---- Print Manager Plus 2008 has been honored with
Technology and Learning magazine's 2008 Award of Excellence:
Technology & Learning's Awards of Excellence program has been recognizing
outstanding educational technology curriculum products for the last quarter
century. With a solid reputation in the industry as a longstanding, high quality
program, the AOE recognizes both the "best of the best" and creative new
offerings that help educators in the business of teaching, training and managing
with technology. All entries are given a rigorous test-driving by qualified
educators in several rounds of judging, which takes place over several weeks at
various computer labs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Products are also carefully
screened by the T&L editorial team. Evaluation criteria include the following:
quality and effectiveness, ease of use, creative use of technology, and
suitability for use in an educational environment.
---- How can Print Manager Plus help your Bottom
Line?
Print Manager Plus was built from the ground up using the
latest Microsoft capabilities and adding in complete printing control by
deciphering printer manufactures printer languages. This gives Print Manager
Plus all the data needed to Audit, Restrict, Quota, and Control print traffic
over any network and any heterogeneous environment.
Print Manager Plus is sold into different vertical markets that use the product
for different reasons, but the common denominator for all is complete print
management and control which equals a huge savings on printing resources.
Companies that use Print Manager Plus to its fullest extent can save anywhere
from 30% to 50% of all printing costs. The product usually pays for itself and
more within its free 30 day evaluation. Easily trim costs on Toner, Paper,
Service, and IT resources.
Print Manager Plus is used in thousands of schools, universities, corporations,
and governments across the world. Businesses include: Schools, Higher Education,
Non-Profit, Libraries, SMB, Global2000, Government, Law Firms, Architectural
Firms, Engineering Firms, Marketing & PR Firms, Real Estate, and Consultants.
Saving Money Now:
Print Manager Plus not only audits all aspects of printing, but also allows an
organization to fully control printing with Quotas, Restrictions, and Reports.
This control and data can be used to cut back on wasted printing, restrict any
aspect of printing, fully utilize you current print resources, and fully account
for all printing expenses.
This usually hidden expense can now be accounted for and controlled.
Auditing & Reporting Include:
* Over 130 individual reports, statements, and charts.
* Reports by User, Groups, OU, Workstation, Server, Accounts, Client, Billing
Code.
* Detailed Savings Reports.
* Audit heterogeneous network environments.
* Supports Work Groups, Active Directory and LDAP.
* Printers Audited includes: Dot Matrix, Inkjets, Laser Jets, Multifunctional
devices, Large Format Printers, and Plotters.
* Print Job data collected is: Time/Date Printed, Document Title, Document Type,
Page Count, Copy Count, Page Size, Print Job Size, Black & White Output, Color
Output, Duplex, N-Up, Large Format Printing by Inches and Centimeters.
Printing Restrictions Include:
* Deny printing for print jobs over certain number of pages.
* Deny printing if the number of copies exceeds.
* Deny printing if the document size is greater than.
* Deny printing if the document is reprinted within so many seconds.
* Deny or Allow printing if the document title contains specific keywords.
* Deny printing if the document is color.
* Deny printing if the document is Black and White.
* Enable Date/Time Restrictions.
Printing Quotas Include:
* Set a currency quota to a user.
* Set a page quota to a user.
* Set a quota by user by printer or group of printers.
* Reset or Increase quotas automatically.
Printing Security and Authentication:
* Set print job verification.
* Set print job authentication by user password.
* Set print job authentication by username and password.
* Set print job client billing verification
* Set print job client billing authentication by client password.
* Set print job client billing authentication by user password.
* Set print job client billing authentication by username and password.
* Allow users to create client accounts on the fly.
* Allow users to add comments to their print job.
* Allow batch printing.
As you can see Print Manager Plus allows you to really control printing which
means complete return on investment. For more information on the product please
visit our website at
www.softwareshelf.com or call/email us.
Start saving money now with this simple and inexpensive software tool.
For further information, contact:
Software Shelf International, Inc.
601 Cleveland Street , Suite# 710
Clearwater, FL 33755
United States
Phone: 727-445-1920
Phone: 800-962-2290
Fax: 727-445-9223
Email: sales@softwareshelf.com
Website: http://www.softwareshelf.com
Europe, Middle East, Africa:
Software Shelf International, Inc.
Vitality House 2 - 3 Imberhorne Way
East Grinstead
West Sussex, RH19 1RL
United Kingdom
Phone +44 1342 310950
Fax +44 1342 302405
Email: sales@softwareshelf.co.uk
Website: http://www.softwareshelf.co.uk
---- Educators From Around the World Come Together
to Showcase Impact of Technology on Learning:
Microsoft hosts the Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum in Hong Kong to
celebrate successes and share best practices for using technology to address
global educational needs.
In the heart of India's mountainous state of Uttarkhand, Parambir Singh Kathait
has spent a decade teaching English and social studies to students in
government-funded schools. Because his school's computer lab had only four
computers, Kathait struggled to demonstrate projects on the computers while stll
giving students their own time on the machines. Three years ago, Kathait
underwent a comprehensive IT training program that redefined his understanding
of teaching with technology. The training program, called Project Shiksha, is a
Microsoft initiative that has helped 200,000 Indian government school teachers
become computer literate over the past five years. Says Kathait: "It was a
turning point in my teaching career.
"Because of by Microsoft's Partners in Learning program, I learned the skills I
need to create projects my students can use to boost their learning, and that
other teachers in the school can use to improve classroom teaching," Kathait
adds. "Using audiovisual projects and digital material has really helped me
connect to my students, and it has encouraged their creative thinking."
This week, more than 250 teachers, school administrators and education
policymakers from 64 countries have gathered in Hong Kong for the fourth annual
Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum (ITF), a global event hosted by Microsoft.
