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Today’s topics include a Windows 10 Enterprise survey that reveals faster-than-anticipated migration; Microsoft’s shrinking of Windows Nano Server container images; a new Google Search dashboard for business owners; and the development of a new Nginx platform with expanded control for micro-services based application delivery.
U.S. enterprises are moving to Windows 10 faster than market experts had originally anticipated, a new survey of IT professionals has found.
This is largely due to IT departments using automation to create increased efficiencies, allowing them to conduct large-scale migrations with relatively small staff sizes, according to Adaptiva’s 2017 Windows 10 Enterprise Impact Survey.
IT professionals say they are excited about the move to Windows 10 primarily for its numerous additional security features but also because it is easier to maintain on a day-to-day basis than its predecessors.
The survey, released Aug. 29, recorded the perspectives of 446 IT professionals and revealed enterprise IT trends and insights around Windows 10 adoption rates, driving factors for adoption and migration plans.
Windows Server preview build 16278 is now available for download, Microsoft announced on Sept. 5. The final preview build before the system software is released sports smaller Nano Server images, with the latest Nano Server base image being 70 percent smaller than the previous version, the company claims.
Nano Server is a lightweight, container-only version of the operating system suitable for organizations seeking the DevOps-enabling capabilities of application container technologies.
Apart from a variety of big fixes and performance improvements, the latest Windows Server preview build enables users to mount SMB volumes. It also includes some tweaks to the software’s infrastructure components that support container orchestration, and tightened security on the operating system’s software-defined data center functionality.
Starting this week, when business owners look up their listings on Google Search while logged into their business account they will see a dashboard above the results that allows them to edit or update information about their business.
The list includes the ability for owners to add or correct information such as operating hours or to share photos and post details of any promotions or special offers that they might be introducing.
The dashboard will also provide owners with information such as the number of views their listings has received in a specific time period, what people were searching for when they called up their listings or when searchers download photos of the business.
Studies show that businesses with detailed listings are twice as likely as others to gain customer trust and have a nearly 40 percent higher likelihood of attracting customers to their store, said Ranjith Jayaram, a Google product manager.
Nginx announced on Sept. 6 a series of products that will enable a new Nginx Application Platform. Originally just an open-source web server, in recent years Nginx has been adding enhanced application capabilities that go beyond its origins.
The Nginx Application Platform comprises the existing Nginx Plus product in combination with the new Nginx Controller management platform, Nginx Unit application server and Nginx Web Application Firewall. “[Nginx has] been positioning the company in the area of application delivery with both Nginx and Nginx Plus,” Gus Robertson, CEO of Nginx, told eWEEK.
“What we’re now announcing is an extension of our portfolio that makes Nginx a more comprehensive application delivery and management platform.”