Switch Systems Blog

A big part of our business is supporting Microsoft’s Small Business Server (SBS). SBS is a collection of Microsoft technologies consisting of Windows Server, Exchange, Sharepoint, all of which are tightly integrated to make a good value offering for small businesses to step up their infrastructure to a more efficient, secure and centrally managed solution.

Microsoft have just announced the latest editions of SBS. Codenamed “Aurora”, SBS 2011 Essentials aims to align with Microsoft’s strategy of storing data in the Cloud (distributed on-line servers, much like Web E-Mail), while maintaining the already mature features like Remote Access, automatic server backups and remote web workplaces.

Another SBS name change, SBS 7 is now to be known as SBS 2011 Standard.

We continue to look with interest at Microsoft’s Cloud Strategy, and no doubt will be testing the final releases of SBS 2011 in our labs as they become available.

Translucent touch-screens, hoverboards and wristwatch computers; probably the three indicators I need to see to make me feel I’m actually in the future! Sony aim to appease one of my criteria with their new LiveView device, a wrist based device that links via Bluetooth to your Android based phone.

It presents you with your latest text messages, and lord forbid; Facebook updates, so you’re never too far from hearing about how many cows have been milked on your “friend’s” farm, or exactly what particular heated beverage your other “friend” has decided to consume this morning via their Twitter feed; all saving you the arduous work of reaching into your pocket to read it off your phone screen (!).

I don’t exactly know who Sony are trying to please here, there’s not really a market for parasitic devices like these. If you really can’t reach into your pocket to take your phone out when it buzzes, you might as well hang it around your neck.

Two interesting announcements continue to further the way we look at our e-mail in-boxes. Firstly, Microsoft’s free e-mail service Hotmail will be offering free Exchange ActiveSync to mobile devices and Google Mail will be rolling out a new feature called Priority Inbox.

So what are these features?

Exchange ActiveSync is a technology that allows e-mail, tasks, contacts and calendars to be consistent between all devices you own, where as previously you may have just used an expensive Exchange solution, or a lesser integrated way to synchronise. By keeping it all in one location, it simplifies things significantly.

Priority Inbox is Google’s way of determining how worthy an item is to be in your Inbox. We all receive Spam, but some of us also opt-in to mailing lists which are useful but often clutter up your Inbox view. The Priority Inbox aims to make it clearly distinct what mailings are high priority based upon your communication patterns in the past.

Both are interesting progressions of the way we e-mail. Personally I think the Priority Inbox will be something inherited by other clients before long…