So let me start off with the specs for the Satellite U505:

• Windows 7 Home Premium x64
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU P7350 @ 2GHz
• Memory: 4GB (Supports up to 8GB)
• Display: 13.3” Widescreen |1280x800 Resolution | Native 720P HD
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• Network: 10/100/1000 Ethernet | Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN 802.11a/g/n Wireless
• Storage: 400GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA
• Optical: DVD SuperMulti Drive

The Satellite U505 has a textured design to it and comes in Luxe Red, Luxe White, and Luxe Brown. The Satellite U505 I have is Luxe Brown.

This Toshiba laptop comes with 3 USB ports (USB 2.0), a LAN port, modem port, and an eSATA/USB combo port. This eSATA/USB combo port comes with something a little extra: USB Sleep and Charge. That means while the Satellite U505 is asleep or off, you can plug USB devices into this port and have them charge. I had been out traveling with laptop and ended up leaving the charger for my cell phone at home. I was able to use the Satellite U505 to charge it overnight without leaving it on. It worked great. The Satellite U505 also has a VGA port to connect a monitor as well as a HDMI port to connect to an HDTV.

The TouchPad on the Toshiba Satellite U505 has multi-touch controls and can be enabled and disabled. It also comes with a LED backlit keyboard and just above the keyboard are media control buttons for mute, media, playback controls and volume controls.

The Satellite U505 also comes with an ExpressCard slot and a Memory Card Reader that supports Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multi Media Card, and xD Picture Card. You could certainly use the Memory Card slot to quickly add some more memory using Windows ReadyBoost but the fact the Satellite U505 comes with 4GB of memory and is expandable to 8GB tells me you likely won’t need to.

For more on the Toshiba Satellite U505, click here. Price starts at $698.99. You can also find the Toshiba Satellite U505 on Windows PC Scout as well.

After using the Satellite U505 for a couple weeks, it’s certainly a great everyday PC and perfect for Windows 7. The Toshiba Satellite U505 is packed with some great specs that give you the flexibility to use this laptop for a wide range of scenarios based on your needs – from video editing to multimedia hotness with Windows Media Center to simply being your workhorse PC.

Oh, one other thing – Toshiba has released updated models of the U500 series Satellite laptops that support Windows Touch in Windows 7 available today!

I have personally visited 12 countries in the last 2 months and had the chance to speak with many customers and partners to learn about your experiences with Windows 7. Several themes are consistent. You tell me your users are incredibly excited about the performance and productivity improvements of Windows 7 and your IT organizations are seeing great value in the enhanced security and management. I am hearing how you can both pull cost out of your organization and provide greater productivity to your users. It is very encouraging to hear this positive impact you’re seeing with Windows 7 in your organization.

You heard from some of our customers during the TechEd keynote, and we thought you might like to hear the experiences of several other customers that we have worked with and how they realized and quantified significant cost savings. We have also included some useful guidance below to help you with your deployment planning

• International energy company Statoil is deploying Windows 7 along with Windows Server 2008 R2 to provide their travelling employees with seamless access, improve information access in their branch offices, and further enhance their IT security. By using DirectAccess, BranchCache, and BitLocker, Statoil is able to provide their users with mobile and remote access as well as the satisfaction that their data is protected. Check out this Q&A with StatoilHydro for more on their Windows 7 deployment.
• F. Hoffmann-La Roche, a Switzerland-based healthcare company, is working towards their goal of deploying Windows 7 to 5,000 of their PCs to take advantage of BitLocker’s ability to protect data stored on hard drives as well as removable USB sticks. Roche is working closely with Microsoft Services to plan and deploy their new Active Directory infrastructure as well as their Group Policy management rollout.
• The Ministry of Defense in the Netherlands is working to upgrade 50,000 of their PCs to Windows 7 through 2010. By starting their application compatibility testing early – on Windows Vista last year – they were able to get a jump start on their Windows 7 deployment plans and begin their pilot of 200 users, who have expressed excitement over the enhanced user interface and their ease of data access wherever they are.

You can hear from more customers during our live monthly Webcasts on the Windows Enterprise website. For more information specifically on cost savings early Windows 7 adopters have experienced, visit the following total cost of ownership studies:

• Getronics is seeing direct IT labor savings of $111 per PC per year
• Baker Tilly is reducing their IT labor costs by $191 per PC per year
• City of Miami is reducing their IT labor costs by $148 per PC per year

So how can we help your organization realize the benefits of Windows 7? Microsoft has an extensive set of partners that are trained and ready to help you with your deployment planning and migration to Windows 7. These partners can help you assess your readiness for a Windows 7 migration, they are able to help you develop a deployment plan and can provide services to assist you in the deployment, migration and ongoing management and support of your environment.

