Lloyd Ketchum - YAB, "Yet Another Blog"

July 2007 - Posts

• IE 7 File Menu Quick Tip

  I thought I'd drop a few "Quick Tips" out there for people who may not have heard of a few of the less well known tips and shortcuts available. Internet Explorer 7 - especially under Windows Vista with its default Protected Mode, is a great browser and its new layout takes up less space than with previous versions of the browser. Still, there are occasions where people miss the old File, Edit View menu bar. While it is possible to add the traditional menu back to IE 7 via the tools drop down, maintaining the menu bar all the time can take up valuable screen real estate and take away from the clean look in IE 7. For Temp Menu Bar Access - Just Press ALT To quickly access and make easy temporary use of the menu bar, IE 7 users can press the ALT button. Pressing the ALT button in IE 7 displays the traditional menu bar in its familiar place and allows for one time use - just click on any of the menu bar buttons to access their respective functions. Once used the menu bar re-hides itself automatically. Press and Hold ALT to Access the Menu Bar for Longer Periods of Use Behaviorally, the menu bar can be made to stay un-hidden for longer periods by pressing and holding the ALT button. See examples below. Default Internet Explorer View State Without the Menu Bar Press ALT to Quickly See and Use the Traditional Menu Bar Check back often for more Quick Tips and other less well known usage shortcuts! Posted Jul 31 2007, 04:15 PM by admin with no comments Filed under: IE 7 Protected Mode, IE 7, Quick Tips

• What Makes Great Customers Great?

  We talk about our customers a lot - we are very proud of them and inspired by them as much as we are sustained by them. Before we can share what makes our customers so great, I have to explain what customers are to are to us - colleagues first and always. All of our customers "find" us through people we know and many are customers. By intent, we do not advertise and we do not have a yellow page ad, or listing. It's not that we don't welcome new business, we do, but we want more than just business - we want to build companies, or at least help to. So customers as they have come to be regarded, doesn't quite cover what customers are to us.  Customers are colleagues to us and very often they are dear friends. Customer Colleagues In our company we refer to the people that hire and retain us as Customer Colleagues. Our goal is to do our jobs so well that they no longer need us at all - and by doing business that way, our customers grow and that growth is what they need us to continue to service. As they grow we apply the same effort as before and the cycle of growth and the building of lasting value continues. New Customer Colleagues don't always understand what we mean, or how it works at first, but they do trust the friends that brought them to us and we're never in a hurry. I'd rather wait years to add a new customer - until the time was right for both sides, than rush into a relationship that is inappropriate for a business. In short order, new customers understand what we mean when we say that all customers are colleagues. There is a lot of technology out here and a lot of technologists supporting it. There are very few technology companies that are also business development companies, which is what Liberating Technologies in fact is - the technology is a vehicle, or a fleet of them to be more accurate, which is used to transport businesses and people to higher levels of success.  What separates customers from colleagues is that opposite customers technology companies place themselves and their success ahead of the customer. We do the reverse and by doing so, place the growth of our customers ahead of our own needs - and profit. By doing this we can assure that the greatest number of customers grows, and rapidly. As customers grow, they need more and in that growth is where we build our business. The Best Colleagues Make The Best Customers So what makes customers great? It's not as easy a question to answer as some would think, but it is worth a try, because frankly, customers that are colleagues deserve the mention. Great customers are not defined by revenue, or profits. That had to be said up front and set aside, because in business sometimes great customers can't pay, or they can't pay on time. Of course businesses, including mine, absolutely depend upon customers paying and at rates which are profitable, but payment cannot be the goal, or even near the top of things that make customers great. What makes customers great is best defined by a vision that holds that all things must grow - people, lines of business and most especially their own customers. Great customers do not look toward cost savings as a means to either stay in, or grow business. Great customers continually pursue new initiatives and grow their businesses. Just as with individuals, we advise, "when you need money, make more money!" Great customers do not fixate on costs, or revenue - they fixate on their own excellence and the excellence of their people and products. Great customers think in terms of decades and quarter centuries and their own personal impact on the course their professions will take long after they have retired and passed their businesses on to family and the team members that helped them build on their ideas. Different Dreams, Shared Values Great customers are simultaneously very different from us, and nearly identical. Their dreams and aspirations are different, but their view of the world is the same. They see the world as a place that not only can be made better, but that they are