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It’s no secret that the nature of software development is radically changing. Come to PDC2008 to experience Microsoft’s vision for cloud computing and building applications that seamlessly bridge the gaps between PC, Web, and phone, and be the first to see the full range of advances in Windows 7, the next major version of the Windows client operating system.
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What does this give you?? In the simplest terms: “Using the Web Platform Installer’s simple user interface, you can select specific components or install the entire Microsoft Web Platform onto your computer.”
The Microsoft Web Platform Installer Beta (Web PI) is a free tool that makes it simple to download and install the latest components of the Microsoft Web Platform. It allows developers to quickly get started building web applications using Silverlight, ASP.NET and MVC. The application installs .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, IIS7.0 and Extensions, IIS FastCGI, Visual Web Developer 2008, SQL Server 2008 Express, SQL Server Management Studio, ASP.NET MVC and Silverlight Tools.
To help you stay up-to-date with product releases, the Web Platform Installer Beta tool always contains the most current versions and new additions to the Microsoft Web Platform. No more hunting for updated versions of .NET, IIS 7.0 Extensions, tools, database, and application framework. Now you can update the Microsoft Web Platform with a single installer.
Whether you’re looking to quickly set up a desktop to build web apps or get a Windows server ready for hosting, the Web Platform Installer is optimized to install the necessary components for both scenarios. This includes getting IIS 7.0 ready for PHP using FastCGI.
The new Microsoft.com/Web provides web professionals with a single location to stay updated on the latest news, techniques and solutions aggregated from top media outlets, blogs and Microsoft resources.
The Web Application Installer Beta is designed to help get you get up and running with the most widely used Web Applications freely available for Windows Server. The Web AI includes popular open source and .NET solutions in Ecommerce, Social and Personal Presence and Content Management. The beta release will include DotNetNuke, Drupal, Gallery, Graffiti, osCommerce, PHPBB, and Wordpress. New applications will be evaluated and added to the Web AI Gallery regularly.
The Microsoft Web Application Installer Beta handles the detail work such as configuring IIS 7.0, checking your computer for the required prerequisites, reaching out to download applications from their source locations in the community, and installing the application. For example, deploying Wordpress is now as simple as launching the installer, selecting Wordpress from the Application Gallery, selecting the type of website you want to install and entering in your credentials.
The Web Application Installer Beta ensures that you are always installing the latest versions of community applications. The Web AI does not store the actual application source code, but reaches out to the community source code repositories for the latest versions.
The Web Platform Installer Beta and Web Application Installer Beta are FREE to download and available now at Microsoft.com/Web/Download
Q&A – The Microsoft Web Platform Installer Beta
How does this help if I already have IIS on my server or development machine?
The Web Platform Installer (Web PI) Beta allows you to install the 40 existing modules that ship with IIS 7.0. It also lets you stay in sync with the latest Extensions for IIS 7.0 from Microsoft that are released via the Web. The Web PI automates the discovery, download, and install processes for a range of IIS Extensions and other software that broaden the capabilities of your Web server in media, deployment and administration and runtime services.
What exactly does it configure and install for IIS?
It installs the modules that shipped with IIS 7.0 and downloads any new IIS Extensions we’ve released to the Web. The Web PI makes sure that users can discover and update their Web server with the latest production releases from Microsoft and continue to extend their Web platform.
How is this different from using Server Manager on Windows Server?
Server Manager allows you to install and configure the Web Server (IIS) role on Windows Server 2008 by choosing from the available modules that shipped with IIS 7.0. The Web PI installs these modules in addition to other software components of the Microsoft Web Platform, including IIS Extensions, database, application framework, and tools.
I’m a developer using VS/VWD with its built in web server. How does this help me?
If you are a VS Web developer targeting a server running IIS 7.0, you can create the full fidelity target environment using the Web Platform Installer Beta on your Windows Vista SP1 development machine. The built in “Cassini” Web server in Visual Studio and Visual Web Developer does not support IIS Extensions such as the URL Rewrite Module for IIS 7.0.
