Windows Connected

Snow Leopard makes Vista ‘issues’ pale in comparison?

Matt Freestone — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:16:05 GMT

Please, correct me if I am wrong but I am hearing from people who have upgraded their Mac’s to Snow Leopard these below major issues/disappointments;

1. If you sign in as the ‘Guest’ user account, it deletes your primary profile - http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/12/snow_leopard_guest_account_bug_deletes_user_data.html (Yep, this is the release product. Even the .1 update still has this issue.)

2. Snow Leopard is a ‘64 bit’ OS, but ONLY if you hold down a 64bit key (sorry, I don’t own a Mac so I’m probably saying this incorrectly so please correct me and I’ll update the post) to boot into x64. By default, the OS always boots into 32bit mode due to massive application incompatibility.

(If you are a Snow Leopard user and you have come across other major concerns, please let us know and we’ll update this post.)

So again I ask you, where is the tech press on this? Again they prove their hypocrisy! If Vista had issues like this (or Windows 7) I think there would have been people with pitch forks standing in Redmond ready to charge Bill Gates home! So, I call upon the hypocritical and worthless Tech Press to do their job and report on issues no matter who they are with.

(Ok Apple fan boys, let the hate begin!)

Apple - Windows 7 - Operating system - 64-bit - Windows Vista

The Rise & Fall of Wii Sales

Brad Moczik — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:30:00 GMT

Thom Holwerda at OSnews proposed an interesting theory about why Nintendo saw a 52% profit drop in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008. Basically, he claims that with the Wii, Nintendo abandoned hardcore fans in order to capture the casual gamer crowd. However, as the novelty wears off and the casual crowd moves on to the next big thing, it's the hardcore fans that keep you going and keep sales strong. Without support from the traditional customer base, those crazy sales peaks turn into plateaus or valleys.

Thom's article is a good read and I encourage anyone with an affinity for the gaming industry to check it out. But I'm going to somewhat challenge the premise: Nintendo didn't just suddenly abandon hardcore fans with the Wii. Rather, Nintendo abandoned hardcore fans with the N64. See, back in the Super Nintendo days, I had a Sega Genesis. In those days, owning multiple consoles wasn't as common as it is today, and the fanbase formed camps around each platform--similar to the Mac vs. PC camps. I stuck to my Genesis, but boy, there were times when I secretly craved that timeless gameplay from Nintendo classics like the Super Mario games, Mario Kart, Pilotwings, Star Fox, etc. Through its exclusive franchises, Nintendo had moments of brilliance that suddenly made suffering through Nintendo's delays and draconian culture worth it. Other game publishers were great, too, but Nintendo provided a gaming experience through its own exclusive titles that was hard to parallel on other systems.

Nintendo is a lot like Apple: very secretive, very draconian, and obsessed with user experience. Nintendo always thought they knew better than everyone else--including their fanbase--and, like Apple, relied heavily on hype and huge interest in (and sales of) comparatively few products a year. While that culture can produce moments of brilliance, it also can lead to a disconnect between a company and its user base. There is no better example of that than Nintendo's decision to stick with cartridge media when the rest of the industry was moving to CDs.

Now don't get me wrong: I bit the bullet on the N64. Some of my fondest gaming memories came from Super Mario 64, Super Mario Kart 64, and Wave Race--so much so that I bought a GameCube primarily for sequels to those classics (though the sequels never lived up to the originals). And despite how initially expensive cartridge games were compared to CDs (try $70 for N64 games, while PS1 games could be had for around $45), I saw merit in Nintendo's decision. CD load times on the Playstation 1 initially were ridiculous--a problem that just didn't exist with cartridges.

But in sticking with cartridges, Nintendo alienated third-party developers, particularly Square, who already had a tenuous relationship with Nintendo. Developers didn't want to do all the extra work required to port games to the N64, when porting between Playstation and the PC could be done relatively easily. In Square's case, the storage constraints of cartridges prohibited the use of prolific full-motion video sequences, which were becoming a hallmark of Square games. The effect could be somewhat replicated on N64 through real-time polygon rendering (think machinima), but required a lot of additional development work and still would never look as movie-like. When Sony got the Final Fantasy franchise, Nintendo lost a huge swath of its core fanbase: RPG fans. To make matters worse, Nintendo--known for its distaste for violent or mature-themed games--released a slew of G-rated games. This went over great with the elementary school crowd, but basically shoehorned the N64 into being the "Pokemon console."

Nintendo had an opportunity to reset and try again with the GameCube. However, in true Nintendo fashion, they went with an uncommon mini-disc media format. But most importantly, long-awaited franchise sequels were late to market and, when they did arrive, had a lukewarm reception. The GameCube was a failure.

But, I give Nintendo a lot of credit with the Wii. When Sony and Microsoft proved to be viable competitors in the video game industry, Sega knew it had to get out of the console game. It couldn't keep up with the graphics-power arms race and certainly couldn't afford to make its consoles a loss-leader like Sony and MS. So, Sega metamorphosed into purely a software studio. Nintendo realized that it, too, could not win the graphics arms race and accepted that it likely would not attract hardcore gamers. As a result, Nintendo focused on casual gamers with the Wii and sought to attract them through a simple, yet novel controller. I applauded the logic because even for the occasional gamer, console controls had gotten crazy with the number of buttons, joysticks, and overall complexity.

But, "novel" can lead to novelty. I recognized that right away with the Wii and had the same sentiments as Thom: flailing my arms around and intently pointing at the screen did not seem that relaxing to me. Sure, it can be fun for a while, but it's not sustainable. Like Thom said and the sales figures show, the novelty wears off.

