technical solutions and commentary

Surface computing isn’t a thing only seen in movies anymore. This is true innovation, Microsoft style… http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

File this under “Cool Stuff”

For most of us who can’t make it to Microsoft TechEd 2007 in Orlando, Florida, USA (June 4-8 )we can catch some of the sessions via webcast. There will also be a lot of Podcasts and Virtual Labs made available.

 You can watch the streaming content, download the podcasts, and access the Virtual Labs at 

http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/teched07.aspx

Reality check. It takes Microsoft only about…

Taken from Yahoo Financie article “10 Reinvigorating Facts About Microsoft’s Profits“

On Adrian Kingsley-Hughes “Hardware 2.0: Blog on ZDNet he writes a post about “Five crucial things the Linux community doesn’t understand about the average computer user“. After reading this post I think he has some great insight.

I have family and friends who have experience with using Linux, typically working with it at the desktop level, and working with web-developers (which are Pro-Linux and Anti-Microsoft). Most of those conversations end with the statement that they want “something that just works and to share files with others easily - and are compatible”. I have also heard the Linux users are “geeky” coments.

Adrian hits these 5 points:

• On the whole, users aren’t all that dissatisfied with Windows
• Too many Linux Distrobutions
• People want certainty that hardware and software will work
• As far as most people are concerned, the command line has gone the way of the dinosaur
• Linux is still too geeky

Read the blog post yourself. Each of thse items is explained and expanded on.

I recently purchased a Dell OptiPlex 740 with Windows Vista loaded. Out of the box the sound did not work. Dell support was not able to resolve the issue on the initial contact - chat/remote control. The PC came with SigmaTel HD Audio integated ont eh motherboard. After searching for a solution on the Internet, I found that many people had the same issue with Dell and even some Gateway machines. Some were able to resolve the issue by reinstalling older Windows XPO drivers, for other this did not work.

I was able to resolve the issue by removing all SigmaTel drivers fromt he system and letting Widnows Vista redetect the soundcard and install native Vista audio drivers.

The first thing to do in uninstall any Audio Driver packages which are listed in the Control Panel in  ”Add/Remove Programs.” Next follow these steps:

1. Open “Device Manager”.
2. Uninstall the device including the driver files.
3. When Vista tries to redetect and install the audio drivers, disable the device.
4. Open the “Properties” and then goto the ”Drivers” on the Audio Device.
5. Locate and take a note of all the drivers files and paths refering to “SigmaTel” (or another non-Microsoft device).There are about five of them.
6. Goto Windows/System and deleted all SigmaTel driver files (or other non-Microsoft drivers) you noted in step 5.*
7. Goto Windows/System32 and deleted all SigmaTel driver files (or other non-Microsoft drivers) you noted in step 5. Likely there is only one file if SigmaTel.*
8. Deleted the Audio Device again in “Device Manager”, then let Windows Vista redetect the device. It should now install it’s own Microsoft Audio Drivers and work. 

* To delete all of these driver files you may need to stop the “Windows Audio” service and restart it after the file deletion is complete.

Micorosoft Silverlight… What is it, how it’s better, why use silverlight?

End Users: Cross-platform, seamless integration, consistent user experiences between platforms/browsers. HD video and mobile video delivery.

Web Developers & Visual Studio Developers: Vector graphics, layering, development language choice, HD video, cross-platform delivery, interactivity.

Get the details and the client beta http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight

Microsoft’s System Center product group is working on a new Service Desk solution, called Service Manager 2007. This product will be part of the integrated suite of System Center products.

There will be deep integration with System Center products, Windows, Office, and Visual Studio. Leveraging Windows SharePoint Services (the free version of SharePoint included with Windows Server 2003) there will also be a self-service portal for end users. A Configuration Management Database will be part of the solution giving you a deep view of your systems and changes. A core set of automated IT process are provided in theproduct based upon ITIL and MOF. Similar to Operations Manager, Service Manager will be extensible allowing partners and customers to develop management packs to extend it functionality.

Microsoft provides an overview document for download on the Service Manager page.

Microsoft released an update to Outlook 2007 which fixes performance issues that occur when you work with items in a large .pst file or .ost file. I have installed this update and Outlook is tons faster.

The update also fixes a problem in which a calendar item that is marked as private is opened if it is found by using the Search Desktop feature.

Download the update from Microsoft here.