I already visit the MSDN and the ASP.net sites. Why would I visit /Web?
You can learn about the complete Microsoft Web Platform at Microsoft.com/Web, which is preferable to learning about different components from individual Microsoft web properties.
How does this help me with getting started with PHP?
PHP is not included as part of Web PI at this time. With this release, the Web Platform Installer will install the IIS 7.0 FastCGI module and other extensions that you need to host and run PHP applications. We plan to include PHP in a future release.
You say this makes keeping the web platform up-to-date easier, but how is it any different from Windows Update?
Windows Update doesn’t release new products or technologies; it releases software updates. In comparison, /Web releases updated software and extensions to existing technologies that you can use to run and build your Web applications.
I have Windows Vista Home edition on my computer, can I use this?
IIS 7.0 limits the number of modules it supports on Home Edition but there are still some items you can install to extend the default IIS configuration.
Q&A – The Microsoft Web Platform Installer Beta
I have a shared hosting account. Can I use the Web AI to install applications on my website? In the beta release of the Web Application Installer, you must be an administrator of the computer hosting website to run the installer. The first release of the Web AI is designed to work in dedicated and dedicated virtual hosting environments. Shared hosting deployment support is planned for futures versions of the Web AI.
I don’t have IIS 7.0 or a database server on my computer. Will the Web AI install them for me? The Web Application Installer community applications require IIS 7.0 to make use of their exciting features. If you have access to a remote database such as SQL Server or MySQL, the Web AI can install applications on one machine and create the database on another. The Web AI will determine if your system meets the minimum required prerequisites and offer advice on where you can get what you need. You can install IIS7.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Database for FREE with the Microsoft Web Platform Installer.
I don’t have PHP or MySQL installed. Will the Web AI install them for me? The Web Application Installer will determine if your system meets the minimum application requirements such as PHP and MySQL. If you do not have PHP and/or MySQL installed, the Web AI will show you where to get it. Once you install PHP and MySQL, you can continue with the application installation of your choice.
I have Apache installed on my host computer. Can I use Apache instead of IIS 7.0 to install the PHP applications? No, The Web Application Installer relies on IIS 7.0 extensions to create and run web applications on Windows Server.
What version of Windows is required to run the Web AI? The Web Application Installer installs applications on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1.
I have IIS 6.0. Will the Web Application Installer work for me? The Web Application Installer supports automated installations of community applications on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista SP1 and IIS 7.0. Support community applications can be installed manually for IIS 6.0. Guidance and resources are provided on the IIS.net website.
Is a live internet connection required to install the apps, or can I download the installer and run it offline? The Web Application Installer requires a live Internet connection as it downloads the community applications from its publicly available Internet server location. Each application is downloaded directly from its respective community site.
Will the Web AI install the latest version of whichever application I’m installing? The Web AI installs the most current version of the application that has been tested to run on IIS 7.0. Microsoft cannot guarantee that this version will always represent the most current version of the application available from the community.
The Web Application Installer Beta is designed to help get you up and running with the most widely used Web Applications freely available for your Windows Server. Web AI provides support for popular ASP.Net and PHP Web applications including Graffiti, DotNetNuke, WordPress, Drupal, OSCommerce and more. With just a few simple clicks, Web AI will check your machine for the necessary pre-requisites, download these applications from their source location in the community, walk you through basic configuration items and then install them on your computer.
System requirements
Supported Operating Systems are: Windows Vista RTM, Windows Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008
You must have administrator privileges on your computer to run Web Platform Installer Beta
.NET 2.0 Framework
Supported Architectures: x86 and 64-bit
Installation Steps
Install Web AI easily:
Click on the “install now” button on this page to install and launch the Web Application Installer.
After the Web AI installs, you can launch it from the desktop to install any of the available applications. Web AI will install one Application at a time.
