Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista, Networking

Microsoft Readying Customers with New Assessment and Deployment Tool for the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 Launch!

Baldwin Ng — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:43:00 GMT

Hello IT Pros!

February 27 is a big day. Windows Server 2008 will be officially launching in Los Angeles with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, kicking off in just a few hours.

In support of this very important technology milestone as well as the Windows Vista SP1 release, the Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team has just released the third-generation of the agent-less infrastructure assessment platform called Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator 3.0 (or simply MAP). Through the use of remote WMI calls and secure inventory engines, the MAP tool enables you to quickly inventory a wide variety of networks (AD-managed, IP ranges, and workgroups), securely assess IT environments of servers, desktops, applications and devices, and auto-generate specific and actionable reports and proposal documents in a matter of hours.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE BLOG POST...

GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD MICROSOFT ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING (RTM BITS)

Thank you,

Baldwin Ng (Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Assessment and Planning)

New Extenders and Internet TV unveiled for Windows Media Center

Nick White — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:41:00 GMT

Today at Digital Life in NYC the eHome Division and partners together announced new Extenders for Windows Media Center. In combination with the new Extenders, we're also releasing a beta of a new feature for Windows Media Center called Internet TV.

Take a look at the new Extenders for Windows Media Center and you'll see that users are getting sleek and quiet devices that bring content to any room of their house. Upcoming this holiday season is an impressive line-up of Extenders:

Linksys Media Center Extender DMA2100: In a small form factor, the DMA2100 offers dual-band Wireless-N and all the necessary features to take full advantage of Windows Media Center. Perfect for smaller bedrooms and offices where a small device is needed. Estimated street price is US$299.99.
Linksys Media Center Extender DMA2200 with DVD Player: Bigger than the DMA2100, the DMA2200 offers dual-band Wireless-N with a built-in DVD player on top of its Extender capabilities. Estimated street price is US$349.99.
D-Link DSM-750 MediaLounge HD Media Center Extender: The DSM-750 connects users to their home networks either via Ethernet or dual-band draft Wireless-N. It also includes a USB 2.0 port for access to music, photos and videos stored on removable USB flash drives or hard drives. Users of the DSM-750 can also enjoy HD videos at 1080i. Estimated street price is US$349.99.
HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV: The HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV (available in 42-inch and 47-inch sizes) has embedded Extender capabilities allowing the HDTV to tap directly into a Windows Media Center PC on home network via wireless (802.11N) or wired connections. The HP MediaSmart HDTV supports HD resolutions up to 1080p as well. The HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV is expected to be available in Best Buys nationwide.
Niveus Media Extender – EDGE: Supporting 1080p video, the Niveus Media Extender – EDGE takes in the 3D user interface found on the award-winning Niveus Media Center as well as the proprietary Niveus Glacier Passive Cooling System for quiet and cool operation. Pricing has not yet been announced for the Niveus Media Extender – EDGE.

These new Extenders, available to users of Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate, allow quick access to premium cable and HDTV and support popular video codecs such as DIVX, XVID and WMV. Users will be able to pause a recorded TV show and then resume watching that very same show in a different room.

The eHome Division is also launching a beta (currently for U.S. users only) of Internet TV for Windows Media Center users. On 28 September, users of Windows Media Center on Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate will see the addition of Internet TV under the TV + Movies section. Internet TV will deliver high-quality video content streamed over the internet to Windows Media Center. Users will be able to watch full episodes of TV shows, concerts from artists, high-quality movie trailers and clips from MSNBC. Internet TV is designed for both TV and PC screens and is accessible via Media Center Extenders (including the Xbox 360). Brandon will have a more in-depth look at Internet TV on the Windows Experience blog shortly.

Understanding how multimedia playback moderates network transfer speeds

Nick White — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:17:00 GMT

Mark Russinovich, one of our Technical Fellows and a prominent member of the Windows community, posted today on a topic that's received much discussion in the past few days -- that being the manner in which Windows Vista throttles network traffic on gigabit Ethernet networks when the user is engaged in multimedia playback.

As Mark puts it, "many people have correctly surmised that the degradation in network performance during multimedia playback is directly connected with mechanisms employed by the Multimedia Class Scheduler Service (MMCSS), a feature new to Windows Vista." This throttling of network traffic is mainly apparent on networks with infrastructure allowing gigabit throughput and is experienced by a user receiving, as opposed to sending, data.

