Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Customers that are tired of running on the IT treadmill of waiting for the next “desktop hardware refresh” to enable operating system upgrades should take a good close look at Windows 7.   Windows 7 does not have higher hardware requirements than its predecessor, Windows Vista.

In fact, they’re lower.

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Windows 7 Will Change Everything, Analysts Say

Ross O. Storey, MIS Asia

The new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system due for launch in October, will likely change the personal computer industry forever, according to research house Frost & Sullivan.

Frost & Sullivan APAC VP IT Practice, Martin Gilliland, said that Windows 7 represents a "user-driven upgrade that breaks the link between PC OS and PC Hardware upgrade cycles for the first time in the history of the PC."

"This departure from tradition may force PC vendors and components suppliers, like Intel, to think of new ways to encourage PC buyers to upgrade their hardware," he said.

In a newly-released Asia Pacific Market Insights report, Gilliland said that Windows 7 represented the first update to the PC OS that does not require more hardware resources than the version before. Windows 7 was the first PC OS to come out of Microsoft that does not require more advanced machines to run than prior versions.

"In fact, the official system requirements to run Windows 7 are slightly lower than those required to run Vista," he said. "The CPU and RAM requirements are the same but the hard disk requirements are smaller for Windows 7.

"Windows 7 will drive significant upgrade revenue for Microsoft without any hardware upgrade thus separating Microsoft from the PC vendors in the next PC Upgrade Cycle."

…

Read the rest of the article at:

• PC WORLD:  “Windows 7 Will Change Everything, Analysts Say”
  http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/172281/windows_7_will_change_everything_analysts_say.html

Today I am excited to announce that Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2009 R2 will be released in late October 2009 and will add Windows 7 support for all components, except for MED-V. Server and management components will support Windows 2008 R2.

Additionally, we are working to ensure that MED-V will support Windows 7, in the first quarter of calendar year 2010 via MED-V 1.0 SP1.

With its virtualization technologies and manageability components, MDOP 2009 R2 is an essential part of your Windows 7 planning and deployment strategy.
This is a great opportunity to highlight the key innovations of MDOP 2009 R2 and talk about how MDOP can help you rapidly migrate to Windows 7, deploy applications with greater ease, resolve application incompatibility, and reduce desktop management costs.

• Optimize Windows 7 Application Deployment Using App-V
• Enhance Windows 7 Manageability with AGPM, DaRT, and DEM
• Facilitate your OS Upgrade Process with AIS and MED-V
• How Do I License MDOP 2009 R2 and Where Do I Get the Software?

Taken from:

• BLOG:  What’s New in MDOP for Windows 7
  http://blogs.technet.com/mdop/archive/2009/09/14/mdop-2009-r2-what-s-new-in-mdop-for-windows-7.aspx

Viewing your business data in an efficient, intuitive way is key to your organization’s success. When you use Bing Maps with SharePoint, the mapping platform can be a powerful tool for visualizing content. Bing Maps incorporates rich imagery and cutting-edge technology to provide unique views of data – for use all across the enterprise.

Visualize SharePoint Content Using Bing Maps
Join Microsoft partners IDV Solutions, SpeakTech, and Habanero Consulting, as they demonstrate how they have integrated SharePoint and Bing Maps to deliver compelling solutions for their customers. Learn how you can improve your business by using Bing Maps with SharePoint.

• Date: Thursday, October 8, 2009
• Time: 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time
  Register today to attend this webcast.
• Learn more:
  http://www.microsoft.com/maps

Here we go with more Microsoft Surface in Vegas!

Hard Rock just announced the grand opening of a new Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas – a 950 seat restaurant and live concert venue. Everything about this new cafe is cool – and the tech is no exception.  Visitors can touch and view Hard Rock’s memorabilia with a huge 18’ wide multi-touch interactive Rock Wall(tm) and in-booth touch screens running Microsoft Windows employing Deep Zoom technology. Here on the Surface blog, I’m most excited to share that Microsoft Surface will be right there with an amazing multi-user way to browse Hard Rock properties and memorabilia around the world. The Hard Rock reports that we can expect many other custom applications on Microsoft Surface too.

