ronaldg's ramblings

Some Vista performance tips – faster booting

Hot on the heels of my post on the Vista shortcuts, here’s some tips on how to make your Windows PC (hopefully running Vista) boot faster – your goal, and in most cases an achievable one, is to get down in the sub-30-sec range.  I want to give credit where credit is due - this is excerpted from an (Microsoft) internal article which featured interviews with two real Windows experts: Bill Karagounis, group program manager of the Windows Performance Team, and Erik Lustig, who focuses on Windows Fundamentals for our Windows Business Group.  I couldn’t link to the article since it was on an internal site, so I’ve excerpted the key points for you here.  Hopefully this will help you find ways to make your Vista (or other Windows) PC boot faster.  And, yes, I realize most of my audience already knows most of these, but I thought it would be a good review, and I encourage you to at least check out at least the first three.

1. Slim Down Your Startup Group - use System Configuration (hit WinKey, type sys) to scope out the stuff that runs at startup, perhaps you don’t need everything that’s currently there.  Also, it turns out that Sidebar gadgets can be a boot time speedbump, so consider trimming some of those as well.  And if you have Outlook auto-starting in some fashion, that’s another thing to perhaps forego.

2. Lose the Bloat on Your Machine – this one seems obvious, but deserves mentioning.  I’ll bet most of us have some stuff (either intentional, or sometimes unintentional) that loads up front and then spends cycles looking for updates (Java, and apps and tools from a couple of notable vendors who shall remain nameless, except for the initials A & G, drove me crazy, so I don’t use either of them) and doing other stuff in the background that adds to the boot time.  And, yes, Windows Update can be a culprit at times too.

BTW, I’ve found an app for working with PDF files, Foxit Reader, that’s way quicker and more functional than what I had used before – so if you haven’t looked into it, now would be a good time, and it doesn’t need to be pre-loaded.

3. Use Sleep and Resume – consider more use of Vista’s new Sleep mode.  Sleep is really a great combination of the speed of Suspend, with the safety of Hibernate. Why is this a good idea?  Well, it turns out that our telemetry (collected data) reveals that booting up is actually harder on your machine.  So, using “sleep and resume” is not only faster, but easier on your system too.  Our experts tell us that the typical machine with good drivers can wake from slumber in two to five seconds.

4. Update Your Antivirus and Antimalware Software – all of us should have these programs on our computers and you should keep them up to date.  Malware can REALLY slow you down if you let it in.  And, in some cases, program updates to this software could make them more efficient.

5. [But] Don’t Double Up on Antivirus Programs – although everyone should have AV/AS software on their machine, more is not always better, some folks may think having multiple AV/AS programs is good idea, but unless you’ve proved the value of adding the extra AV/AS apps, you might be better off saving the boot time.  And in some cases they could be “stepping on” each other. 

6. Periodically (regularly) Defrag  - the wisdom from the guys in the know is that you should defrag every 2-4 weeks, as always the easiest way to start it is to hit the WinKey then type defrag (or your 3rd party defrag app filename).

7. Update Your BIOS & Drivers – this one isn’t as intuitive as the some of the rest but could have an impact.  Here’s an interesting video demo you can watch to help you learn how to set up Windows Update to automatically find and install missing or updated software drivers for your hardware.  Or, you can also manually update your drivers. In the same vein as above, updates in BIOS can sometimes cut the boot by several seconds.  Of course, caveat emptor, BIOS updates are not absolutely guaranteed to be “bullet proof”, at least that’s been my experience, so be sure to have a good backup (or backup plan) in case the updated BIOS (esp if it’s brand new) turns out to be problematic.

Hope this helps, or is at least some food for thought.

Interesting tech site with some good Windows/Vista info

Hopefully, you’ve already read (and used) my last 2 blogs around the Vista productivity demo features and the Vista (web) Resource List.  There is one site that I go to from time to time that’s not really focused on Windows and/or Vista, so I didn’t include it on the previous list, but I thought you might appreciate knowing about it.  It’s the ExtremeTech site sponsored by PC Mag Network, and you should notice that it’s actually a “beta” site.  As you’ll quickly see, it’s a techie haven and it really focused more on hardware than software.  Notice there’s a Windows tab at the top which might be a good place to start, but you can also just search for Vista if that’s what you’re mainly interested in (as I usually am). 

It’s a 3rd-party site, so I should make the disclaimer that the information there isn’t always guaranteed technically accurate esp as it applies to Vista, but that applies to every 3rd-party publisher (except Directions on Microsoft, who are always accurate and knowledgeable – but they charge a hefty fee for the subscription).  As you would expect there’s a range of viewpoints, from some articles and comments that I consider fodder for future YMTC posts, to others that are actually pretty objective and informative. Here’s a couple of articles that meet the latter criterion that I would recommend for starters…

Hacking Vista- Optimize Core OS Components, actually this is one of a couple of excepts from their ExtremeTech book, and it has some pretty good info on how to tweak Vista.  Along that same vein, here’s an article on how to Supercharge Windows Vista's Startup Time.

Here’s a couple of quick reads, that are worthwhile IMHO…A Better Vista Tomorrow, Vista Control Panel Secrets Revealed, The Truth Behind Vista vs. XP, Is Windows Vista Really That Bad-

There’s even an article on Windows Keyboard shortcuts, Windows Keyboard Shortcuts- Hands Off the Mouse!, but it’s more about all the standard shortcuts that have been around Windows forever – be advised, on my system at least, not all of these actually work in Vista (like WinKey-P for Print or WinKey-C for Control Panel to name a few).  And lastly, one on Ten Must-Have Gadgets for Windows Vista Sidebar (although Multimeter and weather, not necessarily the same gadgets, are the only ones I use on his list – I also use battery, wi-fi, DriveInfo, and Date/Time on my SideBar and yes Sudoku).

