Too big for your boots!

Okay, so Microsoft produced a great product in Windows 7, and a good, but rough product with Windows 8. Windows 8 feels like early Windows XP in some ways, given a few updates to the OS, it could be great.  In fact if you factor in what they're trying to achieve with Win 8, it's pretty darn good.  Nobody else has even come close to being able to unify a desktop and mobile OS yet.

Anyway, so one of the quirks of Windows 8 is the App Store, which bears a few problems that stem from Microsoft's apparent need to be more 'Apple-like' (for reasons known only to them). The Apple App Store model is primarily an online retail beast, designed to sell software to individuals, rather than entities like corporations so it baffles me when I try to understand why Microsoft have decided to replicate that at the expense of the large installations (like businesses and schools, for example) that they've gone to great lengths to help over the years.
One might think that if your modus operandi was to develop software with these organisations in mind that you might build in some features appropriate to them. Failing that, one might think that you'd at least try not to make it IMPOSSIBLE to use!

If you're not following, what I'm referring to is the complete inability to purchase apps from the app store on any basis other than a purely individual one. Something that schools in particular, require. Currently the only way to buy an app in the Windows Store is to use a credit card or Paypal. So if you're a teacher who's identified a paid app you'd like your students to use, you might find that few of your cohort of 12 year-olds have their AmEx handy!
Microsoft have in their organisation a division (business unit, or whatever they call them) called Volume Licensing whose concern is to help people purchase, access and deploy their software en masse.  So you could be forgiven for thinking that maybe, if you were setting up a store to sell software (en masse), you might include the expertise of this division.
But if you did think that you'd be wrong, because if you're a business, school or some other group and you want to buy an app for all in your organisation you have absolutely no way of doing so. None. I know you can side-load apps from the store, but only if the app developer creates a specific type of package and sells it to you using some method other than the store. I somehow don't think that makers of simple educational apps are going to be bothered with doing that.

Have Microsoft thought about what this does to their App ecosystem at all I wonder? If I put myself in the shoes of a developer of a popular Windows 8 Store App targeted at education I have two choices when putting my app in the store. I can a) release it for free, taking the kudos and no money, or b) put it up as a paid app that students can't buy, have no-one download it and still not make any money.
Forget distributing it as an appx package, no one is going to do that apart from the big software houses, and why should they have to? Have Apple beaten Microsoft at their own game by having a Volume Licensing scheme for their own apps?

In trying to research this problem we've spoken to Microsoft employees at the App Store, and Volume Licensing (two divisions which in true MS style, don't appear to talk to each other). Our question to the app store about this problem was met with a bemused "we'd never thought of that" response. Moreover, the person at the App Store helpfully suggested that a way to purchase apps for a group of students might be to purchase them all under one account, then you can just install a copy on each machine from that account. Great, until we mentioned the device-limit of 5 installs per app (yes, believe it or not we had to tell them about their own limit). So the app store people failed us, and the volume licensing people told us it wasn't their problem.

It turns out there might be a solution on the horizon, albeit a bad one. But frustratingly the people at the app store didn't know that literally days after asking them the question "can we give students some sort of voucher to buy their apps with" and being told "no", that we soon will be able to. Pending reliability of The Verge and its sources, we've discovered there will be a voucher available soon that works across all Microsoft stores that we can give to kids to buy apps. It's still not the most elegant solution, but at least it's something (albeit essentially where the Apple store was at 3 years ago).

[caption id="attachment_158" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Real or fantasy? The unconfirmed Microsoft giftcard, according to The Verge.[/caption]

So, I'll finish this off by inviting Apple and Google fanbois a rare opportunity. I know you love to laugh at Microsoft when you get the chance, so pull up a seat and poke some fun at the Redmond clowns with me over this insulting oversight.

UPDATE: - No more news on the gift-card concept.  Either it's planned for release alongside Windows 8.1 or The Verge were merely peddling their usual quality of rumour.

UPDATE 2: - This feature of Microsoft SCCM 2012 SP1 looks quite promising.  No indication that it can handle paid apps at this stage but I'd bet that's in the works.

 

And then there were three.

