Don Jones demonstrates how to use profiles in Windows PowerShell to automatically load modules and snap-ins, define functions, and customize the shell each time you open a new session. —————————————————————————————————— Follow our daily tips: • facebook.com/TechNetTips • twitter.com/TechNetTips • blogs.technet.com/tnmag ——————————————————————————————————

Don Jones looks at how you can use the pipeline to chain complex commands , making Windows PowerShell more than just a procedural scripting language. —————————————————————————————————— Follow our daily tips: • facebook.com/TechNetTips • twitter.com/TechNetTips • blogs.technet.com/tnmag ——————————————————————————————————

The Office 365 Blog just broke some very exciting news for Microsoft Online Services customers. BlackBerry mobile BES support is now free through BPOS! Allen Filush from the Office 365 blog explains in greater detail with this blog post . More information will be provided later this month for existing customers. Be sure to check out his entire blog copied below. – Josh Topal. —– We have exciting news for Microsoft Online Services customers. We are in the process of updating pricing for Hosted BlackBerry Service for Exchange Online to make this service available free of charge.

In part two of our BPOS Trial guide , we take a look at Microsoft Office Communications Online . Check out part one here . We hope you’re enjoying all of the dynamic functionality of BPOS including Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Did you know that with your trial subscription, you can explore Office Communications Online? Office Communications Online brings security-enhanced instant messaging so that fast-paced, modern organizations can communicate and collaborate as efficiently as possible. These easy-to-use tools can be accessed by any user at virtually any time and are protected by world-class security features. For a recommended exercise to explore these tools, you can learn to add a contact to Office Communicator. Follow the next steps to add a contact to the Office Communicator client: 1. In the Microsoft Online Services Sign In application, click Instant Messaging to start Office Communicator. In Office Communicator, at the left side of the title bar, click the arrow to show the menu, point to Tools , and then click Add a Contact . 2. In the Add a Contact wizard, select Search for a contact, and then click Next . 3. Enter information for the person you want to add. You do not need to fill in every box. 4. In the search results, select the contact you want to add, click Next , and then click Finish . The user is added to your contact list. 5. Repeat steps as needed to add more people. We hope that you have enjoyed the chance to experience all that Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite has to offer. To continue the productivity, reliability, and accessibility, convert your trial to a paid subscription now .

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) combines the power and reliability of our robust desktop-based applications with the flexibility of cloud computing. But what does this mean for you and your organization? For starters, it means that you can gain greater efficiency and save money. BPOS brings efficiency and savings to small business, mid-sized business, enterprise, universities and even cities. Take, for example, the city of Carlsbad, California. Carlsbad has over 1,000 city employees who rely on up-to-date technology to keep the city moving. In these tough economic times, Carlsbad is saving approximately 40 percent annually opting for our hosted solution that provides more productivity-enhancing tools for its workforce compared to an on-premises solution. If a city can save 40 percent annually by using BPOS, imagine what Microsoft Online services can do for you. The BPOS 30-day trial is now available. The trial allows you to experience the full power of BPOS prior to converting to a paid subscription. Once you have registered and set-up your trial, you will have the opportunity to explore BPOS programs like Microsoft Exchange Online. Exchange Online means access to enterprise-grade web/mobile email, calendar, contacts, and tasks – on nearly any device and in nearly any location. Exchange Online also offers efficiency, dependability and spam, phishing and virus protection across your organization. A recommended exercise for administrators is to add a custom domain name to the trial account. By following these steps, you can configure your users’ mailboxes to a company-specific domain name. Add a New Domain: 1. In the Microsoft Online Services Administration Center , click the Users tab, click Domains , and then click New . 2. In the Domain Name box, type the name of your company’s domain (for example, contoso30.com). 3. In the Type area, select the type of domain you want for your email service, and then click Create . Select Authoritative if you want all your email to come to Exchange Online (default). When set, Microsoft Online Services is the primary authority for your company’s email mailboxes. Select External Relay when you have other company email mailboxes that reside in another location. This is recommended for email coexistence. 4. On the Confirmation page, carefully check the domain name and type you provided. 5. To start the process of verifying your new domain, select the Start the Verification wizard when this window is closed check box, and then click Finish . We hope you enjoy your trial. In the next few weeks, we’ll follow up with additional emails and blog posts with tips and tricks on how to set up and use other aspects of this feature-rich suite.