The explanation is quite technical and rather esoteric, but the gist is that when receiving data on faster networks, the number of system interrupts is increased and because network-driven system interrupts are handled at higher priority than media playback, multimedia playback can be affected if the number of network-driven interrupts outpaces content refilling the multimedia playback buffer. Mark's full explanation is quite a bit more detailed -- I've only described it here in outline.

While this behavior is by design, the throttling parameters as shipped caused greater-than-anticipated degradation on gigabit Ethernet systems. In addition, there's also a related bug we've identified in scenarios involving multiple NICs but for which we're scheduling a fix. If you'd like all the details in their technical glory, visit Mark's blog. He'll have more news on this topic as it develops.

Certified for Windows Vista Networking Demo

Ben Reed — Wed, 23 May 2007 23:00:00 GMT

Here is our second installment of the Certified for Windows Vista demo videos. Just like the Digital Memories demo, we shot this at my house using Canon's new high-def HV20, which is Certified for Windows Vista.

Video: Networking Demo - Certified for Windows Vista

The video I've posted here shows how easy it is to set up and configure a wireless network using the D-Link DIR 655 using the Windows Connect Now wizard. We then also showed how to use a USB Flash drive (we used the Kingston Data Traveler II) to copy the network profile and configure another device. Both of these products have earned the Works with Windows Vista logo.

Also, we're still running the Look for the Logo sweepstakes, so go and enter to win thousands of dollars of Certified for Windows Vista products. Check back for future posts and more videos!

Click here for general information on the Windows Vista Logo Program.

TechNet Radio Chat on Windows Vista Readiness

Baldwin Ng — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:54:00 GMT

Tune in and listen to the radio interview of Microsoft Product Manager, Baldwin Ng and IT Pro Evangelist, Chris Avis as they discussed how the newly released Windows Vista Hardware Assessment solution accelerator has become the popular tool in helping businesses determine their readiness for Windows Vista migration.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88283

Baldwin Ng baldwin.ng@microsoft.com

Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Solution Accelerator

Check out the Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool

Nick White — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:39:00 GMT

Are you a home user network who's unsure whether your current internet router is capable of supporting some of Windows Vista's advanced networking features? Not to worry: the Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool is here to help you out.

The Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool is designed to be run on your home network behind a home internet router (NAT). It runs a series of tests that will let you know if certain advanced features in Windows Vista will be supported behind your current router. If the tests show your router does not support the advanced networking features in Windows Vista, they'll further help you by giving you a better understanding of what features to look for when purchasing a new router that will take full advantage of Windows Vista.

The Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool runs the following set of tests on your router:

Basic Internet Connectivity Test
Network Address Translator Type
Traffic Congestion Test
TCP High Performance Test
UPnP Support Test
Multiple Simultaneous Connection States Test

At the end of the test, you can get a detailed report of the test's findings. If your router doesn't pass the tests, the site gives you recommendations on other routers that are Certified for Windows Vista. Give it a try and see how your current hardware stacks up.

It's Windows Vista Week at Channels 9 and 10

Nick White — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:21:00 GMT

Windows Vista Week has begun at Channel 9 and Channel 10. Over on Channel 9 they're covering Windows Vista from the developer side, focusing on building apps for Windows Vista as a user-centric operating system. What technologies underlying Windows Vista make it what it is for the user? And what can developers get out of those technologies to improve the user's experience with their Windows apps? Channel 9 will take a deep-dive into those technologies this week. Expect topics to range from UAC to the networking stack and beyond.

Also, Channel 9's Charles Torre has posted his interview with Michael Wallent on the 'what' and 'why' of Windows Vista's developer appeal. Incidentally, I had the opportunity to interview Michael about Windows Vista product quality back in November, and he had some illuminating things to share, so I'm sure his words for devs will be equally valuable.

On Channel 10, the team will be covering a wide range of Windows Vista topics, too, in this case targeting power users (is that you?). For instance, Tina Wood works hands-on with Ernie Booth while installing Windows Vista, and Laura Foy interviews Windows Mobile's Mel Sampat (creator of FlexWallet) about getting Windows Sidebar Gadgets to run on your Windows Mobile device.

Should be an interesting week ...

