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No, that’s Albany as in the subscription service beta, not upstate New York

The question I was asked as I was making my sandwich at an onsite conference…

“So, you work with the product groups… what’s happening in Albany today?”

No, that should be “What is Albany?”

See the news here on the Beta launch of New All-in-One Service for Consumers, as told by Group Product Manager Bryson Gordon on Microsoft PressPass today…

“… Albany” is the codename for a new all-in-one subscription service of essential software and services consumers told us were most important to them. We’ve pulled together the productivity tools people need to organize their lives, security to help keep their personal information safe and online services that make it easy for them to keep in touch with friends and family, and folded them all into a single service that also ensures the user’s PC is running the latest security and productivity software.

“With just a few clicks, “Albany” subscribers will be able install the whole package, which includes Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, giving them the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for their personal and school projects; Windows Live OneCare to help keep viruses at bay and their computer fast and healthy; and Windows Live Mail, Messenger and Photo Gallery so they can connect and share with others. Albany also installs the Microsoft Office Live Workspace connector on the Microsoft Office toolbar, so users can save documents to their own dedicated online workspace and invite friends and classmates to collaborate and share.

“Additionally, with “Albany” consumers get the latest versions of Microsoft Office Home and Student and Windows Live OneCare as they’re released. Combined with ongoing security updates, consumers can have the peace of mind that they have protection from the most recent security threats and that their PC is running at its peak.

“The beta program we’re announcing today spans a broad cross-section of users and is an integral part of bringing a new service to market.”

As Ina Fried said in her blog today…

“Microsoft is planning to introduce a limited beta version of Albany in the coming days, with the aim of launching the product commercially sometime later this year, Gordon said. The company still hasn’t decided on how much it will charge or how the product will be sold, he said.

“In talking about the product, Microsoft did not refer to Google Docs by name, but I have said a subscription product might be Microsoft’s way of trying to find a more palatable way of charging for Office amid stepped-up competition from free and online rivals.

“By tying the Office subscription to OneCare, Microsoft is linking the purchase to one of the few areas where consumers have shown a willingness to pay for software–security. In this way, Microsoft can make the pitch to those buying security software that, for some extra dollars, they can always have the latest version of Office as well.”

Also of interest on CNet News…

Tags: Microsoft, OneCare, Office, Saas.

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Your questions: “What’s going on in Iraq next week on daylight saving time?”

A popular question over the last few days…



“What is going on in Iraq next week on daylight saving time?”


As I noted earlier, it looks like Iraq will not observe daylight saving time this year.  The change is currently scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2008. To this point, we haven’t has not been able to officially verify this change, but we’ve spun up resources over the last few weeks to provide guidance, updates and documentation for customers and partners, initially here on the DST & TZ blog and now on a permanent page, Iraq Daylight Saving Time changes, off of the Microsoft DST & TZ site.


What should you do?


In most cases, for consumers and small businesses, probably nothing.


Unless you live in the affected region and actively use Iraq’s Baghdad (Arabic) time zone on your Windows desktop and server operating systems, you probably won’t see or feel any impact. 


If you do use the Baghdad time zone, we recommend that you read the recommended steps on the Iraq Daylight Saving Time changes page.  And please don’t manually adjust the machine’s clock if you do use the Baghdad time zone.  This will cause adverse effects on your environment and it is not supported by Microsoft.  (To read more about why this is a bad idea, see “For DST, do I just adjust my clock in the control panel?”)


Enterprise and multinational customers with a presence in Iraq (or if you schedule meetings via Outlook with customers in the region using the time zone) should review the Iraq Daylight Saving Time changes page, and follow the product group guidance provided – on the page you’ll find a summary of the current status of impacted products and estimated dates when hotfixes will be available.


For details on setting up RSS feeds for these pages, see my post on getting RSS feed updates.


At Microsoft, product teams are moving to a semi-annual update cadence, following the Windows regular cadence for publishing newly legislated DST rules and time zone updates. Annual “Cumulative DST and Time Zone Updates” will be released in November/ December for the coming calendar year, and we’ll also provide for a semi-annual update in the July/August timeframe when needed.  For each, the window closes for additional updates a few months (generally four to six) prior to the release date.  Our goal is that sysadmins and IT Pros can plan on rolling out and installing/ deploying these cumulative update roll-ups as they are published.

<soapbox>


I have to recommend that in order to achieve more seamless transitions to new DST rules and time zones, governments should provide 1) official confirmations of planned changes to DST and time zones, and 2) provide ample advance notice and concentrated efforts on promoting the change to the affected citizens is a requirement.  If you look at how Australia approached their upcoming change in April (more details are available here), the national government allowed eight months or so between the announcement and the actual change.  And as noted on the Australia Eastern & Central 2008 Daylight Saving Changes page (managed by the irrepressible Hugh Jones), the Aussies set up the official Australian Government Time web site to educate end users. 


</soapbox>


Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, RSS, DST, Iraq.


Also available at http://bit.ly/bipS8Y.

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Your questions: is there free support for Windows Vista SP1 installation? In a word, yes

I woke up today and logged on to mail to find not one or two messages, but more than a few questions about support from Microsoft on SP1…



“Is Microsoft helping customers with SP1 installations?”

“If someone went to [Windows Update] last week and downloaded SP1 to a machine that person bought from an OEM, is MSFT providing free support if they need it?”

“where can i get help for Vista and how do I install it?”

“Can I get some help with getting the new service pack on to my computer?”


In a word, yes.

