Technically Speaking

Microsoft released to web (RTW) its Security Essentials product today… and it remains a free download.

The product is geared to replace Windows Live One Care and provides Anti-virus / Anti-Malware protection to the consumer market.  This is great news for consumers and some road warrior IT Pros allowing them to get protection on their laptops without worrying about subscription costs.

Having participated in the beta of the product, I was quite impressed.  It was the only security application I installed on my production Windows 7 laptop and I had no issues with it at all.  It is a thin application with very little needed in the way of maintenance after installation (or at least it was in beta).  The upgrade was smooth this morning and I have seen no issues to this point.

I will be recommending this product based on personal experience and cost in any scenario where it makes sense (too bad I bought a new subscription service recently for my inlaws).

Is it the best out there?  At this time I am not sure… Microsoft’s application works well for me but it is not geared for enterprise environments, although that may come in the future with products like System Center Online Desktop Manager, which is beta right now.

As of now, I would go try out the application and kick the tires… might work well enough to save you a bit of money on security apps.

Windows 7 is coming to a store shelf near you one month from today and surely it will be her sooner than we think.  I have had the opportunity to run the RTM build of Windows 7 for about a month now and have to praise the Windows team on this one.  Wow.

Sure there are new features, improved features, and some things that were carried over from previous versions of Windows, but it seems I am finding new things all the time (usually when I am not looking for them).

I was reading about jump lists in the help within Windows just to get an idea of what they were created for, which is essentially to provide task bar level shortcuts to things used frequently.  But do not let the simple description fool you… this feature is sweet.

I do a bit of blogging for a technology site (techrepublic.com) and am constantly trying to remember where I put a template or what another post’s layout might be like and jump lists are gong to save me time and desktop real estate for sure.

Windows Vista (and to some extent the desktop search updates for XP) introduced the concept of search to Windows users.  You click start (or the toolbar) and enter the terms and off you go.  This feature is still in Windows 7 and allows me to proudly state that visiting the All Programs portion of the start menu has happened maybe 5 times.

The search has been expanded further to allow me to be sitting in Windows Explorer and search for items right from the top end of the location bar (shown in figure A).  When I do this it also allows me to add filters for file type and other things.  In figure A I looked for a word template and filtered the list to only include word templates.

Figure A

Searching for items in Windows Explorer

This is where jump lists come in… I can save these search results to the Windows Explorer jump list for later, single click use by dragging the magnifying glass icon in the location bar onto the task bar.  This will pin the search to the appropriate jump list.    The Explorer Jump List is shown in figure B.

Figure B

Windows Explorer jump list

Now anytime i want to chase down a word template on my laptop, I can access the jump list by right clicking on the task bar item and click the search item for type = .dotx and it will open with the results showing in Explorer.  This way when I create a new template or receive a template from someone, I do not have to remember that I saved it as Myhugelongtemplate for new documents.dotx or something like that.

There are other features available in Jump Lists depending on what the application is.  They have their own set of items on jump lists that work with the applications they represent.  For example, Outlook adds the frequently used tasks, like new message, appointment, contact, etc.  You can also jump right to a specified folder from the list.

Other Office applications show a list of recent documents used within the program, allowing easy access to items you have worked on.

Remember, the jump list for an item on the task bar is available via right click.

Figure C shows the jump list for PowerPoint and Outlook.

Figure C

Office Application Jump Lists

Jump Lists have been a hugely positive surprise for me.  Using them has improved the experience of Windows 7 for me.  I hope Jump lists will improve your Windows 7 experience.

This morning when I arrived at the office I had a few things that were top of list and needed to be checked out right away.  We were having difficulty with a web application used to handle checks received.

On Friday, the user of the system spoke with a bank support representative about the issue and was treated quite rudely.  I know that I have been a bit less than nice in the past when providing support, but have learned from my experiences and adjusted accordingly.

Why do I mention this?  Because there are two things that are important here:

1. You can attract more flies with honey than vinegar

2. A poor attitude impedes the solution to the problem

Both of these are seemingly common sense thoughts that most, including myself at one time, would brush off as understood and no brainers.  This is where I have found that I was wrong.

Sure there are easy fixes in the technical realm, and rebooting is often a solution that is a no brainer, but assuming a solution will just work and going away, or giving the impression that you (or your staff) know more than those using the computer (or about following instructions) is just a bad plan.

Usually when i ask a user to reboot, I have a secret hope that the issue will go away, but actually the reboot gives me a chance to do a quick search for information or get a soda on my way to work with the client (for those instances when I am in the office working with co-workers).