Like Apple, Nintendo is a software company living in a hardware company's body. Aside from sleek industrial design, Apple's value-add comes from its software. The software is what justifies the higher price for what is otherwise commodity hardware. But ultimately, Apple's profits come from moving hardware units, as do Nintendo's profits. But the video game market doesn't have the same planned obsolescence factor as in the computer or personal device markets. And as revolutionary as the Wii controller scheme is, it can only distract from major graphical shortcomings for so long. When the novelty wears off, people will want to play that cool new PS3 or Xbox game their friend has.

The clamor to get a Wii is over. To maintain steadier Wii sales and to continue making money from its installed user base, Nintendo needs a steady stream of quality titles. The video game market is a marathon, not a sprint. But as long as Nintendo identifies itself as a hardware company, it won't be committed to the long haul. Whereas PS3 and Xbox 360 sales will remain steady, Nintendo will abandon the Wii and shift development to its next big device, again hoping to generate that initial boom of sales. But whatever that new device will be, if you're a hardcore gamer, I wouldn't hold my breath for it.

Nintendo - Video game - Sony - Microsoft - Super Mario 64

PowerShell 2.0 Is Available For Download

Aubrey — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:54:46 GMT

Following quickly on the heels of the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 launches (they have PowerShell 2.0 built in), Microsoft has released version 2.0 for all flavors of Windows since XP:

Windows Management Framework, which includes Windows PowerShell 2.0, WinRM 2.0, and BITS 4.0, was officially released to the world this morning. By providing a consistent management interface across the various flavors of Windows, we are making our platform that much more attractive to deploy. IT Professionals can now easily manage their Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 machines through PowerShell remoting – that’s a huge win!

You can grab the installer bits here.

Sponsored Topics: Windows XP - Windows Vista - Windows 7 - Windows Server 2003 - Windows Server 2008

Using SCOM 2007 R2 To Monitor How Much Coffee Is In The Pot

Aubrey — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:16:57 GMT

I’ve been using SCOM 2007 R2 for a few months now, and I’m liking it. It’s a good system, and thorough. You definitely have to tune it to weed out the alerts that are false or unneeded, but after that, you really get a good insight into what’s going on with your environment. It can monitor just about any type of server, application, or network hardware. But now, thanks to the talented people over at Coretech, there is a management pack that you can use to monitor how much coffee you have left. All you need a network-connected camera, and you’re good to go. See a full demo here.

Sponsored Topics: Networking hardware - System Center Operations Manager - Coffee - Beverages - History

Happy Windows 7 Launch Day

Aubrey — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:46:22 GMT

After waiting through betas, release candidates, and, well, Vista, The Windows 7 launch date is finally here. Windows 7 has taken over Microsoft’s home page with a collection of seven second demos, and I’m seeing ads galore all over the web. They’re also sporting a really nice Facebook app that tracks what people are saying about Windows 7 in the social media space. Microsoft also opened the NASDAQ from their headquarters this morning, you can see a few (slightly blurry) pics here.

Also on Facebook, if you’re a fan of Family Guy, you’ll be happy to know that Stewie’s rocking Windows 7 on his laptop.

How is the public at large feeling about Windows 7? Well, it’s the highest grossing pre-order on Amazon. Ever. It even beat out sales for the final Harry Potter book. PC World held a midnight launch event in London, and people were lining up to get their hands on a copy. And great reviews are coming in from all over the place. Hell, even Walt Mossberg likes it.

Personally, I’ve been testing beta and RC versions for over a year, and I installed the RTM the day it was made available on MSDN. This is a really great OS with lots of great new features, it’s fast, and it’s stable. I highly recommend it. Let us know your thoughts, and have a great launch day!

UPDATE: Burger King is selling a Windows 7 Whopper. But only in Japan. It has 7 patties. Yikes!

Sponsored Topics: Microsoft - Windows 7 - Windows Vista - Walt Mossberg - Software release life cycle

WARNING! - Windows Update # – KB974571 Breaks OCS 2007 R2!!

Matt Freestone — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:41:28 GMT

I awoke this morning to users telling me they couldn’t sign into OCS. This is very bad as we’re an 100% Enterprise Voice shop. Upon investigation the OCS Edge servers access edge service wouldn’t start. I checked the event logs and found an error stating that my ‘evaluation period had expired.’ Since I was running Volume License software this was obviously puzzling. Then I came across this article when searching Bing;

http://uc2go.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/%c2%ab-migration-from-mcafee-8-7-to-forefront-client-securitykb974571-crypto-api-update-may-break-office-communications-server-2007-r2-installations/

I uninstalled the update as they stated, rebooted, and all services came up just fine. So, I highly recommend you turn off Windows Updates on all your OCS 2007 R2 servers until Microsoft realizes this issue and comes up with a resolution.

Sponsored Topics: Microsoft - Windows Update - Edge - Servers - Protocols

The crack down on blogging begins…

Matt Freestone — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:08:25 GMT

The FTC has changed it’s guidelines saying that bloggers must disclose any gifts or money paid to them by products they review. Sounds like a good thing, right? Unfortunately no. The reason why it’s a bad thing is the language is intentionally left very vague which means it becomes very subjectional what counts as ‘disclosure’ and allows them to target blogs they don’t like, even if that blog is trying to obey the law. Think I’m a conspiracy theorist? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FTC-Bloggers-must-disclose-apf-468964868.html?x=0&.v=2

(WindowsConnected bloggers always disclose any products we are sent, who sent them, and why before we do any reviews, FYI.)

