Mind if I brag a bit? First, I'll brag about me. After writing a cover story about disreputable IT folks, I decided to look at the other side: cases where IT pros help the world. Turned out to be a pretty good idea.
But I'm going to spend a lot more time bragging about you, the Redmond Report reader. All I had to do what ask you what you do and I was flooded with good deeds. If you haven't read what your fellow Redmond Report readers are up to, check the story out here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 07/20/20091 comments
On Monday, I talked about my Windows 7 glitches, and on Wednesday it was IE 8 foibles. Today, I'm talking about getting used to Office 2007.
I was nervous about Office 2007. I remember meeting an Office 2007 product manager at a winery near Seattle. I said I was getting a lot of feedback from my newsletter readers: "In fact, I have a bunch of messages on my BlackBerry about the ribbon interface I haven't even read. Would you like to see 'em?"
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Posted by Doug Barney on 07/17/20098 comments
IT pros always struggle with Microsoft volume licensing. I did two major stories on the topic, "SA Exposed" and "7 Steps to a Better Bargain." I read everything I could from Microsoft and experts, and relied heavily on Microsoft licensing and negotiation ace Scott Braden, who wrote a regular column on the topic for me.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 07/17/20090 comments
Like Doug said, he's been having some Windows 7 issues, from printer problems to the occasional (OK, daily) crash. A couple of you wrote in to commiserate and offer some suggestions:
Windows 7 is only on my desktop, which I never allow to sleep; I still have x64 Vista on my laptop. (Well, I did 'til this morning when the roof in my office leaked water all over it and now it doesn't turn on.) Neither Firefox 3.5, Safari 4 nor Opera (even 10, the latest version) work in Windows 7 with Flash -- and I have no clue why. Maybe it's a ploy to increase IE 8 usage. My 'Net connection is fine; no idea why you are having problems. Fresh install? I had problems only when doing upgrades. No VPN issues, either.
But HP LaserJet 1505n doesn't work for me either; I put a mild amount of effort into it but gave up when I am able to print to my HP 2600n and my Brother 685CW.
-Chad
I've got Flash working on my Windows 7 install. I had trouble at first but ended up installing Flash Player 10 ActiveX first, then the Flash Player 10 plug-in.
By the way, I've been using Office 2007 for a good while now and for the past year with it running on top of Vista. You'd have to pay me a bunch to go back to Office 2003.
-Bruce
I have been using Windows 7 since the betas started coming out for it. As for your network connection shutting down, check in the Device Manager of the adapter for any power settings. These devices usually have a setting under Power Management that you can uncheck that allows the computer to turn it off when it goes to sleep. That is one of the first things I turn off when I build a new computer.
As for Windows crashing, I have not had a single crash on Windows 7 or Vista yet. I have Vista running on my main desktop, backup desktop and a new HP laptop. I am running Windows 7 RC on a 4-year-old laptop without a problem. I would check into any application or hardware updates to try to alleviate the crashes.
-Matt
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Posted by Doug Barney on 07/15/20090 comments
On Monday, I had a whole bunch of questions about Windows 7, which many of you answered clearly and succinctly. (If anyone thought I was complaining about Win 7, I really like it so far -- I just have a few glitches.)
Now I have a few IE 8 comments and questions. Overall, I like it. In fact, I had to ditch Firefox because it doesn't support Flash on Win 7. IE 8 brought in my 'Fox bookmarks with no problem, Flash works and the tabs are a lot like they are in 'Fox. All in all, an easy fix for 'Fox.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 07/15/20098 comments
If you're a developer or true IT buff, good news: Azure is free for now. Of course, it's only in beta so that's pretty normal. Once it emerges into a full commercial set of tools this fall, it's going to cost you.
Unlike most packaged software, Azure is more like a service where you "pay as you go." Existing customers can earn discounts, and those building apps can get the stuff even cheaper.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 07/15/20090 comments
Some months, Microsoft releases patches and IT has an easy time installing 'em. This month didn't seem like a big deal with only six fixes, but some of these repairs are time-consuming and also raise substantial issues.
In particular, DirectX is now a major vector of attack. Now IT has to take a hard look at locking down ActiveX and DirectX. How do you handle these systems? Do you leave it up to Microsoft to patch or take bolder measures? Advice welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 07/15/20090 comments
Microsoft plans to release Windows 7 to PC manufacturers some time this month. The company mentioned that detail while announcing the promotion of Steven Sinofsky as president of the Windows Division.
Windows 7 is set for general release on Oct. 22. Details on the volume licensing of Windows 7 will be available on Sept. 1, according to Bill Veghte, Microsoft's senior vice president for the Windows Business, speaking at WPC on Monday.
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Posted by Kurt Mackie on 07/14/20091 comments
Microsoft boosted its Dynamics CRM application by adding three "accelerators" or customization options.
The platform has mutated from its original sales database function and now gets used for other organizational needs. Microsoft is referring to this flexibility as "XRM," where the "X" means anything.
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Posted by Kurt Mackie on 07/14/20090 comments
Microsoft rolled out a test version of its Office 2010 productivity suite on Monday, which includes "Office Web applications."
At last, Microsoft has taken its familiar Office user interface and made it into a lightweight application that runs in a Web browser. It should make waves among Software as a Service (SaaS) providers, but do IT shops care? The idea of moving to hosted application services maybe isn't so easy.
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Posted by Kurt Mackie on 07/14/20092 comments
Readers share their thoughts on Java and Microsoft's recent decision to stop supporting Java Virtual Machine:
Perhaps it's not as simple as whether Java is a winner or not. The current long-term economic contraction coupled with the recession results in much lower IT budgets. Lower IT budgets encourage CIOs to be less willing to 'burger king' it, and to instead do with off-the-shelf products or postponed efforts. Net effect: less development overall, Java or not.
-Arlene
Java is a cool technology, but so is .NET and, above all, good ole C++. Java created this illusion that it was going to integrate the whole world -- coffee makers, microwaves and all our daily technology would become some Java application. Which insinuates that it would be connected to a remote server somewhere, making the world one big smart client/cloud computing paradigm.
However, the problem isn't the idea, but the hardware and the means by which we compute. The ideas behind our advanced 'beyond the Web browser' Java are really the ideas for nano-technology. And we wouldn't have the same computing means as what we have with Java. Perhaps we'd do some development using the same methodology as we do now, but the nano-technology would be the secret, not the language itself. All a language like Java is for is to provide a more fun and accessible abstract layer to C/C++. If those languages can't do what the paradigm suggests, then Java isn't going to be much help either.
-Anonymous
I cringe every time a business unit wants to deploy a solution that requires a Java client. Which JVM version does this vendor require/support? It seems that with each upgrade or new app deployed, we spend an inordinate amount of time testing different versions of JVM to find the one that causes the least number of problems across our (relatively small?) portfolio of Java apps.
-Anonymous
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Posted by Doug Barney on 07/13/20090 comments
This week, I officially switched over to Windows 7 and Office 2007 -- all in one fell swoop! I know a lot of you are on Windows 7, so here are a few questions:
Why doesn't Firefox support Flash on Windows 7 yet? Why does my 'Net connection and VPN die every time the machine goes to sleep? Why does Windows 7 still crash once or twice a day? Why can't I install a printer driver for an HP LaserJet 1000?
Tech advice welcome at [email protected]. Once I solve my Win 7 glitches, I'll have plenty of Office 2007 and IE 8 questions!
Posted by Doug Barney on 07/13/200912 comments