Lloyd Ketchum - YAB, "Yet Another Blog" : Opinion, Vista

Build the Perfect Windows Vista PC, Part 2: Design Considerations and Parts...Parts...Parts

admin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:34:00 GMT

In part 1 of this arc I presented a view of the discovery and requirements analysis process that goes into building a perfect PC - where learning how a PC was going to be used and by whom was the goal. That process drives context and provides not just information, but a clearer understanding of what would make a PC perfect for the user it is being built to serve. Think alignment - just as when one develops software and aligns business processes with how they are supported within enterprise processes in an application; when they are properly aligned an application is perfect. The same is true of a PC.

In part 2 we're going to take all we have learned during the discovery phase and bounce it off of the entire Windows ecosystem - the nearly endless selection of hardware and software available to every PC user and potentially, every builder. In this next step, we're going to design the perfect PC. We're going to continue the conversation with ourselves and our example customer and share the processes and thought we apply to make the perfect PC.

The first and obvious question many may have is what makes a PC perfect in the first place? At first blush that seems to be a) impossible and b) intractable - after all, what makes a PC perfect for one person could as easily make it a dreadful PC for the next. It's a great question to ask, and a PC built from within the Windows ecosystem means that there is no one prefect PC at all, but at the same time there are potentially billions of perfect PCs - one for each individual living on the planet. Similarly, many imperfect PC's may be made perfect with the addition of a few parts and new software. So in the case of the PC, building something that is perfect in the proper human context is as much about available selections and options as it is choice. Among competitors to the PC there are choices, but they are often constrained by the limited availability of options to select from and designs are constrained as a result. Regardless, perfect in the context of a PC still requires some definition. We define the PC's we build as perfect, when and because they are specifically built for the individuals that are going to use them and they are delivered and set up with all the software and settings that make them personal. A perfect PC addresses all design considerations while mitigating, or obviating compromises that may be necessary and inherent to user driven designs. So things like budget and pricing, while they are factors, are not treated in isolation, but are regarded and treated organically.

Fundamental Perfect PC Design Principles - there are only two:

Work from the software out - don't design a PC with x, y, or z specs inherent to a category, or a class of systems. Do the reverse and let your discovery determine what software will be needed and how it will be used and then spec the system to run that software as smoothly and consistently as glass. Remember, you're building the PC for yourself, or a customer you regard first and always as a colleague.

Design around the individual person and provide enough headroom to grow - that empty slot or bay in your design isn't a limitation or a missing feature, it's your friend and it represents actualized potential a year or two from the day the PC is delivered. Most importantly, view software running on a personal computer as a form of expression and an extension of the person using the computer. Go back to your discovery and this time, forget the PC. Look at the person and how and where they work. Is the room lighted and open, or dark? Is the room cold, hot, or something in between? How is the person dressed - warmly in a cool room, or lightly in a warm room? Are there fans in the room despite air-conditioning? Is the room nearly silent; what is the ambient noise like? Is there any media being played in the room - television, radio, or music of some kind? Does the user work alone in an office at home, or is their work area open and shared with other people and activities. Does the person appear to be fastidious - is everything around them dressed, squared off and tied down, or are they more relaxed and tolerant of some disorganization? These are the very human elements that must influence any design and they are more than observable and measurable characteristics. Collectively they can provide the look and feel elements that will emerge as objectives - that case you picked out looks cool, but will it look cool where it is going to be used?

Baseline Requirements:

Start at the top and most challenging requirements for you. Don't forget, you're part of every perfect PC. In part one of this arc we learned that our example customer wanted both a perfect 5.9 Windows Experience Index (WEI) rating as well as the ability to play Blu-ray movies at 1080P and achieve these goals as part of an engineering test for under $2,000.00 USD. One has to be candid with oneself, and assess what their own initial understanding of supporting protected high definition playback on a PC is - some self-study, education and experimentation may be required. Don't let that stop you and don't let your own limitations drive your designs - leverage the channel and the ecosystem around Windows Vista. Do be candid and as an example, clearly explain that Blu-ray is a newer and emerging capability on the PC and that while possible, it may not be entirely consistent, or it may require later modification and updates in order to support as yet to be released titles and features. Be candid about every aspect that you do not understand fully, or do not perform yourself, but do research and study the area and make the customer part of the process. They will respect you enormously for it and it will insulate you from any challenges they may face later on. As you resolve challenges, continue to make them a part of the process and always remember, what you are building is a personal PC - not an appliance.

Derived Requirements so far:

     An HDCP compliant protected video and audio path (the entire path)
     An HDCP compliant display (BD on a PC does have more strict compliance rules)
     At least DVI-D video out - if not HDMI out
     HD Audio
     A Blu-ray ROM Player
     CyberLink's Power DVD Ultra with HD patch (WinDVD 8 WILL NOT play Blu-ray movies)
     CyberLink HD/BD Advisor BETA test tool
     Windows Vista Home Premium, or Ultimate, or a modified Windows XP SP2

Consider the most resource intensive applications to be used - and remember, a massive rocket motor bolted to a brick does not controlled flight make. WEI of 5.9 and Blu-ray! Check! At first thought one would think that if one were to build around that requirement alone, that the PC would be pretty much capable of anything else... well... maybe, but maybe not. Again looking at the results of our example discovery we know that the user does a lot of video editing - but what kind? We also know that the user likes to experiment with graphically intense games and wants to push them to 1920 x 1080P at a minimum.

At this point we can see some holes in our discovery and we have to go back to the customer and find out a bit more about what kind of video editing needs to be supported. In discovery we determined that demonstration movies were made and many were in high definition, but what formats specifically would need to be required. One has to be prepared to ask more questions and do more research. In our example we're going to continue by pretending that we went back to the customer and ask about HD formats and we learned that both HD DVD for playback on any Vista PC was needed (which does not require an HD DVD player, by the way! - more on that in part three), but also AVCHD was required. Whoa Boy...! At this point it's probably good to point out that just like there are many ways to create an AVI file, there are many ways to create files using H.264 codecs - more specifically MPEG-4 AVC (H.264). AVCHD is only one of them, albeit a popular one with camcorder manufacturers. AVCHD is also very demanding on software and therefore hardware, and despite the controversy around the format, many affordable HD camcorders and software suites like Pinnacle Systems' Studio Ultimate version 11 make use of it. Preferences for ISO's and .MP4 aside, the example customer is a Pinnacle / Avid software user and that is what will drive the build. With support for AVCHD understood, we can assume, but ask and confirm that the example customer has at least one HD camcorder used to capture HD video in AVCHD format. A quick call or email can confirm this and also reveal that things like HD DV tape might be used - so we can understand that we are not dealing with just minutes of HD video, but hours worth of it potentially. The derived design continues below: *if you're interested in the more open and preferred H.264 decoder, look no further than CoreAVC (.MP4)*

Peak Requirements - HD gaming and HD Video:

     A multi-core CPU (Quad Core recommended)
     Large and fast hard disc drive (750 GB plus with a 32 MB cache buffer, NCQ, 3gs SATAII)
     Fast RAM and at least 2 GB of it (4 GB Preferred)
     Windows Vista Compliant

By looking at what software the customer uses and how they use it is the best way to design a PC that they will long regard as perfect.

A cursory review of the requirements we have derived so far are suggesting quite a PC. If budget were no object it would not be too hard to simply find the highest end parts that are compatible with one another and slap it together, but that's not the case; we're trying to satisfy the requirements and meet needs on a budget - and against the requirements emerging, it's going to be a tight one.

Given the need to support HD video editing and Blu-ray playback and still provide a smooth experience - where the PC can be used for personal productivity as it is being used to render HD video, there really are only two paths one can go down in terms of suitable processors; dual Core 2 CPU's in SMP or one Core 2 Quad. Alongside the budget and gaming requirements (we still have to get a great video card), which we have not yet addressed, the choice narrows to a single Core 2 Quad. Marrying that up with our analysis so far, and what we learned in discovery, we have to pick one and a motherboard that we can safely clock well above their rated spec and run them reliably opposite very high load. If one does not have a lot of experience building PC's a good bit of reading is going to be required. Similarly, one can find a small local enthusiast builder and pay them a visit. Very often high-end gamers will be found there and some good information can be had - but be careful... a lot of bad information and FUD can be circulated, too.

With what we have learned so far and again considering our budget with how far we have yet to go, there is only one processor in the market as of this writing that has the power, price point and over-clocking head room to meet all of our requirements and that is the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 stepping version with 8 MB of L2 Cache. Again, balancing performance and budget for the entire system, there is only one chipset available that meets the simultaneous demands for support of HD video editing, HD BD media playback and higher end gaming and that is the Intel X38 chipset. Yes, there is the X48, but we still have some ways to go and we'd be running out of dollars before we finished. Similarly, the X38 is a solid OC choice, works very well with the Q6600 and it supports HD/BD media as well as the BD-ROM burners within our spec and budget. Finally, as a combination, the X38 and Q6600 have so much head room for over-clocking that hitting our design goal and a WEI of 5.9 across the board is not only possible, it is all but assured. The Q6600 as will be shared in part 3, can be reliably clocked to 4 GHz (up from 2.4 GHz) per core on air alone. We're going to clock at a much safer and cooler (20 - 25C at idle and normal load) 3.46GHz.