Support for Web Application Installer Beta can be received by visiting the Web Platform Installer Beta Forum to discuss issues and suggestions.
Once you have completed your platform installation, you can immediately start developing your Web solution. Support for Web Application Installer Beta can be received by visiting the Web Application Installer Beta Forum to discuss issues and suggestions.
By clicking WebAIInstaller.msi you agree to the terms of use for the Microsoft Web Application Installer. This installer will contact Microsoft over the internet to retrieve product information.
DFI’s motherboards were the main star obviously at its Computex booth and what else besides the newly launched Intel chipsets?
This is a DDR2 version P45 board with ICH10R. Belonging to the LANPartyUT series, it features the external heatsink Transpiper that uses heat pipes. Other features of note include its use of digital PWM, a DFI Bernstein audio module and other DFI exclusive technologies.
The LANParty DK model comes in red and black and is mostly similar to the LANPartyUT version in specifications. It does lack the Bernstein audio module and has only 1 Gigabit LAN. There are also 2 fewer SATA 3.0 ports and uses a 4-phase digital PWM instead of the 8 on the UT. In short, this is a less lavish board for those who don’t need all those features.
A cut-down version of the LANParty DK P45 board is this JR version, which has a different cooling system and more importantly, less expansion slots. The other features however are intact if you don’t need a full sized board.
DFI’s ‘Blood Iron’ 780G motherboard for AMD processors has the usual DFI features and like most of its boards we have seen here, uses digital PWM. DDR2 memory is supported up to 1066MHz and you’ll also get Gigabit LAN, 6 SATA 3.0 ports and HD audio.
The other option for integrated graphics for AMD users is NVIDIA’s GeForce 8300 chipset which is the case here with DFI’s GF8300-M2R. Essentially similar in features to the 780G board except for the chipset and 1 less PCIe x 16 slot.
Meant for mini-DTX form factors is this CA230-BF board that uses the Intel GM45 chipset with ICH9M. This could find its way into OEMs and other system builders.
ECS’s Booth
ECS’ booth at Computex showed off mainly its motherboards and graphics cards.
ECS has made a smart choice in getting Arctic Cooling’s Accelero range of graphics card coolers for its cards. Here we have the GeForce 8800 GT equipped with this passive cooler.
The GeForce 9600 GT also gets the same Arctic Cooling makeover, meaning it’s completely silent too.
Here’s a demo of ECS’ P45T-A running with a GeForce 9800 GX2. It supports dual channel DDR2-800 and FSB1333MHz. Besides the standard 6 SATA 3.0 ports, ECS has also included a eSATA port.
ECS’ Nettop PC demo uses the 945GC + ICH7 chipset and will have an Atom 1.GHz and up to 2GB of DDR2-533 memory. Integrated HD audio and Ethernet completes the package.
Another system on show is this plain looking S21II notebook, which supports 45nm Intel CPUs and uses the new Intel GM45 chipset and ICH9M Southbridge with integrated graphics. ECS states that it weighs 1.84kg with a 4-cell battery.
Like many other vendors, ECS has a ‘Slim PC’ product on display showing off its multimedia prowess and portable form factor. This one uses the NVIDIA GeForce 9300 chipset and powered by a Intel Core 2 Duo CPU. ECS has equipped it with a digital TV tuner and it is PureVideo HD/DX10 capable. There’s also an Atom (what else) version available according to ECS’ brochure.
Jetway’s Booth
Specializing in motherboards and graphics card, Jetway has mustered its products for display at its Computex booth.
As you can expect by now, we start off Jetway’s motherboards with its P45 implementation. It appears to use an eye catching circular heat pipe that reminded us of MSI’s boards last year. Features-wise, it does look to be your generic P45 board (no RAID), though its 6-phase PWM and that heat pipe solution make it more geared towards overclocking, at least on paper.
This P43 board from Jetway is also quite the standard design but Jetway did go for all-solid capacitors and it has a 5-phase PWM too.