going to be one of the players making it better for all. Notice that I did not say that great customers are defined by what they believe and that such beliefs are the same as ours - such things do not matter. What does matter is that great customers believe that all is possible and that they can do anything they set their mind and energy to. Patience is not just a Virtue, it is the Realization that Persistent Consistency Unlocks all Doors Great customers never quit. They may get mad as all get out, but they never quit - so long as we never quit. Great customers understand that the world is not flat and that coming to understand that takes time and effort - often over many years. Great customers have very little idea of what technologists do, but they understand that great technology companies will persist and consistently deliver positive results. Technology is an Asset Not a Cost Great customers share our definition of what technology is - that which enhances human performance, or advances the human condition, or both. Any technology company serving the small and medium sized business market knows that most of their customers will have IT/MIS interests placed under an accountant. Accountants count for the most part and as such, technology is treated as a cost - as a necessary evil. This can be catastrophic for customers, but with the right technology company, this practice can be reversed and accountants brought into solutions which present IT/MIS investments as assets and sources of revenue. By serving customers as colleagues, technology companies can fulfill the vital roles smaller businesses need, but can't necessarily afford. Even the smallest company needs a strong CIO and CTO and a diverse IT/MIS team of engineers and developers; however, very few smaller business can afford them. There is an enormous opportunity in this need and by working as a company's IT/MIS team in a box, technology companies can serve in these vital roles - provided they are absolutely sincere about learning their customers' businesses and how they operate and make money. Great customers embrace this and come to see technology providers as members of their own teams. When this happens technology costs are converted and become assets that fulfill the needs smaller companies have. Making Decisions and Conducting Interventions Technology companies very often forget why they exist and few learn what information technologies are supposed to do for business and the people in them. Great customers quickly teach technologists what matters most and that ultimately, all information technologies have the same requirement - they must present information and products [not data] and that information products must allow people to make better decisions, and or conduct timely and effective interventions. Great customers understand that their most effective work with technologists is to define requirements, prioritize them and share their vision for how information is to be presented as a product - a finalized representation of the information they need in order to make decisions. In simple terms, never deploy technology for the sake of technology alone, and deploy technologies in a way that causes them to deliver information as a product that can be consumed. Great customers focus on finished products and they define it - then the technologist uses such products to work backward from there to enable solutions that produce them. We all Do What We All Do Great customers trust themselves. They trust great technologists to do what we do and they don't do what we do - no more than they want us to practice medicine, design buildings, or survey lands. Great customers let us work as great technologists and they respect our craft and science as much as we respect theirs. Good Enough is Never Good Enough Great customers are never satisfied, but they are always content and confident that their next initiative will be supported. Successful people and businesses are never satisfied with technology and they should not be. There are limits to technology and there are never any limits on what great customers aspire to do. Technologists have to accept that and not take offense when customers don't seem to be satisfied. People and businesses move at the speed of thought and that will always be well ahead of our ability to provide solutions. Customers understand this and they like to drive our processes in this way. We work best when inspired by customers that understand that all things are possible and what seems impossible today, will seem old hat tomorrow. So we're candid with our customers and share the truth that their ideas and understanding are ahead of our ability to bring technologies up to support them. Anything Worth Doing May Be Very Hard to Do Great customers admire technologists that continually work to do the impossible. They want and demand the best - of all things, be they people, or the equipment they use. Our customers understand that much of what they want does not exist yet and that we may have to invent it, build it and integrate it. Nothing is Ever Finished Great customers and great technology companies not only accept that nothing is ever finished, they create an environment that ensures that nothing is ever finished entirely - they are always growing and always building and new things always have to be added. In the coming weeks and months I am going to be reviewing each of our customers here and what makes them great and how they have made us better as technologists and as people. I'm going to share what we do together, how we do it and why we do it. I'll share lot's of pictures, some video and introduce you to the men and women that have done so much to inspire all of us and drive our pursuits of excellence. Thanks for reading, Lloyd Posted Jul 19 2007, 07:49 PM by admin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: YAB, why Blog, lketchum, Blog, our team, Opinion, Local Builders, Aspire, Customer Colleagues