Among the highest rated X38 based boards comes from ASUSTek and a great board is found in the P5E. The P5E costs less than some of the other ASUS X38 boards, but still retains most of the features and all of the potential of more costly products in the line. Again referring to our discovery, our example customer clearly does not want any form of wireless; so why provide for it. Similarly, and more importantly perhaps is not so much what the ASUS P5E has, but what it does not have... The P5E is devoid of older ports and technologies. There is no parallel port, no serial ports, no MIDI port, and only one IDE port. This is important, because the operating system and related resources will never have to be loaded for these ports and they are likely never to be required by our example user. Fewer resources, drivers and processes loaded for fewer ports means more resources for everything our build will need and less headache for the customer. The P5E also has support for all newer processors and RAM, with support for 45nm processors and DDR3 up to 1333. It's a solid choice with a lot of room for expansion.

Before we go any further, I have to provide the obligatory disclaimer about over-clocking and any advice or information about it. First, it is all provided "as is" and no warranty or guarantee of any kind is offered. If you don't know a lot about over-clocking a computer, even one designed for enthusiasts and gamers don't try it. If you're not an enthusiast and you don't build your own systems, then don't over-clock. If you're not prepared to lose the entire machine and have to start from scratch, do not over-clock. You have been warned and you and you alone are 100% responsible for your actions and the decisions you make. Not me, not my company and not any of the people that work in it.

Our design is coming along and even at stock speeds we could probably address most all of our example customer's requirements with the hardware we have selected so far - all but one; the WEI of a perfect 5.9. Without bumping performance for RAM and how fast it communicates across the BUS to the CPU, we'd probably see a WEI of 5.5, or 5.6 tops. We have to push the spec just a little and opting for DDR3 RAM would put the build way over budget. So we have to figure out a way to push the RAM (compatible RAM) without breaking the bank, or the memory itself. The best place to learn about RAM I have found is over at Corsair and their forums. Corsair, makers of some of our favorite memory products, maintains the "Ask The RAM Guy" forums. It doesn't take long in the forums to find the guys that know what they are doing and many of them will help any user all they can. Just be polite and humble and if you are new to performance computing, say so and the guys in the forum will pull out all stops to help you. To continue, 4 Gigabytes (4GB) of PC2-6400 DDR2-800 RAM can be had for as little as $84.00 USD. Not bad and Corsair's XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) kit is just what the doctor ordered. With 2 x 2GB matched modules and the P5E's four slots and capacity for 8 Gigabytes of dual-channel DDR2-800 clocked to match the CPU's FSB at 1066 MHz, one can be certain to nail the last WEI index at 5.9. Just a few notes to remember, the Corsair XMS2 4GB kit runs at 1.8v and it has fragile cooling fins - be careful when installing it and avoid lateral pressure which may separate the heat-sink from the memory modules.

Since we're already looking at 4 GB of RAM and potentially 8 GB, we're leaning toward a 64 bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate over 32 bit versions. We'll get a lot more into this in part 3 of this arc, but I wanted to share a quick look into that decision now. Go for it. In the year and two months since Vista's general release to the public, 64 bit computing has come a very long way. For the PC we're building here and many others, 64 bit is fully supported and most 32 bit applications will run under 64 bit just fine, thank you. The benefits associated with 64 bit computing go well beyond addressable memory space. 64 bit is far more secure and Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit is not only faster, it is more stable than its 32 bit little brother. Trust me... once you make the move, you will never want to go back to 32 bit computing. The drivers are all signed and stable and software may flake out, but it will never take your system with it. Finally, I have yet to find a piece of 32 bit based software that would not run on 64 bit versions of Vista. I know they are out there, I just have not seen them, or used them.

Where we are is where we're at... (I love Missouri and people from that state)

Let's see here, we've opted for Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600, ASUS's P5E and Corsair's XMS2 4 GB PC6400 DDR2-800 Memory Kit. We know we have a solid architecture and we're leaning toward 64 bit computing, but we still have some selections to make and a good bit of budget to work with. We know we need as much video card as possible, and a Blu-ray BD-ROM player. We also know we need to include a floppy disc drive, because the customer in our example still uses one to produce bootable floppy discs for other systems. Before we start hunting for a suitable video card it's best that we take a look back at our customer and what we learned in discovery. We know we have to over-clock the CPU at least a little - so stock cooling is probably not going to work. We can however, make up the costs of the after-market cooler by selecting an OEM version of our processor. We're not going to need the stock cooler and we for darn certain aren't going to ugly up our case with any of Intel's stickers. The only label going on our case will be the operating system OEM license decal.

In our example, we visited our customer and observed how he works. While there it was noted that not just one, but two fans were turning slowly; just enough to move some air and make a pleasant whoosh sound that dampened ambient noise in the room and cut the silence, so to speak... We also learned that our example customer likes it cool - cold even, by most standards. Both the home office and corporate offices were cooler than what has been observed elsewhere. When asked, the customer offered that "white-noise" was essential and it helped drown out, or dampen other sounds.

Hmmm.... ok. So long as we keep any noise generated by the new perfect PC at a lower frequency, we're going to be good to go - if we resort to high-speed fans we're not going to make the customer happy and no matter how well the PC performs, any high pitched, or high frequency sound will kill the experience and our PC will be any but perfect. Let's set aside our hunt for a video card for the moment and take advantage of what we learned about our customer. Time to ask a few more questions...

We created a series of sounds - fan sounds to be exact; small recordings we could easily email. We named them 1, 2 and 3. Simple enough. We asked which of the three sounds was appealing (if any). In the first sample we sampled a system with Q-Fan Controls enabled and a system under different loads. In theory it's cool, but it's annoying, or can be... Our example customer thought so too and the words "I HATE NUMBER 1" were in all caps! (we hate it, too). In sample 2 we offered a low hum, which the customer called, "Meh" (it was a fan-less water-cooled rig). In sample three, the Goldie Locks sample, we offered a dead consistent low-frequency whoosh. The customer responded just as our fair haired girl did with, "that's just right..." In sample three we chose Antec's Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case. The Antec Nine Hundred uses three 12cm fans and one 20cm fan that are standard and can be set to turn very slowly. The Nine Hundred is nearly entirely open with a mesh front and side panel and slotted rear panel. Its top is wide open with large pores above the 20cm fan. It's large enough for about any combination of components and wide enough for a large after-market cooler. The Nine Hundred is also an easy build and it has some nice touches that make it a real pleasure to build around - top-front mounted I/O ports and a padded shelf for things like USB Keys and memory sticks or an MP3 player. Most importantly to our customer and our design, the Nine Hundred is cool, consistently quiet in a low-frequency noise kind of way and it is an over-clocker's dream - plenty of room and buckets of cool air to play with.

The Antec Nine Hundred does not come with a power supply and candidly, we don't want it to. Very rarely do cases come with suitable power supply units and we prefer to order our own. Some mainstream systems and cases do come with good power supply units, but our build is unique and it has unique requirements. Before we get into what kind of power supply to buy, we need to pick our video card. We know that we're going to need a great one and its characteristics will influence the power supply we choose (more on that in a moment).

Video oh Video where art thou?

We know we have some tough requirements to address with video. 1080P, Blu-ray, HDCP compliance, HD video editing, HD gaming. We also know that within budget and against SLi limitations imposed by our main board selection, we're looking at either a single higher end Nvidia graphics card, or a Cross-Fire solution from AMD. Once again however, we have to let the software drive and many games are designed to perform best when mated with Nividia's line of products. Similarly, Nvidia supports HD/BD with their True HD Video software and they make proven HDCP compliant graphics cards where tools may be used to confirm compliance before money is spent and a build is finalized. Finally, Nvidia seems to have had more success in leveraging the WDDM driver model and their drivers for Vista x64 have been both more consistent in terms of release schedules and performance. Frankly, I don't know that we'd use an AMD graphics card at this point if we were given one for free and most candidly, we miss ATi (let's hope AMD pulls it out and hammers back at both Nvidia and Intel - we'd love to see it, but for now, we're voting with our game playing ~~wallets~~ feet).

Selecting the right Nvidia graphics card is not as easy at it might seem. There are a lot of choices and making the wrong one can produce very bad results. Worse, our requirements collectively rule out mid-range cards and mid-range SLi solutions, but at the same time, they demand very high performance. As with our CPU, Main Board and RAM, we're going to have to find a solution that either is, or can be clocked above spec if we're going to deliver on our promise of a perfect PC.

All too often people select components based upon performance alone. That's fine, but there is a side to the story that matters almost as much - warranty and service. Now, as we've stated, we need a video card that is going to run above spec. It makes sense to work with a manufacturer that will warrant their over-clocked cards for life. Fortunately there is just such a company, BFG Technologies. BFG makes great cards. They OC many of them out of the box, but most importantly, they stand behind the buyer and support their products with a life-time warranty. That tells me a great deal about how confident they are about their engineering. It matters and it is only part of why I give them my business. While we do use other cards from other manufacturers, we have seen BFG make good on their promise to support their cards for as long as the original owner has possession of the card. BFG is no slacker when it comes to performance either and the card we have selected is both more affordable, and very powerful. For this perfect PC we chose the BFG NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX OC^TM 768MB PCI Express® graphics card. The card comes standard with 768 MB of GDDR3 RAM, 128 stream processors and Core and Shader Clocks of 600 MHZ and 1400 MHz respectively. While not an SLi solution, BGF's 8800 GTX will still haul the mail and even in Crysis at 1920 x 1080P with all settings pegged at Very High, will still pull close to 40 FPS. Not stellar, but about as good as anyone is getting with Crysis using DX10. (Be sure to use the Crysis 1.2 patch alongside Nvidia's March 6th, 2008 BETA driver, Rev. 169.44). BGF also supports HDCP, and the other requirements we have discovered.