Sponsored Topics: Blog - Federal Trade Commission - On the Web - Weblogs - Directories

IBM swings and misses with latest jab at Microsoft

Brad Moczik — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:39:00 GMT

A German newspaper reported that IBM is mandating employees to cease using Microsoft Office and to switch to its in-house Lotus Symphony suite within 10 days. Word has it that some 330,000 of about 360,000 employees already have made the switch. Though given that Symphony is probably already installed on some of the corporate images, I'm not sure there's much merit in that statistic.

Rather, this move is more of a publicity stunt for the OpenDocument (ODF) format, an XML-based document format that IBM has been promoting. IBM and Microsoft's rivalry is legendary, and thebattle has continued into the document standards space. Starting with Office 2007, Microsoft has implemented its Open Office XML (OOXML) format, which IBM has criticized.

IBM's internal mandate is a nice plug for ODF and might have been considered "news" two years ago when enterprises were considering or beginning Office 2007 rollouts. But now, IBM's announcement is unlikely to prompt anyone to switch to an ODF-based solution--certainly not a switch to Lotus Symphony. The next battleground is the hosted or Web-based productivity suite space being championed by Google with its Google Docs, GMail, and other Google Apps solutions. Of course, Microsoft is right on Google's heels with its Office Web Applications, which currently is in tech preview. The tech industry and organizations are eyeing this space closely, and both MS and Google are competing intensely for large enterprise deals.

While they won't be entirely insignificant, document standards will be much more of a moot point when considering Web-based document solutions--at least internally. For organizations standardizing on an online solution, users won't be need to deal with individual files or email attachments when sharing documents. Instead, these documents will be housed in a central workspace, such as SharePoint, where multiple users can collaboratively work on the same document without worrying about version control or handling multiple document iterations. Sure, external document viewing as well as printing still will depend more on the document format, but PDF has pretty much become the standard format for universal readability and pre-press. For external editing, web-based solutions may allow the creation of "public" workspaces that are accessible by users outside the organization.

Had IBM announced a web-based version of Symphony or a company-wide switch to Google Docs, that would be significant. But IBM is no stranger to anti-Microsoft sentiments, and this internal switch to its in-house, desktop productivity suite is more or less just another public jab at its long-standing rival.

Sponsored Topics: Microsoft Office - Google Docs - OpenDocument - IBM - Open Office XML

Pigeon’s do faster data transfer in Africa!

Matt Freestone — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:31:41 GMT

http://www.therawfeed.com/2009/09/carrier-pigeon-used-to-send-data-faster.html

This isn’t a joke, a company is using carrier pigeons with usb thumb drives attached to them to transfer data between offices. While hilarious, it sounds like it’s actually a pretty good solution and whoever thought of it should get a raise… That is until someone shoots down the carrier pigeon and steals the thumb drive.

Sponsored Topics: USB flash drive - Data transmission - Company - Carrier pigeon - Web Design and Development

“Windows Phones” Coming October 6th

Aubrey — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:46:32 GMT

Microsoft released details today confirming October 6th as the date that the new Windows Mobile 6.5 phones will hit the market. Here are some of the providers slated to have phones ready to go:

• In North America: Mobile operators AT&T, Bell Mobility, Sprint, TELUS and Verizon Wireless, and phone manufacturers HP, HTC Corp., LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba Corp.

• In Europe: Mobile operators Orange, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc, and phone manufacturers Acer, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba

• In Latin America: Mobile operator TIM Brazil, and phone manufacturers HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung

• In Asia Pacific: Mobile operators NTT DOCOMO Inc., SOFTBANK Mobile Corp., SK Telecom, Telstra and WILLCOM Inc., and phone manufacturers Acer Inc., HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba

What’s it going to look like? Well, seeing as how Windows Mobile still doesn’t look much different than it did in 2002, it’s about time for something new.

Somehow, that interface seems familiar, but I just can’t seem to place it. Anyway, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Sponsored Topics: Windows Mobile - Verizon Wireless - LG Electronics - HTC Corporation - BellMobility

Goodbye WindowsConnected

Jeff — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:03:13 GMT

I’m typing (and posting) this final blog entry from 30,000 feet above the United States in a Delta MD-88. Delta contracts with GoGo to provide high-speed Internet… which is freaking amazing. Check out my connection speed:

Considering the cost of WiFi on the ground… paying $10 at altitude seems like a bargain. I only hope Joe Six-pack doesn’t fire up Skype on his laptop. I draw the line at phone conversations in the air. What about you?

Anyway – back to the original purpose of my post. I’m retiring Jeff’s Connected Corner on WindowsConnected.com. It’s been a blast working with Josh and the other guys at WC since my first post back in February, 2006. Hopefully my posts will stay archived for some time… I’m always amazed at the traffic search engines drive to old posts. Thanks go out to the WC volunteers and readers for all their support and kind words over the years.

I still haven’t decided if I’ll create a TechNet blog now that I’m “inside” the Microsoft machine. Oh, I guess I should mention that as well. I started with Microsoft on June 22, 2009. I’m a technical sales resource (official title = Account Technology Strategist) dedicated to a handful of large customers in Kansas City. Bottom line – I’ll only start my own blog if I have enough interesting content to post regularly. Time will tell.

So, this is goodbye for now. --Jeff

Sponsored Topics: Microsoft - United States - Skype - Web search engine - Kansas City

Apple losing market share, looks like ‘PC Hunter’ ads are effective…

Matt Freestone — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:37:59 GMT

I’m sure this is going to incur the wrath of the Apple boys again but here we go!

