Archive for January, 2015

Windows Server vNext will not be available before 2016

Saturday, January 31st, 2015

Hi Folks,

yesterday Microsoft released an update to the Windows Server roadmap. Reduced to the main information it announced a new Version for Windows Server in 2016 and not in 2015.

You can read the full article from Microsoft here: Windows Server and System Center roadmap update

Cheers

Michael

Solution: A big day for IT Administrators… Youtube now using HTML5 by default!

Friday, January 30th, 2015

Hi Folks,

you are a Terminal Server/VDI Administrator and you hate Flash content in Websites? Unsecure.. Slow.. Resource intensive?

Than you should be happy, one of the most expensive none commercial website for companies (regarding the resource consumption in a Terminal Server/VDI backend) moved from Flash to HTML5 as standard: YouTube 🙂

Now you have only to get a HTML5 enabled browser in your Terminal Server/VDI VM’s like Internet Explorer 11, Chrome or a Firefox Beta supporting HTML5.

You can read the article also here: YouTube Blog

Cheers

Michael

Update: cloud-client.info App for Windows 8(.1) 64Bit,x86 and ARM

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

Hi Folks,

you can now pick up the last Version of our App from the Windows Store.

cciapp

Update 1.1.1.3
– Fixed icon display issue
Update 1.1.0.1
– Added new IGEL UD5 and UD6 Hardware
– Added W7+ OS Software Information
– Fixed some smaller display issues
– Removed UMS4 Live

Download Link: Windows Store

Cheers

Michael

Info: cloud-client.info UMS Live Webserver will be offline since today

Thursday, January 22nd, 2015

Hello Folks,

since today the cloud-client.info UMS Live Webserver will be offline and not available anymore, the project was designed as beta only and regarding the required resources to keep it running it doesn’t make sense for us to continue this service.

Please use our UMS Appliance for Microsoft Hyper-V for future tests/demonstrations.

Cheers

Michael

Release: IGEL Universal Desktop W7 3.09.200

Tuesday, January 20th, 2015

Hi Folks,

already 10 days ago IGEL has released a new WES Firmware 3.09.200 for W7 and W7+ devices.

There is only one change in the firmware:

- Fixed USB driver problem on UD9 (Device hangs on "Applying snapshot... Do not turn off!" while updating)

So this release is only important if you are using the UD9 Thin Client and want to update to the latest 3.09.x release.

Cheers

Michael

Video (Updated): Open the Archos Cesium 80 Tablet

Friday, January 16th, 2015

Hello Folks,

here is a new video that shows how to open the Archos Cesium 80 Windows 8.1 with Bing Tablet based on the Intel Atom Processor Z3735G.

I needed to open the tablet to fix an issue with the Audio Playback (noise during playback but no sound with Realtek I2S/Intel SST Audio Device) thru the speakers (headset did always work), after i tried several drivers (really a lot… 🙁 ) the only thing that helped me was to disconnect the battery from the mainboard. Of couse it could also be a driver issue but as written, other driver versions (older and newer) or the default drivers coming with the pre-installed Windows did never fix it for me.  Some forum articles recommend to change some BIOS settings to fix the issue but the Archos Cesium 80 BIOS is very limited and don’t offer any relevant configuration.

Maybe the same procedure will fix this “playback via speaker” issue also for other Tablets using the Intel/Realtek combo. There can be found a lot of user descriptions mentioning similar issues with other Tablet’s and Vendor’,s but i can’t guarentee that this solution will also work for these issues.

To watch the video click here.

It’s also sad that a bunch of tablet vendors incl. the chipset producer’s Intel and Realtek do not offer driver downloads incl. recovery images (Tablet Vendors only) related to these products. A Windows x86 or 64-Bit Tablet is not a Android Tablet where the user can not “wipe” a driver, how long will it take until a few vendors will notify this? Take a look on Acer or Asus, these vendors offer recovery ISO’s for there products by default (it’s maybe not easy to recover a UEFI based Tablet for the typical user but a recovery solution is still available at all).

