Building Windows 7 skills - will we need another 10 years?
The training challenge
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Windows 7 Ten years of Windows XP means that the whole world knows how to use it, from administrators to users. How much training does it take to migrate to Windows 7?
The answer is that the training burden falls more on administrators than on end users. One area where Microsoft has a good track record is in application compatibility across different versions of Windows; and in Windows 7 the company not only provides compatibility features within the operating system, but also offers XP Mode or for enterprises, Med-V (Enterprise Desktop Virtualization), so that applications that only work with Windows XP will continue to run.
This means that once the admins have figured out how to keep applications running, the users can continue with the same applications they used before.
Windows 7 does introduce user interface changes, such as the new taskbar where users can pin and launch applications, but in general the new features are discoverable and unlikely to trip up many users.
There are a few areas where Windows 7 is challenging. Microsoft revised the notification area, normally at the bottom right of the screen, so that application icons are hidden by default. This was part of its effort to make Windows less intrusive. Unfortunately this means that user interface elements like the Safely Remove Hardware icon are hidden. Disabling this feature through group policy is worth considering.
Another feature of Windows 7, called Libraries, is useful but can be perplexing. Libraries combine several actual directories into one virtual directory, usually focused on a particular document type such as pictures. That said, most users can do their work without having to learn this immediately.
The new Control Panel with its default Category view and many more applets than in XP takes time to get used to; note the search box which is often the quickest route to what you are looking for.
Perhaps the most awkward feature for both users and administrators is User Account Control (UAC). This is the outcome of work Microsoft did in Windows Vista in trying to fix two long-standing Windows weaknesses: the intermingling of applications, system files, and user data, and the tendency of users to run with local administrative rights. UAC addresses the first with a feature called the Virtual Store, which lets badly-behaved applications appear to write to system folders such as Program Files, while actually writing the data to a location in the user area. Such data can be hard to find.
The second issue is covered by a split security token, which by default means that even local administrators run with reduced system privileges. When the user needs a higher level of access, for example for application installation or for changing critical settings, UAC raises a confirming dialog. This is less of an issue for enterprises that already run with locked-down desktops; but UAC and the virtual store are intricate features where training is important.
On the administrative side there is a lot to learn. Application compatibility is one key area. Windows 7 has many compatibility features, including UAC, compatibility settings, XP emulation, and for enterprise users application virtualisation. It will take training to know which method to use, and which applications are beyond hope and should be upgraded or replaced.
Microsoft’s tools for Windows 7 administration are better than those for Windows XP, but many techniques are different. Key areas include changes to group policy, which lets administrators customise and lock down Windows 7 desktops centrally, and the new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit including the Windows Deployment Services, the Windows Automated Installation Kit and the User State Migration Tool. Backup and restore is different than in Windows XP, being image-based and designed to work with backup drives or Microsoft’s Data Protection Server rather than with tape, though third-party backup systems are also available.
There are also significant new administrative features in Windows 7 such as Direct Access, which enables remote access to file shares without a VPN, and Bitlocker file encryption. Encryption is not to be taken lightly: get it wrong, and users can lose data.
Microsoft’s Desktop Optimization Pack, available as part of Microsoft’s Software Assurance subscription, includes several key management features, covering application virtualization and XP desktop virtualisation, advanced group policy management, desktop error monitoring, and a diagnostics and recovery toolset. These are complex tools but worth learning.
Help desk operators should learn not only about UAC, but also the new troubleshooting tools in Windows 7, such as the reliability monitor, the performance monitor, the revamped event viewer, and the new remote assistance features.
Training for software developers is another facet of Windows 7 migration. Applications need to follow Microsoft’s guidelines to work properly on the operating system, and the Windows API has been expanded to cover the new features. Although some of this is not relevant until XP compatibility can be dropped, there are small but significant ways in which applications can work better on Windows 7 without losing compatibility with XP.
Windows 7 is still Windows, most applications still run, and it is familiar territory for long-term users of XP or Windows Vista. There is still a lot that is new, particularly on the administrative site, and training forms a key part of any migration strategy. ®
COMMENTS
re: event veiwer.
You beat me to the punch on how resource heavy the new event veiwer is, but getting teary eyed for the old one? Really?
