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Russell Smith, the Editorial Director at Petri IT Knowledgebase, has over two decades of hands-on experience in IT, in both small business settings and government IT infrastructure projects.
Russell started writing for Windows IT Pro Magazine in the early 2000s. Since then, he has contributed insights to various IT publications, including Petri and CDW. His authoritative voice has resonated across industry blogs, where he dissects complex topics into an ‘easy read’.
Russell has authored over a thousand articles, each a testament to his depth of knowledge. His expertise doesn’t stop there: he wrote a book on Privilege Management and co-authored another for Microsoft’s MOAC series. Moreover, Russell’s commitment to education shines through in the courses he crafted for Pluralsight.
He is also presenter on his own YouTube channel, This Week in IT, and the current presenter of Petri Dish.

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024
Microsoft announced yesterday that it is updating the search experience in its desktop client for Teams. While we wait for Teams 2.0, a complete revamp of the desktop app announced earlier this year, Microsoft is bringing a much-needed update to the way search results are displayed. Starting in November, Microsoft will roll out the changes…

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024
Windows 11 is generally available this week on October 5th. But while some have dismissed it as just Windows 10 with a fresh coat of paint, there are changes that Microsoft says lead to improved performance, reliability, and security. In this article, I’m going to look at Windows 11’s new features and how Microsoft’s new…

Microsoft announced September 22nd that Azure Virtual Desktop now supports Azure Active Directory (AD) joined virtual machines (VM). With this update you can now: Join Azure Virtual Desktop VMs directly to Azure AD Connect to VMs from any device with a username and password And automatically enroll VMs with Microsoft Endpoint Manager (MEM) Before the…

It’s been a relatively quiet month for Windows as Microsoft gets down to finalizing Windows 11 for an October 5th release. What you need to know Windows 11 is faster than Windows 10 New Surface hardware is announced Passwordless sign-in comes to Microsoft consumer accounts Windows Server 2022 reaches general availability Windows 11 is faster…

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024
Microsoft announced earlier this week several new features to Teams Phone to update the platform for modern cloud calling and to integrate calling better into people’s workflow. As many companies shift to hybrid work and more use collaboration solutions like Microsoft Teams, there has been a significant increase in phone use. To address this challenge,…

Petri’s GET-IT: Endpoint Management 1-Day virtual conference is a full day of free learning where we will be diving deep into how you can improve the way you manage your endpoints and learn from industry experts and MVPs about best practices, available tools to streamline your operations, and what’s coming soon with Windows 11. The…

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024
In this article, I explain how the recently discovered flaw in the Exchange Server Autodiscover protocol can leak user credentials. And how to mitigate the issue in your environment. Microsoft Exchange Server Autodiscover protocol leaks thousands of user credentials Researchers at security company Guardicore have released details of a security issue in the Autodiscover protocol…

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024
As we quickly approach Windows 11 general availability, scheduled for October 5th, Microsoft has revealed that Windows 11’s speed should be significantly boosted, even on identical hardware. In a recent YouTube video on the Microsoft Mechanics channel, Microsoft provided an exclusive look at performance optimizations, improvements to the servicing model and orchestration engine, and details…

This month, Microsoft released a fix for the MSHTML zero-day that emerged earlier in September. And it fixes a serious remote code execution bug in the WLAN AutoConfig service. There’s also a fix for a serious bug in Apple iOS. So, let’s get started! Microsoft fixes MSHTML zero-day Earlier this month, Microsoft released a security…

Last Update: Nov 19, 2024
Back in March 2021, Microsoft introduced a passwordless sign-in experience for work or school accounts. With the help of the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, or FIDO2 security keys, corporate users can sign into services connected to Azure Active Directory (AD), like Microsoft 365, without needing to remember their account password. Microsoft has been pushing…

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024
Last week, Microsoft announced that it had bought Clipchamp, a browser-based video creation app. Founded in 2013, Clipchamp’s mission is to enable everyone to tell stories using video. Microsoft recognizes video is a powerful medium but that it has been traditionally difficult for most people to produce high quality videos that are worth sharing. Artistic…

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024
When Microsoft announced that it would be rolling out a new taskbar feature called News and Interests in Windows 10 earlier this year, it divided opinion. There were those who felt News and Interests is just another distraction for users. But Microsoft says it adds features like the Your Phone app and News and Interests…