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Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) exam 70-640
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) exam 70-640
Detangling the Windows Phone Tango talk
There is a new report about features and markets that will be the target of Microsoft’s Windows Phone Tango, the successor to Mango. Here’s my take.
Even though the Windows Phone Mango operating system is still not in consumers’ hands or phones, talk has turned to the next version of the OS, codenamed “Tango.”
I blogged earlier this month about what I was hearing from my sources about Tango. In short, my contacts said that Tango would be a minor release (or two) that would target lower-cost phones and be geared, in particular, to address the Asian market. I heard that Nokia would be heavily involved in Tango — not surprising, given Nokia’s focus on broadening the smartphone market to include current feature phone users. Tango would hit some time before Apollo, the Windows Phone 8 release, my contacts said. (Apollo, last I heard, is due in late 2012.)
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This week, a report about Tango originating from the “We Love Windows Phone” site in Hong Kong — which I saw via The Next Web — echoed this same information. The original site claimed to have attended an MSDN Hong Kong seminar about the next generation in development where this information allegedly was disclosed.
The translated version of the Hong Kong site’s Tango information:
1. Tango is not a major update.
2. Tango Mango will be included as one of the updates.
3. Apollo will be the next major update.
4. Tango primarily for and developing countries such as China, India and other markets use, these are ignored in the market to have more exposure to Bing services.
5. Manufacturers of these developing countries will launch a cheap version of Tango preloaded Windows Phone.
The “Tango Mango” bit is definitely confusing. But I think I can help detangle it a bit, based on some additional Tango information I’ve gleaned from my contacts.
I’ve heard there are, indeed, two Tango releases on tap. One of these is simply a minor update to Mango. (I’m betting this is the “Tango Mango” reference above.) This minor update, Tango1, is the release aimed at expanding the Windows Phone footprint into new markets that are not going to be addressed right off the bat by Mango.
Windows Phone 7s currently support English (US and UK), French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The Mango release is adding support for 17 more languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish. So Tango1 will likely add support for additional languages beyond this group.
Tango2, my tipsters say, is the version that will be targeted at low-cost devices and include fixes and new features, as well as services and language support for markets that still won’t have been addressed after the Tango1 release.
Is Tango1 a 2011 deliverable? Early 2012? I have no information on dates yet. (Anyone else?)
One more thing: I’ve seen some Microsoft watchers speculating that Tango will result in a fragmented Windows Phone market because it will offer users a stripped-down feature set. I don’t believe this necessarily will be the case. Lower cost devices in this case will still be smartphones — not feature phones — I believe. Remember: Microsoft’s original Windows Phone plan called for the company winning over feature phone users to smartphones for growth.
I’ve asked Microsoft for comment on the latest Tango report, but am thinking it’s unlikely there will be anything beyond a no comment. In any case, I’ll update if and when I hear back….
Meanwhile, what else are you hearing/wishing for with Windows Phone Tango?
Updates:
1. As anticipated, Microsoft is not willing to talk Tango. A spokesperson sent me the following response to my query: “There is a lot to be excited about and we look forward to sharing more information soon.”
2. The MSDN seminar in Hong Kong cited by the original source of this week’s Tango information looks legit. Here’s a link to it.
3. I’m wondering if Tango1 is already part of Mango (or will be added seamlessly to Mango as phones roll out this year. When I used Bing Translator on the original post, instead of “Tango Mango,” I got “Tango will include Mango, one of the update.” Hmmm.
Some Requirements For MCITP Certification
Before you take one exam, you should know what kind of questions it will be, which part of the knowledge of this exam that you should pay more attention to. In a word, you should know the requirements of the exam. So, today, I will tell you some requirements for MCITP Certification, just to those who still have no idea of what MCITP Certification requires.
Microsoft MCTS Certification, MCITP Certification and over 2000+
Exams with Life Time Access Membership at https:://www.actualkey.com
MCITP certification validates the comprehensive skills that are necessary for performing a particular job specialization role which includes enterprise messaging administration or database administration. MCITP certification also builds up technical proficient that are measured in the Microsoft certification informational technology professional. Hence, candidate can obtain more MCITP certifications to earn credentials in this certifications.
Successful candidates who are holding their MCITP certification will be capable of designing, deploying, building, optimizing as well as operating technologies of a particular specialized job role. Successful candidates will also design and make decisions regarding the technology in an effective way to bring successful technology implementation of projects.
