McAfee: Yeah, We're Angry, Too!

In other completely unsurprising but related news, Microsoft is appealing its raft of fines from the European Union.

Incidentally, a couple of good e-mails came in over the issue of Microsoft closing the Vista kernel and possibly making development harder for third parties like its security rivals.

Rocky, possibly out of breath from running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, says: "I've used Norton security for years and it runs like a dog. I think protecting the kernel is a good idea as with most 'real' operating systems."

Rees isn’t too happy, either:

"Symantec has been so focused on acquiring new companies that it has forgotten about its customers. Symantec Mail Security for Exchange (SMSME) version 5 is hideous. Version 4.5 and 4.6 were better. I have always assumed that it wants me to give up on SMSME and switch to Bright Mail, which costs more. The flagship product, Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition Version 10, kills performance when installed and no amount of excluding programs and tweaking seems to fix it. We have lived through numerous problems and updates to version 10. Each update requires a manual uninstall of the previous copy and a complete reinstall of the product. I have done both eTrust and Trend Micro installs lately and found that they are easier to use and don’t greatly impact performance. Don’t get me started on the equally hideous Backup Exec and its 'cosmetic errors' that seem to persist version to version. After years and years of Symantec loyalty, I am bailing out. The cost of researching new products and developing best practices for installation is a bitch, but I can’t install Symantec products and keep my customers happy."

Mark, on the other hand, has what sounds like a useful suggestion:

"IBM developed a way to do this at least two decades ago. The MVS OS used to be open. IBM eventually closed it by going to OCO (object code only). However, users still legitimately require a process to handle exceptions, modify responses, etc. What IBM did was publish 'exit' points, locations in the code where you could insert your modification and then return control to the OS. Of course different exit points related to different OS functions, so there were limits to what each exit could accomplish. Thus IBM kept control of the OS, prevented indiscriminate hacking and still allowed users to enhance or customize the OS. Perhaps some similar process would satisfy both sides to the open/closed debate on any OS."

Perhaps, Mark. Perhaps.

Thanks to all for your contribution. Keep those thoughts pouring in at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on October 03, 20060 comments

Microsoft Buys DesktopStandard ...

Posted by Lee Pender on October 03, 20060 comments

Robert Scoble Lives

Posted by Lee Pender on October 03, 20063 comments

Milk, Bread and Spreadsheets

OK, so maybe Willie Shakespeare didn’t write that last line when he penned "King Richard II," Act 2, Scene 1. But he could have if he had hung around until 2006. And wouldn’t that have made for better reading in high school English class?

Yes, it’s true. England will soon be home to a grocery store-brand office suite that will sell for about $100 and will compete with the Microsoft Office franchise. Go ahead and read that last sentence again. It’s entirely true. And you thought Microsoft was straying from its core competencies. Tesco, the UK retail giant (whose customers, we imagine, all look like this, or possibly like this) is going where many have gone but few have survived (right, Lotus and Corel?): right into the teeth of the Office beast.

Well, sort of. While Tesco’s cobbled-together suite will include everything but the contents of the produce section -- image-editing software and anti-virus applications are on offer alongside the classic Office-esque stuff -- it surely won’t quite have the depth of functionality that Office has. Then again, users are always saying that Office is too bloated and has too much functionality. Maybe Tesco won’t bring down the Office empire, but it might accidentally get Microsoft to thinking about lightening the contents of its own Office shopping basket a bit. Or, more likely, it’ll get chucked down the garbage disposal with the other pretenders to the Office throne.

By the way, if you don’t know Tesco, you might soon; it’s coming to America (check out the last sentence here).

Would you buy a $100 office suite? At the grocery store? Let me know at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on October 03, 20060 comments

Symantec and Microsoft Prepare To Do Battle

The rest of the European security market, meanwhile, is understandably watching the scenario unfold with great interest and keeping a wary eye on Redmond. Here, by the way, is the money quote from the article linked in the last sentence:

"Steve Munford, CEO of Sophos, a security company in Abingdon, England says, 'As long as Microsoft allows equal access to the operating system, we can differentiate...We have to make sure that we have a broader and more comprehensive strategy than Microsoft.'"