• Windows Vista - The Most Reliable Operating System I have Ever Used

  Windows Vista is by far the most reliable operating system I have used. I am more than grateful for that, as I will attempt to explain. In my business and in my family we push computers so hard it is a wonder that they don't melt. We make our living using them, we play on them, we watch all our television on, or through them, we game on them, record to them and hammer the living circuits out of them. The guys in my company push new applications code and engineering so hard that no number of active screens is enough. Collectively we wear out more keyboards than we do shoes - and we move through some shoes - especially running shoes. Our many kids, their friends and their friends friends, are on our systems every second they aren't on a sports field of some kind - their lives are like businesses in many ways. they move through the schedules they keep with military precision and constant, but concise communications are the norm. Oh, and yeah, we all run Windows Vista and thank goodness we do. Read on... As the "Dad" to a lot of kids - to my own and a great deal more where we claimed one another as family, I'm not just the captain, but the chief engineer, too. In our home there are eleven active computers and twice as many active young people ranging in ages from 11 to 32. They are all my babies, and education, learning, and sharing are hammered home endlessly. Most computers are positioned in a large room where we tend to gather - close to one another, but not so close as to trip on one another. Each system has dual monitors and or a large screen LCD and each is pushed hard, but none so hard as our main Windows Media Center System - MCE2005LR. MCE2005LR is simultaneously nothing special [in terms of hardware] and very special. The Windows Vista Ultimate PC began life as an experiment in November 2004 when small builders like us were allowed to build Windows Media Center computers [Symphony release and update just prior to roll-up 2 to Windows Media Center]. Around that launch we held an open house at our company and our customers all came out to support us. That was about the most humbling day I can remember in business - people flew in from all over at their own expense and shared a great day and night with our teams. It was an amazing event for us. Shortly after our open house, I built MCE2005LR for our living room. All of our guys started to build similar MCE systems and we began to expand our product lines to include these machines and their integration to homes, restaurants and businesses of all kinds. MCE2005LR, starting off life as a test mule for all things Windows Media and Media Center, had a typical lab PC life - one build after another and four case designs and a lot of moves between different screens exposed it to some very rough handling. While the computer stood its ground there were a lot of bumps in the road and I never quite felt like the system was where it needed to be as an appliance like media HUB. While I could get it to work well enough, I could never quite recommend it for every day use as a host for all things TV. Then came Windows Vista and Windows Media Center. When I first saw the new Windows Media Center shell I was both pleased and pissed. I liked the direction the platform was headed in, but I was pissed that it had not been taken far enough forward. I still feel that way but only sort of - that Windows Media Center has so much potential, but at the same time, so far to go. All that was about to change and I was about to gain a new appreciation for Windows Vista Media Center. It was about 19 or 20th December, 2006, just before Christmas, and I was again a little restless and a lot bored. I don't sleep much - never needed it and love work too much to sit around for long. So while all the kids and my wife were asleep I took the MCE2005LR PC down from its perch in a custom cabinet my wife had made for me and just starred at it. I pulled a lot of parts from various bins and fired up a mini lab in the living room. Set the TV to a an HD broadcast of the "Gardens of Europe" and muted it as I always do. The room was dead quiet. I had one of our laptops near me and reviewed a lot of Windows Vista bashing threads that by that time, a few weeks after the business release of the new operating system, were already common and seemingly popular. I didn't like any of it and as I had already upgraded and installed Windows Vista on our work systems at the office, I just couldn't relate to the problems people were reporting - I just wasn't seeing the issues people asserted they were having. I brewed a fresh pot of Joe - and dropped in the Windows Vista DVD. Before beginning, I removed the anti-virus software, dumped all temp files and that was it. Then I waited. I had chosen an in-place upgrade vice a clean install, so I expected the install to take more time - it took about four hours [4 hours 9 minutes to be exact]. As I waited, I did not expect everything to go well at all, but it did.  