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Time:
09:13 EST/14:13 GMT | News Source:
Microsoft Press Release |
Posted By: Jonathan Tigner |
This week at the 15th annual Tech•Ed 2007 conference, Microsoft Corp. discussed how leading businesses such as Cerner Corp., Charter Communications and Continental Airlines Inc. are making the move to Windows Vista® to lower IT costs, improve security and enhance worker productivity. The company also announced new tools and services to help customers migrate to Windows Vista, including the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs, Windows Vista-ready components of the Microsoft® Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance, the recently released Virtual Hard Disk Test Drive Program for Windows Vista Enterprise Edition, and an update to the Microsoft Application Compatibility Factory service.
“Businesses typically take a cautious approach to deploying a new operating system release,” said Al Gillen, research vice president, System Software at IDC. “That’s true with Windows Vista as well, but we’re seeing more businesses begin the testing and planning process, which will lead to more companies investing the time and effort to roll out the new operating system across their organizations.”
Making the move to a new operating system is not a trivial undertaking for companies with hundreds or even thousands of PCs and applications; a successful transition requires a planning, testing and deployment process that minimizes the requirements placed on IT staff and the disruption of end users’ work. Having the right resources available to streamline this process is critical, which is why Microsoft continues to make new services and tools available to aid businesses in their deployment efforts. At Tech•Ed, Microsoft is announcing the addition of the following services and tools:
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#1 By
2960 (24.254.95.224)
at
6/5/2007 9:58:25 AM
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Cool. I guess that makes it .0003 percent have moved to Vista...
MS is good at making irrelevent data look good :)
TL
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#3 By
23275 (24.179.4.158)
at
6/5/2007 11:06:56 AM
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The BDD - Business Desktop Deployment, management for encrypted content [not necessarily related to technologies like Bit Locker] (see, Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs), and LifeCycle Management, would be the drivers here.
Any business, regardless of size, that evaluates these technologies [even if they are a tiny firm working with a services oriented partner], would find Windows Vista very attractive.
Regulatory Compliance Planning Guides, are examples of the types of materials that run parallel to such deployments and I mention them as an example of the types of requirements that Windows Vista addresses for companies of any size.
I assess that any admin that spends even a few days in the lab with Vista and the BDD around it, will see the ease of deploying and then managing systems built on the new OS and I suspect a lot of companies are discovering what we began to understand last year this time - that Vista was going to be a real hit with IT/MIS staffs of all sizes and types, because things were going to be so much easier and more consistent.
I recommend people explore the various solutions acclerators and use some of the requirements running parallel [like compliance] to and driving their use, as models for how to best deploy and support systems. You'll save yourself buckets of time and add a lot of value to the companies you support. Vista has cut so much labor from our efforts to build, distribute and then support systems, that we've seen our profits jump as the effort has gone down.
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#4 By
23275 (24.179.4.158)
at
6/5/2007 11:11:16 AM
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By the way, last year this time, I was so pissed about Vista - because no emphasis was being applied to these areas - or the security model or how to manage it. It was all centered on how it looked and that just was not deep enough of a look. There is so much to Vista [under the hood]. I should have understood that, because even today, people still aren't looking too deeply. Any case... that's the perspective. I recommend people virtualize a WDS and BDD environment - it'll take seeing just one system created that is ready to go to a user and you'll be hooked on Vista - it is that fast, that easy and that consistent.
...It'll leave a lot more time to code, explore new things, or gosh forbid, head home in time for a hot supper with one's family.
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#5 By
3653 (68.52.143.149)
at
6/5/2007 11:12:53 AM
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techlarry, i'm not sure if your comment is a reference to how huge teh windows market is, or if you are questioning that a lot of people are moving to vista.
look no further than last quarter's 10k for evidence that people are buying vista. follow the money trail.
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#7 By
3746 (72.12.162.246)
at
6/5/2007 12:48:52 PM
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I would say that 5.37 percent of steam users is not bad. Most gamers know there have been problems with video drivers. As the drivers mature (and the first Directx 10 games are released) you will see more gamers switching to Vista. I don't know why people are surprised. When XP came out there was a frame rate drop when you compared XP to 98. There were people screaming that XP sucked and they would never switch and stick with 98. Sounds familiar huh? I wonder how many of those people are still using 98? Gamers normally are looking for the best gaming experience. Right now that is still XP. Once that changes you will see them switching to Vista.