Windows Vista Resource List

As I mentioned in the previous post, I’m doing a series of live events focused on System Builder/OEMs.  As another part of the Vista discussion, I’ve generated a list of Resources that I hope may be helpful.  This list pretty much runs the gamut from basic resources like the Vista Home Page on Microsoft.com and the TechNet Vista TechCenter to sites around compatibility and the Vista Small Business Assurance program.  I’ve also included links to 3rd-party sites and articles that I think are particularly useful or noteworthy from a Vista perspective, and even some links to “fun” things and the “Test Drive” site.  The Springboard series on the TechCenter site is particularly noteworthy and has lot’s of technical resources in each of these categories: Discover, Explore, Pilot, Deploy, and Manage.  Paul Thurrott’s Windows SuperSite is one of my favorite 3rd-party sites as is the  Vista Magazine one.  I’ll encourage you to read the articles, esp the 5 Misunderstood Features one.  As always, enjoy…

Windows Vista Resources for SB2:

· Windows Vista Possibilities Portal – http://www.microsoft.com/windows/possibilities/

· Windows Vista Home Page – http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/default.aspx

· Windows Vista Solution Center (also, click on Vista from Help & Support site home page – http://support.microsoft.com/ph/11732#tab0

· Windows Vista “TechCenter” (part of Windows Client TechCenter on TechNet) portal –
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/aa904820.aspx
this is where you can access a great series of resources called “Springboard”

· Windows Vista “Community” Portal –
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/community/default.mspx

· Windows Vista SuperSite (Paul Thurrott) – http://www.winsupersite.com/vista/Default.asp

· Windows Vista Update Guide – http://www.windowsupdateguide.com/

· Windows Vista Compatibility Site – www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility

· Vista App Compatibility & UAC – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/aa905066.aspx

· Windows Vista Developer Center IMSDN) –
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/default.aspx
for deeper info on Vista architecture such as WDM, WCF, WPF, UAC, etc

· Five Misunderstood Features in Windows Vista (great read) – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=34f40386-9661-49b1-87ce-6d4a39e83747&DisplayLang=en

· Windows Vista “Test Drive” portal –
http://www.windowsvistatestdrive.com/SP1/SignIn.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fsp1%2fDefault.aspx

· Windows Vista themes/wallpapers.fun stuff –
http://wallpapers.funutilities.com/?tbid=60313&banner_id=GGL_FU_ppc06_60313_02_08_2301_*GeoUSCA*_-Content-__wallpapers&gclid=CIX9vpX5l5YCFRxNagodO3sn6g

· Windows Vista Magazine – http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/US/

· Windows Vista SP1 Information – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/bb738089.aspx

· Windows Small Business Assurance Program (expires 12/31/2008) – www.windows.com/assurance

http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?LN=en-us&prid=11274&gprid=500921&x=10&y=12

Good articles on Vista:

http://www.vistanews.com/PXDR28/081008-Vista-is-Alive (one of the best I’ve seen)

http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=10279

http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsid=2558

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc546565.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/whynow.mspx

How and why to get going on Vista adoption - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb905052.aspx

5 Way deploying Vista just got easier - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/cc135406.aspx

5 Vista adoptions “gotchas” and how to avoid them -
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb905054.aspx

Mojave Experiment: http://www.mojaveexperiment.com

Vista Keyboard Shortcuts and other functionality (updated)

As most of you know, I’m doing a series of live events focused on System Builder/OEMs.  A big part of this event is a “solution” discussion around Vista.  The Vista demo in this section has 2 main parts, one is around the Application Compatibility Toolkit, the other is what I call the “productivity” demo.  In this part I show features and functionality that I think would help users and admins/support folks to be more efficient doing daily tasks.  Things like how to use Tags to facilitate searches and showing how Vista search is way better than XP desktop search.  Also, how the new File Explorer is better if you take the time to learn and get used to it.  I also show keyboard shortcuts for common tasks and the Snipping Tool (both of which are always very popular).  Due to popular demand, I’m posting the click steps I use for that demo for your enlightenment and enjoyment (and hopefully increased productivity).  Besides the Snipping Tool, the other most popular item was the WinKey shortcuts, those are all at the bottom of the list.  If you have never generated a System Health Report, the steps below will show you how, with that and the Reliability Monitor and the Problem Reports and Solutions options, you should be able to troubleshoot problems in a fraction of the time it used to take which has a real business value and ROI, especially if the customer pays for “support”.  The Search function, Shadow Copy, and File Explorer enhancements can also have significant ROI for “information worker” types.  Enjoy…

SB2 Vista Productivity/Tips Demo:

· Turn Off UAC – WinKey | “user” (but better way is to change default in Local Policy to automatically elevate)

· System Restore/Information/Configuration – WinKey | “sys”

· Reliability Monitor – WinKey | “rel”

· Control Panel – WinKey | “cont”

· Back up your computer – show/discuss Complete PC – then click on Back to CP Home

· System & Maintenance

· Welcome Center | Under section1 (Get Started…) show all 12 items, then select “Windows Vista Demos”, show a brief piece of the “Working with files and folders” demo video

· Click Back to S&M main page, show the links in Nav pane

· Performance Info & Tools | Adjust Visual Effects | Show how to adjust for best performance

· Performance Info & Tools | Advanced Tools | Generate a system health report

· Performance Info & Tools | Manage startup programs | quick overview of Software Explorer capabilities

· Problem Reports & Solutions | View Problem History | show, then Close and click on the CP Home link in the “breadcrumb” bar to get back to Control Panel Home page

· Programs | Programs and Features | select “Use an older program with this version of Windows” to show the Program Compatibility Wizard (demo wizard if desired)

· Programs | Security| select “Allow a program through the firewall”, pointing out that the bi-directional firewall in Vista prevents an internal client machine from propagating malware but is easy to configure to allow for common approved activities such as remote desktop (requires admin rights of course, but UAC allows a standard user to input admin creds without having to login as admin)

· Type ”mob” in the CP search bar, show, discuss, and/or launch any desired options such as Mobility or Synch Center and the Windows Mobile Device Center (alternatively, can do WinKey “dev” to launch WMDC)

