I sat on the floor, surrounded by cables, camcorders, and 8mm tapes wondering, "How did I get myself into the mess?" It all started with a burglary and ended with me running Windows XP Mode on my newly upgraded Windows 7 machine. To tell this tech tale correctly, though, I must backtrack a bit and briefly explain my videography habits.
In 1995, a few months before my son was born, I bought my first camcorder. It was a Hitachi device that recorded to standard 8mm video tape. The video quality was, for the time, excellent, and I could record 2 hours per tape. I used the camcorder to death—literally—and by the time it died, I had amassed dozens of tapes, chronicling my son's first bath, his first steps, the first day of school, first cough, first tantrum, etc. A few years later, my daughter came along and I repeated the same pattern.
Needless to say, I needed to buy a camcorder that could play all those tapes. I bought a nice Sony digital model. The DCR-TRV730 recorded higher-quality video and sound, though I could now only fit an hour of video on a tape. Once again, my tape library began to grow. When I purchased my new Sony computer (also about 7 years ago), I immediately started using it to capture, convert, and burn my tapes to DVD (a tale I chronicled). Despite the fact that I could hook the camera up to the PC via FireWire and control playback, recording, rewinding, etc. from the computer, conversion was a time-consuming process. Years later, I had a fair number of DVDs but far more tapes that still needed burning. Worse yet, I discovered that some of the initial DVDs I burned were corrupted (Never buy cheap media!).
When I got my new HP Pavilion 9060n a couple of years ago, I started doing a bit more DVD burning. Unfortunately, I had even less time than ever to get the task done. Then, a year ago, someone burglarized my home and, among other things, took my Sony camcorder, leaving me without a way to play my 8mm tapes.
Over the next year, I kept looking at Sony 8mm deck players. They can run a couple hundred dollars, which isn't terrible, but I never pulled the trigger. Then I found a Sony camcorder at a garage sale for $5. It was older than the one I had (and considerably dirtier), and it was missing a charger. I bought it anyway. I realized it used a proprietary charger (thanks, Sony), so I borrowed one from PC Labs. I found that while I could play the tape someone left inside the camcorder, I couldn't play a digital video. Plus, there was no FireWire-out port, just composite and S-video. I'm not sure what I was expecting for $5. In any case, I put that camcorder aside and decided to look on eBay again and see if I could find a working Sony digital camcorder.
I found a DCR-TRV140 Digital 8, which the seller said could play 8mm and Hi8 tapes and had the necessary FireWire port. And yes, I paid considerably more than $5. When it arrived at my home, I grabbed a tape that was recorded with the old Hitachi. It wouldn't play. Eventually, I discovered that this Sony camcorder could only play digital video—only tapes recorded with my stolen Sony camcorder. This was a bit of good news. I then realized that the $5 camcorder I had bought at the garage sale was not broken. It just couldn't handle digital tapes. It would, however, play all my old Hitachi analog recordings.
I felt like I was getting closer to a solution.
A New Hurdle
Now I had two camcorders, a ton of 8mm tapes, and a 64-bit Windows 7-based PC, with the horsepower (3GB RAM, a 3-GHz quad-core CPU, 512MB video memory, and a dual-layer DVD burner) to capture and burn as many DVDs as I needed. I decided to start with my newer tapes and the DCR-TRV140. I found a FireWire cable, connected the camcorder to the PC, booted up Adobe Premiere Elements 8, and then spent the next frustrating 45 minutes trying to get the system to see my camcorder. Turns out that this camcorder, while new enough to read digital tapes, was just old enough to lack support for 64-bit Windows 7 (and Sony appears to have no plans to add support for the 64-bit OS). Had I stuck with a 32-bit operating system, I might not have had this problem. Microsoft and its partners might want to do a bit more outreach with consumers about all they might lose when they make the switch to 64-bits (or are pushed—more and more systems come with the 64-bit OS by default).
Undaunted, I decided to give the Sony analog camcorder a try. Without a video capture card, I needed to use an external capture device. Fortunately, I had an ADS Tech DVD Xpress on hand. It's a great little device that takes video from camcorders and VCRs, converts it into a digital format, and delivers it to your PC. I installed the software, but, as with the Sony digital camcorder, my Windows 7 PC couldn't see it.
This all brings me back to where we started—me sitting on the floor surrounded by camcorders, 8mmm tapes, cables, and other peripheral devices, trying to figure out what to do next. Crying seemed like a decent option, but I decided to do something more constructive.
A New Approach
Somehow, I'd managed to amass a collection of hardware and tapes that needed an old-school solution: It was time to attempt Windows 7's Windows XP Mode. XP Mode is a virtual Windows XP system running inside Windows 7. It's supported by Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate. The beauty of this virtualization trick is that you can run hardware and software that's no longer supported by Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit).
When Ed Mendelson took XP Mode for a spin last spring[[link: 239954]], he wasn't that impressed. Obviously, I had some trepidation about installing it on my machine. However, my desire to save my family's video memories overrode any concerns.
As noted in other stories, XP Mode doesn't simply run on any PC—in fact, some can't run it at all. Mine isn't one of those PCs, but I did have to enable virtualization before I could install XP Mode. Doing so required a BIOS change—not difficult to do, but anytime you mess with the BIOS, it's a bit scary.
I found the instructions for updating my HP system's BIOS (hitting the Esc key during startup gave me access to a menu where F10 opened the BIOS configuration). Once inside, I turned on Virtualization Technology and then rebooted my system.
Windows XP Mode is supported by Windows 7, but it doesn't ship with the OS. After I updated my system, I still had to download Windows XP Mode first and Windows Virtual PC second. In addition, Windows 7 had to install a couple of unnamed updates to make virtualization work. One other quirk is that XP Mode forced me to create a user name and password—not a big deal though I found it odd that it set the username as "XPMUser" and would not let me edit it. The set-up also instructed me to enable sharing for some of my drives.
With all of that done, I was ready to launch XP Mode. As I expected, it's really a virtual XP system with, by default, only 512MB of my system's 3GB of RAM at its disposal. The screen reminds me a bit of when I used to do remote access. It looks exactly like my old Windows XP screen, but under Start, a couple of key options are missing. Instead of Shut Down or Sleep, there's only Log-off, which exits you out of XP Mode. As is Windows' nature, a message popped up that Windows XP wasn't secure and I should install security software. I'm already running Norton Internet Security 2010 in Windows 7, so I ignored this message.
Similarly, XP Mode doesn't see any of your system's software, so I had to install a new video editing application—I went with a previous version of Adobe Premiere Elements (version 3) so as not to tax the system too much.
So far, so good. But running a virtual system also means you have to more or less invite your system ports to work with it. Essentially, XP Mode asks you to mount and unmount ports and drives. I installed the ADS Tech DVD Xpress device under Windows XP Mode, which went smoothly. Then I had to turn on the USB drive to see the actual device.
Back in Business, Sort of
As promised, XP Mode did recognize the DVD Xpress capture device connected to it and, when I connected my analog Sony camcorder to the device via an S-video and audio cable, I was able to play my video on the computer screen and, eventually, capture the file.
Once I had the 8-GB file captured and stored on my C: Drive, I couldn't fine anyway to access that same file on the Windows 7 environment. Finally I mounted the HP pocket drive in my system under XP mode, copied the file to that drive and found I could then unmount the drive and access it under Windows 7. Once back in Windows 7, I burned the DVD video to a dual-layer DVD.
I had what I consider half a solution. Things did not go so smoothly when I tried connecting my Sony digital camcorder directly to my PC. The digital camcorder has, as noted earlier, a FireWire port. I loaded up XP Mode, connected my camcorder to the IEEE 1394 port on the front of my computer, and learned, in very short order, that Virtual PC has no FireWire support. The only good news is that I know I can connect the digital camcorder to the ADS Tech device via S-video—while in XP Mode, of course. Still, this wasn't exactly the outcome I was hoping for. My next possible option is to create a dual-boot system, but I don't have the energy left for that right now.
So, again, I ask, how did I get myself into this mess?
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Report: Microsoft to Show Off Windows 7 Slider Tablet at CES
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will demonstrate tablet computers running a version of Windows 7, including a Samsung model with a slide-out keyboard, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in January, The New York Times reported yesterday in a blog post.
The Times didn't name its source, but the person described the Samsung slate device as "similar in size and shape" to the Apple iPad, but "not as thin." The slide-out keyboard is said to be "unique" and "slick." Given that description, the mystery tablet is nothing like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which has a 7-inch screen (the iPad's is 10 inches) and no sliding keyboard.
Ballmer will show more slates from Dell and other manufacturers, according to the report. The devices will run Windows 7, though holding them in portrait mode with the keyboard sheathed will activate a "layered" interface. Similar to the announced BlackBerry PlayBook, the new machines are said to be aimed primarily at business users, an audience generally thought to be underserved by the iPad.
The Times report cited one source who suggested Microsoft could even show a tablet running Windows 8, though that appears unlikely. It's possible that Microsoft will show the devices running a variant of Windows 7 or Windows Phone 7 — one that's tailored to work with slate devices, similar to the tablet-specific version of Android dubbed "Honeycomb." Ballmer alluded to such a move in the summer when he said, "We're working with our hardware partners. We're tuning Windows 7 to new slate hardware designs that they're bringing them to market."
Microsoft is said to be encouraging manufacturers to write apps for the new slate machines in HTML5. The apps won't be sold in the Zune Marketplace or any other app store, the Times said. Instead, software partners will host the apps on their own websites.
When contacted, Microsoft told PCMag it had no comment on the rumors.
The Times didn't name its source, but the person described the Samsung slate device as "similar in size and shape" to the Apple iPad, but "not as thin." The slide-out keyboard is said to be "unique" and "slick." Given that description, the mystery tablet is nothing like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which has a 7-inch screen (the iPad's is 10 inches) and no sliding keyboard.
Ballmer will show more slates from Dell and other manufacturers, according to the report. The devices will run Windows 7, though holding them in portrait mode with the keyboard sheathed will activate a "layered" interface. Similar to the announced BlackBerry PlayBook, the new machines are said to be aimed primarily at business users, an audience generally thought to be underserved by the iPad.
The Times report cited one source who suggested Microsoft could even show a tablet running Windows 8, though that appears unlikely. It's possible that Microsoft will show the devices running a variant of Windows 7 or Windows Phone 7 — one that's tailored to work with slate devices, similar to the tablet-specific version of Android dubbed "Honeycomb." Ballmer alluded to such a move in the summer when he said, "We're working with our hardware partners. We're tuning Windows 7 to new slate hardware designs that they're bringing them to market."
Microsoft is said to be encouraging manufacturers to write apps for the new slate machines in HTML5. The apps won't be sold in the Zune Marketplace or any other app store, the Times said. Instead, software partners will host the apps on their own websites.
When contacted, Microsoft told PCMag it had no comment on the rumors.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Report: Microsoft To Launch Windows TV
Perhaps taking advantage of Apple's absence from CES, Microsoft is reportedly announcing a Windows-based set-top box, according to the Seattle Times
The set-top boxes will cost $200 and use Windows Media Center, the platform for its desktop TV capacity, as its primary interface.
CES 2011
"Microsoft's going to make a splash in this market with a stripped-down version of Windows tailored for set-top boxes and connected TVs," writes ST's Brier Dudley. "The software is a version of its embedded device software, overlaid with the Windows Media Center interface, with media streaming and remote-control capabilities."
It's no secret that Microsoft wants to integrate Windows software into the lucrative TV market for years. Microsoft recently flirted with the idea by adding live-streaming ESPN content to an Xbox Live 2010 update.
In November, Reuters, citing unnamed Microsoft employees, said Microsoft was launching an IPTV service "in a year".
If Windows TV does happen, it will face stiff competition from earlier movers Google and Apple.
Last month Apple said it expected Apple TV sales to top 1 million in 2010.
Meanwhile Google TV has been available on Sony TV and Blu-ray players, but the company reportedly asked manufacturers like Toshiba and LG Electronics to delay launching their new Google TV sets at CES this week. That didn't stopped Vizio, a nascent Google TV partner, from showing off its ultra-widescreen HDTVs and even a 71-inch 3D model.
The set-top boxes will cost $200 and use Windows Media Center, the platform for its desktop TV capacity, as its primary interface.