Update: I just want to add that the power supply coming with the device is crap at the moment, as example you will get issues with the touch input if you try to use the tablet during the charge of the battery. So i strongly recommend to use any other power supply or a regular PC to charge the battery.

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: Of course this video comes without any warranty!

Microsoft strikes again… I should think about OneDrive and how Microsoft handles my data. (Updated)

Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

Hi,

are you using OneDrive by Microsoft? A new case in Germany demonstrates how secure OneDrive is…

I really like OneDrive and also Google Drive, maybe you are using it too to store photos and other data. For OneDrive i’ve now a very bad feeling and i hope Microsoft can clearify this.

What happens?

Microsoft seams to perform a scan for every file uploaded to your private OneDrive account, all these files seams to be verified with a hash database or/and something similar. So in the case that you’ve uploaded a file with the same hash like a child pornography picture you are in trouble? Regarding the reports US Law enforcement agencys will be informed about this and they will inform the law enforcement agencys in your country. A german OneDrive customer got a visit from the german police in this case.

A lot of questions… You have a daughter or a son and using OneDrive with the automatic Photo sync feature.. Bad luck if you sync a beach picture in your private picture folder? You upload a image that fit’s to forbidden content in the US to your private OneDrive area? Bad luck? Your childs using an own mobile and sync content to a account related to your Office365 account.. Bad luck? Some one hacked your account and upload “Bomb plans” to your private folder? Bad luck, you’re now in a US terrorist database by accident?

Microsoft is fighting for User rights but it seams that Microsoft ignore these rights at the same time… Crazy? What about foreign law? Microsoft can you please make this a little bit more transparent for customers incl. company customers please.. What happens if the OneDrive User is related to company?

All reports related to this are currently in german but you can translate it with Google translate or similar.

Report 1 Report 2 Report 3 and if you search for it you will find a lot of more.

Update: Here is the link to the original blog by the german lawyer Udo Vetter

If Microsoft believes that this will create any trust for customers in Europe they are wrong, companies and also private customers (like myself) really don’t like someone who scan files “in general” and just report this to any foreign law enforcement agency or who ever. It’s also not important if the file was child pornography (or what someone i don’t know at Microsoft/any unknown US Guy defines to be “forbidden” or to be a content of “interest”).. The fact that private files will be scanned by default and without any suspect of a crime is the issue.

I really hope for Microsoft that they will provide a very detailed statement for the general file handling with OneDrive.

…and don’t misunterstood me, i don’t want to protect any crime but how would you like if someone from a foreign Company came into your house without any reason or point of suspect and verify every private item in your house and you don’t know what they’re doing with it. People can sale the biggest “piece of sh*t” as long they tell you it’s for law enforment or to fight terrorism. Huh… “We only will watch the bad guys but not you..”, do you really believe it? Do you feel better if you thing “Heh.. They will watch only the bad guys!”, did you ask “Who is the guy that got unlimited access to my files?” and do you know what they’re doing with it at the end of the day? The truth is, the only things they sale is fear, hate and doubt.

Update: And if you believe you do nothing wrong and you have nothing to fear… In the year 2013 150 Million Adobe accounts were hacked and this is only one figure. Also there is a clear difference between public available content and private content, for example DropBox is known to scan files for copyright protected material but.. If i offer a copyright protected file as public content and the file will be scanned it’s fine but if iam a legel owner of this file and i put it into my “private” file area, is this file now also scanned or will someone else be imformed that i do a “license” violation? Why? Where do file hosters inform users in details what they’re doing with the data or not.. To be honest.. I’ve no clue and trust looks different.

If you are a European company and you want to host files in the cloud than place it in your own datacenter/your private cloud or a hosting company located in your area where you know the law and how this law protects your data incl. the people working for this company. Do the same for any Servers hosting confidential data; this is currently the only advice i can provide to a customer. News like this are really a killer for any “public” cloud offering like OneDrive, Office365 and Azure.