Power... we need more power...

Video card in hand, we have to look back at our power supply unit. The BFG 8800 GTX requires two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, so we want to get a PSU with two dedicated power plugs - one each dedicated to each of the 6-pin PCIe connectors on the card. Too few builders pay enough attention to clean power as I see it. Video cards, processors and most especially RAM and chipsets require tightly regulated and consistent power. Every component we have chosen so far is either sensitive to power or provides for it better than mainstream components. Our power supply selection will be no different and it has to be not just good, it has to be perfect. To some extent our case selection helps, the Antec Nine Hundred is a dream of a case and its PSU bay is located in the lower rear of the case. This helps both cooling and weight distribution - making the PC less top heavy. It also makes routing power cables cleaner, but a bit more work opposite an ATX form factor.

Buying the right power supply isn't easy. Available marketing is of little help and many manufacturers use a lot of tricky language that is accurate, but does not reflect real-world use. Many advertise peak power, rather than the continuous power delivered by a PSU. A good way to start is to use a power calculator that helps determine the total power one will need. eXtreme Outer Vision has a tool available that helps enthusiasts keep the guess work down. We already know that we want to use two dedicated 6-pin PCIe connectors for our card, but there is more to study and consider. AANET has a great online tool that is free and it really helps people understand what their real-world power and UPS requirements will be. I'd use it at a minimum and then do a lot of reading before making a selection - remember, take your time and really learn what is involved. After exhaustive study, tests, calculations and more than a bit of online shopping, I selected the Antec Quattro TPQ-850 ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply 100 - 240 V PSU for this perfect PC. The 850 can deliver its full rated power (24 hours a day rated at 50ºC) for up to 100,000 hours.

We don't have far to go and we can start our build... Next up, storage.

To RAID, or not to RAID... that is the question here. Let's think about that for a moment. We're about out of cash. We're using tons of RAM in relative terms. We're using a 64 bit OS, so 768 MB of video RAM won't debit from system RAM available to Windows Vista and we have to support video editing, so raw I/O is going to be important - particularly at the 3.67 MB/second that AVCHD will require. So RAID 1 mirroring is out before we begin and buying four drives to support RAID 0+1 would put the build over budget, or force compromises where we don't want them. So we're looking at a single large drive. We know we need high throughput, 3gs and performance features like Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and a large Cache Buffer (32 MB). Specs in hand it is not hard to find the drive we are looking for, Seagate's Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s. Seagate has both a good reputation and strong support policies - Five (5) years. Not bad. The OEM price is right, too and 750 GB is a good start. We can always add more storage later, and as always, a network based backup will be a must.

Cool cooling - saving some of the best for last.

We know we have to pick a CPU cooler that is going to support possibly very high over-clock settings. We're using an OEM Intel Core 2 Quad, so we can't skimp on the cooler we use. This decision is going to be perhaps our most critical choice for this build and if we choose poorly, we're going to fail. Anyone who builds custom performance PC's has to face that reality. Choose the wrong part and you're done. Pick a piss poor cooler and you may as well buy two processors up front, because chances are you're going to bake one of them. In picking a cooler think Bimetallic (two metals) one to radiate heat quickly (aluminum) and one to conduct it quickly (copper) the thermal transfer works like a pump and pushes heat away from the source (your CPU) and into a cooler's fins where they are exposed to accelerated air. The path has to be as short as possible - from the source to the points of dissipation (now you know why Intel uses short, fat stock coolers). There is a ratio, so larger coolers also work well - provided they have enough surface area in relation to the length of travel. Zalman gets this ratio right in some coolers, but not all. For this perfect PC I chose the Zalman CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler. It's massive, has a very large quiet fan and a mirror smooth heat-sink face. It has a slug of aluminum in its base and short heat-pipes feeding a large radiator. On socket 775 boards for Intel, the 9700 is properly oriented and most rear case fans work with the cooler's own fan to draw even more air through the cooler and out of the case. In part 3 of this arc we'll examine a good bit about this cooler and how to get the most from it. For now, know up front that the 9700 can keep a Core 2 Quad clocked at 3.4 GHz per core at a very cool 21 - 27C under normal use and under 40C under peak sustained load. Beyond that, the 9700 looks really nice - see the image below:

Cooling paste... never too much!

While the Zalman does come with thermal grease in a slick paint-brush jar, I don't use it. As stated, cooling is going to be critical and the best proven combination we have found comes by way of Zalman coolers and Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (Provided it is applied properly - in part 3, I will show you how to do this).

Blu-ray Blues...No BD burner, but playback is great

Our example customer wanted Blu-ray HD movie playback capability and in support of that we selected a competent BD-ROM optical drive from Pioneer. This is the one component that was nearly entirely selected based upon price, because the BD spec is still evolving (slowly) and frankly, we expect BD drive prices to drop quickly - just as they did with CD and DVD R/RW etc... Of all the components in this build, the BD-ROM player / DVD writer combo will probably be upgraded first. Despite cost considerations, we're still excited about BD support in the build. Without question, HD movies in Blu-ray format look incredible and we're glad our example customer presented the requirement. For this build I selected the Pioneer Black 12X DVD+R 6X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 12X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 12X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 32X CD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Blu-Ray DVD-ROM and 12X DVD±R DVD Burner - in OEM trim, since we would be using CyberLink's DVD Ultra for BD playback and many other free burning tools for other purposes.

Media Reader and Floppy Disc Combo... an oldie, but a goodie

One last little bit and some help from HP, our media card reader and floppy disc drive combo. Nothing really special, but certainly a welcome combo and in a funny way, a good place to end the presentation of our design consideration process... all the way back to a very old technology that seems a little out of place in an otherwise very modern build. I kind of like that and the inclusion of a floppy drive is not only useful, it is kind of cool. So as not to throw it too far back, I chose a combo drive with a baked in media reader that runs on a USB 2.0 header - the floppy is old school and uses the all too familiar ribbon cable (red toward the power folks!). A five year old HP PC was and still is the source for the media icons and REG Keys that we still modify and add to Windows Builds. The custom color images are mapped to their appropriate keys and back to the I/O BUS and Port on the reader. It's better than the default drive icons used and far easier to find with media drive to click on. For more on the drive I chose, look here.

Operating System

I chose Windows Vista Ultimate x64 bit for this build. 64 bit computing has evolved a great deal since Microsoft released Vista. Without question, 64 bit versions of Windows are far more secure and feature Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), which randomizes where system files load at each system restart. A memory offset, which is always the same in 32 bit versions of the OS, is randomly set when the system starts. As a result of this one change, nearly all remote exploits will fail to run as there is no easy way for attackers to know where any one 64 bit Windows Vista computer will have loaded system files. When coupled with NX bit execution protection, Hardware and software DEP, or Data Execution Protection, remote code exploits against Windows Vista x64 will be very hard to execute. Vista x64's enhanced security alone is enough of a reason to select it over any other operating system available.

Parts List Summary and Pricing (all prices are in USD and include shipping)

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case.....................................98.00
Antec Quattro 850 Watt PSU........................................................199.00
ASUS P5E X38 Main Board..........................................................220.00
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0.........................................................245.00
Corsair XMS2 2 x 2GB PC6400 DDR2-PC800 RAM Kit.....................84.00
Zalman 9700 LED Cooler................................................................58.00
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound.....................................................6.00
BFG 8800 GTX OC2 786 MB Video Card........................................410.00
Pioneer BDC Blu-ray Player and Combination DVD / CDRW Burner..220.00
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750 GB HDD.................160.00
Rosewill RCR-FD200 Combination floppy drive and media reader........30.00
Windows Vista Ultimate x64 OEM.................................................190.00
PowerDVD Ultra Upgrade................................................................79.00

Total.........................................................................................1,999.00

In part 3 of this arc we'll go into how this perfect PC was built and configured. We're not going to spend a lot of time on the usual images and lame instructions showing people how to install a video card. Most online guides, while they mean well, really don't offer much. Instead we're going to focus on the often overlooked details that few guides touch on.

Build the Perfect Windows Vista PC, Part 1: Discovery and Requirements

admin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:05:00 GMT

BBAMF64 - Big, Bold, Agile, and Massively Fun

What, you thought that a four-letter word for intercourse wasn't "talk"?

I thought I'd share a small arc about what it is to build not just a computer, but the perfect PC. A lot of IT professionals and computer enthusiasts build their own computers and there are a lot of build guides out there. Repeating less well what others have done is not what I want to try and do. My goals are going to be different and I'm going to share a lot of really fine detail that others most often leave out.

I'm going to begin where I think enthusiasts should start and that is in determining what would make a PC perfect. Obviously what makes a PC perfect to me may differ from what makes a PC perfect for someone else - so what I want to start with is how an enthusiast might develop requirements that help formulate objectives that translate into design considerations that ultimately drive what component parts to source and assemble. This is the same Requirements Analysis and Needs Assessment process we expose customers to and in this form, the process is executed as an interview - a conversation with oneself. Rather than simply source the hottest parts and assess various QVL lists to see which components are compatible with one another and bounce that off of price lists according to what is cheapest, requirements analysis helps enthusiasts understand their own needs better and offers a better chance to achieve success and produce a system that not only satisfies objectives, but delights the user for years to come.