CES 2011
"Microsoft's going to make a splash in this market with a stripped-down version of Windows tailored for set-top boxes and connected TVs," writes ST's Brier Dudley. "The software is a version of its embedded device software, overlaid with the Windows Media Center interface, with media streaming and remote-control capabilities."
It's no secret that Microsoft wants to integrate Windows software into the lucrative TV market for years. Microsoft recently flirted with the idea by adding live-streaming ESPN content to an Xbox Live 2010 update.
In November, Reuters, citing unnamed Microsoft employees, said Microsoft was launching an IPTV service "in a year".
If Windows TV does happen, it will face stiff competition from earlier movers Google and Apple.
Last month Apple said it expected Apple TV sales to top 1 million in 2010.
Meanwhile Google TV has been available on Sony TV and Blu-ray players, but the company reportedly asked manufacturers like Toshiba and LG Electronics to delay launching their new Google TV sets at CES this week. That didn't stopped Vizio, a nascent Google TV partner, from showing off its ultra-widescreen HDTVs and even a 71-inch 3D model.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Windows Phone 7 Series: What Microsoft Learned From Apple
Microsoft has taken a page out of the Apple playbook for its new mobile OS. It may be the key to the company's success in the space.
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, Microsoft finally unveiled the latest version of Windows Mobile. The company took two years to develop the new OS, starting essentially from scratch. The result is a world class smartphone operating system and UI that actually has a chance to make Microsoft a player in the space again. The company has been operating in the mobile space for a while, of course, but after Apple and Google entered the market, Microsoft had no choice but to chuck its old OS in favor of a more competitive version.
To understand Microsoft's approach to the market with Windows Phone 7 Series, we need to examine the diametrically opposing ways its competitors develop products for the space. Apple epitomizes the closed approach. Google and the open source community, on the other hand, view smartphones as an open platform for design and innovation. While both approaches have merit, Apple's move to drive software developers to write and support a specific OS has helped the company go from zero to 25 percent market share in less than three years. It has served the company well and has generated a lot of money for the developers of the iPhone's more than 150,000 apps.
Google takes a vastly different approach. While the company does have a set of OS and UI guidelines for Android, its nature as an open source project means that companies can customize the operating system to help differentiate their version from the competition. This is a powerful approach, but it comes with some tricky issues for software developers. When I talk to app developers, they may complain about Apple's App Store vetting process, but they all seem to hail the company's SDK guidelines that force them to write to a single user interface and hardware specification. This means they can create applications faster. As long as they write to Apple's iPhone conventions, their apps will work with the iPhone, iPod touch, and—soon—the iPad.
This isn't always true for Android. Handset makers want to differentiate their devices from the competition, and in doing so, they may place hard-coded buttons one way and soft buttons another. Add the trend of making the UI touch-sensitive, and you have another layer of complexity. If a developer wants to write an app for Google's Nexus One, their app has to be created specifically for that phone's hardware and UI. If they want to create the app for the Motorola Droid, on the other hand, they may have to tweak it quite a bit.
Apple believes that the user should have a single UI on its device that can be used across similar devices, as part of a large ecosystem of products. On the other hand, while Android, mobile Linux, or even Nokia and Intel's new Meego provide a solid open source approach to a powerful smartphone OS, the HTC Sense UI on the Hero phone is different that the UI on the Nexus One, forcing users to learn a new UI on each device.
In the tech community, we're often hard on Apple or anyone who delivers a "closed" system. The one thing we often forget is the fact that most customers are much less enamored with UI choices. They want simplicity—products that are easy to use and consistent across platforms and devices. That's a large part of the reason that Apple rose to a 25 percent market share so quickly. The iPhone is simple, easy to understand, and all of the apps work with the company's uniform UI.
Microsoft is taking a page out of Apple's playbook with Windows Phone 7 Series. The company has delivered strict hardware and software guidelines to its partners. We won't know the OS's exact details until the MIX conference next month, but we can be sure that they will force all applications to be designed around a single hardware and software specification to ensure that any phone that has Windows Phone 7 Series on it will work the same. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was asked how handset manufacturers can differentiate their products, given the strict guidelines. The details, he told the press, will be revealed at MIX. If we use the Windows PC as a guideline, however, the answer emerges. Windows PCs come in all manner of sizes, shapes, and designs.
Microsoft is at least two years behind Apple in the smartphone market. The company is doing the right thing by making sure all Windows phones work and act the same. Like Apple, it can give smartphone developers a single OS/UI to work with that will ensure that any app written for the OS will work on any phone designed for it. This strategy serves Microsoft well in its core enterprise markets. Windows phones have had success in this space, and if there's one thing enterprise buyers want, it's consistency. With Windows Phone 7 Series, enterprise buyers will have plenty of choices for hardware and carriers, while maintaining a single OS and UI across the company.
These new devices won't be out until Q4, so its too early to tell if Microsoft really has a winner on its hands. Given the fact that it is creating an easy to use platform that is also easy to develop for, Windows Phone 7 Series has the chance to become one of the major smartphone platforms. The attempt to recreate its successful PC OS model may be controversial, but it's probably the best chance the company has for re-gaining ground in the mobile space.
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, Microsoft finally unveiled the latest version of Windows Mobile. The company took two years to develop the new OS, starting essentially from scratch. The result is a world class smartphone operating system and UI that actually has a chance to make Microsoft a player in the space again. The company has been operating in the mobile space for a while, of course, but after Apple and Google entered the market, Microsoft had no choice but to chuck its old OS in favor of a more competitive version.
To understand Microsoft's approach to the market with Windows Phone 7 Series, we need to examine the diametrically opposing ways its competitors develop products for the space. Apple epitomizes the closed approach. Google and the open source community, on the other hand, view smartphones as an open platform for design and innovation. While both approaches have merit, Apple's move to drive software developers to write and support a specific OS has helped the company go from zero to 25 percent market share in less than three years. It has served the company well and has generated a lot of money for the developers of the iPhone's more than 150,000 apps.
Google takes a vastly different approach. While the company does have a set of OS and UI guidelines for Android, its nature as an open source project means that companies can customize the operating system to help differentiate their version from the competition. This is a powerful approach, but it comes with some tricky issues for software developers. When I talk to app developers, they may complain about Apple's App Store vetting process, but they all seem to hail the company's SDK guidelines that force them to write to a single user interface and hardware specification. This means they can create applications faster. As long as they write to Apple's iPhone conventions, their apps will work with the iPhone, iPod touch, and—soon—the iPad.
This isn't always true for Android. Handset makers want to differentiate their devices from the competition, and in doing so, they may place hard-coded buttons one way and soft buttons another. Add the trend of making the UI touch-sensitive, and you have another layer of complexity. If a developer wants to write an app for Google's Nexus One, their app has to be created specifically for that phone's hardware and UI. If they want to create the app for the Motorola Droid, on the other hand, they may have to tweak it quite a bit.
Apple believes that the user should have a single UI on its device that can be used across similar devices, as part of a large ecosystem of products. On the other hand, while Android, mobile Linux, or even Nokia and Intel's new Meego provide a solid open source approach to a powerful smartphone OS, the HTC Sense UI on the Hero phone is different that the UI on the Nexus One, forcing users to learn a new UI on each device.
In the tech community, we're often hard on Apple or anyone who delivers a "closed" system. The one thing we often forget is the fact that most customers are much less enamored with UI choices. They want simplicity—products that are easy to use and consistent across platforms and devices. That's a large part of the reason that Apple rose to a 25 percent market share so quickly. The iPhone is simple, easy to understand, and all of the apps work with the company's uniform UI.
Microsoft is taking a page out of Apple's playbook with Windows Phone 7 Series. The company has delivered strict hardware and software guidelines to its partners. We won't know the OS's exact details until the MIX conference next month, but we can be sure that they will force all applications to be designed around a single hardware and software specification to ensure that any phone that has Windows Phone 7 Series on it will work the same. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was asked how handset manufacturers can differentiate their products, given the strict guidelines. The details, he told the press, will be revealed at MIX. If we use the Windows PC as a guideline, however, the answer emerges. Windows PCs come in all manner of sizes, shapes, and designs.
Microsoft is at least two years behind Apple in the smartphone market. The company is doing the right thing by making sure all Windows phones work and act the same. Like Apple, it can give smartphone developers a single OS/UI to work with that will ensure that any app written for the OS will work on any phone designed for it. This strategy serves Microsoft well in its core enterprise markets. Windows phones have had success in this space, and if there's one thing enterprise buyers want, it's consistency. With Windows Phone 7 Series, enterprise buyers will have plenty of choices for hardware and carriers, while maintaining a single OS and UI across the company.
These new devices won't be out until Q4, so its too early to tell if Microsoft really has a winner on its hands. Given the fact that it is creating an easy to use platform that is also easy to develop for, Windows Phone 7 Series has the chance to become one of the major smartphone platforms. The attempt to recreate its successful PC OS model may be controversial, but it's probably the best chance the company has for re-gaining ground in the mobile space.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Motorola Says Top Microsoft Products Infringe Patents
On Wednesday, Motorola fired back against Microsoft, suing the software giant for patent infringement that the suit claims involves a number of key Microsoft products.
Motorola filed separate suits in both the Southern District of Florida as well as the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging that Microsoft's products infringed at least six of Motorola's patents. (Copies of the Wisconsin suit were not immediately available, as the court's Web site was down for maintenance.)
Microsoft said it was reviewing the suit. "We are still reviewing Motorola's filing, which we just received," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft, in a statement. "This move is typical of the litigation process and we are not surprised. We remain confident in our position and will continue to move forward with the complaints we initiated against Motorola in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and with the International Trade Commission (ITC)."
The Florida suit, however, claims that Microsoft's Windows operating systems, including Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7, plus Microsoft's Bing, Windows Live Messaging, and even the Xbox game console all violate Motorola's patents.
Motorola also challenged Microsoft's use of Wi-Fi and digital video encoding patents, two topics that are at issue in Microsoft's own suit against Motorola, which argued that Motorola was obligated to provide so-called Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory licensing terms to Microsoft, as per a trade industry group's bylaws. In early October, Microsoft also sued Motorola, claiming that Motorola's Android phones violated certain Microsoft patents.
"Motorola's R&D and intellectual property are of great importance to the Company and are renowned worldwide," Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property at Motorola Mobility, said in a statement. "We are committed to protecting the interests of our shareholders, customers and other stakeholders and are bringing this action against Microsoft in order to halt its infringement of key Motorola patents. Motorola has invested billions of dollars in R&D to create a deep and broad intellectual property portfolio and we will continue to do what is necessary to protect our proprietary technology."
Motorola filed separate suits in both the Southern District of Florida as well as the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging that Microsoft's products infringed at least six of Motorola's patents. (Copies of the Wisconsin suit were not immediately available, as the court's Web site was down for maintenance.)
Microsoft said it was reviewing the suit. "We are still reviewing Motorola's filing, which we just received," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft, in a statement. "This move is typical of the litigation process and we are not surprised. We remain confident in our position and will continue to move forward with the complaints we initiated against Motorola in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and with the International Trade Commission (ITC)."
The Florida suit, however, claims that Microsoft's Windows operating systems, including Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7, plus Microsoft's Bing, Windows Live Messaging, and even the Xbox game console all violate Motorola's patents.
Motorola also challenged Microsoft's use of Wi-Fi and digital video encoding patents, two topics that are at issue in Microsoft's own suit against Motorola, which argued that Motorola was obligated to provide so-called Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory licensing terms to Microsoft, as per a trade industry group's bylaws. In early October, Microsoft also sued Motorola, claiming that Motorola's Android phones violated certain Microsoft patents.
"Motorola's R&D and intellectual property are of great importance to the Company and are renowned worldwide," Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property at Motorola Mobility, said in a statement. "We are committed to protecting the interests of our shareholders, customers and other stakeholders and are bringing this action against Microsoft in order to halt its infringement of key Motorola patents. Motorola has invested billions of dollars in R&D to create a deep and broad intellectual property portfolio and we will continue to do what is necessary to protect our proprietary technology."