Additionally, Microsoft Services has consultants and support professionals in 82 countries to help you out. They offer specialized services based on best practices developed in coordination with product groups and early adopter customers to help you test your applications and jumpstart your deployment, including:

• Desktop Planning and Deployment services, which provide a framework for planning and deployment of Windows 7 operating system and desktop applications. It includes planning and architecture design, proof of concept, and pilot deployment that determines the optimal way to deploy Windows 7 and Microsoft Office based on customer business requirements and organizational readiness.
• Microsoft Services Desktop Application Compatibility offering provides an end-to-end application compatibility solution to ensure that business applications and data can be used more effectively in the new desktop environment with Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8 and the latest version of Microsoft Office.
• Desktop Image Engineering creates a standardized corporate desktop image that takes into account hardware, security, performance and localization requirements, in addition to applications, deployment and management. Consultants also give your team guidance on future maintenance and change management.
• Desktop Deployment Jumpstart helps you understand the costs of developing an enterprise-capable desktop, including a current state assessment, gathering requirements, and a gap analysis against a Microsoft referent deployment solution architecture.

What are YOUR next steps? Here’s some deployment planning guidance which might help you:

• If your organization is still running Windows 2000, we recommend that you begin your application testing on Windows 7 and begin your deployment planning.
  • If you’ve already started a migration to Windows Vista, continue that deployment, as it will help you get ready for Windows 7 when the time is right for you.
• If your organization is on Windows XP, we recommend that you also begin your application compatibility testing on Windows 7 and begin your deployment planning.
  • If you’ve already started a migration to Windows Vista, continue that deployment, as it will help you get ready for Windows 7 when the time is right for you.
  • If you’re in the early stages of planning a Windows Vista deployment, we recommend that you test your applications and infrastructure on Windows 7 and our advice is to change to Windows 7.
• If you have just deployed Windows Vista, we recommend that you begin evaluating Windows 7, and consider Windows 7 as you refresh your hardware or deploy it to the users who’d benefit the most from its features.
• Don’t have access to Windows 7 Enterprise edition? If you’re an IT professional and don’t already have access to Windows 7 Enterprise edition, you can download the 90 day evaluation SKU here. This will allow you to begin testing the final released code with your hardware and application portfolio.
• Already running Windows 7? Tell us what you think! You can join the conversation at www.talkingaboutwindows.com.

Rich Reynolds: Tell me about Statoil and your role at the company.

Petter Wersland: Statoil is an international energy company based in Stavanger, Norway. We operate in 40 countries with 30,000 employees with an additional 10,000 consultants. With roughly 40,000 desktops under management, we have a significant IT team.

I’m the lead advisor within the IT infrastructure area covering the Windows ecosystem and storage solutions. I’ve been at the company since 1991, covering several positions in IT and Windows infrastructure.

We’re moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 and are looking forward to using the new functionality introduced in Windows 7. We’re preparing a rollout that includes a hardware replacement of most of the PCs in the entire company.

Rich Reynolds: How are you driving productivity in the organization? What results are you seeing with Windows 7?

Petter Wersland: We’re expecting productivity gains with Windows 7 and Unified Communication. The efficiencies we expect include enhancing the end users’ ability to collaborate across the organization and across borders. With Windows 7 we’re seeing three really great benefits: enhanced IT security, faster file access for traveling users within the company, and improved remote connectivity from Internet. For security, we’re implementing the Standard User security level and BitLocker for drive encryption. Because of these features, we’ll be able to eliminate the encryption software we currently use and expect to save $330,000 based on our current number of portable computers.

For our increasingly mobile workforce, we’re taking advantage of DirectAccess. With DirectAccess the users will have a seamless access to corporate services whether the users are connected to the corporate network or connected to Internet. We can therefore eliminate VPN for most users. Also the client management tool we use, System Center Configuration Manager, can maintain the PCs with updates and security patching while they are outside the corporate network.

We’re also hearing from employees that Windows 7 just makes their PCs snappier and more responsive– especially for laptop users. Employees who are already on Windows 7 are telling us that it is easier to move between meetings and start and stop laptops.

Rich Reynolds: What advice would you give to IT Pros?

Petter Wersland: I recommend IT professionals educate themselves on the enterprise functionality in Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and other Microsoft products. Features like DirectAccess, BranchCache, App Locker and other security features are important tools for implementation of Windows and can really benefit your organization.

Rich Reynolds: How do you approach getting approval on new projects? Any lessons learned?

