As a professional software developer, I have turned my attention on my computer's and working place's periphery (screen, keyboard, mouse...). After some mistakes I am sure to have found the perfect working environment - for the year 2008 - for me:

Monitor: DELL 3008 WFP (30'' TFT/Matt)
Somehow I have never been a fan of two-monitor solutions. This is why I am of the opinion that the screen itself must be big enough and must also have a good resolution. Doubtlessly, the 30" TFTs fulfil these requirements the best. The screen fills the whole field of vision so that it is possible to see every part of the screen without  always having to move the head in the respective direction. Another advantage of these TFTs is their immense brightness which perfectly prevents from getting tired after a while;) Working with visual studio in combination with Resharper (e.g. for additional windows like File Structure) is possible without any compromises  - just a dream for any developer... In addition to that, the screen just has to be matt - I don't understand why people nowadays are making such a fuss about these "inhuman" mirror-like displays - I don't feel like painting my face during work;).

Keyboard: Logitech UltraX Keyboard
Very flat and quiet keys which feel like laptop-keys but are arranged in the DIN layout. No exotic compromises by additional keys and less bells and whistles. Therefore, it is possible to type at a very high speed with only few mistakes. Just great! After one year of intensive use any other keybord is rattrap and very unhandy.

Mouse: Logitech G9 Laser
Offers several exchangable frames adaptable to any hand size. Unequalled resolution with a thoroughgoing precision (3200dpi). Speed of the mouse can be changed via keys on the mouse "on the fly". With interchangeable weights the weight of the mouse can be adjusted individually. Mouse wheel with disengageable mode of grades - therefore noiseless scrolling with "push"-behaviour. The mouse wheel can be pushed and just runs at the same speed for a while. Very handy for "cruising" in the code. It can't be explained well, so you just have to try it yourself!

Sound: Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
I admit that this sound card is a few years old now and like this it's not available anymore. Nowadays it would be more normal to use the model X-fi Elite pro. But what else can you do than keep it when you are just satisfied with it. For me, an undispensable "must" in a sound card system is this external box with all important connections and controllers in my grasp (volume, micro volume, head set connections, ... ) no crawling under the table to connect a head set and no hectic clicking around to turn down the volume when a client or colleague calls. direct manual controlling of the micro volume when phoning via the veb or when producing a screen cast...

Headset (landline): Jabra/Netcom CN9120
In order to have two free hands while phoning you need a headset - this is nothing new. But now life is unimaginable without this mobile headset with a reach of up to 150m. It works like a second DECT device and can be used simultaneously together with the normal phone. In genera,l it's very comfortable to wear - and you don't have the feeling to hurt your ear when phoning for several hours;). This also explains the quite long possible time of speech of up to 12 hours nonstop. Last but not least the transmitting power adjusts dynamically with the distance to the base station (0.1-63mW) and in comparison to other DECT devices this rate is very low (up to 250 mW are allowed).

Last but not least, for a stress-free working environment something cuddly and purring is needed and for this I can recommend you Fisko. He was available second-hand (but as good as new) for about 75 euros at the animal shelter... ;)

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Als professioneller Entwickler habe ich ein großes Augenmerk auf die Peripherie (Bildschirm, Tastatur, Maus, ...) meines Computers bzw. Arbeitsplatzes. Nach einigen fehlgriffen denke ich nun die für mich perfekte Ausstattung - für das Jahr 2008 ;-) - gefunden zu haben:

Monitor: DELL 3008 WFP (30'' TFT/Matt)
Irgendwie konnte ich mich nie so recht für 2-Monitor Lösungen begeistern. Daher muss bei mir der Monitor für sich einfach genug Platz bzw. Auflösung bieten. Und das tun im Moment die 30'' TFT's wohl unbestritten am besten. Der Monitor füllt das ganze Blickfeld aus - so dass man gerado so ohne größere Kopfbewegungen jeden Bereich "erblicken" kann. Die enorme Helligkeit verhindert zudem jegliches Ermüden ;-) Das Arbeiten in Visual Studio in Kombination mit Resharper (z.B. für Zusatzfenster wie File Structure) ist ohne Kompromisse möglich - einfach nur ein Traum für jeden Entwickler... Zudem muss der Bildschirm unbedingt Matt sein -  ich verstehe den seit einiger Zeit anhaltenden Hype um diese "unmenschlichen" Spiegel-Displays überhaupt nicht - ich habe eigentlich nicht das Bedürfnis mich während der Arbeit zu schminken ;-).

