gshaw

As per above you need to script it, this one allows unpin as well: Taskbar Icons with Windows 7 Sysprep However I've found when run at logon the unpin doesn't seem to kick in for Media Player and IE (script almost seems to run too quickly for Explorer to take the input), however pinning new icons works fine How to… get a perfect Windows 7 managed Start Menu and Taskbar | gshaw0

@Arthur yes probably an Atom on the Miix 3 but I guess this is where my interpretation of a Windows tablet and Microsoft's don't match up. I use a first gen RT in work and in terms of size and portability it's great, however the lack of any desktop programs restricts it to OneNote and Outlook really. The Pro and Pro2 were too heavy so no good, at original RRP like the Surface 3 way too expensive as well. For anything more important I go to a ThinkPad T430s where the keyboard, screen size and expandability are more important and the Surface 3 still wouldn't replace that so personally I see it as a bit of an expensive luxury rather than a killer product, the search for the perfect companion device goes on...

SP3 still way too expensive imo, once you add the keyboard on even the cheapest model is £750. Go to an i5 and it's nearly £1k. I'm holding out for the Lenovo Miix 3 which looks promising... http://www.ilovetablette.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lenovo-Miix-3-windows-8.jpg

Can only hope it'll be a feature of Windows 9, the Azure AD back end is there and waiting but just needs someone at Microsoft to make it happen. Quite bizarre really given how much of their income is reliant on "Enterprise" products yet the worst user experience on Win8.x seems to be reserved for those who want to use Office 365 accounts exclusively!

Tip for you from my past experiences, don't use the Flash Player MSI to update the version once it's installed - Adobe made a mess of it and it bombs out with errors. Using the EXE with the silent switch however works fine

If you're spending £3k+ on an E70 1920x1080 over HDMI is the only way worth going. Even that same resolution over VGA isn't good enough (imo). The extra £100 or so for a screen and graphics card will give you a much better end result. We also installed a soundbar on ours last week as speech was basically inaudible using the built-in speakers, much better now

Depends if MS can persuade third party app vendors to build native OneDrive for Business APIs into their programs The consumer side feels like it's a generation in front right now, perhaps that's deliberate to use that market as a test bed then put the best bits into Office 365.

All very well in theory but once you step outside of Office 2013 the current methods for working with OneDrive for Business don't really work in an efficient way outside of 1:1 BYOD (even then the desktop client isn't 100% reliable) Telling someone to save locally then manually upload via the web at the end of each session is too clunky and will likely lead to misplaced files and lost data. The desktop sync client could be a way forward but it needs to be more intelligent, as it stands it's a bit of a blunt instrument syncing everything or nothing whereas the consumer OneDrive in 8.1 is more flexible. OneDrive for Business has great potential, I moved all my files onto it and the increased mobility is great but it just needs a bit more flexibility in places imo.

Hmmm have they not learnt from the XBone that constant license check-in systems are a sure way to lose customers?

That looks a nice bit of kit, very slim looking much nicer than the HP version

Does that mean Yammer is now a) hosted in the EU datacentres and b) more fully integrated with the rest of O365?

Check out this as well, Surface look-alike and comes in at a very competitive price. Nicer build than the T100 imo (having trialled both) mySN.co.uk | XMG | Schenker Technologies - Schenker Element Tablet http://mysn.co.uk/images/schenker/element/element_withdock.png The Dell Venue 11 Pro is also a lovely bit of kit but the Atom model + keyboard is going to hit over the £500 mark (possibly more). Shame as the base tablet is reasonablly priced but the keyboard cost is extortionate

The words removed and forced don't fill me with confidence, just give users choice to use the UI they feel most comfortable with. I don't mind the live tiles on my desktop so leave me the choice if I want to remove them or not! The "we know best" attitude that got forced down with the initial release of Windows 8 is one of the main reasons people hated it so much, had the "boot to desktop" checkbox from 8.1 been there from the start (no pun intended ) the change wouldn't have been so jarring.

From what I remember everything copies but you get trouble working with the files after e.g. renaming and saving. We cleaned up the files before the migration which removed any doubt. The scripts and robocopy pre-sync / difference sync method worked a treat, had them running on schedule overnight then did the shares the next day.