· Network & Sharing Center – WinKey-“net” | possibly Connect To on Start Menu

· [SEARCH] WinKey, then type “TS2 (or desired criterion)” and show results

· Launch Search Everywhere window (click on Search Everywhere just above the input)

· Show Organize | Layout options, highlight Preview Pane option

· On Search Pane, select Picture or appropriate filter (can click thru email and docs if desired)

· Click thru Views (I love this feature)

· with Details pane on, add a Tag (logo), then show Advanced Search for the tag, Save Search as a Virtual Folder, and discuss the value of being able to add custom tags/metadata

· [opt] In Search Tools, show the Search options… and Modify Index Locations options

· Click on the down arrow next to the Back arrow at top left and show how to get to Computer click thru to Tiles view, also show how to access the Folder pane on left if it’s not visible by default, then close all windows

· Fax and Scan – WinKey | “fax”, demo if installed/enabled

· Show how to Copy Address as Text from Breadcrumb toolbar

· WinKey-E – to bring up an Explorer view of Computer

· WinKey-R – to bring up the Run command

· WinKey-D – can toggle the SideBar off/on (for those that may not like Sidebar showing all the time), or WinKey-M will minimize only open Windows and leave Sidebar showing

· WinKey-F – to bring up Search Explorer

· WinKey-X – to bring up Mobility Center

· WinKey-L – to Lock the computer

· WinKey-Q – to bring up Communicator (if you have that running)

· WinKey-S – will do a “snip” and paste it directly into a new OneNote page,

· Run Snipping tool (from WinKey-Snip or Quick Launch) show how to do a free-form screen clip

(btw, if you don’t seem to have Snipping Tool, insure that the Tablet PC Functionality is enabled)

· Highlight some favorite Sidebar apps as desired (e.g. Multi-meter, DriveInfo,& WiFI or possibly one of the Feeds if it has business application)

· Windows Shadow Copy -  WinKey | Recent Items list, right-click one of the files and select “Open file location”, then right-click the file and select Properties and select the Previous Versions tab, demo VSC as desired

· Removable Device Policy -  WinKey | “gpedit.msc” | Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | System | Device Installation|Device Installation Restriction, show of discuss how to prevent installation of USB devices

Also demo Speech Recognition and BitLocker if you have time and are set up for it

And consider demo of Media Center or media capabilities if it has a business play

Notes:

• If performance is important and to reduce the Vista footprint, consider turning off the following features (if you don’t use them): Windows Meeting Space, Internet Printing Client, Ultimate Extras, Offline Files, Fax & Scan, Remote Assistance.  And there may be others you don’t need or use, check the “Turn Windows features on or off” link Control Panel\Programs.

YMTC follow up (from previous post)

This is a long one…if you didn’t read Mr Karp’s article referenced in the previous post, then you may not want to wade thru this as it’s primarily a counterpoint to his very slanted treatment of Vista in the article.

In the previous post I called out a recent PC Magazine article as an example of how the negative perceptions of Vista become so prevalent.  This was a “Top Story” in one of the mainstream computer periodicals, and it depicted Vista in a very negative light in about every way it could.  I hopefully made the case for the unfairness and skewed language of the article just in the opening paragraph alone in the previous post.  Well, unfortunately, there was a lot more to that article than just the first paragraph, so let me point out some of the other ways I see articles like this adding unfairly to the negative hysteria around Vista.

So here’s a rundown of how I see his article as less than objective, which is what is fueling the negative perception problem.  He actually makes some interesting points and tips along the way but the problem is that he characterizes most of his points as fixes for something that he positions as broken – I would love to have seen these presented as “tips and tricks for optimization or customization” (which is what they are) vs the “negative” approach, but I believe we are talking about a bandwagon here.

Part 1 [Fix Windows Explorer]: Cure Vista’s Amnesia and Stop the Green Ribbon of Death.

Up front he calls out “Explorer's baffling inability to determine the type of files in a given folder, which leads to the wrong view almost every time.” which puts a negative spin on the way that Vista implements is folder templates.  Well, perhaps I’m in the minority but I’ve not heard a lot of major pain from partners about this and for sure I question that this “wrong view” happens “almost every time” for most users (or I likely would have heard about it – esp in the new Let’s Talk section in my OEM events).  In any event, one of my favorite features in Vista Explorer is that you can quickly click the View button in the menu bar to cycle thru the various folder/file views or click the drop-down to select the desired view (this is way better than the how it had to be done in XP).  so my point is, even if you do get the “wrong” view it’s extraordinarily simple and easy to get the right view quickly. To position his tip as a fix for Vista Explorer’s “amnesia” is a negative spin.  Then he goes on to what he calls “Stop the Green Ribbon of Death”.  Again, I’ve not heard this as a major pain point from the partners and, in fact, in my experience Explorer crashes are exceedingly rare.  And I submit his characterization of the issue as the “GROD” is a bit exaggerated, since goes on to tell how he mitigates the issue without having to shut down the system (so where’s the death? again pure negative spin).  Also, he says: “One fixable culprit is Vista's thumbnail display. If you open a folder with a corrupt or empty video file, a garbled photo, or any media file that uses a defective driver (called a codec), Explorer crashes while generating the thumbnail.”  Again, the “fixable culprit” talk is slanted; OK, so you have a corrupt file but is Vista a culprit for not error handling it in an efficient enough way to please Mr Karp.  You know in all fairness, his next section on “Scaling Back UAC” was actually straight-forward and well-done, no snide adjectives or specious characterizations (GRODs) and not even the implication that this was somehow a “fix”, nice tip, too bad they all couldn’t be more objectively done like this one.