At the beginning of this process I share a saying with customers: "Anyone can put a big enough engine on a brick and make it fly, but that does not mean it's controlled-flight" Most simply, throwing an unlimited budget at any project doesn't guarantee success and it doesn't necessarily produce a perfect PC, or even one computer that is "smooth." Regardless of other requirements and needs, a perfect PC is smooth and by that I mean the computer always responds to user input instantly and it does so parallel to all else the user is doing. It is much like bridge building where different designs are used for different purposes and how the bridge is used determines what kind of bridge is built. Regardless of type, moving across the bridge within its design limitations is always the same and certainly never scary, or fraught with unexpected events. No matter what other requirements emerge, building a computer that is smooth is always at the top of the list and best reflects a balance that is often hardest to achieve alongside other needs.

When I sat down as I had many times before and began the analysis of my own requirements, one stood out above all others: I wanted to build a computer for under two-thousand dollars (USD) that met and or exceeded the Windows Experience Index (WEI) of 5.9 - presently the highest rating possible for a Windows Vista based computer. Before I go further, I want to stress that price was not so much of a consideration as my initial requirements might suggest. The real goal was to see if it would be possible to build a PC that met my performance requirements with a WEI of 5.9, but achieve that goal within a specific budget - more of an engineering challenge than it would be any reflection of a cost / performance ratio. I wanted many enthusiasts to be able to adapt the design and achieve the same performance rating.

As one can see from the image below, the objective was met and it was met under budget and without sacrificing system stability. (in parts 2 and 3 I'll share how it was designed, built, configured and why selections were made)

Since the computer I would be replacing was nearly seven years old (running Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit with a WEI of 3.6), the only way to properly look at costs would be to assess what the PC cost me each day. Amortized over the number of years I would likely use the machine, the actual daily costs associated with even a very high-end PC are quite low. While I certainly don't expect to keep the new computer as my primary home workstation for quite as long, I do assess that keeping it as my primary home system for four years without any hardware upgrades would be reasonable (the same standard and period applied to the computer it would replace). Some quick math: two grand over four years works out to 1.37 cents (US) a day. Cheaper than a 20 oz. bottle of Coca-Cola Cherry Zero, or one very bad cup of coffee. Since I would be transferring most of my software licenses, less the operating system, which I included in the cost analysis, the new computer would be a great bargain.

With the basics out of the way, it was time to begin to ask myself some questions. I've presented them below as I would ask them of any customer, colleague or friend. I've provided only a few basic answers, which are designed to help enthusiasts begin to visualize the process and I have intentionally seeded answers with elements that reflect some of my own needs. One thing to remember, let the subject talk - let them explain their responses if they choose. In the same light, give yourself time to evaluate your own answers and write them down to review them later. As you explore your own requirements and learn of customers' requirements use the experience to help you. Importantly, ask seemingly unrelated questions; like, what are your favorite colors?. It can help identify and reveal some surprising considerations and help you formulate design constraints when the inevitable process of deciding what to compromise on begins. Remember, the goal is to align requirements, needs, and desires with capabilities and most often, tight budgets without sacrificing the smooth factor at the head of any design. Don't be afraid to ask customers questions they may not understand fully - they create opportunities to help explore what people might use a computer for that they may not have considered. Treat yourself the same way and then research and study answers to your own questions.

Requirements Analysis Survey

In your own words, what do you use a computer for?

High Definition video editing, Green and Blue Screen keying and post processing, Personal Productivity within complex Office documents, Outlook Anywhere (which is always open), IM, which includes Office Communicator, Video and Voice Conferencing, Server and Client OS Virtualization, Remote Access, Print Server Services, Media Sharing, Web Development, SharePoint Development and Administration, Experimentation and Testing, IIS, High Definition Media Playback (Blu-Ray), Gaming and Game Testing. Research and Legal Expert Witness Testimony, Relatively light web-surfing, Demonstration Media Capture and Editing (Video Screen Captures), network drawings, PowerPoint Presentations.

What software are you currently using?

Windows Vista Ultimate, MS Office 2007 Ultimate, Visual Studio 2005, Expression Web, Expression Blend, SharePoint Designer, Visio 2007, SQL Server 2005 Express, Virtual PC 2007, Serious Magic Ultra 2, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate, Ovation, Smart Sounds, Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra, Camtasia Studio 5, TechSmith SnagIt 8, Fluke Networks.

What peripherals do you currently have connected to your computer?

HP Photosmart 3210 all-in-one Series Network Printer, Microsoft Habu Mouse, Microsoft Reclusa Keyboard, Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision SE, Klipsch ProMedia Speakers.

Since your computer is a workstation and you do not travel with it, are there ever any instances when you do transport it?

No, that would be impractical; it is too heavy.

Are you an avid gamer, or a casual gamer?

That is hard to answer easily. I love games and gamers and I think they are an innovative and driving force in our industry, so I run and test virtually every popular PC game, but I am not good at playing many of them. I do like shooters and MS Flight Simulator and do well in such games, but I need a joystick and a mouse and keyboard, because I could never get used to controllers like those used on consoles. I really try and test to the fullest all popular games and I am especially interested in playing DX10 games at 1920 x 1080P.

Do you enjoy and listen to music?

No. Not at all. It hurts my head and I find very little of it tolerable. I do maintain Zune software on my computer for some of my kids and I help them manage their music collections. The Zune II has been perfect for that.

Do you have and make many digital photos?

No, but many others in my family do. I haven't, because stuffing, or having a camera stuffed in one's face seems to take away a lot from any situation, so it is just not something I have picked up. I do have a great deal of HD video footage, but it is almost all work related.

Do you edit video frequently?

Yes, at least weekly and especially screen captures I use to help customers. It just became easier to record how things were done and share small videos with customers rather than write long emails and conduct longer voice mails. While remote PC access is used and possible, I found that customers really were interested in how things work and they wanted a means to learn. Capturing and sending edited how-to videos became very important and enabled me to do that easily. Customers love it and Camtasia studio has been a great tool for that.

Do you socialize on the web?

Not really. I like face to face exchanges for that. We do use IM for corporate communications via Office Communicator and I do use Live Messenger for chats with distant friends. I also contribute to a few message boards and forums, but that participation is more professional than it is social. I do blog, but that is more about building a help library for people and a reference of articles I can use in support of customers. I've looked at all the social network sites and find all of them a boring waste of time.

Do you like to read?

Yes, I read every day - many hours a day - six or more.

Where do you use your computer?

I have a home office, which is more of a home activity center. Many of my family members use computers in a large media room nearby. I sit at a large wooden desk surrounded by bookshelves overlooking the length of the room which is intentionally darkened so input devices are lighted.

Do you use more than one computer?

Yes, I use nine to eleven computers throughout the day and have one or more near me most of the time. Many are very small and discrete. Others are specifically configured to mirror what different customers use which is important when assisting them over the phone when I am away from our centers and offices.

Since you use many computers, why is one, perhaps more powerful computer, important to you?

As a technology business owner, I learned quickly that one was never entirely away from work and I need a computer that can handle many tasks at once, but since nearly all of my documents and data are stored in our servers at our offices, it is easier to synchronize things among all of them. For example, we have our own Exchange Servers and SharePoint Servers, so Outlook is always the same no matter what computer I am on. The same is true of my documents and screen captures.

You mentioned Exchange and Outlook, how important is messaging and email to you?

Like many people, I live in my email client and it is open on multiple computers throughout the day - so as I move around it all stays sync'd up and I have access to important communications.

Do you have a mobile phone and do you use mobile email?

Yes, I use Windows Mobile 6 on the Motorola Q 9m and Exchange ActiveSync to manage mobile email, contacts, calendar items and tasks. It is configured for Direct-Push email and it is one of the most important tools I have. I have it sync'd up with our company SUV's via Bluetooth, which makes things both safer and far easier on the road.

Do you have a portable media player?

Yes, I have a Zune II that I use for podcasts I like. I use it in our trucks on long drives throughout our market. It is a great way to consume industry and related educational content.

You have a Zune, but are you aware that the Zune does not currently have support for audible books?

Yes, but audible books are not reading to me, so that was not a factor. I know many people like audible books I'm just not one of them. While I read online, I prefer the feel of a book - there is something about how a book feels and how it smells that adds to the experience of reading. Just as with radio as opposed to television, reading a book is a different and more personal experience.

If you had to make a choice and you could choose only one, which would you choose, television or radio?

Definitely radio. One can create a far more vivid image in one's mind than they can hope to see on television.

Given your answer above, do you like movies and do you consume HD movie content and if so, by what methods?

Oh my, yes. We have a large movie collection - not series so much, but feature films. We have many HD DVD's and a stand-alone HD DVD player, that is of course now of less value due to Blu-Ray's win in the format war. We also have a PS3 for Blu-Ray movie playback and selected it, because it is the only BD player with network connectivity that we could find and as the Blu-Ray specification evolves, we wanted to make sure we could move with it. We have several hundred SD DVD's and the Toshiba HD DVD player is ideal for up-converting those titles. We also have Xbox 360 and we use the marketplace to rent HD movies that we aren't sure we want to buy and add to our collection. We also have four HD receivers in our home. One of them is a PVR-DVR where we store a lot of our HD favorites. Perhaps oddly, the sound is often muted unless we are watching a film. It's hard to beat some of the natural science and travel HD programs visually.

Given what appears to be something of a passion for HD content, is HD / Blu-Ray playback important to you in your new computer?

Yes, but more to see if BD playback can be achieved technically and prove to be as reliable and easy to use as a stand-alone player.

You mentioned BD play-back being easy and as easy as using a stand-alone player. Is it important to you that you be able to switch your computer on and off as easily and quickly?

Yes, definitely! Not only that, but I want my computer to be as green as possible and I want it to sip power when it is not needed. I want it to turn on and off as easily as a television and I want it to idle down quickly and use little to no power when not in use.

