It must be the week for surveys of businesses and Vista adoption. The Register has just published the results of its survey of 5000 users. My favorite part:

The main point is that there is quite a bit of real world experience out there with Vista now. Indeed, 13 per cent of our respondents said they had been directly involved in a Vista rollout, with another 23 per cent involved in evaluation of Vista for business use. Turning this on its head, it is interesting that 41 per cent of respondents had no direct experience of Vista rollouts, evaluations or even use, and another 17 per cent had only used Vista at home – yet this didn’t stop them offering an opinion on Vista’s suitability in a business context.

The comments are an ironic illustration of the exact same conclusion.

I wish they provided more details about the survey, but all in all it’s one of the best write-ups I’ve seen on Vista in months. Well worth reading.

Michael at 4Sysops finds an interesting data point:

In a report issued last month, Gartner said Vista adoption among businesses is in line with that of XP at a comparable juncture after its release, and predicted Vista will have an installed base of 21.3 percent by year’s end, compared to 16.9 percent for XP in 2003.

The anti-Vista hysteria is extreme, but the reality for businesses is that adoption takes a long time. Always has, always will.

[Update: I’ve sent a request to Gartner askng for more details.]

In a previous post, I pointed out the problems with a beta test program being offered by Ricavision to early users of its SideShow-enabled Media Center remote control. After that post appeared, I received this e-mail from Ricavision’s Diane Proctor, who had not yet read my post and was replying to my original e-mail. I reprint the message here with her permission:

Dear Mr. Bott,

I am sorry for your frustration and completely agree with your statement about paying full price for a beta test unit.  First off please allow me to indulge in clarifying a few key factors. First, the ‘beta’ test unit is not just a beta unit at all, it is actually a mass production unit that we are seeking user end experiences for so that we may fine tune any areas or glitches that may have snuck past us. All of the components in the beta unit at the present are identical to that of  the mass production unit. Secondly, the price that we are asking for is not the retail price of $349 (I know that is what is stated below so you can understand my frustration) but at the discounted price of $249, a savings of $100. If the unit does indeed need to be corrected you are more than welcome to exchange the unit for a final mass production unit shortly after when they become available to the public.

The reason that the product ship dates have been pushed back is not due to faulty components it is due to the rigorous testing that we are currently experiencing. The remote is undergoing FCC, BQB (Bluetooth), and Safety testing to be sold worldwide. The remote is the first of its kind resulting in these entities having to alter and create new diagnostics to properly test the device. We want to ensure that we are providing the highest quality product possible for the consumer, which I know you can appreciate. I do hope you reconsider the beta testing and/or continue to stay in contact with us here at Ricavision International, Inc.

Even with an $85 discount ($100 off the purchase price minus the $15 shipping costs), I’m still not interested in purchasing what is essentially an untested unit that doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee. If Ricavision wants to send me a review unit, I’ll be happy to test it and then return it at the end of the review period.

Meanwhile, if anyone takes them up on the beta testing offer, let me know your impressions. I’ll be happy to publish a review here.

The last time I looked seriously at Virtual PC 2007 was roughly two years ago, so when I heard last week that there was a new release, I decided to take a closer look. I was impressed with its speed and performance, and I had no trouble quickly setting up VMs running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and a couple flavors of Linux.

I’ve got more details in a post over at ZDNet:

Microsoft releases Virtual PC 2007 SP1

If you’re interested in running multiple operating systems on the same PC, it’s worth a look.

Amazon.com now says it has Windows Vista Inside Out, Deluxe Edition, in stock and available for immediate delivery. I still haven’t got my first copy, but that’s not unusual.

If you preordered, you saved five bucks percent [corrected, courtesy of pocketdragon in the comments]. If not, the current price is still a good deal.

If you have an old Windows program that uses 32-bit .hlp files, you already know those files don’t open in Windows Vista. The solution? Download WinHlp32.exe for Windows Vista. Microsoft clearly doesn’t recommend that you do so, as this paragraph on the download page suggests:

Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with the Microsoft Windows 3.1 operating system. However, the Windows Help program has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft’s standards. Therefore, starting with the release of Windows Vista, the Windows Help program will not ship as a feature of Windows. If you want to view 32-bit .hlp files, you must download and install the program (WinHlp32.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center.

But if you need it, hey, go ahead and install it.

Update 17-May: Offer is no longer available.

Update 16-May: Laplink acknowledges server overload and has extended the deadline on this offer. As of right now, it’s still working.

