Baldwin's Blogosphere

Looking for Virtualization Candidates in Your Server Room?

Sun, 04 May 2008 06:59:59 GMT

Video: Microsoft Assessment and Planning 3.0 Demo #1 - Server Virtualization
Check out the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Tool (MAP) demo video to see how you can take advantage of server virtualization today with your existing servers!

Video Demo of the MAP Tool:

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=da22a462-d85a-466f-9585-59d83006a323

Get Download of the MAP Tool:

http://www.microsoft.com/MAP

Cheers,
Baldwin Ng

Straight Talk on Windows Vista Deployment

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:33:15 GMT

Microsoft Technical Fellow and desktop guru, Mark Russinovich, recently hosted a live, interactive virtual roundtable broadcast on Windows Vista adoption and deployment. Mark and a panel of independent industry experts and IT pros from organizations that have already deployed Windows Vista openly discussed known challenges, solutions and workarounds, and sharing tips & tricks.

Watch the on-demand replay now or access the on demand link anytime by visiting the Springboard Series online HERE.

To get the free Windows Vista deployment tools mentioned during the round-table, visit these links:

Enjoy!
Baldwin Ng

Windows Server 2008 Launch & Solution Accelerators

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:07:17 GMT

Hi there,

In case you didn't hear, Windows Server 2008 is already launched! Check out some of these sites and blogs to learn more. See how

"Server Unleashed" Web Site:

http ://www.micro soft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/serverunleashed/default.html

Windows Server 2008 Solution Accelerators:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/cc197101.aspx

Virtualization Solution Accelerators:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/cc197910.aspx

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog/archive/2008/02/27/new-microsoft-tool-readying-customers-and-partners-for-the-windows-server-2008-wave.aspx

Download Microsoft Assessment and Planning:

http://www.microsoft.com/MAP

Microsoft Announcing Virtualization Solution Accelerators

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:43:32 GMT

Hello,

Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team is developing a series of automated tools and technical guidance, called Solution Accelerators, that will be released by the end of February as part of the Windows Server Launch.

Please CLICK HERE to read my latest blog post on Virtualization Solution Accelerators from earlier today.

Thank you,

Baldwin Ng

Sr. Product Manager, Virtualization Solution Accelerators

http://www.microsoft.com/VSA

Test

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:23:57 GMT

Technorati Profile

More about Windows Vista Hardware Assessment

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 03:56:25 GMT

Hi all,

If you are interested in learning more about Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.1, you can check out my blog, video demo or TechNet radio interview here. To get the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment for free, click HERE.

Radio Interview by TechNet Radio IT Evangelist, Chris Avis:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/tnradio/archive/july242007.mspx

On12 Video Demo:

http://on10.net/Blogs/tina/windows-vista-hardware-assessment-tool-20/

Virtual WPC Demo:

https://partner.microsoft.com/binary/global/40043867

Blog Post:

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/08/16/hello-world-windows-vista-hardware-assessment-2-1-is-going-global.aspx

Email me if you have questions about this tool. We'll be happy to help at: wvhafdbk@microsoft.com

Baldwin Ng

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.1 Released!

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:28:06 GMT

Hi all,

Our team has just released the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment version 2.1 this morning. To read more about new features of this version, please check out my Windows Vista Team Blog post here:

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/08/16/hello-world-windows-vista-hardware-assessment-2-1-is-going-global.aspx

Cheeers,
Baldwin

Windows Vista Hardwre Assessment 2.0 Now Available

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:32:16 GMT

Hi folks,

Yes, the wait is over. The new and improved Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0, one of the top solution accelerators for the Windows Vista OS, is now available for free download at: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/wvha .

For more detailed coverage, please read my Windows Vista Team Blog post here:

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/07/09/microsoft-releasing-new-version-of-the-windows-vista-hardware-assessment-tool.aspx

Cheers!
Baldwin

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0 Released!

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:56:21 GMT

The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0 has just been released! If you haven't heard about this network-wide assessment tool for Windows Vista, you should definitely check it out, download and test drive it.

This is a tool that consists of three different components including an agent-less inventory engine, analytics engine to assess Windows Vista readiness around hardware and device compatibility. In addition, it automatically generates a set of network-wide readiness reports for each in a form of Microsoft Word and Excel documents.