Do you use head phones at any time?

Yes, a few times a week - when I need to concentrate on weekends and many people are present, I use a set of Bose noise-cancelling on ear headphones to temper ambient noise. I also use them so as not to disturb others when they are playing games, etc...

Do you like air-conditioning and fans?

Are you, kidding? YES! We live in Alabama and aside from four or five minutes in fall and spring, the rest of the year is very hot and humid. I also like the sound of a fan turning at slow speed, but not the high-pitched whine of small fans - more like white-noise, which helps soften other sounds. It helps me concentrate and relax at the same time.

Where you use your computer, do you have carpeting or some other type of flooring?

We have wood floors, but there are area carpets in some places.

Is there a lot of dust where you live?

Yes, we have many trees and there is a lot of natural dust in the air.

Are you sensitive to light and sounds?

Yes, to both. I prefer darkened rooms and low frequency sounds - any higher pitched sound is annoying.

Do you like a lot of bass in movies you watch?

No. Some is okay, but any over-driven amount is not acceptable.

Do you have, or have you considered using dual monitors?

I have been using dual monitors since the 70's when some terminals had dual green screens and on PC's for nearly ten years - since it was first supported in Windows 98. I've always had and advocated the use of dual screens, but recently, with the advent of lower cost large flat panels, that may change for me in certain cases - not all, but in some. Regardless, I want multiple displays as an option - at least two.

In your home network do you have wired and or wireless?

We have both, but I only use wireless where I don't have access to a wire. I would never use wireless on my primary workstation.

Do you have, or use any legacy devices like serial and or parallel devices?

No, not in a long time, BUT I still use a floppy drive and like having that option, because in some cases (fewer these days) updating firmware is easier if one can boot from a floppy disc. While none of our machines at home would require this, customer owned systems might and being able to produce the right kind of disk is still necessary for me ( and I dislike the clutter of external drives ).

Speaking of external drives, do you have one, or do you plan to use one for any purpose, like backups?

No. External drives have some uses, but not in my home. They have not proven to be very reliable and I don't like the added clutter. For backups I use internal drives and drives throughout our wired network. I am interested in deploying a Windows Home Server, but only after they create a suitable x64 bit client for Windows Vista. Right now Windows Home Server only supports 32 bit based systems.

What are your favorite colors?

Black and green and certain shades of blue.

What are your least favorite colors?

Red and white.

Do you like to build your own computers, or have them built for you?

I like to build them with my Son, Chris and most especially when we work with Corey - another of our engineers. We've been building systems with one another for a very long time and it is always a welcome event when we are able to build one for one or the other. We build a lot of machines for customers and they are great designs, but when we build with and for one another, it is a totally different process. The flow of ideas is great and it's just a good time.

With so many computers at home how is any of them personal and why invest in a personal computer?

A personal computer is the most intensely personal device a man has. A PC houses so much of what is important to a person and like a fine car, an enthusiasts rig is an expression of the person. Few objects carry that kind of personal attachment. This is especially relevant to IT/MIS professionals. Frankly, one of the interview questions we ask of prospective hires is what kind of PC they use. If they say they run a Dell, or an HP, chances are that they won't be a good fit with us. If however, the hire goes into great detail about his or her rig and recounts every component in it, then they are most likely to be a good candidate to work with us.

With build-to-order companies out there, like Dell, why not just order a custom computer from one of them; why build your own, or work with a custom builder?

There are many reasons why. Dell and others like them can make great machines and they do. They can offer them for a lot less than a small custom builder can in many cases; however, when you call Dell, or HP who are you to them really? Do they know you and what you do? Do they understand your requirements? NO! They don't. When one needs support, or repairs, what then? Out-sourced tech-support? Not for me and not for many people. I want to be able to call the man that built my computer with his bare hands - in my case that will be myself and my sons and I have their numbers saved in my phone. The point is, the things that matter most aren't being delivered by the large OEM's. Also, with a custom builder I know that I'll get a complete system up front - all the services and software will be baked in and I'll have a complete turn-key solution. The large OEM's aren't in that business. We are and other custom builders and solid industry partners are. Finally, there is the element of control and having an open platform. I can build, or buy from a custom builder a system that can easily be added to, and modified to suite changing needs. Four years from now when I am looking for an upgrade, I want to be able to go out to the entire community - and not just the OEM I bought the PC from. The bottom line is that I want it to be a personal computer - not an appliance.

Do you sit or stand when you work on your computer?

Both. I stand a lot and think better when I move around.

Do you remotely access your computer and if yes, how?

Yes. I use the Remote Desktop Protocol and the Microsoft Terminal Services Advanced Client 6.x

What do you like most about computers and the idea of new more powerful computer?

The potential for doing so much good with them.

What do you dislike most about moving to a new computer?

Setting up all the very fine details that make my computer personal and missing my old rig. Despite its age and slower pace, it has been a loyal and dependable companion. Weird as it may sound, I will miss the original BBAMF quite a lot. A lot of people who care for me helped me build her and keep her running well. I intend to keep her safely stored as a keepsake - after all, she helped me build a company and care for my family.

Armed with the answers to the questions above, it's time to begin the analysis and start the process of designing the perfect PC. Requirements Analysis is hard work. No one requirement can be treated in isolation and dependencies have to be identified. Two things stand out right away and based upon the example requirements and survey responses, it is clear that an HDCP capable machine is going to be required and against the budget allocated, it also means that a capable processor will likely have to be over-clocked to haul the mail. That means that stock air cooling is out and an airy case is going to be a certainty.

In part 2 of this arc I'll present the design considerations based upon the answers provided and the share how the research was conducted. I'll also share the parts list, costs and factors driving the build.

In part 3 I'll discuss the build and share specific settings used to pull the system up from a respectable mid 5's WEI to its rock solid and perfect 5.9

Until then, all I can say is that the new rig, "BBAMF64" is everything I designed it to be and while we have thrown enough money at other builds to match its performance, none of them comes close to how this new computer feels under the mouse and keyboard.

Cheers!

Lloyd

@Chris, "Thanks for the inspiration, Son!"

Vista, It is what it is...

admin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:54:00 GMT

Next to, "You today, me tomorrow..." it is what it is has to be my favorite saying.

Windows Vista is what it is... and while it is just an operating system, it is at the center of a pretty important ecosystem and relevant to nearly all of us working in the technology industry.

Explanations are often simple... we often cannot change things, but we can respond to them in productive ways - it is a choice and choosing to find the best in all things and all people isn't a bad one. Embracing things for what they are, and making the very best of them, can be a lot more productive than looking for faults. You today, me tomorrow... - you may need my help today and I will gladly give it, because sure as day follows night, I will need your help in the morning. I tell every member of my family and teams at work (they really are one in the same) to always seek out the best in all people and all things, because if one looks for faults, one is 100% certain to find them - if one looks for the best, they are likely to find that, too - most especially in themselves.

I take some flak for not being more frequently critical of Windows Vista. The time for that is past and, as a Microsoft Partner, any misgivings I had for the new OS were appropriately delivered when the operating system was in testing - they were many, and they were sharply delivered. On occasion, my criticisms weren't especially helpful or even professional and from time to time, they were best characterized as a mad rant. On other occasions they were productive and delivered in appropriate and perhaps helpful ways. I've been in this industry for much longer than many seasoned IT/MIS professionals have been alive and I knew Windows Vista was in for a rough ride in a following sea. I'm old enough to know more than operating systems; I know our industry and more than a thing or two about communications, media and business as they relate to technology. I knew that collectively, many aspects of our society and industry were going to line up and bash the ever loving crap out of Windows Vista. I'll get to why in a moment...

As Vista shipped and rapidly matured, our roles changed - evaluations ended and work would begin. Work to design, test and deploy computers and networks that delight customers and run Windows Vista, and work to make sure that customers remain delighted, productive and safer while on-line. As a partner, not just of Microsoft's, but of an industry, it is our responsibility to act like one and deliver on our end. It's easy to take that the wrong way - to be labeled, and branded with hot irons as a mere shill. That isn't appropriate and the word "partner" needs to be considered - what it means and what it means to be a good one. First, partnering is about fairness, honesty, integrity and objectivity. Partnering is also about being loyal to those one partners with. Entering into a partnership is not easy and should not be taken lightly. It isn't about seeking unfair advantage, or cutting and running when things aren't going as well as they might be. Being a good partner demands that one embrace the full weight of their responsibility and seek out and implement solutions. Being a good partner is also about being good in a storm and working with what you have as opposed to what you want. Above all else, being a good partner is about being consistent. So when a new operating system ships, a good partner learns it - its strengths, its weaknesses and the many ways to shape it to suite one's customers. In that spirit and opposite all the companies and governments with which we partner, we apply our best efforts. While on occasion we do not see the same effort in return, in most cases we see those we partner with treat us with equal respect, objectivity and loyalty. We are consistent about that and as such companies are consistent with us and our collective customers benefit and trust us with their business. That is the simple math attending what it is to be a partner - of Microsoft's or of any other company.

Working with Windows Vista is and has been no different. Vista, like any operating system, takes effort - consistent effort and a continuous pursuit of excellence. Vista, like any operating system, is no panacea, but it is a platform that certainly can be discovered and managed with reasonable effort - and certainly it requires no more effort than any version of Windows before it. I expected other partners and industry experts to continue to embrace similar interpretations of what it is to work in our industry.

