Lloyd Ketchum - YAB, "Yet Another Blog"

Many of you no doubt have the same disease, or at least a few of the symptoms.. Service Packs of about every shape and form are appearing for a great many Microsoft products [a good thing, for sure], and like us, you're running more than a few in testing and perhaps some in production. Obviously, the RC's have to be tested and this can result in a serious case of the service pack runs... On occasion, and despite how evolved most service packs have become, we still run into unexpected - even surprising, challenges. Read on...

It's all part of it - the normal work many of us do. I'm not going to even try to match the coverage going on out there regarding most of them, but if you're running ESET NOD32 Antivirus, you may want to pay attention to the next few lines. There is definitely some dependent process between ESET NOD32 build 3.0.566 and Service Pack 1 to Windows Vista Ultimate and Office 2007 with SP1, that are not working well together.

Parts and Builds

Software Common to both test systems:

Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit with SP1 RC Build 6001
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional with Service Pack 1
ESET NOD32 3.0.566

Test System 1

P4 3.2 GHz based HP Laptop NX9600
2 GB RAM
ATI X600 GPU 128 MB

Test System 2

Pentium Dual Core 3.2 GHz
2 GB RAM
Nvidia 8800 GTS 768 MB GPU

Both test systems received all updates and service pack 1 to Office 2007 normally.

Both test systems had earlier versions of ESET NOD32 antivirus removed prior to the installation of Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Both test system had ESET NOD32 reinstalled after Vista Service Pack 1 was installed and the systems were restarted.

Both systems restarted and ran normally - with one major exception:

Word 2007 would not open and would hang both systems - forcing a hard shutdown.

Removing ESET NOD32 antivirus solved the problem and Word 2007 and all other applications ran normally under the combination of Vista SP1 RC, Office 2007 SP1.

Windows Live OneCare was then deployed across both systems and all processes and applications run normally.

No adjustment available to ESET NOD32 [excluding WINWORD.EXE for example], would allow the security suite to run alongside the combination of Office 2007 SP1 and Vista SP1 RC.

Oddly, only Word 2007 with Office 2007 SP1 is affected - all other Office 2007 applications run normally.

Older builds of ESET NOD32 antivirus have worked normally and Word 2007 with Service Pack 1 on Vista with SP1 RC run normally.

Communications have been prepared for both Microsoft and ESET Software, and advising of our test results.

And that was only one little item making up a long, and productive day.

I'll post an update when new builds are available.

Cheers!

Lloyd

Most Microsoft software reviews suck serious ass. There's no other way to describe the crap that passes for reviews.

Far too many bloggers' reviews are based upon VM derived impressions of the software displayed. A few screen shots are added to well known lists of features and a touch of flowery language is added to what ends up being a half-assed representation of what the software truly is, or can do [or not as might be the case].

I have avoided providing reviews, because I am not a professional blogger and certainly not any kind of journalist - not even a really bad one.

I am an engineer and small business owner that builds and sustains systems, networks, software and the hosted services that tie them together - so any review would be based upon an actual build, and that often would reveal either my own, or a real customer's information. I can't do that - even a little - not without permission and some controls designed to protect people. This makes it harder to provide reviews, but not impossible.

It does strike me as badly needed, however, and I am determined to find a way to share real reviews - not just about the smaller software picture, but the larger impact found in how and why software is integrated and how it benefits people and business.

I'm pretty tired of tired reviews. They don't offer much worth reading and those sites that are great, don't get enough attention - I don't know why, but outside of the specific engineering groups around Microsoft Products like Exchange and ISA Server, there isn't a lot of play. I think that needs to change. Regular people need to know more about these products and how they integrate and what they mean - in the context that is most oriented toward them. After all, they are the ones likely to be making purchasing decisions about such products.

Let me know which products you'd like reviewed and why - I'd be interested in understanding what decisions and business challenges you're trying to address. That will help me pick which products to review.

I promise one thing: anything I review will be something we use ourselves and I'll share the how and why of it.

Cheers!

Lloyd

Perhaps too much has been written about the number and type of SKU's Microsoft released for Windows Vista - so why I am adding to the din now...

Many attempted to explain why the larger number of available SKU's was bad, or what one would be trading up or down, by selecting one version of Windows Vista over another. There were version lists; features tables and matrices, with little check boxes denoting what version came with what and for what price, but no one has addressed why the Windows Vista SKU lineup continues to frustrate and disappoint consumers, partners and OEM's. None of the major news outlets seemed to understand why one version of Vista over another was good, or bad, much less appropriate. Most professional bloggers stuck to the same old mantra about how confusing so many SKU's were - none reflected what was wrong with any one SKU, or the line.

There has to be one main reason, right?

From where I sit, all versions of Windows Vista are the same... every machine I build ships with one version, Ultimate. We are an Ultimate only shop. When we first began to build computers and networks featuring Windows Vista we started off using Vista Business where we thought it was appropriate, but we soon found ourselves reaching out for features that were not there and having to turn to third-party software solutions to fill in the blanks. That cost us money we had not planned on spending [better to hack us off, than anger a customer].

Very soon after, we adopted a policy of Windows Vista Ultimate ONLY. I think the reasons why we became a Vista Ultimate only shop may help people understand what to expect from Vista's different SKU's and drive many to the same conclusions we arrived at.

First off, the Windows Vista Home Premium SKU is fine - it is the only SKU that is consistent with Microsoft's previous marketing and product segmentation; however, it is entirely inappropriate for business - even very small businesses. Home Premium is what Windows XP Media Center Edition devolved to <eventually>. When first introduced, Windows XP Media Center Edition was a super-set of Windows XP Professional; domain join was possible, as was Remote Desktop, and all other business related features. Once Media Center was attached to Windows XP Home Edition, the SKU lost all that made it a candidate for small business people. Take note: Windows Vista Home Premium does have one big limitation and difference from its older XP cousin, it can no longer see domain resources at all - not only can it not join a domain [as designed] it cannot even see them - domain resources cannot be mapped from Home Premium at all.

Enough about the only version of Windows Vista that in terms of marketing, remains familiar and somewhat consistent with the past.

The real pooper in the Windows Vista lineup is the business edition. Sure, it can join domains, see network shares, and it supports group policies. All good - all terribly necessary and all just as boring to consumers as they ever were. Windows Vista Business is the dud of the bunch. You see, previously, Windows XP Professional was everything that Windows XP Home was - just a lot more, and the first great Media Centers were everything both Home and Professional were - the consumer got a lot, and partners and integrators had all they needed. The problem with Windows Vista's lineup and perhaps explaining its slower sales and rate of adoption, is just how bad the business version is. People are familiar with what they had. If they had XP Professional, they had it all - all that was in XP Home, plus all they needed for work. Now that is no longer the case.