First, apparently Apple legal contacted Microsoft to pull their ‘PC Hunter’ ads because Apple decided to drop $100 off the price of some of their laptops. Uhhh… Ok…? Sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do on Apple’s part since it would obviously have no effect whatsoever not to mention it just gives Microsoft fodder to use in the press which is exactly what they did. See the article below;

http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Microsoft_exec_Apple_lawyers_tried_to_squelch_Windows_ads_50896452.html

Granted, we have to take the story with a grain of salt but I’m sure Apple legal did contact MS, and did ask them to pull the ads on the $100 price drop basis. Which is hilarious in what should have been it’s obvious failure before they even made the call.

Next, it would seem Apple is losing market share…

http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/07/15/idc.prelim.q2.2009/

In any case it would seem that the truth is finally starting to get out so Microsoft, keep up the good work!

Sponsored Topics: Apple - Microsoft - Personal computer - Market share - Laptop

Google’s Chrome OS: An Old Dog with New Tricks

Brad Moczik — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:03:00 GMT

When I read Google’s Chrome OS announcement via its corporate blog, I couldn’t help but chuckle throughout it. I think my favorite line is, “The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web.” Wow, I’m all for creative marketing and positive spin, but that takes the cake. All this time the Windows interface has been in my way and I didn’t even know it! How dare it let me download and organize pics from my digital camera, copy files to and from network shares and control my computer’s settings! I get what Google is doing, but that’s some pretty blatant straw man logic.

After my laugh, my first thought was that Larry Ellison might've hacked into Google’s Blogger servers. Google’s vision essentially is the network computer reborn—though reborn at a better time.

When Ellison and Scott McNealy first championed the idea of the always-connected network computer, they were right that the Web would play a growing role in our everyday computing as more and more of the computing experience moved online. But, the problem with their vision was that it depended on both broadband connectivity, which was not ubiquitous, and Java, which despite the hype, seemed to be an environment better suited for lightweight applets vs. robust desktop applications.

Fast forward to now. Time certainly has made the Ellison-McNealy vision more viable, but of course, things didn’t turn out exactly as they predicted. Ellison and McNealy saw their network computer running on Java: Windows was out of the picture. The duo were outspoken Microsoft competitors and critics, so leaving out Windows was as much for personal reasons as it was for technical ones. Well, even on netbooks—the network computer incarnate—Windows is still very much in the picture. Not only is XP easily the most preferred OS for netbooks, Windows 7 has been designed to run well on lower-spec devices. But they were right in that the underlying operating system would be less relevant as more of our tasks moved to the Web. The Mac OS certainly owes some of its popularity to that trend.

However, Ellison and McNealy underestimated the role of the browser. They likely saw the browser as becoming a commodity, which in many ways it has. So, in their vision, the browser probably would be more of a launch pad for Java-based applications. Instead, the browser has become the key application, and as the browser and Web protocols have evolved, Java competitors emerged, including everything from Flash and Silverlight to .NET and Ruby. While each has its own pros and cons and limitations, they are viable platforms for a wide range of applications. Take a look at Microsoft’s Gazelle project as it really lays out how browser has evolved. A typical web page contains several dynamic elements and applets. The browser acts as the helm or shell for it all.

In steps Google. Google definitely understands the importance of the browser and went as far as taking the bold, but strategic move of developing its own browser so late in the game last year. But the Chrome browser is really just the foundation for Google’s Chrome OS vision, which the company likely had even before releasing the browser. Google has the app side covered with Google Apps, Gears, etc. With the Chrome browser, Google has the run-time environment covered. And with the Chrome OS, it has the whole user experience covered. Makes perfect sense.

Of course, whenever Google makes a move, the knee-jerk reaction is to speculate how it spells doom for Microsoft. Never mind that the Chrome OS is more than a year away, or that Google’s products live in perpetual beta, or that Google Apps have not made significant inroads within the enterprise, or that Android adoption has been lackluster. Nope! The clear mainstream message is that Microsoft’s days are numbered. Please, that story is getting really old. But not only is it getting old, it’s a distraction from a real, honest-to-goodness assessment. And to me, that assessment should include how Google’s moves affect Apple.

Like we already discussed, the Web-based network computer threat is not new to Microsoft. So when you think about it, Apple’s the one that really could be impacted. Apple’s cachet comes from its tight coupling of hardware and software in a sleek, elegant form-factor. But that tight coupling of hardware and software is tied to the desktop computing model, which if we listen to Google, is being replaced by a Web-based experience. However, think about the average Mac user—not the diehards or those who must use them for work. How often do you think the average Mac user installs third-party software, barring “essentials” like Adobe Reader, Flash and Mozilla Firefox—and maybe MS Office? I’d say not often, if ever. Macs come with everything that an average user would need: Safari, iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, GarageBand, etc. Most Mac users probably don’t evolve beyond that functionality.

So what happens if all that application functionality moves to the Web (as much of it has)? If we’re all using web apps, what’s the advantage of using a Mac? Sure, you can be guaranteed to have a solid user experience and an attractive device, but would it really be worth the higher price? Probably not. A catch phrase for Google’s computing vision could be open and online: open standards where the underlying platform doesn’t matter and an online experience dictated by Google search, Gmail, Google Apps, etc. Apple’s legacy is the complete opposite: it’s approach has always been proprietary. Apple wants to sell you on an experience that you can only get through Apple and its hardware, just like with the iPhone and the App Store. Apple’s avoided a foray into the netbook arena, but if it does enter that market, I suspect its vision will look a lot different than Google's. Instead, Apple’s netbook likely would build on its popular, though proprietary, App Store and leverage the affinity that people already have developed for their favorite iPhone apps.

