Through a colleague of mine, Gabrie van Zanten (Gabes Virtual World) I heard that there was another free e-book for Windows 8 available called “Windows 8 for Dummies, Dell Pocket Edition” and I wanted to share this with you.
I’ve browsed a bit in this e-book and it looks like it’s a really good read for people who have not much experience with (Windows 8) computers. It covers the basics, but also contains many practical tips for common home users.
If you want to upgrade to Windows 8, take advantage of the limited time cheap upgrade offer. Also if you want to know more about Windows 8, check some of my other blog posts covering Windows 8.
Tags: Dell, Dell Pocket Edition, dummies, dummy, e-book, ebook, Free, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 8, Windows 8 For Dummies
After having worked at my previous employer for five years, it was time for a change of scenery. For me it had been clear for some time that Open Line was THE company I wanted to work for. I decided to follow my dream and did not even bother to look at other companies anymore.
Main motivators for me for wanting to work for Open Line are:
- The people that work there are friendly, very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do.
- There’s a “can do” mentality.
- They work with modern technologies.
- Potential for personal growth and learning many new things on many different levels.
- Both colleagues and customers are considered to be partners.
- They have good and close relations with many other well-known (ICT) companies and have won various awards along the way because of it.
- Their values closely match my own values.
- I want to be able to work for a company I truly care about, believe in and where I’m able to give it my all without any reservations or doubt.
- They’re growing.
- In my opinion they possess many of the characters of a High Performance Organization (HPO).
As such I made my intentions clear to a friend of mine who works there and I applied for the job opening of Microsoft Specialist. What followed was (in my opinion) a thorough procedure to see if we were both a good fit for each other. And according to the both of us, this was the case.
I look forward to starting today, and I will especially enjoy meeting new interesting people and catching up with the people I already know (those who attended the same school and those I met at my previous employer).
If you want to know more about Open Line, you can check:
There are also a couple of employee blogs that might be of interest to you:
To be continued ….
Tags: High Performance Organization, HPO, job, Open Line, Open Line Consultancy, OpenLine, OpenLine Consultancy
For those who don’t know what a High Performance Organization is, please read my previous blog post because this post will only cover the event organized around the latest book from André A. de Waal called “What Makes A High Performance Organization”
The event was held at the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) and was very well organized. Food and drinks were available and all aspects regarding logistics (including parking) had been properly taken care of as well.
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Tags: André A. de Waal, André de Waal, Book, book event, Event, Grohe, Grohe Netherlands, High Performance Organization, HP, HP Defence, HPO, HPO Center, Maastricht School of Management, MSM, What Makes A High Performance Organization
In a previous blog post I compared Windows 8 tablets with other tablets. In it I said that it was nice that you could use memory cards to expand your storage, but unlike Android there is no easy way to move windows 8 / modern UI apps to the memory card and run them from there.
Since I saw the question pop up a couple of times and because I was convinced it would probably be possible, I went to look for a workaround. This is the procedure I used to change the default app install location:
- Close the Windows Store app.
- Make a new folder in the desired location. By example “D:\WindowsApps”.
- Run regedit as administrator
- Create a backup of your registry just in case.
- In regedit go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx”
- Take ownership of this path and everything below it (inheritance).
- Edit the value of “PackageRoot” to your desired location. By example “D:\WindowsApps”
- Start the Windows Store app.
- Install apps.
- Run apps.
Beware: I’m not entirely sure if and how this affects security, so use this at your own risk.
This article regarding the use of junction points may also interest you.
Tags: appx, ICT, Microsoft, Modern UI, modern ui app, regedit, registry, Tutorial, Windows, Windows 8, windows app, windows apps, Windows store
Introduction
Even though Windows 8 has been available for quite some time for IT pros and developers, it is now available for the general public as well.
Microsoft has also released its own Windows RT based tablet (Microsoft Surface) in some countries and is expected to release a Windows 8 based tablet (Microsoft Surface Pro) within the next three months. For more information about Windows tablets and the differences between Windows RT and Windows 8, read my previous blog post.