The four-day event promotes the innovative use of information and communication
technology (ICT) in education. It also brings together teaching professionals
such as Kathait to share ideas with their peers.
The event, part of the global Partners in Learning program, recognizes
innovative teachers who practice 21st-century learning in their classrooms. It
also features discussions about how technology can address some of the
challenges faced by educators. Since 2002, the Innovative Teachers Program has
connected a global community of educators who share a common interest in using
technology to enhance teaching and learning.
Partners in Learning increases technology access for schools, fosters innovative
approaches to teaching, encourages professional development for teachers, and
provides teachers with tools they can use to lead change in the classroom.
Partners in Learning supports the goals of Unlimited Potential, Microsoft's
long-term commitment to provide relevant, accessible and affordable technology
and training to help create sustained social and economic opportunity worldwide.
Since its inception in 2003, Partners in Learning has reached more than 123
million teachers and students in 103 countries.
Says Ralph Young, vice president of the Worldwide Public Sector at Microsoft:
"The Innovative Teachers Forum brings together a global community of educators
who are united in their commitment to create exciting new learning environments.
By renewing its commitment to facilitate dialogues among educators across the
globe, Microsoft Partners in Learning will continue to introduce new; learning
methods in classrooms and empower educators with tools to help students grow
into informed participants in the 21st-century knowledge economy."
Microsoft offers teachers a toolbox of programs and resources designed to
stimulate advances in teaching and learning. Some of the programs focus on
technology skills training and professional development. Others promote the use
of technology to build leadership and foster teaching methods that encourage
critical thinking and independent inquiry among students. A team of 90 academic
program managers around the world work with local education leaders to customize
the Partners in Learning programs to meet local needs, provide Microsoft
resources to integrate technology into the learning process, and design research
to measure outcomes.
Adds Bee Yann Lee, principal of St. Andrew's Junior College in Singapore and
member of the Partners in Learning Advisory Board: "Partners in Learning has
been instrumental in helping students learn more effectively. It provides
resources and training that complement classroom technology, and facilitates
global and local collaboration among educators. Partners in Learning has
successfully propelled creative thinking about sustainable change in educational
systems around the world."
Lee is the former principal of the Crescent Girls' School in Singapore, a
Microsoft Mentor School and a pilot in the FutureSchools@Singapore program,
where more than 95 percent of students have their own Tablet PC with specialized
applications and digitized textbooks that replace traditional hardcover books.
Similar success stories abound. Technology is increasingly being used by
teachers to eliminate the boundaries of where and when learning happens, while
building a safe environment where learners develop as creative and critical
thinkers.
Andrew Douch, a biology teacher at the Wanganui Park Secondary College in
Victoria, Australia, and the ICT Innovations Leader of the college, uses
podcasting and other Web 2.0 tools to communicate with his class. Students
download weekly teacher podcasts, create their own podcasts to explain the
products of their research, discuss biology topics on a common Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server discussion board, participate in online quizzes, and chat with
one another and the teacher using MSN Messenger. By creating a virtual learning
space, Douch has opened up his classroom to students from other biology classes
at the school and as well as other schools in Australia and around the world.
"A virtual learning space removes barriers between groups and completely
redefines the idea of a conventional classroom," says Douch. "There are
thousands of students across the world who tune in to the podcasts and respond
by sending in e-mails with their own content for future podcasts. That helps
them stay focused on learning. Since we launched this new approach, we've seen a
10 percent improvement in student achievement in school-leaving exams."
Over the next five years, Partners in Learning will focus on three program areas
that have the greatest potential to empower and transform education: Innovative
Schools, Innovative Teachers and Innovative Students. Each program area will
build upon the most effective Partners in Learning programs of the past five
years, and will empower sharing of successful tools and processes among a
worldwide community of educators.
"The Partners in Learning initiative recognizes the power of technology in
education to change lives. During the next five-year phase the initiative will
remain committed to empowering students and teachers around the world to reach
their full potential," says Young. "Microsoft has always believed that
technology is a catalyst for transforming education, fostering local innovation,
and enabling jobs and opportunities."
---- Tough Economic Times Can Be Opportunity for IT
Pros:
Microsoft technologies help secure the role of IT through business innovation
and cost savings.
The global economic climate presents new challenges and opportunities for
information technology organizations, Brad Anderson, general manager of the
Management and Services Division at Microsoft Corp., told approximately 5,000
attendees gathered at Tech-Ed EMEA 2008, Microsoft's leading technology show in
Europe, the Middle East and Africa for IT professionals.
"IT professionals in Europe and elsewhere are under pressure to reduce costs and
help their businesses be more efficient," Anderson said. "We are working with
our partners here and across the globe to give IT organizations one of the
lowest costs of ownership in the industry as well as the ability to deliver new
capabilities to their business."
Microsoft's virtualization solutions, for example, help customers reduce costs
through hardware consolidation and the associated electrical power reduction,
lower desktop deployment and management costs, and gain deployment and
monitoring efficiencies through centralized, policy-based management. In
addition, to accommodate the changing, dynamic computing needs across a
datacenter, the live migration feature within Windows Server 2008 R2 enables
customers to move virtual machines between servers with no downtime or loss of
performance.
* One of the many European corporations that has benefited from Microsoft's IT
infrastructure solutions is Banque de Luxembourg, a leading private bank serving
investors across the continent. Earlier this year, the bank decided to
consolidate two datacenters using virtualization technologies. In these
datacenters, which included a total of more than 250 physical servers, the bank
ran its most critical line-of-business applications and managed more than 15
terabytes of enterprise data.
* "As a result, we've been able to reduce the need for computer hardware, power
and cooling, and office space, so we're now running a more cost-effective,
environmentally sound operation," said Pierre Galteau, system engineer at the
bank. "Hyper-V and System Center technologies provide our associates with the
resources they need, when and where they need them, for a more flexible and
cost-effective IT environment."
