Windows Vista: To upgrade or not to upgrade?

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS ON WINDOWS NETWORKING TIPS
10/10/05
Today's focus: Windows Vista: To upgrade or not to upgrade?

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Should you migrate your desktops to Windows Vista?
* Links related to Windows Networking Tips
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Arbor Networks

Network Perimeter defense has become an industry in of itself.
But what if the danger to your network lurks from within - a
disgruntled employee, misuse of a VPN, 3rd party access,
employee access for personal reasons? In the following report,
Internal Intrusion Prevention, read about this threat and
providing multidimensional protection.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117248
_______________________________________________________________
INCREASING DEMAND FOR IT SKILLS

Is the outlook good if you're looking for a change in employer
or to be employed? According to a recent survey, CIOs are
planning to hire the greatest percentage of staffers since 2002
this fourth quarter of 2005. But what skills are in demand? And
where should you look for a job? Click here for more:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117163
_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus: Windows Vista: To upgrade or not to upgrade?

By Dave Kearns

Should you be planning to migrate your desktops to Windows Vista
(formerly Longhorn) with the intention to also upgrade to the
yet-to-be-named Longhorn server product when that ships sometime
this decade?

Don't be afraid to admit that your answer is "I don't know."
Trusted experts have come down on both sides of this question.

Recently, the Gartner Group issued a research note to its
clients ( reported by the U.K.'s TechWorld
<http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?NewsID=2213> )
suggesting that the dropping of the long awaited WinFS file
system from Longhorn/Vista "...makes Longhorn look increasingly
like a product intended to simply fill in a gap in the
schedule." According to the TechWorld article, the analyst firm
told its clients: "Gartner believes that Microsoft wishes to
release a new version of Windows by year-end 2006 to shore up
revenue and appease customers that paid for Software Assurance
on the client OS under Enterprise, Open or Select agreements."

Not so fast, replies Burton Group senior vice president and
research director Dan Blum (who also contributes frequently to
Network World <http://www.networkworld.com/Home/dblum.html?rl>
). In his Weblog <http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8306> Blum
pulls no punches: "This is actually a gross Gartner
oversimplification of the issues." He goes on to list a couple
of the new major features of Longhorn/Vista, including "Indigo,"
the Windows Communication Foundation and "Avalon," the Windows
Presentation Foundation, both of which are essential to
Microsoft's vision of a service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Blum does say that there's no need to rush to migrate to Vista,
though, as both Indigo and Avalon are being back-ported to
Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. In a similar vein, Gartner
recommended that its clients standardize on Windows XP SP2 just
in case a move to Vista becomes warranted.

I'm going to agree solidly with both Gartner and Blum, in a way.
Indigo and Avalon are important. If you aren't familiar with
them, more info is available from Microsoft. For Indigo,
Microsoft has a "Community Technology Preview" page
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8307>, while "A Guided Tour of
Windows Presentation Foundation"
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8308> provides a good
introduction to Avalon.

These two technologies should be integrated into your network as
soon as possible, which means you should be running XP desktops
and Windows Server 2003 servers. That should be the priority.
You'll want to acquire Vista when it ships (or download a
customer preview should one become available) to run through its
paces in your lab. But there's no need to rush to install it
network-wide and like all new releases of software, there are
plenty of reasons to take a slow, deliberate approach to
upgrading.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Microsoft sets roadmap for corporate malware software
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8304>
2. Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine has serious bug
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8395>
3. Bank of America notifying customers after laptop theft
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8396>
4. Cisco pushes new security software
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8201>
5. WLAN QoS specification approved
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwnt8305>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dave Kearns

Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's
written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print
"Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be
found at Virtual Quill <http://www.vquill.com/>.

Kearns is the author of three Network World Newsletters: Windows
Networking Tips, Novell NetWare Tips, and Identity Management.
Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these

respective addresses: <mailto:windows@vquill.com>,
<mailto:netware@vquill.com>, <mailto:identity@vquill.com>.

Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books,
manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing,
technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill
provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail at
<mailto:info@vquill.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Arbor Networks

Network Perimeter defense has become an industry in of itself.
But what if the danger to your network lurks from within - a
disgruntled employee, misuse of a VPN, 3rd party access,
employee access for personal reasons? In the following report,
Internal Intrusion Prevention, read about this threat and
providing multidimensional protection.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117247
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Breaking Windows networking news from Network World, updated
daily: http://www.networkworld.com/topics/windows.html

Operating Systems Research Center:
http://www.networkworld.com/topics/operating-systems.html

Archive of the Windows Networking Tips newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/nt/index.html
_______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE

IT PROS SHARE THEIR TALES OF MAKING ITIL WORK

Running an enterprise network is challenging. IT organizational
change can be even more so if managers don't balance efforts
proportionally across people, process and technology.
Implementing best practices frameworks such as Information
Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) can help, but they
introduce their own set of challenges. Click here for more:

<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/092205-itil.html>
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