Laplink software is celebrating its 25th birthday today with a giveaway:

To celebrate this milestone, Laplink is offering a free copy of PCmover [today, May 15, 2008], to everyone who visits their web site. No purchase necessary, no strings attached, and no gimmicks.

PCmover automatically moves selected files, folders, settings, and even applications from an old PC to a new one. It’s the #1 selling migration product and is widely regarded as the best migration solution available. PCmover is even recommended by the official magazines for Windows XP and Vista.

The regular price for a download of PCmover is $50, but for one day only it’s completely free. You might occasionally get a cup of coffee free, but not a $50 piece of software –then again, not every day is Laplink’s 25th birthday.

I used PCmover last month to move programs and settings from one machine to another. It worked pretty well. Not perfect, but easier and more complete than the built-in Windows solution. It’s worth downloading a copy to have around for the next time you need to perform this task.

The company is also giving away some other goodies, so check it out:

http://www.laplink.com

Update: Not surprisingly, the Laplink servers seem to be under a wee bit of strain right now. I had to wait a while for several pages to load and chose to refresh a few page loads that appeared hung. But I was able to complete the transaction eventually. If you already have a Laplink account, it’s best to log in first. If you don’t have one, you might want to create an account first. (You’ll need it to complete the download.)

Offer ends tonight at midnight Pacific time.

CBS Corporation To Acquire CNET Networks, Inc.

And because ZDNet is a CNET property, that means my checks will probably begin coming from CBS soon.

Meanwhile, don’t expect to see me on 60 Minutes anytime soon. (Don’t you have to be at least 75 to get a job there?)

In researching an upcoming post, I ran across this piece I wrote for TechRepublic in May 2000. Eight years ago this week:

So I understand exactly how the TechRepublic member who inspired this week’s Microsoft Challenge feels. He’s ready to ditch his 6-GB IDE drive and move up to a screaming 18-GB SCSI drive. But he’s dreading the hassle of reinstalling Windows 2000 and all his software and customizations. What’s the best way to make the move?

Yow! I remember when 18GB was a pretty big drive, but I had forgotten that those were still in widespread use only a year before Windows XP launched. Today, I can get a flash drive for my digital camera that’s bigger than that. I’ve noticed that the cost of a 500GB drive has dropped below $100 pretty consistently, with terabyte drives consistently below $300.

When people talk about the differences in resource usage between Windows XP and Windows Vista, it helps to remember that XP was designed to work in environments where a 30-40GB hard drive and 128MB of RAM was a standard configuration. In 8 years, those numbers have increased by an order of magnitude at least.

Last week I checked at Newegg and saw that I could get 4GB of RAM (two 2GB sticks) for my ASUS R1F Tablet PC for $72. That deal was too good to pass up, so I placed the order. The memory arrived Monday, and I was able to install it in under five minutes. (Thank you, ASUS, for making it so easy to get to the RAM slots. I’ve upgraded other notebooks that required removing the keyboard to get to RAM.)

Next project was replacing the stock installation of Vista Business x86 with a clean install of Vista Ultimate x64 with SP1, using media from MSDN. I was astounded at how easy it was. Here’s a high-level summary:

• The documentation for this notebook says it only supports 2GB, but it accepts and recognizes 4GB. However, the latest BIOS only recognizes 3.2GB, even with a 64-bit OS.
• Every device was recognized with the exception of the fingerprint reader (which has new 64-bit drivers and control software available from the component supplier, UPEK).
• Windows update automatically supplied a few new drivers, including the latest Intel video driver for the GMA950 (confusingly but accurately labeled Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset Family). I had to track down a few extra drivers and utilities, including those for the Synaptics Touchpad, the Toshiba Bluetooth stack, and the wireless console. It wasn’t particularly difficult or complicated.
• DVD playback is excellent using Windows Media Center.
• I’ve installed most of the apps I use everyday, including Office 2007, with no compatibility problems.
• Performance is superb, much better than before. Startup time is roughly 35 seconds. All auto-start programs are loaded and I’m able to open my home page in IE7 in roughly 52 seconds. It’s worth noting that I had previously replaced the stock 120GB 5400RPM hard drive with a 200GB 7200RPM drive.
• I saved an image of the clean installation using Complete PC Backup. The image fit comfortably on two DVDs.

The whole job took a couple hours, and during most of that time I was able to do other things.

I’m indebted to the folks at Notebook Forums, who have a very nice thread on Vista 32/64 drivers for ASUS systems.