Microsoft has been trying to become the Google of Web search, first with MSN
search and now with Windows Live Search, which, last time I checked (two minutes
ago), gave an ego-deflating 3,928 results for "doug barney." But it
did have a
cool
first result.
Meanwhile, Google returns a more gratifying 17,100 pages.
So is it any surprise that Christopher Payne, the Microsoft exec leading the
Microsoft search charge, is moving
on to greener pastures?
Here's more insight into
Redmond's search troubles from BusinessWeek.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 13, 20070 comments
Reader responses to this newsletter are truly incredible, and they're the No.
1 reason I write the darn thing four times a week.
For instance, when one of you had trouble
with Exchange and the BlackBerry, dozens of faithful readers wrote
in to help. Thanks!
And when I wrote a few paltry sentences in praise of FoxPro, eight readers
from Russia, France, Canada and the good, old USA posted comments to thank me
(I even got an invite to the Bashkir Republic out of the deal).
Check out the FoxPro comments here.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 12, 20070 comments
I wish that this could be a new tradition -- Patch-Free Tuesday.
That's right, patchers: Tomorrow you can take the day off as there are no
patches on Patch Tuesday!
While that sounds great, the news is not 100 percent good. There is still an
unresolved Word zero-day exploit that Microsoft is working on.
What are you going to do with your Patch-Free Tuesday? Let us know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on March 12, 20070 comments
If any one feature has caused Vista controversy, it's User Access Control. It's
even the butt of the latest round of Apple ads. Basically, Vista asks for permission
before you can do just about anything. Disable it, and all that malware comes
diving on in.
BeyondTrust, a new company formed by former DesktopStandard chief John Moyer,
has an answer. Privilege Manager 3.0 lets IT fine-tune application privileges.
Essentially, users operate with least privileges, but if more rights are needed
to run a certain app or do certain things, this can be set up by IT. There's
a lot more to it than that, so if you want to know more, wander over here.
How secure have you found Vista? Tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on March 12, 20070 comments
Dell, currently getting its hat handed to it by HP, is contemplating
Linux
as an option for desktop and laptop computers. This is great news for Linux
lovers, and could be a market-changing event. But for Linux to make desktop
headways, I need to see real ease of use and some serious low-ball pricing!
Posted by Doug Barney on March 08, 20071 comments
Critics have long charged that Microsoft gets little for the billions it spends
on research. I've covered this area and am convinced that Microsoft is right
in not looking at it in terms of pure dollars and cents. Microsoft researchers
aim instead to push the frontiers.
At
this year's TechFest, researchers showed off a way to make custom sticky
notes, a way to convert a handwritten sticky note into voice mail, a new approach
to WiFi advertising and a video game that introduces kids to the fundamentals
of programming.
In homage to Jim Gray, a brilliant researcher who is still missing after an
apparent sailing mishap, TechFest featured a way for PC users to tap into massive
high-powered telescopes. This work was one of Gray's many achievements! Learn
more about Jim here.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 08, 20070 comments
SQL Server 2005 got a bunch of new features and fixes two weeks ago with the
release of Service Pack 2. Now, there's a fix for the fix. Apparently, there
was a problem with integration services and some cleanup tasks.
Get the skinny here.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 08, 20072 comments
We might knock Microsoft every now again here at Redmond Report, but there
is one area where we go pretty easy: developer tools. After more than 30 years
in the development tools business (anyone who actually used Altair BASIC is
automatically enrolled in the Doug Barney Hall of Fame), Microsoft is getting
pretty good at the game.
Ironically, because Microsoft is a commercial enterprise and not open source,
it's free to establish a vision and push it to the hilt (incidentally, this
is an area our latest magazine, Redmond
Developer News, covers intensely).
One of our favorite tools is Visual Studio, which -- if not the best IDE out
there -- has to be in the top three. The
latest update makes Visual Studio more compliant with Vista, which is a
good thing. ISVs and corporate developers can and should build apps that exploit
Vista's new security features first, and user interface improvements second.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 07, 20070 comments
Last week, we told you that Microsoft is refusing to license low-end versions
of Vista to run on the Mac in virtual machines. Microsoft cited security concerns,
which seemed like a pretty random argument to some critics (like me).
While I'm no expert in virtualization, the people at VMware are, and they also
saw a certain speciousness in Microsoft's contention. And like me, they took
their concerns to the Internet.
I found this all based on the fine reporting of NetworkWorld's John Fontana,
whom I hired for the newsweekly. VMware, Fontana writes, wrote an entire
white paper contradicting Microsoft's claims.
What's really amazing is that a large company can crank out an 10-page white
paper less than a week after the topic comes to the fore.
Microsoft didn't write a white paper in response. Instead, an executive wrote
a blog which reads more like a white paper. More interesting than the blog
are the fawning comments underneath from what are obviously Microsoft employees!
Here's
what Fontana had to say.
Posted by Doug Barney on March 07, 20070 comments
Microsoft this week
took
Google to task for using whatever content it can find -- regardless of copyright.
And as a writer, I've got to back Microsoft on this one.
Microsoft argues that Google often offers full access to books, movies, TV
shows and other types of media without compensating the creator.
In fact, as soon as I finish this newsletter (which I desperately hope Google
with pick up!), I'm going to finish my April Redmond print column where
I argue that Web sites are trying to kill print by stealing print stories and
offering them online. And if print was to be killed off this way, Google and
Drudge and all those hideous, amateur-hour blogs would have nothing to talk
about.
Tell me where I'm wrong at [email protected]!
Posted by Doug Barney on March 07, 20070 comments
While Microsoft antitrust issues in the U.S. are mostly an annoyance,
in
Europe they are an unrelenting migraine. The European Union has been trying
to get Microsoft to fully open its communications protocols and make them available
to third parties and competitors. Now, the beef seems to be over how much these
protocols are worth. The EU wants them to be free, while Microsoft argues that
it charges far below what other companies charge for similar technology.
Fines of up to $4 million a day are possible. A few months of that could add
up to real money!
Posted by Doug Barney on March 06, 20070 comments
Before Vista was released, Symantec put out a detailed critique of Vista security.
It was a well-written though odd document, as it criticized some items that
were being fixed before final release, and even blasted some items that had
already been taken care of!
Now that Vista is out, Symantec has a new document, "Security
Implications of Microsoft Windows Vista."
The last missive, talking about pre-release software, was pretty scathing.
Even though Microsoft is going after a security market Symantec pioneered, the
new Symantec document is pretty dang balanced.
I walked away believing that Vista, while not perfect, is far more secure than
XP. And with more and more attacks going after applications and Web 2.0-style
technologies, it is harder and harder to argue that Linux and the Mac are intrinsically
safer.
We are doing a special report, "The True State of Vista Security."
Let me know, in detail, your thoughts and experiences in this matter. Also,
let me know if I can quote you and how! You know the address: [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on March 06, 20070 comments