Icahn Edges Closer to Yahoo Control

As owner of 5 percent of Yahoo shares, it makes sense to have Icahn on the board. Then again, he's actively trying to dismantle the company. If I were the Yahoo chairman, I'd treat Icahn like a Mexican jalapeno and steer clear!

Posted by Doug Barney on July 22, 20080 comments

Mailbag: If You Ran VMware

What would I do if I was VMware? PANIC.
-Anonymous

Well, I would ultimately slash the price of the ESX products, give away the Workstation and servers for free (but have fees for support), add more hardware vendor support or alliance, and publish more books or best practice guide documents.
-Cornelio

Here is a plan for VMware: Provide a hypervisor and a VM maker for home users. Servers are where the money's at, but if you want users to keep your name, you have to provide the same wares at home. Well, maybe not the same, but something that will transfer readily between work and home.

What I envision is a VM platform that would allow a home user to run one or more OSes independent of the hardware. When it's time to upgrade your hardware to a better system, you just package up your system as-is, copy it somewhere (online storage, DVD, whatever), get your new machine and drop it down. How many people are forced to move to Vista (for example) because they got a new laptop? If it were a VMware microkernel, they could just mount their old OS on a new system -- no fuss, no settings to reset, no new or significant nuances to learn. No doubt people would pay a PC premium for this ease of use, and it would knock down Microsoft significantly as it cannot force a vendor to upgrade to its new OS package since any VMware-ready machine would be OS-independent.
-Tom

A price increase might work for Smirnoff vodka, but it won't work for software. It's the death knell for VMware. Just ask your corporate managers who will force you to go with the lower-cost alternative -- especially from a name-brand vendor like Microsoft.
-Mike

Add Pat to the ever-growing list of people who don't like Vista:

No, you are not being too rough on Vista. You're just not being rough enough. I have been preaching to all my users not to purchase computers with just Vista alone, but to purchase business PCs with both operating systems on them (Vista with a downgrade to XP). This way, they can choose and later ease into Vista if they want to or when Microsoft cleans it up. Some of my users did not heed the warning, went out and purchased a new computer, and are now complaining, "It operates too slow, can't get on the Internet, stops me from creating documents," and the list goes on and on.

I personally do not own a Vista computer and will not until Microsoft fixes the kernel, but if I wanted to imitate a Vista computer, all I would have to do is to let my XP Pro computer get fragmented and full of temporary Internet files.
-Pat

And if you're an iPhone fan that gets teased for your iFervor, give this reader's advice some consideration:

In response to the YouTube video you referenced, I was really hoping to see some pwnage, but I didn't see or hear any. That guy didn't own the reporter; he sounded like he wanted to go home and cry. Where's his sense of humor? I was expecting some kind of humorous response in response to a pretty humorous question.

How about answering the question, "Have you ever seen a woman naked?" with, "Why, yes, in fact your mom told me I'd get an encore of her performance last night if I stood in line to get her the new iPhone. But I'm actually getting this one for myself. I wouldn't pay to see THAT again." Did I miss something?
-Chris

Got something to add? Let us have it! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 22, 20080 comments

BlackEyeBerry

I have a BlackBerry and love the e-mail. I hate, though, the way it deals with attachments -- or doesn't deal with attachments. Talk about a kludge. No wonder so many are switching to the iPhone.

Posted by Doug Barney on July 22, 20080 comments

Jobs May Be Ill

Wall Street flipped out over the rumors that Jobs is seriously ill after the company refused to talk about his health on a recent earnings call. Investors promptly started dumping the high-flying stock.

Another indication that Jobs is sick is the fact that Fake Steve Jobs is tossing in the Fake Steve Jobs Towel, and will now post under his real name: Dan Lyons. One theory is that Mr. Lyons wouldn't want to satirize a sick man.

I have no clue what may be wrong with Jobs. My hope is that the cancer is still contained. It could be that his pancreas isn't working and he's fighting against full-on diabetes, which could explain the weight loss. That's not a great scenario, but is far better than metastasized cancer.