Similar to its P45 board, Jetway has reinforced the standard design of this G45 board with quality components like all solid capacitors and 6-phase PWM for greater power savings and performance.
Jetway’s XBlue-N78S uses the GeForce 8200 chipset (MCP78S) with integrated GeForce 8 graphics and has extras like a Wi-Fi port and solid capacitors (though not all). Meant for AM2/AM2+ processors, this board can take up to 4GB of dual DDR2-1066 memory.
This is the Jetway BA-220, part of its Kuroshio series. Based on AMD’s 780G + SB700 chipset, it has an integrated Radeon HD 3200 and is hence Hybrid graphics capable.
The higher-end model for its 780G board is the Hummer (HA06), which uses all solid capacitors and has a debug/status LED indicator. Specifications and features are similar to the standard 780G.
HIS’ Booth
Using these handy display adapters from HIS, you can connect multiple monitors to your PC or notebook, using the USB2.0 ports instead. Convenient for those who require the screen space of multiple displays.
DisplayPort has yet to catch on but HIS is really for that with this Radeon HD 3450 card that is designed for noiseless operation. It comes with 512MB of DDR2 memory despite its budget GPU though it should handle HD playback fine with its Avivo HD. It also supports Hybrid Graphics should you need to use it with integrated ATI graphics.
HIS has displayed this Radeon HD 3650 upside down, the better to show off the Zalman signature on the iSilenceIII cooler. It has gold plated outputs to go with the HD concept and uses 512MB of GDDR3.
Noise Limit’s Booth
Noise Limit is a Danish company that does cooling for industrial applications and OEMs. Their main product is the SilentFlux, a patented technology using what they call, bubble pump tech to push the movement of the coolant to the radiator. The higher the temperatures, the faster the formation of the bubbles and hence the faster the rate of coolant flow and therefore, better cooling performance.
Here’s the SilentFlux in action in a HTPC, SFF chassis, where its excellent noise to performance ratio (29 dB at 130W) will be essential. The ATX version of the SilentFlux can be usd for both AMD and Intel processors and weighs only 400g.
A close up of the SilentFlux cooler in action. You won’t find these coolers easily in the consumer market at the moment.
Point of View’s Booth
No new graphics cards that we haven’t seen before at Point of View’s booth. The vendor may not have any next gen cards but there are still a few custom solutions.
The booth has a rather interesting case mod in the shape of a ‘dragon’ head that fooled us initially before we saw the label.
A passively cooled GeForce 8800 GT. Point of View also has an overclocked version using a standard heatsink fan.
Is that a tri-color flag we see on the cooler of this GeForce 8600 GT?
Super Talent Booth
Memory specialist from the US, Super Talent was also at Computex to show off its range of memory products, including solid state drives.
Super Talent’s overclocking memory series is Project X DDR3 memory modules, which starts from 1600MHz and goes all the way to 2000MHz. Low latencies also ensure that this is one of the most overclockable kits (2GB or 4GB kits available now).
These are the extreme performance memory chips from Super Talent. While not as extreme as Project X, they are tested to work perfectly at its specs while the aluminum heat spreaders help in cooling them.
Super Talent’s MasterDrive MX series of solid state drives is designed for the consumer and available in capacities from 8GB to 128GB. Reliability is rated with a MTBF of 1 million hours and a data integrity of 10 years.
Synology’s Booth
Bringing a new NAS experience to consumers and businesses, Synology’s booth has its range of NAS solutions, along with a demonstration of its new Disk Station Manager 2.0 software that enables extra data protection, download enhancements and performance improvement, among others.
Targeted at home users, the DS107 models supports the usual NAS functions but now comes with a new AJAX-based user interface, network video recording and photo/video and blog sharing.
With an extra drive bay for another hard drive, the DS207 may have expanded capacity but lacks the eSATA port found on the DS107
The CS407e has capacity for up to 4TB though it also lacks the eSATA interface found on the DS107.
