WinInsider

Windows XP SP1 Technical Beta Kicks Off
Microsoft sent out invitations for the Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) beta this week. Potential testers can choose a standalone Windows XP Home Edition upgrade, a standalone Windows XP Professional Edition upgrade, or an integrated XP SP1 beta that you can use for clean installs of the full OS. XP SP1 will ship sometime this fall.

Microsoft Preps New Management Console
At TechEd this week, I overheard the news that Microsoft will soon replace its Microsoft Management Console (MMC) with a new HTML-based console dubbed the Microsoft Management Portal (MMP). MMP's big advantage over MMC is that Microsoft is finally standardizing the UI bits so that third-party management-tool UIs will be identical, helping users move more easily from tool to tool. And because MMP is based on Web technology, you can view MMP consoles over the Internet. I'm still waiting to hear when this tool will debut; inclusion in Windows .NET Server is a possibility.

TechEd: Microsoft Releases MapPoint .NET 2.0 Demo
Microsoft has shipped a beta version of MapPoint .NET 2.0, a Web-services-compatible version of its location and mapping software that third-party software developers can access programmatically. Expected to initiate a new generation of "if you lived here, you'd be home" jokes, MapPoint .NET 2.0 is a cool example of a real-world, up-and-running .NET service. And if you're a programmer, you can access this service for free during the beta; a licensing fee will, of course, apply in the future.