The online-only computer is a familiar old dog with some new tricks. But when the new tricks involve Google, people pay attention and for good reason. However, Microsoft already has been putting the pieces in place for a Web-based computing experience with its Live Mesh, Office Live and Azure platforms. And I can’t help but think the Softies must've smiled to themselves when Google’s announcement inadvertently brought attention to the Gazelle project. Details of the project certainly had to take some of the air out of Google's announcement.

Sponsored Topics: Apple - Microsoft - Google Apps - Google - iPhone

Issue Installing Exchange 2007 Management Tools On Dell Laptop

Aubrey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:24:39 GMT

Today I needed to use export-mailbox to convert a mailbox into a .pst file. As it turns out, you have to have the Exchange management tools running on a 32-bit machine running Outlook. I procured a 32-bit machine (all mine are x64), installed Outlook and Powershell, and downloaded the 32-bit version of Exchange so I could install the necessary tools. The prerequisite check failed, however, and I was given this bit of info:

Management Tools Prerequisites
Failed
Error:
This computer is running Windows XP and has not been assigned an IPv4 address. Check the network configuration. IPv6 is only supported in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 when it is installed on a computer running Windows Server 2008 that has both IPv4 and IPv6 enabled. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=102391 for more details.

I found that rather odd, seeing as how all we use is IPv4 here and IPv6 isn’t even on this particular machine. After much frustration, reinstalling the IP stack and various other things that didn’t help, I found a fix. Uninstalling Broadcom ASF Management via Add/Remove Programs made the error go away. I don’t know if this is a problem specific to Dell machines or Broadcom software in general, but removing it allowed my Exchange 2007 install to proceed.

Sponsored Topics: Windows Server 2008 - IPv6 - Windows XP - IP address - Broadcom

Microsoft Security Essentials (Morro) is Anti-Virus actually worth having!

Matt Freestone — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:49:29 GMT

Myself, like many of you I am sure, hate anti-virus products. In fact, I hate them so much that I haven’t ran an anti-virus product on any of my machines for a good 5 years. (I have ran them for limited runs to beta test them, etc.) Why do I hate anti-virus software? Because I have had far more problems and issues caused by anti-virus products than I’ve ever had caused by a virus. (And in those 5 years I’ve never gotten a virus because through simple common sense you can avoid infections.) They are full of bloat with ‘features’ I don’t want, they chew up massive amounts of resources, cause horrible system slowness, are incredibly in-compatible breaking apps, even caused BSD’s, etc. So, when Morro was announced that Microsoft was going to make a free, simple and clean AV product which was more about saving themselves money by preventing virus’s and thus support calls than anything else I had hope that we would finally have a simple anti-virus that does nothing but AV and stays out of my way. I figured it would still hog resources and impact system performance though.

Like many of you, I have now installed Morro and it’s shockingly simple. The install was as easy as it gets, it asked if it could automatically download updates and run a quick scan. I said yes, and the scan was done in under 10 minutes, even though I have 2 large hard drives with a lot of files on this system. It only has 3G of RAM, and an AMD 3200+ processor (so not exactly a speed demon.) Then guess what happened after that? I closed it, and it disappeared. It’s not even in my system tray by default (Windows 7) and it doesn’t harass me every day telling me that it’s updated itself. In fact, most of the day I don’t even remember it’s there. I haven’t noticed any impact on my system performance but it is working in the background. (When I ran AngryIP scanner it decided that was a possible threat, prevented the app from running and asked me what action I wanted to take. I selected allow, and it’s never bothered me about it again!) Truly this is the AV app I’ve been waiting for, and what makes it even better is that it’s free. I am now running it on all my machines in my house and have yet to have any bad experiences.

So, if you haven’t had a chance to get Morro, I suggest you get it now before the downloads stop! - http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

*Update*

So, if you didn’t get your hands on Morro I’m afraid it’s too late now, the downloads have stopped. But, keep an eye on the site for the next release!

FTC to crack down on bloggers

Matt Freestone — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:04:24 GMT

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090621/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_bloggers_freebie_disclosures

Now, whenever we get products from companies here at WindowsConnected.com we typically do a contest and give the hardware away to our readers and we always post honest reviews about what we think. In fact, I would say too honest and get ourselves in trouble. (I’m a perfect example of this.) So naturally, this FTC crack down has us a bit worried.

These proposed ‘revisions’ (in other words changes to law not performed by congress or elected officials but rather by appointed bureaucrats) would allow the FTC to investigate and prosecute bloggers who ‘may’ have conflicts of interest. Of course the ‘revisions’ don’t give clear boundaries on what they can investigate. Look at this line from the article;

“The common practice of posting a graphical ad or a link to an online retailer — and getting commissions for any sales from it — would be enough to trigger oversight.”

That means ANY blog, no matter what it’s about is a target because even the normal public blog sites have ads on them, and the bloggers can be paid by those sites if they generate enough hits. Even if you’ve never reviewed a product on your blog ever, you could be investigated. So, I’m confused. Wouldn’t Michael Jordan or any other celebrity have a ‘conflict of interest’ being paid to promote a product such as Haynes? Or how about paid actors that provide ‘reviews’ of a product in a commercial? Or even better, what about the paid actors pretending to be scientists and providing scientific information about products? And yet I don’t see the FTC going after them.

