Community developer blogs

Steven Lamb

Recent Posts

• What do our customers think of Microsoft Security?

  Posted: 20 Feb 2009 at 15:41 by Steve Lamb

  You may recall that I shared the results of the previous Security Newsletter Survey - here's the latest version. In case you're not familiar with the survey it comprises feedback and charts from the readers of the Microsoft Ltd (UK) Security Newsletter - I think both the charts and verbatim comments are pretty interesting BODY { FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 70% } Survey: (Jan 09) Security Newsletter Survey Client: Microsoft UK Date ranges: All dates ((Jan

• Time's running out to download Windows 7 Beta1 for free

  Posted: 06 Feb 2009 at 19:03 by Steve Lamb

  If you're either a TechNet or MSDN subscriber then there's no need to rush though the sooner you start evaluating Windows 7 the sooner you can realise the benefits in your business. The public download of Windows 7 Beta 1 finishes on 10th February so if you want to try it then you'd better get your skates on. I've installed Windows 7 Beta 1 on a wide range of machines including my 6 year old Compaq Evo, a Samsung Q1 Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC), a Mac Air running Win7 natively using bootcamp as a boot

• Which fonts are available in Windows 7 and how can I access them?

  Posted: 16 Jan 2009 at 14:53 by Steve Lamb

  I've been suprised at the number of people who've asked me this question in the last couple of days. As I've mentioned previously I moved over to Windows 7 as my main O/S back in October with the PDC/WinHec M3 pre-Beta. A couple of days ago I moved up to the official public beta 1 which is build 7000. Viewing the available font list is pretty straight forward - there are 133 built-in fonts in the beta - simply type "font" at the Start menu - this will take you into Control

• Which do you prefer to use? Your home PC or your work one?

  Posted: 12 Jan 2009 at 21:32 by Steve Lamb

  Be it a desktop, laptop or netbook many people I've asked this question to answer "my home one" - if that's the case for you I'd love to hear the reason why. If you're old enough to do so please cast your mind back to your work PC circa 1995 - the vast majority of personal computers back then were desktop machines - the exception being for unusually mobile people like some sales people and some IT Professionals. Back then typical "road warriors" used laptops that were of poor performance compare

• Where can I download the public beta of Windows 7 (beta 1)?

  Posted: 09 Jan 2009 at 23:41 by Steve Lamb

  The Windows Team Blog will be updated in the next few hours detailing when and where to download the public beta 1 of Windows 7 I've been running the PDC/WinHec build of Windows 7 since October daily as my main machine and it's worked brilliantly. James Senior's blog has some great links to and descriptions of what's in store with Windows 7:

• Join us to discuss Windows Live Mesh and the Cloud

  Posted: 03 Dec 2008 at 16:16

  If you'd like to join us please edit the wiki to add your name - that way we'll have a good idea of how many people to expect. Where: The Coach and Horses pub, 29 Greek Street, Soho, London W1V 5LL When: 11th December from 6pm to 8pm (and onwards for anyone that fancies it) Who'd enjoy this? A

• Happy Birthday to Windows!

  Posted: 20 Nov 2008 at 16:22

  Windows 1.0 was released on 20th November 1985 hence it's twenty three years old today! There's a great write up on TheRegister which includes a link to the pcmuseum - it's a third party site which runs through a summary of the releases of Windows incuding screenshots - it's a step back in history.

• GetSafeOnline: providing advice for consumers to help them stay safe on the Internet without blindin

  Posted: 17 Nov 2008 at 17:03

  It's the fourth annual GetSafeOnline campaign week whereby the team will raise the profile of consumer internet safety through a revamped GetSafeOnline website (containing a wealth of commonsense "how to" information) and a range of media activity. It's a great cause as the campaign is

• How much data is CERN's Hadron Collider expected to generate?

  Posted: 07 Nov 2008 at 17:33

  I stumbled across this earlier in an edition of Computing - apparently the Hadron Collider "is expected to generate 40,000Gb of usable information per day" - assuming it operated at this rate for a year that would be over 14Tb of data! I wonder what their backup regime is?

• How to sort a list of names into alphabetical order

  Posted: 07 Nov 2008 at 17:22

  You might be surprised just how easy it is to sort lists of text into alphabetical order simply using Microsoft Office's Excel as you can see from the screenshot below - the sort function works just as happily with text as numerals:

• The VistaSquad are meeting again in London on the 19th - they have the General Manager of Visual Stu

  Posted: 07 Nov 2008 at 12:46

  If you'd like to join the user group meeting then simply browse to the VistaSquad's website to sign up - it's free and will be a great opportunity for you to ask questions and learn from your peers. The following talks will take place during the user group meeting and there will be plenty of time t

• What do you think of Microsoft Security and Management products?

  Posted: 06 Nov 2008 at 15:38

  What are the first things that come to mind for you when considering "System Centre", "Forefront" and specific Microsoft security and/or management products? What's good? what frustrates you? Please comment to share your thoughts.

• where can I access the PDC keynote streams?

  Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 17:33

  Simply browse to the Microsoft PDC website which advertises the streams as follows:"Watch the PDC2008 keynotes LIVE online on Monday and Tuesday from 8:30 AM- 10:30 AM Pacific Standard Time. Bookmark www.microsoftpdc.com and join Ray Ozzie and friends each day for the latest news from PDC. &qu

• Don't get stuck with your head in the clouds

  Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 17:29

  There's a great deal of expectation around Microsoft announcements at PDC2008 - I know what the details are and they are exciting. It's important though to not become "blinkered" and miss the other content - there's a great deal of great content both at PDC and TechEd EMEA that shows where we're goi

• It's not what you know, it's when can you talk about it that matters

  Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 17:14

  I love working at Microsoft as I get to work on cool new technologies that can be used to help people be more effective. I am lucky to be able to work with fascinating people from all walks of life. I've been quieter than usual on my blog over the last few months as most of my time has been spen

• How many people went to Microsoft's Heroes Happen Here events?

  Posted: 26 Oct 2008 at 17:07

  The Heroes Happen Here launch events may seem a long way back in the past (Spring 2008) but I thought you might find this interesting.I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the UK launch event and I remember the huge amount of time and effort that went into just presenting two sessions - I saw

• Here are the results from the Microsoft Security Newsletter Survey

  Posted: 23 Oct 2008 at 16:59

  Thanks to those of you who completed August's Security Newsletter Survey and to Phil Cross for sharing the results which are as follows:Survey:(Aug 08) Security Newsletter SurveyClient:Microsoft UKDate ranges:All dates ((Aug 08) Security Newsletter Survey)Available dates: No restriction (all to Sep

• What can you and I do to help companies weather the global credit crunch?

  Posted: 20 Oct 2008 at 09:56

  The aim of this post is to start a conversation to share ideas rather than pitch Microsoft products. At a time of economic uncertainty it's in everyone's interest to help our business' to reduce their costs and improve profits.Please share suggestion via comments to this post or write your own and l

• British Airways pilot concerned over finding the airport

  Posted: 09 Oct 2008 at 17:55 by Steve Lamb

  I flew to Edinburgh yesterday to give a talk to the BCS (British Computer Society) and the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) - the details of which can be found here. The talk was recorded so that those of you who may wish to listen another time will be able to do so. The audience were

• I'm amused by Google's mail Goggles

  Posted: 09 Oct 2008 at 17:48 by Steve Lamb

  You may have seen the coverage on the BBC or elsewhere for Google's "Mail Goggles" - I stumbled across it when buying a coffee as Rory Cellan-Jones was discussing it live on TV. Apparently it's an "opt-in" service so shouldn't frustrate those of you who use their email service late at night and