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: This might also work for Google Drive or any other cloud storage provider in the US, but for OneDrive we’ve now a concrete case. The article is also written in a rainbow press style related to the content… How to tell someone that the way how it works is wrong in a more polite way?

Tip: Running out of storage? Slim down Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 R2 HDD use Part 2

Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

Hi Folks,

this is the second part of our “Slim down Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 R2 HDD use” series, the first part can be found here: Slim down Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 R2 HDD use Part 1

In this part we will get a closer look on Windows Server 2012 R2 incl. virtual Windows OS’s runinng on Hyper-V which is also available with Windows 8.1 Pro and Enterprise.

 

1) Compress VHD(x) files (in the right way)

You are using virtual Windows Systems together with the Hyper-V role or VHD boot to have multiple Windows systems available on a PC/Server?
VHD’s are available in different types, one is the dynamic mode and this is very common to use. Why? If you create a VHD with an size of 80GB in dynamic mode the VHD file size will be only a few MB. The VHD will increase the size everytime you add data to it and will max. grow to the defined size (in this case 80GB). But what will happen to the VHD if you remove content from it? Will the VHD size decrease? No… You need to run a compression to perform this task and most Users or Administrators are using the compression offered in the Hyper-V console. Is this a problem? For my point of view yes… In the Hyper-V console you can only run the compression for 1 VHD per Time and you have to repeats this for other VHD’s, boring right? Do you know that they are different compression types available? No? Of cause most people don’t know this because the Hyper-V console doesn’t offer any compression type selection and the “default” compression is not the most efficient one.

So what do we want to do… A simple command or script to compress all VHD or VHDX files in a folder with the best possible compression to gain the most possible free disk space. Here it is…

Attention: If using VHD(x) Boot do not use it for the used boot VHD, it will also not work for running VM’s and the current used VHD(x) files.

Command (Powershell, 1st line for VHDX and 2nd for VHD files):

Get-VHD *.vhdx | where {$_.VhdType -eq "Dynamic"} | Optimize-VHD -mode full

Get-VHD *.vhd | where {$_.VhdType -eq "Dynamic"} | Optimize-VHD -mode full

Supported by Microsoft: Yes
Require Administrator Permission: Yes
Produced space on HDD: Depends on VHD(x) use
Can be used with WIM boot installation: Yes
Disadvantage: Installed Hyper-V role is required to run the command, it will not work for VHD(x) files used by runinng VM’s. Do never use it for a VHD(x) with existing snapshots or VHD(x) files that work as parent disk for one or more differencing disks (See 2,).

 

2) If running multiple VM’s on Hyper-V use differencing disks

You want to run several VM’s with the Hyper-V role? You copy always your Master VHD(x) for each VM? So one 80GB Master Disk is required for 5 VM’s and you have now 480GB used on the HDD? This can be done much lower storage demand by using differencing disks. To explain this a little bit more in details.. A differencing disk (aka as fast clone/linked clone for other Hypervisors) is some sort of a snapshot, so it will take the data from the Master Disk and will add modified or added content to the differencing disk. This means if you use Windows in this way all Windows files will come from the Master Disk, if you now install office to a VM that is using a differencing disk Office will be installed in the differencing disk but the Windows OS files are still coming from the Master Disk. For my sample it means.. If i create a 80GB Master Disk and based on this Master Disk i created 5 VM’s based on a differencing disk, the differencing disk size per VM is only 4MByte at the beginning. So i don’t use 480GB like shown in the sample, i use only 80GB + 5x4MB for the VM’s, you can reduce this even more if the VHD(x) Master Disk is a dynamic expanding disk (see also 1.).

