We're as excited as you are about Windows Server 2008. Seriously. After Vista
failed to impress last year,
the
buzz around the star of this year's crop of new Microsoft products has grown
steadily.
And why not? Windows Server 2008 has blockbuster sales potential for partners
and already has
customers' attention. And now, it has an added bonus: a built-in
service pack.
Oh, yes! Not only will you get Windows Server 2008 when it ships, you'll get
its first service pack built right in! But wait, there's more. Actually, there
isn't anything more -- we just got a little caught up in the old-school TV ad
script. Seriously, though, when is a service pack not a service pack? When it
ships with a brand-new product. What, did Microsoft screw up Windows Server
2008 so much that it's having to ship a service pack as soon as the product
debuts?
Probably not. In fact, Microsoft says that since Windows Server 2008 has the
same code base as Vista, and since Vista is at the SP1 stage, it makes sense
for Windows Server 2008 to be at the SP1 stage, too.
Whatever, Redmond. We all know that customers are often leery of new Microsoft
products and tend to wait for service packs before investing in them. Microsoft
isn't fooling anybody here; by shipping SP1 right off the bat, Redmond is trying
to get customers to sign up for Windows Server 2008 without hesitation.
But why this product? And why now? Unlike Vista, which came out to a reception
flatter than the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, Windows Server 2008
has customers both buzzing and budgeting. Wethinks, in this case, that Microsoft
doth indeed protest too much. But we're still excited.
What's your take on SP1 shipping with Windows Server 2008? How much will it
help you sell the product? Sound off at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments
The big distributor is keeping it real in the virtual world by
offering
to VARs the most popular virtualization apps on the market today.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 21, 20080 comments
Just in care you were confused by Microsoft's server offerings for small and
medium-sized businesses (does anybody not know what "SMB" means?),
Redmond is here to make things clear. (Yes, that last part was supposed to rhyme.)
Microsoft announced today the Windows
Essential Server Solutions family, which we could call "WESS"
but won't. The concept behind this is simple. There are two versions of the
aptly named Windows Small Business Server 2008 -- Premium and Standard -- for
small businesses, and two versions (yup, Premium and Standard again) of the
Windows Essential Business Sever 2008 aimed at midsize companies.
By the way, yes, you used to know Small Business Server as Cougar. Along with
Longhorn, Cougar was apparently part of Microsoft's server-codename tribute
to the mascots of the extinct Southwest Conference. We fully expect something
to be codenamed Horned Frog any day now -- in fact, we demand it.
Anyway, there's a graduation from SBS Standard through EBS premium: SBS Standard
includes one server, SBS Premium two, EBS Standard three and EBS Premium --
anybody following the pattern here? -- four. Starting with SBS Premium, IT folks
can run the second server virtually on the first one and then, if they'd like,
transfer it later to a physical box at no extra cost and with no licensing hassles.
And, yes, the idea is for a growing company to move from SBS to EBS at some
point.
All of these offerings are built in Windows Server 2008. There's other stuff,
too, such as a Forefront Security for Exchange bundle and SaaS-like connection
to Office Live Small Business.
The new servers are much easier to set up and install than previous models,
said Steven VanRoekel, senior director of the Windows Server Solutions Team
at Microsoft, who chatted with RCPU this week. "Partner models are shifting
to more downstream stuff and less about the initial install. They've told us
they don't want to do that stuff anymore," VanRoekel said.
Microsoft is going to kick off some marketing around the new server family
soon, using the tagline "Multiply Your Power," which sounds like something
from an '80s action cartoon or an old videogame. As such, we at RCPU heartily
approve.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 20, 20080 comments
Symantec's
Backup Exec 12 is on the market; the company calls it the first backup application
certified for Windows Server 2008.
Backup
Exec System Recovery 8 is out there, too.
The security giant has also popped out Symantec
Solutions for Windows, which has a strong SaaS flavor. And, while we're
at it, Symantec has SaaS
versions of Online Backup and Online Storage for Backup Exec available,
as well. In other news, Symantec's press release writer is recovering nicely
from a recent bout of carpal tunnel syndrome.
And, in case you missed it, Symantec rival CA released new
recovery management software earlier this month. And you might have missed
it, as this is the first time this news has appeared in RCPU.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 20, 20080 comments
OK, we know. It's right up there with the news that the earth is round and
the shocker that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Still, if you
were curious, a new survey "reveals" that half of all IT managers
have
no plans
to deploy Vista.
Well, they have no plans to deploy Vista "at this time," according
to the survey. Don't let that bit on the end slip away. What happens when a
company undergoes a hardware refresh and can't get anything but Vista for new
machines? As we've suggested
before in RCP, that's when Vista might finally make a break for enterprise
pay dirt.
