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Microsoft Office Outlook Tool: Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook

January 30, 2007 by ucinfo, posted in DST2007, Flaphead, MsExchange, MsOffice

At last! This slipped out over night. All we need now is the Exchange version. Source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e343a233-b9c8-4652-9dd8-ae0f1af62568&DisplayLang=en

In order to address time zone changes, this tool will help adjust calendar items in Outlook after the operating system has been updated with new time zone definitions. While this tool is being released in advance of the U.S. Daylight saving time rules change in 2007, it can be used for general adjustments of calendar items based on changes in time zone definitions saved in Windows or by the user making a permanent move to another time zone.

Specifics:

In existing recurring appointments, Outlook has encoded the current DST rules: Instances of recurring appointments that occur during the delta period will appear one hour earlier than they should.
For existing single-instance appointments and reminders, Outlook already calculated the universal time coordinate (UTC) value upon appointment creation: If a user creates an appointment while Windows is configured for the old DST rules and the appointment itself occurs during the “new” DST weeks, the appointment will appear one hour earlier than it should.
Existing all-day events are associated with 24 specific hours instead of a given date: For the reasons described above, all-day events will appear to shift and thus span two days during the “new” DST weeks.

Technorati tags: flaphead, dst2007, exchange, outlook

Support WebCast: The impact of daylight saving time on Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office Outlook

January 29, 2007 by ucinfo, posted in !News, DST2007, Flaphead, MsExchange, MsOffice, Training

If you use Exchange and Outlook, then YOU NEED TO watch this WebCast! Why oh Why do the damm times for these WebCast SUCK of everyone outside of the US? This one is at 2100-2200 on Friday 2nd Feb 2007

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?CMTYSvcSource=MSCOMMedia&Params=%7eCMTYDataSvcParams%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ID%22+Value%3d%221032327505%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ProviderID%22+Value%3d%22A6B43178-497C-4225-BA42-DF595171F04C%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22lang%22+Value%3d%22en%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22cr%22+Value%3d%22US%22%2f%5e%7esParams%5e%7e%2fsParams%5e%7e%2fCMTYDataSvcParams%5e

This Support WebCast will help you understand how Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office Outlook are approaching this transition. It will provide more details about which versions of Exchange and Outlook versions are affected. The WebCast also talks about the requirements and considerations you should be aware of when installing the fixes. It will also discuss the most common scenarios that Exchange Administrators could face in getting ready for the change.

Technorati tags: flaphead, dsT 2007, exchange

DST 2007

January 25, 2007 by ucinfo, posted in DST2007, Flaphead, MsExchange, MsOffice, Windows

Okay some more information for you. Interesting how this coule be a one off as “Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete”

UPDATE #1: Just found this too. it would seem that TWO calendar update tool are going to be avaialble. It looks like the Outlook Tool will run against a user, so I suspect the Exchange Tool will just do a batch conversion for ALL the users on a server. One for users and one for administrators to run. To modify a users mailbox, the Exchange Tool is going to need “god” access to all the mailboxes, so you will need an account setup with the right permissions. What will be interesting is how the tool works? Will it just update the meeting request or will it update and then send out a change to all the attendees? If it does the later and you batch the messages on the server, make sure you have enough log disk space and you do it out of hours. We will have to wait and see what the tool does. Check out: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931667. Right down the bottom. Q: How does the Exchange tool compare to the Time Zone Data Update Tool?
A: The Exchange tool will allow you to apply the time zone update in ‘silent mode’ to a set of chosen mailboxes on the Exchange server. This will mean the user will not have a chance to uncheck appointments that do not need updating.
The Exchange tool only works on server-side calendars. This means that any local Calendars that a user might have, such as in PST stores, can only be updated by the client-side Time Zone Data Update Tool.

and in http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102086071033.aspx under “Steps you need to take” #4 Run the Time Zone Data Update Tool to update Outlook calendars that are saved on servers running Exchange and on individual computers. End users use the Time Zone Data Update Tool. IT administrators use the Exchange version of the update tool.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dst