What I did not expect is that a large percentage of on-line experts and technology pundits would prove to be as subjective as they have been. Objectivity, testing, discovery and problem solving don't sell well these days. "Snark" does. Take Michael J. Miller, - very accomplished, equally objective and most experienced. He doesn't write for PC Magazine any longer. Why? He's objective, thorough, thoughtful and accurate - one would think he'd be doing amazingly well in the tech journalism space... But wait..he's not snarky; doesn't look snarky and he couldn't pull off cool if his backside were immersed in liquid nitrogen. He doesn't fit the modern mold and what now passes for journalism. Mr. Miller is one other thing in my opinion, he's morally courageous - rather than jump on Snarky's Machine, he got off and now heads up technology strategy at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm.

In Snark Infested Waters, one can't solve problems, or build things that actually work well. In the land and day of the Snark, it's illegal to use even simple tools to diagnose and resolve computer problems. If you do, you're a shill, or worse, a liar and a fraud. Thousands of Microsoft Partners build terrific Windows Vista computers - nearly 130 million at last count. A big percentage of those computers run really well and the people that use them will probably never read a computer magazine - much less a blog like this. The computers we build run really well - not because we love computers, but because we really do care about the people that use the computers we build. And yes, we do love some of our customers - as friends, brothers and close colleagues often do. We also love to work with computers and at least one of my boys wishes he was directly jacked into them (some days I think he is - he's that good)

Building great experiences based on Windows Vista is not hard to do. While it requires effort, that effort is not especially great, or unreasonable - if it were, we could not afford to do it and the objective side of what it is to be a partner would have to communicate that we could not do it. Are there challenges faced when building a Vista based computer? You bet! Are the challenges really tough? No! They are in fact, fewer and less problematic than they are with previous versions of Windows and a lot less challenging than those inherent to non-Windows operating systems. (I gotta ask... how many Linux based computers have you built this year? ...That are really used by real people? How many? - I'd bet I have built and shipped more than any tech pundit I have written about. (how many kids have you taught to install and configure Linux as well as Windows Vista? How many?)).

Snarking for a living - does any of us really think Jim Louderback could configure a Linuces if he couldn't solve his problems with Windows Vista?

It has become so bad that one can't offer solutions - not unless they require a Snarkel to breathe... Let's say rather than speak objectively about Windows Vista and share solutions we discover for that which challenges it and based upon a positive perspective, instead and for ad dollars, I stated what is not true - and that I hated it... but here's how to fix it... sort of... (I'd be an article over at Maximum PC?). Well... I'd be lying. I like the new version of Windows. Do I like everything about it? Nope. Do I like more about it than I don't like about it? Absolutely!

What don't I like about Vista? Well... a lot, actually... I am used to placing the Network icon on the desktop and right-clicking it to get to adapter properties. In Vista we all know such things are found much deeper in the UI. Ok and I understand that a) adjusting network settings is a lot easier for end users of Vista, b) one does not very often adjust network adapter properties and c) in enterprise environments these are managed for users, or at least pre-set... I get that, but I still miss how quickly I could get to them in previous versions of Windows.

What I like about Vista is Instant Search and that saves me and many users a lot more time than having readier access to the adapter and its property sheet. Staying positive can be easy and produce good results - by example, type Network into Vista's instant search box and you'll note that the third return at the top is for the Network Sharing Center - offering a lot more than simple access to adapter properties.

So perhaps Vista isn't bad...? it's different... it is what it is...

Snarks are, too... To me the modern Snark is best exemplified by Mr. Chris Pirillo. He seems to have found new relevance in a sea of Snarks by emulating them and gaining the attention of and ad dollars from sponsors that are also competitors of Microsoft's and therefore Vista. Chris wants us to believe that a move from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2007 on Vista is somehow more traumatic and unacceptable than a complete move to a new platform (OS X). He adds to this difficult to grasp logic by comparing (favorably) features and behaviors in Apple's mail.app to Outlook 2000?!? - without ever running Outlook 2007... all while simply saying, "Outlook" Huh?!? (Which version, Chris and in which configuration? Outlook Anywhere? Outlook 2000 as a POP3 Client? Yeah, I thought so...)

Chris continues to confuse at least me, by venting buckets of spleen over an HP Printer / Scanner that I'd guess is at least as old as his preferred version of Outlook (1999/2000??) which proved to be unsupported by Windows Vista... and by some means, in the land and sea of the Snark, a new printer is more costly than a new Mac Pro with dual quad core processors and 16 GB of fully buffered RAM?!?!? What?!?

But wait... as Chirs sorta, kinda, revealed... his sponsors helped him acquire that new $5,000.00 Mac Pro and all that RAM.

Ok, no problem at all. Chris can do what he likes by whatever means he likes... and so can I.

I have a couple of problems with Chris Pirillo opposite not his move, but how it was couched. He's a "tech expert" and surely he could have run the Windows Update Advisor before choosing to move to Windows Vista and discovering his software and hardware were unsupported? Certainly he could have. He could have disclosed the results of his discovery and if the advisor had misinformed him, then he would have had a legitimate reason to hold Vista and Microsoft to task. As an expert to the many people who trust him, Chris could have and should have simply presented the facts, but he didn't, or worse, couldn't because, may be, perhaps... he's not really a PC expert at all? I think he is an expert, and that troubles me.

So either Chris is an expert, or he's not. Regardless, I wish him success. If he's not an expert, cool. He's just a nice kid that's found his voice and an audience to share it with. Fine. As I see it, if he is an expert, then he's got some issues that go well beyond the mild OCD and ADD he shares with his viewers... he's got some integrity issues that should cost him and plenty. If, as an expert Chris and many like him, intentionally shape the truth for personal gain and ad dollars from Microsoft's competitors, then we have to start to ask a lot more questions and in a lot of different ways. If Chris, like Mr. Miller, was losing traction and relevance in the modern world of the Snark, we have to ask what the real motivations were for his recent move. Unlike Mr. Miller, Chris seems to have taken a different and in my opinion, less than honorable route. Was it simply a matter of money and relevance, or was it that he simply did not like Vista? The later is fine, and so is the former - so long as Chris is candid about it. Choice and candor are always respected. BS and most especially, Snarky BS are not.

It's really simple... dislike Vista all you want. Scream from the mountain tops that you hate it. But the second one leverages a position of trust to present less than accurate information in order to gain favor and ad dollars from competitors of the product being bashed, then that is where I find real trouble and real reasons to be concerned.

It's fine and good to compete - with Microsoft most especially - just do it openly and candidly and even if you think that Microsoft abused its dominant position in the market, that never justifies dumping your own integrity. Multiple wrongs don't make things right and injustices aren't mitigated by any one sense of justice.

To me, people are jumping naked into Snark Infested Waters, because there's money in it.

Gritty Nits - Fix Internet Explorer 7 Crashes in Vista

admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:19:00 GMT

A lot of you may have seen Internet Explorer crash "Internet Explorer has stopped working" when closing the browser in Windows Vista. It happens all too often and while it no longer takes the operating system out with it, it is still annoying.

There are a lot of reasons why Internet Explorer will do this, but one we have found that really stands out is Adobe's Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX [COM Client] control. Seven (7) of ten (10) IE 7 crashes I have personally seen, are related to the Flash Player plug-in.

A lot of users may see messages advising them to re-install the Flash player and many take this advice - but they don't see any relief and the plug-in continues to un-plug IE.

Fortunately, Adobe has published a less well known Flash Player removal tool and procedure that users should use and follow BEFORE they re-install the plug-in.

Please reference Adobe's Support Site, which states: (be sure to follow all instructions and take note of the files Adobe's uninstaller cannot remove)

"How to uninstall the Adobe Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX control"

Due to recent enhancements to the Adobe Flash Player installers, you can now remove the player only by using the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller. To remove Flash Player, simply download and run the appropriate uninstaller for your system using the steps below.

Download the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller:
- Windows: uninstall_flash_player.exe (162 KB) (updated 12/3/07)
  Note: If you have a Windows Flash Player uninstaller downloaded prior to December 3, 2007 on your desktop, then please delete it and download the latest version.
- Mac OS X: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg (278 KB) (updated 12/3/07)
- Mac OS 8.x, 9.x: uninstall_flash_player.hqx (33 KB)
Save the file to your system, choosing a location where you can find it (for example, your desktop). Macintosh users may need to open or unstuff the .hqx file.
Quit ALL running applications, including all Internet Explorer or other browser windows, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, or other Messengers. Check the Windows system tray carefully to make certain no applications which might possibly use Flash Player are still in memory.
Run the uninstaller. This will remove Adobe Flash Player from all browsers on the system.

Note: The uninstaller cannot remove files currently in use.

If you have any instances of the player open in your web browsers, instant messaging clients, stand-alone SWFs, or projectors, then the uninstaller will complete but some files may not be deleted. If this occurs, then close all of your applications and run the uninstaller again to ensure that all files are removed.

Note: Internet Explorer users may have to reboot to clear all uninstalled Flash Player ActiveX control files. If you're not certain, select the "Show Details" button in the Flash Player uninstaller. If there are any log lines that begin with "Delete on Reboot..." then you'll need to reboot BEFORE running the Flash Player installer again.

After running Adobe's tool and following their procedure for removing left over files, we restart the computer and reinstall the Adobe Flash Player plug-in and IE 7 on Vista runs much more reliably. Of course many other plug-ins can cause IE to crash, but since Flash is so common on so many websites, it is much more likely to be encountered.

What's Wrong With Windows? Why Live Matters...

admin — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:31:00 GMT

"People don't want a waitress and a cook - people want a chef that is also a nutritionist!" - Windows Live may well be all of these...