Tastatur: Logitech UltraX Keyboard
Sehr flache & leise Tasten, die sich wie Laptop-Tasten anfühlen aber im DIN Layout angeordnet sind. Keine exotischen Kompromisse durch Zusatztasten und wenig Schnick-Schnack. Somit sind sehr hohe Tippgeschwindigkeiten bei geringen Tippfehlern möglich. Einfach nur gut! Nach 1 Jahr intensivem Gebrauch ist für mich alles andere nur noch ein "Klapperkasten" oder "Gelenkverdreher"...

Maus: Logitech G9 Laser
Verschiedene auswechselbare Rahmen - somit für jede Handgröße anpassbar. Unerreichte Auflösung mit kompromisslos hoher Präzision (3200 dpi). Mausgeschwindigkeit durch Tasten an der Maus "on the fly" veränderbar. Auswechselbare verschiedene Gewichte um das Gewicht der Maus individuell anzupassen. Mausrad mit abschaltbarerm Stufenmodus - somit geräuschloses Rollen mit "Anschubs"-Verhalten. Das Mausrad kann "angeschubst" werden und läuft somit einfach in der entsprechenden Geschwindigkeit für eine Weile weiter. Super genial für "crusen" in Code. Kann man nicht richtig erklären - muss man einfach mal ausprobieren.

Sound: Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
Zugegeben ist diese Soundkarte bereits einige Jahre alt und ist so nicht mehr im Programm. Heutzutage würde man wohl eher auf das Modell X-Fi Elite Pro zurückgreifen. Aber was soll man machen ausser sie zu behalten, wenn man "einfach nur" super zufrieden damit ist? Ein absolutes Muss bei einem Soundkartensystem ist für mich nämlich diese externe Box mit allen wichtigen Anschlüssen und Reglern in "Handgreifweite" (Lautstärke, Micro Lautstärke, Kopfhöreranschlüsse, ...). Kein Krabbeln unter den Tisch um ein Headset abzuschließen. Kein wildes herumklicken um den Sound leiser zu stellen, wenn ein Kunde oder Kollege anruft. Direkte manuelle Regelung der Micro Laustärke, wenn man über das Web telefoniert oder einen Screencast erstellt...

Headset (Festnetz): Jabra/Netcom CN9120
Um beim telefonieren die Hände frei zu haben braucht man ein Headset - das ist keine neue Erkenntnis. Aber dieses mobile Headset mit einer Rechweite von bis zu 150m ist wirklich aus meinem Leben nicht mehr wegzudenken. Es verhält sich wie ein zweites DECT Gerät und kann einfach parallel zum normalen Mobilteil betrieben werden. Grundsätzlich sitzt es sehr angemehm - man hat nicht das Gefühl, dass einem das Ohr nach wenigen Stunden ;-) telefonieren abfällt. Damit rechtfertigt sich auch die sehr lange mögliche Sprechzeit von bis zu 12 Stunden am Stück. Zuguterletzt passt sich die Sendeleistung dynamisch mit der Entferung zur Basisstation an (0.1-63mW) und ist somit im Vergleich zu anderen DECT Geräten sehr niedrig (bis 250mW sind erlaubt).

Schließlich benötigt man für ein stressfreies Arbeiten noch etwas kuschliges und beruhigendes schnuren. Hierzu kann ich Fisko empfehlen. Den gabs gebraucht (aber neuwertig) für ca. 75€ im Tierheim... ;-)

Hyper-V has been available for several weeks now and I had expected quite a lot of this virtualization technology by Microsoft. As a long-time user of VMWare Server I assumed that Hyper-V was at least able to compete against the current V1.x by VMWare Server and that it would set the a benchmark concerning Performance.  In the following I will describe my first experiences with Hyper-V.

What I already knew before the practical experience explained here is that Hyper-V wouldn’t have any USB support. If I remember correctly, VMWare offered this support / feature for quite a while. Microsoft – why aren’t you able to do this?

