Windows General

Selling little apps for little money is next to impossible - on Windows. It works great on another platform, though: the iPhone. Such an imbalance has consequences: Apple making it easy for developers to actually sell their programs creates a pressure that might well cause a “developer drain” on the Windows platform.

In the previous article of this mini-series I described how to install Windows 7 x64 beta 1 into a virtual hard disk (VHD) file. In this post I will share some thoughts on what using Windows 7 x64 actually feels like.

In the first article of this mini-series I described how I prepared my work laptop for the installation of Windows 7 x64 beta 1 into a virtual hard disk (VHD) file. This post covers the installation itself.

After reading a lot about the speed and stability of Windows 7 (beta 1), I decided it was time for me not only to use it for real work, but also to move from 32-bit Windows to a 64-bit installation. This mini-series serves as a documentation of the steps I took and the lessons I learned.

While working on the next edition of my book I found several documentation errors on Microsoft’s Technet pages describing the command line tools of Windows Server 2008. One of the graver errors relates to clustering.

I confess: I like group policies. They are and have always been a great way of managing computer and user settings ever since their conception and introduction with Windows 2000. Of course, at the beginning management tools were nonexistent. But we were so happy not to have to rely on NT4’s system policies any more that we did not even notice. Then came GPMC, and life started to become truly great. RSOP! Group Policy modelling! Those are great tools for every admin!

Did you know that Windows Server contains a file system quota component? “Of course”, you will say. It was introduced with Windows 2000 and is completely useless since it only allows for volume-level quotas. That is true, but at the same time, it is nowadays quite irrelevant. With the R2 update to Windows Server 2003 Microsoft finally got it right and introduced the optional component File Server Resource Manager (FSRM). With FSRM, folder-level quotas find their way into the (professional) lives of administrators who do not care for additional third-party filter drivers that are prone to destabilize production servers.

[Updated 2009-12-11 for Server 2008 R2] Microsoft has published two visually very appealing posters which depict in great detail important components of its upcoming OS Server 2008. The poster on Active Directory Components details Lightweight Directory Services (formerly ADAM), Federation Services (ADFS), Rights Management Services, Group Policy, Management and Read-Only Domain Controller.