Windows Server 2008, A Rescuer For Vista?

Windows Server 2008This guest post was submitted by Patrick from Piggy Bank Pie.

Microsoft is releasing Windows Server 2008 on February 27th, and it seems like the IT community has high expectations as this version introduces many new features. However, Microsoft had high hopes in Vista, its latest desktop operating system, but IT managers have yet to respond, leaving XP master in command on corporate networks. But the software giant may be hiding a secret card in its deck. Could a client-server configuration between Vista and Windows Server 2008 revive the wow factor and rescue Vista’s sinking ship?

Another Reality

Home users cannot be compared to enterprise users when evaluating desktop upgrades. When a company reaches a high level of stability on its network, it takes a serious business case to move away from a stable platform to an unproven system. Right now, Windows XP offers a reliable solution and requires much less processing power than Vista.

Another sad reality is that many large corporations have not yet completed their migration to… XP. This places Vista in an uncomfortable position towards IT managers. Many of them may hold off on a migration plan, stepping over this release and sitting on XP until the next OS release.

The Combo

Using Vista and Windows Server 2008 in a client-server environment will enable features not available to other combinations. Let’s dig into some of the enhancements of this configuration to evaluate if the combo is worth deploying.

Event Forwarding: Vista computers will have the capability to monitor specific events (in event viewer), and forward them to Windows Server 2008 allowing administrators to consult alerts in a centralized location.

Searches: When searching files or other resources hosted on W2K8, Vista transfers the search query to the server where it is processed locally. Once completed, the result is sent back to the client workstation.

Print Rendering: Vista computers can free up Windows 2008 print servers by rendering print jobs locally, sending only the raw file format to print servers.

Offline Files: Vista will cache offline files locally providing access to resources when the server is offline. A synchronization process takes care of copying the files back once the client and server are reconnected.

NAP: Network Access Protection increases security by ensuring Vista computers connecting to the network are compliant with predefined security rules. If not, network resources would not be accessible.

Terminal Services: Remote Desktop Protocol goes a step further towards Citrix MetaFrame ICA. Vista and Windows Server 2008 will simplify remote access from an Internet Connection by providing connectivity through an HTTP gateway, much like Citrix Secure Gateway. Also, the new RDP client offers seamless applications that run as if on the local desktop.

Microsoft promises more enhancements to the client-server duo such as faster connectivity, more advanced Group Policies, native IPv6, and also easier deployment.

A Rescuer?

From an IT perspective, Windows Server 2008 will provide many new features such as Hyper-V, Read-Only Domain Controllers, built-in Windows PowerShell, IIS7 and much more. I believe that organizations will not hesitate to deploy W2K8 because servers have usually less impacts than client workstations on network users. However, Win2008 will not be the awaited rescuer for Windows Vista. The technology behind XP provides enough functionality for business requirements and the client-server combo does not offer enough incentives to justify the hardware, software and manpower investment needed for a massive deployment.



Breaking News – John Kerry was in Star Wars!

By Mark O’Neill

It turns out that before becoming a flip-flopping senator and 2004 US presidential candidate, John Kerry had another life and another identity – that of General Rieekan in Star Wars!   Just take a look below :

John Kerry in Star Wars?

According to this site, Luke Skywalker went on to play that alien dude in the X-Files!    Cool!   I thought I recognised him from somewhere else.

Boing Boing link

How do ants know what to do?

Armed with a backhoe and a handful of markers, Deborah Gordon studies ant colonies in the Arizona desert. She asks: How do these chitinous creatures get down to business — and even multitask when they need to — with no language, memory or visible leadership? Her answers could lead to a better understanding of all complex systems, from the brain to the Web.



Energy drink review, coffee suspiciously omitted

The ancient Gods had Ambrosia, southerners have Budweiser, and geeks have the energy drink. How else would we be able to learn the things we know and to the extent that we know them; with only 24 hours in the day? Without caffeine and massive doses of sugar, most of us wouldn’t have even been able to get through school.

Alright, so we definitely need this delicious category of beverages to sustain our day to day functions, but which brand is the best? With so many names out there, what should you drink when you’ve got a paper due in the morning?

Thanks to Mike Fahey of Kotaku, your next trip to the local deli might be a shorter one. He has risked the health of his heart and liver to review 13 popular energy drinks and give you the lowdown on their taste and buzz.

Looks like the best all-around drink is Monster with a perfect combination of flavor and go power. While Cocaine is a kick in the mouth with the most energy.

Hit the link for a good read on all of your favorite heart stoppers.

A critical look at energy drinks [Kotaku]

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New Iron Man Movie Trailer

Set to be released on the 2nd of May, Iron Man is Marvel’s first self-financed film. The movie stars Robert Downey Junior who plays Tony Stark, a billionaire who gets captured by Afghan terrorists and decides to get out of this tricky situation by building himself a super-armor suit.

Is anyone here looking forward to this movie? I know I am!

[Via Techeblog]

Digital Television: What you need to know

By Rob Dunn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Undoubtedly, you’re probably aware on some level that the United States government mandated that all broadcasted television signals be transmitted in digital format on and after February 19, 2009.

