> I don't think this is "by accident", but by "marketing strategy".
>
> If you want to sell as many SMS-Licenses as possible, find a "killer app"
> that will force everyone to use it.
> Using Office 2007 to push SMS is just a nother way to screw the customer.
> Have you tried to deploy SQL 2005 Express with GPO ?
> MSDE 2000 is an msi that deploys without ant problems, but I still haven't
> found a way to do it wth 2005.
> Expect the exact same behavior with all new products. How can I use a new
> product that everyone wants, to push a product that they don't need or want
> ?
>
> Kenneth Hempkins
>
> "Gerry Hickman" <gerry666uk[ at ]newsgroup.nospam> wrote in message
> news:um6KvPOhHHA.4552[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> It's been the case for a long time that Microsoft products are becoming
>> less friendly for the big corporate IT networks. There's thread over on
>> the MSI newsgroup (Vista and DCOM) that echoes the same problem but from a
>> different angle.
>>
>> The main Microsoft focus appears to be the "home user who is a member of
>> the Administrators group", and who interacts with the computer by
>> "clicking" things.
>>
>> If you look at all the Microsoft help files, ResKits and MSDN collections
>> since 1999, you'll note that all the advanced topics are being removed and
>> replaced by meaningless rubbish. Here's an example when you search for "An
>> attempt was made to reference a token that does not exist." on Vista you
>> get this from Windows 2000:
>>
>> <
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/w2000Msgs/3803.mspx?mfr=true>>>
>> "Contact the supplier of the running application."
>>
>> Great, so I have to contact Microsoft:(
>>
>> The Vista help file is another good example. Vista makes extensive use of
>> Reparse Points, but if you put those words into the help file, it starts
>> offering help about "Wireless access points"! Clueless and stupid, just
>> like the so-called "security model" and "virtualization" in Vista.
>>
>> No doubt the AIP was seen as a "bit too advanced" for the average
>> Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. Likewise they "deprecated" the MSI
>> provider inside WMI. Again probably seen as a "bit too difficult" for the
>> kind of people who choose Microsoft? Instead they offer "wizards", where
>> people are led by the hand like children, and end up with equally childish
>> results.
>>
>> The other thing they did was create ".NET Framework" to try and make
>> programming more "child friendly". Note that for their own products they
>> stick to native code using C++ and COM, but try to brainwash customers
>> into thinking .NET is superior, and most of them fall for it.
>> Unbelievable!
>>
>> eugenevr wrote:
>>> I find the whole way the new deployment is being done very
>>> interesting. Suddenly GPO deployment is not as an acceptable way of
>>> deploying Office any more.... Some distasteful words come to mind.
>>> Whilst the "preferred" procedure is sure to work OK (never mind that
>>> you can "customize" far less of the deployment than would have been
>>> the case with OCW alone), it is clear MS did not think this through
>>> properly.
>>>
>>> As for uninstalling Office 2003 first (upgrading is ALWAYS wrong????),
>>> most of us lowly techies (esp those who consult to other companies who
>>> most of the time do *not* have pristine setups), cannot always start
>>> with a clean slate. In short, I've had no issues doing in-place
>>> upgrades from Office 2000->XP->2003. It is not ideal I concur, but it
>>> is the reality many of us work with. And what about user setttings
>>> specific to Office; if I remove an old version and do a fresh there
>>> are always some things missing, and we then are faced with touching
>>> the desktop manually or having to find all kinds of scripting
>>> solutions as workarounds. (Thanks for posting the js by the way!)
>>>
>>> MS has given us a wonderful product in Office 2007, it's people ready
>>> but not exactly IT ready. Once again: there are numerous of our client
>>> base that cannot afford SMS/SCCM, where we have been using GPO
>>> extensively to deploy software (esp Office 2003); to curb the use of
>>> GPO in deploying Office 2007 seems almost unbelievable. There are
>>> numerous posts and blogs about this issue and it is sure to stir up
>>> even more emotion as sysadmins start to realize the deployment toolset
>>> is not as refined as it should be.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Apr 21, 5:25 pm, Gerry Hickman <gerry66...[ at ]newsgroup.nospam> wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> Ok, if the original installs were "manual", that explains a lot. Here's
>>>> something to try, run this script against some random remote boxes and
>>>> it should print the 3 key qualifiers for the product. Once we have them
>>>> we can test doing an uninstall (if you have a domain admin account?)
>>>>
>>>> Copy and paste this script into a text file called o2k3check.js, then
>>>> run it like this
>>>>
>>>> CScript o2k3check.js
>>>>
>>>> Copy and paste the output back here
>>>>
>>>> * look out for line wrap below *
>>>>
>>>> // Get Microsoft Office Products
>>>> // You MUST run this under CScript, not WScript.
>>>> // one command line arg = computer to check
>>>> // no command line arg = local computer
>>>>
>>>> var cArgs = WScript.Arguments;
>>>> var cArgsUnnamed = cArgs.Unnamed;
>>>> if (cArgsUnnamed.Count > 0) {
>>>> var strCmp = cArgsUnnamed(0);} else {
>>>> var strCmp = ".";
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> var oLoc = new ActiveXObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator");
>>>> var oSvc = oLoc.ConnectServer(strCmp, "root\\cimv2");
>>>> getProducts();
>>>> oSvc = null;
>>>> oLoc = null;
>>>>
>>>> function getProducts() {
>>>> // Get key qualifiers for all Office products
>>>>
>>>> var re = /^Microsoft Office/i;
>>>> var cProducts = oSvc.InstancesOf("Win32_Product");
>>>> trace("Total number of products " + cProducts.Count);
>>>> var e = new Enumerator(cProducts);
>>>> for(;!e.atEnd();e.moveNext()) {
>>>> var oThisProduct = e.item();
>>>> var strProductName = oThisProduct.Name;
>>>> if(strProductName.match(re)) {
>>>> var strProduct = oThisProduct.IdentifyingNumber
>>>> + " : ";
>>>> strProduct += strProductName + " : ";
>>>> strProduct += oThisProduct.Version;
>>>> trace(strProduct);
>>>> }
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> function trace(strMsg) {
>>>> WScript.Echo(strMsg);
>>>>
>>>> }
>>>> Will73 wrote:
>>>>> That is exactly what I am trying to do. It will uninstall if I use the
>>>>> setup.exe file. It will uninstall if I use a custom .MSP file.
>>>>> Problem is
>>>>> there is no way to uninstall through Group Policy. Since the software
>>>>> was
>>>>> originally installed manually there is no upgrade path to remove it
>>>>> viaGPO.
>>>>> I would love to run around my company and uninstall all the clients,
>>>>> but
>>>>> that would take quite some time. It would be better if there was a
>>>>> automated
>>>>> way of doing this. Your approach is the ideal method, but not always a
>>>>> practical one.
>>>> --
>>>> Gerry Hickman (London UK)
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Gerry Hickman (London UK)
>
>