Jobs is a rather remarkable man, and losing him as the head of Apple would be a crushing blow for the entire industry. What are your thoughts? Send opinions and comments about Jobs to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 22, 20080 comments

Software Has Been Berry, Berry Good

Case in point: the most recent fiscal year wherein Redmond brought in over $60 billion (and by Redmond, I mean the company, not the magazine, unfortunately).

The only dark cloud is on the Web, where Microsoft actually lost almost half-a-billion dollars. Microsoft, as it has shown with the Xbox and ERP applications, can weather some rather massive losses as it waits for its strategy to succeed. My opinion? Online services are no different.

Disagree? Tell me where I'm wrong by writing to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 21, 20080 comments

Google: The New Microsoft?

I felt a bit like a voice in the wilderness. Now Bill Snyder of InfoWorld (where I worked back when it still had a magazine) has joined me in the boondocks with a column asking whether we want a monopoly on the Web, and warning that "Google is becoming Microsoft's evil twin."

Am I too tough on Google, or do you also fear a Google monopoly? Comments welcome at [email protected]. And while you're at it, what's your favorite defunct magazine? InfoWorld, Byte, Network Computing, PC/Computing, AmigaWorld? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 21, 20080 comments

A Live Mesh Sellout

I've read up on Live Mesh and still don't completely get it. Here's what I think I know: Live Mesh isn't a product, but a set of tools that let developers build applications. These applications are designed not just to share data across the Internet, but keep it synchronized, as well. This is a very Lotus Notes-ian concept, which used replication to sync end user machines with databases stored on servers.

There are lots of potential uses for Live Mesh. For starters, consumers can share photos and music, or collaborate on blogs. My ideal use is to have a single place for all my documents, bookmarks and messaging tools. This way, I can have a full environment and data set no matter what machine I'm working on.

I pine for this capability every time my Dell Latitude D520 needs a new motherboard, an all-too-frequent event. In the absence of such a system, I have to kludge together a working system out of an old machine, contact my online backup provided to get my files (this company isn't open at nights or weekends, when I actually do most of my work), and install new bits of software like my IM client.

Redmond magazine columnist Mary Jo Foley examined Live Mesh and found it much more a consumer play. Check out her analysis here.

I know you in IT are much smarter than I am, so how do you keep multiple machines in sync? Save my sanity by e-mailing your techniques to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 21, 20080 comments

VMware Price Hike?

Apparently, VMware is the Smirnoff to Hyper-V's Wolfschmidt. Over in Europe, VMware is raising prices, at the exact same time that a nearly free Hyper-V is coming to market.

That may work for a while, but in the long run, VMware is going to have to react to Hyper-V pricing. Look at what happened with Netscape. It kept charging for its browser even as IE was free. Hmm, didn't the Netscape browser business ultimately disappear?

What would you do if you ran VMware? Send your corporate tactics to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 17, 20080 comments

Mailbag: Microsoft Plays Monopoly

Ironic? No, it's about time. Turnabout is fair play.
-Anonymous

This is just as ironic as when IBM got to finger-pointing at Microsoft during the Microsoft monopoly hearings. Youngsters might not remember IBM's own monopoly issues, but the rest of us do.
-Stan

What goes around comes around. I think Microsoft is justified using the same arguments that have been used against it -- and the results should be the same if the legal systems are balanced as they claim.
-Anonymous

Microsoft's enemies have used the monopoly chip against them and now they want to turn the tables on Google. Having politicians and the courts involved in this is not good for the consumer's pocket book or for technology innovation. I trust the market to make the corrections needed.
-Tom

After reading your comments about Microsoft, the potential Google/Yahoo deal and the words "monopoly" and "ironic" in your column, another word immediately came to my mind: HYPOCRITE. Kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. Just like a terrorist calling the United States a bunch of murderers. Kinda of like sending a fat, overweight U.S. senator overseas to a Third World nation to investigate their poverty and hunger. Tennessee Williams said it best in "The Rose Tattoo," Act 3: "The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that's also a hypocrite!"