Command (Hyper-V console, no commands available to complete the full task):
– Prepare a Master Disk by installing and configure a VM (don’t forget to run a sysprep in the VM if a Windows OS is installed)
– Delete the VM but not the VHD(x) file used by the VM to prevent changes to the Master Disk in the future.
– In the Hyper-V console (right site) click on “New”->”Harddisk” and follow the assistant, important for the VHD(x) selection.. The differencing disk must be the same type as the Master Disk.
– Select “Differencing” in the Harddisk Type selection and click on next.
– Select the Path where the differencing disk should be created and type in the differencing disk name and click on next.
– Select the Master Disk and click on next and confirm the task to create the disk.
– Now create a new VM and assign the fresh created differencing disk to the VM.
– Create more differencing disks/VM’s if required.

Supported by Microsoft: Yes
Require Administrator Permission: Yes
Produced space on HDD: “Size of Master Disk” x “amount of VM’s”, applying Windows Updates to VM’s will decrease the saving by time.
Can be used with WIM boot installation: Yes
Disadvantage: Not recommended for production use by Microsoft! Do not change or delete the Master Disk or all related differencing disks will fail! I do use this only for VM’s that don’t require Windows Update (like Test environments), as more Windows Updates are installed to the VM’s based on a differencing disk as more space will be required for the differencing disks and as lower is the saving. Do never ever use this for Domain Controllers incl. CA’s / Exchange / SQL / Lync / Dynamics / Windows Storage / Sharepoint Servers, this is my personal opinion; it’s great to setup fast Test Systems / Web / Print or Terminal Server and to perform development/security audits to check/verify Software incl. load tests. Each differencing disk will highly increase the IOPS for the Master Disk, the Master Disk should be always placed on a very fast storage (SSD’s or similar).

 

3) Remove not used or required Windows components

We already got a closer look on the winsxs folder in Part 1 of this series, we already removed superseded files/updates but why not removing files that are not required? If you prepare a couple of Terminal Server, why should you keep files related to the IIS or the Active Directory Domain controller role in the Master Image? You’re right.. There is no reason to do this but still most Administrators are doing it.

Removing the components also reduce the Windows Update footprint because the removed components will not updated anymore.

Commands (commandline):
This command will show all available Windows components and the current use state, the command will create a feature.txt file in the folder where the commandline is executed. Why? It’s more easier to read a txt file with all these components than a simple commandline output:
DISM /online /get-features /format:table > features.txt

This command will remove a not used (active) component from the hard disk (open the features.txt file created with the first command to get the current state), in the sample i will remove DirectPlay from a Windows 8.x:
DISM /online /disable-feature /featurename:DirectPlay /remove

Commands (powershell):
If you want to remove all not active used components you can do this also with a simple powershell command, this is the hardcore way:
Get-WindowsFeature | where-object{$_.Installed -eq 0 -and $_.InstallState -eq 'Available'} | uninstall-windowsfeature -remove

Supported by Microsoft: Yes
Require Administrator Permission: Yes
Produced space on HDD: Depends on amount of removed features
Can be used with WIM boot installation: Yes but mostly useless. Installing a component again will increase used space for drive c:
Disadvantage: Removed roles and features can not be installed without an external winsxs folder source once the files are removed/the above commands are executed. Execute the powershell command to remove all not used components only when you are really sure that you have finished the component setup for this system.

4) The simple way… Use the Microsoft Disk Cleanup Tool

In Part 1 i forgot to mention the “basic” tool, the default disk cleanup tool coming with Windows.

Commands (commandline):
cleanmgr.exe

Supported by Microsoft: Yes
Require Administrator Permission: Yes
Produced space on HDD: Depends on current data hold in Windows
Can be used with WIM boot installation: Yes
Disadvantage: Removed log files/data is not available anymore and maybe need to be recreated or can not be used for future troubleshooting as example.

This is the end of Part 2, maybe there will be a Part 3 (dealing with low-end tablet/low storage mobile cloud clients) but this depends on the available time and future ideas how to slim down a Windows.

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: No warranty at all, if you have no idea what iam talking about don’t use any of these solutions. Don’t blame me if you crash your system.. Dealing with Windows and the components can be always tricky.

