Businesses planning a move to Windows 7 need a more rigorous planning and assessment tool than the consumer-grade Upgrade Advisor. The early success of the operating system notwithstanding, you need to do some due diligence up front to determine if the existing hardware and software you rely on will work with the new operating system. If you only have a handful of systems to assess the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor should do the trick. For larger deployments, the more appropriate tool is the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0–or MAP.

MAP is a Solution Accelerator from Microsoft that allows you to inventory and analyze the systems in your organization without requiring any sort of agent software to be installed on the endpoints. MAP leverages existing Microsoft technologies such as Active Directory Domain Services, the Remote Registry Service, and the Computer Browser Service to gather information and produce informative reports to help guide your IT planning.

MAP analysis and reports can help with a variety of IT planning scenarios. MAP can help inventory servers and clients on the network, identify physical servers that are not being utilized effectively, and make recommendations for consolidating servers and virtualizing roles using Hyper-V. In this case though, we’re mainly interested in the ability of MAP to determine hardware compatibility and readiness for upgrading to Windows 7.

MAP identifies systems running earlier versions of Windows like Windows XP and Windows Vista, then compares the MAP scan results against Windows 7 minimum and recommended system requirements. Systems that do not meet the needs of Windows 7 for things like memory, free disk space, or processor speed are identified, and MAP makes specific recommendations for actions to take to make the system ready for Windows 7.

The resulting Windows 7 Readiness Summary report provides a simple overview of the number of systems that are ready for Windows 7, the number that are not ready, and the number that will never be ready. The MAP results deliver the information you need to get your hardware up to speed for Windows 7.

MAP is great, but it actually only tells half of the story compared with the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. You also have to consider the software you rely on and whether those applications will work in Windows 7. Microsoft has another Solution Accelerator to fill that need–Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT).

Similar to MAP, ACT will scan the systems on your network and identify any software that is incompatible with Windows 7. Most applications should be able to run under Windows 7. For those critical applications that don’t work in Windows 7, Microsoft provides XP Mode to bridge the gap and let you continue to run them in a virtual Windows XP system within Windows 7.

Armed with MAP and ACT results, you can plan your upgrade to Windows 7 to make it as efficient and hiccup-free as possible. A little due diligence and planning goes a long way to ensuring a smooth migration experience for your organization.

Next, determine which version of Windows 7 is right for you, and start planning your upgrade.

For more real-world tech solutions for small and midsized businesses–including cloud services, virtualization, and complete network overhauls–check out PC World’s Tech Audit.

Tony Bradley is an information security and unified communications expert with more than a decade of enterprise IT experience. He tweets as @PCSecurityNewsand provides tips, advice and reviews on information security and unified communications technologies on his site at tonybradley.com.

Consumer retail sales of Microsoft Corp.’s newest computer operating system topped those of Vista by 234% on a unit basis within the first few days of its Oct. 22 launch, according to a report released Friday by the market research company NPD Group. The report did not include sales to businesses and large organizations.

News that Windows 7 was outperforming Vista, the previous Windows OS version, in sales was not too surprising. The buzz for Windows 7 was relatively positive and largely void of the savage language that reviewers heaped on Vista when it was launched in January 2007.

This time, Microsoft also attempted to woo reluctant buyers with discounts and specials, such as a 50% discount on a copy of the software when buyers spring for a new PC, or a free upgrade from Vista for those who bought a PC after June 26.

“We definitely saw the results of aggressive pricing,” said Stephen Baker, NPD’s computer software analyst.

Though helpful in pushing volume, the discounts may have crimped Microsoft’s overall revenue from the product. The NPD report was mum on the sales impact on Microsoft’s top line.

It may be too early to say whether the software would help ignite sales of personal computers. With consumers making do with their old computers or opting for ultra-cheap netbooks, average PC prices have dropped around 20% since last year, Baker said.

Although unit sales of Windows 7 software were up in the first days of launch over those of Vista, sales of computers with Windows 7 were down 4% compared with sales of Vista-based computers when Vista launched.