Part 2 [Fill in the Missing Pieces]: Fix Windows Explorer and Get back to real-time search

In the fix Explorer piece he points out “we pine for the golden days of Windows XP, for a handful of gadgets we've seemingly lost after switching to Vista”.  Once again, he seems to call out and highlight an issue “Vista won't even let you change a file-type icon” which by his own admission is “a typically useless but somewhat popular pursuit” (and I would be interested to see any proof that this is a “somewhat popular pursuit”), and thus he implies that Vista is not as “good” as XP.  Indeed, with live preview in Explorer, I have even less reason to change icons than I did before.  But hey, he’s got to find something to complain about here, right.  Then he mentions “All you're allowed to do in Vista is choose the default application” and promotes some 3rd-party tools that provide some minimal enhancements.  Fine, that’s why we have 3rd-party tools, but to position the lack of these esoteric (“typically useless”) capabilities as limitations of Vista is, again, trying to “go negative”.  One of my biggest issues is in the next section “Get Back to Real-time Search”.  Wow, this misses the whole point and one of key values of Vista search.  I submit that he “just doesn’t get it” (Vista search) here.  To infer that XP search “led to more accurate and comprehensive results” because it did a real-time search of the entire disk or that because Vista searches an index that “means search results may be incomplete or out of date”, well that’s just pure negative spin.  Notice I didn’t say just plain wrong, because I have no idea what criteria he uses for terms like “more accurate” or “incomplete”, but it certainly isn’t substantiated with any clarifying information.  In fact, right after he makes the less accurate and comprehensive inference, he follows with “to get the same results with Vista” which to the discerning reader would be an obvious contradiction to his previous assertion.  What you need to know is this – you can easily change Vista’s search locations and what it indexes and as he mentions, including non-indexed and system files is also easy, although he gratuitously labels the Search Pane as “clunky” which is pure opinion and not in any way substantiated by any factual information or further explanation.   If you think his assertion that Vista search can be “out of date” because it uses the index, try this, next time you save a new doc try and immediate search and see if it doesn’t show up (btw, it does on my machine, so I can save you some time).  Finally, as in Part1 above, in his third tip “Mimic Desktop Pieces” he actually presents a tip that avoids all the negative spin, but it’s a pretty obscure one, and once again to infer that this needs to be “fixed” in Vista is just negative spin.  BTW, I use OneNote for storing “pieces” of information or you can purchase the 3rd-party tools he recommends, in fact, as I alluded above, one of the key benefits of the Microsoft platform is that there are so many of these tools and apps available for anyone to be able to tweak the OS in just about any way they want.  But let’s not position that as a negative spin on the OS.

Part 3 [Improve Performance and Stability]: Investigate Those Crashes & Resource Hogs and Hard Drive Minding

Wow, he starts this off with the statement: “Of all Windows Vista shortcomings, poor performance and instability are the least forgivable.”  Again, a broad generalization and, given that support data shows that the vast majority of these problems are actually 3rd-party driver and application related, this is just another example of how these slanted and inaccurate articles can unfairly drive negative perception.  I don’t have a 4-core box, but I’ve NEVER had Control Panel take 20 seconds to load and, if it ever has on your system, I can guarantee that it’s not a native feature of Vista but driven by other apps that are doing something in the background.  Yet he infers that this may be something that happens on a regular basis – pure negative spin.  Most of the rest of this section is actually a decent discussion of a beneficial feature of VIsta called, Problem Reports and Solutions, but does he allude to any “benefit” from this feature, NO, he instead mildly encourages you to use it as “it's the only way they'll learn” (and, in fact, we do learn where incompatibilities are, but in a positive way), which comes off in a negative way given the tone of his article.  Toward the end he states: “Don't be surprised if you see several update notices for things you've probably forgotten about, such as third-party video codecs and applications that aren't normally covered by the Windows Update feature.”, but of course all the instability is Vista’s fault right?  In the final part of this he tells you how to identify resource hogs, but doesn’t really help you how to mitigate them other than how to kill a process which ends the offending process for that session.  He then proceeds to denigrate the built-in defragger (which was licensed from a highly respected defrag vendor btw) with this statement: “Unfortunately, Vista's own Disk Defragmenter utility (defrag.exe), which is supposed to keep things running smoothly, is slow, hard to use, and not particularly good at its job”, pure opinion and negative spin.  Sure there 3rd-party utilities that can do it (possibly) faster, and may they could be considered easier to use (but, hey, how does it get easier than automatic?), and certainly they would give you more options, but again, this is as it should be and to paint Vista in a negative light because it  doesn’t provide best-of-breed defrag out of the box (at the expense of these 3rd-party providers) is just not a fair assessment.  But that’s why I’m on my soapbox about all this negative perception isn’t it?

In Part 4 [Solve Ultimate Edition Envy] he again misses (or totally slants) the whole point IMHO.  For backup he states: “But for Vista, Microsoft has decided that only higher-paying customers have data important enough to back up.”  Yeah, right.  Pick any other vendor of major products, say Adobe as an example; do you get the top end functionality in every version of the product?  I think not, but Mr. Karp isn’t interested in logic here, or even fairness, but rather how he can put our differentiated product line in the most negative light.  And, of course, he needs to characterize the built-in back up file wizard as “flimsy” even though we are given no real basis for that other than his own opinion.  Once again, 3rd-party tools to the rescue which is as it should be and not a cause to pan VIsta.  He doesn’t appear to like the built-in DVD Maker app or the Fax/Scan capability, again with no real data points to back up his opinion, but even if he did, this is another case where it’s better for 3rd-party software to meet these niche needs than continue to add more to the OS, and I suspect Mr. Karp would fault Vista for being too bloated even as he decries the lack of features in some of it’s built-in tools and apps.  Anything to bash Vista.  And don’t give any credit for the fact that you do get basic at least basic defrag, DVD, and Fax/Scan capability out-of-the-box (that’s actually good enough for many of us). 

Well, that’s my take on Mr. Karp’s article.  I hope it has given you some food for thought as you see more articles like his in the trade press that seek to put the negative spin on Vista.  As most of you already know, Vista rocks, but unfortunately, that kind of positive take on Vista is not as popular as the negative spin journalism that we see not only in technology journalism, but also in political and many other areas as well.  I find it sad that major trade publications continue to reinforce the negative perception by giving top billing to articles such as this that have such an obvious slant.  I know you all know better, thanks for reading if you got this far.