Rationales for DST: One of the major reasons given for observing DST is energy conservation. Theoretically, the amount of residential electricity needed in evening hours is dependent both on when the sun sets and when people go to bed. Because people tend to observe the same bedtime year-round, by artificially moving sunset one hour later, the amount of energy used is theoretically reduced. A 1975 United States Department of Transportation study showed that DST would theoretically reduce the country’s electricity usage by 1% from March to April, if implemented during these months. These numbers have been supported in Mexico, which began implementing daylight saving time in 1996. Evaluations show national savings of 0.7% of national electric consumption (1.3 billion kWh (TWh)) and reduction of peak load by 500 MW.

Part of the reason that it is normally observed only in the early spring, summer, and early autumn instead of the winter months is that the amount of energy saved by experiencing sunset one hour later would be negated by the increased need for artificial morning lighting due to a later sunrise. During the summer most people would wake up after the sun rises, regardless of whether daylight saving time is in effect or not, so there is no increased need for morning lighting to offset the afternoon drop in energy usage. Another reason for not observing daylight saving time in the winter is concern about children walking to school in the dark.

Another argued benefit of DST is increased opportunities for outdoor activities. Most people plan outdoor activities during sunlight hours. Other benefits cited include prevention of traffic injuries (by allowing more people to return home from work or school in daylight), and crime reduction (by reducing people’s risk of being targets of crimes that are more common in dark areas).

When the U.S. went on extended DST in 1974 and 1975 in response to the 1973 energy crisis, Department of Transportation studies found that observing DST in March and April saved 10,000 barrels of oil a day, and prevented about 2,000 traffic injuries and 50 fatalities saving about U.S. $28 million in traffic costs.

Source: http://www.worldtimezone.com/daylight.html

Date	Country changing DST time	Description
Mar 2007	USA	All States except: i) Hawaii ii) Arizona (the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona observes DST). iii) American Samoa, Guam, Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands Dates: 11-Mar 2007 to 04-Nov 2007
Mar 2007	Canada	All States except Saskatchewan and parts of Quebec, B.C., and Ontario Dates: 11-Mar 2007 to 04-Nov 2007
Mar 2007	Bermuda	All of Bermuda Dates: 11-Mar 2007 to 04-Nov 2007

DST 2007 changes for US, Canada and Bermuda
This information applies to users in the areas of the United States and Canada that observe daylight saving time.

For the latest information on DST 2007 check out: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx

On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress.
Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.

Canada and Bermuda made similar changes to their DST rules to be consistent with the U.S. time changes.
The 2007 daylight saving time implementation is as follows:
Clocks change at 02:00 A.M. local time.

On March 11, 2007, clocks will move forward one hour from 01:59 A.M. to 03:00 A.M. On November 4, 2007, clocks will move back one hour from 01:59 A.M. to 01:00 A.M.

This change affects the following time zones:

GMT-3:30 Newfoundland
GMT-4 Atlantic
GMT-5 Eastern US
GMT-6 Central US
GMT-7 Mountain US
GMT-8 Pacific US
GMT-9 Alaska

How do DST changes affect I
T systems worldwide?
Source: http://www.ibm.com/support/alerts/daylightsavingstimealert.html

Date and time processing functions in systems and applications in countries implementing the new DST rules (U.S., Canada, Bermuda) are affected. Systems and applications in countries not implementing the DST changes could be affected if they support users, transactions, or applications involving countries that are implementing the new DST rules. For example, scheduling or synchronizing problems may arise where systems make or check date or time stamps relating to transactions in other countries, or there may be difficulty in applications that perform scheduling calculations. Any time-sensitive functions could be impacted by this change.

DST rules affect date and time processing functions in computers and applications. If not set properly, depending upon how uniformly updates are applied, the time could be incorrect by one hour for four weeks each year.

