Getting ready for Windows Vista
Latest Microsoft operating system
set to launch in January 2007
 Lee Kirkby on
Technology
Microsoft has finally announced the official
release date for Windows Vista — Jan. 30, 2007.
Some corporate users will be able to access the
product earlier through download processes. Billed
by Microsoft as the most significant new release of
the Windows operating system in 10 years, Vista will
cause many organizations to start questioning, if
and when they should upgrade. Microsoft has said
that many PC manufacturers will bundle a coupon with
new PC’s sold after Nov. 1, 2006 that will provide
for either a free or low cost upgrade to Vista.
PC’s will now be designated as to their
suitability for Vista and this can be a
consideration when you purchase. Details on the
designations can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx.
For many companies the decision
to move to Vista will rest with the developers of
their line of business software. Whenever a major
change is made to workstation and server platform
operating systems software developers have to have
time to bring their applications up to compatible
status. Depending upon the type of software, the
number of installs and the development capabilities
of the designer this can take more or less time. It
is one of the first things which should be checked
before you introduce the new operating system to
your organization.
The launch of Vista entails a massive release of
new products for Microsoft since not only is the
desktop environment being changed, but new server
products are being introduced and a whole new Office
release is underway as well. The 2007 series of
products, includes over twenty three different
software packages, either as desktop software such
as Word and Excel or server products such as
Sharepoint Server. This massive shift in products
has implications for every business as decisions are
made about which products to use and deploy. As new
hardware is added into a company, Vista is going to
be the commonly installed desktop and new purchases
of Office software will see more and more use of the
2007 products. This has implications for
compatibility as documents get shared between users
with differing versions of software and network
administrators struggle with maintaining
a consistent environment.
As you look to acquire new
computing products in the next few months you will
need to become more familiar with the implications
of this large change from Microsoft. For more
details on the new Office products go to: http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/
default.aspx. For more information on Vista go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows vista/. Doing your
homework before you buy or asking your vendor about
the implications of your purchase will be important
in the next few months.
(L. Lee Kirkby is Vice President
of Leppert Business Systems Inc., a Burlington based
company specializing in assisting companies with
better managing their important business documents.)
IQ Manufacturing Solutions
licenses technology from Dofasco
BURLINGTON — Trivaris Ltd. has announced
a licensing agreement between Dofasco and IQ
Manufacturing Solutions, a subsidiary of Trivaris
Ltd., with respect to Dofasco’s proprietary
“Smart Camera” based process automation
technology.
This technology was originally
developed for use in Dofasco’s steel manufacturing
operations in Hamilton, Ontario, where it has been
applied to solve specialized problems resulting in
improved product quality and throughput. Smart
Camera technology has been exploited by Dofasco’s
internal process automation team, in a series of
unique applications, primarily related to product,
process and equipment monitoring applications.
However, there is a range of other potential
manufacturing applications for this technology,
which will be developed and commercialized through
the licensing arrangement.
Trivaris President Mark
Chamberlain commented, “Through Smart Camera
solutions, Dofasco has developed a great capability
with excellent business potential. Through this
licensing arrangement, Dofasco has partnered with a
company for which the commercialization of
innovation is a core business. In so doing, Dofasco
has provided an excellent example of how mature
organizations can create economic value from a
non-core technology innovation without taking the
focus away from their core businesses. Dofasco is
using this approach to extract further value from
their internally developed technologies.”
Michael Dudzic, Dofasco’s
General Manager of Process Automation, explained,
“This agreement combines the potential of an
innovative and proven Dofasco technology, with the
entrepreneurial focus of our licensing partners.
Smart Camera based solutions have the potential to
provide many opportunities to improve manufacturing
efficiencies in a variety of industries.”
Victor Chupil, the former head of
Dofasco’s Process Sensor and Process Automation
Technology departments, has been appointed President
of IQ Manufacturing Solutions. IQ Manufacturing
Solutions is primarily engaged in the
commercialization and application of
“intelligent” machine vision systems in
manufacturing environments. Victor Chupil stated,
“We are very excited to have entered into this
licensing agreement. This provides new technology
that will augment IQ’s solution offering and
expertise. These technologies have been developed
and proven in the most demanding of manufacturing
conditions.”
Smart Cameras are compact units
that integrate all image acquisition, processing,
decision making and communications within one
self-contained camera unit, minimizing complexity
and system cost. IQ’s Smart Vision Technology is a
platform through which images are not only acquired,
but intelligently processed and analyzed to extract
useful information that can be acted on. These
systems are particularly well suited for inspecting
the quality of product being produced and assessing
issues within a manufacturing process.
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