Interesting development, I wonder if this might force Microsoft's hand to make the Office mobile apps free on all plans?

We have an E70 in and also an equivalent iiyama screen. Thoughts as follows: - multipoint touch is better on the E70 (10pt vs iirc 5 on the iiyama) - also found the touch response better on the E70, the iiyama just seemed a fraction of a second slower when writing, soon became quite irritating - definitely need to hook them up via HDMI, noticeable difference on that compared to VGA - you might need additional graphics card or DVI-HDMI converter for your PC to do this - if you mirror the display onto a monitor budget in a 24" or so HD monitor that can match the 1920x1080 resolution on the E70 - make sure you adjust the advanced screen options for brightness, contrast and sharpness as the factory defaults look really poor - image quality is (very) slightly better on the E70 on HDMI, iiyama better over VGA (but irrelevant as per point above) - sound is poor on the E70, use external speakers - E70 requires Notebook & Drivers v11, won't work with 10.8 if you're still on that version - SMART has controls easily accessible on the side of the board, the iiyama decides to hide them at the back, no good if the remote has gone walkies! Also note that writing on these boards doesn't feel as smooth as on a traditional board as the surface of the screen is more resistant to movement. The iiyama was really let down by its cheap and nasty pen (£1 eBay type stylus with flexible end that gives way under pressure) compared to the SMART stylus which was a bit better. There were also some licensing queries on the iiyama and if I remember rightly will need a purchase of the SMART software. The price difference between the two once you factor that in isn't much so we're sticking with the E70 to keep the overall solution neatly tied together. The only other vendor that came close was C-Touch but again SMART licensing comes into it and the price difference wasn't enough to make it viable. All the other manufacturers either ship with really poor software (Samsung!) or didn't come in the right kind of package (wall mount vs stand etc.) to be a realistic competitor for our environment. @Cablers_JonPaul where does the new 6065 panel sit vs the E70, is it a higher end dispaly (4k etc.) or are SMART just trying to run out the E70 stock before moving solely to the new device?

Another vote for 8.1, surprisingly usable on a desktop after using it for some time on my home machine plus a couple of laptops

We're going for PowerMAN from Data Synergy - easily configurable via GPO with good reporting. Tech support during our trial was excellent as well PowerMAN PC Power Management Software The idle shutdown at logon screen should pay for the software on its own

I'll trade you bottles of wine for it That'll give you MDM management but still doesn't solve how to give a user in your organisation a turnkey solution where they can take a tablet, sign in using an existing account and Metro apps use their O365 login seamlessly. It just seems so silly having to sign into Lync, then OneNote, then Office when the account info should be sitting in the OS then provided to the apps without further user effort. Ironically the devices work better in the consumer space where MS have barely any market share (tablet wise particularly) yet the enterprise market that makes the money seems to be treated as a second rate citizen.

Why Microsoft haven't pulled their finger out and sorted this is the biggest mystery of 8.1 \ Surface (imo) - why have a professional grade tablet and enterprise level cloud then nobble it by using consumer grade accounts to log into them?! For the couple we've issued to staff thus far I've created a Microsoft Account using the same email as their college account so as far as they're concerned it looks the same. Only issue is passwords will go out of sync over time but there's no way around that right now really.

i7 is a waste of money if you're not a) gaming b) video editing c) serious number cruching Go for an i5, Samsung 840 Evo SSD and it'll fly

One thing that does irritate me with Intel is the fact WoL is disabled by default on the driver install with no simple command line to enable it during setup. Changing it afterwards requires some housing with scripts that adds unnecessary work. The connection itself is rock solid though. Realtek cards had constant problems with GPOs not applying, domain login issues etc.

Yup avoid the Edge series Lenovos like the plague, would rather have a refurb M-Series from ICT Direct that's built with consistent parts than a brand new Edge machine with a lottery of internals The E-Series laptops seemed OK though

Indeed, I sent a batch of Lenovos back because they shipped with a Realtek NIC instead of the usual Intel one. It's been the biggest worry I have about moving to MSI boards in the new Stone machines now Intel have stopped making motherboards. Realtek are OK for sound cards but their network drivers have been consistently poor. Wouldn't touch anything ASUS with a very long barge pole either...

Sounds like my kind of thinking, for the sake of one server gives a lot more peace of mind