Monitoring Added to Desktop Optimization Pack

Centralized monitoring of OS crashes and unexpected application terminations (known as “Dr. Watson” errors) was recently added to Microsoft’s Desktop Optimization Pack (DOP), a set of tools for client diagnostics and repair, application management, and inventory. Known as Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM), the new tool aggregates error-related activity across an organization’s Windows clients and should make the DOP more appealing. However, purchase of the DOP requires that customers first buy Software Assurance (SA) on their client OS, and it is unlikely that crash monitoring alone will compel customers to undergo the annual expense of both SA and DOP.

PC Monitoring Promotes Software Assurance

DEM is a late addition to the DOP, a package introduced in late 2006 that contains tools acquired through four acquisitions (AssetMetrix, DesktopStandard, Softricity, and Winternals). These tools allow administrators to do the following:

• Scan client PCs and build a comprehensive list of the installed