Back to business...

As I said, we first tried to deploy Windows Vista Business and very quickly started taking calls from customers about what was missing... The biggest? "Where's the burn button?" <the small disk burning access button visible in Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Vista> - hint... it isn't there in Windows Vista Business. Doesn't seem like much, but when you have to deploy third party utilities to make up the difference, it can be and similarly, when customers have one expectation and they are met with a different reality, they get upset.

So very simply, Windows Vista Business editions are not like XP Professional - they do not have all that previous home editions had, plus all that business people need - they, like Home Premium, are less than they used to be.

Focus on that last line for a moment.... similarly marketed versions of Vista feature less than they used to?

Now, if I were ever to join the rank and file of my local Windows Vista Sux0r user group, it would be as a result of not how bad Vista is in general, but because of how bad Vista Business is. Windows Vista Business leaves a small business person and their Microsoft Partner with only one choice: Ultimate, and a lot more money that will have to be spent.

There are problems with Windows Vista - and they start with what the business edition isn't any longer and how much more one has to spend to get what they once had with greater clarity.

Few things are more important than community - family is one.

Neither is served well if where we live looks like ass <thanks, Shannon - I still love that phrase>.

We've been busy the last year or so, but we always have made time for charities and "community"

One community that I really respect and admire is the technology and news community over at ActiveWin - www.activewin.com

I liked their people - young men that "Do Stuff"

I like some of their regulars, TechLarry - a Navy Vet and a personality one can just tell is a decent man you'd welcome as a friend. Then there is Fritzly - he's got to be a good engineer and out-of-the-box thinker - always looking forward to what is next. There are guys there like mooresa and Parker - who are smart and consistent and determined.

All just members of a community.

To help that community - one of many virtual and real communities we support, we started and continue to develop for them. We don't charge any fees, because building community isn't about money - it's about caring for people around us.

I thought it was time we posted a few shots of what we have been up to for this community - where it matters a lot - the presentations layer. Below are just a few of the dozens of designs we worked on and the one I like the most. It is "sharp" and "clean" but dripping with subtle hints at what is underneath.

The site is fully end-user customizable. Each component is a small application unto itself and all run as an RIA, as well as "in" the browser. In fact, one can grab any one component and sling it around the desktop as fast as a bullet - it's fun to do and fun to watch - like a virtual tennis ball.

I'll share more on that and how we did it as we move to launch, but for now... let me know what you think of the designs.

In the context of Windows Vista, an "Asshat" is a person who steals the operating system, uses it illegally, never patches it - ever, and then complains about it endlessly and publicly.

There are of course, degrees of Asshat-edness, orders, if you will... I'll get to the order of the asshat in a moment...

Since Asshats steal Vista and do not pass Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validations, they never patch the operating system. Asshats never apply new drivers, or performance and reliability updates - they just ***, piss, moan, whine and complain about how poorly Windows Vista runs on the hardware they manage to scrape together.

Asshats vigorously attack Windows Vista in public forums and viciously assail any user of Vista who so much as likes the new operating system. Microsoft Partners are not business people in the minds of asshats, they are shills - mindlessly supporting Microsoft's domination of the world.

Typical Asshat behaviors include:

• Asshats hate
• Asshats lie
• Asshats cheat
• Asshats steal
• Asshats tolerate others that do as they do

An average asshat will declare anything coming from Microsoft as evil - all while they continue to use stolen copies of the company's software.

Be careful... some asshats are smart people - clever and they confuse by intent.

Many asshats have junior asshats as friends - lesser asshats within an order of asshats. Some asshats are clever enough to hide the true depth of their asshat-edness. These are especially dangerous as they appear harmless and they are very subtle - but asshats just the same.

Asshats come in many forms, but they are most often single Caucasian males with "members" that more closely resemble a child's thumb rather than anything of interest to a woman. Asshats have a great deal of time <because they rarely work> that they use to talk about how much they hate Windows Vista and Microsoft, Republicans, The United States, and its President, George W. Bush <you see, in the mind of an asshat, they are all the same, and all equally bad>. To an asshat a cigar is never just a cigar and shoes rarely have laces in them.

Asshats swear that Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista is the end all and should have shipped when the operating system first entered production - they'll steal a copy of Vista SP1, too, and then declare any law abiding user a liar who had been applying performance and reliability patches all along, and had a great Windows Vista experience. To an asshat, Microsoft Partners, OEM's and Systems Builders that design systems, sell legal copies of the operating system and work like mad to make a great Vista based computer, are all liars, sellouts and "Microbots."

Some asshats are uber clever - they host radio and podcast shows and very carefully select and place words along a path of leading questions - all designed to cast doubt on the value and benefits inherent to Windows Vista. Most asshats however, are just blunt instruments without much imagination, skill, or purpose.

To help people identify various types of asshats, I have prepared a list under the order of the asshat - my own opinion about what makes an asshat... well... an asshat...

The Order of the Asshat

Chief Asshats - they are masters of all above
General Asshats - these actively bomb Windows related forums with useless drivel
Stupid Asshats - forum trolls that could not write or spell their way out of a wet sack
Freaking Asshats - *Nix fanatics that run Windows, but claim to know and only use a Linuces distribution
Able Asshats - *nix fanatics that really do use a Linuces, or Unices, but steal restricted packages to run proprietary software designed to make their *nix machine about half as useful as a Windows PC
Apple Asshats - these guys actually believe that spotlight didn't suck and didn't come "after" Microsoft's Instant Search was demonstrated and Windows Search shipped years ahead of it.
OSS/FOSS Asshats - these guys don't really use open source software, and they don't know Microsoft is the best open source developer there is
Smarmy Asshats - these are oily little men that only view software from the limited perspective of the client computer - they ignore servers, services and related software
Blogging Asshats - these are pseudo journalists that installed Windows Vista long enough to *** about it
Convicted Asshats - these are special asshats that insist, that no matter the evidence presented, that no one can run Vista well at all

So there you have it - my description of what an Asshat is and what they do <not much at all>. Asshats are all over the web - you'll find them in every Windows forum and news site - all greased up and ready to take on the world.

