Technically Speaking

October 22 has come and gone, launch parties have been held (and continue) all over the world and the world continues to spin at the same pace as before.

I am curious to find out how the retail launch of Windows 7 went as compared to any goals that Microsoft had.  Surely as it is available, sales will pick up, especially if the “it beats Vista” claims are true, and in my estimation they appear to be.

Have you upgraded to Windows 7 yet?  Either at work or at home?  I am getting there slowly at home, but it will be a while before I move that direction in the corporate environment.  In the testing I have done there, most things seem to work without a problem and the few that aren’t yet working will either go away or get support by the time we get that far.

The capabilities that will sell the application to management in most organizations are two fold.  Sure they will like the power management features and efficiencies of the OS when paired with Windows Server 2008 R2, for things like Direct Access, Branch Cache, and others, but what about the users?

Selling a feature like Branch Cache to an everyday user (or to management when they are wearing their user hats) might be a bit difficult because the end user in everyone, geeks IT Pros included wants the stuff they use to work.   In this case, features like search, Jump Lists, and stability might be the best thing to demo or to sell on.  The search and jump list features should increase productivity at the desktop because there are fewer clicks to locate files, I do not think this will bring a million dollar savings, but it should please the users that they can locate things anywhere on their computer and the network.

For the mobile user, the ability to specify a different printer depending on the location and network connected is a great feature.  Especially when coupled with better wireless support and auto connect.  The auto-connect thing has been around for a while, but it is very much improved in Windows 7.  As an example, on my laptop, it connects to my home network as soon as it fires up and there is no interaction needed… the same is true of the network at my office.  This has been excellent.

To create a case for Windows 7 in your environment, some cost benefit analysis will likely be needed, but work with your Microsoft partner and determine which features of the OS will be the biggest light bulbs for your company.  These should be the ones that you show off to everyone.  Doing this will help build user excitement, which can show management that boosted productivity is right around the corner.  Not to mention, getting everyone who will use the tool on board by choice rather than by force is always a plus.

This Thursday Microsoft Windows 7 will be available for the world at large to purchase and run on all of their computers.  I think this is a good thing, like most in the tech community, based on the fiasco that was Windows Vista, there are some huge steps forward coming in Windows 7.

I was reading a post at TechRepublic by Jason Hiner who pointed out his hits and misses in Windows 7, and in many ways I agree with him.  The system and data partitions should be split up by default to allow the OS to be wiped out and corrected without losing user data.  The OS is leaner than previous releases and will keep itself out of the way even in terms of UAC.

The one area where my opinion of Windows 7 differs from Mr. Hiner is in the area of the taskbar.  At first I wasn’t sure if the new Dock-like taskbar would be useful, but in fact it is onw of the most used places in the OS for me.

The addition of jump lists from both the start menu and taskbar make information very easy to find.  Mousing over the item on the taskbar, when it is running will show you the list of instances available just like grouped task bar items did in Windows XP. 

For example, mousing over a taskbar icon for Internet Explorer, will show a preview window of the open tabs.  You can then select which tab you need by clicking the instance.  For me this is an improvement over the list of titles when you click the XP taskbar because you get to preview the windows that are open.

I do not disagree that the new taskbar will be confusing for users as they get started with Windows 7.  The missing quick launch toolbar, and its move to the entire taskbar, was a bit of a change even for me when I didn’t use the QL toolbar for much of anything.

The review of hits and misses is a great read, and will help point out some key areas where things are better and where they aren’t, but because the OS is new and there are a large number of XP users still out there, the confusion will be seen, I think as a learning curve in most cases.  Will there be some who want to go back to XP?  Sure.  There will be and thats alright for now… as more and more companies and consumers get their hands on Windows 7 this will change and might even repair the damage done by Windows Vista.

So far, I haven’t found, other than a few driver issues that I need to fix, much in Windows 7 that doesn’t feel like an improvement.  The ability to search for anything on my computer from the start menu or Windows Explorer is huge.  I realize that this is a Vista carry over, but it seems to work better for me in Windows 7.  I no longer get discouraged that something isnt where I thought it would be in places like Control Panel because I can simply search for it or the action I wish to perform and get taken right to the item I need.

I am excited to see where Windows 7 takes the PC and Microsoft, and even curious about how it might shape the next version of Windows.  So far the vista from Windows 7 is pretty promising, especially given the view from the last Windows release.

Affiliation Disclosure: Derek is a contract contributor to TechRepublic and a Microsoft MVP. 

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.

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?

The Windows 7 RTM has finally made it to a web server near you.  For some.  TechNet Plus and MSDN Subscribers can go out and get the bits for the latest complete Windows Operating System Right Now!

The general availability date is still October 22, which is when the box copies and all things Windows 7 will be available to everyone who might want them. 

If you have the subscription(s) and access to the bits, Windows 7 is very worth it (and I am still on RC).  Go out there and get the bits, you’ll be glad you did.

I am looking forward to getting this installed and starting fresh very soon.  I would be interested to see how the final release works for you.  Let me know in the comments.

So the scheduled goal provided at Tech Ed 2009 in Los Angeles last month of Holiday 2009 shipment for Windows 7 is more than doable, or at least that’s the latest info leaked form announced by Microsoft.

October 22 2009 is the date Microsoft wants the new OS to be out in the wild for customers to purchase either in a box or on a box.

This should be a good plan for consumers and IT shops everywhere, OEM boxes shipping just in time for the 2010 budgeting season (at least where I work). 

As much as I am looking forward to Windows 7 being on every desktop imaginable (and even some Macs) I have to wonder just how many businesses will make the jump to Win 7 and how many will hold off based on the fun we all had with Windows Vista (or didn’t have).

I am going to push very hard to pilot Windows 7 in my organization and hopefully build enough user adoption to quickly show the benefits and begin a rollout.

Features like

Problem steps recorder – the screen capture tool for end users

Direct Access – access to corporate resources without a VPN from any connection

Better resource usage -  better memory management and longer lasting hardware

These are all reasons that Windows 7 will be good for business.  Pilot with a small group of users from all over the spectrum, those who love, like, and loathe technology to get a feeling for what supporting 7 will entail.  I think it will be a good experience for everyone.

Click here for more details from the Windows 7 team blog.

Booting from virtual hard disks (VHDs) can save time in both provisioning and operational costs, but how do you boot from a VHD?  In this article at Experts-Exchange.com I cover the boot from VHD scenario with Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2.