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Tags: all in one, convertible, desktop, Free, laptop, limited time, limited time offer, Microosft Surface, Microsoft, offer, slider, surface, tablet, ultra portable, ultraportable, upgrade, Windows, Windows 8, Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 8 Media Center Pack, Windows 8 Pro, Windows RT
Introduction
For those who haven’t read my previous blog posts, here’s a short summary. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to know more about cloud computing and get certified as well. I used freely available resources to attain these certifications:
In short, my conclusion was that the quality of the freely available resources were not sufficient. ITpreneurs responded to this by giving me access to their own paid ITpreneurs Cloud Essentials eLearning Course.
First of all, thanks to ITpreneurs for this opportunity. Also even though they provided me with access to this course, nothing was expected in return. They just wanted to share their knowledge with me. Because of my personality, I felt however that that the very least I could do was to:
- Provide constructive feedback on the course
- Write about how I experienced the eLearning course
And this blog post is the result.
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Tags: certification, certify, CLO-001, Cloud, cloud computing, Cloud Computing foundation, Cloud Essentials, CLOUDF, CompTIA, CompTIA Cloud Essentials, Curiosity was framed, Exin, Exin Cloud Computing Foundation, foundation, Free, ICT, Learning, study
[Update 14-12-2013]
It’s been more than a year since my initial post, so here are some updates from my point of view:
- Tablets and ultrabooks are coming closer together due to all the available form factors. Tablet, clam shell, slider, convertible, dockable / detachable, etc. This provides more choice, but makes it also harder for people to choose the device that is most appropriate for them.
- Cheaper Windows 8.1 based tablets (based on the new Intel Atom processors) have become available that make it a more viable alternative to Android and iOS based tablets.
- Windows tablets based on AMD processors seemed interesting to me last year because of their added graphical power, but they didn’t seem to get any traction up until now.
- High end Windows based tablets (Intel Core i5/i7 based) are still relatively expensive.
- Many companies that previously produced Windows RT tablets, stopped making them (Asus, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, HTC. The only companies that are still producting Windows RT tablets are Microsoft, Nokia (largely backed by Microsoft) and Dell.
- Rumours are floating around that Microsoft will be reducing the number of Windows versions and in my opinion it would make sense to get rid of Windows RT.
- The new and improved Intel Atom (quad core processors) are making ARM based Windows RT devices even less interesting because they provide better performance and use less energy than the previous versions while allowing people to run x86 programs.
- Windows tablets have become available in smaller sizes (8 inch) and Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 have updated to better work with this.
- Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 have been released and many minor adjustments made it more tablet optimized.
- Most major apps have been released as a “Metro”/Modern app for Windows 8 / Windows RT, but it’s still lagging behind Google’s Play Store and the Apple App Store.
- The graphical performance included in processors is increasing, reducing the need for seperate GPUs for generic use and bringing more options for apps.
- Google Android based tablets are still going strong and provide a lot of bang for buck. Also the Android OS is still getting many useful updates. Security and OS version sprawl is still an issue though, especially in the enterprise. Also there’s a big gap in user experience because there are still very cheap tablets with lots of disadvantages, while the normal and high end models are very good in general.
- The Apple iPad (hardware) and operating system (iOS) received updates and they’re still doing very well what they’ve always done while providing great stability and improving battery time and performance. To me however it’s more of the same without much added value over previous versions. I’m curious to see if, how and when Apple will make their devices more popular for people that want to be able to do more. Maybe some kind power tablet running OS X with touch and iOS options ?
If you have something to add or if you think something that’s incorrect, please leave a comment.
[Update 14-12-2013]
Since I’m seriously considering buying a Windows based tablet, I’ve been very closely following all developments. Even though a lot of information has become available, it’s often spread across many different websites and articles and is often incomplete in my opinion. Since the Microsoft Surface RT tablet is available for pre-order and will be sold when Windows 8 will be available on the 26th of October I decided to write this article.And even though a lot of people have complained about this on various sites, most sites don’t have one article that covers all the things to look out for. In this post I try to do just that. One of the most useful resources I’ve used are the articles from Paul Thurrott on his website supersite for windows.