You'll know when you come across an asshat - your skin will break out in a rash and the taste of vomit will be unmistakable in the back of your throat. Avoid them if you can; ignore them if at all possible, but if you can't, add your own asshat examples here.

Asshat encounters...it's enough to make a guy actually like WGA validations...

Selling a lifestyle that includes and uses personal computers, provides that computers are delivered as turn-key companions that are connected to a wide range of secure-only communications, personal and team productivity and entertainment services. Hardware as a Service [HasS] based computers are continually connected to proactive service, support and access to solutions which include specific solutions to business and personal information needs. HaaS based systems that underwrite a lifestyle that fully leverages digital technologies, sustain a connection between participants in such a lifestyle and those facilitating it - the computers and their networks simply provide the means, the points of access and the vehicles used. Windows Vista, and the ecosystem that Microsoft has built around it, provides the basis for building HaaS based computers. Apple doesn't and can't. Sun doesn't and can't. IBM doesn't and chose not to. Linux copies and may yet deliver the service.

I get asked a lot of questions and a lot of the questions I get asked are about how to grow a business where there is intense competition and little money available to communicate how a company's products and services are different. Marketing. It has a bad name and for the most part, it deserves it. So often marketing is used to share what might be, or should be rather than what is. Many companies are worried that a marketing campaign won't produce results and won't produce increased sales. Businesses are right to worry, but for the wrong reasons. The marketing isn't necessarily wrong, the products and services are. That's a tough bit of news for many companies to even begin to consider. To be fair, I asked myself the same questions about my own company and I embraced the answers about what we were doing and what follows below, is what we did to make a change - not only in our products, but across our entire approach to business in the technology sector.

Let's look at the personal computer as an example and not how to market it, but what to market - and that drives not the sale of computers, but the delivery and sale of hardware as a service [HaaS] - The Selling of a Lifestyle, which does result in the sale of computers.

For too long, the personal computer has been sold as an appliance and a commodity. The personal computer has been defined by its features, components and its price and none are apparently unique, compelling, or in any way personal. In so many cases, personal computers have evolved in negative ways - they have appeared to be less than secure - no matter what one does to secure them. They have devolved from intensely personal to intensely impersonal, ubiquitous appliances that frustrate as often as they serve.

For nearly as long, service in the context of the personal computer has been relegated to the lowest of priorities and treated as an event and cost that is best avoided and a necessary evil that leaves all involved with a bad taste in their mouths. Computer manufacturers have pushed service out and down to levels that rarely produce positive results - much less a well running computer.

Personal Computing is not about the machine - it is about the person!

The first thing we did was re-focus our attention on the person - the individual using the machine - the why of it and how they relate to others - be they people, or businesses and personal processes. We looked at every user we had. We looked at ourselves. We looked at what they did and what we did and we looked at what they needed and what caused them grief. We looked for all the friction - all the data points where there were collisions, slow-downs, and choke-points. Users, not competitor specifications, drove our products. We reasoned that if we extended the personal computer beyond its specifications and features, and into how it was used, integrated and sustained, that we'd end up producing a far better machine - regardless of what it looked like, or what features it had, or didn't.

By focusing on the person as both an individual and a member of not one, but many organizations and teams, we began to deliver not just computers, but intensely personal experiences - we had invited customers into a lifestyle where relevant information simply exists, or may be had in a few moments - we had brought customers into how we work and live. We had simply shared what we were doing and enjoying. This people centric focus opposite designing and building computers bought us time - time to develop new and more appealing products and new and more powerful services to connect them to. Profits and time were pumped back into not just systems, but the users who had joined us. The lifestyle we had invited customers into continued to grow in both richness and power. The results are computers that are companions and reflections of the people and lifestyles they are and lead. Personal computers are expressions, therefore - of the aspiring creature that owns and operates them.

People who use computers have things they want, but also things they do not want!

The lifestyle, enriched by Hardware as a Service [HaaS] has to be nearly as much about what it is not, as it is. People want email. People do not want SPAM. Period. People do want access to files. People do not want those files to be compromised or infested with mal-ware. Period. People want to freely exchange information and ideas. People do not want those ideas shared, or known to other than those of their own choosing. People want to be secure, but people do not want to feel caged, or limited or isolated. People want to feel as though they are accompanied - they do not want to feel dependent, or vulnerable.

Combining what computer users want and need with what they do not

Again, let's take a personal computer and to it we'll add what users want and take away from it what they do not want - then we'll deliver it and in the next segment, we'll define what one can do with it.

A personal computer nearly always ships with a mail client. End of story. The user is cast adrift and left to their own ends.

Let's take this one example and examine it as we deliver a HaaS based personal computer. We'll assume the computer owner is a member of a small company or organization of some kind.

A HaaS based personal computer has a mail client, too... BUT said mail client is securely connected to a hosted Exchange using Outlook Anywhere and sustains an RPC over HTTPS connection.

The user's system and email are delivered fully configured and ready for immediate use. All mail items, contacts, calendar items and tasks are exactly and fully migrated for them.

The user's email, contacts, calendar items, tasks and notes are always the same - no matter how many devices are connected and no matter where the user and said devices are located.

The user's email is always secure and only encrypted connections are ever allowed to its host network and servers.

The user's email is unlimited - no storage limits apply.

The user may have as many calendars and contacts as they wish and each of these is instantly synchronized with the user's phone.

The user's phone is set up for them and like its parent email, it is secure-only.

The user's mobile email is "Direct Push" enabled and arrives at the user's phone the moment it is received - no on and or off-line, or tethered sync'ing are ever required.

The user's mail account either never, or very rarely receives any SPAM messages at any time, and equally, the user rarely, if ever experiences a false positive.

All user anti-SPAM controls are granular and easy for the user to manage and apply personal settings.

All user email traffic is scanned and filtered for malicious traffic at least four times. No malicious traffic is allowed to reach the user's email account and or supporting systems.

After a period of approximately five (5) days, no SPAM is ever seen by the user - not even in default Junk E-Mail folders.

As new threats emerge, the user is required to take no action of any kind. Dedicated engineers and partners continually monitor and adjust systems in response to threats and threat trends.

Commercial Anti-Mal-Ware software is included with the delivered computer and is updated for the life of the computer [where EOL is assumed to be four full years from the date of purchase].

All mail items, calendars of unlimited numbers and contacts are continuously synchronized with online, secure-only Extranets.

The user, at a click, may connect and sustain a synchronized calendar created in Outlook, or an Extranet with the other.

