Month: September 2013

Surface 2 Package Versus Laptop & Tablet Combination

I read Paul Thurrot’s Surface 2 pricing article and I was startled when I started adding up the pieces for a solution I would want:

  • Surface Pro 2 (128 GB): $999
  • Docking station: $199.99
  • Power Cover: $199.99
  • Monitor: $250
  • Total: $1648.98

I have not included the cost of managing 1 device, for example, a System Center Client Management License, a Volume License “upgrade” for Windows. 

This solution is intended to be a single device solution: the Surface Pro 2 is:

  • The tablet: with the Power Cover providing somewhere between 10-12 total battery hours
  • The PC in the office: with docking station and monitor
  • The laptop: with the Power Cover providing the keyboard

Note: Windows Intune and Office Pro Plus (via Office 356) are per user licenses for up to 5 devices.  There’s no point in adding these because quantity of devices for comparison purposes does not matter – I am still one person requiring one license for Intune and one license for O365, whether I have 1 device or 5 devices.

How does the above package compare with a more traditional solution with a laptop/tablet package?

  • HP EliteBook Folio 9470m (500 GB / 8.5 hrs battery): $1049
  • Toshiba Encore (8” Windows 8.1 tablet): $329
  • Monitor: $250
  • Total: $1628

I went with a “thin and light” business laptop from HP and chose one of the more economic options.  Quite honestly, you could go for a traditional laptop and pay $649 or spec up and pay $1858.  I chose the Toshiba tablet because they were the only name I saw (without much search effort to be honest) that I would associate with business customers.

So how do we compare:

  • The Surface Pro 2 solution with the Power Cover has more battery life than the pre-Haswell HP laptop.  I’m sure a Haswell laptop could correct this, but it seems like lots of OEMs so far (based on IFA announcements) have been lazy or skimming the battery because advancements, more often than not, are not as good as expected.
  • The laptop/tablet person has twice as many chargers to lose, and stuff to carry.  If they leave the laptop behind then they have trouble typing.  Note: typing on the lap, even with the new kickstand, will continue to be impossible.  If the old kickstand went beyond my knees, then a kickstand that sticks out more solves that … exactly how?  Has Surface perfected the warping of space?  Can I use one near the Large Hadron Collider without causing a black hole?
  • The pricing is not that different in the package.  Spec down the laptop and the business spends less.  Spec up the laptop and the Surface package is more efficient – my gut tells me this is the more realistic scenario of the 3.
  • Sync has become an issue: One Surface = one set of files.  2 devices and I need to Sync.  Sure, I’ll have Skydrive … and Skydrive Pro, and Workplace Folders … and isn’t it confusing now?

As a business user, I like the “one Surface” option, economically speaking.  As a user, I’m probably going to go with PC (for photo editing), ultrabook for mobile productivity, and 8” tablet (of some OS kind, and leaning towards iPad Mini with Cellular) because I do like to use the right tool for the job rather than a generalist solution.

I don’t consider the Surface Pro as a solution for me.  The device cannot be used on a lap unless you are 6-5 tall.  I know I’ll get the usual tweet from the usual 1 or 2 Surface fans on this.  I’ve tried it (we have an RT and a Pro here).  The new hinge just cannot solve the typing with a keyboard issue – the laws of physics are pretty clear.  I want a detachable clamshell keyboard with a stiff hinge that gives me a laptop/hybrid solution.  And why oh why doesn’t the Surface keyboard stay shut with magnets?  Why do I have to hold it closed?

Anyway, while the Surface Pro 2 is not for me, I do see it being viable for many business users if they go down the 1 device for users, rather than the traditional “here’s a PC, here’s a laptop, and here’s a tablet” approach that has evolved.

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KB2886362 – New Update Rollup For DPM 2012 SP1 If Backing Up Hyper-V VMs

Microsoft released a fix for System Center 2012 SP1 – Data Protection Manager for an issue where DPM consumes too much space to track changes of Hyper-V VMs stored on CSVs:

DPM has express full technology where DPM tracks the changes via DPM filter driver and the changed block information are tracked as bitmap and is stored in bitmap files. In some scenarios, DPM bitmap files are becoming very big leading to higher CSV volume consumption. This issue is fixed in DPM filter and effects only VM protection scenarios. This fix is done on the DPM filter driver running on the production server.

Please note: It is advised to apply this update only if you are backing up Hyper-V VMs. This upgrade will lead to CC on all data sources that are effected by this particular DPM servers.

This update appears to be called Update Rollup 3.6 and is available via Windows Update.  My advice is:

  • Let some other sucker test this update rollup for Microsoft.  Don’t be the fool who installs this and has to go to the TechNet Forums for help because it breaks something.  Wait one month; if all is well, then consider installing the update.
  • Only rush the install of this update if you are suffering badly from the above problem.