But the comparison is not a fair one, Baker cautioned, because Vista launched in January, when PC sales tend to do better, and Windows 7 launched in October, one of the slowest months for PC sales.

Still, the slow economy may have helped Windows 7 sales in one respect, said Richard Shim, a PC analyst with the technology research company IDC.

“Usually upgrades are not very popular. People have tended to buy new PCs when new operating systems come out,” Shim said.

“Windows 7 seems to be an exception,” he said. “One reason is that it can work well with older computers because it’s designed to be streamlined.”

In other words, instead of spending $500 for a new computer, some consumers are springing the $120 to $220 for Windows 7 upgrades and souping up their old machines.

In a Monday blog post, Eric Ligman, global partner experience lead in Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Group, said his now-infamous blog post titled “Regardless of what any hack says, a Windows 7 upgrade is an upgrade” wasn’t aimed at Microsoft bloggers, but at technical workarounds that make it possible to clean install Windows 7 using upgrade media.

“So for anyone out there thinking my post was trying to ‘make an example’ of someone as a ‘hack’ or that I was calling someone specifically a ‘hack,’ sorry to disappoint you,” Ligman wrote in the blog post.

For the past several months, Windows 7 testers have been asking Microsoft for technical details on Windows 7 upgrades but the company hasn’t responded. So some Microsoft bloggers have developed workarounds for clean installing Windows 7 using upgrade media, something Microsoft says is illegal if a machine doesn’t have an existing version of Windows installed.

Ligman, as the public face of Microsoft’s Byzantine software licensing program, has been particularly vocal about the consequences of using improperly licensed software, often invoking the specter of Business Software Alliance audits and other legal troubles.

Some media reports have assumed Ligman’s “hack” reference was to Paul Thurrott of the Supersite For Windows blog, who published details on the Windows 7 upgrade workaround last week. Ed Bott, another noted Microsoft blogger, has also called out Microsoft over the issue. So have dozens of posters who’ve left comments on Ligman’s Microsoft SMB Community blog.

But Ligman insists he wasn’t using the term “hack” in a pejorative sense. “There appears to be a lot of reading through ‘pre-determined conclusion’ lenses,” Ligman wrote in the blog post.

Although Ligman is downplaying the issue, Thurrott sees it as an example of Microsoft’s heavy-handed approach to software licensing and its tendency to punish its body of customers for the actions of a few software pirates.

“This is very much about how Microsoft communicates with his customers, and while Ligman tries to make the case that Microsoft cares very much about its customers, this little episode is telling them otherwise,” Thurrott wrote in a Monday blog post .

The good news is that the Windows 7 upgrade kerfluffle has led to a great deal of feedback that Ligman says he has shared with higher-ups.

“I have submitted your various comments on this topic to the appropriate people for that topic and will be happy (believe me) to post the exact link to where you should go for this information as soon as I hear back,” Ligman wrote.

“I’m Steve Ballmer and I’m a Windows 7 PC,” he announced.

The idea behind the new OS is to make computing “simpler, faster, more responsive,” he said. That was possible thanks to an “intense collaboration” between Microsoft and its partners – 50,000 software, hardware, and peripheral vendors, as well as 8 million beta testers, he said.

“Windows needs to be an incredible opportunity for innovation, for hardware companies [and] software companies, and it needs to be a place that is simple and easy to use and opens up the world of diverse innovation … in a way that is manageable and consumable by billions of people around the world,” Ballmer said.

Ballmer pointed to three key components of the OS: it works in the way you want it to work, it simplifies, and it enables new technologies.
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Users want their PC to fire up quickly, to be responsive, and have a longer battery life, and “I think we’ve accomplished that” with Windows 7, Ballmer said.

“The things that you do all the time need to be simpler,” Ballmer said. “You want to manage the windows on your desktop [and] make that stuff super, super simple.”

New technologies include the OSes multi-touch computing capabilities, he said.

“Frankly, there’s more you can do with this system,” Ballmer said. “Ninety-five times out of 100, if people have a choice, they choose a PC.”

