What's your favorite soap opera? "Days of Our Lives"? "Guiding Light"? How about Microsoft and Yahoo?
These two have been negotiating on and off for months, and every time talks break down, execs lash out like petulant lovers. Apparently, these two companies either have a real reason to work together or they just love the drama, because they just can't stop negotiating.
Now the deal is finally done: Yahoo will adopt Bing and sell search ads while Microsoft collects all the search data.
This would be a big boost for Bing and for Microsoft's adCenter Web advertising platform. And now I can finally change the channel.
Posted by Doug Barney on July 29, 20092 comments
More and more, it seems Microsoft is releasing patches separate from its once-a-month Patch Tuesday. The latest out-of-band patches include an easy fix for Visual Studio and a more serious remedy for IE.
The Visual Studio patch is only for developers building custom apps, and allows programmers to craft code that hackers can't easily bypass.
The IE fix is for nearly everyone, whether you use IE 5, 6, 7 or 8, and helps prevent remote code execution. Marked as critical, security experts advise IT pros to download and install this puppy pronto.
Posted by Doug Barney on July 29, 20090 comments
The Black Hat conference includes an eclectic group of weirdos, geeks, security crusaders and a healthy dose of posers. While it used to have a slight aura of evil, now the conference attracts major vendors seeking major security solutions. This week, Microsoft made an appearance and pledged its undying cooperation with friends and foes alike.
Critics may argue that Microsoft still doesn't build the world's greatest software, but you can't really fault the company for trying to fix what's broke. New initiatives include giving customers monthly reports going over general security issues. Redmond is also offering frameworks to help IT structure its response to problems and patch releases.
Finally, Microsoft has Project Quant (the name of which either refers to quantitative analysis or the obscure Dutch flautist), an "open community project" to improve patching.
Posted by Doug Barney on July 29, 20091 comments
The good ship Microsoft didn't make it unscathed out of troubled waters. The company's fourth-quarter financial results showed 29 percent hit on its Windows side, with Windows revenue dropping nearly a billion dollars quarter to quarter.
And there was trouble all around. Every Microsoft division showed a loss for the quarter -- a new low. Microsoft's biggest moneymaker, Windows, was its biggest loss leader. The only other division close was the Entertainment and Devices Division, down 25 percent quarter to quarter.
Every company besides Goldman Sachs is feeling the pinch these days, but Microsoft is known as one of those steady-sailing large-cap stocks. The keel may pitch, but the ship doesn't take on any water...usually. It seems that Microsoft has a bigger problem in that new OSes may not be the catalyst for sales of new PCs and servers. Microsoft still hasn't announced pricing for Windows 7 on netbooks, which sell well but also cut into its profit margins. Netbooks are still running XP, and a lot of business users are also running XP -- quite happily, it seems.
Are we just seeing the waning days of Vista reflected in Microsoft's financial report? Will Windows 7 turn the ship around when launches in October? Where did Microsoft go wrong? Let Doug know at [email protected].
Posted by Kurt Mackie on July 27, 20098 comments
Microsoft last week announced a proposal it placed before the European Commission that will let new PC users install the browser of their choice through a so-called "ballot screen" in Windows.
Of course, EU users have always been able to use a different browser than IE. To date, IE use in Europe tracks somewhat closely with Firefox use (48.6 percent versus 37.6 percent, respectively, according to StatCounter). Earlier, Microsoft announced a Windows 7E (for Europe) edition that lacks IE. (IE is actually there in the Windows bits, but you have to check a dialog box to add the browser.)
A lot of this discussion about unfair "browser bundling" with Windows may seem like déjà vu here in the United States after many years of similar litigation. Now, it seems, karma has caught up with Microsoft in the EU. Opera Software, Mozilla and Google are all weighing against Microsoft in the case.
Has Microsoft changed in all those years or is it still the same old convicted monopolist, pushing its products through Windows, and needing the firm hand of government? Sound off to Doug at [email protected].
Posted by Kurt Mackie on July 27, 20096 comments
A coalition of industry and academia is trying to push the U.S. government more in the open source direction, at least in terms of the software it uses.