Technically there isn't much wrong with Windows at all - it's a great operating system and it underwrites an ecosystem so vast that literally no one can speak to all of it. That makes for some tough choices for people and the potential for confusion and real customer dissatisfaction exists with greater frequency.

In very real ways, Windows provides for too many choices and too many options for people to manage well without assistance of some kind. I remember returning to the United States some years ago and visiting an average grocery store. I needed a few simple sundries is all... What a mess! I walked around in some kind of odd, stunned state of disbelief for the better part of an hour. The choices were so many and so numerous, that it was quite difficult to choose from among them. I looked for the familiar, but could not find the items I was used to from among the sea of products displayed in every category. It didn't matter what it was I searched for, either - simple stuff, like toothpaste became a quest for understanding - anything! I was miserable, laughable and pathetic. I stood back; I leaned in; I read and re-read... and read some more. "Extra" "Super" "Super Ooper Duper Extra" - where in the world is regular? I gave up and called my wife. Celestial mechanics and system components I can handle, shopping for soap...? I was done. The choices were too many. In many ways, that is what a Windows user faces when they step up to buy a personal computer and all that attends it.

As computers became commoditized and more appliance like, dollars that were available to support their personalization evaporated quicker than a cold beer at an Auburn -v Alabama game. Great sales associates became very scarce - their employers just weren't going to pay them a living wage, because our demand for cheap was just too great. The computer and related accessories shopping experience went from tough to downright miserable... and so went the user experience.

Worse... as the socialization of the web permeated even the best of sites with the best of intentions, any real help for users in public forums disintegrated into a juvenile exchange of insults and one-ups-man-ship. Useless quips and one-liners replaced thoughtful help and mature exchanges between people in need and those trying to offer effective assistance. These days few helpful user posts survive even a few hours before they are lost in the wake of those motoring around in one hate-boat after another. So much of what the personal computing experience could be, is simply lost, or never discovered and it's damn sad - for regular users.

Windows and its ecosystem aren't the real problem. Bellying up to the massive food-bar that the ecosystem presents sure can be. The Windows ecosystem is so vast and so diverse that for many users it is like being wheeled up to a global buffet blindfolded and told to begin eating. Once the blindfold is removed, the regular computer user is left to interpret the warm gray hairy thing in front of them - only later to realize from some distance that what they are being asked to bite into is an elephant - a really big one! Many users are left to ponder what to do next and there are few good sources to help them along the way. Microsoft Partners and large OEM's are there to some extent, but the pressures they face economically, have severely restricted their ability to support users in meaningful ways. Closing off the ecosystem would be a disaster and that isn't an option - I mean, the idea that "it all just works" is usually true only when the what of what works is defined by someone else [as Apple does] and that just isn't personal - it's one man's idea of what personal is.

Small builders could be the answer, but like our own company, we just can't handle the volume needed to address all concerns and frankly, small builders and integrators don't want to address all concerns.

So what is one to do?

Windows Live may be the answer to a lot of the challenges I have addressed above. Live, not so much for what it currently is, but for what it could be, might just be the binder that users are looking for - connecting them to the larger Windows ecosystem in ways that haven't even been thought of.

What Google and Apple do not seem to appreciate as well as Microsoft does...

I'm a betting man, but I don't gamble. [true of a lot of business owners]. I bet the proverbial farm all the time. So far, we've kept the farm and kept it growing. I'm betting that Microsoft and Windows Live will continue to extend the Live platform to developers - along with appropriate tools and solid API's specifically designed to help partners and users push the Windows platform beyond the desktop and themselves, and open it up for initiatives and people of every skill level and need. This process is already off to a great start over at Windows Live Dev and I assess it will only get better - a lot better and really quickly. A cursory glance at the service API's reveals that a whole lot of work has and is being done by the Live team. See the Live Web Services Poster.

I always said that the most exciting and important thing about Windows Vista was not to be found among its features, but by how it was developed and what people would do with it - obviously, the most exciting things and greatest innovations will come from developers building for the platform - be they from Microsoft, or elsewhere in its ecosystem.

From what I see and have used, it is more than clear to me that Live is the glue that will bind users with developers in ways never before possible. It is equally clear that very soon, nearly all personal computer users will be developers themselves - self-service applications tools aside, regular users will author great applications and mash-ups with tools and utilities added by the tens of thousands.

I am betting that Windows Live Web Services and all the devs that use the service API's will be what advances not just the personal computing platform and Windows, but the billion-plus users that work and play on it each and every day. The platform some of us understand <sort of...> and all of us know as Windows, is really in its very first few days of life. It will grow in size and scope beyond what even the most visionary can now imagine.

When I think of all the press around Google and Apple and I look at the platform side by side with Windows Live Web Services and their API's, I laugh - out loud. How can they all always get it so wrong and one man and one company always get it so right...?

Trust me on one thing: what we think Windows is, is hardly the beginning. It's currently just a compass, where what it will become one day will seem much more like a military grade GPS.

If this is the world that Bill Gates saw from the beginning, he's got to be one very underestimated man and scary smart in ways that even smart people can't fully comprehend.

The Case FOR and AGAINST Windows Vista

admin — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:01:00 GMT

Did you ever wish you were wrong? I mean, really wrong?

When BETA 2 for Windows ~~Longhorn~~ Vista shipped, I installed it as I had many previous development and testing versions of the new operating system. I wrote, and crazily so, that Vista was going to be a monumental flop in terms of how it was perceived by people. Many people who know me well, thought I was way over the top - being dramatic, even... I wrote about how Vista was going to be perceived (very badly) and misunderstood and largely ignored. I worried terribly that the fall-out on all of us that build and support computers and the software that runs on them, would be profound.

Boy, I wish I were wrong.

A little under a year after the general public release of Windows Vista, and despite unprecedented improvement and driver coverage, Windows Vista is indeed perceived as bad. That doesn't just suck for Microsoft - it sucks for Microsoft partners (a little), and it really sucks for users of Windows (there is so much users are missing when they don't run Vista). There is the reality of Windows Vista that is (GREAT) and what the perception about its performance and value is (TERRIBLE).

In June of 2006 I wrote (blabbered, really) about how horrid the end user experience was going to be under Windows Vista - not because the operating system was BAD, or looked BAD, but because so much had been scattered to hell and back. I also wrote about how many people were going to expect to be able to run Vista on hardware that they had upgraded from Windows 98 SE, or Windows Me to Windows XP, and how that simply was not going to work well. Worse, so much of what makes Windows Vista not just good, but GREAT and truly INNOVATIVE, is completely transparent to end users, or so technically oriented, it just isn't appealing for users to read about - see, Top Ten Things I Love About Windows Vista

Recently, I think I found why Windows Vista has really had a tough time of it in the technical perception department and it is pretty clear to me, what is really wrong with the lineup that is Windows Vista, and it has zip to do with how well it performs, or doesn't as many suggest - it has to do with how much of let down Windows Vista Business edition is [it just isn't as feature complete as Windows XP Professional is in relative terms (to XP Home)]. Simply, the expectation that Vista Business is all that Vista Home Premium is, plus a lot more (BUSINESS) - like XP Pro over XP Home WAS (just isn't so).

OK, so small business users have to run Windows Vista Ultimate (I don't recommend any other version for most business owners and mobile users). One problem is that they have to pay more (OK, they get SOME more, but not enough to justify the greater cost).

That's it - that is all that is bad with Windows Vista - the lineup as it relates to the business version. BUT.... that's not the perception at all - that is FAR WORSE...

It seems that none of that matters much... PERCEPTION, as it always has been, is the REALITY people embrace, and people, (regular users), are the real losers.

THE REALITY of Windows Vista has been different for me, and our customers. Windows Vista has not been just good, it has been GREAT. I knew it would be, but sadly, I also knew it wouldn't be seen for what it was. Before I go further, let me be clear about one very important thing: "IF WINDOWS VISTA WERE BAD (TRULY BAD), I WOULDN'T SELL IT, OR RECOMMEND IT!" PERIOD. One, I wouldn't lie about it and two, I COULDN'T AFFORD TO SUPPORT IT. As a small tech business owner and operator, if Windows Vista weren't great, my business could not afford to sell it - much less live with it. Please see, Windows Vista - The Most Reliable Operating System I have Ever Used

As the year known as 2007 comes to a close, it isn't going to be remembered as the year of Windows Vista - part of it will be remembered as the year negative perceptions trumped reality. People wanted failures, it seems, and there have been no shortage of people to tell them where they are. Vista has been at the top of many lists relating to technology failures.

WHY?

That one is easy... "people are people" - a few are nice and truly so, but sadly, many are pretty mean way down deep (where it matters a lot). People are also tired; they are jaded and they have become very accustomed to expecting, even looking for, the bad in all things. People have been fed a steady diet of bad news, or the bad side of news... as is so often the case. BAD Vista, (just an operating system) and the perception around it, is just one more example. The war, politics, and rivers of hate - they are all to blame - all part of the unending flow of negative thought and energy spewing forth from just about every news and media outlet.

The eighties were the "Me Generation" - the nineties, the "Age of Political Correctness" - the 00's, they are just plain olé mean - "The Age of Meanness." Vista isn't going to get a pass, and neither are you.