An article on Computerworld noted…


“Microsoft, however, has done little to broadcast news of the free SP1 support. The home page for the Windows Vista Solution Center, the operating system’s help and support starting point, makes no mention of it, nor does Microsoft’s main Windows Vista SP1 site.”


Well… good feedback, point taken, and I forwarded that suggestion to the support team just moments ago.  But IMHO, I think that the Vista support team is responding quite well to the feedback as it comes in.

For the story on support in the US, visit Windows Vista Service Pack 1 support page, where you’ll find the following notice…


Unlimited installation and compatibility support is available at no charge until March 18, 2009.


Support for Vista SP1I’d say that’s pretty clear. (Heck, it’s in bold, red type 😉


If you call in for support, listen carefully to the options on the line as you wait and navigate for support.  When you speak with an operator, be sure to tell the customer support agent that you would like support related to the installation of Service Pack one (or “SP1”) of Windows Vista.  I’ve also seen the wait time drop from 30 minutes for individual chat support to less than 10 just in the last few minutes.


This shouldn’t be a surprise, as Microsoft has previously provided free support on service pack installations (as noted in this Live Search).  But IMO it’s important to be clear and ensure that the message is out there.  I recall when I first moved to Redmond and we rolled out Windows XP SP2: Microsoft offered free, direct from Microsoft support for the service pack.  No matter the policy or how ubiquitous the message, we can always do more to get the word out, just as we’ve found on other areas (er, like daylight saving time and time zone changes ;).


For no-charge support requests for SP1, call (in the States) (866) 234-6020. The number for TTY/TDD help requests is noted on the same page.


[added 032408, 10AM PAC]  For more information on updating Windows Vista, please visit the Windows Vista Solution Center.  If you need more help, click on the link at the bottom of the page… 


Need More Help?  Contact a Support Professional by Email, Online, or Phone.

Tags: Microsoft, customer support, feedback, customer service, Windows Vista, Vista SP1.


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Unsolicited business proposals to Microsoft: there is a way

My friend, Sean, has a post from January on how he’s not feelin’ the love so much from McDonald’s, specifically how the company doesn’t accept unsolicited proposals.

This was sent to me today:

http://www.mcdonalds.com/contact/contact_us/unsolicited_ideas.html

Not clear if he was offering a new spin on the Filet-O-Fish® or what… (and who knew that the bun has more calories than the patty?)  One of Sean’s comments on the blog noted that…

“Microsoft has no such policy [on unsolicited proposals]…The challenge is more likely that there are too many ways to give suggestions and feedback which makes idea management and follow up difficult. http://connect.microsoft.com/ is one such visible place.”

A commenter notes that Microsoft does have a general policy on unsolicited ideas…

Unsolicited Idea Submission Policy: Microsoft or any of its employees do not accept or consider unsolicited ideas, including ideas for new advertising campaigns, new promotions, new products or technologies, processes, materials, marketing plans or new product names. Please do not send any original creative artwork, samples, demos, or other works. The sole purpose of this policy is to avoid potential misunderstandings or disputes when Microsoft’s products or marketing strategies might seem similar to ideas submitted to Microsoft. So, please do not send your unsolicited ideas to Microsoft or anyone at Microsoft. If, despite our request that you not send us your ideas and materials, you still send them, please understand that Microsoft makes no assurances that your ideas and materials will be treated as confidential or proprietary.

OK, that’s pretty clear (and note that I formatted the type smaller than is displayed to save on space). But there is a flip side to this legal boilerplate.

I have noted previously that when you live in Oz, you have to remember what life was and is still like in Kansas.  We shouldn’t ignore new opportunities, but you can’t expect that an MS Wish like avenue will allow for proper vetting.  As a company, we recognized that we need a managed and scalable way to accept unsolicited business proposals.

That’s why there is the Proposal Submission Tool at the Opportunity Management Center (OMC), a managed way for companies and individuals to submit their unsolicited business proposals to Microsoft.  The OMC’s tool was designed to provide potential partners with a managed way to submit business proposals to Microsoft.

“If you are interested in working with us and your needs are not met through the programs found on this site, please submit a non-confidential business proposal through the link below. Please ensure that your proposal conforms with our corporate idea policy.”

Remember, it’s for business proposals. There are other links on the page to help you connect with other services at the company 😉

Tags: Microsoft, customer satisfaction, Microsoft culture, Oz, business proposal.

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Also available via http://bit.ly/b049uf

(Updated 20171025: corrected link to OMC)

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Your questions: “How do I get updates to DST and time zone updates and alerts?”

Related to the regular updates made to our pages on time, Steven asked this week…



“Is there something that customer can plug into, like subscribing to monthly security alerts, for DST [and, I’ll add, time zone] updates?”


No, not directly. You can enable tracking for specific pages on the web (such as the the DST and time zone web pages) via RSS feed using free, third party services like page2rss, feedity, feedyes and other services.


I find that for updates to the pages linked off of http://www.microsoft.com/time — such as the Hot Topics and impacted Microsoft product list — services such as Feedity work well.


This approach also works for tracking the changes made to Knowledge Base (KB) articles, such as the December 2007 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems (KB 942763).  As we update the article — particularly when the KB is superseded by a new update — you’ll get pinged.


As Sean noted (and reminded… thanks!) you may also want to leverage the RSS feed for the Technet/MS DST Blog at http://blogs.technet.com/dst2007.

You can also apply this to external, public resource sites such as those on the TimeandDate.com site…


… the tzdatabase page, the list of time zones wiki and the overall time zone Wiki page.

Tags: Microsoft, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, RSS, DST. 3,530,000 (down a million items); 6,950,000; 649,000+