Or, if this survey is any indication, a hardware refresh might be the moment
when mundane office workers in drab cubicles (hey, that description sounds familiar)
might suddenly become hipsters with Apple logos on their machines. Does that
mean that we'll also have to listen to obscure pop bands and stop watching big-budget
movies in favor of indie "films"? The cultural ramifications could
be massive. To the copy and paste from the RCPmag.com
story:
"The survey asked participants if they had 'considered the possibility
of deploying any non-Windows operating system as an alternative to adopting
Windows Vista.' It turned out that 44 percent of participants said that they
were indeed considering a non-Windows alternative....The Windows OS replacement
that respondents mentioned most was Macintosh (28 percent), followed by Red
Hat Linux (23 percent), SuSE Linux (18 percent), Ubuntu (18 percent), other
Linux (nine percent) and not sure (four percent)."
Somewhere, Steve Jobs is laughing with delight. OK, so maybe there's some wishful
thinking going on here in IT world -- it seems unlikely that companies would
jettison major investments in Microsoft simply out of disdain for Vista -- but
the survey numbers, for what they're worth, confirm that Vista still looks like
a dud in the enterprise. If it does ever make a serious dent there -- and we
still suspect that it will -- it'll be more because IT folks have little choice
but to deploy it than because they actually like it.
A Mac in every cubicle? Really? Share your vision of this brave new world at
[email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 20, 20082 comments
"Hmm, maybe if we move this person into this job (and, um, buy Yahoo),
we'll finally get this Web thing right..."
-- Overheard (not really, of course) in a Redmond board room around the time
this
decision was made.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 19, 20080 comments
To
high
school and college kids, that is. So, grow a bad teenage mustache, brush
up on the parlance of today's youth (we think we heard some of it in the movie
Juno, but we can't be sure), and see if you, too, can pass for a high
school kid and score some free stuff. Or not.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 19, 20081 comments
Hi, reader, what's happening? Like
Lumbergh
from Office Space, we're playing a little catch-up today, not because
we've "lost some people" but because we took the very un-Lumbergh
step of not working over the long weekend. As a result, we're writing Tuesday's
newsletter on Tuesday and not the day before. So, it'll be short and sweet today.
Convinced that his company -- hey, isn't this guy about to retire? -- offered
a fair price for Yahoo, Bill Gates and his charges at Microsoft are launching
a fight to gain control of Yahoo's board and grab hold of the company one
way or the other.
Yahoo's Chinese partner, meanwhile, might try to block
the takeover, which could, apparently, force Microsoft to hand over more
money. Ancient
Chinese secret, huh? Well, maybe not. But, thanks to Wikipedia for giving
us Calgon jingles in about 15
languages. How do we love thee, Internet? We couldn't possibly count the
ways.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 19, 20080 comments
Sweeter than discount chocolates the day after Valentine's Day, it's RCPU reader
feedback! We're hoping that you're either savoring a post V-Day glow or at least
capably explaining to the wife why you came home empty-handed again this year.
(We're big fans of, "Valentine's Day is just a retail scam! I love you
every day!" Eventually, that's got to work. Oh, and ladies -- we're guessing
that 90 percent of our readers are married guys, so please excuse the one-sided
attempts at humor.)
Anyway, Jeff opens with a note chiding us for being bummed about the Patriots'
Super Bowl loss:
"In regard to this line: 'Remember, the Patriots were supposed to
win the Super Bowl by a couple of touchdowns (and, no, we're not over it yet
here in Boston), and we all saw how that turned out.'
"Perhaps Microsoft is cheating. Remember, the Rams were supposed to win
Super Bowl 36 by a couple of touchdowns (and, no, we're not over it yet here
in St. Louis), and we all saw how that turned out.
"I just had to say it."
If you think people in St. Louis are upset, imagine how fans in Los Angeles
feel about the Rams. But, seriously, Jeff -- cheating? Microsoft? Bill Belichick
and the Patriots? Surely not. They wouldn't do that, would they? Why, that's
like suggesting that Roger Clemens might have used steroids...
RCPU also got a couple e-mails this week on Vista
SP1. Apparently, somebody out there is waiting for it. Tom writes:
"I'm already running Vista and having no real issues. SP1 could,
of course, do nothing but help."
Good to hear, Tom. It's nice to get some positive Vista feedback. Serial e-mailer
Mike, we're afraid, isn't so enthusiastic:
"Instead of Vista SP1, why don't they name it Vista SP-ME, or Vista
ME+8? That way they could package two of their OS debacles together."
Mike, we're thinking that you might have hit on the greatest...idea...ever.
Instead of a Greatest Hits compilation, we're thinking of coming up with a
list of Microsoft's greatest misses. Stay tuned.
That's all for now. Thanks to those who took time to write. Have something
to add? Add it at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 15, 20080 comments