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Mitchell Ashley
Photoshop Templates Divulge More About Windows Phone 7 User Interface
Written on Wed, 07/21/10 - 4:56pm
Microsoft's taking bold risks with Windows Phone 7, sporting the new "Metro" user interface that's designed from the ground up. No Windows Mobile 6.5 makeover here. While I'm pretty much holding back judgment on the new Microsoft phone OS, many are giving WP7 and Metro a thumbs up. (I'm still nursing...
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Can You Work On A Virtualized Windows Desktop?
Written on Mon, 12/07/09 - 4:20am
I’m using a Macbook Pro laptop running OS X and I have Windows 7 installed on the Bootcamp partition. Normally this kind of setup only lets you boot up either Mac OS X or Windows, but with VMware Fusion 3 for Mac OS X I can run the bootcamp partition (Windows 7) as a virtualized guest operating...
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Microsoft Is Perfect Example Why Executive Pay Is Broken
Written on Fri, 11/06/09 - 8:34am
Text message this morning from CNN: Unemployment hit 10.2% in October. Microsoft announced earlier this week another 800 employee layoffs to the 5,000 previously announced employee layoffs. If you look at Microsoft's financials you see why, a 14% revenue and 18% net income drop for the last reported...
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User Support Is The Key To New Microsoft Store
Written on Mon, 11/02/09 - 9:38am
Now that Microsoft's first Apple-like store is open in Scottsdale Arizona, Microsoft has finally entered the world of direct consumer retail sales. Since I don't live in that part of the country I have to rely on the reports from others, and so far the feedback is that the store is a lot like Apple's,...
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Just How Much Is Riding on Windows 7 For Microsoft?
Written on Fri, 10/23/09 - 9:09am
In a word, Windows 7 means "everything" for Microsoft's future. We can all talk about the insane number of SharePoint licenses sold, how well Windows Server 2008 has been put together, Bing's surprising rise in the search market, and exciting moves by Microsoft into Online Services for hosted Microsoft...
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5 Of The Coolest Things You Should Check Out In Windows 7 Today
Written on Thu, 10/22/09 - 6:11am
Windows 7, it's here! Well, it's actually been here since PDC 2008 in some form or fashion, but Windows 7 has reached its official launch day. You've heard about the new taskbar, you've heard it's more stable and faster than Windows V(ista) (I don't want to say the V word anymore.) Windows 7 starts up,...
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Number 1 Thing To Make Windows 7 Installs Easy
Written on Mon, 09/14/09 - 11:00am
I'd hate to think exactly how many times I've installed some version of Windows 7 since its debut back at Microsoft PDC 2008. There was the Windows 7 pre-public beta (that didn't have the new UI and menu bar), the Windows 7 public beta, the Windows 7 RC and the Windows 7 RTM. On my daily use laptop alone...
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Windows 7 Beta: The 5 Most Important Things Microsoft Did Right
Written on Thu, 07/02/09 - 5:24pm
Today marks the end of the public beta of Windows 7, introduced early in 2009 with even earlier bits available to attendees at PDC 2008. As beta's go I think most would say the Windows 7 beta was an overwhelming success. Lets look at the things Microsoft did right with the Windows 7 beta.  
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Windows 7 Upgrade Pricing Means Mixed IT Shops For A Long Time
Written on Fri, 06/26/09 - 5:13am
So which is it? Are we going to have aggressive pricing for Windows 7 so we can finally move on from Vista and XP, or will we see the Microsoft of old, overcharging for Windows upgrades, this time starting at $120 for entry level Windows 7 versions. Well, for two weeks we'll see both; the aggressive...
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Apple's Window To Gain PC Market Share Is Narrowing
Written on Wed, 06/17/09 - 4:14am
My recent blog post about the new Apple OS X Snow Leopard release not being enough to “beat” Windows 7 sparked quite a response from many Apple users. I understand that, when users are passionate about a product, brand and/or a company, as so many Apple users are. Apple’s always been successful...
