“The speed of the Boot and Resume features is the next best thing to instant on.”
-Stephen M. Kramarsky, Partner, Dewy Pegno & Kramarsky
Law firm Dewey Pegno & Kramarsky is a litigation boutique servicing a growing number of high-end clients in New York City. The partners and staff of the 25-person law firm handle complex corporate and individual litigations in areas including intellectual property and securities. Most of the partners are transplants from the top five New York law firms, but have chosen to dispense top-level legal expertise to clients in a more efficient and economically attractive way.
The firm’s network consists of 25 computers—a combination of desktops, laptops and servers—running Microsoft Windows Server® 2008, Windows Vista®, Windows 7 Professional beta, and Microsoft Office 2007 Professional. In the past, the law firm has systematically invested in a level of technology that legal practices many times DPK’s size would be envious of. However, there is a persistent need to be more efficient and get work completed with less hassle. Stephen M. Kramarsky, partner, sums it up: “I read, write and argue for a living with much of my time spent behind a computer. It’s now a quality of life thing. How can I squeeze more productivity out of the same or a lesser amount of time? The technology that answers that need has got my attention.”
The level of technology DPK and eMazzanti Technologies have deployed over the last two years rivals law firms many times its size. In addition, DPK is now test-driving Windows 7 beta and is uncovering a number of features that are helping on a business and personal level.Snap, Shake, Peek The Windows 7 Aero™ Snap feature allows for side-by-side window viewing by dragging windows to borders, left and right. Grab and shake the foremost screen to make all other screens disappear. The Peek feature is invoked by clicking the lower right hand Show Desktop rectangle. The desktop is immediately visible to view gadgets and other desktop icons.
Windows 7 delivers faster boot and resume times from sleep mode, decreasing user wait time. Trigger Start Services is the underlying technology that allows for efficient invoking of a variety of features and services.
Using a USB flash drive, DPK can add temporary RAM to new and old computers that otherwise would not be able to run some applications or handle graphic intensive documents.
The Power Management feature in Windows 7 provides increased energy savings and longer battery life for DPK laptops.
Problem Steps Recorder allows DPK employees to precisely capture and communicate a computer problem. It also enables staff to document fixes, create tutorials or knowledge-based reference materials for customers.
According to Kramarsky, the first big difference in Windows 7 is the Aero desktop experience. Features like Snap, Peek, Taskbar Pinning and Jump Lists accelerate his ability to navigate deposition transcripts and work through complex briefs in multiple windows simultaneously. “To say it’s a million times more useful would be an exaggeration, but it does capture how I feel about it.” “With a laptop, screen real estate is at a premium and Windows 7 ‘gets it’ with the unlocking of desktop gadgets,” said Kramarsky. “When used with the Peek feature, I get maximum screen space with easy access to gadgets without closing any files.”
Features in Windows 7 extend the battery life of laptops and help users find default printers for various networks. “With the new Power Management features, I could get as much as 40 percent more work time from a single charge,” noted Kramarsky. “It impacts productivity and lessens the weight of the computer equipment I need to haul through airports.” “Location Aware Printing is a ‘me’ feature. It distinguishes between my home and office networks so printing is no worry,” said Kramarsky. “I could see this capability being an ‘our’ feature—extended to deposition environments where visiting counsel has automatic printer connections.”
Faster Boot and Resume times are a boon to a harried attorney rushing to a meeting or deposition, noted Kramarsky. “I’m up and working again in seconds versus waiting a minute or more with other operating systems. Attorneys work in a time-compressed environment where some seconds are longer than others,” he muses. “Faster is better when a computer is starting up or resuming.” “The speed of the Boot and Resume features is the next best thing to instant on,” added Kramarsky.
DPK has a workstation that is dedicated to electronic document (eDocument) production. Legal cases can involve tens of thousands of documents that are either in-bound or out-bound of an office in the form of DVD’s. Windows 7 helps streamline that process because of its adherence to the International Association of Standardization (ISO). An ISO image includes all the data of files contained on the archived CD/DVD. In addition to the data contained in the files, it also contains all the file system metadata, including boot code, structures and attributes. “Collecting, reading and burning documents is now easier and faster with the Windows 7 ISO compliant DVD burner,” said Kramarsky. “Somebody at Microsoft is paying attention to how data-laden DVDs are really being used.”
“Problem Steps Recorder makes it possible for DPK’s users to capture a problem while it’s occurring rather than after the fact,” noted Carl Mazzanti, chief executive officer, eMazzanti Technologies. “It is also a powerful training tool for new paralegals or temps that may need a quick orientation on how to log on to the network or search for emails in Outlook®.”
Kramarsky sees the possibilities of reviving a few of his less powerful computers to run on Windows 7 with an easy RAM boosting solution. “I see ReadyBoost helping us squeeze a little more life out of older machines or new netbooks that lack sufficient RAM to run certain programs or manipulate graphic-intensive files.”
“Overall, I’d say Windows 7 is a big ‘win’ in three areas: speed, stability and usability,” said Kramarsky.
Faster and more reliable: Windows 7 will help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to be more productive anyway. You will be able to support your mobile work force with better access to shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies to enhance corporate IT security, data protection, and more efficient deployment and management. For more information about Windows 7, go to: www.microsoft.com/windows/business
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