Questions about Vista?

Before you upgrade, or purchase a new computer with Microsoft Windows Vista, please take a moment to visit the this web page. It's worth it.

http://promotions.newegg.com/Microsoft/Vista/faq.html

If NewEgg cannot answer your question, try asking me...

Patience is Definitely a Virtue in the Software World

According to John C. Dvorak of PC Magazine and Cranky Geeks, anyone interested in Windows VISTA should "wait six months." Dvorak also believes consumers should "wait until Vista Service Pack 1 is released," as "the consensus believes the real OS is SP1, and that will arrive sooner than later."

I believe it's like anything new. The first models are always going to have bugs in them - no matter what. Example: I once bought a brand new car - It was a first year model from Ford (I won't mention which model), but it had many, many recalls and it was towed three times... But just like software and hardware - the next year's car model was heavily improved, and each year after that car got better - I think this is the same with computers and anything IT related. We get so excited for new products and gadgets, but we also need to be patient. All software is made by humans, just like the customers who purchase it - It will have issues, we just pray they get fixed before anything catastrophic occurs!

Dvorak says there are 2 types of computer users - "Cutting-Edge and Consensus." I agree with him and his philosophy that "it looks like the consensus folks are now in charge." However, that doesn't mean we should be afraid of new technology - I think Microsoft Windows VISTA is more secure and better than the previous O/S - not just from what I've read, but from what I've seen. Besides BitLocker (not everyone is going to encrypt their Hard Drive), Vista has tons of security for the average user. It may look like overkill, but wouldn't you rather have to "allow" software to install on your computer*, than have to figure out what spy ware or virus has spread to your machine? We can still be cautious going forward, but I honestly think that is what Microsoft had in mind with Vista. Be cautious through better security and better usability.

* See UAC in Windows Vista.

More Vista Notes...

Some other notes on Windows VISTA…

Microsoft developed VISTA with something they call the Secure Development Lifecycle. The largest part of the new O/S is security. Yes it looks pretty, but security was the overall goal. Vista comes with the UAC (User Account Control) and Windows Defender (Anti-Spyware). There are 2400 GPOs (Group Policies) and PERFMON (Performance Monitor), which shows when software was installed, patches downloaded, spyware or malware installed, and registry changes. It can tell where and what is slowing down your system. Overall, the security has a large presence and so far, it has made me feel more secure and safe using Windows VISTA. I also fell in love with the Instant Search feature. It’s available almost everywhere you look in VISTA. It’s located in the Start menu, Each Explorer window, and in the Control Panel.

AERO is what makes VISTA look futuristic and “beautiful.” It has the ability to use Flip 3D. Microsoft took a page out of Apple, but it’s works great – Just hold down the tab + Windows key and you can flip through each open program just like a Rolodex. AERO is available on Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. I’m not sure about Enterprise, since it’s for multi-installation use. My big question this week was – How come BitLocker is only available with the VISTA Ultimate Edition and VISTA Enterprise? Why doesn’t it come with VISTA Business? That would make sense, right? Well – the general feeling was Microsoft did not want to get caught up in lawsuits where companies using BitLocker in Business Edition lost data or could not get to it for being too secure – so they left that up to a third party vendor. There’s more to come on that topic once I find out.

Stay tuned.

Compatibility Issues with Windows VISTA

Several computer users may notice that various software programs are not compatible with Microsoft Windows VISTA. Users of these select programs will need to check with the software manufacturers for updates and patch information before going forward.
Here is a list of known software with Vista compatibility issues:

• Adobe InDesign CS2
• Adobe Reader 7
• Adobe Acrobat 8
• Google Desktop Search
• MSN Messenger 7.0
• Norton Antivirus 2004/2005
• Norton Internet Security 2004/2005
• Pinnacle Studio 10
• Quicken 2006
• Spybot Search and Destroy
• Trend Micro PC-illin Internet Security
• Remedy ARS

IT Conference T-Shirt of the Week

IT Conference T-Shirt of the week:

Geek ('gek), noun.

1. Obsessive computer user: Somebody who enjoys or takes pride in using computers or other technology, often to what others consider an excessive degree.

2. Someone with greater than normal computer skills.

Thursday

Tips and Tricks for Monitoring System Performance

Today at the IT Conference, I listened and asked questions about something very close to an IT support Helpdesk: Performance!

