Smarting from low market share and unrelenting criticism, Microsoft is trying
to spruce up Vista's image. Steve Ballmer says a big marketing campaign is in
the works -- which is kinda like throwing a bunch of ad dollars to promote the
Yugo. It's still a Yugo.
Microsoft also announced the results of some research it did. Of course, everything
at Microsoft has to have a code name, so in this case the research is called
"Mojave."
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 31, 20080 comments
The press is abuzz with news that Microsoft is working a brand-new, from-the-bottom-up
desktop operating system. Where Windows 7 will be
based
on Vista
, the other OS, Midori, starts with a
blank
slate
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 31, 20080 comments
Readers share their thoughts on Microsoft's somewhat unexpected
alliance
with Apache
, which includes a $100K pledge:
I am so sure that this will be good for Apache. After all, look at all
the other "successful" collaborative efforts that Microsoft has
had with other vendors:
IBM + Microsoft = OS/2 (IBM got the short end of that stick) Sybase +
Microsoft = Does anyone still use Sybase?
And let's not forget Sun + Microsoft with the Java fun, which led to
Microsoft coming out with .NET.
-Raymond
Microsoft's mantra has always been: Embrace, extend, exterminate. The
$100K is the embrace part. A set of open source extensions that make existing
Apache-based code easier to run on IIS7 and vice versa will come next under
the guise of interoperability. The ensuing migration to Windows Server 2008
w/IIS7 will trigger self-extermination over time.
-Anonymous
I personally love the way Microsoft is handling itself now. Minus the
Linux threat to maybe 3 percent of its server share, MS has been stepping
it up for the developer side. I had no idea it provided the MySQL connectors
for dotNet, and was happy to hear about the Silverlight "help" it
is giving Novell -- not that I use *nix. Projects such as SubSonic, Ajax Toolkit
and log4net have made me start building more Microsoft projects. I'm still
treading lightly, though, because of the threats they put out there when the
open source culture shock hit.
MS made its money being the integration vendor and standards-compliant.
Now that it is getting back to its roots, it should get stronger.
-Phil
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 31, 20080 comments
To build Street View, Google sends trucks with video cameras to film stores,
streets and people's houses. One such truck drove up the driveway of a Pennsylvania
couple (the couple consider it a private road), took a bunch of shots and then
posted it all on the Internet. The couple sued for invasion of privacy.
Google's well-heeled lawyers told the court that "complete
privacy does not exist." The argument is that because technology that
compromises privacy exists, the right to privacy itself is diminished.
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 31, 20080 comments
I can't believe Vista has been out for a year-and-a-half. I still call it new
-- because I barely know anyone that uses it!
Forrester Research and Kace Research explain that my experience is the rule,
not the exception. According to Forrester, Vista's enterprise penetration is
less
than 9 percent. With the amount of PC turnover, IT actually has to go out
of its way to not use Vista. This means downgrading machines or making
special provisions with Microsoft or OEMs to get units with XP -- not the new
OS.
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 30, 20080 comments
OneCare, Microsoft's consumer-based answer to Symantec and McAfee, is
being
bundled
on a bunch of new PCs.
But before you get all excited, these are trial versions of the security software
and the OEMs aren't exactly top-tier. Instead of the likes of Dell, HP and Leveno,
how about MDG Computers, or LEO Gesellschaft, Wortmann, Olidata, Hyrican, Sotec
and TICNOVA?
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 30, 20080 comments
After a
rash
of DNS attacks
, Doug asked readers recently whether they take DNS security
seriously. Tony says yes -- and here's why:
If one is running any type of e-commerce or production system that is
public-facing, you absolutely have to take DNS (and the entire infrastructure)
seriously. If DNS is broken, the following can happen:
- If DNS is not properly configured, then your customers will have an
inconsistent experience when trying to access your Web site. Result: Customers
will go elsewhere and you'll lose possible revenue.
- If DNS is not working at all, then customers will not even be able
to contact your site. They might assume your site doesn't exist or is no
longer in service. Result: Customers will go elsewhere and possibly never
return -- loss of immediate and possibly future revenue source.
- If your DNS is hacked or spoofed so that your customers go to a fake
version of your site...well, not only will you lose money, your customers
might possibly lose money also, further damaging your brand and reputation.
So yes, one should take DNS very seriously.
-Tony
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 30, 20080 comments
I've been writing a lot about virtualization lately, for two reasons. For one,
I think it's a pretty dang important subject. For another, I helped launch
Virtualization
Review
, our new magazine and
Web
site
, so I'm pretty steeped in all things virtual.
Having this little bit of knowledge gives me big opinions. So when Saugatuck
Research released
a report claiming that Citrix, VMware and Cisco are the three most powerful
forces in virtualization, I almost choked on my Cheerios.
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 30, 20080 comments
Doug
opined
recently
about the lack of a good $500 Mac laptop in the market. Bill doesn't
miss it so much:
I think they tried licensing out the OS about 10 years ago. Didn't seem
to work out all that well for Apple, seeing as how their bread and butter
was computers back then. Granted, the company and its product line had other
problems at the time, so perhaps there would be better results if they ever
tried it again. I suppose if their OS got as big as Vista, er, I mean, Windows,
it would be worth it to them. Otherwise, in a short time, there would be no
more Apple.
As time marches on, computers will become a smaller part of their product
mix. If the iPhone and whatever follows in its footsteps continues to advance,
a less expensive device running OS X could well happen. Until then, a $500
Mac laptop strikes me as something one would not call "good," either
in performance, durability or effects on Apple's bottom line and by extension,
OS X.
-Bill
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 29, 20080 comments
Career company Jobfox just released a bit of good news for those of you in IT:
Your jobs are relatively safe. In fact, you may want to ask for a raise.
According
to JobFox
, IT and software development are among the 20 professions the
company considers recession-proof.
Now, pushing aside the fact that we're not technically in a recession -- it
just feels like one -- this is good news indeed. (And here's a little hint from
the editor in chief of Redmond magazine: Our upcoming salary survey has
some more good news!)
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 29, 20080 comments
While your job may be safe, your working budget may not be. The Computer Economics
group argues that some in IT may soon
have
less to spend
(now you don't have to buy all those new Vista PCs!).
The group says that IT budgets overall were set to rise some 4 percent, but
due to a tough economy, a lot of this money will never get spent.
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 29, 20080 comments
Late last week, Microsoft
joined
the Apache Software Foundation
and pledged a hundred grand so that Apache
supporters can write more Apache code.
Seeing as how Microsoft sales reps have probably pushed IIS on you a million
times, you're probably asking, "Why?" Me, too.
The answer isn't that Microsoft is putting its weight behind the open source
Web server and bailing on IIS. From what I can tell, this has nothing to do
with IIS. On a high level, Microsoft wants to appear friendly to the open source
community. Gaining trust and cooperation can go a long way toward building interoperability.
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Posted by Doug Barney on July 29, 20080 comments