Exactly. That really sums it up for Symantec, Microsoft and everybody else. Access to the Windows kernel, still an issue that’s up in the air, is what really matters here. If Symantec and friends can develop for Windows they way they have been able to in the past, they’ll be able to compete (although, it’s important to note, not necessarily win). But if Microsoft really does shut down development access in Vista, that really will be taking things a step too far and will be a negative development for competitors, partners and the industry as a whole.

You’ve been very good about e-mailing me on this topic, and I appreciate your responses. If you have any more thoughts, fire away at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on September 28, 20062 comments

James Bond and The Keystone Cops: Microsoft Takes On Piracy

Software piracy in Russia will have to die another day -- it remains a problem in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. But Microsoft’s efforts have made a difference and aren’t unlike what the company is doing over here to make sure that Windows is for your eyes only -- if you have a legitimate license. Everything considered, the strategy to work with law enforcement and use the legal system to shut down pirates -- or at least scare the living daylights out of them -- seems to be a solid one, both here in the U.S. and in places where piracy is endemic and is a very genuine threat to Microsoft’s and partners’ businesses.

All of this successful sleuthing stands in stark contrast to the wildly unpopular Windows Genuine Advantage program, a supposed anti-piracy measure that’s more keystone cops than James Bond. In a series of mini-bombshells (here, here, and here), ZDNet blogger Ed Bott exposes the litany of problems that WGA is causing for users of legitimate Microsoft applications. WGA, already disliked for its intrusiveness and the mysterious nature of exactly what it was reporting back to Redmond, now officially appears to be a half-baked -- and possibly not even well-intended -- program that is backfiring on Microsoft and angering both partners and users. And yet Redmond presses on with it, apparently unabated. Not a good idea.

Microsoft, for the sake of itself, its partners and the industry as a whole, must fight piracy. But a little more James Bond and a lot less keystone cops would suit both the company and everybody else in its ecosystem. A couple of martinis and a snazzy tux couldn’t hurt, either.

Have any bad experiences with WGA to share? Let me know here or at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on September 26, 20062 comments

Neelie Gets a Call from America

The rumor that the caller was really Steve Ballmer crank calling after quaffing a few pints of Leffe in the Belgian capital is totally unconfirmed -- especially since I just made it up.

Posted by Lee Pender on September 26, 20060 comments

Insecurity over Security: Symantec and Microsoft as Competitors

Robin, who has been good enough to write before, says that Symantec has every right to complain about Microsoft:

"Let's say you get mugged by someone who looks a lot like a guy who's mugged several of your friends. They finally get arrested, you testify against them, they get a slap on the wrist and you see them out on the street. They eye you hungrily. They start walking towards you. What do you do? 1) Assume they are over their aberrant behavior and simply out for a stroll? 2) Get ready to accept an overdue apology? 3) Look around to see if there is a cop and check your exits? Most likely you'll choose #3. Why? They've done it before and they might do it again. Microsoft is no different. They have repeatedly engaged in anti-competitive tactics. They've lost several suits brought against them by companies they've mistreated. They are convicted monopolists, a conviction affirmed unanimously on appeal. And they got a slap on the wrist. This isn't about being anti-Microsoft. This is about being anti-mugger. Stop apologizing for Microsoft and demonizing their victims. Companies are right to be concerned about Microsoft's use of its Windows monopoly. They've done it before and they may do it again."

Nick, on the other hand, isn’t so sure:

"If, like Diskeeper, Norton AV had been best of breed, [Symantec] might have hoped for a buyout. Fact of the matter is their product is bloatware that runs poorly (bogs the host machine down), is integrated with software that is or is not wanted (Norton Firewall and Norton Anti-Spam) and isn't 100% effective. F-Prot runs much better for much less money and less hassle. [Symantec], along with McAfee, had the advantage of first-mover. Like Netscape. And they are now about to be consigned to the dustbin. I won't cry for them. Had their product been better, and their pricing much more reasonable, MS would not likely have targeted their niche as a good place to give consumers added value for their Vista upgrade. The sooner we can all dispense with them, the better. Like Netscape. Nobody wants to pay $400 for Vista, $600 for Office 2007 AND $190 for Acrobat, and $70 for NAV."