I was frankly shocked and I don't know that I should have been, that everything went as well as it did - after all, I had all but intentionally baked the machine before beginning the upgrade process and I had no expectation that it would run, much less run well once it was updated. Post Install Once Windows Vista Ultimate was installed I installed the newest available video card drivers from Nvidia and some sound card drivers for an ancient Sound Blaster Live card from Creative. Later I added the PC Alchemy support for legacy EAX audio. Once drivers were installed I moved the computer back into its custom cabinet and set up its large HD LCD screen, speakers, wireless BT keyboard and mouse as well as its Logitech Orbit web camera and the Media Center guide. I tested all TV, DVD and media functions, re-connected the FM antenna and I was done. Aside from Windows Updates and a video card driver update, no other updates have been applied and none have needed to be modified. From Lab Rat to use as a media appliance Within a few days of upgrading to Windows Vista something happened - what had been a lab and test mule took on a different role in my company and home. Instead of constantly mucking with the Media Center I noticed that there just wasn't any reason to adjust the machine. Everything we were throwing at it just worked and worked all the time. The new power management in Windows Vista was the first thing we noticed. We began to turn the computer on and off just like we would a regular TV - we can do it via the power switch, a Harmony 880 remote we added after Christmas, or in the operating system. The computer sleeps and wakes up in under two seconds - even when we have the TV in Windows Media Center still running! We have two extenders connected to the computer and share thousands of media and image files from it throughout our home - it even functions as a network print server. Aside from Windows Updates the computer is never rebooted and we use it for some pretty heavy shared web surfing and gaming. We've edited high definition videos on it together and ripped hundreds of CD's for the kids and all while it is used to support TV, recorded TV and extenders. We use it to record hundreds of hours of movies and TV and no matter what we do to it, it just keep running. Verifying Performance A lot of people know a little about the new Performance and Reliability tools native to Windows Vista, but fewer may understand just how carefully these new tools monitor a system. Hundreds of data collection points run continuously and any small error is recorded by the Performance and Reliability Monitor. If any application so much as fails, it is reflected and debits from a Vista system's perfect 10 rating - and it doesn't take much to make a system look bad in this context. One app error of any kind takes a hit on a system's rating. What may be design flaws in a Panda Software Anti-Virus 2007 stand alone client product were reflected in our computer and Windows Vista provided us with the information we needed to solve this problem for ourselves and customers, too. Once we had done that the newly upgraded Media Center has been flawless - quite literally, and it consistently scores a perfect reliability rating of 10 x 10. If we didn't hammer the computer so hard and if Vista didn't monitor so many data collection points so completely, I wouldn't be much impressed. The fact is however, that Vista monitors every aspect of the system and despite the load the operating system has performed without error. Doing the impossible I mentioned that by intent, I left some software on the computer I knew we could not install on Windows Vista and that was assured by the vendor would not run. I wanted to see what would happen if the changes in the registry that the software would make to a cleanly installed Vista system were already present when the computer was upgraded from XP to Vista. I am speaking of our security camera remote viewing client and server software. We had tested all applications we and our customers use throughout the Vista BETA, RC and RTM process and we had isolated one that we knew no matter what we tried, we could not get to run. We had not tested installing it on XP first and upgrading to Vista over the top of it and in part, MCE2005LR's upgrade was made to test what would happen. Well color us shocked and awed, it worked, works to this day and stands as a learning point about the Vista upgrade process - that sometimes, it is a good thing to do a "dirty" install. Current Status MCE2005LR is still named the same - despite its new OS. It's still beat up on a daily basis and it's still perfect. Its Windows Performance and Reliability rating is still a spot on 10 x 10 - see images below. I've come to like it so much that I try and try to break it - installing and uninstalling software and drivers all the time. It never peeps even one error and it runs like a scalded dog. May - June 2007 June - July 2007 The Windows Vista Performance and Reliability rating remained so high that I began to question whether it was performing its job properly - so I induced an error in Outlook 2007 by adjusting its connection settings and forcing an inelegant shut down of the application, and sure enough, Vista caught it dropped by score by nearly a full point. To say that I am surprised by how this machine has performed isn't accurate - I'm not any longer and no more than I am surprised that our other Windows Vista systems perform as reliably, because they all do. I am convinced Vista is not only a good operating system, but a great one. It has been easy to deploy and a lot easier to support than any previous version of Windows I have used. Final Thoughts For me, a busy dad and small business owner, using Windows Vista has been a very personal help to all that I do in both roles - connected and related as they are, I just can't see how I got along without Vista. In our home we have Zen's, Zune's, phones, Smart-phones, gaming controllers of every kind, Xbox extenders, tablet PC's and even a UMPC and increasingly, I have noticed that our customers' homes look the same - just as busy and just as dependent upon all things digital to help manage busy families and even busier places of work. Windows XP was great, but as it aged it became more difficult to manage and leverage in all the ways we wanted and needed. Vista changed that and has made keeping all of our digital tools and toys running and in many cases, running not just well, but perfectly. Posted Jul 10 2007, 07:47 AM by admin with 4 comment(s) Filed under: Windows Vista, Windows Vista Performance and Reliability Monitor, Windows Vista Ultimate, Reliable