Sometimes, open source is derided as just an alternative marketing scheme, but it really just provides greater control over software. Even Microsoft appears to be willing to play ball with open source Linux in some situations -- especially when it means broader use of its Hyper-V virtualization technology.
Is the future open source? Would Microsoft be the mega-corporation that it is in a truly open source world? Tell Doug at [email protected].
Posted by Kurt Mackie on July 27, 20091 comments
Jonesin' for Windows 7? This puppy is one step closer, having made it to the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) stage. This means it just needs to be packaged up and sent off to OEMs.
I'm not surprised. I've been using 7 as my exclusive OS for the last month. In my opinion, the Windows 7 release candidate isn't quite finished -- but it's way more finished than XP! Yeah, 7 crashes (I recovered from a crash 10 minutes ago and had to use a recovered version of this very file), but it crashes far less than XP, and is way, way, way faster. And I'm using beta software.
Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, also made the RTM grade. Speaking of which, this whole "RTM" thing frustrates me. It means the OS is done, but systems aren't yet available.
Dang, I want a Windows 7 netbook in the worst way. That way, I can pretend to work anywhere there's a hotspot (don't tell my boss!).
Posted by Doug Barney on July 24, 20095 comments
The concept of Windows Home Server is pretty cool. Instead of setting up your own server, just have a pre-configured unit that lets the fam share files. Even better, if you keep your files there, you can get at 'em no matter where you are, or what device you have. Forget synchronization -- just store files on the server and back them up. Case closed.
The concept is so good, Microsoft is now aiming it at businesses -- not big businesses, but small businesses and perhaps remote offices and departments.
I'm intrigued. Have any of you used Windows Home Server? Should I buy one? Your advice welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on July 24, 20098 comments
As a recent Office 2007 convert, I now have first-hand knowledge of the ribbon interface. In some ways it's easier; commands are organized in clusters, and it's easier to customize how commands are presented. But after a month of solid use, I'm still often befuddled. (But even after 20 years of Office use, the old interface is pretty befuddling, too!)
If you want to stick with Microsoft, you best get used to the ribbon. Office 2010 contains a revised ribbon and Office online apps will also sport the controversial interface.
Do you love or hate the ribbon? Cast your votes at [email protected]. And here's a trivia question: Where does the line "Who, who will not wear the ribbon?" come from? Answers can also be sent to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on July 24, 20098 comments
Microsoft this week released some 20,000 lines of driver code to the open source community, all to help Linux run efficiently under Hyper-V.
Before you start thinking Microsoft is a true-blue open sourcer, the move is a strategic one aimed at boosting Hyper-V relative to VMware. What's different here from other MS open source moves is that this time, the code is fully in compliance with open source licenses.
What should Microsoft do in the open source world? Send your best advice to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on July 22, 20091 comments
After hearing complaints that IE 8 can be slow, Microsoft code jocks took a look and now claim that IE 8 isn't slow -- but third-party add-ons sure are!
A lot of these add-ons, such as toolbars (don't you love how these install themselves, but make you jump through hoops to get rid of them?), are invoked in each and every tab. Other performance culprits? Security software and Skype.
Microsoft's current answer is to use Process Monitor to see which add-ons use the most processing and then disable them. Firefox and Chrome proponents have another answer: Disable IE!
I'm using IE 8 and despite a minor glitch or two, I've had no problems. Then again, I tend to stay away from most add-ons. Is IE 8 fast or slow? Let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on July 22, 20093 comments
One reason the Mac is a semi-viable corporate machine is its support of Microsoft Office. For better or worse, the latest rev of Mac Office doesn't have the new ribbon interface. (As a new ribbon user, I'm torn; some parts are better and some parts are just frustrating.) Nevertheless, Mac Office is still pretty current, even more so with this week's release of Service Pack 2 for Office 2008 for the Mac.
So what do you get for your download? Besides security and performance tweaks, Microsoft is tossing in Web-based document sharing through Office Live Workspace. Microsoft is also touting integration with SharePoint, now the holy grail of Microsoft collaborative computing.
Posted by Doug Barney on July 22, 20090 comments