Meanwhile, on the topic of anti-virus, Dennis offers the discouraging news that Windows Live OneCare wasn’t so great for him, either:

"Despite the fact that the pricing is very attractive, and the feature set is appealing, the lack of user control is unacceptable, and that's why I disengaged from the perpetual beta. Even at this stage, when Live OneCare is on the market as a shipping product, it's got bugs above and beyond the lack of user control. When I uninstalled it, I was invited to give feedback on why I was doing so. I wanted to let Microsoft know what had caused me to reach this point, but before I was able to finish entering text into the Web browser window and send it, the system rebooted on its own and prevented me from telling Microsoft what I thought. Now I guess they'll never know."

I’m always open to your thoughts on competition, security or anything else that’s on your mind. Shoot me an e-mail at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on September 26, 20060 comments

First the Uncool Ipod and Now This

Mike, who writes from Finland and adds the caveat that he’s not a Mac zealot, is tired of Microsoft coming up with ideas for entry into new markets and not following through on them:

"Microsoft would probably not like to hear it but they have a lot to learn from Apple. There's an interesting piece in last week's BusinessWeek (possibly this week -- I get it fast via Zinio) with several pages on Apple's chief designer and how they work together on production with Asian companies who are happy to accept lower margins to work at the technical edge. Compare this with Microsoft's ultra-portable. A good idea but where they raised expectations by pricing it between $500 and $1,000 and where they handed it over to third parties and where the first company to make it brought out a model at $1,200. In other words, whereas Apple has good ideas and follows through, Microsoft has good ideas, throws them to someone else and then moves on to another good idea. Now they're on an iPod beater. What they should be doing is trying to get their ultraportable right. Instead there'll be another failed attempt at an MP3/WMA/etc. player."

Have anything to add about Microsoft stretching itself far and wide? Let me know here or at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on September 26, 20060 comments

Microsoft Office Live vs. Google

Posted by Lee Pender on September 21, 20061 comments

Microsoft Knows No Bounds

I went on, to her considerable shock and dismay, to tell her about everything Microsoft is into: embedded operating systems that run gas pumps and slot machines (among other things), uncool iPods, third-place search engines, video-game consoles, washers and dryers -- and a lot of other stuff. The latest effort is a video-sharing service aimed at taking on the wildly popular and ridiculously entertaining YouTube Web franchise. Good luck with that one, Redmond.

It struck me as I babbled on to my friend just how widespread Microsoft is. This, of course, is not a surprise to anybody. Microsoft is a massive organization, and a lot of its -- let’s say "nontraditional" -- technology generates good revenue and makes sense for the company and its partners alike. Plus, innovation is never a bad thing, as long as my dryer doesn’t blue screen my sheets and towels into some sort of laundry oblivion.

But (and you knew this was coming), with partners still waiting for long-delayed new versions of Vista and Office, and with security snafus still a concern, it’s not hard to wonder yet again whether a little more focus on the old Windows bedrock might do Redmond some good these days.

And, with every new foray into a market that somebody else already owns (and that Microsoft can’t just snatch by glomming something into Windows), questions arise as to exactly how far Microsoft can stretch itself and how much sense it makes to wander further and further away from the traditional desktop moneymakers. New streams of revenue are important for any company, but losing focus on core competencies and spending too much money on too many risky propositions can be dangerous at best and harmful to investors, partners and customers at worst. All we’re saying, Microsoft, is look before you leap and don’t forget about the products and partners that got you where you are today.

Which new initiative would you like to see Microsoft drop? Any at all? Or more than one? Let me know here or at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on September 19, 20065 comments

Patches for Patches Could Lead to Tough Questions

With all of the publicity Microsoft’s security issues get, it’s hard to say how users will greet the company’s entry into the enterprise security market. How can partners sell companies on Microsoft security applications when Redmond’s reputation in that area is, well, less than stellar? One wonders ....

Hey, here’s a coincidence: I just happen to be writing a story on Microsoft’s entry into the security market for RCP (the magazine) right now. If you want to get your thoughts in on this topic, then, send me a message: [email protected]. Oh, and I won’t quote you in the magazine without talking to you and letting you know first. So don’t worry about being blindsided -- just send away. And thanks again for all your feedback.

Posted by Lee Pender on September 14, 20060 comments