Okay, so let's start by skipping to the end.  We have our quotes in for the Year 7 1:1 program devices and the three candidate machines are:

The Samsung Ativ Smart PC 500t

[caption id="attachment_287" align="aligncenter" width="543"] A tablet that unlike the others features an active stylus. It's the best equipped with connectivity options. It's also the same as the machine I've been using to test this form-factor and the hardware platform in general.[/caption]

The Acer Iconia w510

[caption id="attachment_285" align="aligncenter" width="543"] The cheap and cheerful one in the bunch. At first it seems like a slightly tacky unit but as soon as you witness the insanely good battery life it becomes apparent that this unit is a about function over form.[/caption]

The HP Envy x2

[caption id="attachment_286" align="aligncenter" width="522"] The pretty-boy of the bunch. If the Acer or the Samsung are function first, this one is probably form first, but it shouldn't be assumed that it's build quality is any less because of it. First impressions are that HP have the most robust contender.[/caption]

 

Choosing between these three will be a difficult process.  Presumably, it'll be more about the form, robustness and connectivity than it will the performance.  All three machines are based on the Intel Atom platform, which is quite tightly controlled specification wise.  The similarity is likely due to the price cap we'd been given for the program.  An Intel Core i series chip would've been too expensive, and that only leaves ARM-based hardware or the Atom, and ARM would mean running Windows RT, which we've no interest in.  The other reason resellers have picked the Atom platform is for its exceptional battery life.  All three tablets boast 10+ hours on battery (and many times more in sleep mode).  The Atoms also have the 'connected standby' feature, which is particularly interesting, plus allow for the lightest ant thinnest designs of any chipset out there.

We received quotes from seven resellers, two of which failed to submit a quote and another two submitted quotes for machines that didn't meet our specifications.  In both cases the sub-spec hardware was the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2, another Atom tablet, which lacked a suitable pointing device in its Bluetooth keyboard and only had one USB port.

So, we have three to choose from.  It'll be interesting to see how they stack up, particularly from the teachers' point of view.

Bring it!

So, we've had our BYOD program running for a couple of months now, and I recently felt it was time turn our attention back to it, and it's users.  We firstly needed to catch up and fix a few things we'd promised to do for the students, and secondly we needed an update from them and their teachers on how it's going overall.

In our "setup sessions" (run at the start of the year to get BYO students connected) we alluded to a few more services we'll be putting at their disposal, and that we'll be keeping them informed with some help and documentation.

An example of such a service is the Terminal Server we've recently given the students access to.  The idea here is to allow them to use software and network services they can't get at from their own computer.  For example, some students have a Mac, but some subjects use Windows packages that don't have a Mac alternative.  The Mac users can use the Remote Desktop client for Mac to access those incompatible programs.  Another advantage provided by the Terminal Server is access to a standard Windows print environment.  The students currently access printers from our Papercut installation, they upload a document to a web-interface and it's printed for them.  It works well, but doesn't allow them to access the more advanced printer features provided by the native driver.  This means they can't select double-sided as an option, select different weight or size of paper, or easily print only a selection of pages from a document.  By logging on to the Terminal Server  they get access to all the features supported by the printer.
The Terminal Server is a good solution to these problems, but it's a little more difficult than I'd like.  A serious VDI solution is definitely the best way to go here, but that sort of thing is far too pricey at the moment, sadly.  If the price comes down we'll be very keen to move to something like that though.

When we set our BYOD students up at the beginning of the year we asked them to keep an eye on their e-mail for new developments, and we've made use of that several times now.  Recently we've started sending out a bit more documentation.  How to access the Terminal Server mentioned above was one example, but we've also followed up on our setup sessions with reference documentation on the topics we covered.
We're not content to stop there though, while we've got an audience we figure it's best to offer them some help and tips where we can.  So, given the surprising number of Windows 8 PC's we've seen students using, we emailed them a cheat-sheet of Windows 8 shortcut keys.  Many students have a non-touch Windows 8 computer, which isn't the ideal device for that OS, but it can be much better if you know the keyboard shortcuts.  We've also mailed out little helpers for configuring Internet Explorer to work best on our LAN and a few other little tips too.

I think all of this is very important, so that the students know they're not being left to their own devices (excuse the pun).  We need to convey that they're a welcome guest on our network, and that they can still expect a level of service from the I.T. Department.  And in speaking to teachers and students, they certainly seem happy enough with everything so far.  There's probably not enough access to power for charging, but the feeling was generally positive.  I'd like to get a more solid measurement of that feeling sometime, so we might look into that later in the year.  But for now, all seems well.

Atomic Testing

So, I’m currently typing this blog post on the first test machine that we’ve actually spent money on (as opposed to getting a temporary eval. model from a reseller).

It’s a Samsung Ativ Smart PC.  The entry-level Windows 8 tablet from Samsung running on a Clover-Trail Intel Atom platform, with a 64Gb eMMC (more on that later) and 2Gb RAM.  The dual-core Atom immediately felt like it was in a totally different league to the old Atom-based HP Mini netbook I used to have.

[caption id="attachment_259" align="aligncenter" width="567"] Samsung's Ativ and Intel's Roadmap for the Atom.[/caption]

It’s probably a testament to Microsoft’s work on keeping the system requirements for Windows from getting ridiculous like they had in the days of Windows Vista.  The overhead for Windows 7 and 8 isn’t really that different, which has allowed the lower-level hardware to catch up a bit.