How long before we see Microsoft changing its trademark to a guy wearing a black hat, a tuxedo and a monocle?
-Les

Microsoft has suggested that Windows 7 will pretty much be based on Vista. Too much of a not-so-good-thing? Here's what some of you think:

Over the last months, I have read several news reports saying that Windows 7 will address the 'bloatware' that Vista has become by being more of a thin client that can be readily expanded. Now Veghte is saying it will be built on Vista? Did those reporters fall for more obfuscation?

As the world swings toward making more use of laptops and notebooks, Microsoft must understand that these devices are NOT readily upgradeable to have terabytes of RAM once Windows 7 releases. I have an old Dell Latitude at home that I'm not throwing away just because it can't support Vista; I'm moving to Ubuntu.
-Ian

I think that Microsoft made a major stumble at the wrong time. Vista was way late and many of the great features were stripped in order to finally ship it. It was so slow and riddled with bugs and incompatibilities that it got extremely bad press. At the same time, Linux was making huge strides in compatibility and ease of use with Ubuntu, etc. A couple years ago, Linux wasn't in a place to compete at any level with Windows, but now it is much further along.

Microsoft making a big announcement that Windows 7 is based on Vista so you might as well upgrade to Vista now is going to backfire on the company, I think.
-Matt

I saw in your post today that you included some Windows 7 information, and I wanted to clarify a minor point. In your post, you write the following: "Second -- and this is the first such official proclamation -- Veghte stated that Windows 7 is based on Vista."

There was a post by Chris Flores on the Windows Vista blog in May which disclosed this information.
-Mary

Rick shares his thoughts on Microsoft's approach to standards:

I work in a part of the technology sector where collaboration and cooperation are essential. In my opinion, Microsoft sets itself up for the cheap shots in the manner it tries to collaborate or share with the technology community at large. It's one thing to invite the technology community to participate in the creation of a file standard, as opposed to developing a file standard and presenting it to the technology community for ratification or acceptance. The first approach is inviting and suggests willingness to accept outside review and input; the latter is easily construed as an obnoxious attitude ("Here it is, take it or leave it").

Still, a powerful argument against collaboration is that development speed suffers dramatically. Also in the mix is the fact that system changes are best made in the design phase and not the implementation phase. So when a non-Microsoft entity makes a valid observation or suggestion, Microsoft can ignore it on the grounds that it would be too costly to implement, opening itself up to criticism.
-Rick

Robert is still wondering about Diane Greene's unexpected departure from VMware:

Seems to me that EMC overlooked a significant factor in that by letting Greene go, users who were accepting of VMware as "the best game in town" are now going to say, "Hmm, guess I should look at Microsoft and Xen and etc." The old law of unintended consequences may really come to bear.
-Robert

And Charlie gets the final word (hopefully) on the Nick Hogan hate-train:

I agree with you -- Nick Hogan is a dirt bag. Here's a rule of thumb: There are no real heroes on "reality" TV. Most all of the participants are either losers, wannabes, has-beens or, as you put it, dirt bags.
-Charlie

Tell us what you think! Leave a message below or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 17, 20080 comments

Heckling iPhone Fans

One TV reporter, though, mistook this crowd for the Dungeons & Dragons-type folks that camp out waiting for the next PlayStation or Nintendo. This TV reporter thought Apple fans were pimple-faced losers with no social skills -- and no guts.

But when he asked, on camera, a bunch of folks standing in line for the new iPhone if they had ever kissed a girl, he got completely owned by one dude. This guy coolly explained how uncool it was to assume that iPhone fans were a bunch of dweebs. After this got posted on YouTube, I'm sure this guy has plenty of interested gals.

Posted by Doug Barney on July 17, 20080 comments

Containing the Cloud

For one, all these service companies need to ensure that their software -- and your data -- is safe. This means that the security software market is going to be less about anti-virus on your PC and more about anti-hacker on huge server farms.