Surface 2 Announcement Is Today – More Of The Same And A Future Prediction

The pre-release launch or announcement of the Microsoft Surface generation 2 is today at 10:30 EST or 15:30 GMT.  I don’t have a live stream link, if there will even be one.

At this point, “leaks” (personally I think they are deliberate drip feeds to generate interest) have given us a fairly good view of what’s coming in the second generation of Surface:

  • A mini 8” tablet that will be released in 2014
  • Surface RT (aka Surface 2) and Surface Pro (aka Surface Pro 2) will get a new processor and come with Windows 8.1.  No new chassis, etc.  The kickstand will have 2 positions.
  • Some new colours in the keyboards (uhhhh), a cover keyboard with a battery, and a dock-able keyboard.

In other words, mostly more of the same.  The worst rumour of all is that the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 will come in at the original release prices of the 1st generation Surfaces.  Yes, the price that everyone said was way too much.

And that’s why we’ve been seeing the Einstein insanity quote over and over and over and over for the last few weeks:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

This whole Surface thing makes me wonder if anyone in Redmond has realised that Surface just is not working.

Surface Pro 2

A $999 Surface Pro 2 is essentially an Ultrabook with no battery, a small (6 hours allegedly) battery life, and a now modest storage of up to 128 GB (easily consumed once you install a few programs and sync Skydrive).  Meanwhile entry level Ultrabooks are getting cheaper and the higher end devices leave the Surface behind.  But no, you cry, the Surface Pro 2 is a tablet!

OK, I can get the much-desired iPad 64 GB (to compare like with like) for $699.  But realistically, the 32 GB will be fine and that costs $599, has a 10 hour battery, has lots of apps (apps are more important than programs on a tablet), and has a thriving used market (buy one, use it, sell it, and not lose too much when you buy a newer generation o

ne a year or two later).  As a consumer buy the iPad is way more attractive.  And then there’s the Android tablets that are coming in at an even lower price.

Wait no, the Surface Pro 2 is a hybrid.  And there it fails again because it is unusable as a productivity device on your lap, on a plan in anything lower than business class, and in a train where tables are even smaller than in economy on a short-haul flight.  We’ll see if the new dock-able keyboard solves that, but I suspect it is a hack that will work as well as the third-party iPad keyboard solutions (which suck).

Surface 2

Windows on ARM is dead, it just doesn’t know it yet.  Every third party manufacturer has jumped of the platform – Nokia is effectively Microsoft now so we discount them.  MSFT marketing will scream that ARM is strategic and thriving but it has as much life in it as Windows NT on MIPS processors or Windows Server on Itanium.  And let’s face it, a low spec 32 GB tablet (with 10 GB usable) that costs $499 hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell in selling.  Whey the hell would a person at home who wants a content consumption tablet ever buy a lower spec device when they can get a desirable 16 GB iPad for just $10 more?

Surface 2 needs to drastically increase in spec or cost $250 to have a chance, and even then, that will only work when the app market improves by 500%.  Note that improve is not a statement of quantity but it is a measure of substance and quality.

Dump ARM or Switch To “Sirius”

If I was running whatever the devices organization is called these days in Microsoft, I could trash all efforts on ARM right now.  It was tried and it failed miserably.  Intel Atom is the best bet for low end consumer consumption devices (Haswell Intel Core i is just too expensive and tablets are eating PC’s lunch in retail for the last 18 months).

If I couldn’t dump ARM then I’d stop Surface 2 and switch to the Nokia “Sirius”.  This is a nicer looking 10” tablet that Nokia was working on, also based on Windows RT and was due to be announced around now.  I’d make 2 changes to it:

  1. Increase the storage from 32 GB.  10 GB free space is NOTHING.  It’s $120 no-name Android device territory.
  2. Offer a model that does not include the LTE modem to have a cheaper model.
  3. Increase the screen resolution from the Windows 8 default of 1366 x 768, so the tablet isn’t immediately slammed by consumer reviewers.

The Sirius (codename) costs $499 because it comes with an LTE modem.  Some have said this is too expensive.  Note that adding a modem to an iPad adds $130.

Prediction

In Q3 next year (Q1 in the Microsoft financial year), Microsoft will announce a stock discount that will make the recent $900m write down look like a drop in the water.  Windows RT will be killed.  Heads will roll.  And all this will happen just after Ballmer steps down at WPC, giving the new CEO the opportunity to clean sweep.  And then someone will do what should have been done 3 years ago: Windows Phone, a non-hybrid OS, will be ported to support consumer (content consumption) ARM tablets.

