By the end of June, the Surface RT will be available in 29 countries and the Surface pro will be available in 25 countries.
It’s a pity we often have to wait for new products like the Surface Pro, but at least it’s coming to the Netherlands. And the waiting will also be over pretty soon, since it will be available before the end of May.
Personally I’m not a big fan of Windows RT, but I really love Windows 8 tablets. Since I’ve gotten my Windows 8 tablet, I have been using it as my main device. And apparently I’m not the only one as you can read in this great article:
“Two months with the Surface Pro and how it replaced my notebook”.
If you’re considering a tablet and are not yet sure if a Windows RT, Windows 8, Android or Apple tablet best meets your needs, read the comparison from one my previous blog posts.
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Tags: hardware, Microsoft, surface, Surface Pro, surface RT, tablet
As I already wrote in yesterday’s post Apple – Notes / summary for the “Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam”, I’ve mainly been working with Microsoft products all my life. Since recently however, I’m also trying to get more familiar with Apple, Mac products and OS X and am trying to become certified.
One of the reasons, I’d never used Apple products before was because I never really deemed it necessary. Nowadays the number of Mac users seem to be growing and there is more demand for people with Mac / OS X knowledge.
As such my quest for knowledge and certification began. For me personally this meant:
- Using Apple online resources
- Reading books (mainly the great book Apple Pro Training Series: OS X Support Essentials. Before purchasing, you might also want to look for coupon codes as it might save you 30% off or more.)
- Watching computer based training (CBT) videos
- Working with OS X (thanks go out to my employer Open Line for providing me with a MacBook Pro, books and most importantly … TIME)
- Personally I didn’t think it was necessary to take a course at a training center, but some people might prefer this.
- Asking colleagues for help (thanks guys !!!)
- Making sure that I understood everything and if it wasn’t the case, look it up.
- Taking notes / creating this summary blog post that can be used as a reference if needed
- Testing my knowledge using test questions from Revise IT
I’ve taken the exam last friday and passed with 92.5%. Even though I think it was a pretty good score, I still had to make some educated guesses. This made me realize that there’s still a lot to learn and that getting more experience is important as well.
I also want to mention that I took the exam at LAI the training institute for IT professionals in Schiedam (The Netherlands). They were really kind, helpful and service oriented. The waiting area and test room were great and they even provided a pastry and all kind of drinks at no charge. This has been my best test taking experience to date, so keep up the good work guys.
I’m looking forward to attending the OS X Server 10.8 course at LAI the training institute for IT professionals at the end of March. I’ll try to create another blog post about this as well.
But now back to the important stuff, here are my notes/summary. I hope it is useful. If you find any errors or have any suggestions, please leave a comment.
Notes / summary for the “OS X Support Essentials 10.8 Exam”
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Tags: .mobileconfig, .Spotlight-v100, .spx, 32-bit, 64-bit, 802.1X, About this Mac, Access Control Entries, Access Control Lists, accessibility, ACE, ACL, ACSP, ACTC, Active Directory, Activity Monitor, AD, ad-hoc, ad-hoc network, Address Book, Address Resolution Protocol, address space layout randomization, Administrative user, advanced search, Advanced Technology Attachment, AES, AFP, AFP 2, AFP 3.1, Agents, AirDrop, Alias, alternative data stream, AoL, APIPA, APM, App Store, appfirewall.log, Apple, Apple Certified Associate, Apple Certified Associate - Mac Integration 10.8, Apple Certified Support Professional, Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.8, Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC), Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.8, Apple Filing Protocol, Apple Hardware Test, Apple ID, Apple Mac OS X, Apple menu, Apple online mail Setup Assistant, Apple Partition Map, Apple Remote Desktop, Apple Rmeote Desktop, AppleFileServer, AppleScript, AppleVNCServer, 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memory, Dynamic