If the FTC truly is worried about false advertising and are not just looking for a way to exert power and influence over blogs then why aren’t they investigating the absolutely ridiculous claims of AT&T having the ‘nation’s fastest 3G network.’ That is such a blatant lie and misleading advertising and yet I don’t see anything about the FTC investigating them?

13” and 15” MacBook Pro’s have gotten downgrade….

Matt Freestone — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:12:02 GMT

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/06/14/13-and-15-macbook-pros-have-a-slower-sata-interface/

It looks like they’ve dropped the sata controller speed, either through firmware or cheaper hardware. I’m guessing cheaper hardware.

“Fear Grips Google”

Matt Freestone — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:31:43 GMT

I didn’t say it, the New York Post did, shockingly enough. Check the link below;

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06142009/business/fear_grips_google_174235.htm

What’s interesting is that the article after describing the panic at Google that Bing might take away market share then ends by re-assuring Google they have nothing to worry about. Well, Google isn’t stupid and is taking the threat seriously, as they should. I know I’ve switched my home page to Bing and I avoid Google like the plague now. I’ve wanted to stop using Google for a while now (due to the Google founders funding lobbying groups to eliminate ISP’s in favor of a single Government ISP) but their hadn’t been any viable alternatives until Bing.

So, if you haven’t given Bing a shot yet now’s the time, and decide for yourself.

Microsoft Discontinues Money

Aubrey — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:21:00 GMT

Sad day for me. I’ve been using Microsoft Money to pay my bills online since 1995. Over the years, I’ve decided on what banks to use based on whether they supported Microsoft Money. Guess I’ll have to start using Quicken. Here's the official announcement:

Important notice: Microsoft Money Plus will not be available for purchase after June 30, 2009. All purchased Money Plus products must be activated prior to Jan. 31, 2011.
With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft is announcing today that we will no longer offer Microsoft Money Plus for purchase after June 30, 2009.

Granted, I still have a year and a half until support drops off, but I’m really saddened they decided to discontinue it, it was a really good product, and one of the few that Microsoft delivered on time, year in and year out.

Bing is actually BETTER than Google! Updated!

Matt Freestone — Sat, 30 May 2009 05:24:21 GMT

I know these are fighting words, but all I’m saying is keep an open mind and give it a shot when we all finally get a crack at it. Don’t believe me? Ask Steve Wozniak - http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Woz_Microsoft_Bingastounding_46404182.html

Also in Mary Jo Foley’s article today, she addresses the question of who will Bing take search share from and the initial consensus is Yahoo. While I think that is true and Microsoft definitely has an uphill battle against Google from a technology standpoint Bing absolutely has a shot.

I think Microsoft’s under playing Bing here and wisely so. If they came out and said “We’ve finally got something that competes head on with Google and actually beats it” people would immediately dismiss it as a failure without even trying it. Smart play MS, but I’m going to say it.

Bing is better than Google. Halleluiah, it’s about time.

Can’t wait for us all to learn for ourselves. Competition is back baby!

Just remember, I said it here first :-)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, after some side by side comparisons with Google, here’s what I got;

So, I'll be up front. I'm not a fan of Google as a company but they have until this point by far the best search engine. So, I have used Google exclusively and as my start page for years now. Google.com/Microsoft has
been the best way to find solutions to problems with MS servers/software, etc. So, I had hopes for Bing but figured it probably still wouldn't perform anywhere near Google, until I saw it in action. My most common internet searches are 1 - problem solving, 2 - General information, 3 - commercial (such as shopping/movies, etc). So, let me give you some examples;

My initial search was for an issue I've just started experiencing with my Hyper-V servers. Here was my search criteria and experience per search engine;
Search criteria - Hyper-V certificate is expired

Bing - #1 result is the Microsoft support site with the exact issue and solution. #2 result was an MSDN blog about the issue, then ASP.NET forums post, etc. The top 3, all useful. I was shocked.

Google - #1 result, social.technet.microsoft result about an in-accurate topic, relating to an issue with the clock being off, NOT the problem or solution. #2 result a news article about Microsoft releasing a hotfix with the correct solution but a couple of clicks away. #3 result the MSDN blog about the issue, etc.

Google.com/Microsoft - #1 result is the #2 result from Google.com, etc.

First search, Bing wins hands down.

Search criteria - Star Trek

Bing - #1 result was a list of show times for local theaters with direct links. Very cool! #2 result, IMDB. Perfect. #3 result, official site, #4 result, Wikipedia, etc.

Google - #1 results, 'news' results around star trek. LAME. #2 – Official Site, #3 - IMDB, 4 - video results, etc.

Second search, Bing wins again.

So, this isn't an end all, be all, but these were my initial test searches and so far I am shocked and very glad that Bing is not only holding it's own, it's winning. I’ve been doing a lot of casual searching and so far I have remained impressed and happy with the results I am getting. All I’m saying is give Bing a legitimate chance with an open mind and I think you’ll be just as impressed as I am.

EMC World – Day 2

Jeff — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:21:56 GMT

Another rainy day here in Orlando, FL. The bloggers Lounge is hopping this morning – it must be the free latte & cappuccino. I opted for comfortable sandals today, which I’m sure violates our EMC employee dress code. I think this is the lesser of evils vs. a work comp claim for blisters. I’ll try to do some more live blogging today – starting with a morning session on Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2.