How Windows Vista RTM Build Addresses Wireless Connectivity Issues

jleznek — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:37:00 GMT

Wireless access is a key feature in Windows Vista, and it needs to work as reliably as possible for users. In the final version of Windows Vista, the default power setting for 802.11 wireless adapters was changed to “Maximum Performance” to offer seamless wireless access experience and solve connectivity issues with certain access points. Users and OEMs can change the setting value to deliver additional power savings, if they want to further extend the battery life.

Context

Test results from Microsoft and our customers show that some Windows Vista beta users experienced connectivity problems when connecting to public WiFi hotspots. In many cases, the root cause of the problem is access point or router hardware which is not compatible with the 802.11 power save protocol. The symptoms of the problem are either failing connections or extremely poor connection performance and throughput. Typically, these problems are experienced only when the computer is on battery power—connecting to AC power solves the issue.

By default, Windows Vista enables many platform power management features, including wireless adapter power saving modes. On all Windows Vista systems, the default power plan is Balanced, and pre-release versions of Windows Vista enabled Medium Power Savings for the 802.11 wireless adapter when the computer is on battery power. When the computer is on AC power, Maximum Performance (no power savings) is enabled for the 802.11 wireless adapter. This explains why connecting to AC power solves the connectivity issue for many users, as did changing the power plan to High Performance or changing the wireless adapter power setting to Maximum Performance in Power Options.

When power save mode is enabled for an 802.11 wireless network adapter, the adapter periodically enters a low-power state where the radio transmitter and receiver are in “sleep” mode. The wireless adapter in the computer (client adapter) indicates the “sleep” mode by setting the power save option in its packets or 802.11 frames sent to the access point. The access point receiving frames with the power save option set determines that the client adapter wishes to enter power save mode, and begins buffering packets for the client adapter while it is asleep. The client adapter’s radio periodically wakes up and communicates with the access point to retrieve the buffered packets. This scheme enables the wireless adapter to consume less power by sleeping and waking periodically, just at the right time to receive network traffic from the access point.

However, this power savings scheme for 802.11 wireless adapters depends on cooperation of the access point. The problem is that many access points do not implement or support the power save feature correctly. Some broken access points keep sending the packets to the client—even when the client adapter’s radio is asleep. The packets sent to the client radio while it is asleep are lost, which leads to the connectivity, performance and throughput issues that some Windows Vista beta users were encountering.

Wireless access is a key feature in Windows Vista, and it needs to work as reliably as possible for users. In the final version of Windows Vista, the default power setting for the 802.11 wireless adapter is “Maximum Performance”. This means, that by default, on battery power or on AC power, wireless adapters will not use power-saving modes. OEMs are able to change any power setting when they are building systems with Windows Vista, so the setting might be different on a machine released with Windows Vista. The obvious downside to the power setting change is a potential decrease in computer battery life. But, it may be difficult to diagnose the root cause of the wireless connectivity problem, so the wireless power setting was changed accordingly for the most common default case.

If you want to re-enable power savings for your 802.11 wireless adapter, you can easily do this in Windows Vista. There are two primary ways:

Change the wireless power saving setting:

Open Power Options in Control Panel
Choose Change Settings for the current power plan
Choose Change Advanced Power Settings
Expand Wireless Adapter Settings
Expand Power Saving Mode
Choose Maximum Power Saving, Medium Power Saving, Low Power Saving to enable various levels of 802.11 power save modes.

Choose the Power Saver power plan:

Click on the battery meter on the desktop and choose Power Saver.
The Power Saver plan has 802.11 power saving mode enabled for both battery and AC power.

Microsoft is committed to both seamless wireless access and extended battery life. We are actively working with industry partners to fix wireless access points so they work correctly with 802.11 power save mode.

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UPDATE

I have seen a few articles written over the past few days regarding this post. Most seem to be focusing on the sentence that said the change made to default wireless settings could result in a “potential decrease in computer battery life.” I want to clarify that even with the wireless power management feature turned off for there should be no noticeable difference in battery life than what you get with Windows XP today; the native wireless power management feature is new in Windows Vista, and is therefore an added bonus to people’s overall battery life experience when in use. (Ars Technica got it right.)

The true intent of the post was to let our beta testers know that we made connecting to wireless access points more reliable in the final version of Windows Vista. As I wrote in the original post, We are actively working with industry partners to fix wireless access points so they work correctly with 802.11 power save mode, and in the meantime we’ve optimized Windows Vista to deliver the best wireless experience possible.