kingswood

I used to think (and have even said on here) that Linux isn't ready for the desktop. But listen to that statement. Linux isn't ready for the desktop. Sounds cool and geeky, but really it's blind. Linux is *already* on hundreds of thousands of desktops and thousands of servers and people are using it for everyday tasks. Like word processing (I have no problem with OO myself), scientific applications, email, web surfing, development, and desktop publishing. So I don't know if the issue with Linux is it isn't ready for the desktop (because it's already here and with and among us) it's probably more that people aren't yet ready for Linux. But I think that time is coming. Vista isn't all bad, but when you couple people's continuing and growing dislike of DRM and security holes, need for virus protection ad nauseum and cost (look at the cost of Vista and smile) it's going to be another good year for Linux and OS X growth. As for games- there are astounding games innovations in the console market this time around (Wii, 360 online service etc) and it's probably going to dent significantly the excuse of using Windows for games. There really isn't a compelling argument for doing so any more. Anyway, end of evangelistic rant. Have a good Christmas! Paul

I agree with Cybernerd, and have even thought about moving all home systems to a Unix variant- or Linux- for some time. If it wasn't for the need to learn Server 2003 or Vista, Exchange, and all that other "cool" stuff I wouldn't worry about doing it. Linux has become the closest thing to OS X for me in the last year- excellent desktop effects (I like eye candy), it's always been stable, and package management is becoming a breeze (I prefer apt but RPM is cool too). It's funny but all my friends that work in IT are moving either to Linux (one even to Solaris) or OS X. Windows is becoming a thing of the past itself. Personally, I already run one Linux/XP dual boot system (soon to be solely Fedora 6) and three Linux VMs inside Parallels on OS X (built on some Unix technology itself). All our machines at home are now OS X. Have a great Christmas people- enjoy the break! Paul

Minasi's update is (as always) superb. Well worth the cost.

I just installed Karoshi using the ISO in Parallels on OS X. It works a charm. Now I'm in Management User mode having installed Karoshi as a PDC (Xen). I like the look of this. Is there any documentation lying around about karoshi- management, configuration etc? FWIW, I gave the Parallels VM 512MB RAM and the system flies! The resolution settings are funky, but setting it to 1024x768 works very well. The cursor can be sporadic too when logging in, but apart from that it's great. Paul

Me too! Actually looking forward to it. I've had a look at Leopard already though- one of my friends has a development team that have been using it for some time. It looks cool. Paul

Well, using Mandriva lately has made me feel that my nearly five months of using Vista has been wasted! XGL and other effects, coupled with a stable nix, is hard to beat ;-) Then there's Fedora 6, Ubuntu---and Mac OS X Tiger (with Leopard released soon, and to include support for ZFS). No. I think Vista is very much last year from where I see things. Paul

Actually that's a great idea Tony. I have been wanting to try Karoshi and a VMWare machine with it on would be cool. Virtual PC Server 2005- I don't think it's all that bad, but it did run slow on my test machine and it doesn't seem as good as VMWare. Give MS a year or so and they might steal- I mean- get some idea of how to improve it...

I use the R2 Print Management Console and wondered how we would assign two printers myself. I think it's probably something I need to look into. Someone is bound to ask...

Given the huge incentive coming from business for BSF ICT investment in schools Tony, do you really think that most schools would *want* choice? In other words, when the government come along and offer millions in ICT investment and rebuilding, most Heads would snap their hands off because their business is education and BSF is stellar for promoting a better learning environment and more investment in that. ICT support staff and choice in ICT provision are low on the list when it comes to new builds. Believe me.