Any calendar may be shared.

Any contacts list may be shared.

Custom Address Lists, [OL] and domains are supported.

Corresponding UCC SSL Certificates are supplied for the user and the company, or organization.

Any related document, and or document library may be shared with any other authorized user and users may be found from a common, searchable directory, which may be added to by the user.

The user's email is either, or may be [depending upon which phone system they use], fully integrated with Video, Voice and Data.

A secure-only Instant Messaging Client is included and provides immediate access to support engineers.

All of the user's email may be subject to whatever retention policies his company, or organization specifies.

All the user's email is backed up each day and may be recovered - this applies to any single item, or any group of them.

When the user needs assistance, the user may call one number and speak directly with the engineers who built the personal computer by hand and who built and support the servers delivering and sustaining mail.

The user may share the personal computer's desktop with remote engineers - regardless of network and without making adjustments to local or other firewalls.

The user may call any time of day or night and be cared for by the people who designed the computer - not some distant, or removed technician.

When the computer is delivered, the user is provided one on one training by the engineer that built and configured it.

Once deployed, the user is accompanied by the engineer throughout the life of the computer and the engineer, working with others, continues to support the user in the specific context of that user as they relate to their own needs and the needs of their company and or organization.

The above example illustrates only one HaaS based service attending a personal computer - electronic mail

As can be seen, there is quite a difference already, between a computer and a personal computer sold and supported with services baked into it - especially when the services exceed in performance and features a wide range of services users would otherwise have to find and perhaps configure on their own.

The value of a HaaS based computer is magnified when it is repeated. The value of people centric services based computers escalates dramatically when they are delivered in groups. Take a small business with twenty-five people and subject each of them to the HaaS model - benefits are immediate and profound. The value is even greater when one remembers that such a computer is sold with such services as part of its base price - there are no hidden costs.

Going beyond universal messaging

As compelling as messaging and related services are - as life and work-changing as they can be, they are not enough and they are only the beginning in a HaaS based personal computing model. Remember, we're building a personal computer that really does represent the a lifestyle - a digitally enhanced lifestyle.

A great many people would be more than happy with a personal computer delivered with the few services listed above. We weren't.

In the HaaS based computing model we began to sell, we added everything around the computer. We added the network, the managed network. We added backup and recovery services. We added applications development, integration and hosting. We added media and entertainment services. We added every single service one had asked for and then we added one more.

Deploying and Staying

So many personal computer companies hit and run. In a lifestyle company, one deploys and then stays - outside and out of sight - until they are called back into helpdo the next thing. What I mean by this is two-fold, remaining available and remaining aware. When one sells and builds products and services that support a lifestyle, one has to remain available at an instant and one has to remain aware of how businesses and people operate - how for example, a business earns its money.

So once the systems and tools are in place, the real work can begin. When technology companies and the engineers in them learn how people work and play, they can best devise solutions that support the users of their technologies. Those selling computers have to be there for their users and they have to learn how they make their money and how they spend their money. Each new need a customer has is a new opportunity - so HaaS based personal computers have to grow with the users of them.

There is a balance and it has to be maintained and often, HaaS based builders have to start slow, gain trust and respect and then be available. One can't push too hard and one does have to be simply supportive. By this I mean - leave the decision up to the user - unless the user asks you to make them.

Does Apple sell HaaS based computers?

No. Apple does market a lifestyle. If the goals were the same, Apple as a company would be judged to be smarter than mine. Apple wants users to love Apple. I want people to love the computers we make and I want the computers we make to give our users back enough time to love those that really do matter to them - their God, their families and their friends. One must say that as a marketing strategy, Apple's is amazing - it sells the perception of a lifestyle and it attaches enough service to its products to make it work. Apple's great marketing, selling the perception of a lifestyle, is brilliant and it is what is behind Apple's growth - not a bad Vista.

By the way, much of what I have written above is not possible on an Apple - the client OS, applications and tools do not exist and they cannot be scaled, or deployed easily and they cannot be managed centrally.

Vista the HaaS Versus The HaaS Not

Windows Vista and the vast ecosystem that Microsoft not only built, but shared with partners big and small [and tiny, like me], is what makes HaaS and the selling of a real lifestyle possible.

Ingredients List:

Windows Vista Ultimate
Microsoft Office 2007
Exchange 2007
Microsoft Office Communicator Client and Server
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server SharePoint Services
Microsoft SQL Server 2005
IIS 6
BrightStor ArcServe 11r
Expression Web
Visual Studio 2005
UCC SSL Certificate
Premium custom parts
Great customers
Even better team mates

Cheers!

Lloyd

UPDATED: 29 Jan, 2008

Woo Hoo! Microsoft has begun to produce some compelling material and media designed to educate business owners about the risks inherent to the use of illegal software. They have produced from very slick and informative animations designed to present different scenarios that regretfully, some businesses may find all too familiar.

My favorite so far is called: "Genuine Fact Files: Questionable Consultation" 

Quoted from the "Know The Facts" site is a descripton for the animation alerting businesses about deals that are "too good to be true..." I found it especially relevant to many situations we have to compete against. I am really glad to see this kind of marterial out there - it is tough enough competing and impossible to compete with thieves where so many decisions are based upon price.

See,

"Questionable Consultation illustrates the importance of understanding how your business can be adversely impacted by the questionable practices of outside consultants acting on your behalf. If a consultant’s solution sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t be duped by bad advice – be sure you understand the appropriate software and licensing solutions for your business."

It's about time Microsoft did this and helped all of us explain why it is not only right and proper to "keep it legal" but how much more value businesses realize as a result of simply doing the right thing.

I know from my own experience that business owners are more than happy to work with legit service providers selling Genuine and properly licensed software. Not one of them that I have encountered was aware of what was going on and they should - it is their responsibility to know and the time for excuses is at an end. 

Get Ready!

Balance is about to be restored to the force...

For over a year now, our industry press and bloggers have been trashing Windows Vista. Some have admitted being paid well to do so, and others have alluded to the reality that they have been offered a lot of money to disparage the new operating system.

That isn't the worst of it. Microsoft Partners, mostly smaller ones - that owe their businesses and livelihoods to Microsoft and the ecosystem that it built around its operating systems and servers, have been far worse. They have been busy trashing Vista, too and some have taken the lowest of low roads and stolen from Microsoft. Some have stolen the truth as well as property. Some have been hood-winking their customers and buying cheap PC's loaded with Windows Vista Basic, or Home Premium and ripping it off and installing less than legal copies of Windows XP Professional. These same partners have then charged the customer for the work - all the while declaring that they are "XP Only" shops, because Vista is "bad."