Christophe has posted over on the Project Administration blog at https://blogs.technet.com/b/projectadministration/archive/2011/03/15/microsoft-project-server-2007-2010-internet-explorer-9-support.aspx regarding the support status for Project Server 2007 and Project Server 2010, as well as Project Portfolio Server 2007.

This week’s BPOS Support series video is entitled BPOS-S: Troubleshooting Domain Decommissioning . Microsoft Online Services administrators can add registered internet domains, like your company’s e-mail domain, to Microsoft Online. Adding domains allows your users to use Exchange Online to send or receive e-mail from their company e-mail addresses. You can also remove added domains from Microsoft Online in case your company domain has changed or is moving to another subscription of BPOS. The video below will help you troubleshoot issues that may arise from decommissioning domains in Microsoft Online Services. Was this video helpful? Learn more about Microsoft Online Services with our other support and how to blog posts . What support videos would you like to see? We want to hear from you in the comments section below or send an email to our community mailbox . Follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

I received this info from a colleague a few days ago.

Batch Cmdlets: Forget loops. Don Jones steps you through the easier and preferred way to work with multiple items in Windows PowerShell . Follow our daily tips: • facebook.com/TechNetTips • twitter.com/TechNetTips • blogs.technet.com/tnmag

This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we take a look at the fastest Cloud service in the world, and how one company is saving $100,000 with Microsoft BPOS. 1. Microsoft Azure Named Fastest Cloud Service Microsoft’s Azure Cloud service was recently named the fastest cloud service when compared to the competition. In our first story for this week in BPOS news, we take a look at how CloudSleuth tested and compared 13 Cloud services from companies including Microsoft, Google and Amazon. The cloud services were tested over an 11 month period which resulted in Microsoft coming in first, followed by Google, GoGrid, Amazon, and then Rackspace. Microsoft was rated the fastest, but only by less than a second. The top five cloud services listed above were within 0.8 seconds of each other. The test was conducted by CloudSleuth which used the largest “legal” bot network in the world, with 150,000 user computers pinging the different cloud services. The response times measured with reflections of what end users would likely see. This article from InformationWeek features an interesting outline of the testing process and some more cloud service response time numbers. Be sure to check out this great study . What do you think of the CloudSleuth study? Does this study alter your perception of the competition in the Cloud? Leave your comments below. 2. Chelgrave saves $100,000 thanks to BPOS deployment Chelgrave Contracting is a labour hire company founded in Melbourne, Australia. Chelgrave recently integrated with Microsoft BPOS and has estimated the company will save $100,000. BPOS gives Chelgrave a fully functioning intranet system with tools like SharePoint Online and Microsoft Exchange that have replaced the existing manual paper-based system. Even without an IT team, Greg Scott, General Manager of Chelgrave, was able to implement Microsoft BPOS with the help of Microsoft and Microsoft partners. Greg Scott claims that the move “has had a great impact on savings for the business, with some 40% more revenue than at the same time last year being generated for the company.” Chelgrave is also saving money on transportation costs through the ability to access files from anywhere and host meetings via Communicator. Chelgrave is a shining example of how Microsoft BPOS is enabling companies and their employees a more productive and collaborate work place while saving money. Do you have any BPOS stories? Share them with us in the comments below or send an email to our community mailbox . What are your thoughts about the stories we shared with you this week? Did you see a story you want to share with us? Let us know what other topics you’d like to see. You can comment on this blog post or send an