You make the call – recent “Make Vista Great” article in PC Magazine

Wow, here’s a recent PC Magazine article (Top Story on PCMag.com actually): Make Vista Great by David Karp that’s a classic example of why I think we have so much undeserved negative perception around Vista.  IMHO this multi-part article has so many flaws that it would take a novel-sized post on my part to address them all, but for now I’ll just highlight his opening paragraph to make my point, in this YMTC series, around how these publications add to the negative perception in an unfair way.  I’ll likely do another post to address some more “issues” I have with this article in particular and how it promotes a jaded (and unfair) depiction of Vista and thus potentially impacts your ability to move your customers to more state-of-the-art infrastructures.

Right off the top in Part1 David states: “In the beginning of 2007 we witnessed the release of Windows Vista to a thundering snore, followed shortly thereafter by growing frustration at the software's poor performance, lousy hardware support, and remarkable ability to crash with no input from the user at all.”

For starters, notwithstanding his jaded “thundering snore” comment which is total opinion (as Vista is running ahead of XP’s adoption rate), as always these articles make broad generalizations that are skewed, if not false.  Let’s look at each of his generalizations. 

First, the “software’s poor performance”.  Well, last I knew Microsoft doesn’t build PCs and any software’s performance is going to be affected by the hardware it’s running on.  Unfortunately we did base the “Vista Capable” on some specs that did not guarantee a good user experience, and some OEMs were more that happy to build systems they could sell cheaper by scrimping on the hardware, but to make the generalization that Vista’s inherent performance is “poor” based on this just isn’t fair.  There are many articles, benchmarks, and technical reasons, not to mention most of your own experience, that show that Vista’s performance is at least adequate, if not good, on systems that are not even considered high-end now-a-days.  In fact, as just one example, check out The Truth Behind Vista vs. XP which states: “Windows XP runs faster than Vista on the same hardware—not true. Mostly this has to do with drivers. For hardware that has Vista drivers, it tends to run similarly on both Operating Systems.”  And, as you should know, drivers are critically important to not only the performance of the system but the reliability as well, which brings us to his next two generalizations.

His assertion that Vista has “lousy hardware support” is just wrong on several levels IMHO.  Microsoft does not write the drivers for the vast majority of devices out there – we rely on the device OEMs to write these, so blaming the OS for hardware support is a specious statement to begin with IMHO.  An important thing to remember here is that in Vista we changed the driver model so that most drivers no longer run in or access the kernel directly, which actually should lead to greater stability (if the drivers are well written), but which also meant that many drivers needed to be re-written or updated.  The fact that many device OEMs are not incented or capable enough to write or update drivers to Vista standards should not be characterized as “lousy hardware support” on the part of the base OS in an objective assessment.  (But, then, most of the articles are anything but objective.)

His third assertion, “remarkable ability to crash with no input from the user at all”, was likely referencing a video driver problem that caused Vista to spontaneously re-boot, but again, this was a driver issue, not a problem inherent in Vista – in fact, of all the partners in all the events I’ve done in the past 2 years, I’ve not heard of anyone having this spontaneous reboot problem with Vista outside of the video driver issue just referenced (which was fixed long ago btw). And this also infers that Vista is somehow less reliable that previous OS’es, which is just not the case.  As we just saw above, hardware drivers have a great influence on the performance and reliability of the system.  But, other software apps also introduce speed and reliability issues.  In fact, interestingly, here’s an excerpt for one of the comments in the comments section of his article: “any way I removed NERO and installed Ashampoo burning studio 8…and I have no more vista issues, it's been 3 months now and if had no vista issues at all”.  Once again, to intimate or infer that that the OS is inherently crash prone through this generalization about a “remarkable ability to crash” is just plain wrong I would submit.  BUT, as the name of this series implies, ultimately, YOU MAKE THE CALL – would David’s opening paragraph be a fair assessment of VIsta?

Another "you make the call" - Windows Vista More Vulnerable To Malware Than Windows 2000?

well here's another installment in my "you make the call" series where I challenge the credibility of industry trade press articles that add to the negative perception of Vista by publishing misleading or slanted reports.  A common denominator in most of these is the title, which is worded, not to objectively describe the article content but, instead, to cast a negative light on Vista.  But, you make the call...

In an article from InfoWorld (IW) no less (Thomas Claburn, May 8th [sorry I took so long to get this out]), the title crys out "Windows Vista More Vulnerable To Malware Than Windows 2000". Well, I've included the link to the article below, but I'm not suggesting you bother reading this article.  However, if any of you even has the thought that this could be a credible statement, then, of course, be my guest and read it, but please read the rest of this blog as well.  Sadly, some may assume it’s credible just because it gets “print” in a major trade rag, and take the title at face value and may not even read the article, and that’s where the perception issue arises.  So, from time to time I address these misleading (IMHO) titles in my blog series I call “you make the call” where I try to throw some objective light on the subject to help you make a more informed call on whether the title and content is really valid.  In this case, IW throws around some supposed data called "threats per 1000 computers" from the security vendor PC Tools based on "statistics gathered from users of PC Tools' ThreatFire security service".   Well, there's just so much wrong with this that I hardly know where to start.  But to begin with, it states "Vista let 639 threats per thousand computers through" - this ill-defined data would appear to imply that Vista suffers a 63.9% infection rate, but, if that was the case then how does one correlate that to the "1,021 for Windows XP", how can it have an infection rate higher than 100%, obviously this data does not seem to mean what one would think at first blush.  In the same vein, there's nothing in this data that actually helps delineate an infection rate, conceivably the 639 threats could have gotten thru on just a handful of machines (which is probably more likely than the inferred 64% rate).  And what are these "threats" anyway, how many of them were embedded in emails and web links etc, should those count as the OS "letting them thru"?  Moreover, what is the status of the software that is supposed to be protecting the system (e.g. the antivirus, antispyware, etc)?  last I knew most OS's didn't natively protect themselves against malware - the OS's main measure of security in this regard would presumably be lack of "vulnerabilities" that could be exploited, and you know from previous posts here that Vista had fewer vulnerabilities in it's first year than ANY previous client OS (including non-MS ones).  This also does not account for the attack rate, e.g. how many total threats were there.  If Win2K let 586 thru but that was out of only 1000 total threats and Vista let 639 thru out of 2000 total threats than I would much rather have Vista protecting me (and I could easily believe that Vista is on 2x as many home machines or is targeted by 2x as much malware as Win2k in this timeframe, and, btw, I say home machines as I believe this is PC Tools primary market).  And if you believe that a version of the OS without an internal firewall (Win2k) is somehow inherently less vulnerable to malware than an OS with an internal firewall (Vista), then we should be having a much more basic talk about security.  There's so much more to pick at here, but hopefully this has given you enough to "make the call". 