The attempt to convert my existing VMWare Machines into Hyper-V was a miserable failure. By using a Freeware Tool I could pleasingly convert the VMDK files into VHD files, but that was it – the virtual machine wasn’t able to boot. Reason: Hyper-V can only boot from virtual IDE hard disks, not from SCSI disks.  I simply can’t understand why Microsoft ignores this feature and generally I consider this very negligent (not to say stupid) of Microsoft. I am also wondering why there is no provided tool to convert VMWare Machines into Hyper-V Machines – Mircrosoft doesn’t seem to expect someone having this idea. Unfortunately, the findings, which I am going to describe in a moment, seem to confirm this theory.

To continue with the topic of virtual hard disks: it really bothers me that Hyper-V, unlike VMWare, cannot split the virtual hard disks into 2GB files. In the past I had often problems handling big files – this is why I generally split virtual hard disks in VMWare.

After the first few failures in converting VMWare into Hyper-V machines, the only remaining option was to reinstall new machines. “Well, if my virtual machine also runs on Windows Server 2008 that would also be an improvement”, I thought. All in all, Windows Server 2008 runs on a very high performance on my physical machines. However, when installing Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V I was faced with another disillusion – the I/O with the virtual (IDE*;_)*) hard disks doesn’t seem to perform well. The “expansion” of the files within the Windows Server 2008 installation in Hyper-V takes a lot lot lot longer than installing the physical machine.

Not sitting in front of the Server  (does anyone do that at all nowadays?), but working via a RDP terminal goes without saying. Here, I was disappointed again – operating the virtual machine with the mouse via a Hyper-V console during a RDP session is not possible. In order to do this, the “Integration Services” have to be installed onto the virtual machine. Unfortunately this is clearly not possible as long as the installation hasn’t been finished, so that operating the machine during the installation via RDP is only possible by using the keyboard. Very annoying. There aren’t any problems with VMWare concerning this issue. Again I am wondering about a software constellation in which everything comes from Microsoft. By the way, why does Microsoft call the VM driver package “Integration Services”? When I read in the help for the first time (yes, I really opened the help – window) it was quite confusing, because as a software developer I understand something completely different by the term “Integration Services”. Wouldn’t something like VM Additions have been more self-explaining? Hm, still wondering…

After the Setup (without mouse support via RDP) I was finally able to use the virtual machine and I had to discover that there wasn’t any network interference card available. Well, I had to shut down the virtual machine again, look into the Hyper-V configuration in order to find out how to connect the network card.  But to say something nice about the whole thing – the user/operator interface for the configuration of Hyper-V is really self-explaining and easily operated.

After several mouse clicks I was about to connect the network interference card to the virtual machine – remember that I was still working via RDP – when a warning popped up that the network on the physical server might collapse and therefore might have to be reconfigured. I thought: “Well, then I’ll reconnect with RDP again afterwards when the network is established”, and went on…. Well -  going somewhere - namely by car straight to the office where the server on which I had been working is located- was really necessary then. The physical machine was like a total mess, jammed and had to be reset. To cut a long story short, administration of virtual network cards and bindings works perfectly fine with VMWare via RDP. Therefore, no-one can say that my expectations were too high!

After many hours (yes, I was spoiled by VMWare) I was finally able to install the software onto the virtual machine. I didn’t have to wait long for the next unexpected problem of Hyper-V to appear – the processor’s efficiency in the Task Manager on the physical machine was basically nothing – no matter how busy the virtual machine was. Of course there’s an explanation for this - Hyper-V is integrated in the operating system and runs relatively near to the hardware – but when working with it, it is very annoying. With the network traffic, for example, it is the same as it can’t be measured on the physical machine anymore, too.

In a nutshell, the current version of Hyper-V unfortunately isn’t of any use to me and cannot compete against VMWare Server (V1.x) by far (for me), apart from supporting operating systems. But VMWare Server 2.x is now available as RC and will bridge this gap soon.  My advice for anyone intending to use Hyper-V is using a dedicated server which is only used for virtual machines and for nothing else and plan to (physically) sit in front of this machine for a while ;-)