TechStop » Windows

StarWind iSCSI – Free Version

Joshua Wood — Sat, 28 May 2011 23:56:02 +0000

Hi all, StarWind iSCSI is a great product. It runs smoothly, rock-solid, great performance and now the price is unbeatable. I have used StarWind for a good while now and it is easily one of the best iSCSI products out there. Recently they came out a with a free version that has some awesome features. StarWind has had a free version for some time now but only recently have they released a version of their product that has the specs that are truly great. In the past the free version had some limitations that made it just out of reach of a good SMB solution.

If you haven’t already checked out the Starwind site for the details you definitely should.

Until next time,
TechStop (JW)

Source: http://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-free?campaign_id=171&utm_content=starwind%40wiband.com&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Learn%20more&utm_campaign=StarWind%20News%3A%20VMware%20Certification%20and%20StarWind%20Free

Price Increase for Microsoft Certs

Joshua Wood — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:00:52 +0000

Hi all,
Microsoft has increased the price of their certs in order to “reflect the significant value that our certifications provide to our customers”. While I believe that Microsoft certification has value I don’t know if I believe that they are increasing the price because of the value to the market. If the certs are truly valuable and they help create Microsoft evangelists out of new IT people then you would think that they would want to keep the prices the same or lower them. The price increase isn’t steep though so this won’t likely change anything for anyone looking to get a Microsoft certification.

Until next time,
TechStop

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-pricing-FAQ.aspx

Microsoft Supports Other HyperVisors

Joshua Wood — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:57:42 +0000

Microsoft has changed their licensing so that they are more “friendly” to competing hypervisor products. This also extends to their support of their products on other hyper-v platforms which currently are Xen, VMWare and Novell’s virtualization product.

While they are supporting several additional virtualization platforms they are not extending this level of support to all of their products. For a complete list and the press release see the links below.

Links
List of Supported Products
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957006

Microsoft Press Release
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/aug08/08-19EasyPathPR.mspx

Microsoft Support Article
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=897615

XP Still Out-Selling Vista

Joshua Wood — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:00:20 +0000

Windows Vista has been out for over a year now. If an operating system is going to make any head-way in the IT industry it needs to happen soon after the release. While there is a slim chance the OS could a late bloomer that is pretty unlikely given it current state. So much so that people will buy Vista only to install XP after the fact (see link below). In a few recent articles Windows XP is still outselling Windows Vista.

Vista is one of those operating systems where people aren’t totally sure where they want to fall or what side they want to be on. On the one hand I truly believe that people are ready for and want a new operating system but on the other hand they see too many people and companies who have been burned by the Windows Vista OS. Most people are still in the wait-and-see state which isn’t good for this OS because it is ends up giving it a bad name. What have you found in your workplace?

Links

Information on doing the downgrade yourself
http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/it-consultant/windows-vista-to-windows-xp-downgrade-driver-woes/

Good start place
http://www.infopackets.com/news/business/microsoft/2008/20080801_windows_xp_still_outselling_windows_vista.htm

Vista to XP Downgrade Report
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209800372