Even a month past Christmas, some gamers are showing up to Wal-Mart at one in
the morning to get a Nintendo Wii. It took me a month of constant visits to
finally score my son Nick his Christmas present (sorry, dude!).
And the hunt for the PlayStation 3 was even tougher.
So, how did it go the night of the Vista consumer launch? Windows fans weren't
exactly breaking out their tents and thermoses, as the lines for the OS were
shorter
than a Vin Diesel haircut. I guess most consumers are still trying to find
a Wii!
Posted by Doug Barney on January 31, 20070 comments
Last year, I became so interested in how Microsoft researchers worked with
scientists that I wrote not one, but two cover stories. One Microsoft researcher's
name came up again and again: Jim Gray, founder of Microsoft's Bay Area
Research Center. My new friends from Visual Studio magazine, which we took over
in December, know Jim well, as he spoke at their popular VSLive! events.
Unfortunately, as I write, Jim is lost at sea, having left on Sunday to spread
his mother's ashes off the coast of San Francisco. The good news is he
may just be found safe and sound.
Gray has a resume that makes all of us look a little dim. An expert in multiprocessing,
transaction processing, databases and data mining, Gray has used these skills
to help build commercial products such as ATMs and SQL Server 2005, and humanitarian
endeavors like trying to cure cancer and understand the heavens and the earth.
Pretty amazing work.
The San Francisco Chronicle has a terrific profile of Gray here.
Gray’s home page is here.
And my two stories are here: "Can
Microsoft Save the World?" and "The
Science of Software."
Posted by Doug Barney on January 31, 20070 comments
Just days before his Vista launch, Bill Gates told a European audience that
television
is still in the dark ages, and five years from now we won’t even recognize
it. The real revolution will come from the Internet, making the Gates speech
sound more like an ad for Steve Jobs’ new iTV. In Gates' world,
on-demand video from the Internet will make today's DVRs look like they
came from the Flintstones.
In fact, this was a key topic that Gates addressed when handling softball
question after softball question from the Daily Show's Jon Stewart
Monday night.
What do you love and hate about today's world of television? Let me
know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on January 31, 20070 comments
Microsoft has had a heckuva time keeping Word secure from zero-day exploits.
In fact, this week
news
of another vulnerability means there are now four holes that need to be
plugged. So far, the attacks have been limited in scope, but I'm still jonesin'
for some patches here.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 30, 20070 comments
Last night, I stayed up late to watch Bill Gates on "The Daily Show."
While Gates was more relaxed and funny than I've ever seen him (impending retirement
can do that), I was hoping for some wildness from host Jon Stewart which never
materialized.
And contrary to rumors (spread by my 13-year-old son David), the guy that plays
the PC on those Mac commercials never showed. Maybe Gates was also expecting
the goofy PC guy, 'cuz Bill bolted uncomfortably as soon as the interview ended,
leaving Stewart more perplexed than usual. Check it out for yourself here.
And here's
a behind-the-scenes take.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 30, 20070 comments
St. Bernard Software, which made its name with patch management and other forms
of security, is now offering hosted solutions
aimed
at small and medium-size businesses.
LivePrism includes filtering services for IM, the Web and e-mail. The a la
carte offerings, which start at $4 a month per user, also include e-mail hosting
and data archiving.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 30, 20070 comments
I am an unabashed fan of Windows third parties. These companies plug holes in
Microsoft tools, make it easier to use and manage, and add features Redmond
either hasn't thought of or hasn't been able to build.
I have mixed feelings about the news that Altiris
is being acquired by Symantec. Sometimes, when a smaller company is swallowed
by a larger one, a certain spark is lost. And the circle of Windows third parties
certainly shrinks by one.
But I understand that entrepreneurs usually build companies so they can go
public (fat chance these days) or get sold. So congrats, Altiris!
The Altiris deal ain't exactly small potatoes. Symantec is expected to pay
some $830 million.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 30, 20070 comments
Sun Microsystems is a landmark story of guts, spunk and survival. Let's face
it: Solaris has taken a beating from Linux and Windows Server, SPARC is now
marginalized by Intel and AMD, and the idea of network computers like the Sun
Ray is about as welcome as Larry the Cable Guy at a New York City Debutante
Ball.
But Sun has not just survived -- it's
even prospering, reporting $126 million in profits for the latest quarter.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 29, 20070 comments
Last November, I sent a couple of reporters down to the launch of Vista in
New York. After five years of waiting, the launch was as underwhelming Milli
Vanilli singing their own songs. Today, Redmond is
pulling
out all the stops for the consumer launch of Vista, again in the Big Apple.
Expect a lot of fanfare, but don't count on learning anything new.
As a lowly journalist, I was wondering about the prices of new Vista PCs, so
I went to one of my most trusted research resources: Parade magazine!
There on the back page was the trusty Dell ad. A Vista PC sells for $599 and
a laptop is a sweet $699. With these prices, Vista is now the de facto
standard for new consumer PCs.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 29, 20070 comments
Microsoft reported record (and what I consider stunning) revenues for its latest
quarter -- giving the company a run rate of $50 billion. So you'd think Wall
Street would be popping the corks on their Dom Perignon and lighting up Cohibos.
Instead, analysts drilled the stock, boo-hooing that profits fell 28 percent
to
only $2.6 billion. The profit hit was
largely
blamed on the Vista delay.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 29, 20070 comments
It must stink to have a free operating system and a free productivity suite,
and realize the press just doesn't give a hoot. Meanwhile, Microsoft sneezes
and CNN cameras snap to attention.
In desperate search of press, two self-professed enemies of Vista tried to
crash the Redmond bash today in New York, and even claimed in a press release
that it will "spoil" the launch.
One group, defectivebydesign.com,
hates Digital Rights Management. I'm not in love with DRM, but if I made movies
or music, I sure would be.
Another group, badvista.org,
loves to take potshots at Vista while it promotes open source. I like open source
as much as the next guy, but I'd rather see these folks simply marketing Linux,
making it more usable and maneuvering OEMs into preinstalling and supporting
the darn thing! Now, that's how you battle Vista.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 29, 20070 comments
Congrats. You might be able to move to Vista this year after all, as
the
first SP is due in '07, according to recent reports. Don't expect any groundbreaking
new features, as the service pack is expected to focus largely on fixes.
Some in IT are more concerned with the long-overdue XP SP3, as that 5-year-old
OS will continue to dominate for years to come.
Posted by Doug Barney on January 24, 20070 comments