Citrix and Microsoft have a strange relationship, one of the few cases where the term "coopetition" actually applies. In the thin client space, the two have cooperated and competed for over a decade -- Microsoft with its low-end technology Terminal Services (now called Remote Desktop Services) bundled with Windows Servers, and Citrix with its higher-end Presentation Manager (now called XenApp). The companies are so close they even change names together!
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 25, 20090 comments
More readers give their thoughts on how long Microsoft should continue to support XP:
From my perspective, Microsoft should be prepared to continue sticking with XP at least until 2014 as it has previously stated. People will be watching their budgets very closely for the next two to five years and unless there is something so compelling that we all just have to get Windows 7, I think XP is going to be around for even longer. Like it or not, many of us just do not like Vista or are that keen on what we are seeing in Windows 7. We know XP backwards, it does everything we want, the software we currently own and use is more than adequate so no new cost is needed for either hardware or software.
XP has penetrated a vast market. I think Microsoft totally underestimates the marketplace and fails to grasp that no one likes to be bullied into accepting something by dull submission.
-Ken
I think the scheduled EOL and support for XP is sufficient. XP has been out for a long time. It's already stable and happy and has lots of supporters and die-hard "don't kill it" petitioners. Five years of support? We should feel lucky.
Out with the old and in with the new, I say! Vista is stable, secure and has better mobility than XP.
-Rob
Since there seems to be such a nose-turn at Vista, M$ should go ahead and bite the bullet of standing behind XP until Windows 7 has established itself as either good or bad. By that point, I'm thinking that either Vista will be good enough (with continued updates and patches) to stand up on its own or 7 will just settle in as the new XP replacement. In either case, I don't see IT managers taking XP offline and implementing either Vista or 7 until they are proven stable and unshakable. As long as this isn't the case, then XP is still going to be the OS of choice for most administrators.
-Edward
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 25, 20090 comments
Often, I scratch my head over our legal system. Sometimes, juries seem to get it wrong, as they did with OJ. Other times, judges are the ones making random decisions. Case in point: A judge last week
denied class-action status
for a suit claiming that Vista Capable computers were Vista Less than Capable. The PCs in question had the "Capable" logo, but barely supported the OS and only ran the lowest-end versions.
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 23, 20090 comments
A group in Norway has launched a public campaign to
end the use of IE 6
, claiming the browser has never met a standard it actually liked and makes it hard for developers to build compatible sites.
You'd think Microsoft would be upset that an outside group is trying to kill its product -- but Microsoft has been trying to kill IE 6 for years! Microsoft always tries to knock off an older product way before customers are ready. Don't believe it? Then just say these two letters: XP.
Posted by Doug Barney on February 23, 20090 comments
Last week
, Doug asked readers how long they think Microsoft should support XP. Here are just some of your responses (more to come Wednesday):
Simple! As long as it doesn't have a viable alternative.
-Anonymous
Microsoft should continue to support XP until popular opinion says otherwise. The people are the ones using it, not The Enterprise.
-Rick
Until Windows 7 comes out.
-Anonymous
XP should be fully supported until at least the day that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is released!
-George
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 23, 20091 comments
The Domain Name System (DNS) lies at the core of the Internet and our own corporate networks, but most admins and network pros barely give it a second thought. An exploit discovered last summer that's
now starting to spread
should make us all take DNS seriously.
The problem comes with the scary name cache-poisoning vulnerability. "The vulnerability involves a weakness in the transaction ID used in DNS queries. Currently, replies to a DNS query have to contain the proper transaction ID, which is chosen randomly from 65,000 values," our report explains. Fortunately, there's a patch -- and has been for about half-a-year.