Windows 8.1 Availability For Business

Microsoft has clarified the availability situation of Windows 8.1 in businesses.

Beginning today, TechNet and MSDN subscribers will now have access to Windows 8.1 Enterprise RTM. This also includes access for Volume License (VL) customers with an active Software Assurance (SA) agreement, as you receive a TechNet subscription as part of SA.

Over and over in the article they talk about evaluation.  And that is correct, while businesses with SA on their licensing get free TechNet licenses, TechNet is for evaluation only. 

… the primary objective in making Windows 8.1 RTM bits available on TechNet and MSDN is so developers and businesses can continue testing the latest version of the operating system … And once GA bits are available, you will be ready to conduct final testing and begin your deployment of Windows 8.1.

Using TechNet media for anything other than evaluation is illegal, no matter what licensing or rights you think you have.  It is a binary thing; there is no grey area; there is no “if” or “but”; there are no ways around it no matter what your imagination might come up with.

Those with SA should be deploying the Enterprise edition of Windows 8.1 because it is the business feature-rich edition of the OS. 

For all devices currently running Windows 8 and for those of you who are testing Windows 8.1, use Windows 8.1 Enterprise RTM as another opportunity to evaluate the operating system so you can start your official migration when Windows 8.1 Enterprise GA becomes available on October 18.

EDIT: Windows 8.1 Enterprise was added to MSDN/TechNet overnight.  Please keep reading.

Microsoft reminds us again about the rights limitations of TechNet and MSDN media.  You will soon have access to the Enterprise edition via those evaluation and test/dev programs but for production usage:

… you must have active SA for the Windows desktop operating system to have rights to Windows 8.1 Enterprise licenses.

VLSC (where customers with Windows 8 licensing can download Windows 8.1) will be updated with the GA bits of Windows 8.1 (what you can deploy for production) on:

… October 18 and for new customers to purchase through Microsoft Volume License Resellers beginning November 1.

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Option To Select Physical GPU Is Unavailable In Hyper-V Settings

Microsoft posted a KB article to explain how to resolve an issue when a Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Virtualization Host is added to a domain and the default domain policy is applied, the option to select a physical GPU used for Remote FX (within Hyper-V settings) is unavailable.

This is caused because the Users group has been removed from he “Allow log on locally” policy. RemoteFX uses a system account called RDV Graphics Service which is a member of Users. 

The fix is to ensure that:

  1. Users has the Allow Log On Locally right and
  2. Users is not added to the Deny Logon Locally policy.

Note that this issue is fixed in WS2012 R2.

First Impressions – Windows 8.1 RTM

I rebuilt the PC at work yesterday, replacing Windows 8 with Windows 8.1.  I prefer rebuilds instead of upgrades just because you get a cleaner build.  I took an indirect route because it allowed me to experience something I had never done before (that I can remember):

  1. Installed Windows 8.1 (aka “Home)
  2. Installed Office 2013 Pro Plus via the Office 365 Click-To-Run mechanism
  3. Entered the Windows 8.1 Pro product key (reboot)
  4. Joined the machine to the domain
  5. Finished installing and configuring
  6. Downloaded and installed the Windows Intune agent

Office Click-To-Run is a nice way to deploy office in a small business.  It’s quick and managed by Office 365, bringing me updates when they eventually are released – assuming that I don’t have LOB apps with specific compatibility issues.

Wave D Windows Intune (the current release) doesn’t strictly support Windows 8.1 yet.  My OS actually shows up as Windows 6.3, which looks funny when it’s side-by-side with Windows 8.

All the usual programs and apps were installed.  I decided to switch from Chrome to Firefox – I gave up on IE10 a while back and IE11 hasn’t improved enough for me.  Firefox with plugins for Lastpass and Google Translate runs nice and quickly.

I have dual monitors so it was nice to have Metro apps running on both screen.  In fact, I had 4 apps open, with flexible screen space sharing (resizing/snapping).  Skydrive automatically connected to my account.  My wallpaper and lock screen appeared.  I configured the PC to log into the desktop and to use my wallpaper as the Start Screen background.  These two things, in addition to the Start button are technically minor, but might prove psychologically significant enough to get those who are disaffected by Windows 8 to re-consider Windows 8.1.

Other than that – – it’s been all smooth.

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Complaints About Bad Microsoft Patches Goes Mainstream

It was inevitable.  MVPs have privately voiced concerns to Microsoft about the quality of patches coming out of Sustained Engineering.  That feedback went somewhere up the chain and out the back door.

Then after many months and the July 2013 disasters, some of us decided to talk about it publicly on social media.  Some Microsoft people in Redmond agree with our concerns, expressing embarrassment that their hard work is being diminished by a laughable resource planning policy decision.  Once again, no notable changes to the CA-style “testing”.

