Words and Software
Technical writing for Windows 10 (old: Intelligent Systems Service, Data Protection Manager, and Operations Manager)
Update or rewrite: how do you decide?
This is a common scenario for technical writers: there is existing content, let's say for V1 of a...
Date: 03/15/2012
On to a new product: Windows Embedded
I won't be writing any more about System Center 2012 - Operations Manager. After several years on...
Date: 03/14/2012
Changes to OpsMgr docs (System Center 2012) in Dec 2011
If you follow us on Twitter (@opsmandoc), you'll be hearing about updated documentation for the...
Date: 12/12/2011
OpsMgr 2012 release candidate docs: what's different
Hope you all heard that the release candidate of Operations Manager 2012 is now available for...
Date: 11/10/2011
Which management pack to save a group in
The title of this post is the issue I'm trying to write about in Operations Manager 2012 Help. The...
Date: 07/28/2011
Operations Manager: what do you need to know to use it?
This is actually an open question to you all. :) It's common for us to say our audience is the IT...
Date: 07/23/2011
Operations Manager 2012 Beta released!
The past few months have been all about the Operations Manager 2012 beta release, which, of course,...
Date: 07/22/2011
Need volunteers: Operations Manager documentation survey
Do you use Operations Manager? Would you be willing to complete a short email survey about...
Date: 03/04/2011
"Back" not working on browser
Some sort of "widget" is taking over all sorts of web sites, it seems. A few weeks ago, I noticed...
Date: 08/03/2010
Which user role(s) can perform this task?
The content team is busily ramping up on doc plans for the next version of Operations Manager. (And...
Date: 07/27/2010
Would you use an Operations chm for SCOM?
Currently, we post all of our Operations Manager documentation for download in doc format, and also...
Date: 07/14/2010
Office Word 2010 and product/company knowledge template
If you write product knowledge or company knowledge for management packs, you'll be glad to hear...
Date: 05/25/2010
Exchange 2007 MP product knowledge
The Exchange management packs send you to the product knowledge articles online, rather than...
Date: 05/24/2010
Change to Management Pack Guide library
Old: When a guide couldn't be published in its entirety in the management pack guide library on...
Date: 04/19/2010
Operator Basics: getting started with Operations Manager
I finally get to announce that the Operator Basics SuperFlow for Operations Manager 2007 is...
Date: 04/07/2010
Operations Manager 2007 SP1 Management Pack updated
An updated download of the Operations Manager 2007 SP1 Management Pack is available. The management...
Date: 03/15/2010
Operations Manager capacity planning
Need some help planning your Operations Manager deployment? Check out the Operations Manager 2007 R2...
Date: 03/01/2010
SQL MP guide updated
I recently mentioned that we're changing how MP guides are released. The SQL Server Management Pack...
Date: 11/24/2009
Visual Basic 2008 Express: Build a Program Now! sample files
I decided to try to learn Visual Basic, so I picked up a book that looked promising: Microsoft...
Date: 11/18/2009
MP guides to be separate download
A sharp-eyed blogger (Pete Zerger) noticed a change in our management pack download pages. Here's...
Date: 11/09/2009
Writing good technical documentation, part 3
(Part 2) (Part 1) Nathan Bransford, a literary agent, blogged about his difficulty in getting...
Date: 07/22/2009
R2: check for MP updates
There hasn't been an easy way to check for management pack updates in Operations Manager 2007 until...
Date: 06/19/2009
Submit questions for the Operator's Manual
There are two ways to approach content on using the Operations console and Web console for...
Date: 06/09/2009
Is your IE8 slow to open a new tab?
Whenever I would open a new tab in IE8, whether by control-clicking a link or simply clicking the...
Date: 06/03/2009
MP Guide for Operations Manager 2007 R2
The management pack guide for the Operations Manager Management Pack (Operations Manager 2007 R2...
Date: 06/03/2009
What goes in product knowledge?
When you create a component in a management pack, you have to provide a display name. You can also...
Date: 06/02/2009
Where did "Key Concepts" go?
Back when Operations Manager 2007 was released, the content team posted an online version of a Key...
Date: 06/02/2009
FizzBin for geeks
Scott Hanselman has a suggestion for tech support -- a codeword that clues in the help desk that you...
Date: 03/21/2009
Writing good technical documentation, part 2
(Part 1) Joel Spolsky has an excellent post on the role of the program manager. I work with program...
Date: 03/09/2009
Product knowledge in management packs
Some components of management packs include product knowledge, which is just information provided by...
Date: 01/12/2009
Writing good technical documentation, part 1
A recent comment by "BPM software" suggested that I write about best practices for writing technical...
Date: 01/07/2009
Active Directory Management Pack: which ones to import
The latest Active Directory Management Pack package includes management packs for monitoring Windows...
Date: 11/19/2008
Authoring management packs
Working on management pack guides, my attention is generally on how you can use the management packs...
Date: 11/06/2008
ReadMe vs. Guide
You might notice in the management pack guide library that some guides are quite extensive (like...
Date: 10/08/2008
MP guides online: a question for you
This is a question about the root page for the two management pack guide libraries (operating system...
Date: 08/27/2008
An operating system, a horse, and transparency
Catching up on my Microsoft-related blog feeds this morning, I counted at least a dozen blogs...
Date: 08/15/2008
Correction to knowledge for SDK SPN Registration alert
Thanks to a sharp-eyed customer, an error in the resolution procedure for alert "SDK SPN...
Date: 08/08/2008
Change control: content preview
The next revision of the Operations Guide for Ops Manager will include an expanded section on...
Date: 08/06/2008
OT: blogs from the past
I've really enjoyed the blog WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier which posts Harry Lamin's...
Date: 07/31/2008
Support for Windows Server 2008
I know many of you have been waiting anxiously eagerly for management packs for Windows Server 2008....
Date: 07/26/2008
Zune and Pinnacle Video Transfer
I'm not a hardcore gadget junkie, although I've bought plenty that I never really use...maybe a...
Date: 07/24/2008
That pesky admin password
Most everyone has heard some of the stories about the frustrations of providing tech support. Here's...
Date: 07/23/2008
Replacing my hard drive
Part of me had been dreading this day. Once I had thought my 30 GB hard drive was spacious; then I...
Date: 06/28/2008
MP guide library complete
Last month, I announced that we'd started adding Ops Manager 2007 management pack guides to our...
Date: 06/13/2008
Ceiling fan: summer
I know the direction of the ceiling fan is supposed to make a difference -- one way in cool weather...
Date: 06/09/2008
Management pack guides online
The Management Pack Guide library is now live on TechNet. About half (23) of the Operations Manager...
Date: 05/29/2008
News on the SP1 management packs
I posted last month about the "missing" management pack guides for the management packs that were...
Date: 05/28/2008
Version numbers of management packs (pt 2)
Previously, I learned what management packs version numbers mean, but that will be changing in the...
Date: 05/28/2008