Apple reaction video to Windows7: Mac vs PC ads *LOL*

97% Recomendation for Windows 7, from Intel testers

Source:  http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/10/97-percent-of-intel-testers-recommend-windows-7.ars

Intel recently posted the results of a study titled “The Value of PC Refresh with Microsoft Windows 7″ in which it describes its experience while testing Windows 7 during the second quarter of 2009 for its own use within the company. As one would expect, Vista’s successor received much praise. 291 Intel users out of 300 said they found that Windows 7 showed improvement performance and stability over Windows XP.

Despite these positive results, Intel won’t deploy Windows 7 till the next year, according to the study: “During 2009, we plan to continue preparing for deployment by creating a Microsoft Windows 7 build and by installing the OS on systems in test labs to enable business groups to test applications and perform any necessary remediation. In the first quarter of 2010, we plan to begin deployment of Microsoft Windows 7 on new PCs with Intel vPro technology as part of our established refresh cycle. We intend to roll out the new PCs to segments of our user community based on factors including their job role and application requirements.”

The other nine users said they would not recommend the operating system to colleagues after using the beta for three months; yes, these results are based on the beta that arrived in January 2009 and which is no longer available because the RC and RTM versions have been subsequently released. “We encountered two issues during the evaluation, related to OS performance tuning and user account control,” the study states. “Both cases were due to a lack of understanding rather than the technology itself.”

Here’s the abstract of the report:

Following participation in Microsoft’s Technical Adopter Program (TAP), Intel IT found that Windows 7 running on PCs with Intel vPro technology delivers the best productivity for our employees & the best managed solution for IT. After three months of trial with over 300 users, 97 percent of our test users would recommend the new OS to peers and Intel IT sees the potential to save $11M over the next three years. Because of improved employee productivity, reduced costs, ease of deployment and enhanced security, Intel IT is rolling out Windows 7 to early adopters this year and enterprise deployments starting early 2010. Authored by John Gonzalez (OS Product Line Manager, Intel IT), this paper describes these benefits and results of Intel’s participation in the Windows 7 TAP.

In addition to the 97 percent statistic, Intel listed four other key results:

• Performance: More responsive for key tasks such as booting and launching productivity applications.
• Stability: Fewer users experienced blue screens.
• Application Readiness: No remediation required during evaluation; application readiness does not appear to be a roadblock to adoption.
• Total Cost of Ownership: Initial estimate of potential USD 11 million net present value.

Intel’s IT environment includes more than 100,000 PCs running Windows XP; about 83 percent of these are notebook PCs. Back in June 2008, we learned that the chip giant decided against upgrading its computers to Windows Vista after a lengthy analysis by its internal technology staff which found no potential benefits of upgrading to the newer operating system. The company did the same for Windows 2000 back in 2002: it simply waited a bit longer and moved to Windows XP.

In an open letter titled The New Efficiency, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer named Ford, Continental Airlines, Convergent Computing, Baker Tilly, and the city of Miami as organizations that had deployed Windows 7, in addition to Intel.

Windows 7: The Comparison Table

Windows Server 2003 R2 Client Access Licensing Overview

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/caloverview.mspx

Client Access Licensing

Microsoft offers flexible, cost-effective options for licensing the Windows Server 2003 family of products, including Windows Server 2003 R2 editions. Similar to previous Windows Server licensing models, one server license is required for each copy of the server software installed. In addition, a Windows Server 2003 Client Access License (CAL) is required for each user or device (or combination of both) that accesses or uses the server software. The same Windows Server 2003 Client Access License is used to access both Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 servers.

Client Access Licensing Requirements

In previous Windows Server licensing models, Windows Client Access Licenses were automatically triggered when particular server services were invoked (such as file, print, remote access, and terminal services, as well as authenticated access).

With Windows Server 2003, CALs are no longer triggered based on the use of certain services but are instead based on access to and/or use of the server software. This holds true for all editions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2, except Web Edition. Windows CALs are not required for Web Edition.

Note the following general exception to Windows CAL requirements: Windows CALs are not required when access to the server software is unauthenticated and conducted through the Internet. Authenticated access is defined as an exchange of user or application credentials between the server software and a user or device. An example of this exception would be if unidentified users browsed your public Web site. Windows CALs would not be required for those users.

Device-based or User-based Windows Client Access Licenses

There are two types of Windows Client Access Licenses from which to choose: device-based or user-based, also known as Windows Device CALs or Windows User CALs. This means you can choose to acquire a Windows CAL for every device (used by any user) accessing your servers, or you can choose to acquire a Windows CAL for every named user accessing your servers (from any device).

The option to choose between the two types of Windows CALs offers you the flexibility to use the licensing that best suits the needs of your organization. For example:

•	Windows Device CALs might make most economic and administrative sense for an organization with multiple users for one device, such as shift workers.
•	Whereas, Windows User CALs might make most sense for an organization with many employees who need access to the corporate network from unknown devices (for example, when traveling) and/or an organization with employees who access the network via multiple devices.

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Client Access Licensing Modes

After you have selected a license type—Windows Device CAL or Windows User CAL, you have the option to use the server software in two different modes: Per User/Per Device mode or Per Server mode. Both modes are available for either type of license.

Per User or Per Device Mode

Per User/Per Device mode is defined as follows:

•	A separate Windows CAL (of either type) is required for each user or device that accesses or uses the server software on any of your servers.
•	The number of Windows CALs required equals the number of users or devices accessing the server software.
•	If you choose this licensing mode, your choice is permanent. You can, however, reassign a Windows CAL from one device to another device or from one user to another user, provided the reassignment is made either (a) permanently away from the one device or user or (b) temporarily to accommodate the use of the Windows CAL either by a loaner device, while a permanent device is out of service, or by a temporary worker, while a regular employee is absent.

