Microsoft TechNet Ireland Blog : desktop applications

Great Vista Tips on the Winsupersite.com

ieitpro — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:47:00 GMT

Some interesting tips on the winsupersite.com site for those still getting to grips with Vista:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_it_tips.asp

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_more_tips.asp

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_tips3.asp

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_tips4.asp

(“Find recently edited documents” is a good one)
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_tips5.asp

Microsoft Virtualises Applications with SoftTricity

ieitpro — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:26:00 GMT

Of all the demos I saw at TechEd IT Forum last week this was the one that made most of an impression on me. I think SoftTricity has huge potential to make the life of an IT Pro easier. A significant amount of the pain is caused by rolling out and managing applications in your IT environment is due to the interation between the app &/ many different versions of 'the app' with the operating system. You know the story ...you roll out one app and it breaks another.

As appications are installed it changes the operating system. Things get loaded in the registry, files are held on the operating system etc.

Well with SoftTricity there is no need for this! Nothing gets loaded into the registry, nothing is held on the OS. SoftTricity combines application virtualisation which allows software to run on a system without being installed on it at all as well as a streaming technology which enables on demand delivery of software (by streaming circa 20% of the app functionality to allow the end user to use it without it being installed).

Rather than me telling you about it why not watch The DEMO for yourself.

Quick Questions Regarding Microsoft's Business Applications: CRM, Finance and ERP Products

ieitpro — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:12:00 GMT

We're looking at putting on an event about the Microsoft Dynamics product line.

As an IT Professional are you what is your level of involvement with your company’s business applications [CRM, Finance, ERP]? Is it on a support only basis or are you part of the team that reviews such solutions?

Do you advise on what product the business users should purchase or it this decision primarily down to your Managing Director or your Financial Director?

Are your current business applications having an impact on your workload?

Would you like to find out more about Microsoft’s offerings around CRM and Finance?

Are your current business applications integrated with your desktop products and your infrastructure?

When was the last time you reviewed the financial or CRM products your company uses?

Specifically what would you like to see presented at a Microsoft Dynamics Event?

I hope you can give me some feedback on this by typing your comments into the space provided below and hit submit. This would help me structure the event in a way that would benifit you most.

Thanks,
Colm

Windows Vista a Paradigm Shift: Key Features Exposed on It's ShowTime!

ieitpro — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:15:00 GMT

I've been playing around with Vista a lot as well as doing a lot of reading about it. More and more I've come to realise that beyond any of the hype Windows Vista really represents a paradigm shift in the OS space. It's similar to what Windows WinNT was to 3.x or DOS and Windows 3.x was to OS/2 Warp. Vista and Windows XP are very different technically. All the fundamentals have changed, memory, disk, network and underlying security. The kernel is mostly new, the network stack has been rewritten to support IP4/IP6 with toredo tunnelling support and the firewall is two-way with a new policy driven engine. There are stacks of new Group Policies - literally 1000's using a new XML based framework of ADMX files.

Within that context I thought I'd point you to some of the latest videos which highlight in some depth the new features in Vista. Just click on the video titles below to access them at your leisure.

Account Control: Running Windows Vista with Least Privilege

This session talks about the technology behind this change to Windows, including the isolation of Admin from Standard User code on the same desktop, the policy control in the enterprise, and how to write and deploy good Standard User applications.

Windows PowerShell: Next Generation Command Line Scripting

In this session, learn how PowerShell also serves as the foundation for our next generation of Admin GUIs so that everything you can do from the GUI you'll be able to do from the command line. You'll never view command line scripting the same way again.

Windows Vista Security Guide

This session includes live demonstrations of the tools and templates supplied with the Windows Vista Security Guide. Topics for this session include: development process for the guide; definition of security levels and target organizations; considerations to make before deploying security settings; specific guidance on securing the most important features of Windows Vista; deployment techniques and tips to reduce cost and improve reliability; and initial configuration control to ensure that Windows Vista starts and remains secure.

Virtual PC Is Now Free!

ieitpro — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:16:00 GMT

Whether Microsoft virtualization technology is an important component of your existing infrastructure or you're just a Virtual PC enthusiast, you can now download Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 absolutely free. Microsoft is also offering the free download of Virtual PC 2007, with support for Windows Vista in 2007.

Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is a powerful software virtualization solution that allows you to run multiple PC-based operating systems simultaneously on one workstation, providing a safety net to maintain compatibility with legacy applications while you migrate to a new operating system. It also saves reconfiguration time, so your support, development, and training staff can work more efficiently.

Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

Enjoy. Dave.