• Hidden Exchange 2007 - Outook 2007 Connection Tests and Monitoring

  Exchange 2007 and Outlook 2007 feature a less well known set of connection and monitoring tools. To access the tools, CTRL-Right-Click the Outlook 2007 System Tray Icon. See figure below: The tools provide a couple of useful means to examine and assess connection status and help Exchange 2007 administrators isolate configuration errors. The first tool, allows the user, or administrator to test the connection status between the client computer and the host Exchange environment. This can be very useful when initially setting up Exchange 2007 in a mixed 2007/2003 Exchange Server environment where Public Folders were used and important to Exchange 2003 and de-emphasized in Exchange 2007. Users reporting persistent "Requesting Data" errors should look here and examine connection attempts from the client computer to older Exchange 2000, or 2003 Servers - in most cases, a latent public folder sync issue will be the cause of such errors. See figure below: The second test reflects the e-mail AutoConfiguration used to support clients connecting to an Exchange 2007 server - in this case, remotely and using RPC over HTTPS and the AutoDiscover(y) Service [one of many new web services inherent to Exchange 2007]. This tool is especially helpful to administrators in testing their web services and the configuration of Unified Communications Certificates, which are recommended for use with Exchange 2007 and Live Communications Server. Unified Communications Certificates, or UCC SSL Certificates allow administrators to support remote un-joined client computers without sacrificing security controls. More information here, UCC for multiple secure communications protocols NOTE: UCC Certs cost a great deal of money - depending upon how many URLs and servers are secured. The second test is easy to conduct, just enter the email address and password for the user/computer being tested and click the test button. The results are displayed in a panel below the type of connection test specified - the most common will be Use AutoDiscover. See figure below: The second part of of the test reflects a log, which displays the AutoConfiguration URLs use by the AutoDiscover web service in Exchange 2007. There will be two log entries for each AutoDiscover URL, but only if the first, default principle name domain name is not resolved - which would indicate that either the administrator has not used a UCC SSL Certificate and is using the "Referral" method to support remote connections, or that the AutoDiscover Service is not configured properly [most often due to an improperly requested and applied UCC Cert [missing keys, I'd bet]). As you can see in the example provided, our team got it right and used a properly requested and installed UCC SSL Cert and only one set if URLs is logged. See figure below: I still have not fully assessed what in the world Microsoft was thinking when they architected Exchange 2007. I reason that their push into Unified Communications, where integration of VOIP PBX systems and Windows SharePoint technologies are enabled via secure web services is the main reason, but I have to conclude that anyone considering a move or upgrade to Exchange 2007 had better be prepared for much higher costs, more complex configurations and significant disconnects in unified management - where Exchange 2000 and 2003 servers are to remain on-line. I would recommend businesses and administrators avoid Exchange 2007 UNLESS they have immediate plans to tightly integrate VOIP systems and or they intend to leverage connections to SharePoint Services based Document Libraries instead of Public Folders. While Exchange 2007 does offer better management of email in terms of compliance, I assess that small and medium sized businesses would do better with available third party compliance and retention policy management solutions. Where smaller businesses are concerned, I would recommend continuing to use Exchange 2003 and if such businesses wish to use VOIP, that they consider Packet8 services, or a similar provider provisioning small business phone systems based upon ESI communications technologies. For those that do take the Exchange 2007 plunge, the above tools may help you isolate problems and implement solutions. Bottom line, don't count on getting a great deal out of Exchange 2007 right away and if you are not really solid in the CLI, wait on E2K7 SP1 - or be prepared to fat finger for a good long while - and for goodness sake, spring for a UCC SSL Cert - it'll save you a great deal of trouble and your platform will be more secure (we tested all ways, and lord of mercy.... what a pain in the fourth point of contact it was for our guys). Posted Jul 06 2007, 09:21 PM by admin with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Vista, Windows Vista, MAPI, Outlook, RPC over HTTP, Sync, Vista Networking, Exchange 2007, Outlook 2007

• What is so "Ultimate" about Windows Vista Ultimate?