MCITP Certification Examination:
In order to obtain the this certificate, candidate has to take up the examination and score a minimum scaled points. The following are the examinations for the MCITP certification.
Windows client:
1) 70-680 or enterprise desktop administration 7
2) 70-686 or enterprise desktop administration 7
3) 70-620 or consumer support technician
4) 70-623 or consumer support technician
5) 70-620 or enterprise support technician
6) 70-622 or enterprise support technician
Windows server:
1) 70-640 MCITP or enterprise administration
2) 70-642
3) 70-643
4) 70-624 or exam 70-620 and exam 70-647
5) 70-640 MCITP or server administrator
6) 70-642
7) 70-646
Microsoft Office Project Server:
1) 70-632 or enterprise project management with MS office server 2007
2) 70-633
3) 70-634
Microsoft exchange server:
1) 70-236 or enterprise messaging administration
2) 70-237
3) 238
All these above examinations are required to take part by the candidates to obtain the certification and they can be taken part in any order.
We make more money on cloud-based Exchange than legacy email
Per-user income greater in cloud, or so Microsoft claims
microsoft Claims it earns more money per user from cloud-based Exchange email accounts than it does selling the legacy version of Exchange Server most businesses deploy today.
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That’s what Microsoft investor relations GM Bill Koefoed said at the Oppenheimer Annual Technology, Media & Telecommunications Conference Tuesday, according to a transcript on Microsoft’s website. Customers who purchase Exchange as part of the Office 365 cloud service pay roughly $10 per month, less than they would in the back-end costs of running their own Exchange servers, but nearly all of of it goes directly to Microsoft, he said.
Hosted productivity suites: Google Apps or Microsoft Office 365?
That doesn’t mean Microsoft actually makes more money in the cloud than it does with its traditional business of selling software licenses. For one thing, Microsoft’s cloud customer base is mostly small businesses. To gain the kind of per-user profits Koefoed is talking about, Microsoft needs Office 365 to lure in big enterprises.
“Within an enterprise, let’s say it costs $15 per user per month today to run Exchange, and that’s about $2 for Microsoft, and that’s $13 in rent, power, the data base administrator that’s running the thing, the hardware and all the kind of services that are associated with kind of running Exchange in your premise,” Koefoed said.
“With Office 365, or with Exchange Online, the Exchange part of that, we charge $10 per user per month,” he continued. “So, that ends up being a savings to the CIO of roughly 33%, and we make 5X more revenue and our profit ends up being somewhere, $3 or $4 per user per month. So, we make more revenue and we make more profit and we save our customers money.”
The profit ends up being $3 or $4 per user per month because it costs Microsoft $6 or $7 per user to run the data centers powering the cloud service. “We can do that at scale,” Koefoed noted. “Interestingly, one of the things that we’ve learned in our search business is how to run data centers at scale.”
Koefoed gave the example in response to investors’ questions about how Microsoft’s revenue in the cloud compares to its traditional business model of selling software licenses. The popularity of Google Apps with small businesses is among the factors that forced Microsoft to expand its Web-based offerings, but investors are likely concerned these offerings will cannibalize Microsoft’s existing revenue streams.
Koefoed’s example leaves out the fact that Office 365 is appealing mostly to smaller businesses with few users. The small business version of Office 365, which includes Exchange, SharePoint, Lync and Office Web Apps, costs only $6 per user per month. An actual Exchange Server license, meanwhile, costs $700 for a standard edition and $4,000 for an enterprise edition, plus extra charges for client access licenses.
Enterprises can lessen the financial hit because of their scale, making the economics of running their own servers worthwhile for the customer, which is why Koefoed can say enterprises pay Microsoft only $2 per user per month to run Exchange. For small customers, the per-user cost of running Exchange Server without a cloud subscription would be higher, and therefore more profitable for Microsoft. Whether Microsoft actually makes more per-user profit from cloud services than packaged software is therefore questionable.
Fargo, The Environment, and Microsoft
Hi,
With my last post I was (and still am) incredibly sad that my hometown is having record flooding. My personal connections run high. The MS campus has been closed for 2 days and will remain closed until it is safe to return. Right now, that could be a week. Microsoft Learning has 20 some people in that office.