The software running on Surface represents a collaboration between the Hard Rock International, Duncan/Channon and Microsoft Surface partner Vertigo. You can see a video created by Duncan/Channon below and more video here and photos here.

 http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6442068&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Hard Rock memorabilia app for Microsoft Surface from Duncan/Channon on Vimeo.

[taken from http://blogs.msdn.com/surface/archive/2009/09/10/hard-rock-s-new-vegas-cafe-features-microsoft-surface.aspx on the Surface Blog]

Are you interested in virtualizing the resources and services of your datacenter to more efficiently serve your company?

The “Private Cloud” or “On-premise Cloud Computing” is a very hot topic these days.  Microsoft has some of the largest Enterprise datacenters worldwide that already accomplish the vision of the Private Cloud. 

And now we’re sharing that experience with our customers.

The initiative is called the Dynamic Datacenter and there are two specific target Datacenter scenarios that are being addressed – that of the ‘hoster’ and that of the ‘enterprise’.  We’ve released a “toolkit” specifically for hosters to impart the best practices we’ve learned about establishing a hosting environment based on a completely virtualized resource model.  We intend on releasing one for Enterprise customers in 2010 as well.  In the meantime, if you are interested in this concept, visit the resources below:

• WEBSITE:  Microsoft Cloud Computing Infrastructure for the Public & Private Cloud
  http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/cloud-computing/default.mspx
• DOWNLOAD:  Dynamic Datacenter Toolkit for HOSTERS (Available today)
  http://dynamicdatacentertoolkit.com/toolkit/
  VIDEO:  Dynamic Datacenter Alliance Partners
  http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/7557cb46-eef5-48e9-9e77-8e642afe6d96
  FUTURE:  Dynamic Datacenter Toolkit for ENTERPRISES (To be released in 2010)
  http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/cloud-computing/privatecloud.mspx
• BLOG:  Dynamic Datacenter Alliance Blog
  http://blogs.technet.com/ddcalliance/default.aspx

Yes, we released the Office Web Apps for usage by nominated applicants through the Tech Preview program.  (Translation:  You had to apply to the Tech Preview program prior to have received access)

• Office Web Apps Technical Preview
  http://www.officelive.com/en-us/web-apps-preview
• More info about Office Web Apps:
  http://g.live.com/8seskydrive/
  LearnMorePreview

From the FAQ:

1. What are Office Web Apps?
   Office Web Apps are free online companions to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote that give you the freedom to view, create, and edit documents using the familiar Office interface. They let you to access your documents from virtually anywhere on a Web browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox), as well as share files and work with others online. OneNote Web App will be available at a later date.

2. Who are Office Web Apps for?
   Office Web Apps are perfect for people on the move who always need access to their documents. They are especially useful for people working in teams that want a convenient way to share files with others.

   If you’re working on a group project, you can easily view your documents with Word Web App and start building your presentation with PowerPoint Web App wherever your group chooses to meet. Then, each team member can make additions to the presentation on their own time, without emailing files or dealing with multiple copies of any document.

3. Why should I join the Office Web Apps Technical Preview?
   These browser-based applications give you the freedom to view and edit Office documents from any PC or Mac with an Internet connection, and you’re selected to try them out before anyone else. While the functionality is limited during this Technical Preview, your feedback will play a large role in shaping the overall experience of the Office Web Apps.

4. What can I do with Office Web Apps?
   During the Technical Preview the features and functionality of the Office Web Apps will be limited. Currently you can create, view, and edit PowerPoint and Excel files and view Word documents in the browser. Additional functionality and features will be added in the upcoming months as we continue to gather feedback from people like you..

   If you have not been invited to the Technical Preview, you will not be able to access the Office Web Apps yet. We are currently expanding our user base and will communicate when they are available for public use.

5. What will happen to my files and data during the Technical Preview?
   Throughout the Technical Preview, Microsoft will be continuously updating and modifying the Office Web App services.  While we will make a best effort to ensure that these updates have minimal impact to your documents, there is a chance that we will make changes which result in loss of data from one version to the next.  As you use the Office Web Apps Technical Preview, it is recommended that you periodically open any important files in Office 2007 or earlier, and use the desktop application to save those files locally.  Creating a local copy will ensure that your most important documents continue to be accessible should we introduce a change during the Technical Preview.

