We couldn't make this up. Not only is the 
release 
  date for Vista's SP1
 still a mystery, and not only is Microsoft already 
  starting to drop hints about the 
next 
  version of Windows
 after Vista, but it now appears as though Microsoft at 
  some point posted the bulk of SP1 online...and then 
 
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	Posted by Lee Pender on August 01, 20074 comments
          
	
 
            
                
                
            
                
                
 
    
    
	
    Note the asterisk -- because Works isn't just free, 
it's 
  ad-supported
. Then again, this is the first time anybody has had a reason 
  to write about Microsoft Works in about 10 years. It had joined Corel in the 
  "dead or alive" (or, in Corel's case, "dead, alive or Canadian") 
  category.
 
	
Posted by Lee Pender on August 01, 20071 comments
          
	
 
            
                
                
 
    
    
	
    Perhaps (although probably not) rattled by RCPU's indictment of Microsoft's 
  coolness (or lack thereof), Ray Ozzie has been 
defending 
  Redmond's forays
 into the consumer world. The three(!) guys who write 
this 
  blog
 have a pretty good take on Ozzie's comments. We'd have written something 
  similar here at RCPU already, but we have only one writer; we're simply outnumbered.
 
	
Posted by Lee Pender on August 01, 20070 comments
          
	
 
            
                
                
 
    
    
	
    Yes, we're doing another one, this time on everything from working with Microsoft 
  to SaaS strategies to competitive threats. Want to know what your colleagues 
  are thinking? They're curious about what you think, too. Be a part of it all 
  
here
.
 
	
Posted by Lee Pender on July 31, 20070 comments
          
	
 
            
                
                
            
                
                
 
    
    
	
    Microsoft revealed last week the lighter side of its Jekyll-and-Hyde approach 
  to open source software, unveiling a 
glowing 
  new Web site
 designed to attract the open source community (as if open source 
  types don't see the mousetrap underneath that hunk of cheese). 
Microsoft has also submitted its shared-source software licenses 
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Posted by Lee Pender on July 31, 20070 comments
          
	
 
            
                
                
 
    
    
	
    For those of you wondering just what Microsoft's software as a service -- or 
  even Software Plus Services -- strategy might involve, Ray Ozzie 
spelled 
  things out
 in fairly good detail last week.
This is one of those times when we'd like for you to take a look at what Ozzie 
  said (yes, that means clicking 
  the link) and tell us how you, as a partner, think you can fit into this 
  strategy. We're reading over this carefully ourselves, but we're going to hold 
  off on any commentary until we hear from you. So step up and let us know how 
  SaaS-y you plan to get with Redmond in the months and years to come. 
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	Posted by Lee Pender on July 31, 20070 comments
          
	
 
            
                
                
            
                
                
 
    
    
	
    So, who came out the big winner in the first of Microsoft's Linux patent deals? 
  If we're to believe a recent study, it was 
le 
  Chapeau Rouge
, monsieur!
 
	
Posted by Lee Pender on July 26, 20070 comments
          
	
 
            
                
                
            
                
                
 
    
    
	
    Remember the good ol' days of November 2006? When Microsoft blasted Vista out 
  the door to eager enterprise customers, and partners awaited the windfall that 
  the new operating system was sure to bring? Well, just like Chicago Cubs fans 
  wondering when their loyalty will pay off with a World Series title after nearly 
  a century of frustration, partners are waiting for Vista to start making the 
  cash registers ring. It isn't happening yet.
 
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	Posted by Lee Pender on July 26, 20072 comments