Vista SP2 beta on its way, come what may

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Apparently Microsoft a preparing to release another service pack for Windows Vista. Neowin.net reports that Redmond is sending out a heads up to beta testers that Microsoft Windows Vista SP2 beta 1 is due for release sometime within the next month and is actively soliciting them to sign up. If so, this will be the second service pack prepared for release this year.

The latest service pack will allegedly include all the recent updates and bug fixes for Vista as well as support for Bluetooth and the VIA 64-bit CPU. The official statement from Microsoft is available in KB948465 .

It isn’t really unusual for Microsoft to release two service packs so close together. Remember the early days of Windows NT 4? It has just been awhile since they were on top of things like this. I guess we have become so accustomed to delays and heel dragging when it comes to major product releases and updates that some of us are actually surprised when Microsoft picks up the pace. It’s about time, too.

Vista was launched way behind schedule and stripped of many key features initially promised simply because Microsoft ran out of time to fully develop them and meet their latest deadline, which had already been pushed back several times. It is my belief this is the prime reason for Vista’s troubles at its release; it simply wasn’t ready for launch, and it showed.

This is why I call Vista “The New Millenium”. The look and feel of Windows Me was that of an operating system that was thrown together just so Microsoft could have something out there while it was wrapping up Windows XP. As soon as Windows XP was launched, Millenium was given a quiet sweep under the rug.

I am not saying that Vista will suffer the same fate, at least not to the extent of Millenium. Obviously Microsoft is fully supporting the product as evidenced by the release of SP2, which is two service packs more than it supported Millenium. This is likely because Microsoft invested a lot more in the development of Vista than it did with the Forgotten One.

However, it is becoming clear that Vista’s days are numbered. Microsoft is hastening release of Windows 7 and Windows  XP has been given yet another reprieve. To keep a nine year old operating system alive while prepping one two generations after it is a bit unusual and indicates their lack of confidence in Vista to carry the torch until the next release. The latest operating system may be getting a second new service pack, but I get the strange feeling that as soon as Windows 7 is launched, Vista will be riding into the sunset, never to be seen or heard from again.

System Management News

 

OpenOffice.org 3 reaches 3 million downloads in one week

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(TheForceField.net ) October 20, 2008 — The OpenOffice.org Community reported that  OpenOffice.org 3.0 reached 3 million downloads after the first week. The latest version of OpenOffice was launched October 13.  OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the latest release of the open source office suite originally developed by Sun Microsystems and is considered by many to be one of few serious competitors of Microsoft Office.

The OpenOffice.org official web site went down during the launch last Monday. A download page was published around noon in lieu of the home page with the brief message "Apologies – our website is struggling to cope with the unprecedented demand for the new release 3.0 of OpenOffice.org. The technical teams are trying to come up with a solution".

A source at Sun was quoted as saying that the outage was due to a "large number of http requests bombarding the site". The high number of requests was believed to be attributed to a sudden increase in traffic in response to the official release of OpenOffice.org 3.0.

The downloads are currently being recorded at www.mealldubh.org, a blog owned and operated by John McCreesh, OpenOfffice.org Marketing Project Lead. The site records each download and compiles the numbers on a graph. However, the numbers may not be accurate. The site only records straight downloads from OpenOffice.org and the mirror sites. It does not track distribution via torrent or CD-ROM, two other popular methods of distribution.

McCreesh admits the numbers may be too low.  "These logs are the only figures we are able to quantify accurately, but they are a considerable underestimate of the actual number of downloads", McCreesh wrote in his blog yesterday. "So how many people are already using OpenOffice.org 3.0? No-one knows."

 Alex Fisher, OpenOffice.org CD-ROM Project Co-Lead, agreed. In an e-mail response to the news in the OpenOffice.org Marketing Project news list, Fisher wrote "Then of course, there's the Bit Torrent downloads, and people like me who go directly to a mirror (my ISP has a mirror of OO.o that is only accessible by their users)…. 3 million is probably conservative."

As of this morning, mealldubh.org reported at total of 3,009,832 downloads, a majority of them to computers running Microsof Windows. What impressed McCreesh was the number of Mac users downloading the product. The blog reported over 320,000 downloads by users of Mac OS X.

"This is a tribute not only to the developers who have created this great product, but to the tens of thousands of people in the community who have tested it, translated it, supported it, and told the world about it", McCreesh wrote in an e-mail to the Marketing Group. "A week of three million downloads – what a great start to 'the year of three'!"

The Office suite is released under the GNU/GPL and is freely available. OpenOffice.org v3.0 is currently available for download in English for Windows, Linux, OS X and OpenSolaris at http://www.openoffice.org .