There may be an upside to this. It just may be easier to secure a service provider's infrastructure than it is to lock down hundreds and thousands of systems that may be scattered throughout your enterprise. If that's true, our data may ultimately be more secure in the cloud.

Of course, when you shift computing models, you also need to shift how you secure it all. In this case, securing browsers and network connections is key, as is locking down passwords and, as always, protecting data on local systems, whether it comes from a cloud or not.

Is the cloud more or less secure? Answers welcome at [email protected].

Meanwhile, I got a great letter from Andrew in response to an item about whether Microsoft will be as powerful in the cloud as it is in packaged apps:

"In today's article titled 'Microsoft and the Cloud: The Desmond Perspective,' you raise the question whether Microsoft can move from a maker of packaged software to a services company. What a lot folks don't look at or bring into the discussion is that in fact, Microsoft has made this possible for years through subscription licensing. Partners such as ourselves have been offering Microsoft software in the cloud for quite some time. The only difference now is that they are working to have their own offerings.

Being one of those providers, we know that it will be quite some time before their direct offering will have the full capabilities that many of their partners are already able to provide. For example, we provide SharePoint as both a WSS and MOSS offering today through one of our divisions (http://www.sharepointhosting.com/). Today, we have over 1,000 current SharePoint customers and growing exponentially. A number of these are Fortune 100 companies running mission-critical sites. When you add in the other clients that have used our services for more limited needs such as pilots, temporary project sites, etc., that number equals over 3,000 customers that we have worked with.

Microsoft has quite often looked to their partner community to lead the charge and we are right out there on the front lines!"

Posted by Doug Barney on July 17, 20080 comments

Mailbag: Uh-Oh-XML

How is OOXML a standard when even Microsoft's own Office suite does not yet fully support it?
-Angus

In the wake of the WSUS glitch that Microsoft eventually fixed, Doug asked readers whether they value a patch's stability more than its speed. Most of you went with the former:

Stability, of course. Does it matter if a hacker brings down your server or a Microsoft patch does it for them? If the data isn't available, it's useless.
-LouAnne

With patches, as with medical interventions, the primary guidance lies in the injunction: "First, do no harm."
-Fred

I will take stability over speed.
-Mark

The stability is more important. Their newest version of Explorer has now locked me and others from accessing a file we need to do our job. I am the administrator for the file but don't have access to the file.

They sent a fix to the problem a year ago, but it still hasn't fixed the problem. To access any file I need, I have go to Explorer to retrieve any of the my documents. If I try "save as" or change the drive in the program, all the files I have in that program freeze and I lose data. Which also means I can't repair my Access database as it means I have be able to select a drive.
-Ruth

Here are some of your responses to our recent question about what you'd like to see in the pages of Redmond magazine:

Since my world is centered around Dynamics GP, I would like to see more about the Dynamics product line and Great Plains in particular and the blending of that world with the Microsoft stack.
-Ronald

I find the most useful types of articles are overviews of new Microsoft products, where an article of two to 10 pages describes a new product, explains what hardware and software is required, walks you through a basic installation, and mentions common configuration mistakes.

The second most useful article to me are those describing methods of automating common network management tasks, whether this be through scripting or a Microsoft or third-party management product. Finally, I would really like to see a series of articles on how to secure various Microsoft products -- how to secure an IIS installation, how to secure a SQL installation, etc. I realise space is limited, so I'm just talking about a two-page article with bullet points and an overview, rather than an in-depth "War and Peace"-type article."
-Mark

Finally, Brad minces some of our words:

In your newsletter you state: "Say what you will about the folks in Redmond, I've never seen them all erratic and unpredictable. In fact, every time I've seen the company act erratic, it was part of a greater plan."

OK, you've never seen Microsoft be erratic and unpredictable, but every time it was part of a greater plan? If you've never seen them be erratic, there is no "every time"!
-Brad

Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on July 16, 20080 comments