"In these uncertain economic times, it is not surprising to expect businesses to
take a long, hard look at their IT budgets," said Chris Ingle, research director
of the European Systems Group at IDC. "However, we're in the midst of a period
when key technology trends are converging, and businesses will need to be more
agile in their IT decision-making - not only to reduce costs, but to also take
advantage of new technologies and trends that can transform their businesses and
deliver new innovations to their customers."
* Microsoft's Anderson also noted that many businesses today are looking forward
to cloud computing as an important part of the evolving datacenter.
* "We live in a hybrid world of software and services," Anderson said.
"Customers need to choose a path that best aligns with their strengths.
Microsoft's software-plus-services offerings allow businesses to choose, and
benefit from both the convenience and security of on-premises software and the
efficiency of Web-based services."
The recently announced Azure Services Platform brings a software-plus-services
approach to computing that spans from the cloud to the enterprise datacenter,
delivering compelling new experiences across the PC, Web and phone. Developers
have the flexibility of choice with Internet scalability to build the next
generation of applications. Once written, these applications can then run both
in the cloud or on-premises, enabling experiences across a broad range of
business and consumer scenarios.
New Products for the Next Generation of IT
A number of recent announcements from Microsoft will help customers evolve their
IT infrastructure, including the following:
* Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft's flagship server platform is being enhanced
with new features, including Live Migration, which allows customers to move
virtual machines from one host to another with no service interruption; Branch
Cache, which will help customers reduce bandwidth consumption between the
datacenter and branch offices DirectAccess, which allows remote workers connect
to their work environment and allows IT administrators manage remote PCs,
without the use of a virtual private network; and Remote Desktop Services, the
new name for Terminal Services, which allows customers to run their desktop or
applications in the datacenter regardless of location. More information about
Windows Server 2008 R2 is available at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/R2.aspx.
* Virtualization. Windows Server 2008 R2 will incorporate the newest version of
the hypervisor-based virtualization technology called Hyper-V, the only
hypervisor in the industry capable of processor power management. More
information is available at http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization.
* System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 beta. Recognizing that IT
organizations today often mix products from several suppliers and that it is
important to be able to manage these heterogeneous environments from a single
platform, Microsoft will soon release the System Center Operations Manager 2007
R2 beta, which includes cross-platform monitoring for Windows, UNIX and Linux
servers and improved service level monitoring. These capabilities deliver on
Microsoft's commitment to openness and interoperability, and will help enable
greater efficiencies when operating in a cross-platform environment. More
information is available at http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter.
* Integrated identity and security solutions. Two incremental products will help
customers better protect their organizations, increase productivity and reduce
costs. The release candidate of Identity Lifecycle Manager "2" is available now
at http://www.microsoft.com/ilm2, providing self-service for employees, enhanced
administration and automation for IT professionals, and extensibility for
developers. And the new Intelligent Application Gateway Service Pack 2 utilizes
virtualization technology to give mobile workers easy and highly secure access
to applications from a broad range of devices and locations. More information is
available at http://blogs.technet.com/forefront.
* Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 5. The company released today
the fifth volume of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, which uses data
from hundreds of millions of computers worldwide to analyze security and privacy
threats for the first half of 2008 and offers prescriptive guidance for
customers. The report shows that although the total number of unique
vulnerability disclosures across the industry decreased in the first half of
2008, the number of high-severity vulnerabilities increased. In addition, the
report shows that the Microsoft Malware Protection Center found significantly
more malware and potentially unwanted software worldwide than ever before. The
full report is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/sir.
* TechNet Online social bookmarking. TechNet Online, Microsoft's Web site for IT
professionals, launched social bookmarking across its global network. Available
in Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish, social
bookmarking allows IT professionals save their Web favorites online, see what
other technical professionals are bookmarking, subscribe to new "social feeds,"
and network with other members of the Microsoft technical community. More
information is available at http://www.technetbookmarks.com.
* "Dublin." Code-named for a set of enhanced Windows Server application server
capabilities that will offer greater scalability, easier management and closer
interoperability with Internet Information Services (IIS), Dublin will provide a
standard host for applications that use Windows Workflow Foundation or Windows
Communication Foundation. These enhancements will simplify the deployment and
management of composite applications, while allowing developers and IT
professionals to use their existing skills and management tools. The first
customer technology preview was released last week at the Microsoft Professional
Developers Conference. More information is available at
http://www.microsoft.com/net/Dublin.aspx.
---- Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Shows
Malware Increases, Windows Vulnerabilities Decrease:
Organized crime grows online with financial gain key motivator.
Microsoft Corp. today released the fifth volume of its Microsoft Security
Intelligence Report at Tech-Ed EMEA IT Professionals 2008, providing an in-depth
and unique view of the threat landscape based on data derived from hundreds of
millions of computers worldwide. Designed to help enable better protection from
cybercriminals, the research from the first half of 2008 shows that while
Microsoft and others in the industry have made significant progress toward
helping protect customers from malicious threats online, threats to businesses
and consumers still continue to evolve.
More specifically, the report shows that the total amount of malware and
potentially unwanted software removed from computers worldwide grew over 43
percent during the first half of 2008. The Microsoft Security Intelligence
Report also reveals a continued rise in both trojan downloaders and
high-severity vulnerabilities, proving that financial gain remains attackers'
top motivation. In addition, Microsoft's research illustrates how attacks are
continuing to move into the application layer and away from the operating
system, as more than 90 percent of vulnerabilities disclosed in the first half
of 2008 affected applications, while only 10 percent affected operating systems.
