Nobody has yet warmed to our suggestion to call System Center Operations Manager
2007 "OpMan" (hey, it's
better
than SCOM), but at least the product now has its
first
service pack.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 27, 20080 comments
Another week, another update on Microsoft's attempt to spend every bit of the
cash it has in its coffers (and more).
Even if Yahoo isn't ready to accept Redmond's overtures, Microsoft employees
will be, or should be, ready for what seems to be an inevitable consumption
of the Internet pioneer. Microsoft executives e-mailed
the company's employees last week a guide to swallowing Yahoo, laying out
how an acquisition would affect Redmond's rank and file.
Meanwhile, Yahoo shareholders are getting more and more nervous about the company's
rebuffing of Microsoft. One group has sued
Yahoo, charging that the company's executives shouldn't be trying to get
that scary biker dude to take them to the prom when the quarterback of the football
team has a limo and a corsage waiting and ready to go. (Or something like that
-- basically, the shareholders want Yahoo to sell out to Microsoft rather than
shop around for another acquirer.)
Even if a deal is inevitable -- and we have no idea whether it'll happen --
these delays and Yahoo's apparent revulsion at the site of Microsoft don't make
anybody look very good. In fact, at this point, both companies look kind of
desperate, and Google -- the reason all of this is happening -- must be sitting
back and enjoying the drama over a big box of popcorn, or maybe sushi, or kelp,
or whatever people in San Francisco are eating these days.
This story is sure to continue unfolding, so check RCPU for more updates and
witty commentary (ahem), and keep sending your thoughts on the matter (or anything
else) to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 26, 20080 comments
Last week's big to-do about Microsoft
offering
up some of its protocols and otherwise paying EU-mandated lip service to
"openness" drew a surprisingly mixed reaction from the open source
community -- surprising because it wasn't entirely negative.
Linux guru Linus Torvalds, in fact, seemed downright
pleased with Microsoft, if still a little skeptical of the company's motives.
Other folks took more of a wait-and-see
attitude, with some complaining that Microsoft isn't releasing code to open
source and is still going to charge license fees for some patents.
Here's something the open source folks might want to consider: Microsoft isn't
an open source company and isn't going to be any time soon. So don't hold your
breath for Steve Ballmer and company to throw open the gates (um, no pun intended,
but you can read one there if you want to) any more than they have to.
And Microsoft: Again, please stop with the whole Magnanimous Microsoft act.
We all know that you're responding to the EU, and that's OK.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 26, 20080 comments
Well, that's what "
people
say," anyway, according to the Bloomberg headline.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 26, 20080 comments
Next time you get a traffic ticket, take the money to pay your fine, place
it lovingly in a cheery greeting card, deliver it to city hall and declare in
the most grandiose manner possible that you're "making a donation to the
city." Then, you'll know exactly what it's like to be Microsoft.
Heck, you could even hold a press conference. That's what Microsoft did yesterday
to announce its new
openness initiatives, the basics of which RCPU managed to sneak into yesterday's
issue. The conference call, which evidently required a "War Declared"-level
media alert on Thursday morning, started brilliantly -- after waiting about
15 minutes past the start time, reporters finally heard some Microsoft official
apologize for the late start and explain that it had been caused in part by
"technical problems we had to solve." What, did Ballmer's PC blue-screen
when he tried to open PowerPoint, or something?
Anyway, the crux of the story remains that Microsoft is publishing some 30,000
pages of documentation -- don't try to take that tome on your next flight --
revealing APIs, software protocols and heretofore concealed trade secrets. Of
course, that's part of what the European Union has been demanding that Microsoft
do for a while now -- and, as you might imagine, the EU still
doesn't think that Microsoft is doing enough. After all, Microsoft has talked
openness before but thus far hasn't really seemed to make it a corporate
priority (understandably enough, given that the interaction between Microsoft
applications is one of the company's key selling points). Now, with the EU's
constant prodding, Microsoft is all about sharing...again.
This time, though, it's different. This time, Steve Ballmer was doing the talking.
And Ray Ozzie. And the top lawyer, Brad Smith. This time, the announcement merited
a "Victory in Europe"-style media alert. This time, Microsoft is serious...right?
Well, more serious, anyway. Some of the documentation posted will let open source
developers go beyond just creating programs that will work with Microsoft applications
to actually extending some of the functionality of Microsoft's wares.
As long as it's not done for commercial purposes, of course. As far as software
for sales goes, the open source folks are ostensibly under the same patent pressure
that they've always been under -- except that now, Microsoft says that it's
going to reveal exactly what patents it has and license that intellectual property
for low fees. The company's promise not to sue developers working for non-commercial
purposes also seems to open the door to let customers (and partners) use open
source apps in their Microsoft shops without fear of recrimination.
For partners, the announcement is likely to have relatively little impact,
except for those partners who now have access to APIs they might have needed
in order to develop for or extend Microsoft applications and previously didn't
have. Other than that, the announcement will probably serve to make Microsoft
look a little less proprietary and a little more open than it has looked in
the past, and with open source applications spreading in corporate IT departments
-- especially in data centers -- that can't be a bad thing.
We've said many times before in this space that the EU should just leave Microsoft
alone, and we suspect that EU regulators aren't finished with Redmond yet. But
if pressure from the EU led Microsoft to open up a bit (and, apparently, it
did), and if Microsoft's opening is positive for customers and partners, let's
call yesterday's announcement a little bit of good news and wait and see what
happens from there. This story is still far from being over.
One thing we could do without, though, is the faux self-sacrifice on Microsoft's
part. Listening to Ballmer and Co. yesterday morning, we half expected a fake
crying jag (not unlike the one Will Ferrell's character delivers at the end
of Blades of Glory) and an emotional speech about the lengths Microsoft
will go to in order to please its customers. Whatever. Just pay your EU traffic
fine, Redmond, and don't pretend that you're publishing your APIs out of concern
for your customers, support for open source or the goodness of your heart. Please.
It's just kind of embarrassing. We all know the real story.
What's your take on Microsoft's new openness? Drop a line to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 22, 20081 comments
It turns out that a bunch of stuff
isn't
working with Vista's first service pack -- which seems appropriate given
how much stuff never worked with Vista in the first place.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 22, 20080 comments
Recession? What recession? Strictly speaking, this isn't channel news (for
Channel News Thursday), but it is interesting. HP had a blowout quarter in its
last quarter, and things are
looking
positive going forward. Let's have more news like this, please.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments
The provider of wireless LAN infrastructure systems has a new partner program.
Check out all the details
here.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments
Microsoft made a big kafuffle today to announce yet another "openness"
initiative. This time, it involves
publishing
tens of thousands of pages of software protocols, something European Union
regulators
have
been demanding for some time now. Not surprisingly, the EU -- so far, at
least --
still
isn't happy.
Redmond also pledged not to sue for patent infringement open source developers
who develop software for "non-commercial distribution." (So, that
includes Microsoft's own customers...right?) Microsoft is also going to let
us know once and for all which of its protocols are patented, and then license
those patents at what it calls low rates.
The whole Microsoft spiel is here.
Also, look for more coverage of this announcement -- and maybe a snarky comment
or two -- in Friday's RCPU.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments