Larry Ellison is the king of hype, and gosh if I don't respect him for it.
This time, instead of promoting the network computer or bashing Microsoft, Ellison
is taking a few shots at the concept of cloud computing.
Larry's beef? That clouds refer to almost anything going on in computing today
-- Web services, SaaS and massive datacenters from the likes of Amazon. VMware
is even talking about turning our datacenters into mini-clouds. If you check
out the link, there's a great discussion about the future of clouds and
what this all means.
Are clouds over-hyped and what do clouds mean to you? Answers, please, at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on October 01, 20080 comments
All the major browsers have private browsing modes (it's coming in the next
rev of IE) where your history, caches and other traces of where you've been
aren't left behind. And these feature work fine for kids hiding their Web habits
from parents, and husbands keeping their unseemly searches from their wives
(and I guess vice versa).
But private browsing isn't
a perfect defense against hackers or tech-savvy parents and spouses. Spyware
and other techniques can still track your every move, steal your password and
rob you blind.
The answer, I guess, is to treat your private browser as if it's open, making
sure your security software is up-to-date and working right.
Posted by Doug Barney on October 01, 20080 comments
Readers on both sides of the Google fence share their thoughts on Chrome and
the upcoming Google phone:
Browser is awesome; I've been using it all day. The installer sucks.
It is a user-based install, which forcedly dumps itself in the current user's
Application Data folder. I like to run as a limited user so this does not
work well for me. Whether I tried installing as admin, or using 'Run As' while
logged in as my limited user, it forcedly and secretly places the installation
in the administrator's Application Data folder, which I cannot access or execute
files from while logged in as my limited user. What I had to do to get it
working the way I(kind of) wanted was temporarily give my limited user admin
rights, install it, then de-admin myself. Why not give me the choice to install
for THIS USER or ALL USERS like most programs or, for heaven's sake, at least
let me choose which folder I want to install the software in!
Other than that, though, it seems like a really great product, simple and
easy to understand.
-Tim
Though this may place me squarely within a minority among technology specialists,
I'm not impressed with Google to the degree so commonly expressed these days.
Not that Google isn't a powerhouse, because it is, but I don't agree with
those that want to see it as a company predestined to rule the world and/or
seemingly content to give it a free ride because they simply see it as the
anti-Microsoft. I see Google as intent upon and involved in much for which
there would be an unending public outrage if coming from Microsoft. Such is
the way of the world, unfortunately.
I welcome the entry of Chrome into the marketplace, however, primarily
because it's raising expectations concerning increased JavaScript performance,
something from which everyone will benefit. On the other hand, I have no faith,
nor any interest in, suggestions of Chrome as an emerging application platform.
I see such expectations as entirely unrealistic in today's world, a throwback
to failed attempts by others to achieve the same in years past, and again,
something which would be the focus of intense ridicule and consternation if
suggested by Microsoft rather than Google.
-John
No, I'm not excited about the Google phone. I just want a nice, high-quality
cell phone that doesn't do anything but be a cell phone. That's getting harder
and harder to find, if it's even still possible.
Anyway, I think Google or Apple can stamp their names on any piece of
junk technology and the Google and Apple fanatics will automatically go gaga
over it, even before they know anything about it.
-Brad
I am like a little, giddy schoolboy when it comes to the Android platform.
I am a IT technician and I rely on my phone very much when I need to get online
at any given moment. I have kept track of the Anroid platform since its first
press release. I, like so many others, where hoping that Sprint would be the
first carrier to provide the Android platform (it wasn't). But when it does
offer it, I am for sure going to be there to trade my phone in.
-Anonymous
Count Jordan among those who think that Apple simply costs too much:
Apple overpriced? In many respects, it is. To the average consumer, its
prices are ridiculous.
I work as a desktop admin for a school system of around 25,000 machines,
half Apple, half PC. Apple does cut us some pretty good deals on the cost
of the machines from its side, but the downside is our Apple support tickets
are two-fold that of the PC tickets. The man hours lost in supporting them
does not equal out to being worth the intial cost of the item. No, this isn't
me saying we have a Dell 755 running against an eMac. We have models from
all years but the old Dell GX110s chug along just fine, when the eMacs lose
a hard disk or logic board daily. We have new 755s that you can swap an HD
or other part on within seconds compared to the two- to three-hour service
time for a new iMac. Apple costs too much in the forefront for the consumer,
and costs too much to support for the enterprise.
-Jordan
And James responds to another
reader who questioned the findings of a study that said most botnets come
from the U.S.:
Maybe "Anonymous" should go back to school, perhaps to the
grade where they discuss "more" versus "less." Apparently,
he doesn't understand that 20.7 million is more than 7.7 million. It has nothing
to do with "normalizing the number of users." If you want to try
and spin things so that the facts get all distorted, that's when you start
throwing out the terms "normalize the numbers" or "the percentage
of the whatever." But the basic fact is that 20.7 million is more than
7.7 million, so the article was true. Maybe this person could go work for
the McCain campaign since they don't seem to let facts get in the way of their
statements.
-James
Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on October 01, 20080 comments
The next major rev of Visual Studio is due out in a couple of years, so what
does Microsoft do? Name it "
Visual
Studio 2010," that's what!
That wasn't the only news. Microsoft also talked up some 2010 features, especially
Team System items like helping those with different roles -- such as architects
and coders -- work better together.
One move that may dismay some is that Visual Studio 2010 won't support SQL
Server 2005. That may not be a huge deal as it takes a while for developers
to move new IDE releases.
I've covered Microsoft development tools off and on (more off than on) for
over 20 years and noticed that Microsoft always pays close attention to developers.
If programmers want something, chances are they're going to get it.
Have you worked with Microsoft on the development side and, if so, how did
they treat you? Opinions welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on September 30, 20080 comments
Reader Nate sent me an e-mail last week about his
online
review of Chrome. The review was so well-done and so well-written, I thought
I'd give good, old Nate a plug.
What Nate did is similar to what I'm doing with an upcoming Reader Review --
getting the skinny on Chrome. In Nate's case, we see one very well-informed
opinion backed by his benchmarks. In my story, over a dozen Redmond Report readers
will help form an overall evaluation of Chrome.
Here's what Nate liked: the sparse interface, speed and private browsing (what
are you trying to hide, Nate?). On his not-so-good list? No advances in bookmarking
and a processor-intensive architecture.
Posted by Doug Barney on September 30, 20080 comments
Apple
overpriced?
A few readers think that's an issue worth some debate:
I do not own an Apple. However, my impression has always been that Apple
chooses quality and reliable components, which causes the higher prices. Are
they overpriced? Is a BMW overpriced? They are certainly HIGHER priced...but
OVERpriced? Only if they do not deliver value. If a computer crashes less
and lasts longer, but is priced higher, there could be value there, even for
an enterprise. How much is your time worth to troubleshoot goofy crashes,
root out spyware and viruses, and/or re-image the machine?
Again, this is just my impression, not based on any facts, as I do not
own an Apple. But sometimes I am envious of those that do (especially when
I am staring at a Blue Screen of Death).
-Scott
You seem to be forgetting that Apple is a hardware company that writes
software so it can sell its hardware. Microsoft is a software company that
designs some hardware so it can sell its software (Lord knows, it has yet
to make a dime off the hardware). So I say: Microsoft's software is overpriced
because it's from a single source. And as the King of Windows, Office and
Xbox games, Microsoft rules with an iron fist. Microsoft should be more like
Apple and open source its OS like Darwin
is.
As for the Mac beings overpriced, that's comparing Apples to, well, PCs.
Apple computers are for those who value quality over price and are willing
to pay for it. Top-shelf products always cost more.
-Anonymous
Jobs sells a premium product to an exclusive and remarkably loyal customer
base (how many iPods do you own?). Sure, his computers are overpriced. So
are his music players. So what? His customers keep coming back. Why? Because
Jobs is selling sex -- as surely as if he ran Victoria's Secret! In truth,
the iMac is no more expensive than a comparably equipped Dell -- but Dell
also sells entry-level hardware that can do everything the average user needs
for it to do. For most people, an iMac is simply overkill.
Apple is in a Catch-22. It cannot offer hardware at entry-level price
points because it doesn't sell enough hardware to be able to absorb the extremely
small profit margins at those price points. Nor can it get its production
levels up high enough to tolerate the narrow margins without first lowering
its prices dramatically. If Apple were to change itself into a software house,
allowing users to put Mac OS X on everyone's Intel box, it would get their
license numbers up but destroy its hardware business. If you think this would
be a good idea, look what happened to NeXT computers, Jobs' other venture.
Jobs decided a long time ago to leave the mass market to his geeky counterpart
at Microsoft -- and take as much of the premium market for himself as he could
-- almost entirely through brilliant marketing.
-Marc
Speaking of marketing, Coleen thinks the new
Microsoft ads are an improvement...but the Mojave ads are another story:
I do like the new "I'm a PC" ads better than what had come
before. Quirky wasn't working, and by the end of one evening of watching (admittedly)
a lot of television, I was quickly sick of the strange Seinfeld ad.
The "Mojave" ads are seriously getting on my nerves, though.
The biggest part of Vista's problems has to do with its lack of compatibility
with existing drivers. In my admittedly anecdotal experience, even drivers
that are designed for Vista can cause devices like printers to lose some of
the functionality they once had. Granted, that's the manufacturer's fault,
but it's been so rampant that Vista has gotten an ugly reputation. Putting
people in a room with computers that Microsoft has chosen and pre-installed
with Vista is not a realistic way to judge the product.
-Coleen
Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on September 30, 20080 comments
I had never heard of clickjacking before, but judging by the name, I knew
it
had to be bad.
Apparently, clickjacking is where a hacker gets a user to click a link. Unlike
phishing, where the hacker tries to get you to go to a site you think is legit
(just this morning, Bank of America asked me to reset my site key -- or at least
it looked like Bank of America), clickjackers get you to click on something
you barely notice. Once you do, they can lead you to a site of their own choosing
or making.
The bad news? Pretty much all browsers are vulnerable, as is Flash.
Posted by Doug Barney on September 30, 20080 comments
In 1996, Oracle made a run at the hardware with The Network Computer, which
as I recall was a $200 dumb terminal that used the Internet to serve up corporate
and consumer apps. PCs at the time were cheap enough -- and Web apps lame enough
-- that it never worked.
Now Oracle is back
in the hardware saddle, this time with a vastly different and higher-end
strategy. This time, the Oracle hardware is designed to support a massive database
server and a separate storage appliance.
The move is more about packaging than innovation. Oracle will simply blend
its software with HP hardware. Still, moves like this make it easier for IT
to buy, install, operate and maintain systems, so there's a clear net plus.
Posted by Doug Barney on September 29, 20080 comments
Remember some time around 2000 when Steve Ballmer said tech stocks were overpriced,
and months later the tech bubble burst? Ballmer was right about those stocks,
and nearly all of them, including his own, took a beating.
While I wasn't happy that Ballmer was right back then, I'll be pleased
if he's right this time around. Last week, in three separate speeches, Mr. Ballmer
argued that the
tech sector had "buoyancy" and wouldn't collapse despite
the Wall Street debacle. In fact, he has so much faith in his company that Microsoft
is buying back $40 billion worth of MSFT shares.
Posted by Doug Barney on September 29, 20080 comments
Here are more of your thoughts on Microsoft's new "I'm a PC" ads:
The "I'm a PC" ads are much improved over the Seinfeld ad!
The Seinfeld ad was funny and quirky, but really failed to get the message
across. I like how the "I'm a PC" ad directly addresses the Apple
commercial. It does a nice job of eliminating the spin Apple tries to put
on PC users as un-cool, nerdy business types. It effectively shows that a
wide variety of people in a wide variety of scenarios choose to rely on Windows-based
PCs because they do work super-well, regardless of the Apple spin. Why Microsoft
did not do this from the start is puzzling! Is this commercial 3.0? It must
be, because MS finally got it right!
The Mojave Experiment commercial and Web site is also a good effort to
calm the Vista misconception storm. Bravo, MS! Your marketing efforts are
looking much, much better now!
-Jason
I'm a PC for now...but just out of necessity!
I wonder if Microsoft is having problems with its ad campaign because
most of the creative minds in the advertising industry use Macs. It just seems
like millions of dollars should be able to buy higher-quality ads than what
we've seen. I guess we could give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and maybe,
just maybe, it's saving the best for last.
-Richard
I don't see the "I'm a PC" ads as defensive, but rather as mocking.
MS took the bull by the horns -- a gutsy move, in my book.
-Bernie
The latest MS ads are even more reason to buy Mac. Keep up the good work,
MS! The world is laughing at you. Doesn't Microsoft know that "PC"
equals "Piece of Crap"?
The one where the "regular Joe" people are shown the "Mojave
Experiment" then told it's Vista...they must have pulled those morons
out of the Mojave. If they didn't know Vista and how badly it sucks, why should
they have any credibility?
-Tom
Join the fray! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on September 29, 20080 comments
Apple has one of the best reputations in American business today. Its products
are revered, its CEO is idolized and its stock has been put on a high-priced
pedestal.
All this obscures some rather troubling facts: Its computers are overpriced
and because they're from a single source, many enterprises are forced to steer
clear. And as the king of the Mac, iPod and iPhone platforms, Apple rules with
an iron fist.
The latest downer is how Apple is treating iPhone developers. You'd think Apple
would want as many iPhone apps as possible, what with Google set to enter the
market and Microsoft already a longtime player. As John Belushi might have said,
"But noooooo!" If your app competes with Apple's own software,
there's no place for you
in the iPhone store.
Ever wonder how cool things would be if Steve Jobs and Bill Gates traded places?
How would Apple and Microsoft be different with this kind of switch? Random
conjecture welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on September 29, 20080 comments
Readers recall where they were on the morning of the Sept. 11 attacks:
I was on my way to a technical college -- a Windows Server 2000 class.
The first news report I heard said a traffic helicopter hit one of the towers.
I remember thinking how odd that was. The instructor had the TV on during
the entire class. We all sat in horror as the towers came down and as more
planes crashed. My nephew, then 14, was frantic until he found out his mother
was safe (she is a flight attendant for United). He had recently lost his
father. My niece and her family live in Manhattan. Her husband works close
to the towers. Again we were frantic for knowledge that he was safe.
I didn't lose any immediate family that day, but I think all of us lost
from our American family. How did we as Americans start to gloss over this
horrible event so fast? I heard we have an attention span of about two weeks.
I think it's shorter.
-Barb
I had just walked out my front door to go to work. Finding that my car
had been broken into, I went back into the house and called the cops. While
waiting for the police to arrive, I turned on the TV. The news was just breaking;
everyone was speculating on whether this was an accident or an act of terror.
Then on live TV, we all got our answer as the second tower was hit. When the
cops showed up, that police report just didn't seem quite as important. This
showed me that even when you think you are having a bad day, you really should
go back and count your blessings.
-William
I was on-site at a client office in the medical center in Houston, where
we live. Colleagues called me out to the area sitting room to watch the news
of the first one. I was touched by the loss of life, digested that, and returned
to my desk. After a while came the news of No. 2. I returned to watch and
listen. After taking in the images for a few minutes, my heart sank. My wife
was in downtown Houston, at her job, on the 44th floor of one of the tallest
buildings in Houston. I went immediately to the phone, called her, said something
really stupid, then got my wits and told her to leave the building immediately.
Of course our family was safe. There was no threat in Houston. We have
counted our blessings many times since that day, sometimes in remembrance
of that day. Thank you for taking a moment to remember it, and to invite reflection.
Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones on that horrific day. Special
sadness comes over me each time I think of the brave responders running into
those buildings and helping others exit. My heart breaks for each innocent
life lost.
-Rick
I had the unusual distinction of being in both New York and Washington
on 9/11 and saw both the Twin Towers and the Pentagon just before they were
hit. You may recall that Jeff Immelt had the unfortunate timing of taking
over GE from Jack Welch on Sept. 10. Jeff scheduled a live satellite video
feed to introduce himself companywide (worldwide) to over 330,000 employees.
I am based in Washington, D.C. and flew to White Plains, N.Y. to work on that
project at a Danbury, Conn. building.
I was scheduled to fly home to D.C. the night of Sept. 10, but a big
thunderstorm came in and grounded all of the flights. I got a hotel in White
Plains and a reservation on a flight out the next morning. The flight took
off at about 8 and I flew over Manhattan at about 8:20 (the first plane hit
the tower at about 8:45). I had a window seat on the left as we headed south.
We flew just west of Manhattan and I got a magnificent view of the city. I
recall thinking how I never grow tired of seeing the city from that perspective.
By the time we landed at Washington National, the place was buzzing.
No one was quite sure what to do. They knew about New York, but had not yet
grounded all flights. I got in my car and started heading to my office in
Northern Virginia. The route took me up the George Washington Parkway, which
goes right next to the Pentagon (they have since moved the road a few hundred
feet to the east so it is not as close). Shortly after I passed the Pentagon
at about 9:40, the radio announcers said there was smoke coming from the Pentagon.
I looked in my rearview mirror and saw it firsthand. It was all still very
confusing and surreal. The gravity of the situation did not kick in until
I got to my office and saw the second tower fall on live TV.
-Mark
I was working at my job in Columbus, Ohio (systems analyst with a large
insurance company). When the first plane hit, we turned on a TV in our break
room and watched as the events of that morning unfolded. I could not help
but feel a deep sense of loss, but could not put my finger on exactly what.
Having grown up in New York City, I had many friends and relatives living
there. Friends who worked in Lower Manhattan. My cousin's wife was on her
way to work, but was not in the immediate area yet. Another friend was out
of town that day.
Later, I learned that 11 high school mates were in the towers. Seven
of them were firemen, and one had been in my graduating class. Two members
of the sports car club that I race with were on Flight 63. To this day, I
wear the pin from the fire department I belonged to in Upstate New York, and
carry memorials on the sides of my race car. I also proudly wear the unit
patch from the fire station that my classmate belonged to.
-Anonymous
On 9/11, I was in Houston with three other co-workers. We were expanding
our office there and we had brought in two new racks with new hardware. We
were eating breakfast at the hotel before we went into the office and the
TV was on, showing the WTC and talking about how a plane had hit one of the
buildings. With shock and confusion, people watched the TV, some standing,
some still eating. Then the second plane hit the other building while we were
all watching.
Knowing this was not TV but reality was completely heart-stopping. I
called my daughter as she was in New York with her dad. They typically take
the subway train which passes through the WTC on up to mid-town. Thankfully,
they had not even gotten up yet. I called home to Virginia to check on the
rest of my family. I have a sister whose husband worked at the Pentagon. She
had not heard from him, and by this time a plane had hit there. She was understandably
in a panic. As the day went on she finally got in touch with him; he was helping
people within the Pentagon who had been hurt.
Several days later, our work in Dallas completed, I remember sitting
out by the pool, still seething with anger over the attack...and in the late
evening sunset, an airplane finally took into the air. After the skies above
Dallas had been empty of jets, this was a small but significant event, and
I was proud. I got on an airplane the next day and the airport was fairly
empty. All the employees and passengers were at high alert. I have always
enjoyed flying and this day the flight seemed special. The clouds below the
wing more fluffy, the land far below more rugged, the people, with or without
fear, pushing forward.
-Karen
I was in the dean's office of the engineering college at Ohio Northern
University for my work study. The exec assistant came in and said that one
of the towers was hit. When I went down to watch, the Pentagon had been hit.
It was amazing how the university came together that day and you could walk
down the hallway of the dorms and hear CNN without missing a beat.
I remember calling my mom and she said that this event would be, for
me, like the assassination of JFK was for her. The world would never be the
same.
-Lora
A couple of you share more of your thoughts on Vista:
It is easy to fix Vista. Just demand that people buy hardware that will
run Vista well. Apple sells Macs based on quality, not price. HP, Dell, etc.
sell PCs based on price. I tried Vista on a relatively low-end computer but
it was duo-core with 2GB RAM. It ran badly. I put it on a quadcore with 4GB
RAM and it runs well.
Some of the things Vista users hate, Mac users accept without hesitation.
One example is Vista demanding Administrator credentials to install programs
or updates. Mac does the same thing. I support Windows, Macs and Linux. I
prefer Windows, even Vista, to the Mac OS.
-Earl
I'm currently working as a consultant at Microsoft and want to admit full-disclosure
to that fact when I give my opinion on the subject. Vista was hard to get
used to at first, I agree. There were many pieces of software that didn't
incorporate the new rules for coding or new locations of files that wouldn't
run on it. There were also hardware issues -- you couldn't just load Vista
onto any old machine and expect it to perform.
I'm now happy to say we're past those problems. Most IBM-compatible machines
are now built with the intention of running Vista and most software has been
upgraded to be compatible with it, as well. It's like any new platform/software/system
you have to learn. Once you get used to it, you have a hard time using something
that doesn't have the latest features.
-Sharon
And readers chime with their thoughts on the virtualization front:
I would like to see VMware refugees make an even cooler package that
will make money and kick others in the pants. Maybe a suite of virtual IP
6-based "hardware" or multiple virtual RAID arrays. With the failover
abilities that are out there now with VMware, I think they may have many more
ideas up there.
-Anonymous
The question shouldn't be whether Hyper-V is a viable competitor to VMware.
It should be whether the hypervisor matters at all. And though it does today,
that won't be the case for very long. The hypervisor is a commodity and all
the vendors know it. Microsoft made a huge play with the System Center Virtual
Manager and that is going to be worth way more money and market share to them
than having Hyper-V out there.
-Seth
Check in tomorrow for more reader letters! In the meantime, share your thoughts
by leaving a comment below, or sending an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on September 25, 20080 comments