Video: How to open the new IGEL Technology IZ3/UD3/UD5/UD6 case

Tuesday, January 13th, 2015

Hi Folks,

you want to open the new case used by IGEL for the IZ3/UD3 (M330C) or the new UD5/UD6 (H830C) case?

Just check out our new video here: How to open the new IGEL Technology IZ3/UD3/UD5/UD6 Thin-/ Zero Client case

The Video demonstrates the task with an UD3 but it will work similar for the UD5/UD6 case because it uses the same concept/case design.

Cheers

Michael

 

New IGEL UD5 / UD6 photo series

Tuesday, January 13th, 2015

Hi Folks,

here are some more pictures for the new IGEL UD5 / UD6, click on the foto to enlarge.

New IGEL UD5/UD6 Front

New IGEL UD5/UD6 Front

New IGEL UD5/UD6 foot and connection bar plug

New IGEL UD5/UD6 foot and connection bar plug

UD5/UD6 Connection Bar

UD5/UD6 Connection Bar

Old UD5 (left) beside the new UD5 / UD6 (right)

Old UD5 (left) beside the new UD5 / UD6 (right)

Is it a new UD5 or UD6, how to find out...

Is it a new UD5 or UD6, how to find out…

UD5/UD6 Mainboard

UD5/UD6 Mainboard

Productsheet: UD6 Productsheet

Hardware Platform Name: H830C

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: Deeper review will follow once i received my test device. I will not review the different IGEL OS coming with the device, they’re similar to the old UD5.

 

Tip: Fix Windows Server 2012 R2 Update issues after moving to core mode

Tuesday, January 13th, 2015

Hi Folks,

this issue happens sometimes for me, Windows Server 2012 R2 is a cool product and a couple of Administrator are using it in core mode. This is quite easy because you can switch between core and GUI mode quite simple now.

The pain starts if you have installed some Apps in GUI Mode, as example Microsoft Silverlight and than you switch to the core mode. Why? Windows can not use Silverlight in core mode and related roles/applications are not available in the core mode. When it now comes to Windows Updates it still download Silverlight related updates but this will cause in error during the update installation (the related Applications are not available…).

This is caused thru the winsxs folder and the available packages/components hold in this folder, so we need to repair it.

Just try to run the following command:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Once the command is finished the issue should be gone and Windows Update should run fine now.

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: If the issue is not gone check in c:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log if you receive any other information related to the issue.

Tip (Updated): Running out of storage? Slim down Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 R2 HDD use Part 1

Monday, January 12th, 2015

Hi Folks,

you run several Windows 2012R2 Servers or Windows 8.x VDI’s? You have Windows devices with small HDD’s/SSD’s? You run out of storage or you want to reduce the Windows Footprint in general?

Here are some supported and unsupported steps you can do… “Can be used with WIM boot installation” points to the new Install Option for OEM Vendors, mostly used for Windows 8.1 with Bing and low SSD devices. For a WIM boot description get a look here: WIM boot explained

1) Disable Hibernation

Hibernation could be usefull but I see mostly that Users are using the sleep/standby mode. The difference between the sleep/standby Mode is quite simple to explain. In standby mode the computer hold the current RAM state in the RAM and consume still some power, in hibernate Mode the RAM content will be placed on the HDD/SDD and the computer really shutdown. The disadvantage in this case is quite simple, it always consumes 75% of the total ram size with a file called “hiberfil.sys” on drive C:. So if you don’t need the hibernate mode, disable it…

Command (command line):

powercfg -h off

Supported by Microsoft: Yes
Require Administrator Permission: Yes
Produced space on HDD: 75% of the total RAM Size
Can be used with WIM boot installation: Yes
Disadvantage: Hibernation mode is not available

2) Remove superseded Updates/Windows files

Windows by design increase the used amount of HDD Space.. By default all installed Windows updates and also the old original files will be hold to roll back the updates. So if you have an old Windows System and you run Windows Update all the time, all this files will be hold and consume a lot of HDD space. You can remove this old stuff quite simple, this should be done everytime you create a golden image or after you run Windows Update…