http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207601217

BTW, I should point out that IW (Thomas Claburn, May 13th) published a follow-on article titled "Microsoft Refutes Windows Vista Vulnerability Report" (link below) which essentially debunks the previous article.  I actually do suggest that you read this one as it gives some interesting stats.  But my overall point with this is that I consider it a disservice for these writers to publish stuff like the original article in the first place with it's ill-defined and specious data and jaded headlines, then rely on someone else to come along later and ensure due diligence is done.  Hopefully, you also see (and agree with me) that, for all the warts that is might have, Vista is cast in an unwarranted negative light by articles such as the one this post is about.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207603257&subSection=News

EBS Jumpstart kit

Hopefully, you just read the previous post about the upcoming WESS virtual launch as well as the post I did on EBS back on 9/19/08.  The vast majority of you are already familiar with SBS, even if you haven’t had a chance to play with SBS 2008 – even though SBS 2008 has an all new look and lots of enhancements (including a 2nd Server for the Premium Edition), it’s essentially still the same “First Server, Right Server” solution that SBS 2003 was from a business solution perspective.  EBS, on the other hand, is a whole new animal, is focused on a different business “space”, and will take some due diligence on your part to understand it’s value and implementation best practices.  To that end, the EBS Jumpstart Online Kit will help you determine through a seven-step process if Windows EBS is the right fit for your business and how to start or improve your Windows EBS practice.  Checklists, resources, and an ROI calculator help you prepare and set you up for success with Windows EBS.  Plus, leverage prescriptive guidance from peers that gives you practical and comprehensive technical, sales and marketing advice as you add the solution to your portfolio of offerings.

Among other things, the EBS Jumpstart Online kit will help you answer the following key questions:
Is Windows EBS a good fit for my business?
What considerations do I need help my decision-making process?
What investments will I need to make if I want to add Windows EBS to my portfolio of solutions?
What returns can I expect for this investment?
What will I need to do to be successful?

If you have customers (or potential customers) in the 50-250 client space, you should check this out.(BTW, I say 50-250 because if your customer is already >50 clients, they are likely going to outgrow SBS (even tho it can go up to 75) and I put 250 at the top end because (even though technically EBS can go up to 300) like the SBS proposition, if you are already >250 you may be ready to outgrow EBS as well.)

WESS update – virtual launch invite

In earlier posts, I’ve mentioned the RTMs and upcoming launches of SBS 2008 and EBS 2008.  Although we’ve talked about WESS in TS2/OEM events for some time now, for those who may not know, WESS stands for Windows Essential Server System and is basically the umbrella term for the range of server solutions encompassed by the SBS 2008-EBS 2008 products.  We now have highly integrated and automated server solutions for business environments from 3-300 clients.

The update I’m referring to here is that I wanted to let you know that the WESS launch event website is now live at www.thedreamserver.com.  And, you can participate along with your customers in “The Dream Server” (virtual) Launch Event on November 12; do so thru the DreamServer link above.

Here’s a link on the Partner Portal for a PDF that has more guidance on how you can invite your customers to this virtual launch event (it even has an invitation email template) as well as links to other WESS campaign resources.

Windows 7 webcast on Digital WPC (Updated 10/18/08)

(update on 10/18/08) – Sorry about that, I’ve just been notified that the webcast referenced below will NOT be containing the Windows 7 portion that had been originally advertised.  I’m leaving this post up since some of you may still be interested in the webcast (even without the Windows 7 content) and more importantly I hope you read the Speaking of… section below in any event.

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In my previous post I introduced you to (or reminded of) Digital WPC.  Well, coming up later this month there's going to be a webcast on it that you might be interested in.

Digital WPC Webcast Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Time: 12:30 P.M. PDT (note that’s Pacific Time)
Location: Digital WPC

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Speaking of Windows 7, you won’t see me doing much around it on this blog for quite a while other than keeping you up-to-date on major milestones and other points of interest such as this webcast.  Windows 7 is not going to be the platform change that Vista was, and that’s part of why we should be able to release it in a shorter time frame, not because of Vista panic as the trade press might infer.  In fact, you may recall, we announced some years back that we were heading to a more predictable release schedule that entailed a major release (XP/Server 2003) followed by a minor release (XP SP2/Server 2003 R2).  Vista/Server 2008 represented a platform re-design and thus a major release, whereas Windows 7 (which apparently is now the official name) and the associated Server update can be thought of more as “R2” type releases, which should bring significant additional value but not a platform change.   This is an important thing for you to remember as you deal with your customers who are considering waiting for Windows 7, as some of them may be waiting for the wrong reasons.  Will more apps be compatible by the Windows 7 release?  sure.  Will more PCs be 64-bit and more capable of running a higher-end OS?  sure.  Will more drivers be available (as more vendors get better at writing them and more older devices get replaced)?  sure.  Will we find a way make UAC better?  sure (in fact, UAC would be almost unnecessary if developers would properly write their apps for the Vista security model). sure.  Will all of that serve to help Windows 7 come out of the gate stronger than Vista?  well, it should.  But, hopefully your customers are not being victimized by the current FUD and waiting for Windows 7 for the wrong reason(s).  To that end, I’m starting a series called “The Vista Customer Conversation” to help you articulate the Vista value proposition (see 10/4 post).   Still, it’s good to know what’s coming with Windows 7, so make plans to join the Digital WPC webcast on the 28th.