Petter Wersland: In these economic times it is hard to get approval and it takes time for a significant project like this. We have noticed financial restrictions on new projects and in some cases projects have been postponed, but we’re balancing that with investments for the future of our IT infrastructure. For example, the PC replacements we are planning company-wide were originally scheduled for this year, but now we have postponed them to next year. When moving to a new version of the Operating System, you’ll need to plan time for application testing. We have about 1000 applications we support on the Windows Client and all of them needed to go through a formal testing process.

I have to first start by stating what an amazing group of people I had the chance to work with. From Ken Rosen, Tjeerd Veninga, Liberty Munson, to Brad McCabe from the MDOP group and Ian Hameroff from the Exchange team. All true professionals who can go from speaking to an 18 yrs old to 80 yrs old attendee without missing a beat.

The bus tour during my week onboard visited Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Munich in Germany, Vienna, Austria, Prague in the Czech Republic and then a final stop in Berlin where I am am now preparing for TechEd.

We spoke to IT pros in Amsterdam, made a visit to the local Dell office and ended the day with a event complete with a Oscar statues, a red carpet and real “American style” popcorn where Windows 7 was the main event. We spoke to groups of IT managers in Frankfurt (where I learned knocking on a table at the end is a good thing) and to a high school in Vienna were we spoke to around 100 students about Microsoft, technology and the career paths. It was amazing to see the excitement and enthusiasm around our technology.

We visited Munich were again much table knocking ensued and then on to Austria where we did sessions for our TDM (Technical Decision Makers) around the cost savings and benefits of the new products.

Finally, after a long nite and short sleep, we arrived in Prague where we spoke at the new football (soccer for our US readers) stadium for Slavia Praha where we got an great behind the scenes tour of the stadium.

Times are tough all around. So bringing this opportunity directly to the people who can best benefit from it was a great experience. The many questions and thanks I received from all
who attended really made the cold, the lack of sleep and the long days well worth the time spent.

Thank you again for all who attended our events. I have made some great new friends and have learned so much from all of you. I look forward to seeing some of you here in Berlin during my stay.

To see more photos and videos from the tour visit the Bus Tour site here.

Auf Wiedersehen for now.

Stephen

PS-

Also huge thanks to Melissa Bathium our tour coordinator, Bob Simms our contest winner and of course to Celine Allee and Janett Garcia-Riseland for sponsoring this amazing event.

Coming to TechEd EMEA? Well make sure you stop by the Springboard or Talking About Windows booths! Why? Well, in addition to all the cool information on Windows 7 we have to share with you we have tons of cool opportunities and prizes!

Talking About Windows booth

• Attendees who find the Talking About Windows Video crew and record their thoughts about Windows 7 will have the opportunity to win prizes.  Videos will be shown in the booth on the TAW plasma and on the TAW web site. Plus, we will be giving out some cool prizes.
• Talking About Windows Interviews - Come hear from our community experts and ask questions live during our video podcasts. Stop by for a list of speakers and times.
• Live MVP Call – At 10 am on Wed, join us for a live MVP call with Karen Anne Young of the MVP group and Graham Watson of Culminus.

Springboard Series on TechNet Booth

• Springboard Series Community Influencers Party
  Tuesday, 10 November, 17.00 – Midnight
  Hosted by:  Springboard Series, Server & TechNet+
  Audience:  MVP, TechNet+, MCT, Microsoft
  By invitation only
• Springboard Series Learning Plans - Complete a Springboard Series Learning plan for a chance to win a Flip HD video camera

Plus we have swag and other cool opportunities so stop by, say hi and learn about all the cool information we have to help you Discover, Explore, Pilot, Deploy and Manage Windows 7.

See you at the show!

Stephen

Download: Paint.NET 3.5

I had blogged about one of the initial beta releases of Paint.NET 3.5 back in August. Paint.NET 3.5 utilizes DirectWrite in Windows 7 to render text (instead of GDI). As I wrote back in August, DirectWrite is one of the new additions to the DirectX family of APIs in Windows 7 and enables better readability, adds support for a large variety of languages and scripts, and in conjunction with Direct2D provides superior rendering performance for Windows applications.

You’ll notice that with the final release of Paint.NET 3.5 – it brings some new UI changes to the application. This “refreshed” UI takes advantage of Aero in Windows 7 (and in Windows Vista). I happen to be a huge fan of the updated UI.

If you’re looking for a free and powerful application for editing graphics, give Paint.NET 3.5 a try! For a complete list of changes in Paint.NET 3.5 (since 3.36) – see Rick’s blog post.

Future releases of firmware for the DMP100 will enable it to be logo’d for Windows 7 which means it will have passed all of Microsoft’s internal tests and has complete functionality in Windows 7 such being see in Devices & Printers, ability to name the device, and easier setup with wireless networks.

What you do with this device is connect it to a stereo system and/or a set of speakers and then to your network. You then can play your music to this device over your network.