I've seen it with my own sad, tired eyes. I've heard it with my own ears and it makes me sick. Stealing is wrong, illegal and just as bad as lying - both are acts of thievery - one steals property and the other steals the truth.

Let me say this: "where I see it - the theft - I will act according to the rule of law." So fellow partners, where I move into markets and I can prove what I have written above, count on being called on it - count in being held to account. As necessary and with my own money, I will make our new customers legal and you can bet I will show them how to make Vista and Office 2007 a perfect part of their lives and businesses.

There is change coming and it is coming from business owners and regular people

We have a wide base of professional business users and in each of them we have been deploying Windows Vista Business and Ultimate since its business and general public launch. Windows Vista has been the most reliable and enjoyable operating system we have ever used and our customers have taken delight in using it - so much so, that they, just as we do, miss Vista each time we encounter XP, or any other OS.

Recently, we have moved into new markets - physically. In these new markets we found a mess. People, businesses and systems so under-served and so badly configured and maintained that people had lost faith in computers and digital communications entirely. We found a block of users unwilling to consider what technology can do for them and it took weeks of hard work to get them to even consider the possible benefits of modern, well maintained and integrated systems and software.

We started slowly. We followed through and followed up and in a short while began the slow, methodical march toward real productivity, security and promise - the promise that all things digital can and will deliver to businesses and people.

We built on our base of understanding - the understanding that comes from years of work and participation in the BETA and testing phases attending any new technology and the all too familiar work we invested in the years leading up to the launch of Windows Vista. For us, there were few surprises and for our customers, new and old, there were none. We made everything work.

Making everything work is the key and what a "partner" is supposed to do

Yes, of course there were and are challenges. Users need to be trained. Users need to understand how things work. That is no problem, but a huge opportunity - for the partner in us to earn our pay and earn the trust and respect of the new users we are serving. We do that. We follow up - we persist - we remain available and we train, teach, coach and encourage users to explore all the new operating system can do.

Users are the drivers

Success in this business is not just about decision makers and influence-rs. Success in IT/MIS services is about helping each user - regardless of the tasks at hand. When partners work hard to support every user in a business, they earn the trust and confidence of the user base.

New users of Windows Vista are delighted. When a partner, builder and integrator works alongside the users and delivers a finished product, Vista is allowed to shine and really demonstrate how much better it is. Our users, established and new, have each responded with delight at the new features, performance and capabilities available in the new OS. While they don't see it, I am sure they are happy with the increased security - and great security is transparent in exactly that way. Well prepared and deployed Vista systems do not present User Account Control [UAC] events to users - the systems are already fully configured.

Existing users of XP have had seven years to learn the ropes - are we at all surprised that alone, and on their own, Windows Vista would be a challenge to become as familiar to them? On one's own, of course any such change would be hard. However, with a well prepared partner at the side of the user and small business, Vista and the new Office 2007 suite can quickly emerge as being the truly better versions that they are. Windows Vista in particular, has so much power and baked in features that good partners are more important than ever.

When working with new customers that have never been fully supported, I have seen how disappointed they are that the truth and real benefits of using the new Windows have been concealed from them. Some are quite angry and want to know why the new operating system has been described as it has. I work to steer away from such things, and get the users back onto more positive tracks and get into what they can now do.

Vista Converts

Vista changes people. It changes how they think about a PC. When properly configured and supported, Vista and its users are free of a lot of the worry and concerns they once had. They stop worrying about mal-ware. They understand that "Protected Mode" in Internet Explorer and UAC will at least alert them to dangers they may encounter while working in the cloud.

Partners Matter

A lot of partners are hit and run experts, it seems. They sell and leave. Partners need to learn how to sell and stay - how to commit to the user and how to grow with them. Microsoft Partners have to learn that their users matter more than profits and that business success is a natural by-product generated by simply delivering great services and products.

Partners needed to have done all the hard work necessary to deliver the full advantage present in Windows Vista. Many didn't. Many did what was easy. Some did and do what is unthinkable - they stole. They stole the truth - from users and themselves.

The Revenge of Vista

Make no mistake about it. Great partners - big and small, are delivering great services and products based upon the new Windows and Office. The truth and reality is spreading and fast and people and businesses are ready for change - they are ready for what is next. Vista is next and those partners that have worked hard, told the truth and played by the rules are going to be the winners - right along with the users they support.

Vista isn't just good. Vista is great. It's fast, reliable and easy to use. Vista is sharp - it is so much sharper in appearance than other versions of Windows and OS X that the differences are striking. Sit an OS X user down - sit them down side by side with Vista on one had and OS X on the other - and do a few comparisons. They and you will see how cloudy and fuzzy OS X is and how crisp and sharp Windows Vista is. Show them how much clearer and better defined Vista's fonts are and how much brighter and faster Vista screens are. You and they will be surprised. Show them how much more sense the Windows Vista Explorer is as compared to OS X's "Finder" - do the same opposite XP and you'll quickly see why Vista is so much better.

When one does these few things, and takes the time to show what Vista is all about, it takes only a few minutes and the new Vista user turns on and begins to explore the new Windows. That's all it takes - just a few moments.

So get ready. Vista users are coming and in the hundreds of millions and they are going to have some tough questions for partners and our press. They are going to ask pointed questions about why it has taken so long for partners and the press to tell the truth - they are going to ask why people lied to them.

If you are a partner, be a good one. If you are a user, finding a good partner is easy - ask them what they run - if they are running Windows Vista Ultimate on a PC they built with their own hands, then that is the partner you want to work with. If they start to trash Vista and they don't know why it is better, or recommended, then move on - find a partner with a few cuts on his fingers - they'll be there because his hands will have been in a computer, or server case in the recent past and he'll keep a few nicks on his fingers as a result.

Windows Explorer in Windows Vista features a lot of enhancements over previous versions of the operating system. Among my favorites and one that I have found very useful, is the Preview Pane - a view available under the Organize menu option in the top tool bar of the Windows Vista Explorer. As with most menu options there is a small down arrow to the right of the selected tool. Clicking the down arrow exposes Layout Options - among these are the, Details Pane, the Preview Pane and the Navigation Pane.