Synology’s latest product is the DS508 for power users or small businesses. Onboard memory has been increased significantly and of course it supports up to 5TB capacity now. Additionally, it also has a eSATA port. It is resting on another new product, the rackmount form factor RS408, which is similar to the RS407 feature-wise.
Zotac’s Booth
Given what we have seen from graphics cards manufacturers at this year’s Computex, we weren’t expecting anything new at Zotac.
Zotac’s GeForce 9600 GT with a non-standard heat pipe based heatsink and fan. Zotac has also included an extra analog VGA output.
A liquid cooled GeForce 9800 GTX from Zotac. You’ll probably need to mount the radiator and fan unit external of the chassis however.
In Win’s booth stood out the pond with floating lotus leaves, which does give it a tranquil feel amidst the busy buzz of Computex 2008.
In Win’s stealth bomber inspired chassis, the B2 caught our eyes with its design and feel. The mechanized front panel was also another interesting touch to the casing. As you can see, the casing’s pretty big and uses a 12cm ceramic fans for both the front and back panel. The system also features a VGA cooling system at the side with two 8cm ceramic fans.
Another military inspired design from In Win would be their Commander series of PSUs which wattages ranging from 650W to the very nice high end 1500W.Pew Pew.
We also spotted some concept cases among those that In Win was showcasing. Note that the casing in the middle, the X-Fighter, is not a concept case, so if you fancy a space fighter theme for your PC, you might want to keep an eye out.
Another concept case that In Win was happy to show off is this unit which In Win currently calls the Full Tower I. We expect In Win will be coming up with a much catchier name once they finalize the actual design. This baby here currently sports a 22cm side panel fan for lots of cooling goodness.
Lastly, a casing for the ladies to get them to join you with your online gaming addiction. Featuring a flowery design motif on the panels, the chassis also sports Swarovski Crystals for added bling.
Leadtek
Leadtek’s booth was located at the older TWTC venue, and was filled with their usual range of video cards.
Proudly displayed on the walls of Leadtek’s booth was their usual array of video cards.
Spotted at the booth was this interesting looking digital photo album from Leadtek, the DPA-3A20 which sports a 10.2-inch screen, 800 x 600 resolution and 4GB of flash storage. With support for most external flash memory cards and stereo speakers, the DPA-3A20 can also double as a mp3 player.
Nanya Memory
Nanya Memory’s could double as a giant bumblebee with its bright yellow and black color scheme.
Seen here were Nanya Memory’s Elixir range of DDR3 RAM module. Too bad we didn’t spot anything faster than the Elixir 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM module though.
Qimonda
Qimonda’s booth was all round and curvy.
A demo system set up by Qimonda showing off their Xtune 1GB DDR3-1866 RAM in action. The Xtune DDR3 runs at 1.5V, which means a lower heat output.
Qimonda was also showing off their GDDR5 memory chips which will be used for the next generation of graphic cards. And if rumors we’ve been hearing hold true, the upcoming Radeon 4000 series will be using similar memory chips.
Thermalright
Thermalright seemed to have had some problems with its booth, as the E and T were missing.
The very sexy black looking HSC-101 casing from Thermalright that uses no fan and is completely silent via watercooling and heatpipes. THe case also acts as a huge thermal cooling surface for crazy overclocking capabilities.
A close up look of the watercooling system of the HSC-101.
Thermalright’s HSC-601 design seems reminiscent of the flat desktop era. In this case, the HSC-601 is made more for the home theater buffs. Like the HSC-101, the casing doesn’t use any fans to cool the casing. Instead, it relies on heatpipes and a large fin array to radiate away the heat.
Seen here are the fin arrays that fills up the entire top cover of the HSC-610.
If big is your thing, then perhaps Thermalright’s IFX-14 may be your dream passive CPU heatsink cooler. Weighing in at around 790g, the Inferno Fire Extinguisher supports both AM2 and Socket 775 sockets. On the far left is the IFX-10 which cools the CPU from the backside of the motherboard.
