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2009 |
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| Technology Integrators Serving Micro-Business (sm) | ||
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Environment Windows XP/XPPro Vista No 64 bit testing (yet) no plans for MAC, Linux (IE Only)
As you can see by what we use/support, if, for example, you have FireFox on your machine and have not kept ie upto date, you may get completely different results than what we have.
Software Hardware
we are currently testing remote control - helpdesk - chat -
single/home user only
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Miscellaneous Vertical Bark Services offers a list on a few of the software tools we use. What is here is what we give our opinion about. Come back often as this all can changes with testing and use - new version are always being released and Windows continues to change.
How software gets listed on these pages. A Need is defined The Search Testing Procedures Disclaimer What we use What we do not use
Step 1 We define our challenge and the solution we want to accomplish. Choose three to five applications/vendors.
Step 2
Step 3
In addition, each single item here represents a single successful candidate out of of a litany of at least three or more additional contenders that offered the same or similar services and features.
We use these products with many of our clients because we have tested them aggressively, use virtually all in our own offices and lab on a daily basis... they get the job done and save money for us and our clients. Our deployment of commercial software vs. open source/freeware is about 55% to 45%. (define terminology of freeware, open source, shareware commercial software
Using "freeware" is a real blessing to your cash-flow and time-saver.
Typically, we go through four to eight pieces of freeware before we find three that we move from the initial search to a test environment. With all this time involved so far we still have failures in Step 2.
The reason we do not have shareware on our list is due to the fact that the evaluation time (15-30 days) does not give us enough time to run our tests and comparison. We operate an IT business for a living not an independent testing lab.
When we choose a piece of freeware we have saved hundreds and sometime thousands of dollars [and hours of time]. Our suggestion is you reward the developers with some (or all) of the cash you saved when you find a good, solid piece of freeware. Do the Right-Thing. Donate to the freeware developers and support their efforts. A small amount and a heart felt "thank you" will be appreciated more than your silence.
Freeware is a real nice concept but you should do the "right-thing" and donate to the developers efforts or upgrade to their commercial "pro" versions if they offer one.
All software here [in the versions presented] are free to use under Open Source or Freeware licensing. Read EULA's and license agreements. They vary a lot. From free to use... personally in business government NGO only faith-based non-profits educational on and on.... I have seen everyone of the above categories broken down to the minutest division. Here are some examples Non-profits except for schools and churches. 501(c)(3) USA and India only No faith-based NGO only Personal use Only one machine only one home workstation and one laptop only all personally owned machines but not networked or business Educational public schools only, grades k-12, no universities high schools level only except for home-school k-12 only, public and private except home-school no church-schools
As you can see, the allowable use of freeware can vary as much as the variety available. Any other combination you can think up. It gets very creative. It's up to the developers what the license allows/disallows. IT IS UP TO YOU TO COMPLY - READ THE EULA. The legality is just as binding with freeware as it is with commercial software - severity of penalties the same. See, truly there is no free lunch. Beautiful software, free, except where you want to use it, then you send bucks. Read the EULA's carefully.
We will not list any software that we tested but was not successful in reaching our full production use. The reasons are varied and are not limited to the list below.
The "winners" and the "unused" software: Some of the tested software is not listed because of the reasons above. Some just fell into a group of two or more products in the same category that were equally successful. We chose the one we [objectively & subjectively] liked.
We are not a testing lab but we find ourselves in the position to test software because we or our clients need a solution. While we test we also "learn" the software so we can successfully install and support it for ourselves and clients.
We use the same protocols if when are testing using freeware, open source or commercial software. First it must provide a solution to a challenge and our engineers must be able to provide support.
We will not list "unused" software on these pages and have other good software that we are not using tainted in any way. There is a lot of good software out there. No, we haven't test all of them and don't plan on doing that. By the same token, we have gone through a butt-load of what we think is in a category called "we will not use for any reason".
We are not defending/recommending the "winners" and not going to discuss further why all the other software tests are in the "unused" category.
We base what we have here on these pages on our testing, in our environments, with our configurations of the software on our configurations of our networks, workstations, laptops. You have our opinion based on our experience and protocols.
If these opinions are of any assistance to you, we are pleased. If you have questions about installation, use, configuration, or other questions, our suggestion is to go to the developers website and start with their product information, FAQ's, installation and configuration suggestions and requirements.
If those online references do not answer your questions, many of them have their own forums/blogs where you can find answers to your questions. Forums are a good place as someone is typically acting as a moderator and can help or direct you. After that you might email them. Most do not have phone support for freeware products.
If you do not agree with our opinions - you are welcome to set your own testing protocols, on your network/machines, gather all the freeware, shareware, open source and commercial software you can get your hands on, objectively and subjectively come up with you own list and critique them on your own website.
Just don't write us. We are not trying give some attitude, but this is our opinions not a recommendation and this is not a blog or discussion website. Hope you understand.
The reason we do not list all the software we have evaluated and not put on our current list of software we are using is because much of the software that "didn't make it" was as good as what we chose to use and we will NOT use this site to even have the possibility to suggest other products are "bad". We just chose not to use them for our own reasons which we are not willing to share. What is listed here is what has gone through our testing procedures and currently use [the version listed].
Some of the very best software in the world, installed incorrectly, in the wrong environment, not configured correctly can be your worst nightmare. We charge for our experience to install any software, commercial, shareware, freeware, or open source.
Take our opinions and do what you like but we are not responsible for anything you do on your systems.
I really don't like to write like this, but some people just don't get it. I'm not responsible for your actions or choices. Read the EULA's and the developers will be telling you pretty much the same thing. ------------- other
Software we use. Commercial Licensed Software We use and support Microsoft products primarily the current versions of server and client operating systems [Server2003, XP an Vista]. We also use and support the Microsoft Office Suite [XP, 2003, 2007]
Other Licensed Software We use and support all the various renditions of Freeware, Shareware, GNU/FSF/GPU/Other licensing agreements and issues. We provide installation and support to our clients only. It you are not a client of Vertical Bark, please contact the developers or publishers for their assistance.
Evaluation: Testing and Choices We define our needs, look for software to provide solutions, objectively test and choose base on these objective test and various subjective values.
There is an enormous amount of software in every category of computing disciplines. Much of it is excellent. With that in mind, we do not publish a list of applications we have tested nor a list of those products we chose not to use.
Our choice of products does not imply "best" nor does products we chose not to use imply "bad" or "inferior". We will not publish that list of tested but unused software. Please do not write and ask us if we have used certain products as we will not respond.
We provide a list of what we [currently] use and we change this list as our needs change. We may use version "1.0" of an application but may or may not use version "2.0" in the future. Could be we needed the change, different software does a better job, new version doesn't live up to expectations. Our [new] choice of software must pass our rigorous testing procedures. So our change is not entirely candid nor completely subjective.
for all the various reasons you might What we use in version "X" may not
We test based on our needs application[s] objectivally and make our decission to use software on these ojjective findings and subjective findings
Lenght of testing period in our lab
Lenght of testing period in our lab in http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesGPLStandFor
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if good software - use it for 3 to 6 months, then pay (donate) to keep the next version
as with software hardware install, configuration
how we do hardware
Temper everything you read on this page as subjective (our opinion) based on 25 plus years of experience in the IT field. That's the owners hands-on experiences, not the accumulated experience of staff.
This is in NO way a complete nor comprehensive list of products available
topology configuration
donation connections
we have notified the mfg of this page
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Vertical Bark, LLCTechnology Services for Small Business
Legal Terms and Policies [updated] - Site MapReproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
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