Saturday, January 22, 2011
TV Syndication Now Means Hulu, Not TBS
Watching video over the Internet was a major theme at SXSW this week. Today, a panel of industry leaders gathered to discuss why Hulu is so popular, how Netflix can make money, and whether the IPTV processing power should be built into your TV or set top box. They also addressed the looming issue of how to make money when audiences are increasingly streaming, downloading, and time-shifting their entertainment.
"Free works, Hulu is proving that," Colin Dixon, an analyst with the Diffusion Group, who moderated the conversation, said. "The problem is that the revenue that is being generated from advertising is not enough to make it work anyone's worthwhile."
The good news is that there are more products than ever that can download IPTV, ranging from your Apple TV to your PlayStation 3. "The XBox 360 is a classic Trojan horse box, explained Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist for Macrovision."You buy it because you want to shoot aliens and then you realize it can stream Netflix."
Bullwinkle is encouraged by the sheer range and variety of hardware devices that are on the market now. Although he cautions against investing too much in HDTVs with built in IPTV support because the technology is changing so rapidly. "Do you really want your HDTV to change as fast as all these Internet technologies?" he says.
On the content side, perhaps the most important step for the networks is to get their videos on as many platforms as possible through syndication. That means getting it on iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, whatever it takes. "We are in a world where syndication is all important," according to Jason Meil of Initiative, an advertising agency that works with IPTV projects. He said syndication is part of any plan Initiative puts together, and even the aggregators with huge scale have challenges.
"Even when you get something the front page of YouTube, it doesn't mean you are going to get 500,000 views like you used to," Meil says. "It is hard to break through the clutter."
IPTV has always had to deal with an overabundance of video formats and codecs, and the problem persists today. Although MPEG4 is very popular now, NetFlix, Amazon, and Hulu all have their own proprietary flavors. Supporting multiple video formats, and potential future ones, it requires some significant processing power which can drive up the cost. This isn't a big deal for a powerful system like the XBox or PlayStation 3, but for a small box like the Roku Video Player it can be hard to keep up.
Although the entire panel agreed that there were too many competing file formats to be effectively supported, none thought this would change any time soon. "It would be less distressing if we were moving toward a more converged world, but we are not," said Marcia Zellers, a panelist and Digital Media Strategy Consultant based in Los Angeles. "We are in the same place we were years ago."
Ah yes, but we have much, much more to watch.
"Free works, Hulu is proving that," Colin Dixon, an analyst with the Diffusion Group, who moderated the conversation, said. "The problem is that the revenue that is being generated from advertising is not enough to make it work anyone's worthwhile."
The good news is that there are more products than ever that can download IPTV, ranging from your Apple TV to your PlayStation 3. "The XBox 360 is a classic Trojan horse box, explained Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist for Macrovision."You buy it because you want to shoot aliens and then you realize it can stream Netflix."
Bullwinkle is encouraged by the sheer range and variety of hardware devices that are on the market now. Although he cautions against investing too much in HDTVs with built in IPTV support because the technology is changing so rapidly. "Do you really want your HDTV to change as fast as all these Internet technologies?" he says.
On the content side, perhaps the most important step for the networks is to get their videos on as many platforms as possible through syndication. That means getting it on iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, whatever it takes. "We are in a world where syndication is all important," according to Jason Meil of Initiative, an advertising agency that works with IPTV projects. He said syndication is part of any plan Initiative puts together, and even the aggregators with huge scale have challenges.
"Even when you get something the front page of YouTube, it doesn't mean you are going to get 500,000 views like you used to," Meil says. "It is hard to break through the clutter."
IPTV has always had to deal with an overabundance of video formats and codecs, and the problem persists today. Although MPEG4 is very popular now, NetFlix, Amazon, and Hulu all have their own proprietary flavors. Supporting multiple video formats, and potential future ones, it requires some significant processing power which can drive up the cost. This isn't a big deal for a powerful system like the XBox or PlayStation 3, but for a small box like the Roku Video Player it can be hard to keep up.
Although the entire panel agreed that there were too many competing file formats to be effectively supported, none thought this would change any time soon. "It would be less distressing if we were moving toward a more converged world, but we are not," said Marcia Zellers, a panelist and Digital Media Strategy Consultant based in Los Angeles. "We are in the same place we were years ago."
Ah yes, but we have much, much more to watch.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
DivX Reloaded
The revolutionary DivX technology first emerged as a spoof of a failed scheme of the same name and has slowly usurped the MPEG-4 initiative. For all practical purposes, it has become MPEG-4. DivX can turn a 4.7GB DVD into a 700MB disc with no degradation in quality. The implications are huge.
The technology has been flying under the radar for a while, but that will end in a few months, when DivX-compatible DVD players will flood the market. How did all this happen so smoothly?
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The DivX story began with a 1998 initiative called Digital Video Express—Divx for short. It was invented by Circuit City and a Los Angeles–based entertainment law firm (a weird combination of partners, to be sure). At the time, Disney, DreamWorks, Panasonic, Paramount, Universal, Zenith, and a few others agreed to back the new system. It's too bad the public wasn't interested.
The idea was that you would buy a special Divx-enabled DVD player that connected to your phone line. When you put in a special disposable DVD/Divx disc, a central database would monitor when you played the disc. So if you paid for a one-day rental, you'd have a limited time to watch it. After that, it wouldn't play. And you never had to bother returning it. The idea was convoluted to say the least. I think the landfill issues alone were enough to stop the initiative.
The controversy over the wacky discs resulted in the Divx name emerging years later as the moniker for a home-brew compression technology that was initially called DivX ;). The winking emoticon mocked the previous product. The emoticon was later dropped.
DivX ;) was actually derived from some Windows Media Player code floating around in beta. Around 1999, French hacker Jerome Rota (also called Gej) found a codec embedded in the Microsoft product that was actually an MPEG-4–compatible process. He pulled it from the code, and it got passed around the underground as DivX ;).
Gej needed something to compress files so they could be transferred easily. Those in the underground saw it as a way to trade movies—and they did. Luckily for Hollywood, even movies compressed to the max were still 700MB or more.
This is where the story gets interesting. Gej eventually got some decent funding and formed a company called DivXNetworks. Soon after, a clean-room version of the codec was developed, making any commercial version of DivX not bound by the myriad MPEG-4 patents. In the meantime, as DivXNetworks CEO Jordan Greenhall told me, "All the MPEG-4 software companies were going out of business, and we ended up being the last man standing."
This probably happened because Hollywood didn't move to MPEG-4 from MPEG-2 and its lucrative DVD business. MPEG-4 lost momentum, while DivX stayed lean and mean. MPEG-4 now appears to be relegated to encoding for disc-based camcorders.
The trick that will really give a boost to DivX is its ability to stream DivX-encoded video at 784 Kbps, allowing for DVD-quality streaming. With a broadband connection, you can download a movie in less than half the movie's playing time.
In contrast to the bumblings of the Recording Industry Association of America with the MP3 fiasco, the Motion Picture Association of America has been working with—not against—the DivXNetworks folks. How this will play out nobody knows. But Greenhall, an MP3.com veteran, knows the pitfalls and is going to steer away from controversy and litigation.
With DivX beginning to appear in DVD players later this year, the next stage of video compression development is already under way. DivXNetworks is working on H.264, a standard that compresses video by as much as 75 percent. The company believes that using such compression, a DVD stream can be pushed over the Internet at a magic 384 Kbps. This also bodes well for the future of high-definition compression and, eventually, high-definition video streams.
In the meantime, according to the company, the public has downloaded 100 million (yes, that's right) copies of various free DivX players that it offers on its Web site at www.divx.com. The DVD manufacturers are in for a surprise with the popularity of DivX. By this time next year, DivX will be in the public lexicon.
The technology has been flying under the radar for a while, but that will end in a few months, when DivX-compatible DVD players will flood the market. How did all this happen so smoothly?
Best online Microsoft MCTS Training, Microsoft MCITP Certification at certkingdom.com - Free MCTS TrainingThe DivX story began with a 1998 initiative called Digital Video Express—Divx for short. It was invented by Circuit City and a Los Angeles–based entertainment law firm (a weird combination of partners, to be sure). At the time, Disney, DreamWorks, Panasonic, Paramount, Universal, Zenith, and a few others agreed to back the new system. It's too bad the public wasn't interested.
The idea was that you would buy a special Divx-enabled DVD player that connected to your phone line. When you put in a special disposable DVD/Divx disc, a central database would monitor when you played the disc. So if you paid for a one-day rental, you'd have a limited time to watch it. After that, it wouldn't play. And you never had to bother returning it. The idea was convoluted to say the least. I think the landfill issues alone were enough to stop the initiative.
The controversy over the wacky discs resulted in the Divx name emerging years later as the moniker for a home-brew compression technology that was initially called DivX ;). The winking emoticon mocked the previous product. The emoticon was later dropped.
DivX ;) was actually derived from some Windows Media Player code floating around in beta. Around 1999, French hacker Jerome Rota (also called Gej) found a codec embedded in the Microsoft product that was actually an MPEG-4–compatible process. He pulled it from the code, and it got passed around the underground as DivX ;).
Gej needed something to compress files so they could be transferred easily. Those in the underground saw it as a way to trade movies—and they did. Luckily for Hollywood, even movies compressed to the max were still 700MB or more.
This is where the story gets interesting. Gej eventually got some decent funding and formed a company called DivXNetworks. Soon after, a clean-room version of the codec was developed, making any commercial version of DivX not bound by the myriad MPEG-4 patents. In the meantime, as DivXNetworks CEO Jordan Greenhall told me, "All the MPEG-4 software companies were going out of business, and we ended up being the last man standing."
This probably happened because Hollywood didn't move to MPEG-4 from MPEG-2 and its lucrative DVD business. MPEG-4 lost momentum, while DivX stayed lean and mean. MPEG-4 now appears to be relegated to encoding for disc-based camcorders.
The trick that will really give a boost to DivX is its ability to stream DivX-encoded video at 784 Kbps, allowing for DVD-quality streaming. With a broadband connection, you can download a movie in less than half the movie's playing time.
In contrast to the bumblings of the Recording Industry Association of America with the MP3 fiasco, the Motion Picture Association of America has been working with—not against—the DivXNetworks folks. How this will play out nobody knows. But Greenhall, an MP3.com veteran, knows the pitfalls and is going to steer away from controversy and litigation.
With DivX beginning to appear in DVD players later this year, the next stage of video compression development is already under way. DivXNetworks is working on H.264, a standard that compresses video by as much as 75 percent. The company believes that using such compression, a DVD stream can be pushed over the Internet at a magic 384 Kbps. This also bodes well for the future of high-definition compression and, eventually, high-definition video streams.
In the meantime, according to the company, the public has downloaded 100 million (yes, that's right) copies of various free DivX players that it offers on its Web site at www.divx.com. The DVD manufacturers are in for a surprise with the popularity of DivX. By this time next year, DivX will be in the public lexicon.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
USDA Moving 120,000 Workers to Microsoft Cloud Services
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is ready to go live with Microsoft's cloud services. In the next four weeks, the agency will move 120,000 users to Microsoft Online services, including e-mail, Web conferencing, document collaboration, and instant messaging.
The USDA said it will be the first cabinet-level agency to move its e-mail and collaboration apps into the cloud. Microsoft will consolidate 21 different messaging and collaboration systems into one. Employees will use Microsoft Exchange Online for messaging and calendaring, SharePoint Online for document collaboration, Office Communications Online for instant messaging, and Office Live Meeting for Web conferencing.
Best online Microsoft MCTS Training, Microsoft MCITP Certification at certkingdom.com - Free MCTS Training
The software giant will house the USDA's service in a separate, secure facility, where physical access will be limited by biometric access controls. Microsoft recently secured an authorization to operate (ATO) as required by federal security law.
The deal is part of a May 2010 contract USDA awarded to Dell for Microsoft Online Services. USDA said it has worked closely with Microsoft and Dell for the past six months on transition plans.
"USDA's IT modernization will allow us to streamline our operations and help us use taxpayer dollars more efficiently," USDA chief information officer Chris Smith said in a statement. "With a focused cloud roadmap, we saw a clear opportunity to achieve our cost savings and consolidation goals, and tap into the promise of the cloud."
The announcement comes about a week after the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that it would move its 17,000 employees onto Google's hosted Web apps. The transition, which will affect 17 locations around the world, will be administered next year by Unisys, a Google partner.