service discovery, e-mail, effective permissions, EFI, eject, Encrypted IMAP, Encrypted POP, Encrypted SMTP, encryption, Ethernet, Everyone, EWS, Exam, Exchange, Exchange Web Services, Execute, execute disable, ExFAT, expansion buses, export, ExpressCard 34, Extended File Allocation Table, eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, Extensions, Facebook, FAT, FAT32, Fibre Channel, File Allocation Table, file archives, File Quarantine, file server, File shairng, File share, File Sharing, file sharing protocols, File Sharing services, file system, File System shortcuts, file systems, fileserver, FileVault, FileVault 2, FileVault2, Find My iPhone, Find My Mac, Finder, Finger, Firewall, Firewire, firmware, Firmware Password Utility, flash disk, flash drive, Flash Storage, flickr, font, Fonts, force quit, forked file system, forward lookup, Framework plug-in, Framworks, Free Berkely Software Distribution, FreeBSD, fsck, FTP, FTPS, full disk encryption, full restore, 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library, Library Randomization, Line Printer Daemon, link-local, listening key, local snapshot, location services, lock, lock screen, Login Keychain, login message, loginwindow, logout, Logs, Lookup, LPD, mac, MAC address, Mac App Store, Mac App Store and identified developers, Mac Integration Basics 10.8, Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam, Mac mini, Mac OS Extended, Mac OS X, Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, machine authentication, mail, malware, managed user, manual restore, MAPI, Master Boot Record, Master Password, MAx OS Extended (Journaled), Maximum Transmission Unit, MBR, MCS, MDM, memory, Messages, Messages Screen Sharing, Messaging services, metadata, Microsoft Exchange, Migration Assistant, mobile device management, modifier keys, Modulation and Coding Scheme, mount, Mountain Lion, Mouse, mouse keys, Movies, MS DOS, MTU, Music, named, NAT, natd, Native OS X applications, Netbios, NetBoot, Netstat, network, Network Address Translation, 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workflow, WPA, WPA Enterprise, WPA2, WPA2 Enterprise, Write, Write Only, XML, XMPP, XProtect.plist, Xserve, Yahoo, Zero Configuration Networking, Zeroconf, zip, zoom
As you will probably know by now, I’m really into ICT. I mainly focus on virtualization and Microsoft technoIogies. As such, I try to:
- Keep up with new ICT developments
- Improve my knowledge and skills for both old and new ICT technologies
- Get certified in many different areas of ICT.
A proper lab environment is a prerequisite to do so. Because of virtualization however, this has become so much easier (and cheaper) than before.
In the next couple of blog posts I will try to document the steps I’m taking to build my lab. Today I’m staring the series with the hardware selection. The important part of the hardware I use for my environment is as follows:
- Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H
- CPU: Intel Core i5 3570 quadcore
- Memory: 32GB
- SATA controller : IBM M1015 (flashed to LSI9211-8i)
- VM storage: 2 * 512GB SSD Samsung 830 series
- Non VM storage: 2 * 2TB SATA
To me it was important that my machine would be able to run both Microsoft Hyper-V 3.0 as well as VMware ESXi 5.1 properly. Both have hardware requirements, but VMware ESXi 5.1 is generally more restrictive with regards to supported hardware. Very simply put, it means that the mainboard, CPU, network and storage controller need to be compatible with the features you require.
Normally you would check supported hardware on the official hardware compatibility list (HCL) of the vendor, but these are generally aimed at real server hardware and do not support/contain consumer hardware. So before buying hardware, check on forums to see what combinations of hardware are working for other people and choose the one that matches your desires best. You can also google for ESXi whitebox.
Furthermore, I plan to run many systems at the same time, hence the 32GB of memory and the 2 fast 512GB SSD disks. Besides the fast, but small SSD you generally also need more storage to store other files like by example operating system images and tools.
The next post is about the Hypervisor selection and installation.
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Tags: hardware, hardware compatibilty, hardware compatibilty list, hardware selection, HCL, ICT, lab, support, virtualization
[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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