Three Reasons Why My Surface Pro Is A Beast Compared To Your Non-Windows Tablet

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Tom Carpenter

1) Running Windows Apps
…and I mean all Windows Apps. I can run a Windows XP VM, using VMware Player or other tools, and then run most any application I desire – even those not directly compatible with Windows 8. Yes, it is a bit clunky sometimes trying to “click” in the right place with my fat finger, but pulling out the pen typically resolves this issue. The point is that I can run very important software apps for an IT geek like me, such as protocol analyzers, spectrum analyzers and programming tools and I can run them all in their full-blown power – not in some limited, nearly useless, tablet version.

 
2) It’s A Computer
…a real computer. Running with 4 GB RAM and a lickety-split fast processor, I can do anything other basic laptops can do. With a small USB 3 hub, I can connect multiple USB devices at the same time. The Surface Pro, and its sister Windows 8 Pro tablets now coming out, is the only tablet that can “really” be used as a tablet and then as a desktop computer. When I go into my office, I can plug it into a USB cable (attached to a powered hub) and have full access to external storage, keyboard and mouse. Then I plug in the video cable and I have a large screen monitor. The performance is as good as my 2 year old desktop sitting across the room.

 
3) It’s A Tablet
…in spite of what many have said (mostly those who have not used it), the Surface Pro is a tablet. Granted, it’s a bit heavier than an iPad, but, then again, it can do a few thousand things the iPad can never do (because of its limited interface options and applications – that’s right, I just said the iPad has limited applications over the Surface Pro because it cannot run all of the Windows apps released over the past decade or more [see reason number 1]). The touch sensitivity is equal to my iPad and my best Android-based devices. No problems there.  The pen is very accurate and makes for excellent diagramming – far superior to that available on either the iPad or the Android-based tablets.

 
As a side note – I have used iDevices off and on for more than three years and Android-based devices during that time – I have lots of experience with all three device types. I have waited a couple of months to write this post because I was initially blown away by the Surface Pro and I thought, “surely this is going to wear off and I will see the flaws in this device that make it less appealing than the Apple or Android devices.” Based on the reviews I had seen to that point, I thought I must be confused about how great it is. Now, after more than two months of use, I am more convinced than ever that, for an IT geek, the other tablets can’t even come close (though this may not be true for the general user). Going back and exploring those reviews again, it became obvious to me that most negative reviews fell into one of the following two categories:

  • Reviews by people who had not used the Surface Pro but commentated only on its features.
  • Reviews by people who had used Apple devices for nearly all their work (laptops and tablets) for several years.

Certainly, people in the first category, should not be taken seriously. People in the second category should be taken very seriously because they do present an issue for Microsoft. Microsoft has to address the learning curve for that group (and it includes many, many younger buyers today). But I don’t work for Microsoft marketing, so that’s their problem and this adaptivity is not in any way a reflection of usefulness or value for those who are willing to adapt. Stated another way, if a device is harder to use for someone who has been using another device, this is not an important  factor in the measurement of either the usability or the functional usefulness of that device. It is simply proof that they know how to use the other device better. Simple as that. From a functional perspective, no one can argue with sincerity that the iPad or Android tablets offer more than the Surface Pro (with the possible exception of access to memory cards, but that is easily solved with a USB memory card reader – though it is, admittedly, not a pretty solution).

 
The reality is that I could go on with another thirty reasons that the Surface Pro is far better for the average IT geek than the other non-Windows tablets, but I simply lack the energy to persuade you. My goal is not really to persuade anyone anyway – just to be a voice that is not influenced by the anti-Microsoft bias that is so common out there. Here’s the way I would summarize it. Do you want a device that can do all the following in equal capability to a laptop while being a true tablet?

  • Run advanced IT software
  • Access custom USB hardware
  • Run virtual machines
  • Run Office – real Office or Office-like applications with all capabilities
  • Access hundreds of thousands (millions ?) of full-featured applications
  • Current access to tens of thousands of custom Windows 8 UI apps (with a growth rate surpassing 100,000 by the end of summer) – think of these as the “tablet” apps for Windows 8
  • The best Internet browsing experience of any tablet (remember, you can install Firefox or Chrome on here – and I mean the real ones, not the lame tablet releases [smile])

Then Surface Pro (or one of its sister Windows 8 tablets coming out from other vendors) is right for you. Certainly, it’s not for everyone, but I cannot even fathom thinking the competing OS-based tablets are better tablet tools for the standard IT pro. However, many will disagree with me and just keep complaining to software vendors about the fact that their needed IT tools are just not available for the iPad that they use.

 

Just sayin’

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New Group Policy Settings in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Tom Carpenter

With each new edition of Windows, Microsoft adds new Group Policy capabilities. Group Policy has been with us since the release of Windows 2000, but has roots going back to Windows 95 and Windows NT in the older System Policies. Group Policy allows you to centrally configure settings for Windows clients and servers using Active Directory for deployment and application of these settings.

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 introduce new Group Policy settings that may be important to network and system admins. Most of the new settings are related to new features, but many of them are related to existing features from previous editions of Windows as well. In total, Windows Server 2012 not supports more than 3,400 policy settings. Some apply only to older versions and some apply only to newer versions, but with this many policy settings you clearly have a lot of flexibility in centralized management and configuration of the Windows OS.

169 new policies have been created that require Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 to function. This does not include the policies that require Internet Explorer 10, which typically means you’re running Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 as well.