Also spotted at Thermalright was this replacement Xbox 360 TR360 cooler.
Thermaltake
Thermaltake’s booth looks and feels like a casing, even down to the armored girl model.
Seen here is Thermaltake’s Xpressar, which according to them, is the world’s first micro-refrigeration system and claims to be able to keep your CPU cooler by more than 20 compared to a watercooling setup.
Here’s a closer look at the bells and whistles of the Xpressar.
Thermaltake’s mid-tower M9 chassis and the newer M5 chassis. On the far left is the new M9D.
Thermaltake’s also showed off a new full tower casing: the Spedo, which is modeled after racing cars. Thermaltake has seperated the the interior into three distinct sections for maximum cooling. That means your motherboard and CPU will be located at the top compartment, while your video card is in it’s own separate compartment, while your PSU resides happily at the bottom compartment
Thermaltake has also come up with a new way for cable management via the plates as shown above, which does make things that much neater.
Thermaltake’s BigWater 780e cooling system.
Thermaltake’s BigWater 780e cooling system.
The V14 Pro is a much bigger version of their original V1 design. Big is always better…right?
The cooler is Thermaltake’s newest S ORB for VGA and is compatible with most of Nvidia and ATI video cards.
Thermaltake’s Rotation CPU Cooler (on the left) works by joining up to 6 heatpipes to a huge radiator fin which is coiled around a fan. Interesting…
Besides armored cases and cooling devices, Thermaltake’s also joining in the HTPC party with their Luxa offerings. The ones shown here are the more higher end stuff, though they don’t look anything like a normal small compact HTPC.
Oh look what we spy with our little eyes: a 2000W PSU which Thermaltake is using to power two very high end demo systems.
Transcend
Transcend’s booth was business-like and very professional.
Transcend’s AxeRam 1GB DDR3 1800+ means more overclocking fun for the family (well the enthusiasts in the family anyway).
SSDs were making appearances all over Computex 2008, so it was hardly no surprise to see some on display at Transcend’s booth.
XFX
XFX’s booth has everything you’ll need, blazing hot video cards and blazing hot babes.
As always, XFX’s Black Edition booth just makes every overlocked item there look good. Let’s go closer, shall we?
Overlocked GeForce 9800GX2s are all the rage these days, and XFX’s Black Edition is no exception. Plus, it also helps that it looks really good in sexy black.
The Nvidia GeForce 9600GSO has been making it rounds around Computex 2008, this time we spotted it at XFX’s booth.
A GeForce 8300 motherboard for AMD fans and features Hybrid SLI, Hybrid Power and dual BIOS for overlocking presets.
XFX’s nForce 750a is based on XFX’s design and supports Intel’s Yorkfield and Wolfdale CPUs and up to 2000Mhz DDR3 SLI Memory.
Xigmatek
Xigmatek’s booth was partly hidden by a pillar, which was a pity really as they had some really interesting cooling products that should please most enthusiasts looking to cut temperatures down even more.
If you look carefully at the picture, you’ll notice the part where most heatsinks connect to the CPU is definitely different from the norm. Instead of just a flat sheet of conductive metal, Xigmatek’s HDT (Heat-pipe Direct Touch) technology places the heatsinks right next to the CPU, which they claim will provide even better cooling.
Seen here is Xigmatek’s Achilles model which weighs in at 660g with the fan mounted on and emits only 20.64dbA. Quiet enough for you?
Xigmatek’s HDT technology is not only restricted to CPU coolers, they also have a Battle Axe model for VGA cooling. The name comes from the axe-shaped cover of the fan. The Battle Axe is compatible with Nvidia’s GeForce 8800, 7900 and 7800 series and also with ATI’s Radeon X1950, X1900 and X1800.
Here I'll share my knowledge, discovery and experience related to my hobby and work. Most articles on this site are related to blog design, short reviews, tips and make money online.
