Quick hits today because...well, just because. Hey, it's December, and the
news is kind of slow, and we're now officially obsessed with the growing possibility
of a Dallas vs. New England Super Bowl, which would pit your editor's original
hometown (Dallas, or close to it, anyway) against his current (and now somewhat
longtime) area of residence. And, with that jinx in place, Green Bay and Indianapolis
fans, your teams should be guaranteed spots in the big game. Congrats, and you're
welcome.
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 11, 20070 comments
Microsoft Office's
kind-of,
sort-of answer
to Google Apps is
in
beta
for those who want a taste of exactly what Software Plus Services is
dishing out.
Posted by Lee Pender on December 11, 20070 comments
Last week, we
gave
you control of the Microsoft robot
, and you grabbed the command right out
of our hands. What resulted were some of the best e-mails we've ever had.
First up was David, who created a couple of robots of his own:
"The Microsoft robot could be the Swiss army knife of robots. It
could store your music collection, balance your checkbook and do your online
Christmas shopping for you. It would probably be squat and boxy but easy for
everyone to learn and use, but, like children, you have to worry about them
spreading viruses on the playground.
"The Mac OS robot would be sleek and sophisticated, if just a little
arrogant. It would edit your home videos and clean up your digital photos
all while poking fun at the boring, old Microsoft robot. It would be more
expensive than the Microsoft robot and claim to be able to do everything the
Microsoft robot can -- and do it better.
"The Linux robot would be built from any parts available, and therefore
could appear as anything from an insect to a racecar to a Microsoft robot
with a knowing smirk on its face. It would be the most highly configurable
of all of the robots, with huge numbers of components available, many of which
work mostly as advertised if the owner is willing to spend the time to get
them configured properly. It comes with a preinstalled flamethrower triggered
by an RTM sensor."
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 07, 20070 comments
The
apparent confusion
at the mother ship
over the phrase "Vista capable" came as a relief
to Cori:
"How can I get in on the lawsuit? I have had software issues and
have already replaced my original hard drive that came with the laptop. My
husband, who is a senior program technical engineer for Coinstar, kept on
telling me, 'I don't know what you're doing, but stop moving all your files
around.' Of course, I'm not lame, even have 18 years of software sales experience,
so I am not the culprit of all the software issues going on with the laptop.
"I ran across an article about this less than two months ago, which
outlined the exact problems I was (and still am) experiencing. Who do I contact
to see if I'm eligible to be included in the lawsuit? Your article was such
a RELIEF to show my husband."
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 07, 20070 comments
It's whether you know the right people in Redmond that can make a huge difference
in your success in dealing with Microsoft. And even if you don't know these
people personally, you should at least know who they are and what they have
going on. (Of course, getting to know them face to face never hurts.) From our
December
issue
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 07, 20070 comments
It's Christmas in...uh, December for those who wanted nothing but
Microsoft
patches
for the holidays.
Posted by Lee Pender on December 07, 20070 comments
Well,
here he
is again
, that smooth-talker wearing an ascot and a smoking jacket and carrying
two champagne flutes. He wants to make up. Really, he does. He wants the channel
to know that it's real this time -- that he won't go behind your back with that
direct-sales model again. He just wants you to listen. He says that he needs
you now more than ever.
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 06, 20070 comments
The results of the reader survey
RCP
conducted this past summer (and
thanks to all who took part, by the way) are finally in. And the survey says...
you're
happy
! Almost ridiculously happy being Microsoft partners. But there are
a few little thorny issues. If you want to find out what they are,
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 06, 20070 comments
SAP, the big German enterprise resource planning monster, put on a little conference
in Boston this week that offered one of the great dessert tables of our era.
Seriously, it was epic, offering everything from blueberry cobbler to kids'-party-style
cupcakes and fudge. Accustomed to the standard fare of lemon squares and mediocre
tiramisu on offer at most conferences, your editor delighted in a sugary mid-afternoon
romp. For that, we say
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 05, 20070 comments
A thousand apologies from RCPU for not bringing you this story last week,
but, in case you missed it, popular former Microsoft Dynamics executive Tami
Reller (who, RCPU once speculated, might have been
a
little too Great Plains
for Redmond) has
landed
herself a plum gig
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Posted by Lee Pender on December 05, 20070 comments