There's a very tiny jitter in the start-screen when scrolling back and forth, probably due to the lower-power integrated graphics chip.  But said jitter is occasional, and so hard to notice that you have to point it out to people, and even then you can blink and miss it.  So no big deal there.

I’ve typed a few pages on this device and I' have to say, for a small machine the keyboard is fantastic, I’m able to type at the same speed as I would on my expensive desktop PC keyboard (sadly, it can’t help my poor spelling though).

It’s actually not shy on connectivity options either.  For those of us who don’t share the iPad’s “less-is-more” design ethic, there's welcome inclusion of one full-size USB port on the tablet and two on the keyboard.  Real work requires USB, so that’s great.  The tablet also sports a micro HDMI port and a MicroSD slot.  The other bonus feature is the S-Pen, a proper active stylus that’s pressure-sensitive and as accurate as a Wacom digitiser.  It lacks the eraser found on some, which is a small shame.

It’s got some bad that comes with the good though.  The buttons on the touchpad have nothing to indicate where the left button and right button meet.  The charger is tiny, which is great, except so is the connector, it’s one tiny pin isn’t very kid-friendly, and is likely to get bent.  The biggest disappointment though, is the way the tablet docks to the keyboard, the bizarre clip mechanism fails a lot on this test machine.  More often than not, you’ll pick up the tablet and the keyboard will fall off.  You have to be quite forceful to be sure it clips securely.

But this test machine wasn’t as much about the individual features of the Ativ as it was about giving one of these new Atom-based tablets a thorough test.  Which isn’t going so bad at the time of writing.  Nothing I’ve tried to do has made the device seem horribly underpowered, although it’s mostly been simple content creation and web surfing so far.  I don’t think it’s going to be quite so pretty when I try Photoshop on it, or try to edit a video.  But I’m happy to be proven wrong.

UPDATE: - Actually, I might be at least partly wrong, editing in Photoshop is doable with Web-sized images, and short video editing in Movie Maker can also be done.

Either way, I’m feeling positive about these little tablets.  We’d prefer our chosen machine to be an Intel Core i based unit, but if economic realities force us to look at the little-brother (or sister) from Intel, I don’t think it’ll be so bad.

It's All About the Pentiums

Well, it's not about the Pentiums and if it were it'd be all about the Core i5's, which makes that Weird Al song sound even more geeky (if that's possible).

What it is about actually, is the very fast and slick hardware we got our teachers this year.  That extra spend has made them eager to receive their new computer, and the brief but important introductory tutorial that goes with it.  That tutorial is key to making a Windows 8 rollout work.

Past the halfway mark with our Windows 8 rollout, and there's been no negative reactions to Windows 8 or Office 2013.  I firmly believe that's because we chose the hardware well, and understood the training that was needed.  The training has ranged from a simple 5 minute intro by the I.T. Dept. to a more comprehensive introduction by our E-Learning person.  Neither is particularly onerous, but the effect has been that Windows 8 and Office 2013 have been well received to date, and any comments we have received were positive.  Most of the positivity relates to the light and easy to carry form-factor of the Dell convertibles.  I hope that optimistic outlook continues.
So, I think we've proven something here; that Windows 8 is an easy switch with just a little bit of thought given to the user, and the right hardware (anything with a touchscreen, really).  It also proves that large amounts of the tech. press don't know what they're on about.  They might do well to stop judging Windows 8 on the old crappy desktop or Virtual Machine they're testing it on and get something it's made for.

Finally, this tentative success couldn't have been achieved without Apple and Google (and probably wouldn't have).  The acceptance they've created for touch-first interfaces lead to the initial reaction we saw quite a lot from teachers.... "oh, so it's a bit like a phone then?"

Spicks and Specifications

[caption id="attachment_245" align="alignright" width="300"] The Bee Gees talk Devices with old Monkey Boy.[/caption]

It's probably a little late to be getting started on our Year 7 device rollout, but with everything else we've been asked to do, this is the absolute earliest we could expect to get things underway.

When I say "getting started" what I really mean is beginning the process of looking at devices, and as usual the first step is to work out what we want exactly, and get some quotes.  That, followed by; seeing some physical machines, establishing a shortlist, showing off the options internally, then picking something is roughly the process we'll go through.  It's worth sticking around to see that process, as over the years we've got it down to a fine art, particularly the part of assessing the candidate machines.

This time I've made one change though.  We'll be producing a serious and complete Request for Quote document to lay our our requirements fully.  One of the biggest problems we've encountered over the years is getting machines to meet a spec, a price, and receiving them on time.  I will not haggle this time, nor will I accept delivery weeks late.  I don't have that luxury when the program is being funded by parents who expect to get what they're paying for when we say they will.  I expect resellers and manufacturers to put up there best most reliable option first and expect no second chances.