Also it’s not just consumers that are having trouble understanding / explaining the differences between Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets though, Microsoft employees are also still being trained to properly handle questions.
In this post it’s important to realize that Microsoft Surface RT is not the same as Windows RT, Microsoft Surface RT is a tablet from Microsoft (hardware) that runs Windows RT (software). Microsoft Surface Pro is another tablet from Microsoft (hardware) that runs Windows 8 (software).
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Tags: android, Apple, apps, Google, hardware, ICT, iOS, iPad, Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Surface Pro, Microsoft Surface RT, Office 2013 RT, tablet, Windows 8, Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8.1, Windows RT, Windows RT 8.1
Last week I got a beta exam invite for exam “70-688 Managing and Maintaining Windows 8” (in beta it is 71-688). As with most beta exams lately, you only have max two weeks to prepare and there are no books available yet that you can use to study. Therefore I start with looking at what skills are being measured and if there are preparation guides available. From there on I start looking for relevant learning resources for each subject and adding them to the skills that are being measured for easy future reference.
I hope it is useful for you as well.
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Tags: 070-688, 071-688, 70-688, 71-688, ACT, Action center, AEM, Agentless Exception Monitoring, App-V, App-V 5.0, application compatibility toolkit, application reputation, Application Virtualization, Applocker, asset, asset inventory, authentication, Azure, backup, bcdboot, bcdedit, Beta, biometrics, BitLocker, BranchCache, certificate, client hype-rv, CMAK, computer inventory report, ConfMgr, ConfMgr 2012, ConfMgr2012, Connection Manager, Connection Manager Administration Kit, DaRT, DaRT 8, DCA, DEM, deployment strategy, Desktop Error Monitoring, Diagnostic and Recovery Toolkit, DirectAccess, DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant, disk image, disk image backup, DISM, DNSSEC, domain, EAS, EFS, EHD, Encrypted Hard Drive, Encrypting File System, Endpoint Protection, Exam, Exchange Active Sync, Exchange Activesync, file history, find and fix problems with devices, Firewall, folder redirection, group policy, hardware, hardware and devices troubleshooter, high-touch, Hyper-V, image, IPv4, IPv6, Learning, learning resource, learning resources, lite-touch, Live Mesh, live service, live services, LiveMesh, local account, Managing and Maintaining Windows 8, MBAM, MDOP, MDOP 2011 R2, metered network, metering, metro application, microsoft account, Microsoft Application Virtualization, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Bitlocker Administration and Monitoring, Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, migrate, migration, mobile, mobile device, mobile device management, multifactor authentication, name resolution, native boot, Near Field Communication, network, network metering, NFC, off-network, Office 365, Office 365 Desktop Setup, offline files, Packaged App, PC refresh, PC reset, picture password, Powershell, PowerShell Remoting, prep guide, preparation, preparation guide, prepare, print management, printer, rdp, RDS, Recimg, Recimg.exe, recovery drive, recovery media, remote access, remote desktop protocol, Remote Desktop Services, Remote Server Administration Tools, RemoteApp, removable storage devices, report, roaming profiles, roaming user profiles, RSAT, SCCM 2012, SCCM2012, Secure SIM, security, shim, sideload, sideloader, Skydrive, Skydrive Pro, smart card, Software Restriction Policies, SRP, Storage Spaces, study, Sync center, System Center, System Center 2012, System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection client, System Center Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager 2012, System Center Desktop Error Monitoring, System Center Endpoint Protection, system restore, trust, trust relationship, Trusted PC, two-factor authentication, UE-V, upgrade, upgrade path, User Experience Virtualization, user state migration tool, usmt, VDI, vhd, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, virtual hard disk, virtualization, VPN, wet, Windows, Windows 7 file recovery, Windows 8, windows 8 application, Windows 8 FIle History, Windows 8 Image, Windows 8 PC refresh, Windows 8 PC reset, windows 8 upgrade path, Windows Azure, Windows Defender, windows easy transfer, Windows Firewall, Windows Intune, Windows Recovery Environment, Windows store, Windows To Go, Windows Update, wireless, workgroup, WRE, WSUS, zero-touch
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