How To Keep XP Running In A Windows 7 World

Many organizations are facing a major decision about what to do with their PC operating system: upgrade it for all users, phase in an upgrade, or stay with their current OS. Migrating poses challenges from equipment upgrades, to installing and configuring the new OS, to moving user data and settings. Many organizations will instead choose to stay with their current OS, which is most likely Windows XP. This alleviates the cost of upgrades, but it introduces its own share of maintenance challenges.

The good news, however, is that these challenges can be overcome with a proper maintenance plan. Follow these tips to keep your XP platform running at peak performance, and you’ll have the foundation in place to squeeze every last dollar out of your XP investment.

Patch regularly. A good patch management strategy  can reduce risks, costs and complexity within the IT environment. Patch management can be manual or automated, depending on how much control you want to exercise over the process. As part of its weekly schedule, Microsoft will continue to provide critical system patches for XP (with SP2) and Office 2003 until 2014. It is important to note that XP must have Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later in order to receive these system patches.

Update and test gold images. “Gold” system images should be created for all systems. These images should have all OS and application updates applied regularly. Once the images are updated, a complete test should be performed. Document an associated test plan that encompasses both the OS and applications.

Ensure software compatibility. Before downloading and installing new software, research its compatibility and known issues with the OS. Incompatible software could have an adverse impact on other components within the IT infrastructure and should be avoided.

Ensure document compatibility. It’s important to manage the compatibility of Microsoft Office documents, across versions, for both internal and external users (clients, vendors, partners, etc.). Office compatibility packs allow legacy users to open/view/edit files from newer versions of the program. Be aware, however, that certain features and functionality might not be supported. Without compatibility packs, legacy users would constantly have to tell users of newer versions that they couldn’t open their files.

Upgrade memory. Most XP platforms ship with 1 GB to 2 GB of memory. However, you can significantly improve system performance by upgrading to 3 GB or 4 GB. Note however, that upgrading to 4 GB of RAM on a 32-bit XP system will provide access to just 3.39 GB due to resource limitations. (It’s a little better in Vista 32-bit, which provides access to 3.54 GB). In the future, consider using 64-bit, because it’ll give you full memory access.

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Windows 7 Licensing - A “Disaster” For Businesses?

Doom and gloom warnings about a new Microsoft operating system from some corners sure aren’t anything new, but it looks like a particular licensing issue with Windows 7 could well cause some serious headaches for businesses transitioning from Windows XP.

As InfoWorld reports, as things stand now, businesses that buy PCs before April 23, 2010 with Windows 7 preinstalled will have the option to downgrade them to Windows XP, which will let them upgrade to Windows 7 whenever they’re finally ready to make the transition. Businesses that buy Windows 7-loaded PCs on or after April 23rd, however, will only have the option to downgrade to Windows Vista which, as Gartner analyst Michael Silver notes, is obviously of little help to XP-based organizations.

Of course, Windows 7 does have its much talked about XP Mode, but Silver says that won’t help many businesses since their IT departments would still be faced with the added workload resulting from managing a whole new OS. There are, however, a few workarounds, like Microsoft’s Software Assurance Program, but those all involve an added cost, added work, or both.

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Valve Won’t Develop For PS3 Because It’s “Too hard”

Homer Simpson once said, “You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.” Valve must take that second part—“never try”—pretty seriously, since it told some dude at E3 that it has no interest in developing for the PS3. Reason being? It’s too hard. Fair enough.

The full quote, straight from a Valve dev on the E3 show floor:

The PC and the 360 are just more straightforward. We can focus on what we want to do, which is make game experiences, instead of sweating bullets over obscure architectural decisions they make with their platform. [...] I didn’t come into this business in the 90s because of some technical fetish. I came in because I wanted to give people experiences that made them have fun.

Sounds reasonable to me. If Valve can sustain itself developing only for the PC and Xbox 360, why should it knock itself out trying to figure out how to develop for the PS3? It quite literally is not worth the effort.

It’s not my business to tell Valve what to do with its resources, said with an eye toward the ongoing “controversy” regarding Left 4 Dead 2.

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Windows Vista SP2 Available for Download

Windows: Service Pack 2 is officially available for download, bringing better Wi-Fi and BlueTooth connectivity, processor compatibility, native Blu-Ray support, and faster search to Windows Vista.