In my previous life with the Dynamics group, and with my current MCP role, I am very cognizant that our earth is fragile and between fires in Australia, snowstorms, volcanoes rumbling, just to say the very least —
Microsoft MCTS Certification, MCITP Certification and over 2000+
Exams with Life Time Access Membership at https:://www.actualkey.com
I wanted to at least try to say is some odd connection that Microsoft is trying to reduce how our carbon footprint. Not only reduce it but to quote “we are committed to software and technology innovation that helps people and organizations around the world improve the environment”.
So, for those of you who are interested in an ERP solution and want to measure your company’s carbon footprint – Check this out. Plus, I have to give a bit of shout out for Dynamics…
What would you like to see from the MCP group to help reduce or carbon footprint? All Ears. This I always see in tough times is how communities come together. We, too, can help
Brace for email-attachment malware spree
Malicious email attackers are fine tuning their methods between assaults, security vendor says
A sizeable spike in malicious email attachments is just subsiding, but if history is any indicator, several smaller spikes are about to follow that use even more deceptive means than their predecessors.
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Attacks: 10 scariest hacks from Black Hat and Defcon
The recent surge, fueled in large part by a flood of phony messages from UPS, is similar to one observed at the end of March in that the messages urge recipients to open an attachment that releases the malware on victims’ machines, according to Internet security firm Commtouch.
The earlier wave used a wider variety of package-delivery services as senders, including FedEx and DHL, but the latest outbreak employs a wider variety of messages such as, “Dear client, recipient’s address is wrong”, “Dear User, Delivery Confirmation: FAILED”, and “Dear Client, We are not able to delivery [sic] the postal package”, according to the Commtouch blog.
All the messages then instruct the recipient to open the attachment that contains the malware, claiming it is an invoice or a form that needs to be filled out. “This time we see differences in the style of the emails – there is far more variation in the automatically-generated subjects, body and attachment names. Last time all the attachments were “UPS.exe” – this time there are many variations,” says Avi Turiel, director of product marketing at Commtouch in an email.
The attackers will evaluate the success of the attack by finding out how many recipients activated the malware, “Based on the infections vs. malware sent out they will probably try and figure out what they could improve in the next attack,” he says.
The most recent spike saw malicious-attachment email jump from 814 million on Aug. 6 to 15.2 billion on Aug. 12, Turiel says. He says that after the March assault, his company observed a rollercoaster pattern of several, gradually decreasing spikes. “The fading effect is basically a reflection of global email systems learning to reject the emails. The malware writers will perceive this since they will gradually see fewer infections,” he says.
Tips for printing digital photos at home
It’s easy to capture and preserve memories as digital snapshots with Windows 7 and Windows Vista, and so is turning them into stunning scrapbooks or photo albums.
If you’d like to create professional-looking photo prints using a home PC, here are a few hints and tips that will help you produce sharper, more eye-catching results.
Photograph of red poppies in bloom
A little care is all it takes to turn photos into gorgeous prints.
Maximize image quality
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The best prints come from the finest images. Help improve picture quality by following these suggestions:
1. Increase photo resolution
As a rule, the higher the resolution, the better the picture. Most digital cameras offer a choice of settings. Check your camera’s instructions to figure out how to change the resolutions you’re using. For premium printing results, always select the maximum offered photo size and quality.
Here are some good resolution guidelines to consider:
2 megapixels: Appropriate for an attractive wallet-sized (2.5-by-3.5-inch) or album-sized (4-by-6-inch) print
3 megapixels: Minimum resolution required for projects like calendars and greeting cards or 5-by-7-inch reproductions
5 or 6 megapixels: A resolution that offers better image quality for use with craft projects. Also suitable for printing and framing an 11-by-14-inch photo for use around the home
8 megapixels: A resolution that’s capable of providing attractive 16-by-20-inch prints
10 megapixels or more: Optimal for printing larger (20-by-30-inch) projects, including posters and panoramas
The more you increase photo resolution, the more you’ll improve image clarity and detail.
Higher image resolutions (left) produce sharper snapshots.
Higher image resolutions (left) produce sharper snapshots.
2. Choose the correct file format
The JPEG file format, which compresses image data, is suitable for emailing pictures or posting them to the web. For photo-printing purposes though, it generally pays to stick with larger TIFF files. Despite consuming more space on a memory card, TIFF images are smoother, crisper, and vastly superior to their JPEG counterparts.