Update: I’ve been asked if this is similar to the Windows Update clean up provided by the Windows disk clean up tool. No it’s not similar and will provide more free space as extension to the disk clean up tool

Command (command line):

dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

Supported by Microsoft: Yes
Require Administrator Permission: Yes
Produced space on HDD: 0->4GB depending on how much Windows Updates applied
Can be used with WIM boot installation: Yes but smaller effect.
Disadvantage: Windows Updates can’t be rolled back in case of issues, test the Windows before you roll-out it.

3) Compress the “winsxs” and some other Windows folders (UNSUPPORTED!)

Windows comes with a sub directory called “winsxs”, this is one of the most important Windows folders because this folder holds all Windows Installation Files and a lot of active used Windows Files are pointed to the files in the “winsxs” folder. This folder requires a lot of space and it could make sense to compress it if possible. By design this task is not simple to do and we need a more complex script to do it. You can also compress some other folders like the Fonts directory without any issue in the same step.

I use this script since a long time (> 12 Months) now and with a couple of test / low storage system’s like my Surface Pro, until now i never got an issue but i don’t recommend to use this in any Windows Server production environment.

Commands (command line, save as wincompress.bat):

echo Compress Windows folders
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\Fonts" /c /a /i *
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\Temp" /c /a /i *
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\Web" /c /a /i *
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\assembly" /c /a /i *
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\debug" /c /a /i *
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\LastGood" /c /a /i *
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\ShellNew" /c /a /i *
echo Compress winsxs folder
icacls "%WINDIR%\WinSxS" /save "%WINDIR%\WinSxS.acl" /t
takeown /f "%WINDIR%\WinSxS" /r
icacls "%WINDIR%\WinSxS" /grant "%USERDOMAIN%\%USERNAME%":(F) /t
compact /s:"%WINDIR%\WinSxS" /c /a /i *
icacls "%WINDIR%\WinSxS" /setowner "NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller" /t
icacls "%WINDIR%" /restore "%WINDIR%\WinSxS.acl"

Supported by Microsoft: No, support is lost! (You use the script on your own risk!)
Require Administrator Permission: Yes
Produced space on HDD: ~3GB-5GB
Can be used with WIM boot installation: No, never use it with a WIM installation! Why? The files in the winsxs folder in a WIM boot installation are mapped from the recovery partition. If you compress now the files the files will be shifted/written into the Windows partition and this will highly blow up the used space.
Disadvantage: System requires some CPU resources to handle the compressed files, system is now without any support from Microsoft. Do never abort the script once running, run it only with a 100% stable system! Script needs some time to run… If running on a physical hardware create a recovery partition on a USB Memory in advance: How to create a recovery partition on a USB memory or create a snapshot if used with a VM. Once the script is finished you will receive always a message that the script execution failed for one file, this is by design and no issue at all.
This is Part 1 of this article, Part 2 can be found here: Slim down Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 R2 HDD use Part 2

 

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: Figures shown as produced savings are max. savings, on a fresh installed windows the savings will be lower.

How do Office 365 deal with multiple OEM Licenses

Saturday, January 10th, 2015

Hi Folks,

a lot of low priced Windows 8.1 devices are coming up at the moment and mostly these devices include a Office 365 1-Year Subscription. But what happens if you got a second device coming with a second OEM subscription?

Story behind this question is quite simple, i got a Emdoor Surf 7 Tab before christmas and i enabled the Office 365 subscription. In January i got also a Archos Cesium 80 Windows 8.1 tablet coming with the same Office 365 subscription.. Both devices come with Windows 8.1 with Bing and a 1 Year Office 365 Personal License (1 Tablet and 1 PC) Now a big question came up… Will the activation create a second Office 365 subscription, expand the existing one or create a error? Before i start the Archos tablet the first time i tried to find some information’s in the TechNet and also other sources about the license handling but mostly i found nothing or complete nonsense…

So i tried it and here is the result…

If you got a second Windows 8.1 with Bing device incl. Office 365 and you have a subscription in place it will expand the subscription for one year. When i started the Surf 7 Tab it got a Office 365 running until 16th of December 2015 after i started the Archos Cesium 80 and installed Office 365 home the subscription was increased until 16 of December 2016. No second subcription… No error… Just working.