The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report also demonstrates the progress
Microsoft has made to better secure its software via its secure software
development and security response processes. For example, Microsoft
vulnerabilities in the first half of 2008 were down 33.6 percent from the second
half of 2007.
"The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report gives us a chance to share our
extensive analysis of the threat landscape and related guidance with our
customers, partners and the broader industry, helping ensure people are better
informed and in turn protected," said Vinny Gullotto, general manager of the
Microsoft Malware Protection Center. "We are also committed to applying the data
and intelligence from the report to our research and response efforts to provide
customers with increased protection and services."
Based on the key findings from the report, Microsoft recommends customers use
the data, insights and guidance in the report to better assess and improve their
own security practices. Some of the active steps Microsoft recommends include
the following:
* Check for and apply software updates on an ongoing basis, including updates
provided for third-party applications.
* Enable a firewall.
* Install and maintain up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware programs that
provide increased protection from malicious and potentially unwanted software.
* Open links and attachments in e-mail and instant messages with caution, even
if they are from a known, trusted source.
Following customer feedback on previous reports, Microsoft took a different
approach with this volume, creating a more reader-friendly core document
accompanied by appendices that provide expanded explanations and analysis. A
copy of Microsoft's newest Security Intelligence Report and other related
information can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/sir.
---- Businesses Achieve Cost Savings of up to 70
Percent by Migrating to HP Integrity Servers:
HP today announced that 40 European customers have successfully migrated in the
past year from legacy mainframe systems to HP Integrity servers, achieving data
center cost savings of up to 70 percent.
Increasingly, companies are migrating from mainframes to HP Integrity servers
for mission-critical IT operations in an effort to reduce high hardware
operating and software licensing costs. HP expects to help migrate an additional
125 European companies in the next 12 months.
HP's continued strong market share position is further evidence of customer
confidence in HP Integrity servers as an alternative to mainframes. According to
IDC, HP tied for the top position in revenue for the Europe, Middle East and
Africa (EMEA) Enterprise server market, securing 32.7 percent market share as
measured in the second quarter of 2008. HP Integrity servers represented the
majority of HP's Business Critical Systems revenue in EMEA, with 78 percent
share in the third quarter of fiscal year 2008.
"Customers are increasingly fed up with the rising costs and inflexibility of
mainframe systems due to the resulting negative impact on their businesses,"
said Ruud Vrolijk, vice president and general manager, Business Critical Systems
- EMEA, HP. "HP helps customers meet future needs by shedding unnecessary costs
and modernizing their legacy applications. HP also promotes better investment
protection through its open, modular HP Integrity server solutions that are much
more economical and flexible in adapting to changes in a business."
Improved flexibility with reduced costs
Companies of different sizes and from different industries gain quantifiable
results by migrating to HP Integrity systems. HP helped Public Security Police
(PSP), Portugal, migrate from its existing IBM mainframe to HP Integrity to run
its Strategic System Information.
"PSP's challenge was to bring down the costs of the technology platform," said
Maria Eduarda Lopes, IT director, PSP. "The open platform significantly lowers
total cost of ownership, while ensuring high flexibility and reduced maintenance
time."
Additional customers in the EMEA region who migrated from mainframe systems to
HP Integrity to reduce data center costs and improve flexibility include:
Amadeus, Banco Espirito, Continental AG, Mashreqbank and Portuguese Air Force.
Particularly in EMEA's financial and telecom sectors, Intel is seeing companies
move away from legacy mainframe environments and choosing more flexible and
reliable Intel Itanium processor-based solutions like HP Integrity systems. The
results are reduced IT costs and a data center environment that is highly
optimized for mission-critical operations designed to prepare organizations to
meet future needs.
"The Intel Itanium processor, along with our robust processor roadmap, is well
positioned as a mainframe replacement solution for mission-critical applications
such as enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and
business intelligence," said Joachim Aertebjerg, server business manager - EMEA,
Intel. "The fast adoption of HP Integrity servers and migration from legacy
mainframe environments are good validation of Itanium's ability to meet the
rising requirements of performance-demanding industries. Together with members
of the IT industry like HP, Intel will continue to develop the Itanium platform
with new innovations and process technology well into the future."
HP has established "HP Mainframe Migrations Centres of Excellence" in Europe to
address the increasing growth of the mainframe migration business and to ensure
execution excellence in customers' migration efforts. The flagship centre is
located in Madrid, Spain, with a second centre in Bucharest, Romania. Using
specialized knowledge and technical expertise, the centres render assistance to
the local EMEA country teams throughout the stages of customer engagement,
delivery process and advancement phase, thereby facilitating best practices for
mainframe migrations.
HP Integrity innovations continue to grow
In addition to HP's success with transitioning customers to Integrity servers,
the product line itself has recently expanded to include these innovations:
New operating environments for HP-UX 11i v3 with built-in virtualization
software to simplify and speed up customers' UNIX deployments and help reduce
maintenance costs.
QuickTransit for Solaris/SPARC-to-Linux/Itanium on HP Integrity servers helps
users move enterprise applications from SPARC-based hardware to HP Integrity
servers running HP-UX or Linux.
HP Integrity BL870c - the first four-socket HP Integrity server blade that
combines support for mission-critical applications with the modular
infrastructure and energy efficiency of HP BladeSystem. The server can save up
to 25 percent in power usage.
HP Insight Dynamics - VSE - provides the first integrated server management
solution that allows customers to visualize, plan and change their physical and
virtual resources on demand.
HP Integrity NonStop BladeSystem - the first 24/7 fault-tolerant system that
uses a blade server for maximum uptime and efficiency.
---- Xerox Color Printers and Multifunction Systems
Ranked "Best" in Annual Survey of Office Workers:
For the second year in a row, office workers rated Xerox Corporation's (NYSE:
XRX) color printers, copiers and multifunction printers (MFPs) "best" overall
when compared to competitors such as Canon, Hewlett-Packard and Ricoh.