The image below reflects the expansion of the Organize menu and the selection of the Preview Pane. The Preview Pane provides a scalable preview area to the right of the main file selection details pane. The Preview Pane is a great way to see a more detailed view of selected items and it works with pictures, documents and media files. A Windows Vista user may preview files without having to open the associated program like, Windows Photo Gallery, or Windows Media Player, or even Microsoft Office Word. I have scaled the Preview Pane in the pictured example to enlarge the preview area - clicking and dragging the vertical bar between panes allows one to size and scale the preview pane and using Vista's better support for all things visual, the selected image sizes and scales with it just as it does from the Views tool in the menu bar in Windows Explorer.

One way we use the Preview Pane is to select and organize images supporting the documentation of the software we build. The Preview Pane in Windows Vista makes this process very simple and fast.

Use the Organize tool along with the Views tool in Windows Vista to create the views that best suite the task being performed. User selections will be remembered and stored for each different area in Windows Explorer - so users may always organize and view content based upon the type that it is. These views may be saved along with saved searches, too and they can save a lot of time.

Ed Bott, in a discussion thread in response to one of his blog postings about "No more Vista whining, please" revealed something very troubling - Ed twice stated that he was offered and could make "Big Bucks" if he wrote articles trashing Windows Vista. Well no kidding, was my immediate response - and then I was horrified at my own reaction - I was horrified, because I wasn't surprised by what Ed revealed. I just accepted the idea that people really were willing to ignore facts, obfuscate the truth about the new operating system and all users and small business owners were to be damned - as people were paid to lie about and then trash [for money] an operating system central to the evolution of the ecosystem supporting ninety-plus percent of the computers used around the world. My own reaction made me sick - I used to stand up against such things based upon the worth of truth alone.

Are advertisers and special interests really willing and or actually paying journalists and bloggers to trash Windows Vista? If so, how does one find evidence of it? I guess these are questions worth asking and it is quite a story, if true. I thought about researching the matter and then I thought about it some more and decided that pursuing so much potentially negative energy would be a lot more costly personally than it would be worth. Instead what you are about to read came to mind.

Dealing with the Unrelenting, Unforgiving Man in the Mirror - he isn't going to go away!

We may as well make peace with the man in the mirror right now. Those that do will learn what it is to truly live without fear. Those that don't will continue to seek out and find targets to blame for everything that is wrong in their lives - no matter how big, or small. For now, let's just keep it simple and deal with something small... computers and the operating system that likely runs on it.

Far too often we spend a lot of time and energy blaming others and or something else for what does not work in our lives - including our personal computers. It's a sad trend and it's getting worse and easier to do. Any time we need support for our efforts to blame others, all we need do is turn to the web and we'll find plenty of others willing to do the same and share our justifications. When it comes to personal computers and Windows we all have plenty of company and lots of angry voices to help us blame Windows for all things troubling, or even mildly challenging about our computers. Very few of those thumping in to support our blame game ever turn us around and march us straight into the nearest mirror and rightfully say, "Dude, the real problem here is between the chair and the keyboard - kindly deal with this idiot, first!"

The problem isn't the person - the computer user in general. The problem is how we are responding to challenges. Instead of taking ownership and responsibility, we're very quick to look for and blame someone, or some thing else - these days it may as well be Windows Vista. After all, people are apparently being paid to trash it and assign it fault for all things troubling about computers.

It's not my fault...

I have an adult child that uses that phrase like a crack addict hits the pipe and it makes me want to vomit and split my own stomach [where did I go so wrong with that one?!?!?] "No, it may very well NOT BE your FAULT, but it for damn sure is likely to be your responsibility."

Responsibility and Ownership

Being successful is not the result of the application of some secret formula, or instances of blind luck. Success is a product - responsibility multiplied by the number of times one is willing to take ownership of challenges on behalf of themselves and others. It is high time people re-took responsibility and ownership of their role when operating a modern connected computer. It is long past any time when computer users could wear ignorance like some merit badge. It is time those blessed enough to be born into modern and technically developed societies come to regard computer literacy in the same light as they should general literacy - as an imperative life skill.

People and Cars - Cars and Computers

Take your car, and your average driver as an example... Nearly all of us drive everyday. We drive safely, for the most part and responsibly most of the time. We drive without thinking about the mechanics of it and that is how it must be - if we had to think about it, we'd be whacking into one another and a lot of other objects with a great deal more regularity. When a human drives a car they are fully engaged - processing a myriad of actions and information simultaneously. Each of a driver's limbs is in motion and independent of the motion of the other limbs. We're modulating the accelerator, brakes and signals independent of steering and the amazing stereo-optic binocular vision our creator provided each of us is constantly triangulating not only our own time, speed and distance, but that of many dozens of other objects - each in independent motion. Our other sense are not idle either. Our ears are tuned in to all around us and our sense of touch senses how hard we are on and need to brake just as capably as it senses how a car is turning, or how well balanced its wheels are. Our sense of smell alerts us of any potential dangers to man and or machine - the smell of oil, gasoline, exhaust, and even coolant - each can alert us in an instant if there is cause for concern or action. We may even engage our sense of taste as we add the consumption of beverages and snacks as we motor along [not a great idea, and not at all recommended, but we all do it]. These days we also talk on our phones [hoping they are hands free, but realistic enough to know many are not], and God forbid, some even text and send emails! If we stopped and thought about it for even a moment, we might even slow down a little - as we marvel at just how complex and involved driving is.

As amazing as driving is, and as casually as we all perform the function of driving, we seldom think about how we arrived at such a capable state. Let me refresh our memories... We learned to drive over many years and it began first by watching a great many others drive. We absorbed and learned to mimic the mechanics and art of driving long before we ever touched a wheel of our own. A little later on we sat in the laps of parents, brothers and sisters and other adults in our families - they let us steer as we slowly tooled around an empty lot, farm or early morning road empty of other cars. A bit later we drove little carts at amusement parks and our arms, legs, hands and eyes picked up on the mechanics of driving. We thrilled at all of it - we could sense the freedom under our fingers and we longed to hit the open road on our own. Next we entered formalized drivers training and we learned the rules of the road as well as how to drive technically and safely. We were awarded permits and under the careful eye of an adult, we practiced driving. Finally, we took off on our own - masters of the wheel... or so we thought. As young drivers we all bumped, scrapped and crashed into a lot more things and other cars than most are willing to admit and only after many years of driving and having to pay the price for our mistakes, did we start to really get it and operate our cars like responsible and seasoned members of a very large and growing club.

