While I was on vacation, Microsoft pulled a fast one and released SP1 for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 earlier than expected.  Of course, SharePoint Designer 2007 was also service packed along with the Office 2007 SP1.

The key points in SP1 for SharePoint Products and Technologies are:

• Support for installation on Windows Server 2008
• ASP.NET AJAX compatibility and support (If you were an ASP.NET AJAX developer, you could do it before, but it was not officially supported.)
• New stsadm.exe operations and properties
  • mergecontentdbs - Permits a site collection to be moved from one content database to another.
  • renamesite - Changes a URL of a host-named site collection to a new URL.
  • peoplepicker properties - Provides setproperty and getproperty operations to define the scope of the People Picker Web control to an Active Directory® directory service organizational unit.

Also, of considerable note in the Technet document about SP1, is the final recommendation for 64-bit hardware for SharePoint deployments.  It is officially reiterated that this version of SharePoint is the last to have support for 32-bit (x86).  So, if you haven't already gone to 64-bit , start planning and budgeting for the shift.

To install SP1:

1. Install WSS 3.0 SP1
2. Install WSS 3.0 Language Pack SP1
3. Install MOSS 2007 SP1
4. Install MOSS 2007 Language Pack SP1

On SPD 2007 clients:

1. Install SharePoint Designer 2007 SP1
2. Install SharePoint Designer 2007 Language Pack SP1

Also, there is a WSS 3.0 with SP1 (slipstreamed) install available from Microsoft Downloads in x86 and x64.

Be aware, that installing SharePoint (WSS or MOSS) on Windows Server 2008 requires SP1.  Until Microsoft provides slipstreamed bits for MOSS 2007 with SP1, installation can be a bear.  I highly suggest you take a look at Ben Curry's blog post on installing MOSS 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008.

Carrying on the topic of IFilters from the previous post, Adobe does not currently have a 64-bit PDF IFilter.  My recommendation is to use Foxit Software's PDF IFilter.  With SharePoint, if you are running a 64-bit server farm, the other option is to separate the index component functionality to a 32-bit server and load the 32-bit Adobe PDF IFilter.  (Although, I don't believe this to be a real solution in a true 64-bit SharePoint server farm.)

In examining and utilizing Foxit's PDF Filter, I tried their PDF Reader.  What a refreshing experience.  If you are tired of Adobe Reader taking ages to open and load, Foxit's Reader will please you.  It's all the functionality you need in a reader trimmed down with no bloat.  It also comes in x86 and x64 versions.

Give it a try...

The Microsoft IFilter Team has finally released the Microsoft Filter Pack.  This brings IFilters for the following:

• Metro (.docx, .docm, .pptx, .pptm, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb)
• Zip (.zip)
• OneNote (.one)
• Visio (.vdx, .vsd, .vss, .vst, .vdx, .vsx, .vtx)

The Filter Pack works with the following products and is available in both a 32-bit and 64-bit version:

• Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Search Server 2008
• Windows SharePoint Services v3.0
• SharePoint Portal Servicer 2003
• Exchange Server 2007
• SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008
• Windows Desktop Search 3.1, Windows Search 4

It can be downloaded here.

One of the constant arguments I hear from some clients, friends, and family is how the Mac OS is much more secure or less vulnerable than the Windows OS (XP or Vista).  I grow tired of hearing that argument, especially when it is blatantly false.

Today, on ZDNet.com, I found a great post on the comparison of Micrsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X security vulnerabilities.  The post presented statistics of critical vulnerabilities over the course of 2007 between the two platforms.  Even with combining the stats from Windows XP and Vista versus Mac OS X (versions 10.4 and 10.5), the number of exposed vulnerabilities per month was astonishing.  Mac OS X had over 5.5 times more average vulnerabilities per month than both Windows XP and Windows Vista combined.

As in enterprise software implementation and development, I follow the mantra of the best tool for the job.  And, yes, the Mac does have some tools, albeit a significant number less, that are better than Windows-based tools, primarily in the graphic arts/multimedia area.  However, because I'm not a visually creative person, I find the graphic art/multimedia tools available to me on Windows to be much more than sufficient.  Especially considering the arguably much more powerful developer tools available to me.  Also, there are MANY more cases of Windows software that is not available for the Mac than the other way around.

I don't expect this argument to sway anyone to buy a Windows Vista system over a Mac, but I do hope it stops people from telling me the Mac OS is much more secure and less vulnerable than Microsoft Windows.

I know it seems like I set up and abandoned the blog.  This is not the case.  I've just returned from our annual December vacation in our new timeshare at St. Kitts.  It was nothing short of incredible.  It was also sorely needed.

I have to admit that while I did very little with company work, I did take the opportunity of down time to catch up on some reading and research.  (I mean, seriously, isn't that what everyone does on vacation?!?)

Of course, I had the perfect computer desk with a view, as seen below from one of the three balconies at our place.

Although I consider myself a strong .NET and especially ASP.NET developer, I have to admit my CSS design skills are not where I would like them to be.  So, I did some light reading and exercises from a couple of books based on recommendations from my friend, Spike Xavier, who I consider to be a great web designer.  The two books he recommended (which after reading, I, too, recommend) are Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages by Jacob J. Sanford  and Beginning CSS: Cascading Style Sheets for Web Design, 2nd Edition by Richard York.

Admittedly, most of this was refresher, but I feel more confident when attempting to do more CSS based design in ASP.NET 2.0 and, therefore, SharePoint 2007.

Other than spending some time and becoming more comfortable with Visual Studio 2008 RTM, I also caught up on some Microsoft Silverlight development information.  My good friend, Michael Palermo IV, a Microsoft Regional Director (RD) and Microsoft MVP, has done quite a few videos that are highlighted on the Silverlight site under Learn > Videos section.  I got a jumpstart on the technology thanks to him.

Now, if you think that all I did was read and stay on the computer, you are incorrect.  I spent the majority of my time with my wife and son in the sun and water.  (In fact, most of the day reading was done during nap time, since we didn't have a dedicated nanny on this trip.)  I also did a couple of dives to get my SCUBA fix in.  Unfortunately, my wife had baby duty and couldn't dive with me, which I regret.

All in all, it was a great vacation and I came back recharged and ready to go.