A touch of Malta in Vista and Office
Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, and the new productivity suite, Office 2007, were built on feedback from Microsoft customers worldwide including Malta, i-Tech has learned.Both products, hailed as a major upgrade for software that is...
Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, and the new productivity suite, Office 2007, were built on feedback from Microsoft customers worldwide including Malta, i-Tech has learned.
Both products, hailed as a major upgrade for software that is used by the vast majority of computer users worldwide, were available in Malta as from January 30 in line with the worldwide launch.
"Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office System deliver better personal productivity and digital entertainment through improved reliability, security, and performance," insists Pierre Mallia, Microsoft country manager in Malta.
Microsoft says the new versions of Windows and Office also offer advances in family safety by empowering parents to better manage and monitor their children's PC and internet activities. Security is also more robust in the new releases. Features such as Windows Defender help protect consumers against attacks from spyware and malicious websites, while other enhancements help safeguard personal information.
"Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System were primarily built using feedback from customers worldwide. In Malta, we began talking to customers about these new products during the summer of 2006, months before the official release,"said Jad Hammoud, Microsoft's desktop product manager for the Eastern Mediterranean and Pakistan. "The feedback we got from our enterprise customers in Malta was very encouraging. Customers were primarily interested in how the platforms would help them achieve their business goals in four key areas."
Mr Hammoud explained that the major pillar of the platforms that interested Maltese organisations was around helping their people work better together through pervasive communication and collaboration technologies like instant messaging, multi-party voice and video conferencing, team workspaces and ad-hoc collaboration technologies.
Another important issue for Maltese computer users is managing the overflow of information they have to deal with today. Microsoft is aware the Maltese business community senses the trend of spending more and more time trying to find meaningful information in all the data that comes in through e-mail, fax, back end systems like accounting and ERP systems etc. People all over are spending more time looking for their work than actually doing it.
"Our customers in Malta were pleased with the new capabilities of the platforms that allow them to find and use information," said Mr Hammoud. "Technologies like instant search, search folders, live preview and business intelligence were received with great success especially when we spoke to non-IT users within the companies."
Another request made was the need to help organisations protect and manage their content which is increasing in volume at a tremendous rate. Additionally, like other companies worldwide and especially with the EU accession, it's becoming challenging to meet the requirements of regulatory policies while still hanging onto and protecting their intellectual property.
Then there is, as always, the questions of money.
"I guess one of the most well received areas amongst the IT departments at our customers in Malta was how these new platforms would help them reduce IT costs and improve security. As with other customers, Maltese customers are faced with the challenges of reducing costs and doing more with less and this is an area where our customers believe we can really help them out."
Mr Hammoud refers to a paper about the changing business environment by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates published some time ago entitled The New World of Work that we engage in today.
"I think with all the changes going on in Malta now what with EU accession and all, Maltese businesses are a prime example of companies facing the challenges of the new world of work. This new platform including Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange Server 2007 are geared primarily towards helping companies become what we like to call 'people ready' and overcome the challenges of the new world of work."
Reuters reports that reviews of Vista so far have been positive, but not effusive.
"Definitely better. Is it ideal? I don't think it's ideal. They still have a long way to go," says PC magazine's Jeremy Kaplan.
Apple Inc. calls Vista a copycat version of its Mac OS X Tiger operating system that introduced many of those new features. The iPod maker plans to introduce a new operating system of its own later this year.
The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, in his review of Vista, called it a "worthy, but largely unexciting, product".
In the first year of its release, Vista, which required a $6 billion (Lm2 billion) investment from Microsoft, will be installed on more than 100 million PCs worldwide, according to research reports.
But because only about 15 per cent of existing computers have memory and graphics cards powerful enough to run premium versions of Vista, most users will have to buy a whole new computer if they want to upgrade.
Vista will come preloaded on about three quarters of new computers sold this year. Research firm Gartner group estimates Vista will be running on more than half of the world's computers by 2008.
