Article: IT Workers battle to keep up with technology

Hmm just got done reading the article at http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2179110,00.asp in PC week magazine, saying how stressed IT workers are in trying to keep up with technology.

I am surprised it has taken them this long to figure this out...I am also surprised more of us don't go postal.. ; ) LOL

Having been in IT for 25+ years I've gone from learning machine language, dos, os2, VMS, Windows 3, Windows 95, ME, XP, 2000, 2003, and Vista over the years to name a few. This doesn't include all the software packages and computer type iteratations throughout the years. Does it ever stop? Do we really need a supercomputer on our desktop? My favorite OS is Windows 2000, I've never had it blue screen on me, and been using my little 600 mhz compaq m300 laptop for years to get me by. I don't need anything more powerful since Terminal Services RDP and ICA came along. ; ) I can connect to a more powerful machine if I need to and work like I am on it.

All the bells and whistles of Vista are great, but you need a new PC to do it. I've tried upgrades on about 10 different machines with little success and I'm supposed to be a pro. Can you image the common man trying to install on his home PC? I already have been inundated with several horror stories about people trying to upgrade. Many have given up. So how are we to cope... we have to keep up at work and AT home because we end up being the resident/family computer guru whom everyone including family, friends and neighbors, comes to and are expected to help them for no compensation of our time. How are we not going to be stressed?

Truthfully though I love the variety of the job, never a dull day, I love helping people, I love the daily challenges of problem solving and I'd would not want to do anything else. I guess I am not only stressed but maybe a bit crazy? : )

Download Picks: From MS: GP Diag Best practice, Malware removal kit, Vista Tech center, updated sysinternals utilitilies

Hi All,
I have been notified of several updated utilities of interest to you all from Microsoft so here they are:
Windows Vista Techcenter
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/default.aspx

Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer for Windows Server 2003 (KB940122)
The Microsoft Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer (GPDBPA) for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 is designed to help you identify Group Policy configuration errors or other dependency failures that may prevent settings or features from functioning as expected.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=47f11b02-8ee4-450b-bf13-880b91ba4566&DisplayLang=en

Malware Removal Starter Kit
Many small- and medium-sized organizations use antivirus software, and yet new viruses, worms, and other forms of malicious software (malware) continue to infect large numbers of computers in these organizations. Malware proliferates at alarming speed and in many different ways, which makes it particularly widespread today.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/guidance/disasterrecovery/malware/default.mspx

Tcpview v2.5

This update to Tcpview adds support for Vista, including IPv6, and displays counts of active and connected endpoints in a status bar

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/tcpview.mspx

Process Monitor v1.21

This release adds XML as a new export format, includes performance optimizations, and fixes a number of minor bugs

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processmonitor.mspx

PsExec v1.85

PsExec v1.85 adds a new switch that takes advantage of new memory and I/O priorities on Vista, -background, for running processes with low CPU, memory and I/O priority.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/psexec.mspx