Posted by Doug Barney on February 23, 20090 comments
Steve Ballmer spoke at a political event recently about how the economy can benefit more from
investing in innovation
than by running a debt. Here's what some of you thought:
I must admit your economic analyses are my least favorite part of your newsletter. From an investor's standpoint, I have little faith in Mr. Ballmer. The ideas which seem least popular (for example, seven plus versions of Windows) are always strongly touted by him. Indeed, Microsoft's stock price has remained stagnant for the past seven years after plummeting from its peak a few years prior.
So while he may have some advice for Congress (advice which is naturally biased toward his company's agenda), our country would be wise to take it with a grain of salt.
-Gregory
You and Ballmer are so correct when it comes to the debt (stimulus) bill. Running into debt does not work at home, at work and in the 1930s, and is only going to ruin our great country. People need to WAKE UP and contact their representatives right away. Our children's futures are at stake.
-Joseph
Putting aside the old canard "You can't run government like a business," it should be obvious that innovation and progress can increase tax revenues. There have been plenty of independent studies that have shown that tax cuts not only resulted in business expansion which translates to jobs across ALL industries, but that revenues to the government via the taxes INCREASE. When business leaders that lean left already understand that but the party they support doesn't listen, we have a major problem.
The inflation that will be created by the insane spending at the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration is a recipe for disaster.
-Herb
Having been elected on the promise of better times for all, Washington has to be seen doing something -- even if it means screwing the next generation more than Gen-X has already been screwed for the Social Security cock-up. Although the politicians appear to have thought about the $8 BILLION, they still thought it was a great idea to dig a hole of national debt bigger than any nation has had the reckless stupidity to dig. Maybe they have their collective fingers crossed that it'll be all right on the night. Well, uncross them -- it won't be all right, stupid!
Take time to go back to the likes of Mr. Ballmer and others with integrity and LISTEN with your brains engaged. Maybe then we won't throw greenbacks to the winds, make more unscrupulous millionaires and end up unable to feed ourselves. The feeding frenzy for all those millions is only just beginning and if you happen to be in the middle class and lower, step aside -- it's not for you, really.
-Stephen
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 20, 20090 comments
I'm a fan of how public Microsoft is with its security flaws. Patch Tuesday is a tradition that Microsoft should be proud of -- not for the holes, but for the public fixes.
But patches are like blueprints for a hacker, who can now understand the hole and attack unpatched systems. That's what's happening with IE 7 as hackers take the hole disclosed earlier this month and go after it with gusto.
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 20, 20090 comments
Microsoft is trying to keep a few more bucks in IT pockets by
holding the line on some support pricing
. The company had planned a normal increase in custom support pricing, an enterprise customer option aimed at older products. That increase won't happen.
Microsoft didn't offer a reason, but I have two. First, Redmond gets that the economy is rough, and is doing the right thing. But this might -- just might -- have more to do with Vista. XP is the preferred enterprise desktop OS and it's near the end of its supported life.
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 20, 20090 comments
I'm a huge fan of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and I'm in awe of the fact that Mr. Gates is promising the bulk of his billions toward it. But what impresses me most is the care that goes into each investment. The Gates team carefully researches every effort before spending a dime, making sure these dollars will do the maximum good. Gates' money is already having an amazing effect on disease and childhood mortality -- and he's just getting started.
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 20, 20090 comments
In the mid-1980s I covered Microsoft for
Computerworld
. I remember Steve Ballmer telling me -- and expecting me to tell others -- that customers should move from MS-DOS to Windows to prepare for the ultimate migration to OS/2 and its GUI component Presentation Manager. Ever since, it seems that Microsoft has pushed IT not to skip OSes but move one step at a time, in tandem with Microsoft releases.
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 18, 20090 comments
The mobile phone business is nothing if not competitive. Vendors are a who's who of computing, including Google, Apple and Microsoft (I'd like to see all three of these in a room talking about standards!).
Microsoft got into the market a bit late, and early efforts were flakier than a Hostess pastry. Then the software got better and some pretty dang cool Windows phones came out. Even Palm worked with the software.
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Posted by Doug Barney on February 18, 20090 comments