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.

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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."

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.

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."

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.

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.

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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.

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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."

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.

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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.