Digital WPC

I know many of our Registered Member partners are unable to attend the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) every year since many are small shops that can’t afford the time away from the business, not to mention the expense of a week on the road.  I should have mentioned this before, but for those who can’t make WPC and still want to keep up with the Partner Program, there’s a public site where you can go to get this information at your convenience.  It’s called Digital WPC.

As you can see from the screenshot below, you can watch the Keynotes, selected Breakouts, Partner Forums, and other Webcasts at this site.

Here’s a screenshot of the Breakouts available, it may be a little hard to read, but notice some of the topics like Software+Services and how to double your Sharepoint business and others.  I think these can be beneficial to partners of all sizes, hopefully, you’ll want to check some of them out.

It’s important for all our Partners to have access to information about how Microsoft is evolving its partner program and products and offerings as well.  I hope this site can help you gain more insight into where Microsoft is heading and how we are trying to make sure our partners are poised for the success that is critical to both of us.  Enjoy Digital WPC.

Microsoft, saving you money?

Recently one of our executives sent out a message to Microsoft folks that highlighted some interesting thoughts that got me to thinking.  So I thought I’d also share the gist of them with you. 

During this time of global economic instability, it’s almost a given that everyone will be affected and many companies and many people will become victims in some form or fashion.  For many, especially small businesses, this will be a time of belt tightening, and that will have an obvious effect on IT spend which will also have an effect of our partner ecosystem – and times will likely get tougher before they get better.  The executive pointed out that worrying about things beyond our control is not the answer, but instead we (and our partners and customers) should focus on what we can control to lessen the impact of these economic issues and also maximize use of our existing resources.  We can’t predict the future or an end to the economic uncertainty, but, we can put ourselves in the best position to “ride out the storm”.  With that in mind, he suggested some ways that better leveraging your investment in Microsoft might help you save money (by avoiding  costs associated with your IT infrastructure on several levels).  I’d like to summarize them for you as food for thought that you might leverage with your customers.  Also, I’ll point out this link to John Weston’s TechNet blog - http://blogs.technet.com/jweston/archive/2008/10/09/how-microsoft-can-save-customers-money.aspx where he broaches the same subject.

Thoughts on how Microsoft Can Save Customers Money

· Deploy virtualization -  while not a strong play in the small business space, it can reduce server hardware needs and is considered a “green” solution as well (potential energy savings)

· Consider platform consolidation/standardization - consider the potential time and support savings by standardizing on a single platform (of course, we hope you think the Microsoft platform)

· Deploy/use “management” – Microsoft provides a complete range of management tools and solutions, from the built-in client “health” checking of SBS to the comprehensive infrastructure management provided by the System Center product line.

· Use tools to lower desktop deployment and management costs – again, Microsoft provides a strong set of deployment resources and tools, including Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Tookit and other “Solution Accelerators”, as well as the Desktop Optimization Pack, and Application Virtualization.

· Deploy the software that is already owned and maximize current IT spend -  if you/your customer have invested in any Volume license/Software Assurance, you need to leverage the resources above, such as MAP, to deploy current generation software which has been designed for better security and management, both of which provide IT TCO savings.

· Consider implementation of Microsoft Unified Communications solutions – for almost any business this will reduce the cost of travel (which is becoming much more expensive these days) as well as reduce the waste of unproductive travel time.  Microsoft has on-premise as well as “cloud-based” options for accomplishing this in the way that best serves your (or customers’) business.

· Reduce costs and improve security with standardized configurations of Windows desktops, servers and mobile devices – hopefully you are already familiar with the benefits and efficiencies of what we call “infrastructure optimization”, if not, click here for more information (PLEASE familiarize yourself with this if you have done so already).

· Using Windows Vista can save energy costs, increase mobility and productivity, and reduce deployment and data protection costs – Click here for the facts on Windows Vista

· Leverage Microsoft Finance – especially for partners, this will give customers payment flexibility and secure options that has proven to accelerate and increase deal size.

· Leverage Microsoft Software Assurance Benefits – many folks don’t know that SA includes not just software version upgrades, but also things like Training Vouchers and eLearning, 24x7 Problem Resolution, Home Use and Employee Purchase Program, and Desktop Deployment Planning Services, all designed to help you get the most out of your Microsoft software investment.

and last, but certainly not least,

· Consider Microsoft Online Services – leveraging online services can bring functionality like UC (above) to the small business and can reduce the total cost of ownership for infrastructure needs such as email in many cases.  Check them out at: Microsoft Online Services

New Series – the Vista Customer Conversation

A while back I started another series called “You make the call” where I posted responses to articles I felt were examples of why we have a Vista “perception” problem.  Typically these articles focused on anecdotal evidence (a single instance of an issue) that was given undue credibility or were subjective and one-sided in their treatment and negative content.  So I pointed out what I felt were the issues and inconsistencies and then left it to you to “make the call”.  While I’ve noticed an overwhelming number of articles, blogs, etc that have no problem espousing all these negatives, I’ve not found many that actually seem to know, much less understand, the value proposition for Windows Vista (and that’s probably “our bad”), thus many of you are faced with the proposition of customers actually starting out with a predilection against Vista rather than customers seeking to find out what the advantages of this new technology are.  

I mentioned in a previous post that I’m doing a series of “Live” events this fall focused on OEM/System Builders (now Solution Builders) now branded as SB2@TS2 (check my previous blog on 8/29 for dates/cities).  One of the things that we’re doing in the SB2 events is starting with a section called “Let’s Talk” where we open up the floor to get real-time, real-world input from the partner audience on matters and issues affecting them.  In the 2 events I’ve done so far, the Vista negative perception problem has by far been the most pervasive issue that the partners are having to deal with and want help with.  Since the next section of the OEM/SB content is around having the “Vista Customer Conversation”, these SB2 events have been very well received, and I hope you’ll get to join us for one.

