Newsletter – September 2009

The September 2009 Edition of the KTS e-newsletter!

Sep 8, 2009

 E-News Vol. 11

Windows 7 Launch
By Robert Masterson and Kevin Moore

Windows 7, Microsoft’s newest desktop operating system, will be available to the public in less than two months. Starting October 22, you will be able to purchase a copy of Windows 7 or a PC pre-installed with Windows 7 from PC manufacturers and retailers. Windows 7 was designed to be simpler and easier to use than previous operating systems. Preliminary tests have shown that Windows 7 is about 20% faster than both Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Windows 7 improved taskbar: mini previews

• Improved taskbar:  In today’s working environment, you may have multiple documents open at once.  Instead of having to cycle through them, Windows 7 has a nice feature where you can click on the taskbar and receive a miniature preview of all the associated windows.  If you have similar documents and would like a larger preview, you simply mouse over the miniature window and you will be presented with a full screen preview of the current document. 
• Aero Shake: Aero Shake is a cool new feature that takes a windowed application and minimizes all of the other windows. Simply click and hold on the selectable area of any floating (non-maximized) window and shake your hand side to side vigorously. All of the windows behind it will minimize. Just repeat the action to restore those applications.
• Windows XP Mode: This is a new optional, free feature that Microsoft has added to bridge the gap between legacy applications and Windows 7. It allows previously-installed applications to run under Windows XP mode directly from your Windows 7 desktop.

For purchases made between June 29, 2009 and January 31, 2010, Microsoft is offering a free upgrade to Windows 7 to customers who purchase a copy of Windows Vista, or a PC with Windows Vista pre-installed.

With the increased simplicity and functionality of Windows 7, this fall is a great time to replace older and slower PCs, or to upgrade your operating system.

Contact KTS today for more details and to learn how to increase your users’ productivity with Windows 7.

Product Spotlight: Windows SharePoint Services
By Shayne Comey

SharePoint Services is a versatile technology included with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 that enables organizations of all sizes to increase the efficiency of business processes and improve team productivity. With tools for collaboration that help people stay connected across organizational and geographic boundaries, Windows SharePoint Services gives people access to documents and information they need.

Chief among the advantages of Windows SharePoint Services:

• Provides a single workspace for teams to coordinate schedules, organize documents, and participate in discussions—within the organization and over the extranet.
• Easily author and manage documents. SharePoint Services helps to ensure document integrity with the option to require document checkout before editing, provides the ability to view past revisions and restore to previous versions, and has the ability to set document-specific security.
• Helps people and teams stay on task with a variety of communication features that let users know when actions are required or important changes are made to existing information or documentation, including announcements, sophisticated alerts, surveys, and discussion boards.
• Provides creative forums for brainstorming ideas, building knowledge bases, or simply gathering information in an easy-to-edit format with new templates for implementing blogs and wikis (Web sites that can be quickly and easily edited by team members).
• Increases productivity while mobile with enhanced support for synchronization; using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to manage document libraries, lists, calendars, contacts, tasks, and discussion board—even offline.

Built on Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Windows SharePoint Services also provides a foundation platform for building Web-based business applications that can flex and scale easily to meet the changing and growing needs of your business.  With a familiar, Web-based interface and close integration with everyday tools including the Microsoft Office system, Windows SharePoint Services is easy to use and can be deployed rapidly. Users can create workspaces and then publish, store, share, and keep track of information, workflow, and documents.

Windows SharePoint Services helps teams stay connected and productive by providing easy access to the people, documents, and information they need to make more informed decisions and get the job done. Enhancements in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 make it easier than ever to share documents, track tasks, use e-mail efficiently and effectively, and share ideas and information. 

Contact KTS today for additional details on how your business can benefit from Windows SharePoint Services!

What’s KTS Up To?
By Danny Kazmarek

Imagine it’s a quiet Saturday afternoon in the office. No week-day interruptions. You think to yourself, “This is going to be a very productive day.” Suddenly, you’re disconnected from the server, the Internet, the whole network!

You call your IT person on his cell phone.  Minutes into the call, your IT person asks you to hold as he has another call coming in. You wait patiently on hold for a minute and he clicks back over.  He informs you that the call was from Kazmarek Technology Solutions. They had received alerts that your network was down. And better yet, they will have an engineer right over to address the situation.

This true story happened a few weeks ago. The problem turned out to be a burnt out 24-port switch. We replaced the switch with a loaner switch from KTS and our client was back in business within 30 minutes.

KTS was able to respond quickly because the client subscribed to our Proactive Server Support, a proactive and preventative service we offer to keep your servers and networking equipment running optimally, as well as react quickly to issues with our 24/7 monitoring. Don’t let this happen to your servers!

Contact KTS today for more information on how you can keep your servers running smoothly with our Proactive Server Support.