 

 

Cisco on Cisco News

Beating the IT Budget Crunch

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How Savvy CIOs are Cutting Costs and Using IT Compliance Automation to Make Impressive Gains

Agiliance NewsWatch Series

 

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) October 15, 2008 — Typically fall is synonymous with football, pumpkins and leaves crunching on sidewalks and driveways. This October it seems the crunching is coming from IT budgets in the fists of watchful CEOs. Still, there’s always a silver lining for smart companies determined to progress in the face of tough economic conditions. Despite being squeezed by increased security threats, compliance pressures and shrinking budgets, savvy CIOs are using the power of automated IT compliance software to help their businesses thrive.

CIOs are watching costs closely as our economy falters at the same time expectations for IT performance are rising

The key is to be bold, but not reckless. In spite of budget constraints – today's high-performing CIO is adept at balancing the competing demands of driving business innovation while coping with economic disruption.

A successful IT risk and compliance program not only reduces IT spending, but can help bridge the gap between senior management's business goals and IT operations by helping to ensure that consistent and accurate information flows across the organization

Automated IT risk and compliance solutions can provide decision makers with the current and accurate intelligence they need to better understand how IT risk affects their entire organization.

“CIOs are watching costs closely as our economy falters at the same time expectations for IT performance are rising,” says Sara Gates, VP of Strategy, Agiliance, a provider of IT risk and compliance software solutions for Fortune 1000 companies. “The key is to be bold, but not reckless. In spite of budget constraints – today’s high-performing CIO is adept at balancing the competing demands of driving business innovation while coping with economic disruption.”

As companies enter a new era of corporate governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) demands, winning companies are using technology to automate compliance initiatives and get more efficient. In fact, the rising tide of IT security threats and compliance demands, coupled with a struggling economy, is driving the adoption of automated and innovative, intelligence-based solutions for today’s risk and compliance challenges. Recent industry reports confirm that highly automated IT risk and compliance solutions are helping companies cut compliance costs by up to 70%.

Beyond Compliance: Making IT Your Competitive Advantage

The fact is IT can be a competitive advantage. The key is that successful businesses must optimize IT by making strategic cost cutting decisions, build IT by investing in projects that give the company a competitive edge and empower IT by strengthening communications between IT and business executives. Recent speculation by leading analysts suggests that senior management’s lack of understanding about their risk posture may have been a contributing factor to the crash of many heavy hitting financial institutions. More than ever, companies that want to avoid negative headlines must find ways to erase the lines of division between IT and business that may be preventing visibility into a company’s greatest risks – or strengths.

“A successful IT risk and compliance program not only reduces IT spending, but can help bridge the gap between senior management's business goals and IT operations by helping to ensure that consistent and accurate information flows across the organization,” said Kenneth Tyminski, former CISO of Prudential and member, Agiliance Board of Advisors. “Automated IT risk and compliance solutions can provide decision makers with the current and accurate intelligence they need to better understand how IT risk affects their entire organization.”

Cost Cutting Tips for Beating the IT Budget Crunch

The bottomline is that IT success requires the right balance of belt tightening paired with strategic investments to fuel innovation and growth. Successful CIO’s are leveraging IT as an asset in spite of external pressures to control risks while regulators are becoming even more aggressive.

Read more about IT compliance automation and other IT cost cutting tips:

http://www.agiliance.com/infocenter/Get_Budget_Tips.html.

Agiliance IT Risk and Compliance Software

Agiliance offers highly-automated IT risk and compliance management software products designed to help organizations thrive in the face of mounting pressures to manage and balance risk, compliance and IT budgets. By leveraging the power of Agiliance software, businesses can make impressive gains in their IT risk and compliance efforts including reduced audit burden, increased visibility into current compliance and risk status, and improved leverage of IT resources.

To speak to an Agiliance expert about a topic covered in the Agiliance NewsWatch series, please contact Lorraine Kauffman-Hall at 704-882-0443 or lhall@agiliance.com. To learn more about Agiliance, please visit www.agiliance.com

How To Find The Best Form Of Liability Protection For Your Business

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How Business Owners Can Choose Between S Corporation vs. C Corporation vs. LLC

Madison, WI (PRWEB) October 15, 2008 — (www.bizfilings.com) – In an uncertain economy, having a legal structure for your business that provides limited liability protection is more important than ever. However, choosing between the most common business structures seems daunting to many business owners.

Karen Kobelski, general manager for incorporation services leader BizFilings.com, said business owners often put off the important task of incorporating their business because they're uncertain whether to choose a corporation or limited liability company (LLC). Given uncertainty in the economy, she said it has become more important than ever for business owners to obtain the benefits of limited liability protection – so that negative factors experienced in business don't negatively affect a lifetime of retirement savings.

Ultimately, the only mistake is not using a legal structure that provides limited liability protection at all.