All the while we paid for insurance, tickets and maintenance and it all hurt and still does. Over time we embraced the reality that owning and driving a car was a big and costly responsibility and we learned the value of doing it right each and every time. When we had kids we came to understand the real importance of driving safely and defensively and our understanding of this only grew as our children grew and began to drive themselves. We became keenly sensitive to the use of our cars - especially when our kids did not care for them, or heaven forbid, wrecked them. We all paid and very sadly, too many paid, too much and they lost loved ones in terrible accidents. In the end, as much as we came to appreciate our need to drive, we embraced how amazing a privilege it really is.

In a car, we are trained, licensed, insured, policed, inspected and governed. We are free to drive to any place we wish, when we wish, but there are basic rules and laws we must adhere to if we are to remain safe and retain our privilege to drive. When we wreck a car, even the worst of them seem only to affect a very few and as horrible and tragic as the losses may be, they are most often distant enough from us, that we are tricked into assessing it can't ever involve us. When we operate a personal computer however, we are subject to nearly no laws - though our potential to harm millions is very real.

Cars and Driving - Perhaps the First "Liberating Technology"

The car changed us - it changed society as we know it. The car liberated us. We could work, learn, marry, live and die hundreds and thousands of miles distant from where we were born. I named my company, "Liberating Technologies" because I saw computer based technologies as being even more liberating - freeing people from the finite paths over which cars might travel between any two, or more points. As a technology, computers are the most liberating technology we now have - they are the cars we drive along an unending and ever changing network of invisible roads and with them we travel as fast as our minds will let us - rendering the speed of light to some lesser velocity.

Driving Computers - the most Liberating of Technologies

First, we have to get our heads around the idea that we drive our computers and by so doing, we are participants on a network of many highways which require that we exercise at least as much care for how we operate a computer as we do a car. Second, we have to stop blaming people and companies for what we experience while operating a computer of any kind and start taking ownership of the experience and responsibility for our actions and the less visible actions taken by our computers. We wouldn't dream of letting an un-trained child or young adult drive our cars and we shouldn't dream of letting a child drive a computer without the same controls, supervision and care we apply to the use of a car. It took us years to reduce the driving of a car to muscle memory and we have to accept that it will take time to master the use of connected computers. We have to commit to educating ourselves and those we are responsible for.

Once we have accepted the life-long responsibility of properly and safely operating a connected computer, then and only then may we effectively participate among others who have accepted the same. The socialization of the web is great, but we have to admit that it may also be lending a disproportionate share of voice to a highly vocal group of people that may not have earned their full right to that voice. Simply, many operators out there may have the technical skills to drive, but we must ask, do they have the wisdom to drive alongside others and do they have the experience necessary to formulate policies, or even influence those policies that have the potential to impact so many others. We have to condition ourselves and others to stop blaming others and start taking responsibility for how well, or not well, computers operate.

Like Cars, Computers are More Capable and Complex than Ever Before

Very few people are shade-tree mechanics any longer. For better and for worse, cars have become so sophisticated and so complex that even the most seasoned professional mechanics are now highly specialized and focused on areas of responsibility. Precious few people are experienced in all areas of how a car is built or works. In our own company, which is a full-service enterprise, we have specialists and no one person has all the capabilities our customers need. Collectively however, our teams do have the required aggregate experience and skill. The very same is true of a modern computer in the context of a user. So it is most important that computer users come to understand to whom they may turn when they need assistance - and they WILL NEED assistance. They may not necessarily need repairs right away, but computer users nearly always need help immediately.

Stop Blaming Windows and Vista

Blaming Windows, Vista and Microsoft my score a forum poster style points over at /. or earn a compliant blogger a few more dollars, but it isn't going to solve the challenges people face when learning and using a new operating system.

We have proved to ourselves, our customers and readers that Windows Vista can be made to run not just well, but perfectly. I have shared our work and experiences here. We know and have shown that with the application of normal levels of effort and care, that Windows Vista is capable of satisfying claims of being the most capable, secure and easiest to use version of Windows yet made. We know from our own use that Windows Vista is more than just capable and reliable, it is a joy to use - it's fast, beautiful to look at and things really are easy to find - be they applications, documents, or media of any type.

We also know how sophisticated Windows Vista is and that it took very hard work to design and manufacture computers and software that allow it to do what it does best. We know how hard we studied to learn and understand it from every perspective and how to optimize it for different roles.

We assess that computer users need to apply similar, but relevant efforts in learning the new operating system and the hardware they purchased, or purposed in support of Windows Vista.

The Parallels between Cars and Computers are nearly Endless but there are differences, too!

The most common parallel between computers and cars are the people that drive them - we humble human beings. We are fragile, complex little bi-peds with sharp teeth and sharper tongues. We have devolved in a lot of ways - we seem to delight in getting over on the other guy, or we fume in traffic and on the message boards. When it all heads south, we look for whom we might blame and blaming Microsoft and Windows Vista is as big, fat and attractive a target as they come - juicier and more available than Ford and Firestone - despite the fact that we never, ever check the air in our tires!

No one is immune from the blame game. Not me, not you and not well heeled techies the likes of Jim Louderback [no wonder PC MAG is on the ropes - the former senior editor wouldn't have made a decent PC Tech, much less a great computer engineer - not if you read his empty rant and take from it what I did...].

We've all done it. We've set down our responsibilities, picked up a big fluffy pillow and cried out load about how unfair it all is. We need to stop it.

Action is what is Required

This post is not enough by a long shot. We have to do more. I have to assume that people will read this and really want to learn more and take back ownership of what they do on and with a PC.

While we have always made ourselves available for COST FREE computer user training, we're taking it a step further and opening a school. We're offering our customers, their families, friends and colleagues, FREE access to training on Windows Vista, Office 2007, Exchange 2007, WSS 3.0, Windows Server 2003/2008 and all that may be done with and on them. Every other Saturday of every month, we will host people in our data center and simply share what and how we drive our PC's, networks and software. We have a full lab available and it includes all the systems, media systems, HDTV's and associated bits we all use every day. We're open and we're going to share and help people take back and own their computers and perhaps learn to face that guy in the mirror on our own terms in the process.

We hope you'll join us for the ride.

Outgoing PC Magazine editor Jim Louderback, trashed Windows Vista as he exited the magazine for his new role as the CEO of Revision3.

Thank God for Ed Bott's Microsoft Report, where he P0wned Jim and his lame assed parting shot at Vista.