Microsoft didn't take the Google-GSA news very well. Thomas Rizzo, senior director of SharePoint at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post that Google cannot meet the requirements of business customers. On Wednesday, Rizzo penned another blog post that said the USDA will "get a world class productivity experience backed by an enterprise class services and support organization that has focused on this business for over 20 years."
"The USDA requires Microsoft to provide offline access which which we do view as a basic not something vendors can expect somewhere down the line," Rizzo wrote, a dig at Google.
In October, Microsoft also inked a licensing deal with the city of New York that will consolidate its various licenses into one and provide city officials with access to Microsoft's cloud-computing features.
UPDATE: Google said Thursday that it was not invited to participate in the bidding process for the USDA contract, suggesting that it might have beaten Microsoft had it been given the chance. "We were not given the opportunity to bid for USDA's business," Google said in a statement. "When there has been a full and open competition- as with the General Services Administration, Wyoming, Colorado and Los Angeles- customers have chosen Google Apps, and taxpayers are saving millions of dollars."
The USDA said it will be the first cabinet-level agency to move its e-mail and collaboration apps into the cloud. Microsoft will consolidate 21 different messaging and collaboration systems into one. Employees will use Microsoft Exchange Online for messaging and calendaring, SharePoint Online for document collaboration, Office Communications Online for instant messaging, and Office Live Meeting for Web conferencing.
Best online Microsoft MCTS Training, Microsoft MCITP Certification at certkingdom.com - Free MCTS TrainingThe software giant will house the USDA's service in a separate, secure facility, where physical access will be limited by biometric access controls. Microsoft recently secured an authorization to operate (ATO) as required by federal security law.
The deal is part of a May 2010 contract USDA awarded to Dell for Microsoft Online Services. USDA said it has worked closely with Microsoft and Dell for the past six months on transition plans.
"USDA's IT modernization will allow us to streamline our operations and help us use taxpayer dollars more efficiently," USDA chief information officer Chris Smith said in a statement. "With a focused cloud roadmap, we saw a clear opportunity to achieve our cost savings and consolidation goals, and tap into the promise of the cloud."
The announcement comes about a week after the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that it would move its 17,000 employees onto Google's hosted Web apps. The transition, which will affect 17 locations around the world, will be administered next year by Unisys, a Google partner.
Microsoft didn't take the Google-GSA news very well. Thomas Rizzo, senior director of SharePoint at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post that Google cannot meet the requirements of business customers. On Wednesday, Rizzo penned another blog post that said the USDA will "get a world class productivity experience backed by an enterprise class services and support organization that has focused on this business for over 20 years."
"The USDA requires Microsoft to provide offline access which which we do view as a basic not something vendors can expect somewhere down the line," Rizzo wrote, a dig at Google.
In October, Microsoft also inked a licensing deal with the city of New York that will consolidate its various licenses into one and provide city officials with access to Microsoft's cloud-computing features.
UPDATE: Google said Thursday that it was not invited to participate in the bidding process for the USDA contract, suggesting that it might have beaten Microsoft had it been given the chance. "We were not given the opportunity to bid for USDA's business," Google said in a statement. "When there has been a full and open competition- as with the General Services Administration, Wyoming, Colorado and Los Angeles- customers have chosen Google Apps, and taxpayers are saving millions of dollars."
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Microsoft Expands, Updates Office Web Apps
Just three months after its release, Microsoft Office Web Apps is getting a facelift and expanding into seven more countries.
In its 100-day lifetime, 20 million users from the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Ireland have logged in to use Microsoft's cloud-based version of its Office suite. Web Apps will now expand into Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland, Microsoft said in a blog post.
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Among the changes is the ability to open a Web Apps document in Microsoft Office, jumping directly from the Internet to the desktop. The feature is accessible via the "Open in [Office app]" option when you're browsing your files.
Microsoft also added the option to embed PowerPoint and Excel documents on blogs and Web sites. Viewers can look at them in full screen mode and will see all animations and transitions. When Excel spreadsheets are updated on the desktop, they will automatically be updated on the Web.
Another new Web Apps feature is the ability to view Excel workbooks on a mobile device, in addition to the existing option for Word and PowerPoint documents. However, users are not able to edit these documents via phone.
All of these updates are available immediately.
"We've fixed bugs you've told us about, made improvements across the board, and generally improved the reliability of your experience," Jason Moore, Windows Live SkyDrive principal lead program manager wrote in the blog post.
Moore said Microsoft will also be rolling out Hotmail updates in the new regions in the coming weeks.
In its 100-day lifetime, 20 million users from the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Ireland have logged in to use Microsoft's cloud-based version of its Office suite. Web Apps will now expand into Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland, Microsoft said in a blog post.
Best online Microsoft MCTS Training, Microsoft MCITP Certification at certkingdom.com - Free MCTS TrainingAmong the changes is the ability to open a Web Apps document in Microsoft Office, jumping directly from the Internet to the desktop. The feature is accessible via the "Open in [Office app]" option when you're browsing your files.
Microsoft also added the option to embed PowerPoint and Excel documents on blogs and Web sites. Viewers can look at them in full screen mode and will see all animations and transitions. When Excel spreadsheets are updated on the desktop, they will automatically be updated on the Web.
Another new Web Apps feature is the ability to view Excel workbooks on a mobile device, in addition to the existing option for Word and PowerPoint documents. However, users are not able to edit these documents via phone.
All of these updates are available immediately.
"We've fixed bugs you've told us about, made improvements across the board, and generally improved the reliability of your experience," Jason Moore, Windows Live SkyDrive principal lead program manager wrote in the blog post.
Moore said Microsoft will also be rolling out Hotmail updates in the new regions in the coming weeks.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Microsoft Quietly Retires Office Genuine Advantage
Microsoft has quietly retired its Office Genuine Advantage anti-piracy program.
A note on the Microsoft Support page says simply that the "program has been retired" and provides a link to a page that explains the benefits of using a "genuine" version of Office.
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"The Office Genuine Advantage program was designed to notify many customers around the world whether their copy of Microsoft Office was genuine. The program has served its purpose and thus we have decided to retire the program," a Microsoft spokeswoman said in a statement. "Given our strong commitment to anti-piracy, we are making several new investments that will allow us to engage with customers and help victims of fraud. If someone believes that their Office software may be counterfeit, please visit Microsoft's How to Tell Web site."
The story was first reported by ZDNet's Ed Bott, who notes that the program's retirement might come as a surprise to other parts of Microsoft, given that some of the Web sites mentioning the program have not yet been updated.
Bott also notes that users will still need an activation key to install Office, and the retirement does not appear to affect Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA).
Office Genuine Advantage is an offshoot of Microsoft's WGA program, which notifies users if they are using fake versions of Windows. Similarly, Office Genuine Advantage kept tabs on bogus versions of the company's productivity suite. Microsoft announced plans for OGA in 2006, but it was not available in the U.S. until August 2009.
Users who learned they were using non-genuine versions of Office were directed to a customized Microsoft Web page to learn about their validation results and find solutions to become "genuine."
A note on the Microsoft Support page says simply that the "program has been retired" and provides a link to a page that explains the benefits of using a "genuine" version of Office.
Best online Microsoft MCTS Training, Microsoft MCITP Certification at certkingdom.com - Free MCTS Training"The Office Genuine Advantage program was designed to notify many customers around the world whether their copy of Microsoft Office was genuine. The program has served its purpose and thus we have decided to retire the program," a Microsoft spokeswoman said in a statement. "Given our strong commitment to anti-piracy, we are making several new investments that will allow us to engage with customers and help victims of fraud. If someone believes that their Office software may be counterfeit, please visit Microsoft's How to Tell Web site."
The story was first reported by ZDNet's Ed Bott, who notes that the program's retirement might come as a surprise to other parts of Microsoft, given that some of the Web sites mentioning the program have not yet been updated.
Bott also notes that users will still need an activation key to install Office, and the retirement does not appear to affect Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA).
Office Genuine Advantage is an offshoot of Microsoft's WGA program, which notifies users if they are using fake versions of Windows. Similarly, Office Genuine Advantage kept tabs on bogus versions of the company's productivity suite. Microsoft announced plans for OGA in 2006, but it was not available in the U.S. until August 2009.
Users who learned they were using non-genuine versions of Office were directed to a customized Microsoft Web page to learn about their validation results and find solutions to become "genuine."
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Lack of Customers Killed Office 2010 Upgrade Pricing
Why won't Microsoft offer upgrade pricing on Office 2010? Because few were buying it, a company representative said.
Microsoft will officially launch Office 2010 at an event in New York on Wednesday.
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Microsoft will charge up to $499 for a boxed copy for Office 2010 ($399 with a product key card), $149.99 for the Home and Student version, or $279.99 for a boxed copy of the Home and Business business version.
Microsoft priced both the Professional version of Office 2010 and Office 2007 at $499. With Office 2007, however, Microsoft offered upgrade pricing. That pricing discounted Office 2007 Ultimate to $539, and Professional 2007 to $329, or a 34 percent discount.
With Office 2010, however, Microsoft discontinued the practice.
Related StoryHow will Microsoft stop pirated copies of Office 2010, as well as its other software? Microsoft's forensics team reveals some of its secrets.
"We looked at how people are using and buying Office and we found two things: Not a lot of people were buying the upgrade," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. "When people do buy a new version of Office they do it with the purchase of a new PC."
Due to this, the majority of retailers do not sell Office upgrades off their shelves, the Microsoft representative said.
Instead, Microsoft is making discounts available via Product Key Cards, essentially license keys. Armed with the key, consumers can download the software and install it themselves, using the key to unlock the software package. Users must re-download the software if their installation for some reason becomes unusable, however.
"Additionally, we've never offered an upgrade on Office Home and Student, which is the number one selling version of Office," the Microsoft representative said. "We are also making Office 2010 more valuable than ever with the Product Key Card purchase option and for the first time ever, Home and Business is being offered for under $200, which includes Outlook."
Both Microsoft Office Professional 2010 and 2007 included Access, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, PowerPoint, and Word. The Office 2010 Home and Business version excludes Publisher and Access; the student version also excludes Outlook. (Microsoft offered an Office Ultimate 2007 version for $679, a product Microsoft does not offer for Office 2010.)
Office 2010 Professional is priced at $499 boxed or $349 with a product key, a 30 percent discount, Microsoft has said. Office Home and Business costs $279 for the boxed copy, and $199 with the product key, a 28 percent discount. Office Home and Student costs $149 boxed, or $119 for the product key, a 20 percent discount. (Since Office Home and Business adds Outlook only, customers pay $130 or $80, depending on the version, for Microsoft's email software.) Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition is ad-supported.
Microsoft will also let Office 2010 workers use Web-based versions of its software, as well.
In its own Office 2010 review, PCMag.com considered the Office 2010 suite a worthy upgrade, but not a necessary one, especially for homes and small businesses. "If you're a casual user or are on a tight budget, you can manage without this upgrade, but power users with cash to spend will find the upgrade worth the cost," reviewer Ed Mendelson wrote.
But there are also some exceptions that will find the upgrade invaluable: 64-bit users, enterprises, and creative professionals, Mendelson added.
Microsoft will officially launch Office 2010 at an event in New York on Wednesday.
Best online Microsoft MCTS Training, Microsoft MCITP Certification at certkingdom.com - Free MCTS TrainingMicrosoft will charge up to $499 for a boxed copy for Office 2010 ($399 with a product key card), $149.99 for the Home and Student version, or $279.99 for a boxed copy of the Home and Business business version.
Microsoft priced both the Professional version of Office 2010 and Office 2007 at $499. With Office 2007, however, Microsoft offered upgrade pricing. That pricing discounted Office 2007 Ultimate to $539, and Professional 2007 to $329, or a 34 percent discount.
With Office 2010, however, Microsoft discontinued the practice.
Related StoryHow will Microsoft stop pirated copies of Office 2010, as well as its other software? Microsoft's forensics team reveals some of its secrets.
"We looked at how people are using and buying Office and we found two things: Not a lot of people were buying the upgrade," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. "When people do buy a new version of Office they do it with the purchase of a new PC."
Due to this, the majority of retailers do not sell Office upgrades off their shelves, the Microsoft representative said.