Microsoft announced that next month, Amazon will launch a beta version of the Kindle Reader for Windows 7, which will allow users to peruse books using multi-touch. Scroll through a book with the touch of a finger, and zoom in or out by pinching the screen.

“From the end-user perspective, you get dozens or hundreds of new features – everybody finds their own unique set of features to fall in love with,” he said.

Ballmer was introduced by Kylie, the precocious five-year-old who is the star of Microsoft’s latest ad campaign. “You were late,” she informed him when Ballmer asked if she had enjoyed their meeting yesterday. He blamed airport delays and then presented her with a pink netbook as a consolation prize.

I’m all for technology advancements–a new OS, a slicker smartphone, Tang, whatever. Now Acer’s making an odd-but-interesting bet with its new Aspire 5738DG laptop: a 3D display. Yep, the future is now–watch out for flying DeLoreans!

Before I crack any more jokes, let me explain what goes into Acer’s 3D technology. Ray Sawall, senior manager of product marketing for Acer America, took a few minutes to break it down for me. Forget fancy proprietary names (TriDef 3D screen!), what’s at work here are polarized plastic shades, a 60-Hz polarized display, and software working in tandem to trick the image into seeming three-dimensional.

With 3D movies (like, say, Monsters vs. Aliens), it works. It also does the best it can to represent 2D images in 3D. I haven’t had a chance to test it just yet, but the spokespeople say I need to check out The Lord of the Rings–and I will soon, since I expect to see a review unit any day now.
3D: Must-Have Tech, or Gimmick?

Obviously, the big deal here is what this could mean to gamers. I should know; I’m a card-carrying member. The video game crowd’s been chasing that 3D dragon for ages, with some of the best results coming from real-time strategy titles like Command & Conquer 3. Most recently, Resident Evil 5 is a great example of what 3D can do to make the action jump off the screen.

Or maybe Excel spreadsheets will come alive as you get lost in cells–exciting, I know.

Is 3D too much of a niche gimmick? I’m inclined to think so. 3D seems to be the new rationale to sell movie theater tickets, special-edition Blu-ray discs, and apparently PC hardware.

Even Acer’s Sawall seems to agree: “My gut is that [touch-screen technology] has more traction than 3D. Honestly, I’m not sure if there’s a home for 3D in mobile.”

Still, Sawall says the Aspire 5738DG’s been better received by retailers than expected.
Decent Specs for a Good Price

The Aspire 5738DG, available later this week with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edition, packs decent hardware for the $780 asking price: an Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6600, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB 5400-rpm hard drive. Stay tuned and I’ll give you the skinny on how well this machine works when I get my hands on it.

What are your thoughts? Substance, style–or something in-between? Hit the Comment box below or send e-mail to PC World with “ATTN: Laptops (3D? I can barely handle two dimensions)” in the subject line.

Need even more nerdity? Follow PC World Senior Writer Darren Gladstone on Twitter (gizmogladstone) for oddball links, 140-character game reviews, and whatever else comes to mind.

For those of us still waiting for Linux to hit the desktop, this type of packaging may be exactly how the move from Windows starts to pick up steam.

The IBM Client for Smart Work was first launched in South Africa in September and was initially geared toward emerging markets. IBM found that there was strong interest in the U.S. and other markets that had aging PC infrastructure and little desire for continued Windows upgrades.

The U.S. version of the package contains a number of IBM products including word processing and spreadsheets via Lotus Symphony, e-mail via Lotus Notes or LotusLive iNotes, and collaboration tools from LotusLive.com. As with the previously launched initiative, the package runs on Ubuntu Linux.

Bob Sutor, IBM’s vice president of Linux and open source, told me that the target is not a drop-in replacement scenario, but rather something for IT shops that don’t want to be stuck in an endless cycle of upgrading desktop operating systems and applications.

This is an interesting development for multiple reasons:

* IBM and Canonical are teaming up to bring Linux to the desktop, offering what could be considered a next-generation thin-client that relies on cloud services but remains based on an actual operating system rather than just running in a Web browser.
* IBM is targeting Windows installations in the co-opetition model the company excels in–effectively insulating itself regardless of who wins the desktop.
* Canonical is building a channel to deliver solutions rather than depend on individuals and organizations to roll their own.