There's more and sadly, less to it than that...

While Ed exposes many flaws in Jim's article, "Passing the Torch" he doesn't ask or offer reasons why the outgoing editor of PC Magazine wrote such an article, clearly contradicting himself and his earlier and consistent praise for the new Windows OS. To me it is pretty easy to understand why up to his departure for Revision3, Jim seemed to like the new OS. Jim is headed for Revision3 and a sea of young personalities that have made great sport of bashing the new OS - directly and indirectly. So for Jim Louderback, joining the Vista-Bashers is all about re-establishing street cred with his new flock. It's that simple - Jim can't be seen as pro-Vista, or even objective. Oh no, in his new role, Jim has to be against pretty much everything established - regardless of merit, or facts. Jim will have to be edgy and cool and ditch his friendly, approachable and irrepressible harmless self - you know, the one that endeared him to millions despite his often frenetic and scattered approach to many things technical. When Jim was Jim, he was fun, spontaneous and full of surprises and it was a blast to watch him step through his almost boyish presentation of anything new. Only when Jim was forced into a more sedate character and serious presenter did he seem to lose his way and timing that was as much comedic as it was technically accurate. Stuffed into the "Fresh Gear" confines, which seemed to choke him, Jim sucked, but on his own and on the floor of the Las Vegas convention center as a co-host of DL.TV's CES 2007 coverage, he was indeed fresh, and a lot of fun - no one could keep up and even the younger co-hosts seemed stiff and off-balance as wave after charming wave of Jim, the technical court jester, came crashing in. He was smart - very smart, but a lot of fun, too.

So what's the problem?

False motivations and weak attempts to establish some cred with the kids aside, Jim is headed for Revision3 as a leader and it's leadership that is what will be expected of him. Leadership demands that well..., one leads and they had better start doing that leading from the very first second their boot hits the ground first and ahead of anyone they are in front of. One does not establish a role as a leader of great people by parroting what they assess those people want to hear. If Revision3 is to fulfill its role as one of the main activities ushering in the new media, following isn't the way to get started. Whatever one's values are one has to remain true to them and if objectivity and a sense of reality are among those Jim is best known for, he'd have been better served sticking to them. Similarly, Jim is right and proper to respect his new charges, but absolutely foolish and utterly stupid to fear them - which is what I assess his most recent remarks bashing Windows Vista to be all about. Coming from "PC" Magazine of all places, he can't just nip the hand that fed him for so many years - oh no, in order to have cred these days Jim had to turn about and bite the damn thing off entirely - or so he seems to think, as I see it and as I interpret his parting piece.

Leaders Lead, Jim!

Your new colleagues needed a dose - a serious dose - of reality and humility. The better angle might have been to speak to how Windows Vista, like any very complex and powerful operating system, performs at its best coming from the hands of equally complex and powerful people - you know, the sometimes boring, but always professional engineers that deliver and support systems based upon the new Windows. I could go on, but I know I don't have to. If Jim does read this - which I doubt, I know he'll get the point on the first pass. The question is and perhaps Jim's greatest new challenge, will his younger colleagues at Revision3 get it and can he lead and teach them if they don't?

Anyone who supports people using computers pretty quickly realizes why the PC is so popular - it accommodates so many different types of uses, people and profiles, or the combination of human user and PC configurations - the variations are nearly endless. Supporting so many choices can be fun, but it can be challenging, too. Just as quickly support engineers come to understand that if a PC can be borked by a user it will be (that has to be on some kind of list some where...), and in ways that can be very creative.

There are days and then there are days...

Some days are easy - some are very hard and we've seen our share of both. We've seen unmanaged users contort a PC into such a mess that it almost appears that there is no way it couldn't have been done intentionally. Some home and SOHO PC's we come across are so jacked that as we scratch our heads we imagine teams of NASA engineers working overtime to create some kind of uber-final doomsday scenario as part of an advanced simulation designed to test system engineers. "How in the.... <trying not to shake one's head>" is a common reaction.

As fun as it is to imagine how some systems end up in the messy state we find them, it is even more fun to fix them and restore them and their users to full productivity. In most cases we run across, the cause behind a poorly running PC are many third-party applications plug-ins. Windows is very reliable and predictable and has been for a long time and so are many non-Microsoft applications people buy. I say, most... 

When good applications go bad...

Increasingly, we run across what we like to call, irreverent software - software that assumes things on behalf of users - who may not know what the software assumes is okay for it to suddenly take control of, or add to a user's computer. Irreverent software used to be largely restricted to down loadable free and or shareware titles - the ubiquitous Google tool bar is a prime example - it seems to be bundled with everything under the sun and enabled by default. These days irreverent software is everywhere - buy about any product and one is likely to see its default installation add a wad of undesired bits that were not clearly identified to the user blowing the application into their system. Google's not alone and it may not be the worst offender, but it is the most pervasive. Others include Yahoo, Real, iTunes stuffed into Quick-time installers and of course Microsoft - who often has to include and bundle irreverence in order to comply with one court or another.

Seasoned systems engineers have seen enough baked systems to know where to look and what to reverse in order to resolve PC issues.  They know that the Other TAB in Outlook 2003 options is where to go to find and clear Apple's iTune's plug-in [if you have the ITMS plugged into Outlook, you need help... just say'in]. They know which .DLL to register in order to fix an MS Office install on a system that can't upload multiple files to a Share-point document library. They've learned to reboot into Safe Mode with Networking before attempting to update DRM security components on a Vista PC [ http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/Indivsite/en/indivit.asp?force=1 ] as a solution to a cantankerous Zune, reflecting the nearly infamous 10114 error code. Sometimes however, even the saltiest of systems and support engineers get their backsides handed to them by a PC borked over by irreverent software.

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution...

When we come across a system that is running poorly and we can't quickly find the underlying reason, we reset Internet Explorer back to its defaults. We've noted that by doing this we can solve a large percentage of PC performance issues that touch on a very wide range of applications and systems components - everything from mail programs to media players can be affected. Fortunately, Internet Explorer 7 features as easy "RESET" button under the advanced TAB in IE's Properties. By pressing reset, all temp files and plug-ins are disabled - but... not in IE alone - they are also removed from programs like Outlook 2002/2003, etc...

Internet Explorer 7 Reset button

While one will have to add back the behaviors and plug-ins they do want, clicking IE 7's Reset is a good way to restore a great many things that may be too hard to find for less seasoned users and support engineers.

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!

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

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.