My first impression of Office 365 (Microsoft's version of Google Docs for business)

After seeing the following video I had little choice but to go check out office365. While viewing the site a chat box popped up. A Microsoft representative wanted to take the time to talk to me personally. That conversation is posted below the video.

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This chat can be recorded for quality & training purposes. Welcome to Microsoft. A representative will be with you shortly. Your estimated wait time is 0 minutes and 2 seconds. To help us serve you better, please provide your name and company name.
Hello, my name is Brady.


You: hello my name is James
Brady: Hi there!
You: I saw a video, don't know if you guys made it or not, but it was advertising office365. I went to check it out and I must say it is very missleading
You: we use google apps for $50/user/year less and there are no ads
Brady: Okay. I'll be happy to clear up any confusion if I can. What has prompted you to look into Office 365?
You: You: I saw a video, don't know if you guys made it or not, but it was advertising office365.
You: going over your features, the only thing I see that is interesting over Google Apps is the AD integration. But I'd have to pay more than double I am now.
You: is there any thing else you offer I'm not seeing yet?
Brady: I will be right with you.
You: I'll be right here
Brady: Okay. AD integration is included with any Office 365 Enterprise plan. Each plan includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online. Additional features are available in different plans.
Brady: Exchange Online will include 25GB of storage per user license, Forefront Online for anti-virus/spam protection, and ActiveSync for your mobile devices. SharePoint Online includes 10GB of storage, plus 500MB extra for each user license.
Brady: And Lync Online would provide you with instant messaging and web audio/video conferencing for up to 250 participants.
You: We are a company of 32 users (could go up to 35 in the near future). Currently we don't have a lot of office application needs, just a few users share spreadsheets.
You: which plan would you recommend?
Brady: Thank you for waiting. I'll be with you in just a moment.
Brady: The most basic plan that includes AD integration is E1. This plan is $10/user/month, it includes Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync. It would also include 24/7 phone and email support and can easily be expanded for any size business.
Brady: If you find that you need additional features in the future, you can also easily change an Enterprise plan to a different Enterprise plan.
You: That would be $3840 a year ($2240 more than I'm paying now) for almost the same service. I don't think I could justify something like that. Not to mention the cost of migration (speaking of which I could only find migration documents to move from internal Microsoft services not another cloud service).
You: Combine with the misleading video I don't think I can justify making a change. But thanks for your time.
Brady: Thanks for chatting and have a great day!

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First Impressions

Basically I've been lied to, not all their plans have AD integration. Only their Enterprise Plans do. I'm sure that's what he meant by his statement, but I was looking at all plans. Unfortunately, their small business plans only support 25 people. Funny how the government (and Microsoft in many cases) considers anything less than 500 employees small business. For all those businesses that fall in the 25-75 employee range, you get to pay out the nose like a giant enterprise.

I am intrigued by the over all idea. I mean, most businesses run Microsoft products already because they are familiar for users and simple for administrators (yes pricey but you don't have to retrain people--maybe one day I'll make a post about how I failed to convert a small company to OpenOffice.org because too many people don't get the concept of hierarchical structures and file types). I guess it would really come down to the business itself. None of the businesses I currently work with would benefit enough to justify the cost. My recommendation for simple could services stays with Google Apps.

Second Quest Goes Better than Expected

After I made my level 4 video I realized I never found the treasure in the dungeon. So I went back, and eventually found the book. Then after hours and hours of looking for level 5, I gave in and looked it up on the Internet because I just don't have the same kind of time I had as a kid.

To my surprise, I needed the raft. But I didn't have the raft. I had gotten treasure from all of the previous levels, where do I find a raft now? Well, that kind of first quest thinking should have been left in the cave with the old guy telling me it was dangerous to go alone. Back in level 4 I found a raft (In some rooms I overlooked). A raft and a book in the same dungeon... after the level with no boss... Ganon's not making this round easy on me.

Subsequently, while I was searching for level 5 I got to know where everything else was. I even spent some time in level 6 and found the ladder. After a lot of time, a lot of effort, and thousands of save states, I completed level 5 and 6. On the other hand level 7 and 8 were cake. If you call rooms, so full of blue darknuts and ball shooting statues that the game slows down, cake. Little known fact: Nintendo came up with bullet time way before the Matrix. They just called it "to many enemies on the screen....time".

I also realize, without the aid of save states, this would take a ridiculous amount of time. Not to mention the Nintendo Power-esque tip I nabbed off the Internet about where to find level 5. It's no wonder so few people never finish the second quest [citation needed]. I know I have found parts of it to be annoying and drawn out for the sake of difficulty and I am at a great advantage over old school NES play.

Now I have the triforce (again), and am poised at Ganon's front door. I haven't jumped into level 9 yet because I want to have the time to give what it deserves. I do plan to record this one. I'm sure it will be a horrible watch. I am genuinely curious about it because I have no idea what is in store for me. Will it even be a skull? I'll find out soon enough.

The Legend of Zelda 2nd quest - level 4

I had some back luck at recording level 2, so when I got to level 3 I didn't bother. By the time I found level 4 (no small feat mind you) I was ready to give it a try again. Not only was I successful, I went ahead and added annotations in a lame attempt to entertain.

The second quest is underway.

I discovered I can make videos with VirtualNES. Since I missed recording the end of the first quest I thought I'd make a video of dungeon 1 in the second quest so everyone can see how much I suck. I might make a video of dungeon 2 if I can find the darn thing. It's not where I left it. I won't bore you to death with my wandering through the overworld trying to find things. The painstaking things we do for a little nostalgia.

UPDATE: I did make a video of dungeon 2, but apparently it records using controller input instead of actually making a video and when I was re-recording with fraps there was one point that was slightly different than from when I played it. The result was Link dying in a spot he did not when I made the original. The second half of the video was the game over screen :(

ADDITIONAL UPDATE: I have also mastered the art of save/load states, so any future videos I will look amazingly lucky. Rest assured, dungeon 2 took many many many save/load states to accomplish.

It's on Ganon

Just picked up the last piece of the trifoce in the first quest. I'm coming Ganon, and then I'm going to come back in the second quest.

Also, how the heck did I end up with so many keys?

Something new to do

I've been a big fan of The Legend of Zelda since I played the first game back in 86. I was also one of the few fans of Zelda 2. Of course, like everyone else on the planet, I enjoyed Zelda 3 (that's the SNES one usually called A Link to the Past). There were some Zelda games after that, but really who cares (okay I did like Twilght Princes a little).

I realized the other day I have played through The Legend of Zelda at least a million times, but never have I played through the second quest. If you are unfamiliar with the second quest, it is a harder version of the same game you can play after you beat it the first time--or if you use Zelda as your name when starting a game.

I've started to prepare myself to play the second quest of The Legend of Zelda. First thing I did was find an emulator I like. After playing around with that for about 5 seconds I realized it just isn't the same without a controller. So I dropped a couple of bucks and picked up a NES controller USB adapter.

Before I undertake the second quest, I thought I'd run through the first one again as a refresher. I started the other day and, while it's no speed run, it's going much faster than I remembered. I've already collected five pieces of the triforce and purchased the blue ring. After all these years I still dread Dungeon 6. Man it's hard.