If you are thinking about Windows Vista migration and want to know how many of your existing PCs will be capable of running Windows Vista to only very minor upgrades, download this tool now and see it for yourself.

For an in-depth look, I've posted a detailed blog here on the Windows Vista Team Blog.

Baldwin

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Beta Release

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:38:51 GMT

Is your business ready for Windows Vista upgrades? Are you wondering if your existing PCs' hardware and device drives compatible with the new OS?

Check out this new tool called Windows Vista Hardware Assessment. It is a network-wide assessment tool that inventory and report on the readiness of your PC hardware. The best part is its agent-less inventory engine that does not require any use of software agents and it aggregates the reporting for you automatically in Word and Excel. Imagine doing PC readiness tests from a single PC that's networked with the rest of your network instead of doing it one by one and repeat that a few thousands of times!

The Public Beta was released on January 30th and you can download this tool now !

Interested in joining a live webcast on Windows Vista Hardware Assessment? Sign up for the February 20th (1:00pm PST) webcast now.

Baldwin Ng (Product Manager, Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team)

PS: Windows Vista Hardware Assessment was previously known as Windows Vista Readiness Assessment.

Vista's 'Bounce' To Add 100,000 U.S. IT Jobs, Says Report

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 06:35:06 GMT

The IDC report estimated that the total job impact of Vista would be in the 1.8 million range over the course of 2007, but the majority of those jobs will be carryovers from earlier editions of Windows.

By Gregg Keizer
InformationWeek

Dec 11, 2006 04:32 PM

Microsoft's Windows Vista will give a 100,000-job "bounce" to U.S. IT employment next year, a study released Monday said.

The report, which was done by research firm IDC and commissioned by Microsoft, is similar to one published in September by IDC that claimed Vista would create 50,000 new jobs in Europe. Microsoft released that report in the midst of tense negotiations with the European Union's antitrust agency over possible infringements of a 2004 ruling by Vista.

"One of the reasons why we commissioned this [new] report was because of requests from our partners," says Mike Burk, a program manager with the Vista team. U.S. partners, he says, wanted data on the impact of Vista on the overall Microsoft ecosystem.

Hawks won Packers...in the snow

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 04:55:02 GMT

It was a great game, one of the best I've seen for years. To top it off, the Hawks won 34-24 against the team that Mike H used to coach that are used to snowy home games - the GB Packers!

My hats off to a True Seahawks Fan (from Portland)!

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 04:48:46 GMT

Greg is indeed a true Seahawks fan! My hats off to him and his family who endured the 15-hour drive home last night from the Seahawks game (coldest in franchise history!).

Here's their story...

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_112806WABseahawksfan_longtripJM.337ffc6f.html

Vista Sign-Off Graphic

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:36:03 GMT

Windows Vista Sign-Off Graphic

Samsung Blackjack from Cingular (Windows Mobile Device)

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:15:30 GMT

Here's another blackberry killer. I looks rather slim and with the Windows Mobile OS and Samsung's top-notch manufacturing, I think I might just get this for Christmas. :-)

http://www.slashphone.com/71/4786.html

Small price to pay (to cheat)? NO!!

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:25:36 GMT

One of the University of Washington professors recently conducted a research project to look at how companies that cooked their books would be valued over the past 25 years. The results are probably not shocking to most, but to those who thought they could get away with it, THINK AGAIN.

Great research and very timely!
B

========

Reputation outweighs regulation in preventing future Enron-style scandals

http://uwnews.washington.edu/ni/article.asp?articleID=2337

The financial value of a law-abiding reputation -- not tighter government regulations -- is the best way to prevent future scandals like those enveloping energy giant Enron and its auditor Arthur Andersen, a University of Washington researcher says. And Jonathan Karpoff believes this will hold true despite the call by many financial and political leaders for Congress to pass tighter accounting regulations and reforms.

Karpoff, a finance professor in the University of Washington Business School, bases his views on the dramatic results of a study he conducted on the reputational effect that white-collar crime -- including financial reporting fraud -- has on company stock values. Karpoff and John Lott, a fellow researcher at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, discovered that the "enforcement effect" of reputation encourages firms not to commit fraud and penalizes firms when they do. Fraud allegations have been at the root of the Enron scandal.

