All posts tagged Windows 8

DirectAccess Clients and TPM

I’ve been frustrated recently with a number of articles and blog posts I’ve seen indicating Windows 8 DirectAccess clients connecting to a Windows Server 2012 DirectAccess server require a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and the use of smart cards for authentication. This is a myth, and nothing could be further from the truth. TPM and smart cards are indeed supported (TPM with Windows 8, smart cards with Windows 7 and Windows 8 DirectAccess clients) but they are not explicitly required. For the posts I’ve seen I have asked the authors to correct their statements, and to their credit some of them have. Others, unfortunately, have not. I’m not sure if they are simply misinformed or if they are deliberately misleading their readers to downplay DirectAccess in an effort to sell another VPN solution. Regardless, I am compelled to set the record straight here. So, to be perfectly clear:

TPM is NOT a requirement for DirectAccess clients.

There you have it. Now go out and deploy DirectAccess today!

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by Richard M. Hicks on March 8, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Important Links, Remote Access, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on March 8, 2013

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2013/03/08/directaccess-clients-and-tpm/

Installing Windows 8 Enterprise on the Microsoft Surface Pro for DirectAccess

Recently I wrote about the fact that the Microsoft Surface Pro is not supported as a DirectAccess client, because it ships with Windows 8 Professional pre-installed. Only Windows 8 Enterprise (and Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate) are supported for DirectAccess. However, that doesn’t mean that the Surface Pro will never support DirectAccess. I simply meant to state that the Surface Pro didn’t support DirectAccess out-of-the-box. That said, using your Surface Pro with DirectAccess will require installing Windows 8 Enterprise edition. Thankfully my good friend Kurt Shintaku documented in detail the steps required to accomplish this. Once you’ve completed these steps you should be able to join your Surface Pro to a domain and enable it as a DirectAccess client just like any other Windows 8 Enterprise device. Have fun!

Update: Read my post on how to install Windows 8 Enterprise and configure DirectAccess on the Microsoft Surface Pro here.

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by Richard M. Hicks on February 25, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Important Links, Remote Access, Windows 8
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on February 25, 2013

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2013/02/25/installing-windows-8-enterprise-on-the-microsoft-surface-pro-for-directaccess/

Forefront UAG 2010 SP3 Now Available

Service Pack 3 for Microsoft Forefront UAG 2010 is now available for download. SP3 for Forefront UAG 2010 includes several important new features and enhanced functionality, including:

Support for Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 – Full support is provided only for Internet Explorer 10 in desktop mode. The modern UI version of Internet Explorer 10 does not provide support for browser add-ons. If a user accesses the Forefront UAG 2010 portal and the trunk is configured to install and launch the UAG client components, the user will receive a message indicating that the site requires add-ons which will require the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10.

Support for the Native Windows 8 Mail App – Windows 8 users can now connect to published Exchange servers using the built-in Windows 8 modern UI mail app

Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 8.0 client support – Windows 8 users and Windows 7 users who have upgraded to the RDC client v8.0 can now access remote desktop resources published by Forefront UAG 2010 SP3

Exchange Server 2013 – Application publishing wizards in Forefront UAG 2010 SP3 now include native support for Exchange Server 2013

SharePoint Server 2013 – Application publishing wizards in Forefront UAG 2010 SP3 now include native support for SharePoint Server 2013

Support for Office 2013 applications – Publishing Office 2013 applications such as Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel is now natively supported in Forefront UAG 2010 SP3

You can download SP3 for Forefront UAG 2010 here. After installation the Forefront UAG 2010 build number will be 4.0.3206.10100.

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by Richard M. Hicks on February 20, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Forefront UAG 2010, Important Links, Windows 8
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on February 20, 2013

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2013/02/20/forefront-uag-2010-sp3-now-available/

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