I have become increasingly interested in FITS this year, after having gone through the transition of Technician to NM to Senior Systems Manager. In fact it has become one of my goals for the school that we *at the least* meet the Becta FITS requirements/level before I move on to different pastures. It isn't easy though. Tony has made some good suggestions already about what I would call "adding value to the classroom through the use of ICT", and ultimately I really think that is what we get paid to do. So in a way we are (or should already be) TAs in our own right. An excellent suggestion has been VLEs- and these are good because they offer a measurable level of impact in the classroom. It's this mix of impact through ICT and the way support staff in ICT push that technology that I *think* BECTA are getting at. FITS is a good mechanism (better: framework- which is what it says it should be) to help me achieve for the school the best possible use of ICT within the classroom. It isn't the only one- but it is good. BSF? I despise it. Paul

It did when it was posted. But here's the new one: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/default.aspx

Wii got ours today from a local Choices video store (wii had pre-ordered ages ago and were the only ones to get one). It's very cool. The sports games are real fun. But I still like my 360. Even so I have Red Steel and Zelda on the way, so the jury hasn't entirely given a solid decision! Paul

You can indeed lock down the start menu using group policy- you don't *need* to redirect the start menu at all to keep consistent settings (in fact we don't and it's always fine). This article is good at explaining the ins-and-outs of redirection: http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/08/24/folder_redirect.html http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/en-us/management/manage_faq.mspx http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Profile-Folder-Redirection-Windows-Server-2003.html Redirecting the home folder should be adequate enough to speed up most logons. It's relative though and depends on mapping of drives at logon, scripts running at startup/logon and other things like bandwidth on your local subnet. HTH Paul

Have you tried Microsoft's new Network Analysis tool (though in Beta it is pretty cool a la ethereal)? Worth a look for free! Paul

Being a noob in the things of SIMS, I have been left with the job of supporting it whilst our part-time MIS/System Manager person is off. He loaded on the November update last week, and went off for his little break (till Wednesday next week). Then we started having database version errors on the clients- fixed by running the latest SIMSAPPLICATIONSETUP file...but I thought clients should auto update when using the SIMS shortcut? Anyway, today we are seeing on systems an error when launching Lesson Monitor (Active X error), but the application still runs fine. Weird. Anyone else with these issues? By the way, waiting for several weeks after an update is published is complete logic to me. Why oh why doesn't MY System Manager do this? He loads an update on AS SOON as it is released. With only 800MB left on the C drive of the SIMS server I have told the Head that I think things will go tits up soon... Paul Complete Noob@SIMS :oops:

Yeah- Server 2003 R2 is really good. The Print Management Console alone is worth the upgrade. Paul

MCP in what? There are some good books out there and if you are specific I might be able to help. I'm currently using MS Press, and these have been excellent for me. Sybex also cover MCP exams pretty well, and if you are looking for hands on training Train Signal produce some excellent video materials. HTH Paul

Good suggestion actually. What with CSE autostart scripts not aherm..."autostarting" all the time, that's what I did initially. It works fine. Worth a go though, because each setup is different so there might be some "manglement" at work. "Where there's trouble, there's a troll" :-)

And we had this problem straight after instaling R2 print management Ric and fixed it by re-installing drivers on the server to the latest and then letting PMC push out the latest to clients. Seems to have worked. Admin users would be able to see the printer but normal users wouldn't- and like I said, updating the drivers fixed that "glitch" nicely. I hope. Paul

We use CSE too, and I would check that the script is applied to the correct groups in Workspace Admin. You can assign the printer script to run for any groups you add there. Have you spoken to Tony at CSE about this problem- I'm sure he would be willing to help out. We moved recently to Server 2003 R2 print management, and it seems to be pretty good. Our scripts are now assigned using that tool through computer configuration/startup scripts. So there should be no problem there. Paul

Our head of ICT "stole" admin rights really, but rarely uses them. The most he has done (and it could have been bad I suppose) was to re-enable a disabled account (staff account) to get at some work inside the folder. I would prefer to have the Head of ICT as a normal user. Simple. But in schools politics usually reign and in this case I have to go with the flow. It depends on your Head of ICT really. How much do they really know about ICT (not Office and VBA, real IT)- and if they can handle the responsibility. Difficult one though.

The very same. Good luck with that one Tony :?

@Beeswax: I've got a TechRepublic account so will get that later. Thanks for the link. @Plexer: Having been with the auditors for some of the past week I can assure you that they *don't* like these kinds of transaction. I know it's not that logical, but auditors aren't vulcans they are more like Romulans! We now have an application that could do the job thanks to a friend who emailed me USB applications (portable apps). Paul

Some good things coming in this release for those interested: http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2006/11/rhel_5_whats_co.html Paul