Instead, Microsoft is making discounts available via Product Key Cards, essentially license keys. Armed with the key, consumers can download the software and install it themselves, using the key to unlock the software package. Users must re-download the software if their installation for some reason becomes unusable, however.
"Additionally, we've never offered an upgrade on Office Home and Student, which is the number one selling version of Office," the Microsoft representative said. "We are also making Office 2010 more valuable than ever with the Product Key Card purchase option and for the first time ever, Home and Business is being offered for under $200, which includes Outlook."
Both Microsoft Office Professional 2010 and 2007 included Access, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, PowerPoint, and Word. The Office 2010 Home and Business version excludes Publisher and Access; the student version also excludes Outlook. (Microsoft offered an Office Ultimate 2007 version for $679, a product Microsoft does not offer for Office 2010.)
Office 2010 Professional is priced at $499 boxed or $349 with a product key, a 30 percent discount, Microsoft has said. Office Home and Business costs $279 for the boxed copy, and $199 with the product key, a 28 percent discount. Office Home and Student costs $149 boxed, or $119 for the product key, a 20 percent discount. (Since Office Home and Business adds Outlook only, customers pay $130 or $80, depending on the version, for Microsoft's email software.) Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition is ad-supported.
Microsoft will also let Office 2010 workers use Web-based versions of its software, as well.
In its own Office 2010 review, PCMag.com considered the Office 2010 suite a worthy upgrade, but not a necessary one, especially for homes and small businesses. "If you're a casual user or are on a tight budget, you can manage without this upgrade, but power users with cash to spend will find the upgrade worth the cost," reviewer Ed Mendelson wrote.
But there are also some exceptions that will find the upgrade invaluable: 64-bit users, enterprises, and creative professionals, Mendelson added.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
RIM's BlackBerry Dakota Will Run OS 6.1, Not PlayBook OS: Report
RIM's BlackBerry Dakota will run BlackBerry OS 6, according to a new report, suggesting that the porting of the PlayBook tablet’s OS onto smartphones is still far away.
Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Dakota will launch with BlackBerry OS 6.1, according to rumors. That suggests the company’s plan to port the PlayBook tablet’s QNX-based operating system to smartphones is still far in the future.
RIM’s 7-inch PlayBook will be the vanguard of an aggressive strategy to bolster the company’s position in the mobile space, where it faces fierce competition from the likes of Google Android and Apple’s iOS. Instead of porting the recently developed BlackBerry OS 6 onto the tablets, however, RIM made the decision to craft an all-new operating system from software assets acquired during its April 2010 takeover of QNX Software Systems from Harman International.
Images purportedly of the BlackBerry Dakota, combining a physical QWERTY keyboard with a touch-screen, have circulated around the Web for several quarters. On Jan. 13, the blog Boy Genius Report offered an “exclusive” photo of the smartphone, along with a full specs breakdown. In addition to a 5-megapixel camera, 4GB of built-in storage, 2.8-inch VGA capacitive touch-screen, 3G mobile hotspot, and proximity sensor, the report claimed the Dakota would launch with “BlackBerry OS 6.1.”
For some months, RIM executives have suggested that the PlayBook’s QNX operating system will find its way onto smartphones, while declining to offer a definitive timeframe. According to IntoMobile.com, an unnamed RIM vice president suggested to a breakfast audience at last September’s BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco that QNX would take a significant amount of time to appear on BlackBerry devices.
For developers, the QNX operating system’s open-source roots could make it attractive as an application-development platform. And for BlackBerry users, its ability to support a more powerful processor and graphics could prove beneficial as smartphones become more advanced in coming years.
“Rather than seeing a less-capable device (the smartphone) donating its OS to a more-capable device (the tablet), the more-capable device will lead the way,” Ken Hyers, an analyst with Technology Business Research, told eWEEK in September. “When the BlackBerry gets the QNX OS, the OS will have been extensively field-tested on the tablet, meaning that smartphone customers will not have to put up with buggy software that hasn’t been properly tested.”
While eWEEK was given only a few minutes’ worth of hands-on with the PlayBook at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the tablet seemed powerful enough to multitask a handful of applications without stutter or slowdown. In addition, the PlayBook offers full HTML5 and Adobe Flash 10.1 support, along with dual cameras for video conferencing.
But it may be some time before that system finds its way onto a smaller device.
Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Dakota will launch with BlackBerry OS 6.1, according to rumors. That suggests the company’s plan to port the PlayBook tablet’s QNX-based operating system to smartphones is still far in the future.
RIM’s 7-inch PlayBook will be the vanguard of an aggressive strategy to bolster the company’s position in the mobile space, where it faces fierce competition from the likes of Google Android and Apple’s iOS. Instead of porting the recently developed BlackBerry OS 6 onto the tablets, however, RIM made the decision to craft an all-new operating system from software assets acquired during its April 2010 takeover of QNX Software Systems from Harman International.
Images purportedly of the BlackBerry Dakota, combining a physical QWERTY keyboard with a touch-screen, have circulated around the Web for several quarters. On Jan. 13, the blog Boy Genius Report offered an “exclusive” photo of the smartphone, along with a full specs breakdown. In addition to a 5-megapixel camera, 4GB of built-in storage, 2.8-inch VGA capacitive touch-screen, 3G mobile hotspot, and proximity sensor, the report claimed the Dakota would launch with “BlackBerry OS 6.1.”
For some months, RIM executives have suggested that the PlayBook’s QNX operating system will find its way onto smartphones, while declining to offer a definitive timeframe. According to IntoMobile.com, an unnamed RIM vice president suggested to a breakfast audience at last September’s BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco that QNX would take a significant amount of time to appear on BlackBerry devices.
For developers, the QNX operating system’s open-source roots could make it attractive as an application-development platform. And for BlackBerry users, its ability to support a more powerful processor and graphics could prove beneficial as smartphones become more advanced in coming years.
“Rather than seeing a less-capable device (the smartphone) donating its OS to a more-capable device (the tablet), the more-capable device will lead the way,” Ken Hyers, an analyst with Technology Business Research, told eWEEK in September. “When the BlackBerry gets the QNX OS, the OS will have been extensively field-tested on the tablet, meaning that smartphone customers will not have to put up with buggy software that hasn’t been properly tested.”
While eWEEK was given only a few minutes’ worth of hands-on with the PlayBook at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the tablet seemed powerful enough to multitask a handful of applications without stutter or slowdown. In addition, the PlayBook offers full HTML5 and Adobe Flash 10.1 support, along with dual cameras for video conferencing.
But it may be some time before that system finds its way onto a smaller device.
Verizon, with Apple iPhone Near, Cancels Upgrade Incentives: Report
Verizon Wireless, before the debut of its iPhone, plans to cancel its “New Every Two” program and early-upgrade policy — both money savers for subscribers.
The Verizon iPhone has been called the mobile industry’s worst-kept secret. The carrier’s bigger surprise, it turns out, may be its plan to cancel its “New Every Two” program in advance of the Feb. 10 launch of its iPhone, the Wall Street Journal first reported Jan. 12.
The New Every Two program offers Verizon subscribers a credit of $30 to $100 toward the purchase of a new phone every two years. Beginning Jan. 16, Verizon will stop offering New Every Two, as well as its Annual Upgrade program, to new customers.
“Customers who were previously eligible for discounted phones as early as 13 months into a two-year contract will now have to wait 20 months to get a new phone at the promotional new-customer price instead of retail,” wrote the Journal, adding that for the iPhone, “that’s currently a difference of $400.”
Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney told eWEEK that "customers under contract prior to January 16, 2011 who meet the qualifications for New Every Two or Annual Upgrade will be grandfathered to use the benefit one more time." She added that "a simpler program" will replace Annual Upgrade and New Every Two, enabling customers who sign up for service on or after Jan. 16 to upgrade their devices after 10 months, with a one-year contract and after 20 months with a two-year contract.
Modeling from analysis firm Technology Business Research shows 3.4 million to 4.7 million AT&T subscribers will likely make the switch to Verizon in 2011, with 10 million to 12 million subscribers in total signing up for the Verizon iPhone.
“That means $3 billion to $5 billion in subsidies for Verizon, even without the New Every Two program,” TBR analyst Ken Hyers told eWEEK. “So it makes sense that Verizon, and other operators that are selling more and more smartphones with their expensive subsidies, is looking to reduce its equipment costs where it can.”
Sales of smartphones in 2010 were incredibly swift, increasing by nearly 90 percent over 2009’s totals, according to research firm IDC.
"Increasingly, users look to smartphones as their next devices while carriers have broadened selection and offered generous subsidies,” wrote IDC analyst Ramon Llamas in a Nov. 4 report. “To keep up with demand, vendors' plans to emphasize smartphones in their portfolios have resulted in sharp growth …”
Carriers make up for the subsidies — which account for the difference in hundreds of dollars between the with-a-new-contract rate and without one — over the two years that a user pays service fees. Should the customer move on or upgrade before the terms of the contract are up, the carrier loses out.
“That point hit home for … AT&T last year when it allowed subscribers to upgrade early — often even waiving its $18 processing fee — when the iPhone 4 was released on its network,” Morningstar equity analyst Michael Hodel told the Journal. “Its profit margins shrunk considerably.”
Verizon, however, is in a power position, poised to offer something that the market has been showing a years-long desire for. In September 2010 survey by Deloitte, nearly half of AT&T’s iPhone owners said they would be interested in switching to Verizon, should it offer an iPhone. While in a May survey from ChangeWave on subscriber satisfaction with wireless carriers, 53 percent of Verizon customers — despite being the most satisfied customers in the industry — expressed interest in the one smartphone they didn’t have access to.
“The survey results show an unprecedented level of pent-up demand for the iPhone among Verizon subscribers,” reported ChangeWave. “If Verizon were ever to offer the iPhone, the evidence points to it having a profound and likely transformational impact on the industry.”
Verizon, one suspects, is well aware of this.
“I think that Verizon has made a pretty accurate assessment that even without the New Every Two program they will have no problem signing up iPhone subscribers,” said TBR’s Hyers. “ And I think that they may not want to spend the bulk of their equipment subsidies on existing customers who have benefited from previous subsidies already (remember that many of their current subs will want to upgrade early, to the iPhone).”
With other operators also ending early upgrade policies, he added, “I don’t think Verizon will be negatively affected by ending these programs.”
Regarding the change to the Verizon policies, Raney said she's "seen a lot of misinformation."
The Verizon iPhone has been called the mobile industry’s worst-kept secret. The carrier’s bigger surprise, it turns out, may be its plan to cancel its “New Every Two” program in advance of the Feb. 10 launch of its iPhone, the Wall Street Journal first reported Jan. 12.
The New Every Two program offers Verizon subscribers a credit of $30 to $100 toward the purchase of a new phone every two years. Beginning Jan. 16, Verizon will stop offering New Every Two, as well as its Annual Upgrade program, to new customers.
“Customers who were previously eligible for discounted phones as early as 13 months into a two-year contract will now have to wait 20 months to get a new phone at the promotional new-customer price instead of retail,” wrote the Journal, adding that for the iPhone, “that’s currently a difference of $400.”
Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney told eWEEK that "customers under contract prior to January 16, 2011 who meet the qualifications for New Every Two or Annual Upgrade will be grandfathered to use the benefit one more time." She added that "a simpler program" will replace Annual Upgrade and New Every Two, enabling customers who sign up for service on or after Jan. 16 to upgrade their devices after 10 months, with a one-year contract and after 20 months with a two-year contract.
Modeling from analysis firm Technology Business Research shows 3.4 million to 4.7 million AT&T subscribers will likely make the switch to Verizon in 2011, with 10 million to 12 million subscribers in total signing up for the Verizon iPhone.
“That means $3 billion to $5 billion in subsidies for Verizon, even without the New Every Two program,” TBR analyst Ken Hyers told eWEEK. “So it makes sense that Verizon, and other operators that are selling more and more smartphones with their expensive subsidies, is looking to reduce its equipment costs where it can.”
Sales of smartphones in 2010 were incredibly swift, increasing by nearly 90 percent over 2009’s totals, according to research firm IDC.