Areas Impacted by this change in daylight saving time:

Preparing for daylight saving time changes in 2007 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx)

Windows Vista	No update needed
Windows XP (SP2), Windows Server 2003, Windows Server SP1	Update available 2007 time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928388)
Windows 2000	Update available – (under Extended Hotfix Support)
Windows XP SP1	Not Supported
Windows NT 4	Not Supported
Outlook	Outlook 2007: No update needed. Outlook 2003, XP and 2000: An Outlook Data Update Tool will be available in January from the Download Center. Addressing daylight saving time using the Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/931667) Prepare Outlook calendar items for daylight saving time changes in 2007 (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102086071033.aspx)
Exchange Server	Exchange Server 2007: No update needed. Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2: Exchange update (addressing changes in the United States and Canada, excluding Newfoundland) is available through CSS, Microsoft Update (currently as an optional update), and the Microsoft Download Center. For more information, refer to KB article 926666. Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1: SP Service Support will be retired January 9, 2007 so Exchange 2003 SP1 is not eligible to receive this update. Exchange Server 2000/Exchange Conferencing Server 2000: Updates are available now. Exchange 2000 is under Extended Support. Customers with Extended Hotfix Support Agreements (EHSAs) can request hotfix through their Technical Account Managers. Exchange Server 5.5: The update is available now. Exchange 5.5 is under Custom Support phase until January 2008. Customers with Customer Support Agreements (CSAs) can request a hotfix through their Technical Account Managers. Exchange Server 2003 Lotus Notes Connector: Download available at Microsoft Download Center (search for “Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes”). Exchange versions out of mainstream support without EHSA or CSA: No workaround or update available.
Windows SharePoint Services	Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: No update needed. Windows SharePoint Services 2.0: A single global time zone update including changes for the United States and Canada DST change will be made available on January 9 via Microsoft Download Center and on January 29 through Microsoft Update as a critical update. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924881)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM	Microsoft CRM 3.0: Update delivered via Hotfix available in March 2007. See KB article 925874.
Windows Mobile	Windows Mobile: See KB article 923953.
Windows CE based devices	Windows CE: See KB article 923027.
RIM Blackberry	Impact of North American Daylight Saving Time changes in 2007 on BlackBerry device users.

Technorati tags: flaphead, dst 2007

More DST 2007

January 23, 2007 by ucinfo, posted in DST2007, Flaphead, MsExchange, MsOffice

This is turning into a REALLY REALLY BIG issue.

To be clear the new DST change periods are: March 11, 2007 to April 1, 2007 and from October 28, 2007 to November 4, 2007.

New DST Start

March 11, 2007
(three weeks earlier)

Previous DST Start

April 1, 2007

Previous DST End

October 28, 2007

New DST End

November 4, 2007
(one week later)

So Microsoft Articles to date are:

Preparing for daylight saving time changes in 2007(main DST site): http://www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx
The Help and Support Center for DST: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst
Exchange 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926666
Windows: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928388
“Manual Method” for Windows: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914387
SharePoint: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924881
Addressing daylight saving time using the Outlook Time Zone Data Update Tool http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931667
Prepare calendar items for daylight saving time changes in 2007: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102086071033.aspx
Windows Mobile: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=923953
Dynamics CRM 3.0 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925874
Entourage (Mac) 2004: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/download/Office2004/Office2004_1133.xml
Windows CE: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=923027

Blackberry Articles: US Daylight Saving Time Changes and Blackberry

IBM Articles: Lotus software- Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes for 2007 will affect Lotus software products

Also remember that any other Application that uses CDO will need to be updated. Check with your Application vendor first.

Outlook is looking like it’s going to be a pain in the butt. The problem is that when you apply the Windows Operating System Update for DST 2007 you will have Outlook calendar appointments off by 1 hour during the DST Change periods.

The solution requires three things to be in place for Outlook calendar items to be updated properly.

The Operating System update to change the time zone information. 928388 or 914387 (available now).
The Exchange Server 2003 Update for CDO. 926666 (available now).
The Outlook Time Zone Data update Tool and the Exchange Time Zone Update Tool. (not released yet).

