Adventures in Underland

http://bit.ly/eReaderReview082010

This morning, a director asked me about alternative state products and mentioned that Steady State does not work on Windows 7.  It bugged me all morning and finally I was able to find some time to research the issue.  After digging as deep as I could and reading several articles on the history of the matter, the bottom line is this:

There’s no workaround for getting Steady State on Windows 7.

I did happen across an unofficial survey in the Microsoft forums asking about usage, so I crafted a response and shipped it off … maybe my letter will be the one that tips the balance in favor of future (hopefully more comprehensive) Steady State development and support.  I don’t take this as a sign that Steady State is going away … yet … I want to learn more before jumping to that particular conclusion.

Here is a copy of the letter I sent to Microsoft:

——————————————————————————-

To Microsoft, Windows Steady State Group:

Survey Info:

1)      Wisconsin Valley Library Service
2)      USA
3)      Approximately 200+ computers using or potentially using Steady State

We are a government (state level) organization that manages a system of libraries.  We represent 26 Public library entities (37 branches), 3 public higher education organizations with multiple locations, and many more k-12 school libraries and private libraries.  While we mainly provide support for the Public Libraries, our services are available to all mentioned.

Of the Public Libraries there are over 400 computers in play, and a significant portion of those have been using Steady State on Windows XP and recently Windows Vista.  We have initiated discussion on the topic of state software and are researching centrally managed solutions.  I’ve seen good positive feedback on the Steady State product, not all based on cost; many current users like the easy to use interface.  As a system of public institutions with a fixed budget that is closely tied the state of the state and national economies, we look very closely at overall bottom line.  If we can save resources overall by implementing a centrally manageable system, then that will be our most likely path.  

Supporting Steady State on Windows 7 would be a short term bonus for many members of our consortium.  Creating an easier-to-manage server\end-point solution – possibly integrated with Active Directory services – would make the product something worth investing in for the entire consortium.  Free is obviously great, but even a nominal licensing fee for such a product would not dissuade us from researching it as a competitive product to other, established products.  I’m sure this is a common sentiment among many of our fellow Wisconsin Systems and likely among most medium to large public facing organizations as well. 

Thank you,

 Joshua Klingbeil – IT Director
Wisconsin Valley Library Service

Last week I mentioned that people should look at updating WinU because of date\time sanity check issues with post 12/31/2009 dates.  I didn’t look up the specific version info at the time but for those of you wondering “do I have the latest version?” - here is a link to Bardon’s revision history for WinU. 

WinU 6.5 is the latest public release, and the ONLY release with updates for the date\time sanity check issue as well as support for modern Internet browsers and Windows XP Service Pack 3. 

Once again, I strongly urge anyone who uses the WinU product to update it to the latest version (6.5) before the end of 2009.

For all you WinU users out there.  I was doing a little research on desktop security products and antivirus today and I came across an interesting statement pertaining to older version of the WinU software product.

Bardon, the makers of WinU, has a notice posted on it’s website stating that all WinU clients should be updated to their latest version before January 1, 2010.  Older versions of the software looked at January 1, 2010 as an “Excessively Future Date” and will change the date to something earlier (they didn’t say what).

Click here to read the full statement.