Assuming that all systems are configured equally is not a good plan either.  An example, while on the phone with the bank support rep, my co-worker was told to access user accounts in the Windows XP control panel.  It was the fourth icon from the left.

At full screen with the control panel in classic view and sorted by alpha, the fourth item from the left is actually Automatic updates.  Perhaps a better approach might be to ask the person you are helping what is on their screen or if they see xyz icon and suggest where they might look for it.

Until I did technical support on the phone for a while, I was in two camps, I was sure I knew how to fix the issue in many cases, but also unsure of how to confidently and politely convey this to the people I was helping. 

Doing onsite support and being able to get my hands on the machine killed my ability to do off the cuff phone support, but it helps keep my mind fresh because I have to look for things to get the problem solved.

I have learned that it is more about helping those who ask and doing the right thing in many cases than being right or best or any of that.

Please work to instill this in yourself and your staff.  You and your IT department will be better for it.

It is wild how much technology has moved into television and other mainstream media.  Many of the major networks are on twitter and facebook in addition to news personalities having their own twitter and facebook presences.

It is far easier to get the news on the Internet using some method, be it a news site, video site, RSS feeds, or twitter, than to get it on television.  Even the Emmys are being live blogged and discussed in real time on twitter.

Using these media types might do alot for your business or the employees/departments who run them.  Twitter might be a quick way to get a messages out to staff, customers, or others who need to see your message.  Sure you can use text messages, but as technologies grow and change these sites will only get better.

Some companies do not like to allow websites with social themes or social in their URL, which I understand, but do not agree with.  Keeping workers productive is a goal of all companies, but keeping all the available methods to connect to grow their networks which can help them achieve their business goals seems nuts to me.  I cannot tell you how many times I have looked to twitter for a quick question.

My point with all this is to remind you to at least at look at some of the social sites to determine if they can help your team or your business.  Seeing the Emmys all over live blogs and twitter was great… even though I watched the broadcast, the Internet made it more interactive and funnier.

With new Microsoft Operating Systems coming soon to a shelf (or MVLS agreement) near you the software vendor has partnered with Culminis to put together a series of online discussions about the features (good and bad) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

The chats will feature industry experts from Microsoft and the MVP community as well as some real world IT Pros to discuss the business advantages (or disadvantages) of moving to either OS.  The chats will not be a place to focus solely on the new bells and whistles in each product.

The first web chat will be held on September 30th 2009 at 10 AM PDT and will cover Windows 7.  As future chats within the series are scheduled, I will get the details posted here.

Registration info for the chat series can be found here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032425300&Culture=en-US

About the host:

Tim Vander Kooi, Systems Administrator for Explorer Pipeline, a fuel transportation company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma will be your host for this series of web chats.  Tim has been working in IT for the past 15 years and has spent 5 in his current role.  He is also the chairman of the board for the North American arm of Culminis and the President of a Tulsa OK IT Pro User Group.

Technology changes everyday, much like people (even if they dislike change).  Sure there are routines that everyone has, get up –> brush teeth –> breakfast –> work –> home –> etc, but there are things that cause people to change and see change all the time.

My wife and I took a crack at the Flat Belly Diet (and are still on again off again in process).  The first four days, which are to be the hardest as they allow the fewest calories per day and the least amount of wiggle room per participant, are pretty brutal.  The intent being to reduce bloating and such (similar to the reason some Linux and other open sourcers don’t like Windows – bloat).

The diet will continue, although I have gone slightly off the wagon and had subway for lunch, and I am sure once we use the recipes included, it won’t be so bad.

My point in going into this detail about the diet that seems to be from hell is that I had to be willing to try it to know if it was good or bad.  Same thing is true of new opportunities, no matter where they appear.

When Microsoft pushes Windows 7 to general availability there will be companies small and large waiting near the shelf to get their hands on it.  Some are after it already using MVLS and adoption is beginning already.  Users may want to change or be proponents of change when sitting in a meeting discussing possibilities, but when the time comes to move them to Windows 7 the song may not remain the same.

How will they know if they like Windows 7 or not unless they try it?  They won’t, but mass upgrade over the weekend and first use on a Monday is not quite what I had in mind.

My advice to all those out there looking to jump ship from XP (or Vista) to Windows 7 would be pilot groups.  For example, I have an old laptop that we use for meetings and presentations that needs to be flattened and just retuned.  I was considering going with XP and being up and running today, but decided I would put Windows 7 business on it and use it as the beginning demo.  This way some of the users of the computer might inquire about it and volunteer to pilot. 

I am not going to hold my breath about volunteers as that is tough to get, but the hope exists that maybe being in the early adopter camp will help with change in other areas in my company.

How is your organization planning to deal with the change coming when upgrading to Windows 7?