Yes, the old event viewer loaded quickly. It also closed just as snappily after you discovered it had recorded bugger all that would give you a clue as to why the machine had suffered a major breakdown and rebooted.
Just last week we had one user who was suffering frequent crashes. At first we put it down to errant software. After all, the XP install on her machine was nearly 5 years old, and had been passed through many users, filling up with crapware. After trying various band-aids and little fixes we bit the bullet and remastered her machine.
This seemed to fix it, until a few days later, it crashed again. The BSOD indicated a memory problem this time, so roll out memtest and various other diags. There was NOTHING in the XP event viewer to even give me a hint, even with all the logs switched to full. It passed with flying colours. By this point, my slightly cynical nature started leading me to suspect it was somehow user instigated.
We put Win7 on her machine, as we've found in practice it's a lot more resiliant and idiot-proof than XP. Again fine for a few days, then I get another call. This time, it had only lost network connectivity. I look in the event viewer, and there it was. I can't remember the exact phasing, but it stated that the HAL had failed to retrieve information from RAM after resuming from sleep.
Bingo. A BIOS update to fix the *known* bug in the ACPI firmware, and we're all sorted. I suppose a lesson to be learnt would be slightly less cynical. When I asked her what she was doing at the time of crash and she said "nothing" I might have realised she litterally meant nothing, hence the machine went to sleep.
Whereas XP refused to even admit that the machine had even rebooted, Win7 just barely stopped short of whipping the side panel off the case and pointing at the chip!
Of course, this is known as self diagnosis and monitoring, or as my collegue amusingly refers, 'naval staring', and we're seeing it more commonly everywhere. Most modern cars will simply tell you exactly what's gone wrong when you plug a laptop in.
I was indulging in a bit of 'motherboard reading' the other day, and spotted a connector I didn't recognise. After some googling I found it was for a motherboard tester that checked every single pathway and chip. The controller chip for that connector had it's own internal bus bridge between the V1 and V2 extended diags.
Wait, what? even the motherboard self diagnostic chip is so advanced now it has multiple internal clock speeds? The self analysis systems within modern computers and the Windows OS are getting ever more advanced and resilliant, but the laws of physics dictate that that these diags have to use resources.
So, can I begrudge the event view taking a few seconds longer to open? Not really. If I'd had Win7 on that machine to start with, it would have save both me and the user a week and a half of mucking about, and I can easily foresee it saving me a lot more time in the future
So...
...corporations can't use a Linux distro because the training costs too much, but it's OK to migrate to Win7 because all that's needed is a bit of training? And compatibility packs. And....
Get the back-end on a Linux, get some admins who know WTF they are doing and don't need a GUI to hold their delicate little hands.
Oh, your new admins will cost more, but they'll be able to manage more servers, bringing total costs down. Servers will have more up-time, bringing total costs down. Licensing fees will be less, support about the same, bringing total costs down. You may not even need to upgrade the hardware, bringing total costs down. If you like, you could install a themed Linux on the clients (this assumes the apps are portable/browser based) that looks almost identical to XP or run XP in a virtual image boot-strapped by a minimal Linux install, reducing training and bringing total costs down.
And you know what lower costs means? Yup, more profit.
Oh and as for UAC? It doesn't go nearly far enough (I can bet that most users run as part of the local admin group - stupid). Then again, once you've seen how real computer security should work you wouldn't go near a Windows implementation if you could possibly avoid it.
It's simple
People are not actually trained on how to use computers. They are turned into little human parrots who can run "macros" based on very particular applications from one particular vendor.
Why? Because it is cheap, they can be churned out en masse and the costs of hiring functionally IT illiterate idiots is deferred for a few years and probably made someone else's problem.
Once there is some change you are boned and have to re-educate all your parrots, but rather than see this cost for what it is you enter a state of denial and spout the "efficiency gains" mantra of some other management twaddle.
[Obligatory car analogy]
If you hire a driver, you expect them to be able to change a tyre (within reason). You do not expect to get a phone call saying "I have a flat, but I can't change the type because the wheel nuts are the wrong colour." or something equally ridiculous. You expect them to get the handbook, read it, take care and IF there is a genuine problem (like some tit has fired the wheel nuts on with Thor's air-hammer) then ask for help.
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