Sad to see the news on CNET today,
I’m going to put my kids to bed now.
Category: Uncategorized
There are a number of things have changed in Windows Vista from XP, many that make corporate and enterprise deployment much easier. The Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (aka BDD and BDD 2007 Beta 1) provides deployment guidance on Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system. As it says on the site, “with any advancement in technologies, getting the maximum benefit requires understanding the tools and technologies, some experimentation and absorption time along with best practices on deployment.”
Of particular interest to me is Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 2.0 – the new version of WinPE for Vista. From the page, Windows PE 2.0 is “designed to make large-scale, customized deployments of the new Windows Vista operating system notably easier. When Windows Vista launches, Windows PE 2.0 will be available to all Windows Vista corporate customers”.
So, how do you get the BDD 2007 Beta?
A pre-release version of BDD 2007 is currently available. Here’s the info from the the BDD site…
“Go to Connect.microsoft.com to get the BDD 2007 Beta 1 release. Just go to “My Participation” and sign in with your Passport ID. Once you are signed in, click on the link to available connections. Scroll down the page until you see the Business Desktop Deployment 2007 Beta link and click “Apply”.
“This download will include all the deployment tools you’ll need. To provide guidance and simplify deployments, BDD uses an integrated deployment workbench, built on top of innovative deployment tools such as ImageX, System Image Manager, Windows PE 2.0 and Windows Deployment Services. Find out more about these deployment technologies.”
You can try out the new Microsoft.com home page by going to http://labs.microsoft.com/en/us/. It’s slick, fast, easy-to-use and visually appealing.
Joe Wilcox at Microsoft Watch noticed:
“The software giant is testing a new home page, and do I detect some AJAX? The new Microsoft.com also introduces visual concepts, like thumbnails, similar to those used in Windows Vista.
“The shared Windows Vista design heritage is one of approach. It’s quite brilliant, if intentional, and lucky, if accidental. One way for Microsoft to take back the Web–rather than Google and Web 2.0 companies taking the desktop–is to unify the user experience across its desktop software, Websites and Web services. Office 2007 and Windows Vista offer an unprecedented number of visual cues, at least compared to their forebears.”
Kudos to the Microsoft.Com team!
After weeks of considering different phones, including the new T-mobile Dash and latest Samsung BlackJack Windws Mobile Smartphones, we decided on the new Cingular 8525 with Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition. (CNET has a review of the phone here.)
We both like the form factor of the Cingular 8525 (also the HTC Hermes) and the feature set: the 400MHz processor and 64MB of RAM, bundled Office Mobile applications and Windows Media Player 10 Mobile make for a good customer experience. The unit is supported by Cingular’s 3G network, and I’ve seen the difference this week in sync’ing email and web sites. The support for both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 is very solid, with my BT headset and USB adapters working right out of the box.
The ergonomics and design of the device is good and feels solid in your hands, and the key travel for thumb typing is IMHO better than I found for my fingers on the Dash or the BlackJack: controls are easy to use and access. And as it’s essentially a Pocket PC, I find that the addition of a stylus and touch screen makes it easier to navigate around.
The clincher on this deal? Over the holiday shopping weekend last week, Cingular offered a “Buy One Get One Free” deal and the phones were essentially half price: not only was Cingular’s family plan comparable to what I had on T-Mobile, their pricing on devices was better. (The lowest tier of Internet access is a couple of dollars more a month than T-Mobile’s WAP access, but affordable.)
Also, we both like the 2-megapixel camera, which takes nice shots and is easy to use.
These are the only penguins I enjoy watching these days, aside from the ones at the zoo.
My kids love the “Happy Feet” movie site… You just have to love a site with a live penguin cam.