"We found that arbitrary, large increases in criminal penalties for fraud can do more harm than good, because they squeeze out reputation as a policer of fraud and increase consumer costs," Karpoff says. "The Enron scandal is more likely leading to companies willing to pay more for quality audits, and that will drive the accounting market -- not government imposed regulations."

Karpoff contends that the two companies' executives underestimated the value of reputation and that naivete contributed to their downfall.

"Even after restating its profits, Enron still made $880 million in 2000. Even if half of that is bogus, Enron had a core of profitable operations," he says. "The reason for the firm's complete meltdown is that much of its credible business activity depended on a good reputation. Buyers and sellers of electricity, for example, lost confidence that Enron would uphold its side of any deals. So even this legitimate part of the firm's business sunk with the firm's lost reputation."

Likewise, Arthur Andersen is in the business of providing assurances of quality. As an auditor, its whole business is based on its credibility, Karpoff says.
The firm is now scrambling to re-establish its reputation -- for example, hiring Paul Volker to help clean up its act.

"But," Karpoff says, "it has dug a huge hole for itself."

The researchers studied data on 132 cases of alleged and actual corporate fraud, including stakeholder, government, financial reporting (misleading accounting practices) and regulatory violations (currency transaction reporting), from 1978 through 1987. They compared stock values following initial press reports of allegations or investigations of corporate fraud against private parties with those after the penalties that resulted. They found an average decrease of $60.8 million in the values of the affected companies' stock. Criminal fines, restitution, civil penalties and other legal costs accounted for only 5.5 percent of the drop. The rest was due to lost future sales or higher costs. This finding is especially relevant to Enron today, Karpoff says, because it explains Enron's meltdown and the downward spiral of fewer customers for Arthur Andersen.

"These results indicate that firms committing fraud face market penalties that far outweigh any prospective legal penalties," Karpoff says.

The research, published in the Journal of Law and Economics in 1993, has been supported by follow-up papers using current data.

While neither laws nor reputation will ever completely prevent fraud, Karpoff argues his research shows reputational costs will provide even more of a deterrent now because of the recent scandal.

"The theory is that when something bad happens we need more regulations. But the fact is millions of business transactions occur daily without any direct government oversight. What keeps people honest as they engage in business transactions? Our research indicates that it is largely the discipline provided by the market," Karpoff says.

The latest scandal, however, will influence other company executive behavior.

"What will happen is that some accounting firms will develop stronger reputations for providing honest results to their clients," Karpoff says. "Their reputations will cost more to clients, but some firms will find it worthwhile to pay more because they want to convince investors that their books are not cooked."

Most importantly, Karpoff hopes his research may slow a rush to judgment that could lead to counterproductive statutes.

"Everybody's knee-jerk reaction in a case like this is that we need more government regulation," Karpoff says. "I would argue that we don't because the costs of such regulations are substantial and the benefits are small. The perceived benefit -- that the incidence of fraud will decrease dramatically -- is vastly overstated. As it is, businesses have to keep their noses clean in order to make a profit."

###

For more information contact Karpoff at (206) 685-4954 or karpoff@u.washington.edu.

iPod here I come!

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:20:44 GMT

Microsoft hits play on Zune
Firm starts small with its big plans to take on iPod

By TODD BISHOP
P-I REPORTER

Microsoft Corp. began its challenge to Apple Computer's iPod on Monday with a little help from the world's richest music fan.

In a collision of two worlds, Bill Gates appeared on stage with KEXP-FM disc jockey John Richards, between songs by progressive rock band Secret Machines, to promote the new Zune music player in downtown Seattle.

The first Zune device, which goes on sale today in the U.S., is the beginning of "a vision that will carry us forward for years," the Microsoft chairman said, before demonstrating the Zune's wireless song-swapping feature.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/292229_msftzune14.html

More New Sounds from Windows Vista

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:35:33 GMT

Check 'em out here and you'll see the difference between what's different between Windows XP and Windows Vista:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05gheT0hKSs

The Johnny Game

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:16:40 GMT

A fun game after 2 hours of bible study...called the Johnny Game. I think it was named after Uncle Johnny from our church in Rochester, NY back in college.