Examples of important policies for Enterprise deployments include:

  • Turn off the Store application (can be applied to users or computers)
  • Turn off tile notifications (the rectangles on the Start screen)
  • Turn off toast notifications (the popup notifications in the upper right corner)
  • Location where all default Library definition files for users/machines reside (allows you to point to a single location for consistent Libraries on all computers)
  • Prevent users from uninstalling applications from Start (normally, you can right-click a tile and simply click uninstall – not good in the Enterprise!)
  • Turn off app notifications on the lock screen (may be required for privacy or to reduce network bandwidth consumption)

In addition to the Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 policies, another 69 require Internet Explorer 10 or above. You can learn more about all the policies (old and new) by downloading the Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server located here.

 

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Zig Ziglar – You Will Be Missed

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Tom Carpenter

I know, I’m an IT guy. Why am I talking about a sales trainer and author from the 1970s? Because Zig Ziglar became much more than a sales trainer throughout his grand career. He was a trainer, motivator, leader and mentor to so many including me. On the morning of November 28, 2012, Zig passed at the age of 86.

Many people have influenced my life over the years. In the tech sector, Mark Minasi responded to my emails in the 1990s (I was shocked) and shaped my perception of what an author should be like and how an IT industry expert should interact with his or her customers. In the religious world, Jesus (without comparison) has impacted me more than any man and my Pastor, Richard Collins, has had a profound impact on my life.

From a business perspective, no one has probably impacted me more than Zig Ziglar. Sadly, I did not have the chance to meet him, but his audio programs and philosophies have strengthened me through tough times over the past 20 years. I would describe him like this, “Zig Ziglar was a leader and not someone who talked about leadership.” Why? He wasn’t afraid to risk everything to stand up for something. That’s a leader. Someone who tells you how to lead, but doesn’t stand up for something, is really no leader at all. Zig was a leader.

Yes, he is gone, but his legacy remains. It remains in me. It remains in thousands. It remains in books, audio and video recordings that will live on. It remains, because it had an impact. It remains, because it came from passion. It remains, because it should.

Zig, I truly do hope to see you, at the top!

Tom

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Small Business IS Big Business

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Tom Carpenter

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in economics. I am simply sharing my observations and thoughts related to the new reality of the next several years in U.S. business operations.

In the new economy created by Obamacare (not intended as a slanderous term as President Obama happily called it that himself), we are likely to see small businesses boom; however, I mean the truly small businesses and not what has been called small business for decades. Some fix the size of a small business at 2500 or fewer employees. Even the Small Business Administration (SBA) provides small business size ranges from 100 to 1500 depending on the business sector in which the small business operates. So what am I calling a “truly” small business? The answer is defined in Obamacare itself: fewer than 50.

If you employ fewer than 50 people, you are not required to provide health insurance to those employees. The employees will still have to address how to deal with the individual mandate for themselves, but this is no different than what people working in truly small businesses have had to contend with for the past decades anyway when it comes to getting personal health care. According to the 2008 U.S. census, between 21 and 30 million people are employed in such businesses. The range is based on the fact that the census shows 20+ million employeed in business with fewer than 20 employees and 20.6 million employed in organizations with between 20 and 99 employees. We can assume at least some percentage of those latter employees are in organizations with fewer than 50.

Now, companies with more than 50 employees have to figure out how to deal with massively increased employment costs. This is not a guess, it is a fact. Obamacare will increase the cost of each individual employee significantly. Many large companies are already responding with layoffs in the last few days since President Obama was re-elected. Whether we supported the President or not, we must understand and prepare for the impact of his health care legislation. That’s what companies are doing.

I see several possible future structures of work in the United States based on this new burden imposed on companies:

  1. Much more contracting will occur.
  2. Many more self-employed individuals will result.
  3. Many more small businesses will be created.

By contracting out a significantly larger portion of the work required in a business, companies can reduce the employee cost burden. This does not automatically result in fewer jobs in total, but it does mean that more people will have to learn to work as a contractor and deal with their own benefits because they will not have a true HR department that’s working for them. Welcome to my world! :-)

The next result is that many people will become self-employed. In many cases, companies will terminate positions only to contract the work of that position out to an individual who is now “self-employed” even though they were the employee in the position only 24 hours earlier. We are likely to see a lot of this in the first years of Obamacare. In reality, an employee getting paid $40k per year plus benefits, can negotiate a contract rate getting between $50k and $55k per year. Now the employee can spend that extra $10k-$15k on whatever way she desires for her benefits. Additionally, as will be the case in many situations, she may be able to work from home and greatly reduce commute and food costs. The point is, it may be better for some individuals than it was before; however, job security will be lost, but, then again, have we really had job security in the last twenty years anyway? Not unless we were union-based employees.

Finally, we will see more truly small businesses created. They will be created to meet very specific needs in large organizations. For example, if a large company currently has 23 people in their HR department, they can outsource the HR operations to a small business with fewer than 50 employees. That small business could actually offer HR management to 3-5 companies of significant size because they are optimized for HR, even though they employ fewer than 50 internal employees. Providing the service to multiple companies provides for greater stability for that small business in that a loss of a single contract does not remove their entire revenue stream.

As for the investor/entrepeneur, it will make sense for her or him to create several small businesses that work together to deliver a product or service than to create a single entity that falls under heavier tax and employee cost burdens. In the end, this is just one more thing (among many we’ve seen in the last twenty years) leading toward a small business and contractor-based economy. For IT operations, this is significant and organizations must begin planning for outsourced IT even more than ever.

Now, I am not addressing outsourcing internationally, but it is already obvious that this will be a primary choice for many large organizations as well. They are already beginning to move jobs overseas and we are likely to see massively more of this in the coming years. Personally, I am not entirely opposed to this as I do not believe that a human being born in the United States is somehow inherently more valuable and deserving of a job than a human being in India, but we also must be sure to provide jobs here. It will be a tricky balance for years to come, I’m sure.

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