Windows VISTA uses Performance Monitor (PERFMON) and it's quite a tool. It shows the reliability and performance of a client's machine and let's us know if the error is something server-side or local. With Performance Monitor, user's or IT staff can tell when Registry changes occur, when installations occur, patches are downloaded, or spyware, malware, or other harmful software is executed. It's all in a graph-like area located within Vista under the Control Panel. It's very smooth and will be very useful for ANY Help Desk staff. You can even spit out reports from the PERFMON, but since Vista is an XML based framework, you're going to see XML through a IE browser window - not too bad if a client gets a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death), they can then call or send an Email - After doing your own research, the IT Support staff can come up with strategic ways to have clients either view or print from PERFMON, then send it to the IT staff for assistance. This will also be easier if your company decides to implement Remote Access. Each IT representative could login and view the client's PERFMON and find out what happened.



Wireless (802.11 - This is the area specific to Over-The-Air wireless networks) & VISTA Security

An Ethernet connection (802.3) is not always available and therefore, clients and employees will use the LOCAL Wireless LAN. The SSID (Service Set IDentifier) will always be listed.
This lets the end-user know that they're connecting to the CORRECT Network. (Note: The latest security threat is something called, 'Evil Twin.' It looks like the same SSID and once connected the hacker collects usernames, passwords, credit cards, etc. There is more information on this located here: http://tech.yahoo.com/xb/null;_ylt=AsZUpDYbVVYSg3slZ_3w3I4sLpA5?blogpost=23163&comment_start=1&comment_count=20&sendurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftech.yahoo.com%2Fblogs%2Fnull%2F23163%2Fbeware-the-evil-twin-wi-fi-hotspot).

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is the encryption of Wireless LAN access. But "just because you're WiFi is encrypted does not equal integrity," according to Steve Riley from Microsoft. Riley spoke of wireless security and of VISTA security via wireless - I found this exciting, since the UI and the steps for adding a wireless network to your VISTA machine are different than with Windows XP. VISTA uses a wireless framework called (P)EAP (Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol) on it's wireless networks. It's a partnership with Cisco to make wireless networks more secure and prevent rogue wireless networks from accessing our network. This was more server-side discussion, but later he talked about the overall security of VISTA.

When setting up your laptop or desktop to connect to a wireless network using the Microsoft VISTA O/S, there are some minor changes, but major security changes. The UI displayed when trying to gain access to WiFi has a few enhancements. The preferred network order is strictly enforced. That means YOUR SSID will appear at the top and be the network most likely to connect. You can setup the preferences within the GPO (Group Policy) for each machine as well. There are also new dialogue boxes that appear in VISTA when applying for access to WiFi Networks. As discussed earlier, with VISTA, Administrators can now allow/disallow access to various wifi networks. (Each machine can be setup to allow/deny certain SSIDS like (Starbucks) tmobile, (Hilton) hhonors, or the millions of others available throughout the world). Please see last Tuesday's blog for more.

Connecting to a Wireless Network is not hard, but the UI has a new look and feel, just like the rest of VISTA. It looks, "Beautiful." (That is the buzz word down here) - When setting up a WiFi network connection, the back button is no longer at the bottom right, but is now located on the top left of each WiFi UI screen. The Network Name field really means the same thing as SSID. Note: Group Policy for Windows Vista is now built-in to VISTA and available for Windows XP.

Lastly, Riley said that he was not selling anything and that he asked us to believe in Microsoft. He admitted they were slow to catch up to security, but he believes that VISTA is the most secure product ever and that no third party software is necessary for protection. He said to at least give it a try and see what you can do - He also believes that Microsoft got serious about security late, but after Windows XP SP 2 things have tightened up and it's their priority to provide safe and secure products.

Keynote Address

The Keynote Address - Techmentor

The Keynote Address for TECHMentor '07 was by Mark Minasi. He is described as a "veteran Windows pundit and best-selling author, and popular technology columnist..." Minasi's speech was about LONGHORN (Microsoft Server 2007). It's not yet available, but he spoke about how it will work with Vista and it's many new features. He wasn't 100% impressed with Longhorn, but did have some good things to say, including the ability to set password expiration for different groups, or Active Directories (AD). (i.e. - make password expire every 6 months, but make senior employee's password expire every 10 months.) He also said there are new features inside msconfig (this allows different processes at startup to start/stop and it can be put in various orders, depending on what you want). He also spoke proudly of Vista and Longhorn's use of WDS (Windows Deployment Services). Yes, the keynote address was more about the upcoming new Microsoft LONGHORN server, but I found it quite interesting and exciting - just to know what the features are, how they will be put together, how it works, and what is good/bad about the new server structure. From the talk, it looks like Microsoft is making it easier to manage servers and more user-friendly, less time-consuming, depending on how large your network may be. All in all, he thought that "NT 4.0 Server is the apex of domain structures." After the talk, we mingled about and Minasi told me he is not an employee of Microsoft, but he critiques everything from Office 2007 to Vista to Longhorn and everything in between. He was a very well-spoken guest and I look forward to hearing more of his talks in the future.