Ray Ozzie got the Microsoft open source ball rolling when he released Live Clipboard.
Now, things are sorta starting to move as Redmond releases more and more technologies
into the public domain via the Open Specification Promise (OSP), which is Microsoft-shorthand
for "You can use our technology and we won't sue."
Last week, Microsoft applied that promise to Sender
ID, which is a way to make sure e-mail is coming from a real person rather
than a spam factory. Microsoft has also put its Virtual
Hard Disk Image Format spec into the public domain. OSP technologies now
total about a half-dozen, including a number of SOAP technologies, single sign-on
goodies and security tools. Microsoft lists the full roster here.
Posted by Doug Barney on November 01, 20060 comments
Microsoft has been making more and more noise about video conferencing. This
must not sit well with Cisco, which owns the network the same way Redmond owns
the desktop. On Oct. 20, Microsoft announced a research project for a
cheap,
mobile video conferencing device that will be out in a year or less.
Days later, Cisco announced a tool aimed at
making
video conferences feel more like the real thing, instead of the jerky, latency-laden
messes they are today (don't video conferences remind you of those annoying
dance club strobe lights?).
I don't care who wins this war. I just want this stuff to look good so I can
stop flying around the country just to put a face to a voice.
Posted by Doug Barney on November 01, 20060 comments
There's nothing like a bad Ayn Rand pun to start your day, and the news that
Microsoft
is shipping a new beta of Atlas, the Ajax tool, gave me that opportunity.
Version 1 of ASP.NET Ajax (that just rolls of the tongue) is
The Fountainhead
of a whole new style of programming for Visual Studio and ASP.NET programmers.
Now it just needs an
Anthem!
Posted by Doug Barney on November 01, 20060 comments
Commodity servers, the rise of Windows Server and Linux, and the inability
of the network computer to make it off the launch pad have all conspired to
pound Sun Microsystems' earnings deep into negative territory. But
these
losses are easing as Solaris, now open source, picks up steam and cost-cutting
measures take hold.
Sun is one of the few remaining innovators and I, for one, would love to see
the company back on track. The company now has a run rate of some $12 billion
in annual revenue -- not too shabby, I'd say.
Posted by Doug Barney on November 01, 20060 comments
Last week,
two
IE7 problems were reported. Microsoft disputes one and agrees with the other.
One hole could ease phishing attacks (anti-phishing is one of the big new features
in the new Firefox). The other hole has nothing to do with IE7, but rather is
an Outlook vulnerability, Microsoft points out.
These reports represent a new era where we'll all be talking about the security
of Vista, IE7 and Office 2007. Let's all hope the issues are fewer and less
critical than they've been with the older tools.
Posted by Doug Barney on October 31, 20060 comments
Despite Google gains, Apple advances and open source success, the Redmond money
train just keeps a-rollin'. Last week, Microsoft announced it
brought
in more than $10 billion in the more recent quarter. While big, these numbers
still pale in comparison to HP's and IBM's. But Microsoft is all about profits
and, in this case, had pre-tax profits of nearly $4.5 billion -- margins any
self-respecting capitalist would be proud of. The big revenue guns were games,
Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005.
Posted by Doug Barney on October 31, 20060 comments
Millions have tried the beta, and now they can download the real thing as
Windows
Defender is done. Redmond's free anti-spyware program is now in version
1. Even better, the price hasn't changed: This little puppy is still free.
I am a friend of third parties, and if Defender was designed to undercut third-party
prices but still add a billion or two to the well-stuffed Microsoft coffers,
I'd be irritated. But a free tool to protect an OS we all depend on? Why, that's
Nobel Peace Prize-territory in my book.
Posted by Doug Barney on October 31, 20060 comments
I tried to become an expert in Software Assurance. I thoroughly read a report
from Scott Braden, who
writes
a column for Redmondmag.com, about negotiating with Microsoft. I also read
a 100-plus-page report from Directions on Microsoft and then devoured everything
Microsoft put out. Despite having written
a
10,000-word PDF on the subject, I still readily admit to being confused.
And I was plenty mixed up last week when I said that Microsoft's new desktop
optimization tools were free for SA customers and $10 a year for non-SA end
users. Like Mel Gibson at a traffic stop, I clearly misspoke. It is $10 a year
for SA end users and not available to the rest of us.
Here's
what Microsoft has to say on the matter.
Posted by Doug Barney on October 26, 20060 comments
I doubt Cisco liked it when Microsoft announced its Unified Communications Strategy;
communications is Cisco's playground. Cisco spit back this week, debuting a
new
virtual meeting product aimed squarely at kicking Live Meeting's butt back
up to Washington state. The Cisco tool promises to replace that pitiful, jerky
excuse for video with smooth, realistic, corporate meeting action. Boy, the
Internet backbone is going to love all these high-res files!
Posted by Doug Barney on October 26, 20060 comments
No need for a Firefox 2 coupon. First, the browser is free. Second,
it's
shipping! My two sons are anxious to give this puppy a whirl on their Macs
(Safari is passé), and I'm looking forward to loading both IE7 and the
new Firefox on my Latitude 520 to see which will reign as my default browser.
Posted by Doug Barney on October 26, 20060 comments
When Google announced plans to spend the equivalent of half Donald Trump's net
worth on YouTube, I knew the video site would have to clean up its act -- the
rules are too loose, and too much junk and material covered by copyright end
up on the site. The cleansing process has begun as the site just
yanked
some 30,000 Japanese videos. Apparently, YouTube has a policy where it only
pulls down files after someone complains. Isn't that like a burglar who only
returns the goods after he's been caught?
Posted by Doug Barney on October 25, 20061 comments