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Snow Leopard's Reliance On Fundamentals Isn't Enough To Beat Windows 7
Written on Tue, 06/09/09 - 4:07am
Though yesterday's Apple WWDC announcements were largely about the iPhone OS 3.0 and iPhone 3GS model, Apple also rolled out Snow Leopard, the next in line Mac OS X upgrade to do battle against Windows on desktops. The iPhone OS and 3GS phone were all about features, features, features, plus better...
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Microsoft Trying To Kill Off The Golden Windows 7 Goose
Written on Mon, 05/18/09 - 10:03am
An article by CNET's Brooke Crothers caught my eye about a Windows 7 pricing conversation with Dell's Darrel Ward. Darrel's saying Windows 7 average selling price is set to be higher than either Vista or XP prices. What? Is Microsoft crazy? Are they ready to undo all their good work transparently...
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Microsoft's Using You To Keep The Pressure on Nvidia For A Successful Windows 7 Launch
Written on Fri, 05/08/09 - 9:25am
Microsoft's doing a great job of getting Windows 7 out there, tested and accepted by the community. As badly as Vista was handled, Windows 7 has pretty much been the opposite. But it wasn't just Microsoft who botched the Vista launch. Another big culprit was Nvidia and their slow response to...
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Windows 7 RC1 and Vista SP2 – Two Drastically Different Release Paradigms
Written on Thu, 04/30/09 - 3:03am
I’ve been really struck over the past few days by the difference in approaches between the Windows 7 RC1 and Vista SP2 releases. Windows 7 beta and RC1 have been handled much like the new Obama administration, emphasizing transparency and quickly addressing issues. We received plenty of notice there...
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Microsoft Surprises With XPM In Windows 7 To Help Sway Users From XP
Written on Wed, 04/29/09 - 2:58am
This week’s release of Windows 7 RC1 to the MSDN community, and next week to the general public, represents another significant milestone towards a market release of Windows 7. Given Microsoft is labeling this RC1, I’d expect to see at least one, if not more, RC releases before the final launch....
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Windows Vista, The Windows Me of our Generation
Written on Thu, 02/12/09 - 10:10am
Last night I was recording a podcast with fellow blogger Alan Shimel where we were discussing the topic of whether Windows XP retail users and business organizations would upgrade to Windows 7. Lots of questions came up about Vista and what would become of it.
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Windows 7 UAC Fix Doesn't Address UAC's Fatal Flaw
Written on Fri, 02/06/09 - 8:08am
Wow, that was a fast turn around from Microsoft, something we're definitely not used to.
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Windows Live Essentials Confusion Could Dampen Windows 7 Adoption
Written on Thu, 02/05/09 - 3:58am
In the irony of all ironies, a lighter weight Windows 7 could drive away users because it lacks the features of Vista. Sound implausible? Read on. A reader of my Windows 7 Will Not Sway XP Users blog post commented that he tried Windows 7 but gave up on it because Windows 7 didn't offer an email...
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Windows 7 - Will It Turn The Tide To 64-bit?
Written on Fri, 01/30/09 - 11:10am
One of the questions all of us face when considering deployment of Windows 7 is whether to go 32- or 64-bit. Vista's 64-bit support hasn't turned the tide from 32- to 64-bit but Windows 7 might. DRAM memory is pretty inexpensive so it's not unreasonable to consider having 4GB of RAM in your...
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Windows 7 Will Not Sway XP Users
Written on Thu, 01/29/09 - 11:06am
The chances of Windows 7 suddenly winning over Windows XP users in droves are slim to none. Windows 7 is a better Vista but doesn't deliver enough advantages or differentiation from Windows XP to woo XP users from their stable, reliable and functional desktop OS. Windows 7 successes will come...
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About Converging on Microsoft
Mitchell Ashley has a diverse background in software development, network engineering, information security, mobility, collaborative technologies, and IT management and operations. An early adopter of social media in business, he began blogging about security and information technologies in 2006 at theconvergingnetwork.com. Mitchell is VP of Information Technology at CableLabs in Louisville, CO, and previously held positions as CIO, CTO and VP Engineering at prior companies.
 

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