If all of these patches and tools are not used together, then there will be calendar inconsistencies. If you install update 928388 or 914387 for the operating system without doing anything else, users are notice that the meetings during the DST change periods are ahead by 1 hour. This is expected behavior without installing the Exchange server hotfix 926666 patch and using the Outlook or Exchange tool to rebase the appointments that are in the DST change period.

The Outlook tool is due to be released in January 2007 through the Microsoft Download Center that can update calendar items in Outlook to accommodate the changes in DST during the Extended DST period. This program is called the Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft® Office Outlook® (Time Zone Data Update Tool).
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, the newest version of Outlook, has the ability to automatically detect the DST change and prompt the process that updates a person’s calendar to conform to the new daylight saving time rules. However, the Time Zone Data Update Tool contains enhancements that improve upon what is available in Outlook 2007and should be run instead of the out-of-the-box Outlook 2007 experience.

The Time Zone Data Update Tool is necessary to update calendar items that occur during the Extended DST periods for the following earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook:

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Microsoft Outlook 2002
Microsoft Outlook 2000

The following table describes the situations when you should download and run the Time Zone Data Update Tool:

Outlook 2007	Outlook 2003, Outlook 2002, Outlook 2000
Not required to use the Time Zone Data Update Tool. But it is highly recommended because it includes numerous improvements.	Run the Time Zone Data Update Tool.
In environments running Microsoft Exchange, a special version of the Time Zone Data Update Tool may be used to update multiple Exchange mailboxes on the server.	In environments running Microsoft Exchange, a special version of the Time Zone Data Update Tool may be used to update multiple Exchange mailboxes on the server.

Check out the scenarios at the bottom of 931667 and MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102086071033.aspx

In the mean I will keep an eye on the Exchange Download Centre (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?freetext=&productID=899CABAF-A55E-402B-AA90-5114BD4C014E&categoryId=&period=120&sortCriteria=date&nr=50&DisplayLang=en)

Technorati tags: flaphead, exchange, DST 2007, outlook

Inside Microsoft Office 2008 for Macintosh

January 18, 2007 by ucinfo, posted in Flaphead, MsOffice

.. and dont forget the Mac!

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/jan07/01-09Macworld.mspx?source=rss&WT.dl=0

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 9, 2007 — Microsoft continues to deliver world-class technology products for the Mac platform – as it has for more than 20 years. Founded in 1997, Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit (Mac BU) is a leading developer of productivity software for Mac customers worldwide. Currently available products include Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, a productivity suite that is comprised of the e-mail application and personal-information manager Entourage 2004, Word 2004, Excel 2004 and PowerPoint 2004; and Microsoft Messenger for Mac 6.0.

.. PressPass: What would you say are the key differentiators in the new version?

Ho: With Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, we focused on what our users want the most – compatibility with PCs, along with unique features for their Mac experience. Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is packed with new, Mac-first, Mac-only features that are designed to provide a unique, engaging and definitively Mac experience, along with new collaboration elements to provide increased compatibility with the 2007 Microsoft Office system for Windows.

Mac customers have told us they want quick access to tools and features within Office, and we’ve made a lot of improvements to deliver that. We share a new graphics engine with our Microsoft Windows counterparts, called Office Art 2.0, and we have a new UI that introduces the Elements Gallery. Both of these features leverage Apple OS capabilities to retain a Mac-like look and feel while taking advantage of new technologies.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats

January 12, 2007 by ucinfo, posted in Flaphead, MsOffice

Interesting download!

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

Users of the Microsoft Office XP and 2003 programs Word, Excel, or PowerPoint—please install all High-Priority updates from Microsoft Update before downloading the Compatibility Pack.

By installing the Compatibility Pack in addition to Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003, you will be able open, edit, and save files using the file formats new to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007. The Compatibility Pack can also be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in these new formats. For more information about the Compatibility Pack, see Knowledge Base article 923505.

Note: If you use Microsoft Word 2000 or Microsoft Word 2002 to read or write documents containing complex scripts, please see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925451 for information to enable Word 2007 documents to be displayed correctly in your version of Word.

Administrators: The administrative template for the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint converters contained within the Compatibility Pack is available for download.