  *Updated* By now many of you have noted that the Windows Vista Ultimate team has launched a new site: UltimatePC.com  Seems the Ultimate team has been busier than many people thought... More than anything, the new UltimatePC site communicates that the team is determined to make good on Ultimate Extras. It also suggests that the team is going to be able to build and ship out of band and that they are now freed up to make and deliver some exciting extras and exlcusives - the new name given to offers focused on the flagship version of Windows Vista. I'm betting that the Ultimate Team delivers and we'll see a great many extras and exclusives over the remainder of the year. I feel bad for the Windows Vista team in general and the Ultimate team in particular. They built some terrific products that truly are innovative and I think Windows Vista Ultimate specifically, deserves another look. Before getting into what differentiates Ultimate, I want to address what this version is not - Windows Vista Ultimate is NOT about Ultimate Extras. Sadly, and because there aren't many "extras" Windows Vista Ultimate has come be defined by the lack of the extras many assess were promised to them by Microsoft. Microsoft, by failing to deliver significant extras, allowed Windows Vista Ultimate to be defined by the dearth of extras that it does not have, vice the plethora of unique features that it does. A lot of people have been asking the question, What is so "Ultimate" about Windows Vista Ultimate? Well, plenty and a good number of the people asking that question are the very people that should be providing the answers to it - you know who you are: IT/MIS professionals, enthusiasts and technology press, pundits and "Ploggers" or Professional Bloggers. press, pundits and ploggers, oh my... no wonder we're all in the dark and under-informed. If you know what makes Windows Vista Ultimate unique, share it - if you don't, you should know. If you should know and you don't, you suck and need to either get your heads back in the game, or get out of it entirely. I am both none of the above and all of the above - therefore I am very likely least and occasionally, best qualified to answer the question about what is so ultimate about Windows Vista Ultimate... any other business owner will know exactly what I mean by those apparent contradictions - we are what we decide to be; what we decide to pay ourselves for at any given moment - tomorrow I may be a gardener, a poet, or a nightstand. Silly as it may sound, that last sentence says all that needs to be said about what is ultimate about Vista Ultimate - it is all things Windows and what one uses and when is largely a matter of choice - as simple, or as difficult as making a decision about what to do and when - not that many people can actually do that. Decisions, decisions, decisions... we make them all day and in so many cases, we make decisions, because we have choices - about what to eat, what to wear, what to drive, what to do and yes, about which version of Windows we'd like to use. <not that alternatives to Windows aren't among one's choices, but let's be real, does either Linux, or OS X offer any real choice when it comes to hardware and software options when compared to the vastness of the Windows ecosystem?> Windows Vista Ultimate is about choices and it supports about any decision regarding a modern computer one might make. It best supports our own individual diversity - underwriting and facilitating a myriad of complex tasks and the multi-disciplined digital lives many of us lead. YOU: Oh shut up and give us the list already, and spare us the wall of useless text - as if context never mattered... ME: and while I'm at it, <talking to myself as though I were talking to you... I think you'd have done a Windows Live Search on Vista Versions by now and found your own list and God forbid, actually explored the OS and made your own...