Our old buddy David Pogue (OK, OK, we've never met him, but it sounds so classy
to know someone who writes for
The New York Times
) says that Office Live
Small Business is
actually
pretty cool
.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 15, 20080 comments
You might
remember
a lawsuit
filed claiming that Microsoft labeled PCs as Windows Vista capable
when they were only really capable of running one version of Vista, the low-level
Vista Home Basic.
Well, this week, we found out as part of the suit's legal proceedings that
there was more to the story than just a bit of allegedly misleading marketing.
Apparently, there was something
resembling mass confusion inside Microsoft, including fairly high-ranking
executives -- Mike Nash and Jim Allchin among them -- questioning what on earth
was going on with the whole Vista labeling campaign. One employee even said
in an e-mail that a "piece of junk" PC could still qualify for a Vista
Ready label.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 14, 20081 comments
Well, hello,
RCP
Editor in Chief Scott Bekker. Perhaps you have
some
news about NetApp
for us:
Network storage vendor NetApp this week launched an expansion of its channel
program in a bid to expand its market share against EMC and other storage vendors
by giving its partners the tools to deliver more profitable services surrounding
NetApp's storage devices and software. Of the four initial service focus areas
for NetApp partners in the program, one is specifically for Microsoft applications.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 14, 20080 comments
Oracle's
Value
Added Distributor re-marketer program
, launched last year, has picked up
the business of more than 250 new resellers doing business through 25 VADs,
the company said. Oracle's 1-Click ordering process has also taken more than
1,000 orders for Oracle software in less than a year.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 14, 20080 comments
Virtualization titan VMware has sweetened the incentive pot for some of its
smaller partners with revisions to its channel program. Specifically, partners
at its program's Professional level (basically its entry level) now have access
to the "advantage +" incentive program for the first time.
"We're seeing a growth in all of our partner tiers," Julie Eades,
VMware's director of worldwide channel marketing, told RCPU. "We really
felt that [Professional partners] are very open to needing the same kind of
benefits as the other tiers of the program." VMware now has nearly 10,000
partners worldwide, Eades said.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 14, 20080 comments
Keeping in mind, as always, that very few people actually
know
what's going on
with this deal, Microsoft and Yahoo continued their awkward
courtship this week after Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft's first buyout overture.
With Valentine's Day approaching, this story has
all the makings of a romance that wobbles at first but then blossoms, like
something out of a lame but popular romantic comedy (actually, is there any
other kind?). With a major Yahoo investor telling Microsoft to up
the ante a bit, we basically have the female lead's (Yahoo's) eccentric
but influential best friend encouraging a potential beau (Microsoft) to keep
calling and sending flowers -- or something like that. We can hear it now: "She's
very independent! You've got to win her love!" (Um, we're not screenwriters,
OK?)
More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 13, 20081 comments
Danger! Danger, Steve Ballmer! Microsoft is
buying
the company
that makes the T-Mobile Sidekick phone.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 12, 20080 comments
Microsoft's Office Live product, which isn't really a Live version of Office,
has some
new
features
and support options.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 12, 20080 comments
Microsoft has a
deal
with the phone maker
, which will use Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating
system in a device for the first time.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 12, 20080 comments
Some years ago, in the World's Most Exciting City (New York, in case you were
wondering), your editor worked briefly and mostly unsuccessfully in the dark
arts of public relations. (Journalism has turned out to be a much better gig,
fortunately.) Much of what came out of the PR experience was negative, honestly
-- but there were a few positives, such as a lasting friendship or two and a
greater understanding of just how the "business world" really works.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 12, 20080 comments