IBM has been making some interesting moves of late, launching a cloud-based e-mail and collaboration suite to rival Google Apps and now a direct attack on Microsoft’s operating system footprint.

Jeff Bertolucci

Oct 18, 2009 11:44 pm

I’ve just upgraded my main notebook computer to Windows 7. The process took four hours, windows 7 microsoft upgradeand despites a few minor glitches, was pretty much painless.

So I’m using Win 7 now. It’s a little faster and a little prettier than Vista. (Check out PC World’s Windows 7 review for the specifics.) But as I explore Microsoft’s latest operating system, I find myself wondering why Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade, the main version for consumers, costs $120.

Will home users pay that price? I’m betting they won’t. True, some Microsoft diehards will line up on October 22 to grab the first copies of Win 7, but most consumers will spot the price tag and walk away.

As much as I like what Microsoft’s done with Windows 7, the improvements don’t warrant such a steep fee, particularly for home users upgrading from the much-maligned Vista. And XP users? Well, migrating to Win 7 is a complex chore that requires a clean install. You may have to upgrade your hardware too. Add up the cost of Windows 7, plus more RAM and maybe a new graphics card, and a new PC starts to seem a lot more affordable.
Isn’t Software Free?

Consumers have grown accustomed to free apps. So many programs cost nothing these days, including Web browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome), security apps (windows 7 microsoft upgrade, Microsoft Security Essentials), productivity suites (Google Docs, OpenOffice.org, MS Office 2010 Starter Edition), and photo editors (Google Picasa). I’m not suggesting that home users expect a free operating system too, but that $120 sounds awfully expensive in today’s give-it-away software environment.

It’s possible that Windows 7 Home Premium’s sticker price is an illusion, much like the MSRP of a new car. It’s the pseudo price that no savvy consumer would every pay. This doesn’t mean that shoppers will be able to haggle with Best Buy clerks — “I’ll turn around and walk out now if you don’t throw in a cordless mouse!” — but that Microsoft will immediately discount Windows 7 to reflect its true value.

In fact, that’s already started. Microsoft is offering a steep Windows 7 discount to students, who’ll pay just $30 for the Home Premium version through January 3. And the $150 Windows 7 Family Pack, which lets you install Win 7 on up to three PCs, slashes the upgrade price to $50 per computer.

What would you pay for Windows 7?

Contact Jeff Bertolucci via Twitter (@jbertolucci) or at jbertolucci.blogspot.com.

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The astonishingly irreverent Family Guy show often pokes fun at Microsoft, and Bill Gates and the Zune have been targets in the past. But while Family Guy’s raucous content might seem a bit outside of Microsoft’s typical marketing purview, Microsoft seems to think that the right kind of edgily-crafted Windows 7-related marketing content will resonate with the show’s audience.

The Family Guy special, which airs Nov. 8, will be shown commercial-free without any breaks or network promotions, and will instead “feature unique Windows 7-branded programming that blends seamlessly with show content,” according to Microsoft. The show will celebrate the work of Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and “The Cleveland Show,” and also stars MacFarlane’s “Family Guy” co-star, Alex Borstein.

Microsoft is bringing in the big guns on this campaign, which makes sense because it will have to be very carefully crafted — and funny — in order to work. Universal McCann and Crispin, Porter + Bogusky have been asked to come up with what Microsoft calls “customized branded integrations” that are designed in the same vein as the “Texaco Star Theater” radio and television shows of the 1940s and 1950s.

In 2008, Microsoft hired Crispin, Porter + Bogusky as part of a $300 million brand resuscitation effort aimed at counteracting Apple’s devilishly effective ‘Get A Mac’ campaign. Microsoft executives have spent much of this year talking about how well that investment has paid off, and despite some early hiccups — namely the Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates head-scratchers — the Crispin, Porter + Bogusky spots have been well received by Microsoft partners.