6. What will happen to my files and data after the Technical Preview?
   At the end of the Office Web Apps Technical Preview, your files will still be available on Windows Live SkyDrive. You will continue to have access to the Office Web Apps.

7. How do I sign up and get started?
   To take part in the Office Web Apps Technical Preview, opt-in to start. After you opt-in, you can upload, create, and edit files in your SkyDrive Documents folder.

1. Sign in to SkyDrive using your Windows Live ID.

2. Click on Documents folder

3. Add the Getting Started Guide or any other Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files to this folder, or create a new folder.

4. Select a document, and click “View” to view it or “Edit” to edit it. Online editing is currently available for Excel and PowerPoint files only. The ability to edit Word documents online will be available at a later date.

8. How can I access my files on Windows Live SkyDrive?
   Go to www.skydrive.live.com, sign in using your Windows Live ID, and click on the Documents folder. You can view, edit, and create new files here. Online editing is currently available for Excel and PowerPoint files only. The capability to edit Word documents will be available at a later date.

9. Can I use the Office 2010 Client Technical Preview with the Office Web Apps?
   Office Web Apps and the Office 2010 client are being developed at different velocities and are not necessarily in synch with one another at all times.  Office Web Apps service has been updated multiple times since the release of the Office 2010 Technical Preview and for that reason there might be compatibility issues.  Microsoft will fully support the Office 2010 Beta client against the Office Web Apps when it is released.

10. Do I need to download anything to use Office with SkyDrive?
    In some instances, customers running Office 2003 or Office 2007 may face multiple authentication requests for their Windows Live ID credentials and may experience noticeable lag times when trying to open a document from SkyDrive. We are aware of this issue and are working to address it in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, you may find that installing the Windows Live Sign-in assistant improves this experience.

11. How do I get help?
    For more information and help getting started, download our Getting Started Guide. Make sure to add this page to your favorites so you can always come back.

This is the first part of a very good article about Windows 7 and how it’s technology is in many ways specifically engineered to prepare businesses to have the flexibility to move back and forth between corporate networking & cloud computing.

One of the hottest buzzwords in technology is the ‘Cloud’. Vendors across all types of computer applications and services are looking for ways to leverage the power of cloud computing. Microsoft takes that a step further by making it easier to move a different kind of resource to the cloud: people.

Actually, that egg may have come before the chicken. Laptop sales have steadily crept up on desktop sales, surpassing desktops in late 2008. That is a domino-effect from another chicken-and-egg conundrum in that the work force has become increasingly remote and mobile.

Arguably, it is the evolution of remote computing and the rise of telecommuting and roaming users connecting from home, hotel rooms, and coffee shops which has fueled interest in cloud computing to begin with.

Regardless of which chicken begat which egg, this is the henhouse we live in now and it has been a headache for IT administrators. Remote and branch offices come with unique network connectivity issues. Roaming users with laptops are difficult to manage and secure, but Windows 7 (combined with Windows Server 2008 R2) has the potential to change that.

• Dropped Connections. The VPN (virtual private network) is a fact of life for roaming…

Read the rest at:

• PC World:  Windows 7 Moves People to the Cloud
  http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/171916/windows_7_moves_people_to_the_cloud.html

“741” – The Windows 7 College Student Promotion

You read that correctly.  Windows 7 Ultimate Edition for $29.99.  Windows 7 Ultimate Edition contains Bitlocker Encryption

It’s specifically a college student discount and it’s open to any college student with an ID and a computer that can install Windows 7.  This is a PREORDER offer and will be available until January 3, 2010 12AM CST.

• Windows 7 Ultimate Edition – 741 Promo
  (for College Students only)
  http://www.win741.com/

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“The Ultimate Steal” – The Office 2007 College Student Promotion

But wait!  There’s more!  What about Office 2007?