The Linksys DMP100 supports Draft Dual-Band 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and WEP, WPA, WPA2 for security. If a physical network connection is needed, it also has an Ethernet port. For connecting to a stereo or speakers, it has a RCA L/R Input, a RCA L/R Output, an S/PDIF Output, and a 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Output.

I set up the Linksys DMP100 on a shelf in my office (please pardon the Star Trek DVDs) and connected some Altec Lansing speakers to it via the 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Output.

With my D-Link DIR-655 Router, I was able to easily connect the Linksys DMP100 to my wireless network as it supports Windows Connect Now.

On my Windows 7 PC, I fired up Windows Media Player and I have a playlist for the entire Beatles catalog (I purchased ALL of their remastered albums a few months ago). To “play to” the Linksys DMP100, all I needed to do was right-click on my Beatles playlist and chose “Play To” and select “Cisco Player”. I was then able to start playing the playlist.

And while I was playing music to the Linksys DMP100, I was also able to play music and video to other PCs on my network and videos to my Xbox 360.

I will also be talking about other devices that support Play To in Windows 7 – stay tuned!

Here's a quick summary for those who missed Chester's blog. During a test SophosLabs conducted, they subjected Windows 7 to "10 unique [malware] samples that arrived in the SophosLabs feed." They utilized a clean install of Windows 7, using default settings (including the UAC defaults), but did not install any anti-virus software. The end result was 8 of the 10 malware samples successfully ran and the blog proclaims that "Windows 7 disappointed just like earlier versions of Windows." Chester's final conclusion? "You still need to run anti-virus on Windows 7." Well, we agree: users of any computer, on any platform, should run anti-virus software, including those running Windows 7.

Clearly, the findings of this unofficial test are by no means conclusive, and several members of the press have picked apart the findings, so I don't need to do that. I'm a firm believer that if you run unknown code on your machine, bad things can happen. This test shows just that; however, most people don't knowingly have and run known malware on their system. Malware typically makes it onto a system through other avenues like the browser or email program. So while I absolutely agree that anti-virus software is essential to protecting your PC, there are other defenses as well.

Let me recap some of the Windows 7 security basics. Windows 7 is built upon the security platform of Windows Vista, which included a defense-in-depth approach to help protect customers from malware. This includes features like User Account Control (UAC), Kernel Patch Protection, Windows Service Hardening, Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), and Data Execution Prevention (DEP) to name just a few. The result, Windows 7 retains and refines the development processes, including going through the Security Development Lifecycle, and technologies that made Windows Vista the most secure Windows operating system ever released.

Beyond the core security of Windows 7, we have also done a lot of work with Windows 7 to make it harder for malware to reach a user's PCs in the first place. One of my favorite new features is the SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer 8. The SmartScreen Filter was built upon the phishing protection in Internet Explorer 7 and (among other new benefits) adds protection from malware. The SmartScreen Filter will notify you when you attempt to download software that is unsafe - which the SophosLabs methodology totally bypassed in doing their test.

So while I'm not a fan of companies sensationalizing findings about Windows 7 in order to sell more of their own software, I nevertheless agree with them that you still need to run anti-virus software on Windows 7.  This is why we've made our Microsoft Security Essentials offering available for free to customers. But it's also equally important to keep all of your software up to date through automatic updates, such as through the Windows Update service. By configuring your computers to download and install updates automatically you will help ensure that you have the highest level of protection against malware and other vulnerabilities.

You’ll be able to watch the keynote and participate in the post-keynote Q&A via the Microsoft TechEd Global Press Room. Additionally, you can follow the excitement on Twitter by using the hashtag #TEE09.

1. Conveniently backup important data with automatic image-based backup of up to 10 computers every day.

2. Quickly restore an entire PC, a specific hard drive, or individual files and folders in the event of data loss.

3. Remotely access PCs while away from the office to access files, check e-mail, review financial information, or look up an address or phone number.

4. Create a centralized and security enhanced location for important work documents that can be accessed by everyone in the company.

5. Easily find and share information by organizing data in a security-enhanced centralized location.

6. Help reduce downtime with automatic monitoring of the health of your computers on the network to keep them active and available.

7. Easily expand storage space and add new capabilities as your business needs grow.

8. Grant permissions for varying levels of access by team members to your business documents.

9. Easily extend your investment with new Windows Home Server add-ins for things such as virus protection, power management, and online storage.

10. Easy to use and set-up Windows Home Server in as little in 2 hours.

Hopefully, you are now ready to buy your very own Windows Home Server and start running your business at its full potential!

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of using Windows Home Server in your SOHO, take a look at our Small Office/Home Office page on the Windows Home Server Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/soho/default.mspx

-Nicole