Respondents to Industry Analysts Inc.'s Annual Color End-User Survey also gave
Xerox color products the top rating in the "Maintenance and Total Cost of
Operation" category. "We've found that customers really don't hold back - they
give honest, candid feedback in this survey," said Andy Slawetsky, president,
Industry Analysts. "The fact that Xerox has come out on top in back-to-back
years proves their customers consistently experience a high level of product
quality and service."
Industry Analysts conducted extensive telephone interviews and the results are
based on nearly 100 verified responses from people who use and manage color
document technology within their organizations. The findings indicate customers'
overall satisfaction with reliability, image quality, operability and
functionality, maintenance, and total cost of ownership.
Businesses of all sizes use Xerox color printers and MFPs to create high-quality
documents to present a professional image and boost sales.
The Catering Company, a catering business in Grand Rapids, Mich., selected one
of Xerox's proprietary solid ink color printers to make its color proposals and
marketing materials stand out from the competition and entice new customers with
high-quality images. With fast print speeds and a low cost-per-page, the company
now prints more advanced jobs such as personalized menus, brochures and event
portfolios in-house.
"Our Xerox color printer has surpassed our expectations," said Kim Faber, event
coordinator, The Catering Company. "We have seen an increase in the number of
bids we are winning due to the colorful and professional appearance of our
marketing collaterals. This translates directly into more revenue for the
company. The solid ink color printer was the best investment we've made in
office equipment."
---- Symantec Security Products Shine in In-Depth
Protection Reviews:
Symantec's Security Technology and Response organization
provides core technology for the company's industry-leading security solutions
CUPERTINO, Calif. - Oct. 30, 2008 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today
announced that Norton AntiVirus 2009 and Norton Internet Security 2009 received
top ratings in reviews from two of the industry's preeminent, independent
testing bodies, AV-Comparatives and AV-Test.org.
In the Anti-Virus Comparatives Test No. 19, Symantec was the only vendor to be
awarded the top "green" rating in the three tested categories, representing the
best combination of detection, false positives and performance. In the review by
AV-Test.org, Symantec received a top grade in four of the measured categories,
beating every major desktop and server security vendor in the test in the number
of top grades.
"In these tests, Symantec's products demonstrated their ability to protect
against millions of threats while maintaining among the lowest false positive
rates and the highest performance across all tested products," said Stephen
Trilling, vice president, Security Technology and Response, Symantec.
"Symantec's innovative approach to security technology has allowed us to
continually develop and deliver lighter and faster solutions, while maintaining
our top-rated protection."
The Technology behind the Products
The core anti-malware technology and content evaluated in these reviews is
delivered by Symantec's Security Technology and Response (STAR) organization, a
worldwide team of security engineers, threat analysts and researchers dedicated
to developing the world's best protection against both existing and emerging
threats.
STAR's technology is leveraged across all of Symantec's corporate and consumer
security product lines. This year, STAR, working with Symantec's Consumer
Business Unit, initiated a massive re-architecture of Symantec's core security
technologies, incorporating a number of industry-first innovations into its
flagship Consumer security products. These enhancements have contributed to a
drastic improvement in detection and performance as evidenced by the AV-Test.org
and AV-Comparatives reviews. These innovative technologies, introduced in Norton
Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus 2009, include:
Norton Insight: This combination of cloud and client-based technologies ensures
that Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security never scan common application
files known to be safe, resulting in dramatically improved performance. The
technology was recently recognized by PC Magazine, receiving the publication's
"Technical Excellence" award.
Pulse updates: STAR now publishes new virus signatures as often as every five
minutes, ensuring that customers always have the most up-to-date protection.
AV-Test.org noted that Symantec bested all of the competition with respect to
the frequency of its signature updates. Symantec delivered a total of 6,202
updates during the testing period, nearly 10 times more than its next closest
competitor.
New proactive protection: STAR developed new behavioral and heuristics
technology capable of detecting a large number of completely new threats,
without traditional fingerprints.
Enhanced Web protection: To address the issue of drive-by downloads, STAR
improved the Browser Protection technology and developed new intrusion
prevention capabilities for the Norton 2009 products to block Web-based attacks
without traditional signatures. In the last 90 days alone, these new
technologies in the Norton 2009 products and the earlier versions of the
technologies in the Norton 2008 products, have blocked more than 5.2 million
Web-based attacks for Symantec's customers.
New lean and efficient engines: STAR optimized its core security scanning
engines, helping to make Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton Antivirus 2009
the fastest security products in the industry. On the AV-Comparatives Scanning
Speed test, Symantec scored more than 25 percent better that its closest
competitor.
Reduced on-disk footprint: The latest products have reduced the size of the
virus definitions stored on-disk by nearly 80 percent.
About the Reviews
Anti-Virus Comparative No. 19 is the latest comprehensive security product
evaluation conducted by the independent testing organization AV-Comparatives.
The reviewers evaluated security products from 15 major vendors in three areas:
Overall Malware Detection, False Positive Testing and Scanning Speed. Every
product was given a "green," "yellow" or "red" rating in each category, with
green being the best. For further information on the review, visit
www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse/report19.pdf.
The independent testing organization AV-Test.org, conducted a major comparative
test of 34 security suites. AV-Test.org rated competitors in six categories:
Overall Malware Detection, Adware/Spyware Detection, False Positives, Scan
Speed, Proactive Detection, and Response Times to new threats. For further
information on the review, please visit
www.virusbtn.com/news/2008/09_02.
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---- Print Manager Plus 2008 (7.0.130.43) eUpdate released:
What's in the latest update?