So why did Vista (just another operating system) get caught up in the age of meanness? People are people and sadly, most are pretty stupid - not natively, or inherently so, but because being stupid is just easier. It's far easier to parrot what a blogger says than it is to learn and form one's own opinion - it's easier to just stay right where one is, than it is to venture out into something new. How many people are "stuck in a rut?" How few will do anything about it? In the age of meanness it is almost bad form to try - after all, what if one were to succeed and obviate the impact of change... what would be left to complain about? We're all mean now and happy for it. When all else fails... be mean... that solves every challenge. Being mean is the new "tough" - they new word for strong. Kindness? Well no way, buddy... that is the new word for insincere, or better, "weak."

There really is not one thing wrong with Microsoft's marketing of Vista. The marketing has been honest and decent. The problem is that Microsoft's marketing has been just that, "Honest and Decent" and that just does not fly in the age of meanness. Apple's marketing is successful, because it is all at the expense of the hapless, stupid, chubby, unattractive dolts that it labels Windows users to be. Apple's marketing is not honest and its not decent, but it is mean and mean is cool. There are many that would argue that what I am saying is just bull - just an old man's aged and tired rant. I bet, despite my years, that I could still kick the living piss out of any nine of ten of them [all at once] (mean enough for ya?). One side, the nice side, just doesn't have any appeal any longer - but oh boy, the mean snarky side, well... these days that just drips sex appeal and people line up for it.

Let's take some examples of what I mean and in the context of Windows Vista:

TRUTH: Windows Vista uses "Instant Search" - a feature that allows users to nearly instantly find programs, documents, emails and other files on their computers and other indexed locations.

CONSEQUENCES: Instant Search chews disk I/O for about a minute, or three [but not more] when Windows first starts.

PERCEPTION: Vista sux0rs giant root, because it is slower to make programs available for users than XP - XP FTW!

REALITY: In practice, Vista is way better than XP and users of it are way more productive, BECAUSE once it does load, Instant Search is well, INSTANT and users don't spend nearly as much time hunting around for stuff! Further, and what is not reported, or spoken to, is that despite the two minutes longer Vista takes to fully load, the user saves ten times that time in an average session, because they can find things INSTANTLY.

Op Ed: "READ THE REALITY SECTION ABOVE AGAIN, DUMB ASS!" (see, I'm being mean... er... tough.... and that is really cool, huh?)

Of course that is not what is being held out, is it? That is not what is being written about, is it?

TRUTH: Windows Vista has an integrity mechanism that features User Account Control [UAC], which works to restrict and control processes to user named space and subjects access to user approval. The integrity mechanism and all the features inherent to it, have made Windows Vista a very secure operating system and very difficult to compromise.

CONSEQUENCES: Windows Vista users can't just next, next, next their way through life - they have to think for a moment and make a decision.

PERCEPTION: Windows Vista's persistent pop-ups will drive users crazy.

REALITY: Windows Vista users rarely see UAC Elevation Prompts and when they do, the prompts take a half second to assess and approve. Users needn't enter passwords if they do not want to - they can simply click to approve the elevation (as when they install software). Once a user has a Vista computer set up to their own tastes, they very rarely see UAC Elevations. UAC and applications which work according to least privileged access permissions, really have made Windows more secure and safer to use.

I could go on and on and on, with one example after another about what truly does make Windows Vista great - the examples number in the hundreds.... BUT... it won't change a thing - not for regular users. For my customers, there is no concern, or any reason to read this blog - they are already, and always have been cared for and they already know they truth. Vista is great and there are nice people working to make using it a great experience. People who are nice as well as effective.

The rest are missing out and stuck in a very dark place that can't be much fun to be in. I worry about them, and what I worry about doesn't have a thing to do with Windows Vista (it's just an operating system).

"what, you expected journalism...?" "I just call em as I see em"

Skewered by the SKU

admin — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:30:00 GMT

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.

Vista's Asshats!

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:54:00 GMT

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...

Hardware as a Service - Selling a Lifestyle

admin — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:04:00 GMT

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

Ending the Blame Game - Driving Your Own Car!

admin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:36:00 GMT

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, Trashes Vista on His Way Out

admin — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:48:00 GMT

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?

What is so "Ultimate" about Windows Vista Ultimate?

admin — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:29:00 GMT

*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.

Who needs a powerful PC? EVERYBODY! Those who say otherwise have an agenda...

admin — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:25:00 GMT

I suspect that many that work to support the idea that no one needs a powerful computer have an agenda and that their agenda is to stall the sale of computers which are a) more powerful and energy efficient and b) <the kicker> ship with Windows Vista (most often fitted with premium blends of the new operating system). It seems our press just can't stand the fact that people just might like Windows Vista, and the new and innovative computers being built for it. With their lame use suggestions they seem to be suggesting that people shouldn't be interested in doing anything more than those few things they suggest are adequately supported on Windows XP, or Linux computers running Ubuntu - their message being, stay where you are, or move to something where doing more is a lot harder to begin with.

As I see it, many in the tech press have an agenda that features two planks: blunt sales of Windows Vista on one hand, while suggesting limits be placed on what people do with computers - both smacking of an anti-business and anti-individual liberty bias that is consistent with their own liberal and socialist idea of a model society - a society made up of compliant drones, dutifully plowing the fields of elitists' lands. It is no different than the same kind of thinking that suggests that we all walk to work, while the self-appointed elite, scoot around in their private jets as they set out to remind us that we're responsible for climate change - junk ideas on top of junk science... but hey, at least they're consistent.

Others, in what I regard as simple ridiculousness, suggest that the Apple Mac and Mac OS X have emerged as the platform of choice for the "technically literate." That has to be the most idiotic example of elitist Bovine Scatology I have ever heard, as it begs one to scream, "Exactly how many hardware choices exist for the Mac as compared to the PC and Windows Vista?!?!?" How could such a limited platform begin to satisfy even casual gamers or those interested in high definition media formats? Where is the choice? Where is the depth in hardware? Where's the door?

The practice is shameful and it demeans people - it presupposes that all users, other than they themselves either haven't or shouldn't have an interest in anything beyond that which the press tells them they can do. That kind of thinking is what kills the very essence of what it is to be human - to aspire to be and do more!

My customers, friends and family members want and deserve more - they want and deserve the best they can get their hands on!

All those we know are and have been doing amazing things with computers - they are using their fingers and pointing devices as they walk about with ultra lightweight UMPC's - they are ripping, burning and consuming massive amounts of very high bit-rate music files - they are converting and taking with them a wild variety of recorded television and movie content - they are shooting and editing in high definition - they open and use multiple and massive spreadsheets containing complex calculations - they edit pictures nearly endlessly and they build amazing documents that feature many forms of images, graphics and texts - they do all of this at once and while their computers record hours and week's worth of movies and television programming and as the same computer supports multiple connected media extenders.

To suggest for a second that people do not need more computing power and an operating system that makes them a pleasure to use is simply wrong.

People want and deserve more!

Tech Journalists Take a Field Trip - to Vista Service Pack(1)

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:45:00 GMT

Windows Vista SP1 confirmed again by loud-mouth Microsoft Downloads

There once was a group of tech journalists that headed out on a trip. They didn't get very far, as they came upon wide gorge that was quite deep. They could see their goal on the other side. They could even see a walking path that others had used to go around the gorge and others that went through it. They stood at the edge of the gorge - unable to move. To their right they saw a group of engineers building something about which they knew nothing. In the distance, across from the engineers, they could see another group of engineers who were also building something they could not define. They became frightened and began to cry out for help. They called their respective editors and described what they saw, but because they did not get out very much, they could not offer much by way of a description. Their editors began to cry out. They began to panic. They called police, fire and rescue personnel, who offered assistance, but the journalists could not describe why they needed help or where they were located.

The two groups of engineers appeared to be making very rapid progress, but the journalists did not understand what they were doing as they had never seen anything being built as it was. The journalists sat down and began to cry. They called their editors back and many called their family members and friends, and all began to panic. All around them others began to show up and as they came upon the gorge they noted how beautiful it was and how interesting the many forms of animal and plant life were that lived in and around it. They began to explore the area and they quickly found the paths around and through the gorge. Many more people began to arrive and line up near the engineers, who spoke with them - the journalists could see this, and hear their words, but they did not understand them. As they spoke, the journalists could see the people smiling as some of them left, carrying small things the engineers had given them. More people began to show up and they all began to explore the gorge, use the walkways and roads around it and as they returned, they would stop and speak to the journalists, who could not understand them, for their words were new and different and frightening to them. They began to cry out more loudly as some of them suggested they turn back.

One of the journalists saw and told the others that the engineers seemed to have finished their work and that many people were walking and driving on what had been built. They sat frozen and unable to move. Seeing the group of journalists, one engineer who was curious about them and wondering why they were just sitting there, walked over to them and asked, "are you in distress, do you need assistance?" The journalists cried out, "yes, we are lost and afraid and we want to know what you are building." others asked, "who are all of these people and what are all of these strange plants and animals that we keep seeing." The engineer, puzzled, spoke calmly, "Do not be afraid, the people you see are doctors, and lawyers and accountants and engineers. Some are students and teachers and their parents. Some are going to work, like they do each day. Some are on field trips, like you appear to be. Others are just curious, but most come this way to enjoy the gorge and all that lives here - it is very unique and many new forms of life have been found here." The journalists, their fear reaching its peak, again cried out, "what is it you are building?!?" The engineer spoke again, "relax, it's just a bridge and it makes it easier and faster to get to the other side." "They are nothing new - we've built many of them of different types and this one is very similar, but not really necessary." One small journalist managed to squeak, "if the bridge is not needed, then why did you build it?" The engineer said flatly, "as I said, we've built many of them and we knew you'd be coming and just as before, we knew you would not be able to get to the other side without it." The Journalist, puzzled, muttered, "oh" <sniff>