Session Plans:

Morning – Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008
Afternoon – ~~Microsoft Apps in a Virtual Environment (Panel Discussion)~~, ~~Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Considerations~~, ~~Database Deployments on Flash Drives~~, EMC Replication Manager

Microsoft Hyper-V Session: The presenter did a good job of holding his own in a hostile environment. After all, this is EMC World… and the keynote included Paul Maritz (VMware CEO). Topics included differences between Win2008 Hyper-V and Win2008 R2 Hyper-V, an overview of the Cluster Shared Volume (CSV), Live Migration demo, and a lively Q&A. I took a BUNCH of notes on my tablet and will upload them to the blog soon.

Afternoon Plans: Unfortunately I was sequestered in an internal meeting from 12:00-1:30, and I have another one at 2:45. This means I missed/will miss my afternoon Microsoft panel discussion and Cisco FCoE session. That’s one of the unintended consequences of combining the (EMC employee only) Technical Consultant Conference with EMC World.

Oh well, I’ll still get to catch the Database ~~Deployments on Flash session at 4:15~~. Strike that… the Flash session was standing room only. I decided to try a Replication Manager (RM) session instead, but it was rather basic. Not a bad thing if you are new to the product; however, I was hoping for something in the 201/301 range (sizing, troubleshooting tips, etc.). You win some, you lose some.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Session Notes:

Coming soon…

--Jeff

My Phone Outage Planned Today

Aubrey — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:24:21 GMT

From their blog:

The My Phone service will be not be available on May 18 to enable deployment of a service upgrade. During this maintenance period, you will be unable to access the My Phone web site or to sync your phone with the service. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Site is definitely down, hopefully everything will go smoothly, and the service will be back up quickly.

EMC World Day 1

Jeff — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:08:00 GMT

I’m in Orlando, FL this week attending EMC World 2009. Since this is WindowsConnected.com and not EMCConnected.com I’ll primarily focus on Microsoft/EMC tie-ins and overlapping solutions. If anyone in the WindowsConnected audience is here @ EMC World… please drop me a PM and we’ll hook up for coffee in the Bloggers Lounge.

Status Update (Final for Day 1):

Internal EMC Pre-Sales Session: Check

Registered at Bloggers Lounge and affixed annoying blinking LED button to my badge: Check

Keynote with Tucci and Maritz up next – I”ll blog any key announcements. UPDATE - No major announcements... Tucci seemed a bit flat (maybe he's sick?) and Maritz basically covered the same content that he did during the vSphere launch. Kind of bummed... I was hoping for a new product announcement or something.

Let the sessions begin - I'm headed to a session on EMC SourceOne, our new e-mail archiving and eDiscovery application. This application replaces EmailXtender, an app that functioned OK but looked like it was written for Windows 3.1. SourceOne offers more features and also sports an Office 2007-like ribbon interface. It's good stuff... one of my customers just finished a virtual lab proof-of-concept and is moving toward a limited pilot deployment with Exchange 2003/2007. I'll blog more about this in the near future.

SourceOne Session Update – This one was standing room only. Looks like customers are interested in this new product. If you were turned away like I was, check back Tuesday @ 4:15pm for a replay session (same content, same speaker).

I’m off to an Avamar lab at 3:00pm… then a Celerra performance monitoring/troubleshooting lab at 4:30. I learn best by doing vs. watching… so I’m hitting as many labs as possible.

Avamar Lab Update: This is a product you must see to believe. Seriously… when I hear dedupe stats like 500:1 bells and buzzers go off in my head. However, now I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Not every workload will see this kind of dedupe, but Avamar should be on your short list for backing up dense VMware environments, remote offices, and NAS installations. Avamar also supports Microsoft SQL Server and Exchange Server – with no extra charge ‘per agent/client’.

FWIW the Avamar user interface could use some work. I’m not a big fan of a Java UI, let alone one that isn’t consistent from one screen to the next (right-click works one place, but not another). Anyway – I’m sure this will be fixed in the near future and shouldn’t prevent you from evaluating the solution. Note to Avamar team – talk to the SourceOne UI designers for some tips/tricks on good UI design.

Other Sessions: I waited in line for the Celerra session only to be turned away by some silly Fire Marshal rules ;) I also had to leave the Symmetrix V-Max performance session because I was getting claustrophobic. Seriously – the place was packed *and* warm. I vote for larger (and cooler) meeting rooms next year.

Useful Tips and Useless Info:

This is the 9th EMC World… and by far the most sanitary. Due to concerns over Swine Flu the convention center is sporting quite a few hand sanitizer stations.

I’m using TweetDeck to monitor the Twitterverse for EMC World info. I really like this little Adobe Air application for monitoring multiple search terms in one window. It could use some work – specifically around the filtering capabilities of broad search terms (ex. EMC, V-Max). However, it’s still an excellent app in my opinion. Here’s a screen shot of my current TweetDeck window…

Global economy meltdown = no ‘melt in my mouth’ snacks :( So far I’ve only seen water and coffee at the beverage/snack stations. Oh well, such is life. UPDATE – I was just being impatient… and showing how bad my sweet tooth really is. They brought out the snacks mid-afternoon. Cookies, salt water taffy, brownies, and even some trail mix if you want to feel good about yourself. Thanks, EMC! You helped me survive the afternoon.

I’ll blog more tomorrow.