"The way consumers use technology in daily lives has changed nowadays. The role of the PC has expanded significantly. Five years ago, computing was about creating documents, sending e-mails and surfing the web. Today, technology is used to connect with people, enjoy digital entertainment, preserve memories, and get things done," concludes Microsoft's country manager for Malta.
Both products, hailed as a major upgrade for software that is used by the vast majority of computer users worldwide, were available in Malta as from January 30 in line with the worldwide launch.
"Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office System deliver better personal productivity and digital entertainment through improved reliability, security, and performance," insists Pierre Mallia, Microsoft country manager in Malta.
Microsoft says the new versions of Windows and Office also offer advances in family safety by empowering parents to better manage and monitor their children's PC and internet activities. Security is also more robust in the new releases. Features such as Windows Defender help protect consumers against attacks from spyware and malicious websites, while other enhancements help safeguard personal information.
"Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System were primarily built using feedback from customers worldwide. In Malta, we began talking to customers about these new products during the summer of 2006, months before the official release,"said Jad Hammoud, Microsoft's desktop product manager for the Eastern Mediterranean and Pakistan. "The feedback we got from our enterprise customers in Malta was very encouraging. Customers were primarily interested in how the platforms would help them achieve their business goals in four key areas."
Mr Hammoud explained that the major pillar of the platforms that interested Maltese organisations was around helping their people work better together through pervasive communication and collaboration technologies like instant messaging, multi-party voice and video conferencing, team workspaces and ad-hoc collaboration technologies.
Another important issue for Maltese computer users is managing the overflow of information they have to deal with today. Microsoft is aware the Maltese business community senses the trend of spending more and more time trying to find meaningful information in all the data that comes in through e-mail, fax, back end systems like accounting and ERP systems etc. People all over are spending more time looking for their work than actually doing it.
"Our customers in Malta were pleased with the new capabilities of the platforms that allow them to find and use information," said Mr Hammoud. "Technologies like instant search, search folders, live preview and business intelligence were received with great success especially when we spoke to non-IT users within the companies."
Another request made was the need to help organisations protect and manage their content which is increasing in volume at a tremendous rate. Additionally, like other companies worldwide and especially with the EU accession, it's becoming challenging to meet the requirements of regulatory policies while still hanging onto and protecting their intellectual property.
Then there is, as always, the questions of money.
"I guess one of the most well received areas amongst the IT departments at our customers in Malta was how these new platforms would help them reduce IT costs and improve security. As with other customers, Maltese customers are faced with the challenges of reducing costs and doing more with less and this is an area where our customers believe we can really help them out."
Mr Hammoud refers to a paper about the changing business environment by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates published some time ago entitled The New World of Work that we engage in today.
"I think with all the changes going on in Malta now what with EU accession and all, Maltese businesses are a prime example of companies facing the challenges of the new world of work. This new platform including Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange Server 2007 are geared primarily towards helping companies become what we like to call 'people ready' and overcome the challenges of the new world of work."
Reuters reports that reviews of Vista so far have been positive, but not effusive.
"Definitely better. Is it ideal? I don't think it's ideal. They still have a long way to go," says PC magazine's Jeremy Kaplan.
Apple Inc. calls Vista a copycat version of its Mac OS X Tiger operating system that introduced many of those new features. The iPod maker plans to introduce a new operating system of its own later this year.
The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, in his review of Vista, called it a "worthy, but largely unexciting, product".
In the first year of its release, Vista, which required a $6 billion (Lm2 billion) investment from Microsoft, will be installed on more than 100 million PCs worldwide, according to research reports.
But because only about 15 per cent of existing computers have memory and graphics cards powerful enough to run premium versions of Vista, most users will have to buy a whole new computer if they want to upgrade.
Vista will come preloaded on about three quarters of new computers sold this year. Research firm Gartner group estimates Vista will be running on more than half of the world's computers by 2008.
"The way consumers use technology in daily lives has changed nowadays. The role of the PC has expanded significantly. Five years ago, computing was about creating documents, sending e-mails and surfing the web. Today, technology is used to connect with people, enjoy digital entertainment, preserve memories, and get things done," concludes Microsoft's country manager for Malta.