| It's been months since Windows Vista and Office | | | | Frankly, if you can wait longer, it makes even more |
| 2007 hit the market. With the hoopla behind us, and | | | | sense to hold off on upgrading your operating |
| after a period of observing both products in the | | | | system until you have to upgrade your computer. |
| marketplace, it looks like Office 2007, especially in | | | | Issues with Office 2007 |
| conjunction with SharePoint Server 2007, seems to | | | | The biggest issue with Office 2007 is the new |
| have a lot of value for larger companies interested in | | | | application interface. It is quite different from Office |
| workflow automation and electronic content | | | | 2003 and it typically takes several days for users to |
| management. There doesn't seem to be much | | | | adjust to the changes. For example, it took me five |
| advantage in upgrading to Vista anytime soon. In | | | | minutes to discover how to save and print a Word |
| fact, it looks like organizations should wait at least | | | | document the first time I tried. |
| until service Pack 1 is released in early 2008. | | | | Office 2007 is valuable, especially in Conjunction with |
| Issues with Vista | | | | SharePoint Server 2007 |
| Vista has its short comings, including missing drivers | | | | Office 2007, especially in conjunction with SharePoint |
| for printers and other peripheral devices. There is also | | | | Server 2007, is making a splash in the market place. |
| a lack of application support from independent | | | | With this new release, SharePoint Server has evolved |
| software vendors. For example, Adobe won't issue | | | | into the integration technology for portal, |
| updates to Dreamweaver, InDesign and Photoshop | | | | collaboration, work flow, Web-content and document |
| until this summer. A number of antivirus products and | | | | management applications. As a result, SharePoint in |
| VoIP technologies don't work with Vista yet either. | | | | conjunction with Office 2007 is providing many larger |
| Vista also requires pretty beefy hardware, especially | | | | organizations with an alternative to more complex |
| if you want to take advantage of the slick Aero | | | | and expensive custom developed portals and work |
| Glass user interface. Even minimum system | | | | flow automation applications, as well as content |
| requirements are more demanding than any previous | | | | management applications such as Documentum and |
| Windows operating system. | | | | FileNet. |
| But the biggest problem with Vista is there's no | | | | The new version of Small Business Server, which |
| compelling business case for upgrading. The previous | | | | bundles SharePoint, Windows, Exchange and SQL |
| operating system, Windows XP, works perfectly well | | | | Servers into a package for small businesses, won't be |
| for most organizations and will continue to be | | | | available until after the release of the new Longhorn |
| supported for another 2 years. Unlike earlier | | | | version of Windows Server, which is expected in late |
| generations of Windows where upgrading a few | | | | 2007. As a result, we won't know how SharePoint |
| desktops caused network disruptions, Vista seems to | | | | and Office 2007 applications for small business will |
| work well within networks of XP computers. Vista | | | | pan out until early 2008. |
| introduces some major interface changes and new | | | | So don't jump on the bandwagon just yet, especially |
| ways of doing things that will take some getting | | | | if you are a smaller organization. You'll have an easier |
| used to. As a result, the costs of upgrading - such as | | | | time and get more bang for you buck once Vista is |
| hardware upgrades, user training and compatibility | | | | more compatible and SharePoint is proven for small |
| testing - aren't outweighed by new features and | | | | businesses. |
| functionality. | | | | About Xantrion |
| Wait to Upgrade to Vista until Early 2008 | | | | Xantrion - offering gold-certified Microsoft support - |
| It sounds like most prominent third party software | | | | continues to revolutionize computer network support |
| vendors are shooting to issue updates by the time | | | | by providing systems that work, along with seasoned |
| Service Pack 1 (SP1) arrives. In addition, it sounds like | | | | consultants at a fixed price. Xantrion allows growing |
| SP1 will resolve most driver issues. Since SP1 is slated | | | | businesses to do more with fewer resources and |
| to be released in early 2008, we recommend waiting | | | | focus on what they do best. |
| to upgrade to Windows Vista at least until then. | | | | |