In the good ol’ days, televisions, VCR’s, and other similar appliances were manufactured with a NTSC (National Television System Committee) tuner built-in, which receives analog television signals. But next year, the NTSC standard is being replaced by ATSC (Advanced Television System Committee), making digital television, or ‘DTV‘ the standard transmission method for over-the-air television signals.

A number of people have asked if they will need to buy a new television in preparation for the change. The answer is pretty simple, but explaining that answer sometimes is not.

So, to all those folks who stop me in the hallway to ask about “this digital thing related to TVs,” I thought I would put together a synopsis of what is planned for February 2009, and what you can do to be prepared.

Continue reading ›

Morpho Towers: What happens when your mix ferrofluid with music

In the following video, you’ll see a structure composed of two spiral towers sitting in a plate full of ferrofluid, a viscous liquid that is highly saturated with iron particles. As soon as the music starts, a magnetic field is created, which makes the fluid dance up the structure in a bizarre and hypnotic way. Enjoy the show!

Remotely control your PC using a Gmail account

By Mark O’Neill

Now here’s an intriguing little program for all you Gmail aficionados out there. You can now send remote commands to your PC by emailing your Gmail account. Available commands include shutting down the PC, running a program and opening a webpage in your browser.

Entitled Gmail Remote Control (GRC), it is a small executable program which sits on your computer scanning your Gmail account, waiting for you to command it to do something. For this to work properly, you need to have the following :

  • a Gmail account (yeah I know, pretty obvious, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some idiot tried this with a Yahoo account and then complained it didn’t work!)
  • the target computer must be on and running. There must also be an open internet connection.
  • the Gmail Remote Control program must be logged in and running on the target computer.
  • Windows XP (sorry Vista fans).

If you are a mistrusting person by nature and would prefer not to reveal the password to your main Gmail account then just set up a new Gmail account solely for the purpose of using this program.

OK so when you have Gmail Remote Control open (nothing needs to be installed), enter the log-in details for the Gmail account and log in. You should now see a clock running. That tells you that the program is working normally. You should also insert this program to run in your daily startup process. It would be pretty bad if you were away from home, needed to use this program and realised that the GRC program wasn’t running!   However, you need to log in with your Gmail password everytime you start up GRC.

This didn’t occur to me personally but the developer’s website says that in some cases, the GRC program doesn’t work properly first time around and to make it work, you need to install an OCX file. Just see the webpage for more details on that if this affects you.

So you have GRC running. You’re now out and about doing your thing and you realise you forgot to shut down your computer at home. Doh! Assuming GRC is running on the target computer and you have internet access on another computer, here’s how to use Gmail to send a remote command to shut down that computer at home.

Send a blank email to the Gmail account registered with GRC. In the subject title, enter the word shutdown then send it :

grc1.gif

Since GRC is constantly scanning your Gmail account, it will act as soon as the email hits your inbox. It will then proceed to shut down the computer it is sitting on. But here’s the thing – after waiting some time, go back into your Gmail account and delete the email. Otherwise, when you go home and switch the computer back on again, GRC will kick in, check the Gmail account, find the shutdown email still sitting there and will proceed to shut the computer down again! So to break that vicious cycle, delete the email before you get back.

But it’s not only shutdown that GRC is good for. You can also tell it to run a program. Just send that email to your Gmail account again, this time entering the path to the program between <open>tags. This command will tell GRC to open up my AVG Anti-Virus on the target computer :

grc2.gif

Once again, GRC will see that email and carry out the command you have given it.

The third command is to open a webpage in your default browser.   Say you’re at a buddy’s house and he tells you about  a great new website you should check out.   You don’t want to forget about it so maybe it would be good to have that page open and waiting for you when you get back home?

Fire up the email and send the following to your Gmail account :

grc3.gif

When GRC gets the command, it will open the desired URL for you.

GRC is quite a useful program if you use Gmail a lot and you want to be able to manipulate a computer remotely.   There’s also lots of possibilities for its usage.   Parents could use it to shut down a computer from another room if their child is not doing their homework but playing games instead.   You can also use it to open programs that you might be using as a covert security camera.    IT departments could use it to shut down a particular computer at the other end of the building or in a completely different location altogether.

Can you think of any uses of your own?   Let’s hear them.

How to resize any online comments box

By Mark O’Neill

During one of my many stumbling expeditions, I came across a cool Firefox extension which allows you to resize most text boxes on a webpage. This is useful if you’re in the habit of commenting on a lot of blogs and the blog owner gives you an area the size of a postage stamp upon which to write your comment – present blog excluded of course!

But it isn’t just blogs that this extension would be useful for.  Many online registration forms are tiny and you can use this resizing tool to expand the size of the boxes on them.

You can also use the tool to expand the size of the WordPress blog box when writing a new post (or on any blogging platform for that matter). There’s lots of possibilities out there.

So next time you want to comment on GAS, use the resizing tool to expand that box!