You should be aware about a few things:

1) The subscription type must be similar between the devices..
2) The trouble will start if the device amount will be larger than the license amount… As example.. I have now two Windows 8.1 Tablet’s coming with and using the Office 365 Personal subscription. This license cover two devices,  what will happen if a 3rd device will raise up? Subscription until 2017 but i have to decide which tablet’s should use the subscription?

I believe Microsoft has done a great job with Windows 8.1 with Bing and Office 365 but there are still a few things that needs to be improved or better explained?

1) OEM license handling for Office 365 need to be better explained in general.
2) App installation to SD-Card/Office 365 target path selection… Office 365 will always install to c:/program files and this is a poor selection for typical Windows 8.1 with Bing devices and a 16GB e-MMC/HDD.
3) What is the deal if a company provides these devices to employees? Who owns the subscription? Office 365 Personal and Home is by default not a license for companies and the use in commercial environments is forbidden thru EULA.

From the price point… You pay something between 50 US$ – 80 US$ for a seperate one year Office 365 Personal subscription incl. 1TB OneDrive and 1h Skype World calls, if you pay 100 US$ or less for a Windows 8.1 Tablet incl. the subscription extension.. How much is the tablet? 😉 Can Android or IOS provide a similar deal?

Iam not sure how Microsoft will earn money in this way but for customers and the Windows 8.1 market share it’s really a great deal at the moment.

Want to get a better deal?

I’ve done a last test… You think this is already a great deal? But this deal can be done even better.

1) Install/Activate Office 365 Personal  with the first device coming with Windows 8.1 + Bing and the Office 365 1-Year subscription, you receive the first 12 months.
2) Install/Activate Office 365 Personal with the second device coming with Windows 8.1 + Bing and the Office 365 1–Year subscription.

Now you have two Years Office 365 Personal for two devices (one User) incl. 1TB OneDrive and 1h Skype World Calls.. You agree? Now make it better… You need a paid Office 365 Home Premium Retail code for this…

3) Open your Office 365 Account and select “Enter a Office Key”. Now enter the more valuable Home Premium Retail Key.. What do you believe will happen? Yes… You’re right, it’s now 36 Months Office 365 Home Premium for 5 Users/Devices incl. 1TB OneDrive per User and 1h Skype World calls for the subscription owner. What did you pay? 2 Tablets and 1 Office Home Premium Retail Pack. Deal? This will make the most out of a low budget Windows 8.1 with Bing device.

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: It might be that Microsoft will change this in the future… But today this is how it works.

View inside the new UD5 Dual Core and UD6 Quad Core IGEL Thin Clients

Wednesday, January 7th, 2015

Hello Folks,

it’s not far away that IGEL will release the new UD5 (Dual Core-Intel J1800 CPU) and UD6 (Quad Core-Intel J1900 CPU) devices.

Both devices are using the new IGEL H830C Hardware, only the CPU seams to be the difference between the UD5/UD6. Want to get a look inside? Here you go… Click on the picture to enlarge…

UD5-6MB

 

As you see the Mini PCI-E Slot is still available. I will post a bigger review and some test results after the promised test device arrived from IGEL, this one is not my device and i don’t get the time to perform a bigger test at moment with the available device.

There will be also an update for our Windows App incl. the new UD5/UD6 Tech Specs in the upcoming days.

Please note: The connection foot for the older UD5 to provide a WiFi/LPT Port is not compatible with the new UD5/UD6, it will not fit under the new case.

Cheers

Michael