Print Manager Plus 7.0.130.43
Date: 10/31/2008
New Features:
* Optional Nested Group Support
Print Manager Plus now provides the option to turn on or off the traversing of
Nested groups. When off, the software will only search and apply settings to
users directly in each group, greatly increasing the speed of the program.
* Unicode Support for Client Billing Project Lists
The software now provides users with the option to send the Project/Client list
in full Unicode allowing the support of nearly all International Languages. This
feature requires the newest Authentication Module.
Counting Engine Additions and Revisions:
* Duplo Printer Support
Added Support for Duplo printers and copiers is now fully supported.
* HP Deskjet 3000 Series
Added Support for the 3000 Series Deskjets by Hewlett Packard.
* Adobe 6.0 and Earlier with PCL5 Drivers
Improved Accuracy to ensure proper Page Counts on Adobe Acrobat version 6.0 and
Earlier when using PCL5 Printer Drivers
* HPGL/2 Color Detection
Improved the detection of Color and Grayscale printing that uses color Ink in HP
Printers running the HPGL/2
* Oce PCL6
Improved the detection on Oce Color Printers running PCL6 to ensure the proper
detection of Color
* Konica Minolta PostScript N-Up Support
Improved Konica Minolta Support for N-Up Printing (Printing Multiple Pages per
Sheet)
* Invalid Print Jobs
Added support to properly detect specific print jobs on Canon and Ricoh Printers
that did not use any actual paper. These print jobs will not be charged with a
page count or Job Cost.
* Page Size Detection on Mac OS9 and Later
Improved the Detection of Page Size on Mac OS9 and Mac OSX PostScript Printer
Drivers to ensure a page size is always found.
* Improved CMYK Color Detection
Improved the detection of PostScript Drivers for Windows and Mac that use Custom
CMYK Color Profiles
* Improved Epson Escape Tracking
Resolved issue with some Epson Laser Printers running Escape 1.x Drivers where
the Copy and Page Count were not accurate.
Report Updates:
* Updated Margins on various reports to ensure full data will always fit.
* Improved the Top Usage Graphs to ensure the page counts listed by each item
are correct.
* Fixed an issue where the Detailed History by Printer Report failed to connect
to the SQL Database
* Resolved issue where Page Sizes can be listed more than once if duplicated
within the Print Manager Plus database.
Administrator Updates and Fixes:
* Improved the load time and reliability of filtering of users when filters are
applied on Groups and OUs with an Active Account.
* Custom Groups are now always available, regardless of the filtering options.
* Added support for properly handling Organizational Units and Groups which have
the same name, and that exist within the same Tier of Active Directory.
* Handled an issue where the traversal of nested groups can cross into multiple
domains when only users and groups from the local domain were needed.
* Improved the handling of users who have printed but were not found in the
domain. These users will always display, regardless of the Active Directory View
settings.
Service Updates and Fixes:
* Resolved issues with the Default Page Size Cost not being applied when jobs
being printed had an unknown Page Size.
* Improved the ability to properly validate Active Directory Username and
Password authentication, especially in very secure environments.
* Greatly increased the reliability of the End User Inquiry Tool, being able to
automatically locate the Print Server when checking balances.
* The page size and job length is now rounded when stored in the SQL database,
to ensure accuracy and increasing the speed of queries that perform Joins on
these fields.
* Updated the use of the Named Pipes protocol when using Citrix or Terminal
Services, to help ensure the correct user, always gets the correct Message or
Authentication Prompt
WinReporter 4.0 is the most
significant upgrade since WinReporter's launching back in 2002, with:
* an entirely revamped Graphical User Interface (tabs, expandable treeviews,
dockable windows, etc.) allowing performing all WinReporter tasks from a single
location,
* a scanner twice as fast (with SQL Server) and using up to 10 times less
bandwidth,
* more numerous and more detailed collected information,
* more numerous, more accurate, totally redesigned reports,
* fully Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 compatible.
Without requiring any preinstalled agents on targeted systems, WinReporter
retrieves all necessary information regarding:
Hardware : CPU, memory, used memory, BIOS, video adapters, network cards (TCP/IP
configuration), partitions, hard drives, printers, serial number, manufacturer
model, devices, microprocessor platform, monitors, system slots,
Software : Installed applications, files (versions and permissions), licence
keys for Windows and MS Office, Windows Edition, autoruns,
Windows : Registry values, OS version, Internet Explorer version, Service Packs,
hotfixes, event logs, services, SAM (users and groups), shares, shares
permissions, Active Directory PDC roles, version of Windows components,
Event Logs : Event log analysis, logging activity, computer startups and
shutdowns, file accesses, printing, service errors,
and stores it in a centralized ODBC database.
This information is then immediately exploitable using:
58 predefined reports
Custom SQL queries
How does WinReporter work ?
WinReporter installs in minutes on a computer running Windows NT4, 2000, XP,
2003, Vista or 2008.
The solution doesn't require any further configuration for the environments to
audit or any agent deployment.
The computers to scan and the information to be gathered are selected within a
few clicks using the scan assistant.
A tool-tip explanation for each component is displayed as the curser moves over
the field.
The collected information can then be displayed and printed using 58 different
reports enhanced with filter and sort options as well as graphics. Customized
SQL queries can also be used.
WinReporter can be scheduled to run at regular intervals to obtain updated
inventories and evolution reporting.
Reports will be automatically generated and sent to specific Email recipient(s).
---- Print Manager Plus Free End User Inquiry Tool
and Authentication Module in 6 new languages released:
Software Shelf is proud to announce the translated versions of the Free End User
Inquiry Tool and Authentication Module in 6 new languages. Both modules can be
used with any version of Print Manager Plus, and can be installed on a users
workstation locally or through Active Directory group profile or any 3rd party
push install software.
End User Inquiry Tool
Requirements: Installs on Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista Workstation Runs with all
Print Manager Plus versions.
