Massaker.Me

Are you anticipating the forthcoming release of Windows 7? If you are, that’s great! Here are some more reasons to validate your anticipation.

If you are not, I would totally understand your skepticism after dealing with Windows Vista. I’ll be the first to say the Windows Vista stunk. It took forever to install, had massive issues with networking and file copying, had issues with laptops power management, needed significantly better hardware then a Windows XP workstation… we could go on and on.

Ironically, there were also some good things that might have had a role in businesses not wanting to adopt Vista as well, such as better security (a problem that has plagued Windows Operating Systems for years) and a new interface that, while productive, did not feel quite done and created a learning curve that people were not willing to invest in given all of Vista’s other faults.

So why Windows 7? In short, it is what Vista should have been. Ask anyone you know that is in information technology and they will most likely mirror this sentiment. I have personally been running my laptop on Windows 7 for 6 months as of this writing with no incident. Everything that worked in Vista works in Windows 7. Almost all of my hardware detected and installed on the initial installation. The only thing that did not work was Digital Persona, software that works with my biometric login sensor – not a big deal for now (Digital Persona is developing a Windows 7 version due out anytime now). Overall, I have been very pleased.

Here are some of the top reasons you should consider the switch for your business:

1. Speed, Speed, Speed… it is much faster than Vista (faster bootup, better performance, and more)
2. More Default Hardware Drivers
3. Improved Interface (especially in the networking section and the taskbar)
4. Faster Search
5. Bitlocker (drive encryption) is easier to implement and can be used on removable drives
6. Faster Document Access form Start Menu
7. Better support for 64-bit hardware
8. Direct Access (lets users stay securely connected to the corporate network whenever they have an Internet connection – think dial-up VPN minus the dial-up part – Requires Windows 2008 Server R2).

Don’t take my word for it. Here are some other 3^rd party sources that echo my feelings on Windows 7.

Windows 7 Survival Guide: From 32-bit to 64-bit

8 Things to Think About for Windows 7

Windows 7: What’s Coming for Business Users

Top Ten Reasons to Switch to Windows 7

7 Reasons for Upgrading to Windows 7

Why Windows XP Users will Switch to Windows 7

Microsoft Windows 7 Page

One of the frustrating parts of being in the IT business is quoting computers. I can’t tell you how many clients, prospects and colleagues I run across that complain about how much higher our prices are for computers relative to just going down to Best Buy or Office Depot and buying them off the shelf. It occurred to me to write an article to explain why this is the case as I suspect other computer resellers out there run into the same dilema. It’s not that our cost more, (in most cases we can be cheaper than a retailer), It’s that many people fail to remember all of the other factors that go into making a computer usable for production.

So, here goes:

When you buy that sub-$300 computer from your favorite store it generally comes with a Home Edition of whatever the current operating system is. The problem with this is that Home Edition Windows operating systems cannot connect to Windows domain servers (this is by design). You must have a business edition operating system to accomplish this, in the case of Vista those editions are Business, Enterprise or Ultimate (Enterprise is for larger companies under a Open Value license plan). So if you buy a PC with Home edition, you have to spend $100-$200 on purchasing the upgrade edition to take it from Home to a Business class edition operating system. You can probably do this yourself, but you might have an IT technician do it, which means an additional $100-$300 in labor.

Next: Almost everyone use Microsoft Office. These sub-$300 never come with Office (perhaps a 60 day trial, but that’s it). Office Basic (Word, Excel, & Outlook) will tack on an additional $100+ and the Small Business Edition (what most people use because it also has PowerPoint & Publisher) will tack on another $300. (Sadly, many businesses skirt this by installing the same Office licenses on every PC, which is obviously illegal).

Finally: A new monitor. this component is obviously optional if you are replacing an existing PC and simply want to use the existing monitor, but if you want a new system, the starting price is $150+.

Let’s summarize least and worst case scenarios:

Least Case: For example, replacing an old computer at your business

• Upgrade to Vista Home Premium to Vista Business +$100 (do installation yourself)
• Buy Office Basic $100
• No monitor, (you have a spare)
• Total: +$200

Worst Case: For example, adding a brand new computer that needs a full Office suite

• Upgrade to Vista Business +100
• Buy and install Office Small Business Ed. +$300
• Monitor +$150 (17′ LCD)
• Labor to install Vista Upgrade and Office software: +300
• TOTAL: +$550 w/o labor; +$850 w/labor

So a new PC, if purchased correctly, really costs more like $500 – $1000.

Don’t believe me? See for yourself. This is a Dell Inspiron that I created this morning. The Inspiron is their consumer class, absolute cheapest model (both in cost and quality).