Gayle Troberman, general manager of consumer engagement and advertising at Microsoft, says the goal of the Family Guy sponsorship is to show how the power and simplicity of Windows 7 can enhance popular Fox content. “We have simplified the PC with Windows 7, and together with FOX, we’re simplifying entertainment,” Troberman said in a statement.

Microsoft is also teaming with Fox Licensing and Merchandising for a 12-week tour of U.S. colleges that will encourage students to test out Windows 7 and also feature outdoor movie nights and other “customized entertainment,” the company said in a statement. In this effort, Microsoft and Fox expect to reach some 4.3 million college students.

Microsoft is obviously ramping up the ‘cool’ factor with its Family Guy and college-focused Windows 7 campaigns, but the Windows 7 marketing message will have to be outrageous, daring, and funny. Otherwise, it’ll just be another target for ridicule.

AT&T is partnering with mobile phone giant Nokia on its venture into laptops. Mobile professionals will be able to purchase Nokia’s Booklet 3G for $299 with a two-year mobile data plan commitment.

The Booklet 3G will be available exclusively in Best Buy stores throughout the holiday retail season, and users will be able to buy the mini-laptop without a data commitment for $599. The Booklet 3G is powered by the Intel Atom processor, has a chassis made from a single piece of aluminum, and will run its operating system is Microsoft Windows 7.
The computer has Wi-Fi, 3G capabilities, GPS, a 120-GB hard-disk drive, and will be able to access programs from Nokia’s Ovi catalog. The system comes with a 16-cell battery that Nokia said will deliver up to 12 hours of battery life.

For Nokia, the move comes as smartphones and laptops are becoming increasingly similar in terms of pricing and capabilities. Computer makers are also seeing this trend, and companies such as Apple, Acer, and even Dell (Dell) are jumping into the smartphone market to capitalize on the mobile computing convergence.

AT&T is looking at netbooks and laptops as a way to generate additional revenues on its mobile data networks. The company has long had success discounting cell phones to get customers locked into a two-year service contract, and it is trying to replicate that business model with devices such as the Booklet 3G.

It is unclear how strong consumer demand is for subsidized netbooks, as many of these devices can be purchased outright for less than $400 and can be used with home Internet connections or open Wi-Fi.

The Booklet 3G will be available Oct. 22, and the $299 price tag will come with a data plan that costs about $60 a month. AT&T said the mini-laptop would also be offered with other rate plans and at pricing to be announced.

Register for Interop New York and gain a complete understanding of the most important innovations in Interop’s comprehensive conference and expo, where you’ll see the full range of IT solutions to position your organization for growth. At the Jacob Javits Center, Nov. 16-20, 2009. Find out more and register.

The show will have no commercial breaks, and is scheduled to air on November 8 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific featuring the comedy stylings of Seth MacFarlane and “Family Guy” costar Alex Borstein. The duo will present a collection of original animation segments, live-action performances of Family Guy musical numbers, comedy skits, and celebrity guests.

Microsoft calls the MacFarlane special an attempt to “bring the old Texaco Star Theater-style sponsorships into the 21st century,” and says Windows 7 promos will blend “seamlessly with show content.” I’m not sure what that means, but maybe we’ll see Peter and Lois Griffin hosting a Windows 7 launch party, or Steve Smith (American Dad) showing Stewie Griffin how to burn a CD on the new OS. There’s also the worst case scenario: some unfortunate soul logs on to Glenn Quagmire’s laptop to use Internet Explorer 8, and ends up pulling an O.M.G.I.G.P.

Microsoft isn’t stopping with television shows, either. Redmond is also planning a 12-week college tour with Fox that will give approximately 4.3 million college students the chance to try out Windows 7. The tour will also feature entertainment like outdoor movie nights hosted by “Family Guy’s” Stewie and Brian, online videos, and other “Family Guy” content.

This is the second time MacFarlane has teamed up with a technology company. Last year, Macfarlane presented “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy” on the Google Content Network.

If you can’t wait for November, here’s a taste of Windows 7 magic featuring “Family Guy” characters: