Our readers have surfed and landed most often on the following five Microsoft tips. From Windows Vista compatibility to Microsoft Office 2007 licensing, you'll get all the first looks, how-tos and quick tutorials you need to start selling and implementing these new Microsoft product releases in your clients' shops.
1. Windows Vista compatibility: How to test application compatibility
Windows Vista: Beyond the Manual author Jonathan Hassell provides a list of potential Windows Vista compatibility issues, then explains how to run a battery of tests and compatibility comparisons on the new Microsoft operating system using the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 (ACT), a thorough set of tools for running applications through the various areas of Windows Vista that might break them. While it's not designed specifically for ISVs, it is still a tool you will find useful for application testing.
2. Run older Window's applications on Vista with Virtual PC Express
Windows Vista Enterprise Edition will contain a one-license copy of Virtual PC Express, which allows users to run older operating systems and, therefore, older Window's applications within Vista. This eases your clients' migration pains in a number of ways, identified in this tip.
3. Windows Vista installation dos and don'ts
Although, on the face of it, an upgrade might seem like the best way to ensure your customers' Windows systems remain intact, upgrades can retain problems as well as files and folders. A far better way of making sure the system feels "fresh and clean" when you move to Vista is to back up old data onto removable media and then import it into Vista later. Get additional dos and don'ts in this tip.
4. Windows Vista and Unix integration opportunities
Businesses in vertical industries are apt to run several different Unix applications, as are manufacturing firms and others. Will these organizations come consider Microsoft Windows Vista? This tip looks at a neat feature in Windows Vista Enterprise to help Unix customers use applications on Vista, and outlines sales and marketing opportunities Unix and Windows Vista integration.
5. 2007 Microsoft Office licensing: Know the terms before bundling Microsoft Office products
New versions of Microsoft Office always generate licensing interest from the channel. Like Windows Vista, Microsoft is shipping Office in a variety of suite-based configurations, outlined in this tip.
About the author: Our highly-regarded Windows expert Jonathan Hassell authored all of the top five tips on SearchSystemsChannel.com.
