Over the past couple of weeks I have been delivering a series of "Windows Server 2008 Chalk & Talk" sessions for the Microsoft Technical Readiness team around the country. The level of interest in this new release, both from IT Pros and from developers has been fantastic and there are a number of key areas that have been the "hot topics" during these sessions.

The hot topics, in no particular order, are;

• Windows Server 2008 Core installation
• Windows Server Virtualization
• Internet Information Server 7.0
• Terminal Services (TS Gateway & Remote Programs)

These have been the main topics where most of the questions and interest have been. While there are certainly *many* more cool features and topics to cover, these were the big ones that came up on each day.

For those of you that couldn't make the Chalk and Talk sessions, the TechNet Update's this month will be covering the following topics;

• Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn Branch Office Technologies – Level 300
• Windows Server “Longhorn” Terminal Services Technical Overview – Level 400

If you're interested, you better register soon. Full details available on the Microsoft Technet site.

I have also received an email from Peter Fitzsimon letting me know about a Microsoft Virtualization Strategy Presentation in Brisbane next week.

Date:Wed 13th June 2007

Venue: Microsoft Office, lvl 9, Waterfront Place, 1 Eagle St, Brisbane.

Two identical sessions you can choose from

Session 1: 8:30am - 10:00am

Session 2: 6:00pm - 7:30pm

I have one more session to run in Perth next Monday to finish off this round of Windows Server 2008 Readiness Chalk and Talk sessions. It will be interesting to see if the Perth crowd shows interest in the same areas.

That's it for now

Anthony Borton