3. Edit and enhance images
Use programs such as Windows Live Photo Gallery (Windows 7) and Windows Photo Gallery (Windows Vista) to soften edges, experiment with lighting and color, remove blemishes from pictures, and touch up your photos. It’s a simple way to add special effects, get rid of red eye, and otherwise improve your snapshots. Read more articles about how to make simple fixes to your digital photos, take better pictures, capture the perfect moment, and create online photo albums.
Enterprising shutterbugs can even use Microsoft Photosynth to transform their images into three-dimensional scenes.
Add special effects to spice up any photo.
Add special effects to spice up any photo.
Prepare your printer
Enhance print quality by configuring your printer for optimum results.
1. Use current drivers
Drivers are software interpreters that let your computer and printer communicate. But printer manufacturers are constantly revising these drivers. Always use the most current drivers to help ensure peak performance and picture quality. Check your printer manufacturer’s website regularly for downloadable updates, or see this tutorial for advice on locating and installing them.
2. Don’t skimp on dots per inch
The higher your printer’s dots per inch (dpi) specifications, the better the prints it will produce. Avoid images which suffer from frayed and jagged edges by using a printer with 600 x 600 dpi or better printing capabilities when producing hard copies of color digital photos. You can find photo printers for sale at Microsoft Store and advice on picking the right model here.
3. Configure print quality settings
After installing your printer, check your owner’s manual for instructions on how to change print quality settings, or read this article, which covers the basics of printer selection, page orientation, and color management. Remember that it’s always important to choose the right print options and preferences before printing. Detailed instructions on how to print pictures are also available that can help you get the most from your images, as are answers to frequently asked questions.
4. Managing paper
Different types of paper, such as high gloss or card stock, require varying amounts of ink and touch-ups. When setting printing preferences, be sure to tell your printer which type you’re using to help ensure first-rate results and to avoid wasting expensive stock.
5. Ongoing maintenance
It’s a good idea to run printer alignment, color calibration, and print cartridge cleaning functions every 90 days. These practices help prevent blurring, streaking, and off-center photo prints. See your printer’s owner’s manual for instructions on how to perform this maintenance.
Pick the right paper and ink
Help improve photo prints by selecting the right choice of paper and ink to perfectly complement your images.
1. Go with photo paper
Standard printer paper isn’t suitable for creating pleasing photo prints. Unless you’re printing documents, choose a glossy or matte finish photo paper instead. Black and white prints generally look best on matte finish papers, and color tends to look best on glossy paper.
2. Creativity counts
Multiple varieties of paper stock are available, designed for a wide range of specialty uses. These special-purpose materials can enhance any photo printing project. Whether incorporating your photos into decals, business cards, or T-shirts, before starting a new project, browse the selection at your local office supply or electronics retailer.
3. Choose the right size
Photos come in many shapes and forms, from wallet-sized (2.5-by-3.5-inch) to album/scrapbook-ready (4-by-6-inch or 5-by-7-inch) prints. Match the paper to fit.
Alternately, choose a standard letter-sized (8.5-by-11-inch) paper and use Windows Photo Gallery or Windows Live Photo Gallery to squeeze several smaller images onto one sheet.
Windows Photo Viewer makes printing multiple photos a breeze.
Windows Photo Viewer makes printing multiple photos a breeze.
4. Get inked
The safest way to pick an ink is to choose a brand from the same company that manufactured your printer. Various types of ink provide differing degrees of resistance to water, smudges, age, and fading. Which one you should pick depends entirely on how much you’re willing to spend for various image-enhancing qualities.
Additional advice
Always align new print cartridges.
Experiment with free or commercial photo-editing software to eliminate image imperfections and to improve your subjects’ already stunning good looks.
Practice by making test prints. Try reducing image size and creating multiple prints on a single sheet of paper to cut down on wasted materials.
Before placing photos in an album or framing them, give the ink approximately 12 hours to dry.
Remember that Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Live Photo Gallery also make it possible to order prints online or print files at a local printer kiosk, for your convenience.
5 ways to make your keyboard easier to use
How to use a keyboard might seem academic, but there’s more to typing than just tapping the keys. For most people, the keyboard is the primary computer input and control device—that’s why it’s important to leverage the features and shortcuts that keyboards offer. Read on for tips to maximize ease of use, comfort, and efficiency.