> ME: Okay, okay, I hear ya... dang, context does matter - or at least it should. For those with Internet access, that have an inability to use an online search tool, or for those that write, ***, piss and moan about Vista Ultimate that have never actually used the new operating system, here's a list with some notes that lays out exactly what is ultimate about Windows Vista Ultimate editions. I've added links where I assess people may want, or need more information about a particular feature and in many cases, I have annotated what each is used for. Packaging:  Windows Vista Ultimate retail boxed full and upgrade packages contain two DVDs - one for the 32 bit based version of the OS and another DVD for the 64 bit version. Fundamentals: SafeDocs, backup and restore Scheduled Backups Network Backups Shadow Copy Client [this is instantaneous - make any change in a document and one may reverse that change by accessing previous versions] (Home Premium does not have this feature) Encrypted File System (EFS) Automated Migration Support Cached Credential Support (this is not in home premium) Local Security Policy Manager (this is not in home premium) Productivity: Desktop Windows Manager (DWM) Aero Glass, animations, and visual effects [even over remote desktop connections!] Productivity Features, rolodex, tab previews, task bar previews Unlimited Screen Resolution Support Fast User Switching [FUS] Communications: RDP/Remote Desktop (this is not in home premium) P2P Meeting Place [ad-hoc meetings, people discovery, presentation broadcast] (this is not in home premium) Windows Web Server [IIS 7] (this is not in home premium) Windows Fax Client (this is not in home premium) Digital Media and Entertainment: DVD Video Authoring (this is not in business versions) Direct Media Mode Media Center [including extender support for 5 devices and games] (this is not in business versions) Multiple Simultaneous Media Extender Support [up to five extenders] (this is not in business versions) Movie Maker High Definition [HD] Publishing (this is not in business versions) HDCP HD Content Support (this is not in business versions, or other operating systems like OS X) DVD Playback without the need for third party software (this is not in business versions) Advanced Photography Features Premium Games Windows Media Player and related [read CODECS] components Networking: Number of Supported Network Connections - 10 Domain Join Support (home premium only supports Quattro) 1:1 Network Projection SNMP Support Internet Connection Sharing Remote Differential Compression MS Rally and LLTD IPv6 over IPv4 "TEREDO" (use Meeting Space over the Internet without changing a thing on your firewall) Mobility: PC-to-PC Synchronization Mobility Center Tablet PC Functionality Auxiliary Display Support with Independent Resolutions Offline Folder with Client-Side Caching (this is not in home premium) PC Management: Subsystem for UNIX-Based Applications [SUA] (only enterprise and Ultimate have this) Secure Startup [cornerstone] (only enterprise and Ultimate have this) Single Session Virtual PC (only enterprise and Ultimate have this) Multi-Language User Interface with Localization [use more than one language at a time without separate installs] (only enterprise and Ultimate have this) Software Inventory Module Disable Windows Activation Services [Yes, one can] (enterprise and Ultimate only) Startup Repair Tool (SRT) Windows Vista Ultimate Extras: DreamScenes [and StarDock's DeskScapes] Premium Games [Texas Hold-em] Bit-Locker Enhancements Online Key Management Language Localization Packs As is clear to me, Windows Vista Ultimate is more about choices and the decisions based upon them than it is any one thing, or group of things. Ultimate is a premium blend of PC features, providing users with the best of all worlds - media, productivity and management - all in one place and under one operating system. Ultimate is not about extras, but it is about also having extras, many of them - all of them. Windows Vista Ultimate Challenge Here's a challenge for all: Find a single operating system that does all of the above [ and I do mean all of it ] out of the box and without third party software or hardware, and post a link to it here. If there is one, we'd all love to know where it is and how we can get our hands on it. Posted Jul 03 2007, 04:29 PM by admin with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Vista, Features, Windows Vista, Opinion, Vista Security, Vista Networking, PC, Windows Vista Ultimate, DeskScapes, Animated, Ultimate, DreamScene