Got my January ActionPack Subscription
I came home this evening to find out that the January shipment of my Microsoft ActionPack Subscription arrived today.
Sweet!!
Sort of, anyway...
First the good news:
I got my Office 2007 licenses, or should I say, Microsoft Office System 2007. It even came with SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2007.
Now, for the not-quite-as-good news:
I did get Windows Vista in the subscription, but the subscription comes with Vista Business Edition (which, in retrospect, I should have anticipated). What I really wanted was Vista Ultimate Edition. More importantly, I wanted Ultimate Edition for the x64 platform, not the 32-bit edition. It seems that all I get is the 32-bit Business upgrade. Not hideous, mind you, but not quite what I had in mind. And I was surprised that it didn't come with the 64-bit version, at least, since XP Pro x64 was provided in an earlier ActionPack shipment.
Sigh... I might just upgrade my desktop in-place (contrary to my general feeling about that activity) and see how it goes for a month or two, and then rebuild properly in full 64-bit mode. I haven't decided what I'll do with the laptops as yet.
Finally, we come to the really disappointing news:
I truly expected to have a copy of Exchange Server 2007 in my January ActionPack subscription, but no such luck. And just when I was about to get my Exchange Server finished so that I could migrate from 2003 to 2007. 
As you can see, that throws off my planning just a wee bit. Still, all is not lost. I'll get it all resolved in a couple of weeks and might still manage to get it all implemented by the end of February. Right now, the schedule is pretty tight, though.
So, in the final verdict, I have to say that the ActionPack is well worth the investment, even with the current disappointment. If you're building systems and solutions for clients on a regular basis, then you're hurting yourself if you haven't checked out what the subscription has to offer your business... There's a whole lot of the Office 2007 product family in here.
About Logik!
Andrew S. Baker aka ASB aka Logik!
Andrew is an accomplished, hands-on IT Executive with a solid track record of providing timely and cost-effective business solutions using technology. With over 16 years experience in Information Technology, he has proven to be effective both as a Team Leader and as an individual contributor in designing, deploying, securing and maintaining enterprise networks.
His personal interests include Astronomy, Basketball, Bible Study, Chess, Comics, Computers,
Family Life Ministries, Reading and Strategy/Role Playing games...
Some of his contributions include several whitepapers on technology and Information Security, the UltraTech Knowledgebase, various postings to technology mailing lists and forums, active participation on LinkedIn Answers, along with a number of interviews for articles published in industry magazines.
A condensed version of
Andrew's current resume is available here.