--Jeff

Xen vs. KVM: Ending the Debate

Brad Moczik — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:53:21 GMT

Based on the reader comments, I apparently pushed some hot buttons in my last post. Basically, I stated that by encouraging Linux developers to focus on KVM, the Linux Foundation is taking a somewhat small-minded view of virtualization. Of course, I expected there to be some reaction from the Linux community to a statement like that. But needling the Linux fan base was not my intent, yet it was evident from some of the comments that my post was unintentionally interpreted as an attack on KVM and Linux. Ironically, it was the whole “versus” game between Xen and KVM that I was criticizing to begin with! In this post, I’ll expound on my position and hopefully clarify the key takeaway point. But first, I must address a few common technical inaccuracies that crept into the reader comments:

ESX employs full virtualization, which fully emulates the hardware. Xen and Hyper-V employ paravirtualization and do not fully emulate hardware. KVM employs limited support for paravirtualization through special network and memory drivers.
Xen, Hyper-V and ESX are type-1 virtual machine monitors (VMMs)/hypervisors. The hypervisor runs in Ring 0, while the parent partition (dom0) and the child partitions (domU, guest VMs) run in Ring 1. KVM, Virtual Server, VirtualBox, Parallels, VMware Workstation, etc., are type-2 VMMs. The VMM runs in Ring 3 as an application. However, through it’s limited paravirtualization, KVM is able to achieve performance closer to that of a type-1 hypervisor when compared to typical type-2 VMMs.
Hyper-V does not require installing an entire instance of Windows Server 2008. Selecting the Hyper-V role essentially installs a stripped-down version of Windows Server or Server Core in the parent partition (dom0).

Why do these architectural differences matter? For starters, type-1 VMMs generally perform much better than their type-2 counterparts. One reader who commented on my last post said that in his own tests, KVM performed better than Xen and ESX. He then admits in the next sentence that he doesn’t like Xen much anyway. So, obviously, I’m not buying it. Even if his testing was valid, I’m sure the better performance was only with Linux guest VMs. And how about stability? With a type-1 VMM, if one guest VM crashes, it should not affect the other VMs. But with a type-2 VMM in which the host potentially is running other application workloads alongside the VMM, the failure of one application could impact the VMM. Now, you can say that the Linux KVM host can be stripped down to basically only run virtualization workloads. But, if you’re going to strip down your Linux host to make it function more like a type-1 VMM, why not just run a type-1 VMM?

But, let’s assume that the technology improves and that KVM performance and stability become near that of a type-1 VMM. The issue is bigger than performance, though. It’s more about the mentality. The commoditization of hypervisors mean that they should be treated almost like hardware. When you buy servers, you buy them with the expectation that you can run a desired range of operating systems (or hypervisors) on them. It doesn’t matter whether they’re running Intel or AMD, whether they’re from Dell or HP, etc. Same goes with hypervisors (though the CPU does matter to an extent when migrating VMs between hosts).

One reader suggested that more and more functionality will be added to hypervisors so that they become more like full-fledged operating systems. But the goal is not to move hypervisors up the stack by making them more like full operating systems. If the hypervisor natively can run applications, then is it really still virtualizing? It will just be an interface between the app and the hardware, which is what an operating system is. Rather, hypervisors are moving down the stack and becoming closer to the hardware, as evident by the work Intel and Phoenix are doing to add virtualization instructions to chipsets and BIOS respectively.

The point is, enterprises run various operating system and OS workloads, and like the hardware, the hypervisor should support those workloads equally and indifferently. If my goal is to virtualize all those OS workloads, why would I want to install an operating system on bare-metal hardware just so it can host those OS workloads on top of it? Why use an operating system to host operating system workloads when I can use a type-1 VMM? And shouldn’t the VMM sit at a lower layer than the operating system?

Of course, part of the Linux Foundation’s job is to promote Linux, and I have no problem with that. As reader Bill Murray pointed out, there definitely are use cases for KVM, but by and large, those use cases are going to be predominately around hosting Linux workloads. Do you really see shops hosting Windows workloads on KVM? So for the Linux Foundation to blanketly encourage developers to focus on KVM just keeps the Xen-vs.-KVM debate going, which you think the Foundation would avoid considering the whole Xen and kernel-inclusion debacle. Furthermore, it just seems out of touch. Enterprises already are standardizing around Xen, ESX and Hyper-V. Sure, the Linux Foundation can promote KVM where it’s appropriate, but shouldn’t it also be encouraging developers to improve Linux’s performance and support on those platforms? Novell understands this, and partnered with Microsoft to support SUSE Linux workloads on Hyper-V. Conversely, Microsoft is working to improve support of Windows workloads on Novell’s Xen-based virtualization platform.

The bottom line is that none of the Big 3 hypervisors are going away anytime soon. Developers can accept this and support these platforms and the enterprise customers that have adopted them. Or, they can live in the niche.

Windows 7 RC Download now up for non-subscribers

Josh Phillips — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:09:31 GMT

As promised Microsoft has released the Windows 7 RC download for everyone else today. They are not limiting the number of people who can download this build, but make sure you get it before the end of July. You can get the build here.

Things you should know:

This build will expire on June 1, 2010 and you will start seeing bi-hourly shutdowns on March 1, 2010.
You will not be able to do an upgrade from RC to RTM
This is an RC and as with any install it is important you make a backup of your data first
You should be using a dedicated test machine.
Minimum Requirements are 1GHz or faster processor, 1GB RAM (32-bit) / 2GB RAM (64-bit), 16GB (32-bit)/20GB (64-bot) Disk space, DirectX 9 graphics processor

License Key will be given to as part of the downloading process.

Important Links

Its still a little early to say when Windows 7 will RTM even in this last stage of the game, but my bet is before the end of summer. So if you are looking to get a machine during the summer make sure you have Windows 7 in mind and start looking for free OEM upgrade offers in the near future.