Dilbert Stole a Ziggy (I Mean, a Barney)!

If you're a fan of Seinfeld (or former fan, after Michael Richards' Tourette's-like outburst), you'll remember the episode where Elaine got a cartoon published in the New Yorker . Unfortunately for her, the idea was lifted subconsciously from a Ziggy.

Well, Scott Adams of Dilbert fame did the very same thing to yours truly. My October 2006 Redmond column was entitled "Bill for President."

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Posted by Doug Barney on December 05, 20060 comments


Vista Business Sales Lukewarm

Maybe Microsoft should have shipped the consumer version of Vista first. After all, home users were the first to buy speakers, CD-ROMs and high-res graphics, and I dare you to find a corporate PC that is the match of a 12-year-old's gaming machine. Many of these pre-teens will move to Vista on day one, with some standing in line at Circuit City to be the very first.

Corporate types are different, and for a good many it will be a More

Posted by Doug Barney on December 04, 20060 comments


2,000-Year-Old Computer Found

A 2,000-year-old astronomical computing device of Roman origin has been found in the waters off of Greece. No, this isn't a fake news report from theonion.com -- it actually happened .

No word on what OS it ran, but the corroded remnants of the Ctrl, Alt and Del keys do offer a clue.

Posted by Doug Barney on December 04, 20060 comments


Vista's Low-Key Launch

Windows 3.0 and Windows 95 were monster launches -- you would have thought cancer had been cured. But despite calling it the "biggest launch in company history," last Thursday's Vista press conference in New York was as subdued as Don Rumsfeld getting his walking papers.

As Redmond magazine editor Ed Scannell explained, he expects the real launch to happen in January, when the consumer version of Vista appears.

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Posted by Doug Barney on December 04, 20060 comments


Vista Third Parties Are the Real Story

A new operating system isn't much without new apps, and the news on Vista is good and bad. The good news is that ISVs are arriving in droves to announce Vista plans .

The bad news: These apps in general ain't showing up anytime soon. First up are utilities like communication software from Attachmate (not sure how terminal emulation software will exploit the Vista interface!) set to ship this spring, and security, backup and disk imaging software from Symantec due this month. But the killer software meant to exploit the new UI will, like More

Posted by Doug Barney on December 04, 20060 comments


Live Search Lagging

Recent research shows that despite having a brand-new search engine, Microsoft continues to lose ground to Google . And you know why? Because Microsoft's Live Search isn't as good. I made the vain move of Googling myself (admit it, you do it to!), and came up with 18,700 results. Live Search crushed my ego with only 3,527 pages. I'm not switching till Live has at 20,000 Barney hits.

Posted by Doug Barney on November 30, 20060 comments


Zune Zune Zuna Zuna

Craig Ferguson is not my favorite talk show host (he was the annoying English boss in the "Drew Carey Show"), but he did a mildly amusing riff on the Zune . Ferguson assumes the Zune is inferior to the iPod. Just looking at the features list, I have the opposite impression. Have you used both? What do you think? And what gizmos are you asking for/buying this holiday season? Let us know at More

Posted by Doug Barney on November 30, 20060 comments


Office UI Giveaway: What's Old Is New Again

Microsoft announced a plan to let software developers use the Office User Interface royalty-free to build apps that should be easy to learn -- provided you are adept at Office (I still find Word to be about the most difficult app to fully master, and sometimes even keep under control).

Looks to me like Microsoft flaks are recycling press releases. A decade or so ago, when I wrote for More

Posted by Doug Barney on November 30, 20060 comments


The Wild, Wild, Blogging West

I'm all for free speech, but I'm not sure if the U.S. Supreme Court got it exactly right when it ruled that bloggers and those who host blogs are pretty much immune to libel and defamation suits .

I can understand the part about the hosters. If I'm an ISP or host a site with blogs, I don't want to pay for the misdeeds of those who might visit and post from time to time. Nor do I want to spend my days censoring each and every nugget. But to allow people to knowingly post false and harmful information about others with no repercussions seems a mite insane. Your thoughts, libel-free of course, are welcome at More

Posted by Doug Barney on November 29, 20060 comments


Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away, Bill!

Bill Gates gave an interesting speech recently about why he started giving away his money, and why it made him want to retire. It seems that spending your days making money -- and evenings and weekends giving it away -- might get confusing. So Bill decided that as long as the Microsoft money keeps pouring in on its own, he might as well devote himself to philanthropy. More

Posted by Doug Barney on November 29, 20060 comments


Some PR People Have No Shame

Most PR folks are moral, law-abiding citizens who help bring us all information about companies and products and people. And some are as honest as a nun attached to a lie detector.

Then there are those who would do anything to get their clients publicity, and in the case of BetUS.com, the tasteless tactic worked.

Recently, I got an e-mail asking if I wanted to interview an analyst. Hmm, is there a new controversial tool from Microsoft, a major security breach or a new government regulation concerning compliance?

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Posted by Doug Barney on November 29, 20060 comments


Redmond and Europe: We Cool?

The European Union fought like Conquistadors against XP, Windows Server, Vista and operating systems to be named later, claiming they violated all manner of antitrust law.

Despite an all-new wave of products, Redmond is still dealing with the aftermath of EU decisions made years ago, like a March 2004 ruling that claimed Microsoft leveraged its desktop monopoly to gain share in server operating systems. The company gave out over 8,000 pages of documents attempting to prove that Windows Server is as open to third parties as it is to Redmond itself. If you want to read Microsoft's obtuse explanation of the situation, go More

Posted by Doug Barney on November 28, 20060 comments