If you’re a college student in need of Office 2007, you can get the full Office Ultimate 2007 product for $59.99.  Office Ultimate 2007 Edition comes with Word 2007, Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007, Outlook 2007, OneNote 2007, Groove 2007, Publisher 2007, Access 2007, and Infopath 2007.

This promotion is available to any college student with a .EDU address & is currently registered with an approved college.

• Office Ultimate 2007 – The Ultimate Steal Promo
  (for College Students only)
  http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

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“MSDNAA (MSDN Academic Alliance)” – The Academic Department level promotion

And if you’re an a faculty member of a technical department of a classroom within an academic institution, we have a subscription program to enable your classroom to receive all the software needed to learn on Microsoft technology & tools.

READ THIS –>
ALL SOFTWARE IS FREE FOR STUDENTS OF YOUR CLASS WITH AN MSDNAA SUBSCRIPTION

There are 3 different subscriptions:

• Developer AA – $499/year
  Get the latest Microsoft servers and development tools—over 300 titles in all! Developer AA is an annual membership for departments that use technology in support of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses.

• Designer AA – $399/year
  Make the latest Microsoft Expression design tools available in labs, classrooms, and on student PCs at Art/Design schools and universities. Designer AA is an annual membership for departments that use technology in support of Visualization, Illustration, Design, and Art (VIDA) courses.

• High School AA – $299/year
  High School AA is an annual membership for schools that makes the development and design tools found in Visual Studio and Expression Studio 2 software available in labs, classrooms, and on students’ PCs.

MSDNAA Subscriptions
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/academic/default.aspx

Zune HD goes on sale starting today, and with it comes Zune 4.0, which uses cloud computing to let customers seamlessly move between watching video and listening to music on their Zune HD and on their PC or their TV.

Anyone holding the Zune HD right out of the box will quickly notice that it has received a significant makeover, boasting an organic-LED (OLED) screen, high-definition video output to televisions, HD radio, and a touch screen that allows for easy navigation through intuitive menus. Other new features include an Internet Explorer browser; QuickPlay; a new menu that puts your favorite content, latest downloads, and recently viewed files right in front of you; and Artist View, where you can easily find more information about an artist including a biography, a discography, and photos.

With Zune 4.0, customers will be able to access their music and video in more places than the new OLED screen, though. The software delivers the Zune experience on the PC, where users can organize music or download new songs from the marketplace. With a Zune Pass, users don’t even need the software to access great content. They can sign in on zune.net from any PC and instantly start playing their favorite music. 

Starting this fall, the Zune service will expand to the nearly 20 million Xbox 360 LIVE users. That means Xbox 360 users soon will be able to buy or rent movies for the console using the Zune service and later download the files onto their Zune device or Windows-based PC for no extra fee. The new collection for Xbox 360 users will include an extensive library of music videos available for download to the Zune.

LINK:  Zune HD Product Site
http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm

LINK:  “New in Zune 4.0”
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9670445

DOWNLOAD:  Zune Client Software 4.0
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=6136349f-2b32-4946-83b5-a09775531ef4

(Note that Zune 4.0 software may be implemented on existing Zune devices)

Already getting great reviews, BING has released the beta of Visual Search, a method by which people search for content based on visualization instead of text.

Powered by Silverlight, BING Visual Search provides a GUI like environment for discovering search results for specific categories of searches.

• Digital Cameras
• Dog breeds
• Movies in theatres
• New cars
• Popular celebrities
• Popular TV shows
• Top songs
• US politicians
• NFL players
• Popular books

Try it out today!

• Visit: 
  http://www.bing.com/visualsearch

Here’s a quote from TechCrunch:

When you resort, the images fly around the screen to find their new positions. The visual search acts as a showcase for Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, which makes the animations and visual rendering possible.

“The whole concept,” says Mehdi, “is that the world of search will change. There will be a more graphic way people will search, and it will pivot how people search.”

The judges were impressed with his demo. Ron Conway noted, “I think the huge winner here will be consumers because competition breeds innovation, and this nice little battle between Google and Microsoft is fantastic for consumers.”

• Bing Pops with Visual Search
  http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/14/bing-pops-with-visual-search/