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Exams with Life Time Access Membership at https:://www.actualkey.com
1. Get to know your keyboard
Whether your keyboard is just out of the box or it has seen years of use, it may have features you don’t know about. Take a moment to review the literature that came with your keyboard, visit the manufacturer’s product website, and familiarize yourself with the layout of the keys. Knowing your keyboard’s capabilities and limitations—and where to find time-saving keys—can make it easier to use and can even increase your productivity.
2. Customize keyboard settings
After you’re familiar with your keyboard, customizing just a few basic settings can further improve your efficiency and accuracy. For instance, you can adjust:
The pause before a character starts repeating.
The speed at which characters repeat, which can help you avoid typing errors.
The rate at which the cursor blinks, which can enhance its visibility.
You can make these changes right now:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
3. Take shortcuts
Even if you’re a genius with the mouse, keyboard shortcuts can still save you time. They’re called shortcuts for a reason—they reduce multiple clicks to a single combination of keys, like hitting a chord on a piano. They also economize hand and arm motion.
Using keyboard shortcuts for the things you do all the time, like saving or closing files, can make computing much easier and faster. So whether you want to work more easily and efficiently in Internet Explorer, streamline your Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 experience, or key international characters into your emails, you’ll find scores of shortcuts to speed you on your way. The table below offers only a few common standard-keyboard shortcuts, many of which work across Office applications—from Outlook to Access, from Visio to PowerPoint, from Word to Excel. You can find a more complete list of built-in keyboard shortcuts for a particular application by searching in Help for keyboard shortcuts. You can even peruse keyboard-shortcut lists:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Press this
To do this
F1
Open Help
F7
Check the spelling of titles or words in any Office application with the Spelling & Grammar checker
Windows logo keyWindows logo key
Open the Start menu
Alt+F4
Quit a program
Alt+Tab
Switch between open programs or windows
Ctrl+N
Open a new (blank) document
Ctrl+A
Select all content in a document, window, or text box
Ctrl+S
Save the current file or document (works in most programs)
Ctrl+C
Copy the selection
Ctrl+X
Cut the selection
Ctrl+V
Paste the selection
Ctrl+P
Print a document or webpage
Ctrl+Z
Undo an action
Ctrl+Y
Redo an action
Ctrl+F
Find text in a document
Ctrl+H
Find and replace text in a document
Ctrl+B
Boldface text
Ctrl+I
Italicize text
Ctrl+U
Underline text
Ctrl+G
Go to a page, line, or bookmark in a document
Windows logo key Windows logo key +F1
Display Windows Help and Support
Esc
Cancel the current task
Application key Application key
Open a menu of commands related to a selection in a program (equivalent to right-clicking the selection)
4. Make it easier to press multiple keys
If pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del seems an acrobatic feat, you can set up Sticky Keys. The Sticky Keys feature lets you hit shortcut keys one at a time rather than all at once. You can even set Sticky Keys to make a noise so you know it’s working.
All together now
You can set up Sticky Keys:
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
(Tip: In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, Sticky Keys has a keyboard shortcut—press Shift five times in a row.)
5. Find a comfortable keyboard
Keyboards come in many shapes and sizes, and the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard your coworker swears by might feel downright awkward compared to the Comfort Curve 2000 you covet. Keyboards come in a variety of colors and key styles, too, not to mention with and without wires. And some keyboards are definitely louder than others. All Microsoft keyboards are carefully designed to balance form and function with comfort. Test drive a keyboard or two to find the right one for you.
Although using the right keyboard can really make a difference, ergonomics also play a key role when it comes to typing comfortably.
Tips for using your keyboard ergonomically
It is essential to use good ergonomic practices to help prevent or reduce soreness or injury to your wrists, hands, and arms. It is particularly important if you’re in front of your computer for long periods.
Here are some ergonomic tips for a safer, more comfortable computer session:
Position your keyboard at elbow level, with your upper arms relaxed at your sides.
Center your keyboard in front of you. If it has a numeric keypad, use the Spacebar as the centering point.
While typing, use a light touch and keep your wrists straight.
When you’re not typing, relax your arms and hands.
Take a short break every 15 to 20 minutes.
Type with your hands and wrists floating above the keyboard, so that you can use your whole arm to reach for distant keys instead of stretching your fingers.
Avoid resting your palms or wrists on any surface while typing. If your keyboard has a palm rest, use it only during breaks from typing.
How you use the keyboard is up to you. But by taking the time to adjust a few settings and to follow the guidelines above, typing on it can become easier, faster, and even safer.