Home of the World Famous Home Office Setup
For those of you who are using my Windows Layout Manager (WiLMa) and who have asked for command line support will hopefully be happy to learn that version 1.1.0.0 has the ability to apply a layout by using the Windows Layout Manager via the command line and in batch files. There have also been a few minor bugfixes and some changes to the documentation. Nothing too earth shattering, really, but the command line support was really high on the list of requests.
As many of you already know, I’m a big fan of MaxiVista and that it’s a product that has proven to be essential to my home office setup. I’ve written about this wonderful application before and you can expect some more about it in the next weeks. Since most of the office is getting an overhaul (just operating systems, a few new systems, but not a complete overhaul in layout) I will be putting the new version of MaxiVista through some heavy usage. There are many crucial aspects to the new version 4, the biggest of which is no doubt the full support for 64-bit (the virtual display drivers installed by MaxiVista 4 are digitally signed) and WDDM graphics cards.
I have very little need for a SAN (Storage Area Network), because every single system is already loaded up with many terabytes of fast RAID storage. A SAN, regardless of the size, speed, and cost, would always be slower than the local storage of each system. However, if I wanted to centralize the storage for the systems in the network, whereby the systems themselves were smaller, less top-heavy computers, I would certainly be looking at something like StarWind Server or StarWind Enterprise Server (probably the latter because I like the replication features).
Virtual Machines are great. I rely on them for my work every day and most of my home office network depends on several Virtual Machines (VM’s) for the core infrastructure (SMTP, DNS, AD, backup management, centralized automation, build farms, continuous integration, etc.) but sometimes you just want the abstraction and ease of use of a Virtual Machine while having full support of the host’s hardware (graphics cards, drivers, etc.) and often you don’t want to mess around with the, often complex or entangled, multi-boot scenarios. If you’re in need of that, Windows 7 (and 2008 Server R2) and their native support for Virtual Harddisks (VHD’s) will come in extremely handy. Especially now that you can install and boot your system from a VHD, directly. The following is a bit of a quick start to using VHD’s, some additional details on how I’ve been using them, and a quick look at Starwind’s free V2V conversion application.
There are numerous websites and blogs out there that highlight Synergy while linking to my site and the pictures of my home office as an example. I am happy that I’ve been able to point out this incredibly useful software keyboard/mouse switch but the time has come to start pointing out the utility that is eclipsing Synergy and that tool is called Input Director. Development of Synergy has been on a long hiatus since April 2006 and there’s no sign of a new version. Combined with my experiences where Synergy randomly stops working when a Windows 7 slave system is part of the configuration has led me to give Input Director a try.
The Windows Layout Manager I mentioned on my blog and subsequently described in more detail has been officially released. Quite a few people have already been using it for the past months and while I planned to give it a proper download location on a new site I’ve been working on I’m putting it on this site instead. The domain of that new site is still physically linked to a server that makes it a lengthy process for me to move the domain and because I don’t think I will have the time to dedicate to that I figured why not just host the download on my own site. You can download it from the bottom of this page. There is some basic documentation included in the download but if you wish to check the docs prior to downloading you can check the Windows Layout Manager online documentation.
Over the past year I’ve received quite a few questions from people wondering how I manage all the windows that must be all over the place on all the various screens and systems. The standard answer is that “I’ve got my own little tool that I developed for managing window layouts” (on single as well as multiple systems simultaneously). However, that standard answer seems to result in even more questions as to how it works and what it does. Since I’m a firm proponent of code re-usability I’m also a firm believer in not wasting too much time answering the same questions over and over again so I’ve decided to answer the question in detail, once and for all. What I’m using for my windows and layout management is the Window Layout Manager, or WiLMA for short (hey, as developers we’re allowed to invent a dozen new acronyms each day and we like that little perk!)
The result is that I am finding it very annoying and painful on the eyes. But not so much the color schemes using a dark background themselves, but rather the practical implications when using it while doing actual work. The dark background allows for better highlighting of code, no doubt about that, but in a practical situation I often have other applications running on the screens which include things like help files, CHM’s and PDF’s with developer documentation and API docs, Outlook, OneNote, Visio, and many other development tools, etc. and almost all of these applications will use a light or white background as a basis.
I’ve recently been really getting into PowerShell and investigating its potential as a new automation and scripting platform for the countless command line based processes I’m running all the time. The first thing I did was purchase a copy of PowerShell Analyzer, which I think is one of the most valuable tools for anyone getting serious about digging into PowerShell’s object paradigm. And while you’re checking out PowerShell Analyzer, check out what the Shell Tools guys are working on; PowerShell Plus. Amazing stuff.
People have asked me to write something about some of the typical usage scenarios that I often find myself in at my home office. Since those are generally not easy to explain in a few words and since they could otherwise fill up the FAQ page a lot I’ve decided to just write them as posts in the blog and relink those back from the FAQ page for details. Note: This was written when I was using the old setup, not the new setup, so details now vary but the general idea of the content here is still the same and as applicable as it was before.
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