Now I’ve just read on Silicon Republic that MVP Susan Bradley (AKA the SBS Diva) has written to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to address her concerns.

“On behalf of everyone in this community, may I respectfully request that you assign someone in a management position to investigate what is going on with quality control with patch testing lately?” Bradley asked Ballmer.

A certain negative response from a few Microsoft people to Susan’s letter is reported in the article.  I do recognise that experience.

I’m glad this has gone “main stream” and been picked up by the media.  To be honest, I think we have to embarrass whatever executive is responsible for this mess into making a much-needed change.

EDIT:

Mary Jo Foley just pinged me on Twitter to let me know that Larry Seltzer had previously posted a similar story on ZDnet.  And don’t forget that myself and Hans Vredevoort also raised issues in Windows Server and System Center in July.  To be honest, I think there’s a mindset with the power-that-is that will only increase the cost of testing if sales are hit.  The power to make a change is in your hands.

EDIT:

And Rod Trent also posted a story on this problem on Windows IT Pro.

EDIT:

Add Redmond Magazine to the list.

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Grand Theft Auto V – It’s Grand!

Admission: I was one of the lucky Amazon UK pre-order customers to get an early delivery of GTAV.  And I was abroad when it was delivered on Saturday morning so I didn’t get to install it on my Xbox 360 until last night.

Is it any good?  Let me put it this way: I was up at 04:20 to get a flight from Heathrow to Dublin yesterday morning.  I got home from work at around 18:30.  Then I watched through sobs the 49ers @ Seahawks game.  And then I installed GTAV and had to force myself to power down the console just after 1am.

http://www.gadgetreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GTA-V-big.jpg

What’s it like?  Wow!

The hype was justified, in my opinion.  The map is huge.  I’d say it could take a few hours to circumnavigate it at full speed in a car.  There’s way more than the city of Los Santos, a satirized exaggeration of Los Angeles. 

The game drops you right into the action with the intro being a nice heist and getaway mission.  The beauty of Los Santos at altitude is then shown to you in an intro video, which zooms in to show you the grime, graffiti and homelessness that I saw on the real Venice Beach some years ago.  You don’t have long to wait for action because you’ll have your first guns in no time, and the map is wide open.  Instead of locking the map with roadblocks,

Rockstar used the “fog” approach, encouraging you to wander and discover.  That’s just what I did after boosting some cars, and doing some repo and tow work to earn some cash.  The local 7-11 wasn’t safe, and neither was a mountain lion that thought I’d be tasty.  And yes, innocent passers by were *ahem* hurt, but the cops took their share too.  I went up dirt trails in an off-roader, swimming in the sea from a boat, dirt-biking, and chasing a herd of deer in the mountains.  GTAIV was impressive.  The add-ons for GTAIV added more possibilities.  GTAV takes the world to a new level in possibilities. 

The graphics … you know how we’re always told that the current generation of machines have been maxed out for years?  Someone needs to tell the Rockstar developers.  The graphics on the Xbox 360 version are better than GTAIV.  It make the Assassins Creed II look like a Megadrive game.  I went up a mountain in the wilderness just to go sightseeing!!!  That was fun, trying to get an SUV up a steep road with 1000 foot falls on either side, while knocking over the occasional hiker 😀

If you like big games with random violence, then GTAV is the game to get. 

Available on:

HVRemote Updated To Support WS2012 R2 and Hyper-V Server 2012 R2

I was just checking something and I saw that HVRemote was updated a few days ago (to v1.08) include support for Windows Server 2012 R2, Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, and Windows 8.1 Client Hyper-V.

HVRemote is a Codeplex (not supported by Microsoft) product that makes enabling remote support of workgroup machines a lot easier.  It is written by John Howard of Microsoft who works in the Hyper-V team.

System Center 2012 R2 Is Required To Manage WinServ or Hyper-V 2012 R2

Part of me wishes Microsoft had not made Windows Server 2012 R2 available via MSDN/TechNet on Monday (I’ve had no confirmation of MVLS yet).  Why?  Confusion, that’s why.  It seems that lots of people are assuming things.  I hate when people assume.

You cannot manage any of the following using System Center 2012/SP1:

  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V
  • Hyper-V Server 2012 R2

Yes, it was announced that System Center 2012 R2 will be out at the same time as Windows Server 2012 R2.  And it will be …. when both products are made generally available on October 18th as was announced.  That was the promise.  We got lucky because Microsoft put Windows Server out early via limited channels so the community could start testing and working on compatibility a little earlier than expected.  Windows Server 2012 R2 is still not generally available.  You cannot actually buy Windows Server 2012 R2 yet.

Please be patient.