Just as with the release candidate, installing SP2 technically requires having SP1 installed. Knowing that a few of our readers held off on that update, that makes SP2 kind of a pain for those cautious users, and Microsoft notes that the only solution for a missing or incomplete SP1—or, in some cases, stripped-down installations made with vLite or other custom disk makers—is a lengthy re-install.

Still, for those waiting on even more fixes for Windows Vista, SP2 should be a welcome download. You should see it through Windows Update around June 30, but you can download and install it directly from the links below, as well as check out the official list of changes. Tell us how you’re liking SP2, in performance and features, in the comments.

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Windows 7 Release Candidate Now Available

Microsoft has a lot riding on the upcoming release of its new operating system, Windows 7, and it’s doing everything possible to insure that the software gets a favorable reception — including effectively giving it away for free for the first year.

Starting Thursday, MSDN and TechNet subscribers can download the official release candidate for testing. The general public will be able to get downloads beginning May 5. The RC version of Windows 7 will not expire until June 1, 2010.

There were some initial reports that demand for the RC software was so heavy that Microsoft’s servers failed under the load, and visitors were greeted with the message “We’re sorry! The page you were expecting to see has been removed or is unavailable.” By early afternoon, however, the servers were back up and running.

Almost Perfect?

The release candidate is considered by Microsoft to be a “near-finished” product, with only minor changes likely before to the official Windows 7 release late this year or early next year. According to company representatives, the milestone means the software is ready “for partners to develop new applications, device drivers, and services, and ready for IT pros to evaluate Windows 7 and examine how it will operate in their environment.”

“Listening to our partners and customers has been fundamental to the development of Windows 7,” said Bill Veghte, senior vice president for the Windows business at Microsoft. “We heard them and worked hard to deliver the highest-quality release candidate in the history of Windows.”

Microsoft says more than 10,000 companies have signed up for access to development tools designed to help existing software and hardware work with Windows 7.

Home Run Needed

It’s a little difficult to reconcile Microsoft’s earnings last quarter of $13.65 billion with its palpable sense of urgency over the success of Windows 7. But there is no…

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Avid Giving Away ‘VideoSpin’ YouTube-Friendly Editing Software

Avid, that video editing software maker that used to dominate Hollywood movies until Apple’s Final Cut Pro came along, now resorts to giving its software away. VideoSpin 2.0, a variant of Avid subsidiary Pinnacle’s Studio software, lets you quickly and easily upload widescreen videos to YouTube.

This QuickTime-compatible Windows software works when you’re offline, too, letting you put together sequences with erstwhile pro features such as a fit-to-fill timeline. But if you want to compress your videos for iPod and Sony PSP, you’ll have to buy a “SpinPack.”

Considering that Avid’s Pinnacle Studio is the most widely used consumer video editing software in the world, this can’t be too bad. Might be worth a free download.

Avid VideoSpin, via Press Release

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Windows 7 Touchscreen Details Emerging

nandemoari writes "Microsoft has revealed more about Windows 7 and its support for touch screen technology. The system sounds impressive, however, reports suggest it appears to have a high error rate. In an early version of the system, Microsoft found some problems. For example, both the zoom and rotate functions worked less than 75% of the time, often because the computer confused the two.

To rectify this, engineers redesigned the system so that it only looks out for gestures specifically relevant to the program being used. This made a significant improvement: the zoom gesture was now recognized 90% of the time. The problem is that even a 90% success rate may be too low. If you can imagine how frustrating it would be if one in ten keystrokes or mouse movements didn’t do what you intended, you can see why touch screen technology will need to be even more reliable if it’s to truly improve the user experience. PC Authority has a related story about statements from HP, who don’t expect such technology to replace keyboards and mice any time soon."

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Windows 7 RC Coming to Public May 2009

According to tech site Ars Technica, the Windows 7 Release Candidate will be available to the public starting in May 2009, will be available through June 2009, and will expire June 1, 2010.

We’ll keep our eyes open for a specific date in May, and keep our fingers crossed that Microsoft doesn’t underestimate the web like they did with the beta release. Check out Ars for more details. [Ars Technica]