Per User/Per Device mode tends to be the most economical designation for Windows CALs in distributed computing environments where multiple servers within an organization provide services across most devices or users.

Note that Per User/Per Device mode replaces Per Seat mode, used in previous licensing models.

Per Server Mode

Per Server mode is defined as follows:

•	A separate Windows CAL (of either type) is required for each user or device that accesses or uses the server software on any of your servers. (This does not change the per server connection allowance of one CAL per one connection.)
•	The number of Windows CALs required equals the maximum number of users or devices that may simultaneously access or use the server software installed on a particular server. The Windows CALs you acquire are designated for use exclusively with a particular server.
•	If you choose this licensing mode, you have a one-time right to switch to the other licensing mode—Per User/Per Device mode. Your Windows CALs (of either type) would then be used in Per User/Per Device mode instead.

Per Server mode tends to be the most economical designation for Windows CALs in computing environments where a small number of servers have limited access requirements.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit

Source: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537570.aspx?SA_CE=NOT-MAP-BLOG-MAPBLOG-2009-10-15

MAP Toolkit can be downloaded for FREE!!
I Wish, I had this tools a few months back.. So, I would not have to work my a#s off to get assessment report for my Boss regarding servers consolidation or upgrade planning

What Is the MAP Toolkit?

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations and virtualization without the use of any software agents. This versatile toolkit:

• Quickly discovers clients, servers, and applications across your IT environment.
• Conducts migration and virtualization assessments for your IT projects.
• Auto-generates reports and proposals.
• Scales well to small businesses as well as large enterprises.

Get Reports and Proposals for Migration to Hyper-V

Accelerate your migration to Hyper-V with MAP Toolkit’s planning capabilities, and start realizing the benefits of virtualization. With MAP you get the following reports and proposals for Hyper-V migration:

• Server Consolidation Proposal. Summarizes the readiness assessments for Hyper-V, provides benefits of Hyper-V, and recommends a list of underutilized servers for consolidation using Hyper-V.
• Server Consolidation Report. Provides a detailed inventory of the servers on your network and the potential efficiency gained by consolidating them into fewer physical servers using Hyper-V.
• Power Savings Calculator and Proposal. Uncovers the potential savings and benefits of virtualization via Hyper-V.

You can Download it here.

9 Touch Gestures in Windows 7 for Multi-touch Magic

Source: http://clubhouse.microsoft.com/public/post/659fa6d8-2d13-446e-ab80-a5a23bd4c9e9

The Touch Gestures are the basic actions you use to interact with Windows or an application using touch. If you have a touch-enabled monitor and Windows 7 installed, then virtually any program that works with Windows responds to your touch. These Gestures are built into the core of Windows, they are designed to work with all applications, even ones that were never designed with touch in mind. So Windows 7 is touch friendly throughout. Microsoft has come out, after lot of research with 9 gestures in Windows 7. Yes, there are just 9 Touch Gestures for Multi-touch. User can’t remember too many gestures easily and these 9 gestures are all natural ,whatever a user does in real world.

Let us see these 9 Touch Gestures required for Multi-touch magic in Windows 7-

Tap and Double-tap - This is the most basic touch action. This is what a click and Double click does. Works everywhere.

Panning with Inertia – This is for scrolling. Drag any part of page up or down with one or more fingers. “You’ll notice details that make this a more natural interaction: the inertia if you toss the page and the little bounce when the end of the page is reached”. This works in most applications that use standard scrollbars.

Selection /Drag –This is like mouse drag and selection. Touch and slide your finger on screen. This moves icons around the desktop, moves windows, selects text (by dragging left or right), etc. Works everywhere.

Press and Tap with second finger – This is like right click. Press on target and tap using second finger. Works everywhere.

Zoom – This is same as CTRL key + Scroll wheel. Pinch two fingers together or apart to zoom in or out on a document. Useful for photos or reading documents on a small laptop. Works in applications that support mouse wheel zooming.

Rotate - Touch two spots on a digital photo and twist to rotate it just like a real photo. Move two fingers in opposite direction or use one finger to pivot around another. Applications need to add code to support this.

Two-finger Tap – Tapping with two fingers simultaneously zooms in about the center of the gesture or restores to the default zoom – great for zooming in on hyperlinks. Applications need to add code to support this.

Press and Hold – Same as Right Click. Hold your finger on screen for a moment and release after the animation to get a right-click. This works everywhere. Same as the other Gesture of Press and Tap with Second finger.

Flicks - Flick left or right to navigate back and forward in a browser and other apps. This works in most applications that support back and forward. This is also very natural gestures when one wants to flick.

As you can see these are the 9 Touch Gestures in Windows 7 required for Multi-touch magic. Here’s the chart for the same -

And there are many Multi-touch enabled laptops which are are being launched and also some are already available in the market. You can also go just for a Touch enabled Monitor to experience this Multi-Touch magic in Windows 7. Such monitors cost about 20% more than a regular ones and will be available by end of the year. Microsoft has also created a Touch Pack with 6 different Multi-touch enabled apps which will only be installed by OEMs on Touch enabled  Laptops.

For all these to be seen in action , check this video which demos all the 9 Touch Gestures, all the applications of Touch Pack and also interviews Amish Patel –PM Windows Experience Group , who explains all about Multi-Touch in Windows 7. This is a must watch video to see the Multi-Touch Magic in action. The apps in the Touch pack are so good to interact.