Windows 7 Resource Kit

For my job, I got a copy of the Windows 7 Resource Kit. I am going to start to delve into the book and get all my deployment kinks out of the way. Additionally I hope to learn more about security and power shell 2.0. I don't really know what to expect from this book. Its a Microsoft Press offering. I have read books from Microsoft Press before. Some of these books are terrible, while others are great. Of course I suppose it all depends on how technical and useable you want your books to be.

I for one am very happy with Windows 7 so far. I've been using Windows 7 since December I think. At this point I have no major complaints. Although I think the sysprep process could've been made a little easier. I mean you went from a plain text file or technically an inf file in XP to this XML monstrosity. Of course I can't complain, because now that I've been working with it I appreciate its complexity. It is extremely granular and you can almost preconfigure every system and profile setting, making it much easier to deploy systems. Of course I've only used it for 7 deployments. I have yet to pre configure a Windows Server 2008 R2 system, mostly because we have so few servers running that OS. Thus far most everything is still running various forms of Windows 2003 and unfortunately some servers are running Windows 2000. Anyway, I digress.

Back to the book. Microsoft, not including the index this thing is over 1600 pages in length. Granted its littered with illustrations, but give me a break. This could've been split into a multi volume work, or the page size could've been larger, like an 8.5" by 11". Of course thats just me griping. I am sure by the time I read through this the spine will be thoroughly cracked and there will be many dog eared pages. I am also looking forward to using the included CD. I undersstand it has example powershell scripts and even an e-book copy. Now if only I could get an e-book reader, but seriously I still prefer paper to screen.

Anyway, as I read on I might post some stuff I find useful or informative and of course any and everything I think is wrong or don't understand. Of course that may lead to way too many posts. We'll see.

My plan is to go through section 1 tonight, section 2 tomorrow, section 3 on Saturday and section 4 on Sunday. This is pretty ambitious, but I've got some free time. Of course realistically lets say I'll finish the whole thing by the end of the month. That sounds more likely. We'll see.

Moving to Linux

Welcome to Linux
Pop: A few million
A happy place to be!?

Of course, this would be a best case scenario road sign. Really I don't know what most people think when they here linux, but I hear, soft gentle waves on a beach and sunny skies and cool breezes.

So one could easily assume Windows is like a Nor Easter on a jagged rock overlooking the seas.

Of course, neither description is entirely true for everyone. Especially since neither is perfect and there are SO many different flavors.

Either way, I am happy I got someone to try, the most important step, to use a linux distro today. If they don't like it ok, If they do like it ok. I just want them to try it. Seriously try it and see. You may end up liking it a lot.