This application based product is an application based End User Inquiry Tool.
The Tool installs on the workstations that you would like users when they login,
to be able to see what their account balance is and how many pages they have
printed. When installed on the workstation it will only reside in the Program
Trey in the bottom left hand corner. The User simply puts his/hers mouse over
the icon to get their information.
The program has another dual purpose. It can be used to receive pop-up messages
from the Print Manager Plus Service. This will only occur if the Microsoft
Messenger Service on the Server and Workstation are turned off, if not Print
Manager Plus will automatically use the Microsoft Messenger Service to send its
pop-ups.
Authentication Module
Requirements: Installs on Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista Workstation, Runs with Print
Manager Plus Client Billing and Authentication FULL, SBE, and SOHO versions
only.
This application based product is only shipped with Print Manager Plus with
Client Billing and Authentication. The Module installs on the workstations that
you would like to authenticate printing from. The program can be manipulated by
the Print Manager Plus service to change based on the authentication permissions
you set for the user. This includes Print Verification, Print Authentication,
Add New Clients, Batch Printing, and Additional Comments field.
Product Translation Links:
Print Manager Plus 2008 End User Inquiry Tool & Authentication Module
---- Print Manager Plus Audits more printer
manufactures than ever:
Manage Users, User Groups, Organizational Units, Printers, and Print Traffic
over your network and have full control of your printing resources with Print
Manager Plus 2008 Network Enterprise Edition. Corporations have many department
budgetary needs. One of these is printing, which includes monies dispersed for
Toner, Paper, Printers, and Maintenance. Now with Print Manager Plus 2008 you
can Control and Manage that budget with precision. You can use Print Manager
Plus to audit user printing across a department or your entire organization.
Monitor all printing with over 130 detailed premade reports and Graphs that
allow you to see who are printing, what they are printing, and the cost of that
printing. Bill back department budgets or just examine overall print traffic.
View Printer inventory, usage, and printer infrastructure.
Print Job data is translated into specific datasets which can be used for full
featured auditing and cost analysis.
Print Job data collected is: Time/Date Printed, Document Title, Document Type,
Page Count, Copy Count, Page Size, Print Job Size, Black & White Output, Color
Output, Duplex, N-Up, Large Format Printing by Inches and Centimeters.
Printers Audited
Printers supported by Print Manager Plus are in the hundreds. Listing them would
be lengthy and not show the actual technical quality of the product
functionality without some background data.
Print Manager Plus was created by request from the IT industry at the inception
of Microsofts Windows NT server release. Software Shelf took on the challenge of
surveying and developing a simple, and easy to use software based product, and
it did in 1998 releasing our 1.0 version of Print Manager Plus. We found that
tracking print jobs from operating systems was not as easy as we thought it
would be. The development route we took required that we audit the actual
spooled print job file that the printer hardware deciphers to actually print the
job. This required us to be able to look at separate print languages that the
printer manufactures write for their hardware. Since then we have deciphered and
audit hundreds of print languages. This allows Print Manager Plus to track the
data needed for a complete audit of all printing traffic over any size network
and any printer type.
Printers Audited includes: Dot Matrix, Inkjets, LaserJets, Multifunctional
devices, Large Format Printers, and Plotters.
Current Print Languages Supported:
Brother HBP - Host Based Printing
Brother NCM - Native Compression Mode
Brother XL2HB
Canon CAPT - Canon Advanced Printing Technology
Canon UFR - Ultra Fast Rendering
DPL (Dell Printer Language)
Duplo DUPRINTER
Epson ESC/P
Epson ESC/Page
Epson ESC/Page2
Fuji
GDI (All Versions) - Graphics Device Interface
HP LIDIL - Lightweight Imaging Device Interface Language
HP PCL - Print Control Language (All Versions)
HP PCLXL - Print Control Language XL
HP PPA - Printer Performance Architecture
HP Universal Print Driver (Postscript)
HP Universal Print Driver (PCL)
HPBL
HPGL - BINCO
HPGL - HP Graphics Language
HPGL/2 - HP Graphics Language 2
KIPGL
KIP Script
Kyocera KPDL - Kyocera Print Definition Language
Kyocera Prescribe
Lexmark GDI
OAKT - Oak Technology
OKI GDI
OKI HiperC
Panasonic GDI
PDF (All Versions) - Page Description Format
Postscript - (All Versions)
Prescribe - page description language (All Versions)
Printronix - PGL Printronix Graphics Language
Ricoh IPDL - Intelligent Page Description Language
Ricoh RPCS - Refined Printing Command Stream
Samsung QPDL
Samsung SMART
Tally Stream
Tally TCPL - Tally Compressed Printer Language
Text (RAW)
Xerox TIFF6/GDI
Zenographics ZIMF
Zenographics ZJStream
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TOTAL PRINT MANAGEMENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---- Can't Print? - Microsoft's new
printing solution center:
Use Microsoft's new printing solution center to solve common printing problems.
This site includes a wealth of information - from basic printer set-up and
driver installation to solutions for specific error messages, establishing
networks, and detailed how-to articles for Microsoft programs and operating
systems. http://www.microsoft.com/printserver
---- When to Use a Print Server?
Consult this brief and informative white paper to learn about the advantages of
using a print server instead of direct printing with Microsoft Windows operating
systems.
Software Shelf is a world leader in enterprise print utility software.
