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Microsoft Beta Tests Free Online Diagnostic Tools For Windows
Redmond Watcher Mary-Jo Foley had the scoop. She said in her 'All About Microsoft' Blog that "Microsoft has begun privately beta testing a new tool, known as "Windows Advisor," which is aimed at helping consumers better pinpoint why their Windows machines might not be up to snuff. Microsoft officials have been saying that Windows - and especially the much-maligned Windows Vista - isn't to blame for all of users' PC problems. Faulty drivers and badly written apps are often behind users' unhappiness with their new PCs, the Softies have said. Microsoft is making sure that users will be able to place blame where it belongs with Windows Advisor." This might also be very handy for system admins that need to check out problems with user's machines or even the occasional server that hicks up. MJ's blog is really good. You should check it out and subscribe
Apple Mac June 2008 Survey Executive Summary
Executive Summary - By Laura DiDio, Research Fellow at Yankee Group.
Thanks to all who participated in the latest Sunbelt Software - Yankee Group poll on Apple Macintosh hardware and OS X 10.x software usage in corporate enterprises! In a coming issue we'll report on the virtualization section.
Your responses were intelligent, insightful and your comments were witty, frank and sometimes downright funny! The survey served up a few surprising and emerging trends, so we appreciate your input.
Survey Highlights
The results indicate that there is a significant, steady and sustained adoption of Mac(r) and OS X Leopard in the enterprise. Approximately 80 percent of businesses have installed Macintoshes and the OS X operating system in their networks.
You gave Apple high marks for features, performance, usability, security, reliability and its elegant design. These all are indicative of the qualities customers' value when purchasing hardware and operating system software.
It's clear that Apple Computer Macintosh hardware and OS X 10x. operating system software is gaining significant momentum among corporate users. The survey found that nearly 4 out of 5 businesses -- approximately 80% -- have Macintoshes and the OS X operating system installed in their networks. And although the Apple Macintosh hardware and OS X operating systems still represent a small niche, adoption is growing at a steady pace. Nearly one dozen corporations indicated that they would switch to an all-Macintosh environment in the near future.
The use of Apple products in a corporate environment is much more pervasive and complex than we previously thought. Although 45% said they only had a few Macs (from 1-to-5), nearly one-quarter or close to 25% of the survey respondents have a significant number (>50) of Macintosh desktops installed in their organizations. Fueling the growing acceptance and adoption of the Macintosh hardware and OS software are the leading edge, sophisticated anywhere features of the overall Apple platform which in turn has resulted in many corporations using Apple as a virtualization platform. Among the other survey highlights:
- Reliability: An overwhelming 78% of businesses rated the reliability of the Macintosh desktop and server hardware and OS X 10.x operating system excellent or very good.
- Security: A 70% majority of companies rated the security of the Macintosh hardware and OS X 10.x operating system excellent or very good.
- Usability: the breadth and depth of leading edge features such as advanced graphics, a leading edge search engine, the Safari Web browser, high reliability and strong security were among the chief reasons their firms are gravitating toward Macintosh hardware and the OS X 10.x operating system environments.
- Increasing Momentum: With overall satisfaction so high, over one-third of businesses -- 34% -- said their companies were very likely to allow more end users to deploy Macintoshes and OS X 10.x as their enterprise desktop within the next 6-to-12 months. Another 17% said they were "unsure" at this time but are considering the matter.
- Virtualization: One of the biggest surprises served up by the survey was the prevalent use of Macintoshes for virtualization. Approximately 28% of the 700 businesses polled said their firms run Microsoft Windows XP or the Vista operating system on Macintosh hardware in a virtual environment. This combination users said, allows their firms "to circumvent the viruses, spyware and disruptive automatic updates" that are common in the Windows environment.
- Dual Booting: Roughly 22% of corporations said their PCs dual boot the Mac OS X 10.x alongside Windows XP or Vista under Apple's BootCamp facility.
- Pricing: Apple's new lower hardware and OS X 10.x retail prices are also allowing end users to successfully plead their case for utilizing the products as their enterprise desktops. However, some businesses noted that executives still incorrectly perceive Apple hardware to be more expensive than PCs and opined that Apple needs to do a better job of touting its new lower prices.
- Challenges: Of the 49% of corporate survey respondents who said their companies were not likely to expand their Macintosh and OS X 10.x usage in the same 6-to-12 month timeframe, the majority cited the lack of advanced, heterogeneous management tools currently available for the platform. Many respondents also expressed the opinion that Apple must provide more comprehensive, sophisticated technical service and support suitable for today's heterogeneous network environments.
Symantec Tells Users: Disable Protection Before XP SP3 Upgrade
Reese Anschultz, Sr. SQA Manager with Symantec said users of Norton Internet Security, Norton 360 and Norton AV should switch off the "SymProtect" feature before trying to install XP SP3.
"After a lot of testing, we've reproduced a number of different cases where applying the XP SP3 upgrade adds additional registry keys within already-existing Symantec registry keys," said Anschultz. "We have determined that the SymProtect feature is involved, though this issue is not exclusive to Symantec customers. To help prevent this issue from occurring, you should disable SymProtect prior to installing the Windows XP SP3 upgrade." Here is the link to the post:
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