Here's how it works: you start with a small group of 2-3 to perform the demonstration. The rest of your group will watch the demonstration and mimick exactly. If you succeed, you move over to that demo team. Or you will have to keep guessing. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfGVyosrV2s

Try it, it's fun. :-)

Baldwin

New Sound of Win-Dows Vis-Ta!

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:11:07 GMT

Long process leads to short Vista sound

By Associated Press

http://www.komotv.com/news/microsoft/4613112.html

SEATTLE (AP) - Some people spend 18 months working on a whole album. At Microsoft Corp., that's how long it took to perfect just four seconds of sound.

Of course, this isn't just any four-second clip. It's the sound - a soft da-dum, da-dumm, with a lush fade-out - that millions of computer users will hear every day, and perhaps thousands of times in total, when they turn on computers running Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista operating system.

To get just the right sound - clean, simple, but with "some long-term legs," according to Microsoft's Steve Ball - the software maker recruited musician Robert Fripp.

Fripp, best known for his work with the '70s rock band King Crimson, recorded hours of his signature layered, guitar-driven sound for the project, under the close direction of Ball and others at Microsoft. Then, it was Ball's job to sort through those hours of recordings to suss out just the right few seconds.

Fripp's involvement is not surprising. His occasional collaborator, Brian Eno, recorded sounds for Windows 95. Also, Ball, the Microsoft group program manager for WAVE - Windows Audio Visual Excellence - has in the past been Fripp's student and business partner.

Ball, a self-proclaimed renaissance man who is both an engineer and a musician, considered the work of about 10 musicians for the project. Some of those people were influential in the final four seconds as well.

Redmond-based Microsoft seriously debated several other sounds before settling on the final startup sound about three weeks ago. The rejected sounds included a longer, lusher clip and a quick, techno-sounding piece. While many people liked an upbeat ditty with a clapping rhythm, it was eventually rejected as being too much like a commercial, and of sounding too "human" when paired with the new graphic for Windows Vista, Ball said.

"There's nothing that's especially human about our new Windows animation," he said.

The short startup clip that was eventually chosen is meant to evoke the rhythm of the words "Win-dows Vis-ta!" and Ball hopes the sound will serve as a calling card for the operating system. It also consists of four chords - one for every color in the new Windows graphic that appears as the sound plays. It's no coincidence that it's also four seconds long.

There are 45 total Vista sounds that Microsoft has spent the last year and a half perfecting, including the dings you hear when get a new e-mail, receive an error message, or log off your computer. Generally, these are more muted, less jarring variations of the prompts familiar to Windows XP users.

If it seems like overkill to go to all that trouble for a few seconds of sound, consider this: Microsoft estimates that sounds such as the e-mail alert will be played trillions of times in years to come. That's a lot of opportunity to annoy, offend -or, if the job is done right - please or appease computer users the world over.

One major concern was that the startup sound not grow grating after a time.

"You want a sound that people will love the first time they hear it, but it's a paradox to also say, 'Oh and by the way, we need people to love it the tenth, or the hundredth, or the thousandth time they hear it,"' Ball said.

That's one reason he was glad to have 18 months to choose the clips.

"We had time to live with the music," Ball said.

Still, for all the time Ball has spent on the sounds, he says one measure of success would be if people noticed them very little, if at all.

Ball is the first to admit that the percussive beeps in past Windows versions could be jarring to nearby workers or interrupt others in a meeting. With the number of intrusive sounds from cell phones, handheld devices and other gadgets only increasing, that's something Ball and his colleagues were keen to avoid with Vista.

"We want you to know they're there, and you would miss them if they were gone, but we would like them to be just barely noticeable, almost like they are part of the environment or part of your wallpaper," he said. "We want them in the background, rather than the foreground."