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#8 By
23275 (24.179.4.158)
at
6/5/2007 1:22:49 PM
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#7, Very well said.
In one of our production rooms is a shelf with nearly every gaming title published since 1997.
We use them to test how games will run on the systems we build. We have reference cards, notes and what I call, "evolutions" - information about how each evolution impacts a game on a given system across time. It is empirical data, which "was" valid at some point, but generally, not valid for long. We use it to measure "Velocity" or how long we can expect a certain state to remain valid. Data for Windows Vista and Games for Windows is very promising - where there is much less time from release to resolution being evidenced in the data, which suggests that Vista is maturing at a very rapid rate - as compared to Windows 98, Me, or XP. [for which we have gaming related data].
One also has to understand the business drivers here - games are different now - much more complex, multi-studio efforts that are much more like major motion picture releases. Gamers have changed a lot, too and the number of hard-core PC gamers are about the same, but they are different people now - they are aging and their gaming and gaming systems are different and much better planned purchases. They will ease into new machines that do much more than just support gaming.
Younger, multi-platform gamers are rarer, but real gems - real experts when it comes to gaming as an industry, an art form, and a life-style. They are in enormous demand - as sales reps, testers and hardware engineers [I know, I hunt for them all the time and they are hard to recruit owing to how strong they are and how high the demand is for them]. Many gamers do not build their own rigs any more - they do add to them, but they less frequently start from scratch as the costs can be very high relative to other costs they have. They do buy custom rigs, built by smaller OEMs, and they add to these - and usually upgrade their displays later on, which brings up an important point. Most hard core gamers are still using 4:3 aspect ratios - owing to how most games are not yet coded for wide screen support - Games for Windows API's and standards, are driving wide screen support and as this changes and DX10/HDCP compliant cards ship to the mid market [as with 85xx series from Nvidia are now], then we will see all this change - drivers will mature, games will be patched and huge new titles will be shipped as the summer progresses. So it is not a hit on Vista we're seeing - it is the results of the maturation in the gaming community itself and many factors affecting it.
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#9 By
2960 (24.254.95.224)
at
6/6/2007 8:25:22 AM
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#5,
I'm speaking strictly about businesses, as this article is. I just do not buy that the enterprise is scooping up and deploying windows at a feverish rate.
I just don't see it happening.
Everything I'm hearing is 2008/2009.
TL
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#10 By
23275 (24.179.4.158)
at
6/6/2007 9:09:10 AM
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#9, You are quite right, but I think the matter has little to do with Vista. Yes, businesses are more careful and slower to adopt - as they have to be. What we have seen is that many businesses waited a long time to purchase any new technology. They weren't waiting on Vista, or any other OS. They were simply doing what businesses do - taking their time and limiting investments. As it happens, many are now upgrading systems and software - that appears to favor deployments of Windows Vista, because the deployment and management of systems is now easier and less costly.
I can share that like the businesses we support, there are specific plans and goals we set long before any one year begins. [I know, duh, huge surprise and how exciting - well, this part of the post, like many, is for the very new/young admins out there that may not have seen as much of things]. We theme our planning - picking central themes each year that are designed to build on those that preceded it [all of which are part of much longer term planning]. This year it is all about consolidation [reducing the physical hosts] via HW/SW virtualization on more capable multi-core hardware [64 bit], and increased adherence to compliance concerns [KB, or Knowledge Management, to be more specific]. These areas best mirror the needs of our customers - many who have multi-state/country operations. Like most things, timing is one part planning and about 90 parts planetary alignment - with the rest being influenced by people. All I can say to new guys is, "make sure you love this business, because while it all appears to change, it doesn't change at all - the pleasure you'll get is from all the small victories that you touch each day - focus on those and if you love it, none of the noise will matter much - and be prepared to hate what you love, from time to time."
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#11 By
28801 (65.90.202.10)
at
6/6/2007 9:13:09 AM
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I'll say it again... Well Duh! Any large company would be foolish to deploy Vista now. It takes months if not years to certify the scores of applications companies use. And they will have to certify them again when the service pack comes out.
Most will wait for SP1 to be released then get serious about Vista.
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