"Increasingly, users look to smartphones as their next devices while carriers have broadened selection and offered generous subsidies,” wrote IDC analyst Ramon Llamas in a Nov. 4 report. “To keep up with demand, vendors' plans to emphasize smartphones in their portfolios have resulted in sharp growth …”
Carriers make up for the subsidies — which account for the difference in hundreds of dollars between the with-a-new-contract rate and without one — over the two years that a user pays service fees. Should the customer move on or upgrade before the terms of the contract are up, the carrier loses out.
“That point hit home for … AT&T last year when it allowed subscribers to upgrade early — often even waiving its $18 processing fee — when the iPhone 4 was released on its network,” Morningstar equity analyst Michael Hodel told the Journal. “Its profit margins shrunk considerably.”
Verizon, however, is in a power position, poised to offer something that the market has been showing a years-long desire for. In September 2010 survey by Deloitte, nearly half of AT&T’s iPhone owners said they would be interested in switching to Verizon, should it offer an iPhone. While in a May survey from ChangeWave on subscriber satisfaction with wireless carriers, 53 percent of Verizon customers — despite being the most satisfied customers in the industry — expressed interest in the one smartphone they didn’t have access to.
“The survey results show an unprecedented level of pent-up demand for the iPhone among Verizon subscribers,” reported ChangeWave. “If Verizon were ever to offer the iPhone, the evidence points to it having a profound and likely transformational impact on the industry.”
Verizon, one suspects, is well aware of this.
“I think that Verizon has made a pretty accurate assessment that even without the New Every Two program they will have no problem signing up iPhone subscribers,” said TBR’s Hyers. “ And I think that they may not want to spend the bulk of their equipment subsidies on existing customers who have benefited from previous subsidies already (remember that many of their current subs will want to upgrade early, to the iPhone).”
With other operators also ending early upgrade policies, he added, “I don’t think Verizon will be negatively affected by ending these programs.”
Regarding the change to the Verizon policies, Raney said she's "seen a lot of misinformation."
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Microsoft 70-680 exam:Windows 7, Configuring
The TS: Windows 7, Configuring (70-680) is the primary exam that covers Microsoft MCTS Certification and is one of the required exams for the MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator 7 and MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7 certifications. It also counts as the client requirements for MCTIP: Enterprise Administrator. For those who are seeking the MCITP: Enterprise Administrator, the 70-680 is usually the easiest of the required exams. Therefore, it is usually the first one taken.
The 70-680 exam covers installing, upgrading, and migrating Windows; deploying Windows; installing and troubleshooting drivers; troubleshooting compatibility problems with applications; configuring network settings including the Windows Firewall; managing disks; and recovering Windows in case of a failure or problem. While the 70-680 is a comprehensive exam, it tends to give a little bit more focus on newer technologies introduced or modified in Windows 7.
Exam Details
65 questions (Note: Microsoft does not publish this information and may change the number of exam questions without notice.)
Multiple choice
Passing score 700 out of 1000.
90 minutes
You can take the exam at Prometric.
Before you take this MCTS: Windows 7, Configuration exam, you should have either taken or acquired the equivalent knowledge found on the CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ exams. Both of these exams give you the background to understand, install, configure, and troubleshoot computer and network problems and allow you to get the most out of studying for your 70-680 exam.
Compared to the equivalent exams for Windows XP and Windows Vista, the 70-680 covering Windows 7 is a little bit more difficult. You need to understand the material that is covered and apply the knowledge in various scenarios.
For those who may think that they are experienced with Windows, you need to review the objectives to determine if you really know Windows 7. For example, most people who are trying to get a start in Information Technology have installed Windows 7 from the installation DVD, and many people have upgraded Windows Vista to Windows 7. However, unless you work in a corporate environment where you are responsible for free Microsoft practice tests deploying Windows 7, most people have not used system images or automatic installation with an answer file.
The 70-680 exam covers installing, upgrading, and migrating Windows; deploying Windows; installing and troubleshooting drivers; troubleshooting compatibility problems with applications; configuring network settings including the Windows Firewall; managing disks; and recovering Windows in case of a failure or problem. While the 70-680 is a comprehensive exam, it tends to give a little bit more focus on newer technologies introduced or modified in Windows 7.
Exam Details
65 questions (Note: Microsoft does not publish this information and may change the number of exam questions without notice.)
Multiple choice
Passing score 700 out of 1000.
90 minutes
You can take the exam at Prometric.
Before you take this MCTS: Windows 7, Configuration exam, you should have either taken or acquired the equivalent knowledge found on the CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ exams. Both of these exams give you the background to understand, install, configure, and troubleshoot computer and network problems and allow you to get the most out of studying for your 70-680 exam.
Compared to the equivalent exams for Windows XP and Windows Vista, the 70-680 covering Windows 7 is a little bit more difficult. You need to understand the material that is covered and apply the knowledge in various scenarios.
For those who may think that they are experienced with Windows, you need to review the objectives to determine if you really know Windows 7. For example, most people who are trying to get a start in Information Technology have installed Windows 7 from the installation DVD, and many people have upgraded Windows Vista to Windows 7. However, unless you work in a corporate environment where you are responsible for free Microsoft practice tests deploying Windows 7, most people have not used system images or automatic installation with an answer file.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Microsoft releases one minor patch, while Firefox battles the bulk of this week's threats
Yes, Virginia, it's possible to have only one security threat that requires a patch in a Microsoft security bulletin. But the pendulum swings the other way for the Firefox browser, which has seen several critical new threats emerge.
Details
This month's regularly scheduled security bulletin from Microsoft consisted of only one relatively minor patch. Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-024, "Vulnerability in Web View Could Allow Remote Code Execution," is a script injection vulnerability that could allow a remote attacker to run arbitrary code on a system.
The available patch fixes the problem first reported by GreyMagic on January 18, but I've seen no reports of exploits in the wild. So, while it has some serious potential, it only affects Windows 2000 and earlier systems, so it likely won't apply to many organizations.
In fact, some confusion exists as to whether this threat also applies to Windows 98, Windows SE, and Windows ME—the original report listed only Windows 2000. Microsoft lists these earlier versions as affected, but there is no available update, so the only fix may be an upgrade. Microsoft has rated this vulnerability as important, and it only releases updates for these OS versions for critical security issues.
Meanwhile, Firefox has sprouted more security holes in version 1.0.3, which Mozilla rushed out to fix holes in 1.0.2. The French Security Incident Response Team was apparently the first to find the new major flaw in Firefox 1.0.3, which is a remote code execution threat. Secunia also lists new Firefox vulnerabilities in Advisory 15292 (CAN-2005-1476 and CAN-2005-1477).
Mozilla has released Firefox 1.0.4 to address these issues. Exploits are already circulating, so this upgrade is essential. Version 1.0.4 includes the following security fixes:
* MFSA 2005-44: Privilege escalation via non-DOM property overrides
* MFSA 2005-43: "Wrapped" JavaScript: URLs bypass security checks
* MFSA 2005-42: Code execution via JavaScript: IconURL
Applicability
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-024 applies primarily to Windows 2000, service packs 3 and 4 only.
The Firefox threat applies to all versions prior to 1.0.4. Mozilla 1.7.7 users should also check to see if they need to update to Mozilla 1.7.8.
Risk level – Important to highly critical
The Microsoft threat is relatively minor; however, the new holes in Firefox are very serious.
Fix
To obtain the necessary patch for Windows, check out Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-024.
Firefox users should bookmark the Mozilla Firefox Release Notes Web page, which always lists the latest versions (currently Firefox 1.0.4).
Final word
OK, some of you will accuse me of being a Microsoft flunky, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I failed to point out that we're seeing more and more serious—even critical—vulnerabilities emerge in Firefox, a browser whose main selling point is that it's much more secure than Internet Explorer.
But let's face it: One major reason many open source programs appear to be much more secure is simply because they're not as big a target. Microsoft has traditionally been the biggest target for attackers. However, as more and more people begin to swarm to Linux, Firefox, and other open source tools, hackers will also turn their attention to these programs and begin to find exploits.
Everyone has been touting Firefox's security. But now it turns out to be little more secure than IE, especially when you take the time to lock IE down correctly. If you don't like ActiveX—and who does?—turn it off!
I'm not picking on open source; I think the folks at Mozilla have done all of us a great service. I use Firefox myself—I just use it without the anti-Microsoft blinders on.
And I'm not saying that Microsoft does any better on the security front. I just want to remind everyone who makes a living in software security that they can't place their clients and employers at risk exclusively on the basis that some open source program is more secure only because it hasn't seen wide use.
Developing software is hard. People have forgotten how hard it is because of all the object-oriented tools that make it look easy. But real commercial-grade code-crunching is very difficult, and making sure certain millions of lines of code are not only perfect—but also don't point to some hole-ridden library—is simply impossible.
And, in response to those who argue that open source programs receive patches more quickly: In both the corporate and government arenas, patching is a major headache and expense. The fact that patches are available more quickly doesn't add any more dollars to the budget or time on the clock to install these patches. I applaud fast patching, but it isn't that important to those of us who would prefer something that just never needs patching—that's where the real time and money savings would come in.
I look forward to reading other views in this article's discussion, but don't forget the importance of the bottom line, or that Mozilla.org—not me, not Secunia—lists a lot of critical flaws in all versions of Firefox through 1.0.3.
Details
This month's regularly scheduled security bulletin from Microsoft consisted of only one relatively minor patch. Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-024, "Vulnerability in Web View Could Allow Remote Code Execution," is a script injection vulnerability that could allow a remote attacker to run arbitrary code on a system.
The available patch fixes the problem first reported by GreyMagic on January 18, but I've seen no reports of exploits in the wild. So, while it has some serious potential, it only affects Windows 2000 and earlier systems, so it likely won't apply to many organizations.
In fact, some confusion exists as to whether this threat also applies to Windows 98, Windows SE, and Windows ME—the original report listed only Windows 2000. Microsoft lists these earlier versions as affected, but there is no available update, so the only fix may be an upgrade. Microsoft has rated this vulnerability as important, and it only releases updates for these OS versions for critical security issues.
Meanwhile, Firefox has sprouted more security holes in version 1.0.3, which Mozilla rushed out to fix holes in 1.0.2. The French Security Incident Response Team was apparently the first to find the new major flaw in Firefox 1.0.3, which is a remote code execution threat. Secunia also lists new Firefox vulnerabilities in Advisory 15292 (CAN-2005-1476 and CAN-2005-1477).
Mozilla has released Firefox 1.0.4 to address these issues. Exploits are already circulating, so this upgrade is essential. Version 1.0.4 includes the following security fixes:
* MFSA 2005-44: Privilege escalation via non-DOM property overrides
* MFSA 2005-43: "Wrapped" JavaScript: URLs bypass security checks
* MFSA 2005-42: Code execution via JavaScript: IconURL
Applicability
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-024 applies primarily to Windows 2000, service packs 3 and 4 only.
The Firefox threat applies to all versions prior to 1.0.4. Mozilla 1.7.7 users should also check to see if they need to update to Mozilla 1.7.8.
Risk level – Important to highly critical
The Microsoft threat is relatively minor; however, the new holes in Firefox are very serious.
Fix
To obtain the necessary patch for Windows, check out Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-024.
Firefox users should bookmark the Mozilla Firefox Release Notes Web page, which always lists the latest versions (currently Firefox 1.0.4).
Final word
OK, some of you will accuse me of being a Microsoft flunky, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I failed to point out that we're seeing more and more serious—even critical—vulnerabilities emerge in Firefox, a browser whose main selling point is that it's much more secure than Internet Explorer.
But let's face it: One major reason many open source programs appear to be much more secure is simply because they're not as big a target. Microsoft has traditionally been the biggest target for attackers. However, as more and more people begin to swarm to Linux, Firefox, and other open source tools, hackers will also turn their attention to these programs and begin to find exploits.
Everyone has been touting Firefox's security. But now it turns out to be little more secure than IE, especially when you take the time to lock IE down correctly. If you don't like ActiveX—and who does?—turn it off!
I'm not picking on open source; I think the folks at Mozilla have done all of us a great service. I use Firefox myself—I just use it without the anti-Microsoft blinders on.
And I'm not saying that Microsoft does any better on the security front. I just want to remind everyone who makes a living in software security that they can't place their clients and employers at risk exclusively on the basis that some open source program is more secure only because it hasn't seen wide use.
