanticipated levels of interest, which included thousands of users signing up for accounts and visiting the home page. Block says the problem was related to database performance. Joe Skorupa, a Gartner Inc. analyst, says GDGT experienced what he calls...
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Flash flaw puts most sites, users at risk, researchers say

  Are your passwords too weak?
'Frighteningly bad thing,' said Foreground Security, of flaw allowing hackers to hijack sites, attack users. Hackers can exploit a flaw in Adobe's Flash to compromise nearly every Web site that allows users to upload content, including Google's Gmail, then launch silent attacks on visitors to those sites, security researchers said today. Adobe did not dispute the researchers' claims, but said that Web designers and administrators have a responsibility to craft their applications and sites to prevent such attacks. "The magnitude of this is huge," said Mike Murray, the chief information security officer at Orlando, Fla.-based Foreground Security. "Any site that allows user-uploadable content is vulnerable, and most are not configured to prevent this." The problem lies in the Flash ActionScript same-origin policy, which is designed to...
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Business interruptus: Prep now to avoid H1N1 flu outages later

H1N1 drives demand for secure remote access

Tracking H1N1 in (near) real time
Don't be fooled by the mild flu season so far. Even a contained swine flu outbreak could disable IT departments on short notice. Last spring, when the first cases of H1N1 flu appeared, Gartner Inc. was getting lots of calls from alarmed clients wanting to know if and how they should adjust their disaster recovery plans. Now? Not so much. "It's a very, very silent period right now," says Ken McGee, Gartner vice president and research fellow, who attributes the tepid reaction in the business community to the mild effects of the flu to date. Although there have been deaths, so far most people are simply ill for a few days and then back at work, he points out. "Despite the fact that it's the first pandemic of the information age, it hasn't compelled people to the kinds of readiness activities we would've expected," says McGee. That's a mistake, business continuity experts say. As of late October,...
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Windows 7 for less: Where to find discounts

If you're still thinking about stepping to Windows 7, but are appalled by the usual pricing, you might want to check out some special deals now available from Microsoft and some of its retail partners. Each of these offers comes with some catches, though...
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How to attract (and keep) users

Anyone who is building a Web-based community, whether it be a social network or other application, faces the same initial hurdle as sites such as Digg did: getting those first few regular users can be quite difficult. If you're lucky, you won't have to spend money buying banner ads or search-engine keywords, as was the case with Digg. The social news site's rapid rise made it one of the Web's early success stories, but there's quite a few things needed to keep people engaged, said Kevin Rose, the site's founder. Rose spoke to Web developers and marketers at the Future of Web Apps conference on Thursday morning before Mike McDerment, the CEO and co-founder of FreshBooks, an online invoicing application. Both addressed ways for how Web developers can attract and retain new users, which is the most important metric by which an application will be judged...
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LinkedIn for BlackBerry: Details and images

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) and business-social-networking service LinkedIn today showed off a brand new LinkedIn mobile application for BlackBerry smartphones at RIM's second annual BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco. BlackBerry smartphone users will soon be able to download and employ a LinkedIn mobile application that will allow them to access the business-oriented social networking service while on the go, via an innovative and good-looking BlackBerry application...
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Inside ERP budgets: How IT is slicing, dicing

AMR Research survey data shows how companies are spending their ERP operating budget dollars and why many are struggling to achieve the right mix. Lately, much of the furor encircling ERP costs has revolved around software maintenance and support fees. The global recession has forced customers of Big ERP vendors—SAP, Oracle, Lawson, Infor—to question the value they receive from...
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Priceless! The 25 funniest vintage tech ads

My oh my, how things have changed. These 25 vintage tech ads are guaranteed to take you back - and, in most cases, remind you how truly terrible our tastes once were. Ads are kind of like your awkward teenage years. Think about it: When you're actually experiencing them, every second feels an angst-ridden eternity. Look back a couple decades later, though,...
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Busting common myths around application virtualization

This is the first in a series from Citrix Systems. Citrix Systems currently has 230,000 customers using Citrix® XenApp to deliver applications to their users. Despite this broad adoption of application virtualization within enterprises, we find in talking with our customers and prospects, that outdated and in some cases completely inaccurate information is inhibiting some companies taking full advantage of what XenApp application virtualization and delivery software can provide. Given the broad enterprise use of XenApp and its ability to reduce server-based computing costs by 50 percent, we want to make sure IT professionals know how to reap the full benefits of application virtualization...
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Taking a hybrid approach to security virtualization

Virtual I/O: Bringing Data Center Connectivity Into the Virtualization Era
The drive toward data center virtualization is raising important questions about network security. Will security disappear into a single virtual infrastructure cloud, or will or a different model emerge in which security is virtualized in its own cloud, physically separated from the application cloud? Securing network traffic in virtualized environments is extremely difficult for IT security staff to enforce and maintain as virtualized applications pass information back and forth and cross virtual "trust boundaries." In an effort to enforce security policies between virtualized applications, IT staff end up creating virtual machine (VM) sprawl - caused by sets of security VMs for each boundary transition on the same servers - which has the potential to introduce even higher levels of risk to the organization as well as further degrade network performance. While many software vendors are looking at ways to mitigate this problem, there is a different approach to consider:...
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Confessions of a Virtualization-aholic: Get on Board, People!

"Hi. My name is Aaron ... and I'm a Virtualization-aholic."

"Hi, Aaron" The crowd responds in unison.


"Ladies and gentlemen, we are at the event of all events. VMworld 2009 is upon us. Indeed, this is the Mecca for those of us with a passion for using next generation technology to actually solve problems. You'd think this would be a passion for everyone. But oh no. It's been a tough road for us. In the past we've been branded as fools, labeled as sinners and banished to no-man's-land. A mythical world, somewhere between operations and development. A lonely place somewhere...
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Data analysis overload?

How to use Hadoop to analyze big chunks of data. It's easier than ever for companies to collect all kinds of data about their customers. Often, the hard part is figuring out how to analyze it all. What starts as a useful database of customer information can become a slow or unresponsive monster when it grows to more than a terabyte -- or about 1,000 gigabytes -- of data. In some cases, a database can be so enormous that no single computer is capable of processing the information. [To analyze all this data, ImageShack decided to tap the same technology developed by search-engine companies to index the Web: Hadoop, a program designed to process massive amounts of data. Inspired by Google's MapReduce technology, Hadoop is...]
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Ultimate mobile deathmatch: iPhone vs. BlackBerry vs. Droid vs. Pre

Despite the Droid, the iPhone and BlackBerry remain on top; use our ratings calculator to determine the best smartphone for you. The latest Android 2.0-based "iPhone killer" won't kill the iPhone or the BlackBerry -- and the cheaper HTC Droid Eris is the new smartphone that I think Apple should be concerned about. But there are now six smartphones on the market that will appeal to business and professional users, each with different strengths and weaknesses. This article gives InfoWorld's ratings for all six -- the Apple iPhone, HTC Droid Eris, Motorola Droid, Palm Pre, Research in Motion BlackBerry Bold, and RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 -- plus an interactive ratings form in which you can enter your own weighting for each category in our exclusive Mobile Deathmatch Calculator and get a customized score for each smartphone. Our buying advice is simple:...
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Inside the posh pads of tech's elite

Super-wired, super-plush and, of course, super-expensive: Check out the homes of Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Marc Benioff and their tech titan peers. Bernie Madoff's now-seized cribs had little on these palaces on land and sea when it comes to luxury. As Bernie Madoff shuffles off to prison for eternity, the government has busily been seizing the places he called home: a $7.5 million Manhattan penthouse apartment, a $7 million oceanfront house, another house...
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