Microsoft technet professional: Any useful security tools/operating systems?

I have a microsoft technet professional subscription. Are there any useful tools/operating systems for security? Eg, does windows 2008 server more secure than win 7?

 

I have a Technet subscription too, there's all kinds of stuff you can try out, like the Forefront and Antigen apps. Whether or not the server OSs are more secure is questionable. I think it still depends on how you configure it. I use Server 2003 on one of my desktops, runs great. However, as in all MS OSs, you are default admin when you install it and there are services running that you may not need.

 

I would call Server 2008 less secure than Windows 7 by default. The default account is admin, no UAC, no good reason to do it on a desktop. If you have a TechNet subscription I would just use Windows 7 Ultimate (which is what I do). Plus it is difficult to get a reasonable price on AV software. The free stuff usually won't run on a server OS, and the paid stuff usually requires a server version which may be quite expensive. If you want to play with Server 2008 I recommend a virtual machine.

 

I haven't played with 2008 R2 yet, is UAC non-existent or is it just turned off? There are a few apps that won't officially run on server OSs but actually will if you tweak the installer a bit. Prevx, Vipre, Malwarebytes, SuperAntispyware, Rising, Twister and the PCTools apps work on server OSs out of the box. Puran Defrag also works.

BTW, in Windows 7 the default account is also admin. I don't consider UAC to be a very reliable alternative to a limited account. I've installed Windows 7 four times in an attempt to like it, but I personally think it sucks, it just doesn't suck as bad as Vista

 

I use win7 pro --- is there a switch to win 7 ultimate?

 

This may be a stupid question, but I too am interested in Technet subscription, and I'm confused about something.

At http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/default.aspx, there's the following:

Seeing what 1 means:

What the heck does that mean? One cannot fully use, say Windows 7 in a Desktop?

By checkng the software license terms (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/cc294422(en-us).aspx)

If I acquire 1 single user license, for what I understand, I can have the same application, say Windows 7 in multiple machines with the same key, right?

Imagine I subscribe to TechNet Subscription Standard, I'll be able to do just that?

It's the first time I look at Technet subscriptions, and it seems a bit confusing.

Would you guys care to shed some lights on this doubts?

Thank you

Edit: By the way, it seems that the subscription lasts 1 year. Imagine that after 1 year, I no longer wish to keep the subscription. Do I have to uninstall the software? (Unless I missed it, I couldn't see anything relating to this at the FAQ page.)

 

For a lot of the products they give you 10 keys, at least with the Professional subscription. Sometimes they give 1 multi use key. Sometimes just 1 key. Depends on the product.

The subscription lasts 1 year, at which time you can renew at a rate lower than the first year. From my understanding you can continue to use what you already have if you let the subscription expire, you just don't get any new stuff. I have seen other people claim otherwise but more than once the MSDN we have at work has expired and we were able to continue to use the stuff between the expiration and the time we get the renewal processed. /you are not allowed to use TechNet software for development purposes (it doesn't include any programming software anyway) and you are not to use it in a production environment (at the very least you can't use it in a way that you make money off of it). As far as the term "evaluation" I don't know that I can define their intended meaning of that, but as long as you are not doing the above things and not sharing any of it I don't know how much they care.

 

I see this has been asked a while ago and don't know if you are still looking for an answer, but on a TechNet subscription there is no in place upgrade if that is what you are asking. You would have to reinstall your OS to get Ultimate.

 

That's what I was thinking, but one never knows how to exactly interpret certain riddle-alike sentences.

Thank you for your comment.

 

Then again there is Windows SysInternals with lots of free tools that are great from Mark Russinovich, et al.! And, Mark's blog is worth reading to pick up huge hints on how to debug.

-- Tom

 

I guess they won't be cutting in the price, though.

Fight piracy? Why not do it with MSDN subscribers as well? Wouldn't this be an equal source for keys to be used with counterfeit versions?

 

No mention of how many keys were cut...... way to go punish the people who are paying.

 

I've just read in a local blog here, that it will be like this:

TechNet Professional clients used to obtain 10 keys, now will obtain 5 keys.
Technet Standard clients will now obtain only 2 keys.

 

This is what I have been seeing. And I agree with the comment about punishing paying users. Just plain stupid. And they just started emailing me to renew my account that expires in a couple of months. They can't be bothered to inform me of this change but they can start bugging me 2 months early for renewal. Honestly, I've never used all 10 keys but I am tired of these companies taking things away from me in the name of cutting back piracy. I'm not the pirate, I paid.

 

Thanks for the heads up

 

I agree with you.