Are Terrorists on HP's Board? Dunn Had Better Hope So

Because listening in on phone conversations can be pretty tough to justify otherwise ....

Posted by Lee Pender on September 07, 20060 comments


Wait, Corel Still Exists?

And the former Microsoft whipping boy’s new competitor is ... Google? Good luck to our Canadian friends , eh.

Posted by Lee Pender on September 05, 20060 comments


Vista Season Finally Kicking Off

There’s something about anticipation that becomes impossible to shake. It just builds, getting better and worse at the same time, the closer we get to an important or potentially exciting event. It becomes all-consuming, something that’s in the back of our minds all the time and in the front of our minds most of the time. Kids can’t wait for Christmas. Movie buffs can’t wait for the latest film starring their favorite actors. Book hounds can’t wait to pick up the most recent tomes from their favorite authors. More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 29, 20062 comments


Microsoft and Citrix Gang Up on Cisco

The long-time partners have expanded their partnership to target branch offices of big companies -- which, incidentally, is also a big target of Microsoft’s Dynamics ERP suites.

Gartner has some advice as to how IT people should react. Notice, too, how the Gartner guys congratulate themselves for predicting a Microsoft-Cisco battle back in 1997. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not sure I’d be so excited about a prediction I made taking 10 years to come true. But, since nobody will remember this little newsletter entry 10 years from now, I’ll come out and say that Google will own at least 50 percent of the OS market by 2016. Take that with a grain of salt -- or maybe a shaker. I’ll be back to brag about it if it comes true, though!

More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 24, 20061 comments


IE7 RC1 for Download ASAP

Well, maybe not ASAP, but the almost-finished version of IE7 is out there . And in other browser news, apparently Mozilla is going to take Microsoft up on its offer for help in developing Firefox for Vista More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 24, 20060 comments


Is Microsoft Trying To Trap a (Fire)Fox?

Here in the molasses-slow days of August, this is what passes for news: Microsoft has invited developers of Mozilla's Firefox browser to work with the Redmond giant so that Firefox will work properly with Vista.

Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, it probably is. But that didn't prevent some open-source fans from postulating that Microsoft is somehow trying to lure Firefox developers to Redmond in order to weasel secrets out of them, or recruit them, or... something.

More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 22, 20067 comments


Google’s Gone Goofy

OK, so I’m not the only one who found this week’s little proclamation from Google banning the use of the word "Google" as a verb completely ridiculous.

Mike wrote:

"Maybe Google had better start googling to find the mind they’ve apparently lost. 'Genericide?' It is the ultimate compliment to become a verb. They ought to be worried about new and innovative ways to improve their product or expand, not how someone uses their name as a verb. There is certainly no guarantee that just because they’re the search engine of choice today that it will stay that way. I seem to recall at one time Netscape was the de facto standard Web browser. I reach for a Kleenex, even though it’s a Scot tissue. I put on a Band-Aid, even though it’s a non-stick Curad. I just got back from Xeroxing something, although I have no idea what brand the copy machine is (and don’t care).

More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 17, 20061 comments


When You Don't Patch Windows, The Terrorists Win

Actually, the terrorists aren't winning today, thanks to some crack work by our friends in the UK . Given that serious backdrop, it's a little incongruous for us to hear that downloading Windows patches is a matter of national security, or at least a topic important enough to merit a decree More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 10, 20061 comments


Even More WGA On The Way

Because it's so popular , Microsoft is expanding the Windows Genuine Advantage program to PC makers and (get ready) system builders!

Got any thoughts about WGA heading your way (again)? Tell me here or at More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 10, 20060 comments


Google Nabs Another OS Expert

Crank up that Google OS rumor mill again. More than a year after luring a key Windows architect , Google has snapped up Andrew Morton, a Linux guru sometimes referred to as Linus Torvalds' right-hand man .

More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 08, 20060 comments


Microsoft Not Finished Buying Security Vendors

From the files of "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" (for fans of really old Saturday Night Live episodes), here’s an article telling us that Microsoft will continue to buy security companies in its quest to build a well-rounded offering.

Goodness! Next thing you know, we’ll find out that Redmond has business interests outside of Windows and Office...

More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 03, 20060 comments


Marx, Einstein, Colonel Sanders... and Bill Gates?

It’s a list that would have made Carnac the Magnificent proud, but it doesn’t have much of a punch line. In fact, Gates was selected, along with a strange myriad of historical figures, by a state-run newspaper as one of 50 foreigners shaping China’s modern development. More

Posted by Lee Pender on August 03, 20061 comments