Print Console 3.0 Print Console is a remote network printing console for NT/2000/XP. This console
allows an administrator to remotely see all printers in a domain(s) from his or
her workstation. Manipulate Print Jobs and Printers as if you were at that
server.
http://www.softwareshelf.com/products/print_console.htm
Print Manager Plus 2008 Print Manager Plus allows centralized quota, tracking and auditing of all
printing activity. The product includes version for Academic, Corporate, and
Professional Services companies. http://www.softwareshelf.com/
Print Queue Manager 3.0 Print Queue Manager allows full printing management for a Windows NT/2000/2003
network. Features include Print Redirection, Printing Disaster Recovery, Load
Balancing, Printer Status, Printer Grouping and Print Broadcasting.
http://www.softwareshelf.com/products/print_queue_manager.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TIPS, TRICKS, AND FAQS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---- Full Online Technical FAQs on Software Shelf Products:
Software Shelf support programs provide a wide variety of free and fee-based
technical support services to individual and corporate customers.
We provide customers with support via electronic and automated services. Ninety
day free telephone support is available on selected products.
Many products also contain "Live Update" that gives instant access to on-line
updates, enhancements, support tips and other useful information.
---- Check out Print Manager Plus 2008 online User
Guides & Documentation:
Free for all Print Manager Plus customers, and anyone interested in our product.
Here are links to our online user guides, quick start guides. They are provided
in HTML or as a PDF download. If you have further questions please email
support@softwareshelf.com
---- Does Print Manager Plus have a credit report that gives a sum of
all credit given over a time period?
This is available in the current
Print Manager Plus reports under "Administration Reports" The report names are
"Detailed History of User Credits" and "Summary of User Credits"
---- Does Print Manager Plus provide Administrative Security in the
Admin Console?
This is now available in the
current Print Manager Plus 2008. Features include Admin rights for Users,
Groups, OUs, and Print Servers.
Includes Login and Password setting for the Administrator.
---- Is Print Manager Plus able to report on Printer make, model, IP
address, security, driver version?
Print Manager Plus 2008 does this.
It can be found by going to a printer and bringing up the properties. Then click
on the tab "Printer Information" and enter pertinent data. Reports can be run on
this data under "Administration Reports", the report name is "Printer
Specification Report.
---- Can Print Manager Plus generating reports that would show User
Display Names (like First and Last names), report summary by specific groups,
and Organizational Units?
The new version of Print Manager Plus 2008 now has full
Active Directory Username, Full names, User Groups, Organizational Units, and
Printers/Windows Name. Full reporting by User Groups and Organizational Units.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPECIAL OFFERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---- Print Manager Plus Offered to School Districts
by Site License:
Software Shelf is proud to offer for the first time an Unlimited Site License
for Print Manager Plus 6.0 Standard Academic. This unlimited Academic Site
License covers one organization, and one or more domains within the same Active
Directory Forest.
Whether you are a School District or University Campus Print Manager Plus will
cover your Print Management needs. Print Manager Plus allows you to track,
quota, and restrict student printing and printer usage for a complete print
management solution. This print management system gives you control over all of
your printing resources, namely printers, paper, and toner. No more wasted
budget resulting from uncontrolled and irresponsible printing. You'll be amazed
how much you can save by just tracking this outflow.
Features Include:
* User Quotas
* Seven User, Group, or Printer Restrictions.
* Complete user notification via built in free End User Inquiry Tool.
* Licensed per Print Server/Workgroup or Unlimited Site License.
* Supports unlimited users on the Active Directory/LDAP or Workgroup setup.
* Supports unlimited printers on the print server.
* Over 100 built in Reports.
* Easy Install, No Change to Windows, No Hardware Required!
* Maintenance is included with all products, and covers Upgrades/Updates and
Phone Support for One Year from the date of purchase.
(Probably double what it should in extra paper, toner, ink, and printer
maintenance costs. School administrators are saving thousands annually, freeing
up staff, and earning ROI in just months with next generation, printer control
software.)
---- Buy Print Manager Plus and Get Print Console FREE!
Purchase Print Manager Plus and get a license of Print Console at no charge.
Print Console allows centralized control of all printing activity on an
enterprise of Windows NT/2000/2003 servers and Windows NT/2000/XP workstations.
Print Console allows manipulation of any print jobs spooling on a windows print
server.
Print Console eliminates the need for administrators to walk to a remote server
to administer their printers or solve common printer problems. You can see most
common problems right on your screen such as "toner low", or "out of paper"
errors.
---- Print Manager Plus Available in
Microsoft Learning Network Manager for Schools Worldwide:
Print Manager Plus is the only third party tool featured within Microsoft
Learning Network Manager as a download available now to very school and
university on the planet that is using Windows 2003.
LNM is a free tool for schools and universities to help them save money and time
in managing their IT network. Print Manager Plus access within LNM is provided
to help schools save even more money for their budgets.
LNM offers a standard way of setting up and configuring computer labs, while
reducing support and training requirements. It provides a controllable
infrastructure that can be customized to meet the needs of individual
institutions, ensuring that they can build on existing investments. Implemented
as a layer on top of Microsoft Windows Server™2003.
Learning Network Manager makes it easy to create and manage end users, computer
groups, new PCs, and Internet access. Once installed, it automates many common
tasks including software upgrades and enhances security, stability, and privacy
of information. Learning Network Manager prolongs system life and makes it
easier to recycle old machines for reuse in modern, efficient networks. Learning
Network Manager also supports the teaching process by supporting e-learning
across most network topologies. And because only basic IT skills are required,
busy IT teams or even teachers can set up a network with only a few keystrokes.
This new LNM Version 1.4 includes support for dynamically creating desktop OS
profiles (Windows Vista, WinFLP, and XP as examples) at anytime. LNM Version 1.4
is available to download at
http://www.codeplex.com/LNM Placing LNM on CodePlex affirms Microsoft
commitment to shared source and promoting community based software development.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMENTS AND SUBSCRIBING
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If you have any comments about EnterpriseWire or need support please email us at:
info@softwareshelf.com
Editor: William Feeley
Contributing Editor: Daniel Williams
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