Developing software is hard. People have forgotten how hard it is because of all the object-oriented tools that make it look easy. But real commercial-grade code-crunching is very difficult, and making sure certain millions of lines of code are not only perfect—but also don't point to some hole-ridden library—is simply impossible.
And, in response to those who argue that open source programs receive patches more quickly: In both the corporate and government arenas, patching is a major headache and expense. The fact that patches are available more quickly doesn't add any more dollars to the budget or time on the clock to install these patches. I applaud fast patching, but it isn't that important to those of us who would prefer something that just never needs patching—that's where the real time and money savings would come in.
I look forward to reading other views in this article's discussion, but don't forget the importance of the bottom line, or that Mozilla.org—not me, not Secunia—lists a lot of critical flaws in all versions of Firefox through 1.0.3.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Microsoft rolls out latest release of its operating system for ruggedized mobile devices
Microsoft is making available as of January 10 its Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 operating system — its offering for ruggedized enterprise phones and devices.
Microsoft unveiled its plans for Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 in June, 2010, committing to deliver the release before the end of calendar 2010. Microsoft officials also said at that time to expect another version of the Windows Embedded handheld platform — Windows Embedded Handheld 7, built on top of Windows Embedded Compact 7 — in the second half of calendar 2011.
Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 is built on top of Windows Mobile 6.5, and is targeted primarily at devices for custom line-of-business applications, like bar-code scanning, RFID reading, etc. (Windows Mobile 6.5 was one of the last versions of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system family that the company delivered before shifting gears and moving to Windows Phone 7.) Microsoft officials said today that the company will offer mainstream support for Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 through December 2014, and extended support through December 2019.
OEMs working on devices running Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 include Intermec, Motorola and Honeywell. Microsoft and its partners are showing off Windows Embedded Handheld devices at the National Retail Federation (NRF) show in New York City this week.
Windows Embedded Handheld is just one of many mobile operating systems from Microsoft. Others include the aforementioned Windows Embedded Compact, Windows Embedded Standard, Windows Phone OS and Windows 7. The Embedded organization at Microsoft, as of a reorg last fall, is part of the company’s Server and Tools unit.
So what about Windows Embedded Compact 7? Last week, I speculated about Microsoft’s near- and longer-term directions for the Embedded Compact product line, given that Microsoft is moving Windows to the ARM processor family. I noted that Microsoft officials had delayed the Embedded Compact 7 launch until the first quarter of 2011 (last we heard). Subsequently, I received a note from an Embedded division spokesperson, noting that Embedded Compact 7 “is very much on track for early this year.”
One reader (thanks @UltraWindows), sent me a link to a Microsoft Lifecycle Support Web page that makes it look like the RTM date for Embedded Compact 7 is March 15, 2011.
(click on the image above to enlarge)
Windows Embedded Compact 7 is expected to be the core of not just the next version of the Embedded Handheld platform, but also future iterations of the Windows Phone OS and tablets/slates from OEMs who don’t want to run Windows 7.
Microsoft also announced on January 10 a community technology preview (CTP) test build of Windows Embedded POSReady 7, an embedded operating system for in-store point-of-sale devices for the retail and hospitality industries. The final version of Embedded POSReady 7, which includes a number of Windows 7 features, is due before the end of calendar 2011, officials said.
Microsoft unveiled its plans for Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 in June, 2010, committing to deliver the release before the end of calendar 2010. Microsoft officials also said at that time to expect another version of the Windows Embedded handheld platform — Windows Embedded Handheld 7, built on top of Windows Embedded Compact 7 — in the second half of calendar 2011.
Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 is built on top of Windows Mobile 6.5, and is targeted primarily at devices for custom line-of-business applications, like bar-code scanning, RFID reading, etc. (Windows Mobile 6.5 was one of the last versions of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system family that the company delivered before shifting gears and moving to Windows Phone 7.) Microsoft officials said today that the company will offer mainstream support for Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 through December 2014, and extended support through December 2019.
OEMs working on devices running Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 include Intermec, Motorola and Honeywell. Microsoft and its partners are showing off Windows Embedded Handheld devices at the National Retail Federation (NRF) show in New York City this week.
Windows Embedded Handheld is just one of many mobile operating systems from Microsoft. Others include the aforementioned Windows Embedded Compact, Windows Embedded Standard, Windows Phone OS and Windows 7. The Embedded organization at Microsoft, as of a reorg last fall, is part of the company’s Server and Tools unit.
So what about Windows Embedded Compact 7? Last week, I speculated about Microsoft’s near- and longer-term directions for the Embedded Compact product line, given that Microsoft is moving Windows to the ARM processor family. I noted that Microsoft officials had delayed the Embedded Compact 7 launch until the first quarter of 2011 (last we heard). Subsequently, I received a note from an Embedded division spokesperson, noting that Embedded Compact 7 “is very much on track for early this year.”
One reader (thanks @UltraWindows), sent me a link to a Microsoft Lifecycle Support Web page that makes it look like the RTM date for Embedded Compact 7 is March 15, 2011.
(click on the image above to enlarge)
Windows Embedded Compact 7 is expected to be the core of not just the next version of the Embedded Handheld platform, but also future iterations of the Windows Phone OS and tablets/slates from OEMs who don’t want to run Windows 7.
Microsoft also announced on January 10 a community technology preview (CTP) test build of Windows Embedded POSReady 7, an embedded operating system for in-store point-of-sale devices for the retail and hospitality industries. The final version of Embedded POSReady 7, which includes a number of Windows 7 features, is due before the end of calendar 2011, officials said.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Microsoft 70-680 exam MCITP Preparation Hints
For any exam, always go to the source, which in this case is the Microsoft Windows 7 certificate page. The exam objectives are listed later in this article as well as posted at the Microsoft site. You need to look at the objectives and rank them for what you think you know and what you think you need to learn about. If the objectives are totally foreign to you, don't be discouraged; it just means that you have a lot of work ahead of you. Remember, everyone in Information Technology had to start somewhere.
After you know the objectives, you should be using Windows 7 for several months. You need use the advanced features that deal with recovery and security, and support corporate environments. Again, these features are listed in the objectives but are not usually used by everyday home users.
Next, don't be afraid to get on the Internet and research some of the topics. Again, take smaller steps so that you are not overwhelmed. Whenever possible, you want to use Microsoft websites because the MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7 comes from Microsoft.
Look at your local schools. Many schools have excellent programs and include hands-on classes. Remember, that most people in the technical field learn best hands-on. Don't be afraid to set up your own network. You will most likely need to install a Windows Server 2008 R2 as a domain controller and use Windows 7 that is both connected as part of the domain and not connected as part of the domain. Also be sure you manually configure IP configuration, wireless connections, and Windows Firewall (Basic and Windows Firewall with Advanced Security).
For example, the certifications covered by the new releases include: MCTS: Windows 7 - Configuration which requires successfully passing Microsoft's 70-680 exam; MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7 certification which requires passing two exams, 70-680 and 70-685; and MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator 7 certification which requires passing the 70-680 and 70-680 Exam. According to CertKingdom spokesman, "Each of the new Microsoft Windows 7 training courses allows Microsoft exam candidates to prepare for their certification exams from the convenience of their own homes or businesses." Fernandez explained that the courses incorporate a collection of Microsoft Windows 7 training videos led by certified free Microsoft IT certification test questions instructors. "This allows students to receive instructor-led training at their convenience."
After you know the objectives, you should be using Windows 7 for several months. You need use the advanced features that deal with recovery and security, and support corporate environments. Again, these features are listed in the objectives but are not usually used by everyday home users.
Next, don't be afraid to get on the Internet and research some of the topics. Again, take smaller steps so that you are not overwhelmed. Whenever possible, you want to use Microsoft websites because the MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7 comes from Microsoft.
Look at your local schools. Many schools have excellent programs and include hands-on classes. Remember, that most people in the technical field learn best hands-on. Don't be afraid to set up your own network. You will most likely need to install a Windows Server 2008 R2 as a domain controller and use Windows 7 that is both connected as part of the domain and not connected as part of the domain. Also be sure you manually configure IP configuration, wireless connections, and Windows Firewall (Basic and Windows Firewall with Advanced Security).
For example, the certifications covered by the new releases include: MCTS: Windows 7 - Configuration which requires successfully passing Microsoft's 70-680 exam; MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7 certification which requires passing two exams, 70-680 and 70-685; and MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator 7 certification which requires passing the 70-680 and 70-680 Exam. According to CertKingdom spokesman, "Each of the new Microsoft Windows 7 training courses allows Microsoft exam candidates to prepare for their certification exams from the convenience of their own homes or businesses." Fernandez explained that the courses incorporate a collection of Microsoft Windows 7 training videos led by certified free Microsoft IT certification test questions instructors. "This allows students to receive instructor-led training at their convenience."
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Free practice test for Microsoft Exam 70-680 and other MCTS exams
MCTS is a certification awarded by the MCTS Certification Corporation to the individuals who clear the different examinations like Exam 70-680, etc. This certification challenges an individual's thorough knowledge in the specified field.To clear these exams one must have thorough knowledge in the specific field and with an experience of minimum one year or more in the particular field. The MCTS certification also acts as a criteria to take MCITP(Microsoft Certified IT Professional). To take the Exam 70-680 TS: Windows 7, Configuring, you must fulfill the following criteria
1. Minimum of One or more years experience in IT field.
2. Experience in implementation and administration of Windows Operating System(Mainly Windows 7) in a Network environment.
What is the exam pattern and how to prepare for it?
The exam pattern is as follows, but it varies from time to time.
No. Of questions: 45
Exam Duration: 60 minutes
Passing Score: 700
The MCTS: Windows 7, Configuration will be online and you have to secure a minimum score of 700 to pass it. The maximum mark varies time to time.
Question Type:
Most of the questions will be of Multiple choice questions (MCQs). The exam also can contain Multiple choice single answer, Multiple choice multiple answer, Drag and drop & Simulations (optional) type questions.
Drag and drop questions are composed of problems and you have to arrange the different steps in proper order to solve that problem. The simulation type questions are based on practical knowledge. You have to solve a problem in a virtual environment. These two types of question are generally not asked. So don't worry for these type of questions.
NOTE: All the above information from my knowledge and it does not guarantee the exam pattern will be the same as stated above. The exam pattern may vary from time to time.
How to prepare for MCTS exams like Exam 70-680?
Preparing for these exams is not a problem. There are several websites offering practice tests and sample questions for Exam 70-680 and other MCTS exams, but most of them charge a pretty big fee. It also provides you the flexibility to choose the number of questions for your practice exam and it also saves all your exam records for tracking for free.
You have to just register at the site. Before taking the free practice test you can get familiar with the subject by browsing the free practice exams for MCTS bank available and preparing.
1. Minimum of One or more years experience in IT field.
2. Experience in implementation and administration of Windows Operating System(Mainly Windows 7) in a Network environment.
What is the exam pattern and how to prepare for it?
The exam pattern is as follows, but it varies from time to time.
No. Of questions: 45
Exam Duration: 60 minutes
Passing Score: 700
The MCTS: Windows 7, Configuration will be online and you have to secure a minimum score of 700 to pass it. The maximum mark varies time to time.
Question Type:
Most of the questions will be of Multiple choice questions (MCQs). The exam also can contain Multiple choice single answer, Multiple choice multiple answer, Drag and drop & Simulations (optional) type questions.
Drag and drop questions are composed of problems and you have to arrange the different steps in proper order to solve that problem. The simulation type questions are based on practical knowledge. You have to solve a problem in a virtual environment. These two types of question are generally not asked. So don't worry for these type of questions.
NOTE: All the above information from my knowledge and it does not guarantee the exam pattern will be the same as stated above. The exam pattern may vary from time to time.
How to prepare for MCTS exams like Exam 70-680?
Preparing for these exams is not a problem. There are several websites offering practice tests and sample questions for Exam 70-680 and other MCTS exams, but most of them charge a pretty big fee. It also provides you the flexibility to choose the number of questions for your practice exam and it also saves all your exam records for tracking for free.
You have to just register at the site. Before taking the free practice test you can get familiar with the subject by browsing the free practice exams for MCTS bank available and preparing.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
MCITP 70-680 candidate profile
Candidates for this exam operate in computing environments that use Microsoft Windows 7 certificate as a desktop operating system in an enterprise environment. Candidates should have at least one year of experience in the IT field, as well as experience implementing and administering any Windows client operating system in a networked environment.