To choose the right legal structure for a business, Kobelski offers these five tips:

View a Side-by-Side Comparison
Limited Liability companies (LLCs), S corporations and C corporations are the most common legal structures small business owners consider, but it's helpful to know the basics about all structures. The first step in choosing the right legal structure is knowing important differences that can influence your choice. One of the best tools for comparing entities at a high level is a good side-by-side business entity comparison chart. Learning how different legal structures are managed, taxed, and organized can helps identify the entity types to consider.

Attend a Webinar
A good webinar on choosing a business structure describes the benefits of each legal structure you're considering. It talks about advantages, disadvantages, taxation, and day-to-day operations. In a few minutes, you'll gain insights that will lead you closer to choosing the right legal structure for your business.

Formation Assistant
There are a few automated tools that aid in selecting a legal structure. Among these is the Formation assistant from BizFilings. Tools like the assistant ask you questions about how you envision the organization, day-to-day activities, and future of your business and then provide an outline of how certain business structures may meet your criteria.

Talk to an Accountant
After you know the basics about each structure you're considering, talk to your accountant. Based on your plans for running, growing, and operating the business, your accountant may identify the best structure for your business from a tax perspective.

Talk to an Attorney
It's best to talk to an attorney after you already know the basics about legal structures, have consulted your accountant, and have narrowed down the options. This way, you're paying to be advised — rather than educated. Ask their opinion on legal structure for your business based on your company's ownership, liability, day-to-day operations, and also future goals.

It's commonplace for accountants and CPAs to have different recommendations from an attorney, according to Kobelski. In these instances, she said the business owner needs to determine the most compelling reasons and select the legal structure that they believe is warranted.

"Since most businesses can thrive equally well as a C corporation, S corporation, or LLC and retain the benefits of limited liability protection, there's no indisputably right or wrong answer — just tradeoffs," said Kobelski. "Ultimately, the only mistake is not using a legal structure that provides limited liability protection at all."

To learn more about the advantages of each type of structure, business owners can visit business incorporation services leader BizFilings today. By offering a side-by-side comparison table, a free webinar on 'choosing a business structure,' a "formation assistant" that walks you through important considerations, and a free Guide to Forming Your Business, it's a great place to gather valuable information.

About BizFilings:
BizFilings (www.bizfilings.com) is the Internet leader in providing incorporation and related services to business owners. Bizfilings professionally forms corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), and nonprofits faster than anyone else. Its rush service makes it possible to file a corporation or LLC in as little as 24 hours.

BizFilings is a part of Wolters Kluwer, a leading multinational publisher and information services company. Wolters Kluwer has annual revenues (2007) of €3.4 billion, maintains operations in over 33 countries across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific and employs approximately 19,500 people worldwide.

Doing business with The Department of Homeland Security

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From the DHS web site: The purpose of the Homeland Security IT Product and Service Information Database is to allow businesses to share information about their information technology-related products and services with people in the Information Technology divisions of DHS and its component agencies. Please make a submission to this database ONLY if your company provides information technology-related products or services. For more information about doing business with DHS please go to Working with DHS.

Contact:

Website: http://www.dhs.gov  

Vendor Information https://vendors.dhs.gov/dhspsi

Logicube

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Logicube sells data forensics systems and hard drive duplication equipment. One of its products is The Sonix, a hard drive duplication device that can transfer data at speeds up to 3.3GB per minute.

Contact:

Logicube
19755 Nordhoff Place
Chatsworth, CA 91311
US Phone: (888) 494-8832
International Phone: (818) 700-8488
Fax: (818) 700-8466

Website: http://www.logicube.com

Scantec Distribution, Inc.

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Local distributor based in Charlotte, NC. Sells desktops, notebooks, computer components and accessories to resellers and IT professionals for resale.

 Contact:

Scantec Distribution, Inc.
2233 Interstate North Drive Charlotte, NC  28206
Phone: 704-599-3373
Fax: 704-599-3347
Toll Free: 877-722-6832

Website: http://www.scantec.net/store/index.php

NETGEAR PowerShift Partner Program

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NETGEAR manufactures routers, switches and other networking equipemtn for home and small business. The NETGEAR PowerShift Partner Program offers resellers sales, support, training and marketing tools to help them sell NETGEAR products.

The Partner Program is FREE to join.

Application for Partner Program http://www.netgear.com/Partners/Powershift.aspx

Laptop Jacks

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Laptop Jacks is a major supplier of replacement adapters, DC jacks and plugs for laptop computers. The company is based in Florida and stocks jacks for most makes and models of portables. Laptop Jacks also offers a repair service.

Contact:

Laptop Jacks, Inc.
1001 N. Federal Hwy. Suite 335
Hallandale, FL 33009
Tel. 954.455.LAPTOP(5278)
Email: Sales@laptopjacks.com

 Website: http://www.laptopjacks.com