The process of arriving at a machine spec. is an interesting one, and can be difficult when the industry is in such a state of flux as it is now.  Luckily we've been keeping a close eye on the Windows 8 device market since this time last year, and we now know what we can expect for roughly what sort of money.  We used that knowledge plus input on preferred features from our teaching staff to arrive at this specification:

That probably lends itself to one or two types of machine, but if we're to get something that matches the above, we've got to work with that.  Which we will do, I suspect I know what models the quotes are likely to bring, so it'll be interesting to see if I'm right.

I'm Too Sexy For My Laptop

The BYOD program we're starting this year is a bit of new territory for us.  We've allowed students to BYO for a while now, but it's only been ad-hoc supplementation of the machines we already provide.  Students had embraced that quite well, but making BYOD a compulsory requirement is a different thing altogether.  To begin with, we didn't even know how many students were going to take the new requirement seriously and start the year with a machine that met the minimum spec.  So when we ran our 'setup sessions' in the holiday break we had no idea what to expect.

More on the setup sessions later, I mentioned the minimum spec, so I should probably point out what that was, and the thinking is behind it.  Here's the parameters parents and students were given for the device:

So, none of this "BYOD, but only the platform we like" business.  We've opened it up to any device that we feel a student can do work with.  We haven't allowed small tablets like the Nexus 7 because we've found they're too small to achieve serious work, but we have allowed 10" tablets because of the variety and market maturity of that size.  We haven't allowed students to connect their phones and iPod touches at this stage.  I wont say we're closing the door on that completely, but for the moment most students only want to connect that sort of device for non-educational purposes, and the sheer number of those devices is an overhead we can't deal with right now.  I'll be prepared to go back on that as soon as I have a teacher come to me with a genuine need (which is possible, but not probable).

So now that you understand the parameters of BYOD, lets look at what we experienced in our 'setup sessions'

The setup sessions were two days we set aside during the school holidays for students to come and join in a short workshop lead by the I.T. staff which was aimed at getting them connected to our network, to learn how to print, access file shares, use the internet, configure their browser, access their email and to overcome any problems before the year began.  We covered all those topics and also offered a selection of free software that students might not otherwise have known about.  The software was aimed at helping them meet the requirements above (if their computer didn't already) and encouraging them to go a bit further than that as well.

We'd allowed half an hour for the sessions, figuring we'd get small workable groups, but overall that we'd just see the most conscientious students, rather than any large number.  What we actually got in terms of attendance was both heartening, and surprising.  Over half of the entire senior cohort (all of year 11 and 12) turned up over the two days.  Some of the sessions were that full we really struggled to get through everything in the time allowed.  It was hectic, and at times stressful, but as we later found out it was very much worth the effort.  Nearly 150 students went away after those days with a machine that worked on our network, knowing how to access what they needed on our network, and with the confidence to learn unhindered.  I was proud of our efforts, particularly with the number of problems we fixed for students, and the variety of problems and computers we successfully connected.

students with laptops running Windows 8 featured heavily, and they appeared entirely unfazed by the new UI

That brings me to the next interesting point.  We allowed for a vast array of devices to be connected under the BYOD program.  When you look at the tech. specs above, we could've received anything from the most expensive Alienware gaming laptop to the cheapest generic Android tablet.  We didn't see a anything like the former, and only one of the latter, but to my surprise what we did see was a lot of laptops.  I could've counted the iPads on one hand, which was a surprise being that we knew for certain that at least two dozen students already owned them from a program they were involved in the previous year.  What really surprised me was that Windows laptops outnumbered anything else 20:1, and new Windows laptops probably accounted for half of those.  What's more, students with laptops running Windows 8 featured heavily, and they appeared entirely unfazed by the new UI.
It wasn't all Windows though, there was a happy and proud contingent of Mac owners, some of who came with the misconception that they'd in some way have to accept a secondary status to the Windows users.  I'm happy to say however, that their choice of Mac meant they'd receive the same level of connectivity and service that a Windows user would, despite us being an otherwise Windows shop.
The only users I think might possibly remain a little second-class, at least for the moment, are the iPad and Android users.  Particularly the iPad users where printing is concerned.  At the time of writing (February), we have no printing solution for iPads.  Not because we can't (although doing this while maintaining the ability to charge students with Papercut is a little tricky), but because there's a cost and time factor involved, and I've deemed it not justifiable for what amounts to about 5 users.  They've been asked to email assignments, and print by using one of our desktops for the time being.  If it becomes a problem, I have a proper solution drafted.

Finally, I'll say one other positive thing.  The students look happy.  They're proud of their machines in a lot of cases, and I think to them this is proper "personal" computing.  It's nice to see that, and I hope it continues.  In fact some are so proud of their machines they've taken to decorating them.  I'll leave you with one such example below, which when I see it leads me to imagine the lyrics to Right Said Fred's "I'm too Sexy":