Candidates should be able to install, deploy, and upgrade to Windows 7, including ensuring hardware and software compatibility. Additionally, candidates should be able to configure pre-installation and post-installation system settings, Windows security features, network connectivity applications included with 70-680 Exam, and mobile computing. Candidates should also be able to maintain systems, including monitoring for and resolving performance and reliability issues. Candidates should have a basic understanding of Windows PowerShell syntax.
The Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certification helps validate that an individual has the comprehensive set of skills necessary to perform a particular job role, such as database administrator or enterprise messaging administrator. MCITP certifications build on the technical proficiency measured in the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certifications. Therefore, you will earn one or more MCTS certifications on your way to earning an MCITP certification.
MCITP candidates are IT professionals capable of deploying, building, designing, optimizing, and operating technologies for a particular job role. They make the design and technology decisions necessary to ensure successful technology implementation projects.
Why get certified?
Earning a Microsoft Certification helps validate your proven experience and knowledge in using Microsoft products and solutions. Designed to be relevant in today's rapidly changing IT marketplace, Microsoft Certifications help you utilize evolving free Microsoft practice tests technologies, fine-tune your troubleshooting skills, and improve your job satisfaction.
Candidates should be able to install, deploy, and upgrade to Windows 7, including ensuring hardware and software compatibility. Additionally, candidates should be able to configure pre-installation and post-installation system settings, Windows security features, network connectivity applications included with 70-680 Exam, and mobile computing. Candidates should also be able to maintain systems, including monitoring for and resolving performance and reliability issues. Candidates should have a basic understanding of Windows PowerShell syntax.
The Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certification helps validate that an individual has the comprehensive set of skills necessary to perform a particular job role, such as database administrator or enterprise messaging administrator. MCITP certifications build on the technical proficiency measured in the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certifications. Therefore, you will earn one or more MCTS certifications on your way to earning an MCITP certification.
MCITP candidates are IT professionals capable of deploying, building, designing, optimizing, and operating technologies for a particular job role. They make the design and technology decisions necessary to ensure successful technology implementation projects.
Why get certified?
Earning a Microsoft Certification helps validate your proven experience and knowledge in using Microsoft products and solutions. Designed to be relevant in today's rapidly changing IT marketplace, Microsoft Certifications help you utilize evolving free Microsoft practice tests technologies, fine-tune your troubleshooting skills, and improve your job satisfaction.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
70-297-MCSE 2003 Messaging Exam Details
In the field of IT competition is increasing day by day and you need to keep update yourself by doing certifications. If you are interested in MCSE 2003 exams braindumps then you are at right place. Discover the secrets to pass 70-297 exam and become Microsoft certified. Here we provide you complete information to pass MCSE 2003 Messaging 70-297 test. We will provide you access to the top companies for up to date MCSE 70-297 certkingdom exam preparation material. Check out the mentioned Certkingdom 70-297 question and answers material.
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Saturday, January 1, 2011
2010 most in demand professionals MCTS certified
Microsoft has invented incredible amazing new tools which are implemented in many organization which are helping them to operate their organization more effectively and efficiently, it mean's that there are new opportunities for new jobs and skills personals who are capable to function these advanced applications, the most in demand professionals now are days MCTS.
If your are MCTS Certified you can easily get appointed in many organizations around the world, including Spain, Italy, Dubai, USA, UK, EUROPE, China, India, Japan, Australia, many other countries across the glob.
MCTS offers different fields of specialization to IT professionals. The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist - MCTS certification provide the foundation for Microsoft Certification. These certifications are designed to validate your skills on the features and functionality of key technologies. You can show your depth of knowledge in one specific technology, earn multiple MCTS certifications to show breadth across different products, or build on the MCTS to earn a Professional Series credential.
MCTS candidates are capable of implementing, building, troubleshooting, and debugging a particular Microsoft technology.
MCTS certifications can be achieved in following technologies:
* Windows technologies
* Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET Framework technologies
* Microsoft SQL Server technologies
* Microsoft Office System technologies (including Office SharePoint Server and Office Project Server)
* Microsoft Exchange Server technology
* Other technologies
Certification and Exam number Windows technologies
Business Desktop Deployment Exam 70-624
Connected Home Integrator Exam 70-625
Windows Embedded CE 6.0: Application Development Exam 70-571
Windows Essential Business Server 2008, Configuration Exam 70-654
Windows Mobile 5.0, Applications Exam 70-540
Windows Mobile 5.0, Implementing and Managing Exam 70-500
Windows Server 2003 Hosted Environments - Configuration and Management Exam 70-501
Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration Exam 70-640
Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration Exam 70-642
Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure Configuration Exam 70-643
Windows Server Virtualization, Configuration Exam 70-652
Windows Small Business Server 2008, Configuration Exam 70-653
Windows Vista - Configuration Exam 70-620
Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET Framework technologies
Dot .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-528
Dot .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-526
Dot .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-529
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 ADO .NET Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-561
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 ASP .NET Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-562
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Communication Foundation Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-503
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Forms Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-505
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Presentation Foundation Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-502
Dot .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Workflow Foundation Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-504
Microsoft SQL Server technologies
SQL Server 2005 Exam 70-431
SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence Exam 70-445
SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance Exam 70-448
SQL Server 2008, Database Development Exam 70-433
SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance Exam 70-432
Microsoft Office System technologies (including Office SharePoint Server and Office Project Server)
Enterprise Project Management with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Exam 70-633
Communications Server 2007, Configuration Exam 70-638
Groove 2007, Configuration Exam 70-555
Live Communications Server 2005 Exam 70-262
Performance Point Server 2007, Applications Exam 70-556
Projects 2007, Managing Projects Exam 70-632
Project Server 2007, Configuration Exam 70-639
SharePoint Server 2007 - Configuration Exam 70-630
SharePoint Server 2007 - Application Development Exam 70-542
Visio 2007, Application Development Exam 70-545
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 - Application Development Exam 70-541
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 - Configuration Exam 70-631
Microsoft Exchange Server technology
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 - Configuration Exam 70-236
Other technologies
BizTalk Server 2006 Exam 70-235
Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Exam 70-672
Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Small and Medium Organizations Exam 70-671
Desktop Optimization Pack, Configuration Exam 70-656
Forefront Client and Server - Configuration Exam 70-557
Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006, Configuration Exam 70-351
System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuration Exam 70-401
System Center Operations Manager 2007, Configuration Exam 70-400
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Configuration Exam 70-403
Team Foundation Server: Configuration and Development Exam 70-510
Virtual Earth 6.0, Application Development Exam 70-544
You can choose whatever certification you want to get. According to statistics, there are already millions of professionals with this IT diploma. There's no need to worry about getting a job in the future because Microsoft has developed a scheme by dividing the programs according to its specialization. So the competition will still remain less even if there
If your preparing for career change and looking for MCTS Training the best online training provider that provide the all the and complete MCTS certification exams training in just one package, certkingdom self study training kits, save your money on bootcamps, training institutes, It's also save your traveling and time. All training materials are "Guaranteed" to pass your exams and get you certified on the fist attempt, due to best training they become no1 site 2010 & 2011.
In addition I recommend Certkindom.com is best and No1 site of 2008 which provide the complete Windows Server 2003 certified professionals training, Microsoft MCITP, Microsoft MCTS, Cisco CCNA, Cisco CCIE, CompTIA A+, IBM, Citrix, PMP, ISC, and lots more online training self study kits, saving your time and money on all those expensive bootcamps, conventional training institutes where you have take admission pay fees first and if you don't want to continue no refunds no transfer to any other training course, If you planed to take CCNA or specialization in MCSE 2003 all the process starts again; as for getting online training can be much beneficial and you don't need to take for fill any from to switch your training on any desire certification.
If your are MCTS Certified you can easily get appointed in many organizations around the world, including Spain, Italy, Dubai, USA, UK, EUROPE, China, India, Japan, Australia, many other countries across the glob.
MCTS offers different fields of specialization to IT professionals. The Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist - MCTS certification provide the foundation for Microsoft Certification. These certifications are designed to validate your skills on the features and functionality of key technologies. You can show your depth of knowledge in one specific technology, earn multiple MCTS certifications to show breadth across different products, or build on the MCTS to earn a Professional Series credential.
MCTS candidates are capable of implementing, building, troubleshooting, and debugging a particular Microsoft technology.
MCTS certifications can be achieved in following technologies:
* Windows technologies
* Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET Framework technologies
* Microsoft SQL Server technologies
* Microsoft Office System technologies (including Office SharePoint Server and Office Project Server)
* Microsoft Exchange Server technology
* Other technologies
Certification and Exam number Windows technologies
Business Desktop Deployment Exam 70-624
Connected Home Integrator Exam 70-625
Windows Embedded CE 6.0: Application Development Exam 70-571
Windows Essential Business Server 2008, Configuration Exam 70-654
Windows Mobile 5.0, Applications Exam 70-540
Windows Mobile 5.0, Implementing and Managing Exam 70-500
Windows Server 2003 Hosted Environments - Configuration and Management Exam 70-501
Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration Exam 70-640
Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration Exam 70-642
Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure Configuration Exam 70-643
Windows Server Virtualization, Configuration Exam 70-652
Windows Small Business Server 2008, Configuration Exam 70-653
Windows Vista - Configuration Exam 70-620
Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET Framework technologies
Dot .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-528
Dot .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-526
Dot .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-529
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 ADO .NET Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-561
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 ASP .NET Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-562
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Communication Foundation Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-503
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Forms Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-505
Dot .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Presentation Foundation Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-502
Dot .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Workflow Foundation Applications Exam 70-536 and Exam 70-504
Microsoft SQL Server technologies
SQL Server 2005 Exam 70-431
SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence Exam 70-445
SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance Exam 70-448
SQL Server 2008, Database Development Exam 70-433
SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance Exam 70-432
Microsoft Office System technologies (including Office SharePoint Server and Office Project Server)
Enterprise Project Management with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Exam 70-633
Communications Server 2007, Configuration Exam 70-638
Groove 2007, Configuration Exam 70-555
Live Communications Server 2005 Exam 70-262
Performance Point Server 2007, Applications Exam 70-556
Projects 2007, Managing Projects Exam 70-632
Project Server 2007, Configuration Exam 70-639
SharePoint Server 2007 - Configuration Exam 70-630
SharePoint Server 2007 - Application Development Exam 70-542
Visio 2007, Application Development Exam 70-545
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 - Application Development Exam 70-541
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 - Configuration Exam 70-631
Microsoft Exchange Server technology
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 - Configuration Exam 70-236
Other technologies
BizTalk Server 2006 Exam 70-235
Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Exam 70-672
Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Small and Medium Organizations Exam 70-671
Desktop Optimization Pack, Configuration Exam 70-656
Forefront Client and Server - Configuration Exam 70-557
Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006, Configuration Exam 70-351
System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuration Exam 70-401
System Center Operations Manager 2007, Configuration Exam 70-400
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Configuration Exam 70-403
Team Foundation Server: Configuration and Development Exam 70-510
Virtual Earth 6.0, Application Development Exam 70-544
You can choose whatever certification you want to get. According to statistics, there are already millions of professionals with this IT diploma. There's no need to worry about getting a job in the future because Microsoft has developed a scheme by dividing the programs according to its specialization. So the competition will still remain less even if there
If your preparing for career change and looking for MCTS Training the best online training provider that provide the all the and complete MCTS certification exams training in just one package, certkingdom self study training kits, save your money on bootcamps, training institutes, It's also save your traveling and time. All training materials are "Guaranteed" to pass your exams and get you certified on the fist attempt, due to best training they become no1 site 2010 & 2011.
In addition I recommend Certkindom.com is best and No1 site of 2008 which provide the complete Windows Server 2003 certified professionals training, Microsoft MCITP, Microsoft MCTS, Cisco CCNA, Cisco CCIE, CompTIA A+, IBM, Citrix, PMP, ISC, and lots more online training self study kits, saving your time and money on all those expensive bootcamps, conventional training institutes where you have take admission pay fees first and if you don't want to continue no refunds no transfer to any other training course, If you planed to take CCNA or specialization in MCSE 2003 all the process starts again; as for getting online training can be much beneficial and you don't need to take for fill any from to switch your training on any desire certification.
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