Photo Album: Tech Ed 2008 (Orlando)

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:00:25 GMT

Tech Ed 2008 (Orlando)

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DSC05221

DSC05223

DSC05224

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DSC05235

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Photo Album: Blog Images

Sun, 04 May 2008 07:45:17 GMT

Blog Images

Photo Album: Microsoft Assessment and Planning Tool for Virtualization

Sun, 04 May 2008 06:56:56 GMT

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Tool for Virtualization

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Tool for Virtualization (Three-Step Process)

Photo Album: Springboard Live - Roundtable

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:29:22 GMT

Springboard Live - Roundtable

springboard-video

Photo Album: Windows Server 2008 Launch

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:57:35 GMT

Windows Server 2008 Launch

server-unleashed

MAP-VistaTeamBlog-HOW-IT-WORKS

MAP-UI-v1-65pct

Photo Album: Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:25:57 GMT

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator

GUI

VSA

WinServer-REPORT

Photo Album: Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2006 (WPC in Boston)

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:18:17 GMT

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2006 (WPC in Boston)

Let the show begin...

A Few Good Men

Baldwin and Martin

Joe and Martin

ADS Hands-On Lab

Joe delivering HOLab

Joe talking with Partner

MSPP Opportunity Booth Banner

Andrew Lee (CVP of Server and Tools Marketing)

Voice of Customers

More Photos...

Photo Album: Paris and London (Sep 2006)

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:41:43 GMT

Paris and London (Sep 2006)

More Photos...

Photo Album: CSF Bible Study 11-10-06

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 06:09:13 GMT

CSF Bible Study 11-10-06

Sharing our vacation pictures with CSFers around the kitchen island

Lillian and Elisa

Lillian, Elisa and Becky

The Johnny Game

Photo Album: ITA Collaborative 2006 (Nov 6-7)

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:30:46 GMT

ITA Collaborative 2006 (Nov 6-7)

ITA Collaborative 2006

agenda-speakers

breakout-description

IT Consultants Roundtable

Audience Listening

Enchanted Spring Ranch (TV set)

Sorry, the barber has skipped town!

Local Church

"Hang in there!"

How much taxes would you like to pay today?!

More Photos...

Photo Album: Brand New Vista/Office 2007 Packaging!

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:50:39 GMT

Brand New Vista/Office 2007 Packaging!

office2007pro

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vista-homebasic

vista-prem

vista-ultimate

Photo Album: Thanksgiving 2006

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:55:33 GMT

Thanksgiving 2006

Recipe

Vivien pretending to be cooking :-)

Vivien and Lillian cutting the turkey

Yes, it's a tasty turkey!

Yummy stuffing

These cranberries were hard to find on Thanksgiving day!

Ivy, Irene and Edmund

Copycat and Annie

Bertha and Lillian having a good time!

Vivien and me

More Photos...

Photo Album: Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0 - Now Released!

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:51:02 GMT

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0 - Now Released!

wvha-NEW-3-features

wvha-word-report

wvha-excel-report

Photo Album: SMB Nation 2006 - Focus Groups & Gatherings

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:02:32 GMT

SMB Nation 2006 - Focus Groups & Gatherings

SMB Solutions Focus Group

SMB Solutions Focus Group again...

It's almost 945pm now and hard-core MS partners still lingered...

Mike (PM) listening intently for partner feedback...

Frank, Baldwin and the Channel 9 Guy

Tim, Baldwin and the Channel 9 Guy

Tim and Channel 9 Guy....boy is he popular?!

ADS TAP partners having a good time

This face-tracking software brought the "kids" out of them!

Jay, Frank and Blake having fun in the MS Museum

Photo Album: Windows Vista Hardware Assessment - Public Beta Release

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:58:57 GMT

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment - Public Beta Release

wvha-integrate-icon

wvha-word-report

wvha-Excel-report

Photo Album: Multiple Sclerosis Society/SkiForAll Adaptive Demo Day

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 01:01:33 GMT

Multiple Sclerosis Society/SkiForAll Adaptive Demo Day

CrossWalk Rocks! Who's in the picture? (Left to Right) Vivien, Baldwin, Gruia, Sara, Matt, Jason, Jacinda, Ruth and Justin

Jerry and Dorothy having a good time with the great bikes offered by the SkiForAll Foundation.

Sara said Matt could fit on the little bike but Matt looked sceptical! :-)

Gruia and Baldwin getting the tires pumped up - safety is #1 priority!

John (left) showing us how to get the canoes off.

Canoe launchers - Justin & Ruth

View of Mt. Rainier from Seward Park

Matt and Sara

Listening to MS Society staff explaining various programs available for its members...