In fact, here’s an excerpt from an email I got after my last event in the NYC area: “It was very informative and extremely enlightening to see someone finally stand up for Microsoft and its products... I stand up for [Microsoft] all the time. You gave me information to use to do it better.”  And, with this in mind, it occurred to me that perhaps a blog series around some of the things we discuss in the SB2 event might be helpful for those of you who can’t make it to one of these live events.  [BTW, the SB2 segments (including the Vista one) will also be recorded and published as on-demand webcasts (via the Partner Learning Center) sometime in the next 4-8 weeks, in case you can’t get to a live event.] 

SO, I’ve decided to institute this new series which I’m calling The Vista Customer Conversation.  My hope is to help you understand the real value proposition behind Vista AND articulate to your customers why they should be moving to it.  Interestingly, contrary to the anecdotal evidence that I found prominent in most of the negative articles, I can tell you that I’ve polled my partner audiences at each TS2 & SB2 event for the last year+ and specifically asked if any of them are having any major issues with Vista.  I’m happy to report that over this time frame, the main “issue” that I’ve heard is the “negative perception” one.  The vast, vast majority (95%+) of my partner audiences are using Vista and are happy with it.  To be sure, there are real issues and problems that can be encountered with Vista, as with any major OS update.  And, it’s not going to work for everyone without some potential pain (e.g. hardware and/or software app upgrades, driver issues, UI changes, etc).  But this is about helping my readers understand why these things are issues, and also know about the mitigations for things like app compatibility, and finally to know many of the enhancements that Vista brings to the table that represent real value proposition for your business, or consumer, customer.

With that, I’ll bring this series intro to a close and hope you’ll “stay tuned” for future installments.

Are S+S and BPOS still Greek to you?

If so, then I would encourage you to learn a little more Greek.  Back on 8/11 I did a short overview post on S+S and BPOS, you can refer back to that for a quick refresher if necessary.  One of the things I included in that post was a link to a page on the partner portal (Quickstart for Microsoft Online Services Home page) which I’ve included again here as well for your convenience, where you can find a lot more information and resources (including Business, Technical, Support, and Community info) on S+S and BPOS as well as the steps to enroll as a Microsoft Online Services Partner (essentially some training, an assessment, and a sign-up).  IF you haven’t already visited this site, PLEASE take some time to do so and investigate this great opportunity for your partner business.   SaaS, like the internet is here to stay, so Microsoft is embracing it, but also looking to make sure our partners have an opportunity around it as well, since you are, and will continue to be, a critical part of our success.  This partner portal page also has a wealth of resources for you around our Online Services offerings and opportunities Microsoft Online Services, please visit it as well, and please read on…

The Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) is a suite of enterprise class products including online versions of Exchange, SharePoint, Live Meeting, and Office Communications that are delivered as a subscription services and hosted by Microsoft.  The key point to note about BPOS, however, is that it can be sold thru Partners.  This represents a continuing revenue stream for you!  Yes, this is SaaS, and it is a key component of our S+S strategy (in fact, it’s the second “S”).  S+S is about choice, using “local PC” installed software in combination with “service-based” software, where advantageous to do so, to provide the most robust and efficacious computing platform for you and your customers.  As far as I know, few, if any other, SaaS vendors sell their offerings thru a partner channel – the point here being that if your customer is a candidate for a SaaS solution, we think it’s in your (our partners’) best interest to make sure they get on the BPOS, or other Microsoft-hosted SaaS solution that has some key integration points into the OS and local software that you also sell and support. And also help them understand that they can have a choice, it’s not necessarily an either/or (online or offline/local PC) proposition; and you, as a Microsoft partner are in the best position to make sure they implement the solution that best fits their business needs, which is likely not an either/or proposition.  We think it’s an advantage for our partners to have this range of solutions from a single vendor with consistent and familiar interfaces and support mechanisms.  And did I mention that you make money on this, in a recurring stream no less.

The TS2 seminars, see http://microsoftts2.com, this fall have a major content section on S+S/BPOS, so get to one of those if you can to find out even more.  But, of course, we have more training for you on S+S and BPOS in the Partner Learning Center, and, lastly, I want to point out the opportunity that some of you may have to take advantage of some hands-on training Business Productivity Online Suite Workshop that’ll be touring the country over the next 6 weeks or so (see my adjacent/last post for the details on this).

BPOS workshop tour (with hand’s on labs)

Hopefully you have just read, or will read the adjoining post around S+S and BPOS.   And, of course, I hope that encouraged you to look more deeply into the S+S BPOS opportunity.  One of the things some of you might be able to take advantage of is this BPOS workshop tour.  Since this is a “live” training with a hands-on component there are costs (and thus fees) involved, but if you act fast, you can save 50% on that. 

BPOS Hands-on Lab Workshops
This one day event is focused on educating partners around the deployment and administration of Business Productivity Online Suite. Training will be delivered through a series of presentations that focus on developing the skills required to subscribe, deploy, co-exist, migrate, administer, and support the online services.
Partners that register before Oct 8, 2008 will enjoy 50% off the registration fee.
Click here to register or learn more.

Hand-on Lab Workshop Event date/City schedule
Oct 21, 2008  Greenwood Village (Denver)       
Oct 21, 2008  Edina (Minneapolis)    
Oct 23, 2008  San Diego       
Oct 23, 2008  Washington     
Oct 28, 2008  Irvine      
Oct 30, 2008  Houston      
Oct 30, 2008  Waltham (Boston) 
Nov 04, 2008  San Francisco    
Nov 05, 2008  Oakbrook (Chicago)      
Nov 06, 2008  Exton (Philadelphia)       
Nov 06, 2008  Atlanta       
Nov 12, 2008  Bellevue (Seattle)       
Nov 13, 2008  Tampa       
Nov 13, 2008  Dallas     
Nov 14, 2008  Mason (Cincinnati)    
Nov 18, 2008  New York (Manhattan)       
Nov 18, 2008  San Jose      
Nov 19, 2008  Carmel (Indianapolis)      
Nov 20, 2008  Phoenix