JennK2's WebLog

OMG is that SUN?

2005-03-30T02:19:00Z

Ok so by now maybe you've seen the EEC post about our new Sun hardware. My manager just brought me one of the new boxes. I have to admit its a bit unsettling seeing Sun in my office (no jokes about living in WA – although it is HAILING right now). I’ll admit I’m pretty excited to start it up and give it a go. I’ll be using it to do some video rendering/editing which should be sweet! Will keep you posted!

Introduction to Mom

2005-02-15T20:57:00Z

Mom is a very “green” computer user. Over the holidays she decided her machine was working very slowly and the best way to fix this was to go through “Add/Remove Programs” and remove all the programs she didn’t use anymore.

Big shock I get the call “my computer isn’t working right”. After about 40 minutes on the phone I figure out she probably deleted a video driver or some component of her ISP (would you believe she doesn’t use MSN – I have half a mind to tell her it’s the ISP but I don’t <grin>). This happens at a bad time for me because I can’t do this over the phone and she wants it fixed today.

She ends up bringing the machine to a local retailer where they install a new video card and now she can’t turn the machine on …

She decides to buy a new machine (I’m skipping a bit of the story but for time/sanity I cant re-live the whole ordeal).

Next call – she can’t get to the online game she plays (on Zone.com). I walk through firewall settings and Active X controls, but everything appears ok. Part of the deal is a support agreement with the OEM. I can’t help her. I tell her to call the Support Techs – she says she did and they said it was a software problem. Im not buying it so I try to connect to the site and play from my machine w/ XP and have no problem. I tell her to call them back and tell them you were able to play your games on your old machine and if they can’t help you’d like to return the computer.

Wouldn’t you know it was an OEM setting that needed to be changed (couldn’t get specifics from Mom).

My two takeaways – I have a new respect for phone support professionals – I know it can be very difficult trying to outline a computer problem over the phone; be it level of knowledge, language issues or just bad connection. This time it really was the hardware <grin>.

Introduction to Dad

2005-01-14T22:38:00Z

Most of us at Microsoft are our family's IT Pros, Im no exception. Introduce my Dad - he's a relatively smart computer user. He used to be in Management Information Systems at UTC many moons ago (I remember we were one of the first in the neighborhood to have Prodigy) and while the technology has changed he can figure out quite a bit on his own - but let's face it, its so much easier to slip in a question while on the phone w/ your daughter <grin>.

He stays abreast of home computing technology; has updated hardware - just bought a laptop (and software of course <grin>), high speed internet connectivity (he recently switched to cable modem) and is a big fan of digital photography and the peripherals needed to sustain the “hobby”.

This Christmas he decides he wants to go wireless. So I go out and get him the router and he is able to set it up w/out any problems. When he logs on for the first time he notices there are other wireless networks around him (the majority unsecured) and that he's automatically being logged onto one of them. He calls me wondering how to fix and if he can secure his network so no one else can get on his network. But of course you can Dad! XP SP2 comes with a great Wireless Network Set-Up Wizard in the control panel. He'll also have to go into Network Connections to remove the other networks.

He does this easily and he's all set now, I talked to him the other day and he was on his deck surfing away or working on his next project – converting all our home movies to DVD and he calls me laughing. Seems a boat just went by and he picked up the wireless network on the boat (network name was the same as the boat name).

Im impressed with XP SP2 - I like the firewall capabilities as well as pop-up blocking - now I just want to figure out a smart way to get rid of SPAM ...

Greetings from the Enterprise Engineering Center!

2005-01-08T03:30:00Z

Happy New Year!!

As an introduction I’m Jennifer, I’ve worked at Microsoft for about 7 years now. I started in the Interactive Media Group (MSN, Gaming Zone, and yes even Barney was one of our projects). I then went to work in Information Technology Group (ITG) where I was part of the MSFT internal customer support group (helpdesk, HW standards and account management of field offices). I moved from there over to the Windows Customer Connection team, specifically the Enterprise Engineering Center (EEC). This is the best job. I get to work with some of the most well rounded people (ie they’re intelligent, inspiring, and can hold a conversation outside a technical arena <grin>). I also get to work directly with customers – understanding their pleasure and pain with Microsoft and our products and at the end of the day hopefully make a (positive) difference!

This blog is intended to share with you my (and my family’s) experiences with Microsoft and Microsoft products. I may ask for feedback and/or suggestions along the way so please check back (my goal is to post once a month).

Thanks for reading!